captions paid for by nbc-universal television welcome to today on this thursday morning. i m meredith vieira. i m matt lauer. we have a wedding today on the plaza, and it is raining cats and dogs as in many places up and down the east coast. you know what they say? it s good luck, the rain. exactly right. they will have lots of luck. not so lucky for a lot of people to our south. a state of emergency has been declared in parts of north carolina where some areas have already received well over a foot of rain this week. we ll go there live and get to al s forecast straight ahead. some major recalls to tell you about this morning, especially for parents. they involve millions of popular fisher-price toys and high chairs. there s also an important warning to parents of newborns who use popular sleep positioners to keep their babies in place at night. federal officials say you should stop using them immediately. details on all of this in a few minutes. plus, there