weeds: a growth industry if ever there was one. martha teichner will be reporting our cover story. >> sort of like one of those bad 1950s science fiction movies where the plant grows overnight and wraps itself around you in the morning. >> reporter: where weeds are concerned, it's mostly us against them. >> this is an absolute enemy of the state. >> reporter: but not everybody hates them. weeds and those who love them later this sunday morning. >> osgood: then we move on to some fascinating but rarely seen photographs of a woman who would become the very image of a hollywood star. tracy smith explores a remarkable body of work. >> reporter: she was rarely more beautiful or perhaps more fragile than in 1962 when lawrence schiller captured these images of marilyn monroe. did you feel like you were exploiting her? >> let me say this. marilyn needed the exploitation for her own purposes. >> reporter: and marilyn was only one of his subjects. >> so now i'm going to have an exhibit here, a one man show. >> reporter: a walk through history with photographer lawrence schiller later on sunday morning. >> osgood: next we have a question or rather the answer to a question for our colleague susan spencer of "48 hours." susan, who is alex trebek? >> reporter: the answer is, for 28 years he has hostedded one of the most popular quiz shows on television. >> and the correct response is, who is alex trebek? >> reporter: who indeed? we'll find out later on sunday morning. >> osgood: our lee cowan has been off to cover a convention like none other with a cast of characters, all of whom, are on a first-name basis with one another. ♪ betty, she's a star >> reporter: the middle of nebraska we found a gathering that has gotten a lot of ink in the past from the "new york times" to one of the state's oldest weeklies. look at that. on the front page what garners these ladies so much attention? well, in short it's what they're called. it may be one of the few places where being on a first-name basis can be, well, really confusing. right, betty. >> (all of them:) right. reporter: the betty convention later on sunday morning. >> osgood: anthony mason catches up with the outstanding singer rufus wainwright. nancy giles shares hair-raising thoughts about hair. from steve hartman we'll hear about one town's tribute to a neighbor who always delivered and more. but first here are the headlines for this sunday morning the 19th of august, 2012. we begin in london where the latest chapter in the saga of wicky leaks julian assange is now unfolding. kelly is with us from the front of the building where assange has taken refuge which houses the embassy of ecuador. good morning, kelly. >> reporter: good morning, charlie. no sign of julian assange just yet but we have heard from one of his lawyers who came out to speak to reporters less than an hour ago. he said assange has no plans to surrender. in fact they're mounting a new legal challenge. no details on what this legal challenge might be. assange has been fighting extradition to sweden to answer questions on a couple of sexual assault cases. that's because he fears the country will then send him on on on 0 to the united states where he believes he's face trial, possibly the death penalty for releasing those secret documents on his website. the ecuadorians have granted him asylum but the british government is denying safe passage. most legal experts agree that he has only two options now: either surrender himself and go to sweden or stay holedded up here at this embassy indefinitely. charlie. >> osgood: thank you. here at home, republican vice president shall contender paul ryan is insisting that the g.o.p. plan to make over medicare will not hurt seniors. ryan campaigned in florida saturday with his 78-year-old mother at his side. for his part on the stump in new hampshire, president obama said americans aren't buying what he called republican snake oil. high winds and storms in texas yesterday grounded special aircraft being used to combat an outbreak of west nile virus. the disease spread by keet owes has killed ten people in dallas county and sickened dozens more. they are hoping to resume spraying today. there's a growing chorus of condemnation over a jail sentence handed down friday in russia. three women from a punk rock band were sentenced to two years in jail for staging a protest against president putin inside a church. a sight to behold for classic car lovers. in detroit yesterday more than 40,000 muscle cars and vintage vehicles stretched 16 miles rolling along woodward avenue. it was billd as the world's largest one-day automotive event. on the other side of michigan, this was the sight to behold. as many as nine water spouts were spotted out on lake michigan yesterday. that's more than are seen in a typical year. adding to more... more are expected today. now today's weather. mostly sunny out west and in the northeast. for much of the country though, a good soaking today. the week ahead will bring rain to the south and east and will also keep an eye on tropical storms now churning out in the atlantic ocean. coming up... >> marilyn new more about photography at that moment than i did. >> reporter: the marilyn we barely knew. but next weeding out the >> osgood: and the goat here doesn't like to butt in on other people's affairs, but she can teach us a thing or two about weeds. her attitude: if you can't beat 'em, eat 'em. martha teichner digs deep to get to the root of our sunday morning cover story. ♪ she comes on like a rose ♪ but everybody knows >> reporter: the dictionary definition of a weed: a plant considerd undesirable, unattractive or troublesome, especially one growing where it is not wanted. ♪ she'll really do you in >> reporter: they insult us by their very existence. ♪ she gets under your skin >> reporter: they bring out the killer instinct in us. we wage chemical warfare against them. and they win. this story is about the survival of the fittest. who might that be? no doubt about it: weeds. >> this is an absolute enemy of the state. there's no question whatsoever. >> reporter: the name of this menace: pig weed. an or nary manageable nuisance until recently. now a frank everen weed. >> some are five or six foot tall. it's only about 70 days old. if you look closely inside you may or may not be able to see it. if you look closely inside here is our cotton crop. >> reporter: it's overwhelmed. it's marched across the south. it has devastated cotton and soybean crops. >> if you're awful weak, this plant will beat you. if you go to the beach, this plant will beat you. this plant will put us out of business. >> reporter: stanley culpepper is a weed scientist with the university of georgia. his students call him dr. pigweed. >> that was at the top of that plant four days ago. all right. so that's at least eight inches in four days. >> reporter: what it looked like on july 10 and now. this relentless killer of crops was discovered eight years ago right here on this farm in macon county georgia. >> in 2012 we confirmed it in 76 georgia counties. we went from 500 acres to well over two million acres. >> reporter: how did it happen? kills weeds to the root. reporter: ever hear of round-up. yep, that stuff that is advertisedded on tv. >> no root, no weed. no problem. >> reporter: round-up, the commercial game for an herbicide called glyfosate was marketed to farmers at a miracle weed killer. its manufacturer genetically engineered cotton and soybean seeds so they were round-up resistant. >> round-up used to be just a cure-all for everything. >> reporter: harold johnson farms a thousand acres in macon. all he had to do was spray on round-up. his round-up resistant crops lived. the pig weed died until it didn't. >> all of a sudden, they would lay down and stand right back up. they got to the point where they wouldn't lay down. >> reporter: the pig weed had genetically engineered itself and become round-up resistant too. now here's the terrifying part. >> this plant is going to produce in excess of 500,000 seeds. >> reporter: one plant? one female plant. if it survives it produces a half a million seeds. >> reporter: desperate growers have deployed their own army against their enemy. like foot soldiers from another century. to hand weed huge fields. and dr. pig weed has a warning. >> this plant has absolutely adapted to everything that we have done so far. >> reporter: new york city hopes larry's goats will have better luck against another weed gone wild. an invase i have been variety of a weed called... plaguing a park, an enormous former landfill on statten island the city is restoring. the experiment, to see if the goats will eat their way through two acres of this stuff. >> the goat eats about 20% of its body weight a day. >> reporter: that's what? that's 65, 70-bound goat. that goat will eat 15 to 20 pounds of food a day. we have 20 goats. the objective was to do it in six weeks. >> reporter: it turns out they love this weed. six weeks later, success. >> this is how this thing actually grows. >> reporter: wow. that is one long line. now kudzu was actually brought here deliberately. >> it was touted, sad to say, about u.s.d.a., about 100 years ago as being the next miracle plant. it was brought over from asia, planted along the embankments of railroads. >> reporter: this man is a weed scientist with the u.s. department of agriculture. >> and somewhere along the way in the post world war ii era it kind of got out of hand. >> reporter: boy, did it! it's about eight million acres of it now in the united states. >> reporter: really? yep. reporter: there's so much of it, scientists are trying to turn it into a biofuel. really! but kudzu is not just a bad joke. the weed that ate the south. kudzu is something a lot scarier. >> now, 50 years ago, you would be hard pressed to find it north of the potomac. today it's pretty much everywhere north of the potomac. two years ago they found it for the first time in canadian in southern ontario. >> reporter: kudzu has become a map of climate change. >> one of the things that keeps a lot of these invasive species in check has been really cold winters. as the winters have warmed, what's happened is that slowly it is migrating north ward. it is simply responding to the change in temperature that's already occurring. it does not a political stake in climate change. >> reporter: so anything can anything be learned from weeds? >> between the sidewalk and the asphalt it's not only able to grow but to thrive. >> reporter: this man takes us to the weedy parking lot behind his office. >> there's seven billion of us on the globe right now. we're going to have to feed those people. how do we do that with less water, less soil, less fertilizer and a climate on steroids? yet here you have this plant that is able to grow up through the asphalt. yeah, we can learn a whole lot from how this plant functions, how it does and take those lessons and apply them to cultivatedded plants as a means to adapt. >> this is like a little buffet of weeds. >> reporter: this woman knows she can't beat weeds so she eats them. >> this is lambs quarters. reporter: is this something that farmers will really work hard to get rid of? >> yes it's very nutritious. as long as you're picking it the right way and cooking it. >> reporter: she is a lawyer turned weed forager. >> this is a sweeping jenny. reporter: she supplies edible weeds to a couple of the fanciest restaurants on the east coast. >> this is is a weed that i think almost anyone can find. when it's small it's onion grass but what happens is it gets these aerial bulbettes. >> reporter: it's juicy, garlicky but delicate. >> yes. i think of it as my dry meadow. >> reporter: the backyard of her rural new jersey home is a weed meadow. >> the laugh ender is flowering. reporter: her message? one person's weeds are another's lunch. and they can be delicious. >> this is one of our big discoveries. >> reporter: using recipes from her just published weed cook book, she and her daughter showed us, with a few of the weeds we picked, creeping jenny tomato and mozzarella salad. curried lamb and lamb's quarters meat balls and amaranth onion and feta phylo triangles. no, not our old friend pig weed but a relative. >> but i would love to get some clean pig weed and try and see if it tastes the same as this one. >> reporter: really? maybe it could be transformed from enemy into friend. >> possibly. reporter: and i know where she can find a lot of it. next, a short history of a troubled land. did you know when heartburn, it's too late to take prilosec because... but it's but zantac® works differently. it relieves heartburn in as little as 30 minutes. in fact, so, when heartburn strikes, try zantac® this has been medifacts for zantac® [ male announcer ] to hold a patent that has changed the modern world... would define you as an innovator. to hold more than one patent of this caliber... would define you as a true leader. to hold over 80,000... well, that would make you... the creators of the 2012 mercedes-benz e-class... quite possibly the most advanced luxury sedan ever. ♪ join mercedes-benz usa on facebook for the best summer sweepstakes. >> osgood: and now a from our sunday morning almanac. august 19, 1919, 93 years ago today. the day of an historic turn-around that echos down to our own times. for that was the day afghanistan won its independence from great britain. beginning in 1838, britain had fought three wars for control of afghanistan, wars that left fought three wars for control of afghanistan, wars that left their scars on british politics and popular culture. in the sherlock holmes stories, dr. watson was a wounded veteran of the second afghan war in 1880. while rudd yard kipling in his 1888 novella, the man who would be king, told the tale of two figure shish us british sailors of fortune. the story that was turned into a movie in 1975. >> 1, 2, 3. osgood: starring michael caine and sean connery. >> when we're done with you, you'll be able to stand up and slaughter your enemies like civilized men. >> osgood: needless to say the swashbuckling pair's afghan adventures did not end well. nor in the end did brit up's. in the decades that followed afghan independence, the country was wracked by bloody coups and wars, including the soviet invasion of 1979. the u.s.-backed insurgency against the soviets. the victory of the islamist taliban in 1998. and the american invasion to oust the taliban and al qaeda in 2001. the battle that goes on to this day. >> it is time to focus on nation-building here at home. >> osgood: as of now the u.s. and its nato allies plan to withdraw most of their troops by the end of 2014. nearly a century after the country celebrated its first independence day. history's judgment on the latest intervention has yet to be made. while back in britain, many people still remember the words of the mid 20th century prime minister harold macmillan. rule number one in politics, he said, never invade afghanistan. still to come... >> oh, this is fun. sgood: splitting hairs with nancy giles. with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes. tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. go to cymbalta.com for ocean spray cranberry juice cocktail. it tastes real good, and it's good for you. i use it to make our refreshing cranberry lemonade. ahh! summer. find all our recipes at oceanspray.com. you know, ronny... folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. and how happy are they jimmy? i'd say happier than a bodybuilder directing traffic. he does look happy. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. >> osgood: remember hair, the musical. curtain going up now on nancy giles' thoughts on hair. ♪ darling ♪ give me a head with hair, long, beautiful hair ♪ ♪ shiny, >> reporter: here's the thing about hair. if it's straight you want it curly. if it's curly you want it like cher's. the color is never right. the length is off. whatever it is, we wish it was different. and have you noticed how everyone has an opinion about it. even if it's about 16-year-old gabby douglas. the first black woman to win olympic gold for the usa as an all round gymnast. makes you want to stand up and cheer, right? wrong. instead, social media buzzed with snackery remarks about her hair. and some of the snacker came from black women. things like she needs some gel and a brush. time for a hair intervention. really? seriously? why are we all hung up on hair? >> do you long for longer hair? reporter: maybe it's all that commercials telling us the only hair to have is straight and shiny and always blowing in the wind. but for some of us, that look is hard to achieve without chemicals, extensions or even wigs. i always wanted different hair. and here's the proof. dig this. notebook after notebook of my elementary school doodles of the marleau thomas "that girl" hair-do. bangs and flips. it was like an archeological discovery of my deep-rooted hair dissatisfaction. and then, things changed. remember the late '60s and '70s when after rows were hip, proud and sexy? i remember my first after row and i still have one. thick and proud but it wasn't always that way. conventional wisdom was that straight hair was neater, more professional looking. here i am with that relaxed hair look. apparently my hair was tense. i tried braid extensions. hair that moved. but it still didn't feel right. 17 years ago i cut out all the fake and startedded from scratch. ♪ you know what i love, that's right, my hair ♪ ♪ i really love my hair >> reporter: when i saw this sesame street video written by a dad for his daughter, a video that's gotten almost four million hits on you-tube, it made me so happy. because kids today will watch this and love their hair. whatever kind of hair it is. ♪ my hair looks good >> reporter: like what could you do for me? >> first, nancy, i just want to say that your hair is beautiful. >> reporter: meet the owner of a hair salon in brooklyn, new york. now this is a salon where hair doesn't get straightened. and women come here from all over the country for natural hair care and philosophical discussions. >> i think somehow we're taught that we are not good enough just the way we are. >> reporter: don't they listen to the billy joel song? "i love you just the way you are." ♪ don't go changing >> reporter: and more and more people are doing just that. you can see it on the streets. in advertising. even celebrities are loving their hair. every kind of way. ♪ i'll take you just the way you are ♪ >> reporter: ever follicle, ever texture, every style. so feel good about it. love your hair. just the way it is. ♪ i want you just the way you are ♪ >> alex, i'll take "your mama" for $400. >> osgood: ahead, we ask the questions to alex trebek. ♪ people know the kind of a guy i am ♪ >> osgood: and taking note. of rufus wainwright. ♪ somewhere over the rainbow way up high ♪ >> osgood: when rufus wainwright sings about dreams coming true over the rainbow, you almost get the sense he's been there. it hasn't been an easy journey. here's anthony mason with a summer song from rufus wainwright. ♪ i've been out for a long time ♪ ♪ i'm looking for something >> my whole thing is that i want to do everything. (laughing). so let's try everything. >> reporter: and he has. at 39, singer rufus wainwright has already led an almost operaatic life. he's recorded pop albums, written a classical opera, even recreated judy garland's famed carnegie hall concert. the live recording earned him a grammy nomination. ♪ something inside of me brought in a symphony ♪ ♪ there went the strings of my heart ♪ >> reporter: wainwright recently released his 10th album "out of the game." ♪ the only thing i don't fear is you ♪ >> reporter: the artist who elton john calls the best songwriter on the planet has been open about almost everything in his music. >> on all fronts of my life, it was my sexuality or my family or my relationships. i don't know why i do that. >> reporter: do you regret any part of it? >> i don't necessarily regret it, but i would say that it's... it takes a toll. it is difficult to sustain, you know, that kind of honesty. maybe that's what "out of the game" business is, is that this isn't a game anymore. you know, it's... this is my life. it's like the apron strings were cut a little bit. >> reporter: on the far eastern end of long island where wainwright likes to escape, the singer says his world changed two years ago when he lost his mother. the renown folk singer kate to cancer. what role did your mother play with this record? >> oddly enough, having died, she's almost more present than before, you know. she sort of... i see her in everything, you know. ♪ one day you will come to me and see ♪ >> reporter: wainwright, who has long been openly gaiman has himself become a parent. the song montak is written for his 18 month old daughter viva. ♪ one day you will come to montak ♪ >> reporter: viva's mother is his life-long friend, the daughter of singer leonard cohen. >> she just wanted to have a baby. she's in her late 30s. so i obliged her. we're figuring it out. >> reporter: viva's birth was one reason wainwright decided to settle down. this week he'll marry his long-time partner. >> this is where we're getting married. well, we're not getting married in the bar. we're getting married at home. then we're going to have the after party here. >> reporter: is this a big leap for you? >> yeah. i think it is a big leap. i mean, i don't think... i do believe, actually, that, you know, there is a distance between gaiman marriage and straight marriage though. i'm not sure what gaiman marriage is yet. i think we're still in the process of sorting it out. it's only what, like five years old. ♪ you believe in love and all that it's supposed to be ♪ >> reporter: wainwright's come a long way since breaking through in 1998 with a debut album that had rolling stone magazine calling him the best new artist of the year. did you feel the burden of expectation at that first record? >> back then there was a lot of pressure. it was really hard. but i was like "bring it on." it did all come. >> reporter: the critical raves did not lead to commercial success. by 2000, wainwright was addicted to krystal meth. >> i was very much on a kind of death wish at that point in my life. you know, there was a lot of issues, for instance, that i haven't come to terms with, things like... i was molested as a young teenager. >> reporter: by a man he met in a london bar. you put yourself in the rehab. >> i know. i did. i did it myself. >> reporter: how did you pull yourself out of that? >> i don't want to die. ♪ why am i always on a plane or a fast train ♪ ♪ what a world my parents gave me ♪ >> reporter: and he had more music to make. the child of two acclaimed folk singers, loud onwainwright iii he quickly took to the family business. >> my mother claims that i started singing old macdonald had a farm at six months, like answering e.i.e.i.o. to her and then modulating into different keys. i highly doubt that. >> reporter: but when he was just three, his parents divorced. i read that you said your first conscious memory was packing up the car and leaving your father. what do you remember? >> i remember the dining room table going into the u-haul van or truck, i should say, and not quite understanding what that... why that was happening. >> reporter: his mother took rufus and his sister martha home to canada to raise them. for years wainwright's relationship with his father was strained. ♪ daddy, don't be surprised if i want to see the tears in your eyes ♪ >> reporter: what effect has your mother's passing had on your relationship with your dad? >> it's been good. i mean, my father really came through in the end. i know that wasn't easy for him. >> reporter: for his new album, wainwright invited his relatives in to sing back-up. this time the invitation included his father. >> it's definitely ahs and not ooos, i'd say. >> this will be the first time my dad will be on one of my albums. >> this song we're going to work on today i wrote about my mother. it's called "candles." what's interesting about it, actually in that recording is that you really hear my dad quite loud in the choir. his voice is just so piercing and so clean and pure. you know, i was lucky to have him. he was a real support to me during all of that. i owe a lot to him. ♪ i try to do all that i can ♪ but the church has run out of candles ♪ >> reporter: the old saying is true, wainwright says. a person is born twice. first at birth and again when his mother dies. how do you see that rebirth? >> i just see everything as so fleeting and so kind of beautiful and so special and magical and heart wrenching and that is sort of the way i want to be. >> reporter: and for rufus wainwright, there is music in that. ♪ but the church has run out of candles ♪ >> osgood: next. fabulous to be a sex object. osgood: the real cosmo girl. like somebody had set a bag of hot charcoal on my neck. i had no idea it came from chickenpox. it's something you never want to encounter. for more of the inside story, visit shinglesinfo.com [ dog ] we found it together.upbeat ] on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. and you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere. because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing... had made you play. and that... had made you smile. [ announcer ] beneful. play. it's good for you. can rely on dulcolax pelaxative tablets overnight.ing they give you predictable overnight relief to help get you feeling like yourself again in the morning. dulcolax laxative tablets. keep you moving. ♪ feeling free. ♪ it happened this week, the woman who gave us the cosmo girl helen gurley brown died last monday at a hospital in new york. >> the only place you can control a man is in bed. >> osgood: before sex in the city there was sex and the single girl. the controversial best seller encouraged women to have sex and enjoy i, a revolutionary concept back in 1962. >> i just talked about my girlfriends and me. i knew what we were doing. it turned out we were very typical of what was going on all over the country. >> and i shall insist on the right to have as many love affairs as i please. >> reporter: the book became a movie with natalie wood. brown became an icon, and editor of cosmopolitan magazine which she infused with her sex as empowerment philosophy. >> that sounds just yummy. osgood: she ran it for more than 30 years. critics said it portrayed women as sex objects. >> it's fabulous to be a sex object. i hope all of us are sex objects to somebody. the only time you have to worry is when nobody wants to go to bed with you. if that is making women objects of ridicule or scorn, i don't get it. >> reporter: brown's advisory involved out of her growing up as a poor child in arkansas' ozarks mountains and as a young woman working her way through 17 secretarial jobs. in her private life, however, the woman who said, good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere, was married to movie producer david brown, perhaps best known for his film jaws. >> 25. osgood: her philosophy remained intact. >> sex of course is not the determining force in a woman's life. i say it's one of the three best things there is. i used to say i don't know what the other two are. the other two are called eating and breathing. >> reporter: helen gurley brown was 90 years old. ahead... >> she was thinking about jumping in the swimming pool with a bathing suit out but coming out with nothing on. >> reporter: a closer look. what makes you so sad? i think you're the saddest one i ever met. >> you're the first man that ever said that. they usually tell me how happy i am. >> osgood: that's marilyn monroe and clark gable in the 1961 hollywood film the misfits. hard to believe that she died 50 years ago this month at the age of 36. leaving behind a body of work that seems to be timeless. tracy smith introduces us to a photographer with memories still as sharp as his pictures. >> reporter: it's as if we've walked in on something private. the story of these images of marilyn monroe and the man who took them may be as revealing as the pictures themselves. >> hold it. here comes the girl who put mmmm into movies. marilyn monroe. >> reporter: in 1960 monroe was shooting "let's make love." ♪ because my heart belongs to daddy ♪ >> reporter: and photographer lawrence schiller was on assignment for look magazine. what was it like the first time you met marilyn? >> well i was 23. i was scared. am i allowed to say scared (no audio) but i was scared. >> reporter: and who wouldn't be? after all, she was one of the biggest stars on the planet. schiller was a relative newcomer with more guts than experience. >> i startedded shooting her from the dressing room. she says you're not going to get a good picture from there but if you go over there, you're going to get something really nice. i go over there. she turns over her shoulder and she looks at me. she's marilyn monroe. i shot just one frame. just an extraordinary first real portrait i ever examine of her. >> reporter: the x's on schiller's proof sheet are are from marilyn's own hands. of all his shots that day, this is the only one she approves. >> that was the moment in which i knew marilyn knew more about photography at that moment than i did. >> reporter: but he would learn. by 1962, elizabeth taylor was riding a global tidal wave of publicity. schiller says marilyn monroe worried that her own star was fading. >> marilyn was getting 100,000. liz was getting i think a million dollars plus a percentage of the gross. that drove marilyn crazy because she thought she was as good an actress as liz taylor was. >> i was going to tell you but i know how upset you get about little things. >> reporter: at the time monroe was shooting the never finished film "something's got to give" with dean martin. schiller, again on assignment, says marilyn had an idea for the pool scene that would make waves. and magazine covers. >> she was thinking about jumping in the swimming pool with a bathing suit on but coming out with nothing on. we didn't know if she was really kidding. i realized she's kind of serious. i say, but, marilyn, you know, you're already famous. now you're going to make me famous. i was very cocky in those days. >> reporter: what did she say? she said don't be so cocky. photographers can easily be replaced. >> reporter: while shooting this scene, the star wore a skin tone suit. but between takes she slipped it off. standing pool side, schiller caught it all on film. risque yet somehow still innocent. the images, as schiller put it, show nothing and say everything. she actually set conditions for your using those photos. >> she said, if you release those pictures, i want to make sure in the same issue i don't see liz taylor anywheres. >> reporter: and there was no mention of liz taylor in this issue of life. you get a sense in the conversations that you recall with pat, her press agent, and with marilyn herself that they implied that you were exploiting her. >> there's no question that the pictures were exploiting her. even one newspaper ran that. >> reporter: did you feel like you were exploiting her? >> let me say this, marilyn needed the exploitation for her own purposes. and i was the instrument. she wantedded to deliver a message to that studio. therefore, i don't think i was exploiting her. because in essence, you might say you were in partnership with her, an unspoken contract. >> reporter: in any case, the images are as hot as ever. the june edition of vanity fair devoted a section to schiller's photos, and they appear in two editions of his recent book, including a signed, silk bound coffee table version "my passion." they were also on display in the flesh, as it were, at new york's steven casher gallery this summer. it was schiller's first one-man show. do you get nervous about these sorts of things? >> i don't know what they're going to write about it. i don't know if anybody is really going to show up. you know, you're doing a television show. >> reporter: it is marilyn monroe. >> yeah, but still, you know, how many times have people seen marilyn monroe? are they going to come out to see her again? maybe some day they'll come out to see my work without it being marilyn monroe. >> reporter: and there's a lot to see. schiller covered ali patterson, redford-newman, bette davis, barbra streisand. he captured the joy of sophia loren's oscar win, the tear in pat nixon's eye as her husband conceded to john kennedy and the rifle used in the president's murder, held aloft in the dallas police station. >> how do you tell a story in one image? how do you tell the whole story? it's like my picture of lee harvey oswald. i don't want a picture taken far away like everybody else. i wanted to feel the pours on his skin of the man who was being accused of killing kennedy. >> reporter: he also got close to the president's brother bobby kennedy on the '68 campaign trail. >> he was like everybody. he would sleep on the floor just like we would if it was a long night. i may this picture of him sleeping on the floor with the kocher spaniel dog, very pensive looking out the window as he's coming into l.a. unknown, you know, the tragedy that is going to befell him and his family. he was very cooperative. he understood the power of the media as his brother did. that family knew that they could be elected if they did the right thing with the media. >> reporter: but there were limits to what schiller's subjects would tolerate. and schiller says marilyn monroe seemed to reach hers when on the last day of her life he spoke with her about selling even more revealing photos to playboy. >> she turned away in the middle of the conversation and says, am all i go for is my body? she was very, very upset again that again it was her body. it was not her talent. it was not her ability to tell a story, to play a role. i had to get the hell out of there. >> reporter: when she said that to you about, is this all that matters that is my body? >> i felt i had gone too far. reporter: did she seem suicidal to you? >> she looked disturbed. she didn't look as if she might take her life. but night is a safe haven to many many celebrities. darkness is a harbor in which you pull into. unfortunately this was one night that she didn't come back from the darkness. >> one of the most famous stars in hollywood history is dead at 36. >> reporter: schiller was heidt her home as the coroner removed her body and at her funeral with grief-stricken former husband joe dimaggio. this lawrence schiller image of marilyn monroe, her eyes fixed on a distant horizon became an epithet. who is the equivalent of marilyn monroe today. >> i don't think there is one. she was marilyn monroe. i don't think we should look at somebody to try to replace her. let her be who she was. let us remember her as she was. >> osgood: next... did you know how much the community cared for him. >> not to the degree i do now. osgood: ... a larger than life legacy. >> osgood: some heroes make the front pages of newspapers. others have movies made about them. and then there are those who heroism unfolds slowly. over a lifetime. as steve hartman tells us, sometimes those are the ones who matter most. >> reporter: on a high ridge above the lum i can't liver just down from heaven, we found an angel on a front end loader. woody davis of oregon was kind of a jack of all trades who never made much money but definitely earned his wings. >> he's the epitome of something dear. >> reporter: do you always get paid for everything he did? >> i wouldn't say that. made out a check and stuck it in his pocket. you can't hand it to him. >> reporter: woody had always been so generous, so kind. always waved to everybody. but last year folks in town decided to try and return at least some of that good will. >> this is the stacking crew. reporter: they started by cutting and stacking his firewood for winter. a couple guys fixed up his old pick-up. someone even built him a beautiful wood box and invited the whole town to sign it. did you know how much the community cared for him? this is woody's son, clint. >> not to the degree i do now. reporter: he says all the work his dad did for people has been repaid ten fold. >> bill gates could not come here and buy this. you can't buy the love that people have poured out for dad. >> reporter: words and deeds were much appreciated. unfortunately, the box was pine. and the days were numbered. about a year ago woody was diagnosed with a.l.s., lou gehrig's disease. by the time i met him in january he knew he wouldn't see september. he was already struggling to lift and talk. but his attitude was completely unaffectd. what do you think of what everybody has been doing for you? >> i can't believe it. reporter: you can't believe it? >> no. i feel blessed. i'm dying slowly. >> reporter: i really didn't think i heard him right. did you just feel you feel blessed that you're dying slowly. >> yeah. reporter: because people have a chance to express to me how they feel, he said. too often in situations like this, death is whispered. praise saved for the euology but thanks to the people of his town, woody got to see what he meant to them before he died. the funeral was tuesday. they had to have the service in a different town because there wasn't a church in the town big enough. about 700 people showed up to pay their respects. first in their own way and then in woody's. after the service, folks lined the streets and waved. they gave woody that same big open handed wide open hearted wave he gave them every day of his adult life. since woody was never one to let a wave go unreciprocated you can bet somewhere there's an angel with a very tired wing. ♪ hallelujah by and by i'll fly away ♪ >> osgood: who is alex trebek? there are keys. what's that. >> i don't know. reporter: find out next. what's in a name. >> my name is betty. , too. you know what's complicated? shipping. shipping's complicated. not really. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service shipping's easy. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that's not complicated. no. come on. how about... a handshake. alright. priority mail flat rate boxes. starting at just $5.15. only from the postal service. ♪ (female ancr) your kitchen table. it's more than a piece of furniture. it's life's centerpiece. where families sit to eat. where homework gets done. where decisions get made. with a 97% customer satisfaction rating, we'd like to earn a place where it matters most. physicians mutual. insurance for all of us. 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( cheers and applause ) >> reporter: their insecurities handled with grace by the man whose firm hand has guided jeopardy for 28 years. >> let's go to work. here comes the categories for the jeopardy round. >> you come across thinking that is easily the smartest guy on the planet. >> what is intelligent design? dan, back to you. >> reporter: alex trebek does nothing to dispel that idea. >> and that word is parqueted. parqueted. you were almost there, jacob. go again >> reporter: providing a soothing, supportive presence for nervous contestants whose answers as we all know by now must be in the form of a question. >> kelly what is sorry? i usually precede it with oo, sorry. but in the case, good. i'm on their side. i want to be perceived as the best friend these contestants have because if i'm not perceived that way, the audience out there, the television viewers, will turn against me. and i don't want you to turn against me. >> good luck. let's go to work right now. >> reporter: unlikely. he's got 6,000 jeopardy episodes under his belt. it's not all a blur by this time? >> no. i get so wrapped up in the game that quite often i don't know what the score is >> reporter: no matter. he insists the show is not about him. >> airline home countries for $200 please >> reporter: what do you think accounts for its success? >> it's a good show. all nippon airways >> what is japan yeah it satisfies one aspect of humanity that is very, very important >> airlines for $400. airlines for $600. airlines for $800 >> and that is our need at a gut level to compete. >> elaine again. germany >> what is israel? what is spain? >> correct. we want to know how good we are. how fast we are. >> airlines for $1,000 s.a.s. elaine >> what is sweden? yes, that's right. well done. >> reporter: it's won trebek and the show a slew of emmys. quite elite from his high school days in ottawa and those early jobs at the canadian broadcasting corporation. >> the only reason i got into broadcasting was i needed money to pay for my junior and senior years at college. and they hired me those fools. i did everything. i did newscasts. i did sports. i did dramas. >> reporter: but in 1962, he found his true calling. >> the first quiz show i did was a high school quiz show called "reach for the top." >> here's the man with the action, alex trebek >> reporter: a dozen more than less than memorable shows followed. then in 1984, trebek hit his own daily double. >> this is jeopardy. ey called me up one day and said we're going to syndicate jeopardy. would you like to host it? and i said, are you going to pay me? they said, yeah. i said okay. >> reporter: i'm your man i'm your man. announcer: and now here is the host of jeopardy, alex trebek. ( cheers and applause ) >> reporter: its success and format... >> what is any raiser general nutrition reporter: ... has made the answer as question a part of pop culture. >> the answer is a female opera singer and gangster. (humming jeopardy music) >> reporter: in tv and the movies. >> what is mexico alex, as you know i was raised in a rural community. i'm proud to take taos for $300 >> reporter: in more than a dozen episodes saturday night live has had a field day. >> i'll take the rapist for $200. >> that's therapist. that's therapists, not the rapists. >> reporter: trebek seems to love it. >> when you make fun of someone like me and a show such as jeopardy, it means we've arrived. we're part of americana. we're a part of the american cultural scene. >> reporter: indeed. today there are whole websites analyzing jeopardy answers. and the show pulls in nearly 10 million viewers a night. safe to say most of them quite sure that they would do much better than those losers on tv. >> this is mildly embarrassing to admit but i once tried to go on jeopardy. i mean, i barely understood the question. it was terribly hard. >> i believe the jeopardy test is more difficult than being a contestant on the program. >> reporter: that's very kind of you to say >> it's true reporter: i was devastated. it took weeks to recover. >> you flunked the jeopardy test 15 years ago, and you still can't live it down >> reporter: i can't get over it get over it. reporter: easy for him to take the winning and losing in stride. when he's not on the jeopardy set, he lives a quiet life with wife jeanne and two kids. and he'd rather show off not how smart he is but how handy. >> no matter what happens here that goes wrong, i probably have parts to fix it. so this hardware store was going out of business... >> reporter: this has to be your favorite room in the house >> one of them reporter: he's a dedicated putterer. when a local hardware store closed, he bought the inventory. >> there are wood rough keys reporter: what's that? i don't know reporter: why do you have them? >> because it came with the package. >> you have command of the board right now >> reporter: but on the jeopardy set, trebek is master of all he surveys. and jeopardy keeps trying new things to make sure it stays fresh. >> ladies and gentlemen, this is watson. >> reporter: last year having watson >> the same category $1200 reporter: an i.b.m. computer on the panel. >> now we come to watson. we're looking for brand stoker. we find, who is brand stoker and the wager >> reporter: watson won. they've also changed the rules so contestants play as long as they win. >> ken? ken? ken? ken? ken? >> reporter: that met 74 times for ken jennings who walked away with $2.5 million. >> save your applause. we don't want to wear you out here >> reporter: he suffered a mild heart attack in june but at 72, trebek is coy about retirement. but he's eager to answer a related question audiences always ask. >> will i ever be a player on the show? no and i'll tell you why because if i were to be a contestant, say in a celebrity tournament, someone else would have to host the show. they might be younger. they might be very good. >> reporter: but they won't be alex trebek. >> thank you, ladies and gentlemen. >> osgood: just ahead. reporter: how many people here were actually born... >> osgood: always on a first-name basis. 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[ male announcer ] notebooks...it's guaranteed they'll go through a lot. that's why you get guaranteed savings for back to school at staples. now get staples one-subject notebooks for just a penny. ♪ >> osgood: shakespeare asked what's in a name? well, if you ask that question in a certain small town in nebraska, you'll get quite an earful as lee cowan found out. >> reporter: as quiet farm towns go, hastings nebraska offers just the right mix of wide open spaces and "good to know you" neighbors. and at its well manicured country club as a parade of cars made their way in, we noticed something particularly familiar. from the license plates in the parking lots to the handbags to this long guest list. >> there you are. reporter: it became very clear that everyone here is on a first-name basis. >> my name is betty i know. my name is betty too. >> reporter: for 16 years, the betties of nebraska have assembled like this to celebrate the simplicity of name. do you have to prove you're ay? do you have to show your driver's license or birth certificate >> no reporter: name tags here seem more a formality than a necessity >> all i have to say is hi, betty >> reporter: they have nothing in common really >> how many people were actually born betty >> reporter: except their old-fashioned name. or nickname in some cases >> i wasn't really born a betty reporter: you weren't? i'm elizabeth reporter: are you revealing this for the first time national television >> kind of reporter: betty crampton emceed the event but she admits to be, well, a bit confusing. what happens when you shout betty in a room like this >> it's worse than yelling fire. reporter: the jokes are unending. >> hello, every-betty reporter: even the grandsons of two different betties couldn't resist reworking a few popular lyrics. >> sing along. ♪ we got to go >> reporter: they weren't the only ones singing. ♪ betty, betty, little star ♪ how we wonder who you are >> reporter: what's a betty club without a betty club theme song? it may look like a boat load of betties, 70 that registered. but the truth is betties are an endangered species. in the 1920s and '30s, betty was one of the most popular baby names in america. in the decades that followed there were betties everywhere. betty graibl, betty davis, betty white, betty ford. there were even fictional betties, betty rubble, betty boop not to mention the one betty who lived in everyone's kitchen cabinet >> i'm betty crocker and i promise you a perfect came every time you bake. >> reporter: everyone it seems has an aunt betty. in fact, this is my aunt betty, in cape cod. but somewhere along the line, the name betty went out of favor. even betties stopped using betty for anything. >> a dog named betty, a fish named betty >> reporter: no nothing. i'm not even carrying on the tradition myself. ♪ happy birthday dear betty >> reporter: which is why there are far more betties celebrating birthdays in their 80s than in their 50s >> we lost one of our betties just a month ago >> reporter: and why the chapter updates are sometimes filledded with betties who are no longer here >> we've lost a couple of members over the last couple of years. >> she was the wind beneath our wings and i really miss her >> we haven't found any new betties anywhere >> reporter: at 88, this betty is one of the oldest betties here. but she tries to keep spirits high >> i usually get a door prize so that's okay. >> reporter: she remembers a time when they are name meant something a little extra. when somebody said you're a real betty that was a compliment >> right. it really was. >> reporter: what did it mean back in the '20s and '30s >> you're hot reporter: that was news to the younger betty sitting right beside her. did you know you were supposed to be hot? >> no, i did not. that's very interesting. i'm going to tell my husband. >> reporter: the nebraska betties though didn't just happen by accident. >> the first betty club was started by betty krueger back in 1994 when she placed a want ad in the local paper. to anyone named betty or who goes by the name of betty, would you like to meet other betties. as simple as that. one betty told another betty and soon they had a betty club. >> here's the first meeting. reporter: that's the very first one. there are now more than a dozen local chapters. even nebraska's governor has recognized the betties >> the 28th of april in 2001 he declared that as betty day. >> reporter: betty day. is that a bank holiday? >> it should be. shouldn't it? >> reporter: hey, betty. while their ranks may be shrinking, the betties are hardly going quiet ♪ if you're betty and you know it, shake your booty ♪ >> reporter: do you think the name betty will make a comeback? >> i really dawt it at this point. it would be nice, but i kind of doubt it. ♪ good-bye, betty ♪ good-bye, bete ♪ we're sorry to see you go >> reporter: we are too, betties, each and everyone of you. >> bye. see you on tv. 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they've been talking about? we'll ask rudy giuliani and dick durbin among others >> osgood: thank you, bob scheiffer. we'll be watching. next week here on sunday morning, a summer song of glen campbell. ♪ it's knowing that your door is always open... ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] you've been years in the making. and there are many years ahead. join the millions of members who've chosen an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. go long. >> sunday morning's moment of nature is sponsored by... >> osgood: we leave you this morning with badgers at play near park city utah. ñ >> osgood: i'm charles osgood. please join us again next sunday morning. until then, i'll see you on the radio. t feels like. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open a full 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both. and it's steroid-free. spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better. does breathing with copd weigh you down? 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