good thursday morning. coming up on "early today," disaster toll. the number of missing or unaccounted for drops as pain turns to grief. papal visit. just hours ago, president obama meets with pope francis for first time at the vatican. nine alarm tragedy. two firefighters pay the ultimate price battling a massive fire. plus, search suspended as another storm stymies search efforts for malaysian flight 370. and a legal decision that could impact college sports forever. it's thursday, march 27th. "early today" starts right now. and good morning. i'm richard lui. president obama is at the

vatican for his historic first meeting with pope francis right now. let's get right to nbc white house correspondent peter alexander. he's at the vatican. peter, good morning. this is the first meeting between the two men. >> reporter: richard good morning to you. a short time ago president obama wrapped up his first visit with pope francis. these are two pivotal figures, of course. the first african-american president, first latin american pope, the world's most popular political leader meeting the world's most powerful religious leader here. there is a lot they share, and also some differences between these two men. we're waiting to hear statements from both the white house and the vatican to get a better sense of exactly what took place in the course of that conversation. one of the real shared interests that the president has been focusing on, he's discussed the inspiration that this pope has provided people around the world with his focus on inclusion and equality. the issue of income equality is one of the signature issues for president obama, certainly a topic he's likely to have

discussed in the course of their meeting. afterward, president obama, this is the ceremony taking place, following it, is where some of the business gets done so to speak. president obama after a visit with pope francis will meet with national security adviser susan rice and secretary of state john kerry alongside the vatican secretary's of state. the president meets with italy's leaders and has a tour of the coliseum. richard? >> peter alexander, thank you. searchers press on in what has become an overwhelmingly emotional effort to find victims of the deadly mudslide in washington state. new animation here showing the hill and how it was battered by days of rain. that water loosening the soil and raising the river level below, resulting in a wall of mud that could fill 11 empire state buttings on to the neighborhood below. official say the mud is as high as 30 to 40 feet in some places. jennifer bjorklund has the latest. >> reporter: from an enormous search area, staggering numbers,

90 people now are missing and unaccounted for. authorities say that is a firm number now. and 35 others likely were in the area and can't be ruled out among victims. the word that more bodies were recovered, they're not counted until they arrive at the medical examiner eef examiner's office. >> we need to take a step back and look at the magnitude of what happened, the debris field is huge. it is complex. it is dangerous. and i don't think we have a lot of answers. all i can definitively say is we have a number that is 90 and wee going to pursue it as much as we can. >> reporter: cell phone video from dane brunner still searching for his missing sister. >> you find cars that are basically compacted to the size of a washing machine, it's pretty much alleviates all hope. >> reporter: a firefighter from oso lost his wife and grandchild, his stepdaughter says while his mother's body has

been recovered, her 4-month-old baby girl is still missing. >> i lost my mother. i lost my baby. and my mom, she's the most beautiful woman. she's in a good place. she didn't die this horrific death. she died and she has my baby with her. >> reporter: jennifer bjorklund, nbc news, arlington, washington. and boston's mayor says words can in the do justice to the grief the city is feeling right now after a fierce 9 alarm fire killed two firefighters. the blaze trapped them in the basement of a brown stone apartment building late wednesday. 33-year-old michael kennedy, a marine corvette ran, and 43-year-old edward walsh are described as heroes. combined, both had more than 15 years of fire fighting experience. 13 other firefighters were injured and several police

officers were taken to hospitals from that incident. but none of the buildings' residents was hurt there. 40 to 50-mile-an-hour winds fed that fast moving blaze. fire officials say it appears to be an accident. what was he thinking moments before being saved by houston firemen? well, construction worker curtis reissig climbed on to a rescue ladder seconds before burning apartment wall collapsed only feet away from him. he said among many things, he could feel his skin burning as he escaped from the fifth floor. >> i said, god, you got to save me, get me out of here. i'm not a hero. i was saving my own skin. here yoes are the firemen that k their lives to save us. >> coming up on "today," an interview with reissig and the fireman that saved him before that catastrophe. the charlotte of north carolina resigned right after he was arrested and charged with taking massive cash bribes.

patrick cannon was in office fewer than six months. if convicted, he faces up to 50 years in prison. then in california, state senator lee li was arrested for bribery, corruption and gun trafficking. he was picked up dure a massive fbi sting involving 26 defendants. if convicted, yee could face more than 100 years in prison. meteorologist bill karins going to join us right now. let's look at this first here, bill. this weatherman, chris scott, i don't know if you've been in situations like this -- >> not like that. >> hurricane force winds blowing him over -- you know what to worry about that, but this is all caught on camera, that strong gust knocking him over. >> 100 to 120-mile-per-hour winds and that was the chief meteorologist for the canadian national network, almost like our weather channel. and that was his goal. he wanted to stand in that storm in the canadian maritimes at 100-mile-per-hour winds. >> here you see him, here you

don't, right? >> yeah. in the west we continue with our soggy forecast. that hasn't changed this march. now over 8 inches of the seattle tacoma airport. still raining, raining in portland. we continue with this very soggy weather pattern. it looks like another shot of rain after this storm. looks like as we go into friday morning too. the heaviest rain now situated -- look at the portland area, yellows and reds in there, some heavier rain. looks like snow in the highest elevations too. to the south, we had some reports of showers, not a lot weather in california. yesterday, we had that tornado or that funnel cloud there near the sacramento area. so we did have a couple of isolated strong thunderstorms and as far as today goes, we will see additional showers. i mentioned that next shot of rain coming in on friday. looks like another inch of rain possible with that bout and that storm. really no big clearing behind even that storm system. so for today, the heaviest rain is around portland this morning. and it does look like we'll clear it out in much of california today. won't be as bad as yesterday.

we'll talk more about the weekend forecast coming up. >> rain in northern california, like it. >> a little bit. a new planet near our neighborhood discovered. plus, a huge decision that could change the face of college sports forever. we'll tell you about it. ♪ ♪ [ girl ] roses are red. violets are blue. splenda® is sweet. and so are you. [ female announcer ] just about anywhere you use sugar, you can use splenda® no calorie sweetener. ♪ splenda® lets you experience the joy of sugar without all the calories. it's a very good reason to enjoy something sweet with the ones you love.

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for half price. ♪ h-o-t-w-i-r-e ♪ hotwire.com i can't believe your mom has a mom cave! today i have new campbell's chunky spicy chicken quesadilla soup. she gives me chunky before every game. i'm very souperstitious. haha, that's a good one! haha! [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right. weather is yet again halting the desperate search for missing flight 370 in the southern indian ocean. we just learned of new satellite spottings. the geoinformatics agency says a thai satellite has detected 300 objects near the search area. nbc's ian williams is in perth,

australia, for us this morning. ian, good morning. these images are not satisfying families of those on the flight. has their anger at malaysia saying all are dead affected the search here at all that you've seen? >> reporter: well, richard, it is not clear at this point whether these latest images have been received by the malaysians. these reports have come out of thailand this afternoon saying that their satellite or one of their satellites spotted at least 300 objects down there in the southern indian ocean, objects of varying sizes. it is not clear whether these images have been passed on to the malaysians and then to the australians down here because neither of those have yet reacted to the new thai images. also, a slight word of caution, in these initial reports it describes this debris as being around 120, 130 miles from where a french satellite saw 120 odd

items in the water. but the french satellite spotted it the day before. and it is hard to see how these could be the same items because 120 miles is a long way to travel overnight. but either way, of course, this will be fresh ammunition, fresh things for the search to work with, when it resumes. today, of course, it was suspended because of bad weather. crews reporting severe turbulence in the air and almost zero visibility. they did take off this morning, but had to turn around pretty much as soon as they got out there. some ships remained in the search area, but they haven't seen anything as yet. clearly another set of satellite images, which, of course, will be factored into the search, but the weather is still bad and it is still not clear at this point whether those aircraft will be able to take to the skies tomorrow, richard. >> ian williams, perth, australia, 7:00 p.m. there, thank you for the latest. also making news this

morning, a son-in-law of osama bin laden was convicted of conspireing to kill americans by a federal jury in manhattan on wednesday. sulaiman abu ghaith faces life in prison for his crimes. the sentencing is set for september 8th. abu ghaith's lawyer promised he would appeal that verdict. college athletics may change forever. the national labor relations board said northwestern university football players should have the right to unionize. players now have the option to be represented by the college athletes players association. northwestern officials say they will appeal that decision. this milestone ruling could alter the way scholarships are handled in private schools. a possible new dwarf planet announced by astronomers wednesday. one that is pink in color and 7.5 billion miles from the sun. 2012 dp 113 jokingly referred to as biden is a ways past pluto and has a temperature of around minus 430 degrees. we thought we had it cold here

in the northeast. in health news, new cdc data on the number of hospital infections. about one in 25 patients in the u.s. acquired an infection in 2011. pneumonia and surgery wounds were the most common types. the number is down slightly from the last released figures in 2002. "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil, the experts in intimate health. coming to business for you on a thursday morning, cnbc reporting that specialty gadget chain brookstone is expected to file for bankruptcy as soon as sunday. brookstone operates 300 stores and could be purchased by the owner of spencer gifts. connecticut passed legislation and will make it the first in the country with a minimum wage of $10.10 an hour. the governor will sign the bill today which will take effect in 2017. taco bell, pulling a fast one on mcdonald's. starting today, the fast food mexican restaurant will use everyday people named ronald

mcdonald in their ads to promote their new breakfast menu. according to the labor department, americans born in the 1980s have averaged more than six jobs each between the ages of 18 and 26. like to move around. just ahead, an update on the health of jim kelly. and bill cosby says the darnedest thing when he gets together with jimmy fallon. we'll play them and show them to you. ♪ wow! what?! it looks delicious. i didn't work out this morning. i should try it? that's pretty tasty. sausage, egg and cheese. this is from special k? no way! that changes things.

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all right, now to sports. all they can think about is the playoffs. and all they can think about is they just don't like each other. miami at indiana is what i'm talking about. miami down by four. lebron james on the floor. he rolls the ball, chris bosh gets it, gets the three. that schoolyard play followed by a schoolyard shoving match. later, there is the match, i mean, there is the shoving. later, paul george gets the dunk. that's what indiana needed. despite lance stevenson getting ejected after yet another verbal scuffle, indiana eked out a win, 84-83. to the brooklyn at charlotte game. the charlotte bobcats honoring purple heart recipient marine lance corporal josh morgan. he got a mortgage free house, he had a medical retirement because of an ied injury.

a somber night in boston, the celtics with a moment of silence for two fallen firefighters, 43-year-old father of three lieutenant edward walsh and 43-year-old michael kennedy as we were telling you earlier died battling an apartment fire on wednesday. former buffalo bills quarterback jim killy will proceed with chemotherapy and radiation instead of surgery. his wife says doctors believe his cancer is in an area where surgery will not work so well. the doctors saying the hall of famer's condition remains very treatable and potentially curable. a lot of folks hoping for that. the boston red sox go full on patriotic. according to a team tweet, jonny gomes picked out the star-spangled blazers. you like them? that's for the world series champs' visit to the white house. they even have one for the president. and some extreme kayaking. this is a 40 foot waterfall. the red bull riders claim these mexican waterfalls have never seen a kayak before. i will leave that on the scene,

if i were them. the boston red sox go, as i was saying, and do some amazing things. up next for you, just ahead, a multimillion dollar divorce in the world of country music. we have details of that next for you. [ water splashing ] [ woman ] ahh. [ female announcer ] bright, juicy white grapefruit, infused with herbaceous, fresh mint. new herbal essences naked shampoo. no silicone, parabens, or dyes. [ wind whispering ] there's nothing to hide. bare your softest hair with new herbal essences naked collection. [ woman ] ahh. even the ends of my hair are tingling. ♪ [ female announcer ] let your hair get naked. herbal essences. [ ding ] [ female announcer ] let your hair get naked. so, if you're what ysleeping in your is youcontact lenses,

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towards the end of the weekend. today, we're dealing more with the showers and the rain, especially this morning, right around the portland area. as we go into friday, it looks like this next storm will be located out here, it will send another shot of rain towards the coastal areas. and then by the time we get to saturday, this storm may start to drift further to the south, more concentrated. if we're going to get anything into southern california, sunday would be our best bet. we'll track it for you and watch it in the days ahead. >> with the amount of rain in the northwest, they need a huge aqueduct from there going down to california right now. >> we could use that. >> the northwesterners -- >> if we can get them in here, let's do it. for entertainment news, country superstar trace adkins and his wife wanda are divorcing after 16 years of marriage. wanda is asking for custody of their three children. adkins reportedly has a net worth of over $16 million. l'wren scott left her entire state to mick jagger. the two have been together for 12 years. her estimated value of her

estate is $9 million. bill cosby stopped by the tonight show last night to show off his daredevil side. watch this. >> you're going to try to tight rope walk. we put a piece of tape on a studio floor. and this has never been done before. you're going to tight rope walk across the floor. >> now, you -- >> here we go. here we go. are we there yet? >> i think jimmy is 230. >> no, no. he's not heavy, but not small either. >> bill cosby, 76 years old, my friends. he's still looking strong. >> 76, i would have crumbled. >> that's right. we're much younger, we would have trouble. i'm richard lui this is "early today." we hope it is first top of the day here on nbc. don't try that at home, by the way. [ male announcer ] let the rich robust flavor and irresistible aroma of nescafe clasico stir what's inside of you.

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leading the news on yahoo.com, "titanic" survivors sparked interest on reddit. stirring discussions around the world. and in "the washington post," secret service incident in netherlands were on the heels of car wreck during obama's miami trip. the agency was on high alert following an incident of two agents suspected of an alcohol-induced car accident. in the news this morning, we're getting a new look at just what happened in the deadly mudslide in washington state when the hill gave way. it sent a mountain of mud on to the neighborhood below. 16 people confirmed dead. the city of boston is mourning the loss of two firefighters killed in a fast moving blaze wednesday. 13 other firefighters were injured in the apartment building fire.

boston's mayor saying words cannot do justice to the grief that the city is feeling right now. weather is yet again halting the desperate search for missing flight 370. we're learning of new satellite spottings. the agency saying a thai satellite it owns has detected 300 objects near the search area. well, what better way to end the trip to china than to see giant pandas, right? the first lady and daughters observed pandas at a research facility. they didn't do much besides sit around and eat. >> that's what they do. >> i forget how much they eat. >> like cows. eat grass all day. that's what pandas do with bamboo. 12-year-old sasha cracking a smile for a split second at least. malia on the other hand was having none of that. mom is like why are they eating so much? >> the gorillas are a little more entertaining. let's be honest. the pandas are cute, especially the little babies.

>> they're cute. that lasted all of 60 seconds. time for a look ahead and a look back. the sweet 16 matchups in the ncaa tournament, those are under way today. for the west, arizona against san diego state. baylor takes on wisconsin. dayton takes on stanford. and florida takes on ucla. who do you like? >> baylor. >> ucla. on this day in 1998, the food and drug administration approves viagra to treat male impotence. happy birthday to nathan fillian, 43. multigrammy winning singer mariah carey 44. and quentin tarantino, 51. keep it here for more news, weather and sports. i'm richard lui with bill karins. with the entire "early today" te team, thank you for watching.

let's start our day with a live look outside right now. san francisco and downtown san jose. the bulk of the rain on its way out of the bay area, but another strong spring storm is on its way in. a very good morning to you. thanks for joining us. 4:30 now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. lots to get to this morning. let's first check that forecast with meteorologist christina loren. good morning. >> hey laura, good morning to you, everybody at home. yeah, we still have lingering activity on the radar but really some severe weather rolled through northern california yesterday. you may just be hearing this for the first time but four tornado reports near sacramento. we're going to talk about that this morning and what the possibility of anything