Transcripts For WBAL Today 20110411 : vimarsana.com

the wedding. we re live with them today, monday, april 11, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning. welcome to today on a monday morning. i m matt lauer. good morning. i m savannah guthrie in for meredith today. the threat of severe weather stretches from texas up to vermont this morning following the storms that spawned terrible tornados in the midwest, matt. i guess the most devastating was in iowa. this video was caught by a storm chaser and looks like something out of the wizard of oz. they say it will take months to rebuild the town of mapleton. thankfully no one was killed. the latest in the live report coming up. and bernie madoff speaking out in another jailhouse interview. he claims a number of prestigious universities are interested in hiring him to teach get this business ethics classes. is it true or another con? we ll have details coming up. and the teenager s whose quest to sail around the world alone was almost destroyed. i guess we have to ask if she would try again. we begin with powerful storms in the midwest. chris warren from the weather channel is in merrill, wisconsin. good morning. reporter: take a look at this. this is what s left of an old gas station. over here, the top of an outbuilding, the roof torn off. beside it you see a house almost completely gone. those two cars were in the garage. the garage is now somewhere else. keep in mind this is just some of the damage from what was a very destructive weekend. [ sirens ] reporter: as a twister approached and the sky grew black, tornado sirens sounded here in merrill. more than half a dozen twisters hit wisconsin sunday night. in merrill it destroyed and damaged dozens of home sending two people to the hospital with injuries. it s a lot of damage. it s pretty much wiped out. reporter: many roads with impassable due to downed trees leaving emergency workers struggling to make their way through the areas blocked by debris. get back! reporter: in western iowa a quarter mile wide twister tore through the town of maple ton. storm chaser andy gabrielson was there as a tornado roared through. it happened so fast. we were 50 yards away from it. we blew out the back window. we had a dust swirl and before we knew it, we had a full blown large tornado. reporter: winds up to 165 miles per hour hit mapleton, injuring 14 people and damaging block after block. in north dakota, heavy flooding with the red river cresting at nearly 38 feet the coast guard and nationalle guard were called to rescue people. in the southeast, a separate system brought golf ball-sized hail to south carolina damaging david cosk s backyard. it was going right through it. run right through it, putting holes in it. it was that bad. reporter: in virginia, two tornadoes injured eight people and damaged hundreds of homes. it s hard to look at this and think that this is where i grew up. my house is completely gone. reporter: we are seeing scenes like that here in merrill, wisconsin. residents have to work to put the pieces back together. as utility crews are working, as they have been through the night to get the lights back on. matt, back to you. that s the weather channel s chris warren in wisconsin this morning. chris, thank you very much. we can hear the wind in chris s live shot. what can we expect today? al roker has details. good morning. good morning. here s what s going on. we have a frontal system. this cold front, cold air behind it, warm air ahead of it and that s a recipe for disaster. dallas, there is a thunderstorm watch in effect. this is the risk for today into tonight from alexandra, louisiana, to albany, new york and everywhere in between. damaging winds, isolated tornadoes but much of the damage will be from straight line winds. rainfall amounts generally one to two inches. some areas could have three to four. the damage will be from the winds and temperatures could be record-breaking. behind it, colder air. that s coming up in the next ten minutes. savannah? al, thanks. let s check on the other top stories. tamron hall is filling in at the news desk while ann is off today. good morning to you. good morning, everyone. a powerful 6.6 magnitude tremor rocked japan again, exactly one month since the massive earthquake and tsunami put the island nation on the brink of nuclear catastrophe. john yang has the latest from tokyo. john, good morning. reporter: good morning, tamron. this was just the strongest of several sharp aftershocks today that rattled tokyo and northern japan. there was a tsunami warning that was put into effect but quickly taken down. it did briefly interrupt power at the fukushima power plant where workers are struggling to limit the radiation being emitted from the plant. it came on the same day the government announced they are expanding the evacuation zone around the plant from 12 miles to 20 miles. officials say that things seem to have stabilized at the power plant. things aren t getting worse anymore, but it will be quite ale while before things start getting better. tamron? john yang live for us in tokyo. after fierce fighting this weekend gadhafi has told the african union that he supports a cease-fire, but rebels are sticking to their demands that he step down immediately. stephanie gosk is in benghazi t with the latest. good morning. reporter: good morning, tamron. there is a protest that is growing outside of our hotel because that african union delegation is here to try to convince rebel leaders to agree to the peace plan they say gadhafi has signed off on. protesterers want gadhafi to step down and until he does, the fighting continues. the battle for ajdabiya, the second in a month, lasted two days. the town was crushed by gadhafi s artillery while rebels responded with whatever they could. these fighterers strs struggled position makeshift rockets, even dropping the launcher before they fire. there were claims the government is relying on foreigners. this man is algerian, he said. we killed him. at a critical moment when it seemed the rebels would be outgunned, nato made a direct hit. for the last week, the rebels have been claiming that nato hasn t been helping. this is evidence of an air strike that did. criticism turned to praise. by the end of the day there was no sign of gadhafi s forces. the residents here fled days ago. their city is now in ruins. outside the hospital, the doctors some armed themselves are shell-shocked. [ speaking in a foreign language ] reporter: i have been here since the fighting began. i have seen death, he says, and all kinds of injuries. the people of ajdabiya urgently need a cease-fire. [ sirens ] reporter: the peace plan would include an immediate cease-fire, humanitarian aid for places like misrata and the protection of foreignereforeign. thank you. ivory coast s laurent gbabo was attacked. he s come under scrutiny as human rights groups report that forces loyal to him are killing and raping civilians. a surprise winner at the 2011 masters. 26-year-old charles schwartzel won it as tiger woods played one of his strongest games in years. it is 7:09. back to matt, savannah and al. everybody is talking about mcilroy s meltdown. the pressure gets to them in the final round. he melted? he s in a puddle. he said, take me back to ireland. oh, my gosh. i wish i had watched. he s only 21 years old. tough for him. you have a busy morning weatherwise. i do. as we mentioned ahead of the cold front that will cause trouble look at the temperatures. 85 in raleigh. washington, the same. newark, 82. atlanta, 84. records possible. go behind the system and temperatures are much chillier. highs only getting up to 58 in minneapolis. fargo, good morning, everyone. starting out with a little bit of fog and temperatures in the 50 s. we will make it into the upper seventies and low 80 s this afternoon not go thunderstorms and that s your latest weather. matt? al, thank you. now to washington where there is a new budget battle facing lawmakers on the heels of the last-minute deal to avert a government shutdown. this one s likely to be tougher and the stakes higher. chuck todd is nbc s chief white house correspondent. chuck, good morning to you. reporter: good morning, matt. the 11th hour budget deal to keep the government open, small potatoes compared to the fights coming up between the white house and congressional republicans. one is the idea of entitlement programs like medicare and social and the other is even closer which is raising the limit on america s credit card. barely becausing to consider the $38.5 billion in budget cuts he and congressional leaders agreed to. that s the kind of future cooperation i hope we have going forward. reporter: mr. obama is looking forward with a speech on wednesday outlining his plan for more deficit reductions. we have to decide how are we going to reduce the deficit, get on a sustainable fiscal trajectory in a. reporter: the president is expected to ask for cuts in defense, medicare and medicaid as well as higher taxes on those making over $250,000 a year. republicans say it will have a bad effect on the economy. the problem with tax increases. the president raised taxes $800 million. you slow down economic growth. reporter: last week ryan proposed a plan to cut trillions and substantially change the way medicare and medicaid work. that s likely to be the next big entitlement fight. we are trying to save medicare and medicaid so they are sustainable. reporter: democrats see ripe s plan differently. he ends medicare for seniors, requires them to go into the private insurance market and they have to eat all the rising costs of health care. reporter: there is another battle. republicans want to link the budget debate to the question of raising the nation s debt ceiling. budget reforms, caps, these are the things we have to have to go along with the debt limit increase. reporter: the public is skeptical. according to the latest poll, 62% say the ceiling should not be raised compared to 32% who say it should be. the white house says it shouldn t be a question and failing to raise it would be a disaster. we should not be playing brinksmanship with the full faith and credit of the united states of america. reporter: the leaders of both parties in congress and the white house all agree that the debt limit needs to be raised, but in our poll we found the more you explain the issue, the more americans are against it, matt. all right. chuck todd at the white house this morning. let s try to explain it more. exactly what is the debt ceiling and why does it matter to you? here to explain jim cramer and ea erin burnett. what is it? this is how the nation pays our bills. we borrow money to pay the bills. you have one shot at it and if we don t raise the debt ceiling we ll default. look at greece, portugal. these are countries on the verge of default. erin, the debt ceiling is $14.294 trillion as of just a few minutes the national debt clock shows us that right now it s at $14.286 trillion, increasing by the second. why does it go up so quickly? because of all the obligations we have. the debt ceiling we have social security, medicare, all the entitlements, defense. everything you spend comes out of there. the problem is what you pay every month out of your paycheck in taxes is way smaller. a fraction. that difference is what we borrow. when people heard a week worth of talk over this battle and heard $38 billion will be cut from the budget and they say, why is the debt going up so quickly, how are they related or not? first of all, as you point out that s a drop in the bucket. the amounts are a drop in the bucket. they are related but to tackle the issue we have to tackle entitlements. you lookt medicare and social it s 40% of the budget. unless we decide they can t go up so quickly, we need more means testing, those are the questions to answer but not playing chicken with the debt ceiling. jim, according to estimates, somewhere in may we will reach that debt ceiling. right. what happens the minute we hit it? they will try to extend it to july but rating agencies, the s&p, moody s, these determine how much you can borrow. they will suggest you shouldn t invest in u.s. debt if you are chinese, arab. we don t buy it. the chinese, the middle east buy it. they should say, why not buy the debt of the germans or the french. so we lose our abilitile y t borrow money, pay our bills. what s the effect on the overall economy at a fragile time for recove recovery? it becomes more expensive to borrow. mortgage rates, credit card rates go up. we are a very wealthy country. if you look at our assets we could pay down the debt tomorrow. we borrow because they are low interest rates. it s easy. our country has the ability to borrow. and to choose to borrow and pay it down later. but that can go away. that s the risk we have now. are we like lly to see a maj compromise? everyone is playing with fire. we are no better than the european countries that are in trouble if we can t get this debt ceiling. jim cramer, erin burnett, catch their shows on cnbc. mad money at 6:00 and 11:00 eastern time and erin on sidewalk on the street and street signs at 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. eastern time. prince william and kate middleton are making final public appearances before the royal wedding in just 18 short days. michelle kosinski is in darwin, england with that and new details on the big day. good morning. reporter: hi. right, after today they will just be a married couple. nobody will pay attention anymore. right. today they were all smiles opening a school in miserable weather, highlighting the need for more green spaces, the kind of community-changing work they both feel strongly about. next it will be time to get ready for the big day and the parties that will include everyone from billionaires to the people who work for them. cheers and love for william and kate who look like this is all now second nature. the next time we see these two they will be making the long walk to the altar, flanked by 1,900 of their closest friends. it will be a hell of a party in london. do you know what? i ll be in the middle of it. reporter: you might say a motley crew including the kings of saudi arabia, the beckhams, elton john and mr. bean. this is a big ambassador-type show we are putting on and the world is watching great britain. we must deliver some kind of spectacle. reporter: london s daily mail has ferreted out a few invites of prince charles like the kazakh millionaire, an american whose bank was fined after a money laundering investigation, a tran a count from transylvania. and what wedding is complete without a questionable uncle? kate s hard partying uncle gary and prince andrew. how about exes? kate will have two in attendance from high school and college plus four of william s including isabella calthorpe who reportedly broke william s heart and by whom kate has felt threatened. do you wear high heeled shoes because we have to stand in a line for an hour? so many questions to answer. reporter: one of the biggest questions out there who will be best man prince harry s plus one? rumor has it it s his best off and on girl, chelsea davie. perhaps they will be next after all. maybe she ll catch the bouquet. can you imagine another royal wedding in a year or two? despite the almost stressful seeming array of guests everyone should put their hair down at the after party. supposedly a nightclub is being built inside buckingham palace and it will be young folks only. savannah? a nightclub inside the palace. that has to be a first. michelle coskin cit skikosinski. we ll be live in england with the coverage of the wedding on friday, april 29th starting at 4:00 a.m. download our free royal wedding app for the ipad, iphone and android. meanwhile, just ahead on a more serious note, the search for a serial killer who s dumped at least eight bodies on a new york-area beach. why police believe the suspect could be tied to law enforcement. first, this is today on nbc. hey, here s a little good news. if you want decent mileage in a pickup, you don t have to order your engine off the kiddie menu anymore. say hello to variable cam timing, direct injection and piston cooling jets. yeah, the engineers at ford have been busy. they ve got four, count-em four all-new truck engines for the 2011 f-150 -to give you the most power, the most towing, and the best fuel economy. now that s tasty. this is the future. this is the new f-150. [ whistling ] [ male announcer ] discover the unexpected beauty and man-made relaxation in northwest florida. and only at southwest.com can you get our nonstop flights from bwi airport to panama city beach. [ ding ] the job offer he claims he s received from prominent business schools. and is charlie sheen s one-man show doing more harm than good to his career? after your local news. it has plenty of natural goodness, but there s no added sugar. so, say, hello, to 100% juice. and, goodbye, to added sugar. i thought we weren t adding any sugar. oh. oh okay, nobody use these cranberries over over here. also try ocean spray light, only 50 calories, and a full serving of fruit. to have their close-ups taken by a fashion photographer. then we asked them to try new dove visible care. a revolutionary new line of body wash with the highest concentration of nutrium moisture. visible care makes skin visibly more beautiful in just 1 week. when they saw how much more beautiful and radiant their skin looked with new dove visible care. there was only one question. new dove visible care creme body wash. something that was drilled in me early on, you know, college is the place for you. it s my number one goal. students like me, who take these ap math and science classes and have these opportunities, this is where the american dream lies. when i write that book, you know, i plan to dedicate it to my school. those hopes and dreams that you have, you know, they re within reach. and i m living proof. you know, they re within reach. if you want to feed them right, wear them out, or clean them up, you can save up to 25% on thousands of items during the petsmart everything spring sale. save $10 on all six-packs of new k9 advantix® ii and advantage® ii flea and tick treatment. at petsmart. it s called hope. hope? cause every time you get a happy meal or a mighty kids meal some of the money goes to ronald mcdonald house charities. happy meals. the simple joy of helping. 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. a nice ride out there this morning. not dealing with anything significant. northbound 95 am caton avenue, accident off to the right shoulder. outer loop west side, that delay stretches from 795 down to edmondson. moving at a pretty good clip compared to what we normally see. once you get on to the north side, a few slow spots, as you can see there on harford. here is what it looks like on northbound 295. we will switch over to a live view of traffic on 95 just north of caton avenue. you can see the accident on the top right of your screen. so far so good getting through that area. tony has a check on the forecast. so far, we just have a little bit of fog out there and clouds. it should turn out to be a pretty nice afternoon. cool start, temperatures in the 50 s. we will wind up in the low 80s today. high temperatures upper seventies and low 80 s. we will see a chance for thunderstorms coming in tonight. seven-day forecast showers likely tomorrow, in 63. could be more rain on friday and saturday. 60 on friday. you can check the bottom of your screen for updated news and traffic information. back at 7:55 with another live update. sink your teeth into some big n toasty if you understand. good. you ve got spunk. a big day calls for the new big n toasty. wrap your hands around fried eggs, cherrywood-smoked bacon, and cheese on texas toast. america runs on dunkin . [ cheers and applause ] 7:30 now on a monday morning, april 11, 2011. finally going to start to feel like spring around here. we have temperatures that could climb into the mid 70s today. that s the good news. the bad news is a little drizzle in the air. judginging from the way i m feeling this morning, the pollen count somewhere around the national debt this morning. if you have allergies you re probably feeling it as well. inside studio 1a i m matt lauer alongside savannah guthrie filling in for meredith. just ahead, new details on the search for a suspected serial killer not far from here. whoever dumped at least eight bodies on a long island beach could be connected either presently or in the past to law enforcement. we ll get the latest in a live report. plus, with his one-man traveling show getting mixed reviews it shall. you re being kind. is charlie sheen trying to return to two and a half men ? coming up, what he said on stage in new york city last night that raised a few eyebrows. and the teenager who set off at the tender age of 16 to sail around the world alone. her trip almost ended in tragedy when she became stranded thousands of miles from shore. she s here to share details about the trip and tell us about what her future holds. let s begin with the search for a serial killer on new york s long island. this morning searchers will target a new area looking for more victims. today, amy robach has the latest. fwrorm. reporter: good morning. police say the suspect is targeting prostitutes. this is the third time in 20 years that a serial killer has murdered prostitutes on long island. it s the search for the victims expands today, there is a new twist with some suggesting that the killer may have ties to law enforcement. reporter: it started as a hunt for evidence along long island s south shore in december, an effort to find clues in the case of a missing woman, shannon gilbert. but that search has turned into a gruesome murder mystery with evidence that suggests a serial killer is on the loose. in december, investigators discovered four bodies. then last month another body. last week, the remains of three more women. we are doing as thorough a search as we can. a diligent, systemic and thorough search. reporter: as the search expands today, police reportedly believe the suspect may be from law enforcement. the family of victim alyssa barthelomi say they received multiple phone calls from an unidentified man. the phone calls were brief, taunting the family. evasive measures to make tracking and tracing futile. the killer plunged his knife reporter: from someone police savvy like dexter, forensics investigator by day, killer by night. another clue could be craigslist. the first four women found were prostitutes in their 20s who advertised for clients on craigs list. if all of the women were found on craigslist they will have computer records. they will have accessed it through their cell phones. probably had phone conversations with the person responsible. reporter: in 1993 police on long island arrested joel rifkin, a landscaper who murdered 17 women. in 1996 robert schulman, a postal worker was convicted of killing five women. police say none of the bodies they found is that of the missing woman who prompted the investigation. 24-year-old shannon gilbert was seen running away from a home here the night she disappeared in tes. she showed up at gus caletti s door asking for help. someone s screaming, banging on the door. i said, i m calling the police. she bolts out the door. reporter: as the search for gilbert expands this morning, police hope to cover new ground and search more areas along this stretch of road today, but they have quite a long road ahead of them as they are searching for more forensic evidence and possibly uncovering more bodies. savannah? amy in jones beach, thank you. pat brown is a criminal profiler and author of the profiler, my life hunting serial killers and psychopaths. good morning. good morning, savannah. we have a cluster of four bodies found in one area. then a few weeks ago they discovered another set of four bodies. what reason would police have to think these are connected? simply the fact that you just don t get eight bodies in a particular location that close together if there are two different sets of serial killers. it s highly unlikely that someone said, hey, this is a great dumping ground, you should put your bodies here. there were distinctions between the first grouping in which all the victims were found in burlap sacks and the latest ones we don t even know their gender. usually what happens in a case like this is perhaps the first four were thrown there, that was the original batch. for the second batch the guy had bags arne and thought, this is a good idea. i can camouflage the bodies. it s just a matter of time. he had a different situation when the next set of four came along. does it suggest that the killer lives in the area? absolutely. he really knows the area very, very well. i believe he probably lives near all those bodies. they were all dumps on the right side of the road which is interesting to me. i believe where he lives is a little bit to the east of that. so when he drove down the road to the west he dumped the bodies on the right side of the road. he goes down until he thinks he s far enough from home, dump it is bodies, u-turns back and goes back home. i think one of the most haunting details is the killer called the little sister of one of the victims from the victim s cell phone in the days after the attack. what does that tell you about the kind of person we are dealing with here? something probably got to him about that one. he was probably ticked off at her and wanted to get back at the family. but i think they are overblowing the connection to law enforcement. the reason he probably made phone calls from crowded places was because he was there. i think it s more important where he was was on long island and had connections to manhattan. that would be key to the public. i don t think he s being that bril i can t want. he does pretty well hiding the bodies. he could be watching dexter or csi. i don t think it has to be law enforceme enforcement. i don t think we should throw out all the other tips. whether or not he is law enforcement, which you say if people focus too much on that it may throw police off the track, what can police do in this situation when several of the bodies have been missing for years? most importantly find out who they are, when they went missing so they can get information out to the public. we can think back. anybody on long island can think back, who do i know at that location who s a psychopath, probably obsessed with hard-core pornography on the internet, a sadist. he has to be into torturing women. he has to have something wrong in his head. he may appear normal as far as keeping his job, moving through the community. but somebody out there knows this man. thank you. now a check of the weather from al. announcer: today s weather is brought to you by chevy. every model is backed by a 100,000 mile, five-year power train limited warrantee. let s take a look at the week ahead. see what s going on. along the east coast we have warm temperatures and wet weather. wet in the pacific northwest. midweek the chilly weather spreads east into the plains. more warmth from the gulf coast into the great lakes with rain in the northeast. the latter part of the week, we have chillier than normal conditions from the great lakes into the gulfin we are off to a fairly quiet start. though cloud cover in some areas that we will get sunshine this afternoon, and it is don t forget you want to keep track of your weather all day long? go to weather.com online and the weather channel on cable. charlie sheen s one-man show rolled into new york this weekend and the reviews were mixed to say the least. jeff rossen is outside radio city music hall. good morning, jeff. reporter: good morning. a wobbly weekend for charlie sheen. fans in new york were brutal to him. at radio city they booed him so much during one of the shows charlie had to walk off the stage in the middle just to take a ten-minute breather before coming back out. no question, in some cities they love him. in others, they hate him a lot. the question is how much damage is charlie sheen doing to his own reputation? new york, new york. make it here, you can make it anywhere. charlie sheen didn t come close. booed friday night just minutes in. the rejection echoing through the famed radio city music hall. i thought we were going to be tougher on these people. reporter: it set up like a raw, raunchy talk show. sheen s buddy asks him questions on stage. here discussing his new york accommodations. i m surprised. i m not staying at [ bleep ] plaza hotel. reporter: the gruff new york crowd had no mercy. some fans left halfway through. it was just the same stuff. i mean, if this were on television i would have changed the channel. what we saw was good. we got to see the goddesses. he was awful. his ego is so completely out of control. i m shocked that he has any fans at all. reporter: sheen escaped the city and fled north for cheers in connecticut saturday night. [ screaming ] reporter: charlie wasn t done yet. sunday night headed back for a second show here at radio city. but would he be booed again? [ cheers and applause ] reporter: just cheers this time. sheen seemed energized, out of his seat, walking into the audience, interacting with fans. he talked about returning to two and a half men. i ll go back if they rehire me. [ cheers and applause ] reporter: sheen apologized to his costar jon cryer for calling him a troll. i said [ bleep ] i should not have. i called him a troll. [ laughter ] sorry, jon. you re not a troll. you re a rock star. how did the show go? we just abandoned the format and we re just winging it. not winning, winging. reporter: there were plenty of empty seats and media analysts say sheen may be damaging his reputation. charlie sheen has become a laughingstock for all the wrong reasons. he can make a comeback if he returns to the original platform from which he s most comfortable. reporter: i have spent a lot of time with charlie sheen. i have been to most of his shows across the country and i have never heard him say one positive thing about chuck lorre, the executive producer of two and a half men. if you have been following the story, sheen was at war with the guy. last night at radio city for the first time charlie sheen actually complimented him, told the crowd chuck lorre is a great writer, even had the crowd cheering for him. the question is, is this now an olive branch for sheen to get back on the show? i asked one of his top advisers last night who said, don t rule it out. jeff, thank you very much. up next, would you hire convicted bernie madoff to teach a class on business ethics? the surprising job offers he s claimed he s received right after this. buy three years in a row. and an epa - estimated 33 miles per gallon highway. all starting under $23,000. and what does your neighbor have? a bad case of car envy. very well qualified lessees can get a low mileage lease on a 2011 chevrolet malibu ls for around $179 a month. call for details. see your local chevy dealer. [ male announcer ] there s just something about werther s caramel that makes a chocolate so smooth and creamy, you don t just taste it, you feel it. magic [ male announcer ] werther s original caramel chocolate. what comfort tastes like. [ male announcer ] build your better breakfast with all the flavors you choose. try an irresistible steak, egg & cheese, with toasty tomato or chipotle southwest sauce on tasty flatbread. only at subway! back now at 7:45. would you want bernie madoff to teach you about business? the man behind the largest ponzi scheme in history said he s received interesting job offers. tamron? madoff conducted his third interview from federal prison talking about his ponzi scheme and his feelings toward the victims of his crime, but it s the offers he claims he received from prominent business schools that got people talking. he s the man responsible for a $65 billion ponzi scheme. bernie madoff has served almost two of a 150-year prison sentence. in his latest interview he sat down with a reportr from the financial times. at the outset of the conversation he said, i take responsibility for this. i knew it was wrong. i knew it was wrong when i was doing it. reporter: madoff said he s popular behind bars telling the financial times he s gotten job offers from business schools around the country. he said he had gotten requests from almost all the business schools in the country. he said many of them were interested in collaborating with him on curriculum. some of those were ethics courses that he would be interested in working with and he said, in particular, he would like to work with northwestern and harvard. reporter: nbc news contacted both schools and both denied having any contact with madoff. to hear the schools say they haven t reached out to him doesn t shock me. you have to take everything mr. madoff says in the context of the fact that this man is a convicted criminal and a known liar who s deceived banks, regul regulators and others for decades. i m dubious. reporter: she says she would never hire him to teach. bringing madoff in has a popular appeal. it s like a car accident. that would not be beneficial for students and has no educational value in a classroom. reporter: as for madoff, he spends time working at the prison store and doing light reading. he said i m reading business books and danielle steel novels. that was the one moment in the interview where he looked embarrassed or ashamed. that was surprising given everything he s done. i wouldn t expect to see bernie madoff s name on a syllabus soon, but for everything he s done it s his secret love of romance novels that makes him feel ashamed. good point. still ahead, jenna bush hager catches up with the famous coaches on the new singing competition the voice. is monday. sounds like a mini-wheats day to me! and becka s science fair is on the 8th. she s presenting the solar system. hey, i ve got just the wholegrain fiber to keep her full so she can stay focused. um, you rock. she ll be ready to rock. [ female announcer ] make your kids big days, mini-wheats days. packed with 100% whole grain fiber, kellogg s frosted mini-wheats cereal has what it takes to help keep your kids full so they can stay focused on the days that matter most. keeps em full. keeps em focused. there s another way to minimize litter box odor: purina tidy cats. our premium litters now work harder to help neutralize odors in multiple cat homes. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home. won the first ever folgers jingle contest. to see this year s semi-finalists and cast your vote, go to bestpartofwakinup.com. you could win $10,000 just for voting. is folgers in your cup back at 7:50. a few years ago it would have been hard to imagine someone with a college or graduate degree working for free, but in today s economy, more professionals are opting to become interns. reporter: meet some of the newest prosecutors in los angeles. they are dedicated, driven and working for free. i have definitely found what i want to do. it s just a question of, you know, hopefully some day being able to get paid to do it. reporter: ashley st. johns jacobs went to law school in her 30s and never imagined that when she graduated no one would be hiring. now 40 she s volunteering at the city attorney s office in a program that allows her to try criminal cases with the help of paid prosecutors. i could sit home, be depressed, lose my skills or i can come down here every day and learn something. reporter: the city attorney created the reserve deputy program amid a hiring freeze. he insists the hands-on experience is a win-win for his department and the volunteers. they re coming here and learning a skill. you know, they re getting a black belt in life right now. they are becoming lawyers. reporter: in ashley s free time she continues to look for a paying position, while her husband supports them both. we just cut back, like everybody cuts back when they are living on one budget. reporter: it s tough to get hard figures on the number of graduates willing to work for free, but one thing is earn is. this economy has increased the number of people willing to work without a paycheck. for many college majors it s almost the default, the standard to ask for an internship before a new job. reporter: with more than 13 million americans unemployed, employers say internships help those just graduated and looking at new careers. devote six months of time to this. that s not time you should be afraid to throw away in your career because you re still learning skills during that time. reporter: that approach paid off for 24-year-old erin myrik. it s called strategic volunteering is what i call it. reporter: she played professional basketball overseas after college but returned to los angeles to pursue a new career in communications. the first step, an internship. i m a leo and an athlete. no way i m sitting back to wait for something to come to me. reporter: after four months the manager said the words she was hoping to hear. well, we are offering you a full-time position. yes! reporter: a sea of people setting new goals in a complicated work force. for today, kristen welker, nbc news, los angeles. just ahead on a monday morning, jenna bush hager catches up with the coaches from nbc s the voice including pop star christina aguilera. she ll open up about the new job and a tough year she s had. first your local news. express yourself express yourself oh, do it oh, do it express yourself hey [ female announcer ] coffee is like life. it s better when you add your flavor. coffee-mate, from nestle. so let s plant some perennials that ll turn up every year. trees and shrubs to give us depth. and fill it out with flowers placed in just the perfect place. let s spend less, but plant more. what do you say we plant a weekend, water it, and watch a summer spring up? more saving. more doing. that s the power of the home depot. we re lowering the cost of no more weeds. with roundup weed and grass killer pump n go for just $15. we re lowering the cost of no more weeds. want longer, stronger lashes? new almay one coat get up and grow mascara instantly lengthens. 98% of women saw healthy, longer lashes in 30 days. for your longest, most stunning lashes yet. almay get up and grow mascara. only from almay. only for me. all day, every day. share one of five appetizers, like our texas cheese fries. then choose two freshly prepared entrees from 14 chili s favorites. like our honey chipotle chicken crispers or our famous baby back ribs. slow-smoked till they re fall-off-the-bone tender. or grilled all-white-meat chicken fajitas served over a bed of sizzling peppers and onions. the $20 dinner for two. now part of our menu all day, every day, only at chili s. 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. problem spots out there just in the past half hour. that s update you if you are traveling on southbound 795. on the beltway, accidents coming in. 21 miles per hour from 795. on the northeast corner, and accident location delays behind it. pretty backed up coming out of the white marsh area. accident coming in at fayette street and a lead ave. waterloo road, watch for an accident in elkridge. area roads on the one side, old court road, pulling away from us is outer loop traffic. delays are standard for this hour. 95, coming towards us, northbound traffic. there is a problem in the past few minutes of the southbound lane of the right shoulder as well. tony, over to you. still a little cloudy and cool to start the day. it is going to warm up pretty quickly. right now the temperatures in the upper 50s to 60 degrees. low 80s this afternoon. clouds and sunshine. it will felix, later on today. some of these could be a rather strong. temperatures will drop back into the upper 50s. rainshowers likely on thursday. coming up on wednesday back at 8:25 with another live update. [ whistling ] [ male announcer ] discover the unexpected beauty and man-made relaxation in northwest florida. and only at southwest.com can you get our nonstop flights from bwi airport to panama city beach. [ ding ] 8:00 on a monday morning. it s the 11th day of april 2011. we have nothing to complain about in terms of the temperature. it s 53 degrees now. however, we ve got drizzle and mist in the area. we ve also got a great crowd outside on the plaza and it s nice to see everyone. i m matt lauer along with savannah guthrie. savannah is here while meredith is off today. al roker is joining us as well. what s coming up? we ll hear about the voice, some of the biggest names in music, cee lo green, christina aguilera, blake shelton and marine 5 front man adam le vine. we ll hear about the show and jenna bush hager is talking to christina ago ago about what s been a tough year for her. also ahead, remember when abby sunderland, then 16, tried to be the youngest person to sail around the world alone? her sailboat was destroyed and she was finally rescued thousands of miles from shore. she joins us this morning. she s written about her ordeal and adventure. we have to ask if she plans to try something like that again. later on, watch out, fluffy and fido there is a new pet taking over the country. tastes like chicken. chickens are making a big surge as a family pet. if you name it, you can t eat it. don t eat a pig like that all at once. would you give nicky a chicken? i don t know. if it gives eggs, why not? the gift that keeps giving. exactly. a lot to get to this morning. tamron hall is standing by at the news desk. hey, tamron. good morning, everyone. just days after narrowly averting a government shutdown, president obama faces new budget confrontations with republicans. on friday a bipartisan deal slashed $38 billion in domestic spending cuts for the rest of this fiscal year. now the president must answer republican demands to reduce the nation s debt by controlling medicare and socialle security even as he asks for an increased borrowing limit. a strong earthquake shook northeastern japan exactly one month after the devastating quake that killed an estimated 25,000 people. meantime, japan s government today expanded the voluntary evacuation zone around the damaged nuclear plant because of concerns about the long-term health risks from radiation. libyan rebels say five people were killed when forces loyal to gadhafi bombed misrata. they stepped up air strikes in misrata and ajdabiya destroying 25 of gadhafi s tanks. members of the african union say gadhafi is in favor of a cease-fire as they head to eastern libya for negotiations. yemen s president insists he won t step down until 2013. protesters rallied in yemen following deadly clashes on friday. in syria, government troops sealed off the mediterranean city of beniyaz where four anti-government protesters were killed sunday. after a week of escalating violence, working toward ta a cease-fire suggested by hamas would be a grave mistake. a new law that bars women from wearing face-covering islamic clothinging in public goes in effect in france today. violators face a fan equal to $215. the penalty is larger for anyone who forces a woman to wear a face covering. firefighters from two dozen states are in hot dry west texas battling wildfires that destroyed at least 75 homes this weekend. wisconsin was hit by seven tornadoes on sunday. that destroyed 25 homes and barns. on saturday, a tornado injured 16 people and levelled about 100 buildings in mapleton, iowa. back to matt and savannah on the plaza. thank you very much. now al has the weather. yes, i do. not sports. thank you, savannah. you want to wake up lancaster, south carolina? [ cheers ] who are you saying hi to back there? my four children, emily, elise, josiah and elli. i saw you hesitate for a second. i was having a hard time thinking of their names! it s early, i understand. pick city today, green bay, wisconsin, nbc 26. a few morning showers and windy. 52 degrees. we have wet weather moving into the pacific northwest as storms continue to march across. we have the cold front stretching from the great lakes all the way down to texas. risk of strong storms from the gulf coast into new england. could be isolated tornadoes ahead of the system. record highs, plenty of sunshine. cooler weather through the plains into the southwest. there is a little bit of fog to start the day. clouds and fog will be burning off this afternoon. it will feel like summer. after mr. matt lauer. mr. roker, thank you very much. when we come back, christina aguilera opens up about her new job as a judge on the voice and about difficulties in her personal life as well cominging up after these messages. [ male announcer ] a pinnacle fishing rod, a tackle box, and ozark trail tent, and an air horn. come on, boys! let s go! let s get up! this is a fishing trip, not a sleeping trip. all right. that s what you ask for, you re gonna get this, huh? [ air horn blares ] aah! yeah, you re up now. [ male announcer ] only walmart has low prices every day on everything you need. backed by our ad match guarantee. save money. live better. walmart. [ male announcer ] build your better breakfast with all the flavors you choose. try an irresistible steak, egg & cheese, with toasty tomato or chipotle southwest sauce on tasty flatbread. only at subway! onl at subway! if you want to feed them right, wear them out, or clean them up, you can save big on thousands of items during the petsmart everything spring sale. save up to 30% on top paw® dog collars, apparel, gates, shampoo, select beds and more! exclusively at petsmart. from the teachers to the students. i had a student the other day that said. miss stacy, this class is changing the way that i look at things. sparking that interest and showing them that math and science are exciting. it s why i teach. i know they can, even when they think they can t. hit the road, jack and don t you come back no more no more, no more, no more hit the road, jack and don t you come back no more [ male announcer ] want your weeds to hit the road? hit em with roundup extended control. one application kills weeds and puts down a barrier to stop new ones for up to four months. roundup extended control spray once. stop weeds for months. hey mike, what s up? they ve been singing the same song for the last three hours. just call me angel of the morning angel just touch my cheek before. [ nathan ] that was painful to watch. he needs a highlander. one that comes with a sweet rear-seat entertainment system. [ male announcer ] see the stylish new highlander at youtube.com/highlander. the new singing competition the voice premieres on nbc on april 26 and features some of music s biggest names. jenna bush hager caught up with them. another good assignment. lots of fun. good morning. the voice has superstars evaluate and eliminate wannabe singers hoping to braeeak into e music industry and while it may sound like that other singing competition, this one has a new spin. reporter: several weeks of singing and eliminations. with an occasional pat on the back from a big name celebrity artist. i was dying to see what you looked like. reporter: then america decides who has the voice to make it in the recording industry. the concept may sound familiar. but the voice on nbc puts a new spin on the conventional tv singing competition. we re not just watching a performance and judginging them based on what we see. reporter: during the initial performance the judges never see the contestant. they sit with their backs to the contestant. you were sitting in the chair, the star of the voice. if you hear a voice you like you hit a button and it turns the chair around. reporter: this is an honor to sit here. whose chair is it? cee lo s. reporter: my favorite. currently on tour with the top song topping the charts, cee lo signed on with the voice to find new talent. it s fwrat identify i ee s g. it s great show. i m glad to be a part of it. reporter: pop diva, christina ago ago. country singer blake shelton. why should i choose you oversee low? he dresses like a peacock. reporter: and maroon 5 s front man adam levine. each eliminating singers until each team member has one member left. we are looking for something that moves you and inspires you. reporter: making headlines for forgetting the lyrics to the national anthem at this year s super bowl, filing for divorce and a recent arrest for public intoxication, christina ago ago sa christina says the new gig comes at a good time for her. lots of things, emotions stir up. it was a tough year. but, you know, you learn from the tough times. you know, you rebound. reporter: adding to the pressure of coaching immature singers, blake shelton is taking on the role of wedding planner as well. what s more nerve wracking, this show or planning the wedding? are you kidding? the wedding part is easy. that s miranda s job. reporter: what s the dynamic like between the four of you? uh, well, i m the mama bear. trying to rein in the rowdy boys here. it s me and the boys. i can t believe i m witness to some of the conversations that happen between it s like three brothers. she s got to deal with a lot of far jokes. reporter: gross. or a teacher with little boys in the classroom. i have to do wrist slaps, get them in line. reporter: the coaches say don t call them judges. they don t watch american idol and say this is the only show they would be interested in participating in. beyond the great talent they seem to be having fun. last time i saw you, you were singing with celine dion. maybe my star crush cee lo will have me sing. i ll be there for that story if it happens. a reminder the voice premieres tuesday, april 26th on nbc. catch a special speak preview tomorrow night during the biggest loser. up next, the teenager who faced a life and death ordeal on her attempt to sail solo around the world. how that trip changed her forever, after this. ing fed on. we demand k9 advantix ii. it not only kills fleas and ticks, it repels most ticks before they can attach and snack on us. frontline plus kills but doesn t repel. any tick that isn t repelled or killed may attach and make a meal of us. so let s put our paws down in protest. no fetching, no friendship till we all get k9 advantix ii. join us at poochprotest.com. [ male announcer ] ask your veterinarian about k9 advantix ii. [ male announcer ] there are snacks. and there are better snacks. quaker chewy, 25% less sugar than the leading sweet snacks, no high fructose corn syrup and the goodness of whole grains. hey mike, what s up? they ve been singing the same song for the last three hours. just call me angel of the morning angel just touch my cheek before. [ nathan ] that was painful to watch. he needs a highlander. one that comes with a sweet rear-seat entertainment system. [ male announcer ] see the stylish new highlander at youtube.com/highlander. i can t breathe. so i can t sleep. and the next day i pay for it. i tried decongestants. i tossed & turned. i even vaporized! and then i fought back: with drug-free breathe right advanced. these nasal strips instantly opened my nose, like a breath of fresh air. i was breathing and sleeping better! [ female announcer ] exercise your right to breathe right. get two free strips at breatheright.com. hey, it s your right to breathe right! oh, do it oh, do it [ female announcer ] coffee is like life. it s better when you add your flavor. coffee-mate, from nestle. it s called hope. hope? cause every time you get a happy meal or a mighty kids meal some of the money goes to ronald mcdonald house charities. happy meals. the simple joy of helping. my vet thinks my insides are in mint condition. [ female announcer ] vets agree, a healthy checkup starts inside. our breakthrough iams premium protection formula is developed with vets with cutting edge ingredients for the lifelong health of your pet. [ dog ] healthy inside and out. come on, up high! [ female announcer ] iams premium protection. our most advanced iams nutrition. ever. [ dog ] i am an iams dog. woof. we re back at 8:17 with today s update. you may remember abby sunderland from her attempt to sail around the world last summer. but her dreams were shattered when she hit rough waters and her sailboat was destroyed. the world was watching and praying for a miracle. good morning, breaking news, she s safe. rescued, a 16-year-old american safe after a harrowing ordeal on the open water. rescue boats are headed to the indian ocean where 16-year-old abby was found alive and well. nearly six months into the trip of a lifetime, more than halfway around the world, abby sunderland s record-breaking dream soon became a nightmare. a dangerous storm packing powerful wind and 30-foot waves te stairwayed abby s boat snapping off her mast and throwing abby across the cabin. i just went flying across the room. i was expecting it to stop at a certain point and me to pop back up, you know, but it didn t. it just kept on going. before i knew it i was on the roof. stranded deep in the indian ocean, abby was lost in one of the most remote parts of the world. her family waited for a miracle. we re just hoping and praying she gets through okay. reporter: abby set off emergency beacons. a qantas aircraft spotted her thousands of miles from land. i m happy to report they did find the sailing yacht wild eyes upright in the water. they spoke to abby by vhf radio. she s fine. reporter: she was on her bay home but a new storm was brewing. the sunderlands faced criticism for allowing their teenagered daughter to set sail in the first place, a decision her father defended. the criticism comes from people who don t know the preparation of the boat, the team involved and the fact that she reacted the way she did and survive sd a testimony to how well she and the boat were prepared. reporter: abby s age wasn t the only point of controversy. there were reports that the sunderlands had plans to film a reality show. abby s fatherer wanted the show to be inspirational but said the producer of the show wanted it to be something else. he wanted it to be about me being irresponsible and abigail dying. reporter: a claim the producer denies. the fact that he s gone to news agencies saying we hoped for her death and it would be great for the reality show was ridiculous. i think abby was pushed too soon to leave on her voyage. reporter: regardless, the show was scrapped and abby shifted focus to the future. strong, determined and unshaken, abby s sailing dreams remain alive. i m not sure how many people will believe it but i think i like sailing even more than when i left. reporter: abby has written a book about her adventure called unsynchable. nice to see you. hi. let s start with what you said in the piece. you think you like sailing more now? a lot of people would find that hard to believe after what you have been through. as crazy as it seems it s really increased my love for sailing. i have always loved it. love it even more now. i will ask you later if you will do it again. june 10 of last summer is a memorable day. you and a friend worked to produce the animation we are going to see that depicts what you went through in that boat. it got knocked down, flips over. the mast is snapped off. what is going through your mind during that time? well, any sailor that heads onto the ocean knows being hit bay rogue wave is a chance you re taking. at the same time you don t really expect it to happen. when this was going on it was major disbelief. i couldn t believe my boat was rolling. i knew through this my trip was ending. when things calmed down and you could see the condition of your boat and you knew it wasn t going to be doing any more sailing and when you realized where you were in the remote corner of the world did you think about the fact you wouldle never be found? of course. in the circumstances your mind wanders. it s at those times it becomes extremely important that you control that. you know, you take the fear and just find something to take your mind off of it. i understand that from a 55-year-old. control your fear. you re 16, in the middle of the ocean in a crippled boat. how did you keep it together? or did you? i had sailed my whole life. as a sailor, keeping control of your emotions is one of the most important things. i had been taught that my whole entire life. were there moments when you sat on the boat and wept? of course there were times i sat there thinking, you know, i m in the middle of nowhere. i don t know if people can get to are where i am. but i would find something to do, anything, working around the boat. you came back and everybody was wildly relieved that you had been rescued but then the criticisms started. mm-hmm. a lot of it aimed at your parents that they let you do it at 16, you were inexperienced though you say you had been sailing your whole life. you left at the wrong time of year according to some people and you didn t have the proper equipment. how do you respond to the critics today? of course there is always going to be criticism. you can never make anyone happy. but a lot of people don t understand the extensive preparation the boat went through. they also had a full-on weather routing team that routed people down that part of the world for years. also, i had a team of experts behind me that, you know, were a phone call away if i needed anything. there were reports of a reality show. i think your family kind of took it on the chin. people said, you know, this is a publicity stunt. the family is doing this, pushing this 16-year-old girl out to see ill-prepared because they want to become famous and they want this reality show to put them on the map. tell me about your family. is there any truth to that the fact that they like the limelight a little bit too much? well, you know, if i had been out here just for publicity and just to set a record i would have left when i first decided to go at 13. i wouldn t have waited until i was really ready at 16. we were approached by a reality tv show. they wanted a great show, inspirational for teenagers about the american spirit and teenagers getting out and doing great things, but they were turning it into something we didn t like. we didn t like the direction. the producer disagrees that he was out to do a show about irresponsible parents and, in fact, after wiring your boat with all the cameras believed he would be watching you die out there? yeah. i didn t realize i didn t hear about that until i was in the ocean. i was shocked because he had said all this stuff and here i was a few seconds earlier had gotten a nice e-mail from him. the whole time it was a lie. so we cut ties with the whole show. in other words, there are no plans now in the near future to do a different reality show or has that been scrapped completely. there are no plans for one. what about your plans? you re 17 now. you did this when you were 16. you still love sailing. you like it now more than ever. would you do this again? definitely. i m working on learning to drive now. but the second a boat and sponsorship comes up, i will try again. it s all about money. you have to have the right funding and backing to make a serious attempt at this. it depends on what type of trip you do. i could buy a little beat up boat and work my way traveling around the world which i might do. don t do that. all right? not in a fixer-upper. thanks, good to have you here. we re back after your local news and weather. live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. good morning. i am mindy basara. let s get a final check of the morning commute with sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. still a few problems as we try to wrap up the rush hour. at the beltway, a crash being cleared from the shoulder. speeds of around 27 miles per hour. on the inner loop approaching belair west, that is the reason for those delays. that is where we have an accident being cleared. in the city, fayette street and el wight avenue, another accident location. another 1 southbound 1075 at waterloo road. at harford, you can see delays pretty heavy in both directions. in other traffic towards the accident scene at belair road. let s switch over to the beltway northeast. so far so good other than a volume-related delays. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. tony, over to you. we still have a little bit of cloud cover but that will be burning off as quickly. it will be a warm afternoon. and upper 50 s and low 60 s. we will make it to the low 80s and most never heard this afternoon. record high is 85. tonight, showers and thunderstorms likely. temperatures are going to drop back into the upper 30s. rainshowers like the tomorrow. cooler with our height near 63. another chance for rain in the beginning of next weekend. we will have another update at 8:55. 8:30 on a monday morning, april 11, 2011. we have been promised the first real spring day of the season today. we are off to a good start temperaturewise. cloudy skies and drizzle. mr. roker is promising us his pinky swear that we are going to have warmer temperatures later in the day. yes. how warm? into the 70s. great. a lot of people looking forward to that. i m matt lauer along with savannah guthrie while meredith is off. tamron hall joins us as does mr. roker. coming up, you calling me chicken? never! no, but we ll talk about a trend sweeping the nation well, i don t know. kind of an unusual pet. chickens as pet. one woman has more than 40 chickens. we ll talk to her about why they have names, diapers diapers? they bring them in the house? stay tuned. more on our series fighting for your rights. this morning the hidden cameras test customers as they get a $2 shoe shine. would you speak up if the results were not so shiny despite the cheap price? what if they use the wrong polish? we ll put consumers to the test. would you speak up? i wouldn t go again. i was going to say go with the passi passive-aggressive approach. and i don t have shoes on. also, big daddy is in the house. food network chef mr. aaron mccargo is here to show us how to prepare steak. first, can we say hello to mr. paul reiser? [ cheers and applause ] how exciting. welcome back. years ago you had a roof, walls. this network has just run down. we need you back on the network. 12 years since mad about you . yes. is this show something you have been working on for a while and wanted to do for a while? here s the sad truth. i was home, happy, had two kids and i thought they were enjoying me being home. two years ago my little guy says, dad, what do you do? just go do something. so i made a show. the show is all about you. but then you have family and friends played by actors but they are real scenarios. are you getting in any trouble? you have to run it by the wife, the kids. but i have a writing partner so i say it s his wife. you would never say anything that crazy. it s fun. it is my real life. i play myself. all my friends have to be real. larry david plays himself on the first episode. couldn t be more thrilled. and helen hunt. she directed one of them. hopefully she ll come back and do some more. i had to make it about my real life because i m not smart enough to make anything up. i said, we ll just write what actually happened. does itle feel good to be back? feels great. i did it for america, really, though, not for me. you re so sweet. unbelievable. 12 years, it s time. are you better off? i don t know. we are. it s time. theoretically if this is about your real life there could be a future episode about your appearance on today. absolutely. would actors play us? you would be you. if you are allowed to you would be you. we d get a younger guy for you, but everybody else would be dynamite. this is a dream come true. you can cast your own family. exactly. by the way, that was no treat. the wife has to approve the wife, the kid has to approve it. that kid s not as funny as me, dad. you can catch oh, it s been cancelled? that was fast. thursday night, 8:30/7:30 central on nbc with the very young, handsome paul reiser. [ cheers and applause ] thank you. mr. roker. don t come on our show and diss matt lauer. we are off to a fairly quiet start. though cloud cover in some areas that we will get sunshine this afternoon, and it is and don t forget you can get your weather any time today or night on the weather channel on cable, weather.com online. was that real thunder or sound effects? sound effects. you re freaking me out, al. coming up, wouldle you speak up if you got a less than stellar shoe shine? we ll tell you what happened when we put unsuspecting customers to the test. first, this is today on nbc. [ horns honking ] [ whistle blows ] [ male announcer ] can the network you live on handle the computers, tvs and technology you can t live without? verizon fios can. get the power and speed of america s largest 100% fiber optic network. verizon fios. a network ahead. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. we are back now with more of our special today consumer series, would you fight for your rights. today the classic shoe shine puts people to the test. good morning. we asked a 20-year-old college student with no experience to get down and dirty and start shining shoes. the shoes were anything but well done. for over 20 years top shoe repair in rockefeller plaza is known for quality shoe repairs and a $2 shine that beats them all. on this day, we changed it up a bit and wanted to see how far you would go to fight for your rights. with the help of owner igo igor navatov and alex swerdloff, an aspiring actor and college student we wanted to see if a shoe shine gone. with speed and not a bit of finesse alex shined shoes. that s it? they noticed how quickly it was done but paid anyway. how do you like the shine? not good, huh? fastest one i ever had. reporter: time to reveal our experime experiment. we re with nbc. alex is not a real shoe shine fwu. no clue? sort of a clue. reporter: what happened? sat down for a shoe shine and it was the quickest one i ever had. guy used water instead of cream. reporter: what was wrong? it was quick. the person didn t know how to stroke the brush across the shoe. reporter: why didn t you complain? i didn t want to make him feel bad? i felt it was maybe an apprentice. reporter: the next set of customers thought alex did a good job or were too polite to say otherwise. how do you like the shine, ma am? i like it, thank you. good? yes, very good. reporter: check it out. alex uses black polish on red shoes and the customer doesn t even notice. do you like the shine? he did a good job. did he? looks like it. i have been coming here the better part of 20 years. i rarely look at the bottom of the shoes because i know he ll do a good job. reporter: here you had a new guy. my shoes were so dirty to begin with. reporter: some customers quietly complained but tipped anyway. all done. do you want to buff them up a little bit? sorry? buff them up a little bit? pay attention to what he does. reporter: i guess $2 just isn t worth the fight. you even gave him a tip. i did, of course. he tried his best. in the spirit of dollars and cents, the couple of dollars would not make a difference to me, but to somebody first starting out it does make a difference. reporter: finally, two customers who did speak up. you re done? i m not happy. i want you to shine my shoes. that s a shine. that s not a shine. i m sorry. this is not acceptable to me. all done. why? they re not shiny. yeah, yeah, shiny. no. yeah. doesn t get any shinier than that. of course it does. look at him. it s the shoe. i m very sorry, but why would you go with a brush over the shoe after you polished it? i just want to tell you we re from nbc news and he s not a real shoe shine guy. okay. [ laughter ] reporter: how was your experience? it was very good, but i had to fight for my rights. obviously, i was close to doing it myself. reporter: you did fight for your rights. do you think that s important? absolutely. people have to learn to speak up. you pay a fair price and you deserve quality work. special thanks to top shoe repair in new york city and to alex who took the abuse from a few. he did return the tips he received and everyone did get a free shine. so all s well that ends well. they deserve a free shine. what is the right way to fight for your rights? two bucks. a lot of people say it s not worth it. sure. two bucks is not your life savings, i hope. but whether you pay two bucks for a service or $2,000 you have a right to be reasonably happy. don t let a tiny price tag slow you down much. it seems again this is personal service. not like buying a car, saying i m not happy with the car. this is someone s job and eitherer they do it well or they don t. does the personal nature make it harder to complain? that s right. if you do speak up, be very respectful. this guy is clearly not working a dream job, hunched over people s feet every day for a couple bucks a pop. be polite and be specific like the guy at the end. not this shine stinks but, you know, can you get that stuff on the toe? you would also complain to the guy as opposed to going to his boss. i would feel bad, will he lose his job over my complaint? i probably wouldn t, but i might say something to the guy as opposed to going over his head. tips are another great way to come at it. everybody knows they are for a job well done. still, we all feel like a heel not giving a guy a buck or two for doing the job. even more reason to speak up, get what you want and be generous with the guy again. these guys work hard, by the way. they sure do. i m glad you didn t abuse a real shoe shine person. a student, a faux shiner in there. appreciate it, janice. thank you very much. philip, thank you as always. up next, move over rover. why chickens are becoming the family pet. first this is today on nbc. announcer: today s pets is brought to you by iams pet foods. life is better on iams. this morning on today s pets ruffling feathers. if you re an animal lover, odds are the family pet barks, meows or chirps but many americans think the perfect family addition is the clucking kind. jenna wolfe is here to explain. nothing wrong with the clucking kind. any excuse to play the chicken dance. you will hear it again. you may think parmesan before pet when you hear chicken but some families are keeping chickens in the backyards. sometimes even in their living rooms, too. talk about crying foul. this is dotty. reporter: with names like maybelline, oprah and barbara, it sounds like a coffee clach more than a chicken coop. they re my pets and i m around them all the time. reporter: talk about doting. she can t get enough of her feathered family. how many do you have? over 40. reporter: over 40 chickens. it s just too much fun. reporter: at her home built coop called the omelet ranch her chickens lay about 30 egg as day. i look at them as eye candy. they re all really special. reporter: before you dismiss her, know this. she s hardly alone in her love of livestock. coast to coast, the so-called chicken movement has taken hold with dozens of meet-up groups sprouting up from atlanta to austin to hollywood. even tori spelling is in on the fun. oh, by the way, that s cocoa. chickens are a pet with personality. reporter: they are also popular. in part because of the local food and sustainability push and the appeal of free fresh eggs right from your own yard, say it is author of raising chickens for dummies . they are social animals and they like to be in a group. three or four is a good number to start with. reporter: you have heard the term pecking order. when you keep chickens as pet use learn where that phrase comes from. within days of being grouped together they establish who eats first, who bathes and lounges where and who s the most domina dominant. plenty of websites cater to every question. for pleasure eating there is backyard poultry magazine. if you are looking for chick chic, you re in luck. check out the diapers in various floral patterns. what does every pet seem to need these days? a whisperer. welcome to backyard poultry with the chicken whisperer. reporter: andy schneider has a talk show. they can learn like other pets, come when you call them. they get used to a particular noise when you come out. if you have treats they know it and they will greet you. reporter: they are fun, kid-friendly and perhaps the breakfast they provide is the best part of all. at least that s what cheryl cohen thinks. nothing like a fried over easy egg. nothing like what you get in the store. it s a natural question to ask. do the pets end up as dinner? we were told generally if a chicken has a name, families spare the pet. no one s eating oprah. far more popular than i thought. coming up next, three delicious ways to prepare not chicken but steak with the food network s big daddy. first this is today on nbc. that airline is gonna nail that frequent flyer with restrictions when he tries to use his miles. that s a lot of red tape! step on it! [ tires screech ] i can t escape the red tape! now you can with rapid rewards! come on! [ tires screech ] [ male announcer ] join rapid rewards and enjoy unlimited reward seats, no blackout dates, and no red tape. this morning on today s kitchen step by step, cooking steak three ways. the food network s big daddy is here with recipes from his book simply done, well done. you say this book is for anyone who loves to put boldly flavored meals on the table. that s what it s about. it s all about simply done, well done. just like the steak. a steak with portobello mushrooms looks complicated but i took the stress away. this is horseradish-crusted filet. we have horseradish and i like the jarred stuff because it s easy for everybody that don t want to grate it. get yourself some of that. smell it? that clears you right out. and this is dijon? dijon mustard, garlic, pepper, salt. so you re making a paste here. you will put it on the filet. exactly. and you will do something unusual. you will dip the filet in bred crumbs. the mustard will allow it to stick. the bread crumbs get nice and golden in a hot pan with oil. you get a nice crust. this is actually going to go in the oven but you are searing it for flavor. get the nice texture on the outside. how long? three, four minutes on the outside. don t stress. if you have a pan that can go right in the oven, do that. i have the mushrooms to go with it. what else? i have garlic in here. we need a little bit of pop-pop, so i have red wine vinegar. a little bit of acid will jump off. i have beef stock. really? this is going to chicken up? oh, yes. a nice braise. a lot of times the mushrooms have their own liquids, but we are creating a liquid with the flavor from the wine, vinegar, a little thooyme, extra sherry vinegar and let it cook down. at the end this is what they look like. this is it. plate it up family style. we can do two and two or split it up with friends. i m hungry. you could do two of those? what? anything. that s the filet. show me your other dish here. if you thought this was easy, let me drop this right here. we re going to talk about that in a minute. salisbury steak bundles. phyllo dough, little bit of butter between each one. i have miniature steaks, mashed potatoes. where are they going? little bit a mash. one of the little steaks. on top? what s this? gravy. i chilled it so it doesn t cook the phyllo. is this in the cookbook? yep, just like mom used to make. even got the little sexy lumps in there. you will cover it in the dough. and it will break down. is this easy to work with or does it always fall apart? this sat out in the air too long. keep a wet towel on that. you re tying wit a scallion? this is a scallion. so you tie it up with a scallion to keep it together. it s like tying on a loose pair of shoes. in the oven. for how long? you have the cold mash, steak. this is a hospital meal bumped up. we can eat. check it out. this is my favorite. this is the flank steak salad with peppers, onions, nice spicy vinaigrette that won t overdo you but will make you happy about doing something simply done, well done. al, this is you. i m all over it. i like to do this. simply done, well done. big daddy, thank you very much. thank you for having me. we re back after your local news and weather. live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. good morning. i am mindy basara. a preliminary hearing will be held today for george huguely, the man accused of killing university of virginia and lacrosse player yeardley love. her body was found in appropriate last may. jayne miller is in charlottesville for the hearing now let s take a look at the forecast with tony pann at. as we head into the afternoon, it will feel like summer. a mixture of clouds and sunshine, and left over from will be burning of. temperatures in the 70 s and 80 s, and 20 degrees above average. tonight, a chance for showers and thunderstorms. low temperatures in the upper 50s. seven-day forecast, a good chance for rainshowers tomorrow. it should clear out during the middle of the week. another chance for rain late friday and into saturday. we will have another weather update i am a sneeze whisperer. i am an allergy analyst. bermuda grass. ragweed. willow. i am a dander decoder.