Transcripts For WRC Today 20100812

and she is quickly becoming a sensation "today," thursday, august 12th, 2010. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and welcome to "today" on this crazy busy thursday morning. i'm meredith vieira. >> that's right. i'm ann curry. crazy and busy. in for matt this morning. because a lot of evidence of doom and gloom when it comes to the u.s. economy. especially in wake of those comments from the fed that the recovery has hit yet another snag. >> exactly. that news sparked fear on wall street and the dow plunged 265 points on wednesday. and according to that new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll 58% of americans now believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. we're going to get the latest on all of this straight ahead. >> all right. some important numbers to get to. and also ahead some breaking news overnight. an arrest has been made in connection with that nationwide manhunt for serial stabber who allegedly killed at least five people in three states. so we'll get the latest on that. >> plus, he's being hailed as a hero, but now new details are questioning initially reports of what allegedly happened on that jetblue flight before steven slater deployed the emergency slide. we're going to talk to a woman who was on that flight. we also have a live interview with slater's ex-wife. >> and also a story you may not want your kids to see if they don't like eating their peas. because a massachusetts man accidentally gone down to the wrong pipe one of the peas did, and months later an x-ray showed that pea had sprouted and was actually growing in his lungs. we're going to meet him this morning. find out how this might have happened. >> all right. we're going to begin with the frayed nerves on wall street. one day after the dow closed down 265 points, the biggest percentage drop in over a month, jim cramer is the host of cnbc's "mad money." jim good morning to you. let's go over the numbers and then you tell me how you interpret them. dow fell 255 points. biggest drop in over a month driving it back into the red for the year. in fact all the major indexes saw more than 2% yesterday. what is going on? >> this is still about jobs. we thought that we were creating them. this is the backlash after what we had last friday, we're just not creating jobs and ben bern ski telling the truth, the fed chairman is saying, the economy is not moving. >> right. he's saying the pace of the recovery is slow. he also says it's likely to be more modest, the pace of expansion in the near term than it did anticipated. that creates uncertainty and fear with people. is it cause for concern, though? do you make that leap that we're in for big trouble? >> no. i think what we're really in for is more of the same. we do not have a good recovery. we are not snapping back. we're not hiring -- hiring people. but i'll tell you this, people should stay pat. this is nothing like we had a couple years ago. i hear so much doom and gloom, it doesn't fit with the facts. things aren't great. they're not bad. >> yeah but when the fed says that they're buying $18 billion in government debt how is that going to solve the problem? it seems like a drop in the bucket. >> they want to keep interest rates low so the companies will feel like things are going to get better and they'll hire. they want people to take down a mortgage. they want them to refinance. the federal government, including the fed chairman, all are on your side. just doesn't matter yet. >> quickly, an editorial in this morning's "new york times," the fed did not use the word recession or i mean deflation or double-dip recession. but the markets heard them still because the fed's efforts are likely to steer the nation clear of those dangers. are we headed for a double-dip recession? >> again, two negatives. what we are headed toward is an uneven recovery. if we were to go back to what was going on two years ago, there would be major bank players already, we'd be hearing about these things. we have not that many layoffing as we used to. we just don't have anybody hiring. i refuse to get as gloomy as the people that our readers hear about because i speak to ceos and i speak to companies. it's just not that bad. >> for investors rather than panic? >> diversify. maybe buy some gold. gold always goes up at the end of the year. and just be mindful that dividends are giving much better return this year. certificates of deposits, they're a better bet. >> what's going to turn you negative? you said i refuse to be -- >> you know i've been negative on this show when i think it's negative. i have to see major failures. i have to see just true collapses of companies and financial institutions. we are so far away from that that i can't buy into that we're going to return to those days. >> all right jim cramer, thank you very much. more of jim's advice on "mad money" weeknights at 6:00 and 11:00 eastern time on cnbc. now here's ann. >> all right, meredith, thanks. what do americans think about the economy and about the politicians in charge during these tough times? we're getting some answers from a newly released nbc news/"wall street journal" poll, we've got nbc's political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd here in the studio. >> good morning. >> so, even though jim cramer sounds very positive, there's a lot of pessimism, as we've seen in the market, but also on wall street, but also on main street according to this new poll. >> americans are feeling doom and gloom. he may not be seeing doom and gloom but look at those numbers about where people feel like we're still in a recession. 64% say we have yet to hit bottom. it's an unbelievable number. nine months ago in january, only 53% had that. so here we were the obama administration told us that this was going to be recovery summer. we've had the administration arguing that the recovery is on their way. jim cramer was telling us that the financial numbers say that. the american people don't feel it. >> and they don't feel like the country is heading in the right direction, which is even more -- they're really -- about where it's going. >> and 58 brz say we're headed in the wrong direction. this is taking a huge political poll on president obama. right now the highest yet negative rating on his handling of the economy. 52%. even people who approve of his job overall are disapproving of the way he's handling the economy. >> and disapproving -- we're getting the numbers in terms of what specifically they're disapproving him about in terms of what he's done. >> that's right. they don't -- they're not -- they don't feel the recovery. and part of this may be a disconnect. he's out there every day saying it's coming. it's getting better. and it goes to these places that are hiring 500 people here and 1,000 people there, and they're trying to say, look, it's going to get better. it's going to get better. people aren't feeling it. now they're getting more pessimistic and you do wonder if they've stopped listening to washington because they're sitting there saying, hey, washington's saying it's getting better. i'm not feeling like it's getting better. then that leads to this crankiness that they feel about all politicians. >> they're feeling crankiness about both political parties. even the tea party gets a hit in this poll. >> it does. everybody is angry at all things washington. democrats hit an all-new high in their negative ratings. republicans have even a higher negative rating. the tea party, which had enjoyed a positive rating for awhile now they have a negative rating. look, what this is leading to is in november, democrats are still in big trouble. they could lose both of their majorities. but if the republicans get the majority because people have decided to go in the ballot box and hold their nose they're not happy with anybody. >> the bottom line is americans are unhappy and the midterm elections could be a -- >> it's going to be a bad election night for all of washington. democrats are in big trouble. even if they hold their majority the public is saying, they're not doing their job right and we don't like it. >> because what you said privately is that it's going to be a hold your nose -- >> it's a hold your nose election. walk into that ballot box, and whoever they pick, they're not happy about it. >> chuck todd. not good news but it tells you something. thank you so much this morning. it is 7:08. once again here's meredith. >> ann, thank you. federal investigators are getting their first look at the wreckage of the plane crash in alaska that killed five people, including former senator ted stevens. nbc's michelle kosinski is in anchorage, alaska, with details. michelle, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. crash investigators were only able to get out to that remote, rugged scene late wednesday. but they get so much dielight this time of year they were able to stay awhile. one thing they've been trying to do is talk to the four survivors here at the hospital. there were no flight data recorders on that plane, so they may hold the key to what exactly happened in those moments before they slammed into the side of a mountain. even the images are few right now. one misty shot of that red plane, where it rests in the forbidding alaskan wilderness. as hard to get to as an answer. why? >> everything's on the table. we haven't ruled anything out. >> reporter: investigators now know that the pilot terry smith reported turbulence that morning on his way to pick up senator ted stevens' group at their lodge but described it as a nuisance. the group took off around 2:00 p.m. an hour earlier than previously reported. they want to know why it wasn't until some four hours later that anyone realized they hadn't arrived at their fishing destination. there was no distress call. the single engine plane hit the mountain possibly in a climb, with its left wing dipped. the ntsb has tried to talk to the four survivors, but their medical conditions won't allow it. former nasa chief sean o'keefe, critically injured, his son kevin, 16 years old, also seriously hurt, but both expected to make a full recovery. washington lobbyist in serious condition, his sister-in-law by phone described that moment she learned of the crash so far away. >> horrified. not shocked that he was there or involved, just so scared that we were going to lose him. >> reporter: stevens' former chief of staff bill phillips died in the accident. but his 13-year-old son willie survived. >> from what i heard he's going to recover. but it's a tragedy, that's for sure. >> reporter: willie was the only passenger to make it out of the plane. he tried to find help while the others all remained strapped in their seats. searchers spotting the wreckage from the air wondered if anyone could have survived. >> the front of the airplane was nonexistent. pretty much gone. back to the bulkhead. >> reporter: and then they saw a hand waving from the fuselage. rescuers landed in the dark and storm to hike nearly an hour through mud and treacherous terrain to find them. to keep them warm through that awful night. now, they recover. investigators eager to search their memories for clues. two things the ntsb is looking into. the pilot's medical history, his amount of experience with this type of aircraft, and the plane's maintenance records. meredith? >> michelle kosinski, thank you very much. now let's get a check of the rest of the top stories from that his morales at the news desk. >> good morning, everyone. there's been arrest connected to a series of murders in michigan. officials confirm that a person of interest was arrested last night in atlanta. in recent weeks five people were stabbed to death in and around flint, michigan, and 20 others were wounded there and in leesburg, virginia. officials say the man is linked to both of those locations. police meanwhile released a sketch of the suspect earlier this week. investigators say for now the man is being held on unrelated charges. the search is intensifying this morning for escaped inmate john mccluskey and his alleged accomplice. the two are being called the most wanted fugitives in america. george lewis is in billings, montana. good morning to you, george. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. the u.s. marshal's service says the fugitive couple may have undergone a makeover, changing their appearance to avoid capture. this as the search for them widens across the country. these pictures of john mccluskey and caslin welch have been splashed across the country. now this is what investigators believe they look like. mccluskey may have let his hair and beard grow out and welch may have dyed her hair blonde. a woman matching that description was spotted sunday at the bad frog mexican fan tina grill in st. mary, montana, just south of the canadian border. >> this guy showed up the next day, have you seen this lady? oh, my gore, i served her food. >> reporter: the investigation broadened wednesday into arkansas, where a man and a woman robbed the owner of the cut and curl beauty salon in jeffrey, arkansas, near where welch's mother lives. >> scary. real scary. he kept saying he was sorry but they needed the money. >> reporter: but when police showed the owner the pictures of mccluskey and welch -- >> is this who you saw this morning? >> no. >> reporter: and back in montana the search for the couple remains a high priority. >> we have officers obviously from the u.s. marshal's service as well as our counterparts at the federal, state and local level. we are working nonstop, 24/7, on this case, and continuing to pursue every lead that comes in. >> reporter: experts say that a couple who've styled themselves as a latter-day bonnie and clyde may be enjoying all this notoriety. natalie? >> george lewis in billings, montana. thank you, george. members of the jury in the rod blagojevich case are hinting they're deadlocked on at least some of the corruption charges against him. the panel has been deliberating now almost two weeks. heavy rain triggered severe flooding wednesday in parts of iowa, killing one person and forcing the evacuation of hundreds. some places got six inches of rain. more rain is expected tonight and tomorrow. and a happy ending for some sightseers who were trapped on a glacier in alaska after their plane crashed. all of them are now safe. nine people were rescued wednesday, including three others who had been picked up the day before. and a small train, big problems wednesday. good morning. i'm meteorologist tom kiernan. very heavy rain, gusty winds and frequent lightning now in southern montana county, about to move into the district of columbia, eastern fairfax county and northern prince georges county in the hanext half hour. peck heavy rain, gusty winds and frequent light thining asing st system moves through. highs near 90, shows and thunderstorms during afternoon, overnight and tomorrow.r latest. >> all right, al, thank you. now the husband of the american woman arrested for the brutal murders of her three children is opening up about the painful loss of his family. nbc's martin fletcher is in london with the latest on this story. martin, good morning. >> ann, good morning. eight days after the children were found dead, he spoke for the first time in public trying to come to terms with an unimaginable loss. >> shocked, paralyzed with grief, not quite sure what to do next. certainly the tragedy around their deaths just makes it much more painful. >> reporter: his three children murdered last week, allegedly by his wife. the engineer heartbroken, the family destroyed. >> she was just bouncing off the walls with excitement. you know, she didn't so much walk from place to place, it was more bouncing, just full of energy. >> reporter: according to the report, teresa cut their throats, set fire to the apartment, jumped from the balcony while the three children died she survived. now she's been charged by police in scotland with their murder. >> luke was kind of the hyperactive one. he was walking at 9 months old and probably sprinting at 9 1/2 months. austin was always more happy to sit back and see what was going on and then respond to luke. >> reporter: rigy now is comforted by his roman catholic faith. >> they're truly in a safe police. >> reporter: they were in the throes of a bitter divorce and fighting about custody of the children. but none of what happens makes sense to teresa's friends, her children were play mates with the kids. she described teresa as loving and caring. >> a couple of weeks ago they said do you think teresa would ever hurt herself and the kids? and i said not in a million years. >> reporter: now a shrine is forming outside the house where the children were found dead. >> memories that we have of cecilia, austin and luke will forever provide joy and comfort. >> reporter: there are three more stars in the sky. in a 22-minute interview, pasquale didn't once mention his wife. she's still in the hospital recovering from her injuries and faces a murder trial. he says his children are with god. ann? >> martin fletcher, thank you so much this morning. it is now 7:18. once again here's meredith. >> ann, thank you very much. on a much different note, it's been over five years since the world lost a comedy legend, johnny carson. but his legacy and the laughs he gave us live on. and now the entire tonight show library has been made available online. >> ladies and gentlemen, here's johnny! >> reporter: for 30 years on nbc, johnny carson was the king of late night. and his "tonight show" the throne of american comedy. at the top of his game night after night, as many as 15 million loyal fans tuned in. >> would you welcome jerry seinfeld. >> reporter: comedians who got an early break from carson saws his influence was unparalleled. >> we eight dirt every day of the week. >> reporter: from the animals to the parade of celebrity guests his show was a who's who of pop culture. until he signed off for good in 1992. >> we're going to come to an end. nothing lasts forever. >> reporter: the host with boyish charm passed away in 2005. now his voice lives on. carson's entire "tonight show" archive has been digitized and posted online at where else, johnnycarson.com. over 3,000 hours, millions of jokes. a treasure trove of hidden gems long under lock and key. here's woody allen with johnny on new year's eve, 1965. >> without question the most adorable -- >> one of the greatest of all times. johnny carson. it's fantastic. cannot wait. >> reporter: late night's jimmy fallon was just a kid dreaming of stardom when carson went off the air 18 years ago. >> every host looks up to him and wants to be like him. >> a nail -- >> reporter: not even karnac the magnificent could have predicted the long-standing legacy. >> i remember the first night backstage i said well, when this is over, it will be a week. then it will be a year. ten years from now you won't even remember this night. we all laughed. thinking there's no way anybody's going to do this for ten years. i don't know if i can take another night of this. >> reporter: it seems the magic of his monologues have outlived the man. now his voice and his laughter live on. and like anything wonderful there is a slight hitch. you do have to register to see the majority of the clips. but there's a lot of little bites -- >> up a little bit too late last night when i found out about this logging on and i saw the ann-margret dance -- >> animated, i think. >> exactly. >> believe me. just a lot of fun, and so, i don't know, evocative. >> when i was a little kid my parents let me watch him on friday's nights and new year's eve. >> i know, i know. anyways -- >> all right. >> exactly. just ahead. was steven slater acting strange during that flight long before -- we'll talk to a woman who was on that flight. plus a live interview with his ex-wife. but first, this is "today" on nbc. walking around with a pea plant growing inside of his lungs. he's got the x-rays to prove it. good morning. 7:26. i'm eun yang. a severe thunderstorm warning in effect now and the rain is coming down near washington, tom. >> flash flood warning out for ar lington and dis trick of columbia. er to torrents of rain about to come into arlington as well as eastern fairfax county moving into prince georges county, perhaps in another 15 minutes. expect heavy rain, frequent lightning, ponding of water on many of the roads, streets, and watch out for that. could be causing traffic problems. reports of 25,000 without power in montgomery county with trees down. >> tom, a lot of power outages and reports traffic cameras got knocked out. again, traveling around the area, particularly montgomery county, this is what you have to look forward to, just a good idea, just to stay put. we have flooding, trees down across the roadway, and power's out in many locations. >> we'll be right back with an update on breaking news. a person of interest in custody in the serial stabbing case. we'll be right back. breaking news. leesburg police confirming moments ago a person of interest in custody in connection with vie lint attacks on 20 people, includ ♪ >> 7:30 now on this thursday morning, august 12th, 2010. and that amazing voice belongs to 10-year-old jackie evancho from pittsburgh, pennsylvania. she knocked the socks off the judges on nbc's "america's got talent" with her incredibly mature voice. i happened to see a moment of this yesterday, ann, and i thought it was taped at first. it's so mature and so beautiful coming out of a 10-year-old. >> exactly. i think a lot of people are in disbelief over last night. people's jaws just dropped. >> yes. >> you can't believe it. >> she looks like an angel, too. i understand she's already got a gig at carnegie hall in december. >> exactly. >> she's already a star. coming up in a moment, a new twist. steven slater's dramatic exit down jetblue plane's emergency slide. we'll talk to a passenger who said she had her own encounter with slater at the beginning of the flight. plus we'll hear from his ex-wife who is here for a live interview. >> also this morning a man suffering from scary symptoms discovered he was actually living with a pea plant that had basically taken root in his lungs. we're going to meet him coming up this morning t find out what happened. >> and coming up tomorrow on "today," an exclusive live interview with lind say lohan's mother dina lohan. she's going to open up in detail for the first time about her daughter's time in jail and stay in court-ordered rehab. how is lindsay doing? we're going to find out when dina lohan joins us live tomorrow on "today." we're going to begin this half hour with new questions about what that jetblue flight attendant was doing before he slid away on the emergency slide. we're going to talk to one of the passengers on that plane and steven slater's ex-wife in just a moment. but first, nbc's jeff rossen is outside slater's home in queens, new york. jeff, good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, meredith, good morning to you. steven slater and his boyfriend are back home here this morning maybe sleeping. he doesn't have a job to get to anymore. but the neighbors around here in queens are really eating it up. one of the neighbors made this sign, hanging it from the balcony. good for you, steve, i feel your pain, love anyone who has to serve the public. but this morning there are, as you mentioned, the tide is sort of turning against the flight attendant himself. passengers on board that flight now saying that he's the one who was acting rude and weird the entire flight. bumping into people as he walked up and down the aisle. some passengers actually say in published reports that he stopped serving the passengers halfway through the flight. we're going to hear from one of those passengers in just a moment. but first, this morning, a new interview with steven slater himself. and he now admits, yes, i wanted to pull that chute for years. we caught up with steven slater underground, in a manhattan parking garage. >> how you feeling today? >> oh, i've got a lot to do. lot on my plate. >> what do you want to say to all the people who are calling you sort of a working-class hero? >> i'm a little overwhelmed. it's something i had no idea was going on out there. >> any regrets? >> that face says it all, huh? >> and with that, slater was on the move, again. >> where are you off to? >> here, there and everywhere. >> with his boyfriend in the passenger seat. but everywhere slater goes, -- there's a camera. >> i thought about it for 20 years, i thought about it. but you never think you're going to do it. questions, okay? >> reporter: after all, this is a legal matter now. prosecutors say his meltdown over a rude passenger was al now stevenwith felony t could cy so why does everyone love him so much? >> he's angry, he's swear t-shie found a replacement for simon cowell. >> reporter: believe it or not, slater was a happy worker, writing recently on an aviation blog, i fly because i love it. and he was a stickler for jetblue's baggage policy. off a blog as in zpi about carr. i am letting down all those who cooperate. remember he says it was a passenger breaking the luggage rule that sent him over the edge or down the chute. >> it sets a horrible precedent. we don't want employees all across the country looking at this guy like a role model. there's an 18-year-old in my hometown of philadelphia who identified herself and told the local newspaper that she works at mcdonald's, and that if she were going to quit her job she'd stick a roach in somebody's salad. is that what we want? ♪ take this job and shove it >> reporter: but for us frustrated americans, slater is a hero. at least 160,000 people have signed up on his facebook fan page. doubling in size wednesday alone. by the way, the rude passenger who supposedly started all of this is still in hiding. police are still wanting to talk to her. but she did make money on it, meredith. jetblue has given everybody on board a $100 voucher for their inconvenience. >> all right. and a great story. jeff rossen, thank you very much. lauren was on that jetblue flight and had her own encounter with slater before it took off. i spoke with her earlier this morning. >> i didn't think anything was wrong until i saw him and he had a huge gash on his head, and it was a fresh wound, with obviously not dried blood, it was visibly wet. and you know, i thought everything was okay. i thought that it was a prior gash, but that it was still bleeding or whatever it may have been. and looked very disgruntled, and we were on a plane for about 15 minutes, so he had a good a bit amount of time to get settled in and to take care of his wound. and i asked for a clorox wipe or some type of cleaning supply that i could clean my seat with, because there was coffee spilled on it. and he rolled his eyes at me and asked me, what, you know, in a really rude way. and i explained to him, can i have a clorox wipe, and i pointed to the coffee that was spilled on the seat. and he said, not right now, honey, maybe when we get in the air. i have to take care of myself first. >> did he seem agitated to you at that point? >> he did seem agitated to me. and, you know, i just -- i just thought to myself that he's having a bad day, or this is the type of person he is. and he actually made me feel pretty uncomfortable whenever he had sa get anything to clean up the coffee with, so i just let it go after that point. and i actually thought for the remainder of the flight that he was slamming the overhead containers throughout the flight, i heard discussion with the other flight attendants, he was slamming doors behind the scene. >> well that gives us some perspective on his behavior during the flight. thank you so much, lauren, for talking to us this morning. >> sure. >> we appreciate it. >> sure, no problem. >> steven slater's ex-wife, cynthia, good morning to you. thank you for joining us. > thank you for having me. school sweethearts. you were heard at 18 for a very brief period of time but you remained good friends. when you found out he was the flight attendant in the eye of this storm, what was your first reaction?? >> well, it was brought to me by a news reporter over the telephone. and, excuse me, then a barrage of phone calls to follow. it was shocking to me, only because i couldn't believe the media frenzy already at my doorstep. i can only imagine what steven's going through. >> now there are questions, initially we saw them and steven told police it was an altercation with a passenger, rude passenger, that he hit his head prior to takeoff because she -- i guess one of the bins opened up and she was acting rudely toward him and that later she was rude once again and that's what caused him to lose it. now we're hearing from this passenger that you just wlistenned to that actually he was rude from the start with her over another matter, over spilled coffee, and other passengers say that he seemed agitated throughout the flight. well before this sudden blowup. what do you make of that? you know steven. >> i do. and i really must say i don't believe it. i mean perception is everything. and of course these passengers are going to have their opinions of things, maybe biased slightly by the friendsy ensuing. i don't know if it's an opportunistic, you know, situation for them to have some time within the media. i'm not certain. i know that steven is a competent flight attendant. he was literally born to fly. he absolutely adores everything about the job. takes it very seriously. always has. he's just a stellar individual. and a gentleman. i find it very difficult to believe that he would be rude to anyone, especially in the air. >> even though several other passengers have since come forward and said, in fact, some said they thought he was inebriated? >> well, i'm sure that you've seen this a couple of times with these kind of mass media frenzies, and then everybody kind of jumps on the bandwagon. it would not surprise me, again, if perception was not skewed based on the fact that there's so much going on with this at one time. i don't believe that he was rude to anyone. >> okay. on steven's myspace profile he says that he has been beating alcoholism and substance abuse one day at a time. we know that he did grab some beers when he went down that chute. does he have a problem? i mean, could this have something to do with all of this? >> you know, i don't know steven to have a problem with alcohol or substance abuse. if that was, you know, he handled it beautifully if that's the case. because he, like i said, he's just such a great, fantastic person. >> so let me ask you about the meltdown. have you ever seen him behave in that kind of a manner? >> never. he -- no. he's just such a gentleman. i think that this is a indicative sign of how frustrated he must have been. i must go out on a limb and say i mean, something had to take him to that place. i'm assuming this passenger was the end-all, be-all of something he doesn't want to deal with. >> what do you make of the fact that by some he's being hailed as a hero? >> again, it's a sign of the times. we've all stood in a line behind someone watching them abuse the store clerk or taking matters into their own hands by being rude and self-serving. you know, it's -- it's everywhere. and i think that flight attendants, more so than anybody else, have to deal with these things. you know, they are not waitresses of the sky. you know, they're there to save your lives. and not to serve you peanuts but get you off that plane in case of an emergency. and i think people take advantage. when i was flying here yesterday there was three fellows that completely ignored the safety address, the flight attendant was, you know, trying to give them the information. i don't care how many times you've flown, they should have that respect at least of your time and interest. >> if you could -- i know you haven't spoken to him since this happened. what would you like to say to him? >> oh, i just, you know, i think he's fantastic. and i know that he will handle this with all the grace and humility that he has. i know that it's overwhelming. he's in a bubble right now and i'm sure he'll come through just fine. >> sticking by him through thick and then. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> now let's get a check of the weather from al. >> good morning, i'm meteorologist tom kiernan. we've got torrential rain now in the district of columbia, eastern fairfax county, southern montgomery now, coming across northern prince georges county as well with frequent lightning, ponding of water. watch out, high running water in arlington and in the district, as this very heavy rain is unloading. also have had strong gusts of wind in montgomery county where we've got 25,000 without power, due to tree limbs that have come down and uprooted trees on power all right. we've got a little swahili in there. we love it. guys, back to you. >> all right, al, thank you very much. and still ahead the motherhood. working women with children earn much less than their childless counterparts. up next an unbelievable story. growing in his lung. if your mother ever warned you to slow down while eating because the food could go down the wrong you. natalie's here about more on that. >> that's right. mom also told us to eat our peas. that was the problem here, trouble breathing left his doctors dumbfounded. but a shocking x-ray finally revealed what was causing his symptoms. ron had a problem sprouting in his lungs. for months the 75-year-old had been coughing. his health was taking a turn for the worst. but doctors couldn't find what was wrong. >> i was not doing too well. a lot of coughing. i was very listless. >> reporter: already battling emfeez i'm ma he prepared himself to face a tumor and lung cancer. until he found out something very different was growing. >> i was told that i had a pea seed in my lung that had split and had sprouted. >> reporter: his magic bean had gone down the wrong way. instead of swallowing it, the pea traveled down into his , lu root. the seed grew to 1.5 inches, which had a sprout-like appearance, eventually causing his lung to collapse. >> whether this would have gone full term and i'd be working for the jolly green giant, i don't know. >> reporter: although his case is a rare one, doctors say the very much like a greenhouse. >> the conditions are right for things to grow. it's like having your garden in the summer. if the right seed is there, and it has the right kind of nutrients, it possibly could grow. >> reporter: but should you would be worried the next time you eat your vegetables? doctors say just remember your mother's advice and chew your food. >> we should always be careful in terms of what we eat and how fast we eat it. >> reporter: now out of the hospital and back at home, he and his wife nancy feel extremely lucky. it could have been just nothing but it had to be a pea and it had to be sprouting. >> reporter: although the plant growing inside his lung nearly killed him, he hasn't stopped eating his vegetables. >> one of the first meals i had in the hospital after the surgery had peas for the vegetables. i laughed myself and ate them. >> his friends and his families and neighbors have been bringing over all kinds of pea gifts. >> of course. >> pea soup. >> kind of like a veggie version -- >> pea brain -- >> oh. >> -- i've -- >> oh, great. >> -- much. >> and the breathing apparatus had nothing to had nothing to do. >> he had a lot of lung issues. >> we wish you well. anyway still to come this morning if you're a working woman, is there a motherhood penalty when it comes to your career? we're going to hear from a woman who was fired after missing a meeting. so you all are busy with other things yesterday, i got the nice interview with the six sextuplets. >> they are so cute. >> just three years old. as you know, to have six of them -- >> it was all chaos. >> i loved the one when they started running in circles. back up. >> i think they had all the doughnuts in the green room. but it was unreal. >> the phones at home didn't see what happened after the interview. which is truly disturbing. >> you need to look at this. >> natalie grabbed a couple of beers -- >> oh. >> thanks, guys. >> pulled a steven slater. >> the steven slater. >> oh, man. >> i was waiting for a rescue. >> what were you doing there? what is that? >> that was a story that we did -- >> oh, okay. >> now -- >> oh, my gosh. >> looks like -- >> oh, man. >> did you see -- >> you know, they're just adorable. >> i don't think anybody heard a word i said -- >> just ahead what you need to do if your job is driving you crazy. strong storms with high winds are moving through the area right now. reporting more than 76,000 people without power a flash flood warning in effect for d.c. and parts of northern virginia. i'm eun yang. it is thursday august 12, 2010. storms are powerful. trees crashed through a garden style apartment in gaithersburg injuring six people. we'll bring you more information throughout the morning. right to tom now to see how long the storms will last. good morning. >> this is a highly unusual to see these storms this time of the morning we've had torrential amounted of rain that caused flooding as well. the storms that produced wind damage in montgomery county is now moved out of most of montgomery county. it's now into northern prince georges county, far eastern fairfax and the district of columbia, though it is weakening there on the western side. but it's the leading edge into anne arundel county and central and southern prince georges county where there could be gusts to near 60 miles per hour that may cause tree limbs and trees to uproot and bring down power lines. watch out for that. stay inside. do not go out unless you absolutely have to. stay inside. wait for this storminess to pass by and it's moving quickly. it should be over in the next, perhaps, 35 minutes to 45 minutes. it will continue to move off through the south and east on this thursday morning. we could get other storms later today as well with highs around 90 later this afternoon and this evening. perhaps a passing thunder shower tomorrow afternoon. and that's the way it looks right now. >> thank you, tom. the storms, of course, having a big affect on the morning commute. traffic is next with jerry. stay with us. good morning, everyone. a live look of the damage around the area now. this is in gaithersburg. diamond avenue, you can see debris blowing across the roadway. flooded roadways. it's crawling on 395 trying to get into downtown. we'll keep you updated throughout 8:8:00 this thursday morning. yes, that is the white house. a couple minutes ago you couldn't make it out because there was so much fog, dark skies and a lot of rain there. washington, d.c. is getting nailed by a strong storm this morning. we are hoping to have much -- there you go. see the -- >> we're hoping for better weather here in new york tomorrow when pop star ke$ha is live. >> ke$ha. >> i'm sorry. >> but she's not bringing any kashi. >> well, ke$ha will be here live -- >> very, very exciting. >> meredith vieira along with ann curry, and al roker. matt has the morning off. >> so mostly some showers, maybe a thunderstorm may creep in here as part of our southern viewing area. where washington is right now they're in the midst of a risk of strong storms today. >> a little bit of sprinkle going on right here. >> a little spritz. >> also ahead we want to talk about a warning to anyone who is thinking about pulling a steven slater. basically i know it's inspired a lot of people, talking about the flight attendant who slid down that emergency chute because he couldn't take it anymore. we've got some advice from some experts. they say that that's really not the best way to handle your workplace frustrations. so we'll try to kind of go into that. >> the pay gap between working mothers and childless women is actually larger than the gap between men and women. >> really? >> instead of a gender gap we're talking about a parent gap now. and some people believe that it's actually a motherhood penalty for working moms. we're going to talk about that and talk about one mom who had to pick between her job and her child. she was fired for missing work because her daughter had pink eye. >> that's horrible. >> speaking of horrible. i don't know if you heard over the weekend, there was an internut roomer that was running wild that bill cosby had died. it was crazy. >> no. >> yeah, well obviously, doc cosby is okay. he is here live. and he's looking very good for a guy who supposedly passed over the weekend. he's fantastic. he's here to discuss those rumors and his website obkb and he's looking very sharp in his seersucker. >> oh, mr. cosby! >> natalie morales is at the news desk. >> good morning to you guys once begin. and good morning, everyone. there's been an arrest linked to a deadly serial stabbing spree across three states. police in leesburg, virginia, announced that a person of interest in the case was arrested on unrelated charges last night in atlanta. most of the 20 victims stabbed since may in michigan, virginia, and even ohio, have been black men. the attacker described as white. five of the victims died. tomorrow will mark ten weeks since 7-year-old kyron hormen disappeared in oregon. police say they believe he could still be alive and they're making a new appeal for help. nbc's mara schiavocampo is in oregon for us. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. in the search for chyron horman investigators think their best witness may still not have come forward so as they've done several times before officials are once again appealing to area residents for help with this case. >> anybody that remembers seeing something that didn't seem quite right is exactly what we'd like to hear about. >> reporter: at their first press conference in more than two weeks, multnomah county sheriffs asked the public for more tips. this time focusing not on kyron, but rather this truck driven by his stepmother terri horman the morning he disappeared. witnesses have come forward helping to place the truck at four separate locations on june 4th, including these grocery stores. sources for kgw, the nbc station in portland, say terri horman was shopping here. what they want to know is who else might have been with her in the truck. information about the truck could open the door to other clues. investigators also asked for help about the possible involvement of horman's friend dedespicher. she was reportedly unreachable by cell phone for about three hours on the day of kyron's disappearance and police have searched several properties with which she has a connection. >> i was completely blown away. >> reporter: spicher's former boyfriend said being out of contact was unusual for her. >> not like her to answer her phone. she answers her phone -- she answers her phone. >> reporter: neither spicher nor horman have been named suspects but officials say they are slowly piecing to the what happened to the child who went to school and never came home. >> the investigation is most certainly productive. it's just one of those cases that just isn't going to fall into our lap. >> reporter: now, investigators are still operating under the assumption that kyron is alive because they have no evidence to suggest otherwise. and they are also moving forward with this investigation in the hopes that they can bring this little boy home safely. natalie? >> all right, maria schiavocampo in portland, oregon. the national weather service has issued a flash flood watch for northwest iowa. three nights of heavy rain caused flooding in the central part of the state. a teenage girl died when surging water swept away three cars and hundreds of people have been forced from their homes. a three-day operation to rescue 12 people trapped on an alaskan glacier after a sightseeing plane crash ended successfully wednesday. there were no serious injuries. and a professional surfer who is not afraid of big waves, pretty fearless, too, around big sharks, take a look. chuck patterson saw two sharks swimming off the coast of southern california, so what did he do? he got his video camera and let the great whites circle around him for 15 heart-pounding minutes. that right there is my worst nightmare. 8:06 right now. let's get another check of the weather from there roker. >> thank you, natalie. we've got a birthday. >> my birthday. >> where are you from? good morning. i'm tom kiernan. a rapidly developing thunderstorm did produce wind damage in montgomery count it with power outages there. that storm system, the oranges and the reds, raining hardest in eastern fairfax county through northern and central prince georges county anne arundel, continuing to drift to the south and east. expect strong, gusty winds perhaps 60 miles per hour. flooding rains and frequent lightning until about 9:00. >> and that's your latest weather. >> all right, al, thank you so much. coming up next, why 2007 is just now getting medals ten years after the fact. we'll be catching up with them. but coming up next, is there really a motherhood penalty when it comes to your career? one woman was fired because she took time off to care for her sick daughter and she's going to be sharing her sto coming up this morning eigright after thi. depression is a serious medical condition. i feel like i have to wind myself up to deal with the sadness, the loss of interest, the lack of energy. 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[ male announcer ] get back to school and back to savings on everything on your list at staples. that was easy. "today's working woman" is brought to you by mcdonald's. i'm loving it. this morning on "today's working woman" is there a penalty for being a working mom? according to recent studies women with children earn significantly less than their male and childless female counterparts. "today" national correspondent amy robach has more on all this. >> good morning, meredith. it is a question millions of working mothers ask, am i being penalized for having a family. one chicago woman said it happened to her and that she was fired because of it. it is a scene that plays out all across america, as in this scene from "desperate housewives." >> because i got this thing -- good god this is not about your kids again, is it? >> reporter: the working mom having to choose between work and family. dina lockwood of chicago, illinois, knew what she had to do with her 4-year-old daughter lily had an eye infection. >> my daughter had pink eye, so i called in to work. they told me it was no problem we'd reschedule a meeting that i had in the office. well, a half hour later they called me back up and said, a few other people and the owner and told me that, i could either resign or i could remain with or without cause. >> reporter: dina said she just kept asking why. >> they said it's just not working out. and i said you certainly can't fire me because my daughter has pink eye. and they said i need to return my wlaptop and my cell phone immediately. >> reporter: dina lockwood hired an attorney who took her case to the chicago commission on human relations. the commission ruled in her favor and awarded her more than $215,000, plus attorney's fees. dena lockwood's case is extreme, but her lawyer, ruth majors, says working moms are often discriminated against. >> i do think that a lot of people are sort of sketching back and taking a look at this situation and starting to understand that maybe the reason they're not being treated the same as their colleagues is because employers have a false perception that people that have children won't have the same level of commitment to their jobs. >> reporter: marissa is a mom of two and runs executivemoms.com. she says cases like dena's are important because they raise awareness. >> it's such an akwreejious example that it will help bring these cases to light and even if they're few and far between get us all thinking about this a little harder and make sure that we all work towards a culture where such instances won't be allowed. >> reporter: four years later, lily, now 8, is still shocked by what happened to her mom. >> my mom got fired. it doesn't make any sense. >> reporter: now, dena lockwood's former employer declined to comment, referring us to papers filed in her case that claim she was fired for excessive absence from work and failure to perform her duties sufficiently. the company is going to court to try and overturn that $250,000 award. a preliminary hearing is actually set for today. meredith, back to you. >> amy, thank you so much. so what can a frustrated working mom do? jean chatzky is "today's" financial editor. cindy levy is editor in chief of "glamour" magazine and susan johnson is vice president of tali techlt management. cindy, that's an extreme case of what happened when a mom has to choose between her job and her child. extreme but it's also real. the question is how real. >> it is extreme. and thank goodness for that. but, yeah, the statistics do show that there is this so-called motherhood penalty still at work. and they put it at about 5% to 10% of your wages per child. in fact, experts will tell you that there really is not that much of a gender gap anymore between men and women if you look at women who don't have kids. there's a parenting gap as women who do have kids who make less money in general than other workers. and, some of this is about choice. you take time off, you work part time. but some of it is about a perception that you don't want to hire the woman with children because she's going to be less committed. >> that person said. >> exactly. that's the attitude that we want to change. >> a woman said she wants to work part-time, full-time, or work from home, what does the management here? >> i think it's the short-sighted manager that hears that as a problem. forward-thinking companies will look at flexible work arrangements as a double value. documentation shows that companies that offer flexible work benefits get better work productivity and better employee engagement. i spoke with woman one at pitney beaus who is a working mom and the extra hour she gets from not commuting to work, she is able to serve a hot breakfast, put her child to school and put together the same if not more work to her responsibility. >> i think it's more work in general. i've worked a flexible schedule for the last 15 years. much of it for a corporation. and when you're a working mom given that opportunity to work from home, you overproduce. because you know, you know that you're setting the bar for all of the other women that are there. >> yet most businesses, as you said, are not paying equal pay to those -- >> well, i don't know that it's not paying equal pay. i think we really have to focus on those breaks that women take from the workforce. think about it, every salary that you get hinges off the most recent salary that you got. so you take time off, somebody else stays there, they get three raises, you come back, you didn't get those three races, of course your salary is going to be lower. >> and also i think you pointed out that women are often their worst advocates when it comes to asking -- >> we feel guilty if we have that flexible work schedule. i did this for "smart money" magazine. i didn't ask for a raise for years and i was overproducing because i felt like i was given favored nation status already. >> right. you feel very grateful. >> and guilty. >> this is what i'm contributing to the company. >> exactly. >> and there are other issues, besides not getting the salary, jean, there are other issues women need to be aware of. >> well, retirement benefits are a key issue. women end up with only about 60 prpz of what men have at retirement because we take those breaks. the key word is something called a spousal i.r.a. if you're out of the workforce, in the workforce you can still contribute to an i.r.a. every year and you should. >> and susan very quickly, companies that are corporations run by women, you see less of this happening? is there more sensitivity in those situations? i don't mean to play the sexist card here, i'm just curious. >> no, i don't think so. again i think it's all about the foresightedness of the employer. if they're smart they'll look at it as a workplace engagement opportunity. >> okay, jean chatzky, cindy levy, susan johnson, thank you so much. just ahead, more career advice. the right way to quit your job in the wake of flight attendant steven slater's dramatic exit. bus is there any truth to those internet rumors that bill cosby is dead? we'll just ask him. but first these messages. 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well, career experts say you may just want to think before you leap. ♪ just another manic monday >> reporter: monday's bad day at the office is being celebrated on the internet with parodies of jetblue flight attendant steven slater. >> i think when people feel blamed for things that they can't control, that's among the biggest reasons why people snap in the workplace. >> reporter: police say slater cursed out an entire aircraft and grabbed a beer before making a dramatic exit down the plane's emergency chute. >> what do you want to say to all the people calling you a working-class hero? >> i'm a little overwhelmed. >> reporter: slater's online support is soaring. and the workingclass who dream of leaving their job with a flourish. >> people at some point in their careers and their jobs fantasize about what would it mean to throw it all away, to tell my boss to take this job and shove it, and he actually lived the fantasy. >> get up right now and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell, i'm mad as hell and i'm not going to take this anymore! >> take this job. i hate this job and i don't need it! >> do what you all think i'm going to do -- >> reporter: a fantasy is fine, but caution people to think before walking off work in a huff. >> i quit! >> join his fan club, talk to your friends about him, but don't necessarily follow his example. >> nicole williams is a career manager and june sills is a psychologist. good morning to both of you. this is not the first time people have been creative in how they quit. >> no. i've seen so many instances, ann, that you just shake your head. over the intercom at the supermarket the checkout girl says i'm done. i've seen, obviously, just these instances where people will in a huge meeting, all of the key executives, clients are there and then the employee takes this opportunity to just let everyone know how they feel about the company, which is such a bad mistake to make. >> first of all, feel amazing. >> yes. >> but why is it such a great big mistake? >> it's a great moment, and then unfortunately there's the moment after. and in the moment after, or the weeks after, you either have to be independently wealthy, go out and look for work, but you haven't really solved the problem. you got out of the bad situation, but you didn't leave yourself a parachute. and that's the goal. you want to leave yourself with a plan. you want to be employed. and sometimes, you want to make the job better without quitting. >> there's a middle ground, right? >> yes. >> so it's about not burning bridges. in the case of steven slater, i mean here's a guy who apparently, from what we understand, loved flying. >> yes. >> he was born to fly. chances he'll get hired again after what happened? >> over about 40 to none. this is a guy you want to have a beer with, but do you want him working your flight? he has democrat stated irrationality. he's, you know, flying by the seat of his pants. flying out of the plane. >> it's impulsive. >> it's impulse up. >> impulsive and impulses feel great for the moment but what we really want to do is figure out how quick, if you're in the steven slater spot and you're really boiling, what can you do with the impulse? and still have a job. >> let's talk about that. because you talked about earlier before we started this interview that some people have sent cupcakes around and said i'm leaving, good-bye. that's a way to do it. >> it's true. you know, when you're quitting it's just like breaking up with some. there's a level of rejection involved. so you want to do it as delicately as possible. because this person is taking it personally whether you like it or not. and this is -- your departure is your crowning glory. so, if you worked hard for 20 years, no one's going to remember all your great talent and attributes, they're going to remember the way that you left. >> nicole, strong storms moving through the area right now. we have flooding and power outages and debris everywhere. nearly 100,000 power out annuals. also the cleveland park and forest glenn metro stations are closed because they have no power. good morning, i'm eun yang. also in the news, we are getting a look at the damage from the morning's severe weather. look at these photos. a picture from a news4 viewer taken at an apartment complex in gaithersburg. building at 5 11 south frederick avenue, tree went through the middle of the building. several people forced oust their homes. the trees caused damage to the second and third floors. it came down around 7:00 this morning. scott graham with montgomery county fire and rescue joining us by foern. a phone. are you there? >> good morning. >> we heard people were trapped in the building. what's the latest? >> we have preliminarily cleared the building. the building, we believe, on our primary search, has been cleared totally. we are starting to re-evaluate our plan to continue to search more thoroughly, but we believe we have accountability for all of the persons and as we said earlier, we have between eight and ten people injured, treated on the scene. >> tell us about injuries, what happened? >> minor injuries, bumps and bruises, nothing significant, no life-threatening injuries. >> did firefighters have rescue people out of the building? >> some of the people ex-tri indicated prior to the arrival and we brought two persons out of the building after we got here. >> i'm sure you're getting a lot of calls for this situation with the power outages and downed trees. >> we do. we have a lot of water issues, trees down, power outage, especially in gaithersburg, over 200 traffic signals out throughout the county. it's significant. we're evaluating each of the calls, and we will be throughout the morning. >> scott graham with montgomery county fire and rescue, thanks for joining us. let's go to tom kiernan for the latest on the storm, very dangerous storm, too, tom. >> early on, in fact, they did not look like they were going to be severe, did not have any really severe reports when they did develop earlier this morning, way out here in washington county. but as the storms moved farther to the south, it did intensify rapidly as it moved into montgomery county, causing outages. the leading edge of the heavy rain, frequent lightning and flooding rains and gusty winds just now into southern prince georges county, it's also moving into northern calvert county out of southern anne arundel, continuing to exit fairfax county and it's just about to move into charles county as well. expect gusts near 60 miles per hour, the leading edge, as it moves through. a tendency that's it's weakening. where it's red, it's raining the hardest in northern calvert county, southeastern prince georges county, as well as southwestern prince georges county. there's another cluster of very heavy rain now just about to come into charles county. this moving at 30, 35 miles an hour to the south and east. again, leading edge will get up brief gusts around 60 miles per hour that could cause trees to uproot, large branchs to come down that may bring down power lines. after the gusts, the heavy rain and frequent lightning coming through may cause flooding and ponding of water. we've got floods roads around montgomery, district of columbia and arlington. small creeks and streams flooded many area roads where the small creeks and streams crossroads. that could happen in charles county in anne arundel and perhaps northern st. mary's county in the next half hour, by the time it's reaching st. mary's. this is where the heaviest rain is falling, northern calvert, southern anne arundel. stay tuned. we'll keep you updated with frequent updates throughout the morning. >> a big effect on the commute. jerry's back with the traffic update. stay with us. welcome back. 8:31, 73 degrees. severe storms clay anderson is joining us on the phone. good morning to you. >> good morning. how are you? >> i'm well, clay. thanks for joining us. bring us up to date. last we heard 100,000 power outages in the community, in your area. >> yeah, what we have right now the latest is for total outages in the region about 100,000 that includes 75,000 in montgomery county, about 7,000 in prince georges county, and about 17,000 in the district of columbia. we have about 100,000 out. >> with storms moving through, what about the crews? are they getting to the spots to work on the power outages. >> safely is the primary example. everyone knows that the heavy rains and winds and flooding as well, so we're going to make sure crews, before they go out, that the roads are safe. but we are going out shortly to be involved in both the assessmentrestoration. we are moving, as we speak to turn lights back on. >> sounds like majority of the problems are in montgomery county. the fire department just told us there are at least 200 traffic lights that are out, too. >> yeah. traffic lights are problem right now in the montgomery county with traffic lights talking about downs wires, probably hundreds of downed wires in montgomery county. we're going to be moving into that ear, but also the district and prince georges county as well. we will concentrate on the large number of outages in montgomery county. >> clay anderson, thanks so much. >> we'll talk again. >> take care. now jerry has the latest on the traffic. what a mess out there. >> i'll tell you what, really is. storms came through right at height of rush hour. head over to montgomery county. i want to show you the intersection, clopper road, right here high water. folks are bayry around the corner, not paying attention to the signs and getting slammed very, very hard by this high water in the travel portion of the roadway. slow down. take it easy. it's passable for most vehicles, but certainly causing real mess. again, some locations, as we heard the traffic lights, are out. so that's clopper and first field. other cameras, we'll head over to gaithersburg, go back to news one, guys, sorry. damage what appears to be possibly a metal roof or part of a metal building at diamond avenue and summit avenue in gaithersburg avenue, that over to the shoulder of the roadway. now, for a while this morning, i-270 was closed because of a tree down in the roadway in gaithersburg. at least a couple of lanes currently are getting bias we pull back here. let me take you back up to germantown. a parking lot from clarksburg solidly all the way on down. in addition to all of this, we've had flooding on route 29 to sligle creek parkway, wires down in silver spring on spring street, wires down on a metro bus at lockwood drive and a tree down into a house on ellison drive in montgomery county. virginia, not completely perfect but certainly it appears to be better than montgomery county now. loaded up, the lanes are open to the 14th street bridge. district, we've had problems along kennel worth through the work zone where water doesn't drain well. we'll keep you updated all day long. >> thank you so much. and we're just learning now that crossway community school is closed because of the weather. stay with news4 throughout the morning. the latest on the severe storms. the latest information on nbcwashington.com. for now, back to the "today" show, already in progress. so why are they just getting those medals now? we're going to find out. we'll talk to them. >> taking it off the men? >> no. talk about the weather. >> it's a laugh riot. good morning. i'm meteorologist tom kiernan. we've had a powerful line of thunderstorms coming through the metro area over the last couple of hours. the line of storm is weakening, thankfully, but producing heavy rain in southern prince georges county, now northern charles county. they're under a severe thunderstorm warning as calvert and st. mary's county. could have gusts 60 miles per hour. frequent lightning and also very heavy rain that may cause the flooding of some roads. latest weather. we got to go now down to washington, d.c. and say hello to uncle willie. >> yay. >> we love everybody out there. you're the best and i hope you make it to be 100. speaking of that, the jar is spinning about, and we say hello to our birthday buddies. vivian taylor. taught sunday school until she was 100 years old. francis diebell, dayton, how. 102. wish him the mess. love his e-mails. is a good friend of the computer. doris mclaughlin of illinois, 100. volunteered as a story teller for little children in kindergarten until she was 90. and attributes her longevity to yoga. hey, man, i can't even get down on the ground. fred lurz from maryland. 100 years old. follows the stock market every single day, and attributes his longevity to eating red meat. some do, some don't. happy birthday.. and laura radtke of oshkosh, wisconsin, 102. third time she's tried to get on the show. glad we could accommodate. enjoys bird watching and loves planting vegetable gardens. and finally genevieve sultenfuss of glendale, california. 100 years old. first woman president of the glendale chamber of commerce. good birthday buddies. now back to new york. >> all right, willard, thank you so much. coming up, bill cosby in the house talking about kids, comedy, and those famous rumors that he had died. first, this is "today" on nbc. [ dog barking ] mom! breakfast? in this house? in the morning i can use all the help i can get. that's why i love nutella, a delicious hazelnut spread that's perfect on multigrain toast and even whole-wheat waffles. it's a quick and easy way to give my family a breakfast they'll want to eat. and nutella is made with simple, quality ingredients, like hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa. they love the taste and i feel good that they're ready to tackle the day. ♪ nutella. breakfast never tasted this good. be aware of your surroundings. don't ignore obvious signs. stay hydrated at all times. get plenty of fresh air and sunshine. ♪ and don't worry-- lots of people live active lives with asthma. answers and advice to help you get well and stay well. walgreens. there's a way to stay well. learn more at walgreens.com/health. back now at 8:40. take a look at this guy, bill cosby, obviously alive despite those rumors. starring in the new website obkb. take a look. >> obkb. >> i wanted to meet bill cosby. >> he's funny. >> he made fat albert. >> hey, hey, hey, it's fat albert! >> the cosby show. >> i would like to propose a toast to the beautiful lady rudy. >> and he wrote. >> like they're old -- >> and they're still -- >> they get to be themselves. without any writers writing lines for them. >> the problem was, it wasn't my child. these are real kids, and they're different. >> bill cosby, good morning. >> good morning. >> let's get the rumors out of the way about you being demise -- about your demise. what's behind this in the first place? four tweets or online rumors about your death. the latest one, i guess one of the most recent ones in early august. why? >> i have no idea. >> no? all teasing aside it's upset your family, right? >> well, not only the family. but friends this time, for the fourth one, called. so, the part about, well, take the high, whatever, road. >> right. >> that's over. we just have to tell all fools who think that this is funny, it isn't, because i think you need to realize you're doing some damage to people that you really don't want to hurt, so we're just asking them to think. having said that, those children you just played -- >> yes. >> i want to tell you a wonderful thing that happened. one of the kids -- >> they're all part of this web series, right? >> the obkb, and i interview them and try to pull things from them, get them going. so that this is all funny, and fun. and then we do grown-ups. and they're funny, as well. but, a kid came up to me, and i was sitting, sweatshirt on, and he said, you know, and i said well, how are you? he said -- he's about 8. and so i said, everything okay? he said -- >> what's he looking at? >> yeah. so i said, you seem to be looking for -- he said, i watched "the cosby show" all the time. i said, thank you. but why do you look that way? he said, you look old. because, you know, the show -- >> they tell the truth. >> but the show, the show and then this kid was confused about the image of what -- and what he expected. you're old. i said, yeah. and then we did the interview, had a ball, and i said, so i'm old, so what do you think? he says, you're cool. yeah. >> well, this show is reminiscent of "kids say the darnedest thing" back in the late '90s. a lot has happened in our world since then from 9/11 to the wars to this explosion of technology. kids are aware of all that stuff. has it changed kids? i mean, kids now, are they different -- >> sure they are. >> in what way? >> here's what isn't and what hasn't changed. you don't raise your kids to think, to have themselves think of themselves as victims. you bring them up to win. and so when you've got a kid with a thing here and the blue light on the face, what you do is you say, look, we have to put this down for a little while. there will be plenty of time for that. this thing is called a book. and we're going to read the book. because i found that children, given an opportunity to be taught correct behavior, good behavior, age and education love reading books. they love it. and there are certain schools that demand, demand that a child 7 years old finish up 40 books in a year. and you should hear how wonderful these kids feel. >> you love kids. that's what it is. you just love kids. >> but, i don't love that saying about how honest they are. because they're dishonest people. >> why? what do you mean? quickly? >> well, they lie. >> well, they said you were old. that wasn't a lie, right? >> no, no. but there's lies about other things. >> give me one example, real quick. >> you have a load in your pants? no. >> that had to be the example you gave me? >> 18 months old, you start out early, lying. >> okay. >> i see the load. >> i've got nothing in my pants, bill, all right? >> i don't believe you. ow. >> oh, sorry. >> see. >> good to see you. i've got to run to the bathroom. by the way obkb will be available for download on itunes on august 27th. up next, ten years later the u.s. gymnasts can call themselves olympic medalists. we'll talk to them. >> good morning, i'm tom kiernan. a tornado warning in effect for extreme southwestern queen anns county and talbot county. this is the storm that may be producing a small tornado. right now impacting oxford and st. michael's heading off to the south and east and is going to continue to move south and east. where you see this little circulation marker is where we do have the indication of some spin in the atmosphere that may be causing wind damage. just stay inside. if you have a basement, go to the basement. if you live in talbot county to the south and west of easton, this area could be impacted by winds over 70 miles per hour as the circulation does pass right near oxford, talbot county. this the zone, the red box, could be impacted by the tornado as it does head off to the south and east. now this has not been sighted on the ground yet, this is based on radar indications that there is circulation at least in the mid to lower levels of atmosphere that may cause a tornado to touch down in the zone, the red box zone, oxford to points south and east there over the next 20 minutes. so just stay inside and go to your basement. if you do see a very threatening sky coming toward you, just stay away from the windows and go to an interior room, if you don't have a basement. elsewhere, seeing a bit of circulation in the mid levels farther to the south of oxford, that may be heading toward cambridge in the next few minutes. across the bay, western side of the bay, over into calvert county, as well as northern charles county, a few other indications of some circulation in the mid to upper levels of atmosphere but no indication of anything that might touch down there. but this is extremely heavy rain. where you see these areas of dark red is extremely heavy rain. now, waldof, la plata, chesapeake beach, south of there, extremely heavy rain. drifting into southern calvert county and about to come into st. mary's county over the next 15 minutes or so. expect also some flooding rain as we move farther to the south and east, this is going to continue to impact parts of dorchester county as well as perhaps part southern st. mary's county. there's no warning in effect there yet, but where you see here this area of beige is where this is a severe thunderstorm warned area and includes many areas just to the south and east of talbot county, dorchester county as well as across the bay in northern st. mary's county all of calvert county and much of charles county farther to the west. they also are under a severe thunderstorm warning there for the next half hour or so. so this is the line that is continuing to advance to the south and southeast and it does continue to move through. we could have gusts overñi 60 mil miles per hour, produced damage part to the north and west in montgomery county where we have 100,000 customers without power due to uprooted trees and tree limbs coming down on power lines. in addition, we've had very heavy rain that's caused flooded roads as well. so watch out for that. we'll be back with frequent updates throughout the morning. tornado warning for talbot county. i'm tom kiernan. >> thank you. an example of the damage around the area. take a look at the live picture. this is in the 4400 block of west beach drive, close to rock creek park. the car completely upside down. a lot of cars getting damaged in this storm. vehicles getting damaged. homes getting damaged as trees come down on top of the power line. pete, good morning to you. >> good morning. very busy, hundreds of calls in the last hour or so. and what you're seeings a good example of that. we do have a number of trees crashed down on houses, a lot of lightning strikes. a couple resulted in fires. no quadrant of the city has been spared. we dispatched units to connecticut avenue and s street where we have damage at a restaurant, looks like trees and fire as a result of wires down at that location. so very busy city wide. >> tell us about some of those severe calls you're get, pete. what are your crews doing right now? >> we lad dozhad flash flooding maybe 7:30, 8:00 hour where we had pulled dozen of people out of cars along rhode island avenue, beach drive, canal road, those normal areas that you expect reservoir road. but even over at minnesota and as you mentioned along broad branch and beach drive, a number of rescues, pulling people out of cars. they simply got overwelled, the cars stalled out and we needed to assist them. then trees down on houses. so probably the most significant are in the 5000 block of 16th street, 700 block of p street, and now we have the fire at -- actually 16th and colorado also. and we've got activity on connecticut avenue and s street northwest. we had the fire in the 2000 block of taylor street neech northeast. all units engaged in activity. we're saturated as far as emergency response. >> remind people what they're supposed to do when driving in flooded areas and when a tree falls down on the car near power lines, these are dangerous situations. tell people what they should be doing, to be safe. >> it is pretty dangerous. we hope that people are just aware of the conditions around them, be aware, be prepared. if you come across wires down or a tree down, we hope that you stop, turn around, go another way. you can expect a number of power outages as a result of wires down. treat any wire that you see to be potential that it's a live wire and potentially dangerous. do not walk or drive over any wires. again, in the city, if there's no immediate things, call 311 to report trees down, but if someone's hurt, or significant property or structural damage, call 911 and we'll respond. try to pay attention to the weather conditions. we'll expect more storms. right now it seems to have subsided somewhat. but we are dealing with a lot of dangerous situations, wires down, transformers. we did have a couple of wrecks where wires were down, trees down, and people trapped earlier today but that's all been resolved. >> pete, thanks so much. we know you're busy out there. >> thanks. >> take care. back to tom kiernan for the latest on the severe storms. tom, a tornado warning as well. >> that's right. that includes talbot county on the eastern shore, and as we take a look at radar, right now getting a very big area of heavy rain that's that stretch across the southern maryland from charles county, calvert county, across the bay on to the eastern shore. now right near oxford is where we have this potential tornado and it's moving off to the south and east. right now sighted on radar. don't have eyewitness ground reports but stay inside, get to an interior room if you tonight have a basement. if you have a basement, go to the basement if you live in the red done in southern talbot. dorchester and northern st. mary's eastern charles county a severe thunderstorm warning. these are areas that could be i impacted over the next few minutes by the storm system through 9:00 as the storm moves to the south and east. we'll be back with frequent updates. >> thank you. severe storms forced a couple of metro stations to shut down. let's go to steven with metro to get the latest. good morning. >> good morning. >> tell us what happened, which stations are closed, what's the status on their reopening at this point. >> certainly before 8:00 this morning, both the forest glenn and metro l stations were temporarily closed due to loss of power. also, high water is an issue at queenland park station, that's another reason the trains are closed. both stations are closed. however, trains are passing through those stations without stopping. shuttle buses were requested, and those shuttle buses will help get some customers around closures. another issue on the red line that is trains are taking a turn sharing one track between silver sbring spring and tacoma because of a tree on the tracks. those stations are open however trains are sharing one track stwe between silver spring and tacoma. >> any indication of when the crews will be able to get to flooded areas to try to reopen two stations that are closed on the red line? >> we have support crews that are there and working as quickly as they can, in terms of getting stations reopened, once it's deemed safe, we will be able to reopen queenland park and forest glenn. >> the shuttle bus situation, if you have to pass through the two stations, what should you expect? >> people that are traveling to queenland park or forest glenn, we have shuttle buses available, buses should be rolling by now. a shuttle bus, at the most, can carry up to 50 people or a six-car train, carry several hundred people at the most. those buses might be crowded. so just want customers to give themselves plenty of additional time if going to two stations. also because of the road conditions throughout the area, people that rely on metro bus should anticipate additional travel time as well because of the road conditions impacted by the morning's storms. >> thanks so much for the update, steven. right to jerry to get the latest on the traffic, severe storms affecting roadways. >> indeed. during the height of the worst of the weather, people on interstates were literally stopping in their tracks, dangerous situation. but they couldn't see more than maybe 50 feet ahead of you. let's take a live look, as it stands. drying off a bit over northern virginia that is good news. however because of problems earlier, 395 jammed before the beltway to 95 across the 14th street bridge, really as far as weather's concerned, 95, 395 pretty much spared. we'll head over, as pete mentioned, several roots road are closed, 16th street and colorado avenue completely closed off because of trees down. montgomery county, we've been watching this intersection, and it appears finally things are beginning to improve up here, clopper road and first field road. that intersection completely flooded out. for a while earlier this morning 270 was completely shut down because of trees in the roadway. that has improved dramatically. but we're looking at delays, clarksburg off and on through the interchanges headed points south in germantown. again if you're using metro rails, you hear the forest flgln closed, silver springs because of a tree down in the roadway. montgomery county, trees down the roadway shut down. more calls coming in. we'll keep you updated all day long. >> thank you. we'll head tack bacback to tom >> this all began about three hours ago, 6:00, we had a line of thunderstorms, not strong storms that did come out of washington county and frederick county but began to intensify in montgomery county and remained strong as they moved south and east. right now where you see these dark oranges and reds where we're getting heaviest rains, right now queen ann's and talbot counties. it does look like the tornado warning may have expired but there was indication of circulation in the atmosphere near oxford in talbot county, heavy rain, gusty winds, frequent lightning, heading off to the south and east. areas impacted by the most intense winds is right here at the leading edge of this storm that's moving into these areas of southern talbot and dorchester county over the next 10 to 15 minutes. if you do sense strong winds coming your way, stay away from windows, go to interior room. if you have a basement, go to the basement. we'll be back. >> stev serevere storms, power reported and two metro stations, forest glenn and cleveland park closed, due to storm. we'll bring you the latest on news4. back to the "today" show in progress. able us. first let's get a check of the morning's top stories. >> good morning, ann and al. good morning, everyone. there's an arrest connected to a series of stabbing murders and attacks in three states. officials confirmed that a person of interest was arrested last night in atlanta on unrelated charges that he was trying to fly to israel. since may, five people have been stabbed to death in and around flint, michigan, and 20 others were wounded there and in leesburg, virginia, and toledo, ohio. police released a sketch of a suspect earlier this week but did not identify the man who is now in custody. a strong earthquake has struck this morning in ecuador. the 6.9 magnitude quake was centered about 110 miles southeast of the capital city of quito. survivors of monday's plane crash that killed former alaska senator ted stevens and others were unable to speak with investigators because of their injuries. among the four survivors are former nasa chief sean o'keefe and his son who are expected to recover. heavy rain triggered severe flooding in parts of iowa, killing one person and forcing the evacuation of hundreds. some places got up to six inches of rain. more rain is expected tonight and tomorrow members of the jury in the rad blagojevich case are hinting they are deadlocked on at least some of the corruption charges against him. the panel has been deliberating now almost two weeks. and some new parents in cincinnati, ohio, will have an easy time remembering exactly when their baby girl was born. ella rose was born on monday, get this, august 9th, 2010, at 11:12 p.m. so that would be 8-9-10, 11:12. and the fact that her name is really has us all saying really? now let's go back outside to ann. >> natalie, thank you. meantime, for the weather we've got al out here. >> thanks a lot, ann. we've got some newlyweds here. what's your name? >> mark and julie fisher. >> when did you get married? >> friday. >> well, happy wedding. >> thank you. >> all right. newly minted newlyweds. let's check your weather. see what's happening. there's the remnants of tropical depression number five. you can see that spin now just coming onshore. there at the coast of louisiana. good morning. we had a highly unusual unpredictable line of thunderstorms rapidly develop over the last three hours sweeping through the metro area causing power outages in montgomery, district of columbia, parts of prince georges county. right now that line of storms continue to advance south and east, now southern maryland, calvert, charles counties, heading into st. mary's, eastern shore, talbot, moving into dorchester county, heading off to the south and east. could produce gusts to 60 miles per hour, may cause wind da >> and that's your latest weather. natalie? >> al, thank you. now to that jetblew flight attendant steven slater who's become an instant celebrity after sliding down the emergency chute earlier this week. he may be a working man's hero but he is facing some very serious charges this morning. nbc's jeff rossen caught up with him, and he's outside slater's home in bell harbor, queens. any sightings there this morning. >> reporter: no sightings yet. still early. he doesn't h. >> a difficult commute for a lot of folks. police directing traffic at canal roadñi and fox hall road. there was a trech stretch of ca road, arizona, blocked off. making the trip to mcarthur boulevard. because of the problems with the power outages this is what it looks like now for folks trying to get through ross lynn, virginia, towards the key bridge, coming from the district into roslyn. it is just gridlocked every which way you go. power problems throughout the morning and many locations. a little piece of improving news up in montgomery count ty. clopper road looking bet rp about the water's receded. one point it was stacked up horrib horribly. 270 open but running slowly. folks postponed the commute. on the trip 395 to the 14th street bridg3ñ running slowly. flooding on the beltway north of town. a lot of traffic lights out in the area as you heard earlier. route 29 making the trip from white oak into heart of silver spring, all traffic lights out. problem as long georgia avenue as well. for those getting ready to head out the door, be forewarned, if your commute will take you around any of the problems, plai accordingly. give yourself a lot of extra time. we'll keep you yuupdated throughout the day. >> back to tom kiernan in the storm center for the latest. good morning. >> good morning. these storms moved rapidly through, developed out in washington county out of far southwestern pennsyvinia as well. much earlier this morning, predawn. they were a cluster of heavy rain with frequent lightning. didn't have damaging winds or reports out of washington count. frederick count any maryland it did intensify and rapidly intensified in american county, reports of wind gusts, 60, 70 miles per hour, caused tree limbs and power lines uprooted. the trees themselves falling on the power line. right now, the strongest storms are in southern maryland in dorchester county. they're about to come intoñi somerset county. this whole line's moving 30ñi miles an hour. the leading edge, gusts 60 miles per hour. tree limbs causing power outages in southern maryland in the next half hour to hour. stay tuned. we'll be back with more updates. stay with news4 throughout the morning. we'll have the latest on the severe storms. get the latest information on nbcwashington.com. but for now, back to the "today" sh show. en the comments will start pouring in. hopefully they're nice ones. >> why would you do this? >> because we need help. we need people to tell us sometimes. so there are all these new fashion sites that are going to help you find your personal style. and bottom line -- >> i'm just curious, are there no mirrors in your home? >> no but we can't tell. still you need that person to tell you, you look horrible. >> okay. and later on, if you're looking for the perfect burger to throw on the grill this weekend, we may have it for you. yes, it's been a lifelong search but it's one of the most popular burgers in manhattan. we're going to share some of the secrets in "today's kitchen." two words, pork belly. >> no. >> yes. >> no. >> yes. >> no. i don't think i can try it. a check of the weather for us? >> does this burger make me look fat? let's take a look, show you what's going on as far as your weekend is concerned. it's going to be hot in the upper mississippi and ohio river valleys, risk of some strong storms. sunny and hot out west. showers and remnants of tropical depression five in the good morning.ñi i'm meteorologist tom kiernan. line of strong storms that came through the metro area in the last few hours is in south rp maryland on the eastern shore. heaviest winds now are on the lower eastern shore. many othareas there are getting heavy rain in dorchester county, and it's just about to move into wicomico and somerset counties. these are the areas that could be affected by strong gusty winds here through 9:45 or so. with perhaps heavy rain and gusty winds, could get more strong storms this afternoon. coming up next the good side to bad habits. concierge claim centers. so i can just drop off my car and you'll take care of everything? yep, even the rental. 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>> that's right. >> so let's talk about the first one. the first someone getting angry. and it actually can help you keep your stress in check. but we're not talking about the steven slater, pulling the chute, and going down the slide kind of angry. >> no. that was probably not the most constructive way to handle anger. but in general letting anger out every once in awhile can be cathartic, can be good for you. because if you're keeping frustration and stress inside, that can actually wreak havoc over time. more so than just being constructive, and letting it out, vent to a friend. scream out loud by yourself. not so much in the workplace, though. right? >> no, probably not the best idea. >> okay. next is coffee. and drinking coffee, as we've heard, you know, actually can be good for you. it can cut your cancer risk. what types of cancer are we talking about? >> in particular uterine, liver, and colon cancer that have been found to be reduced when you intake moderate coffee. and in addition, parkinson's and diabetes risk has been lowered the, as well. there's more to coffee than the energy boosting affect. >> how many cups a day? >> that's the key. two cups a day. and a cup is six ounces. so to give you an idea a starbucks tall would be 12 ounces. you can have a starbucks tall a day wiout a problem. >> now don't feel at liberty to add all those flavors syrups or sugary whipped creams. >> that's going to negate the effect. >> drinking beer can benefit your heart and bones. and it's actually a rich source of nutrients, right? >> yes, it is. well first of all, beer like any alcohol, in moderation, has been found to lower your risk of cardiovascular disease and it does this by elevating your good cholesterol and inhibiting the clotting of blood. also has quite a few nutrients, has b-6, and a lot of antioxidants. we often think of red wine as being full of antioxidants but beer has it as well. one 12-ounce can a day. and for bone health it's loaded with silica. it strengthens your bones. >> what's better, beer or red wine? >> if i had to pick probably red wine. but if you prefer beer, in moderation, it's just fine. >> and dark beer you say is better. >> dark peer has more, that's right. >> okay. also chewing gum can be good for you. not what mom told us. what is it about tsh-we should say sugarless chewing gum. >> in many ways, actually. first, chewing gum has been found to improve your oral health. it helps prevent cavities, simply by causing the production of saliva, which cleanses the mouth. but it also has been found to keep people calm. subjectively, people have reported that they feel a little more relaxed when they chew gum, and it helps boost alertness, concentration and memory. it activates areas of the brain that help cognitive processing. and in addition, it may help with weight loss. >> oh, that's good. helps keep your appetite in check. quickly we have a couple other good ones and that can you can actually be a slob. it will help you breathe easier. >> if you don't make your bed, you actually help kill dust mites that live in your bet. they thrive in moist conditions and if you tuck the sheets in real tight, they'll grow more readily. >> oh, that is disgusting. all right. so, leave the bed unmade. it's okay, honey. thank you, as always. coming up next, point, click and try it on. checking your style online right after this. 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[ male announcer ] hidden valley ranch. vegetables are naturally low in calories. v8 juice gives you 3 of your 5 daily servings. it's a tasty, nutritious way to make this number go up... and help this one go down. v8. what's your number? take off that mask. lose that heavy makeup look, and slip into lightweight coverage that really fits. clean makeup. easy breezy beautiful covergirl. activia is better than ever! easy breezy beautiful hey, you guys. want to try activia's great new taste? today is your tasty lucky day! sure, why not? isn't this the yogurt that, you know... helps regulate your digestive system. ooh, i think i'll pass. no, no, no! trust me. it is beyond tasty. okay! mmm! wow! i can't believe it, i love it! mmm, this is really good! new best tasting activia ever! taste it, love it, or it's free! ♪ activia this morning on "bobbie's style buzz" cyber style. fashion is at your fingertips with innovative websites that allow you to not only try on clothes but get unbiased opinions on how you look. bobbie thomas is here to show us some of these sites. >> good morning. >> i think a lot of us always have that question, does it really look good on me but we don't have a girlfriend who we can show it to. this is the next best way to do it, right? >> absolutely. there are tons of sites that are free that you can have fun with fashion. first site is called lookgood.com. >> this takes me back to the days of playing with paper dolls. you see obviously a gorgeous model standing here. >> that would be you. >> this is for ladies. you can try on literally different things to see whether or not this is something you would want to wear. i mean, it's so great. and i'm sorry to the employers now. somebody will spend hours on a break trying to put on all of these clothes. it's great. you can get other people's looks and save your looks, too. >> it gives you an idea of how things look together. which is fantastic. next site is called taz.com. this is a great one. i always have the hardest time picking out sunglasses. >> because you can't really see it. >> half the time you can't tell if it looks right on you. >> this is kind of a cool time where it's something online that will help you -- >> oh. >> i've got you up. >> oh. >> i am in love with the technology because they're makeup and hair technology is great but the sunglass section is my favorite. you get to try on different sunglasses. tell me a frame you want to wear. and what's so cool, you can see your eyes through that. and it's a really realistic version of what. these are not kind of gimmicky sites. the sites today are very advanced. and you can get a really great idea. you can save your looks again on the site and come back, and this really helps you decide, before you make a purchase or an investment, what you may like and you can also ask your friends, what do you think? >> right. perfect. next one is gotryiton.com. and tell me how that one looks. >> i know al was making fun of this in the tease. if you have a job interview coming up or something you really want to get a second opinion for, from the sitting room, because they have an iphone app launching, you upload a picture of yourself. we have some full screens to show people, and users in this community that are objective but don't know you will vote whether you should wear it or change it. >> i hope they're nice users. >> everything on there is positive, constructive criticism. they might say hey, i say change it and try going for this color or a belt but they gave you reasons why. it was really great community, i'm a big fan of this website. even guys, 80% are women, 20% of guys are on there, too. >> really? okay. guys care, too, apparently al roker. he was like, who does that? >> okay, next. well he's just got great style. >> he does. he knows what works. i'll take al roker's advice. chicktoppia.com. this focuses on street style? >> it's an online resource. i love this because you can see what people are really wearing. if you're in ohio you can see what somebody is wearing in soho. and you can type in something you might be curious about. what hats people are wearing. what's great is it's not only for us as a community, but also retailers you can see the different kind of fun hats people have put together and how they're wearing it. also a retailer they're looking at trends you're really liking. even though the magazine might say it's a trend you may realize on the street it's not. and cargos are actually trending. that's a popular thing. >> big army trends going on. all right, bobbie, great ideas on the websites. you can find out more on our website, todayshow.com. and bobbie always contributes to that, as well. coming up next, the burger that has celebrities going wild. but first, this is "today" on nbc. this morning in "today's kitchen," not your ordinary burger and fries. after months of testing out different meat combinations, hot chef john hit a home run with his signature burger. he now serves more than 300 of this in his hit restaurant the lion in his restaurant in the east village. a month. how many different combinations did you go through? >> quite a few. we make a really great -- >> can you divulge? >> absolutely not. after three months of work? >> but on our website we have a -- >> you have a very good -- >> very good -- okay so you've got three kinds of meat. >> this is basically just chuck. but grills very good, high quality. the key here is just you can see the fat, right? you don't want to work the burger because that just makes the burger -- >> in other words, the fat will start to break down? >> exactly. so you can see it doesn't look that great but can you put it on there, and it's -- form it and put it on the grill. >> how long do you keep it on each side? >> oh, what is it -- very difficult to question. how hot is your grill? >> right. >> on this particular one it will take awhile. but we have this going for a little bit here. i'm going to flip this over. >> i've always heard that a big mistake a lot of people make is they overflip. >> don't touch it. put it down, go away. just leave it. >> leave it alone? >> so you're putting some cheese on it? >> i am. two kinds of cheese. a sweet and a salty, a prove loan and a goud today. >> that's cooking. >> i've got vidalia onions and beautiful tomatoes. you can see the grill marks there. >> and just for fun you've got -- >> some apple. >> now fries. >> fries. what we did, we cut some hand fries here. and you can see, look how beautiful brown they are. >> we cut them, beautiful fries. >> do you cook these twice? >> yes, exactly. the first thing we do is soak these in water. cut them, soak them in water, and we took them out, and put them on a towel, dried them. >> that's very important. >> very important. because you put water in hot oil, not a good situation. >> that's dangerous. >> exactly. here you can see they've gotten nice. one thing i cut some herbs and at the last minute -- >> oh. >> throw in some herbs. sage, parsley. >> and you've got a candy thermometer. why is that important? >> really important because you want the fries to be about 350. >> and you cook them twice? >> about 300. about six minutes first. cool them down. >> okay. >> and then again now for about two minutes. >> okay. >> and you can see -- >> and then a little -- >> okay. the herbs, you can see how we make -- >> so it's healthy because you've got some grains in there. >> very healthy. >> very nice. >> okay. >> honey, really. it's healthy. if there are greens. >> a beautiful potato. >> i've got one here. >> take a little lettuce. and the tomato first. >> a burger first. >> okay. >> and this is our burger with the smoked gouda and the prove loan, and the tomato and vidalia onion. now you can take the apple with bacon, i'm going to take the pork belly. >> i can do both. >> can you do both. >> why wouldn't you. >> right. >> and there's my burger. that's a thing of beauty. >> ha! so let's cut one. >> all right. where's natalie? >> you're trying it, al. that's huge. that has your name all over it. pork belly. >> oh, yes. 9:54 is your time now. 74 degrees. you can see clouds in the sky, as our area cleans up from severe storms that passed through, damaging homes,ñi toppling trees and knocking out power. right to meteorologist tom kiernan. have the storms moved out yet, tom? >> they exits the immediate metro area but plaguing eastern shore at this hour. they developed early this morning, initially as thunder showers around mt. washington and intensified in frederick county and rapidly intensified in montgomery county. and they've continued to move off to the south and east. this is radar history over theñ last hour. still quite a bit of lightning in st. mary's county and southern calvert county as well as on the eastern shore advancing to south and east. it's rapidly moving out of dorchester county into wicomico and somerset counties into worcester county. it's hitting the atlantic beaches here probably in an hour. the leading edge of those, could be gusts around 60 miles an hour here just to the south and west of salisbury and where you see darker colors is where we're getting the heaviest rains, torrential downpours, lots of lightning. this continuing to advance off to the south and east. we'll have a complete wrap-up of the storms on news4 midday at 11:00. we'll tell you what may be happening later on today, as well. >> pepco reporting that 73,000 customers in montgomery county have no electricity. in prince georges county, close to 11,000 customers without power. that total is nearly 17,000 in the district. more than 20 intersects are without power. a tree came crashing down on an apartment in gaithersburg. this comes from a news4 viewer. the 511 south frederick avenue. you can see the treeçó ripped through the apartment building. several people were forced out of their homes and that tree caused damage to the second and third floors as it came down around 7:00 this morning. there are at least five people with minor injuries and some people had to be rescued from the building. >> roads are a mess around the area. take a look at what happened in a tree down across the road and the fat fast moving water came up around the bank. one man could not. his car ended up in the water, overturned, and from there swept away. he stayed there an the scene waiting for help to arrive. we talked to him, surprisingly, he was in good spirits. >> i was stopped and a wall of water came and run my boat into the creek. new york a wall of water came and took it away. a saw bottom underneath the bottom of the cardó so i got ou. the water must have been moving very fast. there was no road. >> close call. fast-moving water and the storm blew through the area quickly. metro stations dealing withñr flooding. take a look at this picture. inside of the cleveland park metro station on the red line. the cleveland park station and forest glen stations are closed because of storm damage. there are also trees down, higher up on the red line, as trains are silver tracking between silver spring and takoma stations. roads are a mess. jerry edwards and the mnews4 traffic network. >> northern virginia, 395, interstated seem to be fairly well, all things considered. the delays begin at pentagon to the 14th street bridge.çó elsewhere, not so good making the trip out of roslyn, lehighway north lindh street jammed up. police directing at canal road. parts of canal road were closed off. loaded up along 270 and the capital beltway. stay with news4 for cmklete coverage of the aftermathñi of storms. live team coverage news4 midday at 11:00. see you then. ♪ [ female announcer ] wisk is about to change the way you look at stains forever. discover the power of our stain spectrum technology in the new red bottle of wisk. coming august 2010. [ female announcer ] wisk is about to change the way you look at stains forever. discover the power of our stain spectrum technology in the new red bottle of wisk. coming august 2010. sal television in the new red bottle of wisk. from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> hey, everybody. it is thursday, august 12th, 20106789 that2 2010. that's the day i got engaged 24 years ago. >> and your birthday is coming up. two birthdays are coming up on monday. so monday is going to be a big day on the "today" show. a lot of birthday celebrations. >> it was funny yesterday. >> what happened? >> what do you do for frank? he's got everything. so we -- his son, his oldest son who is a year older than pim flew in with karen and his two granddaughters. they're like mine anyway after all these years. we surprised him at a restaurant. >> frank didn't know they were coming? >> he didn't know they were coming. when we got there and looked at them, he didn't know they were coming. he was so stunned, he didn't -- i know he was thinking, who's that? hello? >> don't get -- >> who the beep did she invite for dinner or lunch? i'm always bringing strays and stuff. all t of a sudden he's like it's my son and grandchildren. they're here for a week, so it's going to be a long week. you went out last night. did you have a good time? >> i did, yes. i had a good time. >> so there's a good story in the paper today -- >> that's a story we're not going to tell you. >> exactly. there's a woman who is an ad executive. she was out for an evening, and as she's standing outside after she's had a few drinks admittedly a homeless guy walks by. >> she said one margarita. you'll question na. >> i homeless person says can i have some money i'd like to buy a vitamin water and other things. so she's looking in her pocket and doesn't have any cash but she had her platinum amex. she said to the man i only have my platinum amex is he said can i borrow that. she said yes. he said can i buy cigarettes. >> she said those are bad for you. >> but she gave him the stuff. so he goes off with the platinum card, and he's gone. normally you would think what's going to happen is this man ever coming back? she believed in him. she trusted him. >> she also works as an advocate for the homeless, so her heart was there. >> sure enough here he came back with that card, thanked her for the cigarettes and the vitamin water. i mean, that was -- she knew in her heart the guy was going to come back. you know when you trust someone sometimes. >> maybe she was -- one time i was separated and i was coming down -- i lived in california and i was coming down from the mountain where we lived to go to the grocery store. there was this homeless family on the side of the road, and sometimes something just triggers something in you. they had a little girl that remindzed me so much of my niece around the same age, but i'm talking destitute. i drove past, and i thought, that could be my niece. i went back, picked them up, thought i'd drive them to the grocery store because i was going to the grocery store, and then feed them, you know. well, i took them home, and i lived alone at this point. >> they were with you? >> i went to wash all their clothes because it was a smell like -- i gave them robes and take all their clothes, and this filthy, filthy magazine falls out of the man's -- like a porn book. wors worse. that's when i went what have i done? i know that feeling. i don't think her life was in danger, just her financial help. i know that feeling. you want to trust. i'll never forget that experience. i wouldn't suggest you do that. >> i used to live in a different apartment in new york, and there was this woman who was outside who was homeless and also off. every time she saw only me coming out of the building, she would point to me and say you [ bleep ]. >> thank you. >> every time i walked out in the whole group she would -- i reminded her of somebody. >> maybe it was you. >> i started gegtting used to. every day there she was. then one day, she was gone. i so worried about her even though she cursed me out every single morning. i don't know what happened to her. that's my story. >> maybe she moved to another neighborhood and now she's doing it to katie couric. >> bad news for j. lo if the reports are true. >> maybe she contributed to this. >> here's the story. they were looking for judges for "american idol"," and j. lo kep coming up. "people" is reporting that j. lo is no longer in contention to be one of these judges, and they're very coveted positions. you get all this notiriety again. "people" says they were making demand that they thought were too much. >> she demanded herself right out of a job they're saying. i don't know. i don't know if it's true. whether you've been in this business forever you have agents and managers, but they're supposed to come and tell you. i can't tell you how many times people have said i wanted you in my movie and your agent said no, and you go what? sometimes it does happen. we're not blaming j. lo, but somewhere along the line demands were made. >> it looks like steven tyler. you and i would be great. >> let's see if that happens. there are freaky stories that we have come across lately. the freaky story of today, there's a guy who decided that he wanted to change his name, and that's becoming very trendy as we told you yesterday. >> a guy was in in god we trust. >> in guy wants to change his name to boomer the dog. he's obsessed with this show in the '80s, so this 44-year-old guy wants to change his name. the judge is saying, look, it's weird changing your name to that. let's go back a little bit. there's a term you may or may not be familiar with. it's called anthrophormic enthusiasmist. >> they dress up in full garb. dressing up like a dog and changing your name to boomer -- >> only appropriate on halloween, people. in the privacy of your own home. >> people do bizarre things. >> we love our facebook people, too. send us examples of freak of the day. not casting judgment on people. you be the judge. >> there was a woman who weighed 1,000 pounds and was on a webcam all the time, and people paid to watch her eat. they liked to watch her eat. >> that's sad. >> they're called feeders. they like too feed them or watch people eat. i don't know. >> the music again one more time. ♪ freak out >> go to "okay or not okay." is it okay or not okay for young girls to model. kathie lee says my daughter models and i modelled first at the age of 17. it's not yurl age, it's about what is appropriate for your age. as long as it'sclassy, it's fine. >> one weekend in modeling realized that's the last thing in the world to do. for me it was like -- it wasn't for me. cass is fine with it, but she'd rather be acting. they actually show a picture of kendall jenner, who is my goddaughter, and see what's she's wearing in there. it's totally and adorably inappropriate. she starts wearing a g string by the time she's 5. not appropriate. >> hoda said a simple sun dress or new pair of sandals but when your youngster looks like she's auditions for the real housewives time to hang up the stilettos. >> no offense, bethany. >> that's the issue. it's not about what you're modeling but how you're model g modeling, right? >> gotcha. >> sarah, did you ever model. >> no, i definitely did not model. i waitressed, but i was awful. in addition to your freaky photo go to klgaskhoda.com. let us know -- we want to address that on monday. >> coming up next, he is bringing country to this big city. love this guy, blake shelton is here. you'll never guess his favorite past time. that's right after this. @?úó @e@wx?÷/0g@o@oúo@m@n@b he's the self-proclaimed country star. >> blake shelton has a brand new cd out called "all about tonight." he and miranda lambert got engaged. >> in your opinion love layou w time you were here. how did you propose? >> we live out in the middle of nowhere in oklahoma, and i tricked her and got her to come out on my land. i like to grow corn and things like that, and i told her i was going to take her and show her how my corn was doing, which is very romantic. >> there happened to be some photographers there to capture the moment or what? >> cornography. >> did you get down on one knee and do the whole sning. >> do you want to talk about this on television? i did, as a matter of fact. >> was she surprised at the timing? >> she said yes. she clearly was drunk or something from the night before, probably. >> you had some moonshine? congratulations to you. >> thank you very much. >> congrats on the new cd, "all about tonight." the single is number five already. it flew to the top. there it is. >> after this one i'm quitting. >> would you be happy if you quit just sitting in your cornfield? >> he wouldnyou wouldn't be hap. >> no you wouldn't. >> look at my reputation there. >> that guy and i have a future, i think. what would miranda do? she doesn't want to quit. >> she'd have to work if i quit. >> would you be a house daddy? >> i would love to be that. >> when you say daddy, that means kids. i don't want to do that. >> you and miranda sing together on a track, right? >> yeah, "dragging the river." >> maybe we could cue a little bit of that up. >> it's about running off and getting married because the parents don't approve. so they fake their death so their families are looking for their dead bodies in the river and they go to las vegas. it's very romantic. >> whethn the parents find out they're alive, they won't be so upset. >> did you write it? >> no. a guy named chris stapleton wrote that. >> are you excited about the future? no matter what's going on, you always seem like -- >> no. >> you are cranky. >> you tell us the truth. >> yes, i'm excited. absolutely. i'm getting married and got a new record out. listen, she's down in texas with her family right now and they're looking at some plans. >> what does that mean? >> i hope get an invitation, okay? i don't know. >> you know what you have an invitation for? you're going to be sitting in my seat about a week, ten days. >> you're going to co-host the program. how do you feel about that? >> how do you feel about that? you may not be welcome. i'm a natural. as long as i don't have to read stuff, i'll be good. >> i'm ready to retire as well. >> really? >> here's the thing. i'm going to loan you my dressing room downstairs and my spanx and you can do that freaky thing you like to do. >> okay. all right. she knows plenty about me. >> we wish you the best of luck with miranda and the new cd. >> thank you. i need it and need it. >> it's called "all about tonight." you have to hear that single on itunes. >> you are one of our favorite people. have fun with the hoda woman while i'm gone. clean my spanx afterwards. up next, how documenting your life can help change it. we'll show you how to get started. you just wash them in the jengee cycle, okay? pnpñpñpñpñpññ @a?p @st#(f fh@! have you ever had some thoughts you didn't want to share with anyone else but you needed to the let out? it may be time to start a journal. >> staring a blank page or yes a blank computer screen can be so intimidating. harriet cole is here to help you get started. she's a lifestylist and the president of harriet cole media. >> she's a very big deal. >> keeping a journal is a thing that either people do or people don't, right? >> i don't do it. i write so much anyway, but you do it. >> i journal in the morning. >> a lot of people start when they're little girls in particular. the diary idea, and you start when you get to that point of intraspekz. they continue it on twitter and facebook. i do not recommend that you ponder the moments of your life, because usually when people journal it's when something emotional is going on. ingts a one of thing to do. write it down and take a look at it later, but taking a look at it later is you taking it a look at it later. >> if someone found my journals they would think i was a crazy manic-depressive because you write on the bad days. you journal with all that stuff. >> it's like getting a toxin out of your body to start it. >> it's the way you can do it. if you have the practice of journalling, you know you write about something emotionally charged but try to write it down and examine it. what can i learn from this. if you can write about na also. >> i think a lot of people are intimidated. you look at a blank page and it's a random monday and put your pen down and what do i write? do i relive what happened the day before? what do you do, harriet, when you write? >> i start by setting the scene. so what time is it, where am i, what is my mood? i also write when i'm happy, so i make that conscious decision. i don't do it every day, but i do it often. you know what it is? you want to do it every day. >> that's right. >> that got me, right? >> i have tried doing it every day, but i tell you, i write every day, as you point out. i write every day, but in my work i write every day. i don't write to myself every day. i think it's a wonderful gift, but set the tone, where i am, what i'm doing, and what i'm thinking about. sometimes i just use one little thing to explore. >> i like to do a lessons learned and then a grateful section. >> gratitude is so important. >> sometimes you might learn something from somebody randomly. >> things like that. the things that inspire you are a good thing. >> i love that you are looking for gratitude, because especially whether we're energized and just feeling very emotional about something, we don't see gratitude. we just see fire. that fire -- why i like the blank page, by the way, is because you can draw on it, you can write the letters big or small. >> you own it. >> that's what you can't get in a computer in the same way. >> you can. >> it's an awful lot of work with the graphics and stuff. >> now the ipad and options for keeping a journal especially if you travel a lot. what i would say is don't e-mail it. truly this should be an intimidate expression between you and you. if you're writing in your journal about someone, there's a relationship going awry, maybe don't name the person. fictionalize your life. you don't have to call him sam. it could be x or even not. >> harriet, thank you. >> you're a sweetheart. >> still to come, we'll tell you how to shop the best outlets and plus who is going to buy like jennifer aniston. damage like this is causing serious problems across our area this morning. coming up on news4 midday, live team coverage of severe weather. more than 100,000 customers without power. i'm barbara harrison. the latest on how metro's moving after storms caus we're back on this thirst day with more of "today." if you love a good bargain and can't help telling friends about the buy you got, you came to the right plate. >> jill martin spent the day at tanger outlet center to find the best way to get a bang for her buck. >> how often? once a week. >> constantly. >> do you come here to buy something specific? >> yes, shoes. >> what are you looking for? >> everything. >> i always say to wear a solid black t-shirt with black pants, because if you pick up a top like this turquoise top, if i can use a solid top, i can go in the dressing room and try this on without totally just throwing it. >> let your fingers do some of the walking. so this website then checks what the sales and coupons are. >> a lot of your favorite stores will have additional discounts. >> i found the perfect gift for klg and hoda. just kidding. look at these shoes. only four pairs left and only one size 9 that's my size. if i don't take it now, they'll be gone a few seconds later. whether you see it, grab it. these are $78 and they are priced $59 and have 20% off. significantly less. >> "today" and "us weekly" contributor and author, jill martin. >> who gets cranky and fabulous? >> let me have it. i know what i am. thank you, precious. >> thank you. >> thank you, thank you. >> i had a lot of fun, and it was interesting finding out about yoult let shopping. you said i have a new outfit for fall from banana republic, which is an outlet store there. i got it for a little over $100 with my 20% coupon. >> you can still wear it in -- >> how much at a regular banana republic store? >> something like it a little over $300. people don't realize that their retail stores within the outlet stores. it says outlet store, and you look on the tag and it says youtd let store or ask, because some of them are retail stores. >> i thought all of the leftover merchandise went to the outlet store. this is brand new for fall? >> not always. they can create certain items that were popular specifically for outlet stores at a lower price. you have to be smart about it and research and ask questions. they'll tell you we're a retail store, so you don't get a buy there. >> if i don't know how much it is in banana republic in rockefeller center, how do i know? >> 40% to 60% is the range to look. a lot of outlets like tanger outlet will match the lower price. if you see this outfit at a banana republic, they'll give your money back. you have to be smart with the receipt. you go online, and coupons are such a big deal. i couldn't believe it. i would sgik up that was originally $4 million and a million dollars and look at all the 20% coupons and you get a great deal. >> you have to have a plan. the problem is you want that pair of shoes like that lady says but i need that andeed that. walk out paying a fortune. >> you met this family, right? >> it's perfectly fine. i met this unbelievable family. what are you looking for? he said shoes, right. but he got everything but. >> of course. look at the baby. >> so cute. >> is that miles. >> even though they go all the time, you were doing it properly, right? specific things to buy. >> did you get all the stuff you're wearing? >> more or less. >> you got a lot on there. >> a good dealed on the burberry coat for half off. the diaper bag is another. >> that's the cutest diaper bag. >> she actually made a spreadsheet with all her savings from the day. they each saved over $500 in their shopping for the day, and they're smart outlet shoppers. thep went online and researched with shoes but this great jacket for fall. >> and the baby got some stuff? >> whole outfit. >> the best time to go to the outlet stores? >> monday through friday is better than the weekend. they say go first thing in the morning or 4:00 when everyone is exhausted. >> things have been picked over by then, too, so maybe early early. >> he woke up for a second. >> there was a brief moment. voice. face off in another heated competition. what do you think? w we learn about youth right after this. if you're looking for a challenge that will rev up your body, get ready to talk on -- >> wrinkles. you said arngles. >> dmo, i didn't. >> "prevention" magazine defy your age is a diet that promises to get you healthy in three months. here to get you started is katie becker. hello, katie. >> hi. >> we love being quizzed here. >> we love it. let's do it. >> first question, myth or fact. eating purple food will help you stay young? >> i say fact. >> this is a fact. a colorful diet is an important part of the plan. it's going on in purple foods like blueberries and red wine actually and grapes. it's good for prevent hard disease and alzheimer's and it tastes good. next question. myth or fact. as long as you are using the right products for your skin, you do not need to change your regimen to stay looking fresh? >> i say fact. don't change. >> i'll say myth. >> it is a myth. you're right. >> kwon graevery six to 12 mont should change something. it can be easy. use an alternate night cream a couple times a week. >> myth or fact. filling up on carbohydrates can help turn back the clock? >> myth. >> that has to be a myth. >> wait a minute. >> all right. you're right again, it is a fact. having the right carbohydrates in your diet is important. you want whole grains. >> but you said filling up on carbs. isn't that what the question was? >> you still to want get the fiber from the carbs, and that will help you stay fuller longer. >> i don't believe katie. >> you want the whole grains in fruits and vegetables and whole grain cereal. >> you have three and i have one. >> myth or fact. if you apply just one anti-ager, it should be a moisturizer. >> i'm going to say myth because it's a fact. >> it's actually a myth. you want to use a rheetinoid. >> i'm so old, i'm learned this stuff. go ahead, katie. >> it plumps collagen production so you reduce fine lines and wrinkles. >> it really does work. >> just avoid the sun. >> you can get the prescription version or over the counter called retinol. myth or fact, women have greater amounts of vitamin c in their diet have fewer wrinkles. >> i'm going to say myth because it's true. >> it's a fact. a study in the american journal of clingal nutrition said women with higher amounts of vitamin c actually have 11% fewer chances of wrinkles. >> are you and her in cahoots? i don't get it. >> you want 75 milligrams a day. that's like in a grapefruit. so maybe have half a grapefruit with breakfast and the other half later in the day. >> what about just taking vitamin c? >> you can take vitamin c as well. >> it's better to get it from the food. >> i'm going to get this one right. give me it. >> myth or fact, eating fats will lead to -- >> it says working out can affect your dna, making you age more slowly? >> your dna cannot change. your dna is your dna. >> it's a myth. >> i'm going to say fact, because i got this one right. >> this is fact. >> thank you. >> it can change your dna. >> katie says so. katie knows everything. >> give your explanation for that. >> people who work out more have longer telemers. it's making you younger. >> you're going to have much better health and live longer, but your dna is your dna and cannot change. >> you got it wrong. let's move on. >> next one. eating fat can increase the rate in which your skin ages. >> fact. >> this is a happy fact. if you get the right fats, it's good for you. >> that means my thighs are not going to live very long. >> it's a myth. >> i'm sorry. it's a myth. >> so we were both wrong. >> the positive thing is that you want to get good fats in your diet. omega 3s pump your skin. >> there are lots of bad fats, kate. >> you want to look for salmon and tuna, leafy greens, walnuts. >> what was the final score? what's the final score? >> 5-3 kathie. >> thank you, katie. you come back anytime you want, sweetheart. >> well-done. >> next we have the woman who helped jennifer aniston appreciate your body. she'll show us how it's done right after this. who doesn't want to look like jennifer aniston? >> who doesn't? >> get out the yoga mat because now is your chance. yoga to the stars mandy ingbert is behind jennifer aniston's gorgeous body. >> she can help us all out with her new dvd. >> you obviously practice what you preach. >> thank you. people say i want jennifer anist aniston's body. i'm like, what about my body? >> to transform a celebrity body like that, a lot say, boy, i'd love to look like that. how much work does it take to achieve that? >> we all have the body we have to take care of. it's really about consistency and finding a way to practice regularly. like three times a week is a good place to start. >> isn't it unfair to set up one person as an example and say you, tooshgs could look like this if you did yoga three times a week? some people have inherent body situations and they shouldn't feel bad about themselves because of that. >> toilgtsi totally agree with . it's really about starting exactly where you are and loving the body you have. i really believe that if you start really caring for your body and loving your body as it is, it starts to fall into place. >> things start to improve. >> like your natural body. >> a lot of people don't feel like yoga is for them because it gets boring. i'll be honest with you, i feel that way sometimes. i feel like i'm sitting there. if i'm working out, i want to do something. >> you want to have fun and play around. >> that's why i created the hybrid, which is a yoga pose and moves into a toning exercise. but i wanted to grab the person that got bored in the yoga class, so i hope to grab you today. >> are we going to do this? where should we go? >> flip off the shoes. that won't work here. >> i'm now 4 feet tall. >> okay. so all of this is on my dvd on my website by the way. we're going to start off with temple pose off the mat, and we're going to come down into this lovely little pose. >> i can't do any of these. >> i'm going to be flashing america. >> i can't do it. >> she's doing it. here we are. we hold this pose, and kathie come up a little bit. >> my upper body. >> we're in this great pose toning the gluts, right? so squeeze up. >> squeezing. >> then we come down and into a squat. so we keep this moving battle, and while we're here i'd like to set it in tension. my intention for this week is eat, play, love. >> okay. >> my intention is not to show my spanx. >> let's go down. >> it's pulsatinpulsating. that comes kind of naturally. >> we don't want to hear about that. let's move up. bring your feet and toes together. inhale and then exhale and sink down. good. so let's play a little. sink down into your tush like you're a lightning bolt. >> that's hard to maintain your -- >> it sure is. you wouldn't do this by yourself. let's go down. squeeze. d up. beautiful, you guys. three. do you fueel your gluts? >> back here where you get that back flap. >> let's go down two, three -- this is a real trick. pretend you're a kid. lower down onto your butt. yay. >> what is going on? >> so we come up into both poses, this is for your abdominals. good idea. >> it lives forever in cyberspace. reach your arms forward, and you should feel this your abdominals. don't forget to breathe, you guys. i did forget. we're going to come up, good, extend, and -- >> hoda, you're doing nothing! >> thank you, mandy. >> thank you so much, mandy. >> thank you, honey. we'll be back with more of "today" on nbc. oh, i'm -- i'm glad he was on that shot. >> that was a spanx alert. >> a lot going on down there. you have no idea. time for miss sarah haines. >> in reference to your furry talk, travis wrote in -- mia wrote in that she worked at a zoo and the furry convention came to visit. she fell obligated to follow them around. one had a tail and the older man was wearing ears. >> neez athese are guys that dr like animals. they're called furries. when is our music? who is directing today? >> careful. >> they'll put up my picture without makeup. tomorrow actor keer ren culkin is here. >> your kids, college and money. what you should you know. of course, it's ambush friday. >> dry day.