including the use of nuclear weapons possibly within days. just hours earlier, the secretary of defense criticized what he called north korea's dangerous rhetoric. >> some of the actions they have taken over the last few weeks present a real and clear danger. we take those threats seriously. we have to take those threats seriously. >> reporter: but can north korea make good on its threats? u.s. officials tell nbc news they believe the north can put a nuclear weapon on a missile, that they have missiles, deliverable nukes, but not ones that could go more than 1,000 miles and reach the united states or south asia. but south korea and u.s. forces there would be in range. and today the north severed a crucial tie with the south, turning away trucks and workers from the kaesong industrial park. a rare joint effort inside north korea that until now had been allowed to continue. in seoul where people tried to

shrug off the crisis, there are deep concerns. polls say two-thirds of south koreans want this country to have nuclear weapons. but that would spark an immediate crisis with the north and the risk of nuclear proliferation across asia. secretary of state kerry coming here next week is already sending a message. >> the last thing the world needs is more nuclear nations. >> reporter: but south koreans worry about the new young leader in the north. north korea can't realize its threat to attack the mainland united states with a nuclear weapon, but does have more capacity than u.s. officials like to admit. brian? >> richard engel starting us off again. seoul, south korea. richard, thanks. let's go to our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell in our d.c. newsroom. andrea, not to get flip about this, but the reason people on the west coast of the u.s. aren't heading to shelters and

stocking up on water and canned goods is our calculated analysis that they don't have the delivery system beyond, what, 1,000 miles. >> reporter: exactly. there is no sign of mobilization. that doesn't say though that they can't use short-range nuclear weapons which would be devastating to our allies and would inevitably get us into a war and would expose u.s. troops. also what's worrying is they did take that step of shutting down that joint economic zone. that's $2 billion of shared trade across the border. very important hard currency for the north. much more important to them than to the south. so far our efforts through china have not worked out. diplomacy has not worked out. the real worry is proliferation. eventually. as one south korean leader, a ruling party leader said and this gets exactly to what richard was talking about. he said when the thug in your neighborhood gets a brand new machine gun we can't defend our home with a stone. if they want nuclear weapons, the japanese do, we have a

serious arms race. >> you're right. this has to be watched for any conflict that might draw in the u.s. andrea mitchell in our d.c. newsroom tonight. andrea, thanks. now to the story that's rocked the sports world and beyond in the last 24 hours. rutgers university men's basketball coach mike rice fired today after video surfaced showing him abusing his players. now the question becomes does the punishment stop at him? nbc's anne thompson with us tonight from the rutgers campus in new jersey. anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. this story moved with lightning speed. the condemnation of the coach's behavior nearly universal from the new jersey governor on down. tonight the university's leadership finds itself under fire as well. this is the tale of the tape. clips from rutgers mens basketball practices showing

head coach mike rice hurling basketballs and homophobic slurs at his players. shoving them and kicking them. events that led to his dismissal today. wnbc's bruce beck spoke to rice at his home. >> mike rice was sad. he was remorseful. i think the magnitude of the situation finally hit him. there were tears in his eyes and also his wife's eyes. >> reporter: the state university of new jersey, known as the scarlet knights, now scarlet-faced. >> it's shocking honestly. especially because there is zero tolerance for bullying. seeing it from someone that should be a role model as a coach. >> reporter: rice was defended by one of his former players. >> i never felt abused. i never felt threatened. i never felt in harm's way. >> that's unforgiveable. >> reporter: fans lit up the phone lines at sports talk radio stations across the country. former nfl quarterback cordell stewart hosts the show in atlanta. >> disciplinary action isn't a problem. don't put your hands on my kid. >> reporter: while the abusive behavior is news to rutgers and the nation, it turns out some university officials knew about it for months, including rutgers

athletic director tim pernetti. >> we were made aware of things last summer we looked into. >> reporter: yesterday he told news 12 new jersey it wasn't until november he saw a tape and hired an independent investigator. with the approval of university president robert barchi he was suspended in december, fined $50,000 and ordered anger management counseling but never fully explained why. >> we are taking this first offense as an opportunity to re-educate mike rice on the rutgers standard. >> reporter: now with the world watching, today the university president and athletic director acted. too little too late says sports attorney and rutgers alumni xavier pope. >> now the university is called into question as far as institutional control. you are inviting the ncaa to potentially investigate your entire school. >> reporter: we reached out to the ncaa today. they declined to comment on the situation. as for mike rice tonight he issued a statement apologizing for his actions saying in part

that he did not treat these outstanding young men with the respect they deserve. brian? >> anne thompson at rutgers tonight. anne, thanks. carnival cruise lines can't win for losing of late. they are dealing with another p.r. disaster tonight. the carnival triumph, the same ship that suffered the on board melt down, the power loss, the sewage while adrift at sea today broke away from its moorings while docked for repairs in alabama. in the process it banged into the super structure damaging the bow and stern. there are reports winds reached 70 miles per hour prior to the accident. one person still unaccounted for after a nearby guard shack blew into the water. a genuine towering inferno engulfed the tallest building in chechnya today. 40 stories was still under construction. it was the centerpiece of a gleaming luxury apartment and hotel complex in grozny city, opened in 2011. the cluster of high rises had stood as a proud symbol of recovery since the wars of the 1990s. cable news viewers around the

globe watched this building burn. hundreds of firefighters fought it for hours. not known if there were sprinklers or fire suppression. dozens of people were evacuated. remarkably, no deaths or injuries. gun laws front and center for president obama once again today as momentum seems to be fading post-newtown. in colorado the president visited a police academy, congratulated lawmakers there for tightening gun rules there in the wake of the aurora movie theater shooting last year. that left 12 dead. in pushing for background checks the president told the audience there doesn't have to be a conflict between the safety of citizens and second amendment rights in this country. there is politics in the news tonight. you may not be up on the special election under way for a congressional seat in south carolina. the two candidates have been decided. former governor mark sanford, the republican famous for running out on his wife for the woman who is now his fiancee. she showed up at his primary victory last night. he is running against stephen colbert's sister.

elizabeth colbert bush who prefers the less fancy, less french-infused family name of colbert. it's a conservative district. she's fighting an uphill fight. the special election is may 7. this very network, nbc is in the news tonight after the official word today of a changing of the guard at "the tonight show." jay leno will pass the baton to jimmy fallon next spring as the show returns home to new york after 40 years on the west coast. our report from kristen dahlgren in beautiful downtown burbank. >> reporter: after weeks of speculation with even the comedians dancing around the issue. ♪ tonight ♪ who cares who hosts tonight >> reporter: today nbc executives announced "tonight" goes to jimmy fallon. the popular host of "late night" who started his career on "saturday night live." fallon joked he's excited to

host a show that starts today instead of tomorrow. leno offered up congratulations adding, if you need me, i'll be at the garage -- a reference to his love of classic cars. leno's exit hasn't been without some jabs at nbc, his home for 22 years. >> nbc and i have reached a peaceful amicable agreement that is both beneficial to both sides -- april fool! >> reporter: it's not the first time leno has left "the tonight show." >> the way "the tonight show" works is they always want you to leave it while it's still on top. i get that. >> reporter: in 2009 jay was replaced by "late night" host conan o'brien but was back on "tonight" within months. >> i think there is a belief in leno's head that it's more appropriate this time and he's going to get the proper send-off. >> reporter: this time there is one more big change. the storied franchise will no longer shoot here in burbank where johnny carson moved the show back in 1972. "tonight" is headed east.

new york's mayor michael bloomberg gushed while burbank's mayor threatened a hunger strike. >> i just wanted to express the sentiment of the community. we would do anything we could to keep them. >> reporter: today nbc executives praised leno, but said it's jimmy fallon's time. >> we're still friends, right? >> yeah. of course we're still friends. >> reporter: ending a few weeks of drama with what they hope will be lots of laughs well into the future. kristen dahlgren, nbc news, burbank. still ahead as our broadcast continues tonight from new york, a new warning from doctors about male pattern baldness and the risk of developing heart disease. and later tonight, hard to imagine life without it. the two-pound brick in a bag that changed the world four decades ago tonight.

we mentioned this earlier. our health news tonight is about some puzzling new research about

male pattern baldness which affects upwards of 40% of the men in this country. now comes word that of all things it might be linked to an increased risk of heart disease. we get details on this tonight from our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman. >> look at how large his bald spot is. >> reporter: remedies, lotions and lasers promoting hair growth are a multi billion dollar business. >> you're bald! >> reporter: our hair is a big part of self-esteem. aside from image hair loss in men may be linked to heart health. >> there may be a common underlying mechanism such as inflammation, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol. these may be the things that lead to both heart disease and baldness. >> reporter: a new report in the british medical journal "open" analyzed results from previous studies of male baldness and heart disease. almost 37,000 men participated. after accounting for risk

factors like smoking, age, and obesity, the report concludes there is likely an association between hair loss and heart disease. it's this type of male baldness that is getting the attention. the hair loss starts on the crown of the head and slowly spreads. the men in this category showed the highest risk of heart disease. and the bigger that bald spot, the higher the risk. >> i wanted to go over your labs with you. >> terrific. >> reporter: jerry was barely out of his teens when he started losing his hair. >> i thought, oh, my god, this is the end of the world. >> reporter: he's now 59 and also has heart disease. >> had i known then what i know now i probably would have been more vigilant. >> reporter: while researchers aren't sure exactly why there seems to be a connection, they say it could be an important starting point for conversations about reducing other risk factors. an important clue that might help doctors detect problems before cardiac complications. dr. nancy snyderman, nbc news, new york.

we are back in a moment with something painfully close to perfection that had folks across the country on the edge of their seats last night.

i've seen the promised land. >> that speech, dr. king's last speech was 45 years ago tonight. dr. king was dead the next day. about his assassin james earl ray, on our website tonight is a link to new pictures and recordings, primitive black and white videotape technology at the time chronicling the reading of his rights on an airplane, his arrival at jail, even a strip search, a medical exam. it's now been restored and the new clearer version is available for screening. a couple of farewells in the news tonight. jane henson has died. she was jim henson's wife and collaborator. as a puppeteer and designer of so many of the muppets, they were really the muppets parents, in addition to raising five of their own.

the muppets were born in this building right next to jimmy fallon's studio, in fact. if you visit us at 30 rock, you will see the pipes in an old preserved steam closet that jim henson made into characters which later became the muppets. he died in 1990 at 53. jane henson was 78. in the world of sports the loss this week of two former big name nfl coaches. chuck fairbanks of the patriots and former texas a & m star jack pardee who coached the bears, redskins and oilers. fairbanks was 79. jack pardee was 76. a heart breaker in baseball last night. yu darvish of the rangers was throwing a perfect game until the last batter. 26 up, 26 down. two outs in the ninth. marlin gonzales of the astros, a .232 hitter placed a clean -- here it comes -- single up the middle and the perfect game was suddenly not. film critic roger ebert fighting cancer recurrence. he said he's got to back away

from some of his film reviewing duties while he says he is to go about radiation treatment. further proof today in berlin that they are still out there buried from the war 65 years an unexploded bomb from world war ii discovered in central berlin. the area was shut down. a brave person unscrewed the mechanical fuse, defused the device. it was dug up, carted away. a police spokesman said they find them all the time. it will take many years to find them all. just how we vowed not to show you kevin ware's injury from the louisville/duke game on sunday, he said he hasn't seen the video of his own broken leg just so he can concentrate on getting better. >> with me having to rehab to get this leg back to where i need it to be, i can't see that. because it will only mess with my mind mentally. so i'm going to stay as far as away from that video as possible. >> we understand that. kevin ware speaking for the

first time today since the accident. when we come back here tonight, we'll remember a time 40 years ago when you had to do all your talking on the phone before you left the house.

tonight as we speak there are an estimated 5 billion cell phones in the world. 40 years ago tonight there was only one. looking back, how did we ever stay in touch? how did we ever manage? somehow we did while managing to win world war ii and go to the moon in our spare time. but the cell phone and the smartphone are here and it's time to reflect back on their birth. our report on today's anniversary from nbc's kevin tibbles. >> reporter: how did we ever survive without them? but did you know the first cell phone call ever made was on this new york street 40 years ago today with one of these? >> wow. it's been a long time since i have seen one of these. >> i wouldn't even know where to talk. >> reporter: the man who made that call, 84-year-old inventor martin cooper. >> think about it, kevin. the whole idea of a phone call changed. used to be that when you made a

phone call you were calling a place. now you're calling a person. >> reporter: sure there were spoofs from maxwell smart's shoe phone. >> mission accomplished. >> reporter: to captain kirk's communicator. >> scotty. >> reporter: but the motorola original, a two-pound chunk of hardware that held a 20-minute charge. early models cost $4,000. society had no idea a cultural sonic boom was about to hit. >> without the original brick phone we would not have the wireless internet, wifi and all the great things we enjoy today. >> reporter: where did the idea come from? the walkie-talkie, soldiers communicating on the battlefield. it gave birth to the first cell phone, people speaking to one another from anywhere. remember when these were sexy? >> reporter: greed is good. michael douglas had one in "wall street." >> this is your wake up call, pal. >> reporter: by 1988 even nbc producers were using the brick model. so what's coming next?

>> if you think about it, holding this thing up to your ear, does that make a great deal of sense? it's awkward. the phone ought to be either over your ear or embedded under your skin. >> reporter: even if the cell phone gets microscopic, chances are we'll answer it in spite of its inventors best intentions. >> we always put an on/off button on the phone. the phone is supposed to be your slave. you are not supposed to be the slave of your phone. >> reporter: if only. kevin tibbles, nbc news, schaumburg, illinois. >> you could hammer nails with those old motorolas. that's our broadcast on this wednesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

touches down as president obama begins another fundraising swing through the bay area. we are live with his arrival and the vocal protesters that are greeting him. and then a disturbing video involving a young child found on a gang member's cell phone, why police say it could be part of an escalating gang war. nbc bay area news starts now. good evening. thanks for joining us. i'm janelle wang in for jessica aguirre. >> and i'm raj mathai. as we speak president obama's motorcade is winding through the streets of san francisco. mr. obama is here again for the fifth time in less than a year he is in town for a quick visit worth millions of dollars. air force one landed about 30 minutes ago. you see the president on his way to two big dollar fundraisers. you will notice here he was not greeted by anyone as he came off

the plane right into that suv, the presidential suv. we begin our team coverage tonight. terry mcsweeney is in san francisco where protesters are prepared to greet mr. obama. we begin with cheryl hurd on the tarmac. >> reporter: as you can see air force one is behind me. they are cleaning it up and fuelling it up for the president when he leaves tomorrow. right now as you said the president is on his way to pacific heights for a cocktail party. after that he will be attending a dinner at the mansion. he is here, of course, to raise money, but he is focusing on the 2014 election. earlier today i talked with a professor from usf, political science professor james taylor about the president's visit. >> this is all about the mid term elections trying to minimize the impacts on the majorities that he has in the senate and also to try to push

back on the republicans domination or majority in the house of representatives. >> reporter: right now you are looking at pictures of mr. obama at a prior event. according to political watchers the commander in chief is trying to do everything he can to win back 17 house seats to reclaim a democratic majority in the house and senate. that will put democrat nancy pelosi back as the speaker of the house. the president wants to make sure california remains a blue state. >> the state of california is the state of jerry brown and the state of ronald reagan and pete wilson, as well. we don't know what the mood of the people will be until 2014. >> reporter: tomorrow mr. obama will be in atherton for that big $32,000 a plate brunch. after that he will spend time with folks who a