the white house. good afternoon to you. how did those meetings go? >> reporter: well, you know, that question that we played president obama sound bite, he was answering a question about abortion rights and the views of any prospective nominees towards that issue. he went on to say he doesn't have a litmus test, but as someone who does respect the individual rights of women would be something he would be looking for. so this begins the formal process here, alex. the president inviting in these top senators. he had harry reid and mitch mcconnell, the leader of the parties in the senate, as well as patrick leahy and jeff sessions, the top democrat and republican on the judiciary committee, which, of course, will shepherd this nomination through the senate. and the president said in that photo op that he wants to put someone before the senate, begin this process before may 26th. may 26th is the date that sonia sotomayor last year was nominated and they got that nomination through the senate before the august recess. i know this is tick tock, a lot of back and forth. it's important to get through all that process. everybody believes on both sides

by the time the supreme court sits in early october and comes back into session for the fall. the president himself has been -- let it be known here at the white house that he's made some phone calls, informal phone calls directly to prospective nominees. even though they want to emphasize that no formal interviews have yet begun. the process now under way here at the white house, alex. >> interestingly, mike, republican jeff sessions, he has yet to throw out some names that he would like to see. i mean, officially, that is, to the president. why is that? >> reporter: i don't think generally we hear from the republicans in terms of what the president thinks -- who they think the president should nominate or democrats for that matter. we've heard ten name mentioned. there you see the three often mentioned as top three front-runners. the figure of ten is the figure the white house has put forward. the list could be quite expansive. these three including these two governors here -- and we've got a whole list of them here. i didn't know that.

that's great. that are being considered by the white house. again, the president hinting very strong it probably won't happen this week, not even next week. not imminent. a lot of people think, two weeks, that ballpark, we're going to know who that nominee is, alex. >> the financial reform bill, we've got senate republicans saying they sound like they're willing to compromise a little bit. that's a different sound than was coming out of the house, right? >> it's interesting. gallup put out a poll the other day. 50% of the americans, the majority, when you phrase it as wall street, should something be done to further rein in wall street to make them stop taking these risky bets. that's not exactly how it was phrased. 56% of americans compared to 30% say something should be done. i think for democrats in the white house, they've been pressing this issue time and time again. the issue with goldman sachs that came up last week added more emphasis to that. many republicans are suspicious about the timing of that and have asked for documentation.

i think the political reality dictates the politics on capitol hill. >> thank, mike. heading south, we're getting word of a standoff in pampano beach, florida where, where a m barricaded himself inside a house. s.w.a.t. is on the scene because this guy apparently got inside that house with a gun, threatened his wife, girlfriend, rather, and his sister. some sort of a domestic dispute. the two women were able to get away. they are the ones that called police who alerted the s.w.a.t. teams. again, on scene there in pampano beach. the suspect has barricaded himself inside that house. we'll keep an eye on this. at this point least we know those two women were not injured. they were able to escape that house. meantime, it could be weeks before airlines work through the backlog caused by the volcano in iceland. some passengers are finally

going home. relief coming after a nightmare of six days in which airports were virtually shut down. nbc's tom aspell is in london. tom, having worked all over the weekend with you at a very quiet heathrow airport, how do things look like there? a little more back to normal? >> reporter: i'd say it's pretty bezzy, yeah. probably running about 60% of capacity. that's a bit of a reflection of european air space at the moment. normally they handle 28,000 flights a day in european air space. today they estimate they're going to do 21,000. almost back to normal. but the problem is, just a big backlog of passengers all over the world. all of them wanting to get home. many airlines flying out of heathrow, for example, went out empty. they're going to various corners of the world to pick up passengers and bring them back. now the emphasis has shifted on how much did all this cost? the best estimate is $1.7 billion so far. and the airlines are thinking of asking their respective governments to be reimbursed for that money, much in the same way that the u.s. government gave money to u.s. airlines after

9/11. alex? >> it has to come from somewhere, be it taxpayers or passengers. okay, tom aspell, thank you very much for that. happening right now, the funeral for a civil rights icon. we're going to give you some live pictures right now from memphis, tennessee, where you're looking at the funeral for civil rights leader benjamin hooks. the 85-year-old former lawyer, judge and ncaa director died last week at his home. we'll let you know if someone significant takes to the pulpit and speaks there. meantime, we'll take you right now to a missing ohio woman who suddenly turned up on surveillance video with a mystery man. the fbi has now joined the search for 31-year-old tiffany tehan. according to her husband she left home saturday to go shopping, hasn't been seen since. police have released surveillance pictures from a local store showing tiffany and a man her family says they do not know.

police say he's 42-year-old tray mu hutchison of dayton, now a person of interest in the case. >> i can't imagine that tiffany would ever do anything like that. it does seem completely unlike her. she never did anything to give any indication that she might even be considering something like that. i mean, we had plans for the whole weekend, and she was excited about them. >> police say that hutchison does not have a criminal record. according to police he has been seen with the missing woman on several previous occasions. okay. back to that standoff we were telling you about in pompano beach, florida. a public information officer for broward county sheriff's department, good day to you, mike. what do you have going on there? >> this started around 9:00 this morning. there was a domestic dispute between a boyfriend and a girlfriend. and her sister. apparently the subject pointed a gun and threatened the

girlfriend and her sister. they safely got away, called 911. and broward sheriff's deputies have been on the scene since that time. what's going on right now is our s.w.a.t. team is preparing to make entry into a single story duplex. the subject is holed up and believed to be armed inside one of the units of that apartment. >> so, mike, tell me, what was the start of all this? some sort of a domestic dispute? who are these two principal woman? what are their relationship to the man who's barricaded. >> additional information that we have is that one of the two women is the girlfriend or ex-girlfriend of the subject. who threatened them. he reportedly had a gun, threatened the two women, and, again, they were able to get away safely. right now there's an area of pompano beach that's been sealed off. the western end of pompano beach, about a 200 yard square area off of a main boulevard. so it's not really affecting

traffic at this time. but our deputies and s.w.a.t. team are preparing to go to the next step and try and get this to end without incident. >> okay. good luck with all that. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. bullied to death. new information today about what may have been going through phoebe prince's head in the days leading up to her suicide. plus, taken from florida and abandoned in new york city. unraveling the mystery about a toddler found alone and crying on the steps of st. patrick's cathedral. actress jessica alba steps out of her acting shoes to push for a global initiative for education. we'll talk to jessica in just a few minutes. suring over 18 million drivers. gecko: quite impressive, yeah. boss: come a long way, that's for sure. and so have you since you started working here way back when.

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let's go back now to that breaking news out of the gulf of mexico where a huge explosion on

an oil rig is -- is resulting in the search for as many as 12 workers that are missing. we know seven people have suffered critical burns. joining me now on the phone is the senior chief petty officer in the u.s. coast guard. good morning to you or good afternoon now. >> good afternoon, alex. >> let's get the very latest on what's going on in the search for those missing. any updates on that? >> we still have four helos in the air searching for the missing crew members. we do know there's 99 folks with lesser injuries on an offshore supply vessel. probably going to be taken back into port this afternoon. coast guard has flown out a couple of investigators enroute today to take a look at the scene to see if there's any pollution and what response will be needed for that. at the same time we're working with our partners that are responsible for the rig as well as mms, marine management service, to conduct an

investigation into the cause. >> yeah. i understand that the rig is listing. is it listing, what, about ten degrees? has it gotten worse than that? >> it has gotten a little bit worse. we've gotten reports it has been listing now 70 degrees. as of right now we're not concerned it's going to turn over or, you know, right now we're still pretty confident that, you know, with the handling of the fire they'll be able to stabilize that rig. >> so those 99 that need to be taken to the port, they're still on board that rig at this time, those survivors. >> they're on an offshore supply vessel. it's a big work boat they take people back and forth from onshore to the rigs. they're rather large. they're on there. they've got -- if there's any injuries they're being treated. there's a coast guard corpsman and two of our rescue swimmers are on board. any minor injuries are taken care of. they'll be heading back to port later on this evening to reunite with their families. >> okay. that's good. we wish you the best of luck with the four helos up in the

air looking for the missing right now. thanks for the update. we are able to repay the taxpayers ahead of schedule because we are designing, building and selling the best cars and trucks gm has produced ever. >> that was just a short time ago. general motor's ceo ed whitacre announcing gm has paid back early more than $8 billion in government loans to the u.s. and canada. gm also announced plans to invest money for plants in kansas and michigan. chrysler announces it lost nearly $200 million in the first quarter. the big number, chrysler says it has lost nearly $4 billion since exiting bankruptcy last year. there's a much brighter picture at apple. quarterly profit there surged 90% thanks to the strong sales of iphones and i pods. 3 1/2 hours in the trading day. let's take a look at things.

not good right now. not too, too bad on terms of the down numbers. down 1.75 on the dow. down a little more than 1.5 on the s&p and down about 2.34 on the nasdaq. stories far and wide today. there was a heartbreaking doorstep delivery last night at st. patrick's cathedral in new york. a crying toddler from florida abandoned by a man and woman at the main entrance. police believe the 3-year-old nathaniel fons was dropped off by two of his mother's associates. his mother was busted this week in florida on charges of counterfeiting. according to reports, the boy was found with a strange note on him. joining me right now live on the phone, detective nate flash from the sheriff's department. detective, good day. >> good afternoon, ma'am. >> i bet you're glad how this little boy at least is in safe hands right now. tell me about his odyssey. where did this start and how long was he away from his mother there in florida? >> it started sunday evening.

and at that point in time, he was already not with his mother. he was in the company of two of his mother's friends. i guess for a couple days he's been, you know, actually traveling north. >> okay. where is his mom? what is she accused of doing? >> mom is presently in the county inmate facility. initially she was accused of attempting to pass a counterfeit $100 bill. the vehicle she was in was ultimately determined to be reported stolen out of new york. she was charged with that as well. >> so little nathaniel, was he given by the mom to these two who took him up to st. patrick's cathedral two days later? >> the child was with, once again, friends of mother. and apparently the mom has known these people for at least four years. >> hmm. okay. do you know when he'll be

getting back to florida, little nathaniel? >> that, we're not certain of. once again, the child is in the hands of the law enforcement and/or child services up in new york. and i'm certain they're doing everything they can as quickly as they can to reunite the child with the family. >> right. okay. relatives must be in the area there for that. okay. detective, thank you very much for joining us, detective nate flach from florida. appreciate it. you may know her at the star of hit films like "fantastic four" or "sin city." she's adding advocate to her impressive resume. she's joining one goal that's a brand-new education initiative kicking off in the nation's capital. the campaign aims to provide a basic education for children all over the world. more from nbc's luke russert in washington joined by the lovely jessica alba. good day to you. >> good day, alex. how you doing. >> i don't want to overlook my congresswoman, as well. >> we have two very special guests here.

>> as long as you vote, that's okay. >> reporter: jessica, why are you here in washington? talk about the importance of the one goal for education. what brought you to d.c.? why is it so important to you? >> well, this is really a chance for us to make sure that every child gets an education. 72 million children in the world don't have access to an education. 60% of them are in africa. and most of them are girls. and so this campaign is around the world cup, and this is the one moment where everyone puts aside their differences and unite around this game, soccer. and it's oneworld.org. our one goal is to make sure every child has access to an education. >> congresswoman, you've been working on this issue for years. why are you so confident now that the education for all act will get through congress? president obama as a candidate pledged to give $2 billion a year to this fund. do you think it'll finally happen now in 2010-2011? >> this legislation is a road

map. president obama, president bush before him, president clinton understand that there are three pillars of national security. defense, diplomacy and development. if we can educate young people, those 72 million people, especially girls who don't have the access, they will be less susceptible to terrorists. they'd be less susceptible to al qaeda. and we are living in a global world. so it is the countries around the world that have to get involved. the nonfor profit world. we have to get all the foundations involved, the business sector. we have a responsibility to educate everyone so they can see a positive path to the future and make a good living. >> jessica, you were up here in november of 2009 lobbying this issue. do you feel you've made progress this time around. >> i think we've definitely made progress. i mean, i'm just humbled and honored to be with congresswoman lily. she has really paved the way on this issue and has been working

on this for so long. and i'm just thrilled to be part of it and support you. >> having someone like jessica here makes all the difference. and i cannot tell you, jessica, how important this is. because when she speaks, i can write the legislation -- b, but jessica really gets the attention. it's attention we have to focus on the 72 million children. >> why do you feel the u.s. lags so far behind our european allies in this type of venture? the netherlands, uk, are really putting a lot of billions of dollars into this fund. why are we so far behind? >> we have to continue to work to stress to the american people that investments at home in our own schools and health care are critical. but in terms of national security throughout the world, we have to continue to stress the importance of educating all those 72 million people. and it's not just for us alone. it's a partnership.

and it's that partnership and the road map and adequate coordination that this bill is all about. >> secretary of state clinton and the president you feel are committed to this? >> secretary of state clinton was the original cosponsor in the senate when i introduced the bill a few years ago. >> reporter: last question, jessica. obviously obviously up here in washington, d.c. any chance toward the tail end of your career you'd say maybe i want to run for congress, become a congresswoman? >> i mean, i think i will -- what i see in my future is being a mom. >> she has a better chance of being a congresswoman than i have of being an actor. >> reporter: you can be a mom and be a politician. >> how much i want to bet that is not your last question to jessica alba. you're going to so milk this, luke. ladies and luke, thank you very much. on a very serious note, want to let you know we're watching a standoff in florida where the s.w.a.t. team there in broward county has had to go to a man's

residence in pompano beach as a result of two women that escaped that house earlier. he was brandishing a gun and threatened these two women. one being an ex-girlfriend, one being his sister. s.w.a.t. team are on the scene right now. not sure exactly what that picture is showing us right there. we're going get the information, get it back to you here. before rogaine, my solution to the problem was to go ahead and wear hats. i was always the hat guy. i can't even tell you how much it's changed my life. [ male announcer ] only rogaine is proven to regrow hair in 85% of guys.

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an immigration bill in arizona sparking protests and outrage. this bill is on the governor's desk. she is not yet decided whether to sign it. she has until saturday to make up her mind. some hispanic lawmakers are calling on the president to intervene if she does. they're warning hispanic voters may stay home in november if the president fails to act on immigration reform. >> it stigmatizes a certain group of people.

that's what they're doing in arizona. they shouldn't do it because they're going to profile people. >> just two weeks ago we had an innocent arizona rancher and his dog murdered by someone that had crossed into this country illeg illegally, killed him and walked back across the border into mexico. >> part of both sides. joining me right now, congressman loretta sanchez. welcome to you. >> thank you. >> i'm curious if you think or have the same concerns that were articulated earlier. that this is going to lead to racial profiling, this law? >> well, certainly we as americans have always even been against the id card. you know, we think about our freedoms and really nobody carries around or is required to carry around paperwork. all of a sudden you've got a class of people who will have to have some sort of paperwork on them. i know as a hispanic i worry somebody will stop me, i don't carry my birth certificate around. i'm born in california. what does that mean? they're going to start deporting me? i think we really need to think about why would you stop

somebody? we already stop people from a federal level if they are committing another crime or misdemeanor. if they've hit into somebody, got a traffic accident. this would be just stopping people and asking them for paperwork. i think it does have the probability of racial profiling. >> okay. you're very much against deportation, aren't you? >> well, i'm trying to solve a particular problem that we have in the united states. that is that we have a group of people here, and we don't know how many they are. it may be 6 million. may be 10 million. may be 12 million. of people who have been here for a long time, who are what we call mixed families. maybe they're somebody who has a work document to be in this country, doesn't have any paperwork. maybe their children are united states citizens. i'm against deportation of a mother from her children, for example. so i think we need to have comprehensive reform so that we can adjust the status of people and decide whether families are going to be in america or whether we want them out.

>> i know that house democrats are urging the president to shun in arizona bill. we don't even know whether or not it'll go into law. the governor can either act on it, not do anything. but we have until about saturday to figure that out. but the concern in terms of the latino voter block, are you concerned as representative gutierrez is that latinos will stay home and not vote in the mid-terms if this goes through in arizona? >> well, you know, there are latinos in congressional districts. we're talking about the congressional districts. and some of the senate seats being up in this election in november. and in some districts the latino vote makes or breaks that election. more and more in more congressional districts. we want those latinos to come out. we want them to vote for the party and the person that will help them. i believe his panics are better helped in the united states by democrats. now, i'm personally one of those people who didn't hear president obama be really thrilled or really write down an agenda as a

candidate for the hispanic population. but i have spoken to him now that he is president. and he does want to move reform, a comprehensive immigration reform, that i think will not only help hispanics here, not only help immigrants here, but it will help all of america. because we need to settle this. we need to make sure that families stay together that need to stay together. that we are better about securing our borders, and that economically speaking, we are one of those nations that allows immigrants to come here because in the long run, that's what makes america stronger. >> a lot of evidence. this is front and center on the president's plate right now. little piece of evidence that he spoke with massachusetts newly elected senator scott brown and talked to him about his position there. he's clearly trying to take the pulse from both sides. meantime, congressman loretta sanchez from california, thank you so much. >> thank you, alex. we want to hear tr you on this issue. this is the subject of our brand-new text poll. what is more harmful to america in your opinion? racial profiling or illegal immigration?

text your answer 1 or 2 to 46833. the message and data rates may apply for you. meantime, here are some of the top stories we're watching for you right now. the coast guard is searching for as many as 12 people still missing after an explosion and fire on an oil rig in the gulf of mexico. officials were able to rescue 126 people from that rig. airlines are flying once again today after volcanic ash led to massive disruptions in europe. officials say it will be weeks before all stranded travelers get to their destinations. a missing florida toddler is found abandoned on the steps of st. patrick's cathedral in new york city. both his mother and father are behind bars under arrest in florida. and some live pictures out of the memphis, tennessee, for you, for the funeral for civil rights leader benjamin hooks. the 85-year-old former lawyer, judge and ncaa director died last week at his home after a long illness. [ crowd cheering ] [ male announcer ] competition... it pushes us to work harder.

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in a dramatic turnaround at the vatican, today pope benedict xvi is promising to take action against priests who abuse children. it is the pope's first public statement on the priest sex abuse scandal. nbc's ann thompson has been watching the story for us. she joins me now. this is a pretty significant development. >> it is, alex. because the pope is under a whole lot of pressure. over the past several months, there has been just almost daily reports of priests who have sexually abused children in europe. and that's really hurting the pope's efforts to reenergize the catholic church in europe. so today for the first time, he came out and addressed the issue about the european scandal and said, look, we're going to take action. now, he did not delineate what kind of action will be taken. now everybody -- it's not like this ends the scandal. he's put himself on the record. he's put himself out there.

the question is, what is the vatican going to do to keep this -- to stop the problem and then to keep it from ever happening again? >> when they say take action, this means all internally, correct? it's not like they're going to take information and hand it over to authorities. this will all be within the catholic church kind of action? >> i don't think it's quite clear. we do know that last week the vatican published its guidelines for handling abuse cases. put it out on its website. one of the things for the very first time, it wrote out in very plain english that bishops have to follow the local laws and report abuse to the local authorities. and that is all around the world. now, that is something that is done here in the u.s. now. because of some rules that the u.s. bishops came out with in 2002. another thing that's done in the u.s. is they have a zero tolerance policy for abusive priests. now, a lot of people think that's what the vatican should adopt and implement that

throughout the catholic church around the world. we don't know if it's going to do that. >> more to come from the pope as well as from you on this. thanks so much. also making some news in our world view, all hail to the queen. >> well, today is queen elizabeth ii's 84th birthday. other than a traditional gun salute, all the celebrations are quiet this hour. the formal country celebration will be when the country turns nice in june. thousands of protesters called red shirts want the prime minister to dissolve thailand's government and hold new elections. israel is banning the import of apple's i pads. the country's communication industry said it's not -- it might have an adverse effect on devices already in use.

we're learning more today about phoebe prince, the massachusetts teenager who committed suicide after enduring months of bullying at school. nbc's jeff rossen has obtained some of phoebe's school essays that reveal some of what she might have been thinking in the days before her death. this is hard to hear this stuff. >> this story gets worse and worse and worse as we learn more about this. of course we'll never know, alex, exactly what phoebe prince was thinking at the moment she killed herself. this may help, those school essays you mentioned. she wrote them just before her death. in them she talks about escapes her emotions and relating to stories of self-mutilation. this morning for the first time phoebe prince in her own words. school hallways could talk, perhaps we'd understand the pain that drove 15-year-old phoebe prince to suicide. >> do you have any -- >> reporter: four of the so-called mean girls who reportedly saw phoebe as a romantic rival are charged with felonies. is there anything you want to say to phoebe's family? they've all pled not guilty and

will tell their story in court. but phoebe can't. silenced forever. now it's her own words painting a vivid new picture of her emotional anguish and dark final days. in essays phoebe wrote for her english class she discusses a book called "cutting" written by a psychotherapist. the book is about people who harm themselves. in her essay phoebe writes, this book i really connected with as i found there was truth in every word. it helped me comprehend what people close to me have gone through. phoebe says self-mutilation is about trying to transfer the pain from emotional to physical. in another essay, phoebe titled "mind over matter," she says where have today's values gone? we live in an impersonal electronic society. now that we have twitter and facebook. about her ipod phoebe writes i have a song for every moment and mood of my day. let them wash away any emotion i'm feeling. freelance journalist obtained the essays for an irish

newspaper. >> it's definitely a warning sign for any person dealing with kids. when they're writing about self-mutilation and cutting in whatever context, it's disturbing. >> reporter: and there was pain in her past, too. phoebe grew up in this quaint irish village but was suddenly uprooted and moved to massachusetts last year. you speak with many of phoebe's friends in ireland. what did they tell you about her. >> they told me she had grown up basically a very happy girl. but in recent years she had undergone a bit of upheaval. she had moved to a school in ireland to a school her mom taught in also in ireland. she'd been bullied in the first school. her parents have separated. and her mom had decided to take her to the school. she missed her father very much. she was not that happy at that point. she had her own baggage at that time. >> reporter: emotional baggage? >> emotional baggage, yeah. >> reporter: then came the torment from her new american classmates. prosecutors say the bullies called her an irish who are, a slut and a stupid expletive.

they even followed her home. >> they were incredibly vicious to her. >> reporter: even in death? >> even in death. >> reporter: days after she hanged herself the school bullies attended a school dance laughing and having fun. one of them wrote this this on facebook. it was her own fault. >> who is addressing the security of the innocent children? >> reporter: now parents are angry. where, they ask, were school officials? how did they miss the warning signs. a recent school board meeting got so heated -- >> go outside on the street. >> reporter: one parent was hauled out by police. >> it's wrong! what you're doing is wrong! >> reporter: now phoebe prince is the national example how dangerous bullying can be. today one of those alleged bullies we mentioned in the piece is actually in trouble again. just days ago police arrested aust aust austin for drunk driving. there he is walking into court tuesday. he's pled not guilty to those charges. alex, we should mention all the

alleged bullies are out of jail. they're free as they await trial. clearly this has ruined a lot of kids' life. for these alleged bullies as well, this could stay with them for the rest of their life. >> one allegedly writing on her page a poem it was her own fault. are you kidding me? this is a scary case, everyone. a possible bullying in new mexico where a first grader has undergone brain surgery after a fight with another child on a school bus. this all happened on april 14th. but the boy is having his surgery today. officials in the school say the elementary school students were riding home when pushing led to the boy hitting his head. school officials are looking into whether bullying was involved. [ female announcer ] it's rollback time at walmart.

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too today's health watch, it's not just that juicy cheese burger that tributes to high

cholesterol. researchers say sugar sweetened drinks, cereal and sweet treats are major culprits. a new study shows those that had the highest added sugars -- what if there was a new blood test that could detect breast cancer? researchers say they're one step closer. in one study scientists identified 79 proteins with higher levels in the blood with women with cancer compared with other women in the study. drugs, alcohol and tanning salons? a new study shows as many as 1 in 3 young people who use indoor tanning beds may be addicted. researchers also found those considered addicted were also prone to anxiety and depression. well, the planes are finally flying again today in europe after an unprecedented shutdown because of a volcano in iceland. 75% of european air space is open. more than 25,000 flights are scheduled. it's estimated more than 1 million passengers were disrupted by the nearly week

long shutdown. it could be weeks before airlines work through all that backlog. we've heard all about the problems the volcano in iceland is causing for air travel. what about the impact the e rups might have on the environment? joining us now, dr. reese halter, a conservation biologist at cal lutheran university. >> hello, alex, in the green apple. >> we're glad you're here. what about these eruptions, value c volcanic eruptions. is there an effect to global warming here? >> no. what we're seeing with the icelandic volcano is very tame. it's about a tenth of the benchmark in 1991. what happened in '91, what's interesting, was all of the ash and the sulfur dioxide spewed up into the upper atmosphere, into the stratosphere. it acted then like a big shade

cloth over a glass house or greenhouse. it's not happening now, alex, at all. as a matter of fact, we're coming off the warmest march since the inception of records in 1880. >> what about the glacier that's melting? is that a result of global warming or has it been sped up considerably by this volcano? >> a bit of both. good call. the real concern now is march is the crunch time, pardon the pun, for the glacial and arctic ice. the arctic ice was the fifth lowest since the inception of recordkeeping. and the real concern, nine days ago a chunk of ice, get this, 1,600 feet long and 650 feet wide broke off the glacier in peru. about 200 miles north of lima. came down into a lake and created a 75-foot wave, a tsunami wave and took the water supply out for 60,000 people. that's a big concern.

and, you know, the glaciers there, alex, in peru, the sub prop c tropical blaglaciers, we don't think of high elevation. that makes 70% of the earth's high elevation glaciers. so the listeners can understand, the importance of ice is it reflects the incoming solar radiation. we need that white. what's really cool, cities around the earth are very seriously contemplating painting all their rooftops white to mimic or emulate the missing sea ice and reflect the radiation back to outer space. >> okay. well, this is a good geology and environmental lesson. thank you very much for your insight. dr. reese halter, appreciate that. >> thank you. happy earth day, alex. thank you so much. tomorrow everyone is the 40th anniversary of earth day. according to a new gallup poll in "usa today," fewer people are worried about global warming. tell that to the doctor we just spoke to. 28% of people say they worry a great deal about the environment. back in 2007, 41% said that.

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a new poll out today from quinnipiac university finds president obama's approval rating has slipped to its lowest level since his inauguration. this new survey finds 44% approve of his job performance. that's compared to 46% who disapprove. let's bring in peter brown, assistant director of the quinnipiac university polling institute. good day to you. >> good afternoon, alex. >> the president got a slight bounce, peter, after the health care victory last month. but his approval now has slipped to a new low for the poll. why is that? >> well, what we know is that the white house has said that when the president signed the health care bill, that his numbers would improve. and they did slightly in march. but now they're back down again. frankly, he's in fiscally the same position he was in march. the point is he hasn't gotten a bump. the health care bill itself

remains very unpopular. 53 b 53% of americans don't approve. 39% approve. >> a little more dismal as well, peter, when it comes to the handling of the economy by the president. what's behind those numbers? >> what's behind those numbers is the economy. the fact that the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high. people are worried about their jobs. >> okay. how about the big issue -- the supreme court nomination? and let's talk to the ideology. people are trying to play these parlor games right now in washington and elsewhere as to what kind of a judge the president will pick. and in terms of too liberal, one of the polls says 29%. too conservative, 19%. the final one, about 40% of the people out there polled think it's going to be about right. speak to that. because a lot of people have suggested when you're going to take a liberal off of this court, you're going to have to replace with a liberal. >> clearly what you're seeing is

in the electorate their views on who they're predicting the president will pick is based on their view of president obama. their view is president obama more so than not will nominate a liberal. that has some of them unhappy, some of them happy. >> appreciate it. i'm alex witt. thanks so much for watching. up next, "andrea mitchell reports." among andrea's againsts, connecticut senator chris dodd and president obama's economic adviser, austan goolsbee. see you back here tomorrow at noon. for our presentations. we upload it to fedex office, then they print, bind, and ship it. the presentation looks good, right? yes, but -- you didn't actually bring carl with you. good morning! but i digress. [ male announcer ] we understand. you need presentations done right. and right now save 20% on all online printing purchases. visit fedex.com/print.

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for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. it's time to take a deep breath... and ask your doctor if viagra is right for you. for anti-lock brakes. for safe driving. airbags. insuring your car and home. anti-theft devices. let's see. new cars, people over 65. [ female announcer ] call or click today for a free quote or to find an allstate agent. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," financial fix. will the senate produce a bipartisan regulation bill? >> i have never, ever passed a major piece of legislation in this body over three decades when i have not had the cooperation and backing of a member or members on the other side of the aisle. never once. >> but is the republican united

front beginning to crack? we'll explore signs of a possible ice melt. the man leading the reform, banking chairman chris dodd. are republicans right when they call it a bailout bill? from the gop, house leader mike pence. plus the party's not over. republican and democratic national committees sure know how to spend. exclusive reporting out today. supreme court sweep stakes. the president consults senate leaders from both parties, but says a woman's right to choose is a big factor. >> i don't have litmus tests around any of these issues. but i will say that i want somebody who is going to be interpreting our constitution in a way that takes into account individual rights, and that includes women's rights. good day. i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. senate democrats are in a tough negotiation now with republicans to try to produce a bill that would rein in wall street. just a few moments ago i talked with the point man on all of

this, senate banking which i remember chris dodd, and asked if republicans are now at the table. >> i think many of them want to, andrea. they don't want to be a part of just say no strategy. this bill has involved a lot of republican input on the committee for many, many weeks. senator shelby and i literally on a daily basis for weeks, either our staffs or he and i directly have been talking with each other about trying to bridge the gaps that exist in some of these areas. i think we both want a strong bill. obviously this is critically important that we get it right. that it's a good bill, not only a strong bill, but one that actually will fill in those gaps that existed that allowed this problem to become the large problem it was. secondly, to have the kind of tools available because there will be another economic crisis, and when it does, can we respond to it more effectively than we did on this one? and, thirdly, are we going to