our chief environmental correspondent anne thompson is here. anne, we learned a lot of these descents are steep so they spend the least amount of time possible flying through that ash cloud. we started talking about this in the newsroom today. would you fly if could you? >> somebody asked that of a noaa scientist on a conference call. the scientist said he would be cautious. that takes you back. >> that gets your attention. >> reporter: it does. he said the reason is scientists don't know a lot about what's actually in the air. they don't know how much ash is in the air. they don't know the size of the ash. they don't know how high it's in the atmosphere, so all of that is a very imprecise science here that they are dealing with. what they do know is when that gritty ash, all those tiny particles of glass and rock get into jet engines they can cause big problems. they can cause the engine to fail. there have been from about 100 to 125 incidents since 1980 with that. planes do have radar that detects small particles, up to three centimeters. the

nbc's ann thompson has the story from rome tonight. ank, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. most of the cases involved in this crisis are decades old. this one allegedly happened six years ago and involves a priest who was still working. half a world away from where the abuse allegedly occurred. today pope benedict greeted the faithful, retreated after a pressure-packed holy week. the easter celebrations clouded by allegations vatican officials, perhaps the pope himself, helped cover up child abuse by priests. and tonight another salvo, this time from minnesota where two teenage girls say they were raped by a priest in 2004 and 2005. authorities in minnesota are trying to extradite the father from southern india where he now serves with what attorneys say is the approval of the vatican. >> all roads lead to rome and the top officials there. >> reporter: the bishop of minnesota brought the allegations to the vatican's attention but by that time the priest was in india. charges the priest denies. now the vatican's attorney i

ann thompson bringing us the latest from rome. > police are looking for at least two men who torched this ft. worth, texas, business. the attack, as you can see, was because the on tape. in there you can see a man dumping buckets of in flammable liquid against the building wall. the other man places propane tanks. finally one throws a flair. the building caught fire in minutes. firefighters are shown fighting the fire. they haven't said why the business was targeted. >>> a man on ground after crashing his parachute into a tree in valley forge. he was stuck 75 feet in the air for two hours before rescuers were finally able to get him down. >>> could tv's top rated comedy lose one of the lead actors. the scoop from pop culture columnist courtney hazlett, i saw the headline yesterday and i said that's what we'll talk about tomorrow. >> a story broke, it was reported he was not return to two and a half men. the statement was carefully worded. he said charlie's deal does not extend through the year. what does it really mean? it's probab

>> anne thompson on this good friday night in rome.nks. >>> back at home tonight, an update on the historic flooding that left parts of southern new england under water this past week. as we saw a moment ago, homeland security secretary janet napolitano was in rhode island today talking to local officials about the situation. many parts of the state are submerged and the state is asking for emergency federal grants to help clean up and recovery. >>> we turn to politics and by any measure, this was a bad week for the republican national committee. some big mistakes and revelations about questionable expenses have put the committee and its high-profile chairman michael steele under scrutiny again. our own andrea mitchell reports. >> reporter: the republican party entertaining donors at a west hollywood bondage-themed sex club. and mailing a fund-raising letter with a wrong number, mistakenly directed contributors to a phone sex hotline. to prevent similar embarrassments, today party leaders ordered new controls on expenditures. too late

the story from ann thompson. >> reporter: the church states for the first time that every case by sexual abuse by priest should be reported by police anywhere in the world. something u.s. church officials have had to do since 2002. the guidelines require local diocese to investigate every allegation of sexual abuse of a minor by a cleric. in cases where a priest has been convicted of sexual abuse of a minor or the evidence is overwhelming, the case can be taken directly to the pope and he can dismiss the priest. the vatican says reporting crimes to the police has been its internal policy since 2003. but now it is clearly bowing to pressure says this papal biographer. >> they must be quick in answering the issues, to be very transparent in his policy and also to give exact figures. >> reporter: the vatican has been under siege as charges of sexual abuse by clergy swept europe in recent weeks. calls to act went unheeded during holy week. just today a report commissioned by the church found children were is a disically tormented in the pope's native bavaria. >> this makes bishops more accou

nbc's anne thompson is in rome tonight for us with the latest. good evening to you, anne. >> reporter: good evening, peter. tonight in the absence of any statement by pope benedict there is an international war of words on. between catholic church officials and leaders of other religions over the clergy sex abuse scandal. ♪ on holy saturday, the catholic church is under siege. today the leader of the anglican church, the archbishop of canterbury criticized the way the catholic church has dealt with the crisis in ireland. >> an institution so deeply bound into the life of the society, suddenly becoming, suddenly losing all credibility. and that's not just a problem for the church. it is a problem for everybody in ireland. >> reporter: that brought a swipt response from dublin's catholic archbishop working to heal the pain of widespread abuse in church institutions. >> it's very damaging to those who are trying to restore credibility to be simply, you know, wiped off with a general comment like that. >> reporter: tonight, the archbishop of canterbur

anne thompson, nbc news, robert, louisiana. >>> when "nightly news" continues this sunday, why wouldo many people walk right by a man in desperate need of help? the good samaritan who paid a terrible price on the streets of new york and it's all caught on tape. >>> and mother nature still reminding us who's boss tonight in iceland. at my family barbeque. join the fun (announcer) for people with copd, including chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both, great news. advair helps significantly improve lung function. while nothing can reverse copd, advair is different from most other medications because it contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator, working together to help you breathe better. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. i'm glad you came, grandma. oh, me too.

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i'm anne thompson in new orleans. now back to you. >> that was nbc's anne thompson.>> as we mentioned a few minutes ago fema is joining mississippi state emergency officials today. they're touring the hardest hit areas and took a beating from that tornado. up next we'll talk to a storm chaser who came face to face with a twister. what was it like in that storm? >>> and doctors are closely monitoring rock star bret michaels after the singer suffered a brain hemorrhage. he is still in intensive care. we'll get the update and the scoop on his condition. ®'s stuck on me ♪ [ female announcer ] moms trust band-aid® brand to heal the hurt better than store brands. [ laughs ] ♪ i am stuck on band-aid® brand ♪ ♪ 'cause band-aid® helps heal me! ♪ my subaru saved my life. i won't ever forget that. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. >>> welcome back. in mississippi fema officials are on the scene as national guardsmen are patrolling the streets and counties most devastated by saturday's deadly storms and the massive tornadoes. new video is being shared by personal storm c

ann thompson reports. >> reporter: this is what first responders saw, an inferno on the water. the 11 missing workers in the hopes to be found. today a sheen of oil up to 100 square miles floats over the gulf, while officials say they don't see any crude spilling from the under water well head, they are taking no chances. a oil front cleanup like this is attacked on three fronts. sometimes miles long, a place on the surface of the water around the spill, they keep the oil and any debris in a confined area. from the airplanes dropped thousands of gallons of chemical dispersemen dispersements, and it rides to the service where they either dilute or pick upped by skimmer boats. despite the disaster the white house said says president obama has no intention of backing away from his plan to expand offshore drilling announced last month. >> we are going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel even as we ramp up home grown energy. >> reporter: the president wants to expand the offshore sites to the mid-atlantic coast. and as crews work to contain damage, environmentalist worry

anne thompson in new york with us. how specific or did we hear anything specific from the pope regarding his new desire to speak out on this? >> reporter: tamron, we have not heard specifics. that will be the next step. it is significant the pope went out and as we would say in this country, put himself on the record on this issue saying that the church would take action to confront this scandal, quite frankly put benedict's goal of reevangelizing the catholic church in europe, reenergizing the catholic church on the back burner. this scandal throughout the continent in ireland, netherlands, germany, italy, france, it has really taken root. people have been wanting to hear from the pope. the vatican in the past month has pointed reporters to the letter that the pope sent to the church in ireland in may because it has been racked by scandal. but that wasn't enough. they wanted to hear directly from the pope. today he started down that road telling his audience in st. peters square about his meeting with abuse victims in

anne thompson is in rome this morning. nn, do we expect the pope to make any further comments about this? >> well, we will have two opportunities to see him today, savannah, one is at a good friday service this afternoon in st. peter's and then this evening when he leads the way of the cross at rome's coliseum. now, this day, which is called good friday in the christian calendar, marks the day that christ died. while the pope has not yet spoken about the sex abuse crisis, it is shaping the good friday services across europe, particularly in germany. in germany, the leader of that church, the arch bishop of berlin, robert zolich today said he hopes good friday can be the start of a renewal for the church, one that is desperately needed in light of the scandal. he said the church has been shaken by the scandal. in germany alone more than 250 people have come forward to say they were sexually abused by priests when they were children. in dublin, the archbishop there an addressed his holy thursday mass yesterday. he said this i

ann thompson joins us from rome, good morning, ann. >> reporter: catholics look here to vatican cityng for words of comfort and support from the pope regarding the priest sex abuse scandal. instead, the words of comfort and support were directed to the pope himself. under umbrellas, the faithful pack st. peter's square for easter mass. the culmination of holy week. this year marked by solemnity and rocked by scandal, but today, a leading cardinal spoke out in support of pope benedict during mass. cardinal angelo sodano told the pontiff, the people are with you and will not be influenced by the petty gossip of the moment. rituals commemorating the last days of jesus the pope never mentioned the crisis, but others did. bishops throughout europe asked for fgiveness and prayed for abuse victims. a stark contrast to the pope's preacher who on good friday compared the attacks on the pope to the persecution of jews sparking outrage. >> it shows the depth of ignorance with church leaders and what anti-semiityism is about because there is no comparison. >> the archbishop of canterbury critici

nbc's anne thompson joins us from new orleans.ll us about an update particularly on the environmental concerns? >> reporter: well, alex, first of all, you can take a look at the weather. as bill karins was talking about earlier, we are in the line of some storms here so the winds are high. we get on-and-off rain showers and that's not going to make anybody's job easier today. on the environmental front, it's 1 of 2 issues that officials are trying to tackle today. they are trying to contain that oil slick that is out in the gulf of mexico. they are use iing boons to corr it, if you will. using planes to drop chemicals from the air to break it up, then skimmer boats come by and pick up the dirty water. that's how they're dealing with that. they are also keeping a very close eye on the wellhead that's on the sea floor. so far they are seeing no crude oil spilling out of that wellhead. and so coast guard officials say they are cautiously optimistic that the environmental danger caused by the fire and explosion can be contained. the o

ann thompson, let me ask you about this. this is a big-picture question.tican know how deep the trouble it's in? we've got a new poll out that shows the pope, you don't usually poll the pope. but he's down 20 points among everybody. your thoughts? their thoughts? >> yeah, and it's not -- it's not just in the united states. they're seeing similar declines in germany. yes, does the vatican understand that this is a big serious issue? absolutely. does it respond in the way that we are used to having political organizations respond? or multinational corporations respond to a crisis? the answer is, absolutely not. you've got 0 remember, that this is a big bureaucracy. and italian-dominated bureaucracy. and it moves extraordinarily slowly. but i will tell you, chris, that if the vatican were to put out talking points, the first one would be this -- because i have heard this from everyone i have talked to here in vatican city since i arrived over the weekend. and that is -- that pope benedict xvi is the right man to handle this crisis. why, you ask? because they

anne thompson is in rome this morning outside the vatican. anne, yesterday you hinted that we would hear something from the pope about this latest scandal. what are you hearing today? >> reporter: well, we haven't heard anything yet, chuck, but we have -- we will see and hear from pope benedict several times over the next few days. in fact, today, we will see and hear from him twice. this morning he celebrated mass at st. peter's, what's called a prism mass, where he blesses the oils for the entire year. at that mass, he did not mention the sexual abuse scandal raging here in europe. however, cardinal william laveda, who runs the office here at the vatican, used to be archbishop of san francisco, he went after "the new york times" on the vatican website, accusing "the times" of unfairness in its reporting about the pope and its inference that the pope, as cardinal ratzinger, had some role in the transfer of two pedophile priests. the cardinal said, pointing to the one case in wisconsin where father lawrence murphy abused some 200 deaf children

anne thompson, nbc news, rome. >>> we turn now tonight to a story about health care. not in washington, d.c., but one of the poorest parts of this country where a lot of people simply don't get care. now this region in the mississippi delta is getting help from an idea that started in a place a lot of americans would consider firmly enemy territory. nbc's tom trounk has our report. >> reporter: there is no shortage of poverty and pain. every sunday at church, names of the sick are announced. with each name this doctor shudders. back in the civil rights era, dr. shirley fought just to practice medicine here. now at age 77, he's fighting for a new solution to the health care crisis. he thinks he's found it in a very old country, iran. >> come hell or high water, we'll have a health house up and running. >> reporter: the health house is an idea from iran where community health workers, not doctors, deliver screening and basic medical care. dr. shirley and his colleague james miller traveled more than 7,000 miles to see health houses first hand. iranian doctors came to mi

. >> ann thompson, nbc news, rome. >>> today, the big game is set. we know who is heading to the ncaa championships. >> reporter: good morning. your sports minute on this easter sunday begins with the final four and the national championship is set. duke against west virginia last night for the chance to advance. the blue devils downed the mountaineers, 78-57 thanks in pa to john shier. he scored 23 points. duke will go for its fourth national championship in school history. duke will meet underdobutler on monday night. the hometown bulldogs beat michigan state 52-50. sophomore gordon heyward led the way scoring 19 points. butler wins its 25th straight game and will appear in the ncaa title game for the first time in school history. >>> on the ice, capitals in columbus. alexander semin scored his 38th goal of the season, the caps win it 3-2 setting a franchise record with their 51st victory. in baseball, the nationals wrapped up spring training against the red sox yesterday. kevin youkilis hit a two-run homer in the first inning and the sox never loo

anne thompson, thanks so much. >>> a large chunk of the southeast under the gun this saturday for severe weather. how bad could it get? mike seidel is live for us. >>> and a 14-year-old caught stripping in mississippi. how did that happen in the full story straight ahead. [ female announcer ] 's rollback time at walmart. right now, walmart has rolled back prices on top lawn care brands like poulan pro, brute by briggs & stratton, pennington, scotts and spectracide. along with thousands of others all over the store. it's rollback time! save money. live better. walmart. >>> a nebraska police officer pulled a toddler from a burning building. the officer arrived with that building engulfed in flames and a mother outside screaming that her baby was inside. the heroic man dashed in after the 21-month-old little girl and escaped just before the roof collapsed. >>> lots of extreme weather this weekend. tornado watches are covering most of louisiana, arkansas, mississippi as well. large hail is possible in parts of the mississippi valley. and heavy thunderstorms could bring up to 2 inches of rain

nbc's ann thompson has been watching the story for us. she joins me now.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 la

nbc's anne thompson is in rome this morning with more. anne, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, amy t vatican finds itself under growing criticism and this time it's coming from other religious leaders, the archbishop -- and st. peaint peter's basilica las night. pope benedict leading the way of the cross. the event at the heart of christianity. jesus dying for the sins of man. but the outcries of the sins of some priests continued this friday, priests who allegedly abused children and those who covered it up, perhaps even the pope. those accusations brought -- at the good friday service he compared the attacks on benedict to the persecution of the jews. >> translator: i know from experience what it means to be victims of collective violence and also because of this they are quick to recognize recurring symptoms. >> reporter: those are the thoughts of the preacher and not the pope, words that angered jewish leaders around the world. the words stood out from the collective mea culpas in the churches. a special prayer was offered for a