>> excavators are expensive. that's it for news 4 today. we'll be back in 20 minutes with a local news update. we'll have more on your weather, too. join us for a full good morning. here it comes. the first nor'easter of the season is taking aim, bringing snow, rain and high winds from virginia to maine. the powerful system could impact 60 million people with some areas expected to get more than a foot of snow. new twist in the search for 10-month-old lisa irwin. the parents scheduled a police interview with the baby's missing brothers and one of the lawyers for the family stops working on the case. and bright lights, our holiday extravaganza kicks off. amy and i look for things that go bump in the night. what did we encoter? we'll tell you this coming

what did we encoter? we'll tell you this coming saturday, october 29th, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a saturday morning. i'm lester holt. boo. >> and i'm amy robach. didn't work. we felt at moments maybe we weren't alone in that prison. it was dark, it was creepy. i heard things. >> it was one of those what were we thinking things going into this darkened prison. we weren't alone. we were there with the folks from sci-fi's ghost hunter's program. they brought their van, their gear. we supplied plenty of the fear. and we're going to show you what happened. there were some things that kind of made you a little uneasy. >> yeah. like you said, maybe we're sleeping with the lights on now at least for a couple of nights. coming up later in the broadcast, the case against dr. conrad murray. closing arguments are expected next week. and the defense is trying to

show mooix michael jackson's death may have been caused by prescription drugs he was already taken. friday's testimony brought us more fireworks from the witness stand. then an update on that rescue mission from antarctica. renee nicole ducur suffered a stroke in the south pole. it took weeks before they were able to get in there to get her. she's back in the states and we'll tell you how she's doing. and william and kate's baby will succeed to the throne even if it's a girl. we'll have a live report from buckingham palace. >> still newlyweds and we're crowning their kids already. my goodness. a storm is coming into the northeast. how bad are things going to get? nbc meteorologist bill karins is here to tell us more about it. >> good morning, lester.

historic. we've never seen a storm like this that has the power to knock out power to this many people and take down this many tree limbs. i'm not concerned with the appalachians and new england. it's the valleys and the hills where the leaves are still on. if you get that heavy snow, you're the ones i'm worried about losing power during the day today. right now, as expected, most of this is rain from d.c. to new york and philadelphia. it's later today that we'll be watching the changeover. the costal cities from i-95 to the coast, not a big deal for you. it's areas north and west of i-95, the suburbs of d.c., philadelphia especially to scranton, new york city northwards, the hudson valley that will see the worst of this storm throughout the overnight period tonight. how much snow are we talking? harrisburg to snowshoe. we'll keep it down under 6 inches for the new england areas. the coast, not a huge ordeal. new york city, maybe a slushy inch or two for you.

once we get to northern new jersey, the cat skills, poconos, later tonight, connecticut and massachusetts, that's where the most power outages will occur. those areas could be 6 inches of heavy, wet snow. back to you, lester. >> you do know this is october, bill, right? >> the feels like a december forecast. it's very strange. >> we want to check with the weather channel's jim cantore. the calendar says october, doesn't it? >> yeah. many people are going to have a whitehall low wean. you can see most of the leaves behind me are green, yellow, but they're still on the trees. and that means they're going to catch this heavy, white snow as it's coming down later this morning. once we get under these snowfall rates, especially 1 to 2 inches per hour, that's when we will experience travel difficulties. penn dot has alerted us that they are on the roads with salt, pretreating as this snow comes

down. people are urged to stay off the roads. a tough, tough task to ask when you've got a huge penn state game. over 100,000 people will want to fill the stadium and experience the snow. the state record here in pennsylvania is 6 inches. the record in harrisburg, 2.1. lester, we may triple if not quadruple that before all is said and done. >> jim cantore, thanks very much. lester, thanks. from weather, we turn to your bottom line. for once, good news about those bank fees on debit cards. tom costello reports. >> for a quick sampling of public opinion about those debit card fees, look no further than youtube. a bone to pick with bank of america. >> what you withdraw all of your money. >> bank wars. >> while bank of america, sun trust and regions financial are sticking with their plans to charge customers a monthly fee for debit card purchases, some of their biggest competitors

have decided not to go along, including pnc financial, citigroup and keybank. chase says it's abandoning its debit card fee plans. >> this was a netflix moment for bank customers. they've been hearing about one new fee after another and this one was the one that tipped them over the edge. >> but experts warn, look out for so-called stealth fees, fees for receiving a paper statement, fees for using a teller, fees for not using your account enough and fees for not maintaining a large, minimum balance. >> given a bank that doesn't increase the fee, if they increase the balance requirement, that's a health fee right there. >> those are fees that wealthier customers can often avoid. many are at it after customers charged the amount banks can charge mer chapts for accepting debit cards. >> we all knew full well it was the consumer at the end of the day who would be the big loser. >> consumers can often avoid the

fees by switch to go credit unions. in seattle, becu has seen the accounts jump from the norm of 7,000 per month to 16,000 in october alone. >> you're going to get free checking, in some cases you're going to get interest with your checking. you're not going to pay to see a teller. you're not going to pay to have, you know, funds transferred from a savings account. >> those dollars saved stay in your pocket. but experts caution using a big bank's atm when you're a credit union customer could cost you in transaction fees, an important calculation to make before you move your money. for "today" tom costello, nbc news, washington. joining us is melissa francis, host of power lunch on krbz. >> boy, that guy at the beginning was really mad, right? >> that speaks to the level of frustration people are feeling. it looked to me like people are removing some of those overt fees and hiding the fees. >> the bottom line is you're

going to pay more one way or the other. look at all the rules and make sure you're following them. tom highlighted some ways, going to credit unions. the bottom line, you're probably going toned up paying more. >> and this is all a result of the government changes can in credit card rules, correct? >> it is. banks said if you changes they laws, you have to find a way to make up the revenue or not. it's our cost of business. whether you agree with that or not, they did say they're going to institute the fees elsewhere. >> let's move on to good news. we saw a lot of green arrows on the board this week, which was a nice change of pace. the dow closed over 12,000. 2.5% economic rate. is our economy finally looking hopeful? >> it's better. i mean, when you look at that gdp number, it was a good

number. it's twice where it was last quarter. it's still not where it needs to be to create jobs. it should be like 4% or 5% to get out of this hole. we have millions of people unemploy unemployed, 9.1% unemployment. 2.5% growth isn't going to get us there. it's a step in the right direction. we have a big jobs number coming out on friday and we're looking to add maybe 100,000 jobs. that's the guess so far. that's not enough to get us going again. so a step in the right direction? not for sure. >> and most economists attribute this market swing to good news out of europe. they've finally figured out how to deal with their debt crisis pup mentioned the unemployment rate. is that the next thing that has to turn around for our economy to take the next step? >> employment and housing. those are the two keys that we're still missing here. the european fix s made markets feel a lot better. the dow had a phenomenal month so far, one of the best in history. but we really need those two things to turn around for regular consumers to feel better.

consumer sentiment is still terrible. until people feel confident, they still can't go out and spend. >> holiday spending, what are we expecting. consumer sentiment is just not good right now. a lot of the stores are not stocking the same inventory that they generally do this time of year. they're very concerned. and i think that, you know, people are taking a wait and see attitude as far as holiday sales. >> all right, melissa francis, thanks as always. now here is lester. >> amy, thanks. now to politics and the race for the white house, the first gop primary is just over two months away. and with the clock ticking, the challengers are stepping up their attacks on each other and the president, jonathan capehart is a political analyst and msnbc contributor. >> i want to talk about something republicans have seemed to caught a whiff of scandal in the obama administration. green companies, one of them

solyndra, just went into bankruptcy to the tune of half a billion dollars. what does that mean for the white house who suddenly appointed an independent investigation? >> the thing to keep in mind, solyndra, half a billion dollars of loan guarantees lost, in a program that's $38 billion to $48 billion. it's a huge program, it's the only program that failed, solyndra. keep in mind, this is a process that was started under president george w. bush. so we're looking at the gop looking to scratch, trying to find a scandal in an administration that is remarkably free of scandal. >> all right. i want to turn now to presidential politics. michele bachmann, tea party favorite, came out of the ames straw poll as the winner the. she was in the news for about a day after that. now this controversy within the tea party about where she's

going and whether this is the person they should be wrapping their arms around. >> there's some tea party factions that want to win. they want to do the things they want to do in terms of shrinking the deficit, bringing the goal to heal in terms of government spending. right now, it doesn't look like michele bachmann is going to be that the person. >> help me understand what's going on with rick perry. we've heard a lot that he's struggled in debates. but what would lead him to perhaps nod participate in any more. >> the previous five debates. his performance has been horrendous. when he came into the race, he stomped all over michele bachma bachmann's day in the sun. she won the straw poll, the next day he announces and he's riding high. he hits debates and he stumbles. if you're rick perry, you said

your numbers falling and you can trace it back to your debates, would you want to participate? no. but it's a problem. now back to melissa francis at the news desk. we begin with breaking news with several attacks in afghanistan. we are live with nbc's atia baui in kabul. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, melissa. it was a volatile day in afghanistan including in the capital of kabul where we saw the biggest attack when a kau car bomb struck. there were several casualties. they won't say how much how much foreign casualties were involved or u.s. service members. we heard from wednesday on the scene they saw several dead bodies on the ground. we're waiting to hear more information. we know afghans were also killed in the attack.

in southern afghanistan, nato province, a man wearing a security uniform turned and killed two u.s. servipeople, an of the location, we expect some of them may be u.s. casualties. in southern peru, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake hit on friday. fortunately, no reports of fatalities. the quake was centered near the same location as another devastating one in 2007. in australia's qantas airlines has grounded its entire fleet indefinitely following a labor dispute overpay and, wog conditions. about 70,000 passengers have been affected and more than 600 flights have been canceled. qantas flies 21 international routes. and sugarland held a benefits concert friday night. back in august, seven people were killed and dozens were hurt

when the stage collapsed just before the band was to play at the indiana state fair. singer jennifer nettles spoke for the band. >> we are so happy to be here with you and we are so happy that you are here for everything that that means tonight. >> and concert goers were asked to make a donation for relief funds to the victims and their families. close to $1 million has already been raised. and the statue of liberty is celebrating her 150e 150th birthday. several people joined the party after being sworn in. diversity strengthens the nation. thousands of other people boarded ferries to get a closer look at the iconic statue. the birthday ended with a

fireworks program core graphed to music. commissioner david stern has canceled all northbound games through november 30th. talks between nba players and owners have broken down. the owners are ip cysting on a 50/50 split of revenues while players want 52%, leaving them about $100 million apart and no further talks have been scheduled. and the sports world is still buzzing about last night's world series. the st. louis cardinals completed their magical comeback season by beating the texas rangers, 6-2, in game seven to win the world championship. this is the cardinals 11th world series title and the second straight year the rangers have come up short. back to lester and amy and bill. >> the sixth inning. >> we were watching it, too. i was there for the '82 world series, though, back in the day. i used to live in st. louis and

i had a huge crush on keith hernandez. >> she was a teenie bopper then. bill is here with the rest of our national forecast. >> the late october storm is the headline. much of the rest of the country is doing okay. for those of you waking up and spaekt big snowstorm already, it's just heading up the coast of cape cod later on this evening. it's in between now and then that the storm will crank up with the winds and a good saturday morning i'm meet rols chuck bell. cruddy, cold and wet here in washington. temperatures are mostly many the 30s. 39 degrees at national airport. 34 in leesburg. there are snowflakes sticking to the ground now as close by as northern montgomery county. western loudon county out to the panhandle of west virginia. mostly rain in and around town. we will

that's your october saturday forecast. back to you, amy. bill, thank you. now to the newest world record and this one is a biggie. it's the global population and it's about to reach 7 billion. nbc's ann thompson has more. >> reporter: the sound of joy from the earth's 7 billionth person will also be a sound of alarm. the child enters a world where 900 million people have no access to clean water. nearly 1 billion go to bed hungry and 2.6 billion have no add kwapt adequate sanitation. but it's said we can thrive in an increasingly crowded world. >> this planet can support 7 billion people. but the trick is, how do we deal with common resources that we all share. >> reporter: the most pressing issue is water. people say water is the next oil. it isn't oil. it's irreplaceable. >> we are using water faster

when it becomes available. >> reporter: 18 countries are overpumping, including china, india and the united states. saudi arabia wanted to be self-sufficient in wheat, but will soon stop gring the crop because it has depleted an underground water source. when it comes to food, the world has moved to a more affluent meat-based diet increases pressure on the land and rising food prices add to food insecurity. >> probably the biggest hurdle is the fact that tonight at the dinner table, there will be 219,000 people who were not there last night. and tomorrow night, there will be another 219,000 people. >> reporter: it took until 1804 to reach 1 billion people. and more than another century to hit the 2 billion mark. then population growth exploded. the most recent billion people added in just the last dozen years. however, the rate of growth is slowing as more women become better educated and find jobs. but it's more than just the sheer number of people on this planet. the pressure also comes from

what we make and what we buy. samjayen says that's not slowing down. >> my jeans taking 2,000 gallons of water to make, right? so we're talking 14 trillion gallons of water if 7,000 people want my jeans. >> how how do we divide the earth's boundty among 7 billion people and counting? >> and now back to lester. >> amy, thanks. this is obviously pumpkin season, but whether you're using them for pies or jack-o-lanterns, the cost is skyrocketing. jay gray has the story. >> reporter: they are a sign of the season. the bright orange, a beacon signaling fall and all it brings. >> it's the great pumpkin. he's rising up out of the pumpkin patch. >> but dogged by severe weather conditions from west texas through upstate new york. this year, the pumpkins just

aren't that great. >> we always hoped we were going to get that next week of rain and we never have got it. >> withered by the drought, bad fruit litter jason's farm. normally he would have at least three trucks with 20 or more working his crop. this year, though, there's only one tractor and four people because there's not that much to pick. >> you look out at this field, it has to be sickening. >> it is. it is. and i wish i had so many more to keep selling, but it's not going to happen, i don't think, this year. >> he's only loaded about a third of the pumpkins he would in a normal year. and the few that did survive the drought are only about half the size he typically sees. >> it's been a long summer. >> but at least he has something to sell. >> it becomes a watery mess. nothing any good for nothing. >> darcy normally turns out 15,000 to 20,000 pumpkins before halloween. this year, he won't sell even

one. >> i wake up in the morning and i don't have a job to go to. >> the tractors sit idle on his farm and dozens like it across the northeast. rain dumped on the area by hurricane irene, washed away crops. there's not much that's going to survive that. you can see it, it didn't survive it. water desperately needed on farms across the south sits pooled or in muddy pulleds here. >> it's a bunch of decayed mush. you can't carve a jack-o-lantern on that or paint a picture on it. >> which means for farmers from new york to texas, there will no treat this halloween, just a trick from mother nature with perhaps the scariest part of the season still to come. >> where are you going? what do you do? who helps you survive? who pays the bills? there's a lot more ahead on "today." a judge in aruba

state farm. this is jessica. hey, jessica, jerry neumann with a policy question. jerry, how are you doing? fine, i just got a little fender bender. oh, jerry, i'm so sorry. i would love to help but remember, you dropped us last month. yeah, you know it's funny. it only took 15 minutes to sign up for that new auto insurance company but it's taken a lot longer to hear back. is your car up a pole again? [ crying ] i miss you, jessica! jerry, are you crying? no, i just, i bit my tongue. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. state farm.

still to come on "today," baby steps. the new royal change and what it means if william and kate's first child is a girl. plus, be afraid. our personal pick for the scariest films of all time. first, these messages.

this is a news 4 news break. we are waking up to a wet and cold morning here across the washington area. a nice shot of the white house there. going to have a look at your possibly snowy forecast in just a minute. good morning. the time now is 7:26 on this saturday, october 29th, 2011. topping the news today, work on the green and red lines will slow you down this weekend. four green line stations are closed for track work until monday morning. water front, navy yard and anacostia and congress heights. free shuttle buses will take passengers. on the red line, trains will

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good saturday morning, everybody. i'm news 4 meteorologist chuck bell. we are off to a cold and wet start to your weekend. that's not going to change much through the course of your saturday. current temperatures in the mid and upper 30s around town. freezing conditions as close by as petersburg, west virginia and cumberland, maryland. there is snow sticking to the ground now. upper montgomery county west to have leesburg area. driving will be very tricky today along interstate 81. be extra careful today. forecast cold rain and snow could get one to six inches in the far northwestern suburbs.

could get more than that out towards the blue ridge. back to you. >> thank you, chuck. another news update in 25 minutes. now back to the "today" show in we are back on this saturday morning, october 29th, 2011. we're getting ready for an october surprise. yes, an early season storm threatened to dump a lot of snow in parts of the northeast, but that hasn't stopped a great crowd from spending part of their morning with us. they've got their umbrellas, they're ready. i'm amy robach alongside lester holt. >> i'm still in denial. >> i can't believe it is happening. >> i have no idea where my snow boots are and i refuse to bring them out until november. coming one we'll talk about conrad murray. >> new fireworks friday from the man slaughter trial. this time they're coming from the defense expert. he says michael jackson's death

may have been caused by drugs that were already in his system. the case is winding down. it could be in the jury's hands as early as next week, though not as quickly as the judge had hoped. we'll get the latest from the courthouse in just a few minutes. >> all right, the historic change in succession rules for the royal family. this is girl power, especially if william and kate's child is a she. now that princess will ascend to the throne first. and this holiday weekend, we will be take a look at our favorite horror movies. there's "psycho," "amityville horror." we've all weighed in and some of them may surprise you. >> there aren't few that we haven't seen. we are true horror movie fans. >> yeah, but you shared some i haven't seen. >> really? >> yes.

we begin today in aruba, the mystery surrounding robyn gardner. on friday, a hearing took place to determine the fate of jerry gee giordano. >> gary giordano hiding from cameras as he left court friday. his attorney says the man expected of her disappearance gave this heartfelt plea to the judge. >> i am innocent. i want to go home. >> but it wasn't enough. aruban law allows for a suspect on of a crime to be held without being charged. robyn gardner went missing on august 2nd. giordano claims they went snorkeling together near the beach, an area that is not known for the sport and considered dangerous. he says when signals got strong, he signaled gardener to swim back to shore, that he made it

back safely and never saw her again. aruban authorities are not convinced. >> we know for certain what mr. giordano is telling us is not the truth from the reenactments we have come to the conclusion that it's highly unlikely that she went into the water there. >> but giordano's attorney is adamant. >> looking for a theory is one thing. > she went inside the water. when she came out, she hit her leg and one of her toes was bleeding. >> authorities are waiting on several pieces of evidence, which include a blackberry, robyn's ipad, and gary's cell phone. >> while friends and family demand the truth -- >> i know at this time, there's team robyn, there's team gary and somewhere in the middle are the facts. and the facts don't lie.

>> gi ordano says he feels like he's trapped in a box, a box that may not be easy to get out of. for "today," nbc news, miami. john kelly joins us now. he served as attorney in the natalee holloway case. >> how are you, with amy? >> i'm doing fine. in fact, i just got back from aruba. i spoke with authorities there that said they'll be looking at evidence, they'll be continuing with their investigation. but bottom line, won't be truly be looking for and hoping for a body in this case? because that would change everything. >> well, sure, you always want a body, especially in a murder case like that. more importantly, the prosecution is down to its last 30 days of holding giordano. they've got this time to re-evaluate the evidence, look at the material evidence, look at the forensic evidence, talk to witnesses and now is the time they have to decide whether to charge him and see if they have a winnable case or release him in 30 days.

>> and the fact that they have not charged him yet says what? >> nothing. that it's a difficult case, aus mentioned, especially without a body. but there's no one except mr. giordano that had motive, had opportunity, and displayed the consciousness of guilt that would point to him and away from anybody else. >> when i spoke with the reuben authorities, they said they've had people in pretrial detention up to a year if the judge deems it necessary. this is aruban law. this is dutch law specifically. they can hold a person of interest, especially something like gary giordano, who is a flight risk, correct? >> well, yeah. the bar is raised each time you go in there in items of the burden of proof. you can't just hold somebody and say you're still looking for evidence. you have to show it's a substantive issue we're examining, you need more time for results and you're on the right path. but the dutch law is a little

different. they can pick up and hold witnesses for 60 or 90 days whatsoever. it's a whole different animal down there, that's for sure. >> and, john, you served for natalee holloway's mother. in a case that's been compared to robyn gardner's, for obvious reasons. what are some of the key dinnerses between the robyn gardner case and the holloway case? >> in the holloway case, the local authorities thought she was just a run away, didn't move to preserve evidence, talked to witnesses and were very inept into handling the media inquiries. in this particular case, law enforcement moved immediately, were immediately focused on giordano, sees surveillance evidence, sees the cell phones, digital camera, laptop and served all possible locations for a body and did their

reenactment. this time, i'd like to think they learned from their mistakes, learned from their inexperience last time and are handling this properly and can put together a case good as theirs. >> we appreciate your time this morning. thanks so much. >> sure. now with bill karins, a lot to talk about, bill. >> rain in new york city. temperature only 43. later today, the winds will be howling and the snow will come down. i imagine in louisiana, you don't see a lot of snow. >> laplace. >> do you see snow down there? >> oh, yeah. about every ten years or so. >> wait about ten hours and you'll see some here. >> okay. >> should be an interesting scene around the northeast part of the cup. nor'easter coming up the coast. temperatures will drop rain into snow. d.c. will see flakes, new york city, even baltimore. and then by sunday morning, the snow exits maine, back up into the northern plains.

also in the pacific northwest, not the best of weekends there, either. so you kind of get the picture iepts really just on the east coast that we have a bad day good morning, everyone i'm news 4 meteorologist chuck bell. temperatures are in the 30s. its is a cold, wet start to your weekend. >> 39 in town. 34 in winchester and martinsburg where there is some light snow starting to come down. it is coming down fast enough to stick to the ground. might make for some slushy travel on on the roadways. and in case you're wonder background your travel today or maybe how much snow you're going to get in your hometown, get those hours by hour forecast sst weather.com. coming up, heir apparent, what the ground breaking ruling means for will and kate plus their children.

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>> reporter: the trouble with tradition, it can be rather old fashioned. for a while, they've been asking them, why shouldn't a first born girl become queen and why shouldn't a monarch marry a catholic? even in this thoroughly modern worlds are tied to tradition. after their marriage, with a difficult decision, to change a 300-year-old law claiming that their oldest son should be mon act rather than their eldest daughter, a law that many consider sexist. >> put it simply, if the duke and dutch i couldn't sayess of cambridge were to have a little girl, that girl would be our queen. >> it's obviously an outdated old custom that women can't be next in line and i think it's crazy. >> it's a splendid idea. >> the announcement was made and the queen did not directly address the changes, but she did make a special note of the

important role that women play. >> the theme of this year is women as agents of change. and it encourages us to find ways to allow girls and women to play their full part. >> reporter: she knows, coming from a long line of powerful women, her namesake, queen elizabeth battled the spanish armada. rules were also changed to allow future kings and queens to marry catholics and those who draft new laws will have to hurry. >> there's already talk of when kate will get pregnant. so it certainly became a more urgent political issue. >> this weekend, the queen heads back to britain where, within a year, she will sign the new legislation in time for william and kate's first born, boy or girl. >> and lester, the fact is, the royal family don't change easily. and this is a big change. it requires the legislation

being changed in countries around the world. but the queen knows through bitter experience that if you don't move with the times, you can get left behind. >> kier simmons in london for us, thanks very much. up next, scary stuff. what horror movies give us, nightmares the.find out after these messages. wear away tooth enamel? n soften and once enamel's gone, it's gone for good. try... it uses an innovative gel-to-foam technology to surround your teeth, protecting them from the effects of acid erosion. pronamel iso-active strengthens and re-hardens acid-softened enamel. in fact, it's the number one dentist recommended brand for protection against the effects of acid erosion. try (new) pronamel iso-active today. this has been medifacts for pronamel iso-active. [ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things.

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we're back this morning. no, it's not a trick. it's not sunday. but jenna is here for a special halloween treat. >> yes. here is the deal. with halloween fast approaching, it got us thinking about what our favorite scary movies are. >> it can be gory, suspenseful or in jenna's case, not right. but whatever the reason, these are the movies that keep us awake at night. >> they're here. >> anything supernatural is really scarey. >> if i scream, then it's a good, scary movie. >> everything has to be normal. you have to have a sense of dread that something is going to happen, but it can't be the predictable. >> we need a really good

villain. >> here's johnny! >> i hate scary movies, which is why the scariest movie i ever saw was "jaws ii." my brother and i came home from school, i was probably in sixth grade and "jaw he ii" came on. sxwifs like, this looks fun. that shark was like the end of the world to me. >> really? "jaws ii"? >> each tooth was like an animal. >> yeah, really. >> one of my all-time favorite scary movies is the exorcism of emily rose. this domon is all around her and inside of her. and she looks at the faces of these students. they turn into demons. >> if i think about it, i get chills. >> wait a minute. there's movement.

>> the original "alien" was great for the simple reason you barely saw the creature. and then the great reveal, of course, when the alien burst out of that guy's stomach. that's the scene that made the alien films for me. >> come to eternal bliss. >> truth be told, i was actually in a horror movie once. when i was in the ninth grade, it was called "bad dreams." for some reason, my hair is brown then. i don't know what that's all about. at one point, they baptized me and they shoved me into this slimy, nasty leg. i'm not sure if it was a good career move to share this with you. >> melissa, who knew? >> well, you know. >> that's one i haven't seen. >> that could be why i'm in news

now. i didn't win any acting awards for that one. it's very surprising, i know. >> what's the name of it again? >> it's called "bad dreams." yeah. >> if that was part of the jaws series, then you'd have the trifecta. >> it was terrified. it was covered in blood and all kinds of gore is it -- >> no, it's very silly. it feels very, very silly. there's nothing around you. it's all added afterwards. and you have all these special effects. you're laughing at the people walking around and then you have to scream and be scary. >> it looked good. it looked really scary. it wasn't a "jaws ii" by any stretch of the imagination. >> i was up for months and months after that. just ahead, with lester, jenna and i go on a ghost hunt. first, this is "today" on nbc.

still to come, october san antonio. the latest storm bringing plenty of headaches to millions this weekend. plus, crucial testimony in the case of dr. can rad murray. what the defense expert is saying, but first, these messages. to one's military oath. and commitment is nod the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve. natural instincts can prove it. and they did. it's the only hair color that's clinically proven to be less damaging. for a healthy look... look no further than natural instincts. it's all good.

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know in october. chuck bell what is going on out there? mother nature playing hardball with us this early winter season. cloudy skies, cold out there, temperatures are in the 30s around tow. low to mid 30s near the freezing out out towards the blue ridge and valley. weather watchers reporting snow sticking to the ground. leesburg, out towards west virginia, northern montgomery county. snowflakes are starting to sick a bit now. we have several more hours of this to come this morning. the back end to have rain and snow is reaching the roanoke area in southwestern, virginia. we could be ready to turn the precip off by late this mpb, early this evening. between now and then the urban

and western suburbs could get one inch could be as much as six inches towards the blue ridge. we'll have more on this on the welcome back to "today" on a saturday morning, october 29th, 2011. we're all bundled up here under the umbrellas, and it's coming, it's coming. yes, under umbrellas because we came out and it was drizzling a moment ago. now it is start to go actually rain. kind of a nasty day here. 43 degrees on the plaza. >> i was going to say, who doesn't love 43 and rain. >> and there's snow on the way. it's a rare one for october. >> yes. lester holt alongside amy here on the plaza. we've got millions of people bracing for a lot of the white

stuff along with driving rain and winds as high as 50 miles per hour. guys, this is as good as it gets right now. we're going to have the very latest on the winter weather just ahead. >> but look at the fall trees. they've still got leaves on them. >> i know. >> we're going to talk about the case of dr. can rad murray. the defense has taken over. they've put on their star witness here, muddying the prosecution waters and suggesting that the singer might have killed myself with his own self-medication. and then we're going to be talking about that american scientist who suffered a stroke at the south pole. she's now speaking out about her ordeal and her recovery. we're going to talk to her live in just a moment. in the meantime, let's talk about this storm a lot of people in the northeast will be feeling. >> good morning, everyone. a historic day today with this storm on its way. it is forming and intensifying quickly off the carolina coast. by tomorrow morning at this time, it will be exiting maine. this is a quick hitter and it

will ruin a lot of people's saturdays. winter storm warnings from the mountains of virginia and west virginia, up through pennsylvania. that's where the storm is starting to hit hard now. later this afternoon towards tonight, it all moves up into new england. the other item with this storm is the wind. this is a nor'easter. we're going to have very strong winds, up to 60 miles per hour in coastal areas. you're not going to get the snow so much from boston out to the cape or down around rhode island or even on long island. but you will see high winds that still could do some damage to trees. you can see on the map here, the green is the rain in the big cities, the white is the snow. as we go throughout the day today, a lot of areas will go from rain over to a heavy, wet snow. it will be quite the scene with the heaviest snow totals inland inside of i-95. easily a foot possible in some of the poconos, the berkshires. but it's the valleys, amy and lester, that i'm worried about. that's where we're going to see the snow on the leaves and that's where the trees will come down. we'll probably spr a couple of million people without power. back to you.

>> weren't you in aruba yesterday? >> i was. it's so fun to go from that to snow, but oh, well. let's get a look at the rest of the headlines with melissa francis. good morning. >> good morning, everyone. there is breaking news in afghanistan where a number of americans may have been killed in an attack on a nato vehicle in kabul. ati abawi is there with the late pecht. >> reporter: good morning. a senior u.s. official tells us at least ten americans were killed when a car bomber struck a nato convoy here in the capital of kabul. at least four afghans were killed, three civilians and one african police officer. also down south, we're here nato is saying an afghan dressed in an afghan security uniform turned his weapons on nay nato service members killing at least two. we still don't know if those two deaths were also american. melissa. >> atia, thanks so much. as bill just mentioned, there will be more than frost on

the pumpkin this weekend. snow is coming to the northeast. jim cantore is live with us in pennsylvania. isn't it early for snow in the season, jim? >> yes. to be able to use the pumpkin as the top of your snowman, there's sms something absolutely wrong with that, melissa. we're standing here waiting for the change your. it's no if, it's when we're going to lose power. you're talking about 5 to 8 inches of snow on trees that are fully leafed here. that is going to be a problem across so much of pennsylvania, up into the southern interior of new york, so 5 to 8 inches of wet snow on top of that is goes to cause huge problems. plus, the rate of snow. to 2 inches per hour. that means problems on the roadways. for the hundreds of fans headed out to penn state for the football game, that could be a difficult drive. the power companies are on stand by for this nor'easter. back to you. >> jim, thanks so much. amazing story now, an

8-year-old autistic boy missing for six days has been found alive in jury. robert wood jr. was found alive in a rock quarry. he was in good condition and reunited with his family at a hospital. wood had wandered away from a family outing last sunday. finally, the news room at nbc affiliate ksdk erupted n when the cardinals won the world series last night. producers, editors, jumpling up from their desks. the staff did manage to settle down in time to get the late news on the air. big celebration there. let's head back over to amy now. >> melissa, thanks so much. let's head to bill karins who has more of a check of the weather this morning. good morning to you. >> good morning once again, amy. we've been paying so much attention to what's happening on the east coast with the rare historic storm. everyone else this weekend doesn't look that bad.

a few showers in the great lakes today. down in florida, we got drenched. we had record flooding in south florida. we have tropical moisture around. today in the pacific northwest, a little gloomy lately. that's continuing this morning, cloudy with showers. that's going to push through areas of montana later today and possibly through north dakota. it's really all the it is a cold, wet saturday morning here in the nation's capital. i'm news 4 meteorologist chuck bell. cloudy and wet and cold. we'll stick around all day. temperatures in the mid to upper 30s around town. much milder along the bay down into portions of southern maryland. there is an ie cumulating snowfall in leesburg. be on the lookout, could be slippery travels around interstate 81.w england. that's a look at your weekend forecast. lester.

>> bible thanks. now to the case against dr. conrad murray. once michael jackson's personal physician, he is on trial for causing the singer's death. the defense is trying to show murray was helping jackson, not hurting him. and they are hoping a key medical witness delivered that message to the jury. nbc's jeff rossen has the latest. >> it was conrad murray's best day yet in court. and he seemed to know it. cracking his first smile. >> 5 ccs. >> his defense lawyers using their star witness, a world renoend propofol expert. to prove michael jackson caused his own death, swallowing a handful of pills of the antianxiety drug lorazapam, then injecting himself with the final dose of propofol. >> i believe it could be lethal zebss. >> explain to the jury -- >> to demonstrations, the

defense got aggressive today, even mistakenly calling jackson mr. lorazapam. we all -- >> now prosecutors say they need more time to prepare for cross-examination, pushing this case deep into next week. here is the problem. the judge originally told the jurors they would be done by october 28th. that was yesterday. in a sidebar, the judge seemed irritated, telling both sides, is there ever an end to this? i just don't know if we are going to start losing jurors. they have lives and commitments. the prosecutor said, that sa risk we have to take. we have a right to a fair trial. the judge agreed and broke the news to the jury friday afternoon. >> i know all of you understand that things happen in cases and i -- i really do thank you. >> reporter: a long haul that just got longer as michael jackson's family and friends

prepare for week six at the courthouse. for "today," jeff rossen, nbc news. los angeles. joining us to discuss what we can expect to see next week is beth caras. beth, good morning. it's great to see you. >> good morning. >> was the judge overdrama advertising things when he was expressing a fear of losing the jury if this goes beyond what he had promised them? jurors can't simply walk away and say, i'm tired of this, can they? >> no, they did not. the judge did tell them that their duties would probably be finished by october 28th. there's always a daker in making a representation like that because things happen in a trial. the key witness for the prosecution's father died in the middle of the trial. two of the dark dayses were because of his his father's death and the funeral. but there are some other dark days that the defense requested. so there were five alternatives. and when the judge did say this in chambers a couple of days ago, the deputy said, judge that's why we have alternatives.

i need time to prepare this cross-examination. those graphs that you showed that dr. white displayed in his testimony, he just created those on wednesday. they were given to the prosecution on thursday. this is brand new discovery and so the state needed time. >> and if i understand it, this new information essentially suggests that level owes of propofol in jackson's blood are consistent with what he's saying as an injection as opposed to the i.v. drip. that plays to the narrative that jackson did this to himself. why would the defense -- i don't know if they're changing their theory or moving it a bit. >> well, they are moving it a little in their explanation. they were relying on gastric contents for the level of the other sedative, lorazapam before, they were using urine to show low levels of propofol. the anesthetic in the union means he had a low amount in his body, that was that little bit that he injected himself, they say. but it's entirely consistent

with the prosecution's theory also that he had high levels of propofol in his system because that drip kept tripping in him after he died. the low level of propofol meant his blood wasn't circulating, his heart hadn't stopped, his bladder wasn't going up because the kidneys weren't working. so there's another explanation entirely consistent with the state and i'm sure we'll hear that either on rebuttal or cross-examination. >> and as the prosecution hammered away at dr. murray's care. but that didn't come up. will the prosecution be able to cross-examination him on that and continue to try to hammer away at the quality of care? >> that is a great point and it's something everyone is talking about. i do believe the prosecution can because he is a licensed physician. he has to practice medicine by these same standards. and it will go to his credibility, these questions. if he says that dr. murray did not violate the standards of

care, he's going to lose credibility. so i think it's going to be a big part of the cross-examination. but the defense may try to prevent it because they didn't ask him on direct. they may say it's beyond the scope. >> but is the question here quality of care or is the kwekt did he directly cause the death? if they can simply prove he was a bad doctor, he didn't do the job, does it matter. >> well, it is causation, that is the key, but it is the bad quality of care that caused it, according to the state. you can have more than one cause of death. he has to play a substantial role under california law. if he played a substantial role in the death, that's enough for causation. >> beth, thanks so much for coming on. we'll talk to you. >> my pleasure. loads of points.ed earng you got a weather balloon with points? yes, i did. [ man ] points i could use for just about anything. ♪ keep on going in this direction. take this bridge over here. there it is.

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now to the remarkable story of an american researcher who was at the south pole when she suffered a stroke back in august. several week later she was rescued. we will talk to her live in just a moment. but first, here is ann thompson's report. >> i'm going to say i wasn't scared at all. >> reporter: the world knows renay nicole deseur was worried. today, she is back in the u.s. and being treated for the stroke she suffered in antarctica. her fight to leave the south pole to get proper treatment ignited a debate over whether

douceur's life was -- again, i'll probably recover a significant amount of that back. >> and the loss for words. >> his words that i'll say something and all of a sudden, the words will -- it's either not the right word or i've just made up a new word. so ray neneeisms, i call it. >> the judge termed minor to moderate. >> the area of injury is this white here area that comes out bright. we call this white matter because it looks white on the mri and this at the temporal lobe. >> reporter: douceur asked to be life flighted from the antarctica. but her employer said no. they said her condition was not life threatening and temperatures near 100 degrees

below zero made a rescue too dangerous. instead, douceur had to wait for the first regularly scheduled cargo flight of the warming season two weeks ago. >> she's made a very good recovery and is presently almost intact on the visual side and her speech has improved dramatically. >> reporter: a happy ending to her journey from the bottom of the earth. for today, ann thompson, nbc news. and joining us from johns hopkins hospital is renee-nicole douceur and the physician you just saw in the piece. thank you both for joining us. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> renee, we know you've been through quite an ordeal. you're at johns hopkins, ready to be discharged from what i understand. how are you feeling today? >> i'm feeling pretty well. i'm very glad that i came to john hopkins. i've gotten excellent treatment

and i will be in discharge shortly and continuing on with rehab still here in the johns hopkins area for several more days to probably a week or so. >> renee, i want to go back to when the stroke first happened. at that point, you were isolated in the south pole. we heard you say you weren't scared, but how concerned were you about figuring out what was wrong and how soon you could get help? >> well, that is true, i wasn't ever really scared. i was concerned that because of what was going on, that while i was still in the clinic, that with brain swelling, that a decision was made the early on between the ratheon polar services and national science foundation to not evacuate me early. i know the risks that are involved with trying to bring an air crew in with the harsh weather conditions. it was something that i would never want anybody to place their lives at risk for me. but it was about, basically,

prepositioning planes in such that when the weather window opened up, that they could come in and take me out. something that i would do naturally as a station manager for anybody. it just so happens this time it was me that had to aut advocating for myself. >> and, doctor, you were contacted when renee was at the south pole. how concerned were you for her health? i know she was weeks away from getting medical attention from your hospital. and you weren't sure whether or not it was a stroke at that point? >> the most likely diagnosis had been a stroke. but we were concerned about other possibilities, too, the distant possibility of a tumor or other disorders. we were concerned that she needed to be moved out at that time for further eval. >> and we know she's doing well and you have confirmed that she did have a stroke. where does she stand today? and do you expect a full recovery? >> well, you know, i think that

no matter what happens, she'll be back to a completely independent and functional individual and probably be able to be employed in what she had done before and we're hoping that she'll make a full recovery. she certainly made remarkable improvement in a short period of time with her speech and with her vision. >> certainly good news. renee, i know you still remain frustrated that you had to wait so long for those seven weeks. do you think anything could have been done differently now that you have, i guess, the benefit of hindsight? >> i still believe that for other future renees that would probably go down to antarctica, that they have to look at their policies, procedures and protocols to revamp them. i know people talk about the risk of going to the south pole, which there is obviously risk, particularly in the wintertime. but i think that people should be afforded the opportunity such as, like, people who go to war, that there's lovts lots of risk

involved or coal miners, there's lots of risk involved. but people are not expected to just give their lives away when there are resources that are available to muscle up and try to help people, particularly that always seems to be the american way to help when people are down. >> well, we're certainly glad that things are looking up for you, renee nicole dousceur. thank you both. >> thank you much. still ahead, the search for baby lisa takes another stunning turn. but first, this is "today" on nbc. ♪ ♪ [ multiple sounds making melodic tune ] ♪ [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, every innovation, every solution, comes together for a single purpose -- to make the world a safer place.

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still to come today, online and in love. plus, we ain't afraid of no ghosts. our hunt for poltergeist. but first, these messages. vv

this is a news 4 news break. >> you're taking a live look at the white house. it's a little cold out there. a little windy. how about we throw a little snow into the mix. good morning. it's saturday october, 29th. we've got a look at your forecast in just a minute. first, let's look at the top stories this morning. the occupy wall street protesters will use a history lesson to try to drive home their point. demonstrators plan to march to the treasury demanding a robin hood tax on hedge fund managers and wall street bankers to help create more jobs. the protest comes on the 82nd anniversary of the crash of the stock market that sparked a great depression. union station's main hall is closed this weekend because of

falling debris. a piece of the ceiling fell on a worker last night. good news that worker wasn't hurt. experts realize some of the debris was from the earthquake two months ago. crews will begin work to repair the station next week. metro, amtrak bus, and taxi services are not affected. and a heads up if you're taking metro this weekend. four green line stations will be closed for track work until monday morning. water front, navy word, anacostia and congress heights. free shuttle buses will take passengers. there's also work on the red line that will slow you down and impact those headed to the horse show at the verizon center. expect to add 30 minutes to your travel time. also the last red line train will now leave 11 minutes will now leave 11 minutes earlier tonig

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good saturday morning. radar shows a lot of snow out along into the west of interstate 81 and even snowflakes now mixing in with the rain drops and even on most of the changeover to snow now. western loudon county, northern montgomery county all points north and west of those location. today's forecast cold, rain and snow could get an inch in town to six inches of snow in the valley. highs today stuck in tupper 30s to near 40s.

cold but sunny returns for tomorrow with temperature's high turns up into the upper 40s. back to you. >> we've got more on the snowy they're the smart ones there. we're back on this saturday morning, october 2e89, 2011. we have a few people behind us and we want to say thank you for stick it out. this weather, not so great here. it feels like winter. >> we had a hearty crowd out here earlier. i think i can name the crowd by name now. >> and they're all properly dressed. that's why they're all still out here. we also have jenna wolf out here on this saturday morning. >> this is awkward because lester didn't see me and they're like, jenna, move in. >> you still on this slide because we're going to have clooild colliding umbrellas.

>> we have to get to this half hour. >> t including the search for missy baby lisa. police want to reinterview her two brothers at a time the attorney for the family has suddenly left the case. we're going to try to find out what all this may mean in this long investigation. and on a much lighter note, we're going to be talking about online dating for the aging generation, the boomers, the booming boomers. more and more people in their 50s and 60s are searching for love on the internet. it's actually the fastest growing demographic for folks seeking that special someone. we're going to have more on the surprising dating trend. >> then the reason i've crashed your saturday part here, lester, amy and i went ghost hunting this past week. we teamed up for a halloween adventure we probably won't soon forget. we spent some time in an abandon prison. the sci-fi hundredors led us on

a search for ghosts. you'll see what we found. >> you were not crashing, you were an invited guests. we picked a special day for you to come out on the blah squaw. speaking of the weather, let's get another check off that with bill karins who is out on the plaza this time. you finally came out. >> yes. and i don't have one of those big parachute umbrellas, either. it's cozy and comfy. as far as the forecast goes, of course, we are watching the storm on the east coast. we don't want to forget about halloween, too. let's set it up. your sunday forecast, the northwest is less than ideal. showers raging from wisconsin through northern illinois. that snowstorm from new england is edging through the day. the warm air returning for many areas. this will be showers in the ohio valley. it's not going to ruin anyone's plans. who are you going to be for halloween? >> an angry bird.

>> little red riding hood. >> you mean the angry bird, a good saturday morning, everybody. cold and wet weather for today. chilly sunshine returns tomorrow. current temperatures are only in the middle and upper 30s around town. our forecast for today is for to be mostly cloudy. chance of some snow. one inch possible as close in as fairfax or downtown. as much as six inches out towards the valley. sunshine returns for tomorrow many the highs in the mid to upper up the coast. rain and snow in many areas this afternoon. i'll tell you what, it certainly feels like football weather out there. we're going to have college games in the snow today out there. scranton, pennsylvania, all the way out to state college where penn state will be playing. but we're talking sunday night football. we'll be outdoors and thankfully the snow will be gone. it will be chilly, breezy. this is a great nfc matchup, the

dallas cowboys, philadelphia eagles and michael vick. should be quite the show sunday night. back to you, amy. >> bill, thank you. this monday will mark exactly one month since baby lisa irwin disappeared from her home in kansas city, missouri. one of the lawyers has left the case, plus authorities want to review lisa's brothers. allison joins us from kansas city with the latest on this. good morning. >> good morning, amy. late last night, the private investigator involved in this case went to the grandmother's house where the family has been staying and took them to an undisclosed location. in addition, the growing tension over this case and perhaps conflicting legal strategy has caused one of the attorneys involved to leave the case. it's been almost a month since lisa irwin's parents say she vanished from her crib in the middle of the night. new developments have been slow to come and police investigators say it's imperative that they

have an opportunity to reinterview lisa's two young stepbrothers to further the investigation. the 5 and 8-year-old boys were to be questioned by a forensic interviewer on friday about what they saw and heard the night of october 4th. when lisa disappeared. but late thursday, the interviews were canceled by the family's attorneys. parents deborah bradley and jeremy irwin had been represented by two attorneys, cindy short, from kansas city. >> and when you have unfair and false impressions that leads to the villainy of a particular person, this is what leads to wrongful convictions and this is why i got into this case, to prevent that. >> and new york lawyer joe tacapina. >> the focus on this case, we shouldn't forget, is on finding lisa. we're optimistic that she's still out there and still alive and if family prays for her return, her speedy return. >> friday, with no explanation

given, short issued a one-sentence statement. cindy short, esquire, has confirmed she is no longer working with the family of lisa irwin as their legal counsel. the only other quote she gave to the kansas city star when she expressed concerns against allowing lisa's brothers to be reinterviewed. i've done research and see more potential for harm than good with the interview, short said thursday. it won't happen tomorrow and maybe never. this statement conflicts with what tacapina has told local law enforcement. he plans to reschedule the interviews with the boys as early as next week. meanwhile, police remain tight lipped about the investigation with no new searches planned for the immediate future. taca pi no is part of a team that has been hired by an anonymous ben factor, amy.

>> allison, thanks so much. and quint van zandt is a former fbi profiler and nbc correspondent. what do you make of this news that the cindy short is no longer working with the family? it indicates some inner turmoil within the legal camp. does it signal anything to investigators? >> well, you know, it's unfortunate that there has to be an alpha dog or an alpha attorney in this case. if there are these conflicting sdiebs to support the family. the challenge, the reality is that we have to keep the focus on baby lisa. as you indicate, it's been almost a month now. and this infighting between lawyers and strategies and not allowing these young boys to be reinterviewed by police, remember, it was 2002 when elizabeth smart was kidnapped and it was four or five months later that her younger sister

provided critical information to interviewers that just came back to her. so it's well worth going back and doing these interviews at this point. >> right. and what do you make of the cancellation? i mean, the lawyers and the family decided that police would not have access to those two brothers. why would they do that? >> you know, i understand attorneys have an obligation to protect the family and the family's rights. but look, all rights as far as i'm concerned, you know, as an fbi agent kind of pale when we're looking at trying to bring back a child. let's find out what happened to this child. if this baby is still alive, if there is an unknown kidnapper out there somewhere who has taken this child, you know, the parents ought to line up and say, you know, give me a polygraph, give me truth serum. interview my children and then take all of your investigative resources and don't look at me any more. look at who i believe may have kidnapped my child. that hasn't happened to this point, amy. law enforcement still has to split their resources between the family and between the

possibility of an unknown kidnapper. all that's doing is frustrating the investigation and taking away critical resources that need to be focused on this case. right. you're saying the parents need to be ruled out if that indeed is the case and baby lisa's parents have not been interviewed as of october 8th and as of right now, they refuse to be interviewed separately. does their silence create more sus suspicion? >> every parent who has ever lost a child knows that they are going to be the center of that investigation if they were the last person around. that's just the way it is. that's the way it happened. as you indicate, the parents have to be eliminated as suspects very quickly. lisa's mom has said in interviews that she quo quote/unquote failed a polygraph. to my knowledge, the father has not been polygraphed. there need to be more critical

interviews of the brothers. these will be done sensitively, by a specialist who knows now to drat trauma advertise the child. if it was my child or my grandchild, i would raise my hand and say, do what you need to do, but find my baby. >> all right, clint van zandt, thanks b so much. we appreciate it. >> we'll be right back, but first, these messages. hey, aren't you... shhh. i'm researching a role. today's special... the capital one venture card. you earn double miles on every purchase. impressive. chalk is a lost medium. if you're not earning double miles... you're settling for half. was that really necessary? [ male announcer ] get the venture card at capitalone.com and earn double miles on every purchase every day. what's in your wallet? cover for me. i have an audition.

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the over 50 crowd, they are tech savvy, busy professionals and for many they are also single. more of them are turning to the internet to find a relationship and today boomers mean big business for the online dating industry. for the 30% of boomers who are single today, the dating game as changed. >> a lot of their friends are married and don't have a lot of singles people to meet. >> people get lonely. it's hard to meet people that age because they're out running the bars. they have to look somewhere. >> and for many, that means going online where love might be just a click away. >> they're crunched for time. they don't -- they're very career oriented and it's more socially acceptable now. >> if it works, i think that's commendable.

>> they're hearing from their kids. they're hearing testimonials, they're hearing from friends. younger friends, who are saying, hey, there's this resource for you. why aren't you tapping into it? >> men and women 55 and older are now the largest group of online daters in the u.s. and the $179 billion industry is taking notice, can sites catering to the silver haired senior set. >> there's a lot of emerging players that target different demographics and baby boomer res no exception. >> and with age comes wisdom. many argue that older, online daters are more savvy, successful, and know what they want. >> they want someone who matches them as far as personality, as far as income, as far as likes and dislikes and hobbies and so on. so this is very serious business for some of them. >> and joining me now with more on why online dating is thriving for the over 50 set, pepper

swartz, aarp's love and relationship ambassador. great to have you here. >> thank you. so what happened to this notion that's online dating was a young person's thing? it's flat wrong. >> well, they looked at their kids having a great time meeting someone online. they look at themselves at 60 and think b you know, i could have 0 years alone or i could find somebody else, but i don't know anybody else. so online becomes the only option and a good one. >> and what is it about the lifestyle of older people versus younger people that would drive older people to looking on the web as opposed to going out? >> i don't think it's lifestyle so much as you will go to parties as an older person and meet someone. it's not like when you're in your 20s and you constantly meet new people. you go online and meet people you would have never met otherwise. the bad news is, you don't know as much about them as if you met at a friend's house. >> it seems there was always a

stigma. are we getting past that sigma now? >> absolutely. you meet the husband or wife of somebody who is 60, 70, 80 that they met online. they are quality human beings. they are someone you would be happy to meet any way you could and you go, it's okay, i think do this. >> what kind of homework do you need to do about, i guess, which site you're going to use and what you're looking for? >> well, i really believe that you should spend the pennies if you can and go on a site that you pay for. >> because there are some free ones out there, right? >> let us lots of them. but if somebody complains about them, we can kick them off, right? but if you go to a free one, it's just kind of take your chances. but i think you can get their name, the web is a great detective instrument. you can find out about people and make sure that you see them during the daytime. don't give them your home number. give it time to find out who they are. >> yeah, because there are some safety risks.

also, you have to consider that a person in their 50s and 60s may have more to lose financially than someone in their 20s is dating. all that has to be on your radar, right? >> it's true, but you're smarter in your 50s and 60s. that's your secret weapon. life reimagined. what you should do is use all of this stuff that you've accumulated over a lifetime and now apply it to your love life, as well. >> be savvy. >> absolutely. >> pepper swartz, thank you very much for being here. it's great to have you. ♪

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we're all back on this saturday morning. with halloween this sunday, it goes us thinking about ghosts and goblins. >> it wasn't too long ago that the three of us spent the night at survival school in utah. it was intense.

but we made it out with virtually no food whatsoever. >> did we mention that? >> but we went into one of the country's oldest institutions which is considered by many haunted. hold on as we search for spirits in the night with the sci-fi channel's "ghost hunters." from politer geist to paranormal activity, we all love a good ghost story this time of year, especially when the halloween chills come courtesy of hollywood. as you'll see, we were about to star in our own fright night show. >> there we were, on our way to meet up with the crew from sci-fi's "ghost hunters." where were we heading? a gothic, abandon prison in the middle of philadelphia. >> the prison was open for 142 consecutive years. during that time, there was

about 75,000 men and women incarcerated behind these walls. about 1,000 people died inside the building. in 1927, they built an isolation brock, inmates could spend 30 days, 60 days, 90 days in total sensory deprivation. >> at the prison, the ghost hunters arrive. they know these walls well. their cameras were inside eastern state and recorded something strange. >> we were able to catch what we believe to be some sort of an aberration that came forward in complete darkness and jetted back, moving extremely fast. >> whoa. look at that. it's like a castle. >> wow. >> check out the gargoyles. >> and as our van enters the prison, the ghost hunters greet us. with the gates behind us, we head inside. >> welcome to eastern state. >> can you imagine being a prisoner in here? >> perfectly creepy. >> this is where al capone

stayed for a little bit. >> i like what he did with the place. >> i do, too. >> we're about to search for the unknown. >> we're giving lester, amy and jenna a crash course tonight. >> i'm getting chills. >> creepy. >> it's kind of frooem freaky, but because there's still a little bit of daylight, not completely scared. i can definitely see a ghost liking this atmosphere. it's very ghost friendly. >> it's creepy, it's medieval. does that mean it holds ghosts? i'm not convinced yet. >> we're hoping not to meet any uninvited guests. kind of freaks me out a little bit. >> but prepared for whatever ghosts haunt in the night. >> how is that for a cliffhanger? >> yeah. and that's when they brought out the thermal imaging cameras, the night vision things. >> we had all sorts of equipment with us to measure different

frequencies. >> body home. >> and you at home were saying, well, was there a ghost? well, we're going to tell you tomorrow. >> tomorrow you'll see part two of our adventure as we travel deep inside the prison to the dujon hospital wing in an area called cell block 14. doesn't that sound kraes scary? what did we encounter? there's a scream. wait until you see.

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that does it for us this

saturday morning. i want to thank bill and melissa. coming up tomorrow on "today," our halloween costumes revealed. >> and also good morning. >> straight ahead on news 4 today, snow in october. a live report on the potentially powerful winter storm.

and rescuers are calling it a miracle. a young boy with autism is found alive nearly a week after he vanished in the woods. we'll have that amazing story. and winter storm warnings are up for everyone north and west to have immediate downtown washington area. could be an awfully snowy saturday for some. a complete check of your weekend forecast coming up. thank you, chuck. all that and more when you join us for news 4 today in less than two minutes.

you're watching nbc 4. washington's news leader. now live in hd this is news 4 today. a taste of winter before halloween. a powerful storm moves into our area bringing us snow and sleet in october. thanks for joining us, everybody this morning. >> welcome to news 4 today on this saturday, october 29th. as we speak parts of our area are getting blanketed with snow. unbelievable. >> i know. and while the roads may be too warm for the snow to actually stick on them, the storm could knock out power to tens of thousands of people across the region. >> we've got this historic storm covered for you this morning. our meteorologist is out in the elements tracking the snow through maryland. >> but first we're going to meteorologist chuck bell, he's in the weather center getting up to