good morning. disaster in japan. the nuclear threat grows here with partial meltdowns reported in at least two reactors, and as death toll estimates soar, an extraordinary new look at the moment of crisis, that unstoppable tsunami that swept away entire communities. this morning we'll visit the hardest hit area, an entire city in ruins. today is sunday, march 13th, 2011. from nbc news, this is a special edition of "today," disaster in japan. with lester holt live from tokyo

and jenna wolf live from studio 1 1 a in rockefeller plaza. welcome to "today" on this sunday morning. i'm lester holt inspect downtown tokyo. >> i'm jenna wolf in new york. we're getting reports of partial meltdowns in two reactors. i understand things have gotten much worse overnight. >> they really have. it's your overnight and our day. we experienced a number of aftershocks, but as the world focuses on the survivors and finding people, watching this nuclear situation play out has been very disturbing, perhaps two meltdowns, a third reactor at that same plant complex may be at risk of an explosion. very disturbing scene. officials are trying to down-play the danger, i couldn't tell they acknowledge some radioactivity has been released in the air. we'll get a furthfurther nfinfo

about what that mean. we have new amateur strid yo of this tsunami. more and more of this tape has been coming in as the wave comes ashore. huge wall of water sweeping away cars and boats and homes. someone was on the rooftop and grabs these pictures, so we'll show you more of that and talk about the incredible strength of mother nature. jenna, underscoring what's happening here, the prime minister of japan a couple of hours ago talked to the press, and he said this is the worst disaster to strike his country since the end of world war ii. and i think that speaks volumes where we are right now. >> lester, just an earthquake alone would have enough and or a tsunami, between the earthquake and the tsunami and this partial meltdown of a potential nuclear disaster what's happening in japan is devastating. are you hearing this from everyone around you? >> reporter: you are, and i think what rocks the country back on its heels, it's a

country so well-versed many planning for disaster. they know they live in a seismic area and plan for so much, but something like this has taken them aback. we're going to cover all that morning. we want to start off with nbc's chief virptal correspondent ank thomp stone from our london bureau. good morning to you. >> good morning, lester. this morning for the first time japanese officials are talking about possible meltdowns at two reactors. it's the fukushima 1 nuclear power plant. they say more radiation is leaking from the plant, and they're trying to desperately to prevent disaster. the primary concern today is the reactor in unit three, the cooling system in that unit was working and yesterday suddenly stopped. to relieve the pressure building in na reactor, the utility company opened a valve to release some radioactive vapor. that goes into the containment building surrounding the reactor. the fear is that vapor, which

contains hydrogen, the fear is that it will build up, the hydrogen will build up and there will be a repeat of what happened yesterday at the reactor of unit 1. that explosion blew off the roof and consumed the walls of the containment building surrounding unit 1. officials say the reactor enveloped in steel was not damaged, but fear reverberated throughout japan. the government expanded the evacuation zone and began screening evacuees for radiation contamination. they say nine were treated for radiation exposure. to try and prevent the meltdown today in unit 1, authorities flooded that reactor with seawater, in effect riding off any future use of the 40-year-old reactor deciding it was better to lose it than risk nuclear disaster if they tried to stave it. lester. >> reporter: how do they know what's going on in the reactors? we talk about meltdown or fear

of this happening. they can't put a person in there. how do you monitor the situation? >> they monitor the air around the reactor, and they have found two elements, radioactive cesium and iodine. it's when the metal rods around the nuclear fuel again to melt, and that's why they think there may be a partial meltdown happening in both unit 1 and unit 3. >> anne thompson this morning. we want to bring in he had lyman now. we appreciate you being with us. what is a moltdown and how serious is it? >> well, a meltdown is when the radioactive fuel in the xoer's reactor overheats to the extent that the uranium ceramic fuel turns to a liquid, to melt. the danger is if the entire core melts, it becomes something like

a lava, which can then slump down to the bottom of the metal vessel it's contained in. it's so corrosive it can eat through and then the able to contain the radiation becomes much, much more challenging. >> i don't want to trivialize it, but years ago there was a movie called the china syndrome and the thought the meltdown would go down in the earth. would it be radiation into the air but also into the earth? >> well, probably not. the most likely scenario is that the molten fuel would eat through the sides of the containment and most would be escape and go into the atmosphere. >> they have a 20-kilometer exclusion zone, a little over 12

miles. would they have to expand that, and would there be warning for the folks in the area that the situation is worse? >> i believe the 20-kilometer zone is not adequate. if there is a severe accident and loss of containment tlshgs could be severe contamination for hundreds of miles downwind, and i'm not sure they're adequately educating the public about that potential risk. so i'm quite concerned. >> the prevailing winds would blow east over the water. does this have a global impact? when you get a radioactive release does it continue to sail around the world and be at the whim of the wind patterns? >> what we saw after the chernobyl accident was that, yes, it actually sent radiation all around the northern hemisphere. of course, most of that, the most severely contaminated areas were settled within hundreds of miles of the plant. in this case i would expect we

could detect some of the radioactivity emitted from the plant, but i don't think it would pose a serious health threat to the united states. >> it is all very scary stuff for us laymen and we hear nuclear in terms of meltdown. edward lyman, thank you. it's helpful. we want to turn to the ground zero of this disaster, the city of sendai. these are areas where people with cut off. ian williams has made his way there and has this report for us. >> reporter: it remains difficult to reach the worst-affected areas so we traveled as far north as the helicopter could take us. then a further two hour drive brought us to sendai, the closest city to the epicenter of friday's huge quake and this. the muddied and shattered remains of homes and vehicles swept away by a tsunami that here reached around 2 miles inland destroying just about everything in its path.

one of the worst affected areas, this industrial land housing zone around the airport. this is the parking lot of the sendai flying school, now amid the wrecks cars sits this training aircraft dumped here by the wave swept from the hangars over the back there. soldiers and rescue workers scoured the area on the ground and in the air. the authorities say they found 300 bodies in just one area close to here. we found desperate relatives searching for missing family members. this couple looking for a sister. while others struggle to navigate around the neighborhood brutally reshaped by the force of nature. the ground's fallen by two feet up there, this man warned. you can't go that way. there's no power, no water, and what few shops remain open are being swamped. this couple searching for milk and diapers for their 1-year-old daughter. i saw the tsunami coming her mother told me. i grabbed my baby and fled.

as we filmed, panic struck the neighborhood. emergency vehicles warnings through blairing loudspeakers that there's a tsunami coming, a tsunami. move to higher ground. we joined that exodus, though thankfully the surging water didn't return, it was a false alarm but it will be little comfort to this battered and trauma tidzed city. nbc news, sendai. >> let's go back to jenna now in the studio. thank you very much. john loins is a british citizen who lives with his family near the damaged nuclear power plant in japan. he joins us live on the phone. good morning. >> good morning. >> i'm wondering about you. you live about 30 kilometers from the fukushima nuclear plant. have you left your home yet at all? >> a little further, we're about 45 kilometers south.

we're just, you know, keeping tight here in our home here, but we're watching the news and keeping tabs on the evacuation areas. >> i understand the evacuation area is not too fur further in from where you are, yet you don't feel comfortable moving your family yet. why is that? >> the biggest problem we have is just fuel. the gasoline situation is pretty bad. we didn't have a warning, and you know, the cars weren't full to start with. there's none left around. so just absolutely the logistics of getting anywhere is really difficult. >> are you getting ample information? are you getting good warnings and understanding when the timing is right if you were to be evacuated? is that all coming through, that information? >> all of the tv stations all the time are showing what's going on and giving all the latest updates all the time. they've got updates coming. we're listening to your expert and stuff talking there.

i'm not sure if we're getting the full picture. >> you have two little boys age 4 and 2. >> that's right. >> do the boys understand what's happening and what's going on there? >> they've been through an earthquake or two, so they know about that. obviously, they don't know the bigger picture with the reactor. that's all new stuff. >> i understand you said you're worried about running out of fuel and if there's enough to leave. other than that, do you have other fears as well? are you worried that radiation that has already slowly seeped into the air is quickly approaching? >> from all of the reports that have been out so far, the levels aren't dangerous at the moment. the figures that have been published and talked about, they're saying it's the equivalent of a seventh of a ct scan or a year's usage of a mobile phone or something like that. those are the different examples they've used to explain the levels being released. as it stands, that's not particularly worrisome.

they said how the radiation out at the moment is when gas was vented to reduce the pressure from one of the reactors, and that hasn't been any extra leakage since that point. >> john, for people listening to your story, what do you want them to know? >> just know that, you know, the situation is being monitored carefully, and if they've got any family over here, there's a lot of foreigners working over here. everyone is keeping in contact with each other about what's going on, and if it comes down to it, people are ready to go and get out of danger's way. also, you know, just that the community here has been really roughed up but everyone is working hard and coming together and doing their best to get through it. >> all right, john, thank you so much for being with us this morning. we want to get a check of the other top stories and we go to trish ragan over to the news desk. >> good morning. we begin in northern njdz where some towns are bracing for

possible evacuations today as rain-swollen rivers are expected to crest this morning. the weather channel's eric fisher is in little falls. good morning, eric. >> reporter: this is what melting snow and nearly 8 inches of rain over the course of a week can do. this river charges down towards the atlantic ocean in major flood stage and causing widespread problems in places like little falls, new jersey, where we are this morning. there's goo news. it crested an hour ago. the water is starting to go down. not expected to go below major flood stage until tuesday morning. at that point finally some families can get back in homes. for today the water level will stay very high and folks are out of their neighborhoods and many roads will be closed throughout the day. it's a tough time and will continue to be a tough time in northern new jersey. trish, back to you. >> thank you very much. investigators in new york are still trying to determine what caused a horrific tour bus

crash on i-95 that killed 14 people. 8 people were also seriously injured in the accident that left the bus on its side with its roof sheared off. they're focusing on the driver in this investigation. we'll tell you why in the next half hour. overseas to libya where gadhafi's forces continue to reclaim territory from the rebels trying to oust the long-time leader as the arab league asked the security council to impose a no-fly zone to protect opposition forces. nearly 100,000 people protesting in wisconsin saturday against the new law stripping public workers of most of their collective bargaining rights. it was the first public afterance for the 14 democratic state senators who skipped town in a futile attempt to block the passage. finalitily the vatican continues its push to get hip modeling it after a page on pope benedict, the vatican will launch a face back page

dedicated to the upcoming beautification of pope john paul ii. it will give links to video highlights spanning his 27 years as pope. that's the news. back to jenna and chris. >> trish ragan, thank you very much. chris warren is here with a check of the weather. >> it looks like the northeast will dry out. that's the good news for a few days. meanwhile, a completely different story in the northwest. heavy rain moving in. that rain will stretch all the way down to san francisco. high wind warning at the coast and inland areas of oregon. by tuesday the mountains of washington and some of oregon's cascades could pick up three to four feet of snow in the higher elevations. meanwhile, we have nice weather in the southwest stretching all the way across into the southeast. things looking pretty good. just a few showers around the great lakes and upper new england. that's a look at your forecast across the nation.

theers weather where you live. the weather still dry around the b area. on the north coast, that's where the rain will be lurking dropping to the south during the day. powerful storm offshore, but most will move to the north of us. we'll match it move to north for the afternoon, 50s to low 60s for the highs today. rain shutting down early tomorrow morning, then more rain dropping into tuesday into wednesday. temperatures in the lower 80s in hawaii. that's your weather. now, here's jenna. coming up on "today," to the rescue, how the world is responding today to the disaster in japan. our live coverage continues right after this. hershey's bliss. one square inch of indulgence... joy... pleasure. one square inch of extra smooth, rich chocolate. hershey's bliss. one square inch of extra smooth, rich chocolate. 8 hours of sleep is great, when you can get it. new almay wake-up makeup. hydrating water, cooling cucumber,

and nourishing minerals refresh your skin, giving you an all over, well-rested look. so every day starts with glowing, hydrated skin. only from almay. only for me. [ female announcer ] chef boyardee whole grain beefaroni. [ whispering ] with whole grain pasta. shh. we want to send it is to japan where lester is right now. lester, i know life in this country for a lot of people may never be the same. even for people just trying to get in, is there any, is there any semblance of things getting back to normal in tokyo?

are people able to fly in there? >> well, sunday is a very quiet day. we're in kind of a financial district, so it's quiet in the street. the flights are operating except for a few of the airports in the hardest hit area. i talked to someone who flew in, on a sunday night here. and the pilot made an announcement that we're steering around the area of that exclusion zone where there is the fear of the radio active leak. a number of aftershocks. give you some perspective, we're here in tokyo, about 150 miles from the hardest hit areas. i was in our work space on the 20 something floor of a 30 some story floor when we were hit by a 6.2 aftershock. these buildings were built in such a way to sway with these things but they sway for a long time after the quake. we were looking at our watches in amazement as the building for three to four maybe five minutes continued to sway. you felt almost a sense of sea

sickness there. we felt smaller ones throughout the day. we're told in these first few days after a quake, there is a risk of aftershocks nearly as large as the initial quake and that slides down a scale as we get further and further out from the actual event. difficult time. as i said earlier at the top of the show, they are used to disaster and they plan for it and drill for it but now the tsunami and radio active issue have really rocked people back. still to come on a sunday edition of "today." force of nature. is there any way to stop a tsunami? first, these messages. ♪ [ female announcer ] what makes a moment last? what makes even the lightest touch linger? new smooth sensation from nivea. the light lotion with the breakthrough skin care technology. 24-hour-plus hydra iq. it works with your skin's hydration system

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so i used mine, to get a whole new perspective. ♪ [ male announcer ] the new citi thankyou premier card gives you more ways to earn points. what's your story? citi can help you write it. good morning to you on this early sunday morning. it is 6:26. still dark outside on this spring forward sunday. once again good morning. i'm in for kris sanchez. rob mayeda has our forecast. >> it's not 5:26? i wish. we're feeling the extra hour of lost sleep this morning but temperatures not too bad. 50 degrees right now, southeast wind at 7 in san jose. another stop takes you to oakland. 52. southeast wind at 5. 'll see some breezy conditions today.

winds will be picking up out of the south, 53 currently in ean francisco. the radar looks mostly dry unless you head too. the north around ukiah. there you can see some t of the rain falling around mendocino county and eureka. eventually that will spread to the south. a loud storm offshore. that will aim for the most part to the north. through the end of the day, we'll drop back through the bay area into the south bay probably by this evening into tonight. so, highs 50s for the north bay, mid-60s san jose south. still kind of a mild day today. you can see we'll have rain through this evening into the early part of tomorrow morning. a little more rain due in as we go into tuesday and wednesday. >> start of the workweek. okay. thanks, rob. now taking a look at some of the stories we're working on this morning. that teenager in the south bay is fighting for his life after being his shot in the face. now three men police say aref connted to the shooting are behind bars. police officers remain on the scene of the shooting overnight at the corner of almaden

expressway and coleman avenue in san jose. an officer responding to the scene spotted a car fitting a description of the getaway vehicle around 6:00 last night. police chased the three men through neighborhoods near meridian and hillsdale and eventually arrested them. police say the 17-year-old boy who was shot is at a local hospital right now recovering from his injuries. memorial organizers for a berkeley man killed six months ago are hoping to bring more attention to this unsolved case. 35-year-old adolfo bravo was robbed by two men who then shot and killed him near a berkeley b.a.r.t. station. family members flew in from chile to join berkeley place and the consul general to talk about the case. there is a $17,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of his killers. an alameda family is remembering the life of a soldier who was killed in afghanistan. 27-year-old army sergeant eric

trueblood died last thursday when he stepped on a hidden bomb. trueblood was apparently walking toward an ied that had just exploded when a second one went off, killing him. he is the fourth bomb expert to die in the past week and the second from the bay area. well, coming up at 7:00 on "today in the bay," a "today in the bay" exclusive. our very own george kiriyama reports live from japan on the devastation from the quake and tsunami. that plus your top stories at 7:00. co

first came the earthquake, 8.9 and then came this. that huge wall of water that swept through towns along the northeast coast of japan, striking everything in its path. we're back on a sunday morning, march 13th, 2011. i'm lester holt reporting from japan. jenna wolfe is back in new york. we're getting more amateur video of those moments after the quake struck and what happened along the coast of this country. this latest piece of video we got in, you see cars and homes and boats swept away. millions have been left without power and fresh water, we might add, by the tsunami that

followed the earthquake. the death toll here is rising. we've heard as many as 10,000, according to one government official, may be the final death toll here. coming up, the latest on the relief efforts both from here internally in japan and also those coming from outside this country. jenna? >> and those pictures, lester, are just unimaginable. back here in the united states, we hear so much about the panic that is happening over there. are you getting the sense that everyone is still in that state of panic or are things starting to settle down a little as they enter a recovery mode? >> i think here in tokyo, i think we're past the panic period. a few casualties in tokyo, we might point out. but the public transit is back. some sense of normalcy. monday morning we expect things to get back. people still walking on egg shells, however, as the aftershocks continue to roll through. we don't feel a lot of them in tokyo, but when we do feel them, they're quite disturbing. everyone is aware that this country faces very tough days ahead. >> we'll have much more on what

is happening in japan in just a bit. back here at home, the latest on the tragic bus crash. it happened in new york early saturday morning when a discount bus traveling from a casino slammed into a highway sign post. investigators want to know what caused the deadly accident. we'll have that story. before we get to all that, we'll check in with chris warren, once again, with a check of your forecast. hey, chris. >> hi, jenna. good morning. it is a little chilly out here, however, if you're from montana, almost balmy out here on the plaza. we have a couple teachers here. you're retiring, congratulations. >> what did you teach? >> i taught earth science and computer labs at centerville. >> excellent. very important if you're a meteorologist. we want to go right now and take a look at that forecast. very wet weather in the northwest and, meanwhile, the northeast for the most part will be drying out. fair amount of sunshine in the

southeast and mild continuing as we head into the southeast and the southwest also looking pretty nice. here's a look at the radar. you can see sprinkl inoffshore but the main event still way up on the coast, up towards ukiah and eureka.#to eventually that will be spilling into the north bay this morning and points southward heading into the afternoon. should still see some mid-60s south of san jose, 50s from san francisco northward. rain mostly coming in from this evening, and tonight drying out for monday afternoon and more rain coming in for tuesday. then another brief break wednesday afternoon into thursday. at your local weather. now, here's jenna. >> chris, thank you. we're learning new details this morning about yesterday's bus crash in new york that ki killed 14 people. the accident was suden and it was horrific. >> good morning, jenna. authorities say a tractor trailer may have been involved, but at the same time the triver

was at fault. in the blink of an eye early saturday morning, a weekend leisure trip turned to tragedy. officials say the worldwide tour bus was returning from a casino in connecticut when it swerved possibly to avoid a tractor trailer crashing into a guard rail and skidding 300 feet before flipping on to its side and sliding into a sign post. the pole sliced the bus nearly in half, killing more than a dozen and injuring all 32 passengers onboard. a scene that horrified onlookers. >> they say this is horrible. you want to take a look at this. many them, i believe they would have been crying. >> reporter: law enforcement sources tell nbc news, some passengers say the bus driver, identified as williams may be to blame as he driving eradically

before the crash. claims investigators are investigating. >> our accident reconstruction teams will be working the interview the witnesses and try to pull together pieces of what actually occurred here. >> reporter: piecing together exactly what happened in an accident that shattered so many lives. according to the federal motor carrier safety administration, drivers from the bus company, worldwide tours, have previously been cited for fatigue driving. the company released a statement saturday afternoon saying they are heartbroken about what happened and will fully cooperate with investigators. >> devastating story, thank you. up next, japan's extraordinary preparations for the big one, right after these messages. er ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day

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we are back in tokyo now with more on the huge global response to the earthquake and tsunami disaster from u.s. urban search and rescue teams to american warships delivering supplies onshore. we get more on all this now from nbc miguel. >> reporter: at u.s. military facilities in japan, relief efforts are under way. 1,500 pounds of bryce and bread loaded on to seahawk helicopters. the desperately needed food. out at sea, the "u.s.s. blueridge" is on its way. the carrier left singapore on friday. >> help protect the japanese people. >> reporter: with japan in a state of emergency, more help is coming from around the world.

search and rescue teams from 45 countries are ready to respond. south korea, australia and the united kingdom have all deployed search teams. time is working against them. >> we know there are miraculous survivors and many days out from this, but the longer time goes on, the less likely you'll find survivors. >> reporter: in fairfax, virginia, crews loaded supplies. they'll join a team from los angeles in japan. >> you're out of here. >> reporter: it was that same team that pulled a woman six days after in port-au-prince. the team will be looking for another miracle, this time in japan, where some 10,000 may still be missing. >> to me, it's the right thing to do. as a united states mission and as a member of the search and

rescue community. >> reporter: just back from new zealand, the los angeles team worked side-by-side there with a team from japan. now they're headed home to a disaster that hit home like nothing they've ever seen before. the japanese red cross joins us now on the telephone. can you tell us what the most urgent needs are right now in sendai? >> well, now concentrating on providing the medical support. we have more than 80 medical teams and some of them already arrived in the ground and starting to help the local hospitals or started to put their clinic decide to evacuate some centers. and the team says there are many evacuation centers which has no support at all.

so, we need to go and reach the victims staying in places. >> are there places that you simply can't get but you know there are people waiting for help? >> well, yeah, there are, the affected area is so large, so, we still can't get a whole picture of it. so, that's the difficult part. the coordination and the large scale of the affected area. >> all of us have been watching this drama unfold with regard to the damage nuclear plants. are you concerned for the safety of your rescue workers as they deal with victims and also worry about that? >> yes. special team trained for the

disaster, the nuclear and biological chemical disasters. so, we are ready to receive people who evacuated from them and decontaminate and treat them as nuclear disasters. >> all right. well, sayaka, thank you for joining us on the telephone. we wish you and your agency all the best as you continue with relief efforts. i want to send it back to new york now and jenna. as bad as the devastation is in japan, this disaster could have been much worse. from the emergency drills to infrustructure this country has been preparing for a quake like this. nbc's kate snow joins us with more. good morning, kate. >> good morning, jenna. japan is known as the best prepared in the world on earthquakes and tsunamis, but when a wall of water is coming right at you, there's not much anyone can do. japan invented the word tsunami. it literally means harbor waves.

tsunamis and earthquakes are not a rare occurrence here and after the quake in 199 5, the country went to great lengths to upgrade its building codes. >> in tokyo, you could see buildings and skyscrapers swaying. is that good? >> that's good, yes. they're absorbing the energy from the earthquake. >> they're built to sway. >> yes. some have like big counterweights at the top so when the building moves in one direction it can move in another direction. >> reporter: you hear sirens. it sounds like tsunami warnings. >> it's like a tornado warning that we have here and that's great because, you know, japan has, again, they've developed not only the better building codes and not only the earthquake preparedness, but they have the warning system. they have the buoys that alert them that we're going to have a tsunami. >> reporter: floodwalls in place on many parts of the coast. evacuation drills teach people what to do when they see water

coming. >> there are people up there. >> they are doing the right thing. they're watching what is going on down below. >> reporter: they got out because they heard the warning. but no amount of planning can prepare a country for something like this. how fast is that water moving? >> that with be doing 40 miles an hour, 50 miles per hour. >> reporter: if you're on the ground, we're looking at it from way above. >> it's moving. you will see it rolling at you and you'll hear it, it's a huge roar. very terrifying. the debris can pulverize you. >> reporter: the debris is cars. >> right. the current can snatch you. the current can rip things apart. even a small, small amount of water. i mean, you know, something that's three or four inches deep can sweep a car. >> reporter: and there are people down there, look closely, and you can almost see the panic as it unfolds. >> like, see, he's going to get

caught sglae caught. >> reporter: up in the right-hand part of your screen. >> see how the water is coming down? they got caught. >> reporter: it is hard to watch. of course, we know thousands are still missing. but japan is a developed country and the hope is that many thousands of lives were saved by the strength of their buildings and all this preparation that they've done. jenna. >> is there anything that we here in the u.s. can learn. >> what can we do differently here? the u.s. has a warning system for tsunamis. but there is a worry that people wouldn't know what to do because we don't do the drills that japan does. we'll watch and learn. >> kate snow, thank you so much. you can watch a special "dateline" disaster in japan tonight 7:00, 6:00 central right here on nbc. we are back right after these messages. [ female announcer ] when allergies make your eyes itch,

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the 2011 pro football season still remains up in the air as talk business between the nfl and players are now at a standstill. after failing to reach a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement on friday, the nfl imposed a lockout of its players when the current deal expired. this move came after the players voted to disband the union, a risky legal maneuver that could actually be good news for football fans. are you confused yet? a lot of us are. here to break it all down for us is mike of nbcsports.com. mike, good morning. thanks for being with us. >> good morning. great to be with you. >> let's start with what a lot of people want to know. what is really happening here? put this in perspective for nfl fans. >> jenna, what is really happening is both sides are trying to get their best possible deal. the players decided if they're going to be locked out, they're not going to get their best deal.

they're going to get their best deal by shutting down the union and heading to court and big names on the lawsuit like tom brady, peyton manning, drew brees and try to get the best deal that way. the owners want to force the players back to the bargaining table or lock them out and the owners think they get their best deal that way. that's when it all comes down to each side trying to position them selves to get the best possible deal. >> seems like this whole thing is turning into a mess. what happens next? what is the next step here? >> things can move quickly and things could take a few weeks. we really don't know what the time table will be. the players will try to lift the lockout through the court system. the league will fight that. the league wants to impose the lockout because that gives the league maximum leverage and that first squirmish and the first legal battle will go a long way to determining how long this will last. business as usual for the nfl, even if the nfl isn't interested in conducting business as usual. >> everything that happened to this point, it seemed like a

lockout was inevitable when both sides weren't agreeing on anything. >> a lot of fingerpoint eering right now and they were forced to lakeout the players but all sides were pointing to a lockout for months. the league was positioning for that moment, if it was a bluff, it was a very good bluff because everyone expected a lockout. the players were just trying to get themselves right so they can get a great deal. the league wants a great deal. like i said, all about trying to get your best possible deal and now they're blaming each other because the fans are upset and they don't know who to be mad at. >> is there going to be a football season in your opinion or not? >> i think there will be. just a question of how it will all unfold and right now we have no idea how it all will unfold. >> mike, thanks so much. we'll be right back after these messages. [ male announcer ] from jet engines that have fewer emissions, to new ways to charge electric cars, to renewable sources of clean energy, ecomagination from ge is advanced technology

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time now to check in on what's coming on later on "meet the press." chuck todd is in for david grego gregory. hi, chuck. >> the latest on the tsunami and earthquake that devastated parts of japan. what is the growing concern over the threat of that nuclear crisis there. then we'll dig into the budget battles at home. i'll be joined by chuck schumer of new york. plus, our roundtable. all coming up on "meet the press." jenna, back to you. >> chuck, we'll look forward to that. now send it back to lester. you have seen incredible images over the past two days and they're still coming in, really. >> this is a story of people suffering and people who lost their lives and people who are missing. all as we watch on our tvs and our computers the incredible images. we want to share with you some of the sights and sounds of this horrible disaster.

in the hardest hit corner of japan, survival. in the middle of so much destruction and loss, hope. a group of kindergartners rescued, stranded aboard a boat, now back on land. soldiers and police found stunned residents in the rubble of the city treating their injuries on the spot. saturday, growing worries about those who hadn't been found. lists of evacuees were posted at local shelters. >> translator: my husband hasn't come here yet. he left home a little later than me. >> on the roof of one hospital they used towels and sheets to spell out a desperate plea. 300 people, help. else where, a young woman says

she's glad to be alive. >> translator: i'm relieved that my baby was not harmed. >> jenna, the thing we keep hearing is that communication is the most difficult part right now to find out where the help is needed, how to get it there and then fuel the other big thing. people who have the wherewithal to get out. >> we'll say it again, this was a country prepared for this. you can only imagine the devastation and the reaction afterward if they had not been prepared. now, comes this jinorms cleanup once the recovery effort is under way. i can only imagine what the days and months lie ahead for these guys. >> well, the government says they have doubled the number of troops. 100,000 of the japan self-defense forces are now committed to this relief and recovery operation. the u.s. navy and other agencies from around the world are gathering here. so, they will do what they have to do, but difficult days and hours ahead.

>> thank you, lester. that is our show for today. we will see you tomorrow morning on "today." lester, thank you for everything over there. have a good day, everyone. california should be proud.

we were the first to ban smoking on airplanes. the first to have smoke-free bars and restaurants. all while saving over $86 billion in health care costs... and over a million lives. we've done a good job. but even if you were born today, you'd still grow up in a world where tobacco kills more people...