good morning. getting bigger. hurricane bill iensifies to a category 2 storm overnight. as rising temperatures blanket much of the country. this morning the latest on the storm, and the heat. back to reality? wall street suffers its worst day in six weeks. the dow losing more than 186 points. was all that talk of recovery a little premature? and the naked truth. richard hatch, the first winner of "survivor" speaks out for the first time about his 3 1/2 years behind bars for tax evasion. the three possibilities are you are completely innocent. you are absolutely guilty. or you'r guilty of great stupidity. our exclusive interview "today," stupidity. our exclusive interview "today," tuesday, august 18th, 2009. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a tuesday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> and in for meredith this morning, i'm ann curry. good morning, everybody. you ready for some more hot and muggy weather? it was hot and muggy yesterday. supposed to be climbing into the mid 90s today. >> yesterday was nasty. we're complaining, but we're not alone. much of the country is dealing with some of the hottest weather of the summer, especially here on the east coast. al's going to have more on that as well as the latest on hurricane bill and its projected path coming up in just a couple of minutes. >> also ahead some disturbing new information on the murders of a florida couple inside their own home. we now know that byrd and melanie billings were both shot multiple times and one of their 17 children witnessed the brutal crime. we're going to have more on what the boy saw and told investigators coming up. >> plus jenny san ford, the wife of south carolina's governor mark sanford, opens up for the first time in detail about her husband's affair with a woman in argentina and her plans for the future. we're going to tell you what she has to say. and it's being called the holy grail of michael jackson memorabilia. that sequinned glove he wore for this performance where he debuted his famous moonwalk that's part of the motown 25 special back in the early 1980s. well the glove is going on the auction block and we have it in our studio. gets its own lighting. look at that. >> but let's begin with the hurricane, and scorching heat. al roker has the latest on both of these. hello, al, good morning. >> good morning, ann and matt. as we take a look. the reason for the heat in the east, big area of the bermuda high pumping up warmer than normal temperatures. take a look at some of these temperatures today. near record-setting heat. albany 92, new york city 93 with air quality alerts. portland, 90 degrees. bangor, maine, 89. we're not the only ones. much of the country blanketed with the heat. the other area that has a lot of high air, upper level highs building in the pacific northwest warmer than normal temperatures there. spokane, washington, checks in 86 degrees. and all eyes also out in the atlantic. bill, right now 810 miles east of the leeward islands. category 2 with 100-mile-per-hour winds. could become a category 3 today and we look at this track of bill by sometime early saturday morning, it builds into a 125-mile-per-hour storm, may come across bermuda. we're keeping an eye on it. a couple of miles keep it to the south. a big ridge of high pressure would keep it south. but there's a little bit of a break allowing it to head up to the north. right now we don't see it affecting the mainland u.s.ary than some rip currents. but we have to keep an eye on it. matt? >> all right, al, thanks so much. we'll get you local forecast in just a couple of minutes. right now to wall street where the summer rally came to a screeching halt on monday. the dow losing more than 186 points. the market's worst day in six weeks. cnbc's erin burnett is at the new york stock exchange. erin, good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. >> you know how this goes. the market gains like 1,000 points in the last month or so, or since march, people are feeling good. then we have one day like yesterday and people start saying the sky is falling. what did monday's numbers really tell us about the markets and the overall health of the economy? >> it's so hard to say whether this is a chicken little moment or something more significant. since july 10th, which was the beginning of the summer rally, we're up about 12%, 40% off the low in march. you could say, wow, that is too far, too fast. think about this number, for the year the dow is only up about 4%. that's it. only 4%. so really what happened is early this year the market priced in a depression. most people believe that's off the table. so we might be able to add modestly onto the gains we've had. but any kind of a pullback really would just be seen as healthy. we have not yet seen earnings grow or revenue grow. they're still dropping about 20%. until that changes it's going to become more of a show-me situation. >> there has been some good news in the economy, kind of a drip-drip effect over the last several weeks. and yet we're hearing the consumer confidence is still a bit of a problem. is that all about jobs? >> it is all about jobs. we have started to see little glimmers of hope in housing and in manufacturing, which are both very important. but it does hit on this broader issue, which is we could have an economic recovery in this country that doesn't really impact a lot of americans. people need jobs and most important, they need income growth. last week the fed added into the all-important statement that america has seen sluggish income growth. real wages have not been going up for years. that is a broader issue. until that changes you're not going to see a real shift in consumer confidence. as you know, consumer confidence is two-thirds of this economy. if people aren't feeling good, they're not going to be able to spend money at retailers and that filters all the way through. that could mean we have a longer, slower recovery. >> let's get a little international with you. we had a bad day on monday. china had a really bad day, their markets down about 6%. what was the problem there? >> you know what's amazing, china was down 6%. a few years ago it would have been a blip on the radar. yes, they're big, but we wouldn't pay that much attention. it is so important now for two reasons. one, china is the single biggest holder of american debt. we've all been talking about all these deficits. china is the single biggest holder. we found out yesterday they pulled back a little bit on that debt. and you look at china as the mirror of the united states. a lot of what they make they sell to us. there's been weakness in their exports. so we look in the mirror, what we see isn't so pretty, and you realize oh, i'm actually looking at myself. china really is an important barometer of what's happening here in our home. >> the mirror analogy from erin burnett. thanks very much. >> good to see you. >> let's get a check of the top stories. natalie morales is in for me at the news desk. >> good morning to you. what prosecutors a calling the largest case yet of credit and debit card theft, three people are accused of stealing more than 130 million credit and debit card numbers by hacking into computer systems of five major companies from late 2006 to early 2008. one of the three men is already in custody. albert gonzalez is described as a one-time government informant who helped the secret service track down hackers. taliban mortars hit the capital of afghanistan this morning, including one that fell inside the presidential palace compound. there were no reports of injuries. also this morning, a suicide attack in kabul killed at least seven people, and wounded more than 50 others. presidential elections in afghanistan are now just two days away. federal health officials say the delivery of swine flu vaccine this fall will be slower than first estimated. they now expect about 45 million doses will be ready by october 15th. then about 20 million a week after that. they stress that everyone, though, who wants to get the vaccine, should be able to get it. today, president obama meets with egypt's president mubarak in a bid to move the mideast peace process forward. the administration, meantime, is also hoping to get health care reform back on track. after an increasingly contentious fight. nbc's white house correspondent savannah guthrie now joins us. savannah, not much common ground there even among the democrats. >> you got it, natalie. in fact, the white house is trying to reassure liberal members of the democratic party today, after hinting over the weekend that it could perhaps live without the so-called public option in health insurance reform. the public option is the idea that you'd have a government-run insurance plan offered alongside private plans. supporters either say it would force insurers to keep the cost low but critics say it would lead to a government takeover of health care. over the weekend, at a town hall, the president suggested that that public option would not a quote essential element of health care reform. on monday, democrats, particularly on the left side of the party, really pushed that card. some saying they won't even vote for health care reform without the public option. meanwhile, foreign policy, the president also has a full plate. you mentioned the president's meeting with egypt's president hosni mubarak. he'll also see former president bill clinton to debrief on his meeting with kim jong-il, the north korean leaders, a few weeks ago. >> savannah guthrie at the white house. a frightening scene monday in taiwan where a cameraman covering the recent typhoon was suddenly swept away by raging food waters. other people nearby were eventually able to pull him to safety. and take a look at this. you're not going to believe this picture. a driver in kiss tonz got stuck in a tough spot when a draw bridge went up to a 45 degree angle with her car still on it. her car seems to defy gravity until the bridge was lowered and she was able to drive off safely. thank goodness for that. back over to matt, ann and al. great brakes. good car. i want to know what she was driving. >> my volkswagen i'd have been yanking -- >> in the blues brothers. >> going the other direction. >> all right, natalie, thanks. >> welcome back, mr. roker. have a nice day off? >> yes, i did. gorgeous weather. we're talking about some rough weather for our ilaramlo, o denver, util to tulsaam t sa and dodge city. storms some strong damaging winds, flooding rains. on the radar you can see these storms firing up right now. rainfall amounts generally about half an inch to two inches in ;;;;;;;;;;; that's your latest weather. ann? >> ll, thanks. now to more on that deadly bomb blast overnight in kabul, afghanistan. it comes two days before millions of afghans go to the polls in a high-stakes election, especially for women there. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel just got back from the scene of the blast. richard, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. i returned from the scene of that suicide car bombing. it appears that british forces were the target. nato has confirmed to us that there were casualties. but the breakdown in security here is only one of many difficulties women face in this election. despite a record number of women running in thursday's election, including two for president, women here may already be victims of campaign politics. a newly enacted law makes it a crime for many women to refuse sex to their husbands. and if they do, husbands can deny them food, legally starving their wives for sex. we are not protected by the government, or even in our homes, said one woman. critics say president hamid karzai quietly approved the law last month to win the endorsement of powerful shiite clerics. the law only applies to afghanistan's shiite minority. but across the country, the lives of most women havehanged little since the fall of the taliban. only 10% of girls go to primary school. only 13% of women can read. an afghan woman dies from childbirth every 27 minutes. but the greatest injustice to women may be hidden here. it looks like any school. children in uniform singing and studying. but the classroom is behind prison bars. and so the nursery for afghanistan's youngest inmates. but the children at this prison didn't do anything wrong. they're locked up with their mothers. the 117 convicts at kabul's only jail for women. they're also learning to read. some hid their faces, perhaps fittingly, with victor hugo's "les miserables." under 24 hour guard, behind rows of razor wire. more than a third of the women here were convicted of the crimes of escaping their homes or adultery. each can carry up to a ten-year sentence. but many of the women tell us their adultery was really rape. and that they left their homes to run away from abusive husbands. in the prison's sewing shop, we found salvia and nezzanine. she was sentenced to five years for running away from her husband, who tried to force her into prostition. if i show you my back, she said, you'd see how badly i was beaten. anyone in my position would have left, too. but now, nezzanine is shunned by her family. her brother won't visit. salvia showed me her prison cell, where women are allowed to play with the children. a rare moment of joy. you want to be picked up? okay. hello. but salvia has 2 1/2 years left on her sentence for abandoning her 71-year-old husband, who beat her with chains. of course it is unjust i'm here in prison, she said. i am a woman. i am powerless. i have no rights. i asked the warden how he justifies his job. many of these women were sentenced to prison for escaping their homes, when their husbands were beating them. does that seem fair to you? for a woman to leave her own home, according to 56 began law, he said, it is a crim this is an islamic country. a country where women's rights appear to have been sacrificed for a political campaign. in addition to punishing them if they refuse sex, the new law says shiite women should only leave thei homes under extreme circumstances. ann? >> all right, richard engel this morning. richard, thank you for reporting. it is now 7:14. here's matt. >> all right, ann, thank you. the latest on the brutal murders of a florida couple who were the parents of 17 children. this morning we know at least one of those children actually witnessed the attack. kerry sanders is in pensacola, florida, with the latest on this. kerry, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. prosecutors just released 700 pages in the july 9th murder. they include pages which are detailed interviews with the eight suspects who are here at the jail, and one heartbreaking narrative with one of the special needs children who watched and listened as his parents were executed. melanie billings was shot five times. including three bullets to the face and head, according to autopsy reports. her husband byrd was shot six times. including two bullets to the back of his head. but he didn't go down without a fight. he grabbed one of the gunmen by the neck. the witness who saw it all, according to documents, was 10-year-old jacob, who investigators say, has autism. he tells detectives his father was in the bedroom sleeping. and heard a knock at the door, and said that two bad men said, you're going to die, one, two, three. >> the people involved in this are without conscience, to commit such a crime in the presence of children. >> reporter: investigators say the extensive video system at the billings' estate helped them track down the suspects quickly. documents suggest those suspects had loose, if no connections to each other. almost by design. they allegedly rehearsed the robbery, dressed in black with face masks, planned to cart off a safe that sources say they believed was filled with $2 million. turns out, they took the wrong safe. this one contained only $68. former billings attorney crystal spencer led detectives to another safe in the house. the one the robbers really wanted. how much money was in that second safe? >> it was $164,500. i believe. and that was an approximate. >> reporter: that's a lot of cash. >> it depends on -- it's not $2 million. not what was alleged. >> reporter: alleged gunman leonard patrick gonzalez jr. now claims byrd billings' business competitors tried to hire him because they wanted billings whacked. but they haven't been charged. and then there's this twist. ms13, a notorious and brutal central american gang may somehow be tied to these murders. or so says gonzalez. when gonzalez mentioned ms13, is he sending people on a wild goose chase or do you believe that somehow this gang was involved in what took ple here in these murders? >> we believe that they have an involvement. >> reporter: and that possible ms13 gang dekz may explain why investigators believe there will be yet more arrests in this case. matt? >> all right, kerry, thank you very much. kerry sanders in pensacola for us this morning. once again, here's ann. >> matt, thanks. that's how jenny sanford describes her husband's affair. in her first in-depth interview since it was made public. nbc's norah o'donnell is in washington now with more on this story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. jenny sanford is opening up to "vogue" magazine. it is her first lengthy interview since deciding to move out of the govern's mansion with her four boys. you know, until now she has said very little about her husband's affair with this argentinean woman, whom he called his soul mate. well now jenny sanford is really revealing a lot. saying her husband was obsessed with going to see this woman, saying she learned affairs like this are like an addiction to alcohol or pornography. she also suggested in this interview that her husband was suffering some kind of mid-life crisis that a lot of men have. telling "vogue" quote, my husband has got some issues that he needs to work on about happiness and what happiness means. you wish it wouldn't come to a crisis like this, but i think when a lot of men get to this midpoint in life, they start asking questions that they probably should have asked a long time ago. she goes on to say mid-life aging is different for men than for women. and mark is worried about what his next job is, he's worried about making money, running for office again, his legacy. w says, i know my legacy is my children. i don't worry about that. so it's pretty revealing, ann. >> she also talked about something that i think that might have political repercussions. she talked about this idea that male politicians don't seem to und stand how extramarital apairs can poison families. politicians become disconnected from the way everyone else lives in the world. they'll say that they need something and ten people want to give it to them. it's an ego boost and easy to drink your own kool-aid. as a wife you do your best to keep them grounded but it's a real challenge she's making a correlation here and i wonder what the political fallout from at might be not only for mark sanford but also for other politicians who have been accused of these -- of this kind of behavior. >> governor sanford's political future are not clear. there are still calls for his resignation to be impeached in his home state. as for jenny sanford, she's gained a lot of praise as being someone different than the other political spouses out there. certainly the wronged wife who said, once she learned of his affair, get out of the house. now that they have yet to reconcile, says i'm moving out with the four boys and taking them to my home on sullivan's island. i think that's why she's different than some of the other political spouses out there. and then, you know, finally, ann, as for what's next in terms of their marriage, there's still a lot of speculation a