michelle franzen, nbc news, boston. >>> that's "nbc nightly news" for this sunday.hope you join us tonight for "dateline." with more on the trayvon martin case. brian williams will be here

nbc's michelle franzen has our preview. >> reporter: the stunning scenes look out of this world, but this is life at the polar ends of the earth, a breathtaking display of beauty, alongside the brutality of nature. all captured by a team of photographers and scientists who spent four years braving unimaginable conditions. for discovery's new series "frozen planet." >> this is really, really extreme filming. we called it kind of planet earth on speed because it was so extreme. >> reporter: so extreme director chad hunter says the sub-zero temperatures tested the limits of everything, including the human body. >> the moisture in your tears, your blinks get stickier and stickier and your eyelids freeze shut and you have to open your visor and punch yourself in your eyes to get your eyes back open. >> reporter: in antarctica, time lapse photography beneath the ice shows a saltwater icicle as it forms. reaching the seabed and killing creatures in its path. even in the far reaches of the unfamiliar, there are relatable moments, producer vanessa burlowitz was five months pregnant while trac

we get the story tonight from nbc's michelle franzen. >> they punch me, strangle me.ake things from me. >> reporter: it is a shocking look inside the world of bullying. and its painful effects including suicide. >> some kids told him he's worthless, to go hang himself. i think he got to the point where enough was enough. >> reporter: for a year, the filmmakers followed families of bullied kids around the country including 12-year-old alex libby. >> i feel kind of nervous going to school. >> reporter: as the cameras rolled, the taunts continued. on the bus and on the schools. the film shows what happened when alex's parents turned to the school for help. >> he's not safe on that bus. >> i have been on that bus. they are just as good as gold. >> reporter: for the producer and director, making the film was also personal. >> i was bullied as a kid, and i think as a filmmaker it was something that i really carried with me. >> reporter: the film's graphic language earned it an "r" rating. children under 17 need to be accompanied by an adult. some say that will make it harde

for "today," michelle franzen, nbc news. >> looking forward to it.anks. lionel ritchie's music is instantly recognizable, whether it's one of his popular dance songs, like "all night long" or his ballads like "endless love" or "easy." now audiences will be able to say hello again to many of his greatest hits, but this time, the songs have a country twist. ♪ >> everyone couldn't think of lionel going country. and i said, no, no, no, you've got it all wrong. my songs have always been country. i'm just showing up putting the face on it. i'm claiming my kids. ♪ oh, what a feeling, when we're dancing on the ceiling ♪ >> reporter: and so, the idea of rereaccording many of his greatest hits as duets with country music's biggest stars like rascal flatts, kenny rogers, willie nelson and shania twain, wasn't a stretch at all for lionel ritchie. ♪ my endless love >> we spoke at the so-called mother church of country music. how did you decide who you wanted to sing with, put on the album? >> i didn't realize that even though i had a wish list of people, we had t

nbc's michelle franzen has the story. >> reporter: the trouble began on american airlines flight 2332 as it was leaving the gate for chicago. >> i thought it was a reality show because it didn't seem real. >> reporter: passengers say that's when the flight attendant went on a rant over the p.a. system, demanding the pilot open the cockpit and turn around because the plane was going to crash. >> and then a lot of other incoherent statements trying to get in communication with the cockpit. almost like she thought she was on the phone with them only. >> reporter: passenger video captured the moment when crew members struggled to subdue the woman described as a veteran attenda attendant. during the episode passengers say she complained about the airlines filing for bankruptcy reorganization, talked about a friend who died on 9/11 and said the plane wouldn't take off because she didn't have enough ice. she also mentioned she forgot to take her medicine for a medical disorder. when the plane returned the police were waiting. she was taken to a local hospital. american airlines says the atte

>> michelle franzen, thank you so much. up next, a healthy snack attack.l under 300 calories. first, this is "today" on nbc. >>> i get it. "get smart." this morning on eat smart today. all you can eat for 300 calories or less. lisa lillien is the author of "hungry girl, supermarket survival" and founder of hungry girl.com. good to see you. >> good to see you. >> a number of the items are frozen. a lot of people have a bias toward frozen foods sometimes. >> yeah. you know, it's frozen food month. i don't know if you knew that. >> i didn't know that. >> march is frozen food month. a lot of these are all natural, good for you and smart choices. you have to know what to look for. >> starting with burgers. these are veggie substitutes. >> right. vegetarian burgers and hot dogs from vejggie patch. especially the hot dogs. these taste amazing. throw them on the grill or make them in a pan. they are 85 calories for the dogs. 110 for the burger. you cut calories and fat. no artificial preservatives. they're a good option for a carnivore like e me. >> and you could

everyone is part of the same family. > >> reporter: michelle franzen, nbc news. >> >>> when we come back this afternoon on news 4 at 4:00 google making major changes today to privacy. ha what you need to do to keep the internet giant from tracking your searches and linking them to your name. >> but i think i need to go through the process of proving myself, you know. >>> lindsay lohan says she is ready for a comeback and will even make fun of herself on "saturday night live" this weekend. >>> and a royal shopping trip "access hollywood" test. "access hollywood" test. "access hollywood" test. "access hollywood" test. >>> actress lindsay lohan says ps she is ready to prove herself and she is serious about getting her acting career back ontrack. >> yes. she is in new york preparing to host "saturday night live" and sat down with matt lauer. lohan says she is clean and sober but understands some producers may not be ready to invest in her. she says she had to lobby the snl boss to get the hosting gig this week. she told the writers anything is fair game as long as they are not disrespectful

but as michelle franzen reports, the biggest impact appears to be the breathtaking light show up north. >> it appears the latest solar storm affecting the earth's atmosphere has not created as many problems as expected. >> this is one of the bigger ones that has happened in quite a while. but so far, so good. >> researchers say there are no reports the magnetic storm triggered by the solar bursts caused any reductions to high frequency communication for airlines and emergency agencies, power grid systems, and gps satellites. but those highly charged particles from the solar bursts created magnetic and radiation concerns when it reached earth, enough to make airlines change routes temporarily. >> they have diverted a lot of the airplanes so they don't go close to the north pole. and they reroute them. >> reporter: the latest solar flares some of the most dramatic in a decade, are part of a series of solar storms scientists are tracking closely. >> we've got sun spots here. it's these groups of cooler areas on the sun that produce these eruptions. >> in the past few months, the beauty of

nbc's michelle franzen has the story. story. >> reporter: the trouble began on flight 2332 before take-off in dallas, just as the plane was leaving the gate and bound for chicago. >> i thought it might have been a reality show or something was going on because it didn't seem real. >> reporter: passengers say that's when the flight attendant went on a rant over the p.a. system, demanding the pilot open the cockpit and turn around because the plane was going to crash. >> a lot 0 other incoherent statements trying to get in communication with the cockpit. it was almost as if she thought she was on the phone with them only. >> reporter: passenger video cap ture moment that followed, a veteran attendant. >> get out of my way! >> reporter: during the episode, passengers say she complained about the airline filing for bankruptcy reorganization, talked about a friend who died on 9/11, and said the plane wouldn't take off because it didn't have enough ice. she also mentioned she forgot to take her medicine for a mental disorder. w

nbc's michelle franzen has more. >> reporter: the trouble began on american airlines flight 2332 before in dallas just as the plane was leaving the gate and bound for chicago. >> thought it might have been a reality show or something was going on. it didn't seem real. >> reporter: passengers say that's when the flight attendant went on a rant demanding the pilot open the cockpit and turn around because the plane was going to crash. >> a lot of other incoherent statements trying to get in communication with the cockpit. it was almost as if she thought she was on phone with them only. >> reporter: passenger video captured the moments that followed when crew members struggled to subdue the woman described as a veteran attendant. >> get out of my way! >> reporter: several passengers, including kevin rich were enlisted to help. >> a couple of us were on top of her, one of us was behind her as she began talking rants, sporadically church, dying, crashes, racist slurs. tried to talk her through it and keep it calm. >> reporter: she complained about the airline filing for bankruptcy organizatio

michelle franzen, nbc news. >> yum.e didn't spoil your appetite. j >> "the artist." >> our version. >> there we go. >> nope. >> okay. well, okay. hey, all it takes. where is his little dog? from the cash register confusion to the thunder shirt and gym membership warnings liz crenshaw has brought to light some important and interesting stories over the past few months. >> but what happened after those stories aired? liz is here now with followups to her reports. >> hi there. we are proud of the stories we report and are always happy when viewers take the time to respond to them. if you saw any of these recent stories, here is what happened next. >> all it takes is a noise and he's scared. it takes a knock on the door. he's done. >> reporter: remember when we visited radio personality cane from the cane show on hot 99.5? it wouldn't take much for his dog parker to fly off the handle xs andcalm. >> reporter: she says she's off her medications since she bought the thunder shirt. >> we keep it close by and if i know a storm

nbc's michelle franzen is here with her story. >> good morning, jenna. just 15 years old at the time of the accident. and no one expected she would survive after suffering a major brain injury. but her family, and community, rallied around her, and described what happened in the weeks and months that followed as nothing short of a miracle. at the barrack home the simple act of having dinner together means everything. >> i believe that god has in a sense given us a second chance. >> reporter: that second chance came five years ago, when jen, her parents, linda and andy, and brother josh, were nearly killed by a drunk driver. >> his lights were off. he was running from the police, and we didn't see him coming. >> reporter: the day began celebrating josh's baseball tournament win. and jen's first choir concert. in a split second on the drive home, it would become their worst day. the accident happened on this stretch of road less than a mile from the barrack's home. the family was told the driver was going nearly 80 miles an hour at the time, and no one rem

>> michelle franzen, thank you so much.h guthrie is our legal correspondent and david schwartz joins us. >> good morning. >> it looks like these alleged harassing e-mails are front and center. what does the law allow or not allow regarding this? david? >> clearly there is a court order in place. the parties can communicate but they have to communicate civilly. if there are harassing e-mails there could be criminal sanctions. there are certainly sanctions within the court order itself where both parties could be fined up to $5,000 per e-mail. >> the legal system can order civility. >> here a judge said if you make dispar rajjing remarks to each other i will fine you $5,000 for each instance. that's what the latest dust-up is about. she's claiming multiple instances of him saying pejorative things to her in e-mails and otherwise. he filed a counter claim saying, you have done it, too. ultimately they are airing dirty laundry in a court of law. >> for anyone in a divorce, a lot of people are angry and send off e-mails. so what

nbc's michelle franzen is in massachusetts with details on this. michelle, what happened?it was supposed to be the game of the season for two high school hockey teams at larson rink last week, but the game was disrupted by a father who allegedly disrupted the game by shining a laser pointer in the eyes of the team's opposing goalie. the girl's hockey team at winthrop high outside boston advanced to the playoffs this week, but goalie catherine haimer of the rival high school said it wasn't right. >> do i think it's fair? no, of course not. >> reporter: they lost, in part, because a father was shining a laser pointer in her eyes from the stands. the father was kicked out by winthrop school officials but the game resumed and haimer's team lost. >> it was unfair. we lost focus and intensity after that. >> reporter: the accused father, joseph cordis spoke out to a cbs affiliate after he was charged with disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor saying he didn't mean to hurt anyone. >> dumb moment. complete dumb moment. i feel horrible this happened. i wish i could take it back. >> re

more now from nbc's michelle franzen. >> reporter: the war of the exes is getting ugly -- again.tie brinkley and ex-husband peter cook are taking their battle over child support back to court. each claiming the other owes them money. adding fuel to the feud, cook lays out a long list of complaints against brinkley since their vicious divorce in 2008. she ca . >> he's drafted a 91-page rambling diatribe. cook's complaints were in a petition last november claims he owed more than $6,000 in child support for their children jack and sailor. bringly is also asking to reimbursed for more than $32,000 in education expenses and pending fines for sending inflammatory e-mails. cook's attorney says he's always received inflammatory e-mails. >> this is a lot of nonsense, and what miss brinkley really wants is another round of publicity. >> reporter: he says cook has since paid the child support and didn't thing he owed the money in the months he cared for children while brinkley was starring in the musical "chicago." >> it was a misconception. >> reporter: brinkley has sole custody of both c

>> that was scary. >> thank you very much, michelle franzen.rnado. talk about scary. security camera video capturing the verocity of mother nature's fury. also ahead, don't go there. the government warning of staying away from a spring break getaway. in office politics, the gop presidential battle, off the campaign trail and at the deb e debates. >> nasty, shallow. >> nbc's andrea mitchell on the race in the white house and the role money is playing in the fight for votes. you're watching "weekends with alex witt." but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath ] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! without the stuff that we make here, you wouldn't be able to walk in your house and flip on your lights. [ brad ] at ge we build turbines that power the world. they go into power plants which take some form of energy, harness it, and turn it into more efficient e

. >> reporter: michelle franzen, nbc news, new york. >>> joining us in the studio, shawn tabbert on the flight. >> good morning. >> what do you make of this? >> kind of a crazy event, you know, just a lady having a real bad day. >> but what it starts -- my understanding -- she starts trying to call the pilot but speaking on the p.a. >> exactly. >> when did you realize something was amiss here? >> once she started repeatingly trying to call the pilot saying, pilot, are you there, hello, hello? she went to spanish, ola, you know, that's when the red flags started to get raised. >> when did the other flight attendants get up and realize there was a problem? >> it took her actually mentioning you know i'm not okay with this, i'm not responsible for this crash, and she set the microphone down. that's when the other attendants walked up, talk with her, tried to calm her down. >> you were sitting in the coach cabin. did you have a fairly clear view of what was happening up front? >> absolutely. you can see down the aisle. everyone was leaning in up. once the crash word was stated that's when e

nbc's michelle franzen is here with more. michelle, good morning. >> good morning, jenna.t's estimated 13 million american kids will be bullied this year alone, at school, and online. a new documentary out later this morning sheds new light on the problem, and the age group most affected. middle school students. but new cases of bullying like the one of zack greenshields are showing kids even younger are having to deal with this issue. >> i hate you. you hate me. let's get together and kill zachary. >> zack recalls the hurtful song several students began singing last month that field elementary school near detroit. >> with a big shotgun and shoot him in the head, guess what now zack is dead. >> his parents turned to school officials for help and want their 10-year-old son transferred to a new school. >> it's heartbreaking to hear, you know, these stories, and you can't do anything about them. >> reporter: from the schoolyard, to the big screen. >> they punch me. strangle me. take things from me. >> reporter: a new documentary takes us inside the world of bullying. and its

michelle franzen, news4. >> have you seen the aurora any time? only seen it here. >> it's awesome. it looks gorgeous in pictures. >> might have trouble catching a flight. >> i'll ride in the sidecar. >> okay! >> she'll drive. >> i'll fly. >> smart. smart. we're talking sports. coming up, march madness is officially in gear. we're talking maryland and georgetown in the abc and big east tournament. did peyton manning reportedly already narrowing down the list of teams that he will and won 6. >>> you're watching news4 at 6:00. >> oh, it was a great day to be outdoors today. take a lack at that, the awakening at national harbor. kids climbing up there on the knee there it's a good little slide. even though we saw some clouds and winds gusting to 40 miles per hour, not a bad day at all with temperatures around 70 degrees. and that's where we sit right now at 6:00 at night. 70 degrees with the dew point of 45. winds out of the south-southwest right now at 18 miles per hour. but still gusting to 30. and it's that southerly direction that is going to con