natalie morales, nbc news, new york. >>> when we come back, through war and peace time, achievement and scandal, closing the doors on a military institution. >>> a military tradition, a washington institution fades into the history books tonight as walter reed army medical center closes its doors. nbc's jim miklaszewski looks at a place that treated everyone from privates to presidents. >> reporter: for more than 100 years, walter reed has been on the front lines of military medicine, from world war i until today, caring for americans wounded in war. colonel norvell coots is the commander at walter reed. >> this has been such an important place for healing. >> reporter: it is also an invaluable piece of american history. >> we're entering the sitting room of the pershing suite. >> reporter: world war i general dr. jack pershing lived and died at walter reed. dr. john pierce says others flocked here for his military advice. >> and so two star general george s. patton came to this room, got down on his knees on this rug. >> reporter: right here? >> right here. and general pershing blessed

nbc's natalie morales has more. >> reporter: deep in australia's northern territory, lurking along theiver, giant saltwater crocodiles infest these waters. perhaps the most notorious, brutus, the giant predator who recently made headlines around the world, after leaping from the water dangerously close to a boat full of tourists. he was said to be 18 feet long, weighing a whopping 2,000 pounds. to get a glimpse of this massive croc for ourselves, we jumped adelaide river cruises and their colorful tour guide morgan bowman. docking buffalo meat to lure brutus out of the water we set out in search of the giant croc. >> the big ones can do an area of four or five kilometers each. you never know where they are. >> reporter: after 30 minutes we got our first look at brutus. >> good morning, brutus. you're worldwide fella. >> reporter: locals say brutus lost his front leg after a run-in with a shark. he's missing teeth from regularly feasting on wild boars. >> he's one of the best hunters in the world. fantastic animals. >> reporter: deadly and extremely powerful, saltwater crocs kill their

i'm natalie morales, with savanna guthrie.sey anthony case. >> incredible day. >>> also coming up, a trip we've been following all week, royals in canada, will and kate took that country by storm. greeted like rock stars. now to take our country by storm, heading to california tomorrow. we will have the latest on their plans. >> kate's first trip to hollywood. see what she thinks about it? also our series as we follow the claes of 2020 to high school graduation. heading to the third grade where the students are trading in their pencil and papers for a mouse and keypad in their school work. we'll see all of the fun, we caught up with them before they went on summer vacation. >> fun in the kitchen. today today's ps tak taco thursday. slow roasted pork, and tacos trimmed chicken and meat. >> you've got takers here. >> we're starving. almost lunchtime. >>> first a check of the weather right now. maria. >> two marias. >> good morning, ladies. as we check the weather for today, a couple of hot spots for showers and thunderstorms. ac

let's head over to natalie morales with other top stories of the morning. >> good morning to you. good morning. clean-up efforts in the montana oil spill will be complicated by rising waters today as yellowstone river peaks. nbc's george lewis is in laurel, montana, with the very latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. you can see those rising floodwaters behind me. yesterday it was down by where that white containment boom is. today it's risen a foot or so and deposited a new slick of oil along the river bank. exxonmobil says there are about 280 people involved in the clean-up effort. they'll be back today in force. meanwhile the governor of montana plans to visit today to look at the clean-up effort. and property owners here are rather angry. they want answers. they want to know from exxonmobil and from government officials how long it's going to take to clean up this mess. how widespread will it be? what sort of lasting effects can be expected? and also, what sort of compensation might they receive to make them whole? natalie. >> george lewis in laurel, montan

thank you to them. >> was that natalie morales?ttle nerve-racking, you know? i'll try to play. but this is a song we did. ♪ yeah, this is harder than i thought. ♪ i see it go by never been in this country bar ♪ ♪ never been so easy ♪ i've been shooting in the dark too long when something is not right ♪ ♪ you've been with me a long time ♪ >> it's kind of lonesome to play without natalie. >> awww. >> see? she is good at everything. that is why we love her so much. i can't! i'll play my more okayas. >> we know that. >> i should learn how to hold it. i will not take you out with it. >> you were beautiful! >> so natalie had her eye on this guitar. >> i love this guitar. >> so i decided you should have the guitar, so you could practice a little bit. >> you are the best teacher. >> i love this show. all of a sudden, it's al-kabob. and we're back after these messages. [ female announcer ] for smooth skin think you need a harsh chemical peel? challenge that with olay regenerist night elixir. its gentle glycolic formula resurfaces at night f

for that, we turn to natalie morales at the newsdesk. hey, natalie. >> good morning. good morning, everyone. >>> a private funeral is held for singer amy winehouse as fans and visitors continue to pay their respects to the singer at a makeshift memorial set outside of her london home. autopsy results on monday were inconclusive. however, toxicology tests are being done that could take weeks before a cause of death is determined. >>> no break for air travelers who thought a congressional stalemate would spare them for paying taxes on tickets. several federal taxes on tickets expired over the weekend after lawmakers failed to pass legislation to keep the faa running at full speed. so instead of passing the savings now on to fliers, many airlines are choosing to raise base fares instead. >>> the cash-strapped u.s. postal service is considering shutting down more than 3500 local branches many in rural areas. last year, the government agency lost $8 billion. >>> the death toll is rising from the train collision in china over the weekend. at least 39 people were killed, inc

let's get the other morning stories from natalie morales at the news desk. good morning. >>> good morning, everyone. minnesota's state government has shut down, politically deadlocked over a $5 billion budget deficit. talks degenerated ahead of a midnight deadline as the governor demanded tax hikes on the state's wealthiest residents. top republican state lawmakers balked. >>> crews in new mexico are optimistic that they've stopped the advance of that massive wildfire that's been menacing the los alamos nuclear lab. crews thinned out brush and laid down a line of fire resistant foam to help contain the fire but residents are not expected to go back to their homes until sunday at the earliest. >>> treasury secretary timothy geithner is rejecting speculation that he could leave his post after this round of budget negotiations. geithner said he will stay in his job for "the foreseeable future." >>> venezuelan president hugo chavez revealed he's battling cancer. addressing his nation on thursday, he says he's recovering from successful surgery in cuba last month

matt lauer along with ann curry, natalie morales and al roker. of the best things about summer. a beautiful berry pie. and who else but martha stewart knows how to make that crust, how we delight our families. going to taste it ourselves coming up. i know, pie. >> great movies coming out right now. but coming up, movie reviews from a mom's perspective to see which releases are shelling out for tickets and a babysitter. and talk about what the kid actually might sit through. >> use credit cards like airline miles, cash back purchases. you know that a lot of credit cards have hidden charges that you don't know about? we're going to reveal those to you in a little bit. >> well, good. >> the weather forecast, mr. roker. >>> let's show you what you've got. coming up for more today, a list of strong storms from western new york all the way back to the western plains. beautiful in the pacific northwest. sunshine in the low 80s. rain in the gulf coast. for tomorrow, a slight risk of strong storms for the northeast. also through the central plains. tropic

i'm matt lauer along with ann curry and natalie morales. here tomorrow morning. chris brown takes to the stage. if you're in the area, come on down. meanwhile, coming up, traveling with your family can be a bit of a hassle. but we're going to get tips on taking the hassle out of traveling. >> in the meantime, it's a big morning in hollywood today because the prime time emmy nominations are to be announced. we'll run through the nominees coming up. >>> plus we talked about daniel radcliffe. after the excitement of the harry potter movie. we have a special sweep stakes to tell you about. you can win a vacation on today to the wizarding world of harry potter. for rules and details go to today.com. >> actually pretty cool. also have you noticed very quiet in the makeup room today? >> yes. >> our good friends hoda and kathi lee are not in the building. they're in montreal. girls, what's going on? >> everything. it's rocking. >> this is a great spot. we're in this terrific square. it feels very perian. but you have a little customs. we're doing o

al roker and natalie morales.r studio from a very talented young lady, colby caillet. >> her music makes you happy. >>> talk about the heat a moment ago, that brings us to a segment everybody is talking about this morning which is what to do when you're pregnant and how to dress for this heat. there's one of them right there. how people can look great, feel good while they're growing a baby. we have ideas, for example, sometimes when you're pregnant you get asked to go to a fancy event, what do you wear. >> oh, yeah. >> while the ladies may be looking for outfits we guys are looking about looking for a new grill. >> oh, yeah. can i get a uh, uh, uh. >> talk about the late nest grill technology. 27% of grillers are now women. so there you go. >> i do a lot of the grilling. >> there you go. we're going to show you the best of the best for the right price. a man who likes to grill, jim bell, ladies and gentlemen. jim bell, king of the grill right there. executive producer. look at him. >> check it out. >> i don't kno

before we get to all of that, let's get to natalie morales.od morning again, everyone. this morning's court 57 experience for the man charged with friday's mass killing nsz norway was held behind closed doors. prosecutors feared that 32-year-old anders behring breivik would use a public hearing as a platform for his political views. breivik, self described anti-muslim crusader is accused of setting off a bomb in oslo and then going on a shooting rampage at a youth camp, killing more than 90 people. >>> with bipartisan talks collapsing, democrats and republicans are moving on separate tracks today to prevent a u.s. debt default in eight days. house speaker john boehner is meeting with fellow republicans to discuss a short-term hike in the nation's borrowing limit. meantime, senate majority leader harry reid says she's working on his own package of spending cuts that would also increase the debt ceiling through next year. >>> house democratic leader nancy pelosi is calling for an ethics negotiation of fellow democrat david wu. a teenage family f

let's go inside to natalie morales at the news desk. >> good morning to you once again.uated after an abandoned suitcase was found in the area. no explosives were found inside. at the same time, though, now we are learning more about some of the victims. nbc's martin fletcher is ins a lo with more. good morning, martin. >> reporter: natalie, good morning. it's taken five days to begin releasing the names of the victi victims. so much confusion here. announced from 93 to 76, some relief, and all the while norway has been gripped by shock and confusion. here they say it flowers. oslo cathedral has been the focus of norway's grief. only now five days after the bombing and the massacre are they putting faces to the anguish. names of the victims are being released, mostly politically engaged teenagers. they say here the best of a generation. dead, a dancer, 20-year-old who made it on to norway's "got talent." 19-year-old halle, a student politician. this boy's family called him a big bear, killed trying to save his friends. some of the victims were immigrants or children of i

natalie morales. >> great conclusion to a more than decade long effort.ing when she wrote it she said she wrote it from beginning to end. i watched the first one now and how it puts it all together. >> you see the whole story. >> it is brilliant. the last one is brilliant. >> but it is pg grpg-13. >>> the role of kate middleton, duchess of cambridge, made a splash across canada last week, whether she was in her favorite jeans or simple dress or flowing gown she always looked amazing. we're going to show you now how you can get that same look for much, much less. >>> then in "today's" kitchen, a taste of the south from these famous high school sweethearts who do it all together. food network celebrity's are going to show us how to make a southern favorite. >> it looks good. also sounds good. >>> also, this funny video is going to get you feeling good. some senior citizens in michigan making their own viral video. i think we have the video here. lip syncing to michael buble's "feeling good." cute. ♪ well, we're going to show it all to you and take a look at

all roker and natalie morales joins us as well.it yourself projects and we'll try to keep our fingers and toes. we'll have great advice on ways to stay safe when you're taking on projects in your home. >> all right. then our bow to wow segment. taking the shelter dogs who need a bit of a makeeverover. we've cleaned them up. they're so great. they're so cute. natalie and i are in love with a particular dog. >> which one? >> duky? >> you know what my first dog's name was? duky. >> karma. >> it's men to be. >> i know. i know. it's going to be tough. >>> and later, our crack team of power players takes on the big issues of the day of whether your looks matter if you vote for president to its gender more than others? i'd be surprised about that one. >> and then we're going to help you save a ton of money if you plan on going on vacation this summer. >> we have a lot to get to. how about a check of the weather. >>> all right, we know it's hot today. it's going to be hot again tomorrow throughout much of the country. saturday, risk of str

. >>> let's get a check of the rest of the morning's top stories from natalie morales. >> good morning, everyone. we begin with another government budget battle. progress came to minnesota overnight where the governor and gop lawmakers reached a deal that could end a two-week government shutdown. thursday's deal came over after the governor gave up his fight for tax increases and settled for short-term fixes. >>> osama bin laden was trying to assemble a team to attack the u.s. on the upcoming tenth anniversary on 9/11 when he was killed in may but things never progressed beyond the planning stages. the cia is never progressed beyond the planning stages. the cia is working to make sure this plan nor any others are carried out. >>> the white house is asking a federal appeals court to lift the band on the don't ask, don't tell policy. the obama administration says it will end the band ban on openly gay service members in the coming weeks and does not want to, quote, short circuit the appeal process. >>> one of the newest luxury resorts is warning guests they may have been exposed to the b

ann curry along with matt lauer and natalie morales and al roker.>> how do you recognize her? >> right away, not only do we have journey, platinum albums. their greatest hits album has sold so many copies it is certified diamond, which is ridiculous. >> unbelievable. >> incredible. we're going to hear from them in just a little while. >>> and a man who had a collection of bowls. "antique road show" said this was the highest value they had ever seen. we are going to see those bowls on the back of one of our stage man, stage manager moving him out so you can see the collection of bowls. live tv! >> all right. and then a little bit later on, jill martin is back with a popular series of steals and deals. something for everyone. sure to be a crowd pleaser. >> have you got anything? >> no, i'm just here. >> you're here as a prop. >> mr. roker, before we get to this great concert, how about a check of the weather? >> i would like to see another jot of the back of joe's head. you should see him full throttle. unbelievable. i mean, from the face. >> no. >> i

. >>> let's get a check of the rest of the morning's top stories from natalie morales at the news desk. >> good morning, everyone. >>> breaking news this morning. a major explosion rocked central oslo this morning. nbc's martin fletcher is in norway this morning. what's going on there? >> reporter: hi, natalie. there was a big explosion in the center of oslo in an area of many government buildings. one eyewitness said there was smoke, chaos, many injured, apparently. we don't know about any deaths yet. no one knows what's going on. the eyewitness said he was afraid of more bombs, but there was a huge explosion. it is a national holiday in oslo today, so there were as many people in the city center as there could have been, natalie. >> thank you, martin fletcher reporting from london. >>> with just 11 days to go until the default deadline, president obama says he's still hoping to do, quote, something big and meaningful to reduce the federal deficit. officials say the president is making progress in his latest talks with house speaker john boehner. >>> james murdoch could be called to c

natalie morales is at the news desk this morning. good morning. >> good morning, david and ann. good morning, everyone. >>> a deadly shooting spree, a car chase and a hostage standoff ended last night with more bloodshed in michigan. police in grand rapids says a 34-year-old went on a shooting rampage that killed seven people, including his own daughter, and another unidentified child. after a high-speed chase and a five-hour hostage standoff, he fatally shot himself. his three hostages were unharmed. >>> the june jobs report is out this morning as the hiring ground to a near halt last month. employers added only 18,000 jobs, the fewest added in nine months. >>> despite last-minute appeals from the white house, u.s. supreme court rejected a stay of execution last night for a 38-year-old mexican citizen convicted of raping and murdering a texas teen. he received lethal injection last night in huntsville, texas. the case set off a flurry of objections because the defendant had not been informed he could seek legal help from the mexican government at the time of his arrest back in

let's get a check now of the rest of the morning's top stories from natalie morales over at the news desk this morning. good morning. >> good morning, everyone. new defense secretary leon panetta is in baghdad this morning on his first visit from the pentagon as rocket strikes pound the green zone this morning. our correspondent jim miklaszewski is there. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. u.s. military officials are telling us three or four rockets hit the green zone this morning. they're saying this is clearly a welcome shot for secretary panetta, who told us in an interview just a few minutes ago that iraqi extremists that are being armed by iran with sophisticated weapons are targeting and killing americans. 15 american soldiers were killed just last month. and one soldier told us this morning they're coming after us. now, in our interview with secretary panetta he said that he's demanding that iran back off and that the iraqi security forces step up to protect the americans. but if that doesn't happen he says that he has the authority to order the u.s. military in

natalie morales is at the news desk. good morning. >> good morning, lester and ann. >>> three international service members were killed in a bombing this morning in eastern afghanistan, according to nato. this as general david petraeus hands over command of the u.s. mission there to general john allen today. >>> the house votes this week on a tea party-backed plan to keep the government from a default. the nbc's chief white house correspondent chuck todd has more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. look, the entire negotiation process to raise the debt ceiling in the next two weeks is on a two-track process, a public one and a private one. you referred to the public one. right now, house republicans are going to be voting on this balanced budget amendment, trying to get that added to the constitution. it might even get a vote in the united states senate. but it has no chance of passage. but once that's out of the way, then the behind the scenes negotiations right now, which is all basically the united stat

traditional, if you will, biblical morality sort of triumphs, the way it did in a worse recent movie with the same premise "no strings attached" starring the black swan co-star natalieat? >> use each other for sex. >> reporter: which raises the question, what is it about those black swan girls and sex? friends with benefits is edited too quickly as if the director watched screwball comedies and got the wrong message. still there are those shapely entwined naked limbs and kunis not just sexy but unbelieveably cute. wait. that's a pick-up line from crazy, stupid love. a much funnier movie. full of actors you'll really want to see. real actors like ryan and julianne moore and emma stone. their edges not blunted by years of making dumb buddy and chick flicks. >> you're sitting there with a super cut haircut and you're getting drunk like a 14-year-old girl. >> reporter: the alarmingly sleek actor plays up a pick-up virtuoso who feels for a newly dumped man and teaches him to dress and chat up the ladies. those sweety pie karel still moons over moore his first and only love who slept with her colleague kevin bacon and is now a wreck of wayward emotions. it's the sort of q