Transcripts For WBAL Today 20110203 : vimarsana.com

amazingly, no one was hurt. and did she do it? lindsay lohan under investigation for grand theft after a pricey missing necklace shows up around her neck. if she stole it, it could spell big trouble for her, thursday, if she stole it, it could spell big trouble for her, thursday, february 3rd, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and welcome to today on this thursday morning. i m meredith vieira. i m matt lauer. let s look at the scene in tahrir square in cairo where members of the egyptian military have placed themselves between anti-government protesters and supporters of hosni mubarak. they have set up barricades between the two sides, but it is unclear how effective they will be. but this morning it is not like the scene overnight where angry clashes turned deadly. constant gunfire could be heard, and trees and cars were set on fire. coming up, we ll talk to an american woman who lives there. she is trapped inside her apartment. she has a dramatic story to tell. let s begin with richard engel who is in cairo. what a dramat, difference between the image of the streets we just showed and the video we ve seen over the last 12 hours. tell me about it. in the dark hours yesterday to separate these crowds. all right. we re clearly having some issues, technical issues with richard s signal coming out of cairo. we also have lester holt on the ground in egypt. perhaps, lester, you can bring me up to date on the latest. matt, it was a the fighting went on into the night. when you thought they couldn t fight anymore, mallative cauolos were being thrown off of buildings. shields were set up, metal barricades to withstand the attack of the pro-government forces. we understand that pro-government forces may have again seized control. this fight over turf, this square in the middle of town. during the night, gunfires raged just right here. gun fights between who knows know. the soldiers fire weapons generally over the tops of the protesters heads to keep them down, to try to disburse them. other than that, they re not doing anything to contain the crowds. we can tell you that president mubarak on state tv today made a rare apology for what happened yesterday when those armed thugs came into the square and began beating on people. we can also tell you that the muslim brotherhood of mohamed elbaradei, the opposing groups here, have refused to sit down and negotiate until mubarak himself steps down. i can also tell you this morning that at least 1,800 americans have left this country on evacuation flights sponsored by the state department. they ve left the country. thousands of others remain. the state department is saying if you want to leave, get to the airport during non-curfew hours. unclear how many americans were voluntarily in the square when the attack happened, but we talked to one elderly american woman. her name is mary thornbush. she lives adjacent to the square where all this is happening. she desperately wants out. we talked to her a bit earlier. a life-long patient for ancient egypt brought the retired nurse seen in this old photograph to cairo 15 years ago. her apartment across from the egyptian museum and tahrir square has put her in the middle of the violent protests as she described to brian williams by telephone. how worried are you about your safety? i have a sharp knife. i have hot water. i have my walking cane and i have my rolling pin. that s my armory. and that s what you have to defend yourself against these protesters? yes. i have nobody but myself. i really don t want to leave because the place will be vandalized. and it s my home. so i just wish someone would come and take these thugs away and let me go on with my life. reporter: all night, the fighting erupted around her. today mary told me she was hoping to leave and agreed to speak to us and come out with us. but with the street battles unfolding, the question we wrestled with was could we safely reach her? we re roughly here. and she s right about here. that s less than a quarter mile. that s the overpass right there where all the fighting was overnight. reporter: from a window in our central cairo workspace, we thought we could see her building just beyond the smoke. i decided to test the water. i ventured into the streets where gun battles had raged just hours earlier. beneath the underpass, we could see clashes forming. they ve seen our camera, but we re probably drawing more attention. we re going to move on. this is the difficulty. we could we re a minute s walk from where she is, but we can t risk it. a university student we encountered advised us against going any farther. there is this i don t know, violent tone against foreign media. reporter: minutes later from a secure balcony, we witnessed this just a few hundred feet from where we had ventured. i broke the news to mary that for now it appears she s unreachable. reporter: we really want to get into that part of town and see what s going on, but you don t want to get anyone oh, heavens no. no, no, no way. reporter: as soon as we can get over there, we ll come knocking at your door. and, meredith, we have seen egyptian soldiers grab people from the edges who are trying to get out. but they seem to be making no move to help anyone who may be trapped inside to get out of that zone. very dangerous situation. lester holt, thank you so much. mary thornburg is with us. her son is also joining us from easton, washington. good morning. mary, if i could start with you, it is now afternoon in cairo. what is the situation outside your apartment? what is going on as far as you know? well, of course my front door, the glass is still broken. so there s anyone can do things through the door, if they desire to. i still have a knife and i still have the rest of my armory that i will use. there s no one at my door at this moment. a little bit earlier, there were people around on two different occasions. but right now, there s no one there. i hear some noise, some voices in the background. and a few moments ago, i heard some people coming down from the roof. i heard steps. my building was the one that had most of the maolotov cocktails thrown on it last night. mary, are you the only one still in that building, the only resident of that building who s still there? as far as i know. my apparently my was overpowered and he fled. he s gone, prudently. and i m told that my building is trashed below, all the way, except for me. and last night about at 5:00, then that s when these hoodlums and thugs came to my door and attempted to get in. and they actually broke the glass on my door, reached in, and i attemptattempted to take which was in the door, in the lock at the time. but i took the key. i got the key. mary, it sounds frightening. i know you said yesterday you did not want to leave because you were afraid if you did, the thugs would come back and loot the place. you ve obviously changed your mind. why? what made you decide you want to get out of there? my son. my son called me and told me that i really should. so i doubled back and thought again. and, yes, i ll i ll leave. but i intend to come back. and the question now is how do you get out? as lester just said, he tried it reach you and was unable. have you been able to talk to anybody who can get to you? what is your plan? my friends have been most supportive. and yesterday they contacted the emergency numbers on the television. they contacted the army. they contacted the police. they contacted the american embassy. without any effect. let me bring in your son, phil, right now. phil, as your mom said, she s leaving or attempting to leave because you asked her to. i know you ve been very worried about her. you yourself contacted the u.s. embassy. is that correct? well, we ve had some contacts with them. basically it was a situation where we were told that they just didn t have enough personnel and we were pretty much on our own. they were very polite about it. my concern has been i teach a current world problems class. i m a high school teacher. we ve been following this with our class on the various channels. and it s been clear, the escalation that s been taking place. we ve had the internet down and i haven t been able to get in touch with her until yesterday morning. and that s just when things were really getting bad. and she s lived in cairo now for 15 years. she loves the place. she loves the people. she s been very happy there. i ve always been a little bit concerned about something like this happening. and she s always placated me on this because she s always said the only thing you have to worry about is when mubarak dies or retired and the son takes over. that s the time when there s things will get a little dicy. the time table has moved up here a little bit. and i think it s time to use discretion and she needs to come home for a while. phil, because we have mary by phone and you can speak with her directly, is there anything you want to say to your mom right now? she can respond. no, i think we we ve been actually in touch. i ve been very surprised how easily we ve been able to be in touch. i thought maybe there would be problems on this. once the phone and internet was restored, we ve been able to talk. the last time we talked, mom, was, what, about an hour ago? pretty much so, yes. that s about right. yeah. so the only the real concern i have right now, she hasn t had any sleep during this time. i m concerned about that. the curfew is coming up at 5:00. they re about ten hours ahead of us. so it s about 1:30, 2:00 there now. yes. and so i m concerned that she s going to she s going to end up another night there. yes. and friday is going to be the big demonstration day. i you know, she could be there for a while. well, mary thornberry, we re so appreciative that you ve spent time talking with us this morning. please stay safe. thank you. i wish to comment that i m very displeased with the treatment i did not receive from the american embassy. well-put, mary. thank you very much. phil, thank you for being here with us. we wish your mom the very best. it is 7:12. here s matt. here at home, a blast of arctic air is adding to the misery caused by that huge winter storm that dumped a dangerous mix of snow and ice over a 2,100-mile swath from texas all the way to maine. al is still snowed in in chicago. good morning again, al. well, good morning, matt. right now it is 4 degrees above zero. a windchill of 7 below. and it s just going to get worse. of course, folks here in chicago and along a 2,100-mile path are still digging out from this storm of historic proportions. this time, the storm lived up to the hype as snow, ice, and freezing temperatures gripped much of the country. in a storm of this magnitude, there is no way to predict from minute to minute what problems may arise. reporter: chicago recorded its third biggest storm ever with over 20 inches of snow and winds that exceeded 60 miles per hour at times. whiteouts stopped the evening rush hour in its tracks, leaving scenic lakeshore drive a snow-covered parking lot. outside boston, the accumulation of heavy snow caved in the roof of an office building. and on interstate 93 in new hampshire, a chain reaction accident forced one car to literally take a nose dive. the storm also halted air travel, leaving some with tickets to sunday s big game delayed. we re going to come home with a lombardi trophy, baby! reporter: super bowl bound fans could find dallas still reeling from an icy superstorm as temperatures continue to plummet. for much of the country, it s an icy mess. throughout indiana, crews are dealing with downed power lines. the roads are slick as well. a news van from channel 5 in cincinnati skidded into a country ditch and had to be towed. as street crews and homeowners began to dig out, fatigue and frustration set in. if you have nothing to do, stay home. it s pretty, but my husband owes me a larger snow blower. reporter: but others took it in stride. and welcomed the midweek day off. i think it s great. it s nice to have a snow day. and, of course, the bad news is we ve got another storm that we re going to tell you about coming up out of the south. here we ve got to deal with bitterly cold temperatures. not just in chicago. as far south and west as texas. take a look at the windchill advisories and windchill warnings, stretching back from el paso all the way up into the great lakes. windchills right now, this morning, bitterly cold. we re talking windchills anywhere 10 to 20 degrees below zero. i mean, very, very cold temperatures. 12 degrees below zero in sioux falls. and then afternoon highs don t really don t really rebound too much. i mean, we re talking about single digits to below zero. high temperature readings, actually air temperatures. a real mess. of course, the other big concern as we take a look at this not just roof but building collapse in easton, massachusetts, the the employees starting to hear creaking. they saw tiles falling from the roof. they all got out safely. but this the big concern, especially in the northeast and on into new england, where there s so much snow on the roofs and then yesterday getting a lot of rain, the snow just soaks that up like a sponge, and the weight of the snow and ice may cause more roof collapses over the next 72 hours. matt? all right, al. we appreciate it. we ll check win you in a little while and get your local forecast. for now let s get a check of the other top stories with ann curry at the news desk. good morning. meredith and matt, good morning. good morning, everybody. we begin with shock waves with the crisis in egypt that are rippling across the middle east. despite an offer from the president of yemen to step down in 2013, an estimated 20,000 protesters swarmed the streets of yemen this morning. they re calling it a day of rage and supporters of the current government in yemen are also gathering today, saying they want stability. australian officials are expressing amazement that there have been no reports of any deaths or serious injuries in the wake of cyclone yasi. there was a lot of damage, and reporter david cosh from australia s channel 7 joins us from townsville australia, 150 miles south of where the massive storm made landfall. david, good morning. good morning, ann. three babies were born in evacuation centers at the height of the storm. yasi was the biggest cyclone to hit this country in our history. it was more powerful than the hurricane katrina. winds up to 295 kilometers an hour. it was its size that made it a monster. to give you an idea, it would have stretched from pennsylvania across to nevada and from georgia up to the canadian border. thankfully, it crossed the coast between two major cities, townsville and cairns. about halfway between them. so damage was limited, although wiped out a number of small communities. these days, there are still 200,000 homes without power and many without water. and to give you an indication how this storm keeps going, there are now flood warnings from as far to as far inland as airs rock and also ellis springs. all right. david cosh, thank you for your reporting. be safe there. as expected, the senate has blocked a republican-led effort to repeal the new health care law. the next step is likely to be the u.s. supreme court, which could decide the law s ultimate fate next year. a california school janitor is in custody after police say he shot and killed an elementary school principal in his office. no children were hurt in that incident. some 43.6 million americans are currently relying on food stamps for groceries. that s according to the department of agriculture. that s 15% of the u.s. population. the percentage is higher in some places. more than 1/5 of residents in washington, d.c. and mississippi currently rely on food stamps. meantime, wall street is having a strong week. trish regan is with us. trish, what s on tap today? a lot more earnings are coming out, a lot of economic data. the other big concern, you just mentioned food stamps, but it s food inflation that s happening on a global level. you look at wheat prices, up 114%. corn up 88%. sugar at a 30-year high. and some believe that the easy-money policies of the federal reserve have actually contributed to this. so it will be very interesting to hear from ben bernanke, head of the federal reserve today. he will be taking questions from reporters. also, the president of the ecb, the european central bank, is going to be speaking. he s been very concerned about inflation, very hawkish on inflation. so we may see some differences or perhaps even similarities between the two. but watch for comments from the fed heads. trish regan, thanks. today begins the year of the rabbit in the lunar new year celebrated in most of asia. festivities include lion and dragon dances, fireworks, temple visits and flower markets to mark the arrival of spring. it is now 7:20. let s go back to matt and meredith. the year of the rabsbit is supposed to be a lot more calm than the year of the tiger. it s not starting out calm. people born in the year of the rabbit are articulate, talented and ambitious. i wasn t born in the year of the rabbit. you were born in the year of the snake. you re a rooster. that s good. snakes are good. snakes can eat roosters. that s all i have to say. easily. let s go back out to chicago, get the rest of al s forecast. al, good morning again. well, good morning, you rascally rabbits, you. things not so bad. we do have a storm system getting itself together in the gulf. that s causing problems later on for the weekend. but in the meantime, you can see we ve got brutally cold weather throughout the plains. we ve got clouds in the pacific northwest. sunshine through the southwest. we are starting to see clouds develop there. we ve got some lake-effect snows along the good morning, everyone. things are pretty quiet. it will be breezy and cold but we don t expect a snow showers today. expect a high-temperature near 35er and that s your latest weather. we ll have more on this next storm coming up in the next half hour, matt. thank you so much. coming up, lindsay lohan under investigation for allegedly stealing a one-of-a-kind necklace. could it land her back behind bars? we ll get the latest on that. first, this is today on nbc. just ahead, how would you react if you discovered the love of your life was gay? one woman opens up about the news that turned her world upside down. and the rare condition that causes this girl to shed her own skin, after your local news. call 1-800-steemer ever wish vegetables didn t taste so vegetably? well, v8 v-fusion juice gives you a full serving of vegetables, plus a full serving of fruit. but it just tastes like fruit. v8. what s your number? and more. if you replace 3 tablespoons of sugar a day with splenda® you ll save 100 calories a day. that could help you lose up to 10 pounds in a year. that s how splenda® is sweet.and more. i like that. cool. quitting sucks. carl, we re gonna grab a smoke? nah. i m good. [ woman ] hi, carl! hi! [ male announcer ] quitting sucks. nicorette makes it suck less. and for fast craving relief that goes wherever you go, try the smaller, more convenient nicorette mini lozenge. live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. good morning. i am stan stovall. here is sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. we have a problem with icy conditions because of the brief freeze overnight. is-related at 406. all lanes closed there. also want to avoid this accident in pikesville. down to about 35 miles per hour when you get down to 40. delays extend back to 795. southbound to 95, bw parkway, there is an accident coming into us there. 14 minutes is the drive time on the outer loop west side. 8 minute on the inner loop from 75 to the 83 boston. to the 83 s. let s show you what is going on on the camera at white marsh. not a bad ride here. southbound traffic towards the beltway. heavy delays on the outer loop right of liberty. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. tony has a check on the forecast. it is a little breezy, cold, temperatures in the 20 s. 26 at the airport, 24 in catonsville. it will be breezy and chilly all the way through the afternoon. high temperatures expected in the mid-thirties. we will see another storm on saturday. rain and snow. be sure to check the bottom of your screen for traffic information. we are back at 7:55 7:30 now on a thursday morning. third day of february, 2011. central park looks pretty from the top of the rock. snow-covered fields and reservoirs, nice if you have a chance if you re in new york to take a walk, although cold today. but no snow in the immediate forecast for us. maybe another storm brewing over the weekend. we ll hear more about that in just a bit. meanwhile, inside studio 1a, i m matt lauer with meredith vieira. lindsay lohan is wearing a necklace that was stolen from a jewelry store near her home. now lohan is being investigated for grand theft. we ll have details coming up. how about this story? we re going to meet a 5-year-old girl who suffers from a rare condition that causes her to shed her skin just about every single day. we ll talk more about that. and then what would you do if you found out our fiance was gay? one woman was floored by her boyfriend of ten years when she discovered that he was cheating on her with men for years. it happens more often than you might believe. she ll share her story. we begin with that alleged jewelry theft investigation centered on lindsay lohan. kristen welker is in los angeles with the latest. kristen, good morning. good morning, matt. lindsay lohan just got out of rehab a month ago. by all accounts, she s been working hard to get her life back on track. so these new allegations could be a major setback. hey, lindsay. did you steal the necklace? reporter: lindsay lohan ignored reporters outside the santa monica courthouse wednesday after allegations surfaced that lohan stole this $2,500 necklace from a venice jewelry store near her home on january 22nd. soon after the necklace was allegedly stolen, we see a picture that appears to be the necklace hanging around lindsay lohan s neck. that s evidence that the police are taking very seriously. reporter: in a written statement, the lapd said they obtained a search warrant on tuesday to look for the missing necklace in lohan s apartment. but prior to service of the warrant, the necklace was returned. hollywood insiders say a lohan aide gave the necklace back. there are reports that lindsay is denying that she knew it was taken, that a stylist took it and that she wore it but didn t know where it came from. reporter: representatives with the jewelry shop tell nbc news they gave police surveillance video which shows lohan in their store on the day the necklace disappeared. now it will be up to the los angeles county district attorney to determine whether charges will be filed. the da will make a decision. can they prove that she was shoplifting? you have to prove that the person had an intent to permfantly derive the owner of his property. reporter: it s not the first time the actress has been accused of having sticky fingers. in 2009, lohan settled out of court after leaving a nightclub with someone else s mink coat. speculation also swirled later that year when gems totaling $400,000 disappeared after lohan posed for an elle magazine photo shoot. and again when a friend s rolex went missing. she was never charged in either instance. these new allegations couldn t come at a worse time. the troubled actress is currently under investigation in riverside county for allegedly assaulting an employee at the betty ford clinic where she was a patient for three months. lohan was ordered to rehab by judge elden fox for violating her probation on a 2007 dui arrest. analysts say lohan could be in real trouble this time. if she s convicted of either shoplifting or assaulting the betty ford worker, the case is going to be sent to judge fox and one would have to assume that if she s convicted of either of those charges, that he s going to put her in jail. now, the district attorney s office wouldn t comment, except to say that no charges have been filed at this time. nbc news did reach out to lohan s attorney for comment, but never heard back. the actress has a previously scheduled status hearing set for february 25th. matt? kristen welker, thank you. susan is an nbc news legal analyst. robby ludwig is a psychotherapist. ladies, good morning. the legal term for this is oy, i believe. she is already on probation for that dui back in 2007. is this a real big deal? that s latin, right, matt? exactly. this is a real big deal. the legal analyst that commented earlier is correct. if this goes back to the same judge and he s arrested for this conduct, she s going to prison. intent to steal. can you help me with that? how do they prove intent to steal, that she intended to permanently deny access to that necklace to the owner? she took it. that s what the non-legalese is. right. it s not rocket science. basically what she s going to try to say is, oh, they let me take it on approval. but, i mean, come on. let s not be so cynical. this is hollywood. there are stylists and they re constantly procuring things for their clients. is it possible that there s a lack of communication here between the store owner, the stylist and lindsay lohan? that s what the district attorney s office is looking into now. what s the claim of the store? because what i what i read is that the store is basically saying they saw it on a website on her neck. that would tend to suggest that they didn t say, oh, go ahead and take it. the chain of events here, they ve got video allegedly of lindsay lohan in the store, they have video of lindsay wearing the necklace in the store and then they ve got this photo of her wearing it out of the store. if you re her legal team, how do you defend against that evidence? the other thing they could say supposedly is that it was given to her on approval but then she didn t give it back in time. but really that s not a defense. i mean, you could make that argument after she s arrested, but as a prosecutor, i d tend to say let s arrest her and see what she does with it. robbie, we know this is a young lady with issues. that s been well-documented. if we must say if there is also a larceny issue here, is it possible the two are related? well, it s not uncommon for people who steal to have co-existing disorders. so sometimes they re alcoholics, sometimes they have eating disorders, very often there s a mood issue of depression or anxiety. so it s really not uncommon. part of what gets them to do it is the adrenalin rush. it gets them out of a depression. it feels good. well, i m glad you bring that up. let s keep in again, if and susan is looking at me. if she stole this, what is it about larceny among people who can otherwise afford to buy things? right. it s so unusual. it s striking. you re wealthy enough you re wealthy enough. you can buy it. it s never about the object. it s always about trying to fill up something. maybe you re angry and you feel you re entitled to something. maybe you want to give a gift to yourself. maybe you re trying not to feel depressed or anxious. so it s always about the high that it gives you. the to boo. the feeling of control of being able to get over, being able to steal and not get noticed. so it s that it s that edge that it gives you. just real quickly, back to you, susan, the necklace was returned. that s a good thing. in some ways, is it also an admission of guilt? i think it is. why didn t she bring it back to it the store? why did she bring it to the police? what i also read, it seems there was a leak that the search warrant was issued for her house. and before they could get to their house, the necklace was brought back. not to the store, but to the police. she has a history of that. i think that s consciousness of guilt. no charges no, but there s usually a pattern if you re looking at it psychologically, not legally, you you know, usually they there is a pattern i think there s a culture of enabling going on around celebrities, around addiction and particularly around lindsay lohan. i think it s time that there s a period of incarceration. let us remember, innocent until proven guilty. but you can be incarcerated for misconduct without charges. this is a violation of probation, whether she s arrested or not, in my view. ladies, thank you both. i appreciate it. 7:38. let s head to chicago and get a check of the weather from al. the good news is here in chicago, lakeshore drive after being closed for 24 hours, police today opened it up this morning. and traffic is now running on lakeshore drive. that s good news. the bad news is we ve got another storm to deal with coming out of the gulf. let s take a look, show you what s happening. this system is going to be working its way out starting late tonight, coming out of the gulf, spreading a mix of frozen precip from texas into louisiana. then as it makes its way, a secondary forms along the mid-atlantic coast, makes its way up. this is not going to be a massive snowstorm. we are talking about more of a nuisance storm, anywhere from three to six inches of snow as you get into interior sections of texas. not quite as bad in the northeast. we are off to a breezy and cold start this thursday. there could be snow showers in the mountains today. i doubt if that activity could make it towards baltimore. high of course, with all this wild weather, make sure you check the weather channel on cable for your latest forecast or go to weather.com online. matt? al, thank you. up next, a curious medical story. a little girl who sheds her skin just about every day. we ll meet her right after this. from jet engines that have fewer emissions, to new ways to charge electric cars, to renewable sources of clean energy, ecomagination from ge is advanced technology that s good for both the economy and the environment. it s technology that makes the world work. [ squawking ] you re an amazing, beautiful woman. i love you. - that s not on there. - no, it s in here. - savings on select diamond fashion: one more reason kay is the number one jewelry store in america. [ male announcer ] it s morning. and quaker loves morning. because when you start your day with the power of oatmeal it s good for your heart. it gives you energy. and it can turn an ordinary day into an extraordinary day. quaker oatmeal is more than breakfast. it s a superfood. back now at 7:43 with our special series curious medicine. this morning, the 5-year-old girl who suffers from an extremely rare condition that causes her to constantly shed her skin. nbc s michelle kaczynski has details. it s mine. reporter: spend a day with annabelle. who is that going to be? reporter: it s hard to keep up with this sweet, chatty 5-year-old. but everything stops when it s treatment time. thick creams rubbed on to her skin several times a day, on her hands and face every half hour. it s hard for annabelle. plus, the endless questions from strangers. one taxi driver asked me if i put her in a microwave oven. so a little insensitive. reporter: now annabelle can pronounce what she s dealing with. ichthyosis. reporter: ichthyosis, a genetic skin condition that only affects about 3 in 1 million people. as a newborn, annabelle s doctors had to carefully remove a thick skin membrane that covered her entire body. whereas most of us shed a layer of skin every two weeks, annabelle s skin regenerates once a day. if her parents didn t exfoliate her morning and night, apply the lotions and the bandage garmmentes, her skin would thicken and harden like scales from head to toe. it still happens sometimes. annabelle saved us one of these scales to show us. it s like snake skin that sheds. and comes off. reporter: initially annabelle had a hard time at school. but once her mom explained to the other kids what was going on, annabelle could be the friendly, popular little girl she is. though now she s asking those tough questions. why? the hardest thing to deal with is when does annabelle come out and say, i wish i didn t have skin like that. to me as a mother, that s like a knife through my heart. i wish i could take it away from her. unfortunately, i can t. reporter: ichthyosis is so rare, medical experts say there s not much funding for research to find that gene and potentially a cure. her parents now lead a support group with a website that connects people around the world. for annabelle, it s a constant battle with her own skin, but at age 5, she s learning to live her life around it. i swam five meters. reporter: for today, miz l michelle kaczynski. and up next, new york s legendary apartment building, the dakota, where john lennon was shot, accused of racial discrimination. richard, why are you wearing grandpa s jacket? i m not richard. i m grandpa smucker. male announcer: tim and richard smucker always looked up to their father and grandfather knowing that one day they too would make the world s best jam. grandpa says it like, i ve never tasted anything so delicious! i ve never tasted anything so delicious! tim: [ laughing ] you got it! male announcer: for five generations, with a name like smucker s, it has to be good. the moisturizer in other body washes sits on top of skin. only dove has nutriummoisture, which can nourish deep down. dove body wash with nutriummoisture. superior natural nourishment for your skin. but one is so clever that your skin looks better even after you take it off. neutrogena® healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% saw improved skin. does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics. special k protein shakes a truly great-tasting breakfast shake. with 10 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber, it s the creamy, delicious way to satisfy. your hunger to help you lose weight. so you can kick the tin can habit. try special k protein shakes today. so you can kick the tin can habit. the best device for everything you love to read editors choice. best dedicated ereader. magazines look spectacular. fantastic device. touch the future of reading at barnes and noble. nookcolor. [ beep ] [ beep ] [ beep ] [ beep ] [ male announcer ] find an italian masterpiece in your grocer s freezer. shrimp and lobster ravioli with garlic butter sauce, from buitoni. simple ingredients, artfully prepared. buitoni. create an italian masterpiece. discover more buitoni masterpieces in the freezer section. back at 7:48. the dakota is a new york city landmark. it s the apartment building with john lennon was shot and currently the home to many wealthy tenants. now there are allegations of wrong-doing behind the gates. jeff rosson there this morning with details. good morning to you. hey, matt. good morning. we talk about luxury buildings in new york city, especially here in manhattan. this goes well beyond that. the dakota is so exclusive you can see how pretty it is. listen to the people who have put in applications to live her but were reportedly rejected by the co-op board. cher, madonna, and antonio ban derr derris. somebody who lives her right now says the board and the building are guilty of racial discrimination. it is home to the mega-rich and the mega-famous. judy garland, joe namath, lauren bucall and yoko ono have all lived here. the it dakota, one of the most legendary buildings in all of new york city. former resident john lennon was shot and killed outside here in 1980. fans still flock to the site. the dakota has impressive movie credits, too, including rosemary s baby. apartments here can run you north of $20 million. the dakota is a co-op. you can have all the money in the world. you need to go through the board to be approved to buy an apartment in the building. they can reject you at will for any reason they want. reporter: now a rare peek inside this secret enclave as an ugly neighbor-on-neighbor battle plays out in public. alfawns fletcher jr. is a wealthy money manager. recently fletcher says he wanted to expand and buy the apartment next door as well. an all-cash deal worth $5.7 million, but the board rejected his application. now fletcher has filed this lawsuit against the dakota and the board calling it discrimination, saying they blocked the sale because of an extensive pattern of hostility toward non-white residents of the building. these cases are generally really tough to prove, especially if you add the fact that he already lives there and it s a diverse building. reporter: just years ago, fletcher himself was president of the co-op board. he recalls movie star couple melanie griffith and antonio ban derris applying for an apartment. the board wouldn t even grant them an interview. and the lawsuit also claims the board discriminated against another famous black resident, rober roberta flack. now in his case, fletcher wants at least $15 million in damages and still wants that new apartment. this is highly unusual for something like this to be made public, especially in a building like the dakota that prides itself on privacy and anonymity for its high-profile residents. late last night i spoke to the president of the co-op board here who told me this decision was just about mr. fletcher s personal finances. in a statement he told nbc news, and i m quoting here, his outrageous accusation s are untrue and at odds with the facts that board has previously approved his purchase of several apartments. he has been repeatedly elected to the board and his mother currently serves on the board. the dakota has always valued the diversity of our community. matt, at this point, there is no word of a settlement yet. this may end up just as a real public elbarsment for a lot of people. jeff, thank you. we re back after your local news. tuna is a natural source of omega 3 s and that is good for your heart. these 27 latin lovers agree. [ latin lovers ] we agree! si bonita, we agree! oh muchachos. well there you have it! tuna, it s good for your heart. [ latin lover ] tuna the wonderfish. well there you have it! tuna, it s good for your heart. nothing starts your day like honey roasted, honey bunches of oats. the perfect balance of crunchy flakes and clusters, with a kiss of golden honey. delicious. and the same calories per serving as special k original. so, try honey roasted, honey bunches of oats! heck try em all. it seems like your life with rheis split in two.s, there s the life you live. and the life you want to live. fortunately there s enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, fatigue, and stop joint damage. because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, and other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis. ask your doctor if you live or have lived in an area where certain fungal infections are common. don t start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you re prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. and help bridge the gap between the life you live. and the life you want to live. live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. good morning. i am stan stovall. time for another check of the morning commute with stan stovall and traffic pulse 11. in line of accidents and other moving a lot better now. police on the scene in paxil sykesville. delays on outer loop 95. this extends all the way towards the harrisburg expressway. traffic stalled on the west side top to bottom. southbound 83 approaching padonia road, debris in the road and delays on mount carmel. gorsuch road and new windsor, the earlier accident is clear. outer loop northeast side, we re looking at about a 21-minute ride on the west side outer loop. 11 minutes on southbound 95 down to 32. 95 and white marsh has not been a problem all morning, thankfully. we will switch to it in my view of traffic in the area of liberty. crowded all the way down. tony has a check on the forecast. quiet right now. breezy and cold out there. we don t expect snow showers or icing during the day today. we probably have to chop off a good five to 10 degrees for the wind chill. dress for that temperatures in the teens if you are stepping out. it will be breezy and chilly through the afternoon. increasing clouds tomorrow. next chance for rain or snow on saturday. you can check the bottom of your screen for updated news and traffic information. we are back at 8:25 with another live update. coffee black, straight up. extra cream, three sugars. iced coffee french vanilla. for me. iced coffee with a turbo shot. i m drinkin dunkin . i m drinkin dunkin . i m drinkin dunkin . drinkin dunkin . america runs on dunk. 8:00 now on this thursday morning, february 3rd, 2011. we have a happy crowd. small but happy. it s kind of cold here. getting in well-deserved camera time on a bitter cold morning. lenny, always joining us. we love him. i m meredith vieira alongside matt lauer. just ahead, when the person of your dreams turns out to be living a lie, which happens more often than you think. after dating for ten years, carrie s fiance told her he was gay. now she s opening up about the experience and she ll tell her story just ahead we ve unfortunately heard the tragic stories of a young athlete, a high school athlete, dying suddenly after a practice or a game because of an undetected heart problem. now a mother who actually lost her daughter to such a tragedy is trying to make a medical tool that could detect such a problem available and required by all for all student athletes. we ll talk to her coming up as well. also why it s not too late for baby boomers to turn a hobby into a full-time job. we ll give you advice on that. first let s go inside to ann. she s got a check of all the headlines. ann? thanks. good morning, everybody. we begin with more significant developments from egypt. today, president mubarak s government apologized for wednesday s attack on anti-government protesters in cairo s tahrir square. the united nations is evacuating hundreds of its personnel and families. and there were new clashes overnight. nbc s chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in cairo near tahrir square with more. good morning, richard. good morning, ann. the government apologized for those attacks but said it was not responsible. the protesters certainly do not believe that. a dramatic battle unfolded yesterday. there were thousands of protesters in tahrir square, demanding as they have been for days that president mubarak step down. suddenly in the early in the morning hours, they were rushed by thousands of what they describe as thugs, supporters of president hosni mubarak. they came in on horses, many of them were scareyicarrying stick knives. very intense, close combat broke out and carried out continued for the next 12 hours or so. the two sides were launching molotov cocktails and stones, bricks at each other. 800 people were wounded. then in the nighttime hours, there was a dramatic development. the protesters who at one stage were overwhelmed by the pro-mubarak supporters launched a counteroffensive. the protesters pushed forward and managed to send the mubarak supporters into retreat. at that stage, gunfire broke out. many people thought it was the pro-mubarak supporters who were firing down into the demonstrators. that triggered the army for the first time in this crisis to intervene in a way. the army sent a tank between the two sides and unleashed a smoke screen to try to separate the two groups. the army is still trying to keep them apart, but is mostly now returned to an observation role as those clashes continue in tahrir square this morning. all right. the story still developing. thank you so much, richard engel, for bringing it to us. also in the news, here at home, a break in the weather after that colossal winter storm pummeled states from texas to maine with snow and ice and powerful winds. this morning chicago s lakeshore drive was reopened after more than a foot and a half of snow forced drivers to abandon their cars. and in massachusetts, employees made a run for the door and managed to get out safely when the roof of their company collapsed from the weight of the snow. as for that massive cyclone in australia, well, today officials in northern queensland are assessing the damage. the storm slammed ashore on wednesday, ripping apart hundreds of homes and buildings and causing more flooding. in the already flood-ravaged region. amazingly, no one was killed. a federal judge has ruled that the administrator of the 0 $20 billion compensation fund for last year s gulf oil disaster is not independent from bp and must stop saying that he is. the judge says that kenneth feinberg must clearly state that he is disbursing payments on bp s behalf. 150 people who claimed they were sexually abused by catholic priests have settled a lawsuit with the diocese. the agreement provides them with money from a $77 million trust. new york city lawmakers have approved an ambitious outdoor smoking ban that will outlaw smoking in about 1,700 parks and 14 miles of public beaches and boardwalks as well as times square. the law goes into effect in 90 days. and one of the mysteries surrounding the mona lisa may have been solved. an italian expert says the subject of the painting was really a young man who worked with leonardo da vinci and was the inspiration behind much of da vinci s works. it is now 8:05. let s go outside for a check of the weather with al. that s a nice voice. i got to tell you, i like that voice. anyway, let s take a look, show you what s going on. you can see on the u.s. satellite radar, we re basically looking at some activity getting itself together down in the gulf. that s going to be the next storm that makes its way up into the coast. we also have fabulous weather coming in here for the northeast. plenty of sunshine for today. in fact, here in chicago, we have beautiful, blue skies. it s only 1 degree right now. and as you can see, we ve got some lake-effect snows. beautiful weather in the pacific northwest. clouds and breezy and cold start. mixture of sunshine and clouds. the breeze will stay with us. and that s your latest weather. matt? al, thank you. when we come back a woman whose life was shattered when she found out that the love of her life was gay. we ll talk to her right after these messages. express yourself oh, do it oh, do it express yourself [ female announcer ] coffee s like life. it s better when you add your flavor. visit us on facebook to find out how you can get a free bottle of coffee-mate on february 4th. new aveeno positively radiant tinted moisturizers, with scientifically proven soy complex and natural minerals give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on, to even skin tone in four weeks. new aveeno tinted moisturizers. the monster was furious! rarrr! it s for laughing. [ laughs ] [ female announcer ] .pretending. and the mouse went, wha-wha-wha, why? [ giggles ] [ female announcer ] .seeing things differently. and then the boy bit the dragon! [ female announcer ] .and for being with your favorite storyteller. [ grandpa ] i love you when you are quiet. [ female announcer ] .even after he goes home to nevada. [ grandpa ] and i love you when you are loud! [ female announcer ] hallmark recordable storybooks. make your voice their valentine. that lets you eat six times a day? yeah, baby! try the slim-fast 3-2-1 plan. 3 snacks, 2 shakes or meal bars, and 1 balanced meal. slim fast. who has time to slim slowly? and 1 balanced meal. host: could switching to geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance? host: does it take two to tango? anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. seven years ago, i had this idea. to make baby food the way moms would. happybaby strives to make the best organic baby food. in a business like ours, personal connections are so important. we use our american express open gold card to further those connections. last year we took dozens of trips using membership rewards points to meet with the farmers that grow our sweet potatoes and merchants that sell our product. we ve gone from being in 5 stores to 7,500. booming is using points to make connections that grow your business. with chili s new $6 lunch break combos. choose from a house salad or hot, tasty soup. then pair it with a massive texas toast half sandwich, like our delicious classic turkey or our gigantic new southwestern blt, smothered in cilantro lime mayo and jam-packed with three glorious slices of applewood smoked bacon. served with fries, that s big flavor for just 6 bucks! the $6 break for bold, weekdays at chili s. we are back at 8:10. imagine how you would feel if the love of your life turned out to be gay. in a moment we ll talk to one woman who had that happen to her. first, natalie morales has more. good morning. experts say it is actually happening more and more often, leaving many women confused. i m gay. reporter: from the big screen i had what i guess you would call desires. i find that i m attracted to men. reporter: to politics. i am a gay american. shamefully, i engaged in adult consensual affair with another man. reporter: a woman finding out the man she s in love with is gay is something we ve seen played out before. it happened to kiri blakely, who thought she d found the man she d spend forever with. we enjoyed spending time together. everybody looked at us as the perfect couple. reporter: after ten years, kiri s faienciance said, we nee talk. i thought he was going to say i didn t clean out the cat litter box or something. he said, i m confused about my sexuality. he said i m having fantasies about men. it was the last thing i expected to hear. it s extremely difficult for a woman to reconcile this and come to terms with it. there aren t any striking red flags apart from catching him in the act. reporter: experts say at any given time, there are as many as 2 million mixed-orientation marriages. and a new cheating study from the university of texas shows only 22% of women say they could forgive their male partner s betrayal with another man. but if a woman cheats with another woman, over 50% of men say they would continue the relationship. women who cheat with other women, it s usually rooted more in an emotional relationship whereas men who cheat with men, it s almost purely based on something physical and sexual. reporter: kiri says having her fiance tell her he was gay was one thing, but finding out he cheated with another man was another. him having an affair hurt more than him deciding he was gay. emotionally, i still struggle with the idea that someone can lie to you and to themselves on a daily basis for so long. some mixed-orientation couples do stay together, but one study estimates that only 7% who try make it long-term. meredith? thank you, natalie. kiri blakely writes about her experience in can t think straight. gail saltz is also here with us. you refer to your fiance as aaron. that s not his real name. we also offered him the opportunity to come on the show, give his side of the story. he declined. putting that out there. at the time of your relationship, you say you never had any idea that aaron was gay, but when you look back now in hindsight, can you see things that you didn t pick up then? there s a stereotype of how a gay man should look, act, and sound. and he fit none of that. none of that at all. so in that way, no. okay. he doesn t nit stereotype. the only thing is our sex life did dwindle over the course of the decade that we were together. it slowed down. but i saw that as a long-term relationship. i thought that was a normal thing that happens. i had other friends who were going through the same situation. so that was really the only clue, if you want to even call that a clue. yeah. gail, how often does this happen? apparently quite a bit. why would someone want to live a lie for that long? it often starts because they re lying to themselves. still today unfortunately, it s hard for people to come out. it s potentially a harder lifestyle. they feel people s disapproval. and it s internalized. they don t want to be gay. even though that s really what s going on. because there s really sort of a continuum, if you will, of sexuality, and you can have, you know, great attraction to a member of the same sex mostly but still somewhat be attracted to, you know, the opposite sex. it s not so black-and-white. it s not so defined. you can say to yourself, well, maybe this isn t so. i don t want it to be so, so i m going to say it s not. people live secret lives of all kinds. this is one of them that usually leads to real depression, to betrayal, and a lot of hurt. do you think that you would have felt differently had he had an affair with a woman as opposed to a man? i tell everyone it s equal amount of devastation, but in different ways. so with a man or men, you don t get competitive like, oh, what does she have that i don t. you know what a man has that you don t. but in another way, i almost felt like i couldn t get as angry because i felt like i had to in some way support his choice or his decision even though he d been cheating on me. so you almost are not able to be as angry as you would be if it was a woman. so that was kind of strange. maybe go ahead. i think women often in this situation feel very humiliated, you know? it s like why why did that happen? what does this mean about me? why did he pick me? and i think that leaves you very angry. you know, to be really shamed, leaves you very, very angry. and then what do you do with it? you can t fight for the guy to come back to you. so how do you, you know, how do you deal with that? you dealt with it by drinking a lot for a while? i sort of self-destructed for a while. sleeping with a lot of guys you write in your book. it depends on your definition of a lot. but, yeah, i went a little crazy because i think i had a psychotic break with reality. when the reality that you know for so long turns out to be not the reality that you thought, it s almost like you you just i just had a psychotic break. i didn t know how to be alone anymore. so for me to sit in my apartment for a couple of hours and watch tv was in possible. i would have to go out to a bar, you know? and just be around people and drink and yeah. and this isn t only about sexuality. this was about fidelity as well. correct. that s the issue. when he told his friends, a lot of people said, well, thank goodness you could come out. they weren t even angry that he cheated. this is not living a life of integrity. it s not being true to yourself. it s not being true to a commitment that you made. that s really the bigger issue. frankly, had he come to you it would have been painful, but had he said, i m gay, we re not going to be able to stay together, i have to leave and then gotten into a relationship, it would have had a very different feeling. the betrayal is a big part of the problem. thank you for sharing your story. thanks for having me. gail, thanks. the book is called can t think straight. we ll be back right after this. so which one tasted better? [ shark 1 ] uh, steve. [ shark 2 ] yeah, the guy. with steve i tasted peanut butter and uh snickers. [shark 3] yeah, that s it! steve had just eaten snickers peanut butter squared. ohhhhh! steve was delicious. [ male announcer ] if you like peanut butter and chocolate, you ll love peanut butter and snickers. try new snickers peanut butter squared. you ll love peanut butter and snickers. i was diagnosed with copd. i could not take a deep breath i noticed i was having trouble. climbing the stairs, working in the garden, painting. my doctor suggested spiriva right then. announcer: spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled maintenance treatment for copd, which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. i love what it does. it opens up the airways. announcer: spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. stop taking spiriva and call your doctor right away if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, have vision changes or eye pain, or have problems passing urine. tell your doctor if you have glaucoma, problems passing urine, or an enlarged prostate, as these may worsen with spiriva. also, discuss the medicines you take, even eye drops. side effects include dry mouth, constipation, and trouble passing urine. it makes me breathe easier. i can t do everything i used to do. but there s a lot i can do that i was struggling with. announcer: ask your doctor if once-daily spiriva is right for you. [ male announcer ] it s morning. and quaker loves morning. because when you start your day with the power of oatmeal it s good for your heart. it gives you energy. and it can turn an ordinary day into an extraordinary day. quaker oatmeal is more than breakfast. it s a superfood. quaker oatmeal is more than breakfast. [thunder crashes] - i m right here. and i always will be. - now you can surround her with the strength of love s embrace, at kay jewelers, one more reason kay is the number one jewelry store in america. can getting enough vegetables make you feel good? oh, yeah. v8 juice gives you 3 of your 5 daily servings of vegetables. v8. what s your number? and this morning on today s healthy heart, the search for heart defects. when a young athlete dies from cardiac arrest, it s a tragedy. it s also frustrating for loved ones understanding how a child who was so healthy could be taken away so quickly. on august 21st, 2008, my daughter, jenny, seemingly perfectly healthy, 17-year-old, had a sudden cardiac arrest on the soccer field. reporter: michelle snyder learned afterwards that her daughter was born with a structural heart defect, something neither she nor yenny s doctors ever picked up on. jenny absolutely did not have one symptom of sudden cardiac arrest or heart issues. reporter: now she advocates screening all student athletes with electrocard yelectrocardio. in michigan, beaumont hospital offers on-site ekgs and screenings for student athletes free of charge. those wavy things are your valves. they look beautiful. reporter: but the vast majority of schools and youth organizations across the country do not require kids undergo this level of screening before participating in organized sports. it s not done because it s not cost-efficient. unfortunately, we live in a time when things have to be cost-efficient. reporter: guidelines suggest a physical exam including personal and family history. in a statement, they said we do not currently feel that current scientific evidence supports the universal use of tests in the context of mass screening of children involved in athletic activities. no chest pain problems? reporter: the program has screened over 5,000 students. 30 were asked to stop sports immediately and follow up with a cardiologist. one student was found to have a potentially fatal heart disorder. we re pleased that we ve been able to change the course of lives of a handful of kids. reporter: it s that kind of outcome, the result of ekg screenings, that michelle snyder would like to see more of. would it have savored jenny s life? i don t know. but it does save lives. to have that tool available and not use it when it s killing our children is crazy. doctor, good to see you. nice to see you. some people might be watching this thinking this is a no-brainer. why wouldn t be test kwe test k? is it all about money? it s not as simple as it may appear. money is certainly an issue. we re talking about two to five million athletes a year getting an ekg. that s a cost of billions of dollars. that s not just the issue. the people at the american heart association, they re human beings, they have kids and they feel for these families. when you talk about a mass screening program, you want to make sure the benefit is really clearly there. they don t feel that the scientific evidence is sufficient. so do you think it is sufficient to go with the current course of action, which is this basic, you know, personal history and family history examination with the questions that are routinely asked? well, i think that s essential. you really need to talk to your doctor about personal history of, you know, chest pain or fatigue, family history of heart disease in the family before 50. that s a baseline. you need to talk to your children. very often teenagers don t want to report symptoms like this. is it sufficient? well, there is a down side to an ekg that may not be properly interpreted. it may lead to many other diagnostic tests or procedures. but if during an interview and a personal history evaluation and family history evaluation a red flag is raised, then you would follow up with an ekg. absolutely, absolutely. we re also definitely recommending to follow up on even one yes answer to one of those questions, should prompt a cardiology evaluation. we talked about money before. if you feel as if you want your child tested with an ekg, whether it s required or not, what type of cost are we talking about per test? there s a range, about between $100 and $300. you want to make sure it is correctly interpreted. the other thing to remember, ekgs are not, you know, in fallible. you may have a normal ekg and then have an event. it s not a perfect test. but the bottom line is we need a lot more evidence and parent watch groups, you know, are really supporting the increase of studies on this topic. all right. doctor, thanks very much. i appreciate it. just ahead, how to turn your hobby into a money-making business. but first, your local news. live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. good morning. i am mindy basara. let s check on the morning commute with sarah caldwell. a couple of accidents coming in to us. ice could be an issue in areas. we re getting reports along shawan road that it is icy there. a crash on southbound 95 on eastern avenue, watch for delays developing there on the beltway towards eastern. we are down to seven miles per hour on the northeast outer loop beginning on belair road to the harrisburg expressway. j.f.x. delays in place beltway southbound to 20 per route 29 miles per hour and maybe worse on the west side. we will look at that in a moment. delay still haunt south and north bound to run a 95 there in the air to between 32 and 197. let s give you a quick life looked outside. southbound still looking well here. we will have delays towards eastern with a reported accident. on the west side, pretty full right there on the outer loop from 705 to edmondson. john collins joins us with a look at the forecast. we have a few scattered clouds this morning but no rain or snow. all the rain is to the south. we will be watching out for something tomorrow. temperatures this morning we have chilled the down from yesterday. humidity is down. guests are at 20 miles per hour. that will have an effect on how it feels today. breezy and chilly. winds northwest 20, 32 to 37 ft. high. we will have another update at 8:55. coffee black, straight up. extra cream, three sugars. iced coffee french vanilla. for me. iced coffee with a turbo shot. i m drinkin dunkin . i m drinkin dunkin . i m drinkin dunkin . drinkin dunkin . america runs on dunk. 8:30 now on a thursday morning. it s the third day of february, 2011. kind of a chilly start to that day here in new york city. 27 degrees. a lot of young people are enthusiastic, if not shivering. this is about as high as it s going to get today. not going to get a lot warmer than this. at least it s sunny. yes. it s a beautiful, sunny day. i m matt lauer along with meredith vieira and ann curry. we re going to talk about following your passion. yeah. if you ve had a hobby and you want to turn it into a career, it s not too late. what you need to do to turn your love into a job. a business really. into a business. and make a lot of money hopefully. that s a good thing also, if you want to get away, who doesn t want to get away? we ve got good ideas for cheap hotel rates. places where you get great deals if you want to get the heck out of dodge cheap. inexpensive. also, happy new year. yes. happy year of the rabbit. the year of the rabbit. martin yen is going to be here this morning, one of our favorite guys. she going to celebrate with us. i just want to make sure what he s doing there. what? what? he s so much fun. he s such a great cook. he s making a shrimp and chicken dish. a lot of symbolism around him. that red shirt, not by accident. no. really? prosperity and good health. very good. all right. let s go out to chicago. al is still out there. al, are you going to get out of there today? we re hoping. everything has been canceled until noon. we re on about a 4:00 flight. so i think we re going to get out. but if not, i ll see you tomorrow from chicago. you know, al, go to the airport, make a scene. just make a scene. do what you always do. yeah, yeah. i normally do that. that s that s my modus aprendi. it s one degree right now. we ve got a windchill of about 8 below. for the most part, the sun is out here in chicago. they ve dug out lakeshore drive. that s good news. things are getting back to normal here in chicago. let s take a look at your weekend. show you what s happening. first of all with tomorrow, saturday, we have a storm system getting itself together in the gulf. thamts causing issues. out west, we have gorgeous weather. clouds along the eastern seaboard, back through the plains. sunday we re looking at more wet weather. some an icy mix moving through the mid-mississippi and ohio river valleys. going to be a real mess there. we are off to a breezy and cold start this thursday. there could be snow showers in the mountains today. i doubt if that activity could make it towards baltimore. high n as we head into the weekend, you want to check on your weather, go to the weather channel on cable or weather.com online. matt? we hope to see you right back here tomorrow. good luck flying out. when we come back, we re going to talk about if you re over 50 and looking for a fresh start, how to turn your hobby into a new career. that s right after this. this is today on nbc. we are back at 8:36. this morning on 50: living it, loving it, turning your hobby into a business. it s never too late to follow a passion and make it a career. getting started may be easier than you think. carol barron is a stay-at-home mom who loves baking her signature sweet. lisa byer is a stay-at-home mom with a flare for decorating. and here with advice is doug hirshhorn. good morning to you all. doug doug, if i can start with you, boy, baby boomers and those who are older make up 54% of the self-employed. women account for 50% to 60% of new start-ups. twice as many women starting upbles up businesses as men. those numbers are encouraging. right. they re compelling. what i think is very important to realize is i believe women are actually hard-wired to be more successful in business. why? i think they have a better intuition internally. they re much more reflective about communication, about themselves, seflf-awareness. these two ladies, carol and lisa are both passionate about their hobbies, want to get started, but it is intimidating. yes. the one thing that holds them back, and this is very common, fear. period. fear is what holds people back from making very, very important decisions and very compelling changes in their lives. let me start with carol. you re known around town to your friends, the mondale bread queen. it s your grandmother s secret recipe that you ve adopted. everybody says you should go into business. but you haven t. what is holding you back? i think like doug said, the biggest thing is just having a fear of rejection. it s the biggest thing. the second thing is is being overwhelmed, being burdened with time and going into something by myself. and i think turning something that i ve been so passionate about into a burden. and i when you have to do it, it s not going to be as much fun. and doing it alone has always scared me a little bit. and i just it s been something that s so fun for me. and all my friends and family have enjoyed. i m just afraid i ll grow to hate it. let s address her concerns, doug. the first one, the fear of rejection, we re parents and we have children. if your child wanted to take a risk or do something, you would look your child in the eyes and say, that s not a good enough reason to not make your mark. we need to live by the same standard ourselves. it s very normal to have that experience, but don t let it get in your way. when we talk about dealing with fear, compartmentalizing it, putting it to the side. you talk about waiting for that kind of perfect moment in time to find the partner to help take off the responsibility and grow the business. there s never a perfect time for these things. you have a product you believe in, you re passionet at and yout to bring it to the next level. she says that if she loves is going to turn into something that s just a chore. it will. however, if you re passionate enough about this product and you believe in it enough, anybody will tell you that if they re doing what they love, it s not work anymore. it s about the product and the journey and the process. you also said that you were concerned because this is a jewish cookie. well, people won t want it because of that, because it s just one niche. i think that s a plus. i think it s great. uniqueness is remarkable. it s a cookie. you don t have to make everyone love that cookie. people are not going to like it. but you need to find a specific group of people that love it and they ll spread the word. lisa, you have two young children. but you often go with your friends because they love your decorating tips. your husband has been on you saying, get some money for this. you re good at what you do. what s held you back? i think probably primarily it s i m afraid that i m not as good as i think i am. there are really very talented people out there. i know i have tremendous talent, but there are a lot of people out there who have as much talent, if not more, than i do. fair enough. there are tens of thousands of interior design decorators out there, but find a way to differentiate yourself. maybe you specialize in interior design for college dorm rooms. find a niche for yourself and you ll differentiate yourself. there s always room for one more person. yes, there is. especially if you differentiate yourself. anything you d like to ask doug at this point? how do you make yourself unique? how do you how do you make yourself just not another bag of cookies on the shelf? you keep the name mondale bread. you start a blog. the industry that we have now, blogging is free and it s all about starting from a small point. talk about baking it. it s a great story about your grandmother s recipe. i read this and knew i was fantastic. let people hear your story. all right. carol, get started. we want those. lisa, you, too. get money for that decorating. doug, thank you so much. up next, chef martin yan helping us ring in the chinese nuyear. we re back at 8:43. this morning on today s kitchen we re going back to basics for the chinese new year. it s the year of the rabbit. according to martin yan, it will be filled with prosperity and fun. martin, always nice to see you. happy new year. i wish you prosperity and good luck. you know, very, very common practice, during chinese new year, the first day, they always put money a lot of money in what s a lot? this is a lot of money. don t show anybody. it s a secret. that s a lot of money to you? okay. it s symbolic. but you give it to children, right? particularly for children. you have three children. we ll give one to you. we wish you good luck, too. so you have one of these. thank you. we wis you good luck. that s $4. $4. okay. thank you for that. actually, chinese nuyeew yeaa lot of symbolic food. this is a tangerine. you always bring this along to give to your friends. this means abundance. that means i wish you all good luck, abundance of good luck, good fortune and good health. you re going to mix called phoenix and the dragon, right? yes. phoenix, this is, of course, the chicken, the phoenix. the dragon. during chinese new year, you do not use theyour knife? okay. we re not doing the knife. actually, in a traditional chinese household, you d cut the ingredients the day before. right. now we can cook. it s already cut up because we ve observed the tradition, okay? uh-huh. all you have to do is heat up your frying pan, a little bit of oil right here. low oil, low salt. marinate a tiny bit of meat with corn starch. put the corn starch here and here. and then stir this a little bit. thank you. and then, of course, use beer rather than wine. why? because it it s more light and fluffy. it gives a little bitterness to it. it s very good. stir both of those up. i just cross-contaminated. don t worry. and then look at this. you stir. a little garlic and ginger. garlic and ginger. look at this. garlic and ginger. stir, stir. stir, stir. oh, i m sorry. i thought you were just talking. i m sorry. i wasn t paying attention. no, stir. you re going to cook the chicken until it s a little on the white side. yes. and then stir. and then the shrimp. look at this. okay. what kind of vegetables have you got there? when it s almost ready, you put in some soy sauce. you do it. put a little bit of sesame seed oil. uh-huh. oh! look at this. look at this. it s beautiful. and then it smells good. and then snow pea. colorful vegetables, very important. vegetables are good because it s healthy, good way to start the new year. yes. it doesn t take too long to cook. and then you just shake it. shake, shake, shake. look at that. it doesn t take too long to cook. when it s almost ready, stir. continue to stir. ah, look at this. the whole thing cooks like two minutes. yes. when it s done, just let s hold on to this. we ll serve this. this is phoenix and dragon. what is this? this is spring roll wrappers shaped like a lotus. look how beautiful. look at that. very pretty. this is beautiful. let s take this back with hind us here. i want to show people what else you ve done. a whole bunch of stuff. come back here. also, whole fish, very important. why? because whole fish is a symbol of abundance. so you always, always serve with beer. okay. that s okay. we like that. around here, that s very popular. dumplings are also very traditional on the new year. they re like little wrapped-up gifts. a little gift, a little purse, a lot of treasure inside. and, of course, a vegetarian dish is always served, okay? always, always served. and let me just turn that burner down there for a second. normally when you finish cooking, you just remove it. and get rid of these. and that s it. that way you don t smoke out the whole room. what sign were you born under? the year of the snake. meredith is the year of the snake also. here is beer. happy new year. happy new year. cheers, martin. coming up, we ll have the secrets to getter great rates on a hotel room. but first, happy new year and this is today on nbc. this morning on our special series the grio s 100 history-makers in the making a swimmer who is spreading his love of the pool. today amy has his story. good morning. colin jones won his gold at the beijing olympics back in 2008, but that accomplishment was not an easy . they got to get out there. they re way ahead. reporter: for swimmer colin jones, winning a gold medal in the 2008 olympics was a dream come true. unbelievable at the end! the u.s. has done it! just a rush of feelings. it was such a long road of ups and downs. to be able to sit back and look at something that kind of was the epitome of why i did it was it s just amazing. reporter: amazing not only because he was just the second african-american to take home a gold in the sport, but also because it was a near-death experience that got him interested in swimming in the first place. in 1989 when colin was 5, he was visiting a pennsylvania water park with his family when an intertube that he was on top of flipped. let s go back to that day in 1989, the day that changed everything. what happened at the water park? i fly down this ride. what you re supposed to do is hit the pool of water at the bottom kind of gently coast to the shallow end. well, i wasn t heavy enough. i flipped upside down. reporter: struggling to keep his head above water, he feared for his life. i remember just blacking out. i just saw nothing but blue and then blacking out. it was definitely the scariest thing i d ever endured. i did not know how to swim. reporter: colin s mother, deborah, who didn t know how to swim, knew her son was in trouble. i heard him yell. he was yelling all the way down. and then all of a sudden i heard a scream cut off. reporter: a lifeguard performed mouth-to-mouth resusination on colin and saved his life. deborah enrolled colin in swim classes three days later. when i came home, it was like, okay. i didn t want to have the apprehension that, you know, at some point in time that this child might drown. my mom went against the trend of what we see especially in black culture of pulls their kids away from the water because of an instance where, you know, there was a drowning incident. i almost drowned. my mom got me into swim lessons. she wanted to give me the tools. reporter: black children are three times more likely to die from drowning than white children, something that motivated callen to become a part of the make a splash initiative. it s cultural. we have been kind of beaten into our heads that black people don t swim. ready, set, go! reporter: and oftentimes it s fear that prevents kids from getting the proper instruction. there is a cure. it s swim lessons. and that s what make a splash is really trying to push and trying to change in the fight against drowning. reporter: why is it important to you as a parent to have your children in swim classes? just watching them swim really makes me very happy. i wish i had the opportunity growing up to learn at an early age. i think it s amazing with what colin has done for the sport and the african-american community. it felt good. i really like the way he taught me how to swim and all of those things. how would you rate colin as a coach? he s an awesome coach. he s a really great coach. reporter: a really great coach who is making a difference in his community and hoping that his legacy will not only be as an olympic gold medalist but also as a mentor to countless children who will be living safer lives. here you go. thank you. good job today. and as colin travels the country, he s also training for the 2012 olympics in london. so he s quite busy, but it s amazing he can find the time to do that. he s having such an impact on so many children. great story. let s dring in david wilson with thegrio.com. thanks for having me. this list of 100 history-makers in the making, how do you come up with it? we scoured the country and said, who is making a huge impact? not just within their community, but for the country. what you see with colin, he s impacting so many young kids and inspiring so many young kids to learn how to swim and get involved in sports. we look at that and the huge impact. i imagine there are heated arguments here. it s very objective. you must be angry at some people you have to leave off the list. we had a list of 600 people at first. we had to dwindle it down to 100. you know, it gets contentious. some people we re still not speakli speaking, some people. but you have the final word. it is a real effort to look towards the future, which is a really key element. you are also trying to factor in different things like you wanted to be coast-to-coast. what are the criteria? again, you know, people were having a huge impact that the entire country can relate to. it s not just people doing great things within their community, but, you know, they re solving problems in health care, education, health. so we look at all of those elements. you know, it s people all of them have inspiring stories. when you go on the site and you see all 100 names, you click on each one of them and you re just moved. can you name a few of the others? sajari brit, a 9-year-old cellist who played for the first lady and president obama. michelle obama is on there, too. michelle obama because of what she s doing with the let s move campaign and obesitobesity. we have a grammy award winning song-writer and producer, a producer for your friend, kanye west. and the list goes on and on. we re going to leave that right there. we ll leave that alone. thank you so much. we re back after your local news and weather.ne live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. good morning. i am mindy basara. police are searching for a suspect in a late-night shooting in southwest baltimore. officers will called the 900 block of north whittington road around 8:30 last night. they found a body of a man believed to be in his 30 s with a gunshot wound to his head. meantime, investigators are trying to figure out how a man died in northeast baltimore police said the victim s body was found in a field of 9:00 yesterday morning. i know. they re delicious. introducing dunkin s all-new cocoa donuts, like our fantastic reverse boston kreme. try them all. america runs on dunkin . i never knew he liked me. we d have to keep quiet. or we could just tell hr. happy valentine s day. it would never work. share the love with a new cupid s choice donut from dunkin donuts. america runs on dunkin . now let s take a look at the forecast with the john collins. temperatures trying to rise out of the 20 s. more clouds to the south. if you are out to the northwest. fewer out to the northwest. i ve only 32 to 37. we will have another and weather update at 9:25.