good morning. breaking news. a powerful earthquake strikes in the indian ocean, causing tsunami warnings and watches across the region. residents in some areas ordered to head to higher ground. we're live in thailand with the latest. decision day. the special prosecutor now says she will announce new information in the trayvon martin case byriday. as attorneys for george zimmerman suddenly drop him. they say they've lost all contact and have no idea where he is. this morning they'll speak out in a live interview. and death threats. after admitting to receiving government assistance here on "today," the octomom, nadya suleman, now says someone smashed her car's window and left a note that read, "leave

california or you will die." and she's got a lot more to say about that when she joins us exclusively again today, about that when she joins us exclusively again today, wednesday, april 11th, 2012. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and welcome today on this wednesday morning, i'm ann curry. >> and i'm carl quintanilla in for matt this morning. we begin with that breaking news. residents along coastlines along the indian ocean are fleeing to higher ground this morning, hoping that massive 8.6 earthquake off the coast of indonesia will not produce a devastating tsunami. >> we all remember, this is the same area where 230,000 people were killed by a tsunami back in 2004. officials in the affected areas are keeping a very close eye on these things but they remind us that a warning means a tsunami

is possible. i think not necessarily mean that a tsunami is imminent. we're going to have more on that in a live report coming up straight ahead. >> also a major update to a story we brought you first last month on violent cell phone robberies. officials said there was an easy way to stop those attacks but claimed the cell phone industry was resistant. our investigation has prompted a big change. and we'll have more on that. >> should be very interesting. and also, you know, ashley judd's appearance was a hot topic for our "today's professionals" on tuesday. and some people were criticizing her describing her face as puffy, accusing her of having plastic surgery. well, in an exclusive interview with nbc news judd says it is not true, and she is furious with her critics. so we're going to hear from her coming up. but we begin with this breaking news. a tsunami warning triggered by a powerful earthquake off the coast of indonesia. innocence's ian williams is in bangkok, thailand. good morning. >> good morning, ann. well countries all around the indian ocean are on high alert. that massive 8.7 quake triggered tsunami early warning systems from thailand, malaysia, india,

singapore, and of course indonesia, which was closest to the epicenter. here in thailand, six provinces have issued warnings. beaches have been evacuated. the airport in phuket, that big holiday island, has been closed. people have been advised to move to higher ground. sirens have been heard all along that coast. now the 8.7 quake was felt right across the region. tall buildings shaking here in bangkok, singapore, malaysia, 3:38 p.m. it was local time. the epicenter was 300 miles from banda aceh. that's the capital of aceh so devastated by that 2004 quake and was at a depth of 20 miles. now the good news is that experts are telling us it was a lateral quake. not a vertical quake. which means that the shaking went sideways, and means there's probably less danger of a tsunami. but, no one is taking any chances. memories here, of course,

affected by that 2004 quake, a 9.1, which killed a quarter of a million people across the region. there are no immediate reports of casualties. there was panic in the streets of banda aceh when the quake happened. it was a huge quake. the indonesian president said he has no reports of casualties or damage yet. but these are early days. and he is sending an emergency team there. but, if that tsunami is to strike, and it is an if. there's no evidence yet that it's on its way, we'll know within this next hour. and certainly this is a big test of those early warning systems set up after 2004, ann. >> all right. ian williams, thank you so much for reporting on this breaking story. our fingers crossed that actually you're right that perhaps nothing might happen. it is now 7:04. now here's carl. >> ann, thanks. we could be just hours from learning if george zimmerman will be charged in the shooting death of trayvon martin. this after several new twists in the case, including a decision by zimmerman's attorneys to drop their client.

nbc's kerry sanders is in sanford, florida, once again. kerry, good morning. >> well, good morning. the special prosecutor may have reached a decision on whether gunman george zimmerman will face criminal charges or not. but there is now an equally pressing question, where in the world is george zimmerman? in an extraordinary public address tuesday, george zimmerman's attorneys announced they are no longer his lawyers. and then dropped this bombshell. >> we want to announce today, as of now, we are withdrawing as counsel for mr. zimmerman. we've lost contact with him. up to this point we've had contact every day. >> reporter: the lawyers, who never met zimmerman face to face, talked to him via text, e-mail and phone, saying their former client is in hiding. and they believe he is far away. >> for those who are engaged in the late easter egg hunt looking for him. you can stop looking in florida. look much further away than that. >> reporter: trayvon martin's parents and lawyers hope the special prosecutor will announce

charges by friday, say they're stunned. >> it means that he's a potential flight risk and we really don't know where he is. and that concerns us a great deal. >> reporter: do you think that anybody will ever be able to find him? >> the federal government. they claim they know where he is. >> reporter: you've heard that directly? >> well -- >> the sanford police department told us they knew where he was at when they were on the case. we were hopeful the sanford police department would know where he is. that the federal government would know where he's at. but, until we see him in handcuffs, we don't assume anything. that's what the whole world has been watching, kerry. is he going to be arrested? is he ever going to be held accountable for killing trayvon martin? that's the question. >> and then our mission -- >> reporter: when the special prosecutor angela corey tried to talk to zimmerman his legal team at the time said he was

exercising his right to remain silent. but now, it appears, against his then-lawyers' advice, he reached out to corey directly. himself. >> he called the special prosecutor's office, but the prosecutor wouldn't speak to him because he had representation. >> reporter: prosecutors generally prefer to include someone's lawyers during an interview. not only out of matter of professional ethics, but also to prevent losing the information that they've gained once they're in court. now, the florida department of law enforcement, the fdle, says that they cannot confirm that they know where george zimmerman is this morning. he was under no orders to remain in the state. of course, george zimmerman has maintained throughout all of this that he was simply defending himself when he shot and killed 17-year-old trayvon martin. ann? >> kerry sanders, thank you so much. craig sonner and hal uhrig are now both joining us. good morning, gentlemen. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> craig, first let's start with you. based on what you know, is

george zimmerman a potential flight risk? and can you even confirm that he's still in florida? >> i don't believe he's a flight risk. he is not in the area. he is -- i can't disclose where he is. but, again, like we said before, if you're, you know, people staking out his house, my office, his parents' house and so on, he's not here. so, that being said, you know, don't keep -- you don't need to keep looking there. he's where he won't be found. he is in contact with fdle, when it becomes necessary for him to turn himself in, i believe he'll do it. i don't believe he's going to flee the country. >> hal, you suggested that mr. zimmerman may be suffering from some type of post-traumatic stress syndrome. what causes you to make that statement? >> well, let me say this, we've been in contact, and when i say we, primarily i'm talking about mr. sonner, has been in contact with both him and the family, able to draw some conclusions about maybe his mental state, or emotional state, perhaps is a better way to say it.

and frankly, his actions here recently don't speak of someone who's completely doing very well. you've used the term that we're dropping him. i'm not sure that's the fair way to characterize it. let's say that we're simply announcing that the relationship no longer exists based on learning from the special prosecutor directly that he had contacted them, when they said we won't talk to you without your lawyers, he said, well they don't really represent me now, they were just my legal advisers, so i can come in and talk to you. >> it's interesting you talk about this announcement, because you, of course, know that some people in your profession are criticizing the two of you for making this announcement so public. you're on television this morning. you were last night. and that you're making this announcement while also casting aspersions, essentially, on your former client's mental acuity. i mean -- or ability -- or i -- i suppose his wellness. you believe that you are crossing a line of what lawyers should be doing here? craig? >> let me be clear on two things. first of all, we're not casting

any aspersions on george zimmerman whatsoever. we're expressing a concern for his emotional state, given the way that actions have taken place recently. you do that any time you go to a bond hearing. you do it in sentencing hearings. and sometimes you do it in the court of public opinion. >> but do you do it publicly -- >> it cast him in a more favorable light to let the public know he's not a bad guy. he may just be an emotionally beat down guy by this process. >> and so to what end -- >> as far as crossing the line. let me finish. as far as us crossing the line and the criticism of some of the other people that are out there, we've listened to some of them and quite frankly i've got a list of people whose opinions i value and for the most part those that are trashing us aren't on the list. >> okay. all right. well, and then, sorry by the way for interrupting you earlier trying to get some answers. let me ask you then, craig, about why stepping down just two days after losing contact with zimmerman was not a rash decision. >> oh, it's not a rash decision. i can't keep coming on tv and saying i represent him when he's

made statements apparently to the prosecutor that he doesn't -- he wants to handle the case himself, and he doesn't want me to take part in it. and i've tried to contact him many times. family have tried to contact him. he's not returning calls to me. he is calling other people. he's saying i'm going to call you back at 9:00. he doesn't call back at 9:00. he's not returning e-mails, he's not returning text messages. the only conclusion i can draw is that he doesn't want me to represent -- to want us to represent him anymore. i can't keep going forward with the evidence shows he doesn't want us to represent him. he's not going to be in contact with me. then it's my ethical duty to step down. it's not -- it doesn't work the other way around. >> right -- you can't -- >> it's a one way street. >> you can't reach him. if he is watching right now what is your message to george zimmerman, hal? >> same message we sent to him by phone, fax, text, and e-mail through his website. give us a call. if you've got something you'd like to talk to us about, we're here. we've been ready for you. waiting for you. but if you're -- even if you

don't want us to represent you, just call us and tell us that so that we're clear on it. >> hal uhrig and also craig sonner. thank you so much. again sorry for interrupting you earlier. newt gingrich and ron paul are vowing to they in the gop presidential race on the heels of rick santorum's decision to suspend his campaign. a move that affectively gives the republican nomination to mitt romney. nbc's peter alexander is here with the latest in what is essentially a new chapter of the race. >> yeah, you might say this is now day two of the general election campaign for all intents and purposes. the battle is now under way between mitt romney and barack obama. but rick santorum was really never expected to be so competitive in this race. but he obviously was tireless and passionate as a campaigner and even romney acknowledged that santorum will play a large role in the republican party going forward. >> this has been a good day for me. >> reporter: just hours after rick santorum abruptly suspended his presidential bid, mitt romney praised his chief

republican rival as an able and worthy competitor. >> he has made an important contribution to the political process. >> reporter: then romney quickly pivoted. when directing his attention toward president obama. >> the president is so out of touch -- >> reporter: courting women voters during a stop at a female-owned steel parts plant, romney attacked the president for claiming republicans are waging a war on women. >> the real war on women has been the job losses as a result of the obama economy. and if we're going to get women back to work, we're going to have to elect a president who understands how the economy works, and i do. >> reporter: senator, what's next for you? >> i'd like to get some sleep, would be a good thing. >> reporter: late tuesday, in a faith and family forum, santorum reflected on what he called a campaign of miracles. acknowledging it took a toll on his family. >> it was a little tougher for karen and the kids. they did an amazing job, as they always have. in standing behind me in every

sense of the word. >> reporter: santorum's unexpected announcement tuesday -- >> and we will suspend our campaign effective today -- >> reporter: -- came barely 24 hours after his ailing 3-year-old daughter bella returned home from an easter weekend in the hospital. santorum's improbable success was largely due to his ability to connect with blue collar voters and social conservatives. he was often outspoken, and his off-the-cuff campaign comments made headlines. on president obama -- >> what a snob. >> reporter: and on separation of church and state. >> you bet that makes you throw up. >> reporter: as well as on romney, himself. >> he is the worst republican in the country. to put up against barack obama. >> reporter: but romney isn't talking about any of that now. he's already joking about a potential running mate. >> have you chosen a vp? >> i'm here to announce today that i do not even have a list. are you available for this job? no. all right.

you bet. yeah, there you go. >> reporter: she raised her hand. she said she was available. after santorum's announcement, by the way, both newt gingrich and ron paul insisted they are staying in this race. gingrich's troubles continued. this week we learned his mpaign bounced a $500 check to get his name on the utah ballot. by the way, santorum's communications director tells me that romney has reached out to santorum, trying to set up a face-to-face meeting with the former senator to discuss the potential endorsement, but again that campaign spokesperson tells us nothing has been finalized. >> interesting. peter alexander, thanks. >> let's get a check of the other top stories from natalie morales at the news desk. >> good morning, ann and carl. busy morning here today. we begin with secretary of state hillary clinton is threatening what she called quote appropriate action if north korea goes ahead with the launch of its long-range rocket. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel is again in pyongyang with more. richard, good day. >> good morning, natalie. north korea says its controversial rocket is now being fueled, the satellite loaded, and ready to go.

earlier today we were taken to pyongyang's main mission control room. it's the very basic facility. we counted just 16 engineers, only 6 telephones, and western experts tell us, they have serious doubt that the satellite will actually make it into orbit, and say there is a risk the rocket could come crashing down sometime after launch. that, of course, would be a major embarrassment for north korea, and pose a risk to people on the ground. north korea, however, is expressing confidence in both the satellite and the rocket, and says once the satellite is in orbit, it will begin broadcasting patriotic songs, praising north korea's leader. natalie? >> richard engel in pyongyang, north korea. thank you. a bomb threat forced a korean air jetliner to be diverted just 25 minutes after takeoff from vancouver en route to seoul. two u.s. f-15 fighter jets were scrambled to escort the plane to a canadian air base. korean air officials say they received a call saying that the bowing 777 was carrying an explosive. all passengers are safe, and the

airline is conducting a safety inspection of that jet. a new warning for women using birth control pills. the fda will now require those birth control pills to carry a new label, informing consumers that they may increase their risk for potentially life threat ing blood clots. brands such as yazminimum, yaz and several others contain that hoar main. the fda urges women to speak to their doctors before deciding on a birth control method. now let's head to wall street which has been stuck in a rut lately. tuesday saw the year's worst drop for the dow so far. cnbc's mary thompson is at the new york stock exchange. what is roiling the markets there? >> well, natalie, yesterday, 213 point decline in the dow jones industrial average fueled by renewed concerns about the european debt crisis. but investors were focused on the economic outlook for spain. giving the market some hope this morning a surprise profit reported by aluminum giant alcoa

yesterday after the bell. alcoa traditionally kicks off the earnings season. back to you. >> hoping for a good day. mary thompson at the new york stock exchange. thanks. it was the biggest loser at the white house last night. where contestants got a chance to work out with the big guns on pennsylvania avenue. first lady michelle obama, who is a fan of the show. she joined them for squats and jumping jacks and talked about the importance of working out as a family. that had to be a great moment for those contestants. 7:18 right now. you're up to date. turn it back over to ann, carl and al. looks like she's keeping pace with them. >> oh, i'm sure she was. >> i know, i know. natalie, thank you so much. guess who's here? mr. roker with the first check of the mornings's weather. hey, you. >> hey, we've got a lot going on today. especially as we start out, show you what's happening here in the east. temperatures awfully chilly. look at these below freezing in minneapolis. 33 in chicago. 4 in atlanta, and 37 in syracuse. we've got freeze watches and warnings stretching from

minneapolis all the way down to atlanta, georgia. then out west we're looking min atlanta, georgia and out west, a lot of wet weather to talk about, we'll check it out in the next half hour. here's what's going on in your neck of the woods. tom kierein, storm center 4, a cold start this wednesday morning. we're down into the 30s, but above freezing temperatures all around the region. near 40 in washington, and by the way. the wind coming in out of the north-northwest, at around 5-15 miles per hour, it will increase a bit later today with increasing clouds. highs in the 50s and a small chance of an afternoon sprinkle. after that, clearing out tonight, another cold start to tom morning. highs thursday, sunshine and near 60. >> that's your latest weather. ann? >> al, thank you. the trial of a man accused of killing actress and singer jennifer hud sun's mother, brother and young nephew is moving forward. jury selection wrapped up on tuesday and nbc's john yang is outside the cook county courthouse in chicago with more on this story. hey, john, good morning. >> good morning, ann. there is now a full jury plus

six alternates in place for this trial. it's early stages, but it's already clear that jennifer hudson's celebrity is going to be a big factor in this trial. as jennifer hudson rose from "american idol" contestant -- >> ♪ you've grown to love me >> reporter: to oscar winner in "dream girls." ♪ >> reporter: to chart-topping recording artist, there was one constant in her life. >> this is my mother. >> reporter: the love and support of her family. then in october 2008, a tragic blow. >> the first victim was a female found in the living room floor. >> reporter: her mother and brother found shot to death in the family's south side chicago home. the body of her 7-year-old nephew found in an suv three days later. earlier this year, hudson told lester holt on "dateline nbc" that a last-minute fall from her

fiance may have spared her life. >> i was literally picking up my bag to walk out the door to go to my mother's house and he called me like, can you come out here, instead of going, and i was like, okay, sure. and that one decision. that one thing, i wouldn't have been here. >> reporter: william balfour, the estranged husband of her sister, is about to go on trial for the murders. potential jurors filled out a 17-page questionnaire. have you ever watched "american idol," seen the movie "dream girls." do you belong to any organization for which jennifer hudson is a spokesperson? an apparent reference to weight watchers. >> the challenge for the judge and the lawyers is to keep the jurors focused on the witnesses. instead of jennifer hudson. >> reporter: hudson hasn't attended jury selection but is expected to be in the courtroom every day of the trial.

she may lean on the words of her slain brother for strength as she says she has for the murders. >> if i was crying about something or upset, discouraged, mad, he'd say knock it off. that's what i hear in my head. don't mope around. or do what i know that would make them proud. and that's what i did. >> reporter: hudson's also listed as a potential witness in this case. the trial is expected to begin in about a week and a half. if he's convicted, balfour faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. ann? >> all right. john yang this morning. thanks, john. and just ahead, new details on the relationship between alec baldwin and the woman who's been accused of stalking him. but first, this is "today" on nbc. ahad, the okay toe mon

receives a death threat and police have launched an investigation. as?

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during april and you help secure meals for local families. go to facebook and learn more about how you can join the fight. because hunger is a big problem, and it needs a big answer. 7:26 is your time now on this wednesday, april 11, 2012, good morning, i'm eun yang, breaking news on the roads right now involving a fuel spill. let's check in right now with danella sealock for the latest. danella, good morning. >> chopper 4 is just arriving to the scene now. i can tell you this is going to be as you're traveling eastbound route 50, the ramp to bay dale drive is closed due to a tractor-trailer and it's leaking fuel. and again, i'll be back with a live video from chopper, i can tell you they're getting to the scene just now. the ramp for bay dale drive this morning is closed from eastbound route 50. eun, back to you. >> thank you, it's chilly out there, we have a look at your winter-like forecast next.

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today, in the 50s, a lot of clouds around, maybe an afternoon sprinkle with a blustery wind, tomorrow, sunny, near 60 degrees after a cold start. then during the afternoon on friday, mid

i was absolutely terrified. and thousands upon thousands of death threats. >> that was, of course, the so-called octomom, nadya suleman talking to matt last week about getting hate mail for receiving government assistance to feed her 14 children. now she claims that someone has gone even further, smashing her car window and leaving a threatening note. we're going to talk to her when she joins us for an exclusive live interview coming up this morning. meantime, it is now 7:30 on a wednesday morning. the 11th of april, 2012. and i'm happy to be sitting alongside carl quintanilla who is in for matt this morning. >> good to be here. also ahead, with some newly obtained court documents are revealing about the relationship between alec baldwin and the woman now charged with assaulting the "30 rock" star.

>> that's right. and also ashley judd has been in the news all this week because critics have been slamming her for appearance, accusing her of having plastic surgery. guess what? now she is responding. denying those claims, categorically and exclusive interview for nbc's "nightly news." you're going to find out what she's got to say about that. but also we want to tell you to hang onto your hats. because the man who says he says whatever he thinks and doesn't, you know, doesn't hold back, that's ricky gervais, of course. he's going to be her live in our studio. so batten down the hatches. >> we begin this half hour with the latest on the woman accuseded of stalking alec baldwin. nbc's mara schiavocampo is outside the actor's apartment here in new york city. ma mara, good morning. >> carl, good morning. this is where the arrest went down. alec baldwin says sunday night, 40-year-old actress genevieve sabourin showed up here at his new york city apartment building demanding to see the actor. the "30 rock" star says that's the third time in two weeks that she showed up somewhere uninvited and that she was also cyber stalking him.

genevieve sabourin was calm and collected leaving manhattan criminal court monday evening, after being arraigned for allegedly stalking actor alec baldwin. nbc news has obtained court documents detailing the alleged harassment. that baldwin says got so bad he had to change his phone number. the "30 rock" star claims sabourin e-mailed him 12 times in five days, even after he told her to leave him alone. writing, quote, need you now, please alec, come and pick me up now. i am less than 10 minutes away from you tonight. say i do to me. and in another message, i need to start my new life with my new name, my new career, in my new country, help my newly husband. in her e-mails, sabourin expressed excitement about, quote creating genevieve baldwin. but it was not to be. the 54-year-old alec baldwin who went through a notoriously ugly divorce from oscar winning actress kim basinger in the '90s did just get engaged.

but it was to 28-year-old yoga instructor hilaria thomas. the very weekend of his engagement he told police sabourin showed up at his long island weekend home. >> from the prosecutor's perspective, not only does the prosecutor need to show that anyone would have been in fear of this woman's conduct but that alec baldwin himself was in fear of this woman's behavior. >> reporter: baldwin also says sabourin showed up uninvited and unannounced at an event he was hostinin new york city. but the defense paints a different picture. saying baldwin and sabourin had, quote, a mutual relationship. they were communicating back and forth with one another, e-mails, phone calls, text messages, going in both directions. >> i'm proud to live in this great country. >> reporter: baldwin and sabourin met on the set of the box office flop in 2002. he made a cameo and she worked as his publicist. baldwin acknowledges they had dinner once in 2010, but a source close to him said he did it to give the struggling

actress some career advice. a new york police source says the two actually had dinner twice. >> when the story first hit, many people thought this was a random woman that had never met alec baldwin before. as it turns out, the two of them had shared a meal or two, yet they weren't close enough friends that it would be acceptable for genevieve to knock on alec baldwin's door unannounced. >> reporter: sabourin has been charged with aggravated harassment and stalking. she pled not guilty at her arraignment and her next court date is may 14th. the judge also issued a temporary order of protection for baldwin. >> mara schiavocampo in new york. thanks. all right, carl, thank you. now to a double murder and a suicide that's rocked a small michigan town. we're now hearing the emotional nine one uncall from the 17-year-old girl who survived. we should warn you some of the details you're about to hear are disturbing. nbc's kevin tibbles has more. hey, kevin, good morning. >> ann, as this town grables with tremendous loss it is also coming to the in support of the

young woman who survived this tragedy, while everyone is asking, how could this have happened on a leafy, suburban seat called sunny dale? a makeshift memorial sits outside the home where unspeakable horror took place. leaving the small community of livonia, michigan, shaken to its core. >> it comes as a total shock to everyone because it goes well beyond what anybody can imagine. >> 911, what's the address of your emergency? >> reporter: last wednesday, 17-year-old desiree made an extremely urgent call to 911. >> my ex-boyfriend broke into my house and killed my current boyfriend and then killed himself. >> reporter: just now? >> yeah. >> reporter: okay, stay on the line with me. >> and he kind of beat me up, so -- and my parents aren't home and it's just me and i'm 17. >> reporter: but what the teen didn't realize at the time of the call was that her mother angela was also a victim. >> the crime scene that we came upon that day was horrific.

>> reporter: police say 19-year-old high school graduate brian white, desiree's ex-boyfriend, entered the family home, grabbed an ax, and bludgeoned angela as she slept. he then moved into desiree's room where she and her new boyfriend were asleep. desiree woke up while white was murdering burns. >> she began to struggle with the suspect. she was knocked down at some point, hurt her knee. the suspect then went and retrieved a firearm, a pistol from the other bedroom again and came back. >> reporter: police say brian white, armed with a gun, threatened to kill himself while desiree, injured and held hostage, tried to calm him. several hours later, white killed himself in front of desiree, who then called 911. >> there has been a murder suicide. there is no is your pfeiffers, please send -- >> okay, what's going on? >> this girl was very brave. >> reporter: police say white, who did not have a criminal record, became upset over his recent breakup with desiree, an

aspiring model. in the days leading up to the murder/suicide, white was reportedly posting grim notes online. from the horror movie "american psycho." a film where the main character uses an ax to murder his victims. >> he was clearly unhappy about the breakup. but we saw no indications of violence or threats or anything of that nature at all. >> reporter: white's friends were shocked by the crime. one posting on facebook, the brian i knew would not have been capable of this. >> 19 years, already a stressful time. add to that a breakup. and you may see abnormal behavior that could really be devastating. >> reporter: funerals for the victims were held on tuesday. despite their tremendous loss, the family has released a statement saying that desiree's survival is a miracle that they will now hold onto. ann? >> all right. kevin tibbles this morning. thank you so much for that reporting. and let's switch gears now. okay. shall we?

and get a check of the weather with al. >> all right. we've got a change in our temperatures coming up. if it's chilly where you've been, good news things may start to warm up. we've had what we call this omega block trough on both sides of the country, high pressure, a big ridge in the middle. so it's warmer than normal there. cooler than normal in the coasts. as we move into the weekend, warmer than normal out east, although cooler than normal through the plains back into the southwest. then it kind of stalls and that means we're going to get severe weather latter partwe may be lo weather latter part of the week into the weekend in the midwest. that's what's going on around the country, here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> tom kierein, we're colder than average here this morning, down into the 30s under a partly cloudy to mostly cloudy sky now. and just near 40 in washington, mid and upper 30s elsewhere and later today, only reaching the 50s. a lot of clouds around, maybe an achb sprinkle, a bit of a blustery wind, cold start tomorrow morning, near freezing, afternoon near 60 with sunshine.

friday, warming trend coming our wa >> and don't forget you can get your weather any time of the day or night, go to the weather channel on cable or weather.com online. >> all right, al, thank you. coming up next the jeff rossen investigation on violent cell phone robberies that is now helping to bring about a industrywide change. and also, a little bit later, ricky gervais is going to be bringing his irreverent brand of humor to our studio. we're going to be catching up with him live. [ glass clinks ] i just wanted to say a few words. first of all, thank you for the lovely meal jane. mom. and let's hear it for sara's paper mache eiffel tower. it's the washington monument. and dad, i'll never forget what you said to me this morning. you said "brian, it's 11:15. get up." so maybe this is just the cake talking but let's celebrate! [ male announcer ] celebrate the little things. buy any kfc 10 pc meal or larger and get a free double chocolate chip cake.

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until now. "today" national investigative correspondent jeff rossen is here with the update. jeff, good morning. >> hey, carl, good morning. this is a major update and it's good news for all of us. these violent robberies are incredibly dangerous. innocent people beaten, held up at gunpoint, even brutally attacked by thieves who want their cell phones. police told us there's actually an easy way to stop these crimes, but the wireless industry was standing in the way. our story aired just weeks ago. now the cell phone companies are changing their tune and taking action. fort lauderdale. a thief sucker punches this man, beating him to a pulp. the victim tries to get up, but the robber kicks him back down, and makes off with his iphone. and in los angeles, a man follows this teenage girl into her apartment lobby just to snatch her phone, punching her over and over again, but this girl fights back. the crook pushes her against the wall, and pummels her.

washington, d.c. police chief cathy lanier says it every day. this is a big business. >> it's a huge business. huge business. the after market resale of these phones is just driving it. >> reporter: and she says the wireless industry was putting its own profits over your safety. allowing stolen phones to be reactivated later, with a different phone number. yes, that's right. in most cases, black market buyers, or the thieves themselves, were able to buy service on that stolen phone. lining the pockets of the wireless companies. what is your message for the wireless industry? >> shame on you. i mean, this is something despicable. >> reporter: police told us there's an easy fix. that would stop criminals in their tracks. here's how it works. every cell phone has its own unique i.d. or fingerprint. once the phone is reported stolen, it would be blacklisted in the u.s. wireless companies from verizon to at&t, t-mobile to sprint would all share information, banning service on that stolen

phone on all carriers forever. >> it becomes useless. so there's no profit anymore. when you take that profit away there's no motivation to stick a gun in somebody's face and take their phone. >> reporter: just three weeks ago the wireless industry told us they didn't want to do it yet. the police chief here in d.c. said this was about money. >> well, it -- it -- it's a money loser in a lot of respects. >> reporter: they said it's better to wait until other countries try it first. >> let's make sure we get, for example mexican service providers, central american, south american, african, chinese. >> reporter: but why not start with the u.s.? why not take that first step and fix it here? >> well, because i think the larger problem, the bigger problem is overseas. >> reporter: but after our story aired, a sudden 180. the wireless companies are now agreeing to it. they will blacklist any phone reported stolen in the u.s. making it useless to thieves. lawmakers and the ftc call it a victory for consumers. >> we're sending a message to

consumers, we got your back. and a message to criminals that we're cracking down, don't waste your time. >> reporter: the ftc is now giving cell phone companies 18 months to get the system up and running. the companies say this agreement shows their dedication to public safety and will enhance the security and protection of all their customers. and so we love bringing you updates like this. >> always nice when they get a little push, too. >> yeah. >> thanks very much, jeff rossen. still ahead, nadya suleman opens up in an exclusive live interview with the death threats she says she received over the weekend. but first these messages. hi, i just switched jobs, and i want to roll over my old 401(k) into a fidelity ira. man: okay, no problem. it's easy to get started; i can help you with the paperwork. um...this green line just appeared on my floor. yeah, that's fidelity helping you reach your financial goals. could you hold on a second? it's your money. roll over your old 401(k) into a fidelity ira and take control of your personal economy.

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it? as "downton abbey." in fact it's highclere castle and thousands of americans are flocking here to get a little taste of life at downton. >> welcome to downton. >> guests don't arrive in the manner they once did. >> welcome. >> reporter: but the real life countess of highclere is just as welcoming. for many it's a long journey. >> raleigh, north carolina. >> california. >> come on in. you must be worn out. >> reporter: the great hall is exactly as it is in the series, where so much drama unfolds. many fans. >> what should we call each other? >> we could always start with lady. >> reporter: maggie smith putting people in their place. clever, funny, and at times heart wrenching the period

drama, some call it a soap opera, about british nobles and their servants, has found a surprisingly large fan base among americans. stunning downton star michelle dougherty even graces the cover of the new "vanity fair." one family traveled from las vegas to step back into the past. >> we love their dresses. we love their hats. >> reporter: romance, and tragedy run in both directions. upstairs and downstairs. >> how is she? >> reporter: in season two, a deadly virus sweeps through the abbey. >> i'm afraid we have illness in the house. >> reporter: and the downton drama often mirrors highclere's history. in the 1920s the fifth earl mysteriously died after discovering the tomb of egypt's boy king, tutankhamen. then others linked to the old egyptian adventure also met strange deaths. because of that, some say the castle remains under king tut's

curse. but the present lady of the house shrugs that off. and shows us around the castle's egyptian exhibits. >> i'm respectful of curses, obviously. my husband's kind of less bothered about it. >> reporter: downton abbey's second season ended in a swirl of romance and intrigue. >> will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? >> reporter: all setting for season three, with a new star joining the cast. oscar winning american actress shirley maclaine, seen her during recent filming. but what does the future hold for downton abbey? have you found out what happens? >> no, but i'm really excited. >> reporter: filming begins again here in a couple of weeks. >> i just want to tell people when season three comes on that i've been there. >> and when we see season three we want to be able to visualize it. >> reporter: but at highclere they're giving nothing away. and get this, ann, they say they are already getting almost 2,000

visitors here every day. >> keir simmons, thank you so much. speaking of popular british imports, look who's here. and he dressed up for us as well. wearing his fancy shoes. >> casual wednesday. . 3 o'clock. my daily meeting with a salty snack. and then at 3:15 with my guilt. [ female announcer ] special k cracker chips. 27 crispy chips. 110 delicious calories. mmm. good meeting. same time tomorrow? [ female announcer ] find them in the cracker aisle. i see a bag and think... i could have a chip. yeah right. that's why they're called chipsss. [ female announcer ] special k cracker chips. 27 crispy chips. 110 delicious calories. [ female announcer ] find them in the cracker aisle. ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. zyrtec®. love the air. [ sneezes ]

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good morning, i'm aaron gilchrest, it is 7:56 now on this wednesday morning, it feels more like a march morning than an april one. tom kierein is in with the chilly start to the forecast. tom? >> it looks like spring, but feels more like winter. we're down in the 30s throughout much of the region. just approaching 8:00 in the morning now, 43 at reagan national. elsewhere it's in the mid and upper 30s. a bit of a blustery wind out of the north and west, it will be with us off and on throughout the day, with clouds coming through and highs in the 50s. a small chance of an afternoon sprinkle. then overnight, clearing out, mid 30s to low 30s tomorrow morning. sunny on thursday, highs reaching near 60. a bit warmer on friday and into the weekend, a lot warmer. aaron? >> thank you, tom. we'll check the morning

good morning, this is the scene from chopper earlier. traveling eastbound route 50rks the exit ramp to bay dale drive shut because we have a tractor-trailer leaking fuel on the road and also taking out the right lane, you will not be able to access the exit ramp at this time. roadways, inner loop slow, 25 miles per hour at robinson terminal. delays continue to the dulles toll

oh, no. 8:00 now on a wednesday morning. apparently we've lost our minds because we have put ricky gervais in charge of our control room. of course, he is the very popular comedian and anyway, ricky, how's it going in there? >> drunk again. it's wednesday! >> a special day. >> i'm out of here. >> now back away. that's a good idea, ricky. we'll be catching up with him coming up actually --

>> we're going to black soon, i know it. he's just wandering aimlessly. >> meantime outside here on the plaza i'm ann curry along with carl quintanilla in for matt lauer and al. coming up we're going to be talking about nadya suleman the so-called octomom. she says she's received some debt threats, talk about her car window being smashed. we're going to catch up with her. >> also ahead, ashley judd addressing her critics, and denying that she's had plastic surgery in an exclusive interview we'll have from miss judd. >> there's been a lot of buzz about this and she's pretty angry about it. frankly i don't blame her. >> absolutely. going from anger to laughter, the aforementioned ricky gervais is here. his new hbo series "the ricky gervais show" which i think is a scream, they take some of their radio shows, the soundtracks and insert them in animated cartoons. the new season is coming on hbo. a sneak peek. >> do you know that "the office" is now in nine countries? the show that he and his

collaborators have come up with. >> they should do that here in america. >> i think they have. anyway let's go inside and get a check of the top stories from natalie. >> good morning, ann, carl and al. good morning, everyone. at least one powerful aftershock has been felt in coastal communities in the indian ocean after a major earthquake there this morning. panicked residents in thailand and indonesia fled to higher ground after a magnitude 8.6 quake struck off aceh. tsunami warnings were issued and buildings began to shake in banda aceh but there are no reports of serious damage. george zimmerman, the man who claims he shot trayvon martin in self-defense, will need a new attorney. earlier on today, craig sonner and hal uhrig defended their decision to stop representing zimmerman saying they hadn't been in touch with him since sunday and felt it wasn't right to continue speaking on his behalf. mitt romney is one step closer to the republican nomination, after his chief rival, rick santorum, droned out of the race for the white house on use. santorum's decision came just

days after his 3-year-old daughter bella, who suffers from a serious genetic condition, was hospitalized. the ceo of best buy brian dunn abruptly resigned tuesday amid an investigation into his personal conduct. the company says the probe is unrelated to the struggling company's financial operations. now for a look at what's trending today. our quick roundup of what has you talking online, you've been talking about ashley judd who's once again burning up google search engines after she squashed rumors in her op-ed piece in the daily beast that a fuller face was due to plastic surgery. in an exclusive interview airing tonight on "nbc nightly news" with brian williams judd fired back at critics. >> i think it's hatred of women. i think it's the objectification of girls and women and this hypersexualization of our society that invites the criticism. it doesn't have anything to do with me, really, and how i look. do i look bad? i've had work. i look too good, i've had work. >> and judd said her puffier

appearance was due to her taking steroids for a sinus infection and getting to see the full interview on "nightly news" tonight. fans of the simpsons are taking the twitter creator matt groening finally revealed that the city of springfield is a real place. he says homer, bart and the gang live in springfield, oregon and that he was inspired by the tv show "father knows best" which is also set in springfield. and the texts from hillary is going viral and blowing up across facebook. it began with a picture of hillary clinton focused on her blackberry with spoof text messages to movers and shakers. but even the secretary of state herself is a fan and invited the creators to the state department to even submitted an autographed photo where she wrote thanks to the many lol. and signed it hil. let's go back outside to al with a check of your weather. >> i can't get over that springfield is in oregon. >> it's a real place! >> i'm stunned.

thought it was going to be ohio. oh, well. it's your 12th birthday. what's your name? >> christopher. >> and what are you doing for your birthday? >> for my birthday going to the guggenheim, and then phantom of the opera. >> all right. very nice. cool. all right. let's check it out.nice, cool, this out. watch out for the chandelier. lore aid lar aido, texedo, texas. >> look for a risk of strong storms, west texas up into oklahoma, showers along the west coast. the heavier rain down in southern california, some snows through western new york and western p.a. that's what's going on around the country, here's what's going on in your neck of the woods. cold start, good morning, tom kierein in storm center 4, we're in the 30s to near 40 degrees now, with a lot of clouds around for the day today and highs in the 50s.

and winds gusting to around 20-25 miles per hour. they'll diminish tonight under a clear sky, cold start again tomorrow morning, near freezing, afternoon highs thursday near 60. good weather for the nationals home opener, after a cold start friday, into the mid 60s. warmer weather moves in for saturday, sunday, it should ling >> that's your latest weather. what's your name? >> jeremy. >> zoe. >> jillian. >> katherine. >> jill. >> all right. there you go. ann? >> and i'm ann. okay, thanks a lot al. coming up we'll be talking to the so-called octomom nadya suleman about what she says have been death threats against her. lollipops ♪ , ♪ and rainbows, that's how this refrain goes ♪ ♪ so come on, join in...everybody! ♪ ♪ sunshine, lollipops and rainbows ♪ ♪ everything that's wonderful is sure to come your way! ♪ ♪ 'cause you're in love ♪ you're in love ♪ and love is here to stay!

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made against the octomom. police in california are investigating reports that someone smashed her van's window and left behind an alarming note. we'll talk to nadya suleman exclusively in a moment. but first the latest on her story. just days after nadya suleman appeared on "today," telling matt that in the past she's been the target of death threats -- >> i was absolutely terrified and received thousands upon thousands of death threats. >> reporter: -- she says it's happened again. on saturday police in california were called to the suleman home by her father to investigate damage to her car, parked in the driveway. >> she's very scared. she's scared for the kids. she's scared for herself. >> reporter: after getting questions from the media about a death threat tuesday, police say detectives met with suleman. she said she found a threatening note inside the car that read, leave california or you will die. but she said she hadn't told her father about the note. when detectives tried to collect the note as evidence, suleman told them she no longer had it.

>> the police don't know, and none of us know, who made this alleged death threat, and what their motivation was. we do know that for a very long time that a lot of neighbors around nadya's house have not wanted her there, and they would rather she just left. >> i love you. >> reporter: suleman became widely known as octomom in 2009. when she gave birth to octuplets through in vitro fertilization, adding eight to the six children she already had. >> apple. >> reporter: sometimes vilified in the media, suleman defended her decision to give birth to the octuplets and vowed at the time to care for them on her own, without government assistance. >> i've chosen never to go on welfare. i feel as though it is my responsibility to do what i can for my children. >> reporter: but last week on "today," suleman admitted receiving about $2,000 a month in aid from the state of california. >> it's only food stamps. and it's -- if you do it temporarily, it's a resource. >> reporter: a resource, according to her manager, that

comes at a price. >> this is all because she needed a little bit of assistance right now. and it was already hard enough for her to go and do it and now she's having to deal with this. she's afraid to leave the house. >> and nadya suleman is with us exclusively this morning. nadya, good morning. >> good morning. how are you? >> i'm good. >> thank you for having me. >> a few days ago you were on this couch with matt. you talked about your financial troubles. days later this event happened. do you think the two were related? >> i think it's highly possible. and i -- the note that suddenly disappeared. my daughter found it, and then when we read it, i was so terrified i threw it out. and then we had to retrieve it from the trash. >> so who has the note now -- >> i wanted to -- i believe that another interviewer took it. i had it with me in the morning, and i retrieved it from the trash. but i really want to protect my kids from it. i didn't want them to see it.

>> are you going to eventually hand that note over to the police? >> i believe they have a copy of it. but i'm going to have to find out if the -- i can't say the name of who interviewed me in the mornings. >> this is not the first time you've had trespassers on your property, or is it? >> right, right. no, this is not the first time, no. about three years ago, the same car, poor car, it was vandalized, someone smashed the back of it, the entire back window, and i had someone try to break in the side of the house. >> and you've been getting death threats? you've said you've gotten death threats literally for years. >> thousands. >> for years. >> thousands for the first two years and then they suddenly stopped. and then they just started again. >> what steps are you taking to try to keep your family safe? >> it kind of exacerbated my anxiety and my fear of being out in the public so i don't really go out often. if i do, i'll wear a wig or i'll disguise myself.

>> except when you're on national television? >> right now, yes, exactly. i'm in my house. >> you described your situation as destitute. what are your plans to start making some real income? how are you going to get off of assistance? and is this going to have to involve you eventually doing some kind of reality show, or what? >> i'm open to that. i'm very open-minded to doing any type of reality show. but i am planning on getting off the relief and food stamps any -- you know, all of it, within a month. >> are you worried at all that you talked so much about your financial situation being so precarious that authorities are going to move in and try to take some of your children? is that element of worry in your head? >> no, not at all. that's not a -- there's no worry whatsoever. that that will ever happen. they don't do that. they help you get assistance. they were actually shocked it took me over three years to even call to make -- to ask for some

help with food. >> you know, there are -- there are a lot of moms out there, nadya, who look at your situation and feel that your kids deserve better. what's your message to them? >> my message is that they could never have a better home. a better home physically? yes. we're going to be moving. but they could never have a better mother. and they are so, so fortunate. actually, these people who are saying that are probably envious that they will never have the connections that these children have within their own group. the bond that they share and the connection they share with each other is extraordinary. and i think they just -- they're kind of oblivious to how special that bond is. >> nadya? >> they don't have it. >> thank you very much. nadya suleman joining us live. coming up next, ricky gervais, live in studio 1a. right after this. pull on those gardening gloves. grab the nearest spade. and let's see how colorful an afternoon can be. with certified advise to help us expand our palette... ...and prices that give us more spring per dollar...

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featuring our classic turkey sandwich. chili's lunch break combos. it is now 8:1. with the classic comedian ricky gervais, the co-creator of the hit show "the office" is a popular podcaster and it's the basis of hbo's animated series called "the ricky gervais show" he ricky and his friends offer their interesting take on things like slugs. >> they don't make stamps. >> these are stamps. >> that's why they're so slow. i think they're sweating glue. have you ever picked up a slug? well, they give off this glue. it's like all the glue they've eaten off stamps, they panic and when they sweat, they sweat glue. >> hat do you mean they sweat glue? >> hat do they do for the world? >> they're food.

it's not good enough. not good enough. >> ricky gervais, good morning. >> hello. >> these are the most downrate -- downloaded podcasts in the history of human kind. >> yeah, about 320 million so far. >> can you explain this? >> can't. i mean i suppose i did it because i liked the fact it was global. the internet is global. it's just a radio show. you go into a room. it's all ad-lib. it's not even planned. it's just a microphone and we just chat. and i wanted to share some with the world. because it's different to other people. as you saw there. and yeah, it just went ballistic. >> carl is the animation with the round head. that's right. and carl -- that's the drawing. it's a round, it's i circle. >> it is. it's not as round as his real head. >> yeah? >> he's got a completely spherical little head. it's like an orange. >> really?

and what's going on inside that head? >> nothing. very little. i treat him like i found the missing link. look, it looks like a man. but listen to the weertd things it says. i call him every day. it's like a podcast every day and it just cracks me up. it's just so funny. and he sees the world differently. >> yeah, yeah. yeah, he definitely does. okay. well, look forward you actually hired him originally as your assistant. is that right? >> no, he was actually the producer on my radio show. and then i asked him a question on air and what came out was absolute drive. it was funny drivel. he's just funny. he's odd. and i wanted to share -- i feel like i'm anthony hopkins in the elephant man parading dune this weird thing. >> well obviously people love it because of all the downloads. i notice that, you know, your character has a pretty kind of vaguely familiar look. in fact, if it might say why is

it that your character, take a look at the screen, looks like fred flintstone. really, look at that. the nose, the ears. >> because i look a built like fred flintstone in real life. >> you do not. >> i wanted to be very retro. the things they say are so odd. and i didn't want to be trendy because it's quite out there some of the things we talk about. and so i thought that it would be a nice juxtaposition. it looks friendly. >> lots of out there subjects that you're talking about. one of them, what it would be like for a man to have his brain implanted in tom cruise's body. this is carl's idea? >> it's his idea for a film. right? in this film, tom cruise, they're making mission impossible 7 but tom cruise dies, so there's this other actor who's always hated tom cruise that gives him his brain. so it's the body of tom cruise and the brain of this guy called brian, who's played by ted

danson. we've animated that. and you see the film and it's just hilarious because that's the great thing about the animation. you can suddenly see carl's flight to fancy. so, yeah -- >> so fun. >> it's so much fun. it's a great idea being in the room with carl. >> this is now part of a series you're doing for hbo, gone from podcasts to hbo, and now there's something in the press about you saying you're not going to do the golden globes for a third time. is that true? why not? >> i've done it three times. >> for a fourth time. are you done? >> well maybe. never say never. but i think three in a row was enough. i really enjoyed the last one. i think that by the third one the audience actually got it. the first two times i was like, why are they saying such awful things. by the third time they were like, oh, i get it, they're joked. so it was good. >> so far i'm guessing you have not been invited to do the oscars yet? would you consider doing the oscars? and what is this i may be

hearing about you would livestream your commentary. >> i would love to do that. >> what is that? >> you watch the oscars on your tv with the sound down and you have me and a few of my idiot friends doing the real conversation. saying what you want say on television. >> that would be an amazing series. >> that's better than singing and dancing, isn't it? >> you know, we've got to go in a few moments but i wanted to ask you, because it sounds like your mom had a terrific wit. i've been reading about you. and my impression is that she really taught you -- >> all my family are funny. all my family are funny in different ways. my dad was very dry. he said one word a day and it was killer. my mum was funny. but my brothers and sisters were funny, as well. i just -- it was the most important thing growing up. the point was to have a laugh. so that's where i get it from. and i'm so lucky that that has become a career. >> yes. and we're so lucky as well. by the way this is one of your biggest fans over there standing offscreen. >> there he is. >> taking pictures of you.

>> if i want to know what the weather's like i look out the window. >> that's why we have the window. >> yet you still get paid. >> isn't this a great country? >> well done. >> yeah. >> well it's a great country. i mean my gosh, nine, nine countries now have "the office." congratulations. >> 90? >> nine. >> 90. 90 countries have the original version, and nine have a remake. >> unbelievable. >> get it right. >> get it right. >> i know i've been blowing it left and right. ricky gervais. 90. >> of course the ricky gervais show kicks off a new season on april 20th on hbo. and just ahead, how to shop your own closet. right every day.

>> just ahead 8:26 is your time on this wednesday, april 11th, 2012, good morning to you, i'm eun yang and let's check in with storm center 4 meteorologist tom kierein for the forecast. >> it is still april, i think, it doesn't feel like it this morning, temperatures as we approach 8:30 are only near 40 degrees. and we've got a bit of a blustery wind out of the north and west, too. making it feel even chelier. a lot of clouds around throughout the rest of the day. and we'll have winds gusting up to 25 miles per hour this afternoon. and a small chance of a sprinkle. highs only in the 50s. another cold start tomorrow morning, highs near 60 tomorrow with lots of sun and then warming up into the weekend.

ought to hit near 70 saturday,

check the traffic. good morning, traveling the beltway, a disabled vehicle blocking your left lane outer

loop just past georgia avenue. you're seeing big delays as you make your way past new hampshire avenue, very slow travel speed, you're looking at 29 miles per hour and northbound 395 at washington boulevard, r

8:30 now on a wednesday morning. the 11th of april, 2012. we want to give our great crowd a little moment to say hi to their family and friends at home on a beautiful spring morning. i hope it stays nice. >> we'll continue to get those over the next few hours. >> meantime alongside carl

quintanilla, nally morales and al roker, we'll be talking about how to look great on a budget. >> you don't have to buy a whole new brand new wardrobe for spring. all you need are the clothes that are actually in your closet. we'll show you how to pair things up, great the right look. somebody who is always on trend. ann curry. these shoes, we saw her shoes? look at these. everybody on the plaza is lusting after those. >> you know -- >> i like it. >> i want to wear them to make them happy. >> if they make you happy then that works. >> what else is coming up? >> we're going to space things up in the kitchen this morning. three home made sauces that will go great with a steak. and you'll be able to smell the steak. >> it's killing us. >> and then, you've got a spouse who's got some annoying habits like leaving wet towels on the floor or snoring or doing all kinds of things that kind of

creep you out. we're going to give you some ideas. >> there's laundry everywhere. >> outing joe. >> let's get a check of the weather. hopefully we didn't already do it. >> no, we didn't. did we do weather >> no, we didn't. did we do weather yet? no, let's do it show you what we've got for today, some showers in the northeast with some snowshowers over western new york and p.a. risk of strong storms in west texas on into oklahoma. showers along the west coast, heavier into southern california. tomorrow, the risk makes its way into central texas on into central oklahoma and nebraska. more rain along the west coast, with mountain snows. a few showers on coastal new england, sunny and mild from the great lakes down to the gulf coast. that's what's going on around the country, here's what's going on in your neck of the woods. much cooler than average temperatures now. it's only in the 30s to around 40 degrees, still above freezing. later today, it makes it into the mid 50s, more like mid march than early to mid april.

we'll have winds gusting to around 25 miles per hour later this afternoon. a lot of clouds and a small chance of a sprinkle. then milder on thursday up near 60 degrees and we'll have a cold start tomorrow near freezing. near freezing friday >> that's your latest weather. now let's head down to florida, and say hello to uncle willard. >> we want to thank the south seas island resort for their hospitality. the great state of florida and good old smucker's. happy birthday take a look if you will. want to see one handsome man here is shelby harris from rock island, illinois. enjoys all sorts of things like celebrating his 111th birthday. and he loves to go to church. here is henrietta tucker. from rochester, minnesota. go to the hospital while you're there. good people. 105. and she takes a walk every day. that's her big exercise. they say you can't beat it. pern hunter. sebring, florida, that's right

across the state. and he is a very experienced fibberman and he loves the ladies. you rascal you. and alberta hornsby of cleveland, ohio. is 107. they got a good hospital there, too. and very hard worker all of her life and she says that's part of their secret to making it. everybody will tell you that. and this is william rambo. rambo. in northport, new york. 100 years old today. enjoys talking with his friends on the phone. and probably goes crazy for the iphone now. sweet tressa bartholomew from carlisle, iowa. 107 years old. and she loves to read and bake. best baker in the great state of iowa. well that's it from florida. i'd like you to meet my friendly assistants. it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it. >> and now back to you in new york.

>> nice work, willard. when we come back, some affordable ways to pull off the spring season's hottest looks. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

>> that melody with "today's style." this morning we're stepping up your spring wardrobe with accessories. now the easy way to jump up on the trends of the season. we have style expert lloyd bachmann with some affordable accents. lloyd, good morning to you. >> good to be home. >> boy i want to learn color blocking from you. you know how to do it like a diva. >> color blocking is so simple. you don't have to spend a lot of money to do it because most women have solid colors in their closet. if you do want to get a few pieces these are some of my picks from the season. let me show you some great ways. this is from jcp. this is an $18 kind of a butterfly top. you can add this to a jean or

basic chino or black pant and have the look of the season. now also these color block shoes are jcp as well. that's a great moment at an affordable price. take a look at these great tanks, these are from piperlime.com. so if you want to show your arms this is a great way to do it with an hombre, kind of like a faded look. i lunch this striped version and a long sleeve version from seewonder.com. you can also do it with accessories, take a look at those great bracelets from banana republic. $19.60 and up. >> the question is sometimes you can, you know, mix them by finding something that has it already mixed. what colors actually go together. >> the simple way like you're doing today, one bright with one neutral and you're done. step it up a little bit, two brights and one neutral and you're finished. no more than three brights, though. that's the trick. the great color recipe would be blue, orange and yellow. that's a great trifecta as they call it in racing.

>> now let's talk about bags. spring bags can really perk up your spring wardrobe. >> you ever have a heavy, suede bag in the middle of a hot, spring day and you feel all weighed down. i had that once. i hated it. >> striped back, $19 from jo fresh. you can get this nautical look just about anywhere. feel that, ann. really soft. it won't scratch your legs on bare leg days. i want you to open this up. it looks like a clutch from see wonder. >> going to pop out of here. >> come on, ann, get in there. >> it's a whole tote from the the spacy, ethnic feel. that's a great trend. i'm loving this from lands' end, washed out, kind of beachy. real soft. put your bathing suit and essentials in there. or from am dan.com, i love a pop of color. >> some of them are under $20. >> everything in the whole presentation is pretty much

under $50. let's get to the candy colored brights. >> uh-huh. >> big like you're doing today. you want to go hard, or go home. so think about these, pulling them out, accenting your outfit. i love this kind of fun candy bar here from piperlime.com. these are from zappos, like an espadrille but more feminine. >> i'm thinking this color is great with this color. >> you got it. >> obviously you can't wear the two shoes. >> i guess you could if you're helena bonham carter. >> i bet she got written up about that. >> moving on. a great spring chapeau. this is a great diana ross, think about those kind of retro looks. >> going in. >> and if you're going in, you want to go in at target. i love the brim. great color for your face so if you haven't gotten your tan yet it will give you a little glow. >> if you're having a bad hair day or makeup day. >> i hate bad makeup days. $14.99 at target.

and a great scarf will bring that warmth to your face. >> and they're light to wear them in the summer. >> like little blankets on your neck. >> everybody in the studio is loving this. feel that, ann. that is a gorgeous -- it's a big necklace so it's not like a big statement jewelry. this is from target under $30. i'm even sporting these today. >> look at those. >> a hot new label, take a look at the colorful ones. she will take you from the beach straight to a dinner on the board walk. and they're made of great quartz. you don't have to worry about them being too precious. >> that idea of clooust using climbing cord is a trend. these are pretty beautiful. >> from macy's. candy coded. i love that they snap right on. >> okay now our final trend of the morning. maxi. >> comfortable, long. all good there. >> if you don't want to show your legs you've got great ways to go from macy's. i love this with old navy in the middle, under $30. >> kind of a jersey, too, like a

t-shirt. >> high waistline so it hides the tummy if you haven't tightened it up for the season. or you can do it in separates. i love a long maxi skirt and a halter top. >> this is really great. lloyd bachmann with great suggestions for spring ward robb. thanks so much for being here. much more coming up, including is your kid's high priced college education really worth it? how to decide when it's time to transfer.

back at 8:44. this morning on "education nation today" drastically reducing the cost of college. student debt is at a record $1 trillion. even higher than the nation's credit card debt. nbc's chief education correspondent rehema ellis found one student who traded in her pricey private university for an education she could afford.

>> reporter: 21-year-old rachel is in college fine tuning her voice. studying music and the classics for an opera career. when accepted to new york university her dream school, she was thrilled, until she added up the cost. >> my annual bill was $53,000, including room and board. >> reporter: how did that make you feel? >> nauseous. i couldn't face the thought that i was paying so much money, or to burden my whole family. my parents took out the loans with me. >> reporter: at two years in nyu, rachel accumulated $73,000 in student loans. after consulting with voice teachers, and despite her parents' objections, who wanted her at a big-name university, rachel transferred. now at pritchard college, a state university in new york. the cost $13,000 a year, saving her a whopping $40,000 annually.

>> i could have gone all four years for the price of one year at nyu. >> reporter: experts say many students need to take a long-term view when planning for college, and accumulating debt, for peace of mind some advise don't wore row more than you can expect to earn your first after graduation. >> being educated but poor i think often indicates bad planning and not making the right tradeoffs and not making the right decisions. >> i'm very happy. they're excellent professors. i'm doing lots of productions. lots of face time. >> reporter: rachel is also working part-time. paying for college as she goes. and her parents now accept her decision. >> when i get to hear how my voice is really blossoming and they see that i'm so happy, and yeah, they're happy.

>> reporter: rachel, making an investment in her future as an opera singer, now at a college she can afford. for "today," rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. >> and josh steinberg is the senior editor of the new york times blog the choice. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> fascinating story. we're in decision month now so a lot of conversations are going on around kitchen tables about debt going into debt for college. what would you be telling families who are at that table? >> well you absolutely have to be thinking like rachel is. can you afford this education if you're choosing between two institutions, one public, and one private? can you swing it? >> so what are some of the questions that you would have them ask themselves as they go into this process? >> well, certainly, how much debt are you going to accumulate? and how do you plan to pay it off once you graduate? the rules is that your debt should be substantially less than your first year's salary. and i dealey it should be less than $10,000 a year for each year of college.

>> how much debt would you say is too much on the high end? >> i mean, i think, ideally you want to keep it under $40,000 and hopefully substantially under that. i mean where she was carrying $73,000 just for her first two years at nyu, that's probably too high. >> yeah. you mentioned her case, which is fascinating, and glad that she found a sliegs. is that a solution that works for everybody? >> certainly transferring is a possibility for some. it's not necessarily the easiest to transfer but it's important to know that it's an option. but ideally you had these conversations and talks before you've enrolled right at this time of year. >> we should also talk about the tax credit which a lot of families probably don't take full advantage of. >> the hope scholarship tax credit is a tax credit on the first $4,000 of higher education expenses each year. >> what about students who have to work, right, they have to work while they're in school in order to help fund their education. is there a limit as to how much you should be putting into that versus your study? >> there are studies that have

shown that the high dropout rate during college, students fail to complete college. one of the big factors is they work too many hours. i think in general the rule again is to try to keep it under about 12 hours a week. >> and then there's the whole mind-set of okay, i'm in college, i've got to keep my costs low. where does most of the spending go? does it go to pizza and food or is it something else going on? >> it's again, just like adults, kids in college need to think about those expenses. a pizza every week, $10 a week, that would be something on the order of $2,000 for four years of college. >> one of the big problems is a lot of these people who are in school probably think they're going to make a certain salary but the job market is so fluid right now that once they're in a job they're not making the money that i expected to while they were still in school. >> again, factoring that into keeping that debt as low as possible knowing that you're going to be responsible for paying it, the bills start on the debt as soon as you graduate

and you may not have a job right away. >> do you think we're ever going to see a day where tuitions don't continue to stairstep higher? >> certainly a number of colleges are trying their best to keep their costs down. but when you have these colossal number of kids applying, upward of 30,000 kids applying to harvard, where is the incentive for that institution to cut cost? >> and then when they can finance it with a loan over time. >> great stuff. josh feinberg of "the new york times." up next, three home made sauces you can try with your next steak. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

"today's kitchen" is brought to you by chilies. >> this morning on "today's kitchen" we're spicing it up with new and different steak sauces. chris kimball is the editor of "cook's illustrated" magazine and his new cookbook is simple weeknight favorites. >> good morning. >> just in time for grilling time you've come up with great sauces for steaks. you're going to start us off with a pretty darn good one called citrus soy. >> once you cook a stake in the skill the you have the frond at the bottom. the different between restaurant steaks and home steaks is the restaurants make a sauce. the steak comes out and we let it sit for ten minutes or so and meanwhile with ten minutes or

less you can make a sauce. we'll start with that. there's a nice fond in the pond. >> f-o-n-d? >> yes. that's the nice stuff in the bottom of the pan. that's why you don't want to use a nonstick skillet. we have saw sauce, orange juice, orange just and jinter. >> lots of ginger. >> and rice wine vinegar. we're going to use this two ways. take a little bit of it and put it in with the sesame oil. >> that tastes wonderful. >> and we're going to mix this up and this will be the dressing for edamame, which is soybeans and a broccoli slaw. we'll toss that. that will be the side. >> are you using a sauce pan? >> now what we're going to do is deglaze it, which means put it in a hot pan, and when you cook that down for just about a minute. in a couple of minutes you can

make a great sauce and finish the sauce with a little bit of butter at the end. >> is this called a reduction? >> it's reduced about 50%. there's a little trick by the way. a lot of people say they don't know whether it's 50%. you can just tip the pan up and get a good idea of volume or pour it off into a measuring cup. >> sauce number two. so now we've taken, this is a rib eye steak. that was a strip steak. this is a little more fat to it. now we're going to take mushrooms. >> again dealing with the fond. >> we're going to take mushrooms and cook those down and we're also going to add a little bit of sherry to these. and cook that down for a couple of minutes and then we also add some chicken stock. most sauces, classic french sauces, chicken stock is some kind of alcohol. >> that's why cooking makes us happy. >> so we're going to cook that down. this is about six minutes of cooking and you get this when you're finished. and then we can just add a

little bit of cream. again, cream and butter are optional. if you like a nice, thicker sauce and a little bit of butter. >> that's a lot of butter, chris. >> well, it's the french you know. nench don't get heart attacks. >> and you put that over the steak. >> and finally. >> the third sauce. >> a strip stek, we're going to take peppers now, and we're also going to take some onions and then we're going to cook that down. this will cook about eight minutes or so. until you get it nice and cooked. finish off with a little bit of garlic. that's a little bit of balsamic vinegar. >> and there's no butter. >> so this is locale. >> we had to have one healthy. >> and so then on the side there. >> put that on the side. within ten minutes once you finish the steak you can do three different sauces very quick, and now you have. >> chris kimball bringing some

taste into our home kitchen. >> pleasure. >> just ahead, how to deal with your spouse's annoying habits. first your local news. to deal h your spouse's annoying habits. good morning, it's 8:56 now on this wednesday, april 11th, i'm aaron gilchrest. we're off to a cold start this morning. tom kierein, what's the forecast look like? >> temperatures are above freezing, but only around 40 degrees. storm center 4 radar is showing the green in northern prince

george's and anne arundel county, showers have developed moving south. later today in the 50s, might have a little sun in and out. a lot of clouds and maybe a passing sprinkle and winds gusting to around 25 miles per hour, highs in the mid 50s. a cold start tomorrow morning, afternoon highs near 60 on thursday, lots of

>> traffic coming up. good morning, we had a crash for thebound 395 at washington boulevard. it's out of the roadway, but still seeing delays, this is a look at edsall. very slow, delays continue to the 14th street bridge, at 20 miles per hour, about a 33-minute drive to get there from the beltway. inner loop at little river turnpike, very slow, aaron, b

welcome back on a wednesday morning, the 11th of april, 2012. we have a huge spring break crowd starting their day with us here in rockefeller plaza. boy the spring break just does not end. >> it's a rolling spring break. >> all of these nice young people hanging out with us. i'm ann curry along with carl quintanilla, al roker and savannah guthrie. more on the latest on alec baldwin. >> the 30 rock star was granted a temporary restraining order against the canadian actress who's charged with stalking the actor. we're going to get new details on that situation in just a few

mopes. >> first we're going to be checking in with our "today's money 911" all-stars. they've got advice on your questions, whether you're struggling to pay off debt, wondering about the smartest thing to do with your tax refund. if you're going to get one. >> also ahead the bad habits of good people. everybody has things that their significant other does that kind of irritate them. either they're messy, perhaps, burping, also on our list, people who use their forks as a back scratcher. that was a common complaint. >> i don't believe that. we're going to talk about how you can address these without making them feel terrible. >> let's go inside and get a check of the top stories. >> good morning, everyone. a tsunami warning is being lifted for indonesia this morning following that massive earthquake offshore and powerful aftershocks. panicked residents ran for safer

ground. nbc's ian williams is in bangkok, thailand. ian this was felt over a widespread area. >> that's right, natalie. it was felt all around the indian ocean. thanks to those alerts, those tsunami alerts are being lifted. and there is an enormous sense of relief here that we didn't see a repeat of that terrible 2004 disaster when a quarter million people died in the resulting tsunami. scientists say this may be what they call a lateral quake. the earth moving sideways instead of up and down which doesn't generate a tsunami of the same sort of strength. we did see a small tsunami four inches, that's all here in thailand. where the alert stayed in place because of those strong aftershocks. now the norths are also breathing a sigh of relief because this was the first big test of an early warning system that was set up across the region after 2004.

and people do seem to have heeded the warnings from that system and have moved to higher ground, to have listened to the authorities, and there is relief that that worked. that people got out of harm's way. at the end of the day after such a powerful quake we didn't see the repeat of that 2004 tsunami. natalie? >> a huge relief there. ian williams in bangkok, thailand. thank you. in southern peru this morning, crews rescued nine miners who had been trapped underground for almost a week. they'd been stuck in the mine since a partial collapse last thursday. the special prosecutor looking into the shooting of florida teen trayvon martin says she will make an announcement in the case by friday. neighborhood watch volunteer george zimmerman says he shot martin in self-defense. the special prosecutor will decide if zimmerman should be charged. meantime his attorneys say they are no longer representing zimmerman as a client, saying they don't know where he is. republican mitt romney says rick santorum will keep playing an important role in party politics. on tuesday santorum suspended

his presidential campaign but vowed to state in the fight to defeat president obama. santorum and romney agreed to meet soon. meanwhile newt gingrich and ron paul say they are still in the race. this morning at the white house the president is intensifying his push for the so-called buffett rule. the measure argues wealthy americans should not pay taxes at a lower rate than middle-class taxpayers pay. new details on the woman accused of stalking actor alec baldwin. mara schiavocampo has more. >> good morning. this is where the arrest went down. alec baldwin says sunday night, 40-year-old actress genevieve sabourin showed up here at his new york city apartment building demanding to see the actor. the "30 rock" star says that's the third time in two weeks that she showed up somewhere uninvited and that she was also cyber stalking him. genevieve sabourin was calm and collected leaving manhattan criminal court monday evening, after being arraigned for allegedly stalking actor alec

baldwin. nbc news has obtained court documents detailing the alleged harassment. that baldwin says got so bad he had to change his phone number. the "30 rock" star claims sabourin e-mailed him 12 times in five days, even after he told her to leave him alone. writing, quote, need you now, please alec, come and pick me up now. i am less than 10 minutes away from you tonight. say i do to me. and in another message, i need to start my new life with my new name, my new career, in my new country, help my newly husband. in her e-mails, sabourin expressed excitement about, quote creating genevieve baldwin. but it was not to be. the 54-year-old alec baldwin who went through a notoriously ugly divorce from oscar winning actress kim basinger in the '90s did just get engaged. but it was to 28-year-old yoga instructor hilaria thomas. the very weekend of his engagement he told police

sabourin showed up at his long island weekend home. >> from the prosecutor's perspective, not only does the prosecutor need to show that anyone would have been in fear of this woman's conduct but that alec baldwin himself was in fear of this woman's behavior. >> reporter: baldwin also says sabourin showed up uninvited and unannounced at an event he was hosting in new york city. but the defense paints a different picture. saying baldwin and sabourin had, quote, a mutual relationship. they were communicating back and forth with one another, e-mails, phone calls, text messages, going in both directions. >> i'm proud to live in this great country. >> reporter: baldwin and sabourin met on the set of the box office flop in 2002. he made a cameo and she worked as his publicist. baldwin acknowledges they had dinner once in 2010, but a source close to him said he did it to give the struggling actress some career advice. a new york police source says the two actually had dinner twice. >> when the story first hit,

many people thought this was a random woman that had never met alec baldwin before. as it turns out, the two of them had shared a meal or two, yet they weren't close enough friends that it would be acceptable for genevieve to knock on alec baldwin's door unannounced. >> reporter: sabourin has been charged with aggravated harassment and stalking. she pled not guilty at her arraignment and her next court date is may 14th. the judge also issued a temporary order of protection for baldwin. >> mara schiavocampo in new york. it was just the right spot for a young leopard in tacoma washington, now a month old. this endangered leopard cub enjoyed not only a good meal but a good scratch, as you see there, at the point defiance zoo and aquarium. so cute. all right. seven minutes past the hour right now. you're up to date with news and cute things. let's turn it over to al to check your weather. >> rub me under my chin. i'll do the same thing. >> okay. >> let's find out what we've got for you for today. first of all, we're talking about really chilly conditions,

temperatures in thy. first of all we're talking about chilly conditions, temperatures in the upper 20s to low to mid 30s, even in the upper 40s as far south as atlanta, frost and freeze watches and warnings, frost advisories heading down into central georgia and alabama. out west, we've got more rain, stretching from san diego all the way up to seattle. mountain snows in the sierra, and the cascades. rainfall amounts generally about a half-inch to a quarter-inch, but snowfall amounts anywhere from six to 12 inches. stretching from reno all the way down into the central california mountains. that's what's going on around the country, here's what's going on in your neck of the woods. good morning, just past 9:00, mostly cloudy, chilly, around 40 degrees now. and radar showing a few sprinkles there in the areas in green. northern prince george's county and anne arundel, they're drifting to the south. and throughout the rest of the day, mostly cloudy, might have a little peak of sun now and then, highs in the mid 50s and winds out of the northwest picking up a bit this afternoon. and yes, a cold night tonight. near freezing tomorrow morning.

sunny tomorrow afternoon, highs near 60. great time now for "today's money 911." your financial topics from worries about debt to savings we've got the answers for you. jean chatzky is "today's" financial editor and the author of "money rules: the simple path to lifelong security." farnoosh for onby is the host of financially hit on yahoo and sharon epperson is cnbc's personal finance correspondent. good to see you ladies. >> good to be here. >> we're going to go to skype. we've got barbara skyping in from ann arbor, michigan. barbara, good morning. what's your question? >> good morning. i've been in medical treatment for about two years and although well insured i've accumulated about $8,000 in hospital bills. since i'm unemployed and i do want to pay the bill and do the

right thing. i was wondering can i withdraw money from an i.r.a. account that i have without penalty to pay this bill? >> >> you may be able to do that. you have to prove that you're disabled. and i'm assuming that you probably have the documentation in order to do that. the question is do you actually need to do that? and before you withdraw the money from your i.r.a. i want you to go to this hospital and i want you to talk to them about a payment plan or other things that might be able to make the payments tenable for you without having to pull the money out of your i.r.a. i mean above all you don't want this to be an additional stress on you. so make it as easy on yourself as possible and you hope that you get better really soon. >> thank you. >> a lot of hospitals have public advocates. >> exactly. >> barbara good luck and best of health. now let's go to the phones. we've got joseph in atlanta calling in. joseph, good morning and what's your question. >> good morning.

i inherited a coin collection i want to sell. how do i find a dealer who will give me a fair price? and how do i know whether the silver or the coin's uniqueness is more valuable? >> that's a really good question. >> good morning. i would have a good resource for you. it's the american numismatic association. they're website is money.org. they tell me that you should call their number 800-514-coin. their website is under a little bit of maintenance right now. but call that number 800-514-coin and they're going to refer you to some local dealers in the georgia area that are members of the ana. the dealers follow the same code of ethics that all their dealers follow across the country. you want to meet with at least a couple dealers. they'll appraise your coin collection, factor in the current price of silver, but based on the rarity of your collection, they'll incorporate that. additionally i would attend a

fair or a coin convention and actually the georgia chapter of the ana is having a fair this month, the end of the month. i just looked it up for you. go to gamoney.org and you'll be able to find out how to get there and all the details. hopefully you'll make some money. >> a few of the coins, perhaps, just as a kind of investment. everyone's looking at another way to invest these days and that's a great, great idea to keep that coin collection, at least part of it longer-term. >> all right. thanks so much. juliette is right here in the bronx. good morning. >> good morning, al. and thank you, panel. my question is, should i use my entire tax refund to pay down my credit card debt, or should i save it if i can afford to pay more than the minimum each month? >> i have a couple questions for juliette. first of all i wonder how much credit card debt do you have and

how much do you think your refund is going to be? >> well i have a little under $5,000 in the debt and my refund should be about $3500. >> and do you have emergency savings already or retirement savings, anything? >> yes, i do. i have emergency savings. >> that would be my first thing to make sure you have enough emergency savings. your interest rates on the credit card debt is going to be higher than you're going to get on a retirement savings account. i would pay down that debt as much as you can. what i would continue to do is make the monthny payments that you're making to the credit card issuer now to yourself. open a roth i.r.a. start putting that money into a retirement savings account for yourself where you can take that money out any time you want and at 59 1/2 take it out tax free and make sure that when you do get this refund, it is such a big refund, you don't want that. you want to try to break even when tax time comes. go to eirs.gov. make sure you have the right

withholdings. if you do want that refund, you can actually do it directly. direct deposit to an i.r.a. so once you open that i.r.a. next year to get a refund put that money straight into that retirement savings account. >> this way no relatives get burned. let's go to skype. what's your question? >> when my husband and i moved we were able to buy a foreclosed home we're fixing up. now that he is close to graduating we're selling the house and expect to come out with a $50,000 gain. we would like to know the widest thing to do with that money? should we use it to help pay down student loans? use it for a down payment on a future home or use it to start -- help start up a practice? >> good for them. >> it's fantastic. nearly you have a rack for real estate. you may want to continue down that vein. right now i like option number

three. i think you should work on building your income. and the way that you're going to build your income which could buy you a home in the future and pay down those student loans in greater regard in the future is to get into that optometry practice and really gear up and start earning some money so you can satisfy all of these goals down the road. keep a finger in real estate. warren buffett wants to buy a million homes. >> the own version of flipping house. now back to the phone lines. we've got veronica, chicago, illinois. your question? >> good morning. every year my husband and i attend some type of gala and tickets are normally $ 00 plus. we also buy raffle tickets during the events for cash prizes and trips. is any of this tax deductible? >> farnoosh? >> a few things. the ticket that you purchase to attend the gala, part of that may be tax deductible. probably not all of it. sometimes on the ticket the organization will say this costs

$200 but the tax deductible portion is maybe only $100. if that number is not on the ticket, it's how much the organization paid to have you there. how much your meal cost, entertainment. fair market value of the goods and services that you receive at that gala to be subtracted from the purchase price of the ticket and that amount is what you can report on your tax return. and those raffle tickets, i'm sorry to say, are not tax deductible. the irs considers raffle tickets just like lottery tickets games of chance. if you win something great. if you do win something you probably have to report that as income on your return. so it's a double hit. >> but she's giving back. >> yes. >> very nice. >> and that's to support the organizations. so that's always good. >> thank you so much. coming up next, are you grossed out by your partner's messy habits? have you had breakfast yet? we'll tell you how to handle the delicate subject for those minor annoyances become major. and then later on "today's style," finding the perfect spring jacket. after these messages.

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♪ this morning on "today's relationships" your partner's annoying habits. does being overly messy, leaving the toilet seat up or hogging the remote control sound familiar to you? dr. gail saltz is a psychiatrist and "today" contributor. she's going to tell us how to handle those unpleasant behaviors before they stink up the relationship. we need you. >> it's easy to giggle about some of these things but annoying habits can become anything issues in a relationship. >> they can. it's a matter of how it's dealt with. so these are human behaviors that everybody has. i admit. i have scratched my back with a fork. >> i was going to get to that. >> i have done it. but not in public. so the point is the public starts, you know, first your partner is somebody that you were romancing and you don't do these things in front of. and then your partner becomes somebody you just sort of let it

all hang out with but you still want them to feel sexually attracted to you. >> let's show a list of some of the top annoying habits. i was surprised to see using a fork to scratch the back was really high on the list. >> and don't eat with it afterwards. >> and does it work? >> just kidding. >> that's the problem. >> many of these things are what i would call issues that needs to come out. things go out. it's human. but you try not to do it in front of the person that you care about, and it's misinterpreted as you don't respect me or you don't care about how i feel because you do it. and that's when it can degenerate into a nagging cyclical thing that can end very badly. >> let's go through some of the common complaints people have. the first is not paying attention to the other. >> right. so i want to talk to you, honey, and you are talking to the top of my head. because i am texting. i am on the computer. and you know, it makes you feel not paid attention to.

what you need to do is device a code word that basically says, hey, this moment matters with me. so break off whatever you're doing. if i say, banana. or whatever it is. you know, you have some method with each other so that that doesn't happen. >> maybe the code word could be fork. depending on the relationship. now being overly messy. >> yeah, well, you know, the trail of wherever you've been. i know where you've been because there are the dishes. there are the clothes. people when they come in they want to relax at first and this is their way of sort of marking their territory almost in a very primitive way. you need to say, hey, i just need a time frame for when those things will be gone because i know you don't expect me to clean them. >> we have less than a minute. having bad manners. we've kind of talked about that. being a control freak. >> the remote control. it's only mine. this is about a power struggle. you need to find a way to share and divide the power. >> you say first of all be aware of the problem. isn't that the issue that you

are aware of the problem? >> the problem is the person who's doing it might not be aware of the problem. you may be nagging and criticizing them all the time and they don't know it's this one habit that's really driving you nuts. >> prioritize. >> you can't pick on everything. you have to have one or two things that really matter and let the rest go. >> make a habit, trade. >> guess what, you have bad habits, too. he gets to pick one, you get to pick one. that's the thing you're going to work on. >> emphasize the positive. you love this person after all, right? >> or remind yourself why you loved them in the first place and put that deposit away. >> dr. gail saltz. >> and coming up, you've got kids, he's got kids. how do you make it work when you're living under one roof? we've got help. [ male announcer ] this one goes out to all the allergy muddlers.

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turn to senokot-s tablets. senokot-s has a natural vegetable laxative ingredient plus the comfort of a stool softener for gentle, overnight relief of occasional constipation. go to senokot-s.com for savings. good morning, it is 9:26 on this wednesday, april 11, i'm aaron gilchrest, let's go to storm center 4 meteorologist tom kierein for a look at the forecast. tom? >> good morning, mostly cloudy, it's only in the low 40s now and storm 4 radar showing the little glimpse of green east of washington, a few sprinkles trying to reach the ground in prince george's and anne arundel county, drifting to the south and dending to dry out. the rest of the day, a lot of clouds, maybe a little sun in and out and a small chance of an isolated sprinkle this afternoon. highs in the mid 50s and the chilly weather continues tomorrow and friday, with cold tomorrow and friday, with cold starts, and warmer weather for

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traveling in anne arundel county, richie highway and hastings lane. please use caution. 66 eastbound, slow at gallows road, delays start at nutley. slow as you head to the beltway. aaron, back to you. >> on

they're being called heroes. the teenage boys who sprung into action when a school bus driver lost consciousness. one grabbed the wheel and steered the bus to safety. another brought it to a stop. it's an amazing story. we're going to talk to those young heroes, all of 13 years old, tomorrow here on "today." >> wow. >> cool, calm and collected to handle that situation. seventh graders. i mean to be able to do that it's unbelievable. coming up in this half hour, families these days, you know they come in all shapes and sizes, and when it comes to remarriages more often or not one or both partners are bringing kids into the equation. so how do you make a yours, mine

and ours brady bunch family blended together? we've got some good advice for you coming up. >> the brady bunch. >> also ahead we've got some fashion advice, whether they're looking for a splash of color or maybe a slimming style, we will check out some trendy spring jackets and they'll fit your budget, too. >> and in the kitchen this morning, we are roasting a chicken. >> hmm. >> but this is a young, hip chef's take on a classic dish. spruced up. simple to pull off. >> i thought you were calling the chicken young and hip. >> it was. >> it was at a raid last night. >> hopes and dreams. >> let's get a check of the weather. how depressing. al. >> so sad. well, let's see if we can -- >> it's yummy, though. >> brighten the day with your forecast. for "today" we've got a risk of strong storms out in the west texas. we've got showers from southern california right along the -- up to the pacific northwest coast. wet weather in the southeast.he

pacific northwest coast. and wet weather in the northeast. sunny with a little cooler in the mid mississippi river valley. tomorrow, risk of strong storms from texas on into nebraska. we've got rain making its way up along the california coast into the pacific northwest. with mountain snows. up to a fit in some areas. and some showers along the new england coastline. that's what's going on around the country, here's what's going on in your neck of the woods. good morning, tom kierein, storm center 4, a lot of clouds around this morning, still a chill in the air. only low to mid 40s now. later today in the mid 50s. lot of clouds around this afternoon, too, small chance of a sprinkle. and also winds may be gusting up to around 25 miles per hour. then overnight tonight, we'll clear out, cold start to thursday morning, near freezing, as well as friday morning. highs tomorrow with sunshine near 60. and then a bit milder on friday afternoon, but much warmer weather moving >> and that's your latest weather. >> all right, al, thanks. up next, spring jackets for every shape. and they'll fit your budget, too. i am loving this greek yogurt.

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features editor at in style magazine. good morning. >> good morning. >> we're taking a look at some great variations of the an anorak which is a dressed up style these days. >> the anorak, the reason we like it so much as a spring jacket, it's very functional, lots of pockets, but it has a feminine siloate because it has a draw string waist. >> let's start with the first one you say is the best for slimming. it's going to make you look skinny, girls. >> bridget is wearing a great anorak style jacket from kohl'ses for $78. what makes this one so nice is it's a very thin nylon. it really just glides over the silhouette without adding any volume. it brings in any loose fabric. >> this is vera wang kohl's brand. >> this is simply vera wang. >> adorable. and you compare it with the print. i like how she's even glammed up a bit with the pocketbook. >> that's right.

this fabric hopefully you can tell has a loot of sheen to it so it makes it luxurious. so the luxury factor of it complements a very pretty floral dress, and of course some metallics with the clutch. >> sporty, romantic and modern all in the same outfit. we love it. thanks so much, bridget. you look great. >> next is what you say is the best color. for this spring and our model is audrey. come on out, audrey. >> audrey's wearing a great citrus tangerine jacket. and what's nice about this is it's a waterproof jacket. you can tell it has a little bit more heft than the previous jacket. this is a great jacket to wear outdoors. of course, and of course you know, it's an unexpected way to wear the color of the year which is the tangerine. >> right. >> and you know the way to wear it so that it's not so overwhelming is to pair it with neutrals as we have here with these great pair of denim shorts. then there's a fun print top and a pretty mint green purse that adds a nice touch of fun. >> i would never think to put mint green with the manage win.

now you can try anything. >> exactly. and it's a bit of a softer way as opposed to wearing it with a bright, vibrant color. >> thank you so much, audrey. next, it's cropped sleeve jacket. a lot of people think, how do you really wear that? let's see how you paired it on laura. come on out, laura. >> laura is a wearing a great crop sleeve jacket. as you said. from forever 21. only $32. all these jackets are under $100. >> they're unbelievable. >> it's a great-looking jacket. what's nice is that the cropped sleeve immediately telegraphs that this is an indoor jacket. certainly you can wear this outdoors but this is not your traditional camping anorak. this is a jacket you can keep on all day, wear at night and leave it on. it also has a bit of a shorter hem. and the shorter hem is great for petite figures and also looks great with long skirts. >> i like how you paired it with this dress. looks very elegant. >> exactly. it's a nice trast and compliments nicely. >> all right. thank you so much, laura.

and then for your classic black, we found a great let's show you how she looks. a lot of people want to stick to the traditional classic black. just makes it easy. >> sure. if you don't want to deviate from what you're comfortable. a black jacket in this style is still going to bring a bit of edge. it has some nice hardware that we played up with bold jewelry. and the fact that it is black means that you can wear it with some great printed pants. >> these are great. >> ladies come on back out really quickly here. check you out one last time. thank you so much. you all look amazing. thank you. coming up next, finding the perfect blend when it comes to building a step family. but first these messages. with no added sugar. just one glass equals two servings of fruit. very "fruit-ritious." or try ocean spray light 50, with just 50 calories, a full serving of fruit, and no added sugar.

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transition for both adults and children. the author of "another piece of my heart" and "today" contributor and psychotherapist robi ludwig is here as well. they've got advice on making the difficult adjustment a little easier. good morning, ladies. you know whereof you speak. you have four kids, two step kids, and you wrote about this in a fictional way in your book. but tell us about some of the obstacles and struggles you encountered as a stepmother. >> thankfully my own experiences didn't go into my book which features a 17-year-old going off the rails with drink and drugs and everything else. but during the research for the book, i came across so many stepmothers that there was a dynamic that i kept coming across. where they found a man, loved him, his children didn't like her, and they thought that, i'm a good person, if i love them enough, and if i'm kind enough and do enough nice things i will make this work. >> robi this has to be textbook. >> right. i think a lot of people have this myth that when you have a

blended family, everyone will come together easily, and effortlessly, it will look like the brady bunch. and really it does take about three to seven years for everybody to adjust to their new role. >> which is really interesting. measure your progress in years. jane, did you encounter some of those struggles and difficulties initially? >> yes, i certainly some of the issues that i had were parenting, when you're not the parent. and particularly you have one set of rules for your own children but then when your step children are there you don't want to be the enforcer. because you want to be liked. you want everything to be wonderful. and so you end up saying, to your children, you know, clear the plates, and your step children, you don't say anything at all. and then that causes problems. >> let's talk about that dynamic in a moment because the difference in how you treat the step children versus your own children. but first, robi, i know you've got some tips how to make this transition as easy as possible. >> right. i think you need to let the children also grieve, because

these blended families kind of develop through a loss, either through divorce or through death. so each person needs to find their role. and part of what helps that happen is finding a new family ritual. it doesn't mean doing something exciting like going on a vacation. because we can't do that every day. but maybe it's a family dinner where everybody gets to talk and connect. or game night. or watching a movie. something on a regular basis so everybody can kind of find their new roles, their new ways, their new language of being to the. >> and jane you talk about what must be one of the thorniest issues for parents which is discipline. and i suppose you want to have a unified front. >> actually that, in my own life, we found that the key to everything was really working together as a team. i love what robi said about finding your own traditions, because we absolutely have that. and also, i had to really accept that although for us adults it was great, we thought we're creating this wonderful, big family, for the children it was

not only more loss on top of the loss they'd already experienced, bit it was permanent loss. when their parent married somebody else, the loss becomes permanent and i think so important, for me, to realize that when we hit the bumps, it was a child in pain. >> robi, what's the bottom line? if you are a stepparent should you be tempting to parent your step children or should you be saying well i'll leave that to my spouse? >> well, what the experts say is that the two parents coming together need to make those rules ahead of time. so that there's an agreement and so when a stepparent needs to discipline, they don't feel like they're going outside of the boundaries of what they can and cannot do. and you have to remember, this new couple is the foundation of the new family. so you need to figure out how to stay strong so that everybody else can fall into line. >> we have about 20 seconds left. let's leave on a high note. you say there are a lot of benefits to a blended family.

>> when all the kids are together, it's completely magical. and also, i've learned how to be a better mother, because i've been more present for my step kids, because i've had to be. and it's helped me in so many ways. >> and it can bring new people into your life. new friends. familiar lids are fluid. if you're nuclear or blended it doesn't matter. there are always people coming in and out and that's a beautiful thing. >> that's the way we became the brady bunch. all right, jane green and robi ludwig. thank you so much. coming up next, the perfect roasted chicken dinner. first, this is "today" on nbc.

this morning on "today's kitchen," what's for dinner? how about a whole roasted chicken with truffles, potatoes and mushrooms. we've got one of miami's great chefs to give us his version of this classic dish. great for families who don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen. chef, always good to see you.

>> it's a pleasure. thanks for having me. >> if you've got a good roast chicken recipe you are pretty much, that should be the basis of your repertoire. >> it's a fundamental thing. we should all have one in our back pocket. we never know when we're running, we don't have time. chicken is readily available. >> and it's not that hard. it can be as easy and complicated as you want. we're going to make it easy. get a very good bird. this is an all-natural bird. we just unwrapped it, got it ready. we're going to tuck in the wings and season it very quickly with a little bit of shallots inside, garlic, lemon, and some fresh herbs. whatever herbs you have. if you have a garden go pick them. if not buy the herbs at the supermarket. we use parsley, thyme, rosemary, season the bird. we tucked under the wings, seasoned inside. this is a great trick. >> please. >> at the restaurant we always use twine but i find if you're home and you don't have twine the easy thing to do is pierce the back of the skin there and

tuck in the legs. a great quick trick. after you do that you're done, you put the bird on top -- >> olive oil or anything? >> we'll season it with more oil. >> truffle oil. >> what i really want to show you is the stew that goes under it. this is basically a one pot dish. what we have is fingerling potatoes, this beautiful assortment of potatoes. >> sometimes i get the potatoes and there's a little bit of a green cast to them. is that okay? >> that's a ripe potato. it's fine. you can totally eat it. it's better if it's not there. but it's not going to hurt at all. we use fingerling potatoes. we love wild mushrooms at the restaurant. we use a mix, whatever is in season. we have shiitake, a little bit of blank trumpets, whatever you can get at your supermarket or whatever you prefer. more garlic, more shallots, whatever is in the bird we like to try that. >> to complement. >> it smells great. >> it's a very simple thing to do, you know. then we have a little bit of

black truffle. this is a beautiful truffle. the thing about truffles is that if it's not in season, it's so accessible that you can get it at your market. you can either get it peeled like we have hered. in the oil version. just a little bit of oil over. and we'll put our bird on and we'll throw it into the oven at about 325 degrees. >> truffle oil on top. >> just a little bit more. that's the good stuff. more salt. and we throw it in the oven. let it cook at 325 for approximately about an hour. then we're going to turn it up. brown it. and what you get is this. a beautiful roast chicken. that has all of the juices from the chicken, the juices from the mushrooms. everything cooked down. the bird is just beautiful. and ready to go. you just pull it out and you carve it. and serve it on top of the vegetables or you can serve it in your pan. >> for dessert? >> we have something sweet to finish it off. after you're done with the chick en, nice little finish, we do a

little french toast with a little bit of apples. a little bit of a caramel sauce. >> oh, my goodness. >> whipped cream or ice cream, whatever you have. or nothing. >> do we have any ice cream? we always have ice cream. >> chef, always good to see you. >> it's great to see you. >> thanks so much. >> coming up, jersey shore's pauly d chats up hoda and kathie lee.

kathie lee. first local news and weather. good morning, i'm eun yang. >> and i'm aaron gilchrest. here's what you can expect tomorrow morning on "news4 today." >> get ready do play ball. tomorrow morning we'll be live at nationals park for opening day. >> it's looking like a promising year for the nats, everything you need to know to be ready for the season, from what's new at the park to what's new on the menu, that you can joy when you

sit back to enjoy the game. plus your weather and traffic together on the 1's. >> meteorologist tom kierein working on your out-the-door forecast. >> it should be a good day for the nats home opener tomorrow. but we'll have some cold temperatures in the morning. right now it's chilly. we're just in the 40s throughout much of the region. and then tomorrow morning, we could have a hard freeze, all of these counties in blue. west and north of washington. right near the metro area, down into the low 30s tomorrow morning, danella? >> i'll have your commuter forecast. i'll let you know how to avoid the big back-ups on the roads and any delays on the rails, aaron and eun? >> all the news from your neighborhood while you [ 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 for just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years with a two-year agreement. act now and we'll add a special bonus: $250 back. but hurry, this offer ends april 21st.

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captions paid for by nbc-universal television or visit us online to save even more. from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> hello, everybody! it is winesday, wednesday. april 11th on this chilly kind of overcast kind of drizzly day here in new york. >> saw 45 on the temperature gauge. i was like, what? >> i know. we had our spring in january. >> we're not complaining. >> good to see you, hodie. >> good to see you, too. as you guys know if you watched our show yesterday, we had our

kids "voice" edition. it was a thriller! >> not without its tension. >> we had our controversy. we're going to begin with, there was one guy. his name is christian. when he started singing, we both hit our buzzers very quickly. >> one of us hit ours first, but you'll see. >> hold on. we have to see that. >> yeah. tell them what happened, hoda. >> what happened was we both turned around. and this kid is looking at us. and he has no earthly idea who we are at all. >> he thought you were ricki lake. >> let's watch. ♪ don't you remember you told me you loved me baby ♪ ♪ you said you'd be coming back this way again, maybe ♪ ♪ baby, baby, baby, oh, baby, i

love you, i really do ♪ >> which one's kathie lee? do you know which one kathie lee is? >> you want to old one? you want the old broad or the egyptian? >> let's go with the egyptian. >> later he told vivian, the producer of this great segment, the only reason he picked me was because his favorite color is red and i had on a red dress. >> because in case you spill your wine it wouldn't show. that's the only thing. that's the only reason you should wear red every day, hoda. >> the controversy stemmed because you did hit your buzzer first. >> yes, i did. which is supposed to be the rule for who gets it first. i know it's a little different from "the voice." >> if you watch "the voice" if two people both select the guy

chooses. he chose the egyptian one. there was also some controversy about another contestant we had on the show. >> yeah. the first contestant -- always tough to be the first one, too. beautiful young girl named gabriel. the thing was, i could not hear her. we know we have this long competition ahead of us. i wasn't going to pick somebody that i really couldn't hear very well. i thought she didn't have a microphone. i thought she was not only singing a cappella but without sound enhancement. turned out she had the same microphone as all the other contestants but she wasn't projecting. >> at home she was fine. we had trouble hearing her. i think it's because we're in those dome chairs. >> we heard the other two contestants just fine. they're saying they didn't change anything with the sound. >> anyway. >> we understand it seemed at home she did not get a fair shake. we want all these kids to get a total fair shake. we are looking into what happened. we have our own in-house investigation. >> we are doing a thorough --

>> it'll be on "dateline" in a couple of weeks. but the point is, we've talked to everybody. it looks like it's just that she was -- maybe because she was nervous she was first. i don't know. >> anyway, she was great, too. she got to sing in front of 3 million people. not such a bad thing. >> if we find out there was something wrong we will, of course, have her come back and have a chance to sing again. that doesn't mean she would be picked either. we want to be fair. >> if you watched "the voice" last night, i know kathie, it was on late. >> it has to be on at 7:00 for me. frank and i -- you've heard of the early bird special? we're the worms. way before the bird. >> team adam and team cee lo. then at the end, there were three people from each team who had to sing for their life. only selected by their coach. here first, adam's team. the bottom line. look and tell me who you would pick of these three. >> okay.

♪ ♪ i can't make you love me ♪ don't speak, i know just what you're saying, so please stop explaining, don't tell me cause it hurts ♪ >> i would have picked the last girl. >> you picked just like adam picked. her name's katrina. she got selected. i was surprised kim, the first girl, was even in the bottom three. she sang so beautifully before. >> she's good. her voice to me was not as distinctive. i've heard many people sing that way, which is good. you want somebody that has their own sound. >> here's what's funny. not only did adam pick her. every other judge also picked her of those three. >> another job i'm qualified for that i was looked over for apparently. yet more evidence. hmm. of ageism at nbc.

>> next up, this is cee lo's bottom three. okay? go ahead. ♪ sweet dreams are made of this, who am i to disagree ♪ ♪ i've traveled the world and the seven seas ♪ ♪ all by myself anymore ♪ i don't have much money, but, oh, if i did, i'd buy a big house where we both could live ♪ >> that last girl we minded me a little bit of melanie. remember? with the key to the -- the roller skate song? i didn't like the second singer until she hit the big note. she held it out, she hit it and held it well. she didn't -- getting up there was -- it was -- she had pitch problems. i'd like to say pitchy because

everybody else does. i probably would go with the first one. >> wow. all the judges picked the second one. >> oh, really? because of the one note. it impressed them. >> you only saw -- >> i only saw one. yeah, yeah, yeah. she nailed it. she nailed that. but it's not just the getting there, it's how you get there. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. by the way, it is a fun show. it makes you nervous -- you're not old. what are you talking about. >> it doesn't bother me. i just twitch. >> let's talk about the best and worst jobs in america, shall we? >> i don't agree with this at all. >> this comes from careercat.com. best jobs. important to them, based on income, job outlook, stress, demand. number five is financial planner. number four, dental hygienist. >> you've got your face in people's mouths all day long.

>> that is called halitosis. >> you've got to consider that. >> number three, human resources manager. hr? >> everybody can't stand them! nobody wants to go and see the hr people. they may be very nice. but they are not beloved. >> i'm with you. number two is an actuary. >> actually, nobody knows what an actuary is. >> they deal with the -- number one, of course, in this study is a software engineer. >> really? >> you know why? you know why? they're on the computer looking at -- >> porn. >> -- porn. >> i wasn't going to say it, but you led me to it. i don't know. that was a very surprising list. unless you happen to be one of those and you're very happy in your job. in that case, we're happy for you and we're sorry about the porn. >> worst jobs according to the same study. number five is a newspaper

reporter. >> i think that's kind of exciting. >> i think it is, but you're constantly getting screamed at and yelled at and everyone's on your back. it's not easy. number four is an oil rig worker. >> you're outside. >> number three is an enlisted military personnel. >> nothing more honorable than serving our country. >> but difficult, probably. >> yes. >> number two, a dairy farmer. >> i love dairy farmers. >> you are definitely contrarian today. you're going against everything. the number one worst job in the united states is a lumberjack. they work the hardest on the hottest and coldest days. it's a highly dangerous occupation. they have a low salary and a high history of unemployment. >> but they look so good in those jeans and those shirts. >> the tenth worst job in case you're wondering is a broadcaster. >> is ours. >> tenth worst. >> i disagree with everything. >> i know. here's the thing. i agree with you on most of the disagreements. >> find what you love and then do it and you'll be happy. no matter what any, you know, silly survey says. >> you got it. i think often it's about who you work around. i love jobs that aren't great

jobs because i loved the environment and the people i work with. >> you're a very, very optimistic person hoda woman. you're not a debbie downer. you're a liar and a cheat, but you are not a debbie downer. as we just saw. >> just because he chose the egyptian. doesn't make me a cheat. he clearly chose. >> okay. did you see beyonce. she does look darn good. three months after her little baby was born, look at her. she does what i do at the beach. look at this. >> what's that? >> holding the hands over the thighs. top of the thighs. right there and another place, too. you know? i do that, too. that's the last thing to go. >> she looks great, by the way. >> she looks awesome. >> she really does. i think, too, having the little skirt thing makes you feel better. >> she looks amazing. look at her face. i think she might have thought that maybe a picture was going to be taken that day because she looks fabulous. >> she does look really good, mama beyonce.

how long ago did chshe have the baby? >> three months. january. what about jay-z. he had a baby, too. anybody care about what he looks like in a bathing suit? sexism. ageism and sexism in our world. >> we are busy after our show -- >> it's why i'm all revved up today. >> because we're going on "the soup" with joe mchale. >> we're basically hosting the whole thing. >> the show is tanking. their show is. >> needs a lot of help. us to the rescue. >> we are going to go over there. it'll be on tonight, guys, at 10:00 p.m. on "e!" you know the show. >> unfortunately it's repeated all the time. that's the problem with that one. what else is going on? >> nothing. we got a big show coming up. what's in it? >> paulie d. >> we're going to bring joy back into your life with lucy danziger.

>> she's got good tips. >> you're going to love this. we don't know what else is in the show. >> you said it all. >> we'll be right back right after these messages. [ male announcer ] people everywhere are helping save trees in just 4 weeks... uh...mom? ...without even noticing. as the world's first line of hybrid paper products, scott naturals combines the green benefits of recycled fiber with the quality you need -- so only our forests will notice the difference. [ male announcer ] take the scott naturals 4-week test drive. if we all did it we'd save over 2 million trees. start your test drive at scottbrand.com. right? get. out. exactly! really?! [ mom ] what? shut the front door. right? woop-woop! franklin delano! [ male announcer ] hey! there's oreo creme under that fudge! oreo fudge cremes. indescribably good. lightweight nourishment is the best of both worlds. [ female announcer ] it's new aqua light, with zero weight, 100% more nourishment. [ sarah ] it's light and healthy and just makes me so happy. [ female announcer ] new aqua light from pantene.

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have you been feeling a little down? stressed out? do you have the blahs again? perhaps all you need is a joy inducing plan to bring happiness into your pathetic life. >> the good news is, it can be done. it will not cost you a dime. that's what lucy danziger says. "self" magazine's editor in chief. >> scientifically proven tips. >> you know what i like? it's a seven-day plan. it's one of those things you can really do. >> try it. nothing to lose. >> one week of your life. why not give it a shot. >> exactly. they're ease ciy and free. >> sunday you say be a faker. >> fake it till you make it. if you smile, scientifically, that sends fizz lsignals to the

saying i'm happy. two out of three times it actually works. >> you're saying we're so stupid we can fake ourselves out? >> exactly. you're sending the signal to your brain. if you're not in a good mood, try smiling. two-thirds of the time it's going to work. >> let's go to monday. put a cherry on top. >> this really means, mondays can be tough. it can be really negative. try something positive. your brain remembers the most negative and positive things in your day. a tough meeting or doctor's appointment you're dreading. plan and engineer a positive to overwhelm that memory. okay? >> some people when you ask how was their day, they do bring up the one thing that went wrong. >> make sure you have a positive. whether that's a fun thing, a mani/pedi, something great. >> take us to tuesday. quit comparing yourself to someone else. >> that's impossible. >> we go to yoga class. we see the thinner bodies. you drop off your child at school. my child's got messy hair.

the other child is perfect bows. this really happens. rather than say it's about them, it's actually about yourself. what does it say about you? >> you're a bad mother. >> no. it says you care to be a better mother and you care about being healthy. look at where you've come from. maybe you've gotten healthier. maybe you've decided not to fight with your daughter about how she wears her hair to school. think about what priorities you've put into place. it's not about them. it's about what you care about. measure yourself against how you're doing. >> try to be grateful for a healthy child. >> exactly. >> wednesday, give up the grudge. >> okay. somebody cuts you off in traffic. or a girl pal -- >> still thinking about that happened to me last summer. >> somebody cancels a date. >> two summers ago. >> you heard a grudge in your muscles, you literally get stressed. >> constipation. >> that might be your thing. for me i -- literally, i get tense. let it fgo. breathe it out. tell yourself that person's not having a good day. let them go.

>> also, they're not thinking about you. that's the other thing. >> they didn't even know what they did. >> remember the person who let you in in traffic and be the person who lets them in in traffic. >> shouldn't she have a little therapy about this. it has been a couple of years. >> the guy flipped me off. it was a bad thing. >> he's having a bad day. >> she's had a bad couple years because of his bad day. >> let it go. >> day five. tap into your innate strength. >> okay. you can take a quiz. ask your friends. what do you think i'm innately good at. maybe you already know. you're the peace keeper. you're the one everybody turns to to be in a better mood. >> what if you don't have any friends? some people don't. >> that's the last one. use that stronger part of your brain to problem solve. that'll make you happier for six months. >> hang around with people who reinforce that. some people hang around with friends -- >> if you have negativity around you constantly it's going to be harder to be positive. >> friday, vary your thanks. >> this is really great. write down everything that went bad in your diary.

that's going to lead to all sorts of bad emotions. write down something you're positively feeling grateful for. it's different every time you write it down. friends. being on the "today" show. maybe it's your mom, your sister. maybe it's, you know, your dog. it can be anything. vary it and write down that positive, and that brings positive. >> i do all of the same ones every single day just to remind myself. >> write down a positive. >> lastly, grab some girlfriend time. >> this means laughter. laughter is nature's pain med, okay? laugh. have jokes. you can't only get jokes from watching a funny show. 85% of the jokes come from conversations and having fun. >> yeah. she's funny. >> everything started with us, hoda. when we started having our friendship away from our show. >> one good friend. one good friend. this is my favorite way to celebrate friendship. >> thank you.

>> thank you for -- >> right now, jerry. >> how you react to everything around you. up next, those quirky, funny photos. oh, please. they're going to have you saying "what the what?" [ male announcer ] what if we could keep enough plastic waste to cover all of manhattan out of landfills each year? the equivalent of 140 million trash bags, gone. by using new glad trash bags, designed with reinforcing bands to be stronger with less plastic waste, we can. ♪ it's a small change that can make a big difference. ♪

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it is winesday, wednesday. you know what that means. it is time for -- >> "what the what?" >> too much margarita. >> we've sorted through all your photos and picked some from the pile of some of her favorites. >> hilarious photos this week. the first is from the philippines. do you have to sing when you get this done? can you imagine, it's a sing along hair center. hoda already does that. this is an official location. >> where were they? >> hong kong. >> oh, okay. >> kind of fun. the new take on karaoke. our next photo was sent in by christine from london, england. you might need this before you go to that last hair salon.

>> i thought whiskey had an "e" in it. >> the fact that free whiskey is coupled with a haircut -- >> the man with scissors might be drinking a whiskey, too. not a good thing. >> you'd go and get a haircut. but you'd come out with a disease. >> also from across the pond, teresa hitler from suffolk, england. >> ew. >> that's nasty. >> diaper meats? >> diaper meats. diaper is a family name. that's when you go with someone else. that's just when you go somewhere completely different. >> you use your maiden name. >> we have a photo from gisele. something's not fitting in here. this shirt's a little tight. finally, florence from naples, florida. i bet my mom wishes she has this in our house. if you are tired of being hassled by unreasonable parents, now is the time for action.

leave home, pay your own way while you still know everything. >> that's hilarious. >> send that to cody. all righty. still ahead, get ready to tax your brain when our "who knew?" quiz tests your knowledge of taxes. >> also paulie d. from "the jersey shore." now there is. just buy select brands at walmart's low prices during april and you help secure meals for local families. go to facebook and learn more about how you can join the fight. because hunger is a big problem, and it needs a big answer. but one is so clever that your skin looks better even after you take it off. neutrogena® healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% saw improved skin. does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics. mom, we're dying.

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we are back on this winesday, wednesday, with more of "today." ready to play our weekly trivia game we call "who knew?" with income tax returns due tuesday, april 17th, we thought we'd test your knowledge of all things taxes. kathie lee is across the street at the nbc experience store ready to hand out 100 bucks to those who get the questions right. to those who don't they get that cd. here to help me out is "today" financial editor jean chatzky. are you ready? >> i am ready. >> are you filed and done? >> i am on extension and done. >> of course you are.

back across to kath. >> hi, jean. great. you are from cleveland, ohio. your beautiful family. what percent of taxpayers wait until the last two weeks to file. 5%? 28%? or 52%? >> 52%. >> oh, you know what? it's good, because she's going to truly see the songs i wrote. >> i actually would have picked with her, the 52%. but that's incorrect. it's 28%. >> here's the deal. if you want money back, if you're getting a refund you're going to file in january. you're going to file in february. because you want to get that money back. most taxpayers actually file in february. >> i didn't know. all right. back across to tax. >> this gentleman is from richmond, virginia. okay. what's the average tax refund in 2012? $4,100? $856? or -- >> you're going to win some money. >> $2,860 the average zbluretur

>> it's actually a little lower than it has been the past couple of years. it's been around $3,000. the question is, if you're one of the people getting that refund, why are you getting a refund? change your withholding so you get the money back every single paycheck. then you can put it to good use so you can pay down your credit card. we want to break even with uncle sam. we don't want to get this much money back. >> isn't it kind of fun to get a check? >> of course. of course it's the only way some people can save any money at all. if you're one of those, then just go with it. >> i'm with you. back across to kath. >> all righty. from burlington, new jersey, right? if you haven't filed yet, your best option is to buy a box of chocolates, call the irs to explain why you can't file on time, or file an extension to buy yourself more time. >> file an extension. >> yes. that was doggone easy. >> yes, it was. >> too easy. too easy a question. >> who can file for an extension, jean? >> anyone can file for an extension. but you have to remember it's an extension to file. it's not an extension to pay. if you owe the irs money, you have to figure out what it is

based on last year and write them a check. otherwise they're going to hit you with some nasty penalties. >> do you have to have a reason that you're filing for an extension? >> no, you don't. you can get a six-month extension just for asking for it. irs form 4868. all the the forms are at irs.gov. >> tell jean she's never looked more beautiful. i don't know what's going on. >> thank you so much. >> who's her doctor? >> i got a haircut. >> yeah, right. i got a haircut. yeah, right. you are from the outer banks of north carolina, right? true or false. if your tax return is wrong or incomplete the irs will e-mail you for more information. >> false. >> wow. how do you know that all the way in the outer banks? >> lucky guess? >> it's really important, by the way. it may have been a lucky guess, but if you get an e-mail that looks like it's from the irs, don't answer it. somebody is fishing for personal information. they're going to use to steal your identity. the irs is not going to e-mail

you for this stuff. >> got it. okay. good advice. back across to kath. >> this nice lady is from upstate new york. true or false. there's an average of one change to the tax code every single day. >> true. >> do you believe that? isn't that incredible? >> okay. every single day? >> every single day. >> how do you keep up with all the changes? >> you don't. this is why turbotax sells so many copies every single year. because people -- >> it's always different. >> it's always different. >> does it usually affect everyday people? >> no. this year was actually a relatively simple year in terms of tax changes. not a lot going on. >> all right. one more. >> from newport news, virginia. which city procrastinates the most when it comes to filing. is it washington, d.c., new york, or san francisco. >> washington, d.c. >> you would think, wouldn't you? no. that's just congress that does that. here you go. >> that seemed to be the guess around. the correct answer is san francisco.

>> right. where i guess they're having more fun than the rest of us. >> no kidding. jean, thank you. kathie lee's right. this is your day. walk around. this is your day. >> okay. coming up next, pauly d's wild ride from world famous couch mate to world class deejay. you know he opened for britney spears? right after this. ur eyes will d. [announcer:] new revlon® photoready 3d volume™ mascara the round tip brush coats even the tiniest lash. the innovative formula reflects every lash... for a 100% more magnified look.

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to produce music like this song. "night of my life." now his life has taken him to las vegas. >> i know. he's got the first "jersey shore" spin-off. it's called "the pauly d project." it takes us behind the scenes of his newest gig and the lifestyle that comes wit if you know what we're sort of saying. >> can you stop touching my head. >> oh, my god. don't touch his head. >> nice meeting you. >> all right. so i think it's time to go. >> that's it. last straw. nobody touches my hair.

>> where's the exit? >> i don't know if this is what vegas is like, but if it's like that i'm going to be single forever. >> what was happening there? >> i don't know. what was fascinating to me was watching pauly d watch pauly d. you were loving it! >> i think it's so funny. >> just seeing that part of it, it really wasn't. so tell us why that was funny. >> she can't touch the hair. >> you're very sensitive about it. >> you let me touch it before. >> yeah, that's different. >> you're not her. >> you did. you were very sweet last time you came here. we liked you, pauly d. i wasn't too sure i was going to. but i liked you a lot. >> appreciate the honesty. >> this show, this new one you have out. it's sort of you with your deejay hat on. >> does the hat go over that? >> it can. it's a big hat. i'm excited to show the world that part of me. they already know me from "the jersey shore." partying with strangers that became my friends. now they meet my real friends, see what i come from. see what's the most important to my life is my deejaying.

see what that's like. >> these guys in that clip, those were pals from high school, from when you were a kid? >> from around. we work at the same club, ultra. >> you opened for britney spears. what happened? you were deejaying before her concert? >> it was amazing. i was the opening act for britney spears. >> how can a deejay be an opening act? >> i went in there, perform, play music. they get on their seats. they're dancing. fist pumping. i get them all riled up before the big act. >> you're not making music, you're playing music. in the video we saw or the song we heard, who's singing? that sounded good. >> that's dash. he sung the song. the closers and i, we produced it. we made that the theme song for "the pauly d project." >> you have a little piece of that. tell us about "the jersey shore." you guys are going to start filming again in june, yeah? >> everybody signed up to continue? >> you're back on that as well. >> yes. >> i didn't realize that. i thought you left one for another. i thought how did the snooksville take that?

>> i wouldn't leave them. i love doing zblit what did they think about you being the first to have the spin-off show. i'm sure snooki was wanting one and everybody. >> they were happy for me. they were texting me, congratulations. i always support them in what they do. they support me with what i do in everything. >> who's the problem between all of you? who's the one that makes trouble for everybody all the time. >> situation. >> what the heck is wrong with him? >> he's not too bad. he likes the trouble. >> he likes to stir it up. >> if you were going to, i guess, have a song for kathie lee and i. if you were to pick one from all the -- all the records. >> all that's available to you. >> what would you choose for us. be very, very careful. >> this is a morning show. so i would pick turn up the music. chris brown, "turn up the music." ♪ turn up the music, turn up the music ♪ >> thank you. >> you like it? >> what's going on in your juicy, juicy personal lich we don't see on the camera. are you in love? >> i'm not. i'm looking. it's hard to find somebody right now. i travel so much.

>> vegas, people have a different lifestyle. >> that's the problem. i'm in vegas a lot. >> you some day see yourself having little pauly d? >> absolute. >> paulettes? >> absolutely. >> you're a sweet guy. we wish you all the best. >> thanks for having me. >> catch a new episode of "the pauly d project" tomorrow night on mtv. up next, finding beauty in the unexpected. a gorgeous book. "the joy of raising a child with down's syndrome," right after this. irresistibly touchable skin hour after hour. ♪ it all starts with new 48-hour nivea extended moisture nivea. touch and be touched. now bring the world a touch closer. join our million moments of touch movement and be entered in nivea's daily date night sweepstakes. lightweight nourishment is the best of both worlds. [ female announcer ] it's new aqua light,

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during our white sale, receive $400 in free bedding. only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699. when kelly hampton's daughter was unexpectedly born with down syndrome, the life she thought was perfect was suddenly turned upsidedown. >> with time, her pain and fear transformed into a profound new perspective. and kelly writes all about it in her new book. it's a memoir called "bloom: finding beauty in the unexpected." >> welcome. your beautiful daughter is almost 2. >> she is 2. >> it's interesting. because when she was born, i think sometimes in photographs,

shock and those kind of things are not captured. but when she was born and you saw her, although everyone said she was a healthy child, you knew something was wrong, didn't you? >> i did. i knew. especially when she opened her eyes and i remember seeing it in her eyes. i knew. i didn't say anything. and i asked everyone in the room, is everything okay? i said, why does she -- her face looks a little bit smashed. everyone said, she's fine. she came out fast. but i knew. >> you had a healthy daughter several years before that. and you'd been told all along with all of your prenatal care that everything was good. you saw ultra sounds. >> yes. >> no signs of down syndrome. >> no signs of down syndrome. >> you go from that photo, you can see it in your eyes, then you suddenly see it through a different set of eyes. tell us what happened. >> when i saw her, it was pure shock at first. and the first wave of grief is just -- it's almost like a death. it's what happened to this other

baby. you're grieving the loss of this baby you thought of. >> you're also so hormonal at the time, too. you've just given birth. that's traumatic enough. >> you're still holding your baby in your arms while this is happening. >> your daughter lainy, 2 at the time, saw your newborn. you watched how she looked at her sister and something went off in you. >> that was a moment i'll never forget. it was painful, too. because so much of what you expect with a second child is a relationship between her sister. and i had so looked forward to that and told her all about the sister she was going to have. she walked in the room. i'll never forget. there were all these friends in the room. everybody sensed it. the only one who didn't see down syndrome was laney. she was just proud and she held her and smiled. >> it's always been that way? >> it's always been that way. >> they have a very special relationship. >> beautiful relationship. >> you also had expectations for your daughter that were decidedly less than what it's become, right? she's doing quite well. >> she's doing wonderful. since i've been into this and have met so many families that

have children with down syndrome and adults, i have learned so much. there are individuals with down syndrome in the world that are going to college, driving cars, getting married. >> having full lives. >> we hope that. i know we'll have that. >> tell us what your family's like. >> look at that. they're just beautiful. >> she adds so much to our family. >> look at her. >> we're excited for the future. she brings such light to our family. i know for the future that we hope that she'll get to do whatever she wants to do. she can go to college. she can get married. whether she chooses to live with us or live independently. i just want her to be happy. >> of course. >> i think everyone just wants their child to be happy. i know that we have what it takes to provide our kids the confidence and love. >> your husband had a family before. so he has two boys. >> two boys. so we have four children between the two of us. >> beautiful kids. >> what do you think people take away? when they read this book, what would you want them to take from

it? >> i think people would be able to relate not necessarily raising a child with down syndrome, but we all have heart ache. we all have things in your life that are not what we expected. if you embrace them and learn from them and grow from them, you can find beauty in whatever. nala has changed our life and we know that we'll be happy. out of heart ache comes happiness. >> most people with down children tell me this is the child that taught me how to love. what love was really all about. >> absolutely. >> great to meet you. >> it's a beautiful book. >> surely is a beautiful book. up next, healthy snacks under 200 calories. could it be true? >> i don't know. >> first this is "today" on nbc.

now on "eat smart today" sweet treats for under 0 calories. just because you're watching what you eat doesn't mean you can't give yourself a decadent

reward now and then. >> registered dietitian elizabeth summers says you should treat yourself on a regular basis. she's here with tasty ideas that won't bust your diet. the trouble is, hoda, if they're all under 200 calories and we eat all of them, we've had 1,000. >> we're in trouble. >> great to see you. >> get us started. looks great. >> you can get your two fruits in this one. it's just a banana split. it's made with a small banana, some pineapple, strawberry, blueberries and two small scoops of sugar free slow churned ice cream. >> sugar free. okay. >> i've got the recipe on the dole website. i just tweaked it a little bit to get it under 200 calories. >> this is 202. >> there's the two. >> everything's frozen. that's delicious. >> high in potassium. high in vitamin "c." yeah, see? >> winner. >> this one was my kids' favorite when they were in high school. you take equal parts peanut butter, honey and wheat germ.

mix it up. put it on crackers. make it into a sandwich. >> do you have to put the wheat germ in it? >> you don't even know it's there. >> are you sure, elizabeth summer? >> absolutely sure. my kids loved it. i snuck wheat germ into their diets. they never knew it was there. >> she's right. very good. >> you're getting vitamin "e," "b" vitamins. that'll glue your mouth shut. >> what do you mean glue your mouth shut? >> i love chipwiches. they usually have 350 calories. these are 50 calories each. take a vanilla wafer. put softened, slow churned sugar free ice cream. squish it into a sandwich. roll it in chips. put it in the freezer. one should do the trick. >> that satisfies your sweet tooth. >> it isn't nutritious. at least you're not eating the

350 calories. this is eat your way to sexy. orange hinted swiss kisses. dark chocolate actually aids with weight loss. >> i will try a bite. >> they're very good. they're made with fat free half and half. cocoa powder. some semisweet chocolate. mix that up in a double boiler. mix nuts and dried craisins, a little vanilla. >> this looks good. what's going on here? >> it's an italian coffee drink. under 200 calories. a shot of kaluha. two shots of espresso. a shot of ice cream. >> this segment is killing me. >> i can have the next one. >> tell us about the next one. >> we have about 30 seconds. >> smores. take graham crackers in half. >> don't tell me. >> would i lie to you? >> hoda can't have it. >> put a marshmallow on them. put them in the microwave.

let the marshmallow puff up. stick some chocolate and squish it down. >> thank you, elizabeth. >> old favorite. baked apple. tomorrow we have a performance by wilson phillips. >> and ambush makeover thursday. >> bye, everybody. have a great day. >> see you at "peter and the soul catcher" today. [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable

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