but what we have decided to do about what happened there will amaze you. and we have got that story for you on tomorrow night's show. i hope you will be here for that. first look is up next. good thursday morning everyone. right now on first look, frantic wait. hundreds much high school students still unaccounted for as the death toll rises and family members of the capsized ferry wait. vladimir putin may have the momentum in ukraine negotiations. diabetes stuld is. new information for those battling diabetes. plus, a robotic sub scans the ocean floor in search of flight 370. two fire trucks collide while responding to a house fire and ford goes retro with a 50th anniversary mustang. hello, thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. a desperate search is under way for people, many teenagers

unaccounted for after a south korean ferry sank more than 24 hours ago. the death toll continues to rise. at least nine are confirmed dead. among the 179 people who have been rescued so far is this 6-year-old girl. she was separated from her family as the ferry sank. her parents and brother are still missing. nbc's francis co-has more on the families of the missing passengers. >> an agonizing wait stretched into a second day. relatives of those on board of capsized ferry huddled at a dock in a coastal city. families grew frustrated by each passing moment. some hired their own boat to go to the site while opening questioning why the coast guard couldn't do more to find loved ones. most were high school students on a field trip to a resort island in the south. meantime, the company which operated the ferry offered an apology to families and promised to do their best to not lose more lives.

the words provided little comfort to families, with the fate of so many still unknown. francis coe, nbc news. today for the first time since the crisis in ukraine began, leaders from the united states and european union, russia and ukraine will sit down together in geneva to try to diffuse the situation. the u.s. will likely announce new sanctions to punish russia if the meeting fails to sufficiently calm the crisis. tracie potts joins us now with more. what are the expectations for this meeting? >> betty, they're pretty low, at least here in the united states. we believe at this hour that the meeting with the u.s., the europeans, ukraine and the russians is already under way. this morning as secretary of state john kerry brings russia and ukraine together in geneva, nato is stepping up patrols in the region. >> we will have more planes in

the air, more ships on the water. >> nato says it's backup to prevent, not create, conflict. >> we specifically designed these measures to assure our allies only and to be clearly seen as defensive in nature. >> ukraine announced an anti-terror crackdown but within 24 hours pro-russian militia seized their ammunition and armored tanks. they've taken over parts of at least ten cities. the u.s. believes russia is behind it and the u.s. is looking at new sanctions despite the effort at diplomacy today. >> this is not the whole game. this is one part of it. talk doesn't replace actions. >> the white house hasn't said what those actions might be. because the u.s. really isn't expecting a lot out of geneva today, out of these meetings, there are already reports from officials here that we could see sanctions as early as tomorrow.

by the way, new this morning, betty, vladimir putin, the president of russia, is now admitting publicly for the first time that he did send his troops into crimea before taking over that peninsula, that part of ukraine. >> new developments there. tracie, thank you for that. the robotic submarine used in that search for the missing malaysian airliner finished its first sf-hour mission. the bluefin submarine covered 25 square miles. data from the latest search is being analyzed but coordinators say nothing of note has been discovered. two underwater missions had to be called off, though, earlier this week because of technical problems and deep water. today, several planes and ships will continue to explore the ocean's surface for any sign of the missing airliner. over a dozen people were injured wednesday when a fire truck ran through the front of a restaurant. according to two officials, two fire trucks were responding to a

call in monterrey park, california when they actually collided with one another sending one hurdling into a chinese restaurant. 14 people were injured in the accident, including firefighters, patrons and pedestrians. at least one of the victims was critically injured. those seriously hurt in the crash were wheeled less than a block down the road to a medical center. as the country continues to fight the growing heroin epidemic, the debate continues over what is to be done. now the attorney general is weighing in again. eric holder on wednesday called on first responders to train and equip themselves for the controversial drug that's called know ak zone. many people think of is as an antidote to overdoses, keeping people alive after using heroin. some people think it provides too much of a safety net for heroin users. holder said it's just the tool first responders need. >> this is not something -- this is a man made problem.

man made problems are susceptible to man made solutions. >> the justice department says 17 states are currently attempting to increase access to this drug. president obama and vice president biden announced $600 million in new grants for job training programs. nearly $500 million will go toward developing ways for businesses and educators to help train potential employees. another $100 million will go toward expanding apprenticeship programs. a missouri mayor is hearing some major backlash this morning after comments he made about the jewish community center shooting in kansas city over the weekend. marianville mayor clef en jer said he kind of believes glenn cross and that he was fair and honest. he went on to say that he was respectful of elderly people as long as "they were the same color as him." cross is accused of one count of

capital murder and one count of first degree premeditated murder in connection with those killings. time to shift gears and to sports. for that we go to richard liu. >> good morning. >> good morning, betty. the nba regular season wrapping up. as of last night the playoffs kick off on saturday. kevin durant's 42 points helped oklahoma nail down the number 2 seed in the west. oklahoma defeated detroit 112-111. the number 7 seed at stake between memphis and dallas in overtime, memphis sinking two clush free-throws. 106-105. los angeles, they were not so clutch. they beat san antonio, 113-100 for a two-game winning streak. if you can call it that. they finished their worst season in over five decades. 27 wins 55 losses. even kobe bryant is on vacation already. there's one worse. the milwaukee bucs -- >> no way. how bad? >> only 16 wins. might be why owner senator herb

cole selling it for $55 o million. the buyers, mark lazry and wesley edenss. in baseball, the cubs blanked twice. a first since 1962. the yankees behind tanaka's ten strikeouts had a 3-o win and then a 2-0 night win. not good for the cubs. >> huh-uh. >> a federal judge is considering a second attempts by lawyers to get approval for the $765 million settlement for concussion claims. now, the jets they've signed former titans running back chris johnson for two years, $8 million. johnson is only the sixth back in history with a 2,000-yard season. we'll see how he does in new york. jim kelly had a tough first week of chemo to battle sinus cancer. his brother says he's doing better which may be why he

celebrates easter at home. good news. sochi, atlanta's new stadium. so gorgeous, it's as retractible, domed masterpiece. major league soccer wants in on it. using downsizing technology here, betty, a soccer franchise will debut at the facility which opens in 2017. >> that is a good looking stadium. >> very modern. >> some folks in atlanta say hey, we don't need it. we have a great stadium as it is. >> that's true. okay. richard, thank you. now for a look at weather, here is meteorologist bill karins. >> no snow last night. we're into cold spring, instead of snowy cold spring. one spot with the winter weather, i feel bad for people in minnesota, northern wisconsin. we wended up with 6 to 12 inches of snow. across the east, it's a little chilly. definitely in new england

especially. as far as the rain goes, the gulf coast, be prepared for soggy weather the next two days. high temps from new orleans to tallahassee and up by 95. the forecast, rain along the gulf coast, even florida is not going to have beach weather out there. 75 in orlando, tampa the same with chances of rain. at least sunny and nice in the northeast and the holiday weekend, not bad. looking good in the east, midwest just some showers. >> all right, bill. we'll hold you to it. thank you. find out why 38 million gallons of water will be wasted all because of one young person's very poor judgment. plus, this guy made over 58 million bucks in just 15 months. find out who he is and how he did it next. i'm beth...

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now for your first look at business, we turn to seema mody. good morning, seema. >> betty, good morning. listen up, good news for the class of 2014. companies are hiring. a new survey finds companies

plan to hire 8% more college degrees. business majors have the highest average starting salary at $54,000. sony sold -- it's having trouble keeping up with demand. sales of microsoft x-box one topped 3 million the end of last year. microsoft is trying to offer special game bundles. betty, back to you. thanks, seema. other stories making news, the boston marathon is five days away and security officials are taking no chances. this year, a p.a. system has been installed along the route and a no bag policy is in effect. police and race officials are confident in the safety of the event. >> i truly believe, because of our public safety officials, that this will be the safest place on the planet on april 21st.

>> the man involved in tuesday's hoax appeared in court on wednesday. he's being held on $100,000 bail. an explosion that ripped through a tennessee ammunition factory left one person dead and three others injured wednesday. the cause of the explosion is still unknown. a just-released study from the new england journal of medicine shows how complications from diabetes have dropped significantly over the past 20 years. heart attacks, strokes and amputations due to diabetes fell more than of 60%. another study released by johns hopkins shows the percentage of americans with diabetes has doubled since 1988. nearly 1 in 10 adults. researchers link the rise in diabetes to obesity. yahoo's ousted executive may have only been on the job for 15 months, but he is walking away with a staggering $58 million in self-reigns pay.

he's the first big hire by the ceo. 38 million gallons of water will be flushed from a portland reservoir. the teen was caught urinating into the water. why? that prompted officials to dump the water supply. a man who committed a similar crime was sentenced to community service. all right. so john edwards is back to where he made his millions. anthony weiner says sexting is none much our business and joe biden goes joe cool with new selfies. scrambled politics is next. ♪ i know a thing about an ira

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♪ now, here's your first look at this thursday's edition of scrambled politics. in a new interview with fusion, former disgraced new york congressman anthony weiner was asked if he has stopped sexting. his answer? "at this point in my career, i've earned my right to say it is none of your business." all righty then. approximately 7500 pages of previously withheld clinton white house documents will be made public tomorrow, including records on president richard nixon, steven spielberg, oprah winfrey and tim russert. former u.s. senator and presidential candidate john edwards is returning to practice law. he appeared in court on wednesday to represent a 4-year-old virginia boy who suffered brain damage and physical injuries. his family says it happened in the care of a hospital back in

2009. this week senator claire mccaskill is serving 350 colleges and universities on how they handle sexual assault cases. she says the results will provide "an unprecedented look at how colleges and universities act or sometimes fail to act to protect students and bring perpetrators to justice." john mellencamp is not happy with wisconsin governor scott walker. the conservative republican used mellencamp's song small town during a recall campaign which prompted mellencamp to let walker know that he supports collective bargaining and union rights and thinks walker should consider that before using his music. check it out. ray band aviators that belong to who else, joe biden. the first ever posted to the vp instagram account. that's pretty cool. hours later, biden posted this photo with president obama and tweeted it out with a

caption calling it "the first selfie." that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. that was a pretty good picture. it's thursday. that means we're joined by syndicated columnist and self-proclaimed selfie king himself, bob franken. good morning, bob. >> we've had cutbacks here. i'm operating my own camera. >> that's why you're the selfie king. >> that's right. they don't want to spend the money this early in the morning. >> all right. i want to get to this. even though the white house is preparing new sanctions tas goes into today's meeting with russia and ukraine, does putin appear to have the upper hand in this geopolitical chess game, if you will? >> one would think. first of all, he has said the obvious to the russian people. he has -- the russian counterpart of a fire side chat. he is saying now that, of course, russian troops back the efforts in crimea. so the fact is now we've moved on to the rest of eastern ukraine and in answer to your question, it would seem that he does have the upper hand.

the range of sanctions is somewhat limited by the fact that the european countries, part of the european union, have a real problem applying too much pressure on putin because he can apply it right back by raising the price or cutting off the supply of natural gas. >> back here in the u.s., though, there is pressure on the obama administration to rein in for-profit universities so that students aren't crippled with debt and given useless credentials. what's actually being done to stop that? >> there has been a lot of conversation about somehow stopping the most egregious practices of these for-profit universities. these are the ones that you see advertising on television. a lot of them are accused of really going after people who maybe don't have as good a knowledge of the law and their rights as they should and, in fact, they end up charging huge amounts of money and put the students into serious debt. but they're not providing training that results in employment. and that is what they're going

to try and resolve. i have to say that the private universities have a strong lobbying effort in washington. this has proven to be very difficult. >> they're pushing back saying new federal requirements would pretty much prohibit some low-income and minority students from getting access to colleges. is that true as well, bob? >> well, yes. the fact of the matter is that there is a consensus growing that there should be more of an effort to enhance the community colleges, the two-year colleges, this type of thing. as i say, it's a big battle in washing fon. >> bob franken, as always, we enjoy your insight. we'll show you a close call and what not to do near a speeding train. that's next. sons. i go to angie's list to gauge whether or not the projects will be done in a timely fashion and within budget. angie's list members can tell you which provider is the best in town. you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare. now that we're expecting, i like the fact

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all right. time for first buzz. richard and bill are here to talk about this. being on tv, we got to get things right. you want to get it done in one take, right, bill? >> it's so impressive when someone not on tv can do it. avon high school, hats off to you. the students, everyone, 3,000 people in this video all to raise money for a children's hospital. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> this goes on for six minutes. i just put it on my twitter account if you want to watch it. the choreography, everyone in the entire high school, a lot of the community was it in it. it was done in one take. >> how many songs again? >> like 50, right? >> 50 of the most popular songs.

>> all in one take? >> yes. they took two rehearsals. >> holy hanna. >> we don't even do that. >> i know. >> give them a hand, right? >> give them a hand exactly. brand new technology that they're using in sweden. it's a hand scanner. it looks as a biometric layout of the veins in your hand. you can wave it 2 inches over the scanner and it knows who you are. it's being -- they're using it now in sweden. >> 15 palm scanners. >> you can buy stuff with it. >> you can go to the coffee shop, put your hand over it. the good thing, unlike fingerprints, you have to touch something so you leave your fingerprint behind. you've seen the pictures there. it's right above the scanner itself. cool stuff. >> that is cool. new meaning to give me a hand. >> right. >> check this out. selfies are all the rage. not this kind. this is what you don't want to do. this guy was trying to take a selfie and there was train tracks. luckily the conductor, if you

watch it closely, stuck his foot out and kicked him out of the way so he wasn't hit by the train. try not to do that. that's never a good idea. >> look at that shot. >> exactly. thanks for watching everybody. way too early with thomas roberts starts right now. during the campaign, can't say it i guess because it's education. but i really keep going back to that keeping the teachers from feeling the pain when they already don't work, you know, two and a half months out of the year, three months out of the year but earn salaries the same rate as people who work 12 months a year. >> rising gop star, new mexico governor susanna martinez caught on tape demeaning women's issues as well as teachers. can the governor and her staff explain away the petty and juvenile language used. for the love of money, after pro-russian separatists are

killed overnight. she is the hip hop bebop dance till you drop and yo-yo make a wicked cup much cocoa granny. the best news, mrs. doubt fire reignited for a sequel. this is "way too early." ♪ i don't know if you can tell i'm excited about that. hi everybody. i'm thomas roberts. it's thursday, april 17th. welcome to way too early, the show like the movie mrs. doubtfire. jen, put on a chicken. that's where the line comes from. put on the chicken. we're going to get to that in the cooler. we'll start with news that we need to. the disaster in the sea of south korea. nine people have been confirmed dead at this hour. nearly 300 still missing after a ferry loaded with high school kids capsized off the country's coast. they're racing to find