security breach. a commercial pilot wanted for murder steals a passenger plane from an airport in utah. he crashed before takeoff and then took his own life. now the fbi is investigating and questions are being raised about whether airports across the country are secure enough. breaking her silence, kerry kennedy faces a judge on charges tied to her car crash and reveals what her doctors believe was the cause. >> it was not by a sleeping aid but by a complex partial seizure. >> this morning, more of how she explains her bizarre behavior before and after the accident. mystery sochltd we now know

the real story about this couple captured by an amateur photographer. what they want you to know and what they don't today, july 18th, 2012. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with matt lauer and savannah guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. and good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on wednesday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> good morning. i'm savannah guthrie. hard to fathom this actually happened. the pilot who stole the plane in utah had been on the run for four days after murdering his girlfriend in colorado. >> the 40-year-old had to scale a razor wire fence to get on the property. then he got into a plane and began to taxi before hitting a terminal wall and several cars. remember, he was a pilot. coming up we'll get the very latest on the investigation and tell you how close he came to

taking off. >> also ahead a lot of people will be interested in this story. for the second time in recent weeks a new weight loss drug has won fda approval. it's a combination of two pills used to treat other conditions. as with many drugs there can be serious side effects and we'll talk about them straight ahead. >> part two of our exclusive interview with sir elton john. this morning he'll open up to what led to his one and only trip to rehab and why his life could not be better now. he'll take us inside the chapel he built on his property in london to remember some of the friends he's lost. >> of course we've seen katie holmes out and about now tom cruise that come to visit with his daughter suri for the first time since his split with holmes. more on that story. >> let's begin with the alarming incident at the airport in utah where a murder suspect was able to steal a commercial airplane. nbc's miguel almaguer is in st. george. miguel, good morning to you. >> reporter: matt, good morning.

the st. george airport is small. there's only about a dozen flights in and outfit here every day but this is where that pilot, who is suspected of murdering his girlfriend was found dead after a botched takeoff attempt. >> a skywest plane crashed into the parking lot around a bunch of vehicles. >> reporter: the skywest commuter jet, a popular plane, was forced out of the air tuesday. inside police discovered the body of murder suspect and skywest pilot brian hedglin. >> in the plane with an apparent self-inflicted head wound. >> reporter: overnight monday, detectives believe he used a rug to scare a barbed wire fence and walked up to the skywest jet, that seats 50, hedglin pushed open the always unlocked cockpit door, fired up the engines and

began to taxi away from the terminal. >> his left wing on the aircraft clipped the jet bridge, probably making it inoperable. >> reporter: hedglin didn't get fire. he tore through the wall airport security fence and rammed the plane into several cars. >> he would have gotten able to take off from the runway and get airborne. in a sense in this particular situation it's good he clipped the wing. >> reporter: with the engine running police say hedglin shot himself in the head. his girlfriend christina cornejo was found dead inside her colorado home. shortly before the murder hedglin was arrested for harassing cornejo. out of jail, and on a $10,000 bond, hedglin was named the prime suspect. >> they have some suspicions he may leave the area, this included skywest. we know he is a pilot with you,

you may want to deactivate his access card, which they did. >> reporter: with a home in colorado, authorities don't know why hedglin fled to this airport in utah. a commercial pilot turned suspect who was on the run but never made it off the runway. the airport here has reopened. airport officials insist that this airport is safe and secure, that only a trained pilot who knew how to fly a commercial jet would have been able to make their way onto the plane. police are working with the fbi in this case. matt. >> miguel almaguer, st. george, utah, miguel, thank you very much. let's get a check of today's top stories. natalie morales at the news desk. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. more violence in syria where a suicide bomber struck the national security building in damascus. senior officials from bashar al-assad were meeting at the time and the country's defense minister was killed. the ncaa is declaring no

penalty is off the table for penn state including a shutdown of the university's legendary football program. meantime there is mounting pressure on the school to remove a statute of the deceased joe paterno in the wake of the jerry sandusky child sex abuse scandal. they will make a decision on the statute's fate in several days, this as a small plane flew over reading "take down the statute or we will." the suspected gunman who opened fire near university of alabama is lengd to a nearby shooting. seventeen people were injured in tuesday's shooting. about an hour earlier police say that gunman shot a man at a home several miles away. 44-year-old man turned himself into police. he now faces 20 criminal counts included attempted murder. a hotly anticipated weight loss pill is heading to the market. they have cleared it for those

overweight with a second condition like high blood pressure or diabetes. more on this coming up in a live report. fed chairman ben bernanke returns to capitol hill after giving a bleak outlook on tuesday. courtney regan at the new york stock exchange with more. courtney, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. markets will definitely be listening very carefully in what ben ankle has to say in his second day of congressional testimony. on tuesday his somewhat dour commentary gave investors hope further monetary stimulus may just have to be on the table. that helps push stocks higher for the second time in three sessions. investors will be parsing through the details of a number of earnings report from bank of america, ibm, ebay and american express. back to you. >> thanks. days the 94th birthday of former south african leader nelson mandela. former president clinton celebrated at his home on tuesday.

mandela, former peace prize winner spent years in prison for fighting equality in south africa. it has been known as mandela day and people around the world do charitable acts in his honor. the days of linsanity are over after they didn't patch the three-year $25 million jerry lin. he tweeted his thanks and called it the best year of my life. turn it back over to matt and savannah. >> you mentioned nelson mandela's birthday. it is also one nicholas roker's birthday. >> how old is nick. >> nick is double digits now. >> we may have a shot. >> celebration in the studio. >> happy let's take a look and see what we've got for you. a lot of change coming in our

weather in the northeast. we have heat wave, heat advisories, excessive heat watches and warnings from the midwest into the northeast. the good news, we have a change coming as this front pushes down, temperatures will cool off ahead of the front, temperatures are in the 90s and 100s behind it and in the 80s. the good news is, cooler air and the bad news bringing strong storms severe from ohio into the northeast. strong storms, heavy showers and thunderstorms and maybe even one to three inches of rain before it's all over in the next 24 hours. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning, tom kierein, storm center 4. more humid. right now around the region. we are in the mid and upper 70s. much of the region to near 80 degrees and later today near 100. feeling like 1 05 or so with th humidity. late afternoon to the early to mid-evening hours some strong thunderstorms may develop and some strong enough to produce damaging winds and more

>> and that's your latest weather. savannah. >> al, thank you. now to big concern facing organizers of the london olympics with nine days to go to the opening ceremony. the company contracted to provide security says it will be unable to deliver enough guards and lawmakers there are not happy. nbc's michelle kosinski is in london with this story. michelle, good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, savannah. you might think what could be more important than security for olympics once you have the venues. for this to come up now, this security company only has half the number of guards ready forces the government to fill that troubling gap. guarding athletes now being done by soldiers and police scrambled from around the uk because the security company g4s, third largest employer just figured out it cannot meet the target.

of the guard they agreed to provide, they admit to having only half that number ready. tuesday 300 were needed and the company turned up 38. british lawmakers let the ceo have it. >> a fiasco and shambles. >> inexcusable. >> a shambles isn't it? >> it's a humiliating shambles for the company, yes or no? >> i cannot disagree with you. >> ceo says he only learned july 3rd that g4s will fall way short. what happened? >> it was an incredibly logistically challenging. >> in june they talked about a system called just in time phasing saying it would have been an advantage to have everyone trained months in advance but that was neither practical nor cost effective. many people who wanted to work at the olympics, complained they went through interviews and training didn't hear back for months. newspapers caught guards snoring

at sites or not doing well. it is reassuring to police the military police are stepping in. >> those in charge doing their job. >> heck of a show. >> reporter: olympic organizers emphasize they are confident. >> this has not, nor will it, impact on the safety and security of these games. >> reporter: yet even now g4s expects to be paid a more than $90 million management fee. >> you think you ought to? >> yes. >> i find that astonishing. >> reporter: the bigger question how many g4s guards will show up at all. more military will be needed. >> you can't guarantee how many will show up on a day, you can't be sure, can you? >> no. >> reporter: the company says this was an unprecedentedly large and high-level contract and couldn't handle it. got more than 100,000 applications. now it's vowing to reimburse the police and military. keep in mind there's still more than 10,000 additional military and security personnel that have already been lined up to help

guard the games. savannah. >> all right. michelle kosinski in london, thank you. roger cressey and nbc news terrorism analyst. good morning to you. >> good morning, savannah. >> this has us scratching our heads. right before the game. you need 300 security officials and 38 show up. what's your gut on this? how serious a security issue is this? >> it's stunning incompetence. for most spectators, it's not going to impact their experience of the for major venues there will be tremendous professional security. what you'll probably see is long delays, long lines where they will fall short with a number of staff. any venue of priority and importance, it's going to be fully secure. >> you mention inconch tense, they trained security that will show up, doesn't give you confidence they will be ready and prepared. >> between metropolitan police and miller, that's the level of

professionalism people should remember will be there. i think these g4s guards will be doing some screening, certainly looking at bags and things like that. clearly the london organizers and police and miller are going to have to deploy an alternative plan here. the point has always been on the hardened sites, olympic venues, the level of security was not dependent on the g4s officials but real professionals. in other venues, what we call softer targets, large public facilities, the lack of guards like the g4s guards is going to cause some concerns. >> london, of course, is a major metropolitan area that's dealt with terrorism concerns for years. how confident are you in the city's ability to handle these concerns? is most of the security in terms of cameras and electronics and things we don't see? >> savannah, london is one of the most secure cities in the world. it's on par with new york in terms of level of capability and experience. because of what they have had to deal with.

i think the targets some people worry about, certainly they are completely secure. again, these soft target areas are the ones you have to worry about. u.s. officials don't see any type of organized, sophisticated threat right now. what they are worried about is the individual, lone wolf or something like that, who decides to take advantage of this massive media spotlight on london in the next couple of weeks. that's what they are going to be looking at. i think the security situation, what they have deployed, is going to get them through it. >> good to get your perspective this morning, thank you. 7:15,000. here is matt. >> presidential race speculation growing mitt romney is getting closer to deciding on his vice presidential running mate. nbc's peter alexander has more on that and the latest from the campaign trail. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. if mitt romney is going to announce his vp pick this month he has to do it soon. he heads overseas beginning at the olympics. his staff is going to go to great lengths to keep any possible decision a secret. listen to this, "new york times"

reports romney campaign is even considering using a decoy, two sets of planes, two separate rollout locations, for example, to try to keep the selection from leaking out. all this as the candidates keep duking it out. >> it's good to be back in austin, texas. >> reporter: a democrat hasn't won the lone star state in 30 years but president obama hoped to win over the hearts and wallets of his fellow supporters. >> if you're willing to knock on doors for me, make phone calls, mobilize and organize, we will finish what we've started in 2008. >> i'm convinced he wants americans to be ashamed of success. >> reporter: in pennsylvania tuesday a fiery mitt romney accused the president of being anti-entrepreneur. >> to say steve jobs didn't build apple, that henry ford didn't build ford motor, that papa john didn't build papa john pizza. >> reporter: romney's surrogate

john sununu tried to hammer on the same theme. >> the men and women all over america who have worked hard to build these businesses, it is the american way. >> reporter: but sununu may have overshot his targets. >> i wish this president would learn how to be an american. >> reporter: team obama quickly pounced writing the romney campaign has officially gone off the deep end. >> i probably was a little bit too harsh there. that's not the best choice of words but the message was clear. this president doesn't understand the american free enterprise system. >> reporter: the romney campaign is also fueling new speculation about whether they will reveal a vice presidential pick, who will it be, already naming two members of his running mate's staff. even romney dropped a few hince. the people i've worked with over my career have been people who have the capacity to lead, and in some cases people who provide perspectives and skills that i may not share. one of the presumed favorites former minnesota governor tim pawlenty downplayed the guessing game on msnbc.

>> in contact with governor romney from time to time but this week i'm focused on some yard work and business things. >> reporter: this morning even batman is being dragged into the campaign fight. while it's been in production for years, the villain in the batman movie has a familiar name, bain. >> do you think it is accidental that the name of the really vicious, fire breathing, four-eyed whatever it is villain in this movie is named bain? >> reporter: that's rush limbaugh fired up. speaking of vice presidential candidates john mccain raised some eyebrows when he explained four years ago why he picked sarah palin over mitt romney saying she was, quote, a better candidate. on tuesday mccain took on reporters angry that his words were twisted around insisting he meant palin, matt, was the best fit for his campaign. >> all right. peter alexander on this story. thank you very much. 18 minutes after the hour. once again, savannah.

kerry kennedy speaking out about the crash on a highway that led to her arrest. following her arraignment kennedy blamed her erratic driving on a partial seizure. craig melvin has details on this story. good morning. >> reporter: savannah, good morning to you. kerry kennedy was arrested, police say, after they found her slumped over the steering wheel in her white lexus suv. this morning behavior before and after the accident, she says is caused by a previously unknown medical condition. >> i have never had any history of drug or alcohol abuse. >> reporter: tuesday kerry kennedy pled not guilty to driving while impaired. according to the police report, she was swaying, slurring her speech and she couldn't stand on one leg when she was arrested last week. >> i remember getting on the highway, then i have no memory until i was stopped at a traffic light and a police officer was at my door.

>> reporter: frantic 911 callers north of new york city complained about someone driving erratically then leaving the scene of an accident. kennedy had slammed into a tractor-trailer. >> i want to apologize to the driver of the truck who i apparently hit and to all those i endangered while driving my car last friday morning. >> reporter: on the scene the 52-year-old said she offered an explanation to police, a sleeping pill. >> i told the officers that it was theoretically possible that i had mistakenly taken an ambien rather than a thyroid pill earlier that morning. >> reporter: but kennedy now says she's seen doctors who ran a battery of neurological tests and offered another explanation. what's called a complex partial seizure. >> my doctor said this is the only seizure i've ever had. they assure me with robust investigation and treatment, i'll be able to live

symptom-free. >> reporter: dr. stephen lam who has not treated kennedy says a seizure could be responsible for what happened. >> they can spread to the brain causing confusion, disorientation and passing out. >> reporter: although they have not released blood and urine tests, kennedy says tests done by her doctors were negative for drugs or alcohol. >> the tests found no drugs or alcohol in my tem at all. >> reporter: kerry kennedy is the daughter of the late robert f. kennedy and ex-wife of new york governor andrew cuomo. prosecutors are also waiting on the blood and urine test to decide how to proceed. meanwhile a judge ordered kennedy to fingerprinting by state police and ordered her to undergo evaluation by a substance abuse agency. she's due in kaucourt in august. >> thank you.

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autobahn for all event. we good? we're good. [ male announcer ] at 0% apr for 60 months, no one needs to know how easy it was to get your new volkswagen. that's the power of german engineering. good morning, it is 7:26 on this wednesday, july 18th. i'm angie goff. another heat advisory for the d.c. area. tom is here with what you can expect. >> right now it's in the 70s and quite humid but maybe near 100 by 3:00 or so and feel like 105 with the humidity. after that, strong storms are possible. some of them could produce damaging winds and hail and those heavy downpours will quickly cool it down into the 70s. then tomorrow and again on friday, passing showers and thundershowers likely and only very, very slight chance there would be any severe weather with those. over the weekend, lower humidity moves in and only a slight chance of a storm on saturday. angie? >> a check on your roads w

good morning, traveling along i-270 not bad once you get towards germantown road. here's a live look at falls road and slow as you make your way to the lane divide, no accidents on i-270 traveling southbound or

northbound nice and clear. 395, though, clear all the way to the 14th street bridge and to the 14th street bridge and just 24 miles per hour, angi still thinking of replacing the just 24 milestruck?our, angi i just don't know where to start. glad you made it. start by choosing from over 30,000 used cars and trucks. carmax. start here.

games of the olympiad. starting next week it will become our home for the duration of the olympics. matt is going to be there live starting monday and the rest of us are going to head over on wednesday. the music is put us in the mood. are you getting limber? >> you're right. the music. how can you not get excited when you hear the music like that. it's a bit of a nightmare to pack for. it's three weeks, i compared all summer things, lots of tank tops and capri pants. now the weather is rainy and chilly and i don't know what i'm going to bring. >> hardly any room for your spandex. >> there will be some of that

over there. meanwhile we'll talk more about the olympics later. just ahead in this half hour, a new weight loss drug has won fda approval for the second time in a month and just the second time in 13 years. it produced dramatic results in clinical trials but there are some concerns, as with a lot of drugs, about potential side effects. we'll be talking about that coming up. also ahead former teacher and pro cheerleader accused of molesting an underage bow. she's been under house arrest. she's talking about the case and why she's blaming it all on gossip in a television interview. some answers about the photograph taken by an amateur photograph in washington, d.c. we now know more about the story. it's not really what you think. more on that. we begin this half hour with tom cruise, reunited with his daughter suri for the first time since his split with katie holmes.

mara schiavocampo is in manhattan. good morning to you. >> reporter: matt, good morning. cruise and suri spotted at the hotel. he's in the city for some quality time with his daughter. after being seen all around town with mom katie holmes, suri cruise is now reunited with dad. tuesday tom cruise arrived in new york city after wrapping his latest film for his first daddy daughter visit after reaching a divorce settlement with holmes almost two weeks ago. also in town cruise's sister seen in an elevator at the hotel with an arm full of stuffed animals. >> tom had to go and wrap up a movie so he couldn't be here until now. he's smart. he'll go out there with his little girl and put on a happy face. >> reporter: 32-year-old holmes is settling in new york. she filed for divorce in this

state. according to news suri has been enrolled in a famous catholic school with famous alums like lady gaga and the hilton sisters. she was seen at a gymnastic class in the city. it took just 11 days to reach a settlement. holmes got primary physical custody of suri so cruise's visit to new york will likely be the first of many. >> tom cruise will probably make his home in california. he's a movie star. making movies is what he does plus his other two children are there. i'm sure he'll fly in to see suri. >> reporter: since filing for divorce june 28th, holmes made public outings with her daughter, taking her to the zoo and out for ice cream. makes it clear that besides the split both parents plan to be hands on. >> this is about their child. they are going to make it as easy as possible. katie holmes is an excellent mother, tom cruise is an excellent father and they will put suri first.

>> reporter: reportedly holmes and cruise haven't seen each other during the visit. >> mara schiavocampo, thank you very much. let's get a check of the weather with al outside. >> thank you very much. where are you guys from. >> st. louis. >> chicago. >> st. louis. >> all right there. you've got a chicago sandwich. let's go further west, arizona. wantook at some lightning over phoenix, arizona. look at this. man, that is pretty vivid stuff when you get to see that as storms make their way through the region. all right, as far as the rest of our weather is concerned for today. it will continue out west, got a slow moving upper level low and flood watches in effect from bend, oregon, and keeping an eye on that and slow-moving storms may produce flash flooding and risk of strong storms and we have the heat continuing in the midwest. 103 in st. louis today and minneapolis will probably break a string of temperatures over

20, over 85 degrees. right now it looks like there are going to be 23 days in a row of 85-plus degree reading. that's what's going on around the country. >> good morning, we have thick humidity in the air on this wednesday morning. temperatures in the 70s, most of the region and later today, quickly climbing into the 90s by noon and then near 100 by mid-afternoon and it will feel like 105 with the humidity and after that, likely scattered showers and thunderstorms rolling through and some of them could produce some brief damaging gusts of wind and some heavy downpours that will quickly cool things down. looking much better for the weekend. '6mtd '6. now to a "today" exclusive, sarah jones charged with sexually abusing a teenager boy opened up about the case against her. jeff rossen joins us from

covington, kentucky, this morning. jeff, good morning. >> reporter: hey, savannah, good morning. this is a pretty big story around here. it's making national headlines, too. sarah jones, not only was she an nfl cheerleader but also a popular school teacher. she taught english at a local high school in kentucky. prosecutors say while there she was actually having sex with one of her students, a teenager boy. this morning sarah jones is opening up for the first time in an exclusive interview. right now she's under house arrest, so we had to go to her. >> i have an ankle bracelet i have to wear, so i have to keep this on me at all times. i'm not allowed -- i can't walk to the mailbox. if i go to the mailbox, it will start beeping. it's called a violation. >> reporter: sarah jones has been a prisoner in her home for 17 weeks. first of all how are you holding up? >> taking it down by day. that's how you have to get through these things. sometimes minute by minute. >> reporter: before this she was

cheerleading captain for cincinnati bengals and taught english at this kentucky high school. but prosecutors say she was having a sexual relationship with one of her teenager students, and they charged her with first degree sexual abuse. >> captain of bengals cheerleader. hell no. >> reporter: sitting home all day awaiting trial sarah admits she tortures herself reading every news article and posts about her. >> the biggest thing, they don't know me. >> reporter: she pled not guilty, only had sex with one man, her ex-husband but wouldn't discuss the details of the case. >> reporter: what was your relationship with the boy? >> at this time it's not something we're going to discuss but we're going to discuss it at trial. >> reporter: did you ever have sex with him? >> that's not something we're allowed to discuss at this time. >> reporter: she does say this was high school gossip. >> out of control, started by --

it was the alleged victim's ex-girlfriend. >> reporter: a lot of people are watching this saying prosecutors wouldn't have brought a case against you unless they had solid evidence you did this. it's more than just a rumor. >> i agree with that. there's evidence out there doesn't mean it's going to be damaging or hurtful towards me. >> reporter: looking at a list, prosecutors say 9,000 pages of evidence, text messages, facebook, photos, call logs. >> just because there's 9,000 pages doesn't mean every single page has something that is going to prove this case. >> they don't have a single one corroborating witness, a confession, an admission, videotape, audiotape. they can't prove that there was any type of sex with the alleged victim anywhere. >> reporter: and there's a twist here. the alleged victim, that teenager boy, is sarah's longtime family friend. she says he'll testify in her defense.

>> his parents are willing to testify in my defense. we are all going to testify. >> reporter: you come off as very confident. are you dying inside? >> yes. i mean, if we're going to do an honest interview, i am. i call my parents on a regular basis and i say, okay, talk me through this. what can i do this? what can i do to get through this minute? >> in fact her mother is also charged with evidence tampering. she's pled not guilty and sat down with us. >> reporter: prosecutes say you covered this up to protect your daughter. >> no. i didn't. it's very devastating. once a mom, you're always a mom. i don't care if they are two or 12 or 22 or 52, you're always their mom and they are always your child. >> reporter: today sarah is studying for the lsats and her lawyer has hired her to be his paralegal. win or lose in court, sarah told us she loses. >> i can't wait to get married and have kids and start a life.

that's the most devastating part. i can't imagine getting on the internet and reading the comments and seeing the things about their mother like that. >> reporter: we called the prosecutors here in kentucky for comment. they told nbc news, we will do our talking in court. they will have that chance in october. that's when the trial is set to start. by the way, savannah, i mentioned just now that sarah is now working for her lawyer as a paralegal. we're told she's actually writing some of her own motions in this case. she pours through that evidence at the office every single day. >> jeff rossen in covington, kentucky. the side effects of a breakthrough drug that just won fda approval. later, how did a 12-year-old boy die from scraping his arm during gym class. his parents open up about the warning signs they say were missed in an exclusive interview but first these messages. break . ...the number one selling paint and primer in one,

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test. back at 7:43, for the second time in a month the fda has approved a prescription weight loss day called qsymia. will it work for you and what are the side effects. dr. raj, an nbc contributor and madelyn fernstrom, diet and nutrition editor. good morning, ladies, to both of you. qsymia is a combination of two drugs, one used to suppress appetite, the other for seizures. how does the combo pill work? >> it's to actually bathe the p brown in two kinds of signals. phentermine is a stimulant that reduces appetite, reduces hunger signals. the other for seizures. people were losing weight.

by suppressing brain activity so you don't get seizures it reduces appetite. something in low effective doses gives a one-two punch to give you that combination. >> talk about trials, 37,000 people studied, some took a placebo. >> actually 3700 people. >> all right. 3700. okay. >> what they found was the majority of people had weight loss between 6 and 9% of their body weight is lost, which is considered significant when we're talking about weight loss drugs. >> were they also dieting and exercising but only with the pill. >> absolutely, dieting and exercising, something to be used in conjunction. >> doesn't replace. lifestyle is key. it doesn't take away your appetite all together people want. expectations have to be reasonable. it will help to moderate this. a lot of people actually lost more than 10%. so when you have an average, people did a lot better and some people did less. >> it also did reduce by the way, blood sugar, high blood

pressure and cholesterol. >> back in 2010, this drug was submitted to the fda for approval. it was rejected because of concerns over side effects. it was resubmitted last year. what are the side effects people should be concerned about if they decide they want to try this. >> part of the side effects profile, two different things, the stimulants, phentermine, increase in heart rate. this is a big concern, one big issue. on the other side is the issue of birth defects. something in pregnant women or thinking about being pregnant, the issue of cleft pallets or lips this is big. modest side effects, dry mouth, nausea, feeling out of it, these kinds of things as well. >> talk to me about who might be an ideal candidate for a drug like this? >> this is not for the casual person who wants to lose 10, 20 pounds. this is approved for people obese, a bmi of 30 or significantly overweight. bmi of 27 with one other weight

related condition, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol. these are the people taking it. you should not have it with a recent history of heart disease or stroke because may increase and certainly not for pregnant women. >> when we're talking about fda approval, how quickly will this be readily available. >> probably the end of the year, last quarter. in fact, it's going to be out sooner than the drug approved several weeks ago belviq that will not come out until 2013. by the end of the year you'll have this. this is not for you even if you meet the criteria if rur not willing to do a lifestyle effort. talk to your doctor to be sure. there are a lot of side effects here. >> they always say nobody should think a pill is a magic bullet for weight loss. >> we've been talking for years about diet and exercise. we have an obesity epidemic. clearly that's not enough for people. can this help, potentially,

that's why it was approved. >> 7:47. how to dress, keys to looking younger and feeling better. next, the mystery couple from the monument in washington, d.c. revealed, kind of, right after this. continues in washington... ...more talk on social security... ...but washington isn't talking to the american people. [ female announcer ] when it comes to the future of medicare and social security, you've earned the right to know. ♪ ...so what does it mean for you and your family? [ female announcer ] you've earned the facts. ♪ washington may not like straight talk, but i do. [ female announcer ] and you've earned a say. get the facts and make your voice heard on medicare and social security at earnedasay.org.

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small things can make a big difference. like how a little oil from here can be such a big thing in an old friend's life. purina one discovered that by blending enhanced botanical oils into our food, we can help brighten an old dog's mind so he's up to his old tricks. with this kind of thinking going into our food, imagine all the goodness that can come out of it. just one way we're making the world a better place... one pet at a time. vibrant maturity. from purina one smartblend. back at 7:51. we have a follow-up to the mystery couple photographed at the war memorial in washington, d.c. >> we talked to the woman who took the picture on tuesday. some 200,000 people viewed it online. a couple of hours after our interview on the "today" show, this couple came forward, sort of. a representative for the u.s. air force issued a statement on their behalf clearing up a couple of misconceptions. first of all, he wasn't proposing to her.

>> he wasn't proposing. he had proposed to her, turns out, a couple of weeks prior. they were just there scouting potential locations for their upcoming wedding. they also said they had kind of re-enacted their proposal or how their vows might be. they were kind of just goofing around at that moment. >> most importantly they want to continue in private, plan their wedding in private. >> they did say, released in the statement they are happy this brought warmth and inspiration to many. >> that lens, she's outside your bathroom. >> a lot of people wrote me and said i wish she would have left them alone. >> angila golik said she will send them the photo and that will be it. >> back after your local news. i♪ ♪ grab a kleenex® tissue to help keep your hands clean ♪ ♪ every time you sneeze no matter where ♪ ♪ ya gotta shield sneeze swish like you just don't care ♪ ♪ shield sneeze swish ♪ check out my swish

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good morning, i'm aaron gilchrist. 7:56 and already 81 steamy degrees in the upper northwest. let's check in with tom for your forecast. >> more humidity around than yesterday. 80 near the bay and else where in the upper 70s and later today, 90s by noon and near 100 by mid-afternoon and after that some scattered thunderstorms popping up and moving through the metro area, maybe between around 5:00 p.m. as late as 10:00 p.m. and just a slight risk one of those storms could produce damaging winds and hail and brief heavy downpours. highs in the 80s tomorrow. aaron? >> thank you,

good morning. seeing delays in our area. checking travel speeds along 50 in maryland as you make your way past landover road. very slow. about 25 minutes. hevo on the brakes eastbound at fairfax county parkway and slow all the way to the beltway. that drive taking 22 minute. >> thank you,

we're back now, 8:00 on wednesday morning. it's the 18th day of july, 2012. let's be honest. yes, it's really sticky out here in new york. actually feeling that way throughout much of the east coast as we're enduring a bit of a heat wave. these people are bearing it. if they stick around for 48 more hours -- >> partying on the edge of the hollywood sun. >> exactly. they will be listening to the music of the pop rock band putting on a concert on our plaza in the 8:30 half hour. if you're in the area, come down. the temperatures should be a little more manageable. >> 71 degrees. >> not too bad. out on the plaza this morning

i'm matt lauer with savannah guthrie and al roker. coming up, more of our exclusive interview with sir elton john. he talks about what led to his one and only trip to rehab. you'll hear about his hopes and dreams for his 2-year-old son zachery and talk about whether more children might be in his future. also ahead, we've got a story that will break your heart a 12-year-old boy from queens scraped his arm playing basketball in a gym. four days he died from an infection that was not diagnosed at the emergency room or his physician, according to his parents. we'll talk to them about what they hope to share so no other parents go through this tragedy. >> they are brave to be on the show. >> later on a lighter note, two natalies, natalie coughlin and our natalie. talking about the olympics and

her interests away from the field, the organic farm. she could end up being the most decorated female athlete ever. >> no question about that. speaking of the other natalie, let's go inside and get a check of the headlines from natalie morales. >> good morning matt and al, savannah, everyone. the brother-in-law of bashar al-assad was reported among those killed today in a suicide bombing in the syrian capital of damasc damascus. also the defense minister died in the blast. the fbi is investigating a security breach at a utah airport. officials say commercial pilot brian hedglin suspected of killing his girlfriend friday scaled a fence in utah. police say hedglin climbed into a 50-seat commuter jet and crashed trying to take off. he was found dead inside the plane after apparently shooting himself. the tsa does not require airports to maintain fulltime

surveillance of their perimeter fences. at least one aviation security expert said it might be time to revisit that issue. the obama add manage unveiled a $1 billion plan today to unveil an elite core of teachers to boost science, technology, math and engineering. mitt romney who campaigned in ohio today accused the president tuesday of being anti-entrepreneur. the chairman of the london olympics said a security firm fiasco would have no impact of safety on the games. g4s acknowledged tuesday only half of the 10,400 guards it agreed to provide are ready. the gap will be filled by extra army troops and police officers. now for a look at what is trending today. a quick roundup of what has you talking only. miami rapper pit bull will soon bring the heat to alaska. the walmart store in remote kodiak, alaska, won a pit bull appearance getting the most likes on facebook. pit bull had this internet

campaign. >> i heard that kodiak, alaska, has the most likes, due to someone who thinks she was playing pranks. to someone who thinks it's a joke -- >> he says he will go to alaska. deadline.com reports a sequel to pixar's 2003 classic will splash in the theaters in 2016. it's not clear if ellen degeneres and albert brooks will return to voice the main characters. this shot for shot remake of beyonce's countdown is impressive. didn't know you could get down wearing a full body sleeve. take a look. ♪ ♪

♪ >> well, apparently he named his snuggie blue ivy in honor of the queen baby girl as well. 8:05, back outside to savannah, matt, and al. >> i'll never look at a snuggie the same way again. >> when is the last time you looked at a snuggie. >> did you pack a lot of snuggies with your spandex for the olympics. >> matt has pajama jeans. >> good one, al. >> let have for you as i inch away from matt. we have anchorage, alaska. all right, pitbull is going to kodiak. kttu tv. sunny, mild, 69 degrees. plenty of showers and thunderstorms firing up along the front from the planes all

the way into new england. lotsf rain along the gulf coast, nothing too heavy and a few showers make their way into the pacific northwest. this young man -- okay, you want to do it. go ahead. >> that's what's going on around the country, here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning. here around our region, we have temperatures already now beginning to climb into the 80s. 83 at reagan national and it will hit the upper 90s near 100 by mid-afternoon with hazy sunshine and higher humidity today than yesterday. late afternoon into the evening we'll get scattered thundershowers rolling through and slight chance one could be severe with damaging winds and we'll have perhaps a few passing showers and thundershowers tomorrow and again on friday, but probably not severe. >> and that's your latest weather. matt. >> al, thank you very much. coming up next, a 12-year-old boy dies after suffering what seemed like a simple scrape in a gym class. did doctors miss some key signs. we'll talk to that boy's grieving parents but first these messages. [ male announcer ] this is our beach.

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playing basketball in gym. four days later he died of toxic shock syndrome. >> that night he was fine. he did his homework, went to bed. a little after midnight i heard him in the bathroom throwing up. so i went in. he was screaming with a pain in his leg. he said, it's my leg, mom. it's my leg. >> the next morning his mother, orlaith, said she took him to the pediatrician. >> he was it's a stomach virus making its way to new york. i've seen it before. you need to take him to the emergency center and have him rehydrated. >> at the memorial center he was given fluids and released. in the morning his parents called the pediatrician again. rory had a fever of 104. >> she said give him tylenol with motrin back-to-back. >> later on that evening his skin started to go very black. we took him to the nyu emergency

unit. >> and then they were all around him. finally i got this doctor to talk to me. he said your son is very ill, seriously ill. i said how ill? he said gravely ill. >> bacteria had gotten into his blood and in effecting his body. >> doctor, you've got to run first. we said, this is it, what is it. he came back and said, i'm sorry, we lost him. >> the stauntons said after his death they learned he had been discharged the first time from the er before his blood test came back. they said the blood test revealed a potential warning sign. nbc news reached out to the pediatrician but she declined to discuss the case. the nyulangone medical center said, our deepest and most

heartfelt sympathies go out to the staunton family. we have already implemented corrective actions to address the delivery of care to our ed patients. we have extended several invitations to the family to meet with us when they are ready. >> the week before rory died, we wrote down what kind of pizza he wanted. the final week we picked out what kind of coffin. that shouldn't happen. >> they are here with their attorney, good morning to all of you. we want to express our condolences. i think everyone's heart goes out to you. i know it's not easy to be here. it strikes me you are two parents who did everything right. you took your son to the pediatrician, took him to the er. you were given an assurance, this is a stomach bug. orlaith, do you feel the doctors were set on that diagnosis? >> absolutely. they were absolutely set on the diagnosis. the pediatrician said she had seen this. this is going around new york

city, despite the fact that i had showed her his skin. she noted it as marked and blanched. despite the fact both rory and i said to her he has a bad pain in his leg. forget about the vomiting, it's his leg. she sent us to nyu medical center feeling very confident this was a stomach bug. she had seen it. so i had visions in my head there were hundreds of kids suffering with that. >> i'm sure you were relieved to hear it was a stomach bug. >> absolute we were. >> he came home, still sick. i want to be clear about his symptoms. i know part of the reason you're here is to help other parents. what was he telling you about how he felt at that moment? >> he was in agony. he was in pain. we started calling the pediatrician the next morning. quite a few times we called her. when eventually she called back,

give him more medications, get liquids into him. we said you're not getting it. he's not moving on the couch. the reason we have come public today, and it's not an easy thing to do, to have your son -- one of the things i had to do was go down and pick up the records from the hospital. the front page on the record, rory staunton expired april 1st, no parent should have to do that. >> what do you want your message to be to parents? what do they need to know? >> first of all, i want them to know rory was a wonderful child. he was kind. he was a real child of the world. he was very interested in international affairs. he had flown an airplane. he was just ready to take off in a life that he was so

enthusiastic. but what i want parents to know is first of all they need to be aware of sepsis. i had no clue what it was until rory got sick. also that emergency rooms don't actually -- rory was discharged. they did vital signs 12 minutes before he was discharged. all the signs had gone up. they never communicated a single thing to us or the pediatrician. >> very quickly in the next few seconds, what are the next steps, the recourse. >> we welcome nyu's statement here which, of course, came three and a half months after rory died and after this family went courageously public. the measures that need to be addressed are systemic. there was no communication whatsoever between pediatrician and hospital, between hospital and parents. the fact is that some of the

blood tests were ignored even before rory was discharged. >> it's a story that is a cautionary tale and one that everyone is so sympathetic to. orlaith and ciaran, thank you for being here and for telling us about a very extraordinary boy. >> we have his website. parents who need to know -- i don't want any other parents to have to sit here on your couch and that's why we're here today. no other parents. they should see this website and see how there will never be another rory staunton. all we have left are headstones and memories. no parents should go through that. >> thank you for your courage. thank you. i appreciate it. we'll be back right after this. people with a machine. what ? customers didn't like it.

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his struggles with addiction, family and a very special place outside his home outside of london. ♪ i'm still standing >> as the world first learned of a virus called hiv, elton john seemed to be at the very top of his game. an international superstar building his legend. ♪ >> but behind the facade was a deeply troubled man consumed by addiction, his life in a downward spiral. ♪ >> elton sang at his friend ryan white's funeral. he said ironically it was because of that day, so filled with loss and pain, that he's alive today. he saw himself on tv. >> i looked like a bloated white gray haired old -- it was horrifying. >> you've seen pictures of yourself around that time and video of yourself.

do you think it was more about the setting than the actual image? >> the way i was feeling deep inside, it was enough to wake anybody up. ryan white inspired me to change my life. if there was ever a message -- and in life you get messages -- this was a message from wherever. it's like, you clean your life up or you're going to die. your ept tat will not be good. >> he was treated for alcohol addictions and bulimia. it was his first and only time in rehab. he says he's been sober every since. >> how many times have i done an interview with someone who has been to rehab six and seven times and they continue to fall into the same traps. why did it work for you so well? >> i was so fed up with being the person i was. to actually wake up in the morning at 6:00 and clean your room. it was like boot camp. it was flashy. it was a hospital in chicago. there was no televisions. there was no nothing. i'd say at 43 i learned to live

my life all over again by taking different steps. it's a miracle i'm talking to you right now. >> do you think because you were so able to turn your life around after that one stint in rehab that you have become impatient with others who have failed? >> not at all. >> i've heard you. we've done interviews. you've been harsh with friends of yours, billy joel. you were tough on him, on the air with me. >> he was angry about it. he wrote me, you shouldn't judge people. who are you to judge. i said it to hope it would get through. we haven't communicated to it. he's the kindest man, tal ended songwriter. great artist. if he called me and said let's go to lunch together, i'd go in a flash. tough love. i'm sorry i said it. >> elton said he found love when

he gained sobriety. he's been with his partner 20 years. they we had in a civil ceremony in 2005 and have a son together through a surrogate. zachery was born two years ago on christmas day. >> being a father to zachery seems to have even opened the possibility of more children. >> absolutely. >> is that because you want to embrace more children or you worry that zachery grows up without a brother or sister. >> i'd love to have more children. also zachery being a child of a famous person is hard. i would like him to have -- when he's four and starts going to preschool. kids will say, you don't have a mommy. we know that. we talked about this before we had zachery. we said there's going to be consequences in having a child when you're two gay parents. i want him to have a brother or sister to go to school with him, so he can have someone to play with. >> they are still going to ask questions about why you don't have a mommy. >> of course they are and we'll talk to him about that. it's going to be heartbreaking to grow up and not have a mommy.

he's so happy. i've never seen a more contented child. you'll never see more condepartmented people than david and i. >> elton took me to a special place at his home, a chapel he built for loved ones. >> for my grandmother, friends that died from aids consequently so i can come in here and pay respects to people i lost. evelyn lauder, inspiration, breast cancer. versace, elizabeth taylor. i babble my prayer. over here we have diana. and then it starts with a list of people that died of aids. >> freddie mercury. there's ryan's name. >> it's nice to come in here and remember my life. there's nothing better than a church or a chapel. >> do you ever pray? >> i do, yeah.

i pray for my son every night, that he's going to be okay. >> what's your biggest hope for him, for zachery? >> he lives -- grows up to live in a world that's much more tolerant. i'm always an optimist. i think things have changed. we have to respect each other. our religions, our color of our skin. we just have to learn to be a little more simpatico. >> you've evolved quite a bit, haven't you? >> i have, and it couldn't be better. my life could not be better. i am the most blessed person in the world. ♪ >> i have the greatest career, the greatest son, the greatest partner, the greatest family, the greatest friends. i have nothing to complain about, but i've worked hard at it. you don't get anywhere in this world without working hard. ♪ how wonderful life is when you're in the world ♪

>> by the way, we reached out to billy joel regarding elton's remarks. he declined to offer a comment. by the way this oneth the swimm coughlan right after your local news. good morning, everyone. it is 8:26 on this wednesday, july 18th. i'm angie goff. breaking news, the redskins have officially signed rookie quarterback robert griffin iii. they confirmed it in a twitter post this morning. he also tweeted this morning "time to go to work. off the unemployment line." it's going to be a hot day to start practice. let's get a check of the forecast with tom. >> turned more humid and going to be more humid afternoon and the same heat we had yesterday. right now climbing into the 80s. later today up near 100. feel hotter with that humidity up from yesterday and we'll have likely scatter showers and thunderstorms developing late afternoon into the evening. slight risk that some of those

storms could be severe with maybe damaging winds and some of those heavy downpours, as well, will cool things down quickly. thursday and friday not severe and looking a lot

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when i was little going to the olympics, it was always that american flag on the side of my cap. if i do the best i can do, i'll be proud of myself and hopefully make my country proud. 8:30 now on a wednesday morning. it's the 18th day of july, 2012. it's a warm morning here in new york. we're happy to be sharing our day with all the wonderful fans with very large thumbs that gathered on our plaza. more on that in a moment. in the meantime i'm savannah guthrie alongside matt lauer, savannah guthrie and al roker. how to keep fabulous getting

older. >> talking about fashion tools you can use to help you look a little younger. also some of the five things that you should have in your medicine cabinet as you get a little older. >> all right. then coming up, u.s. swimming great natalie coughlin going for another medal. she has 11 medals already for every event she enters. she's trying for number 12 in london. coming up we'll talk about her role on the team, introduce my to some painful training methods. >> she's unbelievable. >> a little later, talk about an amazing find. did you collect baseball cards when you were little? who didn't. a rare baseball card collection worth an estimated $3 million. they found it in a relative's attic.

>> wish something like that would happen to you. >> security detail back there. we are really excited to share some news this morning. our facebook fans have now officially hit 1 million fans. 1 million of you like us. folks on the plaza are wearing t-shirts, got the big signs. we're so excited to have this many facebook fans. we've learned more about our viewers from this. >> texas, you've got the number one group of fans or the biggest group of fans on our facebook page. >> outside of america, australia where you were born and egypt where hoda kotbe was born. >> some of our favorite music n musicians, lady gaga, adele, michael jackson. >> "twilight" saga, "dirty dancing." you like us, we like you.

if you want to be a fan, go to facebook page and like us. >> tomorrow we want 1 m that's our goal. >> then we'll show up at your house. >> a small goal. mr. roker, how about a check of the weather. >> everybody has left-handed gumbies out there. let's see what we have for you for today. a risk of strong storms in the northeast and mid-atlantic states and a nice, moderate day in the pacific northwest with some rain and look for the sizzling conditions continue down south. for tomorrow, the sizzling weather continues out west. we have a risk of strong storms in the mid-ohio river valley and expect wet weather and stretching into the mid-atlantic states and sunny and not quite as hot as it is in the northeast and that's what's going on around the country, here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning tom kierein storm center 4. all these areas in orange on the temperature map are in the 80s reagan national is at 83 and we've got higher humidity today and it's going to be in place

into the afternoon as we climb to near 100 degrees feeling like 105 with the humidity. late afternoon into the evening, we could get some thunderstorms. slight risk some of those storms might be severe and produce damaging winds and the brief downpours will of course when you've got crazy weather like that, check it on the, weather.com on cable. >> our natalie catches up with the 11 time olympic medalist and finds out what it takes to be an ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] virtual wallet can help you be that person who's good with money. see what's free to spend. move money with a slide. save with a shake.

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♪ i'm teaching performance. here's what they'll need. ♪ get your backpack, your hoodies, harajuku, ♪ ♪ turquoise kinda purple orangish sorta blue. ♪ ♪ backpacks, yeow, ♪ to put their stuff in. ♪ graphic tees and denim, denim, denim, denim. ♪ ♪ backpacks. school takes a lot, target has is all. we're back now at 8:36 with "today's" countdown to london. the opening ceremony nine days away. star swimmer and 11-time medalist natalie coughlin will

go for gold in london. she's the first to admit her road to the gold went off script. our natalie caught up with her. >> she qualified for the relay, this after she was bounced at the trials in the 100 meter backstroke by star teenagers. in these games natalie says she's taking on a new role. she's a fierce competitor and a determined athlete now staring down her third olympics. she grabbed gold twice in athens. in beijing she became the first american female to win six medals in a single olympic game. natalie coughlin is going for gold once more in london. >> i will embrace that role of being a leader. the relay is the first day. i'll go from that relay and from there help everyone else as much as they need or want. >> at 29 natalie is the veteran

of this team. a relay race win would give her a dozen medals tying her with jenny thompson and torres as the most decorated female olympians. she trains six hours a day six days a week at the university of california, berkeley. >> third olympics compared to first olympics, do you train any differently? >> i train differently just because i'm older. >> and wiser. >> wiser. much wiser. i train differently because i need to focus on recovery more. i have way more power than i ever did eight years ago. >> natalie took home gold in the last two olympics doing the backstroke. >> how do you do the backstroke, i tried it a couple of times, not only do my hands hit the wall but i get water up my nose. how do you keep that from happening. >> i use my upper lip. it's not the most attractive thing ever.

>> you have to have a stretchy upper lip to get it up there. >> i have a flat, squishy nose. i think that helps. >> i joined natalie for dry land strength training. >> is it agony for you or kind of a continuation of what you're doing. >> it's really, really hard but a different hard. you know, at least in the weight room i can talk to people. in the pool you're very much in your own head. >> her dry land training helps her build strength and mimics her movement in the water. i learned firsthand how it feels to lose big to natalie coughlin. >> same weights here, right? >> same weights. >> natalie versus natalie. who wins. >> ready? go. that's it. there you go. get the push. good, good, good. there you go. there you go. double hop. good. >> wait. >> get some training.

>> spending the day with natalie coughlin you realize why she's considered a normal olympian. she has interests unrelated to the pool. after beijing she took nearly two years off. she turned heads wearing only body paint for "sports illustrated." she danced with the stars. she married long time boyfriend ethan hall. they live on an organic farm where she grows her own produce and raises chickens for fresh eggs. >> this is warm, because it's fresh. it's not warm from the heat but because it came out fresh. >> here you go. >> natalie whipped up an organic breakfast for two, kale and eggs. >> healthy. >> you could eat a chocolate cake. >> after the games she says she's not ready to retire.

>> i really have no idea what i'm going to do, if i'm going to continue to swim after london or not. i'll definitely take some time off. >> time off, maybe kids. >> time off. maybe a lot of time off. i really have no idea. i would love to have kids at some point. i haven't even thought about it. i'm so busy with my dogs and my chickens. i'm sure kids are probably a lot harder than that. >> for now teammate michael phelps has a big postgame plan for both of them. >> 30th birthday, any big plans? that will be when you get home, right? >> i know michael was saying he wants to combine his retirement party with my 30 in vegas. i don't know if vegas is really what i want to do, that sounds like a little too big for me. i'll definitely have a big celebration. >> well, natalie needs one more medal to tie as the most decorated female olympian she'll get that shot in the 400 relay.

she could be used in another relay but likelihood is -- if they want to give her that opportunity to make history, but it's a remote possibility. >> al and i both agree after watching that little sled pushing thing, she waxed her side of the floor. >> she put a little glue on yours. >> not at all. >> we want a rematch. >> she's amazing. a really good person. >> by the way -- we wish her luck. speakingf the olympics, kick off our live coverage monday in london. the rest of these folks will join the fun on wednesday. we look forward to it. younger and fabulous, look younger, stay fashionable and stay healthy but first this is "today" on nbc.

back at 8:44, kicking off a

special series growing older and feeling fabulous, the secrets to looking younger. the medicine cabinet. creator of mali beauty. good morning. >> good morning, gorgeous. >> the five products. this feels the most important, moisturizer with spf. >> absolutely. number one we've got to moisturize in the summer, don't forget. as women we're multi-taskers. do it with the spf so you know you're getting protection and moisturization. >> even if you have oily skin. >> yes, very important even when it's hot. it will stop age spots which obviously will make us look older. >> concealer is key. it's hard to apply. >> it's hard to apply but a little bit of practice. all you have to do is take a little bit. use your ring finger, warm it on the back of your hand like so. if you can, i have to tell you, use one with anti-aging ingredients in it. that's also going to do double duty, just like your moisturizer, take care of your

skin and cover up the look. you know we don't get eight hours of sleep, ever. >> not around here. way to look younger immediately, smile. >> i have to tell you, as we age, the sad truth of it is our eyes tend to yellow and teeth yellow. >> i didn't know about the eyes. >> whitening your teeth is a really great way. i love this from rembrandt because it works quickly. >> hair, touch up for grays. >> starts to come through. i got grays when i was 20. i would never know because i dyed my hair so much. a touch-up at the root, fast, quick, easy, you don't have to worry. put it on, get out the door, hiding everything. >> self-tanner. we have a model with all this stuff. >> self-tanner warms the skin, healthy glow, makes you look

skinnier, covers cellulite, that's all you have to say. a mascare, lip gloss, fabulous on you makes you look younger, gorgeous, healthy, fresh. that's what it's all about. look at the before and after? >> that you so much. >> love you. thank you, mama. >> coming up next, keeping fashionable. owners of shopafrolic.com. good morning, ladies. you found five tools to help you look younger as well. >> first, the secret on the table, it's your mirror. be realistic, you want to look young but not ridiculous. acknowledge your age. sunglasses first. sunglasses universally flattering for men. >> yes, channel your inner top gun and go classic aviators. >> perfect. >> what about for ladies. >> we want to go with a fitted blazer. covers your arms, nips your

waist, it's always flattering. >> is there a secret to choosing the right fit on your mom. kathy. >> my mom always dressed younger than her age but totally appropriate. we don't mention her age on tv or anywhere. >> no matter what the age, shoes. >> you don't have to go from stilettos to orthotics. medium hill, always elongating. these are j. crew but anything will do. >> bright colors okay? >> they are. >> a lot people self-conscious about our neck area. >> so many are conscious about neck area. a big necklace or scarf. >> jaunty, we love it. >> a nice handbag. >> a great handbag. don't be weighed down, when you're hunched over look old. big bag means soccer mom. >> look at our young models behind us.

tell us what you're wearing, aviators. >> any pop of color is useful. we see a bright sole. >> no socks. >> don't wear a traditional white pocket square. >> tie. >> look at the color. >> color means young. >> we like to hide our next, too, so we wear a dicky. >> great tip. >> jane, thank you so much. savannah, back to you. >> models aren't supposed to talk, matt and al. staying healthy, contributor from nyu medical center is here. super foods. blueberries at the top of the list. >> number one in terms of antioxidant, heart disease, dementia, cancer. you definitely want a daily dose in your breakfast. >> oatmeal speaking of breakfast. >> oatmeal has soluble fiber. we know this helps lower bad cholesterol. great thing for heart health.

fills you up so you don't eat as much. >> looks like orange juice but what is it. >> not just orange juice good belly has pro biotics. they are the good bacteria, help maintain our immune system. >> good enough to take in pill form. >> yogurt, juice is a new way to get it a lot of people enjoying. >> healthy fish, good fat. that salmon looks great. >> salmon has omega 3 fatty acids. american heart association recommends three serves a weeks. great for heart health. >> ten seconds, love avocado. >> mono unsaturated fat. great. things like cheese, not as healthy. put it on your sandwich, fill you up. >> thank you. we'll have more ways to defy your age tomorrow on growing older, feeling fabulous. up next, a rare find in an attic worth millions of dollars. the story behind these baseball

cards. but first this is "today" on nbc. alking idoing is that it's given me time to reflect on some of life's biggest questions. like, if you could save hundreds on car insurance by making one simple call, why wouldn't you make that call?

see, the only thing i can think of is that you can't get any... bars. ah, that's better. it's a beautiful view. i wonder if i can see mt. rushmore from here. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. we're back at 8:52, one of the most exciting finds in the history of sports card collecting, cousins were cleaning out a family home when they found a box containing 700 rare baseball card from 1910. their estimated worth, $3 million.

carl and carla are along with us along with chris ivy of heritage auctions. good morning to all of you. a dream come true. everybody's dream come true. a family home. a grandfather lived there, you lived there. you were tasked with cleaning it out. it was like being frozen in time. >> my aunt was a bit of a pack rat. nothing left the house. when my grandmother passed away, nothing left the house. she maintained the home until she passed last year. >> when you found the box in the attic, describe it. what was your first reaction when you opened it up? >> it was under a couple other boxes. a dirty black box. brushed it off and opened it up. there was a collection of cardboard in there tied together by twine. i said, carl, what's this? it's not stamps on it, but it's exciting. >> you're baseball fans and you knew what baseball cards these

days looked like. you just weren't familiar with what some of them looked like in 1910. did you recognize days like ty cobb, cy young? >> we drug them out of the attic where we had better light. definitely baseball cards, cy young, wagner. they are here but not right, abnormal. we set them aside thinking we'll look at them later. >> you actually sent some of them to heritage auction in dallas. >> right. >> you mailed these cards. are you crazy? did you put them in the mail? >> actually overnight fedex, insured. >> i would have followed them, been down there with them. when you saw them, chris, what was your reaction? >> amazement. we look at these type of things every day. when we opened up this box with these untouched cards over 100 years old we were just dumbfounded. >> different categories are going to be auctioning off. one set contains 27 cards. you validity at $400,000.

tell me about that set. >> $400,000 plus. that represents the finest example of each card known. it's the partial set and the number one set known. >> then there's the onus wagner card in incredible condition. >> on a ten-point scale, graded ten. the fame famous wagner is the cousin 10206. about 75 known in the world. it was graded an eight and last sold in 2007 for $2.8 million. >> lastly a collection was made to several different background colors. tell me about the last group of cards. >> that's some of the duplicate cards. they are represented in green and orange colors. those represent the highest graded examples for each of those cards as well. >> twenty people, cousins and stuff, going to split this. what are you going to do with your portion?

>> college if you said. >> not a bad one. that's great. carla. >> a little home remodel. >> a dream come true. you're going to have people running to their attics all day long. thanks, guys. we appreciate it. we'll put information on the website. we're back after your local news. good morning, i'm aaron gilchrist and 8:56 right now. breaking news, the kind we like to report. the redskins have officially signed rookie quarterback robert griffin iii. a deal four years worth about $21 million, all guaranteed. rg3 tweeted this morning, time to go to work.

off the unemployment line. he can now take part in rookie training camp and we can see him.

good morning.

approaching 9:00. temperatures throughout most of the region are into the 80s now. reagan national at 86 and it will probably be near 90 over the next hour and then near 100 by mid-afternoon. unlike yesterday, today is going to be more humid and it will feel hotter. and as we get into the late afternoon and into the evening, some storms, some of them could be severe. might have some other showers and storms thursday and friday, but looking much better for the weekend. danella, how is traffic? >> good news. 395 not seeing any accidents. bad news terribly slow from the beltway crossing the 14th street bridge. >> thank you,

we're back with more on wednesday more than tuesday, july 18th, 2012. a well honed line but hot and sticky in the northeast. there's a lot of people, talking about millions of people suffering through a heat wave right now. hopefully theened in sight. we'll talk about that in a second. i'm matt lauer with al roker and savannah guthrie. >> exclusive 80% off deals including things like high-end coffee machine, makeup there, pedicure kit, stylish workout clothes. up to 80%. tell you about that coming up.

speaking of working out. nobody probably works out harder than our olympic athletes. this year no exception. however, they are always looking for an edge. we're going to show you some high-tech workout gear, state-of-the-art stuff our olympians will be using that will make all the difference going for the quest for gold. you can yit, touse it, too, in training. >> always makes you work out better wearing olympic stuff. >> we want to help you blow off steam on twitter. we want you to tell us about your pet peeves, we'll tell you more about that. your pet peeve? >> how much time do you have? >> exactly. finally a use of twitter you can get into. >> exactly. let's go inside. natalie standing by with a look at the headlines. hi, natalie. >> good morning, everyone. security is being reviewed at a small airport in utah after a murder suspect jumped into a passenger jet and tried to take off the man had been a

commercial pilot, scaled a fence and boarded a jet tuesday. he crashed the plane in a parking lot at the airport then took his own life. the tsa currently does not require airports to maintain fulltime surveillance of their perimeter fences. one aviation expert says it might be time for tsa to consider that. a scare during the night for oscar winning actress halle berry. she was rushed to a los angeles hospital after she was hurt on the set of a movie. according to her publicist, halle berry suffered a minor head injury shooting a fight sequence for the film "the hive." she was checked out at the hospital and released. the company in charge of security for the lmpbs only has about half the number of guards really. police and military are filling the gap, checking bags and guarding athletes. they called the security company's performance unexcusable. one called it a fiasco and humiliating shamble. a new weight loss drug, the

pill called qsymia considered to be the best so far. for overweight, obese with one condition such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol. mon more than one-third of adults are considered obese. a gunman who opened fire in alabama is now being investigated in another nearby shooting. gabe gutierrez has the latest from tuscaloosa. gabe, good morning. >> reporter: natalie, good morning. police have linked the suspect to another shooting less than an hour from the chaos at the bar. they are investigating whether he may have torched the former employer's business right after the gunfire. police identify the man with the assault weapon in this surveillance video was 44-year-old nathan van wilkins. investigators say he opened fire at the cotton top bar near the university of alabama. seven team people were hurt.

>> it was chaos. >> reporter: one of the bullets hit her foot while others looked on. >> first i heard the shots get louder and saw the sparks flying up. then instantly as soon as i felt that, i knew i had been shocked. >> everybody was shocked for a minute. afterwards it was silent and people were scared to get up for a minute. >> reporter: investigators say the rampage start add few miles away about 45 minutes earlier when he shot a man at this home. it's not clear why. he now faces 20 criminal counts including attempted murder. hours after the surveillance video became public he turned himself in. >> he went to a business in jasper and told the individuals at that business who he was and he was sought here in connection with the shooting. they called the jasper police department. >> reporter: after the bar shooting police in nearby brookwood suspect van wilkin set fire to several of his former employer's trucks and tried to

burn down the business. while arson charges have not been filed, his bond is set at $2 million. he has not yet and in court and has not entered a plea. natalie. >> gabe gutierrez in tuscaloosa. thank you, gabe. a conservation group studying whale sharks has found they can be very efficient and ingenuous eaters. off the coast of indonesia, this one has learned fishing nets are a good place to chow down sucking the fish out of the small holes in the nets and becoming a hig hit on youtube. whale sharks can weigh more than 20 tons and grow bigger than a bus. that kind of looks gross there. five minutes past the hour. let's go outside to al and a check of the weather. watching him eat. >> i could have gone all day without seeing that video. enjoy your cheerios. where are you guys from. >> detroit, michigan. we're from two differ places,

originally virginia. >> where are you from? same thing. wanted to make it out. show you what we've got. we've got a big change, finally. heat index anywhere from 98 to 110 degrees from omaha to new york city. it's sticky out there. but some relief coming and that stationary front will become a cold front. behind the front, cooler conditions and temperatures in the 80s and lower humidity and themptures upper 80s to near 100 degrees and risk of strong storms along that front and the radar already starting to fire up upstate michigan and rainfall amounts anywhere from one to three inches of rain over the next 24 hours. that's what's going on around the country, here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> we are on the southern edge of that risk zone here. that would be generally spraum late afternoon into this evening and we'll heat up already. look at the temperatures, well into the 80s all around the region and it will hit the 90s in the next couple of hours and then near 100 by mid-afternoon. and then late afternoon into the evening is when we could get

some storms popping up and a slight risk they could produce agdamaging winds and hail. showers and thundershowers probably not severe and settling down for the weekend. >> and that's your latest weather. natalie. >> al, thank you. time for another edition of jill's steals and deals, deeply discounted prices exclusively for you, our "today" show viewers. u.s. weekly's jill martin is back. good morning. >> good morning. >> let's remind people how it works, how shipping works. >> go to today.com. we have a limited amount of supplies. what we do is link you to the retailer's website. if you want something, go now because it will go quickly. >> great work out clothes from as i am. tell me about these. >> love these, retail 82 to $88. three options, the mannequin,

great to layer day or night, a tank underneath. karma capri. three-quarter length pants with rollover waistband. no muffin top. wear with high boots in the fall. the higher pants with a slim cut bootleg. great for yoga, working out. great every day pants, retail $82 to $88. the deal $22. 75% off. >> the fabric feels amazing, really soft. it's great. okay. let's move onto the pedicure kits from julep. what comes with this set, looks like everything. >> really fun. retail $132. this is sort of a designer pedicure gift that can include -- they call this the best pedi prep ever, exfoliator. they say you'll have noticeable results in two uses. foot files, separators and six

colors. comes in this beautiful box. like a spa at home. retail $132. the deal $24.99 for the entire kit. that's 82% off. these are good to stock up on. >> good gifts. >> fun for kids, too. >> i love the colors, nail colors. very in right now. okay. this is going to be huge, coffee bean and tee leaf offering the coffeemaker plus capsules. >> i absolutely love this, $314.39 is the retail. now, i made you a cup during the break. it's fresh if you want to take a sip of espresso. a beverage system compare coffeehouse, tea beverages at the touch of a button. it takes less than a minute to make. we did this while you were doing the news before. twelve varieties, retail $314.39. the deal $99. that's 69% off. >> that is great. >> i use this at home.

this is great. it's just a single cup. you don't overdo it. if you drink a lot of coffee, like i do. >> i drink a lot. they look beautiful, too. >> great gift. >> great gift. next these beautiful necklaces from charmed circle. look how great these are. tell me about these. they have little gems on the inside. >> i love this, retail $170. sweetheart pendant on 18 inch sterling silver chain. heart comes in your choice of four semiprecious stones. you see them here. i think you can see them more laying out, smoky quartz, amethyst, citrine, henry bender, fred siegel. you can buy other stones separately, it's a locket to put in. give as a gift. retail $170. the deal $44. that's 74% off. >> real silver. >> sterling silver chain. >> okay. over here we've got these gorgeous flowers. it's a flower medley from organic bouquet. if you want to send someone special a bouquet of flowers,

now is the time to do it. anyone who wants to send us 50 ecofriendly roses. >> i want to stress this. these are limited. really sold out last time quickly. if you want these go on now, retail $109.95. 50 ecofriendly roses, certified ecofriendly roses, which means they are grown in a matter beneficial to the environment. no pesticides used. retail is $109.95, the deal $29.95. >> that's amazing. they are gorgeous. gorgeous flowers to my office. my cup of coffee, thank you. the products work out from aziam, julep, coffee bean and tea leaf, necklaces from charm circle and finally beautiful flower arrangements from organic bouquet. if you have any questions about products or past orders go to today.com to steals and deals page. coming up next, state-of-the-art gear giving our athletes an extra edge during

the olympics. then a little later on, easy ways to make extra cash. but first these messages. [ taste buds ] donuts, donuts, donuts! who are these guys? oh, that's just my buds. bacon, donuts. -my taste buds. -[ taste buds ] waffles. how about we try this new kind of fiber one cereal? you think you're going to slip some fiber by us? rookie. okay. ♪ nutty clusters and almonds, ♪ ♪ almonds. ♪ fiber one is gonna make you smile. ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing new fiber one nutty clusters and almonds. with 43% daily value of fiber for you. crunchy nutty clusters and real almond slices for your taste buds.

because vitamin d3 helps bones absorb calcium, caltrate's double the d. it now has more than any other brand to help maximize calcium absorption. so caltrate women can move the world. isn't its stylish and pretty looks. or how quickly it fills the air. it's not even its long lasting true-to-life scents. the best thing about glade's oil diffuser is the way it makes you feel. ♪ introducing a completely different oil diffuser only from glade. sc johnson, a family company. it's all the salad andfor $25. breadsticks you want. only from glade. 2 appetizers made for sharing. then 2 entrées from 6 of our favorites. like new smoked mozzarella chicken.

3 courses, 2 people, just $25. at olive garden. into john stamos. honey! i think i'm getting burned! eat. ♪ tastes pretty good, huh? [ men grunting ] open! [ male announcer ] oikos. possibly the best yogurt in the world. [ female announcer ] letting her home be turned into a training facility? ♪ this olympian's mom has been doing it for years. she's got bounty. in this lab demo, one sheet of new bounty leaves this surface cleaner than two sheets of the leading ordinary brand. bounty has trap and lock technology to soak up big spills and lock them in.

let the spills begin. p&g. proud sponsor of the olympic games. this morning with the countdown to london, stronger swifter, the goal for athletes at the olympic games. one way to do that, gear. glen, good to see you. >> thanks. >> this is fascinating. this stuff, when these athletes are at the top of their game, this gear with really make a little bit of a difference, give you a little age. >> that's true. these people at the peak of human performance. when you get there fractions of

a second make the difference between gold and honorable mention. really technology can make all the difference with these people. >> let's start off with swimming. >> interestingly in the 2008 beijing olympics there were 25 records set in swimming, 23 of them were using speedo's laser racer, the swimsuit at the time. they ended up outlawing it because it was too much performance boost. now they have to do tech style technology, can't do full body suits. >> at least not for men. >> i was going to say, make it a lot more interesting. these new suits, speedo now builds the fast skin 3 system, which is actually a full system. if you look, it's a cap, it's goggles and it's the suit. they all work together to reduce drag that slows people down. >> that's pretty cool. can normal mortals buy this. >> you can. if you're a swimmer, probably be

worth it to you to get something like this. it's expensive. it's $395. for the women $595. >> how much are the goggles. >> they are $100. >> that's not cheap. >> you really need to shave those extra seconds off. >> triathlon has been an olympic sport since 2000. this bike is about the peak of technological perfection. >> that is absolutely true. not only lightweight, built of carbon fiber but got into aero dynamics of bikes. if you take a close look at it, they merge where the frame of the bike connects with the wheel. everything to shave downwind resistance. >> that's really light. >> this thing is only around 16 pounds in this configuration. >> it costs $9,000. >> it can go up to $9,000 if you get it all optioned out. >> that's about $7,000 a pound. anyway, what about the shoes? >> the transitions are key in the triathlon. they only have about 30 seconds to get from the water onto the bike. they actually prelock these

shoes onto the bike pedals. >> you slip into the shoes. >> a little dial, a flip-on here and twist the shoe on. >> i wish i had that for my regular shoes. what about the helmet. >> the helmets are about aero dynamics. you notice these don't look like traditional biking helmet, teardrop. anyone, these guys are looking to the right and left all the time, so this actually is better for that. >> a lot of folks play soccer. >> that's true. around the world it's the most popular sport in the world. these are the new shoes from adidas, u.s. women's team using some of these. they have this interesting rubber on the top and a bunch of different zones. >> lethals. >> lethal to the ball. for kicking one type of rubber there. they use padding on the side for

passing to make sure everything is controlled and accurate and power. >> available to normal folks. >> you can buy these if you want, $220. >> they are lethal shoes. >> absolutely lethal to the ball. >> killer shoes. thank you so much. appreciate it. >> thank you. up next, tell us what bugs you. we'll tell you our pet peeve if you tell us yours but first these messages. eat good fats. avoid bad. don't go over 2000... 1200 calories a day. carbs are bad. carbs are good. the story keeps changing. so i'm not listening... to anyone but myself. i know better nutrition when i see it: great grains. great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole. see the seam? more processed flakes look nothing like natural grains. you can't argue with nutrition you can see. great grains. search great grains and see for yourself. for multi grain flakes that are an excellent source of fiber

try great grains banana nut crunch and cranberry almond crunch. ♪ jif to go goes anywhere ♪ jif to go goes here, goes there ♪ ♪ jif to go goes everywhere ♪ goes here, goes there ♪ jif to go, wherever you go to help keep stuff off their hands. ♪ this back to school ♪ there's a new routine ♪ grab a kleenex® tissue to help keep your hands clean ♪ ♪ every time you sneeze no matter where ♪ ♪ ya gotta shield sneeze swish like you just don't care ♪ ♪ shield sneeze swish ♪ check out my swish ♪ da da da da da, da da da da da ♪

[ female announcer ] only kleenex® brand has sneeze shield in all their tissues to help keep stuff off kids' hands. [ female announcer ] only kleenex® brand has sneeze shield in all their tissues try our new lunch-size grilled chicken fajitas, with sauteed onions and peppers, served with soup or salad. lunch break combos, starting at 6 bucks. enjoy them with friends, because a lunch together feeds the friendship. ♪ something to me ♪ that nobody else could do

♪ something to me by what's getting done. measure commitment the twenty billion dollars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment. and the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons. the progress continues... but that doesn't mean our job is done. we're still committed to seeing this through. earlier this hour we asked you to tweet us and tell us what your biggest pet peeves are. >> the list goes on and on. we have a lot of them so we'll share ours as well. al roker. >> mine was basically when you hold the door for people and they don't say thank you. that's one of mine. >> i agree with that. >> be courteous. >> that's rude.

>> absolutely. >> nat, what was your. >> naysayers and complainers. come on, get happy! not complaining here. >> what about you? >> mine was offices that -- left out a word, offices that are overair sentenced, why am i wearing a blanket when it's 95 degrees outside. in my office i wear a blanket and scarf. >> earmuffs. pretty. a lot of good ones from fans. son of harry. when you call a girl beautiful and mean it but she's still not convinced. i like that. >> that's sweet. >> we like you harrison. >> when people crack their knuckles finger by finger, knuckle by knuckle. >> we started doing it. that's terrible. >> couples that sit on the same side of the booth, pet peeves. >> i don't know. >> that's interesting. >> that's kind of romantic.

hoda kotb sees people getting onto the elevator before we got off. clear the way for hoda. >> we have a lot of them, auto correct on the iphone, typos. >> pete fulmer at mine is the term "pet peeve" can't stand it. >> there you go, complaining. >> on his nerves today. >> we may become his pet peeve. >> not too late. get it out. get out your aggression on twitter. do #pet peeve. still ahead the right foods to get you that flat belly for summer. >> too late for me. moonlighting for money. we'll show you fun extra ways to make extra cash. >> first your local news and weather. try this. it's oikos greek yogurt.

it's creamy, nonfat, and it turns the next person you see into john stamos for five seconds. honey! i think i'm getting burned! heh! eat. ♪ tastes pretty good, huh? ♪ best yogurt ever. yeah! [ men grunting ] open! [ male announcer ] dannon oikos berry flavors beat chobani 2 to 1 in a national taste test. oikos greek yogurt. possibly the best yogurt in the world. [ ding! ] losing your chex mix too easily? time to deploy the boring-popcorn decoy bucket. then no one will want to steal the deliciousness. with a variety of tastes and textures

only chex mix is a bag of interesting. good morning, i'm aaron gilchrist. 9:26 on this wednesday, july 18th. good breaking news for you this morning. the redskins have officially signed rookie quarterback robert griffin iii. want to show you some proof here, too. they tweeted out a photo of rg3 putting pen to paper. a four-year deal worth more than $21 million all guaranteed. rg3 tweeted this morning, time to go to work off the unemployment line. indeed. we'll be right

good morning. hot and humid today. up near 100 this afternoon. maybe some storms after that. some of them could be severe. occasional showers and thunder tomorrow and again on friday, but much better for the weekend. highs 80s on saturday and sunday. how is traffic, danella.

>> debris blocks the left lane at 198. be aware of that and taking the beltway in montgomery county, still very slow at college park. stilli'm barack obama and ipark. approve this message. [romney singing]: oh beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountains majesty, above the fruited plain, america, america, god shed his grace on thee, and crowned thy good, with brotherhood...

♪ ♪ >> the hot band, music video for "i like it like that." the band will be here friday performing live on the plaza part of the concert series hot chelle rae. come early, come often. we like it like that.

welcome back. savannah guthrie and al roker. >> telling a story to a friend and he/she has to top it with a better of their own. >> i have one better than that. >> mine is slow slow behind a driver and speeds up when you try to pass. >> that one, too. >> when people in my family drink all the milk and put the carton back in. >> all the time in my house. >> those are good. keep them coming, we like it. >> #pet peeves. as we continue this morning, we're taking a look also as far as our weather is concerned. i should say everybody could use a little bit of help trying to get some extra cash. you can actually get paid to do fun things like eat at restaurants or go shopping. who knew? we'll show you how? >> i can see making a lot of money. then flat belly foods you should be eating every day to help you beat the bloat and keep your stomach slim and trim. first al has of the weather for us. >> let's see what we have for

you first of all for today. again, the heat continues and risk of strong storms as a cool front starts to push down into the mid-atlantic states and into the northeast. fairly moderate in the pacific northwest and little wet there, we're looking at plenty of heat throughout the southern half of the country. mid-mississippi river valley and warm in the great lakes but not as hot as a it's been decent amount of sunshine but from the southwest, gulf coast into the southeast, we're looking at sizzling to hot conditions with decent amount of sunshine. that's what's going on around the country, here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> already uncomfortably hot and humid. we're pushing 90 degrees here now as we're just past 9:30 and later today near 100 by mid-afternoon. likely, we'll get some showers and thunderstorms popping up late afternoon into the evening. some of them could be severe with damaging winds and then thursday and friday, occasional showers and thundershowers mainly during the afternoons, but probably not severe. but, getting more comfortable for the weekend. lower humidity, cooler temperatures, slight chance of

frf this one from the producers, my wife's pet peeve is when the show rushes through the cooking segment. give it time. >> that happens? >> every now and then. >> we'll try to work on that. coming up next, need extra cash? some easy ways to earn spending money right after this. ♪ [ female announcer ] life is full of little tests, but bounty basic can handle them. in this lab demo,

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this morning on "today's" money, moonlighting for extra cash. believe it or not you can get paid to do fun things like eat chocolate, go shopping or dine at a restaurant. that sounds good. where do you find these great gigs? a columnist for marketwatch and

"wall street journal" sunday. good morning. >> good morning. >> this sounds like the old, if it sounds too good to be true, it is. >> no, it's good. >> these aren't part-time jobs but come in spurts. >> focus groups, part of a mock juror. if you want to be a taste tester. they are fun, interesting, not full time but part time. you sign up. when work comes your way it's good money. >> it is good money. how much can you expect to make? >> you can make $30 for 30 minutes to $250, $300 for a full day. sometimes projects will go even a week or two. >> how much time do you have to put in? is it flexible in some cases? >> it is flexible. you seign up, takes a few minuts to register. some jobs take a few hours and get about $80. >> you mention add few, focus groups. company that hire you to study their products. >> like the day i went in, it was a taste testing day.

they were taste testing. ready for this milkshakes, chocolate. i watch the people. they take it seriously. the people are analyzing the packaging. they are analyzing the taste. they fill it out. then they left with cash in their hand. so it's everything from computer chips to potato chips and everything in between. >> there are ever focus groups at home? >> yeah. a lot of them are online surveys. test out how consumer friendly this website is or like for a mom at home, it might be something like a laundry detergent or cereal. >> mock jury, that feels to me like -- how do you get in on that? >> before trial taerattorneys w to take a case before a jury, they want a mock jury. they want to see what strategies work, what turns them on, turns them off. they will hire special focus groups. there's a whole list of these mock juror cases.

they check it out before hand. >> mystery shopper that sounds good, too. >> we love shopping. what it basically is. you're a consumer, customer, go under cover. it might be something like a movie theater, restaurant. it can be something that any customer would experience. then you write it up. not only that but you also get to keep the things, like if you go shopping or go to dinner, you get paid and you get the service. >> with election season upon us, poll workers jobs are available. >> yeah. that is really fun and interesting. people feel good about that. you can earn anywhere from $100 to $200. you go through a little training period. a lot of them will bring you back year after year. >> i'm sure everybody is sitting at home saying how do i sign up. we put resources on today.com, how to sign up for the job. a lot of quick money at home, how can you tell which is a scam. >> most important, pay for nothing.

you shouldn't have to pay registration fees, buy lists. no money. you want to check when you register with these places they have a good -- they don't sell your information. they have to have a really good privacy policy. you're safe. don't give social security number, banking, anything like that. resources on the site are vetted very well. i personally vetted them. >> another good reason to do to today.com. thank you. good ideas. appreciate it. >> sure. >> if you wan more information how to earn money moonlighting go, to our website. coming up next, al's book club kids get into the olympic spirit with their latest reads after these messages. the capital one cash rewards card gives you a 50% annual bonus. and who doesn't want 50% more cash? ugh, the baby. huh! and then the baby bear said, "i want 50% more cash in my bed!" phhht! 50% more cash is good ri... what's that. ♪ you can spell. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card.

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we can have hotdogs for dinner?! yes. [ male announcer ] it's nice to finally say "yes." new oscar mayer selects. it's yes food. ♪ >> this morning on al's book club for kids, rush for the gold. mystery at the olympics. susan competing as a swimmer at her first olympic games, her boyfriend by her side.

he's worried. going too far trying to make sure the newest darling wins gold. author of "rush for the gold." we want to welcome back our book club kids. and joining us via skype, our special guest ryan from pennsylvania. how are you guys doing? >> good. >> all righty. let's get started. first off, john, this is -- talk about a timely story. what was your inspiration for this? >> al, this is the sixth book in a series of kids mysteries i started seven years ago when my 10-year-old son wanted to start reading my books. i didn't think "on the brink" or other nonfiction works were appropriate for a 10-year-old. since i'm a sports writer, i set them at the sporting events. i set her up as a swimmer right from the beginning because i'm an old, out of shape swimmer clearly. >> a veteran. >> i appreciate that. >> let's get started. first of all, sarah, what's your

question. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> your book "rush for the gold" has two main characters. why did you decide to have two main characters. did this make the writing process hard for you? >> that's a good question. i wanted, in today's world boys and girls all grow up as athletes if they want to be. that didn't used to be the case when al and i were growing up. fortunately it is now thanks to title 9. i wanted to make the girl the better athlete to get away from stereotypes. so i created them as aspiring journalists, since that's what i was as a teenager and made susan carol into the athlete. in this book, of course, she becomes an olympic athlete. >> jack, what's your question? >> hi. >> hi, jack. >> i'm a swimmer, so i enjoyed the swimming lingo. why did you pick swimming and how did you find out so much information about the sport? >> from swimming very slowly a long time. can i feel all the pain real

swimmers feel just feel them more slowly. that's why i made her a swimmer in the very first book in the series because of my experience as a swimmer. when she got to the olympics, it was easy for me as a reporter to write about the swimming aspect and reporting aspect so it worked out well for me. >> jack, are you a better swimmer than your dad? my son nick is better for me. demoralizing actually. >> i know the feeling. >> sidney, what's your question? >> both susan and stevie are bothered by the fact athletes' earnings depended on their look. why can you include that? >> i've experienced that myself. seeing athletes become stars not just because of their ability but because of their looks, both men and women. commercialization is part of sports. we all live with it today. you guys see the commercials for athletes. i think it's kinds of unfair sometimes when people are judged based strictly on their looks, not on their talent or

personality. >> we're going to head now to skype and pennsylvania. we've got 9-year-old ryan joining us. good morning, ryan. >> hello, mr. feinstein. i'm very happy to have the opportunity to talk to you. main characters in the book, stevie and susan. when did you decide you wanted to be a sports writer like them. >> i decided i would be a sports writer when i realized i wasn't a good enough athlete to make a living as an athlete. when i was in college i started writing about sports rather than competing in college. i was lucky. it gave me a way to be around sports, carry out my passion for sports and to get paid for it. i sometimes think, it's amazing, i get paid to do things that normally people pay to do. i was very lucky to stumble into it in college. >> we should all be so blessed. >> i consider myself blessed every day. >> thanks so much. first find out how the kids rated the book.

on a scale of one to five, rush for the gold gets four and a half stars. you guys really enjoyed this. >> yes. >> i paid them off. >> that's a good way to make sure you get the stars. >> whatever works. >> joking. if you're between the ages of 9 and 12 and you'd like the chance to be our next guest kid, head to today.com. time to reveal our next book in al's book club for kids. it is "vanished." by sheela chari. thanks so much, john. good to have you. >> thank you. up next, satisfying foods to flatten your belly. first this is "today" on nbc.

this morning on eat smart today, flat belly foods, some of the best to stay slim.

registered dietitian and nutrition blogger for self magazine. good morning. >> good morning. >> you've got a lot to get through. let's first talk about breakfast. you've got something that will help fill us up, quick and easy. >> this is my favorite flat belly for morning time. peanut butter and berry yogurt. the flat belly food is peanut butter, monday o unsaturated fl. they use more calories. >> the yogurt, protein. >> a lot of protein and another secret ingredient with snacks. >> berries. >> berries, add the flavor like a pbj in the cup. >> i never thought to put peanut butter in the yogurt. just stir it up. >> take it with you. >> for lunch you can have pizza. a modified way to flatten the belly. >> this modification makes it flat belly start. we swapped out typical bread

crust for mushroom cap. mushrooms are the great flat belly food the only plant source of vitamin d. they have linked lower levels of vitamin d to higher levels of belly fat. >> portabellos instead of a steak or hamburger. >> great that way. >> i love this snack here, flat belly snack. you've got to have your coffee, iced mocha. how is this a flat belly food. >> my go to post workout food. exercise is easier when we have a treat to look forward to at the end. >> you just told millions in america your secret. that's good. we like it. >> it's great i'm mixing cold coffee with low fat chocolate milk. that has the perfect ratio of nutrients to refuel after a workout, build muscle and fat. a lot of olympic athletes drink chocolate milk. for salty snacks, ideas to lessen bloat. >> popcorn is fabulous, sweet,

savory and crunchy. all those great things. all three ingredients are flat belly foods. >> almonds, chocolate and popcorn. >> popcorn is a whole grain. i've air popped it. whole grains are great because people who eat whole grains have less belly fat than people who eat refined grains. >> delicious. >> fabulous. >> fill you up because it's popcorn. >> what's here, a dip. >> if you like creamy dips but want to keep your flat belly, this the dip for you. it is fabulous, rich and creamy. i swacpped out sour cream for greek style yogurt. the secret ingredient in the yogurt i've told you about, probiotics. studies show people that eat probiotics have less belly bloating. >> a banana with treats on it. >> this reminds me of a treat at the fair when i was a kid.

>> a healthy one, not fried. >> this is a flat belly snack in disguise. >> what's on the banana. >> almond butter, healthy fats like peanut butter, rolled in crushed whole grain cereal and raisins. both are fiber, natural appetite suppress ant. >> hummus. we love that. >> i know you've had it before. a fun snack for parties, easy. a secret ingredient. you know what that is? >> i'm guessing the gar gar banzo beans. >> you got it. >> tasty way to go. >> just drink some water with it and gradually increase your intake. >> for dinner options love this. quinoa bowl. >> it's a flat belly food, not only a whole grain, the only grain that's a complete protein

as well. >> you've got tuna and everything else here. >> throw it in the bowl. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. coming up, dark knight rises actor.

good morning, 9:57 on this wednesday, july 18th. breaking news out of silver spring where firefighters have put out a fire onboard a ride-on bus. here's a look from chopper 4 a bit earlier. someone driving by sent us a photo, as well. you see it here. this bus is at the intersection of ramsey avenue. so far no word on any injuries or other damage. this is at least the seventh ride-on bus to catch fire in the past three years. bring you much more on this breaking story on "new s 4

midday." almost 10:00 in the morning and near 90 degrees throughout much of the region. higher humidity in place and it will clime eb to near 100. looks like a likelihood of scattered thunderstorms. some could be severe and maybe more thursday and friday. danella, how is traffic? >> hot outside and on the roads. outer loop of the beltway and telegraph road getting to the wilson bridge is a slow trip at 26 miles per hour. aaron, back over to you. >> thank you, [ obama ] i'm barack obama, and i approve this message. [ female announcer ] every woman who believes decisions about our bodies and our health care should be our own is troubled mitt romney supports overturning roe versus wade. romney backed a law that outlaws all abortion -- even in cases of rape and incest. and that's not all. i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. [ female announcer ] for women, planned parenthood means life-saving cancer screenings and family-planning services.

but, for mitt romney... planned parenthood. we're going to get rid of that.

from nbc news, this is "today." with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> we are having a party here. it's wines-day wednesday. july 18th. noisy in our satellite studio. welcome all you noisy people. hey! >> we have a huge posse of about six or seven. >> you know why they're so excited, hoda? they heard about this new weight loss drug. >> there is a drug out there the second one out,

it's supposed to make you full and supposed to make you drop 6-9% of your body weight. it suppresses your appetite. >> makes you feel full already. >> you still have to diet and exercise. the thing i have with all those pills, i don't stop eating because i'm full. you just eat because that's what you do. >> i had a dog like that once. chablis. >> you see what i have to deal with, all four of you. >> my other dogs finish -- >> why are we talking about dogs. we're talking about dieting. >> most people stop when they're full. >> no, they don't. most people don't stop when they're full. most people eat the rest of the potato chip bag because it's there. >> we'd love to hear from you. apparently we have 340,000 that talk to us on facebook. >> yes, we do. >> we have to beat the first hour's. they're up to a million. >> the "today" show has a million facebook likes. it's a big foam thumb everyone

is passing around. we don't have as many in our own little hour. >> we don't understand that. we have rabid fans. >> we have 340,000 and we need to jack it up? doctors are raising concerns about this drug we typically hear and can raise the heart rate in some cases. the magic bullet and the old-fashioned way is the best way, earn it. for morbidly obese people, it gives hope. >> we're happy for them. good news about bruce springsteen. he's back in business. he was playing in hyde park with sir paul mccartney and because it was 10:00 at night and so late, they decided to pull the plug because the concert went on beyond the time it should. bruce springsteen got the last word. he went to dublin, he brought his own amplifiers. >> generator. >> whatever, plugged them in, and he picked up where he left off. so he sang.

and he talked. after he played that song. >> what's he doing now? >> this is very unusual, what we're seeing, the generator. then he played "i fought the law and the law won." he played 31 songs for three hours and 21 minutes. >> i'm sure he made a lot of people happy. >> i was out -- what's the word? i lost that one. no, no, i asked you guys about it. i always think of the person at that concert having a hard time with the noise. apparently you all are unbelievably selfish and don't care about yourself. >> if you live near hyde park, there will be events there and noise and music. that'sy you chose to live. >> interesting you are saying that. let's talk about the other subject we went around and around. the lady -- we'll talk about tom cruise in a second, guys. the lady that became the ceo of yahoo!. >> her name is marissa mayer.

here's the deal. she was actually given the ceo title when she was pregnant. everyone is lauding yahoo! for saying, she's pregnant, we're not sure, should we give her the title she'll be gone for a period of time. they gave her the job. >> she earned it. >> sometimes the pregnancy can put a wrinkle in your career path. she said what she was going to do was take three weeks maternity leave and kind of work through it at home. that's raised some concerns among some people. they feel like, geez, if the boss is only taking three weeks, what happens when i get pregnant, will she expect me to take such a short maternity leave, is this the standard she's setting by being the boss? >> that's when it started. that's when the games began. >> arguing. >> not arguing. i've had two children and i was working full time at the time. i came back five weeks with each baby. i was blessed to be able to bring my children with me. i know that. christine and i and the baby

left connecticut at 6:30 every morning and it worked out very very well for us. however, this is where i tie it back to what you were saying. they chose to live at hyde park. you know, when you have a child and feminism i thought looking back, i was there when i started, is about choices. we should respect one another's choices. if this lady -- first of all, yahoo! is having a lot of trouble. they need this lady. she's there to save this company. if people are worried about whether they can take their full maternity leave, they may not have a job either. who knows what would happen. she knows her job is to save that company, turn it around. she also wants to be a good mom. i feel for her. you're always torn. >> if you are a ceo, you can get help and have a nanny. if you are a mom who works in an office and has a restricted amount of maternity leave and have to race back and don't get the bonding thing, i get why it's controversial. there was something in "time"

magazine -- >> 35%. >> the u.s. equal employment opportunity commission said pregnant related charges were up 35%. some people come back from maternity leave and losing their job or getting demoted. >> they're not supposed to according to law. gauaranteed three months, unpai maternity leave your job is there when you come back. >> that doesn't always happen or has changed or evolved. >> we have to enforce the laws we already have. i can't imagine what a nirvana that would be. we'd love to know how you all feel about that. maybe i'm wrong all over again. >> you've always been wrong. >> you make choices in life and you have to live with the choice, okay? >> i think so. >> called growing up and maturing, hodie. >> let's talk about tom cruise and surrey. >> i'm not lying, remember that? >> they say if you lie up and

lo look, i say down and left. >> i don't trust anybody that does this when i'm talking to him. >> we haven't seen tom cruise since the divorce. we saw him with surrey the first time, scooping her up at the greenwich hotel. >> can you imagine, going through so much and you'd like to just have a quiet moment with your daughter. apparently he had five minutes picking her up. they will sort of have one of those -- it's not a nanny but a person who is the buffer zone between both parents so they don't end up having any meetings personally. it's sad, but somebody - somebody -- according to tmz, a source says he's sad about the divorce but not bitter. who is this person? >> how do they know whether he's bitter or sad, probably both things. >> it es-tmi. >> you guys have read the oh bits in the papers. there was an interesting

obituary, a 59-year-old guy named val paterson wrote his own and put it in his local paper in utah and his beloved wife and decides to come clean about all the things he had done and decided to write it out. >> he knew he was going to die of throat cancer. >> number one, he wasn't a phd. >> he doesn't even know what phd stands for. >> there was a paperwork issue at his college, you have a phd. okay. he kept it. >> disneyland can now take him off the ban for life list. >> as it turns out i am the guy who stole the safe from the motor view drive inn back in june 1971. i could have left that unsaid but i wanted to get it off my chest. now, to that really mean park ranger after all, it was me that rolled those rocks into your geyser and ruined it. i did notice a few years later you did get old faithful working again. my regret is i felt invincible

when i was young and smoked cigarettes when i knew they were bad for me. now, to make it worse, i have robbed my beloved maryjane of a decade or more of the two of us growing old together. i feel like a thief now for stealing. >> don't you love his final remarks. if you want to live forever, don't stop breathing like i did. >> i bet that guy was fun. write your own obituary. i won't trust that to other people. >> marry claire magazine has different editions for people on the planet. one in south africa. on the cover, kate middleton appears. she looks like a cover girl, looks like she's sporting an outfit designed by a south african designer. >> although we've never seen her in quite that oober model pose, have we? >> they shopped her head on to another body. they weren't deceptive. on the front of it, it says she is wearing a south african

design designer dress with the headline, kate middleton's new icon, wear south african's local designs with an asterisk. at the bottom of the magazine. >> a little tiny asterisk, the editor says in tiny print, of course, she doesn't but she should. that's not really her and she's not really wearing the outfit. >> was it a violation of her privacy in a sensor do you think it was very clever because everybody was talking about it and they just got a whole bunch of publicity for free on nbc news. >> i think it's deceived. you pick up the magazine in the airport and buy it and then you read below. that would bother me. >> don't dupe hodie. >> would you -- wednesday wine-day. >> let's do it tomorrow. we have a nice olympic book for children. it's called the ring force book. it's released in accordance with the olympics, for kids 8-12. >> by brian brown.

>> and $6.98. what is it about. >> currently on sale at bar barnes & noble. be a good aunt and read it to your nieces. >> my mom is baby-sitting for the first time two of my nieces alone. two girls. my mom is tweeting pictures. >> the woman is in control. >> there they are! i can't believe you got that picture up. my mom just took a picture. this is the two of them. she had never done it together but there they are. >> they're just having a great adjustment now, right? it was hard for her. she comes from ethiopia, doesn't speak -- she is beautiful! >> coming up, the most anticipated movie of the summer. >> gotham's commissioner gordon, aka gary oldman is here. going to talk about batman's new adventure, got four stars in all the newspapers this morning. we'll be with him after this.

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bacon? ohh, la, la... oh, i say, is that bacon?! oh, good heavens! bacon! bacon! bacon! bacon! who wants a beggin' strip? meee! i'd get it myself but i don't have thumbs! yum, yum, yum, yum, yum... it's bacon!!! mmm i love you, i love bacon. i love you. i love bacon. i love you. beggin' strips! there's no time like beggin' time. and check out beggin' thick cut. i'm gonna need a bigger mouth! already sold out in many theaters across the country.

director christopher noland's final trilogy of the batman series is arguably the most anticipated film of the summer. >> it brings back christian bale as batman and gary oldman as commissioner gordon. over the last years, it hasn't been an easy few years. >> something you want to ask me, officer blake? >> it's not that night, this night, eight years ago. the last confirmed sighting of the batman, murders two people, takes down two s.w.a.t. teams and breaks a man's neck and then vanishes. >> i'm not hearing the questions. >> don't you want to know who he was? >> i know exactly who he was. he was the batman. >> of course, you do. then it gets really good after that. >> great to see you. you look a lot better in person. we don't want to give away any

secrets. sworn to secrecy. you don't fare so well. >> no, i don't. i thought, i look old in this movie. >> you were keeping a secret, weren't you, in the movie? can you give a little of that? >> no. i have a secret. it's a secret to the people of goth gotham. in the last one, we know how it ended. and so i know what really went down with the batman. >> erin. >> so i was sort of compromised and forced into a position to essentially lie to the people of gotham. >> imagine that. >> imagine a commissioner or politician lying to the people, yes. >> a real stretch. >> you have new characters. anne hathaway plays a great cat

woman. >> i think this could be career changing for ann. she'll be offered different kind of roles. >> i have to admit when i first heard the casting, i didn't see it. oh, my gosh, she's riveting in every scene she's in, except for the ones with you and you steal it then. >> they pay you to say that. >> this is a high action film. a lot of that. a little different than the previous one. >> yeah. i mean, it's interesting with chris because he likes to do a lot of effects that are in camera. he would rather use real vehicles and stuntmen rather than digital effects. i think there's an immediacy to this one. you feel that you're up there, you know, with those airplanes because the airplanes are really in the sky. >> did you shoot a lot of it on

location here in new york? we see a lot of what looks like new york in the final version. was this done on a sound stage or some place or here? >> some sound stage and quite a bit here and los angeles and pittsburg pittsburgh. >> i was reading it was actually fun on the set and a very intense movie. >> you had a hard time on this. >> i did. some of the scenes are tough to watch. >> hodie doesn't like torture. >> neither do i. >> on the set, a lot of singing with anne hathaway. >> just break into show tunes? >> we were in an underpass in downtown l.a. and we couldn't really get back to the trailer. there's a lot of hardware in the movie, as you know and they have to reposition it and move it around. long delays in the shooting. >> what were you singing? >> "guys and dolls." >> of course, you were. >> ann was adelaide, of course,

and i figured gordon would sound something like this, he would have a bravado. ♪ i've never been in love before ♪ >> sue me sue me what can you sue me, i love you ♪ >> the movie is unbelievable just going to clean up. you got a multi-picture deal. gary oldman. it opens nationwide this friday. sara is back with things that make you go, what the what! >> plus, who is the most googled celebrity? look who we got here. put a little pepper on that. i'm a typical mom. i go to amusement parks. and my kid's games. and just like any typical mom

i'm thrilled when my champion loves to eat something nutritious, like chobani champions yogurt. it's a good source of protein, and most important, he loves it. so even though i'm an olympian, around here, i'm just another mom trying to help her champion win the day. chobani champions. win the day. [ crunches ] mmm. ♪ [ male announcer ] pringles... bursting with more flavor. [ crunch! ] more generations of fleas. frontline plus uses two ingredients. one to kill adult fleas and ticks. plus another to kill the next generation,

flea eggs and larvae. ask your vet about frontline plus. flea eggs and larvae. hey, becky. hey....uncle steve. for life's bleachable moments. that's been wrapped in a flaky crust stuffed with a gooey center toasted up all golden brown then given a delicious design? a toaster strudel. pillsbury toaster strudel. so delicious...so fun. to help keep stuff off their hands. ♪ this back to school ♪ there's a new routine ♪ grab a kleenex® tissue to help keep your hands clean ♪ ♪ every time you sneeze no matter where ♪

♪ ya gotta shield sneeze swish like you just don't care ♪ ♪ shield sneeze swish ♪ check out my swish ♪ da da da da da, da da da da da ♪ [ female announcer ] only kleenex® brand has sneeze shield in all their tissues to help keep stuff off kids' hands. it's that time of the week when we take a look at things and make you stop and say, what the what? >> sara is here to share the topics from the photos you sent. >> the first is from tony. it comes with good news. the detail man guarantees i

won't leave wax in your cracks. >> that is -- >> personally, i appreciate that. >> wax in your -- okay. >> and anna submitted this crazy photo. isn't it a little early to teach them to drop and give me twenty? >> oh, my gosh. >> little aden was trying to crawl and got stuck in that position. that's adorable. look at his little chubby toes holding up his weight. >> look at the little rolls of chubs holding up his knees. >> the proportion of strength at that point, he's doing a lot there. >> he will play batman in the 100th installment of the movie. >> ful from ralph samples, employees must use toilet paper before returning to work. was that an issue before? sn>> that is so nasty. >> nothing about washing your hands. >> no, not washing your hands and just use toilet paper. how did they even discover that

problem. >> pee limit, 25 miles an hour. can you even gauge that? >> did they scrape off the lettereds? >> they've fallen off. i like that. >> it's nice to remind people. >> if you're doing that at 50 miles an hour, somebody gets hurt. >> finally, diane davis submitted this photo. p pizeryia and bakery now open, still serving japanese, in case you were wondering. this is a diverse restaurant. >> all righty then. >> you know what i have the say, actually, i was into it this time. >> it's a good day for your sara. >> welcome back to the team. >> submit your photos to kgl & hoda.com. >> what are you googling right now? we will tell you who you're googling. >> looking like a beach babe. >> hoda knows. if you like bargain hunting, we'll tell you where to get the

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...and now... you! [ giggles ] ♪ the one and only, cheerios we are back with more on this wines-day wednesday. time to play our weekly trivia game. we are asking questions about the place everyone goes to ask answers. that is google. kathy is across the street to hand out 100 bucks to those who get the questions right and for those who don't, they get kathie lee's cd. who doesn't want that. daniel is with me, google's technologist. what is that? >> i get to do cool stuff with google. >> look at this beautiful mom and daughter from florida. it will be kirsten's eighth birthday on friday.

which celebrity has been the most popular so far on google? chris brown, katie holmes, beyonce or tom cruise. >> this year -- >> she hasn't said it yet! >> i would say katie. >> now, you can do it. >> katie holmes. >> probably not a big surprise to folks. tom cruise and she have been in the news lately. katie holmes, definitely. >> she's hot for this minute. definitely for sure. back across to kath. >> from houston, texas. what is the most popular youtube video of all time? "baby," "charlie bit my finger," "david after dentist" or "coney 2012." >> i think it's b. "charlie bit my finger." >> i thought you were going to say bieber. no.

she's going to love my album. it's totally inappropriate for her age. >> tell us it is not "charlie bit my finger," baby by justin baber. >> what is "charlie bit my finger." >> a powerful video. very cute. m hysterical stuff that. that bieber video, it stuck in my head. i did not watch it before doing the research. >> there it is. ♪ >> it is in the ca zillions. >> very nice tall gentleman from columbus. which of the following olympic athletes gathered the highest amount of queries on google search leading up to the summer games? chris paul, kobe bryant, shawn johnson or lebron james. >> as a miami heat fan, i would say lebron james. >> you are right. >> lebron is getting the most queries on google. >> a slam-dunk. lebron getting a lot of attention with the miami heat and summer olympics coming up. interestingly, shawn johnson is

up there, even though she's not competing in the olympics. people are curious about her. there's been ads featuring her and she is very beloved. >> she'll be there as a commentator. >> i'm sure. >> a lovely lady visiting from salt lake city. what is this hottest vacation destination of the summer so far on google search? puerto rico, los angeles, orlando or miami? >> i don't know. the hottest is new york. >> that's not the question. you got it wrong then. >> sorry. we think so, but that's not the answer. go ahead. >> the correct answer is not new york. it is orlando. >> which may surprise some folks but they're often looking for summer vacation deals and different packages, disney world, of course. we are seeing people choosing it as a honeymoon location. >> they're going to disney for their honeymoon. >> they're going to orlando and maybe fold in disney world, i don't know. >> sounds romantic. back across.

>> like the beach boys song. >> that's right. what u.s. city have americans searched for the most on google earth this year, honolulu, las vegas, new york city or san francisco. >> new york city. >> he said that with no hesitation. >> he was right. >> google earth. a hot spot. >> what's really cool about new york city if you check it out on google earth, you can see the 3 d building, an immersive experience. >> it's crazy how it takes you to the street level and can see the cars parked. >> crazy. >> visiting from wisconsin, ever since 2003, how many unique searches has google answered? 65 million, 1.5 billion, 450 billion or 920 trillion? >> 450 billion. >> wow. was that a guess? >> yes. >> she guessed right. 450 billion. that's a lot. >> 450 billion unique searches.

people do searches everyday. that's just for unique queries in the last nine years or so and still going. amazing. >> thanks for coming to see us. we appreciate it. how to get those beach goddess waves without hitting the beach. all about the hair after this. [ female announcer ] over the last ten years, your mouth has sipped, snacked, ...yellowed... giggled, snuggled, ...yellowed... chatted, chewed, ...yellowed. and over all those years, your teeth...have yellowed. fact is, if you're not whitening, you're yellowing. crest 3d white whitestrips remove over ten years of stains by going below the enamel surface. and, they whiten 25 times better than a leading whitening toothpaste. crest whitestrips. life opens up when you do.

"ok, yoplait blackberry is so yummy! i think i have a new favorite!" thank you! but piña colada and orange crème are kind of jealous right now. and key lime pie is just staying out of it. yoplait. it is so good.

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time for "today's" style. how to get that sexy summer hair. it's usually about fighting back

that frizz. >> you know a thing or two about that, don't you, hoda. you can get a few easy tips from nick, arojo studio, he has some help. >> how are you? >> terrific. >> our first model has kind of thick hair. you wouldn't know by looking at her. >> she has a lot of hair. >> you're trying to get a wave into that. what's any best way to do it? >> she actually has quite a bit of curl in her hair and we want to get it flatter with a straightening iron. we push in the bend and press that. so we heat the bend because the heat is actually going to change the texture. >> fascinating. >> see how flat that wave is. not a big one. it's okay, it has protection in there. we protected the hair. you can see the steam, the product. >> what product are you using? >> you can get products that will protect the hair. >> like what? >> like a thermal protector.

that's what they're called. >> i need specifics. >> thermal protectors protect your hair and stop it from burning and protect you from the sun. >> do you spray it with hairspray to stay where you like it. >> once you've prepped it with a little bit of holding spray, then you press it, protection, then you press it and make the magic. >> it takes time. >> it takes a bit of time to do. >> what about the back? >> you have to pull it forward like this. if you're doing it yourself, you will be working it around. you hold the piece down, push. this is to flatten the hair down. >> you get better at it. >> you get better at it. >> thank you very much. >> she has a lot of hair. she has super super fine hair. it's very different. this one, we only use a rod, a hotrod. >> a hotrod. >> what we do is this is a little bit easier, we will put some movement in here. you place, you place, you twist, you place, you twist.

you create that curl. this is a little bit easier, this will put a little more volume. >> sometimes it's easy to burn the tips of your finger. >> these come with a glove but seeing i'm a pro, i didn't wear the glove. >> arojo the pro. >> just so people know, there's no little -- what is that? >> this is the one. >> even if you wanted to put a bend in somewhere. the key to this look for sure is keeping everything nice and flat. nice and smooth because it's not big this way, it's cascading down. >> did you prep her hair, too? >> yes, we prepped it. you have to prep it. also -- we used a texture spray. we used a texture spray, an aerosol texture spray. it can be a dry shampoo, too. that actually building bulk in the hair. >> builds bulk. makes the thick a little fuller. from manchester, england. >> what's alecia got going on?

>> this is a permanent texture change. that's what this is. >> what are you doing? >> she has naturally very very straight hair. >> oh, my gosh. >> this is how we set it. >> awesome. >> this is how we set it. >> when it's wet? >> we apply the lotion. now, she has these permanent waves. when she started out, she had bone straight hair. this is the newest way. remember in the good old days, we used to perm. >> that doesn't hurt your hair at all. >> doesn't hurt. we have different lotions now. this creates movement. she had bone straight hair when we met her. this is permanently done. >> you did this i'd already? >> we didn't put these in. we only put these in to show you. in the good old days they used to perm on small rods. >> yes. it was nasty. >> now, we're using a soft tool to create the waves and movement. >> i don't know if that's his real name. >> we don't know. if you're looking to save some money, we will tell you what to buy right now.

>> that looks really great. ♪ [ acoustic guitar: upbeat ] [ dog ] we found it together. on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. and you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere. because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing... had made you play. and that... had made you smile. [ announcer ] beneful. play. it's good for you. in your breakfast cereal, what is? now, in every box of general mills big g cereal, there's more whole grain than any other ingredient. that's why it's listed first. get more whole grain than any other ingredient... just look for the white check. anti-aging cream undeniably. it creamed unbelievably a $500 cream and now women have made regenerist microsculpting cream also unscented. women love it.

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it's time for today's consumer and how to find a good bargain. the summer is full of deals to be had. timing is everything. >> here with the scoop on what to buy right now is kim langford, a contributing editor to kipling"kiplinger's personal finance" magazine. >> thanks for having me. >> it is that time people are looking for a great deal. often, you don't know the right way to go about finding a good deal, do you? >> that's exactly right. this time of year, while everyone is at the beach and thinking about vacation, that's when the stores are offering great deals to get you in there. >> get the traffic going. >> exactly. if you work ahead of time and a few weeks before everyone does back to school shopping, you can hear really great deals. >> you always hear christmas in july and people buying stuff. everyone is doing their christmas shopping now. is that a good idea? >> you can get some things

earlier. some of these christmas in july deals and black friday july deals, a little bit of them are gimmicky. not as good deals as you would get in november during the real black friday. you can get some really good deals now. especially as the end of the seasons wind up, especially on furniture and clothing, back to school things, those are exactly right this time of year. >> you look for discounts and the right sale. >> delaware is a great spot. yeah. >> the sales tax-free day. >> that is coming up. 17 states this year, are offering sales tax-free days. usually, they're the beginning of august. getting started in your school shopping. they usually have a real specific list of what you can get sales tax-free, like school items, some clothing and some states even let you get a computer sales tax-free. there's a few catches. you need to be very careful. sometimes, especially for clothing, it has to be items $100 or less. it can add up to be several hundred. you don't want to go over that

$100, because then you have to pay the taxes. >> what are those proposal mow codes a lot of department stores have. >> this is where the websites are wonderful. they will help you find some of these proposal mow codes that add and additional amount off. in addition to some of these sales like lord & taylor right now has a proposal mow code, if you put "final" in, you get 20% off in addition to the sales. >> that adds up. pretty soon they will pay you to take stuff away from them. it's unbelievable. if you're ordering patio furniture and that type of stuff, get them to deliver it for free. >> that's exactly right. macy's has a deal you can get a percentage off, 15% off and they'll deliver it free if it's $999 or more. >> that adds up. >> it does, especially for something large like that. bloomingdales has free order online. not only do you get up to 75% o, they are having a huge sale right now of certain items. it's worth looking at.

then, if you order online, you get free shipping, too. a great time. >> and gym memberships, we can't talk about it. people expect you to do it in january, don't, do it now. sex, romance drama, enough about hoda. all the makings of a great summer read. >> first, this is "today" on nbc. [ obama ] i'm barack obama, and i approve this message. [ female announcer ] every woman who believes decisions about our bodies and our health care should be our own is troubled mitt romney supports overturning roe versus wade. romney backed a law that outlaws all abortion -- even in cases of rape and incest. and that's not all. i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. [ female announcer ] for women, planned parenthood means life-saving cancer screenings and family-planning services. but, for mitt romney... planned parenthood. we're going to get rid of that.

[ jim ] you know, that's our business. so we want to be the experts in chicken.

we're not the status quo. perdue is the first and the only chicken company to have usda process verified programs for fresh, all natural chicken. [ jim ] this is an all-vegetarian diet. no animal byproducts, no animal fat. our chickens are not fed steroids or hormones. it's not gonna happen. [ jim ] we raise our chickens cage-free, and we set our goals higher than anyone. we're trying to make a better chicken. [ jim ] my dad did, my grandfather did, and it's what we do today.

it's time for today's sisling summer read. today is described as romantic, sharp edged and delicious. again, enough about hoda woman. >> we're talking about "imperfect bliss," the third novel from mtv comedy writer, sarah. >> the hits keep on coming. >> i pump out babies and books.

>> and you do it beautifully. >> this is based on a maid-up reality show about a virgin. item right? >> are there still any of those out there beside mice daughter? >> there are women over the age of 13 who are. we're living in such a crazy and absurd world, thinking, what's next, the only thick thng they haven't done a woman select iin someone on national tv a certified version but she's not really teaching abstinence, in a push-up bra. >> it never really made it out. >> there was an outcry. we do have a taste level inte somewhere. >> you thought it was coming out and you wanted to beat it. >> and also a take on "pride and prejudice," and before, it was 25 men in a ballroom vying for the attentions of a woman. now, it's 25 beefcakes in a hot

tub vying for the attention of a young woman. >> do you know how many germs are in that hot tub? >> i think if jane austin were alive today, she would be writing about these reality shows. her books are about the search for truth. >> do you watch these reality shows? >> here's my secret confession. when "the bachelor" was first coming on, it's the fall of western civilization. my husband said, yes, dear. two weeks later inter, there was i hooked. >> what happened? >> tryst is about to take her guys. >> did you watch this one with emily? >> i'm tuning in on sunday because it's going to be very exciting. we're living in the time of picking your husband through -- >> it would be a great beach read, this book, the kind you fly right through? >> absolutely. >> are there real lessons? >> there are real lessons because it is about trying to find the marriage of true minds or money.

>> or bodies. >> although bodies are a good thing. >> in the evening, mr. right now. >> that will disappear pretty quickly if you don't have the two minds. >> the heroine is a divorced woman and living back at home and sisters on the show. this is a book about picking yourself up when life has knocked you down on your derriere. >> start all over again. thank you. >> good to see you again. congratulations. >> tomorrow, we have our ambushed makeovers and the latest ways women are making new friends. >> that's right. everybody needs them, plus last minute vacations for the busy people there. have a fabulous wednesday. see you tomorrow.