good morning. breaking news. missing jetliner. 239 people feared dead after a beijing-bound plane disappears from radar. family members gather in disbelief and wait anxiously for any word of their loved ones. this morning, as the desperate search continues to find the plane, so many questions over what could have possibly gone wrong and where it went down. we're live with the latest. let's the game begin, again. president putin opens the winter paralympics in sochi, but this time, the world's athletes gather under the shadow of a growing crisis in ukraine. and "operation surprise." an air force dad making several unforgettable entrances as he sees his daughters for the first time in six months.

>> surprise. >> and each of their reactions is more priceless than the last today, saturday, march 8th, 2014. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with lester holt and erica hill, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> welcome to "today" on a saturday morning. i'm lester holt. >> and i'm erica hill alongside jenna wolfe and dylan dreyer. we do want to get you right to today's top story, and that is the malaysia airliner that we first learned went missing overnight. we first heard last night that it had gone missing. as the hours go on, the airline says it still has not found any evidence of wreckage. >> let's bring you the latest as we know it. there is a massive effort under way right now to find the plane. search-and-rescue crews were deployed as soon as authorities realized the plane was missing. >> and air traffic control lost

contact with that plane about two hours into what was supposed to be a six-hour flight. >> and there were 239 people on board the plane, including 3 americans, one of them an infant. >> yunis yuan is in beijing this morning where the plane was supposed to land. yunis, what can you tell us? >> reporter: erica, it's been a very emotional day. family and friends have been gathered in the hotel behind me waiting for any word on the fate of their loved ones. many of them this morning had gone to the airport hoping to pick up their relatives, and they were very surprised to learn that the plane never arrived. there was one woman who broke down in tears uncontrollably, very worried about what happened to her sister. a driver said that he was there to pick up his boss's wife and that he had waited for five hours to find out that she had never arrived. now, those people have been directed by the security to come to this hotel, which is near the airport, and wait for more

information. hundreds of people now have gathered here and are growing increasingly frustrated by what they see as a lack of information. many of them have been upset, saying that the airline has poorly handled this. and ten hours later, after they've been waiting here for quite some time, waiting behind closed doors, many of them are fearing the worst. erica? >> all right, eunice yoon, we will continue to check in with you, eunice. thank you. >> as you would expect, crews were deployed quickly to try to find the boeing 777 as malaysian investigators called in as many as they could to aid the search efforts. we now know that the u.s. -- >> we are working with authorities who have activated the search-and-rescue team to locate the aircraft and our thoughts and prayers are with all affected passengers and crew and their family members. >> and we now know that the u.s. navy has diverted a ship that was stationed in international waters off the south china sea

to aid in the search efforts off the coast of vietnam. tom costello covers aviation for us. tom, what else do we know about all this? >> hi, lester, good morning. we know the pilot was very experienced, 53 years old with 18,000 hours of flying, and we know that the 777 is a very reliable plane, really a workhorse for airlines worldwide that have long-haul flights. the plane that is missing is a777-200 series. that's an earlier model of the 777, but the plane is only about 11 1/2 years old, and this particular plane had rolls royce engines. here's the timeline once again. flight 370 left kuala lumpur at 12:40 a.m., the red-eye to beijing. just two hours into the flight, air traffic controllers lost contact, we believe just short of vietnamese air space or in vietnamese air space. it was supposed to arrive in beijing at 6:30 a.m. it never did. the plane is presumed to have crashed into the ocean at this point. this would be only the second crash involving a 777. last july, an asiana flight

crash landed at san francisco international airport. officials believe pilot error was to blame in that crash. three people, you may recall, died. and this is eerily similar to an air france flight from brazil to paris that crashed into the atlantic ocean in 2009, killing all 228 on board. investigators believe the plane's speed sensors, the pido tubes, iced over when the plane flew into a high-altitude storm. the computers then shut down, the pilots became confused and disoriented, the plane stalled, and ultimately, crashed into the ocean. now, that was an airbus a-330, not a boeing 777, very different planes, different systems, and that investigation was hampered by the fact the plane was on the bottom of the ocean. it took the french government two years to find that plane and lift it out of the ocean. so, the challenge this morning is simply to find this plane, the flight data and cockpit voice recorders are equipped with pingers that emit those signals that can be detected under water in good conditions from several hundred miles away,

but if they're inside the wreckage at the bottom of an underwater trench, that could really hinder the search for these boxes and the plane, lester. >> all right, tom costello this morning. tom, thanks. greg fife is a former investigator with the national transportation safety board. greg, good morning. thanks for coming on with us. >> good morning, lester. >> i've covered a lot of plane crashes, and virtually all of them, except for that air france one, which i also covered, occurred during takeoff and landing. when you hear about a plane disappearing at cruise altitude, what are the likely possibilities? >> well, lester, that's probably the hardest thing for investigators, only because the workload for the crew is very minimal once the airplane gets to cruise. so, for the airplane to have disappeared, that is, for all the communication to instantaneously cease, you have to believe that there was something very catastrophic that either had the crew's full attention and required them to try and keep the airplane under control that they couldn't get a may day call off, or there was

something structurally wrong with the aircraft, and they weren't able to maintain control and do all the things they needed to do to keep control of the airplane. >> when a plane is over land, it's being handed off from air traffic control to air traffic controller. they're watching it on radar. when it's over the ocean, my understanding is the pilots have to report their position. how long a period before alarm bells would start going off and the realization this plane is off the grid? >> well, there are flight tracks, especially in that part of the world, where you lose radar coverage. so, there are mandatory reporting points. so, the crew will check in with air traffic control, they'll give them an altitude, they'll give them a time, and then they'll give them their next estimated time at the next reporting point. if this doesn't happen, controllers will start making radio calls in the blind. they'll typically wait 30 minutes to 60 minutes and then start doing some other checking. they'll call the airlines, they'll talk to the airline to see if they've established

communication with their discrete frequency that they use for company business. >> and lastly, there is an emergency transmitter locator on the aircraft. how long will that continue to send off a signal? >> well, we've got to be careful with that, because the emergency locator transmitter on the airplane -- if the airplane had crashed on land and survived the impact, then there is a probability that the actual elt would still be working. but when it goes into the water, it's a whole different story. and then all we have to do is use floats and debris floating on the surface to find the airplane. the only thing that has a pinger is the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder, but that's under water. you won't get that signal, above water, over the top of the water using an airplane to try and find a signal. >> all right, greg feith, thanks again for your expertise. appreciate having you on. >> you're welcome. >> michael leiter is an nbc

counterterrorism analyst, also with us this morning. michael, good morning. >> good morning. how are you? >> i'm doing well. thank you. and thanks for being with us. as we just heard from greg feith and we have talked about this morning, the weather conditions were fine. the fact that there was no distress call, as greg said, says to him that something catastrophic definitely could have happened. at this hour, again, early in the investigation, but how closely do you believe investigators should be looking at the possibility. terrorism? >> i think they will, but as you've stressed, it's so early. without having any real facts here, you can't speculate on terrorism. and i think there are a number of factors which suggest it probably wasn't. malaysia's actually been very successful in its counterterrorism efforts. it has excellent security at its airports, has some weaknesses in the border, but as a general matter in this region, on this flight, i don't think that terrorism would be the first place investigators would look. >> so, nothing in particular about the city of origin, the destination or the flight path that would raise a red flag? >> not really.

kuala lumpur has been a huge entry and exit point for some terrorist organizations in the past, but not aiming at malaysia. and the relatively low-scale terrorist incidents that malaysia has seen have not really been around kuala lumpur. and again, targeting that flight to beijing really wouldn't align with any known terrorist group. so, i think until the investigation recovers some of this wreckage, looks into how any explosion might have occurred, if that is what happened, it will be too early to speculate on any sort of terrorist event. >> michael leiter, appreciate your time and insight this morning. thank you. >> thanks. hundreds of para athletes are in russia today for the paralympics, but while the games got under way in sochi, the crisis in crimea and russia's involvement there remains the focus of the world. president putin was on hand to welcome the athletes in the opening ceremony on friday, but ukraine sent just one athlete to represent that country in the opening ceremony, and has promised to pull out of the games if russia invades. on friday, the reports that

russian troops moved in on a ukrainian military installation. keir simmons is following it all from sochi, russia, for us this morning. keir, good morning. >> reporter: -- two weeks since you were here -- the winter olympics in the stadium behind me there. last night, they held the opening ceremony of the paralympics, but how much has changed in that time? the ukraine is just 300 miles across the water behind us there, and the tensions -- [ inaudible ] -- presided over the lavish opening ceremony, but the u.s. delegation weren't there. they canceled their trip. just the u.s. athletes were there. the russians came into the stadium with a song that -- [ inaudible ] -- america -- [ inaudible ] nation sent just one athlete with their flag, a clear message, a clear protest.

paralympians will take part from 45 countries. focus will be on american tatiana mcfadden. she -- [ inaudible ] -- games medals now. she is here to compete in the cross-country skiing and potentially the biathlon, but all -- stories, lester. what a pity that the attention isn't paid to this as it is to the winter games. what a shame that the political attention will mean that there will be so much -- that what they are doing here, amid all this -- the human spirit to triumph over adversity. lester? >> all right, keir simmons choosing his words carefully there. obviously some technical issues there. we apologize for that, but we appreciate the report. erica? >> all right, lester, thanks. time now for a look at some of the morning's other top stories. jenna has those for us. good morning again. >> hi, good morning. good morning, everyone. we are learning new details today about a mother in florida who drove her minivan into the atlantic ocean with her three children inside.

32-year-old emily wilkerson has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated child abuse. investigators say she told her children to close their eyes and go to sleep before driving into the water. one witness reported seeing one of the children fighting for control of the wheel. investigators say wilkerson has no history of mental illness. the u.s. army captain who is accusing a general of sexual assaults will take the witness stand again monday morning, this after hours of tearful testimony on friday in which the captain said general jeffrey sinclair threatened to murder her and her family if she ever said a word about their three-year affair. sinclair is one of the highest ranking soldiers to face court-martial in decades. he could serve a life sentence, if convicted. investigators are still trying to determine how lsd got into a walmart steak, sending a family of four from florida to the hospital. the good news is, they left the hospital as a family of five. police say there is no investigation the

nine-months-pregnant woman, her boyfriend or her two daughters had any idea the steak was laced with the hallucinogen when they ate it monday night. despite becoming sick, everyone is home and doing well, including the woman who gave birth to a healthy baby boy, who, by the way, now likes steak. and finally, the toronto zoo didn't know what to name their new polar bear cub, and the cub is already almost 4 months old. awkward. apparently, "hey you" wasn't cutting it, so more than 14,000 people voted in the zoo's name the cub contest. voters were given a choice of six names, and they decided on little cub humphrey, because little lester was already taken. >> aww. that had my vote, too. i mean lester. >> he joins his parents and aunt in the polar bear exhibit. >> cute name, humphrey. >> i like it. >> jenna, thanks. dylan's here now with a check of the forecast. good morning. good morning. we're not talking about a major storm. >> yes! >> and we're actually talking about a warm-up. so, good things for a weekend, that's for sure, especially a

weekend where we lose that hour of sleep, don't forget, later tonight. we have a little light snow, especially across parts of the panhandle of oklahoma and into western kansas, although we are going to see winter weather advisories associated with that expire at 8:00 central time, so it's not really going to be a big issue through the morning. we also have some rain just off the coast of northwestern washington state, and that is going to end up being a bigger rainstorm for that area. you can see over the next 48 hours, we could end up with more than 3 inches of rain, and especially across northwestern california, where, of course, the concern for mud slides will always be an issue when we're talking about heavy good morning. 5:15 the time right now. we are talking about a very warm day, in fact, we're talking about 70s today across the board. san jose 71 will do it. by 1:00. you'll notice elsewhere across the board very warm. this time of year we're not used to seeing 70s. this is above average, in fact, even in san francisco could be very close to 70.

north bay 75, east bay 75 as well and the peninsula right near 70. more warming for tomorrow and the next chance of rain as we head into tomorrow night. we'll talk about that this morning. forecast. erica? >> all right, dylan, thanks. sarah palin takes the stage tonight as the final speaker of the conservative political action conference, or cpac, as it's known. the three-day event has seen some big political names and a big rallying cry, as republicans fight to take over the senate and win back the house in 2016. kristen welker is in florida city this morning, where president obama is on vacation. kristen, good morning. >> reporter: hey, erica. good morning to you. while president obama vacations here with his family in florida, cpac enters its final day back in maryland. it has always been part political convention, part pep rally. this year, there's been some pretty serious infighting, so tonight, sarah palin will aim to unite and energize the party faithful. ♪ few people rally the

conservative base like sarah palin. >> thank you so much! >> reporter: and it's expected tonight will be no different, as she prepares to deliver the final speech at cpac. >> a bold, inspiring vision for america. >> we are coming together and we're going to do this. >> i'm talking about electing lovers of liberty. >> reporter: potential 2016 candidates took the stage, from former presidential candidate and texas governor rick perry -- >> defend our country, provide a cogent foreign policy. >> reporter: -- to rand paul, who called for the base to look beyond party affiliation. >> we must elect men and women of principle and conviction and action who will lead us back to greatness. >> reporter: but it was tea party favorite, senator ted cruz, who may have drawn the most scrutiny, when he argued softening core conservative principles is a losing strategy. >> of course, all of us remember president dole and president mccain and president romney.

>> reporter: and that brought this sharp rebuke from senator john mccain, who said, while he can take the heat, cruz should apologize to dole, a world war ii veteran. >> i wonder if he thinks that bob dole stood for principle on that hilltop in italy, when he was so gravely wounded and left part of his body there fighting for our country. >> reporter: dole also chided cruz and argued his own record, "is that of a political conservative." cruz said he won't back down on matters of conservative principle, even if others may disagree. the event culminates in the straw poll tonight. a whopping 26 candidates this year. and while it doesn't mean everything, it can be a good indicator of strong grassroots support. erica. >> we know it will get plenty of attention. kristen, thanks. even in the worst of situations, some people are able

to find it in their hearts to forgive, while others can't understand how or why. archbishop desmond tutu of south africa knows a lot about the subject, says there's a lot of power in forgiveness. he discussed it with nbc's ann curry. >> reporter: in south africa, archbishop desmond tutu is talking about forgiveness in one of cape town's poorest neighborhoods. >> i'm sad more than angry. >> reporter: blacks here were forced to live in townships under the racial oppression of apartheid for decades. some still do. >> unfortunately, south africa has become the country in which the gap between the rich and the poor is the widest in the world. >> reporter: it was archbishop tutu who chaired the nation's truth and reconciliation commission, which saw 19,000 mostly black men, women and children testify about the brutal atrocities they had endured -- murder, torture and rape. and yet, many forgave their white oppressors.

in the face of that evil, how do you explain so many south africans saying, okay, i forgive? >> it's one of those incredible things about human beings. no one is beyond redemption. no one. >> reporter: now tutu has written a book on the power of forgiveness with his daughter, impo, which includes some extraordinary stories of forgiveness, not just in south africa, but all over the world. you write about a couple in california, the wagners. >> yes. >> reporter: who not only forgave the drunk driver who killed -- >> their daughter. >> two daughters, yeah. >> reporter: two daughters. they embraced her. >> yes, yes. >> reporter: does it take an extraordinary person, though, to do something like that? >> you know, yes, it takes an extraordinary person to do something like that, and yet, we all have the capacity to be extraordinary. >> yeah. almost all of us will say i wouldn't be able to do that when

we hear of certain offenses, but you don't know. you know, you don't know how you really would react. >> reporter: in fact, they say, the capacity to forgive is in each one of us, and it is something you actually do for yourself. >> it's your peace of mind, your peace of spirit that you serve by forgiving. the person who has done the evil deed will have consequences, but until you are able to forgive them, you're still tied to them. you continue to be punished by what they have done. >> reporter: so, forgiving someone does not mean absolving them from justice. >> no. >> reporter: forgiving does not mean forgetting. >> no.

>> reporter: the archbishop says forgiveness has given his nation, and so, its future, new freedom to hope. >> we all get to a point where we realize, human life would be totally impossible without that forgiveness. want to be a pilot! that's wonderful! that's really aiming high. >> reporter: a gift he helped give south africa he's now offering to the world. ann curry, nbc news, cape town. still to come, the first week of the oscar pistorius murder trial is over. we'll go live to south africa for a look at all the dramatic courtroom testimony. but first, this is "today" on nbc. [ male announcer ] pillsbury crescents -- awesome.

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♪ some great folks out there on the plaza. still to come on "today," it is the surprise of a lifetime for four girls who haven't seen their dad in far too long.

but first, these messages. ♪

good morning to you. looking live at a picture in san jose there. we see the mountains in the distance and that means no low suspicious cloud cover. anthony slaughter has a look at the weekend forecast. >> you know, we are looking at some clouds around this morning. we don't have any fog reported as you mentioned, kris. but we've got a little bit of high thin cloud cover that's at least hanging out overhead because our next storm system is actually off the coast and that's expected to impact as we head throughout the day tomorrow. highs today will be very warm, 70s across the board. very warm for this time of year. 73 in san jose. east bay valleys will be right

around 75 degrees. san francisco right at 68 degrees and, again, no fog to speak of this morning. once the sun comes up, it will be a very bright day. as i mentioned the storm system expected to impact us as early as tomorrow afternoon especially napa where we'll begin to see the rain to fall tomorrow afternoon. elsewhere showers will hold off until tomorrow night but we'll track that coming up this morning at 7:00. hope you can join us for "today in the bay." a husband of a woman murdered 25 years ago in the south bay is under arrest this morning along with his brother in connection with the cold case. kathy zimmer was found at the san jose airport on march 29th, 1989, strangled to death in her car. the santa clara county district attorney's office says it has now arrested her husband david and his brother robert in connection with the murder. a month ago investigators showed nbc bay area evidence, this colorful quilt found covering her body. while the district attorney's

office could not comment on how or whether that quilt played a role in the arrest. a court document shows robert zimmer's dna was found on a piece of kathy zimmer's clothing worn at the time of her death. san jose is looking for new ways to curb its rising burglary. chuck reed wants to restore a dedicated burglary unit to the police department. it would use nonsworn personnel to take the initial burglary report. those who were opposed to the plan say it doesn't address the larger issue which needs an increase in the overall number of officers. the proposal goes before the city council on tuesday. new details this morning on a proposed cyberbullying law hoping to crack down on cyberbullies. the proposal named after 15-year-old audrey potter of saratoga. she's the high school student who committed suicide after she was sexually assaulted by three classmates. pictures of that assault were shared. senator jim bell introduced the new bill. the proposal would make it easier for prosecutors to bring

felony adult charges against juvenile suspects and could include prison time. very different from what the family experienced. the three boys in the assault served 30 to 45 days in juvenile hall for their crimes. coming up this morning on "today in the bay" we've got the latest on the missing malaysian airlines flight that went missing. and new accusations coming from the disabled community. and those stories and the rest of the day's news in 30 minutes.

we are back on this saturday morning, march 8th, 2014. some of our friends out there on the plaza. looking forward to meeting them in a bit. if you are just waking up this morning, just joining us, we do want to get you caught up on that breaking news. a missing malaysia airlines jet, that plane disappeared from radar about two hours into its flight. we first found out about it last night. since then, there has been no word on the location or the possible location of the plane. we do know at this hour, though, there are 239 people on board. those people are feared dead. the plane was headed for beijing. that is where eunice yoon is this morning and she joins us with the very latest. eunice, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. well, friends and family are

anxiously waiting for any information about their loved ones after a malaysian flight destined for china went missing. 239 people, both passengers as well as crew, were on board flight mh-370. airline authorities say that the plane left the malaysian capital of kuala lumpur at 12:41 last night and lost contact. two hours later, somewhere between malaysian and vietnamese air space. now, a joint rescue and search operation is now under way in the south china sea. malaysia, vietnam, indonesia, the philippines and china have sent ships and aircraft to the area where the flight last made contact. authorities say that, so far, they have found no trace of the plane. now, airline officials say that the plane didn't send a distress signal and there were no reports of bad weather. here in beijing, hundreds of family members as well as friends of the passengers are growing increasingly frustrated at the lack of information.

they've been very critical of the airline. authorities said they had been told to come to this hotel behind me, where they were brought to a room behind closed door to wait for word of the fate of the flight, but over ten hours later, many of them are fearing the worst. erica? >> all right, eunice yoon in beijing for us. eunice, thank you. let's turn now to get a check of the forecast from dylan. dylan. >> it is finally going to warm up in some parts of the country. finally feeling like spring, especially in the northwest. it will come with a little bit of wet weather along the coast, but look at those temperatures. in the dakotas, it will be double what it was yesterday. let's just skip over that cold part right in the middle of the country and move to the east. let's only focus on the warm-up here. we are going to see highs today in washington, d.c., in the 60s after they were under a winter storm warning yesterday. that's long gone. even in new york today about 50 degrees. and after the winter we've had, anything will feel nice. we do have -- [ applause ] round of applause for that one, yes. >> dylan, they'd

good morning. 5:32 the time right now. still a little cloud cover. no sunshine just yet but once we do see the sun coming up we'll see plenty of it. in fact, the temperatures very chilly and need a jacket once you step out the door. 41 in the north bay and let's go to the south bay and you'll notice once the sun comes up, we'll warm quickly back into the 70s for san jose by 1:00 so it will be very warm today. our warmest locations will be the east bay valleys over to the tri-valley and the north bay where temperatures will get back to the mid-70s. 68 in san francisco. >> and that is your latest forecast. lester? >> all right, dylan, thanks. now to the latest on the oscar pistorius murder trial. the first week wrapped up on friday with some dramatic testimony from pistorius's ex-girlfriend. e ayman mohyeldin has been in the courtroom all week. >> reporter: good morning, lester. it is being called the trial of

the century for a reason, really gripping south africa. all week long, we've heard the prosecution introduce witness after witness to try to make the case that oscar pistorius did not accidentally shoot and kill his girlfriend, but rather, shot her with the intent to kill her. on trial for murder, oscar pistorius's case is being watched all around the world, as the prosecution paints a grim picture of the one-time olympic hero. on friday, his ex-girlfriend, samantha taylor, was in court. >> did you know that he owned a gun during his relationship? >> yes, my lady. he kept it on him all the time, my lady. >> reporter: a picture of pistorius as trigger-happy, temperamental, prone to anger. >> you said that oscar screamed at you. >> yes. >> was it one occasion or more? >> on more occasions, my lady. >> reporter: an emotional pistorius was seen gagging at one point during testimony from neighbor, dr. johan stiff, who

said he saw reeva had been mortally wounded, shot in the leg, arm and head. >> she had no pulse in her neck. she had no peripheral pulse. she had no breathing movements that she made. >> reporter: stitt also saw pistorius hunched over her body, screaming. >> he said, "i shot her. i thought she was a burglar and i shot her." >> reporter: from an ex-girlfriend to a training partner -- >> i saw them in the restaurant -- >> reporter: witnesses the prosecution say establish a pattern of lies and deception. >> i remember, he said, please, take the blame for me. there's too much media hype around me. >> reporter: and then, an emotional revelation by the woman who says she once loved oscar. taylor was asked how her relationship with pistorius ended. >> he cheated on me with reeva steenkamp. >> reporter: at one point, she broke down in tears. >> just take your time, please. >> reporter: a dramatic first week in the trial of south africa's golden boy, a case that

will continue for quite some time. now, this first week was all based on people who were either neighbors and those that knew oscar pistorius. the prosecution is trying to establish a timeline of events, but more importantly, next week there is the chance that the prosecution is going to introduce that very powerful testimony based on evidence and forensics from inside that shooting scene. lester? >> all right, ayman mohyeldin, thanks. lisa bloom is "today's" legal analyst. lisa, good morning. good to have you on. >> good morning, lester. >> let's talk first about the testimony of the girlfriend, who claims pistorius had a temper, he always carried a gun, but she also testified they broke up because he was unfaithful. does that undermine her credibility or did she score some points for the prosecution? >> well, i think it's a small hit against her credibility, but are we really to believe that she's lying in his murder trial because he left her for another woman some time ago? i mean, i think the import of her testimony is that this is a man who was irresponsible with

guns, although he didn't threaten her with the gun. he did shoot off a gun in a car when he was unhappy about a traffic stop. that certainly makes him look like an irresponsible gun owner. >> all right, so, the security guard says he gets reports from neighbors that shots are fired, he talks to pistorius, who says everything's fine. security guard goes over to the house and realized everything is not fine. that seems very troubling. >> yeah, i think that's big. you've just shot your girlfriend accidentally, according to oscar pistorius. the first person you talk to, the security guard, you say everything is fine? you would expect somebody in that situation to say, oh, my god, there's been a terrible accident, please help me. >> pistorius has been very emotional in this trial, holding his hands, you know, reacting to testimony. if this were in front of a jury, one might ask the question, could this have a favorable effect for the defense, but this is in front of only a judge. so, how do you read that?

>> that would definitely be more helpful in front of a jury. look, judges have seen it all. they've seen people cry, have angry outbursts, you know, use profanity, go running out of the courtroom. i mean, this is what happens in courtrooms in the united states and in south africa and everywhere else. so, i don't think the emotion will have a big impact on the judge. >> looking ahead for next week, the focus is going to be on forensics. they're going to be looking at pistorius's texts, his whatsapp messages. what do you think they'll be looking for there? >> well, we certainly want to know what he was saying on the day leading up to this incident. was he angry? was he having a fight with reeva steenkamp or was everything okay? and the other forensics that are important is whether he was on his stumps or whether he had his prosthetic legs on at the time of the shooting. he says it was the former. that would make him smaller, that would make the bullet holes lower in the door and the trajectory going up. so, i think the state should be able to establish which of those it was. >> lastly, let me ask you this. the testimony of him, you know, firing off guns before, always

having a gun with him, could that in some way play to his defense, that yeah, this was a guy who was willing to, you know, to maybe shoot first and think later, and maybe did think there was an intruder and fires off the gun? >> you know, i think that's a reasonable argument the defense can make. we don't have any evidence in this trial of him threatening anyone with the gun, pointing a gun, using it in anger, using it in a fight. that's what he's accused of doing here. >> all right, lisa bloom, good to talk to you. thank you very much. >> thanks, lester. still to come, a spelling showdown. two students gearing up at the end of the epic spelling bee. but up next, the tiger mom's back with a new book and some new controversy. we'll talk to her and her husband. but first, these messages.

♪ this morning on "today's moms," the tiger mom is back with a new book, and there's a new controversy. you may recall, amy chua's book three years ago advocating strict rules for raising successful children. well, now, she and her husband,

fellow yale law professor jed rubenfeld, have written the triple package, how three traits explain the rise and fall of cultural groups in america. and they are both with us. thanks for being here. >> thanks for having us. >> first, before we get into the controversy that may or may not be there over the book, explain for us, what is "the triple package" that you see as the key to success in this country? >> well, you know what, the book is about, it's about how to make it in a tough, increasingly competitive economy, and basically, we show that there are lots of people out there who are instilling in their children -- and the book is about how to instill in every child a sense of exceptional potential and drive and self-discipline. those three things are basically what it comes down to. lots of people are out there doing it, people from all different backgrounds, all different faiths, skin colors. that's what the book's about. >> so, specifically, a superiority complex, an insecurity, which may sound contradictory to have those two together, and also the impulse control that uyou mentioned or the discipline. this is this triple package. >> right. what's so interesting is that

all of these groups that are doing so well with their children right now, they're simultaneously instilling in their children a sense of exceptionality. you're special, you're destined for great things, but just a dash of, you know, but you haven't done it yet. and to me, this is the exact opposite of, i was just reading about the girl who's suing her parents -- >> yes. >> -- for a college education. so, "the triple package" mentality is the exact opposite of entitled. because entitled is like, i don't need to prove myself, i'm perfect the way i am, you should pay for me. the triple package mentality is i can do great things, but you know, i owe my parents and i need to work hard and i need to prove myself. >> need to work hard. >> i'm not good enough yet. >> some of the initial criticism before the book came out has dissipated since the book actually came out, but some of the criticism was that you focused on eight groups in the book. now, you said it wasn't only these eight groups or ethnicities that showed a number of these characteristics, but by focusing on those groups, there were even calls of racism. the book was called provocative. those things can be great to sell books, but when we're

looking at it, is this about a cultural group teaching their kids things, or is this more about the immigrant experience? because the way i read it -- sorry, this is the world's longest question, but it seemed more about these are traits that people have when they first come to this country, and they're trying to make it, but these traits go away over time. >> yeah. you have it exactly right. well, first of all, some of the most successful groups in the country are african-american and hispanic americans. so, the idea that the book's racist is ridiculous, but it is in a sense about the immigrant experience, because it's how it's a special set of qualities and outlooks and behaviors that immigrant families often have, although mormons have it, too, and they're not immigrants. but the question is, can we learn from what they have? because it's not biological, it does go away. it's something to do with those cultures and families. can we learn from this? >> and it tends to go away by essentially the third generation. >> right. >> where people don't have the same drive anymore. so, to your point, can this be taught and should we be teaching this to our kids? >> it actually can be. so, some of the studies that we show in our book is that you can at a very early age instill in children more self-discipline

and more focus, which, by the way, studies show has tremendous benefits down the road. like in high school, you have all this high school anxiety, but if you know how to sit and focus, if you've had that instilled in you as a young child it has these big payoffs. and every one of the groups that are doing really well right now, korean americans, vietnamese americans, they do this more with their children at a young age, and so, it absolutely can be translated. it's not -- i mean, that's the whole point, it's very accessible. >> well, a lot to think about. the book is "the triple package." nice to have you both with us this morning. thank you. >> thank you. >> thanks so much. just ahead, guess who? it's a heart-warming reunion for one hero and his favorite girls. it's a heart-warming reunion for one hero and his favorite girls. we'll sh[ bubbles ] [ giggling ] again! again! [ giggles ] again! [ mom ] when we're having this much fun, why quit? and new bounty has no quit in it either. it's 2x more absorbent than the leading ordinary brand, and then stays strong, so you can use less. watch how one sheet of new bounty keeps working,

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those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. with less pain, i'm feeling better with lyrica. ask your doctor if lyrica is right for your fibromyalgia pain. ♪ we never get tired of seeing the men and women who proudly serve this country come back home to their loved ones, safe and sound. >> something about a reunion, isn't there, especially when that homecoming is as sweet as the not just one that we're about to show you. here's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: air force tech sergeant edward gowdik is used to special missions, but even he has never gone under cover quite like this. >> we have four girls, and i like to surprise them. >> reporter: dressed as a high school mascot, the sergeant, back from a six-month deployment in afghanistan, is here to surprise his oldest daughter, bailey, who has no idea dad is finally home. >> i was so surprised.

i thought my friends told me to come to lunch and i thought it was like to meet a friend or something. >> it was just wonderful to see that smile on her face. >> reporter: "operation surprise" is just getting started. the sergeant off to a second school just outside salt lake ci city, the back window of his daughter, sidney's class. >> hi. >> dad. i had no clue. i was really surprised. >> had to get your attention. >> yeah. >> reporter: but with four daughters, his work is only half done. the sergeant is front and center at this special assembly. her first hug from her dad in half a year. >> come here. okay. >> reporter: now 10-year-old olivia's turn. her big present, dad inside the box. >> surprise. hi! happy birthday! >> reporter: a special birthday, and for this family, an

incredible gift. >> together at last. >> reporter: for "today," miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. >> can't get enough of those. let's send it over to dylan now in the orange room with today's "plaza fan of the day." hey, guys. >> good morning. we have two fans today, debbie and jacob adomino from minneapolis, minnesota. normally, you guys would take us off to commercial, but you're here for a much better reason. >> yes, we're huge fans of lester, and we wanted to be here today to wish him a happy birthday! >> happy birthday, lester! >> aww. well, thank you. i've got to go over here and -- >> everything you could possibly want over here, including champagne -- >> xlus me. >> and cake for you. >> well, look at this! i thought you guys forgot. >> we were trying to keep it secret. >> happy birthday, lester. >> hi! i'm lester. what's your name? >> jacob. >> hi, jacob! thanks for coming and doing this. >> that's why i didn't say happy birthday all day. >> i was started to wonder if like -- >> we had this whole big thing. >> i was worried i would ruin

the surprise, too, so i didn't wish him a happy birthday. happy birthday! they made me wait in the hallway, so i was like, now, now, now? >> did you notice in the beginning of the show, i did the open, like, "today," march 8th, 2014. >> all i noticed was that you sounded older, but i didn't understand what it was about. let there be cake. >> thank you. >> we will have cake. >> you did a good job. >> welcome to "today." >> thank you very much. >> happy lester day, by the way. ♪ >> we'll be back with more, but first, this is "today" on nbc. there you go.

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here is the bay bridge toll plaza very different from the weekday shot, isn't it? but we to see blue sky and a little bit of a sunrise. thanks so much for joining us, i'm kris sanchez, anthony slaughter has a look at a weekend forecast that looks nice for outdoor activities. >> anything outdoor if you are making your way into the city coming over the bay bridge toll plaza eventually things are looking really good. we're talking about fis across the entire bay area. we'll take advantage of it. in the 40s and 50s and grab a light jacket if you are heading out and do early morning jogging and take the dog for a walk. it's very nice. we have a few clouds overhead and wind is calm. as we head throughout the day, it will not be overly warm and not overly breezy. in fact, the thing to note here

it's going to be picture perfect weather, 70 in san francisco later on. 73 in the south bay. 75 for our east bay valleys and for our north bay valleys as well. we've got rain to talk about it, we'll ta about it at 7:00 and showers arrive as early as tomorrow. >> thank you very much, anthony. the husband of a woman murdered 25 years ago in the south bay is under arrest this morning along with his brother in connection with the cold case. kathy zimmer was found at the san jose airport march 29th 1989 strangled to death left in her car. the santa clara county district attorney's office says it has now arrested her husband david zimmer and his brother robert in connection with the murder. about a month ago investigators showed nbc bay area a piece of evidence a colorful quilt which was found covering kathy's body. while the district attorney's office could not comment on how or whether that quilt played a role in the arrest, a court document shows that robert zimmer's dna was found on a piece of kathy zimmer's clothing

which she was wearing at the time of her death. san jose is looking for new ways to curb its rising burglary rate and mayor chuck reed wants to restore a dedicated burglary unit to the city's police department but it would use nonsworn personnel to take the initial burglary report. those who oppose it say it doesn't address the larger issue which is a need for the increase in the overall number of officers. that proposal goes before the city council on tuesday. new details this morning on a proposed cyberbullying law which aims to crack down on cyberbullies. that proposal is named after 15-year-old audrey potts. she is the saratoga teenager who committed suicide after she was sexually assaulted by three classmates and photos of that assault were then passed around. the proposal would make it easier for prosecutors to bring felony adult charges against juvenile suspects and could include prison time. it's very different from what the pott family experienced.

coming up this morning on today in the bay, we'll have the very latest on the missing malaysia airlines flight which went missing on its way to beijing. and more problems for ride-sharing services like uber and lift. new accusations coming from the disabled communities. those stories and the rest of the day's news at 7:00 and more local news in 30 minutes. but for now here's more of the "today" show.

good morning. it's saturday, march 8th, 2014. here's a look at "today's" top stories. we continue to follow breaking news out of southeast asia, where 239 people are dead after a malaysia airline jet disappeared. the boeing 777 went missing about two hours after it left kuala lumpur. it was headed for beijing. we're live with the latest on the search for the wreckage. let the games begin, again. the winter paralympics are now under way in sochi, russia, where president putin welcomed the athletes in an elaborate opening ceremony on friday, but the big question is, will the games take a back seat to the ongoing crisis in ukraine and russia's involvement there? and spelling showdown. two middle school students are getting ready for an epic word battle today after their last

spelling bee ended because organizers ran out of words. good morning, again, everybody. i'm lester holt. >> and i'm erica hill alongside jenna wolfe and dylan dreyer. we do want to get you caught up on the very latest. that breaking news we have been following this morning, the malaysian airlines jet that went missing just a few hours after taking off from kuala lumpur. search-and-rescue teams have been mobilized at this hour, coming from several different countries to aid in efforts to find that plane. the u.s. navy is sending in some help as well, a ship that was stationed in the international waters of the south china sea, now making its way to the southern coast of vietnam. air traffic control lost contact with the flight just as it was supposed to be entering vietnam's air space, just about two hours into that flight. >> three americans, including an infa infant, were among the 239 people on board. eunice yoon is in beijing this morning to bring us the very latest. eunice, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester.

malaysian airlines says that it sent a 160-person team led by a senior executive here to china to support the ground staff as families and friends of the passengers of mh-370 have been lost, and many people are very, very concerned about them. a lot of those relatives had actually gone to the airport early this morning, hoping to pick up their relatives, but then they were very surprised to learn that the flight never arrived. there was one woman at the airport who broke down uncontrollably, who was very worried about the fate of her sister. there was one driver who said that he had been there for five hours, hoping to pick up the wife of his boss, but that wife never arrived. now, those people were directed to this hotel, which is near the

airport. they were brought behind closed doors and told to wait there for information. we were standing outside those closed doors, and of course, there's been a lot of conflicting information, but we heard wailing, sobbing. there was one woman who was crying out for her son. people here are still very upset that after so many hours of waiting, they haven't had the information that they need to learn about what happened to their loved ones. lester? >> all right, eunice yoon this morning. thank you for the update. >> while that search for the plane continues, the investigation is already turning as to how this could happen, what may have gone wrong. tom costello covers aviation for us this morning and has more on that angle. tom, good morning. >> reporter: yeah, good morning. this is really a mystery. you know, a very experienced pilot, the 777-200 is a very good plane with a solid safety record. it is an earlier model of the 777, this one built about 11 or 12 years ago, and it had rolls royce engines. here's the timeline, once again, that we're working with this

morning. this was flight 370, leaving kuala lumpur at 12:40 a.m. as we said it was the red-eye flight to beijing. and just two hours into the flight, air traffic controllers lost contact, we believe near vietnamese air space, supposed to arrive in beijing at 6:30 a.m., never did. this morning, aviation experts are all talking about what could have happened. they point out that this plane operates in a highly corrosive environment, you know, that warm ocean salt air of malaysia. so, could there have been some sort of catastrophic breakup in flight? they're concerned because the plane simply lost contact, radar and radio contact. that's highly unusual. terrorism is also a concern, but this morning we have no suggestion that that's a factor. and i was reminded this morning of the british airways 777 that crash landed in london several years ago. no one was injured. they determined that ice had formed in the fuel lines at a very high altitude, depriving the jet fuels -- the engines, rather, of jet fuel.

thankfully, the crew was able to descend and put it down at heathrow. again, nobody injured, but that plane also had rolls royce engines. so, this morning, a lot of hypothesizing, as you would expect when you have a major airliner like this missing in the ocean with so many people on board. guys, back to you. >> and so many people desperate for answers, obviously. there are early signs, though, at this hour that the plane may have gone down in the middle of the south china sea. what kind of a challenge does that represent in terms of, essentially determining whether or not that is where the wreckage may be? >> well, this is huge, and i think the only parallel we would have is what happened with the air france plane that was flying from brazil to paris about four years ago or so, and recall that plane simply also disappeared in the middle of the atlantic ocean. and suddenly, they started finding pieces of debris, and the french navy, the brazilian navy began looking for this plane. they could not find it. they took two years, and the french dedicated a tremendous

amount of money to this and manpower. they used submarines to finally locate the aircraft. it was at the bottom of the atlantic ocean in a mountain range, and they decided that they had to lift that plane up, or the debris up, rather, so that they could determine what brought that plane down. ultimately, they decided that ice had essentially formed and covered the pitot tubes, the air speed sensors on the outside of the plane. when that happened, the computers failed, the crew became disoriented. they apparently did not react appropriately. the plane stalled, and the plane then crashed in the atlantic ocean, killing everybody on board. again, different aircraft, and we don't know what happened here on today's 777, but this would be, if this plane has, in fact, crashed, it would be only the second fatal crash involving a 777, and the 777's been flying for 20 years. the last one, of se, was last july in san francisco, when that asiana flight crash landed at the airport, and they believe that that was pilot error. >> all right, well, we will continue to follow it along with

you, tom. tom costello, thank you. the eyes of the world are back on sochi, russia, this morning with the start of the winter paralympics. the games kicked off on friday with president putin welcoming the athletes at the opening ceremony, but just two weeks after the winter olympics, there is a much different tone from russia, now embroiled in the middle of the crisis in ukraine. keir simmons is in sochi this morning with more. keir? >> reporter: hey, lester, good morning. the ukraine is just 300 miles across the water behind me here from sochi, and the tension there has certainly traveled across the black sea to here. at last night's opening ceremony, the russian athletes came out to a song that included the lyrics, "bye, bye, america," as these paralympics are overshadowed by political events. presiding over the opening ceremony of the paralympics, a lavish display of russian culture and national pride --

♪ president putin, less than two weeks ago he was in this same stadium to close the winter games. so much has changed in that short time. the ukrainian team sent one lonedell gate to carry their flag, a solitary protest against russian intervention in ukraine. in an emotional press conference, the head of the ukrainian delegation said they will stay, unless russia invades. >> the worst-case scenario, we would leave. >> reporter: his country just 300 miles from sochi. here, 547 athletes from 45 countries will compete for 72 medals in five sports over ten days. never before have so many countries competed, and rarely in such a politically charged atmosphere. while it did send its athletes, the u.s. canceled its formal delegation, along with many other western governments. now it's time for sport to take center stage, olympic leaders

said last night. >> welcome to the games. a games where sport must be the winner. >> reporter: there is sporting controversy. echoing february's winter games, concerns over the warm weather and lack of snow, at least one paralympian pulling out, calling conditions scary, but all that will likely be overshadowed by politics, the world's attention focused on the crisis in ukraine, even while the paralympics celebrated triumph and adversity. among those who will be the focus of attention here, american wheelchair athlete tatiana mcfadden, who has already won ten medals in the summer paralympics and is now here to compete in the downhill skiing and possibly the biathlon. but every single athlete here, lester, has an incredible story to tell. lester? >> all right, keir simmons in sochi, thanks.

you can watch the opening ceremony from the paralympics today at 1:00 right here on nbc. we are learning more this morning about the terrifying moments inside a minivan when a woman drove it straight into the ocean. this morning, that woman is in jail charged with attempted murder, as police and her family try to figure out how and why this happened. here's mark potter. >> reporter: the images are heart-stopping. on daytona beach, a minivan with a pregnant mother and her three children in the ocean surf as rescuers rushed to help. now that mom, 32-year-old ebony wilkerson, is in jail, facing serious charges. >> ms. wilkerson has been arrested on three counts of attempted first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated child abuse involving great injury. >> reporter: the volusia county sheriff's office says wilkerson purposely drove her minivan into the surf to kill her children, locking the doors and rolling up the windows. according to a police report,

all three kids told an investigator "mom tried to kill us," and one of them said, "mom is crazy." >> she actually told them to close their eyes and go to sleep, she was taking them to a better place. >> god almighty, there's baby in the car. >> reporter: the sheriff says wilkerson tried to prevent rescuers from helping her children, adding that while she had past domestic issues, wilkerson has no known history of mental illness, but there were recent problems. last saturday, wilkerson called 911 in south carolina. >> 911, where is your emergency? >> it's at the hampton inn in myrtle beach. >> what's going on? >> my husband just beat me down and raped me. >> reporter: the husband has not been charged, and his lawyer says "the domestic violence allegations are baseless and were the result of extreme mental illness." the next day, in nearby north charleston, police say wilkerson claims she was being followed and requested an escort to the city limits so she could take her children to florida. on tuesday, after wilkerson

arrived in florida, her sister called 911, concerned about her mental health. >> she's talking about jesus and that there's demons in my house. >> reporter: a few hours later, the van was in the ocean. authorities say wilkerson told them she was actually trying to drive out of the water and did not intend to harm her children. for "today," mark potter, nbc news, miami. let us get a check of the rest of the morning's top stories and jenna's here with that. >> hey, guys. good morning. good morning, everyone. the usda now says beef recalled earlier this year may have reached more states than originally thought. the agency says products from rancho feeding corporation may have stretched as far as 35 states and guam. the california-based company made headlines last month when it recalled nearly 9 million pounds of meat products. florida congressman allen gracen will not face any charges over a fight with his estranged wife. officials with the orange county sheriff's office said probable cause did not exist to support

the allegation by grayson's wife that he had pushed her. grayson's wife, who filed for divorce in january, was granted a restraining order against the congressman earlier this week. the three-day conservative political action conference wraps up today with speeches from minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann, former house speaker newt gingrich and vice presidential candidate sarah palin. so far, it seems senator ted cruz has stolen the headlines. cruz referred to presidential candidates bob dole, john mccain and mitt romney as men who "don't stand for principle." mccain has since called for cruz to apologize. and finally, guys, if it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it's usually -- >> a duck? >> they've dated, they've traveled, they've been rumored to be getting engaged. it seems pretty obvious they are heading in one direction. prince harry and his girlfriend attended an official event together, first time they've done that. an official event, first time. the cause was empowering young

people, good cause. they came separately but later met up at their seats where they shared a quick hug and a quick kiss, not seen here. ooh, could we be expecting another wedding? >> royal wedding. >> maybe? why are we talking like this? >> i was just following your lead. >> we are not talking like that, you guys are talking like that. >> whatever, you were during the break, lester, come on. >> i'm still trying to figure out the duck thing and quacking. anyway, dylan is outside with a check of the forecast. hey, dylan. good morning. >> hey, good morning, guys. i mean, not to brag, but i love this sign here. if you put my name on a sign, i can pretty much guarantee you'll get on tv. but let's take a look at the weather in the northwest. we have some heavy rain to talk about, about 1 to 3 inches. so, we could see with the high winds, some possible power outages and we'll also keep an eye on those possible mud slides, too. in the afternoon today, we are going to start to see the rain get closer, but it's overnight, about 1:00 in the morning, where we'll see the heaviest rain from seattle right down into portland, and it keeps spreading east as we

good morning. 6:14 the time. we are waking up to sunshine. beautiful colors in palo alto and this is what we'll be looking at all day long. a few high thin clouds. temperatures in the 40s and you want to grab the light jacket as you head out this morning whatever you prefer. overall it will be very warm this afternoon. by noon temperatures will hit the 70-degree mark and we'll be at 73 in the south bay. 75 for the east bay valleys and 75 for north bay valleys. san francisco at 70 today. a beautiful day everywhere. >> and that is your latest forecast. erica? >> all right, dylan, thanks. oh, oh, oh! we're putting our phones down. it's all part of -- lester, give me that phone! we want to know if you could unplug for a full 24 hours. the results for us, probably not so good. find out more after these messages. how long have you been using bounty?

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or two without checking your phone, your facebook feed or e-mail? for a lot of people, that is a tall order. >> so, there is two hours, and then imagine 24 hours. we're actually in the middle of what's become known as a national day of unplugging. oh, it's a movement. jenna's in the orange room with that. hello. >> so, the irony's not lost on me, but somebody's got to keep you plugged in. get it, the irony that we're unplugging? the national unplugging period is from sundown on friday to sundown tonight, where people are asking you to unplug from all electronics and all technology. the goal is to stop people from missing out on important events. so, what did we do? we asked you what you would unplug for. so, ed said "i'd be willing to give it a try. is there an app for that?" that's actually hilarious, ed. no joke. pat -- "not a chance. i've given up ice cream for lent, so i can't do both." you can kind of get where pat's coming from. so, i'll give you that one, pat. linda grubb -- "i unplugged my broken computer. does that count"?

a resounding no, that doesn't count. i guess if i had to answer the question, the only thing i would honestly unplug for would be if the baby needed something, if harper needed something. other than that, i generally don't unplug for much. anyway, that is what i unplug for. i'm curious to know -- and look, we do do a full two hours without trying -- the irony. >> that sounds like jenna's ring. isn't that "seinfeld"? >> that's really funny. okay, it's staff -- hello? we're doing a whole thing on unplugging. so funny. hold on. hold on a second. guys, what would you unplug for? >> we'll take it from here. >> i'd be happy to unplug. you know, i have to be in contact with work, but as long as they knew i'm going off the grid -- >> exactly. >> here you go, i think it's work calling. >> i think it's more about the e-mails -- >> it is mostly about e-mails, but -- >> hello? >> hello? >> i think the more interesting thing is what we choose for our ringtone. >> oh, very funny. >> hi. >> so, is everybody in the

control room on a phone right now calling us upstairs? >> let me ask you this -- >> is anybody actually doing news? >> i think 200 years ago, people said i could go without my quill pen for 24 hours? how cool is that? this is "today" on nbc. we'll be right back. [ mom ] hi, we're the pearsons, and we love chex cereal.

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clouds over the south bay this morning, it is shaping up to be a very nice start and your forecast is perfect for whatever you have planned outside. thanks so much for joining us, i'm kris sanchez along with meteorologist anthony slaughter. good morning, anthony. >> whistispy clouds and let's t about sunshine that we're looking at here. you can see as we were mentioning the thin clouds. all kind of a brush-off because of the next storm system starting to make its way up the coast. these are the beginning signs of the next storm system but for today we'll not feel it. our temperatures will go back into the 70s later on, even in san francisco we're expecting

fi 70s for the coast and 72 for the peninsula and the north and east bays. 75 degrees for today for the warmest weather. we've got a storm system making its way towards the coast and tomorrow temperatures cool off a bit and you'll notice rain starts to make its approach on the north bay and coastline ask we'll talk more about it coming up at 7:00. see you in a bit. the husband of a woman murdered 25 years ago in the south bay is under arrest this morning along with his brother in connection with the cold case. kathy zimmer was found at the san jose airport march 29th, 1989, strangled to death in her own car. santa clara county district tosh's office says it has now arrested her husband david zimmer and his brother robert zimmer in connection with the murder. about a month ago investigators showed nbc bay area this piece of evidence a colorful quilt found covering kathy zimmer's body. the district attorney's office could not comment yet about how or if that quilt played a role in the arrest.

however, a court document shows robert zimmer's dna was found on a piece of kathy zimmer's clothing which was worn at the time of her death. san jose's looking for new ways to curb its rising burglary rate and chuck reed has an idea, he wants to restore a dedicated burglary unit to the police department. it would use nonsworn personnel to take the initial burglary report. but opponents say this does not address the overall issue, the large earn issue, which is a need for the increase in the number of officers overall. the proposal goes before the city council on tuesday. new details this morning on a proposed cyberbullying law which aims to crack down on cyberbullies. the proposal is named after 15-year-old audrey pott. she is the saratoga high school student who committed suicide after she was sexually assaulted by three classmates who took pictures of her and shared them around campus. senator jim bell introduced the new bill. the proposal would make it easier for prosecutors to bring

felony adult charges against juvenile suspects and could include prison time very different from what the pott family experienced. the three boys in the assault served 30 to 45 days in juvenile hall for their crimes." coming up we'll have the latest on the missing airlines flight and the oil slick that the vietnamese air force found over the water. and more problems for ride-sharing services like uber and lift. new accusations coming from the disabled communities. those stories and the rest of the day's news coming up at 7:00.

♪ ♪ what you want baby, i got it what you need ♪ ♪ do you know i got it >> tv's on. it's "today" show time. >> celebrating last of my single life on "today" show. >> my 16th birthday, and my dad brought me to the "today" show. >> i wanted to say hi to my family in buffalo, new york. >> happy birthday, lester! >> we are back on this saturday morning, it's march 8th, 2014. otherwise known as lester holt's birthday. starting to warm up here, just the littlest bit in new york. our crowd in rockefeller plaza seems happy about that.

happy they're here with us, taking plenty of pictures, which we get to show you some as well. >> i've got to find one of these guys. chachi. your kid waiting outside the "today" show, resler holt. nice to have you. >> same here. >> you have a birthday? >> same as you. >> that is today? >> today's your birthday. >> make sure. okay, mine, too. nice to have you here. >> same here. >> thanks very much. >> picked a good day to come. >> tweet it out. >> this is why it pays not to unplug today otherwise i'll never fine you. >> there you go. >> still to come in the half hour, how do you spell showdown? that's a good question. what's happening today. two students took part in epic spelling bee, went through every word imaginable, never missing, now a match-off. >> got to be another word. >> give them something easy, showdown, that will stump them. >> too smart for it. one of the stars of "captain

phillips," received several best supporting actor nominations for the role but still, barkhad abdi struggling financially to support himself. take a look at that in hollywood headlines. also ahead, into the second week of the 30 days to a better you challenge. today, i'm going to show you why it's so important to break out of your rut, out of your fitness routine, go out and try something different. believe it or not, my thing that i always wanted to try was hip-hop. >> you don't have to be good at it? >> clearly you don't, because i wasn't. i'm not a hip-hop dancer but i burned calories and i'm glad i did it. >> you had fun. >> i had a little bit of fun. we begin with the search that went viral to find the person who helped a driver who had been in a pretty tough car accident. john yang has that story. >> reporter: for aaron purbort, minneapolis, rush hour that friday afternoon is all a blur. >> it was about three minutes away from home and woke up in an

ambulance. >> reporter: he has stage iv brain chance, suffered a seizure. >> last thing i remember driving past taco bell. >> reporter: aaron blacked out in the middle of a busy intersection like this one. his car still in gear, foot apparently on the brake, but not a scratch on him or his car. some might say, someone was looking out for him. and then in a way, someone was. at the emergency room, aaron's wife nora found his car keys in his jacket pocket, along with a note. >> your car's parked in the tobacco shop parking lot 18th avenue northeast and stenson. >> reporter: it wasn't signed, no clues who wrote it. on facebook, it went viral. it took a week for aaron's good samaritan to come forward. kyle, a 16-year veteran of the minneapolis police, responded to a report of a man slumped over in a car. after aaron came to -- >> we asked him what month it was, and he said december and asked him what year it was, he said 2003.

then i asked him you, know, do you want plea to park your car for you? he told me he doesn't drive, he takes the bus. >> reporter: proper procedure was to impound the car. but seeing aaron's scars from brain surgery, he decided to park it instead. >> i figured he had enough on his plate already. >> reporter: it was no big deal. >> it took two minutes of my time to make a good call great. it wasn't a lot of effort on my part. i thought it was a big deal, i wound have spent more time on my penmanship and been neater. >> reporter: to aaron and nora, it meant so much. >> nice little things in life really do go a long way. >> reporter: an officer living up to his department's motto -- to serve with compassion. for "today," john yang, nbc news, chicago. let's get a final check of the weather from dylan. >> more people celebrating lester's birthday themselves. so we have not just you but your dog charlie?

>> yes, lester, charlie, and me, all today. >> where are you from? >> bostin. >> boston. love it. happy birthday to you, charlie, lester, everybody else celebrating on march 8th. the weather across the country, looking at decent temperatures. again, it's all relative, but 40s and 50s in the northeast, feel nice, 30s will feel nice, back to ohio river valley. the cold front going to produce spotty showers, light snow. extending down into texas, where it will be in the form of thunderstorms. and also pacific northwest, later this afternoon, rain will start to move in, heaviest overnight from seattle into portland and then tomorrow it's raining in the northwest, down into california. showers still lingering down through the gulf coast states and it will cool off again once we get into tomorrow afternoon and the no good morning. 6:35 the time right now and waking up to cloud cover, high thin clouds but overall very bright sunshine already starting to filter into san jose. temperatures by 1:00 into the

70s. we're expecting fils across the entire bay area today. even at the coast san francisco waking up to some foggy conditions this morning but eventually we'll hit 70s by 2:00 or 3:00. slightly cooler for tomorrow and rain on the horizon for tomorrow evening. let's take you somewhere warm for today's top spot. it comes to us from wtvj, the original marathon seafood festival. come hungry, plenty of local caught seafood, shrimp, lobster, crabs, oyster and fish. $75,000 in proceeds donated back to the community for scholarships for local students i'm don't know, that's something i might need to check out in person, lester. >> thanks very much. now to the story of two middle school opportunities getting ready to hopefully finish off a spelling bee that they started weeks ago. went it it letter by letter, word by word, so long, last time organizers ran out of words.

the event couldn't end in a tie, so they now have another spelling bee to crown a winner. ron mott has the story. >> reporter: a tale of two kids who can s-p-e-l-l. officials ran out of words to give them after a marathon. >> last year we had 21 rounds. this ways more than we anticipated. >> reporter: after 66 rounds, organizers were d-o-n-e. no cringe worthy gaffes for these two unlike the president on thursday. >> when aretha first told us what r-s-p-e-c-t meant to her. >> reporter: instead, they sauntered through increasingly harder words, like barukhzy, schadenfreude, and scherzo, and fantoccini.

and while there have been calls to just send both to washington, d.c., for the national spelling bee in may, rules don't allow. >> script's national spelling bee requires every single area and every specific bee send only one person. >> reporter: they've set the stage again today and overflow crowd expected, hoping to crown a winner. a winner who might not flinch at webster's longest tongue twister. 45 letters, a lung disease few have ever heard of, even fewer who can probably spell it. for "today," ron mott, nbc n-e-w-s. >> look who else stopped by to say happy birthday, my wife. lindsay lohan's own drama on her new reality show. we'll talk about that in the hollywood headlines. first, these messages. [ woman ] i could see it in their faces. they weren't looking at me.

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this morning in "today's hollywood headlines," an oscar nominee struggling for work to make ends meet and a familiar face returning to "grey's anatomy." >> alicia quarles is here to bring us through it all. alicia, good morning. >> good morning, happy birthday! >> thank you. >> so, tomorrow is a huge day. we've heard for a long time about lindsay lohan's reality show on own, oprah's network. >> right. >> it premieres tomorrow. how real is this reality show? what are we going to see?

>> this is really, actually, very real. this is a docuseries, and it follows lindsey in the two months post rehab where she's moving to new york, trying to get her life together, and oprah's coaching her through it all, so it gets pretty real. it's lindsay probably at her best and worst. >> at her best and worst. there's that obvious, sort of train wreck fascination -- >> yes, yes, yes. >> -- that's going to bring people in. there's been criticism, though, when it comes to oprah, some criticism that she exploiting lindz yesterday at that i time? >> i asked her about oprah and i said own bringing lindsay to the network, are you exploiting her? i don't get it. she says it comes down to the fact that i've got to fill 24 hours of television. that's a lot of tv to fill. she has a compelling story, and i think that we can help her. and along the journey, you'll see oprah's coaching her. lindsay to this day says she still talks with oprah, so it's about television, oprah is blunt and open about that, and also about following this girl on her journey that america seems to be fascinated with. >> i want to ask you about another story that struck me, is

"captain phillips" co-star barkhad abdi, who played one of the somali pilots, limo driver turned oscar nominee, now struggling a bit in his career. what's going on? >> that's right. he only got paid $65,000 for this role, and then the actors among him is $60,000, but throughout awards season, the studio's paying for him, his trips and per diems. awards season's over, so he's not going to go back to driving a cab. he's apparently been placed in a new movie, but from what we're hearing, he has no money, he's down and out. this happens all the time with actors, with musicians. you get that one hit, and that's not enough to sustain you. >> we should point out, while $65,000 is a lot of money to most people, in acting terms, it's not big. >> it's minimal. you can make upwards of millions per role. >> and maybe all that $65,000 doesn't come home. >> of course, you have agents and stylists and they're not paying for that. you can't work during awards season, but we heard he was cast for another movie.

>> nominations help. and he's looking for work. another thing that struck us as interesting, isaiah washington, who famously it was a huge exit when he left "grey's anatomy" in 2007. >> 2007. >> after a fight on set, and then he used some homophobic slurs. now, he's actually coming back to "grey's anatomy." how did this happen and what's the circumstance? >> chandra said he has to bring his character back because sandra oh's character is leaving and they were a love interest. she wanted her story to be full circle, so that's why she's bringing him back. and actually, surprisingly, they support this. they say in the seven years he's been fired, he's done so much to support the lbgt community and has done outreach about, you know, same-sex marriage and they support it, say all is forgiven. so, it's about coming full circle for the characters and for the viewers. >> now the big headline, "sharknado's" back. >> "sharknado's back," are we having a viewing party? >> yeah.

>> are you hosting? >> sure! hey, guess what, dave, we're having people over. >> july 31st. and "sharknado's" hitting new york this time. >> oh, great! >> l.a. got it last time. we're scared. same cast. >> we'll look for it all, just take cover here in new york. alicia, great to see you. you can catch alicia on "e" newsweek nights at 7:00/6:00 central. up next, it's jenna's latest challenge to move you out of your comfort zone when it comes to your workout, but first, this is "today" on nbc. ♪

okay, so, we're back on a saturday morning with our series "30 days to a better you." we are eight days into this challenge, and we want to say a huge thank you to the more than 125,000 people who have already signed up on today.com. i love each and every one of you. thank you for taking part in this challenge. it's all about shaking things up, shaking up your fitness

routine today. that is honestly one of the most important parts of any routine, mixing things up, making your body work harder for you. and for me, that means trying something i've wanted to do for a long time now but have not had the guts to do it. ready for it? hip-hop dancing. my experience was humbling, and that is an understatement, but beyond that, i worked my tail off doing something new. this is pretty routine, dylan, isn't it? >> i'm bored to tears, jenna. >> reporter: as with almost anything, routine breeds routine, especially at the gym. if you're getting bored, your muscles probably are as well. your body will do exactly what it needs to do to give you what you want. so, what do you do? well, one, you could change the order. if you always do cardio before strength training, swap the two. not excited enough? how about signing up for a new class? do something your muscles aren't used to. they will have to work harder. they won't have to think harder. and you'll eventually end up burning more calories in the

process. all i know of hip-hop is like -- and that little nugget of wisdom brings us here. to broadway dance center in new york city, for my first ever -- wait for it -- hip-hop class. here's why i want to do this. when you guys dance, there's something about the way that you effortlessly move and get your body to do things. >> it's a social dance, right? so, it's not about just replicating someone else's moves perfectly, it's about expressing yourself and having an original style. >> reporter: original, yes. style, not so much. i mean, look at my competition! they're intimidating! but i had always wanted to try this, and i knew i'd get a workout out of it, so i figured win-win, right? is this anything? i feel like that's something. oh, boy. this is very extensive stretching. and that was just the warm-up. finally, something i can do. mind you, i was already in a sweat. it's not because i wasn't in good shape, it was because i

wasn't in this shape. it's called muscle confusion. keep your muscles guessing so they're exposed to new things and will be forced to work harder. it's always a good idea to change up the routine every three to four weeks. all right, this is good. i can do this. as for the hip-hop, it might have been a little too much change. my body just doesn't move like all these other people. i think i need private lessons. so, in the end, i may not have mastered the art of freestyle dance, it was a good -- well, it was a fair -- all right, it was a terrible start, but i tried something new, and while my muscles reaped the benefits, my hip-hop career did not. [ laughter ] all that was, all that was was a free pass to look absolutely ridiculous. >> i like this move. this is great. >> that was a move -- that was a hip-hop move i picked up, freestyle, but never did that before, so my muscles had to do

something new, so they worked harder. i was sweating at the end of that. so, try something new. >> that looked hard. >> we were inspired. in fact, we'll do something that's not normally our routine part of exercise, a trampoline workout. we have the owner of jump life trampoline studio in new york. good to have you on. >> thank you. >> we're going to mount -- we'll just get -- >> what? >> we're going to get on these. >> just ignore that one. >> you'll get on here, you get on here. >> i'll get on this one. >> i'll get in the middle. >> what are we going to do? >> i think jumping's involved. >> here, lester, you're in front. >> hey! >> is this rebounding or something different? >> similar to rebounding. >> show us some workouts. >> what we're going to do is take it into half jacks, then we're going to go into jumping jacks and then right into a sprint. >> okay. >> here we go, stomp out, make sure your knees are nice and soft. >> okay. >> that's the secret to rebounding. >> good thing i'm not pregnant anymore! >> three, two, one, here bego,

ready? for eight, seven, six -- stay low -- five, four, three -- >> that hurts. >> -- two. take it into your jog. take it into your jog for eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. let's sprint it. let's go! eight, seven, six, five, four, three -- widen the stance. eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. back to your jog. >> wow. ♪ i'm feeling that in the quad. >> and the gluts, the quads, the hamstrings. all right, stomp it out again. >> how popular is this? >> very popular. >> what are the benefits to doing this? is it better for your knees? >> it's low impact, so you have no stress on your joints. apart from it being a lot of fun. >> all right, thanks very much! >> for balance. thank you. >> great having you on. >> thank you. >> we'll be back after this. ♪

honestly? i wanted a smartphone that shoots great video. so i got the new nokia lumia icon. it's got 1080p video, three times zoom, and a twenty-megapixel sensor. it's got the brightest display, so i can see what i'm shooting -- even outdoors, and 4 mics that capture incredible sound. plus, it has apps like vine -- and free cloud storage. my new lumia icon is so great, even our wipeouts look amazing. ♪ honestly, i want to see you be brave ♪ ♪ ♪ that is going to do it for us on this saturday morning. coming up tomorrow on "today," jenna leads a boot camp right here on the plaza, here in new york. >> awesome. >> come join us. >> sign up. just

coming up next, rescue crews continue to desperately search for the missing mane from malaysia carrying more than 200 people including three americans. what searchers spotted from the sky this morning. and jail time for watering? one bay area county is proposing extreme measures for people who don't conserve during the drought. and ride-sharing companies accused of discrimination. [ sports announcer ] here's another one, alyson dudek.

hales corners, wisconsin. nice pass by alyson dudek. can she hang on to that spot? and she does! [ male announcer ] with the u-verse wireless receiver, your tv goes where you take it, allowing inspiration to follow. ♪ [ dad ] looks pretty good, right? [ girl ] yeah. [ male announcer ] switch to u-verse and add a wireless receiver today.

♪ good morning, folks. we're watching the eastern span of the bay bridge disappear there in the low cloud cover there as we capture it from our emeryville camera looking towards the city. thanks for joining us this morning, i'm kris sanchez along with meteorologist anthony slaughter. in the south bay there's a big little league opening day ceremony planned for some kids. they going to be okay weatherwise? >> it will be great. no problems on the weather

front. you can enjoy it. we'll have high pollen levels the other thing to keep in mind. the sunshine and the 70s makes for a beautiful weekend. you can see looking from the skycam sk sky camera, fogged in but we'll see it burn off and the visibility starting to decrease the last hour or so as the fog has started to form. 1:00 approaching 70 degrees in san francisco. let's take you to the east bay and show you what it's looking like from the oakland skyc sky camera. a lot of sunshine. and the sunshine will be with us all day long. pollen levels those will be a little high but other than that, temperatures will be above average by about 5 to 7 degrees in places like san francisco at 70 today. 73 in the south bay. 75 for the north bay and the east bay valleys. we are tracking the next system that's already starting to make its effects felt across the bay area. the high, thin clouds the brush-off from the next storm you can see approaching the coastline. we'll talk about when the rain