oh, these were barely on, you probably could have done that yourself. >> man, that was a long flight. i knew i should have taken the train. ♪ >> and we're not done yet. more of "today" on this friday morning t 29th day of october, 2010. if you haven't noticed by now, we're celebrating halloween and that's how we debuted about 45 minutes ago. and we're not done yet. even though we have given out our awards. i'm ameala earhart. >> we have had so much fun on the plaza, but we have a very special guest to help us celebrate. but of course i know superman is the man of steel, but the number one man on the planet is our next guest. ladies and gentlemen, all hail to the chief. >> hello, everybody. good morning. as you can imagine, i'm pretty busy right now, but once i was invited to see the crowd at the "today" show, i could not resist. happy halloween, america. >> that's the president. >> you look like blair underwood. >> you look good. >> pee-wee obama. >> you should probably have lowered this a little bit. he's a little toaller than you. >> you need more ears. >> the costume designer said i didn't have much to work with. but i've got the mole. and nail polish, which i don't think you would often see. but you guys look amazing. >> well done. >> oh, thank you. >> i thought your speech was perfect. anyway, we have got much more coming up. >> in fact and if you want to put together a last-minute halloween costume, week do it. >> we're also going to take you behind the scenes and show you how we put together a halloween fun here on the plaza. >> in the meantime, we have got some news we have got to get to, and we have got lester holt filling in now. >> i feel like the equivalent of a designated driver this morning. here's what's happening in the news. the presidential commission looking into the oil spill in the gulf has new evidence suggesting that bp and halliburton knew months before the accident that the cement mix they were using to seal the well wasn't holding. the company says they do not believe the cement was the cause of the incident. it will be a busy few days for republicans and democrats in florida. kendrick meeks is denying reports that bill clinton tried to get him to pull out of the race. a poignant memorial for shark attack victim lucas ransom, friends and family released hundreds of balloons into the air and then headed with their surf boards out into the pacific. there's a story of a georgia firefighter accused of taking cell phone video of a young woman killed in a car crash and then sharing the video which ultimately ended up in the hands of victim's parents. ron mott is in georgia with an update for us. >> reporter: good morning to you. that cell phone video has gone viral, much to the dismay of this young woman's parents. the firefighter accused of making that video is set to lose his job. the video is too graphic for tv, but the audio is just as chilling. >> pull that down. oh, my god. >> authorities say a georgia firefighter near atlanta used his cell phone to videotape the body of 23-year-old dana chemson, video that ended up in her parents hands and on the internet. >> well the damage is done. >> now her parents who told their harrowing story to ann on "today" last week, got their wish. firefighter terrance reed is getting fired from the spalding county fire department. a call to his attorney was not returned. >> if he's sorry for what he did, then an apology would be nice. we need to forgive this guy and we probably can in time. >> they say they are angered by what they call a violation of their daughter's privacy. authorities say she died instantly. >> all they did was take her picture and walk around her and position the flashlight here and it's etched in my mind and i don't like it. >> reporter: they say their ultimate goal is to get a law passed making it a federal offense to videotape or otherwise record a victim of an emergency. the tsa is changing the way airport screeners pat down passengers. instead of the traditional hand pat, they'll use the traditional sliding motion. it is now six minutes fast hour, let's go back outside to ann, natalee, tamron or should i say superman and justice and ameala and mr. president. >> thanks so much, lester. now let's get a check of the weather from superman. >> let's show you what's going on for your weekend. we have got showers in the pacific northwest, strong winds in northern california. plenty of sunshine through the gulf. showers in northern new england, high pressure dominates in the midwest on into texas, we do have wet weather in the pacific northwest. heavy raino >> dna that's your weather and here's the sexy french director. >> i think the sexy thing was what this was all about. you're going the talk to us about how this remarkable job that this entire team put together. >> i don't think we can capture all of it. we're going to take a look behind the scenes at some of the things people are saying today with amazing success. >> faster than a speeding bullet, the magic come s togethr every year on the plaza. from the munsters to star wars, our dream team of cast, crew and designers stitch it all together. >> i am yoda, i am. >> sometimes all it takes is a well placed wig to make everything super for our anchors. >> do it. >> no, it's -- >> matt shot his part early, but really all of the planning starts far in advance. >> fantastic. >> it's brian's ninth halloween show as costume designer so he's well aware that success depends on a lot of team work, sprinkled with a little luck. >> we work a lot in the way that they do on "saturday night live" so everyone has a team and they're able to make that change as quick as possible. we have a hair, makeup and wardrobe person who's doing a change. >> natalee' been a boy once before and she's always a believer in nailing her character. >> i have been practicing the moves everywhere i go. >> so you're type a even for halloween? she's still working on it. >> some expert training helped meredith embrace her inner diva. >> you look sexy when you're doing it, do you feel sexy? >> oh, my god, yeah. >> ann's big reveal posed a special challenge for production designer's team. >> you've got ann as ameala earhart. how does that start with you. >> we had to find a plane. but the trouble with a plane is that it doesn't fit on the plaza. but we're going to retouch it so that all the navy logo is gone, we're going to age the photo and she's going to stand in front of it. that will be the opening reveal shot for her. >> reporter: at 8:00 p.m. yesterday, the crew started setting up and worked all through the night. making sure every last prop, piece of hair and swab of makeup is in place for show time. another year, another success. all thanks to the hardest working team in morning television. >> we want to mention that brian is right here. we want to bring you brian. great job. in fact he was stitching, how many hours did you sleep would you say in the last three days. >> sleep? what's that? >> how many hair and makeup and costumes did you work on? >> just in this? >> there's probably, i think there's probably 25 to 30 pete. >> how maand how many years hav been doing this? >> nine years. >> so for you, this is kind of like your side job, right? >> yeah, but i always have a good time coming over here. >> do you have a favorite, like every year. >> every year is my favorite. every year is my favorite. >> you love the people. >> i do love the people. you're great people. >> coming up next, we tell you how you can have your furrey friends get in on all the action on halloween, and if you still don't have a costume, guess what, we have got ideas. but first, these messages. 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"today" celebrates halloween is brought to you by snickers, this halloween snikers satisfied. >> good morning on "today" celebrates halloween. so you thought you didn't want to dress up and then all of a sudden you change your mind and now you need a costume. no problem. we're going to show you some great last-minute costumes, courtesy of the elizabeth mahue. good morning, good to see you. or should i sacral police. >> easy costume. i took a shirt out of my closet. a skirt i already had, and a white apron. it's really about going to your closet, finding things and not spending a lot of money. >> does it make more sense to have an idea of what you want to be and go into the closet and see what you have and move from there? >> a lot of these start with either black leggings, white t-shirts, black t-shirts, things that you already have. go and look for those basics and see the few things you can do just to upgrade them. >> let's continue the alice in wonder land theme. >> we have got carlos as the mat hatter. and then we have natalee as the little white rabbit. and then we have aiden as the che chesshire cat. a lot of this is made with the makeup and we give you a one-on-one tutor ral on how to do that. just attach some little ears on the top. you're good to go. the white rabbit, you can take a pillowcase and put out a piece of red felt. rabbit ears you can get almost anywhere. and carlos went into his own closet. found a crazy striped shirt. if you have a fun vest, even a vest that you have maybe from a three piece suit or from your, you know, like tuxedo. >> and how about the hat? >> and you can take a regular hat and with cardboard, make a bigger brim, wrap some fun ribbon as we did around the neck. so he's comfortable and warm and al of it is going to makeup too. >> you guys are late for a very important date. so hop away. >> hop away, hop on off. thanks, guys. >> i love another do it yourself costume. we have got salt and pepper. >> i did this costume for my daughter and her friend and we have charlotte and ava do this. i literally went and bought a dollar garment bag, made a little hole and filled it up with peanuts. and then the called deron for the head, and a shoelace. and it makes a really nice pair for friends. it starts with a white t-shirt, white leggings, black t-shirt, black leggings. >> and the goeltd fish. >> this is jasmine and jasmine and her mom, we took an orange sweatshirt and just covered it with the glue gun -- by using a glue gun and cupcake holders and then glued those on. and then you cut a ping-pong ball in half. and then she's wearing orange leggings and orange socks and she's good to go. she's been swimming around for a while now so she's a little tired. >> so we go from the goldfish to the other end, sushi. >> this is isabella and all we did was take two white pillows, wrap it around her front and these are garbage bags that make the seaweed wrap and led little balloons that we blew up and put her hair up and put some chop sticks in it a. >> let's bring all of our costumes out again. >> really easy, not a lot of time and not a lot of money. >> happy halloween. >> happy halloween. >> and we have got much more ahead, including hoda and kathie lee's costumes when we continue after these messages. i love my curves. but the love i have for strawberry shortcake, red velvet cake and key lime pie, mmm, it threw a curve at my curves. so i threw it right back... with yoplait light -- strawberry shortcake, red velvet cake and key lime pie. 30 indulgent delicious flavors that satisfy my love for tasty treats. around 100 calories. zero fat. now i love my curves in all the right places. yoplait. it is so good. to cover up flaws and make skin look pretty but there's one that's so clever, it makes your skin look better even after you take it off. neutrogena healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% of women saw improvement in their skin's natural texture, tone, or clarity. does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics recommended most by dermatologists. we knew the perfect place to go. man: cheers, everyone. i guess i did okay. i knew they'd love him. introducing olive garden's two new sacchetti dishes. stuffed pasta pouches filled with four italian cheeses. with herb marinated chicken breasts in a garlic cream sauce. or with savory sauteed shrimp. both served with our unlimited salad and breadsticks. it was a great time. and good practice for my parents. olive garden. when you're here, you're family. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] every day thousands of people are switching from tylenol® to advil. to learn more and get your special offer, go to takeadvil.com. take action. take advil®. and every year as we always do, we want to say happy halloween to our staff and their kids. let's go down the line and see what we have here. >> this is calvin. >> this bouncing little one? >> this is beatrice. >> look at this, you've got jasper who's dressed up as a peacock. >> and kerry ann. >> and who go we have here? >> oliver. >> are you going as a dinosaur? and she's got a little kangaroo in her tummy. >> and also keeping your pet safe this halloween. ♪ >> i'm matt lauer. >> does this make me look fat? ♪ what's the latest news ♪ send me out the door with something so good ♪ ♪ your day is today is yours to make it everything you ever wanted to ♪ ♪ your day is "today" choose from a dee-licious lineup of our newest $5 footlong breakfast melts, like the sunrise subway melt. 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[ female announcer ] new aveeno nourish plus shine. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is a wbal-tv 11 news update. >> we have a mix of sunshine and clouds in the forecast today. clarisse will only be in the 50's to your 60. -- highs will only be in the 50's to near 60. temperatures stay cool, and by next week, a chance for rain. women are charged 40% more for the same health insurance as men. domestic violence is treated as a pre-existing condition in eight states. women are abused by their husbands and then by their insurance companies. and last year they tried to end our coverage for mammograms and other preventive services. well i'm proud to say i got the law changed. i'm barbara mikulski. i approve this message so you'll know that being a woman is no longer a pre-existing condition. bob ehrlich pretends to be for the working guy... but he's not on our side. i thought i knew bob ehrlich, but then i found out... he raised property taxes on every maryland family... and business. he increased college tuition... by 40%. 40%. and i thought i knew bob ehrlich. he was against raising the minimum wage. made $2.5 million... working for a lobbying firm. $2.5 million? he's not really on my side. with this tough economy, we really need a governor on our side. ♪ now i'm a believer ♪ not a trace of doubt in my mind ♪ >> now that's a man who needs no introducti introduction, he is the legendary neil diamond. he's going to be here for a live performance, which is why we're showing this video. he's going to be here monday here on "today" and it's always a lot of fun. we love neil diamond. >> we do, we love neil diamond. and we have got lester and dana with what's coming up this weekend. >> it's a dog eat dog, especially on halloween. it can be dangerous also for your pet, especially if they start chewing their costume. we're going to show you how to keep them safe and secure. >> it's a dog eat dog world and i'm wearing milk bone underwear. how about some of the ghoulish ghost cakes or brains made out of mellon. we're going to show you how to make up some spectacular treats. >> if somebody invites you to a party and they say oh, it's casual. >> and you're the losers of the bunch. >> and you guys are going to have a big holiday. >> come see us this weekend. but dress in normal clothes. >> here's what's coming up this weekend on "today." three days to go, the final sprint before the midterm elections, will the republicans control congress or can the president help keep his party in power? we'll have the latest from the campaign trail. and also the florida home invasion that left the parents of 13 special needs kids dead. we're going to bring you the emotional testimony from the courtroom. >> wow. >> are you done now? okay so it's my turn now. access granted. we're going to take you inside the smithsonian institute, and show you the prized possessions that are actually not on display. it's really interesting. and then a holiday surprise, how can you forget. we honestly thought we couldn't top that, but then halloween fell on a sunday. >> that's not the one and only time i wear that dress. but that's a different story. >> all that and more this weekend on "today." >> we look forward to it. it's going to be fun to see what you guys have. we're not going to give it away. and now we want to talk to you about the weather. we're going to have a super weekend? >> some area also have a little bit of kryptonite. show you what's happening on saturday, rain in the pacific northwest, mountain snows out west. showers in northern new england, sunshine on the gulf coast, halloween day on sunday, rain and snow showers up in northern new england, a wet northwest. rest of the country looking pretty good. halloween night, clear and spooky in the northeast. >> we have a scattered clouds as far south as the baltimore area. the forecast for today is a dry one. one. sunshine and >> that's your latest weather. and don't forget, sunday is halloween night, but it's also the biggest night of the week, that's because it's sunday night, halloween night, football night in america. spooky ben roethlisberger takes his scary steelers in to see the saints down in the dome in louisiana. outdoor weather, sunny, its clear, it's mild, temperatures in the upper 60s to low 70s. i'm thinking of when superman went around the world and turned things backwards. but sunday night, football night in america. >> what's with the glasses? >> well, you know, sometimes clark gets a little confused. i've got supervision, but i'm also nearsighted. >> we have a lot coming up, including how to help your pets have a happy halloween. practicing. practicing what? writing my name. why are you writing your name so much? because grandpa said that our name goes on everything we make. (announcer) tim and richard smucker grew up knowi