he named me, actually, after my grandmother. >> i said savannah's name is savannah. >> savannah guthrie house. >> thanks so much, savior. >> hi, al, i'm savannah, two ns with an h on the end. >> shoshanna. ♪ >> she missed being number one in our entire law school class by 0.2%. >> reporting live, savannah guthrie, nbc news. >> i love to write more than anything. i wanted to be a writer and reporter. i was not somebody who started and just knew how to do this job. it took me decades to learn. >> everybody on the beat liked her. she's got chops. >> savannah guthrie. >> is it possible voters can feel your still not getting it. >> today's legal correspondent savannah guthrie. >> sizing up the credibility of its user. >> when the interview subject sits across from her, she will disarm you. >> what would you like to say that you are prepared to be commander in chief. >> why didn't you walk away? >> congratulations, four for four managing to find a negative approach. >> how will the rest of your day go. >> yes, from time to time, i have been a little star struck, that's true. >> you look great

savannah. >> al, thank you. president barack obama is expected to call on congress to pass a one-year extension of the bush era tax cuts for middle class families today, this as republicans fight back against new questions about mitt romney's personal wealth. nbc's peter alexander is in washington for us this morning. peter, good morning to you. >> savannah, good morning to you. we should say congratulations. today president obama is going to try to shift the debate as you know away from the struggling jobs market towards that issue of tax fairness. he's going to be kicking off a push to temporarily extend the bush era tax cuts for the middle class only, not for wealthier people like republicans want. in the process, the president is trying to draw a clear contrast with his challenger mitt romney. for president obama, these must feel like the dog days of summer. back at the white house but still taking heat for the nation's sputtering economy, with june rounding out the weakest quarter of job g

>> give it to savannah. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. here is traffic pulse 11 and sarah caldwell. >> we have accident in howard county. fulton, maple what boulevard, 216. that one is still cropping up. guilford avenue, vehicle fire. accident at putty hill ave at loch raven boulevard delays on the north side, heaviest at our ford. we have fire department activity to avoid. harrisburg expressway in great shape all the way down from the parkton region to the beltway. speaking of the beltway, the pace of things towards dulaney valley. at 63, this is baltimore national pike. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> partly cloudy skies. all the rain is well to our south. something might happen today, but i.t. has a very small chance. temperature-wise, very pleasant, normal range. b.w.i. marshall, 82% humidity. our metric pressure is higher than yesterday, so that is a good trend. partly cloudy skies. an isolated shower, if it occurs

savannah, it could be up to a year before they see him go to trial. savannah. >> a long road. linda is a former prosecutor. gail saltz, psychiatrist and "today" contributor. good morning to both of you. we need a lawyer and psychiatrist to look into this. gayle, i'll start with you. i know you can't diagnose from a distance. when you saw that demeanor in court, what jumped out at you. >> people described it in a lot of ways. the reason was it was a nondescript behavior. he looked dazed or out of it or sleepy. the point really is in a snapshot you can't tell if someone is psychiatrically ill. they will need to do an in-depth psychiatric examination, psychological testing and they will have to look at the history, sort of going back to determine whether there is a reason for insanity defense. >> we've reported according to sources close to the defense, he was not on medication. other people have been saying, could he be faking it. can you basically fake an insanity defense? >> i'm not sure about faking it. i think he was not faking anything. he looks to me, given his prior condu

savannah was georgia's first city. 1733 by james oglethorpe for king george ii of england. oglethorpe was a visionary. he designed america's first planned city around 24 large, open squares with their giant oaks and hanging spanish moss, but he was also a realist. the general made the streets between the squares wide enough to accommodate an army. this way, soldiers could be moved quickly from one part of town to another. during the american revolution, free black soldiers from haiti fought here alongside the americans and french against the british. this monument honors revolutionary war hero general pulaski, who died during the battle of savannah. cotton made savannah wealthy. in fact, eli whitney developed his cotton gin just outside of town. until the civil war, savannah was a major port for the slave trade. today, river street is crowded with tourists and shoppers. you can ride the trolley... or book a seat on an old-fashioned river boat. the pirates' house has been a meeting place for seafarers since the mid-1700

than a month, the stevensons had searched for savannah after she ran away during a storm. her disappearance making another recent loss even more difficult. >> my husband loved to be outside. they were always outside together. >> reporter: belinda's husband and savannah's best friend was johnny, nicknamed pop, a 20-year military veteran who served in iraq. though retired, stevenson left for afghanistan in january as a civilian contractor. one month later he died of heart failure. >> there will never be nobody else that can take my husband's place. >> reporter: stevenson's wife of 30 years e-mailed julie ogden to thank her for saving savannah. and shared the story of pops and his dog. >> she's very special to us. >> the night she got out of the yard, i felt like another piece of him was taken from me. >> reporter: ogden knew savannah belonged at home. she packed up the car and drove 14 hours with a caravan to georgia. bringing back more than just a pet. >> i'm getting a little piece of pops back. >> reporter: one dog's unlikely homecoming, and a family reunited. mara schiavo

i'm savannah guthrie. that delta plane was about hour into its flight to madrid when they headed back and reported a possible explosive device on board. >> still a lot of questions unanswered. passengers were evacuated, two questioned by the police as the bomb squad surged the plane. the wires that triggered the scare were deemed to be nonthreatening. details in a live report straight ahead. >> investigators trying to determine what caused the doomed boat to capsize off long island on the fourth of july killing three children. this morning the youngest victim's mother, who was also on that yacht, speaks out with her husband about their daughter and what happened that night. >>> then the opening ceremony of the olympic games two weeks away. there's growing outrage over the uniforms team usa will wear as they march into the stadium. not because of how they look but where they were made. china. we'll tell you what the designers are saying about that controversial choice. >>> our plaza is filled for a fun summ

this is not really home for savannah.he streets in georgia, the husky wound up in a shelter that found a new jersey foster family to take her in, just before she was going to be put down. >> two hours to live? >> two hours to live. >> reporter: julie ogden, a lifelong animal rescuer quickly realized this affectionate pup was no stray. >> i said to myself, somebody really loved this dog. >> reporter: 800 miles away in heinzville, georgia, terrell stevenson came across savannah's picture on a rescue page. he instan thely knew it was his family's dog. >> savannah's eyes are one of a kind. >> reporter: for more than a month, the stevensons had searched for savannah after she ran away during a storm. her disappearance making another recent loss even more difficult. >> they were always outside together. >> reporter: belinda's husband and savannah's best friend was johnny, nicknamed pop, a 20-year military veteran who served in iraq. though retired, he left for afghanistan in january as a civilian contractor. one month later he

savannah? >> thank you. joining us now is darryl vilmas, who was in the theater right next door to where the gunman was opening fire. darryl, tell us what happened. gunfire came through your theater, didn't it? >> yes. we heard repetitive popping noises and we saw smoke, and then things were hitting us and we didn't know what that was. for my group, we were far enough away where it didn't hurt us, but we felt things hitting us. there were people running out with -- like a young girl, i remember seeing her holding her face. i don't know what happened to her, if she was hurt. they were sitting close to the wall where, adjacent to theater 9. >> when did it dawn on you that something was going terribly wrong next door? >> well, the fire alarm went off, and people started getting up and going out the exits, and i was in the military when i was 17, i joined. and at least in my group, i, you know, said hey, we shouldn't go out so quick, because if that was actually a gun, there could be somebody there ambushing us.

savannah. >> all right. miguel almaguer, thank you. >>> local police are being praised for their fast response to the shooting. kate snow shot down with aurora police chief. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. he's been a voice of calm through the entire tragedy but it is still raw. when i sat down with the police chief i asked him to go back to early friday morning when there were hundreds of calls coming in and police radio traffic was chaotic. >> seven down in theater. >> i've got people running out of the theater shot. >> reporter: i listened to those tapes, hard to listen to those tapes. >> very hard. >> reporter: someone says i've got a child victim. >> i've got a child victim. i need rescue to the theater door now. >> reporter: we now know veronica is her name. do you know if one of your officers attended to her? >> yes. yes. i met with that officer. we're all coping with this. >> i need a marked car behind the theater. >> we knew fairly early on we apprehended a suspect. >> reporter: they are saying

savannah. >> al, thank you. now to big concern facing organizers of the london olympics with nine days to go to the opening ceremony. the company contracted to provide security says it will be unable to deliver enough guards and lawmakers there are not happy. nbc's michelle kosinski is in london with this story. michelle, good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, savannah. you might think what could be more important than security for olympics once you have the venues. for this to come up now, this security company only has half the number of guards ready forces the government to fill that troubling gap. guarding athletes now being done by soldiers and police scrambled from around the uk because the security company g4s, third largest employer just figured out it cannot meet the target. of the guard they agreed to provide, they admit to having only half that number ready. tuesday 300 were needed and the company turned up 38. british lawmakers let the ceo have it. >> a fiasco and shambles. >> inexcusable. >> a shambl

i'm savannah guthrie. we do have breaking news. that overnight train derailment and explosion in columbus. it happened to the southeast of the hawaii state university campus. >> it shook up a lot of people. witnesses say a huge fireball lit up the sky and a chemical smell filled the air. right now investigators aren't sure exactly what caused that crash. as we said, the area around the site has been evacuated as a precaution. we're going to have the latest on this story coming up just ahead. >>> also ahead this morning police released the frantic 911 call made after a florida teenager was attacked by an alligator. he lost one of his arms. it could have been much worse. coming up we're going to hear that call. the victim will explain why he has television to change for his

>> give it to savannah.d morning, 8:26 on this wednesday, july 11th. a crash on the 14th street bridge causing big delays. danella sealock has details. >> some good news. it was blocking two of your left lanes and now just the left lane is blocked you are able to squeeze by, but the delays are serious on 395. jammed from the beltway and all the way across the 14th street bridge. max 9 miles per hour taking over an hour to make your way into d.c. aaron, back over to you. >> thank you, >>> meteorologist tom kierein, storm center 4. beautiful morning under way. a little bit of humidity under way. we're in the 70s later near 90 by mid-afternoon and turning less humid and also a few clouds in and out. only a slight chance of an isolated shower or storm today. again, tomorrow, highs mid-80s on thursday and then on friday a greater chance of showers and thundershowers and highs mid-80s and hot and hume frud the weekend into the first part of next week. >> more weather and traffic >>> 8:30 now on this wednesday morn

savannah? >> miguel almaguer, thank you. >>> local police are being praised for their fast response to the shooting. nbc's kate snow sat down with aurora's police chief. kate, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. he's been a voice of calm through the entire tragedy but it is still raw. when i sat down with the police chief yesterday, i started by asking him to go back to friday morning when hundreds of calls were pouring in, and the radio dispatch traffic was chaotic. >> i've got seven down in the theater nine! seven down! >> i've got people running out of the theater shot. >> reporter: i listened to those tapes. it's hard to listen to those tapes. >> very hard. >> reporter: the one that hits me, someone says, "i've got a child victim." >> i've got a child victim. i need rescue to the theater nine now. >> reporter: we now know veronica is her name. do you know if one of your officers attended to her? >> yes. yes. i met with that officer. we're all coping with this. >> 16 adam, i n

savannah. >> all right, al. thanks. now to one courageous family who thought their medical ordeal was over after their daughter had a heart transplant. that was the beginning of a medical journey all five of the children are enduring today. >> reporter: if he wanted to make a poster of the ideal american family, you couldn't find much better than the bingh binghams. five beautiful children, two devoted parents, jason and stacy. then one day six years ago the eldest sierra came down with what seemed like a stubborn flu. >> that's when things really started to change. >> reporter: it wasn't flu at all. something far worse than that. >> by 3:00 that morning, she had been put on a ventilator. >> reporter: sierra had the disease called cardiomyopathy, deadly said her doctor in palo alto, california. >> what it means is the heart muscle enlarge and becomes thinner and doesn't have as much force when it contracts. >> reporter: without a new heart, dr. rosenthal told the binghams sierra would die soon. >> it was horrible. when

it hasn't sunk in, savannah.tice, the sisters who inspired him. what do you think about that possibility? are you pretty sure it's going to happen? >> i think for us, we're such a supportive family that everybody does. to us, personally, i don't think beijing has really set in yet. we're just there supporting my brother, her son, on his quest to accomplish his goals and be the greatest that he can be. so it's a little hard to believe. pretty historic. >> he's really marked his place in history. >> hard to grasp it. wasn't entire an easy road. he's been really canned it about some of the struggles, getting that passion again for swimming. was it hard to watch him go through that? >> it was hard. he had to work sometimes in isolation to be able to say i'm going to dedicate four more years. i'm going to come on the world stage and perform at my highest level. but i was so happy when i got the phone call and he was like, okay, mom. i'm in. great. he's excited. i'm excited as a mom here as well as as a grand mom. we h

savannah. >> al, thanks so much.issy "the missile" franklin coming up right after this. hi. i'm timothy. i came from the garden. [ cindy ] is he for us? mom, dad... i'm getting that feeling. [ male announcer ] on august 15th comes the family movie of the summer. why are you smiling? i can only get better. [ male announcer ] and once you meet timothy green... [ laughs ] i never thought i'd hear that laugh again. [ male announcer ] ...you'll never be the same. that little guy of yours -- he's something special. [ cindy ] everyone he touches, he changes. [ male announcer ] "the odd life of timothy green," rated pg. more generations of fleas. frontline plus uses two ingredients. one to kill adult fleas and ticks. plus another to kill the next generation, flea eggs and larvae. ask your vet about frontline plus. that magic does exist. it's called science! here's what they'll need. ♪ pencils, folders, notebooks. ♪ ♪ backpacks, denims, graphic tees. ♪ ♪ markers, calculators. whoa! ♪ ♪ converse one start tennies ♪ well, penci

savannah?> now to a frightening encounter in georgia for a woman who woke up to find a stranger in her home near her bedroom. wait until you find out why he was there. >> reporter: hey, savannah, good morning to you. your bedroom is the one place you're supposed to feel safe and your privacy should be protected. so when erika saw a burly stranger standing at her bedroom doorway here, she said she was scared out of her mind and didn't know what to think. it turns out the man wasn't a burglar, he was a local county worker count on camera. as columbia county code enforcer knocked on erika's front door, her surveillance cameras were rolling. it was close to noon and she was still in bed. >> i heard knocking at the door. i wasn't sure if it was in my dreams or i heard something. >> he had come to the house because of complaints of noise and an overgrown lawn. >> the way it was handled, it wasn't too far. >> reporter: masters had enstalled surveillance cameras because she was concerned about people c

savannah. >> peter alexander, thank you. steve schmidt is an msnbc political analyst and served as senior adviser to john mccain's campaign in 2008. steve, good morning to you. >> good morning, savannah. >> let's start on the issue of tax returns. if you look at what presidential candidates have turned over in the last years you see mitt romney is on the letter of the law but the low end of the norm. do you think he left the impression with voters that perhaps he does have something to hide? >> well, i think one of the things that characterizes our politics today is the collapse of trust in institutions of government by the american people. so when you don't disclose something, one side is demanding you disclose it. people in your own party are saying you want to disclose it. i think the american people look at it and they go immediately to what's he hiding whether he is or not. >> you think you should turn i over to make the issue go away. >> i think it's a difficult issue going forward. they have a decision to make. if the

savannah. >> al, thanks.etting a new look at one of the south african chimpanzee that attacked a graduate student from texas, this as the victim recovers from his injuries. michelle kosinski in london for us this morning. michelle, good morning. >> reporter: we haven't heard much on the grad student's condition. his parents asked for privacy. now experts are giving more details on why this might have happened and showing pictures from the operating room of the chimp that attacked him. american student andrew oberle severely mauled by two chimpanzees wasn't the only patient rushed to johannesburg's top medical center, so was one of his attackers, nicky, the chimp. 17 years old, recovering from being shot in the stomach as he charged rescuers trying to save andrew. the team of trauma surgeons operated on nicky four hours with a veterinarian. he's resting at a zoo on valium. the head of the jane goodall institute described nicky second in command to alpha chimp. he turned when he went into a restricted area in a

savannah? >> that is a long road. kate snow, thank you. linda kinney bowden is a criminal defense attorney, and carol salzberg is a psychiatrist. we need a lawyer and psychiatrist to look into this. i know you can't delve into it, but when you saw the demeanor what jumped out as possible causes. >> people described it in many ways, and it was nondescript and looked dazed or out of it or sleepy and the problem is that it could describe many things. the point is that in a snapshot, you cannot tell if someone is psychiatrically ill. they will need to do an in-depth psychiatric examination and psychological testing and they will have to look at the history, sort of going back to determine if there is frankly any reason for the insanity defense. >> we have reported that according to the sources close to the defense he was not on medication. other people have been saying, could he be faking it? can you basically fake an insanity defense? >> well, i'm not sure about faking it. i don't think he was fak

just political theater, savannah? >> well, let's put it this way.may be it will be years down the road. we've seen this time and time again. >> shame! >> we've seen this about the administration asserting executive privilege and the other side saying it was overbroad. it never gets resolved on the political time line that matters. and i think there are some probably in the republican party itself who think is this the highest and best use of our time. some people are very animated about this issue and feel this was the correct move for holder to be held in contempt. but i don't know if republicans want to focus on it. >> just a few seconds, gene. >> fast and furious excites passions, especially among the republican base. so in that sense, i think, you know, politically it fires up the republican base. i don't think it does much else politically. >> we'll leave threat. thank you all very much. great discussion. you can watch this week's press pass conversation with mark shriver on our blog. he's out with his new biography about his father, the late s

savannah? >> al, thank you. people are still talking about the drama and beauty of friday night's opening ceremony. more than 40 million people tuned in in the u.s. alone making it the most watched opening ceremony ever. that's because meredith hosted along with matt and bob costas. it was quite a show. >> director danny boyle told us it was the most challenging thing he had ever undertaken. by most accounts it was a big success. [ bell ringing ] >> good evening, mr. bond. [ cheers and applause ] >> good evening, your majesty. >> in her acting debut, queen elizabeth starred as herself alongside daniel craig as james bond and two of her beloved corgies. for a sketch that instantly became one of the most talked about moments of the night. [ cheers and applause ] and a stunt that instantly had people calling the queen the new bond girl. >> she's a good actor. her and daniel got on well. her and james bond got on well. ♪ [ bell ringing ] >> elsewhere, a history of great britain's transformation was on display. from

savannah. >> all right. the rest of the stories in a moment but first a check of the other top stories with natalie at the news desk. >>> good morning, everyone. damaging new evidence for george zimmerman as he awaits his trial for the shooting death of traffic martin. janet with more, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. this is evidence the defense tried to keep sealed. telephone conversations and witness interviews, including one from a young woman who says george zimmerman sexually assaulted her. she's been identified as witness number nine, a relative of george zimmerman and has told detectives he molested her starting when she was six and he was eight. she described the incidents as kissing and groping that lasted on and off for ten years. i wanted to make it stop but i didn't know how, she said. the woman never before reported what happened. defense attorney mark o'mara wanted the evidence sealed saying it wasn't relevant to the case. >> keep from public view not because the allegations are true,

savannah? >> peter alexander, thank you. t t tom brokaw is an nbc special correspondent. good to see you. is it a smart idea, an opportunity to look presidential or is it a week lost when he could be driving the message on the economy? >> i interviewed senator obama after a very successful trip. times were different. europe was not in an economic meltdown, this was a fresh face after eight years of george w. bush, who was not popular. it's mandatory for a presidential candidate to make these kind of tours. the big stop will be israel. we'll see a lot of governor romney in israel probably with bebe netanyahu, very close and prominent jewish fund-raisers who want to peel away the jewish vote from the democratic party. >> one thing we saw in our poll was that both candidates have high negative ratings. obviously the campaign is taking the toll with some voters. do you think the attacks on romney have been successful? do they hurt president obama where voters say he's likable? >> it's a double-edge

natalie. >> good morning savannah, matt, al. the heat wave on the east coast appears to have broken. for farmers in the heartland real relief won't come until soaking rain. john at a soybean farm. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. these corn plants are about eight feet tall on a good year. can you see what the hot and dry weather has done to them. it is a severe drought in this county at a crucial time for the nation's corn crop. across the nation's corn belt, crops are roasting in the fields. in kansas, this farmer had nothing to harvest. >> a rain today is not going to do us any good. it's over with on corn. mother nature hasn't been very good to us this summer. >> in southern illinois much the same story for dave. >> here we have some corn plants. >> reporter: plants that should be eight feet tall now but there hasn't been a decent rain since april 14th, three months ago. >> it will be next year before we can start over again. we will be -- we will have to make adjustments economically. >> reporter: the federa

>> yeah, i do, savannah.are seeing is an officer using at least a long mirror if not a recording device to try to look and see if perhaps the window could be booby trapped. when we start talking about explosives, law enforcement have to be concerned that the windows, the doors, the stairway, something could have a booby trap in it. before they open anything up, they're going to want to get a good look to ensure that they don't have an explosive going off in their face. >> clint, let's talk a little bit about planning and preparation. this, clearly, does not appear to be something that happens spur of the moment with this suspect. he had the gas mask. he had the helmet, the bullet proof vest. he had some sort of a smoke bomb or tear gas device. he had planned to come in through an emergency exit in that theater and was armed to the teeth as savannah said earlier. this is something that was probably in the works for a long time. >> i would think it has. number one, he would have known the release date for the m

today we spent time with people at home getting to know savannah.e a look. >> this is "today" with matt lauer and savannah guthrie. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> good morning. welcome to "today" on a monday morning. it truly is a new day around here. i'm matt lauer and pleased to be sharing this new day with savannah guthrie, who after several years playing the great role on this program takes a step forward this morning and joins us as co-anchor of "today." how does it feel? >> great. good morning. it's an honor to be here. >> i get to be the first to officially say, welcome to "today." we are thrilled to have you. we have this goofy tradition here on the "today" show and have for some time where we get to do a little deju vu with you. one more time. >> savannah guthrie, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> you have to get used to that. >> i'm glad you played again. i was so nervous, i didn't hear it the first time. >> you're going to have to watch this whole show again. >> she had the jitters. >> she is so honest, very real.

love blooming on the savannah. i love it., cloudy, cool, 68 degrees. and on the radar/satellite combo, heavy showers and thunderstorms moving through chicago, heading for end indianapolis. we have a little scattered shower activity. in the plains sunny, cool. new england, 81 in boston today, nice day in the pacific northwest, mid 80s with plenty of sunshine. back down through texas we'll have some really hot stuff. it's your birthday! >> clouds and showers. the cold front of the north. we are expecting it to be warm. >>> and that's your latest weather. >> mr. roker, thank you. when we come back, yahoo!'s new ceo who has reignited the debate over working mothers and if they can have it all. we'll talk about it right after this. father: ouff, hey guys son: hey dad mother: hey honey dad: ah, division. dad: hey mother: hey mother: how was work? dad: hmmm ♪ more generations of fleas. frontline plus uses two ingredients. one to kill adult fleas and ticks. plus another to kill the next generation, flea eggs and larvae. ask your vet

savannah, so far -- savannah guthrie, our chief legal correspondent, today she'll co-host.ar any surprises, know whatting you know about these initial appearances? >> it's kind of that dazed and -- >> charges will be expected to be filed on monday. >> i want to correct myself. the courthouse is miles away in centennial, colorado. a short distance from where he has been held these last few days. he is still listening to counsel, and i think all of us are having the same reaction looking at the variety and number of facial expressions that overtake him. almost -- you can almost surmise and catalog a number of thoughts. >> in some sense this is a powerful moment for the defense that we all pretty much expect. there's going to be some issue as to his mental veracity. whether or not it's an insanity defense or even ash issue that comes up before that to whether he is competent even to stand trial. the world is getting a look at this man, and he does not seem to be right, whether or not that ultimately will hold sway in a trial down the road, we'll have to see, but it's a moment

i'm savannah guthrie alongside al roker and natalie morales. matt lauer left to get ready for the opening ceremonies. he's back looking at that briefing book to stump us with his trivia. >> perhaps. >>> up ahead, one of the big issues here is security, keeping the games safe. coming up we'll show you impressive new technology they are using to make sure everything goes off at planned. >> also catch up with some young u.s. olympians, five swimmers. one of them is the youngest member of team usa. >> you might be wondering, how will the royals spend the olympics, what venues will they be going to, can they get tickets? i don't know. the queen's granddaughter is competing. we're going to share their plans with you. >> good. we can follow them around, perhaps. first a check on the top news stories. we've got hoda kotb holding down the fort in new york. hoda, good morning once again. >> reporter: single handedly. officials are trying to find out if any taxpayer money was used to pay for the massacre in colorado. james holmes, a former phd candidate a