. >>> let's go to natalie morales, who is live in hoboken, new jersey, across from lower manhattan. with another good morning, it looks like the fog is coming back. we're not still out of the woods. >> reporter: we certainly aren't. the wind has picked up, but now the sky is brightening. every time i talk to you, it must be good luck, but we still feel the wind. alex, i should point out, we're on the east end of town along the hudson river. when i spoke to you earlier the river was high up you could see the river has receded. although i should point out, and i know you have a picture of this we sent to you earlier today, the other side of town is dealing with a flooding situation, as was described to me. it tess it looks like venice over there. they usually do floo flood, so that is a situation they're going to have to be cleans up, as police officer were coming by and reminding im, they're telling people do not come out or get into water where you don't know what is lying underneath. you risk being electrocuted. they're dealing with that situation with a lot more flooding over ther

okay, natalie morales standing by in hoboken, new jersey, covering things. one person has died in maryland as a result of hurricane irene. a woman in queen anne's county was killed after a tree fell on her house, causing her chimney to collapse. state police say a tornado touched down in the lower eastern shore. maryland's emergency management agency says 780,000 homes and businesses are without power. let's go to nbc's tom costello in ocean city, maryland where things are brighter today. you certainly weathered something horrific yesterday. >> well just when you thought you could take off the rain gear, here comes another band of rain, i'm getting awfully wet here. but we're told that this is really just the last band or the last finger, if you will of rain from the back end of irene as it is way up that way. in your back yard. we are doing a quick assessment here in ocean city. and the delmarva peninsula, and police are saying so far they don't see any significant damage. we do have power out to certain areas along the peninsula. we are still without power

here's natalie morales. >> reporter: 12-year-old dale ostrander, a non-swimmer was swept out to sea from rip current off the coast of washington. rescuers crisscrossed the ocean, desperately searches for the boy for 20 long minutes. they found him under water and unconscious. he lifeless body rushed to the hospital where his pulse finally returned. his parents, chad and kirsten raced from their home three hours away with their faith in god, but a grim prognosis from doctors. >> they were very clear that he had been under water too long, been without oxygen too long. >> likely he's going to die. no matter what happens, everything is going to be good, because we have a strong faith in good, and he's never let us down, and good things will come, no matter if it hurts us, if we have to say good-bye to our son. they never expected him to loif. they expected him to be a vegetable, never walk, never talk, never say a word, and that would have been fine. >> but sunday night, three days after dale's limp body had arrived at the portland hospital, dale surprised everyone by opening his eyes. >> da

from bill's weather outpost, we're going to natalie morales in hoboken, new jersey. i can see beautiful manhattan skyline behind you. >> reporter: this is what you didn't see about two hours ago, last time we were talking. there actually is a beautiful view here of the waterfront and midtown manhattan. we are finally getting to see that. it looks like the worst is over with, as bill karins made a really important point, the rivers are still concern, we notice the passaic river, areas that normally get flooded, this time they're feeling it worse, and they experienced record flooding in march, so once again going through it again. governor chris christie spoke with us earlier, and he said they expect snell damages to be estimated in the tens of billions. a lot of people will be feeling the effects of this to come as they deal with the cleanup, water in their baismts. people along the ground levels were evacuated from their homes, people with ground-level apartments. we're not sure when they'll be allowed back into their homes as yet. they probably can start coming back

. >>> and singer sean kingston talks to natalie morales about his terrifying jet ski accident and his struggle to survive. >>> now, keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and much more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thank you for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. the day today on your nbc station. have a terrific thursday. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

i'm natalie morales. >> i'm lester holt. matt and ann have the morning off. we're about a minute and 12 seconds into the show and we've already lost you. >> i have a tear in my eye on that one. so amazing. we're both military kids, so we know what that's like. >> i love it. she throws. he walks up. he must have said something because the recognition hit her before the mask is off. >> oh, my goodness. we're going to see more of that coming up in a little bit as well. >> a very special one. >>> meantime, 14 months away from the election, looks like the govs have already come off on the republican side. >> that's right. eight gop candidates took turns taking shots at president obama and each other d during last night's debate in iowa ahead of tomorrow's straw poll. there was obvious tension in the air. we're going to talk exclusively to representative bachmann about what was said and ask her about that much-talked-about "newsweek" cover. >>> live to aruba in the latest for the search of a missing maryland woman. the fbi has started conducting interviews tied to

i'm ann curry along with matt lauer, al roker and natalie morales.e on the plaza. should be a great show. you can catch one of the songs. here are the choices. "chicken fried," "toes," as she's walking away." cast your phone. text one, two, or three to 622639. next friday morning tune in to the concert to see which song won. >> wow. okay. meanwhile, just ahead, are you tired of feeling exhausted even after a full night's sleep? i couldn't tell you when i had a full night's sleep. coming up, why it could be what's happening and you can do about it. could be a medical problem. >>> also. then a little bit later on the brain foods that will help boost your child's memory, focus, and their energy. >> that's good. work for adults as well? >> could be. >> what about the weather? >> beautiful weather in the northeast. looking fantastic. let's see what your weather is like around the weekend. we've got a risk of strong storms tomorrow in the upper mississippi river valley. warm weather in the pacific northwest. sizzling continues in the southwest. and then on

now a check of the rest of the top stories from natalie morales at the newsdesk. good morning to you, natalie. >> good morning, ann. dominique strau dominiq dominiq dominique strauss kahn is facing a suit. she filed suit for the alleged attack that she claims left her life in shambles. strauss kahn's lawyer say the suit is not have merit. >>> the drugs on the medicine shortage list has tripled. some kinds of anesthetics are short leaving patients waiting for life-saving medical care. the cause -- manufacturing and quality control as well as drug companies that stop production as certain medications go generic. >>> and e. coli outbreak linked to spresh strawberries killed one person and sickened nine others. the strain of e. coli originate in a farm in northwestern oregon according to public health officialings. >>> a 2-00 year tradition on capitol hill is coming to an end due to budget cuts and the internet. the house is ending the historic page program in the 1920s giving high schoolers a chance to serve as messengers and get a glimpse from congress. now with e-ma

. >> we're going to go over across the river from where i am at 30 rock to my colleague, natalie morales who is in hoboken, new jersey. she's seen the rising waters of the hudson river. got to cause concern for many including you about the safety of your home. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you alex. that's right. you see right behind me the water levels. it's up about a foot already. it's got about another 18 inches or maybe two feet to go before it goes over the banks here and some pretty residential areas here, very populated residential areas. this is a town that has 40 or 50,000 residents. i am among them. a lot of people took precautions and put sand bags around their homes. the concern when this was a full blown hurricane they could perhaps be some sort of tidal wave into the streets that could move out towards some of the further inland areas. now rear not seeing that happen. that's the good news. the tropical storm downgraded also good news. but as you mentioned the concern is certainly far from over because this is very much a water event. it will be raining for hou

my colleague nbc natalie morales has been reporting from there. there's hot power lines down.ot of people have dogs in those apartment buildings. don't walk them quite yet. be very careful. flooded areas as well which can compound the problem with elect electrocution. stay off the streets of hoboken. dangerous conditions exist along the waterfront, storm surge may cause the hudson river to rise up over that rockaway. for folks in hoboken, new jersey, take care if you head outside. look, make sure there's a very clear walkway. officials are suggesting stay inside as best can you even if your dogs need to be walked try to figure out something and good luck with all of that. as far as new jersey overall, there are 400,000 without power right now. 15,000 remain in shelters having been urged to go to those shelters when they were asked to evacuate by governor chris christie. 200 roads closed throughout the state, closed due to flooding, damaged trees that are down. limbs, power lines down. things are clearly a mess throughout the state of new jersey as well as specifically in hobok

natalie morales caught up with kingston at his home. she's down in miami with details on that. ood morning to you, matt. it was not far from here where shawn kingston had that near fatal jet ski crash. he's feeling good now. he looks good now. he's lost nearly 70 pound. but ultimately, it's what he could have lost that's helped him gain a new perspective. ♪ beautiful girls >> reporter: with hits like "beautiful girls" and "fire burning," shawn kingston had been riding high. >> right now, i'm on my myspace. >> reporter: his charmed career discovered on ascc1: myspace at the annual of ge of . the concert on the "today" show in 2007 was the debut. but it all came crashing to an end. it was memorial day, shawn moved into his house and was having a party when hed decided to go fo a care-free ride. he decided to go on hi jet ski like this one outside of his home. >> we weren't riding earlier. we took a break and wanted to go back out again. >> shawn hit the waves with a female friend. he says he was going about 40 miles per hour when he approached a bridge. >> i tried to go under it.

. >>> now a check of the other top stories from natalie morales. hey, natalie. good morning. >> good morning to you, ann. good morning, everyone. >>> in his first public appearance since the uprising, hosni mubarak appeared in a cairo court today on a stretcher and behind a cage. nbc's martin fletcher is in cairo with more. martin? >> reporter: natalie, it's almost unbelievable. a dramatic historic day here. after 30 years of total power, hosni mubarak, 83 years old, wheeled into the courtroom on a stretcher, checked inside a metal cage with his two sons who also, by the way, are accused of corruption with him. mubarak didn't seem frail despite his lawyer's claims he was too weak to stand trial. the charges, corruption and the ordering of killing of protesters, 860 killed by security forces in the protests in january. for this, mubarak faces the death penalty. today he said he categorically denies all charges. the opening of the trial was on egyptian tv and achieved many things here that they say, this is not punishing mubarak, this is a warning to whoever follo

i'm ann curry alongside matt lauer and natalie morales this morning.u are what you eat. well, guess what, one thing we realize what you eat can actually boost or not boost your mood. we're going to get some expert advice on that from joy bauer. >>> and who the fans of planet of the apes series movies. >> i am. >> and there's a new movie out that's going to explain how that whole series of movies began. it's somewhat of a prequel and stars that man right there, james franco. he's in our studio now. we're going to talk to him about the movie and other stuff going on with him in just a couple of minutes. >> okay. >>> and then, are you a baby boomer with money whoas? may be actuall lly borrowing ca from your kids? is that a good idea and what are the problems that can cause? should you put anything in writing? we're going to get some important advise coming up. >> all right. the weather today is beautiful. 74 degrees. fantastic. let's find out if it's going to last. stephanie abrams, what's the story? >> unfortunately we could see scattered storms later to

meantime, i'm ann curry along with matt lauer and natalie morales. in the world is al roeker? >> i think i know. got a little special gift to -- >> let's see if we can check in with al right now. al, where are you? >> happy birthday to you. ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ happy birthday 60 years old. our director, joe michaels, which is great because i thought you were 73. happy birthday, big fella. >> smell that cake. come on, smell that cake. >> looks delicious. >> happy birthday. >> happy birthday. >> not a day over 59. >> this is a big surprise. she was in here with the camera. >> pointed at you. nobody had any idea. >> oh, my gosh. >> nobody doesn't like birthdays but, you know what, we love you, joe. enjoy that cake. >> show them how your wig works. >> okay. all right. >> right there. >> might get you into trouble. >> we're back out here, al. meanwhile -- >> we've got stuff to talk about here. >>> coming up in this half hour, talking about getting your kids off to college. kids spend so much time in front of televisions these days and video games in