tonight on "nightline," it's in the milk. radiation turns up today in the u.s. milk supply, and, so all eyes are on those nuclear plants in japan. where futuristic robots may now be the only way to stop deadly leakage before it's too late. the non-stop shop. a pregnant mariah carey, diddy, mary j. blige. it's not the grammys. we go inside hsn. around the clock hurricane of consumer excitement. so, how do they get you to open your wallet even in a down economy? and, the bachelor. as his brother prepares to take the plunge, prince harry does, too. and a trip to the north pole.

bob woodruff bundles up to get his take on the royal wedding. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden, and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," march 31st, 2011. >> good evening, i'm terry moran. we're going to begin with fears of radiation exposure in the united states that were stirred anew today. the fda reported higher than normal levels of radioactive iodine 131 in milk samples from california and washington. now, those levels, however, were tiny. far less than what we're exposed to naturally every day and they are still deemed safe. 5,000 times below the danger threshold, okay? but the come contamination around japan's stricken nuclear plant is the very dangerous indeed. radioactive iodine there is 10,000 times the permissible limit. here's david wright. >> reporter: today, more bad news from the reactor.

radiation levels rose dramatically. rad radioactive iodine is now at 10,000 times the permissible limit. radioactive cesi mu, 5um, 500 t. it lingers for hundreds of years. this sign says off-limits, but there's not anybody here to object. 20 clom terms outside the plant, the radiation levels are too high for check points manned. so the crew drives on past. everyone was ordered to evacuate three weeks ago. they left in a hurry. trains just stopped dead on the tracks. family pelts left behind are eager for their masters to come home. at a bus stop, the poster for a political campaign. it says "the countryside is the place of new beginnings." the candidate and the voters are gone. just 12 miles away, hundreds of workers are still struggling

valiantly to tame the reactors. and the pressure is taking its toll. in e-mail messages published, several of them explained that the reactor is just one of their worries. "there were many workers whose houses were washed away," reads one e-mail. "my entire hometown was washed away by the tsunami. my parents were washed away by the tsunami, and i don't know where they are. everyone has lost everything. their home, their job, their school, their friends, their families. who could stand for this reality?" this may be the next generation of front line workers at the reactor. a robot. is imtime to bring in the roe bolts? >> yeah, i hope so. >> reporter: this doctor, a robotics expert at tokyo institute of technology has plenty of options to choose from. >> these are the snake roe bolts. >> reporter: he has robots that

jump, crawl and shimmy. i can totally see the lodge inl of it. but i wonder, have i seen too many movies? he says the main way the roe bolts can help is reconnaissance and radiation monitoring. >> of course it's very difficult and it doesn't work just like science fiction. >> reporter: obviously for the tough jobs there's no substitute for human skill and bravery. these men are members of the tokyo fire department's elite hyper rescue squad. among the first responders at the reactor. their commander explains, it was their job to drag a hose more than a half a mile from the sea to the reactor. he says there were places we had to crawl through bits of rubble where it was only wide enough for one man. i imagine you couldn't stay in there very long. "only half an hour," he says, "because the radiation was so intense." i don't want you to wade into politics, but were these guys playing with fire at that reactor?

>> translator: it's complicated question. >> reporter: "yes," he says. "if they had taken certain precautions, i wouldn't have had to put my men in harm's way." the firemen volunteered. the people living near the reactor had no choice. not everyone left. a few ignored the evacuation order. this man's a rice farmer. despite the danger, he refuses to leave his home in the evacuation zone. "we have plenty to eat," he says. "we grow it all ourselves. never mind that the government has banned agricultural products from this region. the produce and the dairy farmed here considered unsafe for human consumption. this old man is 94. "i was in the war," he says. "so i understand." he says this is worse than world war ii. wars you can survive, but this stuff is different. there's no escaping it.

it spreads with the wind and could end up killing everyone in japan. this week, a tokyo newspaper reported an organic farmer here hanged himself. the tsunami wiped out his farm and warehouse. then, the reactor poisoned his soil. he saw no way to cultivate a future in this wasteland. i'm david wright for "nightline" in tokyo. >> continuing struggle against that radioactive catastrophe in japan. thanks to david wright for that. and just ahead, we're going to lightning up considerably. when did the home shopping network turn into a 24-hour celebrity-studded bargain party? we get an inside look at the new art of the tv sale. depression is a serious medical condition.

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>> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with terry moran. >> insome knee yaks of a certain age may think of the home shopping network as that place that even in the dead of night, something shiny is always on sale. well, today, hsn, as it is known, is the place where some of america's biggest stars are selling some of the country's hottest products to an audience that just can't get enough of them. here's vicki mabrey with our report. >> live from l.a. >> reporter: last month, a very pregnant mariah carey who is not able to travel right now, spent more than five hours selling butterfully necklaces -- >> just all works together. >> reporter: high heeled sneakers. >> these are the hottest shoes. >> really good. >> reporter: and perfume. >> very pretty. >> reporter: all via satellite from the comfort of her living room sofa. >> it's affordable and people can wear it and still feel like they have something really special. >> reporter: sean "p. diddy"

comb is an hsn super seller. >> he was supposed to do two hours. we had to cancel the second hour because everyone sold out in 45 minutes. >> reporter: hsn's ceo is upping the star quotient. she's added mary j. blige, singing the praises of her new fragrance. >> if it's not something i love, i'm not going to push it to you. ♪ stop before i begin >> reporter: and rod stewart's singing to sell his latest cd. >> unbelievable response, almost 20,000 cd sets are spoken for. >> reporter: mariah, mary j and diddy join tori spelling, martha stewart and countless other boldface named on the set of the store that's open 24/7, 364 days a year. and the stars are only part of the strategy for getting you to buy more, even in a bad economy. >> so, we said, okay, we're going to shift out of higher end

jewelry product but we're going to do more culinary product because more people may be eating at home. or fitness product. they're going to be working out at home instead of the gym. you can still do something great for yourself but yourself not going to spend as much right now. >> reporter: though the name may have shrunk, the channel has grown. grossman who is a self-described shopaholic gave me a tour. how many studios? seven. >> reporter: she spent the last five years reinventing every single minute of programming. like every other tv exec, she wants her channel to be appointment viewing. >> why could those cooking events be like watching the food network or why couldn't our fashion events be like watching style or our home events like hgtv? >> we have senator orrin hatch. >> reporter: long gone are the days when the most popular seller was orrin hatch selling

his cd. now the stars are practically begging for time, and everyone, including stephanie greenfield -- >> it is the most expensive jersey you can wear. >> reporter: is selling more upscale products. stephanie virtually transplants her new york city boutique to a set on the hsn campus in st. petersburg, florida. now, her line is available to 95 million households. >> i take them on a journey. because maybe i can go, you know, to greece in the summer, but they can only read about it. but now if they get a piece of what i feel was inspired by the med mediterranean, i've made their life a little bit better in a simple way. >> reporter: the schedule is grueling. >> coming up at 2:00 a.m., stephanie greenfield. >> reporter: 24 hour shifts, an hour at a time, every four to six hours. stephanie comes down every month. >> last night i was off air at 8:00 p.m. and my next show was at 2:00 a.m. we had something to eat. do i sleep, do i not sleep?

i was tired. he was putting on my eyelashes and i was lying down. if you're not willing to stay up all night one or two nights a month for your ladies, then get off. >> reporter: 24-hour a day shopping. even bloomingdales has to close. >> we don't close. i've been here at every hour of the day. i've been here at 3:00, at 5:00, at 2:00. it's electric. >> reporter: sets are torn down and rebuilt for each entrepreneur. when we were there, clothing and beauty products were being sold. but for shows coming up, new sets for bosh headphones and in the kitchen, pressuring for an emeril demonstration if your product catches on, that lost sleep is worth it. >> you need to stock up. >> reporter: take lisa price, creator of carol's daughter hair and body products. she started off small,

discovered by oprah and now comes one day a month to sell on hsn. >> we launched coconut body lotion for this visit and everybody's ecstatic about it. we've sold 7,000 bottles. >> reporter: 7,000? and that's -- >> in a couple of shows. >> reporter: so you are on 125th street, how many -- >> we should be thrilled if we sold 30 bottles in a day. >> reporter: despite all the star power, the biggest seller of all is this. the lowly huggable hanger. yep. a simple hanger that keeps clothes from slipping off. they've sold more than 350 million of them. >> if you don't have them, you must, it will change your life. >> i love it. >> reporter: back in l.a. at mariah's house, she's kicked off her shoes and settled deeper into her sofa. for late night shoppers, it probably feels like a pajama party. but that's how it is in the store that never closes. this is vicki mabrey for "nightline" in florida. >> 350 million hangers.

great story. thanks to vicki mabrey for that. next up, his brother is getting married. you may have heard about it. and prince harry heads north. we track him down to get his thoughts on the royal wedding. [ male announcer ] those with frequent heartburn imagine a day free of worry, a day when we can eat what we want, drink what we want, and sleep soundly through the night. finally that day has arrived with prevacid®24hr. just one pill helps keep you heartburn-free for a full 24 hours. prevent the acid that causes frequent heartburn all day, all night. now we are free. happy. with prevacid®24hr, happiness is a day without heartburn. hi. i'm dan hesse, ceo of sprint.

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bee hay. bee healthy. that's ever happened to cinnamon. introducing cinnamon burst cheerios. 20% daily value of fiber bursting with the delicious taste of cinnamon. new cinnamon burst cheerios. prepare your taste buds. in just four weeks, prince harry will dawn formal dress, military attire, and appear as the best man at his brother's wedding. but tonight, he's about as far as could be, he's sleeping on a glacier deep inside the arctic circle. and bob woodward has this report. >> reporter: out here, braving the bitter cold of norway with a group of his foal will british army soldiers, he insists he's just harry.

is it okay if i call you prince harry? >> whatever you want, bob. can i call you bob? >> reporter: sounds good to me. because he's a prince, it is easy to forget he's also a soldier. having served a tour of duty in afghanistan. >> my goal is to serve my country like everybody else in the british forces. >> reporter: and he's a bit of an adventurer. joining a group of wounded warriors in solidarity as they trek towards the north pole. >> not just for them but for everybody who has been, or will be wounded. i think what they're doing for themselves is a huge inspiration, proves that no matter what, you can progress with your life. i can do things beyond any imagination that you ever thought was possible. >> reporter: this group will take weeks to make their way through this arctic landscape, but prince harry will drop off earlier to fly back to london for a warmer occasion. the much anticipated wedding of his brother, prince william, and his bride, kate middleton.

so you get this big wedding coming up. you're dog to be the best man. >> i've got to know kate pretty well. now that she's coming into the family, i'm looking forward to getting her under my wing. or getting me under her wing. >> reporter: she's going to be part of the family now. >> and she's a fantastic girl. my brother is very lucky. and she's very lucky to find my brother. i think they're a perfect match. >> reporter: the wedding will, of course, evoke memories of the last princess of wales, his mother, diana. >> reporte your brother said he would like to have something, words for your mother, who is not going to be there. >> i'm sure there will be, myself, my brother and father, all sorts of brother, the rest of the family that will be thinking about it and hopefully she'll be very, very proud of the big day has come upon, you know, we all thought it was never going to happen for him. but it has happened and i think everyone is going to be really proud of him. and it's a big deal.

>> reporter: can you tell me some details of what you'll be saying in your speech? >> i haven't written it yet. >> reporter: are you writing it here? >> i'm doing the speech with a couple of his friends. so, you know, i will have a few stories. my grandmother will be there, so i'll have to be selective, as one might say. >> reporter: prince charles, your father, i can only imagine this is very important to him, the very first son, getting married. >> he's over the moon, actually. and he's had a lot to do with the wedding. he's so unbelievably busy yet he's managed to make time to sort of help kate out with the music and stuff like that, which is, i think, fantastic. he's obsessed with his music and kate will be, too. must have a book of it. so, the two of them have been slaving away and getting it right. so, it's fantastic. it's not just a normal wedding.

it's a really big decision for him to bring kate into the family. obviously a huge amount of pressure from the media, from the public perception, things like that. and, you know, i think when you -- from his point of view, when you read the news and listen to everybody, for weeks and months, and everyone is putting so much pressure on you, why should you? he would have done it a year or two years ago, there's no reason for him to do that. and i think pressure, he's done the right thing. he's waited and done it when he feels right. >> reporter: a huge step and a huge spotlight for the royal family. but prince harry, at least, seems to be taking it all in stride. for "nightline," i'm bob woodruff in norway. >> prince harry there. and if you're following the royal wedding, you can find out why prince william says he won't wear a wedding ring, on our website, at aabcnews.com. thanks for watching abc news. we hope you check in for "good morning america." it's no april