good morning. train targeted? a major new twist as the fbi investigates the possibility that the windshield of the amtrak train was hit just moments before the accident. we're live with the latest. clintons cashed in. presidential candidate hillary clinton under fire from republicans this morning after revealing she and her husband are receiving $30 million in the last few months from speeches. a young girl dragged by a bus when the backpack gets caught in the door. the terrifying scene caught on camera. we'll update you on how she's

doing. the real fight of the century. romney/holyfield. >> down goes holyfield. >> the one-time presidential candidate sending the former heavyweight champ to the mat sort of at a boxing match all for a good cause "today," saturday, may 16th, 2015. >> announcer: from nbc news this is "today" with lester holt and erica hill live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> welcome to "today" on this saturday morning. i'm erica hill. >> i'm john roberts. wasn't that amazing to see holyfield and romney in the ring? >> there was no contest there. >> i think for 68 mitt romney looks great. holyfield is 52. we also saw in the intro ann romney dancing in ahead of her house what a good sport.

>> it raised more than $1 million to help doctors operate on people in other countries with blindness. twitter said if that's 68 i need to get to a gym. a surprising new turn in the investigation of that deadly amtrak derailment. was the train hit by an object shortly before it crashed? and could that have impaired the engineer? the fbi is now on the case. nbc's tom costello is in philadelphia where the train passed through. tom, good morning. >> thomas good morning to you. at least one and perhaps two other trains traveling through that regional area at exactly the same time were hit by projectiles. the question was the engineer on train 188, who by the way was treated for a head injury after the accident was he hit by a projectile and then incapacitated just as the train was speeding up?

this morning new questions about the change of events tuesday night. minutes before amtrak train 188 derailed a pennsylvania regionalregion al septa train was shot at damaging the windshield. >> we have seen damage to the left-hand lower portion of the amtrak windshield that we have asked the fbi to come in and look at for us. >> reporter: was amtrak 188 also hit with a projectile before it crashed? that's what an assistant conductor told investigators she thought she heard engineer brandon bostian say on the radio. >> he reported that he does not have any recollection of anything past north philadelphia. >> reporter: bostian said he wasn't sick or tired. it's still not clear why the train kept speeding up.

16 seconds before the crash, 100 miles per hour. then 106 when bostian slammed on the emergency brakes. one of bostian's close friends for 20 years says he was watching coverage of the crash and then called bostian and spoke to him from the e.r. >> he was in shock. he didn't understand. memory was very fuzzy. he was having a hard time remembering things. >> reporter: meanwhile in new york on friday funeral services for the youngest victim 20-year-old navalal academy midshipman justin zemser. >> a freakish accident and there's questions about why but it's about celebrating justin's wife. >> reporter: later today a funeral for laura finamore on her way home. also the ntsb is hoping to reassembling the train to put it together to continue to look for

forensic clues and amtrak hopes to restart service on the northeast line between philly and new york on tuesday. thomas and erica, back to you? >> tom costello thank you. jim hall joins us now. as you heard tom's reporting, the fbi now involved as we're hearing about this fracture pattern on the left-hand side of the front window. does that indicate to you that the source came from someone targeting in train and now that the fbi is involved are we looking at completely a criminal investigation? >> well in any case none of that negates a need for a positive train control system which is designed to override any type of human error regardless of what the human error is. >> when we talk about human error in this and we're still waiting to find out exactly what happened behind the controls of this locomotive bostian has been very open with

investigators. hearing from this assistant engineer she claims she heard over the radio bostian report something striking. how important is it that the event recorders may have capture ed this radio transmissions and fbi can check. >> hopefully all of that will be developed as part of the investigation and with the fbi's forensic ability they'll also be able to look more closely at the windshield to determine whether it was a foreign object or as a result of the accident the damage that is seen. >> bostian says he's well versed with this route and he wasn't fatigued or tired or distracted. do you think in your opinion that a projectile may have distracted him especially since we know that the train now accelerated and continued to accelerate toward that curve? >> all of the things that occurred in that cab are still

on the table until the investigation progressed to where investigators can determine to the best of their ability what did occur. >> former ntsb chairman jim hall. sir, thanks for joining us. appreciate it. this morning boston bomber dzhokhar tsarnaev is waking up with a death sentencing hanging over his head. on friday a federal jury voteded to give him the ultimate punishment for his role in the attack. nbc justice correspondent pete williams is in boston. pete good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. here's the big headline in "the boston globe." public opinion survey showed the majority of people here in boston including families of some of the victims opposed death penalty for tsarnaev but there's widespread agreement here about one thing. they're glad it's over. the jury voted unanimously to impose the death penalty for the victims killed by the bomb he placed near the marathon finish line. 8-year-old martin richard and a chinese graduate.

the jury rejected a plea from his lawyers for a sentence of life in prison arguing that his brother, tamerlan was the driving force behind their crime scene. >> whether you agree with the death penalty or don't, the message is sent that they're not going to blow up our marathon they're not going to blow up our city. >> reporter: a woman permanently injured from the marathon bombing said she agreed with the jury's decision. >> it had to be agonizing for them but i still believe it was the right thing. >> reporter: and liz whose sons each lost limbs asked if the verdict brings closure? >> there's no winner today. i feel justice for my family. >> reporter: it won't be over for decades. defense lawyers said nothing after the verdict, the law requires an immediate appeal with more likely to follow. one issue, the defense request to move the trial out of boston. >> if you're not going to move this you might as well say you never have to move a trial with overwhelming evidence of prejudice. >> reporter: for now tsarnaev will remain at a federal prison

in massachusetts and be back in the boston courthouse in a few months for formal sentencing when he'll have the opportunity to speak. though some bombing victims supported the death penalty, others opposed it including the family of 8-year-old martin richard who said a life sentence would have ended the appeals letting the memory of dzhokhar tsarnaev fade quickly. erica? >> pete williams for us this morning. pete thank you. heather abbott lost part of her leg in the bombing and also testified at the trial. heather, good morning. >> good morning. >> you posted on facebook yesterday that the verdict doesn't bring you peace and in fact makes you sad. what is it about it that makes you sad this morning? >> i think when i heard the verdict i was driving home from giving a commencement speech at the southern connecticut state university and i couldn't help but think that dzhokhar tsarnaev was in the same position as those students that i met that day and had such a bright future

ahead of him, and i think it's very sad he chose this path and gave up all those opportunities. of course i'm reminded of the deaths that he caused and those opportunities others had to give up without a choice. >> you have become close with a number of the other bombing victims and survivors. have you spoken to them since you first heard this yesterday and what was their reaction? >> i was in touch with some of them yesterday. there was just a sort of sense of support letting us know that we're there for each other, and i think that most of us are happy that the verdict is finally in and closer to being over but unfortunately i don't think there's really a sense of closure here for me at least. >> i know you testified. you were hoping that would bring

you a sense of closure. not a lot of emotion as we saw throughout the trial from tsarnaev. were you hoping you would see more emotion from him? is that one of the reasons you decided to testify? >> i think it was. i think, you know i have been looking for answers as to why since the trial started. i think i hoped that maybe seeing him that close and being able to tell my story to the jury and attending some of the trial might answer some of those questions but unfortunately it didn't. i don't think it brought any closure. i think that when i reflect back now, closure happens when i decided to move on with my life and i don't think i'll get much more beyond that. >> one of the ways you decided to move on is to work with other limb loss victims in helping them. how is that helping your recovery and your healing at this point? >> it has been tremendous for my healing. just to make some sense of what

happened and try to do something good with it has helped me heal and helped me be able to move forward and have a reason to continue to stay motivated i think. >> a lot of people appreciative of the work you do now. heather abbott appreciate your time this morning. thank you. in other news, democratic presidential contender hillary clinton is facing new scrutiny over her finances. newly released forms indicate she and her husband, bill have made $30 million over the last 15 months. kristen welker has details for us. >> reporter: hillary clinton released her financial disclosure forms on friday and they showed that she and former president bill clinton raked in close to $25 million for delivering about 100 paid speeches since january of 2014. hillary clinton also earned $5 million in royalties from her book "hard choices." the disclosure puts the clintons in the top 1% of income earners.

that could complicate her message of being champion of the working and middle class. clintons have faced criticism in the past for seeming out of touch. last year hillary clinton said that she and her family were "dead broke" when she left the white house. a claim that didn't ring true for a lot of americans. republicans wasted no time lashing out. in a statement released late last night, the chairman of the republican national committee said "the clintons claim that staggering amounts of income from paid speaking fees that raise ethical questions and potential conflicts of interest is simply to pay our bills shows how out of touch they have become." hillary clinton released the information in keeping with rules of federal election commission. clinton will be back on the road next week making a second trip to iowa since announcing her candidacy. thomas and erica, back to you. >> appreciate it. time for a look at this morning's other top stories.

>> a major overnight development in the fight against isis in iraq. >> washington is keeping a close eye on the situation. vice president joe biden calling iraq's prime minister friday promising to send major firepower to the scene. overnight a key government district in ramadi fell into the hands of isis with militants raising their black flag over the local government headquarters. the governor calls the situation dire as the u.s. military is launching what it calls painful air strikes to support troops on the ground. officials in nepal say overnight eight bodies all eight bodies were recovered in that crash of a u.s. marine helicopter. the chopper carrying two nepalese soldiers and six marines was on an earthquake relief mission. u.s. investigators are on the scene. authorities in kentucky are investigating a terrifying incident friday when a young child was dragged by a school

bus. it was all caught on camera. a girl was stepping off the bus when her backpack got stuck in the doors as they closed. the bus driver pulled away dragging the girl 100 feet before another car sped up and got the driver's attention. >> i don't see how he didn't know that the girl was dragging. i couldn't believe it. her bouncing around in that door all of the way down the street. it was bad. >> police say the girl's injuries are not life threatening. frightening moments at last night's reds/giants game in cincinnati. one of the firework smokestacks at the ballpark caught fire spewing dark smoke as the game carried on. fans were evacuated as firefighters put out the flames to applause. a big night in the nba. golden state warriors led by steph curry won their third street game beating advancing to the western conference finals and what looked like a dramatic

buzzer beater thinking he tied the game and saved the season but the refs thought otherwise and the hawks walked away with a 94-91 victory advancing to the eastern conference. >> that's as tough one. >> hawks have come a long way. >> when thomas and i lived in atlanta, you couldn't pay people to go to those games. it was terrible. the butt of all of the jokes. nice to see how far they've come. >> dylan, can you explain? >> i was supposed to be in the ring with holyfield and then this happened and mitt romney stepped in. they raised more money with him in the ring. i'm okay. hi a fractured bone. i slipped on ice ironically. go figure. look at the weather going on across the country. this is in nebraska western nebraska yesterday. hail the size of eggs. we also had 70-mile-per-hour winds and torrential downpours. look at those supercell clouds. those are really incredible

cloud formations. they do produce serious weather. we're starting off today with stronger storms especially right through parts of oklahoma up into kansas and now these storms aren't severe right now. they could become more severe later on today. here's the setup, upper level low, a dip in the jet stream and gulf moisture will combine and produce a round of strong storms later on today especially in red. south central nebraska most of kansas and stretching down into most of oklahoma we do have a threat of seeing long track tornadoes meaning tornadoes that stay on the ground for an extended period of time. that's the threat for today. tomorrow we're looking at this yellow area from st. louis up to minneapolis into the western great lakes. we could also see some stronger storms hail damaging wind gusts and also flash flood watches. texas and oklahoma have had a lot of rain recently and any additional rain could lead to flash flooding and we could hey, good saturday morning to you. i'm meteorologist anthony slaughter. starting off cloudy this

morning. few areas of drizzle especially along the coastline. temperatures not too cold this morning. 50s and 40s for the most part. later this afternoon temperatures are going up just a little bit from where they were yesterday. 60s across the board. 70s for the north bay. 72 san francisco, 68 meanwhile in the south bay. we'll let you know if there's any rain headed our way coming up. >> you did a great job getting back to the chair. we're trying to help her. >> it's weird pointing with this thing. >> you have to keep it up. >> it's really awkward. >> she's not seeking attention. >> she's not. i swear. >> want to auction it off? that will be great. >> we'll sign it later. coming up next a look back at the week's biggest headlines. the second huge earthquake in nepal to the death of music legend b.b. king. those stories and more but first this is "today" on nbc.

back now on a saturday morning with the download and a quick recap of the week's top stories. >> jeb bush under fire about his changing comments about the iraq war to that big suspension of tom brady but we begin with the deadly amtrak crash in philadelphia. >> tragedy on the tracks as an amtrak train derailed in philadelphia killing eight. >> the train was traveling in excess of 100 miles an hour. >> how do we get out? >> people are panicked. smoke was starting to fill the car. >> i landed on my head. >> at the center of the investigation engineer brandon bostian. his attorney says -- >> absolutely no recollection of the incident or anything unusual. >> overseas another earthquake strikes nepal. the country still attempting to recover from last month's disaster.

>> a 7.3 quake lasted more than a minute rattling already damaged buildings and sending up clouds of dust. >> this one just seemed like it would never stop. >> there are reports of landslides buildings down and once again bodies. >> in the middle of the disaster zone a massive search for a missing helicopter carrying six american marines and two nepalese soldiers. >> the helicopter was delivering relief supplies to earthquake victims. >> three days after its disappearance, the scattered wreckage of that huey helicopter has now been found on the side of the mountain where it crashed. there are no signs of survivors. >> the next chapter in deflate gate as the nfl hands down punishments to quarterback tom brady and his team the new england patriots. >> the league announced a four-game suspension for brady. patriots will lose the first-round draft pick in 2016 and fourth round draft pick in 2017 and face a $1 million fine. >> tom brady is not breaking down just yet. he filed an appeal and hearing his appeal will be nfl

commissioner roger goodell. in politics jeb bush under fire for his comments on the iraq war. >> knowing what we know now, would you have authorized the invasion? >> i would have. so would have hillary clinton. just to remind everybody. >> bush tried to walk back his remarks. >> i interpreted the question wrong. >> knowing what you know now what you have done i would not have engaged and gone into iraq. >> music world saying good-bye to the undisputed king of blues. >> b.b. king died at his home in los angeles at 89. >> b.b. had his first number one record in 1951. king referred to his black gibson guitars as lucile. >> it's a good friend with you. >> what he could do with lucile amazed blues great.

a celebration from grandmother turning a year old. >> a 102 grandmother about to blow out her candles. she tries to. >> make a wish. >> blow it out. >> i like that she laughed about it. >> sure. you have to. >> you're 102. >> i think she should get an endorsement deal. >> i love that we have an alternate angle. >> by the way, there was a lot of laughing this week too, when we heard the explanation for the term deflator. i know dylan loves tom brady but really? a deflator was trying to lose weight? >> maybe. >> it's interesting that they

still won the super bowl. everything went fine with the super bowl. >> if you have an edge -- >> the edge was the game before. >> you get to the super bowl with an edge. >> one of the stage managers is doing this behind the camera. >> you should have heard dylan trying to explain away -- >> music is playing. >> still to come on "today," a dad gets anger after an airline tried to seat him 11 rows away from his 4-year-old daughter.

good morning to you. it's 5:26 on this saturday morning. the embarcadero. anthony slaughter has a look at our microclimate forecast. good morning. >> good morning. partly cloudy skies. the thing you'll notice about today's temperatures it will be warmer than it has the past couple of days. system come through to drop some rain. that's good. now we'll see a drying trend. cool up the coastline. 62. mix of sun and clouds. 72 for the north bay and sun and

clouds for the south bay. as soon as monday, yes, more rain in the forecast. we'll talk about our chances for showers as we move to this unusual may pattern coming up in about an hour and a half. >> we need it but it sure is weird. >> it is. >> finally getting it in may. we begin now with the warriors playoff run for the first time in 49 years, heading to the western conference finals led by the league mvp's seth curry. >> and he's got it! >> the shot of the postseason. making a miracle basket from three-quarters court. when you're hot, you're hot. the shot propelled the warriors to their win against the mets 108-95. even anthony slaughter is saying wow next to me. from oakland to livermore, they're looking ahead to the next playoff series. >> i hate the clippers. i hate l.a. like to take griffin, send him

back in a little mid-sized kia edition. >> tell us how you really feel. finals begin tuesday night. tickets go on sale today. highlies introduce, even ticket information all on our nbc bay area. you can check out our warriors coverage on our nbc bay area facebook and twitter pages. switching gears now to an abused dog found during a clean-up operation at a homeless encampment in san francisco. investigators are asking for help finding the abuser. investigators with animal care and control showed us where a public works crew found a badly beaten and burned pit bull mix thursday morning. this happened at a homeless encampment in south van ness. he had missing teeth, missing foot pads about nails and internal injuries. they're handing out fliers and watching surveillance video hoping to find the abuser. is he getting emergency care for

his life-threatening injuries. coming up on "today in the bay," the stanford band will not be taking their show on the road. the school is punishing the band for hazing. we'll send you back to the "today" show for now. (music) hey! let me help with that. oh, thank you! (music) introducing the one-and-only volkswagen golf sportwagen. the sportier utility vehicle.

>> progressive, productive and funded in oxygen. why die in mars when you can live in south dakota. >> i kind of love it. that's an ad campaign. you probably won't see that pitch every day. south dakota or mars. is it for real? we'll tell you all about it coming up in just a few minutes. new york city totally out of the running. meantime out here on the plaza, we have a great crowd with us on this saturday on this 16th day of may, 2015. good morning. we'll head out to say hi to those folks in just a bit. coming up this half hour a battle over parental rights. a kentucky council that chose to

live in a shack with no running water deserve to have their kids taken away? it's an emotional custody case that's getting a lot of attention online. we'll break it down for you. also ahead as you prepare to grab that morning cup of coffee a warning for starbucks customers. some folks complain their app has been hacked. >> get excited about this. "pitch perfect 2" is back. is it as good as the original? we'll sit down with two of the movie's stars. they're great. you will love them. i got to see it already. my office walls are thin and people wonder what he's doing in there because he's laughing so hard. >> and you're singing along to all of the songs. >> we'll have that coming up. we begin this half hour with a serious story. it's a shocking crime not far from vice president joe biden's washington, d.c. residence. four people found dead inside a multimillion dollar mansion. kristen welker has been following this case and joins us again with more on that.

kristen kristen, good morning. >> reporter: this is a mystery that has shocked and devastated a washington, d.c. community. authorities are calling it a homicide. it's a stunning revelation as the investigation deepens. investigators combed the scene of this mansion in one of washington's fanciest neighborhoods friday. a day after a fire ravaged the home of the family that lived here. four bodies discovered. two of them confirmed to be a 46-year-old man and his 47-year-old wife. the other two victims believed to be their 10-year-old son phillip and their housekeeper. all of this unfolding near the vice president's home and naval observatory. >> this was an intentionally set fire and arson. >> reporter: at a news conference on friday the police chief announced the victim were attacked before they died. >> we can say there were at least on three of the four victims there were injuries discovered appear to be blunt force or sharp object injuries.

>> reporter: investigators canvassed the neighborhood friday and interviewed witnesses. they also found the family's burned out blue porche. >> law enforcement will look at every type of surveillance camera they can. the car has been recovered. the question is who drove it at or shortly before the time the fire started. >> reporter: the victim was a corporate ceo and amy was active in the local community engaged in fund-raising. phillip attended a prestigious school located on the grounds of the national cathedral where they held prayer services. a community in morning and a mystery unsolved. >> we're here to support them if they need us. >> reporter: the family also has two older daughters who were away at private boarding school when this tragedy unfolded. so far no suspects have been

identified. erica, back to you. >> an awful story. thank you. now we want to head outside and check in with dylan for a look at the day's weather forecast. chilly for mid morning in may. >> reporter: >> it's going to warm up nicely. the eastern half of the country will see above average temperatures. new york will get up to 81 degrees once we get some sunshine out here. tomorrow we're going to keep the warm temperatures going. 85 in new york. 86 into atlanta. starting to cool off. bismarck will drop into the 50s. a strong risk of storms today through the plains states. that goes for kansas nebraska oklahoma. we could see some long track tornadoes meaning storms that stay on the ground for a long period of time. tomorrow we'll lose the risk of tornadoes but we're still looking at a slight risk of stronger storms across the western great lakes and tomorrow in virginia it's going to be another nice day, which is where i hear you're from. >> yes. >> what's your name? >> abby. >> you're celebrating your 10th

birthday. >> yeah. >> what do you have planned? >> going good saturday morning to you. i'm meteorologist anthony slaughter. temperatures comfortable. chilly in the north bay at 45 there. 45 in san francisco and 50 in san jose. temperatures warmer today than they have been the past couple of days. 66 for the peninsula. tri-valley at 69. chilly at the coastline today. only 62 for san francisco. meanwhile, in the north bay, low 70s expected there. let's talk about our rain chances headed our way. >> that's your latest forecast. thomas? >> thank you so much. to an emotional case that's unfolding in kentucky where a couple is battling to regain custody of their ten children after authorities took them away. nbc's chris cato is here to explain why. good morning. >> these parents admit their lifestyle may be unconventional but they say their children are

happy and healthy. and they want them back. authorities in kentucky call this a makeshift shed. joe and nicole call it home. >> i can critique other people's homes. >> no running water, no sewer. they say they chose to live this way. >> we have so many friends who don't see their kids because they both have to work all day to pay for things that i don't think i need. so we said okay what's the bare minimum we need to survive comfortably. >> they have a facebook blog dedicated to living a simple back to basics life but some call it too basic especially for children. they have ten of them. nicole is carrying number 11. >> they delivered a baby there last winter. it was about 30 degrees below zero. it's not living conditions for a kid. >> last week acting on a tip, authorities went to investigate but nicole wouldn't let them walk around or talk to the kids without a lawyer. the situation escalated.

nicole recorded audio of the encounter. >> ma'am, sit down. >> you cannot kidnap my son. >> you're going to be under arrest. >> you will not kidnap my son. >> ma'am, you need to sit down. >> nicole was arrested for allegedly resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. the children were taken and place with foster families. the kentucky office of health and family services says it can't comment or confirm an investigation. this dispute comes after a maryland couple made headlines for letting their 10 and 6-year-old children walk to a park a mile from home alone. the kids were picked up by police and later returned. on "today" their mother defended what they call free range parenting. >> it's a national conversation because we're just doing what our parents did and was considered perfectly normal just one generation ago. >> back in kentucky a custody hearing will be held on monday. >> my parenting styles may not be what yours are but that doesn't mean they're wrong. it means they're different.

>> it is important to point out that authorities say they took the children into custody because of what they call unsafe living conditions on the property there. a lot of people have rallied to the family's defense and a friend set up a gofundme page raising $24,000 in one week. they will use that money to build a bigger cabin for their expanding family. mom is five months pregnant with child number 11. >> maybe this money they'll get kids back if they can set up more suitable living conditions. >> it's something they'll have to prove in court at the next custody hearing that they can improve lives on their property for their kids. >> there's a line somewhere. you don't know where that is. >> you want the kids to be safe. >> it's a big debate. still to come prince harry getting ready to head home after a whirlwind trip to new zealand. when will he and princess charlotte finally meet? and any guesses who or what

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a walk in the forest with lucky. the young elephant slowly regaining her strength and her appetite. just a few days ago he feared for the worst. >> really bad time thinking she's going to die. >> reporter: 15-year-old lucky was raised at this cambodian wildlife rescue center after she was abandoned at six months. her mother likely killed by poachers. a symbol of the conservation movement. >> kind of the iconic animal of the rescue center. the star of the show really. everybody loves lucky and everybody was asking about her every day. >> reporter: early this year she contracted a rare and usually fatal elephant virus. for weeks nick and his team battled to keep her alive. >> i was sleeping in a hammock along with a keeper beside lucky every night. >> reporter: lucky stopped eating and the $40,000 cost of her treatments quickly drained the resources are of the rescue center and nick's savings but

lucky had another skill as an artist. she had been taught to paint. as money ran low, the new york based wildlife alliance which supports the center raised money for her care by auctioning two of her paintings. then early this month, the first signs of recovery flapping her ears throwing dust and eating again. >> we're just happy that there's progress and at last we look like we're winning. >> reporter: during our visit, she raised a paint brush for the first time in weeks. it's a sign that lucky is really on the mend. she's still on steroids and there have been ups and downs before but nick sees reason for hope. >> a smile on everybody's face again and on lucky's face. >> reporter: ian williams nbc news cambodia. >> wow. i love that story. and ian lucky enough to get a t-shirt out of this deal.

so great to see that lucky is back up and painting again. very cool. >> i love elephants. >> we went on an elephant safari on our honeymoon. we would watch the sunset and have wine. it was amazing. >> next time you have a day off, go to africa. >> we need to take a team trip. >> we're down. >> still to come on "today," would you rather take a trip -- speaking of trips -- if you can't do the south african elephant safari how about this? your choices are south dakota or mars. kind of a

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>> you probably heard about that proposed mission to mars. a trip that would definitely be one way. a stunning number of people said sign me up for it. >> back here on earth, one state is saying listen you've got options. it's not the next "star wars" sequel it's an ad campaign from south dakota. you have to see it to really get the full flavor. here's kevin tibbles. >> reporter: south dakota is a roomy place. more cows than people according to the census bureau. >> we need more south dakota citizens. we need to grow our population. >> reporter: to attract them and economic boost they bring, a new ad campaign pits the state

against the final frontier. >> why die on mars when you can live in south dakota. >> reporter: it's a tongue and cheek play at the mars 1 project proposed life to the red planet with no chance of return. 200,000 have already signed up. jimmy fallon found the state's strategy amusing. >> you're struggling when the slogan is south dakota slightly better than dead. >> reporter: we went looking for humans at the sioux falls washington pafvilion where mars mania is mixed. >> i want to see if there's aliens. >> reporter: what do you think they would look like? >> green with only one eye or three eyes. >> reporter: anything about mars intrigue you? >> no. >> reporter: what do you think the food is like on mars? >> kind of slimy. >> reporter: who needs to go to

mars when you can go cosmic bowling in south dakota and hold the red planet in the palm of your hands. >> why would you move to mars and not south dakota? >> reporter: you're not expecting green men? >> no. >> reporter: south dakota's motto is great faces, great places. these days they just want more faces. for "today," kevin tibbles, nbc news sioux falls. >> it's beautiful there. >> it's greener than mars. >> i have never been. >> who new kevin tibbles was such be a acean ace in the bowling alley. i want to see the full tape. >> are you suggesting -- >> i would never ever. yes. up next not sure if this guy has traveled to south dakota but he's been everywhere else. we'll check out steve the guinea pig's excellent adventure but

first this is "today" on nbc.

>> the great american road trip is almost a right of aspassage. >> i've done it four times with my dad. >> i always wanted to. >> just drive across country. something you do. >> i have something for you to try because there's one tiny rodent who a big hit online thanks to his travel adventures. >> have you ever done it with a rodent is a fair question. steve the guinea pig is making his way across the u.s. and his pictures have gone viral. steve isn't alone. he brought along his owner, brad sending pictures back to his wife's second grade class. she's a teacher. look at this map. they're traveling from santa barbara, california to michigan where they'll spend the summer. these are some of steve's greatest photos including this one of him losing 5 cents in

vegas. he's taking in all the beauty that america has to offer. this is him cooling off by the river down in mississippi. steve also watching fireworks in indiana and reaching michigan. by the look of this trip he's having a trip of the lifetime and he's traveled more than i have. we thought it would be fun producing your pics during your road trip. i always wanted a guinea pig as a kid. >> steve looks a little overweight or is he extra hairy? >> when you travel you get to eat a lot. >> maybe that's it. >> life on vo: today's the day. more and more people with type 2 diabetes are learning about long-acting levemir®. as my diabetes changed it got harder to control my blood sugar. today, i'm asking about levemir®. vo: levemir® is an injectable insulin that can give you blood sugar control for up to 24 hours. and levemir® helps lower your a1c. levemir® lasts 42 days without refrigeration.

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it is 5:56. most of the bay seeing clouds right now. i'm kira klapper. anthony slaughter has our microclimate forecast. >> a little sliver of sunshine in palo alto at 101. >> beautiful. >> clouds will start to burn out of here. plenty of sunshine except for at the coastline. we'll hang on to the cloud cover. good mix of sun and clouds only in the low 60s. meanwhile, north bay, 72. plenty of sunshine. 69 for the tri-valley and 68 for the south bay. we move toward sunday and monday, just two days we're

talking about another storm system that will impact the coastline. could bring showers to the bay area and another system wednesday and thursday. kind of unusual but we're happy about it. we'll track that rain. >> yeah, we're happy. anthony, we'll stay tuned. thanks. >> we begin now with the warriors playoff run for the first time in 39 years, the warriors are heading to the western conference finals and they were led by the league mvp, seth curry. >> flips it the other way. and he's got it! >> it was the shot of the postseason. seth curry made that miracle basket from three-quarters court. when you're hot, you're hot. that shot propelled the warriors for the win against the memphis grizzlies, 108-95. fans went wild from oakland to livermore looking ahead to the next playoff series. >> i hate the clipperses. i hate l.a. i would like to take blake griffin, send him back in a little mid sized kia edition.

>> ticket goes on sale today for the finals that start tuesday night. we have the information on our nbc bay area app or check out warriors coverage on nbc bay area facebook and twitter pages. to gilroy now. hundreds of people gathered to remember three teenage girls killed in a car crash. candlelight vigil was held at mt. mogano high school. friends took the opportunity to share fond memories saying they were the types who would take the time to cheer up others on a bad day. >> her laugh was the sweetest laugh ever. >> with what we're going through, really it made us feel very loved. >> the driver of the car the girls were riding in on tuesday night was arrested for felony

dui. >> coming up this morning on "today in the bay" the stanford band will not be taking their show on the road. why the school is punishing this infamous band. that, plus all your top stories and weather coming up at 7:00. we hope you'll stay with us. now back to the "today" show.

good morning, it's saturday may 16 2015. here's a look at today's top stories. train targeted, the fbi now investigating. a possibility the derailed amtrak train was struck by an object shortly before it went off the track. the same thing happening to one other train. could this strike have been intentional and could it have impaired the train's engineer. caffeine jolt. some starbucks complaining their mobile apps have been hacked by thieves. this morning, what the coffee giant is doing about it. and pharaoh at the freakness. kentucky derby winner american fair trow tries to go 2 for 2 hoping to move one step closer

to the elusive triple crown. we'll take you there live. it's going to be a big day in baltimore as the preakness gets under way later today. we are live on the plaza where we have a beautiful crowd. say 00 everybody. [ cheers and applause ] a beautiful crowd out here. good morning everybody. a few showers in our area. nothing will stop our fans from showing up on the "today" show plaza. >> nothing stops them. >> i'm thomas roberts in for lester. erica hill is with me and dylan dreyer as well. >> i couldn't get my arms -- don't judge. >> i always take my lead from my own personal meteorologist. you should get one. >> like tom brady. >> like tom brady. there you go. >> exactly. they got my joke. a lot to get to. we want to begin with the new twist in the investigation in the deadly amtrak derailment in philadelphia. we begin with the new questions in the deadly amtrak crash. with the ntsb asking for the

fbi's help. nbc's tom costello is at amtrak's station in philadelphia. good morning. >> reporter: an interesting twist here. we know at least one, ma intwo trains traveling down these tracks within the short period of time of amtrak 188 were hit by projectiles of some sort. there was one report of a shot fired. then the ntsb said on friday they found something unusual on the windshield of the broken and twisted and damaged train number 188, the amtrak train. >> we have seen damage to the left hand lower portion of the amtrak wind shield that we have asked the fbi to come in and look at for us. >> reporter: so the question is:ment is it possible that the engineer who doesn't remember anything after he left north philadelphia and was treated for a head injury after the

accident could he have been hit by some sort of projectile then incapacitated as the train was speeding up? you can see we've got a whole new rip until this investigation. we'll see where it goes. being to you. >> that is concerning. thank you, tom. democratic presidential hopeful hillary clinton is facing new fallout over her finances. newly released documents reveal she and former president bill clinton raked in $30 million over the past 16 months with much of the income coming from about 100 paid speeches. republicans argue these staggering amounts raise ethical questions of potential conflicts of interest. the clintons deny any ethical breaches. the man who shot george zimmerman surrendered to florida police overnight. police say matthew apperson shot into zimmerman's truck. zimmerman has a history of conflicts with this person, including a road rage incident in september. zimmerman himself faced two unrelated assault complaints since his controversial acquittal in the shooting death

of trayvon martin. the nfl reportedly plans to change how footballs are handled before games in the wake of tom brady's deflategate scandal. the change will apparently be revealed at the owners' meetings in service next week. according to ap sources, may not require a vote from owners. on friday, the nfl players' association demanded commissioner roger goodell step aside as arbitrator in tom brady's appeal of this week's million-dollar fine and four-game suspension. former presidential contender mitt romney is no stranger to tough battles but this time it was in the boxing ring with another heavyweight for a good cause. the 68-year-old romney showing off his fighting shape went two rounds against evander holyfield before throwing in the towel in a charity bout. they raised about a million dollars, which will go to cover surgeries to help the blind. he's in fantastic shape. >> i'll give it to him that fs the first thing i noticed. >> and a lot of people saying that. he's 68. >> anne romney was a part of it too, running out in front of her

husband. >> it was worth it. >> it was really fun. now time to check in with dylan. people are curious about the weather today. >> yes, baltimore guy, are you giving a preakness forecast? we've got it. don't you worry. let's look at the showers and storms right outside the plaza here. we are going to see a round of heavier rain hit that plaza any minute now. we are going to see pop-up showers and storms like this throughout the day. so it's fairly unsettled today. you can see storms redeveloping from west virginia into pennsylvania. each afternoon today and tomorrow we are going to see the chance of some of those storms. here is your preakness forecast. we are looking for mostly cloudy skies with the chance of those isolated showers. temperatures look warm. hey, good saturday morning to you. i'm meteorologist anthony slaughter, waking up to cloudy skies. sliver of sunshine in palo alto.

otherwise, cloud cover this morning, sunshine later this afternoon. temperatures not all that bad. back into the 50s right now. later this afternoon a little warmer than it was yesterday. back to close to 70 for the south bay. 66 for the peninsula. 69 for the tri-valley. 62 for san francisco and 72 for the north bay. showers head our way this upcoming week. we'll tell you about it. hope to see you at 7:00. >> that's your latest forecast. >> thanks. these days you know you have to pay for pretty much everything when you fly. one father is angry after saying he was ripped off when all he wanted to do was sit next to his young daughter on a flight. francis rivera is here with more on that. >> reporter: good morning to you. you go online to book a flight but you can't sit next to the person you're flying with. it's usually not too big of a deal. what if the person you are trying to sit next to is just 4 years old. does the airline have to seat you together? the answer may just surprise you. flying these days can be

difficult enough but for one dad, frank strong a recent delta air lines flight with his 4-year-old daughter make a headache in the way he never expected. the headline on his blog how airlines like delta hold parents hostage. >> wind to delta.com and purchased it. at the point of transaction it allowed me to choose any number of seats but no two seats together. >> reporter: despite having her age, delta assigned my daughter a seat on our flight 11 rows away. at the airport he went to the ticket counter for help. >> she suggest that i go to the gape and perhaps the gate agent could make an arrangement or she could put us in two seats together in economy plus for 88 bucks. >> reporter: rather than having to ask fellow passengers to switch seats on their flight he paid. imagine his surprise upon boarding -- >> plenty of seats in coach. plenty of economy plus. this did not have to happen. >> reporter: is there a rule to keep this from happening? >> there are a lot of

regulations on the airline industry but this is one thing that isn't yet regulated. >> reporter: strong went so far to call his experience calculated exploitation writing the airlines have been systematic in a pursuit of driving revenue by making their customers miserable. >> selling seats and upselling passengers is another way for them to make profit. they have no real business incentive to make sure that those seats are available for parents and kids. >> reporter: a delta spokesperson told nbc news they regret that mr. strong's experience did not live up to our standard. >> they apologized. i felt the apology was sincere. he said that this is contrary to delta's policy and that the ticket agent should have changed my seat with no questions asked. i don't think it's unreasonable expectation to put a parent and toddler or a child together. >> what do you do if you're caught in that situation? our expert paul brady said book

your trip as far in advance as possible to ensure there are seats together. if there aren't any together when you first book, check back because sometimes they open new seats. once at the airport, the best bet is the gate agent who may swap your seat and if all else fails, ask your fellow passengers for a helping hand so you can play the sympathy route and say you can also do the shame if you like. i've got a 5 year old. >> do you want my kid next to you alone? >> i hope that person switches with us. >> it's hard. >> you can also do that. she gets motion sickness my daughter. >> you have a plan over there. >> i have a 4 year old. >> delta said it didn't live up to their standard because you would think common sense from the ticket agent is we'll put the dad with the 4 year old. >> we won't charge them $88. >> it happened to us. we booked our tickets in advance. we booked all four sitting next to each other. checked in the night before.

everything had changed. i called. i would not get off the phone with them until they switched the seats back. we need to have one parent with one kid. they finally did. they tried to charge me initially. >> for the sake of the rest of the passengers. >> that's what i said. >> you put up the good fight and you won. >> my 4 year old at that point was crazy. good morning, sawyer. >> all right. we all love starbucks around here. we love coffee in general but especially when we're working this morning shift but some customers are getting a jolt these days and it's not of the caffeine variety. they say they've been hacked through the company's mobile app. the story from nbc's kerry sanders. >> reporter: in a place where it's all about hand crafted beverages, it's the criminal's hand that has customers piping hot. across the nation in unspecified number of patrons that use the iphone starbucks app learned the hard way they're vulnerable. maria was perplexed as a thief

digitalically pickpocketed the $34.77 balance remaining on her starbucks account and then it automatically added $25 from her linked american express credit card. the hacker then reloaded another $75 and swiped all of that. in total, siphoning more than $134. >> all of that happened in seven minutes. i mean i just noticed it. i went in. i saw it continually be debited right ou in front of my eyes. >> reporter: bob sullivan was the first to call attention to the ingenious hack. >> they are being casual. it's no big deal. we'll give you the money back. to a consumer who had their red it's card stolen it's a big deal. >> reporter: starbucks will not say if the problem is isolated or widespread. a spokesperson says we have safeguards in place to constantly monitor for fraudulent activity and like all

major retailers work closely with financial institutions to make sure our customers are protected. a long time caffeine addict marie is happy that starbucks will give her back money she lost but the only change to route even the auto reload feature is now permanently disabled. for "today," kerry sanders, nbc news miami. it's a big day in baltimore where the preakness will be run this afternoon. second leg of the triple crown and of course everyone is wondering if american pharoah has what it takes to move one step closer to that elusive triple crown. carolyn, good morning. >> reporter: erica, good morning. >> american pharoah looking this morning as we head into the race later? >> reporter: he looks really good right now. american pharoah has had a great week of training. he put on the weight that he lost after the kentucky derby and he has victor espinoza

aboard him and is favorite going into the race. >> 18 horses ran the derby. we're looking at eight this time. how is the competition stacking up? >> reporter: competition is good. the top three finishers from the derby are the horses that everyone has their eyes on and firing line is a horse being talked about that could spoil the plans. gary stevens' jockey is confident this week drawing a better post position than american pharoah and could be a horse to watch for sure. >> we know who to watch and everyone is watching it see if this is a year where we could see another triple crown where it hasn't happened in 37 years. why has there been a drought? >> reporter: it's a great question. the answer is complicated. the easiest way to put it is that the sport has evolved over the last couple decades while the triple crown gauntlet has remained the same. horses are bred differently now. racing schedule is different now. horses don't run as often as

they used to and a horse will run in the kentucky derby and then comes back and skips the preakness and runs in the belmont. it's tough to get a triple crown this time around with the way the sport is set up but a lot of people feel that american pharoah is a strong horse. the sport is unpredictable. we'll have to wait and see. >> it's like the start of the season with any sport. the home and dream is alive. you mentioned american pharoah and firing line. what are you hearing from people in the area? who are they thinking is going to win? >> reporter: people in the area really are going with those top choices. it's kind of tough when you look at the top three. american pharoah is the clear cut favorite. no doubt. he's the horse that people are targeting that could win this race. there are some outsiders -- there are other horses in the field. a lot of our experts here feel like those are second tier horses compared to the top three horses that are going to run. that being said dortman is said

to have lost weight as he made a transition to the preakness. he's a horse that people are shaky on right now. firing line and american pharoah are the top two heading into today's race. >> nice to have you with us this morning. thank you. you can catch our freaknesspreakness coverage today on the nbc sports network. >> earlier this month six officers were arrested and charged with gray's death and they started a campaign called one baltimore to help the city recover from the unrest. today signs are going to be up all over reminding onlookers about one baltimore and underarmor is a big influence. they'll have a huge underarmor tent there. hopefully this is a marathon and not a sprint in getting people

to shine a light on the city. >> met fantastic people but there was talk about the work that needs to be done there in baltimore. you being from baltimore, you know a lot about that. >> it's definitely a city that needs attention and help. impoverished sections for decades now and this one baltimore campaign hopefully will be the marathon after the sprint. it's marathon not a sprint to help the city. >> okay. >> you guys have been waiting patiently. you have from florida. how are you guys? >> great. >> take it away. >> okay. still to come on "today," a favorite tv show gets a new life line after it was canceled. but first, these messages. [ applause ] if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis like me and you're talking to your rheumatologist about a biologic... this is humira.

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>> time for pop start. a chance to catch you up on celebrity news. >> it doesn't take break for the weekend. good morning. >> good morning, guys. we'll start things off with david letterman's star studded sendoff. in his last full week on the job, letterman had a sendoff from howard stearns, kissed by julie roberts and handcuffed by george clooney. how do you top that? you end the week with oprah. >> i think you'll have a difficult time. call me. really. i'm not kidding. i'm not kidding. i'll give you my number. people stop you on the street for selfies? >> not so much. they stop me on the streets but i know what you're talking about. it's annoying isn't it? >> we were doing "thelma" last year and she's screaming i want

a selfie. just take the picture. she goes i don't want your picture. >> they say selfie is the new autograph. we're moving onto good news from mindy fans. the show has found a new home in hulu picking up the series ordering a fourth season. no word on a premiere date but fans are going wild for this. something i think you guys are also going to go wild for. janet jackson is back coming out with a new album and new tour and it's coming in 2015. there we go. weekend "today" field trip. >> five four three -- >> pregnant belly and everything. >> we'll bring the baby with us. it will be great. her first concert. >> love it. >> you got the moves. thank you so much. you really do.

still to come hitting high notes with the bellas. this is really cool stuff. the newest movie "pitch perfect 2." this

still to come on today, a look back at prince harry's adventures in new zealand. the inventions you wish you had dreamed up. how do wacky ideas go to as seen on tv reality. first, these m

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it's 6:26 saturday morning. live look at cloudy skies over the embark darecadero and the bay bridge this saturday morning. thanks for joining us. i'm kira klapper. anthony slaughter has a look at our microclimate forecast. >> good morning fou. >> good morning to you. >> we're waking up to cloud cover, as you mentioned, kira. from the north bay to the south bay, every now and then you'll see blue sky embedded in there. especially from tiburon to the north bay there. little fog. cloudi and cool 45 degrees in the north bay. everybody else in the 50s. temperatures will be a little bit warmer than they have been the past couple of days. 62 in san francisco. chilly at the coastline. away from the water and the north bay. santa rosa napa in the 70s

today. close to that in the tri-valley. same for the south bay. overall not a big warming trend this weekend. we will see sunshine. even though we'll be in the 60s, the bay area is still nice. >> no surprise there. anthony, thanks. >> uh-huh. we begin now with some warriors playoff fun. their playoff run for the first time in 39 years, warriors are heading to the western conference finals and they were led by league mvp, of course seth curry. >> curry the other way and he's got it! >> it was the shot of the postseason. seth curry made an incredible basket from three-quarters back. that shot propelled the warriors to win against the grizzlies 108-95. fans at watch parties went wild from oakland to livermore, across the bay area. they're looking ahead already to the next playoff series. >> i hate the clippers. i hate l.a.

i like to take blake griffin, send him back in a little mid-sized kia edition. oracle arena tuesday night. tickets go on sale today. highlights introduce, ticket on our nbc bay area app. check them out on our facebook and twitter pages. threatening to take caltrans to court, proposed about -- upset about a proposed toll lane on 85 between 77 and san jose and 280 in couper tinoeeninotino. saratoga's mayor says they're ready to prove that in court and want caltrans to come up with other options. its studies show it would not increase noise pollution and the agency is ready to move forward

with the plans. we'll see what happens there. coming up this morning on "today in the bay" the stanford band will not be taking their show on the road. why the infamous band is being punished for a year. that and more coming up at 7:00. for now back to the "today" show.

♪ >> it's my tenth birthday! >> it's mine too. >> from buffalo, new york to new york city. >> best friends for 55 years! >> hi to my grandkids in montana and north dakota. >> taking over the "today" show! >> it was sunny earlier this morning. now if you look at the ground there you can see how hard it is raining. a downpour on this saturday

morning, may 16th, 2015. that's not stopping our friends out there. i have to say by the way, dylan said when we were going out around 7:30 she said it's going to start raining in a matter of minutes. you know what happened? it started raining in a matter of minutes. >> i was looking at the radar. it was like five miles away. i knew it was coming. >> she's using her tools. >> you're drenched. the signs are falling apart. >> i was going to go outside but the doctor said i can't get this wet. i have to stay inside. >> we'll get you a fiberglass cast by tomorrow. i'm on it. still to come in this half hour prince harry wrapping up a high profile trip in new zealand today and he'll get to meet princess charlotte for the first time. will it inspire him to settle down? he said he would love to have kids right now. we'll have more on that in a moment. you probably stayed up late at night to watch one of those infomercials on tv and said i could have invented that.

or -- >> maybe you were watching "pitch perfect." we'll show you how to get your chance. let's show you these beautiful laid is of ladies of "pitch perfect 2." it's about to set records. we will catch up with two of the stars, brittany snow and hailee steinfeld. oscar nominee trying out her comedic job. >> i'm excited about a story i'll bring you later this morning. have you dreamed of retiring at a young age? this woman is in the 90s and has to be the most popular park ranger. we'll ask her to the secret about living a long, happiy,y ylife. >> let's get a final check of the weather from our uber accurate meteorologist. >> i forgot i had to do weather. we'll go over to the weather monitor where we do have a chance of stronger storms today especially this area right in

through here. south central nebraska most of kansas most of oklahoma. the threat today will be for long track tornadoes. tornadoes that stay on the ground for a long period of time but in addition to that we are looking at large hail damaging wind gusts and chance of heavy downpours in an area that's already soaking wet. we are looking at a chance for flash flooding. here we go on sunday from minneapolis over to green bay. most of the western great lakes stretching down into the midwest. we're not looking at widespread tornadoes but the chance of stronger storms through the afternoon. these will fire up this afternoon and then redevelop sunday afternoon as this cold front continues to move east and scattered showers and storms elsewhere across the midwest, ohio and tennessee river valley and northeast as well. could see snow. more hey, good saturday morning to you. i'm meteorologist anthony slaughter. cloudy skies for the most part this morning. blue skies mixed in there. overall, lots of cloud cover for most of us. temperatures in the 50s and 40s. later this afternoon we'll be a little warmer than we have been

the last couple of days. close to 70 in the south bay. same for the tri-valley. meanwhile at the coastline today, cool and cloudy. low 60s for san francisco. we'll talk about our rain chances headed to the bay area this morning at 7:00. >> that's your latest forecast. >> all right. thanks. britain's prince harry is wrapping up a whirlwind trip to new zealand today and he'll get a chance to meet his niece for the first time. everyone ask asking harry, when are you going to settle down and have kids? we're joined from buckingham palace this morning. >> reporter: the pressure right? prince harry is on his way back to london this morning after a week-long trip in new zealand which he said was epic fun but he said it would have been great to have someone by his side to share it all. a perfect ending for the people's prince. harry scoring a win on the

soccer field on the last day of his royal tour in new zealand. >> amazing group of people with a fantastic culture and background. beautiful country request rain. lots and lots and lots of rain. >> reporter: in the past week he's danced he paddled, he's handled reptiles and not just the small ones. he's joked around with the press and he's opened up to them. >> it's part of the role that's fantastic. we feel that we need to have to work with normal people to keep us sane. >> reporter: the new zealand trip came at the end of a month-long deployment with the australian military. the last hurrah for the military for harry. he's about to take on a new role. >> he doesn't want a boring desk job. his main passion is to help

veterans. >> reporter: his other passion starting a family. >> you can't force these things. it will happen when it's going to happen. >> reporter: there's one girl harry can't wait to meet. princess charlotte. >> i'm so looking forward to seeing her and meeting her and to holding her. she was a little bit late so i missed her. >> reporter: he's practically guaranteed to be a favorite uncle. a real life prince charming. prince harry said he would love to have children right now but he said there's a process you have to go through especially when you're fifth in line to the throne. >> there's that. and there are women around the world lining up to help with that process. thanks. up next the pitches are back. we'll talk about "pitch perfect good. very good. you see something moving off the shelves and your first thought is to investigate the company.

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>> your mother was a bella? the top of the bellas. and word is she has a five octave vocal range? >> she does. don't want to hear that woman doing it with my dad. >> what an odd thing to say. >> brittany snow and hailee steinfeld are here. congratulations. the pitches are back. and better than ever. plus one. so brittany explain. how do we get to see chloe back with the bellas and still eligible? >> she graduated but chloe because of her passion for singing decides to intentionally fail many classes in order to be a bella so she's a seventh year super senior. she's the leader of the bella and having trouble letting go. >> i went to college with some chloes. i can admit that. i definitely did. hailee for you as the newcomer how tough was it?

was it nerve-racking to join such chemistry? >> it was. it was more exciting than anything. i was such a fan first movie so to be able to be part of this is awesome and everyone was so kind and great in helping me get caught up. >> you did a great job. brittany explain how we ramp this up to bring "pitch perfect" back and make it better because there are fans who fear that sequel is not as good as the first one but i can promise you this is great. >> we definitely had that in the back of our minds because we didn't want to disappoint anybody and how much people enjoyed the first one. we had to push this one. the stakes are higher because we're not only taking on the national level, we're taking on the world. >> world domination. >> things are heightened a lot. >> those germans. so for an oscar nominee like yourself to come in and join with "pitch perfect 2" was the comedic work hard for you? this is really your first time

out with comedy. >> for sure. i think something i realized quickly was that it was kind of a world that you were able to just be yourself and be weird and have fun and all of that was accepted and embraced and encouraged. so i was able to go to work for three months or however long we made this movie and just be myself and have a good time which was amazing. >> this weekend you have a video coming out with your friend taylor swift. >> i totally forgot. >> i'm here to remind you. >> yeah. yeah. >> my gosh. >> isn't that cool? >> i want to play a pg version of "would you rather" something a lot of college kids do. are you game? >> yes. >> twitter or instagram? >> instagram. >> michael jackson or miley cyrus karaoke? >> michael jackson. >> twerking or the duggee?

>> everyone thinks they know how to duggee but everyone needs to be taught. >> "pitch perfect" or "pitch perfect 2." >> i can't say. >> okay. it's okay if you have differing views. "pitch perfect 2" is fantastic. i was in my office laughing out loud. people are asking thomas what are you doing? i recommend everyone go to see this. congratulations to you both. brittany snow and hailee steinfeld. "pitch perfect 2" is in theaters now. we're back in a moment. this is "today" on nbc.

>> i like that energy out there on the plaza. we're back on a saturday morning with a question for you. how many times have you seen one of those products on late-night tv and thought i could have come

up with that. turns out you can and you can get it on one of those late-night infomercials. janice is here with a sense of what it takes to get those ideas and inventions on tv. make us some money, janice. >> absolutely. some people stay up all night watching those infomercials and it all amounts to a billion dollar business. i spent some time recently learning what it takes to make it all happen. >> keeps you occupied. >> reporter: if you ever had a million dollar idea for an invention, this is where you need to be. >> my product will dry and style wet hair while you sleep. >> it's a superhero cape all in one. >> reporter: it's the ninth annual response expo held in san diego where inventors attempt to bring their creations to life. >> this will change the way people feel about compost. >> reporter: you are the pit bull of inventors.

john is one of the organizers of the three-day event. some of these potential dreamers could make hundreds of millions of dollars. >> hundreds of millions of dollars if not more with the right idea. >> reporter: what exactly is the formula for hitting it big and being featured on an as seen on tv commercial? >> inventors have to think about products that are demonstratable that have mass appeal and easy to manufacture and easy to understand that are low in price and you know what? they got to believe in them. they have to work. they have to have value. >> reporter: and of course having a good tv pitchman doesn't hurt either. >> are you tired of throwing money out the window? are you tired of that guy peeking in? >> reporter: most inventors gathered here are just ordinary people with a dream. timothy works for the county of los angeles. when he's not out inventing the next big thing. >> it goes in there.

find the spot. plug it in. >> reporter: that's very cool. >> we're going to buy it. >> reporter: the next time you see the commercials on tv just remember you may have seen it here first. out of hundreds of products shown, friday insiders say ten will be chosen for test runs and one out of those ten will actually make it to air and possibly super blankies. >> i don't know if i need the mask. >> you can cuddle up. they will retail for 29.99. >> the issue i have a lot of times with my cape is that it falls off. this is nice. it doesn't fall off. it won't choke me either. >> we have roller states that you actually put on and they retail for $159. you put your own shoes on and strap them on. >> they're heavy. >> come on tom. >> our stage manager.

>> i have you. i have you. don't worry. >> do they have a brake? how do you stop? >> you catch him. >> stop. now this is just for you. pink goggles. >> put them on. massages and takes away wrinkles. doesn't he look good in pink? they're $90. >> how do we stop them? >> you have to put batteries in. they're not included. these may make the next billion dollars. >> it's like the new snuggie. it turns you into a superhero, which is awesome. thank you. >> you saw it here first. >> up next what's the secret to a long life? if you ask this woman you're about to meet it might be working into your 90s. we'll introduce you to the nexxus introduces a new movement in hair. ♪ ♪

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>> if you ever found yourself caught in a rut, we have caught up with someone who is special. one woman who proves it's never too late to try something new. >> i'm about to introduce you to a woman who started a career at the young age of 85. i quickly learned why people will sign up months in advance just to hear what the nation's oldest park ranger has to say. >> the battle of the ship over the far end of the water. >> reporter: when 93-year-old ranger betty speaks people listen. >> smaller women were actually better suited for some of the aircraft work. >> reporter: many tourists hang on her every word as she guides them through the world ii home front national park. >> really was in the aircraft industry. it was wendy the welder that came into being in the shipyard. >> reporter: the park highlights those who filled the richmond,

california shipyards during world war ii. an influx of working women that didn't immediately include people like betty. >> the boys were too young to be drafted and then single white women and then married white women. and then black men hired in 1943 and not until late in 1944 black women began to be trained as welders. >> reporter: betty worked through it the great grandmother of a slave. >> my mother lived to be 101. my great under a lived to be 107. they were active until they died. >> reporter: that's why betty didn't hesitate to start the new chapter of a park ranger at the age of 85. why did you want to be a park ringer? >> i don't know that i wanted to be. this is the turn my life took. >> reporter: the old estranger

in the -- oldest ranger in the nation. perspective she shares five days a week. >> what's the secret? is it having meaning? >> i have no idea. the only exercise i get is jumping in and out of my car. >> reporter: finding meaning in every tour and in that famous ranger uniform. first day you put this uniform on what did that feel like? >> that was great. i still love the uniform. partly because there's a message to every girl of color that i pass on the street or in an elevator or escalator who suddenly has announced there's a career choice you may not have ever thought of. >> reporter: and as for retiring -- >> life keeps opening up and as long as that's true and as long as i'm developing new questions, i'm going to go on living it. >> betty believes all chapters in her life led her to what she

did today. first time in my career i cried after an interview. bawled like a baby. so inspired. >> love that good morning. i'm kira klapper. coming up on "today in the bay" the search is on for the person who nearly killed this dog. the tactics being used to find the attacker. and stanford banned from away games for a year. whoo some think the school went too far. the warriors advance to the conference finals for the first time in nearly four decades.

it's just shy of 7:00 on saturday morning. you're getting a live look at cloudy skies over san jose. much of the bay area starting their saturday just this way. good morning. thanks so much for joining us. i'm kira klapper. anthony slaughter has a look at our microclimate forecast. you say sun is on the way today? >> yes. we'll see some sunshine. little bit to go, though. quite extensive marine layer that extends all the way from

san francisco to the south bay, even the north bay and tri-valley. widespread cloud cover is the story this morning. otherwise we are looking at a sunny afternoon. even at the coast. sunshine there today. it will be below average. while we'll see the sunshine it may be a little deceiving. temperatures still warm. jacket this afternoon. a series of storms. keep the storm door open. we're not done with the rains just yet. kind of unusual may pattern shaping up. hey, we'll take the rain whenever we can get it. 40s and 50s for the most part kira. later this afternoon, below average. temperatures in the 60s. 62 for san francisco. 69 for the tri-valley. 68 for the south bay. meanwhile, north bay, wine country will be the only location that gets into the low 70s. sun coming our way today and more sunshine tomorrow. monday a storm system could bring us some showers. we'll talk about that in a minute. >> and we need it. but, boy, it's may and now -- >> kind of unusual.