Transcripts For WBAL Today 20091105

good morning. no waiting on wall street? as millions of americans wait to get the coveted swine flu vaccine, word this morning that some wall street firms have already received hundreds of doses for their high-risk employees. one bank even got more shots than a big new york city hospital. a cause for outrage or just the luck of the draw? raw emotion. friends and family of the three college softball players killed in a tragic accident make a painful visit to the scene. this morning the parents of all three of those young women are with us for an exclusive live interview. and world champs. the new york yankees win the world series and are in 27th heaven. and now the big apple has a big parade to plan today, thursday, november 5th, 2009. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and welcome to "today" on this thursday morning. i'm meredith vieira. congratulations. >> thank you very much. deep sigh of relief. i'm matt lauer, and it was a good day to be a yankee fan. if you are one of those yankee haters, though -- >> why do you look at me? >> waking up across the country -- >> why do you do that? >> today might as well be june 21st, the longest day of the year, because the yanks are the world champs of baseball. >> they played a good series. they really did. as a red sox fan, i have to hand it to them. >> and hats off to the phillies who defended their championship and played like champions, but again, we have a world championship to go with a brand new stadium here in new york. it's a good day for yankee fans. >> they're very happy. when was the last one, 2000? >> 2000, nine years. >> are you going to put that hat on? >> i have some paraphernalia. i'll wait. i'm going to hand it out to al and guests -- >> so, i'm getting nothing? >> zero. okay, also ahead, if your kids have ever put their shoulder strap of the seatbelt behind them in the back seat, we have a story you'll want to see. a little girl paralyzed because that's how she was wearing her restraint when her grandmother's car was involved in a terrible crash. we'll have more on that and a first look into a new innovation that could make cars safer for children. also ahead, the rise and fall of child star willie aames. he starred in two successful shows in the 1970s and '80s, "eight is enough" and "charles in charge." but times have really changed. he's divorced, broke, a recovering drug addict. at times he was forced to sleep in parking garages. things got so bad for him, he even attempted suicide. this morning he's here to talk about all of that now and how he is planning to turn his life around. and an unlikely rescue caught on tape. an inmate brutally attacks an unsuspecting florida prison guard when other prisoners race in to save that deputy. we're going to have more on that as well. but we begin with a check of the morning's top stories. ann curry is over at the news desk. hey, good morning, annie. >> good morning to you, meredith and matt. good morning, everybody. we begin with a significant announcement this morning from the united nations in afghanistan a week after a targeted attack killed five u.n. workers in kabul, the u.n. says it is now moving about 600 staffers, about half of its international staff, out of kabul, but the u.n. calls the move temporary and not an evacuation, as it reassesses security in afghanistan. today, a major influence. the aarp appears ready to endorse the house version of a health care reform bill, and house democrats say they're hoping the bill will be voted on this coming saturday. a baby missing for five days in northern florida has been found alive and well. she was discovered during the night in a box under her babysitter's bed. 7-month-old shannon diedrick disappeared on saturday, setting off an extensive search. authorities say they plan to charge the babysitter, her husband and also the child's mother and say that they will explain later today why. an ohio man is being held without bond this morning, facing charges of aggravated murder after the remains of 11 women were found in his home. nbc's ron allen is now joining us from cleveland. ron, good morning. what more do we know about this? >> reporter: good morning, ann. to some extent, the investigation here is just beginning. police are going to go through this house behind me inch by inch, trying to determine if there are more bodies buried somewhere on the property or in the walls or anywhere in the house. they're also trying to piece together anthony sowell's life to determine who he came in contact with and where he's been over the years because police believe these murders may have gone back several years and may have happened, some, beyond the cleveland neighborhood. sowell, as you said, is being held without bond. they have also entered his dna into a national database. meanwhile, police are still trying to identify ten sets of remains here, all believed to be african-american women who were strangled. ann, back to you. >> ron allen this morning. ron, thank you. a sheriff's deputy, a florida sheriff's deputy, is recovering this morning after being attacked by an inmate this week, the attack caught on tape. the deputy, as you heard earlier from meredith, was rescued by other inmates who heard what was going on and ran to save his life, and one of the inmates even got on the radio to call other deputies for help. and also, as you just heard, the new york yankees are again world series champions, but last night, hideki matsui drove in six runs, powering the yankees to a 7-3 win over the phillies in game six. matsui was named series mvp, and for the yankees, it is their 27th world series title. the team will be honored with a ticker tape parade tomorrow. it is now 7:05. let's go back to meredith, matt and al. and you know, after so many injuries, matsui was saying he thinks it was really the best night of his life last night. >> yeah. >> some performance. it really was. and we are not going to gloat. >> no. >> about it here on the "today" show. >> no, not you two, never. >> we do have a little redecorating, though, and what we are going to do is keep this in place probably until about spring training of next year. >> yeah. >> oh, please. cue the music. ♪ >> we need three or four more of them. >> put them across the backdrop there. >> insufferable. >> here's your hat. we brought you a hat, and a t-shirt. >> go ahead, al. how's the weather? ♪ start spreading the news >> that's going to be great for the parade. let's take a look, show you what's happening. in the pacific northwest, we've got a powerful storm coming on shore. this one's going to bring a lot of rain, a lot of wind. and in the upper elevations, some mountain snows. we're talking about snow levels above 6,500 feet in the cascades and the olympics. we're also looking at one to two, >> we are off to a fairly quiet start, but as often in the clouds will thicken up a little bit, and we will see a 30% chance for rain shower. it will be a c >> and that's your latest weather. matt? >> all right, al, thanks very much. if the brutal recession and taxpayer bailouts pitted main street against wall street, this could be round two. while people across the country wait in long lines for swine flu vaccines, the shots have arrived at some wall street firms. nbc's trish regan is at the new york stock exchange with more on this story. trish, good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. you know, for most americans, it is very difficult, even for those in the high-risk group right now, to secure a swine flu vaccine, but that's not entirely the case here on wall street. a number of influential firms, even the traders who work right behind me here at the new york stock exchange, have access to the h1n1 vaccine, which has some critics asking, why is the government providing corporations and traders and bankers with these vaccines before those in high-risk groups? they're a familiar sight in towns and cities across the country, long lines of people, from indiana to texas and california, from pregnant mothers to the very young, the country's most vulnerable hope and wait for their chance at an h1n1 vaccine. >> the line has not moved and it's hot and we have pregnant women in the heat. >> reporter: but away from main street, on wall street, a different story. some of the country's most influential businesses have managed to secure the swine flu vaccine for their employees. according to the new york city department of health, employees and traders at the new york stock exchange, bankers at the financial firms goldman sachs and citigroup, along with employees at the new york federal reserve all have access to the hard-to-find h1n1 vaccine. this while some new york hospitals, along with hundreds of pediatricians and obstetricians in the city and across the country scramble to secure vaccines for their high-risk patients. >> we know that it's frustrating, inconvenient and disruptive for people to try to get the vaccine and not be able to. as physicians, it's frustrating to us not to be able to give vaccine to our patients. >> reporter: the new york city department of health tells nbc news, "this is in line with what we normally do for vaccinations. corporations are always a partner in distributing vaccines." the problem, critics say, is that this is no ordinary flu, nor an ordinary vaccine. >> it's kind of a sad commentary on the way the government has come to view our medical care system, which is they've forgotten at the center of it are patients and doctors. >> reporter: with the president declaring the swine flu a national emergency, goldman sachs has received 200 doses of the vaccine, the same amount as lenox hill hospital in new york. >> i have no idea how many high-risk people there are at goldman sachs, but i'm sure it's not nearly as many as lenox hill. >> now, i have a statement from citi that i want to share with you. they tell us, "the new york city department of health has provided us with a limited supply of the h1n1 vaccine. they have asked us to utilize our medical clinics in new york city to vaccinate employees who are at greater risk of becoming ill." matt, i should also point out, this is a story that's obviously close to me. i'm six weeks away from delivering twins. i was able to secure a swine flu shot, but it was not easy. i was not able to get it through my normal doctor or the hospital that i plan to deliver at. so you know, a lot of critics out there are really questioning just exactly why some people are getting this ahead of those that are in the high-risk groups. back to you. >> all right, trish, thank you very much. dr. nancy snyderman is nbc's chief medical editor. nancy, good morning to you. >> hi, matt. >> it's tempting to jump on the outrage bandwagon here. before any of us do that, can i ask you to put this in perspective? >> sure. look, i think this probably played by the rules. there are corporations all over the country that put in their dibs, and this vaccine is coming in 100 or 200-dose units. now, if they want to do the ethical thing, they will inject only their pregnant women and perhaps those with kids or their workers with high-risk medical problems, but this is where you have to put the semi colon. what a sore eye for wall street. wouldn't it be nice if they said we put in our dibs, we got it, we're going to play by the rules, but we're going to donate our 200 doses to a local hospital or clinic. it doesn't look good, even if they do play by the rules. and the real concern is, will the healthy 40-year-old worker sneak in line and get his or her shot? that's egregious to jumping in front of the line. >> and what you have to do is trust the people who are administering their program. >> that's right. >> and this comes at a time where americans are loath to trust the people on wall street. >> that's exactly right. look, it doesn't look good no matter what, but the reality is, ge, our parent company, has also applied for the same amount of doses. we haven't received ours yet, interestingly. the guys on wall street did. there are corporations all over the country who have put in the same paperwork. but it does raise the question, if we know that the distribution is the weak part of this entire thing, why not put doctors offices and hospitals at the top of the line and say to corporate america, no matter who you are, sorry, you're going to have to go through clinics and hospitals like everyone else? >> yeah, right -- >> i think the system's totally upside down. >> i think the part that bothers me about this story is that, for example, a company like citi would get the same number of doses of the vaccine as a place like lenox hill hospital, where you think people would really need to go to get the shot. >> or i'll take it one step further. why not say lenox hill gets 400 doses and citi just has to wait and corporate america has to say, look, we're going to put the high-risk groups, the people we've talked about forever, at the top of the list and then distribute that through clinics, schools and hospitals. there are pregnant women, there are schoolkids right now who don't know how to get this because their average doc can't get his or her hands on it. it really looks bad, i think for our federal government, certainly for wall street. >> all right, nancy snyderman. doc, thanks so much. >> you bet. >> it's 13 after the hour. here's meredith. >> matt, thank you. now to washington. while president obama is trumpeting an important milestone for health care reform, fresh off tuesday's elections, republicans are talking about the rebirth of their party. nbc's savannah guthrie is at the white house with more for us. good morning, savannah. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. well, those state house losses have some moderate democrats in congress very nervous, but here at the white house, they're downplaying the significance, saying it won't jeopardize the president's ambitious agenda. a year to the day after his election victory, the president in wisconsin. >> one year ago, americans all across this country went to the polls and cast ballots for the future they wanted to see. >> reporter: but what a difference a year makes. on election day 2009, republicans swept governors races in new jersey and virginia. >> our folks are fired up. >> reporter: the head of the party declared a republican rebirth. >> ren sans has begun. it's begun in earnest. >> reporter: but democrats accentuated the positive. >> i'm humbled by your support -- >> reporter: their pickup of a house seat in new york that had gone republican in every election since the civil war. the question now, will democrats in congress facing re-election in swing districts next year hesitate to support the president's agenda? >> i think a lot of the conservative and moderate democrats already were on high state of alert that they know that while their constituents have real misgivings about this. so, i don't -- they didn't -- they certainly wouldn't have gotten any comfort out of what they saw tuesday night. >> reporter: white house aides say candidates who get behind the president won't be sorry. >> to the extent that people embrace that, own it and run on it they're going to do a lot better than if they try and run away from it. >> reporter: and the white house is about to pass a big milestone. the house is expected to pass narrowly a health care bill on saturday. meanwhile, republican congresswoman michele bachmann has organized a big protest on the hill today. she's invited opponents of health care to come to the hill, walk the halls of congress, find their member of congress and say don't take away my health care. she's calling it the super bowl of freedom, meredith. >> all right, savannah guthrie. thank you very much. it is 7:15. once again, here's matt. >> meredith, thank you. now to a new report card that finds corrections officials out in california failed to properly supervise jaycee dugard's alleged kidnapper, phillip garrido, and missed opportunities throughout her 18 years of captivity to discover her. we'll talk to the head of the department of corrections and rehabilitation in a moment. but first, nbc's chris jansing has the story. >> reporter: to the long list of horrors faced by kidnapping and rape victim jaycee dugard, there is now this -- she could have and should have been found sooner. >> serious errors were made over the last ten years. >> reporter: for 10 of the 18 years jaycee was held, california parole officers were supposed to be keeping a close eye on her alleged abductor, phillip garrido. they weren't. >> we determined that garrido was only properly supervised 12 out of the 123 months it supervised him, a failure rate of about 90%. >> reporter: after a two-month investigation, a scathing report concludes that garrido repeatedly violated parole and officials "failed to detect garrido's criminal conduct, resulting in the continued confinement and victimization of jaycee and her two daughters." glaringly, officers never discovered garrido's secret backyard compound, in spite of the fact that they visited his home 60 times. they missed power lines visibly running to makeshift tents and missed the fact he was spending long periods of time there, tracked by a gps ankle bracelet. and the mistakes piled up even earlier when the first agent assigned to the case failed to even read garrido's federal file, so he classified him as low risk, even though garrido had a long history as a sexually violent predator. in 1976, garrido had kidnapped and repeatedly raped katie hall. paroled after 11 years, he then confronted hall at work. >> i've tried to tell them that this man was extremely dangerous. i tried to tell them, because i was the only one who knew how dangerous he was. and they were pretty dismissive with me. >> reporter: hall wants those responsible for the mistakes in jaycee's case to be held publicly accountable. jaycee's lawyer is adamant as well. >> we expect that the authorities are going to take the necessary action and make sure this doesn't happen again. >> reporter: but if anyone has been disciplined for the terrible lapses that may have cost jaycee and her daughters years of freedom, officials aren't saying. for "today," chris jansing, nbc news, los angeles. >> matthew kate is the secretary of the california department of corrections and rehabilitation. good morning to you, mr. cate. >> good morning. >> looking over the results of this investigation, it is just one failure after another for your department. you yourself have called this case horrendous. so, how did this happen? >> it was a horrendous crime. i think, really, the major mistake that was made happened in 2001 when mr. garrido was misclassified as a low-risk sex offender instead of a high-risk sex offender. had he been properly categorized back then, the enforcement would have doubled on his parole. so, that really set the tone, i think, for the time which california had responsibility for him. >> but there were so many opportunities along the way in the time that you did have responsibility for him. i understand that parole officers are spread thin, that the officers assigned to him had at least 39 other cases that they were dealing with on a regular basis, but let's talk about the obvious red flags here. the utility line that led from his house to the backyard somewhere, the fact that on at least one visit, there was a child in the home of this man who was a registered sex offender, and then concerns of neighbors who were suspicious. it sounds to me like incompetence, mr. cate, on the part of these parole officers. what does it sound like to you? >> well, i think these were hard-working agents doing the best they could with a large caseload. there are, you know, no excuses could be made for any mistakes that could have extended the victim's torture for even an additional day, but i will say this, there were federal and state parole agents as well as independent task force who searched that backyard and didn't find the hidden compound that was behind the privacy fence. now, we're going to take those clues that you've mentioned, and we're training our officers to say, hey, look out for these in the future. track these down so this doesn't happen again. we have an obligation to make this really an opportunity to get better. >> you know, this is not just a problem in california. we're dealing with a sex offender right now in cleveland who's been charged with at least five counts of aggravated murder, more possibly to come. the department in california talked about systemic problems all over the country. are people being lulled into a false sense of security here? >> well, i think that, you know, with all high-risk offenders, with sex offenders, we need to be extremely cautious, and that's why governor schwarzenegger earlier this year proposed sweeping parole reform in california, so that we can focus those resources on the high-risk offenders and the sex offenders. i think it's a model, really, for what needs to happen across the country. those laws go into effect in january of 2010, and i think we'll be safer for it. >> your department hasn't said if anyone will be held accountable for this or be disciplined. where do you understand on that at this point? who should be held accountable? >> state law prohibits me from discussing disciplinary matters, but i think we have to look, again, at the circumstances the agent had at the time. he had about 45 minutes a week to supervise each offender. and did he have sufficient training? and then what was his effort like? keep in mind that in 2007, there were only five or six contacts with garrido. in 2008, there were 22. and in 2009, in the first eight months there were 18. so, the department and these agents were ramping up their supervision of late, and i think it's also important to recognize that with the help of local law enforcement, the last agent is the one who questioned garrido and eventually arrested him. >> finally, you know, jaycee dugard, some would say she was victimized twice, first by the abductors who took her, and secondly, by the system that was set up to supposedly protect her. have you reached out to her at all, and what would you say to her? >> well, i spoke to her attorney yesterday to talk to her about this report, and i think the real message is, is that we're, of course, extremely sympathetic to what she went through, and as her counsel said, we are going to take every opportunity to learn from this and make sure that it doesn't happen again, if that's humanly possible. >> matthew cate, secretary of the california department of corrections and rehabilitation, thank you so much for your time this morning, sir. >> thank you very much. and still ahead, friends and family of three college softball players killed in a horrible accident pay an emotional visit to the scene of their tragic deaths. just ahead, we will talk exclusively to the parents of still ahead, the dangerous way many children wear their seatbelts and the new technology that could make them safer. plus, willie aames was riding high as a child star. now he is bankrupt, divorced and a recovering addict. we'll talk to him. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i'm stan stovall. time to get a check on the morning commute. here is sarah caldwell. >> on westbound 32, here is where you want to watch for police activity. watch for delays on southbound i-95 towards 198. preston and maryland, we have a closure in affected due to the greek heritage festival until monday. the construction is clear here and a pretty big to lake huron southbound 795. -- the lake huron southbound 795. if you're heading out on 95, 22 miles per hour on average. not too bad -- a little bit heavier on padonia road. in the area of liberty road, west side, our heaviest delays. we will switch to a live picture of 95 at white marsh. traffic is flowing pretty well. once you get close to the beltway, delays in place. >> the weather is pretty quiet on this thursday. chilly, the we don't expect any precipitation from the morning commute. temperatures and low 30's and in the western suburbs. 36 at the airport. 46 downtown. take a light jacket with you. high temperatures and the upper 40's and low 50s. this morning will be dry. the seven-to forecast his breezy in chilly but dry on friday. we are looking for it to a nice weekend. the sunshine will jump temperatures into the 60s. we will continue the trend on monday and tuesday. next chance for rain on wednesday >>. check the bottom of your screen for updated news and traffic information. our next live update in 25 minutes. 7:30 now on a thursday morning. it's the 5th day of november, 2009. a lot of folks up and out early on this bright fall morning. we're going to get out there and say hi to them in just a couple of minutes. al will do it before we do. inside studio 1a, i'm matt lauer alongside meredith vieira. and just ahead in this half hour, raw emotion from the family members and teammates of three north dakota softball players during a visit to the site of the tragic accident that took their lives. this morning, their parents are with us to speak out in an exclusive interview. also ahead, an eye-opener on how dangerous wearing a seatbelt the wrong way can be for a small child. we're going to share one family's cautionary tale. we're also going to show you the new innovation that could keep your kid safe. plus, if you've ever lost your luggage and flew through phoenix, maybe it wasn't the airline's fault after all. you're not going to believe how many bags one couple is accused of stealing. more on that, just ahead. >> going to make a lot of people angry that story. but we begin this half hour with the tragic deaths of those three softball players in north dakota. we'll talk to their parents in a moment, but first, nbc's john yang has the latest on the story. >> reporter: a mother's overwhelming grief at the remote farm pond in rural north dakota where her daughter died. clair gemar and the other grieving parents visited the site where the bodies of their daughters, kyrstin gemar, ashley neufeld and afton williamson were found in their 1997 jeep cherokee, submerged in ten feet of water, the doors and windows closed. >> i can't believe she's gone. it's like half of your life just disappeared and will never be back. >> reporter: tire tracks led straight to the water's edge. also inside, the body of neufeld's dog easton. gemar, 22, and williamson, 20, were from california. 21-year-old neufeld was from manitoba in canada. they had been missing since sunday night after making two frantic cell phone calls for help. autopsy reports won't be available for several days, but authorities say it appears to have been an accident. after a day of mourning, the 2,700 students at dickinson state university are trying for a sense of normalcy that may be especially difficult for the school's championship softball team where the three dead women were standouts. kirsten fleury is their head coach. >> i'm just trying to keep it together for these girls and everybody. >> reporter: it means taking the field without teammates and beloved friends. >> how is this going to color your college years, do you think? >> it's scary. we don't live the life that we're invincible anymore. >> we've just got to be strong. >> reporter: natalie martinez wasn't just a teammate, she was neufeld's roommate and friend. >> she was one of the hardest things to go through the rest of my college years knowing that they're not going to be here. >> reporter: a team that forged a bond on the playing field, now united in grief. for "today," john yang, nbc news, dickinson, north dakota. >> with us exclusively now are the parents of those three young women, kyrstin's parents, lenny and clair gemar, afton's parents, fred and liz hutton, and ashley's parents, phil and bev neufeld. and as i say good morning, there is no other way to begin this than to say my sincere condolences. i am so sorry for your loss. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> have any of you heard anything from authorities that might make sense of this, might shed some light on how this tragic accident occurred? >> other than, you know, this is one of the things that the students here at dickinson, they just started so great out here and the sky's so good, this is what the kids do, they just go looking at the stars. i mean, it's a small town. there's not a whole lot to do here. >> you all went out -- i believe most of you went out to the scene of this tragedy in the last day or so, and as you stood there and you looked at the surroundings, could you in any way logically piece together how this may have occurred, how their car ended up in that water? >> no. >> no. >> i can see how they couldn't see it. they were just headed for the opening in the fence. it was apparently a clear moon full night, and you can see the line they were taking was directly at their exit, and something got in their way. >> mrs. and mr. gemar -- >> they just snuck up -- >> i'm sorry. go ahead. >> i just think the stock dam snuck up onto them quicker than what they were expecting and they just at that time realized that they were in trouble. >> mr. and mrs. gemar, i'd like to -- i'd like to give all of the families a chance to tell us a little bit more about your daughters. kyrstin, i know, was a senior, a business major, played third base. what else should we know about her? >> she was -- we've been listening to interviews of folks back in san diego that have grown up with her and played softball and gone to school with her and also here, we've gotten to spend a lot of time with her roommates and teammates this week. everybody loved her universally. she was considered a great person, you know, a friend a friend would want to have, you know. i know we're going to miss her, but everybody else is, too, and we're happy for all the support we've gotten from them. we spent yesterday evening in her dorm room with roommates and team members, and the stories that they told -- she was an even better kid than we thought she was. >> mr. and mrs. hutton, i'd like to learn a little bit more about afton. i know she was a pitcher, she was a fierce competitor and she was an outstanding student as well. tell me a little bit more about your daughter. >> well, afton graduated from high school with a 4.3 gpa. she was a member of national honor society, california scholastic federation, graduated in the top 1% of her class. she was a great kid, very compassionate, very loyal to her friends and her family, very caring and loving individual and loved it here in dickinson. thrilled to be here. >> mr. and mrs. neufeld, ashley was on a softball scholarship out there. she was studying psychology, i believe. tell me more about your daughter. >> she, as opposed to afton, she definitely didn't have a 4.3 grade point average, but she loved the school. she lived for her friends. she's a very caring, very unselfish, happy individual. hug them and love them, whether they're 2 or 82 is my biggest point. >> i'm so proud that the three of these young ladies have touched the amount of people that they have in this community and their communities back home. it's just overwhelming the people that come up, and everybody says the same thing about your daughter, their major characteristics, the big smiles. and everybody that you talk to, whether it's here, whether it's back home, people that didn't even know your daughter are telling you exactly the same thing. >> you know, there are so many important questions yet to be answered here, and it's obviously in the early stages of an investigation, but is there some kind of cautionary tale here? is there a word of caution for other students and other parents that you would like to share, any of you? >> i don't think there's any caution needed. i mean, what happened was purely and simply an accident. the one thing i would like to say is that there was a fella in the air force that was an expert in the cell phone technology that pinged in on a two-mile radius. without that guy's help, i don't think we would have ever found our kids, so i want to thank him and the air force and the governor and the school of dickinson, the students and the faculty, the cowboys that were out on their horseback and four-wheelers, the atv guys, students who walked the field. it's just, without this community, we would have never found our children. so, as a parent, if you're looking for a safe environment and a good education for your children, this is a great place to be. these folks are just unbelievable. >> lenny and clair gemar -- >> i -- >> go ahead, please. >> i'd like to add that this is for kids that leave home to go to college, that if you're out there to go to school and learn, please do most of that and learn from this tragic, this tragedy that happened and that i hope that something will be learned from this. >> lenny and clair gemar, fred and liz hutton, phil and bev neufeld, again, our sincere condolences to you and your family members. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> and we appreciate you spending time with us on what just has to be an excruciating day. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> so heartbreaking. >> impossible to understand. >> one of the dads said, just hug your kids, you know? it's all you can do, really. >> let's turn now -- and al -- we apologize for these kinds of turns, but it's time for a check of the weather. >> i have a college junior, and i can only imagine what they're going through. it's heartbreakreaking. let's see what's going on. we do have another hurricane to talk about out there in the caribbean, 60 miles -- hurricane i ida, northeast of nicaragua, moving northwest at 7 miles per hour. the track of the storm brings it over nicaragua tomorrow early in the morning, then back out into the gulf possibly by tuesday >> we are off to a quiet start on this thursday. this afternoon we will make it to the upper 40's and low 50s and a 30% chance of rain shower >> and for the latest weather, you can always check into the weather channel on cable or weather.com online. matt? >> all right, al, thank you very much. still ahead, broke and famous. former child star willie aames speaks out about going fro (announcer) joanna's going to show us how simple it is to check the available balance of all her bank accounts. doesn't get any easier than that. 24/7 access to your finances. that's online banking. with bank of america. caused by a completely blocked artery, another heart attack could be lurking, waiting to strike. a heart attack caused by a clot, one that could be fatal. plavix, taken with other heart medicines goes beyond what other heart medicines do alone to provide greater protection against heart attack or stroke and even death by helping 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( sfx: mom giggles ) pop-tarts®. made for fun™. but my allergies put me in a fog. so now, i'm claritin clear! claritin works great on all my allergies like dust, mold, pollen, or pets without making me drowsy, cause i want to be alert around this big guy. live claritin clear. indoors and out. back at 7:44 with a major innovation designed to keep car passengers, especially kids, safer in the back seat. today, ford is unveiling inflatable seatbelts. cnbc's phil lebeau is at the ford lab in dearborn, michigan. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. inflatable seatbelts look like regular seatbelts until there's a crash and then the airbags deploy. this is what they'll look like after they deploy in a crash. the idea is better protection for people in the second and third rows, particularly children, because many people don't realize that kids up to the age of 8, when they graduate out of their booster seats to regular seatbelts, the very belts that are supposed to protect them can actually cause great harm. a trip for new school clothes turned tragic for brin duncan. >> it was just a fight to keep her alive. >> reporter: just over a year ago, then 7-year-old brin was buckled in the back seat of her grandma's car when they crashed. >> it bound her kidney and of course, her spine. it was very clear these were injuries sustained from a lap belt. >> reporter: brin's spinal cord was crushed. >> i put my ear right up to her mouth and she whispered "am i disabled?" and i just sat back and i looked at her, and i said, why, why do you say that? and she said, "because i can't feel my legs." >> reporter: brynn's paralysis highlights a problem named seatbelt syndrome. seatbelts are not designed for children, but lap belts alone can cause serious internal injuries in a crash. >> typically, a parent or child will do this. that's what brynn did, put it behind her back. now the car crashes and she folds over like this. >> reporter: statistics show kids 4 to 8 years old in booster seats are 45% less likely to be injured or killed in car accidents. while the laws vary from state to state, only half require booster seats until the recommended age of 8. three states -- florida, arizona and south dakota -- do not require kids to ride in booster seats at all. that worries doctors from the children's hospital in philadelphia. who have studied thousands of accidents where kids buckled up have been injured or killed. they're working with researchers at rowan university in new jersey to better understand how to protect kids in crashes. >> we want the belt to rest on the bone parts of their body. and so, as you can see with this dummy, this belt is really low on their hips. the belt comes right across their shoulder or their clavicle. >> reporter: engineers at ford have also been working to prevent seatbelt injuries. after ten years of work, they have developed restraints with airbags that offer more protection during a crash. >> it distributes the load so the pressure on the chest is significantly less for a child. >> reporter: for dixie and brynn duncan, their tragedy now fuels their mission. >> packing around a booster seat compared to a wheelchair, there's no argument with me. >> reporter: to get more states and more kids buckled up safely. >> some people put their children in booster seats and no one else would get hurt. >> reporter: we should point out that dixie and brynn have been instrumental in pushing for minnesota to change its booster seat law, now going from the age of 4 up to the age of 8. meredith? >> important story. up next, a couple accused of stealing so many pieces of luggage from baggage claim, the haul wouldn't even fit in their own house. when numerous passengers started complaining about a lot of lost luggage at a particular airport in phoenix, police got suspicious. now they've arrested a couple who they say stole so many bags, they couldn't fit them all in their home. here's nbc's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: it could take the rest of the week and dozens of trips just to haul away the stash. the final tally will likely top 1,000 pieces of stolen luggage, so many bags swiped, police are still finding more. >> we still have a couple rooms there that still has luggage from floor to ceiling. >> reporter: with most tags ripped off, investigators may never know who the bags along to, but they have identified the man and woman who they say stole them, keith king and his wife stacy face multiple felonies. police say the duo had likely been stealing bags for months from phoenix's sky harbor airport. >> i have absolutely never seen anything like this before at this magnitude. >> reporter: the investigation that led to the stockpile began a few weeks ago after an officer watched king leave the airport with a bag after he hadn't been on a plane, he was arrested. detectives say a short time later, king went back to sky harbor and did it again. this time, he was followed home. police are still combing through what's been found. >> we're not totally surprised. >> reporter: neighbors describe the kings as a suspicious and odd couple. one yard sale included dozens of pieces of luggage. and some mornings they were seen driving their horse trailer, even though neighbors say they didn't have horses. >> that horse trailer was just packed to the limit with items, and i can't say luggage, all luggage. it looked like it might have been maybe just junk. >> reporter: air travelers may be shocked by the sheer volume of the theft, but not necessarily by how the suspects did it. you'll rarely find security at baggage claim. for air passengers, that's of little comfort, but so is this scene for folks who had bags stolen in phoenix. for "today," miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. >> i bet he's got your bags in there somewhere. still ahead -- >> don't want to know what's in there. >> i don't. willie aames from famous to broke. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. we want to get a check on that morning commute with sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. >> looking at a slow go around the area. if you're heading out at liberty road and offutt road, we have an accident. in the red on the left side. this backing up traffic on southbound 795. at ridgely, left lane still closed. further north, approaching timonium, we have a disabled vehicle up there. looking a guy comes up to 35 minutes on the west side outer loop. on the north sea's -- northeast side, about a 10-minute ride. outside, it is backing of heavily on the west side outer loop. delays on eastbound i-70. let's get a life a few of the northeast side. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. let's check in with tony to >> pretty quiet in the with the department. that will change later this up and as a disturbance comes out of the mountains. for now, it is quiet and chilly. 46 downtown. 36 degrees at the top of the our at b.w.i. forecast today is a mixture of sunshine and clouds. we will have a 30% chance for a rain shower and the picture after lunch time high temperatures at the upper 40's and low 50s. on friday, i temperatures in the upper 40's and low 50s. looking forward to a nice weekend. 64 on sunday. we will continue the warming trend into monday and tuesday. >> as always, you can check the bottom of your screen for updated news and traffic information. our next live update at 8:25. gecko: what's going on, sir? boss: we're slammed. tons of people interested in all the money they could be saving by switching to geico... gecko: yeah, 'course. boss: boy, did we miss you last@ week. that temp wasn't working out at all. exec: took me all morning but i got those quarterly figures for ... you. (hissing noise, gulping) gecko: aw, he ate all my mints. anncr: geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. 8:00 on this thursday morning, november 5th, 2009. a sunny start to the day here in rockefeller plaza. by the way, that music you're listening to, that is country star keith urban. he's going to perform for us live in our studio in our next half hour. i am meredith vieira along with matt lauer and al roker, two very happy men today. >> take a big whiff. you know what that smell is? >> yeah. >> hot dogs? >> victory. >> oh! >> that smell is victory. >> i thought it was hot -- i thought it was your cologne. >> i'm wearing ode to victory. >> nice. >> congratulations, seriously. very well done. >> fun day in new york city. >> very fun day. ahead in this half hour, a kind of serious story. an arrest in a nearly two decade long string of rapes in at least four states. investigators believe this man is the suspect they came to call the ether man for the way victims were attacked with a rag soaked with chemicals. we're going to have the latest just ahead. we'll also talk exclusively to two victims in this case. all right, also ahead, willie aames. remember him from the '70s and '80s? >> sure. >> "charles in charge," "eight is enough." he was a child star. he had fame, he had wealth. that was as a child, then things changed dramatically. he went through financial ruin, drug addiction, attempted suicide. he's going to talk about the good times, the bad times and how he plans to turn his life around when we meet him in a couple of minutes. >> i was just talking to him. he's a nice guy. very thoughtful. >> that's right. then later on, on a more lighter note, we're going to give an assignment to our four "today's kid reporter" finalists who want that gig. so, we're going to give them an assignment -- >> lock them in a cage and they're going to fight each other? >> nothing quite like that, no. >> they are going to take our jobs. mark my words, because they are good. >> yes. >> they are very, very good. all right, before we go any further, let us go inside. ann curry's got a check of the news headlines. ann? >> i do. thanks a lot, matt. good morning once again, everybody. the u.n. says it is relocating more than 600 staffers out of kabul for security reasons, this a week after finding that staff members were killed in a targeted attack in kabul. the u.n. says the move is temporary until security for u.n. workers in afghanistan can be reassessed. the senate has passed a bill to give jobless americans as many as 20 weeks in extra unemployment benefits. the measure also extends a tax credit for first-time home buyers through june of next year. and this measure now goes to the house and is expected to pass. a memorial service is being held today for three college softball players from north dakota's dickinson state university. on wednesday, teammates tossed flowers and soft balls into the north dakota pond where police found their car submerged with the women still inside. they believe the women accidentally drove into the water in the dark. amid parents' growing concerns over swine flu and the prevention of it, kellogg's now says that it will pull claims on its rice krispies and cocoa krispies that the added antioxidants in the cereals would help support a child's immunity. critics had complained the company was playing on swine flu fears. as president obama mulls his decision on troop deployment to afghanistan, a poignant send-off in michigan to one mother heading to the war zone. major stella carroll, an engineer in the army reserve, who has already served in iraq, is the mother of five young children, and on wednesday, her kids' elementary school gave her a patriotic farewell. hundreds of children, teachers and community members were there all dressed in red, white and blue, all this in parma, michigan. it is now three minutes past the hour. let's go back outside, actually, for a check of the weather with al. >> thanks a lot, ann. we've got folks here from the group honor and remember. honor our fallen soldiers. honorandremember.org? all right, thank you very much. and you've got your flag there. thanks for bringing that down. let's check your weather, see what's going on, and we'll show you the yankee victory parade friday morning, 11:00 a.m. 44 to 46 degrees. sunny skies, windy. winds gusts to 30 miles per hour, so windchills 35 to 40. make sure you bundle up. on the flip side of that, we're looking at really warm weather out west, temperatures anywhere from 10 to over 20 degrees above normal. billings getting up to 66, >> we are off to a fairly quiet start, but as often in the clouds will thicken up a little bit, and we will see a 30% chance for rain shower. it will be a >> that's your latest weather. matt? >> al, thanks very much. betty joe mitchell celebrating her 80th birthday with us today. it's good to have you here. you sent me a deer whistle after my accident, didn't you? >> yes -- >> betty jo, you're supposed to send it to me before my accident. that's when it would have helped. nice to have you here. up next, is this the ether man? 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(announcer) you can do it. nicorette can help. now to an arrest in a nearly two-decade-long search for an alleged serial rapist dubbed ether man for the way he suffocated victims with a chemical-soaked rag. we're going to talk exclusively to two of the alleged victims in just a moment, but first, nbc's jeff rossen has the latest. good morning to you, jeff. >> reporter: hi, meredith. good morning to you. this was an absolute nightmare for women in four different states, a serial rapist who just kept on going. he even left dna behind. but investigators were stumped and called him uncatchable. they had been on the hunt since 1991, but now, finally, an arrest. the attacks were as brutal as the rapist was elusive. police say he stalked his victims and suffocated them using a rag doused with toxic chemicals. that's how he got the name ether man. while the women were unconscious, he did the unconscionable. >> put a cloth on my nose and mouth, and i was face down and had my arms behind me, and so, i just was like kicking and screaming but couldn't really do anything. >> reporter: pam fowler is 1 of at least 12 possible victims across four states -- new mexico, texas, kansas and colorado. >> i had people that i know were just, you know, hurt from it. so, for me, it's like, i've always been the big sister, and like, shows that, you know, i can get through it. >> reporter: she fit the ether man's profile. police say he targeted women who lived near universities, usually young college students who were physically fit. 18 years of attacks. and the local police kept the dragnet alive. >> this sketch of the suspect was released. on the left, what he looked like in the '90s, on the right, what he may look like now. >> reporter: now, almost two decades later, police say they have him. the suspect's name, robert bruce, and he was caught this week almost by accident. >> the detectives involved in this case, all the way from the beginning to now, over a two-decade period, are ecstatic. >> reporter: a police officer in colorado saw bruce peeping into a woman's window and picked him up. then, bruce allegedly planted a propane bomb at the officer's house to keep him from testifying. that's when investigators entered bruce's dna into the database and confirmed this was more than a peeping tom. this, they say, was the accused ether man, the mysterious rapist on the run since 1991. >> the long arm of the law reached back with the use of technology and brought this individual to justice. >> robert bruce is in jail this morning in colorado, charged with rape and attempted murder. now investigators believe there are other victims out there. so, police departments across the country now are going through their cold case files, meredith, to see if his dna matches other unsolved rapes. >> jeff rossen, thank you. pamela fowler and amanda ryan are two victims of the alleged serial rapist. good morning to you both. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> you both had separate experiences with this alleged rapist, robert bruce. pam, in 2006, you had just graduated from the university of texas in austin. you're asleep in your bedroom. this man apparently, allegedly, enters your room, covers your face with this rag. you try to fight him, but you obviously are knocked out. when you wake up, did you realize immediately what had happened to you? >> no, not at all. it seemed like it had just happened and we were kind of still in the struggle, so it seems like he was still there, and i immediately slammed my door and you know, was screaming and grabbed my phone and called a couple friends that live nearby to try to get help. seemed like it was just right then. you know, after a few minutes, i realized, you know, by my clothes and bed and everything like that. so, then i realized what had happened. >> authorities have said that he apparently would stalk his victims for a year or longer before he would attack. did you ever have any sense at that time that you were being followed or stalked by anybody? >> no, not at all. we had just moved into that house, so i had only lived there a couple days. so i mean, it just seemed like a new house, and that's kind of what i thought. >> listening to you on the taped piece that jeff just showed, it's obvious that this has been a terrible experience for you and still haunts you. for three years you lived with the fact you didn't know who did this to you or where he was. what has that been like for you? >> i mean, it's definitely nerve-racking. i think it's a big eye-opener for me and for people that know me, just to know that this kind of thing really happens, and you know, when you don't think it's going to happen to you until it does. so i mean, it's definitely -- you know, i lived nervously, but i think it was obviously a lot worse at the beginning and now it's been okay. >> it's getting a little bit better. >> yeah. >> amanda, your experience with this manicured about the year 2000. you're at the university of new mexico in albuquerque, and you and your college roommates realize you have a peeping tom. when did that first stop? >> when it had stopped? >> start. >> it started for about a period of two months, and it was when i finally saw him outside my window. we called authorities and told them i was being watched and someone was in our backyard on numerous occasions. >> so you contacted authorities. why weren't they able to find him, do you think? >> i don't know. i think they were maybe short staffed or didn't have the ability to patrol the neighborhood and then they also didn't have a lot of evidence, so, they could just see that someone had been there, but they were never able to catch someone. >> you know, there were so many cases that go over at least four states. at the time of your rape, did they say to you, you know, we've seen something similar in this area? >> i knew in mexico, not in austin or colorado. i knew they had been cases in new mexico. >> and in your case, you started to put all of this together when a friend of yours was raped very close to where you were living. >> yeah. unfortunately, i knew a couple of other victims and we shared stories and everything started to kind of match up, and that's when we started to do a little bit more digging and research to find out that there were a couple of other cases and it was something that had been happening in the area. >> and are you sure that this man, robert howard bruce, is the same one? now, you never got a look at him, but you did. >> i did, and the resemblance is just astounding. >> is it a relief for you, pam, to think that maybe this guy has been caught and somebody else won't be victimized? >> yeah, absolutely. it's great to have him off the streets. >> and if asked to testify, will you? >> i would, yeah. >> yes. >> as well? thank you so much, pam and mandra, for your time. we really appreciate it. and up next, as a child star, willie aames earned more than a million dollars a year. today, he's out of cash. we're going to talk to him about how it happened and what he's doing to piece his life back together. i was active, eating healthy. i thought i was in great shape. so i was surprised when my doctor told me i still had high cholesterol. that really hit me, and got me thinking about my health. i knew i had to get my cholesterol under control. but exercise and eating healthy weren't enough for me. now i trust my heart to lipitor. 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>> you know, as i saw that footage, i was thinking back to that as well, because i really had no idea things were going to go the way that they went, and you know, there's a lot of things i could point the finger at, but the fact of the matter is, is that there were some things that i just wouldn't recognize that were causing problems and had caused problems for quite a while. >> we've had people on the show before, willie, who say, you know, i hit rock bottom, and it's kind of an overused term. you hit rock bottom. i mean, you know, give me a sense of the downward spiral. >> you know, i really never dreamt it would get as bad as it did, you know. when we were promoting the book, things were kind of starting there. i was still looking for work, i was putting out resumes, but it got to the point where absolutely nothing was working. and i had to file bankruptcy. and once i filed bankruptcy, there's this kind of shame that comes over you. then we went through the divorce. that just added to the shame. >> and another divorce was particularly hard because one of the things you always said was that even through your toughest times, one of the things that kept you going was your relationship with malo. >> it was. >> and that's gone all of a sudden. >> yeah. and when you look at that, and that was probably one of my largest sources of personal pride, was like, no matter how bad things get, i still have a great marriage. and when that went away, i was absolutely devastated. >> you were relying on friends. you were sleeping at friends' homes because you couldn't pay for a place to live anymore. >> that. i was sleeping in the parks, parking garages, just wherever i could, really, and it was -- i remember laying underneath a bush, matt, and i remember thinking, is this how my life turns out? >> and then thanksgiving. so it's almost a year ago from now. >> yeah. >> thanksgiving of last year you tried to kill yourself. >> well -- >> or was it a scream for help? >> it was a scream for help. you know, i think i gave people a lot of cause for concern, but did i actually try that? no, but it was -- >> you tried to cut yourself, though, didn't you? >> yeah, well, you know, yeah, you know. it wasn't -- it really wasn't that kind of deal, you know? i mean, what i don't want to get into is a bunch of things that are going to hurt my daughter and going to hurt my wife, my ex-wife. >> people at vh1 came to you and said, look, we'll give you a chance to turn things around. you've got to go through an intensive program and you're going to study with a financial guru or adviser, and were you skeptical? were you cynical at all? >> i was absolutely cynical, because one of the things that i disliked most were managers, agents, accountants and lawyers because i had just learned that they get paid, you don't. and at the same time, i wanted -- i had to turn these things around. >> you didn't have a lot of choices, when it came right down to it. they were offering you a chance to make a little money and get a skill. >> right, and that was really the thing that intrigued me about the show is that it wasn't a show just about exploiting the things that were wrong in your life. it was about finding the hidden potential. >> the hidden potential. let's talk about the potential, because you're studying for your series seven -- >> i passed my series seven exam. >> that basically gives you the chance to trade -- you can become a corporate trader, is that right? >> well, what i'm working towards is becoming a financial adviser. i'm not one yet. so, i passed my life, my series seven. i have another one to go. i am not a financial adviser yet, and all it does is give me the opportunity to apply. >> okay. but the obvious question for someone sitting out there is, this guy's going to become a financial adviser. he drove himself to financial ruin. why would i take advice from him? >> well, and my answer would be, you know, it's not unusual that anybody that's been through traumatic experiences become an advocate for other people so that you can help them stay out of that situation, if possible. and you know, one of the other things that i've said to people that have given me that criticism is what would you have me do? i mean, more than ever, what i learned through this entire study process is i cannot out-earn my ignorance. i can't do it. i was very good at making money. i didn't know anything about hanging onto it. and i found that growing up, i was completely ill-equipped to handle any amount of money, matt, not just large amounts of money. and i think we've done that in the united states. more importantly, i don't know whether or not i'll be alive to become an >> live, local, latebreaking. this is a wbal-tv 11 news in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. let's get a final check of the morning commute with sarah caldwell. >> we are still dealing with heavy delays around the area. the west side is down to nine miles per hour on the outer loop. that began some greenspring down to edmondson. preston and maryland, closed through the weekend. delays on the southbound j.f.x. from among the beltway to northern parkway. 11 miles per hour on southbound 95 out of white marsh. east down 100 and anne arundel mills, and in anne arundel county, another one. here's a look at drive times. 35 in this is what we a down to on the west side outer loop. not too bad on southbound 95 heading towards the b-2 and howard county. -- towards 32 at howard county. we'll switch to a live view of white marsh where things are looking a little bit better. hopefully town has some good news. >> the weather is nice and quiet on this morning. that may change a little bit this afternoon, but we will start out with sunshine. 40 at b.w.i., 45 in middle river. we will see more sunshine this morning and afternoon. a 30% chance for rain shower later today. sunshine tomorrow. it will be kind of windy. >> thank you for joining us. another update at 8:55. if you want to know why your 3g coverage works so well on verizon wireless, there's a map for that. or why you can watch videos at 3g speed, almost anywhere, there's a map for that. and if you want to know why some people have spotty 3g coverage, there's a map for that, too. yep, with five times more 3g coverage than at&t, there's lots of reasons to switch-- to verizon wireless. come in now for great new samsung 3g messaging phones, starting at 49.99. 8:30 now on a thursday morning, 5th day of november, 2009. starting out pretty nice here in the northeast. kind of breezy and cool, but that's the way it should be in the fall. al's wearing a coat, so how bad could it be? take a look at some of the nice people on our plaza, celebrating a yankee win, and by the way, about to listen to some music from country superstar keith urban. he's going to be inside our studio playing a couple of songs for us in just a couple of minutes. so, that's something to look forward to. >> right in front of us -- >> actually right behind us -- >> okay. >> fans out here. also, you want to settle down by the fireplace, right? nothing better. >> yeah. >> but yours might need a face-lift. if it does, you have come to the right place, because this morning, we'll show you all the different kinds of ways you can kind of spruce up the fireplace. >> mr. mole. >> you use those things? >> i love those things. i've never told people we use those, though. they say what a great fire you've made. i go, i know i did. >> rub two sticks together. >> now they know. also this morning, have you guys had a chance to check out our gorgeous and sweet really, really fun kid reporters? >> yeah. they're so cute. >> they're so talented. you're seeing them basically discovering at that moment that they have been chosen as a semifinalist. we're going to meet all four of those kids this morning. >> they've got our seats! >> and as we pursue the reporter that we're going to add to our couch. >> that's right. >> they're all here in new york, but they don't have time to play, because we've got an assignment for each of them, and we're going to get to that in just a bit. >> okay. >> before that, though, how about a check of the weather? all right. let's show you what's happening for today. the weekend ahead. wet weather, mountain snows in the pacific northwest. we've got some cool weather working through the great lakes, some sunshine through the south. then on sunday, sunday, we're looking at some mild >> we are off to a quiet start on this thursday. this afternoon we will make it to the upper 40's and low 50s and a 30% chance of rain shower >> and that's your latest weather. now let's head down to washington, d.c., and say hello to my willie! how are you, sir? >> your willie loves you, and i was just thinking it was exactly a day like this back in 1953, and i joined the u.s. navy. >> wow. >> one of the smartest moves i ever made. some of the best times of my life. i really wish everybody could be in the service. it's a great thing. god bless the navy and all of us, as a matter of fact. fannie, take a look at fannie. we love our fannie. fannie hankins from niles, michigan, 101. lives independently and attributes her longevity to treasuring everybody she knows, and how nice it is to treat people well. mina, i like that name, mina arrow, philadelphia, pennsylvania, where there is no join in monkville, mighty casey. 100 years old today. known as the carrot cake queen. brings home a goodie to all her family. i like carrot cake. it's not my favorite, but i like it. julia koenigs from adams, minnesota. 102. lives on her own. one of the fastest players for sudoku. i don't know sudoku. anyway, i don't know that game. enjoys debating about politics. albert girouard of rumford, maine, is 103, retired carpenter who still cuts firewood. they say that red sox nation fans. unbelievable. i remember ronald reagan used to cut wood. frances "frankie" shore. beautiful lady from cincinnati, ohio. was an air raid warden during wwii, and a master bridge player. chuck and eve belfiore, and they're from santa rosa, california. belfiore. and both are 93. they opened a pizza shop together, claim that pizza and wine keep their marriage saucy and sweet. oh, oh, oh! meredith, i'm sure you'll agree with that. back to you. >> i sure do, willard. janice, you're talking. >> yes? >> janice is 80, willard. what's the secret to being so youthful? >> i don't know. just -- i don't know. you think i am youthful? >> you seem youthful to me. >> that's great. i'm going to live 25 more years, at least. >> i'm sure you are. coming up next, some very famous celebrities answer some very personal questions. dunkin' donuts is your destination for delicious fall flavors. for a short time, we have all your seasonal favorites. try any of our authentic hot lattes, including our pumpkin latte, for just 99 cents. america runs on dunkin'. the whole gang will love -- six fresh, delicious donuts for just $3. affordable treats to share with friends, family, and co-workers. grab six donuts for only $3 today. america runs on dunkin'. how would you answer questions like what is your greatest fear or what's your greatest achievement? well, every month, the back page of "vanity fair" magazine features prominent figures answering those questions and much more. now the responses of 101 of them are featured in the new book "vanity fair's proust questionnaire." greg carter is the editor. good to have you back. >> good morning. >> this started as a parlor game, right? >> it was a 19th-century parlor game in paris, and picked up by marcell proust and he spread it among his friends, and proust made it a big thing in paris and it sort of transferred on. i have a big family. we love sort of evening games and dinner games. so it's my nature. >> it's been in the magazine, i know, for 16 or 17 years now. have you had a lot of celebrities say no to this, or are most people really ready and willing to tackle this? >> i think at the beginning before people knew what it was, it was a tough thing, and i think you should always build something like this with the biggest names you can get at first. we had such big people at the beginning -- i can't remember who they are -- that within two years, we had no trouble. we got olivia and fontaine, two sisters that hadn't spoken to each other in decades. >> is it your impression that the celebrities -- i'll get to the responses in a second -- are trying to truly reveal something about themselves or in some cases just be clever? >> both. some people are very revealing in this and other people want to put forward an image that they'd like people to see in them. other people are really funny, and so, it's a mix-up. >> let's show both sides of the coin, okay? first, i know this is one of your favorites, california governor arnold schwarzenegger. it's what is your greatest fear? "i'm petrified of bikini waxing. i had a very bad experience in 1968." i'm hoping he didn't go into detail there. jane fonda. if you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? "my inability to have a long-term, serious relationship." well, bang. there you go right there. do you think people are more revealing in this format than they might be in a longer-form interview? >> it used to be done orally by a reporter and then gradually we changed it to they fill out the form themselves. so, at least they get a chance to like correct themselves, and i think that that may be an advantage in some cases, a disadvantage in others. arnold's just funny. his entire one. his motto is, you know, try and try again, and if that doesn't work, get the stunt double out. >> exactly. you do a lot of comedians. you like -- >> comedians are very good at this, yeah. >> ellen degeneres, asked what is the trait you most deplore in others? "tardiness -- no, wait, arrogance. how about being late and then being arrogant about it?" what is your favorite journey? and i love this one, "whichever one is love and touch and squeeze." martin short, what is your most marked characteristic? "my ability to fake enthusiasm for others." no right or wrong answer, is there? >> no. what is the characteristic you most like in a man? she goes, "height," and the characteristic she most likes in a woman is "depth." >> do readers write in after a celebrity answers? do they ever criticize them? do they comment about them? >> they do, and i think they do if they think somebody hasn't been honest. most people have enough time to consider it that they're not going to offend the population. >> keith richards -- what do you consider your greatest achievement? "waking up," which you know is a great achievement. sidney poitier, what is your greatest regret? "i cannot recall what that would have been, but i survived it and i have no regrets about that." so, what talent would you like to have? >> i would rather have a more youthful metabolism like when i was 21. i'm not sure it's a talent. >> what's the most overrated virtue? >> youthful metabolism. >> you've lived without it this long. and is there anyone dead or alive that you would love to answer these questions who hasn't answered them yet? >> we've been pretty lucky. i mean, you know, i think we've gotten just about everybody we wanted. >> it's fascinating. it's one of the reasons -- and i don't know if this is a good thing for a magazine guy, but i read the magazine from the back to the front. >> so do i. >> you do? always look at this first some. >> all magazines. >> it's great to have you here. >> a pleasure. >> and the book is "vanity fair's proust questionnaire." coming up, how to spruce up [house] wow, i feel like a new house after my quick home energy check-up from bge. it's the closest i'll ever get to a day spa. they wrapped my pipes, installed cfl bulbs, recommended a little nip/tuck around the old windows and more. [announcer] learn to speak the language of energy efficiency at bgesmartenergy.com, and pamper your home with a quick home energy check-up. [sigh] ah... the efficient life is the good life. this morning on "today's home," how to update your fireplace. if yours is old, dirty or doesn't go with your room anymore, lxtv's "open house" host george oliphant is here to save the day. george, good morning. welcome. >> good morning, meredith! it's great to be here! every week on "open house to the rescue," we come and take care of our viewers' home improvement and design dilemmas. and with the weather getting colder, everybody wants their fireplace fixed. so, one lucky couple in brooklyn got their wish granted. we went and rescued them. >> terrific. >> so, take a look. >> george. >> hey, tucker, how's it going, man? >> good. how are you? >> good. i got your e-mail. i understand you have a fireplace problem in your living room. it's an eye sore? you have to hide it when friends come over? >> our fireplace is a plain jane, dull, boring, nothing exciting about it. we hoped you could help. >> i'm here to put some fire back in that fireplace. so, matthew, when you walk into reggie and tucker's living room, what's the first thing you see? >> the fireplace. >> what do you think we can do to it? >> i was thinking maybe the stone should wrap around the side and maybe should flow into the floor. >> i can see the new fireplace. i can't wait to help take it to that end result. measure twice and cut once. well, that's never more true than when you're working with granite. teamwork. can't do this by yourself. all right, tucker, behind this is your brand new fireplace. you haven't seen it yet. are you ready? >> i'm ready, george. >> turn around. >> holy cow! wow. >> ta da! what do you think? >> that is amazing. unbelievable. i feel like my furniture's in somebody else's apartment. this looks great. it's much better than i thought it would be. it's great. it's like night and day. before people even remember the fireplace, this leaves a mark and people will remember the fireplace. >> that was beautiful, george. >> that was quite a project. that's not really a do-it-yourselfer because of the expense and the wait and just working with granite. >> right. >> but i have some ideas. >> let's talk about instant face-lifts. >> put a new door on or put a new screen, put new fireplace tools. it's really easy. you can go to your local home improvement store. everything we got here we got from pleasant hearth. and it's amazing what putting in new screens and doors will do to your fireplace. >> and your room as a whole. >> the fireplace is the focal point of the room. >> now, my fireplace is always dirty. how do i clean it? the glass. >> the best way to get all the soot off, grease is universal. you don't have to use a lot of chemicals. white vinegar and water. scrub it. it will come off. >> that works on the doors? >> works on the doors, the glass, the soot, gets rid of it. you'll want to get a chimney sweep in definitely once a year, probably twice a year. >> okay. if your fireplace never was functional, it's still an important part of the room. >> right. it's the focal point of the room. 40% of the people who have a fireplace don't eve use them. first, tap it so you don't get pests and debris in and then clog it from the inside so the cold air doesn't seep in and the hot air doesn't seep out. >> then you want to decorate it. >> decorate it, because it's still in the room. plants, flowers, candles, dog beds. i saw on "open house," a tv in a fireplace. >> now this is stone that you can do by yourself if you're pretty handy. >> exactly. it's like a tile floor, but you're laying it on the wall. it goes from el dorado stone -- >> it looks great. >> it looks real and you put it up over your old fireplace and gives your fireplace that face-lift, the new look. it's like a veneer at the dentist. this is a veneer for your fireplace. >> or if you know somebody who is handy, you call them in as well. >> it's half the price and the weight of real stone. >> thank you very much. >> thank you so much, meredith. >> up next, a live performance from country superstar keith urban. but first, t ♪ keith urban is one of the most successful country artists around. now he's fresh from completing his sold-out "escape together" tour and riding high with five country music award nominations for his latest album called "defying gravity." keith, good to have you back. welcome. how have you been? >> very well. >> you've been busy, man. 75 country music association nominations -- >> five. >> 75, 5. that's big stuff. >> i like your awards show. >> yeah, you do? any nerves going into the ceremony next week? >> a little bit. >> yeah? why? what makes you nervous about it? >> well, we're going to play, and that's always a thing that's slightly nerve-racking. >> in front of your peers. >> it's in front of the peers, exactly, yeah. >> last time you were here, you were talking about how open this album is, sort of an ode to love. now you've been touring around the country. how would you describe the music that you're performing? >> it's hard to describe. i just play it, i guess, you know? these songs take on a new life the longer we play them, of course, and take on new meaning, so. >> yeah, i'm curious about that, because when you write a song, it's fresh, comes from the heart. then you go out on the road and you play it 150 times. >> yeah. >> is there a point where you say i don't want to hear this song anymore, or do you look at the song differently after you play it that many times? >> yeah, i hear it differently. it's like certain books, you reread them and see things you didn't pick up the first time around. so, for me, i like to find new things within the song that i hadn't noticed before. >> yeah. and how are your women? i mean -- >> she asks that all the time. >> how are the ladies in your life? >> i send my love to them. they're watching at home. >> we hope them get better real soon. what are you going to play? >> we're going to play something called "only you can love me this way." >> okay, 75 country music award nominations. >> five! ♪ ♪ mmm ♪ well, i know there's a reason, and i know there's a rhyme ♪ ♪ we were meant to be together, and that's why ♪ ♪ we can roll with the punches, we can stroll hand in hand ♪ ♪ and when i say it's forever, you understand ♪ ♪ 'cause you're always in my heart, you're always on my mind ♪ ♪ when it all becomes too much, you're never far behind ♪ ♪ and there's no one that comes close to you could ever take your place ♪ ♪ 'cause only you can love me this way ♪ ♪ oh, oh ♪ i could have turned a different corner, i could have gone another place ♪ >> yes, i could. ♪ but i'd have never had this feeling that i feel today, yeah ♪ ♪ and you're always in my heart, you're always on my mind ♪ ♪ when it all becomes too much, you're never far behind ♪ ♪ and there's no one that comes close to you could ever take your place, no, no ♪ ♪ 'cause only you can love me this way, yeah, you know it's true, baby ♪ ♪ ooh-hoo ♪ you're always in my heart, you're always on my mind ♪ ♪ when it all becomes too much, you're never far behind ♪ ♪ and there's no one that comes close to you could ever take your place ♪ ♪ 'cause only you can love me this way ♪ ♪ only you can love me this way ♪ ♪ >> keith urban, thank you very much. keith's going to be back with another song a little later on, but first, these messages, your local news and weather. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. there is a look at one of our top stories. an altercation outside a fair oaks points to club ends with an off-duty police officers stabbed and the suspect shot. it happened shortly after 2:00 this morning on north point blvd. critical the more county police said that the officer was stabbed twice. the officer was -- the shooting was in the abdomen. the suspect is in serious condition. this is one way of getting vitamins and minerals. this is another. new total blueberry pomegranate cereal gives you 100% of the daily value of 12 essential vitamins and minerals. plus the bold new taste of blueberries and pomegranate with crispy whole grain flakes and crunchy oat clusters. total, a truly delicious way to get vitamins and minerals. how are you getting 100%? visit totalcereal.com and get a coupon. >> now let's take a look at the forecast with tony pann. >> the weather should be fairly quiet as we head into the afternoon. there is a 30% chance that we see a couple of rain showers pop up with a mixture of sunshine and clouds. temperatures in the upper 40's and 50's in baltimore. in the mountains, struggling to get out of the 30's. seven-day forecast -- sunshine tomorrow, but recently with high temperatures only in the upper 40's and the 50's. nice weekend. a dry on saturday and sunday. >> thank you for joining us. another update in 25 minutes. ♪ tell me who's watching. ♪ i always feel like somebody's watching me. ♪ (announcer) it's right here. it's easy. ♪ i always feel like somebody's watching me. ♪ it's the money you could be saving with geico.

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