on our broadcast tonight, criminal charges for the captain in the awful ferry tragedy as we see the moments he abandoned ship while passengers, many of them teenagers, left inside. a massive avalanche triggers the worst avalanche in recorded history. a team from nbc news was on the mountain and what they saw in that moment. highway sniper. after weeks of spreading fear over random violence tonight, there's been an arrest in missouri. and smoking hot, one of the fastest growing components of the pot business. tonight, the celebrity who says it has changed her life. "nightly news" begins now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian

williams. good evening. tonight we continue to follow the slow motion tragedy, the sinking of a ferry boat in the waters off south korea. what started out as a voyage to a holiday island with close to 500 people onboard, many of them high school students. today the last visible part of the vessel went beneath the water. it's now completely submerged. as live pictures from the scene show the effort to get down there and get inside the hull to look for survivors. tonight, the captain is under arrest and has been charged as imagery now shows him abandoning ship. there are still 274 people missing. we begin tonight with nbc's bill neely in south korea. >> reporter: under arrest and charged with criminal negligence, the 69-year-old captain seen here abandoning his ship. he wasn't at the helm when it got into trouble. he left behind inflatable life

rafts, never launched. the final radio messages between the ship and maritime officials show he was never in control of events. from the bridge, our ship is in danger. it's rolling right now, please come quickly. officials order them to put on the life vests and get ready. people may have to abandon ship. the crew replied, it's hard for people to move. this woman mourns her 17-year-old boy. one of the few whose bodies have been recovered from a ship that has now disappeared in the mirky waters. divers tried today repeatedly to enter it but strong currents stopped them. >> it's impossible to go down, but we have to try. >> reporter: the hope that air pockets might keep some children alive is dwindling. one man who escaped the ship was the vice principal in charge of more than 300 students on board. at the school they announced today he killed himself. this was the school of rising, anger, and fading hope.

parents overwhelmed by loss and grief. the high school is a school of tears. the classrooms lie empty except for the clothes of the missing children, the books they piled up ready for their return. normally at this time, you would hardly be able to move in the corridors or hear anything but noisy, excited teenagers. but this isn't normal. this is the silence of the disafeared. the empty classrooms of an entire school year. at the hospital near the school, survivors are comforted by friends, some are injured. they left for an island vacation. these are among the few who came home. they are all praying for a miracle, a hope as dim as the candle light at the vigil outside the school, a place now of deep sadness and silence.

nbc news, south korea. also overseas tonight, the crisis in ukraine is showing no signs of letup despite what was build as a breakthrough in the talks announced just yet. neither side is backing off from their positions and the mystery over who is handing out leaflets telling jews they must register has only deepened. nb's jim maceda is there and has our report tonight. >> reporter: with prorussia militias still in the barricades in donetsk, the city's jews pray today that ukraine's dark days would not return. >> you give it to people and they went away. >> reporter: said armed masked men handed out dozens of leaflets outside the synagogue that said all jews over 16 had to register with the new russia authorities or risked

being stripped of citizenship, property confiscated. this man was visiting his family from new york. >> people were very, very scared. >> reporter: u.s. officials quickly condemned the leaflets. >> utterly sickening and they have no place in the 21st century. >> reporter: just a check that the threat was real, several jews came here yesterday to the headquarters of the prorussia militants as if registering themselves as requested. well, they were told to leave immediately, that no one here knows anything about such a leaflet. and today, pro russian authorities in donetsk blamed the other side. this is just a provocation he said from the government in kiev. jews believe the leaflets were a hoax, but they're still angry and worried. the days of scapegoating jews were supposed to be over. ukrainian police are looking for the source of the leaflets with help from the u.s. state department. >> the source is less important than how horrific the content was and the message it sent.

>> reporter: a message that remains explosive in a country with a long history of antisemitisn. jim maceda, nbc news, donetsk. a big announcement from authorities in missouri after fears on the roads in and around kansas city, after police say they captured the man suspected of firing at vehicles on the highway. john yang is in kansas city, tonight, john, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. late today 27-year-old mohammed whitaker was transferred to the county jail here. that came after he was formally charged with 18 felony counts in nine shootings over the past month and because he's behind bars tonight, a lot of people in this area may be breathing a little easier. authorities say they are confident they have the man responsible for terrorizing kansas city drivers with a four-week series of highway shootings and that he acted alone. >> this case involved a period of surveillance.

it involved blastics. it involved tips. it involved witness statements. >> reporter: police arrested mohammed whittaker last night in grand view, missouri. >> i was looking out my win dean suddenly saw the s.w.a.t. team going past. >> reporter: inside investigators found ammunition and a handgun and seized a dodge neon. >> i want to thank our law enforcement officers and everybody involved in this for allowing the citizens of this city to feel a little safer today. a little less fearful today. >> reporter: police say whittaker fired on at least a dozen vehicles on kansas city highways in march 18 through april 6. he wounded three people, none of them seriously. the biggest and most recent cluster of shootings came on a sprawling highway interchange known as the grand view triangle near whitaker's home. they say investigators acting on a tip focused on whittaker last week tailing him as he kept in the blind spots of cars around

him and saw him often reaching under the driver's seat. authorities say whitaker could face more charges. >> the investigation is ongoing and we continue to receive leads and follow leads. we're not done yet. we're not done yet. >> reporter: whitaker is being held on $1 million bail and he could make his first court appearance as soon as tomorrow. brian? >> john yang in kansas city tonight. john, thank you. there is another powerful earthquake, this time a 7.2 in mexico. buildings shook for 30 minutes or more -- an eternity in an earthquake. many ran into the streets, dodging falling debris and broken windows. no reports of major damage as of yet. today happens to be the anniversary of the 1906 san francisco earthquake. there has been a disaster on mt. everest in nepal. at least 12 are dead, even more missing after an avalanche. it's the deadliest day in the

history of the world's tallest peak. a team from nbc news happened to be there at the time of the avalanche. tonight, they are describing what they saw. we get our report tonight from our chief correspondent richard engel. >> reporter: there was a time when bodies were left on everest. >> helicopter is landing to you now. >> not today. >> i need more medical help. >> reporter: dozens of climbers ventured up to the avalanche zone at 19,000 feet to search for victims, all sherpas from nepal, and recover their bodies. helicopters landed precariously on ledges of ice, and hoefred dropping long lines to hoist out the injured and dead. rescue workers straddled cables as stretchers spun in the cold thin air. the disaster struck this morning as a few dozen sherpas walked here, under a huge walls of ice. the sherpas, expert climbers and

guides, were carrying food and preparing for foreign mountaineers that arrived for climbing season. but as the sherpas advanced, chunks of ice crushed down on them. >> there is ice as tall as five-story buildings. >> reporter: he's an alpine guide. >> as the sun hits the big pieces of ice on the mountain, they start moving a little bit, and if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, you have tragic accidents like today. >> reporter: amazingly, this man survived, bruised by the crushing ice ball. nbc news television crews were on site preparing for a documentary for the discovery challenge. all nbc news employees are safe. since everest was first conquered six decades ago, by edmund hillary, thousands of climbers have reached the summit, and more than 200 have died trying. today's tragedy was the worst ever and not surprising that the dead were all sherpas.

everest is dangerous, far more so for those who climb the mountain all the time. >> they certainly are brave people. they are the most hard-working, brave people i ever met in my life and continue to do the job they are asked to do. >> reporter: this does not appear to be a case of any mistakes made by climbers. it took part in the most dangerous part of everest where the climbers have to walk underneath these heavy sheets of ice, and if one of those sheets breaks off, there is not much you can do. >> terrible tragedy overseas. thanks. richard engel with us here tonight. thanks, as always. after going several weeks without a u.s. casualty, we learned a u.s. army soldier has been killed in afghanistan. kerry danyluk of texas was killed when his unit came under small arms fire. he was a veteran of the tenth mountain division on his second deployment, a recipient of a purple heart and bronze star and survived by his parents.

he was 27 years old. >> still ahead for us tonight, boom times in the marijuana business, specifically a delivery system among the proponents, whoopi goldberg as she herself will be happy to tell you. and later, the unbelievable surprise so many people got together to make happen for a young woman who could not believe her good fortune.

this coming sunday, the 20th of april is easter sunday, of course, but for other folks, it's known as the day as 4/20 where people grow in large numbers to smoke weed. it's grown in popularity and a famous actress decided to write about being an enthusiasts. whoopi goldberg always said it helps with physical ailments and now she's advocating a specific delivery system. we get our report from nbc's harry smith.

>> reporter: if you watch the view, you know whoopi goldberg likes marijuana. >> i have smoked weed. i'm sorry, yeah, and i know about the green underwear that you wrote your name on. >> i can never get over that. >> reporter: she's even admitted to being high the night she accepted her oscar for ghost in 1991. this week goldberg debuted for "the denver post" cannabis section where she extolled the virtue of the vape pen. she wrote the vape pen has changed my life. no, i'm not exaggerating. her name is sippy, she's a she and each sip comes relief from pressure, pain, stress, d discomfort. vape pens are e-cigarettes for marijuana and those who manufacture them can't make them fast enough. we witnessed the process firsthand in january with open vap todd.

what do you expect? >> we sent from selling a few thousand a day to selling 10,000 a day. when that happened, we couldn't measure it anymore. >> reporter: the marijuana business in colorado is booming. vape pen that look and taste like candy are the fastest growing segments. state tax coffers are filling with millions of dollars from the new revenue from pot's legalization. but the scientific jury on marijuana is still not convinced that weed is harmless. a new study released this week warns young marijuana users that the areas of their brains that control emotion and motivation are especially vulnerable to even casual consumption. all this as denver prepares for the april 20 celebration, a day marijuana advocates have long us used to promote the drug's legalizations. past crowds in denver have been enormous. now that marijuana is legal there, who knows what will happen. harry smith, nbc news, new york. we are back in a moment with the awkward response from so many of our viewers after we asked for it on the broadcast here last night.

a nasa spacecraft crashed into the surface of the moon today and it all went exactly as planned. the orbiter was intentionally crashed into the far side of the moon so it wouldn't hit any of the arty facemasks left behind from the six manned u.s. moon missions. the world was transfix ed by tht asteroid that thundered down on russia freb of last year. 1200 people were injured. the founder of an effort to detect the astroids told an audience in seattle quote the only thing preventing a catastrophe from a city astroid is blind luck. it's a sobering thought and next tuesday the group will present evidence that astroids hit with alarming frequency. glen campbell is moved into a facility for alzheimer's patients. he was forthright discussing his

diagnosis back in 2011 and completed a farewell tour before departing from public life. glen campbell is 77 years old. kim novak has spoken out about how hateful the comments were toward her after her appearance on the oscars. she singles out donald trump for being particularly mean. she said the remarks threw her into a tail spin. she admits she's had cosmetic injections and took a pill to relax that night and fasted for days prior to the oscars. we put a new graphic on our website tonight that shows how food insecurity varies from state to state in this country. it's defined as a lack of access to adequate food, in some cases, the people who really don't know where their next meal will come from. the darkest shading along the mississippi river where states like new hampshire have none at all. the white house has a red fox. we don't know yet if it's a michael j. or a megan, but it's

been spotted by a lot of people including the president who looked out and saw him running between the residence and the west wing. the fox is currently in the dog house for eating portions of the first lady's garden. he tripped motion detectors at night, eluded efforts to humanely capture him because he's wiley. we asked you for them and you delivered on the museum exhibit of awkward family photos. we asked fur yours and been indicated with it all day. the current favorite is a little boy and the easter bunny. they are on display and happen to be the top trending item on our website, nbcnews.com. when we come back, it's among the best surprises ever caught on camera.

. finally tonight, it's an entire sub-genre on the web and television, prank videos that show something bad happening unbeknown to them. it's part of a series called prank it forward. what you're about to see was meant to reward a young woman that raised her sister from childhood, overcame a eating disorder and started a nonprofit that helps others by using yoga. her bosses nominated her for this. our report tonight.

>> reporter: it was one of those mornings, 24-year-old waitress chelsea roth was feeling overwhelmed. that was before she began her shift at the smoke house barbecue restaurant in los angeles. >> all right, all right, i'll put a smile on my face. i was having a tough day. >> reporter: chelsea ross was used to having tough days, having overcome a severe eating disorder. when she's not waiting tables, she helps other women with similar experiences recover through yoga. she's been the one serving others, but not today. unknown to her, the restaurant was rigged by cameras arranged by the youtube channel break. it started a campaign of videos called prank it forward. >> leave a 20 on the table and a thousand in the clipboard. >> reporter: the mission to inspire and spread positivity to someone who deserves a break, and chelsea was the latest target. >> did he literally just leave you a thousand dollars? >> reporter: the $1,000 tip was

followed by vouchers for a free trip to hawaii. >> what? what is happening today? it was just too weird. >> cue the yoga book, make sure chelsea can see it. >> reporter: things were about to get weirder. her next customer had a yoga book that caught her eye and offered chelsea a dream job, a position teaching yoga at a studio that happens to cater to young women with eating disorders. >> this could be a great fit. >> reporter: and even that wasn't all. >> i'm good to go. >> reporter: when she picked up the next bill, there was something hiding underneath. >> car key. that's you. >> i'm thinking no, my car key is in my pocket. >> see that car? that's your car. >> why are you doing that? >> reporter: in the car was chelsea's mentor diane, the woman she credits with saving her life when she was struggling with her eating disorder. >> the work she's doing now is impacting and saving lives and

how could i not want to be a part of that? >> reporter: good friends and strangers tipping their hats, showing how much they care in an unexpected way. rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. great story for every 1,000 views the video gets, the organizers donate $1 to the nonprofit dosomething.org. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams, lester holt will be here this weekend. hope to see you back on monday night. in the meantime, have a good weekend, happy easter, good night.

pen -- nbc bay area news starts now. i think it should be investigated before they build the houses. >> right now at 6:00, toxic concerns over development in the bay area's biggest city. good evening and thanks for being with us on this friday. >> new at 6:00, it's being hailed as the new santana row, but there's growing concern over dangerous toxins that still exist at the ground. it sits on the old site of the old ibm plant.

construction includes both homes and retail, and it's booming. damian trujillo is there. and there are health concerns. >> reporter: there are. the city has done a lot with this former ibm plant. the facilities look great, the new stores are going out behind me to my right, your left. but while ibms gone, there is concerntoxins in the ground. it's where kids gather, new stores are popping up and new homes are on the horizons. >> it's been in a stand still baufrts recession. the fact that it's coming up is really exciting. >> reporter: but working in the ground is a car sen jen called tce. it was once made in chip manufacturing and is known