Transcripts For WBAL Today 20110820 : vimarsana.com

lifetime from his great dane, and if you think this video of the reunion is adorable, wait until you meet this huge and happy dog, today, saturday, until you meet this huge and happy dog, today, saturday, august 20th, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone. welcome to today on a saturday. i m lester holt. and i m amy robach. got to love that video. that s a whole lot of love. i d hate to see him angry. yes, you re glad he likes it. looks like a six-footer there. this video of the great dane and the airman has gone viral. it certainly brings a smile to your face. nice to start the program off with this. 150 pounds, you re going to love the name. his name is emmitt thunder paws. he was thrilled to see his owner return from a tour of duty overseas. both will join us live. call him e.t. for short. also remember the mystery of susan powell? the utah mom vanished back in 2009. her husband said he took their two children camping in a snowstorm, and then when he returned, susan was gone. well, this morning there may be a possible break in the case. authorities are now pursuing a new lead that has them in nevada. we ll have the very latest. plus, danger from the deep, new details on a shark attack that killed a man on his honeymoon. it happened just offshore. comes just weeks after another deadly shark attack in the same area. we re going to get more. and we ll catch up with a true champion. we first met alyssa croak earlier this year when she was about to have her leg amputated. but before that procedure she played in one final basketball game with her team. she loves the sport and she s now hoping to return to the court. we re going to speak live to alyssa in just a moment. courageous young girl, and she made a really, really tough choice. but she s doing well we understand. looking forward to talking to her. we begin with the deadly flash floods in pittsburgh. it happened near the city s zoo, when a rush of water roared through one block leaving cars sub merged and at least three people dead. tamika artist has more. reporter: it was a tragic scene along washington boulevard. at some points down there the water was over nine feet deep. it had a lot of force behind it. reporter: these muddy streets now representing a story of survival for some, a watery grave for three people. that particular vehicle was pinned against a tree. and the folks, the occupants were able to escape. the car was already submerged by the time i realized that, you know, someone was trapped. but it was near where my car was. reporter: tara was on her way home when rain water suddenly overtook her car and sent it floating toward allegheny river boulevard. emergency workers in boats scrambled to save more than a dozen people stranded in ten feet of water. she describes how one man tried despera desperately to save three people who died. there was a man trying to help them get out but he said he couldn t break the window, and he ended up climbing into a tree. reporter: i talked with several witnesses who say they ve never seen anything like this. some had to think fast to survive the rapidly rising waters. by the time i got my purse, ready to get out, i couldn t open my doors. i had to climb out through the window and sit on my roof. reporter: a woman and two children, unfortunately, not so lucky. very sad. that report from tamika artist in pittsburgh. and that flooding in pittsburgh is part of a huge storm system that brought dangerous thunderstorms to the northeast last night. we all heard them. and then in wisconsin, a tornado claimed at least one life. bill karins has more on the extreme weather going on out there. bill, good morning. unfortunately, a miserable day with those thunderstorms, and of course the deadly weather. now the tornado that hit northern wisconsin, it wasn t widespread, it was one lone tornado. it just happened to hit an area where there were some people. can you see the pictures of that funnel cloud there in the distance. it tore off the roof, tossed a couple vehicles and a couple semis. unfortunately it did take one life when it went through northern wisconsin. that was friday morning into friday afternoon with this storm system as it rolled along the northern border of wisconsin and michigan. now with what happened in pittsburgh. this was three inches of rain in one hour. they said the water was coming from the ground. the sewers system clogged up, the manholes were shooting up in the air. that s what that storm center right over the top of pittsburgh. who is at risk today? could we see anything similar today? an isolated chance, not probably as bad but we re watching st. louis to kansas city today, and then the northeast is going to get hit again with more strong storms sunday afternoon. we re talking d.c., philly, new york city all the way up in through northern new england. back to you. all right, bill, thank you. and now to the economy. and the growing fears that we may be facing another recession. stocks took another big hit on friday. down more than 1772 points. for wall street that s the fourth straight losing week, leaving many americans to worry about what may be next. cnbc s brian sullivan joins us now with the very latest. brian, unfortunately the bearer of bad news. it s not been a very happy week. what happened? yeah, if you drag a cnbc anchor out on a saturday morning, this is not a good sign. the reality is there s a lot of concern about a few things, amy. you ve got the european bank stuff, and i don t want to bore your viewers at this hour. that s a big concern. you ve got concerns about, as you said, a u.s. economic slowdown here. and then you ve got the debt downgrade. i mean sort of the trifecta of bad news. that s what we ve had happening. the stock market has taken a hit. explain a little bit about how european bank problems affect us here in america. these are banks that most of your viewers probably never heard about. you think why are we talking about these weird european banks? the reality is these are massive banks. a lot of people don t realize europe collectively is the same size as the united states. some people say it s their 2008 moment. we know what happened with some of our banks in 2008. there s a big concern that they ve got all this bad set, sounds like we ve told the story before, right, amy? a lot of bad debt that is now coming due and there s concerns about them being able to pay it. so these bank stocks are going down and we re going down with it. when we talk about our own economies we learned that manufacturing slowed dramatically in the mid-atlantic region. unemployment hovering around 9% here. is this going to be the new normal for us for some time? i think so. you know, i hate to say that. i wish i could come on and say that unemployment is going to go back to 5 or 6 or 7% but it s going to be tough. and i think that manufacturing is actually starting to creep up the last year or so. it s kind of a quiet, good-news story. and what we learned is that things are slowing back down in the mid-atlantic region. let s hope it s only temporary. i can tell you this much, most of the economic data has pointed more to the slowdown side rather than the uptick side. i don t want to say that. and washington is out of options? i m not sure what else they can do. we ve tried a lot. the fed has tried a lot. i m not sure there s either the economic or the political will to do much more, amy. all right, brian sullivan. thanks so much for joining us on this saturday morning. all right. amy, the bleak economic news comes as president obama begins his summer vacation on martha s vineyard. a trip that has left him under fire by republicans hoping to take his place in the white house. nbc s kristen welker is on martha s vineyard for us. martha kristen? hi, good morning, lester. president obama doesn t have any events on his public schedule, but white house officials say he will be in constant contact with his advisers, trying to make a point that this is no ordinary vacation. the first picture from the president s vacation is a serious one. counterterrorism chief john brennan briefing mr. obama. and his first public outing took place across the street from where the media was already camped out. a bookstore in vineyard haven where he, malia, and sasha bought eight books. then mr. obama held an impromptu meet and greet. later, no cameras allowed when the president played golf. but nbc news did capture him for a few brief moments from afar. taking some shots, and doing a quick golf cart drive-by. and that s why you re going to see him, i think, take great pains to show that it s a working vacation. that he s not sort of goofing off. reporter: this, after a week that saw a jittery stock market, the president s approval rating for handling the economy dipped to new lows, and job fairs across the country that drew thousands of the nation s unemployed. i m looking for a job every day. and every day for the past four months. no luck. reporter: in the days leading up to the trip, republican presidential candidates criticized the president for taking what they characterized as a lavish vacation. when so many are suffering. if i were president today i wouldn t be looking to go spend ten days on martha s vineyard. reporter: white house officials continue to insist the office of the presidency travels with mr. obama wherever he goes. and they say he is working hard on a job stimulus plan, which he ll unveil after his vacation. but even members of his own party are calling for more action, particularly in the african-american community, where the unemployment rate is hovering around 16%. it s all right to take your family on vacation. but now you re the father of the country so you ve got to look at you care about the citizens of the country, also. reporter: despite the political undertones of this trip, many on martha s vineyard were just excited to share their vacations with the president. it s so powerful for my kids to have met him. and just to know what it means for them, you know, as kids of color when they grow up in their future, this is a great possibility for them. i was very excited. and when i met him, i i m 71 years old. the last time i met i president was eisenhower. so needless to say, meeting this president was a real honor. reporter: now, according to the unofficial white house historian, mark knoller of cbs news reader, this president has actually taken fewer vacation days than some of his predecessors. mr. obama has taken 61 days of vacation. george w. bush had taken 180 at this point in his presidency. kristen welker this morning. thanks. everyone is entitled to a view days off. critics seem to be having a field day with the president s vacation. is it fair? michael steele is the former chairman of the gop, also an msnbc political analyst. mr. steele, good to see you. thanks for joining us. good to be with you. obviously it s an easy target, the president taking a vacation, at a fairly elite place at a time that the country s got a lot of issues. easy shot. is it a fair shot? and will it last? will this be a lasting issue? no, i don t think it will be a lasting issue. the fairness is in the eyes of the beholder. i think, you know, i appreciates calls by the rnc and others for the president not to go on vacation. he should be here in washington. he should call congress back to washington. but to what end? unless there is a proposal, specific proposal that you re putting on the table that you re calling people back to washington for, that you re staying here in washington to work on, go to if martha s vineyard is where you get your muse, and you can get that jobs bill done, good, go and get it done. because when you do come back in ten days or nine days, the people of this country will expect you to present something with a lot of substance and meat to it that begins to put, as you showed in the video, workers out of those lines, and back to work. and folks that don t have a dog in the political fight i think are all feeling the same frustration. somebody needs to come up with a plan. somebody needs to come up with a proposal. republican candidates obviously find this an easy target. but where are the ideas? are republicans going to be increasingly under pressure to come up with some solid, specific ideas to get us out of this? oh, absolutely, lester. i think there s no way you can get through the next four or five months without some skin in the game. if you re a republican, or a democrat on the hill, if you re a candidate running for the presidency, or the president himself, everyone who has, you know, a pretense to leadership here, has to present to the american people their, not just their vision, but more specific ideas about how we get it done. and the real test, as you know, and is covered rather extensively, is this super committee. is this going to be real substance here? are there going to be real compromises to get to the point where people can actually feel that, okay, the markets can relax and begin to invest again? workers can realize that or begin to see that there are opportunities out there to open up for them. or we re just going to stumble, bumble our way through with, you know, piecemeal, you know, process and results only to fight in another six months the same issues. so there s some real big things looming for folks and everyone s going to have to have some skin in this particular game between now and november. mike, before i let you go, i think we need a reality check in terms of where campaign 2012 is right now. a week ago it was all about michele bachmann. she comes out from the straw vote looking like the perhaps the next front-runner. and then governor perry gets in the act, and suddenly you don t hear michele bachmann s name anymore. historically when we look back, what do these early, early contests, and early debates really tell us? well, it tells us how folks jockey for position. this is the process, tim pawlenty already leaves the field. there will be more who will do that. i think that there s a lot more opportunity, though, for those who are, you know, at the next tier below, for example, to at least make a policy argument, and to move the debate a particular direction. but, you know, perry had a great week. he had a very solid launch, despite the hiccup in the middle of the week with some statements that he made. he really wasn t talking to washington. he was talking to that conservative base to get them galvanized around his campaign. all in all a good week for him. as we get to the debate that msnbc is going to be hosting in a couple of weeks, there s going to be some real opportunities here for these guys to distinguish themselves, because that s where the focus is going to be, pawlenty is out. bachmann, perry and romney are in. and the rest are trying to catch up. michael steele, good to talk to you. thanks for joining us this morning. craig melvin is at the news desk with more of today s top stories. amy, lester, good morning to you. we start with news this morning from the office of congresswoman gabrielle giffords. a spokesman says that she now knows who was killed in a january shooting that left her critically wounded. in june, her husband, astronaut mark kelly, said giffords had known only how many had died but not known their names. giffords received that news just days before her irspirational return to the house chamber to cast a vote on the nation s debt ceiling. 9 first lawsuits have been filed in connection with last weekend s deadly stage collapse at the indiana state fair. on friday, the daughter and life partner of one of the victims sued the company that built the stage and fair organizers for negligence. this has the death toll rose to six. 22-year-old jennifer s family said she succumbed to her injuries friday. a scary scene in florida as a tanker full of gasoline exploded as it was making a delivery. the blast sent at least one person to the hospital and prompted evacuations at this point no word on a cause. and finally this morning, talk about a facebook dislike. a german municipality has banned the use of facebook s like button. officials have ordered all websites in one state to deactivate the button or face legal action. why, you ask? they say clicking that like button stores user information, and is an invasion of privacy. meanwhile, facebook says it is in full compliance with german and european laws. that s the news for now. lester, amy, bill, back over to you guys. all right. thanks, craig. even though i can t click it, i still like you guys. like. you can click it here. as far as the weather, we talked about the severe storms yesterday and the horrible situation in pittsburgh with the flash flooding. today we re going to get flash flooding more likely to be in missouri and portions of illinois. the southeast and florida are going to deal with isolated storms in the west. quiet, great weather but it will be warm today. possibly 90 for the first time in portland, oregon. good morning. the sun is out this morning. you can see it hitting the warehouse there at camden yards. the forecast today is calling for lots of sun, scattered showers, minimal rain chances. that s your weekend forecast. amy? bill, thank you. now to an unfolding medical mystery, and it s a disturbing one. three young people have died from a water-borne parasite in the u.s. this year. although the cases are rare, the deaths have many people across the country concerned. nbc s tom costello reports. reporter: it s happened three times this summer. a water-borne parasite that can turn deadly feeding on brain tissue and killing its victims. in virginia, health investigators say 9-year-old christian strickland died after being infected while swimming in a lake. even when they told me that he was brain dead, i mean, i thought he was going to wake up and just say, hi, mommy, and that never happened. reporter: in louisiana a man in his 20s died after flushing his sinuses using infected home tap water. but not the public water supply. and in florida, 16-year-old courtney nash died two weeks after swimming in the st. john s river outside orlando. i prayed and prayed. i was hoping that, you know, i would get a miracle. reporter: four years ago, three other boys from central florida died of amoebic encephalitis. the amoebas are found in warm, mostly still water during the summer months. when they strike, they most commonly enter the body through the nose. they then travel to the skull, and begin destroying brain tissue. though at first the symptoms seem minor. headaches, stiff neck, fever, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. of course those are symptoms of many diseases. so unless the physician actually thinks about this diagnosis, it s often not made. reporter: and almost always fatal. the amoebas are actually common in most warm lakes, especially in the south. but, it s not clear why the amoebas are only occasionally deadly. dr. lloyd julic is the chief of infectious diseases at new york s weill cornell medical center. this is a very rare infection. probably millions of people are exposed to these amoebas by being in fresh water, but very few cases occur for years. something like between 2 and 8 may occur in an annual basis. reporter: the cdc says that over the last 50 years, there have only been about 120 cases of people contracting and then dying from amoebaic encephalitis. you cannot get it from swallowing the water. only from the water coming up into the nose. one recommendation, say the experts, would be to have the kids wear nose plugs if they re out swimming in a lake or a pond during the summer. tom costello, nbc news, germantown, maryland. and now here s lester. all right, amy, thanks. he is the new mexico man being hailed as a hero for saving a girl from an abduction. but now comes a new twist. it s not about what he did, it s about how he ended up in this country in the first place. nbc s aididdy roy explains. reporter: this normally quiet neighborhood in albuquerque could have been the place for a child disappeared. instead, it s where a hero appeared. very, very brave of you. reporter: his name is antonio diaz chicken. he s 24 years old, a mechanic, and this week he saved a 6-year-old girl from a kidnapping. you know, if it wasn t for you, those parents wouldn t have a girl. reporter: it happened fast. the little girl was walking home when a stranger snatched her from the street and threw her into a van. in front of chicon and his wife. who just happened to be at the right place at the right time, and did the right thing. what is your emergency? a little girl was kidnapped. my husband followed the van that they took the little girl in. the van actually crashed into a pole, and mr. chicon was able to get her and take her back to her family. reporter: the 29-year-old suspect ran, but was later captured by police, charged with kidnapping, and child abuse. chicon, a father of two little girls himself, says what motivated him was, it s a little girl. it could be yours, go. it s not often that somebody gets to make that kind of a rescue, that effort, and he saved her from something really atrocious. reporter: the outpouring continues online. where some are killing chicon a true american hero. only thing is, he s not technically american. he says he hasn t filed for legal status yet, even though he s lived here for four years. i told mr. diaz chicon a good american is an understatement. reporter: but now he s albuquerque s hero of the week. a recognition he hopes will some day help him become an american citizen. thank you. thank you. reporter: so he can truly have a home in a community where he already is the hometown hero. for today, aditi roy, nbc news. still to come on today, hollywood sound effects. the secret is out, and we now know one of the noisemakers behind it. but first, this is today on nbc. still to come here on today, freedom for the west memphis three. the stunning development in a shocking triple murder case. we ll have the latest. plus honeymoon horror. the shark attack that claimed a newlywed s life. we ll have more on that in a moment. good morning. i m jennifer franciotti. the time now is 7:25. here s a look at some of our top stories for you. b.g.e. crews are working to restore power to nearly 2,000 customers who are still in the dark. gusty winds brought down trees and some power lines last evening. it was the second day of storms in our area. power has been restored to 22,000 customers since the storm began. the majority of those still in the dark are in anne arundel county. the ravens won their first preseason game against the chiefs. in what may come as a big improvement from last week s game, the ravens beat the chiefs 31-13. ray rice ran 26 yards and managed to score the first touchdown of the preseason. meanwhile, baltimore city police are investigating a double stabbing in west baltimore. it happened at 11:00 last night at west baltimore street and ball peark avenue. no word on a suspect or motive. a howard county jury finds a man guilty of first-degree murder in connection with arson and the murder of his ex wife. white stabbed thelma nguyen. the motivation for stabbing her was her text message apologizing for having a miscarriage. 10 was the on 103 was the number of stabbings, and we felt that was indicative of first-degree murder. white could receive life in prison when good morning. the sun is out. a little good morning. the sun is out. a little haze. the next significant batch of rain is way to the wefment we have big high pressure over us right now. we re in the clear for a while. take a look at the current conditions outside. 63 degrees at the airport. mostly clear skies. again some haze and a wisp of clouds here and there. at the moment, the barometer is rising. the next cold front on schedule to come in is on schedule for tomorrow might night. something isolated poske ble ths afternoon. the basic forec c13 something isolated poske ble ths afternoon. the basic forecast for today, 86 to 91 for the high. get out and enjoy. good advice. we re back in 25 minutes with another update. we ll see you then. we re back on this saturday morning, august 20th, 2011. the summer is flying by. we have a month to go before autumn officially begins. we want to thank our great crowd out on the plaza with us this morning. we re going to step outside and say hi a little later on the show. back inside studio 1a, i m amy robach along with lester holt. coming up, terror from the deep. you re totally afraid of the ocean. this isn t going to help you here. shark attack took the life of a newlywed. one of the most beautiful places in the world. happened earlier this week in the seychelles islands. the victim was on his honeymoon when he was attacked and killed bied shark. and some believe one shark may be responsible for two deaths in that same area. another one that occurred weeks before. also a big new lead in the search for a missing mother. susan powell was last seen in december of 2009. her family said she would never abandon her two young children. her husband remains a person of interest, and this morning there may be a major development in this cold case. we ll have the latest. plus, we re going to turn to a much lighter note, and take a look at this homecoming. great greeting, trevor crowder was in afghanistan for nine months in the air force, when he returned to his house his dog was waiting for him and boy was he happy to see him. and you can see the great dane gave him a big, sloppy hug and a kiss. the video s gone viral. we ll meet trevor and his dog, mr. emmitt thunder paws in just a few minutes. it was a great name and a great moment. first an extraordinary turn of events in a murder case that has captured worldwide attention. it began nearly 20 years ago with the shocking deaths of three boys, and now the men who were convicted in those killi killings, and who have always maintained their innocence are free. they were released from prison yesterday. nbc s pete williams reports on the west memphis three. reporter: a crowd gathered early outside the courthouse to witness the end of an emotional saga that began in 1993 with a brutal crime in west memphis, arkansas. three second graders, cub scouts, tied up and beaten to death, left in a ditch behind a truck stop. a month later, police accused three teenagers of killing the boys in a satanic ritual. despite a lack of physical evidence, all were convicted. jason baldwin and jessie misskelley sentenced to life in prison, the death penalty for damien echols. but friday it was over. their dna was never found at the crime scene. appeals for a second trial was marred by police and juror misconduct and an hbo documentary attracted nationwide attention to problems with the case. the murders had been part of a satanic ritual. satanic worship. reporter: in court friday a judge ordered a new trial. then in a move worked out in advance, the three maintained their innocence but pleaded guilty, rather than face a new trial. sentenced to time served, they were free to go. the men said they wanted to prove their innocence, but agreed to the deal to get damien echols off death row. fighting for the trial as much as possible, but, he had it so much worse than i had it. i recognize and acknowledge that he did do it almost entirely for me. reporter: the father of one of the victims, christopher buyers, says he became convinced the men were not guilty. i want justice. and i wanted the three of them to be free. and i have no animosity whatsoever towards the three. i know they re innocent. reporter: but the father of another victim, steve branch, says he believes they did it. if these animals are released you re just going to give the keys to everybody on death row right now. reporter: the deal saves face for both sides. prosecutors insist the three were the killers, but their lawyers say the state would never let them out if it was convinced of their guilt. the men themselves say they ll keep fighting to prove their innocence, leaving some to wonder, who killed those boys. for today, pete williams, nbc news, washington. joe burlinger and bruce anoski are directors of paradise lost, a documentary that sparked widespread support for the possibility of the memphis three s innocence. they also produced a follow-up documentary and a third installment that will air this january on hbo. joe and bruce, good morning to you. thanks for having us. good morning. how are you? i m doing great. i know you were there when the three men, damien echols, jason baldwin and jessie misskelley learned they were able to walk free after 18 years behind bars. you call it salvation, not justice. and i know these three weren t prepared to accept this deal because they had to plead to a lesser crime. how did they come to move forward with this? what was the reasoning behind it? well, there was a quick deal about two weeks ago started happening, a deal was offered to the prosecutor that they, for 18 years, delays and dragging this thing out, decided to take. i think it s politics. you know, dusty mcdaniels, the arkansas attorney general, is running for governor at the end of the year, and i don t think they wanted a messy, embarrassing evidentiary hearing in december, which was scheduled to happen. i know a lot of big names joined the chorus for their release. was this, in large part, due to your documentary? the first film that we made impacted a lot of people. you know, celebrities and johnny depp and eddie vedders and people like that. but i think it was the everyday person who discovered this case, and really, you know, brought it forward. they ve been with it for 18 years. so, the celebrities were great but the everyday person was really the person that carried this through. and i know you all really got to know the families over the years. the families of these three men. the families of the victims of this crime. how what has been their responses to what s happened, to the events that unfolded this week? well, obviously the families of the accused men or the convicted men are thrilled that this legal nightmare has come to an end, but they, like us are dumbfounded that the state of arkansas didn t have the courage to fellly exonerate these people and now these guys have this sort of damocles hanging over their head of having to accept a murder conviction when, in fact, we all believe that they re completely innocent. and the families of the victims, two of the three families of the victims believe that the west memphis three were innocent and therefore, what the state of arkansas is basically telling them is that, we re not going to go find the real killer. i think there s joy and there s confusion, and, you know, it s bittersweet. we really believe that if go ahead. i just wanted to have you talk a little bit about the three men, these 18 years behind prison, you spent some time with them. how have they changed? they were just teenagers when they were put behind bars. yeah, they were teenagers, and now they re in their mid 30s. and you know, i got chills yesterday at the hotel when i saw damien go in to the elevator. just to see him do something other than being chained, and behind a piece of plastic when we would see him. i think damien and jason are going to do really, really well. i m a little bit worried about jessie just because he doesn t have the same support system as those guys have. but we ll do anything we can to help these guys. we loved them over the years. and i think the remarkable thing about these guys is they were impoverished, trailer park people, and we don t mean that discourteously, we just mean that they had very little opportunity and education when they were arrested. i think that s one reason the state almost got away with this. they were basically indigent, you know, uneducated people. and to see how all of them have transformed themselves into prison, and to have endured this nightmare while still maintaining their innocence was really quite remarkable. we know we spent some time with them last night to just be able to hug these guys, and to really, you know, tell a joke and talk and, you know, damien asked me how my family was. and you know, it was all very, very cordial. right. no way to say it. i mean, damien s been nice enough to say that the film probably saved his life. and that s quite an honor for us. it s powerful, and i know you all are working on a third installment of your documentary series. we look forward to it. thank you both. thank you. thank you. take care. and let s go over to bill karins for a check of the weather. bill, good morning. good saturday morning, everyone. this sign says, whatever lola wants, lola gets. who is lola? you sound like a powerful little girl. so what do you want? i don t know. see, that s the kind of dictator we like. someone a little indecisive. you let me know if you figure that out. good morning, everyone. talk about what s going on in philadelphia. this has been a very wet month. after the thunderstorms yesterday, almost 13 inches of rain. we re on pace for the wettest month ever. we re talking ever in the history of recorded weather in philadelphia. we should break that weather on sunday, that s when more thunderstorms will sweep through areas of the northeast and the mid-atlantic. today that storm system is back in the central plains. st. louis, areas of southern missouri. good morning. our tower camp view shows haze and fog. the sun will be a dominant feature. i think we need a little congratulations. you guys just got engaged. good luck with all the planning. thank you. enjoy the relaxation for a couple of days. if you want your hour by hour forecast you can get that at weather.com. all right, bill, thank you. coming up, predator at sea. a honeymoon trip on a paradise island ends with a deadly shark attack for one newlywed. we ll have the very latest. a surprise for you! [ barks ] yeah, it s new beneful healthy fiesta. gotta love the protein for muscles whoo-hoo! and omega-rich nutrition for that shiny coat. ever think healthy could taste so good? [ woman announcing ] new beneful healthy fiesta. to help us with an experiment for the febreze set & refresh. they agreed. [ facilitator ] take a deep breath. what do you smell? there s a freshness. actually it takes me outdoors. apples and pears. sort of a crisp, fresh feeling. s a friendly environment. [ facilitator ] go ahead and take your blindfold off. [ laughs ] no. [ male announcer ] the febreze set & refresh with scented oils that eliminate odors for 30 days so you can breathe happy, guaranteed. you carry them around everywhere. yes i do, because cravings are everywhere. would you take a craving for me, cartwright? how would i exactly. [ male announcer ] nicorette mini goes wherever you go, to help make quitting suck less. this morning we re learning new details about the shark attack that took the life of a newlywed. the british man was snorkeling off the seychelles islands in the indian ocean when it happened. that follows several close encounters here at home. stephanie gosk has the latest. reporter: there are new people in the water today. as long as the shark is still out there, officials say, it isn t safe. gemma redmond, once a new bride, now a widow, spoke to the dbs describing the horror of that day. i heard, help. i heard this awful scream. and i could still hear it when i close my eyes. reporter: the shark attacked just 60 feet offshore. he was still alive when locals in a small boat brought him to the beach. the shark had severed one of ian s arms, removed a large part of his leg, and bitten him several times in the chest. he looked at me and i looked at him, and i could see a mixture in his eyes of fear and of a realization that seeing me, that i was there. reporter: the local government has been credit sized here for not adequately warning visitors after a french tourist was killed off the same beach just over two weeks ago, only 400 yards from where ian redmond was attacked. officials thought the first incident was a fluke. they realize now that it wasn t. there s now a very strong coordinated and concerted effort by various agencies and people to try and do everything within their powers to locate the shark in the area and try to catch it. reporter: as the sun rose, the island s most accomplished fisherman now turned shark hunter darrell green got in his boat. just off the beach where the attack took place he laid a trap. 30 baited hooks. at the end of one line he catches something. they just caught a shark. this one is actually harmless. the fishermen said they re actually looking for a bull shark that he believes could be as big as 18 feet long. the fishermen have been out here for the last three days, with no luck. but green is confident. the shark, he told us, doesn t stand a chance. for today, stephanie gosk, nbc news, in the seychelles. up next here on today, we ll switch gears and talk about the sounds of hollywood. would you believe he s the guy behind it? we ll meet him after these messages. think of what you want to see look around, it s happening oh, yeah imagine that imagine sunshine always shining imagine blue sky just for you imagine that, imagine that imagine this, imagine that imagine that ohhhh, imagine that imagine that hershey s chocolate syrup. stir up a smile. with aveeno nourish plus moisturize. active naturals wheat formulas target and help repair damage in just 3 washes. for softer, stronger. . hair with life. [ female announcer ] nourish plus. only from aveeno. for sof er, stronger. . hair with life. why settle for a one-note cereal? get more with honey bunches of oats. four nutritious grains come together for more taste, more texture, more healthy satisfaction. have a bowl of happy. [ gasp ] [ mom ] my husband he thinks it s a 3-sheeter. i say 1-sheeter. bounty can clean the mess with less. [ female announcer ] in this lab demo, 1 sheet of bounty leaves this surface as clean as 2 sheets of the bargain brand. dance cooking? bring it. super durable. super absorbent. super clean. bounty the 1-sheet clean picker-upper. and try bounty napkins. this morning the secrets of a hollywood sound effects ortist, otherwise known as a foley artist. he is a true hollywood noisemaker, a superstar of sound who plays a key role in some of the biggest movies of all time. as i found out, special effects sometimes include a little dumpster diving. in the devil wears prada anne hathaway is strolling. but it s not her heels you re hearing. no, they belong to this man, marco costanzo. and to him nothing sachets like a 13 wide. very difficult to get. reporter: he is a top foley artist, responsible for the sound febts of hundreds of hollywood movies from heavy snow and broken glass to holsters and horses, he s making film magic with household items and in the most unlikely of settings. what could pass as a hoarders basement is his state-of-the-art sound stage. a huge warehouse tucked away in new jersey. and filled to the brim with just about anything from anywhere. i have no problem diving into a dumpster or lifting something off of a sidewalk that s being thrown away. new jersey has some of the best garbage in the world. reporter: and it s his trash that makes it to the big screen. remember the bath scene in the big lebowski? jeff bridges is in the tub. but it s costanzo doing the splashing with perfect timing and a bucket of water he replicates every drop. in true grit whether it s a trot or a gallop the best hooves often come from a tree. and for goodfellas when it comes to all those hugs and back slapping, forget about it. adding a foley sound to a film enables it to give it a sense of realism. if there was no sound, it would seem empty. but as soon as you bring in some of these other sounds everything becomes a little bit more natural. reporter: natural but unexpected. take a haunted house or creaky door. for costanzo the best speaky sounds come from this old butcher table, a gift from a friend. oh, that s good. no matter the sound there it goes. reporter: he delivers. and just remember, the next time you see an actress walking in high heels, there s a chance he s the one you re hearing, every step of the way. yes that was a little disturbing. all right marco, who began his career ray back with sophie s choice is now working on at least six films. he s also responsible for the sound effects for several tv shows, not a bad job and you can see he certainly has a good time doing it. all right we re back but first this is today on nbc. still to come on today, puppy love. the hero s welcome from a dog to an airman after nine months of war. plus straight out of law and order. a husband accused of having his reported mistress kill his wife. i have high blood pressure. e what s that thing? another medication. i really should have taken my shoes off before i got weighed. [ female announcer ] you ve got a lot on your mind. that s why every walgreens prescription goes through a 10 point safeguard check that reviews your current walgreens health record for allergies and potentially harmful drug interactions. [ kate ] i can do this. [ female announcer ] the 10 point safeguard check from walgreens. there s a way to stay well. you know that comes with a private island. really? no. it comes with a hat. you see, airline credit cards promise flights for 25,000 miles, but. [ man ] there s never any seats for 25,000 miles. frustrating, isn t it? but that won t happen with the capital one venture card. you can book any airline anytime. hey, i just said that. after all, isn t traveling hard enough? ow. [ male announcer ] to get the flights you want, sign up for a venture card at capitalone.com. what s in your wallet? uh, it s okay. i ve played a pilot before. i don t normally associate with salty snacks. huh. i thought berries were supposed to be sweet. [ female announcer ] new quaker chewy smashbar. kid-loved ingredients, smashed together. with 33% less sugar than the leading sweet snacks. check this out. boo-yah! shazam! h2.o! hydrolicious! magic bananas! it s our first one-click faucet filter that removes 99% of lead and microbial cysts. adios contaminos! good morning, everyone. i m lisa robinson. it is 7:56. here is a look at some of our top stories. the ravens lose their first win their first game of the preseason. in what may become the ravens won. ray rice ran 26 yards and scored the team s first touchdown of the preseason. the ravens gear up to play the washington redskins next thursday at m&t stadium. a howard county jury finds a man guilty of first-degree murder and arson in connection with the murder of his ex-wife. damon white stabbed thelma nguyen. the motive behind the massacre was a text message to white in which she said she was sorry for having a miscarriage. it began with the number of stab wounds. 103 we felt was indicative of a first-degree murder conviction. white could receive life in prison when sentenced in november. baltimore city police are investigating a double stabbing in west baltimore. it happened after 11:00 last night at west baltimore street in park avenue. the condition of the victim is unknown. this morning no word on ai suspect or possible motive. another stabbing to report this morning in westminster, that means one man day dad, harvey stabbed his wife multiple times during a domestic dispute. investigators say the woman moved out of the home a month ago but came back with her 13-year-old son to pick up belongings. the boy escaped injury by staying in his mother s car. we re back in a m the sun is ute this morning. we have a little haze here and there. yesterday s storms similar to thdrsday. essentssally the eastern shore with generous rains. as you can see on the radar, it has all moved out of the picture. temperatures will climb from the 70 s into the mid to u% >er 80 s for highs. upper 70 s in the mountains to the west. basic state-wide forecast is calling for partly cloudy skies. if there is a thdnder bolt today, most likely it will be in the mountains. kind of isolated. partly cloudy with highs in the mid to u% >er 80 s. tha lass,hingohn. thank you for joining us. we re back at 8:2 9with another update welcome back to today on a saturday. it s august 20th. august 20th, 2011. we are in late summer. back to school. back to school. having a great summer. great crowd out here saying hi to the folks back home. always happy to have you if you re in the neighborhood and join our crowd here on rockefeller plaza. i m lester holt along with amy robach. we re going to talk about what could be a major break in a missing persons case we ve been telling you about. right, the disappearance of susan powell gained national attention. it s been nearly two years now since she vanished from her home in utah. the case has been cold for some time. but this morning, a credible new lead has authorities searching the nevada desert. we re going to have the very latest on that coming up. also, there s been some shocking new details in the murder of a young mother who was shot to death while walking with her husband and their young child. authorities now say it was her husband who wanted her killed. she s under arrest. and police say it was his suspected mistress that pulled the trigger. we ll have more on that story just ahead. all right. and then we re going to lighten things up because we want to ask, have you seen this video? it s adorable. a great dane waited for nearly a rear for trevor crowder, a senior airman in the air force to come home. it was a very happy reunion. and it s one big dog. we re glad that they were friends. at first you can t tell if it s a mugging or a greeting. definitely a major licking there, some very wet kissing. there are therefore. and what is the dog s name? thunder paws. emmitt thunder paws. emmitt thunder paws. e.t. we re going to talk to them in just a moment. first let s get a check of the headlines. craig melvin is standing by at the news desk. good morning. amy, lester, good morning to you guys. we start in pittsburgh, where flash flood left at least three people dead, and another person missing. a mother and her two young children died when floodwaters submerged their car. the thunderstorms were so powerful they overwhelmed storm drains and water rose as high as nine feet on city streets. rescuers saved nearly a dozen people but one 70-year-old woman is still missing and presumed dead. meanwhile in virginia, two people were struck by lightning there during another severe storm. news this morning from the office of congresswoman gabrielle giffords. a spokesman says she now knows who was killed in the january shooting that left her critically wounded. back in june, her husband, astronaut mark kelly, said giffords had known only how many died but not their names. giffords received that news just days before her inspirational return to the house chamber to cast a vote on the nation s debt ceiling. to martha s vineyard now, where president obama starts the first full weekend of a family vacation today. nbc s kristen welker is there traveling with the president. kristen, good morning. hi, good morning to you, craig. well, president obama doesn t have any public events scheduled. the white house officials insist this is a working vacation. the first image we saw of this trip was a serious one, president obama being briefed by his counterterrorism adviser don brennan. then a little bit of family time. he headed into town with daughters malia and sasha to buy some books. a lot of his supporters vacation here so 245i cheered him on. they said four more years. a lot of presidential candidates have been critiquing the president for taking such a nice trip when the economy is struggling. white house officials have pushed back against that criticism saying the office of the presidency really travels with mr. obama wherever he goes. they say he is hard at work on a jobs plan, which he will unveil in september. now we don t know what the president is up to on this saturday, but we can tell you, a lot of folks around here probably going to be trying to catch a glimpse of him. craig? kristen welker on martha s vineyard this morning. thank you. finally, the king has been dethroned. the burger king that is. the fast food chain says it is retiring its monarch mascot with the unwavering smile. it is all part of an effort to boost slumping sales. they ll now focus on marketing their freshness of the food. it s a new campaign that starts today. that s a check of the headlines. amy back out to you. got to admit the king, king always looks a little weird, amy robach. very, very good observation there, craig. thanks so much. we re going to get another check of the weather with bill karins who is out on the plaza. beautiful morning bill. absolutely incredible. such nice weather conditions. i ve been looking for a new sweat shirt and i haven t been able to find one and i saw this lovely sweat shirt here. who is that on your sweatshirt? justin bieber. and it s your birthday, too, right? do you have any extra sweatshirts like this for me? no. maybe a little small for me. let s take a look at your forecast. some interesting things happening in the tropics. harvey strengthened overnight now headed for belize possibly as a hurricane. it s the storm after this one that we re more concerned with. it s just a tropical wave but we re going to project puerto rico sunday, thursday cuba and florida on thursday night into friday. now it s too early to say how strong this will be. it could be a hurricane or just some showers and thunderstorms with a tropical wave. if you have plans that end this upcoming week in florida, that s what you need to good morning. the sun is out this morning. you can see it hitting the warehouse there at camden yards. the forecast today is calling for lots of sun, scattered showers, minimal rain chances. that s a look at your weekend forecast. lester? bill, thanks. it was norway s darkest day since world war ii, the twin attacks that left scores dead, including dozens of young people at a camp executed on that ielgd by a lone gunman. now for the first time since the horror, the families of the victims and the survivors are visiting the scene of the tragedy. nbc s jay gray is on the island in norway. jay, good morning. good morning to you, lester. yeah, it s been a very difficult, very emotional weekend, as you might imagine. today, hundreds of survivors who ran from this place, utoya island, under heavy gunfire just about a month ago are returning now, vowing to take back not just this spot of land, but also their lives. most of these teenagers have made the trip to utoya island dozens of times. but this weekend their boat ride over was to a place so much different than what they ve known. it s going to be an extremely emotional day for me as i get back on the island, and it s going to be something i really think i need. i believe i need to cry. reporter: here, it will be shared by close to 500 survivors, returning to a paradise that in just a matter of minutes shifted to a killing field. i remember laying there for awhile, and suddenly, i could hear him placing his boots just right in front of my face. and i could also feel the barrel that he was pointing at me. again, i was thinking, now it s over. now i die. everything i could say was, don t shoot. reporter: but he kept shooting. killing 69 young campers and forcing hundreds to scramble to safety. screaming really, really loud in the next room. and i was certain that now he s on his way, you know, into the building. reporter: amelia will go back to that building where she hit from the gunfire. telling myself that the door is now going to be open, there s going to be shots, and just try to imagine where he was going to. reporter: she will remember that fear. she will mourn those lost. but amelia and other survivors insist they will not think back to the man responsible. i m not spending time thinking about him. okay, mostly i don t want to, because i don t think he deserves my thoughts. i would rather that my friends that are not here today get in my thoughts. reporter: the focus this weekend is clearly on healing here. the prime minister of norway, who spoke on the island today, says it s also a time to send the mourning, though he s quick to point out, they will never forget what happened here. one quick note, the suspect here, the confessed munman, he had a second hearing on friday and asked to be a part of the general prison population, saying he needed to talk with others. the judge quickly said no, that he will remain in isolation for at least four more weeks. lester? all right, jay gray on that very difficult and emotional journey there. thank you. now here s amy. lester, thank you. it was on a cold, winter day back in 2009 that susan powell sl vanished from her home in utah. her husband said he took their two young children on a camping trip and when they returned home she was gone. the case has gone cold for months until now. nbc s miguel almaguer is here with more on that. amy, good morning to you. it s been two years since susan powell was last seen alive. but detectives insist the case hasn t gone cold. in fact, now, armed with new information from a search warrant, they ve returned to a remote area hoping investigators get the break they need. from the skies above the back country of ely, nevada, to the grounds where investigators combed through steep, rugged terrain, the search for missing mom susan powell, winds through forgotten dirt roads, focusing on hundreds of abandoned mine shafts, that pock mark this unforgiving landscape. they were able to clear numerous mines and they were able to document and photograph each and every single one of those that they were able to clear. reporter: though police wouldn t discuss the new clues that brought them here, they did not appear to be looking for anyone that could be alive. this is a place where human bodies have been found before. but you can be walking alonged edge, and you want to peer over, the ground will go out right from underneath your feet. reporter: the search for susan comes 235 miles away from the utah home where she disappeared. december, 2009. on a frigid winter day, josh powell, susan s husband, tells police he loaded up the family van for a camping trip. it was 12:30 a.m., in a snowstorm, when josh says he took their boys camping. police believe he was the last person to see susan alive. investigators soon named josh a person of interest. even said he stopped cooperating with police. it s a claim josh has always denied. a husband who was never charged in this case. luckily, the police have a credible lead. i can t say that i can t that doesn t cross my mind, that this will be vindication, as well. reporter: josh suspects susan ran away with another man. not so, says susan s father. he believes susan would never leave her children, and says friday s search has done little to help close his daughter s case. we have no idea what possibly connection that she could have to ely, nevada. reporter: a missing mom, gone two years. a search that has taken investigators to the middle of the nevada desert. investigators say they re working credible leads, but have shared no information with susan s family. amy? all right, miguel, thank you. clint van zandt is an nbc analyst and former profiler for the fbi. good morning, clint. hi, amy. good morning. and we know that the case has been going on for two years now, and there s been so few developments along the way. what do you make of this potentially new break in the case? well, i think there is, perhaps, two reasons that they re looking. number one, amy, right after susan went missing, her 4-year-old son is alleged to have said, mommy s looking for crystals in the mine. and then a law enforcement came up with a friend of josh powell s who at a christmas party allegedly said, in a conversation with josh, josh told him, if you want to get rid of a human being or a body, you drop them in a mine. if you take those two things together, i think that gives law enforcement another reason to be looking in areas like this. and we should mention, susan s husband josh still remains a person of interest in the case. the only person of interest in the case. what does this search, and we should mention this is 200 miles away from their home in salt lake city, mean for his potential role in her disappearance? well, i think law enforcement, amy, is going to have to look at the time line. we know, as miguel reported, he left the house at 12:30 at night. then he gets back the next day and reports susan missing when he allegedly can t find her in the house. i think you have to lay out the time line and say, is that consistent? can we show him gone for that many hours? and would he have had the time to have driven these 200-plus miles, you know, one way and another, come back again, and make the report. if that fits, he s still a person of interest. if it doesn t, law enforcement still has to consider who else might be a suspect in her disappearance. and speaking to that, josh powell has always said from the beginning he believes susan ran away with a boyfriend. and when they asked him about the search on friday, josh said he feels this could finally vindicate him. is that theory that susan ran away still on the table? well, i think the challenge is, she s a young mother. she had a 2-year-old, a 4-year-old. i think that behavior would be inconsistent. although, there is a plan who went missing around this same time who s not been accounted for. some have suggested, perhaps, the two of them have run off. but, amy, you know, this starts to sound like the drew peterson, you know the police sergeant whose wife stacy disappeared. he also said she ran off with another woman. i m not sure that everybody s running off like this. all right, clint van zandt, we always appreciate it. thank you. thanks, amy. and we ll be back right after these messages. he served in the air force and spent nine months in afghanistan. trevor crowder was, of course, happy to be able to come home. his family thrilled to see him. especially one member. take a look. oh. this is what happened the moment trevor said hi to his great dane. the dog s name is emmitt thunder paws. you can see he s a very happy dog and happy to have his owner back. here to share with us the story behind the video is senior airman trevor crowder, his wife whitney and of course emmitt thunder paws. so great to have you on. good morning. good morning. thanks for having you. trevor, you know, before we get started with the whole story, i ve got to ask you this. how tall are you? oh, 6 6 . okay. because because when we see emmitt on his hind legs, he s actually looking you in the eye. that s 150 pound dog. that s a lot of dog there. that s right. he can even get taller. he blocks my basketball shots in the house. you ve got to love it. it was such a special moment. you were expecting that kind of welcome from emmitt? i was not. i didn t know what to expect. as i told everybody in afghanistan, all my friends, i wasn t sure if he was really going to attack me or what would happen. but it was just priceless what happened. i was looking forward to it for a lock time. trevor was worried he may not even recognize him. whitney, you had the video camera. was it after the hugs started or did you anticipate this? i thought that he would i knew he d recognize trevor. trevor had asked several times when he was gone, do you think he ll recognize me? i thought he would. but yeah, i didn t know he d be quite so ecstatic like hanging on. i know there s a lot of skyping and phone calls between home and afghanistan. were the two of you able to connect at all during your deployment, trevor? yes, yes, we were. we never really skyped. but i had an emergency cell phone i was able to use in case something urgent actually had to happen, or if i had to talk to her. but mostly e-mail was the primary form. and whitney, how did emmitt react when trevor went overseas? there was a little bit of a period of mourning there when suddenly his master s out of the house and didn t come home? yeah. he pouted around quite a bit. trevor is definitely emmitt s person. and trevor plays with him and on the ground. he rolls around and roughhouses with him in a way that i don t really do too often, because i would because emmitt hurts me. so he missed i think he really missed that interaction. and when trevor got home he was so excited. and then trevor, was he a little clingy for a couple of days thinking you were about to walk back out the door for nine months? absolutely. i don t know if he was thinking that far ahead. but he was definitely in my face, on the sofa. the thing about his dog, when you re sitting down watching a movie, he doesn t need to jump up on you, he comes up and head butts you when he wants attention. he s a beautiful dog. i know he s 3 1/2 years old. and you say you play and roughhouse with him. that s got to be tough. he must always be in the way. he gets a couple good shots in to me a couple times. i got to keep my dukes up. well, listen, it s a great story. thanks for sharing the video as we noted earlier. it has gone viral. trevor, we re happy you re back home. thanks for your service. whitney, good to talk to you, as well. thanks. thank you. thanks for having us. you got it. still ahead, back in the game. a today show update with a brave young girl. the story will capture your heart. still to come on today, soaring fear. the girl with a dream to play basketball and one the disease could not take. a husband and his suspected girlfriend charged with murder. [ female announcer ] instantly smooth wrinkles with a shot? wait a second. with olay challenge that. new regenerist wrinkle revolution. relaxes the look of wrinkles instantly, and the look of deep wrinkles in 14 days. ready, set, smooth. regenerist. from olay. to talk about our blueberry juice drinks. they re made with my sweet, ripe blueberries, so they re good for you taste real good, too! let s whip up a sample. or just try this. [ chuckles ] good morning everyone. it is 8:5. the ravens win their first ò >reseason game against the chiefs in their first home game of the preseason 31-13. ray rice ran 26 yards and managed to score the first touchdoht of the season. the ravens gear up to play the washington redskins thdrsday at m&t stadium. baltimore city police are investigating a double stabbing in west baltimore. it happened after 11:00 last night at west baltimore in park avenue, and the condition of the victim is not known at this time. there is no word on a suspect or possible motive. one man dead and a woman in critical condition after a stabbing in westminster. douglas harvey stabbed his wife multiple times during a domestic dispute. the attack hshpened in the 1e block of strand avenue. investigators say the woman moved out of that home a month ago but returned with her 13-year- ad son to pick up some belongings. harvey later died of area wounds in a hospital. ahingury finds a man guilty first-degree murder and arson. ò >rioritization say damon white stabbed thelma nguyen more than 100 times for her text message apologizing for having a miscarriage. my closing began and ended with the number of stab wounds. 103 was the operative number, and we felt that that was indicative of a first-degree murder conviction. white could receive life in ò >rison when sentenced in november. good morning. we have sunshine this morning. a little fog here and there. there will be haze and code orange air quality. the weather will3 ieep most of the stormy weather to our west. something isolated could crop up. it is only a small chance. yesterday s storms moved off whore. ò >artly cloudy. the basic forecast today, isolated storms, maybe, but a small chance. 86 to 91. south winds at 5 to 10 miles per hougin rain chances mr we back shoo back up tomorrow. most of next week looks dry. for the next few days we ll be in the 80 s to near 90 s for the higst l. humid weather coming early next week. 11 n wins sawith grday morn contin pols in 25 minutes. stay with us. we are back on this beautiful saturday morning, august 20th, 2011. the summer months are flying by. we ve got a great crowd here on the plaza waving to their family and friends at home. our thanks to them for spending part of their morning with us. outside on the plaza, i m amy robach along with lester holt. and still to come this half hour, it s a crime that is hard to believe when you hear the details about what happened. when you hear the story it s going to sound like a law & order episode or a movie. a young couple out walking, pushing a baby. both are shot, she s killed. he suffers superficial wounds. suddenly the story, police take a closer look at it, and now the husband is under arrest and the woman suspected of being his mistress is accused of being the shooter. we re going to have more coming up. then on a much lighter note, an update on a very inspiring young woman here in the studio with us. we met her earlier this year, she was born with a rare genetic disorder that caused her constant pain in her legs. she decided to relieve the pain by having her leg amputated, but not before playing one final game with her school s basketball team. it s been three months since that procedure. there she is. alyssa is on the road to recovery. she s determined to get back on the court again. i talked to her back in, or right before the operation in may and a moment ago in the studio. she said i want to walk for you. unassisted she walked. brave, brave young woman. looking forward to spending time with her. then it s that time of year, seems like forever ago, sending your kids off to college. the college rush in full swing. millions of parents saying good-bye. while it s exciting for the freshman class, it does create anxiety for the folks who ve got a lot of questions. this morning a panel of experts will join us with the answers every family needs to know. all about letting go. first let s get a final update of the weather. bill karins out on the plaza with us this morning. good morning. kind of a 50/50 weekend in many cases. say hi to our buffalo people here. what part of buffalo are you room? south of buffalo. you a big buffalo fan, sabres and also the bills? sabres, not bills. really? you can t to jump on the band wagon for my jets? no. thanks a lot. only one of our new york team, that s the giants. let s talk about the weekend forecast. we are dealing with a 50/50 weekend. a storm system going through the east. today is a big day for the big cities up and down the east coast. bringing rain to areas like st. louis, indianapolis, and also around chicago. tomorrow is when the bad weather from that storm system will arrive from pittsburgh in the morning and then in the afternoon from philly to new york up through northern new england with a good chance of even strong thunderstorms once again. if you re in the east today is the day to go outside. th good morning. our tower camp view shows haze and fog. the sun will be a dominant the sun will be a dominant feature. now i know all you ladies are very excited, football season beginning on nbc. we re talking sunday night football. do you like tony romo. see what tony romo is going to be doing. should play the first half of the game. cowboys stadium, weather is never a problem. temperatures in the upper 90s, i m sure we ll have the roof closed. we are excited about football season, too, aren t you? oh, yeah, all about changing the channel for me. okay, bill. it reads like the plot to an episode of law & order but authorities say it was all too real. a man involved in a love triangle is now under arrest accused of having his wife killed. and you won t believe who cops say pulled the trigger. nbc s ron allen reports. reporter: the picture of kashif parvaiz and his wife nazish noorani was taken at a gathering for the muslim celebration of ramadan. that same night the mother of two was found dead, gunned down just down the street, where the couple was walking with their 3-year-old son in a stroller. the father pervez also wounded survived and told police the attackers had called them terrorists, because of their faith. the family was horrified. automatic rifles, and three people coming out? that s the first time i ever heard it and it s just crazy that it s actually one of my family members. reporter: it all became even more extraordinary as relatives held funeral services for noorani. police had arrested her husband, parvaiz, charged him with killing his wife and conspiring with his woman, antoinette stephens, believed to be the shooter. authorities say parvaiz had admitted playing a role in his wife s murder and that issues in their marriage recently had escalated. within hours of the crime, it was obvious to investigators that this was sadly, the alleged handiwork of the victim s husband who allegedly did the unthinkable, plotting the murder of his wife, after a religious celebration. reporter: noorani apparently knew she was in danger. in court documents, prosecutors say a recent text message to her brother said, some day you will find me dead but it s because of kashif, he wants to kill me. police say obvious discrepancies in the story of the supposed terror attack led them right to parvaiz. prosecutors say parvaiz s alleged accomplice stephens says in a text message, you hang in there. freedom is just around your corner. then the day before the killing, he texted, i ll be depositing money tomorrow morning, and i ll see you tomorrow evening night. it did come as a shock to us that, you know, it turned out to be the husband. but, we re going to let the prosecution run its course. he s not a man. reporter: noorani s relatives say they warned her not to marry par vad, calling him shady, an abusive philanderer. police say they were especially saddened that a mother had been murdered in front of her child. and that alleged killer had tried to hide behind the emotional issue of hate crimes. while a family mourns an unspeakable loss. for today, ron allen, nbc news, new york. up next, hoop dreams. a brave girl overcomes a diss aand is determined to play basketball again. we will talk to her live. fact chicken mcnuggets are great. here we go. add the sauce, it s like the tick to the mcnugget tock. it s like the ping to the pong, the ding to the dong. and now with the new sauces, lips are even smackier, our sweet s even spicier, slam s even dunkier. [ male announcer ] made with white meat chicken and now new sauces the biggest thing to happen to chicken mcnuggets since chicken mcnuggets happened. i totally hear what you re saying. [ male announcer ] the simple joy of making oohs ahh-ier. [ male announcer ] the simple joy of making oohs ahh-ier. twizzlers. the twist you can t resist. [ bottle #2 ] i heard it came from space. no. from a very clean alien civilization. that s crazy. crazy clean. what?! come on. [ male announcer ] mr. clean magic eraser bath scrubber. its clean is out of this world. are switching from tylenol to advil. here s one story. [ george ] my name is george. i switched to advil six months ago. i love golf. but i have knee pain, hip pain, back pain and pain in my hands. advil is definitely my pain reliever of choice. it covers all, and i m a walking testament. you may not know it to look at me, but i can dance too! [ chuckles ] [ male announcer ] make the switch. take action. take advil. with aveeno nourish plus moisturize. active naturals wheat formulas target and help repair damage in just 3 washes. for softer, stronger. . hair with life. [ female announcer ] nourish plus. only from aveeno. for sof er, stronger. . hair with life. why settle for a one-note cereal? get more with honey bunches of oats. four nutritious grains come together for more taste, more texture, more healthy satisfaction. have a bowl of happy. would you like to be my friend? i can run just like the wind i will hide up in that tree no one will ever find me wish this day would never end would you like to be my friend? everybody s trying hard to catch me [ sneezes ] [ female announcer ] only kleenex® brand has sneeze shield in all its tissues to help catch sneezes in their tracks so kids can pass on the fun of being a kid. sneeze shield your kids wherever they go. now in new convenient on-the-go packs. this morning, a today s update, the moving and inspiring story of alyssa croak. we met her earlier this year. nbc s craig melvin is here with more. good morning, lister. and alyssa was born with a rare genetic disorder that was stealing away the use of one of her legs. she chose to have that leg amputated, but not before playing in the basketball game of her life. for alyssa croak, number 32, playing basketball with her team was a dream come true. but it s been off the court that s been an inspiration. she s put up a good fight. and she s been in a lot of pain. reporter: alyssa was born with a rare and painful condition that was robbing her of the use of her leg. earlier this year, the 13-year-old had to make a tough decision. it s kind of scary. but it s a good choice, and to do that. reporter: rather than undergo multiple painful operations to shorten both legs, she chose to lose one. to her, the amputation seemed like the one sort of surgical solution that would resolve all those issues as she, you know, continues her life into the future. reporter: but first, alyssa worked out a deal with her doctor to delay surgery so she could finish the basketball season. i said, the time i could, i was on the team. reporter: she started as a score keeper. it was astonishing. just like, wow. reporter: alyssa played and scored. it was a miracle and really fun. reporter: in lay alyssa had her leg amputated. the following day she was back shooting baskets on the hospital floor. she s enduring tough piz cal therapy, but it s not stopping them. melissa now wants to swim competitively. and her biggest challenge may be healing fast enough to achieve even bigger dreams. woo-hoo! and the surgery allows alyssa to live a life free of the pain and suffering that has plagued her for all of her 13 years. a brave young lady, lester holt. craig melvin, thanks. here to update us on her recovery is alyssa along with her mom karen and dad jed. i talked to you several months ago via satellite. i m really proud of you because you walked on to this set with your new prosthetic. how are you feeling? i m feel good. i m just walking on and feeling settled. i understand you re swimming now? yes. i am being in the water and moving my leg. that s great. mom i understand the technology that she has with this prosthetic is a result of dealing with some of the paralympians? absolutely. yeah, she has an incredible, amazing group of paraathletes that have come around her to get her going again. have you as parents had to inspire her to get going? or is this all alyssa? this is 100%. she s inspiring us to get going. no, this is 100% alyssa. and then, tell me about the surgery. took a couple of hours. when she woke up, what was the the the-what was it like? what was she like? you know, after every surgery you ve got a period of time where you re kind of just kind of waking up. after that, i mean, she was it was amazing that she was ready to roll. by the next morning, she wanted to get up, and get up and get out and get cracking. there s a lot of pain associated with this operation. but she had a lot of pain before. absolutely. and talk about that. we didn t realize how much pain she was in until after the surgery. she should have been in her bed and sucking down pain medicines the day after. she was out moving around the hospital, shooting hoops in the gym, and just going. and for the first time, her pain level ever that we ve known her, her pain level went down to a 4. where it should have been about an 8 or a 9. alyssa, has there been any moment you ve regretted this, or was this the right decision? yeah, of course. if i want to do sports, if i want to run, all this stuff, i want to do it. no reason. just cut my leg. and keep going. keep going, and keep on going forward. i now understand why you should she inspires you. you re a determined young lady. thank you. but, there s still some issues here, right, with the other leg, as well? yeah, we are still fighting to save the other leg. we ll know three years after she stops growing if we ll be successful in that. and she s still got ongoing surgeries for cleft lip and palate and stuff. because this disease really invades most of the body. most of the body, yes. internal and external webbing and stuff like that. it infects everything. stories like this tend to impact people and we always get reaction, but as i was going through the notes of, you know, what you guys have been through, you have some really interesting reactions, and some not good. tear-jerking reactions to be honest with you. yeah, from all types. we ve gotten multiple reports of people who are about to commit suicide, and stopped because they heard her story and got some hope. we ve got people who were in pain, and decided to get up and out of bed. a lady with a brain tumor, terminal, decided to get up and out of bed and start physical therapy and a year and a half later she s still alive. i mean just, the whole gamut of just thousands of cards with just well wishing. that s just been the gamut. it is so great to hear and so great to hear you. thank you. thanks for coming here. come back. i want to hear how you re doing. thanks, lester. up next, my kid is off to college, what next you may be asking? we ll answer your questions. but first, this is today on nbc.  this morning college bound 101. 3 million freshmen will be dropped off on campuses across the country this month. but for each student there is a parent or two filled with anxiety and a lot of questions. so we put together a panel of experts to help with the answers. cat cohen is ceo and founder of ivy wise and apply wise dotcom. robin ras kin is the founder of in living in digital times and farnoosh for abby is the author of psych yourself rich. psych yourself rich. let s clarify, thank you all. all right, cat, let s get to some viewers e-mails first. they ve got some questions from college parents. the first is from kathy in ohio. she writes, i m worried about my son. he is a smart kid but he never had the best study habits. he also doesn t have a clear goal or major in behind. what should he do to make sure he doesn t waste too much time finding a major and that he hits the books. how can you set expectations for him now, especially when you might not be very close and you don t have the same contact or influence youhood before. you want to make sure your son starts college with an academic plan. you can get online now, look for college classes, and find the courses you want to take freshman year and even have some back upcourses in case you don t get into the ones of your choice. also the difference between high school and college, one of the big differences is you don t go to class and have homework every single day. usually have those big projects or term papers at the end of the term. so you want to make sure that your son is starting the work early and getting to know his libraries and resources. also a lot of free resources on campus. get to know your academic adviser. there s usually a writing center on campus and some free tutoring. and even some research librarians. so there s a lot of research available for you son. all right. good advice. robin, i ll let you answer this next one from pat on facebook. she says, dropping off our youngest son to college as i write. i need ideas as to how to stay connected with my three kids in school. i worry about so much change for us all. in the age of facebook and texting is there a such thing as too much contact with your child? there s so much and every academic counselor will tell you sometimes kids are there with the phone, going through their course of things, 408d on, i got to call my mom and dad, should i take political science or psych? and so you really should talk about this before they go. family cell plans can save you a lot of none think. i would not text constantly all day long. i would use skype, because it s a great check-in to see facially with your kids. they may be hiding, you know, the homesick blues from you just like you re hiding them from them. once a week skype is a great way. once a week, that s maybe a good point of reference. farnoosh, the next one is a question from the crowd. georgia is out on our plaza this morning. georgia, what s your question for farnoosh? hi, amy. my question is this, i have two sons that attend the university of arizona. one has already graduated, the other one is going to be graduating in december. they both have student loans, and with the financial situation the way it is today, i d like to know how it s going to affect them in the future. all right. well, georgia good that you re asking this ahead of time. i think it s really important for you to tell your sons that whatever happens, they should, before they graduate, talk to their loan officer and find out how much they re going to owe and when that first bill is due. air lot of students, they move, they change their address, the loan officer doesn t know, the lender doesn t know, your bill gets lost in the mail and you go into default. first is the awareness of how much you owe and when it s due. for the federal loans if they don t have a job or their income is not enough to pay for the federal loans check out ibrinfo.gov. that s a federal program that helps student borrowers who need to peg their payment to their income. and then if it s a private loan, see if you can extend the repayment term. that will shrink your monthly payments. they ll pay more interest over the life of the loan but if you don t have a job or if you re struggling that might be the short-term solution. all right. and we want to thank our panel. we have lots of questions out there. a lot to get to. thank you all. i know a lot of parents are wringing their hands right how. achoo! the seasons change, but we still may suffer from nasal allergy symptoms. they can hit you year round. indoors or out. [ sniffles ] oh to have relief. prescription nasonex is clinically proven to help relieve nasal allergy symptoms. including congestion, runny and itchy nose and sneezing. [ female announcer ] side effects may include headache, viral infection, sore throat, nosebleeds, and coughing. infections of the nose and throat and eye problems, including glaucoma or cataracts may occur. have regular eye exams. slow wound healing may occur, so do not use nasonex until your nose has healed from any sore, surgery or injury. nasonex can increase your risk of getting infections. avoid contact with infections like chicken pox or measles while using nasonex. ask your doctor if nasonex is right for you. [ female announcer ] visit nasonex.com for more information. [ pneumatic wrench buzzing ] [ slap! slap! slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. tum tum tum tum tums that s going to do it for us on this saturday morning. our thanks to craig melvin and bill cairnss. of course tomorrow on today, four teenagers who travel to every ball park in america. major league ball park. and wild and wonderful, we ve got amazing animals captured on tape. i ll see you later tonight on nbc nightly news. have a great weekend. live, local, latebreaking this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. good morning. i am lisa robinson. i am jennifer franciotti. baltimore city police are investigating a double stabbing that happened just after a lot of clock last night. the conditions of the victims are not known, and there is no word on a suspect or a possible motive. one man is dead, and a woman is in critical condition douglas harvey stabbed his wife multiple times according to police. it is not clear if douglas harvey s injures our soft- inflected. investigators say the woman moved out of their home, but returned with their son to pick up some real audience. harvey was taken to an area hospital. some belongings. harvey was taken to an area hospital. police have charged five men believed to be connected to a robbery. all five men were spotted leaving the home thursday night. police say the situation is similar to another situation where valuables were taken. frederick officials are investigating. up next, dr. kim hammond answers your pet questions. and, the baltimore ravens when their first game of the preseason. whether least damage behind. there is more storm activity to the west. details on [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute www.ncicap.org live, local, latebreaking this is wbal-tv 11 news saturday morning. x welcome to 11 news. it is gorgeous outside. there is a little fog mostly where it rained last night. two nights in a row we have had rounds of severe weather. different areas have been picked on. today, we will try to reduce the range inch. on the radar, there is nothing locally. all the stuff we had last all the stuff we had last