Transcripts For WRC Today 20110330 : vimarsana.com

stuck in a tent at minus 40. our conversation with prince harry today, wednesday, march our conversation with prince harry today, wednesday, march 30, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning. welcome to today on a wednesday morning. i m matt lauer. i m meredith vieira. the rebels in libya, aided by coalition air strikes were making a rapid advance to tripoli but have taken a beating from forces loyal to moammar gadhafi today. the rebels have retreated some 100 miles. we ll have the late nest a live report from libya ahead. we ll also talk to michelle bachman who s been critical of the decision to involve the u.s. military in libya. we ll talk to her in a few minutes. also ahead, a bizarre case in florida. an honor student offered scholarships to ivy league schools is accused of pistol whips and threatening her mom so she would help buy her a car. details on that. and a much different note when babies babble, do they understand each other? da, da, da, da! da, da, da, da! they appear to be holding on a full blown conversation and it goes on for several minutes. what exactly are they talking about? i have no idea. we ll take our best guess. we want to change the subject and begin with serious news. the latest on the fighting in libya. richard engel is in benghazi. good morning. when we spoke yesterday, 24 hours ago, you were talking about how thanks to nato air strikes the rebels had been able to advance hundreds of miles with relative ease. that s now come to an abrupt halt. reporter: it certainly has. what s been clear is that without the air support the rebels can t take territories and they can t hold territory either. gadhafi s forces launched a very effective counter assault, driving back rebels from here in the east. we are learning that gadhafi s troops are changing their tactics, not using as many tanks as they did in the past because the tanks were so easy to identify and destroy from the air. instead, gadhafi s forces are using smaller units and driving in jeeps and civilian vehicles, vehicles that are similar to the ones used by the rebels themselves. seen from the air it s hard to distinguish who s who. richard, you have seen the rebel force in particular up close. i know i don t want to put words in your mouth, but you are not particularly impressed by their capabilities. has it gotten to the point where they are going to have to be armed by countries like the united states and be trained to use more sophisticated weapons if they are to stand a chance? the problem with their capabilities so far is they have no training and no discipline. when gadhafi s forces started advancing in the small units yesterday, the rebels simply got in their cars and beat a very la hasty retreat. what they would like is apache helicopters flying over their heads and firing rockets down into gadhafi s troops as the rebels advance. they are not going to get it. instead they would like to have longerer-range weapons, sophisticated rocket launchers, artillery. there are no indications that i have seen that the rebels have any idea how to use the weapons. it s anyone s guess whose hands the weapons may end up in if they were transferred to this country. richard, thank you very much. we appreciate it. it s 7:04. here s meredith. chuck todd is nbc s chief white house correspondent. good morning. reporter: good morning. the obama administration continued on two fronts continuing to sell the policy to the american people and participating and inching closer with the international community in figuring out a way to assist rebels in the hopes that they will oust gadhafi. [ applause ] thank you. reporter: president obama using the dedication of a new u.s. mission building at the united nations to press the case for military intervention in libya. today in libya we are showing what s possible when we find our courage, when we fulfill our responsibilities and when we come together as an international community to defend our common interests and our common values. reporter: the international community meeting in london for a second day is ratcheting up diplomatic pressure in libya. all of us have to continue to pressure on and deepen the isolation of the gadhafi regime. reporter: the leaders from more than two dozen countries couldn t agree on whether to arm libyan rebels. in an interview with nbc s brian williams, president obama said it is an open question. are you ruling out u.s. military hardware assistance? i m not ruling it out or in. we are making an assessment, partly about what gadhafi s forces will be doing. we re not taking anything off the table at this point. our primary military goal is to protect civilian populations and set up the no-fly zone. our strategic goal is for gadhafi to step down so the libyan people can live a decent life. reporter: john boehner, while supportive of the intervention so far said hoping gadhafi will leave is not a plan. i just don t think that s a strategy. when you listen to all of what s going on and all the words, it really is nothing more than hope. reporter: senator john mccain said he wants a clearer mandate on the issue of regime change. if our strategy doesn t succeed in forcing gadhafi to leave power sooner rather than later, we run the risk of prolonged and bloody stalemate. reporter: the president said the noose is continuing to tighten around the libyan dictator. we have put gadhafi on his heels. gadhafi s been weakened. he does not have control over most of libya at this point. reporter: later today, congressional lawmakers have a chance to question the obama administration including gates of defense, clinton in state and mullen in a closed-door briefing on libya. matt? chuck, thank you. republican congresswoman michelle bachman from minnesota has been critical of u.s. involvement in libya calling it, quote, president obama s war. good morning to you. good morning, matt. i want to take you to march 17, a thursday, the day that moammar gadhafi told the people of libya an benghazi that his troops were on the way, they would show no mercy and they would find them in their closets. if you had been president of the united states that day what would you have done specifically? i don t think at that point that we had seen the threat to the united states either from gadhafi or have we seen a vital american national interest at risk. that really needs to be our first line of defense. because unfortunately there are atrocities that do happen in different countries in the world. we just saw this weekend slaughter in syria. based upon that criteria of humanitarian intervention which apparently is the new obama doctrine, that would be the basis for the united states to enter into one country after another. i don t think that s in the american interest for us to enter into one country after another. going back to my question, had you been president on march 17, would you have done nothing? i would not have gone in. would you have called leaders of nato countries and said, we support you, but we re not coming? i think what presidents do is they stay involved and try to get the very best intelligence they can. one thing the american people need to know is we did not know, nor did the intelligence community know who the opposition is. if we are going in because, remember, there was just testimony yesterday that there are flickers of al qaeda. we don t know how much al qaeda is involved in the opposition forces. why would we want to strengthen al qaeda s hand in north africa? that certainly wouldn t be in the interest of the united states. let me flip that coin on its other side. if there are flickers, as you say, of al qaeda among the rebels, would it not be a sign to them or show them that the united states has compassion and we are willing to use our military might to help all people? compassion for al qaeda? no. compassion for civilians in benghazi. of course we have compassion for people. that is not the point. there is no more compassionate nation in the world than the united states of america. we offer the humanitarian aid, but in this instance, under the obama doctrine, the president of the united states is using the united states military for the purpose of humanitarian aid. this is a marked difference from the way the united states military has been used before. the obama doctrine is very, very different from any interventions we have done in the past. let me ask you one more question, again, placing you in the white house. if you are president of the united states, given what you know now, what s taking place on the ground in libya, would you make a decision to arm the rebels? i would not. again, we do not know enough about who they are. we also have not identified it as american vital international interest. that must be done before the united states intervenes. so are you running? no. i haven t made a decision to run. i m going into the early primary states and speaking to primary voterers. i won t be making the decision, i don t think, until this summer. republican congresswoman michelle bachman. thanks for your time. i appreciate it. good to see you, matt. now a check of the top stories from savannah guthrie in for ann at the news desk. good morning. good morning to all of you. in the news, radiation is at its highest level yet in the sea water surrounding the quake-ravaged nuclear facility in japan. lee cowan has more from tokyo. lee, good morning. reporter: good morning. yeah, the levels were more than 3,000 times the normal level but experts say it is still not a threat to human safety. it s the highest level read so far since the crisis started and engineers still don t know where the leak is coming from. new aerial pictures of the stricken plant are offering some of the best glimpses yet of the extent of the damage. through a hole blasted in the roof by a hydrogen explosion, experts say they can now tell that some crucial pipes are missing. experts believe it is damaged plumbing that s likely the source of leaking radioactive water, a development that kept workers from making any real progress in getting the crisis under control. officials said today that radiation in nearby seawater had nearly doubled and they are worried that more contaminated water may seep into the ocean if they can t find the source of the leak. so stressful is the situation it was announced the president of the utility who owns the plant was taken to the hospital suffering hypertension and dizziness. the scope of the disaster is staggering. 30,000 people are either dead or missing. there is little that can be salvaged. but as this man put it, we can t dwell in the past, otherwise we ll never move forward. moving forward is what this elementary school is trying to do by holding its graduation. a piano pulled from the rubble offered some of the first music they had heard in weeks as the tsunami s youngest survivors look to a future uncertain at best. back to the numbers for a bit. it s estimated now that the disaster will cost well over $300 billion. that s a conservative estimate. if that s the case it would be the costliest national disaster on record. lee, thank you. several supreme court justices are expressing doubt over what could become the biggest job discrimination lawsuit ever. they are questioning whether a class action was up to 1.5 million females suing walmart is too big. a ruling on the case is expected in early summer. a wisconsin judge once again has blocked implementation of a hotly contested law that would limit collective bargaining rights of public unions. wisconsin republicans attempted to work around the judge s previous ruling, trying to put the law into effect by publishing it online. the judge declare that missouri invalid. nine patients have died and others sickened after receiving contaminated intravenous solution. that s under investigation. the product has been recalled. now to wall street. cnbc s melissa francis is at the new york stock exchange. good morning. good morning. the nikkei up 2.6% overnight, the highest level since the post-quake sell-off. two important pieces of data today ahead of the big jobs report coming on friday. and the bank bailout program t.a.r.p. turning a profit today. another $7 billion will be repaid bringing the total repaid to $251 billion. $245le billion was originally lent out. so the extra is the interest payment. i will look for that profit to taxpayers. back to you. the killer whale blamed for the death of a sea world trainer is returning to the show in orlando today. 40-year-old trainer dawn brancheau died after the whale pulled her under by her ponytail. this video was shot just moments before the attack. the largest killer whale in captivity the whale was involved in earlier deaths but sea world says new safety precautions are in place. back to matt, meredith and maria. all right, thank you very much. maria is in for matt and she used a four-letter word this morning. snow. i hav i didn t hear that. i ve got another one, rain. that s going on across the southeast today and more severe weather possible. we have a tornado watch posted for the panhandle and southern alabama until 10:00 central time. two to three inches of rain not out of the question. we could also see flooding rains in western washington today. that s a look at the weather across the country. here s a look at what you can expect. good morning. i m meteorologist tom kierein. now cloudy and chilly around the washington region and throughout most of the area. we re in the upper 30s to near 40 degrees. 43 at reagan national. not going to warm up much today, just into the mid-40s for highs. and does look like we ll have some light rain developing later this morning and into the afternoon. there s a greater chance this afternoon of some light rain and a little wet snow out of the mountains and maybe more light rain on thursday morning with some drizzle, maybe some moderate showers thursday afternoon. meredith, back to you. thank you. today the fda will reconsider a link between the artificial dyes found in foods and adhd in kids. tom costello has details. good morning, tom. reporter: hi, meredith. we are at whole foods because it doesn t have any products in which there are colors, dyes, additives, sweeteners. the debate over whether the dyes may be linked to adhd is new but there are signs the fda may change its opinion. at the van family home in washington, d.c., the morning rush is on. for 11-year-old riley and 9-year-old jackson, breakfast is in the blender, bananas, strawberries and orange juice with a muffin. for lunch, pbj with organic jelly. three years ago when 8-year-old riley was showing signs of adhd, mom threw out every food containing artificial dyes and flavors. in two weeks i could tell a difference in my children in their handwriting, their focus, doing homework. reporter: jackie said this is an example of his homework before the new diet and several weeks after. now the fda is looking at blue 1 and 2, green 3, orange b, yellow 5 and 6, red 40 and red 3 found in everything from drinks to candy, baked goods, chips, pickles and mac & cheese. many consumer advocates have said there is a link between the dyes and hyperer activity. something genetic is going on. but then along comes food dyes and they can trigger it in at least some kids. reporter: the fda has said there is no evidence of an adhd link but now say it is condition may be exacerbated by exposure to a number of substances in food, including but not limited to artificial food colors. the grocery manufacturers of america insist there is no dmemn strabl link. a dietitian says we all need more color in food but the natural kind. we should put half our plate with fruits and vegetables. 70% of americans don t meet their fruit and veggie needs. the best thing we can do is get real color whole foods on the plate. reporter: going organic can be expensive but riley s mom is convinced it s worth it. he seems a little bit more focus, more calmed down. that s what made us believers. reporter: the fda begins two days of hearings to look at whether there is a link between adhd and the colors, whether there should be warning labels, whether they should ban the dyes or study it longer. back to you. thank you very much. it is now 7:19. once again, here s matt. thank you. now our conversation with prince harry. he may be in the arctic but the wedding is never far from his mind. ben fogle is on the trip with him. good morning to you. reporter: good morning, matt. well, prince harry spent his first day here getting to know his new teammates and his new environment. after a brief planning meeting the new teammates hit the snow, preparing for the freezing trek to the north pole in their quest to raise millions of dollars for wounded soldiers. prince harry s no stranger to charity work, but this is a far cry from the heat of africa where he and prince william spent a great deal of time. how is he finding the temperatures? it will be minus 40 up there. spirits are high. morale is high and guys are very happy at the moment. reporter: despite the temperatures, the team seemed relaxed with the third in line to the throne, even sharing a laugh after a tough training session. i asked harry whether he s regretting the decision after his first day on the snow and ice. it s a treat to join them. there will be times when i will be regretting it and other times i won t. reporter: prince harry will be best man at prince william s wedding to kate middleton next month. so will he spend time on the ice writing his best man speech or even thinking about the royal nuptials? i might give it some thought. i think pen to paper will be saved for back home. reporter: i asked private jacko van gast who lost his arm in afghanistan, how prince harry has settled in. he s looking comfortable. reporter: for the soldiers it s important that harry has been to the theater of war itself. we know what it s like in a confined environment. reporter: the team are heavily armed to protect themselves from polar bears. for the team it s what s below the ice that s a danger. one of the last preparations, testing their survival suits in the freezing ocean where exposure to result in serious trouble for an arctic team. there is always a chance the team won t have time to get into an immersion suit. if that happens they will go in like this and i volunteered to demonstrate just how cold it is. it s minus 1 in there. i wish i hadn t volunteered to do this now. this is for you boys walking with the wounded. oh! okay. one, two, three. [ cheers ] reporter: that s pretty cold. whoa! that s cold. i can tell you that was absolutely freezing. below freezing, in fact, because of course this is sea water. let s hope when prince harry and the soldiers head out on the ice they don t fall in the water. there are no hot showers waiting where they re going. matt? our signal froze for a second. ben, that s absurd what you did. thank you for the report. we appreciate it. is there altitude up there or something? what s the matter with him? crazy. coming up, we ll switch gears on a more serious note. an ivy league-bound honor student arrested for allegedly pulling a gun on her own motherer to force her to cosign a car loan. the latest on the case. first this is today on nbc. just ahead, george clooney reacts to being named a witness in the sex and corruption trial of italy s prime minister. good morning at 7:26 on this wednesday, march 30th. i m craig melvin. in the news this hour, montgomery county firefighters are on the scene of a house fire in gaithersburg. chopper 4 high above the scene there. this is happening in the 19000 block of roadway. live look courtesy of chopper 4. we are told the fire started in the garage. there are no reported injuries right now. weather and traffic are straight ahead. stay with us. [ male announcer ] with amazing innovation, driven by relentless competition, wireless puts the world at your command. good morning. it s cloudy and chilly. radar showing some rain now pushing into southwestern virginia and west virginia. that should be arriving here by the next three or four hours, and we ll have some light rain this afternoon. right now, chilly, just in the 30s and low 40s and only the low and mid-40s with rain likely later this afternoon and tonight. jerry, how s traffic? tough morning on the roads. an earlier accident, inner loop i-66. jammed from springfield up to that point. on 66 eastbound, earlier accident, route 50 in fair oaks. jam-up begins in manassas. 270, accident cleared, but from montgomery village on down, it s solid. news 4 midday will be tasty 7:30 on this wednesday morning, march 30, 2011. you are looking at a view of the new york skyline from the top of the rock. down below we have a terrific crowd spending their morning with us in rockefeller plaza. chilly outside. meanwhile inside studio 1a i m meredith vieira alongside matt lauer. just ahead in this half hour what does actor george clooney have to do with the sex and corruption trial of italian prime minister silvio berlusconi? straight ahead, why his name is included as a potential witness for the defense. and ahead, dating is nothing new on college campuses but there is a controversial website at some schools making it easier for students to hook up for casual sex. some say this just isn t safe. we ll have details on that. plus, the twin toddlers who appear to be carrying on a conversation. we may not understand them, but do they understand each other? we re going to talk about that. we re going to begin in florida where an honors student is accused of using a stolen gun to pistol whip and threaten her mother in order to get a car. kerry sanders is in ft. myers, florida, with details. good morning. bizarre story. reporter: yeah, good morning, meredith. the 17-year-old is being held here at juvenile detention. we can t talk to her to get her version of the story but deputies say she was so desperate to buy a used car she grabbed a gun and turned it on her own mother. 17-year-old rachel was an honor student at the private and prestigious canterbury school in ft. myers, florida. but monday deputies say she so wanted a black nissan convertible on the lot at this dealership she pistol-whipped her mother. according to the police report she then pointed it at her mother s head and stomach to force her mother to cosign the loan for the car. sean banigan was the car salesman. what was she like? i think she was an educated young lady that came in, did her research. she seemed older than she really was. reporter: did she seem anxious? no, not at all. reporter: sean said rachel first came to the lot by herself. when she found out she was too young to buy the car alone she returned with her mother on board to cosign for the car. when you hear what you now hear can you connect any dots looking back? not at all. looked like a normal car deal. reporter: rachel, seen in this picture taken from her facebook page is an athlete who s won model u.n. competitions. her mother was reluctant to press charges because her daughter is an honor student who s been accepted to several ivy league colleges on scholarship. the gun was a sig suauer similar to this one. the weapon was stolen eight months ago. who owned it? a police officer at the southwest regional airport. raising questions as to what people she s hanging out with, how did this gun get in her possession and why did she threaten to kill her mother. reporter: 17-year-old rachel is now charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill. deputies say when they recovered the weapon they also found illegal drugs and we reached out to her attorney. he said he had no comment. meredith, her mother said she didn t want to comment either. kerry sander, thank you very much. it s 7:33. here s matt. thank you. oscar-winning actor george clooney could be called to testify at the upcoming sex and corruption trial of italian prime minister silvio berlusconi. nbc s michelle kosinski is in milan with details on that. good morning to you. reporter: hi, matt. the case is so sordid it s almost embarrassing to explain in detail. this is the prime minister of italy. he will stand trial april 6 and among dozens of witnesses for the defense, george clooney and his girlfriend. for a while there it seemed to be all women and more young women embroiled in the r-rated case starring the the italian p minister, who at 74 years old is accused of throwing wild soirees he apparently termed bunniga bua parties police termed orgies. ruby heart-stealer was at most 17 years old, and apparently covering it up. pictures revealed the parties. berlusconi once had his dental hygienist turned politician recruit and on and on it swirls. but now, somehow, it is time for a few world-famous male heartthrobs to be dragged into this italian soap opera, which you almost wouldn t believe if it were scripted. george clooney, whose characters we re used to seeing find their way out of creepy situations, is reportedly on the list of witnesses for the defense, as is his girlfriend, elizabeth decon lease, who used to be one of those dancers on italian tv. and another potential witness, portuguese soccer superstar christiano rinaldo. why would they be subjected to this tragic comedy drama? well, it all goes back to ruby. she reportedly told investigators that clooney and his girlfriend had attended one of berlusconi s dinners. george has a house on glamorous lake como, not far from the prime minister s now notorious home. and in a statement, he says of being on the witness list, it seems odd, since i ve only met berlusconi once, and that was in an attempt to get aid into darfur. someone of george clooney s stature, fame, looks, comes in and says that she s lying. berlusconi s hoping that that s going to have great sway. reporter: berlusconi, who currently is on trial in a separate corruption case, denies any wrongdoing, calling it all a political plot against him. stay tuned while the plot thickens and could get even messier. now, the thing is, even if a judge does approve them to be called as legitimate witnesses to the case, it s not as if anyone s necessarily going to force them to come here and testify. matt? all right, michelle kosinski in italy for us this morning. michelle, thank you very much. let us get the latest forecast now. the weather channel s maria larosa in for al. maria? all right, matt. well, you mentioned earlier that we have to talk about some snow. let s talk about what is potentially an april fools storm. tomorrow evening starting at 8:00 p.m., we have one wave bringing some snow to the interior. the second wave is the stronger one with the wind, the rain along the coast, potentially moderate to heavy snowfall for places like the berkshires, the green and white mountains, up into maine, so we ll be watching this one closely. otherwise, we have stormy weather across the south today. that s a look at the weather across the country. here s a look at what you can expect. good morning. cloudy and chilly now. radar showing rain now pushing into virginia and west virginia coming from the southwest. that should be arriving here in another two or three hours and light rain through the rest of the afternoon. it s chilly now, upper 30s and low 40s. we ll hold steady low and mid-40s into the afternoon with light rain, less than a quarter of an inch, and wet snow maybe out in the mountains. overnight tonight, more light rain, patchy drizzle and fog, and tomorrow, light rain in the morning but then light to moderate rain in the afternoon. drying out friday into the weekend. matt, meredith, savannah, back to you. thank you very much. ever wonder what babies are trying to say? there is a viral video that shows 17-month-old twin boys from brooklyn chatting up a storm. take a look. [ babies babbling ] i don t know what they are saying but the one on the right reminds me of you. oh, no, no. that reminds me of you two talking during commercials. they are saying how do they get to one of the parties. my take is kids mimic each other and one finds it funny and makes the same noises or as close as he can. i think they are talking to one another. i do. i think they are talking about the budget resolution. it can get heated. one says no, the other says yes. you think this is a form of language? yeah. have you listened to yourself? you point at me. have you listened to wrours? yourself? i have one who was a toddler not that long ago. i think he was just making noise. i think they re saying let s switch the channel. up next, what does virtual reality have to do with retirement, how the future you can help save you money. right after this. introducing honey bunches of oats, raisin medley. there s nothing like it! the only cereal with 1, 2, 3 kinds of raisins and crunchy multigrain flakes. you gotta try new honey bunches of oats raisin medley. hershey s bliss. one square inch of indulgence. joy. pleasure. one square inch of extra smooth, rich chocolate. hershey s bliss. how about a coastal soup and grilled shrimp salad combination? or maybe skewers of wood-grilled shrimp. seafood lunches starting at just $6.99 at red lobster. stay inside? nah. not when you have a five-star overall vehicle score for safety. one more reason chevy traverse delivers more. this morning on today s money can virtual reality help you save? according to new research, 51% of households are at risk of being unable to maintain their standard of living in retirement. the wall street journal took a look at new and different ways to save. jean chatzky is here to help explain. good morning to you. good morning. all the efforts by employers and policy makers to get us to save money in voluntary savings plans and yet we don t do it. there are serious repercussions when we don t. absolutely. the average shortfall is expected to be $120,000 per household. the problem is it s hard for somebody in their 20s, 30s, 40s to think about the future. now there is a new field popping up called behavioral finance where psychological tricks are used to get people to save and it works. this is things like visualization. we know if you have a picture of something to save for it helps inspire you to do it. just like the picture of the girl in the bikini inspires you to stop eating. now they use pictures of us. they age us. i believe it was stanford university where they bring in a 21-year-old and he or she can see what they look like at 60. the idea being, that s you, save for that person. when you see yourself in the 60, 65-year-old state and you re more frail than you are now, you start to empathize with that person and worry about that person and that inspires you to put away more money. i can see when you first see the image going, okay, i m going to save, but do they keep it up? we don t know at this point. it s so new. the jury is out. the hope is in that moment you will make a good decision. you will decide to contribute more auto t t matcally to your retirement account or savings plans or sign up for automatic escalation where every year automatically the amount going into your 401 k goes up a percentage or two. what else besides automatic escalation that you can do now? you can set a retirement date. it helps to know when you re going to retire because then you have something to reach for. you can also watch your savings. when you have a savings plan, if you can get yourself to go there every couple of weeks and watch the money add up, it does help you. all psychological. all psychological tricks. you know what you re doing. you are playing mind games with yourself, getting yourself to buy into this and make good decisions now to help yourself laterer. do you think you will go to the financial planner at some point and they will show you this? there is a large financial institution reported in the wall street journal looking at how to make this technology cheaper to make it available not only to plannerers but to employers so they can put a picture of you older on your benefits page to encourage you to do the right thing. i don t need any pictures older at this point. thank you very much. i get it. up next, the growing cult following new york s newest icon, the missing cobra at the bronx zoo. right after this. where the company, the conversation, and the food make all who enter feel welcome. a place that feels as warm with a crowd. as it does with just a friend. it s a place you ll find town house crackers. because they re part of what makes your place the place. welcome to town house. where good times reside. ( beeping, beeping stops ) announcer: free is better. do your simple return for free with the federal free edition at turbotax.com. turbotax. the most trusted brand of tax software. [ upbeat ] [ announcer ] who could resist the call. of america s number-one puppy food brand? with dha and essential nutrients also found in mother s milk. purina puppy chow. i wear what i love, because expression means everything. too hot to trot some say i m one-of-a-kind. i say i m so chico s. imagine a day free of worry, a day when we can eat what we want, drink what we want, and sleep soundly through the night. finally that day has arrived with prevacid®24hr. just one pill helps keep you heartburn-free for a full 24 hours. prevent the acid that causes frequent heartburn all day, all night. now we are free. happy. with prevacid®24hr, happiness is a day without heartburn. [ shark 1 ] uh, steve. [ shark 2 ] yeah, the guy. with steve i tasted peanut butter and uh snickers. [shark 3] yeah, that s it! steve had just eaten snickers peanut butter squared. ohhhhh! steve was delicious. [ male announcer ] if you like peanut butter and chocolate, you ll love peanut butter and snickers. try new snickers peanut butter squared. back now with the hunt for the missing cobra at the bronx zoo. it vanished last friday and has quickly become a cult icon. peter alexander has the latest. peter, what s happening? reporter: good morning, matt. it s day six, believe it or not, of the cobra hunt. while they can grow to be eight feet long, this one is just 20 inches. it would probably be balled up about half the size of my fist. perhaps why it s tough to find. from morning tv to late night the snake story is now growing feet. the bronx zoo is holding a cobra hunt. so bring the kids! you would have to really love the zoo to go when a cobra is on the loose. reporter: when it comes to the fanged fugitive the late night comics have weighed in. just like everyone else he s enjoying his time free in the city. reporter: perhaps no one has better material than the egyptian cobra herself. while zookeepers insist the potentially deadly snake is hiding in the reptile house warning it could be days or weeks before she s found, twitter users know exactly where to find her. someone calling herself bronx zoo cobra, a mystery has attracted tens of thousands of followers overnight tweeting every move out on the town. i should take in a broadway show, she tweeted. anyone heard anything about the spider-man musical? i want to thank the animals from the movie madagascar. they were an inspiration. and taking the sex and the city tour. i m totally a samantha. do you see us, manhattan? we have it all! reporter: turns out she watches today, too. the one thing americans fear most are snakes. just after our story tweeting me, don t turn around, i m right behind you. just kidding. laugh out loud. the slit ehering tale is still evolving. the snake is a real charmer. one woman tweeted back to the snake saying while you re out on the town stop by my ex-boyfriend s apartment. all right. thank you very much. jeff corwin is nbc s science and environmental expert. nice to see you. taking the punch lines out of this, how dangerous is the snake if someone comes upon it? make no mistake, this is a very venomous snake. it belongs to one of the most poisonous groups on the planet and she packs a punch. that s the bad news, but it really only uses its venom as a last defense. it won t botherer you if you don t bother it. exactly. this animal wants nothing to do with people. right now it s focused on quiet, warmth and safety. it can live for a long time without food or water. they are trying to find it and one of the ways it shall my mind is reeling here. i m picturing someone tying a string to the tail of a mouse here. no, i hear they may try to lure the snake out. is that possible? i don t think they are releasing mice in there. they have probably set up a pit trap. basically the animal will try to find food through the sense of smell and maybe tickling its way with the tongue along the boa borders of the enclosure. if they have a mouse there in theory they could catch it. it s very small, eating things like small mice, frogs and lizards. would it survive in the cold? it would not. it would go quickly from this incredible attention-grabbing cobra to a snakecicle overnight. we are hearing from peter alexander they are not releasing not using mice to lure it, apparently. i think i found that snake, matt. it s right there. we ll be right back after your local news. [ woman ] welcome back, jogging stroller. you ve been stuck in the garage, while my sneezing and my itchy eyes took refuge from the dust in here and the pollen outside. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. it s the brand allergists recommend most. lily and i are back on the road again. where we belong. with zyrtec®, i can love the air®. to talk about the venture card match my miles challenge. they re so confident their miles are better, they ll match the miles you ve earned on your airline credit card up to 100,000 on a new venture card. it s unbelievable. believe it. venture card miles are good on any airline, anytime. it s like an upgrade from this. to this. sign up for a venture card at capitalone.com today and get up to 100,000 miles. what s in your wallet? impressive, right? . 7:55. it is 44 degrees outside as we take a live look over our nation s capital. good morning. time now again 7:56. montgomery county firefighters are on the scene of a house fire in gaithersburg. the fire started less than an hour ago in the garage at this house on the 19000 block of ridgeway. we are told everyone was able to get out okay. first lady michelle obama will visit a high school in southeast this afternoon. southeast this afternoon. sa great looking lawn like this, but trying to grow grass from seed in tough areas like deep shade, along the driveway, and where the kids play can be a little intimidating. until now. with scotts ez seed. it s scotts best grass seed, starter fertilizer and a growing material that absorbs water and expands to surround and protect the seeds, you ll get a thick, green scotts lawn even if you ve never been successful with other seed before. the revolutionary scotts ez seed. grow grass anywhere. good morning. we ll likely have some light rain later today, during the afternoon especially. maybe wet snow in the mountains, highs only mid-40s. some light rain, some drizzle and fog tonight and off and on tomorrow, some rain as well. jerry, how s traffic? in from the west, interstate 66, earlier issues have cleared, but the delays certainly have not. manassas to the capital beltway. over on 270, tough as well. still looking at delays off and on germantown down to the split. craig? news 4 midday today will satisfy your sweet tooth. the women behind georgetown cupcake will join barbara harrison to show us how 8:00 now on a wednesday morning, the 30th day of march 2011. man, it s beautiful here in the northeast. blue skies, but chilly temperatures. only 37 degrees. you know what? maria la rosa says we could be in for spring snow in the next 24 to 48 hours. we ll find out more about that in a couple of minutes. out on the plaza, i m matt lauer along with meredith vieira saying hi to the nice people up here. meanwhile, coming up in this half hour there is a new website at the university of chicago. someone posted this website or created it. it makes it easier for students there to get together for casual sexual encounters. hmm. that obviously is not pleasing some people. we ll find out more about that. apparently the website is spreading to other colleges as well. i m not surprised. plus, russell brand having a busy spring. two movies about to open, hop and the remake of arthur. always enjoy having him here. he s a fun guy. also, the tension is so thick you can cut it with a knife. the two finalists from top chef all-stars are in the kitchen and we ll give them a cooking challenge before the big finale. let s take a look at the latest headlines with savannah guthrie in for ann at the news desk. good morning. in the news, libyan rebels said they were preparing to retreat from the key oil port as forces loyal to moammar gadhafi closed in. they have slowed the rebel advance made possible by u.s. air strikes. radiation readings on sea water near the damaged nuclear plant in japan have reached the highest level yet. officials say the radiation doesn t pose an immediate threat to human health but fishing has been banned. engineers are struggling to find the source of the leaking radiation in the plant. a hostage siege in iraq was the worst attack in months. gunmen from al qaeda in iraq seized a government office building and executed workers and politicians. iraqi forces were so overwhelmed they called in american troops for support. in washington, democrats signalled tuesday they may go along with republican demands for curbs on the environmental protection agency as part of an overall deal on spending cuts. the latest short-term spending bill expires april 8. house majority leader eric cantor said there will be no more stop-gap measures without the larger budget agreement with cuts republicans are seeking. three people were killed tuesday afternoon when a plane crashed into a city park in michigan. no one was on the ground was injured when the single-engine plane went down there. finally, tell it to the judge. judge scalia was slapped with a $90 traffic fine on tuesday. he was following too closely, police say, and he rear-ended a car stopped in traffic causing a four-car fender-bender. no one was injured but the bmw had to be towed. now back to matt and meredith. he did make toyota court on time. things happen. we re happy everyone s okay. thank you very much. maria is here to tell us about the weather. she sout the weather. he s dressed like spring, even though it feels like winter. i m willing it to spring. we have proper attire across the crowd, but i didn t realize tiaras were required dress. what are you dressed up for? we re the w girls, putting on a prom dress drive here in the city. we re donating dresses to girls who can t afford them. i love it. i love it. well, it is almost prom season. let s go from new york prom dresses to maybe eau claire chill. that s our pick city. eau claire, wisconsin, sunny and cold, 42 degrees. storms across the southeast could be severe across the panhandle of florida. tornadoes possible there. and then drenching, flooding rains, potentially in western washington. across the rest of the country, we ve got some sunshine hanging on in the northeast and across parts of the south. that s a look at weather across the country. now here s what you can expect. good morning. i m tom kierein. cloudy and chilly now. radar showing the leading edge of some rain coming our way now, just coming in to southern west virginia, southwestern virginia, and there may be some wet snow in the highlands of west virginia, western maryland later today, but some chilly rain likely here, especially this afternoon. right now it s in the low to mid-40s and we ll hold steady there the rest of the day and some light rain overnight as well tonight and maybe a little patchy drizzle and fog tomorrow morning. could get more rain again on thursday, which may postpone opening day into friday, but meredith, back to you. thank you very much. up next, a controversial new website that makes it easy for college students to hook up for casual sex, right after this. when you ve lost interest in everything. when you ve had one too many days feeling sad or anxious. aches and pains, fatigue. when it becomes hard to ignore that you need help. that s the day you do something. depression hurts. cymbalta can help with many symptoms of depression. tell your doctor right away if your depression worsens, you have unusual changes in behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing of the skin or eyes. talk with your doctor about your medicines, including those for migraine, or if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles, to address a possible life-threatening condition. tell your doctor about alcohol use, liver disease, and before you reduce or stop taking cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. side effects include nausea, dry mouth, and constipation. is today your day? talk to your doctor. and go to cymbalta.com for a free 30-capsule trial offer. depression hurts. cymbalta can help. delicious, real ingredients with no artificial flavors or preservatives. naturals from purina cat chow. share a better life. [ water running ] [ indistinct talking on television ] hola padre. hola. [ male announcer ] you do everything so they re at their best. so start their big days with the incredible protein. eggs. but we still may suffer from nasal allergy symptoms. they can hit you year round. indoors or out. achoo! 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. it does not come in generic form. ask your doctor if nasonex is right for you. [ slurping ] oh. thank you, baby. mmm. [ male announcer ] mcdonald s new mccafé shakes. with a fresh look and delicious new toppings, they re a brand-new way to indulge. new mccafé shakes. the simple joy of love at first sight. back now with the latest entry into the world of online dating raising eyebrows especially among parents of college students. nbc s kevin tibbles has more on the controversy surrounding eduhookups.com. reporter: the hallowed ground of the university of chicago, renowned for higher learning and nobel prize winners but also stuck with a stodgy moniker. where fun goes to die. reporter: until now perhaps. eduhookups is a website started by students and not affiliated with thele school. undergrads can go there to find relationships of the casual sex variety. you hear it s one of the nerdiest universities in the world. people probably don t have much of a sex life. so they create a website. we re not known for intermingling with other people which may be part of the problem. my parents asked me about it. their worried. reporter: the website boasts chastity is curable if detected early and has more than 800 members. if you re missing out on getting to know someone, finding out if you re a good match. what you get is sex. if that s what you re after, it s great for that. reporter: eduhookups declined an interview but one said the website is run from a dorm room on campus. he just doesn t want the school to know who he is. eduhookups did say there are obviously dangers involved as there are with any social network type of site. we provide members safe sex kits and instructions about how to meet people safely and in public. must be nice for some people, especially here. reporter: like other popular social sites eduhookups is expanding. students can log on at northwestern university and chicago s columbia college. it s rolling out soon on five other campuses. i think people are getting lonely and desperate. reporter: none of the colleges will comment on the site which is only open to those with e-mail addresses from each school. for leno, it s, well, a head scratcher. we already have a place where college places can meet up for sex. it s called college. reporter: these days it s an online course. for today, kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago. robby ludwig is a psychiatrist. chastity is curable if detected early. it s eye catching, light hearted. serious consequences? well, we don t know the short-term or long-term effects of a site like this. it concerns me. it s not that hard to lose your virginity. it s not that hard to have sex. i don t think we need a site like this to help college kids have sex with each other. jeff? whatever happened to having a relationship first before jumping into sex? whatever happened to having a loving relationship? i think when you go to college it s about not just learning academics but the social skills and not taking the quick and easy ways to jump into bed. this isn t for everybody at the colleges. this is a group of people looking for these hookups. here s the problem. when kids are in college, their identities are still forming. they don t necessarily know what they want. they may go here thinking they want casual sex and they want something more. they can go online and there are dozens of sites. we have done stories the past that s right. you can go to craigslist. don t get me wrong, but if you are looking for casual sex there are lots of places to find it online. that was russell brand yelling off stage. come join us. it is a head scratcher. i don t think it s an ashlymadison.com which promotes adultery. i m not crazy about the site for my kids but it s the next step of the evolution of where we are. i talked to a young female staff member, i believe in her early 20s, do you know how she described it? a little sad. i thought that was pretty healthy. it is sad to think one would find this fulfilling and kids might go into the site for all different kinds of reasons. in some cases it might be to be impulsive which could have negative consequences. they may also use the site and we have seen it before, just to get to know other people. they may not log on just for the sex, but do it just to, you know, see if they can find a relationship or whatever is missing in their lives. i may be wrong but my feeling is that will get a lot of attention and people will find out it s not fun and they miss getting to know someone. exactly. let s hope so. all right. thank you very much. thank you, russell. yeah, for the little contribution. up next, actor russell brand on his two new movies. we ll catch up with him after this. [ female announcer ] treat yourself to something special for lunch at red lobster. how about a coastal soup and grilled shrimp salad combination? or maybe skewers of wood-grilled shrimp. seafood lunches starting at just $6.99 at red lobster. but sometimes i wonder. what s left behind? [ female announcer ] introducing purifying facial cleanser from neutrogena® naturals. developed with dermatologists. it s clinically proven to remove 99% of dirt and toxins and purify pores. and with natural willowbark it contains no dyes, parabens or harsh sulfates. dirt and toxins do a vanishing act and my skin feels pure and healthy. [ female announcer ] new purifying facial cleanser from the new line of neutrogena naturals. 8% every 10 years.age 40, we can start losing muscle wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i ve got revigor. what s revigor? it s the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! don t suffer waiting for your pills to kick in. add alaway. for fast eye itch relief that works in minutes and lasts up to 12 hours. only alaway comes from bausch & lomb. for fast eye itch relief, add alaway. but the nicoderm cq patch gradually steps you down off of nicotine in just three steps, doubling your chances for success. nicoderm cq. 3 steps, 10 weeks and you re free. nicoderm cq. you gotta try honey bunches of oats with almonds! it s got real, sliced california almonds with a third less sugar per serving than honey nut cheerios. wow! delicious! try honey bunches of oats with almonds! back now with british actor and comedian russell brand. he made his first slash in the u.s. with his role in forgetting sarah marshall. now he has two new movies coming out. first is hop blending animation with live action. russell voices e.b., the next rabbit in line for the easter bunny. then he takes on the title role in the remake of at arthur playing the billionaire who refuses to grow up. good morning to you. good morning. two films in a row. when you think that just a few years ago nobody in the states knew you. no. it s extraordinary. what happened? i have had a series of good opportunities and i have behaved well, learned how to shave and brush my hair. now you are a doll literally. this is your character, e.b. from hop . this is an icon representing me in a way but i only do the voice. if the movie is in spanish-speaking countries it won t be me. they will get a latin person and then it will be them. i m going to learn every language of the earth. did you have a say in this doll? no say in it. otherwise there would have been distinctions in this region. stop it. this is for children, for pete s sake. tell us about hop. i play a cheeky easterer bunny. e.b. if you are like the easter bunny s son you are obliged to become the easter bunny. and you don t want it. you want to be a drummer. precisely correct, meredith. your understanding of the plot i ink you should be some sort of critic or analyst. that s exactly what happens. i love that your costar james marsden. he thinks he ll give it a go when you re reluctant to be the easter bunny. let s take a look at a clip. there, there, there. a human easter bunny? that doesn t make sense. a bunny doesn t make sense. you deliver eggs. want to get logical? you should be an easter chicken. you don t want the job. the pressure is ungodly. it did a number on me. there was a period of roughly nine months where the sight of a colored egg made me want to vomit and rabbits aren t able to vomit. it was hours of [ retching ] with nothing coming out. could you give us more? retching sounds? it seems ungainly. it s early morning. you were in despicable me. yes. i did voice work in there. a lot of the time you re isolated in a booth. you like that? no. it s lonely. there i am in the booth. you have to amuse yourself. in that scene like the rabbit i m wearing no trousers or underpants. you keep going back to the same theme. why is that when i see you? i saw a suspicious item in your dressing room. oh? it s leather but it s just a key chain. i left it in meredith s dressing room. it s just a key chain but meredith went, what is this? it seemed like an s & m thing. really. it s interesting that that s where your mind went when it s an innocent key chain. speaking of innocent, the other movie you re in hop and of course at or temperatu arthu your a hare in hop and an heir in arthur . brilliant. you re a sweet guy but a drunk. yes. i was a huge fan of dudley moore. i loved arthur and the idea of pretending to be a billionaire. there is a lot of wish fulfillment. i had to kiss jennifer garner. and helen mirren is here as well playing the butler. he won an oscar. we have a clip of you together. i have a rapport with women. yes, you do. let s take a look at the clip. i m nervous now. at 3:00 you re asking bert johnson for his daughter s hand in marriage. i will not. i will remain here and box. then i shall have my music lesson with kanye west as planned. out, now. make me. after you re married you have to stop this obsession with random women, you know. she s not a random woman. she understands me. she laughs at my jokes like you but with a more appropriate potential for sex. you deserved that. meredith! what was it like working with her? she s great. an angelic woman with awe thor ti and sensitivity. she s lovely, kind. she s a real generous, sweet person and also sexy. very sexy. people who know the plot know arthur was an alcoholic. yes. they really don t it s really not addressed in the original but it is in this one. you go to a.a. and meetings. in some ways it parallels your personal life. you have talked a lot about your addiction. it does actually. that s why i m happy with the part. in 1981 alcoholism wasn t regarded with the same severity as it is these days. the film is about arthur whose life is changed by falling in love. i know the potential of that. when i fell in love i changed from being a rascal to this gentleman. how is katy perry? she s gorgeous! i know that. how has she changed you? before i met her i was sky larking around. this didn t used to be a key chain then. i m covering the bunny s ears. is marriage i m enjoying it. it s like having a good friend if you talk about something on wednesday, on thursday it s the same person you re telling, not a new person who doesn t know about wednesday. what are the challenges? the challenges are if you re married to someone you have to do what they ask you to all the time. women change the rules every day. you have to just apologize a lot. oh, i m sorry. i was wrong. so i m apologizing for things i don t know i m apologizing for. you re officially a husband. it s tricky, but i love it. it s so good to have you here. are you going to do a duet? i m only pretending to be a singer. i can t take myself seriously in that light. i prefer playing lovable comedy drunkle billionaire or so easter bunnies. that s my area of expertise. i want you to keep this. should i clean it? don t clean it. it will lose its allure. thank i don t. i will carry it with pride. don t look disgusted. i m not. hop opens friday. we re back after your local news. 8:26 is your time now. it s 44 degrees out there. good morning to you. i m eun yang. in the news for today, a frederick county, maryland, teen is in custody after allegedly bringing a loaded gun to school. the 15-year-old is a student at tuscarora high school. news 4 has learned that he might have had the weapon because he feared for his own safety. we ll take a quick break now. blue diamond almonds! more bold flavor! more variety! more of what you want. not what you don t. blue diamond almonds. more than a snack. good morning. cloudy and chilly now. radar showing rain advancing towards us. leading edge of the rain now is towards charlottesville. should be moving into the metro area in a couple of hours. 44 in reagan national, near 40 in the suburbs. it will stay in the 40s the rest of the day. greater chance for rain later today into tomorrow. jerry? it is a mess this morning, south capitol street between p street and n street southeast. traffic lights are working against each other, so it s jammed. one more stop to the american legion bridge. nothing but volume. lanes are open both ways. eun? thank you, jerry. it s not a campaign year, but the race for president is heating up. tonight at 5:00, meet the candidates hoping to score big 8:30 on wednesday morning, the 30th of march 2011. say hello to the fine folks who packed into rockefeller plaza. it s not a bad place to start your day. outside on the plaza i m meredith vieira along with matt lauer and savannah guthrie. nice to see you. just ahead, when to invest in a warrantee. as you go to buy an appliance, the salesman always asked if you would like the extended warrantee. also, when you should try to fix an appliance yourself or when you have to call a pro. i never know about warrantees actually. also we ll visit a high school in florida where kids are producing and directing at their very own motion picture studio. you might recognize one of the teachers from welcome back, kotter. and a winner will be crowned in the top chef all stars finale. one of my favorite shows. i went up to meet richard blais and mike isabella. the challenge is spring vegetable lasagna. can we say hello to the w girls trying to get people to donate prom dresses for those who need them? they have been freezing their tiaras off all morning. let s get a check he said to me, never go with the warrantee. i go with their odds. come do the segment with us. maria is in for al with a check of the weather. with a check of the weather. good morning, guys. a lot of spring breakers and a lovely daughter. where s mom watching from? langsburg. lovely daughter. mom, she loves you a lot. let s get a check of the weather. highs in the 40s in michigan. we have stormy weather across the southeast, severe weather possible, especially across northern florida, and wet and flooding rains possible in western washington. sunny california, though, for today and tomorrow. now, tomorrow, watching the east coast as a storm system works its way up with rain and interior snow across the northeast. watching that one real close. that s a look at the weather across the country. now here s a look at what you can expect. good morning. it is cloudy here and chilly. radar showing the leading edge of rain coming our way, now pushed up from charlottesville to the northwest, should be arriving in a couple hours. we re in the low to mid-40s most of the region, although chillier west and north, but above freezing. wet snow out of the mountains later today, maybe a couple inches there. we will have rain likely this afternoon, tonight and off and on on thursday. finally, drying out friday. saturday, mostly cloudy, small chance of sprinkles, in the 50s. get your local forecast 24/7 at weather.com. meredith? maria, thank you very much. when it comes to household appliances, is it worth paying for an extended warrantee? first this is today on nbc. we re back at 8:35. this morning on today s consumer what should you do when your warrantee expires? it can be tempting to spend extra on an extended warrantee but when is it worth it? lou manferini is here from house smarts. you go to the store, buy the washer and dryer and the guy or lady says, for an extra $100 would you like an extended warrantee. is it a good idea? my advice is no. why? i think the expectation for appliances whether it s a washer, dryer, refrigerator or electronics is these things will run problem-free for at least five years. the way the warrantees work is most of them, it s a four-year additional. so it gets you to the five years. their expectation is the same. so it s money in their pocket. they play the odds. it s a numbers game. there are easy ways to extend the warrantee on an appliance or purchase without buying the extended warrantee. right. what happens a lot of times is if you buy an appliance and don t get the extended warrantee usually at the end of the year if you have registered a product an e-mail will appear asking if you would like to buy the extended warrantee. in that case maybe you have said, oh, the dishwasher hasn t been working correctly. if you have no signs of things going wrong, save your money. all right. let s talk about do it yourself projects. you love these. right. let s talk about major appliances and common complaints. you have a dishwasher not getting dishes as clean as it used to. can you fix it yourself? yes. for about $40. 90% of the time, the reason this isn t working is there is a fill valve where water goes into the base. down at the bottom there is a kick plate. you will see the water line that goes into it. there is a brass fitting. that little valve is not opening properly and not allowing enough water in. buy that part for $40. you unscrew a couple of screws, put it back in. here s the thing, matt. something like that, if you are willing to try it for $40 and if you fail, you didn t cause more damage. that s the rule of thumb. you say the decision of whether to try it yourself or cause a pro, can you hurt yourself or cause more damage. if you re careful, shut off the power, watch the water. oh, honey, i tried and i couldn t do it, call somebody back. your clothes washing machine. common complaint, it smells. front loaders, 90% of what s being sold because they are more efficient, use less water, spin faster. but in the old days with the top loaders we could leave the door open on top. now we keep them closed because it looks nicer. there are nooks and crannies that hold the water. that s where the musty smell. simple fix, keep the door open. occasionally wash the rubber gasket around the opening with bleach, water and a scrub brush. dryer stopped spinning. i know it s a belt. but it sounds like something more than i m going to handle. it s pretty easy. the top lifts off. the instructions come with the dryerer and there are online resources. you can buy a belt for $20 and you just slip it on. it s like putting a chain on a bicycle. by the way, if you need parts for appliances, what information you get these online, right? there are plenty of appliance stores in metropolitan areas. you need make, model and serial number. that s your road map to success. your fridge isn tle cold anymore. can i fix it? yeah. it s dirty. it s the hardest working aplieps in the house. at the base underneath are coils that are constantly sucking up dust. if you take a little brush and a vacuum cleaner hose and clean it wun once a year you will be amazed at how cold everything is. and the vacuum stops working. right. is that something the average person can mix? last year there was a cash for clunkers program with vacuums. a lot of manufacturers wanted you to buy new ones. there are internal filters behind the bag that get clogged. those folks cleaned them out, sold them as reconditioned. you clean out the filter behind the bag or behind the self-contained unit and it will suck like the day you bought it. [ laughter ] that s a positive, i think. trust me on this. is your show still on the air? maybe today s the last day. thanks so much. up next, what welcome back kotter s horseshack is doing now. first this is today on nbc. i never wear the same thing twice. not together, anyway. i m in t.j.maxx every week. i used to think it was old school, but it s not. i get this season s designer clothes that i absolutely need. and i still get to eat. fashion direct from designers. savings direct to you. that s right. i m a maxxinista. t.j.maxx. let us make a maxxinista out of you. to be your lawfully wedded wife? [ beep ] [ beep ] [ whirring ] [ sighs ] [ male announcer ] when did customer service go from above and beyond to just under and short? the world seems to be moving in one direction. we decided not to follow. back at 8:42. this morning on education nation today a ground-breaking public high school in florida not only offers excellent academics, it is the only one in the world with a working motion picture studio on campus. today national correspondent jamie gangel has a look behind the scenes. good morning. reporter: good morning, meredith. wait until you see this place. every kid will want to go to school here. it s a charter high school in west palm beach, florida. you have never seen anything quite like it before. roll camera. three, two, one. action. reporter: what if this were your high school. in between history, science and math open to page 732. reporter: you were making commercials, movies or working with rock stars. to the thousand kids at this high school in west palm beach it happens every day. quiet, please! move the yellow one. you have to get out, you know. you can be smooth, adjust the collar. reporter: it s the largest acting, film and production school in the country. we have set construction. we can blow up stunt cars, we would them together and blow them up again. reporter: all inspired by the unlikely founder, greg hopner. did you like high school? i loved it. reporter: a hair dresser turned movie producer turned businessman who saw an opportunity. someone said you should start a charter school. i said, what s a charter school? i guess i can do this. i have nothing else to do. so i filled out the paperwork and darn if they didn t give it to me. reporter: with a lot of passion but no experience in education, a decade ago he started building g-star with state of the art facilities. it s not only the newest sound stage in the world but the most technologically advanced stage in the world. you can to full burns in here, shoot any underwater scene in the world here. reporter: how much did it cost to build? $5 million. reporter: where did the money come from? the school district. it s the same money we get for being a charter school. by watching our pennies, nickels and dimes we put enough money away to have it built. reporter: then he pitched hollywood. the deal? production companies could use the school s studios for free the if they used the students as interns. the result? real world, hands-on experience. i got to direct a commercial today. i love to film, edit. the school gave me what i wanted to do. reporter: why is that good to be doing in high school? because there is no real practice you can get with this anywhere else. i m so lucky to be here. reporter: the students have worked on more than 50 motion pictures along with dozens of commercials, videos and productions like this one by digital domain, the eight-time academy award winning visual effects company known for movies like titanic and tron . commercial director anika killen said it is a valuable partnership and gives students a competitive edge. i was very impressed by the students. reporter: would you hire any of the kids? absolutely i would. reporter: perhaps most remarkable is what s going on beyond the lights, camera, action. number seven. reporter: at a time when so many schools are failing, this is an a-rated school. 99% of its students graduate. 97% go on to college. and there is a unique atmosphere. everyone gets along. there is no fighting, no drama or anything like that. everyone comes here happy and wanting to learnme. everyone here is very loving. reporter: one teacher you may recognize, ron paelilo who teaches acting. most of us know you from another classroom. out of the frying pan, into the fire. reporter: once better known for his own classroom antics as arnold horseshack in welcome back, kotter. ooh, me! reporter: he credits the school with giving students a critical ingredient most schools have cut. you need science, math, reading, of course. but without the creative spark you re got nothing but drones. you have semi intelligent drones walking around. reporter: students say it teaches them responsibility and cooperation. you really have to depend on other people. i learned to be more professional. how to work as a group instead of an individual. teachers treat us like adults like we are going to do what we aspire to do. reporter: high expectations? yes. beyond high. reporter: when you walk around now, what do you think? i amaze myself. completely. i look at this and go, where did this come from? i have no idea. reporter: i m going to want to go to school there. for the record the students don t have to audition or be straight-a students. it s first come, first served. the only requirement is they have to want to be there and they have to follow the rules. it is an extraordinary place. as you said, who wouldn t want to be there? jamie gangel, thank you very much. really wonderful story. up next, a cookoff between the finalists from top chef all-stars. [ male announcer ] with amazing innovation, driven by relentless competition, wireless puts the world at your command. it s if the final countdown this morning in today s kitchen, back to basics. the finalists from top chef all-stars. two left standing for tonight s finale. i know what i m capable of. when i win it s something that no one expected and it s more gratifying. everyone s expecting me to blow it. that probably will happen. probably going to get nervous and choke at the end. people think i m the favorite, no way. i don t want the pressure. i choked once before. i ll say it. i feel like i choked a little bit. let me be the underdog. it s better that way. you can t both be the underdog. mike isabella and richard blais are with us. who s the underdog? i am. yeah? he likes to tell himself that. we re going to find out more tonight. we have a cooking challenge for you this morning to make vegetable lasagna. mike and meredith to the back deck. richard, you and me. this is new school versus old school. it is. mike s making pasta. i m doing what i call impasta. got it. you re using zucchini. yes. this is a japanese sheeter and i ran a piece of zuchinni. does that hold up after you cook it? it does. this is cooked in olive oil and white line. then i have a ricotta bechamel. when it comes to vegetables you cook them sous vide style. what is that? it means under pressure or under vacuum. that s beautiful. is it trouble? no. just put your vegetables in the vacuum pouch and they cook away. they really can t break down. they get cooked perfectly and retain their shape, flavor and nutrition. you make a pork ragoux that takes hours to cook. it s a vegetable themed dish but a little bit of meat for the umami flavor. i will let you assemble that. let s see how mike and meredith are doing it. that was good but you have a more traditional recipe. maybe a little bit easier. i m italian and grew up cooking classic dishes. you have cherry tomatoes. they re sweeter. i cook them slow in garlic, thyme and olive oil and let it get the flavors. i know richard is doing his impasta ooh, a little i m doing a classic pasta but i rolled out two sheets. you make it from scratch. i did. i have my dough right here. we put the sheets on top of each other. you have an herb. this is chervil. you can use parsley, chive, whatever. roll it and you can see the herb inside. that s beautiful. that s a work of art. the trick is the spring vegetables. i have baby carrots, zuchinnis, squash that are like flying sauce rs. i roasted them in thyme, garlic and sherry vinegar. how long? four to five minutes. it s not bad. then we have ricotta, parmesan on top and baby basil, fresh herbs. how many layers? one layer. we ll clean it up, make it light and springy. i think richard has met his match. richard has assembled that one but we have two assembled already. this isn t a contest. this doesn t determine the winner. we just want to find out how good it is. see what happens. mm. that s good. switch with me for a second. that s great! she said great to you. michael, she threw you under the bus. that s interesting. interesting isn t a good thing to hear at this point. brilliant. beautiful. i want to be honest here. this has nothing to do with who wins the competition. okay. i think they re both delicious. you said let s be honest. so be honest. i like the texture of this. i think this has a stronger flavor though. but the texture of this is nice. the flavor of this is fantastic. oh, gosh. welcome to breakfast with the bickersons. they re fantastic. who wins tonight? we can t say. i heard you need a tie-breaker. yes! oh, the pressure. before you take a bite remember, bikini season, vegetables. what are you saying? my gosh. i won t let it affect my judg g judging. that s michael s. make sure you get all the layers of it here. don t worry about bikini season? especially all the beautiful cheese in the bottom layer. oh, i have an opinion. should i say it? i like that one best. oh, please. i m sorry. richard, congratulations. 8:56 is your time now. it s 44 degrees out there. this might be the nicest part of your day. rain moving in. tom will tell us when and where right after the news. good morning. i m eun yang. in the news for today, montgomery county firefighters were called to battle a house fire in gaithersburg this morning. it started in the garage of this house in the 19000 block of roads way. we re told everyone was able to get out okay. first lady michelle obama will visit a high school in washington, d.c., east this afternoon to talk about pursuing career goals. i can t say enough about them. i can go in, get the things i need, and i know i m saving money. why would i shop anywhere else? at giant, we want to thank you for making us the store you love to shop for over 75 years. this week, look for savings in every aisle, just for you. like super g boneless chicken breasts, $1.99 a pound. and pepsi 2-liters, just 10 for $10. i pay for my groceries, and i look at the bottom of the receipt, i m like, yes! i did it! that works for me. more savings every time you shop, with your giant card. with the fertilizer that gives you the most for your money. scotts turf builder. unlike bargain brands, which have up to 40% sand, sawdust, even gravel, turf builder has no filler. it s 100% food, for a deep feeding you can see, feel, and enjoy. for a lawn that can t be beat, get a fertilizer that can t be copied. scotts turf builder. now is the time to feed and prevent crabgrass. use scotts turf builder with halts. good morning. the blue is showing rain advancing into spotsylvania county, should be in the metro area in another couple hours. right now it s chilly, low and mid-40s. we ll hold in the 40s rest of the day with rain likely certainly in the afternoon, wet snow out in the mountains. more rain likely tomorrow. dry after that. jerry, how s traffic? tom, outer loop of the beltway heading for the american legion bridge a bit on the slow side. there had been a broken down vehicle midspan. it s been cleared. delays, hopefully, will ease. one more stop. not easing on 395. we re still badly jammed up from the beltway to the 14th street bridge. earlier accident on the approach to the bridge span has been removed. eun? thank you, jerry. news 4 midday will satisfy your sweet tooth. the women behind georgetown cupcake join barbara harrison to show you how to make their famous frosting. back with more of today on a wednesday morning, the 30th day of march, 2011. it s warming up a little bit. starting to get up toward 40 degrees on a beautiful sunny day in manhattan. thanks to these people for coming by. out on the plaza, i m matt lauer along with tamron hall. al and natalie are off today. we have advice coming up in the money 411. for example, how to balance your 401-k investments. also, what to do if you sell your home at a significant loss, what s the best way to handle that. and other pressing money matters. also ahead from time to time we have great travel deals. from mid april to mid june you can score a lot of bargains at popular destinations that are just shy of their busier and pricier travel seasons. we ll fill you in coming up. that looks good. i got a peek at the deals. impressive. taking advantage of any? we ll see. also ahead, these adorable twins. the question is i don t know what they re saying but i think the other twin does. people are saying they are carrying on a conversation. are they talking about what s in the fridge, politics? only they know. and if you need retail therapy but can t afford to indulge we have some great finds, all for under $25. also, we are in the kitchen with a very special guest. i know she probably doesn t want to be called sandra bullock s sister, but christina bullock is here cooking up something special on this chilly day. looking forward to that. meanwhile, inside to savannah guthrie at the news desk while ann is off today. take it away. good morning. in the news this morning, libyan rebels retreated after a counter attack from moammar gadhafi s forces overnight fleeing the city s of barega near tripoli. u.s. cruise missiles bombarded targets overnight into this morning. president obama announced monday night that the u.s. would hand off control to nato today a delay in the transition is now expected. officials in japan say radiation readings on sea water near the damaged nuclear plant hit their highest levels yet. officials say it doesn t pose an immediate threat to human health but fishing has been banned. engineers are struggling to find the source of leaking radiation at the plant. a wisconsin judge has once again blocked implementation of a hotly contested law that would limit collective bargaining rights of public unions. wisconsin republicans had attempted to work around the judge s previous rules and tried to put the law into effect by publishing it online. the judge declared that move invalid. in his first address since deadly protests started this month the syrian president said today that conspirators are trying to destroy the country. he did acknowledge that some of the demands for government reform are legitimate. a new study ranks health of people county by county in all 50 states. the survey shows that where you live, work and play makes a tremendous difference in your health. paige edwards is 14 years old and learning to tie her own shoes. born without fingers on her right hand she s now the recipient of a bionic hand. her mother discovered the technology while watching another teenage recipient on today. now paige can get back to normal teenage tasks and even used her hand to give an at-home manicure. finally, why did the baby seal cross the road? he was lost! a family called animal control who came to usher the baby seals right back to the sea. it is 9:04. back to matt and tamron. it all ends well. all right, savannah. thanks very much. let us swing over to maria larosa, filling in while al s taking some time off. maria? good morning, guys. we have some lovely ladies here. nothing beats chilling with the today show. ladies, what brings you here? our spring break. we came down to new york from florida. florida. you know, florida could be under the gun today with stormy weather, so enjoy cool sunshine here in new york. one area we re looking at for strong thunderstorms. a slight risk exists from mississippi down into florida, meaning gusting, damaging winds to heavy rainfall. we have it under way with a tornado watch that continues, including panama city. that could be extended east as the day goes on. we could see wet snow later today in parts of the mid-atlantic. that chance increases through thursday into friday. meanwhile, sunny and warmer in texas and in california. flooding rains possibly in the northwest. that s a look at the weather across the country. now here s a look at what you can expect. good morning. the southern shenandoah valley getting a little bit of wet snow and some chilly rain, and east of the blue ridge, though, near culpeper county and now coming into spotsylvania county, we do have some light rain. and elsewhere, we have got just a cloudy sky. we re in the low and mid-40s. now 45 at reagan national. we ll stay low and mid-40s rest of the day. greater chance of light rain around the metro area as late morning and into the afternoon and overnight tonight and tomorrow. wet snow, though, out of the mountains. then we dry out friday into th savannah, back to you. on today s money 911 our financial experts are here to answer your questions from. the best way to balance your 401-k to what to do on taxes if you sell your house at a loss. our panel today is jean chatzky who is also the author of money 911. sharon epperson from cnbc and we welcome a newcomer today alexa von tobel from a personal wednesday for women. good morning. good morning. we have the first question from bob who is in texas. he s on skype. bob, good morning. what s your question for the panel? hey, good morning. boy, do i need good news from you guys. i lost $186,000 on the sale of my house in the detroit area when i retired and moved to texas in 2009. this wasn t an appreciated value. it was real dollars from what i paid for the house to what we were able to sell it for finally after 18 months. my question is, is there a way to deduct the loss like you do loss on a stock? or some other way to recoup this? all right. jean, no pressure but a lot of people have this question. i have this question. my house isn t worth what i paid for it, but, bob, i can t help you out unless you were using the house for business purposes. were you? no. it was our primary residence. yeah. no. unfortunately, this is just one of those instances where there is no help in the tax code for you. you need to just press the reset button and make sure you are going forward, saving as much as you need for your future. sorry. sorry, bob. it s the irs s fault, not jean s. our next viewer is baron from pittsburgh. good morning. good morning. i have been contributing to my 401-k for seven years. i was wondering if i should be investing in stocks versus bonds as an extra security for my retirement. great question. sharon? i m glad to answer the question to a fellow pittsburgher. i m happy he s already contributing to the 401-k and i hope you are contributing the max. the question is stocks versus bonds. basically you want stocks for growth and bonds for fixed income or guaranteed income stream. in your case, i would say you probably have a long, long time until you need to retire. you need to look at something that will give you a balanced fund a mix of stocks and bonds or a target day that sets the time you want to retire and will allocate stocks versus bond closer to retirement. good on baron for thinking about these matters. exactly. the next question on skype. this is nicky from st. louis. what s your question? hi, good morning. i have two major credit cards in and a number of store credit cards i don t use. i want to know if i close those if it would affect my credit. this is a great question and one that millions of people have. closing a credit card is not inherently bad. in fact, you can only close up to one credit card a year. for you to make the decision think about how credit scores are made. about 30% of your credit score is made up of the credit to debt ratio. so if you close a credit of any kind you will see a temporary dip in your score. don t close anything before you apply for a loan or mortgage of any kind. next, about 15% of the credit score is made up of how long you have had credit. so be careful about closing the oldest card. you can close up to one a year. be careful about the oldest credit card or anything before you apply for a loan or mortgage of any kind. thank you for that. our next question is from julie in dallas, texas. what s your question? i m a graduate student who has just received $10,000 in a car accident settlement. i have no debt, no credit cards or student loans. i m not planning for a large purchase in the near future, although i will be graduating in two years. i am able to live on my monthly stipend. what should i do with this money in order to have a financially secure future? are we so proud of these responsible viewers today? i know! i would be at the mall. don t do that. do you have any other savings? i have a little bit just left over from college. okay. make sure you have at least a few thousand dollars set away in emergency savings. beyond that since you are already living on what your making, i would make two roth ira contributions, one for 2010 which you can do all the way up to april 15 and one for next year. the reason i would put the money in a roth as opposed to a traditional ira is you can get at those contributions if you need the money. try to keep it in there to allow it to grow. it gives you flexibility just in case. we re proud of you. our next question says we were able to short sale our home and have worked since then to pay off debt and save a down payment. we were told it would be two years before we could even approach a lender. is there anything we can do now to get ready? explain the short sale. a lot of people are in this situation. they had a foreclosure on the home and it was due to a short sale. they were under water on the mortgage. they weren t able to pay it and now the situation is will they be able to get a new loan in two years. really, the law says three years for an fha loan for a freddie mac or fannie mae loan up to four years. they will probably not be able to do it in less than two years. they can try with a private lender but the rate will go up. pay your bills on time, get your credit straight and you can apply for the loan when you re able to. great questions and answers. thank you all. for viewers on the east coast, alexa will be here for a live web chat. head to today.com. that s next. speaking of money, how to save cash on spring vacations. and prince harry s excellent adventure. what s he doing in the arctic circle weeks before his brother s wedding? we ll find out after this. a pr. 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. what s in your wallet? hey! hey! hey! that s our snack machine. you should try something new. activia parfait crunch! crunchy granola you mix right in to creamy and delicious activia yogurt. mmm! crunchy! and creamy! watch your toes! new activia parfait crunch. but sometimes i wonder. what s left behind? [ female announcer ] introducing purifying facial cleanser from neutrogena® naturals. developed with dermatologists. it s clinically proven to remove 99% of dirt and toxins and purify pores. and with natural willowbark it contains no dyes, parabens or harsh sulfates. dirt and toxins do a vanishing act and my skin feels pure and healthy. [ female announcer ] new purifying facial cleanser from the new line of neutrogena naturals. [ female announcer ] new purifying facial cleanser you gotta try honey bunches of oats with almonds! it s got real, sliced california almonds with a third less sugar per serving than honey nut cheerios. wow! delicious! try honey bunches of oats with almonds! so we seeded that into something much bigger. the home farming movement. kick the season off right. join us in celebrating home farming day on april 12th at homefarming.com. [ male announcer ] why do so many car companies compare themselves to toyota? maybe it s because toyota is the most fuel-efficient full-line auto manufacturer. with 25 vehicle choices highway rated 30 mpg or better. like the 50-mpg rated prius, america s best-selling hybrid. plus, every new toyota comes with toyotacare, a complimentary maintenance plan with roadside assistance. we re #1 for a reason. come see for yourself. hurry in for the best selection. this morning on today s travel from mid april to mid june there are great hotel deals you can take advantage of before the high summer rates lock in. the director for travel & leisure magazine is here. good morning. good morning. on this topic it s really great to see you. shoulder season. i told you i had never heard of this until last night. i m the pied piper of shoulder season. it s the time between high season and low where you can get low airfares and low to he wiho rates, get the place to yours and get the weatherer you want to have. not pouring rain or no snow when you want to ski. you start with skiing. vail, colorado. it s a bavarian type resort. the family is from ba vary i can t, so you get the feeling you re from europe. if you book a room on april 3 it cost $245 a night. april 2 would have cost you $425 a night. you save $200 by booking one day different. youle still get to ski in vail, colorado, all the way through the end of april. that s the ski season through april. exactly. spring skiing. you have great weather and you get to take advantage of the resort things including the great spa. that s a good deal. one day s difference. let s go to the outer banks in north carolina. i love north carolina. pretty. it has southern charm. there is a hotel called the sanderling resort on the beautiful dunes. you get to access the ocean and the sound. they are close to an audubon nature preserve. they have kayaking trips you can do with your kids to see lots of nature. osprey, e grets and other animals. high season? it can go up to $550 in july. it s $225 if you go until may 27. i want a sweet tea and travel there. now to nantucket and the white elephant. it s been called the number one resort in massachusetts. you assume it will be expensive. 60% off the peak rate ifs you book in april and may. it s a gorgeous time of the year for nantucket. you can take advantage of the outdoor stuff but they have an indoor pool and i love their breakfast on the deck with the harbor view. can t be beat. that s beautiful. 60% off is ridiculous. now to montauk, the yacht club on long island. very popular. montauk is newly chic. a fishingle village that s a hip destination for new yorkers and beyond. it sounds fancy. sounds expensive. under $200 a night. it goes up to $600 a night in high season. get it for under $200 a night. in this perfect weather, the indoor pool, they have surfing lessons if you re brave. paddle boarding les sons and if you love to fish some of the best fishing in the country. if the weather is so perfect, it s beautiful. why discount it? summer time is really their high season. they re just trying to entice people to come. they have rooms to fill and why not? last of all strawberry hill in jamaica. it s beautiful. i m head there had in two weeks. this is my secret i m sharing. every year in april is my birthday and i go to jamaica. april 20 is strawberry hill you can stay for $195 a night which is a hundred dollars off the normal rate. it s a magical place in the blue mountains. you get ultimate serenity. not the chaos from the beach places in jamaica. it s $195 a night. the movie how stella got her gr groove back was filmed there. thank you. coming up, a great little indulgence from your accessory to makeup to kitchen that won t break the bank. plus, look who s talking and talking. what are they saying? only they know, but they are deep in conversation. we ll see more of the video that s gone viral. it s adorable. right after these messages. the art of italian cooking.udy we learn from master chefs. we visit the local markets. we talk to the artisans. we learn all the little secrets of italian cooking and bring them back to share with you. inspired by italy, our new handmade puff pastries. generously filled with italian cheeses and herbs. try them with sauteed chicken breasts in a creamy garlic sauce or with braised beef in a balsamic demi-glaze. tonight at your olive garden. go-gurt is specially made to freeze and thaw by lunch time? so kids can have their favorite yogurt in their lunch box go-gurt. freeze it. thaw it. eat it up. surprise. [ noisemaker honks ] [ goat bleats ] [ male announcer ] of all the things that happen on your wooden surfaces, disinfecting has to be one of them. clorox disinfecting wipes. safe on wood. hardn germs. [ whispering ] shhhh. did you hear that? it sounded like the chocobeast. the what? half man, half beast. he ll stop at nothing to sink his fangs into people who steal other people s chocolate temptations. you guys have nothing to worry about, right? aaah! [ all scream ] nice job, chocobeast! thank you. [ male announcer ] six indulgent layered desserts, at 150 calories or less. new temptations. it s the first jell-o that s just for adults. my old contacts would sometimes move and blur my vision. then my eye doctor told me about acuvue® oasys for astigmatism. he said it s the only lens of its kind designed to realign naturally with every blink so now, i m seeing more clearly. [ male announcer ] learn more at acuvue.com. 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. hey! hey! hey! that s our snack machine. you should try something new. activia parfait crunch! crunchy granola you mix right in to creamy and delicious activia yogurt. mmm! crunchy! and creamy! watch your toes! new activia parfait crunch. ever wonder what babies are trying to say? a new viral video features 17-month-old twin boys chatting up a storm. that s what we think. let s listen in to see if we can decipher the baby talk. [ babies babbling ] i mean, exactly. don t you feel the same way? i heard matt say earlier he didn t think they were having a conversation. but they clearly are. not only a conversation. i think the one baby is leading a yoga or pilates class. he was bending down. he attempts to prop his leg up like a ballet barre and the other brother says, don t do it, mom s going to get you. downward facing dog or something. their parents randy and abby put it online for other families to see. it went viral. that s why we all love it so much. still to come, prince harry s arctic adventure and fun finds for under $25 from jill martin. and we ll meet christina bullock. she s sandra s sister and will whip up sweet sugary treats. yum, yum. it s a macarone, not a macaroon. i want someone to bring the make-up counter to me. i want to be the first to discover the latest. and get a little advice from my avon representative whenever i ask. this is beauty that delivers from avon. see how avon can deliver extra income for you. go to avon.com or call 800 for avon to become a representative. hey! hey! hey! that s our snack machine. you should try something new. activia parfait crunch! crunchy granola you mix right in to creamy and delicious activia yogurt. mmm! crunchy! and creamy! watch your toes! new activia parfait crunch. [ stir it up playing] stir up a smile with hershey s syrup. . and good morning at 9:26. i m craig melvin. a frederick county, maryland, teenager is in custody after allegedly taking a loaded gun to school. the 15-year-old is a student at tuscarora high school. news 4 has learned that he might have taken that weapon because he feared for his own safety. the vcu rams are heading to houston today to play in the final four. the team will play butler saturday night for a chance to play for the national championship. vcu won five games to make it this far, beating teams from five major conferences. weather and traffic, straight ahead. blue diamond almonds! more bold flavor! more variety! more of what you want. not what you don t. blue diamond almonds. more than a snack. cloudy and chilly now. some patches of blue on radar. that s some light rain now advancing southwest to the north and through virginia and west virginia, but just cloudy and chilly now around the metro area. low and mid-40s. we ll stay in the 40s the rest of the day with more rain likely this afternoon and tomorrow. jerry, how s traffic? tom, along i-270, we re still loaded up, montrose road down the spur to the outer loop. there s a broken down car at the approach to the american legion bridge, the culprit, but now cleared. 395 still heavy to the 14th street bridge. craig? thanks, jerry. not a campaign year, but the race for president is heating up. tonight at 5:00, meet the candidates hopin you re not my boyfriend. you re some kid i took home because i felt sorry for you. you re 17. all you know about is book reports and dances at the gym and some stupid movies i did 30 years ago. that s fantasy. this is reality. wow. pretty tough kim cattrallin her new comedy. that wasn t that funny. we know her best as the saucy and sassy samantha jones from sex and the city. she ll be here to talk about it tomorrow on today. interesting role. i m tamron hall along with savannah guthrie. coming up, prince harry s great adventure. what s he doing now? he s taking a break from his best man duties for prince william and he s teaming up with wounded british soldiers to train above the arctic circle for the trek to the north pole. we ll go inside the arctic circle life. that s a heck of a way to knock off stress for the wedding. spare to the heir. i m sure he loves it when people call him that. also we like to indulge in fun gadgets or accessories. jill martin will be along with fun finds. less than $25. as a matter of fact her entire outfit, looking good, less than $25 for the whole thing. she was bragging earlier. earrings, $14. she s going to leave the price tag on she s so proud. i love it. and move over, cupcake. there is a new sweet in town. the macarone. is that similar to a macaroon? we ll find out. sandra bullock s sister gesine is here with her new cookbook. first a check of the weather from maria. hi.the weather from maria laros. good morning, ladies. are you ready for a little bit more snow? no! we ve got it in the forecast. take a look. we re watching what could be a sizable april fools day storm. we re going to see a first wave come in late thursday night overnight into friday. and that low will continue to deepen. that will produce sizable snow, especially for interior new england. look at that we re talking very heavy, on the order of a foot or more some spots. we ll keep an eye on this one. meanwhile, looking at sunshine in the northeast today and also across parts of texas, but stormy weather in the southeast. that s a look at the weather around the country. here s a look at what you can expect. we have a cloudy sky now, and on the radar, we are picking up some light sprinkles showing up there, those areas of blue in the shenandoah valley and highlands of west virginia. there is a little bit of wet snow mixing in there in the highlands of west virginia. we have elsewhere clouds and temperatures in the low and mid-40s. later today, we ve got a greater chance of light rain this afternoon around the metro area and some wet snow in the mountains. more light rain possible tonight and again on thursday. then we dry out friday into the weekend and a bit warmer saturday and sunday. highs in the 50s. ladies, back to you. thank you, maria. next we go live to the arctic circle for an update on prince harry s fund-raising trek near the north pole. and sandra bullock is making a sweet dessert in today s kitchen right after this. now the healing power of touch just got more powerful. introducing precise from the makers of tylenol. precise pain relieving cream works quickly to activate sensory receptors. it helps block pain signals fast for relief you can feel precisely where you need it most. precise. only from the makers of tylenol. don t suffer waiting for your pills to kick in. add alaway. for fast eye itch relief that works in minutes and lasts up to 12 hours. only alaway comes from bausch & lomb. for fast eye itch relief, add alaway. family trees. circles of friends. backyards are one size fits all. and just like we mix and mingle. so do the delicious tastes and textures in every handful of chex mix. we re made to mix. in every handful of chex mix. but you re not sweet you messed with my head all day and all night we d argue and fight you left guilty crumbs in my bed but i found a new love a natural true love that comes from a leaf oh-so-green zero-calorie, guilt-free no artificiality my conscience feels scrubbed new and clean its name is truvia i had no idea now i ve tasted what love truly means [ announcer ] truvia. honestly set. but the nicoderm cq patch gradually steps you down off of nicotine in just three steps, doubling your chances for success. nicoderm cq. 3 steps, 10 weeks and you re free. the royal wedding is less than 30 days away and the bachelor party throwing best man has gone on an arctic trek for a good cause. ben fogle is with prince harry. ben, good morning. reporter: good morning, savannah. prince harry spent his first day here in svalbard getting to know his new teammates and his new environment. after a brief planning meeting the new teammates hit the snow, preparing for the freezing trek to the north pole in their quest to raise millions of dollars for wounded soldiers. prince harry s no stranger to charity work, but this is a far cry from the heat of africa where he and prince william spent a great deal of time. how is he finding the temperatures? it will be minus 40 up there. we have goggles and everything. this is the last time you will see us like this. spirits are high. morale is high and guys are very happy at the moment. reporter: despite the temperatures, the team seemed relaxed with the third in line to the throne, even sharing a laugh after a tough training session. i asked harry whether he s regretting the decision after his first day on the snow and ice. it s a treat to join them. there will be times when i will be regretting it and other times i won t. reporter: prince harry will be best man at prince william s wedding to kate middleton next month. so will he spend time on the ice writing his best man speech or even thinking about the royal nuptials? i might give it some thought. i think pen to paper will be saved for back home. reporter: i asked private jacko van gast who lost his arm in afghanistan, how prince harry has settled in. he s looking comfortable. reporter: for the soldiers it s important that harry has been to the theater of war himself. all of us have been to afghanistan. we know what it s like to live in a confined environment. reporter: the team are heavily armed to protect themselves from polar bears. for the team it s what s below the ice that s a danger. one of the last preparations, testing their survival suits in the freezing ocean where exposure to result in serious trouble for an arctic team. there is always a chance the team won t have time to get into an immersion suit. if that happens they will go in like this and i volunteered to demonstrate just how cold it is. it s minus 1 in there. i wish i hadn t volunteered to do this now. this is for you boys walking with the wounded. oh! okay. one, two, three. [ cheers ] reporter: that s pretty cold. whoa! that s cold. i can tell you that was absolutely freezing. below freezing, in fact, because of course that s salt water. let s hope when prince harry and the injured soldiers head out onto the ice they don t fall through it. there are no hot showers waiting where they re going. savannah? all right. ben, thank you. still looks cold. up next, fun finds that you will love, especially when you look at the price tags. that s still to come. and something sweet from sandra bullock s step sister gesine bullock prado. that s after the break. s really. ooh! wow! jamie lee curtis! it s activia! it s delicious. i am shocked. it s hard to believe it s that good for you. it s so good. try the fabulous taste of activia today. taste it, love it, or it s free! and now discover activia dessert. in rich indulgent flavors like strawberry cheesecake. try activia dessert today. activia choose a texas toast half-sandwich, like our classic turkey, piled high and tasty. pair with a delicious soup or house salad. served with seasoned fries, it s big flavor for just 6 bucks weekdays at chili s. that s why there s lubriderm® daily moisture. it contains the same nutrients naturally found in healthy skin. skin absorbs it better and it lasts for 24 hours. later gator. lubriderm. your moisture matched. [ pigeons cooing ] they re hungry. [ male announcer ] of all the things that happen on your wooden surfaces, disinfecting has to be one of them. clorox disinfecting wipes. safe on wood. hard on germs. [ whistle blows ] [ squishing ] [ male announcer ] pool filled with caramel. not as good as chocolate filled with caramel. introducing milky way simply caramel. life s better the milky way. simply caramel. introducing honey bunches of oats, raisin medley. there s nothing like it! the only cereal with 1, 2, 3 kinds of raisins and crunchy multigrain flakes. you gotta try new honey bunches of oats raisin medley. is a fun way to hydrate. that s a choice you can respect. other choices.not so much. [ pbht! ] capri sun roarin waters. this morning on jill s fun finds, for $25 or less. we all need retail therapy now and then. why not get into it without breaking the bank? from the kitchen to the bedroom we have it covered. jill martin is a today and us weekly contributor. good morning. good morning. i want to get started. there is so much and we re tackling it all. this jacket on the end, you re serious? this is under $25? we all stand in front of the closet and say, i have nothing to wear. we can all relate to it. why break the bank when you can get a simple black blazer for $17.49? this is from kmart. wow! how great is that blazer. i like that it has a tie. you can wear it day or night. it s really going to search and shop. that s how i did the segment. i went out, went shopping physically and looked around to see where you can get buys. the jacket is great because you can dress it up for work. you have it with jeans. you can go high or low. and the nautical look? everyone should get in on the theme. it s always in for spring and summer. this is from h & m, $3.95 to $25. i am wearing head to toe h & m. this beige jumpsuit is $19.99. the earrings are $4.95. just to show that you can mix and match high and low. that s key. i love the detail. usually when things are less expensive you don t get the little finishes but you have. now to accessories. everyone needs a great piece of statement jewelry for spring and summer. from kohl s, $10.99 to $24.99. earrings, bracelet, necklaces. the statement necklace still in for spring and summerer? very and an easy way to give the wardrobe a lift. these are just hanging so obviously go with one accessory. my mom does it all. don t go crazy. tackling the kitchen. this is a room i don t use much. but this is this entire set of silverware is 99 cents each. for a family of four, six pieces you can get all of it including steak knives for $24.99. look at the dessert plates. it says big mistake. that s what people say after i cook. everything here is under $25. if you re a tea fan this makes a statement in the kitchen. they are great gifts as well. nice gifts to give. i m over wine or cake when you go to a home. this is a great alternative. this is for the bathroom. right. you can smell it here. i wish we had smell-o-vision. $3.99 to $25. something for everyone. you see the soaps and something to really spruce up the bathroom. that s a room i think a lot of people can relate to. this is just an inexpensive way to do it. i love the loofah. a foot scrubber shaped like a foot. and to cosmetics, my favorite. this is fresh.com. lip treatment with spf in it. for spring and summer this is great. and a big fan of the exfoliator. look at this from sephora.com. they are selling it for $25. 50 eye shadow, ten lip colors and five blushes. each pallet comes out and it s portable. that should last you years. your life. now for a little under garment. let s head to the bedroom. marygreen.com. $19 each. even by yourself it s fun to get dressed up when you go to bed. take pride in yourself and wear something fun. this is an alternative to sexy lingerie. something fun. pretty and soft. i m surprised you could find something in electronics under $25, but you did. i have to get the men and p beach involved here. these work on four aa batteries. also available at walmart. speakers? speakers for the ipod and they are loud. plug it in and it plays on a beach towel. picnic. small enough to put many the tote. right. when you go on vacation. what is this? this is a charging valet from brookstone to organize your phones and everything. this is to limit the wires and make it all neat. $15. these t-shirts are cool. marvel comic superhero inspired line for teens. of course i work with the knicks so we have to show that one. $19.99 to $23.99. polos for the family. $10 from old navy. wow. then we head to furniture. quickly. all the furniture from target. table, ottoman and bookshelf all under $25. you did go from the kitchen to the bedroom. for under $25. great stuff, jill. thank you very much. up next, how to make the cookie that s the new cup cake with sandra bullock s sister gesine bullock- this one works. ooh, the price sure doesn t. i m tired of shopping around. [ sigh ] too bad you re not buying car insurance. like that s easy. oh, it is. progressive direct showed me their rates and the rates of their competitors. i saved hundreds when switching. we could use hundreds. yeah. wake up and smell the savings. out there with a better way. now, that s progressive. announcer: today s kitchen is brought to you by capri sun roaring waters, a fun way to hydrate. this morning, a step by step guide to making parisian macaroons. this jewel of a cookie is the new cupcake. gesine bullock prado joins us. good morning. good morning. let s settle the controversy. there are macaroons and macarones. what s the difference? a macaroon has coconut and a macarone has almond flour instead. fancy. this is a complicated recipe. yes. i know the first key is hot sugar water. it is sugar and water. i add a little bit of lemon juice to make sure it doesn t crystallize. we make sure our eggs are light and fluffy. then you pour the sugar in carefully because it will splatter. turn it down just a little bit and pour the sugar down the sides of the bowl or you will get scrambled eggs. okay. then keep adding the rest of the sugar. okay. how long do you let it go? until it gets to this. okay. you want it light and fluffy. this is what the french call bird s beak. [ speaking french ] you re showing me up today. you don t want it to stiff that it stands on its own. you want a little give. everything should have a little give. you want it like that. bird s beak doesn t go straight, it bends a little. next is what? we have almond flour, confectioner s sugar and powdered egg white. to this we add a quarter cup of water, first. this is to continue with the shell. this is all the shell first. you want everything as close as possible timingwise because it can dry out. you want the peaks of the egg whites to remain the same. bird beaky. you want everything perfect. and coloring. they are known for color. today we re making pink. i add exactly two drops of food coloring. i will also add a little bit of extract sometimes. you just don t want to add an extract with oil in it or you deflate all your hard work. i m stressed out. this is a complicated recipe. it s a process, yeah. so we take half of the meringue. most bakers know that you fold egg whites into something. we are just going to smush this. technical term. you don t want to get too much air into it? this has air in it. you don t want to deflate it so much that it goes [ blows raspberry ] but we are stirring to lighten the batter and we can fold in the rest. once you have the batter you make little hearts and the traditional circle. how did you make the hearts? it s the same tip. so we ll use a large open tip. and clearly a pastry bag. even i thought that was a pastry bag. for the round, be gentle. don t press too hard or you can get a lopsided macaron. for the heart, just drag it a litt little. oh, look who s here. your sister is someone we may know. sandra bullock. she s a famous makeup artist. she is. without throwing her under the bus she s on premises. we have macaroons, macarons and sandra and i like to do the macarena. it s a sexy dance you can do while eating the macaro nrk. and the filling? this is a buttercream in . oh, it s cold out there right now. chilly 46 degrees and damp. we ll find out if there s going to be a change in the weather from tom in a moment. good morning. 9:56. i m barbara harrison. montgomery county firefighters are trying to figure out what sparked a fire in gaithersburg this morning. it started in the garage of this house on the 19000 block of rhodes way. we re told everyone was able to get out okay. students at ballou high school in southeast d.c. will get a visit from first michelle obama today. she ll talk to students about pursuing their career goals. tom s here with us now with a look at the forecast. we have a little bit of rain now creeping into the central shenandoah valley on the east side of the blue ridge. it s not coming into madison, rappahannock counties. it s just advancing a little bit to the north and northeast. just some scattered light showers there. elsewhere, cloudy and low and mid-40s. later today, a greater chance of light rain this afternoon. some wet snow in the mountains. more light rain possible tonight and during the day on thursday it s likely, so that would probably postpone opening day for the nationals. then friday we begin to dry out with a gusty wind and dry for most of the weekend. jerry, how s traffic? tom, trying to wind things down here along 395. the worst of it is just above the pentagon to and across the 14th street bridge. earlier issues along the way are cleared. so right now, the lanes are open to downtown. much better now along i-270. earlier problems on the beltway and the spur have cleared and the delays are easing very, very quickly. that is very good news. barbara? okay, thank you. on news 4 midday, we have a secret to share with you, a sweet one. the women behind georgetown cupcake will join me to share their famous frostin from nbc news, this is today with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb. life from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. hey, everybody. we re so glad you re with us today. we made it to the midweek. it s wines dday, wednesday, mar 30th. i will be glad when march is over. we had a horrendous winter. crappy spring so far. by the week s end, at least in new jersey and some of the suburbs, they re talking maybe more snow. i know. i heard about that. they shouldn t even tell us that. just let it happen. who saw that coming? when you just hear the word you want to just the pregame anticipation is harmful. and we don t like it. you can always come here for a good laugh. even if it s snowing, even if it s raining and freezing where you are. yes. this is the most adorable thing in the longest time. there are these two 17-month-old twins. and you always wonder what kids when they are babbling, are they really saying something? if you look at this video, they re these two little babies that appear to be having a real conversation. they know what they re talking about. babble ] you know what they re talking about? that milkaholic lindsay. they re fighting over here. she s mine! no, no, no, no, no! she s mine. that thing got i don t know how many hits. 1.7 million. it s so funny. twins do have that thing, don t they? i didn t realize ashton kutcher was a twin. he tweeted it. i didn t realize it. this is one of these weird stories that you re lucky you re happy it didn t go further than it did. there are two people two people were online doing online dating. a girl named sarah and a man named george. they met online. they were like, let s go out for a date. because they by talking online they realized they had so much in common it was almost so much. so they get on their date. they re chatting, enjoying, having a glass of wine or whatever. as they get talking they find out they have so much in common that they realize during that date that they are brother and sister! brother and sister! can you imagine? it would have been a little dangerous if it had been hoda. she s be making out on the street with the guy. that s what she does. you are disgusting. that is so foul. can you imagine? thank god they didn t have a couple glasses of wine before the conversation got rolling. they came to find the mother and father separated a long time ago. the mother took the son and the father took the daughter. like parent trap. the mother took one twin, the father told the other. that god that didn t happen. that is so creepy. anyway, they ve kept in touch. now they re friends. they realized they were brother and sister, popped open a bottle of champagne and said here s to long lost family. had you been on that date with that guy, he s not your brother, but it was your first date and he went to pay for your drinks or lunch or whatever by using a coupon, what would you have done? on the first date. i d say second or third, too. wouldn t you? definitely on the if on the very first date my date pulled out a coupon or a gift certificate, i probably wouldn t be too pleased. on the first date. i can see as you get going. why wouldn t you? someone gives you a great gift certificate or coupon for a restaurant. the fact he would have chosen the restaurant based on the free coupon. times are hard out there, hoda. i understand that. what if times are tough for you and times are rough for him. you ve got a coupon. he s got a coupon. between the two of you, dinner is paid for. i just think on the first date you should refrain from the coupons and gift certificates. what do you all think at home? we d like to know. if you have a freebie, take it. not on the first date. you guys know the bachelor. i was so late getting on that train. he picked emily. looked like they were having a falling out. it was never going to work. they were living in separate states. as the breaking news alert reads, it looks as if emily is going to move with her daughter to see brad. come on. brad claimed he wasn t going to leave his home and emily would have to come to him. she s going there. here s the deal. she s going to live in her own condo. she s not going to live with brad. she s living in her own condo. she shouldn t live with brad. she should run as far away from brad as her legs can take her. i agree. i agree. i agree. watch out what you wish for, you may get it. yes. you were getting something last night? okay. here s the thing. if you hate exercise, and many of us do, there s a solution and a cure. it s called zumba! look at hoda woman on the cover of zumba magazine. here s the thing about zumba. no perspiration after all that zumbaing. there s this guy. i went to this class last night. this guy is women are swooning over him. that is just sad. oh, lord. now i know why we didn t want to use that video. i get it. i get it. they say, you won t want the video. i understand, joanne. i took my shoes off. i understand. thank you. i want to say it again. you were right. you were right, joanne. take it down. okay. okay. okay. let s show the photos. that s bento. she warned me that it was bad. people are losing, like, tons and tons of weight. it s dance music. you go in there. you re sweating. you re enjoying yourself. it s great. this guy, bento, is like a rock star there. i don t know if we can show the crowd just to show how many people showed up for this event. look at this thing. did they get in with coupons? they had to pay for that deal. they danced their you know whats off. people are dropping 50 pounds. they told me stories. here s the thing joanne! if our educators could learn from this guy and start making school that fun, kids would learn. you make exercise that fun, people lose weight. we should try it. would you try it? i would try that. that s fun. we ll try it. all right. so this is since we re talking about exercise. this is a new kind of we always try different kinds of wine. we don t try different glasses. this is something i don t need. i ll tell you why. i don t need one more thing to make me like wine even more. the idea is these ridges somehow when you swirl it it doesn t go directly around like it adds oxygenation. when you swirl it, doesn t it go around by itself? look. no. it s supposed to make it more you should taste it at first. then swirl. oh, yeah. my new favorite thing. that s good. we re going to take a wine quiz. from food network magazine, port wine sme corked wine smells like tobacco i say tobacco. i m going to say d, musty cardboard. because i read it. you guys give the answers they re right there. next one. mead is a type of wane made with instead of grapes honeys, apples or berries. apples. honey. why do you do the happy sound if we lost? true or false, you should swirl red wine but not white or rose. false. true. we don t know. you were right. false. swirl everything. wine experts can tell how alcoholic a wine is by looking at its color, bubbles or legs. i know which one it is on me. legs! a term used for drips of wine that drips down the side of the glass after it s swirled. we re talking to the fans about the coupons on the first day. what do they say? lisa said, that s great. he s money conscious. i would want to make sure he wasn t frugal to a fault. shelley said it d be the last date. kathy said a keeper. kelly said cheap. i was asking the crew. they said no, no, no. dave, what did you say? oh, i guess he would use a coupon on the first date. now he s out. coming up next, should you hold back on girl talk? i thought about this the other day. because we went to the theater last week. we shared stuff with each other we have never shared. if i read it anywhere, hoda, i know. just how much is too much when you re putting it all out there? right after this. fresh baked taste. of a strawberry toaster strudel. see the difference? pillsbury toaster strudel. the one kids want to eat. than listening there to our favorite songs. there s nothing we love more than listening to our favorite songs. but our favorite thing is eating totino s pizza rolls. but our favorite thing is eating totino s pizza rolls. we re the kids in america oh, oh, oh [ announcer ] who could resist the call. of america s number-one puppy food brand? with dha and essential nutrients also found in mother s milk. purina puppy chow. it s no secret. a favorite past time among us women is it us women or we women? i think it s us. we like to talk. we meet for coffee, head out for a daily walk, if we have time in our busy day we even call each other to talk. yes, we do. are there certain topics that should be off limits and can it be damaging to a relationship to share tmi, too much information too soon. robi ludbig and susan swimmer. we ve never talked like we did last week. how did you know that was too much information or a different level of your friendship. i didn t know about it until afterwards. i didn t either. i was like, did we really talk about that. that s a part of friendship. after years you i don t know. i ve got friends i ve had for many, many more years than hoda. i ve never shared this information. here s the thing. sometimes when you share, let s say you have a fight with your husband. you say to your girlfriend, oh, my god, this happened. some girlfriends are good at diffusing it, making it smaller. some ratchet it up. does that happen often when you re sharing details? especially if you don t know who you re sharing with. that s why you want to test it a bit. a bit? i would think for a long time. because you re as discreet as your you re as discreet as your most indiscreet friend. you put it out there. you lose control of where it s going. i think you need to know who you re talking to. or how it s used against you. i also think there s kind of a little problem with numbers. sharon one on one is safer for me than sharon in a group. women tend to really get each other and it gets going. i will say, we live in this overly exposed society now. everybody s on facebook. your status update is not your therapy session. i say it all the time. i think the problem is, sometimes it can feel very cathartic to share everything. it s after the fact where you feel embarrassed or it feels awkward. i didn t. you two have a relationship. there s a difference between sharing more information in a relationship, becoming more intimate even as friends, and some stranger you don t know sharing information that they don t really care about. sometimes you do feel safer with a stranger. they don t judge you. you don t have to face them again. you think. now they re going to find you. that s the trouble with this world. it can destroy relationships, too. friends can really give you that emotional support you need. i m not here to say, careful what you share. i think that s a point of it. we met each other. we started sharing immediately. sometimes you feel that warmth with someone. but your antennas have to be up. some women, we talked about this before, too, are very comfortable sharing sexual stories with friends. they do. it came from sex and the city. it was the first time we saw four women sitting around just openly talking. do you guys think that s a no-no or do you think it s okay or does it depend? i think it depends. but you have to understand, if you re sharing information like sexual information or medical information, financial information, the other person may be judging you negatively. if you don t know the other person and how they process information or what they feel comfortable with, you really are making yourself vulnerable. i also think at different life stages, oversharing is treated differently. i think when you re in your 20s or younger and you have a night you share it. everybody did it at that age. when you re married, i think sharing that stuff about your husband is different. yeah. that s a betrayal of trust. i agree. i should have boundaries. you re sharing his secrets, too. it s one thing to share your own. you need to protect your relationship. i know people who share their some things very intimate with multiple people. i always find that surprising. they ll share something with me. i think, it s so heartfelt. the next person, they go, oh, my god. she told me the same thing. some people can share with everybody, it seems. some people don t edit. that s their personality. that s their charm. don t you think that they need to do that to get through it? it s helpful to them. you need to feel recognized, heard. the more you talk about something, the more you talk about it, is it really cathartic or does it make it bigger? it depends. i think for some people it s cathartic. they don t feel that they re telling too much. for others for other people it reinforces their victimhood and gets them more into a black hole. if you can count on one hand the friends you really have. i think too often we confuse what a friend is with an acquaintance we happen to enjoy. you really don t have at the end of the day that many friends. you re right. why am i rushed to share this information? usually it s about being accepted by that person. now more than ever. i m going to friend you. is that a friend? no. it s not. i don t know about you, but i have, like, over 3,000 friends. so whatever. i have hoda. thanks, ladies. up next, it s webtastic. we have the video you re going to be telling everybody about, right after this. [ chanting ] do it! [ all cheering ] [ female announcer ] it s fun to get dirty when it s this easy to get clean. do it, do it, do it, do it! works better than detergent alone at removing the toughest stains. also, try new clorox 2 foaming trigger spray. you know what, tell me, what makes peter, peter ? well, i m an avid catamaran sailor. i can my own homemade jam, apricot. and i really love my bank s raise your rate cd. i m sorry, did you say you d love a pay raise asap ? uh, actually, i said i love my bank s raise your rate cd. you spent 8 days lost at sea ? no, uh. you love watching your neighbors watch tv ? at ally, you ll love our raise your rate cd that offers a one-time rate increase if our current rates go up. ally. do you love your bank ? how can expedia now save me even more on my hotel? well, hotels know they can t fill every room every day. like this one. and this one. and oops, my bad. so, they give expedia ginormous discounts with these: unpublished rates. which means i get an even more rockin hotel, for less. my brain didn t even break a sweat. where you book matters. expedia. don t suffer waiting for your pills to kick in. add alaway. for fast eye itch relief that works in minutes and lasts up to 12 hours. only alaway comes from bausch & lomb. for fast eye itch relief, add alaway. 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. we re back with webtastic. do you remember getting asked to your prom? chances are the proposal you got wasn t as original as jason s. jason s singing prom proposal is getting a lot of attention right now. check it out. can i have a couple minutes of your time? i said, yeah, you re so beautiful, i d like to ask you to a place where we can dance jason is 28 years old, graduating from santa monica high school this year. he decided he wanted to make her feel special. it s actually a friend he s attracted to. they re not in a relationship. he has a passion for music and the fact that he wanted her to feel different. he asked some of his buddies. he said it was easy. they re all in chorus. it s like a glee moment. how flattered would you be? this is high school. people don t do anything in high school. they don t dance at the dances. we don t see what her answer was. did she say yes? they are going to prom. i love that kid. and he asked permission from the teacher in advance. she said it wouldn t be a problem at all. she has no idea. look how cute this is! let s get an update from them after, like how the prom was. i think that is adorable, don t you think? yes, i do. thanks, sara. still to come, an april fool s themed who knew? the best pranksters around. meet a couple moms who are making millions off their own idea. maybe you ll learn to do that, too, after your local news. [ male announcer ] undeniably colorful, seriously smooth, and in excellent condition. those are your lips with new covergirl lip perfection. it doesn t just give you beautiful color now, it gives you more beautiful lips in 7 days. in a single stroke, rich color rocks your lips. in a single week, silk therapy moisturizers help smooth and soften them. how perfect! [ male announcer ] new lip perfection. in 44 lip perfecting shades. from easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl. today we re going to surprise people with the taste of activia. that s good. wow. this is really good. great flavor! it s really creamy, it s really tasty. ooh! wow! jamie lee curtis! it s activia! it s delicious. i am shocked. it s hard to believe it s that good for you. it s so good. try the fabulous taste of activia today. taste it, love it, or it s free! and now discover activia dessert. in rich indulgent flavors like strawberry cheesecake. try activia dessert today. activia . anyone who drives a car feels the pain. today, president obama addresses the problem of skyrocketing gas prices. coming up on news 4 midday, a preview of the speech this morning at georgetown university. good morning. i m barbara harrison. also coming up, finger-licking good frosting. the women behind georgetown cupcake will join us to show you how to make their secret famous what s all this? big news! we have another way to help you save. oh, really? how? by bundling. if you get your homeowners and auto insurance together, we give you even more savings. ooh! big bundle. [ chuckling ] home and auto together. it s like peanut butter and jelly. oh, or like burgers and fries. or pickles and ice cream. unicorns and glitter! no? bundling to save you more. now, that s progressive! call or click today. we are back on this wooin winesday ready to play who knew? we re talking april fools day. kathie lee is across the street at the nbc experience store ready to hand out 100 bucks to those who get the questions right. to those who don t, you know what, they get a copy of her cd! here to help me out, editor of college humor media. before we move on to the quiz, real quick, we want to tell you the kind of jokesters these guys are. real quick. it was halftime at a basketball game. okay? you were blindfolded. you were going to shoot a basket. look at this. he had the whole crowd all whipped up to make you believe that you actually won a half million bucks. right. because you re evil. it was the biggest prank of all time. he thought he d hit the winning basket but in reality it was a 40-foot air ball. and a nice big check. these guys are always joking with one another. we re so glad we have them here in studio. across the street to kathie lee. i like those guys. a family or some students, i can t tell, but they re from orlando. the tradition of playing tricks on april fools day originated in which country? england, france, canada or spain? spain. sorry. she s wrong. happy for you. everybody wins. okay. so the winning country is? france. france. okay. tell us. inform us, smart ones. sure. basically, the first april fools joke was the eiffel tower itself. it was meant to be a giant middle finger pointing to space by the architect. not a are you making up answers? or is this true? april fools edition. none of them are actually real. where are you from? zan dr what is another name for april fools day? first one. so smart. so it s natural she d be smart. all fools day. solid work. you guessed trick or treat. i guessed trick or treat. i thought trick or treat made a little more sense. there s no reason at all. you never know at this game. that was really informative. back to kathie lee. i m trying to find out which winchester she s from. it s kentucky, right? all righty. on april fools day in 1996, what did taco bell announce that it was purchasing? the liberty bell, the statue of liberty, the white house or the golden gate bridge? the liberty bell? yeah. genius. i don t even understand. taco bell, liberty bell? that s the story. yeah. i think that s the story. really when you eat at taco bell, every time you eat there, it s as if taco bell is pranking your body anyway. they re natural jokesters. every day is april fools when you eat at taco bell. next question. let s go to kathie lee. i just said it s hot in here. this kid back here goes, because you re here. i love him! i don t even want to play the game anymore. where you from? spencer, ohio. who said the following quote. the first of april is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year. dr. seuss, jim carrie, mark twain or benjamin franklin. mark twain. he s genius! mark twain? is that true. are you going to tell us another joke? every time there s a trivia question about a quote the answer is usually mark twain. always guess mark twain? always guess mark twain. time for one more. another friend from ohio. april fools day in 2010 google said it was renaming itself after which of the following u.s. cities. wichita, columbus, topeka or denver? topektopeka. is everybody cheating? the kid gave him the answer. is it topeka? i think the best april fools joke google could do was say they re releasing everyone s search history. that would be a good one. including their private stuff. yeah, yeah. you guys are a lot of fun. what s your website again? collegehumor.com. you guys are fun. up next, things get a little salty around here as kathie lee and i go head to head in the condiments competition. we ll be back. [ male announcer ] using frontline plus shows your pet you care. by unleashing a complete killing force against fleas and ticks. and not just adult fleas. what makes frontline plus complete is that it breaks the flea life cycle killing adults, eggs, and larvae. and it keeps killing fleas and ticks all month long. that s why it s the #1 choice of vets for their pets, and yours. unleash a complete killing force in every dose of frontline plus. you think i have allergies? you re sneezing. i m allergic to you. doubtful, you love me. hey, you can t take allegra with fruit juice. what? yeah, it s on the label. really? here, there s nothing about juice on the zyrtec® label. what? labels are meant to be read. i d be lost without you. i knew you weren t allergic to me. [ sneezes ] you know, you can t take allegra with orange juice. both: really? fyi. [ male announcer ] get zyrtec® s proven allergy relief and love the air®. girl: mom, can i have a dollar? yeah. it s right i think my purse is upstairs on the bed. it s not here. check the dining room. nope. what about your sister s room? not there, either. the upstairs closet? the downstairs closet. there are no more closets. announcer: moms everywhere are finding ways to keep kids active and healthy. get ideas. get involved. get going at letsmove.gov. of getting vitamins and minerals. others will try incredible total raisin bran with 100% of the daily value of 11 essential vitamins and minerals, juicy raisins and crunchy whole grain flakes. guess it s all about what kind of crunch you like. how are you getting 100%? what does that say? mr. clean with febreze freshness? oh, boy. mr. thinks-he-has-it-all, comes in here. yeah, not only does he clean great, this mr. clean has freshness that lasts up to two times longer. (sniffing) what a show off. he-he s like a guy that s, like, a good actor, but then he s also a musician. yeah. and then he does some modelling on the side. can t believe this guy. (scoff) get freshness that lasts up to two times longer with mr. clean with febreze freshness. and now there are two exotic new scents, hawaiian aloha and new zealand springs scent. according to the usda americans consume 34 teaspoons of sugar every day and more than double the amount of salt recommended. here to test our nutritional knowledge of these things, today s diet and nutrition editor and ivillage contributor, madeleine fernstrom. another game. a little sugar, a little salt. we do have a requirement for salt. that s about 2,400 milligrams. is that a lot? i want you to answer, is it a teaspoon or a tablespoon tablespoon. no. it s a teaspoon. a day? a day. that s all? that s all you have a little bit of requirement. most of it comes from packaged foods. if you cut that out you re going to be doing pretty well. when you go out you don t know how much salt they re putting in your food. and how. let s start with condiments. we all like to wake up the sleeping flavor of our foods. which one of these has the lowest amount of sodium per tablespoon. ketchup, soy sauce or you re right. even the low sodium soy. hoda has her ketchup with about six pounds of french fries. and they already have salt on them. beware of that. when something says less sodium, doesn t always mean that s low. you guys are smart. we all know canned foods are a sodium nightmare. tons of salt. what if you re in a restaurant. here we have hot and sour soup. about eight ounces. does this have 250 milligrams, 500 milligrams or 1,000 milligrams? i ll say 500. nope. i ll say high. the big one. 1,000 milligrams. hoda is on a roll. this bowl has half the salt you need in a day. we know a pickle can be a salty choice. are you girls pickle eaters? i love pickles. this dill pickle, does this have more or less than 500 milligrams of salt. how many teaspoons? i don t even care anymore. i don t give a royal rip how much this stinky little pickle s got. i don t care. 2,400 milligrams. the big one. it has 900. let s take a look at the juice. 100% juice. ten ounces of organic apple juice. don t ever drink apple juice. does this have two, five, or eight teaspoons of sugar. eight. you are right. in this little glass of juice. this is my favorite game so far. because i ve gotten them all right. if you swap out this fruit juice and drink vegetable juice, multiple vegetable juice like v-8 do you drop the sugar content by 30%, 60% or 90%. you drop the sugar content? the middle one. now you have a chance. it would be the top one. it would be the top one. the most or the least? the first one is the top one. 90%. sorry. she s winning by five and she still cheats. have you noticed that? give her the daggone bag ksket let s get on with it. i don t care! there sorry. we have factory and we have regular. is the sugar content more, less or the same. the sugar content is the same. it is. okay. hoda, you win big today. what did i get? here s your prize. something sweet and something salty. dessert wine. and nuts. she doesn t want any of it. she s going to give it to me. up next, a couple of moms who turned their needs into million dollar businesses. that s right. after this. a surprise for you. [ rattling ] wanna see what s in it? yeah! whoagasp! whoagasp! whoagasp! you wanna make these? you put it in here? yeah, put it in there. ok, just press. i m gonna give you some m&m s to put in there. ok! ready? and then you wanna take this. .put it together. shake it. [ giggles ] are you making them for the easter bunny? no, you. ahhhhh. [ female announcer ] this easter. bring a tradition. out of its shell. rice krispies. i did it! you did! rice krispies. call on me, brother, when you need a hand we all need somebody. brawny now comes with a money back guarantee. when you want a paper towel that can do it all, lean on me. when you need something strong brawny never lets you down. imagine what it can do to your skin. but dove isn t soap. it contains pure 1/4 moisturizing cream because, everyday moisture is the key to beautiful skin. and who knows moisture better than dove. [ announcer ] who could resist the call. because, everyday moisture is the key to beautiful skin. of america s number-one puppy food brand? with dha and essential nutrients also found in mother s milk. purina puppy chow. [ slurping ] oh. thank you, baby. mmm. [ male announcer ] mcdonald s new mccafé shakes. with a fresh look and delicious new toppings, they re a brand-new way to indulge. new mccafé shakes. the simple joy of love at first sight. today s working woman is brought to you by mcdonald s. i m sara just told me on facebook somebody started some sort of thing. apparently i m touching my bangs a lot today. every time i do it they re all doing shots. do it again. okay. good. do it. all righty. time for today s working mom and a couple sbentrepreneurs. everyone knows we re the ultimate multitasks. we re about to meet two moms who managed to take care of their families and still find time to build million dollar companies. the creator and founder of cozies cuts for kids and the authors of cozies complete guide to girls hair. and josie moran is the creator of josie moran cosmetics which we use here and love. we ll start with you. getting started, this is interesting. you have an interesting story. why did you decide to go into this business? i always listen to what people need. one day a friend of mine was telling me how she brought her nephew to her adult salon to get his hair cut. when the little boy started to cry, they asked him to leave. oh. i said, why didn t you take him to a place for children? she said that there wasn t one. so, for me, that s what i describe as my lightning bolt moment. having an idea and turning it into an actual salon, a lot of us have great ideas that never go anywhere. how did yours go from the idea to the i had this great idea. i started to research it. i realized that i was on to something. i actually quit my job, which was very risky because i had a great job. i went to barber school. i worked in all different children s businesses. you did your homework. i did. i wrote a business plan. i raelealized the next thing i needed to do was find a location. people like kelly ripa started bringing their children in. everybody. josie, the face of maybelline. you had a baby. you wanted to make cosmetics that were just sort of environmentally friendly and just good for people. yeah. when i was pregnant i really started doing my research on ingredients and what was you know, what i was going to bring into my household and on to my skin. i realized that there was nothing out there that was good for you and high performing. so i decided to do it. wow. you re not a scientist. i m not a scientist. so i had great advisers and mentors. i found some labs. i said i want these products, but without the bad stuff. so i made a list of my no-no ingredient list. animal by product? and toxic ingredients. things that can cause cancer and illnesses. a lot of people don t have the money to start a business. that s the idea. they don t have the money. how did you guys do it? did you have a nest egg? did you have money? did you have investors? how do you do it? i was lucky enough, i had a great modeling career with the face of maybelline for ten years. but i invested everything i had. every penny. i got to see what it was like to invest everything. sure. i scraped together my savings. i had always been saving for when i wanted to start my own business. but i borrowed some money. i took out a loan. i scraped it together. and when did it all explode for you? at what point? how many years? now you re in multimillions. after about six months, i was in my shop one day, and it was really busy. and this woman came in and said, how long is the wait? and i said, you know, it s 45 minutes. she said, okay, we ll wait. she put her name down. i go, oh, my god. that s meg ryan. meg ryan is waiting. yeah. we should talk briefly. the products, we use some of the josie moran products here. is it i like it because the foundation you just there are only a couple of colors and it works for all kinds of skin types. i love to make products easy for busy moms and easy for people to use. everything s multitasking and very simple to give you your glow back. you re wearing it all right now. does maybelline know that? don t tell anybody. and your products? at so cozy we created because we couldn t find a line of products to use in the salons that were also natural and good for you. i listened to what people wanted. we created this. congrats to both of you. great inspiration to other moms sitting thinking i can do this, too. up next, dinner for the rest of the week. three healthy meals you can make in under 30 minutes. first, this is today on nbc. [ male announcer ] using frontline plus shows your pet you care. by unleashing a complete killing force against fleas and ticks. and not just adult fleas. what makes frontline plus complete is that it breaks the flea life cycle killing adults, eggs, and larvae. and it keeps killing fleas and ticks all month long. that s why it s the #1 choice of vets for their pets, and yours. unleash a complete killing force in every dose of frontline plus. time to take you into the kitchen and get saucy. if you re strapped for time, but want a healthy dinner, she s prevention magazine s contributing chef. looks so good. chicken with pears. delicious. under 30 minutes. under 350 calories. wow. beautiful pounded chicken breasts. i pounded these out. we re just going to season them with salt and pepper. how much salt? yeah. ask madeleine fernstrom. under 2,400 milligrams. don t worry. why do they use milligrams? no one even knows. she s a hell of a chef. just kidding. don t give my secrets away. a little salt. just a little. now you re all paranoid. we don t know what she was talking about. a little bit of salt, a little bit of pepper. in our hot pan, olive oil. we re going to season these up nice. four to five minutes on each side. don t overcook them. they get very dry, right? yes. over here, corn starch, low sodium chicken stock. how much salt would you say? she said low sodium. it could still have a lot of sodium. this dish has under 700 milligrams of salt. what is that in teaspoons? i don t know. you don t care either, actually, do you? not really. i do care. i do care. balsalmic vinegar. honey. these are all really, really good for you. honey is fantastic for you. it s so flavorful. what it is, you think you re not using a lot of flavor but it has really great flavor. this is mixed. the flurry in. i have pears that we ve already sauteed. bosh pears, garlic. little bit of olive oil again. in goes our mixture. wow. then you put these in? no, no. okay. we re going to let this cook a little bit. actually, you can do that. you can definitely put these in while our sauce thickens up. okay. let s come around here. let this thicken. we ll come back to it. we re bringing in our good friend jared. it s his last day here. jared is going to help us cook again, kath. this is a great dish. i know you re going to love it. you can make this at home. this is a chili chicken salad. tenderloins, little chicken tenders. cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, romaine, flaxseed, corn, dressing, green chili salsa. this is a light ranch. this is really easy. cilantro. we ll mix that all in. you feel like it s healthy, delicious. we re going to start eating. jared, we ll miss you. tomorrow, kim catrell is going to be with us. and the workout wear that is going to make you want to