good morning. going to extremes. heavy rain in the east. record baking triple digit heat out west. is there any relief in sight? heart breaking reunion. we are there as a massachusetts father visits his sons for t first time in more than a year after they were illegally taken to egypt by his ex-wife. but that meeting was not all that he hoped for. and freak accident. the owner of the company behind the segway plunges to his death after accidentally driving one of his vehicles off a cliff. the details "today," tuesday, of his vehicles off a cliff. the details "today," tuesday, seember 28, 2010. captionsaid for by nbc-universal television and welcome to "today" on this wet tuesday morning. i'm meredith viera. >> and i'm matt lauer.

it poured here in new york overnight and there is another big storm system heading ouray later in the week. >> this on the heels of a dangerous storm system that triggered evacuations and flooding in minnesota and wisconsin. out west, the story is the extreme heat. also ahead on day one of nbc news education nation summit in new yo city, the mayor of this city, michael bloomberg unveiled a tough new plan to hold public schoolteachers here in new york accountable for their performance. coming up we're going to talk to mayor bloomberg about that as well as the president of one of the most powerful teachers unions in the country. and t pest that is vading homes allcross the country, i'm not talking about bed bug, but stink bugs. al's upstairs and he's

tracking the record weather from coast to coast. >> here's the culprit for the east coast. it's a low pressure that's developing, looks like an 80% chance it's going to develop into a tropical depression or a named storm, nicole. we have already got a risk of strong storms from wilmington all the way up to providence, rhode island, damaging wind, heavy rain, isolated tornadoes. heavy rain pushing its way up, parts of the carolinas yesterday got up to 10 inches of rain. we have got so video to show you of streets turned into rivers and lakes. a lot of flooded out roads, homes, basements, big problems there. here's what we're looking for with there system coming up the coast. starting today into tomorrow, we have got anywhere from three to eight inches of rain from southern florida all the way up

into the carolinas. then we move into the midweek peod, tomorrow into thursday. that heavy rain, savannah, wilmington, up into norfolk, we're looking for that rain to spread up into the northeast friday afternoon. anywhere from eight to ten inches of rain in some spots. now along the west coast, we have got heat to talk about, yesterday, temperatures in california, southern california, long beach, 111. record high in los angeles, 113 degrees, the hottest it has ever been. it could have actually gotte hotter, but the downtown thermometer was broken for a couple of hours, until they got it fid, up to 113 degrees. 102 in downtown los angeles, burbank 102, oxnard 106, these temperatures won't cool down until thursday. it is a country of extremes for

the next 48 t 72 hours. l's get a check of the morning's other top stories from ann curry. >> good morning, meredith and matt. good morning, everybody. iran is indicating that oman is trying to secure the release of the hikers. iran's foreign ministry says such visit -- oman helped to secure the release of american sarah shourd two weeks ago. nbc's white house correspondent savannah guthrie joins us. >> reporter: the voters that votefor the first time in 2008 for the president, a lot of them are young, we're going to see the president on the campus of the united states of wisconsin

at madison. there will be 100 companion watch parties, really drawing a page from the '08 playbook. if democrats can turn out some of these voters, i might make a difference in some of these key races. they're really trying to generate enthusiasm. in an interview the president said it would be inexcusable for democrats to stay on the sidelines this election. rahm emanuel widely expected to run for mayor in chicago. looks like that will happen and we could get an announcement as early as friday. the issue of course is who would replace him, would it be an interim chief of staff or will the president go ahead and name a permanent replacement. so definitely something to watch this week. today a senate panel holds summit on safety after an explosion that killed sen people. southwest is buying air

transfer $1.4 billion that expand the company into 37 new cities and southwest says it will drop air trans's baggage fees. >> we're talking about consur sentiment and housing numbers. one thing investors and consumers are feeling funny about. blackberry came out with its new, they're calling it the blackberry playbook and it's going to take on the apple i pad. stock is down nearly 30% this year, apple soaring to new heights, up 40% a the most valuable company in the america. in a hollywood career that

spanned 70 years, she isest known for her role as the older rose in titanic, gloria stewart was 100 years old. look at her in that scene, she was so beautiful. she was the oldest person everybody to be nominated for an academy award. >> mr. roker. you were a fan of that movie. nice to see you. you have got the local forecast now? >> let's look to see across the country what's going on, as we have told you extremes going on, th coasts, we have scattered showers around the metro area this morning, but th is a strong thunderstorm in

the pnhandle of west virginia. a severe thunderstorm warning for hampsheir, morgan county, west virginia. that storm is heading off to the northeast. should be moving into cumberland and washington county in maryland in the next few minutes or so. we could have wind gusts up to 60 miles an hour. sewhere, scattered showers today up to noontime and sun this afternoon. more rain tomorrow afternoon into thursday. and that's your weather. meredith >> al, thank you very much. new york mayor michael bloomberg turned some heads as he addressed the education nation suit being put on here in new york by nbc news. he says he plans to put teachers to task and make them earn their tenure. i want to get to education in just a second, but first let's talk politics, both the president and the vice president are out there trying to galvanize the youth vote that helped them get elected in 2008. but 25% of young voters are

certain they'll go to vote. is his strategy likely to pay off in the long run? >> it's disappointing the number of people that rn out in elections. >> don't the democrats need it? >> i think the democrats need to explain why they should be carrying on and republicans have to explain why they should be given the opportunity to do it. the public is frustrated, no question about that. we have too many people who have lost their jobs, lost their houses, the public doesn't have confidence in the future, the first time they think maybe theirhildren won't have a better life than they did and that's the president's job to go out there and explain why his policies need time. nothing's done overnight, a i'm sympathetic to him, he can't overnight wave a imagine i believe wand and fix the

economy. >> some of the candidates represent a moderate point of view, be they moderate, republican or independents. he has some competition in the tea party that's really trying to energize the conservative base. w do you account for the fact that theseandidates seem to have real staying power right now? >> there's always a gup of people that are not happy with either of the cices and they want to create a third choice, you saw that when ross perot became fashionable, you saw that, john mccain, eight years before he finally ran, there was a boom for him. but i think the tea party isn't a conservative or a liberal group, it's a group that says i don't like the way things are going, let's try something else, so both sides of the aisle, incumbents are in trouble here, republicans as well as democrats have a problem that have been in office and haven't produced the change that people wt.

>> can some of them win? >> anger is not a governing strategy. both sides of the aisle have to come together to compromise to pass legislation that the country needs, whether it's funding our armies or helping education that we're going to talk about here and i think you'll see that happen, during the campaign, people go to the exemes once you g into office, you can't govern from extremes. >> you said there would be no automatic tenure for teachers here in new york city. you said there's no business in america that would be prevented from taking results into account when making personnel decisions and that's exactly what happens in our school system across the country, it is wrong, it must stop and in n york city, i promise you it will stop. what makes you so sure -- >> you've got to start out and remember that we have 80,000 teachers ithe new york ty

public school system and i think that's probably the best collection anybody's ever put together, is every one of those 80 perfect? of course not. in the past, less than 1% have been denied tenure, that's not a ratio that you can have, you have to undersnd some of these teachers nee remedial help, and even if you give them the help, some of them aren't going to be able to do the job we need for our children. if our kids don't get a good education, they can't get jobs. we have put together --ut there's still a lot of new york kids who wen they get out of school don't have the skills to get jobs in a technological obal world and one of the things we're doing in cooperation with ibm, we're going to create a school this year, 400 to 600 students, they'll go from ninth grade to grade 14 and then ibm has guaranteed them a job if they

pass all theourse work. >> just to get to that tenure issue, the head of the teacher's union here in the city has said that the -- bad teachers are allowed to stay in place, it's the city's fault, not the union's fault. >> i'm not blaming the union, i think we have too much blame. the issue is getting something done and whether in the past we could have been more aggressive in not denying tenure, it's water over the dam or under the bridge, however you phrase it. it is going forward, this system has to be run for the kids, not for the people that work in it and that's the same thing in your job, if you don't perform, i'm sorry, you're going to be out of here. >> don't bring me up. you didn have to do that. >> the reason you have your job is because you produce results for this network. and we want our teachers to produce results for our children. and in fact, most of them, the vast bulk of them do produce great results, we have attracted an amazing group of teachers

from around the country, those who aren't doing the job, we want to help and see if we can make them od, and if they can't, i'm sorry, they have to get a new career. >> randy wine garten is the president of the american federation of teachers, one of thewo teacher teachers -- ther says no more automatic tenure, if we wan to get rid of teachers who are mediocre or poor, we're going to get rid of them. and that's the way it should be across the country, do you gee with that? >> yes. >> no disputes. >> i'm pleased that my successor in new york city said that he applauded the mayor for what he said yesterday. no one wants teachers to have automatic due process. there's a three-year period of pration for a reason. it's supposed to be because you know there's a big learning curve to be a teacher. i talked to teachers in new york

city, it's a tough job. and the mayor is right, the overwhelming number of teachers in new york city do an amazing jo but there nee to be a balance in terms of us doing a better job in terms of evaluating teachers, also management doing a better job in terms ofaying let's help train teacrs up and if they can't do the job, don't let them have automatic tenure. >> there's a new movie out called "waiting for superman" it wa paints a dismal picture of education in this country. teachers unions are set up to protect their members to the detriment of learning, why is that an unfair assessment >> i could go through it factually, i don't want to do that. this is what i was concerned about about that movie. there are thousands of public schools in the united states of america that do a great job. should we all be doing a better job? absolutely, yes. i saw your interview with the presidenyesterday, matt, i

agreed with everything the president sa, we all have to do a better job, the mayor is right, the global economy is really different. schooling is different today than when you and i went to school. the thinking skills are things that all kids need right now. the bottom line is, we need to have a better preparation process for teachers like they do in finland and singapore, we also need to be more respoible about evaluation of teachers which is why the aft has come up with new evaluations. >> whe you say more responsible with evaluation and then what to do after the evaluation takes place, if the mayor says 99% of teachers get nure, it can't work that way. if the city of new york has 8 80,000 public schoolteachers and last year only managed to fire three or four of them, that can't be right either.

>> the mayor says this is a of our problems, because management has to manage, but the bottom line is this, the reason we need better evaluation systems is because everybody uses tenure as an excuse. i heard a story this week that was unbelievable to me. some principal got up to me and said i couldn't fire a teacher who taught for only two days a week because of tenure. that's ridiculous. >> it's a system gone mad. >> what i'm sayings let's create, we recommended in january, let's create new evaluation systems that focus on continuous improvement and also teacher performance. if teachers can't be helped, we have to do something to weed them out of the system. the union just wants people to be treated fairly and protected against arbitrary -- we have to do that and 50 districts are doing that together with their unions. buthe bottom line is we also can't do it all, so we need these common standards with this new curriculum and we have

students that have unmet needs. what canada and what syracuse is doing. >> after our interview with president obama yesterday, you also have to remember you can't only point your finger at teachers there, sues of poverty, families that aren't together, parents that aren't involved, there's a lot of blame to go around. >> that's why we keep pushing for these wp around services because we have to help all kids regardless of whether parents are engaged. i love those parents that were engaged in the movie. buwe have to help all kids. >> it makes the teacher en more important so that's why having only good teachers in those classrooms is important. >> let me say one more thing is that none of us can tolerate bad teaching or bad teachers. but there's not a bad teacher et epidemic in this cotry, there are teachers whoever day work their hearts out for their students, they take money from their pockets to help with

school supplies, let's root them on, let's help them, help them do a good job because they need to be rooted on by americans. >> it's 19 minutes after the hour, once again here's meredith. there's a power shift taking place in north korea. kim jong-il has now appointed his youngest son as a military general. e. >>eporter: kim jong-il, north rea's ailing leader has begun the process of handing control of that impoverished country to his youngest son. this is seen as his first steps to power. this is thought to be the only known photograph of kim jung-un. th appointment of kim jong-il's

youngest son was -- the biggest in more than 30 years. few year let alone outside the country know anythg about the man slated to te this nuclear armed communist country into a third generation. 12k3wr we just don know what his looks like, what his personality is like, he does have two older brothers, but the rumor has it that kim jung-un is e one that's most like his father, which is not very good news for the world. >> reporter: his father is thought to be in poor health after two strokes and may not have much longer to live. in seoul, the capital of south korea today, the news came as no surprise to defectors. like father like son, said this man who fled two years ago. and another man who doe't want

his face shown because he has family in the north, says he expects the repression to get north. it's always taken a lot of guess work to figure out precisely what's going on in north korea which is just across the river from here. unrtainty over the health of kim jong-il. >> in march the north was blad for the torpedoing of a south's control boat. it's economy is in dire straits made worse by flooding. for that reason, the takeover by the junior kim may not be a done deal and we could see some further instability in thi dangerous region, meredith.

and just ahead, lindsay lohan on her way back to rehab, the latest on what could be a turning point for the troubled actress. but first, this is "today" on nbc. four years ago, bob ehrlich got fired as governor of maryland. for good reason. first, he protected tax loopholefor giant cable cable companies. then, he let utilities jacup our rates 72%. and for the last four years, he worked as a hired gun for big corporations, even aank that took billions from a taxpayer funded bailout. ehrlich sides with corporate executives again and again and again tell bob ehrlich big banks a billionares don'need help. middle cde do.

judd just ahead, stink bug invasion across the country. >> collin bauer just reunited with liz boys for the first time in more than a year, he'll tell us about that meeting in an exclusive live interview after your local news and weather. i drive a 2007 camry. i was expecting the 2005 camry, and my sister got it. i was driving the '94 toyotcamry, and my dad surprised me with a 2005 toyota camry. [ julie sighs ] i drove all of them, but i drive the 2009. [ interviewer ] why camry? reliability. yeah. afforbility.

[ male announcer ] share your toyota story on facebook.com/toyota. let's raise a glass to cookies just out ofhe oven. to the morning bowl of cereal. and to lactaid® milk. easy to digest and with all the calcium and vitamin d of regular milk. [ female announcer ] lactaid®. the oginal lactose-free milk.

towers". good morning. it's 7:26 on a tuesday. an investigation is under way after a massive fire in fauquier county. a volunteer firefighter took video of ts. 250 animals were inside. all be five made it out. that's far more than originally thought to have made it out. we'll take a break now. we'll come back and look at the we'll come back and look at the forecast, which calls right here in this neighboood, i grew up learning strong families and hard work means opportunity. and that starts with good schools. it's a tradition re in maryland-- and why in these tough times i've put education fst. we've made record investments in our classrooms... doubled the number of charter schools... and we'vfrozen college tuition for four years in a row. and it's working. experts say we now have the number one schools in the nation. when it comes to expanding opportunity in every neighborhood, i know that we musdo even better.

good morning. scattered showers around radar, showing a heavy thunderstorm. severe thunderstorm warning for allegheny county, morgan county, west virginia. that's heading up toward the north and east, heing into pennsylvania. may clip western washington county shortly. elsewhere, some shattered showers this morning. sun back this afternoon. jerry, how's the traffic? >> 295 and 395, jammed. in maryland, the outer loop of the beltway crawling, struggling to recover from the earlier accident down to the shoulder. >> coming up todayed on nbc 4, an all new "ellen." that's this afrnoon at 3:00 right here on nbc 4. now back to the "today" sh

7:30 now on a tuesday

morning, the 28th day of september, 2010. you know we need to give gold stars to all these people out there who have been standing out there for a couple of hours in the rain and drizzle. inside studio 1a, i'm matt lar, alongside meredith viera. we'll have new details on a father's desperate attempts to bring his young sons home after they were take on the egypt by his ex-wife. come listen bauer just returned from egypt where he actually saw his sons for the first time in more than a year, but it was not the happy reunion he was hoping for. also ahead, a new infestation that will make your skin crawl, bed bugs are not the only critter to worry about. stink bugs are now invading homes and ruining crops. what you should do if you spot one in your home. education nation, al goes

back to elementary school to find out what one schools doing to keep kids from falling through the cracks. and we begin this half hour with the latest on lindsay lohan and a possible return to hab. >> reporter: when you're talking about rehab, mostxperts say relae like lindsay's are just a part of rehab. over the weekend, it was lindsay the do gooder, she was photographed visiting with homeless teens at shelter in los angeles and studying up on a script on the roof of her friend's condo. they are the latest images of the troubled starlet who says she's trying to get her act togeth in the wake of falling off the wagon.

she failed a drug test two weeks ago, a violation of her dui related probation. e'll be facing a judge next month who could revoke her bail and send her right back to jail. >> jail's not therapeutic, it's not designed to be therapeutic. >> anything beyond a 12-step program is purely voluntary, a sign that maybe, finally, this time lohan may be scared straight. >> hopefully she understands that she's behaving like an addict, she's talkingike she's recognizing that, that could be a big turning point for her. >> reporter: any attempt to take her conditioneriously will go over with the court. but tt still won't erase what she's already done. >> going into rehab doesn't change the fact that she's still violated her probation, she won't get any leniency from the

judge, but as a pure and strict legal matter, nothing has really changed. >> reporter: except perhaps the public perception that she's trying. she's already been through handful of rehabs, four in all, the last one was court ordered, she was released after about three weeks but sources say it was never intended to be a long-term care facility, it was only meant to get her on the road to recovery.

. good morning. there is a severe thunderstorm in eastern allegheny county. this storm is heading across the pennsylvania boer, maybe near chambersburg in a hlf hour or so. gusting winds may be up to 60 miles an hour with this heavy downpour storm heading off to the north and east. elsewhe we have scattered showers around montgomery,

prince georges, and fairfax. could get others unt noontime. more rain likely >> and don't forget, you can check your weather any time of the day or night, go to weather channel on cable or weather.com onne. there's new developments in a cld custody case, a massachusetts man is fighting to bring his sons home after they were allegedly kidnapped and taken to egypt by his ex-wife. in a ment we'll talk to that dad. but first jeff rossen has all the latest details. >> collin bauer is just back fr ejicht, he was finally able to see his two lite boys for the first time in over a year. theyere abducted by their own mother and smuggled overseas according to officials wh fake passports, egypt won't give them back, so u.s. officials got involved at the highest levels and set u this emotional visit. >>bviously i'm very anxious

because i don't know what to expect. >> reporter: it's reunion stay for collin bauer and he's invited us along in cairo. collin is about to see his two boys, 7-year-old ramsey and 9-year-old nur. it's been 13 months since he last saw them and hugged them and kissed them. >> the thought of actually seeing my children, it's almost an incredible thing to me at this point because i've been promised it and i have looked forward to it for so long, it seems almost unreal. >> reporter: this american dad has -- desperate to reach them, he makes facebook videos. >> dadly loves you and daddy will always love you. >> collin and his wife got divorced? boston in 2008, collin won sole custody, but last summer, he says, his ex-wife took the kids, forged their passpts and snuck them into their native egypt.

an international arrest warrant has been issued, her face plastered on the interpol website. but egypt hasn't cooperated allowing her to live in hiding with the boys. earlier this month, coln pled for help here on "today." >> i have no idea where they are, nobody has told me where they are and i have been told that the egyptian government knowing where they are. >> reporter: but the egyptian government hasn't told you? >> no. >> hillary clinton got personally involved is, and spoke to mubarak at a meeting in cairo. finally collin could see his boys. our cameras weren't allowed in, but hours later when collin walked out, he was in tears. >> the boys came in and they sat next to their two uncles and hung their head and stayed pretty much away from me.

it was very, very sad. very, very sad. >> collin believes the kids have been brainwashed to hate him and life in america. it hurt, badly. >> i tried to explain to them, both their parents love them. a it was a start. it was a first meeting. and they're my two beautiful boys. so that's what happened. >> reporter: so much pain, yet

collin never gives up so the question becomeshere does he go from here collin just sent this letter to egyptian officials calling for the immediate release of his sons calling it a humanitarian tter. >> all right, jeffosin, thanks very much. collin bauer is with us exclusively this morning along with his attorney. let me go bk to this meeting, collin, it's heart breing to watch your reaction to it. when the boys first walkeded into the room and saw you, was there any glimpse of that kind of warmeeling that you had been hoping for 13 months? >> they completely circumvented me, i was down on one knee, i was looking for an embrace, i was looking f any sort of connection that i could make with them after 13 months and they completely avoided me. >> you can only assume they have been talked to for an awfully long time and i don't know what's been going on in egypt

with their mother and them, but you can only assume they wouldn't react this way unless they have been told certain things for a long period of time, is it akin to brainwashing in your opinion? >> it's clearly child abuse is what it is, ty have been kidnapped, they were clearly told what to say. they were told they were going to be watched and they were going to be held accountable for what they did in the meeting afterhe meeting. >> you talked to them about friends back home, you talked to them about everything they're doing in their daily lives and at any point did the veneer crack at all? >> no, it didn't. >> you said it's the first meeting, how are you going t emotionally go through more meetings like that if things don't change? >> i won't go through another meeting like that, it is emotionalbuse against my children, my boys to sit in a meeting like that, where there's an entourage on one side and they're willing threatened. >> if you say to people i'm not

going to go throu meetings like that, they're going to go to the boys and say we're nyour doesn't want anymore meetings. >> i hav the right to see these boys without supervision. >> have you egyptians led you to believe that you're closer to that day that you can have a meeting with your boys and not have the egyptian uncles there? >> i know you're trying a different tact here, you're trying to charge his ex-wife with passport fraud. so bring her back here to the united states, what's likelihood that that could be succsful? >> if government officials do their job, the kids could be ck here within weeks. passport fraud is a crime and extortion is a crime.

when she asks for money for collin to see his kids. >> you actually saw her in that room? >> yes, i did. >> what was that like? >> it was a very serious mood in the room. they made several demands. >> demands such as? >> demands for money, ty made demands for no more media, they wanted to basically tie visitation to media and media was the only way i w able to see my chiren after 13 months and they gave me visitation that i have already been granted by the egyptian courts s they offered me somethi for nothing. >> if the egyptian courts side with you and you are in fact given custody of your sons back, have you thought about the possibility that they come back to you with that same emotion that you saw in that meeting room? >> i think that would be something that would be- that could be dealt with quite quickly.

i have spoken with a number of child therapists, tho boys are coping, they're doing their best to survive within the environment that they're rrently inhabiting and i think they need to continue to cope. >> we'll follow this story right through to its conclusion and we appreciate you coming in and sharing your experiences. it is now 7:43, we're going to be back with much more on this tuesday morning right after this. [ female announcer ] your hands are only as clean as the towel used to dry them. so why use the same hand towel over and over instead of a clean, fresh one every time?

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i like eggs with black forest ham on wheat. with evrything. i like a little kick. that's a good call. i like mine with egg whites. and... a napkin. [ male announcer ] have you ilt your better breakfast? now's the time! try our better-for-you western egg white muffin melt or the dee-licio double bacon egg and cheese on toasty flatbread. subway. build your better breakfast. mplgs. we are back at 7:46, if you have had your fill of bed bugs, the's another bug causing quite a stink across the country as well. good morning to you. >> this is kind of one of those nobody likes to talk about. the subject because we're talking about stink bugs. and these critters are popping up faster than anybody can stop them. >> reporter: if bed bugs were the skin crawling talk of the summer, the new critter to crawl

in this fal is the stink bug. they don't call them stink bugs for nothing. >> the odor of a stink bug is not a pleasant one and thus the name. most people equate it with the smell of stinky socks. >> stink bugs reproduce quigley. they showed up in the u.s. mor than 10 years ago and without an effeive natural predator, they keep coming back, this year at alarming levels. >> it really is becoming a national problem. >> reporter:id-atlantic stes from new jersey to virginia are seeing the biggest problems with stink bugs, but the bugs have been spotted as far west as california and as far sth as florida. why are they pestering us now? it's all about the change in season and the dropping of temperature. >> what they want to do is find a place to chill out for the winter, they're coming in for

refuge, they'll invade your tic, they'll get under the siding. >> they stink a lot. >> it's terrifying, the noise is tremendous, the smell is atrocious. >> even t ceo of a pest control company can't shake them from his home in lowell, maryland. >> in the last 15 days i have been seeing 15, 20, at least stink bugs on the outside of the house and four or five on the inside just about every day. >> and farmers can't protect their crops either. >> our poor fruit growers here in the mid-atlantic region are getting crushed by stink bugs on apples, on peaches, on nectar reigns. >> stink bugs don't bite. >> people are little grossed out by seeing them but they do not trsmit any disease, they are not harmful to any of us in our homes. >> experts say caulking and

sealing your house will help. some homeowners have gotten creative. >> my cat actually eats them. >> if a homeowner is having a true infestation of stink bugs in their home, b experts say yes, you can contact your local exterminator but members of congress are actually talking about whether they should be going to the epa to get som sort of pesticide to fight back. you don't have them? >> i don't have them, but i have boys so i don't know if it's theirtench or the bugs. >> do you have them? >> yes, my wife walks around with a vacuum cleaner trying to get these little stinkers. >> to learn more about stink bugs and how to deal with them, head to our website todayshow.com.

just ahead, al heads back to elementary school, but first these messages. hey guys. jennifer hudson here. when it came to losing weight before weight watchers, my world was can't. can't eat this. can't do that. can't lose weight. but on weight watchers i can. igh less than i did in high school. can. stand here not suckin' in a thing. sure can. lose weight, arn to keep it off, and feel lighteand liberated in so many ys. i can. i did. i am. and you can too.

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later gator. lubriderm. ur moisture matched. just ahead, the owner of segway dies after accidentally driving one of s company's vehicles off a cliff. plus what it truly means to be funny. i was driving in northern california. my son was asleep. i really didn't see it coming. i didn't realize i was drifting into the other lane. [ kim ] i was literally falling asleep at the wheel.

it got my attention, telling me that i wasn't paying attention. i had no idea the guy in front of me had stopped short. but my car did. my car did. thankfully, my mercedes did. [ male announcer ] world you can't predict... mands a car you can trust. the e-class. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial. ♪ and i wondered what it was. i found out that connected to our muscles are nerves that send messages through the body.

my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia, thought to be the result of overactive nerves that cause chronic, widespread pain. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. i learned lyrica can provide significant relief from fibromyalgia pain. and less pain means i can do more with the ones i love. [ female anouncer ] lyrica is not for everyone. lyrica may cause serio allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worseni depression, or unusual changes inood or behavio or any swelling or affected breathing, or skin, or changes in eyesight, includg blurry vision or muscle pain with fever or tired feelin common side effects are dizziness, sepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drivor use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. i found answers about fibromyalgia. then i found lyrica. ask your doctor about lyrica today.

what if something bad happens? so what happens if someone gets my cdit or debit card and buys a ton of stuff? that would be... really, really bad. [ male announcer ] with bank of america's zero liability guarantee, you're not responsible for any fraudulent charges on your card. guaranteed. bank of america says they'll credit any fraudulent charges back to my account as soon as the next day. the next day! that makes me feel better about usinthese cards. they've got my back. they've got my back. [ male announcer ] the oppounity to worry less about fraud with the zero liability guarane from bank of america. good morning. it's 7:56 is our time. cloudy, rainy skies over the nation's capital on this 28th

day of september. good morng. a teenager in hagerstown is facing serious charges after his little brother accidentally shot himself in the cst with a gun. investigators say the year-old found t loaded handgun underneath a bed and pulled the trigger himself. the gun was reportedly stolen. the toddler is hospitalized at children's medical center in critical condition. we'll take a break now and come back and look at

good morning. we have a severe thunderstorm warning for these counties in southern ennsylvania. bedford, fulton, and frankn. that storm is advancing off to the north and east quickly with damaging winds possible. elsewhere we have scatter show showers around washington, mainly to our east and southeast. those will be with us for another several hours. then some sun back this afternoon with highs near 80. more rain likely in the afternoon and evening. some heavy downpours perhaps late wednesday night and into thursday. should b drying off in the weekend and should be cooler. highs in the 60s. a traffic light has gone out at connecticut avenue.

there's also a very serious question at new port mill road. the roadway's shut down. virginia, wet on the pavement. 6, as you make your way most of the way centreville all the way to the pital beltway. coming up on nbc 4, an i was driving in northern california. my son was asleep. i really didn't see it coming. i didn't ralize i was drifting to the other lane. [ kim ] i was literally fallingsleep at the wheel. it got my attention, telling me that i wasn't paying attention. the car hit the brakes faster than i could. i had no idea the guy in front of me had stopped short. but my car did. my car did. thankfully, my mercedes did. [ male announcer ] a world you can't predict... demands a car you can trust. the e-class. the best or nothing. that is what drives us.

for impa8:00 on this tuesda morning. as always a wonderful crowd. this hal hour, al heads back to school as part of our special education nation. >> that'sright, i visited an elementary school out on the west coast where the emphasis is actually on team work to give kids a brighter future. when we say team work, parents, teachers, school administrators, everybody. you know, segways, these vehicles, what are they scooters? they're calling them human transport. >> apparently the guy who owned the company accidentally died when he dve one of ose accident off a cliff. also marlow thomas has a new book and she writes about her

father danny thomasnd also what makes certain people funny. it's always a delight to have her here. we look forward to that. we have got ann curry standing by at the news desk. >> thanks so much, good morning once again, everybody. in the news, an emergency official in wisconsin says a damaged levee there is in bad shape, he's cautiously optimistic it will continue to hold back the floodwaters. this after some heavy rain caused the wisconsin river to crest at a record level on mondaymore than 20 1/2 feet and it's still spilling over 's banks and people in and around portage have been evacuated. a mud slide buried people, homes and cars on aountain road. sources close to rahm emanuel say he is nearing a decision on leaving wasngton and as expected, he will runor

mayor of chicago. an announcement could combi friday. amid the growing uncertainty in afghanistan, this morning an emotional speech from hamid karzai calling on people to denounce violence and come to their senses. the cia is rapidly stepping up attacks in pakistan in an effort to cripple the taliban. the cia has launched 20 attacks in september, the most ever dung a single month and the obama administration h launched four times more attacks in 2009 and 2010 than occurred during the final yearf the bush administration. and a sign of the times, the irs says it will stop mailing tax forms out next year because so many people file electronally. the irs hopes the move will safe about $10 million a year. it is now 8:02, let's get another check of the weather

good morning. radar showing a strong thunderstorm far north and west of washington, now moving into

southern pennsylvania out of bedford and fulton counties. this may be heading toward northern franklin county in the next half our or. so there could be gusts up to 60 miles an hour. elsewhere, we just have some scattered light showers washington andast of our eastern suburbs and lar tod through the noontime that's possible. this afternoon, sun back. more rainikely morrow terno into thursday. >> and that's your latest weher. >> all right, al, thank you very much. we'll go inside, when we come back, al's trip back to elementary school right after these messages. on fridays i have hockey before school, so i take two eggo homestyle waffles and put peanut butter inside. [ whispering ] i add a couple chocolate chips when dad's starting the car. [ male announcer ] there's only one way to eat an eggo...your way. [ quinn ] l'eggo my eggo. [ louise ] my name is louise and this is my eggo. on tuesday i go in even earlr than usual. thank goodness for eggo, a nutri-grain waffle with a quick smoodge of cream cheese...

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with our series education nation, al takes us back to elementariaial school. >> i went to elementary school in california where administrators, teachers and parents work as a team to make sure each child is getting the best education possible. >> we're looking at pre-columbian native american tribes. >> history is the focus of "today's" class. >> who can tell me in group one or six what type of food they had. >> corn? >> reporter: it hasn't always been this easy for adam, he struggled in kindergarten and first grade. >> she ask, do you mind if i pull him after school and i'll work with him, and i said, of course. >> teachers collaborate with parents, they collaborate with

me, they collaborate with each other. >> the principal of thomas jefferson elementary oversees nearly 600 children. jefferson's average class size has expanded dramatically in the last ten years, from 20 students per teacher to 32 in the fourth and fifth grade classes. that's why she emphasizes team work among teachers and parents to make sure no parent is left behind academically, emotionally or social. >> we alws have the idea of having a strong academic standard here, but without the relationship piece, and the parent piece, that dsn't necessarily go together all the time. where you have those two coming together, yo have something really wonderful. >> reporter: who's thomas jefferson school like? is it a good school? >> yes, it's a really good school. >> reporter: why do you think. >> because i get to meet a lot of kids and i get to learn a lot

with my friends. >> reporter: in the fourth grade adam was making friends and raising his test stocores, but piece of the puzzle was missing. she recognized his potential but also suggested academic testing. >> we figured o that adam had hdhd. >> adam's parents put him on medication the medicatn was only a tool, but not the answer to his problems. >> it's going to have to come from within, and adam has that motivation that made the difference. >> reporter: today, am breezes through his home work assignments and his hard work is paying off. >> from basic to aanced then to below to proficient in

english. >> we're so proud of him, you have no idea. >> reporter: now when julie drops adam off at school, it's a lot easiero let go. >> have a good day, okay? >> okay, mom. >> reporter: adam is walking tall o his own? what's his potential. >> he can go anywhere he wants and he can be anything he wants to be. he's that kindf kid. >> reporter: you have a great school year, bud. and therere a lotf bright kids like adam wh a lot of potential who fall through the cracks of the educational system every day and they never get a chance to recover from a slow start. adams parents a teachers say education team work are really the keys to success in elementary school. >> not enough people pay close attention to figure out what is going on with his education and

figure out a remedy. agn, i like the way they put medication is just a tool. >> maybe that story will inspire other teacher and other families that children have that poteial that's in them. up next, we're going to share some laughs with that girl marlow thomas. ♪ hi, a number two please?

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equals chili's $20 dinner for two. share one of five appetizers, like our famous texas cheese fries. then choose two freshly prepared entrees from 14 chili's favorites, like our chicken crispers with new sweet & smoky sauce, our new slow-smoked honey chipotle baby back ribs, or grilled all-white meat chicken fajitas servedver a bed of sizzling peppers and onions. grab a friend and get one appetizer plus two entrees with chili's $20 dinner for two. back n at 8:17. marlow thomas has don many things in her life, a television star, best selling author and activist, and one thing that's always been there, laughter. marlow thomas literally grew up laughing, her father danny thomas was one of the most celebrated comedians of his time. the thomas's hosted the biggest names in comedy at their dinner table in beverly hills. marlow's first tv acting break through was a sitcom "that

gi." marlow later bece an award winning actress on film, stage and screen. she also starred in "free to be you and me." a women's rights activist and wife of talk show legend phil donahue, marlow's passion is st. jude's children's research hospital. she shares her laughter with others on her website. >> marlow's new book is "growing up laughing," the story of marlow thomas. you share this auto biography with about 20 or so comedians that we have all learned to love. why did you interview them for your book? >> i hadn't planned to i was writing about my own story and i was writing about my father who

had an impoverished childhood. i realized that my childhood growing up with my dad and george burns and milton burl, and all those wonderful comedians, that was really my opening into comedy. i thought as i was writing this book, why did jerry seinfeld become funny, it turns out he had a very funny father who had a joke file. and it turned out that kathy griffin's father was funny. there's two common threads, one was they all had a funny person in their family and none of them were the class clown. the class clown didn't end up well, he usually ended up in a motel shooting, which i thought was hilarious. but most of them were kind of observing everything and mutterin under their breath as tina fey says. >> tell me about growing up in that household in beverly hills,

you had peopl like bob hop milton burl, george burns. >> they were wonderfulfully funny, terrifically generous to each other. i used to go out on blind dates, at around 11:30, i wanted to be home because i knew theuys would be in the living room, smoking cigars and telling jokes and it was completely irresistible to be with them and hang out with them. >> george burns, your dad didn't like the idea of you becoming an actress, george said something to your father that made a difference. what did he say to your dad. >> he said what do you want her to be a millener? he also said to my dad, i feel sorry for anybody that isn't in showbiz and that was very revealing and very sweet, and all of them loved their craft. all of them talked about the craft of comedy.

all of them talked aut what it's like to hone that act and make it perfect. >> "this girl" was reallyour story about a single struggling actress trying to make it in new york city. it almost didn't make it on the air because research said it looked unfavorable. why do you think that is? >> i thinkhe guys in suits that did the research didn't realize that "that girl" wasn't the fate of america. that every home in the world had "that rl" in it. >> you met glorioustein ham who got you interested -- >> you know what i think it's all about? it's something that's happening in the country and not everybody ts it that's too far off the top. but the people below, the people really in the world on the screen, something happens underneath the earth almost and

there was a movement going on in this country. gloria steinham was writing, i was doing a television show, none of us knew each other, but we all crossed this wave. and that's what i'm excited about now, with my website, marlowthomas.com. on aol. first of all, they have this huge audience of women and we really line up because we both want to inform and connect and entertain. but to connect, which is very exciting so'm doing all these series, girls night out, interviewing people in the park and asking what their favorite joke is and who was funny in their life. so the books helping me really informing what i'm doing on my website and every day tre's going to be a laugh of the day. there's so much craziness going on, you open the paper, we're in a depression or a recession, and all this stuff going on, it's lovely to have a laugh every day. >> the story of funny, growin

up laughing. on a more serious note, the owner of tha company who makes the segway vehiclesas killed in an accident over the weekend that involved one of his company's motorized vehicles. >> reporter: the segue personal transporter called magic sneakers by its inventor and a pogo stick on wheels by its critics has made hdlines again but for all the wrong reasons. 62-year-old jim hezleton plunged into the river. a tragic accident that was not supposed to happen on a segway, promoted as clean, quiet and safe. least of all to someone like hezzleton a self-made

millionaire and a freakic ironic twist, he bought the new hampshire based company only months ago. friends remembered him as a kind, giving man. >> he did good things with his money. >> this latest incident raises yet more questions about the high-tech scooter that first appeared in the parks and bike lanes of america, a decade ago. with their electric batteries, speeds up to four times faster than walking, and gyroscopes to keep it in balance, but the ride has been anything but smooth. president george w. bush to celebrity interview. even the next door neighbors have gone viral on youtube. and a four-yeartudy of segway's safety just released this week, confirmed that injuries and broken bones and concussions are on the rise.

>> one thing about thi study is that these things aren't toys. >>. >> reporter: true, segways have helpedhe disabled to gain their -- the invention that some predicted would someday replace the automobile. and on a serious note, a statemt by segway inc. says it stands by its product and mr. hezzleton would have wanted them to get back to work serving the tens of thousands of segway owners who safely use the product every day. coming up, one of our favorite guests around here,

8:26 is your time on this tuesday, september 28, 2010. good morning. i'm eun yang. in this morning's news investigators are look into a massive barn fire that killed animals. a volunteer firefighter shot this video of the flames light ug up the night sky. it started last night at the stock farm exchange in marshall which houses hundreds of cattle. we're going to take a break now. we'll have your weather and instrumental music ]

[ instrumental mic ]

good morning. radar a showing rain falling. it's heading to the noncht probably moving to anne arundel county soon. 74 a national airport. highs today should reach near 80 as we get some sun bac more rain late into thursday. jerry, how's the traffic? >> a busy morning on the montgomery side. we're getting additional reports of roads being shut down. beltway from landover onto college park is jammed burke out to the wreck, inner loop at the beltway to brad dock road. eun? coming up today on nbc 4, an

this is not a prison, it's a school and these kids aren't goc to take itnymore. let e revolution begin. the new series school pride. 8:30 now on a tuesday morning, it'the 28th day of september. 2010. it happens to be kind of dreary one her in the northeast. we have had rain over the last 24 hours or so, it's stopped right now, but al says don't get your hopes up, we could be seeing more of it in the near futu. >> that's right. >> are you saving it for your big weather cast coming up? >> rain up and down the easrn seaboard between now and friday. >> out on the plaza. >> thank you, i love this. i love you. >> out on the plaza here during woodstock week. i'm matt lauer along with varejao viera, ann curry and al

roker. coming up, you've got one of our favorite teachers. >> tony danza has spent the last year teaching 10th grade english. look at him. >> did you see how good he looks? he's in great shape and he said i could go ten rounds right now, i would love. but i can go ten rounds right now. >> alsohis morning, also in our studio, we haveot the lovely and the incredibly talentedarissa tomei of s.v.u. talking about something very close to her heart. >> and we're going to head up to the kitchen, even though it's little warm and muggy, we wanted to do a stick to your ribs kind of comfort food day. believe it or not, less than 24 hours from now, our wedding

couple will be getting married on the plaza. you can text your votes to 622639, pick the cake you like the best. >> by the way, can we take a second and say congratulations to one of our own? bob dotson won the emmy last night for the outstanding feature story in a regularly scheduled newscast. you probably remember it's a ving profile of a 90-year-old greeter at walmart who fought in world war ii along with his seven brothe. it's a great story, he is a great journalist, congratulations to bob, amanda and dayton.

radar showing some moderate to heavy rain with gusty winds right now in southern maryland and solomon and st. mary's county and along the western shores of the bay. anther area of heavy to moderate rain north of anne arundel county, heading south to north. elsewhere we have some low clouds racing through with bltery winds. we may get other clouds. high this afternoon near 80 degrees with sunshine returning. more rain likely late tomorrow

. >> and that's your latest weather. blackber donated hundreds of blackberry torches to eliminate the need for paper schedules and they communicate with eac other by a special education nation app. first of all, why did you do this? >> the education nation program is very important to us as a company, but the opportunity to show how you can go paper less and use thisevice to have all of the applications, everything. when we weather went bad yesterday, we could let everyby know to change the schedule. everybody saw it there and then. >> what are some of the projects u have going on to deal with the problems o education? >> we're working in a number of places for instance up in canada, the business program,

the students are using blackberrys to manage all of the work collaboration, generally helping new students into the environment. checking out the whole work program, et cetera, et cetera. it's the focus of keeping everything workg. >> thank you so much. >> thank you so much. take care. >> all right, al, thank you very much. actor turns high school engsh teacher tony danza, meredith will talk to him, but first this is "today" on nbc. right here in this neighborhood, i grew up learning strong families and hard work means opportunity. and that starts with good schools. it's a tradition here in maryland-- and why in these tough times i've put education first. we've made record investments in our classrooms...

ubled the number of charter schools... and we've frozen college tuition for four years in a row. and it's working. experts sawe now have the number one schools in the nation. when it comes to expanding opportunity in every neighborhood, i know that must do even better.

tony danza has spent the last year teaching high school english at a school in philadelphia. >> would i want my daughter in my class? that's what i'm thinking. i know the parents ahave the sae

expectations i have for my kids. >> tony danza, good morning to you. that was very emotional scene right there and i know for a lot of this, it was an emotional experience for you. you did worry about whether you were doing a disservice to these kids, didn't you. >> the idea was to go and be a teacher, and somebody, a friend of mine said i could sell that as an idea for a tv show. >> and you studied to be a teacher originally? >> i wanted to be a teacher and i think a lot of us have the regrets that maybe we didn't do as well as we should have. i'm writing a book about it, it's called i apologize to every teacher i ever had. my year at northeast high. when i got there and i was actually in it, i thought uh-oh, maybe i made a big mistake, not only let down the kids, made a fool out of myself, but the hub

brus it takes to stroll in there and say you're going to be a teacher. i didn't know the cuiculum, i had to learnhe curriculum and you have to get out of your comfort zone. i mean we're performers. one of the great models meredith, and we should use this when we're talking about education and it's great that nbc is doing this. but one of the great models i had was a teacher watching me. i had a guy teaching me. when you're dying, when you're just dying. and at first -- >> in the beginning, you were having a really tough time as a teacher. >> i just didn't -- >> we have a scene of you where you're speaking with the assistant principal. let's talk on the her side of it.

>> i can't -- i really can't explain. just take a breath. i know how you feel, we have both been there. >> i'm sorry. i'm so embarrassed. >> don't be embarrassed. >> but i'm sort of -- i just wonder i i can even do this. >> you can do it, y can do it. you're not the first to feel this way and you won't be the last. >> i hope you don't thi i criethrough the whole thing. i cry more than most men, but not through the whole thing. >> what surprised you most about teaching? >> the reward, the feeling you get. there's a great story about teaching, there's a big storm, and it blows all the star fish out oto the beach and then the clouds break, the s comes out to bake the star fish and a guy comes along and sees all these star fish a starts picking them up d throwing them in the water.

a guy comes along and said you're not goingo be able to make a difference, he said i made a difference to that one. here's the other thing, i do have a bit of a regret about my own, you know, they didn't take it as seriously and i wanted to make sure the kids understand, especially now, because i'm worried about this. we have a million kids dropping out of school every year and they're our kids, they're not our ki, but the are our kids. was trying to convince kids of that. i gave one detention the whole year. i had a detention and i told the kid, how long do you think you're going to be in school? and she said, oh, forever. i said here's my life. you don't want to be out there and say i wish i had done something better. >> do you miss the kids? >> i feel like i betrayed them in a way. i got them to listen to me, i got them to listen to me and then i disappeared.

all year i said i can do a whole year. it's no small fete. and you got "waiting for superman." we focus on the teachers a lot. there are bad teachers, but there's so many discouraged teachers, most of them leave between three to five yes. the culture is crazy, but parents have to be involved. there's a lot of factors involved. and it's really hard to be there every day. >> thank you so much, appreciate it. tony danza, again, teach prem r premiers 9:0 eastern time on a & e. comfort foods for fall. but first this is "today" on nbc.

fo years ago, bob ehrlich got fired as governor of maryland. for good reason. first, he protected tax loopholes for giant cable cable companies. then, he let utilities jack up our rates 72%. and r the last four years, he worked as a hired gun for big corporations, even a bank that took billions from a taxpayer funded bailout. ehrlich des with corporate executives again and again and again tell bob ehrlich big banks an'. middle cde do.

back at 8:45, on today's kitchen, back to basics. comfort food with fall settling in, there is no better way to warm up. big daddy's house on the food network. aaron, nice to see you, good morning. >> we talked about comfort food as i walked into this kitchen, i could just start to salvate. is it as much fun to cook comfort food as it is to sit down and eat it. >> people when they eat it, they're going to be relaxed eating. this is a rush job, we're going take our time, get into the moment, think about some barry white playing in the back of our mind. >> what's your favorite barry

white song? >> the wholelbum. >> bake me crazy, when you sit down and relax and eat this. >> you have a boneless chicken breast. you keep the skin on, why? >> i wt it to have a nice little crispy texture to it. this is not fried chicken, it's baked in the oven, but it still has the skin on. >> ski side down? >> skin side down. i have got some salt, paprika, a little bit of salt, give it that crunchy skin, we don't want to overdo it. >> you're almost making a r here. >> it's just like a rub. it's one of those rubs you're going to make a lot of, you can use it for steak, chicken, fish. just lay it inside down, i have got some olive oil in the pan. >> you're going to cook this chicken twice, once in the n, and once in the oven.

>> i like to do it in the pan just to get that crispiness on the inside and make su-- outsid sure it's done on the inside. you just let it go on low, let it get nice and crispy and then we're going to flip it over. i have got some butter here, a little bit of shallots, chopped up. this is going to be like teragon gra gravy. >> when someone says what is that? it's got that unique aroma to it. you got the house singin a little bit of flower, a little bit of butter or oil. >> that's the texture you're looking for right there? >> a little bit of a pace.

a little bit of that chien stock there, comfort food means gravy sometimes to me. >> how long would you let this cook down? >> this is goingo go four five minutes. i got it on a low heat, let it cook slow and low. while the chicken is in the oven. >> once you put this chicken in the oven, how long would you cook it in the oven, how do you know it's done? >> it should be very firm. let it rest so all the juices can settle and you don't have like dry chicken or too much juice running out on your board. i want you to taste this, matt, this is the gravy. now try that. now try that after i add a little bit of sherry vinegar to it. >> what's the sherry vinegar going to do to it? >> it's going to make it pop.

>> i like that, it's very different. so you're going to slice this? >> sliced chicken. get you a scoop of mashed potatoes. i got me some spicy broccoli there. and if this doesn say comforted need on the plate, matt. >> you're cooking this, you're serving this, okay, barry white'sgone, you're on to marvin gaye. >> you feel me, baby. >> aaron mccargo jr., thanks very much. next we're going to catch up with s.v.u.

law and order special viims unit just kicked off it's 12th season here on nbc. jennifer love hewit co-stars as a rape victim so terrorized. she's afraid to be in her own home >> addresses in midtown. >> there's no phone, there's no record of a vickie sayers in the tri-state.

>> she's brought los angeles a special guest who we're going to talk tin just a moment. just a reaction, 12 years. that's something? >> that's something, it's defitely something. and i have to say this year h obviously been marker in my life. but i'm very, very happy to be back and i think especially becauswe had such a strong year, it seems after 12 years, where do you go? and yet this year, i thought hands down, we had the strongest season opener and the sw that i'm here to talk about -- >> this is an issue that you care greatly about. >> i care greatly, but it's one of the best performances we have had on s.v.u. >> it's one of the best performances, but it's staggering the backup of rape kits in the u.s. >> one would assume that if a woman is violated and red and actually goes through a four to six hour often times

retraumatizing experience to get dna evidence collected, that obviously the lice would test it. obviously how are we going to find the perpetrator. and then to find out that the there's hundreds of tusands of them sitting in crime labs across the country. >> the joyful heart fouation respondsed to some letters that u personally received. what did they say? >> being an actor on a show and coming off e.r., the normal fan mail is hey i love your show, send me an autographed picture. but now i have mail from women who have been through rape and trauma and there was a common thread between the e-mails, you heard the words pain and isolate, but courage obviously, that somebody had the courage to come forward. so the fact that these women were disclosing these stories to someone who's an actor on television inspired me to do

something about it. >> how is the foundation helping to end the rape kit backlog? >> the good news about the rape kit backlog is that it's a problem thatan be fixed, places like los angeles, new yo city, they have had backlogs and they worked to eliminate them or they're close to eliminating them, you'veot great law enforcement, sort of a justice group, survivors all coming together to try to end this backlog, i think because you know what this backlog means to victims, the fact is that the message that we're sending to victims by not testing kits is their cases don't matter. >> also when these kits are tested, people are -- they find the perpetrators. >> the number one way. >> these kits have huge vestigative potential, there's so many things you can learn from testing these kits and i think it's a way to bring some justice to victims and a way to ing some healing to them to say what you went through was not in vain, we care about your case and your case matters and

it also sends a message to perpetrators that they can't get ay with this crime. >> and police send the message to perpetrators that it's okay, what are we saying by not testing them. >> absolutely that you can get away with it. thanyou for bringing attention to it. thank you for joining us. you can catch law and order v.u. tomorrow at 9:00, 8 central time here on nbc. we're back of your local news. "today's" wedding, a sweet surpriseor melissa and jeremy. vote by 1:00 p.m. "today." dreams come true on "today's" wedding, sponsored by chevy. 8:55 is your time now. 72 degrees. heavy clouds over the nation's capital. tom will have you forecast in just a moment. good morning. i'm eun yang.

in the newshis morning a hagerstown teager is facing charges after his 2-year-old brother accidently shot himself in his chest with a gun. he found the gun underneath the bed and pulled the gun on himself. it was stolen. promise me low prices. and stick to it. like seriously low prices. [ male announcer ] atafeway, we made a promise of low prices. and we're keeping it. [ female announcer ] with club card specials like pork loin rib half, 99 cents a pound and campbell's select harvest soup onla $1 each. i need to know that when i'm here, the low prices will be too. monday, tuesday, everyday. i'm a big fan of everyday. [ male announcer ] and with thousands of eryday low prices, you'll save all over the store. [ female announcer ] low prices you can count on. at safeway, that's our promise. that's ingredients for life.

good morning. radar is showing some heavy rain crossing the chesapeake bay, heading toward the even shore of the chesapeakbay with gusty winds. elsewhere, low clouds passing through. sun breaking out this afternoon. highs into the 80s. more rain tomorrowafternoon. in landover still struggling to recover from an earlier accident.

there's been an accident cleared to the shoulder for a while. virgininot much better. accident above springfield still tying up the right side. a little extra travel time. good idea. >> coming up today on nbc 4, an all-new "ellen." she'll have

we're back nown a tuesday morning, the 28th of stember, 2010. rains have stopped temporarily out on the plaza. good news for all these ne people who have joined us on this tuesday morning. we thank them. inside the studio, i'm matt lauer along with al roker. she'll share the secrets of a healthy diet plan that may actually reduce your risk of colon cancer, that's coming up. now stress can mess with your head, sometimes can it cloud your thinking, but other times it can actually give you the sharpness you need. and would you believe gender makes a difference. we're going to check out the latest research and give you some tips on improving your memory. and as part of our education initiative, we're going to be teaming parents with our experts about handling your children's problems in school.

what you can do differently fm advocating for your child to understanding what guidance counselors can and can't do for your children. you also have the headlines of the morning. >> i do, and in the news this morning, today emergency workers are keeping a close watch on a l levee in wisconsin. officials say it will be at least one more day until the record water level drops. in los angeles, the problem is record heat. 113 degrees on monday. the hottest temperature since recordkeeping began in 1877. the demand for electricity also hit a new high there. triple digits are expected in some parts of the city again "today." iran for the first time is suggesting that oman is playing a role in trying to secure the release of american hikers shane bauer and josh fattal held prisoner for more than a year

now. one report says t delegation plans to visit iran and hopes to win their freedom. oman helped to secure the release of american sarah shourd two weeks ago. the government is now calling -- george lewis h more now. >> reporter: the ads make pomegranate juice sound aost miraculous, that it can prevent or reverse anything from erectile dysfunction to heart problems. linda resnik who owns the company with her hbandn martha stewart's tv show a couple of years ago. >> it was the magic elixir of our age and of all ages and we know that it helps circulation, it helps alzheimer's and if you know a man that you care about or you are a man, make him drink eight ounces of pomegranate

juice a day because what it does for men is amazing. >> reporter: the claims are false and unsubstantiated. palm wonderful headquartersed here in hoonks declined our request forn on camera interview to talk about the fcc complaint. it says pom wonderful fundamentally disagrees with the ftc and blaebs that the allegations against pom are completely unwarranted. >> bomb pomegranate juice is good for you, but it's not medicine. >> i feel like once again i was duped by some marketing campaign. >> i'm glad to see that the ftc is indeed pursuing something like that. they should check all that kind

of stuff. >> reporter: so pom wonderful, not so wonderful, in the eyes of the federal agency that serves as a watch dog over advertising. for "today," george lewis, nbc news, loangeles. and it's not often that you see firefighters dressed in pink. on monday, pink fire trucks rolled through saratoga, florida in honor of breast cancer -- sarasota,lorida in honor of breast cancer awareness. it is now fr minutes past the hour. now let's take a l

> good morning. on radar, we are getting some rain east of washington. it looks like the storm for today is over for our region, but from the bay east, though, tre still could be some storming coming. right now getting heavy rain from oxnard, st. michaels, this

is heading north and east and continuing to trachk across the eastern bay. later today we'll reach with sunshine back but some of the heavy rain arriving today into thursday, drying out friday into the weekend. now to joy's diet s.o.s. r registered diet trigs and nutritionist is giving us the scoop on how to stay fit with bagels, sweet potato fries and more. joining us live via skype, what's yr question? >> hi, joe, i heard that bagels are loaded with calories, like over 500, but i love bagels and i can't give them up plumy friend owns a bageltore and she gives me free bagels.

so how can i cut calories and still enjoy bagels. >> bagels, delicious but dangerous, and absolutely doable. first see there's a whole grain variety and typically it will go under the name of either whole wheat or oat brand and that's going to be much better than the refined white varieties. and if you're eating it at the shop, ask your friend if they'll scoop the bagel for you, that means they scoop out the inside, u're going to save yourself about 100 calories of unnecessary dough and when it comes to the topping, you want to request ahin smear, so whatever you want, whether it's butter or jam or cream cheese o peanut butter. nutritionally speaking, peanut butter is your best topping, but if they have low calorie cream chee, that's a good option. and that's a got option for home. >> now our next question comes from anita who's on thphone

from dpe de-. >> caller: i just finished treatment for stage three coloctal cancer. i have read about cancer deterrents, but i'm not sure what to believe. >> it's a great question, the two best thing you can do in terms of reducing the recurrence risk, is to maintain a healthy weight and exercise. those two things are linked with reducing the risk of many cancers, colon cancer included. also limit those saturated fats. the marbled read meat, full fat dare. salami, bologna, hot dogs. have some sardines or salmon

twice a week and talk about supplementing with a fish oil supplement. there's mixed studies on fiber, but it' always worth your why would to include a fiber rich food with each and every meal. when itomes to capsasin. work them into recipes only if you enjoy them. but really get out there and exercise, andractice healthy eating habits and you'll really be taking charge of your health in this situation and good luck with everything. >> okay, good luck, anita. >> caller: thanks so much for your help, joy. >> finally a viewer e-mail. is one is from duncan in mpa, florida. your recipe for sweet potato fries came out soggy not crispy. >> you want to make sure that you slice those potatoes thin. don't crowd that pan, spread th out. they have to be single lar, be

generous wit that oil spray, pop them into the oven for about 20 minutes, flip them halfway through and then finish them often in the boiler. they will be crispy. in fact check them when they're under that boiler. whip some up, nice and crispy. >> our food for the stars, bianca. >> and up next, do you know wheryour car keys from in the relationship between stress and memory and buy it affects women and men differently. . from 3w4r for those of us who have lactose intolerance,

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let's go see those grandkids. [ male announcer ] don't pay miles upcharges. don't play games. get the flight you want with the venture card at capitalone.com. [ loving it ] hel what's in your wallet? with the venture card at capitalone.com. mmmmmm. mmmmmm. wow! you have got to be kidding me. 80 calories? light & fit has 80 calors versus 100 in the other leading brand. light & fit. irresistible taste. fewer calories. i love light & fit. is morning on "today's" health, how stress can impact your mory. it's a good news, bad news

sometimes when it comes to giving that presentation you have been losing sleep over for a few weeks, you might just hit it o of the park. she's here to help us figure out why. so first of all, show us exactly how the brain remembers things. >> think of the brain like a switch board, so you have your telephone, which is like the cells of the brain, the neurons, connecting all these wires to a telephone. and when we try to remember sothing, these wires communicate with each other and if w want to try to retain it, they get thicker and stronger. >> so we're looking at the graphic now andyou're seeing those little exploons and the little pieces then are becoming bigger and stronger. >> those little stars are the cells of the brains and the little things tha look like strings are the dendrites of the brain. where it's stored in the brain, it sort of lights up and then we

remember it. >> with a little bit of stress, we're trying to recall a memory, it's amazing how much we can suddenly remember because of little stress, there's actuay a sweet spot? >> there is, which is kind of neat. >> but moving beyond the sweet spot, things start to fall apart. >>s the stress increases, and our adrenaline is released, our memory gets more contribute p, we continue to get sharp. then we have all expienced this, you get to this point where you get frazzled, overwhelmed and your memory takes a nose dive. so for each person there's this sort of sweet spot where your alertness goes up to a point and then it goes down. >> you have three kds of stress you want to tk about. one is acute stress and that's when someone give you some bad news suddenly. >> it's sudden in on set. for example if your boss calls you into the office and you get fired. >> how does it affect the brai >> it enhances your memory

initially, but this is only for men. with women, it's a little different. it depends where youre in your mention central cycle. during that period of time, stress does notive you the memory boost that it does for men, then once you. >> you can't remember anything, now we suddenly understand why we couldn't remember anything when we gopregnant. >> now moving on to the second category, that's chronic stress, that the kind of stress that you're having to endure for several weeks at a time. >> exactly. >> what would be the impact on the brain? >> men do not do as well as women. soith men when they are under conditions of continual stress, continual bathing of the brain with stress hormones, their

neurons -- they can't recall memories, whereas for women, when we are faced with chronic stress, we do very well on memory tests. and it actually kind of makes sense. because as men and women adapted in ancient times, men were the hunters, they had to go out there and kill the animals, worry about getting killed. so that's t acute stress they lened to adopt to. and with women, we stayed home and took care of the children. >> traumatic stress is a third category, that's just not good, youctually see shrinkage in parts ofhe brain. so the question then is, the last question is, what's your best advise on relieving stress so that we don't have these negative impacts? >> the best thing that you can do really is to exercise regularly. exercise reduces the stress rmones and increasing endoor

endorphins. >> all of them help you breathe deeper. coming up, can you feel it coming in the air? we have got phil collins, the eight-time grammy winner isut with a new today, he's going to tell us all about it. [ quinn ] my name is quinn,

and this is my eggo. on fridays have hockey before school, so i take two eggo homestyle waffles and put peanut butter inside. [ whispering ] i add a couple chocole chips when dad's staing the car. [ malannounr ] there's only one way to eat an eggo...your way. [ quinn ] l'eggo my eggo. [ louise ] my name is louise and this is my eggo. ontuesday i go in even earlier than usual. thank goodness for eggo, a nutri-grain waffle with a quick smoodge of cream cheese... at least that part's easy. [ male announc ] there's only one way to eat an eggo...your way. [ louise ] l'eggo my eggo.

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almost as if you're wearing it. only dove deep moisture has nutriummoisture a breakthrough formula with natural moisturizers that can nourish deep down. it's the most effective natural nourishmenever. dove deep moisture with nutriummoisture. superior natural nourishment for your skin. this morning on education nation, in child left behind. >> now the obama administration's proposing an overhaul. california senator george miller is -- >> you're going to be able to give us an idea of what this new take on the no child left behind act will lk like. because the obama administration

is now making some changes. how will it change? >> it will change -- no child left behind really was bringing visibility to what was happening to the bottom half of our students in the nation and establishing some accountability in the school districts and that was fine. but it doesn't take us to the futu. and what we really want to do now is we want to work as we have been with the governors, the state superintendents of schools to develop this system of national goals and then to develop a system -- >> goals like? >> goals like college and career ready curriculum, so that students when they leave high school, they're ready to take whatever path they want and they'll probably take both paths sometimeuring their lives, that's not true for a good number of students right now. and we think that to do that, we have g to g the federal government out of the way a little bit, but we also then have to have that space filled by teachers who are buying into the system, parents who are buying into the system what you really see, where successful schools are, those

communities realize that this school is the most important economic and cultural aspect that they have. >> what's the accountability in? >> the aountabity is in the standards, and president obama and secretary duncan said to the states if you come up with core standards, we'll help you develop the assessment for those standards. the multiple choice fill in the bubble doesn't help us know the depth of the learning of the students. and in this new worldwide competitive economy, competitive society, if students aren't learning more than they're learnilearn ing today, america is not going to thrive in that world. >> we have got much more coming . >> after your local news and weather. ♪ hi, a number two please? would you like that to hurt now, or later? uh, what? sir, it's a simple qution, do you wanheartburn pain now or later? [ male announcer ] these heartburn medicines

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9 p 9:26. will we get more rain today? tom will have your fecast right after the news. good morning. i'm eun yang. the next mayor of the dig strict is going to have to deal with a budget gap of nearly $175 million. $1 million of that has to come from sales and income tax. it accounted for a shortfall of about $66 million to $75 million. the public school system alone spent $35 million on education, $25 million over budget. $25 million over budget. wel right here in this neighborhood, i grew up learning rong families and hard work means opportunity. and that starts with good scols. it's a tradition here in maryland-- and why in these tough times i've put education first. we've made record investments in our clarooms... doubled the number of charter schools... and we've frozen college tuition for four years in a row.

and it's working. experts say we now have the number one schools in the nation. when it comes to expanding opportunity in every neighborhood, i know that we must do even better.

good morning. we have a tnado warning that has just been issued for portions of the eastern shore. these areas where you see the red box in the tornado warning area until 9:45. a tornado is possible from a thunderstorm cell that is right near oxford, maryland, heading thwart st. michaels just to the west and east of marylan that going to continue to track off to the new yoorth and east. if you see it coming get to an interior room of your basement. slow from 395 to the 14th street bridge. coming up on nbc 4 today, an all-new "ellen" withverything you need to know about the fall

i'm really glad to say hi

and to hear this newsct which i thought was really finely done and i'm really exciteded about the story we're going to do about your school. >> that was ann heading back to middle school. not only is it the easiest time for kids. a school in maryland the making it work for the kids and the families. this has been an eye opening series. matt went to a pre-k. i checked out on elementary school earlier thimorning. back in your day they called it junior high. >> what's really fascinating is that this school has bee able to despite the fact that so many more of their kids are falling into poverty with the recession, have in the last seven years caused math and reading skills to go up 30%. >> wow. >> and the reason why will just melt your heart. so wll tell you all about that. in the meantime coming up this morning, here on education nation, which we're continuing, we're going to have an interview with a panel of experts and they

include a teaer and a principal and a psychologist and they're going to be answering parents questions, what to do when something goes wrong with their kids in school. >> and we'll also take a look at an innovative new tool, one that gives you information about specic schools, which would be really handy to have. and if you're in the market for a t-shirt and also opens your beer, talk about fun gifts forhe hard to please person, check out some great new products including jerry did not come with the shirt. that's great. and maybe that's a good thing. but first let's get a check of the weathe

good morning. on radar, a strong thunderstorm may have some rotation in it that may be producing a tornado on the eastern shore. right now it's i thisred box that you see here. this is a tornado warning area for the next 15 minutes up until around 9:45. there is a strong thunderstorm cell here right near easton, maryland, that is tracking off to the new york and east. it may have some rotation in it. it may have some damaging winds ssociated with it. so anywhere in this zone in talbot as well as queen answer, be prepared for d love having, kids we love having here, the scholatic kids press core. they do what we do hered a "today," cover news, entertainment and sports in their hometown. they have covered everything

from obama, and nbc's brian williams. >> and two of these sclasic kids. >> what did you learn about education? >> you know what? ian, he's so nice. he moderated the teacher town hall and i learned a lot about what's going on with too muchers when i went there. some of the hot topics were like teachers getting laid off and teacher tenure and so i learned a lot about that and how students in america were doing less than other countries and that kind of worried me. >> and andrew, you got to talk to the principal and some teachers and students at a middle school in georgia. >> in atlaa, georgia. >> what did you find out from them? >> i found out that even though a lot of america has been

affected by budget cuts affecting schools and the recent economic downturn, the sool i went to, the middle school, he had a great pta and that school was not affected as much and the teachers were also passionate about the jobs and about letting the students be lifelong learners. >> there's some key points there, teachers being involved and the parent teacher association. is thisrue from your own experience? >> yeah. >> you guys are very passionate and great at what you do. >> keep reporting, take our jobs. coming up next-- >> our worhop for parents, how to cope when problems arise at school. [ commentator ] lindsey vonn! she stays tough!

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no pills. no pain. just relief. colace capsules stool softener helps ease straining to make going easier. try colace caples for effective comfortae relief from occasional constipation. find the relief that's right for you and get a $10 rebate at getconstipationrelief.com. this morning on education nation, a workshop for parents, what to do when things go wrong at school we have gathered a panel of experts. the pncipal of west port academy in baltimore and also joining us, david woo a chemistry teacher at dory high school. we're going to start with kathleen in illinois. she writes i wish i had known that one bad teacher can turn your child off from learning.

i would have homeschooled my kids. if i had known our ecation system couan make children feel bad about themselves and quell their natural drive to learning. >> i think the parent should contact the school and the teacher to set up a time where they can come in and view the teacher. a lot of times teachers don't get any feedback from other teachers. i feel that ifhe parent is involved and make an appointment to see the classroom, give their suggestions it would help. >> but i've got to be honest, because some parents, a lot of parents e afraid to take on a bad teacher. because they're afraid if they do, that their child wille punished. michelle? >> exactly, so what you're really looking for is legitimate concerns that's lasting, but if it could jeopardizeour child's education, that's the first

step, when you walk into the classroom,ou use the word we, what can we do, but you'll also discover if y listen to the teacher and you wait about a week and you don't get help, then you go to the principal and then the superintendent and then the trustees, because you cannot wait a year for your child's learning. >> the question on skype from wendy. wendy, what's your question? >> i have sent a comment in about what i wish i had known and i wish i had known how to better advocate for my child. prior to being diagnosed with adhd, he spent a lot of time in the principal's office, in a special time out room, and having to miss a schl trip. however since then his teachers have learned to address those emotional delays with empathy

and patience and i'm so grateful that she's doing great now. i just wish we had figured this out sooner. >> wendy, hang tight, we have got felicia who is a principal, what is your best advise because there are a lot of spectacular children who've got learning issues and are not caught early and are disregarded by the system, not really taking care of by the system. what can a parent do? >> the first step is to mmunicate with the school. as a principal, i am really happy to be the liaison between the teacher and the parents because it is ouresponsibility to build that partnerip and when we find that we have a relationship with parents and with the teacher, and the incipal is involved in that process and it is an organic process, we figure out how we can best educate the child. and we know that kids learn differently and we want to do our jobs and that means that we have to build our capacity. >> right, so you're saying being a strong advocate is key. it's also i think the school's

responsibility to advocate for those kids as well. >> right. >> but you do that as principal by being a liaison, so you're saying that people should speak up as much as possible. >> we need that feedback. >> we have lynne on the telephone from raleigh, north carolina and she's got a question. >> caller: well, it's a statement also in response to what i wish i had done and i wish that i had listened to my son. i thought he was capable of doing very well in a vy difficult high school in our area. and it was really a bad experience. he wasn't happy, he didn't enjoy the work. now he's in the high school that he wand to go to all along and he's happy, he's doing well, he loves school, he's a different kid. i really wish i had listened to him. >> listening to your child, sometimes you don't know wheno do i and when not to. >> number one is, you gauge the trust worthy ftor of the child. if he's got a electric mat concern, key in and believe him. two, you look at and you really think about the former teacher, where's the recommendation there?

is it that he can handle this or he can't? and finally you're looking at really the ability factor. what's the grade, what's the achievement score, you put all those together and you look at your own expectations and say are you pushing too much, not pushing enough, and put them all together. >> your child is a really good gauge about how things are going and we want to thank lynne for that question. we have also got angela on the telephone. she's from spovirginia. >> caller: i had a comment also, i have a daughter in college and my son is a senior at a public school. i was told along withhe other parents that guidance counselors would guide our children through high school to reach their goal. i wish i had known that you need to do that as a parent. you know, not worry about being overinvolved, you are your child's advocate. >> david, do you want ttake this one on? >> just to know that many high

schools are very overburdened with children, a guidance counselor can have anywhere from 250 to 350 high school students in their load and to say that both parties should be an active participant in your child's graduation, scholarships and college. >> well you keep teaching that chemistry, youeep making these young people understand the importance of science, you keep taking care of those kids and michelle, you as well helping us understand it all and hopefully people will find, america will find a better education system anwe want to say this, coming up next, we have got some gift ideas for friends, or maybe just a way to treat yourself. that's coming up right after this. big difference. it can make a fast gfaster , and a slow guy... umm... slimmer . petsmart carries more natural food solutions than ever and now... we offer 'wellness'! with healthy, natural ingredients your pet will love! you could say that food matters, but that... would be an understatent. pemart. we love to see healthy, ppy pets!

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announcer: the never ending pasta bowl with new sauces like our hearty chianti three meat. choose all the sauce and pta mbinations you want for st $8.95. at olive garden. this morning, a little something for everyone, whether you're looking for the latt tren in technology, "today" and u.s. weekly contributor. you're going to go with a t-shirt that you can open up a bottle of beer with? >> well, last week. >> we have tape o last week's extravagan extravaganza. >> we did the remote with the built in bottle opener. and i couldn't pull it off. so this time, that guitar t-shirt was such a hit, this is think geek.com for $19, it's a built in bottle opener. >> how doe that work, jerry? >> let's give it a shot.

>> wow. >> amazing. >> so, ultimate couch potato for $19. >> and now jerry will also have the biggest belch going. >> you're on a plane and you run out of power. >> you're a big gadget guy and i thought of you for this. it's a what ch and your wear it and it has all the different adapt fors and it's two times your body. so if you're on a plane or you're going on a trip or you're going camping, this is great. >> sometimes you want to see something you want to scan, but you don't have a scanner with you. >> people want to scan your book all the time because they want to see it digitally into your computer. you scan the page, plug it into your computer and in two to three seconds it will show up. >> boom. >> boom. >> this is great. >> this is random, this is the updated version of the lava lamp. and you see these are for kids and you play music or you talk

to them, right here, and they have a face that changes. they come with stickers, this is just the updated version of it for four kids. >> these are some co flash drives. >> this is a time to say a star wars line. >> these are not the droids you're looking for. >>hese are just for your kids star wars, two giga bytes. $139.50. a great gift for your baseball fan. you hire this comny and they put something like that on you, like a costume, they take six seconds of video, and then they put it into a 60-page book and i believe we have video of me

doing this. the 60-page book is from the affair. >> what the heck is going on there. >> they're having a very good time. >> six seconds of video, they dress it up and it's a way to remember the affair. >> or whatever went on. >> or whatever went on. >> now flip this.com. >> this is the world's biggest marsh mellow. >> i would tell you to take a bite, but i just wanted to show you how biit is. they ship and this is a great fun gift. and it's an alternative to a cake. >> i had a dream that i ate the world's largest marshmallow and when i woke up, my pillow was gone. >> there's so many directions i cago with that. >> coming up next, an exciting new tool to get more information about your kid's school. but first, this is "today" on nbc. promise me low prices.

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more now on nbc's special week long education nation. there's a revolutionary tool that can tell you whether your child's school makes the grade or falls short. this tool helps parents at home listening right now freeind out how well their school is doing. it's a ranking system, how does it work? >> essentially you and obviously family engagemen is critilly important, so getting parents to understand the data. so as you go into the score card, you type in the school and the area that you live in. what we need parents to understand is how can they have a qualified conversation with their educator and their school administtors to know how tir child is doing. >> you type in the name of your

own child's school or any other school that you're interested in. which we have done here and it will then pull-up the school and it will give us information on how well the school's doing on standardized tests, well how the school is doing compared to other schools and districts in the area. and as we scroll down, give a range of other information, how does that district compare to others in the state. how does it compare in the country? and what can parents actually do to help their child? what questions should they be asking in the school? one of the things we know is parents have high expectations for their kids, but they don't always get the information they need to help their students be successful, this begins to give them that in one easily click. >> so you don't have to get information about how good the school district is from your realtor, you can actually go to a site for free and get that information right at your fingertips and if you discover

that a school is not doing well, you can actually use thats evidence, as an argument with the school -- >> and one of the great features of the tool is that you c find a listf guiding questions, if you're not sure what that means, you can go to your educator and say i see where my child is ranking, i see where the school is. what can we do to advance the curriculum thelp our school go up. >> thank you so much. >> we want to tell you people should go to education nation.com and lk for scorecards.

this flu season, what would you pick for your flu vaccine? a shot in the arm? or a spray in the nose? i pick my nose. i pick my nose. i pick my nose gracefully. flumist. it's the only flu vaccine that starts fighting the flu in the nose, where you usually catch it. in a study of kids2 to 5 ye, flumist cut the risk of getting the flu in hf compared to the flshot. i picked my nose. she said i could. flumist may not protect everyone. flumist is not for people or other vaccine ingredients or for children and teens taking aspirin or products containing aspirin, or for anyone who's had life-threatening reactions to flu vaccines. health conditions including guillian-barré syndrome, a weakened immune system,di,

or heart, kidney, or lung disease may exclude you from getting flumist. your doctor will decide iflumist is right for you. common side effects include runny nose or nasal congestion, sore throat, and fever. talk to your doctor to find out if flumist is right for your family. and visit flumist.com. sure is nice to have a choice. 9:56 is your time now. 76 degrees. look at the high clou in the nation's capital. good morning. i'm eun yang. we have a severe weather district right now. good morning, tom. >> good morning, eun. we have a rnado warning in effect for portions of the

eastern shore. it does thankfully appear this storm is weakening bit, but this is a storm that has been producing some rotation that's been picked up by radar that may be getting some of this rotation all the way to the ground here. this i just north of centreville in queen anne's county. there could be damaging winds associated wi this particular cell. again, this is a tornado warning for this thunderstorm cell producing some heavy rain right now. this is heading off to the north and east. again, here's a wider view of th radar showing it related to the rest of maryland. heading in toward cecil county. is will continue to track down. clouds rolling on through and we could have some other clouds developing later tomorrow and storms especially to our east and the eastern shore, but otherwise some sunshine breaking up. more rain into tomorrow and thursday. jerry, how's the traffic? >>. 270 southbound, traffic reported toward route 118. you can see the flashing lights

too. right lanes are blocked. quick chel elsewhere. it looks like the midway roadwork getting set up. we'll keep you updated. eun? >> thank you, jerry. coming up on nbc 4, an all new elin.

from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >>ey, everybody. it is booze day. it is september 28th. we're so glad you're with us here today. >> yes. >> hi, hoda. you were rocking in here a few minutes ago. i wish you could see what happens here before the show starts. it is a party. kathie lee sings. >> we have a little sheryl crow and then my music breaks through. ♪ everyone has a moment >> that's it. and, by the way, next week, we are having "everyone has a story." please remember to keep sending in your sries that are just incribly inspirational. and give dave and i the inspiration to write the songs we write. i would like to do a piece on the genesis of how it happens, once we get a letter, just like a one-minute piece on the --

>> the 10. >> on how it happens. a lot of people think we're farming that stuff out. >> you write it yourself. >> with david friedman. enough. >> yesterday after we left you on our show, we had more work to do. >> yes, we did. >> this is education week, education nation. and we were hosting a lunch. thie lee and i. brian williams introed us. >> which is usually, you know, a nice thing. >> yes. it is an honor usuall >> usually. >> okay. let's listen. >> if your work allowed you to see the final hour of the "today" show each morning, y know that my friends hoda kotb and kathie lee gifford are normally hammered by this part of the day. >> welcome. hoda and have had not had anything to drink yet today. notice the word yet. >> anyway, i know, we love him. >> he's the best. >> you kw what i'm tired of? i'm tired of him saying where's my invitation to come on. i'm waiting, i want to come on. >> re's your invitation, baby.

all right. this is it. he's one of the funniest people naturally in the world. >> hats off to brian and the "nightly news" team. >> and to you, my hoda. >> brian and "nightly" won an emmy last night, great news. >> news emmys. >> i figured out how to break a losing streak. mer a group and myself have been nominated five times. every time i go, i'm excited, it is the category, is it us? never. yesterday, i cracked a second tooth. i don't know what's going on. so i was at the dentist and i couldn't go to the emmys. and guess what happened? >> you won, hoda. >> we won, our -- >> very proud of you. >> good for everybody. >> this was not a fir for you. >> no, this is first. first emmy ver. but it was, again, it is a big group. >> do i get to make fun of you? >> ann curry, chris hansen, dennis murphy, a big group of people but for "miracle on the hudson". >> congratulations. in your book you write very longly and glowingly about

all, because i've read it, all the people you work with at "dateline" and what the process is like and how -- these stories can take a year atimes. >> people were asking me yesterday, kath lee doesn't like your book. what's the story? >> i'm trying to help you sell it. i'm creating a little buzz for you. >> okay. so -- >> a little upset about it. coming soo >> oh, my gosh. october 12th. so, yesterday, if you watched "dancing with the stars," there was a moment that some say was controversial,ome say wasn't -- we'll ask you to decide. here's the deal. jennifer gray had just had -- she had just danced with her partner. she received three 8s after dancing with her partner. >> after brilliantly dancing, i understand. >> supposed to be a home run. so after they gave the scores and they were still on the t of em, we'll show you this clip, you hear booing. the question is was the booing about jennifer gray's numbers or was the booing about sarah palin who was just about to be introed and working into the room. you watch and tell us what you think. >> all right, that's 24 out of

30. how does that feel? >> great, fantastic. we're exhausted but that was a t of fun. >> if you don't want to see them meet the same shock that ended david hasselhoff's ballroom dreams, suort them now, call, text, there is booing in the ballroom. we don't know why. >> why is there booing? >> i don't know. support them now with your votes. tom? >> thank you, brooke. i'm here with guest ballroom commentator sarah palin who joins us from alaska. >> interesting. hey're applauding now. so the question is was the booing about the scores or was the booing about -- >> let's see what you think on facebook. >> if you're in the audience, i don't know what you're seeing. it sounds like the scores were already given, it is over, they're congratulating them. >> it certainly wasn't about the scores from that. didn't seem like it was. >> no, somethi happened. >> i just said facebook, felt so weird, because yesterday i watched socialnetwork, the new

movie that david fincher directed that is coming out friday, one of my dear friends -- stars two times in it. a army hammer is with us today. he plays both twins brilliantly, and i'm so incredly proud for him. this is major, major first, you know, starring role in a major motion picture. but to see how the evolution of how facebook came to be, it then felt weird to say, well, let's check -- it felt weird. >> how about trying to see the film? that's not an easy task. >> u know what, you guys, we drink a little around here, but we would never pirate anything. that's where we draw the line, right? i have to go intomy dressing room here, about 40 degrees, and watch on a computer with -- you know how the computer doesn'to up real high on the volume, i mean, if i -- it almost put me back in traction after watching it. but i had to watch it for my army and it is a brilliant

movie. >> the point is, you have to watch it there because there is somebody standing outside the dressing room to collect the dvd. >> it took me an hour and a half. >> you don'tootleg it and make copies in your room. >> there are people in the world who do that, but it says property of sony, propey of columbia, property of everything. nobody could -- >> nobody could get it. >> yeah. i mean, come on. >> it is going to be a huge movie. >> there are going to be major, i think, oscar nominations for this. >> really? >> the screenplay by aaron sorkin is so brilliant. you know, the perrmances are amazing and not just army, evybody. justin timberlake is so good, you don't even think you're watching justin timberlake. >> you're kidding? >> no, everybody is excellent. >> you know what i wish people wouldn't look at, though, you know, sometimes companies that are supposed to be, you know, basically controlling themselves in t marketplace in terms of what's too far, sometimes they go too far. this is the latest -- have you seen this ad for sky vodka?

i don't know if we can show it here. it is in the paper. i don't know if you can see that. it is beyond suggestive. i don' know where they got that picture of my legs, but, you know, upsets me when they see those people, but it is causing qute the stir. >>ou know what's funny. nowadays you have to have an ad that pushes the envelope so people track it on youtube or talk about it. >> make noise. >> you have to make noise. there have been a couplef calvin klein ads and they get racy, you've seen the billboards in new york city. this is just a regular ad. i'm not sure if they're selling jeans or underwear. >> wee contributing to it by showing i >> i think the point is this stuff is on television and i know they're trying to attract that group of people 18 to whatever it is, whatever that group is -- >> same group as the skyy vodka. >> i went to a movie and there

was a calvin ad we can't show, itas so risque, i was watching it and thinking i can't believe they're showing it on the big screen here. >> and there are children -- sometimes they come, 7:017, accompanied by -- but the parents take them in. no wonder they're doing so badly in schools. they're bombarded every time they turn around. and even the ones that are trying to live like a good life, integrity-filled life, theygo to see a movie like the one we talked about the other day, "easy a" and the good kids trying to li a good moral life are depicted as the biggest losers, biggest hypocrites, it is not right. let's give our good kids a fair shot. >> i'm wh you. >> i'm tired of it, hoda. makes me want to eat. >> there is booze ins they cupcakes. >> that's why i want to eat. >> these are sangria cuakes and what is the other one? >> merlot. >> merlot. they smell phenomenally good. >> stuffed cupcakes.com. >> oh, my gosh.

>>hey are good. >> oh, my gosh. i wish i could have some. just reminds me of once when a friend of ours eva gave my son cody a big lollipop when he was little, wasn't allowed to have it. what did i say? somebody is saying -- i can't say that? >> what? no. >> i told him you could not have sweets. i got mad at them, don't give him anymore sweets. he said, mommy, can i smell it, yes, you can smell it. so he smelled it. he smelled it so much that he got something on the end of his nose, you know, and so he had to lick it and his tongue, he can lick his own nose, so he came to me and confessed. >> someone get a napkin. i can't even look at her. seriously. >> i'm a brown noser. >> yes. >> h came to me and he said -- >> jerry! >> i have to confess, i licked it. i'm sorry, i think that's sweet. >> that is sweet. i can't even look at you. let's go to sara. >> wait a minute. we have to talk about these. >> phil clins is kocking on the door. >> my gosh, i'm sitting tre

with stuff on my nose. hi, phil. >> i'll keep it quick. you asked about the dancing with the stars booing moment. trisha wrote booing is tasteless no matter what the reason. >> it is. >> you're right. >> thank you. >> phil collins, brand-new cd, it is genius, so much fun. we love him. with my boys, and i'm like, "oh, promise mommy you'll never ever pick up a cigarette." and brian looked at me at eight years old and said, "promise me you'll quit." i had to qui ♪ my doctor gave me a prescription forhantix, a medication i could take and still smoke, while it built up in my system. [ male announcer ] chantix is a non-nicotine pill. that stays with you alday to help you quit. in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. it's proven to rece the urge to smoke. ask your doctor if chantix isight for you. and find out how you can save money on your prescription at chantix.com. some people have had chang in behavior, hostility, agitation, dressed mood

and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stping chantix. if you notice agitation, hostility, depression or changes in behavior, thinkinor mood that are not typical for you, or if you develop suicidal thoughts or actions, stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. talk to your doctor abo any history of depression or other mental health pblems, which can get worse while taking antix. some people can have allergic or serious skin reactions to chantix, some of which can be life threatening. if you notice swelling of face, mouth, throat or a rash stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away. do not take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to chantix. tell your docto which medicines you're tang as they may work differently when you quit smoking. chantix dosing may be different if you have kidney problems. the most common side effect is nausea. patients also rerted trouble sleeping and vivid, unusual or strange dreams. until you know how chantix may affect yu, use caution when driving or operating machinery. chantix should not be taken with other quit-sking products. ♪ my benjamin, he helped me with the countdown. "ben, how many days hait been?"

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he's an eight-time grammy winner who needs no introduction at all. >> but since we're a lotted 21 seconds to set him up, we'll tell you phil collins' career has seen it all, singer, composure, musician, acto to pop music, big band and broadway. >> everything. today he's sharing his soul with "going back" a new cd covering very faus motown tunes. but he makes them hiown. >> listen to this one. ♪ the thing i learned so well ♪ ♪ in my youth >> it is phil collins and you said that's a carole king tun what did she say when she heard

it? >> she was monitoring it on youtube. i got an e-mail, she was in tears. it's, you know, her and jerry guthrie from the 1960s. >> they were married at the time, weren't they? >> yeah. it is a beautiful song. and it certainly puts this whole album in somewhat -- >> i love the album for so many reasons. i was plang it in my dressing room. you leave the old classics the way they are. why did you decide to keep them that way? >> i guess it is two ways of doing it. there is the way you go in there and stamp something new on it, and i didn't think these songs could be really improved upon. i also bigger for me was the fact i never got a chance to sing them. it is a selfish album. i just wanted to sing em. i got some of the funk brothers that played on the original tracks. they came over and played. and it was just everyday it was just likewe were comparing the old stuff with the new version,

just to try and get the right balance, the right echoes. for me it was a joy of -- a labor of loe. >> you pla drums on it as well. >> yeah, i do. >> that's been problematic. >> we were reading about that. tl us what is going on with your hands. >> no, this is -- >> you have a boo boo. >> yeah. i don't know what it is. it happened i think on the genesis reunion tour when something happened on my -- in my neck but it never really hurt. so i didn't address it too quickly. i just figured it would pass after the tour. anyway, ihad an operation on my neck and i've sincehad an operation on my elbow and my palm. there is something wrong, i don't have the strength in my fingers to hold the drum sticks. >> carpal tunnel, something like that? >> worse? >> nerve damage. >> i taped for the album, i taped this -- >> the stick to your hand? >> wow. >> really felt unnatural. 55 years of playing the drums. >> you can't tell on the record, i got to tll you. >> they're all jazz drums. so it was -- it actually

wasn't -- it was frustrating for me because i normally g the stuff out of the way quickly but it took a long time to get it to feel the way i wanted it to. >> the great part of your album is your songs, but i looked at this cover. how old were you in this picture? >> 13. >> you didn't know this picture existed, right? >> no. there are very few pictures of me playing the dru at all. and i opened the swiss magazine where i live, you know, and there was a four-page picture of this and part of an interview. and i started investigating ere they got it from and i think i know where it came from. it was a guy that used to take pictures for a book called "spotlight," tv directors would take photographs. and he obviously did a special session with my drum kit. he must have died an left it to gaetti images because i had to pay for it. >> oh, no. >> you know, that is awful. >> can you even believe it? >> in this day and age, nothing is sacred. >> i'm surprised we haven't seen

you do more. you're a really fine, instinctive actor. and you seem to enjoy it when you were doing it. >> yeah, i did. i did it when i was a kid, you know, and i hated every minute of it. >> i didn't know that. >> i did oliver, alfred in oliver, that was great. but i did "miami vice," a big episode. >> i thought that would have led to a lot more. >> but it did lead to two films, one was "buster" in england it did very well, but i speak very fast. y know, almost wanted to get it over and done with. nd the i did an australian film called "frauds" which was much better. and then i kind of moved back into the music. >> well,we're -- you certainly belong and we love you. people are going to enjoy this so, so much. thank you, phil, thank you for being with us. up next, wt do you get when you combine stargate universe with the social network. yes, we have them both. >> what? >> robert carlisle on the left and armie hammer on the right. we get them both after these messages.

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known for playi diverse roles, you may remember him as menard, the supervillain who could not fi feel pain in the james bond movie or in "the full monte". >> now he's keeping his clothes on playing a scientist, dr nicholas rush in a second action packed season of sky phi's "stargate universe." welce back to you. just flown in from vancouver, a little sleep deprived. >> oh, baby. >> everybody has a boo boo today. >> so how ishis second season going so far? >> very good. about 15 episodes done now out of 20 and it continues on from the first season left off, a cliffhanger at the end of the first. so take that on into the first episode of the second and then the characters get more flushed out more developed. >> do you have this acce in the -- did you change it? >> no, no.

this is it. >> okay. >> you could do -- a straight american if you wanted to. >> let's hear american. >> no chance. >> come on. >> not a forperfoing monkey. >> it does y here you do it. >> you're obviously from scotland. >> i am. >> did you grow up doing the classics in theater? >> yes, i did, i went to the royal scottish academy of music and drama, classically trained. that was in 1983 in france and a long time since. >> why are y in no hurry to get back to earth on this show? nobody is in a hurry. what's going on? >> some of them are and some of them aren't. that's one of the main reasons i was interested in the job an the character, he didn't want to go back. that's where drama lives right there. i've been able to -- >> you've done drectin in addition to acting. how is that fitting? >> tha was an experience for sure. the guys that create this

project, robert cooper, spoke to me last year, and asked me if i was interested in directing. iirected in the theater for many, many years beforehand. >> is it pretty much the same? do you approach it the same? >> it is different to work with the actors. that was great. i was comfortable with that. but the technicalities of it, that's something different. it is something i had to get used to. having said that, that was a wonderful crew in vancouver. we have done it for 15 years. >> beautiful state to be -- or city to be living in nine months out of the year if you have to be some place. >> the actors listen to a first-time director? >> they listen to me. >> they do. >> the sound of your voice is a beautiful thing. >> it is authority. >> there is sometng else quite beautiful about him. >> what? his jacket? >> yes, but -- >> the man's hands. >> hoda and i are very into hands. >> yes. >> you have great hands, beautiful hands. >> and tell you why, they' not buffed too much. >> they're not buffed at all. >> no, no. >> i don't like the buffing and the filing. >> more men should know about the hand thing. >> it matters a lot. >> very important. my father taught me that.

>> see. we're glad that you could be with us. >> thank you for joining us. > a pleasure. >> the new season. >> thank you so much. >> the season premiere of "stargate universe" tonight on sci-fi at 9:00. the great story of facebook comes to the big screen and you know who will tell us all about it? you know this great guy named armie haer who is napping. okay, look, this is a big show. >> you need a very long couch for armie hammer, 6'5" 6'5", adorable. sir, it's a simple question, do u want heartburn pain now or later? [ male announcer ] these heartburn medicines make you choose between hurting now, or later. pepcid® complete doesn't. it starts to neutralize ac in seconds and keeps it under control all day or all night. sometimes you gotta make compromises, man. [ male announcer ] no you don't, man. pepcid® colete works now a works later.

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i'm meteorologist tom kierein. on radar we're looking at a storm that had been under a tordo warning. this storm has weakened considerably. fortunately we don't have any report of any tornado touchdown on eastern shor now moving into cecil county. elsewhere we have some showers and storms moving along the eastern shore later today. and for our region we'll see this continuing to pass through [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable and enjoying it less and less? stop paying for second best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and phone

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we're back on this tuesday, booze day, wi more of "today." one of the actors in the new and pretty controversial movie "the social network". >> the film tells the story of the creator of cebook, mark zuckerberg. >> co-creator. >> and the lawsuit filled against him by the winklevosses. >> armie hammer play s the winklevoss twins. physically it is almost scary how much you look like the twins. they were here in person last week. have been friends for a long time your family and my family. i went through the whole casting thing with you, remember? you said i don't know if i'm going to get it and you' been working on it now for how long? >> over a year. we -- i would say we started shooting over a year ago and we had the rehearsal process before them and had toow and train and all that stuff. a while now, yeah. >> you didn't meet the twins before. you met them after. are you glad you waited until

after the film to meet them. >> i am. part of me wanted to meet them before to research the character and all that actory stuff but i'm probably -- i probably would have walked away doing a bad imitation of ese guys as opposed to really dedicating myself to the character that aaron soin so beautifully wrote. >> aaron's screenplay is truly brilliant. we're not surprised by that. this is a very difficult story to tell. you would think onthe surface, you know, computers, how boring, but it is so riveting, you can't take your eyes off of it. >> i had the same reaction. i finished reading the script and go, it is a facebook movie. why are they making a facebook movie. once i read the scipt, it is not about facebook or computer programming, it is friendship, betrayal, trust, the need to be accepted and loved, all the things that make a great story or drama it all here. >> and thprice of fame. >> exactly. >> when do you think about mark cker berg wberg this thing an a fiction, would not see it. >> i would probably he probably

has to be curious. i would say that's a healthy level of cynicism. but we have to be careful because at the end of the day, there are thousands of students and teachers in new jersey now who don't care why he gave a gift. >> your mom and dad would be proud of thatanswer. >> yeah. will you let them know? >> we have do say, armie, one of the most beautiful weddings i've ever been to, married his rgeous elizabeth last may. and elizabeth chambers. they are e ken and barbie of the world. it is unbelievable. >> how did you meet, armie? >> through my best friend, tyler ramsey. he introduced uand it was love at first sight. i remember what she was wearing the first time i saw her. >> what was she wearing? >> jean, wavy hair, gladiator >> that's love. >> and tyler is getting married this weekend. >> tyler is. >> there is nothing but huge stuff ahead for you. what are you working on next? you have a pile of scripts waing for you. >> this is a lot more doors open

to me now. we're trying to keep that open. i think nothing concrete, nothing i want to jinx by talking about it, but things are good. >> y're so tall, by the way. i don't n't knknow if you can t. how tall are you? >> 6'5 ". >> i'm convinced that's the only reason i got the part. >> the guy that tried out for the role ended up being your double, right, because -- >> it is a complicated situation. not necessarily a double. there was another actor there, josh pents and we worked together to create these twins. >> and so much of it is done with technology. >> which is so above my pay grade. >> it has to be strange. one day, am i tyler today or cameron today. >> different nights we would go to 1:00, 2:00 inhe morning, shoot all day, you forget what character you are, what your name is, where you are, where you're from. >> how about the publicity? so loveable. >> hard to have him in your house. >> all the best. >> so proud of you.

really. okay. it opens in theaters on friday, don't miss it. it is absolutely brilliant. coming up next, why career and technical education programs may not be what you think right after this. yeah. where he can put f on the fast track. ( happy baby ) ( raceway sounds ) thanks to his great motor skills even his littlest touch n set his whole world in motion. ( raceway sounds ) ( giggles ) way to zoom jacob ! ( tire screech ) guess who just reached the finish line ? the lil zoers speedway. ( cheers ) only from fisher-price. play. laugh. grow. activia is better than ever! hey, you guys. want to try activia's great new taste? isn't this the yogurt that, you know... helps regulate your digestive system. ooh, i think i'll pass. no, no, no! trust me. it is beyond tasty. mmm! wow! i can't believe it, i lovet! mmm, this is really good! new best tasting activia ever! ♪ activia now you can join the fight against breast cancer every time you enjoy an activia.

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on this dy two of education nation, we turn our focus to high school career and technical education programs. >> in the past, these classes were considered a pathway to a specific trade, but now they are exposing kids to new careers and it is making a big difference in their lives. oking, auto mechanics, ands could metology, just a few of the few traditional career and technical education programs offered to high school students through the decades. but now career options are broadening to reflect the broadening 21st century and the nation's evolving global economy. nicholas is a high school senior getting a jump start as a budding artist. >> i want to influence the minds of many with my art. my style is basically involves perspective and three dimensional objts. >> i would like to go to john j. college for four years and eventually become an fbi agent. >> reporter: mark hall is part of the emergency and protective services unit. >> we work with cuffing,

fingerprinting and various amount of other tasks. >> reporter: 14 million high school and college students are enrolled in cte programs in the u.s. at the new york harbor school, straight a student adriana benjamin is a certificate fide rescue diver who is excited to be in the maritime program. >> makes me want to read more about the ocean, makes me want to understand it more, how do we need it, why do we need it. >> she's adorable. she's a senior at the urban assembly new york harbor school in new york city. >> and jan brea is the executive director of the association for career and technical education. welcome to you bot >> you were talking about your intert in the maritime field. but that's not exactly what you want to pursue. >> no. >> as a career. what do you want tbe? >> i would like to be an ob-gyn in the near future. i plan on going to college, of course. i was thinking of columbia university, cornell, hamilton, brown. things of that nature. >> tough schools to get into. i'm sure you're aware of that. >> right. >> what is the advantage for her, someone like adriana, too

it a school like her in her preparaon for college? >> there is a lot of advantages. she's very indicative of our cte students. first of all, it gives her a skill she can use that will prepare her for college, she's getting leadership skills, critical thinking skills, she's becoming a well rounded individual. which is very important. plus, if she decides along the way, ob-gyn is not what she wants, she has a skill she can use in a lot of different career paths. plus, also if she needs to work her way through college, she now can get a good paying job that will help her. >> it seems to make such common sense, why have we not embraced this like crazy? >> well, you know, the interesting thing is that as is said in yourpiece, there are over 14 million students who are in career and technical education. it is there. students are taking advantage of it. but for the two of you and for me, and for other parents, we remember what vocational education was when we were in school. >> it had a bad rap. >> it was thought of that, its

for those who aren't going to college. that's not true today. >> today it gives you a broad base of knowledge and skills for any kind of career, prepares you for college, prepares you to enter into the workplace right away if you need to. it is really indicative of wh's happening with the 21st century. and there is a tremendous skill shortage in this country. they can't fill without cte >> in the school you go to, you studied maritime things, but do they also cover, i don't know, the regulars, math, science, all that stuff? >> of course. the thing about our cte programs that a lot of parents don't understand is in order to be in the programs, i'm a scuba diver, in order to maintain being a scuba diver, i have to maintain my other classes as well. if i don't have -- if my grades are not up to par, i can't be a scuba diver. >> i see. >> that's what parents don't understand. >> the ingredit you're talking about which seems to be missing in the regular schools because so many people are dropping out out of sheer boredom, bored to death, you're not bored, you

love what you're doingnd you have don't have time to be bored, do you? >> i don't. i remember in tenth grade, my first and second period i was building boats. heraim, everyone else is going to school, they learn math and english and i'm hammer, hammer, screw, screw, that's what i'm doing my first and second period. after that'm going diving, leaving class early, but i'm still getting experience on the field. >> it is just great. it is great. >> we wish you great luck with your university, whatever you go. >> they'll be very lucky to have you. >> thank you very much. >> it does engage students and that's what we need to know. >> thank you very much. coming up next, how -- we'll tell you how your wardrobe can be transformed. >> through ambush. >> apparently. >> yeah. [ female announcer ] utri-grain -- one good decision... ♪ ...can lead to another. ♪ ♪ ...made with real fruit

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time for "today's style" and how to shop your closet. a new wardrobe doesn't have to mean maxing outyour credit cards.

>> glamour magazine contributing editor tracy longran ransacked one lucky lady's closet to show her how it is done. >> what can we help you out with today? >> as you can see, i have a lot of clothes. i don't want to spend a l of money to update my rdrobe. i have a lot of pieces that i think i can get more out. >> we'll show you how to put something together in totally expected new ways. how about this shirt? i like it because it is a boy look, but sometimes it looks really boyish. >> i think the secret to this one is pairg it with somthing really feminine. patterns can be tough. army is a huge trend now. let's start trying some clothes on and putting together some great outfits from your own closet. >> this is how i usually wear this dress. >> the sme dress, but a whole new look. pencil skirt on top of it looks like it is a blouse. the belt with the ess, and the skirt, an office appropriate fall look. this is the little black dress that she already had in in her closet, a button down shirt

underneath and a belt around the middle and it is a workable jumper. this has such a summer feel to t we paired with it a pea coa a skirt and brought it from summer to fall. a lot of people are wearing bold colors for fall, but if you pair it with this jacket and an animal print it a big fall trend. when in doubt, add jeans and a white shirt, it will make anything in your closet look totally fresh. >> welcome, tracy. you look in your closet, you don't realize all the stuff that can go with each other. >> your closet is an amazing place it go shopping. it is a store where everything already fits you. >> neverything fits florence, she's drop dead gorgeous. >> look through your piees and play stylist with yourself. >> let's look at -- this is florence's before picture. okay. now she has this dress i her closet and it isn't suited for

the fall, right? >> it is a simple gray dress, something e thought of as a party frock. has a little sparkle to it. but we have been seeing a little shimmer for ytime, it is a big fall trend and we figured we would take this summery party frock and turn it into a fall appropriate look. >> come on out. >> cute. >> that's cute. >> so what we did is put a great crisp white blouse underneath, a wardrobe staple that every woman should have in her closet, a blazer on top, rolled up the cuffs to give it this preppie kind of el and added a belt around the middle and a pair of boots. we took it from a look that was really sort of, again, a party dress and turned it totally work appropriate. >> put a blouse underneath the dress, right? >> yes. this can turn any dss -- the piece we saw earlier, we had her in a little black dress and did the same thing, a blouse underneath. >> couldn't see the definition. >>ou can turn any sleeveless dresses into a jumper. >> this is in your closet? >> this is all from florence's closet. >> florence has good taste. >> what kind of shoe do you

wear, florence? >> she can go in this exact same look and go from, you know, work what she's wearing now, straight to cocktails. she'll ke off the blazer, take off the belt, and add a great little high heel shoe, a clutch and a statement necklace, a great hair accessory, put that on insteadnd the same dress can go from work to party. >> perfect. all right, well, thank you. thank you, florence. >> thank you very, vry much. we'll be back and take you behind closed doors. but one flight up. [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable and enjoying it less and less? stop paying fosecond best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and phone for just $99.99 a month for a year. call now and we'll include this unbeatable bonus:

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what happens behinded the closed doors of manhattan's mo desirable zip codes? >> i found out this morning when i was reading one flight up, the novel about four dynamic vry sexy female characters who seem have it all, but do they? susan failhill is an award winning tv writer and the author -- i think it is your first novel, isn't it? >> second book, first novel.

>> "one flight up." i'm a little embarrassed to meet you, got to be honest. i feel like i know you very well. >> a little too well perhaps. we were in the classroom, now i'm taking you to the boudoir. >> this book, you guys, en you pick up, you'll know, it is full of -- it is very stemmy, full of infidelity, all of your characters. why is infidelity your major leagueheme in this? >> well, i was inspiredy t hormonal surge of middle age to write this. the muse of hot flash coming through. >> that will do it. >> i also felt like a lot of chiclet deals with the -- getting to the altar, the real story begins after the i dos when it is i do, all of a sudden you're no longer wreaking of desperation and people are coming on to you and you have to say, sorry, but i don't, i can't. and i wanted to deal with th struggle that women sometimes face. >> you were writing -- i was -- i didn't get it until yesterday, but at one point you talked about this one character who she'sbout to have the first kiss, the first -- leading the first everything, and you

talked about the fact that, you know what, you know that it is never going to be that good again. >>exactly. exactly. >> you're coming from the perspective of -- >> being married. marriage is fantastic. but whether you're playing t light bill together, it is not an aphrodisiac. >> we were cleaning up puppy poo at 6:30 this morning. >> it is interesting, sometimes you make a choice between something that is stable and a roller coaster ride, which is how you -- >> yeah, hoda. >> the mario in the maserati and the mortician. mario will get you hot and bothered, moray the mortician will be there but you could get a little bored. >> that's why some people settle for both at the same time. >> a little something on the side. >> what did you learn about infidelity from your book, what did you take away? >> i took away my main character is dealing with the issue of trying to be a perfectionist and trying to control her life. there is an old saying, man plans and god laughs, well, count that twice for cupid

laughs and she learns that you can't control every aspect of your life and sometimes you have to make a mistake to discover who you really are. i'm not saying cheat. read my book instead. >> what does your husband think when he reads your drafts of these? >> i think he's thinking can we bring some of that into the bedroom and t leave it on the page? let's not write it let's have it happen. >> are the characters based on people you know? >> writing is plagiarism from life. my memoir, my first book was a memoir. i had to be carefu and ptect everyone. this is fiction so i can tell the truth. everybody is a little bit of a composite of someone i know. >> this is the most like you? >> i hate to say the main characte hoochie as charged. >> hoochie as charged. >> okay. >> your mother is an interesting person. >> my mother was a fascinating rson. >> good luck with the book. >> it is a page turner. >> l the best. tomorrow, rosy perez is here and a performance from miranda lambert will sing for us. >> and we're going back to fourth grade. don't ask. nice talking to you.