>> christ church new zealand. this city of 10,000 earthquakes. >>host: how did you read about the diversity of virginia? >> i was in new zealand at the time but they offered me a job. late 1980's which included the paper ears of james madison which is the definitive edition of the founding fathers thomas jefferson, adams, washington , franklin, i wrote on medicine and the president said tell us about the project and teach for us. it is like the tried in fighting the anthropologist. they usually accept the invitation to 72 american history in new zealand, what to were the important things other people should know about our history? >>guest: forerunners? people overseas? one example of a misconception that you have to deal with. american media films, television have an enormous impact on australia and new zealand because they are a producer of those and and some ways it is enormously influential. but i would start off to say how many have been to the united states? not been a had and those had not been to the west coast. almost nobody to the east c

. >> host: in new zealand? >> guest: yes, in christ church, and americans if they read, they know it as the city that had 10,000 earthquakes over the last year, and that's gained attention in the american media, but that's where i grew up and went to undergraduate. >> host: how did you end up at the university of virginia? >> guest: well, they overred me a job. i was back in new zealand at the time teaching american history in the 1980s, and they offered me a job here which included the task of running the papers of james madison which was one of these definitive editions of the papers of the founding fathers. there's a number of them going on. papers of john adams, thomas jefferson, george washington, benjamin franklin. the madison papers are part of that converge. we use that word to describe that. it's comprehensive editions of the papers of the founding fathers, and i've written on madison and the war and they said to me, well, you know, why don't you come and run this project and teach for us in the histor

boston university in mourning after three students studying in new zealand died in a car crash, and at least five others were injured. this morning, new information about what may have caused that accident. >>> searching for their own. law enforcement officers in southern cifornia launch a massive manhunt for a missing fbi agent who is said to be armed and possibly suicidal. >>> and the big reveal. we surprised some deserving moms yesterday with head-to-toe mother's day makeovers. they spent the day shopping and getting their hair down. now it's just about time to reveal their new glammed-up looks today, mother's day, sunday, may 13th, 2012. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a sunday. i'm lester holt. >> and i'm jenna wolfe. and happy mother's day to everyone out there. and i don't always say this, and i should at every opportunity, but mom, sheila, i love you. so, maybe that will carry for the rest of the year. >> i've got to say the same thing. >> go for it. >> sheila -- oh, no, my mom, june, i love you. she's watching in

university says it's providing counseling for students in helping families of the victims get down to new zealand. >>> coming up on 9 news now this saturday night, a crackdown on noise this summer at popular atlantic coast destination. we'll have the details. >>> also, one of the flying me linda's has -- melindas has his sights set on walking across niagara falls. that story coming up later. >> now it's time to put your pajamas on and he wrapped him all cozy warm in a towel. >> every week, 10-year-old olivia reads a story to her little sister. she reads at her grave site, because 4-year-old emma is gone. how did emma die and how did her killer get so many chances? andrea mccarren brings us a mother's story tomorrow night at 11:00. >>> also, bruce, we may see more clouds for mother's day. if you're taking mother out for brunch, it looks pretty good. here's a look at your sunday wakeup weather. we'll be in the 60s and 70s by 9:00. still pretty mild. by 11:00 in the 70s with increasing cloudiness. i'll talk about the chance for showers and storms coming up. stick around. 9 news continues after the b

it happened in a rural area on new zealand's north island. the students were part of the study abroad program. they were riding in the van that drifted off the road and rolled over. alice of washington, d.c. was one of the luckier ones. we're told she's hospitalized tonight in new zealand with less serious injuries. four others are hospitalized one of them in critical condition. >> these are people who were energetic and alive. these were people who participated in events and programs. they were leaders. in and around the university. so this is particularly devastating for us right now. >> the driver of the van is among the survivors. we're told that in addition to washington, d.c., victims are from massachusetts, new york, new jersey, california, florida, and ohio. >>> still ahead on 9news now this saturday, a standing ovation for mitt romney's remarks at liberty university. we're going to tell you what he said today in lynchburg. >>> president barack obama pays special tribute to officer who is put their lives on the line every day for us.

. >> so it's 2.30 in new zealand on premium. so, yeah. >> this isn't so bad. >> that works out to 9.50 per gallon of gas. if you go to new zealand you better have good credit. state average this is per gap of regular, today it is 4.25 a gallon. yesterday it was 4.21. it jumped four cents overnight. average prices in san francisco, oakland you see they are hovering around $4.30 per gallon. ladies and gentlemen, there is an app on your smart phone, gasbuddy.com. there is a place gas station on fell street but not that far, less an gallon of gas, 4.11, you get exactly the same gallon of gas that you can get here for 4.59. gasbuddy.com. no affiliation to me. just thought i would let you know. terry mcsweeney, "abc 7 news." >>> we have just learned the names of suspended sheriff ross mirkarimi witness list. he has 17 people he wants to testify including his wife. a neighbor, his former girlfriend and "new york times" columnist and mayor ed lee who suspended him. they will decide whether the mayor was firm ground when he suspended him

we begin with the breaking news out of new zealand.oston university students were killed in a car accident early this morning. five others were injured. including one critically. abc's john muller has the details. >> reporter: these photos show the horrifying aftermath of the school trip turned nightmare. book bags and personal belongings of boston university students strewn on a remote new zealand highway, half a world away. the minivan they were riding in crumpled and flipped over just minutes from their destination. the spectacular tonga crossing. one of the most spectacular hiking sites. killed, danielle alecko, rock giberti, and austin brashears. five other students were injured. at least one critically. new zealand police say the driver overcorrected after swerving. >> the wheels touched the gravel, the driver overcorrected. regrettably, the vehicle went into a bit of a roll and threw a number of students out of the van. >> reporter: at home, an outpouring of support on the boston university website. >> it's shocking and devastat

. >> so it's 2.30 in new zealand on premium. so, yeah. >> this isn't so bad. >> that works out to 9.50 per gallon of gas. if you go to new zealand you better have good credit. state average this is per gap of regular, today it is 4.25 a gallon. yesterday it was 4.21. it jumped four cents overnight. average prices in san francisco, oakland you see they are hovering around $4.30 per gallon. ladies and gentlemen, there is an app on your smart phone, gasbuddy.com. there is a place gas station on fell street but not that far, less an gallon of gas, 4.11, you get exactly the same gallon of gas that you can get here for 4.59. gasbuddy.com. no affiliation to me. just thought i would let you know. terry mcsweeney, "abc 7 news." >>> we have just learned the names of suspended sheriff ross mirkarimi witness list. he has 17 people he wants to testify including his wife. a neighbor, his former girlfriend and "new york times" columnist and mayor ed lee who suspended him. they will decide whether the mayor was firm ground when he suspended him

one of new zealand's most famous hiking spots. daniela lekhno, roch jauberty, and austin brashears. five other students were injured. at least one critically. new zealand police say the driver overcorrected after swerving. >> the wheels touched the gravel, the driver then overcorrected. regrettably, the vehicle went into a bit of a roll and threw a number of students out of the van. >> reporter: back home outpourings of support on the boston university website. >> it's shocking and devastating news. terribly heart-breaking for the families involved. >> reporter: the university says they have people assisting the survivors and injured as they try to cope with the student adventure that went horribly wrong. john muller, abc news, new york. >>> and john edwards' attorneys start their defense on monday. the judge refused to throw out campaign corruption charges guest the former senator and democratic presidential candidate. edwards' lawyers argued that prosecutors failed to prove that he intentionally broke the law. he's accused of us

the students were on a group trip to see a popular hiking spot in new zealand. all of them were part of boston university's study abroad program and had been in the country since january. the news travelled back to the bu campus, dealing with shock and sadness. >> if any of us happens to any of us all of us feel it so there were so many reactions of remorse from people that don't know them. >> as the community comes together to share in sorrow. >>> oral roberts university in oklahoma is asking for prayers after four people associated with that school died in a plane crash. three people onboard were recent graduates of oral roberts. the fourth person that died was the university instructor. a fifth person onboard survived the crash but is now in critical condition. the air traffic control lost contact shortly after the pilot got permission to descend to a lower altitude. the group was on its way to a christian event in iowa. >>> and officers are leading a massive search in rugged terrain to find a missing fbi agent. 35-year-old steven ivans may be depressed and su

. >>> we begin with the breaking news out of new zealand. boston university students were killed in a car accident early this morning. five others were injured. john muller has the details. >> reporter: these photos show the horrifying aftermath of the school trip turned nightmare. book bags and personal belongings strewn on a remote new zealand highway. the minivan they were riding in crumpled and flipped over just moments from their destination. killed, dan nel alecko, rock giberti, and austin brashears. the driver overcorrected after swerving. >> the wheels touched the gravel, the driver overcorrected. the car went into a bit of a roll. >> reporter: at home, an outpouring of support on the boston university website. >> it's shocking and devastating news. heart breaking for the people involved. >> reporter: the university says they have people trying to help. john muller, abc news, new york. >>> and john edwards' attorneys start their defense on monday. edwards' lawyers argued that prosecutors failed to prove that he intentionally broke th

it was also confirmed that 33- year-old new zealanders have been killed in the bleak -- 3 3- year-old new zealanders have been killed in the blaze. >> they are obviously going to start investigating at what they could not get anyone out. i know that security guards were posted at the entrance and he would have picked up in seconds of something was wrong. the question is, where were the people? >> the authorities have ordered a special commission to look into the deadly blaze. >> we tried our best, but when we got there, the children were trapped inside. we are very sorry for what has happened. we tried as hard as we could to save these people. >> it was built in 2006. shopping malls are popular source of entertainment in doha, but now their safety standards are likely to face close scrutiny. >> thousands of fans will be heading to poland and ukraine for the european football tending ships in june and july, but there are fresh beers the vans will be hit by racism and violence. -- fresh fears the events will be hit by racism and violence. includes nazi salutes, rampant anti-semitism, an

team new zealand for sure.he swedish team, the french are very strong as well and we'll see how the chinese and the koreans do. >> i'll give them all my number. >> what are you looking for, economic development or some other kind of development? [laughter] >> ok, that wasn't in your script either, adam. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the c.e.o. of oracle racing, the winningest skipper in the history of the america's cup. [applause] >> well, thank you, sir mayor and thank you jennifer. some of you may recall the america's cup when dennis connor was king. he was mr. america's cup, winning it, actually winning it twice, then losing it and then finally winning it again. and i remember something he said. he said the america's cup is a game of life. racing is just how you keep the score. and i must say that with 20 years or actually slightly more than that involvement in the america's cup, i think i know exactly what he meant. the america's cup is much more than a sailboat race, for a team that tests every elem

new zealand investigators said the men took short cuts to reach port by a deadline. police in new york have arrested a man in connection to the disappearance of 56-year-old boy more than three decades ago. etan patz disappeared in 1979. his case threw attention to the plight of missing children across the united states. a man has apparently confessed to suffocating the little boy. with two months until the olympic games in london begin, saudi arabia is refusing to include women in its national team. religious conservatives say islamic law prohibits women playing sport in public. countries that have never sent women to the olympic games say their female athletes will compete in london. now, trading in shares in spain's fourth largest bank, bankia has been suspended. this move comes ahead of a board meeting where bankia's new team is going to present a new plan. the struggling bank will then ask the spanish government for at least $15 billion euros to happy it carry out what it calls a clean-up. we're joined by our madrid correspondent. so tom, tell us we're expecting

all of the students were in new zealand on a study of broad program. >>> more than 60 students end upthe hospital after a school bus crash are you the students were on their way to the amusement park yesterday when six school buses crashed into each other. one bust suddenly slow down causing a chain reaction crash are you one driver was trapped and had to be cut out of the bus. >> it could've been a lot worse, especially with the number of students. >> most of the students were taken to the hospital as a percussion. some were treated for minor injuries and released are you. >> firefighters in southern california working to put out a fire. it started at a pallet yard. flames spread to a nearby tire business and damaged at least three buildings. about 200 firefighters are working to get that fire under control. one firefighter is expected to recover from his heat related injury. that large wildfire in colorado is almost contained very at lower temperatures and higher humidity helped crews yesterday. firefighters cleared brush and branches by setting controlled firms and backfires. the f

it is in new zealand pine 30- year? ." it is more money but will last to 50 years. >> the important thing about maintenance is not deferring to much. it just gets worse and worse. then when you are selling the property, more likely than not, you will have a pest inspection, which is where we have an expert go through. he sees there is dry rot or fungus or structural problems. then there is a number in that report which is how much he estimates repairs to be. if you had spent $2,500 every five years to seal your deck, that might prevent you from having the $45,000 report you just got. >> we do that almost immediately upon receiving a listing from the cellar. the first thing we ask them to do is to get it passed report to find out what the damage is so there is negotiation up front. that is something that is known. we almost never have a zero report. >> to those usually come off the bottom line? >> i would say yes, oftentimes. >> it will affect the list price in some way. >> how much does parking? >> i see people putting gar

team new zealand is currently in fifth place overall. the ocean races and around the world sailing competition starts in november and ends sometime in early july. i wonder who would have won that collision. i'm thinking it wouldn't have been too good for team new zealand. >> i'm counting on the whale. >> right. >> we got off to a yucky start but it turns into a beautiful day. >> it really is. the weather is fantastic. a few showers to the south and east washington. those clouds gave way to sunshine, at least for most of us and today, not bad at all. another great day in store. you see one of the planes flying by as it makes its way into reagan national airport. a beautiful afternoon with that sunshine across the region. the high temperature today got to 83 degrees at the airport. the low this morning, 69. a little bit cooler as you stepped out this morning. we are 5.4 degrees above average for the month of may. that's an extremely warm month. and only two days this month have been below average. and those were not below by far. it has be

. >>> three boston university students are dead after a van crashed in new zealand this weekend. five other students are injured and one of them is from the d.c. area. students are all a part of a study abroad program and the van they were in rolled over. alice mcalpine of washington, d.c. was one of the survivors of the her injuries are believed to be minor. four others is hospitalized but one is in critical condition. boston university is flying family members of the victims to new zealand. >>> ryan mcme, roger clemens former trainer and friend is set to take the stand this morning in clemens' perjury trial. he has testified before he supplied steroids to clemens and eninjected him. clemens is accused to lying to congress when he testified on capitol hill he never used steroids. >>> howard will have more in what is expected to be a pretty wet start to the workweek. >> jessica will have more on what is adding up to be major changes for companies. >>> they say you never can repay your mom for everything she's done for you. we have a story of a man who comes pretty close. >>> we'r

they found out the popular sharing website mega apple out has started to get a new zealand local court ruled the confiscation of his fortune was illegal king dot com is connotate facing extradition to the us what you're facing charges of money no one train wreck a tearing and copyright infringement american authorities shot down in january while dot com and his fellow executed and sixty's were arrested in new zealand at a us request but the voices are growing louder in america than the prosecution of the website on its own is unlawful and little professor ari goldman is that the shutdown was simply a gift to the entertainment industry. there are very tight linkages between the government and the content industry so for example many of the people who are in the government work on the content industry and many of the people in the government will get jobs in the content industry after they're done as a result they understand each other's issues very well they've been there firsthand in addition the content industry contributes a significant amount of money to the administration and to th

the founder of the popular file sharing website maker uploaded started to get back his assets in new zealand after a local court ruled the confiscation of his fortune was illegal kim dotcom was currently facing extradition to the united states where he faces charges of money laundering racketeering and copyright infringement american authorities shut down mega upload in january and had to call in his fellow executives arrested in new zealand but voices are growing louder in the u.s. the prosecution of the website and its owners is unlawful law professor eric goldman argues that the shutdown was simply a gift to the entertainment industry. there are very tightly which is between the government and the content industry so for example many of the people who are in the government worked on the content industry and many of the people in the government will get jobs in the content industry after they're done as a result they understand each other's issues very well they've been there firsthand in addition the content industry contributes a significant amount of money to the administration and to o

shut down mega upload in january while that dot com and his fellow executives were arrested in new zealand at a u.s. request but voices are growing louder in america that the prosecution of the website and its owners is unlawful and law professor eric goldman argues that the shutdown was simply a gift to the entertainment industry. but there are very tight linkages between the government and the content industry so for example many of the people who are in the government worked in the content industry and many of the people in the government will get jobs in the content industry after they're done as a result they understand each other's issues very well they've been there firsthand in addition the content industry contributes a significant amount of money to the administration and to other politicians who are decision makers as a result they get a great deal of influence over what the government does and that's part of the reason why. we're wondering if the prosecution it's really the beginning of that content industry being able to tell the government to do its dirty work for it and so t

it happened earlier today along one of the most beautiful highways in new zealand.t took a terrible toll. here's abc's akiko fujita. >> reporter: the crash was so violent it threw passengers from their minivan. the impact killed three boston university students instantly, injuring five others. >> the driver appears to have corrected or overcorrected, and the vehicle went into a roll and then cart wheeled down the road. >> reporter: killed in the accident, 20-year-old daniela leho from new jersey, french national roch jauberty. austin brashears was a mechanical engineering major, who had just turned 21. they were finishing up a semester abroad. at the university of auckland, part of a group of 16 students who set out to explore the volcanic crater where the movie, "the lord of the rings" was filmed. they were near the rural town of taupo. they may not have been wearing seat belts. back home in boston, students are organizing a candle light vigil for what the university president called a horrible tragedy. b brashear's sister said he had a list of things to complete t

he hails from new zealand.fact poses at the national spelling bee. consider for a moment the new zealand accent, as demonstrated by the geniuses on flight of the concord. >> weaving is a man's game. >> you put a woman in front of a weaving machine and just watch her go. >> no, honestly. my dad weaves. my grandfather was a weaver. >> i thought your dad was a sheep lawyer. >> during the day. but at night he weaves a lot. and i come from a family or weavers. >> i've never seen a man weave. >> i love weaving. i'm weaving at the moment. >> now, if you are a 13-year-old kid at the u.s. national spelling bee and you have an accent like those guys on flight of the concords, what happens when you're asked to spell taupe. torp? taupe. what? >> taupe. taupe is a light brownish-gray. >> is it french? >> it's from french, which formed it from a latin word. >> torp? >> no, taupe. torp? >> taupe. >> tarp? >> that's his pronunciation. >> t-a-u-p-e. taupe. >> that's his pronunciation. the judge there trying to save this kid fro

three were killed in new zealand.inivan they were riding in crashed there on a remote road. >> can you see scrape marks where the vehicle has left the road. they left into the gravel. >> local authorities say the vehicle flipped and several students were thrown from the van. the students were on a group trip to see a popular hiking spot in new zealand. all of them were part of the study abroad program and had been in the country since january. the news travelled back to the campus now dealing with shock and sadness. >> if anything happens to any of us all of us feel it so immediately there was so many reactions of remorse from people that don't even know them. >> as the community comes together to share in sorrow. francis coe, nbc news. >>> oral roberts university is asking for prayers after four people associated with the school died in a plane crash. it happened on friday when their plane crash and caught fire. three people onboard were graduates, and one person was an instructor. entsb said air traffic control lost

brashears' sister said her brother had a list of adventures to complete there in new zealand. this was the last thing on his checklist. >>> now we turn to an american idol who showed extraordinary strength long after she left the stage. tonight, the latest chapter in jennifer hudson's story of hope and heart break. as we reported last night here on "world news," a jury has convicted her former brother-in-law in the murders of three family members, including hudson's mother. here's abc's alex perez tonight from chicago. >> reporter: it was the guilty verdict jennifer hudson had hoped for. justice for the murders of her mother, brother, and 7-year-old nephew. jurors convicted her former brother-in-law, william balfour. hudson silently cried as the verdict was read. jurors say her daily presence in the courtroom played no role in their decision. >> her celebrity had nothing to do with it. this was not, for us, the jennifer hudson case. >> reporter: her cinderella story has captivated millions. from one of chicago's worst neighborhoods -- ♪ you have to act like a woman >> reporter