good morning, everybody. heading towards the pacific, the west coast, expected to skip past northern california to hit southern california tomorrow. we are protected, it seems, by the shape of the jet stream. now, the risk overall is small. experts say the plume will be diluted as it travels and at worse would have minor health effects here in the u.s. meantime, overnight the u.s. government decided that japan's safety zone around that failing nuclear plant is not big enough. so this morning there is new advice for americans in japan. move back, or get out altogether. tracie potts is live in washington this morning with what you need to know. tracie? >> what appears to be white

smoke began to rise from the number 3 reactor. >> reporter: helicopters are now dropping water on japan's nuclear plant. >> we believe the secondary unit is destroy and not water in the melt pool. >> reporter: japanese deny that but authorities believe it's overheating. the u.s. believes radiation levels there are extremely high with conflicting reports coming from japan, the state department is warning americans to leave or at least stay 50 miles away. 30 miles further than the japanese record. >> we're advising the american citizens listen to the state department. >> reporter: some fear that's not enough. >> 50 miles is not a safe distance to be in an emergency like that. >> reporter: the state department's organizing charter flights out of tokyo for what so far is a toll tear evacuation. president obama called the prime minister to promise continued

support. this morning, new numbers on casualties. 23 injured, missing or hospitalized at the plant. nearly 5200 dead. germany is urging their residents to leave now. tracie potts in washington. and part of this mass exodus is nbc's chris jansing who talked from tokyo last night. >> reporter: interesting to see what the japanese people think when they hear this news because america is the strongest ally. for them to say some of their key people need to leave the dependents of their embassy personal, recognition there is some danger here. >> bring in meteorologist christina loren, talking earlier about the amount of radiation is

very minor but it's going to miss us altogether thanks to the jet stream. can you explain that to me? >> we hope it's going to miss us altogether. the jet stream as weather is not a perfect science. this is what we're forecasting. the jet stream is really clear. i did leave this on this morning. satellite shows a clear picture where the jet is centered right now. you can see it's taking this river of air that carries our low pressure system, just brings our weathermakers onshore. it's carrying those into los angeles area, into the southern california area. so for us, this is going to be the picture for the next couple of days. i've looked at every model, and everything is taking the jet stream to our south. however, this is going to make for some rain later today and possibly a big time weathermaker on the way for tomorrow, and a system of low pressure drops into the area continuing to push this jet to the south. right now it looks like we are in a pretty good spot. we're dpg going to keep watchin

nonetheless. >> always nice to have a meteorologist on call. and weighing in on the disaster in japan. bill clinton says the earthquake, tsunami, forces no country can withstand. >> japan is a wonderful organized society, problems getting out of their financial collapse just when i think they are doing it they have an earthquake and plans well constructed and well protected it's a any in the world, found out there are some things that no structures can resist. >> mr. clinton was in town to address an internet convention. a northern california man, meanwhile, one of the world's leading earn quake engineers happened to be in tokyo on business when the quake hit. surveying the damage in sendai, one of the areas most devastated. we've been talking to him via skype. we checked in last night.

he tells us its evident to him japan's tsunami warning helped save lives but the sea walls correcting coastal cities were not as effective. his finding bittersweet for a scientist that used to play on those very beaches as a child. >> actually, when i was a kid i camped out on the beach and i clearly remember the day, you know. and i remember people living in the area. now i know just the whole thing is actually wiped out, and it's -- i try calls scientists and engineer, but it was tough to see that. >> miyamoto says many survived, the buildings were 100% destroyed. if you'd like to help the people in japan donate to the american red cross. go to redcross.org or find them on facebook or text red cross to

90999. each text donates $10 to the red cross' humanitarian efforts. meanwhile, a major milestone in the project to expand the caldecott tunnel gets started today. in the east coast, christie smith is live. >> reporter: good morning, scott. if you drive around the caldecott tunnel you may have noticed more lights more workers around the west side of the caldecott tunnel because tunneling is under way marking a major turning point in the four point project. a giant excavating machine has been spinning and cutting away frommy orinda side since way back in august. apparently caltrans dug out about 900 feet, the entire tunnel being nearly 3,400 feet. tunneling is apparently a tedious and difficult and risky project with issues like falling rock and natural gas inside,

which means extra safety precautions have been going on this whole time. anything that could create a spark in that tunnel is banned. there's a wall that's up on the oak left-hand side that partially blocks the view, but when it's done, the fourth core will add two lanes and help ease the reverse commute traffic. it's on pace to be completed in late 2013, which will be great news for the 160,000 drivers who use it every day. reporting live in oakland, christie smith today in the east bay. >> thank you much. this morning, highway 1 south of carmel is closed and will remain that way indefinitely. 40 feet of road just dropped into the ocean yesterday. the road between polo colorado road and bixby bridge. this is what the area looks like now. the chp says the road will be closed several days, if not longer. no one hurt, fortunately, in that slide. all right, a look ahead to the weekend, and your weather

and christina. good morning. >> good morning, scott. always thinking about the weekend. aren't you? looking pretty good right now. the weekend doesn't look good. rain in the forecast each and every day starting tomorrow lasting throughout your weekend, and it is st. patrick's day. so today when we do see just partly cloudy skies and a really cool start this morning, you're going to want to grab your best green jacket and you can probably leave the umbrella at home for today. we are expecting a little bit of rain later on tonight. possibly a few light scattered showers throughout the day today. but as you can see right here, the bay area is actually sandwiched between systems. this weathermaker on the way pushing into northern california right now. areas north of, looks like clear lake are getting a little activity this morning with some thunder. this is on the way for us tomorrow. as we've been talking about, the jet stream is focused over southern california. that's going to carry all the weathermakers right through the bay area, but it's also going to take that river of air through

southern california. so that's where the major flow will be as we head throughout the next couple of days. hopefully that will stay the case as, of course, we're watching that cloud. things are looking pretty good, though, for the rest of the week, and the weekend, we're going to talk about what you can expect. st. patrick's day, though, hey, leave that umbrella at home, grab your green and head out the door. what it looks like with mike inouye. >> i got the green out. showing no slowdown. that 63 in the middle of the screen is what christie smith is talking about, traffic flow on the caldecott tunnel. traffic is smooth now. the bay bridge toll plaza, a couple dozen cars things cleared up. looks like they opened up a the cache lanes through san francisco. and taillights, you see the blinking light over on to the right side of the screen indicating actually as you pass by the area, a couple lanes

block eed between fruitvale and fifth. and l street slowing down around 5:30 in the morning. heavier flow than yesterday. li livermore had problems yesterday. livermore valley and the interchange. back to you. thank you. continuing coverage in japan. living near ground zero and the cynthia tsunami. and bay area restaurants, devastation taking a toll on the economy there, and a heartwarming story of loyal canine friends in japan. you are looking at a live picture of the bay bridge. it is 4:41.

it is 4:44. a live look out at 880 just past the oracle arena. there we continue with coverage of extrapann. one bay area native has been living in northeast japan near ground zero with her husband and two young children. kikino suzuki talk about feeding her kids, being prepared and why

she will not leave her adopted homeland to come back to the bay area. >> reporter: people in sendai are grateful for what they have, but it isn't much. >> yeah, we have lights and we have water in our area. so we have no heating in terms of heating the water. so, for example, i have two kids, and i can't give them a bath or anything. so what i have to do is boil water using our electrical -- i don't know how you explain it. it's like a little electrical stove. >> reporter: food is being rationed. >> and i can only buy five items. so i had to kind of, you know, pick and choose very carefully to see what would be filling and also what would be, would last long enough. >> reporter: it's hard for the family. especially her 4-year-old. >> she's been suffering just mentally because she's very shocked with the situation, and i usually gather the kids in the

middle of the kids in an aftershock and it scares him. >> reporter: while life is hard and she misses her family and friends in san francisco, she's determined to stay put. >> i personally don't want to leave, because i don't want to leave my husband behind. i now have to think about my kids, but for my kids, i think being together as a family is most important, rather than, you know, being separated. >> reporter: an important message for all of us here in the bay area. >> just make sure that they're prepared. make sure they have an emergency backpack ready. >> reporter: marianne fabro. >> the japanese people are grateful for all the help. and senators calling on more information and inspections of california's nuclear plants. the two power plants in california sit on fault lines next to the ocean. state senators, dianne feinstein

and barbara boxer, of course, national senators, demanding that the nuclear regulatory commission reinspect the safety of reactors immediately. >> there was a 9.0 earthquake in a place where they never, ever thought. wouldn't you immediately say, as the lead person with all the american people behind you, guess what? i'm independent. i represent the american people, and i want to make sure. and i'm going to go back to every plant that's on -- and not wait two years. find out now. >> senator boxer says that she will not reapprove recertification of the plant in the new nrc cannot prove that the plants can withstand a strong quake and tsunami. more than 7 million people live in close proximity to those plants. some bay area restaurants feeling the effects of the disaster. items they import for the menu not available. >> we get a good amount of our fish from japan for the seafood

market menu. specials on the weekends, saturday night. and that will be impacted by the earthquake and tsunami. >> the owners of this restaurant from san francisco say one of their chefs works with a supplier in a tokyo fish market to get their fish on the weekend menu. that market is the world's largest. it should stay open, but supply has dwindled due to a lack of fishermen and transportation. in addition to the change on the menu, the disaster has hit home in other ways. >> we have three gentlemen standing behind me from japan. working on them a better understanding friends and family in their life. >> reporter: japanese beer will also be hard to come by. breweries in japan bottling water to stay in the country, of course, instead of exporting products. japanese carmakers appear to be recovering to some degree returning to production. the same cannot be said for the markets over the last couple of days. cnbc anchor nicole lapin joins

us from cnbc world headquarters. >> good morning. scott, wall street could be poised for a modest rebound after yesterday's sharp, sharp sell-off. the dow fell nearly 300 points during the trading news and fears over japan's nuclear crisis. japanese stocks fell for a third time in four days but pared losses as the nikkei is down 12% this week. europe is higher which could tricking across the pond. we do get economic data this morning that could dictate the way we trade cpi unemployment manufactures and fedex is reporting their earnings and therapy a big bellwether for the u.s. economy. honda is recalling about 18,020 cars replacing the fuel pump. if you have a damaged valve it could lead into a rollover accident. honda says no crashes have been blamed on the problem. honda will notify customers

coming up next month. let the madness begin. the ncaa tournament is big business, of course. here are some of the numbers courtesy of our sports business reporter darryn rashe. the price of 30-second ad, estimated at $1.3 million. the most for any sporting event except, of course, the super bowl. about 8.4 million hours wasted or enjoyed, depending on your perspective, by people spending time on their brackets and watching games at work. a conservative estimate is that 2.5 billion dollars will be bet legally and illegally on the march madness. i don't know if you have your bracket all set or if you want to talk about that. >> we have the bracket thing going, don't spend money on it. the whole morning team has got a bracket and our producer said my choices were somewhat amateur. so -- >> amateur? hold on. i have -- i do hit for the golf channel. comcast, one big family, helped

me with mine. mine apparently, i know nothing about it. syracuse, texas, kansas and florida. >> you know nothing about it either. yeah. all right. thank you much. it's probably going to be duke all the way. nichol lapin at cnbc headquar r headquarters. >> now for the five tv day forecast. >> a lot of rain. in store for a wet period that doesn't look like it's going to end anytime soon. rain chances each and every day over the weekend. we're going to see the rain next week. we're expecting the rain. a dip in the jet stream is the reason why. you can see where the jet stream is centralized right now over southern california. this is like a river of air that carries our storms through the area. you can see the system of low pressure. this is what's going to make its way to us by tomorrow, and you can see just how strong it is. very organized system here. clouds wrapping around a very strong system of low pressure that's capable of producing up

to two inches of rain in the north bay. that's if it drags a cold front through quickly. if this thing stalls out tomorrow, we could see major flooding. we already have the ground saturated from relentless rains in the past few days. it's something we're definitely going to watch and it will kick up a high surf advisory tomorrow starting at 11:00 a.m. lasting through 11:00 p.m. with all the beach erosion, not good information to hear. you can see right now we're kind of sandwiched between systems. most of the rainfall, the storm track has been taken into eureka and places north of clear lake. the base area, a nice st. patrick's day because of that, but the rain will be back tomorrow and it will be heavy at times. 42 in hayward. 38 in livermore. and happy st. patrick's day in dublin. approaching the 50s and 60s. 57 in concord, 60 degrees in livermore. your forecast coming up. back to you, scott. >> thank you, much. coming up, royal friend

stick together in japan. we will have their story. and as we get you following freeway traffic past the colosseum, construction ini' llll let you know if it's causing a problem and what else to watch for on this morning's commute.

all right. let's talk to mike. mike, good morning. >> good morning, scott. nice talking to you. all right. look at the map here. we have the area right around fremont and hayward, no major issues but i wanted to call up

the fact walking around on 6 80, just south coming out of this area, watch out. police there to help that person. remind them, not supposed to walks on the roadway. a live shot. oakland, 880, a few minutes ago, scott, we saw crews doing things on the northbound side. crew, leaving the area for the construction north of the colosseum and a live shot of the san mateo bridge showing no major shaking. winds pretty calm before you travel across the bays and a smooth drive up the 880 interchange. good stuff throughout the bay. >> thank you, mike. let's check in with brent working on stories coming up in the bay. >> absolutely. good morning, scott. monitoring the situation in japan including the efforts to cool the nuclear reactors an the path of that radiation plume that you've been talking about that is headed to california. the good news is, it does look as bad for anybody along the coast, but we'll update you there. a dangerous surf advisory in effect again for later today. big waves actually killed one of

the world's best big wave surfers at mavericks yesterday. also erosion concerns along the coast. those stories, and it may not be all that productive of a day today. we'll tell you how st. patrick's day and march mads in may combine to affect the office roll call. those stories and more coming up in a bit. >> thank you, much, brent. the japanese certainly known for their loyalty and fortitude apparently extending to animals as well including this dog who refused to leave his injured friend pup see him laying on the ground. after an hour rescuers finally calming down the dog enough to leave the site of the buddy see that the camera man and other people could take the other injured dog to the veterinarian clinic. the dog who stood guard is being cared for at a shelter. more news in a minute. experience the limited edition white collection from air wick.

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