that came through loud and clear in the super bowl sitdown with matt lauer. >> reporter: the president was measured in what he said about syria. >> would you consider military action with our allies without u.n. approval, especially considering china and russia vetoed this latest resolution at the u.n.? >> it is very important for us to resolve this without recourse to outside military intervention. you're seeing more and more people inside of syria recognizing that they need to turn a chapter. >> reporter: mr. obama left all options open when it comes to iran and acknowledged israel might act alone. >> i don't think that israel has made a decision on what they need to do. i think they, like us, believe that iran has to stand down on its nuclear weapons program. >> reporter: election year politics wasn't far from the president's mind. he argued that attack campaigns won't work. >> i think the american people have the capacity to cut through the negative arguments to see, does somebody have an affirmative argument? it's not enough just to say the other guy's a bum. >> reporter: just 12

i'm matt lauer inside studio 1a. ann is in indianapolis, a town with a serious case of super bowl fever. good morning. >> and how, matt. i thought i'd come to see what all the fuss is about. indianapolis is known locally as nap town because it was a sleepy little city, but as you can see it's wide awake this morning. we are just surrounded with hoosier hospitality. we are in pan am plaza named for the 1987 games. this week it is super bowl village, a fun zone for fans near the stadium as the city gears up for the big game. coming up, we'll hear from madonna on her halftime show and also show you her little salsa at her news conference on thursday. we're also going to have -- there you go -- some first looks at the super bowl ads that are so highly anticipated. if that wasn't enough, we actually have a live convert coming up from here.

. >> i'm matt lauer, along with savannah guthrie. she's here while ann is on assignment. we're joined by al roker and willie, sky hook geist as well. good to have you here. >> it's a little breezy up here. >> you doing well? >> i'm doing well. good to be back with you. >> coming up, more on the investigation into the death of whitney houston. it seems like it's pointing now in the direction of the pills, the prescription drugs that were found in her hotel room. we're going to have details on that, coming up. >>> and we're going to take a look at what we call curious medicine. dr. nancy snyderman will be stopping by. it is one where we talk about when you experience seemingly harmless symptoms. easy to ignore like excess saliva or even ice cravings. they may seem like nothing, but they could indicate a more serious condition. we'll talk with dr. nancy. >>> and get the credit card out, jill martin, our good friend is going to be with us. steals and deals, deep discounts, as much as 77% off everything from zodiac

matt lauer went down memory lane, though, and said mr.ly three years ago and we were talking about the economy and in particular the tarp funding and you said if you can't turn around the economy in three years, we're talking about a one term proposition. and then matt lauer said mr. president, do you deserve a second term? here's what the president said. >> i deserve a second term but we're not done. look, when you and i sat down, we were losing 750,000 jobs a month. in fact, we had found out just a few days before we sat down that we had lost that month 750,000 jobs. now we're creating 250,000. we've created 3.7 million jobs over the last 23 months. we created the most jobs since 2005. we've got to return to old-fashioned american values. everybody getting a fair shot. everybody doing their fair share. everybody playing by the same rules. and that means, for example, regulations to make sure that wall street is following the same rules that main street is doing. but we've made progress and the key right now is just to make sure that we

(laughter) >> and going on, the talking to matt lauer, he's hard hitting attack, and the questions areike-- but i know i'm not making any sense right now. >> at all. >> the only people getting more air time than obama are the-- >> i think s and b. >> thank you. >> and the hey, absolutely, he absolutely deserves another term if you're into failed policies and excessive spending and a deficit. i guess he got the one good quarter into the seasonally adjusted and so it's better numbers, so, yeah. where is the earned and where is the deserved? so far he doesn't have a good record to run on is a problem, but the problem with the republicans is he's still looking great in the numbers. they don't care. >> go ahead, my man. >> not the numbers quite yet and i'm going to respond to this, this diatribe around the table. look, speaks for itself. >> good, then we can stop talking about it. (laughter) >> come on, come on. >> oh, come on, come on, bob! >> (laughter) >> very reminiscent of ronald reagan the first two years, and doing terribly, wasn't nearly as high as obama in the polls now and yet his

just this weekend president obama sat down and spoke with matt lauer about israel.'s been a lot of discussion about would israel launch a military strike in the coming months. the president saying he doesn't believe israel has come to a conclusion about how to handle the situation with iran. again, president obama stressing that no options have been taken off of table. they are monitoring the situation quite closely. >> you mentioned the president's interview with matt lauer. he defended his wife in the wake of the details that surfaced. was there some surprise that he would address those matters? >> reporter: it's always interesting and sfascinating to hear the president speak so candidly. he said hearing these things is one of the toughest things about being president. talked about the fact he was very proud of his wife. the fact she's ready for 2012. he made the point it has weighed on him. it's always interesting to hear president speak in candid terms. one thing that stood out is president obama talking about the fact that he believes presidents improve with ti

>> you are a far different guy from matt lauer. did you much more jousting with him than the at least the portion of the interview that we saw yesterday showed. he got a couple of nulgs as you reflected. he observed re-election. he didn't think not made a decision to attack iran. so he made a little bit of news. your interview i thought was more challenging. played at greater length. you did well, he did well. >> bill: i think the president's demeanor was different yesterday. i think he is much more confident now than he was maybe even two or three months ago. scenarioly two or three months ago or a little past that he would have had reason to be worried. the economy was weak. job growth was poor. things have picked up. the economy, you know, i'm not sure how fast it's growing but job growth has begun a bit. how long it will last is anybody's guess. that's the thing -- that of course is the number that we all watched the most when you are looking for the outcome presidential election. so the president has some reason to be confiden

. >> bill: nbc matt lauer and i shoot it out over the whitney houston and the media then the conversation continued on "fox & friends." >> the media is supposed to be in the business of telling the truth in america. it doesn't. >> bill: we have a special report on how the media has covered the death of whitney houston. >> i saw pictures of boehner and cantor on our screen. these are demons. >> once again congresswoman maxine warts attacks everyone in the republic party. what is wrong with this woman? crowley and colmes will analyze. >> santorum looks stronger now. does he provide a different and more damaging and more dangerous opponent? >> obviously governor romney has problems. >> i want to come back to where we are not how you see romney. the question today about santorum. >> and why is the obama re-election campaign focusing solely on mitt romney when rick santorum has pulled ahead in the polls? karl rove will tell us. caution, you are about to enter the no spin zone. the factor begins right now. captions by closed captioning services >> bill: hi, i'm bill o'reilly. thanks for watchin

. >> i'm matt lauer. president obama is facing increased pressure this morning to reverse the controversial new health insurance policy that's drawing criticism from catholics. >> the backlash could threaten the president's support among a voting block that was critical in 2008. we'll tell you about the controversy this morning. >>> voters in three states are casting ballots today in the gop presidential race. the latest on that ahead. >>> and new developments on the tourette's-like symptoms in a town in upstate new york. a doctor who has treated one of the girls says social media could be fuelling the outbreak. we'll hear from him. >> that's interesting. >>> when you think of france you think wine, fashion and art. the author of a new book raising a family there wants you to add parenting to the list. why she believes the french have unlocked the secrets to raising better kids. we'll see about that. >> let us begin on tuesday morning with a check of the top stories of natalie at the news desk. good morni

here's what he told matt lauer. take a listen. >> our goal is to try to resolve this diplomatically, mainly because the only way over the long-term we can assure iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon is by getting them to understand it's not in their interest. >> reporter: so both situations escalating, thomas. both will undoubtedly be discussed and monitored quite closely by this white house. thomas? >> nbc's kristen welker at the white house, thank you. >>> we move on to a very grim, very complicated story involving a missing person's case and it's taken a horrific turn in washington state. police say a man long suspected in the mysterious vanishing of his young wife three years ago killed himself and his two young sons in a fiery house explosion. one family member called it the act of a cold-flooded narcissist. >> after knowing him for as long as i've known him, i have this sense that he really only cared about himself. that's why he was able to do the things he did to susan and why he was able to do what he did yest

. >> and i'm matt lauer. donald trump has a talent for popping up in politics and a good knack for self-promotion. >> insiders are saying that trump will throw his support behind newt gingrich in the gop race. on the heels of his sound defeat in florida, would a trump endorsement be a coup for the former house speaker, heading into saturday's caucuses in nevada. >> and also ahead, listen to this, and unusual legal maneuver that experts say could be a first. a wealthy florida man is facing a very costly wrongful death lawsuit tied to a drunk driving accident. well, apparently to protect his fortune, he's now legally adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend, that set off a firestorm in the legal community. we're going to have more on that coming up. >>> also this morning, some bad news for women who have a love affair with high heels. in one of the first studies of its kind, high-heeled shoes have now been found to permanently change the way we walk, even if you're not wearing them. so we're going to explain even whe

in an interview with matt lauer, the president insisted he can bring the economic recovery to the next level. >> but what we have been able to do is move in the right direction. and what i'm just going to keep on doing is plodding away, very persistent, and you know what? one of the things about being president is you get better as time goes on. >> all right, jonathan alter is a bloomberg view columnist. ben smith is editor and chief. thank you to you both. good economic news on friday, the 8. 3%. and as we move forward, do you see romney losing one of the major points he could make during the general? >> yeah, the early signs of real recovery mean that the debate has changed a little. it's not who we blame for the economy. you're starting to see romney make the case, don't believe those numbers, there are other numbers, the real case is 15%. >> as we look at the real numbers made over the last couple of days or so. now, jonathan, the other interesting er the poll we're just bringing up, do you think president obama deserves a second term? 49% saying yes, 49% saying no. and in fact, he

i'm matt lauer. >> good morning. i'm savannah guthrie. boy, do we have a story a lot of people are talking about. 120,000 people took part in our "today" show poll about whether or not the laptop dad should have shot the laptop. 73% of the viewers went in one direction. >> coming up, we'll have the results and we think the results will spark even more conversation. >> first to politics. rick santorum is distancing himself today from an off-color joke about contraception made by one of his top donors in a television interview. we'll have details on that. >> and i think you know we are headed into a holiday weekend. a special presidents day day look at the movies you can see and where you can find the best shopping bargains. we begin with breaking news in california. a work place shooting at the federal building in long beach. thanh truong has the latest on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, matt. the shootout at the federal building was between fellow agents with u.s. immigration and customs enforcement or i.c.e. one of the age

inside studio 1a i'm ann curry alongside matt lauer. coming up, matt has a preview of an interview with lindsay lohan. >> lindsay is hosting "saturday night live" this week as part of her attempt to mount a comeback after battling with addiction and run-ins with the law. we talked to lindsay about that. her first extensive interview since she spoke to us six years ago. we'll hear from her just ahead. >> and a potential danger in your child's school that you can't see, taste or smell. we are talking about radon, a gas linked to lung cancer deaths every year. jeff rossen is investigating the story coming up for us. >> and later on the tragic death of a 14-year-old girl who suddenly collapsed after she inhaled helium at a party. we have all seen kids do this. police say it was hosted by a 27-year-old woman who has now been arrested. we'll have the latest and talk to the girl's family coming up. >> that's a sad story. we begin with the murder trial of a georgia man who is charged with killing a father of two outside a day care center. this m

moments ago, things got heated between bill o'reilly and nbc's matt lauer.t this. now she goes to rehab. and it wasn't hey, whitney, knock it off! it wasn't. it's never been -- >> bill o'reilly here to react at the top of the hour and the president says his budget will reduce the deficit eventually but john stossel says there's no coming back. he's driving us over the cliff. i find the omega choices overwhelming. then i found new pronutrients omega-3. it's from centrum. it's a smaller minigel. with two of the best omegas to support my heart, brain and eyes. new pronutrients from centrum. and the chefs at lean cuisine are loving tangy lemon, peppery poblano, sweet butternut. we're roasting, and grilling to create must-have meals with no preservatives. lean cuisine. be culinary chic. by the hand-selected wood trim... the 38 1/2 inches of legroom... and the reclinable, heated napa leather seats inside the jeep grand cherokee, just wait until we tell you about the heated and ventilated front seats. ♪ ♪ in what passes for common sense. used to be we socked money

i'm matt lauer in new york city. ann curry and al roker are in los angeles with a complete wrap-up of the oscars. ann, i think in los angeles it's a felony to steal an oscar. >> it definitely is. i didn't steal it. >> borrowed. >> i can't believe that mark bridges who won this for the artist loaned it to me because i'm not to be trusted. i might run home for it. "the artist" is the first to win hollywood's top prize since 1929. we'll talk to the men and women behind the film including best actor jean dujardin and we'll have other big winners as well. we love that scene from the movie. >> absolutely. everybody talking about the return of billy crystal as host. first time in eight years. we'll tell you how his return is being received. of course, we'll talk about all the hot looks on the red carpet. matt, ann was very impressed by angelina jolie's stance. >> she had a beautiful stance last night, so i wore a dress with a slit. >> you're working it. i did see angelina standing that way in the paper. and, al, you should

i'm matt lauer. >> i'm ann curry. you're right.motionin is were running high the grammy awards with the show just a day after houston's death. >> l.l. cool j started by talking about a death in the family and then led a prayer. >> houston was found dead on saturday in her hotel room. an autopsy has been performed. the latest straight ahead. >> her life was marked by personal struggle. she went to rehab three times, but one of her close family friends believes she was on the verge of a comeback. we'll talk to her, darlene love, about houston's highs and lows coming up. >> let us begin with the investigation into houston's death. jeff rosen is in los angeles with the latest. jeff, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. here at the coroner's office in los angeles. we have news about the autopsy. it is now complete on whitney houston's body, but they will not release the official cause of death yet. they are waiting for toxicology reports to come back which could take weeks. it all comes down to that. did houston have krdrugs in her

. >> i'm matt lauer. we hate to start with bad news but moments ago the medical examiner in ohio released the name of the second victim, 17-year-old russell king, jr. he died of his gunshot wounds last night. >> the suspect identified as 17-year-old t.j. lane was not a student at chardon high school. he attended a nearby school. lane walked into the cafeteria and appeared to target a specific group of students. we'll talk to two young men who were there and who knew the victims as well as one of the alleged shooter's classmates. we begin with savannah guthrie who has the latest on the story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. the pain and shock is written all over the faces of the people you meet here. this is a town whose heart is broken. there are a lot of conflicting reports about the alleged gunman here. was he bullied, upset over a romantic break-up? some say he was a nice kid from a nice family. others say he was obviously troubled, but nothing explains what happened yesterday. ♪ i once w

i'm matt lauer. >r >> i'm ann curry. good morning. mitt romnp mitt romney wmie nominnominee during his speech florida lap florida last fl reaready tp ready to lerea nation. >p >> mitt romn>> mitt romn% of the vor of the votea is a winner take all state. romney had comments on the heated nature of the gop race to date and what it will mean for the general election. we'll talk to him about that and other things ahead. >> also ahead, what's going on with the weather? you can see from our temperature it's 49 degrees on the plaza. about 20 degrees warmer than usual. the question is this unseasonably warm weather, why is it breaking records across much of the country? we'll fill you in on why this is happening and what you can expect today. >> we're going into the 60s today in new york. also ahead, a 14-year-old girl that has a skill that's led to more than 1.5 million hits on youtube. she has an unusual way with words. we'll put her talent to the test coming up. >> we begin with mitt romney's decisive win in the florida primary. peter alex

i'm ann curry alongside matt lauer.k about the super bowl's other big winners. >> we are talking about the top-rated ad of the game where a 30-second spot cost $3.5 million. the top commercial was made on a budget of $20. we'll take a closer look at this year's crop of ads. >> i like that one. that one's fun. we'll show you more coming up. we have a new memoir from a woman who claims she had an affair with president john f. kennedy. she said it started when she was a 19-year-old white house intern. this morning we'll hear from her for the first time in an exclusive interview. >> and more of our exclusive interview with president obama coming up what he thinks about an unflattering comment written about first lady michelle obama. >> we begin with more on the horrific turn tied to the disappearance of utah mother susan powell. the powerful house explosion and fire killed her two sons and her husband on sunday, moments after the boys arrived for a superv e supervised visit with a social worker. police say josh powell trigg

. >> in an interview with matt lauer last night before the super bowl, president obama made this case for reelection while addressing the budget concern. the biggest concern for voters is the economy. >> i deserve a second term, but we're not done. when you and i sat down, we were losing 750,000 jobs a month. in fact, we found out just a few days before we sat down we lost that month 750,000 jobs. now we're creating 250,000. we have made progress. the key now is to make sure we don't start turning in a new direction to throw that progress off. >> you know, i'm looking at the polling numbers. they are positive. i want you to get deeper on this. it looks to me like the president is hedging the bet here. he reads the numbers. they basically say unless congress gets their act together and keeps the cut going in the payroll tax, make some adjustment, don't cancel those. plays ball with him a little bit, they can screw it up themselves. congress can muck things up. he has to have a plan b. if the unemployment rate goes down to 8%, he's going to get reelected. if it goes the other direction,

. >> president obama told matt lauer said he is getting better at his job. he speaks out about the economy. no surprise, nevada hands mitt romney a big win. the state earns a big black mark as they may be counting some of the votes. newt gingrich vows to take it to the convention or at least until texas. does the low turn out reveal an enthusiasm problem with conservatives? syrian troops vowing to keep up the onslaught by russia and china and blocked the un resolution and the crack down entered a dangerous new phase. this is the daily run dun and a lot to get to. i'm chuck todd. congratulations to the giants. i am glad mike bradshaw. president obama made his case for a second term in the super bowl interview with matt lauer. the president responded to critics who are frustrate and said change had not happened quickly enough. >> turns out that our founders designed a system that makes it more difficult to bring about change than i would like sometimes, but what we have been able to do is move in the right direction. i will keep on plotting away, very persiste

. >> and i'm matt lauer. this decision by the obama administration to grant ten states waivers from no child left behind will be the strongest move yet to undermine the controversial education initiative. >> that's right. it was signed by president bush in 2002, and mandated that 100% of grade school students be proficient in reading and math by 2014. but opponents say it forces teachers to focus too much on test scores. and not enough on actually educating the students. we'll get the latest on this developing story, straight ahead. >>> also new investigation tied to the house fire that police say josh powell set, killing himself and his two young sons. officials now want to know why it took police more than 20 minutes to arrive at that scene. we'll have more on that story coming up as well. >>> this morning straight ahead on wednesday, we brought you the story of the former white house intern who says she had an 18-month affair with jfk. well this morning, mimi alford will be joining us to reveal more of her

are not long, these are not long columns, but we have first the beginning of the interview with matt lauer. >> governor mitt romney is now joining us from jacksonville. good to see you good morning. >> thanks, matt, good to be with you. >> now, quick, and maybe i'm reading too much into it. thanks, matt, good to be with you. i don't trust that guy and then he does it again. >> governor, thanks for your time as always, i really appreciate it. >> thanks, matt, good to be with you. >> maybe we're over reading, but i know what you're saying. it seems like the guy who's smiling at you going yeah, don't worry about it, you're thinking this guy's cracking my skull. >> get me out of this room, get me out of this room with this guy. >> part of the problem also is romney is really the guy that you love to hate. part of what's grinding newt gingrich is this idea that romney has had everything he wanted, always been able to get everything he wanted, the rich kid, got into the scalae wanted, got married, whatever he has wanted, romney has had gotten and largely buying it. gingrich is pissed from iowa b

during a live interview with "today's" matt lauer the president said he doesn't believe israel has made up their mind about attacking iran. the u.s. is working with israel to solve the crisis. he also says iran needs to be clear about whether its nuclear program is powering home and businesses or weapons. >> we mobilized the international community in a way that's unprecedent and they are feeling the pressure. but they have not taken the step that they need to diplomatically which is to say we'll pursue peaceful nuclear power, not pursue a nuclear weapon. >> the president said both israel and the u.s. believe iran has to stand down. >>> egypt has summoned 19 americans to trial including the son of transportation secretary ray lahood. the group faces criminal charges prove mosting democracy and human rights which is band in egypt. the country also accused the americans of receiving foreign funds. analysts say that egypt's decision to take the case to trial could further strain its relationship with the united states. no trial date has been set. >> pro government supporters embolden by a

>> i think matt lauer has a point.hink they have covered many stumbles, remember the infamous bathroom shot. there was a spoon she was using to shoot up crack. this bathroom shot was infamous. i think the media has covered the death fairly, but how do you cover it. people magazine cover there is a perfect. triumph and tragedy, i think the media got it right this time. they covered it fairly without being disrespectful. >> i looked at a photo montage on the website, whitney houston through the years. every single one of 60 pictures other than maybe a few pictures of the coroner's van at the end, every one was beautiful whitney. there were no pictures of all when he was whacked out. >> we talked about it earlier, you don't when you memorialize her, they won't have the picture in the bathroom. i don't think its whitewash but there has been a conversation she wrestled with drugs and she was very unhappy. >> you wonder prosecutors go after the person died how they get curious about the doctors. most insightful thing by nick

he sat down with matt lauer before the super bowl for an interview.nt cited the improving economy as a reason for americans to give him another chance. >> we're not done. we made progress. the key is to make sure we don't start turning in a new direction that could throw that progress off. >> the president also acknowledged there is more work to do to improve the economy. you can see more of his interview in a few minutes on the "today" show at 7:00 right after "news4 today." in a new poll in decision 2012 this morning shows what november's general election might look like. "the washington post" poll shows president obama holds a clear edge or mitt romney, 51% of voters say they would re-elect the president compared to 45% for romney. those numbers have been closer in earlier polls. >>> republican presidential hopefuls are campaigning in two states today, looking for a way to cut into romney's lead after another convincing win in nevada on saturday. voters will caucus in colorado and minnesota tomorrow and result from maine's week long caucus will be