captions paid for by nbc-universal television and welcome to "today" on this tuesday morning. i'm meredith vieira. >> i'm matt lauer. this disaster we're seeing unfold in the gulf may have taken a really troubling turn overnight. if scientists can confirm that the tar balls, for lack of a better expression, that washed up in key west are from that massive oil spill. >> it's still a big question, but the real fear is that the spill has entered the so-called loop current which would spread the oil all along the florida peninsula and up the east coast into the carolinas. monday afternoon officials stressed that had not happened, but the discovery of the tar balls could prove them wrong. we'll go live to the florida keys for more on all of this in a moment. also ahead, coming up we're going to have the parents of 17-year-old chelsea king. they'll open up about their daughter's murder and what it was like to face her killer in a courtroom on friday. coming up, they'll join us for an exclusive live interview, their first since john gardner, that man right there, was sentenced. >> they had very powerful words to say to him in that courtroom. plus, more of our series "today looks back." this morning, matt's story that touched him the most. >> this wasn't an easy one for me. two families connected by a tragic case of mistaken identity after a car crash that left one girl dead and another fighting for her life in the hospital. for six weeks the identity of those girls was mixed up. when the mistake was finally realized, it meant agony for one family, as you can only imagine, joy for the other. and the people that we'll meet today and catch up with are some of the most inspiring and graceful people i've ever met. but let's begin this morning with these tar balls that have been found in key west, florida and the investigation now to figure out where they actually came from. nbc's michelle kosinski is with us now with details. michelle, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. just yesterday we were looking at the latest projections of what it would look like if oil got into that loop current in the gulf which some scientists think now is inevitable. it was looking like five to ten days at a minimum for oil to come anywhere close to here. well, as we were doing that, balls of tar were washing up on the southwestern edge of key west. 20 of them, three to eight inches in diameter. so are these coming from the oil spill? do tar balls sometimes wash up here? yes. is this a lot of them? yes. the coast guard basically doesn't want to jump to any conclusions. they'll send the balls of tar to a lab to be tested and try to figure out the origin. federal officials are going to be to examine the coastline today on the ground and from the air. here in the keys, which pride themselves on being laid back and throwing hurricane parties, there is enormous concern now of what oil could do to the tourism economy here and also to the enormous richness of life beneath these waves. >> michelle, let me ask you a question. we had an image, a graphic depiction of this loop current that you're talking about that goes along, around the keys, then up the atlantic coast. are scientists saying it's not a question of "if," but "when" the remnants of this spill or the slick get into that current? >> reporter: that's what they've been saying, that some is bound to get into the current. the question is how much, at what depth, and what kind of effect it will have. the projections we're looking at now don't project it that far out. you're not seeing it in the latest ones we've seen whipping all the way around florida. but if that were to happen, there is still a big question mark could it hit land or coat the shorelines as far south and ft. lauderdale or miami. some scientists are saying probably not. they're thinking maybe farther north to palm beach, up the cape canaveral. no one really knows at this point. that's why it is so disturbing. no one knows if or when they will see oil on these coasts. >> michelle kosinski in the keys for us this morning, michelle, thank you very much. now to the source of the oil spill and bp's defense of its handling of that disaster. for more on that, nbc's mark potter is in venice, louisiana. mark, good morning. let me start with you and ask you what are you seeing and what are people there seeing washing ashore in the gulf coast? >> reporter: well, they're seeing oil. here in louisiana, matt -- good morning to you -- governor bobby jindal says there are 46 miles of shorelines here that have now been oiled -- excuse me -- 19 of them do have tar balls. lot of bugs out here this morning. yesterday an nbc team out here found red gooey tar patches in a marsh area and on a beach, in an area in the southeastern most of louisiana. bp says it is now working on a fix to completely seal that well. perhaps by the end of the week. they'll first use a technique known as a top kill where tons of highly pressurized mud are shoved down in the well and encased in cement. if that doesn't work, they'll try something called a jump shot trying to jam rubber, plastic, copper, even golf balls into that blow-out preventer on the top of the well to jam it up, and encasing that in cement. bp says now it is collecting a fifth of the oil by connecting the oil in a tube to a ship. in washington yesterday at another scene, the senate committee chairman joe lieberman criticized bp for not being prepared for the spill, and also the u.s. government for issuing drilling permits without requiring the property safety measures. >> mark potter in louisiana for us this morning, taking one for the team swallowing a bug for breakfast there. mark, way to go. thanks very much. >> it was good. >> 7:06. now here's meredith. >> matt, thank you. now to politics and what's being done super senate tuesday. three high-stakes primary elections in pennsylvania, kentucky and arkansas that could highlight an anti-incumbent sentiment among voters. nbc'ssavannah gustry is in washington. >> reporter: good morning. this election could provide burning questions to that question -- just how angry are voters at washington. from pennsylvania -- >> i'll do whatever it takes. >> reporter: -- to kentucky. >> i'm not a career politician, i'm a physician. >> reporter: -- to arkansas. the final push. in senate primary races today, it's as though washington itself is on the ballot. >> i'm running for re-election on my record. >> reporter: incumbent candidates are battling fierce challenges from within their own ranks. >> i want to go down to washington, d.c. and be a public servant, not a politician. >> reporter: in pennsylvania, five-term senator arlen specter crisscrossed the state monday, having switched parties, he now has to prove his democratic credentials. >> my voting record has been more with democrats than republicans during my entire tenure in the senate. >> reporter: but the race with congressman joe sestak is still neck-and-neck. >> i respect arlen specter but his time truly has come and it's gone. >> reporter: in arkansas -- >> the real important question is how is the united states senator that's going to represent working class arkansas families. >> i do what's right for arkansas. i answer to you. >> reporter: lincoln is ahead in the polls but if she doesn't get 50% of the vote today, the race is headed for a potentially damaging runoff. in kentucky, the republican race for senate will test the power of the tea party. antitax activist rand paul, son of former presidential candidate ron paul, has the backing of the grassroots conservative group and is leading secretary of state trey grayson who has the support of the republican establishment. >> i know trey grayson and trust him. >> reporter: but analysts say that might not help in an antiwashington year. >> you actually want to be the outsider. this is the year of the outsider and having establishment credentials is not all that helpful. >> reporter: the president campaigned for arlen specter in pennsylvania but that was back in september of last year. he declined to go again for a late push but he will be very close today, meredith, in youngsto youngstown, ohio for an event on the economy. >> yeah, but flying over pennsylvania. savannah gustry, thank you. fox news contributor newt gingrich is the former republican speaker of the house and author of the new book, "to save america, stopping obama's secular socialist machine." before i get to the primaries, talk about a statement in your book that's drawing a lot of attention. you say that obama and the democrats are pushing what you call the secular socialist agenda and you write, "the secular socialist machine represents as great a threat to america as nazi germany or the soviet union once did." can you honestly compare what's going on with the democrats to nazi germany? >> it's not a question of how evil they were. nazi germany was terrible. maoist china was terrible. it was a question of finality. had we lost either of those contests we'd have become a radically different country. the secular socialist agenda is for an america fundamentally different than america has been for the last 400 years. >> when you hear that term, " t "na "nazi," that's one of those inflammatory words that can turn off anybody. >> when you look at threat they presented to american life -- not talking about the moral equivalents -- >> not talking about the mass murder. >> i'm not talking about mass murder. i condemn, as every american should, mao's china, stal in's russia and hitler's germany. our country is a country based on individual freedom and a country in which the government was subordinate to people. is washington dominant or are the citizens dominant? i do believe obama's secular socialist machine threatens to impose in this country a series of bureaucratic decisions that are very dangerous. >> you talk about the threat of obama's administration and the democrat. yet when you look at primaries that we're going to witness today, there is this anti-incumbent mood that's all across the country, regardless of party, republicans and democrats. >> i think the republicans in the last few years earned part of that animus. but if you look at it carefully, tim burns race for the house in pennsylvania is a very important indicator. if he wins, that's a very important signal. i think in all three races you described, my guess is you're going to see the anti-tax change-oriented candidate winning. i think in specter's case, the fact he's been elected for 30 years, the fact they switched parties -- we both wish he would return the money he helped raised. >> if you loses today, is that a referendum on president obama -- >> no. look, i think first of all, president obama is a very attractive, personable leader. he has a wonderful family. i think people are going to like him long after they dislike his policies. there's no evidence in virginia, new jersey or massachusetts that he can transfer that to anybody. he turned out no additional votes for the democrats in any of those three races. >> when you look in kentucky, tea party activists, including sarah palin, are rallying behind rand paul running against trey grayson, the establishment candidate for all intents and purposes. who are you supporting in this race? >> i'm neutral in this race. but rand paul has a huge advantage with jim bunning endorsing. there is no question rand paul represents the more anti-tax insurgent elements of kentucky. >> why are you neutral in this race? in utah you were very clearly for bob bennett. >> bennett was an old friend, he had been around and i think he is an honorable person with 84% conservative voting record. in this case it is an open seat. i have friends on both sides. i'm friends with jim bunning, i'm friends with mitch mcconnell. my hunch that rand paul has the edge today but i don't need to go around the country and get into every single race in the country. >> but if rand paul wins, that's good news for the tea party movement but is it good news for the republicans come november? >> sure. of course it is. if the tea party movement and the republicans stay together to defeat obamaism, the tea party movement adds energy, it adds drive, it adds a toughness that the republican party needs. >> all right, newt gingrich, thank you so much. congratulations on the book as well. it's called "to save america." now let's get a check of the morning's top stories from ann curry at the news desk. a breaking story overnight. a suicide car bomb exploded in afghanistan claiming at least 16 lives, including at least five american service members. the taliban has claimed responsibility. nbc's tom as spepell is in kabu this morning with more. what have you learned? >> reporter: good morning. the suicide driver rammed the convoy of three armored civilian vehicles at the southern entrance to kabul early this morning. the blast killed six nato personnel, including five americans. it also killed ten afghan civilians and injured more than 50. now the city's defenses had been beefed up over the past ten weeks since the last suicide attack here, with an increased number of checkpoints and security patrols. but this shows exactly how determined an attacker can breach those defenses. the taliban has claimed responsibility. it said the attack was carried out by a kabul man using 1,600 pounds of explosives. ann? >> tom aspell this morning, thanks. american missionary laura silsby is returning home today after a judge ordered her released. silsby was found guilty on monday of illegally trying to take 33 children out of haiti after the earthquake there last january but she was sentenced to time served. a former harvard senior has been indicted on larceny and identity theft charges after allegedly duping the ivy league university to admitting him with a fake life history. he claimed he attended m.i.t. and co-authored several books. he was awarded more than $46,000 in financial aid and grants from harvard which he applied for using plagiarized submissions, according to the university. president obama heads to youngstown, ohio today focusing on the jobs and economy. the latest is to be on what the administration calls his white house to main street tour. cnbc's trish regan is at new york stock exchange. europe's debt crisis, is that still a focus today? >> that's the big issue here, what everybody is debating, whether or not the euro zone can really pull itself out of this mess, whether the currency in some cases folks are questioning whether the currency can even survive. this is really the biggest threat that we've seen to the euro since it was first introduced. in fact, it is now at a fresh four-year low against the u.s. dollar. so lots of concerns about europe and what that means, ann, for the world economy. if europe falters, what happens to the u.s.? >> trish regan this morning, thanks so much. cnbc's airing a documentary on the obesity epidemic and its multi-billion dollar cost to american at 10:00 eastern. a harvard study finds that a daily serving of processed red meat like bacon, sausage and cold-cuts leads to a 4 % higher risk of haeart disease and a 20 risk of diabetes. however, unprocessed red meat such as beef and lamb that's not eserved with sulfa nitrates is not linked to an increased risk of those diseases, at least according to the study. 7:16. back to matt, mer >> good morning. we are off to a wet start again on this tuesday. the rain will be with us all the way it through this evening. take an umbrella with you to make extra time today. is only in >> that's your latest weather. there are some new developments in the case of three americans detained in iran since last july, accusedest knowledge. their families say they accidentally crossed into iran while hiking. ann sat down with their moms on monday. ann, good morning. >> good morning to you, matt. up until now the mothers of shane bauer, jash fattal and share ra showered have only had one phone call from their children the last nine months but this morning they're on their way to iran to see their first for the first time since all of this face to face. they're really optimistic they might be able to bring their children home. you seem hopeful in a way that i've not seen you before. why? >> we have been waiting a long time for this day. we are really excited and really happy that we're finally going to get to see our kids. >> we have faith in the compassion of the people and the compassion of the officials. >> of iran. >> of iran. yes. >> what gives you this faith? >> we have faith in humankind. we have to have faith. we have to keep faith for our children. we're going there with a mother's love, which is the strongest love i can imagine. we're going there with pure hearts. we're going there to bring our children home. >> our mantra is, we want to bring our children back. i want to bring my daughter home. we're just going to keep saying that and saying that. >> so, gearing up now for that moment when you walk into the prison and you look for that face you raised from a baby. >> i am so eager to see josh. i can't wait to grab him, hold him, kiss him. the most wonderful moment in our life is when we see our children when they're born. this far outweighs that. to see shane after this long and to be able to give him my love and feel that back is going to be tremendous. >> have you thought about what you're going to say to your daughter? >> you know what? i don't think it is so much about words honestly. i want her to be able to talk to me as much as she needs to for as long as she needs to. >> have you been given any guarantees that besides seeing your children, you'll be able to speak to anyone in the government? >> no. we really don't know what's going to happen when we get there. >> if anyone in the government listens to you, what is your message to president ahmadinejad? >> to allow our children to come home with us. we think this would be a great act of kindness and the world is watching. we would be so grateful to have our children come home with us. >> what would it mean to you if you could actually bring your children home? >> it would be like starting life all over again. it would be like some kind of amazing sort of gift, a rebirth almost for us and for the kids. >> grateful. i mean that's the word i'd think of, is grateful. very grateful. it is going to take time to get back to normal because normal feels far away. >> all of these mothers are telling us they're bringing with them photographs and letters hoping they'll be able to give them to their children and we, of course, wish them the best. very, very tough day. they asked for an opportunity to speak to president ahmadinejad himself. >> still unclear whether they'll get that opportunity. >> that's right. >> ann, thanks very much. 7:22. just ahead, the paints of 17-year-old chelsea king speak out for the first time since their daughter's killer was sentenced to life in prison. just ahead, household products used by children to get high. have retailers stopped selling them to kids like they promised? >> the results of our follow-up investigation after your local news. i hope i get a chance to put two scoops!™ of raisins in some boxes. you know what will really get us in the spirit? ♪ 99 boxes of raisin bran crunch ♪ ♪ if you're nice to me i'll share some with you ♪ ♪ you take one down ( and pass it around ) ♪ ♪ 98 boxes of raisin bran crunch ♪ three tasty ingredients, one great combination. ♪ raisin bran crunch! from kellogg! time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze... my eyes water. but now zyrtec®, the fastest 24-hour allergy relief, comes in a new liquid gel. new zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®. cone on, kiddo, let's go. hold on a second... come on up here, where your brothers sit. wow! chevy traverse. a consumers digest best buy, with a 100,000 mile, powertrain warranty. it seats eight comfortably - not that it always has to. during spring event get 0% apr for 60 months on a 2010 traverse with an average finance savings of around fifty four hundred dollars. only at your chevy dealer. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. >> good morning, everyone. dealing with several accidents. it would ride out there. 97 at monticello wrote, and some other to an i-70, another accident location. park heights and stevenson, we have a downed tree there. 19 miles per hour on the outer loop, all that volume-related another accident at harford and 32nd in the city with lane closures. some slow right here on the northeast outer loop. a 30 miles per hour towards dulaney valley. pretty standard rush. the wind is picking things a bit worse. down to an 11-minute ride on southbound 95 towards 32 and howard county. coming towards us, out of the traffic it what you can see is the basic things. champac right towards edmondson. -- champac ride towards edmondson. this is backing down heavily from white marsh to the 895 split. >> we need to put some one should wipers on the lens of those cameras. it is not heavy rain. most of that has been confined to the beaches and part of the lower eastern shore and delaware. light rain, drizzle, fog. what you see is what you get. off and on rainshowers. cloudy and cool, with areas of fog. this will get better by the end of the week. there's been fighting, close to 80 degrees. >> 7:30 now on a tuesday morning, the 18th day of may, 2010. it is kind of cool and drizzly out on the plaza. you see the umbrellas. but we'll get out there in just a little while, say hi to these people. hopefully the weather will be nicer on friday when the script comes to play a concert on our plaza. matt lauer, alongside meredith vieira. ahead, a follow-up to one of our startling hidden camera investigations. >> a few years back we found stores selling household products to kids to get high. retailers said they'd chng their policies, but have they? we'll tell you what we found. also, "today looks back." a car crash involving two young girls and a tragic case of mistaken identity. police and the hospital mixed up a girl who died in that crash with a girl who actually survived. took six weeks to realize the mistake. when the families were told, they both handled it with incredible courage and grace. we'll catch up with them in just a little while. but we begin this half-hour with the parents of 17-year-old chelsea king who are using their daughter's tragic murder to help other families. we're going to talk to them exclusively in a moment. but first, here's nbc's miguel almaguer. >> i am filled with a rage i did not realize i could possess against this man. i hate him. with all my soul. >> reporter: on friday, brent and kelly king finally faced john gardner, the cold-blooded killer who raped and murdered their 17-year-old daughter, chelsea king. >> look at me. >> reporter: you could hear a pin drop in this san diego courtroom. >> chelsea was a sweet, loving and innocent soul who could not have fathomed the retched piece of evil that ended her life that day. you dismantled a family life that was built on love, trust and faith. but you did not destroy it. look at me! >> reporter: two sets of parents, overwhelmed with grief, just feet away from the man responsible for two brutal crimes. john gardner's already confessed to the rape and murder of chelsea king and amber dubois. justice would finally be served. >> life without the possibility of parole. >> reporter: gardner was put away for life, but police now say there may be other victims. >> we believe that he's involved in some other cases, not necessarily murders but other assaultive type cases. >> reporter: for the first time since gardner's arrest, officials monday revealed that they're investigating gardner for other sexual assaults. gardner was a convicted sex offender out on parole when he killed dubois and king and he had at least seven parole violations that could have put him back behind bars before the murders. >> the pain could have been prevented. >> reporter: in california, the kings met with lawmakers to press for chelsea's law, legislation that would send many violent sex offenders to prison for life after a first offense, with other sex offenders on life-long parole with electronic monitoring. >> my personal promise to all the children, all the mothers and all the fathers, is that i will do all i can to protect other daughters and sons and other mothers and fathers from going through this incomparable nightmare that i'm walking through. >> reporter: determined to honor chelsea, the kings say they won't give up their fight, what has become their new mission, passing a law that they say could have saved their own daughter's life. for "today," miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. >> chelsea's parents, brent and kelly king, are with us now exclusively for their first interview since the sentencing of john gardner. mr. and mrs. king, good morning. thanks for joining us. >> good morning. >> kelly, can i ask you how you prepared yourself for that moment in court on friday when you stood so close to john gardner and said the things you did? >> you know, i don't know that there is any way to prepare for that. the minute he walked in to that courtroom, there was just a complete and total wave of disgust. there's an element of shock to be that close to someone who's done what he's done to our daughter and to our family. there was no preparation. there was just a lot of anger. >> you said "look at me. look at me." you said it twice, i believe. what were you hoping or expecting to see in his eyes? >> i wantedim to be able to look and see all the pain and the anguish. not that it would have registered with him, but in some way -- >> i understand. >> -- to -- i just can't say it. i'm sorry. >> brent, kelly was very articulate and she said that you have dismantled a part of this family. you have not destroyed this family. why do you think that sentiment was so important to state in court? >> we have a beautiful 13-year-old son and our first and primary goal is to raise a really healthy, happy 13-year-old son as best we can. >> i know you two are in washington. and there is an effort under way in california and the state legislature there to pass a chelsea's law where one strike and a violent sex offender does not get out. what do you want to say to lawmakers and in your meetings at the white house and washington? >> we fawant to share with them first and foremost that one strike is enough. it shouldn't take two children going through a terrible violent act until we lock somebody away. the loss of one child is incredibly tragic. why wait for two children to go through a terrible event? and we also want to bring them a vision and picture of who chelsea is and how much we lost, as not just parents but as a community. >> kelly, brent says who chelsea was. and i know -- it was so painful to even read this -- that you started getting in the weeks after her death letters of acceptance to colleges she had applied to. she got accepted to all 11. what were her dreams for a life in college and after and what were your dreams for her? >> chelsea's dreams were unlimited. she worked so hard up to this point just about ready to graduate from high school and the world was going to be hers. i saw in her a child who could mold her world an her life into anything she dreamt possible and beyond. and i had that same hope for her and to see that future wiped out in an instant is nothing short of complete and pure tragedy. >> brent and kelly king, i appreciate you so much spending time with us this morning. thank you in advance for the work you're doing to protect other families from this same ordeal. it's nice to see you both. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> let us switch gears. sorry about this. get a check now of the weather from al. >> all right, thanks, matt. as we look at the temperatures around the country, the departure here in the northeast where the rain is pretty good, anywhere 15 to 20 degrees below narmal. warmer up through the plains. afternoon highs getting up into the 80s and 70s through t >> off and on rainshowers with us through the day and all the way through the evening. it will be unseasonably cool, with high temperatures only in the upper fifties and low 60s. >> and that's your latest weather. matt? >> al, thank you so much. coming up next, our hidden camera investigation to see if popular stores still sell toxic inhalants to children. right after this. get our hands a little busier. our dollars a little stronger. and our thinking a little greener. let's grab all the bags and all the plants and all the latest tools out there. so we can turn all these savings into more colorful shades of doing. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now get the roundup weed and grass killer pump 'n go at the new lower price of only $15. how about a coastal soup and grilled shrimp salad combination? or maybe our new savory shrimp jambalaya. seafood lunches starting at just $6.99 at red lobster. with sofas hand-made for you. furniture that's built to last. and style as smart as you are. new extraordinary savings at ethan allen. now with limited-time financing. the forecast is full of ifs. retirement these days, if i'm too exposed to downturns. if i'll go through my savings too fast. to help you feel more confident consider putting a portion of your savings in a metlife variable annuity. when the market goes up, it gives your assets a potential to grow. while protecting you if the market goes down with a steady stream of income. metlife annuities have helped over a million people stay on course with guarantees for the if in life. get answers about annuities at metlife.com. against pollutants and damaging environmental factors. new eucerin daily skin balance body lotion with ph buffer strengthens your skin's protective barrier. new daily skin balance only from eucerin. 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[ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum ta tum tum tums this morning on "today investigates," products that can be used by kids to get a dangerous high. how some stores are feeding the problem. nbc's jeff rossen is here with the hidden camera investigation. jeff, good morning to you. >> hi, meredith. good morning. real wake-up call for parents. these are common household products that kids abuse and huff to get high. after our investigation aired last winter, the stores we called promised to stop selling them to children. but did they? we went back in to find out. you're watching a drug deal in progress. the buyers, two little boys. the sellers, some of the biggest stores in the country. the kids, an eighth-grader and a fourth-grader, are actually working with us. we sent them from store to store to by air duster, a common household cleaner kids inhale to get high. it's become so popular, it's glamourized by videos posted john line where kids appear to be huffing. this quick high, all the rage among high school kids, is now invading middle schools, too. nearly 1 in 10 eighth-graders used inhalants in the past year. >> they don't know it is deadly and can cause brain damage. they think it is a fun, cheap, safe way to get high. >> reporter: what's that kyle williams thought. at only 14 years old, he huffed himself to death in his own bed. >> there was a red straw coming out of his mouth and that can of dust-off between his legs. >> the imachblg fige of finding his bed dead stays with me every single day. >> reporter: jeff and kathy williams say their son never used drugs until a friend showed him how to inhale duster on the school bus one day. two weeks later, kyle was gone. >> it is called sudden sniffing death syndrome. basically the chemicals get into your blood stream, replace the oxygen. your electrical system in your brain shuts down and you die. >> reporter: and kids can buy this providesen poison at any c. last winter we sent two child actors into popular retail chains and exposed store after store selling them toxic inhalants. in most states like new york, it is legal. but remember, one of our kids is in fourth grade. at some stores we took it up a notch telling our kids to joke about getting high right in front of the cashier. >> have you ever inhaled this stuff before? >> inhaled it? >> yeah. it's really good. >> that is very unhealthy. >> it makes you really high. >> it's not good. >> reporter: yet she still sold it to them. in response to our investigation, k-mart, p.c. richard and son and cvs banned the sale of air buster to minors in all stores nationwide. >> hi. do you have air duster? >> reporter: we wanted to put their pledge to the test so we went our child actors back in to 12 of these stores to try and buy duster. at this k-mart, we were happy to see a clerk immediately stopped them. >> you have to have an adult purchase this. >> reporter: but at this k-mart, the clerk doesn't even blink, selling duster to our eighth-grader, no questions asked. so much for that nationwide ban. at this p.c. richard and son, the clerk tells our boys, duster is for adults only. so our actor blatantly lies. >> i am 18 though. i'm hold enough to buy it. >> you don't like like 18. >> i am. >> reporter: it is laughable. he's 13. but the clerk sells him the inhalant anyway. so does the clerk at this cvs. and this cvs. when our producer also wearing a hidden camera asks them about their policy on duster, they don't even have a clue. >> i thought stores weren't allowed to sell that to kids. you don't know anything about that? >> reporter: in the end, our investigation found 1 out of 3 k-marts, 2 out of 3 p.c. richards, and 3 out of 6 cvs stores sold our kids inhalants. even after they vowed to stop. cvs blamed employee error saying all of their stores have an age restriction warning for duster that pops up in the register. oh, really? after she sells our boy a can, listen to what this cvs clerk tells our producer. >> there's no age restriction? >> yeah, it would have popped up if there is an age restriction on it. >> reporter: you put these companies on notice, you put the country on notice by broadcasting it out there, and yet this is still going on. >> reporter: we showed our video to the man who runs the partnership for a drug-free america. >> the companies say it is not our fault. our policy is we don't sell this product to kids and our employees aren't following our policy. >> the company should not be passing the buck to their employees. the minute that product was scanned, the computer should have locked the cash register and required an id check. it is literally that simple. >> reporter: a simple fix in a deadly game that's taking young lives. >> there's just worried about making the money. they're not worried about who's getting hurt. >> cvs, p.c. richard and son and k-mart declined our interview. they said it was unacceptable and the safety of their customers is a top priority. cvs and k-mart say they are now reeducating their staff. in response to our hidden camera investigation, p.c. richard is now even bulge air duster from all their stores nationwide. they've decided they don't want to be in that business anymore. they won't sell it to kids or adults. >> jeff rossen, thank you very much. we're back after this. have you tried honey bunches of oats yet? 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[ male announcer ] there's only one place you can get a clarity commitment for your mortgage or credit card. bank of america. 30 years ago this morning, mt. st. helens erupted in washington state obliterating everything in its path. nbc's lee cowan is there with a look at how things have changed since then. lee, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. it was the deadliest volcanic eruption in u.s. history and it affected some 200 square miles around the mountain. scientists say nature went to work almost immediately trying to repair that damage and now 30 years on they're frankly amazed. >> it fires the explosion we have long been fearing has occurred. >> reporter: it was 8:32 a.m. a bright spring morning 30 years ago when mount st. helens shattered. the eruption shot ash 15 miles into the sky. hot winds, moving it near supersonic speed surturned the forest into matchsticks. >> one of the most devastating natural explosions our nation has ever known. >> reporter: 57 people died, 21 were never found. mariana, now 88, was one of the lucky ones. >> we didn't know if we were going to live or die there for some minutes. >> reporter: she and her husband, ham radio operators, were camping in their van, monitoring the mountain's angry emissions. they barely made it out. a colleague of theirs didn't. >> then the last words he ever said was, "it's going to get me next. i'm going to back out of here." that was it. >> reporter: the eruption lasted nine hours. its power shocked even the experts. >> what we didn't understand was that this entire side of a mountain could collapse. >> reporter: the chief scientist on the volcano says it was that lateral eruption that made mount st. helens so deadly. >> we'd have been here we would have perished. >> reporter: he's been working here since the eruption. but says these days, he barely recognizes a thing. >> when we first came out here a year after the eruption, didn't find a single living thing. >> nothing. >> nothing. >> reporter: three decades changes a lot. the mountain is now teeming with life, all creatures, great and small, flying, crawling, and swimming. >> the rate with which life has come back here is absolutely astonishing. >> reporter: a rebound that excites tourists, too. >> it is amazing how it's come alive after all these years. >> reporter: but for long-time residents, it is no surprise. sam gardner knows the mountain is always alive in one way or the other. >> of course when there is a potential it can take you out at any time, that's kind of exciting. but it seems to have calmed down a little bit. >> reporter: calmed down -- for now. they warn this is still a very young, very act iive volcano. even though it is heavily studied, whether or if it will erupt again is still a mystery. still, it was late. well... you're not gonna have to worry about that anymore. yeah, why's that? ♪ todd's a lucky man. ♪ the best part of wakin' up... ♪ that's what i told him when we talked last week. ♪ ...is folgers in your cup at world record speed. i'm luke myers. if you wt to be incredible, eat incredible. announcer: eggs. incredible energy for body and mind. 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( gasps ) what's in your wallet? wait up! >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. here is sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. >> it will be nice when the rain moves out. we are dealing with several accidents around the area. monticello drive, watch for a crash. eastbound eye-to 70 towards 29, a standard delays there. at guilford avenue, we have an accident blocking some lanes. harford and the second, watch for an accident with closures. right around padonia down to the beltway, you are looking at 15 miles per hour coming out of the white marsh area on southbound 95. you can see these delays on the west side stretching back to route 140. eastbound 195 at 170 in the air but the city, watch for an accident. drive time of blood 28 minutes on the west side. 14 minutes on the inner loop of the j.f.x. towards i-95. if you can, leave early. this is a delay will contend with on the west side. in the white marsh area, a very congested adding southbound. >> it looks like the rain will be with us off and on through the evening. hd doppler is picking up the heaviest stuff. around baltimore, it is mostly just a light rain and drizzle right now. forecasters off and on rainshowers and cloudy and cool. temperatures of trouble getting out of the 50's. it will be a little bit warmer tomorrow. we will make up to 68 but stay dry. we will hit 80 degrees on friday. >> check the bottom of your screen for updated news and traffic informa 8:00 now on this tuesday morning, the 18th of may, 2010. terrific crowd braving the elements here in rockefeller plaza, little bit of misting at this point. i'm meredith vieira, along with matt lauer and al roker. ahead, more of our special series "today looks back." >> this is a case, a tragic case of mistaken identity. it happened after an accident that left one young girl dead and another fighting for her life for six weeks. identifitive those two girls was mistaken. when the truth was discovered, obviously it meant tragedy for one family, heartbreak. joy for the other family. we'll meet those two families involved if that story and catch up with them in just a couple of minutes. on a lighter note, you may notice that our plaza looks a little different this morning. that's because we got our finalists who are competing for a complete free yard makeover for the title of america's most desperate landscape. we've got a big competition coming up. >> that's always fun. a programming note, coming up tomorrow on "today," we'll talk to laura and lisa ling. laura was one of the journalists held for five months in a north korean prison while lisa fought valiantly here for her release. they'll both join us for an exclusive morning interview tomorrow on "today." they just wrote a book about their experience. let's go inside right now. ann has a check of all the headlines. >> thanks, matt. the coast guard is examining 20 balls of tar that have washed ashore in key west, florida to see if they are evidence the massive spill in the gulf of mexico is on the move. oil from the spill is washing up on louisiana's coastline and has been found for miles. now the white house says the president will create a commission to investigate the disast disaster. overnight a suicide car bomb targeted a nato convoy in afghanistan. the explosion near the parliament building in the capital claimed the lives of at least five american service members and one nato member and at least 12 afghan civilians. more than 50 others were wounded. it is primary day around the nation and the strength of the tea party movement is being put to the test in kentucky where two democratic incumbents, senators arlen specter of pennsylvania and blanche lincoln of arkansas are in tough races for their seat. here's brian williams with what's coming up tonight on "nbc nightly news." >> thanks. all this week on "nightly news," we're doing celebrities who are making a difference. tonight, eva longoria parker, a passion to help young people with developmental disorders. her work in this area inspired by her own sister. a touching profile that's tonight on our broadcast. ann, back to you. 8:02. let's go back outside to al. >> we've got some seniors here from boone, north carolina. having a good time? you look like you got your pompons and everything. let's check your weather, see what's happening. pick city of the day, kark, little rock, arkansas. sunny skies, warm temperatures, about 80 degrees today. the jet stream is fairly zonal, bringing the storm track here across the northeast. that's bringing that crawler up the coast, bringing the heavy rain. as we move ahead toward thursday, you can see that we've got a little bit of a dip through the jet stream down in the south, rain storms across texas. mild weather >> it is going to be a rainy and cold day. not going to be heavy rain, but off and on showers all the way to the afternoon and evening. >> and that's your latest weather. up next, two families connectsed by a deadly accident involving two girls and a heart kl breaking case of mistaken identity. s for this. mom, thanks for the amazing pie. it's soo good. oh, and for the roof over my head. thanks for hanging in there. see, i thank you for stuff! thanks for liking me more than my sister. thanks for not... really ruining my life. what? 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this is it? why?! oh, don't do that to me! dove creamoil body wash. now with nutrium moisture. nutrium moisture. i'm a believer. the nourishment in dove creamoil goes somehow deeper. i'm happy about the change. change is good. dove creamoil body wash. this morning in "today looks back," a story that touched me like no other. two families linked forever by one tragic mistake. we'll talk to those families in a moment, but first their tale of hope and heartbreak. >> reporter: wednesday, april 26th, 2006, the day everything changed for two families. a devastating car crash on an indiana freeway. a semi-truck struck a van with nine youths returning from a school function. laura van ryn was one of the victims. her mother, suzie, received the devastating call. >> someone said something like, "we have your daughter, laura, in the hospital in ft. wayne. she's been in an accident." >> reporter: the van ryns were told that laura was in critical condition and unconscious. meanwhile, colleen cerak received her own phone call that night and was given the heartbreaking news that no parent ever wants to hear. >> i think they just told me that they were sorry that whitney was one of the victims in the accident and that she had died. >> reporter: whitney's sister, carly, and her mom went to the hospital where whitney was taken but couldn't bring themselves to see her. >> i wanted a picture of whitney who was this beautiful, living, vibrant girl, instead of -- i would keep that picture in my head as opposed to a battered body. >> reporter: while the ceraks decided not take one last look at their beloved whitney, the van ryn family was preparing to see laura for the first time since the accident. >> they told us at that point, "expect to see her in an altered state. she's got tubes coming out everywhere. she's bruised up." >> "not going to look like herself." >> not going to look like herself. >> really, she was wrapped to about here. we could see this much of her face when she had a blanket over her and everything was wrapped up and her eyes were closed. and a little bit of swelling it looked like and maybe some very minor cuts. >> reporter: the van ryns took turns sitting at laura's bedside for the course of what they were told would be a very long recovery. laura's sister, lisa, kept a blog about her progress to try to keep loved ones informed. >> "she has some fractured ribs and an array of cuts an bruises. it is apparent that she feels pain which is actually a good sign." >> reporter: while the ceraks said good-bye to their daughter, the van ryns were encouraged by some small movement in laura's arms and legs. but it was actually something else that got lisa's attention. >> lisa, you're at laura's bedside and she yawned. she kind of opened her mouth. you noticed something about her teeth. >> um-hmm. >> tell me what you saw. >> well, i noticed that these two on either side in the front looked different to me. like set a little bit differently than i thought laura's teeth had been. >> reporter: and then finally she opened her eyes. >> her eyed popped open. one eye just barely opening. just a little slit. that's the way it happened. >> it was like a little glimmer of -- >> reporter: friends and family visited laura in the hospital. some raising questions about other small changes they noticed in her. a piercing she had on her navel. her eyes seemed to be a different color. but with no reason to question her identity, the van ryns didn't pay much attention to them. laura was soon moved to a rehab center closer to home where she showed signs of regaining some of her memory. but there was one big detail that still seemed to escape her. her name. >> the therapist asked her to write her name. tell me about that moment. >> she wrote, skrauwled whitney. i thought maybe she was sitting next to whitney prior to the accident. again, i didn't make a huge deal of it immediately. >> reporter: but when lisa visited laura at rehab, her doubts about her sister's identity were confirmed. >> i said, can you tell me your name? >> he said, "whitney." i asked her her parents' names an she was able to tell me newell and colleen. that was the clincher for me. i knew laura would not know that. >> reporter: the van ryns knew that their heartbreak would mean elation for the ceraks who headed to the rehab center to see for themselves. >> i remember just right away i could just tell. i just said, "it's whitney." carly just pushed past me at that point just to try and -- almost like fumbled on top of her. just loving her and which woke whitney up. she was just kind of shaking her head like, yes, it's whitney. >> reporter: two words on a note in the medical chart told the whole story. mistaken identity. five weeks after the devastating car crash, lisa van ryn shared the unimaginable news on her blog. >> "we have some hard news to share with you today. our hearts are aching as we have learned that the young woman we have been taking care of over the past five weeks has not been our dear laura, but instead a fellow taylor student of hers, whitney cerak. it is a sorrow and a joy for us to learn of this turn of events. for us, we will mourn laura's going home and will greatly miss her compassionate heart and sweetness. thanks again for the support that you've been. please continue your prayers. we love you, sweets." >> don, suzie and lisa van ryn, are here along with whitney cerak's parents, newell and colleen. how you doing? it is great to see you. it really is. when you guys get together, i don't know how often you do, do you talk about ordinary things, trips, the seasons where or does the conversation always get back to this bond that you have. >> no, when we do get together it is about the weather and how things are going. don and suzie have been moving up into the u.p. when they pass through they always call and we get together for coffee or lunch or something like that. do i have to say this, though. it is still that bittersweet moment for me because i know that when we get together with them, we have our daughter and they don't have their daughter. >> opens up a lot of wounds, i'm sure. i was watching all of your faces as we watched that piece. so much has happened. one of the reasons we wanted you back here is to update and whitney graduated from college. you got married. whitney's not with us today because her husband is deploying to afghanistan soon. >> on thursday. >> yeah. how's she doing? >> she is doing so great. yeah. she is totally healed and she's just beautiful and we're excited for this next step in our life with matt, her husband's name is matt also. he is a great guy. we're so thankful for him being part of our family. >> newell, a dad and his daughter on wedding day. you walk down the aisle. that's the moment. i mean that's what we all live for. had to be even more poignant for you. >> it was. first of all, it was a real celebration. if were you there at wedding, you would know exactly. it was very much a celebration of their marriage. but i think also of whitney's life, too. so walking her down the aisle, there were a lot of thoughts running through my mind and i just was very thankful that i had that moment. >> don, you attended the wedding. >> yeah. >> which i thought was so nice when i heard that. there's no other way to ask you, but to ask you. was it a bittersweet occasion for you? >> no, i didn't feel that. i was just so happy for whitney. it was just a great celebration, as newell said. i was glad to be there. susie and lisa also wanted to come. but sickness and travel plans interfered so i went and represented the family. >> susie, i think of everyone when i first met all of you, you broke my heart a little bit. i was watching you and watching the expression on your face as you talked of your daughter and it was very hard for me. how are you doing now? >> we're doing well. we've moved up to the u.p. and full-time involved in a camp that's been a part of our family, family's lives, for all of our life. and moving forward and serving where laura would have loved to see us serve. >> laura went to the bible camp where you are now working. i think actually worked there a little bit. right? >> sure. >> you said something to me, susie, at one point. i said, "i marvel at your strength." and you said to me, "i'm not strong. i'm weak. god is strong." >> yeah. >> i think what i took away most from all of you was your deep faith. this incredible strength and spirituality you had. it made me wonder, do you, or did you, ever being so faithful question god? why did he do this to your family? >> no, we never -- i know colleen and i never really questioned god. we just know that we live in a sinful world and a fallen world and these kind of things happen. and through it, god gave us the strength to deal with it all. >> susie, what about you? did you ever question it? >> no. why not me? why everyone else who goes through tragedy or loss. but should it happen to me? i never question that. god is in control and sees us through each day, even if it is hard. >> in reference to our faith, matt, we don't think we're remarkable people. we think we serve a remarkable god. and it's not about the amount of our faith or even the quality of our faith, it is about the object of our faith. and that's god and jesus christ. that's what gets us through. >> lisa, your life has changed as well. i think because you spent so much time there in that rehabilitation center at what turned out to be whitney's side, you've gone into physical therapy? >> i have. >> tell me about your job. >> yes. i work as a pca at an elementary school in grand rapids, lincoln school. and they're kids of all ages from 5 to 25 there and they're all, both physically and cognitively challenged then. i love it. it is a perfect place for me. >> have you not continued your writing, young lady. i was going to scold you about that because you wrote and you do write so beautifully. you moved me to tears with your words on that blog. any ideas about picking that up? >> i'm sorry i let you down, matt. i didn't mean to do that. i do still aspire to write more and hopefully next time we meet i can share more writings with you. >> and how's carly doing, by the way? i don't want to leave her out of this. >> carly is amazing. she's started a home for street boys in mombasa, kenya. whitney was part of that, short-term. but carly, the way she puts it, has given god her 20s. she's there for another five years. when matt leaves on thursday for afghanistan, carly's invited whitney to join her over there again. she's going to spend the next year in mombasa serving the kids there. >> you guys got together and wrote a book together. what was the response like to that? you get a lot of positive feedback? susie? >> yes. lots of letters and cards and contact from people that were encouraged, people that encouraged us. >> amazing. >> amazing stories out there. >> for this series, they asked us all to look back and think of stories that impressed us and made an impact on our lives. and i don't think i'll ever forget you, you people. i marvel at your grace. you're wonderful people and i thank you for joining me. >> thank you, matt. >> appreciate it. my best to whitney and carly and the boys and everybody. okay? the van ryns and ceraks. we're going to be right back after this. [ female announcer ] treat yourself to something special for lunch. how about a coastal soup and grilled shrimp salad combination? or maybe our new savory shrimp jambalaya. seafood lunches starting at just $6.99 at red lobster. it's the chevy spring event. and everyone deserves a car they can count on. one that's backed by a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. and named a consumers digest best buy, two years in a row. discover malibu for yourself and see why over a thousand people a day are switching to chevy. during the spring event, qualified lessees now get a 27-month, low mileage lease on this malibu ls now for around $199 a month. call for details. 100% fruit & veggie juice with no added sugar. just one glass equals two servings of fruits and vegetables. with tasty flavors like cranberry, strawberry, banana, it's like a farm stand in every bottle. the fruits you love mixed with the veggies you need. just, you know... demonstrating how we, uh, mix the fruits and the vegetables. ocean spray. grower owned since 1930. just by the way, i want to moen mention, if you want to read more about the van ryn and cerak story, they've written a book together called "mistaken identity." powerful stuff. >> the interview was very powerful. it was still as if it happened yesterday. >> the idea that the van ryn family, at the moment they realized they were not caring for their daughter, they knew their daughter had perished in that car accident, they were able to feel joy for the cerak family. i've never seen anything like that. never seen anything like that. >> deep, deep faith. >> and that they bonded in that relationship has sustained itself is quite something. >> it tells us what's possible, actually all of us, it's possible in our human family to have that kind of deepness and depth and forgiveness. >> tomorrow you're going to look back. i am. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara but let's get a final check on the morning commute with sarah caldwell. >> the rain is having a major impact on traffic. southbound 83 at padonia, and accident is blocking the lane, 11 miles per hour. another accident southbound on j.f.x. at guilford ave. you can see the delays stretch back to northern parkway. harford and 32nd, watch for lane closures due to a crash. 18 miles per hour coming out of the northeast. the blaze out of the white marsh area. -- delay is out of the white marsh area. another accident coming out of washington boulevard at the inner loop on-ramp. watch for heavy delays at that area. monticello drive, completely shut down. let's give you a quick live look outside and see what is going on at old court. this delay stretches back to approaching reisterstown road. we will switch over to a live view of traffic at 95 and a drop road. these delays stretch back to approaching white marsh although it to the 895 this -- all the way to the 895 split. >> obviously, the rain is a big problem this morning. it is enough to cause problems on the roads. the rainshowers will be with us through the day to day. even if it is just whistling in your house, expected to pick up in -- even if it is just drizzling in your house, expected to pick up in intensity. high temperatures will meet the eye to the upper fifties and low 60s today. -- will only be in the upper fifties and low 60s today. we will be up to 75 on thursday. 80 degrees on a friday. >> thank you for joining us. another update 8:30 now on a tuesday morning, the 18th day of may, 2010. we have transformed our plaza into an obstacle course to crown the winners of diy network's "america's most desperate landscape challenge." four couples competing for a brand-new garden. they've got to do all kinds of tasks to get to the finish line and then they will be crowned the winner. should be fun. we'll be the judges. we'll get to that race in just a couple of minutes. also, when we were -- first of all on the plaza, rainy plaza, i'm matt lauer, along with meredith vieira. you come in the middle there, i'll hold this for you. >> great, matt. that is good. >> hey! watch out. with al roker and ann curry as well. by the way, we were in cannes last week. we talked to michael douglas about his new movie "wall street: money never sleeps." he's in another movie and we'll talk to michael about that one today. also coming up, we want to mention that we'll next month head to orlando. >> that's right. for the wizarding world of harry potter contest. >> you should come with us. >> i'd love to come. >> we are looking for an extraordinary class to join us. to vote for your favorite, head to todayshow.com. you have until wednesday to get your vote in and we'll announce the winner thursday morning. >> can we say hi to will for forte -- how you doing? >> i'm good. how are you guys? >> this is based on an "snl" skit but this one has nudity, bad language. it is raunchy. it is perfect for our show! was it fun to push the envelope a little bit? >> yes. >> it was. my mother visited the set a lot so it got very tricky. i had to keep sending her away. there is a lot of stuff you don't want your mom to see. she didn't know what was happening. >> it must have been nice to get out of new mexico. >> it was hot in albuquerque in august. >> were you concerned how to make a movie out of a 60-second sketch? >> i think people think it is going to be the sketch over and over again for 90 minutes. nothing like that. we plucked the character out and put mcgruber in an action movie, kind of a filthy action movie. >> there are real actors in it. >> oh, yeah. >> you do kathie lee on "snl." have you met her? >> i haven't. i want to. no, we've talked. >> we'll have to make that happen. >> i want to meet her. >> i've been watching her for years so i didn't write the sketch. a couple other writers wrote it. it is "snl." i had nothing to do with it. >> oh! hey, now! when worlds collide! >> okay. one more time. there you go. good morning. this is for you. >> i would hesitate to drink that. >> really. yeah. yeah. you guys both back next year on "snl"? >> yes. >> oh, great. >> congratulations. >> thank you so much. >> thank you very much. >> you are funny, both of you. and you can act. >> "mcgruber" opens in theaters nationwide >> off and on rainshowers with us through the day and all the way through the evening. it will be unseasonably cool, with high temperatures only in the upper fifties and low 60s. >> and that's your latest weather. it is down to the final four on nbc's "biggest loser couples" after sunshine hampton fails to make her mark on the scale, sunshine, good morning. >> morning. >> you get on the scale, you only lose two pounds. were you surprised? >> i was surprised a little bit because i had worked very hard. i was at peace. two pounds is two pounds down. >> it's down. >> yeah. >> how much weight have you lost? >> i've lost around 115 pounds. >> that's terrific! how has your life changed? >> it has changed so much. i am so happy. i've never felt so good. you have energy, i'm ready to go. i wake up and just want to go. >> we had your dad, o'neal, on a couple of weeks ago. as a father/daughter team, you guys were really an emotional heart of that program. did it bring you guys closer together as naerth/daughter? >> absolutely. it brought us a lot closer together. we were already close. going into this, we were like, we'll be great, have this wonderful bond. you get there, you just grow so much stronger and worry about each other like we never did before. i was blessed to be there with my dad. >> how has your life changed? before this you worked in a restaurant, not around a lot of healthy food, not eating well. how's your life changed? >> it has changed a lot. knowing what i put into my body, what my body needs versus what i was eating before at the restaurant i worked at. it wasn't very healthy. i've been able to change my life in ways just in eating and in working out and knowing what my body creates and what i should be feeding it. >> well, sunshine, congratulations. >> thank you so much. >> you are a winner no matter what. >> yes, i am. i've already won. so i feel great. >> the "biggest loser couples" airs tonight at 8:00, 7:00 central right here on nbc. meredith? >> we need a little sunshine right now actually. still ahead, the america's most desperate landscape finalists compete live on the plaza. but up next, michael douglas on being a solitary man. first, this is "today" on nbc. ñ throughout his career, michael douglas has become famous for playing the alpha male character. in his new film, "solitary man," he plays a guy used to having it all and is now facing a very harsh new reality. >> dad! >> grandpa! >> dad! >> don't call me that. >> what? >> don't call me dad. and you, don't call me grandpa. not now. >> what should i call you? >> you? you can call me dad. >> no. that's what i call my dad. >> then i don't know. call me captain ben. >> where's this one? >> don't look. you'll screw things up. >> the miami blonde? >> yeah. she's checking me out. give me a hug. >> michael douglas, good morning. you like this guy, i can tell. i watched this. you like this guy. >> i had more fun. he's so sacrilegious. >> he's an alpha male but i think he may be the only person in the movie who realizes as the movie goes on he is not much of an alpha male anymore. >> he's lost in some time warp. he's carrying on while everybody else is maturing and growing, he's pretending he's on another planet. >> the guy who wrote the screen play said you were in the back of his mind during the entire process. >> which is a little scary. >> now that i see what happens to this guy, i'm not sure that was a compliment. >> i'm not sure either. he said there is no one else who can play this part except you. i said thank you so much, brian. >> other than he has a complete eye for younger women, what else should we know? >> he was a very successful tri-state car dealer, believed that he had a life-threatening illness, and then totally self-destructed. he divorced his wife, susan sarandon, shakd cked up with hi girlfriend, made a move on her daughter. his daughter, jenna fisher, ended up supporting him. basically everything kind of just disintegrated around him. he tried to maintain the image, the aura that he was -- everything was fine. >> the eye for the younger women. how deresearch a part like that? >> it takes a lot of years. >> a lot of practice? >> a lot of years. that was really part of it. he was happily married but then he thought his time was limited so he said, i'm going to go for broke. you know? >> it kind of walks a little bit of a line between comedy and drama. as an actor, does that make it tough? you're the star, the focus. and depending on which way you decide to play a scene, can really flavor the whole movie. >> it does. that's one of the things i loved about "solitary man." you're flying without a net. at this point in your acting career, it's the kind that gives you a lot of fun, a lot of joy, that danger, that precarious ledge you're balancing between comedy or drama. >> there is also a thing about this movie. at the end -- i'm not giving anything away here -- the story is not tied up in a neat little bow. something is left to the imagination of the viewer. i wonder, as a movie viewer or goer yourself, do you like that kind of ending? >> i love that kind of inding. my problem with most movies, you go, there? what did i waste the last hour for, you knew what was going to happen. a movie a while ago called "the game," had this sort of unpredictability not knowing where it was going to go. >> you were here on the show to promote "the game." i'm reading you're going to play liberace? >> yeah. >> i don't have a question about that. i don't know what to say. >> matt damon is my young lover. >> when are you going to start shooting that? >> hopefully we plan to shoot it in early 2011. >> have you stood in front of a mirror and started to try to perfect that? >> no, i'm going to give myself a summer break before i warm up on that one. >> good luck on that one and good luck with "solitary man." it hits 245theaters nationwide friday. back in a moment. this is "today" on nbc. we are back with the search for america's most desperate landscape. diy network has seen more than 34,000 photos and videos to select our finalists. this morning they'll compete for a total landscape makeover. the host of diy's "desperate landscape" is here to crown our winner. now let's meet the competitors. >> first, they have three children and one very large boulder in their house. what's up with that? the rock of gibralter? you want to do something with that? >> they make a swing set out of it. >> cool. >> the next couple are married with two children. live in colorado. describe your desperate landscape. lots of rocks. little rocks. big rocks. snakes. >> i don't like snakes. >> you're desperate for a makeover. >> very desperate. >> we also have a couple from houston, texas. married just two years. what's the biggest challenge on your landscape? >> she wants the poles gone. >> last, but not least, from new hyde park, new york, they'd love a nice yard for their two young kids to play in. what's the yard like now? >> disaster. you can't see the house. >> losing the kids. >> trees, there's no walkway. we need help. >> we want to wish all of our competitors the best of luck. kathie lee and hoda are getting ready to do play by play. while everyone takes their positions, natalie is going to explain the course. we've all got to get in place. >> this is a tough course. first, the sod rolling that you see right here. each couple now has to roll it out completely, ann is going to be judging. don't forget to collect a seed packet from ann. very important to go on. matt will officialate at the ro garden course. then over to the pavers where the teamsfinish paving a walkway using all of the pair of then plant flowers in the window box. jason will be at the finish line to declare the winner. as i mentioned, keep in mind after each challenge, you got to collect a seed packet from each ref. otherwise, you're out. everybody ready? on your mark, get set -- and they're off! >> so far it looks like the blue is right out in front. >> i think it looks like the gray is way ahead. gray team is way ahead. >> those trees are heavy. >> the green team is having a big problem. >> got to get it all the way around. all the way around. hold on, i got to get in position. >> these people look like professionals. >> little more filler in the back corner there. >> this takes a long time. >> you know what? looks like they're coming around. >> looks like the red team's off and running. >> these are the pavers. >> the hard part. >> looks like the red team's out in front. >> yes, it does. wow, they came back from behind. >> the red. the red. red. go! you got it. go! >> red team. go! >> good job, guys. good job. >> this is "today" on nbc. we're back with our landscape challenge. first off the bat, that's ridiculous you stayed under an umbrella the entire time. crazy. >> james and cameron from diy network, you looked at all the competition, you counted the seed packets. you want to announce the winner or do you want us to do it? >> it is official, matt. we have four packets in my hand. kevin and marny are the official winners. from boulder, colorado. kevin and marny, the grand prize winners will win a complete landscape makeover of their desperate landscape makeover. congratulations on that. the rest of you are not leaving empty handed. you will all receive the rider mowers that you were on. everybody wins. >> that's fantastic. way to go. we're looking at images of kevin and marnie's yard now. we'll see the conversion in a few weeks? >> june 8th we'll be there. you guys will be with us live to see the whole thing. >> just in time for summer. >> we're all here for a reason. they're all desperate. >> thank you, everyone. well done. we'll be back and dry off on a tuesday morning. but first, these messages and your local news. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. the problem of bullying continues to be a growing problem in city schools and city council president jack young hopes to do something about it. he has introduced a bill that calls for a top school leaders to directly address the council about steps being taken to prevent bullying. he is calling for a hearing on the matter. the state -- the city's school > live, local, >> the one will be with us off and on today, and the average height is 75. we will only make it into the upper 50s and lower 60s. rainshowers will be a run for the evening commute. things will improve tomorrow. the sun will come out in the afternoon. the end of the week looks very nice. 75 on thursday, 80 degrees on friday. slight chance for rain over the weekend. for the most part, it will be ok, with highs in the 70's. >> another update at 9:25.