and wild encounter. it's youtube's hottest video, that mountain biker getting run over by an antelope. we'll talk to the 17-year-old on the wrong end of the antlers today, monday, october 17, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a monday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> good morning. i'm ann curry. boy, dan wheldon, the driver killed in that horrific accident was extremely popular on the indy circuit. he was just 33 years old. he leaves behind a wife and two young sons. >> this was indy car's first fatal crash since 2006. wheldon was in the middle of the pack when two cars in front of him touched, triggering a multi car wreck. his car launched into the air, hit a fence and the wall and burst into flames. we'll get the latest and hear from some of wheldon's closest friends coming up straight ahead. >> pretty soeberring. on a different note, did you see the video over the weekend of lady gaga serenading the clintons? just another day in the life of the former president and current secretary of state. savannah guthrie caught up with hillary clinton. they talked about future plans, their relationship with president obama. they talked about chelsea's eye on politics. we'll talk to hillary clinton coming up. and on friday we promised a big announcement, and we'll have that for you in our next half hour. beginning with the deadly tragedy that has the racing world in mourning. nbc's george lewis is at the las vegas motor speedway. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, matt. veteran race drivers say they have never seen a pileup as bad as this one, cars crashing and spinning, dan wheldon's car flying through the air. just minutes into the race on the 12th lap with the cars hitting speeds of 230 miles an hour, the tires on two cars touched, sending them out of control. >> oh, here we go. >> a huge crash. >> multiple cars involved. >> oh, my. >> it looks like dan wheldon may be involved in it. >> reporter: wheldon had started the race at the back of the pack, part of a challenge to win $5 million if he got to the front and won. >> he has moved up ten spots. you're on board with him. >> reporter: he was jockeying for position when one of the out-of-control cars struck him, sending his car flying through the air, tumbling end over end and into the wall of the raceway, where it burst into flames. one of several race cars to catch fire in the 15-car pileup. medics quickly air lifted wheldon to a trauma center but doctors were unable to save his life. >> indy car is sad to announce that dan wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injuries. our thoughts and prayers are with his family today. >> reporter: three other drivers were injured. wheldon's friends and racing colleagues reacted to the news of his death in shock. >> he'll be missed. and i just feel for his family. >> i lost one of my best friends, one of my greatest teammates. and i don't know what to say. i think i'm getting old. i have been through too many of these already. >> reporter: officials decided not to continue the race. the cars did a five-lap tribute to wheldon as the number of wheldon's car, 77, flashed on a pylon above the track. before the race in an interview with "extra," wheldon talked about the hazards of the sport. >> some people look at it as one of those things that you can just do. for me, i take it very seriously. there's a lot of responsibility with that. these indy cars travel around the indianapolis motor speedway at speeds in excess of 230 miles an hour. they need to be safe. >> reporter: wheldon won the indianapolis 500 two times -- in 2005 and again this year. 33 years old and originally from england, wheldon leaves behind a wife and two young sons. and for the people in the racing world for whom risk-taking just goes along with the sport, this scene will haunt them for the rest of their lives. some drivers had expressed misgivings about running a high-speed race with 34 indy cars on an oval track like this saying when the cars get bunched up the potential for deadly accidents was very high. that played out tragically here on sunday. matt? >> george, thank you very much. even wheldon himself before the race said, quote, it's going to be a pack race. you never know how that's going to turn out. i mean, 230 miles an hour is just an extraordinary rate of speed. >> that's right. the question now for investigators is was the track too fast? were there too many drivers on the field? certainly that will be addressed. meantime we have to think about his poor family and those two little kids and his wife. our hearts go out to them this morning. we are going to make a turn now to kansas city and new developments in the case of the missing baby lisa irwin. her mother is opening up about what she was doing the night her daughter was last seen. nbc ice peter alexander is in kansas city with details. peter, good morning. >> ann, good morning to you. >> reporter: we have not heard from baby lisa irwin's parents in more than a week until now. they tell nbc news this awful experience has brought them closer together and they are hopeful their baby daughter will be returned home to them soon and safe. during our 45-minute interview lisa's mother reveals she was drinking that night and also says she fears she might be arrested for her daughter's disappearance. i began our conversation by asking her why. >> well, i was the last one with her. judging on how the questioning went, that's kind of a fear that i have. and the main fear is if they arrest me, people are going to stop looking for her and then i will never see her again. i will never know what happened. >> reporter: nearly two weeks have passed since deborah bradley and jeremy irwin say their infant daughter, seen here in home video shot this year, vanished from her crib. you told us the police accused you of killing your daughter. >> mm-hmm. mm-hmm. >> reporter: how has it been for authorities to focus on you at times? >> terrible because my daughter's missing. the last thing i want to have to worry about is something like that. she didn't have to put any energy, any time or effort into anything but finding her. >> reporter: just before 5:00 on the night lisa disappeared, debor deborah, who's 25, was spotted on surveillance tape with her brother at a grocery store buying baby supplies and boxed wine. now for the first time deborah admits she was drinking at home in the hours before she says lisa vanished. were you drinking that night? >> yes. >> reporter: how much? >> enough to be drunk. >> reporter: so you were drunk? >> mm-hmm. >> reporter: a lot of people are going to say deborah, you were drunk that night. is there any chance you did anything that you hurt your daughter that you are just not telling us? >> no, no, no. if i thought there was a chance i would say it. no, no. i don't think that alcohol changes a person enough to do something like that. >> reporter: deborah now says she last saw her daughter when she put her to bed at 6:40 p.m., not 10:30 as the family first reported. it was the first time lisa's father, jeremy, an electrician, had ever worked an overnight shift, making repairs at this kansas city starbucks. do you in any way question she's not telling you or police everything she knows? >> no. there is no question to be had there. i know who she is. i know what kind of mother she is. >> reporter: when jeremy got home just before 4:00 in the morning he found the front door unlocked, several lights on and a window screen tampered with. police have tried to recreate how an abductor may have broken into the home through that window. does it seem feasible that someone could have gotten in while you and your two boys were sleeping and you wouldn't have heard a thing? >> our bedroom is on the exact opposite corner of the house and she sleeps with the fan on high. >> they must have been doing it much quieter than the police were. >> reporter: you said police told you that you failed a lie detector test. what question or questions did they say you failed? >> they said that i failed when they asked me where she was. >> reporter: deborah and jeremy say they refuse to let detectives reinterview lisa's 8- and 5-year-old half brothers. >> they said they heard noises. i don't know if that was before we went to sleep or after. i have not sat down and talked to them about it, specifically not to have to put them through anything else. >> reporter: on sunday, the missouri national guard joined the search for baby lisa, combing open and wooded areas near the irwin family home. also this weekend, inside the basement of this abandoned house in the neighborhood, investigators discovered a child's backpack and used diapers, but police discounted that finding. meanwhile, detectives have now questioned a local handyman with a criminal history who had been unaccounted for since before lisa's disappearance. still, police say they have no suspects, including lisa's parents. if the person who took your baby daughter is out there watching this right now, what do you say to them? >> she needs her family. we need her. we're losing more sanity as each day progresses. >> reporter: also today nbc news has learned the irwin family is expected to announce later this afternoon, ann, that they are bringing in an attorney to represent the family. the latest on that for you tomorrow. >> peter alexander, thank you very much. judge jeanine pirro is a pormer prosecutor and spent the last two weeks in kansas city following the story. good morning. >> good morning. >> so this news that deborah is now admitting she was drunk the night lisa disappeared and last time she saw the baby was at 6:40 and not 10:30. why would a family change its story? >> when you have a missing 10-month-old baby, the truth is absolutely essential. minutes count. i spoke with the mother, deborah, and the father at length, eye to eye. i said, what time did you put baby lisa to bed? she said, i put her to bed several hours earlier than the last time i checked on her, which was at 10:30. now, two weeks later we come out with a new time. why is that? time is essential. it creates new windows and new areas of investigation. that is very, very concerning. >> maybe concealing the fact that she was drunk, maybe being concerned about the repercussions from that? >> well, we know she was buying alcohol and the box of wine before 5:00. i spoke to the store clerk about that purchase. she seemed fine. she bought baby wipes, baby food. it would explain why she didn't hear the baby monitor, didn't hear the dog barking. but, you know, now she comes out and says, "i was drunk." people were believing her because her story was consistent. i spoke with her. she was very consistent. the neighbors said she loved that baby. the store clerk said she was a wonderful mother. the baby was always appropriately dressed and in good health. now she comes out with the last time i saw my baby was 6:40 and, by the way, i was drunk? this isn't what you want to bring out after the fact when time is essential. >> meantime deborah is saying the family is not allowing the boys, the stepbrothers of lisa, to be reinterviewed. they are just 8 and 5. what would explain why the police want to reinterview them and why the family would refuse? >> first of all, i think they're 8 and 6. and here's the problem. if the boys have any information -- we know the mother was drinking with the nextdoor neighbor and her 4-year-old daughter was watching videos with her sons. i think the opportunity to speak to the sons about someone they may have seen at or around the house and the kansas city police, and they are doing a fantastic job, they picked up this homeless guy, jersey, who has not been seen since the baby went missing, but every piece to the puzzle is important. time is essential. now you come out and say it was 6:40, four hours earlier than i told you last week? not good. >> it's clear the police department are keeping their sights on the family. are they at the same time also conducts a parallel investigation, looking at the possibility this could be a stranger abduction case? >> there is no question. they are looking at all avenues. they left no stone unturned. they have spoke to sexual predators who are saying, we're waiting for you to come and talk to us. this is a very competent department. they keep it close to the vest. this whole idea about her saying she's being arrested i don't believe that's the case. nothing i have heard on the ground indicates that that's imminent. >> thank you so much for your perspective. at 7:14 here's matt. >> thank you very much. now the american researcher who was stranded at the south pole after suffering a suspected stroke. this morning she's heading home. anne thompson has details on that. good morning. good to see you. >> good morning, matt. happy to tell you she's in christchurch, new zealand thshgs morning. this began with a first cargo flight of the warming season. it dropped off supplies at the south pole and picked up renee-nicole douceur. after seven weeks of pleading, renee-nicole finally left the south pole. she sent a photo of herself before heading out to meet the cargo plane that would take her away. that plane represented hope and risk. it was unpressurized and she worried what it could do to her brain, already injured by a suspected stroke. when i spoke to douceur over the weekend, she said the pilots agreed to fly at a lower altitude if necessary. >> i think i'm fairly comfortable that the plan they have will work if i run into difficulties. i'm just crossing my fingers and hoping to god that i won't run into any of that problem. >> reporter: the conditions were foreboding. the temperature, 72 degrees below zero with a windchill of 109 below around takeoff on the first leg of the journey to better care. after stopping to change planes in mcmurdo station in antarctica, she boarded a pressurized plane for the trip to new zealand and a hospital with machines to evaluate her condition. >> i have no idea if i'm just walking around with a ticking bomb in my brain. nobody knows until i get there. >> douceur said the suspected stroke left her with impaired vision and speech problems. among her questions, are these problems permanent and could they have been lessened if they had been airlifted out sooner. she'll start to get those answers tomorrow. >> she is on her way home. thank you very much. appreciate it. let's go to the news desk. natalie is standing by with a look at the headlines of the good morning. good morning. >> good morning to you, matt. good morning, everyone. the occupy wall street movement is muscling up with some $300,000 in donation as the protests have spread to four continents, a month after they began. hundreds of thousands of people have joined in. the president gave the movement a nod on sunday. nearly 100 protesters were arrested nationwide over the weekend. the new martin luther king, jr., memorial is now open to the public. on sunday president obama paid tribute to the slain civil rights leader in the memorial dedication. stevie wonder was there. the events weren't untouched by current events. king's children and president obama acknowledged that king himself would have approved of the occupy wall street movement. the president kicks off a three-day bus tour in his push for re-election and the jobs bill. the nearly $450 billion bill was rejected by the senate last week. the president is now urging congress to pass smaller pieces of the legislation. now to wall street. cnbc's melissa francis is at the new york stock exchange for us. me litsz is a, what are we watching there this week? >> good morning, natalie. we have an eye on the debt crisis in europe but we are also watching corporate earnings. some of the big names reporting this week a third of the s&p 500, citigroup and wells fargo on deck today. we're going to be listening to what they have to say about the future, is business coming back. it is not your imagination prices at the pump are creeping higher, up a full seven cents in the last week according to aaa. back to you. >> melissa, thank you. the days of an unpleasant surprise on your cell phone bill could be over according to a new agreement today between wireless carriers and the fcc. monthly service limits will get alerts warning them of charges. tens of millions of users are charged with overage charges each year. as you probably know by now it will be the cardinals versus the rangers in the world series. last night the cardinals scored their 18th trouncing and the brewers 10-6. the series opener is this wednesday night in st. louis. it's 7:18. back to matt, al and ann. my husband is happy as a cardinals fan. >> i think it will be a good series. i like the cardinals. i'm also a texas fan. we need the viewers in both locations. mr. roker has a check of the weather. >> and we love the brewers. they have the sausage race. >> you know, detroit. we love detroit. >> got the bases covered. let's see what we've got. in flori, just off the keys, we are looking at heavy rain. 60% chance of a tropical cyclone forming over the next 48 hours. we'll keep an eye on this. rainfall over the next 24 hours. one to four inches of rain throughout the keys into central florida. it will be a wet one. plenty of sunshine in the northeast. rain along the central mississippi river valley. beautiful in the pacific northwest with temperatures in the mid to upper 70s, make it 60s. temperatures in the 80s in los angeles. that's what's going on aro good monday morning to you. taking a live look from san bruno, we have a layer of fog. by 11:00 a.m., full on sunshine. 77 today in oakland. 83 in fremont. throughout the week our temperatures are going to drop off. watch out for the thickest fog this morning up in santa rosa. have a great day. we'll have the seven-day forecast in just minutes. at's you est weather. matt? >> al, thank you very much. just ahead, the unwitting victim of a bizarre hit-and-run. the mountain biker was taken out by an antelope. we have the exclusive live interview. first this islo look, every day we're using more and more energy. the world needs more energy. where's it going to come from? ♪ that's why right here, in australia, chevron is building one of the biggest natural gas projects in the world. enough power for a city the size of singapore for 50 years. what's it going to do to the planet? natural gas is the cleanest conventional fuel there is. we've got to be smart about this. it's a smart way to go. ♪ just ahead, a very big announcement about our show. >> also ahead, a day in the life of hillary clinton. will she ever run for president again? does chelsea have a future in politics? we'll hear from the secretary of state exclusively. first your local news and local weather forecast. 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