>> thanks for joining us here at 5:00. brian williams is next. >> we'll see you at 6:00. on our broadcast tonight, lost at sea, devastating news for the families of flight 370. a heart-wrenching announcement about what happened to their loved ones. without warning, now more than 100 on the list of those unaccounted for in washington state where there is real concern about a risi death toll after that massive mudslide. oil disaster. the race to contain the damage and save the wildlife as an environmental emergency plays out tonight in texas. and cinderella. there has already been more than one this year. it turns out there is a reason they call it march madness. "nightly news" begins now. good evening. the government of malaysia has

officially decided all hope is lost, all lives have been lost. no survivors will be found from the missing boeing 777 and that makes this a recovery operation and no longer a rescue. the government says according to all the new available data the flight ended in the southern indian ocean. and so the massive search continues over that massive and violently boisterous body of water. for the families this was a crushing declaration of death without hard evidence of it. it is where we begin tonight our coverage of this story with nbc's tom costello in our washington bureau. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. this is the area in the southern indian ocean 1500 miles off the coast of perth, australia, where satellites and searchers have been focused, and now they're pretty confident that this plane did indeed start in kuala lumpur and travel all the way to the bottom of the earth.

the new evidence say the experts is compelling. flight 370 likely crashed in the waters 1500 miles southwest of perth, australia. the malaysian prime minister says the data is conclusive. >> therefore, with deep sadness and regret i must confirm you that flight 370 ended in the southern indian ocean. >> reporter: engineers at inmarsat and boeing went back to refine the data from the faint pings transmitted by flight 370 and picked up by satellite over the course of six hours on march 8th. combined with the last known heading, speed, and altitude, the so-called doppler effect convinced the experts that the 777 had flown deep into the indian ocean. >> if you can imagine the train whistle getting louder as it comes toward and you and fainter as it goes away from you. we're looking into that data to

decide where the aircraft was on a particular path. >> reporter: in that area earlier today, chinese photographed what they say looked like large pieces of debris, just outside the designated search zone. but a u.s. p-8 aircraft sent to investigate found nothing. then australian air crews dropped a smoke flare on something they had seen. >> the objects were underneath the surface, visually. >> reporter: all of the spottings are within the area where australian then chinese satellites identified possible debris over the past week. but ultimately experts say it may be up to submersible robots like those from the woods hole team to systematically search the ocean floor for wreckage. the challenge, winter is just weeks away, and the southern indian ocean will soon become treacherous. >> the problem with that is it makes either towing vehicles which you need to do to search

for aircraft or launch the robots, it makes that stuff almost impossible and no work gets done. >> reporter: the u.s. navy is now sending in a small mini unmanned sub, along with a pinger located that will be towed by a ship. the job will be to listen for the pinger coming off the emergency locater transmitter they hope with the pinger on the black box. the trouble is they have to shrink the search zone down considerably before they start looking and listening for this. brian? >> of course any debris seen now has already drifted hundreds of miles. tom costello in our washington bureau starting us off, thank you. and now, for the family members of those on flight 370, none of us can imagine how they have been able to make it through each day of not knowing. that's why today's announcement was a crushing blow both for what it said and how it was said. nbc's keir simmons is in kuala lumpur for us tonight. keir, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. after today's announcement, it was a terrible loss for many of the families.

some chinese families accused the malaysians of murdering their loved ones as others tried to simply make sense of this terrible loss. family members overwhelmed by grief. this woman who had lost so much was inconsolable. many first heard the news by text message. then in a private meeting. it left them in tears. others were furious at officials and the media swarming around them so soon after they heard that flight 370 was gone forever. nbc's eunice eun was with family members in beijing. >> i saw people crying and wailing and absolutely devastated by the fact that their families were gone. >> reporter: in kuala lumpur, grieving families listened to the prime minister's announcement in disbelief. this person's 29-year-old son

was on flight 370. "it's my worst fear," he said. his family had no warning today. >> reporter: you didn't even get a e-mail or anything? >> no, no. >> reporter: relatives around the world receiving the news they dreaded. >> it is not the answer we wanted. but it is an answer, and it does help to know that we know something. >> reporter: philip wood's brother, tom, tried to make the best of it. >> it is better than nothing. i'll tell you that. now we can start to have some closure. >> reporter: but others tonight are struggling with grief. and unanswered questions. in his own statement, malaysian airlines said they have been at the heart of ever action taken, brian. they told the majority of the

families by telephone, not by text or in person. brian? >> keir simmons in kuala lumpur, where the flight originated. keir, thanks. as we saw at the top of the broadcast, the tempo of daily search flights has picked up now over this vast and remote area of southern indian ocean, looking for any clue to what happened with this missing plane. nbc's bill neely was on one of those flights today, a u.s. navy p-8 that at times flew about as close as you can safely operate to the surface of the water. he is back on the ground in perth, australia tonight. bill, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. yes, i was on board a very, very dramatic flight, a u.s. navy plane that took off from here. we were about six hours into the flight when we got a message to divert immediately. chinese and australian planes we were flying along had just seen some debris. so we dropped to 200 feet. remember, this is a boeing 737. you and i fly it at 35,000 feet. it had never flown so low.

cameras weren't allowed on board, so i have to tell you what happened next. it was all eyes on. five radar operators looking at their screens, two spotters on either side of the plane, staring out the window, three pilots at the front scouring the ocean. the problem was the visibility was appalling, a low sea fog that even at 200 feet made seeing the ocean very, very difficult. we did get two or three confirmed radar hits but no visuals. the search continues today. but that was for that u.s. crew, about as low as they could possibly go. brian? >> bill neely back on dry land in perth, australia as a new day breaks there. bill, thanks. back in this country, grim news from the pacific northwest. there are now over 100 names on the list of people missing or unaccounted for after a massive landslide. here is what this vacation area we're talking about looked like before and then after the slide

that demolished nearly 50 structures, wiping them out in an instant. tonight we're getting our first look at all of it from the air. we begin our team of reporting with nbc's joe fryer. he's at the scene in washington today. joe, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the death toll has risen to 14 after six more bodies were found today. meantime, search teams are trying to figure out how many people were in their homes when the mudslide hit and how many were on state route 530 which is now covered with mud. it is not an easy task. and there is some confusion over how many are still missing. the ground that once supported this vast rural neighborhood has now buried it. mud covers one square mile, measuring as deep as 20 feet in some places. inside the slide zone before it hit, officials say there were about 50 homes or rvs, half of them occupied full-time, now wiped out. many of the people missing were

on steelhead drive where this navy commander lived with his wife. >> john is 32 years in the navy. if somebody can survive it is him. >> reporter: also missing from steelhead drive, amanda lennock and the man who was installing her water heater, steven neal. >> we just have to think he is somewhere and he is safe and they just can't reach him right thousand. >> reporter: authorities are still trying to determine how many are missing, there are 108 reports of people who are unaccounted for. but some of those reports are vague and many could be duplicates. >> we're still in a rescue mode at this time. however, i want to let everyone know that the situation is very grim. >> reporter: weeks of unrelenting rain triggered the mudslide saturday morning. that night rescuers could hear cries from people who were trapped but couldn't be reached. they have heard no cries since. today, rescue crews searched the scene, even using a hover crash but had to pull back in case another slide could hit. at the oso fire station, the flag is at half staff. a firefighter's wife and

4-month-old granddaughter are among the missing. so is librarian linda mcpherson. >> this has changed my life in many ways. it's devastating. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: mcpherson's family did receive one glimmer of hope when their chocolate lab buddy was pulled from the rubble 100 yards from their home. >> we needed a win. so -- >> reporter: one win in a place overcome by loss. joe fryer, nbc news, oso, washington. >> i'm miguel almaguer over oso. on this clear day, we have a perfect perspective of the damage. one square mile of debris to 500 football fields worth of destruction. it just goes on and on. at least two communities, both over 100 years old, were demolished by the mudslide.

dozens of homes are damaged or destroyed. we believe this is steelhead drive, the street, the community that took the brunt of the damage. this is the area where first responders heard cries for help for 12 hours. they just couldn't reach everybody. this isn't the first time this mountain has given way. eight years ago it buckled in the exact same place just not up at this scale. folks who lived here never thought they would see something like that. shortly after the mudslide, crews were worried about this river. the mud was blocking the flow and they were worried about catastrophic flooding down stream. those concerns have now eased. crews in the air and on the ground have been spending hours looking for victims. but their job is dangerous. there is concern another mudslide could be triggered. so they're being asked to pull back.

miguel almaguer, nbc news, 6,000 feet above oso, washington. >> it's important for scope and perspective. and you can see more of our aerial reporting from above the scene at this devastation on our website tonight, nbcnews.com. a big headline from overseas today that the g-8 is going back to the g-7. the leaders of a group of industrialized nations, including the u.s. have voted to kick russia out in response to what happened in crimea. meeting in the netherlands, part of the overseas trip that will take him to meet also with pope francis. a scary scene early this morning in a concourse that will look familiar to some veteran travelers. this happened at chicago o'hare. an eight-car commuter train jumped the tracks, landed on top of the escalators leading to the terminals above. 32 people were injured in all, though none of them seriously, thankfully.

transit union officials say they're looking into the possibility that the train's operator may have dozed off before the accident. still ahead on monday night, an emergency mission to contain the damage in texas. an unfolding and environmental disaster in the water. an unfolding environmental distancer in the water. it's bedtime! your mattress is a battleground of thwarted desire. in the water. in the water. in the water. a in the water. s in the water. disaste in the wat. he's the softy. his sleep number setting is 35. you're the rock, at 60. and snoring? sleep number's even got an adjustment for that. find your sleep number setting only at a sleep number store. know better sleep with sleep number. i knew how it felt to be trapped with no restroom in sight. overactive bladder,

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so maybe we need to approach things differently, if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪ neely, neel it was 25 years ago today it was 25 years ago today one of the worst environmental disasters in world history, the exxon valdez, the massive tanker carrying 53 million gallons of crude, struck a reef, unleashed millions putting toxic sludge into the area, devastating the marine life. it has never recovered. meanwhile, a genuine disaster is playing out in texas, after the collision of a ship in the barge, the ship was in the channel, connecting galveston bay. oil has been found offshore. all shipping has been stopped in one of the busiest seaports in this country. our houston-based correspondent janet shamlian is there for us

tonight. >> reporter: the houston ship channel, among the world's busiest sea ports at a stand still for a third day, as 160,000 gallons of a thick fuel oil spilled during a barge collision hit the beach of defense and as far as 12 miles offshore. there is no set timetable for reopening. >> unified command must be assured that the stretches of previously impacted area no longer present a risk of further oiling. in other words, we have to have clean water. >> reporter: even with 13 miles of containment boom in the water and dozens of ships skimming, it has seeped into an important bird refuge at a sensitive time, mating season. we're out here looking at the shore with u.s. wildlife officials, and already they're seeing the impacts on wildlife. the ecological toll looks like this, an oil-covered loon at the water's edge. this one still has a chance, but odds are slim, and thousands more are at risk.

>> we estimate that we have something like that 100,000 birds that migrate through here at any one time. >> reporter: the spill has paralyzed the port. more than 80 vessels are waiting to get either in or out, include league cruise ships and their thousands of passengers. >> a bad accident. we don't need any more pollution than we already have. >> reporter: the region is home to eight refineries which rely on a steady stream of crews which arrive by waterway. there will be a big cost to consumer. >> the longer the ship channel is down the bigger the impact will be on diesel and gas supplies in the u.s. >> reporter: tonight, the oil is washing ashore on tourist beaches like this one in galveston while the vesselious see trying to get into the ship channel. they could be waiting for days. brian? janet shamlian in galveston for us tonight, janet, thanks. we're back in a moment with the surprising admission from the former leader of the free world. rom the former leader of the free world.

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his was one of those faces we've seen hundreds of times, a ubiquitous character actor from so many of the films and tv shows we love. james rebhorn has died and is being remembered tonight for the quality of his work, most recently in the series "homeland." we will also remember him from films like "meet the parents" and "independence day." he had over 50 movies to his name, countless tv shows. additionally he was an active and gifted stage actor. he was a native of philly who briefly considered becoming a minister. his edge regret about his own career, as he put it, he always played a guy in a suit. rebhorn fought melanoma since 1992. he died at home at the age of 65. weather forecasters these days are not only predicting well out in advance but they're using terminology we never used to hear. it was last week on this broadcast when we first reported the national weather service prediction of a nor'easter bomb for later this week. while the predicted track has

changed it looks like places like the cape and down east maine will get blizzard conditions with a foot of windswept snow or more. places like new york and hartford, more like one to three inches, but those from about providence on north should probably pay special attention starting tomorrow. it probably says something about the society we live in and the freedoms we've given up that a former president says he sends important communications by letter, on paper, but he is sure he is being spied on by the nsa. in an interview with andrea mitchell, jimmy carter says he either types the letter or hand writes it and mails it himself, especially condolence correspondence to foreign leaders. first lady michelle obama, her mother and both daughters continue a whirlwind tour of china, taking in the sights. they have walked along a section of the great wall. they have visited the incredible

terra cotta army of 6,000 strong. and the first lady has jumped rope by local invitation. tomorrow in chengdu they will meet with students, then wednesday they will visit a major panda research facility. when we come back on a monday night, the thrill of victory. stunned reactions across this country on one of the wildest weekends in years. stunning game in one of the wildest weekends in years. i had to do something. i saw my doctor. a blood test showed it was low testosterone, not age. we talked about axiron the only underarm low t treatment that can restore t levels to normal in about two weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these symptoms to your doctor. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer,

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college basketball about this time of year. about hearing those bands but mostly, it's about the giant killers and the new giants that emerge with every march madness. after your bracket gets destroyed, why not just enjoy the action? millions of fans have decided to do just that. we get our report tonight from nbc's stephanie gosk. >> goes ahead and takes it. >> incredible! >> reporter: kentucky and wichita state battled it out in a real nail-biter. >> that gives kentucky the lead. >> reporter: down to the buzz were a final three-pointer for the win that just missed. the undefeated shockers who thought this was their year were knocked out. pure madness. 64 teams compete and 63 suffer the same heartbreak. some lose in upsets, a towel over the head can't get off the bench kind of loss. but an upset could just as easily be called the victory of a lifetime, a jump in the air, tackle the guy next to you kind of win.

few predicted mercer's win over duke, the university from macon georgia ruined the bracket predictions across the country. >> i think people miss that in professional sports, the unbridled pure joy of kids barely old enough to shave celebrating an unpredicted win. >> reporter: 11 seed dayton had no business beating third seed syracuse. so at 3:00 in the morning in ohio, thousands of students stayed up to greet the team, along with the university president, proof that the enthusiasm is only partially explained by youth. on dayton's campus today, cinderella clearly is still at the ball. >> the slipper fits right now, we're cinderella, that is fine with us. >> reporter: for the first time in almost 30 years, dayton is one of the sweet 16, who hopes to be one of the final four who dreams of being the last team standing.

>> somebody is going to make it, why not us? >> reporter: pure madness, stephanie gosk, nbc news new york. and that is our broadcast for this monday night during the madness as we start off a new week. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we certainly hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. just about time because i requested this to be done since the beginning of 2011, 2012. >> she's among dozens of people who believe there is something toxic on treasure island. they believe the navy is reversing its position on radiation on treasure island. good evening. i'm jessica aguirre.

>> i'm raj mathai. the navy will test for radiation under all homes on treasure island. this is after we exposed the possible coverup. vicky nguyen, this is a beautiful yet controversial piece of the bay area. >> where dozens of people live. that's what we're hearing tonight this decision by the navy contradicts what the government has been saying to the public for years, that there is no reason to worry and no evidence of radiation where people are currently living. but as we first reported in december, a well-known radiation expert hired to test soil on the island said he found radiation in multiple locations. in an exclusive interview with nbc bay area, contractor don said he found high levels of radiation where the navy said there was. when you first arrived, the navy said there was no