john yang, nbc news, ohio. >> this is stephanie gosk. an animal control officer shot a monkey on the loose last week in st. cloud, florida. this mountain lion attacked and mauled a 4-year-old in texas earlier this month. both cases of exotic pets on the loose. >> in the united states today, there are thousands of people who keep exotic animals as pets. globally, the market trade of creatures is a $20 billion a year industry. >> reporter: buying an exotic animal can be as easy as a click of the mouse. one site has up to 600 for sale, but state laws vary widely on regulating who can own what depending on where they live. according to the humane society of the u.s., 12 states ban the private possession of exotic animals. 28 states have restrictions and 12 statehave almost none. ohio is one of those states. >> you've got to be nuts to want to keep one of these. >> reporter: a new documentary highlights the sometimes murky business of exotic animal sales. >> i went to exotic animal auctions and i had to go undercover. i had to go with body gu

here is nbc's john yang. >> reporter: twice a week ashley boydgan gathers volunteers in a church kitcheno make birthday cakes for children they will never meet. the group is called sweet blessings and they don't just make any cakes. with decorations hand crafted from icing and assembled with tools more familiar in a workshop than a kitchen, each one is customized to match the child's interests whether they play the violin or video games, are football or baseball fans. the recipients are special, too. each one from a family in crisis or is suffering from a life-threatening disease. >> i think some of these children will grow up remembering this very special birthday cake all of their lives. >> reporter: she started sweet blessings after sensing something missing in her career in public health. >> i got a feeling i was supposed to be spending more time making a difference and less time making a living. >> reporter: since february the group has delivered about 80 cakes in seven kentucky counties all made by volunteers like 11-year-old meredith moladano. >> it might not not help them grow up

john yang, nbc news, new york. >>> when we continue here tonight, new clues and new questions about a notorious serial killer. . >>> he was one of the most notorious mass killers of his time. and those of a certain age will remember john wayne gacy, the chicago murderer who brought fear to that city more than three decades ago. now after so many years some new twists have emerged as we hear from nbc's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: the police arrested john wayne gacy in his chicago home on december 21, 1978. and for months afterwards, the bodies kept coming out. >> he said that he had 30 bodies buried in his crawl space but nobody really believed him. >> reporter: 33 in total, young men between the ages of 14 and 22, lured into his home, sexually assaulted and murdered. gacy who sometimes worked as a volunteer clown was convicted and eventually executed by lethal injection. but a mystery remained. eight unidentified victims. now more than 30 years later with modern technology at his disposal, chicago sheriff tom dart wants to know who they were. >> now through dna families that had no h

john yang has more. >> reporter: by the time the sun came up in zanesville most that escaped from terry thompson's farm were gone. >> six black bear, two grizzly bear, nine male lion, eight lion esses. and 18 tigers. >> reporter: a nerve-racking night as local broad wases warned residents. >> reporter: thompson, the owner of an animal farm, apparently set most of his animals free then took his own life. fred polk saw many of the animals on his property. >> i seen some mountain lions and african lions and i think three bears. one of the bears charged a deputy and the deputy shot it. >> we don't go to the academy and get trained on how to deal with 300-pound bengal tigers. >> reporter: danielle and her two children live next door. for her it was a terrifying night. >> gunfire was very close to the house. i almost felt at one point it may have been right in the backyard. >> that is a bear. >> reporter: today schools were closed as a precaution amid new questions about the animals' owner. neighbors and others called him eccentric. he was released after a year in prison on gun charges. six o

here is nbc's john yang. >> reporter: twice a week ashley boydgan gathers volunteers in a church kitchenke birthday cakes for children they will never meet. the group is calleded sweet blessings and they don't just make any cakes. with decorations hand crafted with icing and tools from a workshop each is customized to match the child's interests whether they play the violin or video games, are football or baseball games. the recipients are special, too. each is from a family in crisis or suffering from a life-threatening disease. >> i think some of these children will grow up remembering these special cakes all their lives. >> reporter: she started sweet blessings. >> i got a feeling i was supposed to be spending more time making a difference and less time making a living. >> reporter: all made by volunteers like 11-year-old meredith. >> it might not not help them grow up big and strong but it will help them have some self-confidence. >> reporter: connie is a prosecutor. before sweet blessings she never decorated a cake like this. >> it's hard to imagine there are children who don't get

we asked nbc's john yang to take a look. >> reporter: as retirees on a pension, jerry and doris royceatch their pennies, so they were angry when their bank told them about a new $15 a month maintenance fee, more than the interest they were earning. what did they do with the letter? >> that's it. goodbye. >> reporter: account closed. a result of the rising cost of keeping your money in a bank. according to bankrate.com, last year 65% of non-interest checking accounts were free. now, fewer than half are. over the same period, maintenance fees shot up 85% to more than $52 a year. and the minimum balance required to avoid those fees more than doubled to $585. >> consumers quite honestly have had enough. they are nickelling and diming consumers to death. >> reporter: bankers blame congress and new regulations that cap their fees on credit cards, debit cards and overdrafts. >> we're going to start losing money on checking accounts. and so therefore we had to raise revenue. and unfortunately this time on the customer in order to have that product for customers. >> reporter: there are alterna

we have two reports to start out with tonight beginning with nbc's john yang in chicago. >> reporter: for millions of college students the joy of graduation is quickly followed by dread. a new life with old debts. university of illinois at chicago senior andrea watson will owe about $40,000 notary public student loans. >> mm-hmm. very scary to know that before i even get that first real career job i'm going to have thousands of dollars over my head. >> reporter: in a new report out today the college board which runs the s.a.t.s says tuition and board at four-year colleges are up 4.4% from last year $28,500. up 8.3% at public schools to more than $8,200. with first jobs hard to find and starting salaries following, frustration is turning to anger. >> what kind of 18-year-old teenager is going to have that kind of money? >> i'm angry. >> college is a gigantic scam to get your money. >> reporter: expressed in youtube videos and at protests across the country sparked by occupy wall street. >> i'm constantly in deferment. >> reporter: tim graduated from michigan state university with $20,0

now chicago to nbc's john yang. you know the scene here looks calmer than over the weekend. >> well that's right, richard. here at occupy chicago, this is day 25 of occupy chicago. you can see a smaller operation of the wall street occupy wall street. over the weekend, there were 175 arrests in grant park when protesters wouldn't leave when the park closed at 11:00. but even then, that was not very -- it was very organized, very calm. both sides, protesters with police was handled professionally, respectfully and nonviolent on both sides. police gave plenty of warning that if people stayed in the park after 11:00 would be arrested. they were able to divide themselves into groups if they didn't want to be arrested. all they had to do was step out of the park on to the sidewalk. about a thousand people were in the park, at 11:00 when the park closed. only 175 decided to stay in. they were arrested, held overnight then bailed out the next day. later today, here in chicago, there will be another march, a march around th

>> john yang, we do appreciate that. let's go ahead and take you across the pond to london. poured into the streets outside st. paul's cathedr cathedral. michelle franzen is there. >> indefinitely, as we know now, veronica. look behind me, 200 tents have been set up roughly here in front of st. paul's cathedral. this square occupying this space is nestled all around surrounded with the financial district here in london. very close to the london smokes which was the original december tags where protesters wanted to march over this past weekend. police had barricaded that area so they occupied this space instead. take a look to our left here. again, st. paul's cathedral. they have the okay from cathedral officials to stay in this space. that has helped them sort of reduce the tensions with police. but they also have to make sure that they do not also occupy the space in front and detour tourist going into the cathedral. this area a big draw for the people who just want to see the architecture of cathedral but also where princess diana married. >> michelle, thank you. >>> and l

under way in eastern ohio for exotic and dangerous animals that escaped from a wildlife preserve and john yang is in zanesville, ohio, with the latest. john, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. this is one of the most bizarre hunts that have been going on in this central ohio or eastern ohio area. investigators tell nbc news that they believe that terry thompson, the man that owned this exotic wildlife reserve killed himself, took his own life and they believe that he may have himself released these animals before he took his own life. these are exotic wild animals that thompson rescued and kept at this farm. lion, tigers, primates, black bear, grizzly bears now sort of hunting them down and think overnight they were able to take out maybe 30 or 35 of the animals. there are still some at large. and there are still some on the farm itself that they are -- the columbus zoo officials are planning to try to take alive and take to the columbus zoo. meanwhile, now that the sun is up officials are being able to get out into the area to see just what they're dealing with. how man

for "today" john yang, nbc news. >>> up next, the all-star concert for bill clinton right after this. concert for bill clinton, right after this. happy birthday to you. happy birthday to you. happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you. and my wish is for a world with less cancer, and more birthdays. happy birthday. [ male announcer ] we've always made it right. and now we ship it right. announcing shipped for free, guaranteed to last. no minimum order. no end date. from l.l. bean. no end date. twizzlers. the twist you can't resist. [ laughs ] [ laughs ] [ laughs ] that's awesome. you can read that? ♪ [ female announcer ] the accufit digital system, exclusively at lenscrafters... is about 5 times more precise than manual measurement techniques. lenscrafters. i know you're worried about making your savings last and having enough income when you retire. that's why i'm here. to help come up with a plan and get you on the right path. i have more than a thousand fidelity experts working with me so that i can work one-on-one with you. it's your green line. but i'll be there, every

i'm joined by john yang. this is very interesting. >> reporter: it is interesting.very disturbing, very mysterious case. the baby lisa disappeared almost two weeks ago, and now they're hoping to generate new leads in the case with this new big reward for baby lisa's safe return. friday night, a candle light vigil outside the house where little lisa irwin vanished from her crib nearly two weeks ago. hours earlier, an attempt to shed light on her disappearance. a big reward for lisa's safe return. >> they bring that kid right here, they get $100,000. >> reporter: investigator bill stanton said the money is from an anonymous wealthy benefactor close to lisa's family. >> this person did not want any attention. the idea is not to focus on that but to focus on bringing lisa home. >> reporter: that's the goal of releasing home videos of baby lisa. cooing at her mother, all pictures taken between january and march of this year. it's bay 12 in the search for baby lisa. on friday, investigators reinterviewed neighbors and searched the area using high tech and low tech methods

john yang is live in ohio. do we know, john, what the future is for these animals?: chris, they are going to remain here at the columbus zoo under indefinite quarantine. miriam thompson, the widow of the owner was on her way here to pick them up yesterday when state officials issued that quarantine order. the sort of last minute intervention was coordinated by the governor's office and the state attorney general's office. it is an indefinite order. thompson has 30 days to appeal it and request a hearing. we've asked her attorney and we tried to reach out to her to find out what her plans were. but we got no response. the order says that they want this time, this quarantine to assess the health situation of these animals. particularly of concern are the prime mates. we're talking about three leopards, two primates and a small grizzly bear. the primates are typically carriers of the herpes b virus. it doesn't affect them. but if they bite a human, it could be fatal. the zoo officials here also, the veterinarians here at the zoo also talked about the horrific condition

>> nbc's john yang at the columbus zoo for us this morning. the fight is on in mississippi to find out where life begins and who is a person. in a week and a half they will approve an amendment to the state constitution defining life as beginning at the moment a human egg is fertilized. if the amendment is approved, abortion would be considered murder. advocates of reproductive rights are concerned if the person had amendment passes, it could limit infertility treatments and outlaw some form of birth control. dr. john isaacs is a reproductive specialist. he's one of the four doctors who perform in vitro fertilizations. it's nice to have you on with us this morning. we want you to explain the i am makt to women and figures like yourself if this amendment to the mississippi constitution passes. the impact that it's going to have across the state. >> well, the problem with this amendment is that none of us know what the impact will be. the language is they and could be applied in many different ways. our fear in the field of in vitro fertilizatio

. >> let's now get right to nbc's john yang in zanesville, ohio weather more. john, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. investigators are telling nbc news this morning that the inld cases are that terry thompson, the man who owned this wildlife preserve, did take his own life, and they ear operating under the theory that he did intentionally release these animals before he committed suicide. at this hour, at least two wolves and six tigers are still at large. but overnight, officials say that they took down, shot about 30 to 35 of those animals. >>> these are wild animals, wild animals that you would see on tv in africa. >> reporter: it's like a scene out of "wild kingdom." authorities attempting to contain an animal situation of epic proportions. >> right now we're shooting to kill. >> reporter: lions, cheetahs, wolves, tigers, grizzly and black bears, 48 animals in all escaped from a private preserve in zanesville, ohio, tuesday night. authorities say they received at least four sightings miles away along interstate 70 as early as 5:30 p.m. >> we don

>> that was john yang reporting. sources close to the family say the irwins have fired the local attorney who once represented them. the family did not say why. the lawyer says she's still continuing to look for baby lisa as a private citizen now. >>> cross-examination of the last witness in the dr. conrad murray case begins today. murray is michael jackson's personal physician who pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter -- pleaded not guilty, excuse me, to involuntary manslaughter. he is accused of giving the singer the powerful anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid, but it, of course, killed jackson. a propofol expert testified jackson had given himself the fatal dose. he said it was the only explanation for levels of the drug found during jackson's autopsy. the jury is expected to begin deliberating the case some time this week. >>> and we're going to check again now with tom kierein for the latest on our forecast. tom is promising a warm-up later in the week. we want to hear about that, tom. >> yeah. and it's beginn

>> all right, john yang in zanesville, ohio, john, thanks as always.the host of "ocean mysteries" and the author of "100 heartbeats." good morning to you. how dangerous a situation to you think this really is. >> matt, this could be incredibly dangerous. carnivores ranging from bears to lions and that's why it's so important that this situation needs to be managed immediately. if not for the protection of the public, for the protection for the animals themselves and as you can see, really the worst case scenario has happened here. >> you know what, you're right. public safety is the number one concern but i can't help but think this is just such a tragedy for these animals that did nothing to deserve this. >> incredible tragedy, matt. this brings up the point about private people keeping exotic animals as pets especially powerful creatures like these large cats and bears and wolves. these are animals that in normal situations in states like massachusetts and other parts of the country, there are strict state regulations when it comes to keeping these a

nbc's john yang is with us in new york with late details. >> reporter: this was a horrific crash. many drivers saying it is the worst they have ever seen. 15 cars, only the 12th lap of this race, 15 cars involved, wheldon's car went flying over the top of another car, into the fence that runs above the barrier on the outside of the track. he was taken by helicopter to the hospital where he died later. at least three other drivers have been taken to the hospital, though the early indications are that their injuries are not life threatening. wheldon, twice won the indianapolis 500 including this year. this was the final race of the indy car season. and many drivers had expressed concern, the field was especially large, 34 cars in the -- on the track. it was a very crowded track. the race was called off. the drivers are performing -- decided to perform a five-lap salute to wheldon. dan wheldon, 33 years old, dead after this horrific crash in las vegas. >> john, thank you. >>> in washington today, it was as president obama described it a celebration of martin luther king jr.'s return

day of talks in geneva aimed at getting six party nuclear disarmament negotiations back on track john yang agreed to stop its nuclear program six years ago in exchange for a peace treaty with washington but then it withdrew from talks in two thousand and nine the north korean leader said his country is ready to return to negotiations during a visit to russia earlier this year. human rights activists claim that patients in syria's state run hospitals are being tortured in an attempt to quell the opposition it follows reports that at least six people were killed in fresh clashes with government forces in the city of homs china is increasing pressure on syria by sending a special envoy to the country to urge president assad to fulfill some of the demands of protesters and syria's foreign minister has told us here at r.t. that the government plans to carry out reforms within six months. the country's leadership is not slowing down reforms and the deadline set by the syrian president are very short and in less than six months the country will see these reforms carried out that is why i'm asking

nbc's john yang is in kansas city. john, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. this morning, lisa irwin's parents, deborah bradley and jeremy irwin, are behind closed doors in seclusion but the former new york city police cop -- new york city cop hired to investigate the case has taken his first look inside this house, and he took us along with him. for the first time, bill stanton took a look inside the scene of the baffling mystery he's been hired to investigate. >> i think it was someone outside and either got through that window or walked right through this front door. >> reporter: no cameras allowed on this visit, though the family has invited nbc news in before. stanton walked us through what deborah bradley and jeremy irwin told them about that night's events how jeremy, up for neither 20 hours arrived home 3:45 the morning of october 4th, how he found the front door unlocked and because they were behind on their bills he was annoyed the lights were on and how he discovered his then 10-month-old baby's crib was empty. stanton dismissed apparently inconsis

here is john yang. >> reporter: for the first time, bill stanton took a look inside the scene of thestery. >> i think it was someone from the outside. they walked through that window or through the front door. >> reporter: stanton walked us through what the parents told them about that night's events. jeremy arrived home about 3:45 the morning of october 4th. how he found the front door unlocked and because they were behind in bills he was annoyed the lights were on and his 10-month-old baby's crib was empty. inconsistencies about the involvement from that night. debra changing her time line of the last time she saw lisa and other details are irrelevant? >> it may conflict, but it doesn't make her guilty. >> reporter: reports of a mancariing a baby wearing only a diaper at 12:30 that morning. >> to me, it's imperative. it's glaring. >> we haven't at all eliminated the ability of an outside intruder or the possibility of a terrible accident or other incident that happened to that child within that house. >> reporter: investigators continue to press for unrestricted interviews with deb

well, thank you for bringing us that story, john yang. >>> in this morning's fact or fiction, herman cain's 9-9-9 tax plan. who does it hurt and who does it help? >>> and key states that may determine the nomination in 2012. you're watching "weekends with alex witt." [ male announcer ] what can you do with plain white rice? when you pour chunky beef with country vegetables soup over it... you can do dinner. four minutes, around four bucks. campbell's chunky. it's amazing what soup can do. luck? i don't trade on luck. i trade on fundamentals. analysis. information. i trade on tradearchitect. this is web-based trading, re-visualized. streaming, real-time quotes. earnings analysis. probability analysis: that's what opportunity looks like. it's all visual. intuitive. and it's available free, wherever the web is. this is how trade strategies are built. tradearchitect. only from td ameritrade. welcome to better trade commission free for 60 days when you open an account. yeah, i toog nyguil bud i'm stild stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. really? [ m

john yang is with us this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the six exotic animals will stay at the columbus zoo for at least a month. the owner's widow tried to reclaim them, but a last-minute intervention arranged by the governor and the state attorney general blocked her. >> reporter: mary anne thompson's trailer pulls away without the animals she calls her children. the animals are under quarantine following orders from the ohio department of ago culture. the indefinite quarantine will allow an opportunity to conduct a full and appropriate investigation as to the health status of these animals. >> praise god. that's an answer to prayer. i know she thinks they are her pets and stuff. they're not like cats and dogs. >> reporter: jack hannah said the animals are exactly where they need to be. >> i know what the conditions were. you wouldn't want to see it. the animals aren't leaving the zoo and that's the right decision. what's right is right. what's wrong is wrong. this is right. >> reporter: thompson wants the animals she said she owns back

john yang reports. >> reporter: friday night, a candlelight vigil outside the house where little lisa. hours earlier, an attempt to shed light on her disappearance. a big reward for lisa's safe return. >> they bring that kid right here, they get $100,000. >> new york based investigator bill stanton said the money is from an anonymous wealthy ben factor close to lisa's family who he says is also paying him. >> this person did not want any attention. the idea is not to focus on that. the idea is to focus on lisa, on bringing her home. >> reporter: that's the goal of releasing home videos of baby lisa. coo'ing at her mother and making baby talk, all pictures taken between january and march of this year. it's day 12 in the search for baby lisa. on friday, investigators reinterviewed neighbors and searched the area using both high tech and low tech methods. earlier, they searched with all-terrain vehicles and police dogs and recreated how someone might have broken into the house. but still, no suspects and no strong leads. >> you've got kansas city police, you've got fbi, you've got, reall

john yang, nbc news, new york. >>> president obama is making a new effort to renew individual parts of bill. in his weekly address, the president criticized senate republicans for not passing the complete legislation. >> we're not focused on the concrete actions that will put people back to work right now. well, we're going to give them another chance. we're going to give them another chance to spend more time worrying about your jobs than keeping theirs. next week i'm urging members of congress to vote on putting hundreds of thousands of teachers back in the classroom, cops back on the streets, and firefighters back on the job. and if they vote no on that, they'll have to tell you why. >> president obama also said he will travel the country next week to tell lawmakers to stop partisan fights and vote in favor of the bipartisan plan. >>> it's the video everyone is talking about. a mcdonald's worker seen beating two women with a metal rod. why people say he shouldn't have had the job in the first place. >>> and the search intensifies for the missing baby in missouri. what the state's go