Transcripts For WBAL Today 20110204 : vimarsana.com

welcome to today on this friday morning. i m meredith vieira. i m willie geist in for matt today. one of the largest demonstrations since the revolt against hosni mubarak today. the defense minister and other top egyptian military leaders appeared in the square, perhaps a sign that the military is siding with anti-mubarak protesters. we ll talk to richard engel straight ahead. meanwhile, the obama administration apparently decided if there is going to be a peacef fuful resolution here mubarak must leave office now. we ll have the latest from washington in a moment. we we gbegin with richard en in cairo. good morning. reporter: good morning. several hundred thousand demonstrators have gathered here in tahrir square. so far it s peaceful and orderly. the army said it will not stop the demonstrations. in fact, soldiers have a perimeter apparently to protect the protesters. today is the deadline protesters set for president mubarak to leave egypt. they insist mubarak must not finish out his term. president mubarak said he ll die in egypt. there is tension in the square because even the protesters don t know what they will do today, but they are braced for a fight. tahrir square is a crude military base now with rocks as weapons and barricades of burned-out vehicles and metal shields. the defenses were put up to fight off attacks by president mubarak supporters. they claim they are thugs and undercover policemen. this is what they do. we will die for our belief. reporter: they appear to stop at nothing to break into the square. when the protesters catch mubarak supporters, they are detained, bound and held in a makeshift prison. volunteer medics street hundreds of wounded protesters who refuse to leave tahrir. for the protesters this is the alamo, saying they will die here if necessary. egyptian officials say it is a plot to bring down president mubarak by agitators and tu opportunists. there is a foreign media agenda, a business agenda and a muslim brotherhood agenda. vice president omar suleiman told television, i will ask our security forces to pursue those responsible. that message has been passed to the secret police and mubarak supporters who detained, harassed, beat and chased down dozens of journalists as we have seen for ourselves. the united states has condemned the attacks on journalists. in strongest terms, attacks on reporters covering the ongoing situation in egypt. reporter: many egyptians believe the government is trying to divert attention from the protests and blame them on outsiders. the demonstrators insist that president mubarak must not just resign but leave the country. mubarak and his vice president have all come forward saying they want to negotiate with the demonstrators in order to have what they describe as a more peaceful transition. the defense minister showed up at the square this morning. what can you tell us about that? reporter: he did arrive. he didn t stay long. he was mostly speaking to the troops that have set up the defensive perimeter around the square. it is a sign that the army wants to deescalate the situation. we have seen the military today take a much more aggressive posture setting up barbed wire and moving tanks to try to push back potential provocateurs or instigators who may have wanted to pick a fight with the demonstrators today. the army is trying to contain the situation and prevent an outbreak of violence like we saw last wednesday. are we seeing many pro mubarak demonstrators or is this mainly the anti-government protesters? reporter: you are looking at entirely anti-government protesters. before, when violence broke out there was an onslaughter of pro mubarak supporters who arrived at once prompting many people to think it was a coordinated campaign. those supporters are not here, at least for now. there are now troops in place to make sure if they do arrive they don t get near the protesters. finally, do you know if there are protesters gathering perhaps closer to the presidential palace six miles from where you are? reporter: there is a lot of discussion about that. when you get a group this large it is difficult to figure out, even among the demonstrators what they are going to do. about half the people in the crowd seem to think they should march on to the presidential palace. other people worry if they try to leave the area they could lose numbers. it could break into violence. the protesters are having these discussions. whether they want to stay united in this, for now, peaceful demonstration or try to march onto the presidential palace which they feel would give a direct message to the president and show their numbers to the president himself if he is, in fact, in the palace. if they decided to march do you think the military would allow them to leave that square? reporter: that is a question. that is part of the debate. the army said it would allow them to march. whether they allow them to march on all the streets and trying to move a crowd that is at least several hundred thousand people and continues to grow remains to be seen. but the army said it will not stop the march. how that march happens and how orderly it is, however, could change the army s thinking on the matter. richard engel, thank you very much for your reporting this morning. here s willie. the obama administration appears to be taking a harder line with president mubarak deciding he must be replaced immediately. nbc s chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell is in washington with details. good morning. what is the united states government doing to bring this to an end? reporter: there is a lot going on behind the scenes. mubarak has ignored suggestions from frank wisner and president obama that he give up power but the administration concluded he must go now and be replaced by a transitional coalition government until elections can be organized and held. one official said there are a number of possible scenarios, we have had a number of conversations with the egyptians. these are talks, not negotiations. officials say the preferred option among several would be a coalition led by vice president suleiman including the egyptian military, their leaders, and all elements of the opposition including the banned muslim brotherhood. vice president biden talked to suleiman yesterday. i heard you say this deal cannot be seen as made in the usa. it has to appear it came from inside the egyptian government. why? reporter: it cannot be seen as an american plan. officials don t want it to have no credibility with the people in egypt or the region. for this to work it cannot be made in the usa. it can t have that label or it will not work. interesting day on capitol hill yesterday where democrats and republicans questioned u.s. intelligence officials about perhaps that they were asleep at the switch and that this uprising snuck up on them in egypt. reporter: this is only the start of this. this came from democrats ron widen and dianne feinstein as well as the republicans on the intelligence committee. when the president was told mubarak s regime was in trouble and this was the confirmation hearing for stephanie ohle sullivan nominated to be the number two intelligence figure. she was pressed hard on what the president was told. she said, we have warned of instability. we didn t know what the triggering mechanism would be. that happened at the end of last year. later the lead democrat senator feinstein said the community had not done a better job of communicating easily available information that was in the papers, on facebook, in the media there, that the regime was in trouble. more questions to come. andrea mitchell, thank you. here s meredith. now to the latest on the plight of an american woman who lives in tahrir square. we talked to mary on thursday and have been in touch with her family. lester holt traveled to jordan and has the latest. good morning to you. reporter: good morning. we spoke to her son a while ago. he said his mother is still in cairo but said she s getting help from an unspecified source. it s been a stressful several days for the elderly american woman but she s been determined to stand her ground. 76-year-old mary thornberry spent a second night trapped in her apartment in cairo s tahrir square, the situation getting worse. i found out i no longer have water. reporter: outside her door, chaos. sometimes i just hear the huge sound. sometimes the mubarak, mubarak. sometimes elbaradei, elbaradei. reporter: men were shouting threats and had a knife. i have a sharp knife, my walking cane and my rolling pin. that s my armory. reporter: bill derek has been making phone calls from his office near seattle. he contacted nbc news on wednesday after he couldn t get help for his mother. it s been a surreal experience, especially with the molotov cocktails being thrown off the roof in her area, especially in her building. reporter: early thursday morning we tried to go to mary s apartment hoping it would be safe enough to get her out. by the light of day, the danger was clear. we had to turn back. on thursday, mary had this to say to meredith. i m very displeased with the treatment i did not receive from the american embassy. reporter: after the story aired the embassy asked us how to reach mary. in washington a state department spokesman responded to a question about her situation. where we can be helpful, we, of course, will dispatch directly assistance or will try to work with the host government where we can to help them. reporter: with mary all alone, the violence rising outside her ire is still up. i m really getting angry. it s just as well that no one comes and sticks their face in my broken glass because i m apt to whop them with my rolling pin. reporter: a tough lady with a rolling pin. the family is hopeful she will be home soon. the help she s receiving, well, they couldn t go into detail. they say it is not coming directly from the u.s. government. back to you. lester holt, thank you very much. she s feisty. texas roots, think. i wouldn t want to get between her and that rolling pin. we re glad she s on her way out. now a check on the morning s top stories with ann curry at the news desk. good morning. we begin with iran s reaction to the turle moil in egypt. this morning the ayatollah a la khomeni called for the uprising to bring down the united states. a senate committee found that the fbi and the army had enough information, enough cause to dismiss major nadal hassan before he allegedly went on a shooting rampage that killed 13 people and wounded 32 others. the findings, an unwillingness to confront home grown islamic extremism. today, mark kelly, the husband of wounded congresswoman gabrielle giffords is expected to announce if he will command the final mission of the space shuttle endeavor. kelly has been seen by his wife s side since she was shot in the head in tucson last month. he is to make an official statement with nasa this afternoon. now to wall street and trish regan is at the new york stock exchange. everybody focuses carefully on the jobs report. this is really a barometer, the barometer for the overall economy. in order to have growth people need to be employed to go out spending. the problem is while we are seeing some growth it s just not happening at a fast enough rate to really reduce the unemployment rate in a meaningful way. if you think back to past downturns we had some kind of growth industry whether it was technology or real estate to get us out. we don t have that this time around. some may say that s healthy because you won t get a bubble. on the other hand, what s going to get us out of this? that s a question we would all like the answer to. thanks, trish. finally, the bandit who made off with $1.5 million in chips after a heist in las vegas is in custody. the suspect anthony carleo was captured as he was gambling. he d been living at the casino. it turns out he s the son of a judge in las vegas. that man s got some explaining to do. now back in our neck of the words, one more dry day before we see that storm affect our area with depreaning. variably cloudy today, 38-41 degrees. freezing rain after midnight. maybe a mix late and that s your latest weather. it was an arrest that outraged the houston community. a 15-year-old burglary suspect allegedly kicked and stomped by police as he was taken into custody. now surveillance tape has been made public. we should warn you here, the video is graphic. nbc s janet shamlian has the latest. reporter: the newly released surveillance tape shows what happened last march when a security camera at a storage facility captured the end of a houston police pursuit. 15-year-old burglary suspect chad holly is seen trying to make a run for it when he s clipped by a police car. on the ground he s seen putting his arms out in a surrender pose. then folds them behind his head as police move in. up to eight officers can be seen kicking and punching him for a minute and a half. i was upset. i said who did this to you? he said, the police did it. his nose was fractured. chad holley who is now 16 was convicted of burglary, but the video wasn t shown as his trial. ain t no hiding from this one. there is no sweeping this under the rug. reporter: a federal judge bid for release of the tape and the d.a. said they didn t want the tape out before police officers were put on trial. thursday, the tape was released by the naacp in houston. they are calling for a justice department investigation. how many times does this happen and there are no cameras to see this? we hear these stories all the time in our community. all the time. we just happened to have one caught on tape. reporter: nine houston p.d. officers were disciplined for their actions. four have been indicted and fired. an attorney for one of the officers says the release of the tape will make it harder for the officers to get a fair trial. for today janet shamlian, nbc news. ugly videotape there. here s meredith. thank you. the rash of storm this is winter have been taxing. now all that snow is pushing buildings to their breaking points. nbc s peter alexander is in connecticut with details. good morning to you. reporter: good morning. this is a real serious problem across the region. two more building collapses in this area alone overnight. one of the most recent examples is just across the street from us. police kept a safe distance away. we ll push in the camera. you can see for yourself this three-story brick building, 120 years old and it literally caved in, the third floor, beneath the weight of all the snow. witnesses say it sounded like an explosion at the time. as we come back out, i want to give you a sense of why this is happening. the parade of recent snowstorms piled up. and if you look down here, this is how hard the snow has become. for people in the northeast it s become too much. it s the threat that s weighing heavily on the entire northeast. among the latest buildings to buckle, this office outside boston. the employees escaped just moments before its roof collapsed following the latest punishing round of another foot of snow. across the region, dozens of similar scenes. watch this in connecticut where a gas station lost its roof. so did a bowling alley, a tennis club, even this taco bell restaurant. on thursday, dan scaglariani survived his own scare. i heard a banging and i checked in the dining room. there was a big hole. i didn t believe it would collapse like this. reporter: in new york roofing contractors have been working nonstop for two weeks. the thickness on the ice is causing major problems. reporter: experts say there are clear warning signs. when you re looking at the roof, how do you know there is a problem? well, one thing is when you have a heavy snow load you may see water dripping in. it can work under shingles and rubber membranes and you see ice dams which leads to leaks inside. reporter: it doesn t take a mountain of snow. consider this, depending how much water is in the snow, two feet on a normal-sized roof could weigh 38,000 pounds or 19 tons. if your roof starts creaking like an old wooden ship, get out fast. this elementary school is closed after a partial roof collapse. they are out there measuring. the concern was always the safety of the children. we have all flat roofs. reporter: in connecticut, several schools cancelled classes today. not a snow day, but a chance to inspect the roofs. with the number of record snow totals piling up, the northeast has already reached its breaking point. there is one way to deal with the snow. it s a roof rake. maybe you have never seen one. they can reach up to 20 feet to pull snow off the top of the home. one business said they normally sell five in a winter. this season they have sold 2,000. a lady in line said it is the biggest craze she s seen since cabbage patch kids. i want to get one of those. thank you so much. reporter: it s the modern day american gothic . yes, it sure is. thanks. coming up a deadly crash, three young adults killed. could it have been a suicide pact? we ll have the latest. first, this is today on nbc. coming up, money saving advice to get you through the year from the cheapest family in america. and a preview of ads you will see at the super bowl. they re super funny. first a check of your local news and weather. radio.avings, on te gecko: kate from mill valley, it s all yours. kate: well, i m shopping for my first car. gecko: nice! i do hope you ll choose geico and save a good bit of cash. curtis: what color is the car? i bet you d look great in a blue car. kate: no.actually, i m torn between a fuel-injected inline-6 and a higher torque turbo diesel. gecko: yeah.now that s quite a quandary! umm, i mean of course you could save either way. curtis: yeah but is one of them blue? cause i d go with the blue one. anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. [ 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. [ male announcer ] every day thousands of people are switching from tylenol to advil. to learn more and get your special offer, go to takeadvil.com. take action. take advil. if you skip this latte and opt for the smaller low-fat one, you ll cut about 12 grams of fat. then take alli with it to help boost your weight loss. so for every 2 pounds you work to lose, alli can help you lose 1 more. alli. how healthy works. a good morning, everybody. i m stan stovall. 7. time for a check on the morning commute. here s kim dacey. good morning, everyone. a couple of things to talk about. the beltway, a disabled vehicle moved off to the right shoulder. probative forcing knot loop boulevard a report of a truck fire and ines ex-old eastern at 702. the report of a crash at overly and belair road. campus view drive and windsor middle and courtly drive. we also have a confirmed accident at reisterstown road at stone chapel lane. we re seeing a slithe bit of a slowdown on the beltway. you could see a tap of the brakes from 795 to security. our more major delay is the outer loop backed up from harford to dulaney valley road. that s the latest on traffic pulse 11. sandra? well, we re below freezing right now. 28 downtown. 26 at the airport. dress in layers. pennsylvania, parkton, in the teens at 19. upper 20 s at the lower eastern shore and dry. variably cloudy. we re in the low 40 s. it looks like. but increasing cloudiness which is a prelude of things to come. after midnight and through the early hours, freezing rain and we ll then get another round of rain showers and snow. then we resume an unsettled pattern with a chance of snow on sunday. check the bottom of your screen for traffic and news. we re back at 7:55 with another live update. 7:30 now on this t.g.i.f. morning, february 4th, 2011. our crowd is bundled up on this chilly morning in rockefeller plaza, but still smiling and waving. al says the sun will shine this afternoon. we ll get the forecast in a bit. meanwhile, inside studio 1-a, i m meredith vieira alongside willie geist. do you watch super bowl for the dme commercials or the football? i like football, but i like the commercials, too. you always have a crowd that wants it quiet during the commercials. you have seen them? i proved some. there are good ones. looking forward to it. jaw-dropping $3 million for 30-second spot now. advertisers are hoping you watch the commercials. coming up, we ll preview the ads that will have you talking on sunday. and the secrets to saving your family a lot of money. the cheapest family in arica will be there with five tips to help you slash spending. let s begin with three young adults killed in a horrific and mysterious crash in new jersey. now, investigators want to know if it could have been done on purpose. jeff rossen is at the scene with the latest. good morning. reporter: good morning to you. let me show you what happened here. police say the hyundai accent was speeding down this small street in south jersey. from here it s a straight shot right into the wall of an elementary school and that s what happened. that car slammed into the wall of the school at very high speeds. sadly, all three young people inside the car were killed instantly. this morning, law enforcement sources tell nbc news nothing is off the table here as far as the cause, including a suicide pact. the hyundai slammed into the school with such force the bricks came apart in a tumbling heap. the car flipped and landed on its nose. matt budessa was driving. all three were killed. all so young. only in their 20s. sad. i don t understand why. i just don t understand. reporter: investigators confirm they weren t wearing seat belts. there are no signs they tried to stop, no skid marks. consider the excessive speed and the time overnight in the predawn hours in the back of a remote elementary school. law enforcement sources tell nbc news this may have been a suicide pact. there are some people saying this may have been intentional, may have been suicide. what do you make of that? he seemed so happy. i hope it s wrong. reporter: sources say police found illegal street drugs inside the car. unclear if the victims were under the influence when they barrelled through the wall. all factors, everything is being investigated at this point. we have three young people dead. we are investigating every avenue. reporter: this summer one of the victims, kimberly, wrote lonely on her facebook page. in october she wrote so tired. receive years ago the driver took to myspace for an anti-government rant. still no clear indication, friends say, they wanted to die. if it was a suicide pact, it is rare, if not impossible to believe that three 30-year-olds are not going to leave something behind a voicemail, e-mail, posting or a call to somebody that police will discover in the days to come. reporter: whatever happens, this small town in south jersey is grieving. this is a very, very sad day for this area or any area. it s just sad when you see young people s lives go. reporter: three young people killed in a horrific accident or perhaps something more mysterious. i would love the answer so i can understand why. it s going to be hard to grieve if you don t understand why. we had a whole life ahead of us. reporter: the victims families are too upset to talk. police are trying to piece it together based on the evidence they have. they were hoping there were surveillance tapes rolling in the back of the parking lot, but there are none. so they are working to try to figure out if this was an accident or some kind of bizarre suicide pact. luckily, the only good thing is this happened overnight before school started so there were no little kids around to get hurt. still unraveling the mystery of the tragedy. jeff, thank you so much. now a check of the weather from al. thanks. we have cold air funneling into the midsection of the country. 15 degrees below normal in kansas city. 33 below normal in dallas. the actual air temperature, as you can see, they have five inches of snow in dallas. it s 19 degrees, 10 in kansas city. 2 in international falls. 61 in orlando. they will get into the 70s in orlando today. but temperatures stay in the 20s from dallas to kansas city. albany, new york, to happy friday, we re going to see a nice end to the workweek. variably cloudy skies. things deteriorate tonight with don t forget, track your weather all day long. go to weather channel on cable or click on weather.com online. meredith. now to the mysterious disappearance of 19-year-old brooke willburger. her case gripped the nation in 2004 and it took years to solve. now seven years later, investigators are wondering if there are more victims like brooke out there. kate snow has details. good morning. good morning, meredith. say the name, brooke, in oregon and though it s been years now people remember it like it was only yesterday. as a child growing up outside eugene, oregon, brooke was surrounded by love in a large family. we used to have so much fun dressing her up. she was kind of our little toy, if you will. i know, let s dress up brooke, right? yeah. it was just fun. reporter: brooke grew to be an honor student and accomplished athlete, but in may 2004 after finishing her first year of college, brooke was doing odd jobs at an apartment complex in oregon when she vanished. the only clues to her disappearance, a pair of flip-flops left behind. her mother learned the news from her son. i said, where s brooke. he said, we don t know. we can t find her. right then i just had this chill go through my whole body. reporter: despite an intense search for weeks, no sign of brooke was ever found. then, six months later and 1,400 miles away, a waitress was driving down the street in albuquerque, new mexico, when she saw a naked woman in a parking lot, a woman who had escaped from a man who had kidnapped her at knife point. i told her, get in the car, lock the door. i wouldn t let anybody hurt her. reporter: within hours the kidnapper had been caught. joel courtney was a 38-year-old father of three and before long, good police work connected courtney to oregon and the day brooke disappeared. it would take more than five years, but courtney would eventually plead guilty to murdering brooke. her body was found in the woods outside corvales. now authorities wonder if the women in oregon and new mexico were his only victims. prosecutor teresa watley. i know the fbi has been looking. i don t think this is two times in his life he was doing this. i think it s more than that. reporter: so if someone knows of a missing woman, blond hair, young, you would say ask your police department to look at joel courtney. reporter: an attorney says the belief that courtney created other crimes fantasyland. he says if police had any evidence they would charge courtney and they have not. still, police have received calls from various agencies regarding unsolved murders and missing women in other parts of the country. they say courtney s dna is on file and they are willing to share it in any case at any time. you can see how broken-hearted her mom still is. they are an incredible family. so much grace in waiting for resolution to these things n. the end she shocked people by thanking joel courtney, thanking the killer for helping them get their daughter back ultimately. thank you so much. you can see more of kate s report on a special dateline tonight on nbc called bringing brooke home. up next, a sneak peek at the super bowl ads everyone will be talking about, right after this. 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[ bell dings ] - did dad go to jared for the pandora bracelet like we told him? - i can t tell. - oh, honey! - he totally went to jared. female announcer: celebrate life s unforgettable moments with pandora, now at jared. girls: awww. - they are so cute at that age. 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. give me half an hour. ahhh. ohh! [ male announcer ] so simple you could make em yourself. breakfast!! 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[ male announcer ] eggo waffles. simply delicious. this is mary. who has a million things to pick up each month on top of her prescriptions. so she was thrilled that her walgreens pharmacist recommended a 3-month supply and would always be there to answer questions about her health. now mary gets 3 refills in one and for 3 months, she s done. more or less. ask your pharmacist about a 90 day supply and get a free gift. walgreens. there s a way to stay well. back now at 7:42 with a super bowl preview. no, not the action on the field between the packers and steelers but the commercials. here with a sneak peek of the crop of ads this year, matt miller, president and ceo of the association of independent commercial producers and sally hogshead, brand expert and the author of fascinate: your triggers to captivation. let s talk about $3 million. $100,000 a second. it s the best bargain in advertising. think about this. it s the single most precious real estate. you have an entire nation glued to the screen, but only if you have a great idea. we have a good crop of ads. we have a preview here. matt, give me your impressions starting with the career builder chimps. let s take a look. guy, can you give me a little space here? you parked a little close. come on, guys! i have a meeting. never mind. announcer: stuck between a bad job and a hard place? did you notice maybe you clipped me a little bit there? announcer: career builder, start building. career builder can really introduce itself to the country at the super bowl. what s great about the spot is it s a unique way to talk about how people aren t happy in their work environment, to say the least. bringing back a character like that, a campaign that in 2005 and 2006 had so much going on and then pieces of the campaign stayed with this. they have a piece called monkey mail that s been out there. they have over 16 million people that continue to use it. this is an example of the brand listening to the consumer and saying, we better bring these people back or these chimps back as the case may be. this is the time to bring it back and have a dialogue with consumers. the e-trade baby is back. love the baby. and the budweiser clydesdales. this is about brand loyalty. when in a cluttered environment of the super bowl when somebody brings back, a brand brings back a familiar character or a story line, immediately people lock in and know what the brand is. also, twitter playing a big role, something we didn t see five years ago saying the buzz after the game, you say you get an online jury immediately afterward. it s amazing. the $3 million make this is a bargain, but the marketer better bring it. people will put it out there. they say 15% of all people watching the game are going to be on facebook and post something. most people who say they will post something say they are more likely to post ads than things about the game. think about that. 100 million people, 15%, people having 100-plus friends. talking about billions of impressions at risk here. $3 million? that s a drop in the bucket for that number of impressions. sally, i will jump ahead to my favorite add. v.w. has one called the force. watch this. [ theme from star wars ] [ barking ] [ engine starts ] sally, i have little kids. i m a sucker for the ad. that has to be the best one. i dare anyone not to love this ad. not only does it have the nostalg nostalgia, the ultimate villain and a little kid but it passes the crowded bar test. most people will be watching commercials in a party or a bar. with a commercial like this, it s simple enough you can understand what s going on with the sound off and after a few beers. that s the one to beat, i think. v.w. is making a big play here. they have another one where they show beetles. it s not clear what it s for. they have been teasing the beetle since they started giving them away on oprah. what s interesting is the car isn t out until fall. last year the new agency came out. they brought back the punch dub and tried to make it a cultural phenomenon. here they are getting the buzz going for a car that won t be released for eight, nine months. they know the value of the game and getting the buzz right. sally, there will be a lot of buzz over a skechers ad. we are allowed to show five seconds of it. i don t know what this has to do with sneakers. i don t know if this will sell a lot of sneakers, but it sells kim kardashian. the amazing thing about using celebrities is instantly you tap into what people talk about. there will be a huge push of people going online, talking about the commercial and kim. maybe not the shoes but they will be buying. we heard justin bieber and ozzy osbourne are doing an ad together, m & m and go daddy which burst onto the scene with the super bowl. gillian michaels and danica patrick. we are not doing it. you have done racy commercials before. i know. but this is over the top. thank you. we re here to promote go daddy, not be part of a crazy stunt. we are obligated by contract. go daddy girls coming to set. everybody is staring. see more now at godaddy.com. they leave you hanging a little bit, drive you to the website. these are the ones that pushed from the start ads that were too racy. they started the p.r. buzz of the censors taking the ads but you can see the racy version on the ad. there have been many copy cats that put out spots to be rejected and add to the p.r. again, the buzz around spots now is so big before, after, with social media, with p.r., with shows like this that the impressions are out there. it s big stakes now. go daddy has been playing it for years. sally, this is from doritos. hey, dude. feed the fish. water the plant. see you thursday. welcome back on this beautiful thursday morning [ bubbling ] grandpa! mikey? that is a powerful chip. is there a theme to the super bowl ads this year? are we seeing anything throughout? we have a lot of animals. we have a lot of brilliant storytelling. we have the return of the big, bold, creative idea. i love it. it will be a fun super bowl. thank sos much. we appreciate it. thank you. head to todayshow.com after the game to rate the commercials. we ll break down your favorites monday on today. much more on the big game and all the hoopla, but first these messages. 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[ 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. you may have noticed we are all wearing red. it s for national wear red day for heart disease awareness, the number one killer of women. just ahead, simple tricks to slash the family budget from america s cheapest family, after your local news. - did dad go to jared for the pandora bracelet like we told him? - i can t tell. - oh, honey! - he totally went to jared. female announcer: celebrate life s unforgettable moments with pandora, now at jared. girls: awww. - they are so cute at that age. 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. 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. good friday morning to you. i m stan stovall. 7:56. time for another check of your morning commute. kim dacey? it s picking up quite a bit on the roads. the inner loop approaching point boulevard the report of a truck fire. report of an accident at overly. campus view drive and windsor middle and reisterstown road and stone chapel lane. an accident. the report of an accident at pleasant hill possibly involving a bus. we ll give you a look at the west side at liberty road. looks like a very nice ride down the west side on the outer loop. still seeing problems on the beltway at hartford road. the outer loop is back to dulaney valley road. thanks a lot kim. we are cold out there this morning. 29 downtown and 25 at the airport. upper 20 s at easton and st. michael s. partly cloudy variably cloudy later this afternoon. tonight chance of freezing rain and rain tomorrow morning and maybe even a little bit of snow mixed in with that as we make our way through tomorrow. going to be nice on sunday. partly cloudy and 43. at the bottom of your screen you ll find updated news. we re back at 8:25 with another live update. welcome back at 8:00. at rockefeller plaza, we re pleased to have this crowd out here. i m meredith vieira along with willie geist and al roker. matt has the day off. hi, guys. this family is cheap but they say budgeting is the way to go. when you budget your money you have more to spend on the things you want. i guess you have to cut down. sounds good. and a look at what amounts to modern-day slavery in america happening in some of the most affluent neighborhoods in this country. we ll have one woman s story ahead. on a much lighter note we have super bowl xlv coming up. who are you rooting for? packers for me. packers. i know people in pittsburgh, so i m not saying anything. we ll take you to dallas for the festivities and here in stud-1-a, we have three viewers ready to do battle in our first homemade chili cookoff. and it s not whether you win or lose but how you play the game. that s funny. it s how you cook the chili. let s go in for a look at the headlines with ann. it s warmer. thanks so much. protesters in egypt are holding their ground today and declared this the day of departure for hosni mubarak. according to senior u.s. officials the obama administration is in talks trying to get mubarak to step down immediately to be replaced by a transitional government. we have nbc s chief foreign correspondent richard engel following developments joining us by telephone from cairo. what more do we know? reporter: i m on street level very near to the crowd of protesters. the army has put a cordon in place to try to protect this demonstration and contain it potentially. the protesters are going out of their way to say this is a peaceful demonstration. they brought family back for the first time and addressing the crowd was a well known politician here in egypt, the secretary general of the arab league. he is a potential presidential contender with a lot of credibility on the streets of cai cairo. he s a leader that egyptians could coalesce around. this is the first time we have seen him presenting himself in such a public way. richard, thank you so much. be safe out there. in other news this morning, a military offensive is being carried out by pakistan along the border with afghanistan. so far, it has killed an estimated 100 insurgents, 22,000 people who fled are now in camps. overnight a man with a gun attacked a greyhound bus in north carolina. he released the people on board and was arrested at a nearby gas station. officials don t know his motive. lawyers represent iing victims bern any madoff s fraud show executives were come police in the the fraud. one e-mail from 2007 was cited in which a bank employee said madoff s profits appear to be part of a ponzi scheme. at least three people were killed when the suv skidded and crashed through a guardrail falling into an icy river. rescuers managed to save five others. new mexico is under a state of emergency because of cold weather which cause add natural gas shortage. the governor ordered all government offices closed today, understandinged schooled to do the same and advised residents to conserve energy. remember this turkey that kept following and attacking a postal truck in massachusetts? it turned out it could be a kennedy. ethel kennedy said her son bought two birds around thanksgiving and one escaped. it s now 8:04. time for a check of the weather from al. that s a magic voice. hey, we have a couple of birthdays. that s your name? kylie. how old? 22. and how old are you? 52. what s your name? melanie. want to tell us how old you are? i m 80. you look fantastic. god bless. i feel like a junior willy. let s check your weather. you can see we have a lot of frozen precip down through texas. hard to believe. freezing rain down in houston. five inches of snow in dallas. that s all making its way into the mid mississippi river valley and the northeast by tomorrow. rain in the pacific northwest. sunny skies in the northeast and chilly. here s the forecast for dallas. friday, morning snow. tomorrow warms up to 40. super bowl sunday, 47. the retractable dome isn t a problem. this friday we re going to see variably cloudy skies. chance of rain overnight tonight and freezing rain. a wintry mix throughout. same deal for ocean city w we re international. we have someone here from german morning television. what s your name? matthew. like matt lauer. yes. what s the name of your morning show? . [ speaking german ] that s what i said. say it five times fast. al s big in germany. up next, effective ways to slash your family budget in 2011. we ll get tips from america s cheapest family right after this. express yourself 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. 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? so i ve got to take care of my heart. for me cheerios is a good place to start. [ male announcer ] to keep doing what you love, take care of your heart with cheerios. the whole grain oats can help lower cholesterol. love your heart so you can do what you love. oh, bayer aspirin? i m not having a heart attack. it s my back. it works great for pain. 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[ female announcer ] hard to say really. new caltrate soft chews, we put the yum in calcium. for adults, stelara® helps control moderate or severe plaque psoriasis with 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. in a medical study, 7 out of 10 stelara® patients saw at least 75% clearer skin at 12 weeks. and 6 out of 10 patients had their plaque psoriasis rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections. some serious infections require hospitalization. before starting stelara®, your doctor should test for tuberculosis. stelara® may increase your risk of cancer. always tell your doctor if you have any sign of infection, or have had cancer. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems. these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. serious allergic reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you or anyone in your house needs or has recently received a vaccine. with 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses, it s stelara®. i mean they re rewards, right? right? right. with the bankamericard cash rewards™ credit card. i get 1% cash back on every purchase. 1% cash back on groceries. highlights. frog leg green. 1% cash back on. whatever that is? and there is no limit to the amount of cash back you can earn. no expiration on rewards. no hoops to jump through. -simple. -i love this card. looove it. [ male announcer ] the refreshingly simple bankamericard cash rewards credit card. apply online or at a bank of america near you. we are back at 8:10. this morning on today s money family budget secrets from the cheapest family in america. if you need to kickstart your 2011 budget they are here to share secrets. when it comes to being thrifty the economides family corners the market. these cuts of meat will be expired in a couple days. you can get great deals. reporter: steve, annette and their children take frugality to the extreme. we spend $350 a month for groceries and that includes toiletries, paper goods. cleaning products, personal care items and of course the food. reporter: it goes well beyond strategic shopping. this shirt s $7. reporter: for halloween they took the cost out of costume. i got this dress for $5.99, this tiara for $2.50. reporter: during the holidays they celebrated with cheap cheer. every year we make our own wrapping paper. reporter: in this household, frugal is fun. being known as america s cheapest family means we get the best quality for the least price i. think we re pretty smart. if she does say so herself. steve and annette are the authors of america s cheapest family gets you right on the money and cuts your grocery bill in half. they are here with two of their kids becky and abby who are also cheap. good morning. we are talking about the family budget. you say it s critical. why is it criticalle to map out the budget in advance. this is the single most effective tool for saving money in the world. it s how we paid off our first house in nine years and paid cash for our cars. it works. every business has a budget because they are tasked with turning a profit. american families have to do the same thing. girls, you have budgets of your own. though you still live with mom and dad. we think of it as a spending plan. most people don t like the word budget but it s taking what we earn every week and allocating, saving in advance for things like a car, car insurance or something like redoing your room. just plan in advance and set aside the money. so you have tips to share with people today. easy ways for effective budgeting. steve, the first one has to do with three envelopes. the simplest budget for anyone to start with is take the three areas most commonly overspent, food, clothing and recreation. protect the rest of your earnings by saying, i m only going to take so much money in cash every paycheck, put it in the nenvelopes and when it s gone, stop spending. how do you know how much to put in there? a budget is a live thing. if you spend $100 a month and want to save on recreation, try $50. because you see the money going out, you know it s a tangible thing. beautiful. second strategy to jump start the budget is to sell anything that you currently aren t using. you mean anything. it could be athletic equipment, musical instruments, books, cds, dvds, all that stuff can be sold online. it s amazing how you can just take things around the house and turn them into cash. do you use that rule with clothes if you haven t worn it in a year, you won t wear it? depends on the item. with a fancy dress, there isn t always an occasion. you may want to hold onto it. but generate as much cash as you can to fund half a month of your mortgage, food or pay off debt. next budget strategy is learn a skill to cut out an expense like learn to cut hair so you don t have to go to the hair dresser. absolutely. simple plumbing things like to replace a leaky toilet, leaky faucet. making birthday cakes. if there are four people in an average family and you learn to make a cake you can save $60 a year just with that one strategy. if you fix a plumbing problem and don t have to call a plumber you saved $100. if it takes you two hours to fix the toilet you re making $75 an hour. do you get a book like plumbing for dummies? go to a home improvement store. they will tell you how to do it. you say to invest in cost-cutting tools and technology. like doing your own yard work, your own house cleaning, your own gardening. get a crock-pot. it saves you money for cooking. instead of going out to dinner you put the meal in the crock-pot in the morning. a freezer banks all the deals. we bought top sirloin at $1.50 a pound, put it in the freezer and anna nicole smith it for three months. you say programmable thermostats online. yes. if mom and dad work and they are all gone during the day a programmable thermostat adjusts the temperature, drop it is temperature in the house and turns it back up a half hour before you get home. we bought two on ebay for $60. they are normally $100 apiece. how much does it save you? probably $300 a year. big difference. you say every family can cut their grocery bill in half. absolutely. simple things like plan a menu, shop less at the store. the less you shop the more you save. learn to cook a few simple things at home. all those things add up. how do you parents convince you? what s the trick? other parents are going, how do i get my kids to be good savers and budgeters. when we were younger we didn t have a choice. but as we grew up we saw that we could spend all our money on one thing but what if another thing comes up we want to spend money on. what if we want to see a movie with friends? we don t have money and can t go. so then we see that this really is a lifestyle that is beneficial to everyone and i think parents need to embrace that. if they re not excited then their kids won t be excited about it. you guys are. i have one more thought about budgeting and finance. life is not about how good you look on the outside. it is about how healthy you are on the inside. financial health is an important component for life. all right. thank you so much. giving you a little nod. that was a good one. it really was. up next, the dark truth about modern day slavery in america right after this. 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[ male announcer ] get the venture card from capital one. money magazine s best rewards card if you aim to rack up airline miles. what s in your wallet? bebebebebebaaa! back with an eye-opening look at the state of human trafficking right here in america. it s a growing problem that takes place a lot more often than you might believe. today national correspondent natalie morales has been looking into the situation for the msnbc documentary traffic: slavery in america. welcome. from indentured servitude to working in hotels and factories, slavery is alive and well even in the most affluent areas in the nation. here s one woman s story. across the globe, for those living below the poverty line, america symbolizes the land of hope, of economic promise. but for over 500,000 men, women and children seeking to improve their lives, life in the u.s. means something else. i feel like a slave. reporter: for four long years a diplomat in suburban san francisco enslaved lily, a native of indonesia. i didn t have money, my passport and i don t have anybody. you know, so if i run away, maybe somebody will kill me. reporter: in 2002, the family hired lily and promised a steady salary in a nice home. instead, lily says the diplomat imprisoned her, abused her and forced her to work 20-hour days seven days a week for no pay. this is something i would never expect here. i think it s just preposterous. reporter: heidi lived just two doors down. shortly after the diplomat and his young family moved in highly couldn t help but notice the frail young girl wearing the same threadbare jogging suit every time she saw her. the thing that attracted my attention is she was washing the car every day. every single day whether it was raining or cold or warm and we thought, what a strange thing. why would some young girl have to come out and wash a car every single day? reporter: exhausted and alone, lily finally worked up the nerve to speak to a friendly face. heidi would often see lily when she went to pick up the mail. speaking in french, lily began to confide in heidi. one brief conversation at a time. she had to work morning until night, until midnight, 1:00 in the morning, 2:00 in the morning. for 18 hours of work, seven days a week. reporter: after years of isolation, physical abuse and humiliation, lily began to fear for her life. one day, shaking with terror,le lily ran to the only friendly face she knew. someone knocked at the door. i opened the door and there was lily. i was crying. i said, please help me. so i took her in. reporter: with the diplomat two doors down, heidi lived in constant fear of being discovered by a man they considered dangerous, a man they knew could murder them and never face charges. i was very nervous. in fact, there were many nights i lost a lot of sleep. i thought, oh, my heavens, what s going to happen. reporter: hiding lily under a blanket, heidi went to police and local authorities to get help. natalie, let s pick up the story there. what happens next? local police, the diplomat came looking for her and wanted to have her deported back to indonesia. federal authorities then identified her as a human trafficking victim. unfortunately because this em employer was a diplomat, he has diplomatic immunity so can t be prosecuted. police, in essence, didn t have much they could do. her friend heidi took a huge risk and was able to hire an attorney who then threatened to expose the diplomat. so he fled the country, fearing repercussions and obvious embarrassment to him and his family. this took bravery on heidi s part to take her in. you talk about hiding lily under blankets when they left the house. she had nervous moments there. very. she lived in hiding for six months just a few doors down with her neighbor, heidi. the good ynews is she got away and took the first step. thousands can t get away because they live in fear. but there is a happy ending to the story. unfortunately for so many others there aren t happy endings. a remarkable story. great work bringing that to the country s attention. you can see the full report sunday night on msnbc at 10:00 p.m. eastern time. we re back after your local news and weather. good morning. i m mindy basara. let s get a final check on the morning commute. good morning, everyone. just a few things. not looking too terrible. a report of an accident north avenue and guilford and inner loop eastbound between 702 and eastern boulevard. a crash at liberty and portley drive reisterstown road and stone chapel lane. in owings mills, pleasant hill involving a school bus. nobody was hurt, though. we will give you a live look at 95. a crash blocking the left lane past caton ave. it is all clear north and south moving fine. switching to the top side of the beltway, a bit slower. the outer loop crawling from harford road camera. that is the latest. over to you. good morning. our satellite radar combination showed high, thin clouds streaming overhead. south, rain and just in two parts of virginia. it was there yesterday, too. it will be suppressed in the south during the day. a big storm developing in the south but precipitation will not be until later tonight. look at the forecasts. the map for this evening. the rain still generally south of the baltimore washington area but beginning to creep north. the mix of rain, sleet, snow, overnight tonight and tomorrow. here is the forecast mostly cloudy skies. right now in the mid 20 s. eventually 38-41 for a high, pretty close to normal. southwest breeze at 5. thank you for joining us. another update at 8:55. another update at 8:55. 8:30 now on this friday morning, february 4th, 2011. you are looking at cowboys stadium in dallas, site of super bowl xlv, more than 100 million americans are expected to watch the big game sunday. they won t all be there. some will be at home obviously. out here on the plaza look at the roof. on the roof of the stadium there, snow. roads there are a mess. hopefully they will be cleaned up. are you excited about the game? i am. looking forward to the commercials more than the game. i m excited about the snacks. they re usually high calorie and crunchy. the game will be a good one. two traditional powers, packers and steelers. going to be fun to watch. and the commercials. and the black-eyed peas. speaking of food, we ve got three viewers who we have a home cook chili cook-off. three viewers making fantastic chili. and we ll hear a hog call that you don t often hear when making chili, but we will hear one today. someone not doing a hog call is justin bieber who s stopping by again today. he was here earlier this week. he ll play a trivia game with kathie lee and hoda. that s why i m here, by the way. it s friday. you have bieber fever. oh, yeah. [ cheers ] i have roker fever. you can finally tell us what s going on. if you have roker fever, only cow bell can cure it. let s see what s happening for the weekend. for saturday, rain in the pacific northwest. mild on the west coast. lots of wet weather along the eastern seaboard with icy conditions. sunny and warm in florida. cold and sunny in the upper mississippi river valley and sunday, sunday, super sunday, looking at rain in the pacific northwest. sunny and mild. sunshine in the northeast, but cold. it is going to be brisk through the ohio river valley into the southeast. happy friday, we re going to see a nice end to the workweek. variably cloudy skies. things deteriorate tonight with if you re got weather fever, only the weather channel can cure it or weather.com online. and then more cow bell. [ cow bell ] do you know where we are headed next? where? to dallas to get ready for sunday s super bowl. first this is today on nbc. hey, what are you drinkin ? i m drinkin dunkin . 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. back outside now at 8:35. all eyes on dallas. we re gearing up for super bowl xlv, the packers and the steelers. we sent today national correspondent jenna wolfe to check out the scene. reporter: good morning! when i first got this assignment i was like, woo hoo, super bowl, pack your bathing suit, not your parka. it s cold here, but that s okay. i m not going to complain. we re excited. everyone is gearing up. you can feel the excitement in the air. truth be told, i can t feel much of anything right now. this is what texas wanted you to see. [ howling wind ] reporter: this is what we re getting. temperatures in the teens, ice everywhere, even snow. for the green bay packers and the pittsburgh steelers, forced to practice indoors, it just feels like home. it doesn t matter how cold it is t. fans of two of the greatest franchises in nfl history are hot with enthusiasm. having a good time? reporter: how could you not want to join the fray? you just have to know which fray to join, when. can i hang out? yeah! let s have some fun! [ booing ] reporter: hey, guys. oh, my god! reporter: while the nfl is big business for adults it s a kids game at heart. do you remember what you were like at that age? yeah, just running and i didn t know why. i was like forrest gump. reporter: jerry ryan tried to encourage kids to exercise an hour a day and admits he has a childlike passion for the game. they like the bling. i remember not being able to sleep before the game. the butterflies. wanting to go out and play your best football knowing this is why we play in the nfl, to get to the super bowl and to win it. reporter: and with the hall of fame wide receiver on the gridiron, i couldn t resist. come on. let me see it. reporter: don t judge me by the spiral okay, here we go. what was that? reporter: that was the worst pass pattern i have seen. okay, joe montana, i m not. one thing i do know how to do is kick back. there are parties raging in the big d. we even spotted last year s super bowl mvp drew brees. today lightens everybody s day. reporter: yeah! no doubt about it. reporter: for true residents of the lone star state it s always a party when you trot out the finest livestock. reporter: we are here at a steer beauty pageant. this guy is getting blow dried. is that crazy? not too crazy. i m next online. oh, the cow. sorry. i reblow dried my hair after because there was not enough product. all humans and livestock will watch super bowl xlv come sunday. perhaps it will stop snowing which will make it easier and more fun for everybody. back to you. you have to go to the miami super bowl. you re at the wrong one. reporter: that will be the assignment i don t get. thanks so much. we re gearing up here. these are the official super bowl footballs made by wilson. they make them every year. they have been doing it since 1941. in ada, ohio. small town. go deep. here we go. [ cheers ] they were nice enough, they sent the ball with our autographs on them. you have your name on yours? you do, too. i have to get it back. and willie s is better. it s wilson geist. exactly. they put them on all the balls. thank you very much to the guys at wilson. i m donating mine. up next in honor of the big game, are you excited? our very first home made chili cook-off. whoo! whoa, look. this is today on nbc. drink in the rich, bold taste. of premium roaoffee 100% arabica beans. it s so rich, but so just a dollar. on the dollar menu at breakfast. and that s what we re made of. ba da ba ba ba my sistersundays are just tofor watching football. believe that? [ thinking ] relax. you ordered off mcdonald s dollar menu at breakfast. everything s so good and just a buck. so go. he s a jerk. [ thinking ] the simple joy of being smart. back now at 8:42 with today s first ever chili cook-off contest. bragging rights are on the line. hundreds of you sent in recipes. we narrowed it down to three. our judges this morning, sunny anderson host of cooking for real and adam richman, author of america the edible. good morning. everyone get to their stations. you call yours hog call chili. right. where did the name come from? i won the iowa, illinois and nebraska state hog calling chilies. let s hear it? sooey, here, pig, pig, pig. [ snorting ] get security! what s the key to the recipe? the key is i put a lot of spice and herbs and the key ingredients are granny smith apples and vermont maple syrup. really? yes. with the meat into the sauce, all of the spices make a well-rounded chili. the judges oh, you already started. mm-hmm. good luck. rhonda morrison is next. yes, ma am. this is a traditional texas chili. no beans. no beans. you used a shoulder roast. why is that cut of meat important? it s got a great marble of fat in the meat. so it really absorbs the fabulous spices well. so the chili is flavored throughout. you add bud light, poblano s and jalapeno. the bud light has citrus and coriander in it. how did you come up with that? you were drinking a lot of beer and do you want a taste? it s good. i believe you. there you go. somebody had to. oh, geez. now i made a mess. you put in the onions, stir it up. it really is the sweet to my heat and complement this is chili and brings home texas. i think everybody should have it with the texas super bowl. those beef chunks are tender, girl. finally, let s get to michael. you consider your recipe heart healthy. i do. wearing the red for health. yes. what makes it healthier than other chilies. first of all, hi, meredith. hi. it s healthier because it is made with chicken and turkey. i chose chick and turkey to show the flexibility of the recipe. also it s economical and nutritious as well as delicious. it s delicious nutritious and delicious. i made it delicious by using my own secret ingredients. cilantro, poultry seasoning, my famous oyster and barbecue sauce. oyster sauce, interesting. how did you come up with it? i love oyster sauce. oh, okay. collard beans, string beans and it can save a meal. take it from ordinary to extraordinary. that s what we re talking here. extraordinary chili. from ordinary to extraordinary. remember that. i will remember it. the judges are tasting. why don t we all move down that way as you deliberate. take your time. we re going to deliberate. it s super bowl so we ll have a huddle. [ whispering ] and, break! all right. the time has come. first of all, you guys are the top of the tops. you re here, so you know everything was great. the first one, we love it. nice and sweet. kyle s. kyle s. the texture was good. the second one. rhonda. super tender chunks of meat. right where stew and chili meat. the third one, oyster sauce, i m going to try it. genius and velvety. you couldn t even tell it was in there. so shall we? let s go. congratulations! rhonda gets it. it was tender, spicy. congratulations! thank you. thank you, michael. did the hog call help or hurt kyle? the hog call was hot. i liked it. here, pig, pig, pig. i come from south carolina. so that was it. i m jewish. it frightened me. like the football. pigskin, right? exactly. congratulations to all of you. rhonda, congratulations. thank you. one last pig call. [ snorting ] this is today on nbc. back at 8:50. this morning s american story comes from portland, oregon, where three people forged a family into a winning team. reporter: in the game of life, health plays both ways. melvin jones is not only a basketball star but a top student at portland state university. there you go. reporter: because casey foyer thinks of him as a little brother. reporter: casey s mom moved to seattle with 50 bucks in her pocket, just before she was born. hi, honey. reporter: jennifer annabell worked long hours, struggling to become a teacher and eventually director of a school for children with special needs. jennifer, how do you spell human . reporter: all that effort helped spell an end to her marriage. she never gave casey a little brother. one night casey said, how would you feel about melvin coming to stay with us. i said, casey reporter: melvin was 16 at the time. drifting on the streets of seattle. every time i took him home, you know, i was taking him somewhere else. we drove around to four, five different places. there were no adults. reporter: that bothered casey, melvin s high school basketball coach. he had just been shoved out by two high schools already. he came to us with zero credits. reporter: even though melvin was a sophomore. never had a curfew, never had to do homework, never had to get up and go to school. mom was passing away. reporter: from aids. he was loved but not parented. reporter: so jennifer made up a room for him. why would a divorced single mom take on such a challenge? she s opened her home to kids before. five when casey was a child. her father was in foster care, her mother in an orphanage. she simply wanted to help children like them. one of the hardest things i did in the beginning. reporter: because melvin didn t trust her. have you tried that fusion stuff? no. reporter: he stashed groceries she bought under his bed, afraid someone would steal them. you leave it in the kitchen somebody will eat it up. he was putting so much strain on my mother it was breaking her. reporter: until jennifer did the unexpected. she gave melvin her atm card and p.i.n. number. i don t know if i have had the number. reporter: melvin now held her life in his hands, too. i didn t want to be responsible for melvin not making it. they could not be more different and yet they clicked. different on the outside. but not different on the inside. reporter: so close they were able to tell each other their dreams. i told him, i m not trying to take anybody s place, but you need a mom. reporter: she had love enough to help another child. are you hungry? reporter: at first melvin s sister wasn t happy. why do you want to go move with her, she s not family? reporter: he needed jennifer to show him how to study. she was like slapping at a gnat that wouldn t go away. reporter: the high school student who came with no credits now makes good grades. so good he s thinking of graduate school. once he bought into the hard work, long hours, family, the changes in his life, he made it. that was a good one. reporter: life twists and turns, just like basketball. sometimes you simply have to close your eyes and try a long shot. like melvin did to win this basketball game at the buzzer. in a sense, that s what jennifer has done to help you win the game of life. do the hail mary. reporter: and together they won. for today bob dotson, nbc news with an american story in portland, oregon. and a great american story. wow. talk about a hail mary pass. that shot. boy, she took a hail mary with him and it paid off. a little bit like the story of the blind side. it s inspiring. very much so. families come in different shapes and sizes. great story. meantime, ann i m still thinking of the hog calling. and the shot! yeah! how many times have you seen that shot in professional basketball? never. right? sign that kid up. give him a contract. let s hear your hog call. i can t do it. can anybody do it? i m under pressure now. [ warbling ] what kind of bird is that? a loon? wow. it took me nine months to learn how to do that. i did it to impress a boy. this particular boy was impressed for about 15 minutes. that s like our senior producer don gnash learning to ride a unicycle. it s still worth it, don. how old was this guy? it was in high school. okay. i liked him. she worked on it for nine months. my wife makes the hog call at dinner time. just ahead, the hottest must have accessories for spring. good morning. i m mindy basara. it s 8:05. here s a look at our top story. the twin brothers are accuse ed of setting a pit bull on fire. the prosecution pointed to surveillance video that reportedly shows the teens with the dog just before she was burned. the defense claims the crime scene was never secure and the mobile lab was never called in and no d.n.a. was taken. regardless of the outcome, let s take a look at your forecast with meteorologist john collins. we woke up with clouds and temperatures in the 20 s. we ll be dealing with clouds. the rain you see coming into southern virginia will be pressed to the south but clouds streaming over. maybe a sun break here or there. the forecast, mostly cloudy skies. temperatures close to what question expect this time of year. thanks john, thank you for joining us. we ll have another weather update at 9:25. hey, what are you drinkin ? i m drinkin dunkin . 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.