good morning. america remembers on this 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. the nation pauses to grieve and reflect at ground zero in new york, the pentagon and? shanksville, pennsylvania. class dismissed. no school again today for some 400,000 students in chicago as a teacher strike there enters a second day. are negotiators any closer to ending that walkout. and royal visit. the duke and duchess of cambridge arrive in singapore as they kick off a nine-day tour of the region. we're there live today, tuesday, september 11th, 2012. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

this is "today" with matt lauer and savannah guthrie live from studio 1 oac at rockefeller plaza. good morning. welcome to "today" on tuesday morning. i'm savannah guthrie. >> and i'm matt lauer. services to remember the worst terror attack on this nation are being held all around the country today. >> that's right. more on those services coming up as well as a remarkable survivor story from the world trade center. we'll talk to a man who rode down a pile of debris for more than 15 floors in the north tower before being rescued. he is sharing that story for the first time in an exclusive interview this morning. >> all right. look forward to that. meanwhile, it's another frustrating day for parents out in chicago this morning where teachers are back on the picket lines in the nation's third largest school district. >> have to imagine they are feeling the heat in chicago. monday's negotiations failed to end that strike, so representatives from the union and school district will be back

at it today. we're going to have the latest from chicago straight ahead. also, some important information if you're among the tens of millions of people who own an iphone or ipad. why you could be in danger of being hacked if you're downloading certain apps, and mostly these are older apps, but this is really important information. >> a little bit scary, too. there's possible legal trouble for the teen star miley cyrus. the los angeles police department is investigating an altercation allegeding involving the 19-year-old at a hollywood nightclub. what she's accused of and savannah got to be the she's deejay on monday. great for those carpenter fans, and this morning it's al's turn to reveal his go-to play list. we'll get started on that in just a little while. let's begin in chicago where teachers are walking the picket line for a second straight day. nbc's kevin tibbles is out there. kevin, good morning to you. >> reporter: yes, indeed, matt, and for a second straight day, parents are searching for a safe operation to send their children. and the longer this strike

persists, the higher tensions are just going to get. chicago public school teachers took to the streets to get their message out. thousands marched to city hall, causing massive traffic jams. 29,000 teachers hit the picket lines, striking for the first time in 25 years and leaving some 400,000 students out of the classroom. >> it's not the best thing because you can't learn very much things and you have to miss the subjects. >> it's tough for us as i'm a senior. >> reporter: as some students worried how the strike might impact graduation plans. >> you know how long this is going to be going on. >> reporter: many parents were left scrambling for child care. >> it's hard right now. i can't find a babysitter. >> let's start problem-solving. >> reporter: for ruth lyons the strike means struggling a home

business and keeping children ready. >> this is not helping the children at all. >> reporter: some schools did open half a day with non-union staff. churches and local community centers were teeming with kids. >> so much violence going on in the city of chicago skyrocketing, we didn't want -- we want our kids to be in a safe place. >> reporter: the strike's also become political, accusing the president of siding with teachers, mitt romney released a statement saying, teachers unions have too often made plain that their interests conflict with those of our children. >> how are you? >> reporter: chicago mayor rahm emanuel, an obama supporter, called romney's statement lip service. >> i don't really give two hoots about national comments scoring political points or trying to embarrass or whatever the president. >> what do we want? >> reporter: as negotiations drag on, frustrations are mounting on both sides and in many households. >> if the strike is off in a week, you're up to speed and you're not too far behind and

you don't get a ton of homework, right? >> yeah. >> reporter: and, of course, i guess the only real good news out of this today, matt, is that the teachers and the school board do say that they will continue negotiating, and while they say progress is being made, and they say that each and every day, obviously not enough progress to get these kids back in the classroom. matt? >> kevin tibbles in chicago this morning, kevin, thank you very much. >> want to get a check of the day's other stories. natalie morales is over at the news desk. >> good morning, everyone. today marks 11 years since the attacks of september 11th. despite the election looming just weeks away, for the first time no elected officials will speak at memorial ceremonies in new york city today so the victims and their families can be honored without involving politics, but president obama will be attending a ceremony today at the pentagon, and vice president joe biden is set to speak at the flight 93 national memorial near shanksville, pennsylvania. police in wisconsin have released new video of last month's shooting rampage on a

sikh temple. the dashboard camera so brian pr page and officer murphy exchanging shots before falling to the ground. a second camera then shows an officer shooting and hitting page before page was killed by himself. six people were killed during the rampage. now let's head to wall street and cnbc's amanda drury is live with the latest. >> reporter: a lot of market participants are in a wait-and-see mode. a big decision from the federal reserve where they may add more stimulus to the economy. here's an amazing stat for you. an economist from jpmorgan estimates tha sales of the new iphone from apple could add between a quarter to half a percentage point to u.s. growth in the fourth quarter. that's a lot of iphone sales. the new iphone released eight years tomorrow.

we're looking forward tomorrow. >> amanda drury at theew york stock exchange, thank you. the presumptive lead of china has not been seen publicly for more than a week. just last wednesday he scheduled a meeting with secretary of state hillary clinton was cancelled, coming after once in a decade transfer of power that would put him at china's helm. the chinese government has not given any updates oruche's health or whereabouts. a pungent stench across california has officials looking for the source of the stink. the stench wafted 150 miles thanks to stormy weather. and it was a night for the history books as andy murray became the first british man in 76 years to win a grand slam singles championship beating novak djokovic in a marathon five-set match at the u.s. open file that lasted nearly five hours, and andy murray is going to be joining us a little bit later on here this morning to tell us how he's feeling this morning. and the man who swept the

president off his feet isn't feeling much love. the pizza shop owner says he's facing boycott threats from republicans after giving president obama a massive bear hug this weekend. he's a registered republican himself but did vote for president obama in 2008 and plans to do so in november. while angry internet users posted nasty are you books online others have posted the more humorous clippings and the hug and posting it in pretty strange places. people always having fun on the internet. 7:08, pack over to matt, savannah and al. >> thank you very much. >> mr. roker has a check of the weather. >> we do, talking about wet weather across the country. first of all,>> first of all, w florida. we have a station nee front lying across there. later today, look for heavy rain. rainfall from three to five inches along the west coast of southern florida. out ott southwest, we have more monsoonal moisture with an upper

level low over california. it's going to dump a ton of rain. we have flash flood watches as well. rainfall amounts in the southwest up to five inches in phoenix and parts of central nevada. that's what's going on around the country. good morning, a chilly start this tuesday morning. we are down into the 40s f much of the region. by 9:00, climbing into the 60s. noontime, low 70s, upper 70s by the afternoon. low humidity in place. more of the same tomorrow and thursday and friday, morning lows cool, in the 50s. afternoon highs near 80. over the weekend, might get showers developing and that's your latest weather. savannah? >> al, thanks. now to the intensifying war in syria. this morning actress and activist angelina jolie went to a refugee camp in jordan near the syrian border to bring attention to the increasing

humanitarian crisis there. nbc's ann curry was there as well and joins us. ann, good morning to you. >> reporter: savannah, good morning to you. good morning, everybody. angelina jolie came to this refugee camp to join a direct appeal asking the world to do more for syria's refugees. she said she went to syria's border last night and saw firsthand the desperate need for international donations, especially now as the crisis intensifies. she said no mother could see what is happening here and simply stand by. unhcr special enjoy angelina jolie arrived at the refugee camp throwing a crush of media attention to the tension just as it intensifies. standing with jordan's foreign minister and the u.n.'s refugee chief, she spoke after meeting with refugees on the border last night and at camp today. >> it's been a very heavy experience because oftentimes you come to these camps, and we've all been around the world

and met with people in conflict situations. very rarely do you come when you meet them as they cross the border, and you get to know people the moment they become a refugee, the moment they have forever lost their homes, their schooling, their livelihood, their education. everything that they have been is gone, and when i ask them what did you bring, they say this, the shirt on my back. >> reporter: she said they told her chilling stories, too. >> little children asked what they saw, and they described body parts separated and burned people being pulled apart like chicken, a little 9-year-old girl said that. >> reporter: the united nations has confirmed that atrocities are occurring inside syria. how much frustration do you have that you're unable to reach these people still inside syria running for their lives? >> i've been speaking the last two days with the people from syria, and the -- what they describe on the ground, hearing

it from them is so horrific. the people of syria are asking who is on their side. who is on our side? who is going to help us because they say as the months go on, there will be no more of us. our homes are gone. our families are gone. it is a horrific situation and a very, very critical time. so for all the politicians out there, and we are not them, but we hope and pray that they figure something out soon because people are dying, hundreds and hundreds of people are dying every day. >> reporter: today the head of the unhch tony gutierrez says a total of more than 200,000 people have fled across the border just here to jordan alone. it is clear that this problem is far worse than the world fully realizes. savannah. >> ann curry along the syrian border. ann, thank you. i know you'll have much more on

the situation in syria tonight on "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. here's matt. >> the presidential election eight weeks away and the upcoming october issue of "vanity fair" takes a closer look at job of commander in chief. contributing editor michael lewis was granted exclusive access to president obama to get a sense of the man, the office and life inside the white house. michael's also the author of "boomerang, a look at the global financial crisis" now out in paperback. michael, good morning. good to see you. >> good to see you. >> in "moneyball" you talk about the fact that major league baseball and its officials take a different look at the value of players and what they are worth and how to judge them. we're about to judge the worth and value of a man, the president of the united states, in this election. do we use the right criteria? >> no. you know, i think one of the reasons i got interested in doing this piece, in obama's life, was it struck me. i mean, just looking at it from

afar that some of the problems that used to affect the evaluation of pro athletes, pro sports has gotten over, sort of like how to separate out luck from skill and how not to blame, you know, assigning credit and blame where credit and blame is due on a baseball field, but we don't really do in political life, especially with the president. he's forever credited and blamed for things that he actually has often very little control over. >> you played a kind of game with the president where you said to him, mr. president, let's assume that you're no longer president and i'm president, meaning you. >> yeah. >> what are the things i need to know about this job? and you took a few passes. >> i had to do it a few times. it took him a little while for him to get used to the idea i was president. he didn't like that. >> what did he say was important for you to know? >> the first thing out of his mouth was essentially it's a decision-making job. there are other aspects to the job, but in the modern world, the range of decisions that a president is presented with in realtime is extraordinary, and the kind of decisions that get

to him are always hard decisions, so there's never -- >> no one else has been able to solve them. that's why they end up on the desk. >> everything he sees is like 51/49, and the question is how do you sort of structure your environment so that you maximize the likelihood that you'll make good decisions. >> one of the things he says is take as many big decisions or trivial decisions out of your personal life so that you can concentrate on the decisions in your professional life. >> got rid of all the suits except gray and blue suits. doesn't think about what he's. someone gives him something to eat and this is intentional. if you go shopping in costco, you notice, if you have to make lots of little decisions, first, it's exhausting, and it degrades your ability to make the big decisions so he created this environment in which he's got maximum energy to make the difficult decisions. >> i mentioned the game you played with him. another game you played with him was basketball. you actually took part in his regular game of basketball which is a fairly intense game the way you describe it.

what did you see about the way he handles himself on the court that sheds some light on his personality and how he might handle himself in the job? >> you know, i had no revealing because i had no idea what kind of game this was. it was essentially a pretty good college basketball game that he joins when he has time to do it, and he is not a pretty good college basketball player. he's -- at the age of 50 he's a marginal player in that game, and nobody -- he doesn't let anybody treat him like the president. if you're watching the game, you'd have no idea which one is the president, so he likes -- first, that he likes a really challenging environment, and second that he likes relationships with people that are -- it's a relationship among equals. he loves the fact that people are backing him down and knocking him in the mouth and so on and so forth, but he's -- he plays the game. he's effective on the court. he's a good basketball player, but he plays a game that seems very risk averse. >> right. >> and all of a sudden when there's a risk to take.

>> when the right memento cures. >> boom. he's got the personality of a sniper. >> real quickly, access is a great thing, but is too much access something that impacts the final product? in other words, do you ever feel the need to repay a guy who has been generous with his time by taking some of the rough edges out of a piece? >> so look, he gave me a great privilege. let me get to know him, over a long period of time he really let me get to know him. this made my job really easy. this is true of all writers. something comes over me when i see a blank sheet of paper and forget the obligation that i have to anybody other than my vision of what i saw. i didn't feel any obligation to him. once it's done, you kind of wonder what he thinks about it. >> michael lewis, and the piece is in the october issue of ""vanity fair." "michael, thanks. good to see you. >> thank you, man. >> 17 after the hour. here's savannah. the duke and duchess of cambridge are beginning a tour of the south pacific, their

first stop singapore to review a orchid named offer princess diana. neighbors's sarah james also made that trip. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. a royal welcome for will and kate as they kick off their south pacific tour here in singapore. a former british colony and an asian tiger economic powerhouse. the duke and duchess of cambridge arrived tuesday here to celebrate the queen's diamond jubilee in this commonwealth country. the doyle dynamic duo will tour a city state that's a trading colossus and home to 5 million people. >> they are a superstar couple, probably the best brand britain has at the moment. >> reporter: at the botanic garden will and kate had a orchid named in their honor and they were voen another v.i.p. orchid, created for william's mother. princess diana was to have seen her namesake blossom on a trip

scheduled for september 1997, but died just two weeks before that trip. flanked by the bride he says he wished his mother could have met, prince william saw the orchid dedicated to the english rose. this is all michelle knight of chicago could wish for >> i couldn't sleep last night. i felt like it was christmas. i still have goose bumps and i'm still shaking and she kept saying she wanted to see the princess. >> reporter: other fans just wanted to see what kate would wear. >> she does designers, high street. she's a credit to the fashion industry. she's amazing. we love her. >> can't wait to see what she wears in this heat and humidity. >> and her hair. >> see what her hair does. >> reporter: turns out the duchess of cambridge travels with a small entourage dubbed the "k" team including a stylist to keep her trademark tresses looking good in tropical heat.

this trip is part ceremony, part symbolism, a reminder of an enduring relationship between nations and a much newer relationship, that of the couple who symbolized the modern monarchy in waiting. it's worth noting that while here the couple are staying at the home of the celebrated singapore sling cocktail. they will spend several days here in singapore and then off to malaysia, the solomon islands and the tiny island of tupulu. >> thank you. just ahead, an untold survivor's story on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. a man who rode a cloud of debris more than 15 store toys make it out of the world trade center alive. we'll talk to him exclusively, but first, this is "today" on nbc. anncr: this casino's in west virginia.

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back now with a selection from al's go-to play list, our special series where we each get to pick the soundtracks of the show. >> every morning, got to get started. >> the theme from "the a-team." >> who listens to it on their ipod. >> i do. >> you work out to it? >> how i get started every day. >> this should give you some indication of what's in store for the rest of the show as we continue to play al's go-to play list throughout the morning. >> any other soundtracks on it in. >> no. >> good. the worst is over, everybody. >> what do you mean? >> i pity the fool. >> first your local news. i like to drink orange juice or have lemon in my water... eat tomato sauce on my spaghetti. the acidic levels in some foods can cause acid erosion. the enamel starts to wear down. and you can't grow your enamel back. i was quite surprised, as only few as four exposures a day what that can do to you.

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take the special k challenge™. drop a jean size in two weeks and slip into size sassy. so many delicious ways to get started at specialk.com. what will you gain when you lose?™ good morning, it is 7:26 on this tuesday, september 11th. in our headlines, president obama will attend a private memorial at the pentagon to honor those who died on 9/11. s american express is trying to sue giordano. five men will be sentenced for the 2010 mass shootings on capital street that left three dead. here is tom with the forecast. >> we are in the 40s throughout much of the region now. later today, we climb into the upper 70s with low humidity and more of the same on wednesday,

thursday and friday. over the weekend, might get showers saturday night and off and on on sunday. and on on sunday. >> thank you. now sink your teeth into that big n' toasted if you're ready to soar. good. exits are here, here, and here. a big day calls for the big n' toasted breakfast sandwich. grab yours at dunkin' donuts.

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morning. it is september 11th, 2012, and on this 11th anniversary of the terror attacks, are you looking at ground zero here in new york city where a ceremony will be held, and relatives will read the names of the victims today. similar events are also planned for the pentagon and in shanksville, pennsylvania today. inside studio 1 ak-i'm savannah guthrie alongside matt lauer. just ahead on a different subject, a warning for iphone and ipad users. if you thought your device was safe from hackers, well, a flaw could put your private information at risk as some 1 million users recently found out. that's an important story.

details on that coming up. then 19-year-old miley cyrus caught up in a criminal battery investigation after a recent night out in hollywood. coming up, what her people are saying about that alleged incident. and it's tuesday. that means tuesday's professionals are in the house, and by the way you can see paula abdul is pinch hitting for nancy joining star and donny a among the topics this morning, how about this one. should prince harry be pull out of afghanistan in light of some threats made recently by the taliban? we'll talk about that. >> interesting question. we'll look forward to that. let's begin this half hour on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with a survivor's story that's just now being publicly told for the first time. in a moment we'll talk to pasquale who w tower as he rode down 15 stories of concrete and falling debris to make it out alive. it's the focus of a discovery channel special premiering tonight called "the 9/11 surfer" narrated by nbc's willie geist. >> by five past 10:00 on the

morning of 9/11, the south tower of the world trade center was gone. up above on the 64th floor of the north tower pasquale was still waiting with his colleagues. he and his colleagues started down one of the three exit stairway, stairway "b." by 10:28 they made it down as far as the 22nd floor. >> and then just felt the railing just start to shake and this loud, loud noise from above. i thought of my wife, our unborn child. thoughts went through my head quickly about not -- not ever seeing her, not being able to see her again, and, you know, i just -- just split seconds, just praying, knowing that i was going to die.

i've never experienced jumping out of a plane, but i guess falling or jumping out of the plane, that feeling of just riding the air and getting knocked around and riding, you know, that surfing kind of feeling, was what i was experiencing. >> according to pasquale, his fall ended here at the pop of what was left the stairway "b." >> i didn't feel anything. my body was totally numb. i mean, i felt nothing at all. i just opened my eye and saw blue sky. i really thought i was dead. >> fortunately for pasquale there were fire fighters out there who were willing to brave the dangers in the hope of finding survivors. >> we had no idea whether he was fire or civilian or what he was. it really didn't matter, but the fact that we saw an individual up there, after what we climbed

through and the position that he was, was nothing short of miraculous. >> they said we got it from here. don't worry, we're going to get you out of here. you know, at that point i was like thank god, you know. >> and pasquale is with us now, along with his wife louise, their daughters 10-year-old hope and 7-year-old mia. good morning to all of you. >> good morning. >> we have animation to show this harrowing rise. were you on the 64th floor, evacuated down to the 22nd and fell essentially to the 4th floor. the name of the documentary is "the 9/11 surfer." sounds like an odd word. >> yes, very odd. i mean, i've heard about the urban legends, always read about it, and my wife was like that's you, that's you, and, you know, it -- they pretty much dub it had that on discovery and the show, and because they did a study on it and said basically how i survived is i was in this

pocket of air or uplift of wind, the way i described the fall so i guess 9/11 surfer, yeah. >> you said urban legend which it's true. some people are skeptical, and you said if you had heard this story you might have been skeptical as well. >> of course. i'm an engineer and believe in science and facts. i mean, i went through it so i know what i went through, and if i hadn't, someone told me the story, i'd be skeptical also. >> why now? it's been 11 years. you've never come forward and told this story. why did you decide this is the time to tell what happened publicly? >> i mean, hi done certain small local things because we started a foundation trying to raise money for the mothers whose husbands didn't make it at the time who were pregnant. it was very difficult telling the story then. i couldn't. i was going through post-traumatic stress and survivor guilt from that, and it took a long time to heal from that. i just -- i forced myself to --

to do that, to try to give something back. eventually i came to, you know, accept what had happened to me. i was able to go on and mourn and grieve. i lost my friends, pat, steve, others that were with me that day, so i feel now it's an important story to share with others, so my wife and i decided to actually write a book and put it down, and they did this on discovery channel. >> we heard you talk in the tape piece about the sensation of falling. can you still remember that to this day? >> absolutely, absolutely. every moment of that pre-falling, i -- the final impact, the final flash of when i landed, it was -- that i don't know was either when i actually landed and got knocked unconscious or during the fall i got hit with something, got knocked unconscious, but split second later i opened up my eyes, and i just felt -- like i said, i thought i was dead and then i started to cough and feel

pain, and i said i can't -- i couldn't believe at that point, i looked up and there was nothing above me. the building was gone and i couldn't even believe it myself at that point. >> louise here you are at home. he had called you a couple of times. you saw that tower fall, and you knew he was inside. you must have thought he didn't make it. >> oh, absolutely. i watched the second plane hit and then i watched the second tower fall, and then i watched his building fall, and i was pregnant at the time with hope, and i just -- i knew he didn't get out in time because we spoke on the phone just a few minutes before that, and, you know, for those couple of hours that i didn't hear from him, i was a widow, and i was carrying this baby, and there was nothing i could do, and i just watched the whole thing happen right in front of me. it was just a feeling of just hopeless, you know, helplessness really. >> it must still be so hard to

see that image of the tower falling knowing that you were inside. >> yeah. i've watched it so many times after. i actually became fixated on it, and, you know, it took me a long time to heal from that. i'm better now and things are -- things are good. i'm happy again, and i think it's important that people realize that, you know, some people say, you know, out there, you hear it all the time. 9/11, get over it. that's ridiculous. first of all you shouldn't be telling someone else to get over it. i celebrate each day. my friend pat always said that, enjoy life, and just remember those that tried to save us and didn't make it and remember those that we lost. >> and the book you've written is a part of that remembering. >> yes. >> and i know hope did the illustrations so that's pretty neat. thank you so much for coming here and sharing your story and helping us remember. >> thank you for having us

today. >> thank you. >> we want you to remind everybody catch the premiere of "the 9/11 surfer" 9:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m. eastern on the discovery channel. now a check of the wet we are al. >> thanks so much, savannah. we've got friends from the torrence fire department in california. fire a big problem out west actually. in fact, we've got fire weather torrence fire department. we have low humidity levels and warm temperatures to hot temperatures. that causes the fire danger. look at the fire red flag warnings and fire warnings stretching from montana all the way down to texas and oklahoma. going to continue today. big problems as far east as iowa. we have hot weather stretching from southern minnesota down into texas. nice cool weather here in the northeast to the great lakes, mid-atlantic states, temperatures in the 60s and 70s. 60s in the pacific northwest. that's what's happening around the country. here's what's happening in your

neck of the woods. good morning, still a chill in the air. september 11th, temperatures down into the 40s to near 50 degrees throughout the region. reagan national at 57. your four day forecast will have a gorgeous day with lots of sun, low humidity, light wind, highs reaching 70s. more of the same wednesday, thursday and friday. comfortably dry and humid. over the and the oregon duck is here running for president. very nice. duck. anyway, don't forget to check your weather any time day or night. go to the weather channel or weather.com online. savannah? >> thank you. what's "fifty shades of grey" e.l. james like? and we'll go to al's play list right after this. ♪ can you feel it ♪ go out and paint the town red ♪

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we details on this. kerry, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, matt. among the reason the old iphones like this one, the more popular one with a much anticipated iphone 5 are so popular is because of all of those apps in the phone, but as it turns out some of the apps, the older apps, may have a flaw that puts your personal information that's in these phones at risk. the iphone is among the most popular cell phones in the world, and each of the hundreds of millions of iphones and ipads out there is assigned a unique series of numbers. until last week they thought the udid numbers were protected from hackers and then anonymous posted a million of those udid numbers online. experts say it's the key that could allow a hacker to track a device's location, revealing where you are, where you've been, as well as allowing access to logon to your accounts without the need for a password. >> we're going to see people

break into people's social media accounts, into apps, figure out where they have been and who they are talking to. there's a lot that will happen with these great udids, a great playground for hackers to really experiment. >> reporter: for iphone owners, a huge surprise. >> nobody talks about anti-virus programs for the iphone, so i kind of assumed that nobody could ever get in. >> reporter: anonymous quick to blame big brother say that it acquired 12 million udid numbers from an fbi surveillance program, but the fbi says it's not the source, saying in a statement on twitter we never had info in question. bottom line, totally false. and now an orlando company that works with multiple online magazine publishers, bluetoad.com, says it's the inadvertent source. >> in response to this we've brought in an independent team evaluating and confirming what happened to put things in place so that this doesn't happen again.

>> reporter: is that door closed? >> the door is absolutely closed. >> reporter: closed in part thanks schuetz, a virginia-based security analyst who determined the file was not an fbi file, and rather that it came from bluetoad.com. >> everybody goes crazy about the government having this information but they never think it's bad that corporations might have this information, and more often than not it's the corporations who are tracking all this stuff. >> reporter: so folks are now wondering well, what if my phone is compromised, how do i know? to get the udid number, here's the catch-22. there are websites that have popped up where you can put your udid number in there but there's no way to know if that website is trying to steal your udid number. sadly the best advice if you're really concerned, the only solution is buy a new phone or a new ipad. matt? >> which is not a cheap solution, kerry. thank you very much. appreciate it. up next, miley cyrus accused of battering after an alleged incident at a hollywood

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investigation, miley cyrus is in the spotlight. ♪ >> reporter: for miley cyrus the party may be getting a little out of control. ♪ everybody is looking at me now ♪ >> miley, all the way to the right, please. >> reporter: this weekend the teen idol became the subject of a criminal battery investigation after a night out at the roosevelt hotel in hollywood went awry. an alleged altercation between a club goer and fiance and miley got in the middle of it and according to a statement by the los angeles police department is accused of pushing the alleged victim and punching him in the face. no one was arrested, nor were there any visible signs of injury to the victim. however, the incident will be investigated. a spokesperson for miley cyrus told nbc news simply this claim is completely false and erroneous. >> whether or not this fight happened the way that the person

who went to the police said that it did, who knows, but she is obviously a target. it's probably pretty exciting to go to the police and report that miley cyrus tried to punch you. >> put your hands on the wall. >> reporter: it was an eventful weekend for cyrus. saturday a 40-year-old scissor-wielding man claiming to be her husband was caught on tape jumping the fence to her los angeles home. >> i'm a friend of miley cyrus. she's my wife. >> where's your i.d.? >> reporter: and just last month there was even a fake report of a home invasion from a so-called 911 abuser that drew choppers and officers to her house. since becoming a mega star on "hannah montana," the spotlight has followed cyrus. even her hair is noteworthy. >> i got maybe 3,000 e-mails when you cut your hair. >> i love it. >> reporter: but as much as it may seem like lately trouble is finding cyrus, those who watch hollywood say we shouldn't worry too much. >> i would say miley's actually

not that bad off. she seems to be a young woman who is having fun. she's a nice girl. she actually has some talents that she uses to demonstrate once in a while. would i say in a few years you'll you will see miley cyrus coming back down to earth and probably living a pretty normal life, hollywood style. >> reporter: police are still investigating the battery charge, and on monday jason luis rivera, the man claiming to be miley's husband, pled not guilty in court to two counts of trespassing and evading arrest. savannah? >> all right. jason kennedy in los angeles, thank you. >> she seems to have some talent. not exactly a two thumbs up. >> sometimes it's just caught on tape. >> damn me with fake praise. let's go back to your play lice. >> number two. >> here we go. ♪ >> remember that?

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sxz 7:56 is your time now on this tuesday, september 11, 2012. good morning. today is the 11th anniversary of the september 11th terrorist attacks. the president will attend a private memorial for survivors and families of victims. metro says they will have extra security officers today. there are big problems on the roads right now. let's check in with mike. hi, mike. >> serious delays right now. heavy outer loop delays on to 70. here we are, a live look heading toward the screen westbound 56 mile back up because of an accident. two left lanes shut down. a live look there, the delay heading toward the delay.

301, it's a 39 minute ride from 301 to the beltway. >> thank you. so the 9:15 meeting looks like it's going to start a little late... um, but i uh... (interupting) oh okay - okay yup that's fine. excuse me - sorry. yes! vo: from the new, to the hard to find: when it's on your mind, it's on ebay™.

good morning. still chilly and as we approach 8:00, temperatures are just around 50 degrees in much of the region. this beautiful pattern continues anncr: this casino's in west virginia. but it makes millions off marylanders every year. now they're running dishonest ads. why? because voting for question seven is a vote to build a... world-class resort casino in maryland. creating thousands of jobs and... ...according to the official department of legislative...

services, hundreds of millions for our schools. while saving taxpayer money by cutting casino subsidies. question seven. good jobs and better schools in maryland. not west virginia. ♪ philadelphia freedom, i love you ♪ >> 8:00 now on a tuesday morning. it's the 11th day of september, 2012. you're looking at the beautiful view of manhattan and some of the people who are gathered here on our plaza on this tuesday morning. they are being treated to one of al's go-to songs from his go-to play list, and this is "philadelphia freedom." >> elton john, dedicated to the people of philadelphia. >> i like this one. >> lulled to sleep.

>> "dancing on the ceiling,". >> that's good. >> we'll hear more of al's play list throughout the morning. meanwhile, what else is coming up? >> you know the book "fifty shades of grey," the one on your night stands, if you're wondering where did she get those ideas? well, we'll talk to e.l. james' husband who has his own book out. we'll talk about this phenomenon and how their life has changed and what their teenage sons think about his mom's writing. >> lives had to have changed. >> our tuesday professionals, paula abdul taking nancy's place. college, is it no longer investment when you consider how much debt teens take on and when they have trouble finding jobs when they graduate, is college a good investment? we'll talk about that with the pros. >> and matthew perry stops by. remember him from must-see tv. he's got a new comedy here on

nbc, and we've got tennis superstar andy murray stopping by, fresh off of -- tying for the longest match ever. he is the now u.s. open men's final champion. >> i think we should let him sit for that interview. >> almost five hours on the court. that's a big deal >> incredible. >> let's get the rest of the day's top stories now from natalie morales over at the news desk. natalie, good morning again. >> good morning, savannah, matt and al. good morning, everyone. the chicago public stool strike has entered its second day after negotiations on monday failed to achieve any breakthroughs. the strike affects some 400,000 students and on monday officials cancelled all public school sporting events for the duration of the walkout. the nearly 3,000 victims of the 9/11 terror attacks are being remembered on this, the 11th anniversary. president obama's attending a ceremony at the pentagon, while vice president biden is speaking at the flight 93 memorial in shanksville, pennsylvania, and in a break with the past, only

family members will speak at the service in lower man heatan, although politicians are invited to attend. las vegas casino mogul steve wynn has won his slander suit against "girls gone wild" founder joe francis. a los angeles jury decided monday that francis knowingly made false statements when he claimed that wynn threatened to kill him over a $2 million gambling debt. the jury awarded wynn $20 million. fire crews are working to protect homes from lightning-sparked wildfires in central washington state and wyoming. rains that fell on the seattle area failed to reach the bone-dry eastern slopes of the cascade mountains. in wyoming officials ordered the evacuation of 250 homes and cabins near casper. red flag fire warnings are also posted in parts of oregon, idaho and montana. and now for a look at what is trending today, our quick roundup of what has you talking online. president obama apparently understands niki minaj better than many of other fans. he told a florida radio show

that he got the joke when minaj recently rapid that she was voting republican ♪ i'm voting for mitt romney >> yeah, i don't think -- i'm not sure that that's actually what happened. i think she had a song on this, that -- a little rap that said that, but she likes to play different characters. >> well, niki minaj treated thank you for understanding my creative humor and sarcasm, mr. president. the smart ones always do. an an line petition is building support for the california lifeguards who were fired after taping their own parody of the wildly viral video rapper sy. they were charged with using a public facility while wearing their official public uniforms. maybe sy will weigh in when he visits on friday. and extras fill out the "titanic" bl

"titanic" blu-ray. a blond kate winslet and a different jack. >> took me all morning to face you. >> yeah, if you went over that railing, you would have been first class. just out of curiosity, do you have a names? >> rose, rose dewitt decatur. >> i'll get you to write that down. >> did director james cameron pick the right man for the job? i don't know, leonardo dicaprio king of the world. 8:15. let's go back outside with the check of the weather. >> i always feel bad for those guys and women they could have been. >> still on "law & order." >> he's doing great. got all our friends with their signs, hi mom. and the clarksville fire rescue.

nice to see you guys. thanks so much. let's find out what's happening for you today. you today. pick city of the day happens to be fargo, north dakota. nbc 11, valley news live, partly cloudy, breezy, 84 degrees. as we check the rest of the day, not a lot going on on the satellite radar. showers in the southwest. we have flood watches, a lot of wet weather in central florida as well. stationary front laying there. beautiful day here in the east. 75 in new york city. 79 as you make your way into the carolinas. we are looking for 90 ahead of the front and minneapolis. in 24 hours, you are going to drop 20 degrees. 64 in seattle. heavy rain throughout the southwest. there are flash flood watches and warnings. girls night out. i think you have more than one night, didn't you? yeah. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your

neck of the woods. >> good morning. sweater weather for us here on this tuesday morning. it's still only in the 40s and low 50s throughout much of the region. reagan national at 61. i later on today, highs reaching upper 70s, lots of sun and low humidity. more of the same, wednesday, thursday and friday. cool mornings, mild afternoons with low humidity. over the weekend, showers saturday evening and off and on sunday. and that's your latest weather. coming up next, paula abdul joins today's professionals. >> oh, this is a good one. this is hot. this is stefano. "i'm on a roll." hoda kotb has this on her play list, too. >> all right. ♪ [ diana ] power was very important to me.

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it's 810:00 now. back with the new edition of "today's professionals." here to tackle hot topics star jones, donny deutsch and paula abdul filling in for nancy. >> nice to be here. >> we're sitting here on september 11th, the 11th anniversary of the attacks that changed this country and the world forever, and yet some people are saying that the attention for this event, these anniversaries, is waning, and that people have moved on. 20 years from now are our children going to be in a world where the significance of this event, those attacks, is lost? >> it's actually up to us as parents and as media people. like any horrific tragedy, the holocaust, it is up -- of

course, the natural human tendency, unfortunately, is for people, as each year goes by, to not forget but to move farther and farther away, and this gentleman here before, pasquale, an amazing story. we can't let that happen. it's up to us to do that. >> do you see it happening? do you feel it happening? >> i don't. i think evolution allows us to move on but not a day goes by where we don't remember the devastation and the destruction and the sense of loss, experiencing loss. you remember it, but you do move forward. >> every time you fly in to new york and you don't see the towers, it makes me remember. i'm not sure that the next generation who never saw the towers will feel the exact same way. >> but you say it's up to us. so what do we need to do to make sure the significance remains? >> both -- the media gets blamed for a lot. the media, this is our responsibility, and as parents anything else to continue to do it. unfortunately, i think the answer to that question is a lot of people do start to not move

on but lose the significance, and we can't let that happen. >> the people that it actually affected personally have moved through. they will never move on, and i understand that. >> let's go to a story on the cover of "newsweek" this week, and they ask the question is college a good investment? you consider this so many students end college these days with huge student loan debt, and their families have that debt and then they go out into the workforce and they cannot find a good job, is college a good investment? paula? >> i think -- i'm a big advocate for higher education. i think it goes beyond just the education. you know, it's the backbone of our country and society but it allows each to have better self-esteem and to have socializing skills, and it's the first step in a young adult's life to have a little bit of independence, yet in a controlled environment. >> but does it make financial sense? >> for me it did, because i have to tell you, it's my ultimate trump card. if television just goes down the toilet for me, i've got a law degree, and i can get a job.

i have a license to practice law. that's my biggest asset. >> i'm really torn on this one, but there's a difference between a law degree and just a bachelors degree from a fourth rate university, and, you know, it's not for -- let me finish. this is what happens, just by the way. i start to talk and she interrupts. >> i'm used to that. >> you're used to that. for a lot of people to put themselves 100,000, 50,000 in debt, maybe it doesn't make sense for everybody. >> maybe there's better choices in choosing a major. maybe it's better choices in picking a college that you can afford. >> go ahead, paula. >> those are the choices that you make. >> true, true. i went to college, but i -- i pulled out after the first year because i started my career already, and it didn't allow for me to continue with the schedule, and i wanted to make the grade. >> i think you're an amazing

entertainer and you're a lawyer. there are so many kids out there that their college degree is not going to get anything for them, and that's a sad truth. >> college allows you -- affords you more choices. >> let us move on. >> 100%. >> this is a story reported yesterday on this show. prince harry is over on an appointment in afghanistan. the taliban has told nbc news and some other sources that they intend to try to kidnap him or kill him during this deployment. now, considering he is only one member of a unit and in some ways his presence will increase the risk and the danger to the other members of that unit, should he be pulled out? >> you know, it's interesting. once again, i'm indecisive because my first instinct is, hey, if i'm with this guy, am i in more heightened danger? on the other hand, we can't let terrorists dictate what we do anywhere. >> so maybe the question is should he have been sent in the first place? >> that really is the question. you know, i understand his desire to serve his country and to serve this effort, but

sometimes your presence is a hindrance rather than it is a help, and in this situation i think it might be a hindrance. >> but it's a time-honored tradition in the royal family to serve your country. >> a time-honored tradition for somebody to cut their head off but they learn from their mistakes. >> i understand that, i understand that. >> it's a tough one. >> if it's a decision to be made, should it be made by the british military or royal family? >> military. >> granny should say come on home. >> not going to work that way. finally, a medical story, for men and people who love their men, some companies are marketing products. these are testosterone creams and gels that are supposed to reverse the signs of aging in men and maybe increase their virility and their energy and their sex drive. now, there aren't a lot of credible studies that say that they actually work, and yet sales of these products are up 90% in this country in the last five years. would you take them? >> i'm much older than you so i'm dealing with you.

you've got another 15 years. i would not. by the way, it's something we're all wrestling with. we all as men, as i enter my early 40s, we are challenged, we are challenged, but i would be very frightened about this. >> how would you feel about a guy in your life using these products? >> you know, it's a personal choice. a guy doesn't have to tell me. however, it's a personal choice, and i think that as we get older we all need the hormone replacement. >> i think you look hot just the way you are, love. >> i love you, too, baby. >> men who age naturally don't need the products. >> if you have a need to use the products but understand you're still an old dude with the cream on. >> whatever works for you, but this is very untested. >> and real quickly, if there were a similar product for women? >> no. >> you wouldn't use it? >> black don't crack. i don't need that cream. >> had to get that line in at the end. >> star jones, donny deutsch, paula abdul, nice to have you, and by the way, paula is sticking around to help out in

our third hour. meanwhile, up next, where did e.l. james get the inspiration for "fifty shades of grey"? we're going to ask her husband right after this. [ dollar ] that's me -- l50858544p. but i'm not just a number. i have a purpose -- a higher purpose. [ muffled ] have some respect! not good. oh, man. hello? mm, no! finally -- the buck stops here. [ male announcer ] mcdonald's meaty, melty mcdouble with 100% beef and cheese. and the juicy mcchicken. just some of the irresistible choices on the dollar menu. only at mcdonald's. gives you a 50% annual bonus. and everyone, but her... likes 50% more cash. but, i have an idea. do you want a princess dress? yes how about some cupcakes? yes lollipop? yes! do you want an etch a sketch? yes! do you want 50% more cash? no you got talent. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card.

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back now at 1:20 with mr. "fifty shades of grey." not christian grey but the husband of the best-selling author e.l. james. her steamy trilogy has smashed publishing records and opened a new conversation about intimacy in the process. now her husband of more than 20 years and a longtime television writer nile leonard is out with his debut young adoubt novel called "crusher." good morning to you. we'll talk about your book but fair to say different than your wife's work. >> completely different, yeah. >> i know you've answered this question a thousand times but mostly overseas. let's set it straight here in the u.s. are you or are you not the inspiration for christian grey? >> i'm not the inspiration for christian grey except --

>> let's get into that a little bit. i know you helped proofread the book. when you were reading what she wrote, were you surprised or shocked? >> when i was proofreading, i was looking more for her grammar mistakes than anything else. >> probably the only one way looking for commas. >> that's what she wanted me to do, and i did notice a few things. i was interested to see what she was interested in. it wasn't a complete surprise. >> you kind of knew she had some of these ideas swirling about in her head? >> yeah. >> to say this has been a phenomenon is kind of ain understatement, 30 million copies of this trilogy sold in the u.s. alone. your wife is listed in "time" magazines most 100 influential women. sails of sex toys have skyrocketed what. a marketing campaign you've had. >> in the beginning there was no marketing campaign at all. purely word of mouth and the momentum grew and grew, and as you say it became beyond a phenomenon, something metaphors couldn't capture.

there are no words for it. we used to sit around and say wow. >> when did you realize this has kind of taken on a life of its own? >> well, it was on new year's eve last year. we got two e-mails, separate times from hollywood producers asking about the rights. a review appeared on a shopping site online i had to buy the book because i went to the hairdressing salon and everybody was talking about it or reading it and we realized something was going on. rumors before on twitter, social networks, moms on the play field and passing it around the school gate and around new year's we learned something was going to happen. >> grammar and commas aside, do you like the book? >> i think it's an amazing book. i think it's fast moving and funny and engrossing, a tremendous compassion. i love it. >> it's a little controversial because it definitely pushes the envelope. are you surprised that it resonates with so many women? >> i think we've -- we were both really surprised, wanded to

write it for herself and a few friends and when it took off it completely surprised us. >> you wrote something recently in "the guardian," journalists ask if fans turn up on our doorsteps asking silly questions. journalists do. do we have a dungeon or red room of pain? well, do you? >> maybe, but we've got a very ordinary small house and there isn't a lot of room for -- we barely have room for the ironing, never mind all the equipment. >> so your life hasn't changed a ton? >> so far -- this has all happened so quickly. life goes on. we have kids at school. we have to walk the dog and do the shopping and all that stuff still happens. i have to say not much has happened. >> your sons are teenagers. have they read the book? >> no. it's not written for boys or men anyway. it's written for women so i don't think it would be their sort of book even when they are old enough to read it. >> let's talk about your book "crusher." this process of seeing the wife write a book, inspired you. you're a tv writer but never written a novel. >> i'm a tv writer and wrote a

lot of episodes and felt very satisfied except in tv you're constrained by the format, have to hit the commercial breaks and length and stick to the budget, and then i saw her writing her book and realized she had this freedom and doing what she really wanted to do and doing it her own way and i envied that. i had forgotten that joy of just doing it just for fun, and so i wanted to capture some of that when i started writing "crusher." >> in your book your protagonist is a teenage boy, and his stepfather ends up dead and is a tv writer. a little close to home there. >> i got bored listening to myself talk constantly about all the things i was going to do. in chapter one the hero's father talks about what he's going to do and comes to a sticky end. punishing myself for all the time i wasted. so to find out who murders his dad. >> "fifty shades of grey" going to be made a movie, as you mentioned. who is christian grey? we hear ryan gosling. >> all sorts of crazy rumors. when i deny one, it just starts another, so my official line is

no comment. >> do you know? >> i have no idea. >> niall leonard, the book is "crusher," thanks so much. >> thank you, savannah. >> still ahead, matthew perry, kris jenner and the new u.s. open champ kris jenner. more from al's play list and your local news. good morning. it's 8:26 on this tuesday september 11th. a busy morning commute. mike is in with a look at the roads. >> thank you very much. very heavy interstate delays out there. 395, more heavy than normal. the hov lanes, 69 minutes at 9 miles per hour. delays begin for route 3. 301 is a 46 minute ride from 301 to the beltway. >> thank you, mike. >> thank you, mike. weather is com

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good morning. i'm tom off to a chilly start, climbing to the 50z. noontime, 70s. lots of sun and a blue sky with

low humidity. we'll repeat this again tomorrow, thursday and friday. then over the weekend, increasing clouds saturday. might get showers saturday evening and perhaps off and on on sunday. >> thank you.

♪ 8:30 now on this tuesday morning. it's the 11th of september, 2012, and may i say my favorite so far from al's play list. "we found love" by rihanna. >> i'm looking your play list, a lot better than yesterday's. >> oh, come on. >> i'm kidding. >> okay. thank you. >> just ahead, somebody we are

so happy to welcome back to the nbc family. >> matthew perry already has a place in pop culture history as one of the hit stars of the show "friends." a brand new sitcom coming to nbc called "go on," and we'll talk to matthew in a couple of minutes. >> and "keeping up with the kardashians." coming up kris is joining us here to get us up to date on all things kardashian, what's going on in their lives. >> and paula abdul, she joined the professionals in the past half hour. she will stick around and help us in the next half hour, trying her hand atco hosting. looking forward to that. >> all right. also something else we're excited about. have you seen the south korean sensation psy and his "gangnan style" video. 100 million hits on youtube. he is going to be performing it live on the plaza friday on "today." this is one step above of "call me maybe" routine.

>> all doing it in a week, no question about it. >> first we want to say hello to andy murray who is now the new u.s. open champ. andy, good morning to you. >> how you doing? >> we watched the whole match yesterday. we are exhausted. i can't imagine how you feel. >> yeah, no, pretty tired. i got one hour of sleep last night is all. >> is that because you were out celebrating or because you were so excited? >> i went out with all of my team, a nice dinner and stuff and went to a club afterwards. i went back -- i was back in my hotel room about 2:45 and couldn't get myself to sleep. >> it was epic. when you look at the tiebreaker, the points that you guys had. one was 55 strokes long. you went up two sets. he came back. i think it was like 55. >> wow. >> crazy. how nervous were you in the final set? >> i was -- i was more nervous around the fourth set when he was starting to come back into

it. i got off to a good start in the fifth set and took a bathroom break after the fourth set and settled myself down a little bit and just gave 100%, go for it and don't leave anything out there on the court, and i settled down after i got off to a good start in the fifth set. >> you had some amazing -- it's been an amazing few months after the heartbreak of losing wimbledon and you come back on the same court and win olympic gold and now this. it really shows the range. >> wimbledon was very tough, and then the olympics, you know, not just obviously winning the gold was great but the whole country was so pumped for sport, and they got right behind everybody, and i loved the olympics. that really got me back on track, and then, yeah, to finish off the summer with a u.s. open title, my first grand slam, is great. >> yeah. i mean, you don't need us to point out. this is making history. not since 1936 has great britain won a grand slam, so what are

you going to do when you get home to celebrate? >> i don't know. i've been away for about six weeks now, so i'm looking forward to getting home, but i don't know what everyone has got planned for me >> you need a good steak dinner. yeah, exactly. >> hard to play future matches still holding on to that trophy? >> i'm not going to let go of this one for a while. >> congratulations. >> thank you very much. >> andy murray, great job. >> let's get a check of the wetter from mr. roker. >> weather played a big factor, too, in this. >> yeah. >> what do you want him to do? >> hold up the trophy. >> he can't even lifttrophy. >> he can't even lift his arms. >> very nice. all right. let's get a look and see what we have for your weather today. beautiful weather in the eastern two-thirds of the country. gorgeous. on the worm side. beautiful in the pacific northwest. tomorrow, we have more gorgeous weather here in the east. temperatures start to warm up from the mississippi river

valley into the northeast. thunder showers into florida. wet weather making its way to the central plains and the northern mississippi river valley. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning. this early blast of unusually cool autumn weather with us. we were down into the 40s an hour ago. now, climbing into the 50s for much of the area. reagan national, 61. later into the upper 70s with bright sun and blue skies. low humidity by the afternoon. more of the same wednesday. thursday and friday more clouds coming in. clouding up saturday. showers saturday night and perhaps sunday. woods. don't forget you can check your weather any time you need it. go to the weather channel on cable or weather.com. >> thanks, al. coming up next, matthew perry on his new nbc sitcom, but first another collection from al's fabulous collection. >> this the cee lo and "cry baby." [ male announcer ] for the dreamers...

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back now at 8:37, it's hard to believe but it's been eight years since nbc's hit sitcom "friends" ended its run with matthew perry starring as chandler binge. perry is returning to nbc with a brand new comedy "go on. "he plays a recently widowed sports radio host who will do anything to avoid his empty home, even if it means making up reasons to work late. take a look. >> we need to pull clips for the best of show. we should start early because i've been inordinately best this year. need to come up with different ways to come up with the station i.d. hillary, could you come in here for a moment? i'm just kidding. you don't have to come in. that was pretty funny though,

right you? know what you? better come in. >> matthew perry, welcome back. how does it feel to be back at nbc? >> feels great, feels great. >> yeah. >> nice to be here. i think i was here the day they changed over the set, like years ago. >> really. >> so it's -- it's exciting to be back. >> this -- this show got a nice sneak peek. it was put on during the olympics so it got a lot of people watching it, and tell me a little bit about the response you've heard so far. >> it's all been really positive. people really like it which we were a little nervous about it because it's a show that, you know, is funny and yet sad at times so we weren't sure how the reaction was going to be, but it's been really positive >> you say funny and sad. he's a radio sports host. his wife has just been killed in a car accident, and he's in group therapy, and i'm thinking this is a comedy. >> exactly. exactly, and yet it is. it takes place in -- >> dump him, dump him, dump him.

>> they are not chanting for your head. >> it's not those people. >> i thought it was everybody out there. no, it takes place in group therapy, and it really is a funny show. >> group therapy also. >> yeah. >> and you have a little experience there from what i understand? >> i have some experience. >> you've been in group therapy. >> i have. >> were you the cutup in group therapy, the guy that the therapist had to keep sending to the corner? >> yeah, sure. i mean, but believe it or not, those kind of things, because everybody shares like a common bond, this sort of "x" factor. it really is a funny place to be, even in real life. >> i read something that caught my attention, a review from the "l.a. times" that said this. if chandler binge, your character on friends, had lost monica, your wife on friends >> why are you telling me, i know this. >> just in case you've forgotten, it's been eight years. >> he would be ryan king, the character, instantly light, dark, funny and sad. is there some of him in this

character? >> i suppose there is always going to be some of him, but it's -- this is a much -- you know, i'm much older now, and the character has gone through some pretty dark things so chandler was sort of this anxious mess, and this guy -- this guy's a little bit older and -- and there's a lot of heart in this show and a lot of heart in the character, so he's different. >> i was looking back -- >> and he looks older. >> not much. >> thank you. >> that's what you told me to say. looking back at some of the numbers of "friends." the series finale pulled in something like 52.5 million viewers. this week in primetime you get 10 million viewers. you're off to a good start. with a little perspective and hindsight, can you even describe what it was like to be involved in some kind of pop culture phenomenon like that? >> well, let's face it. i only really remember about

half of it. that's a whole other interview. i think we've done that interview >> you know, it was amazing. it was an -- it was an incredible experience. it really -- and i was so young. i mean, i was 24 when we started, and it was just -- it was just amazing. >> and you've had the chance now to -- to sit back with a little bit of distance as a viewer and an actor and see the landscape of tv change. what stands out to you? >> well, you know, those numbers just don't exist anymore, so, you know, i -- i'm hoping actually for the amount of people that were in the live audience to watch tonight. >> 400, 500 a night. >> i think it's like 250 people. >> which is a hit for us also. >> absolutely. >> it would be huge. matthew perry, good to see you. >> good to see you, matt. >> "go on" is the new show and you can see it tonight at 9:00, 8:00 central time right here on nbc. up next, kris jenner on everything going on with the kardashians. >> hey. >> matthew. but first this is "today" on

nbc. back now at 8:45 with k

jenner, the matriarch of the kardashian clan as both a mom and manager or a mamager, guiding the career of her six kids and trying to set limits for her youngest doubt ergs kiley and kendall trying to finish high school. good morning. >> good morning. >> keeping up with you is hard to do because you guys are so busy. >> a little busy. we just finished filming season seven of "keeping up with the kardashians" and we're coming to the end of that so it's crazy. >> one of the last things we saw is you getting wheeled into a breast enhancement surgery. >> yeah. >> i know you guys are baring it all, but is there ever a time when we can turn the cameras off now? >> you know what, i thought it was a great idea to film that because the reason i went in and did that is because i had had my implants in for 152 years, you know, a long time, way longer

than their shelf life. >> only supposed to last 150 years. >> take them out and change them after ten years and that was a big message and important for me to sort of put out there in a comical way. like i made fun of myself because at my age, you're over 50, like when do you stop, but it was so important health-wise to remind women, you know, to check your expiration date because it's a health risk, and so just to point that out to people that are my age that anybody that's done this, i had my implants done in 1989, and that was a long time ago, and so it's just really important to pay attention to what your body is telling you, and my body was saying you're tired, it's enough, get it fixed. >> time for a change. you mentioned seven seasons. >> yes. >> is there any moment or moments where you just think, gosh, i wish we hadn't recorded that? >> you know what, some things i watch back and i think wow, that's kind of crazy or hard to watch, but i -- we love what we do. we're having a really good time, and i get, as i say over and

over again, i get to wake up every single day and work with my family and it doesn't get any better than that. i love what we're doing. >> let's catch up on some news. >> okay. >> we're seeing in the show that khloe is dealing with an issue a lot of women have dealt with, infertility. wants to have a baby. >> she does. >> goes to a fertility clinic in one of the last episodes. how is she doing and handling all of that? >> she's doing good. she's positive. they are going to see -- the big finale is sunday night, and you'll see how that works out so i don't want to give away too much, but she's a really strong girl, and i think that, you know, when women realize that they need to go out there and get all the information they can about their own bodies, and that's what this last week's episode was really all about, was pay attention to what's going on, you know, inside, and all these things and that's why the name of the episode was called "cuts both ways" because there was a lot of stuff going on physically. >> now we have kourtney on the other side of things who just had a little daughter penelope.

how are you liking being a grandmother? is this something you don't like or is that cool? >> kourtney said what you want them to call you, i earned this, i had six kids. i didn't want a fluffy name. i'm grandma. >> you don't look like the shot i'm about to show. posing in a bikini, are you kidding me? >> that was a lot of fun. i'll tell you something. that was just to -- to have a really good time and celebrate what it's like to feel like over 50 and to show my grandkids one day, you know, that, you know, everyone has another chapter. it's an inspiration to women to remind ourselves to take good care of, you know, our bodies and work out. i work out with gunner peterson, so he's mostly responsible for that shot. it has nothing to do with me. >> you look amazing. >> thank you. >> got to ask you about kim and the new man in her life, kanye.

>> they are well suited for each other, really, really happy and everybody who has kids knows when your kids are happy, you're happy. >> talk about kind of letting all hang out there. you guys allowed "e" to film a family therapy session. >> yes. >> it got a little difficult. >> yes. >> rob expressed some feelings about kind of feeling like the odd man out with all you laidies. >> right, right. it was a hard day for roshs and i'm not a therapy girl. i'm not somebody who has ever really been to therapy before, so it was definitely a new experience for me and to have all the raw emotions come out so suddenly and to see rob cry. it broke my heart. it really did. >> and for those who wonder this is real. >> yeah, yeah. i mean, everything we do, you can't make up, you know, some -- you can't make up giving birth and lamar getting traded to dallas and all the different things that happen, you really see it in realtime and it's raw and it's -- it's sometimes hard to watch back. >> well, kris jenner, we will watch with interest because we know the season finale is coming up. >> thank you.

>> sunday night, 9:00, 8:00 central time on our sister network e. >> thanks so much. >> you look great in a bikini, too. >> thanks. coming up, surgical techniques to cure your back pain, but anncr: this casino's in west virginia. but it makes millions off marylanders every year. now they're running dishonest ads. why? because voting for question seven is a vote to build a... world-class resort casino in maryland. creating thousands of jobs and...

...according to the official department of legislative... services, hundreds of millions for our schools. while saving taxpayer money by cutting casino subsidies. question seven. good jobs and better schools in maryland. not west virginia. back now at 8:51 with one of the most common medical complaints, back pain. for serious cases it can lead to

surgery. it happened to nbc's tom costello who was out several weeks earlier this week while undergoing spine surgery, and he's here to share his story and perhaps a cautionary tale as well. >> it's just amazing how many people have had serious back pain and i've learned the hard way that not all back pain is the same an pinpointing the exact cause isn't easy. for most americans the pain will go away with rest and conservative treatments. others have a lifetime of managing chronic pain, and for some of us surgery is the only option. early morning at beth israel deaconess medical center in boston. >> can you hold your knee up straight like that. straighten your knee out, nice and straight. >> reporter: and 46-year-old jennifer ingah is headed to the o.r., her second operation in two days. >> is your pain all right in. >> my pain is okay. >> reporter: yesterday surgeons made an incision in her abdomen to operate on her spine. today, they are finishing the job going in through her back. >> just hoping it fixes everything, and i can move on

with my life. >> reporter: jennifer is one of more than 600,000 americans who undergo spine surgery every year, and that number is growing as the population ages and new surgical techniques speed up recovery times. amazingly, 80% 2090% of americans experience debilitating back pain at some point in their lives. jennifer works as a school bus driver and a house keeper, but she's suffering from severe nerve pain down her leg, keeping her from working and sleeping. >> i'm nervous, and i'm anxious, but i'm also glad that it will be over with, and i'll be able to sleep through the night again hope fundamentalist i miss that. >> reporter: her surgeon is dr. kevin mcguire. >> in her her already-4 vertebrae has slid forward on her l-5 vertebrae, and they are actually collapsed on each other, and due to that slide as well as the arthritis, she has pressure on her nerves, and that's giving her her leg pain. >> the next step is to get her nerve roots free.

>> reporter: operation involves relieving pressure on the nerves, running down jennifer's leg and then realigning her vertebrae and stabilizing the spine. this subject really hits home for me. at beginning of the year my lower back pain was turning into severe nerve pain, radiating down my right leg, the skrciati nerve, into my knee and ankle. i couldn't sleep, couldn't sit and by april i was in the o.r. my surgeon is dr. phil schneider, the director of spine surgery at holy cross hospital in maryland. >> your disc collapsed at a point where there's bone on bone in the back of the disc. it caused the opening, the foramen to become so narrow, it was crushing your nerve. >> crushing the sciatic nerve. >> correct. >> reporter: he opened up my collapsed vertebrae to free up the nerve and used an a guidance system to insert screws and rods. >> this is a screw we put in your spine. >> reporter: along with a bone graft they hold my spine in

place. nbc's tom costello is at a gas station in maryland. >> reporter: a month after surgery i was back reporting for the "today" show. >> reporter: who would have thought it i'd be back talking about cheaper gas prices and meanwhile, back in boston -- >> the goal of any of these surgeries is to increase a person's quality of life. >> reporter: jennifer's surgery went well. soon after surgery she was out walking the neighborhood and plans to be driving the school bus again in october. jennifer and i had new minimally invasive surgery no, cutting through muscle which dramatically speeds up the recovery times. >> any idea how you developed this back problem? >> you know, i grew up skiing in colorado. i grew up on the slopes virtually, and i can only guess that it was through years of pounding my back and falling, and some of it may be genetic. my brother has a bad back as pell. >> you feel better now though? >> the pain is almost gone. four months after surgery, it's like 95% gone. >> but it is debilitating.

i had back problems earlier this year and it's just awful. >> almost every one of you have said -- >> it's this couch, all of us do. >> don't blame the couch. >> bad news is gas prices went back up. >> paula abdul in our next hour after your local news. 8:56 is your time on this tuesday, september 11, 2012. good morning. today marks the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. the president is at the pentagon for a private memorial service. the service is causing big traffic headaches. let's go mike with a look at the

roads. good morning to you. >> good morning. heavy delays northbound 395 headed to the pentagon. westbound 50, a serious accident there. slow heading to the scene. southbound through 70 is a mess as you can see. heavy delays right now. looking at falls road, a parking lot from clarksburg to the beltway. 41 minute from outer to 270. >> we'll here you go little man. [ humming ] [ babbling ] the cheerios bandit got you again? [ both laugh ] ♪ the one and only, cheerios ...and now... you! [ giggles ] ♪ the one and only, cheerios

good morning. right now, warming into the 0is after a very chilly start earlier this morning. later today hitting the upper 70s. lots of sun and blue sky. we'll repeat this tomorrow, thursday and friday. might get showers saturday night and sunday.

♪ we're back now with more of "today" on a tuesday morning. it's the 11th of september, 2012. an ideal late summer day. some people might say an early fall day, depending on your preference. we're out on the plaza. i'm matt lauer along with savannah guthrie and al roker and paula abdul helping us out in the third hour. >> nice to be here. >> and we're playing another one of al owes songs on his play list. what do you think of the songs so far? >> all over the place, but i like it. i like it. they are energetic.

keeps you dancing. >> that's the idea. keeps you moving. >> throughout the week natalie is going to do tomorrow and i'm doing friday. i have a lot of paula abdul songs on my go--to-play list >> you better. >> he was playing "opposites attract." >> natalie is tomorrow, what are you going to give us a preview? >> yeah. i'm going to say that i may get a lot of digs respect for it. >> oh, wow. >> no, no, no. i picked a lot of songs that bring back some childhood memories ♪ have to believe we are magic >> i got a smile from paula. >> you can't make fun of me anymore. >> yeah, right. >> all right. what else is coming up here? >> for fall, five hot trds, including color blocking coming up next and also some beautiful jewelry as well. >> all right. >> and nbc's hit dramedy "parenthood" is here for its fourth season. we'll get a preview from one of

its stars, jason ritter. >> and paula is going to stick around for the next hour so batten down the hatches. let's go inside and natalie with the headlines. in the news this morning, an expansive teachers strike in chicago has the country's third largest school system as a standstill for now a second day. 29,000 teachers hit the picket lines, leaving some 400,000 students without instructors. this is the city's first teachers strike in 25 years. the nearly 3,000 victims of the 9/11 terror attacks are being remembered on this, the 11th anniversary. president obama's attending a ceremony at pentagon while vice president biden is speaking at the flight 93 memorial in shanksville, pennsylvania. and in a break with the past, only family members will speak at the service in lower manhatt manhattan, though politicians are invited to attend. a night for the history books as andy murray became the first british man in 76 years to win a grand slam singles championship, beating novak

djokovic in a marathon five-set match at the u.s. open finals. it lasted nearly five hours. a pungent stench across southern california has officials searching for the source. stink. one theory a fish diouf at the salton sea that wafted more than 150 miles thanks to stormy weath weather. and while the cause of monday's mysterious stink sunday investigation, air quality experts say there could be some relief for coastal residents today. miley cyrus is the subject of a criminal battery investigation after a night out at a hollywood hotel this weekend. she reportedly got physically involved in an altercation sunday between a club goer and her maine say, "hunger games" star lie am helmsworth. she is accused of pushing the victim and punching her in the face. miley cyrus denies the allegations. visitors to one tiger sanctuary in thailand actually

pay to play this extreme version of here kitty, kitty. the bag on a stick routine reportedly gives the cats some much-needed exercise and provides money for their care and feeding. and move over, mozart. there is a new child music prodigy out there. check out this 5-year-old boy who plays the piano like nobody's business. ♪ that is just crazy. the video has gone viral. while some are asking if such skill at his age is even possible, most are just marveling at the raw talent. that is just simply remarkable. what a young man. four minutes past the hour and al with a look at the weather. >> i still can't do "chopsticks." >> that's incredible. >> let's see what we'velet's se there for you. future cast shows heavy rain in

central and southern florida. some areas picking up five inches of rain in ft. myers. to the west, southwest, monsoonal moisture, an upper level low in the southwest. all that moisture coming up out of mexico. we have flash flood watches in effect. flash flood warnings and the rainfall amounts anywhere from one to four inches of rain. some areas as much as five. that's what's going on around the country, here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. another delightful morning under way with lots of sunshine. we are warming up quickly. the september sun is strong. we have a canadian air mass over us. it's climbing into the 60s now. later today, upper 70s, near 80. wednesday, low humidity and milder on thursday. as we get toward the weekend, we may get passing showers saturday night. perhaps off and on sunday as low pressure moves through.

♪ >> all right. now to today's "take 3" where the three of us share our take on the topic of the day. joining us this morning is the one and only paula abdul. paula, good morning. >> good morning. >> so glad you could be here for us. >> i'm thrilled to be here. thank you for having me. >> we're happy to chat with you. we really need your dance advice but that's really another story for another time. try to dance on the show all the time and it's not good. >> great that paula's here because we wanted her to weigh in on some of the controversy out with some of the new talent shows. they are not new, how many seasons in. season three of nbc's "the voice" premiered last night and a recent "usa today" ardakal argued that "the ex-factor" and "american idol" has become more about the vujs. simon cowell said the judges are getting more out of it than the contestants, it's really morphed into who can hire the best known celebrity but only if the celebrities know how to spot the

talent. what's your take, paula? >> i find is very funny that simon is complaining that the judges get -- please. it's like come on. >> speaking of simon, simon was -- he's quoted as saying he thought it was mean that nbc scheduled a third night of our show. >> "the voice." >> against "the x-factor." >> paula's crying a fake tear. >> we're so mean. >> you're not fair. oh, boy, yeah. listen, it is a war out there with the oversaturation of these shows. i mean, i remember back when i was on "idol," the producers saying to simon it is not about the two of you judges and with randy. it's about the talent. and the truth of the matter is it's about everything. 's an entire puzzle to put together. you must have that raw untapped talent. >> yeah. >> it should be about the talent all together. >> all right. >> and you have to have the

chemistry, as mentors and judges, and overall you have to just come together, and are your mentors and judges really good at working with the talent? >> was there a lot of pressure to be controversial though, one thing with the "x-factor," that maybe you were too nice? >> quite the contrary. on "the x-factor," i got a lot of grief for the fact that i was saying no to lots of contestants that were hopefuls. >> on "american idol" you were always the sweetest one, i thought. >> but i always told the truth. a lot of contestants would say wow, paula didn't say anything, must not mean that she liked it. that means she really had a problem with us. i come from the artist perspective. i'm an artist's artist and feels that i know what it looks like to put yourself out there. >> nex up, crazy video. >> this is wild. i think we've all grown up and had a loose tooth. this one is pretty good.

first grader eton lost his first tooth in a very inventive way. ties a string to his remote-controlled monster truck and then sets it off and take a look. >> this is really. this is a different way to get rid of that tooth. >> i found this a little painful to watch. i'm going to be honest. >> and yanks it. >> just like that. >> it must have been hanging on a thread. >> have you ever lost a tooth an interesting way? >> just pulled it out of my mouth. >> my mom would do that. oh, let me see. >> are you the tooth puller? >> i have a hard time doing it. joe, it's up to you. i cringe. it's like oh. >> how much does the tooth fairy bring in your house? >> i was going to ask you guys. >> the tooth fairy is generous. visa's poll said $3 is the average. >> i thought were you going to say stocks and bonds. >> 10 and sometimes 20 because the tooth fairy doesn't have change. >> wow, i'm going to come over to your house.

>> how much did the tooth fairy pay in your day? >> mine it was 25 cents. >> i don't even remember. i think a quarter. >> yeah. >> a quarter. >> i think the tooth fairy often forgot our home. >> my sister would steal it from underneath my pillow. >> we have a crazy study out of england that shows, this is science, guys, that women are -- that men are now looking for more intelligence than looks when looking for a partner. >> thank goodness. >> believe it. >> and women are more preoccupied with a man's appearance these days over his wealth, which is kind of a switch. >> yeah. >> what's happening there? >> the tables have turned. i think it's very interesting. you know, at the end of the day, attraction's initial, but at the end of the day there has to be great conversation and smart. >> kind of a positive sign of the times. >> absolutely. >> though women's looking for guy's looks over wealth, is that shallow? >> do you think men have changed though? >> no. >> i understand -- >> sorry, al. >> i think men are always going

to go initially for that attraction right after the bat, and if there's no initial -- and then it's like do i even bother to delve deeper into a conversation? >> shall we ask our resident man. >> i think a good hot chick is a great thing. >> and if she has money even better. >> a sense of humor is even more important. >> women are going out there making money, you know. >> i think that's it. that's what they say in the study. that as women are making more money, they are more empowered, and they don't feel like they are relying on the man to make money anymore. it's all about making sure they are attracted. >> their looks. i don't know what to make of it. like alice wonderland, what is up and down and left is right and everything is topsy turvy. paula, you're going to stick around with us. >> i am. >> and also you guys out there if you want to give us topics for today's "take 3." tweet us using the #take3. coming up hot fall fashion picks and later what you can do to get your kids to eat

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this morning on "today's" fall fashion picks, the guest style editor with the online retailer piper line. thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> paula and i have been eyeing the table and love what we're seeing for fall. what are some of the things you're seeing and are excited about? >> three trends i'm really excited about. leather. >> yeah. >> the color blue, and structured bags. structured bags, every woman wants that in their closet. think of a structure back, hermez, grace kelly, the birken bag so nice to play up that lady-like look. >> you two are always big

fashion trend setters. >> you're not so bad yourself. >> i'm trying to keep up with you two, standing in between you. all right. let's talk about this color clashing trend that we're seeing a lot of. two models will show us how to wear it. what exactly is color clashing? how is it different from color blocking? >> color clashing, you know, we've seen it through the runways multiple seasons. always love a pop of color getting dressed. our model here on the left. we have the metallic toe with the fuchsia and that's great. you can play around. add the play off blue denim which is really a great color this season and add a simple blouse. on the go, running to an appointment, even on the weekend, this is great, so just little pops of color here and there. two trends that are going on, and then -- >> then the structured bag. >> has all the trends going on here, too. >> she does. the great thing about that structured bag, is has a great structure, but you can also kind

of wrinkle it up and play with it and fold it so it has a little bit of movement. >> okay. the other model, there's a lot of different colors that i wouldn't think to put together here and patterns. >> mm-hmm. >> seems like anything goes. >> anything kind of goes. >> a pop of color is always great, and the most important thing is when getting dressed, you have to have your own unique personal style and just play with the trends and see what works. for fall, i always love to have a mustard color or a play off of browns of some sort, so that's why i pick the two tones of the skirt and the blazer. >> okay. thank you, ladies. you look beautiful. >> thank you. >> trend number two, and this is leather. >> yes. >> seeing leather everywhere, sheets, leather dresses, leather t-shirts. it's beautiful. come on out, ladies. >> love leather. very happy that every season it continues to stay on trend. as you have on the left, the military jacket. that's really versatile. you can really wear that with absolutely anything. dress it up, dress it down.

you have the olive green pants which are -- they are -- everything is under $150 which is really affordable and for a piper line, one of the best things is you can go in and shop online or now we have a store in new york. there's something for everyone. can you shop on a budget for $40, all the way up into the high 100s price point. >> you have your picks on the rachel zoe, some other stylist. tell us about the model on the right. >> this is a younger, cooler, relaxed look. love the motorcycle boot. again, playing up the colors. blue is really on trend this ason, so sort of having navy, and navy's great because everyone in their regard robe has something navy. this is sort of a -- an accessory take and add a little bit of rock to give it the fall feel. >> thank you, ladies. let's move over here and talk about these trends. paula, come over. you're got the metallic shoe full on as we see here.

>> she's completely on trend. >> you've got your shows, and that's the toe tip, seeing a lot of, that right? >> saw it on the runways a few seasons ago. now they are really in. i love the fact that it's an oxford because women who are on the go and want to feel chic, these are great. >> exactly. >> jewelry trends, you're seeing a lot of more modern, art deco. >> vintage. >> and this necklace, for example, goes in, and if you want hints of color, so blue being a part of the trend, this is a great way to incorporate it if you don't have individual pieces that you're wearing. >> great bracelet, that's fun. love that piece. >> and we also have that in a ring as well. >> and then finally to the bags as we were talking about, it's all about the clutch or the handbag that's very structured and grace kelly-like. >> yes. so these, the color, i love browns and oranges for fall, so you have kind of the idea of a structured clutch or a little purse for the daytime. >> great. >> you don't want a huge hobo

bag. >> thanks so much and thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you, too. still ahead, timeless decorating for your kids' room. and coming up next, jason ritter on the season premiere of "parenthood" right after this. ,. but now that mr. clean's got this new select-a-size magic eraser, i mean, he can take on any size job. look how easily he gets things cleaned. it's enough to make you cry. you, specifically. not me. i'm just happy we don't go near rex's mobile home as often. because it's hard to clean or because you're scared of an itty-bitty doggy? [ dog barks ] aah! oh! [ clears throat ] yeah, that was a sneeze. i think i sprayed myself. announcer ] new mr. clean [ clears throat ] yeah, that was a sneeze. select-a-size magic eraser. lets you pick the right size for every job. don't hide behind -size your lipstick.c eraser. use it to show the world how you feel. and today, i feel daring. [announcer:] revlon super lustrous lipstick. mega moisturizing formula in 82 stay true colors.

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next's hit dramedy "parenthood" returns tonight. here one of the stars, emmy nominated actor jason ritter. good to see you. >> good to see you, too. >> congratulations on the emmy nominations. certainly terrific. >> it is. it's very surprising and exciting. >> not surprising at all. >> in. >> last we saw you, you had just proposed in "parenthood" to lauren ingram's character. >> yes. >> so are we still engaged? >> we are still engaged. >> yeah. >> and now, you know, there's a whole new sort of set of things that we're dealing with, and, you know, talking about moving in together, and -- and it's

very exciting, and not only that, but now ray romano has joined the cast, and he's a big threat to our relationship. >> uh-oh, how so? >> there's a lot of ways. he has a daughter who has grown up as well, and -- and there's just a lot of things that they have in common with each other that -- that she and i don't have in common, a i think a lot of her character's fears about maybe my character waking up one day and saying actually, you know, i want a different life or i want someone with my own edge sort of feeds into her insecurities and -- and -- but -- >> a little love triangle. >> a little love triangle, unfortunately. >> great. >> it says that you're also voicing cartoons. >> i am. >> what are you doing? >> i'm doing a cartoon for the disney channel called "gravity falls" which is a lot of fun. >> which is funny and very good. >> thank you.

>> what is your favorite cartoon character voice? >> there's really a lot. i really like teenage mutant turtles. >> making a comeback. >> with mae whitman from "parenthood." she's playing april o'neill. your digestive system mat could be working better. listen to this. with occasional irregularity, things your body doesn't use could be lingering in your system, causing discomfort. but activia has been shown in clinical studies to help with slow intestinal transit when consumed 3 times per day. 7 out of 10 doctors recommend activia. and the great taste is recommended by me! ♪ activia on their own are amazing, but press out some biscuit dough,

add some sauce and some pepperoni and cheese and monday's dinner is now a grands mini pizza party. pillsbury grands biscuits. let the making begin. good morning, it's 9:26. if you are headed into d.c. this morning, expect major delays. mike has a check on the roads. >> yes, heavy delays. let's take a closer look. northbound 295 as you make the trip not better in the main lanes. pentagon, increased security, a 46 minute ride to the bridge. take a live look at the back up at the robinson terminal. a 45 minute ride to the

good morning, i'm storm team 4 meteorologist. right now into the 60s. feast your eyes on the seven-day outlook. showers saturdays night into sunday. >> thank you, tom. anncr: this casino's in west virginia. but it makes millions off marylanders every year. now they're running dishonest ads. why? because voting for question seven is a vote to build a... world-class resort casino in maryland. creating thousands of jobs and... ...according to the official department of legislative...

services, hundreds of millions for our schools. while saving taxpayer money by cutting casino subsidies. question seven. good jobs and better schools in maryland. not west virginia. ♪ ♪ gangnam style ♪ ♪ gangnam style ♪ >> psy's "gangnam style" with more than 140 million hits on youtube. this is probably not video for kids here. lots of tributes out there now, parodies of this. he's going to be here friday live on the plaza. paula abdul is trying to teach

him. >> i'll have him ready. i'll have you ready for trade. >> got to do this. the lasso. >> and the hippity hop and the booty. >> al. >> that wasn't it, i'm sorry. >> that was al's saturday night. >> that's another story. >> natalie morales along with savannah guthrie and al roker and paula abdul, our guest host this morning. >> still having visuals of that. >> wait until 3:00 a.m. this morning and you bolt up bright in bed screaming. >> emotional damage is done here. >> i'm having a great time, thank you. >> so fun to have you along with us. >> thank you. coming up in this half hour, how do you get your kids to eat healthy when they are constantly begging for sugary treats? joy bauer is here to answer some of the s.o.s. dilemmas. >> do you like to cook, paula? >> i do. >> you'll help us in the kitchen

with some time-saving dinners that you can prepare, cook, freeze and save for when simon comes over. >> not anymore. >> you broke up in. >> road kill maybe. >> cooking road kill for dipper, simon. come on over. don't want to constantly redecorate our kid's bedroom as they get older. start with a nursery, want to figure out how to make it last longer. some creative ideas to grow along with them. >> first a check of the wetter. >> a look ahead to the next 24 hours starting with today. plenty of sunshine in the east.. cooler temperatures. temperatures are starting to heat up from texas on into the mid mississippi river valley. a lot of wet weather in the southwest to southern california. tomorrow, the rain spreads into the rockies and up into the mississippi river valley. things heat up. showers and thunderstor in central and southern florida. warm weather making its way to the midwest. steamy and hot in the southwest.

>> good morning. another gorgeous morning under way. temperatures are now warming up. we are into the 60s throughout much of the region thanks to the strong september son. low to mid-60s. later, upper 70s with lots of sunshine. tomorrow more of the same. thursday and friday, clouds, highs here 80. for the weekend, an area of low pressure coming our way. may bring rain saturday night into sunday. and that's your latest weather. >> all right. thank you, al. coming up next, can't get your kids to eat health? joy bauer offers some help right after this. the capital one cash rewards card gives you a 50% annual bonus. and everyone, but her... likes 50% more cash. but, i have an idea. do you want a princess dress? yes how about some cupcakes? yes lollipop? yes! do you want an etch a sketch? yes! do you want 50% more cash? no you got talent.

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♪ sending out an s.o.s. >> registered nutritionist and dietician joy bauer answers some questions when it comes to your kids ettie healthing. welcome. >> feel personally connected to this and hundreds of questions and i can relate to every single one. >> absolutely. >> we're going to go to skype from nicole skyping in from woodbury, new york. good morning, nicole. >> good morning. >> hi, what's your question? >> my question is my son logan who is 7 years old, he pretty much eats a balanced diet, but i struggle sometimes to find fun snacks to put in his lunch box, and i know it can't be all fruits and veggies for snacks so i would like some fun options to add into the mix. >> as a mom and health nut i totally understand where i'm coming from, and my philosophy is if you go out of your way to pack a healthy balanced lunch every kid is entitled to a fun treat, and really anything goes, as long as it's portion-controlled. so just keep it at 150 calories

or less, and put in whatever he like it. could be the 100-calorie snack packs of cookies or chips or chocolate-covered pretzels. it could even be a fun candy bar, fun-sized candy bar or one of those small little packs of m & ms, and if you want to go the extra mile, i'll show you a few fabulous brands that incorporate fun into -- nutrition into some of the fun. it's got both. >> great. >> so the first is plum kits. can you get this nationwide at target. they have these small bags of whole grain low sugar granola, which i love. they also have these fruit and veggie shredz, like gummy strings, which are terrific. this is called that's it, and they are fruit bars, and you can tell by the name, all that's in it is fruit. >> wow. >> 100 calories each and four different flavors. can you get them at whole foods and vitamin shops, and these cookies are terrific. because they are whole grain and portion-controlled, they come in little pouches, but they are also allergy friendly. >> wow.

>> so they are gluten free, egg-free, dairy-free, nut-free so this is also a really good find. go on the websites and find out where they are in your area. >> nicole, hope you can use some of these ideas. >> thank you very much. >> you're welcome. next go to the phone, kathy calling in from horsehead, new york. kathy, good morning. >> hi, good morning, al. hi, joy. i have two high schoolers, and both my daughter and son come home from school rannous. i try to stare away from unhealthy items like the pre-packaged frozen pizza rolls. can you suggest some healthy snacks that will satisfy their hunger without completely ruining their appetite for dinner? >> yeah. this is a popular question. if they like beats yeah, the easiest thing to do that's super healthy toast an english muffin, add jared marinara sauce and

mozzarella soup and serve them vegetable soup, minestrone, you can invest in an air popper, a bag of kernels and make them a big batch of popcorn and oil mist the top with an oil mister or one of the commercial sprays and vary up the topping, cinnamon one day, parmesan cheese another, chill i pepper, onion powder and brings naked popcorn to a whole new level or dip apple slices or banana slices with peanut butter, all sorts of all fun toppers to non-fat yogurt, frozen fruit bars or greig yogurt pops they have in the grocery stores now. a lot of options, doesn't just have to be the baby carrots and hummus, too, but that's works. >> if they are high schoolers, odds are they are not going to ruin their appetite. >> two hours before snack and dinner, they are hungry again. >> next week joy is back tackling blood pressure.

five ways to get it under control. head to today.com to submit your questions. coming up, ageless decors for your kids' rooms right after these messages. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] you've been years in the making. and there are many years ahead. join the millions of members who've chosen an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. go long. there's no subtext... just tacos. yeah, it's our job to make you want it. but honestly... it's not that hard. old el paso. when you gotta have mexican.

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to help people be happy and healthy. from inventing the first chocolate malt... to creating a nonprofit pharmacy for our troops... to the first child safety caps. walgreens has been innovating for over a hundred years. and we're just getting started. with more and more ways to be well every day. here at the corner of happy and healthy. this morning on today's home, kids' rooms that grow with them. with a little planning you won't have to redecorate as the day goes by. >> ivillage contributor is here with ageless ideas. good morning. >> good morning.

>> i like this idea of really trying to allow your kids to kind of grow up and grow into the things around them. the nursery is so expensive. invest so money decorating them. >> and when you're a new parent you don't realize this room is going to change many, many times, not frozen for what you want at the get-go so pick some pieces that will last forever, pop in different things as they get older but in reason to respend every five years, two years on different pieces. >> yeah. >> i wanted to get some things today under $300 but will last. >> okay. >> so some key elements. >> the rugs here. >> not a kiddie rug. >> not a kiddie rug. so often i have to get choo-choos and dolls and little teddy bear. why not a cozy lush oriental-style carpet. this is under $300. would look great in a nursery. >> great colors in it too. >> could be boy, girl, if you don't want to know what the gender is. >> gender neutral. >> this one will last forever, and what i love it will last and also if you get down on the

floor and play with the baby, it's going to feel comfortable, too. >> let's look over here. you've got the shelves. >> i love this >> invisible shelves this. can be great in a dorm room, right? a teenager would love this. >> i'm going to put it in my home. >> yeah. >> if you have a small wall and a lot of books, doesn't take up aslot of visual space. important when you're buying things for kids, they want to love it, too. they get excited. bring them into the process. >> and surround them with books. >> books are very important. >> and the mirrors, too, can always make a room look bigger. >> a great accessory. >> that's under 300? >> yes, $259. >> fantastic. >> isn't that incredible, and it can be in a nursery. you forget when you're a young mom. fun to turn around and look at the baby and how older, how glamorous for a girl's room, right on up. >> beautiful. >> you don't have to dumb down your room for a child. make it glamorous and make it fun and make it whimsical. >> i like these. >> these book ends from

crate & barrel. add fun touches, under $30. i think these are just so fun. >> way fun. >> and a great gift too. >> art, from accessories -- >> and you say go for, you know, pieces that or things that will inspire them or they will grow up were as well. >> i love black and white photography for a boy or girl room. very visual, $99 from art.com. why not have fun with it. again, it doesn't have to be something that's so childlike, but these are really visual, and i think any boy or girl would love these, and have them pick out what they would like, go online and pick some photograph that they love and then frame them and voila. >> all right. moving over to the bed and the headboard. >> so important. >> you can start with a crib, right. >> exactly. >> what i love about the headboard is it makes it comfortable for kids to read against at night but completes a room. can you bring color pattern. look at the sophistication and whimsy. i'm sort of thinking of you also

like -- >> and bedding, of course. don't buy the kiddie sheets. >> the "star wars" sheets. >> exactly. i like these are from west helm. save money by getting a great pattern comforter, and do white sheets. mix and match and be comfortable. i think this bed looks great. >> looks great with that lamp right next to it. >> love this. >> the color is great. >> this is also from one king's lane. it could be boys, girls. i like to put kind of residential looking living room lamps on a kid's desk to make their room look more friendly. put one on either side, and then this pendant i adore. >> that's great. >> why not put it in a nursery or over a crib, so light and pretty and make it seem like their fantasy light place but also it's functional. >> and then the curtains add bold texture and the color is very vibrant. >> these are $29. bring in some pattern and color, boy, girl, teen, tween, kid.

it doesn't have to be so age specific, and a lot of times we put in our windows boring blinds because you think it has to be dark and quiet. >> right. >> even if you need blinds, add the curtains just for decoration. so easy to do, and i thought these patterns were just wonderful, and you'll never get tired of them. >> this whole -- i have to do my 4-year-old room's all over again seeing this. >> hopefully some good ideas. >> thank you. >> thank you, guys. >> coming up next, quick and healthy solutions to dinner tympanic, but first, this is "today" on nbc. paula's going to get cooking next.

this morning in today's kitchen, what's on the menu? how about easy dinners for the family. the director of "real simple" magazine is making kid-friendly mitts. you can prepare, freeze, pop them out and cook them whenever you need them. >> absolutely. >> dinner time can be very stressful, back to school, having dinner on the table and kids' practice and all that

stuff. great dishes. on the weekend spend an hour or so, put them in the freezer and pull them out during the week. >> what's the first one we're making? >> a pocket with sausage and broccoli and some cheese. >> just roast some sliced up chicken sausage with a little bit of broccoli, cut-up peppers and olive oil. >> use any vegetable that you want. >> absolutely. >>ing that i that you have around. >> a little bit of garlic. toss it in one sheet pan. put it in the often, roast it, don't have all different pots and pans. comes out a little tender. add provolone cheese. >> cheddar. >> this is a great thing to empty your refrigerator on. >> whatever you've got. >> clean out the fridge. >> clean out, and you'll be all set. then you put it in some pizza dough. buy it in the freezer section or stop at your local pizza parlor, whatever you want. if you're really adventurous, can you make. it really no need. a little bit of circled pizza dough, close it up.

put a little bit of water on the edge and seal. the best part bake them now or put them on a sheet pan, freeze them until they are a little bit firm and pop them in a baggy and then you have this bag of calzones or pockets or whatever you want to call them in your freezer and if you are super smart write down how you bake them. 425, 25 to 30 minutes, right from the freezer to the oven, dinner is done. >> best part if you have slightly older kids, they can do it themselves. >> that would be great. >> i am waiting for those days. waiting and waiting and waiting. those days will never come. >> oh, yes, they will. >> what do we have next? >> this is a cottage pie which is basically a shepherd's pie with beef. beef i have in here, pearl onions, and then all you want to do is add a little bit of tomato paste to give it color and richness. >>nd if you wanted to, ground chicken. >> chicken, turkey. >> the color is going to be a little off, but it will taste really good. a little bit of worcestershire

sauce and then chicken broth which will be the gravy for this and what i like is a little bit unusual. we'll put butternut squash in this. nice orange vegetables, really healthy, get those in, some peas from the freezer. >> frozen peas. >> and, again, you can put in a lot of different things, if you had potatoes. >> another fridge-emptier. >> exactly. dump it all n.cook that until it thickens up. it will end up looking like this. it's a hearty winter meal or fall meal. >> and then mashed potatoes, really simple. may you have leftover ones. we do this as thanksgiving when we have a ton of leftover thanksgiving. >> that's kind of like the crust in a sense. >> exactly. >> and put this whole thing in the freezer, and that is a serious meal. i mean, you are not going to go hungry after this. >> that's a one-plate meal. >> i'll show you. >> you cover it in some foil. again, you write on it. got to thaw this.

heat it at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes and this it is. >> looks great. >> and these are some of the serving ideas. >> exactly. >> have a nice chicken enchilada with salsa verde. take a can or bottle of salsa verde and sour cream and cilantro and roll up tortillas with chicken and cheese. >> yummy. >> and, you know, how long can this really stay in the freezer? >> probably forever, but it will taste good for -- >> brush off some of the permafrost. >> tastes the best in two to three months. >> thank you, paula, for helping us out. >> thanks for having you along. >> still to come, kathie lee and hoda. >> yeah, yeah, there they are. there they are. >> kathie lee and hoda! kathie lee and hoda!

9:57 is your time on this tuesday, september 11th. if you are headed to d.c., expect major delays. mike has a check on the roads. good morning. >> slow northbound 295 as you make your trip to the 11th street bridge. southbound is heavy before germantown. let's look at 118, still a

parking lot. you are seeing delays right now 31 minutes from the princeway and parkway. slow to the 14th street bridge. tom? >> beautiful morning under way. temperatures now near 70 around the metro area. elsewhere, we are still in the 60s. the light green, dark green and 50s out of the mountains. elkins, upper 30s out of the mountains. later, upper 70s with sun and humidity. more of the same, wednesday, thursday and friday. >> thank you. don't forget to tune into news 4 today, tomorrow.

anncr: this casino's in west virginia. but it makes millions off marylanders every year. now they're running dishonest ads. why? because voting for question seven is a vote to build a... world-class resort casino in maryland. creating thousands of jobs and... ...according to the official department of legislative... services, hundreds of millions for our schools.

while saving taxpayer money by cutting casino subsidies. question seven. good jobs and better schools in maryland. not west virginia. . >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today." with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> it's tuesday september 11 and obviously a day of remembrance across the whole country, but you feel especially here in new york or washington, d.c. or shanksville, pennsylvania. our prayers and love goes out all day long to everybody who love somebody that they love on that day. >> funny how you step out and

the weather puts you back to that day because it was a crisp clear -- you look up and people said it yesterday. they said it feels like all those years ago. we have a show for you that is packed with a lot of stuff. one of the things we have been telling you guys about and we love that you responded so much to college. a lot of colleges endiare sendin videos. we want to broadcast live from your school. you have to tweet with the hash tag. heaven for bid they just get an education. waste your parents' money. send us a video. >> loyola mary mount sunday us this video from los angeles. >> we are here at loyola mary mount and we wanted to send you

delta love. next time you are in l.a. come visit! [ chanting ] >> they are cute! >> that's what i am talking about. the tridelts are coming out in force. >> we're didn't have fraternities. >> send us your videos to show them on the air. last night was a big night. it was the voice premier. >> i thought you were talking about the u.s. open. >> that are too, but the voice was rocking. they did the blind auditions. >> now each is getting 16 voices. it's going to be crazy. >> cee lo, they wondered about the cat. he doesn't have the cat. the cat is bye-bye. look what is back.

>> you may get the opportunity if blake doesn't do a good job. quite honestly, i don't think he will. >> it's a parrot. a peach parrot. >> what about the music? >> so they had a yodeler on. you know how hard that is? she sang i want to be a cowboy sweetheart. ♪ i want to be a cowboy sweetheart ♪ [ yodelling ] >> i like her. >> you have to be in such fine vocal form. that means your cores are nice

and wide and not pulling or anything. good for her. i bet she's fun at parties. >> we saved the best for last. all four judges freaked when they listened to this. watch this. ♪ ♪ >> everybody but adam? >> adam didn't turn buzz he said he would not turn and he chose cee lo. >> it's smart.

>> i just thought we will have him on in a little bit. the new sitcom is called go on. on paper you think come on, how could that be funny. i'm telling you i watched both episodes and it is hysterically funny. you are laughing out loud and tearing up. he just walked in. matthew, we were not sure about this, but you have a hit! >> oh, good. >> it's a home run. the timing is crazy. >> your comic timing is -- everybody is so well cast and you feel for each person so much. >> matthew will tell you all about this. you will love it. there was this amazing 5-year-old kid. a prodigy. this 5-year-old is beyond. to infinity and beyond. just watch. it's in chinese, but you will figure it out.

[speaking foreign language] ♪ ♪ >> he must be almost 6. come on. >> if you didn't get -- >> lent you glad you were never burdened with genius? >> this is so much easier than that. >> yes, it is. what is this, by the way? >> i think it's pomegranate. >> chanel 75 in honor of fashion week. champagne, passion fruit vodka. >> no wonder.

it's healthy. it has lemon and peach juice. andy murray. what a year he is having. >> it's his turn. he has been one of the guys who always came in second or third. he did great at the olympics and now here at the u.s. open. this thing with the five sets. it looked unbelievable. >> exhausting. you get a knot in your stomach. >> what were you eat something. >> everything. i can't watch any more sporting events. i am turning into a hog. i can't take it. i get that -- >> the munchies. >> absolutely. more bad news. breast-feeding is not the only cause of droopy boobs. i should have discovered this a long time ago. smoking which i don't have a problem with and drinking which i have been known to do. >> they tested 160 pairs of identical twins.

>> why 160? why not 161. >> the ones who drank and smoked had droopier bobs than the other. >> this is interesting. there squkwa were quad rupelets. they shaped numbers on their head. number one and number four. >> they will be in matthew perry's group in about ten years. what do you think of that idea? >> i'm sure they talked to the kids and they said okay. i don't think they would drag them and do that against their will. >> we're want to come to your college. >> we want you to keep tweeting. >> this is called twiker. we are not stupid. it's like a ticker with tweets. >> whatever.

>> what did they say? >> we had a tweet from kayla at syracuse university who had the most orange pride ever. a vote for syracuse. this ends on friday. we will announce the top -- people need to get on it. we know they are not in class. >> usc we want to hear from you. virginia tech and miami-dade junior college. i don't think it's called junior college anymore. i think it's miami-dade college i think. that would be fun. orel roberts, you keep the prayers and tweets coming in. >> matthew perry has a new group of friends. he can't wait to go on about this. too clever for words. [ rain pattering ] [ heels clicking ] [ female announcer ] yoplait light tastes great now... ♪

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tomato, obviously. haha. there's more than that though, there's a kick to it. there's a pop. wahlalalalallala! pepper, but not pepper, i'm getting like, pep-pepper. it's kind of like drinking a food that's a drink, or a drink that's a food, zip zip zip zip zip!

i'm literally getting zinged by the flavor. smooth, but crisp. velvety. kind of makes me feel like a dah zing yah woooooh! [ male announcer ] taste it and describe the indescribable. could've had a v8. woooo! and we are about to see a photo from oklahoma university. hoda and i want to go back to

college and we are searching for the college with the most spirit. >> we're are trying to make it fun. tweet us the name of your school and campus and why you have the most spirit. >> in the meantime, you knew him as chandler bing on friends, but matthew perry returns in a new comedy series called "go on." >> it is terrific. he plays ryan king, a widowed sports radio host forced to go to group therapy whether where he meets interesting people. one is a blind people and ryan doesn't want to be the to break the news. take a look. >> steven, why don't you read it. you know how george loves the sound of your voice. >> the thing is, i don't have my specks. >> it's wilt chamberlain's signature on a ball. >> it's so awful because i'm a fan of defense.

>> that's not even the funniest stuff. we watched these things because that's our job. we didn't know what to expect. it sounds difficult to pull off. it's a grieving therapy session where everybody has issues grieve being something. you manage to make it hysterically funny and humanly moving as well. good job. >> i'm so glad you guys like it. this would be terrible if you hated it. >> we're would be nice, but we wouldn't go on and on. >> hey, hey. >> the writing is really -- the timing is crazy. do you have any fun with the script or do you go with exactly the way they write it? >> that was the cool thing. scott is an executive producer of friends for eight years. i worked with him very closely for a long time. that's the one thing i wanted to know when i met with him. friends was such a collaboration i wanted to make sure he was not a ty ran cal jerk.

>> for happens like that. >> it can and he promised me that he was open to my thoughts and all that stuff. it's really fun. >> you hired the right people. you should respect them enough to bring what they bring to it. >> he wrote it and created it, but i came up with funny things from time to time and he allows that. >> i didn't recognize that the cast -- many of the cast and the people in the session, they are also great. it reminds me of the office in the way the timing goes. >> they are all really funny and happy to be there. >> they're seem like real people as opposed to -- >> sort of. >> i don't know them personally, but that late just lost her partner. >> sheer lost her cat. >> you play a game like tell us about the game you played in the pilot episode. >> it's called march sadness. we compare who has the worst

story. >> you did it with brackets and the whole thing. they have five seconds to tell their story. you a sports fan? i know you love tennis. are you a mad sports guy to begin with? >> i like all elements of the short. i play sports d.j. and we have real athletes that come on the show and that's a dream come true, but we have the touchy feely stuff too. >> i have to say. >> how would you know? >> now terrell owens was in the first one. what other athletes will we see? >> chris bosh was on and who else? i'm blanking now. bob costas is coming on which is exciting. jeremy runic, the rocky player. >> you necessary your element because you can tell you know your sports and you seem to be having a really great time.

huh to be kind of nervous about going back after a hit like friends. there is always a part and know it was for me coming back from here. it couldn't be as good as something done in the past. >> that's the beauty. times have changed so much, we can't even compare it to friends. 50 million people watched that. that's not going to happen. >> you never know. >> that can't happen. >> for could go on and on. >> friends was before -- >> the internet. >> and food. >> you are older and wiser now. you are a king and not a bing, but every bit as talent and we are so happy for you. >> it's a great show. a lot of fun. nbc has a winner. it's called "go on" that premiers tonight on nbc. >> slice of the city with a pizza tour of new york. ♪

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>> keep those tweets coming. this photo is from the university of tennessee. if you tweet us from your school, we might just pay your campus a visit. >> now to sarah in the city, our girl hits the streets on the world's for the greatest pizza. >> we are here in new york famous for its pizza. what other excuse do i have to check out the spots to find out what they are about. i didn't just eat well, but learned a thing or two along the way. new york city is known for its pizza and i decided to check out the hottest places for the best slice in town. grimaldi's is your favorite? how do you eat it? >> fold it. >> you guys all fold?

>> from brooklyn, you fold. >> now is the moment of truth. my first slice ever of grimaldi's. the guys told me i had to fold it. >> you don't fold them. you put it on your dish and cut it. >> the guys told me i had to fold it. >> how do you eat it? >> mostly everyone cuts and eats it with a fork. never fold. >> right now i'm in tribeca outside the restaurant, brick. let's see if we can sneak a peek or a bite. or an entire pie. i have never seen pizza that was this artistic and amazing. do you fold it or cut it? >> fold it. if you cut it, we can't talk anymore. fold it. >> any way you can, but just don't cut it. that leaves me a lot of options.

>> it's a hand food. ike anything in life. you don't want to use utensils. >> now in soho at lombardi's, the first pizzeria in the united states. i am getting ready to check it out. even mona lisa is smiling, but that's debatable. how do you eat pizza properly? how doey eat a slice? do you eat it with a fork and knife or fold it? >> that's an individual thing. i like to eat it with a fork and knife. >> you seem like you are pretty. >> thank you. >> you don't like to get your hands dirty, do you? >> if i have to, i will. i enjoy it with a fork and knife. >> i'm having a little deja vu. we have done this before. >> i want you to be nice and relaxed. good girl. >> you remember, it wasn't just

me. >> legs like yours i wouldn't forget. >> you never called. >> i have to behave over here, okay? >> now i'm in the west village to try famous joe's pizza. it said famous in the title so i had to try it. i will show them famous. one question i have is how do you properly eat it. i am told you can fold, cut, or eat flat. >> you have to pick it up like this and fold it like that. beautiful. >> that are is beautiful. cheers. >> my work today is done. my goal was to have one bite, but the true taste test here, i broke that rule. and my diet. >> where did this come from? >> that's a great question. oh, yeah.

this is how you are supposed to eat it. i am a fork and knife girl. how do you eat it? >> i like the tip to be lifted up. >> do it your way. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. it put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack.

use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. with chantix and with the support system it worked. it worked for me. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. and one wedding, 2 kids, 43 bottles of olay total effects and many birthdays later, still looks amazing. thanks to the trusted performance of olay. pleeeeeeeease... [ female announcer ] betty crocker fruit flavored snacks. pleeeeeeeease... less than 100 calories and made with real fruit pleeeeeeeease... thanks mom! [ female announcer ] betty crocker fruit flavored snacks.

>> we are back on this tuesday with more of "today." tony danza is a triple threat of a different kind. an author, actor and teacher. he said he was never quite the model student, he wrote a book about his experience in the classroom. it is called i'd like to apologize to every teacher i've ever had. the book drops today. you said it was easy to write because you kept a journal. >> no such thing as an easy book to write. >> you said it. >> i did not say it was easy. i had a lot of information

because i kept a journal and video stuff and i had lesson plans and a lot of information. there is a book about writing. first you fix the refrigerator. you will do anything. i had to sit down. >> what did you like about teach something. >> when i went to school and got out of school, my friends became teachers and i didn't. my life took -- >> you became a boxer. >> i was a fighter. my mother wanted to kill me. it's part of something i wanted to do. it's that thing on your mind. i regret that when i was in school, a lot of people my age, you didn't take full advantage of school. why didn't you get a's? we thought we were one kind of kid or another. i like the other one. >> you think teachers get a bat rap in the sense that people think the teacher's job is to teach you, but the kid has a job too. >> there is only one solution.

you can complain about the teachers and there is bad teachers, but there is more discouraged teacher than bad teachers. the statistics that are out, 30% after three years and 50% after five years quit. i went to orientation and 800 first year teachers were coming into the district, but a lot of first year teachers. they are taking over the world. so gung ho. something happens there. here's the thing. i got the solution. i don't know how to do it, but i got the solution. we can't want it more than they want it themselves. they have been conditioned that the teacher has to engage them. they there. they show up. the ownership has to be put on the kids. this is your life. i talk about a kid, one detention all year. charmaine. i tuesday her, charmaine, by the way i didn't know when i gave her detention that i had to be there. i thought they went to a

detention place. anyway, i say to her, charmaine, how long do you think you are going to be in school? forever. i said no, here's your life. this much is school. this is all -- if you don't take advantage of this, the kids have to understand it's not the way it was when i was a kid where you could do as little as possible and get a job on an assembly line and have a middle class life. you can't do that anymore. >> why didn't you do it for one year? >> because it's hard. the greatest compliment i can get paid is the great administrator and educator said to me, would you come back? i thought wow, this is a woman who at first was i need you like a hole in the head. she said would you come back. i said i mean it. at this age, i'm not sure i want to care that much about

anything. it was so overwhelming. it's a lot. don't get me wrong, the issues today are interesting. the strike in chicago and i think about the kids and the families that are disrupted, but can you imagine in this environment where it strikes and the unions and teachers are so demonized already, they knew it was going to be a public relations disaster. that's how desperate it was. like a lot of people, we are afraid and scared. there so many budget cuts. what do you go into teaching for? it's not to get rich. it's a calling. the kid will say -- it was a security involved. one of the job where is you -- no more. >> good luck with your book, tony. >> i'm sorry. one good thing about this. >> the book is available now and called i would like to apologize to every teacher i ever had. we will talk to you about

tidying up some places in your house. the bathroom, after this. [ mother ] you can't leave the table till you finish your vegetables. [ clock ticking ] [ male announcer ] there's a better way... v8 v-fusion. vegetable nutrition they need, fruit taste they love. could've had a v8...

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7 out of 10 doctors recommend activia. and the great taste is recommended by me! ♪ activia >> we are going to be looking at a photo from the air force academy, a reminder to send us a tweet if you want to have us come visit your college campus.

use the hash tag klg and hoda. we are tackling the bathroom, the most visited and smallest room in the house. >> from stocking the medicine cap net to find a place for every woman's toiletries. it is segal? she is here to try to organize it. it's pretty. >> the first thing you top the do is start in the shower. you have a nice shower caddy. i recommend one of those. this is about $20 at sears. it doesn't cost a lot. you put your shampoo and it keeps it nice and clean. >> they're start out nice, but after a month you have six half shampoos. you have to keep up with it. >> i'm sorry, but i see a threat. that happens. >> kathy would catch it. >> what are we have is a nice hook hanger here. this is about $30 at bed, bath,

and beyond. you can even color coordinate your towel fist you share a bathroom. that can dry on there. this is nice from bed bath and beyond. you need places to store things. this is about $50. just some toilet paper and such. >> and such. that's right. >> and of course the toilet. the biggest thing is the spice behind it doesn't get used. this is a space saver for a reason. you can put all that was stuff you don't want people to see and people do look. according to the internet, 70% of guests go through your medicine cabinet. >> i look. >> i don't. >> you don't? >> why not? >> it's rude. >> no, it isn't. >> that's why you don't keep the medicine in the medicine cabinet. you want to keep it in the kitchen.

this is a nice spray and it gets rid of any odors. you notice we have the cleaning devices. see how these are from bedding about the and beyond. not expensive. >> i love it. this i love. >> that's awesome. around the sink. >> keeping the cleaning items out so every day you do a little bit. >> it doesn't get out of control. >> every day you do a little bit. >> watkins is all natural. i have three kids. you have everything out and easy to clean. then the medicine cabinet. you want to organize like items. you don't need too much of anything. this is more than enough. >> for what you have, your husband can have the top shelf and this is your shelf and this is shared. the taooth brush you want to kep in the cabinet.

like when you flush the toilet. >> most toilets flush in an f flat. musically. >> i learn something on this show every day. >> most of these pops of color that make your bathroom look tidy and need. we spend three years on the toilet. about 25 hours a year on the toilet. >> that's hard to believe. >> people with digestive problems. >> i thought of you. every bathroom. >> even my bathroom doesn't have one of those. >> all right. thank you. >> we really appreciate it. we have more. >> we have a medicine cabinet because it blends in. >> lucy used to be our intern at regis and kathy lee and she has grown up so beautifully. >> we will show you how to organize the play room. >> proving good advice is at home.

a parenting guide from two of our favorite producers. >> very fancy. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] with the 2-in-1 swiffer sweeper, a great clean doesn't have to take long. i'm done. are you thinking what i'm thinking? ♪ give me just a little more time ♪ okay. all right. oh! [ female announcer ] the 2-in-1 swiffer sweeper uses electrostatic dry cloths to clean better than a broom. and its wet mopping cloths can clean better than a mop in half the time so you don't miss a thing. mom, have you seen my -- hey! hey! he did it. [ female announcer ] swiffer. better clean in half the time. or your money back. i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

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but it makes millions off west marylanders every year. now they're running dishonest ads. why? because voting for question seven is a vote to build a... world-class resort casino in maryland. creating thousands of jobs and... ...according to the official department of legislative... services, hundreds of millions for our schools.

while saving taxpayer money by cutting casino subsidies. question seven. good jobs and better schools in maryland. not west virginia. . >> okay, moms. how many of you have used your ipad as a baby-sitter or gone by the two second rule after the binky hits the ground. if you answered yes to either one, you are not alone and it's okay. >> we have the two authors of the new book called [ bleep ] mom. a therapy guide for the rest of us. they are the "today" show producers. this is the second book. good to see you guys. why did you feel the need for another one. >> we started hearing from so many moms and everybody was like confused about what should i do? should i do attachment parenting

or this or that? we were like relax. chill out and embrace the less than perfect moments. we like to call them sh -- moments. >> this one says you are not paranoid. everyone does hate your baby. tell us about that. you really are having fun, but people are learning something. >> we had such a good time doing this. we are trying to release some pressure and strain and all the guilt that is related to mom. the fact that we have to be perfect about it. >> look at your cute kids. >> we are in washington, d.c. i give my kids a little bit of education there, but we are relieving the pressure and saying it's okay. >> i have a question. what is going on here? >> this is me and as you can see

i'm reading my kindle, 50 shades of gray for research and my kids are about to fall over the edge, but i'm not paying attention. wait until you see the next one. this is my daughter basically with the tree trunk slamming and pounding on a tree and i'm still reading. still reading. all three volumes. >> you are a shoddy mom. >> you have a chapter on how to drop your sick kid off at daycare before the teacher can figure it out. >> most people admit to that. >> everyone admits to that. everyone does. >> 57% of moms said they would do that and 43% said no way. >> it's hard being a mom. you have to do what you have to do. >> it's hard to be a daycare person who is cake taking care of 20 people's children who are

sick. >> we're give you advice on when you need to panic and they call in before you have to go get the kid. >> someone summed it up. audrey mcclellan said we are all shoddy moms at one time or another. they are making us feel normal about it. that's all we are trying to do. >> good luck with your book. >> some day they will leave us. >> no. >> they dedicated the book to their moms. >> coming up, how to make bite size treats for your next big party. first, this is "today" on nbc. [ female announcer ] every day, there's a new reason not to make a home-cooked meal.

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check out this photo from the university of evansville in indiana. they have school spirit.

let us know and we want to come to your college. talking about something sirius, a party, and we always are. bite is o sized treats make things easier. >> peter callahan is here with an italian-themed sawyery. >> he makes little food. he is one of our favorite guys. what do you have for us? >> we will start with drink, ladies. >> that's unusual. >> called a scorpino. we make it in a bowl. this is lemon sorbet. i like to make it in front of the guests. we have a station here and we get our whisk out and we have it already soft to begin with. >> is there alcohol in there? >> alcohol goes in next. >> hoda doesn't like to wait for

alcohol. a little vodka. what kind do you like? >> i'm happy with anything. >> okay. this is on top. >> we have a minute. anyway, we will drink one. look how cute these are. thank you. >> they're gave us an extra one. look at this caprese salad. >> can we live here for one second. this lemon thing is beautiful. delicious. >> deenglish. >> look at that. >> mini everything. you can serve these at parties how? they are so little. a lot of smacking of lips over here. >> for a cocktail party and have a bunch for dinner. >> this is spaghetti and

meatballs. can you get a close up on that? spaghetti and meatballs. >> is it crazy? >> it's a beef meatball with angel hair pasta swirled on top. >> look at the caesar salad. >> a fun wooden fork to go with it. and then garlic bread. >> bring us to the dessert portion please. >> this is a rice crispy treat and yogurt, blue berries and a healthy dessert. >> she already had a drink. >> talk about what we have here at the end. this is crazy. >> the last one is mini blue berry pancakes. breakfast for dinner and a cocktail party. >> so beautiful and labor intensive, but worth it. >> a tiny bit.

>> worth it. you have a beautiful catering company and your cookbooks. >> i have a cookbook. >> thank you. so much. tomorrow, what are we doing? >> remembering what it's like to go to college. >> with jessica alba and how you mandell will be here too. keep the tweets coming. anncr: this casino's in west virginia.

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