Transcripts For WRC Today 20110629

this year's winning pooch is right here in our studio. we'll meet yoda, the world's ugliest dog, today wednesday, june 29th, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning. welcome to "today" on a wednesday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> and i'm ann curry. we want to go to this dramatic scene in athens where thousands of protesters are venting their anger to avoid a bailout and avoid a crippling debt. >> michelle, i know this vote in parliament is scheduled for any moment right now, probably between 7:00 and 10:00 here in the united states. what do the police there -- what does the government there expect to happen if that austerity package passes? >> reporter: i think you're going to see more of the same, matt. all the local political analysts believe that this is going to pass. probably a lot of protesters know that, but they are so angry. they do not want this bill to pass. they don't like the fact that this is a budget loaded with deep cuts in spending, many, many government workers are going to lose their jobs. they're going to have lower pensions. a lot of the assets owned by the government are going to be sold, and taxes are going up dramatically, all for them to pay their bills. and they are very, very angry about it. i think you will see this throughout the day, this kind of movement with the tear gas being thrown and the riot police pushing the protesters away and back away from parliament. we've seen this for the last 48 hours. this is a two-day strike that's been called because of this vote. >> michelle, though, the people in the streets there, they have been reading the headlines. they know the financial shape that their country has been in now for the past couple of years. what do they see as the option to this austerity package? >> reporter: yeah, that isn't clear. when a country loses its ability to borrow just like a person loses its ability to borrow, austerity gets imposed one way or the other. they can either choose to do it themselves. the vote passes. they get help to get through some of their problems for the next several years, or if they don't get any money, it will be very, very messy. they'll have all kinds of cash flow problems. it's a really wonky way to say social security payments will not happen. all kinds of social security nets will disappear almost instantly because the government just won't have the money. so the austerity is coming one way or the other. they don't seem to understand that. >> all right, michelle caruso-cabrera live in athens this morning as protesters take to the streets outside the greek parliament. michelle, thank you very much. it's three minutes after the hour. here's ann. >> matt, thanks. here at home, the wildfire in los alamos, new mexico, has grown to more than 60,000 acres in just 48 hours. as those flames move closer to the city's nuclear weapons lab. nbc's janet is there. >> reporter: this is a fire with just 3% containment but a bit of a break for firefighters. the fire has slowed down and has not advanced any closer to the los alamos national lab. that said, there's growing concern about the safety of that lab and the hazardous materials stored inside. this is the out-of-control fire lapping at the border of the los alamos national laboratory. and this is the front line of the fight. hundreds of firefighters battling a blaze that went from small to life threatening in a matter of days. it is now extremely close to the lab where dangerous radioactive material is stockpiled and where officials insist those materials are safe and secure. >> our facilities and nuclear materials are protected and safe. >> reporter: but they offered no details. the sprawling nuclear lab remains shrouded in secrecy. authorities did admit there is fire all around it. and all around the city of los alamos, under a mandatory evacuation, many say they would have left anyway. >> the smoke was coming in, it became basically just too much. we were having trouble breathing. >> reporter: thousands went to stay with friends and family. hundreds are in shelters like this one inside a casino. >> actual stress of getting out of los alamos. >> reporter: it is full of people and anxiety. as many here know this could be home for a while. >> i learned that through the last fire, that you don't put your hopes up too high. >> reporter: every tool has been brought in in a battle against a blaze that could triple in size. >> this is the highest-priority fire in the united states right now. >> reporter: having already scorched the fringe of los alamos, officials say the winds could carry it in any direction at any time. a big response to this fire, more than 800 firefighters are on the scene. the national guard is here protecting people's homes. people have left for shelters or staying with friends and family. and ann, people who haven't left may reconsider doing so today. the smoke that blankets this city is as thick as it's been since the fire started on sunday. back to you. >> thanks for that warning, janet shamlian, thank you. it is 7:06. we're only halfway through 2011, but the 2012 presidential race is already intensifying. and some key players have been focusing a lot of their attention on the key battleground state of iowa this week. nbc's kelly o'donnell's in pella with the latest. kelly, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. we've been talking to voters here around the state who say this is really an ideal time for them to get to see and size up a number of candidates and would-be candidates. that's sure happening among republicans. but another candidate who knows how valuable iowa can be to a white house run was back, and that's the president of the united states. >> hello, iowa! >> reporter: iowans expect to hear plenty of this. >> you know, i know you've been seeing a lot of politicians around lately. >> reporter: warmly courted by the president tuesday who stopped at an aluminum manufacturer to talk jobs. >> iowa, you and i, we go a long way back. >> reporter: a few hours away, sarah palin brought her brand of celebrity to a movie premiere attended by about 300 iowans. >> it is a wonderful story about american values. >> reporter: shot documentary style, the movie depicts palin favorably as a tough reformer in alaska. >> sarah had the courage to try. she had taken on the system already. >> reporter: made by conservative filmmaker steven bannan who says palin cooperated but had no control over the film's content. >> i think this film plays to the core value of the tea party and tea party movement and i hope it energizes people to get actively engaged. sfwh >> we're still thinking about that. >> reporter: palin was asked about bristol's comments that mom has already decided. >> she gedefinitely knows. we've talked about it before but some things just need to stay in the family. >> what's said on the fishing boat stays on the fishing boat. >> reporter: just-declared candidate michele bachmann -- >> you are the first people in the united states to see the bachmann for president bus! >> reporter: who made stops in new hampshire and south carolina tuesday faces new candidate scrutiny including financial records for a family business. >> i'd like you to meet my husband, marcus bachmann! >> reporter: the couple owns bachmann & associates, a minnesota mental health clinic run by the congresswoman's husband who is a clinical therapist. while bachmann campaigns for less government spending and opposes an expansion of medicaid, nbc news obtained state records that show the bachmann's clinic received government funds. $137,000 in federal and state medicaid payments since 2005. that money considered reimbursement for treatment provided to low-income patients. and that's the kind of thing that many health clinics do do, and there's no suggestion that there's anything improper about that. we reached out to the bachmann campaign for specific comment. we did not hear back. but michele bachmann will be coming back to iowa for her first bus tour as a candidate officially in just a couple of days. ann? >> kelly o'donnell, thank you very much. rachle mel maddow joins us . good morning. >> hi. >> sarah palin, how much longer can she wait? >> i think a long time. i think what the candidates are doing right now is essentially introducing themselves to a public who may not remember who rick santorum is or who michele bachmann is for that matter. sarah palin does not have that problem. nobody in america doesn't know who she is. i think she can wait a long time. we're a half year away from the iowa caucus. >> so if she waits that long or not, how will that change the republican race? >> well, i think that as long as mitt romney is the unquestionable front-runner, there is going to be some hunger among a significant number of republican activists, in particular for somebody else with a big name to get in. there's dissatisfaction with mitt romney as the front-runner. and so as long as there's nobody challenging him, and it looks like tim pawlenty does not pose any threat of doing that, i think that the race is going to remain quite wide open. >> michele bachmann seems to be considered right now a front-runner. i'm wondering, it seems to me it might be argued that she's taking some of the support that sarah palin would want from the tea party. so one might argue -- and there are those who are arguing that those two are going to have to confront each other at some point. do you agree with that? >> i don't think there's any reason to think of sarah palin and michele bachmann competing for the same voters any more than there is to see that sort of competition between herman cain and rick santorum or between jon huntsman and tim pawlenty. i think we're sort of past that. there's a lot of competition for that. i mean, tim pawlenty wants to be seen as a tea party favorite. we just heard in that report michele bachmann tried to make the case that she's a purist tea party candidate despite the fact she has this hypocrisy program with having been fitted herself with so much government spending. >> i want to get your take on something chris christie said. let's take a listen. >> i think he's so concerned about making sure everybody likes him that he's paralyzed to be able to make decisions. and i think that's what it does when you're worried about being liked. you don't want to decide anything because you know you're going to aggravate somebody. >> does the new jersey governor have a point that the president is making mistakes because he wants too much to be liked? >> i think chris christie is really good at polishing his own brand. and his brand at this point is i'm the guy who screams at my own constituents. when he was asked recently by a constituent whether or not there was an issue of fairness with him sending his kids to private school when he was cutting public education so drastically, he screamed back at that constituent, that's none of your business. that's his brand. >> let's talk about, though, obama specifically. do you think he's trying too hard to be liked? >> chris christie is auditioning for vice president. he would like to be taken seriously on the national stage. that's why he's embarrassing himself in his own state, taking a state helicopter away if his son's baseball games so he can go meet with iowa republican donors. he is auditioning. and his brand is i will be rude. and rudeness is actually what he's trying to sell as a form of political authenticity. so to attack the president on that ground is to invite a favorable comparison with his own style. >> you're saying he doesn't have a point, okay. >> well, he has a point for himself. >> there also seems to be, however, growing discontent in the left at president obama, a discontent over his position on libya, afghanistan, the bunltdg. is this something his campaign needs to worry about as we move towards the election? >> we'll see some of it today, the president hosting a gay rights reception at the white house, still sitting uncomfortably on his assertion that he does not support same-sex marriage. the gay community very excited about same-sex marriage rights having been extended in new york and that tension between the president's position and what the community sees as a victory. i think the president's going to have to worry about the left when it comes time to rubber meeting the road and organizational enthusiasm on the part of the democratic base being important to get out the vote. it may be too early for him to really be courting the left, but we'll see it in terms of his strategy. >> rachel maddow, thank you so much. sorry to spring the latin on you, but i knew you could handle it. you can catch "the rachel maddow show" weeknights on msnbc. let's head over to the news desk where natalie morales has a check of the morning's top stories. >> good morning. a standoff at a hotel in kabul has left at least ten civilians dead. a team of heavily armed taliban fighters stormed the intercontinental tuesday night and battled with security forces for several hours. nato helicopters took down three gunmen on the roof. and afghan security forces ended the standoff on the ground. meanwhile, clashes have erupted in cairo for a second day as the families of those killed during the uprising against the former egyptian president called for swift prosecution of officers believed to be responsible for the violence. riot police used tear gas against protesters who responded with fire bombs and rocks. a senate panel has voted to give the president limited authority to continue the opation in libya without the use of u.s. ground forces. this after the house rejected a similar resolution last friday. and a federal panel votes today on whether or not to revoke approval of the top-selling cancer drug avastin. recent studies show the drug is ineffective despite impassioned pleas from breast cancer patients who says the drug keeps them alive. to another developing story in the world of medicine and reports now that the surgeons conducting clinical trials of medtronic's bone growth protein used in spine surgery did not report serious complications and some reportedly received payments. our chief science correspondent robert bazell joins us live. good morning. >> good morning. this is a big battle today. a prominent group of spine surgeons is charging another group of spine surgeons wrote research papers that hid serious side effects of this drug. the drug is called infuse, and it is made by the medtronic corporation. according to the current issue of the journal "spine surgery," the doctors writing the papers got payments from medtronic as high as $23.5 million and as little as a half million dollars. infuse is used during some spine surgery to make bone growth. side effects include male sterility, pain and death. a doctor at the university of wisconsin said that much of that money came from medtronic for patents on devices he developed, but it did not influence the papers he wrote or edits. other doctors say the same. medtronic says it told the fda about the side effects and warned them on the label. the doctors writing about this say it reveals how much money can be paid to doctors who write about certain drugs and devices. natalie? >> we'll be hearing much more on this story on "nightly news." johnson & johnson is recalling more than 60,000 bottles of tylenol extra-strength caplets due to a moldy odor. the smell is caused by trace amounts of a chemical that can cause stomach upset. an update on a warm and fuzzy story we brought you earlier this week. the polar bear has now arrived at her new home in louisville, kentucky. she was found after being abandoned by her mother on an alaskan oil field. she'll be living at the glacier exhibit where she's expected to thrive in a chilly state-of-the-art facility. looks like she's enjoying herself already. she's made herself quite at home. 7:16. we'll turn it back to matt, ann and al. >> what do you think? let's go see that bear. >> road trip! >> let's go. i want to see that little bear. >> that moldy odor with the tylenol. >> we have one of those on the set. >> we might have to recall this whole studio. mr. roker is here after a day off with a check of the weather. >> we've got our first atlantic tropical storm of the season. tropical storm arlene is going to be causing some problems for mexico. but not so much for us. in fact, as we take a look, we'll sho look, we've got this system now about 190 miles east of mexico. 40 mile p-mile-per-hour winds. the path that brings it into southern and central mexico, no rain to speak of four friends in southern texas who could use the rain, makes landfall tomorrow. as we look at the country, we are expecting a risk of strong storms, heat through the southwest. beautiful day in the east. that's what's going on in the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> bright sun, blue skisy, lowe humidity. low and mid-70s throughout the region. 76 at reagan national. humid in southern maryland around the bay and eastern shore. should be less humid there, too, as the day progresses. highs into the 80s today and tomorrow, low humidity, sunshine. friday, hotter, still not too humid but getting hot and humid over the weekend. saturday, sunday, and the and that's your latest weather. matt? >> al, thank you very much. a piece of debris led to tense moments on tuesday for the international space station. this after an asteroid zipped by earth at what's being called relatively close range. nbc's jeff rossen watching all this. good morning to you. >> most of us were eating lunch monday at 1:00 p.m. or working, but at that exact moment, an asteroid whizzed by. chances are you didn't see it, but it was close for an asteroid. then on tuesday, another near-miss as one nasa engineer put it, it's like a game of dodgeball up there. >> reporter: there it is, the asteroid appear toured on home video streaking across the sky. experts say it was the size of a small house. and this week, it passed within 7,600 miles of earth. in the vast universe, that's closer than it sounds. >> if you think of the earth as your house and the moon as your garage, this object same so close it knocked a flower pot off your back porch. >> reporter: experts say we were never in danger. the asteroid was close but still a safe distance away. nasa says this is the largest asteroid to be tracked this close to earth ever. >> this object that we found, we determined that it would pass closer to the earth than our communications or weather satellites. >> go ahead. >> reporter: the drama wasn't over yet. the very next day, tuesday, space junk was on a collision course with the international space station. spotted so late, there was no time to move out of the way. instead, the six astronauts including two americans got the order from mission control, climb into the escape capsules. >> the probabilities are still in the red threshold. and we are still planning to have you shelter in place. >> reporter: space junk is manmade debris like pieces of satellite orbiting the earth. some of it passed within 1,100 feet of the space station. that's around three football fields away. the closest encounter ever tracked. >> this was really an emergency situation because the object was following an erratic flight path. so the crew had to take shelter. >> we've got debris. >> reporter: feels like the movie "armageddon" around here. space junk, asteroids, what a week. >> the value of seeing these things in advance is that you can at least give warning because an object of this size, the size of a house, could have been an explosion as big as a military bombing attack on a county. >> there is a scary new reality here as well. nasa is closing up shop on the shuttle program. the final mission is scheduled next month. if space junk or an asteroid were to hit the international space station and there is no shuttle to fix it, experts are worried the massive complex could fall uncontrolled down to earth doing some serious damage. but matt, before you hide under your bed or your anchor desk, experts say we're actually safer now than we've ever been before, able to spot these asteroids sooner with better technology. >> that whole story didn't make me feel so safe, jeff. it's nice of you to say that at the last minute there, but thank you -- >> it could be a disaster. >> disaster. >> still getting over the flower pot getting knocked off my house. coming up, it was a tense day at the casey anthony murder trial as the defense hammered away at the man who discovered caylee's remains and also hammer add way at casey's father. we'll have details. first, this is "today" on nbc. still ahead, the royal family's pr nightmare. why britain's prince andrew and his questionable friendships are raising eyebrows. also ahead, stop the competition. yoda, the ugliest dog in the world, is live in our studio. yoda's the one on the left. but first, your local news and weather. in the weather ♪ ♪ there's a change in the sea ♪ so from now on ♪ there'll be a change in me ♪ and my walk will be different ♪ ♪ my talk and my name [ male announcer ] rust-oleum ultra cover 2x gives you twice the coverage, twice as fast as any other brand. ♪ ...changes made for nearly 100 years, we've been giving people the power to change. ♪ ...changes made it's not ready yet. 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>> you never told crystal holloway, while the two of you were being romantic, that this was an accident that snowballed out of control? >> objection. assumes a fact not in evidence. >> reporter: the defense claims 2-year-old caylee was not murdered but rather she drowned in the backyard swimming pool, and casey's father,george, helped his daughter cover it up. >> so the record to be clear, the answer is yes or no, mr. anthony? >> would you ask that one more time, please? >> you never told her, this was an accident that snowballed out of control? >> never did. >> reporter: george left the stand, looked at his daughter, casey at the defense table barely acknowledged her own dad. george and his wife, cindy, awkwardly face each other. moments later, their son, lee, testified he believed his sister's story that caylee had been abducted by the nanny. >> you were completely sold on the lies that your sister had told you? >> yes and no. >> reporter: all three members of the anthony family seated in the back row of the courtroom. george and cindy as far apart as possible. cindy glaring at her son. >> i was a meter reader for orange county, sir. >> reporter: the defense has suggested meter reader roy kronk who discovered caylee's remains in august is their key to reasonable doubt because he rediscovered those remains in december. >> i noticed something that looked white. and there was a, like, a gray bag down there. i don't know what it is. i'm not telling you it's caylee or anything of that nature. >> reporter: kronk said he was distracted by a snake he found that day in august. but four months later, it was the same roy kronk who testified he went back into those woods and he found caylee's skull. the defense wants the jury to believe kronk's multiple visits were suspicious, and his credibility tainted. >> if you go on "good morning america" show? >> yes, sir. >> and did you get paid for doing that? >> i was paid for -- i was paid for a licensed picture of a snake, but i knew that there would probably be an interview involved. >> were you paid $15,000 for doing that, sir? >> i was paid $15,000 for a lan licensed picture of the snake, sir. >> reporter: the alleged mistress, crystal holloway, is expected to take the stand today. and the lawyer representing roy kronk has been told he may also be re-called again today. >> kerry sanders in orlando. thank you very much. star jones is former prosecutor and former host of "the view." savannah guthrie is our legal correspondent. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> roy kronk, we have issues on the stand with roy kronk. what is the defense trying to prove here? >> they're trying to show that he has no credibility. i think they made a real mistake -- i don't know about you, savannah, but i find that when you have a witness like roy kronk, why not treat him not as a hostile witness but just get the information out that you need, like yeah, i moved the skull around. if you can establish the chink in the chain of the forensic evidence, then you can get the death penalty off the table, take the needle out of the arm. >> i agree with you. it seems the defense missed the boat on roy kronk, instead of indulging itself in conspiracy theories, maybe kronk had the body, hid it for several months, something there's absolutely no evidence of. when right in front of them kronk is testifying, yeah, i may have poked that skull a little bit. >> which contradicts that first story, it rolled out of the bag. >> which also suggests somebody's messing with that skull. >> if the duct tape is not found on the skull, then premeditation goes out of the window. >> and again, the two words we have to keep in our mind here, reasonable doubt, okay? always in the back of our mind. let's talk about casey's father, george. he's asked if he's had an affair with a woman involved in the search. he denied that. and then denied telling her that caylee's death was, quote, an accident that snowballed out of control, end quote. has the defense managed to score any points with the theories they put forward in their opening arguments? or statements? >> in some sense, i thought george anthony, in contrast to his testimony earlier in the case, looked a little squirrely as to whether or not he had had an affair with crystal holloway, aka river cruise. he acknowledged he sent her a text saying i need you in my life and had been over to the house. but in some ways that's just a sideshow. these got credibility problems, too. >> that's an understatement of the century. >> first she said she had an affair, then she didn't. >> as i think about it, i've covered these trials for now, what, 20 years at this point. there's always a whackadoo that attaches themselves to the family of the victim. and this is a cuckoo for cocoa puffs kind of girl. she's out there talking about an affair that has not been testified to. we can't call her a mistress. >> she changed her story on that issue herself. >> she's not testified yet. >> not yet. >> until it gets into the courtroom, it's not evidence. >> who wants to take me through this family disagreement. >> it's all yours, star. look at her. >> we have casey's mom going on the stand followed by casey's brother, lee. what was the major contradiction here? >> the major contradiction is did the mom get an investigator to go out and look in a specific area -- >> in the woods. >> -- in the woods suggesting that she knew that was the area where they could have found the baby's body. >> she says she did not. lee then took the stand and said no, in fact you did, and we had an argument about it. >> what's so odd about it is, what is the point of this testimony? either "a," the defense did not adequately prep their witnesses and didn't know there would be a disagraemt or is it just trying to show how dysfunctional this family is? if so, mission accomplished. >> i want to save time for this last thing. you didn't hear me, obviously. >> i'm sorry, matt. i apologize. >> i want to save time for this last thing. >> i'm done. >> the question we've been asking since the case began, will casey take the stand? the judge said in court that he wants to talk to casey personally and ask her the question, is your decision to testify or not to testify yours and yours alone? so where is this leading us? >> there's obviously disagreement in the defense strategy from the attorneys and the defendant. and i think at some point the court wants to make sure that there are no appealable issues. >> as star knows, this is something that happens in every criminal case. when the defendant chooses not to testify, the judge will make a record, have this colloquy with the defendant. is this your choice? are you making it voluntarily? but the plot thickens because i think many of us think casey wants to testify. so the judge is going to make sure, this is your decision. so get on the record and say if you're really not testifying, why? >> and that is all the time i have. remember when they used to give you cues on "the view"? >> now. >> same thing. star and savannah, thank you very much. let's get a check of the weather now from al. >> thank you very much, mr. lauer. we've got some nice friends here hanging out. i've got the woo woo going here. where you from? >> chattanooga. >> chattanooga, tennessee. >> woo! let's check your ee what's going on. hey, man, we've got high heat and humidity from oklahoma into iowa. heat watches and warnings and advisories. look at temperatures. ev phoenix, 110. rapid city, 102 rest of the country, balmy in the northeast, temperatures in 80s and 70s. 60s around western new york. heat out west. showers and thunderstorms move into the pacific northwest. risk of strong storms through the plains. wet weather along the southeast and atlantic coast. sunshine great lakes to the southwest. beautiful in the mid-atlantic states as well. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. don't forget to check your latest weather. go to the weather channel on cable or weather.com online. matt? >> all right, al, thank you very. coming up next, would you pay more than $4 million to live in a home that is no wider than your car? we'll take you on a tour of new york's narrowest house. plus we'll meet the ugliest dog in the world, yoda. but first, these messages. thanks to the venture card from capital one, we get double miles on every purchase, so me and my lads earned a trip to san francisco twice as fast! we get double miles every time we use our card... i'll take these two... ...no matter what we're buying. ...and all of those. and since double miles add up fast, we can bring the whole gang! it's hard to beat double miles! whoa dude. 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[ male announcer ] ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. good morning. i'm joe krebs. time now 7:56. and update on the breaking news on i-66 in gainesville. print william county, traffic is now getting by that bad wreck out there. danella? >> yes, right here, you can see there's a charred car. this is a multivehicle crash involving three cars and a tractor-trailer. you can see we have traffic passing two lanes passing on right-hand side. earlier i-66 was shut down westbound in this area. if you want an alternate route, there's still a lot of traffic, what you want to do is take 234 business, make a left on route 28, continue on to i-66. back to you. >> thanks very much. we'll take a break. good morning. sunshine, lower humidity today, tomorrow, again on friday. then as we get into the holiday weekend, we'll have higher heat and humanity retuhumidity retur into the first part of next week. >> no more excuses tonight. competing in bodybuilding we're back now, 8:00 on a wednesday morning. it's the 29th day of june, 2011. we've got a nice crowd gathered on the plaza on what is a spectacular day. we've got bright blue skies. not a cloud in them. maybe a couple of wispy ones. moderate temperatures. and i don't want to jinx anything, especially coming up to the fourth of july weekend, but off to a nice start around here. >> a lot of places it's going to be too dry to have fireworks. >> not the problem here. >> may i say, how much do we like his hat? >> out on the plaza, i'm matt lauer along with ann curry and mr. al roker. coming up in a couple of minutes, we're going to talk a little bit about one of the most controversial members of the royal family. >> that's right, we're talking about prince andrew. there have been a lot of questions of late, stories linked to scandals including his own wife, sarah ferguson. we'll be talking to one of the contributing editors of "vanity fair" about that. also ahead, in our studio right now, one of our favorite actors is here, tom hanks is in town. he's talking about his brand-new movie called "larry crown." he stars opposite julia roberts. i think he was grabbing something from the sequel. he's got a transformer. >> oh. because that's the other -- >> he's promoting now another movie. >> he's not in "transformers." >> that's how big he is. >> he doesn't have to only promote his own movies, he can promote other people's movies. we'll be talking to tom about "larry crown" and some other things in just a few minutes. >> how much do we love tom hanks? >> what's going on here? >> it's unscientific, but it's enjoyable. a little later, jenna bush hager takes us on an adventure in cajun country. natalie's standing by at the news desk with the headlines. >> good morning, everyone. we begin with the chaos erupting in greece today as clashes broke out between greek police and protesters trying to stop the country's parliament from voting on spending cuts and tax hikes, in exchange for giving greece more bailout funds needed to prevent a catastrophic default on its debt. now for a check on how that crisis could impact our markets here, let's turn to cnbc's mandy drury. what's the concern there on wall street? >> you've actually had a couple of good days if you're an investor in hopes that that greek vote would pass. obviously, what is happening will have a big influence on how our market will close. also big news coming out of bank of america. it's going to be paying $8.5 billion to settle claims by investors who lost money on soured mortgages when the housing market crashed. good news for walmart today. it says it is for three months going to be cutting gasoline prices by a dime a gallon at its murphy usa and walmart gas stations in 18 states. back over to you. >> mandy drury, thank you. fire officials say today could be the turning point in the battle to keep a new mexico wildfire from reaching the los alamos national laboratory and nuclear weapons facility. fire has reached the fringes of the complex where nuclear materials are stored. thousands of people have already been evacuated from the area as thick smoke blankets there. meanwhile, venezuelan president hugo chavez tried to clear up rumors about his health by appearing last night on cuban television with former cuban leader fidel castro. chavez had been unusually quiet since having abdominal surgery in cuba two weeks ago. now here's brian williams with a look at what's coming up tonight on "nbc nightly news." brian. >> hey, natalie, good morning. and coming up tonight, when we see you for "nightly news," the tens of thousands of american veterans who go to bed homeless and hungry every night. in l.a., the number of homeless vets has risen so high, a class action lawsuit's been filed. we'll have that story tonight and much more when we see you for "nightly news." natalie, for now, back to you. >> thanks, brian. now for a look at what's trending today, a quick roundup of what you're talking about online. holy hash tags. the hope is now on pope is on t. 84-year-old pope benedict used his ipad tweet tuesday. he posted the new website. a legal snag has more people than usual googling lady gaga. a michigan law firm claimed she's profiting from shipping charges on her japan earthquake bracelets. and just after appearing on this show on tuesday, shia labeouf went viral with comments confirming he had a fling with co-star megan fox while filming the first "transformers" movie. 8:05. you're up to date. back to al with a check of your weather. >> today's weather is brought to you by tropicana. >> and hello! we've got nice folks here. march of dimes. what's going on. >> how are you doing? here from farmer's insurance, baby's day. this is a one-day fund-raising event we set out to raise $2.6 million for the support of healthy babies and healthy mothers. go to marchofdimes.com/farmers to be here today. >> thank you. and he's a strapping good-looking young man. let's show you what's happening for today. we've got tropical storm arlene. it's the first tropical storm of the atlantic hurricane season. looking at 175 miles east of tampico, mexico, 40 mi 40-mile-an-hour-win 40-mile-an-hour-winds. it will make landfall late tonight into tomorrow. showers in northern new england. wet weather along the southeastern coast. heat on from texas up into the northern rockies. showers in the pacific northwest. morning fog gives way to sunshine and 76 in los angeles. that's what's go on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning. a fresh northwest breeze, bright and sunny now. we have temperatures in the mid and upper 70s, lower humidity coming in on the breeze in place here today, tomorrow, friday. low humidity, lots of sunshine. saturday, sunday, into the fourth of july, heat and humidity returns. we'll have a small chance of a storm late on the 4th or perhaps deuce afternoon. hazy, hot, humid through the period. and that's your latest weather. matt? >> thank you very much. as we say hello to our friends from marietta, ohio. when we come back, a look at prince andrew and why he can't seem to stay out of the headlines. we'll talk about that right after these messages. ious! i've never tasted anything so delicious. richard, why are you wearing grandpa's jacket? i'm not richard. i'm grandpa smucker. male announcer: tim and richard smucker always looked up to their father and grandfather knowing that one day they too would make the world's best jam. grandpa says it like, i've never tasted anything so delicious! i've never tasted anything so delicious! tim: [ laughing ] you got it! male announcer: for five generations, with a name like smucker's, it has to be good. now use the best suncare recommended most by dermatologists. neutrogena®, with technologies like helioplex... it provides the highest average spf and unsurpassed uva protection. get the best. neutrogena®. took some wild risks when i was young. but i was still taking a risk with my cholesterol. anyone with high cholesterol may be at increased risk of heart attack. diet and exercise weren't enough for me. i stopped kidding myself. i've been eating healthier, exercising more, and now i'm also taking lipitor. if you've been kidding yourself about high cholesterol, stop. along with diet, lipitor has been shown to lower bad cholesterol 39 to 60 percent. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. lets go... haha. if you have high cholesterol, you may be at increased risk of heart attack and stroke. don't kid yourself. talk to your doctor about your risk and about lipitor. back now at 8:10, with mounting troubles for a member of the royal family. nbc's peter alexander joins us with details. >> reporter: ann, good morning to you. the royals are still basking in the afterglow of prince william and kate who leave for their north american trip today. but royal watchers say for years buckingham palace has struggled with a major pr problem, that's how to handle prince andrew. fourth in line to the world's most celebrated throne, prince andrew is both affable and outgoing. the proud father of two young princesses, beatrice and eugenie. but the duke of york's indulgent lifestyle and controversyial acquaintances have also made him a frequent of the tabloids. in the draft issue of august's issue of "vanity fair." >> the trouble is andrew, as all our mothers used to say, people judge you by your friends, and he's been very indiscreet with his friends, even self-destructive. >> reporter: among andrew's less than savory friends, american billionaire jeffrey epstein, a convicted sex offender who admitted soliciting an underage girl for prostitution. as britain's trade ambassador, he met with moammar gadhafi and has dined with the president of kazakhstan. both visits, the palace said, made as part of his official duties. >> he does do an effective job, things come back and bite him. and this is the problem with him. he just seems to be unable to shake off scandal. >> reporter: perhaps his most scrutinized relationship, that with ex-wife, sarah ferguson. britain's disgraced debt-ridden duchess who 15 years later still shares a home with andrew. and in 2010 was caught as part of a british tabloid hidden camera sting, trying to sell access to the prince. >> 500,000 pounds when you can, to me, open doors. >> reporter: ferguson later apologized and said prince andrew was never involved. andrew, a war hero, has benefited by the unconditional support of a very powerful ally, his mother, the queen. despite the scandals, this march she awarded her son with britain's highest possible honor. >> that was a signal to everybody that the queen was bestowing on andrew her protection that he was untouchable. he's her favorite child. so he can't do anything wrong. >> reporter: but elizabeth can't be queen forever. and observers say andrew has very little in common with his more serious and introverted older brother, charles. that relationship may be the most significant of all as royal watchers say, andrew's future role in the monarchy could be up in the air. and a palace spokesperson told me last night that the prince's meeting with that man, jeffrey epstein, here in new york in december was to use his words, unwise. they would not, however, comment on sarah ferguson and the duchess of york. >> peter alexander, thank you. ed kline who you just saw in that piece as a contributor editor to "vanity fair" magazine, he wrote about prince andrew for the august issue. good morning. >> good morning. >> as i remember, princess margaret, also then the number two in line. >> that's right. >> also got into all kinds of trouble with the press. this is sort of similar in some ways. >> well, you know, number two always seems to be getting into trouble in britain. >> you know, there's a lot of pressure on them. of these charges, these accusations, against prince andrew, which do you think is the worst or most difficult for him and why? >> i think a picture of him with his arm around one of these underage girls that jeffrey epstein had flown to london set off this terrible, terrible scandal in britain and made his mother, the queen, step in and give him a tremendous knighthood to signal to the whole country, he's under my protection. >> is there anything that he's done that actually, though, crosses the legal line, or is it really simply appearances? >> well, that's a good question and hard to answer because no one has yet proved that he, in fact, attended naked pool parties with jeffrey epstein or had massages from these underage girls. but we do know that he has gone around the world raising money for his ex-wife, sarah ferguson, from some very dodgy characters. >> well, you raise sarah ferguson because, of course, we all know about the scandal in which she was videotaped sort of trying to sell access. so she's apologized to her ex-husband. she's taken the blame for this. is there any reason to believe that he's dirty in this particular way, really? >> well, she claimed that he actually knew that she was selling access to him as the british trade ambassador. his problems are two women, farrah ferguson on the one hand who gets him into trouble all the time and his mother who covered him up all the time. >> you're getting psychological here. has it affected his ability to be the trade ambassador? are there enough questions now being raised? because he's not just a prince, he's the face of britain when it comes to raising trade money. >> that's right. and there have been calls in the house of commons which is really unusual when it comes to the royals to fire him from that job. >> you've raised some questions in the piece that we just saw that peter did about how long this protection can last. it really sort of begs the question sort of how bad is his relationship with his older brebre brother, charles? >> that's a good question. because as his mother, the queen, who is 85, starts to recede, charles is going to start to take a greater and greater role in the royal family. and he's made it very plain that he wants to streamline the family, make it much smaller, which means that andrew and his daughters, beatrice and eugenie, are not going to be on the royal dole for much longer. >> so he wouldn't be british trade ambassador any longer? you're saying he's going to leave him without any money? >> well, i think they'll keep him on a very short leash, take him off that royal -- that trade ambassadorship, not make his daughters working royals who are going to be supported by the royal family. this is something he's tried to prevent for years. >> wow, sounds like the prince has got to get a job. ed kline, thank you so much for joining us. by the way, the august issue of "vanity fair" hits newsstands later this week. and coming up next, guess who's here. we've got oscar winner tom hanks, one of our favorites here in our studio right after this. 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[ female announcer ] now, just pop, click, switch your lids whenever you like! choose from over 20+ colors and designs. the new dell inspiron r series laptops with switchable lids, powered by the 2nd generation intel® core™ processor family: not just smart, visibly smart. call or click to get this fully loaded and totally protected inspiron 15r today! ♪ [ intel bong ] two-time oscar winner tom hanks has been an actor, writer, producer and director. now he is doing it all at once for his latest film which is called "larry crown." hanks plays the title character who heads to community college after losing his job. and that's when sparks start flying between larry and his professor played by julia roberts. take a look. >> you ready for your final? >> well, we'll find out. >> i drew the order last night. >> and? >> you're last. >> lucky me. >> thank you, by the way. >> what did i do? >> kept our secret. >> oh. i don't do many things well, but i can keep a secret. >> gentlemen do. >> tom, welcome back. >> thank you. that's the sum total of what i do well. what you just told me, matt, will never leave my lips and the headsets of the entire crew. don't you worry about that. >> you were one of the biggest stars in hollywood. i've told you that often. you've told me that also. julia roberts is one of the biggest stars in hollywood. so when you guys want to talk about a project, is there a super-secret phone line? is there a phone booth off the ventura freeway? what happens? >> there is a preamble that goes along with it, whenever i can track her down. she was either in india, indonesia or italy when i first talked to her about this. she was making the three "i" movie, "eat, pray, love." i don't know what time zone you're in or what the kids are doing, but look, this is official business call in which everything drops. all right. >> but, see, you called her -- again, you're producing directing, you called directly. there are no casting agents, agents, nothing like that. >> we warned her her phalanx of operatives that i would like to speak to her, and they okayed it. and then i got one of those 18-digit numbers, 051163701322. >> is that a 3? >> i'm not sure but i had to dial it, like, nine times. >> did she say yes immediately? >> no, i will send this to you. i wrote it i'd like you to be in it, i would like to be your boss, but only if you think there's something there. if you hate it, just say it ain't for me and all will be forgotten. >> larry crowne goes to community college. you're of the same age so it isn't one of those creepy teacher/student relationships. >> it could be. we always started off -- the other teacher is george takei. we flipped a coin and said, where will the romance begin? man, luckily it came up heads because otherwise, we're talking to a whole different mass audience, i'm telling you right now. timely, without a doubt, but a different audience. >> you'd be with kathie lee and hoda. >> i think we might have been part of the gay pride parade which i would gladly be on the float for. >> chemistry. everybody talks about it when you get to big stars taking part in a movie. it didn't seem to be much of an issue. >> well, i don't want to blow out any secrets, but in a lot of ways chemistry can be faked in motion pictures. >> do you really think it can be totally faked? >> if you don't actually like each other, you have to have a huge amount of respect for each other and you've got to identify with the material. but julia and i met about 12 years ago on a photo shoot. and i thought she was everything she was cracked up to be. and then we would work together on "charlie wilson's war." thank you. thank you. thank you. yeah, yeah, yeah. it never works the way it's supposed to work. the applause is supposed to begin before i say "thank you." but we became really good pals. i mean, honestly, we laughed a lot. working together on this, i think she trusted that i would try to establish as the boss the same ease of working atmosphere as we had on that. >> watching you promote this movie and you've been around doing it, you seem to be having a lot of fun which is unusual because you're not usually that much fun here. so when you have been like on univision, doing the weather, this video has been making the rounds. >> let me tell you. >> what was going on here? >> first of all, i was told i was doing the weather with tiki delgado. who hasn't wanted to try to master the samba. there i am. and then trying to speak in spanish. not easy to do as al roker, but i had a feeling that if this had been me and al roker trying to point out the weather, not exactly the same. no offense. no offense, al. i believe-- and tiki delgado is a former miss venezuela. and you are a former mr. new jersey. >> i'm a miss new jersey. >> whatever. >> so when you're doing the dance, you're thinking this screen spouts off. >> you can't do this for any movie. you can go around the world and have a good time promoting it which, by the way, i think our press junket is getting damn good reviews which makes me feel great. >> but you wouldn't have done this, for example, for "charlie wilson's war." >> no, i don't think so. >> it didn't work the second time either. >> mercy applause. scattered mercy applause. >> real quickly, you were just with the queen. >> yes, i was. >> oprah. >> of the other country. >> how was that? >> that was everything it's cracked up to be. you know, 172 people in buckingham palace, bagpipers and a nice cut of lamb. nice chunk of lamb. you know, good piece of meat for dinner. i had no complaints. >> it's always fun to have you here. >> thank you, matt. pleasure to be here. thanks very much. >> "larry crowne" is in theaters starting friday. and tom's back in a moment. 8:26 is your time now. it is wednesday, june 29th, 2011. good morning, i'm eun yang. following breaking news in prince will quam couiam county, trying to clear the scene on i-66 in gainesville. let's go danella sealock with more. danella, good morning. >> good morning. we have an update. right now you can see this is the earlier accident was, there was several cars involved, three cars, tractor-trailer caught fire as well. right now this is a live shot of where it is. earlier i-66 eastbound, pass the 234 bypass was shut down. left lane is blocked on your left shoulder. also on 66 westbound, only your left shoulder blocked. so again, we made some progress. if you want to stay way from the area, take the alternate route 234 business, make a left on route 28, continue on to i-66. stanley! stanley! come here! somebody help! [ nail gun firing ] [ nails ricocheting ] [ paint splashes ] my hero! anyone can be a hero with the new get yours for a limited time only. america runs on dunkin'. hurry in today for your "first avenger" tri-cup good morning, sunny, low humidity today, tomorrow and on friday. but then heat and [ male announcer ] we are americans. we know right from wrong. and we know the ads blaming president obama for the economy are politics at its worst. the republicans have opposed economic reforms at every turn. and now they have a plan that would essentially end medicare for future retirees... slash education... while giving huge tax breaks to big oil and the wealthy. we can't rebuild america if they tear down the middle class. priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising. priorities usa action is responsible for the content denny's new tour of america menu. 50 star cuisine. the new tour of america menu. starting at $4.99. only at denny's. america's diner is always open. friday, pit bull live with marc anthony, t-pain and ne-yo. four hot performers, one cool concert. the "toyota summer concert series" only today on nbc. ♪ pump it up and back it up like a tonka truck ♪ 8:30 now on a wednesday morning, the 29th of june, 2011. as we say hill low hello to our friends on rockefeller plaza. and guess what. on friday, if they come back, pit bull has been featured in j. lo's latest song. he'll be here live on the plaza and getting help from marc anthony, t-pain and ne-yo. those four hot performers on stage here on friday on stage. >> maybe he'll bring j. lo. >> wouldn't that be nice? >> and that outfit. >> i'm ann curry with matt lauer, natalie morales and al roker. >> some people are going to plan some kind of major patriotic bash patriotic bash for fourth of july. who bettor tell you than lady right there, martha stewart. wouldn't you like to be invited to that picnic? >> later on, jenna bush hager taking us into cajun country. show us some of the run-ins we had -- she had with crawfish, gators and a few other critters just ahead. >> first, let's not keep them waiting any longer about we have patrick dempsey and josh duhamel here from "transformers are." >> you know it's a michael bay movie when you have 300 cars, exploding, how much fun was it acting in this film? josh, your third "transformers" film? >> yes. it's a full day's work. >> it's a lot of fun. >> the best time i've ever had. >> everything is just so larger than life all the way through production. >> 300 cars destroyed. a chick flick? >> flood damaged cars. >> they were already going to be crushed anyway. helps them along in the process. >> i've got it now. >> transformers dark side of the moon you show a dark side. >> you play a different character and had a blast doing. >> makes a very good villain. >> i did not knee. >> hiding this. >> from "grays anatomy." yes. >> from the ultimate chick show to the ultimate male show. i like the balance of all of that. >> you are really good. you are really good playing a soldier. one point, you made me cry. you and tie rhese gibson because two of you embody this kind of courage that the soldiers need to stand up against terrible evil and difficulty. like patrick dempsey. >> thank you. >> it wasn't the guy you're with. all of the guys are military men, aren't they? >> all of the guys around me are s.e.a.l.s or arm rangers who are active duty, who have been back and forth to iraq and afghanistan. >> josh, you're from minot, north dakota the face of helping the flood relief here. >> i'm dwloog i can to raise awareness, it's devastating what's going on there right now. i'm -- it's a very resilient community. if anybody can handle something like this, it's them but they need help right now. i'm trying to raise awareness and help as many as i can. >> how fast? >> a website on my facebook page, minot area community center, a fund, all of the funds will go to the people trying to restore their lives. >> we'll put it on our website. >> as well as information about the dempsey center. you're involved in charity. >> >> a wellness center for people experiencing cancer which i give them as much support as possible. we have a nice bike ride and run in october, raised $1 million in last couple of years and the money goes back into the community and hopefully for the people whose lives are affected. >> great to have you here. >> good to be here. way too long. >> check out the transformer movie. 300 cars. >> flood-damaged cars. >> flood damaged. >> mr. roquer? >> all right. that's what's owing on around the country. here what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> bright sunshine on this wednesday morning. good morning, i'm tom kiernan. right now, we're in the 70s. later today into the mid and upper 80s. lots of sun, low humidity, fresh northwest breeze gusting around 15 miles an hour. not too humid friday but getting hotter. ha hazy, hot, humid, saturday, sunday, fourth of july each into the 90s. on the fourth, an isolated thunder that's your latest weather. now let's head on down to washington, d.c., and say hello to big willie scott. you are looking fantastic, sir. >> getting better like you, baby, every day. 500 pounds a day. you're the best. meredith vieira, i wasn't here to say good-bye. good-bye, her zimeredith. we check the old jam jar. here is edna yoder, mennonite name. south hutchinson, kansas, 100 years old. loves her family, loves to quilt, do all kinds of home things. plude blackmon of montgomery, alabama, 100 years old today. proud volunteer, does all sorts of things, meals on wheels. he's a fabulous man in the community. they love him. take a look at ella mae pratt from decatur, illinois, 100 years old today. she is proud to say that one of the first batches of chicken she ever made was with colonel sanders right in the kitchen. good old louie, sweet louie neff of zephyrhills, florida. he's a huge fan of nascar. you know more people watch that than any sport there is? and volunteers with local hospitals, too. can't beat that. on the birthday list, monica kuntz from circle, montana, cowgi cowgirl, 100 years owed today and loves to watch rodeos, especially bull riding. we're sort of in that business here at nbc. yes, we are. bull something. i forgot. anyway, paul lovell, and he is from bridgeport, west virginia. i want to go back to west virginia. did i say that right? and 100 years old today. a proud ww ii veteran and was once taken as a prisoner of war in the battle of the bulge. that's all. and ann, i'm so proud of you. i love you. everybody loves you. >> willard, i love you so much. that is so sweet. coming up next, jenna bush hager's adventure in cajun country. but first, this is "today" on nbc. ♪ we're back now at 8:39 as we kick off a special series "america the beautiful." it's our way to celebrate the beauty and the culture of the country's various national parks and heritage areas. "today" contributing correspondent jenna bush hager is here with her very first destination. i like this series. hi. >> today we're taking you to atchafalaya swamp in louisiana, the heart of cajun country. although this country requires no passport. >> reporter: right here, just 100 miles beyond the city of new orleans, you'll find a wilderness of winding water, soaring cypress and curious creatures. the atchafalaya basin, the landscape bountiful and mysterious filled with twisting bayous and backwater lakes. sometimes for boating but always majestic. a land rich not only in nature but in the unique culture. >> i lived here my whole life. 71 years. if you can find where you belong, i think that's the key to it, then this is where i belong. >> reporter: the cajun descendants of french canadians, fled here to the swamp over 250 years ago where they built a new life, fishing and hunting. and for crawfisherman roy, he contributes today. hello. have you been fishing? >> been trying. >> reporter: a tradition he tried to teach me. so we're going to try to fill this back up, right? >> oh, yeah. we'll fill this back up. >> reporter: they don't look too happy. >> i don't blame them. >> reporter: for roy, the waters are a road, a home and a living. look what i got. some crawfish. four pounds of crawfish. that's enough for dinner, right? >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: whoa! coming out hot. and i soon learned not just a cajun way of life but a cajun sense of humor. natural? >> natural mess. >> reporter: that's a mess? >> oh, yeah, you wouldn't make it. >> reporter: i wouldn't make it? >> no, too slow. most of the cajun people are happy and jolly and real friendly. look at me. >> reporter: get out, sir. come on. it's time to go. he'll be fine until i put a little cajun spice on him. that's so sweet. a flower. when you think of the word "swamp," you might think of someplace spooky or scary. but as we traveled further, another word came to mind, magical. >> nature tells a story. it's not something you have to speak in words. >> reporter: david allemond has lived here his whole life. the last few years have not been easy. a hurricane, an oil spill and epic flooding. >> i've had to leave twice in the last ten years. but we get up every day. we do what it takes to make our day go. and we keep on keeping on. and that's what cajuns do. the cajun way of life is the joy of life. we don't take anything for granted. >> reporter: especially when a nine-foot alligator is hot on your tail. >> it's okay. ♪ >> reporter: it's become clear that these cajuns have learned that even the worst disaster is made bearable by sharing delicious food, dancing to infectious music and savoring a cool evening breeze on a hot atchafalaya knit. >> jenna, i invite everybody to come to the basin. >> except for my little crawfish friends, we all had a wonderful time down there. tomorrow we head from the swamps of louisiana to the wild west of texas. and we visit big ben national park. >> i've never seen you move faster than when that nine-foot alligator was there. >> that thing was huge. >> that's a big alligator. >> it scared me. i have to tell you the truth. >> jenna, thank you very much. up next, martha stewart's ideas for adding a touch of style and patriotism to your fourth of july party. there's martha going at it right there. first, this is "today" on nbc. "martha on today" is brought to you by macy's. the martha stewart collection is now available only at macy's and on macys.com. >> this morning on "martha on today," a fourth of july celebration. you don't need fireworks to make your guests ooh and ah this weekend. you might want to try inexpensive crafts and decorations straight from the pages of "martha stewart living." good morning. >> good morning. >> you are just in time. the holiday's coming. a lot of us have no idea what we're doing. >> it's so much fun. it's three days. you have to time to make all these simple but very effective cookies and decorations. candy favors like this. m&m's and these little swizzle sticks. they're so cute. napkins. just find fabrics. >> so fun things that are red, white and blue and put them together. >> i love these little rockets filled with candies and fine patriotic red, white and blue candies, tie them up. these are sort of like crackers, candy crackers. >> so that done, but let's talk about the spectacular idea. >> firework cookies. now, these look impossible to make, right? >> they do. let's show people what they look like close up. you can see they're frosted cookies. you've taken frosting -- >> everybody's buying it to figure out how to do it. >> you're saying people can do this at home. >> yes. >> show us how. >> the first thing, flood your cookie with white icing. >> i like that word, flood. >> just use a squeeze bottle. just get the consistency of your royal icing which is basically confectionary's sugar and egg whites and a little flavoring of lemon juice. just a tad. and you just spread the whole cookie. keep squeezing until you get a nice flood. we have it covered here already. so you can pick up one. you want to do red or blue. >> i'll do red. >> now, you start in the middle and just put a dot. >> a dot. >> then do eccentric circles all the way around. you can alternate red and blue or just read. >> circle. >> you're doing well. they do not have to be perfect circles. this takes a little elbow grease, as i always say. >> you have to squeeze pretty hard. and you can find one of these tubes anywhere. >> i want to make sure you have one that's all done. >> okay. is this a competition? because i'm going to get going here. >> get those concentric circles. this is an old baker's technique from france. remember on the tops of napoleons? >> oh, yeah. >> you know, they had those little beautiful drawings. >> beautiful designs, right. >> so then take -- yeah, you're doing okay. that's enough to show the technique. then take the point of the bamboo skewer and pull from the center out just lightly. and see what happens? >> like you're making a little pie. like you're cutting a pie. >> but lightly, just do the top service and you get those beautiful designs. even though mine was kind of like not perfect. >> clean the tip of your bamboo. >> mine is so pretty. >> it is perfect. but as you get more adept at it, you get more and more, do complicated, beautiful designs. >> you could spend so much time. >> now, striped tablecloth. this is a drop cloth from home depot. it's a canvas drop cloth. use a fabric paint. tape off -- masking tape. tape off lines and then just -- >> down the line. >> dab like this. then let it dry and pull off the tape and you have stripes like that. >> we've run out of time, just leave the tape on it. >> no, no, no. and then decorating your kid's bike or your bike. do you have a bike in >> i do have a bike. >> they're so much fun to decorate. all the clip art is in our magazine. >> how did you do that? >> we show you how to do these spoke covers, how to do the wheel cover. this goes right on the wheel. it's very simple. >> this would be great at getting kids to get on the bike but get the whole family out on the bike. >> and do your own little parade or take the bike to your fourth of july. do you have one in your town? >> i do have one in my town. >> these are so much fun. just make sure you keep anything that's hanging away from the wheels so that you don't have an accident. >> martha stewart. putting ai smi smile on the hol. >> do you want to ride? >> i do. >> can you do it in your skirt? i have a skirt on. be careful as you shoot this. first, this is "today" on nbc! it is a pleasure, and we mean that, to welcome back our good friend, len berman. he's here to catch us up on the wild and wacky moments from the world of sports. lenny, welcome back. >> i can't go on. you guys are too kind. all right. well, the last couple of months feature the kentucky derby, the dallas mavericks and the boston bruins. but what were truly the top sports stories? let's go spanning the world. ♪ >> unbelievable! >> all right. on your mark, get set. in south carolina high school soccer. that's a goal. play ball! everybody flipping out. as cabrera for cleveland, paul konerko for chicago. got him. pitcher ross for texas. ditto. the guy on the left at indianapolis. look out. in italy, the penalty kick goes off the crossbar. the goalie celebrates. but look at the ball. bounce, bounce. that's a goal. just another case of premature exhilaration. >> oh! >> in france. a motorcycle mishap. ♪ here we go 'round the mulberry bush ♪ ♪ this goes on for a while. speaking of bush, the former president was at the game. and look out, sir. the dodger fan dropped his kid, he didn't get the ball either. but tiffany goodwin shows how it's done in "the richmond times dispatch." ball, kid and nobody got hurt. time for a brek in the action. at clemson during the rain delay. the game of choice was bowling. and converting a rare 7/10 split. but their rain delay activities, jousting. back to the action. evan longoria for tampa bay being interviewed. take it away. >> wow! >> all right. so it was only a commercial. but that's a pretty cool grab, don't you think? our an mimals of the month. fans were chanting, "jump!" and he listened. our fans of the month. you know, i'm not sure that's going to work. you know? oh, yeah. our athlete of the month. in new zealand. this is the world's first triple backward bmx flip. and you're asking, how does that look on helmet cam? well, makes it look queasy. and at the president's race in washington, teddy roosevelt finally won for the first time, but he was disqualified for using a segway because in president's racing, you're not allowed to ride softly and carry a big stick. >> oh! >> that's why he only shows up every two years. >> i can't believe you're groaning. you're groaning. >> exhilaration. >> that was good. >> hdtv. it's in color, right? >> it is. >> and it actually went out over the air. unbelievable. >> come back soon. >> great to have you back. we're going to be back after your local news and weather. they had a camera some 8:55 is your time now. 76 degrees. good morning, i'm eun yang. wednesday, june 29, 2011. breaking news in prince william county where a fiery crash on i-66 in gainesville is having a major affect on traffic. danella sealock with late pest. good morning. >> good morning, chopper 4 live over the accident. earlier 66 east shut down. right now you see only your left lane is blocked. and they have a tractor-trailer on a tow truck, willing and waiting now to get everything together and tow it out. seeing significant delays on 66 east. right now i'm going to give you an alternate route. travel on 66 east, delays out of haymarket and continue. take 234 business, make a left on route 28, then take i-66. back to you. >> thanks so much. we'll take a break. good morning, sunshine, low humidity today, tomorrow, friday. holiday weekend, heat and humidity returns. haz hazy, hot, humidity fourth of july. >> no more excuses. see how a man is keeping fit and competing in body building events d we're back now with more of "today" on a wednesday morning, the 29th day of june, 2011. and we've got a big crowd sticking around our plaza on a beautiful summer day. i'm matt lauer along with ann curry. al roker and savannah guthrie. coming up, we're going to have more on a trial that just seems to get more unusual and controversial every single day. >> that's right. and there were some very controversial testimony yesterday. we're talking about the casey anthony trial. also ahead in today's "money 911," it's never too early to start thinking about retirement. we'll have some tips for you. we're also going to give you some low-risk investment options if you're trying to grow your money but don't like the low interest rates that banks are giving these days, our experts will all weigh in. we've all heard about honeymoons, but have you heard about babymoons? it's all the rage for expectant couples. they go, they take a trip, recharge, relax before the baby is born and that little bundle of joy turns into a bundle of nerves for the parents. we'll have four different babymoon getaways. >> that's a good idea. we've had people in our crowd come out having babymoons. they know something we're just catching up to. let's go inside, natalie morales with a check of all the headlines. >> good morning, everyone. we begin with the chaos in greek where clashes brek out between police and protesters who are trying to stop the parliament from voting today on drastic spending cuts and tax hikes. in exchange for giving greece more bailout funds needed to prevent a catastrophic default on its debt. as a fast-moving wildfire continues to threaten the nuclear facility at los alamos, new mexico, residents downwind are concerned about a potentially hazardous smoke plume. should flames reach the radioactive material stored above ground. lab officials say they don't believe the 95 square mile blaze will reach the thousands of barrels of waste. independent forensic experts are disputing much of the evidence collected against amanda knox. according to a report obtained by the associated press in italy, the dna evidence used to convict the student in the murder of meredith kirchner may have been contaminated and is, quote, unreliable. a dramatic standoff at an international hotel in kabul has killed at least 11 civilians. a team of heavily armed taliban fighters stormed the intercontinental hotel tuesday night and battled with security forces for several hours. nato helicopters took down three gunmen on the roof, and afghan security forces ended the standoff on the ground. highly confrontational moments at the casey anthony murder trial in florida. nbc's kerry sanders is at the courthouse in orlando. kerry, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. for hours tuesday the defense zipped through witnesses, but two were especially combative, roy kronk who found caylee's remains in the woods and casey anthony's father, george, who the defense claims helped cover up not a murder but rather an accidental drowning. george anthony on the stand for the fourth time. this time exasperated. defense attorney jose baez was hammering casey's father, demanding an answer. did he take up with this woman, crystal holloway, a volunteer, who joined the search for caylee and in an intimate moment reveal a secret? >> you never told crystal holloway, while the two of you were being romantic, that this was an accident that snowballed out of control? >> objection. assumes a fact not in evidence. >> reporter: the defense claims 2-year-old caylee was not murdered but rather she drowned in the backyard swimming pool. and casey's father, george, helped his daughter cover it up. >> you never told her, this was an accident that snowballed out of control? >> never did. >> reporter: the defense has suggested meter reader roy kronk who discovered caylee's remains in august is their key to reasonable doubt because he rediscovered those remains in december. >> i noticed something that looked white. and there was a, like, a gray bag down in there. i don't know what it is. i'm not telling you it's caylee or anything of that nature. >> reporter: kronk said he was distracted by a snake he found that day in august. but four months later, it was the same roy kronk who testified he went back into those woods and he found caylee's skull. the defense wants the jury to believe kronk's multiple visits were suspicious. and his credibility tainted by the process. >> did you go on "good morning america" show? >> yes, sir. >> and did you get paid for doing that? >> i was paid for -- i was paid for a licensed picture of a snake, but i knew that there would probably be an interview involved. >> were you paid $15,000 for doing that, sir? >> i was paid $15,000 for a licensed picture of the snake, sir. >> reporter: roy kronk's lawyer says he expects to be called back to the stand again today. natalie? >> kerry sanders in orlando, florida, for us, thank you, kerry. and seattle police are investigating how a police assault rifle was left on the back of a squad car monday. good samaritans flagged down officers to alert them, and somebody posted a picture on a blog. a police spokesman would not say if the weapon was loaded. pretty scary. it is now five minutes past the hour. let's turn it over to al with a check of your weather. >> i've got my doughnut, my coffee. what am i forgetting? >> hmm. >> thank you. let's collect the weather. see what happens going on. the latest on tropical storm arlene. right now, it is about 175 miles east of tampico, mexico, winds 40 miles per hour west-northwest at eight. no danger for the southern u.s. we could use some of the draen where we've got drought-stricken areas. showers along the southeastern atlanta. slight risk of strong storms in montana. showers in the pacific northw t northwest. heat is on through the southwest. bad news there in los alamos, new mexico, when winds will be picking up tonight out of the southwest from 10 to 20 miles per hour. that's what's going on around the country. here what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> upper 70s to near 80. lower humidity moving in. in place today, tomorrow, friday. lots of sunshine each day. then over the weekend, humidity increases and so does the heat. hazy, hot, humid, saturday, sunday, fourth of july. highs into the 90s. here's a small chance of isolated storm, perhaps monday afternoon or evening on the 4th. and nen again on tuesday. that's the way it looks. ♪ money money money time for today's "money 911." our experts answer some of your questions. we've got jean chatzky, the author of "money 911." dylan ratigan is the host of "the dylan ratigan show." and alexa is founder of a personal website, finance website, for women. good to see you guys. >> fleiss nice to see you. >> we're starting off with skype and kelly from massachusetts. good morning, kelly. >> good morning, al. i'm looking for the best option for myself and my husband for our retirement. i'm a union rn for a local community hospital which offers a 403b and a pension plan. my husband is unfortunately self-employed due to the recent economy. and i'm wondering what should i do? should i go with my pension plan 403(b) or open a roth i.r.a.? >> you want to go with your 403(b). >> what's that? >> it's just like a 401(k) except it's offered to a different group of employees. it works the same. it has the same limits. you can put up to $16,500 a year in there. if you can do that, that's fantastic. often you'll get matching dollars for making those contributions which is why it takes precedence over an i.r.a. your husband, even though he's not working, he can have a spousal i.r.a. or a spousal roth i.r.a. you can shove another $5,000 in there for him even before he goes back to work. and this is really, really important for anybody who has a stay-at-home spouse. people don't take advantage of the fact that they can actually save for that person, too. really good to do. >> all right. thanks so much. good luck, kelly. now let's check in with susan from new york. she's on the phone. good morning, susan. >> good morning. >> what's your question? >> my 87-year-old mother transferred most of her money into an irrevocable trust last year, so they would be eligible for a va pension to help her with her assisted living expenses. and i'm the trustee. and i'm concerned that there is little or no return on about $200,000 which is just sitting in a regular savings account, not really even earning 1% interest. is there something else i can do with this that will not be high risk and yet still give her more interest? >> dylan, what should susan do? >> two things. one, there's a myth that has understandably come to be that having all your money in cash is in some way safer than anything else. it's a psychological thing. i've got my money. that's my money. but the reality is right now, what we're doing with currencies around the world makes having the cash actually more risky than you would think. that's the first point. to that point, there are other things like inflation index bonds that are at least indexed to what's going on with the consumer price index. or for that matter, money market funds. >> money markets, cds. you should go to a website calls ratesbrain.com which will clue you into the highest interest rates available throughout the country on low-risk investments. we're talking about an 87-year-old woman. we don't want to be taking a lot of risk. a little more than just a savings account is fine. >> all right. glad your mother's doing okay, susan. >> thank you very much. >> have a great day. now let's get to a viewer e-mail from jennifer in seattle. my husband and i have got $20,000 in savings and don't currently owe anything. we are capable of saving half of our monthly income. what's the best low-risk way to invest this money? it is currently sitting in our savings account, not gaining much interest. alexa? >> the first thing i would do, jennifer, congratulations on being out of debt, having a nest egg and being thoughtful on how to make the most out of your money. before you go straight to investing, let's make sure you have an emergency savings account that has at least nine months of your overall expenses. then make sure you're contributing to your retirement amount and taking advantage of any 401(k) matching programs. after those boxes are checked, then think about when am i going to need this money? if you're willing to part with it for call it about ten years, then you're ready to invest. at that point i'd open a low-cost brokerage account and sit down with a financial planner and really understand what your risk tolerance is and your time horizon. that would be the best plan. >> all right. good advice. we've got a viewer who sent in a video. this is from charice with her son, austin. >> in the last few years our family has been through the financial wringer. we lost our long-term investments in a ponzi scheme. then both my husband and i are unemployed. my husband has a new job that more than meets our financial needs. how do we go about rebuilding financial stability and maybe make room for some more? >> california. jean? >> it's great that this is how people will emerge from the recession. you do want to start to rebuild. you've got to start, as alexa said, with that emergency cushion and then put yourself on a budget where you're saving at least 10% but you've got buckets that will allow you to pay for those things that you want as well as those things that you need. as long as you're saving, you can give yourself a little flexibility on the other side. >> one more viewer e-mail here. this is from kate in california. i have about $6,000 in my 403(b) from lie mast full-time job. we don't have time for that. i'm sorry. we do. okay. i'm working part time so my 403(b) is just sitting. should i convert it to a roth i.r.a.? and if i get a job with benefits in the next six months, can i convert it? >> do both. >> if there's a point you're at a corporation with benefits, roll it over. do both. >> i couldn't ask for better. all right. jean chatzky, dylan ratigan and alexa, thanks. catch dylan on "the dylan ratigan show" on msnbc. if you've got more financial questions, head to today.com. alexa is hosting a live web chat at 9:30 eastern. next, taking a trip for two before baby makes three. great idea for babymoons. the latest at-home fitness craze that will give women the perfect abs. we're getting a workout from p90x creator tony horton! but first, these messages. an antidepressant and n for at least six weeks, you're frustrated that your depressive symptoms are still with you. seroquel xr, when added to an antidepressant, is approved for the treatment of major depressive disorder. for many, taking seroquel xr with an antidepressant was proven more effective than an antidepressant alone for treating unresolved symptoms of depression. talk to your doctor about seroquel xr. then visit seroquelxr.com for a free trial offer. call your doctor if you have unusual changes in mood, behavior, or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children,teens, and young adults. elderly dementia patients taking seroquel xr have an increased risk of death. call your doctor if you have fever, stiff muscles, and confusion, as these may be signs of a life-threatening reaction or if you have uncontrollable muscle movements, as these could become permanent. high blood sugar has been reported with seroquel xr and medicines like it and in extreme cases can lead to coma or death. your doctor should check for cataracts. other risks include decreases in white blood cells, which can be fatal, seizures, increased cholesterol, weight gain, dizziness on standing, drowsiness,impaired judgment, and trouble swallowing. use caution before driving or operating machinery. for more help putting distance between you and your depression, ask your doctor about adding seroquel xr. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. - definitely the one on the right. - yeah, are y-- - seriously, the clorox one. - oh, okay. the difference is obvious. for the whitest whites, use detergent, plus the advanced whitening formula of clorox bleach. right? 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[ male announcer ] hey, there's oreo creme under that fudge! oreo fudge cremes. indescribably good. this morning on "today's travel," babymoons. you may not have heard of them, but according to a recent survey, 59% of expectant parents have taken a special vacation during the pregnancy. and we caught up with one set of soon-to-be parents who just got back from their trip for two. >> my name is janae. >> i'm michael. >> we've been married three years. mike and i are expecting our first child. we're having a girl. >> we're over the moon excited. like most working couples, we just don't get to spend as much time as we'd like to during the workweek. and with the baby due, our weekends fill up quickly with birthing class. >> prenatal yoga. >> child cpr. putting together the nursery. >> my husband surprised me with a babymoon. >> babymoon is vacation that a couple takes before they are about to give birth. couples spend some time together and come back refreshed and ready to welcome the new baby. >> i decided that we would go to turks and caicos for a quick getaway. >> it was the most magical, amazing place. this, for me, was all about just relaxing. sitting back, relaxing on the beach and taking a few moments for myself and kind of recharge my batteries a little bit. >> because we know come the end of august when the baby comes, it's going to be a roller-coaster ride. >> we were just able to bond with each other and just reconnect with each other. >> we were able to talk to a number of different topics that you kind of have pushed off for the last few months. >> like names because we don't have one. >> names, day care versus nanny. >> we were able to do it in a setting that wasn't high pressure. >> so now we're ready for the homestretch. >> we're back from the babymoon. and we are ready to meet our daughter. >> and kate maxwell is the article's editor for "conde nast traveler." she's here with a few of her favorite babymoon destinations. >> good morning. >> it's something fun you and your partner do before you have baby and baby makes three and then it's all about baby and forget about house. >> it's the last trip before your life is turned upside down before the arrival of the child. >> there's some precautions before you book your travel. >> most doctors don't advise flying after 34 weeks. call the hotel and find out what medical services there are in the area and explain that you're pregnant. then when you're on that flight, maybe take some of your favorite snacks in case of cravings and keep hydrated, wear comfortable clothes and move around the cabin. >> get up and stretch every once in a while. let's get to great babymoon destinations. first, we saw the couple enjoying turks and caicos. >> a few weeks ago, i saw a couple happy babymooners. 91 rooms. right on a stunning beach. and it's really set up for babymoons. it's got a gorgeous infinity pool. if your partner fancies something more active, there's great scuba diving and snorkeling. the exhale spa has great prenatal treatments. >> it really is all about pampering yourself beforehand. another great getaway, the ritz-carlton in st. thomas. a little pricier, but this is the last hurrah before baby. they do have a special deal for you as well. >> this is $359 per night. and $100 resort credit. and again, a really wonderful spa. we love that yummy tummy treatment which is a bit like a facial for your stomach if you're worried about stretch marks. >> everybody needs a yummy tummy treatment. >> again, a gorgeous beach. a very romantic destination. that's another caribbean option. >> well, if the beach isn't your thing, a place that i've been to is fabulous, pregnant but active, you know, mom-to-be. >> right. >> there's the arizona enchantment resort and spa. >> in your second trimester when women tend to have a bit more energy, you want a little adventure, perhaps, it's very high on our conde nast travelers spa poll every year. they have really good prenatal treatments and hiking. >> incredible hiking. >> a wonderful stargazing. a really go ahead all-around destination. >> it is absolutely fabulous. lastly, unexpectedly, las vegas is always a fun place to go. but i don't know, the casino, the lights, all of that a little too much for a pregnant mom? >> yeah, you might not think of it as a typical kind of babymoon destination. and maybe you're not going to be reenacting scenes from "the hangover." >> let's hope not. >> gambling and fantastic restaurants in vegas, great shopping. >> great shows. >> great shows. the cosmopolitan, we love that. rooms start at $195 a night. at this time of year. >> looks like a nice spa, too. >> and a really good spa. again, really good prenatal facilities. >> kate maxwell, as always, thanks so much for coming by. still to come, that special bond between fathers and daughters and how it impacts your life down the road after these messages. the 4th of july mattress spectacular is on now! get an extra ten percent off mattresses already half off. and instant savings up to three hundred fifty dollars on select mattresses. head to sears to talk with our mattress experts, or shop our largest selection online. hurry, it's all on now! sears. you want that? you want a warm, super-delicious strawberry toaster strudel yeah but now i have nothing to eat sure you do. hey! you can have the pop tart! pillsbury toaster strudel. the one kids want to eat yep! (mom) i'm so proud of you. the bus is here, gotta go mom. okay hunny, have a great day. look in your bag, made you something. (announcer) it's more than just that great peanut taste, choosing jif is a simple way to show someone how much you care. choosey moms, choose jif. still to come, the special bonds between dads and daughters. plus getting those perfect abs from the creator of p did the p90x. >> go for it, giada. tonight ♪ good time come in for a great time at olive garden. enjoy our new carbonara ravioli with chicken for just $10.95. pancetta and parmesan-filled ravioli served with pan-seared chicken in creamy parmesan sauce. ♪ family affair or with sauteed shrimp for $12.95. both with unlimited breadsticks and salad or homemade soup. a great meal sure to end with a smile. olive garden. when you're here, you're family. you noticed! these clothes are too big, so i'm donating them. how'd you do it? eating right, whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios... 9:26 is your time now. 76 degrees, beautiful out there. less humidity, nicer weather. tom will have the forecast after the news. good morning, i'm eun yang. 9:30, two ramps closed at telegraph road accident. the first ramp telegraph road south to the outer loop of 495. that should reopen by 1:30. the other inner loop of the beltway to telegraph road south also closed until 1:30. it will close tomorrow ♪ mmm. oh gosh. oh dear. big deal. you're delicious. so what. i've got news for you. there's no such thing... ...as a bear sheriff. you think i'm afraid of you? hey what? you don't have to be mean to the cake. i do. you don't. i do. just eat yoplait light. they have great flavors like... boston cream pie, raspberry cheesecake. even though i work here, i've lost weight. wow. yeah. carry on. (announcer) 28 delicious flavors at around 100 calories each. good morning. fresh northerly breeze bringing in lower humidity and bright sunshine for today. high pressure pushes in. later this afternoon, climb into the upper 80s. right now near 80. cool tonight, near 60 tomorrow. sunny thursday, highs mid 80s, low humidity. not too humid friday. sun over the weekend, hazy, hot, humid saturday, sunday, and on fourth of july. each day highs into the 90s. and late on monday, might get a passing thunder shower. let's check track. danella? >> earlier accident on i-66 block yours left lane. we have significant dpelays in haymarket. 234 business, left on 28 and continue on i-66. >> no more excuses. see how a man is competing in bo ♪ that is miami-born music star pit bull burning up the charts with that miami heat. actually, he's doing better than the miami heat. >> that hurt. >> he'll be bringing his rapping style to our concert stage. he's got some high-profile collaborating, t-pain, ne-yo and marc anthony friday only on "today." >> that is going to be huge! >> what, am i wearing something weird? oh. we'll get to that in a minute. meanwhile, coming up, we'll be talking about the special bond between dads and daughters. i've got two girls. and it's an interesting relationship. and it's one you're always working on. we have the story of one dad who showed his love through words and actions by reading a story to her every night for nearly a decade. it's awfully sweet. we'll show that impact relationships. >> plus my mouth is watering already. giada is here. she's making a light summer meal that she whipped up when i was out there visiting with her recently. a brussels sprout salad. you see shrimp cakes. i went home and tried to replicate that she made. mine, not so good. hers, amazing. >> yep. >> she's going to show us how it's on. >> ready to work off the meal. there's a reason i'm wearing this outfit. tony horton is going to be here whipping us into shape. creator of -- >> what do you mean us. >> you. >> hugely successful p90x workout. abs for women. this in is frightening. >> girlfriend. >> is this -- >> do the right. to the left. >> right, left. >> that's the easy part. >> al. >> kind of like she's on the dance floor. >> it is. go do the weather. >> raise the roof. >> okay. >> let's collect it out see what's going on. first of all today, we've got showers and thunderstorms, talk about in the southeast where we may see rain there. sunny skies through the gulf coast on into the great lakes. risk of strong storms back through the northern plains. wet weather in the pacific northwest. tomorrow, record highs from texas all the way up into the northern rockies. sunshine up and down the eastern seaboard. hit or miss showers and thunderstorms. maybe light rain in southern texas, remnants of arlene coming on shore tomorrow. and then looking at heat in the southwest. that's what happens going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning. a gorgeous weather pattern here next three day. low humidity in place, sunshine. that should heat us newspapintos today and tomorrow. friday hotter. still not humid. however, turning humid into the weekend, saturday, sunday and the fourth of july, hazy, hot, humid. each day highs into the 90s. a small chance of afternoon and evening thunderstorm on the 4th and again on tuesday. and that's your latest weather. >> thank you, al. coming up next, how a daughter's bond with her father can affect her future relationships. and then savannah is hard at work on her washboard abs with tony hortdon. the p90x workout right after this. work it, girl. work it. harder, harder. ontacts are so annoying. they're itchy, dry and uncomfortable. i can't wait to take 'em out, throw 'em away and never see them again. 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[ male announcer ] discover why it's the brand eye doctors trust most for comfort. if you have astigmatism, there's an acuvue® oasys lens for that too, realigning naturally with every blink. ask your doctor for acuvue® oasys brand. but i've learned a lot from patients who use flexpen. flexpen comes pre-filled with the insulin i take and i can dial the exact dose of insulin i need. i live my life on the go and need an on-the-go insulin. i don't need to carry a cooler with flexpen. novolog is a fast-acting, man-made insulin used to control high blood sugar in adults and children with diabetes. do not inject novolog if you do not plan to eat within 5 to 10 minutes after injection to avoid low blood sugar. tell your healthcare provider about all medicines you take and all of your medical conditions, including if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. the most common side effect of novolog is low blood sugar. other possible side effects include reactions at the injection site. get medical help right away if you experience serious allergic reactions, body rash, trouble with breathing, fast heartbeat or sweating. ask your healthcare provider about novolog flexpen today. learn more about the different insulins available in flexpen at myflexpen.com. flexpen, insulin delivery that goes with you. ♪ hershey's drops. a lot of hershey's happiness in a little drop of chocolate. pure hershey's. i just transferred a prescription to cvs because they have care 1on1. it's where the pharmacist stops and talks to me about safety and saving money with generic prescriptions. laura, let's talk about possible side effects. it's all about me. love that. get care 1on1 and talk savings, safety, and side effects when you transfer or fill a new, ongoing prescription. i'm laura, and this is my cvs. it's all mine. lose those lines for up to a year! juvéderm® xc is the gel filler your doctor uses to instantly smooth out lines right here. temporary side effects include redness, pain, firmness, swelling, bumps, or risk of infection. ask your doctor about juvéderm® xc. this morning on "today's family," the father/daughter bond. an extraordinary tale of one dad's dedication that began with a nighttime story and lasted nearly a decade. >> reporter: a marathon of sorts where jim read to his daughter, alice, for 3,218 consecutive nights. >> shakespeare, dickens, agatha christie. >> reporter: the streak began when alice was 9, reading from oz and continuing through middle school and high school every day ending on her first day of college with one more reading from "oz." >> here's another one. >> reporter: from there alice turned her experience into her own book called "the reading promise." >> it's about stories from our lives sort of woven together by the reading streak. >> reporter: stories and lessons that many of us can learn from. >> i figured the only relationship you have, it's yours to blow it, is with your children. >> reporter: that actions speak louder than words. >> i won't say i love you to anyone. i never say that. it's all about action. it's not about saying it. >> i always think of my dad as a superhero. whatever the situation, there's no doubt in my mind he's kind of come up with a way to fix it and he probably will. >> reporter: and most importantly on spending quality time together. >> i think the point of the readings was that nothing else came before it. and in doing so, it made it clear to me that nothing else came before me. >> so what makes a father/daughter bond so special? peggy drexler is the author of this book. and rachel is the co-founder of the ladies institute. what surprised you most when you started looking into this? >> that women have not liberated themselves from the need for their dad's approval. >> but should they? >> well, i think that it's surprising because these are successful women. these are women who have had all the opportunities that men have had and have done very, very well. and still, it's their father who gets a pass. the father is never is blamed. the mother is a blame magnet. >> really? wow! >> yeah. >> when you look at this, sometimes women are a little -- moms are a little threatened by this relationship between dads and their daughters. >> well, they can be. i think that's totally true. but when girls fight with their moms, it's great for them to have dad to go to so they're not running out to their friends who say your parents are so horrible. it really keeps them away from the self-destructive influence of their peers. >> back in the '50s and '60s, it was the traditional dad. comes home, reads the paper, lights the pipe up, don't bother dad. but our roles have been evolving over the last 10 to 20 years. >> absolutely. and i think this has brought fathers and daughters much closer together. that they have so many things that they can share. and so the bonding is much, much more intense and special than it's ever been. >> in fact, when it comes to emotional stuff, are girls now going to their dads more than they were before? >> well, i think partly guys are now understanding that just because it's a girlish u does i doesn't mean it's a mommy issue. a lot of times the moms can freak out when girls have problems with their friends. the dads say chill out. it's going to be okay. that's a different way of thinking about it. >> one of the things as a dad and i know i've been guilty of this with my older girl, courtney and my middle daughter, lela, when they come to me with a problem, i want to fix it. a lot of times they just want you to listen. >> absolutely. women like to process things. and they like to process their feelings and their thinking. and men tend to get to the bottom line with a solution. and that can cause some problems as well. >> i think also, though, this is the 21st century dad. we've got a generation of dads that wants to be involved and do housework and be part of the child bearing. that's a different expectation of man and i think it's redefining masculinity. it's an exciting time. >> and one of the things dads can do for their daughters, you said you noticed in this research is that girls want their dads to help them foster their independence. >> absolutely. a girl wants to be seen and heard. by her dad. it's very important. and so that she then will have confidence in herself and her own abilities. and her dad -- and this is happening -- is treating her and teaching her everything he would do with his son. >> yeah, definitely. i think girls really have so much to learn from their dads. >> we have a lot to learn from our daughters. peggy drexler, rachel simmons, thanks so much. and read an excerpt from peggy's book at today.com. next, a light summer dish from giada de laurentiis after savannah shows you how to work it off with p90x creator tony horton. pick it up, savannah. wow! look at the violence. 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[ male announcer ] ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. ♪ this morning, we are cooking with giada, "today" contributor and chef giada de laurentiis. i have to say, i'm so excited because giada made it for us recently. we visited her out in l.a. giada, i tried to make this. it did not turn out exactly like yours. apparently the missing ingredient, you told me, giada's spit. but now you know. sorry, folks. >> no, wait a second. wait a second. you told me you tried to make it without the recipe. you need the recipe, natalie. you can't do it after a couple glasses of wine. you won't remember. >> okay. >> okay. you take the brussels sprouts. you. >> peel them. kids can actually get involved and do this. >> you can. cut into them to make it easier. i discovered that. trying to peel. what? >> so you peel all the brussels sprout leaves off. and then you end up with these, the cores, which you can freeze, put it soups, stews. >> for later. >> if you're trying to do this in a hurry, you could quarter them and be done. >> once we have them in leaves -- >> put them in boiling water. >> this is the other crucial mistake that i made. i overboiled. >> yeah, you can't overboil them. they get soggy. >> just a minute. like flash boil for a minute. >> just a minute to tenderize them ever so slightly. >> okay. >> and then you take them out. >> you take them out. >> just like this. and you put them in ice water. >> aha. >> just until they cool. okay? >> you blanch it to keep the crispiness and the green color. >> which you said you had a problem with. >> right. i didn't do it exactly as i should have, too. surprise, surprise. i didn't have the recipe. >> you can do this ahead of time. the dressing say quarter cup of fresh lemon juice. and a bunch of olive oil. do a quarter cup or half cup. salt and pepper, that's it. okay? there you go. look at her. look at her. oh, look at natalie making dressing. i love it. >> you told me you're going to put me to work. then baby arugula and endive. >> crisp texture. >> add the brussels sprout leaves. after they're cool. top it with the dressing. >> top it with the dressing. >> all over. and then some sliced toasted almonds. a little bit of nuttiness and crunch because this makes it a meal. remember, that's all you had that night. >> three bowls of this. you have fish. and also shrimp cakes behind us. >> i like peccarino. you could use parmesan cheese. >> this, i'm telling you, is unreal. it's great for fourth of july. you have to make it. >> and with burgers. >> so good. now you're going to make us these shrimp cakes which also i could not stop eating. >> you really love this one. i was quite surprised at how much you loved it. a pound of shrimp. then you saute mushrooms, shallots and carrots. and it really doesn't matter the size that you chop it to. >> you can use frozen spinach as well because you're grinding it all up. >> you could do whatever you want, really. and bread crumbs just to hold it together. one egg. lemon zest. a little bit of salt. a little bit of pepper. and you put it all in here. and the food processor does everything. let's see if this thing works. there you go. >> all right. show folks back here what we have. >> this is what it's looking like. stand over here and i'll show you. we take a little bit of this. it gets a little sticky so you might want a little water. you kind of make them into whatever size you want. and then you put them directly in. >> we don't have much time left, 30 seconds. >> three minutes. flip it. >> you make a really good ginger butter. >> butter, ginger and a little soy sauce. >> and the giada spit in the butter. okay. and then the salad here and then this great dessert is -- >> this is really easy. peaches, strawberries and mango. >> on shaved ice. >> shoo >> shaved ice. like a snow cone. >> you got it. >> can i eat now? >> you can eat. do whatever you want. >> while savannah has to go work out. ♪ baby baby >> yum. natalie, bring the salad down. natalie, bring cocktails. >> i'm coming. i'm coming. >> go, go, go! >> first, this is "today" on nbc. ♪ this morning on "get fit today," getting those washboard abs for summer. you can kick, punch and crawl your way to a perfect stomach, tony horton, the author of "bring it c: the revolutionary fitness test for all levels." we're going to put that to the test today. people are borderline obsessed. why has it been so successful? >> p90x zombies all over the country. >> it's a cult. >> part of it, it works. we're asking you to work out six days a week and eat healthy food. that's the combination that really works for most people. i was on a flight coming in. and the pilot said, thank you so much. this is the first thing where i've been excited and it works. >> abs. what's our first one? >> our first one is a little standing kick crunch. you ready for that one? >> yeah. >> yeah. so let's bring the left elbow to the right knee. here we go. and kick it out. and kick. and kick. so you're twisting and kicking at the same time. engaging sort of your whole body. >> but you do knee and then kick. >> bring the knee up first. that's your crunch. then work your hip flexors. >> and how many reps would you have to do? like four? >> 20 to 30. four wouldn't be enough. >> 20 to 30, several times. >> several times. >> what's our next one? >> a little hook uppercut knee grab. in rehearsarehearsal, you kille. let's see it. hands up. come across. >> yeah. >> underneath. grab. and bring them in. left leg. yeah, put that right one forward. there you go. here we go. hook. uppercut. grab. pull it in. nice. other side. let's do it again. hook, uppercut. grab. hook, uppercut. grab. >> all right, good. then you've got to do the other side. >> do the other side. and that you would do 20 or 30 depending on your fitness level. you want to wrap your thumb. ow. >> what's our next one? >> so now we're down on the floor. so this is a little plank crunch. these are hard. these work your entire core. you've got to work on your weaknesses, right? bring it in. >> my leg doesn't go up that high. >> that was good. other side. and then back. >> okay. >> and again. and back. do one more on this side. >> okay. >> here and back. how was that? >> it's good. you're obviously holding in your tummy. >> yeah, you want to pull in your core, squeeze the buttocks. you're nice and flat which is great. you would go back and forth at this speed. >> got it. >> and our last move. >> there's more? okay. >> you see the sweat coming already? >> yes. >> three simple moves? >> al's over there laughing. laugh it up, al. enjoying that brussels sprouts segment. >> they're over there eating cheerios. what's going on? >> i know. >> so you bring the knees in. all right? a little row your boat. hands out. when the feet go out, the hands come in. >> so we just row. >> you don't even have to make that sound. all day long. >> we could have a cocktail while doing this. >> well, you could. you could smoke a cigarette if you like. no. >> do your taxes. are you saying people have no excuse for not doing this? you could do this in your hotel room. >> i'll join you. you could go all day long. oh, now you come in. al, in that beautiful suit. i would get down if i were you and join us. >> you're not me. that's why you're you. >> fair enough. >> people are obsessed with p90x. excitement and variety. >> a lot of folks are struggling with their fitness. they're not managing to finish. they start, stop and do a diet program. >> got to be committed. >> that's right. >> tony horton, thank you so much. >> my pleasure, my dear. >> i may try this again. >> wimbledon coverage coming up right after this on nbc. 9:56 is your time. 77 degrees. what a nice day out there. break from the humidity, tom will have the forecast in a moment. good morning, i'm eun yang. breaking news out of green belt maryland. a video of a car fire along the outer loop of the beltway about one mile past the bw parkway. the vehicle is blocking left lane right now. take a look that the video. working to find out how the fire started or if anyone was hurt. let's check the traffic with danella sealock. danella, good morning. >> we are seeing delays outer loop of the beltway in maryland from green belt. it's going to continue as you make your way towards georgia avenue. outer loop of the beltway now in virginia. this is van dorn street. slow towards the woodrow wilson bridge. let's look at the weather. >> you can see plenty of sunshine on the traffic cameras. we have it all around the region, low humidity in place. wonderful weather pattern today, tomorrow, again on friday with low humidity. now getting a bit of a blustery wind out of the north and west, around 20 miles an hour. that will democrdiminish tonigh tomorrow. great weather for recreation and work. over the weekend, heat and humidity return for saturday, sunday and the fourth of july each day. hazy, hot, humid, highs mid to upper 90 rts. lows in the 70s. could get a storm on the 4th. >> thank you. quick programming note, no news4 midday at 11:00 today. catch wimbledon tennis championships from london next.

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