i'm meredith vieira. >> in for matt, i'm ann curry. good morning, pv. >>> meredith, this deadly attack you just reported is sure to ratchet up concerns about the direction of the war. >> absolutely. supporters of sending more troops to the region say this weekend's attack is proof more help is needed but there is political pressure to scale back. we'll get the latest in live reports from kabul and the white house in just a moment. >>> also ahead this morning, the first round of the swine flu vaccinations start arriving today. some medical industry insiders are raising questions about the vaccine's safety. so is there a cause for concern? we'll talk to nbc's chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman this morning. >>> and we'll also kick off a new series we're calling "today's mentors and inspirations." this morning a humbling look at my early years in broadcasting as i introduce you to my men tore -- oh, my gosh! a legendary news man who took me under his wings 30 years ago. we'll also talk about the significance, the importance of not on

. >> and i'm meredith vieira. i was watching "letterman" last night -- >> were you really? >> yeah, i was, because i had heard about this. so i'm watching the taping that had been done earlier. and at first, it's obvious the audience thinks it's a joke. >> right. >> doesn't make sense, but then there's no punch line. you realize it's very serious stuff. >> letterman stopped his usual "top ten list" and then told his audience he wanted to tell them a little story and he went on to describe the blackmail attempt in detail. he then confessed he had sex with women on his staff. this morning an employee for the cbs program "48 hours" is under arrest in connection with this case. we're going to have much more on this bizarre story coming up in just a couple of minutes. >>> and also ahead, this is it, the day that we will learn if chicago will be awarded the olympic summer games seven years from now. the competition could come down to two votes, but will it be chicago? will it be rio de janeiro, madrid or maybe tokyo? we're going to go live to copenhagen in just a moment. >>> but

i'm meredith vieira. >> and i'm matt lauer. this morning, rescue crews are working feverishly in both indonesia and the samoan islands. they're searching for survivors of two powerful earthquakes, and of course, that tsunami in the south pacific. we'll get the latest on both disasters in just a couple of minutes. >>> also ahead, the vocal and heated debate over roman polanski's arrest 32 years after he pled guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl. some want the infamous director immediately released, but there are others who say that polanski is getting exactly what he deserves. >>> also, we've got a story we think a lot of people are going to be talking about after they see it. a mother's controversial decision to give back the adopted baby boy she raised for 18 months. she says she and the boy were not bonding. >> now, if you're a parent, you may be horrified at first, but when you hear the rest of the story, you might change your mind. we're going to talk to that mother in an interview this morning and we'll give you a

a bad thing to tell your children to lie to the authorities, to tell your children to die to meredith vieira and wolf blitzer, but i also think it's a very big deal in the country to take children away from their parents, and based on what i have seen this does not rise to that level. >> heene supposedly took two weeks to put the plan together. they should be charged sometime next week. >>> regulators say more than 100 american banks failed this year. regulators announced seven new bank closures yesterday, including a bank in naples, p . florida. that is more than four times the number that closed last year, and the highest tally since 1992. yesterday's bank shutdowns are expected to cost the federal department insurance fund more than $356 million. >>> we are getting reports of two missiles that hit a village in afghanistan killing 16 people. it's not clear if the people were militants are civilians. a militant hideout was hit and the u.s. does not comment on the suspected drone attacks that causes friction with pakistan. >>> a proposed bill to fight global warming would cost you about $100

meredith vieira. >> a bombshell from david letterman that he had sex with female staff members. othello's cbs employee tried to use the information to blackmail him. we will have the latest. also, in copenhagen they will decide today which city gets off the 2016 olympic games. president obama, will he be able to bring the games to chicago? also, mariah carey will perform live on the plaza right here on "today." >> 55 degrees on tv hill. >> we will have another look at what is it to lead? at pnc, it's doing what most benefits our customers. whether that's building more certified green buildings than anyone on earth. creating online banking tools for the next generation. or making a 10 year, $100 million investment in kids. it's how we've always done business. and will for a very long time to come. pnc. leading the way. >> you have a few things going on out there. >> there is a left side accident on the inner loop that at 70. if you are going on 795 and southbound direction from owings mills to the beltway, have been delays. there's an accident dundalk near wise. on 24 and 95 at b

. >> coming up tomorrow on "today," kate gosselin sits down with meredith vieira for an exclusive livel see you back here tonight for "nbc nightly news." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> got questions about the swine or seasonal flu? plus, how to dress fr less and make a great first impression. >> temperatures climbing through the 50s. a nice day ahead. coming up.

. >> you're almost channeled meredith vieira, i think. it is a pleasure.nly reading the book but hearing your audio book version. >> i never listen to my audio book version. >> you have avenue never heard the harry potter book. >> not at all. not at all. >> you're terrific. >> well thank you. >> if you'd like to read an excerpt, you can find it on our website at "today" show.com. >>> up next, nada's kitchen for website at "today" show.com. >>> up next, nada's kitchen for some northern italian ohh... how many friends does a person need, sharon ? 'cause i'm thinking 90,000 is 90,000 too many. i can't imagine having too many friends, lewis. oh i can. i open the door to my apartment and 90,000 friends jump out from behind a futon screaming "surprise, happy birthday !" i would be in seventh heaven. i'd be in emergency cardiac surgery. you know a real friend would be giving me mouth-to-mouth resuscitation right now. >>> this morning on "today's kitchen," hot chef at the tender age of 11 began taking cooking classes. he's worked at some of the best restaurants in

i'm isabella o'connor filling in for meredith vieira while she's away on assignment. >> i'm owen, andw you how video games can help us communicate by using technology. >> and those are just a couple of the very talented kids hoping to be "today's kid reporter." if you know a child full of personality who would be a great addition to the "today" family, there's still time. >> because if you send us a tape showcasing their on-camera charisma, we want to review them all. the deadline is next wednesday, and the video should be no longer than a minute and it should be mailed to "today's kid reporter," 30 rockefeller plaza, new york, new york, 10112. the official rules are posted on todayshow.com. this is actually pretty exciting. i think we're going to have a really fun time with it. >> they're all so impressive. >> yeah. >> we ought to watch out. all right. >> it's how we all first got started. >> bring it on! >>> talking about kids, we have a serious warning for parents. companies recall products for safety concerns all the time, but sometimes us parents miss those recalls. so, we're goi

i'm isabella o'connor filling in for meredith vieira while she's away on assignment. >> i'm owen andoing to show you how video games can help us communicate by using technology. >> i can see we're going to have a hard time choosing between these kids. so, if you are a child -- well, maybe if you are a child or you know a child between the ages of 8 and 12 who has a bright personality and flair for the spotlight and an interest in journalism, have them send us a tape no longer than a minute. >> next wednesday, october 7th, is the last day we'll take submissions. it should be mailed to today's kid reporter, 30 rockefeller plaza, new york, new york, 10112. the official rules are posted on todayshow.com. >>> still to come this morning, however, we have a very talented actress in the house. drew barrymore is joining us about a movie she's directed. >>> plus, bobbie thomas on how to show off your shape. grandma, take me there. but with my occasional irregularity i wasn't always up to it. until i discovered activia and everything started to change. announcer: activia is clinically proven to

i think it's bad thing to tell your children to lie to authorities and lie to meredith vieira and wolfat's to be discouraged. but it's a big deal in this country to take children away from their parent ms. based on what i've seen, it's not the case here. >> 100 american banks have failed this year. regulators announced several new closures yesterday including a bank in naples florida. that brought the total to 106 banks. that's four times the number that closed last year. and the highest tally since 1992. yesterday's bank shutdowns are expected to cost the federal deposit insurance fund more than $356 million. they're all regional banks that did not receive hell from the federal government. >>> a proposed bill to fight global warming would cost you about $100 more a year. that's what the environmental protection agency is saying. it looked to how much the bill would bump up the average home's energy bill. some studies said the increase could be as much as $3,000. the bill is promoting energy not made from fos sit fuels to cut green house gases. senate hearings on the bills could begin

watch what she tells meredith vieira on the "today" show about how emotional the kids got when they heard the cameras weren't going to be around. take a look. >> the kids have over the weekend -- i told them we're not filming at this point, and actually times eight, there was wailing and sobbing. they love our crew. they love the interaction. they love the events. and there is nothing harmful about it. they are angry. >> so when he says the kids have said to him they want the filming to stop, your response to that is? >> i'm sorry. i'm not present all the time. but it has never happened. not the response i saw this weekend. >> so that may very well refute jon's claims that the kids don't want the show to be there, but that raises a huge red flag when you hear the kids got so upset and how dependent they have become of having these cameras around as they grew up. they're used to them there, and now they're wailing because the cameras aren't there? that's scary to me. >> i felt the exact same thing, a.j., and the kids aren't the ones who should decide whether or not they're going to have a

meredith vieira was apparently gunning for another guest spot on "30 rock" and asked tina fey who shed to make out with on the "today" show set. fair question, right? tina said, al roker. do we want to see this? let's see how it turned out. >> here we go. oh, my gosh, i don't even want to watch.. >> oh, my gosh! >> now, does that mean he gets the guest spot or i get the guest spot -- >> that was his guest spot. >> well, in other hot tina fey news, tina said she would definitely consider playing sarah palin again if she runs for office. >>> sarah silverman is under fire about her new idea of ending world hunger. >> i'm like, okay. how are you going to end world hunger? and then it hit me -- sell is vatican, feed the world. >> sell the vatican? guess what? not everybody's laughing. wait until you hear what the catholic league had to say today about sarah's new stunt. this is "showbiz tonight" on hln. >> time to roll out the "showbiz" news ticker. more stories from the "showbiz tonight" newsroom making news right now -- they said it would never last. but it's been two months, and you're

. >> that is meredith vieira interviewing heene while his kid vomits in his lap and then it happeneding show. and they just kept on with the interview again. the boy's being asked to lie, not only on national television, but to police. the mommy breaks down and admits it was all a hoax. to ellie jostad, please tell me i'm wrong. is it true the heenes are now pointing the finger at the sheriff saying they're responsible for wrongdoing? >> the heenes' lawyer, the lawyer for richard heene, ask the sheriff be investigated. >> wait, wait. richard heene, the daddy who caught the kids this filthy rap song and put it on youtube? he is claiming the sheriff did something wrong? did you say that? >> that's right. they're asking for a criminal investigation into the sheriff -- >> of the sheriff? >> into the sheriff because they say that sheriff mentioned to the press that he had instructed cps to look into the case. >> child protective services. wouldn't he, john burris, the sheriff, be dir elect in his duty if he didn't refer to the cps child services? >> this is confidential information. >> bu

. >> that is meredith vieira interviewing heene while his kid vomits in his lap and then it happenedy just kept on with the interview again. the boy's being asked to lie, not only on national television, but to police. the mommy breaks down and admits it was all a hoax. to ellie jostad, please tell me i'm wrong. is it true the heenes are now pointing the finger at the sheriff saying they're responsible for wrongdoing? >> the heene's lawyer, the lawyer for richard heene, ask the sheriff be investigated. >> wait, wait. richard heene, the daddy who caught the kids this filthy rap song and put it on youtube? he is claiming the sheriff did something wrong? did you say that? >> that's right. they're asking for a criminal investigation into the sheriff -- >> of the sheriff? >> into the sheriff because they say that sheriff mentioned to the press that he had instructed cps to look into the case. >> child protective services. wouldn't he, john burris, the sheriff, be derelict in his duty if he didn't refer the case to cps child services? >> it's true. it doesn't mean he has to tell the world

meredith vieira was gunning for a guest spot and asked who she wanted to make out with on the "today"how staff. fair question. tina said al roker. do we want to see this? >> here we go. >> my gosh. >> i don't want to watch. wow. gosh. >> in other hot tina news, she said she would consider playing sarah palin again. >> sarah silverman is nurnd fire. >>> i am like okay. how r you going end world hunger. sell the vatican, feed the world. >> sell the vatican? not everybody is laughing. wait until you hear what the catholic league had to say. >>> time to roll out the "showbiz" news ticker. more stories from the "showbiz" news ticker making news right now. >>> did you see this? sarah silverman stirring up big controversy. the vault scan. take a look. >> think about it. we need a hero. who is more primed to be our hero nan the pope? she is literally a caped crusader. this is great. sell the vatican. take a big chunk of money. build a gorgeous condo for you and your people to live in. with the money left over? feed the wheel [ bleep ] world. phil donahue says this is filthy and says it would

is bad thing to tell your children to lie to the authorities, to tell your children to lie to meredith vieiraime? >> i also think it is a very big deal in this culture country, to take children away from their parents. based on what i've seen this does not rise to that level. >> the hennes supposedly took two weeks to put the plan together. they could be charged sometime next week. >>> a grieving florida community is not forgetting the little girl whose body was found in a georgia landfill. neighbors found another vigil for somer thompson last night. her mother and neighbors sang her favorite song "you are my sunshine." they found her body on wednesday. she was missing since monday. police ruled out all 161 sex offenders who live within five miles of the suburban jacksonville home. investigators are not revealing how she died. >>> a strong mid ocean earthquake hit near indonesia today, centered 86 miles below the ocean floor in the banda sea. it had a preliminary magnitude of 7.0. the nearest land is 140 miles. it is an island to the south. no tsunami warning was issued. indonesia has been ro