Transcripts For WRC Today 20100630

husband's affair took on their relationship and where things stand now. and last call. larry king surprises his audience by announcing he will end his nightly talk show after 25 years. why he says he's finally ready to hang up those famous suspenders. "today," wednesday, june 30th, 2010. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and welcome to "today" on this wednesday morning. i'm meredith vieira. >> and i'm willie geist in for matt this morning. >> so nice to have you here. >> matt gave me one piece of advice. >> what was it? e's a loose cannon. on meredith. i'm going to keep you very close. >> did he say that? >> yes. >> attached to the hip is the best way to do it. >> i'm going to stand nearby. we have a big show. matt's conversation with elizabeth edwards. compelling. >> the first time she has spoken out since the separation from her husband and very emotional. describes the circumstances that finally led her to make that decision that it was over. >> and an interesting comparison. she talks about sandra bullock and what she went through comparing to her own ordeal. we'll get to that coming up later in the show. meanwhile, down south hurricane alex picked up strength overnight now on a collision course for the texas/mexico border. >> this is the first atlantic hurricane to develop in june since 1995. the storm has already churned up waves in the gulf forcing dozens of boats that were working to clean up oil in the gulf to find safe harbor. we're going to get the latest on all of this and al's track of the storm in a moment. also ahead, why has a judge now barred the stepmother of missing 7-year-old kyron horman, the last family member to see him before he vanished, from contact with her children from a previous marriage and from access to firearms? we'll get the latest in a live report. plus, 16-year-old abby sunderland's attempt to sail solo around the world came to a frightening end when her boat was flipped in the indian ocean 2,000 miles from land. this morning she is here to talk about her ordeal in an exclusive live interview. let's begin this morning with hurricane alex barreling through the gulf towards southern texas. we have three reports starting with al who is keeping a close watch on the storm's projected path. al, good morning. good morning, willie. the good news is the track of the storm of alex brings it more into mexico than texas. right now 235 miles southeast of brownsville. it's moving west-northwest at 7 miles per hour. now we do have hurricane warnings up from la cruz, mexico, to baffin bay. warnings up to port o'connor. and here is the path of the storm right now. looks like it's going to make landfall sometime late tonight, early tomorrow morning, at category 2, 100 miles an hour, and work its way in. we're not so worried about the wind but we are worried about the rainfall. we have flash flood watches and coastal flood warnings around brownsville, corpus christi, to biloxi, mississippi y.? the rain. we're looking at heavy rain falling. you can see the beginning of the eye now of alex starting to approach the mexico border but that rain extends all the way. rainfall amounts we are talking huge amounts of rain generally anywhere from 10 to 15 inches of rain between brownsville, corpus christi, galveston, new orleans, on into the western panhandle of florida. so the flooding is going to be the biggest problem. also, can't rule out isolated tornadoes all along the gulf. willie? >> al, this is very early, as you know, for a storm this size in the season. what does it tell us about the rest of this hurricane season? >> you can't necessarily extrapolate just because it's happened this early. however, about 60% of the time when you have a storm -- a hurricane this early, that means you're going to have a more active than usual hurricane season. but, again, just because this has happened doesn't mean that's what's going to happen this year. >> we'll check back in with you in a moment. for more now, here is meredith. so how are people in south texas preparing for the arrival of hurricane alex? the weather channel's stephanie abrams is on south padre island with more on the story. stephanie, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you, meredith. i want to show you how far the water has gotten here, covering half the beach. this is the water mark so far this morning. we are expecting a surge three to five feet. by the way, high tide isn't until 8:44 this morning. the rains have already come. as al mentioned, we could see close to a foot. here in south padre, we could see five times our monthly rainfall over the next 48 hours. it's not only the rain but the winds. sustained right now around 25 miles an hour. queen isabella is a causeway that connects us to the mainland. if the wind get sustained at 45 miles an hour -- here comes the water already coming up again here -- they are going to close down that causeway and actually obama has made a declaration here, an emergency declaration allowing fema, meredith, and state and local officials to come together. the brownsville mayor says he will hold off on that declaration because the city is cash strapped. it is 7:05. with more, here is willie. hurricane alex is hampering efforts to clean up some of the oil leaking into the gulf for 72 days now. nbc's chief environmental affairs correspondent anne thompson in venice, louisiana. anne, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, willie. from a very hot and humid venice harbor, we are on a boat today, but i can tell you the workers on the oil cleanup crew probably won't be getting on boats today. looks like for a second day alex will hamper the cleanup efforts here in louisiana. winds up to 30 miles an hour and seas up to 7 feet high for skimmer boats and workers back onshore yesterday as they just couldn't get out to where the oil is causing a problem. now a storm like this is a double-edged sword for the oil cleanup. the good news is that the rough seas and the high winds break up the oil. the bad news is that the storm can create oil-covered storm surge. so that's the problem onshore. out at the spill site work continues on the relief wells and on those two containment systems. they're picking up -- collecting oil at a rate of 1,000 barrels a day. the problem is they hope to get a third containment system online but they need calm seas to do that. they hope to do that next week. willie, back to you. >> anne thompson, losing some precious time there in louisiana. thank you very much. it's 7:07 now. here is meredith. and now to the economy and new jitters on wall street. the dow opens today below the 10,000 mark for the first time in nearly three weeks after plunging 268 points on tuesday. so what is driving the latest fear among investors? jim cramer is the host of cnbc's "mad money." one put it, the markets were spooked by the slowing economies in china and in europe. do investors have good reason to be spooked? >> i think that they do if we don't start creating some jobs here. those economies do matter, but what's most important is job creation. if it we get a number on friday, which is our national labor number, that shows no new jobs created, then we have reason to worry. >> and that is the rumor, that that's exactly what we're going to see on friday. >> and i think that's what drove our market down. europe's been bad for some time. i think china's okay. we are the worry. there's too much fear and there's way too much anxiety about what washington will or will not do in terms of taxes. >> do you believe the president's policies are creating the conditions necessary for businesses to hire? there's a lot of controversy. >> i think we have to just look at the broad numbers and say that they're not working. look, it would be terrific to say there's tons of jobs being created and people weren't applying for them but we know that's not the case. >> you also have the consumer confidence index came out on tuesday down ten points from may to june, makes it harder for the president to sell his economic policy. how significant is that number? >> i think that was also a huge part of what happened yesterday. we started realizing that may was bad. now maybe june is bad. we don't know what's causing it. we know there's just a total lack of confidence and a belief that there will be no new jobs created. i think, by the way, that's too gloom gloomy. we should be more confident and i think the gloom is way overdone and the market was way overdone. u don't buy that?n.pression or >> we just have -- you don't go right back into it -- look, in 1938 our country did and if you want to go back in history, we decided to go to a balanced budget. i read all those negative columnists and i was surprised they decided everything is awful right now. it's not. it's not great, meredith, but it's not that bad. it's nothing like what they say. >> you're advise iing people to stay in the market. >> don't make a move. it's not worth it. >> jim cramer, thank you so much. tch "mad money" at 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. eastern time on cnbc. now a rest of the top stories with natalie morales over at the news desk. good morning to you. good morning, meredith. good morning, everyone. a strong magnitude 6.2 earthquake hit southern mexico early this morning and shook buildings as far away as mexico city. no reports of serious damage. general david petraeus should be on the ground in afghanistan within days following a confirmation vote today in the senate. on tuesday he warned lawmakers the fighting may get more intense in the next few months. and today militants attacked an airport in eastern afghanistan. the taliban claimed responsibility. meanwhile, attorney general eric holder is in afghanistan this morning talking with officials there about fighting corruption. officials say the arrest of ten alleged spies should not affect the u.s. relationship with russia. one of them, anna chapman, had extraordinary training and called her a sophisticated agent of russia. moscow claims the ten and another person arrested in cyprus did nothing to hurt u.s. interes interests. a key u.s. ally in asia has a new president. in the philippines, the son of the late president was sworn in this morning. and a timely reminder from the consumer products safety commission about the danger of fireworks and sparklers with fourth of july celebrations coming up this weekend, fireworks handled the wrong way can be disastrous. last year there were two deaths and nearly 9,000 emergency room visits for injuries resulting from fireworks related incidents. yeah, that's unbelievable video there. 7:10. let's turn it over to meredith, willie and al. a good reminder to everyone. >> that people should pay attention to that. >> the twins, sparklers. >> and the good morning. a welcome, refreshing change occurred overnight. i'm meteorologist tom kierein. temperatures in the upper 60s to near 70 in washington and near the bay. low 60s around the region. a wonderful feeling in the air as you step off to work this morning. we'll have some high clouds drifting through today, temperatures in the 80s. tomorrow partly cloudy, 50s in the morning. a little bit warmer with more sunshine friday and saturday. and that's your latest weather. willie? >> al, thanks. supreme court nominee elena kagan heads back to capitol hill this morning for day three. she'll face more tough questions on a host of hot button issues. nbc's kelly oonnell is in washington with the latest. kelly, good morning. >> reporter: morning, willie. we've seen so far marathon questioning and it's been tense about kagan's credentials and her views. and you'd expect that. but the real surprise has been that both democrats and republicans found something to smile about. in what could be elena kagan's last job interview ever -- >> this morning we begin our questioning. >> reporter: -- senators worked at pinning her down and tripping her up. >> that's not the question. >> reporter: a core issue is politics. her own and the president's. >> you're largely a progressive in the mold of obama himself. do you agree with that? >> in the terms of my political views, i've been a democrat all my life. >> reporter: that's not shocking. but would her political party be on the court, too. >> my politics would be, must be, have to be completely separate from my judging. >> reporter: on the divisive issue of abortion rights kagan backed current law. >> women's life and women's health has to be protected. >> reporter: in the most intense exchange, sessions, pounded kagan for restricted on campus where the military could recruit when she was dean at harvard law. >> you were punishing the military. >> reporter: kagan insisted recruiters had access to students. she said the military ban on gays serving openly conflicted with harvard's anti-discrimination policy. >> i have repeatedly said that i believe the don't ask, don't tell policy is unwise and unjust. i believed it then and i believe it now. >> i know you're an outspoken leader against the military policy. >> reporter: kagan was always careful but actually did disagree with the supreme court's ban on cameras. >> i think it would be a terrific thing to have cameras in the courtroom. >> reporter: hours of rigorous intellectual debate were at times peppered with the unexpected. >> you have shown a really admirable sense of humor. >> reporter: on those courtroom cameras -- >> it means i'd have to get my hair done more often. >> reporter: most surprising during a serious conversation about legal rights, kagan poked fun at herself when a question about the christmas day terror plot was oddly phrased. >> christmas day bomber, where were you at on christmas day? >> i'm assuming the question you mean is whether a person who was apprehended in the united states -- >> no, i just asked you where you were at on christmas? >> you know, like all jews i was probably at a chinese restaurant. >> great answer. >> reporter: and there were actually a number of those personable, humorous exchanges and maybe some of that came out because it was such a grind. more than ten hours. and we expect they'll push through again today because the schedule is a little complicated with the memorial services for the late robered byrd at the end of the week and the committee hopes to get kagan through the process before the fourth of july holiday break. >> refreshing to see a little humor there. it's 7:15. once again here's meredith. willie, thanks. now to new developments in the disappearance of 7-year-old kyron horman. his stepmother, the last family member to see him since he vanished, has now been barred from seeing her children. nbc's miguel almaguera is in portland with the latest. miguel, good morning. >> reporter: meredith, good morning. rlier this month the horman family all stood together but things have certainly changed. in fact, the judge here in portland has even ordered kyron's stepmother, terri horman, not to have access to her children or to any firearms. after weeks of exhaustive searches for 7-year-old kyron horman, it's now his stepmother, terri horman, who appears to be a focal point in recent days. on saturday, kyron's father moved the couple's 1-year-old daughter out of the home he shared with terri. then on monday filed for divorce. in court documents obtained by nbc news, kaine horman cites irreconcilable differences. in sharp contrast to standing side-by-side with kyron's father. >> what is the focus of this thing? it's about terri horman. >> reporter: c.w. jensen is a former detective with 20 years of law enforcement experience. he says an arrest could come any day. >> no one was mentioned -- anybody but the stepmother, terri horman. so you can either think, "a," the investigators aren't competent or, "b," they know what they're doing and doing a great job. i believe it's the latter. >> reporter: terri horman, who lived with kyron for years, has never been named a suspect but her face was put on a flyer with kyron's distributed to hundreds of parents. detectives have only said she was the last to see kyron. terri horman has also never made a public statement but this week her husband did more than just ask for a divorce. kyron's father also filed a restraining order against terri. that order sealed by a judge to, quote, not risk compromising the effort to find kyron. >> i've never in the 37 years i've practiced law ever seen one sealed before. >> reporter: with kyron's disappearance nearly four weeks old, detectives seem to be retracing many of their steps. the horman home has been searched several times. so has terri's truck. and her father tells "people" magazine she's taken multiple polygraph tests. >> she's taken two polygraph tests and that's significant to you why? >> i never, and i gave a lot of people polygraph tests, i never asked someone to take a second polygraph test if they passed the first polygraph test. >> reporter: after first standing by terri, kyron's biological parents are now saying very little about his stepmother while court documents make a clear statement of their own. saturday night a 911 call was made from the horman home. that's the same day that kyron horman's father moved out. while the sheriff's department would confirm there was a call, they would not give us any details or even tell us who made the call that something unusual for the sheriff's department. >> it's all very bizarre. miguel almaguera, thank you very much. meredith, thanks. he's known for interviewing the world's biggest newsmakers but last night legendary broadcaster larry king made some news of his own. announcing the end of "larry king live" after 25 years. nbc's peter alexander has details. peter, good morning. >> reporter: willie, good morning to you. his career isn't over yet, but these stats are enough to cause a double take. larry king has interviewed nearly 50,000 people over more than 50 years in broadcasting. king said now he's tired of the nightly grind and explained that telling his staff tuesday the news was one of the saddest ten minutes of my life. >> good evening. before i start the show tonight, i want to share some personal news with you. >> reporter: for the last 25 years, larry king has hosted some of the world's biggest newsmakers. but tuesday night king himself was the one making headlines. >> i talked to the guys here at cnn and i told them i'd like to end "larry king live," the nightly show. >> reporter: the announcement marks the end of a remarkable run for one of cable television's legendary personalities. recently celebrated by "the guinness book of world records" for having the longest running show with the same host in the same timeslot on the same network. >> that's still the case? >> absolutely. >> reporter: if you wanted the country to listen, you sat down with layrry king. >> it was a tremendous traumatic experience. >> reporter: from his perch in prime time, king, now 76, interviewed a parade of international icons, politicians, and celebrities. >> people would get so comfortable with him that they would say things they didn't plan on saying. that was his secret. he engaged them at such a level. >> reporter: perhaps king's defining moment came in 1992 when a then relatively unknown texas billionaire, ross perot, announced his candidacy for president on "layrry king live." >> we, the people. you register me in 50 states. >> who do you want to sit there after you go? >> reporter: speculation about king's retirement and a possible successor has been swirling for months. among the names mentioned, katie couric, piers morgan, and king's personal choice, ryan seacrest. >> whoever is going to replace larry king has obviously very big shoes to fill. >> reporter: while reports of king's marital problems with seventh wife shaun southwick this spring, the talk show host says family is his top priority. >> cnn has graciously accepted to agree to giving me more time for my wife and i to get to the kids' little league games. detroit, hello. >> reporter: king was among the first tv hosts to invite viewers to phone in. on tuesday night the cast of callers offering their best wishes included former first lady nancy reagan. >> lots of luck, larry. >> you're a doll. >> i'll miss you. >> reporter: tuesday night the cable news pioneer had the final word, referencing the unforgettable item that became his signature. >> with that chapter closing, i'm looking forward to the future. what my next chapter will bring. for now, for here, it's time to hang up the nightly suspenders. >> reporter: pulled out the baby blues on that final night. king may still break those suspenders out from time to time in the future. he told his audience he'll be back hosting specials on national and international events going forward. willie, a little bit too early to try to break into the king closet and get a hand on those. >> i guess so. peter, thanks so much. meredith -- >> willie geist live. i like that. >> i don't have any suspenders, that's the problem. it's going to be strange not having larry king in our lives. >> 50,000 interviews in 50 years, that's amazing. >> al gore/ross perot debate is the highest watched thing ever in the history of cable television. >> i did not know that. >> he has a heck of a record. just ahead, what is it like to be alone on a boat thousands of miles from land when something goes terribly brong? 16-year-old abby sunderland speaks out about her dramatic rescue at sea in an exclusive live interview. still to come, matt's exclusive interview with elizabeth edwards. what is her relationship with john edwards like now? and what does she think of his former mistress rielle hunter? >> her candid answers after your local news and weather. seburger on a delicious bun. and when you get it all at walmart's guaranteed unbeatable prices -- it somehow tastes even better. save money. live better. walmart. it's laughs over a coastal soup and grilled shrimp salad. catching up over wood-grilled shrimp and chicken. and with lunches starting at just $6.99... it's an hour you wouldn't trade for anything. ♪ three decadent flavors. 60 caloes. me clock. time for jelo. good morning. it system 7:26 on this wednesday, the 30th and final day of june. i'm joe krebs. this morning congress is taking a look at the safety of red light and speed cameras. they recently returned to major intersections in arlington. speed crams were the subject of a lawsuit in montgomery county. after a report found they may actually lead to more rear end accidents despite decreasing the number of broad side crashes. we'll take a break and come back and look at our good morning. it is a delightful summer morning. low humidity. fresh and cool. 60s region. highs today in the 80s. more sun for friday and saturday and a bit warmer but still low humidity. how is the traffic now? >> doing fine. very quiet morning. sluggish around greenbelt. travel lanes are open. we'll head over and see how thing are progressing, 395, no hov restrictions because of an earlier truck accident. >> "news4 today" is on as soon as you wake 7:30 now on this wednesday morning, june 30th, 2010. what a beautiful sight to wake up to, one of the amazing views at acadia national park in maine. the third and final stop on jenna bush hager's tour of "america the beautiful." she is going to show us around that magnificent park just ahead. i'm meredith vieira alongside willie geist who is in for matt mat this morning. an exclusive interview with abby sunderland. she will open up about her attempt to sail solo around the world. also ahead here is something you don't see every day unless you live an exotic life, a swimming orangutan. suryia is stronger than five men and very graceful under water. we'll introduce you to him coming up. okay. on a more serious note, matt's exclusive interview with elizabeth edwards. does she still see john edwards now that they are separated? how is her health? and what are her plans for the future? we'll hear from her coming up. let us begin with abby sunderland's ordeal on the indian ocean. first, here is nbc's kristen welker. i'm really happy to be home. very sad things didn't work out. >> reporter: with mixed emotions at the same marina where she set sail last january, abby sunderland described her harrowing voyage for the first time since returning home. >> i'm living proof that things don't always work out the way you planned. >> reporter: the 16-year-old had planned to sail around the world alone, but that dream was sunk when halfway through her trip and in the middle of the indian ocean a storm hit followed by a rogue wave that rolled her boat and snapped her mast briefly knocking her out. >> i did hit my head kind of hard and things went black for a second but just for a second. >> reporter: a second -- that's also about as long as abby says she allowed herself to feel afraid. >> i knew what to do in case of that problem and because of that, i felt comfortable at it. >> reporter: still, sunderland knew she needed help so she sent out distress signals and after an excruciating 20 hours during which abby's family had lost all contact with her, emergency crews located the teen and then a french fishing vessel plucked her from the sea. she says the positive outcome is proof that while she may be young, she was prepared and calls criticism of her parents unjustified. >> it's extremely hurtful and it's sad to see some of it. >> reporter: abby spent 14 days on two different vessels to get from the middle of the indian ocean to kerguelen islands and she and zac flew to paris. finally monday night home at last. and now the sunderlands have one more reason to celebrate. tuesday, mom marianne, gave birth to her eighth child, a boy whose family named him paul,honor of the captain who rescued his older sister. for "today," kristen welker, nbc news, los angeles. >> and abby sunderland is with us exclusively along with her brother zac and father laurence. it's good to see you safe and sound. how does it feel to be on dry land? is it strange? >> it's kind of hard to get used to things at first. >> do you have your sea legs? >> i'm pretty much over that now but i was having trouble walking downstairs for the first two days. >> you were, i can imagine. you set out in january to circumnavigate the earth and things were going pretty well until that day in june. you hit that storm in the indian ocean and that rogue wave about 30 feet, three stories high. it broke the mast. it rolled your boat over and knocked you out briefly. can you take us back to that day and what you remember? >> well, yeah. i was in a pretty bad storm. i had 60 knots. i had been knocked down four times throughout the day. but it wasn't until the storm was dying down, i only had 40 knots. >> you thought you were out of the woods probably? >> yeah, yeah, it wasn't going to get any worse than today. it was really unexpected when i did. i thought it was just going to be another knockdown but it kept on rolling and went all the way around. >> you were inside so you were safe, but you did get knocked out for a moment. >> i just finished work on the engine and was about to go outside. luckily i wasn't quite out there yet, so i just got thrown around the cabin. i didn't hear it coming because the wind was howling loudly. all i remember is being thrown across the cabin and a few seconds later i was on on the roof and everything was falling down and water pouring in everywhere. >> was there a moment -- i know in the piece you said you didn't allow yourself to be scared, but in that moment when you had no phone, you had no mast, you're out in the middle of nowhere, setting off those beacons, was there a second you thought, i may not get out of this? >> where i was, i knew it was an area really hard to get to. i was right in the middle of the indian ocean. so i wasn't sure when anybody would come or if they would come. i tried to keep myself from thinking about that too much but in the back of my mind i knew there was a possibility that nobody would come. >> and, laurence, when you got the call from search and rescue saying that your daughter had let off those beacons, you don't know whether she's dead or alive. that must have been the most dreaded call you could possibly get as a dad. >> absolutely. we were actually in conference with abigail when we got the notification from the u.s. rescue center. we had been dealing with abigail's engine issue. initially because she had the 60 knots during the day, we had thought that the beacon was her automatic beacon and when i checked the paperwork, it was the beacon that needed to be deployed manually and we realized we were in a search and rescue situation. and from that moment on which was about 5:45 in the morning, we just notified the authorities, the people that deal with that region of the world and literally within one hour the french from the reunion island deployed three vessels to her location and the australian initially assisted the reunion and sent out an airplane. >> you still had 20 hours you didn't know the fate of your daughter. as a dad at that point did any part of you go, you know what, it was the wrong decision to let her go out there alone and attempt this? >> there's a lot of thoughts that go through your head at that time. would that have been one of them? may maybe. i don't know. but, like abigail had said, when you get to those situations, that fear and those emotions don't serve you well. you need to react in a positive way. you need to notify the authorities that are dealing with the search and rescue and give them the information that they would need. at that time we didn't know whether abigail's boat was upside-down or right side up. we were giving them photographs of the boat upside-down. we were trying to ascertain exactly what had happened. we knew that the storm had abated. we didn't know whether the kiel had come off the boat. so we were just trying to speculate and give as much information as we could. >> fortunately abby she was found and rescued. you talked about in the piece there's been a loft criticism directed at the family and especially you, laurence. i don't know if you saw this. a merchant marine captain writes that abby was ill-prepared to handle an emergency on her own. he says, quote,spite of the sunderlands statements regarding the desire to encourage their children to be independent, fearless adventurers, it's obvious the sunderlands' primary plan was to immediately call for help from the world's search and rescue services. so much for teaching your children independence and self-reliance. is that a fair criticism? >> no, it's not. the criticism comes from people who don't know the preparation of the boat. they don't know the team that was involved. abigail was on a boat that was a category zero boat. it was designed for the southern ocean. it was as well prepared as the best prepared boat out there. and the fact she survived the incident and acted the way she did is a testament to how well the boat was prepared and she was prepared. >> part of the reason she did survive is the certificasearch e people went out there. it cost a lot of money. some estimates are over $1 million. you have not been asked to absorb any of those costs. do you think you should have been? >> not really. there's an understanding internationally that if an american or an australian was in trouble in american waters we would absorb the costs, the coast guard could absorb the cost and vice versa. it's an international understanding. from what i can ascertain from the rescue centers, the media jump on that every time and they make a big song and dance about it. the reality is the rescue centers worldwide have an understanding that they absorb the costs if it's an american, if it's an australian, whoever. they would absorb the costs depending on what region of the ocean whatever sailor got into trouble. let's look at the newport/bermuda race. the boat tipped upside-down, lost its kiel. we don't hear that in the news. five weekends there were five people on the west coast of america that lost their lives. you know, they were rescued t. cost as lot of money. we don't hear about their rescue. >> let me touch base on one more criticism and give you a chance to respond to this whole notion about the reality show and some people who have said that abby's going out on this journey was really just to create buzz about a reality show. there was one in the works. what happened to it? >> there was an agreement that was signed with a startup company. they were unsuccessful and that was it. basically. >> but abby's journey had nothing to do with that reality show? >> abigail's journey was a passion of hers from the age of 13. and obviously if i let her go at 13, i would have been very irresponsible. from that age, we just monitored abigail and her boating career and her life and as she became of age, 16 years old, she proved to us that she was capable of undertaking this journey without us. she is the youngest person around cape horn. she endured many storms before this tragic incident with the rogue wave. and a rogue wave can hit any sailor at any time. >> how do you handle the criticism that's been leveled at you? why do you think so many people have been critical of what you did? >> i think it's mainly because people don't understand. i mean, not a lot of people sail, especially not my age, and i think it's mainly just they can't understand why i'd do it and they don't fully understand what i did out there and why i did it. >> would you do it again? >> i definitely would. >> are you making plans to do it again? >> not right now. i'm going to keep sailing. i still love it. >> i'll give zac the last word. how proud are you of your sister? i know you picked her up at reunion island? >> it was great to see her again, a great accomplishment she made. >> all right. abby, we're glad to have you back home. zac, nice to see you. laurence as well. congratulations on the new baby. >> thank you so much. >> that's quite amazing. now let's get a check of the weather from al. an amazing story. thanks, meredith. and baby brendan has his own sign. where are you guys from? >> we're from norwell, massachusetts. >> how old is brendan? >> he's 3 months yesterday. >> very cute. all right. >> say hi. hello. >> enough jumping up and down. let's check your weather and see what's happening. we'll show you for today we have that jet stream, mild air across the pacific northwest. showers in the northeast and you can see alex churning there off the atlantic. jet stream really not in effect there but we are looking at heavy rain continuing right into friday along the texas gulf coast. showers in the pacific northwest. but trajectory way up north and that allows the hot air to build into the midsection of the country. i love these ladies. two old bags. no. >> otherwise known as bag ladies. >> well, nice to see you ladies and you look great. meredith? >> i relate to the bag lady all right. thanks, al. up next, the swimming orangutan right after this. lder. men and women for whom straight stitches and clean welds were matters of personal pride. they made the skyscrapers and the cotton gins. colt revolvers, jeep 4 x 4's. these things make us who we are. as a people, we do well when we make good things and not so well when we don't. the good new is, this can be put right. we just have to do it. and so we did. ♪ this, our newest son, was imagined, drawn, carved, stamped, hewn and forged here in america. it is well made and it is designed to work. this was once a country where people made things, beautiful things, and so it is again. the new jeep grand cherokee. ♪ want toew jeep grand cherokee. replant a forest? maybe you want to rebuild homes for those in need? or, maybe you want to help improve our schools? whatever you want to do, members project from american express can help you take the first step. vote, volunteer or donate for the causes you believe in at membersproject.com. take charge of making a difference. to get more of the fiber you need every day, try fiberchoice. with the natural fiber found in fruits and vegetables and 33% more fiber per serving than benefiber. go to fiberchoice.com to get savings and rewards. only aveeno daily moisturizing lotion has an active naturals oat formula proven to improve skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. save $10 on all your aveeno favorites at aveeno.com. and i asked my doctor for a prescription. he said try prevacid®24hr. it contains the same medicine but it's available without a prescription to treat frequent heartburn. prevacid®24hr. frequent heartburn relief all day and yes, all night. back at 7:46. you know, meredith, i don't think anything beats a nice swim on a hot summer's day. >> i agree with you. apparently at least one orangutan agrees with you as well. 7-year-old suryia is with us along with his trainer moksha bybee. good morning to you all. >> good morning. >> morning. >> you know, we know suryia because we remember doing a story on her when she befriended a dog named roscoe. how did you get him to love the water? >> go ahead. >> suryia actually lives with me. he comes in every single night and he gets a bath. he loved the bath so much, we decided to put a life vest on him. later we took him in the pool and he figured it out immediately. >> moksha, we're going to send you into the water. go take a dip and we'll talk to you as we watch this spectacle. we don't think of orangutans as swimmers. we picture them up in the trees. what's unique about suryia? >> orangutans in general are negative buoyant. they sink very easily. so it's something they just naturally have a fear of the water because they'll go under. suryia has learned the difference. he has a great intelligence and his life spending time in a bathtub and going out and playing in the pool first with a life vest on and then he decided he could take that life vest off. he watched us swim and decided it was time to swim. he has his couple friends that come out with him and they also watch him swim and the whole process there has made him have an incredible, unique perspective on being the only swim great ape. >> we see him diving with moksha, he's riding on her back as opposed to swimming. can he dive independently? >> if you look at some of the other footage of him, he is independently on the bottom of the pool going down and picking things up from the bottom of the pool. he'll retrieve rings off the bottom of the pool. he loves to have candy treats put down there and he dives down and picks things up. he is very actively looking to swim himself. he makes those dives which are very beautiful to see because it's so deep and fast, but he, himself, actually will go underneath the water by holding his hand or by letting him on the edge he'll swim around. >> maybe we'll get him to go under water in a second. has he been able to coax any of his friends to take up swimming? >> they like to paddle around the edges, the same thing he did. they're 3 and 4 years old where he's 7 years old. he just figured this out in the last few weeks. a few weeks ago he became this new guy about the water, started putting his head under the water, pulled his life vest off and said, i can do this, and went under on his own. >> looks pretty refreshing, i have to say. thanks so much, guys. suryia, moksha bybee, thank you so much. >> he swims better than me. ♪ daisy, do a dollop our family-owned company makes daisy... with 100% natural farm-fresh cream. no artificial ingredients. no preservatives. and no added hormones. ♪ daisy, do-do a dollop and no added hormones. twizzlers. the twist you can't resist. woman: i just joined extracare advantage for diabetes at cvs/pharmacy. i'm taking the right steps to manage my diabetes and my budget. extracare advantage for diabetes is a new program that helps me save money and earn double bucks on over 100 items, so we can stay a step ahead of... all: our diabetes! join extracare advantage for diabetes today and receive a free gift when you enroll. only at cvs/pharmacy. a car they can count on. a car that keeps going, when others might quit. a car that stands strong... when you need it most. and expects to handle the unexpected. at chevrolet, we created a team of red x engineers who are obsessed with quality. red x torture tests every car down to the smallest detail. because everyone deserves excellence. ♪ just ahead, elizabeth edwards opens up about her difficult year including how she first learned of john edwards' child with rielle hunter. ♪ [ folk rock ] - ♪ hey, what you doin' today - [ phone rings ] - [ horn honking ] - [ tires squealing ] ♪ i'm ridin' down the highway i'm just rollin' ♪ [ announcer ] without the right auto insurance, a crash might impact more than your car. 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[ male announcer ] now with 0% apr for 60 months. it's a whole new volkswagen. and a whole new game. good morning. our time is 7:56. refreshing day out there this morning on this 30th day of june. good morning. i'm joe krebs. an amber alert for 59-year-old girl from the district has been called off. police found the girl and karen johnson in new york city just before midnight. officers say the two were abducted yesterday by lamont johnson from an apartment building in southeast washington. johnson was also arrested. we're going to take a break and look at our weather and triskt good morning. a fresh and cool start to this wednesday morning. partly cloudy now. temperatures in the 60s. tomorrow partly cloudy, low humidity still with us. morning lows 50s. afternoon high near 80. how is the traffic? >> we have a couple of slow spots, 395 northbound the worst of it appears to be right here at the pentagon to and across the 14th street bridge. we'll head on over, 270 southbound just moderate traffic right now in gear nooun all the way on down to the split. >> get all the news as soon as you wake up. "news4 today" starts every morning at 8:00 now on this wednesday morning, the 30th of june, 2010. right now our plaza is rocking to a song from maroon 5. and if they come back on friday, they can catch the grammy winners doing their thing live on our summer concert stage. outside on the plaza i'm meredith vieira along with willie geist and al rocker. matt has the day off. i'm noticing the similar outfits. >> we speak in the morning. >> he does "way too early." we compare notes. >> you both look great. coming up, matt does have the day off. but just ahead elizabeth edwards' first interview with w hard was that decision and m what was their relationship like now? has she come to terms with everything that has happened? her exclusive interview with matt just ahead. also, jenna bush hager continues her tour of "america the beautiful." today she is at acadia national park in maine. she will take us on a tour and tell us why this place is so special to her. she's coming up. >> i bet i know why. and, you know, he changed the face of television, saved the sitcom and this network, mr. bill cosby is now aiming his sights. he'll be here in just a moment to explain. >> ann is on assignment so natalie morales is filling in at the news desk. good morning to you. hurricane alex is expected to make landfall south of the texas/mexico border early tomorrow morning. people, though, already along the texas coast are bracing for heavy wind and rain. some have been evacuated. the storm's impact should be felt all the way to florida. alex is also expected to complicate the oil cleanup in the gulf. this could be the final day of testimony for supreme court nominee elena kagan in her senate confirmation hearings. tuesday kagan faced sharp questioning about her views on gun control and abortion and her restrictions on military recruiting when she was dean of harvard law school. general david petraeus could be on the ground just days after today's confirmation vote by the full senate. this morning in afghanistan meanwhile, nato forces fought off a taliban attack at an airfield used by international forces. at least eight attackers were killed. southern mexico was rattled this morning by a strong 6.2 magnitude earthquake. it shook buildings as far away as mexico city. there were no reports of serious damage or injuries. and you can call it a bad hair day for napoleon. a lock of hair from the french emperor sold for just $13,000 at an auction in new zealand on tuesday. the seller had been hoping for $200,000, so they came up a little bit short. good morning. here we got the lower humidity that's continued to move in on a fresh northwesterly breeze that will be with us for the rest of the day with increasing sunshine. right now temperatures are in the region. 68 in the wash. by the bay 70 as well as the atlantic beaches. we'll have delightful summer weather here throughout the region with low humidity, high/low to mid-80s. tomorrow a bit cooler a and more sunshine back on friday and and now let's go back to willie geist. up next, elizabeth edwards breaks her silence on john edwards, his affair, and her health. well, are you going to pick it or not? it's not ready yet. 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how are you feeling? >> i'm feeling well, thanks for asking. i'm on a new chemotherapy regime as i think i've explained in the past. sometimes you'll take one medicine for a while and then as that quits being quite as effective, you'll switch and do something else. my job is to let the medicine stay ahead of me. >> you're in a peak as opposed to a vally? >> yes. >> you have been silent while literally and figuratively marriage and in some ways your life has fallen apart. and when you set out to put out the paper back version of this book, you could have remained silent on the things you haven't spoken about and yet in this new chapter you tackle some of these things directly. i'm curious about your decision process in that. >> well, the hardback version ended with an intact family. and i guess you could put out a paper back and said here we are the intact family but it wouldn't have been honest. in order to make it honest, it was important that the next chapter at least be present. and i tried not to have it go through every ache and pain through the process but to give the view i have now from a little bit of distance about how both i've weathered it and my family has weathered it. >> i've asked you and you've been gracious to agree to read a couple of passages from the book. the first one i'd like to get to is where you write about the decision to actually end your marriage to john. would you read that for me? >> sure. i knew i could no longer be john's wife. it was a sad and terrifying decision. i'd been trying to re-invent the role of wife for the last two years, trying to find a place where i could be happy and still be john's wife despite his infidelity. each day it seemed another piece of my history chipped away. there was little comfort or satisfaction. there was no peace. and at the very end of 2009, i finally gave up trying. >> you talk about each day a little piece of your history chipping away. was it the drip, drip, drip, or was there a straw that broke the camel's back? >> i think it was the drip, drip, drip. there's always some event that is the last thing to happen but i don't think it was that. i think it was just that finally i realized that we'd just come so far down this road that there was -- i wasn't ever going to find a place where -- and i hate to talk about myself in the third person, but where elizabeth existed anymore. i was going to be entirely reactive, and i wanted to be present in the remainder of my life. >> you write this was an extremely scary decision to make and yet there's been so much in your life health wise that i would imagine has been scary. what was it specifically about this you found scary? >> i've been married to john for nearly 33 years. been with him longer than that. and every time something monumental has happened in my life, particularly the bad things, i've had him to lean on. and that was no longer going to be the case. and so i was going to be on my own in a way that i maybe hadn't ever really been, and that was pretty terrifying particularly facing a disease, young children, and a fairly uncertain future. >> you write in the book, and, by the way, the new chapter is beautifully written. as you write of that, you say, but what am i supposed to do with the last chapter, that you were forced to question everything about your past in making this move to the future? >> i have to say with each step in our lives we integrate the last things we've learned. and then i have this piece that doesn't fit. >> what questions have you been forced to ask yourself about the last two, three, four, five, ten years of your marriage? >> you know, did i waste my time in those years? have i thrown this part of my life away? and i decided that i didn't. maybe i didn't get the same things out of it i expected to or i thought i was at the time, but when i look back, there's really lots of blessings that i had. i've had the opportunity to have these great children. i've had wonderful friends. i've had experiences that, you know, really couldn't be replaced and opportunities to talk about things that matter to me. >> when the story of john's affair first came to light, you were told by john, and correct me if i'm wrong, this was basically a one-night stand. >> it was. i thought that throughout the campaign. i thought that for much longer than most people would have thought reasonable, but i believed him. >> how did you learn what we all know now, that this was much more of a relationship and, in sulted in this relationship? >> i learned that it was a long relationship in 2006, some time after the campaign, probably in the summer after john dropped out in 2008. >> did someone call you? did he finally come to you? >> oh, no. gradually, this thing doesn't make sense and this thing doesn't make sense, and he was slightly -- he also, you know, spoke publicly about it and admitted to more than he had previously told me. he told me hours before he said that. >> did you hit the roof? i mean, on that revelation? because here you're let in on part of the truth. >> right. >> and then you find out there's much more to the truth. >> the fact that i had a lot -- starting to have more and more doubts meant that it didn't come as an avalanche the way the first revelation came to me. but in all of this, in each of these things that happened, what i tried to do and now tried to do again is sort of study myself, find myself. >> when i watched rielle hunter on oprah winfrey, do you know what i wondered? >> what? >> if elizabeth edwards was watching. >> i didn't watch it then but i did watch some of it. it's impossible not to -- >> curiosity alone. >> curiosity and i know i'm going to get asked questions about it, and at first i didn't watch it and i thought, well, that's silly. >> what did you think? >> i still think this person is so completely unlike me that it's hard to imagine the same person could marry me and be attracted to that woman as well. >> in the last year a couple of books have been written, elizabeth, that were not kind to you at all. andrew young wrote a book, john's longtime aide, and "game changer." they talk about a lot of things. they describe you in some ways as intrusive and manipulative and i'm curious your reaction when you first heard those descriptions. >> well, i mean, it's hard, of course, to hear any kind of criticism. i wasn't particularly worried about anything andrew young said. i don't mind saying that his book is just -- it's not that he didn't have a good story to tell. he did. but it's so filled with lies that it's -- that i don't consider it having any bearing whatsoever on the truth particularly with respect to me. "game change" was harder because there were sources, although i think i know who most of the people who just because i experienced some of these things, and it was actually useful to have somebody say you were perceived as much harsher than you thought you were. that's a useful piece of information. >> why? because now you can change the way you behave around people? >> no. i thought the people who worked on the campaign not as people who worked for john or worked for me. i thought of people with whom i worked. i thought of us as equals. so if i would argue about a policy or about a decision i thought was wrong, then i thought i was arguing an equal. clearly they didn't have that perception. they thought i was the boss' wife or whatever. i didn't take that into consideration and i really needed to. >> you write in the book about it. you say, quote, i never was st. elizabeth. i never pretended to be. i was never a monster. i certainly don't want to be. i was simply a person increasingly fragile who became more and more afraid of what tomorrow would tell me about my health, about my family, about my life. i was never as good or bad as the shifting image portrayed. and yet you also write you care deeply about what people think. >> i do care deeply. i wish i could say it didn't matter to me but it does matter what people think of me. one of the things -- one of the reasons also to write the additional chapter was to say, you know, i didn't pretend -- i never pretended to be perfect. i laughed about that image. i couldn't do anything about it but i laughed about it. with people in the campaign but i sure didn't hope to be a monster in any way. >> it struck me in the book when you wrote, is it too much to want your obituary when written to be about your own life not the lives of the worst people who came into your life -- >> right. >> about the lies they told for their own purposes. when you consider john didn't just come into your life, john in many cases let them into your life, how do you not sit here incredibly bitter about that? >> well, any person who has been through -- any family who has been through a separation or divorce knows that there's lots and lots of dynamics you have to take care of. and i have three living children for whom this is a father i want them to love and on whom they're going to have to rely perhaps if my disease takes a bad turn. it's really important to me that they see him in a positive light. >> i remember the last time you and i sat down, you said to me something that caught my attention. you said, despite this big, horrible thing that happened, i still look back and think i married a marvelous man. >> right. >> and that was before you knew the whole truth. do you still feel that way? >> i think -- i think i did marry a marvelous man. i think that he changed over time, and it could not be more clear to me then. it's hard for me to see it or admit it for a very long time. but he changed. maybe we all change over time. and he's no longer the person that i -- whom i married. i still admire an enormous number of things about him, the things he cares about are the things i think are important. >> is he good at co-parenting? are you handling that well? >> i think it's going pretty well. he was assistant coach of an all-star softball team and i'd go to the games and cheer and he comes and asks me some question about substituting, you know, so we're still working pretty evenly with respect to the children. >> you write in the book that you would love eight more years. >> i would. >> that you would like to be there for emma claire and jack in the same way you were there for wade when he was alive and cate when she was at that age. what are your biggest fears about the potential of not being there? >> i don't let my head go to that place. i think that you really have to -- you have to keep what you want in view always and what i want is this and if i start thinking about, well, what if it's not, then i might make the wrong -- i hope i would make the right decision but i'm not positive i would. there might be a panic if you think you're getting close to the end. i want to live in a normal cadence with my children. >> quote, in the end there is peace. if we are strong, if we are resilient, if we are stubborn and filled with hope, there is peace before that, too. honestly, that is enough. so at this moment have you found some portion of peace in your li life? >> i have. i really feel that i have. i do still need to feel like i need to break free of the media imposed image. i'm not just a cuckolded wife. i think because it's been in so much stories in the news recently, but i think about sandra bullock, who i don't know at all. what an incredible year. an academy award and more than that she took that story and integrated it into her own life in this healthy, happy way. and yet, the stories you hear are not about all of those great successes but about the failure of her marriage. and i thought, that's not who she is. i don't know her, but i assume she wants to reclaim who she is in the same way i want to reclaim who i am. i hope the next time i'm on television it's to talk about some policy i really care about. >> health care or something like that. >> something i truly care about and not about this part of my life which i'm hoping maybe this will close the door. >> the chapter is poignant and beautifully written. it's always nice to see you. >> thanks. respect her candor given what she's gone through and the difficult road ahead for her. >> everything you hear is almost reflected to the presence of mortality. >> she is redefining her life again on her own terms. >> exactly. >> you can tell that she's emerged so much stronger. >> matt touched on it -- there were implications, even suggestions, that she was so overbearing somehow she drove john edwards to do this. interesting to hear her touch on that. >> she is finding her voice again. >> such a survivor. >> exactly. again, we should mention that edwards' member/"resilience" is out in paper back. or maybe you want to help when the unexpected happens. whatever you want to do, members project from american express can help you take the first step. vote, volunteer, or donate for the causes you believe in at membersproject.com. take charge of making a difference. sure. and, mom, did you know that in every bowl of chef, there is a full serving of -- [ gasps ] has veg-- nope. 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[ female announcer ] splenda®. america's favorite no calorie sweetener. cone on, kiddo, let's go. hold on a second... come on up here, where your brothers sit. wow! chevy traverse. a consumers digest best buy, with a 100,000 mile, powertrain warranty. it seats eight comfortably - not that it always has to. now, get 0% apr for 60 months on a 2010 traverse with an average finance savings of around fifty four hundred dollars. see your local chevy dealer. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] when you drink pepsi, you support the pepsi refresh project. so, this 4th of july, choose pepsi. ♪ just ahead, legendary comedian bill cosby on his new show. >> plus, jenna bush hager explains why acadia national park in maine holds a special place in her heart. ing bright sunshine this morning. much cooler than what we're used to. it's 8:26 on this wednesday, june 30, 2008. i'm aaron gilchrist. the battle over red light cameras head to capitol hill. a house subcommittee will discuss how effective red light cameras are. they may thread more rear end accidents despite decreasing the number of broad side crashes. a police officer recovering after being involved in a serious crash last night. the officer collide with another car as it turned from jeff davis highway on to rosedale court in woodbridge. the officer and driver are expected to survive. weather and traffic coming up next. hey, volley for serve. friendly competition runs on dunkin' with our refreshing coolatta flavors. enjoy an icy boost today. america runs on dunkin'. 8:30 now on this wednesday morning, june 30th, 2010. always a beautiful sight. a big, happy crowd, soaking up the sun in rockefeller plaza. we'll head to another gorgeous place, maine's acadia national park, the first national park east of the mississippi. a place that means to "today" contributing correspondent jenna bush hager. it is where she got engaged to her husband henry and they took a few self-portraits that morning. she was kind enough to share them with us. jenna, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. i do have to say that was at 00 in the morning. i was dragged out of the tent, so those pictures sans brushing teeth, no showers. the first thing we did after we got engaged was pack up the tent and take a coin shower so it was very luxurious. >> dragged out of the tent sounds like caveman. >> reporter: romantic. >> we're going to have much more from jenna in maine coming up. and speaking of love, some ne newlyweds here. if you would like to tie the knot here on the "today" show, the search is on for our 11th tod "today" throws a wedding couple. >> oh, my. >> and, yes, it's our 11th "today throws a wedding." for complete details logon to our website todayshow.com or facebook.com/todayshow. as you know we've teamed up with facebook now, keeping it hip here. keep in mind the deadline is july 9th. >> natalie, you mentioned the internet. did you know that the great bill cosby now has a web show. he's sweeting. he's on facebook. >> wow. >> he's a modern man. >> he's incredibly hip. >> he's still looking. >> a little scattered to me. >> we'll help him find his way around the set. >> first another check on the weather. >> i love it when you speak good morning. at this hour low humidity continuing to move in on a fresh northwesterly welcome breeze. at this hour we're in the 60s. now 68 in washington. and that wind gusting to around 15 miles per hour will continue to pump in the low humidity that will be in place here for the next several days. highs today with increasing sunshine to the low 80s. tomorrow cooler, partly cloudy and increasing sunshine back on friday and saturday, sunny both days and a bit warmer each day. and that's your latest weather. now let's head on down to washington, d.c., to mr. willard scott. hello, uncle willie. 30 days in april, may and june. take a look at louise williams. that's a nice, classy name, from st. francisville, louisiana. 110. good lord have mercy. retired seamstress. and sina hayes of salem, north carolina, 107. thinks positively, she says. that is the secret. and sidney gilbert of lakeland, florida. 106. retired farm equipment deal kerr. mason and scottish wright member. and sally berger from rockville, maryland, right down the road from us. still goes to exercise classes and loves golfing. and the best can kept secret for delicate delicious living, 20 chocolates. paul hadermann of doylestown, pennsylvania, is 100 years old. a former baker. began swimming in his 90s. plays video games and bowls. the man is very active. finally we have fung shee pan of the bronx, new york. 104. goes to the beauty shop, she says, every single week and her secret is authentic, guess what, chinese food. don't forget your fortune cookie which, if you're on the "today" show, it's always a good fortune. >> willard, thank you very much. a happy 50th birthday to jeffrey from denver who came with his sister carol. 50 more years and you'll be on a smucker's jar. it's a beautiful wednesday morning out on the plaza. we're back at 8:37 with america's funniest dad. arguably america's funniest man. bill cosby's been making the world laugh for more than five decades. now he's back with a new weekly series, a webcast called "obkb." >> the bear lives in a -- >> cave. >> where? what's the address? >> cave. >> bears write down their address -- >> no. >> with their barehands. write it down with their barehands. >> mr. cosby, good morning. it's great to have you with us this morning. >> all right, thank you, sir. >> "obkb." tell us about the or gyp igin o title and this looks like a show i saw you do a few years back. >> it is without the name but "obkb" stands for okay and ob is the way mush mouth used to talk or still talks -- >> on "fat albert." >> and it's a nice sound. so you stream is where you'll be able to find it and you'll be able to hit the applicator thing on your smart phone which is smarter than you, but you call it stupid if you hit the wrong number. >> it's the machine's fault. >> this stupid machine, and the machine never gets a chance to say, no. that's the day when all these things will really be wonderful when they talk back to you. when you're driving the car and the lady tells you missyou miss turn and the woman's voice says, listen to me. >> i've had a lot of one-way conversations with that gps system. what is it about you and kids? the concept is so simple but you get a huge laugh out of it every time. >> you keep it simple and you listen to the children and you push them to think. it's sort of trying to get them to think. when they think -- they've only been here seven years so they don't know that much. but the bit that they know, they really think they know it. and all i'm saying is that on july 7th, you go to the you stream and hit that applicator button from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. you'll be able to find out exactly how who download, to stream it because you stream is streaming did -- my wife put me in this. >> it's very funny. i got a preview of it yesterday. you were also doing some work back with jell-o working with your kids again. >> the same thing. the same thing. just children, laughter, and joy. and i think that everything together, 30 years ago, more than 30 years ago that i was with them. they all tie together and giggling and laughing, having a good time with children. a good time with children. >> well, i understand you are now very hip. you're tweeting. you're on facebook. how did you get into this, bill? >> i'm not hip. i'm married. so my mentor, mrs. cosby, came to me -- we're married 46 years. so you learn how to say nothing. you just go. and wives, after the first child, have a word and they stay with that word and it's called now. i want to you do this now. and she is the editor/producer of everything and she makes all the context and she says you go out and i do all of the stuff and they bring me about 30 statements so that i can tweak -- which i still don't understand if it's a verb but now -- or an adjective. >> there's twitter and tweeting -- >> i tweeted somebody and then you started to feel like elmer fudd. he did a twick when he tweeted me. one of the questions people keep asking me are you really tweeting me back? >> yes. >> and i say, well, i hope i'm tweeting you the right way. they don't know -- >> they think it's dirty. >> no. how can you prove to someone that you're tweeting them? it's like listening to the radio and some guy says, and now willie is going to tap dance and you -- go, willie. how do i know this? how do i know i'm tweeting you? i'm twying to tell you that i am tweeting you. you have to twust me. >> you are not hip but we love talking to you. >> i am offended by your twicks. >> you can watch his tweets or his twicks and the webcast is called "obkb." what a great pleasure to have you here this morning. up next, jenna bush hager introduces us to the splendor of back at 8:45. we are wrapping up our series "america the beautiful" with a visit to the most visited national park. "today" contributing correspondent jenna hager bush is standing on the cliffs of acadia national park in maine. jenna, good morning to you again. >> reporter: good morning, guys. from the first place in the united states to say good morning. day break begins here. which is fortunate because there's so much to do and see here in acadia. off the coast of maine up from the cold blue waters of the atlantic rises a mountainous island covered in lush valleys and shimmering lakes, where the mountains meet the sea. and explode in a powerful display of thunder and foam. this is acadia. it's home to america's first sunrise. today starts here. i was engaged to my husband henry here in acadia. the name acadia comes from the french, special place. but it was a special place cherished by native americans long before european settlers ever arrived. >> the indigenous presence on this island is thousands and thousands of years old. >> reporter: david is a pa passamaqoddy canoe maker. now he spends his summers passing on their traditions to visitors. >> i hope the feeling, the sanctity of this place, and i hope when they move around the island they're noticing just how perfect it is. >> reporter: it's hard to miss. i saw that for myself when acadia's youngest park ranger tobias frances gave me a tour. hi, tobias. thanks for bringing me along. at only 15, tobias is part of acadia's plan to get the next generation involved, even if that means foregoing other important lessons. you're a park ranger without a driver's license. how do you get to work? >> my dad has to take me to work. >> reporter: luckily for tobias, his dad doesn't mind as long as he helps with his chores. this is tobias' father. as a member of the passamaquoddy tribe himself tobias is passionate about the land. >> to be living on the island when my family so many years ago was living in the exact same place and i love it here. i can see why my inancestors loved it here. >> welcome to baker island. >> reporter: thank you. >> this is part of acadia. >> reporter: tours run during the summer months to the outlying islands of the park. >> it's important to our country because it preserves an ancient way of island life. >> reporter: another traditional way of maine life is here as well. that of the lobster man. i like the name of your boat. "barbara" is the name of my sister and my grandmother. >> it's the name of my wife, my mother-in-law, an aunt, and my wife's grandmother. >> reporter: so you have a lot of barbaras in your family, too. >> i couldn't go wrong. >> reporter: have you been lobstering your whole life? >> 35 years. my father, my grandfather, my great-grandfather. >> reporter: so it's part of your heritage? >> yes. >> reporter: first part of lobstering, it helps if you grew up doing it. >> see if you can do it on the first try. >> reporter: oh, great. a lot of pressure. >> one more try. >> reporter: okay. second time's the charm. >> there you go. >> reporter: second lesson -- delicious. did you look in here? do not look in the bait box. i got one and a hermit crab. >> it has to be 3 1/4 inches long. >> reporter: it's a keeper. and the final lesson of lobstering. we have a keeper. i feel bad for him but -- oh -- he's a slippery little thing. do not befriend your dinner. sorry, sir. sayonara. he'll be happy in there for a while. until somebody puts some butter sauce on him. what do you like about working out here on the sea? >> i like looking at everything and being my own boss. >> reporter: today is an ideal day. >> it's about as good as it gets. >> reporter: acadia has a little magic for everyone. >> i found something. >> what did you find? >> reporter: wow. wowee. >> i found a giant crap. >> reporter: what do you have in your hand? what is it? something for the young and the young at heart. >> by seeing this beauty, it reminds you that the whole world is made like this, not just this place, and if you look around -- sometimes you have to look around the corner -- but the beauty is there. >> reporter: i've had an incredible week visiting three spectacular national parks. but there are 58 national parks in the united states. so if you're looking for something fun to do this summer, there are 58 ways to explore our beautiful country. m meredith? >> you remind us exactly how beautiful this country is and how important it is to preserve d i love that sentimental moment with you and the lobster when you bid it sayonara. that was something. >> reporter: i know. the lobstering was, i have to say, really incredible. those guys are such hard workers. i'm a little bit sad to say good-bye to that lobster. i hope none of you all eat him. >> great job, jenna, all week. great reports. thank you. >> jenna bush hager, thank you so much. and we'll be back in a moment. so, you guys, we were just talking about national parks we've been to. i didn't realize i had been to one until you pointed out ellis island is a national park. >> i've been to grand canyon. i proposed to deborah -- >> did you? you're a romantic like henry. >> i figured if she said no, only one of us was coming back. i'm not saying who. >> do you want to get married or not? >> pretty smart. i was smart enough not to do it at a state park. put her in a box and didn't let her go anywhere. >> you put her in a box? >> i had her in a small classroom where she couldn't say no. turned up the heat. acadia, though, one of the most beautiful. i spent some time up there. it's one of the best. >> i can't say i've explored a lot of our national parks, which is such a shame. there are so many great places as jenna pointed out. >> like here in queens, jamaica wildlife national park. >> really? >> yes. gorgeous. >> what's there? >> it's marsh lands, bird estuarie estuaries. >> a lot of us don't know. not a national park but liberty state park right near here is beautiful. a great view of the statue of liberty. >> matt lauer was there at fenway. >> it does have the big green wall. there he is. >> that tells you what a great dad he is. >> look how excited he is. >> he can't stand the red sox. he's a yankees man. he did it for his son and the sox won. >> oh, nice. as we take a live look outside over the district this morning, a cool start to your wednesday. we expect temperatures will be in pretty good territory as we head into the afternoon. your forecast in a moment. 8:56 on this wednesday, june 30, 2010. i'm aaron gilchrist. our headlines, bigger classes, longer bus rides and major layoffs. that's the news for prince george's county. the board of education adopted a budget and meant 5% spending cuts. almost 800 positions have been cut. school workers will be furloughed up to nine days. lunch prices will increase 50 cents and fewer school bus drivers and some students will have to take two buses to get to school. weather and traffic coming up next. stay with us. good morning. here's your 4-day forecast. lower humidity in place today. we'll be here all day saturday. afternoon highs low 80s. loo to mid-80s to saturday with low humidity. how is the traffic? >> take a live look on the capital beltway. some interstate travel. good news is no major hangups around the area at this hour. >> sounds good. "news4 today" now as soon as you wake up. back now on this wednesday morning, the 30th day of june, 2010. the final day of the month. what a way to end it, a crisp and cool morning in midtown manhattan after we've been sweltering all week. we have a great group outside. rockefeller plaza. enjoying the day and taking in the sights. i'm natalie morales along with al roker and msnbc's willie geist who is in for matt. just because you're matt -- >> i thought i got to walk off the set and have brunch. i have to stay another hour? >> if you watched the show, you would know matt stays for this part. >> i'll have to tune in more often. >> you're busy on that other show, "morning joe." >> a couple others. that's my excuse. thanks, al. we're all talking that amazing interview matt did with elizabeth interview, so candid and very well spoken. she is opening up for the first time about ending her marriage to john edwards, his affair with rielle hunter, and the toll it took on their relationship. does she still see him and what does she wish for her children? she will talk about all of that coming up in just a little bit. >> really poignant and touching. also ahead, we have the latest on the path of hurricane alex. it's taking aim south of the texas border. r residents in the region not taking any chances, boarding up homes, stocking up on supplies. we'll go live to south padre island with the latest. and with the stock market plunging more than 250 points yesterday, everybody still seems to have money jitters these days. along "today's money 911" how much you should be putting away every month for your kids' feature to a time share and paying off loans we'll head to myrtle beach, south carolina. it's sunny and warm. everybody likes to go for a swim. even a 90-pound orangutan named suryia. he is said to be pretty good at it. i don't know how you judge how good an orangutan is. >> he's the first. >> he keeps coming up. >> we'll talk to his trainer coming up later on. all right. first, though, a check of the headlines this morning and hurricane alex is taking aim at mexico south of the texas border with expected landfall tomorrow morning. its effects will be felt over a wide area. the weather channel's stephanie abrams is on st. padre island, texas. it's already getting rough out there. >> reporter: yeah, it has. basically alex unloading on us here with the wind and also the rain. the surge is running high as well. the water has been covering over half the beach here. you can see the seaweed washing very high here on the sand. we are worried about that surge, three to five feet. very high tide at 8:44. people have boarded up and gotten out of here, driving over the isabella causeway. it will shut down if the winds get sustained around 45 miles an hour. they have been sustained around 20 to 30 miles an hour so far. president obama has issued an emergency declaration allowing coordination between fema and the states and also the local efforts here and, natalie, one interesting note for you, c cameron county, a county where the mayor of brownsville said he would wait to make his city's emergency declaration because they're so cash strapped. >> all right. that's a harsh reality there. stephanie abrams in south padre island. elena kagan is facing what is expected to be her last day of hearings. she deflected questions about her personal views on controversial issues but won praise for her sense of humor. today the father of 16-year-old abby sunderland defended the decision to allow his daughter to try to sail around the world alone. abby's trip ended in the indian ocean when a rogue wave rolled her boat. they spoke with meredith earlier this morning. i just got thrown across the cabin. didn't hear it coming because the wind was howling pretty loudly. so really all i remember is just being thrown across the cabin and a few seconds later i was on the roof and everything was falling down, water pouring in everywhere. >> abigail was on a boat that was a category zero boat. it was designed for the southern ocean. it was as well prepared as the best prepared boat out there. and the sheer nature that she survived the incident and reacted the way she did is a testimony to how well the boat was prepared and how well she was prepared. >> as for whether abby would try the trip again, she said she definitely would. and larry king says he is stepping down this fall after 25 years as the host of "larry king live" on cnn. he says it's time to hang up his nigh good morning. the air is fresh and cool. northwesterly breeze continuing to pump in lower humidity. past 9:00 in the morning, 70 in washington, 60s in the suburbs and rural areas. near the bay mid-70s. high today low 80s with lots of sun come back. tomorrow partly cloudy, low humidity, highs near 80. more sun friday and saturday. still comfortably dry. ♪ 911 >> now to "today's money 911." we have the crack team, jean chatzky, author of "money 911." david bach and the author of "start over, finish rich." and sharon epperson. good to see all you guys. so the dow finishes 268 points below the 10,000 mark. what are we looking at? >> air turbulence. the pilot would say, please put on your seat belt. >> should we be worried? >> you have your short-term money in the market, you didn't want to have it there before and you don't want to have it there now but long term this is what the market does. it goes up. it goes down. that's why we have a strategy and why we stick with it for the long term. >> not a time to panic and people who have their money invested have it invested for retirement. if you're far away from that, you don't have to worry. if you don't have liquid cash, you need to have what we keep talking about, that reserve money. it's critical that you have it right now. >> when you don't know what to do, pay down your debt. >> let's get to the skype. to new mom and teacher, christine. she is from aberdeen, maryland. good morning to both of you guys. what a cutie. >> good morning. hi there. >> and what's your question, christine? >> we're trying to decide the best way to save for michael's future and his education. we want him to attend college some day but we want to be prepared in case there's any other route he wants to take. would you recommend the 529 plan, a money market account, and how much should we be putting in each month? >> if they put it in a 529 and michael doesn't go to college? >> if you have another child you can use that money for someone else in the family. it also protects you if michael is brilliant and gets every scholarship on the planet. you won't be penalized for pulling money out of a 529 and not using it for college. i think 529s are the best route for college savings that we have but if you are not saving enough for your own retirement right now, that has to come first and instead look at a roth i.r.a. it allows you to use the money both for your own retirement and for michael's college and gives you lots of flexibility down the road. >> coverdale has a lot of flexibility as well. you can't put in as much money as a 529, not the same tax advantages statewide but something else to consider. >> now we have an e-mail question from ralph in san diego. he writes, i have about $68,000 in graduate school loans with two different student loan companies. both of my loans are sallie mae $43,000. they are both government loans. the interest on the private student loan just over 2% while the government loan is 6.8%. question, which loan do i pay off first, private or government? >> here is the real key. with the government loan, it is fixed. though it's fixed, it's higher. we have to find out the variable rate. this is the private loan. you want to find out what's the rate adjusting to. when is it going to adjust? even though that rate is so low around 2%, if i were you, i would pay the private loan off first because, first of all, it's a smaller loan so you can get rid of it. second, you have less repayment options with a private loan. you have no repayment options like a federal loan. i don't want you to be in a risk when rates go back up again and rates will go up. pay off the private loan first and then pay off the federal loan. pat from rio rancho, new mexico. good morning, pat. >> caller: good morning. >> what's your question? >> caller: three years ago i got talked into purchasing a time travel share -- a travel time share. i continued to pay on this but have never used it and they charming outrageous maintenance fees. when i call them and ask about it, all they say is i'm stuck with it. i just want to get rid of it. i don't care about getting any money back. how do i go about getting out of th this? >> sharon, what does she do? >> she probably won't be able to get a refund but there are e needs to contact the resort ll management company, resort developer, and find out if they have a resale department or licensed broker that she can work with. the other thing she has to keep in mind if she tries to find a resale company on her own, there are a lot of time share scams out there right now. people want to unload their time shares. be very careful about the company that you use. check it out with the better business bureau. make sure they're not charging you up front fees. that's a red flag. if you can't sell it, perhaps you can sell a week of it to someone and they can pay the maintenance fees or you can give it to someone and they can take over those costs as well. >> we have another caller here. get one more in. denise from springfield, oregon. she is on the line. denise, what's your question? >> caller: hi. my husband and i have $40,000 in school loans. they have consolidated to 6.5% for 25 years. after 25 years with interest we will pay almost $80,000. we were wondering if we should use my 401(k) to pay down the principal. we would only receive 0.5% in interest. is it worth using my 401(k) and if so what would be the best way with the least amount of penalties? >> no! never. and, by the way, you're not just getting 0.5% on a roll over for an i.r.a. an i.r.a. is an account and you put your money in there and you invest it and you put it in the market or in a diversified portfolio, you may get significantly more than that. the answer is absolutely not. >> okay. and thank you, denise. we hope that solves the question. anyone else has a question about using your 401(k), just no is always the answer. jean chatzky, dave and sharon epperson, thank you so much. coming up, don't be afraid to wear white this summer. we'll show you how it can actually make you look thinner. you know, i've never seen a fat good humorman. up next, an exclusive interview with elizabeth edwards. thatnoticed.else that was pretty sweet. but you did have eight layers of sweet crunchy back up. what can i say? you're the man. or -- you know, the little dude. that's me. [ female announcer ] stop mid-morning hunger with kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats® cereal. an excellent source of fiber from 100% whole grain that helps you stay full, so you can stay focused. also, try chocolate little bites. so, how'd the meeting go? outstanding, i wowed them with my chocolate chip center. at cousin everett's blueberry farm to talk about our blueberry juice drinks. they're made with my sweet, ripe blueberries, packed with th-those antioxidants that are good for ya. tastes real good, too! to give you an idea, let's whip up a quick sample. or you could just try this. [ chuckles ] yeah. ocean spray blueberry juice drinks. real blueberries, real goo but this is warm, fresh-baked strawberry toaster strudel. [ music ] see the difference? pillsbury toaster strudel, the one kids want to eat. ♪ and only two things can get me out of the water. pruned toes... ♪ and totino's. ♪ we're the kids in america so i mix together a packet of hidden valley ranch, 1 box of spinach, and 16 ounces of sour cream, and tonight everyone gets a taste of something special... ranch spinach dip. [ male announcer ] hidden valley ranch. mix it up. ranch spinac♪ dip. hurry in and load up on great savings during the petsmart h of july sale! for four-days only, save up to 50% on select items. from toys to food and treats. friday through monday only at petsmart. we love to see healthy, happy pets. it's been more than a year since elizabeth edwards released "resilience" where she opened up about breast cancer and her husband's affair. she has a new chapter in the paper back edition. we'll hear from elizabeth edwards exclusively coming up. first here is msnbc's chief washington correspondent norah o'donnell. >> reporter: it was a year ago eliz bed edwards told matt she would stay with john edwards no matter what. meanwhile, elizabeth faced embarrassing questions in public about whether her husband had fathered a child with rielle hunter. >> it doesn't look like my children, but i don't have any idea. >> reporter: then in advance of the release of his former aide andrew young's tell-all book, john edwards finally admitted that he had lied and that, in fact, he is the father of now 2-year-old frances quinn. one week after that public admission, john and elizabeth edwards separated. the media circus was far from over. the book revealed rielle hunter and john edwards had made a sex tape and hunter posed for a racy photo shoot for "gq" magazine. in perhaps the final insult, hunter claimed the edwards' 30-year-long marriage was a sham. >> a lot of people bought into the myth of the marriage, the edwards' marriage, as being a storybook story, and it was so perfect and so wonderful, and i destroyed it. >> reporter: for her part, elizabeth has largely kept out of the public eye, keeping her focus on her furniture store in chapel hill, north carolina, and, of course, her children. for "today," norah o'donnell, nbc news, washington. and elizabeth edwards sat down for an exclusive interview with matt where they talked about how she is looking back at her life and the way forward from here. >> what questions have you been forced to ask yourself about the last two, three, four, five, ten years of your marriage? >> you know, did i waste my time in these years? have i thrown this part of my life away? and i decided that i didn't. maybe i didn't get the same things out of it i expected to or thought i was at the time. when i look back there are really lots of blessings that i had. i've had the opportunity to have these great children. i've had wonderful friends. i've had experiences that, you know, really couldn't be replaced. and opportunities to talk about things that matter to me. >> when i watched rielle hunter on oprah winfrey, do you know what i kept thinking? >> what's that? >> i wonder if elizabeth is watching this. >> i actually watched it later. i didn't watch it then and i didn't watch the whole thing, but i did watch some of it. it's impossible not to -- >> curiosity alone. >> curiosity and i know i'm going to get asked questions about it. at first i didn't watch it and i thought, well, that's silly. >> what did you think? >> i still think this person is so completely unlike me that it's hard to imagine the same person could marry me and be attracted to that woman as well. >> i remember the last time you and i sat down you said something to me that caught my attention. you said despite this big horrible thing that happened, i still look back and think i married a marvelous man. >> right. >> that was before you knew the whole truth. do you still feel that way? >> i think i did marry a marvelous man. i think that he changed over time and it could not be more clear to me then. it was hard for me to see it or admit it for a very long time. but he changed. maybe we all change over time. and he's no longer the person that -- who i married. i still admire an enormous number of things about him, the things he cares about are things i think are important. >> is he good at co-parenting now? are you handling that well? >> i think it's going pretty well. he was assistant coach of an all-star softball team and i'd go to the games and cheer and he comes and asks me some question about substituting, you know, so we're still working pretty evenly with respect to the children. >> you write in the book that you would love eight more years. >> i would. >> that you would like to be there for emma claire and jack in the same way there you were there for wade when he was alive and cate when she was at that age. what are your biggest fears about the potential of not being there? >> i just don't let my head go to that place. i think that you really have to -- you have to keep what you want in view always and what i want is this and if i start thinking about, well, what if it's not, then i maybe make the wrong -- i hope i will make the right decision but i'm not positive i would. i think it might be a panic as you think you're getting close to the end. i want to live in a normal cadence with my children. >> you end the book this way. quote, in the end there is peace. if we are strong, if we are resilient, if we are stubborn and filled with hope, if we know how to love, there is peace before that, too. and honestly that is enough. so at this moment have you found some portion of peace in your life? >> i have. i mean, i really feel that i have. i do still feel like i need to break free of the immediamedia image. i'm not just a cuckolded wife. i think about -- because it's been in so many stories in the news recently -- but i think about sandra bullock, who i don't know at all. i mean, what an incredible year she's had. she won the academy award for an incredible performance and more than that she took that story and integrated it into her own life in this healthy, happy way. and yet, the stories you hear are not about all of those great successes but about the failure of her marriage. and i thought, that's not who she is. i don't know her but i assume she wants to reclaim who she is in the same way i want to reclaim who i am. i hope the next time i'm on television it's to talk about some policy i really care about. >> health care or something like that. >> something i truly care about and not about this part of my life which i'm hoping maybe this chapter closes the door. >> it's beautifully written. it's always nice to see you. >> thanks. and, again, that was matt with elizabeth edwards. "resilience: reflections on facing life's adversities." we'll have much more of "today" after this. have you tried honey bunches of oats yet? every spoonful is a little different. mmm. they got three kinds of flakes. this is delicious. it's the perfect combination of sweet and crispy. i love it. this is so good. this is great. the magic's in the mix. at olive garden the other night. c'mon pass a breadstick to your favorite uncle. ohhhh!!! ohhhh!!! we had a ball. announcer: try olive garden's two new parmesan polenta crusted dishes. sauteed chicken breasts topped with a golden parmesan crust. or try our tender steak medallions. both with mezzaluna ravioli filled with four italian cheeses in our creamy alfredo. plus unlimited salad and breadsticks. you know, these kids are growing up a lot like we did... yeah, around family. announcer: olive garden. when you're here, you're family. delicious, real ingredients with no artificial flavors or preservatives. naturals from purina cat chow. share a better life. hebrew national hot dogs are made with butcher quality cuts of 100 percent pure kosher beef. people say they're so good maybe it's time they were called something new. they are the royalty of hot dogs, i call them queen elizabeefs! hebrew national. the better than a hot dog hot dog. coming up, if you can't pull off a white shirt -- >> one shirt is not that hard. >> it's make or break when you wear the white shirt. >> i never wear white. it's so hard to pull off that shirt. plus, heading pool side with a primate. to myrtle beach to catch up with the 7-year-old orangutan who likes to swim and talk to his trainer. and to eat whatever happens to be around. heavy greasy food that's hard on my diet and my digestive system. so i eat activia light every day. activia light, with bifidus regularis, helps regulate your digestive system in two weeks. mmmm. activia light is not light on taste! and with only 70 calories activia light helps make it easier to watch my weight. it helps me feel good and look good too! ♪ activia stop it. hello? you spotted a million dollar accounting error that no one else noticed. that was pretty sweet. but you did have eight layers of sweet crunchy back up. what can i say? you're the man. or -- you know, the little dude. that's me. [ female announcer ] stop mid-morning hunger with kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats® cereal. an excellent source of fiber from 100% whole grain that helps you stay full, so you can stay focused. also, try chocolate little bites. so, how'd the meeting go? outstanding, i wowed them with my chocolate chip center. a break from the summer heat as we're looking for a bit of a cool down in the forecast. first, good morning it is 9:26 on this wednesday, june 30th. i'm aaron gilchrist. in the news for today, this morning congress is the taking a look at the safety of red light and speed cameras. red light cameras purnd to major intersection in arlington county. speed crams were also the subject of a class action lawsuit in montgomery county. today's hearing comes after a federal highway administration report finds they may thread more rear end accidents despite decreasing the number of broad side crashes. your weather and traffic coming up after this break. good morning. low humidity in place all the way to the first part of the holiday weekend. today's highs reaching low 80s with sunshine. tomorrow low humidity. partly cloudy and cooler in the mornings. thursday, friday and saturday in the 50s to near 60. more sunshine friday and saturday. now a check on traffic at mid-morning. how is it looking? >> doing pretty well pap little sluggish in a couple of spots. prince george's county both directions a little bit of volume, lanes are open. one more stop in from the west along interstate 66, minimal delays, an accident at nutley street quickly cleared to the shoulder. so now all lanes open. >> "news4 today" is now as soon as you wake up. tune in every weekday morning at 4:30 in the morning. we're back in 25 ♪ caught you in the morning with another ♪ ♪ don't you care about me anymore ♪ ♪ don't you care about me ♪ i don't think so apparently only the five band members and billy joel know the meaning behind the name maroon 5. maybe they'll tell us tomorrow. it's done them well. they'll kick off the holiday weekend live in concert this friday on "today." then next friday, it's going to be a wacky day. we have lady gaga taking the summer concert stage. come on down. >> can't wait to see what she's wearing. >> that's what everybody is wondering. >> we'll be making sure we keep her clothed. coming up in this half hour, after memorial day, no excuse not to wear white. >> speaking of what to wear, a lot of women shy away from wearing white, al, because they think it's frankly a color that makes you look a little heavy. so today we're going to tell you how to wear white and show you different ways it can actually help cover up your troubled are areas and make sure you look good for the summer serious. >> i have so many trouble areas -- what is 90 pounds, 40 inches tall and has the strength of five men? it's 7-year-old orangutan suryia, of course, and his idea of fun is taking a dip in the pool which is very unusual for primates which, as you may know, like to hang out in trees. we're going to check out the swimming technique and meet his trainer in just a few minutes. we're hoping he's going to take a dive for us. >> i think he's liking the sweets that go along with the dive. okay. and in the spirit of the fourth of july, we're celebrating the diversity of this great land of ours with a look at the united cakes of america. we're going to get a taste of the most popular cakes from different regions of the country. >> we have the smell upstairs driving me crazy. cinnamon, apple goodness, whatever is going good morning, a welcome break from our high heat and humidity in the past few days. lower humidity coming in, winds kbufting up 20 to 25 miles per hour. highs reaching low 80s and increasing sunshine. tomorrow partly cloudy, 50s in the morning. afternoon highs near 80. low humidity in place on friday and saturday. morning lows friday mid-50s. mid-80s on saturday. for the fourth of july, getting a little bit hotter but not uncomfortably humid. and that's your latest weather. willie? al, thanks. let's take out some notes now. up next, how wearing white can actually make you look thinner. 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"shape" magazine is here. i, myself, don't like white jeans. i don't feel like it's a very flattering look. is that a myth that white actually makes you look heavier? >> that's a total myth, natalie, and i'm about to break that myth right now when i show you all the women. it's about choosing the right silhouette and fabric. >> there are tricks of the trade as well. first let's get started with our models. for women who tend to be a little more bottom heavy, you can actually wear white, right? >> you can wear white and the trick here with donna is wearing something that skims over the hips, skims over the stomach. we're seeing it everywhere, it's longer length. this is at gap. the trick for underneath is the cami underneath. now the cami means you don't have to wear a bra as well, taking away that extra layer so you're not layering so much. it's light- >> and not heavy layers. >> slims you fabric and skims over the curves. >> she is wearing a longer length jean as well with a nude shoe. does that lengthen and help draw down the eye? >> all of our models are in nude shoes. a skin toned shoe lengthens the leg and makes you look longer and leaner. >> you proved me wrong. that's one. donna looks great. thank you. let's talk about next for the woman who wants to define the waistline a little more and we'll bring out nancy to show us what she is wearing. >> here is natalie making her "today" show modeling debut, by the way. >> and nancy looks great in her debut. >> we found this at jcpenney. the trick to this outfit working so well, we have a structured jacket. now this structured jacket carves out a waistline where there perhaps is none. so it gives the hourglass silhouette. we have the pencil skirt. the trick to a pencil skirt is shape wear. you don't have to spend a lot of money on shape wear. she is wearing hanes, $20 at macy's. they have a high-waist tummy. it smooths the look. >> by sinching in the waistline it makes her look longer and leaner. >> she looks slim. >> she doesn't have pockets on the skirt but that's another trick you were telling me, an easy fix to pants or anything to make you look slimmer is to have the pockets sewn down. >> we'll see that on our next model. >> let's bring out our next model then. the lovely alice. come on out. and she has a belted jacket. >> the belted jacket. this was a safari jacket. victoria's secret. the reason this one works for her, people are thinking belted if you want to hide a tummy? but it's that lightweight fabric, a lightweight linen and look at the jeans. the longer length jeans but, as you said, we removed the pockets. anybody can do it. it costs about $15. it's worth it to have them sewn down flat or removed so you don't see the pocket in your jeans. >> she is wearing a support cammi underneath as well so another great thing, shape wear. >> we found this at gap body. it means she doesn't have to wear a bra. it's taking away an extra layer. >> if you have a little belly, embrace the whites. >> embrace the white. >> very good, alice. >> thank you. for women, though, who want to dress up a little bit, let's have a full dress in white. we have deedee to show us what she is wearing. >> we love max dresses. everybody needs a great max dress. >> a special occasion. >> it's fantastic. white again, all about the shape wear underneath. the hanes is underneath. >> does that go all the way up. >> all the way from the waist and down to the thigh. you don't have any marks. long, lean line here with a little flats, cute little thong flat in keeping with the dress and very easy. $55 that dress. >> that's great. >> great to camouflage a heavy thigh or hip because you're drawing attention up. >> and it's all long and lean. one long silhouette. she looks great. thank you, deedee. last but not least focusing on the shoulders, bring on out brooke and show us how we can soften the look if you have broader shoulders. >> a great dress. a lot of people think a really fabulous dress. >> without the sleeves. >> she has the beautiful shoulders. draw attention to her legs. now that we were talking earlier about is the reason the dress works so well. it doesn't have extra embellishments, pockets, pleating, or extra things. >> a girl's best friend. >> every girl needs one. it's a great length. we've lengthened the line of the leg with a nude shoe and so the focus on the great legs and the accessories and a clutch as well. stunning. >> ladies, come on back out. again, as i said, you proved me wrong. you can wear white and look fabulous and very lean. ladies, beautiful. thank you so much, jackie, as always. up next, the primate that likes to take a plunge in the pool. you poor thing. skiing accident? 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[ male announcer ] hidden valley ranch. mix it up. ♪ ♪ that we do it together [ male announcer ] it's not just car people anymore. nowadays, all kinds of folks are changing their own oil. and now that walmart's rolling back prices on top brands like mobil, pennzoil and valvoline, doing it yourself can save you even more. ♪ with thousands of great rollbacks, it's rollback time. save money. live better. walmart. hey, here's a good call: new whole grain helper. try some! mmmm... honey mustard chicken. with 100% whole grain rice. hey, can you catch? no, sir, i cannot. new whole grain helper. one pound. one pan. one whole grain meal. it's your sunscreen. even a high spf can leave your skin feeling vulnerable. that's why neutrogena created new spectrum+ with helioplex 360. it goes beyond spf for the most comprehensive lotion protection against skin burning, skin aging, and deeper skin damage called oxidative damage. get the best. new spectrum+ with helioplex 360. neutrogena. #1 dermatologist recommended suncare. delicious, real ingredients with no artificial flavors or preservatives. naturals from purina cat chow. share a better life. stop it. hello? you spotted a million dollar accounting error that no one else noticed. that was pretty sweet. but you did have eight layers of sweet crunchy back up. what can i say? you're the man. or -- you know, the little dude. that's me. [ female announcer ] stop mid-morning hunger with kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats® cereal. an excellent source of fiber from 100% whole grain that helps you stay full, so you can stay focused. also, try chocolate little bites. so, how'd the meeting go? outstanding, i wowed them with my chocolate chip center. 30-year-old moksha bybee has an unusual swimming partner, a 7-year-old orangutan suryia. good morning again to you guys. we're looking forward to seeing suryia do a little swimming for us this morning. tell us first how you got him into the pool in the first place. we don't think of apes as liking to swim. >> he's a guy who comes in the house every night along with his three other friends, so if you have those orangutans in your house, they need a bath. if they need a bath like that, well, you have to get them wet and they started learning to love the water by being if the bathtub. they thought that was going to be a way to learn to play and hang around. that transif ferd to them liking t the pool. >> as he goes off there with moksha, it's one thing to go to the bath and a deep water pool, and he actually likes to dive, as i understand. how did you get him to make the progression then? >> he just has that incredible big brain. he's so intelligent. he has so much to think about and he watched us doing it. he's seen all the kids playing in the pool. he is he watches us swim with the tigers as well and he watched it and he decided to try it himself. he wore a life vest for many years out here and he liked to swim in a life vest. but he took it off and he started looking under water and then he just started going to the bottom of this small pool and now he's swim right along the glass of the big tiger pool. >> i know he likes taking rides on the back of moksha, but how well does he swim on his own? >> well, you saw him there swim off. he can go down to the bottom of the pool and pick up rings. he can swim down and find things off the bottom. he's got incredible talent that way. he's got the ability to understand how to swim around. sink or swim. come on, buddy. go, go, go. he can just push off and swim. he has quite a talent. he's a very smart guy but he's also a very endangered species. orangutans are under enormous threat because of palm oil. millions of acres of rain forests are being cut down to plant palm trees and palm oil is becoming the problem for them. >> and it looks like a couple of his buddies sitting there watching thinking about getting in themselves. >> getting their toes wet. >> it's incredible. >> that's little 3-year-old and 4-year-old. they're learning by watching him. they'll probably figure it out given time. >> all right. to be continued then. we'll wait to see all three of them pretty soon. >> that's right. they'll all have a ballet. >> moksha bybee and suryia, the swimming orangutan. thank you so much. coming up next, the united cakes of america. sweet confections from every corner of the appreciate the easy days, are what keep me coming back for more. and the customer says, on the carpet." i'm thinking, what? gonna be difficult. don't tell me about a dog. an exploding crockpot, free-ranging house chickens. call a day's work. ♪ call 1-800-steemer ♪ if i knew you were coming i'd have baked a cake ♪ this morning in "today's kitchen" cakes from across the country. we have a lawyer turned baker, warren brown. this is his second cookbook, "united cakes of america." recipes celebrating every state. warren, good to see you again. >> good to be here, al. thank you. >> what was the inspiration for this? >> i love cakes and i love american history and i wanted to look at how people bake and spend time in their kitchen and i wanted to look at america through the lens of a cake. >> so what state or region are we doing here? >> delaware, a coffee cake. it has to do with the early settlers to the delaware region and some of the spices and the traditions that they were baking with. >> what are we doing here? >> i have some eggs and butter and sugar mixing together. >> right. >> i'd like to you mix together the fillings in this bowl. >> salt. >> we have salt and ginger. a little bit of clove, coco powder, cinnamon, some nice sugar and walnuts and a little more brown sugar. and i'm putting together like the batter right here. so what we're going to do is just mix and really get a nice c caramel. don't be afraid to use your hands. they're the best tool to work with. and then we'll put that as the filling in the cake we have right over here. >> we have some batter. >> we have some batter made. put down as much as you want. you can even use this same filling as your topping or, what i like to do, is go with a topping that has a little bit of butter mixed in. >> i like that, too. >> so we have that down. and these recipes are designed for everyone to make at home, easy to follow, easy to make, and things that people are familiar with. >> right. >> we just do this. we'll spread it out. want to make it as smooth as possible. we can even use this offset because sometimes it will catch a little there. then you have something to lick because people do like that and you can even just kind of work this whole filling right on top and don't be afraid that you don't have enough batter because it kind of puffs up. >> bubbles up. >> exactly. and, you can use a little bit more -- i like to do a little extra salt sometimes. >> that's interesting. >> a little sweetness there. >> and that goes into the oven. >> preheat 350 or so and our result -- >> is this. >> right here. exactly. >> everybody all together now. >> there's a big crowd that's getting ready. >> come on in. >> what other cakes do we have? >> a devil's food cake that celebrates illinois. >> this is still warm. >> wow. >> we have goat cheese and honey with cheesecake right there. thank you very much. and then texas sheet cake on the end right over there. >> the recipes from all over america. it's how we make it home. >> so great. >> you have to stay here, willie. they don't do this on "morning joe." >> this was worth stay iing the hour. >> absolutely. thank you. >> warren brown, thank you so much. we'll get some of this down to our control room. >> no we're not. this is ours. coming up, look at the crew. there's like 700 of you in here. this is crazy. coming up, live coverage of wimbledon. a live look over the district this morning, under some bright sunshine ant out of control. 9:56. an amber alert for 59-year-old girl from the district has been called off. police found two 9-year-olds unharmed in new york city. they were abducted by lamont johnson. johnson was arrested. let's turn to meteorologist tom kierein and take a look at today's forecast. >> a delightful summer day. we have the lower humidity in place. temperatures are hoveringing right around 70 degrees and climb just into the low 80s by late they are afternoon with a few high clouds coming and going. tomorrow partly cloudy, low humidity still with us. morning lows in the 50s and 60s. afternoon highs around 80. more of the same on saturday and sunday. more sunshine. here's a look at the fourth of july. hazy sunshine. how is the traffic? >> on the beltway, in both direction lanes are open. college park, silver spring, lanes are open. down tourng 395 there was an accident at shirlington, quickly cleared, little bit slow from feng to the 14th street bridge. aaron? >> nbc sports coverage of wimbledon begins at 10:00. there will not be news midday.