nchts good morning, breaking news, the death toll soars from the latest tornado outbreak. with at least 24 killed in north carolina alone. the scene, utter devastation. weaver live with the latest on the deadly weather. today, sunday, april 17th, 2011.

good morning, everyone, welcome to "today" on a sunday, i'm lester holt. >> and i'm jenna wolf. we want to get to the deadly tornado outbreak. that began in the midwest. it has now ravaged north carolina and virginia, with dozens killed in seven states since thursday. >> we know it's spring and tornado season, but i can't recall seeing anything like this in quite a while. these are the images from north carolina we're getting. an eye witness called it a hell of a storm. as we said, 24 people have reportedly been killed in north carolina, another four in virginia. you look past wednesday, a total of 45 lives lost in seven states. in what they call the supercells that have been going through. we've got complete coverage of the storm's path and devastation. we'll begin with nbc's kristen dahlgren, live in raleigh, north

carolina for us. kristen, good morning. >> reporter: hey, good morning to you, lester. while we were standing here getting ready, we noticed that this house is actually smoking now. so we've got a call into the fire department. just take a look at this. this isn't the driveway. this was actually the garage of this home. this was where the door was. that shows you just how far this house moved and how powerful these storms were. they came fast, furious and without warning. >> tornado right in the ground in front of me. >> the violent rash of tornadoes and flash floods tearing off roofs, toppling trees and pushing the three-day death toll to over three dozen. >> very scary, very scary. i've never been in nothing like this. >> roy by saturday afternoon, north carolina was directly in the bull's eye. more than 60 twisters reported across the state. as the ferocious storm system that started in oklahoma on thursday barrelled east with unforgettable fury.

governor beverly purdue declared a state of emergency after fatalities in at least four of the state's counties. >> we're beginning to recover from what we believe is the most widespread tornadoes we've seen since the mid '80s. >> reporter: at least 24 dead in north carolina and virginia alone. and officials warn the toll could rise again as searchers probe through shattered homes and businesses. this is all that's left of a lowe's home improvement store in sanford, north carolina. the front of the massive building flattened in the middle of a busy saturday, incredibly, no one was injured, catastrophe prevented by employees who pushed customers to the back of the store. after seeing what they describe as a wall of churning debris bearing down. while in south carolina, this church collapsed with six people inside and all walked away. their church torn to pieces, but this morning, their faith stronger than ever.

now there are thousands who are without power this morning. the red cross has opened up shelters for those who have been displaced from their homes. lester, this is the worst spring storm to hit north carolina in more than two decades. >> kristen dahlgren for us, thanks, as we said the deadliest storm of the year so far. the weather channel's mike bettis is also in raleigh with the latest. mike, good morning. >> reporter: lester, good morning to you. when you take a look at the devastation, it's hard to believe that there were people in this neighborhood that actually survived. luckily for this home, this used to be a two-story home, it's collapsed and the family was not home at the time, as it was lifted from its foundation and thrown back into the woods in the back yard. there's debris strewn all over the front yard, some from this home, others from the home across the street or down through the neighborhood. i thought one thing that was very interesting about this home that's been pretty much completely destroyed. if you look in the driveway, there's a vehicle right there nearly untouched. the family happened to have been

home at the time and gotten in this vehicle, they would have been safe. they don't have a basement. so it's good to know they weren't home at the time. we know now at least 105 tornado reports across the carolinas yesterday, at least 24 people have lost their lives. damage like this indicative of ef-2, ef-3 damage. and the people that lived through this in this neighborhood tell us it's the worst tornado they've ever seen and they've gone through multiple tornadoes in the raleigh area in the past couple of years. >> mike bettis, thanks very much. let's take a closer look at the tornado outbreak. this all started thursday and has moved east and even north. let's go to janice huff. janice, dare i ask, could we see more? >> not today, lester. the severe weather outbreak has died down for today. what's left of the storm has been producing some heavy rain across northern new england. but yesterday and last night, the heavy rain extended from new york city all the way down the coastline, you can see where the line developed across north carolina, virginia, with the severe storms that produced the tornadoes.

that's all offshore now. but we still have residual warnings for flooding and for wind across parts of the northeast. from the new england all the way down to washington, d.c. we have flood warnings and high wind warnings. that includes areas around new york city, pittsburgh, syracuse. but the weather is dry now and the is unis out in new york city and parts of the northeast. however, there could be another severe weather outbreak coming up by wednesday. we'll be tracking that for you. jenna, back to you. >> janice, thanks. we're going to switch gears and head to politics as president obama gears up for the next budget battle with republicans. he gets an earful from two possible white house candidates. donald trump and sarah palin. david gregory is moderator of "meet the press" and joins us this morning. we haven't had a gop candidate to talk about yet and now we seem to have a couple of names floating out there. i guess the flashiest at this point would be donald trump. he was the headline speaker at a tea party event in boca, where he's talked recently that he's going to make an announcement

about whether he'll run or not in june. in the meantime, he's racking up a lot of support. a recent poll shows donald trump as the favorite among other republican potential candidates. so i guess the question would be, how electable is donald trump at this point? >> i don't think he's being viewed very seriously at this point. but he is making some headway in these polls as you point out. part of that is he's got name recognition. he's gotten money. and he's out there talking in a way that is attention-seeking and attention-grabbing. whether he's talking about the president's birth certificate, which is a settled issue, or talking about him being the worst president of the united states, so he's going to reach some of those extremists who don't like the president, and will be able to grab some of that attention. but i think that puts him if a separate category than someone like a mitt romney. who is also getting closer to getting in the race. who is being taken more seriously within the white house as a republican front-runner. >> i wanted to ask you about

mitt romney. but first let me throw sarah palin's name out there. she is also ache making the rounds, at a tea party rally in wisconsin on saturday. any word yet on what her potential presidential plans might be? >> you know, jenna, she's a couple of things. one, is that she seems to be fading a little bit, in terms of her popularity and her releva y relevancy. but she can also make a headline and she can get plenty of attention. she's got that grassroots support. but you see it even in that poll, that she's falling down a little bit. she still is not doing the kinds of things you would expect if she was positioning herself for an actual run. a lot of work that you're doing in the grassroots, and a lot of favors that you're doelg oling that you can call back in the midst of a campaign. those like a sarah palin, whose voice will be heard. whose impact will be felt. because she can garner that kind of attention. >> you look at number two and three on the poll we just put up, the graphic.

mitt romney and mike huckabee. how do they garner support and competing with other candidates, tea candidates. >> there's always two tracks, a front-runner track and a management track. a mitt romney, a tim pawlenty. and a huckabee and a host of others who are more pop liss. does he ultimately back somebody like haley barbour. but you have it was of those finalist who is will go into a crowded field and will get the closer scrutiny and romney is positioning himself to be able to draw this out and win kind of a through somewhat of a default as he goes deeper and deep near the primary process. >> david gregory, david, thanks for your insights. melissa francis is at the news desk with more of today's top stories for us, melissa, good morning. >> good morning, everyone. we begin in miami, where another air traffic controller fell asleep on the job.

nbc's michelle franzen has more. >> reporter: another air traffic controller asleep on the job. this time, during the midnight shift saturday at the miami air route traffic control center. and now the federal aviation administration is planning to make changes to air traffic controller's work schedules to combat fatigue. >> the fatigue that we're seeing in the control tower is the result of two few qualified controllers in the nation that can fill in. so they're working double shifts, four and five nights in a row. >> the report started coming in late last month. when two passenger planes landed on their own at washington's reagan national. after a controller fell asleep. then a string of more reports of sleeping controllers. in knoxville, lubbock, then outside seattle. in miami -- >> there were 12 controllers on duty at the time and the controller who fell asleep did not miss any calls from pilots. for today, michelle franzen, nbc news. >> overseas now to japan, where the tokyo power company has

released new pictures showing the enormous damage to the fukushima daiichi plant. company says it could now take six to nine months to bring the crisis under control. this, as secretary of state hillary clinton is visiting with japanese officials in a show of support. pope benedict celebrating palm sunday mass a day after his 84nd birthday. enormous crowds packed st. peter's square to commemorate jesus' entry into jerusalem and the start of the christian holy week. and finally, a new commercial puts a comedic spin on what the royal wedding might look like. t-mobile unveiled the spoof with actors portraying prince william and kate middleton dancing their way down the aisle. queen elizabeth, prince charles and camilla boogied down the aisle as well. the cardinal could fuse a few dance lessons. >> you have a pretty good shot of it looking exactly like that. >> how do they know they won't

do that? >> you're absolutely. janice is back with another check of the weather. >> it's a lot quieter today across most of the country in terms of the weather. after such a devastating last two to three days. with severe weather. however, there will be a small outbreak of thunderstorms across the northern and high plains and the central rockies today. around salt lake city and parts of wyoming into montana. there will be some thunderstorms on the north side of that. snowing across the northern rockies, rain in the pacific northwest. meanwhile, sunshine and 80--degree plus temperatures from los angeles to miami. now here's your local forecast. we've got a mild start to ur sunday morning and lots of low clouds inland and probably some mist for some of the low clouds, pretty thick in a few spots, you'll notice in terms of any real storm clouds, those are holding off for now. we have clouds spilling in across the coast that will eventually toss a chance of showers our way probably after sundown tonight for the north bay. temperatures in the 60s and 70s this afternoon.

warmest for areas san jose southward. for tomorrow, plan on a lot of clouds, much cooler for rain on monday and a few more showers for the middle part of the week. jenna, good morning to you. this is the church holly has attended since she was a little girl. today services will be dedicated to her and her family. it's been five days since she was abducted and still no sign of her. sunday may be considered a day of rest, but for the hundreds looking for her, there's no time to stop. back into the brush, for a fifth day, search parties will sweep for any trace of holly bobo. >> the community has pulled together amazingly. we're just hoping. believing for something good. >> tim is part of the army of volunteers looking for holly.

and he wants her family to know this -- >> we got your back. we're going to find her. that's what, we just want them to know that we are out here, we're for them, we're going to be out here until we fall. >> reporter: authorities say a man dressed in camouflage kidnapped holly outside her home as she was leaving for nursing school. several of holly's belongings have been recovered, including her lunch box. one volunteer says it was found near this creek. >> we've also gotten a tremendous amount of leads from all over the country. throughout the united states. >> reporter: there is no person of interest at this time. holly's brother, who called 911 after witnessing part of the abduction has been ruled out as a suspect. so has holly's boyfriend. >> we're continuing to ask people to call in, give us information on this case. because we want to bring holly back. >> reporter: with each day, the search for holly is expanding. john pisua a marine reserve from

cincinnati came to help a family he doesn't even know. >> this girl is somewhere, she doesn't have her family, she's all alone and we really want to try to bring her back to her family. >> reporter: and the service here starts in a little over an hour. and once they're done praying here, jenna, they'll put their boots back on and head back into those woods. >> you mentioned it's the fifth day of the search. what's the mindset right now of authorities about how this investigation is going? >> well, a, they're tired. they said they're tired and stressed because of all the hours that they're putting in. and you can say the same for the volunteers. but you ask anyone from around here, they say they're very hopeful. we did ask the question to the investigators -- whether this is still a rescue operation or a recovery operation. and they said very bluntly, this is is a rescue operation still. >> all right. tom tron, thank you very much. up next on "today," busted -- nicholas cage arrested

according to the police report late friday evening, a heavily intoxicated cage was in the street arguing with his wife in new orleans' french quarter when he grabbed her by the upper arm and then began striking vehicles. but it may have been cage's mouth that ultimately got him in trouble. according to the website tmz, police initially told the actor to just go home. the combative cage allegedly responded -- why don't you just

arrest me? and they did. >> cage at worst is looking at jail time for these charges. more likely, it's the kind of situation where the court, if they found him guilty, would give him some sort of probation. >> it wouldn't be the first time cage has had a public outburst. [ bleep ] [ bleep ] in december, this cell phone video surfaced of an enraged cage outside a romanian nightclub. the arrest comets as cage's once red-hot career seems to be cooling off. one of hollywood's highest-paid actors, earning $40 million in 2009, cage starred in mega-blockbusters like "con air" "the rock." nominated for two academy awards, he nabbed a best actor oscar in 1995 for his portrayal of a suicidal alcoholic in "leaving las vegas." >> i think you know i'm serious. >> but his latest film, "drive

angry" flopped. >> i'm going to get her back. >> grossing just $10 million at a time when he needs the money more than ever. last year, the actor revealed he owes the irs approximately $14 million in back taxes. just one of many problems for a star who is certainly seen brighter days. nicolas cage has had money troubles, legal troubles now and a lot of personal troubles and it's just all piling up in very bad for him. >> cage was released a few hours after his arrest. his first court appearance in the case is scheduled for may 31st. for "today," mara ski yafo campo, nbc, los angeles. the reality tv star known as dog, the bounty hunter, posted the bond to get cage released from jail. and still ahead, kate middleton joins us live in the studio -- really. yeah, there's a twist.

still to come, fighting a food addiction, will this woman seek help if? find out as her family stages an intervention. plus, boy wonder, we catch up with a snowboarding sensation. but first, these messages. well, hotels know they can't fill every room every day. like this one. and this one. and oops, my bad. so, they give expedia ginormous discounts with these: 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. you know that comes with a private island. really? no. it comes with a hat. you see, airline credit cards promise flights for 25,000 miles, but...

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good sunday morning to you, take a live look at hp pavilion in san jose, where it is a dry start to the morning, but we can expect some sprinkles, not too far off in the future. i'm chris sanchez, thanks for joining us on this sunday morning, rob is here with a look at the forecast. >> we've got our blanket this morning, the low clouds have swept in and a little bit of mist come over the sunol grade, looking out at the temperatures, we in the mid 50s for most of the bay area right no. we'll see a little mist with some of the low clouds, a bit of a sea breeze, pretty strong one at that. reachi into the fairfield this morning. you can see 56 in san jose, not much in the way of any storm clouds just yet.

but you can see there, we've got the system lurking offshore. that will start to bring some showers for areas around ukiah, northward late towards the afternoon. so today, highs running a little cooler than yesterday, but i sill think we'll hit 70s around gilroy, morgan hill, san jose. mid to upper 60s into the north bay. so today is actually trending a little bit drier. we'll get more clouds coming inc for the afternoon. but monday looks like the raindrops will try to linger even into the afternoon. so cooler day for tomorrow and then temperatures rebounding for midweek. one more chance of showers wednesday on into thursday morning. all right. thank you very much, rob. new this morning, an east bay man shot as he was leaving a restaurant. fighting for his life. in a hospital. it happened just before 11:00 last night outside the chili's restaurant at the bay fair mall in san leandro. police say the man had finished dinner, walking to his car when he got into an argument with someone in the parking lot. the person took out a gun and

shot the man several times. police found the man laying in the parking lot and rushed him to eden hospital where he underwent surgery. police are trying to track down witnesses in that case. overnight dozens of people camped out for a second day in a row at a park that they consider to a sacred burial site. several indian tribes are represented, against plans s b vallejo to develop a park. trail improvements and a small parking lot atopped what it believed to be an american indian burial site. native americans have filed a civil rights complaint with the state attorney general asking her to block construction. >> it is still being used, as an open-air church essentially and it is also a graveyard and you know, a cemetery. and it's, you know, this is, this is sacred ground. this is not a place that can be turned into a park. >> the plan was to start

construction friday. obviously that did not happen. and now recreation district is saying that it plans to begin excavation sometime this month. coming up at 7:00. won of the wurst animal neglect cases, the oakland police department has ever seen. how this cocker spannial was rescued and what he looks like today. coming up at 7:00 on today in

see where he is these days. but first we want to catch up with a special guest. joining us on the plaza, joining us with former --

>> good point, good point. >> he's on "burn notice." and you got a movie coming out. >> heck yeah, tonight, usa, 9:00 p.m. >> it's a prequel. >> i had to lose weight and dye my hair. it was a nightmare. >> other than that it was a piece of cake. >> it's fine. filmed it in columbia. we actually went where it was set. >> no expense spared on this film. >> yes, of course. >> if you aren't a fan or haven't been watching "burn notice" can you still get into this prequel? >> it's a fully-developed story. written by matt nicks who created the show. >> and directed by jeff donovan. mr. fancy pants. >> this character likes lots of women, lots of beer. >> we're going find out how you got there. >> it's sam axe's last mission as an actual soldier. it's a whole different side of the character we haven't seen

before. hopefully it will function as a regular action seat of your pants. >> i know you like doing leading man stuff. >> i used to, i got stuck being a character actor for a while. now i got stuck being a leading man. i like the character actor. >> how do you think i feel being with him? >> we want to let folks know "the fall of sam axe" tonight at 9:00 p.m. on usa network. >> bruce, thank you so much for being here. enjoy the rest of your day. >> thank you. >> we're going to get another check of the weather now. a nice round of applause, janice huff. >> i had to come over here whenever i see a name op my sign, i come over, my ladies from south carolina good morning. do you guys know the people from greenville over there? >> we met them. >> there's folks down here from greenville, south carolina as well. and we've got sabres, all sorts of people visiting "the today show" as we continue our rolling spring break season. let's check on the weather this morning. we have sunshine here in the

northeast finally after a very, very rainy day. yesterday. still a little bit of rain across parts of northern new england. still windy in parts of the east. but nice and sunny and dry. thank goodness over most of the southern tier of states. i want to show everybody in the back here. who has been visiting today. hi, everyone, thanks for coming down. that's what's going on around the nation. now here's your forecast. here's a look at clouds lurking offshore. weaver got a lot of low clouds inland pushed by a healthy sea breeze overnight. this is the weather system we'll watch later today that will toss some rain towards ukiah. north of santa rosa and tomorrow is when we expect to see the rain pushing through the rest of the bay area. upper 60s for san jose. and still 70s for places inland around the south bay. tomorrow, mostly cloudy, much cooler and breezy. with showers off and on. and showers wednesday into thursday. >> you can check your weather online on weather.com.

from hoarders to drug addicts and now overeaters. tv shows about family and friends trying to intervene have become popular reality tv. recently, we went to an intervention for a young woman who has been struggling with her weight most of her life. at nearly 300 pounds, 23-year-old allison hertz knows she has a problem. >> i feel like i can be a lot thinner and healthier. >> but what she doesn't know is just like a drug addict or a gambler, she, too, is an addict, a food addict. >> my fear is her health. my fear has always been her health. >> as a child, allison says she was always a little chunky. and after a traumatic experience when she was eight years old, fast food became her comfort. >> at mcdonald's, i would probably get like two cheeseburgers and a fry and chicken nuggets. pizza, i have two or three slices. chinese, i would eat, a combination of stuff and it's just, it got out of hand. >> if my daughter was a drug

addict, if my daughter was an alcoholic, if my daughter was anorexic or bulemic, there's help for her. to me, it's the same addiction. >> they sent me to weight loss camps, duke university. i did jenny craig, weight watchers. i had no will power after a while. i kind of gave up. i just feel like, i don't know, if i was thinner, like i'd have more friends. >> brad lamb is an addiction expert. the family believes he is their last hope. >> well thanks for everybody making time to be here today. i know that it's not every day you get to sit down and have an intervention. we're just going to have a conversation about what has happened up until this point. and talk about some solutions. >> she went for therapy, she went for nutritional counseling. she even went to a weight loss camp two or three times as a child. >> my wife and i as she says, the best we could.

we, through the years, trying to intervene with her problem. we didn't really want to let her know, because we didn't want to hurt her feelings. maybe knock her esteem down. >> we went to starbucks last night and she happened to see somebody that she knew in high school and she didn't want him, she didn't want him to see her. >> when i look at you, i think, you know, at 23, what this damnable disease has already done to you. >> what are your fears for your daughter? >> diabetes, heart disease and possibly something more drastic than that. >> death? >> exactly. not a long life. a very unhealthy life is a short life. >> the fact that she's 23 years old and she came to me and all she could really talk about was the lap band surgery and i just really wasn't really comfortable with that. >> i think if she really put her mind to it. but it's just tough for her to get going.

>> i know she wants to lose the weight. it's just we feel like we hit a road block. we've just tried everything. >> this is our hope for you. and this is the gift that we want to share with you and your family. is an invitation, to today, to pack your bag, and without negotiation or delay, to go to shades of hope treatment center in buffalo gap, texas, for 42 days. will you accept that? >> yeah. >> there's nobody that loves you more than i do. in this world and this is going to be, this is going to save your life. >> brad lamb now joins us, he's the creator and producer of the new reality show, "addicted to food." and author of "just ten pounds." brad, good morning, great to see you. it was gripping, it was not confrontational and the good

news is that allison agreed to go to the treatment center in texas. but after the cameras stopped rolling, things changed. >> what happened is what happen as lot. when a family gets together and has a conversation on change. and as the dad says, we don't want do bring it up because we don't want to embarrass her. but in this case after the cameras left and after i left, she pulled the plug, she didn't get on the plane. so the family sits back and says, oh, my god, we made it worse, now she said no, what do we do? and in fact, this is the beginning of change for this family is taking a long time to get here. they've grown larger together. you've seen that allison isn't the only one struggling with food. but she really is addicted to food. and so that wasn't the end of the story. >> you're talking about "they." as you're doing this, are you noting some family dynamics here that are setting off red flags in your mind? >> absolutely. when a family calls and wants to do an intervention, especially around food, i do a family map and i do an invitational intervention. so it's never a surprise. we get the people together and say, hey, we love you, we're going to sit down and talk about

change. but food addiction is real and it's killing millions of americans. >> let me ask about food addiction. because you don't have to have alcohol. you don't have to gamble. these sorts of things, you have to eat. we're all addicted to food. so when you talk about addicted to food, explain to me -- >> i would say all of us have it eat, i agree, lester. but most people are not addicted to food. and for so many people that don't struggle with food, they stand on the outside and they say, why don't you just move away from the buffet, stop eating, slim down, get yourself together. but in truth, a food addict has the cravings and an obsession, they're an emotional eater. they don't have the "off" button that so many people have. more than 12, 15 million americans are adidicted to food and it's killing us. it's not just about willpower, it's a loss of power altogether. >> you've been down this road in terms of food issues. >> i was an bulemic and an alcoholic and crystal meth user. i've stepped back from a lot of

stuff and wrote this book to help people change. most of the folks sitting at home will wonder, we've tried every diet. we've tried every scheme and we don't, we don't think there's hope for me. >> back to allison, though, you did ultimately, i understand, gets her to go to some kind of treatment. >> indeed, tomorrow morning i will meet allison here in manhattan at a wonderful intensive outpatient treatment center. it's called balance eating disorder treatment center. right here in manhattan and we will start a change plan for her. the whole family signed a recovery contract where we're in it together to win it and we're going to work together for six months to help her break this pattern of behavior. >> we're glad she's getting some help. we appreciate you coming on to share this story. >> my hope for folks at home is they can start change today, too. and i set up something for all the viewers of the "today show." you can go to justtenchallenge.com and get help from me to break food addiction in your own life today. >> brad lamb, good to have you here. up next, we'll meet the 7-year-old girl invited to the royal wedding and will the receipt kate middleton please stand up. that's after these messages.

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the prince and his princess bride. it's about a very lucky young girl whose dream is about to come true. we're joined from london with more. atia, good morning. >> good morning, jenna. it's not just the rich and famous who are invited to the royal wedding. will and kate haven't forgotten the little people, literally, including a disabled 7-year-old who letterself dreams of being a princess. the expected royal wedding guest list doesn't need many last names. it's got elton, becks and kanye. but the prince and his princess saw to it that not all the invitations were delivered to mansions and castles. there's the buckleberry bunch from kate's home town. not exactly the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker, but close. the shopkeepers over at peach's have known the middletons for years. >> we were obviously talking with kate when she was coming here, that if you do get married, don't forget us. send me an invite soky get my

suit dry-cleaned. >> and sure enough, the postman, who is also invited, delivered the good news. meet the suttons, kate and will haven't, but this family is royally captivated. george is named after the king, along with sister s tabitha, camilla. her mom applied for special tickets for the disabled online. >> i thought nothing of it and lo and behold, a couple of weeks later we got an email saying we had been selected to go into the special disabled enclose yur. so we were absolutely thrilled. >> it's hard to believe that all it takes is two paper tickets like these, to get into the wedding of the century. 7-year-old hermione already has her outfit picked out for the big day. >> it's my tiara. >> she dresses up as princesses, she plays with princess dolls all the time. tiaras and jewelry and whatever. she reckons that one day she's going to marry and african

prince. >> and until her lucky prince finds her, hermione with the rest of the world will enjoy this real-life fairy tale. >> thank you so much. we all know kate middleton is the princess bride. but did you know she also sells bicycles and spends her time teaching spin classes in massachusetts. >> we are talking about the kate middleton, who shares same name. good morning, good it see you. this is quite a ride you've been on. kate middleton as a potential member of the royal family and your phone starts ringing, right? >> the phone started ringing after a newspaper article came out about having the same name as prince william's fiancée. and my co-workers started playing around with it a little bit and said, she's not here yet, she's having tea with the queen. >> so reporters are beginning to call? >> yes. >> and you're getting facebook messages as well? >> i'm getting a lot of facebook messages. facebook deactivated my account,

which was kind of disappointing, because i am actually older than the kate middleton in england and i've been around a little longer and thought it was justified that i keep my account. >> what's it like now? you walk through grocery stores. you see you know, your name in magazines. you hear your name all over tv reports. do you like it? is it annoying? where do you stand with all of this? >> it's pretty funny. and people around me have always call immediate a princess, anyway. so i guess it's kind of fitting. >> this goes back even before the engagement. the first time you heard about this, i understand you were applying for a job? >> that's right. i was applying for a job and i got a call back and the person said, well, i didn't know you were dating prince william. and i said, well, what are you talking about? i didn't know i was dating prince william, either. and he said, i googled your name and found that you in fact were dating prince wall. >> notice he didn't say you got the job. are you dating someone named will? because that would really be interesting. >> no. i'm not.

>> are you looking for a prince? >> i'm looking for a prince, but not william. >> but not that william. >> kate middleton, it's great to have you on. are you going to be watching the wedding, by the way? >> coverage will start at 4:00 a.m. that can't inconvenience you in any way. >> i'll be dreaming of the wedding. >> she's honest. >> dvr it. >> kate middleton. the real kate middleton. >> exactly. >> thank you so much. up next, we're talking about the new shawn white, we catch up with the young snowboarder we first met dur pl ioicaphe at application, pint-sized, right after this. t-

now a today show update.

it was during last year's vancouver olympics that we first met 3-year-old wes mirason. a little pint-sized snowboarder. some called him the next shawn white. we decided to check up on him. as you soon see, he may be a little guy in size, but wherever he goes, he seems to be the biggest thing on the slopes. we first met wesley murison during the vancouver olympics, at the ripe age of three. a snowboarding phenom, shredding the slopes in his hometown of dubuque, iowa and leaving yours truly in the dust. you go, i'll meet you there! i'm good! as it turns out, "there" in is breckenridge, colorado, one of the premiere snowboard training grounds in the country. that's where we caught up with him this week, or at least tried to catch up. ♪ ♪ keep in mind, wes just turned five years old yesterday. and when we say he's taken off

since last we saw him, we're not just talking about his jumps. >> wesley has gotten a lot of help, a lot of sponsors. at the end of january, he qualified for nationals. which was pretty exciting. and he was the youngest competitor they've ever had. >> let's hear it for wesley. >> did you like nationals, buddy? >> yeah. what was your favored part. >> doing the half pipe. >> add to that, his own website and more than 2600 fans on facebook. not bad for a kid who just like last year, still has a little trouble pronouncing his "s"s. like you pin. >> you spin. >> and still gets the occasional piggy-back ride if he misses a jump. >> does anybody else want a turn? to think it all almost got derailed on the first day of the

ski season this past november. >> he went out on his second run. he went off a giant kicker and he broke his forearm in two places. it hurt, didn't it? what do you think? >> yeah, yeah. >> however, i believe i was more upset than he was. because as the paramedics were wheeling him into the e.r., he looked at me and said, mom, next time i'm going to land that jump. >> of course, super wesley healed in time for his colorado world win and has even caught the attention of pro snowboarders like steve fisher. a two-time x games gold medalist who happens to live here in breckenridge and joined wes for a couple of runs. >> wes being four years old and where he's at is just, i mean absolutely mind-blowing. provided he keeps with it and is focused and mostly just having fun, the sky's the limit for this guy. >> ask wes what's next for him, and he keeps it simple. >> i like fun, do competitions.

like half pipe and rails. >> who knows what the future will hold, but right now he loves snowboarding and so, we want to try to help him as much as i can to do what he likes to do. >> what else can you do with a kid who is just learning to fly? >> he may just be a few years old, but he looks the part, he sounds the part, he's totally laid back. i know most 5-year-olds don't have many issues, he's like yeah, i nailed the half pipe. no good deal. >> i think i broke two kids and an arm just watching that. >> his mom's going to have a long, long stretch of worrying about him if he's doing this well at that age. it was lot of fun hanging out with him. >> we're back after these

is time to check back with david gregory to find out what's coming up on meet pres. coming up, is the government getting serious about reducing america's debt? or is the president's prescription just the first shot at next year's race for the white house. plus the budget war, jobs, all topics for my leading guest, treasury secretary, timothy geithner. coming up this morning on "meet the press." that's going to do it for us on this sunday morning. jenna, thank you so much. tr francis, thank you so much. >> i didn't say anything. >> and lester, thanks for your time here today. >> thank you. >> you brot your a game and we appreciate it. >> "nbc nightly news," we'll see you then.

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