by this time, yellowstone was a popular tourist attraction. the idea of the national park, suggested two decades before, had been fully realized. moran's depictions of yellowstone left a permanent mark on the american consciousness, transforming the public perception of the west from a frightful land of mystery into a patriotic symbol of the beauty and promise of america. ( music ) annenberg media ♪ by: narrator: welcome to episodio seis of destinos: an introduction to spanish. most of what you will hear and see in this episode will be familiar to you as raquel reviews her notes on what happened in sevilla. ¿ud. sabe dónde está la calle pureza? as before, you will not understand every word but your experience with previous episodes will help you understand raquel's review. as raquel reviews what has happened to her in sevilla you will notice that she is using past tenses.

they make their home inside yellowstone national park. show you how that turned out in just a little bit. >> looks like you saw a couple bears. >> i got really close, natalie. >> really? how close is close? >> the story changes every time i tell it. >>> national parks like yellowstone are a popular destination, but from maine to hawaii, visitors may find the nation's treasurers are showing signs of wear and tear and in real need of upkeep and maintenance. here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: they wind themselves through the very fabric of the american heartland. from the geysers and canyons of yellowstone to the depths of the grand canyon, from glacier national park to the florida everglades -- >> they're beautiful, and this is nature that we need to preserve because it's unique. only the united states has this. >> reporter: 401 parks, battlefields, monuments, seashores, volcanos and deserts make up the national parks system. and americans have been flocking to them since teddy roosevelt took up the cause. today 280 million visitors ea

. >> reporter: from death valley to glacier, yellowstone to the everglades, few places hold the nation'stion and awe like its national parks. >> especially getting young kids to come. >> yes. >> and make sure they know how important it is. >> reporter: lying between maine and hawaii, 401 parks and monuments, battlefields, volcanos, protected coasts make up the national park system. this year they will host some 280 million visitors but park advocates say for years the parks have been underfunded. now some are in trouble. superintendent dan kimball runs everglades national park. >> i'm very concerned about sustaining the effort to restore this place. that's our number one mission. >> reporter: despite rising costs the parks service budget has been flat for several years and now has lost another $153 million in the sequester. across the entire parks system the backlog of work that needs to be done to maintain the parks now totals $11 billion. to make ends meet, 900 park service jobs have gone unfilled including rangers. another 1,000 seasonal jobs have been cut. park police officers furlou

what happened about 6 months later, they ended up sending two battalions to yellowstone. i haven't heard any discussion at all, do you expect the military, the guard or the active forces to be training people to do shovel-like work? all you have talked about so far is aviation. >> one of the challenges with a ground-based attack and training a soldier to be a ground-based fire fighter is the training takes time. and it takes approximately 3 to 5 days of solid training to make sure that they are going to be working in a safe environment to learn what's going on. and most of the time that, the incidents in california will become mitigated. now, not to say that we certainly have that as an option. we have a fairly robust what we call fire crew program using cdcr inmate fire fighters. it is on our radar and it's something that we have as a contingency if we needed to do it. >> lieutenant colonel. >> yes, general, in the mou it does address the ground portion but the focus of effort is mainly on the aviation side but it is built in there for the ground side if necessary. >> i

heading to yellowstone, but first, this is "today" on nbc. >>> we're back at 8:45.stone national park as part of our great american adventure when that tornado in oklahoma changed our plans. actor and author steve schirripa was going to join us there and made the trip ahead of time to find out how city folks cut it in the wilderness. legend has it there's a man who lives deep in the wilderness. >> i heard he fishes with his bare hands. >> i heard he was raised by wolves. >> a man so rugged, so extreme he's known around these parts simply as el oso, the bear. he rarely ventures into the civilized world, he's rarely been seen until now. >> hey. >> howdy. >> i'm steve. >> steve, i'm jenny. nice to meet you. >> so you going to teach me how to fly fish? >> i'm going to do it. you can't do it looking like that. hate to say. >> what's wrong with this? >> you ready to hit the water? >> let's go. >> this ain't coney island, i'll tell you that. all right. >> maybe not. >> this is terrible! >> no, no, no, it wasn't that bad. >> i'd rather go to the fish store. have you taught

tomorrow we'll be at yellowstone. take a look right now.yellowstone erupts every 60 to 90 minutes. we're hope it does a couple of types on the air tomorrow. >> >> 7:41. >> i'm saying 8:15. >> that's how it goes tomorrow. that's where we'll be tomorrow. today so much more ahead of us. natalie, are you ready to continue the hula dance. >> i've been doing this all week long. >> we're going to learn what natalie already knows, how to do the hula today on nbc. >> they do it so much better. crystal geyser is always bottled at the mountain source. crystal geyser. crystal geyser. crystal geyser. then we deliver it directly to you. ♪ ♪ i'm yours, pretty girl >>> welcome back to our day one of our great american adventure from oahu here in hawaii in waikiki beach in the middle of the evening and willie geist has joined us, made the trip in from new york. >> a little late but i'm here. >> you have an aloha shirt. >> glad you're wearing it. i thought they'd have me the only guy in the aloha shirt. >> check out the grass skirts. >> you can't shop hulain

in wyoming, the tourist towns raise money for yellowstone. $170,600 was raised. roads into park will be cut. but things like head start and meals on wheels? >> well, you see them using what are basically earmarks to help out their personal priorities. but the fact is, they've said -- republicans always say that their biggest goals are to grow the economy and reduce the deficit. the sequester isn't getting the job done. it's going to shrink the economy. the growth rate is .6%. it's going to eliminate 750,000 jobs. everyone says you need a mix of spending cuts and smart investments for the middle class and revenue to be able to reduce the deficit and grow the economy. and that's absolutely not what republicans are standing for here. >> i'm going to have to let it go there. maria teresa kumar and ben labolt. by the way, the media and the young and head start and seniors do have a microphone. 6:00 eastern time on msnbc is one of them. >> thank you, reverend. >>> coming up, that seat rush sits in is getting hotter and hotter. is his ranting coming to an end or just go

then we go to yellowstone national park on tuesday, chicago on wednesday, orlando, i might get to checkersey shore after superstorm sandy on friday. [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: that'll be great. >> that'll be great. governor christie will be there. >> jimmy: he will? you've got to tell him i said, hello. >> i will. >> jimmy: we love that guy. he was great on our show. we've done a bunch of jokes about christie. >> really? >> jimmy: a little bit, yeah. >> well, he has a very good sense of humor about that, though. >> jimmy: he has a great sense of humor, but he's a little heavy. [ light laughter ] >> get them while he can, he's lost 45 pounds. >> jimmy: oh really? >> yeah. >> we've made so many jokes about him that he tweeted at me, he said, "really, jimmy, again you're going to make fun at me in the monologue. he goes, your writers need more material." so what i tweeted back to him, i said, really, "you know who needs more material?" [ laughter ] and then he came on next week and he was laughing about it. [ laughter ] we like to poke fun at everybody. we make fun of ourselves at w

> reporter: you can still count on old faithful to be on time, but the rest of your schedule at yellowstone. >> the sequestration called for a 5% cut to the national park services budget. part of the savings is going to come in form of 1,000 summer seasonal employees so lacking those employees, visitors will see fewer ranger-guided program that those might have given. or the closure of some facilities one or two days a week. >> reporter: adjusted hours and programs can be found on the national park services website nps.gov. but despite the cuts, there are still special events. >> we will still hold the civil rights events to the 50th anniversary of martin luther king's i have a dream speech at the lincoln memorial. >> reporter: admission will be the same for most parks except for one special day. >> august 25th marks the 97th birthday of the national park service. we'll mark that day with free admission to all the national parks. so that's a good time to plan for a late summer get away. >> beautiful. you can find out more about the park service cutbacks at cnn.com/travel. the humble back se

to 71, the great chicago fire happened. 1872, the first national park was established in yellowstone. and as we just heard in philadelphia centennial exhibition, how big a deal was this for the nation to celebrate its anniversary? >> huge. >> absolutely. >> it was almost like the world fair. people from all over the world attended it. it was really a time for america to shine and become -- show that it was coming into its own as a world power pack -- >> and mrs. gran loved it. she went there and what to think of the white house with public money. one was a shield that shut characters from milton's paradise lost. and then she bought a more enduring peace. i don't know what happened to that. a centerpiece. she hated the old james monroe centerpiece from 1818 with the mayors on a. so she bought a hiawatha silver centerpiece, which is about this big. it shows the geechee gimme. and then the canoe in the middle of it. lounging on a bearskin rug. and that was the new centerpiece for the white house. she bought it at the fair. it was on exhibit. still in the seventh clause of the white house

it receives more visitors than the grand canyon and yellowstone combined.ate on david petraeus. the university of southern california announced the retired general is joining the faculty rotcach classes and mentor members. general petraeus has a doctorate from princeton university. greats usc is a university that prices -- prizes academic excellence. studentcam contest had introduced from many students. >> i thought he would be a good subject to follow. i followed his life. >> i had an introduction to lock course and i was learning there was a double standard for those under 18 and those over. i was into children's writes. cannot have a say in the creation of the debt. picked ouroriginally topic, infrastructure and the growing need for public transportation in this country, they were not excited about the topic. after i explained it to them, because on and while researching, we decided we should at high speed rail as one of the segments because that was important to the topic in our country. >> more from the top three saturdaym winners morning on c-span. wa

yellowstone could not plow its roads because of sequestration.al businesses given $200,000 a month a plow the roads, and they were able to open. there are restrictions on how you can use the money. it is complicated. i think it mostly has to be on a specific educational program or plowing the roads of a one-time thing. as congress starts to cut from budgets, not give the park service what it has gotten in the past, park service officials are looking towards, how can they better leverage that funding? they will run into issues thereto. a try to do this 10 years ago, -- they tried to do this 10 years ago, we do not want coca cola in our national parks. they are trying to use those funds in the best way to serve the people. host: let's hear from joseph and new york on our independent line. caller: good morning, how are you, emily? guest: good. caller: more of a statement than a question for emily. host: we are ready. caller: given that the budget cuts are affecting our economy as a whole, our parks have been virtually untouched throughout the years.

in 1872, the first national park was established in yellowstone.s we just heard, the philadelphia centennial exhibition. how big a deal was it for the nation to celebrate its anniversary? guest: absolutely huge. it was almost like a world fair. people from all over the world attended it. it was really a time for america and to show that it was coming into its own as a world power. .uest: mrs. grant loved it she bought two things for the white house from their -- one was a shield that showed characters from milton's "paradise lost." then she bought a more enduring piece --endearing she hated the old james monroe centerpiece with mirrors on it -- she bought a hiawatha centerpiece which was about this and it shows a canoe in the middle and hiawatha lounging on a bearskin rug. that was the new centerpiece for the white house. she bought it there on exhibit. it is still in the solar closet at the white house. host: on twitter -- how are first lady's's staff at this point in the process? guest: there was no social secretary then. usually the ladies got t

first stop, hawaii, then yellowstone national park.dy city of chicago, sunny orlando and our final stop, the jersey shore. before we go, we would like to find out if you have taken any pictures at any of these great vacation destinations. please share your photo with us, #postamericanpictures. >>> we want to share, too. >>> we want to begin this half-hour with o.j. simpson back in court. he's seeking a new trial in the armed robbery and kidnapping case that landed him behind bars. nbc miguel almaguer has the story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. in just a few hours, o.j. simpson will be back in court for day two of his hearing, out to prove his old lawyer botched his case when convicted of four felonies. heavy-set with graying hair, o.j. simpson has spent nearly five years in prison and the former football star could spend another 28 years behind bars. >> count 2, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, guilty. >> reporter: convicted of a gun point robbery of sports memorabilia dealers in 2008 he wants a new trial, claiming his form

then we are going to wyoming, yellowstone national park. >> on wednesday, we'll be in chicago. we'll make our final stop down on the jersey shore around here, as they say, down the shore. we would like you to tweet us your photos from some of these locations. you can do that at the hashbrown -- >> exactly. >> hashtag today adventure. we look forward to that. >> that's his subliminal way of asking for hashbrowns. >> guy, not too late to grill up hashbrowns. not as good as fried. dylan dreyer is here for al. good morning. >> i don't think hashbrowns grill up well. if you don't have a sign there are always styrofoam plates around. don't mix up the order or we are all confused. we'll see a nice day in the northeast. not as hot as across the rest of the country where it will be in the 80s and 90s. we have this cold front moving through. the central plains into the midwest. it's not that cool behind the front though. 79 in minneapolis. we could see stronger storms today across central texas. we'll keep an eye out for the storms today. and elsewhere across the country we are looking f

and then we're off to see old faithful, yellowstone national park. >> on wednesday, we'll be in the city sun fun capital of orlando, florida. and then on friday, we'll head back north and we will be doing a show live from seaside heights on the jersey shore. governor chris christie of new jersey will join us. and we'll have the special concert from the music group fun. that's live on the shore, today's great american adventure, five anchors, five destinations. it all starts monday right here on "today." >> all right. before we get to all of that, let's get over to natalie with a check of the day's top stories. >>> good morning, everyone. rescuers are going door to door searching for victims of deadly texas tornadoes that struck west of dallas-ft. worth. hardest hit was the town of granbury where officials say at least six people lost their lives and as many as 100 were injured. the storm system also dropped rain and large hailstones on other parts of the state. >>> at least two u.s. nato troops and four civilian american contractors were killed this morning when a suicide car bomber atta

we've already told you four of the locations, we'll start in hawaii and going to yellowstone, then chicago> you can tell me now? >> tell you a secret, no, i don't think i will. >> good luck with jay tonight and on "the voice" as well. let's get a check of the weather from mr. roker who is in loss aage los angeles. >> thanks so much. can't wait for you, savannah. what's happening as far as the week ahead's weather is concerned, above normal temperatures along the northern tier of states, below normal the lower two-thirds of the country with a lot of wet weather mid-atlantic states on into the southwest, southern california as well, for the week ahead it's going to be wet in the northeast as we get into the midweek period but warmer than usual, below normal temperatures down through the southwest, above normal in the pacific northwest and the ohio river valley and things cool down in the mid section of the country by the latter part of the week, temperatures warm up out west and look for showers from the gulf coast into the ohio river valley with normal temperatures along the eastern seaboar

for the first time we hit the road to hawaii, yellowstone, chicago, orlando and back for the reopeningay." >>> we're back with much more. this is "today" on nbc. >>> good news. back for a brand new adventure in the "the hangover part 3." zach plays the odd but somewhat -- he's fallen on bad times and his friends intervene and get some bad news. >> phil? >> what, allen? skbl i was going to say i got this strange e-mail the other day, i'm not sure what it meant. but now i think it might be from chow. >> fatty, it feels good to be out. close by. tell no one. i'll be in touch. chow. this says chow. how did you not know this was from chow? >> at the time i thought it was chow like good-bye. >> welcome back. good to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> let's set the scene here. alan's been off his meds for six months when this movie starts. i told you never to go off your meds, why did you do that? >> going off my meds is all part of the research. >> uh-huh. >> alan goes off his medication and the guys are worried about him. so they try to take him to an institution. >> well, they conduct an

we're going to yellowstone. we're going to chicago, orlando, and i'm announcing right here now our fifth location. we'll start summer at the jersey shore. >> oh, cool. >> we're excited about that, and it was the index finger. >> thank you. >> by the way, matt, she had the whole thing written, it's on her hand, her itinerary. >> that's embarrassing, savannah. >> well, you know why, it's live, what if i forgot one of the cities? >> there's five of them. >> wow. >> by the way, i guess i didn't scrub it off that well last night because it's still there. >> did you shower? >> yes, and it was -- it was a quick shower. >> i just love that magic johnson was roped into fingergate, the great magic johnson. >> all right, guys. we'll check with you in a little while. we'll see you then. >>> coming up, much more on this breaking news out of cleveland. three women found alive a decade after their disappearances. but first this is "today" on nbc. disappearances. but first this is "today" on >>> coming up, two of the four membe

." >>> we're kicking off "today's" kickoff adventure one week in hawaii and from there ja mesic yellowstone shores of lake michigan enjoying the food and fun of chicago. we told you, chicago, we're coming to you and off to orlando, florida's tourist mecca. we won't be riding coasters. >> no. >> hold me out and we'll wrap up our week on the jersey shore, rebuilt stronger than ever after superstorm sandy. live concert from the band fun and we'll all collapse. that's "today's great american adventure" kicks off one week from today. >> should be fun. >> yellow stone will be on the nippy side. >> cold and rainy maybe? >>> the new campaign is being rolled out today urging parents to talk to their children about the dangers of drinking and they want to you start very early. nbc's tom costello has details on that, good morning. >> the peer pressure on kids to drink can be enormous and it starts when kids are as young as 9. studies show 10 million kids under the age of 21 drank in the past month and this campaign to get parents involved at a far younger age than most of us ever thought necessary. at

on tuesday, in yellowstone, camp under the stars.e sights and sounds, and also the food of chicago. thursday, it's going to be an adventure, orlando. i hope you guys have a strong stomach. we're going to ride the rides at some of the best amusement parks in orlando. and on friday, the jersey shore. we'll usher in summer in an area that's been really hard hit. we'll have a lot of fun. we literally are going to have the band f.u.n. giving us a concert. >> if you're in the area, come on down. a lot to get to. meanwhile, let's go inside, because natalie is in hawaii, tamron hall is at the newsdesk. good morning. >> good morning, everyone. >>> president obama heads to maryland today to discuss jobs and the economic recovery amid three big scandals. this as congress holds its first hearings today on the irs targeting of tea party groups. on thursday, the president answered questions about the controversy involving the attack on the american cons has in benghazi, libya, and the fbi's spying on the associated press. >>> a 3,800-acre wildfire

devastation is complete and we should just mention as a programming note we were all on our way to yellowstonee when we received word of everything that had happened here and of course had to cancel that, so for those looking for that, we will continue to cover this incredible story all morning long, matt. >> yes, savannah i'm here with willie geist who is joining us in moore as well. it's a confusing scene. that was a 7-eleven just built, it's gone completely. you have cars here and even as you look at them you don't know if this is where they were prior to the storm. >> in a lot of cases you don't even know if they were cars. we walked past the medical center i came up on a mass of twisted steel and i saw tires, there's an engine block in a yard over here. it's hard even to recognize this as a neighborhood at this point. essentially what you have along sixth street are driveways leading up to concrete slabs. sume what we were standing here is the kitchen area. you're lucky if you see a toilet standing, a water heater maybe but otherwise completely flattened. >> these were not shabbily built

in 1872, the first national park was established in yellowstone. as we just heard, the philadelphia centennial exhibition. how big a deal was it for the nation to celebrate its anniversary? guest: absolutely huge. it was almost like a world fair. people from all over the world attended it. it was really a time for america to shine and to show that it was coming into its own as a world power. guest: mrs. grant loved it. she bought two things for the white house from there -- one was a shield that showed characters from milton's "paradise lost." then she bought a more endearing piece -- she hated the old james monroe centerpiece with mirrors on it -- she bought a hiawatha centerpiece, which was about this big, and it shows a canoe in the middle and hiawatha lounging on a bearskin rug. that was the new centerpiece for the white house. she bought it there on exhibit. it is still in the silver closet at the white house. host: on twitter -- who were the first lady's staff at this point in the process? guest: there was no social secretary then. usually th