back overseas, when we last saw nbc's stephanie gosk, she was showing us what it was like trying to get from london to madrid and it wasn't easy. in fact, she didn't make it. she got as far as france. that's where stephanie picks up her long journey tonight from point a to point b. >> reporter: marseille airport at an unreasonable time in the morning hoping to fly from spain to new york. our first hurdle, our flight isn't listed anywhere. so we're confirmed on the 7:45. is there a 7:45 flight? >> we don't know now. >> reporter: we weren't the only confused passengers. 500 people had the same phantom booking. they actually now created a brand-new flight just for us. let's see if it takes off. sure enough, the plane appeared and even left on time. strange to think all over western europe people are dying to get on planes and here we are on a plane that's basically empty. on the ground in spain, happiness is quickly crushed by an airport overwhelmed with thousands of stranded passengers. like the punzels from green bay who miss their dog terribly. >> a golden retriever. >> reporter: what's

stephanie gosk, nbc news, nowhere near home. >>> one other angle here tonight. we've heard about how that volcanic ash can damage a jet engine, what about human lungs? what are the health effects for those who especially have to live alongside it. some answers on that point tonight from our chief science correspondent robert bazell in iceland. >> reporter: the plume was 8,000 feet high, a dangerous mixture molten earth, including iron, silica, magnesium and bromide. this was far less than the monstrous eruptions over the weekend, with plumes as high as 30,000 feet and massive amounts of steam from glaciers melt into the volcano. this doctor who practices in the shadow of the volcano worries on the effects of the ash on patients in this rural area, especially those with heart and lung conditions. >> when you breathe it in, it is mechanically very irritating for your lungs. >> reporter: his biggest concern is for farmers who refuse to leave or stay indoors, fearing for their precious livestock. >> we were very much afraid the animals staying outside, horses and th

stephanie gosk joins me from london. >> it gets a little complicated because she went on the radio stationand her husband, nicolas sarkozy, are not victims of the plot. she says this is a matter of new importance, taking on proportions that i find ridiculous. it goes back to a blog on a french website that alleged she and her husband were involved in extramarital affairs. it created this fire storm of press coverage and after that, two officials close to sarkozy, her husband, came out and said they believed it was a plot to discredit his government. basically, this has snowballed to even the point where the former justice minister had to come out and say, look, i wasn't behind any kind of plot. but it's turning into quite a story, contessa. >> she says we're not victims in any kind of plot here, but if the whole blog coming out saying they were affairs was about a plot to discredit the government, is she saying they were extramarital affairs? >> they've already denied it and basically, what has happened since then, is they're in what it appears to be at least, aura of paranoia. that actual