kerry sanders in the waters of the gulf tonight. kerry, thanks for being with us. thanks for your reporting from there all day. we'll take a break here. >>> when we come back, the rules on caffeine during pregnancy have just apparently changed. >>> new guidelines tonight from the nation's ob/gyns who say it's okay to drink moderate amounts of caffeine while pregnant. it won't raise the risk of a miscarriage, they say. by moderate, doctors mean about one cup of coffee a day, but even that reverses what generations of women have believed about caffeine. a lot like last night's reports on c-sections. both of them are on our website. >>> we are following a number of strange occurrences on beaches in this country and, for that matter, around the world this summer. in the east the problem is the giant so-called lion's mane jellyfish. on a new hampshire beach yesterday, during an attempt to remove a dead one, it rippe apart and then sent barbed tentacles into the water. 100 swimmers were stung, nine treated at a hospital. those tentacles can still live on after the jellyf

and check in with kerry sanders. >> and plus-sized and proud. the model who is furious that recent pictures of her were altered to make her appear thinner than she actually is. we're going to talk to that model, crystal brand, coming up. >> but we begin on this thursday morning with the fallout over the premature firing of an agriculture department official named shirley sherrod. we'll talk to her in a moment. but first, nbc's savannah guthrie is at the white house with the latest on the story. savannah, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. well, the white house is hoping to move past this chapter, now that the agriculture secretary has come forward to offer ms. sherrod a new job with the agency, and to apologize. under fire for the firing of a usda worker, agriculture secretary tom vilsack faced the cameras. >> this is a good woman. she's been put through hell, and i could have done and should have done a better job. >> reporter: vilsack said he personally called sherrod to apologize. >> i asked for shirley's forgiveness and sh

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