captions paid for by nbc-universal television and welcome to "today" on this tuesday morning. i'm meredith vieira. >> and i'm matt lauer. what a wild story. we've heard of out-of-control passengers on a plane, but this was a case of an angry flight attendant who apparently had had enough on that jetblue flight at jfk airport right here in new york. >> yeah, his name is steven slater. he apparently got into an argument with a passenger who was trying to get luggage from the overhead bin while the plane was taxiing. words were exchanged. that's when slater grabbed the intercom, let loose a few profanities, grabbed a couple of beers, deployed the plane's emergency slide and use it had to slide away. coming up, a man onboard that flight. >> by the way, one of my pet peeves when you're taxiing after landing and the flight attend apts say stay seated and people stand up and do things like that. we'll talk much more about that. also ahead, is there more to hewlett-packard mark hurd than meets the eye? he was facing sexual harassment allegations from a former re reality television contestant. the company investigated and said he did not violate its sexual harassment policy. so why was he forced to resign and why is another powerful ceo rious about it? we'll talk about that just ahead as well. plus, do you have a smart phone you use to surf the internet and download applications? well, some companies want you to pay every time you do that and they are phasing out unlimited data plans. what can you do about that? we'll get expert advice coming up. let's begin this tuesday morning with that bizarre incident on a jetblue flight that ended with a flight attendant jumping out of a plane on an emergency evacuation slide. nbc's tom costello covers aviation for us. he's in washington. tom, good morning. >> reporter: hi, matt. good morning. the plane was on the ground when this happened and none of the passengers was in any danger, but one jetblue flight attendant was apparently having a very bad d day. for 38-year-old flight attendant steven slater it appears to have been one flight, one passenger too many. jetblue flight 1052 from pittsburgh with 100 passengers onboard landed at new york's jfk airport at about noon monday when slater was struck in the head with a piece of overhead luggage a passenger was trying to retrieve, slater demanded an apology and the two got into a heated argument. police say that's when slater got on the plane's p.a. system and unleashed his own profanity laden tirade, pulled the emergency exit chute, reportedly grabbed two beers, slid down the chute, ran across the tarmac, through the airport, to his car and then drove home. >> the gentleman in the jeep flying down the block, running and parked the car and ran into his house. >> reporter: police arrested slater at his home and in custody he simply smiled as he was led away. >> people can be, you know, abusive to airline attendants and i just, you know, feel bad for the guy. >> reporter: in a statement jetblue says at no time was the security or safety of our customers or crew members at risk. still, ground crews working beneath the plane could have been injured by the falling exit rmer ntsb chairman says he's never seen anything like this before. >> to have a flight attendant unexplainably deploy a chute, leave the aircraft after cursing out the passengers, the only thing i can explain it is perhaps a little too much cabin pressure. >> reporter: for years flight attendants have been made fun of in pop culture. >> i've been waiting outside for you in the terminal. >> great. bye-bye. >> no, no, there's more. i'm going to pound your face in. >> reporter: and so for verbal and physical abuse at the hands of a traveling public that is increasingly unhappy and far less polite than in years past. >> get out. get out. leave everything. >> reporter: but flight attendants also undergo extensive and rigorous training to deal with in-flight emergencies and disasters and they've proven they can make the difference in life-or-death situations as they did during the miracle on the hudson landing in 2009. the flight attendants and pilots were credited with saving everyone onboard. >> we have thousands and thousands of operations that occur every day. safely. without incident. routine. the people that do this work are excellent. they're highly professional, extremely skilled. >> reporter: what's not clear is why a veteran flight attendant simply decided he couldn't take it anymore and literally pulled the plug on his own career. police say his last words to the passengers were, it's been a good 28 years. steven slater was arrested on charges of criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and trespassing. if convicted, he could face up to seven years in prison. on his myspace page, slater says he has worked for jetblue since january of '08. in addition to serving as chairman of jetblue's uniform redesign committee, his lindyn says he serves on the value committee. matt? >> he did, tom. thank you very much. we appreciate it. earlier this morning i talked to phil who was on that jetblue flight and rode the air train with steven slater and i asked him what he thought when he first heard that overhead announcement. >> i heard him making the announcement and we didn't know what that was about and i thought that was the most interesting part of the day to that point. it wasn't until i got off the plane and saw that something had happened with the chute and then i got to the tarmac. >> what was the reaction of the other passengers on the plane as they're listening to this? >> about half the plane was still on. we were just waiting to get off and we were all just surprised. we heard somebody swear on the intercom. >> you thought somebody had done it by accident? >> no, it clearly was intentional. we thought that's just weird somebody would get on the intercom. he has to be in some trouble now for calling out a passenger that way. >> right. >> and i thought that was the end of it. i wasn't sure what happened. >> apparently he grabbed a couple of beers and then inflated the inflatable emergency slide and made a quick exit. >> right. >> did everybody see that happen? >> no, because i didn't -- maybe people who got off before me did. i was about halfway back still waiting to get off the plane, so i didn't see him pull the slide. i didn't see the beers. i saw him with his bags on the air train, though. he had time to do that. >> what was his demeanor on the air train? here is a guy who has just done something way outside the boundaries, in fact, illegal. was he -- did he seem agitated? did he seem calm? because in the photos of him, we see him smiling. >> he was smiling. he was happy that he'd done this, at least happy that he was done with his job at jetblue and he said that he worked there for 20-some years and he'd been a flight attendant for a long time and was looking forward to whatever was the next phase of his life, his career. he seemed very happy about this. >> you're someone who travels fairly often? >> a couple times a year. >> are you surprised that he was able to do what he did on that plane, including the inflatable slide, and then calmly get on the air train and make it away from the airport without being stopped? >> i'm surprised because i didn't until i heard him talking about this, i didn't know what happened. i thought a passenger had gotten in trouble for pulling the slide because he was there with his bags. he was there -- >> as if nothing had happened. >> he was going to the parking lot. >> i know you're aware of the fact that, you know, on twitter and some other social networks he's being made out as somewhat of a working class or working man's hero. >> yeah. >> that i'm mad as hell and i'm not going to take this anymore. what's your thought on that? >> well, i think it's funny that he could quit his job that way. i don't think he thought this through, that to do something like that will get you arrested. >> right. >> but at first my reaction was, well, maybe we could all quit our jobs, wouldn't that be f funny? but it's not funny and the other thing is he's a flight attendant and you don't want to see somebody lose their cool that way. >> have you seen, though, flight attendants being placed in a situation by the traveling public that perhaps makes you feel differently about how travel -- how flight attendants should be treated? >> well, i see that on every flight that somebody says something to a flight attendant or feels that they're getting treated the wrong way and takes it out on the flight attendant. i've never seen anybody react this strongly. they've always been very polite. >> phil catilinet, thanks for your time this morning. >> thank you. >> clearly he broke the law. he has some problems there, but have you seen some of the tweets out there? >> most support him, i think. >> it's unbelievable. here are some examples. steven slater is totally my new hero. crafting my own american flag using steven slater's face in place of every star. totally had steven slater as a flight attendant last saturday, i would have grabbed a beer and slid down the chute with him. lol, what a hero. and steven slater for "snl" host. >> do you think people are relating to him because we've all had frustrations in our own job? >> sure, absolutely. >> we all wish at some point we could pull the chute. >> and i think there is a cautionary tale. we, a lot of people, you and i, we all fly a lot and we see people really mistreat flight attendants. >> all the time. >> and this guy finally, i'm not going to take it anymore. >> and these guys are known for taking their cool because they have to. i wonder if he gets those bonus points? does he lose them. >> they should have one of those in the control room, a slide. our director joe michaels grabs a scotch and he's out. >> all right. let's get the rest of the morning's top stories, natalie is over at the news desk while ann takes the day off. >> i bet he gets his own reality show out of this. in the news this morning search eers are following up on tips as they look for an escaped inmate and his alleged accomplice. authorities say the two may be near glacier national park in montana but some leads indicate second escaped convict was caught monday in wyoming. we'll have much more on this story coming up in a little bit. meanwhile, police are searching for a serial killer who stabbed five people to death in michigan and wounded ten others. police in virginia think the same suspect attacked three people there. landslides in china are being blamed for more than 700 deaths, more than 1,000 other people are missing. one man was pulled out alive after being buried more than 50 hours. some lawmakers are criticizing a plan by defense secretary gates to shut down the joint forces command in virginia that employs 5,000 people. gates blamed tough economic times. overseas markets are lower this morning. cnbc's melissa francis joins us again from the new york stock exchange. a lot of attention today on the fed. >> that is right. it is decision day for the fed. they are expected to hold steady. what else can they do? they can't go lower. ey can't go higher.ting near e real question is what ammo do they have left? they can change the statement to say they're going to leave rates lower for a longer period of time or use proceeds from their mortgage portfolio to buy other assets. what will they do? we'll find out at 2:15 eastern time. natalie, back to you. >> melissa francis at the new york stock exchange, thank you. and in florida some rescuers were manatee's best friends, saving a manatee that had been entangled in a fishing line for as long as two months. i bet he is relieved today. let's turn it over to meredith, matt and al. >> that's a long time. >> yeah, a long time. >> natalie, thanks. >> mr. roker, a check of the weather? the big story the heat. we've been talking about this. 19 states under heat advisories or excessive heat warnings and they're going to continue right on into tomorrow. big area of high pressure yes, it will soar to upper 9 90s here lating this afternoon. good morning, i'm tom kiernan. we're in the 70s. now, mild and muggy, sun up and a hazy sky. and we'll have highs upper 90s throughout much of the region. and then tomorrow, upper 90s again, with more humidity around. small chance of afternoon storm. should be cooler thursday and friday. still humid and a likelihood of passing showers and thunderstorms, mainly during the afternoon. and that's your latest weather. thank you very much. it is primary day in four states -- connecticut, colorado, georgia and minnesota. a big test for incumbents and president obama as we head into november's midterm elections. nbc's political directornd chief white house correspondent chuck todd has a look at what's at stake. chuck, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, meredi meredith. as you noted there are three states holding primaries, a fourth, georgia, is holding a run-off. e ballot, he has some skin in n lorado where he will find out tonight if he can be persuasive even among his fellow democrats. president obama deep in the heart of conservative texas on monday, hammering home his argument against the republicans. >> i am happy to have this debate over the next several months about what their vision of the future is. they don't have one. >> reporter: elections in four states today will measure voters' anger toward washington insiders as a slew of outsiders are running this year. republicans in connecticut will choose their party's senate nominee. former world wrestling entertainment ceo linda mcmahon who has poured millions of her pe personal fortune into her campaign, amassed over 30 years running the wwe with her more famous husband vince mcmahon. they have relished using the over-the-top wwe moments like this one with which features the candidate herself in campaign ads. >> mcmahon supporting obama's bailouts. isn't that just a kick in the -- >> reporter: mcmahon has fired back trying to use the unusual reputation of the wwe as an asset. >> look, she tamed the traveling show world of professional wrestling, turned it into a global company and created 500 jobs here in connecticut. >> all right. so think she can shake things up in washington? >> oh, yeah. >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: but vince mcmahon admitted to the associated press that extensive political and media focus using some of the raciest wwe out of context hurt the corporate brand saying most of the people have not even seen our show. all they've seen is one little snippet and try to make up their minds as to whether or not it's acceptable programming. not everyone believes linda mcmahon's campaign will do long long-term damage to her family business. >> it's a controversial organization. having said that, it's an entertainment organization. i think we can separate a product that's out there as a vehicle of entertainment and a person. >> reporter: in colorado president obama's choice to hold the democratic senate seat michael bennett faces a tough insider/outsider battle with andrew romanoff. and in georgia today the republican run-off for governor has turned into a 2012 republican presidential proxy fight with newt gingrich and mike huckabee on one side supporting former congressman nathan deal and sarah palin on the other side. she parachuted into the state in support of her mama grizzly. >> show the nation how you are ready to bring it on, georgia. >> reporter: a little news on the ethics front. the house -- bipartisan house ethics committee released details of the charges they're bringing against california democrat maxine waters. in it we find out that it's alleged the congresswoman went to then treasury secretary hank paulson to try to get it t.a.r.p. bailout money for a bank that her husband was a major investor in, a bank by the name of one united. she didn't tell paulson her husband was a member of this bank's board. guess what? paulson and others approved t.a.r.p. money going to this bank saving her husband $300,000. meredith? >> chuck todd, thank you very much. former democratic congressman harold ford jr. is an nbc news analyst and author of the new book "more davids than goliaths." a republican strategist and former white house communications director under president george w. bush, good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> let's start, nicole, with the ethics charges against waters. you have an ethics trial involving charlie rangel along with hers. how embarrassing is that for the democrats and what impact could it have on midterm elections? >> i've been to this movie. it never ends well for the party associated with those facing ethical challenges. the problem, i think, and what we have to remember is politicians are human beings. there is a temptation to take the politician's entire life and character into consideration but our politics are so fast now and so rapid this has to become a black-and-white issue where people have trespassed the moral and ethical codes of their office. you have to cut them loose. >> will it linger through november in term of the public's perception? >> rangel and congresswoman waters i served with will have to. this happened four years ago. democrats used the ethics scandals against a few members of congress including duke cunningham and mark foley to score political points and it's probably not unlikely that republicans will do the same and may score some points in the process. >> you have an anti-incumbent mood, anti-washington, anxiety over the economy. how much trouble are the democrats in? >> i think it boils down to one thing and you saw linda mcmahon try it shift from the conversation around her company and focus on what she wants to do which is jobs. if people are feeling better about the jobs picture and about the economic activity in the country between now and november, my party will do better. the worse people feel and if the numbers don't improve or show signs of improvement, i think my party will -- if history is any indicator, will suffer at the polls. the only thing we have going for us, i think, is some republicans have not been able -- the republican leadership has not been able to articulate a clear and compelling message for how they will change things for the better. >> why is that, nicole? >> i'm not sure it matters. >> you may be right. >> 20% of the public trusts republicans yet 51% of the public wants us to take control of congress. >> so what does that say to you then? >> i think the table was set by the obama white house when they came into office in january of '09 and said we won. we're doing things our way. and republicans were not made to feel welcome at the table. the stimulus plan was passed without any republican participation. and i think when a president doesn't have a moderating force on his agenda, he usually suffers politically and you're seeing that now with members of his own party not eager to stand side-by-side with him. >> bill white in texas, is that smart of him to do? the president does bring with him energy and some star power. couldn't he help a candidate? >> it's certainly revealing that the gubernatorial candidate, a democrat, would say he had to attend a county fair or had other pressing campaign obligations. thankfully president obama understood that. but the white house has even indicated that the president's real strength in this campaign may be helping candidates to raise money. but being advisable with them may not be his great strength. this is not unusual. president bush faced it in '06. president clinton faced it in '04 and now president obama is faced with it in in 2010. >> let's look at colorado. the white house has made the election of democrat michael bennett, senator michael bennett, a priority. the president has been down there campaigning for him. what will it say to the wh