one of the biggest bands in the world is here. coldplay rocks our plaza today, friday, october 21st, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning. welcome to "today" on a friday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> good morning, everyone. i'm savannah guthrie in for ann this morning. and libya's new leaders say moammar gadhafi will be buried soon according to islamic tradition, after he was shown no mercy in a stunning and violent end to the islamic dictator. >> reaction is pouring in from all over the world. a camera in afghanistan caught secretary of state hillary clinton's surprise when she first learned the news on a blackberry. straight ahead, the latest on gadhafi's death and we'll talk about its impact with senator john mccain. also ahead, there is a new biography, and it's shedding light on the life of steve jobs. coming up, what the apple founder had to say about his health, delaying cancer treatment, and some choice words, shall we say, that he had for his rival, bill gates. plus, lindsay lohan shows up late in a brand-new porsche to community service and she gets turned away. what that means to her just two days after she was taken from a court in handcuffs for violating her probation. and you've got to check out our plaza this morning. we have a huge crowd for coldplay. we're thrilled to have them back to put on an amazing show and the crowd is ready. we look forward to that, but let's begin this morning with new details on the death of libyan dictator moammar gadhafi. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel is here with the latest. and richard, the images we want to mention are disturbing. >> they are disturbing. and libyan officials this morning are saying gadhafi's body will be treated with more dignity and respect, but buried, most likely, in an unmarked grave after his violent end. once in rebel hands, gadhafi was shown no mercy. injured, they manhandled him, pulled his hair and propped him up on the hood of a car to take pictures. these were the final moments of the libyan dictator after 42 years in power. news of gadhafi's death triggered wild celebrations across libya. he was killed in sirte, his hometown, in a neighborhood called district 2. fighting had been intense there for weeks. the reason is now obvious. the rebel assault devastated the neighborhood, so moammar gadhafi tried to escape. a large convoy attempted to slip out of sirte, but the convoy was spotted, and u.s. officials say it was targeted by a nato air strike. gadhafi survived the strike. witnesses say he managed to crawl to a nearby drain pipe. it was there in the pipe that the former dictator was found by rebels. rebels quickly covered it in graffiti that reads "gadhafi was here." rebels arrested his bodyguards and seized a gold pistol they say gadhafi was carrying. but gadhafi himself didn't put up a fight. confused, he asked rebels who they were and said "don't shoot, i'm like your father." but these rebels say they did shoot gadhafi at least once in the stomach. >> we shot him. somebody shot him by gun gun, .9-milli. >> reporter: they also hit him with their shoes. then officials say the rebels couldn't contain their emotions and rage. rebels executed gadhafi with a gunshot to the head. president obama called gadhafi's death an opportunity for libyans to move forward and said the war he backed through nato was complete. >> this marks the end of a long and painful chapter for the people of libya who now have the opportunity to determine their own destiny. >> reporter: while gadhafi's capture may have seemed inevitable, it still surprised u.s. officials, including secretary of state clinton, who read initial reports on her blackberry from afghanistan. >> wow. ha. >> reporter: before al qaeda, gadhafi was one of the world's leading sponsors of terrorism, responsible for the bombing of pan-am flight 103 over lockerbie that killed almost 200 americans. in the end, gadhafi was killed by his own people, who pulled the wounded dictator from a drain pipe, shot him and watched him die. with gadhafi now dead, matt, nato officials are meeting to consider ending military operations in libya. >> all right, richard engel, thank you for your reporting on that. we appreciate it. it's now five minutes after the hour. here's savannah. >> all right, matt, thanks. arizona republican senator john mccain was a vocal and early supporter of u.s. intervention in libya. he visited with gadhafi two years ago, and just last month traveled to libya to meet rebel leaders. senator mccain, thank you for being with us. >> good morning, savannah. >> as we saw the scenes of gadhafi's final moments, quite graphic. shot from a convoy, pulled out of a drainage ditch, beaten and shot several times. one rebel leader is quoted saying "we were serious about a fair trial but god had other plans." do you think gadhafi got what he deserved or should there have been a trial? >> i much rather would have preferred to see him in an international criminal court for the crimes that he's committed for all the world to see. obviously, that's not going to happen. i do believe that it's important as the libyan government transition national council announced that they would treat his body with respect. i think that's important, but it would have been much better if we had hauled him before the international criminal court to be held accountable for his crimes. >> and of course, now these rebel leaders are in charge of libya's future. do you have confidence that they will be able to stand up a responsible government and that this won't dissolve into a lawless state where terrorist elements now within libya could rise to power? >> i have great confidence in the leadership of the transition national council, but there are a lot of things that we could do. the first thing we can do, savannah, is to provide medical help for their 30,000 wounded. they don't have the capabilities to treat these wounded people, and i'd love to see our hospital ship there, fly some of these wounded to our military hospital in germany. we can help them there. the second thing is, they've got a bunch of militias running around. they have to be integrated into a national army. as you know, there are all kinds of weapons spread all over. they've got to get those secured. and finally, we really do need to help them build a democracy in a country that's never known it, and we can do that. >> you were an early supporter of u.s. intervention in libya, and yet, you harshly criticized the president for how he went about it. at this moment, given that gadhafi is gone, are you willing to give the president credit, unqualified credit, for how he handled this? >> well, i give the president and the administration credit. the fact is that we could have ended this conflict a lot earlier if we had used the full weight of the u.s. airpower instead of leading from behind and we wouldn't have the 30,000 wounded and hundreds, if not thousands, who were killed. i especially appreciate the leadership of the british and the french, united arab emirates and qatar, who played a key role in making this happen. but i certainly give the administration credit, but it could have ended a lot sooner. >> take a step back. i mean, you look at the president's term. bin laden is gone. anwar al awlaki, who was the rising star in al qaeda, is gone. gadhafi is gone. drone strikes have intensified greatly. i remember during the 2008 campaign you saying of the president that he was naive and that the american people have every reason to doubt whether he has the strength, judgment and determination to keep us safe." given the track record now in office, would you change your opinion, sir? >> well, look, savannah, the fact is that they've done some very good things. the fact is that we're leaving iraq and iran as number one priority, all troops out of iraq and afghanistan. every military leader has said the president's plan for withdrawal is a greater risk. there is perception around the world that the united states is weakening and withdrawing. so, i would say that the report card is incomplete, but i do give them credit for some of their significant successes, but there is certainly, as far as iraq and afghanistan is concerned, i think i'm very worried. >> at the same time, many republican presidential campaigns have actually taken the position that there shouldn't have been intervention in libya, they want a faster exit from afghanistan. and i know you watched the debate the other night. here you have president obama who is politically vulnerable to not winning re-election. even he has acknowledged it. when you looked at that stage, are you confident that the republican party's best and brightest are running for president right now? >> i'm totally confident that the republican party's best and brightest are running for president right now, maybe with one exception, but he lost. >> okay. care to name names? >> oh, no, we wouldn't want to do that. >> okay, senator john mccain, it's good to have you here. thank you, sir. >> thanks, savannah. >> it is now 7:10 and here's matt. >> i think we can connect the dots there. >> yeah. >> savannah, thank you. according to the latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll, herman cain leads the gop field, but is he really aiming for the oval office or something else? nbc's national investigative correspondent michael isikoff takes a look. michael, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. whether or not he wins the republican nomination, herman cain may still come out a big winner by running for president. as he shakes up the republican primary race, herman cain is facing new questions about whether he is profiting from his own campaign. filings made public this week showed that cain's campaign committee has used $100,000 collected from donors to pay cain's own company for thousands of these booklets written and self-published by cain. that means profits for cain himself and could run afoul of campaign laws, say watchdog groups. >> the company is going to benefit, and when the company benefits, herman cain is going to benefit. this has every appearance that herman cain is running for president largely to sell books and enrich his own company. >> reporter: federal rules prohibit a candidate from using campaign funds for personal benefit, but cain's aides say the payments to his company are allowed and were vetted by a campaign lawyer. cain himself dismisses the perception that he's running to make a profit. >> if they know herman cain, they wouldn't even make such an assertion. how's that for political directness? >> reporter: but the payments have fueled criticism, even among some republicans, that cain is using the presidential race to promote a post-campaign career as a highly paid writer and speaker that could take off much the way sarah palin's did. the company that got the payments is called the new voice. cain is the sole owner. on its website, the new voice sells books, pamphlets and dvds that chart cain's career as ceo of godfather's pizza and motivational speaker. >> i had achieved what i had hoped for all my life! >> reporter: "businessweek" reported that cain has earned $250,000 this year continuing to give motivational speeches. and just two weeks ago, instead of campaigning in iowa and new hampshire, cain was on a book tour for his new book, "this is herman cain" published by simon & shuster," debuting this week at number five on "the new york times" best-seller list. >> i can promote a book and campaign at the same time. >> reporter: cain certainly isn't the first presidential candidate to write a book while running for office. and so far, his strategy has been working. he sits atop of most polls, but he still only has a skeletal campaign staff and reportedly hasn't even gotten on the ballot in some primary states, making his bid for the presidency still very much an uphill race. matt? >> michael isikoff, thank you very much. it's 13 after the hour. once again, here's savannah. >> matt, thanks. we're learning more this morning about the animals killed in ohio after being set free by their owner, and for the first time, we're getting a look at the ones who survived. nbc's stephanie gosk is at the columbus zoo for us this morning. stephanie, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. well, a little bit of good news. those surviving animals are here at this zoo in quarantine until they're healthy enough to join the regular exhibit. you know, the sheriff in zanesville says emotions are still running very high. his office has received a number of threatening phone calls, and they've made an arrest. someone tried to break into the property at terry thompson's farm and dig up those animals, the exotic animals that are now buried there. the autopsy report shows terry thompson died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and had bite marks on his head. >> doctors said would be consistent with a bite from a larger-type cat or tiger. doctor believes that this bite wound probably occurred within seconds to a minute after the gunshot wound. >> reporter: in less than 12 hours, 50 animals were killed. thompson's private zoo all but wiped out. these are the only survivors, three cheetahs, two monkeys, and a bear, brought to the columbus zoo for expert care. zoo curator harry peachy, who is responsible for large cats, is shocked by the number of tigers and lions thompson kept at his farm. >> it's hard to imagine that a private individual would have the resources to take care of 35 large cats. we wouldn't manage 35 large cats here at the zoo. >> reporter: instead, this zoo, which is one of the largest in the u.s., has just seven. each one costs $17,000 a year. vets from the same zoo visited thompson's farm three years ago and said the conditions were deplorable. >> if someone is going to undertake owning an exotic animal, a dangerous animal, they need to prove that they have the financial resources, they need to be subject to inspection. >> reporter: thompson faced very few inspections in ohio, where there are almost no regulations. here, he is using one of his baby lions in a video shoot three years ago with heidi klum. in a statement, the production company said "we heard about terry thompson from all his work in movies and commercials and felt he had a great track record." since 2003, the humane society has documented 22 incidents involving exotic animals in ohio, everything from pet escapes to attacks on people. >> ohio has an enormous number of incidents relative to states that have strong policies to forbid keeping dangerous wild animals as pets. >> reporter: but a total ban may not be the answer. >> there are private individuals that have done great things with wildlife. >> reporter: tougher regulations are a possible solution, one that many believe could have prevented a tragedy this week in zanesville. in his press conference, the sheriff reiterated once again that he and his deputies are the victim of lax laws here in ohio. he also said that he spoke with the governor, who assured them that they are going to work on tougher legislation, he hopes by the end of the year. savannah? >> stephanie gosk, thank you so much. let's get a check of the other stories making headlines from natalie morales at the news desk. natalie, good morning to you. >> good morning, matt and savannah. good morning, everyone. secretary of state hillary clinton struck a hard line with pakistani leaders this morning in islamabad and a safe haven of terrorism that have cropped up within their borders. clinton called for opakistan to have greater cooperation with afghanistan and that militants have been allowed to operate in pakistan too long. the stream-lined jobs bill aims to prevent layoffs of teachers by local governments. this was a slimmed-down version of the president's $450 billion jobs bill that was rejected last week. now to the latest on the search for missing infant lisa irwin. nbc's peter alexander remains in kansas city, missouri, with the latest for us. peter, good morning. >> reporter: natalie, good morning to you. this morning the "kansas city star" is reporting that the local lawyers for baby lisa's parents says police are trying to unreasonably push for a confession from the parents. police deny that claim, but the tense back-and-forth comes as the hunt for clues reaches day 18. with no word on what investigators found on x-rays carried out of baby lisa's home, her parents, deborah bradley and jeremy irwin, were briefly spotted thursday, jeremy taking the couple's other two children to school. for more than 15 hours this week, crime scene technicians collected potential evidence, testing and analyzing it inside bomb and arson trucks. >> it's really kind of concerning, you know. it seems like they're really concentrating more on the fam y family, the family has some kind of involvement in it rather than an outsider. >> reporter: and we now know how the couple first met, at a payless shoesource in kansas city, where deborah was working as a cashier and jeremy came in to make electrical repairs. the couple hasn't spoken publicly since sunday. they say an intruder stole their baby. still, investigators say deborah and jeremy haven't agreed to an unrestricted interview with detectives in nearly two weeks. >> under the glare of all the cameras and all the attention, how is your relationship? how are you two doing? >> closer than we've ever been. that's the only way to be right now. >> reporter: also this morning, police are discounting reports that a neighbor saw a man with a baby near the home early that morning that baby lisa disappeared. natalie? >> peter alexander in kansas city, missouri. thank you, peter. the world series is now tied at one game apiece as the texas rangers beat the cardinals on their st. louis home turf 2-1 last night. the teams now head to the lonestar state for game three on saturday. and take a look at these new photos out today. they appear to show the iceberg that sank the "titanic" nearly a century ago. there you see it off in the distance. the previously unseen photos were taken from the "car pathia," the first ship to rescue passengers. passengers are also seen in the photos. the photos were kept in an archive by the family of one of the survivors. so now coming to light, amazing. >> after all these years. thanks. let us check with al roker, our first check of the weather this morning. and he is in the thick of it, as we say. >> yeah, it is a huge, huge crowd that stretches down 48th all the way to 49th street, 51st. fifth avenue has got people lined up, all to see coldplay. unbelievable. going to be one of our biggest crowds yeavenue, all lined up to see cold play. one of the biggest crowds yet. let's check it out and show you what is going on as far as weather is concerned. we have sprinkles in the northeast, but for the most part, everything will be okay, showers in the pacific northwest, and sunshine up and down the mid-atlantic coast, and we have cooler than usual conditions, and next half hour we will show you 17 states with frost or freeze warnings this morning, and that's what's going on around the country, and here's what's going on in your neck of the woods. >> a screen saver sunrise. and a gorgeous start to the day. sun will be up in a couple minutes, and it's dhchilly, rig now around the region, in the mid-40s. later today we will climb into the low 60s with clouds in and out and a chilly weekend to follow, and partly cloudy saturday and sunday and low 40s in the morning and afternoon >> and that's your latest weather. malt? >> al, thanks so much. just ahead, lindsay lohan turned away after arriving late for court-ordered community service at the morgue. what she's saying about her latest brush with trouble. but first, this is "today" on nbc. still ahead, surprising, new details about steve jo