Transcripts For WRC Today 20110618 : vimarsana.com

good morning, everyone. welcome to today on a saturday. i m lester holt. and i m amy robach. and it s so great to see another big step for gabby giffords. a week after we get the picture, we learn that she is on her way home. she made her first trip home since the shooting in january. giffords was released from a rehabilitation center in houston on wednesday. going back to tucson was one of her top priorities, obviously. what s expected during her trip back there? we ll get a live report. and then it may be the biggest murder trial since o.j. simpson. we re talking, of course, about casey anthony. more than four weeks after opening statements the defense is now putting its case to the jury. casey returns to the courthouse today for more explosive testimony. and it comes as spectators, look at this, waiting in line start fighting with each other. it s all beginning to resemble a soap opera. we re going to have a live update from the courthouse coming up. they re really managing folks there. i heard in one case, if you fall asleep in the courtroom, they yank you so someone else can take you in because there s such a line of folks wanting to see that. we re also following another high profile murder case. amanda knox, she s back in an italian court this weekend for her appeal. the american is trying to overturn her conviction for killing her british roommate. as you ll see in a moment, several witnesses will insist she had nothing to do with the crime. but can they be believed? that s one of the big questions. and then on a much lighter note we re kicking off our father s day series like father like son with willie and lucas nelson. the country music icon is on the road with his kids and he s loving every minute of it. i had a chance to spend some time with the nelson clan and we re going to show you how he is one proud papa. that s a pretty school assco assignment. and have you seen the latest internet sensation? cute, at the same time a little bit unnerving. a little boy and a lioness seem to have two very things in mind at the zoo. lucky for the kid that plate of glass is very thick. that lion is like hey, my mouth is just big enough for your head. anyway, that s kind of tough to look at but it s cute at the same time. we ll get to that a lit later. we want to start with the national computer outage that left thousands of travelers stranded and it s continuing to cause disruptions at major airports from coast to coast. nbc s tom costello is in washington to tell us more about it. tom, good morning. hi, lester. for those folks who are just starting their summer vacation, maybe last night, it was off to a rough start. it all began around 7:00 p.m. central time, 8:00 on the east coast. united says its flight departures, airport processing and reservation systems, even its website, were affected for about five hours overnight. that helicopter cup dreads of flights and thousands of passengers nationwide from departing on time overnight. not good timing given the father s day weekend. thousands of passengers were waiting in line at airports across the country and most especially at united s key cities including chicago, denver, l.a.x. and washington dulles and san francisco. passengers ended up spending the night at airports or they found hotel rooms in cities where they were stranded. some spent the night on the airport floor. united has apologized for the glitch and interruption and has issued a waiver permitting any customers on affected flights to cancel or rebook their itineraries without penalty. by midnight central time, 1:00 on the east coast, united said its computers were back up and running and issued the following statement. it says united apologizes for the disruption caused to travelers at affected airports, and is reaccommodating travelers where necessary. united blames the problem on a network connectivity issue but says the systems are up and running this morning. and lester, one piece of advice they say, if you plan to travel today, print your ticket at home, it will expedite things at the airport. and tom as you know, planes these days are full as it is. so how long will it take passengers to get to where they re going? united isn t saying. in fact they re not even saying exactly how many flights were affected. but it is safe to say that when you get planes out of position like this, the ripple effects can take, in a best-case scenario, 24 hours. in a worst-case scenario, even longer than that, depending on how full the flights are. they re going to be working double-time today to try to catch up, and it s likely some people will be affected throughout the weekend. we ve seen that after big, big storms in the past. thanks, tom costello appreciate it. lester, thank you. now to gabby giffords and her long-awaited trip back home to tucson. nbc s capitol hill correspondent kelly o donnell is in washington for more on her trip. kelly, good morning. good morning, amy. it s been a string of good news this week about gabby giffords. and this is the first morning she is waking up in tucson since january. the first time able to be at her own home since that day she left for that congresswoman at the corner event, where everything went so terribly wrong with the assassination attempt in january. now, her aides say this is a brief, private visit. it follows her release wednesday from the houston rehabilitation center where she has been going through all of that work to try to recover. she will continue to do outpatient work, and her husband, mark kelly, of course the u.s. navy captain and astronaut, lives in houston, that s why they chose that location. she and mark and their one of his daughters, are here in tucson for the weekend. and to celebrate father s day with her family. a very important milestone. her aides say this has been a dream come true. it will be private, so no public events, no opportunities for interviews, anything like that. but a big milestone after what has been a difficult, difficult recovery. amy? kelly, looking at her pictures that she s released we re seeing her recovery there. obviously a lot of good news considering what she was up against. but she is facing tremendously challenging recovery. any idea about her future in congress? would she consider running again? well, that is a big issue. and certainly her aides are trying to be up front about this. while they talk about the remarkable recovery that they say no one could have imagined in january, they re also very aware that it is a slow process. particularly her speech is still impacted. they say that she had some difficulty retrieving words, and still communicating using things like gestures, facial expressions, in addition to words. so as far as a return to congress, they say there s no timetable for that. and a possible return to seeking office, because these are only two-year terms, the hard date for that is not until may of next year. a long way off. they expect that she will continue to do this outpatient rehab, with a 24-hour nurse, at the home in houston, and they don t know how long this next chapter will last. but they consider it enormous progress and certainly a very emotional weekend for the entire family, being able to celebrate father s day, and to be able to be home in arizona. we certainly wish them the best. kelly o donnell, thanks so much. and now here s lester. amy, thanks. in just a couple of hours, president obama and house speaker john boehner will tee off for what s going called the golf summit. along with birdies and bogeys, many are expecting the duo to take a swing at some important government business. nbc s athena jones is live at the white house with more. good morning, lester. white house officials say the president enjoys playing golf because it allows him to get outside, and take a break from the trappings of the office. and so, as he and vice president biden prepare to hit the links with house speaker john boehner we thought we d take a look at how the president rates his own skills on the green. he teed off in hawaii. practiced his swing in martha s vineyard. and in asheville, north carolina. and plays regularly at military bases here at home. but the president has admitted he won t be winning the masters any time soon. what is his handicap? that s classified. reporter: president obama s golf game has come up in talks with foreign leaders. if you want to do a round of golf i d be very happy to participate with you. your record is pretty good. i may have to practice before i play with him. reporter: so just how many tips will the commander in chief need to successfully command the green? and what does the white house expect to gain from hitting balls with house speaker john boehner, an avid golfer? if the president invites you to say golf, you don t say no to the president. you are not going to succeed. there will be no competition. reporter: an agreement on cutting the deficit? probably not. the important thing here is that the president of the united states and the speaker of the house of the united states, two of the most powerful leaders in this country, obviously, or different parties, and have a great deal of business to do on behalf of the american people, are getting together in a social occasion. they will not resolve the budget negotiations on the back nine. reporter: one thing that may not be in question, who s going to win. boehner s a much better golfer than i am, so i m expecting him to give me some strokes. reporter: now, lester, golf digest just this month released its latest rankings of washington golfers. vice president biden comes in at 29. house speaker boehner ranks at 43. and the president comes in at 108. i talked to ohio governor john kasich s office. he s going to be rounding out that foursome today. they said the governor s known as a good golfer. but when i asked about his happy cap the press person i spoke with quoted kasich as saying, some things should remain private. you can only imagine what the wagers are going to be like out there. john harwood is cnbc s chief washington correspondent. john, good morning. good morning, lester. and early happy father s day to you. thank you. you, as well. i think we re all smiling about this whole notion of a golf summit. but i ve got to tell you as an american i like the fact that these two are going to be talking. had they not, up to this point? describe their relationship. i think their relationship has been cordial. these are two leaders who have a sense of the duties of their office. but it hasn t been a deep, personal friendship. and i think what you have in an event like this, is something that deepens the relationship between two leaders, and if they don t resolve anything on the golf course, and i don t expect that they will, this may help them down the road. the putt that they need to sink for the financial markets, and in some ways for everybody in this country, is to resolve the budget stalemate, and raise the debt limit. this might be a small step toward getting something like that done even if it s not resolved. i want to turn to one of the other big stories you were following in washington this week. congressman anthony weiner finally making the decision to resign. what was going on behind the scenes? were the democrats truly worried that he could damage their brand? absolutely they were worried. that s why you saw a lot of pressure, and it wasn t subtle, it was very open, public, direct and strong from the entire leadership of the party, people who were very close to anthony weiner. this was a distraction that took the democrats focus away from the issues they thought they were winning on, attacking paul ryan and his medicare plan. this is something that democrats had found a a a new sense of political momentum from. now they can get back to those issues. i think this will have been a three-week distraction. cost the movement some time. but in the long run it s not going to be all that consequential. when we go to election day november 2012, people are going to long forget anthony weiner and be talking about other issues. republicans are already getting their ducks in order at the republican leadership conference this weekend. many blasting obama. clearly the theme. but one of the quotes from newt gingrich struck me talking about obama. he said obama symbolizes natural secular european socialism, the opposite of freedom. that s a pretty harsh statement. is that characterized what s going to recognize nature among the republican faithful? the republican base is extremely hostile to president obama, so to some degree, glitch is reflecting sentiments that are broadly held in the right of the american political community, and the base of the republican party. doesn t play so well among independents. it s one of the reasons why newt gingrich s presidential campaign has been in trouble. he has many strengths as a political leader. but one of his weaknesses is incendiary rhetoric that ends up backfiring on him. certainly that happened when he went on meet the press with david gregory and talked about that ryan medicare plan in ways that damaged him politically with republicans. he runs the risk, and republicans run the risk, if they take the rhetoric too far, of offending a lot of people in the middle they need to vote for them next november. john harwood, thanks very much. now here s amy. lester, thank you. as we just heard lester and john talking about, anthony weiner resigned in disgrace this week after admitting to sending lewd pictures and text messages to several women. and while he s out of public office, he already has a job offer and could soon be back in the spotlight. not that he really left. nbc s mike tiebby reports. reporter: the curtain is down on anthony weiner s tragedy. i was pranked. i was hacked. reporter: first the lies about the salacious contents sent to women through cyberspace. last friday night i tweeted a photograph of myself reporter: then the confession that it was him pushing the send button. so today i m announcing my resignation from congress. reporter: and then thursday, the end. now some bold-faced names rebound or even flourish after is exscandals. think vanessa williams and rob lowe. or paris hilton and kim kardashian, who s famous for being famous careers were kick-started by sex tapes. and among politicians, eliot spitzer went from disgraced client nine to cable news talk show host. and says crisis management expert bill haggerty, former president bill clinton spent years after his scandal redefining his considerable influence, a lesson for weiner. it s not something that a weekend at a rehab spa is going to take care of. and i think that s something that the former congressman needs to understand. reporter: weiner already has one reported job offer to join the internet group at larry flynt s hostler magazine. another possibility of a role on hbo s entourage. i haven t gotten pictures or a photo. reporter: turned out to be a joke. for now. but the cringe factor in his particular sex scandal will almost certainly keep weiner from running for office again, especially for the mayor s job of new york city, which he coveted. but tv talking head, teacher, lobbyist? he has a skill set that is transferrable. the ability to analyze issues, the ability to speak eloquently. good morning, melissa. yes, a confidence vote on the greek prime minister has been moved from sunday to tuesday. ahead of that, he is spending the weekend meeting with his new cabinet, which was just sworn in yesterday morning. he demoted his finance minister, who was extremely unpopular, because he was the architect of deep spending cuts in the budget. those cuts, extremely unpopular with the greek people, and led to rioting earlier in the week. many government workers will lose their jobs, their salaries will be lowered, their taxes higher. but greece must do this in order to qualify for a new round of loans in order to avoid complete financial collapse. a key meeting about that occurs tomorrow in luxembourg. melissa, back to you. all right, michelle caruso-cabrera, thank you so much. mother nature is not helping out firefighters continue to battle several huge wildfires. strong winds and intense heat on tap for the weekend hampering efforts along the new mexico/colorado border to get the fires under control. meanwhile, in arizona, the largest fire in the state s history is 38% contained. but the high winds forecasted could change that. indiana police say nay have received nearly 1,000 tips in the case of missing college student lauren spierer. the 20-year-old disappeared two weeks ago after a night of partying with friends. police want to talk to the driver of a white pickup truck seen in the area the night of spierer s disappearance. on friday, lauren s dad became emotional when talking about father s day. his wife said the greatest gift he could receive is information leading them to lauren. and kate edwards, the oldest daughter of elizabeth edwards, is starting a foundation to honor their late mother. a family friend says kate, who is a harvard educated lawyer, has left her job to carry on her mother s work in education and mentoring. the edwards ee created a computer learning lab and after-school program to honor their teenage son after his death from a car accident. meanwhile, john edwards is awaiting trial on federal charges for vie lating campaign finance laws. and finally, a hungry lion comes a little too close for comfort to a toddler. sure, there is a glass between them, but take a look at this encounter at the colorado zoo. the lion liking the little boy just a little too much. even sizing up his head several times. that would fit right in here. the boy s parents thought it was cute enough to film. but a little nerve-racking, as well. he s like, lunch is here. fantastic. that s the news. back to lester and amy and bill. 103 today in dallas. yesterday, 104 in san antonio. not one spot in texas going to  dock out in temperatures in the 90s or 100s. feast or famine north of the record highs. nailed after one thunderstorm complex after another in kansas city and missouri. we re dealing with flooding on the mississippi river north of st. louis. this has been a spring pattern and it won t change. now a look at the national forecast. now a look at the weather outside of your window. good saturday morning to you. news 4, meteorologist chuck bell. the sun shining downtown washington. more chances for rain before the weekend is through. current temperatures in the mid to upper 60ed west of town. 71 in washington. 67 in quantico, virginia. you can see on the radar, a quick chance for passing shower in maryland. more thunderstorm chances here later on this afternoon. that s your saturday forecast. lester? all right, bill, thanks. tomorrow here on nbc, the next miss usa will be crowned. each contestant has a story to tell and this morning we want to share miss colorado s. who s not only a beauty queen but at one time was homeless. nbc s lee cowan has more. reporter: blair griffith is one of those books you just can t judge by the cover. the new miss colorado reporter: in october, she seemed to have it all. brains, beauty. and a crown. but what few people knew that night is the pain behind that smile. it was a hard reality to face. like, i don t really have anywhere to go. reporter: a month after the pageant, blair found themselves homeless. evicted from their colorado town house. blair had lost her job. and her mother had lost her health insurance after suffering a heart attack. the medical bills took their toll. you can t get reporter: but blair never gave up. the most important part of my story is that i am currently homeless. reporter: she continued to work as miss colorado, living with friends while acting as a voice for all those who are one paycheck away from being just like her. oh. reporter: and she s refused to let homelessness hold her back. come this sunday night she ll be on this stage, hoping for yet another crown. this time, miss usa. pretty remarkable in and of itself. but even more remarkable when considering that she still doesn t have her own home. i followed my dream. you know. despite people saying it couldn t happen, and despite my lifestyle, it seemed like i couldn t get to this moment. but, i ve gotten to this moment. you know. i had to work hard but i m here. reporter: after she first told her story here on today, donations came out of the woodwork. everything from hair and makeup to her entire wardrobe. i probably packed 50 or more outfits. reporter: 50? yeah. for 20 days. right? reporter: but in the middle of all the glitter, her real concern remained her mother. i keep on telling her now that you have to move forward. we both will move forward. and don t worry about me. you have to focus on what you need to do, what you need to attend to. reporter: blair didn t listen. in between preparing for miss usa, she s also been working two jobs. she s had angels along the way. like pat smith, who lost her mom to breast cancer just before being crowned miss virginia. i know what it feels like to just kind of have a setback, and need someone to come in and help make up the gap. reporter: that gap, though, is still pretty wide. she and her mom still can t afford an apartment, and the mountain of medical bills seems too steep to climb. but miss colorado remains miss optimistic. it has to get better. you know, and i feel like when you re focused on, it will get better, there s nothing but good that can happen to you. reporter: miss usa is supposed to represent the best of america, and that, blair may have already won. for today, lee cowan, nbc news, las vegas. you can see miss colorado and the entire field of contestants competing in the miss usa pageant sunday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on nbc. we re back in a moment. but first, this is today on nbc. still to come on today the barefoot bandit. he led authorities on a two-year chase in two countries and now he s pled guilty and facing years behind bars. plus the old looks back in style. how our favorite products are going retro. but are they saving you money? we ll talk about that. it s 7:26 right now. the sun is shining on the white house. 73 degrees outside. good morning. i m kimberly suiters, saturday, june 18 20rks 11. passengers are boarding flights after a computer glitch. flights should be on schedule this morning. this is video from chicago o hare last night. dulles says there were hundreds of stranded passengers there, but they kept concessions open and provided blankets to the paengers. the u.s. open under way in congressional right now at bethesda. golfers tee off for the third und today. getting to the green will be challenged because there s no parking at congressional. metro is single tracking on several lines this morning. several li[ man ] i goting. this new citi thankyou card and started earning loads of points. you got a weather balloon with points? yes i did. [ man ] points i could use for just about anything. there it is. [ man ] so i used mine to get a whole new perspective. [ male announcer ] the new citi thankyou premier card gives you more ways to earn points. what s your story? citi can help you write it. gives you more ways to earn points. it s not about logging on to this week s class. today is a celebration, a triumph of dedication, a victory for that little voice that urges us on. today is a day to recognize that ordinary people can do extraordinary things, and to prove that not all heroes wear a cape. some wear a cap and gown. congratulations to the strayer university graduates of 2011. it s 7:2. check in with meteorologist chuck bell for a look at the weekend forecast. good morning, chuck. good morning, kimberly. good morning, everyone. the weekend is off to a bright and sunny start in northwest. they are slowly sliding in our direction. so rain chances are going to kind of come and go a bit as we go through the weekend. keep a backup plan as you make your plans to be outside this afternoon or tomorrow as well. current temperatures in the upper 60s to near 70 degrees. the doppler showers are out in the mountains of west virginia. keep an eye on those. more shower and thunderstorm chances. ly be toasty and warm as well. highs in the upper 80s to low 90s. same story tomorrow. thunderstorm chances on and off through much of the weekend. another news and weather we are back on this saturday morning, june 18th, 2011, with the official first day of summer just a couple of days away. we re enjoying another nice late spring weekend here in new york. we want to thank everyone out on the plaza who came to wave at their friends and family back home. we re going to head out there and say hi to just a few minutes. but first back inside studio 1a, i m amy robach along with lester holt. and coming up, the frenzy that is surrounding the casey anthony murder trial. it s been disorder outside the court. fights have been breaking out between spectators waiting in line, hoping to get a seat in court. this as the defense enters day three of presenting their side. can the defense poke holes in the prosecution s case, and expose what they haven t said? we re going to head live to orlando in just a few minutes. also, have you noticed some changes at the supermarket? doritos, pepsi, downey, bounce, just to name a few, forget about the 21st century. a lot of these brounds are going old school with packaging from the 70s, 60s, even from the 1950s. it s a big retro craze and it s making a difference at the checkout line and in your wallet. we re going to tell you why it s working. plus some american idol news to tell you about. it involves jennifer lopez and whether she s about to leave the hit show just after one season of being a judge. she made some pretty interesting comments on a radio show this week. what did she say? and could it indicate she s really planning on leaving? we ll let you be the judge coming up. i m sure it will at least spell a big paycheck for her either way. we begin this first half hour with a plea deal for the barefoot bandit. he led authorities on a two-year chase in two countries, and on friday the 20-year-old who often robbed without wearing any shoes pleaded guilty to seven criminal charges, and was told earning money from his cult-like status is off limits. nbc s lee cowan reports. reporter: he was the catch me if you can man. now just 20, colton harris-moore, frustrated more than a few law enforcement officers, as he managed to elude, escape in spectacular fashion. it s alleged he stole cars, boats, even planes, that he taught himself to fly. usually after a spring of break-ins in which he left a calling card, barefootprints. bud on friday it all cat up with him as the barefoot bandit pled guilty to seven federal charges. this was a very complex case in the sense that there were so many crimes committed by the defendant, in so many jurisdictions, that we wanted to make sure we resolved as much as we could at one setting. reporter: he d become an internet cult hero who had tens of thousands of followers on facebook, before he was finally captured in the bahamas last july. despite his fame, under the plea deal he can t earn a single dime from any movie or book deal. even though he has to pay restitution to his victims. mounting to more than $1.4 million. he is free to speak to whoever he wants for free. but should one dime cross anyone s palms, it comes to the government. he s agreed not in his life. and what s really more important is colton has never wanted to. he thinks it s morally wrong. reporter: it s not the end of his legal troubles. in addition to the federal charges harris-moore also faces at least two dozen state charges that could land him in prison for more than a decade if convicted. but for federal prosecutors a two-year manhunt that hopscotched across eight states and two countries is over. and the burglar who once mocked justice is now facing it. lee cowan, nbc news, los angeles. and for more we re joined by nbc news legal analyst and former prosecutor suzanne filen. good morning, suzanne. good morning, amy. obviously he pleaded guilty yesterday. why do you think he changed his mind. he eluded police. he was running. and then to just suddenly do an about-face and say i m guilty? i think the deck was stacked against him and i think it s quite wise, actually. if you were to take every single one of these cases to trial and be convicted and sentenced consecutively, the time that he s facing is significantly greater than what he actually is going to get under this plea deal. speaking of the plea deal, do we know any of the details? it s going to be in the federal system, it s going to be about 6 1/2 years. that s the range that he s in. the judge could do a little bit more but probably won t. that s probably what he s looking at. although he s still going to face charges in state court after federal court so he could ultimately do his time in federal prison and have to go to state prison after. we just heard in lee s piece that one of the conditions of the plea bargain was that he didn t profit from his story. obviously it s gotten movie written all over it. you can imagine the money he could make. where will that money then go if he is, you know, somehow the recipient of this money? it s going to go straight to the victims. there s already been somebody appointed to oversee all the deals, all the profits, anything that he not a penny is going to cross his palms. it s going to go straight back to the people who are out of pocket for the things that he stole, like boats and planes and cadillacs. and imagine the law enforcement costs, as well, trying to get this guy along the way. we know he s pleaded guilty to seven criminal charges ranging from bank burglary to interstate transportation of a stolen aircraft. that s probably one of the biggest ones. he s going to be sentenced at a later date. what do you think is fair punishment? you mentioned it could be 6 1/2 years in federal court. then you ve got the states to contend with. he s 20 years old. that s the thing, what do you do with a kid like this? as his mother likes to say, he was very good at flying planes but had a problem with landing them. what he has since said is that when he gets out, and it could be ten, it could be up to 20 years, he d like to go to aviation school. wow. all right. what is the worst case scenario for him? what would be a really, tough, difficult sentence? if he gets the 6 1/2 years in federal court and goes to state court and there s a cone sense consecutive. the worst case scenario is he does his federal time and goes straight straight to a state prison. i get the feeling that somehow law enforcement, while they don t condone in any way what he did, it s very serious, there s something unusual about this young man. and too incarcerate him forever doesn t seem quite to fit the crime. there s something about his childhood, he was abused, he was in a detention center, he escaped from the detention center. and he s got some kind of raw talent. although he s got a criminal mind today. if he can be rehabilitated, rather than just incarcerated forever, lock him up, throw away the key, he may, he may have a future after all this time is served. susan filan we appreciate it. let s head outside now to bill karins with a check of your weather. good morning to you, amy. our friends here. surviving the north dakota flood, huh? you did it by i m news 4 meteorologist chuck bell. we have sunshine getting through at this point in time. this is going to stick around for much of the late morning and the afternoon hours before, yes indeed, thunderstorm chances sneak back up again. nothing in the way of wide spread severe weather but any of these small thunderstorms could produce small hail or gusty winds. keep a weather eye to the sky. these are my friends in the girl scouts from north carolina. welcome, girls. enjoy your hour by hour forecast for the father s day weekend. you can always get that at weather.com. thank you. coming up, like father, like son. we will honor father s day weekend with willie nelson and his son. we have their very special bond onstage and off. plus, back in time. how products in your supermarket are going retro. could it also save you money? [ female announcer ] now, just pop, click, switch your lids whenever you like! choose from over 20+ colors and designs. the new dell inspiron r series laptops with switchable lids, powered by the 2nd generation intel® core™ processor family: not just smart, visibly smart. call or click to get this fully loaded and totally protected inspiron 15r today! [ intel bong ] [ dog treats drop through mail slot ] everybody likes to get a bonus. .at the petsmart big brands bonus sale. and get a free office visit and veterinary consultation at banfield pet hospital. at petsmart®. but sometimes i wonder. what s left behind? [ female announcer ] new purifying facial cleanser from neutrogena naturals. removes 99% of dirt and toxins without dyes, parabens, or harsh sulfates. so skin feels pure and healthy. [ female announcer ] new from neutrogena naturals. hershey s bliss. one square inch of indulgence. joy. pleasure. one square inch of extra smooth, rich chocolate. hershey s bliss. one square inch of extra smooth, rich chocolate. you know rheumatoid arthritis means pain. but you may not know it can also mean destruction. not just of your joints, but of the things you love to do. and the longer you live with the aching, swelling, and stiffness, the closer you may be to having your favorite things. taken away from you. but you can take action today. go to ra.com for your free joint profile so you can better talk to your rheumatologist about protecting your joints. this morning on today s consumer, back to the future. a number of manger food marketers have reintroduced packages from the good old days. why? and is this old-time packaging just a fad or a trend beginning to take hold? consumer correspondent janice lieberman is here to tell us. good morning. good morning. you are absolutely right. the ad campaigns may not look all that new to you. that s because big brands are digging in to their ar rives and going retro. bringing back packaging and ad campaigns from decades ago. yahoo! it s twinkie the kid! reporter: remember twinkie the kid or willie the hillbilly? mountain dew, there s a bang in every bottle. reporter: they re back. and in the grocery store aisle you might find yourself walking down memory lane. alice, you can t go steady. i m going steady with tide. reporter: that 1940s tide logo is at target stores for a limited time. along with downy, in its 1967 bottle. and then blast from 1973. bounce fresh and clean bounce bounce my stocks don t cling reporter: retail analyst marshall cohen said it s all about tapping into the consumer psyche. it s something that just makes you think back to the day when you first started to watch your mom do laundry and reminds you wow, wait a minute, that s the product that my mom used. i want to go back to those days. reporter: pepsi s also on the retro bandwagon. you re the best generation reporter: bying back the 80s logo to remind a generation they were there when. i see the pepsi and think of my dad. reporter: pepsi and mountain dew throwback started as limited edition. but have been so popular they re now permanent. and remember the uncola? undo your cola habit. reporter: celebrity apprentice finale found marlee matlin and john rich battling to create the best retro 7-up campaign. cohen said it s actually about escaping reality. packaging products to bring you back in time is very much about bringing you peace of mind. reporter: in this tough economy he says consumers are going back to the products they know, so companies are bringing back some familiar characters. hostess recently brought back the king and his pal twinkie the kid and happy ho ho-alka-seltzer s speedy is back. oh, what a relieve it is reporter: along with everybody s favorite nut. what s my secret? reporter: updated with come suitor animation and robert downey jr. s voice. tasty nutrition. reporter: and it s beginning to trend more widely from music when i see your face reporter: to television. ladies and gentlemen. reporter: even retro fitness, a line of gyms where you can sweat to the 80s classics. bueller? reporter: advertisers hoping knot nostalgia will take you right to the register. and it really does take you back when you see these in the aisle. they actually jump out at you because they look so old-fashioned. it almost makes you want to check the expiration date. it does. i certainly remember the old pepsi look. doesn t seem like it was that long ago, though. maybe i m just getting old. but do you notice they re using real sugar instead of corn syrup. a lot of brands are doing that. these are permanently here to stay because they re doing so well. a lot of people having retro parties. filling up old mountain dews and pepsi cans and having barbecues. it s a real talking point. remember the old alka-seltzer one i love. i can t believe i ate the whole thing. plop plop fizz fizz. doritos are here to stay, too. we re really, really old. okay. i m really, really old. up next, you don t remember any of it, do you? up next, amy flips out. the former gymnast goes back to the mat, literally. after these messages. those witn 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. with prevacid®24hr, [ dog treats drop ] everybody likes to get a bonus. .at the petsmart big brands bonus sale. save $5 on fiproguard™ plus flea and tick treatment, which contains the same active ingredients as frontline plus®. at petsmart. if you ve ever watched professional gymnastics and thought, hey, that looks like fun, or i could do that, well you actually might be right. a growing number of adults are getting involved in the sport, some for the first time. so as a former gymnast, and i say former gymnast, i decided to revisit the sport to see if i still had it. it s a familiar scene in millions of gyms across the country. kids testing their strength, balance, flexibility, and coordination. gymnastics. it s one of the world s oldest sports, and it s not just for kids anymore. adults are rediscovering their youth through classes designed specifically for them. we re seeing adult gymnastics classes fill up around the country. what s the appeal for grown-ups? well, i think people are looking for a different way to get fit. you re looking your flexibility, your strength, but at the same time you re having a great time flipping, which everybody loves to do. here at chelsea piers gym in new york, more than 500 adults have signed up for gymnastics classes. 30, 40, 50, and even 70-year-olds are turning to the sport as an alternative workout. but with age comes the realization that the body can t easily do what it used to. we definitely pick everybody apart. we make sure that they re fully warmed up. reporter: now it was my turn, and as an avid runner i consider myself pretty fit. oh, god, really? oh, my gosh. oh. but apparently not as flexible. whoo! reporter: when i was younger, whether it was the balance beam or the floor exercise, my body seemed to twist, turn and bend with ease. now, fast forward 30 years. we re going to start tumbling. here we go. reporter: even if something came easy to me. there you go. reporter: others were a little challenging. nice. excellent. when i was a kid i wanted to be on the gymnastics team in the worst way. and i was terrible at it. and then in my 30s i came back to the sport. and then again in my 40s. reporter: what does gymnastics do for you that keeps you coming back? i think it s all the little things that you miss when you re doing other sports. there s just something wonderful about being upside down. being able to align your body, and feel your tendons and everything and not hurting them. reporter: gymnastics can take a toll on your body. sprains, fractures and dislocations are all part of the sport. i don t think your body is meant to do this for as many years as i ve been doing it. but knock on wood, i don t have any injuries. reporter: most of the stuff i saw you do would be really scary to 99% of people your age. oh, i know. but honestly, i mean, there s a couple people in my class who are almost my age. so i m not the only one who still likes to flip around, and go upside down and play. reporter: it s safe to say that none of the adults here are headed for the olympic team. but they are reaping the benefits, getting fit and having fun. you saw me working out there today. what muscles are going to hurt tomorrow? oh, just about everything. you ll be surprised. just about everything. you ll be thinking about it tomorrow morning. yep. oh, nice! i was, too. impressive. i booked a massage the next day, that s how sore i was. but you know, i loved what that one woman said. she said everybody should be upside down once a day. and i thought that was such a good point. to have fun. let me ask you this, when you re 16 you re fearless and you can do anything. when you oh, yes. afraid of doing some of that? did you see how tentative i was running? i mean afraid of hurting yourself. absolutely. i did have a little achilles tendon issue for about a week. so i probably didn t stretch as well as i should have. the massage was good? it was great. just amade music and family for willie nelson. first, this is today on nbc. still to come on today, casey anthony and the frenzy outside the courthouse. we ll get the latest on the case and on the chaos among the spectators. also, alone at the airport. a serious security breech. shop from anywhere. and are always connected. we live in a social world. isn t it time we had a social currency to match? membership rewards points from american express. use them to get the things you love from amazon.com, ticketmaster.com, and more unexpected places. they re a social currency with endless possibilities. a body at rest tends to stay at rest. while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. and celebrex is not a narcotic. when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain, you and your doctor need to balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen, and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you ve had an asthma attack, hives, or other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. good morning. it s 7:56 on this saturday, june 18. i m aaron gilchrest. in the news for today, funeral services will be held for 20-year-old christopher cummings, the nephew of elijah cummings. a wake will be held at 10:00 this morning at the victory prayer chapel in baltimore followed by funeral services at 11:00 a.m. cummings was killed in his apartment near the campus of old dominion university last friday. no arrests have been made. police are investigating a car fire in the 2100 block of nayl o r road southeast. they responded to the call of a single car accident around midnight. when they arrived, they found the car engulf in flames. unclear if anyone else was in the car at the time of the accident. the gas prices were so high in the district compared to the virginia and maryland suburbs. the committee on government operations and the environment discussed a bill that would require gas station owners to let go of some of their stations, drivers in dc pay 23 navigating today s real estate market is complicated. you ve seen the signs. that s why having the right real estate agen is more important than ever. at remax.com, you can find experts in short sales or bank-owned properties or commercial real estate, agents who can help speed up the process, no matter how intricate. and that s good news, whether you re trying to sell or hoping to buy. because the only sign you really want to see is sold. nobody sells more real estate than re/max. visit remax.com today. unsettled weather for you today. check in with chuck bell. a little bit of sunshine on an early saturday morning. a nice way to get the weekend started. as we re accustomed to this time of the year, a little bit of sunshine leads to daytime heating which will lead to shower and thunderstorm chances by later this afternoon. not going to be a washout of a weekend. many dry hours between the showers. temperatures, 74 right now. 68 in hagerstown, maryland. 73 in southern maryland. loads of showers in the west virginia mountains. they are falling apart. they re dry mid afternoon or so. watching out for showers and thunderstorms to cook out. highs today, upper 8 0z to near 90. have your umbrella ready to go. another update good morning. welcome back to today. it s june 18th, 2011. and my goodness, what a gorgeous day it is here in new york. we had thunderstorm after thunderstorm, downpour after downpour yesterday. so we are ready for a break. you are in big trouble. a big, soggy crowd yesterday for the concert. we re happy to have all your folks here this morning. and you at home, as well. thanks for spending part of your day with us. outside on the plaza i m lester holt along with amy robach. coming up another big day in the casey anthony trial. that s right. her lawyers were trying to punch holes in the prosecution s case. at the same time, check out this scene outside the courthouse as people were waiting to get into the courtroom. literally start physically fighting with each other for their place in line. it all resembles a real-life soap opera. what to expect from today s trial. we re going to head live to orlando for the very latest. then to europe to italy to find out more on another trial we ve been following. this one an appeals case of amanda knox, the american exchange student back in an italian court this morning. she s serving 26 years in prison for the murder of her british roommate. today s hearing, again the appeal hearing focuses on the testimony of five men, all of whom claim to have knowledge, proving she is innocent. but is their testimony credible? we re going to talk about the issues that may make their testimony not stand up in the way she would hope. then on a much lighter note we begin our series, like father, like son. and i was able to go with the nelsons, willie nelson and lucas nelson, we went on the road with them. they re performing and touring to the. and nothing makes this music icon happier than being with his family. he s got a daughter, a couple daughters, and we re going to spend time with the nelsons on tour in just a few moments. before we get to that, let s get another check of the headlines. melissa francis is inside at the news desk. we begin with president obama getting in a game of golf today with an unlikely partner. nbc s athena jones is live at the white house with more. good morning, melissa. well, in just a couple of hours, president obama will be teeing off with house speaker john boehner. vice president biden and ohio governor john kasich are going to be rounding out that foursome. the white house says this is an opportunity for the president and the speaker to have a social outing, to get together in an casual atmosphere, outside the confines of the white house or the capitol. we expect the big issues of the day, topics like the debt ceiling and the deficit talk, could come up. but we don t expect any deals to be struck during these 18 holes. i spoke with boehner s office not long ago and was told that the speaker s main goal today is to break 80. melissa? good luck with that. all right, nbc s athena jones. thanks so much. united airlines is trying to get their schedules back to normal this morning. after a commuter crash friday evening that grounded flights nationwide. the airline says the network connectivity issue is to blame. united is rebooking travelers on different flights and waiving the change fees. arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords is back in tucson this morning. she is visiting her hometown for father s day weekend. it is the first time giffords has been there since she was seriously wounded in a shooting rampage back in january. and the bitter divorce between the owners of the los angeles dodgers is getting close to settlement. frank and jamie mccourt have agreed to let a judge decide if frank mccourt exclusively owns the team, or if it is community property. but before the settlement can be finalized, major league baseball has to approve a 17-year television deal with the dodgers worth nearly $3 billion. and so far the 2011 u.s. open is one for the record books. right now leader rory mcilroy has posted the lowest 36-hole score ever recorded at the open. he has the lead after the second round at the congressional country club in maryland. and, of course, you can catch round three of the action right here on nbc starting at 2:00 eastern. and finally, two buddies, one empty airport and a camera led to a whole lot of questions. a couple of young filmmakers got stuck at dallas-ft. worth s airport after their evening flight was canceled. and they couldn t resist an empty terminal to have some fun racing wheelchairs, shining each other s shoes, or serving drinks at a bar. the film has gone viral, and the airport officials say they were aware of what was going on but saw no danger, or threat from the activities. i don t know, it looks a little too perfect to me. now back outside to amy. i think everybody s wanted to do all of those things at one time or another. thanks so much. bill karins is out on the plaza with us as well for another check of your weather. good morning to you, amy. i learned a little geography this morning. girl scout troop 170, they re from twentynine palms, california. they told me you go from palm springs and vegas, somewhere there in the middle. how many boxes did you sell? 11,000. what was the number one popular box? thin mints. you can t go wrong with the thin mints. let s take a look at your forecast. as we take you through the day today and as we go throughout your weekend, st. louis area, one storm system after another. we ve had enough rain in missouri and illinois and iowa to last for a long time. more this morning. even some strong storms now passing down into areas of kentucky headed for tennessee. see where our severe weather threat is today. the areas there in red. also isolated strong storms, northern new england, down in florida, and showers for our friends in the pacific northwest. the record heat will continue today right into father s day for most areas of the deep and a very good saturday morning to you. hopefully your weekend is off to a nice and quiet start. the sun is shining in many spots this morning. we re going to have a warm and humid day today. in fact, this weather is going to stick around much of the weekend. a couple of boats filled with skullers on the potomac river. temperature downtown, 74, 782 in fairfax and sterling, 72 in manassas and bethesda. a couple of showers out in the you guys got sweat shirts on. where you from? washington. what grade is everyone here? school trip? freshman. good and sophomores. don t want to insult the sophomores. good luck with you guys. let s send it inside to lester. bill, thanks. now to the case against casey anthony. after a month of testimony, explosive and emotional trial is now in the defense s hands. and the drama is coming from both inside, and outside, the courtroom. nbc s kerry sanders is live in orlando. kerry, good morning. good morning, lester. it s been a curious phenomenon. court watchers from around the nation, flying here to orlando to go inside and watch this case. most say they come because they want to see the one thing they can t see on tv, and that is the jurors faces. but there are limited seats, and that s resulted in violence. early friday morning, outside the orlando county courthouse, a fight for position in line to get tickets. on some days here it looks like the frenzy at a bargain basement sale. those who wait, but don t get in watch it faithfully on television. i ve been watching. i tape every episode. reporter: but these are not episodes of some soap opera. this attraction is a criminal trial. a mother charged with killing her 2-year-old daughter. laura rice is from savannah. and our family s at disney world. but this was more exciting for me. reporter: a look at twitter shows where people are tune tuning in. at work in philadelphia, enid, oklahoma. the united kingdom. one viewer watched at 35,000 feet on air canada. in palm desert, california, before the sun is even up, libby syracuse is tuned in. i will actually say i m a junkie for this trial. reporter: in georgia, brittany watches every day with her grandmother. both on the phone. yeah, i think this is our o.j. trial. for us, you know, our generation. reporter: and like the o.j. simpson case, the courtroom cameras here do not show the jurors. that s why so many say they come. to see who will decide this case. but the journey to this courtroom can be long, and for many, exhausting. and the one thing they don t tolerate in the courtroom, sleeping. they just kick them out. they tap them on the shoulder and say you ve got to go. reporter: because? because they re sleeping. reporter: falling asleep? mm-hmm. reporter: because? they ve been here since who knows when, 12:00 in the morning. reporter: a deadly serious murder trial. for millions, captivating reality tv. after the pushing, the shoving, and the fisticuffs, the court administration has established a new system for court watchers. they now put their names on a list at 4:00 the day before, and then the following morning their names are on the list, and they are either allowed in if there are seats, or they re told no room today. lester? kerry sanders thanks. in jail tapes and in text messages, the jury has certainly heard from casey anthony. but they haven t seen her testify under oath. will she? joining me now from orlando, beth karas, a correspondent for in session on trutv. and a former prosecutor. beth, good morning. good to see you. good morning, lester. before we talk about how the defense is doing, let s review the prosecution s case. you were there for all of this. how did they do in lining up the case against her, absent an eyewitness, absent anyone who could really put her at the scene? what you ve just described is what they have, a circumstantial evidence case. they streamlined their ef. they had a lot of it. they called 59 witnesses in 18 days. now, it may seem a little fractured, not make sense, no smoking guns. when you hear closing arguments, though, whenever those come in the next week or two, you will see them put together the big picture. and they will argue, what are the chances that all these things would happen in those few days, and be there be an innocent explanation that casey s not complicit? it will be compelling. whether or not the jurors will believe it s premeditated murder or some type of first degree murder remains to be seen. but they will have options of second degree murder and manslaughter. beth, i ve got to tell you, i know that motive is not something that has to be proved by the prosecution. but when you have a case with circumstantial evidence, i keep coming back to this question, well why would she kill her child? we heard testimony that she was a good mother. and i know the prosecution has made a lot of this tattoo she had that said bella vita, which means a beautiful life, suggesting that maybe it was a sense of freedom. but is that going to be a hard bar for the jury to cross, the fact that they can t really get inside her mind and understand why she would kill her daughter? yes. i think that you raise an excellent issue. now, the jurors will be told that it s not the prosecution s job to because you can t get inside a defendant s head, especially if the defendant doesn t testify. but, the reality is, lester, that there is evidence this jury didn t hear that there had been a fight the night before, between cindy and casey, and that was the triggering event that caused casey to move out. if the jurors had heard that, they might have a better idea of what really went on in that house408d. but that s not coming in. interesting that the defense kind of started off its case by going after the forensic, the scientific evidence in this case. they had their own bug expert on. and the prosecution really went after him in cross. how did that all work out? well, some say that the prosecutor, jeff ashton, neutralized this witness. there is a dispute between the two bug experts about whether there was ever a body in the trunk of casey s car for a few days before being dumped in the woods. bus the defense s expert did agree with the state s expert that the body was in the woods for months. and that seems to take roy kronk out of the case, the meter reader who found the remains, because jose baez said kronk possessed those remains and placed her there at a later time. and kronk is on the witness list. do you think the defense will try to paint him in a negative light? no question about it. yes, they will. and the jury will learn that he called 911 three consecutive days in august, months before he finally called it in again in december, when the remains were found, and he was targeting that same area. it s a red herring, maybe. but it s really interesting. let me end the conversation where we began with the introduction, the question of will she testify. will casey anthony testify? is the pressure mounting? probably it is. but defense attorneys routinely don t make that decision until they see how the rest of the case is going in. so i suspect if the that she s going to testify, they haven t even decided. she might, but she would be toward the end of the case, and that s kind of common when lefts testify. beth karas, always good to talk to you. thanks so much. my pleasure. 13 minutes after the hour. part of my job is teaching my patients how to take insulin. but i ve learned a lot from patients who use flexpen. flexpen comes pre-filled with the insulin i take and i can dial the exact dose of insulin i need. i live my life on the go and need an on-the-go insulin. i don t need to carry a cooler with flexpen. novolog is a fast-acting, man-made insulin used to control high blood sugar in adults and children with diabetes. do not inject novolog if you do not plan to eat within 5 to 10 minutes after injection to avoid low blood sugar. tell your healthcare provider about all medicines you take and all of your medical conditions, including if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. the most common side effect of novolog is low blood sugar. other possible side effects include reactions at the injection site. get medical help right away if you experience serious allergic reactions, body rash, trouble with breathing, fast heartbeat or sweating. ask your healthcare provider about novolog flexpen today. learn more about the different insulins available in flexpen at myflexpen.com. flexpen, insulin delivery that goes with you. to talk about our blueberry juice drinks. they re made with my sweet, ripe blueberries, so they re good for you taste real good, too! let s whip up a sample. or just try this. [ chuckles ] a dog, well, a dog is family. and when it comes to your family s health, you want the best. now you can have it without paying the most. new petarmor plus flea and tick protection. it has the same active ingredients as frontline plus, so it s just as effective against fleas and ticks, but costs about half as much. sure our dogs may be called pets, but we all know they re family. new petarmor plus. same protection as frontline at about half the cost. only at walmart and sam s club. add the sauce, it s like the tick to the mcnugget tock. it s like the ping to the pong, the ding to the dong. and now with the new sauces, lips are even smackier, our sweet s even spicier, slam s even dunkier. [ male announcer ] made with white meat chicken and now new sauces the biggest thing to happen to chicken mcnuggets since chicken mcnuggets happened. i totally hear what you re saying. [ male announcer ] the simple joy of making oohs ahh-ier. i can t wait to get on the road again in honor of father s day we re beginning a new series called like father like son and this morning it s all about music legend willie nelson and his son lucas. i caught up with them in lawrenceville, georgia, one of the stops on the willie nelson throwdown tour. and it was clear to see that for the nelsons, music is a big. for 22-year-old lucas. on the road again playing lead guitar for dad willie nelson is just another day s work in the family business. we ll sing a victory too we ll all meet back at the local saloon what do you feel when you see lucas up onstage? pride. you know, absolute family pride that not only is he good, we re playing to the. we re traveling together. that s as good as it gets. reporter: a concert tour is more like a family road trip. sister bobbie is on the key board, daughter amy sings backup. it s a good feeling to have your kids with you all the time. reporter: for lucas, who took his first steps on this tour bus, it s always felt like home. what was it like growing up with the musical family on the road, traveling together, touring together? it was just all i ve ever known. reporter: by the time lucas was born his dad was already a living legend. nelson first made a name for himself as a song wrighter in the 60s penning songs like crazy for patsy cline. do the magical ones come easy or are they hard to write? no, they re all easy. if it were hard, i d quit earlier. i m sure he would, too. reporter: his own success behind the mike came in the 70s. teaming up with artists like wailen jennings as part of the outlaw music movement, then came countless albums, collaborations, hit songs, seven grammys, in a style all his own. lucas, what do you admire most about your dad. well, humility. reporter: it was in the shadow of his dad s success that lucas first picked up the guitar when he was 11 years old. we were in the cabin and i said, what do you want for your birthday? and he said, just want you to learn how to play a guitar. i do remember saying that. but i knew he d love it once he got into it. reporter: lucas is now striking out on his own with his own band behind him. what s the pressure like to live up to your last name? doesn t matter whether i m willie nelson s kid or not. you know. if i wasn t good no one would want me to play. reporter: the new generation of nelson music is catching on. got a new fan. thank you so much. reporter: but his biggest fan is someone who has already had the spot light and is ready to share it. i think he s great. i think, you know, if he weren t sitting there i d be saying the same thing. he s a great writer, great musician, great singer, great to hang out with, you know. he s kind of got it figured out. i didn t have it figured out that well at his age. i can really learn from his mistakes. because it s so well documented. reporter: the ups and downs of a career that has spanned six decades. what s the secret, do you think, so your career and its longevity? 60-plus year and you re still going? i don t know. i m having a good time. i think it s really important to be who you are. you know. be in the moment. reporter: being surrounded by family help, as well? absolutely. absolutely. i consider us to be the luckiest family that i know. i don t know anybody luckier. it was great watching them. they had a lot of laughs together. they were just a real special bond. and i mean can you imagine being on the road with your dad? he said he s never fought with his dad and they ve always had this great relationship. i think that s just so unusual. lucas kind of going on his own musically. going in a different musical direction? i little more edgy, a little more rock n roll, a little less country. he can pretty much play anything. tomorrow our special father s day series continues with racing legend richard petty and his son kyle. i spent some time with them and we ll bring you that tomorrow here on today. looking forward to it. still ahead, j. lo and american idol, is she about to call it quits? the new radio interview you will want to hear. still to come on today, amanda knox. the american is back in court with several new witnesses hoping to help her defense. plus 19 kids, and counting. the entire dugger family joins us live this morning for, yes, a special announcement. what is it, you ask? you ll have to wait to hear. but first these messages. revlon launches growluscious plumping mascara. the new mascara with a conditioning formula that helps strengthen and plump lashes up to 200%. instantly. for maximum volume. and a killer look. new revlon growluscious plumping mascara. like many chefs today, i feel the best approach to food is to keep it whole for better nutrition. and that s what they do with great grains cereal. see the seam on the wheat grain? same as on the flake. because great grain steams and bakes the actual whole grain. now check out the other guy s flake. hello, no seam, because it s more processed. now, which do you suppose has better nutrition for you? mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal. ranks quicken loans highest in customer satisfaction in the united states. and if we re this happy about providing great customer satisfaction, imagine how happy you ll be receiving it. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. there s a change in the sea so from now on there ll be a change in me and my walk will be different my talk and my name [ male announcer ] rust-oleum ultra cover 2x gives you twice the coverage, twice as fast as any other brand. .changes made for nearly 100 years, we ve been giving people the power to change. .changes made an abundance of sunshine for many this morning. but the clouds may not be too far off. chuck will detail the forecast in a second. it s 8:26 on this saturday, june 18. i m aaron gilchrest. in the news for today, a children s lemonade stand is open for business again near congressional country club. this cops after the group was fined $500 for operating without a lie sen. the stand was set up by four 10-year-olds to help raise money for pediatric cancer. on thursday, a county inspector fined their parents saying the stand was disrupting traffic near the club. yesterday the families were able to reopen further away from the tournament. not clear if they ll have to pay that fine still, though. today buy the american girl in the washington area. people are lined up for the grand opening of the first american girl store in our area in the tysons corner center. the store sells dogs from periods in u.s. history. the store will have a bistro, a salon, and host birthday party and other events. check your keeping an eye out for potential storms. let s check with chuck. thunderstorm chances will return later on this afternoon, overnight tonight, and to your sunday as well. but if you lookout side of your window right now, you ll notice much like the windows in the upper northwest, plenty of sunshine getting through. partly to mostly cloudy sky out there. not much of a rain threat here in the next couple of hours. a few showers in the mountains of west virginia. they are starting to fall apart. temperatures in the low to mid 70s in many spots. the showers in the west virginia mountains are falling apart. we ll have more chances for thunderstorms this afternoon, late afternoon, evening time frame especially. highs today and tomorrow upper 80s to near 90. there will be many dry hours. to make most of the weekend, keep your eye on the and we re back on this saturday morning, june 18th, 2011. a friday full of thunderstorms has given way to a beautiful, mostly sunny i don t see a cloud in the sky. beautiful day on the plaza. the crowd celebrating on the plaza. i m amy robach along with lester holt. coming up we re going to be talking about the appeal of amanda knox. the young american student turns 24 in a few weeks. she is appealing her murder conviction. this morning there is going to be a parade of witnesses who will claim they have information that would exonerate her. will it go far enough to get her conviction overturned? of course the big question, we re going to get some analysis of that coming up. and then we re going to switch gears and we have some idol kwth chatter. j. lo, her first season on the show was a huge success. it helped re-ignite her big comeback and recharge the show. is she about to leave idol for good? she has interesting things to say about the subject in that radio interview. and we re going to make room for some frequent guests on our program, the duggar family will join us this morning, jim bob and michelle dugger ared proud parents of 19 plus one grandchild. this morning they ve got a special announcement to make. they ll tell us what it is coming up in just a few minutes. every time you hear the word announcement and duggars you kind of know where it s headed. a final check of the weather with bill karins out on the plaza. bill, thanks for this great weather. i m totally responsible. 100%. not for last night. good morning, everyone. this is an amazing story. stick with me. here s the photo of the three sisters. now, this was the last time they were ever together. 50 years ago there was a divorce, there was an adoption thrown in there. they all somehow reconnected an here they are on our plaza. you decided to come to new york and reunite. you are the twin sisters? and you re the older one in the photo. the pretty one. who found each other? cheryl. she found us. i found them on the internet in november. i knew a little bit of information about an aunt. found her. filled me in i had sisters. she s in new york. and now you re all here together. congratulations. hope you can enjoy many oth goodsaturdaymorning. news 4 meteorologist chuck bell. we had hazy sunshine out there to get your weekend started. pleasant weekend for outdoor activities. keep a weather eye to the sky as we are in an active pattern. we ll have shower and thunderstorm chances cooking up in the heating of the day later this afternoon. 72 in fairfax and falls church. 71 in bethesda. 75 in annapolis. showers in the wes well, if you guys want your weekend forecast hour by hour, or anybody else out there, you can always get that at weather.com. bill, thanks. in italy this morning amanda knox returns to court in a bid to prove she is not a killer. and trying to help her case, five new witnesses for the defense, including a convicted mobster. nbc s chapman bell is live in per uj yeah, italy with the latest. good morning. good morning, lester. amanda knox is back in court today, with the testimony in her defense. coming from an unlikely source. other convicted criminals. as she entered the italian courtroom, amanda knox appeared more confident than previous hearings and smiled at her supporters. despite being behind bars for over 3 1/2 years. for a crime she says she did not commit. she s looking forward to every day of court. we get to have a bad day. reporter: knox, along with her former italian boyfriend, raffaele sollecito, is appealing her conviction of murder and sexual assault of her british roommate meredith kercher. in what the prosecution describes as a sex game gone wrong. a third person, rudy guede, was also convicted of the murder. today s hearing focuses on the testimony of five convicts, all who claim knox and her ex-boyfriend are innocent. mario alessi, a convicted child murderer seen here speaking with sollecito s team said while sharing a cell with guede he was told the true story had not come out. three other prisoners are expected to claim they, too, heard the story and knox and sollecito were not involved. another prisoner, a convicted mobster, claims it was his brother who murdered kercher. he, to knox s defense, is the re-examination of forensic material, by an independent panel of scientists appointed by the appeals judge. leaks in the italian media so far suggest that the dna evidence used to convict knox could prove inconclusive. a bra clasp linking sollecito to the crime scene is said to be so badly rusted it cannot be retested. and a knife prosecutors claim was used to murder kercher appears not to have the dna of knox and the deceased as previously claimed. giving hope to knox and her family. it s absolutely huge. and as far as the leaks are concerned, they sound amazingly promising. but i m, you know, we want to wait until the report comes out. reporter: the findings from the new analysis are expected in court next month. but for now, there s a growing confidence in the knox camp with this appeal. lester, one of the witnesses in court today gave a vivid account of what he says rudy guede told him while in prison today, including that he was he, rudy, and another man who killed kercher. however it is worth noting that these witnesses are convicted criminals. and lester, a verdict in this appeal is still not expected until the fall. lester? all right, chapman bell in perugia, italy. thanks. for more insight on the amanda knox trial we turn to criminal attorney paul callen. whether in an american court or italian court i ve got to think a convicted criminal testifying on your behalf cuts both ways. it does. this is very promising for amanda knox but on the other hand these are criminals and they re trying to trade a reduction in prison sentence for testimony that will help her. but in the totality of an appeals case can it help her to the extent you ve got scientific evidence that s starting to come into question? it does. it knocks another important block out of the prosecutor s case. and you know, i think what we ve seen in this case, the dna evidence, which, of course, was critical, now looks very suspicious. italian prosecutors and the judge appointed independent experts to examine this dna evidence. dna on a knife handle. dna on the knife itself. as well as dna on a bra clasp. those italian independent experts seem to be indicating now that it s unreliable evidence. because that was the evidence that really, really led to her conviction. that was the critical forensic evidence that linked her to the crime. now there are a couple of other things that link her. but that was really, really one of the big pieces of evidence. and getting back to these jailhouse snitches, the problem with their testimony is there are so many different stories about how the murder took place, this guy guede pled guilty. he said i killed her. he got a reduction in sentence 30 years to 16 years and now these other guys are saying well the story he tells in prison is different than the story he told when he pled guilty. you want to hear all those stories match up. they would have to match up. and they don t match up. for instance, massi, an italian mobster who is now saying that his brother was the murderer, and had come home with a bloody knife, that story doesn t line up with one of the other jailhouse snitch s stories so it starts to throw the whole thing into doubt. we ve seen some italian lawmakers who have kind of lined up behind knox. they requested a review of the prosecutor in perugia who had some ethical issues. is that a separate issue? or can the court be influenced by that? well, the italian system is very political. so i think that can have an influence. 11 italian lawmakers have petitioned the italian president to take a second look at the case and reinvestigate the case. of course, on the other side of the political spectrum, berlusconi, the prime minister of italy, is under charges himself, he characterizes italian prosecutors as a left wing dictatorship. he attacks the judiciary and the prosecution as totally politically biased. the lawmakers in question are berlusconi in berlusconi s party. so it s in their political interest to attack the judiciary. so i don t know how that will play out. but i think in the end, amanda knox s case, the case against her is looking weaker and weaker. another odd iity for us, at least in the italian court system, is that if you make a charge against the police, the bliss beat me, that leads to a slander charge, which amanda and her parents are now facing. how does that figure into this? well, this is absolutely astounding. yeah, of course in the united states, in a criminal case, if the parents come out and say, hey, the cops abused my daughter when they questioned her, no big deal. we hear that a lot. i probably said it a few times about some of my clients. but in italy when the parents said this, the police sued them for libel and slander. and that case is now going through the italian courts. you criticize the police in italy, you get sued. and so that s now could knox be let off for the murder and then end up spending time for slander? well, the parents could theoretically be found guilty of slander before amanda knox s case is even finished. that case is set for trial this summer. and she could later on be acquitted, there could be a multimillion dollar verdict against them. i don t know how the italian courts would resolve that. because everything gets appealed repeatedly. everything gets retried on multiple occasions. you heard chapman say it could be the fall before a verdict. it s strange. thanks for being here. up next, idol what jennifer lopez said. finally, there s a choice for my patients with an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation, or afib, that s not caused by a heart valve problem. today we have pradaxa to reduce the risk of a stroke caused by a clot. in a clinical trial, pradaxa 150 mg reduced stroke risk 35% more than warfarin. and with pradaxa, there s no need for those regular blood tests. pradaxa is progress. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don t take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding, and seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you re 75 or older, have kidney problems or a bleeding condition, like stomach ulcers. or if you take aspirin products, nsaids, or blood thinners. tell your doctor about all medicines you take, any planned medical or dental procedures, and don t stop taking pradaxa without your doctor s approval, as stopping may increase your stroke risk. other side effects include indigestion, stomach pain, upset, or burning. if you have afib not caused by a heart valve problem, ask your doctor if pradaxa can reduce your risk of a stroke. i love this slide ! i love knowing coppertone protects across 100% of the uva/uvb spectrum. i trust it. and pediatricians recommend it most. i love this nose. coppertone. embrace the sun. come on dad! [ female announcer ] it s for celebrating all our dads are. our fellow explorers. can i touch him? yeah. ow! [ female announcer ] .personal doctors. and that s why we wear shoes. [ female announcer ] .d our oldest, closest buds. father s day is for us to say, i m so glad you re mine. come here. oh. happy father s day, daddy. [ female announcer ] now, select cards come postage paid. your advertising mail campaign is paying off! business is good! it must be if you re doing all that overnight shipping. that must cost a fortune. it sure does. well, if it doesn t have to get there overnight, you can save a lot with priority mail flat rate envelopes. one flat rate to any state, just $4.95. that s cool and all. but it ain t my money. i seriously do not care. so, you don t care what anyone says, you want to save this company money! that s exactly what i was saying. hmmm. priority mail flat rate envelopes, just $4.95 only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. who s ready to break through more barriers, from brick walls to budgets. then let s get our hands on some of those tools that only live on orange shelves. cause when we come home with that fistful of doing, and keep that pocketful of savings, there s nothing we can t conquer. more saving. more doing. that s the power of the home depot. power more projects, with this ryobi starter kit or dremel multi-max, each just 89 bucks. auditions for season eleven of american idol begin on june 28th. steven tyler and randy jackson are definitely returning. but what about j. lo? that is the question many are asking. nbc s melissa francis joins us with more on that speculation. melissa, good morning. that s right, amy. thanks. jennifer lopez is not just a star. she s a savvy businesswoman. a sex symbol, and an international recording artist. and that may explain why she s not ready to commit to next season s idol just yet. try it at home by yourself. reporter: she may have saved american idol but is jennifer lopez about to walk away from the show? the question was posed to her in an interview this week with bbc radio. you know, this is a question of the hour. i don t know. i don t know. i haven t been forced to make a decision. and i m glad about that. because honestly, i m very kind of on the fence about it. i had an amazing time doing it. and i loved it. but i have a lot of other things happening, and it s going to be come down to making a choice of really what i want to do for the next year. reporter: right now the 41-year-old superstar is at the top of her game. she s got idol, a hit single, a steamy music video. she was named people magazine s most beautiful woman this year. she also ranked 50th on forbes list of most powerful celebrities. while reportedly earning $12 million a season for idol is big bucks, could she be holding out for more? jennifer s a master negotiator and she s a diva, we have to remember that. so there s a chance it could just be about the money. reporter: make that simon cowell money. he raked in $35 million a season as the mean judge. leading some industry insiders wondering if j. lo wants the same. i think it s very smart to go to the press and talk about how she s on the fence about it. because it creates a lot of public goodwill towards her. creates a lot of buzz around it. and it s going to make the idol producers sweat a little bit. reporter: lopez, who is married to singer marc anthony, and the mother of twins, says she enjoys idol. but if it s time to say good-bye, lopez may have much more to lose than the show she s leaving behind. there are a lot more people in show business than there are shows like idol for a platform. so she would be giving up a lot and a lot of people would be very happy to fill her stilettos. and a long with idol, nbc s the voice is also generating some money talk this morning. there s word of some rumblings coming from that show. that after it was announced that christina aguilera earned $225,000 an episode. and that s about three times more than any of the other judges. i would do it for a lot less. just in case the producers are watching. she s a diva, too, and a master negotiator, as well. a lot of fun. melissa, thank you so much. coming up next, making room for one more? the duggars announcement is next. but first, this is today on nbc. it will be an extra special father s day tomorrow for one of america s biggest families. this wednesday the duggars welcomed a new addition, their very first grandson. joining us this morning are proud grandparents jim bob and michelle duggar. and their son josh and his wife anna. and their new baby, and the rest of the entire duggar family. good morning to you all. great to see you. good morning. good morning. anna and josh, congratulations. anna let me start with you. how are you and the new baby feeling this morning? we are feeling great. happy to be here. and the lungs are working, we can see. that s right. josh, a very special it s a very special father s day. yes, we are really looking forward to it. and our little precious addition is so special. i think you just look at you know i look at little mackenzie right here and see how much she s grown in just a short year, and you look at her, to have a little brother now is really awesome. how is mackenzie reacting to having a little brother? how do you like your little brother? you like your little brother? she doesn t quite know what to think yet but she is definitely making a connection from baby that s been in mommy s tummy and how she explained to her over the process and now as she s seeing him out she s going okay, that s my baby. it s really cute to see her interacting and have that little big sister kind of coming in. let me turn to grandpa if i can. jim bob this is your second grandchild. but your first grandson. does having a grandson feel any different? well, it s very special. and i always thought that, you know, having children was very special. but having grandchildren is like josh and anna have all the responsibility. we get to have all the fun. and michelle, we are hearing a newborn crying in the background. you ve heard a lot of newborns cry in your lifetime. it must be a welcome sound to you. oh, it is so precious. and anna does such a good job. and the little man is so sweet. josh, this is going to be, sounds like almost too personal question, but given the circumstances, probably not. you come from this big, big family. are you and anna going down that same road? do you expect to have a very large family? well, you know, i just tell people jokingly all the time, we re just going for 125. so, no. i think each child is a gift and a blessing. and, you know, i think whether you have two or whether you have 19 or somewhere in between, really, you luch each child that god gives you and that s really what s most important. it s not about the amount of children you have. it s about the quality and the time that you invest in each one of their lives, and really just sharing and enjoying each moment. so as i talk to my parents further down the road and i m here with little toddlers and newborns i think just cherish each moment that you have with your children, and make each day count. and anna, your husband and all his brothers and sisters have names that start with j. your daughter is mackenzie, can we assume that this new little grandson in the family, his name is going to start with an m ? yes, his name does start with an m. but you have to wait to find out tomorrow what his name is. okay. we re going to have to wait on that. josh, anna, jim bob, michelle and the rest of the duggar family. thanks for joining us and congratulations. thank you. good to see you this morning. for more on the duggars newest addition and to find out the name of the new one tune in to 19 kids, first grandson tomorrow on tlc. we re back in a moment. first these messages. the more we loved it.nger , took some wild risks when i was young. but i was still taking a risk with my cholesterol. anyone with high cholesterol may be at increased risk of heart attack. diet and exercise weren t enough for me. i stopped kidding myself. i ve been eating healthier, exercising more, and now i m also taking lipitor. if you ve been kidding yourself about high cholesterol, stop. along with diet, lipitor has been shown to lower bad cholesterol 39 to 60 percent. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. lets go. haha. if you have high cholesterol, you may be at increased risk of heart attack and stroke. don t kid yourself. talk to your doctor about your risk and about lipitor. discover aveeno positively radiant tinted moisturizers with scientifically proven soy complex and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on to even skin tone in four weeks. aveeno tinted moisturizers. bacon?! bacon? bacon! who wants a beggin strip? meee! i d get it myself but i don t have thumbs! yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. it s bacon!!! mmmmm.i love you. i love bacon. i love you. [ male announcer ] there s no time like beggin time. [ female announcer ] now, just pop, click, switch your lids whenever you like! choose from over 20+ colors and designs. the new dell inspiron r series laptops with switchable lids, powered by the 2nd generation intel® core™ processor family: not just smart, visibly smart. call or click to get this fully loaded and totally protected inspiron 15r today! [ intel bong ] that s going to do it for us on this saturday. our thanks to melissaen from sis, bill karins. coming up tomorrow on today, the very latest on the casey anthony trial. plus we ll continue our like father like son series with richard petty and son kyle. see you later on. take care, everybody. good morning, i m kimberly suiters. i m aaron gilchrest. straight ahead on news 4 today. reaction from the neighbors on the man arrested today on the pentagon. the man who poses a security scare for some and a traffic nightmare for many others. back online, the computer glitch that grounded thousands has been fixed but travellers are still dealing with delays. the u.s. opening but the latest from bethesda. see what s going on there. everyone wants to know if the weather is going to cooperate for the golf tournament and anything you want to do. all that and more when you join news 4 today new details emerging about the man whose arrests sparked fears near the pentagon and created grid lock for thousands of commuters. the run-ins that got him in trouble with police. thanks for starting your weekend with us. i m kimberly suter. i m aaron gilchrest. welcome on saturday, june 18. the news is ahead. let s get a check on our weekend forecast. chuck bell is with us this morning. and this nice morning could fall apart at some point today. fall apart may be a little strong on the wording.