good morning. breaking news. british police announce this morning it's possible madeleine mccann may still be alive. as they release this new computer image of what she would look like today, nearly five years after her disappearance. we're live in london with new information on the search. grilling rupert murdoch on the stand. this morning, answering questions about the phone hacking scandal that's shaken his tabloid empire to its core. how much did he know? and did he use his power to influence british politicians? and what a mess. the college freshman gets the chance of a lifetime to meet the president. and then spills her food on him.

>> oh, no. >> i'm so sorry. >> it's okay. >> the president laughed it off, saying at least she's got a good story to tell. she does. and she'll tell it to us in a live interview "today," and she'll tell it to us in a live interview "today," wednesday, april 25th, 2012. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning. welcome to "today" on a wednesday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> and i'm ann curry. good morning, everybody. madeleine mccann was just 3 years old when she vanished in 2007 from her parents' hotel room. it was during a family vacation in portugal. >> this morning investigators released this age progress image of what she would look like now at the age of 9. so why the sudden renewed interest in this case? we're going to get the latest on

that just ahead. and also coming up this morning, the first confirmed case of mad cow disease in the united states in six years. the government is now investigating, and at least one country is considering suspending the sales of u.s. beef. so how concerned should we all be? we're going to hear from an expert coming up this morning. >> and remember a story we talked about a lot on this show? that north carolina father who shot his daughter's laptop after she posted disrespectful comments about him online? well now an ohio mother is getting attention for a picture she posted on her daughter's facebook page. to deal with her 13-year-old's bad behavior. does this public shaming cross some kind of a line? we'll hear from her and her daughter this morning. but we begin with that breaking news tied to the nearly 5-year-old disappearance of british girl madeleine mccann. nabs's tazim is in london this morning. >> good morning, matt. today has been incredible for the mccann investigation.

into madeline's disappearance. british police called a press conference and said they have 195 new investigative opportunities. therefore new leads into her disappearance. they're looking at 40,000 different items of which there are 100,000 documents which they are trolling through. they've got 37 police working on this at this very moment. the investigation's been going on for a year as far as the british police have been concerned and they're now very actively looking for this case to have some closure. those were their words today. we want some closure on this, and they're putting as much pressure as they can, as diplomatically as they can, on the portuguese police to reopen this case. matt? >> and what's the likelihood of that? i mean, it would have to be those portuguese police to officially reopen the case. are british officials thinking that that's possible? >> well, what they're saying is that they are very noncommittal on that. they were asked whether the portuguese police would take

action. they're saying they're working very closely with the portuguese police. they're giving them the best possible evidence that they can. they're going through three different strands of evidence they collected and they said this is very unique because they're collecting together their own investigation, the portuguese police's investigation, as well as the investigations of private investigators for the mccanns have collected. >> right. >> and they're going through all of that and saying, look, we're going to give you the best possible evidence here in order to encourage you to reopen this investigation. >> and with this age progression image that they've released this morning they're trying to keep this face of this young lady in the public eye and let people know what she might look like today. how involved were the mccanns in helping them create this image? >> the mccanns were consulted very, very closely, they say. they worked with a -- with the mccann family, as well as with a forensic and human investigative office to put together this image. it's very accurate and they believe it has impact. kate mccann in particular is

very pleased with the image. she said it reflects their family. not just madeleine herself but her younger brother and sister as well as what kate looks like today. >> it must be very difficult for them to look at that image. tazeen ahmed in london this morning, thank you very much. here's ann. >> matt, thank you. the senate judiciary committee is expected to grill homeland security secretary janet napolitano today about the secret service prostitution scandal. this as more agents have lost their jobs, and president obama had some frank words about the incident on late night with jimmy fallon. nbc's kristen welker is in denver, colorado, with more on this story. kristen, good morning. >> good morning to you, ann. well, president obama heads to iowa later today. his final stop on a three-state trip aimed at talking about student loans and courting young voters. but the secret service scandal continues to be a major topic of discussion wherever he goes. >> the president of the united states of america, barack obama.

>> reporter: president obama showing his lighter side on "late night with jimmy fallon." but things got serious quickly when fallon asked about the secret service scandal. >> 99.9% of them every day, they're pitting their life on the line, they do a great job. so a couple of knuckleheads shouldn't detract from, you know, what they do. but, what these guys were thinking, i don't know. that's why they're not there anymore. >> reporter: the comments came just as the secret service announced the result of this disciplinary action for the 12 employees thought to be involved. seven personnel resigned. one is in the process of being terminated. one retired. and three were cleared but given disciplinary action. >> very definitely i'm very happy that heads roll because if heads don't roll there's not going to be any changes made. >> reporter: senator chuck grassley, the ranking republican on the senate judiciary committee, will be among those questioning homeland security

secretary janet napolitano when she testifies before his committee today. >> i'm going to ask secretary of homeland security the extent to which the inspector general is doing an independent investigation and not just looking at what the director of secret service is doing. >> reporter: grassley, who made headlines monday when he suggested in a radio interview the prostitutes could have been russian spies, is also pressuring the white house. he wrote a letter calling for more transparency after the administration conducted an internal investigation, which determined no white house staffers were involved. senior administration officials have accused grassley of playing politics. press secretary jay carney said he hadn't seen the letter, and told reporters, quote, there is no credible, specific allegation of any misconduct by anybody on the white house advance team or white house staff. the president and his secret service detail ended their night on an unexpectedly messy note. during an unscheduled stop at a

restaurant in boulder, a young woman spilled yogurt on the president, and the agent's protecting him. >> oh, look it, you got me. you got me. >> i'm so sorry! >> i'm teasing. that's okay. whose yogurt got on me? >> it was mine. i'm really sorry, it was mine. >> you've got a good story to tell. you can say well, i just spilled yogurt all over the president. >> well, yeah, i'm very embarrassed that story now. but it's a pleasure, the pleasure is all mine. >> getting yogurt on the president is all right, but on the secret service -- >> i'm very sorry, sir. i'm so glad you accept my apology. >> no problem. >> now, the president laughed it off. and the white house really is saying these types of mishaps are always a possibility, especially since the president

is frequently interacting with excited crowds, and shaking a lot of hands. ann? >> all right, kristen welker, thank you so much this morning. meantime, vermont democratic senator patrick leahy is the chairman of the senate judiciary committee, joining us this morning exclusively. senator leahy, good morning. >> good morning. >> you know, today's hearings will be the first time that a member of the obama administration will actually be called to testify about this scandal. what questions do you have, what answers do you want from secretary napolitano? >> i'm going to ask, is this being done thoroughly? is the investigation being done thoroughly. certainly what the director of the secret service has told me, we've talked several times, i believe it is being done thoroughly. i want to know what steps will be taken in the future. obviously, there are going to be changes in what they are told to do, what secret service agents are told to do. i think we should know all that. but one thing we should remember, the vast majority of secret service agents are very

dedicated, well-trained men and women. i've seen them over the years, in all kinds of situations. they'd make anybody proud. and if you do have a few who are not done what they should -- have not been as professional as they should be, well then i think the secret service was right in getting rid of them. i -- i agree with the director on doing that. >> on that point, i want to ask you about something that's in "the washington post" this morning, it's reporting that some of the secret service employees accused in this scandal are saying privately that their conduct does not warrant being fired because their managers have tolerated this kind of behavior in the past. are you going to investigate whether there is a boys will be boys culture that permeates the secret service? >> i think that's a very legitimate question. and i've raised it now twice are the director of the secret service. we'll raise it again in this -- in this hearing.

now i've traveled with the secret service in different places, traveling with different presidents, both republicans and democrats. i've always seen them acting very professionally. if there's something that we haven't seen, there should be -- it should be looked at. you know, it is not just like any ordinary action. these are -- these are people that are part of our national security. they're protecting both president obama, and governor romney. we want the absolute highest professionalism. can you imagine how the world would react if something happened to either one of the contenders for the presidency? and i think that they have to realize they're going to be held to a higher standard than most people would be. >> i know you've got a very busy day ahead of you. thanks for spending some moments with us, senator patrick leahy. >> thank you. >> it is now 7:11. once again here's matt. >> all right, ann, thanks. now to some concern over the first confirmed case of mad cow disease in the u.s. in nearly six years. robert bazell is nbc's chief

science correspondent. bob, good to see you. good morning. >> good morning, matt. although this is the fourth confirmed case in the united states since 2003, and officials are still investigating how a dairy cow contracted the disease. the government is stressing there is no threat to human health. the dairy cow had been picked up by this facility near fresno, california, that takes dead live stock. the facility sent a sample to be tested at the lab at the university of california davis where it turned out positive. there was never an intention to send the cow to a slaughterhouse and officials say that is you're. >> the animal did not enter the food supply at all. >> reporter: bsc, commonly called mad cow disease is a fatal disintegration of the brain and nervous system. it first gained public attention in britain in the 1980s and '90s where more than 180,000 cattle were infected and more than 4.4 million were slaughtered to control the outbreak. the disease is usually

transmitted by a rare infectious agent called a prion, though cases can appear spontaneously. usually the disease is acquired by eating the tissue of an infected animal. animals have been a source of food for cows in britain. in the uk, 175 people, including jonathan sims, got a human form of the disease from eating meat from the infected animals. it left him blind, deaf and immobile from 2001 until his death last year. health officials say milk does not transmit the disease. so the infected dairy cow does not pose a hazard. there was no mad cow disease detected in the u.s. until 2003, when a cow born in canada was detected in washington state. since then, including this case, officials have found three more. >> there are surveillance system we found this detection, we have a very robust system. our food and our cattle population is very safe. and our consumers should not be concerned about this case.

. >> reporter: there's some input and economic implications here. south korea is making noises about not importing u.s. beef. but more importantly, there has to be an investigation to find out whether this is an isolated, mutant cow, or whether it's part of a cluster. so far they say they haven't found it in the feed, which would be a big clue. but there are a lot more investigating that needs to be done. >> and we will follow it. bob bazell, thank you very much. >> now let's get a check of the rest of the top stories from natalie morales at the news desk. >> good morning, everyone. a clean sweep for mitt romney in five states tuesday. picking up victories in the presidential primaries in connecticut, rhode island, delaware, pennsylvania, and new york. as the presumptive gop nominee, romney is stepping up fund-raising efforts in swing states where he faces the toughest showdowns against the president. in a move to woo younger voters, president obama revealed that he and michelle finished paying back their student loans only eight years ago. the commander in chief wraps up a college tour today where he's

drumming up support for his extended 2007 law that cuts student loan rates. without it interest rates would double by july 1st. on tuesday, senate democrats unveiled a $5.9 billion bill to keep that lower rate. tense moments in the sky for a jetblue flight after the plane hit a flock of birds upon takeoff, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in westchester county, new york. none of the 54 passengers was injured. just last week a bird strike forced another new york area plane to make an emergency landing. the first criminal charges have been filed by federal prosecutors in the gulf oil spill case. a former bp engineer was arrested on tuesday. he's accused of deleting hund d hundreds of text messages indicating that more oil was spewing from the blown-out well than the company was disclosing at that time. and lakers forward meadow world peace formerly known as ron artest has been suspended for seven games after throwing an elbow that gave another

player a concussion. he'll be sidelined for much of the first postseason round. and an out-of-towner in paris mistook a subway entrance for a parking garage, and down he went. police cordoned off the area, and the car was pulled out without significant damage. luckily, no one was hurt. but we can't say the same for the driver's ego, which was probably a bit bruised. it is 7:16 right now. back over to matt, ann and al. it can be confusing driving in europe. >> yeah. because they don't have stairs there. going into the garage. >> all right. >> confusing. >> don't know if we'll be driving with natalie! mr. roker. >> don't do that. >> let's see what we've got for you. out west, we're looking at some wet weather coming some wet weather coming in. big storm system going to be bringing a lot of rain from san diego up to seattle. we're talking about anywhere from about a half an inch to an inch of rain. especially in southern california. and the pacific northwest. and then we've got a risk of strong storms making their way

from mexington, kentucky, back to waterloo and as far east as columbus, ohio, damaging wind, hail, maybe a tornado or two. looking for one to two inches of rain down through that area. 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, golden sunlight streaming through the trees on this wednesday morning. live view from our sky watcher camera overlooking northwest washington. it's a cold start, we're down near the freezing mark throughout most of virginia, maryland and west virginia. and elsewhere, right near the bay and the tidal potomac, it's in the 40s. today, much of the region in the upper 60s to near 70. could get showers tomorrow, maybe an afternoon storm. into the weekend maybe >> that's your latest weather. ann? >> all right, al, thank you. rupert murdoch is testifying this morning for the british panel investigating the phone hacking scandal at one of his newspapers. nbc's stephanie gosk is in london with more on this. stephanie, good morning. >> good morning, ann. well murdoch is facing questions

today that go well beyond just phone hacking at his defunct newspaper "news of the world." this scandal has turned into a critique of how the media in this country operates, and a deep look at the influence murdoch's news corp. has had on the highest echelons of the british government. news corp. head rupert murdoch is back under fire, facing a public grilling for the second time. >> the issue of phone hacking, or are they limited to the issue of phone hacking? >> reporter: the last time murdoch faced questions was before parliament. supported by his son james, and protected by his wife. this time he sits alone. >> the shareholders in news corporation will be looking very closely at what sort of performance rupert murdoch puts up. >> reporter: james murdoch was in the hot seat tuesday, once again blaming his subordinates for not telling him about widespread hacking at "news of the world" soon enough. >> their assurances to me

consistently were, as i've said, which was that the newspaper had been investigated thoroughly, but no evidence was found. >> reporter: but evidence was found. that suggested multiple reporters at "news of the world" hacked into the voicemails of celebrities, the royal family, and a murdered young girl. the newspaper was shut down. news corp. was forced to back off of a multibillion dollar tv deal, and there were high profile resignations and arrests. and now the inquiry started by prime minister david cameron is scrutinizing how much influence news corp. has had over the british government itself. critics allege that murdoch owned paper "the sun" endorsed cameron during the election, in return for support of news corp.'s deal to buy full control of broadcaster bskyb. james murdoch vehemently denied the allegation. >> there's absolutely not a quid pro quo for that support. >> reporter: today, it's his

father's turn to defend the world's second largest media company. and with it, his own reputation. the questioning today began by focusing on political influence. going back as far as prime minister margaret thatcher. murdoch says he did not ask thatcher for help in acquiring british newspapers back in the early '80s. the media mogul went on to say that he has never asked a prime minister for anything. ann? >> all right, stephanie gosk this morning. stephanie, thank you. >> a little earlier we showed you part of president obama's appearance on the "late night with jimmy fallon." well the president also gave our colleague brian williams a run for his money when he held jimmy slow jam the news. take a look. >> now is not the time to make school more expensive for our young people. >> oh, yeah. ♪ you should listen to the president ♪ ♪ or as i like to call him,

the president zi of the united statesy ♪ >> the reason it's so important to keep down costs is so we keep college affordable. ♪ and the president knows his stuff, y'all ♪ ♪ that's why they call him the potus ♪ ♪ which means person of top -- what is it? >> jimmy, potus stands for president of the united states. ♪ he's the potus with the mostous ♪ >> seems like a lighthearted moment but there's a real calculation. the president obviously reaching out to jimmy fallon's audience and those young voters he's going to need in the fall. >> exactly. we tend to see presidents and candidates showing up in late night when there is an election obviously. >> remember bill clinton with arsenio hall. >> can we start calling him the preezy of the united statesy? >> coming up, speaking of the president, the college student who came face to face with him

and then accidentally spilled food on him. we'll talk to her. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

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good morning, it's 7:26 on this wednesday, april 25th, i'm aaron gilchrest. a cold start to the day, but the warm-up is coming. here's tom with a look at the changes we're going to see today. tom? >> it's only in the 30s now, some locations have a frost or a freeze west of i-95. and that's going to stay that way for another hour or so. then we'll soar to near 70 by the afternoon. your seven-day outlook. a lot of sun today, blustery wind, cloudy tomorrow, a morning or a midday shower, maybe an afternoon or early evening thunderstorm. a bit cooler on friday, and partly cloudy. increasing clouds saturday. it looks like any weekend rain now may be on saturday afternoon

and evening and drying out sunday that's subject to change. stay tuned. >> we'll check on the morning >> we'll check on the morning co i wish i could keep it this way. let me show you something. [ dr. rahmany ] even after a dental cleaning... plaque quickly starts to grow back... but new crest pro-health clinical plaque control toothpaste can help. it not only reduces plaque... it's also clinically proven... to help keep plaque from coming back. plus, it works in these other areas dentists check most. so now when you leave the dental office, you can keep a cleaner mouth with you. new crest pro-health clinical plaque control toothpaste. life opens up when you do.

i'm matt taqa with your

latest look at the records, not doing too badly on 395. on the 14th street bridge, you'll see congestion, no major problems. the trip from the beltway to the bridge, 30 minutes, at an average of

♪ >> you are looking at some of the most gorgeous women in the world. but, only one can lay claim to the title of "people" magazine's world's most beautiful woman. we will reveal this year's choice for the first time in a moment. >> very exciting. >> yeah. 7:30 now on a wednesday morning. 25th day of april, 2012. i'm matt lauer alongside ann curry. got that silhouette of the photo. there it is right there. give you any hints? >> not at all. >> put your hand up like this. >> okay. >> now cut back here. and -- it could be you.

could be you. >> i can promise you, it's not me. there's a lot of makeup on my face. i could frost a cake. it's not me. >> we'll find out who it is in just a little while. >> okay, all right. also coming up ahead this morning the backlash to a mom who posted this photograph on her 13-year-old daughter's facebook page. she says it was the only way to reach her girl in the age of social media. but some parents are believing that the mom went too far. so we're going to tell you what she's now saying about this controversy in a moment. >> and a young bride who lost her husband to cancer just six weeks after their wedding. she says there is actually a silver lining to their story. she'll explain in a live interview. but we begin this half hour with help being brought in in the search for the 6-year-old arizona girl who vanished from her bedroom in the middle of the night. nbc's miguel almaguer is in tucson, arizona, with more on this. miguel, good morning to you. >> matt, good morning. despite hundreds of leads, police say they've had no major breaks in this case.

investigators say while they are now scaling back their physical search, they have called in on federal officials for extra help. as investigators began their fifth day in the search for 6-year-old isabel celis, the fbi has deployed a special team to tucson. a behavioral analysis unit is now working with lead investigators. the agents will review some of the 260 tips and once again search the family home. >> the number one thing a behavioral analyst will look at, beyond the local trends and patterns of crime in that particular area, is the family. but not just the direct family. everyone close to the family. >> reporter: tuesday night, hundreds of friends and strangers gathered at the little league field where the 6-year-old used to play. her father's friends offered words of support for isabel's parents. >> still feel like it's the first day it's happening, so sergio, thank you for listening. my prayers are with you and we hope you find isabel soon. >> reporter: isabel's parents told police they last saw their

daughter sleeping in their bed friday night at 11:00 p.m. at 8:00 a.m. saturday, her father realized she was gone and called 911. police say isabel's window was found open, but the case has not been ruled a kidnapping. instead a suspicious disappearance. police say the parents are cooperating, and investigators say they're still reviewing potential forensic evidence collected from the family home. monday, police say specially trained fbi dogs like these may have found something of interest inside the home. tuesday, dozens of police officers finished combing through a local landfill and searching inside neighborhood homes with no major breaks. but today, as detectives scale back their physical search for isabel, the national center for the missing and exploited children has made her disappearance a top priority. >> there are many examples of children coming home safely after days, weeks, even years.

we hope it doesn't take that long to bring little isabel home. >> she's lost from her family. >> reporter: hope is what this community is holding onto. >> protect her from above. >> reporter: tuesday night prayers for isabel, while just a few miles away, federal agents focused on the very place she should have been safe. with the fbi re-entering the family home, the celis family has not been able to return. police have no suspects, and though their physical search is scaling back, they will still have a very large police presence here. matt? >> all right, miguel almaguer in tucson this morning. thank you very much. it's 34 after the hour. here's ann. >> matt, thanks. was it a creative punishment or did it cross the line? an ohio mom has raised eyebrows for the way she dealt with her daughter's disrespectful behavior. "today" national correspondent amy robach is here with this story. hey, amy, good morning. >> ann, good morning to you. the 'tween and teen years can certainly be a time of rebellion. but when an ohio teen decided to post her gripes on her facebook page her mom took to the same

venue to set her straight. denise abbott is the first to admit raising a 13-year-old is a challenge. her daughter ava was acting out, being disrespectful, denise says, and too much drama with friends aired on facebook for all to see. >> when you put everything on facebook, you have to realize that there's consequences for all of your actions. >> reporter: so when denises repeated attempts to curb the behavior failed, she turned to facebook to teach ava a lesson. >> i decided to do something that i know would totally impact her and that the next time she started that she'd think, i don't want my face all over facebook again with a red "x" over my mouth. >> reporter: denise changed her daughter's profile to read, i do not know how to keep my -- the red "x" is meant to finish that sentence. i am no longer allowed on facebook or my phone. please ask why. my mom says i have to answer everyone that asks. >> you have to adapt your parenting skills with the times. >> reporter: but what some call

creative punishment, others may see as a bit extreme. >> this right here is my .45. >> reporter: like the north carolina father who unloaded nine rounds into his teen daughter's laptop when he discovered what he felt were nasty postings on her facebook page. tommy jordan appeared on "today" with his wife and daughter to explain himself. >> i got down on to her level, on the exact same format she used. she put it on facebook. i put it on facebook. >> reporter: but experts say public humiliation may not be the best teaching tool. >> we know parenting is tough and kids push our buttons. but at no time is it a reason to humiliate your child. >> reporter: denise told nbc news that every parent needs to pick a punishment they think fits their child's personality. she said she felt her daughter was well adjusted enough to handle it. and wanted to offer discipline that would reach ava in the social media world that's such a big part of ava's life. as for ava, she said in an e-mail, i feel like i deserved it, because i was mean to my mom

and spoke disrespectful to her in front of my friends. it made me realize that i didn't want my picture on there like that, because all of my friends were asking me what happened and what i did. now denise accepts that some people are critical of her methods but says in the end she feels her daughter learned a valuable lesson and she adds, she now regularly talks with her daughter to make sure all her facebook friends are people who she actually knows, and she encourages other parents to do the same. one more note, in a poll on her website, more than 70% of parents admit to spying on their teens facebook page, ann. >> all right, teenagers be warned. amy robach, thank you so much this morning. now let's get a check of the weather from al. >> ann, thank you so much. we've got some chilly weather here in the east. but warm weather, record-breaking weather again out west. high pressure ridge slides to the east but still keeps the jet stream way above normal up to the north. in the west, record ornorth, in. record or near-record highs.

amarillo, 97, 103 in midland. 89 in dallas. you move east and we still have chilly weather to talk about. montpelier, vermont, six degrees below normal. altoona at 59 degrees where they've got the curve. here's what's going on in your neck of the woods. good morning, here we've got the sun up and a blue sky, golden sunlight streaming through the trees of northwest washington. a live view from our sky watcher camera all around the region, it's cold. we're generally right near or above freezing throughout much of the shenandoah valley into the mountains, closer to washington, a little scattered frost west and north of i-95. we'll have a warm afternoon comparatively up near 70 degrees with a bit of a breeze and lots of sunshine. clouding up tonight and tomorrow. maybe some showers and thunderstorms on thursday. and maybe some showers late saturday. >> and that's your latest weather. matt? ann? >> al, thank you. earlier we told you about the university of colorado freshman, right, who spilled her food on president obama when he made a stop at a restaurant in boulder. let's take a look.

>> oh, look it, you got me. you got me. >> i'm so sorry. >> i'm teasing. that's okay. whose yogurt got on me? >> it was mine. i'm really sorry. it was mine. >> you've got a good story to tell. you can say, well i spilled yogurt all over the president. >> well, yeah, i'm very embarrassed of that story now. but it's a pleasure. the pleasure is all mine. >> well, the young lady at the center of yogurtgate is with us now from denver, colorado. colby, good morning. how you doing? >> good morning. i'm good. how are you? >> i'm all right. this all seemed like it started really well. you were in the right place at the right time. you got to get up close and personal with the president. and then it took a kind of messy turn. what happened? >> well, basically, secret service brought us a little bit closer to where president obama was supposed to be coming out of the restaurant, and so, we were

just waiting there patiently, and then he came down this line of people, and we knew we were going to be pretty like -- we were pretty close so we knew we'd eventually get to shake his hand. and so i think as he comes towards us a little bit more, paparazzi come rushing behind us and right as i'm shaking his hand the paparazzi kicks the bowl that i had placed on the ground onto the president. and it was mine, so, obviously i took the blame for it. >> in fact, that was impressive. you jumped right in there and said, hey, this is my fault. and -- and -- i think that he was impressed by that. >> well, hopefully. because it technically was my fault that i'd placed it there. but, i mean, i'm not one who spilled it on him or kicked it on him. as some of the stories have been told. so, yeah. >> but then it resulted in a pretty long back and forth between you and the president,

you actually got to carry on -- >> yes. >> -- a conversation with the commander in chief. >> yeah. which is really surprising. i didn't really expect that. i just expected him to shrug it off, try and clean it up a little bit, and then just get on with walking to his car. to leave. so, yeah, it was pretty exciting being able to talk to him for a minute or two, to like try and exchange what just happened. >> colby, it's hard to see from the videotape, but just how much yogurt got on the president? >> it wasn't a lot. honestly, more of it got on me, the ground, and on the secret service. so -- it got on his trousers a little bit, though. >> colby before i let you go, i do want to mention that shortly after you had your run-in with the president you went on to your sorority for initiation. >> yeah, i did. alpha p. >> please tell me this wasn't some kind of a challenge as part of that initiation where you had

to spill something on the leader of the free world. >> oh -- oh, my gosh, no. not at all. like it just -- it was a huge coincidence that this happened the same day that i had my initiation. all in all i'd say it was a pretty eventful and pretty memorable day for me. >> all right. well you've been a good sport about it, colby. thanks very much. nice talking to you. >> thank you. nice talking to you, as well. >> she's right, the president is right, she does have a story to tell. anyway, coming up still ahead, "people" magazine's pick for the most beautiful woman. but first, these messages. i am going to become facebook friends with our babysitter. no. these work, right? no. all right. mom! look what i found in the shed! no! no! no! ♪ ew! were you guys just making out in here? what? no! is it okay if i quit my job and start a blog? no. really? cold cuts from a package? yes. [ male announcer ] in a world filled with "no," it's nice to finally say "yes."

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four nutritious grains and two big fruit flavors to make your day bunches better. we're back now at 7:44 with a story that will make parents sit up and take notice. at least 16 teenagers in the los angeles area alone treated for alcohol poisoning in recent months, after they trank hand sanitizer. and some are blaming the internet. nbc's mike taibbi is at children's hospital in los angeles. mike, good morning. >> good morning, matt. you know, hand sanitizers have been around for years. used by millions of people. but because they're alcohol based products and because people can buy them over the counter, some people used them as a way to try and get high and it's mostly teens who have been doing the experimenting. one of the reasons hand sanitizers feel wet when you use them but dry very quickly is because they're made with alcohol. a lot of alcohol. over 60% in most formulas. and that's why you can go to youtube and find video after video of kids saying they're

drinking the stuff. they drink it knowing the dangers. >> it could kill you. >> reporter: but know also that it's illegal and expensive over-the-counter item that you use to get high, just as kids drank hair spray, cough syrup, nyquil and other household products. in l.a. in just the past few months 16 teens have gotten so high on sanitizers, and so sick, they needed emergency care. >> they are not happening at the same time, in the same place. so it is a concern for us that this is a trend that's happening independent of each other. >> reporter: all brand name sanitizers carry warnings. purell even issued a corporate statement saying to discourage misuse purell contains ingredients that impart an unpleasant taste. but some people aren't just swigging or sniffing these products as-is. they learned on the internet how to extract the alcohol content and drink that straight. >> that's about 120 proof. so we're talking about hard shots of hard liquor. >> reporter: now it's one thing to play substance abuse for laughs as in the classic farce "airplane."

but there are no laughs in a scene like this. another from youtube. >> hand sanitizer. right here. just take one big whiff. >> reporter: using purell not for its intended purpose. but in a way that could lead to acute alcohol poisoning and all its consequences. the poison control center's 2010 stats, the most recent available, listed more than 3700 cases nationwide involving hand sanitizers. but only 411 were for teens or older people. the vast majority of cases for kids under 5 who accidentally ingested the product. so, no cause for alarm about a skyrocketing teen trend says the editor of a woman's issues website, just for more prudent parenting. >> talk to your kid about common sense. don't eat things that aren't food. don't drink things that are poison. >> reporter: the director of a treatment center in san diego

reminded us that the kids will always try and find some way to get high. for that reason they've banned completely hand sanitizers from their facility. but she also said the kids will always find a way to try and sneak the stuff in. matt? >> fun being a parent, isn't it, mike? thank you very much. coming up, we will reveal "people" magazine's pick for the world's most beautiful woman. right after this. today, we stand against the tyranny of single mile credit cards. battle speech right? may i? [ horse neighs ] for too long, people have settled for single miles. with the capital one venture card, you'll earn double miles on every purchase, every day! [ visigoths cheer ] hawaii, here we come. [ alec ] so sign up today for a venture card at capitalone.com. and start earning double. [ all ] double miles! [ brays ] what's in your wallet? can you play games on that? not on the runway. no. can you play games on that? ♪ abracadabra.

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world's most beautiful woman. and here is senior writer alexis pugh. good morning. >> good morning. >> let us not wait another second. who is the world's most beautiful woman? >> our world's most beautiful woman is -- beyonce. >> good choice. >> very good choice. >> talk to me why. >> okay. we don't need to say it but she's flawless. she's gorgeous. she's a music icon at 30 years old. on top of it she's got this glow going on. she's a new mom. just upped the ante. we really feel like she's the most beautiful woman in the world right now. >> did you interview her for the magazine? did she talk about motherhood? >> couldn't shut her up about it. this is a woman who is very focused, so driven and ambitious she's already gearing up for her first post-baby concert next month. get her talking about her daughter blue ivy and she glows even more brightly. she talks about everything from labor and delivery, how she didn't really feel pretty, tried

wearing some lip gloss. >> she didn't feel pretty? >> during labor and delivery. she talked about breast-feeding, just about her daughter a lot. >> congratulations to beyonce. but we want to mention there are some other people on the list, michelle williams, jennifer hudson made it. jennifer lawrence, kristen whig. >> all beautiful women who are very of the moment. jennifer lawrence, katniss, need i say more? she's so natural. she does the whole tomboy thing on screen and then she cleans up really well and she's just flawless and beautiful. >> also in the most beautiful category you have men. bradley cooper. blake shelton also on the list. >> very beautiful men. blake shelton, country fans have known him for years. i think "the voice," the success of "the voice" has opened the rest of america's eyes. he's got that drawl, he's tall and handsome. and really kind, too. >> anybody bald ever made the list? >> we're thinking about you for next year. i've taken it under advisement. >> meredith, kathie lee also made categories in this magazine.

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7:56 is your time now on this wednesday, april 25th, 2012, good morning, i'm eun yang. we have a chilly start, but some nice changes ahead, let's get the forecast now from meteorologist tom kierein. >> right now around the region it's only in the 30s. but we should have a rapid warm-up. should hit the 60s by noon. near 70 by mid afternoon. lots of sun and a bit of a blustery wind, winds may be gusting to 25 miles per hour. then clouding up tonight and cloudy tomorrow and likely morning and midday showers, maybe a passing afternoon thundershower. highs upper 70s tomorrow. then clearing out. a bit on thursday night into friday. then over the weekend, maybe some showers saturday afternoon and evening and some sun back on sunday. and cooler. that's the way it looks right now, eun.

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matt taqa with a look at the heavy goe on 66, this shot at suddenly road. topside beltway, you're going to find some delays from 95 around toward 270 at this point, 24 miles per hour is your average, 24 minutes. eun, back to you. >>

8:00 on a wednesday morning. 25th day of april, 2012. weather considerably better than it was yesterday. still chilly, 46 degrees. but, blue skies here in rockefeller plaza. by the way, a little extra excitement out here on the plaza this morning. over here, we have the parks and recreation star stops by. we're going to be chatting with him in just a couple of minutes. >> cool shades.

>> always. >> we love rob. >> i'm matt lauer along with ann curry and mr. al roker. what else is coming up? >> we have a really beautiful story coming up about a couple, fell in love in college, they planned to spend their lives together, and then he discovered some devastating news that he had cancer. they were able to pull together a wedding in three days. a beautiful wedding that was poignant, and powerful for the family. well, he passed away. she is in our studio this morning to tell a story of love, and resilience, and it has really touched a nerve with so many people online, because she's posted these amazing images of their wedding, and of their lives together. it's a real story. >> love that. >> and on a much, much different note, as you know, rosie o'donnell was here earlier this week taking part in our "today's professionals" segment. her comments making all sorts of

news online, including lindsay lohan comments. well, we figured what the heck, let's bring her back? so she's going to be back with star and donny, they'll be back tomorrow. all together for "today's professionals." >> okay. here we go. >> let's go inside. natalie is standing by at the news desk with the headlines. >> good morning again, matt, ann and al. good morning, everyone. nearly five years after british girl madeleine mccann vanished during a family trip to portugal, scotland yard said this morning they believe there is a possibility that madeleine is still alive. investigators released an age progression image showing what she might look like nine as almost a 9-year-old and they said they have nearly 200 leads that should be pursued. scotland yard also urged portuguese police to reopen their own investigation. federal health officials have confirmed the first case of mad cow disease here in the u.s. in six years. the disease was found in a dead dairy cow in california. officials say no meat from the

animal was ever headed for the food supply and they say there is no threat to human health. a senate panel questions homeland security secretary janet napolitano today about the secret service prostitution scandal. meantime the secret service has announced the results of its disciplinary action for the 12 employees thought to be involved. seven personnel resigned, one is in the process of being terminated, one retired, and three were cleared but given disciplinary action. police and social workers visited the home of so-called octomom nadya suleman on tuesday after receiving a complaint of general child neglect. investigators said they found the environment suitable for the children, and decided the youngsters can remain in the home. and now for a look at what is trending today. our quick roundup of what has you talking online, a day spent courting young voters has made president obama a hot topic online. we told you earlier about the colorado student who spilled yogurt on the commander in chief. well, there's also the goofy

photo with a fan on instagram and this video of the president on the news on late night with jimmy fallon. >> their position is that students just have to make this rate increase work. frankly, i don't buy it. ♪ hmm the monster ain't buying it ♪ >> the president taped the fallon bit during a stop at university of north carolina. tmz says actress lindsay lohan was stunned to hear rosie o'donnell criticize her during a guest appearance tuesday on "today's professionals." rosie said she was not capable of playing liz taylor in a new lifetime movie which apparently surprised the young starlet who thought that they were on great terms. as al mentioned earlier, rosie will be back on "today's professionals" here tomorrow. and comedian russell brand is trending online, after his cheeky appearance before a panel of the british parliament where

he testified about his past heroin abuse. >> you were arrested roughly 12 times. >> yes. >> i think the public is -- >> yes. >> does also have some compassion and consideration for the victims of crime, whether crimes committed by people under the influence of drugs. >> partly. there is a question -- what about the victims of the crime? >> well, brand, who's recently divorced from singer katy perry argued that drug addiction should be treated as a sickness instead of a crime. it is now 8:05. let's go back outside to al with a check of your weather. >> all right. thank you so much, natalie. our friends from the march of dimes, what's happening? >> hey, al. we're here to talk about babies today. i'm an employee and mom of 2012 national ambassador for the march of dimes.

>> and how do you get information? >> you get information from marchbabies.org. you can go there to sign up for the walk, fund raise or pop in to a kmart store and make a contribution. >> all righty. thank you. let's check your weather and see what's going on. memphis, tennessee, wmc tv 5, sun and mild, temperatures in the mid 80s, you can see the rain coming into the pacific northwest. also all along the west coast, they're looking at rain today. down in the southern california, record highs, from the plains on up into the mid rockies, risk of strong storms from eastern iowa into the west virginia and even into kentucky. we're looking at showers in new england, on into western new york state. with upper elevations seeing a little light snow. it's, who is 60 today? >> me. >> what's your name? >> vicky. >> happy birthday. here's what's going on in your neck of the woods. sunny and chilly, good

morning, tom kierein, storm center 4. temperatures are only now around 40 degrees after we were near freezing over the last couple of hours. now we're going to rapidly climb. in fact we'll hit the 60s by noon. near 70 by mid afternoon. a lot of sun, blustery wind, cloudy tomorrow. might get a morning or midday shower or afternoon storm, and warmer. friday, partly cloudy and over the weekend, it's looking more like saturday afternoon and evening we could get rain >> and that's your latest weather. >> all right, al, thank you very much. still to come we've got actor rob lowe taking his seat in our studio. we'll be talking to the star of "parks & recreation." also ahead a young bride loses her husband after just six weeks of marriage. her touching story of love and heartbreak right after this. [ male announcer ] ever wonder what's behind two little fleas? the next generation and then countless more. how do you kill them? frontline plus. it uses two ingredients. one to kill adult fleas and ticks.

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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. >> back now at 8:11 with a love story cut far too short. a young bride loses her husband to cancer after just six weeks of marriage. it's a story that generated thousands of responses on our website. moving people in ways we rarely see. we're going to talk to the bride, bethany smith, in just a moment. but first, here's nbc's janet shamlian. >> reporter: the story of bethany and ryan in some ways is like many others in young love. they met their freshman year at the university of oregon and sparks flew. they were immediately, bethany

describes it, joined at the hip. they graduated in 2009, found jobs, settled in to an apartment, and knew the formality of tying the knot was not far off. in the meantime, they had the world by its tail. as they documented in pictures and home videos. indulging their passion for travel and adopting a cat. they named him boots. but ryan was feeling ill. a colonoscopy in january of last year revealed a large tumor in his colon. what turned out to be stage four testicular cancer. the diagnosis was initially hopeful and the couple tried to continue on with a normal life. ryan surprised bethany with an engagement ring last july. as his condition took a turn for the worse, reality set in. doctors said he had very little time left. in december, with just three

days planning, and herculean help from their friends, bethany and ryan were married. despite ryan's frail condition, it was a day filled with joy. they treasured every moment. >> here's our rings. and yours. they look so good. >> love you. >> reporter: ryan passed away six weeks later. while there is sadness, bethany says she sees a silver lining and hopes others will, too. she found her true life, the kind many spend a lifetime searching. for "today," janet shamlian, nbc news. >> bethany smith is now joining us exclusively. bethany, good morning. >> good morning.

>> you have a big smile on your face. >> i'm excited to be here. >> excited to have you here. i saw you watching that story with tears in your eyes. and also laughing. as well. it's just been barely three months. how are you doing? >> up and down. it's hard. but i have an amazing support system, and i have a lot of good memories, too. >> there is so much beauty in your story, as well. in addition to these memories. i can see you're still wearing the wedding ring. >> yep. >> do you -- tell us the story of how he proposed. because it was a surprise. >> it was a surprise. i -- one of the reasons -- he's still going through treatment at the time, and i had no focus on the idea of getting engaged at that point.

it was one of those things we assumed we'd do it after the fact. so that was one of the reasons why he decided to propose while he was still kind of in treatment, because he knew it was the only way he would surprise me. and we took a trip to bend, central, oregon for the weekend and he said he was uncomfortable from the drive and needed to pull over. and i was like chemo patient, you know, whatever he needs, we can do. and he -- we were walking down by the water and he just dropped down to one knee and i dropped down to both knees, and freaked out a bit. but, it was -- it was a huge surprise and really special. >> you, at the time, had heard positive news that the prognosis might be good for ryan. >> his original prognosis was 100%. >> and you wanted to wait two years before you got married. why? >> i always told him i wanted to be engaged for two years because

i wanted to be able to plan it for two years. but, when he proposed and he was, you know, still dealing with all the health stuff we pushed it back. we were thinking 2013. just wait until he's healthy, recovered, and we could then start planning from there. >> you didn't get that time. and as time was running out, you realized you had to do something quickly. so you planned this in three days. how did you pull off such a beautiful wedding in so short a time? >> well, it wasn't just me. it was definitely a group effort, and you know, it really just came down to us deciding what was important to us for that day. and making those things happen. and trying to let go of the things that, you know, didn't necessarily need to be there. >> you've said looking back there was more love in that room than i had ever experienced in my life, and looking at these images we can see that love. so many people, 400,000 people,

have read this story on today.com, and the responses have been just beautiful. so many people deeply moved. one commenting, i am singing and not in love and i'm still bawling my eyes out. it's nice to know the precious few who are so very lucky to fall in love like this. may he rest in peace and prayers to bethany for a happy and successful life. how do you respond to this, this, this reaction to the beauty of your relationship with ryan? >> i mean, it's a bit overwhelming. but in a positive way. i think that it's good to know that it brings out the best in people just hearing something like that. i hope it would be a positive influence. i mean obviously we were dealt a very hard situation. but, seeing other people being inspired by it, i guess, could make it a little easier in a way.

>> inspired by the strength of the two of you, and the depth of your love, and we're ought of time but i want to quickly ask that we take a photograph, show your parents, and also ryan's parents, carrie and peter are here, and your parents susan and steve are also here and we recognize them from your wedding. congratulations to your family for the resilience and the beauty of the love you found with ryan >> thank you. >> thank you so much for being here. all right. and we're back right after these messages.

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we're back now at 8:21 with rob lowe, one of the stars of nbc's hit comedy "par "parks & recreation." he plays an energetic and optimistic state auditor who's helping amy poehler's character, leslie knope run for city council. welcome back. >> good to see you.

>> you have said this character makes you throw everything you ever knew about acting out the window. how can that be? >> most actors want to be able to play a character where there's a lot of different choices. what i've learned playing chris is there's only one choice. positive and happy, no matter what the situation is. if i'm positive and happy about it it's always funnier. >> he's a bit of a loon, too. on the one side he is excessively positive. he wants to live to 15 he's a health freak. and then at the drop of a hat, at the littlest thing he goes into a bout of depression. >> yeah. he's a very fragile -- he's like a sue fly. he's strong on the top, very weak on the inside. >> tell me more about this guy. he's trying to dig parks and recreation department out of a big monetary hole. >> right. >> is he kind of one of the spokes that turns the wheel? >> i think chris is, and this is why i love playing him, and the writers do such a great job with him, is whenever he comes on, you really don't know what you're going to get.

even though you know he's always going to be positive. and so that's always fun, to play a character that comes on, and does this thing, and surprises you. >> there's a great ensemble cast on this show. and you said in an interview recently, you said it's always easy to have fun on a movie set, because it's a limited period of time. it's harder to have fun and continue having fun on a sitcom set because it goes on and on. >> right. >> how does that affect your daily life? >> well it makes coming to work not feel like coming to work. right? >> so are you still having fun on this? you've been on the show now a couple of seasons. >> i think this is my fourth. >> 2010. >> i don't even know anymore. that's how much fun that i'm having. what i love about the group of actors, "a," they're funny as all get-out. but they're so entrepreneurial. everybody's writing books and writing scripts and having stand-up acts. they just have so much going on, there's so much energy on the set that isn't just about coming in and making what we're making. >> you talk about that they're

all got these other projects. there's an article about you in "success" magazine, talking about the fact that you've been doing what you're doing in terms of being in this line of work since 1983 i think it was. >> yes. acting since '79, my first tv show. >> a very long time. >> right. >> and you are as successful today, as ever. and it's that question of how you've managed -- a lot of actors experience fame in short bursts. >> right. >> how have you managed to come up with the longevity side of your career? >> well i think a lot of it has to do with having a lot of interests. not just about your career in quotes. i'm interested in writing. so i wrote a book. last year. i love -- i'm lucky to have a great family and i love that, so that keeps you vital. and it keeps you sort of participating in life. i think what happens is you kind of stop participating in the broader world, and then it's really hard to be relevant, because you have no relevant relationship to the outside world. >> but you said something in

that interview that almost runs counter to the way i've learned to do things. and you said, one of the things that makes you so successful is that you learned to say yes. your immediate instinct is to say yes. >> yes. >> and people, i've been taught over the years, that saying yes too often can get new trouble. >> well, it's gotten me in trouble. listen, i hosted the academy awards and sang and danced with snow white once. let's not forget that. >> i was actually going to bring that up. >> listen, there is a downside, the academy awards wants me? where i come from, i say yes. right? and that will -- that can bite new the butt. but more often than anything, it leads to something good somewhere that you might not even be able to connect the dots to. >> i'm one of these people i have to learn how to say no. >> yeah, yeah. well, you may have to go back to saying yes. >> what's the next thing you're going to say yes to? what else is on the horizon? >> we hopefully are back for

"parks&recreation" next year. tonight i have a movie premiering at the tribeca film festival called "night fight." i'm excited about the movie and excited about the festival. >> rob lowe, what a pleasure. >> you bet. >> we are going to have muchre h more ahead, including a new spin on pasta primavera. 8:26 on this wednesday, let's get to storm center 4 meteorologist tom kierein and a look at the forecast. >> back to a chilly start, warming up, hitting the 40s much of the reelk. later today's we'll climb, we ought to be making it into the 60s by noon. by mid afternoon we should be peaking around 70 degrees. tomorrow, clouds around, a bit warmer. maybe a morning or midday shower or afternoon thunderstorm. on friday, partly cloudy, into the mid 60s. cooler saturday, increasing clouds. right now, rain for the weekend appears to be perhaps saturday afternoon and evening. and then sunday into monday, tuesday, we dry out. and warm up a bit.

and that's the way it looks, back to you. >> we'll take a look at the roads.

matt taqa with a new problem on 270, this one is southbound. in rockville. give yourself extra time as you

approach falls road, the live shot in montgomery shows the backing, especially on the right side. 50 now, right now looking at 202, you see heavy traffic in the entire stretch from the beltway to the bw parkway. 15 minutes.

8:30 now on this wednesday morning. the 25th of april, 2012. and we're giving some muchish deserved camera time for our big crowd this morning. it's a little chilly out here in rockefeller plaza. but their smiles are warming us up while we join them. i'm ann curry along with matt lauer, natalie morales and al roker. and just ahead we are going to

take a test by a harvard professor. >> this is fascinating stuff. we live in a society where just about everything has a price tag on it. you can buy almost anything. you can -- but should you, for example, pay your kids to get better grades? should you pay to jump the security line at an airport? the question that is asked in this book over and over again, you can do it. but should you do it. >> hmm. all right. >> and also then we're going to keep it simple in the kitchen. one of our favorites around here, mark bittman, is hire. he's got three quick and easy springtime pasta dishes. guaranteed your family is going to love them. and martha stewart is here to show us how to make some of her favorite treats. >> but before we get to all of that. can we say hello to jason siegel? he's a big star. >> hello. >> of the "five year engagement." great to have you. is it true that you participated in writing this movie? >> yeah, yeah.

i'm one of the cowriters. this is our third collaboration. >> both talented. >> people can identify with this, because no one road to the altar is a smooth one. emily blunt your co-star said you are shameless. does that have anything to do with you exposing your butt in another film? >> i'll tell you, what's a shame. is apparently me being naked is funny. on-screen, in my personal life. if i take my clothes off it's met with hysterical laughter for some reason. >> i understand the full frontal shot got lost on the editing floor, is that true? >> they couldn't find a lens wide enough. >> oh, wow. >> oh. >> as far as when you're doing this kind of comedy, though, it's kind of raunchy. do you know when you cross the line, or where you are? >> well, this movie is actually, it's a bit more adult than any

of the stuff we've done. it's definitely raunchy and raucously funny but sort of back to the annie hall type comedies. it's a movie about an exploration of a relationship over five years. and what a fluid thing power dynamics are over that long. we're growing up a little bit. the kid's growing up. >> emily blunt, of course, such a great star. >> i know. >> i love her. i imagine you two had a great time. >> we've been friends for about five years. that's why i wrote it for her. >> you wrote it for her. >> yeah, i did. i hate romantic comedies where it seems like two viable holiday wood actors have been slumped together because they've had successful movies before and they keirly don't know each other. this seems like two best friends in a movie. what's awesome about being a writer is i get to write love scenes with emily blunt and she shows up and she just has to do it. >> it's on the page. >> jason, it's great to see you. >> congratulations. >> thank you.

what a nice, long interview. >> just like your full frontal. >> well, on that note, "the five year engagement" from our sister company universal pictures hits theaters on friday. and now, a check of the weather. >> thank you. >> weather. >> you nailed it. >> let's see haas going on as they congratulate themselves on a job well done. we're looking at rain up and down the west coast. look for some showers in new england. plenty sunshine through the gulf coast. record heat making its way through the southern plains. tomorrow we're looking at the risk of strong storms moving back into the central plains, more wet weather along the west coast with mountain snows. rain in the northeast, plenty of sunshine along the gulf coast, and sunny and cool in the upper mississippi river valley and western great lakes. here's what's going on in your neck of the woods. gorgeous morning, still a chill in the air, good morning, tom kierein, storm center 4.

live view, sky watcher camera. bright sunshine, overlooking northwest washington. all around the region we're in the 40s. reagan national now is at 48. and in southern maryland, near the bay, it's in the low 50s. later today, around 70 degrees, lots of sun, bit of a blustery wind, cloudy tomorrow, maybe showers in the morning and during the afternoon, maybe some thunder. over the >> and that's your latest weather. >> all right, al. thank you very much. the nfl draft kicks off tomorrow right down the street here in new york city. the two guys who are joining us now should go somewhere in the ninth or tenth round. we have got andrew luck and heisman trophy winner robert mcquesten. you've had all the fame and adulation. people have talked about you for years and years now. when you finally get drafted and you sign those contracts, your lives are going to change. are you prepared for that? >> ready for the next step. you know, college is great.

it will be nice to be at the bottom of the totem pole. >> we get to get in the real world. >> and andrew it looks like you're going to indianapolis. that certainly seems to be the sign. and that's a great city. it's, of course, though where peyton manning has been one of the most valuable football players of all time. does that -- is that sobering, is that something that you take lightly or do you think about that? >> well, obviously grown up as a kid -- he was my football hero. woke up every sunday to try and watch peyton manning. you know, to go in that situation, you don't create that situation yourself. you kind of always pick up certain things. but you know, i'm up for the challenge, i guess. i know, you know, it would be almost impossible to live up to what he's done. but you know, i'll still try and do it my own way and do the best i can. >> robert, they call you r.g. 3. seems like the fans have already embraced you. that's got to be a big deal.

>> i've already seen at least seven shirts with my name on it. so it's not just excitement. they're not just excited about me. they're excited about the team so i'm happy about that. >> you guys are so cool but are you at all nervous the deals aren't quite done yet? are you nervous about what you're taking on? >> a bit more excited. nerves come with it but definitely excited. >> you're about to win the lottery. >> oh, yeah. >> good luck with that. >> two great playest that we've seen in a long time. we're going to have much more ahead on a wns morning. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

back now at 8:39. and these days it seems as though almost everything is for sale. harvard professor's new book

"what money can't buy" takes a hard look at what's up for grabs in our society and asks even if you can buy something, should we? >> hmm. >> sandel teaches a class at harvard called justice. a course so popular that his lectures have been viewed millions of times online. michael, it's great to see you. good morning. >> good to be with you. >> these questions that you're going to be asking us, actually, a little bit of a twist here this morning, are these money questions, or are these moral dilemmas? >> well, they're money questions that are moral dilemmas. because one of the things that is up for grabs in our society is what role should money play in our lives? >> give us an example then. put us to the test. by the way, are there right and wrong answers to these? or only in the eye of the beholder? >> let's start by having a discussion. you'll be the judge of that. >> all right. >> let's suppose you're running a school. the kids come from tough backgrounds. they're not performing well.

they're not reading books. someone comes to you with the proposal, why don't we offer cash incentives for good grades. let's pay kids $2 for each book they read. third graders, let's say. >> mm-hmm. >> shall we take a quick vote? >> yeah. >> how many would -- how many like the idea? and how many are not -- how many would go for it? >> i don't think so. >> don't we kind of do that anyway in offering scholarships to higher education? >> these are third graders. >> i know. >> so you're all against. >> the three of us are against. >> matt is on the fence. >> i think if it were a small amount of money that they could go out and buy something they wanted they might be in favor. >> $2 per book. >> i say invest that money in books that they really are going to love and read. >> i'm going to give the kids the cash. >> okay. >> so you need to hear from the three. what's wrong with it? >> well, look, i think about with my own son, does he do a

certain thing i'm going to get you a toy or something like that. maybe not much different than that. so now that i think about it, maybe i would go for it. >> it seems the easy solution. but it seems also the wrong solution. has to be other options, number one. but number two, i think that you want reading as an opportunity to be exposed to the entire world. and you don't want people to think that you have to pay them to read. this should be something that they can have themselves. >> maybe what's wrong with it is for the kids who aren't able to read well. and they don't have the same proficiency in being able to read books. they all of a sudden miss out maybe by no fault of their own. >> so there are two objections here. matt's is about fairness. ann's -- ann seems to worry about crowding out the thing that we want to teach, the right attitude toward books. >> the joy and love of reading. >> the love of reading for its own sake. money might chase out that desire. >> exactly. >> you ready for another one?

>> well, let me ask you -- has that actually happened? >> it has. >> so it's plucked from the headlines? >> it was. well it's interesting, in new york city schools, they tried it for grades and it didn't work. in dallas they tried it for reading books for $2 for the third graders, it did work in the sense that the kid read more books but the books become shorter. >> hmm. >> what did they take away from those books? >> that's the longer-term question. that's the big question. to the whole point. >> give us another dilemma. >> all right. waiting on line. >> mm-hmm. >> yes. >> at an amazement park these days, if you don't want to wait on line and you have the money you can buy a ticket that lets you go to the head of the line -- >> a fast pass. >> a vip pass. >> that kind of thing. >> at airports, those get up to the security checkpoint. we know that if you buy an expensive ticket or pay extra, you get to jump to the head of the line. >> right.

>> how about that. is that -- >> i think it's fair. you pay -- >> if you want to buy i first class ticket you're going to pay a premium but you pay for the service. >> i think it's fair. >> i do, too. >> i am not sure i think it's fair. it's something i've done, and i have to say that i always feel guilty about it. but -- >> but we do it. >> why do you feel guilty? >> because there's an inherent unfairness to it, i think, you are paying for a service. the one time i came out of a plane and i was in first class, and they stopped everyone who was in coach from even exiting the plane until we all got out and i just wanted to put a bag over my head. it just feels, there's a sense of, i'm kind of better than you. and i don't -- i don't think that is right. >> what do you think, matt? >> i want people to like me, i'm going to say look, the people who are less affluent then are not afforded the same convenience and why is their time not as important as my time? >> would you make a difference

between early boarding privileges, so you can put your bag in the overhead bin, that's a convenience. and or going through the security check quicker? >> hmm? >> is there a difference? >> what we just signed up, a lot of us here, for this system. but they do a security check on you right now, for a fee that allows you to go faster through the line. so it's not like they're letting you go by without security. >> but you're still paying a fee. >> it's about those with money having an easier life than those who don't and there's something fundamentally unfair about that. because not everyone has access to being able to get money -- >> but then -- >> until america becomes fair in terms of how able people can be -- make money, until the playing field is fair, it is unfair. >> just to wrap it up, it's a fantastic book because it forces you to say, we know we can do something, but should we do that thing? did we fail? did we pass?

what happens here? >> it's how you debate. >> what you began essentially in the disagreement was the kind of debate i think we need to have more often in our society about where money and market serves the public good and where they don't belong. >> the book is "what money can't buy." professor michael sandel. professor, michael, thank you so much. great to have you here. up next mark bittman puts a new twist on a classic spring dish, pasta primavera. but should he?

we're back with this morning's "how to cook everything today." a new spin on a classic dish, pasta primavera. mark bittman is here with easy variations you can try at home. mark, good to see you. >> hi, matt. >> pasta primavera a time-honored recipe. >> actually it's kind of a new

recipe. >> it's a classic. >> in the spring you should make pasta with spring vegetables. >> we're going to make one here that's basically a one skillet dish exempt for the pot you're going to boil the pasta in. >> i think all of these are a one skillet dish. we're using fresh pasta which cooks very, very quickly. and we're going to put in some chilies and some olive oil. chopped chilies, and some peas that we blanched in the same water that we're doing the pasta. >> has to be fresh peas? you know you want it to be. >> this is the whole thing. it's spring. you can make this any time with frozen peas. but, so at this point, we're actually ready to put in the pasta but it's not quite ready. just give it another second. >> that's okay. >> we're going to do mint and some parmesan. >> and you know, when i have pasta primavera i don't like it when they put too many vegetables in it. i like to be able to get a sense of the pasta as well and not have it overpowered. >> that's the idea here.

is fresh vegetables, a little bit of pasta and a lot of flavor. so really, each of these dishes features, this one is obviously peas, features one vegetable, pasta, and a lot of flavor. some mint on top. >> a little pecorino? >> and some parmesan, actually. >> perfect. >> all right. so that's one dish. >> that's one. >> what's the twist on this one? >> this is great. this is leeks which a lot of people don't know what to do with. but they brown beautifully. they get very sweet and tender. and they make a terrific bed for this dish. >> but you add something for a little extra flavor kick on this one. >> well, before the leeks we sauteed a bunch of bacon and that's out. and then we cook the leeks in the bacon fat that's remaining in the pan. >> okay. >> and then a nice trick here is some fried eggs. and you cook them just enough to set the whites a little bit. you want the yolk very, very runny. because the remaining -- the

heat that's retained by your pasta and the heat in the pan, of course, is going to finish cooking them. >> what's the dish you taught me how to make with the pasta and the eggs and the parmesan? >> a cash nara. what am i forgetting? nothing. we put the bacon in. and then the pasta goes on top of everything, and essentially, you're scrambling the eggs in the pasta. >> all right. and when it comes out. it looks something -- >> very much like that. parmesan again. >> in the minute we have left. i'm noticing something boiling like crazy. >> that's okay. we want this to be boiling. this is just heavy cream and butter. just, but -- >> okay. tell that to your doctor. >> right. blanche some spinach, take it out and chop it up. really what this is is creamed spinach with pasta. blanch some spinach. it will all thicken. >> nice pasta. >> and that's a beautiful thing.

and as is typical with the spinach dish, a little bit of nutmeg. >> fantastic. mark bittman. three different versions of pasta primavera. well done and quickly done. up next we're going to catch up with the latest contestants eliminated from "the voice." first this is "today" on nbc.

four more contestants

eliminated this week on "the voice." joining us now, pip, james mathai and cheesa. good to see you guys. pip what happened to the bow tie yesterday? last night? >> you know, i kind of i had to drop it for like one performance. because it was kind of getting to the fact where i couldn't do anything without the bow tie and i doesn't want it to like define me. i wanted to be a person without the bow tie. >> now, james, moving on to you, look, you were working as a mechanic, a car mechanic and you said this is it, you don't want to go back to that. so what do you do next? what's next? >> i don't know man. i'm trying to -- i really don't want to go right back to the body shop so i'm going to try to push my career and do some, just stay in music. i'll be pushing it as much as i can. >> wow, that's great. >> mathai, you -- it seemed like adam was really struggling, took him five minutes to finally,

finally eliminate you. what do you think was going on there? >> you know, adam has been a strong supporter of me from like the very beginning. so it's been crazy. but, you know, katrina did awesome and she deserved that moment. she really did. >> wow. and cheesa the judges seemed to really be impressed with your performance, whitney's houston's i have nothing on monday but not so impressed last night. what was the difference between then and now? >> you always definitely notice and i knew that both jamar and juliet were favorites. i tried to come out and do my best. to make it this far i'm very proud of myself and i'm thankful. and cee lo saved me twice so i'm grateful. >> does anybody have any regrets? we've laerd from some people who have been kicked off they felt their team captor, team leader didn't do them justice. any regrets from you guys? >> oh, not at all. no.

>> i think it was a fantastic experience. and i have no regrets. everything went exactly how i wanted it to. >> i agree. >> and do you think this is the beginning of something big for each of you? >> definitely. >> yeah. >> hopefully. >> that's terrific. we sure hope that happens for you. you've been great performers. pip, james, mathai and cheesa, thanks. the semifinals kick off next monday at 8:00, 7:00 central on nbc. we're back in a moment. 8:56 is your time now on this wednesday april 25th, 2012. let's check in with storm center 4 meteorologist for a look at the forecast. hope things warm up soon, tom. >> a lot of sun now, we're hitting the 50s much of the region in washington, points south and east.

west and north, upper 40s to around 50. later today, a rapid warmup, ought to make it to near 70. lots of sun and a blustery wind. tomorrow, cloudy, maybe a shower or midday shower. a likelihood of that, maybe some thunder and lightning, too, drying out friday, could get more rain over the weekend on saturday afternoon and evening, eun? eun? >> we'll take a break now.

eun? >the middle class is shrinking. in this day and age you can only accomplish so much without a degree, and traditional institutions are simply not set up to accommodate people who have jobs and families. university of phoenix works for those people who have real lives and real demands. the degrees that we offer are things where people can fulfill their goals with even brighter hopes for the future. my name is katy white, i'm committed to making a difference in people's lives and i am a phoenix.

matt taqa with the latest look at a problem on 66 this one is westbound, an accident approaching nutley street, had left lane blocked, it looks like we're in the clearing stages, but delays still persist. as you head on that stretch. 18 minutes from the beltway out to the fairfax county parkway. not much good news on the west side inner loop as well, very heavy at the little river turnpike. the stretch from 395 to

we're back now with more of "today" on a wednesday morning. the 25th day of april, 2012. and it's a really nice day here in new york city. hopefully it's nice where you're waking up. we've got a big crowd of people out on the plaza. i'm matt uer, along with ann curry, savannah guthrie and al roker. just show that this is the coolest little piece -- >> last week, our mike, it's got three different screens. >> those are real monitors. >> real monitors with video in them and we can put anything we want. >> so you can watch your other favorite shows while you're

doing the weather. >> i was watching morning joe. >> i was watching "wake up with al" earlier. >> if people ask what time it is -- >> sorry. he's watching -- >> so anyway. coming up in this half hour, lots to talk to. there's some news coming out of great britain this morning, police there are talking about the now 5-year-old disappearance of madeleine mccann. remember her the little girl who disappeared while her family was in portugal on vacation? police are now saying there is a chance she is still alive, and they've released some new information. >> they've released, as you well know, a new age progression computer image of what madeleine would look like now at about the age of 9. she disappeared, as you talked about, in portugal. police are pursuing now nearly 200 leads hoping that they can still find her. more on this coming up. >> and then also ahead, we've got our financial experts in "today's money 911." we're going to be talking about everything from whether it's smart to buy a home if you're planning on moving within a few

years. also creating a budget if you've never done it. and the importance of paying down credit card debt. all that coming up on "today's money 911." >> all right. and then we have our series busted where we span the world to find the best in crazy video that's out there. we've got some good ones from the frientenning run away car scene in florida to a naked shopper. everybody wants to see that. plus a cow going through the drive-thru at a fast food favorite. >> can you imagine a cow going through a fast food drive-in saying are any of my relatives in there? i mean really, it's bizarre. >> we'll hear what that cow had to say. >> before we go to natalie. can you pan over? these crazy people here, have just been jumping up and down the entire time we're talking here. i think it's down the straight on the right is what you want. anyway let's go inside, natalie's got the headlines of the morning. >> good morning once again.

new details in the investigation into the disappearance of madeleine mccann, almost five years ago. and that new image of what she may look like today. nbc's taz even ahmed is in london. officials say she may still be alive? >> good morning, natalie. they're saying there's a chance she may still be alive. and what they're saying is they're going to investigate 195 new leads. gaps if you like, in the historic investigation. the investigation that's been taking place over the last five years. they're bringing together their own work, that of the portuguese police, as well as private investigators that the mccanns had hired. now they're going through 40,000 pieces, which includes 100,000 documents. they're a quarter of the way through. and what they're trying to do is urge the portuguese authorities to reopen the case. they're determined, they say, to bring closure to madeleine mccann's disappearance. and that's why this new photo has been released today, which the mccanns were very closely

consulted on. kate mccann is said to be very pleased with the photograph. it's a reminder that madeleine is not here, but it's a reflection of the family resemblance, both to the younger two siblings, as well as kate herself. natalie? >> all right. tazeen ahmed in london. thank you. republican mitt romney is celebrating wins in all five of tuesday's primaries. the presumptive republican nominee won in new york, pennsylvania, connecticut, rhode island and delaware. he criticized president obama for what he called false promises and weak leadership. even rival newt gingrich said today it looks like romney will be the nominee. california health officials are telling consumers the food supply is safe after the discovery of the first case in six years of mad cow disease in the u.s. officials say that the animal was a dairy cow, and that no meat from it was ever headed for the u.s. food supply. they say there is no cause for alarm. homeland security secretary janet napolitano is facing questions on capitol hill today

about the secret service prostitution scandal. for its part the secret service says all 12 employees under investigation have been dealt with. seven personnel resigned, one is in the process of being terminated, one retired and three were cleared but given disciplinary action. on tuesday, meanwhile, president obama referred to the ousted agents as, his words, a couple of knuckleheads. today the president travels to the university of iowa to talk about student loans. it's his third college visit in two days. meantime, senate democrats have unveiled a bill designed to keep student loan interest rates from rising for at least a year. otherwise, rates on stafford loans are set to double on july 1st. today the supreme court hears arguments on arizona's immigration law. that law includes a provision that requires police who are enforcing other laws to question a person's immigration status if officers suspect he or she is in the country illegally. a decision is expected in late june. and a new menu item in the

middle east is getting lots of attention online. pizza hut middle east is now offering a pizza with cheeseburgers built into the crust. the company sauls it the first cheeseburger pizza ever. health conscious folks should note it does come with lettuce and tomatoes. if that makes it any healthier. now six minutes past the hour. back to al with a check of your weather. your mouth is watering. >> it needs a sprinkling of bacon. >> ooh. then it's complete. i agree. >> that would finish it all off. thanks, natalie. let's show you what we've got as what we've got as far as the weather today. we are looking at a big storm moving into the west coast. and that's going to bring rain from the pacific northwest all the way down with a double-barrel low down to san diego. we're looking at down between l.a. and san diego, about an inch, about an inch up around seattle as well. and a risk of strong storms from lexington, kentucky, up to waterloo and as far east as columbus, ohio. rainfall amounts through

kentucky and on into tennessee, maybe one to three inches of rain. that's what's going on around the country, here's what's going on in your neck of the woods. good morning, here we're off to a dry start. it's been chilly all morning. beginning to warm up now, just past 9:00, beginning to climb into the low 50s around the metro area. mid 50s southern maryland. farther west and north, near 50, and up around 70 degrees around the region. a little breeze out of the west-northwest, gusting around 25 miles per hour. lots of sun and cloudy tomorrow. likely mid morning through mid afternoon showers, maybe with some thunder and lightning. over the weekend, more showers saturday afternoon into time now for today's money 911. that's where we tackle your financial problems. from creating a budget to buying your first home we've got expert advice from jean chatzky, "today's" financial editor and the author of "money rules." farnoosh for onby a personal finance expert on yahoo! finance and sharon epperson is the nbc

personal finance correspondent. >> good morning. >> we're going to get started. we're going to go right to skype. say hello to heidi. she's skyping in from sugar loaf key, florida. what's your question? >> okay. we are in the united states coast guard family and our new assignment is bringing us to baltimore maryland for the next three years. renting in the baltimore suburbs is incredibly expensive while similar homes for sale are actually affordable. so, should we consider buying when we know we'll have to move in three years, or should we rent even though it will cost us a lot more monthly? good question. >> a really good question. >> thank you, al. >> so the rule is generally you got to be in that house three to five years with an emphasis on five, in order to make buying affordable in most cases. but the fact that you've looked at the market in baltimore, you know that rentals are expensive, this is one of those areas that is starting to come back in real

estate in the country, and mortgage rates are so low, makes me think that buying might not be such a bad thing to do, particularly if you buy something that either has a rental history already, or you may be able to rent out when you make your next move to the next location. just make sure that you keep in mind the fact that maintenance on that home once you own it, instead of rent it, is going to add 1% to 2% of the value of that property each and every year to your cost. so as long as you factor that in and the numbers still make sense, i think it's probably worth a try. go see some places with some realtors. >> all right, heidi. >> thank you. >> now let's head to the phone lines. we're going to go to barron calling in from pittsburgh, p.a. good morning, what's your question? >> good morning. i bought my house last year with a 5% interest rate. i'm wondering how soon could i try to refinance my home? >> farnoosh? >> barron. my guess is you can probably refinance now. generally speaking you can

refinance at any point, and as many times as you want. there are some exceptions and i'll tell you what they are. one, some banks have limitations, restrictions on when you can refinance, they're called seasoned peeshd. they want you to actually be living in the home from anywhere from three months, it could be two years. so check your loan documents. make sure you talk to your loan officer, find out what exactly are your allowances. but i think you're probably in the clear. i mean i refinanced three months after getting my first mortgage. and if you're working with the same bank, even if there are some restrictions or limitations they may be willing to waive them for you because you're keeping your business with them. if you're going to jump ship they might give you a little bit harder time. >> good luck. thanks for the call. let's go back to skype. we're going to talk to bill, he's in oil city, p.a. bill, what's your question? >> hi. i have never used a budget before, but i'm going to be retiring soon and i figured it's about time. i read about make.com but when i went there one of the first

things they wanted was my username and password for my credit card account. that would also give them access to my checking and savings and i was kind of uncomfortable with that. so i'm wondering where's the best place to go to set up a budget, to learn about it, and to do it? >> and most important, keeps him comfortable. >> and keeps his money safe. i totally understand your apprehension here. and you may have hear us talk about mint.com on the segment before. i'm a fan. i use it. i really do like it. but you're right to be wary putting your username and password there when so many bankers and brokerage firms say make sure you keep your username and password away from a third party. let me make sure you understand the safety and security measures that mint.com takes. they're important. i talked to a number of people, consumer groups, identity resource center, online security firm gardner group and mint.com themselves. they have had no security breaches by all of those accounts. and what they do is they use the same encryption service that a bank or brokerage service uses.

they have the same physical security. >> but what if he doesn't want to do it. >> if you don't want to do it, there are personal finance software programs like quicken that you can use, and they're owned by the same company as mint.com. it really comes to your personal preference and there are ways to do it. you can also go to the tried and true methods of keeping all the receipts, all the bills, write them down on a piece of paper, keep the money that you bring in. that might be something that you really need to do, put the pen to paper to really set a budget for yourself and keep to it. >> bill, go old school. we like it. good luck with your retirement. finally let's go to the phone lines one more time. jennifer in el paso, texas. >> hi, good morning. i'm 33 years old, and i currently have about $20,000 in credit card debt from over three credit cards. some of the interest rates are as high as anywhere from 13% to 15% and i'm wondering if it would be better to consolidate my bills, and how would i go about doing that, and what interest rate should i settle for? >> jean? >> okay, two things.

13% is just about the average but you can do better because there are a lot of fabulous balance transfer offers out there right now that can get you an interest rate as low as zero percent for up to a year, even 18 months in some cases. go to lowcards.com. that's a website, has a list of all of those balance transfer offers and try to transfer the $20,000 to a less expensive card, and finally, come up with a plan for getting out of debt. there are a couple of websites, savvymoney.com, and full disclosure i blog for them. and readyforzero.com and both of those will help you come up with a plan to pay down your debt faster. >> you want to avoid a balance transfer fee if you can. and chase has a card that has one right now. it's a promotional offer. that's something to check out when you go to lowcards.com. >> thank you so much. farnoosh will be sticking around for to answer more of your questions if they ever stop talking for questions about

retirement at 9:30 eastern. just head to today.com to join us. still to come, common household products could be getting your kids high. an important warning for parents. up next, busted. jeff rossen brings you the most bizarre scenes caught on tape that could mean disaster. right after this. i'm here with carol, flo, and karen for a girls night out talking about activia. i tried it and my body felt so right, for a change. and then there's you... why should i try it? my system gets out of sorts but that comes with age, right? wouldn't you like to feel great? just because we're in that over 50... what does that mean? are we done? activia helps regulate your digestive system when eaten daily. these could be our best years yet. activia oooh, what's her secret? [ male announcer ] dawn hand renewal with olay beauty. improves the look and feel of hands in just five uses. [ sponge ] soft, smooth... fabulous!

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[ female announcer ] when you give your kids frosted strawberry pop-tarts baked with real fruit, they'll rise and you'll shine. pop-tarts, made for fun. 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. with tasty flavors like cranberry pomegranate and cranberry concord grape, it's like a fruit stand in every bottl [ splashing ] just, you know, demonstrating how we blend the fruits. ahem. try all our tasty ocean spray 100% and light 50 juices. and we're back now with our series we like to call busted. it's a look at some unusual moments caught on video. nbc's jeff rossen is here with this morning's roundup. jeff, good morning. >> good morning, savannah. the message is, cameras are always rolling and they can get you in trouble if they're rolling at the wrong time. we want to start in florida. fascinating story and an amazing piece of video out of a publix grocery store. i want to show you the video. there is a car that plows right through. here it comes. there's a baby in a stroller there, by the way. comes right through. keeps going, by the way. the driver doesn't stop, right through the checkout line, watch

this. there goes the car through the checkout line. and ends up in the aisles of the grocery store, as well. serious story, we should tell you as you're watching this. no one was killed in this believe it or not. ten people were hurt. but that baby in the stroller that the car just hit, unscathed. not a scratch on the baby. but you can see what happened here, turns out behind the wheel was a 76-year-old woman who's now been charged with careless driving. she later told police she hit the gas pedal instead of the brake. but a cautionary tale, you can see some of the aftermath video, the kind of damage that this car did. >> sad story all around. let's get to our next video out of cherry hill, new jersey. >> we're just hearing about this. this video was posted about five days ago. already has 1.2 million hits on youtube. this is a father, he has a 10-year-old autistic son, and the autistic son, he says is this lovable kid who makes noises to himself sometimes. look how cute he is right there with his dog.

but something strange was happening in school. and of course, his son is autistic and can't tell the father about it. can't verbalize it. so the father took extreme action to figure out what was happening to his son in school. here's a piece of that youtube video. >> my name is stuart and my son is a 10-year-old boy with autism. now acane is this wonderful, happy child, and he always has been. and that's why it was so shocking when he started school this year, here in cherry hill, that we literally from the first week back, we got reports that he'd been hitting the teacher and hitting the aides and throwing chairs around. and none of it made sense, because he's never been violent. and i had never seen him hit anyone. so you can imagine how distressing it was that suddenly, something was happening to my son at school that was changing him. >> and so what did this father do? he wired up his son and put an

audio recording device on him so he could figure out what was happening in school. he got 6 1/2 hours of audiotape from the school, and he caught the teachers behaving badly. here is what he found on those audio tapes. >> oh, boy. >> knock it off. [ screams ] >> go ahead and scream, because guess what? you're going to get nothing. until your mouth is shut. >> that was really tough to listen to. the school district has acted, and this teacher, it appears, was busted. here's a statement from the cherry hill school district. the district undertook a thorough and rigorous investigation. i want to assure our parents that the individuals who are heard on the recording raising their voices and inappropriately addressing children no longer work in the district. so this just goes to show you the power of youtube, and also the power of putting a recording device on his own son. and so these teachers have been

disciplined. >> that's a shocker. we got a couple more, try to speed them in. an incident involving a close call with a car in belarus. >> there's a man, i want you to look at him. he's in an orange vest. police believe he was drunk. he stumbles out into the middle of the street. this car on the left slams on the brakes. look at this other car on the right misses his head literally by inches. i want to play that video one more time. by the way, he stumbles back, unharmed. but as he stumpages out right into the middle of the road. the car on the left. watch the car on the right. inches. inches misses his head. police ended up letting him go. >> and he's wearing the orange vest. >> i know. >> but i guess when a car is going 60 and you walk -- >> doesn't really work. our next video. it's an odd one. shall we say. >> kind of a serious busted today as we wanted to end on a lighter note. this is a man who broke into a goodwill store, police say. that happens sometimes, but they don't usually do it naked. >> oh, boy. >> we put the blur there because

of savannah's innocent eyes. >> thank you. >> he grabs a shopping cart, frankly, who hasn't done this, he starts shopping while he's naked, he's looking at women's shoes. why wouldn't he? but then he does -- >> oh, by the way, i'm glad you mentioned, something even more bizarre he grabs a red dress and puts it on. so now he's wearing a women's red dress. he grabs a hat and then he grabs a purse. he puts the purse where you carry it savannah, around his neck! and he continues on shopping. we should mention he was charged with baurg lear, and criminal mischief. i think we have his mug shot for you. and that's on the right. on the left is him in the red dress. he is a guy. >> the mug shot is not as pretty as the outfit. how many women pick the shoes first and build around it? he was doing the same thing. jeff rossen leaving us laughing. thank you so much. coming up, martha stewart with some easy fruit desserts, perfect for summer. ♪

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if you are not feeling like trying this on, that's not normal. activia helps with occasional irregularity when eaten 3 times a day. feeling regular to me was a new feeling... activia good morning, it is 9:26 on this wednesday, april 25th, i'm aaron gilchrest. let's go right to storm center 4 meteorologist tom kierein with a look at the forecast. >> it's turned into a beautiful morning after a very chilly start. a line view from the hd sky watcher camera overlooking northwest washington in the foreground. arlington's in the distance, under a blue sky, bright sun now we're warming into the 50s throughout much of the region. later today, we should get to near 70 degrees by this afternoon. and then cloudy tomorrow. might get a morning midday shower. perhaps even a little thunder and lightning, a likelihood of the rain off and on late morning through midday and during the

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matt taqa with a daunting look at inbound traffic at 395, that shot is at duke street, this is at the 14th street bridge, 42 minutes from the beltway up to the bridge at an average of 16 miles per hour. you're going to find

it's been almost a year since kate middleton enchanted the world with her simple elegance at her wedding to prince william. over the last year the duchess of cambridge has continued to have her signature style and dazzle at every public event. today we'll take a look back at her first year of dazzling, and making her mark of royal style. >> oh, al. we love it when you speak in your faux english accent. >> i learned it from madonna. >> it makes it so much more exciting. we have a little bit of a serious story coming up. a trend that's very dangerous,

needless to say. apparently some teenagers are now drinking hand sanitizer because of its high alcohol content, it causes them to get drunk and apparently they're learning it, where else, on the internet. we'll tell you about that story coming up. >> okay. also on a different note, i think most women can relate to some common beauty issues they may have. for example you ever go to a salon and you walk out and smudge your nail polish. >> before i even walk out. >> or maybe you have a pimple like right before a big party or an interview or event. we're going to show you some quick beauty fixes to cover up your flaws and keep you looking your best in a pinch. >> and we want to talk about your frozen assets. >> what? >> your frozen assets, martha stewart is here. she's got some simple dessert recipes, as we head into the warmer weather, with fruits and items that are stored in your freezer. >> we love having martha in the house. >> it's great. >> speaking of coldness, you're doing the weather. >> it is a little brisk. bad.

let's show you what we have for the next couple of days. starting with today, few showers in new england, western new york. in the west coast from san diego up to san diego, we're looking at rain, record highs, risk of strong storms in the mid mississippi and mid ohio river valleys, foom in the central rockies, a risk of strong storms, our inner mountain region, looking at strong snow. rain in the northeast down into princeton, we're looking at plenty of sunshine along the gulf coast. sizzling conditions in texas. that's what's going on around the country, here's what's going on in your neck of the woods. after a very chilly start, near freezing now we're into the 50s. by this afternoon, we should continue to climb all the way to around 70 degrees, with lots of sun. winds gusting to around 20, 25 miles per hour. then winds diminish tonight. clouds roll in, cloudy tomorrow, some showers off and on. mid morning and during the afternoon. maybe some thunder and lightning. a little sun back on friday and saturday, increasing clouds and cooler and highs near 60.

maybe some afternoon and evening showers, >> that's your latest weather. >> we want to say hello to maya here with a sneak preview of the new transformers 3-d ride opening on may 25. good morning. >> good morning. >> people are calling this the most ambitious ride ever at universal studios. >> it is amazing. what it is, with the transformers, you've got the good guys and bad guys, we're trying to recruit you to help us fight the bad guys. it's amazing. there are 14 elaborate flight systems ever created. >> because the director of all transformers movies was very involved in designing this. >> that's right. he was our creative consultant and industrial light and magic worked on the specifics effects for us. of course they did the special effects for transformers, too. >> and it's 3-d. >> it is a 3-d ride. a 3-d hd right.

it's super cool. >> whoo! >> i know. >> it's a lot more fun than this. >> definitely. those are our protective eye wear. >> oh. >> from the desepticons. >> all right, thank you. >> here. >> wow. >> natalie? >> your annoying beauty problems solved right after this. i love cash back. with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, we earn more cash back for the things we buy most. 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. no annual fee. that's 1% back on... wow! 2% on my homemade lasagna. 3% back on [ friends ] road trip!!!!!!!!!!!! get 1-2-3 percent cash b. apply online or at a bank of america near you.

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try aveeno continuous protection sunscreen. now a disturbing story that all parents should know about. >> at least 16 teenagers in the l.a. area have been treated for alcohol poisoning in recent months, after drinking hand sanitizer. >> now some are questioning whether the internet is to blame for all this. mike taibbi is at children's hospital in los angeles this morning. mike, good morning to you. >> good morning, savannah, natalie and al. you know, hand sanitizers have been around for years. used by millions of people. but because they're alcohol based some people inevitably try them out as a way to get high. because these can be bought over the counter, regardless of age, it has been teenagers who have been most of the experimenting. one of the reasons hand sanitizers feel wet when you use them but dry very quickly is because they're made with alcohol. a lot of alcohol. over 60% in most formulas. and that's why you can go to youtube and find video after video of kids saying they're drinking the stuff.

they drink it knowing the dangers. >> it could kill you. >> reporter: but know also that it's a legal, inexpensive over-the-counter item they can use to get high, just as kids in prior trends used hairspray, cough syrup, nyquil and other household products. in l.a. in just the past few months 16 teens have gotten so high on sanitizers, and so sick, they needed emergency care. >> they are not happening at the same time, in the same place. so it is a concern for us that this is a trend that's happening independent of each other. >> reporter: all brand name sanitizers carry warnings. purell even issued a corporate statement saying to discourage misuse purell contains ingredients that impart an unpleasant taste. but some people aren't just swigging or sniffing these products as-is. they learned on the internet how to extract the alcohol content and drink that straight. >> that's about 120 proof. so we're talking about hard shots of hard liquor. >> reporter: now it's one thing to play substance abuse for laughs as in the classic farce "airplane."

but there are no laughs in a scene like this. another from youtube. >> hand sanitizer. right here. just take one big whiff. >> reporter: using purell not for its intended purpose. but in a way that could lead to acute alcohol poisoning and all its consequences. the poison control center's 2010 stats, the most recent available, listed more than 3700 cases nationwide involving hand sanitizers. but only 411 were for teens or older people. the vast majority of cases for kids under 5 who accidentally ingested the product. so, no cause for alarm about a skyrocketing teen trend says the editor of a woman's issues website, just for more prudent parenting. >> talk to your kid about common sense. don't eat things that aren't food. don't drink things that are poison. >> the director of the phoenix

house drug treatment center in san diego remands us that kids will always find ways to get high. for that reason they've banned completely hand sanitizers from their facility. but she says kids are still finding ways to sneak the stuff in. savannah? >> an old story in some ways. mike taibbi in los angeles this morning. thank you. and coming up next, from blotchy skin to smudged nails, your most common beauty problems solved. and then we are sweet on martha stewart this morning. she's in our kitchen whipping up some easy desserts.

now you can brew over ice for delicious iced coffee or tea. hot or cold, keurig is the way to brew everyone's favorite cup in under a minute. choose, brew, enjoy. keurig. [ female announcer ] when you give your kids frosted strawberry pop-tarts baked with real fruit, they'll rise and you'll shine. pop-tarts, made for fun. they'll rise and you'll shine. at olive garden, we're as passionate about cheese as you are. so we've created three new parmesan dishes. new grilled chicken parmesan, chicken fresh off the grill as well as grilled shrimp or grilled steak, all with a parmesan crust. passion for parmesan for a limited time only at olive garden.

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this morning on "today's beauty," fast fixes. whether you smudge your nail after getting a manicure or wish your teeth were whiter, the senior lifestyle ed door for "shape" magazine is here. let's start off with our face and our skin. particularly if you have redness, or even if you're out in the sun too long, you found the perfect fix for that. it's an overnight soother? >> absolutely. this is from eucerin. all eight of these products are wonderful for addressing common beauty issues. >> these are drug store available. >> for redness, maybe your skin is irritated you want to put this on right before bed, what's great is it's not too oily, great for spring and summertime, and the technology behind this is going to soothe your skin, moisturize your skin, get rid of the irritation. >> hmm.

over here the blemish. every once in awhile or more often than not have a flare-up. so you've got a common fix here, as well. >> right. it always happens at the last minuteif you need something to cover it up, this is great. it's a duo stick. you're going to get salicylic acid in the first part. and then to cover up the pimple, you've got concealer on the other side of this stick. and what i love about this product -- >> hmm grapefruit. >> it's really portable. you can put it in your clutch and do touchups day or night. >> that is a brilliant idea. i wonder why it took so long for somebody to come up with that. >> now a lot of times we'll have yellow or stained teeth and this is something obviously going to the dentist's office is probably the real fix. here you've got a solution for us. quick turnaround. >> this is professional level whitening from crest, 3-d intensive professional. you use this once you're going to see a difference. use it for seven days and you'll get a whiter and brighter smile. >> great. seven days and that's good. >> over here, for those of you

who have a little facial hair, on the lip, ole now has a new product. >> you can get threading or waxing, that's painful. olay smooth finish. two steps, you put this balm on that's going to protect your skin from irritation and redness. the cream is going to get rid of the actual hair. >> we all suffer from it so that's a good thing. over here, smudged nail polish. coming out of the salon, happens to us all the time. now there's a fix for that. >> exactly. forget about the nail polish. use this nail strips instead. you peel them off, put them on your nails. and you can file them. they're so trendy for the springtime. the crazier, the more colorful the better. i'm wearing the animal print here. they last up to ten days. and if you want to take these off you just use normal remover. so no smudging. no dry time. super simple. >> easy. you use a nail file.

>> find the style that you want. >> for those who have body odor, this is a clinical strength dehe'd rant. >> you know, the summertime, springtime, we're all sweating a little bit move. so dove has this clinical protection. without the prescription. so up to 24 hours of wetness protection. but, in addition to keeping you dry it's going to even out the tone of your underarm wear yeah. because a lot of us we shave and get redness, we get dark spots. after you do this for a couple of times you're going to see that the color improves. >> wow. that's great. >> two in one. >> stinky feet. what do we do about that problem? >> flip-flops, and our feet are sweaty and smelly. i love these towelettes from herban essentials. you can use them for your hands or your feet. they're antiseptic, anti-bacterial. they've got essential oils like lavender, peppermint, even orange. and they're portable so throw them in your purse. >> last one for red, irritated eyes. these eye drops. >> what makes these different is

they have menthol so they're going to freshen up your eyes, tired awake eyes and makeup artists love these. >> okay. >> wonderful way to get rid of the redness. >> no more stinky eyes. all right, thanks. coming up next, more fast fixes in "today's kitchen." martha stewart is here to show us how to whip up a quick dessert with some items in your freezer.

this morning on "martha on today" making delicious desserts with some staples in your freezer. the recipes are featured in the may issue of "everyday food." >> martha stewart, good morning. >> good morning, martha. >> did you get shorter? >> oh, stop it, al. >> we made her take her shoes off. >> oh! >> i did just get a pedicure. let's get to the dessert. >> this is all about what you

can have on hand to make things easily. and we're all looking for time saving foods. so if you have some delicious sorbet, that would be good. if you have some frozen waffles, you can buy -- these are actually store bought belgian waffles. but you know about those? >> i have those in my freezer actually. >> but if you make your own waffles you can make a whole bunch of extras and put them in the freezer, too. pound cake always a very good thing to keep in the freezer. you can do something like seven layer ice cream. >> and frozen puff pastry. frozen pie crust, also very important to keep on hand. frozen berries. did you know pineapple comes frozen in chunks? well it does. and you can use it so easily. >> so if you have these staples? >> you can make all of these fantastic things. a waffle and strawberry trifle. you can do beautiful cherry chocolate tarts. these beautiful blueberry cream cheese -- >> the first thing --

>> a tropical fruit tart. so this is puff pastry. >> right. >> one sheet. score all the way around the perimeter leaving about an inch. >> why is that? >> well you'll see. when it bakes it looks like this. you can score it in a decorative pattern. bake that until it's puffed and golden like this. which is so pretty. and then for the filling or topping, really like a topping. take that frozen pineapple, mix it with a quarter of a cup of sugar, soften 2 1/2 pieces of gelatin. >> plain. >> it's good for your nails. >> oh, is it really? i used to drink that as a child. with my orange juice, and it made good nails. >> all these things that martha knows. >> soften that up, and put this through a blender, strain it and you get this beautiful puree. and the gelatin, with the lemon juice. fold in some whipped cream. >> it's low sugar.

>> just a quarter cup of sugar. then you add the cream. >> there you go. well. good things in life, martha. >> you can fold that in. this really thickens up a little bit like a mousse and you top that on here with mango and some coconut, and this is what you get. >> it's gorgeous like this. >> that looks delicious. >> very nicely cut into squares. >> and people would think you did it all from scratch. >> it's amazing. beautiful. >> now this one is so easy. are you eating something? >> no, no, i wasn't. i wasn't eating anything. nothing to see here. move on. okay what are we making? you said even i could do this. >> tear up a waffle. layer custard. >> just like chunks. >> this is a beautiful pudding made of sugar and salt, milk, bean, egg yolk, a little cornstarch for thickening. then you layer the custard pudding with the waffle, with the strawberries in sugar. >> did you put anything on these waffles? they tasted really sweet. if i tasted anything. >> they're just delicious waffles. >> sorry.

okay, yes? >> and then you layer -- trifle is really a layered pudding made out of kind of leftovers, actually. or things that you find. you can use strawberries, raspberries. now a layer of whipped cream. >> you put a little sugar in the strawberries, right? >> oh, yes. that draws out the juice. you definitely want to do that. is that enough? >> yeah, that's good. >> am i trying to spread it out? >> spread it out. dollop it in. >> and then -- >> keep layering it and you get a beautiful trifle. more of this. >> okay. >> then some more custard pudding. >> okay. i'll show you what i did. >> and then the hand pie. roll out your store bought or homemade. you can keep homemade in the freezer up to three months. so cut this round into four. >> and it ends up something like that and you throw it in the oven, put some sugar on it. we've got to go now, martha. >> oh, gosh. >> all the recipes -- >> that's because someone was

good morning, it is 9:57 on this wednesday, april 25. and blue skies aplenty, storm center 4 meteorologist tom kierein has more. >> et cetera turned into a beautiful morning. a live view from the sky watcher camera. we've got plenty of sunshine and temperatures are hitting the 50s to near 60 degrees.

reagan national, 62 as we approach 10:00. later today near 70. tomorrow could get some rain, perhaps in the morning. but a greater chance, a likelihood, mid morning into mid afternoon. with thunder and lightning, over the weekend, maybe a passing shower on saturday afternoon and evening. matt taqa, how is traffic? >> we're looking at a slow go, southbound on 270 from the spur to the beltway. about ten miles per hour, about a live look at the your headache at democracy. give yourself extra time on the 395 stretch. coming up from the bridge, or the beltway into the bridge, about a 29-minute trip, aaron back to you. >>s did wedding week on "news4 midday." join barbara harrison to learn join barbara harrison to learn how to maximize your flower

captions paid for by nbc-universal television from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> hey, everybody. it's winesday, wednesday. april 25th, 2012. kathie lee is taking time off. my cohost for the week is the one, the only willie geist. >> good morning, hoda. >> hey. >> may i point out something? >> please. >> this dress. >> yes? >> this red dress? >> you're into it? >> i'm into it.

i feel like you might be sending me a signal. >> why do you say that? >> there's a new french study. it says women who wear red are more likely to give the green light to sex. i'm reading a study. not me. scientist. wearing red signals greater sexual intent to men. even if it's outfits that weren't necessarily sexy, women in red also judged by men as being more attractive. >> is that true? do you like women in red? ladies in red? >> i do. let's just put it out on the table. i think it's totally inappropriate. you've seen pictures of my wife and my kids. just saying. if there's something going on here, just say it. >> nothing. nothing. >> you look beautiful. >> thank you. thank you. thank you, thank you. all right. if you were up late, you may have enjoyed watching this. we've watched jimmy fallon. he slow jams. brian williams. we're used to seeing this.

it's not every day you see the president slow jam. how would you describe it for people who've never seen the slow jam thing. >> sort of an old barry white, marvin gay. >> kind of sexy. >> like wearing red, almost. >> let's watch. >> now is not the time to make school more expensive for our young people. >> oh, yeah. you should listen to the president. or as i like to call him, the prezy of the united stezy. >> the reason is to keep cowdow costs so we keep college affordable. >> he knows his stuff. that's why we call him the --

podis. person who stands on top. >> it means president of the united states. >> of course, the roots make that. >> absolutely perfect. >> that was the president in north carolina. jimmy did his show there yesterday. >> he did? >> our friend brian williams usually does that with jimmy. >> he's one of those guys, you see him on the news, you guys have seen him, he's a serious guy. three feet out of the studio he's a different human being. >> people started seeing that when he hosted "snl." don't tell him that. it goes to his head. >> you saw him last night. >> i saw him briefly. "time" 100 most influential. let's be clear. i was not one of the "time" 100. i crashed the gates. brian was there. there's arianna huffington. >> please go back. it's very important to see that earlier picture. who's the woman in the

background. >> wow. >> with the hat? come on! >> she just saw somebody she likes. maybe it was secretary of state hillary clinton who also was there. matt was there as well. >> matt was one of the people honored. >> yes. he was one of those honored. jeremy lin. i'm a big knicks fan. i totally fan boyed on him. i never do that. >> what did you say? >> he was standing. the crowd left. he was sort of standing there. i went up. i'm a big knicks fan, blah blah blah. i had a picture of myself in a jeremy lin jersey. i said, let me show you this. it took me five minutes to find it. it totally wasn't even worth it when i got there. he was there. kristin wiig. big contingent of the "snl" folks were there. >> were theyvoted? >> kristin wiig was. seth meyers was there, too. amy polar. it's a cool room. a cocktail party of people, egyptian activists all the way to the "snl" crowd. >> while you were at your fanly

black tie thing i was having macaroni and cheese with your children. i was watching "the voice." now they're narrowing it down so quickly it's terrifying to watch it happen. okay. so last night it was team adam versus -- and team cee lo. team adam had to pick one person to save. america voted. america voted for the guy in the middle. tony luca. the guy who used to be in the mouseketeers. team cee lo, again the man in the middle. it came down to two people were team. i'm going to play these clips. you're going to say who gets cut. >> i did not see the show. >> you were out at your fancy gala. team adam first. ♪

♪ ♪ >> okay. so if you had to choose between katrina, who was the last one -- >> katrina was good. i have always wanted to say this. she was a little pitchy at parts. i've always wanted to say that. i like katrina. i went with katrina. i would pick katrina. the other one was pitchy. matai was pitchy. >> you chose the way the judges did. >> did i really? >> yes. katrina lives on for another one. now let's watch team cee lo.

this is julia. ♪ ♪ >> okay. so that was juliette. chessa was the first girl. >> i like the arm tat on juliette. but i pick chessa. >> you were wrong. they cut chessa because they thought she was pitchy. they kept juliette. >> "people" magazine has come up with its most beautiful people

issue. on the front cover is beyonce. congratulations. >> hard to argue with that one. >> she just had the baby. she is gorgeous. you've already seen her, i mean, she lost all of her baby weight, it seemed. she's photographed in the magazine not with lots and lots and lots of makeup but just her kind of natural way. i thought it was great. i think she's a terrific pick. >> i love seeing the dimension of her not on stage with the dresses and makeup and hair. but now we see paparazzi shots of her with the baby bjorn walking around new york. she still looks great. she's cool. good choice. >> one day we did some kind of a fashion show here. her mom was talking about their derion jeans. the company the family owns. we had tons of models coming out. unbeknownst to us, the last model was -- >> no way! she showed up? look at you! >> it was crazy! i mean, it's not every day

beyonce just strolls out of nowhere on the set. >> it took kathie lee a little longer to realize what was happening there. >> kathie lee. that was pretty cool. by the way, we should point out our two girls, meredith vieira and kathie lee are in the "people's" most beautiful in the middle section. congratulations to those two as well. >> i could vouch for that in person, by the way. there's a large segment -- i'm not just blowing smoke here. of the male -- the american male population that finds both you and kathie lee extraordinarily attractive. >> really? >> yes. guys who sneak the show at work at 5:00 in the morning. >> they do? >> there's a whole thing going on. there's an audience beyond perhaps what you perceive there to be. >> hold on. i want to show you guys, the 50-year-old women on the bottom. look at the bottom row if you can. >> wow. >> like, the very bottom, gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. you can't believe these are 50-year-old women.

i mean, it's amazing. >> sheryl crow. julianne moore. michelle pfeifer. my gosh. not fair almost. >> beautiful. there's that show that's on in the evenings at 8:00 at night called "off their rockers." it's that betty white show. come on. we just love it. i've never seen the whole show. we just watch clips here. we've got a funny one for you here. take a look. >> young lady. you realize how fast you're moving in here? >> what? >> you're over the speed limit. five mimes an hour. did you see the sign? pedestrian speed limit is five miles an hour. i tell you what, just step back for me. i could cite you. that's good. that's good. show me you can progress at a rate less than five miles an hour. come on. stop. okay. okay. good, good.

by the way, love your scarf. >> thank you. >> have a good day. >> she don't know. >> do they ever tell them or they just let them go. >> i don't know. i've never seen it. do they tell them at the end? we don't know. >> it's like "punked" for the older set. >> for the older set. >> tonight, 8:00, right? 8:0 8:00/7:00 central. >> we are again just telling you about our mother of the year contest. we teamed up with salary.com and we're trying to find the mother of the year. you know what the winner gets? $112,962. >> really? >> yep. c chaching. >> where is that money coming from? >> i think the salary.com people. >> i work on cable. i have an annual budget of $112. wow. >> isn't that crazy? you get what it would be -- they actually calculated to see how much a stay-at-home mom would make in real life. go to klgandhoda.com. we'll pick three finalists. you guys will come to new york. >> really cool. coming up next, can women really benefit if they think

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and for sun care that helps keep skin healthy and beautiful, try aveeno continuous protection sunscreen. that helps keep skin healthy and beautiful, what a bargain! [ female announcer ] sometimes a good deal turns out to be not such a good deal. but new bounty gives you value you can see. in this lab demo, one sheet of new bounty leaves this surface cleaner than two sheets of the leading ordinary brand. so you can clean this mess with half as many sheets. bounty has trap and lock technology to soak up big spills and lock them in. why use more when you can use less? new bounty. the clean picker upper. the comedy "think like a man" topped the box office this weekend. it centers around four women who like a lot of women have given up getting their men to do what they want. until they find this great book by steve harvey. it's a how-to book. >> but will thinking like a man really get you what you want. here with thoughts on the matter. chuck nice.

vh1 and trutv's "worldest dumbest." and match maker and coach at dream bachelor and bachelorette, suzanne oshima. welcome to you both. >> this movie has sparked so much controversy and debate and conversation among men and women. here's our first clip. a female character set up ground rules for dating. one of them is she will not go out with a man who will not open the door for her. take a look. >> it's open. it's open. >> i don't go out on dates with guys that don't open the door for me. >> really? >> really. >> seriously? >> yeah. >> oh, man. >> no, he didn't. >> wait. he comes back. we should point out. >> classic. we like it. >> he came back. that would have been the worst part of that for me. no. i'm joking. i'm joking. you know what? here's the deal.

i'm surprised that she even continued. if you stand at a car and a man doesn't get the hint that he's supposed to open the door, date should be over right then and there. okay? you can't make a man a gentleman. gentlemen are raised from the time they're little boys. they can't be made into gentleman. last week i was mr. jerky jerky butthole. this week i love you. >> what do you think about manners? >> here's the thing. what men don't get is that if they're a total gentleman on the date when they treat a woman well, they can actually win -- win her over. but i disagree with you. you can actually change a man. i changed a lot of my clients into being gentlemen. i've trained them. >> don't fall for that trick, ladies! he's tricking you! don't fall for it! it's a waste of time! >> let's look at our next clip. ready? the female brings up the idea of redecorating the apartment. she lives in it with her boyfriend. after taking down his posters of

darth vader and the justice league. >> thought we could paint the living room. >> oh, paint. okay. >> and redecorate. >> redecorate? >> yeah. >> i thought you loved that stuff. why would you want to do that? >> because it looks like we live in a frat house, jeremy. we make a decent living. it's time to invest and make us a real home. matching dishes and glasses and -- and a couch. >> what's wrong with my couch? >> again, this is all about compromise. >> the thing is, is that what men don't get, women want to date a man. they don't want to date a man boy. that's the thing. you know, a man, i get it. men have to have their own space. so give the man his man cave. let him hang and do whatever he wants. >> somewhere else. >> not in the living room. >> mr.? >> if we are dating and you

touch my stuff, i will never talk to you again. you better get out of my house and out of my life. if you're my wife, you can do all that and i'm going to shut up because i don't want to hear your mouth. >> wow. >> no, but seriously. before you got married, you had -- i'm sure you had a bunch of, you know -- >> here's the deal. here's what men need to realize. when your apartment is really fly, girls want to take off their clothes. so that is -- >> he's right. >> i'm sorry. i'm just being honest. >> what are you talking about? that has nothing to do with that? >> i had an apartment that was so great, women would come in and just go where can i hang this dress? oh, your place is so nice. >> let's move on to the next one. here's a point where it's about independent women. take a look. >> i just want my equal. okay? or at least an attractive

cultured man who's over 60, tall, makes six figures and isn't intimidated by my success. >> let's do a little research here. this is you. strong, independent and lonely women. >> i don't need some bald headed man on a book telling me i am strong and independent. honey, that's a given. >> you forgot lonely. i'm just saying. all this waiting for better is making you bitter. >> all right. some people do wait. in truth. you wait for the next best thing because you think it's coming. >> right. here's the thing. a lot of men mistake that the strong independent career woman is going to be that way in the relationship. the strong independent career woman still wants the man to be the man in the relationship. and take control. and plan the date. women hate it when a guy shows up on a date and says, what do you want to do? or you pick the restaurant. >> i agree. i think that if you allow a man to be a man, then he appreciates that. just appreciate him. and appreciate what he does. even if you're career minded, you make more money, all of that. just appreciate him and he will

respond in like. >> do you really think that women can be that way? when you're in charge all day at work and you come home, it's hard just to suddenly go, okay, now i'm no longer in charge. you do it. something inside you is like, i'll take care of it. you're not doing it right. the usual. >> work with me is all i'm saying. then don't be in charge of me. because at that point, we are in competition. and men are socialized to crush their competition. so if you're going to compete with me, i know it's scary, but it's the truth. >> you're married? >> i'm just being honest. here's the thing. i am in service to her. because she is not in competition with me. >> all right. one more i want to show you. this is our last clip. males in the movie discover that women have been using a rule book to alter their relationships. let's watch. >> mamas' boys. chapter 7. that's you. >> i'm not a mama's boy. >> listen to this.

>> it's brainwashing. >> she's trying to push me toward my dreams and help me accomplish my goals. why would she do this? >> at least you're getting some. 90 days. that's not a probation. that's a death sentence. >> oh, they don't put it down in writing, do they? do women have rule books? >> no. but i think women have standards. that's the only way to weed out the ones that are serious about having a relationship or the ones that just want to sleep with you. you have to have some sort of standards. >> in the book he does talk about the throwback from the keepers. the women you would have a date or two with and the ones you'd stay with. >> if women don't have standards, no one will. we certainly don't. >> we'll end there. perfect. >> the bottom line is just get a nice apartment. chuck nice's romance advice. >> thanks so much. we'll be right back after this. ? let's see what you got. rv -- covered. why would you pay for a hotel? i never do. motorcycles -- check. atv.

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we are back on this winesday, wednesday with more of today. ready to play our weekly trivia game called "who knew?" to coinside with "the voice" kids edition we'll test how some of the biggest names in music got their big break. willie geist is playing the role of kathie lee. he's got $100 for those that get the question right. for those who don't they can get one of two booby prizes. kathie lee's cd or willie geist's book. >> the acclaimed best seller. >> i hear it was. hear to help me out is kate

coin. assistant managing editor of "people" magazine. this is a fun category. >> it is. i think a lot of these people will definitely be surprises to folks. >> hey, willie. >> here's the first question. ready? which grammy winning recording artist was discovered through a video posted on myspace? >> adele. "c." >> "c" is correct. how did you know? i didn't even give the choices. were those on the screen? i don't know. >> you got 100 bucks? very good. adele. we should let people know what the choices were if they're playing at home. rihanna, beyonce, adele and alicia keys. it was adele. >> for a class project in 2006 she sent a friend of hers three recordings that she had made. and the friend uploaded them to myspace and the rest is history. >> great way to get noticed these days, huh? back across to willie. >> a good one. second question, which of the following artists was not in the cast of t"the new mickey mouse club."

christina augu-- >> i would say jessica simpson. >> correct. two for two. >> jessica simpson was the one. we know christina, justin and britney. >> jessica tried out. she made it to the finals. she didn't make the final cut. >> she was in the group. >> she was aiming for it. ryan gosling actually made it into "the mickey mouse club" but jessica simpson did not 50/50 true false. true or false, justin bieber was discovered on canada's version of "american idol," "canadian idol." >> correct. >> this is crazy. nobody wants your book. okay? >> nobody wants the book. >> the answer there is false. >> yes. he actually was discovered sort of like adele on myspace, he was discovered on youtube. although he didn't use a friend. he actually uploaded his own videos on youtube starting at age 12.

>> okay. then usher got involved. >> he was brought to the attention of usher. >> you think young kids can still get discovered if they put their stuff out there? >> it gets harder every day. it's still a fantastic way to get exposure. >> back across the street. >> we're pitching a perfect game, man. what's your name? >> alex. >> where you from? >> puerto rico. >> here's your question, alex. which pop star began her singing career with a christian pop album. was it "a," kelly clarkson, katy perry, kesha or lady gaga. >> katy perry. >> four for four. >> this is insane. i know her parents are very involved in their church. >> very involved in their church. very christian. she actually released an album under the name katy hudson which is her real last name. she changed it obviously because it was a little too close to the

actress kate hudson. >> got it. willie, that may be our last one. no pressure. if we want the perfect game, let's get it. >> we got to go perfect. what's your name? >> julie. >> from you from? >> pennsylvania. >> for the perfect game, which country music artist recorded her first hit single before ever even going on a date? was it carrie underwood, leann rim rimes, kellie pickler or taylor swift. >> leann rimes? >> are you kidding? >> is this unprecedented? >> it may be a big day. >> i think it is. >> leann rimes. >> at age 13 she recorded the single "blue" which you're hearing right now. it went on to sell over 8 million copies. >> that's astonishing. wow. thank you for coming to see us. >> absolutely. >> willie's going to come back across. sorry about your book. >> we're out of money. can't play anymore. >> willie's going to come back across the street and help me out. we'd like you to know our very own joe bauer will there for a

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[ female announcer ] find them in the cracker aisle. ♪ time now for our favorite upcycler to show us creative spring ideas. >> founder of dailydanny.com shares the art of turning used goods and waste materials into something new you might actually love. >> allegedly. we always had allegedly at the end. >> come on. >> danny, you have a lot for us

today? >> i love this because it means technology meets old forms of communication. this upcycled iphone charger. blackberry charger. whatever you want. a lot of us use our iphones for our alarm. laying it by the bed have a vert kl alarm clock. >> how did you do it? >> start with a book. cut out using an exacto knife. channel out the cord. very narrow. couple layers. turn it around. we can show this. there's a little piece of hot glue right here. cord comes out. plug it in. that's it. >> okay. >> simple. i love this. it's like you can get these vintage books at goodwill. then you have a decorative thing that's functional. >> one for one. >> hoda's got a lot of jorts laying around. she doesn't know what to do with them. what should she do? >> basically, old jeans are a great thing to use for napkins. cut out these beautiful -- using pinking sheers get wonderful, durable napkins that are machine

washable. monogram them. "h" for hoda and "kl" for willie. take your napkin. something called a bleach pad. this is what you can do with a bleach pen. you can do any kind of design. circles. big hearts. >> do you wash it after you use the pen? >> wait about 24 hours to really let it set. see here. watch it off. you have your own monogrammed design. >> absolutely. >> lightbulbs. >> incandescent lightbulbs. replacing them with energy efficient ones. take a hot glue gun. >> why are we doing this? >> wrapping it with twine. >> so we can do what? >> make decorative pears. >> that's a pear. oh. >> you can buy these in stores. look how easy this is. >> what about getting a plastic pear? which seems easier to me. i don't know anything about crafts. >> oh, come on. it's one step. >> fair enough. what's going on with the black

board. >> here's a brush for you. here's a brush for you. this is chalkboard paint. take an old tray. cover the whole thing with a couple layers of chalkboard paint. when it's try you have an old tray that's actually a functional menu thing, memo board. >> hang it in your kitchen and write notes. >> you can write things on it. >> help. that's rude, what you wrote. >> go on your website. watch other clips. you'll see what i mean. >> that's terrible. you're the only one with glas s glasses. >> you'll see why. i love this project. take an old wine bottle. take an old candle. melt the wax. pour the wax into a wine battle. >> all the way full to the top? >> all the way full. put a wick inside. this can be a little dangerous. put it inside of a towel -- >> can i ask a question before you do it? you're the only one with glasses on. >> is this really happening? >> are you going to do it? we're right next to you. >> i'm saying you want to be

really careful. if you do this wrong glass could get everywhere. this is really for professional upcycler. >> do it, man. do it, man. >> are you pretending? >> smash it and you get -- i wasn't going to do it. >> what happens after you smash it? >> that's it. >> the candle in the shape of a wine bottle. >> we're just wrapping up. what do we have here. >> twigs. customize them. we did here hoda. then klg. because, willie, we're killing it. >> what would you do with these? >> just a beautiful decorative thing to put on your door. >> thank you, danny. that was great. coming up next, why prom has a whole different meaning for one very special group of kids, right after this. alice the cat is about to explore. the world of new friskies plus. which is friskies plus more. more of the things alice desires. with all the nutrition alice requires. it's a world of shiny furs. of sparkly eyes and happy purrs.

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prom season is officially under way. millions of teens are carefully planning it down to the very last detail. >> our sara haines met up with a very special group that helps create a prom night to remember

for kids who need it the most. >> that's right. well, the prom is a rite of passage for most high schoolers. for the friends of scott, it means so much more. >> reporter: angela gee is your typical 12-year-old girl. she enjoys reading, loves to dance and is crazy about her dog. >> hi. i want to show you my little baby. rocko. say hi, rocko. >> reporter: her journey has been anything but typical. at only 9 years old, angela was diagnosed with leukemia, causing her to spend the following two years of her life undergoing chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia also known as all. now, angela is in remission. and for the second year in a row, she's headed to the prom. but not just any prom. this one's called the friends of scott sixth annual unforgettable prom. friends of scott is a nonprofit

organization. its mission is to help children with cancer and their families. the foundation was inspired by scott delgadio who lost his fight with lieu chemoma in 2001. >> scott was very charismatic. well like. a lot of girls liked him. i think about that great smile he left us all with. >> a year earlier scott and his older brother eric came home sick from a family vacation. >> he hadn't been feeling well. he had the flu. so we took him to the pediatrician. and he was put on antibiotics. and his brother got better because they were both sick. but scott didn't. >> reporter: his family soon discovered it wasn't the flu at all. >> he was in class and he kind of felt like he was dizzy. he knew his body. he just knew that something was terribly wrong. >> reporter: and he was right. at only 13 years old, scott was diagnosed with cancer. one year later, he was gone. and while scott may have lost his battle, the fight with the disease would continue.

>> his friends came to me and said, we'd like to do something for other kids that we visited like we visited scott. will you help us? it took me not but more than a second to say, okay, what do you guys want to do? >> reporter: six of scott's closest friends along with his brother eric created the friends of scott foundation. but as they headed off to college, many of their parents stepped in to continue the mission, honoring the boy who once lit up their lives. >> tomorrow's our sixth annual unforgettable prom. it's exciting. the girls have done a tremendous job putting this event on. >> reporter: this prom is truly the stuff of dreams. everything is provided. from dresses and all the accessories you could ever want to the full hair and makeup treatment. each person walks the red carpet with a paparazzi of loved ones into this unforgettable prom. >> i was diagnosed my senior year of high school. to me, it felt like i wasn't going to get to go to my prom and i wasn't going to ever get a chance to do most of the things

seniors do. >> it's good to be free of cancer. forget about it for tonight. hang out with friends. have a good time. >> reporter: tonight, these guys will be just like everyone else. on a night when normal feels so good. >> always wonder what it would have been like to have scott here, you know, seeing, like, what came of everything. i always think that, you know, think back and see where he would have been today. and i know he would have been just amazing. >> it's cool to see their face and how they just -- all their worries go away and they just think about tonight and having a good time. >> reporter: for some it is just the beginning. a new diagnosis. an uphill climb. hopefully a light at the end of the tunnel. for others, after a marathon of fighting back, their future is still unsure. and for one night, being sick is checked at the door. a magical moment in time. these kids can be what childhood

is supposed to be about. >> beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. >> angela was getting loose there. she looked great. >> she tries to talk it down. we're like, uh-huh, we seen it. >> i love how scott's friends and family kept it going for all those years. >> his mom said once -- you can tell a friend. when things get difficult people leave. his friends walked right back in. >> sara, thank you. we'll be back with more of "today" right after this. i was paying too much with cable.

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we all know how great our legs look in heels. also how terrible are feet feel. >> how to counteract what heels are doing to us. gwen lauren. >> a celebrity yoga coach to the

stars, we should point out. we like heels. again, your feet ache. >> yeah. after a day. it wreaks havoc on your entire body when you wear heels all day. i'm going to show you a few moves today that will help couldn't act that and bring you back to normal. >> you shouldn't always be in heels. that's our mat right there, mr. front and center. come here. i'm going to have a little help. gwen? gwen? we're having a little help. my friend rosemary. she's in flats. i can't do yoga. >> make them wide. you're going to slide your right hand down the inside of the leg. this foot points straight ahead. a little bit different for our heels, we're going to flex the right foot while we're here. >> look what's happening over here. >> i love it. >> should i point out one other

thing? rosemary bell happens to be our boss's mom. she's in the house. be careful. >> we're going to turn it into a lunge. runner's lunge. and we're going to drop the knee down on top the toe. >> it's really good. >> press the hips forward. >> uh-huh. >> it's not a prop, man. it's real. flexor grip. open up hip flexors. tuck the back toe. lift up. rock forward and back. we're going to open up the achilles tendon, calf. push forward into your standing forward bend. you're just going to hang it over in a rag doll. >> rag doll? >> hang it over. ease that back, bend your knees a little bit. let your head go. you won't forget anything if you let your head go. >> she's got it. we want to thank gwen and we want to thank rosemary.

willie's got a little nip of something for you at the end. tomorrow we're going to tell you how you can look and feel 20 years younger. >> plus, from "the office" jenna fischer fisher's going to be here. >> and "dancing with the stars." fisher's going to be here. >> and "dancing with the stars." we're going to talk about that. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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