good morning. disaster in japan. another 1,000 bodies washed up along japan's earthquake and tsunami-ravaged coast, as the nuclear crisis deepens, with a new explosion at an already damaged power plant. ann curry reports live from the region still reeling from the massive disaster today, monday, region still reeling from the massive disaster today, monday, march 14, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

the images continue to haunt us all. welcome to "today" on a monday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> i'm meredith vieira. japan's prime minister calling this the gravest crisis in his country since world war ii. >> the death toll is now estimated at 10,000. that's expected to climb. so far, about 2,800 people are confirmed dead including those 1,000 bodies discovered overnight. meanwhile, 11 workers have been injured during a second hydrogen explosion today at the fukushima nuclear plant and the u.s. military shifted some of the fleet further away from shore after military personnel were exposed to low level radiation. the state department is warning americans to avoid travel to japan. >> we also have new home video that captured the tsunami as it destroyed towns on the japanese coast. in the wake of the disaster,

there is new speculation that the san andreas fault in california will be the source of the next big tremor. more on that just ahead. we begin with the latest on the unfolding situation in japan. we have several reports starting with ann curry who is in the hard hit region of miyogi. good morning, ann. >> reporter: good morning. i'm in a city called minamisanriku. it is one of the most devastated towns in the most affected region of this epic disaster in japan. and four days after the quake and tsunami, this area is barely reached by the outside world. [ screaming ] >> reporter: nbc news obtained this home video of the tsunami as it struck the coastal fishing village of minamisanriku, considered one of the hardest hit. where 10,000 of 17,000 residents are missing. it is a city obliterated.

and heartbroken. hiromi hirayuchi can't find six members of her family. another eyewitness video shows the power of the wave as it engulfed the coastal city of miyako. the destruction is so widespread and sudden the prime minister is calling this japan's gravest crisis since world war ii. [ speaking in a foreign language ] >> reporter: this is a nation on edge. hit with more than 1,000 aftershocks which sounded the alarms in sendai repeatedly this weekend. they're yelling at us saying a tsunami is coming right now. they are yelling at everybody to get out of the way. we're leaving the area. tsunami alarms are so frequent, even emergency crews lost count. add to that the quake impacted nuclear power plants.

>> the nuclear and safety industrial agency said an explosion occurred in the number 3 building of the reactor around 11:00 a.m. japan time on monday. >> reporter: now, more than 180,000 people have been evacuated from around the plant which has released some radiation. more than 60 nations have pledged aid, sending in 13 rescue teams including from europe and china on sunday. u.s. teams are already on the ground searching. the u.s. navy has dispatched eight warships. >> we are here to help protect the japanese people. >> reporter: the u.s.s. ronald reagan arrived on sunday to bring in supplies by helicopter. in the midst of so much destruction, there is hope. floating for two days, this 60-year-old was found alive, clinging to the roof of his

house, nearly ten miles out to sea. survivors on a rooftop saw signs of life in the debris, and three elderly people who were trapped for 20 hours in a car were saved. even here, someone was found alive in rubble today. though this town has been virtually destroyed a woman said to me today, "we will be strong, we will rebuild." meredith? >> positive thoughts in the midst of such devastation. besides the aftershocks, there are reports of hundreds of thousands without food, water, electricity, heat and now the threat of radiation exposure. how are people coping with this? >> reporter: it's very difficult. people are standing in long lines for food, fresh water, for gas just to get around. the hotels are closed down. electricity is down. people are coping by leaning on each other.

we found that true in this hardest hit region. people have established evacuation centers and schools. in other places, sleeping together in classrooms, sharing food. really it's been a matter of people helping each other. the outside help has not yet arrived. they are relying on each other as long as the meager food rations they have will last, meredith. >> you talk about people standing in lines. i have noticed they are patiently standing in line. there is almost a sense of order there. often after a natural disaster there are stories of looting. you don't hear about that in japan now. does that surprise you? >> reporter: you're absolutely right. you usually hear those stories. i'm not surprised because i have lived in japan. my father's in the military. order is a word you can use to describe the character of the japanese people. we have seen no examples of any kind of looting.

we have seen however a kind of stillicism. there are people who have been traumatized. yet there is a resilience and even people smiling through tears, trying to move on, look toward the future. that's the impression we have been getting as we meet the people. we have more reporting on that coming up. >> and the rescue workers who are beginning to pour into the country, how are they dealing with the massive effort in front of them? >> reporter: you know, largely they are struggling gettinging into place. the roads are often blocked or the traffic is really paralyzed. the trains are down. the planes are not landing in the upper region, largely because there is a lot of concern about tsunamis and also because of aftershocks. there have been so many aftershocks. and other subsequent earthquakes. the difficulty is just to get here. it takes hours and hours.

that's one of the reasons why aid has yet to arrive. the good news is we are starting to see signs of the outside world beginning to reach them. i suspect if not today, tomorrow, the next day, we'll see a major arrival of outside aid based on what we are hearing from the agencies we have been dealing with. >> ann curry, thank you very much. we'll have more of ann's reporting in the next half hour. it is 7:08. here's meredith. >> as we mentioned, six nuclear reactors suffered damage in the disaster. there have been two explosions at the fukushima daiichi plant. 180,000 people have been evacuated from the area. those who weren't ordered to leave have been told to stay inside. experts say this is the worst nuclear emergency since the 1986 chernobyl disaster. tom costello has more. tom, good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, matt. they are declaring emergencies at the six reactors. a quick reminder of how nuclear power plants work. it is a controlled nuclear chain

reaction. water comes in like this. it is brought into the nuclear core. the idea is to heat it up, create boiling water. the steam comes back out this way, turn it is turbine which turns the generator and you have electricity. to ensure the nuclear core doesn't get too hot and have a me meltdown, you need constant water cycling through. that requires power which was lost in the earthquake and tsunami. in a desperate effort to keep the reactors from melting down and releasing radiation, japanese authorities have been injecting boron and seawater into the reactors to keep the fuel rods cool disabling the plants permanently. much of the attention has been on the fukushima buildings 1 and 3. number 1 released some radiation after the roof was taken off. then overnight a dramatic

explosion at the number 3 reactor. the urgent evacuation of large numbers of people fearful of radioactive fallout covered live by japanese tv. >> i want to know exactly what's going on at the nuclear plant. i'm scared. >> reporter: nuclear experts are also concerned in the u.s. >> what's critical is trying to prevent the cores of the reactors from completely melting down and possibly escaping the vessel that they are contained in. >> reporter: the vessels are made of reinforced steel, built to with stand and contain a melt-down, but will they? experts caution the chernobyl meltdown in 1986 was different. no steel containment vessel and showering the countryside in radioactive dust and particles. in japan, the risk of radioactive gases that could escape and blow with the winds. the hope is that gases would dissipate quickly. we talked to kirby kemper from

tallahasse tallahassee. >> stay indoors. use duct tape or masking tape to sa seal the windows. no air flow in or out. >> reporter: the u.s. is not expected to experience harmful levels of radiation as any gases dissipate over the ocean. those people who are at risk of radiation exposure have been taking iodine tablets to saturate the thyroid to block any radiation they may be exposed to. after chernobyl thousands of children came down with thyroid cancer. nobody expects a repeat of chernobyl here. >> thank you very much. robert alvarez is with the institute for policy studies. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> any time we hear the words "explosion" and "nuclear power plant" in the same sentence people fear the worst.

we have seen two explosions at this plant. one in reactor number 1 and one in reactor number 3's building. put them in perspective for me. >> well, i think these events are unprecedented. i think that the evidence that's been made public as to what's happening there indicates that the reactor operators, the government probably with the help of the united states military are still wrestling to gain control over the situation. >> you know, one of the problems here is we seem to be getting conflicting information. let me read different pieces of information. officials say they have lost the ability to cool three of the reactors at daiichi and three others at a nearby plant. one said he thought unit 3 had

partly melted telling a news conference, i don't think the fuel rods have been spared damage. a chief cabinet secretary said reports of a meltdown are inaccurate. are we talking semantics here? cut through the terminology for me. >> well, i think that the -- what i understand the situation to be is that there is at least one reactor that has had some sort of partial meltdown. the unit number 3 may be on the verge or may be undergoing a meltdown and unit number 3 reactor has a steel core that also contains plutonium in it which makes things much more complicated and risky. that you have reactors where they lost the ability to cool them is a very serious matter. i'm hoping they can restore the ability to cool them. >> they are pumping seawater

into the reactors to accomplish this. is this a black and white situation? in other words if the seawater fails, is a meltdown inevitable? >> i think the sea water in terms of the menu of options is sort of what i would describe as the last ditch or hail mary option. if that fails, i'm not sure what else they have available to them and hope and pray that the primary reactor vessel will be able to with stand a severe core melt and that the secondary containment and thick concrete dome that surrounds that will also hold up and prevent any escape of a major amount of radioactive ti. >> and these events are rated on a scale of 1 to 7. chernobyl was a 7. japanese authorities said they think the situation at daiichi

is a 4. do you agree with that? >> in my own personal opinion i think it's closer to 5 or 6. >> that's not good news. we appreciate your perspective on this. mr. alvarez, thank you very much. >> thank you for having me on. >> all right. 15 after the hour. here's meredith. >> in the wake of japan's devastating earthquake there is new speculation that the san andreas fault in california will be the source of the next big tremor. simon winchester writes about the strong possibility in this week's "newsweek" magazine. good morning. >> good morning. >> the magazine references the scariest earthquake to come in california. last time it ruptured was in 1906 when the earthquake and subsequent fires devastated san francisco. what makes you think the timing is right for it to happen again? >> it's ee's clear that the earthquakes tend to occur in

clusters. a cluster seems to have happened in the last year around the pacific plates. if you think of it as a square, we have had a major earthquake in the northwestern side of the square, tokyo, three days ago it was sendai. on the 22nd of february we had christchurch in new zealand in the southwest of the square. last year we had a major earthquake in chile and the southeast of the square. the fourth leg of the square, the fourth side is where the san andreas and the kcascadia forms. that hasn't ruptured. so now is the time when people should start thinking about what might happen if, one, the san n andreas or the cascadia fault ruptures. if either ruptures there could

be major problems. >> do you see it as a possibility or do you believe it is inevitable. >> it is inevitable. the question that troubles everyone is precise bli whly wh. the u.s. geological survey says we can't predict it with accuracy but says the hayward fault is ripe for a rupture within the next quarter century. the san andreas fault, no one is sure. the cascadia subduction zone would cause not just terrifying problems on land but would generate a tsunami. that's a big problem. >> if the san andreas fault were to rupture that would not trigger a tsunami? >> not essentially. most of the san andreas runs on

land and it's mostly under land. if that were to rupture it would cause freeways and bridges to collapse as the disaster did in 1989. but cascadia is under ground. the problem there is tsunamis. california, washington and oregon haven't experienced tsunamis since 1964. >> how do we prepare for it if we can't predict when it will happen? >> that's the problem for a tsunami. of course there are evacuation routes all over california. but are people psychologically prepared for a disruption on the san andreas fault? generally not. they're better than they were five years ago when we had the anniversary of the san francisco earthquake which was in 2006. people suddenly got back into the thought that, my god, this could happen. schools started doing exercises and people started retro-fitting buildings and so on and so forth. it's taken 22 years, for

instance, since the quake in 1989 and still the bay bridge, one of the major arteries from the east bay across to san francisco is still not finished. california really isn't taking this seriously enough. maybe the events in japan, chile and new zealand will remind them that they could be -- and i don't want to be alarmist -- but they could be next. they must prepare. >> dire warnings from simon winchester this morning. thank you very much. >> thanks, meredith. >> much more from japan in a moment. >> let's get the rest of the top stories. it's scary. savannah guthrie is at the news desk while ann is in japan. good morning. >> good morning. we're going to begin with the economic fallout from the crisis in japan. cnbc's erin burnett has the latest from the new york stock exchange. good morning. >> good morning. japanese stocks fell more than 6% on worries the quake will hurt the economy. the japanese central bank pumped a record amount of money into the economy to stabilize things.

here's one example to bring it home. toyota is the world's largest carmaker. they shut all 12 plants in japan through wednesday. obviously part of that, many didn't have damage but it's concern over stability, how much demand there will be for cars. japan is home to sony, obviously lots of people use products made by sony and japan makes parts for things like the iphone. it is a crucial part of the global supply chain. here is what i would highlight. the japanese stock market opened. sure, it was down, but people went back to work. jap j.p. morgan says the economic impact from the middle east issue will be more significant from what we are seeing in japan. >> all right, erin. thank you. moammar gadhafi's forces are retaking territory from rebels in eastern libya. the arab league made the rare plea for a united nations-imposed no-fly zone as

gadhafi's forces reportedly pushed rebels. a suspected u.s. drone attack in pakistan killed at least six alleged militants this morning. the strike targeted an insurgent hideout near the borderer with afghanistan. an explosion at a massachusetts adhesive chemical plant overnight injured four workers and shook homes miles away. environmental officials in the area are now concerned about contamination of a nearby river. survivors of the bus crash in new york told investigators they didn't feel a tractor-trailer clip the bus, contradicting the driver's account of what caused the accident which killed 14 people. passengers reported that the driver swerved multiple times before the bus slid off the road. police say the driver had no alcohol in his system at the time of the accident. top state department spokesman p.j. crowley is stepping down days after publically blasting the pentagon

for its treatment of suspected wikileaks informant private bradley manning. manning's lawyers say he's been forced to strip and remain publically naked for extended periods of time. it's now 7:21. let's get to meredith, matt and al. >> thank you very much, savannah. now a check on the forecast from mr. roker. >> we'll start by looking at the forecast in japan. they have rain moving in and chilly conditions. a low of 39 in sendai. tokyo with a high tomorrow of 56 degrees with a 20% chance of showers. the prevailing winds, the jet stream now, strong winds 135 miles per hour jet coming across from japan into the pacific northwest. again, no problems hopefully from radioactive cloud or leaks, but, again, we keep an eye on the upper level winds.

good morning. showers continue to stream over the bay area. they're spotty and are beginning to subside. we do have a good line along i-80. you want to take it easy out there this morning. also starting to see the south bay really clear up. and this will be the case for first part of the day. high pressure is building in. that's leading off to a foeg start but we'll see a really nice second half of the day and temperatures in the mid to upper 60s. have a great day. >> al, thank you very much. more on the disaster in japan, but first on a monday morning this is "today" on nbc. onday mo this is "today" on nbc.

just ahead, a heartwarming and emotional reunion. >> ann finds an american english teacher who was missing in the wake of japan's earthquake and tsunami. we'll talk to that woman and her family after your local news and weather. family after your local news and weather.

llelujah ♪ [ baby crying, dog barking ] [ female announcer ] it doesn't have to be thanksgiving to have the perfect thanksgiving sandwich. carving board turkey -- only from oscar mayer. good monday morning to you. it is 7:26 right now. i'm laura garcia cannon. good news for commuters this morning. b.a.r.t. is getting back to normal of a train derailed over the weekend. christie smith has been following the overnight repair efforts. she joins us live with an update. good morning. >> good morning to you, laura. we've will significant delays this morning that should be clearing up very soon. unrelated to this derailment that happened this weekend, the good news there is that trains are running through the concord station as usual this morning. there was a real question about whether a bus bridge wouldn't be needed for the monday morning commute. now, b.a.r.t. worked overnight

to hoist the two cars that derailed on sunday. they got them out of the way. 65 people had to be evacuated. three of them suffered minor injuries in that derailment near the concord station. this morning, b.a.r.t. is still saying it could be days before they have a cause, but so far, things look pretty good. christie smith, "today in the bay." how are we looking weather wise? let's check in with christina. >> unfortunately, a wet, soggy start to this first full day of daylight saving. good morning to you. yes, we lost an hour. our sunrise will set. our new sunrise will be at 7:30. our new sunset had be at 7:15 tonight. make sure you travel cautiously. still a little bit on the dark side in some areas right now. we do have showers coming through as well. enough to make your roads wet. but the good news is they're turning spotty. you can really see that here from our radar imagery. all this activity will clear. we'll be left with mostly cloudy

skies. breaks of sunshine long enough to warm us up in to the upper 60s. high pressure is building back in but generating fog. >> as you're making your way into a city known for fog as well as the golden gate bridge, fog advisory for that bridge. northbound 280 at cesar chavez reports that a back hoe fell off a truck. it's in the middle of the freeway. it's a problem at the end of 280. slowing as you might expect on that side of the bay. slowing at the toll plaza. >> another updatalin hf an hour. an

7:30 now on this monday morning, march 14, 2011. you are looking at some of the heartbreaking scenes from japan this morning, three days after the powerful earthquake and tsunami. hundreds of thousands are without water and electricity. many roads so badly damaged they cannot be used. inside studio 1a i'm meredith vieira alongside matt lauer. for all the despair in japan, and there is so much of it, there are positive stories of survival. >> an american woman tweeted ann curry because she hadn't heard from her sister who was teaching in japan. incredibly ann was able to find the woman. we'll have the emotional reunion ahead. >> plus, what is it like to live through a tsunami? after surviving the tsunami in

north asia, we'll hear from a couple. the growing concerns of the power plants in the u.s. in the wake of what happened in japan, could it happen here? we will hear from the experts. >> let us begin with the remarkable reunion ann played a big role in. she is back with details on that. good morning again, ann. >> good morning once again to you. many people are looking for missing loved ones here. including americans. this morning i received a tweet from a young woman looking for her sister, searching for her sister who arrived in japan on the day of the quake. the tweeter from san francisco wrote in english -- teacher is missing. please help with any news

evacuees. it is one of the hardest hit. it is where this home video captures how deadly the wave was. rushing in at four stories high and pushing six miles deep. 10,000 people are still missing. she was described as 25, former english teacher who returned on the day of the quake to see her students graduate from middle school. a few hours ago, we arrived with her picture at the middle school. which had been turned into an evacuation center for survivors. when suddenly this woman said she was okay and somewhere outside. she is a popular teacher and soon everyone wanted to help. one took us to another us was. >> hi! >> reporter: are you cannon? >> yes. >> reporter: with her, two other

american teachers. >> we had to run up into the mountains and stay there for a while. >> reporter: mary kaitlyn churchill of boston, massachusetts. >> i'm good. i'm good. >> reporter: and steve mendoza of riverside, california, all unable to reach their families stranded in a place without phones and cell service. it was steve who took this dramatic home video. >> hi. can you hear me? >> reporter: meantime, in san francisco, we reached cannon's sister megan walsh and parents john and adrian. >> you have my sister? >> reporter: i found your sister. here she is. >> oh, my god. it's her. she's on the phone. >> my god, cannon. >> are you okay? >> i'm totally okay. i'm absolutely -- i have been fine the whole time. >> reporter: mary, kaitlyn and steve also were able to talk to their families, families probably relieved, a little bit

of good news in a story that's had so much bad, matt. >> ann, it's really good news. i know cannon purdy is with you. her sister, mom and dad. good morning to all of you. >> good morning. >> can you just explain or describe what the last 72 hours have been like for you? >> well, just been on the computer, on the television searching for any sign of news of people in that devastated area. we are so fortunate to be able to speak to them last night. >> you reached out with a tweet to ann curry and some others. my sister, american english teacher, is missing in minamisanriku. please help with news of evacuees. ann tweeted back, i will do my best and, boy, did she. she found your sister/daughter. cannon is there.

can you see her there? do you have video? can you actually see her face? >> yes, we can. it's great. >> hi! >> hi! >> cannon, i can only imagine the frustration on your part knowing that your family would be so worried about you and unable to reach out to them. what was it like to get to be able to place that phone call? >> it was a great relief. we didn't have cell service and kind of no hope of reaching cell service anytime soon. so i kind of had to tuck it away and hope for the best and hope they weren't too worried and try and do what i could here. it was great to just know they knew i was okay and that the other families knew their children were okay. >> cannon, i know you've been teaching in japan for a couple years now. i understand from your mom that you began to loathe the daily tsunami warnings that would wake a lot of people up there every day.

i would imagine you placed those in perspective now. >> most definitely. you know, everyone here was very concerned and very serious about the warnings. coming from a different culture, i kind of understood, but blew it off a little bit. now i will never make that mistake again. it's certainly been more devastating than i could imagine. >> mom, dad, megan, i know how badly you must want to get cannon back in your arms. i understand she has travel plans. can you jump in and overrule those and get her back home? >> i don't think so. i think she got my mother's itchy feet. >> cannon, you're headed off to india, is that right? >> she's fine now. she can do whatever she wants. >> i don't actually -- my passport was lost so i don't

know if i can make it to india. >> oh, no. >> i feel some responsibility to stay here and help as long as i can. i'm not sure if i would be a bigger burden or not. but i have really good friends here and good people who have helped us this whole time. so i feel -- i haven't made up my mind when i need to go home. >> cannon, it's obvious to see why you're so popular there. our thoughts are with you and your friends and clearly the people who have lost so much over the last 72 hours. please stay safe. we are glad you got to talk to your parents. mom, dad and megan, we're glad you got to see cannon as well. >> we love you. >> thank you so much. >> thanks so much. i'm so grateful. >> we love you. >> take care, sweetheart. >> by the way, one tweet family sent to ann curry afterwards, ann curry, i love you, thank you for fining my sister. nice end to that story.

let's get a check of the weather from al. we have a big storm in the mid section of the country that's generatig smtronorsts to the south of it. to the north we have snow. a risk of strong storms through the gulf coast. onor two to two tinges, maybe three inches of rain, one to two inches of snow. back to the west another storm system in the pacific northwest bringing rain, snow, wind. anywhere from an inch to a half an inch of rain. places in the pacific northwest may see six inches of snow in the upper elevations. we're not talking about inches of rain by any means this morning. good morning to you. we do have showers coming down that could definitely slow your commute. they are turning spotty. we're seeing a loot of this activity spinning out. still a pretty good stream of showers from san francisco up to fairfield. you'll want to give plenty of time to reach your destination this morning. looks like everything is clearing out pretty nicely right

now. watch out for fog probably until 11:00 a.m. don't forget new sunset tonight. that's your latest weather. matt? >> what's it like to live through a tsunami? vo'l hear from twourviomrs after this. ♪ stay inside? nah. not when you have a five-star overall vehicle score for safety. ss. depression is a serious medical condition. i feel like i have to wind myself up to deal with the sadness, the loss of interest, the lack of energy. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor about pristiq®, a prescription medicine proven to treat depression. pristiq is thought to work by affecting the levels of two chemicals in the brain,

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back now with more of our special coverage on the disaster in japan. friday's earthquake was the largest ever recorded in japan. much of the damage was caused by the tsunami that quake triggered. nbc's kate snow talked to two people who have lived through a tsunami. good morning, kate. >> good morning. we see the pictures of waves racing at 40 miles per hour. we try to imagine what it would be like to face a fall of water. for survivors of the 2004 south asia tsunami it's all bringing back painful memories. few people know what it's like to survive something like this. few know the raging power of a tsunami. but petra nemcova and nate

berkus know it all too well. petra and her boyfriend simon atley were vacationing in thailand. >> you saw the sea going out. >> i wish i had known it was the sign of a tsunami coming in. >> reporter: like almost everyone else on the beach the couple had no idea what was coming. they went back to their beach hut. >> reporter: did you hear the wave coming? >> no. in a split second it comes, breaks all the glass. >> reporter: the water swept the couple far from their bungalow. petra grabbed a branch on a palm tree and held on. >> for me when i see what happened in japan the sounds and smells come back to me. >> reporter: on that same day in 2004 nate berkus and his partner fernando were on vacation in sri

lanka. >> the first thing i heard was the sound of structures, trees, things snapping and collapsing. within 30 seconds of that i was pinned underneath the bed. the scariest part of surviving a tsunami is what you're in the water with. it's like a soup of bodies and babies and the most horrible things you can imagine. last time i saw fernando we were attached to a telephone pole. i remember saying to him, what is this? we thought perhaps it was a tidal wave. we had no idea. he said, but it's over now. it's over now. as soon as he said that the water changed direction again and that was the last time i saw him. >> reporter: as for petra, she clung to the tree for eight long hours. her pelvis shattered. eventually she was rescued, hospitalized for weeks. sadly, she was never able to find her boyfriend either. petra feels a deep kinship with

victims in japan now. >> my heart goes to everyone in japan. >> reporter: she hopes to help the survivors after the 2004 tsunami she created the happy hearts fund which builds schools for children after natural disaster strikes. >> children can go back to school which is safe. they can go back to normal, start the healing process. >> petra said she was hanging from the tree and couldn't help the people suffering around her. so hard. but she made a vow to help other victims as soon as she was able. she and nate are concerned people aren't prepared for tsunamis and other natural disasters and say we have to educate ourselves and our kids. >> kate snow, thank you very much. tom is with nasa. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> you look at the images of the tsunami and it's hard to imagine the power of the waves. how would you describe the force? >> tremendous. if you go to nasa.gov you can

see how the shoreline has changed and how much water we are talking about. >> how much are we talking about? >> enough to go six miles inland in japan. it's hard to imagine. you are talking about a wave generated by moving a big chunk, like hundreds of square kilometers of the ocean floor and creating a massive wave that moves at 500 miles per hour. >> there are sophisticated alert systems in place in japan. warnings went off but the lead time varies. in japan i believe they had 15 minutes to half an hour to deal with this. >> shorter in some cases. it depends on where the source of the tsunami is and where you are located. in japan it was 50 to 100 miles offshore it was generated. some people may have had minutes. japan is one of the best prepared countries on earth for an event like this. >> it's almost impossible to outrun it with that amount of lead time. >> true. you need to understand what the

hazards are and what your response should be. in the west coast of the u.s. there are signs, places like the usgs that have tried to explain to people what they should do. >> people need to understand as well that when a tsunami hits it's a series of waves, not just one. if you survive the first, what do you do to survive the next one? >> this is a single wave that's hundreds of miles long. if we had a rope between us and we were making waves, make it a hundred miles long. as you squish in the wave jumps up high. some of the waves can be 30, 1,000 feet high. >> what do you do if one comes and you survive that, just get to high ground? >> get as high as you can. you will hear stories of people who cling to something to survive, but the safest thing is to get to higher ground. >> in japan they have adjusted the magnitude to 9.0. does that have to do with the

size of the subsequent tsunami? >> it tells how how much force is released and how much of the sea floor moved to create it. that's cutting edge science. >> simon winchester was in the first half hour. a former geologist, now a journalist. believes that the earthquakes we saw in chile, haiti and japan. he believes they are all related. >> they are all driven by technical nonic forces of the earth. we have big plates bumping into each other, but there is not a specific connection between them. it's really important not to second guess the authorities and get people worried about things. we have to pay attention to what things like usgs and other government agencies say. e.nkpect we aremuac perspective. we are back after this. [ male announcer ] when mike rowe heads home,

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we have been talking about the images coming out of japan. sometimes the still images are even more powerful than the video. if you look at these snapshots, moments in time captured over the last 72 hours. >> hard to imagine that anybody survived that. so many people missing. we'll take you to a town completely levelled by the tsunami after your local news and weather. choose from a house salad or hot, tasty soup. then pair it with a massive texas toast half sandwich, like our delicious classic turkey or our gigantic new southwestern blt, smothered in cilantro lime mayo and jam-packed

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7:56 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. b.a.r.t. is getting back to normal after a derailment over the weekend. >> i can tell you there was some confusion among commuters over whether b.a.r.t. trains would even roll through the concord station this morning after yesterday's derailment near here. good news, though, the derailment is clear. so there's no need for a bus bridge between pittsburg bay point and pleasant hill. b.a.r.t. worked hard, completed the repairs overnight. used a crane and got the two derailed cars out of the way. trains rolling again by 4:00 a.m. now, there were some unrelated

delays this morning tied to insulation near the tracks. that should be cleared out soon. that's the latest from here reporting live in concord. >> we'll check the commute with mike in just a bit. first, the forecast with christina. >> good morning to you, laura. good morning to you at home. we've got some showers kind of halting your commute in some spots. definitely slower than normal. but they are turning spotty. starting to clear out ub substantially. you'll find a steady line of showers from san francisco and antioch. the south bay getting a nice dryout here. that will be the case over the next couple of hours. the second half of the day looks pretty good. we do have high pressure building in. that will make for mostly cloudy sky. the high pressure is creating some fog out there this morning. so if your city gets a lot of fog, you'll see a lot of cloud cover today as a result. 69 in los gatos. >> christina, slow for the east shore freeway. a 40-minute drive coming off of

the cardenas bridge. a lot of folks heading on to the road because of earlier problems they heard about on b.a.r.t. all trains running on time now. here's a look at the slowdown. soupy conditions on the approach. between the bay bridge toll plaza and the oakland coliseum there are two accidents how reported. one at freevail and one at 23rd. just stacking up coming up towards the coliseum from about 66 -- maybe 98 now up to the coliseum itself. >> soggy outside. play it safe as you head out the door. versus toyota. which is better?

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8:00 now on a monday 8:00 on a monday morning. it's the 14th of march, 2011, as japan tries to begin the long recovery process now three days after what the prime minister of that country calls his country's worst crisis since world war ii. in studio 1a in new york city, i'm matt lauer along with meredith vieira. still ahead, the latest from japan. more than 10,000 are believed to have died in friday's earthquake and resulting tsunami. food and water in short supply in the hardest hit areas. today there was a second hydrogen explosion at a damaged nuclear power plant. we're going to have details on all of that straight ahead. >> we'll continue to report on the details in japan. but there are some other stories

as well. including new details on the $250 million sexual harassment lawsuit against american apparel and its ceo. the young woman who filed that suit is here to share her side of the story in an exclusive live interview. we want to begin with the mounting humanitarian and nuclear crisis now in japan. ann curry is in the hard hit area of minamisanriku. ann, good morning to you. with all of people of that region have been through with the earthquake and tsunami over the past 72 hours, now word of this potential nuclear crisis. are people on the streets there talking about that? the power plant is only about 50 miles to the south of where you are. >> reporter: it's fair to say that people are so overwhelmed that they may not be completely

updated on this issue. it's fair to say the government will keep them safe, but i don't believe people fully know about everything. people are worrying about eating. they're worrying about whether they have clean water. they're worrying about power. they're very cold at night here. it's cold and they have no power. the kids are coughing. the elderly need more blankets. >> right. >> reporter: so there's such a pressing immediate need that that's something actually they probably need to know more about. >> and it brings up an interesting point, ann. how easy is it for people there to get information? you've got aftershocks. you've got tsunami warnings. how are people staying in touch and staying informed? >> reporter: you know, there are radios. it sort of looks like there are really just radios operating on batteries that people are listening to, and also i don't think there are new newspapers, but they're certainly reading the old newspapers. they're also together in groups. so that they're staying in these

evacuation centers when they're in kind of disaster zones like this. so there's a lot of communication, verbal communication 101. they're sort of sleeping on the floor in the same room. so that's happening. but i would say that without television and without ready access that they had come to expect to the outside world, it is fair to say there is a certain amount of a lack of information about what's really happening outside. you know, i think that what we learned today in the interview, we heard you had this morning, at least with the u.s. officials, there is a lot -- there's a reason, a serious reason to be concerned. i think people here have a sense that, in terms of the nuclear issue, that their government has it under control. >> all right. ann curry reporting for us as she has all morning long. ann, we'll be back with you in just a little while. thank you very much. >> nbc's chief science

correspondent robert is in japan right now. >> reporter: it's hard to say it's a good day when you have your second explosion at a nuclear power plant in three days, and the third of three reactors has been declared to be in such a critical state that it needs the same infusion of sea water that led to the explosions of the other two. that's not so good news. also, several workers are being treated for radiation poisoning. those are just people working inside the plant. there's no indication that dangerous radiation is spreading beyond it. and so far the fission products, that critical core of material, has not leaked beyond the containment vessel. that's the critical issue that everybody's watching. the government and the utility company are saying it's very unlikely that that's going to happen. there's a lot of physicists who say it's a possibility it could happen, and that's where we stand right now. >> robert, the government has said the amount of radioactivity

measured outside the plants have been relatively modest, but there's a question, some people are questioning how honest that is, that they are downplaying the situation. what have you heard? >> reporter: well, the government's walking a very fine line here, meredith, because on one hand, as ann was just saying is just overwhelmed with another enormous tragedy, and you don't want to start playing up the possibilities of some horrible thing going even worse than it has already. yet at the same time, you want them to be able to get people prepared. there's another situation that's happening. there's a front moving through here tonight, and the winds on the ground are going to start blowing back inland. they've been blowing out to sea of the the radiation has not been very much so far, but if there were to be a leak, it could be a serious problem inland in those very areas of japan that have been so devastated by the earthquake and tsunami. >> robert bazell, thank you so much. now let's get a check of the other top stories.

savannah guthrie is inside the news desk. in the news this morning, the wave of revolution in the middle east and north africa is being met today with escalating violence. heavy gunfire was heard south of yemen's capital after a weekend that saw at least seven demonstrators killed and 100 others wounded. in bahrain, some members of parliament are calling for a military clamp down after renewed clashes between police and protesters. and in libya, moammar gadhafi's forces continue air strikes today against rebels who have been on the run since friday. officials in afghanistan say a suicide bomber killed at least 33 people today at an afghan army recruiting center. more than 40 people were wounded. two sheriff's deputies were shot and killed sunday while responding to a break-in at a salvage yard in southwestern virginia. two other deputies were wounded, one critically. officials say the suspect was killed in a shootout later that same day. for the second time this month, a teenage athlete has

died suddenly while playing basketball. an autopsy will be performed on 16-year-old robert garza, who collapsed saturday during a tournament in austin, texas. amanda knox is back in an italian courtroom fighting to overturn her conviction in the murder of british student meredith kircher. nbc's keith miller has the latest for us. good morning, keith. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. well, the defense team for amanda knox went on the attack during the appeal hearing, going after a key prosecution witness. in the weekend court session, the defense called six witnesses to refute testimony that placed knox and her former boyfriend near the scene of the crime at the time knox's roommate was murdered. meredith kircher, an exchange student from england, was murdered and violently sexually assaulted in the house she shared with knock. the star prosecution witness, a homeless man, said earlier he was certain of the time because he saw students boarding shuttle

buses to nightclubs. appearing pale, knox listened intently as shuttle bus drivers and nightclub workers testified there were no shuttle buses operating the night meredith kircher was murdered because the nightclubs were closed because of a public holiday. the prosecution witness, who is himself on trial for drug offenses, will be called back to the stand at the next hearing in two weeks. knox's stepdad, chris meles, was in court and says the testimony removes amanda and her former boyfriend from the scene of the crime. >> it was extremely helpful, and i believe very beneficial to amanda knox's attempt to write this wrongful conviction. >> reporter: prosecutors describe the defense team's tactics as useless. still to come in this appeals hearing is the re-evaluation of the dna evidence used to convict amanda knox of murder. savannah? >> nbc's keith miller. thank you. and two snow leopards may be

the future of their endangered species. that is, if they like each other. a zoo in hungary has imported two rare snow leopards with the hope that they can establish a breeding program. the two have yet to meet, but zookeepers are hoping it will be love at first sight. they really like each other's mass.com profile. it's now 9:09. let's go back to al with a check of the weather. >> announcer: today's weather brought to you from the new cafe collection of coffee mate. they're our richest flavors yet. >> here is the ms society. what's going on? >> national ms awareness week. >> national ms awareness week. get more on their website. let's check their weather. let's show you ohio. news 5, cloudy and cold, 45 degrees for the high today in cincinnati. we've got a big storm moving into the pacific northwest. big storm also in the mid-mississippi river valley. strong storms in the lower

mississippi river valley. sunny in the west. more rain moves into the pacific northwest. sunshine through the southwest. >> good morning to you. we're looking really good right now. our praft is improving every minute. showers are starting to break apart and trend to the south. san francisco, you're in store for a nice break in the next half hour. we'll continue to see this line break apart. south bay, although it's relatively dry, rain is on the way. temperatures in the 60s. more rain tomorrow. second half of the day looks nice. matt? >> thank you very much. up next, the young woman suing the ceo of american apparel for sexual harsm e itous us in an exclusive live interview after this. new cafe collection flavors. e and try s

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back now wlt with the woman suing the ceo of american apparel for sexual harassment. nbc's peter alexander has the latest details. peter, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the allegations in this case are ugly and they are upsetting. this is a young woman accusing her former boss, founder of american apparel, of forcing her into sexual acts for months on end. american apparel is disputing the claims and a brooklyn judge has ordered a temporary halt on the sexual harassment lawsuit. with its provocative ad campaigns, american apparel has always used a healthy dose of sexuality to market the company's product. the strategy that's as controversial as the man behind it, ceo doug charney.

the canadian entrepreneur is accused of being a sexual predator by former employee irene morales. >> i don't want to be a victim anymore. >> reporter: in the lawsuit she said she was held prisoner in his apartment for hours and forced to perform sexual acts. she said he first approached her in 2007 when she was a 17-year-old sales associate and a high school student. bombarding her with calls and texts demanding she send him sexually explicit photographs and morales said once she turned 18 charney forced her to perform sex acts with him for another eight months, warning her if she refused she'd be out of work. >> i don't want to keep secret about this especially when there might be others out there like me who i can help. >> reporter: in the new court documents american apparel argues morales brought the suit after making a number of extortion-like threats to expose the company to a threatened

avalanche of litigation and negative publicity. american apparel said morales left the company without complaint and resigned with a letter of gratitude regarding her positive experience at the company. charney has been dogged by scandal, including several sexual harassment suits in the past, none of which went to trial. still, this was charney during a sworn deposition from one of the cases, answering questions about the chain that sells clothing and underwear. >> i frequently drop my pants to show people my new product. you know, that was common. you know, i was very proud of it. >> reporter: in that deposition, charney defended using what most people consider offensive language to describe women including those who worked for him. >> you use derogatory terms? >> you know, there are some of us that love slut. it's not -- it can be an

endearing term. >> reporter: an unorthodox executive now facing a new round of allegations. the judge in this case ordered a hearing for later this month. morales' lawyers have to show why the case shouldn't go to binding arbitration which is what american apparel says is dictated by morales' contract. >> thank you, peter. irene morales is here with us along with her attorney. let's go back to august of 2007. you start working at american apparel as a sales clerk. not long after you met the ceo doug charney and say the sexual advances started almost immediately. things like him asking you to text him with sexually explicit information, what have you. by december of 2007 you had an emotional breakdown. >> yeah. >> you were hospitalized for a few days but when you got out of the hospital you went back to american apparel. why do back after all those months of abuse?

in all that time did you tell anybody about it? >> no. i did not tell anyone. but i did have responsibilities to take care of. i was in high school. i had to pay rent. i had financial responsibilities. le i didn't quit and i had to go back. >> why did you feel you had to go back? you couldn't pay your bills any other way? >> yeah. i had gone out and looked for other jobs as well. but nothing was as good paying. like the wages at american apparel were pretty decent. i just had to go back. >> did you assume this behavior was going to stop? >> i thought it was almost normal. i thought everyone in the retail, fashion industry had to go through something similar to that. i didn't think anything else of it. >> in april of 2008 when you turned 18, shortly thereafter you claim that doug charney called you to his apartment, a

place you had never been, and essentially held you captive for hours forcing you to perform sex acts with him and also continued to do that in the months afterwards. at that point, did you consider calling the police because if, indeed what you are saying is true, that would have been rape. >> no. i didn't contact the police or my friends or family. it's something that was shameful and embarrassing. i didn't want to tell anyone. >> it's not uncommon for the victim of sexual assault or sexual harassment to often wait many years to come forward. they are traumatized, concerned with what society will think of them. in this particular case, irene just made a personal decision to come forward. >> you finally did quit in december of 2008. why? >> i just was really stressed out. i couldn't take it anymore. i wanted to further my education. so i moved to west virginia. i started school. i kind of got a clean start.

>> then in 2010 -- it's complicated because you went back to american apparel, this time in los angeles. i think a lot of people won't understand that. >> well, the victims of sexual harassment often remain silent. they often don't know what to do in a situation. in irene's case, she needed the job. she went back to the company and immediately realized that it was a bad decision. >> the company and charney are saying you signed a confidentiality agreement stating that you would never sue. they told us in part all american apparel employees are subject to the same arbitration agreement signed by ms. morales in order to protect the privacy and interests of employees and prevent predatory plaintiffs and attorneys from attempting to use the media to extort the company. they're saying you're trying to fleece the company. she signed the agreement. >> she was 17 years old when she signed it. she was a teenager.

this agreement was forced upon her. she would not have gotten the job if she didn't sign it. the more important question to ask is why is the company so focused on confidentiality? why are they trying to silence irene? what don't they want people to know about her and the case? >> what are you trying to get across today? >> you know, i was victimized by doug charney and i won't stand for it anymore. if there are other women out there, they should absolutely speak up because it's wrong in every way, shape and form. >> thanks for joining us this morning. we're back after this. some say i'm bold. i say i'm free. i wear what i love, because expression means everything. i wear the pants. and the tops. and the jewels. i grab life by the accessories. some say i've done it all. i say i'm just getting started.

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wonder where the durango's been for the last two years? well, it toured around europe, getting handling and steering lessons on those sporty european roads. it went back to school, got an advanced degree in technology. it's been working out -- more muscle and less fat. it's only been two years, but it's done more in two years than most cars do in a lifetime.

more ahead on a monday morning including the best small appliances for your kitchen. >> plus, want to boost your memory? we'll get tips from a man with the best memory in the country. it is not matt lauer. first your local news and weather. i can remember that much.

it's 8:26. this morning, crews are estimating damage along california's cost from friday's tsunami and the tens of millions of dollars. up north in crescent city, there was 47 boats damaged, $20 million in damage. total damage of the harbor is estimated at $25 million. at the santa cruz harbor, waves caused an estimate $17 million in damage, $4 million worth of damage to private boats. so far, 18 vessels have been found on the floor of the harbor

creating an environmental risk due to the leaking fuel. the harbor will not reopen until march 20th at the very we go. we're going to take a quick break. we'll be right back. 'r

welcome back. good morning to you. we're still watching pesky showers this morning. they are kind of stubborn. this line is maintaining its organization as it pushes south towards richmond.

the south bay is pretty dry. showers on your way to the neck of the woods. high pressure building in simultaneously. we have fog out there. let's see what that's doing to your commute. >> organized rain is causing disorder on the roadway. an accident, live shot from oakland shows you the jam past the coliseum with the taillights northbound. we have three lanes blocked by an earlier accident. look at the map. slow out of heyward up towards 580. >> thank you vch. i'll have another local news update in half an hour.

8:30 on this monday morning, the 14th of march 2011. beautiful weather to start the last week of winter, believe it or not. that's put a smile on the faces of everyone gathers on rockefeller plaza. what a nice crowd we have today. looks like friday. >> on the plaza i'm meredith vieira along with matt lauer, savannah guthrie and al roker.

just ahead, from blenders to small cookers, the small appliances you need to make your life easier in the kitchen. we have been eyeing that toaster oven. >> we need that in the kitchen. we have a little bit of a disaster up there. the problem is you go to a store and these things are lined up like 11 toaster oven in a row. how do you know which ones to choose? we'll have great advice. >> that's why we are doing the segment. >> speaking of cooking we'll go back to the great debate -- butter or margarine? which is better for health? >> and are you tired of forgetting your keys or where your glasses are, the name of the person right -- down -- >> how many times have you called me al? >> we have help on the way. we're going to get memory-building tips from the new national memory champ. >> good stuff. >> how about the weather? >> what did you ask me? >> let's show you what's

happening. we have below normal temperatures. heavy rain out west. snow in the mountains. mid-week period, above normal temperatures through much of the downry with the exception of the with rain in the northeast and northwest. then we have more above normal temperatures. the two-thirds of the u.s., chilly side with wet wea that's your latest weather.

don't forget. you can check your weather any time day or night. go to weather channel on cable or weather.com online as the rolling spring break continues! [ cheers and applause ] >> meredith? >> okay, al. thank you very much. before we go to commercial i want to take a look at these folks and remind folks about multiple sclerosis. >> mssociety.org. it's national m.s. awareness week. >> up next, thank you very much. when it comes to cooking, should you go back to butter or margari margarine? first this is "today" on nbc. nothing worked on my eczema until cortizone-10 intensive healing eczema lotion. the poweof cortizone-10 plus restora helps heal my symptoms. cortizone-10 -- feel the heal.

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we're back at 8:35. this morning on "eat smart today" a classic cooking debate. butter or margarine? margarine has stepped up the

game but for some only butter will do. joy bauer is "today" contributor. harold dieterle is a chef. le harold, i will get to you. you are a defense attorney. make your closing argument for butter and one for margarine. >> well, butter is a more natural spread made from milk fat. it tastes delicious, but it's fattening, loaded with calories and artery-clogging fats, saturated fat which drives up the bad cholesterol. you have to go easy. >> but margarine -- >> let's start with whipped butter. it's awesome and a great alternative for people who love butter but it incorporates a lot of air with half the amount of calories and saturated fat. i do like whipped butter. >> we're talking saturated fat with butter. when we talk about margarine and this is the bad boy, you're talking trans-fats. >> right.

ironically we created margarine back when because we thought it was healthier. trans-fat in the stick margarine specifically increases bad cholesterol, lowers the good and promotes inflammation throughout the body. if i am the judge of authority here, avoid stick margarine. >> some of the varieties we are starting to see? >> these are great. these are soft tub margarines. because it has a spreadable, soft texture it doesn't have the trans-fat. you can feel good about these. for those watching their weight buy the reduced calorie version. only 30 calories a tablespoon. >> harold, let's go to you as the chef in the group. when butter, when margarine? >> we use the tub margarine in two areas -- inside the dough because it is a water-based dough and there is a good amount of water inside the margarine. >> it doesn't affect the taste? >> no. it makes it taste quite

delicious. that's the base dough. we have some cooking over here. for the butter, you don't want to use margarine in a situation where you are making an emulsified sauce like a beurre blanc. it doesn't work. you're trying to emulsify the acids and butter solids. you have to whisk it together and just, it's not going to work. >> plus, also, margarine blanc sauce doesn't sound -- >> doesn't sound as sexy. >> you have to go for butter sometimes. >> is this a situation in the kitchen when chefs are involved it's a purist versus the new wave? >> i would say so. we have margarine because it works great in satisfying vegans. it's high dodge naydrogenated o >> if you have health concerns and want the best possible healthy option your recommendation is what? >> either whipped butter, but if

you have high cholesterol go for the soft tub vegetable spreads. if you're watching your weight buy the reduced calorie version. there are a lot of good ones on the market. >> thank you very much for the info. up next, the best of the best when it comes to small kitchen appliances. first, this is "today" on nbc.

we are back at 8:41. the best small appliances for your kitchen. how do you know what's best? folks at america's test kitchen have done exhausting testing and the winners are in the latest edition of "cook's" magazine. >> hi, meredith. >> so many people want the appliances.

people are cooking at home more than they did in the past. how did you decide the best appliances out there? >> how does it perform? we buy all the best-le selling brands, bring them to a test kitchen in boston and test them to death. we do all the things you will do and then some. we'll be grating potatoes, making pie dough but we do it 50 times and put everything through the dishwasher and try to abuse it a little bit. >> see what stands up. let's start your choice for best food processor. this is the kitchenaid 12-cup food processor. it's pricy at $1200 but you say don't skimp. >> big bowl. >> why big? >> 11 cups is the minimum size for pizza dough. this one has a great feed tube i will show you. you just -- you can fit a whole potato in there and the blades

are also very sharp. as you can see -- >> oh, yeah. >> all right. >> it has a nice small bowl, too, for pesto. you only have to clean the small one. >> kitchenaid is also your choice for a blender. >> right. it slightly tapers so the food is forced down. the vertical flutes also get it to go down and it has asymmtrical blades so you don't miss any food. everything is perfectly pureed. we did a fun test where we put a couple of food colorings in. >> yellow and blue? >> i think we have made enough noise. >> what does that tell you?

>> we did a test to see how long it would take to get a perfectly green puree. this one was 30 seconds. others, two minutes and we still had streaks of white, yellow, blue. >> let's move on to the mixer. you talk about something here. the sanitary action you say is the way to go. what is that? >> it has a stationary bowl, single arm and the arm orbits around the bowl. planetary action. >> this is a cuisinart. >> right. le all it means is we are -- oh, it would be good if i put it down. two things that will do. it scrapes the sides of the bowl and the beater won't get caught. if you're making peanut butter cookie dough they get clogged, this one won't. couple other nice features, the

best dough hook out there. if you like to make bread this pushes it back down and it has an automatic shutoff. set it for five minutes, go down and change the laundry. if you forget, it turns itself off. >> slow cookers. you say to get the glass lid and you love the crockpot touch screen slow cooker. >> every time you take the lid off, add 30 minutes. you don't want to take the lid off and check what's going on. the other thing you need to know is this has nice grips so you can take out the insert. if you want to bring it to the table, you can. it's easier to clean. a lot of them don't have the grips and you have to dump out the insert which is tricky. >> and dangerous. this is what we are coveting, the toaster oven. people forget. they buy the toaster oven and the one thing they don't do is toast bread. >> half the models couldn't. they burned it on one side and it was underdone on the other.

that was our first test. half the models failed. >> this is a breville. >> these heat up quickly, use half as much energy. a lot of them are for baking. this one produced really lovely roast chicken. >> smells great. >> we baked 12-inch pizzas in these. you can see the chicken looks really nice. we did cookies. it has a great programming feature. easy to use. >> there are a lot of electric pressure cookers but you say don't go for them. >> they don't get hot enough. if you are making a stew, brown the meat and cook the onion. they steam them. stick with the stove top modelle. the new age ones are much better than the one your mother or my mother had. they have lots of safety features. it's big.

you control the heat. >> what is it about this one? is it fagor? >> yes. most important feature we found was this gasket has to be well made. if they are poorly made you won't get a seal. this is an easy locking mechanism and those are the most important. >> finally the juicer. >> this is fun. i will put this in place. this handle is actually motorized. >> what do i do? >> press it down. >> oh, that's so easy. >> what we love is it extracts every bit of juice if from the orange. >> none's coming out. >> you know what, that strops the drip. when you take your glass of juice you don't get a drip on the counter. >> this is a breville again. >> this is a luxury item. but if you love fresh squeezed juice and you want every drop

this is the best model for you. >> lots of great information. thank you so much. jack bishop. up next, the man with the best memory in the country. first this is "today" on nbc. cheers.

♪ memories ♪ all alone in the moonlight >> here's a question. do you have trouble remembering

names? can't remember where you parked your car or put your keys? >> all of the above. jenna wolfe was determined to improve her memory. how did it work? >> okay. if i handed you a deck of cards could you remember every suit, number, color in 30 seconds? >> sure. >> i'm done then. actually you could if you train yourself. only 2% of americans have a foet graphic memory. the rest is training. this weekend all the training led up to the 14th annual usa memory championship. >> here is jordan! >> jordan, mcenroe -- dellis? you may not have heard of the last guy but nelson dellis is at the top of his game like jordan and mcenroe. >> you expect somebody who's naturally good at memorizing things. that's not the case. everybody who competes trained their memories. >> reporter: which for nelson

means treating it like any other passion. >> i train every day. i'm trying to compete and win. it's at anotherle level. but keeping my mind stimulated is my floss identify of life. you know, i work on my body and also on my brain. >> reporter: before you think this memory business isn't for you, keep this in mind. >> anybody can do this. you can do it. anybody on the street could do it. it's justing how the brain works and taking advantage of it. >> reporter: to get a better idea of what a memory athlete can do we put nelson's memory where his mantra is. >> i'm jim bell, kaitlyn, eric, jenna. >> jenna bush? >> hager. >> i'm don. >> reporter: after meeting and greeting 55 "today" staffers, spending less than five seconds. >> hi, matt lauer. >> i'm jackie. >> nice to meet you. >> reporter: we sat nelson down to see how he did. >> that's don.

candice. debbie. kerry, matt. >> reporter: yep. >> in the end he missed only one. >> i don't remember. >> reporter: how does he do it? >> turning what you want to memorize into vid pictures. say you want a grocery list. look at words like milk and picture milk. >> reporter: to test the theory that anyone can do it, i dove in head first and entered the usa memory championship. first stop, a little training and by a little, i mean a lot. >> now let's focus on the last name. tanaka sounds like what? >> binaca. >> breath spray. >> what does binaca breath spray have to do with hashi tanaka. >> connect that to the feature. the nose, eyes, mouth, forehead,

cheekbones. that's where you will hang your picture in terms of the visual picture you will create for the person's name. >> tell me the story you used to memorize my name. >> wolfe. i did your hair was different shades of the wolf's coat. >> reporter: competition day came. my goal, remembering 117 faces. first and last names with proper spellings all in 15 minutes. i could lie and say i'm not nervous, but i'm nervous. >> mental athletes, you may begin. >> reporter: with that, i was on the clock. that's the hardest thing i have ever done. and i only competed in one event. there were seven different tests. how did nelson do? considering he spent the whole day practicing at "today" --

>> i would like to be the first one to congratulate the new champion nelson. >> reporter: nelson, indeed, won. [ applause ] >> reporter: he joins us this morning. i want to re-emphasize that anybody can do that. nelson doesn't have a photo graphic memory. he won the u.s. record for the amount of sequential numbers in a row he memorized, 248 numbers in how much time? >> five minutes. >> here are all the people we had in our office. pick three random people. nelson hasn't been here in two weeks. just to give you an idea how much this sticks. we come across people all the time. this shows you that the technique i will show to you in a second works. here we go. >> this is antoinette, elizabeth, durell. that's jenny. >> wow!

>> this is after the comp competition and everything else distracting you. >> i haven't thought about it since i met them snm with matt lauer, how do you remember? >> it's easier when you see someone every day. >> how did you do? >> okay. there were 38 people that competed. i came in 30 out of 38 which means eight people that trained the entire year for this did worse than i did. so i don't know who those are. >> nelson, what about the games on nintendo -- >> like brain games? i have never had experience with it. but i feel any activity you can do with your brain to stimulate like crosswords, mental math is good. >> couldn't you use this in vegas? >> probably. >> he wasn't a straight a student. he was average. any person can do this. >> it's great. >> do you know where my car keys are? >> congratulations. le back after your local news

and weather. i was driving in northern california. my son was asleep. i really didn't see it coming. i didn't realize i was drifting into the other lane. [ kim ] i was literally falling asleep at the wheel. it got my attention, telling me that i wasn't paying attention. i had no idea the guy in front of me had stopped short. but my car did. -my car did. -thankfully, my mercedes did. [ male announcer ] a world you can't predict... demands a car you can trust. the e-class. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. it is -- i'm trying to find the clock. it is 8:56. here's christina. she has a look at our forecast. >> daylight savings time. we're all caught off guard today. we want that hour back. things are looking pretty good.

we did have to wait an additional hour for the sun to come up. the sunset will be about 7:15 tonight. we have showers streaming to the south. the north bay is getting a break. san francisco is getting a break in the next 15 minutes. let's check your drive with mike. >> it's very slow out of he hercul hercules. still very slow out of hayward, making 580 very slow. two spinouts out on 98. look at that. >> rainy out there. [ sniffing ] ♪ [ sniffing ] [ all sniffing ]

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lo find out how to get your free febreze noticeables "today" on a monday morning, march 14, 2011. it's nice here in new york, but obviously the situation in japan continues to unfold now 72 hours after the massive earthquake and then tsunami. add to that a component of a nuclear situation that's still very uncertain. let me tell you what we know now. first of all inside studio 1a i'm matt lauer along with al roker and natalie morales. here is the latest from japan. the death toll in japan is expected to exceed 10,000. there are lots -- thousands of people still reported missing. 11 workers have been injured during a second hydrogen

explosion today at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. and the u.s. military has shifted some of the fleet a little further from shore after some personnel were exposed to a cloud of low level radiation. the state department is warning americans they should avoid travel to japan. that seems like good advice. also ahead the devastating earthquake that hit on friday was the biggest in japan's recorded history, but the aftermath may be worse with the tsunami washing out swaths of coastal civilization. many areas are cut off. no rescue getting in and very little information getting out. >> plus, six nuclear reactors suffered damage in the disaster. there have been two explosions now at the fukushima daiichi plant. 180,000 people were evacuated from around that area. what is known about the extent of the damage and what is the radiation threat to the people of japan and possibly even around the globe. ann curry is on the scene in japan. she'll be updating with us on the situation live as well.

>> just ahead also, many here in the united states are concerned about loved ones in the disaster zone. ann curry got a tweet from worried relatives and actually found the missing person. we'll hear and find out how later on. >> all right. let's go to ann now with the very latest on the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning once again. as you have aptly put it, japan is reeling. about a half million people are still evacuated. more than a million don't have access to clean water. this, as you point out, a potential nuclear disaster looms. nbc news has obtained this home video of the tsunami as it struck the coastal fishing village of minamisanriku, considered one of the hardest hit. 10,000 of 17,000 residents are now missing. it is a city obliterated. and heartbroken.

hiromi hirayuchi can't find six members of her family. another new eyewitness video also shows the power of the wave as it engulfed the coastal city of miyako. the destruction is so widespread and sudden the prime minister is calling this japan's gravest crisis since world war ii. this is a nation on edge. hit with more than 1,000 aftershocks which sounded the alarms in sendai repeatedly this weekend. they're yelling at us saying a tsunami is coming right now. they are yelling at everybody to get out of the way. we're leaving the area. tsunami alarms are so frequent, even emergency crews lost count. add to that the quake impacted nuclear power plants. >> nuclear and industrial safety agency says an explosion

occurred in the number three building of the reactor power plant around 11:00 a.m. japan time on monday. >> reporter: now, more than 180,000 people have been evacuated from around the plants which have released some radiation. more than 60 nations have pledged aid, sending in search and rescue teams including from europe and china on sunday. u.s. teams are already on the ground searching. the u.s. navy has dispatched eight warships. >> we are over here to help, protect the japanese people. >> reporter: the "uss ronald reagan" arrived on sunday to bring in supplies by helicopter. in the midst of so much destruction, there is hope. floating for two days, this 60-year-old was found alive, clinging to the roof of his house, nearly ten miles out to sea.

and where many buildings are relativelied, survivors on a rooftop saw signs is of life in the debris and three elderly people who were trapped for 20 hours in a car were saved. as for the potential for a nuclear disaster here, about 50 miles away from the nuclear power plants people aren't even talking about it. in some cases they are not aware. in other cases they are too focused on survival. matt? >> ann, thank you. let me ask you about aftershocks. i know you have experienced a few since you have been there. some of them as big as 6 on the scale. what is it like? what does it create in terms of further panic? do rescuers have to retreat from the rubble? >> reporter: absolutely. it creates a considerable amount of panic. we spent a lot of the weekend in sendai. it's almost incessant, the tsunami warnings. we were caught in one of these moments when we were headed to

the coastline. there is an oil refinery burning there and all of the sudden, it happened like clockwork. these emergency vehicles come roaring out of the quake and tsunami zone. they have been trying to retrieve bodies, find survivors. and they come roaring out in multiple vehicles. people are yelling, and in a pretty calm society when people start yelling, it's kind of a stunning moment. that's what happens. we got caught in one of them. we were ordered out and people hear them all the time simply because there have been more than 1,000 aftershocks, matt. this place is still rocking. >> a story that's far from over. ann curry in japan for you. ann, thank you very much. we'll check back in with you in a few minutes. now here's natalie. >> that's a frightening situation. rescue efforts are continuing on the coast of sendai. the scene is grim but there are stories of incredible survival. ian williams is in yamagatu, japan, with more.

god northern to you, ian. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. rescue teams are only just beginning to reach some of the worst affected areas close to sendai where the tsunami laid waste to entire coastal towns. this is what remains of the coastal district, once home to 10,000 people. here they had half an hour between the quake and the tsunami. 30 desperate minutes to get out. it's hard to imagine that until friday this wasteland was a busy residential neighborhood. they have no idea how many bodies are buried here. for now the priority is simply to gain access to some of the worst affected areas. clearing a path through the debris. in their wake, rescue teams made slow, methodical progress. the dogs trained to detect bodies still alive. there have been none today. some of those who escaped before the wave hit returned today to

search for missing relatives. miwa saito was looking for her brother but was overwhelmed by the scenes around her. the. shikawa family was more lucky. they lost their mother but found her sunday. the family home was one of few left standing. they were able to salvage at least some belongings, including photo albums. >> our memory. my grandmother's memory. >> reporter: nearby a vivid reminder of the power of the tsunami. a school bus wrapped around the wall of the remains of another building. through the smoldering debris we spotted another family who recovered their special possession -- a dog called may who somehow survived the disaster. they found her wandering near

the remains of their house. so she was very happy to see you? >> yes, yes, very happy. >> reporter: for the rescue teams the search went on. the task so big at times they seemed hardly to know where to start. another huge challenge is caring for the survivors. officials are facing a critical shortage of blankets, water and medicine, natalie. >> all right. ian williams in yamagata, japan. stay safe, please. excellent reporting there. >> really. let's get a check on the rest of the top stories. savannah is at the news desk while ann is in japan. good to have you here. >> good morning to all of you. the wave of revolution in the middle east and north trick is being met with escalating violence. heavy gunfire south of yemen's capital after a weekend that saw at least seven demonstrators killed and 100 others wounded. in bahrain, members of

parliament are calling for a military clamp down after renewed clashes between police and protesters there. moammar gadhafi's forces are retaking territory from rebels in eastern libya as the arab league made a rare plea for a united nations imposed no-fly zone. gadhafi's forces reportedly forced rebels from the oil city of braga. they will continue to push toward the unofficial rebel capitol of benghazi. the u.s. said it is deeply concerned by israel's announcement sunday that it will build hundreds of new homes in west bank settlements. israel said the plan was in response to a suspected terrorist attack this weekend that killed five members of a jewish west bank family. an explosion at a massachusetts adhesive chemical plant over the night, it injured four workers and shook homes miles away. environmental officials are monitoring a nearby river for potential contamination and the cause of the blast is under investigation.

survivors of saturday's horrific bus crash in new york have told investigators they did not feel a tractor-trailer clip the bus, contradicting the driver's account of what caused the accident which killed 15 people. passengers reported that the driver swerved multiple times before the bus slid off the road. police say the driver had no alcohol in his system at the time of the accident. a new study in the journal of pediatrics says depressed fathers are three times more likely to spank their 1-year-old children than fathers who are not depressed. researchers said some of the fathers had no history of depression until their children were born and even compared their emotional state to postpartum depression in women. president obama is pushing for congress to overhaul the no child left behind education policy before the beginning of the next school year. the bush era law has been criticized for inflexibility and being too quick to label many schools as failures. the battle for the weekend

box office was won by "battle los angeles" which came in first at $36 million according to early estimates. "rango" was second and "red riding hood" in third. it is 11 minutes past the hour. back to matt, natalie and al. i guess the old classics are still popular. >> absolutely. "red riding hood" looks -- >> horrifying. >> terrifying. >> you don't want to mix up taking your kids to "rango" and "red riding hood," not a good idea. let's check in with al. >> looking at japan and sendai tomorrow, a low of 39, a high of 44. a 50% chance of showers. a little less in tokyo. the prevailing winds will bring the winds across japan into the pacific northwest. thesstngrot jet stream, 135 miles per hour. then also we have strong storms ng making their way across the midwest. snow on the back side of the system will bring anywhere from one to two inches of snow.

maybe one two three inches of rain in the mid mississippi rive ava eyllnd strong storms again back to the pacific northwest bringing rain of half an inch to an inch and anywhere from six to eight inches of snow in the mountains. that's what's going on around ey >> good morning to you. well, the rain showers are starting to subside over san francisco, which was getting hit for the past couple of hours. we have a steady stream moving over san bruno. they are starting to fizzle out. we're going to see a lot of clearing and a pretty nice second half of the day. fog will be problematic for the next couple of hours. temperatures are going to climb into the 60s. 67 degrees in redwood city today. that's your latest weather, matt? >> the images of devastation in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami have torn at the hearts of people around the world. we'll be back with more. first, a look at the sights and

sounds of this epic disaster. >> the government will put its strength together and work hard in tackling this disaster. ♪ >> japanese officials say radiation has been detected at the fukushima number 1 plant. ♪

>> in the 65 years after the end of world war ii, this is the toughest -- the most difficult crisis for japan. >> search and rescue teams from ten countries are headed to northeastern japan. >> sounds of an explosion in the number 3. this is reportedly a hydrogen explosion. >> the final vessel from the quake and -- death tolle from the earthquake and tsunami, 10,000. it may rise as the process of finding and identifying bodies continues. d alaway. for fast eye itch relief that works in minutes and lasts up to 12 hours. only alaway comes from the eye care experts at bausch & lomb. so when allergies strike,

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you've been stuck in the garage, while my sneezing and my itchy eyes took refuge from the dust in here and the pollen outside. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. it's the brand allergists recommend most. ♪ lily and i are back on the road again. where we belong. with zyrtec®, i can love the air®. for americans with relatives living in japan, the struggle to get news is heartbreakingly slow. an american woman tweeted ann because she had not heard from her sister who was teaching in japan. incredibly ann found her. ann is back with more.

>> reporter: thanks, natalie. that's right. as we have been reporting many people are still looking for loved ones, including americans. this morning, i received a tweet from a young woman looking for her sister who had been missing. her name is cannon purdy and she arrived here on the day of the earthquake. the tweeter from san francisco wrote, my sister, american english teacher, is missing in minamisanriku. please help with any news of evacuations. the coastal fishing village of minamisanriku is one of the hardest hit by the tsunami. it's where this home video captures just how deadly the wave was, rushing in at four stories high and pushing six miles deep. 10,000 people are still missing. can can purdy was described as 25, a former english teacher in minamisanriku who returned on the day of the quake to see her students graduate from middle

school. a few hours ago arc we arrived with her picture at the middle school. no? okay. which had been turned into an evacuation center for survivors. when suddenly, this woman said she was okay and somewhere outside. cannon is a popular teacher and soon everyone wanted to help. one took us to another evacuation center and there she was. >> hi! >> reporter: are you cannon? >> yes. >> reporter: with her, two other american teachers. >> we had to run up into the mountain to stay up there for a while. >> reporter: mary caitlin church hill of bhoft. massachusetts. >> i'm good. >> reporter: and steve mendoza of riverside, california, all unable to reach their families, stranded in a place without phones and cell service. it was steve who took this dramatic home video. >> hi. you hear me? >> reporter: meantime, in san francisco, we reached cannon's

sister megan walsh and parents john and adrian. >> you have my sister? >> reporter: i found your sister. here she is. >> oh, my god. it's her. she's on the phone. >> are you okay? >> yeah, i'm totally okay. i'm absolutely -- i've been fine the whole time. >> no doubt relieved to get some good news when there's been so much bad. back to you, natalie. >> what an incredible reunion story. thank you, ann, for orchestrating that. i'm sure the family very much appreciates it as you know. we'll be right back with more of "today" after this.'ll be r ht bf "today" after this. i feel like i have to wind myself up just to get out of bed. then, well, i have to keep winding myself up to deal with the sadness, the loss of interest,

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good morning, everybody. time now is 9:26. hundreds of bay area students and teachers are heading to sacramento to protest budget cuts. buses began picking people up at 6:00 this morning. the foothill school district could be hit with a reported 8 to $22 million in cuts. classes could cost about $600 per year beginning july of next year. about 30,000 people are expected to rally at the state capitol today. we have an update at the conditions of the santa cruz harbor. we covered that damage live on friday. this morning, no boats are being

allowed in or out as that cleanup continues. there was $17 million worth of damage and $4 million worth of damage to private boats. one dock holding about 40 boats ripped apart completely, sending boats drifting out to sea. about 18 vessels have been found on the floor of the harbor, creating an environmental risk because of leaking fuel. emergency teams will be working for at least another week and the harbor will not reopen until march 20th at the earliest. weather and traffic coming up after the break.

good morning to you. well, the showers as promised are significantly thinning out right now. even san francisco is getting a bit of a break. looks like san mateo and redwood will see showers for the next half hour. they will continue to stream to the south. san jose, you can expect light activity in the next half hour. everything will clear out for the second half of the day as high pressure moves in. fog tonight, but temperatures

will end up in the upper 60s. it's already warm out there. 66 is the forecasted high today in oakland. let's check your drive. first we'll get a look at the rails. another delay, police activity at the west oakland station, heading out of there, major delays reported. 15 or 20 minutes through that area. slow for the drive as well. that's your wet drive. the accident at northbound 880. taking time to recover, a lot of folks in the mid of the commute. more local news coming up in half hour. "the today show" continues in less than a minute. have a great day. see you in a bit. i could walk 60 miles in 3 days. 60 miles compared to what a cancer patient goes through is a walk in the park. from the moment i registered, people started immediately supporting me and asking me how they could help. you meet the most wonderful, inspiring people. when you accomplish those 60 miles,

it's truly life-changing. (man) register today for the... and receive $25 off your registration fee. because everyone deserves a lifetime. ♪ the first time ever i saw your face ♪ [ applause ] >> her singing debut was at 5 at her brother's wedding. hard to believe but celine dion is celebrating her 30th year in show business after taking time off to focus on her husband and three children she's back in vegas, baby. "today's" jenna bush will talk to her wednesday on "today." you know she'll be seeing sold out crowds. there are fans who have moved to vegas to be close to her.

>> vegas is counting on celine to bring back a cash infusion. >> folks have moved to rockefeller plaza just to be near savannah guthrie. >> i'm usually in washington though. >> that's a lot of devotion. >> we'll go into the kitchen to show you shaved salads using seasonal fresh vegetables. sounds delicious. we have squash and brussels sprouts to tempt your taste buds. >> and the big day is drawing closer as kate middleton and prince william get ready to say do i. >> today's royal treatment. what lucky viewer will go to london during the wedding? we had thousands of entries. is yours one of the entries that caught our eye? >> and a special reunion of two sisters, one in japan and one here. this is the first time they are

seeing each other. that's coming up. first a check of the weather. >> absolutely. let's look at the week ahead. warmer in the west with rain northern california into the pacific northwest. by the midweek, two thirds of the country will with above normal temperatures. more rain in the northwest and in the latter part of the week we continue to warm temps in the eastern two-thirds of the country. out west a little bit chillier. wetter as well. good morning to you. yeah, we do have a wet work week in store. today looks pretty dry for the second half. we're starting to see what little shower activity we still have. really thinning out. as we head throughout the afternoon, the showers will become spotty. dry bay area by about 12:00 or 1:00. high pressure is going to move back in. bring our temperatures into the 60s. 69 degrees is the forecasted high.

a tndhat's youratest weather. >> thanks, al. we'll be right back after this. [ female announcer ] sometimes you need tomorrow to finish what you started today. for the aches and sleeplessness in between, there's motrin pm. no other medicine, not even advil pm, is more effective for pain and sleeplessness. motrin pm. now you don't have to wait 6 weeks to get it. introducing natural instincts with our first color refresher. get healthy looking, ammonia-free color,

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another cracker chip? don't mind if i do! [ female announcer ] find them in the cracker aisle. for weeks we have been telling you all about "today's" royal treatment contest. we are looking to send a viewer and a guest to london on us during the royal wedding. >> here are some of the videos that caught our eye. >> hi "today" show. i'm kathleen and you should take me to travel to london for the royal wedding. >> i need a break. i can think of nothing better than a fairy tale wedding. >> we know you're able and we would be so grateful if you got us to that church on time.

>> now look down, look up, look down, look up. i am a princess. >> one woman with one dream. >> my dream is to attend the royal wedding. >> my husband loves british accents. >> please, please, send us to britain and i promise we'll never forget it. [ british accept ] >> we'll reveal the three >> i'm meter finalists for "today's" royal treatment and you can vote on who should get an all expenses paid trip to london including two first class tickets to london during the week of the wedding of kate middleton and prince william. meanwhile coming up next, we're going to show you how to jazz up your salad with flavor and crunch. [ male announcer ] did you know that aquafresh iso-active

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with communications nearly impossible in the wake of the devastation in japan, many are anxiously waiting for news of their loved ones. john and jessica have been living in sendai for three years with their twins max and zachary. the family received confirmation that they are safe but have since received very little communication.

jessica's sister monica cohen joins us. we have found your sister jessica, john and max and zack. they are joining us now from sendai. this is the first chance. >> hi! oh, my god! [ crying ] >> jessica? do you see me? >> we're fine. we're fine. >> hi, monica. >> just go ahead and look into the camera. >> hi, guys. look, there's zack! he's up. hi, zack. i love you. zack, how are you? >> i'm fine. jess, it's good to see you. >> we're okay. >> we're surviving. >> we're in our house. everything's okay. >> i can't believe we're communicating right now. this is so incredible. >> i know that the first -- i was going to say the first time you knew they were okay was a facebook message yesterday that john sent out. you had been able since to talk

on the phone as of this morning. this is really the first time and jessica, john and the boys, you all look amazing. how are you getting by day to day? >> we're doing okay. you know, we have enough food for the next probably week. there is no supplies of other stuff. the water supply is very hard to get any water. but we are okay. we have a good -- >> we're fine. >> we have a good community of people that are here helping us out. you know, we're doing okay. >> we're very lucky we escaped the disaster. supplies are limited. so we'll take each day as it comes. >> monica, do you want to ask them something? >> i'm in shock that i can see you now. look at max. he's sleeping. >> yep. >> max, we love you so much! i'm so happy to see you guys. >> i imagine it's been a long 48 to 72 hours for you.

>> 72 hours of hell for myself and my family. the whole family. >> jessica and john, i know you're there because your jobs brought you there three years ago. how difficult was it for you just wanting to let your families know you were okay, to find the ability to communicate? >> it's horrible to be out of touch. >> it's so hard to know they were trying to -- everyone was trying to get in touch with us. but there was no way for us to do it. >> we have limited resources. we have no internet, no cell phones. but we're fine. it's heartbreaking to think that they thought the worst. so finally we have friends here with internet. >> we can do it now. >> zack, how are you holding up and your brother, max? how frightened were you? i imagine for an 8-year-old, you're seeing your world there shattered around you.

>> was it hard? >> it was a little scary -- the earthquake. >> i miss you guys so much. i'm so glad you're okay. >> the boys have been really good through all of this. they were scared the first night. we had aftershocks every five minutes and they were big. >> i was going to say -- excuse me, john. i was going to say i know you're in the town sendai which you are just ten miles or so away from where the epicenter of the earthquake was and the tsunami. how badly damaged was the area where you all lived, your neighborhood, your surrounding area? >> nothing like the pictures that you're seeing. >> in our immediate area we were so lucky. we escaped the devastation.

it was just miles from us in the towns we know so well. to think that the people who have been so good to us here in japan are so devastated. supplies are so limited here. and the people of japan really need help even though they won't admit it. >> they need a lot of help. you know, for us it's about food and water supplies. that's what we're looking at. but so many other people, the devastation that they have had is so much greater. we're fortunate to have the people around us, the support system. just hoping that we're going to get supplies in the next few days. >> there is the ongoing concern with the nuclear situation, as you are all very much well aware, i'm sure. what are you hearing? what are they telling you about the dangers of nuclear radiation? >> they're not telling us a lot. we're getting most of our information through friends.

>> international news. >> it's insult to injury. we're not sure what to believe. you don't want to panic. >> but the japanese are good at being organized. they're overcautious about most things. so we're confident that, you know, we really can't get out right now on our own but if we need to get out, we're confident we'll have a way to get out. >> monica, i imagine hearing and knowing what they are going through, it has to be frustrating as well knowing that there is not much you can do except send money to the red cross to help get food and water to them. >> jesse, what can we do to help you? everybody wants to help. we want to send you things. we just love you so much. >> i know. you know, we're really okay. we are okay. you know, the resources here in japan and -- >> yeah.

>> it's water. >> just send us your love like you're doing. your support is so important. we're touched by how many people have really reached out to us. >> it's unbelievable to hear from the u.s. being outside the u.s. you feel a little isolated. >> i'm so happy to see you. i'm so happy you're okay. it's unbelievable. jess, john, zack -- hi, zackie! we love you so much. we miss you guys terribly. >> max has had a very long 72 hours. fast asleep. it's the middle of the night for them. so you all continue to stay safe. our thoughts and prayers are with you. we're hoping people heed the call to send help whether it's to the red cross or other aid organizations so that people around you and you all can have food and water and everything you need. jessica, john, zack and little max there fast asleep, take care. i will keep the line open.

i know monica and jessica, you guys want to keep the reunion going. i will get out of the conversation and let's you continue off air so people at home don't have to butt in on your reunion. but thank you all for being with us. we'll be right back with more. this is "today" on nbc.

this morning in "today's kitchen" putting a twist on your average salad. tired of the same old boring lettuce and tomato? amanda hesser is here to help you shape things up by shaving down your veggies. i'm sick of my tomato and lettuce salad. you can shave these? >> everybody thinks you can only use lettuce, but it's getting something thin and fine.

here we use brussels sprouts. >> let's start with them. you serve them raw? >> yeah, absolutely. everybody thinks you have to cook them, but not at all. this is called a mandolin. this is a japanese version. it's very inexpensive and great for shaving vegetables. you can slice them if you want to practice knife skills. you get nice fine shreds which you can dress. >> what ingredients do you put with them? >> add nice tasty things. this is a cured ham from germany. you can use serano ham or prosciutto. this is pecorino cheese and celery chop fine for crunch. these are walnuts you can toast and chop. this is -- >> cranberry? >> yes, dried for a little bit of sweetness. >> how do you dress it? >> just with lemon juice.

squeeze it on. >> okay. salt and pepper and then if you want to add a little heat you can use cayenne, any kind of chili powder or crushed red pepper flakes if you crush them further. add a little bit of olive oil. >> that looks fantastic. >> maybe more than a little bit. >> don't go light on the olive oil, come on. >> exactly. then you mix it up. it's a beautiful salad. you can serve it as a first course or lunch. it has everything in it. it's gorgeous. i will put a little bit on a plate for you. >> great. we'll get to the tasting. napa cabbage salad. helen's? where did you get the name. >> that's my grandmother.

first you render bacon fat. brown the bacon. then she shredded napa cabbage. what's the first between that and regular cabbage? >> it's more delicate. it's a long cabbage and it's sweeter and lighter. i think it works well in salad. chop it like this and render the bacon in a pan. you want to put it on the salad. then -- >> we're going to make dressing. >> you can shave the cabbage on the mandolin? >> sure or it's easy to do with a knife. >> what's this? >> this is the dressing. i'm going to quickly show you how to make it. to the bacon fat, add -- >> i smell bacon. >> there it goes. >> acbacon fat! >> you said "bacon" and they

were here. >> add flour to make a roux, add water and it's great. you will whisk it into egg which sounds weird. >> bacon and eggs! >> it's fantastic on your salad. >> a perfect breakfast salad. >> not your ordinary salad. >> no, it's not. quickly, we have butter nut squash also. >> the scent of the gods. >> all we said

good morning, everybody. time now is 9:56. the weekend shooting involving teenagers may be gang related. one man and two teens allegedly

shot a 17-year-old boy late saturday afternoon in south san jose. the victim was taken to a local hospital and is expected to survive. officers arrested the suspects after a short chase. all three are behind bars. time to check the forecast with christina. >> the forecast is significantly improving. we're seeing shower activity that we had earlier this morning turn to really spotty and light in nature. that's really good news for people who have to hit the highway. you are going to find slick conditions, but we'll see a pretty nice second half of the day. we'll have fog until about 11:00 a.m. today. 66 degrees is the forecasted high in oakland. 66 degrees in fairfield. more showers on the way for tomorrow. enjoy the dry break for the second half of the day. we have rain chances each and every day this week. let's check your drive with mike inouye.

>> it was wet and wild in the east bay. sorting things out now, coming down the east shore way, still a little slow. the bay bridge toll plaza, you see the backup towards the maze. oakland worse after a couple accidents in fruitville. 580 starting to improve after it took a lot of overflow. 680 still slow past the expressway or the slow lane approach. skies starting to clear, but low clouds hovering around there as well as in through the south. >> maybe they should name it the less slow lane. more news coming up in a half hour. "the today show" returns in about a minute. i just don't feel young when my skin looks old.

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captions paid for by nbc-universal television hey, everybody. it is monday, march 14th, 2011. kathie lee gifford is not with me and joining me in the seat next to me is a wonderful actor anthony mackie. you can call him kathie. let me remind you from where you know him "the hurt locker." hot, hot, hot movie. won numerous awards. >> yes, yes. >> and, i mean, this is one of

those that was just a nailbiter from the beginning. you know him more recently from another movie that's a blockbuster. hello, with your hat on. you look cute in "the adjustment bureau." can you believe how hot this movie is? >> it was a pleasure to work with matt and anything he touches is golden. it kind of worked out. >> more importantly than all of these things to me is that he's a new orleans boy. >> 504 just off the hills of mardi gras. i'm recovering, i'm recovering. >> we met back in the day. >> a while ago when i was a boisterous young lad and i told you when i grew up i wanted to spend my more time with you. >> i used to anchor in new orleans. i was one of their evening anchors and you were an up and com comer. >> i was in school and my friend worked for you and she brought me to the set and i got to meet you and here we are. >> look at us now. you should know about anthony, i knew this right away.

anthony is a hugger. >> i am. >> i think most people from the south are huggers. >> hugeration ubialation. here's anthony hugging al. no, look at you hugging -- >> that's kind of me hugging sarah. watch this. watch, no, give me more. that was sarah, that wasn't me. there's a thing, though. now it's getting a little weird. >> see what i mean. >> there are some people out there and there's one woman in particular that thinks hugging is overrated. she doesn't like the idea when you go to someone's house you hug and when you leave you hug. too much touchy, huggy. >> i think it's the type of hugging. i think if it's two guys you can definitely have too much hugging. . but sometimes you just want to show your appreciation and affection. when i hug you, i just appreciate you so much. >> i like that. plus, you give, you give great, great, great hugs. but you do have to admit, there are people you know when you

approach them when you go, they don't love it. >> well, as a guy, you have to wait for the girl to invite you in. you can't go, hey, mama. you go in and if she opens up, you go in and you go high, let her go low. >> there are some people -- >> all kind of rules to this. >> what? >> if you hug her here, she might get cuncomfortable and awkward. ladies wear dresses. if i come in here instead of like that. >> the hugs i don't like are these. hey. >> the pat. >> those are -- >> i like you, but i still -- that's people that are angry with you. >> we're thrilled that you're here and we've been talking all week about charlie sheen. >> oh, i am definitely on a drug and it's called charlie sheen. >> first of all, our viewers are kind of tapping the brakes on him a little bit. he's now on his world tour or speaking tour. >> right, right, right. >> he's going around and he's

speaking. >> i tried to buy tickts and it sold out in 18 minutes on ticketmaster. i can't get enough charlie sheen? >> why? >> because he's so entertaining and so real. he infiltrated my life. he's in my dreams. i can't get enough. i'm even quoting him now. every time somebody asks me, how are you doing? i'm winning. >> you do not do that. >> how are you doing today, hoda? >> i'm fine. >> you look delicious this morning. you're winning. >> what is it about the whole charlie sheen thing because he's really selling out his speaking tour. >> yeah, he's selling out. >> alec baldwin did have something to say. alec baldwin had some advice for charlie sheen and this is what he said to "huffington post." here's his advice, take a nap, take a shower, call chuck lorre and then beg for your job back. your fans demand it.

>> i think it's a great idea. you kill them with kindness. >> you have seen his show "two and a half men." >> i almost tried to sit through an episode. >> i'll be honest. i've never seen it. >> the interesting thing about the show is the show is kind of quirky and off beat and kind of not like what you think it is. and then when you see him on youtube, i mean, charlie sheen's recipes and stuff like that, it's so crazy. you can't beat that. and people love train wrecks. and he is a train wreck of bounteous proportions. >> another celebrity ticked off over the weekend. jake gyellhal was in a men's room and i guess a paparazzi guy came over and tried to snap a picture of him and jake took coverage. >> whenever your publicist comes

out and says, they're just talking. >> jake was urinating and the guy took a picture. that's, you know -- >> man rule number four, you don't look down or over when you're in the bathroom. that's why they put the blockers pup. for you to take a picture, he deserved a good talking to. >> well, what do you think about that? i mean, you went from basically from obscurity to suddenly this guy that stepped out into the limelight and people know who you are. do you have people who are invading on your privacy? >> it gets weird now and then but i would wet up his phone. >> ewww. >> no, with water from the fountain. >> i didn't know what you were talking about. >> what would you do if you were in the bathroom and some woman opens the door. you all have more privacy. we're all over the place. >> how have you taken to all of this. the fame and the people getting to know you. >> slow and steady.

i mean, i get, you know, free drinks at local bars in new orleans now. but other than that, you know, i still, i don't get that much free stuff. >> now, what about the rest of your life? people look at you, you're a single guy, adorable. >> well, i'm not single. i have a girlfriend. boom. she was my third grade girlfriend. i heard you had a boyfriend, so i went out and got girlfriend. i'll go get mine, too. >> was she really your third grade girlfriend. >> i moved back to new orleans and we bump under to each other and we've been together ever since. >> how sweet is that. >> she's a rock star. >> i love that. ipads came out on friday and people went completely crazy over them. >> buy as many as you can. >> what's funny, the people who get that, they want to be the first one in line. okay, the very first one in line and a woman actually sold her

spot -- >> you are so pretty on this monit monitor. look at her, look at -- >> that is so -- >> look at how cute. ♪ i'm bringing sexy back >> all right, so she sold her spot to a guy -- >> 900 bucks. >> for 900 bucks. now, people want to be the first one to have that ipad. are you the techie guy, the one who wants to have the first? >> i kind of respect the lady for selling her spot because she can buy two and sell one and still make money. the dude is lame. >> you don't have the ipad, do you? >> no, but i bought stock. >> you bought stock. >> when i was in college my roommate came home when apple first made the computer, the desktops that came in all the different colors and he came home with a blue one and he's like, you have to get one of these. mine is blue and it matches my room. i said, really? he said, yeah, everybody is

getting them. no doubt. www.etrade.com. >> you did? you've been on the train. >> been on to it ever since. go ipad. >> why wouldn't you get an ipad? >> because you don't need it. if you have an iphone, an ipad is basically a supersized iphone. it's too much. it's too much. >> can you play scrabble on your iphone? >> you can do everything. you can start your car on your iphone. boom, i can watch you -- i don't say i do. i'm not like at home sitting watching you on my phone, but if i wanted to, i could have a whole morning with you just riding in the cab looking at your face. i mean, if i wanted to do that. that's something one might do. >> you are crazy. >> all right, guys, still to come, we're going to have our guys tell all panel and we'll have another extra guy around today. we'll fill you in on all the hollywood buzz. >> let's go, men. >> right after this. after this.

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it's time for today's buzz, filling you in on all the necessary news from the hottest new concert tickets to the latest celebrity split. >> he's the man with the 411. he's also host of bravo's "watch what's happening live." >> andy cohen. >> i can't believe i didn't get a hug from anthony. >> itake it. >> all right. i'm going to go low. >> that was great. you smell good. >> he always smells good. what is it that you wear, by the way? >> it's called creed, and i can't remember the actual -- >> i love that name. >> i love that you and your lady hooked up at a frankie and

beverly mays. >> that's right. >> we're talking charlie sheen. he's on a speaking tour. >> he is. sold out in 18 minutes. i saw spiderman friday night, so now we know there is a stage show that will be worse than "spiderman," charlie sheen on stage. we've seen this show for the past, you know, unfurling on youtube, on youstream. what will this live show be? >> he'll just get up there and rant. is that the idea? >> yeah. he's giving a dollar for every ticket sold to japan, which is nice. two gigs in chicago and detroit, and apparently he's going to do more. over the weekend, there were birthday parties that denise richards threw for his daughter, which he missed, and brook mueller through one for the twins, which he missed. the other piece of information that i have is if you go to the

hubbingerpost.com, alec baldwin has a remarkable editorial. read it because it's great. he says take a shower, get sober, positively yiz and gapoln that show. and he says buy jon cryer a car, which he needs. >> do you think he needs the money that he's doing this roadshow? >> he can't need money. >> jessica biel and justin timberlake broke up, which is a little heartbreaking. >> he's back on the market. >> i'm sorry you have a boyfriend, because you love music. >> i do love music and i love him. >> let's talk about jessica biel. >> yeah, jessica biel is on the market. >> see what i'm talking about? >> you're taken. >> if you like it, you better

put a deal on it. >> i'm with it. check her out at a frankie and beverly mays. >> why? >> they said it was amicable. there were rumors of he and monica munez. they were together for four years and they went their separate ways. they said it's all cool. why must we go crazy analyzing what happened? it's fine. they're back on the market. >> we do. >> i know. >> this is kind of scary news. she was in that collision -- >> she was in a collision with a fire truck in texas. she came out of it okay. she's pregnant. that is no little teeny fender bender. jewel, of course, is the host of platinum hits. i know you wanted to know that,

hoed hoda. luckily she came out of it with just a few scratches. >> we should point out that tomorrow andy cohen is going tobac tobaccto be co-hosting with me. your dad is in town. >> my dad is in town. >> what's your dad's name? >> my dad's name is lou. >> coming up next, our guys gather to tell us how they really feel, and maybe anthony will get in on it. i have a feeling i >> it's time for the guys to get back at all the mean ladies. >> what mean ladies? be careful.

[ male announcer ] when mike rowe heads home, his family knows what to expect. hun, mike's coming -- let's get crackin'.

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unpublished rates. which means i get an even more rockin' hotel, for less. my brain didn't even break a sweat. where you book matters. expedia. my brain didn't even break a sweat. it's that time when our guys tell all panel come together to tell it like it is when it comes to all the relationship dilemmas

our viewers deal with. today starts with a new guy on the panel, david good, author of "the man code: a woman's guide to cracking the tough guy." >> that's right. >> up next, chuck nice, who can be seen on tv's "world's dumbest." he's been married for 13 years. >> i'm working on my master's. >> then we have comedian and actor chuck rick younger, who is married with, and he did "morning glory" with rachel mcadams and mark andrews, author of "decoding love." why don't we start across the street. sara is taking questions, so let's go across the street.

>> hi, my name is jodi from greenwood, wisconsin. my question is, why when it's time to put something together, you don't feel it's important to read the directions? >> why is that? >> because i'm smarter than the directions. it's that simple. okay? the directions are not the boss of me. >> right. >> and secondly, i'm going to make this an adventure. we thought we got a grill, but now we got a spice rack. and, you know, it's always good to have a few extra screws and nuts and bolts available after the thing is assembled. >> i like it. all right. do you feel that way? do you look at directions? >> i don't even know how to find the directions in the box. >> it's the thing that comes out after you finish putting the thing together. >> i need a direction envelope. >> we've got a facebook post, guys, from amber.

and she says this: my boyfriend would like for me to move into his home but it's a wreck and in need of some tlc. how can i politely ask for his help in transforming his bachelor pad into a space we can all share? he lives in a dump. >> i don't think you should move in. if you're not at a comfortable level to talk to him about that, how can you be moving in together? how easy is that? we're moving in together? >> the whole need to be polite is not necessary. it's like, look, your place is a dump. if you want me in this dump, you need to make it not a dump. >> it's a bachelor pad, which is code for man living in his own filth, okay? he should be grateful she's coming in before he dies of bosch lic botulism or something like that. >> people want to be polite in a relationship, you know. >> moving in is fun! come on! we all went and got out of college once and moved in with a

girlfriend. >> you could do that. after six months. >> we have a question on tape. let's take a look. >> hi, my name is jennifer and i'm from agora hills, california, and i was wondering what you think about charlie sheen having two girlfriends. >> first of all, regular mortal human men do not travel where charlie sheen does. >> do you guys look up to him? >> winning! winning! >> it's hard to look up to a guy who is laying in his own filth on the ground. >>k. bac l be back.

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whoa! wait for me! ha-ha. you only think you're getting spoiled. [ woman announcing ] beneful incredibites. another healthful, flavorful beneful. now in a convenient bag. good morning, everybody. time now is 11:26. a woman is under arrest for suspicion of killing her 8-year-old disabled daughter. it was an attempted murder suicide. kristen johnson is in custody. a care provider found johnson in her running car inside a garage on sunday. a hose was attached to the tailpipe and placed inside the car. johnson was found conscious. her daughter was unconscious and later pronounced dead at the hospital. published reports says they used their own set of safety standards for gas pipelines.

the san francisco chronicle says p jenny would use older lines only if the pressure rose 10% over rules. they say the process was safe. expertings say the practice may have played a part in the san bruno pipeline explosion. they say they exceeded the pressure of the line twice but never conducted an inspection for faulty seams. weather and traffic coming up right after this.

>> good morning o monday morning

to you. we had a pretty rainy, soggy start, but everything is improving. just a few light scattered showers are breaking up as we speak. high pressure moving in. watch out for fog for the next half hour. the temperature, now that the rain is starting to subside, we have breaks of sunshine coming in, looks like we'll climb into the 60s today. 65 in the north bay and santa rosa. 63 degrees in fremont. tomorrow, more of a steady rain throughout the day. enjoy the second half break today and rain chances each and everyday next week. let's check your drive with mike inou inouye. >> if you happen to be going on highway 29, keep that in mind. slow down off the berkeley curve, folks heading for the toll plaza. we have a shot further south. oakland, 880, still slow past

the coliseum. crossing the bay, we have an easy drive along the peninsula. 101, is a little slow. thanks, mike. thank you for joining us."tay tw"he she todayw"nuhotit.on neo we're back on this fun day much monday, and it certainly is. look what i'm surrounded by. kathie gets some vacation time and i'm surrounded by good-looking guys. david good, chuck nice, mike younger and anthony mackey. all right, kids, we're going across the street for a live question. go ahead. >> hi, i'm ann from texas, and i want to know, when women are in charge, we're just being mothers. butter when m but when men are in charge, why

are they babysitting? >> i don't know about these guys, but me personally, i'm like betty daycare. i'm with my son most of the time unless i have an audition or have a show. i think that might be an older generational thing. >> made her day, didn't you? >> she makes a good point, though. a lot of guys do feel that way, like they're doing a favor. >> because we don't want to be there. that's why. >> i just want to let you know the truth, lady. when you leave your husband with your two kids, neither one of them want to be together. the kids are going, when is she coming back? i can't believe she left us with this guy. and the guy is looking at them like, i can't believe i had these. >> guys are raising their children and being chastised so much, they feel like they're doing it wrong, anyway, so they feel like they're doing you a favor. >> women do the bulk of the

child rearing and now they say men are doing a little more, so they feel they're doing a lot more and feel they deserve a lot of credit for it. >> gee, who is that guy? >> he's a smart one. we got another question from jennifer on tape. >> hi. my name is jennifer. i'm from toronto, ontario, canada. i'd like to know about dating a guy that lives with his mother. >> i'd like to be an advocate for guys that live with their mother. it's like every guy that lives with his mother is not a loser. you have to deal with each loser by merit. some guys may be there helping their mother out. they may be there because they're pursuing the dream. as a stand-up comic for a lot of years, i lived with my parents for a lot of years. my father said, stop paying rent

that you're not home for. >> i lived with my mother until i was 12. then she kicked me out. >> here's what you need to know about a relationship of a man who lives with his mother. if you want to know where the relationship is heading, back to your place is the answer. >> what do you think? >> i think it's situational. we're in hard times right now. what if he's helping his mom out? what if it's a really good deed or he lost his job and he had to go home. it's situational. >> i agree. i know if my parents lived in new york, i'd be living with them. times are rough, you know? my mama cooks good, my daddy and i watch sports. can i borrow the car, mom? >> they go to dinner and the house is krouyours for the rest the night. >> i'm going to make sure you get to work on time, everything. you're out in the morning. >> we have a live question

across the street at the msnbc.com digital. >> hi. i'm sheri from lothian, texas, and i want to know why when both spouses work the man feels it's okay to come home and relax when there's still dishes to do, laundry to do and dinner to be made? >> she has a very good point. you put your feet up. >> is this a texas thing? >> it is, it is! >> i think that in general, guys, we are a little more about taking time off for ourselves. it's like, those dishes aren't going anywhere. that food will still be there uncooked when i eventually get around to cooking it. so just relax. >> this is another one of those long term changes where they find that even when women work today, they still do by far the majority of the housework. but it's far better than it was 20 or 30 years ago, but not a lot better. there might be a little more

shift. it's not going to help her, but in a few generations, we might be close to quality. >> but men do a majority of the men work. men still pick up checks, men still think of ideas for dates, men still open car doors. i'm defending your honor, girl. what if someone did say something crazy about you? i won't go all jake gyllenhall on you. >> you better defend these dishes. >> we got to run? all right, guys, thank you so much. fun. you guys rock. up next, things that jump, fly and crawl. we're going to celebrate national wildlife week. what is that? >> that's a kangaroo. >> i don't know if it is. look at my taxes. please, find some extra money for us.

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it is national wildlife week, and we're back with today's call of the wild for an annual celebration. >> and i hear, hoda -- >> yeah. >> -- this is your favorite part of the show, so you have to handle a few of these animals. >> okay. >> so here on the show today, up and close and personal to the national wildlife federation, david misiguski and some of his favorite animal friends. >> yes, and ours, too. hey, dave.

how are you? >> i'm not going to make you hold any animals, not today. >> come on, dave! >> it's national wildlife week, and the whole theme is about how animals move, so i have different ways animals move. our first animal today is a hopper, right? you don't want to get too close because he's a pretty big animal, and if you got kicked with those big feet made for hopping, it wouldn't be a good thing. the kangaroo is a marsupial and their baby hides in the pouch. these guys can hop 25 miles an hour. they can jump six feet straight up in the air. >> and they like bananas. >> they do like bananas. >> how big do these get? >> he can get to be five feet tall as an adult. amazing hopper. let's move on to our next

animal, which is a swimmer, and he's down here. this is called a snake neck turtle. she's not really doing too much swimming. if i put my hand in her mouth, she might bite. this animal swims and has webbed feet. she's not doing what i want her to do so i'm going to take her out. but look at that amazing neck. >> eww. creepy! >> the neck can reach all the way up to the surface to breathe while the rest of the body underneath is under water. so it's adapted for life underwater. it's the swimmer of our animal life. >> what does this eat? >> fish and tadpoles and things under the water. this is native to australia as well. we don't have this species in north america, so they're not altogether rare, but they could be scared by the tetra, so we

want to take care of them. >> let's move to the bear. >> this freaks me out more than that. >> this species of hawk actually hunts in packs. did you guys see "jurassic park" with the velociraptor? they can move quickly to grab their prey. they have kind of short wings that allows them to do the maneuvering. >> everybody calm down. >> excellent. that's the flyer. our second to last animal is -- again, hoda, i know you're probably really going to like this one. >> anthony. >> this is our slitherer, and we don't want to do any jerky movements in front of him

because that could cause him to strike. this is a california king snake. >> is he poisonous? >> no, he's not poison. >> can i hold him? >> no, you can't hold him. there are a few different king snake species found all over the country, and snakes don't have legs, so talking about how they move, it's pretty amazing. the muscles and scales on their stomach -- >> what is that? what is that? oh, my god! i want one. >> this is called a vinteron. and he is -- it's actually a group of animals that he smells like -- >> he smells like popcorn. >> he actually smells like popcorn, guys. he's kind of investigating here. >> does he eat turtle? >> he doesn't eat turtle. we'll gi him a banana. >> he looks like a wolverine. >> it's an animal similar to a

weasel and a cat in terms of evolution. >> he looks like my uncle. >> we've got to go. dave, you're the best. that is amazing! we'll be back and we're going to celebrate basketball season with a legend right after this. any pizza hut pan pizza is now just ten dollars! [ guy #2 ] so before they come to their senses, we're stocking up. this is our best idea ever! [ male announcer ] pizza hut's world-famous pan pizza is now just ten dollars. any pan pizza. any size.

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>> right now in america, one out of four children doesn't know where their next meal is coming from. >> food insecurity is a growing problem in the united states. >> tune in march 19th at 7:30 p.m. on nbc to see child hunger ends here: a special report. a spec

if you have a spring fling in your future, you may want to make your way to some refreshing spring cocktails. >> i guess what they say on this show is true. we're about to get some drinking. noah young is here and he's the bartender of one of my favorite restaurants, carne verde. it's one of my favorite restaurants. >> hello.

we're going to start with a tom collins. engi gin, sugar, spring water. today we're going to use some rose. >> some rose? >> some rosewater. >> thank you. that's delicious. >> go ahead. >> the next one we have the pin cup. we' -- pimm's cup. we'll put in ginger, cucumber, a little strawberry in there.

>> you have to do this. we're on a date. >> oh, that's good. that's a ten. >> i just want to -- >> don't you love this show? >> you're going to drag me out of there. >> we're booked up tonight. maybe in a couple months. >> this is an elderflower fizz. a squeeze of lime, hendrick's gin. >> mm. >> i made up a little sangria here. we can adapt this to any recipe. we have vodka, white rum.

>> this is kathie lee's drink with the chardonnay. she's going to miss this one. >> cranberry juice, a little bit of lime. >> sprig of rosemary. >> add some thyme. >> cheers. >> we would make some drinks but we just don't have time because we have so much fun drinking the drinks. >> cheers. >> cheers. coming up next, we will be back with a basketball hall of famer. walt clyde frasier with us. look at him. you got it.

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it is time for march madness

when a lot of people only want to talk about hoops and brackets. >> i came on the right day. today basketball hall of famer walt clyde frasier is with us. walt, i understand you're going on to host a friendly and -- friendly game of basketball, the best out of three competition between me and her. >> before we start, i just want to point out two men and their shoes. look at anthony's heels and look at walt's. now go to walt's shoes because i'm crazy about walt's shoes. walt knows how to play. >> anthony's heels are his handicap. my shoes are just clyde's style. >> give us some trivia questions. >> when was the actual basketball ball invented? 1891, 1900, 1929 -- >> you're right. >> who is right? me? >> you got it right. 1929. >> okay, all right.

>> through 2010, which men's team has made the more final four appearances than any other? >> is he wrong? he's wrong. >> north carolina. >> what is the most points ever scored in one game by one player in an nba game. >> 100. >> no. >> you're right. wilt chamberlain. >> now, mow built and decks -- dexterity. you guys have to dribble through these cones. >> i'm coming, i'm coming. oh, dear god. >> come on, anthony, there's four more. >> i got it. i got it, i got one! >> no, i didn't. >> you got two, hoda. you going down?

>> no, no. >> i got one. >> i got two. i got two. >> you going down. >> i got three. >> no, no, no, no, no. help me, walt. help me, walt. >> you got to concentrate. focus. >> i got it, walt, i got it! oh, no, i ran out of balls. >> you're cheating, hoda, you're cheating. >> hold on. >> i got ya! how do you like me now, hoda? how do you like me now? long distance. >> okay, that's it. >> walt, call the winner. >> who was keeping the score? >> you were, walt. who is the winner? focus. >> you. you won. >> walt, thanks for coming to see you. we really appreciate it. anthony, tnkhaou for a fun

day. come this week, we're going to have a lot of people. nice talking to you. [ asst mgr ] what are you doing?

fixing the name. it's fiber none. report. here is brian williams. >> good day from new york, the death toll is rising. the nuclear crisis is rising after the wake of the tsunami. today they are asking the u.s. for more help for the damaged nuclear reek actors. new amateur video is showing the power of the incoming water. the death toll is expected to rise. at least 10,000 are feared dead. there's no clear way to know how many yet. as for the nuclear crisis at the fukushima plant, a second