Transcripts For WRC Today 20100721

shirley sherrod, speaks out. and red-faced sumner redstone, the 87-year-old chairman of viacom, bribed a reporter trying-to-give up a source. >> we're not going to kill him. we just want to talk to him. we will protect you completely. give us the name and you will be well rewarded and well protected. >> and all his spokesperson can say, it was just sumner being sumner today, wednesday, july 21st, 2010. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning. welcome to "today" on a wednesday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> and i'm meredith vieira. we'll get to that frightening experience on the united airlines flight. >> did the obama administration make a huge mistake forcing an agriculture department official to resign for comments she made in an naacp event? part of shirley sherrod's remarks were released by a blogger. cable news outlets pounced on the remarks and quickly interpreted them as racist. even the naacp condemned her, and she was quickly forced to resign. but, as it turns out, it was a story of how she chose to overcome her own racial biases nearly 25 years ago. the agriculture department now says it's going to conduct a thorough review of her ousting. we'll speak to the worm at the center of the controversy, shirley sherrod, straight ahead. plus, lipped ndsay lohan is waking up in her new home, a jail cell. why they are talking about releasing her much earlier than previously announced. let us begin with dozens of passengers injured on a cross-country flight that ran into heavy turbulence over kansas. nbc's tom costello covers aviation for us and is in our washington bureau this morning. tom, good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, meredith, good morning. this was a united airlines flight from dulles airport to l.a. with 255 passengers, ten crew members, when it encountered extreme turbulence over ckansas at about 34,000 feet. passengers describe a sudden violent drop, people slamming their heads against the ceiling inside the cabin, then being slammed back down into their seats and the seats of other passengers. among the injured, four flight attendants who were presumably up and working at the time. the plane then diverted to denver international airport where it was met by firefighters and paramedics. in all 25 to 30 injured, one critically. once the plane finally did make it to l.a., some of the passengers described the ordeal. >> we just, the bottom fell out. people hit the ceiling. it was pretty bad. >> it felt like i had gone down an elevator shaft and hit the bottom and came back up. that's what it felt like. >> everyone was screaming and that was very horrible. >> the person behind me, he actually flew up and then he nded like kind of across the aisle onto somebody else's head. >> reporter: the injured were taken to denver area hospitals, most with what are described as moderate walking injuries. those would be bruises, whiplash, strains and sprains. the faa says its first look at the plane finds no obvious signs of damage. the faa and the ntsb are investigating but it's a good reminder, meredith, why we're all told wear our seat belts even when we're sitting down. back to you. >> absolutely, tom. very scary experience for those folks. tom costello, thank you very much. it is 7:04. now to the turbulence facing the obama administration over the resignation of an agriculture department official. was she forced to quit her job for comments that were taken completely out of context? we're going to talk to shirley sherrod in a moment, but first, nbc's savannah guthrie is at the white house with the latest. savannah, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, matt. these developments are moving really quickly. at first there were condemnations against shirley sherrod for alleged racist remarks. now some of the very first people to rebuke her are now apologizing and over the night the white house directed the agency that fired her to reconsider. this is the video at the center of the controversy. >> the first time i was faced with having to help a white farmer save his farm -- >> reporter: first posted on a conservative website, it shows shirley sherrod, a georgia-based official with the u.s. department of agriculture, and obama administration appointee, at an naacp dinner in march of this year describing her reluctance to help a white farmer who came for aid. >> i was struggling with the fact that so many black people had lost their farmland, and here i was faced with having to help a white person save their land. so i didn't give him the full force of what i could do. >> reporter: the video became an overnight cable news sensation. >> miss sherrod must resign immediately. the federal government cannot have skin color deciding any assistance. >> how many more people like miss sherrod exist in the obama administration? >> reporter: the action against sherrod was quick and decisive. the naacp condemned her, calling her remarks shameful and intolerable. the usda asked her to resign. sherrod says she was driving monday afternoon when she got the call from an official in washington. >> she said they want you to pull over to the side of the road and submit your resignation. it was just unbelievable. it was just unbelievable. >> reporter: but sherrod says it was a rush to judgment. the incident she had described at the march naacp dinner had occurred more than 20 years ago, before she worked for the usda, and it was a story she told as an example of overcoming her own prejudices. >> that's when it was revealed to me that it's about poor versus those who have. and in telling that story, how i changed while working with him, i used that to help others to see it's not about race. >> reporter: the farmer who sherrod is accused of treating unfairly went public tuesday saying she is no racist and saved his family farm. >> i appreciated everything she done for us, and we got our farm back. >> reporter: still, in a statement tuesday, agriculture secretary tom vilsack stood by his decision to fire sherrod saying, quote, we have been working to turn the page on this sordid civil rights record at usda, and this controversy could make it more difficult to move forward on correcting injustices. but by tuesday night, the naacp had reversed course. officials looked at the full context of her remarks made at the naacp's own event, concluded they'd been, quote, snookered by fox news and those who posted the video. they were too quick to condemn. >> we made a mistake here. we had a very good batting average. it is near 1,000 but times we make a mistake and we made one here. >> reporter: for shirley sherrod, the damage has been done. >> they called me a racist, of all people. they called me a racist. when you look at my work, when you look at everything i've done, you know that i'm not a racist. >> reporter: all right. so initially officials here at the white house said this was solely at the discretion of the agriculture secretary, tom vilsack, that the president was briefed only afterward although staff knew something of it, and that he fully stood by the agriculture secretary's decision. however, late last night after the full video was posted on the naacp website, the white house contacted the agriculture secretary and encouraged the agriculture secretary to take another look. he now says he will and let me read the statement from tom vilsack. he said, quote, i am, of course, willing and will conduct a thorough review and consider additional facts to ensure to the american people we are providing services in a fair and equitable manner. but no word yet, matt, this morning whether or not shirley sherrod gets her job back. >> savannah guthrie, thank you. shirley sherrod is with us from atlanta. ms. sherrod, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> what a 24-48 hours you've had. let's go through it here. you were villainized, forced to resign, and when the oopses began, the naacp which originally came out against you, apologized saying they made a mistake and now i even understand the agriculture secretary who originally stood by his decision has said he's willing to see more information. can you describe your emotions as we sit here and talk this morni morning? >> you know, it's so hard looking at the last 24 hours. when the department -- when this first came to light i said to them you need to look at the whole thing. that's not the message i was putting out there. and for them all day yesterday to say they were standing by their decision and now at this late hour to be saying they are now willing to look at the facts, you know, it's hard to take at this point. >> what's outrageous about this is this story that was sent out there as an example of racism on your part was the opposite. it was a story of enlightenment and transformation of overcoming the narrow mindedness that you had been surrounded by as a younger woman and here it was completely misconstrued and misrepresented. >> yes, and i couldn't get people -- i couldn't get the people i was working with, people who should have listened to me, to see that because that was one of the things i kept saying. you need to look at the whole thing. that's not my message. that's not me. if you look at my life, if you look at my life's work, you would know that that's not me. >> as a state worker in georgia, you tell this story about how you were dealing with a white farmer who was about to lose his farm and perhaps the temptation was there on your part to continue down the road. you had seen so many travel in the past and maybe not give that farmer, that white person, all the benefit of your help, but you had this almost an epiphany at that moment and said, wait a second, the civil rights movement was not about black versus white. it's about the poor and the powerless and this man deserves as much help as anyone. could anyone who had listened, who would have listened to the entire story have thought of you as a racist? >> i don't think they would have. anyone -- most people would not have known me, but if they had looked at the entire tape, i just don't see how they could have come away with it thinking i was a racist. >> i don't know who to blame here, ms. sherrod. the activist who put forward this garbage in the first place has an agenda. we shouldn't be surprised by that. the cable news network who played this on and on and talked about it, we shouldn't be surprised by that. i am shocked at the naacp, i have to admit, that they did not investigate further before condemning you and i'm shocked at the obama administration for not putting an investigation in place either. can you give me your thoughts on that? >> yes. i was particularly hurt by the naacp's reaction to it because they -- you know, i put years, all of my life has been about civil rights work and fairness and if they had just taken the time to look at it, to see, to look at me, to see what i've done, i'm certain they would not have come out with that first statement. but i can appreciate the fact that they now have looked at it, they've seen, and come up with a new statement. >> and as for the obama a administration, why do you think the secretary of agriculture acted so quickly in this situation? >> you know, that is so hard to take especially when i kept saying look at the entire thing. look at my message and no one would listen. no one would listen. >> the naacp, ms. sherrod, now calls this a teachable moment. what lessons have you learned? >> oh, gosh. you know, it's the outpouring of support has just been great for me. i don't know that i would have done anything different because this is just me. this is my life. it's all about fairness. and then to not be treated fairly, you know, in this whole situation, it's just something hard to deal with. >> the door seems to be open a little bit to you getting your old job back. do you want to walk through that door? >> you know, i am just not sure of how i would be treated there now. that's one i just don't know at this point. >> shirley sherrod, i thank you for your time this morning. >> thank you. david gregory is moderator of "meet the press." david, good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. >> so when the administration and the agriculture department or the secretary first saw this edited version of this story, they went into full damage control and didn't bother to check if there was legitimate damage created. >> it's pretty striking, and i think your interview only underscores that. they had an opportunity to look at the full tape just like news outlets did. they had an opportunity to talk to ms. sherrod to try to get a sense of the context here and that's a key word. we live in a time. when he was defending and explaining some of the comments made by reverend wright, such a huge controversy, he took pains at that point to put that incident into a greater context about race in america. and yet in this case the administration acted so quickly when what was necessary here was some context. >> do they almost have to offer her her job back? >> i think it's going to be difficult not to if they have a real re-assessment of all the facts here and certainly it's been indicated by white house officials and the agriculture department they're willing to d administration officials the president certainly supports going back and looking at all the facts here. so, look, as the president often bemoans we're living in this 24-hour cable news cycle and he's often critical of that. they got caught up in that themselves here judging too quickly and taking the steps now to re-assess. >> david gregory, good to see you. >> thanks, matt. >> oops doesn't even describe what happened. what a mess. a check of the top stories from ann curry at the news desk. meredith and matt, good morning. good morning, everybody. also in the news the u.s. announced new sanctions against north korea announcing the sanctions in south korea. secretary of state hillary clinton said they will fund the nuclear weapons program. she and secretary gates visited the demilitarized zone. the cap is still holding this morning but now what? anne thompson tells us what is coming up. anne, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. this seems like the test that will never end. that is fine with the people here as long as it keeps the oil from flowing into the gulf. but a potential problem moves just on the horizon. for six days now the ceiling cap has held back the oil, but there is trouble brewing in the caribbean. a tropical wave near puerto rico could become a tropical depression or storm by thursday closing the weather window at the leak site that has allowed crews to make so much progress. >> the probability is low at this time that there would be gale force wibdz. we're watching it very, very closely. >> reporter: bp is working on another way to stop the oil. this plan is called static kill, a low-pressure version of the unsuccessful top kill. bp wants to pump heavy drilling mud through the blow-out preventer with the sealing cap closed to plug the well. the government has yet to give the go-ahead. >> if it's approved to do so, it's 100% chance we'll go ahead with it. i think we'll have covered all of the risk analysis, all of the issues with the procedures and stuff. >> reporter: bp believes the well is stable and those five leaks have been detected. national incident commander allen dismissed them as drips. >> we found nothing that would be consequential towards the integrity of the well head to date. >> reporter: now the price tag for this cleanup is $4 billion and yesterday bp sold assets in the u.s., canada, and egypt to help pay the bill. ann? >> anne thompson this morning. anne, thanks. today the president will sign that new financial overhaul bill that's aimed at preventing another market meltdown. he says the bill includes the strongest consumer financial protections in history. health experts are urging the fda to stop endorsing the drug avastin for breast cancer. this after recent studies failed to show any benefits for breast cancer patients. and take a look at what happened when a fox got his head stuck in a chain link fence in california. lucky for him it happened near an ice cream store and there was a man willing to spoon feed him ice cream and milk so the fox was eventually able to free himself and an animal control officer said he was sure it's the cherry garcia that gave the fox the strength. look at that. there you go. it is cute. 7:18. let's go back to matt and meredith. >> i'm going to go stick my head in a fence. it's hot here today. get a little ice cream. look. >> mr. roker is here with a check of the weather good morning. partly to mostly cloudy on wednesday morning. the radar is showing one shower over the middle part of the bay drifting to the northeast towards oxford and st. michaels. elsewhere, sprinkles in the central shenandoah valley. 77 in washington. highs low 90s today with clouds in and out. could get some of 0 the strong storms 3 to 8 p.m., which could produce damaging wind. lower humidity, but hot tomorrow. humidity returns friday and saturday along with the heat. and that's your latest weather. meredith? >> al, thank you. british prime minister david cameron makes his first official visit to washington. his trip is being dominated by questions over bp's possible role in the release of the pan am flight bomber. cameron brushed off calls for an investigation but according to new york senator chuck schumer an investigation is still a possibility. michael isikoff is nbc's national investigative correspondent. good morning to you. let's review what we know. bp has acknowledged that in 2007 it urged the british government to approve a prisoner transfer agreement with libya, even said it knew that agreement, if everybody said it was okay, would help them in terms of an oil drilling deal with libya. it said it had nothing to do with the release of the lockerbie bomber al megrahi. you've looked closely at this story. do you have any evidence that would indicate otherwise? >> a semantics game here because although bp says it never raised al megrahi's name, there was no question about the only libyan prisoner in a united kingdom jail who was at issue here who could be eligible for transfer and it was megrahi. >> the lockerbie bomber. >> right. what's really interesting and you'll see the senate, which is going to be holding hearings next week on this,cusing in on interesting aspects of it. the bp official who made the call to the british government to urge the transfer, mark allen, a former top british spymaster, former mi-6, chief of counterterrorism, this is the british version of the revolving door. the guy left mi-6, went to work for bp. he had a relationship with gadhafi. he was helping bp facilitate this oil deal which was front and center on both the british government's mind and bp's mind. >> and bp is keeping him away from the press right now. can he be forced to testify? >> well, look, a u.s. senate committee is not going to have the subpoena power over a british citizen but certainly you're going to see the senate. there will be somebody from bp invited. it's not clear who will show up but there will be a lot of questioning about mark allen's role and specifically how much and who bp lobbied in the british government. >> al megrahi was released for compassionate grounds because he had prostate cancer and a doctor said he would only live three months. in fact he's now lived almost a year since his release. a lot of questions about that medical report. you've seen it. well, certainly when people actually read the contents of the medical report, family members and others are going to -- their blood would be boiling over this because there's exaggerated compassion for megrahi and his family. it talks about letting him return to libya, to allow him to reunite with his family. it will help with their coping with this illness. and medical evidence seems to be when you look at it closely highly suspect. >> michael isikoff, thank you so much. and coming up, she's only spent one night in jail. just ahead, why expecting a baby could make it tough for you getting a mortgage. plus the soup nazi returns and guess who was there for the opening. hair is in control for 3 days. call 800-for-avon to find a representative. good morning, everyone. it's 7:26 on this wednesday july 21, 2010. in the news4 today, more than two dozen people were hurt, after a flight from washington to l.a. ran into severe turbulence. the united airlines flight had to be diverted to denver, where 30 people went to several hospitals. most of those injuries are minor, but an faa spokesperson says one person does have critical injury. the majority of the passengers continued on to los angeles and landed early this morning. weather and traffic are coming up next. stay with us. good morning. radar is showing, where you see the color, scattered showers another cambridge, north of there, drifting to the northeast, as well as in the central shenandoah valley, highlands of west virginia. 77 at national airport. afternoon highs, low 9 o's, strong storms late this afternoon and early this evening. a tough morning. 395 northbound, delays at beltway of the 14th street bridge. there had been a fender bender that tied things up for a while. trouble on 270. live pictures, southbound, after montross after the split everybody accident left half of the roadway. crew are on the scene. cleanup begins at montgomery villa village. news, weather and traffic as soon as you wake up. 7:30 now on this wednesday morning, july 21st, 2010. a large, energetic crowd sharing love with us. we'll head outside to say hello to them in just a bit. i'm meredith vieira along side matt lauer. just ahead in this half hour, a lot of times when a couple is expecting, that's when they need to find a new and bigger home. >> that's right. these days some banks are now rejecting mortgage applications just because the woman is pregnant. is that fair? what do you do if you need a loan? we'll have advice from jean chatzky. plus, six teenagers have been charged with a suicide bullying case of phoebe prince. were other factors also at work in her life away from school that played a role in prince's tragic death. we'll have exclusive new details in the case. and viacom's chairman, sumner redstone, caught apparently trying to convince a reporter to give up a source on a story that put redstone in a less than favorable light. we'll hear that tape and check out the fallout in just a little while. but, we're going to begin with lindsay lohan's first night in jail and just how many she may have left. nbc's lee cowan is outside the jail in linwood, california, with more. lee, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. now the sheriff's department here is now saying that between the jail overcrowding situation here then time off for good behavior, lindsay lohan may not even serve a full two weeks behind bars. she could do as little as 13 days of that 90-day sentence. then it's straight off to rehab -- again. this morning lindsay lohan is just another inmate in a jumpsuit. after the kind of circuit you'd expect from one of her court appearances. paparazzi on the ground, news choppers in the sky, even glitter thrown from the crowd. but inside court the big top came down, and a somber, tired looking lohan, sat speechless, waiting to be taken into custody. >> all cameras are ordered to be shut off. >> reporter: and when the time came, only a courtroom sketch artist was allowed to record the moment that lohan was taken away. >> she is scared as anyone would be but she is resolute and she's doing it. >> reporter: lohan was driven away in handcuffs to her new temporary home and booked like anyone else. no more jewelry, no more cell phones, and no way to tweet. >> inside it's business as usual. >> reporter: except for the fact lohan isn't with the rest of the women in this 2,200-bed facility. she is by herself, isolated in a 12 by 8 foot cell for the next two weeks. is that time enough? some former inmates say even a brief lockup can be a powerful tool. >> if she uses it to continue to blame everybody else, it's a hurdle. if she uses it to flip the switch and move forward, it's a good thing. it's transformative. >> reporter: no matter how long she serves, it's only part of her sentence. she faces a 90-day in-patient rehab. addicts who have been there before say a court order is often the only path to recovery. >> one of the only reasons why i'm sober is because the courts committed me to either four years in prison or a year in rehab. as a result i'm a convicted felon but i spent a year in rehab and that helped me hit a bottom and now stay sober. >> reporter: but hitting bottom is different for everyone and no one knows just how deep she is except lindsay lohan. >> she stepped up. she's accepted responsibility and that's really all i have to say. >> reporter: meredith, lindsay lohan will go directly from jail into that 90-day in-patient rehab. the judge said she wanted a quick transition there so you figure if she does roughly two weeks here then the 90 days in rehab, lindsay lohan technically won't be a free woman until sometime in the fall. meredith? >> lee cowan, thank you very much. what life is like behind bars, piper served 13 months in a prison for drug-related charges and wrote about it in her book "orange is the new black." good morning to you. it's actually 11 months in prison and two months in jail and you really saw a difference. you preferred prison. >> there's a stark difference between a federal prison and a federal jail. between prison and any jail facility and i think that's a little surprising for folks. a jail is in many ways much more restrictive and much harder to sort of get the patterns of life that help you do your time when you're in a jail facility as opposed to a prison. >> spe of the 24 hours, lipped is it a very scary thing? >> she at this point has been through the very scary process of intake. literally shedding your skin, you know, giving up your clothes, obviously your jewelry, any possessions you have, taking on that uniform, you know, that baggy -- in her case orange uniform -- and becoming a prisoner. it is a transformation. >> it's not the first time she has been at linwood. she was there for about 84 minutes for her dui and that experience didn't really seem to faze her given what's happened since. as lee cowan pointed out, she may only be there two weeks, three weeks because of prison overcrowd i overcrowding. what impact can it really have? >> i think this will be a very different experience than her previous experience. an inmate.or experienced life she's going to be in 23-hour lockdown, protective custody, and segregated housing unit which is the shoe, the hold, not a good place to be. it's not a nice place to be. >> why? i think a lot of people would assume that's a much safer place for her to be, that if she were out within general prison population that someone might figure out it's lindsay lohan, let's take a shot at her. >> it it is a very secure place to be. she will certainly be safe. s not that the other prisonersce were the worst part of prison. quite the opposite. and i department like everyone i met in prison, but some of the women that i met and the things i learned from them were some of the only things of value you can really draw from the experience. i don't know that being locked in a room for 23 hours guarantees a change in lindsay. that will really rest with lindsay. >> what would you advise her to do in the time she is there? >> i would advise her to read every single book she can get her hands on, everything they allow her to have. i would advise her to write letters to the people who mean the most to her and to the people who have really been a strength to her and who have helped her and to really try to forge those bonds and think long and hard about what her next steps are. that's one of the things i do. >> piper, thank you so much for your perspectiv good morning. here, we've got a partly to mostly cloudy sky on this wednesday morning. still humid. radar showing the area of color, blues and greens, light rains shenandoah valley, highlands of west virginia, south of oxford, drifting off to the north and the east. temperatures around the region 70s. 77 in washington. highs today low 9 o's with cloudiness. 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. we could get storms coming through. hot tomorrow, lower humidity. and a good looking family. what's your name? >> the jacobs family. >> two good looking boys there. all right. now let's head back to matt. thanks so much. you think people would learn by now that if you leave something on a voice mail it can come back to haunt you. billionaire media mogul sumner redstone has just learned that lesson. nbc's mike taibbi explains. >> reporter: the article on "the daily beast" website was about a media mogul strong-arming a subordinate into producing a show he wanted on an all-girl band called electric barbarellas. then this voice mail. >> sumner redstone. i think you know i run viacom, and cbs, and mtv. >> reporter: sumner redstone, worth $9 billion and at 87 still a volatile force in broadcasting and entertainment, was after the source of peter lauria's story. >> i know you may be reluctant. we have to have the name of the person who gave you that story. we're not going to kill him. we just want to talk to him. we're not going to fire him. we just want to talk to him. we will protect you completely. >> reporter: it had a bit of a tone of that michael in "the godfather." >> don't be afraid. come on. you think i make my sister a widow? >> reporter: but writer lauria's only concern was for his sources. >> my initial thought was, i have to make sure that they have cover and they're protected. i wasn't worried about me at all. >> reporter: a viacom official confirms it's sumner redstone's voice. said the spokesman, anyone who knows sumner and his history knows he's colorful, agessive, extremely intelligent and passionate. this was just sumner being sumner. sumner being sumner fired tom cruise, former ceo tom preston in the past and now this. >> we're not going to hurt this guy. we want to sit him down and find out why he did it. you should be willing to cooperate, give us the name, and you will be well rewarded and well protected. >> sumner redstone's message to peter lauria is not crazy in the way mel gibson's tapes were crazy but it shows that maybe he doesn't have the same judgment that he once had 10, 20 years ago. >> reporter: viacom spokesman folta would only say leaving the voice mail was not a good idea. he'll have learned his lesson. for "today," mike taibbi, nbc news, new york. >> we live in a world where nothing -- almost nothing you say just goes away. >> exactly. well, that's not going to go away. >> not for a while. up next, why expectant couples looking for a new home could have a tough time getting one. ♪ this is our pool. ♪ our fireworks. ♪ and our slip and slide. you have your idea of summer fun, and we have ours. now during the summer event get an exceptionally engineered e-class for 1.9 percent apr or lease one for $689 a month. ♪ ♪ ♪ one tribe, y'all ♪ one tribe, y'all ♪ one tribe, y'all ♪ we are one people [ female announcer ] when you choose pepsi, you support the pepsi refresh project. which is giving away millions of dollars to refresh communities across america. ♪ one, one, one people [ female announcer ] so choose pepsi. ♪ one tribe, y'all [ female announcer ] every pepsi refreshes the world. ♪ one, one, one people we get double miles on every purchase. so we earned an l.a. getaway twice as fast. we get double miles every time we use our card. no matter what we're buying. and since double miles add up quick... romans! get em! 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[ indistinct shouting ] there's oil out there we've got to capture. my job is to hunt it down. i'm fred lemond, and i'm in charge of bp's efforts to remove oil from these waters. bp has taken full responsibility for the cleanup and that includes keeping you informed. every morning, over 50 spotter planes and helicopters take off and search for the oil. we use satellite images, infrared and thermal photography to map and target the oil. then, the boats go to work. almost 6,000 vessels. these are thousands of local shrimp and fishing boats organized into task forces and strike teams. plus, specialized skimmers from around the world. we've skimmed over 27 million gallons of oil/water mixture and removed millions more with other methods. we've set out more than 8 million feet of boom to protect the shoreline. i grew up on the gulf coast and i love these waters. we can't keep all the oil from coming ashore, but i'm gonna do everything i can to stop it, and we'll be here as long as it takes to clean up the gulf. we're back at 7:44 this morning on "today's money" why it's tougher than ever to get a mortgage. rates are at historic lows but lending standards are so tough now that some banks are actually denying mortgages to families expecting a child. jean chatzky is "today's" financial editor. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> this comes from a story in "the new york times" yesterday. we'll talk about the instance of pregnancy in a second, but generally speaking how much tougher is it to qualify for a mortgage today than it was, say, two years ago before the economic meltdown? >> significantly. we're coming out of this era of loans where people didn't even have to document their income in order to get a very, very large mortgage. they could just say this is how much i earned and people were willing to take their word for it. >> and banks learned their lesson and they got punished for that. >> that's right. >> now enter this situation. you're a family. you're a woman. you're pregnant. you want a mortgage. you want to move up to a better house or buy your first home. the very fact the woman in a family is pregnant now can be a real deterrent to that family getting a loan. >> what the lenders are saying is we need to see income and we need to see income not just now but that will generally last for the next three years. these are standards set by fannie mae and freddie mac and the banks are adhering to these standards and they're checking on your income not just when you apply and qualify for the loan but before you close which can lead to problems. >> and because studies will show that a certain percentage of women who have children do not return to the workforce. they stay at home and become stay-at-home moms so then that family loses half the income or a percentage of income. >> or if you qualified based on your income and your spouse's income, you had the baby, you're on maternity leave, now you go to close, the bank can say to you, well, you don't have that anymore. >> first of all, so a family that is expecting a child on their own need to ask some difficult questions. you know, will we be able to afford this loan down the road? but if they come up with the answer of yes, even if the mother does not go back to work, we can still afford it, what do they do? it do they hide the pregnancy? >> even if the mother or the father doesn't go back to work you can still afford it, then qualify for that loan based on the single income to just eliminate the problem. but if you know you're going to be going back to work and you are going to be needing and receiving both of those incomes, get a note from your doctor that this is when it's okay to go back to work, get a note from your employer that this is what your salary will be when you go back to work. >> so the pregnancy issue is just one example of how tough it is to get a mortgage. talk about credit ratings and credit scores and how that is impacting people today in their attempt to get a mortgage. >> you have new data out this week that 25% of people now have credit scores of 599 or below. >> so they've fallen below 600. >> and that's the lowest category of credit scores. people in that category are not going to qualify in many cases for mortgages for car loans and if they do qualify they'll pay significantly more. >> what's the take home message here? "a," keep your credit up. >> don't use any more than 10% to 30% of the available credit you have on those credit cards. that should take your score up. >> if you're a family and expecting a child, bite off as much as you can chew? is. >> make sure that you can actually afford it once you go back to work because the worst case is you buy a home, you can't afford it and then we see what happens to people. >> jean chatzky, thank you very much. 48 after the hour. still ahead, were there other factors besides bullying at play in the tragic suicide of phoebe prince? we're going to have the latest on that story. it's pain relief without the pills. no pills, no pain. how can you get pain relief without taking pills around the clock? try thermacare heatwraps, for all day relief without pills. i was surprised, thermacare worked all day. you feel the heat. and it relaxes and unlocks the muscle. you've got to try it. 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[trumpet playing "reveille" fades to silence] good morning. i'm kimberly suitor. the time is 7:56 on wednesday, july 21, 2010. starting today, getting caught by a red light camera in arlington is going to cost you. the grace period is over. you'll face a $50 fine. the camera are watching over ft. meyer drive and lehighway, north gleeb road and fairfax road and north washington boulevard and lehighway. a murder investigation is under way after a well-known art dealer from montgomery county was found dead in the district. police found the body of the 45-year-old in an alley in northwest washington on monday. a man who police say knew him has been take noon custody. he's being questioned, but he has not yet been charged. weather and traffic are up next. stay with good morning. partly sunny, in the 70s. blue and green, scattered light showers, shenandoah, valley, highlands of west virginia and the eastern shore. those will be passing off to the northeast later this morning. and then this afternoon some strong storms are possible. highs low 90s. >> a live look along i-270, a parking lot from germantown down to the split. earlier accident cleared out. traffic light at point with the lanes. 395 no picnic. delays before the capital beltway. landmark and shirlington. in addition no the new lane configuration there was an accident on the 14th street bridge, which is out of the roadway. >> get the morning's news, weather and traffic as soon as you wake up. join us every weekday morning at we're back now 8:00 on a wednesday morning, the 21st day of july, 2010. that was al roker saying hi to some of his friends out on the plaza on what looks to be a beautiful day here in new york city. if these people come back on friday they'll be treated to a concert by one of the great singers/songwriters of this day. that is john mayer. he will be live in our 8:30 hour this friday morning. should be a great show. out on the plaza, i'm matt lauer along with meredith vieira and al roker. and coming up, you have some new information that n that tragic story we covered for quite a while, the suicide, the bullying death of phoebe prince. >> the 15-year-old who committed suicide in january. six of her classmates have been charged in connection with the case, but did the teens' problems extend far beyond high school and the bullying incidents? coming up an exclusive look at newly attained court documents that are very revealing. >> also ahead, i hope we all agree, a much more positive story a. young man who is only one of ten people in this country to receive a new kind of bionic hand. he is going to be here to show us how it has changed his life and it's changed it dramatically. there's michael right there. >> that is quite something. >> something he couldn't do a short time ago. >> amazing. and a little bit later on more fallout from the surprise announcement of the engagement of bristol palin to levi johnston. now it looks like for some reason, and we'll find out why, that marriage may be put off for a little bit. >> before we go any further, let's get a check of the top stories of the morning. ann is at the news desk with all the headlines. ann, good morning. thanks a lot, matt, and all of you this morning. today on this broadcast a government official at the center of the new storm of controversy after being accused of racism said that she's not certain she wants her job back. shirley sherrod said she was pressured to quit after a speech describing her reluctance to help a white farmer. it was the video was used to vilify her on fox television, she lost her job. then a video of the full speech backing sherrod's story that she was actually explaining how she overcame her own prejudices. it also turns out the incident happened 24 years ago and that she helped the farmer who today says she helped him save his farm. the white house has encouraged the agriculture secretary to review the case. severe turbulence at a united airlines jet last night injured at least 25 people, one of them critically. the cross-country flight from los angeles to los angeles was diverted to denver. witnesses said that passengers and crew members were thrown so violently around the cabin, some hit their heads on the ceiling. a 12-year-old girl was swept away by floodwaters near flagstaff, arizona, tuesday, and drowned. county emergency officials warn 900 people to seek higher ground as heavy rain fell on an area ravaged by wildfires last month. secretary of state hillary clinton announced new sanctions today to curb north korea's nuclear program and its aggressive behavior to south korea. secretary clinton and defense secretary gates toured the demilitarized zone in a strong show of support for the south. meantime, china expressed deep concern today about joint u.s./south korean military exercises which are scheduled for next week. overseas markets are mostly higher today. cnbc's erin burnett is at the new york stock exchange keeping a close eye on fed chairman ben bernanke today. erin, good morning. >> reporter: ben bernanke is the person to watch. everyone on wall street wants to hear what he's going to say. in his testimony to congress this afternoon, how will he answer the question about how big the risk is that america is going to fall back into recession? does he think the fed needs to do something else to try to help the economy and perhaps, most important, does he think this economy is going to start adding jobs on a massive scale? those are big questions everyone will be waiting to hear the answers to that. another bright spot, ann, maybe he'll think about this. apple says the economy is doing just fine, thank you very much. ipad sales through the roof, and apple knocking it out of the park on earnings. at least people want those gadgets. back to you. >> erin burnett, thank you so much. now brian williams. brian? hey, ann, good morning and thanks. as you may know the blue fin tuna is in big trouble. they were already threatened by overfishing. now along comes the gulf oil spill. they could disappear entirely. we'll have a progress report on "nightly news." back to you. good morning. partly sunny around our region at this hour. we have temperatures in the 70s. radar showing a few showers where you see the blue and green getting light rain, parts of shenandoah, drifting off to the east. eastern shore, one shower about to cross into delaware. and we have temperatures in the mid and upper 70s. 79 in washington. highs in the low 90s and partly sunny. 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. we could get thunderstorms as a slight risk and isolated storm could produce damaging win. tomorrow, mostly sunny and less humid and that's your latest weath weather. matt? still to come, did more than just bullying factor into the tragic death of 15-year-old phoebe prince? exclusive new details in the case. wow! chevy traverse. a consumers digest best buy, with a 100,000 mile, powertrain warranty. it seats eight comfortably - not that it always has to. 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about cruelty and the dangers of bullying. phoebe prince, 15 years old, beautiful and smart, committed suicide after months of relentless torment by her high school classmates. >> a car with a couple of kids in it, throws a drink calling her an irish slut, an irish whore, why don't you kill yourself, and she did. >> reporter: the so-called mean girls, four girls who reportedly saw phoebe as a romantic rival along with two popular boys she dated. in the days leading up to phoebe's death prosecutors say the mean girls bullied her so often phoebe hanged herself at home to escape the torture. >> from information known to investigators thus far it appears phoebe's death on january 14th followed a torturous day for her in which she was subjected to verbal harassment and threatened physical abuse. >> reporter: all six accused bullies have been criminally charged with felonies and could face years in prison. but court documents recently obtained by emily vaselton of "slate" tell a different story, one that suggests the teen's troubles extended beyond the halls of south hadley high. >> the most surprisingly involved her mental health history because that really hadn't been disclosed. >> reporter: the documents revealed that in november of last year phoebe attempted suicide swallowing an antidepressant drug and going into organ failure. also detailed in the documents, phoebe had taken prozac and had a history of cutting herself. an interview with a classmate shows the extent of phoebe's self-mutilation describing how she, quote, lifted up her hoodie and showed cuts on her chest above her bra and all the way down to her hips. >> it changes how we might think about what happened to her in south hadley as a result of the bullying and how much the kids who bullied her couldn't really be held responsible for her sue sued. >> reporter: there's no question the bullying was taking its toll on phoebe a. text message sent on the day of her death threatening suicide. quote, i can't do it anymore. i'm literally home crying. what more do they want from me? do i have to -- od? also a note asking for forgiveness. the six teenagers who have been indicted are faces charges from statutory rape and will get under way this september. >> amy robach, thank you very much. amy, who you just saw in that piece is with us exclusively, the senior editor for "slate." emily, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> in the media the cause of phoebe's suicide has been linked basically to a back of jealous predatory kids who acted en masse because phoebe was new to the school and very popular with boys. the d.a. described it as a nearly three-month campaign of relentless and torturous bullying. after reviewing the grand jury report, you found something quite different, didn't you. >> right. i was looking at police interviews and i've also done a lot of interviews with students and, you know, there were a couple of conflicts that phoebe had with different kids. she got involved with a boy named shawn and that made his girlfriend upset. and another boy, austin, and that made his girlfriend upset. this was sort of normal girl drama until really right before she died, the last day of her death when the bullying really became serious. >> so none of the kids you talked to or school administrators thought she was unfairly targeted by kids? they thought there was a reason for it? >> well, that she was involved in these conflicts, that it's more complicated than predatory pack of kids descending on her and that there are different levels of culpability of the kids. there were really only three kids involved in bullying her on the day that she died. the other three kids no one says were anywhere near her the week before her death. >> and yet they have all within charged. >> and facing serious felony charges. >> from your research you do not believe the facts justify that criminal retribution? >> it's hard to see how that is the right solution in the case which isn't to say terrible blame department happen here or that this death isn't tragic. just the notion of criminally charging six teenagers in a way that blames them for the death of the girl who had this much more history. >> in pushing for those charges, one of the reasons he did so was because the school had dropped the ball in terms of dealing with bullying. did the school do enough? i mean, they knew phoebe had a past history of some serious problems. her mom alerted the school to that. they knew she had tried to commit suicide right after thanksgiving. >> right. so there was a counselor on nurse in regular contact with phoebe and her mother, between her suicide attempt in november and her death, and the question is whether the school should have been doing more than that, whether there should have been a broader effort. i don't feel i know the answer to that. it's a really hard question. certainly i think that after phoebe's death, the school bungled the public relations aspect of this case. they were bound by confidentiality laws not to explain -- not to say what discipline they were imposing but they didn't do a very good job of making that message come across clearly and the community really parts of it lost confidence. >> do you think part of this was just an impulse on people to place the blame somewhere? >> yes. i think this is a really sad, awful thing, and i think we do have this strong impulse to want to point fingers and have a clear explanation, a very clear black and white narrative for what happened in this case. and it's just more complicated than that. >> and right now they are heading into pretrial situation in the fall, are people in town, is it more about phoebe or is it about these kids and maybe some injusti injustice? >> i think it's more about phoebe and one reason for that is when you have criminal arges in a case like this you really shut down honest conversation. lawyers get involved. it becomes very difficult to apologize, hard for people to take any responsibility. so the town, i think, really has not had an honest conversation about these charges, you know, what these particular kids did versus some sort of broader failure of the adults in the community or a broader problem nationally. >> maybe they will take the time to address it. >> thanks for having me. up next, the you man whose life has been changed by a new bionic hand. ♪ oh, love me ♪ oh oh oh ♪ just love me ♪ oh oh oh ♪ just hold me ♪ oh oh oh ♪ just kiss me ♪ oh oh oh ♪ just want me ♪ l-o-v-e ♪ love, love, love, love ♪ ♪ ♪ l-o-v-e ♪ love, love, love, love ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] feel the refreshing burst of flavor in the new real fruit smoothies from mccafé. strawberries and bananas blended to perfection with creamy yogurt. a small for just $2.29! the simple joy of real fruit smoothies. ♪ when pain keeps you up, nothing is proven to help you fall asleep faster than advil pm liqui-gels. rushing real liquid relief to ease you to sleep fast. for nighttime pain, make 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[ female announcer ] lactaid®. the original lactose-free milk. >> announcer: today's health is brought to you by nicorette. quitting sucks. nicorette makes it suck less. we're back with 8:20 on "today's health." a new technology that's opened doors for a special young man. we'll talk to him in a moment. but first, nbc's chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman has his amazing story. good morning. >> it's an amazing story for a very amazing young man. michael waldrin, one of ten people to get a new type of bionic hand, a great advancement in the field of pros thetics. >> when i was younger, making friends was tough just because some kids would see the hand before they would see my personality. that was the hardest part of growing up having to always kind of try to teach people to look past that. >> today is the day 18-year-old michael never thought he would see. he was born with a congenital malformation that robbed him of four fingers on one hand. >> he doesn't deserve that. he's such a good you always want your kid to be popular or normal or whatever. it's hard when he comes home and says, you know, somebody called him stubby or piggly wiggly and there's nothing you can do. that's the hardest part. he has to learn to deal with that on his own. >> and that's exactly what he's done. from playing in the orchestra to starting for his high school lacrosse team, michael has taken his birth defect and learned how to adapt. >> i use a lot of rubber bands, duct tape, i think a coat hanger. if somebody tells me i can't do something, it just makes me work twice as hard to figure out how to do it. >> today low tech meets high tech. he's getting a bionic hand and for the first time it will help with a partial hand amputation and allow each finger to move independently. >> this is the first device externally powered, it has power from a battery. if we give an input signal to one of the electrodes, that information is being sent down into the processor and then to the fingers. >> little things that many of us take for granted michael is learning to do for the first time. >> wow. >> and two weeks after getting his hand, another milestone. michael graduated from high school. >> graduation is huge. you know, the exchanges, the new lives. and grasping the new life with the new prosthetic, how amazing is that? that's the whole package right there. >> michael is here with his mom, fran. good morning to both of you. hey, michael, how are you doing? >> i'm good, how are you. >> i'm great. how long have you had this? >> a little over a month. >> how does it feel? >> it takes a lot of getting used to. i picked it up. >> the learning curve is pretty quick? >> definitely. >> you had become expert at learning to do things with one hand or adapt to the hand you had, your right hand, and now you're learning to do things as a two-handed person. >> yes. i'm pretty much working backwards. it definitely is different from the norm. >> this isn't a quiz but let's talk about how you use it, how adept you are and how small an object you can actually pick up with it. can you show me some things? >> well, one of the things according to the programming is if i hold an open signal i can actually go into a pinch to where i can pick up smaller things like this block. if i can get hold of it. >> and the way you're doing that, you can show me with this arm here by flexing these muscles in here. >> when i say the open signal it's pretty much just as if you were opening your fingers how this muscle here would open then that electric pulse is picked up by a sensor right here and then if i go to close there's another sensor on this side. >> interesting. you were born right-handed, right? >> yes. >> you were born with trying to use the hand that was least able to help you. >> yes. >> and now i understand you're going back to trying some things right-handed. >> yes. when you're born with a condition like this you have to go through therapy and that's how they realized i was supposed to be right-handed so i had to work around that and learn how to write and do everything with my left happened. >> can you pick up the box of tissues because your mom is a cryer. >> this is very emotional. this is what i dreamt of the last 18 years, you know, for finally there was something out there that could help him, make life a little bit easier. >> you really decided that he would have to face these challenges in many ways on his own. you didn't sit there and go out and fight his battles and teach him how to do things or do things for him. you felt it was important for him to figure things out. >> absolutely. i've always given him the opportunity to try anything and everything he's wanted to do. and he figured it out on his own. >> and apparently michael, from what i read about your mom and what she said in the piece, you're someone who has always maintained a pretty incredible attitude through all of this. we have every confidence, nancy, this is going to be a life changer for him. >> absolutely. smart. >> a good candidate for this. >> fabulous candidate and young and that helps with the adaptation. >> michael, congrats. it's a pleasure. fran, more tissues. it's 780 degrees outside. heat and humidity and with us for a while. good morning, everyone. it's 8:26 on this wednesday, july 21, 2010. i'm kimberly suitors. in the news4 today, police say they have a suspect in two double murders which terrified l ra go early last year. police aren't revealing the suspect's name, but they say he's in custody on unrelated federal gun charges. he's a 27-year-old graduate of the university of maryland and worked for a delivery service and had access to customer databases. that's how police think he chose his victim. the man could be indicted by the end of the month. weather and traffic are next good morning. a few sprinkles far southwest of washington. likely scattered storm is this afternoon, early evening, some could produce damaging winds. >> a live look along interstate 66. travel lanes are open. 270, different story. it is scrammed from germantown all the way down. earlier accident 270 after montross road is gone, but delays are with us, unfortunately. >> get the morning's news, weather and traffic the moment you wake up. join us every weekday morning for news4 today beginning at 8:30 now on this wednesday morning, july 21st, 2010. where does the time go? summer feels like it is flying by. it's a beautiful morning out here on the plaza. and just ahead in this hour, we'll get some design advice from nate berkus telling us about color, how to infuse color into your home, even if you're like me and very frightened of the notion of color. i'm. >> white wall kind of gal. embrace the color. also ahead, do you set curfews for your kids? >> yes. >> yes, yes, yes? >> they don't always keep them. >> i'm not great. now that they're in college it's very hard. >> good luck with that. >> yeah. >> it can be a bone of contention for kids. it can be tough for parents. what age do they start? what should the punishment be if the child breaks the curfew? we'll talk about that in just a couple of minutes. >> i think we can all use advice on that. also, by the way, if you watched the "seinfeld" episodes you probably know who we're talking about in these pictures, the soup nazi. >> no soup for you. >> that's right. and the man who inspired that is back in business and look who was there for the first day, for the grand opening. meredith loves soup. >> i used to go there all the time back in the days i worked at cbs and i would be so scared, literally -- >> really? >> did he remember you? >> he wasn't there. no soup for me. they didn't yesterday while i was there but they used to. the soup is so good. >> but it's too hot for soup. somebody else who is very hot, selena gomez has a hot career and she has a new family film called "ramona and beezus." you were a big fan. >> i read them in third grade and then in fourth grade and now i get to do the movie. >> how does that feel? >> it's an hop honor. i was terrified. she didn't want anyone to turn these books into a movie. it's an honor to be a part of it. >> and proof of what a great actress, beezus is the straight "a" student. >> i didn't make that straight "a" in school but i did my best. >> she's a goody two shoes and since meredith says straight as, which one of us do you think was the biggest goody two shoes? >> do you mean like straight as? >> straight as, you know -- >> what are you talking about? it's did he haefinitely ann. >> you would be a straight "a" student. >> i didn't always get straight "a." >> the smiley faces. >> they weren't smiley faces, they were hearts. okay. enough of that. stop ridiculing me. let's talk about you. it sounds like a real labor of love. you had this connection when you were younger and you get to work with this really cute -- >> she is 10 and she will make you cry. she is beyond talented. i was blown away the entire time i was shooting with her. >> she gave you sisterly advice all the time. >> she gave me advice about everything. i was going through a break yum and i started dating someone else and she goes, sweetie, don't you think it's too soon? she's so smart. like she's way smart. >> is it true you will be leaving "the wizards of waverly place"? >> we don't see a future just yet with it but we'll see. good morning. it is mostly cloudy on on this wednesday morning, still humid. showers passing south of washington out of the shenandoah valley into t culpepper county. showers in south central delaware moving east, as well. temperatures around the region, in the 70s. it's 79 in washington. highs in the low 90s, partly to mostly cloudy at times. there's a chance for passing storms, 3:00 to 8:00 p.m., slight risk an isolated storm could produce wind damage. ro that's your latest weather. you can get your weather any time of the day or night weather channel on cable or online. matt? oh, uncle willie. that's right. i saw matt walking away, i'm thinking -- take a look if you will at the strawberry jam jar. 111 years old, bernice madigan. worked for the government for years during world war i. honored at a museum. and we have adrian allen. adrian is a handsome devil from wilmington, north carolina, 100 years old. attributes his longevity to staying active outdoors. enjoys playing bingo. mary millen of powersville, missouri. she's 100 years old today and a retired teacher who taught on an air force base in spain and an avid reader to boot. gussie levine of monsey, new york, writes children's books and all the proceeds to st. jude's children's hospital. fantastic. and altus davidson of stroud, oklahoma, 100 years old. claims his longevity is accepting the good lord when he was just a kid growing up. eleanor anderson of orlando, florida, is 100 years old. stays active. loves doing different crafts. rosalind weil, san diego, california. 100. hosts bridge parties for her neighbors on a weekly basis on the weekends and loves being outdoors and watching birds. you can't beat the combination. that's it. play some more bridge. now back to little new york. all right, willard. thank you very much. when we come back, how a splash of color can freshen up any room. this morning on "today's home" color, changing the look does not need to be a major home renovation. some paint and creative thinking can go a long way. nate berkus is an interior design expert and host of "the nate berkus show." it's great to have you. i was just saying to you in the break, i'm one of those people very scared of color. i go into a store and there are so many options. >> it's paralysis. you're in the paint aisle and no one know what is to do. >> you say not to be afraid. >> what i say it this. everyone thinks when you want to incorporate color into your home you have to paint the entire room or you have to commit to buying a sofa in red. that's not the case. the best way of doing it is through pops of color, through paints that are inexpensive, quick, and some creative things people don't think of. >> speaking of creative, let's start with this. this is a book case. it's all white except for the inside right there. >> favorite decorator inside trick, meredith, of all time. you can use this in kitchen cabinets or a book case you buy from a big box retailer, paint the back. bookshelves are mott just for books. they're for our picture frames, our mementoes, things like that. when you add a great splash of color like this turquoise, that makes everything more important. >> it makes everything pop. >> absolutely. so what's cool about that this is something you can literally do in a few hours. you take everything out, take the shelves out, paint the back, and you've just brought color into your room without a big commitment. >> a picture of a floor you painted orange, of all things. talk about not being afraid of color. >> well, i'm allowed to be bold, i guess. i have permission. >> so if you buy a house, the floors are crummy or there's a rug on top and you remove it and the floors are bad, you don't automatically have to replace the floor. >> people spend a lot of money refinishing floors and sanding and sealing and they think it's a weekend project and it turns into a ten-year project and then there's marital issues. so the truth of the matter is that if you've got hardwood floors and they have a bad finish on them or they're in bad condition, one of the things that i've done in my interior is i'll grab a gallon of paint. you have to ask the expert in the paint department what the best is. you can pick any color. i've chosen a great green here. i painted my floors white because they were in bad condition and it changes the whole feel of the space. >> any color will work? >> any color. you just have to make sure it's sealed probably. that way it won't chip or fade. >> let's move on to accent pieces. this is where i incorporate color into my home. >> a lot of people think that. people think immediately, pillows or a throw and that will be my color or fresh flowers, which is great. but another way of doing it, and these pieces are a great deal. these are both from ikea. the chair was unpainted and it was unfinished wood and it was 20 bucks. >> which is great. >> isn't that great? i paint it had bright yellow and this is like a pop of color. you can repaint it some day if you don't like it anymore. again, it's not a big commitment. it's a much cooler way. >> and we have a picture of a room that's classic until you put that yellow chair in there. >> the yellow chair, the pops of color are the things that take that to another level and everyone can do that. everyone can absolutely make that decision on their own. >> okay. and any kind of paint in particular that's best for these? >> you know what -- >> semigloss? >> i like it on furniture because it has a sheen and looks better. again, this table, ikea table, under 100 bucks. it comes in red. >> you don't have to paint it. >> no work but a great way to bring in color. >> and finally head boards. a picture of one from one of the magazines that is yellow actually. you can take a simple room and with a head board change everything. >> that's all black and white and gray, that room, and with that bright pop of yellow, that's what makes it an interior that looks like it's, you know, been professionally done. and so that's the way to incorporate color that makes it look like you've hired a professional. >> and not just color but fabric, too. this is a blue velvet. you experimented with the fabric. >> i'm a velvet fan. call me elvis. the thing about velvet, it's a great fabric because it's a very deep fabric so this beautiful blue looks great in a room of all neutrals and velvet retains the color. it looks rich. >> for somebody just starting out to incorporate colors into their rooms, the number one piece of advice, do you start small with something simple? >> absolutely. look at your wardrobe, your favorite dress. a favorite sweater. take the color from that. paint the back of your book case. buy an accent table or, you know, a chair like that and see how you like living with it. >> sometimes i bring flowers in and see whether that color works. is that good? >> that's a great way. i love fresh flowers. i think it's a nice thing we do to honor ourselves even if it's from the grocery store for a couple of dollars next to the sink in the morning makes you smile. >> you make me smile. good advice. now i'm not so scared. by the way, the show premieres september 13th. up next, how to set curfew for your kids without starting world war ii. back now at 8:47. this morning on "today's family" setting curfews for your kids. believe it or not, it can be done in a way that will minimize the fussing and the fighting. david swanson is a clinical psychologist, father of three and author of "help -- my kid is driving me crazy: the 17 ways kids manipulate their parents and what you can do about it." hey, david, nice to see you. you say when setting a curfew for your kids or deciding on a curfew for your kids, three things should come into play, safety, better interest, and situational happiness. >> these are three inate parental desires. as parents we want our kids to be safe. we want to look out for their better interests and future and see them be happy. when we try to set a curfew, we see they're not happy so this creates a conflict. as a parent you should always put safety first. >> you'll hear some parents, the more lenient parents say, wait a second, i'm not going to set a curfew for my kids until they prove they need one. in other words, until they screw up. is that a good approach? >> no. it's a horrible approach. >> why? >> curfews keep kids safe so we want them back at a reasonable hour, but it says more than that. i'm working with a 17-year-old right now and his parents were divorced some years back. at this point he wants nothing to do with his mother. i asked him, what happened? what went wrong? he said, i never felt she cared about me. the example he uses over and over and over again is the idea that she didn't care when he came home. >> parents who say i don't have a curfew because i trust you and know you're a responsible individual is doing a disservice to the child? >> i wouldn't say she is doing a disservice but is expose that go child to an unnecessary safety risk. i mean, we both have kids and i'm going to ask you, what good comes about for any kid after 11:00 p.m.? >> mine are 9, 6 and 3. they're not out until 11:00. what's appropriate? >> i think 16 is really when the idea of a curfew becomes front and center. this is a typical driving age and so for a 16-year-old we're looking at 9:00 or 10:00 curfew. for a 17-year-old maybe 10:00 or 11:00. for an 18-year-old, midnight. >> how often have parents heard the lie where a child comes home and they say, you know, joey's mom lets him stay out until midnight. mike's mom lets him stay out until 1:00 in the morning. it doesn't necessarily mean that it's true but how does a parent deal with it? >> it's so funny because we all deal with that. the kids want to pose the example of others -- >> pit you against other parents. >> this is character comparison. always put safety first and happiness last and stick to your guns. you may even want to set up a meeting with other parents and set up a similar curfew so you don't have to struggle in the future. >> many people relax the curfews at this time. how do you get kids geared back up for school? >> start about two weeks out. get things back into the typical routine so this has to do with everything, not just curfew but the video games under control. if your kid had a bunch of schoolwork to get done, get that done because they will sleep in and get them up earlier. that's the trick. >> send your kids off to college, all of a sudden they have no curfew and then come back to your home for the summer. do you impose a curfew again? >> i think you do. you're hoping with that kurfy few, by the way, they've internalized it and it's a good message they get to bed on time and do well at their studies in school. >> you just created a problem in meredith's home. nice to see you. >> thank you. >> the book is "help, my kid is driving me crazy." the return of the so-called saup nazi and meredith just happened to be there. do you have a favorite "seinfeld" episode? >> of course. i think the one about the soup man. is that what we're going to talk about? >> they are real and they're spectacular. >> that was one line. what was the episode? >> that was the episode. that's it. >> when you double dip. the double dip episode, you're putting your whole month into the salsa. >> and mine was the bet. >> master of your domain. >> puffy shirt. >> for many fans, it was the soup nazi and now the man who infired ti inspired the episode is back in business. peter alexander has the details. excuse me, i think you forgot my bread. >> bread $2 extra. >> $2? everyone in front of me got free bread. >> you want bread? >> yes, please. >> $3. >> what? >> no soup for you. >> reporter: for the last six years there's been no soup for anyone, not since the inspiration behind that unforgettable "seinfeld" closed up shop at his iconic store. >> gazpacho, please. spanish. >> adios. >> reporter: but now the original soup man who has long blind the soup nazi nickname is an insult is back. they had a deejay, dancers, fine, one dancer. >> soup's on, right? >> reporter: a yankee slugger and a television legend. not that one. >> do you have your money ready? >> i have my money ready. >> reporter: of course nothing says cool and refreshing on a sweltering new york summer day like a hot, steaming bowl of turkey chili. >> bread? beautiful. >> you're pushing your luck, little man. >> reporter: and apparently we were pushing our luck to think that the man behind the soup would show up to his own reopening. he departmeidn't. >> chickenvegetables. >> reporter: no vegetables? no soup for you. lining up from norway, egypt, even as far away as new jersey. >> no soup for you [ bleep ]. >> reporter: but, fortunately in the end -- hi there. no bread. there was soup for all of us. how is it? >> delicious. >> reporter: i hear you. >> we all found a favorite. >> turkey chili is fantastic. really good. >> what's it called? >> very good. >> they're all good. >> golden raisins. >> in a bad mood, i don't know. shouldn't be after that. >> the cups are smaller. the shrinkage. only on "today" -- the incredible lady gaga. then enrique turned up the heat. this friday john mayer. 8::55 is your time. 28 degrees. no relief in sight. tom will have the forecast after the news. good morning, i'm eun yang. more than two dozen people are hurt after a flight from washington to los angeles ran into severe turbulence. the united airlines flight had to be diverted to denver, where about 30 people went to several hospitals. most injuries are minor, but an faa spokesperson says one person does have critical injuries. majority of the passengers continued on to l.a. and landed early this morning. we'll take a break. we'll have your forecast and a look at traf ♪ [ male announcer ] progress. progress for new york city cab drivers, like ossman ali is being able to carry people, who aren't carrying cash. meaning more convenience for passengers, and more business for cab drivers. all thanks to the ease and freedom of visa digital currency. now that's progress. visa. currency of progress. midmorning the sky mostly cloudy and we have on radar a few showers showing up where you see the greens and blues. it's some light rain now that's drifting into southe fau keer county. highs around 9 pop we're near 80. and there is a chance for strong storms, 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. how's the traffic now, jerry? >> tough morning. 270 southbound slows before germantown all the way on down. let's head over, dry pavement but tough 395 northbound through landmark and across the 14th street bridge. >> thank you. get the morning's news, whether and traffic as soon as you wake up. join us every weekday at news4 today beep begin at 4:30 in the morning. see you then. we're back now with more on "today" on a wednesday morning, the 21st day of july, 2010. a little threat of rain later. right now we have bright blue skies, kind of warm and sticky. >> this is why we're having thunderstorms. >> later today. most people don't seem to mind, sticking around. thank you, folks. nice to see you. i'm matt lauer along with al roker and tamron hall filling in while natalie is on assignment. and coming up, we're going to have more on sarah palin's reaction to the news that her daughter, bristol and levi johnston have gotten engaged. >> talk about family drama. there's new video of bristol saying her mom disapproves of her plans to marry levi johnston, the father of her son. levi's family apparently not happy about the marriage as well, or the possible marriage. the question is, will they call it off? will they put it on hold and will sarah palin attend? we have the latest from bristol's new interview. >> you said this is like a modern day romeo and juliet. >> reading the interview, it is. >> let's hope it ends differently. >> yes, yes. >> all right. >> okay. maybe a midsummer night's dream. in any event, tonight's "money 911" team is here to answer your questions about hard financial choices a lot of folks have to make. >> a lot to get to. let's go inside. ann is standing by at the news desk. she has a check of all the headlines. >> matt, thank you so much. good morning, everybody, at least 25 people were hurt last night, one critically, by severe turbulence over kansas on a united airlines flight from washington to los angeles. the plane was diverted and landed in denver. are a federal official forced to re-sign said on this broadcast today said she was worried how she would be treated if she got her job back. shirley sherrod said she was pressured to quit on tuesday after a conservative website posted part of a speech she gave in march describing how she was reluctant to help a white farmer in the 1980s. once a video of the full speech surfaced, it was clear that sherrod was explaining how she overcame her own racial prejudiced and helped the farmer. the white house has urged the agriculture secretary to review the case. today president obama signs that new financial overhaul bill that's aimed at preventing another market meltdown. he says the bill includes the strongest consumer financial protections in history. the u.s. announced new u.s. sanctions against north korea today. announcing the sanctions in south korea, secretary of state hillary clinton says they're aimed at halting activities that helped fund north korea's nuclear weapons program. retired coast guard admiral thad allen says the cap in the gulf is still holding. he describes it as very small drips and says the seepage is from another well. there are hopes the well can be permanently sealed good morning. it is partly to mostly cloudy around our region here at midmorning on this wednesday. radar showing areas of blue and green, those are light shane shows drifting west to east, passing south of the washington metro area. highs reaching low 9s, partly to mostly cloudy. a slight chance of isolated strong storms later this afternoon between 3:00 and 8:00 p. p.m. isolated storm could produce damaging winds. tomorrow, sunny, hot, less and that's your latest weather. tamron? >> all right, al, thank you. bristol palin may not rush to the altar after all. she is now describing for the first time her mother's reaction to the news. nbc's norah o'donnell has more. norah, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, tamron. sarah palin is not happy about her teenaged daughter's engagement and bristol palin is now saying that after planning to get married within weeks, she may prolong the engagement in hopes of winning her mother's approval. >> i think that levi's actions will speak louder than words. >> reporter: just last week bristol palin was planning her dream wedding. but now she admits my mom doesn't approve. >> and i think that him stepping up and getting his education, ged and what not, getting a job and supporting us emotionally and financially and what not, then i think she'll accept it. >> reporter: in fact, sarah palin won't even say if she'll attend the wedding. bristol palin tells "us weekly" she is going to wait and see if he changes. >> i would love to have my parents at my wedding. i would love to have my dad walk me down the aisle. i hope we can come together as a family. >> reporter: sarah palin has made no secret of her disgust by levi johnston. sarah and todd palin met with levi johnston last month to put an end to all the bad blood. >> i said i was sorry to sarah and todd. >> reporter: but at this point there are no plans to meet again as a family. bristol palin says, my mom is out of town all the time and it's hard to talk on the phone because we don't have cell service in most of the state. and there is no set date for a wedding. bristol admits every family member of mine has concerns about her marriage to levi and, quote, that is scaring me. >> she still is excited. she can't help but be affected by everybody else's concern. >> reporter: the young couple admit they are seeking marriage counseling and have ruled out a reality tv show. >> bristol and levi are insist enter that they're not doing a reality show. bristol says she does not want cameras in her life 24 hours a day. >> reporter: now bristol and levi's engagement has not gone over well with family or frie s friends. in fact, levi's mom apparently cried upon learning of their upcoming nuptials and levi is also estranged from his sister who writes a blog that bristol claims is controlled by anti-palin operatives. so bristol says levi's sister won't get invited either. tamron? >> norah, thank you. the executive editor of "us weekly" magazine, carolyn, she's a new mom trying to adjust to that is difficult enough, but i said earlier it's like a romeo and juliet when i was reading this article. she is so torn. you can read it. >> it is like romeo and juliet. last week she talked about how she was so excited to be engaged and now her tone is changed. she is much more tentative. she realizes her family and friends are not really onboard. >> is she regretting her decision, "a," to come out so publicly? "b," to being secretly engaged to levi? >> i think it is giving her pause. she wants to wait and get marriage counseling, to be sure this is right for her and for her son. >> i know she was asked to give examples how levi was changing and she said, well, he's studying to get his ged. >> absolutely. she said he is starting to study for his ged. hopefully he'll pass. >> she didn't sound confident. then again reading the interview. >> i don't think she has reason to be confident yet. it's been all talk and not necessarily action. she's waiting for him to step up to the plate. >> she revealed her mom did not learn live on tv. she had a conversation with her before the news broke. >> she had cold feet and had a heart to heart, said we're engaged. we're going to get married. >> is she struggling with this family? there was a quote her brother report reportedly called her a swear word, her father is angry. is she buckling to this pressure, this family frepressu? >> i'm not sure she's necessarily buckling but she is taking it into account saying it's hard to have all these people react to this way and it's given her pause. she says maybe i'm going to take a little bit of time, see how it goes and i hope this works out. >> what does he say? >> levi? >> levi. >> he says i love bristol. i'm going to be there for my son. i'm going to make this work and all i can do is show. it's going to take time. >> you ask her in the interviews, is there any chance this is a publicity stunt or was this some kind of thing to help her mother's career and she shot that down. >> she said how could it be a celebrity stunt for my mom? she doesn't approve of this. she doesn't want a reality show. she doesn't want to be followed by cameras. she wants to get married and be happy with her family. >> she is like, that's not for me. >> she said that's absolutely not for me. i don't want cameras following me around. i want a life with my 18-month-old son and my husband-to-be. a normal life in alaska. >> what is she doing to smooth things over with her mother? >> she said it's hard because her mom travels a lot, there's not good cell service, so she is doing the best she can and is hoping levi will step up to the plate. we're going to get marriage counseling and take it day by day. >> and just again, do you think they're get married anytime soon? >> definitely not soon. i think it's going to be a couple of months. originally it was a couple of weeks. now she is much more tentative. i think a few months if at all. >> she says they are not living together, they are abstaining, a promise they made to the relationship and themselves. >> bristol was clear about that. they're going to abstain until marriage this time and they're not living together. he is living in wasilla and she is in anchorage. >> that is a familiy drama unlie no other. carolyn schaefer, the new edition of "us weekly" hits newsstands on friday. up next, advice if you can no longer afford your home and the best way to build your credit. and later, cool vacations to get relief from the summer heat. great. yea, mom you're the best. i thought you would like it. so, how are your classes, are you enjoying them? (announcer) it's more than just that great peanut taste, choosing jif is a simple way to show someone how much you care. we can't wait to get you home. i love you mom. i love you too. we'll see you soon. choosey moms, chooseif. air wick i-motion. the only continuous air freshener that detects movement, releasing a burst of fresh scent inspired by nature. so day, after day, your home always feels welcoming. and try scented oils with i-motion to create a relaxing atmosphere in your home. try the full i-motion range. air wick. release the freshness of nature. [ girls ] good. ♪ ♪ thank you! ♪ phew! [ ernie ] we make our cookies the way only keebler elves can: with a little something extra. so every bite can be uncommonly good. with a little something extra. have you tried honey bunches of oats with real strawberries? wow. it's seriously strawberry. they're everywhere. it's in the bunches, on the flakes, even real strawberries in the mix. can i have some more? honey bunches of oats with real strawberries. it's delicious. nobody does it quite like us. ♪ somebody call 911 welcome back to "today's money 911" where we try to help you in financial emergencies. our crack team of experts jean chatzky, the author of "money 911," david bach, "finish rich" and carmen wong ulrich. we're going to go to holly from plainfield, illinois. good morning, holly. >> caller: hello. >> and what's your question? >> caller: my husband may be losing his job after 22 years with his company. i was wondering what happens to his pension? he is fully vested. do we get to cash it out? if we can, what are the financial downfalls of this? i know we would need the money to help support our family even though this may not be the best option. >> jean, they're in a tough spot. >> you are absolutely in a tough spot, holly. here is what i want you to do. talk to the benefits administrator at that company about the options. the way pensions typically work they roll out over time. so what you don't want to do is lose all of the tax advantages for cashing all of that money out in advance of your retirement date. the benefits administrator at that company will know what the specific options are for that particular pension plan. and i know you know this already, but you want to do anything possible to earn a little bit of extra money so that you can maintain that tax protection as long as you possibly can. >> all right. good luck, holly. and now we have a video question from maggie from lafayette, louisiana. >> i am 25 years old and currently do not and have never had a credit card. should i get a credit card to build my credit? i pay my student loans and my bills monthly. a new credit card would hurt me in the end, what should i do? >> the good news is she doesn't have to have a credit card. she could buy a car, get a car loan, try to buy a home. they're going to want to see a credit record. so the truth is i would tell her, yes, get a credit card. here is the key. they aren't bad. it's how we use them. if you use it responsibly, pay it off every month. pay it on time, you'll quickly build a credit score and then the key is that first card you get, use it for a long time. the longer she uses, that helps improve the credit score. i would say go get that credit card and a lot of great websites, an example bankrate.com, lowermybills.com to look for credit cards. >> a lot of 25-year-olds can't get a credit card because they don't have that credit score. >> so it's a catch-22. >> get a secured card. this is a card you actually put cash money onto and use it responsibly and keep building cash money for about a year or so and then they'll extend you a credit line if you're being 25 and she's working, especially her current bank. >> you'd be surprised. you'd be surprised. >> let's go now to skype. we have jillian from scottsdale, arizona. am i pronouncing your name correctly? >> that's right. >> what's your question? >> well, i'm currently contributing the maximum into my roth i.r.a. and funding my 401(k) to my employer match and so i'm wondering is it worth also opening a traditional i.r.a. even though i don't qualify for the tax deduction or should i just invest in bonds for retirement? >> she is in a great spot there. >> i think you're ahead of me here. put as much money as you can into the roth. there are limits. a traditional i.r.a. makes sense if you're going to make too much money to qualify for the roth which i think you mentioned you are going to be making too much money so go to a traditional because this is still a tax deduction for what you put in and it grows tax free. that's the power of all i.r.a.s no matter what type you have is that they grow tax free even though you pay taxes on withdrawal but make sure that within all those i.r.a.s you allocate your assets, put your money where it's going to do some work for you and do a lot of research. >> here's the thing, people like jillian, we all admire them because they're saving like crazy. let's know what we're saving for. go to choosetosave.org and fill out the ballpark figure to see if you're on track, putting enough money away for retirement. it's easy. i recommended this on the show last week and i was hearing from people on facebook and twitter, oh, my god, it only took 15 now to christina in new jersey. good morning, christina. >> caller: good morning. >> and what's your question? >> caller: i have an fha mortgage and i've always paid my monthly payments. i currently do not make enough money to cover my mortgage anymore. i can't refinance since i'm current and i don't qualify for any modifications with my mortgage company. is my only option a short sale or foreclosure? >> jean? >> no. absolutely not. your lender is confused. ans you don't have to be which delinquent in order to qualify under the make a home affordable program. go back to that lender. explain you can show a hardship that you are having trouble paying your bills, even though you're not late and if you have trouble go to hud.gov, get a counselor to make the phone call with you. >> we have viewer e-mail now from leanne in missoula. she writes, i am a single parent with an adult son entering graduate school. he has some scholarship money but plans on taking out subsidized and unsubsidized own a house with a reasonable amount of equity. is there a cheaper way to get money to help him? what are her options? >> i commend her for wanting to help her son not come out of school with a lot of debt. have your son go get those loans first. especially the government loans. because what she's really deciding is where she is going to borrow money from to pay for college. i don't want you to borrow money out of your home to pay for your son's college. a lot of parents do that. the kid gets through college and you still have to pay back that home equity. my recommendation is get the college loans that he can get. mom should focus on her so, i know this is for graduate school so what i think for parents it's one thing to help pay for the kids for undergrad but when it comes to grad school -- >> you're on your own. the gravy train is over. missoula, montana, i wanted to correct that. stretching your dollar to stretch your wardrobe. some of the best accessories for under 50 bucks. later before you buy the hot dogs and peanuts, the fat and calories at the ballpark. uh, what? sir, it's a simple question, do you want heartburn pain now or later? 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[ female announcer ] lactaid®. the original lactose-free milk. 9:26 is your time now. 82 degrees. a very steamy day in the nation's capital. will we get any relief? tom will have the forecast after the news. good morning, i'm eun yang. starting today, caught by a red light camera in arlington is going to cost you. the grace peer is over, now you'll face a $50 fine. the cam ares are watching over ft. meyer drive, lehighway, north lindh street, lehighway. fairfax drive and north washington boulevard and good morning, everyone. break traffic news. accident occurred moments ago, live pictures. this is interstate 66 inbound just after route 123 fairfax county fire and rescue crews on the scene. overturns vehicle in the middle of the roadway. folks in fair lakes, fair oaks and vienna, heads up, jamming up quickly. >> showers on radar at this hour. we see blue and green. it's passing south of washington, moving to southern maryland out of central virginia. we may get storms later today, some could produce damaging winds, highs low 90s. lower humidity, but hot. low 90s. humidity returns friday and saturday, highs 90s. small chance of afternoon storm? get the morning's news, whether and traffic as soon as you wake up. gin us ♪ ♪ we keep on waiting for the world to change ♪ that's grammy winner john mayer's hit back in 2007, "waiting for the world to change." a fan favorite and the young man from connecticut will be making a trip into the big apple for a live concert this friday morning right here on the plaza. right here on stage. coming up in this half hour, if you can't stand the heat, why not go on vacation? >> we'll tell you the great options for chilling out this summer from arctic cruises to ice caves to kid friendly water have some ideas for you. look at that. >> cool off just looking at the video. and we are midway through summer, so you probably don't want a spend a lot of cash on a new summer outfit. this morning how to add style and sparkle to your clothes with things you already have by accessorizing for 50 bucks or less. those things 50 bucks or less. >> all right. in "today's kitchen" the steamy secret to cooking the perfect fish whether you're grilling or baking. we're going to show you the easy way to make sure your fish doesn't dry out. >> that's a big problem. we need some tips. but first, what happens when a not so normal family meets the paranormal? say hello to the world renowned psychic intuitive long island mom and star of the all new sci-fi reality show "mary knows best." good to see you. >> thank you for having me. >> you already know what questions we're going to ask. >> so just start answering. what was your expectation coming to the "today" show, i wonder how that's going to go? >> well, i've been waiting to come on for like eight years. eight years. and put it out there to the universe surrendering, okay, what will be will be and here i am. >> the focus around you and your family. >> my family, right. mary knows best on sci-fi on thursdays. it's really reality, living in a family where your mother is a psychic. >> your kids still lie to you. chris is a skeptic. >> it's not chris. carl. >> you're like carmen soprano with psychist abilities. how does that work? i've never seen this. how does it affect your ability to be a parent? >> it doesn't. it doesn't affect me. it's not an odd job. it's not who i am. did you decide to put on brown eyes today? it's who i am. my children don't know me any other way. it's who i am. >> even when they're not in the room -- >> they don't have to be in the room. mom like you.e freaky to have so they can't -- they couldn't fudge things with you. >> i'm not infallible. no one knows 100% of everything but when something has to do with my family, if somebody can be hurtful or wonderful, i zone in. 90% of the time i'm right. >> i want me some of that. i have two kids. mary occhino, thank you morning clouds have held back the heating rays of sun a bit. temperatures around the region have resulted around 80. but it's very humid. radar showing showers, culpepper county, drifting off into southern fauquier. this is the second one that's come through here this morning. another light rain shower moving through charles county. that's drifting off to the east as well. temperatures are right around the upper 70s to near 80 now. highs around 90. we'll have a possibility of some late afternoon or early evening thunderstorms. what is the sound that a sheep make before it explodes? that's your latest weather. >> i learn so much here, it's unbelievable. thank you, al. up next, we'll show you some chill acts for a great vacation. i work for a different insurance company. my auto policy's just getting a little too expensive. with progressive, you get the "name your price" option, so we build a policy to fit your budget. wow! the price gun. ♪ ah! wish we had this. we'd just tell people what to pay. yeah, we're the only ones that do. i love your insurance! bill? tom? hey! it's an office party! the freedom to name your price. only from progressive. call or click today. it's tough to get enough servings of vegetables every day if you don't always like the taste of them. good thing v8 v-fusion juice gives you a serving of vegetables hidden by a serving of fruit. v8. what's your number? long summer days, and not enough sleep. what i wouldn't do for a do-over. 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[ female announcer ] new clinical skincare. pass a breadstick to your favorite uncle. ohhhh!!! ohhhh!!! we had a ball. announcer: try our new parmesan polenta crusted dishes. with chicken breasts. or steak medallions. both with our 4 cheese ravioli in creamy alfredo. at olive garden. ♪ come fly with me let's fly ♪ this morning on "today's travel" great places to chill. if the summer heat has you feeling fried, you may want to take a cool vacation. we have travel journalist valerie delia with travelwithval.com. you look like you want to get to a cool place with that dress. >> this has been some hot weather. i can going to take you out west. do you know how the lego company opened up a lego store here? out west they are very busy. they've opened up a water park for kids out there at their theme park and what they allow the kids to do is build their own raft. so you get an inner tube. you get soft lego bricks and you customize your own ride so it's fun for the whole familiy. water temperature 75 to 80 degrees. it matches the air temperature. >> and carlsbad, california -- >> that's in carlsbad, california, between san diego and anaheim. >> a place out in fitz burger. is it an arctic crew? . >> it's above oslo, norway, and it is an expedition cruise which is a real workout with the words. we made it all the way to the 80th parallel which is ten degrees below the north pole and we made it to moffin island. you have a champagne toast. you tell everyone about it. cheers. >> and how long does it take to get there from the u.s. >> it's a long trip. it was about six to seven days. >> but you have to take a couple of those days just traveling over there. that's a little expensive. >> that is. >> here is one that's not so expensive. >> it's a cruise that is just inaugurated, the norwegian epic. ere on nbc when it was in new om york. w the ship has moved down to miami. it goes to the caribbean. and onboard they have 20 different bars. one of them is an ice bar just like those ones that are modeled after the ones in scandinavia so you go into this ice bar. you put on a hooded cape. they give you gloves. everything inside is made of ice. the equivalent of 60,000 ice cubes. but they don't give you anything for your feet so i wore open toed shoes. my feet were freezing. it was 17 degrees. >> what about what you sit on? >> there is a nice padded area, a little fur area, so that's just a lot of fun. >> that is silly. >> it is silly. >> a fun idea, i was surprised this is in new mexico, there are these ice caves that you can actually go inside? i didn't know this. >> i didn't either. this sounds really very cool to me. it's at the location of an extinct volcano that erupted 10,000 years ago and there's a collapsed lava tube and it's this perfect chamber that you go into. it's like a natural ice box. and so you take a look at it and see that green tint, that's from arctic algae. you go in there -- >> all the way down in new mexico? >> that's right. and you're stepping on top of 20 feet of layers of ice dating back -- it's called the ice caves at the bandera volcano. >> and the closest city? >> albuquerque 90 miles. >> okay, valerie d'elia. you get so excited. you make me want to go. >> you can also ski down in south america. i don't want to forget about that. >> ski in south america. another idea. okay, valerie. thank you so much. accessorizing your summer wardrobe for $50 or less. they used to spend hours on the couch, watching t.v., playing video games. and with all you hear about childhood obesity, i was concerned. now i take a more active role in their health like insisting on lots of play time and making sure they eat right. like when i make burgers i use lean jennie-o ground turkey. i'm proud i got them off the couch. well, sort of. anncr: be well... with all the great tasting ways to eat lighter. only from jennie-o. why go one more round ? you don't need a rematch, but a rethink. with lunesta. lunesta is thought to interact with gaba receptors associated with sleep. lunesta helps you get the restful sleep you need. lunesta has some risk of dependency. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving or engaging in other activities while asleep without remembering it the next day have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations, or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions such as tongue or throat swelling occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness, and morning drowsiness. stop fighting with your sleep. ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. get lunesta for a co-pay as low as zero dollars at lunesta.com discover a restful lunesta night. and you have that moment of... 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[ female announcer ] new from aveeno: ageless vitality. bio-minerals and active naturals formulas for improved firmness, texture, wrinkles and spots. new ageless vitality. save $20 at aveeno.com. well, if you want to heat up your summer look but don't want to spend a lot of money, the right accessories can do the trick from oversized jewelry to high heels. some of the hottest accessories of the season, and i love this part, for $50 or less. lisa, good morning. >> good morning. >> so you were saying this is the best way to spruce up your outfit without spending a lot of cash. >> accessories are a great way to switch up day to night or season to season and summer you're free to experiment with color and bolder pieces. at this price point why not? >> and some can transition you to early fall so you get more free money. let's take a look at the first category, jewelry. >> these are a great way to add a bit of color to an outfit. if you're wearing a white dress or something, that's a nice dash of color. >> and you call those boho beads? >> boho beads. then we have this great necklace from nine west versatile in two ways. first of all you could wear it to work or wear it casually. you could wear it as a necklace, wrap it around your neck or as a bracelet. it goes with everything. it's really great. big is what we're talking about this summer. big pieces. talking about cocktail rings like this from top shop and these are $25 apiece, and these are my favorite. they're very wonder woman-esque $13 each. they're very bold. we've seen ashley green from "twilight" wear something similar. >> that makes the statement, back off. i'm here to stay. let's talk about shoes. >> shoes are not easy to find at a $50 price point. >> they're not. >> we found three great pairs that serve three different purposes. first the boat shoe. you think boat shoe, preppie, conservative. not so with this steve madden style. they come in a lot of different colors and then there's, of course, this crazy, sparkly -- >> you have to have the glitter boat shoes, of course. >> a great alternative to a sneaker. a little more stylish. >> and a cute summer skirt as well. >> it adds a little personality to an outfit. >> sexy summer heels. a lot of women have weakness for this kind of shoe. u may want to experiment with . a color like teal you can wear with a white dress or rolled up khakis. >> you see sarah jessica parker do that, have one color and, bam, a color in her shoe. these are adorable. >> flat summer sandals, you have to have them. this style comes, as you can see, in an array of colors and styles. everybody loves these shoes. >> and these are classic. you can wear them next summer and the summer after that. >> they're $50 each. you get the cork which is a big trend. the leopard is a big trend and the silver is fun to wear. >> and that green suede is pretty as well. beautiful. and what's a wardrobe without a nice handbag? >> in the summer you carry around a lot of stuff with you -- >> water, everything. >> ipod. so you want a lightweight tote that is stylish and this gap tote fits the bill. it's metallic so it's neutral. $3 $39.50 and, really, you can carry anything in it. >> you can carry it at night, too. and what about the other bags here? >> two clutches. this one is from nine west. what's great about both of these, this has the hidden strap and this has the removable strap. it makes it much more versatile so it's a day to night bag. >> and that orange is so summer. it says something. so cute. >> this comes in other colors, the nine west bag. >> and this is great, too. >> what's summer without a straw tote. this is a cool update on it with this patent leather trim from spiegel and it's $39. a great carry-all. >> everything on this table under $50 so we'll take it all. lisa, thank you so much. >> thank you. and up next, unwrapping the secret to cooking the perfect fish. ♪ this morning in "today's kitchen" keeping fish moist and flavorful on the grill or in the oven. michael is the executive chef of crystal springs resort in new jersey and he's here to show us. michael, good to see you. >> good to see you, al. >> you say the secret to keeping your fish moist is to kind of wrap it. >> correct. it actually keeps it moist and enhances the flavor. we're going to start rolling the fish together. >> now what kind of fish are we talking about? >> red snapper from florida. >> but would this work with most kinds of fish? >> absolutely. i have a striped bass which is local from new jersey and hal but the which is a little bit different. >> you can do that with halibut. so how do we get started? >> i think we start with a little bit of olive oil. drizzle it so the fish won't stick. if you want to follow me, grab a piece of fish and we turn it around. >> on the skin side? >> skin first down so we can season nicely with salt and pepper. nice fresh ground pepper. flip the fish around one time and also a little more seasoning. want to season the fish on both sides. thank you very much. and then a little fenl. >> could you use your own -- whatever kind of fresh vegetables there are? >> very thin. very thin. a couple shallots. >> some garlic. >> finish up with a little bit of the olives. some tomatoes. a bay leaf. one or two of those crushed berries to give a little perf e perfume. >> and butter on top. >> butter always tastes good. >> of course. >> and you have the healthy part of the extra virgin olive oil. bring it together in the middle. a little bit right on top. >> going to squeeze it? >> and put it back together like a little lunch bag. and this on the sheet pan. >> could you put it right on the grill? >> absolutely. i would put white wine because you have more bottom heat so it doesn't dry up on you. >> okay. to accompany this we have a nice little salad. >> a little tomato salad, yes. some cherry tomatoes from our resort in crystal springs. >> what is this, basil? >> small basil. lime zest and juice. extra virgin olive oil. simple. i love to keep the player simple. tomato is so sweet. we toss it a little bit. just toss it up. we can maybe get a little fresh pepper if you don't mind. >> sure. >> excellent. so we set this aside. i like to really serve the tomato with the snapper. it's a beautiful, healthy, fresh dish. it's summary. if you do a barbecue, even better, outside sitting on your deck or in your garden. >> and the great thing you can prep these packets beforehand. >> correct. and you can take them out and throw them on the grill. that's the great part about it. and then we're going to do the snapper. going to open them up and see the beautiful flavors. >> that's gorgeous. that's fantastic. look at how moist that is. >> yes. >> fantastic. >> just set them right on top now. >> okay, yum. thank you so much. >> chef michael, thank you so much. recipes on our website. 9:56 is your time now. 82 grows. you might enjoy a slight cooldown today but expect another warm-up later this week. tom will have the forecast after news. good morning, i'm eun yang. in the news4 today, police in montgomery have charged a man in the murder of a well-known art dealer. they found the body of the 45-year-old in an alley in northwest washington monday. he traveled the world as an art consultant. now, a 35-year-old, raymond williams, is facing first-degree murder charges. he worked in the hair house of the area behind the studio. police have not said what led to the murder. williams is due in court this afternoon for a bail hearing. turning to the for cast, tom is here. at least we get a bit of relief. we can use all we can get. >> thanks to the clouds, it's held the temperatures down a bit this hour. right now it's around 80, and the radar's scanning the skies, showers passing through the skies this morning mainly south of washington. they continue drifting west to eat out of culpepper county into fauquier. light showers through southern maryland. right now it's 80. risk of afternoon storms. >> this time, interstate 66, we showed you earlier the overturned car route 123. that's about cleared but the backup, you see another fender bender. fair oaks on end, more stop than go. to the american legion bridge, not bad. slug herb spot mid span toward the toll road. get the news, weather and traffic as soon as you wake up. promise me low prices. and stick to it. like seriously low prices. 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[ female announcer ] low prices you can count on. at safeway, that's our promise. that's ingredients for life. it is wednesday, around here we know it as winesday, july 21st. we made it to the middle of the work. >> and look at our festive wine glasses. >> it's winesday. if you put down your glass, heaven forbid, you might get it mixed up with somebody else's. so now we have flip-flops for your wine glasses. and it's so classy. >> these are ugly, they're not cute at all. but you'll never forget which one is yours. >> drinkable wine wear. >> $19.99 for a set of four. your guests will love them. >> cheers to winesday. we're a little nervous today, we have a guest in the house. we have several guests in the house. the ones that we're not afraid of. we've got some friends visiting from boston. their darling daughter, chip flaherty, the lead counsel for walden media. i think i have that right. >> he's a very big deal. it doesn't look like he has a law degree, but he does. a wonderful movie coming out. i saw it last week. ramona and besus. adorable, adorable. >> we also have sr else in the house, we have a writer from "u.s.a. today," we're going to shout her out. olivia barker is with us. >> she's hiding. she was here a year ago when the book came out. >> please don't show me, that's what she's saying. >> there she is. >> we're on our best behavior today. >> a couple of people are back in the news, lindsay lohan finally went to prison. we have a mug shot and they call it the perp walk. it looked more like a red carpet than a perp walk. she got out of the suv and through the throngs of reporters and what-not. and there she went. she's going to be by herself in a 12 by eight-foot cell. and people threw confetti, like a party. >> apparently then she was handcuffed and led away. which is always, you know, pretty degrading, i think. i think that's when reality sets in. we should remember this is the second time for her. so had is her second mug shot. the second time she gives a fingerprint. the second time to be cuffed. the second time to go to that facility in lynnwood. >> they say now she's going to serve as little as 13 days. >> but they cheered when she got there, all thrilled to see her. but then she had to do the cavity search and then she didn't feel so good. >> 13 -- >> i'm sorry. >> why did you bring that up? >> that has to be the most degrading. unless you're used to getting brazilians. i guess maybe some people don't mind. i would think for me that would be the most degrading thing in the world. >> i think people were going to smuggle in contraband, drugs and what-not. >> i wasn't born yesterday. >> they have to check her, that's part of it. >> i know, but i don't think -- you never get used to that, do you? >> i wouldn't know. but she's going to be in there maybe for just 13 days. i'll be honest, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me. less than two weeks because of the jail overcrowding. that's the story. the question is, when she gets out, will she be a different or new lindsay or the same girl as before. >> when she gets out to, she goes directly to a rehab center that she cannot leave. let's just pray that she really turns her life around. it's possible, hoda, even you can find redemption. >> mel gibson again -- what's the news on him today? there are a million tapes. i have to say that now that the tapes keep coming out that you're inured to them. for example, if your dad yells at you every day, you sort of tune it out. i feel like when i'm listening to these types over and over, i get numb. >> i feel so sad about both situations. both people have the great opportunity that this great country can give them. both people at the height of their careers. mel gibson, the sexiest man alive. he did one of my most favorite movies ever, "braveheart" seemed to have a stable family, great wife and kids that stood by him. now you hear the ranting of someone that you almost can't believe it's the same person. the juxtaposition of the two people. and lindsay, i did an interview of her when she was 12, the cutest adorable thing from long island. how do you get from here to there? you get so applauded, so rewarded. so surrounded by everybody telling you how fabulous you are, how brilliant you are. how -- nobody ever says no to you. and as a result, that becomes your reality. and yet, the very thing you need the most is somebody that loves you enough to say no. >> it's funny. we had, i mean debby gibson on, she was a star in the ' 80s, she said she was so afraid she was going to blow it. some of the others don't think it. she did. >> did you notice her mom? >> her mom was right there the whole time. >> she was parented. not that some good parents end up with children that go astray. i'm not saying it always happens. but pretty much, the norm. steady parenting and if your parents say no, you can't have that. and no, i'm going to take it awayrom you. and it's, your parents were very strict. >> yeah. we weren't allowed to do anything. we could hardly leave the front yard. >> you went off to summer camp and did everything you could possibly think of. >> we weren't allowed in the beginning, because in america kids were getting kidnapped. that didn't happen overseas. they were like, people just come and snatch young children. we had to stay in the yard all the time. number two, we were not allowed to go on dates in junior high and high school, because there wasn't dating there. imagine that ordeal of running and sneaking. >> but you were born in this country, right? >> it doesn't matter. they came from older school. i used to have to -- i got asked to one of the proms, i stuffed a prom dress in a backpack and met my prom date at 7-eleven. >> you slut! >> you have to do what you have to do! >> that's about the most romantic story i ever heard in my life. >> i changed right behind the slurpie machine. it's strict. but we figured out ways around it. >> your mother is horrified. she never knew about that. >> it's in the book, i told her. but knowing there are margins there, even super-strict ones, are so much better. >> the limits, you're telling them, i love you enough to put limits on you to protect you. >> sure. >> but the trouble is these people become the money-makers, it's their credit card. they're all on the payroll. and if you don't work and you're not a star -- >> whoever has the money, has the power. the game changes when you know you can control all that stuff. >> let's get back to summer camp for just a moment. we went to summer camp. >> yes, we did. we're going to show a piece on it today. it's called minisync summer camp in port jersey, new york. here's a clip. >> who's coming to camp today? >> kathie lee. >> yeah, kathie lee and -- >> kathie lee and i forget. >> kathie lee and someone else. >> coda. >> coda recorder. okay. >> what? okay. that's just mean. >> that's just mean. >> is alley here? >> ali -- >> hoda, your name, you are egyptian. >> whatever. ali, thank you from the bottom of my heart for that clip. >> there was a big welcoming sign when we got there. >> yes, kathie lee and hilda, it said. by the way, in case you care -- the ants in my apartment are dead. the guys in the building, the turbo -- blew the turbo stuff in the building and i was tiptoeing around this morning, turning the lights on and looking for them -- none. i hope they're gone. >> so it was roto-rooter kind of thing? >> termin ex, from the building. i just wanted those ants out of my apartment. >> there are ten pages of suggestions on here. >> it was the professionals that came and did it. >> we're talking about favorite camp memories. kathie wrote in a mouse had babies in my sleeping bag. drinking bug juice. and color war every year. lots of fun camp memories. >> up next -- >> she knocked you out with this cool song called "knock you down." singer, songwriter carrie hilton back after this. by age 12, carrie hilton taught herself to write songs. and by age 18 she was cutting vocals and engineering sessions. she's written songs for mary j. blige, just to name a few. now at 27, she's a full-fledged star with two grammy nominations, an album in the can and one on the way. you've got a whole bunch of projects, thanks for stopping by. >> you look like an avon ad right this very moment. >> well, thank you very much. thanks to my glam team, they keep me good. >> when you're 27 it takes about half an hour. when you're our age, we're here at the crack of dawn. >> why did you decide to do this avon ad? >> you know, avon, i felt like, i just didn't want to do any and every endorsement that came my way, you know what i mean? and for me, they represent the everyday woman. >> and affordable. i do music for the same reason. you know, i want to break boundaries. age boundaries and color boundaries, i feel that avon really does that. it's also empowering. it allows five million representatives the means to make a living. on their own schedule. >> i thought that was great. and it's a perfect partnership. >> your debut album, which was very cool, it was called in a perfect world, was number one all over the place, you won a lot of awards for it. are you working on another one? >> i am, it's coming. >> what are the nerves that go along with that. >> that was a blessing, i have to thank my fans for that. i just do what i do. >> and the big guy. >> absolutely, god. for aligning everything properly. i know it doesn't happen for everyone that has that same dream that i have. so it was a blessing that it was received so well. and this time around, there really are no nerves, everyone is talking about the sophomore curve. i do what i do and after that, it's out of my hands. >> this is organic to you. this is what you've done your whole life. >> i think the best part about you is you write your own stuff. you can always tell when someone writes their own stuff. it's so much more athentic. >> it's probably, more emotional -- >> connection. >> are you still writing for other people? because you write for everybody. >> yeah, i am. i've slowed down a little bit, because the art thing takes up so much of my time. >> we came to you. we said, we're going to do a duet album and we want to you write a song for us. where in the world would you possibly begin with a lyric? >> oh, my gosh. well you guys are always talkinging about fashion, every time i sit down you've got a comment about the fashion. so it would have to be that. >> and you're like glamorous women. so it would, i think you could go a little vain. >> well, we'll leave you to write it in your spare time. >> who are you working with on your new album? >> i, we haven't done the features yet. but i am working, the core of my project is polo and timbaland. and the third is danger. you never know what we're going to come up with. >> that's the fun of it. >> we didn't want to rush it, we wanted it to be as organic and emotional as the first one. >> we wish you good luck. thanks for coming by. >> you should stay sweet, or we're going to come and find you. >> nothing about this perp walk in the future. >> absolutely. >> up next, hoda and i go to summer camp and the kids finally learn what a hoda-woman is. >> it was 106 degrees, too. >> never looked better, have i. y's senses. don't i? [ barks ] because i think food speaks a language of love. that's what inspired me to rethink dry dog food. [ female announcer ] chef michael's canine creations. [ chef michael ] mmm. tender shredded pieces made with real meat... and crunchy garnishes to enhance the mealtime experience. yes, bailey-- just for you. [ barks ] [ female announcer ] chef inspired, dog desired. chef michael's canine creations. summer's here and there's no better time for the two of us to shed our stillettos and head out into the wilderness. >> we did because we couldn't resist an invitation from the campers at a new york state sleep-away camp called campus kids minisinc. where it was all about survival. >> yes, it was. >> i don't know about you, hoda, but i'm not really the camping sort. >> what are we going to do? >> i don't know, what do they do at camp? >> i have no idea. >> it probably involves a kayak and a bunch of kids. >> i don't even like my own kids. let's go find them. >> hello. >> hello. >> hello, campus kids. >> is this going to be fun for us? >> yes. >> are you sure? >> why? what's so great about camp? >> boating. >> absolutely not. >> high ropes? >> exactly, no. look, are we ready? >> no. >> what do you mean? >> you have to get dressed. >> we are dressed. >> you're a not appropriate. >> cheers. just not the same. >> welcome. our two new campers. kathie lee and hoda! [ cheers and applause ] everyone ready for activity? >> yeah! >> kathie lee and hoda. >> archery? >> keep it towards the target. that would make sense. >> hip-hip, hooray! >> i'm so competitive, it's sick. >> what's next? >> ropes! >> high ropes. >> what are high ropes? >> can an old person do it? >> how old do you think i am? >> how old do you think i am? >> 26. ♪ hallelujah >> kathie lee, kathie lee! >> i'm in shock. >> i'm still in shock. >> me, too. >> what's next? >> she did so good, kathie, you get to sing. >> name a kathie lee song. name just one kathie lee song. anybody? >> we have a guest singer. >> we do? >> hoda woman. >> kathie lee. >> i cannot do it. i'll give it a shot. here, hold this, please. >> hello, dolly ♪ ♪ >> well hello, dolly ♪ ♪ it's so nice to have you back where you belong ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪ ♪ >> we're about do take a little raft. these kids are wearing us out. we're going to do something that comes natural -- sit. >> bye! see you! >> bye kathie lee and hoda. >> bye camp minisinc. >> i have to do everything around here. >> don't worry about me, i'm good. >> let's go. which way, this way. >> my thighs haven't had this much exercise since the prom. >> ha did you just say? >> i don't know. >> those kids were so sweet. >> such a great beautiful camp, terrific kids. ali, thanks for that piece. >> how you can keep your hair from frizzing. another summer solution. >> and it's on to who new? and reality tv trivia. i'm going back to school shopping at kmart. but...it's summer...i... i like to plan ahead. ah, kmart layaway. with just $5, plus a little down - you can spread the payments over eight weeks with no finance charges. and that's why we love her! there's smart, and there's kmart smart. or 100 calories? with yoplait delights, now you can finally have both. two indulgently rich layers of chocolate and raspberry yogurt... and only 100 calories. who are you?!? i'm your "genie"! weren't you just wishing for something more nutritious to eat? i was! well, you could enjoy the taste of decadent dark chocolate, the crunch of almonds, plus 35% of your daily fiber... plus antioxidants in a kellogg's fiber plus bar. mmmm. right then. two more wishes? i'm good. oh. back to the lamp then. see ya! [ female announcer ] kellogg's fiber plus bars. you couldn't wish for more. breaking news on the murder of a popular art dealer in our area. police have charged someone with the crime. we'll have the late nest a live report. good morning, i'm barbara harrison. coming up, a plane hits severe turbulence, injuring 30. news4 midday begins at 11:00 a.m. we'll see you then. we're back on this wednesday with more of "today." it's time to play "who knew" our weekly quiz game. we're going to see if you can survive questions on the hottest, most dramatic reality tv shows over the years. kathie lee is across the street at nbc's digital.com cafe. those who win get a gift card and those who don't get a special personal gift from kathie lee herself, her cd. we have the author of a fun book, "my fair lady" general lancaster. how are you? >> i'm good, thank you for having me back. >> are you ready? >> i'm ready. >> a great couple visiting from pasadena, california. let's look at our fist clip, listen closely to the following question -- ♪ ♪ >> in addition to billy ray cyrus, which of the following celebrities have appeared on "dancing with the stars" -- >> buzz aldron. >> you are right, baby. >> you got it. >> i knew you spent the last weekend watching all reality tv, buzz aldron is the correct answer in this one. >> you have to wonder what the first meeting of all of these stars were on the show. kate gosselin. buzz aldron. i went to the moon, that's what i did. >> i was fun on the show, i thought. >> he was fun. >> let's go across the street to kathie. >> one of the biggest reality tv shows to hit the airwaves, let's watch the following clip. ♪ ♪ ♪ like a bridge overed troubled waters ♪ >> true or false, clay aiken was the winner of the second season of "american idol." >> false. >> they know! that's too bad you didn't win my cd. >> yeah, that's a shame. >> so clay aiken actually came in second. >> he came in second and that worked out really well for him. in the lift of the top ten earners from "american idol," five of them weren't winners. five of them didn't win in the top ten people. >> wow. sometimes it's good to come in second. >> right. i mean reuben, not on the list, sorry, pal. >> back across to kathie. >> lovely ladies from new jersey. this show introduced a lesser-known part of the east coast, as well as some new dance moves. watch the clip. ♪ ♪ >> so classy. which of the following names is not a cast member of the "jersey shore." -- >> the circumstance. >> boy, that's a very popular show, apparently. here you go! wow. >> i've got to say, people are so keyed into reality tv, they're nailing these. >> new jersey is going through a whole renaissance of their reality shows. "the real housewives of new jersey" "jersey shore." we know it's reached critical mass, because not long ago, senator mccain sent snooki a tweet about tanning. he said he would never tax her tanning bed. >> back across to kathie. >> that's disturbing on many levels. this gentleman is from georgia. this weight loss reality show has improved and inspired dozens of lives. let's watch the show. >> yes, betty sue, do it again. go! >> dig, betty sue, dig! >> and he's just vicious in the workouts. >> over the many seasons of "the biggest loser" what is the record amount of weight lost by a woman? 76 pounds, 120 pounds, or 209 pounds. >> i would take a guess. 120? [ buzzer ] >> stop it, let's -- this is what he gets, okay? >> see, they're all happy. >> stls a lot of hip hop in there. >> the correct answer is 183 pounds. >> that happened last season with ashley johnson. she lost 48% of her body weight and that season, michael lost 254 pounds, but neither of them were actually the biggest loser out of all ten seasons, that's danny cahill who lost 55% of his body weight. >> a lot of them keep it off. >> they do. >> these ladies are living in the moment. they are from florida. eating bugs and rolling in the mud was required in this stranded in the wilderness show. let's see a clip. >> it's like hoda's apartment. which of the following was not one of the tribes on season one of "survivor"? >> gobi. >> i don't know, i guess you're right. >> i take offense to the apartment comment, kathie lee. >> she doesn't care. >> so gobi is the correct spot. >> well, you asked me, do people watch this show still? apparently they do. it just finished its 20th season. there are 40 different iterations of this from different countries around the world. people are watching it everywhere. >> we have time to one more. >> we'll do it really quick. visiting from boston. the line between actor and musician is being cross constantly. let's see how the "real housewives dogs it. ♪ don't be tardy for the party ♪ don't be tardy for the party ♪ >> in addition to kim and danielle staub, which other cast member "real housewives" recorded a single? >> you're busy watching "monday night football," aren't you? >> exactly. >> take a guess. >> i'll go with c. >> and you'd go wrong. [ buzzer ] >> everyone has a story. >> the correct answer here is lou anne. >> it is. and her album went to number 10 on the dance tunes on the dance mix on i-tunes. so that means that either america is really into campy music or is a sign of the apocalypse, i'm not really sure. >> jen, thank you. her book is called "my fair lazy." how to make home run decisions at the concession stand. see the difference? pillsbury toaster strudel, the one kids want to eat. whoa! do you know what our favorite part of shooting hoops is? 3...2...1... overtime! ♪ ♪ we're the kids in america ♪ oh, oh, oh ♪ we're the kids in america [music, talking, laughing] what makes hershey's s'mores special? hershey's chocolate goodness that brings people together. pure hershey's. takes care of 33 loads. tide stain release only handles 11. and clorox 2 gets rid of tough stains right before your eyes. clorox 2. find it next to the clorox bleach. hey, little dude. "dinner's" my middle name. how 'bout some hamburger helper? oh, my, but your mouth is gonna love it. and your wallet's gonna be pretty happy, too. now this is the deal of the day. hamburger helper...one pound, one pan, one tasty meal. summer ain't summer without popsicle pops. ben & jerry: my two best friends. what would i do for a klondike bar? you don't wanna know. i am so happy right now. ♪ just so happy. time to take a look at those concession stand calories you're consuming, because let's face it, it's hard to root for the home team without buying some peanuts and cracker jacks. >> here to tell us how to keep ballpark food from taking a bite out of our diet is nutritionist madeline engstrom. >> you don't think calories. >> let's have a little reality eating at the ballpark and start out with the pretzels. here's a question, does this large soft pretzel have more or less than 450 calories? >> more. >> you're right. hoda got that one. >> i forgot, we didn't have our buzzers. >> how many calories does it have? >> 500. that's without the cheese dipping sauce. this is just the plain pretzel. >> not worth those calories. >> if i'm going to have 500 calories, i want something else. >> i thought it was a question between the peanuts and that. >> that's a separate question. >> nuts of course are full of heart-healthy oils, good for you, lots of protein. but look at this typical ten ounces bag of peanuts in the shell. does this bag have 600, 900 or 1200 calories. >> 100 calories. >> and 110 grams of fat. we know the song -- >> 1200? >> 1200 in this bag. that's a lot. >> that's a lot of nuts. >> if you're on a diet, a crash diet -- >> that's going to be a day. so you don't want to munch on these, even though they're healthy. >> can you have two? >> that's the trouble, you can't eat just one. >> they don't have the oils. >> i'm going to eat one right in front of you. >> maybe you want to have cracker jacks. >> buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks. >> no, i get paid to sing. not much, but anyway. >> stay away from the nuts. you want to get some cracker jacks. for these 1200 calories, can you eat four cups, six cups or eight cups of cracker jacks? >> i'm going to go with six. >> why don't you. >> because you're right. >> there's 1200 calories right there. >> these i like. >> you can have all of this, or that. >> all of this is 1200 calories. >> why wouldn't you have this? this is really great. so follow the song. >> this is your chance to shine. you always do well. >> without alcohol? >> all of these different drinks. lowest to highest calories. this is your set, kathie lee. >> what are these? >> this is pink lemonade, a milkshake, a regular beer and a regular soda. 16 ounces of each one. rank them, lowest -- >> the lowest -- >> regular milkshake. >> the beer and then this and then that. >> well, you're almost right, make one little switch. >> kathie lee gets it. she has to get two points for this. the lowest calorie, the lowest is the soda. regular beer, and a milkshake at 500. >> you're doing well. >> she had one thing to change. if i would have changed these two -- i would have done it, too! >> anyway, for those of us not eating sushi at the ballpark -- >> you're a tough crowd. with the pizza? >> you're getting on our nerves, we have a chili dog, that's my job. which one is going to be lower in calories? is it the plain cheese pizza or the chili dog? >> the pizza. >> which one do you think is lower? >> no, the hot dog is, 400 versus 600 calories. >> what an unruly crowd we have. >> these have the most of anything, right? this has a lot. would you have to walk four miles? seven miles or ten miles. >> seven. >> ten. >> seven is it. you'd have to walk seven miles, this is about 700 calories. do we have a winner now? >> no, i think hoda got it. who won the all-star game? was it the national league or the american league? >> who cares? >> you can both get this prize, it's usually the national league, right? don't they usually win it? >> no, the american league usually ones. >> let's give it to anthony. >> thank you, madeline, i was only teasing you before. it's because you know so much. coming up, the summer beauty bummers and chipped nails, coming up next. every day if you don't always like the taste of them. i'll be right back, ok? ok. ok. good thing v8 v-fusion juice gives you a serving of vegetables hidden by a serving of fruit. v8. what's your number? get a 1 dollar coupon for v8 v-fusion juice at tryv8.com. ♪ ¿por que no probamos esto? [ male announcer ] old el paso. a special blend of seasoning for especially delicious tacos. feed your fiesta. summer ain't summer without popsicle pops. ben & jerry: my two best friends. what would i do for a klondike bar? you don't wanna know. i am so happy right now. ♪ just so happy. 100% natural nuts and granola in bite sized clusters. it's a little bit of nature... a little bit better. and nature approves. granola nut clusters from nature valley. ♪ pop-tarts®! i'll have a frosted strawberry... as an ice cream sandwich. ♪ chocolate fudge... on a stick please! ( crunch ) with the endless possibilities of kellogg's® pop-tarts, it's sure to be a picture perfect summer. pop-tarts®. made for fun. we're back with today's beauty. the summer bummers that cause everything from melting makeup, to unfortunate tan lines. >> the we've enlisted the expert, rebecca george for beauty tips. >> we love all of these tips. >> we have a few tan lines. >> summer is the toughest beauty season. we're exposed from head to toe and it's about 110 degrees for the past few days, it's not easy. >> bikini -- the bikini area is troublesome. >> issue, issue. >> it's tough, it's a hairy situation. >> oh! >> you know what -- >> this is venus bikini kit by gillette. >> you have to be careful of what you say on this program. >> everything you need to be feel confident in your bikini. it comes with a four-bladed raiser, it comes with a trimmer. >> a four-bladed -- what have you got going on down there? >> how about a lawn mower, my gosh! >> it's $9, it will feel make you feel very confident in your swimsuit. >> moving on to tan lines. >> this is from st. tropez, their instinct glow. wash on, wash off bronzer, you can go from zero to bora bora just like that. it's fantastic if you want to cover up the tan lines instantly. >> that's not your color, that's my color. >> you have to rub it in. >> it's $15, available at st. tropez. >> you want to let it set for a minute or two and apply it to dry skin. >> it has a nice sheen and a good smell to boot. >> well of course it's so important to wear sunscreen in the summer. but a lot of people complain it's too heavy and thick. this is a great solution from ddf, their oil-free ultra light moisturizing lotion. it's not going to feel super-heavy on your skin, $40, ddf skin care.com. another bummer, the sunscreen spills in your bag, it's sunscreen towelettes with an spf of 30, you can put them in your beach bag, rub them on and you'll have something. >> but that doesn't clean up the mess you already have in your bag. >> i could help later with that. summer of course you can't let go of your anti-aging routine. because you need to do everything you can to keep away those lines. >> but now i'm talking about me. but you don't want to have heavy-duty cream on. this is a great solution from olay, their total effects -- >> i like this stuff. >> cooling hydration, it contains ingredients like vitamin c and e. >> it also contains cucumber, aloe and mint. >> people have trouble with their hair when you're in the -- >> not all people. >> i do, i do. >> this is from phillip kingsley, it's called swim cap. because no one is walking around with a swim cap. >> hoda does. >> this is a cream thaw rinse on your hair before you go into the pool. it contain s sunscreens, calva. this is from l'oreal professional, ammonia-free hair color. it won't cause breakage. available at salons. and don't give up your makeup routine. use a sealing gel, aqua bunny, waterproof, sweatproof, humidityproof, your bronzer will stay on. and look at the opi, this is the new hybrid manicure that will stay on for three weeks, your nails won't chip, peel or yellow. >> wow. >> thank you, rebecca. >> rebecca, we'll be back with more of "today." r "know the species, know the stain." lanolin-free coat, i know it's an alpaca. walks in here, looks says "hey look, it's a llama!" cleaning the stain like he would a llama stain. time he's wasting. ♪ call 1-800-steemer the adorable selena gomez is going to be with us tomorrow. in the meantime we have our own miss adorable. >> brad wrote in, i think i found my favorite reality tv moment. kathie lee talking about the moment. kathie lee talking about the bikini shaving moment, l.o.l.! -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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