Transcripts For WCAU Sunday Today With Willie Geist 20171105

A sunday sitdown with Kelly Clarkson, 15 years after she became the First American idol. Shes finally out with the album shes wanted to make and shes learned to ignore her critics. Im sure its hard to read instagram, twitter and things like that. Yeah. Im going to be real with you. I dont go always, i go sarcastic sometimes. There are times i aint a saint so like im human. A sunday sitdown with Kelly Clarkson. Plus, harry smith with the story of a young victim of opioids who was honored during one of saturdays Biggest College football games. All of that a bit later in the show. Lets begin this morning with President Trumps high stakes trip to asia. The president arrived in japan overnight on a mission in part to reassure americas allies that the United States will stand with them if north korea acts out militarily. Nbc National Correspondent Peter Alexander is traveling with the president this morning in tokyo. Peter, good morning. Reporter hey, willie. Good morning to you. Good evening here in tokyo. The president just wrapping up a dinner with one of his closest allies, the japanese Prime Minister shinzo abe and their wives. The two leaders talking trade and the north korean trade over scallops and stakes. Th steaks. Every word, every tweet will be highly scrutinized. Touching down in tokyo President Trump before hundreds of cheering u. S. Troops. U. S. A. U. S. A. Trading his suit coat for a bomber jacket. Right here in japan. And with the north korean threat in mind delivering this stern warning. No dictator, no regime and no nation should under estimate ever american resolve. Every once in a while in the past they underestimated us. It was not pleasant for them, was it . Reporter the president boasting the beautiful brandnew equipment was on its way and praising americas military might. We dominate the sky, we dominate the sea, we dominate the land and space. Reporter earlier aboard air force one avoiding talk of kim jongun as rocket man. Instead complimenting north koreans as great people adding, i hope it all works out for everybody. And announcing a decision on whether to add north korea to the list of state sponsors of terrorism would come soon. Making japan his first stop, the president tipping his hat to host shinzo abe signing caps that say donald and shinzo make Alliance Even better. Even tweeting out a clip from the course. Even before landing the president making news saying hes likely to meet with his russian counterpart Vladimir Putin while here in asia just as the russian probe intensifies back home in washington. Still, the president is brushing off another potential distraction, declining to engage after criticism from both former president s bush with the elder bush calling candidate trump a blowhard and george w. Bush saying mr. Trump chooses to fan the publics anger rather than offer solutions. And here tomorrow in japan President Trump will pay his respects to the japanese emperor before meeting again with Prime Minister abe. The two men expected to take reporters questions where, willie, much of the suspense will be surrounding how the president frames his comments about north korea. Will he be less provocative now that hes here in the region. Back to you. Peter alexander, thank you. Chuck todd is nbcs political director and moderator of meet the press and kristin welker. Welcome to new york, kristen. Thanks for having me. Great to be here. So much in the background domestically from President Trump as he took off for that trip on friday, but what does he want to do with the things in front of him in asia . Whats the goals there . The goals are very lofty. He wants to reaffirm the United States commitment to allies in the region. Make no mistake, willie, the center piece is trying to get all of those regional partners to get tougher on north korea and chinas really the lynchpin. They are the biggest trading partner to north korea. Will they go further in terms of enacting sanctions against north korea . Thats i think one of the biggest questions. Chuck, given all weve seen this week since we talked a week ago, weve had two indictments including one of paul manafort, the Trump Campaign manager and also the plea agreement with george papadopoulos. A lot going on against that back drop. The president signaled he will meet with Vladimir Putin in vietnam at a summit. What will that look like . What does it look like if more indictments come while hes on that trip . Wouldnt shock any of us. We know that special counsel robert mueller, his indictment announcements last week were only the beginning. Theres a lot of hints that more could be coming between now and thanksgiving. It would only add to the intrigue there. In some cases the president is between a rock and hard place when it comes to putin. Fact of the matter the american president and the leader of russia when theyre at a summit should find time on the margins to meet. So it would be odder if he were avoiding him. It would almost be like he were being overly defensive. Chuck, i want to ask you about Donna Braziles memoir, excerpts leaking out. Its pretty staggering stuff. I guess my question is among the things she alleges is that the Clinton Campaign sort of seized and took control of the dnc. You might remember for our viewers she took over as the chair woman of the dnc from Debbie Wasserman schultz. Donna brazile said she found a Democratic Party owned and operated by the clinton party. What are the implications, what are the problems . This is the beginning of whats going to be an ugly civil war inside the party, one that will get uglier if, for instance, they come up short in the tuesday elections, particularly the one in virginia, which is a big one for the party. But, you know, willie, i think the best way to look at this is to realize theres always been a tension between the clinton wing and the whatever the other wing is at any moment in time in the Democratic Party. It was the obama wing, it was the sanders wing, it was tom daschle, dick gephardt, congressional democratic wing. I think this is going to lead to the final push of a whole bunch of democrats who for years have not been in clinton world to try to push the clintons out of the party. The question is how hard does the clinton wing end up fighting back. I think a lot well learn a lot after tuesday in that virginia race. Kristen, you covered this campaign pretty closely. I think a lot of questions particularly clinton democrats are asking, when you have suggests in the book like Donna Brazile suggested or considered replacing Hillary Clinton as a nominee, she couldnt do that of course but replacing Hillary Clinton as a nominee with joe biden and cory booker as the Vice President ial nominee, why is she doing this . She was a clinton ally. Thats the big question. I can tell you i spoke to some clinton officials last night. It was the angriest i have heard them since the election. Ill bet. They feel betrayed. I think to a large extent in talking to some folks close to Donna Brazile, she set out to give her unvarnished truth essentially, to say this was my experience. Will it bring about some changes in the party . Will it lead to some more transparency . I think thats what some democrats are hoping for during the next primary race, but to chucks point, i think there are concerns. What will it mean for tuesdays Gubernatorial Race in virginia . Will it lead some democrats to sit home who feel frustrated with their own party . How do they begin that process of rebuilding . So there are some very difficult questions moving forward for the democrats. A gift to President Trump whos been tweeting furiously about all of these allegations over the week. Chuck, before we let you go, i know this is a huge morning for you in meet the press. It is. The 70th anniversary. What does it mean to you to sit in that historic chair . Look, its the best political job in television. Its an unbelievable feeling that i get to be a custodian even for one milestone like this. The only down side has been my mother was also born in 1947 as was meet the press so all year long ive been unfortunately having to remind my mother that she turns 70 this year. I dont think shes been happy about that but just like meet the press, my mom also doesnt look 70. We might as well be as if were a newborn ready for another 70 years. Well, the legacy is in good hands, kristen. Just want to say one thing. The second best political job is working with chuck todd. The love fest. Another win for miami. Next week is the big one. Thats the big one. Well be watching meet the press this morning as we always do as chuck celebrates the shows 70th anniversary. Among the guests, this should be interesting, dnc chair tom perez. There is a massive visible Police Presence in new york city this weekend morning as the marathon gets underway. Promising extra vigilance as the marathon comes less than a week after a man drove a rented truck into a bike lane targeting bikers and pedestrians and killing eight of them. Nbcs Morgan Radford is near the start of the marathon on staten island. Morgan, good morning. Reporter good morning. We expect to see more than 51,000 runners, 2. 5 million spectators and more Police Presence than ever before. Authorities have brought out bomb sniffing dogs, plain clothes officers and sand trucks all hoping today runs smoothly and safely. All around the city nypd making their presence known. Razor tight security at times square. On the streets of the city and at the starting line of todays marathon. With it comes security. Im pretty sure theyll be nice and tight. Reporter millions cheering from the sidelines. Were here for the moral support. Reporter many on edge after last weeks terror attack that left eight dead and 12 injured. Theres a lot going on and you have to be worried and nervous. Reporter among the crowds there are also those that have seen terrorism firsthand. Some on 9 11. I was in Lower Manhattan when the tower fell. Reporter others at the Boston Marathon bombing. Right after boston our attitude was were running next year regardless. Reporter Officials Say the more visible the security, the better. We have people here from all over the globe. My message is we will keep them safe. Trains, tunnels, bridges, airports, youll see an increased presence of Law Enforcement at all those locations. Reporter but despite concerns many people have, todays crowds urging everyone to remember what this marathon is all about. This is a really joyous occasion for everyone to come together and be together as runners and as people in the city. Reporter todays race ends in new york central park, but the new York Police Department says they have received no Credible Threats against todays marathon. Willie. Like a lot of new yorkers ill be racing out of here to cheer them on. Thank you very much. Republican senator rand paul is recovering this morning after he was attacked at his kentucky home. His neighbor tackled him while he was outside on his lawn. According to police senator paul had cuts on his nose and mouth and had difficulty breathing but was not taken to a hospital. His neighbor has been charged with assault. The fbi is investigating to see if this was politically motivated. A Florida State University Fraternity is suspended after a pledge died following an on campus frat party. Theyre investigating the death of 21yearold andrew coffee. He was unresponsive after a party. Police officers found bottles of beer and liquor on the porch of the home where the party was held. Fsu Officials Say they are working closically with police to figure out what exactly happened. And some of latin musics biggest names came together on saturday night for a benefit concert called fiesta latina. Ricky martin, camila cobaillo honoring the First Responders for the natural disasters. Dylan is enjoying a good morning. Im first alert meteorologist krystal klei. Today will be a day were dreary, gray outside. Light to breezy conditions and plenty of clouds overhead. 66 degrees in center city. A little warmer than average. About 64 in lansdale. An isolated shower possible throughout the rest of the day but chances get lower and lower through the day. 66 this afternoon. The same in atlantic city. Upper 60s possible in southern delaware. Straight ahead, the highs and lows of the week including a big week for the Houston Astros. Moments after they win the world series, they all start getting engaged and married to kate upton and whatnot. Well update you on the team wedding registry. Speaking of weddings, well show you the one that didnt quite jibe with one flower girls nap schedule. And later harry smith with a personal story from the front lines of the opioid epidemic. A big time College Football player remembered on the field saturday and his family on a mission. We need to educate in these dangers. You know, just because it is a prescription does not mean its safe. Its all coming up on sunday today. And as we head to break, our photo of the week children invited inside the oval office on halloween to trick or treat. Give up, skeletor youre finished curse you, heman, you interfering imbecile give us one good reason we shouldnt vanquish you to another dimension ok, guys, hear me out. Switching to geico could save you. Hundreds on Car Insurance. Huh, he does make a point. I do like to save money. Catch you on the flip, suckas geico. Because saving fifteen percent or more on Car Insurance is always a great answer. Copdso to breathe better,athe. I go with anoro. Go your own way copd tries to say, go this way. I say, ill go my own way with anoro. Go your own way oncedaily anoro contains two medicines called bronchodilators, that Work Together to significantly improve lung function all day and all night. Anoro is not for asthma. It contains a type of medicine that increases risk of death in people with asthma. The risk is unknown in copd. Anoro wont replace rescue inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than once a day. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, glaucoma, prostate, bladder, or urinary problems. These may worsen with anoro. Call your doctor if you have worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain while taking anoro. Ask your doctor about anoro. Go your own way get your first prescription free at anoro. Com. Fredget in, fred thing for his daughter. Even if it means being the back half of a unicorn. Fear not fred, the front half washed his shirt with gain. And that smell puts the giddy in giddyup ah. The irresistible scent of gain flings laundry detergent. You cant help but smell happy. You or joints. Something for your heart. But do you take something for your brain. With an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brainhealth supplement in drug stores nationwide. Prevagen. The name to remember. That moment when who youre going with is more important than where youre going. Wherever life takes us, we go together. Interwoven. Exclusively at kay, jared and zales. Kristen welker has been kind enough to stick around for the highs and the lows of the week. Shall we . Lets do it. City of houston still recovering from Hurricane Harvey but taking time this week to celebrate a world series championship. The Houston Astros defeated the l. A. Dodgers in a riveting seven game series to claim the organizations first ever title. The astros roster full of young stars like world series mvp George Springer and 23yearold star shortstop Carlos Correra who punctuated the teams celebration by dropping to a knee during a Live National Television Interview and proposing to his girlfriend daniellea rodriguez. Right now i want to take another big step in my life. Daniellea rodriguez, will you make me the happiest man in the world . Will you marry me . Will you marry me . Oh, my god the ring in the back pocket of his uniform. Daniella who was last years miss texas u. S. A. Said yes. Its a good thing because he said he had no plan b if the astros lost. He asked his teammates to hit a lot of home runs so they would win and he could propose. Congratulations. The wedding bells continue this weekend, astros ace pitcher Justin Verlander married his longtime girlfriend kate upton in italy on saturday. That is a man whos having a good week. My question is, did carlos corerra have his ring in the back pocket the entire game . Thats impressive. Thats risky. That was a rock. I know what its like to carry around the engagement ring. Imagine playing a world series game. Our first logos to anyone who ignores the warning not to tap the glass on the virtual shark tank. The International Spy museum in washington. Anyone like this guy. Remember, thats a virtual shark. Thats a tv screen. After a couple of tentative taps to test the waters the Museum Visitor taps on the glass and here comes the virtual shark. The sign reads touch at your own risk and they mean it. I feel a little bad. Its one of the greatest videos. I think a lot of people are surprised. That was one of the best reactions. Quickly got it on social media. Our next high goes to the mvp of the football weekend. Shifty senior running back from the atly team. Hes been playing football since the fourth grade. His movement is limited by cerebral palsy. Hes always been on the team since he was a kid. Late in the Fourth Quarter on a friday night game seth took a handoff and without those crutches rumbled 80 yards for a touchdown to the 20 yard line. Chasing him. He throws the ball to the sides. Touchdown surrounded by players from both teams cheering him along with that pa announcer, too, seth finds the end zone. He used to worry that people looked at him funny but now theyre all cheering for him as he finds the end zone. He next hopes to attend university alabama. Wants to go into broadcast journalism. That was one of the videos where i did start crying the first time i saw it. Youre so proud of him and all of his friends cheering him on. The kids on the other team. Our final logos to the unfortunate scheduling conflict when the wedding in which your flower girl conflicts with nap time. 6 month old rugby became an internet star this week after she slept right through her vital role as flower girl at her aunts wedding. The show had to go on so he strapped her, he wanted to point out very carefully, into her white wagon and mom wheeled the cutie in her white dress. Dad posted the video to reddit with the caption my daughter was supposed to be the flower girl in her aunts wedding. Usually the have the opposite concern. Theyre going to run the other way. Dad said he was rocking her in the back of the church figured to wake her up. He couldnt wake her up. They found some contraption. They got her in there safely, wheeled her right in. The video overall has been amazing on all of these segments. Im glad youre here to celebrate it. Great. Thank you so much. Coming up next, the sunday sitdown with Kelly Clarkson on why she wasnt sure if she wanted to win American Idol and taking on social media critics and the new album shes been waiting all her life to make. The program that helps alzheimers patients lock away their memories forever. Jena bush haggar has that story. You can head over to facebook for facebook liv i did what you said, doc. Changed everything. You switched to the capital one quicksilver card. And how do you feel . [sighs] like a burdens been lifted. Those other cards made you sign up for bonus cash back. Then they change categories on you every few months. Then you had to keep signing up you. Deserve. Better. Now get out there and keep earning that 1. 5 cash back on every purchase everywhere. Thanks, doc. Im not a doctor. What . [whispers] time to go. Whats in your wallet . Fixodent plus adhesives. Theres a denture adhesive that holds strong until evening. Just one application gives you superior hold even at the end of the day fixodent. Strong more like natural teeth. My advice for looking get your beauty sleep. And use aveeno® absolutely ageless® night cream with active naturals® blackberry complex. Younger looking skin can start today. Absolutely ageless® from aveeno®. Good morning. Im rosemary connors. It is just before 8 30 on this sunday. Meteorologist krystal klei is tacking a gloom start to our sunday. At least we got the extra hour. Overnight we had some showers move on through. Those are off to sea now. A very thick blanket of clouds hanging overhead. More showers, even a spot thunderstorm to the north and west. A few of those will move in our direction. Mostly clipping the northern neighborhoods but an lated shower is in the forecast both this morning and this afternoon we could see a sprinkle. As for temperatures very mild to start. 55 philly, 58 millville. Later today will make it to the mid60s. Now to breaking news from overnight a 16yearold boy is dead, a 12yearold in the hospital following a shooting in north philadelphia. The gunfire broke out at 19th street and somerset avenue just after midnight. The 12yearold boy is expected to survive. Right now police are talking to witnesses in their search for the gunman. Now to a live look at the ben franklin bridge. The span is closed right now to traffic until 9 30 this morning for a charity 10k run and twomile walk raising money for a nonprofit special education school. It is eagles game day. A live look at the linc where the leading birds will take on the Denver Broncos at 1 00 this afternoon. We want to get you ready for the game starting at 9 30 with eagles game day kickoff and eagles game plan at 10 00. The official station of the philadelphia eagles. Im rosemary connors. Krystal and i will see you back here at 9 00. Joseph, im steve. How are you . Nice to meet you sir. Nice to meet you. Hows it going man . The yankees . Come on. [ laughing ] look at the smiles and the hard work that the people here are doing. Its like making mini sandwiches. Theyre no different than anyone else. They just want a job. They want respect and they want dignity. This is a nice place. Yeah. He plays basketball with lauren. Steve called, fairly frantic. You know, he had a premature baby and i think he had just been given the diagnosis that she had down syndrome. Lauren brought out the best in me. She made me a different person. Deep down in his heart he feels for people who are disadvantaged. Laurens a light in everybody eye. Shes the spark that has started the fire. The goal is to keep places like this open so all people, regardless of disability, have an opportunity for employment. See, i love you. I love you guys too. You know that. Yeah. I just want too say the show is a travesty. . Are you okay . Better than ever. Were going to win this thing the bernie way . Which means if i lose, ill bring everyone else down with me. Saturday night live returning from a break with larry david playing Bernie Sanders on the price is right and miley cyrus as the musical guest. It was just over 15 years ago if you can believe it that another musical powerhouse, Kelly Clarkson, became the very First American idol. Since that night clarksons big power full voice has helped her sell 25 million albums and earn three grammy awards. That success certainly was not guaranteed by winning a singing competition and it hasnt always come easily. Kellys latest album meaning of life has been at or near the top of the charts since it was released ago. She invited us to nashvilles star struck studios in the very room where she recorded the album. Love so soft one of your early singles. Theres some swagger in there. Yes. Stank. Yes. Its that. Were in the studio, i was like, yes. That stank face is Kelly Clarksons highest form of approval, and shes feeling good about her new album. Recorded with a new label featuring a new soul inspired sound. Meaning of life is the record the 35yearold has been waiting 15 years to make. 100 of this record is all me. I think, you know, you do have to live a little and sing these songs with the sass and confidence. Is there any fear at all to doing Something Different . Youre so proven the way youve done it for all these years . No. You know what, every time i cover a song i tend to make it soulful. Everybody asks me, when are you going to make that record . Im not nervous. I feel like people have been wanting this record for years. All i sang on eye doidol was. Covering of arethas respect won the texas native a huge following on the inaugural season of American Idol. That spotlight was a dream come true for kelly who first stepped on stage in middle school where she performed in the choir and in school musicals. Clarkson was 20 years old when she auditioned for randy, paula, and simon in 2002. At the time she was living out of her car in texas after a failed attempt to make it on the los angeles music scene. Kelly clarkson. Clarkson won the competition earning more viewer votes than runner up justin. More than 22 Million People tuned in for the finale. Kelly became a star on the spot. People forget now how huge that show was in that moment culturally. Yeah. You can tell me whether this were true or not. We found out about this movie that was supposed to be made. This movie musical. I was like, oh, i was like, wait, i dont want to do that. Kellys instincts were good. Movie from justin to kelly was mocked by critics and went from theaters to dvd in a matter of weeks. So thats why when you see me win or right before im winning you see my face because somebody had run out, oh, youre totally going to win. Im like, i know, i watched this happen. Im screwed. Did you really feel that way standing there . Absolutely. 100 . 100 . Even at that time justin and i talked, we both made it to the finale. It didnt matter. Were going to probably have a career. Were just hoping to pay our bills. There was no level of entitlement because we had no idea what was happening. Kellys first single a moment like this raced to number one on the billboard charts. But life as the First American idol wasnt exactly what it seemed. I was surprised to read how much you struggled after that because to the outside world it was so easy. Heres a young woman who chased her dream, got i got a Million Dollar deal, recording contract. She got all the things she wanted but you werent happy after that. Well, no, because all the things you just listed didnt happen. Oh, is that true . Oh, you win a million contract. Youre loaded. I ive still got a car that was bashed in. Cant pay the deductible. It was different than what maybe reuben or carrie or whoever went after. The following year came the debut album thankful. Miss independent. But kelly was struggling to get her own professional independence. Is it true in that period you thought about getting out of it . This isnt going to work . I dont want any part of it before . I think just how hard it was to get miss independent on my album, let alone a first single. Somebody wanted a country record, somebody wanted me to go r b, somebody wanted me to go pop. Everybody had their own idea. So it was very hard to like do that first record. But along with the contract with rca that she won on idol, kelly clashed with the labels ledge gej dairy president and ceo, clyde davis. He didnt pick me and i didnt pick him so it was an arranged marriage. It was a successful one in the end that marriage may have been messy, but it produced kellys most successful record. The grammy winning break away. It sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and includes hits like since youve been gone. Behind these hazel eyes. And the title track break away. Nine more albums followed they made clarkson an established superstar. The new album meaning of life marks a new era for kelly. Last year she walked away from rca and signed with columbia records. The final track on the new album borrows a line from the speech made by former First Lady Michelle Obama at the 2016 democratic convention. When they go low, we go high. Its a statement kelly can relate to. Over 15 years in the public eye and on social media shes learned to ignore the critics. And im sure its hard for you to read instagram, twitter, things like that. Yeah. And not every once in a while want to go in on somebody. Im going to be real with you. I dont go high always. I go sarcastic sometimes. There are times, i mean, i aint a saint so like im human. I dont care. Peop people, you know, call me fat, like me brunette, like me to sing this song. They say this all the time. It does not bother me because i am very fulfilled in my life and i love my life and im blessed. Its not that im doing it to be joan of arc of the music industry, its because im a mother and i care what is said to my kids and i want them to build an armor to wear an armor of confidence. Her husband, Brandon Blackstock is also her manager. Together they have two young children. 3yearold daughter river rose and 19 month old son remington alexander. Having kids, having your own children change your music at all. Becoming a mother and a wife, i mean, it sounds funny, but ive never felt sexier. Ive never felt more confident. Ive never felt more empowered. I dont think you have to get married or have children to have those things, thats what happened to me personally. The give a crap factor drops. Its the same face when you listen to your own music. Its the stank face. We may see more of that stank face where kelly will be a coach for season 14. Her husband manages blake shelton, another coach on that show. So she said it feels like family. Kelly has a new Childrens Book out. That is called river rose and the magical christmas. I asked her how she first heard about that famous scene and to hear her answer check out the web extras on today. Com sunday. A sunday sitdown with Michelle Pfeiffer on everything from grease ii and scar face and the break she chose to take from the spotlight. Good morning. Im first alert meteorologist krystal klei. Today will be a day were dreary, gray outside. Light to breezy conditions. And plenty of clouds overhead. 66 degrees in center city. A little warmer than average. About 64 in lansdale. An isolated shower possible throughout the of the day. Chances get lower and lower through the day. Thor shot is in the morning time. 66 this afternoon. Same in atlantic city. A few upper 60s possible mostly in southern delaware this afternoon. Next on sunday today, in between the many, many touchdowns, the College Football rivalry game was a reminder rivalry game was a reminder about the opioid epidemic. Im singing in the rain, just singing in the rain rivalry game was a reminder about the opioid epidemic. What glorious feeling im happy again, just singing, singing in the rain. With three extrairst absorb channels. R they stay up to three times drier so babies can sleep soundly all night pampers my dbut now, i take used tometamucil every day. Sh it traps and removes the waste that weighs me down, so i feel lighter. Try metamucil, and begin to feel what lighter feels like. Hi, the names craig. Im at your house to look at the car you posted for sale, even though im totally not going to buy it. But i cant wait to share a bunch of random stories with an unnecessary level of detail. Because thats how you become best buddies. Yes fact is, selling your car on your own isnt all its cracked up to be. Luckily, at carmax, we buy all the cars. Old cars, new cars, your car. Peace of mind. No awkward strangers. Thats how car selling should be. If you happen to watch the bedlam rivalry game between oklahoma and oklahoma state, you may have noticed a decal that read stop opioids, an unusual message in the middle of a spirited College Football game but a personally significant one to those teams and to a former players parents who were honored before the kickoff. In our sunday spotlight harry smith looks through the story of one young man at the american epidemic that takes 90 lives every day. Number 12, austin boss, helped lead the university of oklahoma to the league title his senior year. He was that guy, a football star, a charismatic teammate loved by all. He always just filled any room that he entered. He made you feel so special. It was hi, mommy. He calls me mommy. He was sweet natured, kind like his mom, but when he played sports, he just was so competitive and wanted to win and the thing about austin was he made his teammates better. See this beautiful green grass that senior year was extra special. He had overcome a number of injuries. He fulfilled his childhood dream. Yet days after austins graduation, the boxes were called to an emergency room. Austin was dying of a drug overdose. On the phone an old coach. You need to come to the hospital. All i can say right now is austins breathing. I mean, i just kept thinking, its going to be all right. Hes going to come out of it. He always came back . Exactly. I have a sense just sitting here right now that this is as fresh as yesterday. It is. It is. Gail and craig are certain austin never abused opioids when he played, but something changed after he stopped. To know austin, you would know how deeply ashamed he would have been for us to know that he was abusing prescription medications. Thats truly what breaks my heart. It could happen to anyone. Several times a month gail, a former school counselor, speaks to kids and parents about opioids. We need to educate in these dangers. You know, just because it is a prescription does not mean its safe. Oklahoma set a record last year for the number of drug overdoses that ended in death. Does it feel to you like the country gets it . Im 60 years old and its it shocks me to think what has happened in our country in my lifetime that we have this problem now. We have so much and can deal with so many things that now this is something that appears to be destroying us within. Reporter craig and gail are doing their best to not let that happen. When we were in the emergency room with austin, i saw that he had a wrist band. On it a bible verse from proverbs which reads. Iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another. And thats the best way i know to fight this, by giving each other the strength and the encouragement to fight this. For sunday today, harry smith, oklahoma city. Harry, thank you very much. Next on sunday today making the long goodbye a little less painful. The history that we have together, the story helped bring that out. The program that helps to preserve the lifetime of memories that alzheimers slowly takes away. And later, a life well lived. The actress and folk singer turned fiery defender of the natural world. Once. Chocolate was the best thing you could ever give her. And it still is. Kay jewelers presents levian chocolate diamond jewelry. A spectacular collection with stunning chocolate diamonds and rare gemstones. At kay, the number one store for the chocolate shell love forever. Every kiss begins with kay. I love you, droolius caesar, but sometimes you stink. Febreze car vent clip cleans away odors for up to 30 days. Because the things you love can stink. You wouldnt do only half of your daily routine, so why treat your mouth any differently . Complete the job with listerine® help prevent plaque, early gum disease, bad breath and kill up to 99. 9 of germs. Listerine® bring out the bold™ its known as the long goodbye. As too many of you know, alzheimers is a neurodegenerative disease that robs its victims of lifetimes of memories and slowly takes from family and friends the vibrant people theyve known and loved. For sundays closer jena bush haggar introduces us to a program that helps us save what soon will be lost. We met at north lynn mall building a Haunted House to raise money to buy christmas presents for needy kids. In fact, we had more fun scaring the kids and caring for charity. I was attracted to margarets intelligence and creativity. Reporter theres such power in a love story. Mark made me feel safe and secure and i thought he was cute, too. Reporter and even more power in sharing it. That winter i bought a ring and proposed to margaret by candlelight on christmas eve. Thankfully she accepted. Reporter thats especially true for mark and margaret zoomdall. Reporter youve been together for 25 years. Weve been together for 25 years. Weve known each other for 40 years or more because we were friends from the beginning. Reporter the two are writing and performing the story of their life together because for margaret, these beautiful memories are slowly slipping away. It feels very devastating. Reporter margaret is one of more than 5 million americans living with alzheimers disease. Its like it robs you of who you are and some of the wonderful memories that ive had. Reporter but alzheimers also takes a toll on partners. You dont want your relationship defined entirely by alzheimers but it is difficult because youre constantly remind bed. Reporter mark and margaret are getting help dealing with the disease thanks to a special program at northwesterns cognitive neurology and alzheimers disease center. We take them through an eight week story telling workshop. Reporter the goal is to focus on each other. Its always reminding them why they fell in love so it allows them to say, hey, were more than this diagnosis. Reporter what was it like to relive all of these memories from 25 years ago . It was great. The history that we have together, the story helped bring that out. Doing it as partners, as a team, then it made it very fun. We laughed a lot. We cried a lot. We did. We did. A lot of emotion in that. If i can say this, if it makes sense, it makes you remember your memories because we could talk about them and enjoy them all over again and write them down. Reporter and perform them. For me, building the house was like bumbling in the dark but margaret seemed to picture everything perfectly in her head. Reporter whats your favorite part of this job . I love to watch them tell their story but also see other people listen to their story and to see their reactions and see them laugh and be moved and say, oh, i didnt i didnt know. One unintended benefit of margarets disease is the ability to watch chip and joanna remodel its house and be surprised each time. Reporter the audience is full of doctors and researchers who want to go beyond pure biology and understand the human side of alzheimers. Im a clinician. I see patients. I do research and i also really want to hear how families are being impacted by illness. Were going to be better scientists. Were going to be better clinicians and were going to work harder to find a cure. Its actually been a supplement to their education. Reporter and an education in love and resilience for anyone who hears these stories. After writing about your life, has it been a good one . Oh, yeah. Weve been blessed. Weve had a great life and family and the story helped us relive that. Hes the best partner. I wouldnt want to be married to anybody else. Reporter for sunday today, jena bush haggar, chicago. This week we highlight another life well lived. Katie lee will be remembered as one of the great characters of the grand canyon, but her career started out in the more glamorous world of hollywood. In the 1940s and 50s lee was an actress, songwriter and folk singer who spent a life on the road singing. The legendadge gen dagendary bu the best cowboy singer is katie lee. She spent all of her time on the rivers and canyons of her home state. Shes only the third woman, in fact, ever to run all of the rapids in the grand canyon. In the mid 1960s lee found her lifes work as she protested the building of a dam at arizonas glen canyon on the colorado river. She and a small group of friends spent months on the water documenting and preserving native american artifacts that soon would be under water in a canyon she called pure eden. Lee spent the rest of her life as a conservationist. She was a fiery, salty activists for the environment. Katie lee, the beloved goddess of glen canyon died at home in jerome, arizona. She was 98 years old. You know, i never dream about it. Its because its on my mind all day long every day. Look at this. A Silicon Valley server farm. The vault to mans greatest wonders. Selfies, cat videos and winking emojis. Speaking of tech wonders, with the geico app you can get roadside assistance, digital id cards. Or even file a claim. Do that. Yeah, yeah that should work. Its not happening. Just try again. Uh, i think i found your problem. Thanks. Hmm. The awardwinning geico app. Download it today. We wanted to makes the wallpaper beautiful again. With office 365 its really easy to collaborate on ideas. Teams keeps us very dynamic. Were able to react very quickly to any client request. It makes our 10person company feel like 50. Hey honey, good. As practice . Mustve been hot out there today, huh . Yeah. Yeah. Why dont you go put that stuff in the laundry room right now . Ok. Do your athletes bring home big odors . Tide sport is super concentrated to beat even. The toughest stains and odors. Hey, buddy hey. Woo somebody ran laps. Yup the new tide sport collection. Its got to be tide. Why arits because sweeneysing been exposed as aeeney . Double dipping pension padder. Caught spending Campaign Money on lavish dinners and fine cigars for his pals. Investigated for being a lobbyist and a senator at the same time. Sweeney voted to raise taxes 145 times while our economy continues to struggle. South jersey is a mess, and its time to take out the trash. On november 7th, make a change. Dump sweeney. We close this morning with a look at whats next this week. Tuesday is election day. 52 weeks since donald trump was elected president of the United States. Races to watch include the relatively close one for governor in virginia and one in new jersey to replace chris christie. Those along with mayors races in big cities across the country. Something special coming right here to rockefeller plaza. This years winner, a norway spruce from state college, pennsylvania. It will be cut down on thursday and arrive here next weekend. And before we go this morning, a special shout out and congratulations to our executive producer matt carluccio. His beautiful little boy georgio came into the world. Welcome to the party. Great name, guys. Again, thank you for spending part of your morning with us. Well right now on nbc 10 news today, killed by gunfire. A teenager is dead and a 12yearold is in the hospital after a gunman opened fire on a group of teens. Were live at Philadelphia Police headquarters with the search for that shooter. Overseas trip. Right now President Trump is in japan on a five country visit. What hes telling troops about the threat from north korea. Damp and dreary but ready for football. This is a live look inside lincoln financial field from our eagles nest camera where you can expect some misty but warm weather for game time. Good morning. This is nbc 10 news today. Im rosemary connors. It is 9 00 on this sunday. Hopefully you todv