this morning, breaking overnight, earthquake in los angeles. a 5.1-magnitude quake rattles nerves, sending items flying off store shelves, even shuts down the rides at disneyland. the tremors felt in the middle of a dodgers exhibition game. >> we might be experiencing an earthquake here rumbling through dodger stadium right now. >> this is the second earthquake there in two weeks, and it has some people asking, are more on the way? getting closer? more debris spotted from the air today in the search for malaysia air flight 370. several ships now headed to that area and could be there in a matter of hours. we're live with the latest. and unbreakable bond. the unlikely friendship between a college basketball player and

a little girl battling cancer, melting hearts everywhere. and with a big win last night, their magical journey together is still going strong today, saturday, march 29th, 2014. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with lester holt and erica hill, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a saturday morning. i'm lester holt. >> and i'm erica hill alongside jenna wolfe and dylan dreyer. we will have a lot more on that los angeles earthquake that happened overnight for you in just a moment. the good news is that it wasn't too serious, although obviously, plenty of people rattled. >> everybody felt it. meantime, it's hard to believe that the search for the missing plane is now in its fourth week. investigators still have not been able to recover any of the debris spotted from the air, but with a narrowed search area, they could possibly find something very soon. also ahead this morning,

we're live in washington state, where there are fears that the death toll there could rise dramatically, of course, in the aftermath of that massive mudslide. and with rain falling through the weekend, even more concern that there could be additional slides. >> you see those guys working, how difficult and tedious and emotional that work is. >> absolutely. and really, their best tools, they're saying, are their shovels, their hands and their dogs. later on, a cool story about how nasa is trying to simulate what life on mars might look like, and they're doing it in hawaii. >> such a wild story. we want to begin, though, with today's top story, which we mentioned, that 5.1-magnitude earthquake overnight in los angeles. it was followed by two smaller aftershocks. rehema ellis is in los angeles this morning for us. rehema, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. as you've pointed out, this quake rattled nerves in several counties of southern california, including los angeles. and as you say, it is the second quake in two weeks. the tremor hit at 9:09 p.m. west coast time, a magnitude of 5.1. it's called a moderate quake, but it shook buildings so much.

at this grocery store, look, the wine bottles crashed to the floor. inside homes, dishes and glasses were broken and pictures were knocked about. a car overturned on carbon canyon road after it was struck by a rockslide that was caused by the quake. and at the dodgers game in los angeles, the cameras shook and the fox booth announcers called out what they thought was happening, calling it a quake. cars jammed at intersections because of traffic lights that lost power, and at least one street flooded from a water main break caused by the earthquake. rides at disneyland were temporarily halted. people voluntarily evacuated, but there was no panic, thankfully. and authorities say the quake was slightly larger than another tremor just two weeks ago. this quake was centered in la habra. it was felt about 20 miles away in los angeles as well as several other counties, including riverside, san bernardino and orange county. it was followed by as many as two dozen aftershocks. l.a. police and fire department report no major damage to the

city of los angeles, but it really got a lot of people shook up, erica. >> that it did. all right, rehema ellis for us in los angeles this morning. thank you. searchers over the indian ocean have spotted more debris today as they look for that missing malaysia airlines jetliner, but no one knows yet whether these new objects belong to the plane. bill neely is in perth, australia, monitoring the search efforts for us this morning. bill, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester. another day of searching in the new target area, but i'm afraid the same old outcome, no breakthrough in the search, being hampered by poor weather and poor visibility. we're now into week four of this search, day 22, and still nothing that can prove any of these pieces of debris are tied to the missing plane. eight planes went up today from australia, new zealand, china and japan. the chinese plane reported three suspicious objects, one white, one red, one orange. they took photographs, but again, no proof that they are

linked. more, hopefully, perhaps. two chinese ships are in the target area, a helicopter operating off one. and that's the thing. you see, these planes can spot the debris, but it's up to those ships to pick it up and look for the tell tale signs, aircraft rivets, green metal paint that might prove something. now, yesterday we did see one photograph of a piece of debris. it was white, rectangular, 1 of 11 objects seen, and that's being photographed and put on a grid, and that's what they're working on, a huge grid the size of new mexico, and the planes are criss-crossing this grid trying to find more debris. for the relatives, i'm afraid it's another weekend of frustration and of anguish. they haven't given up hope. there will be a search again tomorrow. i will be up on one australian plane. six ships will be in the target area. but so far, once again, another day of frustration. no results, lester. >> all right, bill neely for us

this morning. bill, thanks. >> greg feith is a former investigator with the ntsb. greg, good morning. >> good morning, erica. >> so, we just had bill set the scene there for us. they're searching an area the size of new mexico, and the results at this point seem to be, as he said, sort of the same old results. but based on what you're seeing as a former investigator, the number of sightings and the description of some of the things that have been found, does this tell you in any way that they could, perhaps, be closer? >> one of the things about the earlier pictures, erica, is the fact that there's a piece that's rectangular. there's no size to it, but it doesn't look like anything that would be on a boeing 777. there is nothing that i know of, in talking to all of my sources, that there's anything orange on that airplane. typically, the life rafts, the life vests and all that kind of thing are all yellow, even the emergency exit slides. so, you know, this is cautious optimism, you know. while we do have a debris field there, we're not really sure that any of this came from the aircraft. >> the fact that we're now

searching this new area based on radar data that was available earlier on, there was some recalculations done, should we have been searching in this area sooner, do you think? >> well, that's always going to be debated, i think, erica, but the problem was is that the information that we had very early on in this event, if you will, is that we didn't have very good latitude and longitude data, we didn't have very good altitude data originally. they had to go back and recalculate. boeing did a lot of mathematic exercises to try and get a time-distance history. that's why they recalculated the speed and found that the airplane had gone faster coming back over the mainland, which changed the fuel burn, and of course, you have to take into account winds aloft and things like that. >> there's so much focus here on finding this plane, for obvious reasons, but also, the black box is really important to a lot of people. it's going to stop sending out pings pretty soon. could this, do you think, change

the way we communicate with planes, maybe locators being put on planes or even streaming data or streaming black box data from here on out? >> i think that, absolutely, this is, you know, in conjunction with air france 447, this is going to be another event that accelerates not only the process of getting gps tracking on airplanes, on all airplanes worldwide, so that you have ground-to-ground, basically, tracking of the airplane, but of course, it will foster another discussion about at least doing downloads, data downloads from the flight data recorder. i doubt that this cockpit voice recorder will be included in that, only because there is a lot of privacy issues when you talk about cockpit voice recorders, but at least the data recorder will be another discussion point. >> all right, getting that conversation started is sometimes half the battle. greg feith, appreciate your insight, as always. thank you. >> you're welcome. let's turn now to the search for victims of that massive mudslide in washington state. one week after it happened,

searchers are putting in long and tiring hours and say they will not stop until the job is done and everyone who is missing is accounted for. miguel almaguer has been covering this since it happened. miguel, good morning. >> reporter: lester, good morning. the official death toll is 17, but rescue teams have discovered another body. it's just yet to be identified. with 90 people missing, they do concede that death toll will rise dramatically in the days ahead. one week into their search, this is what rescue teams face on the ground, a debris field one square mile, the mud 40 feet deep in many places. it is difficult and dangerous work that could take five months to complete. >> these come in up to waist deep in mud they've been going through. they've been digging through stuff. they've seen things that most people -- i mean, people shouldn't have to see. >> reporter: little here is recognizable. and now, heavy rain and flash flooding this weekend could trigger another slide at any moment. crews so worried, they placed

instruments in the ground to monitor the soil for movement. seth jeffords, a volunteer firefighter, has sifted through the dangerous conditions. he lost his wife and granddaughter. >> i'm going to miss my wife and granddaughter. i love them so much. >> reporter: with 49 homes destroyed, at least 11 were built since 2000. a year after this report prepared for the u.s. army corps of engineers warned "the potential for a large catastrophic failure" here. >> nobody warned anybody. we had no knowledge. we built -- we bought that place specifically because it was a quarter mile from the river and it was up on a bench above flood level. there is nothing that should have hurt us there. >> reporter: with many here still in shock, this tight-knit community is mourning together. the first funeral for town librarian linda mcpherson will be held next week. >> we're grieving for our loss,

because she was such a wonderful sister. she was like a rock in our family. >> reporter: today, 17 families share that loss, while so many others wait for word on loved ones still missing. at 10:37 a.m., the time this mudslide hit, the governor has asked for a moment of silence to remember those affected. lester, they will stop searching at the search zone and then resume moments later. back to you. >> all right, miguel, thanks very much. dylan is tracking the forecast in that area, and all of us watching this so closely. how much rain could they potentially get, dylan? >> unfortunately, another couple of inches of rain thp . this system is very, very active. you can see this area of low pressure right over the pacific right now, and this is going to stream in moisture off of the ocean here. so, a closer look shows you the yellows indicate where we have some of our heavier rain, and you can see right near oso we do have these pockets of downpours that are moving through. and taking you through the next couple of days, through this

weekend, you can see we are going to be in and out of some scattered showers, but it's continual throughout the entire weekend. so, when it's not raining, it lightens up a little bit, and then it goes back to some heavier downpours. and all in all, we could end up with another couple inches of rainfall. here you see oso right in through here, and this yellow here indicates that we could end up with another 2 inches of rain over the course of the next 48 hours, and then beyond that, it still looks like we will see in an active pattern? erica? >> dylan, thanks. we'll get more of your full forecast for the nation in just a few minutes. now to the tensions overseas between russia and ukraine. thousands of russian troops are reportedly on the border of eastern ukraine, ready to enter that country if and when president putin would give the go-ahead. president obama spoke with putin for about an hour on friday to find a diplomatic solution to all this. kristen welker is outside of the white house. kristen, good morning. any meeting of the minds here? >> reporter: well, they did speak, which is significant. president obama currently headed

back to washington. he placed that phone call -- or i should say, putin placed that phone call to him before president obama -- the phone call lasted for 60 minutes. a white house official describing it as frank and direct. putin did reach out to president obama, who had the discussion from his hotel in riyadh, his final stop on his week-long diplomatic trip. now, a white house official tells me the two leaders discussed the u.s. proposal for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis in ukraine. this official wouldn't get into many specifics but did point to some past discussions about what's been dubbed the so-called off-ramp, which have included allowing international monitors into ukraine, pulling back russian forces to their bases in crimea, and creating a direct dialogue between russia and ukraine. now, in a statement, the white house said obama "urged russia to support this process and avoid further provocations, including the build-up of forces on its border with ukraine." now, for its part, the kremlin said putin raised the issue of extremists in ukraine during his

european trip. president obama worked to build up support among his european partners in an attempt to force putin to retreat, but tensions have been mounting ever since russia annexed crimea. you'll recall that happened several weeks ago in the wake of political instability in ukraine. now, crimea was once a part of russia, and an overwhelming majority of residents there supported the annexation, but the u.s. continues to insist that that move is simply illegal. western leaders now fear that putin wants to go into other parts of ukraine. that's something that russian officials have denied, but western concerns continue to deepen this week because putin has increased russian forces along ukraine's border. as you said, lester. now, a white house official says the next move here is for secretary of state john kerry to meet with his russian counterpart. so far, no date on when that meeting is going to occur. lester, back to you. >> all right, kristen welker at the white house, thank you. let's get a look at some of the morning's other top stories. jenna is following those for us. good morning. >> hey, guys, good morning. we begin today with another

attack in afghanistan, where police say the taliban is trying to move in on the main election commission headquarters in kabul. chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in kabul with the very latest and joins us now. richard, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we just returned from the scene, and this attack is still very much under way. dozens of afghan election officials are hold up in safe rooms and in bunkers, their headquarters, and reason they've gone unround and are taking shelter is because they are being attacked by at least four taliban militants who entered a building under construction about 700 yards away. and from that building under construction, the militants are firing with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. the s.w.a.t. teams have moved in afghan commandos to set up a cordon in the area. they have recently just breached this building under construction, where the taliban militants are hold up. we managed to speak with one of

the s.w.a.t. team members. he is on the first floor. he says his forces killed one of the attackers but there are three other attackers, he believes, on the upper floors, probably the third floor. violence here has intensified dramatically over the last two weeks or so. at least four attacks here in kabul, and violence is expected to get worse leading up to elections in this country, the next presidential election on april 5th. >> all right, richard engel in kabul for us. richard, thank you. in other news, general motors is expanding the recall linked to at least a dozen deaths. the recall involves the ignition switch. the automaker is adding about 800,000 cars to the more than 1 million recalled last month. they include the chevy cobalt and hhr, the pontiac g-5 and solstice and the saturn ion and sky, all sold in the u.s. between eight and 2011. more fallout now from the bridge scandal involving new jersey governor chris christie. david samson, chairman of the port authorities of new york and new jersey stepped down on

friday. samson's resignation comes a day after a report commissioned by the governor's office found christie was not involved in this traffic scandal. major league baseball and the players union are changing the drug testing program in the wake of the 162-game suspension for yankees slugger alex rodriguez. both sides have reached an agreement that will subject players to more random blood and urine tests. also harsher penalties for violations, including an unpaid 80-day suspension for a first-time offense. hoping to lead by example, pope francis surprised his own master of ceremonies friday by confessing his sins to a priest in st. peter's basilica. the pope was presiding over a service when he knelt before a priest and confessed to him for a few minutes. and finally, michigan state is now part of the elite eight, and not because it rhymes. the spartans knocked off top-seeded virginia. how? part basketball and part good luck charm. basketball, self-explanatory.

charm? 8-year-old lacey holsworth, huge michigan state fan, also, this little angel is fighting cancer. she developed a friendship with adreian payne, one of the players on the team, two years ago. lacey goes to almost all the games, including friday night's game, which was here in new york. what a beautiful little friendship there. we are going to have the full story on their meeting and last night's game in our next half hour. >> that is my favorite story of the day. >> it's really, really a sweet bond between the two of them. >> i think they are each other's good luck charms. >> they really are. they are. >> thanks. dylan is back with a look now at rest of the country's forecast. >> we first talked about rain on the west coast. now we've got rain on the east coast, and a lot of it, and it comes in waves. you can see the first wave is moving up through charleston, south carolina, approaching parts of delaware and into southern new jersey, but it's this second wave that's moving into the panhandle of florida right now. that's the one that could produce some severe storms. so, because of that, in this area in red, from tallahassee toward orlando, right up into charleston, south carolina, we are under a slight risk for

possible tornadoes, but it's more wind damage and hail along with some of the heavier downpours. it's out ahead of this cold front, and this will eventually move up into the northeast. it weakens. we're not going to see the stronger storms in the northeast, but still a lot of rain. middle of the country starts to dry out. temperatures look cool, in chicago about 41 degrees, 60 in the plain states and we have got more rain and mountain snow in the northwest. that good morning. 5:19 the time right now. waking up to rain in the north bay, pretty heavy stuff over santa rosa. expect the showers to spread through the region today. by 8:00 san francisco, oakland you'll start to see the showers and by 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, that's when the heavy rain will start to push across the bay area. keep the umbrellas handy all day long. we're talking about a complete washout from the time the sun goes up to the time the sun goes down, the temperatures top at 60 today with a little more sunshine for tomorrow. >> and that's your latest forecast. erica? >> all right, dylan, thanks.

an interesting experiment is under way in hawaii, where researchers are hoping to simulate what life on mars would really be like. nasa hand picked six people to live inside, all in hopes of preparing for a future manned mission to the red planet. the weather channel's dave malkoff was the only tv correspondent allowed inside. >> reporter: the big island of hawaii is not a place that would remind most folks of dead, isolated planet mars, but it doesn't all look like this. take a two-hour drive up the side of a still active volcano, you may just forget which planet you're on. >> my name is paul, ceo and director of blue planet research. >> reporter: it's the company that's building this nasa-funded, university of hawaii project. a very realistic martian colony for a handful of astronauts -- make that astro-nots. they will live here in isolation. every time they step outside,

they wear a space suit. it only comes off inside the bubble. >> okay, this is the entrance to the habitat. >> reporter: this is it. this is where they'll live. >> this is where they're going to live in isolation for 4 months, 8 months and 12 months. >> reporter: 700 people applied to live here. >> behind you is the dining room and dining area. there's a full kitchen back here. >> reporter: nasa wants to know how humans will eat -- >> there are six bedroom pods upstairs. >> reporter: -- and sleep. >> privacy's important. every human needs to have down time and be alone. >> reporter: on mars with a similar isolation, a similar living condition, only -- >> it's a third the gravity. we can only simulate certain things here. >> reporter: still not convinced hawaii can look like mars? that is breath-taking. that looks exactly like what i see from the mars rover, the surface. >> it's remarkably similar. >> that's incredible. >> reporter: okay, here's mars beamed back from curiosity's camera last month, and here is hawaii today. >> yeah, it's actually virtually identical to the same material,

volcanic rock that they found on mars. >> reporter: the trip from here to mars and back is 2 1/2 years, and it's not planned until at least 2030, but these kind of experiments will reduce the risks for the folks who will eventually be inside those rockets. for "today," dave malkoff, high over kona, hawaii. >> pretty wild. >> pina coladas on mars, apparently. >> i'm in. >> that's what they're practicing. >> that's all they had to say. mai ties, i would go. >> we're all going to mars. still to come this morning, the woman who captured a case of alleged road rage on camera is now speaking out about why she did it. >> good grief! >> and what happened to the driver who was tailgating her. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

♪ still to come on "today," their faces are just as adorable and loveable and sweet as any other pup's, so why are black dogs often overlooked at the

shelter? plus, they've been eating healthy and working out a lot. we'll talk to some of the people who accepted the "30 days to a better you" ch

good morning to you. looking live at the bay bridge and you see the lights moving around as the rain were falling there. it's actually a little further north. thanks for joining us, i'm kris sanchez along with meteorologist anthony slaughter who has a look at that rain and when it will come here. >> in fact, we're already starting to see the rain in the north bay, santa rosa, napa already starting to see the showers. in fact, it's pretty heavy in some spots. you'll notice it's a thin band. but through the morning hours the band will increase and sag further south. rain will start in san francisco between 7:00 and 8:00 and oakland and walnut creek it will start to spread to the east bay and by about none everybody looking at showers from about the golden gate southward down towards santa rosa. and once this band of rain comes

through, we're pretty much done with it. you'll notice behind it not a whole lot of extra rain. by about 5:00 we'll start to clear out, i want you to know that sunset time. once we get towards the evening hours we'll start to clear but really all day long not going to see a whole lot of sunshine. because of that temperatures will be cool. only topping out near 60 degrees today and that comes with lots of cloud cover. that rain arriving in the south bay by noon. we'll track this all morning long and let you know if there's severe potential coming up this morning on "today in the bay" at 7:00. we'll see you then, kris. an earthquake struck southern california last night. your friends and maybe family were probably talking about it. here's a look at where the quake hit 20 miles southeast of los angeles in between the cities of la habra and brea in orange county. the 5.1 temblor hit just after 9:00 last night and was felt for miles. that earthquake was followed by a series of aftershocks. a smaller earthquake, a

magnitude 3.6 hit near la habra an hour earlier. many communities reported power outages which knocked out traffic lights and many water main breaks were reported near the quake center as well. some gas leaks were also reported. here's some pictures of a rock slide that caused a car to flip over in carbon canyon. more than 30 aftershocks hit the area throughout the night. so far, though, no major damage has been reported. to a developing story in the south bay this morning. a 49er with a troubled past arrested in the south bay. cornerback chris culver made bail last night posting $36,000. the 25-year-old's white mustang collided with a bicyclist according to police. the 49ers are now on damage control this morning. culver who made headlines more than a year ago with anti-gay remarks now accused of hit and run. police say he hit the bicyclist and threatened a good samaritan. this hit-and-run crash in san jose about ten miles from 49ers headquarterers.

tully road and south senter street is where it happened. police say after culver hit the person on the bike he fled the scene and hit the witness' car during the getaway and the witness followed him to a nearby cul de sac. the witness say he blocked culver from leaving until officers could arrive. charges include felony hit and run, possession of illegal brass knuckles and driving with a suspended license. coming up this morning on "today in the bay" we've invited someone in from covered california so we can answer some of your questions about monday's deadline. see you in 30.

♪ we're back on a saturday morning. it is march 29th, 2014. hard to believe it's the last saturday in march. >> yay! >> talking about time flying by. dylan's happy. our crowd is finally enjoying a taste of spring. that makes all of us happy. we all hope it's here to stay. dylan, put in a good word? >> i'm trying. i'm really putting it out there, but i don't know if she'll take it. >> i figure if there's anybody to ask, it's dylan. >> nobody more tired of the weather. >> everything turns around in april. >> you know what, tuesday. >> yes. >> you'll be good on tuesday. coming up in this half hour, we're going to talk about something called black dog syndrome, puppies and dogs that aren't being adopted because of the color of their fur. why is it that they have such a bad rap? then, many of you have eaten healthier, exercised more and followed our "30 days to a

better you" challenge religiously. so, has it all paid off? we'll check in with a few of our most dedicated fans. we'll also challenge them to a little obstacle course race. >> oh, yes. plus, we hope you're ready to start cooking, because we certainly are. this morning we continue our "freshcookslive" series with krista simmons. she's a self-made cook with a worldly palate. so, if you want to gather your ingredients, logon to today.com, and if you have questions for her, tweet them, #freshcookslive. but let's begin this half hour with a case of road rage caught on camera. the video has gone viral, mainly because of what happened in the moments after. the woman who took this video, well, she's calling it instant karma, and this morning for the first time, she's speaking out about it all. charles hadlock has her story. >> reporter: the woman was on her way to work near tampa, when she says the grill of a black ford pickup filled her rearview mirror. >> he just started tailgating me, and i'm looking in my mirrors. i'm like, dude, really? i mean, i'm going the speed

limit. >> reporter: the road was wet from recent rains, but that apparently wasn't slowing the other driver. >> you know, i just pulled out my phone and started recording him. >> reporter: after a few minutes, the black pickup pulled alongside, speeding up and slowing down. the driver smiled for the camera but gave a not-so-friendly gesture, even tried to speed ahead and cut in front, and that's when things went really wrong. [ laughter ] >> that is what you get! all on video, buddy! >> reporter: the driver of the pickup, who spun into oncoming lanes and crashed into a light pole before coming to rest in a ditch on the other side of the road, was not injured, but 33-year-old jeffrey travis white was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and careless driving. he did not respond to a request for comment. the woman who recorded the incident didn't want us to use her name, because after she posted it on youtube, where it's

been viewed more than 5 million times, she says she's been getting death threats. some viewers thought she was at fault for driving in the left lane and using her cell phone to take a video, but the florida highway patrol says she broke no laws. but troopers did charge white with one more violation. the video revealed he was not wearing a seat belt. for "today," charles hadlock, nbc news. >> kind of an unpleasant thing all the way around. >> it is, and it's interesting that she wasn't breaking any laws by holding the phone and taking a video, too. >> and having it behind her as well. but then you get so mad at him because you've been in those situations. >> i know. >> everybody just needs to chill out. >> i think that's good advice. maybe the weather will help you relax. let's get another check of the weather from dylan, who's out on the plaza. good morning, guys. good morning, everyone. we're celebrating a 50th birthday here. where are you from? >> richmond, virginia. >> very nice. welcome to new york. and i saw you had little arms. there's actually someone on her back, so that works out great. we are looking at some rain in

the northeast today, but it is going to hold off through the morning, but we do have watches and warnings, winter storm warnings across parts of ohio, up through northern new england. we also could see about 3 inches of rain here in new york city, up into parts of connecticut, rhode island, into massachusetts, back through albany, new york. so, it is going to get very damp around here, especially later on this afternoon. but today we could see our strongest storms down in the southeast. isolated tornadoes possible, but it looks more like we'll see some damaging wind gusts, some isolated hail. the middle of the country looks good, but the northwest also seeing more rain. another couple of inches of rain in parts of washington state, where they do not need any more rain and we'll add some wind to that as well. temperatures look nice and warm. in the southwest, though, 88 for 5:34 the time right now. still looking at showers moving across the north bay and eventually the showers will move into san francisco and oakland and towards the east bay and eventually the south bay. let's put the timing on it. you'll notice it's 5:30.

still located across the north bay positioned across san rafael, napa, over towards santa rosa and by 8:00, 9:00, the showers will spread southward and we may get to thunderstorm activity as we move through the day and right around noon the showers will be around the south bay, so keep the umbrellas handy all day long. headed to nashville for "today's top spot." today it comes from wsmv, the 28th annual southern women's show in nashville, tennessee. make it a girls' day out this weekend and enjoy makeovers, fashion shows, creative cooking exhibits and lots of information on health, beauty and more. patty sanger from bravo's "the millionaire matchmaker" will also be there for dating advice, just in case you're looking for a millionaire. today, esker -- erica and lester! i like that. could that be a new name? >> so we have that. >> and pat battle from nbc called us -- >> lerica. >> and i said we get together,

we'll be jylan. >> so sylan and lerica. >> we are a happening bunch. actress gwyneth paltrow has come under fire for comments she made about working moms. we'll look at that. up next, though, why so many people are refusing to adopt dogs from the shelter just because of the color of their fur. and lester will make sweet puppy noises right after this.

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♪ this morning in "today's pets," black dog syndrome. it turns out, about 8 million animals live in shelters across the country, and one group of dogs is routinely passed over, simply because of the color of their fur. >> and our animal advocate, jill rappaport, has more on why this continues to happen. jill, good morning. >> this syndrome is so upsetting. it's unbelievable. despite the fact that most of these animals are healthy, beautiful, loving pets, a majority of them will get euthanized simply because they're black. they are sweet, loveable, and often unwanted. >> if you're a black dog and you come to our shelter, your chances of getting adopted is pretty poor. unfortunately. >> reporter: this growing plight is called black dog syndrome. >> black dog syndrome is simply where black dogs get overlooked, and they're euthanized at a much higher rate. >> reporter: from coast to coast, shelters are overrun with

animals like these, even puppies who are just discarded because of the color of their fur. all because of what shelters claim are unwarranted misconceptions. >> there are some old wiv's tales that black dogs are mean, and i think one of the biggest problems is they don't photograph well unless you have the right lighting and good photography equipment, so their pictures don't stand out. >> reporter: in north carolina, hundreds just march to raise awareness about black dog syndrome. >> more the larger ones, like the black labs, pit bulls, rot wilers, donor means are more affected. every dog should be judged on their own. ♪ a big black dog >> reporter: this cause strikes a chord with country legend emmy lou harris. >> there are so overwhelming numbers of them. >> reporter: it was the rescue of her black dog, bella, that changed her life forever. >> sweetest dog in the world. >> reporter: the grammy award-winner has turned her nashville estate into a shelter. >> i love music, but to have

something else come in to fill your heart and know that you are making a difference, it's a gift. >> reporter: advocates like emi lou harris say the stigma facing black dogs is an ongoing situation impacting shelters nationwide and that shedding a light on this problem could save more lives in the future. >> there's plenty of black dogs out there in shelters waiting for a home, and maybe you'll be lucky enough to find yourself one. >> jill has some friends that she brought along. we're making friends with them quite quickly. >> i know. >> they love you. >> so sweet. >> i see someone going home with somebody. now, here is the perfect example. black lab pure-bred puppies, no less, available for adoption from mainland animal rescue. look. stanley and stella! >> stella. >> they're very dramatic. >> stella! >> but really, the biggest problem, they say, with the black animals -- and i feature that in the story -- is that they don't photograph well. >> right. >> it's very hard to picture and

pick up their beautiful features. >> if they shed, you don't see it, huh? >> there you go, another reason to adopt a dog. >> and it's just unbelievable. and of course, they'll get very big, but they are so special, so beautiful. >> they're really good dogs. >> i'm really glad you brought attention to this. i hadn't heard it before and i think it's fascinating. >> a very serious plight and they're beautiful animals and we need to give them a beautiful, loving home. >> you have to leave the phone alone. how else can we take pictures of you? >> they are adorable. >> you bring up a good point, we need photographers to go to shelters to make them look more beautiful and help them. >> a great way to help them and help them find a loving home. you two are not going to have a problem, i don't think. >> oh, i don't think so. >> jill, thank you. thank you, puppies. up next, "30 days to a better you." we're checking in with many of the people who participated in the challenge. you'll meet them and see how their lives changed over the last month on this journey. that's after these messages. ♪ ♪

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some of the safest, most advanced ships in the world: built in san diego with a $1 billion investment. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. and no energy company invests more in the u.s. than bp. when we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. that's not a coincidence. it's one more part of our commitment to america. ♪ we're back on a saturday morning with the final weekend of our "30 days to a better you" challenge, and this morning it's all about seeing how it's helped you. >> so, we've put the call out to all of you to help join this challenge along with us. we had a huge response. more than 150,000 of you signed up. >> so, i wanted to go meet all 150,000 of you, but i don't have enough miles. so, instead, we picked a handful after you wrote in. we came to your town and we

spent some time with you. we wanted to know how these last 30 days have helped make a difference in your life. ♪ >> by joining "30 days to a better you," i wanted to inspire others, so i started a running club. my name is ann capinegro and i'm a fifth grade teacher in fenton, michigan. i watched jenna talk about this challenge, and i decided, hey, i could do that. i'm going to make a healthy parfait that i saw on the "today" show. being fit and healthy for me is just making sure that you're okay with what you look like and what you act like. >> since i've been retired, i've done the citizens police and fire academies. [ sirens ] ten days left. i'm a retiree from richmond, virginia, and i'm 68 years old. >> let's go, let's go, let's go, dave! >> what have you been inspired to do since you started this challenge? >> i've increased my exercise quite a bit. i'm eating much healthier this

month. i've lost 7 or 8 pounds and body fat has gone down from 24 to 18 1/2. >> so, you're obviously proof that you can do anything, any time at any age. >> exactly. there's no point of being a couch potato. >> before my fitness left consisted of sitting and reading or watching tv. >> i'm vicki wilson. i work as a hospice nurse, and we're from germantown, ohio. and this is my son, kieron. i'm the one who sets examples for him. it's my job to teach him, and i've not done a very good job so far about fitness. right after we signed up, a friend of mine told me she was running to train for a 5k. i said, that seems like a good way to start this whole thing. we've also started with portion control. that's a big problem with both of us. small changes have been easy, and that's why we're doing them and that's why this is working. >> when did you know, i need to make a change? >> i had gone to the doctor, and my blood pressure was 149 over

94. my weight was 191 pounds, and i was in shock. my name is alegia halliard. i'm 53 years old. i'm a retired naval officer and i live in virginia beach. >> push them up. feel it? >> i thought this was a great opportunity to get good advice for free. so, as soon as i heard about it, i immediately signed up. >> what we've laid out for you is a whole series of tips and advice, and we've chopped them up into 30 different little, little takeaways. what has this meant for you? >> it means a better life. >> every time it gets a little hard, i got this. >> i got this. >> i got this. >> got this. >> i am doing this one step at a time, one day at a time, one month at a time. i got this. >> i got this, yes. >> nobody can tell you no. >> oh, i'm getting chills! >> i love it! see? it's not that hard! small changes every day that aren't jarring to your lifestyle, that will eventually lead to big changes after a couple of weeks. guys, lester, erica.

>> we've got some graduates here. allegra holliard, ally capanegra, nikki and kieron wilson. you've stuck with it. let me start with allegra. 30 days, you've changed your life. how do you feel? how has this changed your life? >> it's changed my life tremendously. it's kept me focused. it's given me a nutritional plan as well as an exercise plan, something i can look forward to, because when you're doing it by yourself and it's only you, you can go all kinds of different places and do all kinds of different things. >> yeah, true. >> so, the 30-day challenge has given me a focus and some direction to stick to. >> you mention also, if you do it by yourself, you stick together. you and kieron have teamed up on this one. how has that helped your family make these changes, because you're in it together? >> it's been great because we have each other to hold each other accountable. so, we make sure he does this exercise, make sure i do my running. >> you have to stay on your mom a little bit more than she has to stay on you? yeah. >> definitely.

>> hey, dave, let me ask you. you're retired, but you decided it was time to really beef up your exercise regime, and you felt that this was a good way to just sort of kick-start you. what drives you every day? why did you want to do this? >> well, just to live longer, and as i told you, i'd rather wear out than rust out. so, i've added two spinning classes a week, up to nine, and then three body pumps instead of two, so -- >> up to nine? he makes us all look bad. >> you make us look bad, dave. you're fantastic and it's worked for you. >> absolutely. >> fantastic. >> hey, you guys, relax a little bit. we're going to get ready for the obstacle course here. all set for that? >> team orange is all i have to say. kieron and vicki, no pressure, team orange. in the meantime, still to come, get your ingredients and pots and pans ready. we're about to cook up a feast with our "fresh cooks live" chef. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

still to come on "today," the incredible moment captured on tape when a deaf woman got to hear sound for the first time. it's amazing. we're going to talk to her about what life is like now. >> oh, my goodness, in a moment. plus, she is one of the biggest fans in the stands. a young cancer patient cheers on her beloved michigan state basketball player and friend. her beloved michigan state basketball player and friend. their heartwarming st this one goes out to all you know who you are... you've become deaf to the sound of your own sniffling. your purse is starting to look more like a tissue box... you can clear a table without lifting a finger... well muddlers, muddle no more. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin. because zyrtec® starts working at hour 1 on the first day you take it. claritin doesn't start working until hour 3. zyrtec®. muddle no more™ ♪ wow! what?!

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be happy! be healthy! that's gotta go too. ♪ hey! must be the honey! [ sparkle ] sweet. good morning to you. looking live at san jose. still in the dark this morning and still mostly dry. the rain that we're expecting for this weekend starting up north. thanks so much for joining us, i'm kris sanchez along with meteorologist anthony slaughter who is tracking that storm -- >> yes. >> to let you know when it will hit your barbecue. >> you know, kris the good news is we do need the rain, but unfortunately it is coming during the weekend when a lot of folks have the day off. what you'll notice in santa rosa wairki ing waking up to heavy stuff. we don't have thunder or lightning or if you see any lightning, always let us know we'd love to hear and see the pictures always from a safe distance. you notice the showers continue to spread through the region as we head through the day toy.

by 7:00, 8:00, the showers will push from san francisco to oakland and eventually down to san jose by noon. it's a thin band of rain so once you see the showers we'll see the rain for a few hours and then it will be out of here as we head through the evening hours. we'll not see a lot of sunshine today and that will leave temperatures only in the upper 50s to near 60 degrees. again, keep that potential for a few thunderstorms in the picture along with the heavy rain so you may hear a few rumbles of thunder throughout the day today but we're not expecting any tornadic activity like we saw a few days ago across the central valley. we'll keep you posted. a magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck southern california last night about 20 miles southeast of los angeles between the city s la habra and brea in orange county. the temblor hit after 9:00 last night and there was a 3.6 that hit la habra about an hour before the big one. many communities reported power outages and water main breaks and gas leaks and in carbon canyon a rock slide that

reportedly caused a car to flip over and we have pictures of that. one of the many aftershocks happened right in the middle of the usgs news conference. in all the usgs reported more than 30 aftershocks and warned locals to expect more throughout the night. so far the damage has been pretty minor. to a developing story in the south bay this morning. a 49er with a troubled past arrested in the south bay. cornerback chris culver made bail last night posting $36,000 after the 25-year-old's white mustang collided with a bicyclist. the 49ers are now on damage control this morning. culver made headlines more than a year ago with anti-gay remarks and is now accused of that hit-and-run accident. police say he hit a bicyclist, then threatened a good samaritan. this happened in san jose about ten miles from 49ers headquarters at tully and south seventh street. police later found culver near happy hollow zoo not far away.

police say culver hit the person on the bike and fled the scene and hit a witness' car during the getaway, that witness followed culver to a nearby cul de sac and he blocked culver from leaving until officers could arrive. charges include felony hit and run and possession of brass knuckles and driving with a suspended license. coming up this morning on "today in the bay," we sit down with a covered california expert to get some of the answers to your questions concerning monday's deadline. and all the rest of the day's news coming up at 7:00. more local news in just 30.

good morning. it's saturday, march 29th, 2014. here's a look at today's top stories. an earthquake shook los angeles late last night. residents are cleaning up from the 5.1-magnitude quake. it caused some damage to homes and businesses. there are no reports, however, of any injuries. this is the second earthquake to hit the area in just two weeks. getting closer. a search airplane flying over the narrowed area in the south indian ocean spots what could be more debris from flight 370. several ships are on the way and will soon be on scene to confirm if what was spotted overhead, in fact, is from that missing jetliner. an unbreakable bond. an incredible friendship between a little girl battling cancer and one of the star players of

the michigan state basketball team is inspiring people around the country. and with a big win this week in the sweet 16, the young fan could also be a secret weapon. good morning, everyone. nice to have you here on a saturday & great crowd outside and it's freezing. >> check all the boxes, we're ready to go. we do want to begin this morning with the cleanup from that earthquake in los angeles. plenty of damage, but luckily, there are no reports of any injuries. rehema ellis is in los angeles with the latest on that for us. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. the quake got nearly everyone's attention here in southern california, because depending on where you were, people say the shaking lasted from about 10 to 30 seconds. the tremor hit at 9:09 p.m. west coast time, a magnitude of 5.1, a moderate quake, but it shook buildings so much. at this grocery store, wine bottles crashed to the floor. inside homes, dishes and glasses were broken and pictures were knocked about. >> my entire car was shaking.

>> reporter: a car overturned on carbon canyon road after it was struck by a rockslide that was caused by the quake. at the dodgers game in l.a., the cameras shook and the fox booth announcers called out what they thought was happening. >> we might be experimenting -- or experiencing, i should say, an earthquake here, rumbling through dodger stadium right now. >> reporter: cars jammed at intersections because of traffic lights that lost power. and at least one street flooded from a water main break caused by the earthquake. rides at disneyland were temporarily halted, but there was no panic. people voluntarily evacuated. authorities say the quake was slightly larger than another tremor just two weeks ago. this one was centered in la habra and felt 20 miles away in los angeles as well as several other counties, including riverside, san bernardino and orange county. it was followed by as many as two dozen aftershocks. >> and now we're having an aftershock.

>> reporter: no injuries were reported, but now with two earthquakes just 12 days apart, the mayor of los angeles says this is a reminder to be prepared. erica? >> all right, rehema ellis. thank you. ships in the south indian ocean are headed to the area where it's believed debris from that malaysia airlines jet may have been spotted. several objects were spotted from the air overnight, but investigators won't know for sure what it is until the ships can locate the objects and recover them. kerry sanders is following it all from washington, d.c. kerry, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester. two of china's naval ships have now arrived in that new search zone, the area where an aircraft from china spotted some debris. it was right here. it's actually northeast of the area where they had been searching. they found three pieces of debris. they were low enough at 1,000 feet to actually see the colors, one red, one white, one orange. but until they're able to get that debris on board a ship and actually examine it, they won't know if it's actually debris from flight 370 or if it's

simply more ocean garbage. 1,000 miles off western australia, a new search zone and new hope. this chinese search plane spotted three suspicious objects, and a chinese ship was the first to arrive in the new search area. >> you've practically got everybody in the aviation industry involved in this search and rescue. >> reporter: the new search area is 700 miles northeast of the previous zone. with the help of u.s. investigators, engineers took the plane's last known altitude of 35,000 feet and projected its fuel burn. they then recalculated the possible flight paths. if the plane was flying at 539 or 546 miles per hour, it likely would have taken one of these two paths. but if the speed was 460 miles per hour, the flight could have ended hundreds of miles to the east and much closer to perth. experts say the ocean there isn't nearly as rough. >> i'm not sure that we'll get

perfect weather out there, but it's likely to be better more often than we've seen in the past. >> reporter: if search teams are eventually able to locate wreckage from the plane and recover the black boxes, they could come here. to the ntsb lab in washington, d.c., where each year, investigators take apart and analyze 150 cockpit voice and flight data recorders from around the world. >> this is one of the more advanced labs in the world. and for that reason, that's why we tend to help other countries. >> reporter: but so far, there is no wreckage on the ocean floor, no black boxes. along with other family members, the family of american philip wood now begins a fourth week of waiting. >> i made a promise to scatter his ashes for him, if he went before me, and he made the promise to me in return. so, until i can do that, it can't be closed. >> reporter: of the two chinese

naval vessels now in the area, one has a helicopter on board. that will allow for the first time a crew to hover over debris and to get a close-up view of what the planes have been spotting. another piece of good news, the weather in this area, in the new search area, is better than it was down here. it's not great, though, today, because it's unfortunately raining and cloudy, but the seas are calmer. meantime, remember that flight simulator the pilot had in his house? malaysia's acting transport minister says an examination of the hard drive so far reveals they'v ix

gorilla. >> i mean, now you're really winning. >> i mean, honestly. oh, on an unrelated note, he then ordered a latte with full-fat milk. so, he went crazy that night. >> if you tell me he had a

biscotti with that latte -- >> now i feel like you're taking it too far. that's crazy! >> only taking the joke too far. kidding. >> never! >> on this show? >> we don't know how to do that. thank you. >> dylan is here now with a check of the forecast. you're talking some spring showers. more than spring showers. >> spring rain. >> yes. spring downpours in parts of the southeast, especially right now through florida. look at this. panama city, it is under the oranges and the reds. that's your really heavy torrential downpours, and it's all moving to the east and northeast. we could end up with some severe storms later on today. all of these flashes here, that's your cloud-to-ground lightning, most of it out over the gulf of mexico, but we have some moving in through northern florida. up to albany, georgia, that's where we have just some rain right now, but it's this whole area from tallahassee up to charleston, south carolina, right down into central florida where we could see our best chance of strong storms today. that means hail, damaging wind gusts and a few isolated tornadoes are possible. so, elsewhere across the country, it is rainy up and down the east coast. in the northeast, it will arrive

later on this afternoon. middle of the country is nice and quiet, but in the pacific northwest, even out there we are still looking at more rain, an area that certainly doesn't need it. but parts of washington state could end up with about 2 inches of rain over the course of the weekend, and then we're looking at some mountain snow good morning. 6:10 the time right now. still looking at dry conditions across the bay. but in san francisco winds starting to pick up and we are starting to see drizzle and sprinkle activity because our next storm system's already bringing raindrops to the north bay. you can see that on the camera lens. but overall a cloudy day, not going to see a whole lot of sunshine. you'll notice the highs only near 60 degrees and there's the rain starting to fall across the north bay. this will increase and push southward during the day. and eventually arriving in san jose by noon. >> and that's your latest forecast. erica? >> all right, dylan. thanks. actress gwyneth paltrow is taking some heat for something she said recently about working

moms. this coming, of course, in the same week that she and her husband, chris martin, announced they were splitting. kristen dahlgren has more for us this morning. kristen, good morning. >> hey, good morning, erica. well, it's nothing new for gwyneth paltrow to be called out of touch with the common folk. in announcing her split, she said that she and martin with "consciously uncoupling," but before that, she made a comment that has a lot of moms upset, saying working a 9-to-5 job is easier than acting. she's an oscar winner -- >> it is a new world. >> a mom, and has been crowned the world's most beautiful woman. but now gwyneth paltrow is in the middle of an ugly controversy after telling e! online, "i think it's different when you have an office job, because it's routine and you can do all the stuff in the morning and then you come home in the evening. when you're shooting a movie, they're like, we need you to go to wisconsin for two weeks, and then you work 14 hours a day, and that part of it is very difficult." >> i think she's a little tone-deaf, you know? >> reporter: working mom

mckenzie dawson lashed out in an open letter in the "new york post," writing, "thank god i don't make millions filming one movie per year is what i say to myself pretty much every morning as i wait on a windy metro-north platform, about to begin my 45-minute commute." it's not the first time paltrow has been polarizing. there's her cookbook, where the tab for a day's meals runs hundreds of dollars. and on her lifestyle website goop, last year's must-haves totaled $500,000. in 2013, paltrow was named "star" magazine's most hated celebrity. >> i think that because she has such a sickly sweet, perfect image and is so controlling about her image and is so successful, that the people that don't like her really don't like her. >> reporter: pal cameron diaz was quick to defend paltrow and how she's handled her recent split, telling "e!" -- >> they are kind, generous, loving people who really care about one another. >> reporter: but mckenzie dawson says if paltrow wants to win

friends and fans who aren't celebrities -- >> people don't want to hate you. you have to, as a person who's had immense good fortune, practice a bit of empathy. >> for her part, paltrow has remained silent. we reached out for comment but didn't hear back. on her website, she had a short saying only "c.m. and i in deep gratitude for the support of so many." my favorite part of this is she seems to believe people just work 9:00 to 5:00. >> especially working parents, because you don't work with your kids in the morning before work or after when you get home. at least in my house. they're on their own. kristen, thanks. a 40-year-old deaf woman is getting used to a new normal. she can now hear something she has never been able to do before and now life as she knows it will never be the same. annabel roberts has her story. >> august, september, october, november -- >> reporter: those words are the first joanne milne has ever heard in her life.

>> could you hear those words. >> reporter: the 39-year-old is profoundly deaf, but the cameras were rolling aftercochlear implants were put into each ear, giving her the gift of sound. >> monday, tuesday -- [ inaudible ] >> it's a big, big life-changing day. >> reporter: at home, she is adapting to a word of noise. >> it's so, so loud to me, so loud. and this morning i had a very funny experience with hair spray. and i was so, like, i couldn't even stand it. just everything that people really take for granted, those little sounds. >> reporter: sounds we hardly notice bringing delight and wonder to joanne. she says life begins at 40. for her, a new life filled with joyful noise. >> i plan to enjoy them, to

enj enjoy, yeah. >> reporter: for "today," annabel roberts, nbc news, london. >> very touching. >> yeah, it is. still to come, i hope you're hungry. we're going to start cooking with our "fresh cooks live" cook right after these messages. transferred money from his before larry instantly bank of america savings account to his merrill edge retirement account. before he opened his first hot chocolate stand calling winter an "underserved season". and before he quit his friend's leaf-raking business for "not offering a 401k." larry knew the importance of preparing for retirement. that's why when the time came he counted on merrill edge to streamline his investing and help him plan for the road ahead. that's the power of streamlined connections. that's merrill edge and bank of america.

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♪ time now for "fresh cooks live." it's today's spring cooklong. we've been doing this all week long. we're excited to continue it here. we're featuring self-trained cooks bringing bold flavors to their dishes. >> today we're meeting krista simmons with an internationally inspired meal and dylan is out on the plaza. dylan? >> good morning. we're so excited to do this because all week we've been streaming the entire cooking segment starting now through the end of the show on our website, today.com. our guest today is krista simmons. she has traveled the world and she has recipes to prove it.

>> i'm going to show you how to make healthy eats for the busy body. my philosophy on food is to travel as much as humanly possible and then bring those ideas back into the kitchen, where i just love to make healthful dishes that are not only delicious but are good for you, too, so that you can travel through your taste buds without the jet lag. >> reporter: krista simmons, aka, the active appetite, brings her passion for food, travel and adventure to her thousands of twitter and instagram followers, including big names like martha stewart, curtis stone and queen latifah. >> i just hope that i really do inspire people to get out and do and see and eat differently. >> so, let's get right to it. krista, what is on the menu today? >> well, i'm going to show you some healthy eats that are inspired by all of my international travels. so, we're going to first open up a fresh, young coconut, and then we're going to take the meat and the coconut water and make some southeast asian style skewers with a fresh peanut sauce. >> right. >> then we'll do some curry

cauliflower and then we're going to make a fabulous cocktail with coconut water so you can hydrate. >> i wouldn't know how to buy a coconut. i don't know how to work with a coconut. so, where can you find the coconut? >> you can find most coconuts at most asian markets and also at whole foods is selling them quite a bit, because coconut water has become so incredibly popular as of late. but of course, like anything, it's best to open up the coconut on your own, fresh. so, we're going to just go ahead and carve off the hole here on the top of the coconut. >> you're just cutting away at it slowly. >> slowly but surely. >> it looks pretty hard to cut. >> it's actually a pretty soft, fleshy hole that it has on the outside. it's much different than this immature coconut we're used to seeing. >> these are not connected? >> they are connected. this whole sheds off and looks like a whole coconut. we'll use the fresh, young coconut, which is where you get the coconut water. we've carved out the hole. you can see this clean, circular globe on the top here.

take your chef's knife -- you do not need a machete. >> it seems like you do. >> you see people in thailand whacking the coconut with a machete. you hold your chef's knife and make incisions, five of them on the top in the shape of a pentagon. choke up on your knife, like so, and whack into it. >> just keep banging away at it. >> and you can hear that crack? that's what you're looking for. >> so, it's a literal crack when you're doing the -- >> yeah. it's like the crack of a bat, like so. >> all right, we're going to let you keep at it, dylan and cri krista, we'll check back in. and you can follow all the action on today.com as you're watching on tv as well and cook along with krista and dylan. that's all still to come, along with a little healthy competition among friends. we're teaming up with our fitness challengers on the "weekend today" obstacle course. team orange. first, this is "today" on nbc. >> not to be confused with my team.

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good morning, folks. looking live from the emeryville camera at the bay bridge there in the distance. you can see those gray clouds those are the rainy kind. they are not just for show. thanks so much for joining us i'm kris sanchez along with meteorologist anthony slaughter who is tracking the timing of all of that rain. >> we already starting to see the shower activity approach san francisco, over the open waters we're seeing drizzle and the winds starting to intensefy and that's the front starting to push through. and eventually this afternoon everybody going to see some showers. it will start in the north bay where we're already starting to see the rain. but you'll notice the temperatures very cool, only in the 50s and 60s for daytime highs. this is the live radar right now and you'll see the rain falling from mill valley towards napa and santa rosa had some showers but it's already pushed through

there. this thin band of rain will push through the area today and as it pushes through we may hear a little bit of thunder and see a little bit of lightning from time to time but i don't think we'll see much more than that. really the yellows and oranges to note the heavy rain and it will push through by about noon and after that, about 5:00, 6:00 we'll start our drying-out period but eventually we'll see sunshine and that comes into play tomorrow. we'll time out the next seven days for you coming up at 7:00. thank you very much, anthony. a magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck in southern california 20 miles southeast of los angeles between the cities of la habra and brea in orange county. it hit after 9:00 last night and there was a 3.6 near la habra about an hour before that big one. many communities reported power outages and water main breaks as well as gas leaks. there was a car that reportedly flipped over in carbon canyon because of a rock slide. one of the many aftershocks happened in the middle of the

usgs news conference about the earthquake. in all, usgs reported more than 30 aftershocks and warned locals to expect more throughout the day. so far, all of the reported damage has been pretty minor. to a developing story in the south bay now. a 49er with a troubled past is free on $36,000 bail after he was arrested in the south bay for allegedly hitting a bicyclist with his white mustang. then threatening a good samaritan. now the 49ers are on damage control this morning. culver made headlines more than a year ago with his anti-gay remarks. he allegedly hit that bicyclist near tully and south seventh street and police say that after culver allegedly hit that bicyclist he fled the scene and hit a witness' car. that witness then followed culver to a nearby cul de sac and blocked him in until officers arrived. culver's charges include felony hit and run and possession of

brass knuckles and driving with a suspended license. coming up this morning on "today in the bay" we sit down with a covered california expert and answer some of the questions you might have maybe keeping you from enrolling before monday's deadline. we'll talk about the deadline. we'll talk about what you need to enroll all coming up at 7:00. right now here's more the "today" show.

♪ hey, everyone in orlando, i'm on the "today" show! >> good morning, lester! >> hey, y'all, we're on the "today" show. >> north carolina! >> i'm celebrating my birthday right on the plaza. >> i'm 50. >> and fabulous! >> i'm 60 and sassy! >> happy birthday! >> hi, guys! >> and we are back on this saturday morning, march 29th, 2014. spring is in the air, excitement in the crowd. we're so happy to have so many friends here with us on the plai plaza this morning. they are sharing some of their pictures as they hang out on

rockefeller plaza. you can see them up on the side of the building. i just met a family from my hometown in connecticut. nice to have you here. >> we tweeted out some of our pictures earlier, getting ready for our obstacle course. >> we were doing preparation, because we're on the team and it's a lot to do. >> all right, all right. still to come this morning, one of our favorite stories of the day and i'm sure one of yours as well. michigan state definitely had extra fan power during last night's sweet 16 game from a young cancer patient who can call one of the team's star players her good friend, and you will hear from both of them about that inspiring bond. then, if you're a fan of the tv show "the good wife," you were probably shocked last weekend to see one of -- >> i haven't seen it yet! >> uh-oh. >> don't tell me what happened! i'm the only one. >> but something happens to one of the characters that shocks every -- >> i honestly didn't see it. i didn't know this was coming up. >> anyway, we'll talk about why tv shows do that and leave fans with a bitter taste in their mouth, when they kill off

important characters. >> yeah, it was pretty sad. >> let me tell you how "sopranos" ends, just in case you haven't seen -- >> thanks. you know the real ending? >> i do know it. >> okay, so that's coming up, too. >> not even a little bit. also ahead, we were talking about earlier in the show, game on. one of the final parts of our "30 days to a better you" challenge. the obstacle course is always the most fun. we're teaming up with some of the fans who participated this last month to see who will win. and as you may have heard, erica and lester, lerica, are a team, and dylan and i, jylan, are a team. we're going to have fun. >> we each have a separate -- you and i are going over the wall. >> in more ways than one. but before we get to that, dylan is on the other side of the plaza, behind the obstacle course, with our cook this morning, krista. dylan, how's it going? >> it's going so awesome out here. we have already cracked open our coconut, we have taken out the, what do you call it, the liquid, the milk? >> the coconut water. >> the coconut water. and so far, we've used it in the

marinade part, chicken sate, which is marinating right now. we'll work with that later when we grill it. now we've moved on to the roasted call flaur. you can put it in the oven or in a pot, since we're outside right now and we're using the coconut oil to -- >> we're doing a pan roast, basically. >> we're pan roasting the call fla call flaur, and it ends with a fabulous drink. so, we'll be checking in in a bit here to see some of the progress. of course, this is still streaming online at today.com from start to finish, a whole half hour's worth of this recipe here. we're still right nowcauliflowe. how long does that take? >> we're trying to get a nice caramelization, so maybe five minutes or so? keep an eye on it. you don't want it to burn, but you want great color on it, yes. >> we're going to not burn the cauliflower, get great color on it, and we'll check back with you in a few minutes. >> good, as long as you're not going to burn it. we'll check back with you in a

little bit -- >> when will we be able to live stream smells? because it smells really good. >> it does smell good. and i love that we're doing it in realtime because it gives you an idea what you can do in that amount of time, which is fantastic. and we're hungry, so we can't wait to eat it. >> did you think we would again be doing a cooking segment outside after this winter? >> no, nor an obstacle, but we'll get to that, too. >> anyway, dylan has another check of the forecast. it is a little windy out here, so cooking in the weather and all that involved. but we've got everybody out here and we're not standing in the rain, so that's a good thing. the rain will hold off in the northeast for a little while, but we are going to see this moisture stream in from the south, and eventually, the severe storms that we're going to see in the southeast will transition over to heavier rain in the northeast by this afternoon and then overnight tonight we could even see some snow across upstate new york and into extreme northern good morning. 6:34 the time right now. still waiting on that rain. you'll notice in san francisco the camera shaking around a little bit winds are starting to pick up because the showers are

now approaching. in fact, it will be a rainy day everywhere from the north bay down to the south bay and you'll notice the temperatures not going to be very warm. only topping out near 60 degrees. there's the radar i was talking about approaching san francisco and over towards sausalito heavier stuff expected to move through the next few hours and the rain will continue through the day and potential strong storms and isolated lightning. forecast. lester? >> all right, dylan, thanks. this next story is one that's grabbed hearts across the country. it's about the growing friendship between a little girl battling a rare form of cancer and one of the standout stars of the ncaa tournament. 8-year-old lacey was in the stands to cheer on her hero and friend, as she helped lead michigan state to a sweet 16 victory. stephanie gosk has her story. >> reporter: adreian payne is one of michigan state's best players. he knew the game against virginia was going to be tough, but there was a secret weapon at the garden, 8-year-old lacey holsworth. >> it's something about her

that, you know, just, i just, you know, that gives me energy and makes me want to do well on the court. >> reporter: the unlikely friends met two years ago when the michigan state team visited a local children's hospital. lacey had just been diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer. >> seeing somebody go through something like that is, you know, it was terrifying. >> reporter: the 23-year-old has suffered loss in his own life. first his mother and then his grandmother. >> you're starting to have a different perspective on life, and you know, i think i've grown from it and now i'm trying to help other people. >> reporter: adreian stayed in touch with lacey. when you guys are just playing together, what do you like about him the most? >> he can be funny sometimes. we also watch movies and i make him brownies, and he's just -- he's just like a brother to me. >> reporter: lacey goes to all the games she can, taking her

role as number one fan pretty seriously. just look at the shirts that made the trip to new york and the stuffed animal that was not getting left behind. does he have a name? >> d'angelo. >> reporter: explain to me the name. >> it's adreian's middle name. >> reporter: oh, really? adreian gave her the zebra in the hospital last fall when lac lacey's cancer returned. his visit was one of the few times she smiled. for parents helping their child cope with a terrible eian payne >> when he walked into the hospital that day, he walked right into our family, and it was just meant to be. >> reporter: michigan state will play again tomorrow for a shot at the final four. while the spotlight sighines on center who shows as much selflessness as skill. for "today," stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. and we will continue and check in with our "fresh cooks" segment in just a moment. we're back after this.

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♪ back now with a look at why popular tv shows are killing off their main characters. it happened this week on "the good wife," leaving fans shocked, to say the least. >> yes, that may be putting it mildly. joelle garguilo has more on this surprise and why other shows seem to be following suit. good morning. >> good morning! i know! see, every time you bring up the topic, it just happened before the show, people get so incredibly passionate. some say it has to do with ratings. others think it's a way to get people hooked on watching live. regardless of the reason, we can all agree, it stings when your favorite character is all of a sudden gone. it was the shocking moment no one saw coming. attorney will gardner fatally gunned down, gone for good. >> will! >> reporter: immediately, the social media backlash began. fans of "the good wife" reeling,

tweeting things like, "it's not supposed to happen this way!" "seriously, writers, i am sitting here stunned!" "this is officially one of the worst decisions ever in tv." but it's just the latest in a long line of series knocking off main characters. the red wedding episode of "game of thrones" was a bloody shocker, while "scandal," "persons of interest" and "homeland" left viewers outraged, sparking conversations even here at 30 rock. >> suddenly, not even at the season finale, but midseason! >> completely devastated. >> i felt really betrayed by the characters. >> reporter: even joan rivers was up in arms. >> i finally get to like somebody and follow their lives and you kill them off? >> maybe take you a week, it's your opportunity. >> reporter: tony soprano may tell you that they have been killing off characters for years and "er's" mark green might agree. but as of late, it seems no lead is safe.

the questions so many people want need answered. >> why? >> why? >> why! >> to break out of the clutter of tv, you've got to do something bold and there's nothing more bold than killing off somebody that the fans love. it is a calculated risk, but sometimes you've got to hurt the ones you love. >> reporter: could the drastic move mean the demise of a series? >> networks have to push hard to get noticed nowa day, and if it turns off a couple of fans it might bring new people back into the show. >> reporter: or perhaps it's a tactic to get people watching television live. after all, nothing's worse than a spoiler. >> they killed him off! >> what? >> just ask "homeland" fan jennifer lawrence. >> i can't believe they did that. >> reporter: the takeaway? you'd better catch up on your favorite shows, because you never know who could be on the chopping block next. so, we asked our "today" facebook fans which tv character's death hit them the hardest over the years. and guys, overwhelmingly, people said dr. mark green on "er." 75%! but you disagree. >> i -- no, i think they're all good. i think -- i mean, i don't wish

for death, but i think -- >> thanks for clarifying. >> i think it keeps shows fresh. it challenges the writers. and you know what? it's drama. >> i'm against it, personally. >> you're against it all? >> personal laeyz i'm against it. >> i don't have anything against it, but it's amazing how much it's a gut reaction we all have. we feel so emotionally attached to them, it's so hard to say good-bye. but now that josh charles is free, he can hang out with us on the weekends. just saying. >> i did watch it last weekend and was like, wow, did not see that coming. >> joelle, thank you. now we go to jenna in the orange room with a special guest and the "plaza fan of the day." >> this is bailey alexander. we were just talking about, remember the days where you would tape something for vcr and hold the vhs for two weeks because no one would tell you what happened. there was no internet. you had no idea. >> yep. >> so, besides talking about that, which threw you off course, go for it, bailey. >> let's go out to the plaza and check in with dylan and today's "fresh cooks live" guest krista

simmons. >> fantastic job! we are outside with krista now, and i want to take you through what we've gone through so far. we've cracked open the coconut. we're using the coconut water in a lot of our recipes here and then used it in a marinade for our chicken, which is on the grill right now. these are chicken on a stick. it doesn't get much better than that. we're using chicken breast, so it's nice and healthy, but has all sorts of flavors and garlic in here. then we moved on to roasted garl garlic. normally, you would roast -- >> cauliflower. >> normally, you would roast cauliflower in an oven, but we're doing it in a pan with coconut oil. so, coconut is the theme here and we even have coconut in -- >> a sombal, a fancy word for sauce. >> we'll get back to you, let you keep working. we're going to take a break, but first, this is "today" on nbc. keep cooking, right? ♪

♪ turn around ♪ every now and then i get a little bit hungry ♪

♪ and there's nothing really good around ♪ ♪ turn around ♪ every now and then i get a little bit tired ♪ ♪ of living off the taste of the air ♪ ♪ turn around, barry ♪ finally, i have a manly chocolatey snack ♪ ♪ and fiber so my wife won't give me any more flack ♪ ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ ♪ ♪

and we are back on a saturday morning with "fresh cooks live," which is such a fun segment. >> it is. krista simmons has been here with us all morning, working hard on a great meal with some around-the-world influence to it. i didn't realize how cold it was. i hope this food is warming you up a little bit. it's a little chilly this morning. >> i'm warming my hands over the grill. >> can i get my face on there? is that inappropriate? >> don't do that. we have some saute skewers going and some roasted cauliflower, those toasty spices will really warm us up. >> it's been a lot of fun seeing how we're putting coconut into every single recipe that we're doing. we're in the process of making, say it again? >> sambal, s-a-m-b-a-l. >> which is a fancy word for sauce, how they say it in other parts of the country. we're working on that now. >> we have twitter questions. if you can tell us the difference between coconut water and coconut milk, if you will. >> yeah, sure. so, the coconut water actually comes from the young coconut. so, it's light and refreshing.

it's really good for you. it has five essential electro lights in it. it's fantastic, like nature's sports drink, basically. and the coconut milk is the creamy milk used in currys and things like that. two different purposes, both wonderful. >> i have another twitter question, but you go -- >> keep asking twitter questions. >> i was moving on to a drink. >> all right, my other question is, twitter fans want to know if there are other dairy-free options to use instead of these dishes, if there was anything else you could use. >> instead of coconut, you mean? >> correct. >> oh, gosh, i would think almond milk. it's so easy, almonds and water in a blender. flavor it with cinnamon and agave or something. >> interchange it with almond mi milk. >> absolutely, you could do that. >> now we have a drink, the saigon sling? >> the saigon sling. >> i like the sound of it. >> it's a cocktail. we're going to mix these in these shakers.

so, i'm going to move over a little bit here. excellent. so, we'll take some fresh lemon grass and put it in the bottom of our shaker. >> lemon grass is hard, so i'm assuming we have to break it down somehow. >> we'll break did down with our mudler. pick that guy up and bash it up and go to town on it. now is the time to take it out. >> take it out with your muddler. >> it's hard work. >> there's juice coming out of here. >> it's more for the aromatic. take a whiff. smell that? >> oh, wow. >> isn't that great? >> it's very lemony. >> just compare and contrast with that. >> thank you so much, jenna. >> now we really need that smell-o-vision. >> we'll add some ice in here now. >> all right. >> there is gin in this. >> there is going to be gin in this. don't be afraid. i feel like people -- gin got a bad wrap, you know? it's delicious. >> you're using a measuring cup. >> i'm going to measure things out. i'll give you one part gin. the other key ingredient, of

course, is our coconut water. >> double the gin, because we're competing against them. >> we'll take double coconut water since we're competing. >> all right, as we finish up some of this, we are going to prepare ourselves -- >> mind if we try some of the saute? >> try the saute. put peanut sauce on it. yeah. >> thank you. we will pass them down. >> ooh, excellent. >> i didn't get to dip. >> we're going to take a little -- this is going to help us win the obstacle course challenge. >> yes. >> just you watch. we're getting ready to face off also with some of our friends who we've made who signed up to do the 30-day challenge, along with all of you at home. so, get ready for the obstacle course fitness challenge in

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to enjoy something sweet with the ones you love. think sugar, say splenda™ all right, we're back. it's the final weekend of our series "30 days to a better you." earlier this morning, we introduced you to five viewers who have taken part from home. they're back and teaming up with us for an obstacle course relay. >> which we are very excited about. so, lester and nikki, kieron and myself are on the orange team. jenna, dylan, dave and allegra are on the blue team, and we're also joined by our good friend, wnbc's pat battle, who is here to be our referee this morning. [ everyone talking at once ] >> yeah, jenna, that's not going to work because i was checking up first. there you go. >> i'm here for balance and fair. so, lester is going to get you on your marks and we're going to take our positions and --

>> get ready! >> okay. >> so -- >> out of the way, out of way. >> come on in. >> on your mark. >> yes! >> get set. >> yes! [ whistle ] >> all right! two turns, two turns, in, in, in. >> here we go. >> all right! >> go, go, go! >> all right, come on! >> here, here. >> come on, come on, dylan. >> you guys are good! >> yes, yes! take that! take that! look at our team. that's right. oh, get over, lester. come on, mom! ♪ >> come on, lester! ♪ >> i think team orange was doing great until lester hit the wall. >> i hit the wall. it's the shoes. >> it happens. it happens. we've all got excuses, lester.

i'm kidding. >> that was actually difficult. >> that was a lot of fun! >> yeah. >> a lot of fun. >> your wheel barrows were impressive. [ everyone talking at once ] >> you've done great. >> i'm very proud of you. >> thanks very much. >> you've done great. >> thank you, pat, for taking part. >> you know, jenna's -- >> nice work. >> yay! >> thank you guys so much for competing in this last 30 days. >> oh, it was fun. >> we appreciate it. we hope we've imparted some knowledge on you. >> you guys look great. >> take it with you. you guys are wonderful and thank you so much for everything. again, we should all thank you. this has been an amazing 30 days. you've inspired so many people. >> thank you. >> not just your family at the "today" show, but the 1 50,000 people who signed up online and

everybody else. so thank you for inspiring us as well. >> thank you for being my personal trainer as well. coming up next, a 49er player, a hit and run and brass knuckles. the strange string of events that ended with chris culver behind bars. and an east bay man is lucky to be alive this morning. how he escaped serious injury after a freak explosion. plus, winter and spring collide. chilly temperatures showers expected all across the bay area. we'll show you the timing. [doorbell rings]

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good saturday morning to you. looking live at the bay bridge toll plaza. we see a little bit of blue sky but it's not going to last long. we're all going to get a touch of rain, the question is when? good morning and thanks for joining us i'm kris sanchez along with meteorologist anthony slaughter who has the timing of the storm. >> we've got showers across the

bay area and we don't have rain in oakland or san francisco but it is very close. in the next few minutes the showers will spread across the locations. this morning it has been across the north bay. and this stuff even though it looks the yellow and the red looks impressive it is not as it actually is because our atmosphere has been dry. even though we are seeing yellows and oranges popping up, overall we'll see moderate to heavy rain by this afternoon. and once we get the heating of the day we could see strong thunderstorms imbided in this line of rain as it moves through. the main focus will be the timing on the roadways. maybe isolated lightning and thunder and small hail is possible as well. i don't think we'll deal with tornadoes like we saw a couple of days ago. here at home we'll stay with the rain as it continues to move