Transcripts For WBAL Today 20100819 : vimarsana.com

and dozens of spectators are nursing their injuries today, thursday, august 19th, 2010. captions paid for by nbc-universal television this thursday morning, i m meredith vieira. and i m matt lauer. nearly seven years, five months after the u.s.-led invasion of iraq got under way. the final american combat brigade left that country overnight crossing into kuwait just before dawn. historic moment that comes nearly two weeks ahead of president obama s august 31st deadline. 50,000 troops will stay in iraq for at least another year, serving in noncombat roles. we ll have the latest in a live report from kuwait straight ahead. also ahead, the latest on that controversial plan to build a mosque year ground zero. new numbers show the majority of americans are against this idea. rudy giuliani was mayor of new york city during 9/11. so, how does he feel about that planned mosque? we re going to talk to him in a live interview in just a little while. plus, a freak accident at a fishing pier. a 10-year-old boy s liver pierced when he was stabbed in the stomach by a stingray barb. he ll share his story in an exclusive live interview coming up. let s begin on this thursday morning with the overnight withdrawal of the last u.s. combat brigade in iraq. nbc s richard engel traveled with them. he s at camp virginia in kuwait. richard, good morning to you. good morning, matt. soldiers from the 4-2 striker brigade, they call themselves the raiders, have officially crossed into kuwait. that happened overnight. their vehicles are still here behind me. the soldiers are now just waiting to go home. commanders on the ground tell us it was a historical milestone that changed the war as we know it. on a windless morning, already near 100 degrees before sunrise the 30-ton strikers crossed into kuwait. 440 soldiers, in 68 strikers, the last american combat troops leave iraq. good job, guys, good job. good job! reporter: just two american soldiers greet them as they cross the border. an understated arrival. although the soldiers have been driving all night, some cheer. we re going home! reporter: or light cigars. we accompanied the strikers on their journey out of iraq, code named the last patrol. so this is the vehicle? it began on a base on the edge of baghdad. where the soldiers set off on the 326-mile drive to kuwait. the soldiers have just left camp liberty in baghdad. it s about 2:00 in the morning. they ll be driving for seven hours in the night, then take a break before pushing on to the border. the troops scan the roads, weapons armed. but mostly as a precaution. the threat is considered low. at sunrise we first see the road. the troops are driving down iraq s main north/south highway. smooth, wide blacktop. what a difference to how american troops entered iraq. in the 2003 invasion, u.s. forces crashed through the desert to surprise iraqi forces. as they exit iraq, the strikers navigate through traffic on a road protected by iraqi troops, trained by american forces. unlike the invasion, too, the helicopters over the convoy aren t providing protection. but carry reporters taking pictures. our own video is broadcast by a satellite truck we affectionly call the blue mobile. it can transmit while driving. we will cross over this border within about 15 minutes. the satellite truck was named after nbc news correspondent david bloom. in 2003, bloom used it to do the first-ever live television reports from a moving battlefield. but because it s an armored vehicle reporter: sadly, bloom died of a blood clot before reaching baghdad. on the convoy to kuwait, lieutenant steven dewitt from san jose, california, knows he s taking part in a turning point for american troops, and the united states. it s just sinking in. a war that has defined this generation of military men and women. and today, it s over. reporter: in california, dewitt s family watches. and waits for his return. it s really great to see him as he heads the way out. reporter: but it was back on the kuwaiti border where we saw, perhaps, the most iconic image of this withdrawal. soldiers from the 4-2 striker brigade, unloading their weap weapons. chucking the ammunition so it can be turned in. 7 naep years after the combat mission in iraq began. it is the end of war as we have come to know it as american soldiers, and as america. reporter: a withdrawal that for many soldiers, veterans, military families, and just americans, brings closure. an official ceremony will be held in iraq on the first of september to mark the official symbolic transition from the combat mission to that new training mission, which, by the way, is called new dawn. that officially will begin on the 1st of september. but this, the end of the combat mission as we know it, was the last american combat brigade receiving iraq. and now their vehicles just behind me in kuwait. richard engel in kuwait for us this morning. welcome images. richard, thank you very much. it s now six minutes after the hour. here s meredith. matt, thank you. now to pakistan where those floodwaters have left millions homeless. not expected to fully recede until the end of the month. ann curry joins us by phone from pakistan this morning where she is traveling with the country s president. ann, good morning to you. reporter: meredith, good morning. this morning in an exclusive interview with nbc news, his first since the flood catastrophe, pakistan s president nra dari agreed the catastrophe threatens to destabilize his country. he said as long as militants are using it as an opportunity to gain ground, trying to turn pakistan into a nation like afghanistan. this concern has been echoed, as you know, by u.s. officials, and today senator kerry joined president zardari for a helicopter flight over the flood zone this morning. they saw the scope, the water breaching the canals and the main north/south railway. and for the entire 25 minute flight there was no break in the flooding down below. here is the latest on the ground. 22 days after the floods began, water is still everywhere. with millions struggling to escape it. this morning, the government said more than 970,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. water actually was all over this. reporter: so many are hurting. there s no medical supplies to treat the sick and dying. this mother is saying, our children have become sick. tell us, where shall we go? some areas are getting help. the u.s. has committed $90 million so far, along with relief supplies, aircraft and military personnel on the ground. the u.s. is the largest single donor, but the state department knows it won t be enough. this crisis will get worse before it gets better. this is also a long-term crisis, and it affects the vast majority of pakistan. reporter: pakistan army which has rescued more than 600,000 people today continues to drop food and water in remote areas. but anger is boiling over from the millions who haven t gotten help. much of the fury directed at pakistan s president zardari. on wednesday he was in russia. the second trip out of the country since the crisis began. it threatened to further destabilize pakistan, a key u.s. ally in the region. senator john kerry arrived in islamabad wednesday. it s important that pakistan be stable. it s important for all of our security that the insurgents not be able to use this in order to gain ground. reporter: a daunting challenge given the scope of this catastrophe. in answer to a question posed by nbc news, president zardari acknowledged the very survival of his country is under threat. adding that if he cannot rebuild his country, as he put it, quote, other forces will win. meredith, back to you. ann curry, thank you very much. and we re going to switch gears now, if you re eating eggs for breakfast, listen up. a recall of potentially salmonella tainted eggs has nearly doubled overnight to include 380 million eggs. hundreds of people have already been sickened in at least four states. nbc s tom costello has the very latest. tom, good morning to you. hi, meredith. yeah, this has really grown quickly from 228 million yesterday to 380 million this morning. 32 million cartons of eggs involved. the cdc knows of about 300 people who have already been sickened in four states. but they fear it could become thousands of people who already have become ill or will become ill from eating these eggs. the eggs originated in the massive wright county egg farm in iowa. officials believe the hens themselves have been infected with salmonella. they have passed the disease on to their eggs. the eggs were produced between late may and early august, from iowa. they were sent to grocery stores and distributors in 17 states. from there they went across the entire country. and here s a list of the brands associated with this recall. it s a long one. it includes big names like@bertsons, louis earn, pacific coast and ralph s just to name a few. you know, we all eat about 248 of these every single year. many of them as ingredients. so this is a very big recall, indeed. paying close attention to that list. tom, what are symptoms of salmonella? the symptoms generally include a fever, abdominal cramps. it can also include diarrhea. they can show up in the first 8 to 72 hours, though in the very young, and in the elderly, they become far more can become far more severe, especially if that disease enters the bloodstream. the list, by the way, the affected lot numbers is rather long, it involves dates, and whatnot, so we have it all on our website. todayshow.com. as well as msnbc.com. but again, there s a list of the companies involved, and the distributors and this could grow bigger as the day proceeds. appreciate it, tom. thank you very much. it is 7:11. here s matt. thank you. now the debate raging over those plans to build a mosque near ground zero. the current mayor of new york city, michael bloomberg, has been one of the most vocal proponents of that mosque. but former mayor rudolph giuliani has a different opinion. mr. mayor, good morning. it s nice to see you. good morning. what s your problem with it? most people say, look, it s legal, it s within the constitution. we protect religious freedom in this country. why don t you think it should be built there? i agree with all that. and beyond that it s an act of right project as far as i can tell under new york law. they never even had to go through all the reviews they went through. the question here is a question of sensitivity. people s feelings. and, are you really what you pretend to be? as i understand this cordoba house, the idea of it is to healing, to show that muslims care about the same things that christians and jews do. that we re one people. that we should be one. well, if you re going to so horribly offend the people who are most directly offended by this, most directly affected by this, the families of the september 11th victims, who i happen to know and have got ton know, you know, really well, then how are you healing? i mean all this is doing is creating more division, more anger, more hatred, and i mean, there are are you worried about the imam behind this project? in terms of his politics, his religious beliefs, do you find him to be anything but the moderate that he s described as by the current administration? and by the way, the bush administration before that? i m confused by the imam. i see all the things that you re saying. but i also see a man who said that america was an accessory to september 11th. those are the very words that require me to give $10 million back to an arab chic or prince. he gave us $10 million for the 9/11 let me clarify so people understand what you re saying. shortly after 9/11 on 60 minutes he said, quote, i wouldn t say the united states deserved what happened, but united states policies were an accessory to the crime that happened on 9/11, because we have been accessory to a lot of innocent lives dying in the world. well, that s exactly what e the what the arab prince said when he gave me $10 million. that america was an accessory to september 11th because of its foreign policy. america was not an accessory to september 11th. all you ve got to do is read about jihad and second thing, the second thing he said was, he refused to condemn hamas, with whom he is alleged to have had some ties. a terrorist group. it s recognized by everyone as a terrorist group. and he said america should apologize. so, okay, that s one part of it. the other part of the it is, he has had a history of appearing to be a hero, appearing to be someone that wants to talk about a moderate islam. he s made appearances with condoleezza rice there are two ways you could interpret the koran. the better way, which is the peaceful way, or the warrior way, which is the way in which you get into trouble with jihad. but those quotes trouble me. but here s what troubles me more. if he s truly about healing, he will not go forward with this project. because this project is not healing. this project is divisive. this project is creating tremendous pain to people who have already paid the ultimate sacrifice. there are a lot of issues are divisive, and yet they have to be tough choices matt, matt, but not this. that s true. a lot of issues are divisive. but if you want to claim to be the healer, then you re not on the side of the person who is pushing those issues. let me play you something you said on our program, meet the press back onecember 22nd of 2002. so about 14 months after 9/11. if you think about the attacks on september 11th, i think everyone will acknowledge that part of the core of that attack was the fact that we have freedom of religion in america. that that part of why america was founded. it s part of what we re all about. it s one of the most prominent things about us, that you can be a catholic, a protestant, a jew, a muslim, or no religion at all, and no one s going to interfere with you. and no one s going to interfere with you. by saying that these people shouldn t build their mosque where they plan to build it, isn t that interfering? no, of course not. first of all, they have freedom of religion. they can build it. they have every right to build it. the question is, should they build it? are they displaying the sensitivity they claim by building it? for example, the pope asked the nuns to take the convent back from right in front of auschwitz or one of the concentration camps. they had a perfect right to be there. they had the freedom of religion there. the nuns were sensitive enough to the concerns of jews that they pulled it back. now here s a man who is selling sensitivity. he s got $180,000 in the bank, he wants to raise $100 million. ask me how he s going to do it, i don t know. you don t do it by creating this kind of vicious, sort of angry battle that s going on. the people who are speaking about it some would say he didn t create the vicious, angry battle. that it s the people who decided to weigh in on it who added it to the battle? i was the first person on september 11th that stepped forward in the heat of battle, that afternoon, my first press conference and said, no group blamed. do not blame arabs. we have to understand this is a small group, and we have to focus on them. but, the reality is, that right now, if you are a healer, you do not go forward with this project. a couple of real quick if you re a warrior you do. a couple of quick things. do you think union workers in this city, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, will build on that site? before i returned to new york last night on an airplane, i was talking to a couple construction workers there. they told me, typical new york accent. we ain t working on that project. let them see if they can go find somebody to work on that project. my answer is, i know new york well enough, you re going to probably find somebody to work on it. i question whether they can raise the money. every indication from the attorney general s report of their charity is they have about $180,000. $100 million project. where is the money coming from? in your gut do you think if we sit down a year from right now the project will be under construction at this site? i think governor paterson had an approach. nice compromise, find another place, have a beautiful mosque there. don t offend easily 80%, 90% of the families are seriously offended. i know people who are crying over this who have lost loved ones. you or i might not even agree. we might say, okay, put the mosque there. but maybe we haven t lost that that son, that father, person who is watching their child today, and still remember every day that person is gone. it wasn t an attack in the name of islam. it was a perverted kind of islam. but the kind of prevalent view that goes on in a lot of parts of the world. we ve got to be sensitive to everybody here. rudy giuliani, good to have you here. good to see you. let s a check of the other top stories from natalie morales who is covering while ann s in pakistan. good morning to you, matt. good morning, everyone. today a house panel holds a hearing on the safety of seafood coming from the gulf of mexico. following the big oil spill. 33 shrimping resumed in the gulf earlier this week. parts of tennessee are getting more rain today. one day after more than seven inches fell in some areas. flooding rose in homes, drenching rains swept away one home and trapped some drivers in their vehicles. california governor arnold schwarzenegger says he expects to deploy the first of more than 200 national guard troops to the u.s./mexico border in two weeks. they will support federal efforts to secure the border. an investigation is under way in denver into the way officers handled a traffic stop and arrest earlier this year. it got violent, as you see, when police say the suspect resisted arrest. mack afee is out with its list of celebrities that you should not search for online and topping the list, cameron diaz, julia roberts and jessica biel. mcafee says there s a name criminals use most often to lure people to malicious websites, and possibly infect their computers. and wednesday in spain, a raging bull jumped from the ring during a bull fight and into the stands, packed with spectators. sending panicked people running for their lives. 40 people were hurt. most of them minor injuries. to say, wow, didn t end well there for the bull, either. it is now 7:19. back over to meredith, matt and al. you think you re safe in the stands. you know i ve never seen an animal do that. no, but i mean, he s an we are slowly improving after some morning drizzle and patchy fog. we will see the sun break out this afternoon with partly cloudy skies. 85 to 90 today. and that s your latest weather. meredith? al, thank you. still ahead, a 10-year-old boy s brush with death after he was stabbed in the stomach by a stingray barb. he will share his story in an exclusive, live interview. but first, this is today on nbc. still ahead, bed bugs moving out of the bedroom and into public places, even a movie theater. and then if you ve seen, or rather heard about the new bag that s safer for everything but your ears. that s safer for everything but your ears. we ll tell you why. y purc so we earned an l.a. getaway twice as fast. we get double miles every time we use our card. no matter what we re buying. and since double miles add up quick. romans! get em! 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[ male announcer ] these medicines make you choose. pepcid® complete doesn t. it s fast acting and long lasting. pepcid® complete works now and works later. live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. good morning. i am stan stovall. time for a check on the morning commute with sarah caldwell. thankfully not dealing with any incidents this hour. just some delays, normal volume- related stuff. white marsh is down towards the beltway. once you get on to the beltway, we are at 59 miles per hour towards harford. a little bit more of a slowdown, 51 miles per hour, up from liberty to edmondson. j.f.x. in great shape. there are your delays. let s give you a quick live out ehrlich and see what s going on. this the pace of things. sunshine may affect your right a bit. here is the beltway at i-70. typical volume-related delays. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. nice contrast, yesterday morning to read all the showers are well to our south nice contrast from yesterday morning. all the showers are well to our south and beginning to dissipate. sunshine will break out and burn off fog remaining this morning. parkton. westminster it is 64. we will see a clearing trend this afternoon. 85 to 90 degrees today. winds light and out of the north. as we head into tonight, into the 60s, and tomorrow, up to 90 degrees. nice start to the weekend and partly cloudy on saturday. be sure to check the bottom of your screen for updated news and traffic information. we re back at 7:55. 7:30 now on a thursday morning. the 19th of august, 2010. weather here in the northeast, nice and sunny, just perfect for the people outside. if they stick around, if we get lucky, we ll have a crowd tomorrow. a live concert out here on the plaza, 8:30 time morning. meanwhile inside studio 1a, i m matt lauer alongside meredith vieira. just ahead a 10-year-old boy recovering from a freak accident, after being stabbed with a stingray barb. it pierced his liver. this young man nearly died. how did it happen? he s going to tell us all about it coming up in just a couple of minutes. show us the barb, too. also ahead, they are dirty, disgusting, and they are spreading. we are talking about bed bupgs. there s a nationwide invasion under way that now includes public places like office buildings and even movie theaters. just ahead what you can do to keep those pests out of your home. and new details on a tragic crash that killed a popular plastic surgeon to the stars. a lot of people asking was he texting and tweeting on his cell phone behind the wheel just moments before he drove off a cliff? we ll have the latest on the investigation coming up. but let us begin with that 10-year-old boy who got the shock of his life when he was impaled by the barb of a stingray. in a moment we ll talk to him and his parents exclusively. but first, his story. 10-year-old quentin tokar was fishing with his family earlier this month off a pier on the outer banks of north carolina. nearby another group of fishermen were pulling a stingray out of the water. in the blink of an eye the barb of the stingray came off, flighting at least eight feet in the air, hitting quentin in the stomach. i don t think i have words for what it felt like. i just pretty much started screaming, get it out of me. reporter: it pierced his liver. with only a portion of the four-inch barb remaining visible. alls i could do i think is if i was going to live or not. and when we were going to get to the hospital. reporter: luckily for quentin, a nurse, also on the pier, instructed the family to leave the barb alone. had they pulled it out he would have probably bled out right there really quick. reporter: approximately 1500 stingray injuries occur in the u.s. every year. and in 2006, there were at least 17 fatalities recorded worldwide. one of the most memorable stingray encounters was the death of steve irwin, the crocodile hunter, who died from blood loss in 2006 after removing a stingray barb from his heart. it popped off the stingray, you could hear it. and then you heard me scream. reporter: quentin battled some serious infections after his surgery but miraculously doctors now expect him to make a full recovery. quentin s also kept his sense of humor over the accident, carrying around a stuffed stingray that he affectionately named ray. and quentin tokar and his parents candace and peter are with us exclusively, along with the barb. good morning to all of you. you ve got it in your hands. i know, quentin, you re a very brave guy, i really do. i know that you just got out of the hospital on saturday because you had infection caused by that barb. how are you feeling? good. you feeling almost back to normal? yeah. getting a little better every day? yeah. it was a couple weeks ago, you are at, you know, on a pier with your parents on vacation, watching the fisherman. from what i understand they had caught the stingray and they were trying to take the barb off it. did you see that part? yeah. you saw them doing that. and then, did you see it, when it suddenly flew off it, and you saw it coming towards you? no, i didn t see that. but it was in our group tried to pull it off. and then it went flying. and you said in the taped piece, you can t even describe how painful it was? yeah. really awful. yeah. really awful. peter, i know you weren t standing right with your son. you didn t see it either but you heard him screaming. yeah. and you ran over to him. you lifted up his shirt. describe what you saw. it was about that much of that barb still sticking out of his stomach, and of course my initial reaction was to yank it out. fortunately there was a nurse on the peer and another gentleman was with us, chuck, and they both kind of screamed at me, no, don t pull it out. then we laid him down, and the nurse helped out a lot trying to hold it so it wouldn t go in any further. but it went in, didn t it? you were breathing so strongly, his chest was going up and down, stomach was going up and down. exactly. it kept inching its way in, until it was all the way under the skin. at that point actually at that point i passed out. really? yeah. it was i thought that was it. you thought you were going to lose your boy? yep, sure did, right there on the pier. candace, i know you ran down the pier to call 911. yes. and you were you were scared to come back. i was. i was kind of stuck in the middle. i was afraid to go back, because i thought that the only reason they weren t bringing him down the pier was because he died. and so i i stood there and well i didn t really stand there, i paced back and forth and walked in circles and was on the phone with 911 the whole time. but i just felt like i couldn t go back up, and i couldn t believe because i couldn t leave him. and then you did go back up and discovered peter s legs had buckled and he fainted. yes. but the ambulance did show up. the ambulance showed up, that s when i walked back up with them. with the emts to where he was at. because then you knew at least there was help. yes. something good was going to happen. yes. through all of this i understand quentin you pretty much kept your cool given everything that happened. how would you describe the way your son handled this? he s a trouper, i ll tell you. he was awfully strong. never once lost consciousness. he talked to us the whole time. you know, throughout the whole thing. it was it was amazing. terrifying. but he s a strong little boy. and thank goodness for that nurse. we ve been trying to find her. i understand her first name is sandy. we believe it s sandy. what do you want to say to her? thank you. from everything i have, thank you. you ve got a stingray which i find pretty incredible. you named it ray. you re not scared of no stinking stingray? no. your shirt says, just take your best shot. hopefully there won t be another barb coming your way any time soon. let s hope not. you going to save that? what are you going to do with it? i guess put it in a drawer. take it to school, man. you are the coolest kid now to everybody in school. no doubt. a story to tell. all kidding aside, we re so glad you re okay. because the outcome could have been just horrible. thank god for that. so nice to meet you quentin and candace and peter. thanks for smaring your story. now let s get a check of the weather from al. thank you very much. a birthday girl here. what s your name? emily. how old are you? 12. well happy birthday. one year away from teenagerhood. is this your brother? no. yes. sister. i m sorry, oh, my gosh. your hair s kind of short. you re a beautiful young lady. oh, that was rough. thank goodness i didn t ask anybody if they were expecting. let s check your weather, see what s going on. we ll show you right now. the heat continues along the along the california coast, where it s awfully cool. 56 in monterey, 73, you go inland it s sizzling. hollywood hills, 96 degrees. sizzling in the southwest with temperatures well over 100 degrees. rest of the country, that heat continues around the gulf coast. 80 to 90, 100s in texas. although dallas did not reach 100 yesterday, so they broke their string of days at 18. 70s through the great lakes and also northern new england. coming up here, friends of hoda. don t forget to get your weather any time of the day or night, weather channel on cable, or the new and improved weather.com online. matt? all right, al, thank you very much. now to the tragic death of a celebrity plastic surgeon, dr. frank ryan. he was killed when his jeep plunged off a cliff on monday. now investigators are looking into whether texting while driving may have played a role in the crash. nbc s george lewis is in malibu with the latest. george, good morning to you. reporter: good morning, matt. this is the spot where dr. frank ryan s jeep wrangler plunged off the cliff to the rocks below. ryan pronounced dead at the scene. the question now, was he distracted, possibly checking twitter messages while he was driving? what was it that caused the jeep to veer off the road with ryan and his dog on board? a twitter message from ryan and a picture posted 20 minutes before the crash said, border collie jill surveying the view from atop the sand dune. the dog survived the crash, but was badly injured. the california highway patrol says investigators have not yet found evidence that ryan was texting while driving. something california has outlawed. we ve got studies now that tell us that texts while driving is more dangerous than drinking while driving. more dangerous than driving under the influence of marijuana. and yet probably 25% to 30% of californians acknowledge that they drive while texting. reporter: many of ryan s hollywood friends and clients showed up for a vigil at nearby zuma beach. he was a popular figure who ran charities for children. he s known for making people beautiful. he s known for putting a smile on people s face. reporter: his major makeover of mtv reality star heidi montag created controversy, when people magazine reported that she had ten different procedures. including a mini brow lift, botox injections, a nose job, fat injections in her face, chin reduction, neck, waist, hip and think liposuction, ears pinned back, breasts and buttocks augmentation. ryan defended doing all that work on montag, claiming she was not addicted to plastic surgery. most of the times we ll do multiple procedures because these people don t have the time to divide things up into ten different surgeries. dr. frank ryan s list of celebrity clientele was quite extensive. i mean it was anyone from heidi montag to janice dickinson, to gene simmons and shannon tweed, to adrian curry and vince neil. reporter: this morning dr. frank ryan is being remembered as a nice guy who died way too early at age 50. on her twitter account, montag said she was devastated by ryan s death and called him an angel who, quote, changed my life and the lives of everyone around him. matt? all right, george lewis in malibu this morning. george, thanks very much. still to come, the bed bug invasion. it is spreading nationwide. now, they re even showing up in movie theaters. but up next, the bag of chips that is good to the environment, but bad for your ears. [ male announcer ] over a century ago, gottlieb daimler wrote four words that were a promise to himself and to the world. a promise to invent the first automobile. and to keep reinventing it. to build the type of cars that define true performance . while never sacrificing their true beauty. and to introduce innovations that help save lives and the planet. four simple words mercedes-benz lives by to this day. the best or nothing. that is what drives us. where? it s really good. do you see it? it s called hope. hope? yeah. hope. i don t see any hope. i don t see any hope in here. you can t see it there, but you can see it here. cause every time you get a happy meal or a mighty kids meal some of the money goes to ronald mcdonald house charities. to help lots of kids and families. hope s good! happy meals. the simple joy of helping. happy meals. the simple joy of helping. d trip my allergies put me in a fog. now i m claritin clear. claritin works hard to relieve my worst symptoms without drowsiness. .so i stay as alert and focused as someone without allergies. for me, claritin is the perfect allergy medicine. i only live claritin clear we are back at 7:44 with the backlash over frito-lays ecofriendly sun chips bag. it may be better for the environment but critics say it s contributing to another hazard, noise pollution. here s nbc s peter alexander. reporter: ah the sounds of nature. nothing says going green better than babbling brooks, lilting, and the new frito-lays sun chips bag? it literally is the loudest material known to man. reporter: with an earth-friendly ad campaign, sun chips are promoted as the world s first 100% come postable chip bag. but sun chips fans say it s 100% annoying. oh, my god, listen to this! i m barely touching it. reporter: since the bags debuted on earth day, apropose prattly enough, complaints have popped up all over the internet. if you hold the bag reporter: there s now even a facebook page called sorry but i can t hear you over this sun chips bag. more than 30,000 people apparently agree. what do you think of this sound? too loud. yes. reporter: so how loud is it really? these bags may be loud, but so are new yorkers, and so are our subways. we put it to the test. right there, about 89, 91 decibels. listen to this. that s 95. but will all that noisy crunching put a crinkle in sales? some fear going green has gone too far. i think a lot of green products have been ridiculed over time, and sometimes rightfully so. the prius, the reusable shopping bags. but then people see the utility and these things become a part of everyday life. reporter: in a statement to nbc news, frito-lay acknowledges hearing from consumers about the bag s noise, and says it is actively working to address it, as they develop the next generation package. that means this generation of chip lovers may have to settle for silencing their stomach. but not the bag. for today, peter alexander, nbc news that s like the one he used on me the other day. yeah the sun chips. it is loud. it is loud. but you know what, when you think of all the foil bags out there that can t be biodegradable. 0 do something nice and get i like what frito-lay, they realized that they re there s been a lot of talk about how loud the bags are. they attach signs to the shelves now that say yes the bag is loud, but that s what change sounds like. yeah. there you go. that s the sound of change. i think they need to sell these in movie theaters. at the refreshment stand. there are bed bugs in movie theaters. when we were testing this right before, meredith tried to breathe in it. she thought it was a breathalyzer. old habits die hard. i did not think it was a breathalyzer. kathie lee and hoda on oh, my god, these are good. the sun chips. they re sun chips, right? all right. not a lot of fat. but the bags are good for the environment now. just ahead just ahead oh, another big one, bed bugs invade a movie theater here in new york. but first these messages. medical condition that can take so much out of you. i feel like i have to wind myself up just to get out of bed. then.well, i have to keep winding myself up to deal with the sadness, the loss of interest, the trouble concentrating, the lack of energy. [ male announcer ] if depression is taking so much out of you, ask your doctor about pristiq®. pristiq is a prescription medicine proven to treat depression. pristiq is thought to work by affecting the levels of two chemicals in the brain, serotonin and norepinephrine. tell your doctor right away if your depression worsens or you have unusual changes in mood, behavior, or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children, teens and young adults. pristiq is not approved for children under 18. do not take pristiq with maois. taking pristiq with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. tell your doctor about all your medications, including those for migraine, to avoid a potentially life-threatening condition. pristiq may cause or worsen high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or glaucoma. tell your doctor if you have heart disease or before you reduce or stop taking pristiq. side effects may include nausea, dizziness and sweating. for me, pristiq is a key in helping to treat my depression. ask your doctor about pristiq. for me, pristiq is a key in helping to treat my depression. [ announcer ] you make healthy choices every day oh, max! and you want to do the same for your laughable, lovable dog. [ barks ] that s why purina fit & trim is specially formulated. with high-quality protein, including delicious real chicken, to help him maintain lean muscle and a healthy weight, so he can make the most of every day. long live your buddy. long live your dog. purina fit & trim. just ahead, how to teach your young girl the skills to become strong, self-confident also ahead from office buildings to apartments to movie theaters, why bed bugs seem to be everywhere these days. and what you can do about it if you find them in your home. but first these messages, your local news, and weather. yummy, yummy, yummy, i got love in my tummy and i feel like. 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[ female announcer ] this is not a prescription. this is diane. diane, who has diabetes and a daughter who could use a little perspective. diane, who worked with her walgreens pharmacist to keep her blood-sugar numbers in check with a few changes to her diet. diane, who s showing her daughter the world s a bit bigger than 8th grade. expertise find it everywhere there s a walgreens. expertise here, take the card. you go to the shops. i ll meet you at the gate. thanks. please remove all metal objects out of your pockets. with chase freedom you can get a total of 5% cash back. fun money from freedom. that s 5% cash back in quarterly categories and an unlimited 1% cash back everywhere else. and this too. does your card do this? i m going to need a supervisor over here at gate 4. sign up for this quarter s bonus today. chase what matters. go to chase.com/freedom. there s oil out there we ve got to capture. my job is to hunt it down. i m fred lemond, and i m in charge of bp s efforts to remove oil from these waters. you may have heard that oil is no longer flowing into the gulf, but our spotter planes and helicopters will keep searching. we ve still got thousands of vessels ready to clean up any oil we find. we ve skimmed over 35 million gallons of oil/water mixture. i grew up on the gulf coast and i love these waters. we ll be here as long as it takes to clean up the gulf. equals chili s $20 dinner for two. share one of five appetizers, like our famous texas cheese fries. then choose two freshly prepared entrees from 14 chili s favorites, like our chicken crispers with new sweet & smoky sauce, our new slow-smoked honey chipotle baby back ribs, or grilled all-white meat chicken fajitas served over a bed of sizzling peppers and onions. grab a friend and get one appetizer plus two entrees with chili s $20 dinner for two. live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. good morning. i am stan stovall. time for another check on the morning commute with sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. we have one reported accident coming into us. southbound 95 at 195. if you are travelling towards the airport, watch for that this morning. typical delays. 14 miles per hour on southbound 95 down to 895 split. this extends from harford towards providence. the biggest slow spots on southbound 95 out of the northeast. according to our drive times, we are in 14 minutes on the outlook north and west side. here is a live view of traffic in 95 in the northeast. there is a slowdown coming towards us from the southbound direction. we will switch to a live view of traffic on the west side. nothing out of the ordinary. southbound 95, 195. over to you, sandra. really no problems this morning. there was patchy fog. sunshine is a frightening things up a little bit. general kind of dry air weather as we go into the weekend. 66 at the state line in parkton. 75 downtown. low 70 s generally overall on the eastern shore. we have eliminated all the result in the afternoon. 85 to 90 for the afternoon hours. partly cloudy. plenty of sunshine tomorrow. it will be hot, up to 90. chance of late bass drums as a number disturbance calls through here and we will remain unsettled monday and tuesday. temperatures next week consistently in the mid-80 s. be sure to check the bottom of your screen for updated news and traffic information. back in 8:00 now on this thursday morning, august 19th, 2010. terrific start to the day in midtown manhattan. we have a fantastic crowd enjoying the nice weather. on rockefeller plaza, as my shoe falls off. oh, my. our way of reminding you they will take to our summer concert stage tomorrow on today. looking for to that. i m meredith vieira along with matt lauer, al roker. just ahead the invasion of the beddy bugs. it s not a horror movie. it sounds like one. no, this is actually happening. they re going from your bed at home to other places, public places. recently largest movie theater in manhattan, infested with them. so i have a bug flying around me right now. what do you do if they end up in your home? we re going to talk about that in just a couple minutes. you move. also ahead, raising strong girls. it takes tweens and teens and teaches them about self-confidence, self-esteem and also how to stand up to mean girls. it s good. and then a little bit later on, why are so many kids actually being misdiagnosed with adhd? coming up, important information for parents, especially if your child is one of the youngest in his or her class. okay. but first a check of the morning s top stories. ann is in pakistan. natalie is standing by at the news desk. good morning, meredith, matt and al. good morning, everyone. and a milestone this morning in the iraq war. the last full u.s. combat brigade withdrew from iraq overnight. the obama administration says about 50,000 noncombat troops will remain for another year. more than 4400 members of the u.s. military have died in the iraq war since the invasion 7 1/2 years ago. that toppled saddam hussein. another 150 million eggs have been added to a nationwide recall bringing the total now to 380 million eggs possibly contaminated with salmonella. the eggs were all produced by wright county eggs and sold under more than a dozen brand names. health officials believe hundreds of people have been sickened by the eggs since may. and for more on all of this just go to our website at todayshow.com. a south carolina mother charged with suffocating her two toddlers then staging an accident made her first court appearance wednesday. officials say shequan who also has a 5-year-old daughter confessed to murdering the boys monday then placing them in their car seats and rolling the car into a river. overseas markets are higher this morning. cnbc s erin burnett is at the new york stock exchange for us. natalie, the big story today is going to be the second biggest offering of new stocks in american history. it s an ipo. general motors has filed all of its paperwork, 734 pages to be exact, this is so the government can get some of the taxpayer money back. keep in mind, taxpayers bailed out gm with more than $50 billion. at this time no independent analysis shows that gm will ever pay all of that money back. but gm is highlighting its return to profitability, and its strength in the world s biggest car market, which is china. now, not the united states. and it may be possible for some taxpayers to get in on this ipo. gm is going to be the biggest ipo and that is the big story of the day. erin burnett at the new york stock exchange. thank you. well, american airlines now charging a new fee for coach travelers who want to be the first in line to board and leave domestic flights. express seats are those bulk head seats in the first two rows can be reserved now for a price ranging from $19 to $39. those passengers also get first shot at the overhead bins. what is left for them to charge us? probably going to the bathroom. turn it back over to matt and meredith. the people let s get a check of the weather from mr. roker. signing autographs. well, thank you very much, mr. lauer. ms. vera. wow, where where are you all from? chicago! all righty. almost caught me in the nose with that. chicago! very nice. well, you got your little silly bandz there. very nice. let s check your weather, see what s happening. albany, georgia, walb, afternoon showers and thunderstorms. temperatures there going to be getting up into the 80s and 90s. as you take a look at the jetstream, it s basically way up to the north, so we ve got nothing to cool things down, as we head on towards thursday. i should say friday and saturday we can see it dip down to the northwest. that brings in mild air, mild in new england. but the heat continues across much of the country, with heavy rain in the lower gulf coast, and on into up the mid ohio river valley. nice-looking family back here. where are you guys from? atlanta, georgia. atlanta, georgia, all right. there you go. 11 alive, nbc. and we ve got an official teenager here. what s your name? hunter. all right, hunter, 13. enjoy the day. all right. now let s go back to meredith. thank you, al. up next, bed bugs coming to a movie theater near you. how to deal with those pests that make your skin crawl. right after this. 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[ female announcer ] lyrica is not for everyone. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior or any swelling or affected breathing, or skin, or changes in eyesight, including blurry vision or muscle pain with fever or tired feeling. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don t drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don t drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. i found answers about fibromyalgia. then i found lyrica. ask your doctor about lyrica today. [ laughs ] this is it! [ all ] 10.9.8. a new school year has so much potential! any resolutions? my resolution is the same as always; keep her full and focused with my fiber. [ all ] 3.2.1. happy school year! [ female announcer ] this school year, make a resolution to give your kid kellogg s frosted mini-wheats cereal. an excellent source of fiber from 100% whole grain. that helps keep them full so they can focus on the day ahead. keeps em full. keeps em focused. no, it s just for new people. hey ! chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry ? chocolate ! chocolate it is ! yeah but i m new too. umm. he s new. er. than you. even kids know it s wrong to treat new friends better than old friends. at ally bank we treat all our customers fairly. with no teaser rates. . and no minimum deposits. it s just the right thing to do. we are back at 8:08 with a bed bug invasion. cities from coast to coast are reporting infestations. and now it s not just a bed problem. nbc s jeff rossen is here to explain. jeff, good morning to you. no one will come near either of us this morning because they re afraid we have these bed bugs. there s no question about it that bed bugs still love your bed. they love the sheets. but the problem is that the population is exploding so fast now, they re traveling more, and what they re doing, is they re traveling to movie theaters, unfortunately. they re sitting in the movie theater seats, and the problem is, you can t see them because it s so dark in the theater. who knew watching a chick flick could be so itchy. they re headed to the movies, and experts say they re multiplying. those tiny little creatures we love to hate. bed bugs. just this month a confirmed invasion at this amc movie theater in new york s times square. officials had to shut it down when this moviegoer was bitten in her seat. i was watching the movie and all of a sudden i just got my whole arm got itchy and i just started scratching, then these huge bumps, and red welts appeared. reporter: gross. yeah, it was really gross. reporter: bed bugs were spotted in that same theater just two weeks earlier. and in upper manhattan at this amc theater yet another bed bug invasion just this month. in an e-mail to nbc, amc said we will continue to vigorously inspect our theaters and instantly treat any bed bug detection. if they can get them in the movie theaters i guess you can get them anywhere now. reporter: and it s not just the big cities. in connecticut bed bugs climbed the poles inside a sfier house. in pennsylvania an infestation inside a classroom, and in colorado the bed bugs looked to better themselves in a library. not to mention outbreaks at a new york city victoria s secret store, and an abercrombie and fitch. most likely carried in, experts say, by unsuspected customers. many of them hitch a ride so that you deposit them in a department store, you deposit them in a movie theater. so they re pretty mobile. with you. reporter: bed bugs are tiny insects that feed off human blood. you can see them if you look closely enough. and for a hungry bed bug, night time is feeding time. over the last ten years, their population has been exploding. and, in fact, there are no effective pesticides that can control them. reporter: and that s the reason experts say we re seeing them in movie theaters, classrooms and libraries. your bed gets cramped, more bugs mean less space on the sheets. so they latch on and travel with you. everywhere. ew! doesn t seem like anywhere is safe from bed bugs. offices, movie theaters. like where are they going next? reporter: enjoy the movies this summer. just make sure you re the only one in your seat. i ll probably wait. maybe until fall, winter. maybe next year. reporter: to see a movie? yes. i can wait. reporter: she said she ll probably order them into her house more often now. there is some good news here, bed bugs don t carry diseases. so a bite isn t necessarily dangerous but scratching it can lead to other infections. and as an added bonus, if they invade your home, it s pretty expensive, too. exterminators often have to come several times to get rid of them. thanks very much. missy hendrickson is with the national pest management association. good to see you. thank you. are there more bed bugs or are we just talking about them? unfortunately that s real. there are more. they re coming to us for three reasons. one in particular is travel. increased international travel. also, people are getting out, enjoying the world more. they re going out and enjoying the movie theaters, getting out and enjoying town. they re traveling with people. and also, really, because they re becoming resistant to some of the products we have. let s get the ick factor out and news you can use. here s the bed. this is where they get their name. if you re home and you want to look, what can you do? this is in your home, and also checking into hotel rooms, same steps apply. you re looking for the bug itself. small apple-seed looking bugs. you re looking for any signs of light blood droplets that would be on the bed. evidence they ve been feeding on a human. and also pepper-like flakes, evidence of the droppings or leave-behind. pull back the sheets, pull back the bed linens, pull back the sheets, and you re going to look around on the mattress or the mattress cover ooh. no. misty, you ve got to hang around here more. you re looking around the seam. around the seam you re going to be looking for small, brown bugs. but they are visible. if you look down there and they re there you re going to see them. the adults you should be able to see. not the babies. also look around the dust ruffle area, as well. looking particularly underneath where the white fabric may be. you can definitely have a chance. do they get on the nightstand and things like that? unfortunately the word bed bug is just a misnamer. picture frames, electrical sockets, in your furniture, in your clothes. so we ve heard this big story about them invading a movie theater here in new york. one of the problems that comes to mind, you walk into a movie theater, they re dark basically. you re not going to be able to see the bugs short of walking in with those night vision goggles, what are we supposed to do? the best advice i can offer other than the night vision goggles would be items you re bringing in with you, your pocketbook, your man bag, your bag which you may be shopping with or even a coat as we re moving into the colder times, you re not going to want to put those on the seat next to you. don t save those seats with some of those items. keep those in your lap or even if you feel okay with the dirty soda on the floor, put those on the floor. but if i sit in that seat and i m wearing a jacket it s going to get on my jacket, right? and i m going to take them home with me. you could. very good advice to check your clothes, check yourself when you get back home. anything that you maybe have warn and might be concerned about, put it in the washer, wash it at hot temperature. you ve got a clothes rack here. we ll walk over here. like any clothes rack you might find in a home, or in a restaurant, or something like that. we have to be careful of these, too? you do. we re hearing a little bit more about bed bugs popping up in retail locations. so we re suggesting if you re trying on clothes for the first time, just get a little visual inspection. make sure you don t see any signs of those bugs, make sure you re not seeing any signs of the blood droplets. keep your handbag off the floor, keep your shopping bags off the floor and definitely inspect them when you get home. also wash those clothes. i know it s tempting to want to model your new fashion but take a minute and wash them. going back to the home when you find them in the bed, how long is it going to take you to get rid of these in your home? the most important thing is to jump on the problem immediately. the females can reproduce 400 offspring. the sooner you get to the infestation the better. the only way to properly deal with these is a trained and licensed professional. and jeff mentioned, they don t really transmit disease but the ick factor is off the charts. it s pretty high. misty, thanks very much. appreciate it. up next how to teach your young girl the skills to become strong, independent and self-confident. we ll get to that right after these messages. avo: you re lashes are going to love this. new revlon growluscious mascara. the first revlon mascara that actually helps lashes grow stronger. with a unique formula that complements your lashes natural growth cycle. and a lash extending brush that delivers length and volume. in fact, 96% saw instantly longer lashes. jessica: this is the start of something big. avo: new revlon growluscious mascara. i can t hold her hand on the bus. or be there to show everyone how great she is. but what i can do is give her everything she needs to be excited for school, while staying in my budget. that s why i go to walmart. she has everything she needs. and then some. 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( announcer ) we understand your frustration. at unitedhealthcare we believe it should be simpler, and more responsive. we re 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. big numbers. but they re what give us the data and the experience to match you with the right doctor for your tricky condition. to guide and stand by you through your toughest medical decisions. to help you manage a chronic condition more on your terms. because in the end, all our innovations. the technology, the numbers. all add up to one thing: treating you like a human being. that s health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. to learn more, visit us at healthinnumbers.com. we are back at 8:19 with a place where young girls are encouraged to be loud, silliness is required, and survival tactics to get them through the teen years are revealed. the girls leadership institute summer camp in the berkshires of massachusetts. while most summer camps may be about surviving the great outdoors, this group of committed young campers just want to survive adolescence. the mission of the company is to inspire girls to be true to themselves. reporter: here at the girls leadership institute summer camp, featured recently in the new york times. middle schoolers relearn what s important. girls really just want to have fun. oh, girls just want to have fun reporter: they view silliness as a way to deal with the day-to-day drama of being a young girl. it s sort of scary how obvious the decline in self-esteem and sense of self is around fourth or fifth grade. reporter: but it s not all fun and games. campers learn life lessons like how to communicate, maintain healthy relationships, and how to deal with conflict. mekiah and zori went to this two-week retreat and consider themselves changed as a result. the most important lesson i learned at camp was to stop thinking that i had to be like everybody else. i didn t have any friends. now i m more confident. now i look in the mirror, and i see a leader. i was a lot more shy. now i feel a lot i have a lot more confidence in myself. and my choices. reporter: but some question, can you teach self-confidence in two weeks? the goal of the camp is not to teach confidence. it s to teach skills to express themselves, to notify gate conflict, to recognize relationships. i think confidence is a by-product of being part of a community where you are accepted for who you really are. reporter: the co-founder of the girls leadership institute and runs the camp skills workshop. she s also the author of the curse of the good girl: raising authentic girls with courage and confidence which is out in paperback on august 31st. nice to see you. why do you think it is the skills you teach at this camp translate into the real world so effectively? because when girls know how to communicate with their friends, we re giving them opportunities at this camp to role play. they re coming to camp, they re writing about their past conflicts. they re practicing how to deal with them. just so they can go back to school and try it there. so in other words, when they experience those negative things at school, they sort of this clicks right in, they know what to do? right. because we re teaching skills that they can practice. that they can really feel in their bodies, that they can talk about with their friends. we re not teaching self-esteem. we re teaching skills that you can be effective with in your life. kids don t start out with such a lack of self-esteem. what happens to them? when girls hit around middle school, they become very self-conscious. very aware of the pressure to try to be nice to everyone all the time and they often repress their needs in their relationships. they stop telling people what they need and how they feel. but the camp only lasts a couple of weeks, right? it s true. but it s amazing what you can do in a couple of weeks. we love to be silly with the girls. we play with them and give them permission to just be wild and fun and not care about what other people think of you. i guess being with other people, the bonding experience also goes a long way? absolutely. i used to think it was only our workshops that did it. but when girls feel confident in their friendships that gives them the resilient and permission to take risks and do incredible things. not everybody can attend your camp. so you have an opportunity here to share some of your skills and some of the tips. first you say to be silly. you sort of talked about that before. absolutely. be silly. think about this, girls are under so much pressure to act older than they are, to be sexy. just have fun with your daughter. dork out with her. sing in the car, dance in the kitchen, and let her not care about what other people may think. now she may get embarrassed i was going to say. if we stopped doing everything because our kids get embarrassed we d be living in holes. you also say use conflict as an opportunity. why is that? because girls see conflict often as a catastrophic thing. help your daughter see it s an opportunity to get what you want from someone. and even if it doesn t go your way use it. absolutely. and then if it doesn t go your way, you ve actually learned something about your friends. and that can be an important lesson. learning that someone s not a good friend, as getting what you want is. you also say, own up when you need to. yes. directed at moms. what does that mean? if we want girls to be confident about who they are, they have to learn to accept their limits. we as adults have to model being okay with our mistakes. if we do that, girls will feel permission to take risks and be okay with who they are. you also say, this is for moms again, be a little selfish. moms are under crazy pressure to be perfect all the time. if you want to model something really strong for your daughter, take care of yourself in front of her. once in awhile put yourself first, so that she sees that she has permission to do the same. and you say get your daughter to share her feelings. that s not always easy. it s not always easy. helping your daughter know and say her emotions. ask her how she s feeling. don t let her say fine, good. ask for an emotion word and model your own emotion words. say i m feeling anxious today, i m feeling happy. that will build her emotional vocabulary. when you think of girls, they re touchy-feely but often they re not. absolutely. it is not only boys who have problems expressing their feelings. girls really need the help, too. how do you spot a troubled teen? well, if you re a parent and know that it s really a problem. parents need to use their gut. and if your child changes his or her behavior, not eating, not sleeping the same way, saying terrible things about themselves, not texting, not communicating, then you ve got a problem. but if your kid comes home and is crying one day or is unhappy, that doesn t mean you pick up the bat phone and start launching an emergency response. you ve got to give your kid a chance to get through it on her own first. rachel simmons, thank you so much. it s amazing what it does to kids who have been bullied like that little girl, once you gave her self-confidence. just ahead, something for adults. how to find the right pants for your body type. live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. good morning. i am in december. let s get a final check at the morning commute with sarah caldwell. several incidents since last check. we have an accident involving a vehicle fire. southbound 95 past the beltway, delays forming due to a crash on the southwest side. a vehicle fire, actually a truck on fire in the towson area. 95 out of the northeast, still holding on to those delays. tapping the breaks on the northeast outer loop. 28 miles per hour on average through that. if you re heading on through annapolis this morning, there is an accident here as well. we will see what is going on at the west side. easing up just a bit. not quite as bad as 95 out of the white marsh region. 95 heading away from us, southbound traffic. you re seeing delays due to the accident. center has a check on the forecast. the sunshine is going to try us out and get rid of the patchy fog. we will all come back to the heat. right now pretty at 75 downtown and 66 back to the west in westminster. partly cloudy. 85 to 90, light winds out of the north. seven-day forecast gives us another hot one for tomorrow. partly cloudy and 90 on saturday. 88 on sunday as the disturbance rotates through and gives us a chance of late days scattered showers and storms. we will have another update at 8:55. we re back now, 8:30 on a thursday morning. the 19th day of august, 2010. lots of smiling people out on the plaza on what is just a great day here in new york. hopefully it s nice where you re waking up, as well. out on the plaza by the way, tomorrow these people will be smiling even more because they ll be hearing music from daughtry as part of our summer concert series sponsored by chris daughtry, the guy from american idol. meanwhile, i m matt lauer along with meredith, al and natalie. coming up, why a lot of kids are misdiagnosed with adhd. i want to talk about this, kids 6 to 18 have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. now we re learning many of them were misdiagnosed because of their age. just ahead we re going to tell you the big problems. and another change gears a little bit, we ve got some fantastic pooches with our bow to wow makeovers. jill rappaport has found them. ah. just a big ah. we ll be meeting these and it s always 100% so far have been adopted. great. we ll do that for jill. ah. you re in the doghouse right now. all right, let me change gears. something a lot of women are having trouble with is finding the right pants to suit your body. coming up we re going to show you what you should be looking for and how to tell if the pair is going to be just perfect for you. mr. roker, would you please give us some beautiful weather? well, we ve got a gorgeous day here in the northeast. let s take a look, see what s happening as far as your weekend is concerned. up and down the east coast, beautiful weather. gulf coast, heavy rain, heavy rain into the ohio river and mississippi river valleys. sunny and hot out west. then sunday, sunday! the rain tries to get a little closer to the east coast. wet weather down to the gulf. western two-thirds of the country sunny and hot with the exception of the pacific northwe don t forget you can check your weather any time of the day or night, weather channel on cable with the new and improved weather.com. thanks, al. coming up next, why too many children have been misdiagnosed with adhd. but first, this is today on nbc. we are back at 8:35. this morning on today s health, the overdiagnosis of adhd. new research published this week by the university of notre dame found that around 1 million children may have been misdiagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. nbc s chief medical editor dr. nancy synderman is here with details. hi, meredith. how does that happen? it happens for a couple of reasons. one, there s a big push to get kids into school early. so a lot of times the youngest kids in a class don t have the adaptation skills and the social skills, so one of my friends says, if you have a 5-year-old in a class with a bunch of 6-year-olds, that 5-year-old may be okay academically but he s going to be the last one on the bus. that s the child who might not be able to pay attention, be impulsive, and then bing, get that diagnosis. research showed that in kindergarten the youngest kids in kindergartners were 60% more likely to be diagnosed than the older kids are. and there may be over 1 million children misdiagnosed with this label just because of that. so any time you see a huge increase in something over a short period of time, and now we re talking about maybe a 500% increase in adhd in just a 20-year period, i can t explain that to you that somehow the human brain has changed that dramatically in 20 years. right. so obviously the educational system is overcalling it or we re pushing our kids too early. or, frankly, if you roll back how kids used to go to school, they kind of blow off steam. they take these little boys and expect them to sit and behave and conform and they re overscheduled. and recess now has become an extraordinary luxury. it s more likely to be diagnosed in a boy than a girl? it is more likely. and if you re a teacher and you have 25 or 30 kids in a classroom and you can t afford to have those two or three who are disruptive you put them on meds. it s much easier to say please put them on meds. what s the dangerous? obviously to put any child on medication when they don t need it. yeah, most medications are safe. they ve been studied and they re safe. here s the looming question i think most behavioral pediatricians don t know, for how long? do you stay on this stuff forever if you re diagnosed once, does that mean it follows you through adolescence into young adulthood? and so many parents are hesitant to take their kids off of medicine, but they seem to be doing somewhat better in school. i think it s that looming question mark, over our medication of children, whether correct, or in some cases incorrect, and how do you challenge the system? it s hard to know. i think it s hard for parents exactly what you just said, to challenge authority. if somebody says to you, your child has this, we think they do, and you want the best for your kid, you go, okay, i ll do whatever i can. obviously in some cases kids do have adhd? they re basically hyperactivity. the inability to concentrate and conform. and sometimes acting out. over a prolonged period of time. not just for a couple of days or a couple of weeks. but a couple of things that parents can do. if you have a 5-year-old, consider maybe staying another year of preschool. don t rush the kindergarten and first grade. because if your child is having trouble, it is much easier from a social standpoint to hold that child back at that time than to have problems in second, third or fourth grade. and listen to your gut. i mean, do you have a normal child who is just rambunctious? some children do better with medication. but if you feel that it s a pressure from a teacher, because he or she has to have certain control in the classroom, perhaps try to have either an aide for a day. and some states will pay for this. or ask to have your child moved to another class r5078. there are options. so many times overscheduled kids who just don t have time to blow off steam. occasionally the kid is bored in school, not learning enough. you look at some of these kids they re the uber bright kids. so find it s too boring to sit in circle time for 45 minutes, their brains are already off to the next thing. very quickly, do you expect that people will pay close attention to the study now going forward? i think it s going to be huge. but you know what, this is parents, teachers, pediatricians, everyone taking a collective breath saying these are good medications for some kids, but if we have a million children misdiagnosed, that s a number we have to pay attention to. all right, dr. nancy synderman. thank you. you bet, meredith. up next doggie makeovers to transform dogs from bow to wow. first this is today on nbc. we are back with from bow to wow our special series where we take dogs out of the shelter, clean them up and find them loving homes. jill rappaport is here with our latest bunch. good morning. hi, natalie. i m so happy to say after 16 months we still have 100% track record. yay! so let s keep this going. today we have four more fabulous mutts, but they re in desperate need of a little makeover. it s the dog days of summer, and animal care and control in new york city where we have four more wonderful pooches up for adoption. first, meet this caramel curlicue named rusty. rusty is a 4-year-old poodle. cute little guy. there are eyes under there. you see them? the wonderful thing about poodles is they don t shed. right. exactly. he s so friendly. and he s in good shape. in good shape, yes. playful, very active. oh, he s active. from a proper pedi to a black and white special. are you a little bored? boredom. he s 2 years old. we found him as a stray but he is neutered so that means at one point he was owned. i cannot believe a beautiful dog like this just wandering around the streets. a little grooming, but otherwise, healthwise, he s in good shape. and this is a breed that of course, will be wonderful with children. moving on from a mellow fellow to a canine that can t stop kissing. here s shaggy. this is shaggy. he s a 1-year-old fox terrier, jack russell mix. puppy age. he s so affectionate. but terriers are very curious dogs. active. very active. you have to keep them busy. lot of exercise. a lot of running around. finally, meet the belle of the ball. this is 1 1/2-year-old belle, a collie mix. she is so young she knows basic commands. she was just too big for the house that she was living in. she s not that big. what is she about 40 pounds? yeah, she s about 40 pounds. and she s in great shape. yeah. she seems very well trained. you sit, right? okay. four wonderful wagging tails, just waiting for a place to call home. how can you go wrong? they re gorgeous. as always joining us is richard from animal control in new york city. good morning. you thank you. beautiful dogs. we took care of them. let s bring out meredith first with rusty. meredith is not in need of a makeover but rusty was. a dramatic difference. you see with rusty. look at him now. the before shot, and he just needs he s posing. he says take me home. what s great about him, obviously, he doesn t shed. right. so hyperallergenic. he s got personality. i don t know. bye-bye. bye, meredith. all right, gorgeous dog. there goes rusty. we should point out all these dogs are in foster homes until they get adopted. let s take a look at bella first again and see what bella looked like. now she is a gorgeous collie mix as you see there. she really didn t need a lot for the makeover. let s bring jeff rossen out with bella now. come on, bella. a great dog, great personality, right? very playful. she likes to play. will follow you around the house. is very loyal and very concerned. so she ll run around the dog park and come back to you, make sure you re still there. so a family that wants loyalty and also good with children i bet. and females are so wonderful. they really bond. and very smart dogs, too. really smart. okay. thank you bella. okay, now onto look at this. use some muscle. now take a look at benjamin. the cute shih tzu. a little trimming. the mellow fellow of the bunch. oh. mellowest dog that i ve ever met. really? unbelievable. how old is he? he s 3 years old. when you put him in your lap literally he just falls asleep. he s a true couch potato. wake up in the morning, he ll put his paws on the bed and walk around until you wake up. he s good for somebody who wants a quieter dog. maybe not as active. he d also be great with kids. he s falling asleep in your arms. i know he doesn t want to go anywhere. he s wearing the yellow bandanna. all right, thank you, jean. okay, last but not least is shaggy. you see there. looking a little shaggy. shaggy d.a., but he s an absolutely adorable dog. courtney our nbc page is going to bring him out now. shaggy is a terrier, right? yes, very active dog. will jump with his paws straight up in the air. i think we have a home maybe for shaggy. all right. oh. kisses. on command. what do you think? going home with you? maybe a little house training. but otherwise, he s great. a little house training. you got the house training, okay? all right. the importance of going to your local shelter. look at the incredible, beautiful dogs you can find. i know. one more time. everybody come on out with the dogs. good job, everybody. loving homes. all right. okay. okay now. whoa! to find out how you can adopt these dogs head to our website todayshow.com and find out more. up next, how to pick the right pants to flatter your body type. first this is today on nbc. narrator: a local entrepreneur had an idea for a new neighborhood business. and with help from small business loans sponsored by governor martin o malley, arrow bicycle shop opened its doors in 2008. this governor gets it. it s our job to give maryland businesses the tools they need to grow and create jobs. narrator: now, arrow bicycle shop is making main street stronger. selling bikes and creating new jobs. o malley understands what a business like mine needed to get started. narrator: martin o malley. moving maryland forward. this morning on today s style, pants that mr. flatter every figure. we recently tagged along with glamour magazine s photo shot. suze yalof schwartz helped a roomful of women find their perfect pants. we re here in the studios seeing the october issue of glamour magazine. is it really hard to find the perfect pants for your body? we re going to solve that issue right here and right now. this is augustinea who is plus size. you want to stay away from any pleats, stay away from any tight pants that hug the thighs and you don t want anything too big because it s going to blow off the proportion. we re going to show you what works. this is lauren who wants to create curves because she feels she s too boxy at the waist. you want to wear something that s higher waisted and really suck it in with a belt. and then it goes a little bit wider and that will create a curve. so you don t want to wear a low-waisted trouser because that will make you look boxy. when you have long legs like india, there s two routes. one you can go with the skinny pant and roll it up. always does the trick. this is lauren and she s a pear plus which means she s smaller on top and bigger on the bottom. what you want to do is find something that fits the waist but goes over the thighs. what you don t want to do is go with anything too skinny which draws attention to the thighs or something too large on the waist. big no-no. and suze yalof schwartz is here to show us the outfits she chose. good morning, meredith. everybody says it s hard to find jeans, but pants are the same. it s true. you re going to have to navigate because this is the season of the pant. let s start with augustinea, she was a plus-size model. let s take a look at her body size. a real girl we grabbed off the street, which is pretty amazing. that s her before. now let s take a look at her afterwards. today she is a model for us. that is true. she looks fantastic. my trick is you want to go with a darker colored pant. i like the idea of slouchy pants but you don t want to be too slouchy because that s going to make you look bigger. this is a perfect one, long enough and i 35ir it with a cropped cardigan. a longer one will make you look bigger. people probably want to wear it longer to hide a little bit. you do not want to do that. what s great about these is they re $70. come to size 26. no pleats. you look gorgeous. thank you very much. i love her old navy sweater top. our next, give me curves when you have a boy shape and you want a little bit of curve there. take a look at lauren, and her body type. there she is. you put her in a great yut fit. okay, here is the trick. when you want to have curves you wear a blousier top and bigger pants and cinch it at the waist to create an hourglass-like figure. right now the high-waisted pant is really in, as is the crop. she is wearing a pleated pant because that makes her look a little bit fuller around the hips. and you also have the tapered bottoms, right, rolled up? that is the fall look right now. you re going to be seeing a lot of that. makes everything look 2010. and these are by a company called asos. they re $60. thank you very much, lauren. our next model india. she has long legs. you wouldn t think about it being a problem. long legs is not a problem at all. in fact i would love to have long legs. but the trick is a lot of women have problems finding pants that felt and are long enough. and you can definitely find them at the gap and j. crew. but now, to roll up the pants, and no one could get away with it more than people with really long legs. because it does make your leg look a little bit shorter. these are by american eagle and they re the pants that everybody is clamoring for. they re $45. you ve seen them on gwyneth paltrow on the streets, hot right now. and they look absolutely gorgeous. and michael antonio shoes. you want to wear it with a high heel. even if you re tall you still want to add more height? why not? thank you so much. and our last model lauren is a pear shape. let s take a look at her body type before you do your magic with her. the trick is to create the illusion of the perfect proportion. as you can see on lauren she s much smaller on top and bigger in the thighs. how do you do it? so i have to talk about these pants. okay. these are skinny pants. i own them, they re called shape ups and they have built-in body slimmers and they re totally comfortable for $50. that s fantastic. aren t those amazing pants? it sucks in all throughout the thigh. they re built-in body slimmers and they loosely graze the thigh. they re comfortable? and you want to go for a boot cut. and i like the top, too. it s beautiful. come on out, ladies. you should plan if you re going out shopping for pants, spend some time to get the right pair. or check out, you know, glamour magazine. we have the special edition going on. thank you very much. thank you, ladies.