Transcripts For WRC Today 20110925 : vimarsana.com

different tore? amanda s parents join us live this morning. today, sunday, september 25, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone. welcome to today on a sunday. i m lester holt. and i m jenna wolfe. it feels like we ve been covering this amanda knox case forever. she is getting closer to a verdict in her appeals case. is she a murderer or wrongly convicted of killing her british roommate. in closing arguments, we heard one side of the story. now we ll hear the other side, her defense later this week. the latest in a live report, ahead. another major criminal trial. the case against dr. conrad murray, accused of giving michael jackson a phattal dose of a powerful anicsthetic. drama, plot twists and surprises. a new reality show is taking us behind the scenes to show what life is like for favorite actresses and actors, that s ahead. never watched soaps? not that i would admit on national tv. i don t believe that for one second. you seems like a guy that could get wrapped up in other people s storylines. not many of them left. that and more coming up and maybe my admission to watching soaps. we ll begin with politics and the huge surprise in the gop s bid to replace president obama next year. a new poll in florida surprised everyone, showing herman cain ahead of the pack by a wide margin. mike viqueira at the white house with more. reporter: her mman cain, a businessman, never held elected office. he was fifth or sixth place in most other polls. most of the attention this morning is focused on rick perry, the governor of texas. the favorite going into the straw poll, and and he everybody else got crushed by herman cain in florida. with more riding on the results than any other candidate, in the morning rick perry made one last appeal to straw poll voters in florida. what americans are looking for isn t the slickest candidate. they are looking for an authentic, principled leader. reporter: by the afternoon, party activists had handed perry a stunning defeat. choosing former pizza company executive herman cain who won by a whopping 22%. send washington a message! reporter: before the straw poll, perry was damaged by hits from conservative rivals, most recently on a debate on fox news channel. allowing instate tuition rates to children of illegal immigrants. i would not allow tax-payer funded benefits to illegal aliens or their children. if governor perry should lose in florida, i think it would be a real problem for him. reporter: perry s chief rival, mitt romney, did not campaign in the straw poll. instead, spending saturday in his birthplace, michigan. nice to meet you, john. i bet you remember my dad, don t you? reporter: analysts say it could mean gop voters are sending a signal. so many voters still looking for somebody, another choice. somebody not mitt romney or rick perry. there is an opening for somebody else to come why? reporter: a wild card in the race, more washington dysfunction. even as disaster victims struggle to recovery, fema caught in a partisan funding fight. unless congress can agrooshg funding runs out mid week and another government-wide shutdown looming friday. gridlock could hurt republicans. will it be a party that can still win the middle? take independent voters away from president obama, keep majority in congress and also win the white house in the fall of 2012. reporter: call it an an only le anomaly, he had 37%. rick perry 15% and mitt romney at 14%, and one other surprise here, lester. michele bachmann, at one time won the ames, iowa, poll, only 1.5% in florida. lester. mike viqueira, thank you. david gregory moderator of meet the press. nice to see up. nice to be here. is cain a viable candidate, or is a message being sent? no, i don t think he s a viable candidate. may stay in the race. he has money to be able to do that. and a message and, you know, being from there atlanta, he s going to have supporters in florida. look, there is still an unsettled picture on the republican side. a lot of energy behind the idea that somebody else getting into the race. all the while, we re focused on two early front-runners, perry and romney. and perry can t really down play this. he said florida was important. has a history of picking the eventual republican nominee. what position does this leave him in? the florida straw poll doesn t carry the weight that even the iowa straw poll does. perry is in a mode right now where he s working on fund-raising, an area of strength for him and a lot of blocking and tackling to be done in a state like florida. even in the primaries will be very important once you get through the early voting among republican primary voters and as we look to the general election, the idea that president obama is vulnerable there is well established. you mentioned romney a moment ago. a lot of analysts are saying romney did well in florida. came in third just behind perry. didn t really campaign there. where does this leave him? he is still somebody to watch very, very closely. you know, all of the establishment figures i talked to in the republican party say when you run for president before, there is no better experience and he is showing that. good in the debates, raising a lot of money, stays below the radar, now getting agres wif rick perry. he should not be discounted all the quay along as a strong front-runner or number two. he will be a guy to beat. as you noted, some see an opening or void in the candidate. chris christie, new jersey governor, said on threat of suicide, he is not going to run. but he s heavily recruited by a lot of potential big-money donors and is said to be considered, according to politico, and will make a decision in the coming week. is he being politely to donors or the person that some in the party are looking for? he has to be incredibly flattered on one hand. an intoxicating feeling when people say you have to get it. there is another element to the calculations. a new feeling, as opposed to when he dismissed the prospect of getting in the race. president obama is more vulnerable. sometimes the time is now, and he may be recalculating on that. you have benjamin netanyahu on later on. difficult week for him. difficult week for president obama with the palestinian call for statehood. how do they thread the needle? are we facing another round of violence in the middle east? the statehood push for palestinian isn t going anywhere. but the prospect of it failing could mean violence in the middle east and how do we deal with israel s isolation. it s unprecedented right now in the middle east and this is fodder for the presidential race. criticism of president obama s handling of israel. rick perry s criticism, mitt romney s credit you simple this is a much more partisan issue than it has been heretofore and that s dangerous for israel. david gregory, good to see you, here in new york. here is jenna. lester, thanks. to the homecoming for the two american hikers released from an iranian prison earlier this week. ron allen live at kennedy airport in new york city waiting for their arrival. good morning. reporter: good morning, jenna. we expect josh fattal and shane bauer to arrive at jfk in a couple hour s time. first time on american soil in over two years. they spent two years and 51 days in an iranian prison, charged with spying. they have been sentenced to eight years, so they are for the nature to be getting out relatively soon. accompanied by their families and sarah shourd, the third member that group of hikers charged with espionage. this is what the two men had to say after they were released late last week. getting off the plane that brought us here three days ago was the most incredible experience of our lives. we ll never forget the excitement of seeing loved ones waiting for us at the foot of the plane. the joy of embracing them all after so long will stay with us forever. hours after we left prison, we were able to swim in the calm waters of the gulf. we stayed up all night with our loved ones and we watched the most beautiful sunset we ve ever seen. reporter: and just after they were released. shane bauer proposed to sarah shourd. when they were all in prison, she slipped annen gaugement ring on her finger made out of string from threads he found in the prison. now he did the proper thing and fattal will be the best man. they said very little about what happened to them while they were in prison. they said that the conditions were overall pretty badding interestingly, food was good. a press conference later on this afternoon. no questions, we understand. but just trying to be very tightlipped and reorient themselves to american society. being debriefed by american officials as they try to get over this and get on with the rest of their lives. jenna. i smell a made-for-tv movie. ron, thank you very much. for a check of the morning s other top stories, we turn to cnbc s melissa francis at the news desk. good morning, guys. good morning, everyone. a millionaire developer who lived in the same central florida development as tiger woods was convicted of murdering his wife in their mansion. janet shamlian has the story from orlando. reporter: in an emotion packed trial, bob woodward was stoic. a jury found him guilty of second degree murder in the death of his wife. his two daughters were in the courtroom, both of them crying and upset. the jury has found you guilty. reporter: it has been called a murder motivated by money. diane was found dead in the couple s lavish home, days before she was expected to testify in a deposition related to her husband s bankruptcy. on the day she died, ward told a 9/11 dispatcher he shot his wife. a call played during the trial. i shot my wife. did you what? i just shot my wife. reporter: ward later claimed it was an accident and in a jailhouse phone call, said his wife had taken her own life. diane killed herself tonight. i have nothing to be worried about, other than that i just tried to get the gun out of her hand. reporter: the trial was marked by drama. ward never took the stand, his attorneys did have to silence him during an outbreak. bob ward faces up to life in prison, he ll be sentenced in november. his attorney says they ll appea appeal. landing in dense fog has killed all 19 people on board on a sightseeing plane in nepal. two americans were among the victims. it was taking tourists to see mt. everest. diana nyak is pushing on. about halfway through a grueling 103-mile swim from cuba to florida. at this pace, she hopes to complete her record-setting swim on monday morning. and finally, saturday night live opened its 37th season with the disputed hosting record. alec baldwin hosting for the 16th time, planned to break steve martin s record, martin challenged baldwin to make sure the claim was legitimate. that s ridiculous. i m hosting completely steroid free. then you won t mind giving us a little sample. baldwin passed the drug test, overseen by alleged expert seth rogan. just like lester and matt, right? back over to lester, jenna, and janet. oops. what did i say? you missed the part where he actually drank from the cup. did he? we are on at 8:00 in the morning. janua janice huff with a check of the 70 degrees in our nation s capitol. lots of 60s for the suburbs. out in west virginia, some 50s out there. ocean city, 69. clouds will be in the forecast today. some light rain farther to the west. don t be surprised by a shower. honestly, i think most of the day is just going to be cloudy. highs around 76 downtown to 77 in leesburg. martinsburg, west virginia, you ll work on a high now here is lester. janice, thanks. up next, did he kill michael jackson? the trial of dr. conrad murray begins this week. a preview, after this. capital one s new cash rewards card gives you a 50% annual bonus! so you earn 50% more cash. according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody. would you like 50% more cash? no! but it s more money. 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[ female announcer ] the accufit digital system, exclusively at lenscrafters. is about 5 times more precise than manual measurement techniques. lenscrafters. it s been more than two years since michael jackson died and this week the doctor accused of taking his life begins a trial that will be watched around the world. i told the truth. reporter: did this man kill michael jackson? a jury of seven men and five women will have to answer that question, as the biggest trial since casey anthony gets under way this week out in california. not guilty. reporter: murray, who pleaded not guilty and has been out on $75,000 bail, was the singer s personal physician, and back in 2009, he was accused of giving jackson a fatal dose of the powerful adrug propofol. prosecutors must prove he created a high risk of death when he gave the dose of drug to the singer. they plan to show that jackson gave the dose himself. he faces a maximum of four years in prison. the case has attracted worldwide attention and cast light on the final days of jackson s life. at the time of his death, jackson was 50. on the verge of a comeback and rehearsing for a series of shows in london. jackson s legacy endures, his estate this year, valued at more than $200 million. famous for his moves, his music, and his mystique, this ground-breaking artist continues to inspire. his death was a tragedy, and we may soon know if it is also a crime. with us now, defense attorney and legal analyst karen desoto. why not murder in this case? it s funny. i actually asked myself that a lot in this case. because the prosecutors could have upgraded this to second degree murder, and the way they could have done that, because he s a doctor doing it in the course of a felony, you can upgrade that to second degree murder. however, this case they went with manslaughter and i think one of the reasons for that is that probably a lot easier for them to make the proofs out for manslaughter than it is for the more serious charge of second degree murder. what do prosecutors have to do here to convict? what are they looking for here? they really don t have to do a lot. manslaughter is kind of like negligence. okay. killing without malice and, therefore, they just have to pro prove that he did not wasn t using the ordinary care and he caused the death of michael jackson. and it s a very serious charge, because he s a doctor, and the doctors will probably hold him liable and to a higher standard because he was his doctor. he should have known better, should know exactly what he was doing. it s kind of similar to the indications we have with duis. go, have a couple of drinks, get in your car, kill a couple people. you didn t intend to kill them, but you will be held liable for ambulance. if prosecutors going for manslaughter over murder, because it s easier, that puts a lot of pressure on the defense now. they have to hurry up, get this done, get this done right. right. one of the in california, they don t exactly have the best track record, and the two other cases which was elvis presley, they didn t fare very well in trials, and because it s a celebrity case, a lot of pressure on the defense, because of so many factors, because of the propofol, it should have been done in a hospital, he wasn t even licensed in california. if you are not licensed, you shouldn t be administering prescribed drugs. his argument will probably be, hey, i was trying to wean him off it. but it should have been in a hospital. these are really bad factors for the defense. a lot to factor in. karen, thank you very much. we ll take a break. we ll be back after this but, first, these messages. [ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we d be on location for 3 days, it s been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don t have to worry about a late fee. which is good. no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] .because i don t think we re going anywhere for a while. [ male announcer ] write your story with the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. get started at citisimplicity.com. karen, thank you very much. still to come on today, amanda knox trial. amanda s parents join us live as her closing arguments set to begin. the big drama off screen. private lives of soap opera stars. first, these messages. get your cash back! oh, hi. which cash back booth looks better to you, chase freedom or the largest cashback card? oh, i ll try the largest. oh, that is too bad. apparently you don t know chase freedom guarantees you 1% cash back. 4 times more than the largest cash back card, which only gives you a quarter percent until you spend $3,000 every year. but have fun. bob and weave once you re in there. don t get short changed. get your cash back. chase freedom. 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[ multiple sounds making melodic tune ] [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, every innovation, every solution, comes together for a single purpose to make the world a safer place. that s the value of performance. northrop grumman. good morning. 8:26 on september 25th, 2011. i m angie goff. topping our news today, a d.c. man who gave beer to firefighters is speaking out. he gave the beer to engine 9 on u street thanking them for putting out a fire at his home. but the firefighters were disciplined for having the unopened six pack in their fridge. he feels terrible, saying the firefighters tried to refuse but he insisted that they take it. two exhibits featuring andy warhol go on display today. shadows is a 450-foot foot installation being displayed for the first time in his entirety. it s at the hirshhorn until january 15th. and at the east wing gallery until january 2nd. until january 2nd. a look at your, you re always looking ahead. to what s next. to what s possible confident. that taking action now, is the way to create. a better tomorrow. that s why we re announcing, that with the planned merger with t-mobile, at&t will begin bringing five thousand jobs to america from overseas. we will invest eight billion dollars more. and deploy the next generation of wireless broadband to nearly everyone in america. this investment will create as many as ninety-six thousand american jobs. here at at&t, we believe in the future. we re not hesitating. we re investing in america now. why? well, we know it s good business. because america. has always been. and always will be. a smart investment. at&t. stay with us. time to get a quick check on the day s forecast. kim martucci is standing by and feeling a little muggy out there, kim. it absolutely is, angie. good morning. we have lots of clouds, lots of humidity. temperatures holding steady in the 60s and even the 70s. 70 right now at reagan national. manassas and culpepper, 66 up the road in gaithersburg. a little patchy light rain in the area but heavy stuff off on the west. out towards war densville that s where the rain is steadyier. cloudy skies here. angie, we are working on a high of 76, which is right about where we should be for this time of year. back to you. sounds good, kim. thank you very much. well, we ve got a full hour of back on this sunday morning. september 25, 2011. the last full weekend of september. i can t believe we re almost to october already. i just feel like i made new year s plans yesterday. nice crowd enjoying that summer feeling on the plaza we thank them for coming out, hanging out. i m jenna wolfe along with lester holt. still to come, have we finally reached the ending with amanda knox? reaching the end of the appeals trial. the prosecution had its say over the last couple of days. and the american convicted of murder will soon know if she ll prevail, be in prison or be leased. the prosecution even took shots at the media, insisting it was knox that killed her roommate. the defense will get its turn coming up. we ll talk to her mom and dad about where they think things stand. on a much lighter note, i asked if you watch soap operas. time to come clean. maybe not now, back then? maybe back then. what was that one? one life to live? all my children ended on friday. but we have a new reality, dirty soap wait until you hear the brains behind it. it s a reality show about daytime tv stars and what they do to get ready to daytime tv. life off camera. morgan freeman made a bit of news, speaking out against the tea party. and he s also making news about his new film called dolphin tale. sat down with him, talked about the movie and his 40-year career. a quick little morgan freeman story? i wanted him to be the voice on my voice mail. i wanted my phone to pick up and be morgan freeman s voice. i don t know why. you should have asked him when he was here. clearly i lost some level of dignity. janice huff back with a check of the weather. glad you shared nah. check on the weather this morning. a bit muggy and breezy on the plaza and rest of the nation. look at temperatures. 70s in the northeast. not a lot of sun. maybe a bit. feels more like summer than fall. feels like fall across the upper midwest, great lakes, with highs in the 60s. watch out for a slight risk of severe weather along the lower mississippi river valley. we have a special guest with us today before we get to our local weather. this is andre simon, the ceo of women for women international. and you are going to chat about what your organization does. i hear it s great work. thank you so much. so excited to be here today. women to women international works with women survivors of war. help them to get back on their feet. do it thanks to supporters like amy and you support them for $30 per month on this training program. and i want amy to tell you about the run she organized. i heard about this run for the congress quoio for women. yesterday we had the sixth annual run for congo for women. every year, hundreds of weem come out, we all feel that to do nothing is stand alongside the oppressors. i heard you did a great job. we had a great turnout. thank you. amy and andre, thank you for being here. we brought we don t have a lot of rain across southern maryland. it is west of win chest or, pestering west virginia and far western virginia. high today working on 76. annapolis, your shy should be 75. mostly cloudy. not too many rain showers with an exception off and now here is lester. janice, thanks. now to amanda knox. prosecutors this italy tried to salvage the core of their case and argue the dna evidence does show the american murdered her british roommate. knox s lawyers are hoping the same evidence will exonerate her. we ll talk with her parents in a moment. first, keith miller joins us live from perugia with the latest. reporter: good morning, lester. prosecutors wrapped up the two-dame summation in the case by asking the court to extend the prison sentence on both amanda knox and her former boyfriend to life. which is 30 years behind bars here in italy. amanda knox showed no emotion as prosecutors requested life in prison. and also asked for 2 to 6 months of daytime solitary confinement. the maximum penalty, according to the prosecution, fits the crime. which they described as a senseless killing. calling the circumstantial evidence against knox and her boyfriend rock solid, the prosecution team spent two days attacking independent forensic scientists, and the defendants the prosecutor warned the judge and jury not to be deceived by the defendant s clean-cut appearance. promiscuous and a liar is how the prosecution described knox. knox s lawyers insist their client is innocent. the prosecution attempted to persuade the judge and jury that the case is sound, even though crucial dna evidence was declared unreliable by court-appointed forensic scientists. the prosecution contends knox and her former boyfriend murdered meredith kershner in a sex game gone wrong. dna on a bloody bra clasp found no link between the defendants and the victim. the prosecution dismissed the findi findings, saying the brutality of the crime deserves a life sentence. the case continues next week with a verdict due by the beginning of next month. knox is expected to address the court before the six jurors and two judges take the case and come up with a verdict, which we expect, lester, by the beginning of next month. keith miller, thank you. and how is amanda holding up, knowing a verdict could be days away? joining us now also from pergia are amanda s parents. thank you for joining us. good morning. kurt, if i can pick up with the last part of that report, that amanda may issue a declaration, speak to the court. do you know what she d want to say to the court? she s been thinking about it for over three months and it will probably be very heartfelt and take place just before the jury goes in to deliberate. one of the things that the prosecution noted was the influence of the media some would argue that influence was on the initial outcome with a lot of tabloid reporting in great britain and certainly italy. do you think the tone of the coverage has changed italy? and is that affecting this case at all? absolutely. the tone has changed and amazing to me at the beginning when this is the same prosecutor who was waving a british tabloid as evidence, and really talking and leaking and spreading lies, now that the press has finally found out the truth, you know, it s really against the press. are you referring to the independent report ordered by the court on the dna evidence which largely discredit thad, and, kurt, the prosecution is still sticking by its guns, saying that evidence was key. do you think that s the linchpin of their case? i think it s actually what is really the truth. i think the independent experts, the court-appointed experts came back with what the truth is, and it s what the defense experts had been telling us all along. so hopefully that s what they will see when they go in and deliberate. and monday they will hear from francesca lorasco, the lawyer from the kerchner family, acting almost in a prosecutorial role. at what point does the defense get to have its say? rafaele s team starts on tomorrow and our team starts on wednesday. how is amanda holding sn upi? the entire family has gathered there. how is she doing? she is hanging in there. she continues to do what she s done every day and has tried to stay strong and positive, it s hard for her. and knowing that her life is on the line is just excruciating, but she s doing what she needs to do. kurt, i have to think that friday s testimony was pretty tough, because a lot of it was not so much on the facts of the case, but on the character of your daughter. how tough was that for you to sit through? how tough it was for amanda? well, you know, as her parents, it was brutal. having your daughter considered like the devil and everything in between, you know, amanda found it extraordinarily tough on friday, saturday obviously was more technical and she did better after the hearing, but it s really tough having somebody call your daughter those types of things when you know she s innocent and she knows she is too. all right. we ll end the conversation there we appreciate you joining us. thank you so much for your time this morning. thank you for having us. we re back in a moment. first, these messages. are you ready for your big party today ? 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[ male announcer ] swiffer gives cleaning a whole new meaning. during the day, their lives are filled with scandals arc fairs, deceit and tears, but things are even more complicated when the who s who of daytime tv walk off the set. lather up . they are con artists and killers, broken hearts, stolen hearts and become heartthrobs over night. now fans get to see what these daytime stars are like off the set. first and foremost, i am not a prostitute in real life. that s a huge different. dirty soap the latest edition of the reality tv genre, premiering on e, it takes a look at some of daytime s hottest stars. i have no idea of what i have gotten myself into it. dirty soap comes at a pivot pivotal time. after 41 years, all my children aired its final episode on friday. and one life to live is set to sign off come january. a good chance for the daytime audience to see us in a different light. renewing interest in daytime tv is one of the reasons why general hospital s kiel monaco signed on to do the show. i felt like i f i could lend a helping hand in resurrecting a dying breed, i m not going to go down with the ship. and who better to produce a show like this than kelly ripa and mark consuelos. they serve as producers on the docu-series. we know the behind the scenes world so much because it was such a part of our lives for so many years. you see them dealing with work, dealing with marriages, the breakups of long-term relationships. days of our lives veteran says some of the love scenes can ruffle feathers at home with his wife. there are times that arise that, you know, she ll be watching the show and then there i am and we re kissing. i know that s not comfortable for her. it s not comfortable for me. and viewers get to see this play out for real. i like your lips on my lips, not hers. i don t like it. i m sorry. that s the job i signed up for. soap supercouple nada and brandon promise to give an honest look to offscreen romance. you get to see she looks beautiful in the morning, even without makeup. thank you, honey. die wear sweatpants and fuzzy socks once in a while. all the time. chloe would never do that. dirty soap promises to dish all of the dirt on a genre that s been part of the american culture for decades. giving a first look at divas in the real world. two more stars of dirty soap now joining us. good morning to both of you. good morning. a behind-the-scenes look at daytime tv. scripted tv, reality tv and now this is combining both for you guys. what s that like? a soap opera behind a soap opera. we ve been doing this for over ten years and i ve always said there, should be a show about the behind the scenes, almost more dramatic than it is on the screen. and sure enough, it s happening. i think it s a it s an interesting time for the show to come about, because of all of the soap cancelations. but hopefully this can revive the soaps that are still left on the air. probably a nice boost for daytime tv. we hope. i think so. we should mention, you guys are a couple offscreen and onscreen as well. i think that s why we got picked for the show. the very first time we ever kissed was on tv. and that s how you met and started dating? yeah. so what s that like? you have cameras during the day and you go home, more cameras what s that like? we re getting used to it. i have a hard time flipping the switch. sometimes we ll be at work, emotional scenes, she s angry at me. and i feel like she s mad in real life. that s interesting. life can be skewed. yeah. sometimes i m like is farah okay? what s happening right now? are you in counseling, you re good? we re fine. the hardest thing about going from acting to not acting and being ourselves is just letting our guards down and letting ourselves become vulnerable to the public. so that s been weird. a few seconds left. i want to ask you this. what is the biggest miss c misconception? i don t know what the biggest misconception i think a lot of people think soap opera actors are bad actors. i disagree. we have to memorize a lot of lines, we get one take with multiple cameras so if there s ever a moment where you don t think we re doing our job, maybe we were really rushed that day and had 100 pages of dialog. we have to work fast. are you getting mad at me for some reason? we have to work fast. there say neat concept. i am looking ga towaforward to . it premieres tonight. i can say without being biased, it s really good. a good show. i ll tell you again. say it again. 10:00. dirty soap tonight 10:00, 9:00 central. they love it like real soap stars. up next, lester one-on-one with morgan freeman. first, these messages. [ laughs ] [ laughs ] [ laughs ] [ laughs ] that s awesome. you can read that? [ female announcer ] the accufit digital system, exclusively at lenscrafters. is about 5 times more precise than manual measurement techniques. lenscrafters. earlier this week, i sat down with morgan freeman, academy award winning actor. freeman, has had many memorable roles, said the one he played in his new film is very special. preposterous anyway, trying to put a tail on a fish. nobody in his right mind would even try. luckily, i m not. not what? in my right mind. so what does that mean? you re going to you re going to try? well, i ve got some vacation time coming up. but i m not making any promises. that means she likes you. well, imagine my delight. the movie based on the true story of winter the dolphin. great to have you here. good morning, lester. this is a neat film. winter the dolphin is the real dolphin from the real story, got edge ta entangled in a crab trabp. you play the doctor. dolphin is so sensitive, we couldn t get her to accept something on her. they had to develop something new, and it s really soft. a prosthetic tail. yeah, but it had to have a sock before you could attach it. something on her, between her and the prosthetic. so that she would accept it. quite a cast, harry connick and ashley judd. third film with her. was that a draw when they told you you were going to star? absolutely. absolutely. if she s going to be in it, i m coming. what s she like to work with? one of the brightest, beautifulest, and deeply committed women i ve ever met. some of the young actors were intimidated to be on set with you. do you feel the need to disarm them, let them know you re a real guy? sometimes i feel the need to disarm everybody, quickly, to let them know i m a real guy. i go on set, and meet everybody, how are you doing? glad handing everybody, and this guy will say, i m so-and-so, and i ll say don t touch me. come on, you ve played nelson mandela. you ve played god. that has a way of intimidating people. and then the voice. the gravitas. yes, of course. every review of this movie uses the term family movie. family movies have become animated. you don t see many films like this anymore. that was appealing to you? yes it was. it s large appeal to me. i have great grandchildren. in the movie, we were teaching kids things. for instance, when i was a kid, it was a foregone conclusion that crime didn t pay. now we re not so sure. and some parents will remember you from electric company. i grove on all the words around do people still make that connection? yes. and a lot of parents now and grandparents. it s always a delight to be in your company. we appreciate you stopping by. my walgreens pharmacist recommends bubble gum flavor. and patience. mine recommends antacid tablets and only one taco. [ female announcer ] walgreens pharmacists also recommend you try walgreens brand health & wellness products. they have the same active ingredients as other brands and cost less. and now you can save big on walgreens brand pain relief products. through october 1st, buy one, get one free. walgreens. there s an everyday way to well. if you sleep in your contact lenses. lucky for you, air optix brand has a lens approved for up to 30 days and nights of continuous wear. [ male announcer ] that s why they re recommended most for people who sleep in their lenses. visit airoptix.com for a free one-month trial offer. today nbc news kicks off its second annual education nation summit. students, parents, and teachers will come down here to discuss the challenges facing our schools. we invited the public to join in, turning rockefeller center into a huge interactive experience. rehelma ellis joins us with more. good morning. tell me more about this, the education nation summit and the interactive part of it. this is called the education experience. an opportunity for people to take a journey if you will, on the level of education is like in our country. some great things as arnie duncan says, but they are the exceptions, not the rule. we want to show people what is actually happening with us. what are the good things going on. what things do we need to do better? 43% of kids who are college bound are not really ready for college or career ready according to the s.a.t.s. we have to do more to get our kids ready, not just for college, but for career and the workplace afterward. this is a great place to do that and get started doing it. a number of interactive pods. one right here. this is i heard you talking here. a lot of interactive different pieces that go on. there is. this is what s called a listener test. a good learner test. you take tests to see if you are a good learner, what kind of learner you are? absolutely. as to whether or not you re a physical learner, with hands on, or all about audio or visual. we need to see things in order to really grasp it. you can find that out. the point it all to find three days and a million dollars or millions of dollars raised. today the susan g. komen three day wraps up right here in washington. we re live from where the participants are headed as we speak. good morning. i m angie goff. josh fattal and shane bauer are expected to land in new york after