from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. >> good evening, we start tonight with something we don't often to have report in late april, heavy snow falling in the northeast. but then again, very little has been normal about the weather patterns this year. tonight a pretty powerful nor'easter is blasting cities and towns up andown the coast with heavy rain and wind. and and it's expected to bring up to a foot of snow in parts of the interior northeast. maryland up to western new york. that heavy wet snow blanketing trees, thanks to an early spring saw their leaves arrive several weeks early, could bring down limbs, and power outages across wide areas. all told, some 70 million people will be feeling the effects of this storm heading into the monday morning rush hour.

meteorologist kelly cass is tracking it all from weather channel headquarters in atlanta. kelly? >> good evening, lester. we do need the rain in the northeast, it will be a drought busting rain. it will cause some problems as you mentioned for travelers from boston to new york, down toward d.c. it's already had an impact on baseball games having to be postponed across the area as well. take a look at the flood watches in effect from the hudson valley over to boston as far south as delaware. this area here could see anywhere from 2 to 4 inches of precipitation. so while we do need the rain, this could come all too fast and furious and it could lead to runoff and unfortunately problems with road flooding. albany, new york, picking up anywhere from 2 to 3 inches. the cold sector of the system, it's going do be a heavy, wet know. here we are the middle of april, better than a foot in some of the higher elevations of pennsylvania. and unfortunately with the trees

leafing out at this point, there will be tree damage most likely as well as some power outages. know where your flashlights are. you're going to be impacted right through tuesday, not by just the rain and snow, but the winds are going to be increasing especially along the coast. the darker blue showing it could be up to 30, 40 miles an hour. check ahead if you're doing any traveling on monday. it is going to be a rough go for all of the airports in the new york area, already reporting delays right now. as a matter of fact, boston major delays for you as well. lester? >> rough start to the week. kelly cass, thank you. there are growing calls for members of congress to look beyond just the 12 secret service employees so far under investigation in the colombia prostitute scandal. kristin welker reports. >> reporter: secret service agent paula reed was one of four to flank george w. bush's limbo on his naug rinaugural day. she was the cream of the crop then.

now the 21-year veteran has become one of the agency's highest ranking african-americans. reed spearheaded the agency's initial response to the prostitution scandal in cartagena. rounding up agents allegedly involved and sounding the alarm to washington just hours before the president's arrival. today the secret service said she responded swiftly and took control of the situation, and initiated the investigation. >> she acted decisively, appropriately, and i can't help but wonder if there had been more women as part of that detail, if this ever would have ever happened. >> reporter: the scandal dominated this morning's talk shows, with senator joe lieberman echoing calls for a white house inquiry. >> the white house ought to be conducting its own internal investigation of white house personnel who were in cartagena. >> from the moment this scandal broke, until now, there is no attempt to cover anything over.

every possible lead is being examined. >> reporter: representative peter king who said today the secret service would likely oust more personnel this week, sent a letter to the agency's director, requesting answers to 50 questions, among them, were any members of the executive office of the president involved in the alleged incident? and how many incidents pertaining to the solicitation of prostitutes have been referred to the agency over the last five years? other lawmakers voiced concern this may not be the first time. >> obviously nobody believes that something with 11 or 12 people involved couldn't have happened before. >> reporter: senior administration officials and the secret service insist there is no evidence implicating white house staff. and advisers say the president continues to stand behind the agency's director. >> the president has confidence in director sullivan and the agency. >> he should keep his job? >> yes. >> okay. >> reporter: now, investigators say that 12th agent under

scrutiny was staying at the same hotel as president obama, but they also stress that that alleged incident happened about a week before the president arrived. lester? >> kristen welker at the white house tonight. for more on this, we turn to chief washington correspondent, john harwood. what's the likely of a political blowback on the president here and will more heads roll? >> i expect more heads will roll lester, as peter king suggested. but i don't expect much political blowback. frankly, i haven't seen a whole lot of partisanship in reaction to this. everything politicians do on capitol hill and in the white house is inherently political, but it seems to me the tone we've gotten so far is one of trying to get to the bottom of it and most people involved i think share a generally favorable attitude toward the performance of the secret service generally speaking and i think that's likely to continue. >> john harwood in our washington newsroom tonight, thank you. overseas, a milestone in the united states exit strategy from afghanistan. after 18 months of negotiations,

the two countries completed the final draft of an agreement that pledges continuing u.s. support for afghanistan after the last u.s. troops leave at the end of 2014. that support includes security, economic development and agriculture. the results of first-round voting in france's presidential election are in tonight. president nicolas sarkozy who voted with his wife, carla bruni, is headed for a runoff with a socialist candidate. polls suggest sarkozy may be vulnerable. if he loses he'd join a list of european leaders who have lost their jobs since europe's financial crisis. back in this country, tomorrow in north carolina, the latest chapter in the saga of john edwards, the former presidential candidate whose political and personal lives have unraveled in recent years. edwards goes on trial accused of misusing campaign funds to hide the affair he was having while running for president in 2008. we have more tonight from nbc's lisa meyers.

>> i'm not going to have anything to say. >> reporter: this trial has all the makings of a primetime drama. the presidential candidate, his cancer-stricken wife, the mistress, the once loyal aide and almost $1 million provided by two wealthy donors to hide the then-pregnant mistress and cover up the affair. prosecutors charge that the money amounted to illegal campaign contributions. because hiding edwards' relationship with rielle hunter was key to him remaining a viable presidential candidate. >> it's a great speech. >> can you read it? >> yes, i can read it. >> you can? >> yes. >> the problem for the government is there's no precedent for this type of indictment. >> reporter: the conservative "national review" just weighed in saying edwards is one of the most loathsome characters in american politics. a moralizing fraud but that this case is a stretch. the star witness for the

prosecution, andrew young, a former aide who wrote a tell-all book and says edwards solicited and orchestrated the money for the cover-up. edwards is vigorously challenging young's credibility, and in court documents argues young actually pocketed much of the money, himself. young was not available for comment. >> i think it will definitely be the trial of andrew young. i think he's the centerpiece witness for the prosecution. >> reporter: experts say the defense may have difficulty to get the defense to ignore on john edwards' cheating on his wife, elizabeth, and that the $1 million was provided simply to hide the affair from his wife. >> the average juror is not going to have much trouble believing that these expenditures were for the specific purpose of aiding john edwards in his aspirations to be president of the united states. >> reporter: if everything here was above board, why were some checks to young sent through a middleman, a decorator? one even hidden in a box of chocolates. the stakes for both sides here are enormous. the justice department has poured more than three years into this case.

and john ed wavrds, while legal experts say if he's convicted, he'll most certainly face time in prison. lisa meyers, nbc news, washington. from florida tonight, an update in the trayvon martin case, and the man accused of murdering him. nbc's carey sanders is in sanford, florida, with the latest. carey? >> reporter: good evening, lester. george zimmerman remains in jail here tonight. his lawyer says that the 28-year-old's family has found it more complicated to secure the $150,000 bond than they first anticipated. he still could get out of jail tonight, or his lawyer says as late as wednesday. when he gets out, it's expected but then he's going to have to come back here at the end of next month for his arraignment. according to his attorney, he's going to be back for his arraignment then go back into hiding. the process, they believe, for a trial could be more than a year away. while he is out, they anticipate

the sheriff will track his every moment with an ankle monitor that is hooked up to a gps, so they know where he is at every moment. trayvon martin's family said that they oppose the bond, but they respect the system. the system that gave a bond to george zimmerman who is not convicted of a crime. lester? >> carey, thanks. the supreme court is going into its final week of courtroom arguments for the term with one of the most important cases. it's the federal government's challenge to arizona's top controversial immigration law. we get that story tonight from nbc's justice correspondent pete williams. >> reporter: arizona says illegal immigration hits it hard with a third of the nation's illegal crossings coming through its 370 mile border and that even the president admits america's overall efforts come up short. >> for some, the system is broken. and everybody knows it. >> reporter: frustrated by what it considered lax federal enforcement, the state passed a tough new law two years ago.

most controversially, it required police making arrests or traffic stops to check the immigration status of anyone suspected of being here illegally and to detain them until their status was verified. the obama administration immediately went to court arguing arizona went too far and got the law blocked. civil liberty groups claim detentions would amount to racial profiling. >> that's likely to be based on whether someone is latino or asian-american, what their last name is, whether they speak english, what they look like, all illegitimate indicators of someone's immigration status. >> reporter: the lower courts agreed with the obama administration's claim that immigration is mainly a federal responsibility. the government says arizona's goal of enforcement at all costs upsets what should be national priorities. the federal government says it's concentrating on the most dangerous illegal immigrants, those who commit crimes and present a risk of terrorism and that arizona would flood the system with anyone who fails to have the right papers. but the state says it's doing

just what congress intended when federal immigration laws were passed, giving states some role. >> this arizona law is exactly what congress had in mind, especially when it comes to making sure that there's cooperation between state and local law enforcement in the federal immigration officials. >> reporter: arizona has already inspired alabama and half a dozen other states to pass tough laws of their own. now the justices will decide just how far the states can go. pete williams, nbc news, at the supreme court. we'll continue here on "nightly news" after this short break.

as the world celebrates earth day on this sunday, we thought we'd show you some breathtaking scenes of planet earth in space. they're from a nasa video that

pieces together and speeds up some of the most beautiful images recorded by the international space station. which brings us to a story that caught our attention in maine. we're calling it the bottom line. old ropes that were used to catch lobsters have become one man's recycled treasure. in the process, he and his company are helping to keep the ocean clean, creating jobs and making something unique. nbc's michelle franzen has our report. >> reporter: just off tennis harbor, maine, jedd miller and crew are hard at work bringing in lobster trap. >> about as small as you can get. >> reporter: in the past few years, he and other lobstermen have had to switch from using float rope to sink rope which the federal government said better protects local marine life, including whales. >> the whales dive down and then they roll into the rope. and that's how they get entangled. so, you know, nobody wants to entangle whales. >> reporter: good for the environment, but more expensive for lobstermen to replace. when a nonprofit came up with a buyback program to offset the

cost, the leftover heaps spun into another idea. local businessman david byrd started turning the recycle rope into door mats, baskets, even dog leashes. i see a tangled mess out here. what do you see? >> well, i see about a year and a half, maybe two years worth of work for 15 to 20 people. >> reporter: local residents like christine. >> this is going to go in. >> reporter: a stay-at-home mom who is able to bring in an extra income at a time when jobs are scarce. >> there are so many people that have the ability to work but maybe not necessarily finding it. so this helps. >> reporter: when byrd started the project in 2008, the recession was just hitting and he was faced with having to lay off employees. instead, he created jobs. >> it's handmade, made in maine, not made in china. >> reporter: over the last four years, the state has collected more than 2 million pounds of this float rope. and what you see here is just a fraction of what byrd has

collected. what he doesn't know, he says, is how much is still out there. >> we've taken in probably 10,000 to 15,000 pounds in the last few months. the lobstermen now have a place to bring it, where before they'd take it to the landfill. it's just been a win/win. >> reporter: a win/win where innovation and concerns for the environment intertwine. michelle franzen, nbc news, walderboro, maine. when we come back, secrets from the kitchen as they try to create better airline food.

an update tonight in the case of etan patz, the 6-year-old boy who disappeared in new york city in 1979. after days of searching the basement of a home in the boy's neighborhood, a law enforcement source says that search has ended for today with nothing conclusive found. a final search will be conducted tomorrow. it's fair to say that airline food doesn't get much respect these days. if there's food offered at all. so there's plenty of incentive for airlines to be creative in their menus to keep their customers coming back for more.

>> reporter: for most passengers, in-flight dining is peanuts or pretzels. when it's a real meal, it gets a bad rap. >> not five-star, not healthy. >> reporter: what's the toughest thing about being an airline chef? >> telling people you're an airline staff. >> reporter: jokes aside, united airlines' executive chef jerry mclaughlin is a critical player in the multibillion dollar competition for customers, especially those in first class. >> those are the customers that pay the higher tickets and the expectations when we look at competition are higher. >> reporter: at united's test kitchen outside of chicago, mclaughlin designs high-end designing options for the world's largest air carrier. >> a pork chop with a bread pudding, a beautiful amazon cod. this is done with sweet plantains. >> reporter: but several factors are working against him. >> when you're in the air, you lose about 20% of your taste

buds. >> reporter: at 30,000 feet a dry pressurized cabin dulls the taste buds. research shows airplane noise can make meals less enjoyable. to compensate for all that, mclaughlin cooks with some kick. >> you need to spice up the product a little bit. not necessarily salt and pepper but to bring out more intense flavors. >> reporter: those flavors must survive a process of partial cooking and then cooling. once onboard flight attendants will hopefully reheat to perfection. taste is one challenge. cost is quite another. unlike five-star restaurants that can lavishly spend on ingredients, airlines are operating with razor thin margins. >> the way to counteract that is to get higher paying passengers in the cabin. you do that by feeding them better. >> reporter: back at the test kitchen, a taste of first class. >> we look forward to seeing you on united. >> reporter: can you get me in first class? that's right. in the front cabin, it's bon apetit. otherwise, enjoy the peanuts.

nbc news, chicago. up next, we'll go to a school where they learn to be grandparents.

seems like every day there's a new study about the best ways to raise children and perspective grandparents can freshen up their skills when it comes to caring for newborns. we get the story from nbc's kevin tibbles. >> you want to wake up? come on, sweetie pie. >> reporter: baby sophia is barely a week old and, boy, is ann loving her new role as a first time grandma. >> i just love to hold her. >> reporter: it's been more than 30 years since ann's kids were born and weeks before baby sophia arrived when ann's son, mark, and his wife, denise, were attending prenatal classes at seattle's swedish medical center, ann decided she might be in need of a refresher so she went to grandparent school. >> right up here. grandparent tips. >> we know that some of the things we did 30 years ago, we can do a little bit better now. >> reporter: the expectant grandparents are taught the new way to swaddle a baby. >> this is going to come up over

the shoulder. >> reporter: and everything from nutrition to nap time. >> when i raised children, the only thing we had was a dr. spock book. >> reporter: things have definitely changed. no bumpers in the crib, no toys or mobiles either. and always lay baby on its back instead of the age-old practice of on its stomach. for mark and denise and sophia, presumably, grandma's already getting an "a." >> it's just way for her to kind of participate in the pregnancy. >> she's been waiting for grandkids for a long time. >> reporter: and now time to put her grandparent graduate degree to good use. >> and then bring this piece up. from a dummy we practiced with in a class, and then to have this real live living little beauty. >> reporter: while grandma ann learns the newfangled ways, denise's father eric chang now grandpa eric introduces the customs of his native taiwan and

cooks for the new mom. oh, and he also gets to serenade his new granddaughter. ♪ anything to help the exhausted, overwhelmed and sleep deprived new parents. >> it's really nice to see them both have time with the baby, and enjoy getting to know her. >> you're not going to be a doting grandmother, are you? >> oh, me? >> reporter: of course, she is. >> there we go. >> reporter: now she's also up to date on how to do it. kevin tibbles, nbc news, seattle. that's "nbc nightly news" for this sunday. hope you'll stay tuned for "dateline." brian williams will be here tomorrow. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. for all of us here at nbc news, good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com