september 30th, 2010. welcome 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? >> good luck. >> 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 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 and a warning for parents of newborns who use popular sleep positioners. federal officials say you should stop using them immediately. details on all of this in a few minutes. plus, there are plenty of hot spots in las vegas. this is ridiculous. the facade of a new hotel is creating what some are calling a death ray that is hot enough to melt plastic. one person at the pool said he had his hair cinched from the heat. more on that in a moment. >> let us begin with tore ren sal rains and threat of flooding on the east coast. weather channel jim cantore is on the east coast. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. if i said we set three and four and five day rainfall records, that probably doesn't mean much but when i put the numbers on it, we had 20 inches of rain in the last four days. here comes the rain again. we had enough of break this morning the waters receded a little on this road. you can see the water line. it came up another two feet when we got the period of heavy rain. that's what we're worried about. when these periods of heavy rain come in, will they produced flooding. schools are closed and even though this is the remnant of nicole, it is worse here than yesterday in south florida. winds gusting at 50 miles an hour or so will absolutely have potential to take down trees and power lines, especially giving the saturated soil. this situation will not end the next 12 hours and all of it through the district and up north as you well know. we'll keep you posted when it gets bad and will get worse up north. >> jim cantore, for the weather channel. thank you very much. >> al is outside. go ahead. >> good morning. we have a tent for jeremy and melissa's wedding because the rain will keep coming down. we have remnants of nicole. ex-nicole but a secondary low pressure system has developed in north carolina. we have a tornado watch from the carolinas to washington d.c. until 1:00 this afternoon, with all this moisture streaming up here. we also have the risk of strong storms from cape hatteras all the way to new york city in long island, possibility of tornados developing during this system. here's what we're expecting. we have flood watches and warnings. you can see all the heavy rains making its way up the coast during the afternoon to early tomorrow morning. this rain lasts into new england until tomorrow morning. good news is the weekend looks pretty good. flash flood watches today into tonight and have flash flood watches as well why? rainfall amount, anywhere from 3 to 5 inches of rain. inland around washington d.c., parts of eastern pennsylvania and on in to central new york, 5 to 7 inches of rain over the next 48 hours. flooding is a big problem over the next 48 hours from the carolinas here to new york. matt. >> i'll take it, al. thank you very much. the rest of al's forecast in just a moment. now, heightened security at some of the most historic landmarks after officials in europe find credible terror plots. how concerned should we be in the u.s. and roger worked for both the bush and clinton administrations. what are sources telling you about this terror plot and why now? >> this is a real plot that dates back to the summer. the good news is u.s. and western european counter officials have been on top of it since then. it is a significant attempt by al qaeda. that's the important point to look at targets in western europe, germany, france, the middle east, potentially denmark and uk. there are conflicting reports about what type of method they're considering but bottom line, this is a threat taken very seriously. >> one report i read is it would be shooting sprees in britney and germany and france. >> right. the way the attacks happened in 2008, where a handful of individuals with ac 47s and hand grenades killed many people and many thought why hasn't that happened in the west yet? that's one potential. there's one individual providing information that points to that type of method but not conclusive and not the only stream of threat reporting we're following now. >> that individual is that the german who was arrested in afghanistan and trained in pakistan? >> that's right. >> sadiki is providing a lot of information. some concern is that he might be seeking to influence as well as inform. bottom line, there are multiple streams of threat reporting pointing towards a potential threat in europe and sadiki is providing one threat of reporting officials are looking at. >> you also mentioned al qaeda. and osama bin laden, do we now how significant he may have been? >> he blesses them and provides strategic guidance, not involved in day-to-day activity. if it is an al qaeda central plot, it tells us al qaeda still aspires to attack the west and didn't know if they had the capability. if this is real, they are in control of capability to do so. >> how concerned should we be they may come after us here in this country? >> i don't think this plot is related to the united states. right now, u.s. counter-terrorism officials think it's focused on europe but out of caution looking at any report that may ter pain to tpe united states. bottom line, this is european focused now. >> should americans be concerned about going abroad? >> not at all. we should travel. >> i want to talk about the bombing in time square that occurred may 1st. prosecutors just released a video showing what that bomb could have done if it went off and looking at reports what faisal shahzad told authorities. what are they hearing? >> what's significant, faisal is going to do additional bombs and go into the city and continue to conduct attacks until he was caught or killed. that is news. the video demonstrates if shahzad had been a little more talented and smarter, he could have successfully detonated that bomb and killed dozens and this was a big plot and he was a significant operative. >> thank you very much. >> amy is here while ann is on assignment. >> good morning. we begin with federal officials trying find out what caused a highway horror yesterday in bethesda, maryland. a bus carrying sightseeing passengers plunged and the driver was killed and at least 12 passengers were hurt. rising tensions between the u.s. and pakistan. this morning, pakistan said a nato helicopter attacked a security post near the afghan border killing pakistani troops and they then blocked a vital route for supplies for u.s. and nato troops. congress members go home after not voting on the bush tax cuts. president obama addressed voters in virginia that said he had no idea how to reduce the nation's deficit. and pilot jack conroyd called the landing the most significant thing that happened to him in 32 years of flying. he praised his crew saying he was no hero, adding, he was just doing his job. hollywood legend tony curtis died last night of cardiac arrest at his home in nevada. in a career that spanned 59 years and was in "some like it hot" and the father of jamie curtis, he was 85. back to matt and vieira, certainly a huge loss. >> and jamie lee i >> at the tropical downpours ever since after midnight last night still affecting our entire area. tornado watch in effect until 1:00. rain likely in excess of si that's your latest weather. matt. >> thank you very much. to politics and two controversial tea party candidates making waves ir there in a respective states. nbc kelly o'donnell is in washington with this. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. politics often gets personal and confrontational. it's unusual to see major candidate pile over like this. new york's republican candidate for governor, carl paladino lost it with a reporter after paladino accused democrat andrew cuomo of cheating on his ex-wife. >> stay away from me. what evidence do you have? >> reporter: about to deliver a speech in upstate new york. >> guy, easy. >> don't touch me. >> reporter: a heated exchange erupted between tea party republican carl paladino and "new york post" reporter, fred dicker. paladino had just given an interview to "politico" where he said, has anyone asked andrew cuomo about his paramours or why his wife left him or threw him out of the house. >> do you have any evidence for the charge you made? a simple question. >> of course i do, you will get it at the appropriate time. you're not entitled to it. >> reporter: a business man who has never run for office, paladino has been under intense scrutiny. >> this will be one hell of a year. >> reporter: he told nbc news he is an angry candidate. >> i am angry. it's okay. all right to show people you're angry. >> reporter: married 40 years, paladino has acknowledged publicly his own extramarital affair that produced a daughter now 10. he appeared furious that the "new york post" had visited the child's home. >> you send another reporter to my daughter's house and i'll take you out, buddy. >> you will take me out? how will you do that? >> watch. >> reporter: paladino and his campaign manager accused the reporter of bias. >> you're working for cuomo. >> reporter: cuomo was divorced from robert f. kennedy's daughter, carey, sporting his run for governor. he had no comment on the accusations of infidelity and blamed it on cuomo. >> he sent his bird dogs out to make accusation is an intelligence me. that's okay? he sent his bird dogs. i don't send bird dogs to do my dirty work. >> reporter: from all that venting to off-camera exchange. delaware tea party candidate christine o'donnell denied new accusations she misrepresented her education, calling that categorically untrue. a networking profile with her photo listed the university of oxford and clairmont graduate university. o'donnell did not attend either school. she claims that profile was faked. she says she completed a summer program run by the phoenix institute at the oxford university location and attended the clairemonth institute, not a university. o'donnell says she never created a linked in profile. linked in took that down but did not comment whether it was fake or not. issues about her education came up in the first place because she attended college years ago, only received her bachelor's degree a few weeks ago after finishing up some last minute requirements. >> kelly o'donnell from washington, thank you very much. 7:15. here's meredith. >> thank you. a warning to parents. there are a number of recalls including popular children's toys and high chairs and sleeping aids. tom is at the consumer products safety commission. >> good morning. the consumer products safety commission an canada are announcing these recalls, a lot of fisher-price brand name items here. we begin with 7 million fisher-price trikes and tough trikes sold in the u.s. and canada. the trikes have a protruding plastic key known to cause injury to children's genitals. they are intended for children between the ages of 2 and 5, sold from january of '97 through september 2010. if you have one, fisher-price will replace that key. also replacing more than a million healthy care, easy clean and close to me high chairs. there are pegs on the back of the legs meant for storage and reports of at least 14 children being injured after falling on or against those pegs. fisher-price recalling more than 3 million infant toys sold under a number of names, baby play zone, gymnastics, ocean wonders, a choking hazard there and 120,000 little people wheelies because they can come off and cause a choking hazard. fisher-price this morning said it wants to assure its customers its products are overwhelmingly safe. we talked to the consumer products commission chairman. >> we have now some of the strongest toy standards we ever had before. we want to give the consumers confidence we are looking at these toys to insure they're safe for their children. this recall today just happens to be four fisher-price toys with over 10 million toys being recalled. >> there's one more recall to tell you about, coming from the consumer products safety commission and fda. these sleep positioners have become very popular and some manufacturers claim they can help alleviate the risk of the child dying of sids. the fda says no evidence of that and some children have suffocated and the warning is not to use sleep positioners at all. >> massive recall. thanks. the washington state woman admitted to putting acid on her own face appeared in court the first time wednesday. peter alexander is in vancouver in washington with the latest. good morning to you. >> reporter: matt, good morning to you. you likely remember this story. bethany storro in that emotional news conference claiming a woman threw acid on her face. later, police tell us she admitted it was all a lie. now, for the first time, we are seeing her without those bandages, this time standing before a judge. inside this courtroom, bethany storro's severe in stricted burns were finally revealed. a face deep red and scarred with only a small bandage on her nose. in her first court appearance, storro pleaded not guilty to three felony theft charges. last month after lying to the public and police claiming an african-american woman approached her on the street and flew acid on herp fac face, she flooded by the community and raised $20,000 to help her. she spent $15,000 of the money. >> part of the money was spent on meals, red robin train tickets up to seattle. >> i want people to know what this person did to me and the trauma it's caused me. >> reporter: just two weeks after this emotional news conference, police say storro admitted the whole story was a hoax, confessing she repeatedly dabbed her own face with drain cleaner. court papers reveal doctors and detectives were skeptical of storro's story from the start. her burn marks were even as if the acid had been applied, not thrown, there were no splash marks on her body and her clothes and no physical evidence at the scene. her parents apologized for her action and made this promise. >> we will lean on our faith and family and friends and community to get our daughter the medical attention she needs and counseling she deserves. >> reporter: after wednesday's hearing, storro was booked into jail and immediately released, the judge ordering her to follow the rules of this psychiatric treatment center where storro agreed to stay until her trial is set to begin in december. why did she do it? storro told detectives she wanted to die or at least have a completely different face. >> destroying your face is destroying essentially your identity. now, i look as hurt and damaged on the outside as i feel on the inside. >> reporter: prosecutors say the co-owner of a local fitness center is one of storro's alleged victims who raised and donated hundreds of dollars to help her. >> i think she just needs help. >> reporter: initially storro showed strength amist adversity. >> in time, i'm going to forgive her. >> reporter: now, some of her alleged victims may forgive her, even if the legal system does not. storro's parents say all the donated money will be returned and the bank holding the money has been frozen and say any not returned or picked up by local individuals will be turned turnover a local burn center. >> peter alexander in washington. thank you very much. just ahead, a college freshman takes his own life after secretly broadcast on the internet having an encounter with another man. two fellow students now charged in that case. we'll have the latest. this is nbc. just ahead, when to get mammograms. and we'll check on our bride and groom after the local news. i never intended to be a businessman. we made the world's best climbing equipment out of here. we realized that putting in and taking out of all these pitons was causing damage to the rock. so, i made these little soft aluminum chalks that you just put in with your fingers. and i'm a dam buster. we've been working for years to take this dam out. the reservoir behind it is only 4 feet deep-- the water gets real warm, kills a lot of the life in the river. when you take out a dam, that's a real victory. i mean, a concrete victory so to speak! when i get an idea to do something, i like to take the first step. if that feels good, i take another step. to do good, you actually have to do something. no matter what you want to do, members project from 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road, watch for a crash. two feet of the standing water at ebenezer. this is another area where flooding is a major issue. this accident just cleared southbound 95 past 195. a new one at west on 100 and 295. the very careful out there. 95 is out of 195, starting to move again after the accident with cleared. this is not moving adult coming down from harford county. two right lanes closed due to a truck fire. >> periods of heavy rain expect all that long and not getting out until tomorrow morning. extend a line from the city down to annapolis. heavy downpours. it is all part of the remnants of the call and install the front and the low pressure line. as far as rainfall a to a vacation before this is over, we will likely see more than four inches of rain. flash flood warnings in effect for the entire area. there is also a tornado watch until 1:00 this afternoon. the weekend, though, it nice. my dad is the supervisor of a train station and my mom's a teacher. my dad's an auto technician. my mom's a receptionist. i'm not sure i would have been able to afford college without the tuition freeze. while tuition in other states is rising out of reach... governor o'malley made the tough choice to freeze tuition. he made my dream of going to college into a reality. i'm the first in my family to go to college. my brother and i never would have been able to afford college. even though times were tough... governor o'malley kept his promise. there's never a doubt... there's never a doubt whose side he's on. martin o'malley... moving maryland forward. ♪ ♪ 7:30 now on a thursday morning. the: 30eth day of september, 2010. wedding day. we have a beautiful tent set up for our guests of loving nature this morning. right now, those guests or some of them are being treated by our singer. we will have more on this inside studio 1a. i'm matt lauer along with meredith vieira. you should be a welding singer. >> i have the voice for it. want to hear me now? >> no. >> late