Rush was worth it today, sunday, august 25th, 2013. From nbc news, this is today with lester holt and erica hill, live from rockefeller plaza. And welcome to today on this sunday morning. Im erica hill. And aisle carl in for lester holt. Along with dylan dryer. Its a tough situation for the firefighters trying to get a handle on the massive fire burning in Yosemite National park. Officials say its created its own weather pattern making it too unpredictable to control. Were going to get the latest in just a moment. Scary stuff there. Also ahead this morning, the escalating situation in syria. Defense secretary chuck hagel saying today the u. S. Military is ready to act if ordered to do so by the president. He says all options are being considered at this point. We are live in the region with new development. Plus, well take you to an emotional Memorial Service that was held saturday for the mother and brother of kidnapped teen Hannah Anderson. Tough one there. Well bring you the very latest on that. And also, im not sure if youve heard these statistics, but its actually more difficult to get into than harvard, that is the storied nbc page program, a launching pad for a number of successful careers. We this morning are celebrating 80 years of the page program. Lester wasnt allowed to wear that uniform until we did this segment a couple weeks ago. Well show you how we suited up. Also rocked that. That was fun. First, tom castellos got the very latest. Tom, good morning. Reporter carl, good morning. Its now one of the biggest fires in california history. 6600 residents are under evacuation advisories, advisories, not orders. Meanwhile the fire continues to grow now about the size of chicago. In Northern California, they fear the afternoon winds that carry the embers fanning the flames and the anxiety of nervous homeowners watching this fire from a nearby ridge. What happens we get up on top here, it will make a run. Just make an inrun into so no ra. Reporter this retired firefighter has been listening to the radio traffic between helicopters and ground crews. Im a little concerned. Im a little concerned. Ive got animals and need to get them out. I would be gone if i lived right there. Reporter with strike teams standing by to protect nearby homes, more than 2,700 firefighters are battling this fire. Now more than 200 square miles and growing. That is unreal. Reporter on the southern flank near Yosemite National park, its mostly isolated. The tourist areas of the park safe. The commanders say so far its burning stanislaus and yosemite. About 2,000 structures remain threatened. Those are along the front of the fire. Also of concern, three dozen ancient sequoia trees, like these, not in immediate danger, but rangers are taking steps to protect them. And in this Northern California ranch country, along with the people animals are also at risk. The horses were just nuts and galloping around. We could hardly catch them. Beautiful country out there. Its gods country. To see it get devastated like this is horrible. Reporter back to the winds, were expecting them again today. 30 to 40 miles per hour. They are likely to fan the flames yet again making life very difficult for these firefighters. Guys, back to you. That is a tough situation. Tom cost ello. Defense secretary chuck hagel says the u. S. Is preparing for always options as speculation rises as the u. S. Is planning to strike. This as doctors inside syria confirm they treated thousands of people who were victims of what appears to be a chemical attack. Our chief foreign correspondent, richard ang eng l is in turkey near the border this morning. Richard, whats the latest . Reporter weve spoken to senior members, erica, of the Syrian Opposition. They fear that if there is no action taken, no response to what they firmly believe was a chemical weapons attack, that there could be other attacks. That Bashar Al Assads regime could be emboldened and decide to use these same type of weapons against civilians in another circumstance. They also say that over the last several days they have received large shipments of weapons, tons of weapons, going to the Syrian Opposition coming through turkey, in fact coming through this area. And they also say that they believe they have evidence that Bashar Al Assad personally ordered the alleged Chemical Attacks on the outskirts of damasc damascus. They said they have evidence, they didnt specify what evidence, but they have evidence that it was bashar personally. That is a pretty strong statement were hearing. One i know people want to hear more about. Richard, thank you. David gregory, moderator of meet the press. Good morning. A year ago the president said the red line would be chemical weapons. There is a waiting period right now. The president saying waiting to confirm essentially that this is what happened. But theres also a lot more pressure. He met with his National Security team yesterday. Is there a sense of where things are headed at this point . Because the clock is clearly ticking. I think theyre headed toward some kind of limited strike. But the president s being cautious. According to everybody i talk to whos familiar with these deliberations, theres a lot of attempt by the president to look around the corner, to try to understand both what they seek to accomplish with a military strike of any kind and what the ramifications would be, what the consequences would be. Part of making the case what is gathering steam is the idea you have jihadist elements coming to syria because its so unstable. And that that gets to our Core National interests. You have chemical weapons in the mix, falling into potentially the wrong hands. And, yes, the predicament of the red line. And his overall belief wmd cannot be tolerated. An active effort to make sure iran doesnt get a nuclear weapon, use of wmd in syria has gotten to a cost, a level of cost thats simply unbearable. So at this point then, david, is there a new red line for the president . No, i dont think youre hearing that. I think the president s been careful to say that this is of grave concern and that hes talking about a threat to u. S. Allies, hes talking about a threat to u. S. Bases. That has been suggested to me as sort of the making of a case for action by the international community. He spoke to british Prime Minister david cameron. Theres going to be an attempt to build support within the international community. Again, for some kind of limited strike. I think its important to point out what this would not mean. I think the overall effort here is to try to punish assad, to try to roll him back. We are not talking about the kind of intervention that would lead to a longterm intervention or even a longterm involvement with what is considered to be a civil war there. So it would be unsatisfactory to a lot of people in terms of stopping the bloodshed. I think the president wants to do something here that punishes assad and sends a message. David, were pretty tight on time, but i have to ask you quickly. As we look at the options here, theres a lot of talk and comparison this weekend over what happened with president clinton in kosovo, is that a potential route youre hearing . I think limited air strikes is a potential route. Beyond that, that level of intervention becomes a much different matter. Also a lot of talk of course about Domestic Support as well for this. David, thanks. Well check in with you in just a bit for a preview of whats coming up on meet the press. Big news out of egypt this morning. Tom yamis in for jenna on that. Good morning, everyone. The first day of the longdelayed retrial of former egyptian president hosni mubarak. He appeared in a courtroom caged today three days after being released from prison. Hes due back in court in september on charges he conspired to kill protesters during the 2011 uprising that led to his ouster. Back here in the states, the mother and brother of kidnapped survivor Hannah Anderson were remembered in an emotional funeral. This happened saturday. Our joe prior has that story. Reporter for Hannah Anderson and her family, it was a time to remember the two victims who never had a chance to be rescued. For the deaths of tina and ethan, there are no easy words. Reporter Christina Anderson was 44 years old but never lived down that nickname. After she was born two months premature. She was a devoted mother and a wonderful person. Reporter her son, ethan, was only 8 years old and loved football so much his teammates showed up to pay their respects in their uniforms. We will miss them forever. We will always remember them and ask what could have been. Reporter from the front row surrounded by her grandparents, hannah listened to the tributes. And a few days earlier in an exclusive interview with totod offered some of her own. For her mother. She was strong hearted and very tough. Reporter and for her brother. He had a really big heart. Amazing grace reporter on this day they said their goodbyes knowing tina and ethans ashes are joined together creating a permanent bond that wont be broken. Joe fryer, nbc news, california. The 12yearold boy from florida who is battling a rare braineati ining parasite has d. He was being treated with an experimental drug that worked in a similar case in arkansas. Family members believe he was infected while knee boarding with friends in a waterfilled ditch earlier this month. The donald is heading to court for allegedly running a phony university. New York Attorney general filed the suit saying Donald TrumpsInvestment School promises to make students rich and get them apprenticeships. Instead it skured them into expensive seminars. Trump says the lawsuit is false and politically motivated. You dont have to be a golfer to appreciate this one. Consecutive holes in one on the par 3, 14th hole during the third round of barclays. About 20 minutes later both understandably pumped after that one. But imagine troy. He gets that holeinone. And everyone is going crazy for the other holeinone. Wait a minute. I did it first. Two rounds is the way to go. There you go. Works for me. Tom, thanks. Dylan is here with a check of the weather wearing a very nice sweater which should tell us something. We had no choice after yesterdays debacle. Being this cold in august, what is going on . It is cool and dry in the northeast. It is hot and dry out west. That is not helping firefighters with the fire fighting, especially out near yosemite where it is going to be in the mid80s again today. Winds will gust up to 25 to perhaps 40 miles per hour. And humidity is only at 20 . So extremely dry and windy conditions out that way. On the flip side of that, further southwest we have the remnants of what was evo, Tropical Storm evo now pushing the moisture into the southwest. Over the course of the next few days we could end up with about three to five inches of rainfall in that area. That is why flood watches and flash flood watches have been posted across parts of california, nevada and into arizona. Elsewhere, the rest of the countrys actually looking pretty quiet except for areas in the Northern Plains and upper midwest where we could see some stronger thunderstorms later on today with gusty winds and hail. Both a and thats your latest forecast. Carl. Dylan, thanks. Now to a stunning admission by former heavyweight boxing champion, miketyson. In a surprising News Conference tyson revealed hes been lying about being sober and said hes on the verge of dying. More now from michelle franzen. Reporter it was more selfconfession than fight promotion. Thats danger up here. Right. It wants to kill everything. It wants to kill me too. Reporter mike tyson was once the most feared man in the ring, the youngest heavyweight champion winning his first 19 fights by knockout, 12 of them in the first round. But fame and fortune brought trouble and soon his personal life overshadowed his hall of fame career. I havent drank or took drugs in six days. And for me thats a miracle. Reporter hes on his third marriage and has served three years on a rape conviction. Im a bad guy sometimes. And i did a lot of bad things. And i want to be forgiven. Reporter after prison tyson tried to revive his care. But even inside the ring he couldnt escape the bizarre, like when he bit a chunk out of Evander Holyfields ear, or appeared with this friegghtenin tattoo on his face. But he was able to remake himself as an actor. Appearing in movies and on tv. With the help of spike lee he even had his own oneman show on broadway. Mike tyson, you just never know, hes been so many personas. There have been so many mike tysons over the years that you never know whats genuine. Reporter friday we saw the latest latest encarnation. The fight he was backing ended in a no decision. And as fortysons future, no decision on that either. I want a sober life. I dont want to die. Im on the verge of dying because im a vicious alcoholic. And ive been wow. Ive been, god, this is interesting stuff. Reporter for today, michelle franzen, nbc news. Hope he gets it together in the near future. Up next on today, i want my mtv. A sneak peek at all the surprises in store at tonights mtv Video Music Awards right after this. 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And zyrtec® is different than claritin® because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. Zyrtec® love the air. If there is one thing you can count on when it comes to the mtv video awards its that you really cant count on anything. Truly unpredictable. Ten years have proven that. Some big surprises probably in store for tonight. E correspondent alicia is here. Leave it to mtv, marking the 30th anniversary by making history. Theyre becoming becoming the first live show to broadcast from the borough of brooklyn. M it tvs music video awardses has always been the place for the hottest artists debuting music, memorable performances and iconic moments. In 2003 there was that Britney Spears m spears madonna kiss. Kanye west interrupting taylor swifts acceptance speech in 2009. Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. Reporter beyonce chose the 2011 vmas to reveal her baby bump. Now with the always unpredictable lady gaga scheduled to open this years show, the tradition of spectacular vma moments is sure to continue. Katy perry and lady gaga, whose singles have come out at the same time, who will both be performing their songs live on stage for the first time and who are both known for weird, wild, and wonderful outfits. Were rocking body to it body reporter celebrating its 30th anniversary the vmas are pulling out all the stops honoring pop, rock, and hiphop videos. And youre going to see major league artists this year launching the campaign for their records and singles. Fireworks reporter joining katy perry and lady gaga with albums coming out soon, Justin Timberlake w. H tonight timberlake will be prese presented with the Michael Jackson video vanguard award where he is expected to be joined with former band maids n sync. Then theres miley cyrus whose new cd drops in october. The 20yearold is performing at the vmas for the first time, and shes nominated for three awards, including one for best song of the summer. Miley is definitely going to step out tonight. I can tell you that much. Its not the Hannah Montana myley that you are familiar with. Reporter she is facing tough competition against one directions best song ever. And we dance all night to the best song ever reporter and blurred lines. That tune by robin thicke we cant get enough of. I know you want it great. Theres a song ill have in my head the rest of the day. All day long. One direction or blurred lines . Will you be watching tonight . I think i might be. I havent watched in a while. The gaga perry showdown. Im a gaga guy. KaCarl Quintanilla gaga guy. She and katy perry are seated next to each other. I saw that. And also taylor swift is seated very close to connee west. Interesting. Ill be doing recertificate is of. The n sync thing, theyre together but we havent confirmed theyre performing . They have one tweet and it says, mike check, is this thing on. Is this really their account . Justins seat is four seats next to them. I see your heart is beating faster. Im watching for you. Alicia, thanks. Have fun tonight. Just ahead, 4,000 daredevils in front of some raging animals. Sounds like a great way to spend your saturday, right . [ bats squealing ] we werent really morning people. Were vampires after all. Then we tried this nutrigrain fruit crunch bar. Its so crunchy. Crunchy granola, mmmm. Made with real fruit, 20 grams of whole grains. Now, we love mornings. Its amazing what were getting done. [ laughs ] whoa. Slow down, boy. Mornings. Who knew . Kelloggs nutrigrain fruit crunch. Love the morning. [ villain ] well mr. Baldwin. It appears our journey has come to a delightful end. Then i better use the capital one purchase eraser to redeem my venture miles for this trip. Purchase eraser . Its the easy way to erase any recent travel expense. I just pick a charge, like my flight with a few taps, its taken care of. Impressive baldwin. Does it work for hotels . Absolutely thank goodness. Mrs. Villain and i are planning our. You scare me. And i like it. Lets go whats in your wallet . Still whatcha got there, duke . Jay and duke talking action figures. My idea. Love it lets see what i say. Roll that beautiful bean footage [ jay ] bushs Country Style baked beans are slow cooked according to our secret family recipe with specially cured bacon and extra brown sugar for a thicker sauce and richer taste. The secret family recipe starts with beans and. Batteries not included. Aw, youre no fun. [ jay ] enjoy bushs baked beans. Still made from our secret family recipe. Good morning to you. Looking live at where the Golden Gate Bridge should be. If there only was a little less fog. Thanks for joining us. Im kris sanchez along with anthony. How long do you think it will stick around . Probably until about 11 00. Really thick, and were seeing airport delays. Right now, about an hour on arriving flights. Temperatures are not too mild or not too cool, rather. Temperatures yesterday at this time were about 10 degrees cooler. Already 65 degrees in san jose. 66 in livermore. San francisco at 64 degrees. The clouds are thick, drizzle is going to be with us until about 11 00, right up against the coastline. We have an hour delay on arriving flights at sfo. Later, after 11 00, well start to break out with sunshine earlier in the south and east bay, thats when temperatures warm back to the 70s and 80s. San francisco today, 66. Santa rosa back to 80. Temperatures climb each and every day, but not a major warmup this week. Next friday, looks like another su system will hug the coast. Thank you. We continue to follow a developing story. The massive rim fire has scorched more than 200 square miles, bigger than the entire area of the city of san jose. Some 5500 homes are threatened and right now, its only 7 contained. An improvement over yesterday. Crews are working tirelessly, clearing brush and setting sprinklers to protect two groves of giant sequoias. Park Officials Say theyre hopeful because the fire is moving away from the iconic trees. Were optimistic about that. The fire likely is not to reach those, but if it does, were ready for that. The fire is also burning just four miles from the reservoir which supplies most of san franciscos water. So far, though, the water is not affected. Now to san jose where the search is on for the suspect who shot and killed a man in broad daylight. This happened in downtown yesterday afternoon near third and julian streets about four blocks from san jose state university. Police say the victim was shot at least once and rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. His identity has not been released. People in a nearby building heard the gunfire. We heard seven gunshots while we were in class and really surprising to hear them so close by. So then the instructor went out and checked out what he could see and came in and shut the door and called 911. This shouldnt be happening at all. And they need to do something about it. People, i mean, bullets dont have names on them. People walk down the street, and bullets are flying. Anyone can get hit. Anyone can be hurt. Investigators say they are interviewing witnesses to try to piece together what may have led to the shooting. Coming up at 7 00 on today in the bay, looking back on history and the legacy of dr. Martin luther king jr. Ahead of the 50th anniversary ahead of the historic i have a dream speech. Right now, more of the today show. Oh, my word youre taking a look at some of the 4,000 people in rural virginia this weekend taking the bulls by the horn. Major adrenaline rush for them as they literally run for their lives. The running of the bulls in america. We have a closeup look at all of that just ahead. But first we welcome you back to today on this sunday morning, august 25th, 2013. It is a beautiful, sunny day here in manhattan. Its a little bit warmer and less of a windchill than yesterday. Were happy about that. We have a lovely crowd with us including some girl scouts from virginia. Are you guys saving your voiceses for later . There we go. There we go. Im erica hill along with Carl Quintanilla who is in for lester today. Tom llamas in for jenna and dylan, well, we are book ends holding down the fort. It was the job made famous or infamous on 30 rock, the nbc comedy. The Nbc Universal page program is Serious Business and today were marking a major milestone, 80 years. Which is pretty impressive. Thats a long time. And really famous faces who began their careers as nbc pages, people like regis philbin, our own Willard Scott the, just to name a few. So hester and i thought we would try our hands, try to follow in their footsteps for a day. Let me tell you, though, its only because we work here they would let us do that. Lester tried, he got the rejected out of college. I never would have made the cut. It is not easy to get into. Well tell you a little bit of why as we celebrate 80 years of pages. That looks like a lot of fun. It was a fun day. They were very kind to us. Also ahead, many families are trying to squeeze in one last road trip before summer wraps up. Coming up, well tell you with an app that will make those long hours together much more fun. Erica, you probably have heard, are we there yet . I need this. Were about to take a 12hour drive to see my inlaws in indianapolis. So, mario, help us. And these guys havent met a pair of leotards that they dont like. You mean carl and tom . Yes. And these guys, theyve made it to the semifinals of americas got talent with their unique mix of aerobic strength and humor and theyre here in bright, shiny pants and all to put on a little bit of a show for us. Amazing. They have nothing on me and carl. Nothing. Nothing. Core strength, erica. Were looking forward to your performance a little bit later. Before we get to that dylan has a final check of the forecast. It is a really nice day in the northeast. I found this day over here with his awesome sunglasses. You know all the president s . Yeah. Who is our current president . Barack obama. Who was our first president . George washington. Who was our 15th president . You can say anything. The most of us dont know. I want to hear the rest of those 44 president s. We are going to see some pretty hot temperatures right in the middle of the country. Thats where it still feels like summer. Temperatures will be about 15, almost 20 degrees above normal with highs today in the mid to upper 90s, high humidity. So it is going to be brutally hot out that way so naturally we do have excessive heat watches and warnings up across minnesota, parts of wisconsin, and into iowa as well. Theres also in that same area the chance where we could see some strong storms this afternoon and the chance of some hail and also some and todays top spot comes to us from alaska. Our affiliate ktuu and the alaska state fair in palmer, alaska, is right outside of anchorage. The fair seen this year is fun matters which i think should be the theme every year. Coming up eny great alaskan food and entertainment along with an appearance by the legendary bill cosby. So our friends at ktuu will be at the fair all day and theyre also celebrating their 60th anniversary. Really a great event. Erica . Sounds like a great day. Quite the scene in virginia on saturday. Thousands of people from across the country turning out for what they said was the thrill of a lifetime, getting chased by a pack of charging bulls. Hmm. The our own daredevil Kerry Sanders was there for it all. Reporter the running of the bulls, american style. On a quarter mile dirt track in virginia, 4,000 people paid 75 for the adrenaline rush of risking it all. What would your mom think . Oh, she didnt want me to come. Reporter the cowboys who wrangled these bulls say theyre surprised some of those who chose to run. Some people in here looked like they couldnt run to a buffet but theyre in here running with the bulls. Reporter unlike the spanish version, the bucking bulls from the rodeo circuit do not have their horns sharpened. They are not jolted with electricity to make them run, and theyre not killed in a bullfight afterwards. Still, protesters say its abuse. We are becoming more conscious of Animal Welfare and animal suffering at an event like this. It takes a step backwards. Reporter some runners strapped cameras to their heads like best friends luke and evan. It was a lot of fun. The bulls are going it to keep coming. You have to worry about everyone else crossing in front of you, jumping for the fence. Are. Reporter all fun until its not. Several people thought they could outrun the animals. But bulls run 35 miles per hour, as fast as a gold medal olympic sprinter. Two people were taken to the hospital. You knew some people would get injured . Of course. Its a dangerous event and we said that up front. Reporter an event scheduled to take place in nine more cities around the country. And just like in spain after the running with the bulls theres a tomato fight. Look at you. I know. I got hit in the mouth, hit this the head. Reporter a spanish tradition no longer just for spain. For today, Kerry Sanders, nbc news, near petersberg, virginia. Good call on kerrys part to bring the goggles. The hurricane gear for the tomato fight. The. Some the bulls, the look in the eyes are like you are mine. If i was a bull, thats what i would think, too. You idiot, why would you want me chasing you . Have you seen my horns . I can run 35 miles per hour. Are what are you thinking . A little bit of fun, though. Looks like fun. The ambulance is the tip. The horns werent sharpened, guys. Its not that bad. So well cheer you on next year. Let us know. Youll give us the exclusive aft after . Youve got it. Okay, mark your calendars everybody. Up next, the travel app to turn those endless hours on the road into a fun adventure for the. [ female announcer ] its time healthy gets a dose of happy. New yoplait greek. Byebye, stir. So long, sour. Hello, happy. Its time to lick the lid again. Maybe we could read together . What the . Is that halo . I did not see that coming. You have outlook . And full office . Wow you are a real pc. Lets just go back to reading. Actually, dont read that. Back now where marios top three. If youre about to pack the kids in the car for one last summer road trip, you may want to think about a few fun detours along the way. Kind of like this memorable scene from National Lampoons vacation. I saw the detour signs. I didnt see any. I saw them when you and mom were looking at the map. Aud ree, they put up big signs like this one. Maybe not quite like that. Todays digital lifestyle is along with tech trends. Thats a classic. Classic picture. We have gps now, we have google map. None of that should happen again. Some of these apps are trying to prevent moments like that. And help you discover things you dont normally think about. This is called road trippers, with an s. Its free. Its on the ipad. Entertain, food, nature services. Lets say i wanted to find shopping. And i wanted to do antique shopping. I could go antique shopping in new york. Its going to pull up a map instantly. And its going to show me exactly where that is on the map. So do you need to know in advance what you want to see . Or can you say show me anything on this particular route . Show me anything on this particular route, show me things im not aware of that i would like to uncover and discover in that area. Then i can say things all the way down to my phone as a little bucket list so i can go back to it later. Thats a great tip. Youve got a new category of toy called the convertible. Yes. Not a car. What is that . It seems like a car thing. No, its a laptop. This is something that came out about a year or so ago. What makes it convertible is the fact you can now with a lot of the different designs of these computers, fully bend this, carl, so it flips into a complete pad. Hello. Its a full blown laptop, it has touch, over 100,000 apps on this. Easy to carry. Great battery life. Great battery life. 900. Yeah. Its very light. You can get it online for about 200 less. You can find it for around 700. Interesting. Some new toys maybe for christmas. Finally, the Huffington Post is going to stop using anonymous comments on their site. Yes. You can see how the game has changed and its gotten nasty. It is. This is an effort to control the nastiness. Weve seen vicious comments, racist comments, ignorant comments and it was about trying to have an intelligent discourse for stories on the web. So this isnt banning all comments. Its banning anonymous comments. What that means is now you have to have a real user name attached with who you are. But as we all know, you can circumvent that with a fake email address. Its easy to start a new account and operate under a fake account. It is. But its a big step for a Big Media Company to say we have to step up and figure out how to have intelligent conversations. Whats your best advice to people victims of rude comments online . Take a deep breath, step away from it. If you feel its Cyber Bullying and youre feared for your safety, alert authorities. If someones trashing your names, you need to look at reputation services, like reputation. Com. Thank you so much, mario armstrong. Just ahead, yes, theyre Successful Network news anchors, but can erica and lester make the grade when they try the nbc page. Well find out after this. You like to keep your family healthy and fit. Do the same for your dog. Introducing purina dog chow light healthy. Its a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend. With 20 fewer calories than dog chow. New purina dog chow light healthy. We are celebrating a big milestone around here. Its the 80th anniversary of the nbc page program. Gives College Graduates a chance to work behind the scenes for up to a year here at nbcu. Its an incredible experience. This morning that loud noise you hear are the more than 100 pages current and form er who are joining us on the plaza, all of these lovely people in green tshirts back here. Theyre here to help us celebrate. Before we get to that, we wanted to given you a little history of the program and also lester and i thought even if we couldnt have made the cut before, they have to let us in now so we tried our hand at being pages for a day. 30 rock may have introduce d tv audiences to the nbc page dont tell me i dont have a dream, sir. I am living my dream. But the page program has been introducing aspiring broadcasters to the business since 1933. The nbc guides would have to be graduate engineers. Among the programs successful alums our own willard skart, kate jackson, and tv host regis philbin. I got a break on the eddie fisher show. Walked up the aisle to get into the elevator so they had a page and it was me, me, regis, holding the elevator for eddie fisher. Regis was on tv. Nbc start ed it all 80 years ag. Im proud to say i was part of it. Nbc has grown a lot since then and so have the page opportunities. My page say assignment is technical operations with nbc. Im on assignment. Right now on assignment with morning joe. To say the program is selective is an understatement. Its harder than getting into harvard. Of the 16,000 that apply each year fewer than 2 make the cut. Im living proof. I applied back in the 1970s only to be quickly rejected. Best revenge, im an anchorman at nbc news. An anchorman who has a suit that almost perfectly matches the page uniform. So why not try being a page for a day . Erica, you look perfect. Lester, we do need to change your tie. You dont like my tie . I love your tie. But this goes with the uniform. Okay. Ill hold your manual. With my tie ib you sorted it was on to the big test. Almost 200 pages of material every page has to prove they know. He definitely has the advantage. Hes been here, what, 13 years . The man has three shows. He could run the building. Okay. Well, here we go. How much did the current studio cost and when was it finished . September of 06. And a lot of money. 25 million. Really . I think i put 1 million. How many lights are in the studio . 300. Yes. Whats your answer, lesser . It was 72 but i was east only counting the lights on me. She studied. When did matt lauer become a coanchor on today. I said 97 by but i think its 94. Youve got it. We mew it was in 97. Of course we did. All that history and trivia is essential because pages are considered ambassadors here. They are often the first person people meet at nbc. And they, or are on this day, we, are the guides on it this popular tour. Its kind of fun for us. I think i need a lot of help. Do you have a trick for this . These are tricky. Is this new page hazing . Just a little . Its okay. I can take it. The neither of us had been on the tour but luckily these paying customers hadnt either. Its official. Once you get your stuff, you can come on this way. Thankfully we started the tour in a place we know well, the floor housing the nbc news headquarters. Well, welcome to our studio. This is where nbc nightly news is done. Thats the teleprompter so we dont have to memorize the news or read from the papers in front of us. And this is also reflected so its reflected up onto this. So far so good. The next stop, the today show. Normally we would take you right to the today show studio. Since erica and i work here, a little familiar with this place, we thought it might be fun for you to see the control room. Everybodys in here making sure the right video gets on at the right time. Typically we have a director who occupies one of these chairs, works with an assistant director. He has the road map are for the show. So this is studio 1a. Its a very fun place to be. A favorite moment . We had Lionel Richie on and he invited all of us here to participate, so he handed us maraccas and we danced. The moment of truth. I need to ask you how we did and i hope youll be kind. [ applause ] okay, im good with that, thanks. Lester, were done. This is good. Now you can add a fourth job to your roster. So it is a lot of fun, but its also a lot of hardork. During your years of page, most complete an average of three assignments. They have to apply for all of those jobs. They dont automatically get them but about threequarters are able to find jobs within the company at the end of their year. The joke this morning is theyre all here organizing each other. Exactly what theyre doing. And joining us now bonnie who took care of lester and i. You were very kind to us. Youre wrapping up pretty soon. In. One of my favorite things you did i have to say, you helped teach someone on saturday night live sign language. I did. Things have fallen into place in better ways than i could have imagined. I taught sign language right after i started the program. The director of the program got a call and asked if anyone knew how to do sign language. I happened to be the only one who did. I went down for a couple of days and now my work is a part of Television History which is incredible. As much as we love these, do you want to see the new uniform . Drum roll, please. What do you think . Did it improve it . You know what, i love the suits that were in right now. I think theyre very professi professional. The new suits are incredible. Theyre very tailored. I think the blue and gray is visually appealing. They have a design on the lap lapel the button is the original button from the 30s. Which i love. A cool addition. And how else do you celebrate . You bring in kate. I hope you like very small slices. Will it is. 80 years. Its such an honor for those of house were not part of the page program to celebrate this with all of you because we couldnt do what we do every day without what so many current and former pages do for us. So that you to everybody. Its an incredible program. Get your applications in now. [ female announcer ] did you know the average person smiles more than 50 times a day . So brighten your smile a healthy way with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. Its the only rinse that makes your teeth two shades whiter and two times stronger. Listerine® whitening. Power to your mouth. Kevin toaster strudel, yah . Warm, flaky, toaster strudel. [ female announcer ] now get two bonus box tops for your school. [ female announcer ] now get two bonus box tops [ female announcer ] now get two bhanes. Ox tops a perfect fit for every body. Now in colorful new styles. We dont spend money inventing phrases like triple jumbo giant roll to tell you scott 1000 has 1,000 sheets. Instead, we give you deals and rewards when you join scott shared values. Sign up at scottbrand. Com. See. 1000. They call they call themselves acrobatic comedians. A huge hit on americas got talent. They are a huge hit. Their acts combine strength, balance, a whole lot of fun, a fair amount of glitter. And now theyre doing pretty well on americas got talent. Theyre joining us this morning. Thank you for having us, guys. You guys are in a great spot right now moving into this competition. We were talking quickly during the break, youve been doing it 20 years. You never get nervous, you say. No. I think weve been doing it for such a long time that we know what to expect and we know how to prepare for it. And we get about as nervous as, i mean, do you get nervous when you take a shower . No. Youve done it a million times. Thats how we know. Were not showering at radio city with millions of people watching, which is probably better for everybody involved but we digress. Youve been doing this since you were very little kids, even though youre not brothers per se. Absolutely. Weve been doing this for about 20 years now. Just sticking with it. Its come so far and look where we are now. Just stick with it. Consistency is key, really. Weve got a little preview of you guys. But i think everybody heres dying to see you do some more. Absolutely. Show us what you got. That was amazing. You make it look so easy too. Yes. I like the little pillow too for the head. You have to have that. Well, you have to keep the hair yeah, its all about the hair. Great to have you with us on the plaza. Were looking forward to watching you later this week on americas got talent. Next tuesday and wednesday night 9 00, 8 00 central here on nbc. We will be watching. Well also be watching David Gregory on meet the press. What do you have coming up this morning . The latest on syria, but also our special program, looking at the state of the American Dream from civil rights to economic opportunity, even immigration. Ill sit down with georgia congressman john lewis as well as cory booker, louisiana governor bobby jindal and the special round table, reverend al sharpton, all coming up this morning on meet the press. David, thanks. Before we go, we want to raise a glass and say a special thank you for antwon, 17 years. Hes retiring today. You make every morning a pleasure. From day one youve been wonderful. Thank you so much. All of you. Thanks to my nbc family, and to my wife. Come back tomorrow. Well do this again. Have a great day everyone. Right now at 7 00 on today in the bay, the firefight continues near Yosemite National park as the rim fire continues to burn out of control. Well show you how crews are protecting the giant sequoias. In and the south bay, murdered murder murdered in broad daylight. And well look back on history. Well show you how thousands honored the legacy of dr. Martin luther king jr. Ahead of the 50th anniversary of his historic i have a dream speech. This is today in the bay. Good morning to you. And were looking live at the start of the day in the south bay. A little cloud cover, coo