breaking news. president obama taking time away from his vacation today to nominate ben bernanke to a second term running the federal reserve. deadly dosage. michael jackson's death now ruled a homicide. this as nbc news learns that the singer's personal physician has admitted giving the pop star four powerful drugs in the hours leading up to his death. and blown away. simon cowell gives this would-be star a rare standing ovation on the british version of "american idol," and he didn't stop there. >> that was single-handedly the best first audition i have ever heard. >> we'll show it to you "today," heard. >> we'll show it to you "today," tuesday, august 25th, 2009. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, welcome to "today" on a tuesday morning, i'm matt lauer. >> i'm ann curry in for meredith vieira. its been two months now since michael jackson has died. officials are now telling us it was a homicide. >> we also know more about the tragic events that led up to his death. according to court papers, dr. conrad murray says that over the course of nine hours, he gave michael jackson who was trying to go to sleep four drugs on six separate occasions. the question now, will dr. murray face homicide charges. we'll have more on this story in just a couple of minutes. half the population living in the united states couldome down with swine through this fall and winter. talking about 20 million people. is this country prepared? we'll speak about that with health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius. also ahead, a new video that's getting a lot of attention, what its makers wanted, a very graphic portrayal of a deadly accident caused by a teenager driving while texting behind the whee it uses actors. question is, some are wondering, is it appropriate for the audience it is trying to reach? you decide after we show you the tape. >> it is incredibly powerful. first let's get a check of the morning's top stories at the news desk. good morning. as you heard this morning, while vacationing on martha's vineyard, president obama nominates ben bernanke to a second four-year term as federal reserve chairman. cnbc's melissa francis is at the new york stock exchange. melissa, how's the market greeting the news? >> reporter: well, natalie, this removes uncertainty. of course the market hates uncertainty. ben bernanke is largely credited with leading the mid through one of the worst financial crises the nation has ever known. he drove interest rates to nearly zero and he unleashed other creative programs. though he has received his fair share of criticism from congress for using taxpayer money in order to bail out banks. he was reportedly offered the job last wednesday. the other major candidate was former treasury secretary larry summers, but now we know when his term ends the january, ben bernanke will still be in charge of the fed. natalie, back to you. >> melissa francis, thank you. nasa will try again tomorrow morning to launch the space shuttle "discovery" on a mission to the international space station. this morning's lift-off was scrubbed because of bad weather. south korea successfully launched its first rocket into space this morning. it's carrying a satellite to monitor the earth's radiant energy. the fda is investigating reports of liver damage in some people taking the weight loss drug alli. the agency has received more than 30 reports of liver damage. however, the fda says it has not established a link between the weight loss drugs and liver problems. it advises patients to continue using them as directed. fire officials in greece say most of the wildfires burning near athens are mainly out or contained this morning. the fires scorched more than 50,000 acres leaving behind smoelerring farmland and burned-out homes. an update to a story we first told you about on monday. an offer was accepted, then withdrawn, for that burial crypt directly above marilyn monroe's tomb. a japanese bidder won the ebay auction monday with an offer of more than $4.6 million. but this morning a "los angeles times" reports that hours later the bidder pulled out saying he had a paying problem. the crypt owner who was selling the space to pay off her mortgage is nowiving bidders another 24 hours to make another offer. still available. 7:04. back over to matt, ann and al. so macabre. >> somebody about it. ooh. yeah. okay. let's get a check of the weather becauseeco welmi welcomg back our al roker. >> thank you v yngmuch. we are welcoming something going on down in the opics. we have a tropical disturbance down there, could interact with an upper-level low, 275esil m east-northeast of the northern leeward ils,ndlandou cld become tropical depression in a day or two. danny if it becomes ast orm. strong storms, inch to inch and a half fromsk n raeba on into minnesota. down south, thele srahutt nch wag delayed this morning. maybe again tomorrow because they've got the same kind of forecast for scattered showers and thunderstorms, 30% a fresh and cool start to this tuesday morning. good morning. there's the view from our city camera. there's sunshine up in a blue sky now. sun has been up for a half an hour. temperatures in the 50s and 60s around the region. highs today reaching near 90 degrees with low humidity and plenty of sunshine and more of the same on wednesday. thursday and friday more clouds around should be a bit cooler. small chance of a passing shower on friday and over the weekend each day mostl >> that's your latest weather. matt? now to the michael jackson case. after two months of speculation, law enforcement sources now tell nbc news that the pop star's death has been labeled a homicide. nbc's jeff rossen's in los angeles with more on that. jeff, good morning to you. >> reporter: hey, matt, good morning to you. this is really a major milestone in the case. exactly what prosecutors here in l.a. were looking for. this official label of homicide so they can move forward and get the green light, if you will, to file criminal charges, possibly manslaughter charges. not only that, we have these new court papers, 32 pages of them. detailing everything. minute by minute the day jackson died. ♪ >> reporter: michael jackson finished his final rehearsal wired up and unable to sleep. according to new court papers obtained by nbc news, his personal physician, dr. conrad murray, admitted he gave jackson drug, after drug, after drug to help him get to bed. even provided police with the time line the morning jackson died. 1:30 a.m., dr. murray gave jackson valium. it didn't work. jackson was still awake. 2:00 a.m., he injected jackson with a muscle relaxer, lorazepam. that didn't work. 3:00 a.m., dr. murray administered the antianxiety drug midazolam. 5:00 a.m. jackson was still awake so dr. murray pushed another dose of lorazepam into jackson's iv. at 10:40 a.m. he administered 24 milligrams of propofol. at 10:50 a.m. dr. murray went to the bathroom and went jackson alone. when he got back minutes later, jackson wasn't breathing. law enforcement sources tell nbc news the coroner has ruled jackson's death a homicide. >> the fact that this one was classified as homicide means that the evidence is pointing to another person being directly involved in the administration of the drugs that caused michael jackson's death. >> reporter: the toxicology report shows jackson had lethal levels of propofol in his system when he died, a drug jackson used so often, court papers say he referred to it as his "milk." >> to just give it to someone who, quote, has trouble sleeping, is really kind of amazing to me. and disturbing at the same time. >> reporter: dr. murray is now the focus of the manslaughter investigation. in the court papers, police say during interviews, murray left out key details about jackson's final minutes. they analyzed his cell phone records. dr. murray was on with three separate callers for 47 minutes after jackson stopped breathing but before anyone called 911. "murray did not mention this to the interviewing detectives." >> when we're talking about m manslaught manslaughter, we're talking about a departure from acceptable medical standards that's more than what we call ordinary negligence. it is criminal negligence. it is extreme negligence. >> reporter: just last week dr. murray released this video on youtube. >> i have done all i could do. i told the truth. poce he asked jackson, "what sk other physician were treating him and what was being prescribed to him, but jackson would not tell him." dr. murray also told police at least four other doctors were prescribing drugs to jackson, and now his lawyer challenges the new police time line saying "much of what was in the search warrant's affidavit is factual. however, unfortunately, much is police theory. we will be happy to address the coroner's report when it is officially released." the jackson family is now weighing in, too, "we look forward to the day justicean be served." matt, if that means manslaughter charges, unclear if and when that will happen. but many legal experts today that we spoke with, say the official labeling of that as a homicide now makes that more likely. >> jeff rossen in los angeles for us this morning, thanks very much. let's bring in dan abrams and dr. nancy snyderman. folks, good morning. nancy, over a nine-hour period, this doctor has admitted to giving his valium, ativan, medazolam twice, and diprivan. you're a doctor. what could possibly be the reason to give all those drugs. >> there is no reason. these are all sedatives. biggest thing to look at is the cumulative effect and chance for interaction. even if one didn't get the desired effect of making michael jackson sleep, there is this cumulative effect where you become so drugged, it could be cardinal error when he gave the propofol. he then excused himself to go to the bathroom. can you never do that because people can stop breathing. >> people will say that looks like a massive amount of medication. is it possible michael jackson was using these drugs so often he referred to diprivan as his "milk." that he developed an enormous resistance to these drugs? >> when your liver starts chomping this stuff effectively so it gets more and more and more to get that effect. diprivan, that milky substance, is referred to as the milk of amnesia because a lot of people don't remember the procedure. this is for out-patient or in-patient surgical procedure. >> dan, prosecutors are said to be trying to build a manslaughter case against dr. murray. does that list of drugs nancy and i just talked about make their case? >> not per se, meaning you can't just say because he gave him the following drugs, it means he's going to be charged with manslaughter. his defense may be, for example, i was trying to wean him off it. that's one of the things he said that we learned from the search warrant, he was saying that he was afraid michael jackson was becoming addicted to propofol. he tried to give him all these other drugs instead of propofol that he couldn't sleep, then gives him propofol. does that mean he's not going to get indicted in no. >> let me make sure we understand terminology here. walk our viewers an me through the difference between malpractice, manslaughter, homicide, and murder. >> okay. homicide is just a term the coroner's using to say that the death occurred at the hands of someone else. okay. that he doesn't tell us whether he's going to get charged. now the legal decision here is, does he get charged with nothing, as you say, just malpractice, maybe civil suits, et cetera. does he get charged with manslaughter which is effectively reckless conduct. or does he get charged with murder which would be the most severe crime. >> would they have to prove intent to charge him with murder? >> not necessarily under california law, but certainly as a practical matter you'd need more than just reckless conduct. you'd likely, in a high-profile case like this, need some sort of at least implied intent. >> you mentioned a second ago his defense, dr. murray's defense would be. is it possible he'll also say, look, the affidavit also showed other doctors were prescribing medication to michael jackson, some of those medications were found in his home, so it's almost the firing squad defense, "we don't know whose medication actually caused his death." >> if he's charged. the problem is, he's the one who administered it when michael jackson died. >> i think he'll probably also say, look, these are all legal medications, i'm a physician who is able to write those legally. each isolated medication may not be a big deal, but there are so many bad decisions along the way. >> i think if he's charged, his defense will try and isolate each decision and say look at each decision separately, not in totality. prosecutors will say look at everything together. >> dan and nancy, thanks so much. we should do a show. 13 after the hour. now to h1n1 also known as the swine flu. a startling new scenario. scientists say up to half the population could eventually be infected when the virus hits with full force. nbc's chief science correspondent robert bazell is at the centers for disease control and prevention in atlanta. bob, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. government officials have been very reluctant to make specific predictions about how bad the epidemic will be this fall and winter because nobody really knows. but a panel of advisors to the president did make what they called a plausiblescenario, and it is chilling. the white house panel says this flu season, 30% to 50% of the u.s. population could be infected. most of the cases will be moderate or mild but the scientists say there could be be as many as 1.8 million hospital admissions with as many as 300,000 people requiring intensive care beds. a figure that could overwhelm hospitals in many parts of the country. the panel says 30,000 to 90,000 americans could die, mostly children and young adults, as opposed to a typical flu season where most deaths are in the frail and elderly. speaking monday at the centers for disease control, hhs secretary sebelius says she's concerned about recent polls showing americans aren't terribly worried about swine flu. >> right now there is a lot of complacency on the continuum of being paralyzed with fear and complacency, we've got to strike a balance. >> reporter: data gathered by the cdc shows that even now, way outside of normal flu season, people are continuing to get infected throughout the country. 37 children have died already from the new virus, and as schools open the director of the cdc says there is a good chance things will get far worse. >> the next few weeks and months will be a very challenging time. >> reporter: most health officials say that could be quite an understatement. as for a vaccine, if trials that are underway now continue to go as well as they have, they'll be small amounts of vaccine available in october and not enough for everybody who wants it until at least thanksgiving. we're talking about a long way off. ann? >> robert bazell this morning, thanks. kathleen sebelius is the secretary of health and human services. secretary sebeli, good morning. >> good morning, ann. >> let's put this in some context. because every year some 36,000 people die of the typical flu. but potentially with this new number, 30,000 to 90,000 people dying of h1n1, mostly young adults and children, why not take aggressive action and close schools until the threat at least subsides? >> well, ann, what we know is that we have the virus right now traveling around the united states, and that having children in a learning situation is also beneficial. lots of kids get sent to school. it is a safe place to be and we want them to continue to learn. what we learned last spring is that shutting a school down sort of preemptively doesn't really stop the virus from spreading and th's what the cdc is looking at. there may be a time, if the virus spreads enough in one school setting or in a district, at the local superintendent decides that the is appropriate to shut the school down because there is just not enough teachers to come to school or enough children are out sick. but to do it preemptively really doesn't stop the spread of this disease. >> you've expressed concerns that americans are complacent about this virus. but nevertheless, as we just heard bob report, the significant number of the vaccine is not likely to be available until thanksgiving. what would you have americans do, madam secretary? >> well, i think at this point it is important that people begin to anticipate that we will have a vaccine. the thanksgiving date is really about when it will be enough of the population will fully immunized. we think it is likely that we're going to need two shots for the vaccine and we think that there are about three weeks between shots. from the 15th of october until about thanksgiving is when we'll have an immunized population. but certainly making plans, how you're going to keep your child home from school. if you're a mom with a child with an underlying health condition, with asthma, with a neuro did the muscular disease, begin to talk to your doctor now about how to get antivirals, how to get prepared if your child has flu-like symptoms. we know that's the population that is most at risk. if you're a pregnant woman, talk to your o bchb-gyn right now ab what the likelihood is that you should get ready to have a vaccination. health care workers who have a very low take-up rate in seasonal flu should get ready to be vaccinated, and should get their seasonal flu shots right now. that's the other message, ann, is that seasonal flu vaccine is ready starting at the beginning of september. we want the population that is most at risk to get their seasonal flu shots now to be in a healthier condition and to get ready for the vaccination program that's likely to launch in mid-october. >> health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius, i'm sure we'll talk to you more about this in the months ahead. thank you so much this morning. 7:18. now to the launch of a criminal investigation into alleged inhumane practices used by the cia on terror suspects. nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell is in washington with this story. andrea, what's up? >> reporter: well, matt, it is a mess for the cia. the attorney general is taking this on though. he'll prosecute nearly a dozen cases where cia interrogators broke the rules going way beyond bush administration guidelines that critics say already permitted torture. to make sure that doesn't happen again, the obama white house is puttg the fbi in charge of detaining and interrogating terror suspects removing from the cia from this central role. this is all in response to the devastating cia inspector general's report cataloging years of abuse. the cia's own report says detainees at secret prisons overseas were routinely subjected to physical and mental abuse in the years after 9/11. even after the cia was warned it was risking political and legal trouble. 9/11 mastermind khalid shaikh mohammed was water boarded 183 times. beyond what had been approved by then-attorney general john ashcroft. the 9/11 suspect was also told if anything else happens in the united states, we are going to kill your children. the suspect in the bombing of the uss cole" was stripped naked, hooded and handcuffed and threatened with a handgun and a power drill. he was also told "we could get your mother in here," implying a threat to sexually abuse his mother in front of him. >> is that the worst we'll probably see? no. did other things probay happen that others could find even more unfortunate or distasteful? of course. >> reporter: in fact, the report says a detainee in afghanistan died in prison after being beaten with a heavy flashlight. another was shown a mock execution. a third was choked to the point of unconsciousness. >> it is a violation of american law. and whoever did it should be prosecuted. whoever authorized it should be prosecuted as well. if in fact that's what happened. >> reporter: when cia officers at a secret prison recommended ending the controversial interrogations, the report says they were overruled by cia headquarters. civil liberties groups that long fought to find out who ordered the pracces. >> was it the cia itself? who in the cia? or was it somebody else other than the cia? >> reporter: late monday night the justice department released thousands of pages of bush administration legal opinions approving the aggressive interrogations at secret prisons. and reauthorizing them as recently as the summer of 2007. also late monday, former vice president di chey issued a statement saying the documents save lives and prevented terrorist attacks. the people involved deserve our gratitude, he said. "they do not deserve to be the targets of political investigations or prosecutions." but the cia report says measuring the effectiveness of enhanced interrogation techniques is a more subjective process and not without some concerns. in fact, the former inspector general who wrote the report says the cia has still not proved that the interrogation techniques were effective or necessary, or whether such information could have been acquired using more traditional methods. >> andrea mitchell in washington, thank you very much. still ahead, the latest on the reality show star who fled to canada and took his own life after being accused of murdering his model ex-wife. for the first time, we'll hear still ahead, a powerful new campaign aimed at making your teenager think twice about texting ndbe thiheeewhl.be pl us, we're going to show you the audition that simon cowell calls the best he's ever heard after your local news and weather. 7:26 is your time. good morning. updating the news at this hour, a virginia state trooper is recovering from injuries in an early morning accident. police say the trooper was trying to pull over a suspected drunk driver around 4:00 a.m. in the southbound lanes of route 110 near the pentagon. the trooper lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the jersey wall. we're told the injuries were from the air bag deploying. the suspect is still at large. walmart has been given an all-clear to build a store near a civil war battlefield in virginia. it will be a 138,000 square foot supercenter following a 6 1/2 hour meeting following ari hngea w hearing at which more than 100 people ri good morning. refreshingly cool and dry on this tuesday morning. temperatures in the 50s and 60s now. afternoon highs near 90 with low humidity and lots of sunshine. more of the same on wednesday. clouds around thursday and friday. should be a bit cooler. let's check traffic. how is it looking? >> a live look along i-270. not too bad. slowdowns but all in all a decent trip. south of town to the wilson bridge no hang-ups. 66 just sunshine delays only. >> thks. tonight on "news4 at 5:00" lunch with lindsey and nascar's racer for a man used to going over 100 miles an hour find out why a trip to washington stressed him t toounight on "news4 att 7:340 now on a tuesday morning, 25th day of august, 2009. a sea of smiling faces. you think that crowd is impressive, wait until friday morning because teen queen miley cyrus will be here for a live performance in our 8:30 half-hour. if you're in the new york area, check it out. it should be a lot of fun. inside studio 1a, i'm matt lauer along with ann curry who's in while meredith continues on vacation. just ahead in this half-hour, the latest on the reality show star who police say took his own life in a canadian motel room after being accused of murdering his model ex-wife. police have now located the mysterious woman who checked ryan jenkins into that motel room. we'll have more on that and we'll hear from jenkins' mother in a moment. one of the most realistic looking psas you've ever seen. it recreates a deadly accident caused by a teenager who's texting. this thing is chilling. you want your teenagers who watch it. we'll talk about it coming up. on a different note, another video that a lot of people are logging on to the internet to check out. this is the audition of a would-be star on the british ."x-factor."x-orfa the guy was incredible. simon cowell says this is the best audition he's ever heard. we'll play it for you so you can decide. the story of ryan jenkins. he took his own life after becoming the focus of an international manhunt. missi >> reporter: after ryan jenkins went on the run, many who knew him expected him to reach out to family. when his body was found, it wasn't far from vancouver where his mother lives. a mother's grief, both for the loss of her son and for how he'll be remembered. ryan jenkins, the smooth-talking reality show contestant, who was charged with murder and became an international fugitive. his mother spoke to nbc news on the phone. she refused to believe police evidence that he killed the model he married, 28-year-old jasmine fiore. after eluding police in two countries for seven days, we now know ryan jenkins had help inside canada. police say they've identified a young woman who checked the fugitive in to the thunderbird motel. >> very nice. no nervousness. no sign of something that -- >> reporter: as of now she faces no serious charges. >> we do know who this individual is and we are not seeking any assistance in locating her. >> reporter: married in march, police say the love affair between ryan jenkins and jasmine fiore ended in murd. on august 15th, fiore's body was found dumped in a trash bin outside of los angeles. within five days, jenkins fled to canada. his hideout, 95 miles northeast of vancouver where his mother lives. >> she's hot, i'm hot. >> reporter: as a reality show contestant, ryan jenkins bragged of his wealth, a self-proclaimed millionaire who enjoyed the high life. but as an international fugitive on the run -- >> very sad. very sad. it didn't look like him. reporter: it was inside this cheap motel room in british columbia where police say he took his own life. his body found hanging from a coat rack. ryan jenkins' final days, a stark contrast to his playboy image on television. ryan jenkins' father has also spoken out. he says if his son was guilty, he was likely corrupted by the hollywood lifestyle. matt? >> miguel, thank you very much. now let's get a check of the weather from al roker who's in for himself this morning. >> how you feeling? like yourself? >> i think i feel like me, yes. let's see what's going . for today we are looking at those afternoon temperatures, nice and toasty in the middle of the country. down into texas. 100s and 90s in the southwest. we have a pretty good thunderstorm system working its way aoss nebraska on into parts of iowa due to another frontal system. beautiful area of high pressure here for the eastern seaboard with plenty of sunshine up and down the >>ki> a iitsit sunny and cool tuesday morning off to work and school under a clear sky. live picture from our city camera at thi hour over the washington monument. a blue sky and 69 degrees. cooler farther to ourest and north near 70 near the bay. for the rest of the day, bright sunshine with low humidity. highs near 90. repeating this tomorrow. thursday and friday more >> if you want to keep track of your weather throughout the day, go to the weather channel on cable or weather.com online. ann? has the world found its next susan boyle? simon cowell has given a 27-year-old teacher who auditioned on the british show "the x factor" his overwhelming stamp of approval. here's nbc's dawna friesen. >> reporter: it is the latest season of britain's "the x factor." another nervous competitor waiting for his moment. >> my name's daniel johnson. >> what do you do? >> i'm a teacher. >> reporter: when it finally came -- ♪ what would you do if i sang out of tune ♪ >> reporter: -- his star began to rise. he's been teaching for six years in redding near london and says, though he loves it -- music is his passion. and during the audition, it showed. he stole the show, wowing the judges, including simon cowell. >> i've been doing this for how many years? eight, nine years? that was single-handedly the best first audition i have ever heard. >> reporter: a powerful endorsement from a notoriously hard to please critic. his rise to fame has prompted inevitable comparisons to britain's last overnight sensation, susan boyle. >> she overcame a lot of personal problems and issues. he's much more robust and a much more confident person. >> reporter: susan boyle cornered the underdog story. now daniel johnson may make his name as the comeback kid because he auditioned for the show three years ago and didn't make the cut despite being a member of three bands and winning a karaoke contest in the uk. this time something obviously clicked. >> he can dance, he can sing, he's handsome, he has the likability factor. >> i think he could be one of the best contestants we've ever had. >> reporter: so now the pressure is on. he's on to the next round. the show has just begun and he's already the favorite to win. for "today," dawna friesen, nbc news, london. >> no pressure. >> his students must be going crazy. how exciting to watch your teacher go through this. it sounds like he has this amazing range. >> but he also has this incredible presence. if you want to go online and watch this entire audition where he sings this whole song, a song made popular by joe cocker, it is just extraordinary his presence on stage and how he captivated the audience and these judges. >> and pretty quickly. >> very quickly. gooducko t him. >> stars are rising. if you're looking for the next big star here in the states, tune in to an all-new count "america's got talent" right here 9:00, 8 central right here on nbc. the powerful new psa aimed at getting teens to think twice before they text and drive. that's right after this. o 7:42. now to a powerful new videotape that's become an internet sensation. if your teenager has not seen it, you might want to show it to them. it is designed to send a message about texting while driving. tom costello has details. >> reporter: good morning. it is the start of the school year, a lot of teens getting behind the wheel. the point of this video is to convince teens to keep these in their pockets, their purses, in the trunk. it is a graphic video but it does make an impression. from a police department in britain, haunting video, a dr dramatization aimed at a specific audience. a driver named cassie survives, but the accident she causes kills four people. texting while driving is a global problem crossing every age group. here in the u.s., 25 died and more than 100 were injured after a los angeles train driver ran a signal seconds after texting. in san antonio, this texting bus driver fail to notice traffic had stopped. while the government doesn't yet track the number of car accidents involving texting or e-mailing, a recent virginia tech study found the risk of collision jumps 23 times while texting. we asked ntsb chairman to watch the british psa. >> i think it was very graphic and i think it was very frightening. but unfortunately, we see that with 40,000 fatalities every year. those are peoplep] who don't c home. >> reporter: 17 states and d.c. now ban texting while driving. seven states ban handheld cell phones. next month the transportation department will hold a summit to deal with all forms of distracted drivers. >> we all know texting while driving is dangerous. i promise you, we're going to do something about it. >> reporter: meanwhile, american parents are now turning to a british public service announcement to make an impression on american teens. you heardhe ntsb chairman talk about 40,000 people dying. that's the total number of people who die on the nation's highways and roads each year. they think distracted driving may contribute to a quarter of that. by the way, this video is on youtube. may be worth showing it to a teen you know. back to you. >> tom costello this morning, thanks. the advertising executive and chairman of deutsche, inc. is here with us, donny, good morning. tom just mentioned it is online. according to the police department there, it's already gotten more than 1 million hits. how crazy is it to you that a small police department in wales produced this phenomenon? >> i mean it is phenomenal piece of tape. i have to tell you, if anybody's got a kid out there, have them watch this tape because kids are texting today. adults are texting. probably everybody who's watching this maybe at some point sitting at a red light, they start to do this. you watch thistape, you will never do that again. i thinkhis is a great road map -- no pun intended -- for how to really scare kids, whether it's drinking and driving, or anything. when you show it this graphic, it stays in people's heads. >> talk about that. is there real evidence that people watching this kind of a thing will change their behavior? because the aaa did a study this year on texting and driving and found tt 95% of respondents already understand it is unacceptable but 21% said they'd recently texted or e-mailed while driving. so changing this behavior is going to be tough. you've seen this psa. can this do this? how many people can it move over? >> you said the key word, understand. fy just say to you, you know what, ann? you increase your risk 23 times by texting. you go, okay. versus you visually show this. we hear numbers, we hear the fatalities but you never actually see it this graphic. i liken this to the psa about smoking in the u.s. when they showed a little boy in an airport lost, crying for his mother. it is the actual visual effects. it is one thing to intellectually get it in people's brains. but when you do it this graphically, i have to tell you i couldn't get through this thing. this thing was so chilling. ly show this to every kid i know. this is, to me, the way to stop this thing. i salute this police department. i kind of really implore so many of these various local stations in new york, run this stuff. put this on the air. >> you talked about its graphic nature, donny. i mean can this kind of a psa that is this -- we're running it over and over again, it is so hard to watch it once, much less more than once. but can this kind of material pass through all the restrictions and make it on television? >> that's a great point, ann. they're going to have problems with it. but how wrong is that? think about the idiocy on tv now that does pass. >> but what makes this -- what kind of level -- what does this not comply with? is it the blood on the screen? what is the problem? >> look, you guys didn't show some of the worst part of this. there is a baby dead with itsize wide open. too me if you don't run it daytime and run it any time where adults are watching or young adults are watching, amen. i think start running this thing all over the country. this is a tremendous problem. all you have to do is drive yourself and look around and adults -- i guarantee you, if you go around your set right now, everybody at some point or another sat at a red light and going like this. it is one thing to say to people it is dangerous. you see this thing, you will never do that again. >> donny deutsch, thanks so much. even if it doesn't make it on television, thank god for the internet because it is out there. thanks so much this rninmog. mo still aheadti "today," th health hazards hiding in college dorm rooms. what parents and teens should know. but first these messages. still ahead, the condition in michael jackson's head made his skin turn lighter. also a black woman who now looks completely white opens up about what it is like to live with vitiligo after your local news and weather. lo 7:56 is your time now. 68 degrees. a look at the nation's capitol right now. we'll have your forecast after the news. in the news this morning, a virginia state trooper is recovering from injuries in an early morning accident. police say the trooper was trying to pull over a suspected drunk driver around 4:00 a.m. in the southbound lanes of route 110 near the pentagon. the trooper then lost control of his creek and crashed into the jersey wall. we're told he was injured when the air bag deployed. the suspect is still at large. all high schoolers in prince george's county should be back in the classroom today. many had no classes on their schedules or partial schedules. the error is blamed on a computer glitch that the distri hopes to have fixed soon. we'll take a break and check your weather and traffic when we come back. good morning. a blue sky with sparkling sunshine to greet you on this tuesday morning. the live picture from our sky watcher camera athis hour and temperatures are fresh and cool around the neighborhood network in prince george's county. it's been a dry month. temperatures around the reasonable will soar to near 90 later on today with lots of sun with low humidity and more of the same on wednesday. a few more clouds thursday and friday with an easterly wind and it should be cooler and into the weekend maybe a shower late on saturday. perhaps a massing shower on sunday. a small chance both of those days with highs in the low to mid 80s andorn ith lowse in th 60s. now, let's check our traffic for this tuesday morning. jerry, how is it looking? >> on the beltway doing okay despite sunshine outer loop headed for van dorn street and beyond. serious crash on the baltimore washington parkway southbound at the 197 in laurel. medevac helicopter headed over there now. we'll keep you updated. >> thank you, jerry. tonight at "news4 at 5:00," lunch with lindsey. a man used to going 100 miles per hour find out why it was a trip to washin 8:00 now on a tuesday morning, the 25th day of august, 2009. hi to the nice people in rockefeller plaza. we'll have a performance later on. i'm matt lauer, along with ann curry. ann is here while meredith enjoys some time off. mr. roker joins us as well looking snappy today. coming up in this half-hour, the skin condition that michael jackson says he suffered from. >> it's called vitiligo. basically it's a condition in which your skin loses melanin. in a moment we'll meet a woman who first had it when she was 5 years old. now she is 23 years old and her skin has gone completely white. she's going to be talking about her story coming up. all right. also on a lighter note, breathe in. >> we've been inhaling all morning. >> if women want to attract a man, this is what you wear. eau de steak. a steak showdown on the plaza to show you the best way to cook your favorite cuts. >> except if he's a vegetarian. >> i like your recipe a lot in that one. >> thank you. let's go inside, natalie's standing by at the news desk with a check of the headlines. good morning. president obama nominates federal reserve chairman ben bernanke to a second four-year term. the announcement comes today during a break in the president's vacation on martha's vineyard in massachusetts. the president is praising bernanke saying he helped stabilize the nation's financial system, repair its credit market and restructure the auto industry. the renomination requires senate confirmation. this morning on "today," health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius said a massive school closing would not stop the spread of the swine flu. the government warned monday ov up to half the u.s. population could become infected with the virus this fall and winter. scientists say as many as 90,000 people could die, mainly children and frail adults. four u.s. troops were killed today by a roadside bomb in southern afghanistan. this makes 2009 the deadliest year for foreign troops in afghanistan since the war began. former vice president dick cheney's criticizing the obama administration's decision to launch a criminal probe into the interrogation of terror detainees during the bush administration. he says the intelligence gathered saved lives and prevented terror attacks. documents released monday by the justice department detail aggressive interrogation tactics such as waterboarding, threats with guns and power drills and in one instance, threatening to kill a terrorist's children. michael jackson's personal physician could be facing criminal charges now that the king of pop's death has been ruled a homicide. forensic tests have found that jackson was given a combination of the powerful anesthetic propofol and three other drugs just hours before his death two months ago. a police chase in georgia ended abruptly when the suspected car thief opened the door of his moving vehicle and jumped out right before the car crashed into the tree. the driver tried to get away on foot but he and his female passenger were arrested. amazing. now here's brian williams with a look at what's coming up tonight on "nbc nightly news." >> natalie, thanks. government's out with staggering flu predictions and schools are going back in. everyone is anxious about swine flu. we're encouraging our viewers to post their questions on our website, nightly.msnbc.com. we'll answer as many as we can. some of those answers starting tonight when we see you for "nightly news." natalie, for now, back to you. >> thank you, brian. 8:04. back outside again to matt and ann. >> i think brian has a little bit of a tan going on. >> he goes to a tanning salon on the east side -- no, he doesn't. brian always looks good. al roker looks great. so sharp today, al. >> thank you so much. also looking sharp, al and pat. your 40th anniversary. did you guys get married when you were 12? you look terrific. >> thank you! >> happy anniversary. are you expecting an important call there, al? >> oh, no, no. >> let's check your weather, see what's going on. for today, we're looking at mobile, alabama, nbc 15. sunny, hot, 89 degrees. as we take a look at today, you can see beautiful weather up and down the eastern seaboard. we've also got some clouds in the pacific northwest. not a horrible day there today. we're also expecting some showers and thunderstorms tomorrow working their way in to the upper ohio river valley. sunny and hot in the southeast. that will change when a front moves through. beautiful weather out west. mild in the northwest. this is a beautiful young lady. who is this? >> jane. >> how old? sbl 15 months good morning. it is a terrific late august morning at this hour temperatures are in the 60s to near 70. 72 in washington with low humidity. highs today should quickly climb to around 90 degrees with lots of sunshine. low humidity still in place tonight and tomorrow. up into low 90s on wednesday and mostly sunny. partly cloudy thursday. mid 80s. friday mostly cloudy. small chance of a passing shower with a high near >> that's your latest weather. thank you very much. when we come back, we'll talk about the skin condition called vitiligo. michael jackson says that's what caused his skin to change color. we're going to meet a black woman who's now completely white wsxplain wt it's like to watch your body and your skin change color. in the 1930s, body and your skin farmers planted nutrient-rich soybeans... to replenish the barren soil of the american dust bowl. today, we take that same historic bean, mix it with fruit and bake it... into soyjoy. it's crical that i stick to my medication. i cannot be one of the 61 million americans who do not refill their prescriptions on time. readyfill at cvs pharmacy automatically refills my prescriptions and reminds me to pick them up. you mean, reminds me to pick them up. [ chuckles ] stop by your local cvs pharmacy to ask if readyfill is right for you, and get a $25 coupon book. readyfill, only at cvs pharmacy. [ announcer ] you make healthy choices every day-- oh, max! and you want to do the same for your laughable, lovable dog. [ barks ] that's why purina fit & trim is specially formulated... with high-quality protein, including delicious real chicken, to help him maintain lean muscle and a healthy weight, so he can make the most of every day. long live your buddy. long live your dog. purina fit & trim. - how? - well, funny you should ask. say i stay 5 nights on business, then 5 nights on a family vacay, boom. free night. welcomerewards. smart. so smart. 8:09. now to vitiligo, a skin condition you may not have heard of. michael jackson claimed he suffered from it to explain why his skin color became lighter over the years. 23-year-old darcelle began to show signs at the age of 5 and her skin has now gone completely white. she's here with a dermatologist joo ne to talk about this. you say it started with your arms and legs when you were young, at age 12 what happened? >> at 5 i got a spot on my arm and forehead. from the ages of 5 to 12 it slowly was going through my arms and legs and on my torso. then by the time i reached 12 years old it just started spreading very rapidly on to my face, my next and face. >> during those years when you're a preteen, teenager, all of that is when it was all changing on you. that's very hard to deal with. explain to people. did people treat you badly as a result? >> i had a really strong close-knit group of friends. my mom was very, very strong as well. she really pushed me out there to do a lot of different activities. then you do get the comments that when you don't have people around to protect you and you aren't too sure how to respond to it, you do also hear things that people have said. i've been called spot, i've been called dalmatian. i've had somebody tell other people for a sleepover don't sleep in the same room, you'll catch what she's got and die. >> how do people get this condition? >> we're not sure exactly. vitiligo affects 3% of the population. you see it with morest n es ethnicities. it is genetic. 25% to 30% of people who have it have it in their families as well. >> i don't have any blood relatives who have it. as far back as i can think. however, i have family by marriage extend family. my dad's step brother has it. basically the way i had it, half black, half white, all over. then another distant family member has on her face. >> you mention auto immune issues. besides the idea your skin would change color -- >> some people who have thyroid disease will also have it. some people who have anemia. you're more sensitive to the sun. people with vitiligo tend to blister and burn more. >> anything else? >> it's disfiguring. people think that it is contagious. people have made people feel badly about it. >> having gone through this and being a young woman who listened to michael jackson's -- i'm sure -- did you feel that he -- did you have any -- based on your experience, do you think that michael jackson did have this skin condition? >> at the time when i was living in cyprus and i knew nobody with the condition, we didn't know what it was, we had no experience of it. there was no one out there except for michael jackson who was saying that they had it, and in a way, that sort of was support for myself. i would absolutely want to believe that, yes, he had it. i think there is a lot of evidence to back it up. i don't see why anybody should not believe that. >> a lot of people did make fun of michael jackson's skin changing colors. you sort of empathized with him. >> definitely. >> to young people now today who feel bad about the spot on their faces, what do you say? >> it's so rd. it's really, really hard. >> no, it's unrstandable. you're made to feel different. e crazy thing about it is that people don't realize you're just the same. yeah, i know. >> sorry. >> no, don't apologize. what you're say something something that made you feel just separated. >> especially being a teenager, you're already going through so many social changes, dating and -- >> hormones. >> yeah, all those things. breakouts and other things. a lot of people start to judge you on how you look, are you pretty, are you attractive. i'm very fort nunate i'm able t do things socially. but meeting other people with the condition just brings back those memories. right now i really, really hope that by doing this, other people tn esehat it's just something that makes us look different. we're not different in any other way and it is not contagious, it is not life threatening. it's so hard to go through something that's visual. you know? >> you've made your point eloquently. i think that's the bottom line. compassion, understanding is the road, and not separation and judgment. thank you so much for being here and being honest about it. >> thank you for having me. >> you're beautiful. you would be beautiful we would all be beautiful with whatever color, sp bot ots,'r yeou beautiful. d thank you so much. >> you're welcome. >> we want to also say we'll be >> you'rso i'm thinking: new cool thing is the netbook. two pounds, three pounds, 160 gigabyte hard drive. really great battery life. we get the netbook. i said, "bring him back into the store. let him pick out his bag." she introduced him to me. and it was like, "you're the guy who got me the netbook." he says, "this never happens, but i'm totally going to hug you right now." i get hugged all the time. how could you not hug this? announcer: it gives the world fewer smog-forming emissions. it gives you a 50 mile per gallon rating. the 3rd generation prius. it's harmony between man, nature and machine. all free clear 2x concentrated detergent. all free clear's powerful clean is free of the ingredients you'll find in most detergents: no perfumes... no dyes... no preservatives... free clear is specially designed for people with sensitive skin and has powerful stainlifters, so you can trust it to get the job done right. free clear is the number-one detergent recommended by dermatologists... so, for a pure clean, all free clear is all you need. this morning on "today's health," heat exhaustion in student athletes. thousands of young athletes beginning hitting the practice fields, "today" national correspondent tiki barber is here with more. >> good morning. i've been there so i know this. when it gets hot outside especially in august when you practice twice a day, last year 18 high school hletes, mostly football players, died from heat-related illnesses. now new guidelines have been released, but to better acclimate high school athletes, trainers are talking about rigors of pre-season practices. here ewing high school in new jersey, athletes are gearing up for another season of high school football. but along with learning their xs and os, they're also dealing with august heat. dave is the athletic trainer for ewing and coach of the national athletic association's heat task force which just released guidelines to protect athletes from heat-related illnesses. on the field, they use a gauge to check air temperature and relative humidity. outdoor practice is suspended if the temperature is 90 degrees and humidity tops 70%. what's your athletic trainer tell you about being aware of the heat? >> get water in, get water in after practice, get water in all the time. >> come over and get more water. >> reporter: are the head coach for the blue devils even scdules mandatory water breaks. >> here we go. i have to schedule them in. because if i get carried away with what we're doing out here i'll forget. >> know what old-style coaches used to be like, if you drink water, you're weak. water has nothing to do with your manhood. >> how many kids can come at this station at one time. >> we can hydrate ten athletes at once. misting is better than downsing with water. this is an emergin tank. for someone who's really in heat distress, can you do all the hydrating and misting you want. >> reporter: but even with the best preparation, heat related injuries can happen on anyone's field. prior to this practice no ewing high student had ever needed the emergency ice tub. when a freshman twice complained of heat-related symptoms, dave didn't take any chances. doing okay? lot better? >> still hurts. >> reporter: after a few tense minutes, the player showed signs of relief. >> any better? >> yeah, getting there. >> reporter: heat exhaustion is not limited to football but the helmet and extra padding that these athletes wear can make them more susceptible. >> football's the only sport that has 25 pounds of equipment on. head can't ventilate like a normal athlete. we have the only sport where we keep that body heat in the body. >> reporter: what would you say to coaches i can wait for that water break. >> well, they can't wait. just remember, we're coaching someone's child. cy tiki's here now along withchn sn n.er ma ydn. tell or ut for you. e s sessionson ely. practice should not exceed three hours, followed by three hours of rest. days one and two, helmetsonly. three and five introduce shou shoulder pads. >> remember, as professional athletes you train all summer ng but with high school athletes you're doing other things other than getting ready for the heat. these guidelines are aimed to get these kids back into football practice with all these pads. 25 pounds of it. and being able to deal with the heatt the same time. >> and matt, not only the 25 pounds but talking about plastic and nylon. things that don't allow body heat to escape. >> is it true that kids are more susceptible to things like heat exhaustion and heat stroke than adults? >> they are more prone. first of all, kids don't hydrate enough. we know kids don't drink enough water so they don't go into practice hydrated. a lot of times particularly in high school, there is this "buck up, don't complain." so if kids feel nauseated or have a headache, they don't tell their coaches many time. >> one thing i want to point out for parents and kids, the one thing that they say is, after you have an extremely hot practice like this, you need three hours in continuous cool air. what happens with kids, you come home from practice, you want to go out and do something else. that's when you can get in danger. parents should ask this explicitly of their children, have youone to the bathroom often and what color is it. the color is the key. if it is dark orange and yellow, as you've seen plenty of times when you're dehydrated, then you could be in trouble. >> parents and coaches, we have to drill into these athletes, you are not weak if you need a rest and if you have to sit down an drink water. i know that's hard to get through some skulls. >> it is. a lot of coaches want every minute. saying you're weak because youy. >> the difference between having heat exhaustion where youea rlly avusstill sweating, yay r meav h naea or headaches, you can take care of thatn theield and you may notdeet n thace i water. but ifou have i htrtav seok where you literallyhute down and you have dry skin and you can no longer sweat, that's where you have to be cooled immediately and, frkly, i think you need to go to the hospital. you need that ice tank. >> i was interested as we watched the piece, i was asking tiki if had he any of those things that they have at this practice field now when he was in high school. you said in high school, no. >> in the nfl they do now. a lot of it was precipitated as we all remember in 2001 when korey stringer, big offensive lineman, for the minnesota vikings passed away after the second day of practice. they didn't know how to react at that time, how to cool somebody who's 340 pounds whose temperature was 108 degrees and was really in a lot of danger. >> it's just -- this is something we'll be hearing about over the next several weeks. so many parts of the country it is steaming hot. these athletes, you might think they're finely tuned athletes, some of them really aren't, they're just kids trying to make the team. >> when your internal temperature goes that high you do start to cook things. your brain gets cooked, your heart stops. these are true medical emergencies. >> tiki, thanks very much. nancy, a twofer for you today. we appreciate it. just ahead, check this out, tiki -- a steak showdown out on the plaza. but first on a tuesday morning, we've got these messages, your local news and weather. 8:26 is our time right now. 72 degrees in the nation's capital. a lot of sunshine. comfortable humidity at this hour. forecast coming up. good morning. i'm joe krebs. we have breaking traffic news to tell you about. a bad accident shut down part of the baltimore washington parkway. let's go straight to jerry edwards to find out what is going on. good morning, jerry. >> good morning. chopper 4 was over the scene and got these pictures just a couple minutes ago. the southbound lanes baltimore washington parkway closed because of this serious crash near route 197 in laurel. it did require medevac helicopter. the helicopter is gone but all lanes southbound bw parkway are closed. northbound one lane is blocked. i think southbound will be closed possibly for a couple of hours while this accident investigation continues. police are turning around the vehicles that are stuck at the scene right now. details are few but we'll keep you updated throughout the morning. again, 29 route 1 and even route 50 has alternates. don't think of bw parkway through laurel. >> we'll take a break and come back and look at our weather forecast right after this. stay with us. good morning. here's your four-day forecast. we're in the 70s. we'll hit 80s to near 90 today with bright sun and low humidity. more of the same tomorrow. cooler thursday and friday. that's the way it looks. joe? >> tonight on "news4 at 5:00," lunch with lindsey and juan pablo montoya for a man used to dr ♪ we made it to 8:30 on this tuesday morning, 25th day of august, 2009. "falling for you," the new video from singer songwriter by colbie caillat. her new album hits the stores today, or as they say in the music industry, "which drops today." colbie will perform for us in just a little while. out on the plaza, i'm matt lauer along with ann curry who's here while meredith is off. mr. roker and ms. morales here as well. what's coming up? >> miley cyrus is coming on friday. but you're right about colbie, her music does really make you happy. we'll be hearing her sing later on. know what makes me happy? steak! steak makes me happy! whether you like skirt, rib eye or porter house, we got three noted chefs who are at the grills ready to share their favorite recipes for each cut. >> is it a competition? >> no, not really. >> all of different styles, too. >> one of those days where you just say, and they pay us for this. >> why done we have a salad cookoff? >> who cares! salad cookoff? get out of here. >> get out of here! >> let's do that next week. i'm on vacation. also coming up on a more serious note, if you have a kid going off to college this fall, we'll tell you some important information, some of the six health hazards that could be lurking in your college student's dorm rooms especially now with all the concern over swine flu. >> as if we didn't have enough to worry about. >> a lot to think about. >> just give them a it has been a pleasant late august morning. right now around the region we're in the 60s west and north of washington. low 70s in washington. low to mid 70s farther to the south and east with low humidity in place we'll have the high reach near 90 with lots of sunshine. looks like we'll repeat this tomorrow though hotter. thursday and friday, partly to mostly cloudy and cooler. maybe a passing shower friday, saturday and sunday. just a small chance. overall quite cloudy over the weekend with highs in the low to mid 80s. >> tt's your latest weather. let's head on down to washington, d.c. and say hello to willie scott! how are you, sir? >> unbelievable. lot of kids back in school already. they'll be very careful as you drive along the highways of life. take care of our little children. hard to believe, summertime. holy mackerel. happy birthday. f ot l of s das ddy.to buddies today. harry lord, rry lord, hon,tous texas. inbu rtilo refineries in e cal. known as a flirt. you devil! bout ath .ing the women to woo, my dan dam s lmyee beautiful sammie from shreveport, louisiana. 106. he differenpele tceesak differee makes the best ome hemad vegetable sound a and rollaroun. i lovearound. i ovle v vabetab soup. ot everybody makes good vegetable soup. nal schmitt, 100 yearsal rsol world war iithetorol nar cainara that? birthday. ethyl leto.to 102. gepribut lvioneso tygeinke t uthe b arvirter room 'sw.e that's new. frank ,byru hanover, pennsylvania where they used to make show shoes. unbelievable shoes. 100 years old. gys ojongooi tate jo o gngoiut to eat at theng red lobster. commercials make it look good. eopt is thategood y ro dorothy thcasalegno from straem california, 102. retired nurse who still keeps up with medical news and she likes to have healthyood in her body. that's all from your nation's capital. now back to new york city. thank you very much, willard. a new capitol hiller when we come back from the woman behind the hit show "bones." but first, this is "today" on nbc. back now at 8:37. this morning on "today's hot summer reads," a captivating new crime drama from kathy reichs, "260 bos." kathy, very busy. good morning. in accou"206 bones," that's the number of bones in the body. >> she's trapped underground, it's dark, she's tied up, she doesn't know how she got there or how she's going to get out. it is kind of a metaphor for the rest of the story because she finds herself accused of wrongdoing and begins to question her own abilities and she has to kind of fight out of this darkness and figure out what's going on. >> that's interesting. usually a hero tends to be very confident and is the one who's always red do i take on the bad things. but in this case she's got self-doubt. >> she's beginning to have self-doubt, is she doing something wrong or is somebody doing it to her. it's kind of the main theme of the book, confidence and do we have rogue forensic scientists or incompetent forensic scientists and how do we regulate that. >> that's interesting. why did you take that question on? you're a forensic anthropologist. >> the national academy of science released a report they worked on for two years looking at the state of forensic science. one conclusion is that we need to be able to regulate, we need a way to have affects to determine who is professional competent and board certification is one of the things they recommended. >> what do you in this book, she tries to resolve this backwards especially. >> exactly. and she digs up dead bodies and figures out who the bad guy is. >> are you a multi-tasker. the show, the book, but people may not realize because you are a forensic anthropologist you've been brought into the case involving caylee anthony. she's the little girl who was missing -- went missing in june of last year. you're working for the the defense team and yet you say it doesn't matter what i find, i'm going to provide the truth. are you done with your report? have you submitted your report? will the defense team want to use what you've concluded? >> i'm told i'll definitely be testifying. my role as an anthropologist is to look at the victim, him or herself, in this case the tiny little skeleton of this little girl that was found. so i've completed that phase of my work. but it is an ongoing process. all of the members of the defense team constantly work together and keep each other informed on what's going on. >> you're very then moral about this, even though one side is employed you, you're saying that you want the truth for the child, or for the victim, and no matter where the chips fall. >> exactly. >> it's hard to not pick a side for some people. >> under our system, any accused is innocent until proven guilty and we have a very, very tragic victim. we have this little girl. something very bad happened to this little girl. we don't want two ctims. we don't want someone wrongly accused. we want the right person brought to justice for the right crime. what exactly happened to this child. who did it. >> i can see that it is passion really that's made you so successful in all of these different ways. >> thank you. >> thank you so much this morning. again the book is called "206 bones." coming up next -- master chefs grill up three great steaks. no, not salads, but steaks. but first this is "today" on nbc. >> announcer: "today's kitchen" is brought to you by all. choose all and win the battle for clean clothes. this morning on "today's kitchen," we have a steak showdown right here on the plaza. we've assembled three top chefs to prepare their favorite steak recipe. first, the executive chef and owner of east coast grill in boston. las vegas chef jeff henderson, and john shenk executive chef of striphouse restaurant in new york city. gentlemen, good morning. chris, we're making skirt steak. you're putting in a lime marinade first. >> the other chefs have the fancy steaks but i have the steak for inexpensive cut. it has a lot of flavor. we take the skirt steak and marinate it in a little lime juice. >> how long >> about two hours. i don't like to marinate too long. in the fridge. then we do a simple rub with a little bit of cumin, cilantro, garlic, and then we make that into a little bit of a paste. >> when you take the steaks after an hour or two out of the lime marinade, you're going to pat them down be dry them off a little bit. >> kind of like this. yes. we get the paste right on them. then they go right on the fire. >> what kind of fire do you like? >> i like a hot fire. the way we determine that is we put our hand above it, one, two, three -- ahh! >> okay. >> we've been serving this dish for 25 years at the east coast grill, it is one of our most popular dishes. >> sear the one side about three, four minutes. right? >> right. >> turn it over and cook it to the way you like it. >> that's right. what we're really after is this color. this brown color's kind of representational of the flavor. >> you slice this thin. right? >> that's right. one of the keys to doing this is slicing it across the grain. there you go. i like it, it is really tender, flavorful. >> let me taste this and we'll send it to ann. >> jeff henderson -- you like it? he likes that one. jeff from las vegas, you basically we're working with a porterhouse. you like to season it in a specific way. >> little rosemary, olive oil blend, fresh garlic, little bit of thyme. >> how long? >> 45, 50 minutes. the steak is 24 ounces of porterhouse steak here. big brother of the t-bone. >> you put -- look at that. you cook it on top of the onions. >> yes. i put the onions underpeneath because i want to infuse the sweet onion flavor. you get the charred part, however you don't get the beautiful grill marks. i just take a little bit of this marinade here -- >> are you not shy. that's a lot of garlic, a lot of rosemary. that's fantastic. how long? >> probably 40 to 50 minutes. i cook it very slaow. i charred first on the hot part. three times and raise your hand -- >> yeah. >> you're serving it with onions on top. >> yes. this is the finish product here. i have some beautiful seasonal heirloom tomato. put a little bit of this marinade on here. balsamic, basil, olive oil. take a little bit of salt. little paprika here. then we have the finished product right here. serve it like this. a little bit of tomatoes on there. >> beautiful. >> it's all about the steak. >> that's for one person, jeff? >> actually that's for two. that's why i decided to go 24 ounces. >> john, you've got my favorite cut. >> this is a bone-in rib eye. best known because it is a great value for the home cook. any kind of rib eye no matter what, quality is nice. this is the most marbled meat part you can find in america. seasoning, first a little bit of foil, quickly wrap it up. >> protect your bone. >> absolutely. very important. now, we do some fresh ground black pepper. more salt than you would think, and pepper, because it is going to fall off when it hits the grill. we're going for a nice charred steak. >> you want the char. >> absolutely. >> how long each side? >> it depends on the thickness. some are very thick, some are thin. usually about four minutes or so. what's very important, rest the meat before you cook it so the juices go back in. >> absolutely. you see how that's nice and really -- has all that juice just sitting in there. >> this is a homemade recipe. i made this three hours ago. be careful. there you go. >> that's the deckle part. >> can you cut me a little piece there? >> thank you. >> you can come over to all my house parties now. you've got the skill. >> that's the crew. you love the smoke. >> it's giving us a facial. well done. thank you so much, jeff. >> thank you so much. we got more coming up. first, this is "today" on nbc. >> announcer: the toyota conconcert series on today brought to you by toyota. toyota, moving forward.concert series on today brought to you by toyota. toyota, moving forward. singer/songwriter colbie caillat says a great song should warm the heart, lift your soul and make you feel good. now she's back with her sophomore effort, "break-through" which hits stores today. colbie, good morning. you wrote all 17 songs on this album. i know that they all make you feel good but there is a difference, a slight change in your effort. what is it? >> i just opened my mind up to different things and i worked with different producers an song writers and i wanted to have fun with this record and do it my way. >> so this really feels more like who you are and what you really want to say. there is a lot of joy in what people get from your -- are you trying to send us a little peace in your work? >> i guess so. i like being happy. don't like being depressed or sad. if there is a situation like that, i try to turn it around and make people feel better. >> you've become a comic book character, i understand? there is a new archie cic book and you're in it? >> i am a comic, yes. looks exactly like me. >> that's so whacked. colbie caillat, i know you have a song for us. ladies and gentlemen, let's take a listen. ♪ ♪ ♪ i don't know but i think i may be falling for you ♪ ♪ maybe i should keep to myself ♪ ♪ wait until i i know you better ♪ ♪ i am trying not to send you but i want to get what you're saying ♪ ♪ i'm tired of holding it inside my head ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> bravo! colbie caillat, thank you so much. much more of "today," but first your local news and weather. well done! 8:55 is the time. five minutes until 9:00 in the morning. 72 degrees in the nation's capital. i'm joe krebs. we have breaking news to tell you about. we have a wreck on bw parkway. park police officer we discovered has been involved in this bad accident. let's go to jerry edwards who has more on it. >> chopper 4 was over the parkway just a few minutes ago. this is in laurel where the police officer was hit. required services of a medevac helicopter. the helicopter came and transported the officer to the hospital. right now southbound bw parkway remains completely closed at the accident scene while the investigation continues northbound there's going to be a delay for a while. southbound traffic is being turned around in the northbound lanes. be prepared. stay off the bw parkway. 450 or route 1 better alternates. disturbing school vandalism. someone used pieces of sod to spell out kkk. we're gathering details of the story and bring you more later on this morning. we'll take a break and come back and look at our forecast. stay with us. good morning. a cool, late summer morning. fall arrives in one week. there's the blue sky. low humidity in place. we're climbing into the 70s. near 90 by mid afternoon with lots ofsunshine. low humidity in place tonight and tomorrow as well and a little hotter on wednesday. thursday and friday a bit cooler with an east wind and some clouds in and out. maybe a passing shower thursday. a small chance. a very small chance of a passing shower as well over the weekend on saturday and sunday with highs in the low to mid 80s. morning lows in the 60s. and now joe back to you. >> thanks very much. tonight on "news4 at 5:00" lunch with lindsey and nascar's juan pablo montoya used to driving at more than ♪ ♪ we're back with the ro rockettes, ushering in the radio city holiday season. the ladies are going to be around for a little while. they'll tell us why. >> i think it is always the season for the rockettes. >> they're going to o perform a little longer number for us a little later in the show. right now back with more of "today" on this tuesday morning. i'm matt lauer, along with ann curry who's here while meredith's taking time off. mr. rocker joins us as well. i was going to say, do they have to keep standing there? >> and relax. coming up, much more on the michael jackson investigation. what else? >> also coming up, a lot of people are going through the heartbreak of sending their kids off to college. there are apparently five health issues -- six health hazards you and your student may want to know about. there is also the joy of getting a room back. that wall's coming down! if you're thinking of grabbing a summer getaway, some tips for the perfect weekend destination, whether you're looking for wine country, undiscovered coastal gems, we have got some ideas for you. >> all right. a lot coming up. ladies, good to have you here. natalie astanding by inside at the news desk with the headlines. good morning. a show of confidence today for fed chairman ben bernanke taking a break from his vacation in martha's vineyard, president obama's reappointing bernanke to a second term. the prident is praising the fed chair for what he describes as outside the box thinking. new focus this morning on michael jackson's personal physician. now that the superstar's death has been ruled a homicide. nbc's jeff rossen is in los angeles with more. jeff, good morning. >> reporter: natalie, good morning to you. this homicide ruling really paves the way for criminal charges for l.a. prosecutors. all that going on this morning. we got new infoation, a play-by-play about what happened inside jackson's home the day he died. >> reporter: michael jackson finished his final rehearsal wired up and unable to sleep. according to new court papers obtained by nbc news, his personal physician, dr. conrad murray, admitted he gave jackson drug, after drug, after drug to help him get to bed. even provided police with the timeline the morning jackson died. 1:30 a.m., dr. murray gave jackson valium. it didn't work. jackson was still awake. 2:00 a.m., he injected jackson with a muscle relaxer, lorazepam. that didn't work. 3:00 a.m., dr. murray administered the antianxiety drug midazolam. 5:00 a.m. jackson was still awake so dr. murray pushed another dose of lorazepam into jackson's iv. 7:30 a.m., he administered more midazolam. at 10:40 a.m. web administered milligrams of propofol. at 10:50 a.m. dr. murray went to the bathroom and went jackson alone. when he got back minutes later, jackson wasn't breathing. law enforcement sources tell nbc news the coroner has ruled jackson's death a homicide. >> the fact that this one was classified as a homicide means that the evidence is pointing to another person being directly involved in the administration of the drugs that caused michael jackson's death. >> reporter: the toxicology report shows jackson had lethal levels of propofol in his system when he died, a drug jackson used so often, court papers say he referred to it as his "milk." >> to justive it to someone >> reporter: dr. murray is now the focus of the manslaughter investigation. in the court papers, police say during interviews, murray left out key details about jackson's final minutes. they analyzed his cell phone records. parate callers for 47 minutes after jackson stopped breathing but before anyone called 911. "murray did not mention this to the interviewing detectives." >> when we're talking about manslaughter, we're talking about a departure from acceptable medical standards that's more than what we call ornary negligence. it is criminal negligence. it is extreme negligence. dr. murray told police four other doctors were prescribing drugs for jackson. "much of what was in the search warrant's affidavit is factual. however, unfortunately, much is police theory. we will be happy to address the coroner's report when it is e jackson family is now weighing in, too, "we look forward to the day justice can be served." natalie? >> thank you, jeff rossen in los angeles. the fda is investigating 30 reports of liver damage in some people taking the weight loss drug alli or prescription zen cal. the fda has it has not establhed a link between the weight loss drugs and liver problems and advises patients to continue using them as directed by their doctors. thunderstorms forced nasa to postpone this morning's launch of the space shuttle "discovery." nasa will try again early tomorrow. you're up to date right now. five minutes past the hour. back outside again to matt and ann. >> thanks, natalie. >> mr. roker a right behind you. >> got a couple of young ladies who want to let some folks know back home something? >> hi. >> we're pretty good. >> both of you. >> yeah. >> your husbands are -- >> chris. >> how far apart? >> two weeks. >> man! you guys really believe in double dating. let's check your weather, see what's going on. eye on the tropics, got a tropical wave interacting with an upper-level low east of san juan, could become a tropical cyclone in the next two days, that would become danny. closer to home, shors and thunderstorms from minneapolis back into parts of the dakotas and nebraska. shuttle launch could have more problems in the southeast with thunderstorms again tomorrow. the shuttle's supposed to go off at 1:10. a delightful late summer morning under way. good morning. low humidity in place. temperatures in the mid 70s. it's 75 in washington. still in the 60s around the blueridge valley. it will continue to warm up around the region and through the 80s to near 90 by this afternoon with lots of sun. low humidity in place today, tonight and tomorrow. hotter on wednesday. slight chance of a shower friday as >> just so happens to have some really cute children right here. natalie? thank you, al. this morning on "today's health," the the hidden health hazards lurking in college dorms. beside packing on the freshman 15, there might be a few other dangers your son or daughter could be exposed to this fall. an assistant professor of medicine at new york university medical center and medical editor for "health" magazine. it comes a question of close contact and different things foreign policy iocuous like athlete's foot to the more serious. how did health.com come up with a list? >> basically, very close quarters, college rooms are not known for their cleanliness or safe behavior. we came one a top ten list of dangers to warn your kids about. >> one doctor described a dorm room as a petri dish. >> it is a breeding ground for bacterias, viruses. people are eating together, sharing utensils, roommates, a lot of infections can spread. >> first health hazard, meningitis. how is this contracted and is it extremely contagious. >> we're talking viral and also bacterial. basically meningitis means inflammation of the covering of your brain or spinal cord. could be very serious or potentially fatal. can be spread through respiratory secretions. do a lot of hand washing, be careful about sharing glasses, toothbrushes, things like that. if someone's sick in the dorm you need to isolate them until they're fully recovered. >>he next one, the kissing disease, mono nucleosis. this can knock someone out for a couple of weeks. >> four to six weeks which can impact your academic year. it is a little bit harder to contract but very close contact. the kissing disease. be careful who you kiss. unfortunately this is something that you spread before you actually start to have symptoms. it is really important for your kids to know that they really need to be choosey about how they share saliva. >> don't share glasses -- >> exactly. >> what are some symptoms of mono? >> fever and extreme fatigue. a lot of kids are feeling tired in college but this is more profound. if there is any question of it, they should see a doctor. >> next, colds and flus. of course we've been hearing the grim statistics already from the government, presidential panel that put out that they expect half of the u.s. population can be infected with the swine flu this season. this will be a particular concern for college campuses. >> this year it is particularly important for college kids to be aware. colleges are where we expect to see the most cases, close quarters. colleges lynn instruct their children to probably go home any sign of symptoms, not stay in the dorm, maybe get food delivered to them so they don't go to the dining hall and infect other people. best thing to do, frequent hand washing. >> the vaccine probably won't be available until mid-october fof some. >> but when it is, they should get it. >> students are notorious for those all-nighters, as we remember those good old days. i can't do those anymore, but sleep deprivation is a big concern. >> yeah. we've all done all-nighters once in a while. if it becomes a habit, studies have shown it can affect your gpa, lower it, and can also lead to long-term sleep problems. it is important to have a steady sleep routine, avoid long naps during the day, exercise, it helps you sleep at night, and avoid the caffeine fix. that can also become a long-term fixation. >> i know. it started in college. binge drinking. this is a huge one on college campuses. every year sadly we seem to report stories of the students that end up dying because they go out for a night of partying and in fact a study showed that re than 90% of the alcohol consumed by people under the age of 21 is in the form of binge drinking. >> these are young people who are not experienced drinkers. binge drinking can lead to alcohol poisoning, can also lead to drunk driving accidents, date rape. there are a whole host of other things and it can expropose you to alcoholism. speak to your youngsters about responsibly drinking. really it is illegal under the anl of 21. >> binge drinking is defined as how many drinks? >> depends on your weight but anything i would say more than two if it's making you feel very drunk. it's a problem. >> especially if you're underweight or lightweight. lastly, sexually transmitted diseases. this is a statistic kids need to wake up to. 25% of college students get some kind of std. >> that's been reported. it's probably even more. it's rampant on college campuses. we are pauking about hpv, herpes which will be with you for life. kids should know that and can also impact fertility. chlamydia, of course hiv can be spread. >> parents need to have the talk. what else should they be doing? >> instruct their kids ty can come to them with questions. condom use is very important. birth control pills do not protect against any stds. >> doctor, good information as all. check out our website at todayshow.com. are uoverscheduling your kids? we'll help you figure out when after-school lessons are maybe too much of a good thing. but before the craziness starts, great ideas for some last-minute summer getaways right after this. when it comes to being more like the original, some 100-calorie snacks just fall flat. 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( bell rings ) a nutritious start to the day is essential. that's why carnation instant breakfast essentials supplies all the nutrients of a complete breakfast. so kids get the protein and calcium they need to help build strong muscles and healthy bones. carnation instant breakfast essentials. od nutrition from the start. >> announcer: today's "travel on the road" is brought to you by goodyear. get there on new fuel max s.tire this morning on our special series, today's travel on the road, end of summer weekend road trips. the senior editor at "travel and leisure" has some picks for great, quick getaways. a lot of us plan those week-long trips but you say weekends, you can pack a lot in as well. >> absolutely. summer's not over yet. even if you did take that week-long trip, you can also squeeze in one last getaway before the season changes. >> now is the popular time to do that. >> yes. >> what criteria did you guys use for these picks? >> we looked for road trips that were easy to get to from major urban destinations, places with great scenery, lots to do and are also affordable. that's a key element. >> great idea with this economy. starting off in maine, portland, maine. why did you like portland? >> we love maine at the end of the summer. this is when the crowds are gone, prices are dropping so you get more bang for your buck. horse fines are gone, too. the water's at its warmest. it is not caribbean warm but as close as can you get in maine. portland is a great city to explore. it has the portland museum of art which holds the works of artists like andrewyeth and homer, both of whom inspired by the rugged coastline that you can go off and explore in your car. it also has this fantastic burgeoning restaurant scene. they say they have more restaurants per capita there than in new york city which really testifies to this culinary energy that's there. >> you like a cozy inn, the inn at park springs. rooms are just $135 a night, set right in the center of town. just a short wake away from museums and restaurants and everything you want to do that. >> head down to austin, texas. known for its music and some pretty good food. >> "travel and leisure" readers love austin. we most america's favorite city survey every year where we like people what they like about cities across the country. for austin they consistently say they love the friendly residents, the fun and night life in the bars and the the live music. it is a little toasty but we recommend texans go there. they know a thing or two about air conditioning. >> nice place to see, the san jose hotel? >> the hotel san jose is hip, modern, has a fun look. it is set in the hippest area, the south congress district. there is lots of great bohemian bars and restaurants and it is also right next door to town lake, a big reservoir in the center of town. you can explore on a bikef you like. >> charlottesville, georgia. >> we like charlottesville. this is a great destination for people that live in the beltway and want to get out and get into the countryside quickly. it is just two hours outside of d.c. and all of a sudden are you in this landscape of rolling hills, picket fences, historic sites and there's also this really great wine scene that's been developing there. the place is earning a reputation as one of america's emerging wine destinations. >> the clifton inn? >> it is fantastic. it is this 100-acre estate. it is an historic inn. thomas jefferson's son-in-law actually built the foundation. it has tennis courts, a pool, its own private lake with a dock. there is a lot to do just there on the estate itself. >> great spot in this country, pacific northwest and oregon. >> yes. a lot of people when they think about driving the pacific coast, they think about california. we want to remind people if you go a little bit north into oregon you can also hit beautiful roads that hug the coastline. you've got views that seem to go all the way out to asia, deserted stretches of beaches and lovely, cute little beach towns that you can explore. >> you like the canon's beach area, a surf sand resort. >> very easy to get to from portland. set on the four-mile stretch of sand. what i like about it, it has a great family-friendly vibe. on saturday afternoons they have ice cream socials. on sunday evenings they have a hot dog roast, then a beach nfboe. i can't really think of a better way to end your summer vacation than with a pacific coast sunset and bonfire on the beach. >> sounds good. amy farley, thanks. still up ahead, a performance from the world-famest radio city rockettes. a whole performance. right after these messages. radi. a whole performance. right after these messages. worl rockettes. a whole performance. right after these messages. more like the original, some 100-calorie snacks just fall flat. 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(announcer) splenda with fiber. imagine life sweeter. the sparkly flakes. the honey-baked bunches! the magic's in the mix. my favorite part? eating it. honey bunches of oats. taste the joy we put in every spoonful. ye it's still summer but we're going to have a taste of the holiday season with the world renowned radio city rockettes. we are joined by amanda, a veteran rockette. good morning to you all this morning. you're going to be touring, i understand. but how do you bring in christmas in august, darling? >> well, it's christmas in august. we're officially kicking off the season as the 2009 radio city christmas spectacular presented by capital one bank. the show is going to run from november 13 to december 30th this year. today at 3:00 we'll form the longest kick line ever on 6th avenue. we're going to literally stop traffic on 6th avenue. >> but before we get to that, you'll stop traffic this morng. let's get off the stage, everybody, and take a look at this. the rockettes christmas in august. ♪ ♪ 12340e9 ♪ smote ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> the radio city rockettes. thank you so much! you know, i loved it. >> in today's kitchen, gourmet mexican cooking and so much more. venus spa breeze. new pencils, new books... new backpack... looks good. just trying to look our best. eh, gonna take more than looks. from what i hear, ms. haskins is a toughy. oh, we had a good breakfast so we're ready. gonna be another great year, huh guys?! you bet your 8 layers! yeah! long-distance high 5! oh, careful! hey, watch it. start the school year with an excellent source of fiber. a clinical study showed kids who had a filling breakfast... of kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats® cereal... had 11% better attentiveness... compared to kids who missed out on breakfast. ( shouts ) keeps 'em full. keeps 'em focused. good morning. time right now is 9:26. 75 degrees on this tuesday, the 25th day of august. i'm joe krebs. breaking news on the baltimore washington parkway. there's been an accident inlving a parked police officer. we're told the officer was seriously injured but is expected to survive. jerry edwards is in the news4 traffic network with the latest. jerry? >> good morning. chper 4 was over the scene shortly after the accident occurred southbound bw parkway inlaurel. at this hour remains closed. accident occurred 90 minutes ago. investigation is under way. park police headquarters were at the scene. southbound remains closed. 95, route 1 delightful summer day under way with low humidity. temperatures in the 70s around the region. near 90 today with lots of sun. low humidity in place tomorrow but it should be a bit hotter thursday and friday. wl be a b some clouds around. that's the way it looks right now, joe. >> tonight on "news4 at 5:00," lunch with lindsey andit ♪ she is one of the hottest tickets in town. drew one of the biggest crowds ever when she hit the plaza last year. guess what? miley cyrus is coming back for an end-of-the-summer celebration cert on our summe stage stage friday on "today." come on down, bring the kids. coming up in this half hour, school's getting underway, so are all the extracurriculars. >> that's right. we all want to give our kids the very best, but scheduling too many activities after school from all their sports practices to dance lessons, actually getting their school work done can be overwhelming. how less can actually be more not only for them but for you too. >> i can say it is kind of beneficial for them just to sort of sit and think. it is a little bit of something for them to do. also coming up in "today's kitchen," authentic mexican cooking. cooking with apricots and perhaps a dash of tequila. perhaps more than a dash if i have something to say about it. >> i'm very proud of you. >> why? >> in the script there, there was a diss for our director joe michaels about the tequila and you avoided that. >> thanks for bringing it up, al. >> i'm sorry, joe. i tried to protect you. give us the weather. >> let's show you what's happening for today, we will see that we're looking at sunshine up and down the eastern seaboard, cold front bringing showers and thunderstorms to the upper great lakes, back into the plains. some clouds in the pacific northwest. tomorrow mild through the great lakes and pacific northwest, sizzling i good morning. at this hour we have bright sunshine with a blue sky. picture from sky watcher camera. a pleasant late august morning. mid 70s from blueridge to atlantic beaches. highs today should reach near 90 with lots of sun and low humidity. more of the same tomorrow but a little hotter. and then thursday and friday we'll have an easterly breeze with more clouds in and out and should be cooler. slight chance of showe >> that's your latest weather. thank you. comingic up next, a school less on how not to overschedule your children. on how not to overschedule your children. but first these messages. my doctor. he told me i had choices in controller medicines. we chose symbicort. symbicort starts to improve my lung function within 15 minutes. that's important to me because i know the two medicines in symbicort are beginning to treat my symptoms and helping me take control of my asthma. and that makes symbicort a good choice for me. symbicort will not replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. and should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol may increase the chance of asthma-related death. so, it is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on other asthma medicines. see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. i know symbicort won't replace a rescue inhaler. within 15 minutes symbicort starts to improve my lung function and begins to treat my symptoms. that makes symbicort a good choice for me. you have choices. ask your doctor if symbicort is right for you. asaztreca may be able to help. i had a heart attack at 57. my doctor told me i should've been... doing more for my high cholesterol. what was i thinking? 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( thud, ding, applause ) 100 calorie right bites. make the most of every bite. >> announcer: today's back-to-school," brought to you by totino's pizza rolls. this morning on "backo school today," how now to overschedule your kids once school begins. does the constant shuttle of kids drive you crazy? it's probably driving them more crazy. you want them to have all kinds of opportunities in life and experiences but when do you say enough is enough? dr. janet taylor is a family psychiatrist and contributor to momlogic.com. we are all guilty of wanting our kids to be busy. how do we know we aren't really enriching their lives and crossing the line and overscheduling them, making them do things that they don't want to do? >> there are so many opportunities. the key is to focus on enriching them and not overscheduling them. that means we remember our primary task as parents is to support them and provide them an emotional and environment that's secure but by overscheduling them, we cause too much pressur and too much stress so we kind of undo that benefit. >> it puts a lot of pressure on parents as well. we do all the carpooling to take them everywhere. by taking a little less -- you say that's your next tip, take 10% away. minus 10% meaning whatever you had planned, subtract 10% of that. >> make your school, look at it and take 10% away. again we are creating these pressures that cause undue stress and burden. family time, carpooling time. for kids, the benefit can be outweighed by the burden. we don't want that. >> we really want our kids to try just a little bit of everything, but you say it's important for them to have the choice, to let them do what interests them. if it were left to my kid though, he might be sitting in front of the wii all day. how do you get them out there to really explore what they like? >> talk to them, get their suggestions, let them come up with solutions. remember you're not trying to recreate your experience or what you didn't have in them. let them figure it out. that way together you can come up with a plan that hopefully is not too stressful. >> if you wanted to be a gymnast, don't try to push that on them if that's not what they're into. our dreams are not their dreams. as parents it is our opportunity to talk about what it means to be committed to an activity and what it means to be a supportive teammate and that relationship. but the most important relationship is the one they have with you. that's based on communication and you listening to what they want. >> that's important when you start hearing complaints, too, speaking of the commitment. you sign them up for something, they're committed to it but midway through it they may say i don't want to go, i don't feel like it. i got a headache. how do you know when to take the complaint seriously? >> pay attention to both verbal an non-verbal cues. we don't want to teach our kids to quit, but at the same time listen, let them offer solutions. if they're falling asleep, they feign illness, just completely becomembivalent to what they're doing, it is time to not let them drop out but the next time you schedule for the spring, really back off and just pay attention to what they absolutely need to do. >> pay attention to their key behavior or attitude changes, if there's anything that doesn't seem like it is normal for them. >> bottom line, they're kids. teenagers. you want them to still have fun. they need down time. they need to learn how to play creatively and play outso much support and structure. but on the other hand, we don't want to drag them kicking and screaming to every activity. >> then you also say, you also want them to try a little bit of everything so that they're well rounded. so does this mean signing them up for different kinds of things or again just trying to keep their interests in mind? >> there is a lot out there. you want tm to have varied interests but you don't want to put them in everything. it is okay to back off and say, okay, instead of doing five things we'll focus on one or two and you'll do it well. >> lft, but not least, family time. so important. you say for everyone to help alleviate the stress. >> absolutely. the key relationship that they need is not what their coach or teacher, it's with you at home. family time is so important. at the end of the day, your fourth-grader's not going to remember what their club soccer team remember was. they'll remember the experiences that they had, the memories you had together and time you shared as a family. that's got to be the principle point. >> sit down to dinner. that's the key. >> just talking. >> thank you so much. gene shalit's take on the new hit movie "district 9." his review is right after this. don't throw away food, protect it in the freezer. ziploc freezer bags form a fresh shield, freezer burn stays out, freshness stays in. so your investment in dinner pays off every time. ziploc freezer bags. designed with you in mind. s.c. johnson. a family company. so i always have totino's pizza rolls. big pizza taste in a bite size roll that my kids can't resist. plus i get two bonus box tops for their school. totino's pizza rolls. the pizza way to snack. some 100-calorie snacks just fall flat. 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the aliens resemble human-size prawns with sub-titled language, good brains and powerful weapons that can be fired only by those who possess their unique dna. and that's a crucial key to the story. charged with controlling the aliens is a ruthless conglomerate who puts his own son-in-law in charge. the son-in-law botches the job, opening the way to a terrific action movie and personal ter r terror. originality, talent and freshness permeate the film. >> christopher,dy not know they were doing this to you guys. >> reporter: "district 9" is a "10" though its excitements and pleasures are so good, they're beyond number. that's the "critic's corner" for today. he liked it. coming up next in "today's kitchen," an authentic mexican meal featuringame >> announcer: "today's kitchen" brought to you by new dove therapy conditioners. expertise for damaged hair. this morning in "today's kitchen," authentic mexican meals made by our hot chef. she's out with a new book, "fresh mexico 100 simple recipes for true mexican flavor." there's no yellow cheese in mexico? >> there is none. no. we don't have any in mexico, al. >> i guess we'll have to get on with this. today you are making cornish game hens with a little mexican flair. >> they're the perfect serving size. we have a great mexican recipe, great little sweet and sour recipe i think you're going to love. what we're going to do first, we have a mixture of chicken broth, tequila and butter. we have a big old kitchen syringe. don't worry, you'll be fine. we're going to inject the game hens. they tend to dry out in the breast area. we're going to inject this liquid so that when it comes you get a nice and moist -- it totally plumps up. you'll get a nice, juicy not-dried-out chicken whether it comes out. >> do you that on each side. >> all over the place. mostly you want to get the breast. you saw it plump up. you want it to plump up all over so it is nice and moist when it comes out of the oven. we're going to make ourglaze. this is going to make it caramelize. this is apricot marmalade right here. this is chile, dried and drained. this is what you get. mix that up. there you go. like i said, with the high oven temperature, this is the apricot marmalade high sugar content will caramelize, great golden, crispy skin. >> add any seasoning? >> a little salt and pepper. that's perfect. then follow me this way. here we have the hens that already came out of the oven. 350 for about an hour. reach an internal temperature -- >> you just brush that on first? >> just kind of brush that on first. then you cook it until it's 160 degrees internal temperature. you can poke it in the thigh, if juices runs clear it means we're ready. >> that's what people should do with me but that's another story. >> it comes out of the oven, then you take all the yummy pan drippings with all the flavor, reduce them down. add some more of that chile paste. some tequila. you get this right here. take the sauce -- >> like you're double glazing. >> even when it is cooking, open up the oven and brush that in. that apricot marmalade will caramelize beautifully. the more on there, the better flavor. great sweet and sour combination. apricots, cilantro. >> i might brush some of that and put these on the grill. >> that would be a great idea. >> it just came to me. i love these. >> yes, people don't think of beets -- sometimes they are afraid because of their earthy flavors or whatever. but when you roast them, natural sweetness comes out. they get all nice and buttery. you slice them up thin and then you pair them with this red jalapeno infused chile oi oil. it is a great flavor combination that pairs so nicely with the beets. >> tell us about this dessert? >> my mom used to make this for me when i was growing up. it is a strawberry tartlet. >> who you calling a tartlet? >> everybody's been asking me about this. it is mexican raw sugar. or can you use dark brown sugar to make the crust, mexican maria cracker or use a graham cracker. this is a traditional crust. >> marcella, thank you so much. the recipe's on todayshow.com. solutions to your hair problems after your local news and weather. our time right now is 9:56. looking at the metro station out there at the airport we have sunshine and a nice day. we'll get the forecast from tom kierein coming up. i'm joe krebs. in the news for today we have breaking news on the baltimore washington parkway where there's been an accident involving a u.s. park police officer. we're told the officer was seriously injured but expected to survive. jerry edwards has the latest. >> good morning. the accident occurred just about two hours ago. however, the bw parkway southbound near route 197 in laurel is still closed while the investigation and cleanup does continue. detours down to route 50. you can use i-95 or route 1 toward college park at the capital beltway. northbound lanes are open. southbound is still closed off. joe? >> thanks very much. in other news, a toddler died in waldorf and the mother's boyfriend is facing charges. gibson was charged with first-degree child abuse. the sheriff's office said the 3-year-old died last week after he was found unconscious. deputies say more charges could be in the works. this is the second day of school in prince george's county but for thousands of students it could be their first day with a class to go to. nearly 8,000 kids received incorrect or partial schedules yesterday. school officials blame a computer glitch and say things should run more smoothly today. now let's get a check on our forecast with meteorologist tom kierein. tom? >> good morning. not too humid now. we have plenty of sunshine at this hour. the live picture from sky watcher camera showing blue sky over the region. large area of high pressure pushing in. temperatures mid to upper 70s should soar to near 90 by mid afternoon. low humidity in place today and tomorrow. hotter on wednesday. and then thursday and friday an easterly breeze should bring in clouds and cooler temperatures. and there's a small chance of a passing shower on friday. here's a look at the weekend. saturday should be mostly cloudy with highs in the low and mid 80s. small chance of a shower. mostly cloudy sunday with highs mid 80s. small chance of a passing shorwr remaining on the cooler side as we head into mond. joe? >> thank you very much. tonight on "news4 at 5:00," lunch with lindsey. lunch with lindsey. captions paid for by nbc-univeal television we are so glad that are you joining us on this tuesday, august25th, 2009. kathie lee gifford is continuing her vacation on the west coast and i'm joined by msnbc's tamron hall. nice having you here. day two. we're coordinating our clothes, getting our stuff together. >> talking all night on the phone, exchanging stories. like this. >> we're like that. okay. all right. >>sisterhood. >> first i think we should say, when we make a promise we mean it on this program. so yesterday we made a promise that if you showed up with a sign outside of our studios we would invite you in. now, i don't know if you can see, but out in the crazy crowd the bustling crowd, there are tons of people. no, there is a single sign. it kind of looks suspiciously like the signs from yesterday. >> you think they're recycling sign? it's green. >> we'd like to invite her in to the studio. we'll get that lucky single person. if you bring a sign, maybe you'll come get to visit us. so michael jackson, it was a big news day today in terms of they actually told us what was in his body in terms of the drugs. and just the whole list of drugs seemed very troubling. >> this affidavit, it was a warrant released out of houston. for the first time we're hearing at least what police say that michael jackson's doctor told them. went down for six weeks, according to this report, dr. conrad murray treated michael jackson with propofol which is that sedative in a cocktail of other sedatives to help him sleep at night for six weeks. >> i just wrote this down because i couldn't believe. this is what conrad murray said he gave to michael jackson. at 1:30 a.m., valium. at 2:00 a.m., lorazepam. at 3:00 a.m., midazolam. at 5:00 a.m., another dose of lorazepam, then another doze of midazolam, then propofol. then he went to the bathroom. >> he went to call his office and some friends. he came back, michael jackson was not responsive. think when you readknél÷ this l most people have no idea because none of us are taking propofol unless are you having surgery. other than a valium. but this one expert out of san diego said the bottom line, no one would treat someone with insomnia with that combination of cocktails. we know tylenol. people don't know propofol, valium. whatever happened there -- they're now investigating this as a possible homicide. >> i'm curious what they're oing to charge him with. each one of these drugs alone is legal, there is a prescription. she said there's nothing actually illegal about what he didin terms of administering the drugs. it is the drug cocktail combo. >> he's worried about something, because his attorney is now saying that what this warrants illustrates this timeline has been taken out of context. also according to the report he told investigators he never purchased propofol. so why then the lie? why then the lie? this chair's dangerous. >> they said that he was -- this is another thing that struck me -- 47 minutes he was on the phone before calling 911. that's almost -- now who knows what was going on. they said he was trying to administer cpr during the phone call? >> woe have got a second person to help him out. the bottom line in life and most things, common sense rules date. if this sounds unusual, it is. when you talk about a lot of money and these celebrities, look. something's fishy. what happens next we don't know but it will be very interesting. >> i know there is a piece of videotape that we saw this morning. we're in love. tamron and i are inn love with this young man. >> we'll just have to fly overed a root this guy on. >> there is a show in britain called "the x factor." that's with simon cowell judging it, sort of an "american idol," "america's got talent" kind of show. a young guy named daniel johnson, 27-year-old schoolteacher of sixth graders. >> he's dreamy! let me just say this. adorable. >> he tried out for the show once before, was not picked. simon cowell's socks off. take a listen. ♪ ♪ >> come on. do we have the simon cowell sound? do we? this is what simon cowell had to say after he heard that performance. >> i've been doing this for what? how many years? eight, nine years? okay, daniel, that was s single-handedly the best first audition i've ever heard. >> that's awesome. >> come on. come on. >> i love it because he's a schoolteacher, and then he tried it again. how many times have you been knocked down and you thought you weren't cut out for something, and then you give it one more try. it was awesome. >> something weird happened to me yesterday. >> something weird? >> something weird. i was crossing the street by my apartment to go get a coffee. this woman said, "you need to call me today." >> was she a psychic? >> she pu a card in my hand. >> it's a scam. >> are you sure? >> of course i'm sure. it's happened to me. i'm sorry to break the news to you. it happened to me in chicago. i was walking at a mall right outside of chicago. this woman came over, she grabbed my hand, i've got something to tell you. of course i said, okay, please tell me. >> let me do a reading. i paid for the reading. >> you did the thing. >> she told you nothing? >> told me absolutely nothing! she said i would have four kids. i stillon't -- i'm still working on it. i can borrow four kids and make it happen. >> i think sometimes i've been to a couple of psychics. >> i believe in them. >> i think sometimes they hit things right. i know you can make things sort of work out the way you want them to in your head but i sort of believe. >> my mother who hae a typical southern mother, hi, mom, she's very religious and she doesn't believe in psychics. but i've gone to a couple. one in particular i went to, she told me that i would be moving to new york before i was even thinking about it. she told me something about a fella at the time that i was dating. >> did that sghoshg. >> her information was spot-on. so i went back to her. i don't know, the verdict's still out. but don't believe the ones that just walk up to you. >> she freaked me out. this is a story that's incredible. there is a woman from arizona and she needed a kidney transplant. so every day there was a taxi driver who seemed to always be the one to pick her up and take her to the hospital. she ot to know the guy, she told him about her issue and it would be really difficult to find a match, her son it didn't work out, whatnot. this cab driver, you guys, aged to donateis kidney to her. they are a match. okay? is that unbelievable? same blood type. > they could not have been more compatible. this man, a stranger, would allow -- >> it's unbelievable. right? the taxi cab company agreed to pay for his time that he's going to be off helping this woman. her name is rita van lonan. we love her. >> it is destiny. what are the odds? you really are meant to meet people in life. maybe nom psychics who walk up to you on the coroner. but people in life you're meant to meet. >> let's go to miss sara sage. >> later in the show we're going to be talking about revenge and do people seek it. majority say it is just better to live well, it is the best revenge. but this woman once stole become a welcome mat that she gave to her boyfriend and now has it in her garden. >> that's called -- that's called getting her stuff back. >> it's a welcome mat, kids! leave it! >> the irony goes so deep on that one. >> she was attached to the welcome mat. come on. >> we are going to talk about revenge. this is interesting. does it help when you get revenge? make you feel worse? we're going to talk about it. >> some really good revenge stories that make you say hmm. >> right after these messages. so revengean be so sweet. it feels bad but it feels good. sometimes it leaves you feeling a little sour about what you did. >> sara hayes took to the streets of new york to get the lowdown on sweet revenge. >> sweet revenge brings closure. >> sweetest revenge is success. >> sweet revenge is walking away and finding your own inner happiness. >> why do you think people seek revenge? >> probably because they're lacking something. >> they don't know how to forgive and forget. >> if i get humiliated or embarrassed, that's when i'll try to steer the embarrassment on to someone else. >> i try not to be vindictive but i do have a friend that has gotten back and the way to get back i guess, they went on don'tdamnthegirl.com. i couldn't want to incriminate myse myself. >> freshman year i was mad at a couple kids in my dorm. i told my friends i was going to hit the breaker at about midnight so that none of their alarms were going to go off. the next day we got to class and half the class was missing. >> at what point in the back-and-forth of revenge do you think people are satisfied? or is there even a point where you can be? >> it is a negative energy and you're never satisfied when you're driven by revenge. >> i like you. >> sorry, honey. >> we love our sara. the author of "the down and dirty on revenge." >> and a relationship expert and author of "love in the time of colic." it does feel so good sometimes. >> it does. >> when you really go after someone, there is something innately, i think, initially that makes you feel good. like i've been stepped on and i won't take it. >> well, i think revenge has been around since the beginning of time. it's part of our human nature. whether you act on it or not is what differentiates us as human beings. sometimes you feel powerless and you need a way to move on. if you find a fun, legal way to get revenge -- >> fun but legal -- >> but legal. >> the better stories are not the fun and usually legal ones. >> carrie underwood says in her song. >> or the super glue ordeal that happened. >> when that story, the three women who super glued his -- to his leg, everybody in the makeup room all the women watched, all the women sort of chuckled, all the women i have to say -- in -- got a little bit of kind of a kick out of it because everyone's sort of had a guy do something not nice to them. when you see someone else take revenge, you're like -- okay. >> exactly. sometimes it is a way to just be able to move on and live vicariously through another story of someone doing that. because you've thought of it. >> what's wrong with the high road, ian? women love revenge stories. the woman selling her boyfriend's sports car for).dy n ebay or even in the case of the man with the hoo-ha with the super glue, there is something about it that women enjoy. do men feel the same way? >> no. i'm not an advocate of revenge. only kind of revenge i do advocate is positive revenge which is really thinking about your own success, thinking about your own well being. think when you're stuck in -- whether you're a man, a won, when you're focused on negative revenge you're the one that actually suffers. you're the one that's stressed out. >> but if you feel better after you done it, you've sold something or burned his clothes -- whatever, these are not from my pernal past -- allegedly -- but you don't feel good. >> a lot of people who end up seeking revenge actually don't feel better, they feel guilty and worse. i think in a lot of way it is an attention getting mechanism, you're trying to grab that person aattention in some way. >> it shows you are still hurt. that's why it is important to talk about revenge because it does happen. it's happened all throughout history. you need to talk about it. like anything bad, talk about it and find out what's going on that all the chaotic emotions that come with being hurt are actually normal. they're very human. that way you can possibly move people towards positive directions, as opposed to negative ones. >> sometimes when you go to like your high school reunion, say you were the heavy-set girl in high school and you just want to walk in that door looking so good. that feels good. you dropped the weight, you walk in, people say, oh, my gosh, is that michelle johnson? i can't believe that's her. that's a good form of revenge. >> i think that's the best revenge, success. >> you say sometimes we take it out on ourselves. that's a bad thing. >> i think when you seek revenge, you're often angry at yourself. you're saying how did i let this happen? why didn't i see the writing on the wall or was i complicit in some way? do you have to kind of get past that anger against yourself and sort of forgive yourself in order to move on. >> is it bad, for example if you lose the weight or we talked about this in the makeup room, i've been harassed at a job by a boss who just didn't like me. he ended up getting fired, i was like, yes. but i wanted to e-mail him and say, yes. is that wrong to gloat with it? >> people like in the age of the internet today, especially, with the internet, a lot of people are like, they're getting fired or if something happens at work they go straight on blogs, they go straight on facebook. in today's age of the internet, revenge is even more dangerous. >> yes, definitely. with the easy access, people are sending sex tapes around, photographs, you have to be really careful, because it's going to come back to you anyway. people are getting sued for putting up nude photographs. >> we're talking about spouses or ex-boyfriends or whatever, but when it is girlfriends, it is interesting. i'm always leery any kind of revenge for a girlfriend, whatever dirt you know about her, she knows about you. >> we're more apt, women, to go after the ex-boyfriend than the -- anyway, we got to run, guys. good luck with the book. ian, come back any time. next, guess who's in our kitchen? darryl hannah's with us. we're so excited about that. would you believe the library? she's going to explain what that is. she's got board games. a lot going on. renaissance woman. what's your name? >> it's hard to say in english. >> well, just say it in your language. >> all right. my name is eee! eee! >> well, darryl hannah made waves in aodern day fairy tale "splash" in the 1980s. it led to several other popular movies including "rocks an" and "kill bill." >> but she is also an impassioned environmental activist, too. she designs board games with a very cool friend of hers, hillary shepherd. welcome. >> thank you. >> first of a, what don't you do? let's start there. i love that you guys created this game. you and your best friend hillary who happens to be -- we're going to get a shot of you eventually. she's just right over there. what made you come up with a concept for this game? >> it is an old parlor game that's been around for centuries. you need a huge library of books in order to play it. not every book is actually applicable to the game. we wanted to make it so we could take us with it on vacation. one time we were in vacation house and there were no books. it is a bluffing game. >> the idea is there are lines on these cards and some of them are actual first lines in a book, some are made up? >> you have different categories of books. children's books, classics, fiction, romance novels, et cetera. you roll to one of those categories, pick a book from that category. you read the title, author and a brief description. then have you a few minutes to write a fake first line to make sure everyone thinks yours is the real one. you mix the real one in there. everyone tries to guess. >> between you and hillary, who wins most? >> you guys have known each other since high school? >> 16. >> awesome. that tells a lot about you that you have long, long-time friends like her. >> we're both game-obsessed, toy-obsesse toy-obsessed. >> your environmental activi fe. >> we face times of great kree seize right now. it is important to speak out and share information. > you were recently arrested. these da people speak out but not with passion. we kind of chitchat at the water cooler but being willing to take that step with the handcuffs, says so much about where you stand and how you feel. >> in this case, there's over500 mountain tops in america have been blown up and dumped into rivers and valleys below crushing thousands of miles of fresh water streams. most people in america don't even realize that's going on in the appalachians. part of fact we were getting arrested was saying, yes we need to get off our addiction to fossil fuels but also this horrible tragedy is happening in america. we're letting our oldest mountain ranges be blown up. >> do you have a project coming up? >> movie called "a closed údyb yes with tom conte. >> we are so excited to have you here. >> this is at barnes & noble. >> hillary! >> still to come, louis licari is actually going on the streets, finding women who are having a bad hair day and fixing them completely. plus, how to become a jewelry genius after these messages and your local news. coming up at midday -- >> breaking news out of northern virginia. a disturbing case of vandalism at an elementary school. the msa removed and removed and a famrs il o bfearsea plin sck backyard. ias w ael m bsiet iomd r eehehr t her three cubs. hope you join us at 11:00 a.m. we are back with "today's beauty" and how to solve common hair faux pass. is yourhair color and texture match up? do you misuse products? do your highlights look frosted? >> ivillage and contributor to the stars, louis licari, you just spotted people on 5th avenue? is this how you rolled, found them and grbed them? >> yeah, they absolutely thought i was a lunatic. looking at me with horror. they ran. but the ones that were really interested in hair and talked to me loved to talk to me about their hair. >> our first woman who you found was a woman named dina. you sort of kind of ambushed her on 5th avenue. take a listen to what she had to say. >> right here. excuse me, miss? hi. my name's louis. i'm a hair guy from ""ambush makeover."" >> hi, hello. >> i want to help people with their hair today. are you ready for a new look? do you want to change your hair? >> i'm not too sure. >> haven't you ever dreamed of having pret etier hair. you have beautiful hair. >> i'm not sure. >> are you game? >> am i game? why not. >> you are going to be so beautiful. every guy in new york is going to be calling you up. >> first of all, i love how you introduce yourself as "i'm a hair guy." so now i'm anxious. again, take a look at dina's before picture. okay. dina is about to step out from behind her before picture and we are going to show her the after. all right, dina. let's see the new you. >> that is hot! tell us about the cut. >> first of all, dana cut dina's hair. she cut it -- layered it, the purpose here is her hair was dark so it sort of laid flat. it looked like almost a helmet on her head. it had a bit of a wig-like look. combination of layers, then i colored it because the color and cut work together to create this lighter look. it is just fluffier, softer. >> she look younger. >> dina, do you like it? >> i look pretty. >> you're hot! hot, hot, hot. our next woman is patsy. helen is next. helen, you walked up on the street and came upon helen. >> miss? miss? hi. my name is louis. i'm the guy from the "ambush makeover" on the "today" show. >> really? >> yeah. i was wondering, would you be interested in changing your hair color and haircut today? >> it's a little sudden. >> it is a little sudden but -- i promise you that when we finish in just a few hours, we're going to make you look so beautiful. because you are a beautiful woman. are you ready for a makeover? >> all right! >> let's go! we're going on air. >> you have the power. >> i was shaking in my boots. >> let's look at helen before. helen before. all right, here she comes. she's going to step out from in front of her picture. oh, my -- wow! >> she looks so sophisticated. >> first of all, are you not so glad you did this? come on! louis, tell us about the haircut. >> when i saw helen's hair tied back, it was actually in a bun. i was suspect she wore it back every day. that's a hair red flag. if you wear your hair back every day, there's something wrong. her hair was too much, covered her, too thick, too much body. dana layered it, c it. i gave her the softest highlights, kept her hair dark, little lighter around the face. she looks great. gave her a little makeup. how beautiful. >> you look so good. >> you look great. >> one more. it's patsy's turn. so again you found her on the street. let's see how you ambushed patsy. >> let's keep going. i'm looking. i'm looking. do you ever watch "ambush makeover"? >> all the time! i recognize you. that's wonderful! >> you are so sweet. i would love to make you over. what do you think? >> okay! >> okay, that easy? it te >> it is true what they say about blondes. let's go. >> you're real lady's man. they're lining up. >> oh, my gosh. we got to see patsy before. here's the before. all right, patsy. step out from behind that poster of yourself. wow! nice. >> before notice the before picture she was lighter. patsy is the quintessential blonde. she loved being blonde. she was very reluctant but she let me put in the most subtle dark blonde highlights that just make the blonde hair that was washing her face away and darker hair gives her more contrast. if you have to wear more makeup to make your new hair color work it is the wrong color. >> do you like? >> my hair color? absolutely. >> ladies, do you all like your new looks? who wouldn't want to be approached by lewis on the street on 5th avenue. we'll do this again. louis, thank you so much. nice job. up next, we fix ha hair. now what about all that jewelry you've got in your house, lost earrings or pieces you don't know what to do with? jewelry solutions right after this. i now on "today's style," how to become a jewelry genius. from picking out a good pair of fake diamond studs to how to make use of the single le earr when you lost the other one? >> carol brody has a collection of jewelry called rarities. >> we have very big jewelry problems. >> huge issues. i love your jewelry that you're wearing. >> thank you so much. i have mixed estate jewelry, fabulous old jewelry that was passed down or that i bartered or sold my life for, with my own collection. basically, i love mixing old and new. this season it's all about getting a great cuff. these are fabulous and fake. i really need to tell you, they're fake. nobody should be pretending. those are from carol ross. they're gold over brass. they're hard, they're not going to peel or chip. that one is actually from tori spelling which you can get on h hsn. >> how good does this look? okay, going out tonight! >> run your nail against it, make sure it doesn't pull on to your dress. that's how you know you're getting an amazing piece. >> how pricey are these? zble >> every one of these are under $300, even some as low as $50. >> when it comes to buying faux diamonds an things, how big should you go? >> if you're going to buy cz, the clothese eclosest replica. cubic zirconia. it is made by man. i personally like a more natural gemstone like a toe paz, white t toepaz. if you're going for a cz, keep it between one and two carats. >> i'm agrfraid to wear them. >> if you mix them with your fine jewelry, nobody will know. these are $50, these reearrings. 1.5 carats each. sterling silver or gold-over-silver. go to your jeweler. have them make you a gorgeous pair of replica fine jewelry platinum set. this is about old jewelry, worn jewelry. i don't want you, earring orphans. this is like the island of miss fit jewels. my mother xwaf me this charm bracelet. it had six charms when she gave it to me. i took every ring i had, i took every charm, i took my baby booties, everythi. i added this on. this locket has my boy's pictures in it. i can pass it down to my boys. they can give it to their wives, fight over it. this was a gold chain that i had. the tassels were too heavy for my ears. i opened up the chain. >> that happens a lot! >> your ears start to pull when you get older. i cut it. now just so you know, this is a lariat. i took this heirloom pendant that my dad gave my mom, took it off here, put it on a gold chain and i layer the whole look. you have to be creative. >> what about the orphan earrings? >> whose is this? >> mine. >> you were so upset you told me because this was a very expensive earring. >> i splurged for my 35th birthday. i splurged. i lost it in a new york taxi cab. >> i spent $2 on some ribbon for you. >> i feel like those makeovers! >> that looks adorable. now this is a necklace. >> that looks great. >> how beautiful is that? >> you have way too many earring problems. we just added this on. these are $6 at a trimming store. i added your coral earring on. every woman should go out, these are about $6 in trimming stores. it is a piece of leather. it is adjustable. >> i don't remember who gave me those. >> with a little plier we can bend it together. >> you're the best. thank you so much. all right, ming upnext, we'll eat. we'll show you how to pack a healthy brown bag lunch for your kids right after this. >> announcer: today's momtourage" is brought to you by walmart. now creating healthy brown bag lunches. according to the cdc, the number of overweight kids in the united states has more than doubled in the last 20 years. >> whatcan you do to create lunches that are both nutriti nutritionally sound and also fun to eat? the contributing chef to "preventio magazine's cook section. a lot of parents want their kids to eat right but kids are sometimes picky and have issues. you want to slip the good stuff in. >> absolutely. we'll start with the preschoolers. they're very big into the finger foods. a good idea is a couple of days before school starts, especially with the little ones, practice. have a couple of picnic lunches exactly what you're going to do. do trial runs because this is all very new to them. a lot of times they come home with exactly what you packed for them. if they do that, make that their afternoon snack. >> have you meatballs. kids like little finger foods like that? >> yeah, meatballs are great because they have iron in them. protein, blueberries have great antioxidant activity, vitamin c and fiber's really good for them. >> maybe an eater is a little pickier. >> you have to market healthier foods to kids. this might be somebody used to fast food, pizza, nuggets, et cetera. draw them in to the healthier eating. this is a whole grain banana bread. when you make your own you can layer good stuff in there. i would start with a whole grain flour, sneak a little bit of flax seed in there. they will never know the difference. use a more wholesome sweetener like maple syrup. banana, peanut butter. >> i was a picky eater mostly because my sandwich by the time i got to lunch was mushy and i didn't want to eat it. >> if you also have a child who likes breakfast all the time, you can make them happy, too. >> absolutely. no reason you can't serve breakfast for lunch. this is scrambled egg wrap. this has scrambled eggs, a little bit of salsa. lot of kids love salsa. this is for a more older child, a tween. use the wax paper to keep it from going soggy, little bit of tinfoil. fruit salad, mango and raspberries. you can buy these chus already chopped in the freezen section. raspberries, you just drop and go. >> older kids, i find this one very alarming to see grape leaves? >> yeah. teenagers are some of the hardest kids because they may not let you pack their lunch. if you are lucky enough to be able to have an influence over the food they're eating at this time in their life, they're kind of mall food eaters. you can buy this at the grocery store. it is something they might see at the malls. it is mediterranean. grape leaves, whole wheat pitas. instead of standard hummus, an eggplant dip. >> i like how you have the wipes on every every one. that's important. >> the only danger is someone's going to take your lunch because it looks so good. >> thank you so much. coming up next, andy murra two ranked tennisl p iayern the world. he's getting read aytowwo woans at the u.s. open starting next monday, august 31st. >> this british player has been swinging a racket since he was only -- how cute is that! >> which one is you? on the left? >> on the left with the extra short shorts on. now at 22, he'll teach us a thing or two about tennis. andy murray, thanks so much. a lot of people want to get re 3. kids involved in tennis.3. what was it like to build up to this 3.point? >> it was tough, you have to do a lot of practicing. but i had my brother growing up. we played since we were 4 or 5. >> i went to wimbledon. i don't know how you handle pressure, quite frankly, andy. i went there. all of england puts their wishes, hopes and dreams on your shoulders. they always say it's been 70-something years since a brit has won. what's it like playing under those sort of conditions? >> it's very -- it's very tough. if you saw the media attention, sort of pressure that i guess the expectation -- i came reasonably close this year. >> do you pal around with the other guys like andy roddick or the rest? are you guys all pals, hang around, go to din sfer. >> don't go out to dinner with them. i get along well with a lot of the american players, andy roddick, james blake. >> are you going to twitter after this show? >> i can do, if you want me to. >> how do you get motivated? michael phelps says he listens to rap music. how do you get started? >> i used to listen to music a lot. now actually because i play a lot of matches i just kind of get in the zone. >> it's just new. will you show us? we're not good. we'd like you to show us. everyone at home, if you don't know anything about tennis, the andy murray is going to show us how to hold a racket properlily. >> which shot? >> forehand. >hold it here. >> at the very bottom. >> yeah. lit more. >> see what we're doing? okay. >> then take it back -- >> do you bend your elbow? >> this is like synchronized swimming. swing. swing. >> what do you do with your legs? twist into it? >> yeah. that's pretty much perfect. >> this is terrible. andy, we're terrie. andy, we want to wish you the best of luck at the open. we're so glad you're here and we'll be rooting for you. >> will you hit us a ball? what do i do? >> you want to hit it into the net. >> wrong way. >> let it bounce first. >> shebounce it. >> kelly pick ler's coming tomorrow, by the way. >> look at you, serena.