Transcripts For WBAL Today 20101020

for questioning part of the u.s. constitution. and america's dad on happy days, we'll look back at his life and legacy with his co-star henry winkler "today," life and legacy with his co-star henry winkler "today," wednesday, october 20, 2010. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, welcome to "today." we all remember anita hill's testimony at the senate confirmation hearing in 1991. that was explosive and it triggered a national debate. >> anita hill claimed that thomas made inappropriate sexual comments to her when she served as his aid. now in an unusual twist, 19 years later t supreme court justice's wife virginia has left hill a voicemail asking her to apologize for what she said. now she's released a statement saying she stands by her testimony. we're going to tell you what else he had to say. also ahead this morning, a case in canada that's making headlines all around the world. the commander of that country's largest air force base caught leading a chilling double life has now admitted to a string of brutal murders, sexual assaults and break ins and prosecutors say he videotaped his crimes. and a new warning on potential dangers of -- let's begin with a request for an apology by anita hill. >> reporter: nearly two decades after one of the most dramatic supreme court confirmations in american history. clarence thomas's wife is now trying to get her husband's accuser to apologize for those allegations of sexual harassment. anita hill is having none of it. >> members of the committee, my name is anita f. hill. >> reporter: almost 20 years later, a bizarre reopening of hill's comments clash. it began over the weekend, when clarence thomas's wife virginia a political activist left a message on the office voicemail of anita hill. the message said i would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband. so give it some thought and certainly pray about this and come to understand why you did what you did. i did place a call to ms. hill at her office, extending an olive branch to her after all these years. in hopes that we could ultimately get passed what happened so long ago. anita hill turns the message over to campus police. they called in the fbi. hill tells nbc news, i certainly thought the call was inappropriate. i have no intention of apologizing because i testified truthfully about my experience and i stand by that testimony. virginia thomas known as ginnie is active in tea party politics and founded liberty central, a nonprofit organization which promotes education, civil discourse and activism, focused on protecting core founding principles of the united states. it was 1991 when anita hill testified that thomas made crude sexual comments to her in the workplace. >> he got up from the table on which we were working, went over to his desk to get the cokes. looked at the can and ask who has put pubic hair on my coke. >> it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way dane to think for themselves, to have different ideas. >> thomas offered to take a lie detector test. three years ago, hill talked to lester holt about the experience. >> i was portrayed as crazy, i was portrayed as someone with an arkansas ax to grind, i was portrayed as someone who was in love with clarence thomas. >> reporter: now she has reopened one of the most emotionally charged political confrontations in supreme court history. >> andrea mitchell in washington for us on the story. it's five after the hour, here's ann. what's on the mind of voters with just 13 days to go until the midterm elections? we're going to get some insight into the new nbc news "wall street journal" poll. >> reporter: well, in this year of political frustration, candidates often add to that by ducking questions or sticking to attack lines and we saw more of that in a couple of key debates and voters are telling us where they think the country is going. election say is already here for voters able to cast early ballots in roughly two dozen states. those decisions locked in, while gloomy -- 59% told us the country is on the wrong track. when the president took office, 51% said government needed to do more, but today a flip. 50% say government is doing too much and that frustration plays out in key races like florida senate where marco rubio leads. >> from the stimulus package to the threats of tax increases to obama care, everything that has happened over there has made it harder not easier for jobs to be created. >> i think obama care was off the charts, was wrong, it taxed too much. >> reporter: on most issues, democratic congressman kendrick meek disagrees with rubio and cris. >> they're advocating is tax cuts for the superwealthy. >> reporter: turning to a senate fight in illinois. >> there's no debate that there's corruption in illinois. >> reporter: congressman mark firth was a top loan offer when he bank dealt with crime figures. >> well known convicted felons. >> mistakes are made and unfortunately there are people you wish you had never done business with. >> the state treasure you arer called out kirk who exaggerated about parts of his navy duty overseas. kirk claims he came under fire. >> why would you make all this stuff up? were you shot at or not. >> he criticized my navy record when he me -- >> reporter: christine o'donnell is trailing democrat chris coons. >> one of these indefensible separations is the separation of church and state. >> he went on to state that creationism should not be taught in schools. >> where in the constitution is the separation of church and state? >> reporter: and it gets a little bit more complicated because o'donnell, her campaign and other tea party candidates like sharon angle has argued that the specific phrase separation of church and state does not appear in the constitution and the idea as we know it today developed over time. regardless of those nuances, you can hear the reaction from students, many of them were law students in that audience, presenting another political moment for us to keep talking about. former virginia governor kim kaine is the chairman of the democratic national committee. governor kaine, good morning. if 59% of americans are saying that this country is on the wrong track with democrats in charge, what are you going to do over the next 13 days that you haven't done already to convince voters to keep democrats in charge? >> well, it's important for us to continue to talk to democrats and the american public about the achievements of the administration. we are not where we want to be yet, but, ann, after a decade of losing jobs and losing family income, the american economy is growing again and for nine straight months private sector has added jobs. we see in the nbc "wall street journal" poll among registered voters, we still have a gap to close among likely voters and the president's numbers are also improving and with the president out on the trail, we have a real good case to make. >> look at how the president's been trying to close that gap, he's been campaigning with college students, he's appeared in mtv town hall and now he's about to appear on the daily show. this has a feeling of sort of a last ditch last minute effort. if young voters were so important during the last election, was it a mistake not to woo them sooner? >> you have an easier time getting a message to young voter, it's pretty simple, you turned out in record numbers in 2008 and we have done the largest expansion of the student loan program in american history without spending an additional penny. and we have done important credit card reform that has helped young voters, so we have their attention, we're reaching out. th >> let's talk about what you're really up against because this swell of enthusiasm around the tea party, karl rove recently said that members of the tea party are amazing, but as an organization it is not sophisticat sophisticated. if the tea party is not sophisticated, why is it so difficult for your party, the democratic party to convince voters otherwise? >> i don't think -- i mean we're not trying to convince voters whether or not the tea party is sophisticated or not. >> what i'm trying to ask you is why does the tea party have the democratic party on the ropes, if in fact the tea party is not sophisticat sophisticated. >> that's not the way i look at it, ann, when people are hurting it's always going to be tough, american history has shown that. but i'm talking to you from iowa "today," i have been doing events in the congressional district in iowa where the polls have been going in the democratic candidates' favor. we have seen the governor's race here in iowa go from a double digit race down, our candidate was down to a single digit race, and all over the country, whether it's pennsylvania, florida, california, colorado, washington state, we're seeing polls in democrats favor. we still have more work to do, but you want to hit election day on an upcycle which we believe we are. it is not 7:12. >> for more on the mood of voters heading into the midterm election, let's bring in chuck todd. i want to look at the latest poll numbers on president obama, 49% of people disapprove of the job he's doing, that's about the same as lost month, but i don't see democratic candidates coming up with bumper stickers in the last two days saying our president is no less popular than he was a month ago. >> what you do is you go inside them. what you heard and ann's question to chairman kaine about young voters, when you break the numbers down, on one hand you look at it and say the president is not doing well, and that's why in those areas the swing districts are hurting. the people he's doing the best with are the people who say they're the least likely to vote, those are young voters, those are african-americans. what you do is dispatch the president in specific areas like they're doing, college campuses. >> how do they approval numbers or disapproval numbers at 49% compare to recent democrats heading into elections. >> they're higher than where clinton was in '94 but don't let that miss that issue, which is among white voters, it is actually about the same or lower. what it is is that the president with african-americans and with hispanics does very well, better than either president bush or president clinton. >> when all respondents were ask the question whether they prefer contract democrats or republicans, 43% said they prefer democrats, 50% say they want republicans. do those questions accurately predict an outcome when people actually go into a voting booth, not when they're faceded with a generic question? >> who's going to show up to the polls? who's enthusiastic? who's ready to crawl on broken glass to go to the polls? right now, that's the republicans. in 2008, that's democrats that would have crawled on broken glass. >> give me three races that will serve as bell weathers that people can look at in november and tell where the country is going to go. >> if you only give three results. i can tell you the pennsylvania, colorado will tell me whether there was a republican wing. washington state will tell me how big of one. now let's get a check of the rest of the morning's top stories from tamron hall. good morning, everyone, we began with a major stroller recall. graco is recalling strollers made before 2006 and metro lite strollers because of a risk of entrapment and strangulation and reports of four infant deaths. a -- shot linden johnson in the hours after president kennedy's assassination. he writes in detail, he was standing guard outside johnson's home when he heard footsteps, put down his sub machine-gun and the man was president johnson. overseas markets are mostly lower after the dow's 165 point drop on tuesday. >> you know, lots and lots of earnings out "today," so investors will be focusing on that yet again. a lot of financial companies are reporting, wells fargo, morgan stanley. one of the big concernings right now is how this whole foreclosure fiasco is going to affect earnings. >> all right, trish, thank you. and in the baseball playoffs, the giants are up two games to one in the national league championship series after beating the phillies 3-0 on tuesday. the rangers lead the american league series three games to one after beating the yankees last night. a cameraman captured something he didn't want, the barrel of a broken bat flew through the air and shattered the camera lens. no one was hurt, but that is ugly to see. now back to matt, ann and al. >> his framing was perfect. and meanwhile, tamron hall is not gloats like >> good morning. we are off to a fairly quiet start. there's a chance for rain south of baltimore today. should stay dry air on baltimore. >> and that's your latest weather. now to that sad news out of hollywood on tuesday, tom bosley, lost his battle with cancer at the age of 83. >> whenever you do something exciting on television, you become famous all over the country. >> reporter: tom bosley in his most famous role, howard cunningham. >> he will always be remembered for playing that dear old dad on "happy days." he just became such a lovable part of that show, you can't help but remember him. >> reporter: he wasn't blessed with leading man good looks and he had trouble getting roles early on in his career. >> an agent called me on the phone and he said they're doing a musical about laguardia, may i sign you up for it? i said sure. >> reporter: bosley won the tony in 1960. it was there that he met his first wife, but after 16 years of marriage, she died of a brain tumor. he met his second wife patricia car when she guest starred on "happy days jshlgsz. >> reporter: after happy days, he became the priest and complete with down east accent, he appeared as sheriff amos tucker on "murder she wrote." and tom bosley was one of those working actors hollywood could always count on. >> i remembered an acting teacher i had in chicago who said to me, you'll make it if you've got the patience to stick with it. because our business is one of staying power. >> reporter: bosley offered this thought about how he would like to be remembered. >> as a good father, a good husband, and a damned good grandfather. >> reporter: and one of tv's most famous father figures, still in reruns. for "today," george lewis, nbc news, los angeles. >> awe. i was watching youtube this morning trying to find more information. he said, quote, my wife says my tombstone will say here lies who -- >> what a terrific voice. i got to interview him once and he's such a great man. >> he was the glad bag guy. we'll have more on tom bosley's legacy in our next half hour. coming up, a canadian air force concern who once flew the queen of england admits to disturbing murders and break ins. sure is... know what else you get with every new toyota? 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we're heading in the wrong direction. we need strong leadership. say no to things we can't afford. fix our health care plan. and refuse to raise taxes. martin o'malley can't do it. i will. 7:30 now on a wednesday morning, it's the 20th day of october, 2010. we always love that view from the top of the rock above us here on rockefeller center, looking out upon the empire state building in lower manhattan. we'll get out there and say hi to the people on the plaza in just a couple of minutes. meantime, alongside ann curry, i'm matt lauer. and coming up in a few minutes, warnings on the dangers of hormone replacement therapy. >> hrt as a treatment for menopause leads to a higher risk of developing breast cancer, now we know it also makes that breast cancer more likely to be advanced and deadly. also ahead, a violent outburst on mtv's reality show "teen mom" that's led to an investigation. one girl was featured hitting her husband. now she faces domestic violence charges and the ramifications can be even greater. also coming up this morning, more on the death of actor tom bosley, he was lovingly called mr. c by the fonz. we'll talk to henry winkler about the death of his dear friend. the commander of canada's largest air force base, a pilot who flew prime ministers and the queen of england pleads guilty to a series of assaults and murders. we should warn you, some of the details of this story are disturbing. here's nbc's lee cowan. >> reporter: some have dubbed him the killer concern, the sharply saluting commander of canada's largest air force base is now admitting to crimes that have the country he once served in shock. on monday, russell williams pleaded guilty to sexual assaulting four women, killing two of them. marie france cuomo and jessica lord. prosecutors even say he videotaped the murders for his own sick amusement. >> i have been doing this job for 20 years and this is the most awful case i have been involved? >> reporter: there's evidence of a 2 1/2 year rampage of break ins, he stole more than 200 pairs of underwear. >> i think "todatoday is nation getting a good dose of reality of just how evil people can be. >> reporter: he posed in girl's underwear, all while still in their bedrooms. many of his victims never even knew he had been there. >> there was a sense of pride in what he was doing, he wanted to keep records so he could relive the moment. >> reporter: williams had risen to be a decorated officer in the canadian air force, even flying the queen of england back in 2005. but his sense of depravity was a dark secret he successfully hid from even his closest colleagues. >> he wasn't the type of person who gave -- >> there's a healthy aspect of even the sickest person who doesn't want to risk rejection by sharing what their most intimate problems are, and in this case it turned murderous. >> reporter: prosecutors hope it will end only if the former concern is locked away for life. >> pat brown is a criminal profiler and author of "the profiler" my life hunting serial killers and psychopaths. good morning to you. you said this guy does not fit the typical profile, why? >> well, he actually -- his personality fits the typical profile of a sexual sadist, so all the things i'm hearing about him, how he conducted his crimes, the photography, all that stuff, that actually does match a sexual sadist, but wh what's terribly unusual is that he had such great status in his life. he had risen so high, because even sexual sadists who are doing better than most serial killers in the sense that serial killers have problems keeping their jobs, their girlfriends dump them and they move from place to place. sexual sadists usually have -- >> they called this guy mr. by the book, he was detailed oriented in his public life and now we know that he kept journals and pictures of the crimes he committed. what does that tell you about the state of this guy's mind? >> he is extremely organized and he loves to have a lot of control. that's his whole thing, total control. and i guess he got to the point where he wanted to have total control in a depraved way of individuals so he documented every single step that he took. when we go on vacation, we take pictures of the entire vacation, this is a picture of the airport, the hotel, the food, and we have some souvenirs and we relive those moments that we had this great vacation. and he love this is stuff, when they took his scrapbook away which they have done now, and when he was in court, he got one last chance to peek, when they were showing the pictures, he was looking down, but then he looked up to see those so he could see one more time what he had done. >> he had done 80 break ins in two neighborhoods where he live. are you surprised that investigators didn't find him earlier? >> i think the fact that he was the concern, they just couldn't wrap their heads around that and they never would suspect it would be him. >> pat brown, pat, thank you very much. let us switch gears and get a check of the weather from al. >> and we have got this young lady here, what's your name? >> lorina. >> how old are you? >> 88. >> you are not. >> and i'm from rock island, illinois. >> i like the hat, it's very nice. it's warm and good looking. let's check your weather and see what's happening. we have got what could become richard, a tropical system down there, low pressure, 165 miles south of grand cayman. could become a tropical depression later on today, but as you can see here in the lower 48, we have got sunshine, a frontal system pushing its way to the south, bringing showers from washington down to atlanta. that will clear off later "todatoday. they may see some snow in the upper elevations >> we are off to a fairly quiet start. a little bit of fog in a few neighborhoods. southern maryland, lower eastern shore counties. most of you will have a d >> what's your group? >> we're the new york society of city pharmacists. >> you can keep track of the weather on weather.com. russian spy anna chapman is emerging from the shadows, this time on the pages of maxim magazine. >> this morning we're learning more about this woman who we already know to be glamorous, mysterious and a sensation online. ann chapman is no lodger hiding any secrets. it's 100 sexiest women in the country, two of the shots too racy for morning tv. while chapman was among ten accused spies deported from the u.s. in july after pleading guilty to conspiracy in what american officials describe as at best an intelligence gathering failure. in russia, chapman is still celebrated as a national hero. >> we live in a world where we celebrate everything. >> reporter: on monday, the 28-year-old redhead and her comrades were awarded moscow's highest honor. unlike most retired spies, chapman has hardly faded away in obscurity. her first public appearance after the scandal, a shoot for another magazine. and the lady in red was seen at this rocket launch. in the u.s., chapman claimed to work in real estate and banking seen here promoting herself at a conference for entrepreneurs in new york. back in russia, she was recently hired as an advisor to the president of a bank. but in either case, chapman is finding new business opportunities. this month watching an iphone app that lets users play poker with a virtual anna. >> he's a fantasy, if you look at every bond movie, you have these gorgeous, gorgeous spies that don't exist in real life. but now one does. >> chapman may have been stealing american secrets, but she's still finding ways to steal the spotlight. for what it's worth, that new maxim issue makes newsstands tomorrow. by the way maxim says that chapman breaks her silence in several interviews that she does, among them men, flirting and her future plans. and coming up next, a new warning for women about hormone replacement therapy, why scientists say it could be even riskier than previously thought. so, get this -- kraft mac & cheese... but it's in a bag. and you bake it... in the oven. whatever happened to cheesasaurus rex? 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[ male announcer ] you're never too old for a smooth, delicious milky way carame it's doing season. when we grab a little spare time...and get after it. we're lowering the cost of weekend projects. making things happen... less with our wallets... and more with our own two hands. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. get this american standard 4" symphony faucet for the new lower price of just 68 bucks. back now at 7:44. a warning about hormone replacement therapy. chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman is joining us now. >> this is all part of that original study in 2002, it's called the women's health initiative and it came to an abrupt end because of a very dramatic finding. >> it came to an end in 2002 because this study put women on hormones and women not on hormones and looked at how they did, and women who were on a combination of estrogen and progesterone had higher incidents of cancer. and we watched breast cancer rates drop after that study was completed because so many women got the message. >> so these researchers have been continuing to follow these women, they followed over 12,000 people for 11 years. and they have found that the increased risk of advanced breast cancer now, they're finding that it actually is worse than they originally thought. >> more aggressive tumors and tumors that have spread to limp nodes, so this is one more nail in the coffin of post menopausal women taking hormone replacement therapy. most women will start when they have hot flashes, the sort of mental loopiness, their skin feels better and their bones are stronger, they say i like these hormones, i would like to stay on them. and i get that, the reality is, there's no free lunch and there's a price to pay for taking medications especially for a long period of time. so for some women who have agonizingly having this difficult time with menopausal symptoms the question to ask your doctor is if i take these, how short of a period of time can i take them and how low can the dose be. i am not a believer as i have said many times before in the idea that women should be on these kinds of hormones for a long period of time and this is very important science. >> so for women who have already gotten off them, do they now still have an increased risk? >> we have believed that as women get off of them that risk goes back to almost zero. after three or four years. some people are saying maybe not down to zero, but we do know the minute you get off of them, you start to revert to a more normal state. this is not the kind of thing that once you take them, you do permanent damage, but two to three years, if you're going to do them, max. i would say for most women look at other lifestyle changes and consider not taking hormones. >> we want to mention this hormone we're talking about is called prempro. >> it's estrogen and progesterone. there's no science to prove that the natural stuff is any different. pay attention to this one, it's big news. >> dr. nancy snyderman telling us what for this morning. and coming up next, the fonz, henry winkler is here, remembering his friend and co-star tom bosley, we'll speak to him coming up right after this. 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[ woman ] we try to be perfect. we pretend high-heels don't hurt and that we can handle anything life throws at us. but there are times that we need a moment to remember. we're only human. that's more than enough. your moment. your dove™. i'd get this tightness in my chest. so i went back to my doctor again. we chose symbicort to help control my asthma symptoms all day and night. [ man ] symbicort improves my lung function, starting within 15 minutes. symbicort will not replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. it is a combination of two medicines and should not be taken more often than prescribed. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems, and children and adolescents may have an increased risk of being hospitalized for asthma problems. symbicort is not for people whose asthma is well controlled with a long-term asthma control medicine like inhaled corticosteroids. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop symbicort without loss of control, and prescribe a long-term asthma control medicine. be sure to see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. symbicort is a good choice to help control my asthma all day and night. [ inhales ] [ exhales ] ask your doctor if symbicort is a good choice for you. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] every day thousands of people are switching from tylenol® to advil. to learn more and get your special offer, go to takeadvil.com. take action. take advil®. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. let's get to sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. >> let's start on the harrisburg expressway. if you start on sought middletown road, that is where you have an accident. another one at belfast road and the ramp to the southbound harrisburg expressway. we are also dealing with a crash at rice mill road. another problem spot northbound 648 at the beltway. we have a motorcycle involved in an accident at whiskey bottom at washington boulevard. we have an earlier accident off to the shoulder at belair road. 17 minutes to get to the west side stretch. quick lookyou a outside and show you what is going on on house burger expressway. delays in place. it is jammed from parkton to the area approaching middletown road. we will switch to a live view of traffic on boller road. congested, towards us. that is on the outer loop. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> the rain is, for the most part, to the south. heavy rain across southern maryland. if you're watching in annapolis down south, there was a chance you will run into rain, but most of you will not. eventually we will get a mix of clouds and a little sun. >> back in 25 minutes with another live update. 8:00 now on a wednesday morning, it's the 20th day of october, 2010. you know what? it's a little chillier than it has been here in the northeast. we're at 48 degrees. it will warm up a bit. but you know what? it's a pretty day. we thank you for showing up. along with ann curry, i'm matt lauer. coming up some controversy on that mtv show "teen moms" one of the young ladies featured on the show was seen repeatedly hitting and kicking her fiance. and this caught the attention of not only the police but child services because one of these incidents occurred in front of their young daughter. >> oh, gosh. >> and so we're going to be talking more about what the ramifications of that might be in just a couple of minutes. we'll be talking about the midterm elections, as we're reporting, they're only 13 days away, but some people are already floating some names for the 2012 presidential race, he's chris christie and getting a lot of attention for his no nonsense ways. and we have all been there, you're thinking about getting a new smart phone or a new tv, but you're afraid, is it going to be obsolete by the time i buy it or is it going to be cheap er. tamron hall is standing by at the news desk. president obama heads west on a four-day road trip to rally democrats in oregon, meantime in a new nbc "wall street journal" poll said 60% of likely voters say they would prefer to see republicans in congress, 43% democrats. anita hill says she has no intention of apologizing to thomas. thomas's wife suggested an apology in a voicemail she left for hill over the weekend. a ten-month investigation is raisinging new questions about the safety of a rifle widely used in the military and law enforcement. scott cohn joins us with details. >> reporter: in the coming weeks, some 18 million americans will go hunting and many of them will be carrying a remington 700 rifle, the most popular rifle of its kind in the world. but our investigation found that for decades, remington has been wrestling internally with safety issues. >> the stories are similar. >> we found him laying rite here wadded up in a little ball. >> barbara and rich's 9-year-old son gus was killed on a family hunting trip in montana where they say the remington 700 rifle barbara was unloading went often. she says her finger was not on the trigger. within days, richard barber began hearing similar stories with the same gun. >> i looked them straight in the eye and i said -- >> rich barber would spend the next ten years searching for information which he's making public for the first time. he found thousands of customer complaints going back decades. remming executives considered a design change as far back as 1948. since then some two dozen 700 series rifles went off by accident. hour investigation found incidents among professional shooters like these police sniper who is documented the problem. remington insists the gun is safe, but attributes improper handling or maintenance by the user. the 700 has been free of defects since it was first produced and that if proper firearm safety rules are followed, no accidental injuries would ever occur. >> you can see scott's full report, remington under fire tonight at 9:00 on cnbc. it's 8:04, time for the weather and al. >> "today's" weather is brought to you by the new electronic scrabble flash. and we got a happy birthday here. what is your name. >> claudia. >> and you're 40? >> yes. >> happy birthday. >> i think you were surprised. oh, yeah, i'm 40, that's right. let's check your weather and see what's happening. huntington, west virginia, cloudy skies, temperatures in the upper 60s "todatoday and as look at the jet stream, it takes a dip here in the northeast, that brings cooler weather. and as we head on towards friday, more of a dip so more cool weather in the northeast and the storm trackers out in the pacific northwest. and we have got a cutie right here. who's this. >> caroline. >> how old is caroline. >> >> we are watching the storm system to our south. a chance for rain across southern maryland and the lower eastern shore counties. there is a little bit of fog out >> and that's your latest weather. coming up next some very disappointing video, it shows one of the stars of mtv's teen moms under investigation for domestic violence after that violent outburst aired on the broadcast. >> you stay the [ bleep ] out of my [ bleep ] house. >> i am. ♪ [ engine revs, tires screeching ] we give to you the all-new volkswagen jetta. we have one more surprise for you. fifteen-thousand nine-hundred neunzig dollar? 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skirt that line between entertainment and bad behavior. but police say amber may have just crossed it on camera kicking and punching her on again off again fiance. now child services just got involved too. >> millions watch it, the mtv show teen mom, the title says it all. teenagers trying to weave through the delicate maze of motherhood. >> i am a mom and i'm a teenager too. >> reporter: and not so delicate, at least one of whom -- >> you don't talk to [ bleep ] like that, you hear me? >> reporter: that's amber, attacking her then fiance gary last year, their baby girl leah was in the room. and it happened again. >> i swear to god [ bleep ]. >> one more hit. >> reporter: this time on the show, amber hit, kicked and punched gary when he threatened to report her for being a bad mom. now child protective so fasts is investigating too. in indiana, domestic violence in front of a child under 14 can be a felony. >> were you blacked out or whited out? >> i don't remember that. >> reporter: amber talked about the violence on tuesday night on an mtv reunion special. >> i don't remember hitting him multiple times. >> reporter: amber calls herself a teenaged party girl, a high school dropout. calling amber an out of control monster. >> there are critics who say that mtv or the production company should have stepped in and stopped the scene. especially because they occurred in front of their baby daughter, leah. >> reporter: after seeing this latest fight, investigators went to amber's home and found evidence they say warrants their attention, though officials won't say what that evidence is. one thing is clear, the show is growing in popularity, and the stakes kourldn s couldn't be hi >> as we're all glued to the television set watching this train wreck, we need to be cognizant that these are real lives, real situations and there's the mental health of this child is at stake here. >> while officials could take her baby away, so far that has not happened. mtv would not comment on any of us. >> dr. janet taylor is a psychiatrist, dan abrams is nbc's chief legal analyst. help me out, this seems pretty cut and dried. >> as a legal matter, if the prosecutors decide they want to prosecute, they have got all the evidence they need right there on the tape. because remember, what is battery, legally? it mean s touching someone in a angry way. >> he sat there and took this for a long period of time, does he have to press charges in order for an action to be brought. >> but when you've got the videotape, in a way you don't need the witness the way you might ordinarily in another case. >> not only could she face battery charges but child services is now involved in this. could she lose custody of her daughter who was in the room for one of these assaults? >> that's a pretty draconian measure to take the child away from a parent is kind of the ultimate punishment when it comes to child services. but when they examine the totality of the circumstances and come to the conclusion she's an unfit mother. >> there was a crew here shooting this, should they not have put the camera down and dragged these two apart? >> if the d.a. wants to get aggressive, they could prosecute people who had reason to believe that child abuse was occurring, they could prosecute them for failure -- >> what is the impact of something like that on a young child. >> it's all exposure, kids who witness it are more likely to be battered in the aftermath and also from a self-esteem standpoint. and as dan says, not only is it a punishment for the parents, but we also have to protect our children. so i think the good news is the video camera was there because now we have evidence and you can really investigate it. the camera crew, i mean -- >> you know what makes me squeezy in all of this? sometimes we call these people the stars of this show. these are people. if we put people like this on the cover of a magazine. in the reality tv world, i think a monster is almost a complement. she's the one that people are paying attention to. do we just glamorize this? >> it's an opportunity to get some real help for her and intervention and show people how parents causes stress, but you have to learn how to handle conflict and certainly not expose your children to violence. >> but there's no question, she's become the star, and bigger star you become, even if you're the person everyone loves to hate, the more valuable you become and then you do the therapy session afterwards, where you try and bring it down. that's t e . >> she does have a criminal investigation, so hopefully they will take that seriously and followthrough. >> all right, folks, thank you very much. we appreciate it. good seeing you both, it's 16 minutes after the hour. up next, does new jersey governor chris christie have his eyes on the white house? 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[ male announcer ] you're never too old for a smooth, delicious milky way caramel. back now at 8:19 with the rising star of the republican party, new jersey tough talking governor chris christie. today jamie caught up with him exclusively. >> a year ago, people didn't know who chris christie was but he's being touted as a man who can get things done. blunt -- >> this is the crap i have to hear. >> reporter: outspoken. >> you punch them, i punch you. >> reporter: chris christie is not your typical politician. >> you think that's a convers n conversional tone, you should see when i'm really pissed. >> you should ask his family. you say your mom cringes because he uses salty language. >> bad words. >> i think he's honest. and as i said, i think it's clarity of thought, his ability to articulate things is just tremendous. >> reporter: you're very outspoken? >> you are not the governor of the house. hey, new jersey, we did it. >> reporter: christi, what you see is what you get. a father of four who loves bruce springsteen. hates snooki. >> take snooki in this situation. >> reporter: and is trying to rescue his troubled state by slashing spending, battling unions and loudly insisting that the status quo is unsustainable. >> i don't have the money. >> reporter: and despite the tough choices, his approval ratings keep going up. you're not surprised? >> no. >> reporter: because? >> because i think people want to be treated like dpuadults. they're tired of hearing, i can make it all better and it won't cost you and it won't hurt you. >> reporter: that approach and youtube moments like this one -- >> it's people who raise their voices and yell and scream like you who are dividing this country, we're here to bring this country together, not divide it. >> reporter: that struck a chord with voters even across party lines. >> i voted for obama, but i support chris christie for governor of new jersey. >> reporter: a former prosecutor who never lost a case, chris christi was born to a -- >> your mother a democrat, your father a dren? >> yes. >> reporter: how you would you describe your politics. >> i'm a republican for sure and i say, you know, i'm on the conservative side of things. but i think that i'm also really practical and. >> and it's not just talk, one of his closest political allies is a democrat, newark mayor cory booker. >> reporter: you two are being called the political odd couple. >> am i felix? >> reporter: the two recently appeared on oprah to announce a gift from facebook's founder. for schools like this one. booker says honesty is at the core of their relationship. >> like it or not, i always know where i stand. he doesn't say yes or no, he says hell yes, or hell no and you really know where you can go. we are going to get this done whatever it takes. >> reporter: at the same time, christi becomes a habit ticket for republicans. the new star of a gop ad campaign. >> we can change america overnight. >> reporter: a conservative folk hero. >> ladies and gentlemen, it is wrong to love another man because i love chris christie. >> and lost but not least, watch out sarah palin. >> new jersey governor chris christie won the first ever richmond virginia tea party presidential straw poll on saturday. >> reporter: all of which has led to questions about christy's future. >> christy says he's not ready. a lot of republicans are talking about that you should be on the ticket in 2012 to run for the white house. you say? >> no way. >> reporter: would you consider running for vice president? >> who would be that poor guy? i just don't think that my personality is necessarily suited to being number two. >> that said when pressed, the governor admits he's disgusted with his family. but to try to find out what he really think, even 7-year-old bridgette is a political pro. would you like your daddy to be president of the united states? >> i don't have an answer for that. >> on message. >> reporter: we may not know what bridgette thinks, ann, but we do now know what salty language is and i'm here to tell you the speculation about christy is not going to go away any time soon. >> thanks this morning. . and coming up, when to buy now and when the wait when it comes to tvs, computers and phones after your local news. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. let's get a final check on the morning commute with sarah caldwell. >> incredibly busy out there. on middletown road, we have an accident off to the side. belfast road, still closed. pulaski highway and mountain road and joppa road, that is the latest crash coming into us. we have another one and no. road and alameda road. liberty at rowling mill road. dogwood and white film, accident there. 48, watch for an accident involving a motorcycle. look at the drive times. 36 minutes on the outer loop but these side left over from an earlier accident. unfortunately, we are out of time. >> still watching right off to our south. showers in southern maryland and the lower eastern shore counties. the forecast for today, fog that is left will be burning off quickly and the high temperatures will climb into the low 60s. low 60s. >> we bob ehrlich is desperate, and he'll say anything to get elected. negative attacks the media have repeatedly called "dishonest" and "total malarkey." and why can't we trust bob ehrlich? because he raised taxes and fees by $3 billion then denied it... because he says he's for us, but made $2.5 million at a special interest lobbying firm. and ehrlich says he'll cut education again if elected governor. bob ehrlich-- a career politician we really can't trust. it's a perfect fall day, a perfect fall crowd. matt lauer along with ann curry. >> and tamron hall. tech head, major tech head. >> mini. >> how do you decide, when a new product comes out, how do you decide whether to buy that product right then or do you wait until the next version of that product comes out? >> i always wait, you never do. >> most times i do. 3-d tv, i will buy when it comes out. also coming up, we have got martha stewart in the house. >> we're going to talk about some savory desserts. and later, an 1 #-year-old that's removed from a cheerleading squad because of a cheer called shake your bootie. and then a counter intuitive way to lose weight. a registered dietitian will tell us why you should be eating fat and drinking alcohol and sleeping more if you want to shed pounds. >> that soishtds good. . >> how about a check of the weather. >> let's check it out and show you right now. >> 60s and 70s in the southwest. and for your daytime weather, wet weather down to the southwest. we have got some showers around the great lakes, beautiful weather down through florida, mid-atlantic looking gorgeous, although a few showers right along the mid-atlantic coast. >> we are off to a fairly quiet start. a little bit of fog in a few neighborhoods. southern maryland, lower eastern shore counties. most of you will have a >> you can check your weather any time of the day or night. now live, in person. coming to you direct from our beautiful downtown washington headquarters, mr. willard scott. >> i was in new york last week, i went to your shrine for 20 minutes, you saw that. wonderful and my beautiful secretary, nancy fields. >> that was so sweet. that was a nice little trip. happy birthday from smucker's. emma otis of poulsbo, washington state. she's 109. she attributed her longevity to swedish genes. a lot of those north climate people live forever. and silvia lieberman, 100, retired teacher, loves playing piano and enjoys visiting with family. and martin hornsby, 100 years old, a retired mechanic and knows all sorts of tips to make life happy. they call him the watermelon man because he sells fruits and vegetables in the summertime. and father john torney, he's 100 years old. he started preaching when he was 30 years old. he preached during world war ii. and mary hackett, 100 years old. a former housekeeper for 30 years. and she loves to be showered with kisses. and henry buckstein, he attributes his longevity to having no wrinkles and staying positive. he's about to celebrate his 75th anniversary with his wife mini. now back to new york. >> willard, i know you like pies, so stick around, because when we come back, martha stewart cooks up the tastiest when we come back, martha stewart cooks up the tastiest pies.st bob ehrlich says he wants to fix maryland. but he increased state spending by record amounts. ehrlich raised $3 billion in taxes and fees... including property taxes... and a 40% increase in college tuition. and now he's made over $1 billion in new promises... with no plans to pay for them... except for cutting education. cuts that will lay off teachers and increase class sizes. that's not a budget. and bob ehrlich's not the kind of leader... we can trust. martha on "today" is brought to you by macy's. a martha stewart collection is only at macy's.com. back now at 8:37, this morning on martha on "today," festive fall pies, her farm stands full of the fall's produce. the latest edition of martha stewart living has a bevy of recipes to try. >> i love that cover with all of the pieces of the pies. because it's always a challenge to come up with a new pie that your family is going to continue to love. >> and you have come up with something, forget the pie, called a pan dowdy. >> this is a bottomless pie, a beautiful fruit with a wonderful, wonderful eagle nut crust. which is so easy to make. >> and i love hazelnut. >> very easy, put in one and three-quarters cups of flour. it helps if you have a food processor. one teaspoon of sugar, a half a cup, a teaspoon of salt and we line that up. that e and then you add ice cold butter, two sticks and put it back in the refrigerator so they're really cold. >> do you break it up so it doesn't take as long to cut up? >> the pulsing takes if you don't stop to talk to ann curry, it takes about 15 seconds from start to finish. and then you can just add, keep pulsing as i hadd about a quartr of a cup. of water. you roll this out. >> a lot of times people say don't work it too much with your hands, is that still the case with this kind of a thing. >> you just cut it into about one by two inch squares. it doesn't matter. you can do it 3 1/2. i don't really bother to cut it with a ruler, but in case you're uneasy about it. >> this is normally made with apples, but you've got pears this morning. >> not normally, it can be pears, it can be quints, it can be apple. i have been making apple pies every single weekend. i have virtually tons of apples on my property. >> i peel and cut into wedges and some dried fig. two tablespoons of lemon juice. a tablespoon of flour. that flour thickens the juices while it's bake. very important to put some flavor like that. and a little bit of nutmeg. >> fresh nutmeg is always best. >> it is. >> sometimes people keep them for two -- >> okay now let's get started, what do we do then? >> and we'll scrape that off. always scrape. and then you arrange these beautiful, beautiful squares, cut your pastry, all this pastry into squares, chill them, so that they're easy to handle. >> how long do you chill them. >> just until they're hard. >> 15, 20 minutes. >> and make sure nothing's hanging over the edge and then just lay these in little bit of an overlapping -- >> i see, so that it overhangs a little bit. >> you're not building out really well, and you can just cut it into squares like that. >> this looks like when you bake it, it's going to be really pretty. >> and we have egg mixed with a little bit of cream. this will get it browner than if you just did eggs. you can do egg and water. >> so there's like a little tablespoon of cream? >> yes, that's all. and you can use egg yoke if you want to get it even darker. >> let's go over here and show people we have got about 30 seconds. >> then sprinkle the sugar. that's going to bake in a hot oven on 375 until it looks like this. this is what it looks like. >> pear pandowdy, all the other pies. we're taking the old cobblers and the pandowdys and the crumbles and we're making pie. >> this is comfort food, martha. i feel comforted. >> apple with a cheddar crust. that's the one i want a taste of. and this is the most beautiful this is a quints slab pie. >> we're going to have it all. thank you so much. >> coming up next, buy now or buy later? one thing to consider before cooking out, the electronic gadgets. but first this is "today" on gadgets. but first this is "today" on nbc.s i like a party as much as the next gal but, come on. $60,000 for one dinner held by the department of justice. $66 per person just for bagels at one of the nasa's shindigs. i cracked down because big government shouldn't be funding big banquets with your money. some people say i'm a bit of a tightwad. i say, i'm barbara mikulski and i approve this message so you'll know i'm fighting for you. bob ehrlich is desperate, and he'll say anything to get elected. negative attacks the media have repeatedly called "dishonest" and "total malarkey." and why can't we trust bob ehrlich? because he raised taxes and fees by $3 billion then denied it... because he says he's for us, but made $2.5 million at a special interest lobbying firm. and ehrlich says he'll cut education again if elected governor. bob ehrlich-- a career politician we really can't trust. this morning on "today's" tech, buy now or buy later? from tvs, cell phones and the latest gadgets are constantly being released. when should you keep what you have and when is the best time to scoop up the latest model. is there a certain time of the year, we said they're being released all the time, is there a certain time of the year when more electronic gadgets seem to be unveiled than at that time of the year? >> you used to be able to monitor when it was coming out. but now every season, now mod models, new features. >> when the new model comes out, the prices tend to be higher, eventually they come down. what's the general markup on a new product? >> general markup could be 10 to 20 points. it could be hundreds on the thousand. it really depends, you don't see a major gap, what you do see is a jump. >> when is a good time to go out and buy one of these gadgets and when is a time to hold off. >> we're looking at a pan sonic, a 42-inch, to kind of put it in perspective. ten years ago, it was thousands of dollars. now it's $675. beautiful rich color, great black, looks great for movies and action films. to me plasma still looks better than led. >> buying one of these is kind of a mathematical equation. >> make sure that you're paying attention to the size of the screen and in order to do that, measure your viewing distance from the screen, multiply that by about six or seven and that will give you your screen size range that you should be buying. >> what do i expect to pay for a good one? >> for a good one, around $700, $800. and warranties, make sure you're invested in extended warranties. >> you say buy, you like these particular models. why are these buys? >> these are the hottest phones, the motorola droid, i love this device, it has a beautiful screen, and it also can operate as a wi-fi hot spot. if you're a blackberry user, this is the first time blackberry has come out with a touch screen. >> i like the tactile keyboard. >> 1$199 for all of these, excet for the 4-g right here. it has a keyboard as well as a touch screen. it uses and android operating system. >> and these won't be updated in two months and make me feel like i'm out of date. >> a lot of times you can get these on a contract. >> states around the country passes hands free laws. >> i love this one by blue amp. it's $99 and what it does is clips easily on to the visor in your car. and you just use voice commands. and if you're getting a call, you don't have to look down at your phone, you keep your hands at 10 and 2. >> this is a speakerphone so yo can't have a private phone call. >> it does noise cancellation, so i have had family members in the car and still get to have a conversation. if you want to go private advertised, same type of technology built into this. >> real quickly, mario, you say buy 3-d cameras, why. >> because you want to future proof yourself. this is a cyber shot, 2-d images as well as 3-d. you want to buy for the future and 3-d is the future. >> sounds like a mixed message. you say buy the camera, hold off on the tv. >> let's see if we can get some 3-d action. can you do "the matrix" move? >> no, no, no, i can't do "the matrix" move. why should we buy these now? >> they're new. if you really want to get one that's under 1,500 or less. but bottom line, new technology is going to continue to grow. >> real quickly, a couple of other holdoffs, the tablet computers, you don't think this should be purchased yet. >> tablets you should wait until after january, they'll come out with different features. and the new one on the market is the windows phone. >> coming up, using checks to give kids a leg up in the classroom and in life. bob ehrlich says he wants to fix maryland. but he increased state spending by record amounts. ehrlich raised $3 billion in taxes and fees... including property taxes... and a 40% increase in college tuition. and now he's made over $1 billion in new promises... with no plans to pay for them... except for cutting education. cuts that will lay off teachers and increase class sizes. that's not a budget. and bob ehrlich's not the kind of leader... we can trust. back now at 8:52. with an old game being used to improve the learning and social skills of children. >> you expect to hear that school kids are learning about reading, writing, and math. chess is teaching lessons well beyond the game board. before ipod and video games, long before television -- the game of kings, chess, still popular in the 21st century, is capturing imaginations across the country. thanks in part to a nonprofit organization called first move which is helping introduce this centuries old game of strategy to kids as young as 5 and 6. why chess. >> to play the game of chess is an olgs. to win the game of chess, you got to be the whole game with your opponent knowing what you're doing. >> reporter: at this all girl's school in new york, chess teaches fairness and strategy. >> talk me through it, what are we doing here? >> reporter: and "today" they used a little gamesmanship. these educators hope the strategies the kids learn playing chess will help them navigate in the real world. >> i really feel that will change school the way our kids deal with each other. it's calm, it's polite. the contact sport in a calmer more intellectual way. >> our classrooms are very diverse these days, people with different backgrounds. >> reporter: important life lessons learned in play. there is a showdown going on. >> the moves they make now may cost them six moves through the game. so kids need to learn, things i do now, they don't just have an immediate consequence, they can have a far reaching consequence. >> check mate. >> reporter: and while everyone hopes to win, even this future grand master knows that some of the best lessons are learned when you don't win. you think you're getting better all the time. >> yes, i learn from my mistakes. >> reporter: first move is currently in 27 states engaging 50,000 young minds and they're expanding nationally. so learn more go to todayshow.com. >> learn a new strategy, learn how to learn from your mistakes. and learn how to lose. [ ehrlich ] four years ago unemployment in maryland was under four percent. today, it's nearly double. and nearly a quarter of a million marylanders are looking for work. in addition, we face a national health care plan that will hurt small business and cost us jobs. so we have to ask, are you better off today than you were four years ago? we're heading in the wrong direction. we need strong leadership. say no to things we can't afford. fix our health care plan. and refuse to raise taxes. martin o'malley can't do it. i will. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is a wbal-tv 11 news update. >> good morning. we are off to a fairly quiet start this wednesday. if the fog should be burned off in the morning hours. so the meddling, lower eastern shore counties. it should mrs. baltimore, though. high temperatures will be in the low 60s. 20% chance of a shower on thursday. chilly start on friday. we will make it into a 60 in the afternoon. nice weekend coming up.