rhetoric. >> some of the actions they have taken over the last few weeks present a real and clear danger. we take those threats seriously. >> but can the north attack the u.s.? u.s. officials tell nbc news north korea does have missile deliverable nuclear weapons but with a range of about 1,000 miles, unable to reach the united states, but seoul, just across the border, is certainly in range. but you wouldn't know it today. in south korea, there's absolutely no sign of public concern and people here have some advice for americans. don't have north korea scare you, they say. it wants the attention, it wants to scare you. still, until the 29-year-old north koreaen official threatens war, u.s. officials are prepared. >> outrageouses from comments and north korea for decades. what's different about the tone and context this time around? >> what is different now is capability. the north koreans tested a nuclear device and now they're threatening to use it. they may thought be able to launch a nuclear war head to the united states, but they could launch one in the region that has a potential to leading to an arms escalation, a nuclear proliferation across asia. this is a serious threat. the south koreans however, still think the north is bluffing, and they're not seeing signs on the ground that north korea is preparing for a major military offensive. >> richard, thank you very much. >> now to connecticut with earlier this morning, lawmakers approved some of the tightest gun control legislation in the country. nbc's kristen welker is traveling with the president. she's in san francisco this morning. good morning to you. >> good morning to you. president obama will spend the day fund-raising, but the first part of the trip was aimed at campaigning for stiffer gun laws. it's a different story in the states in the wake of the newtown tragedy. this morning, the connecticut state legislature passed some of the toughest gun laws in the nation, expanding background checks and adding 100 guns to the list of banned assault weapons. following the vote, reaction was swift. >> connecticut now with the governor's signature will have the strongest gun safety laws in the country. hopefully that is some measure of comfort to the victims of newtown. >> earlier on wednesday with federal gun laws facing an uncertain future, president obama ramped up pressure on congress. >> we must do something to protect our communities and our kids. >> surrounded by denver police officers just miled away from the aurora theater where 12 lives were claimed last summer, the president called on congress to do what states already had, pass stiffer gun laws. >> every day that we wait to do something about it, even more of our fellow citizens are stolen from our lives from a bullet from a gun. >> despite the gridlock in washington, 60% believe laws covering gun sales should be more strict, but stiff opposition remains. on wednesday, there was a pro-gun rally in boston, and the nra continues their rally against gun control. >> a lot of times these issues in the states are more in their face, in the face of legislators. the governors are dealing with this every day. >> 87% of americans support expanding background checks, but even that faces a tough road in congress. as for connecticut, the governor is expected to sign the legislation into law later today. the president will visit that state on monday and continue to press for more federal gun laws. >> kristen, thank you very much. in other news, one man is missing in alabama this morning after a powerful storm that also caused an already crippled carnival cruise ship to break free from its moorings. kerry sanders is at the port of mobile. good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. the coast guard spend much of the night in helicopters over the water and in boats on the water searching for this missing man. the 40-year-old who did not work for carnival cruise line but worked in a guard check here was literally blown into the water. the coast guard and divers will decide on an action to find his body, but the weather created another mishap for the carnival cruise ship triumph, which has faced a series of troubles. >> it was crazy. it was kriezy. the storm came up fast with wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour. witnesses say the next thing they knew, the triumph, more than 101 gross tons and 900 feet long broke loose of its mooring and was blown into the mobile river. >> someone said, look at the carnival cruise ship, it turned sideways and a tug boat was trying to keep it in the center of the river, but it ended up pinning the tug boat against the bank. >> the triumph sustained what the cruise line called limited damages, but several dashes in the superstructure could be seen. for carnival, the nation's largest cruise company, it's been one misfortune after another. an engine fire left this ship adrift in the gulf of mexico in february. more than 4,000 passengers and crew were stranded and the to endure miserable conditions for five days. two ships recently experienced propulsion problems and passengers aboard the carnival dream had to be flown home after a generator problem left it stalled in st. marten. they leave one observer wondering. >> don't know if the boat is cursed or what. i'm not going on it. >> why the cruise ship wasn't tied up properly to begin with will be part of the coast guard investigation. meanwhile, carnival cruise line says its thoughts are going out to the family of the missing man. they point out there were 600 crew members onboard plus 200 subcontractors and all of those folks are okay. matt. >> kerry sanders in mobile, alabama, this morning. thank you. there's new fallout over those disturbing practice videos that have now led to the firing of the basketball coach at rutgers university. >> natalie has been talking to people, students at her alma mater. >> still a lot of outrage at rutgers and beyond. a lot of people asking wha university leaders knew and how they handled the situation when they became aware of the coach's abuse. a dozen faculty leaders claiming there was a cover up calling on the president to resign. but some players who endured the coach's abusive style are now coming to his defense. the fate of mike rice became the main subject of debate on the campus of 58,000. >> what was your reaction when you saw them? >> any coach who uses fear and intimidation is not a coach at all. >> i personally think some of the stuff he did wasn't even that bad. >> the shock over the practice videos showing an abusive coach rice still sinking in. the videos were shown to athletic director tim pernetti last fall, leading to a fine and three-game suspension. the university's president said he knew about rice's behavior but hadn't seen the videos. in a statement wednesday, he said yesterday i personally reviewed the video evidence which shows a chronic and pervasive pattern of disturbing behave. . i now reached the conclusion coach rice can't serve effectively. still, some say it's not enough. state lawmakers plan to investigate why rice wasn't fired from the public university months ago. at the same time, a mob of media has swarmed rice's house. in a statement, he apologized saying, i clearly did not treat these outstanding young men with the respect they deserve. some current and former players say it doesn't tell the whole story. >> he's done a lot for me and my family. >> you had balls thrown at you a couple of times. did you at the time feel uncomfortable with his coaching style? >> no, not at all. i think the large majority of the players felt the same way i did. i don't think we were ever really uncomfortable or felt threatened. >> this latest scandal, in particular, the homophobic slurs, has touched a rutgers, coming two years after tyler clementi committed suicide. >> we're focused on diversity and different sexual orientations and for him to be saying that is not representative of what we are and do here. >> as for the athletic director tim pernetti, he's facing a lot of heat. he acknowledges he was wrong in how he handled the disciplining of rice. >> we should clear something up. something we reported here and was reported widely by other outlets. the president of rutgers university did not see these videotapes five months ago when the athletic director saw them. according it a statement from the president, he only saw them tuesday night. that is a big difference. although he had ordered the investigation into the incident. >> he was briefed by the athletic director, but did he see the videos? >> he agreed to the disciplining. >> you're following another story, shooting at ft. knox. >> a shooting of a man at ft. knox, a civilian army employee was shot dead on wednesday in an incident that officials at the base were saying was not a random act. they put the base on security lockdown. >> a possible new link this morning between the deaths of colorado's corrections chief and a white supremacist prison gang. they're seeking two men in connection with the death of tom clements, and both are believed to be associated with the so called 211 crew. evan ebal was a member of the gang. he's suspected of fatally shooting clements and another man last month. he was killed in a shootout with police in texas. >> in west virginia, a sheriff was shot dead outside a county courthouse while eating lunch in his car. the suspect was captured after being wounded in a shootout with police. >> in an attempt with solidarity with federal workers, president obama is giving himself a 5% pay cut on his $400,000 a year salary, returning about $1,700 a month to the treasury. hundreds of thousands ofworkers face forced unpaid leave or furloughs if congress doesn't undo those cuts soon. >> and a major announcement from facebook today after the social network heads into new territory, phones. the company is unveiling a new android product today that has tech watchers buzzing that ceo mark zuckerberg is doing something he long denied he would, which is launch a facebook phone. he told our own matt lauer that option was off the table. facebook currently has more than 1 billion users and growing, many who access the app on their smartphone already. >> a check of the weather with mr. roker. >> a lot more severe weather down in florida today. we're going to be looking at strong storms. a risk of severe storms from tallahassee to key west. we're going to watch the radar fire up, and you can see the heavy thunderstorms already getting themselves together. that low pressure is going to make it way up the coast, bring more rain. look at the rain in the central part of florida. anywhere from 3 to 5 inches of rain in the pacific northwest. they have big storms coming onshore, too. we'll take a look at that after this message. ♪ our house is a very, very, very fine house. ♪ ♪ with two cats in the yard, ♪ >> 7:16. you want to give yourself plenty of time this morning. we've got showers on the radar. most of the heavy rain has come through. you will find slick conditions and areas of puddling and ponding. the bay bridge toll plaza backed up on a thursday morning. most of the rain has raced out of the bay area. light on and off showers as we head throughout the day. highs in the 60s as we head throughout tomorrow. a nice, dry break as high pressure builds in. savannah. >> the changing of the guard is official at the tonight show. jimmy fallon will take over for jay leno starting next spring. >> good morning, savannah. burbank, this is the lot where the tonight show has filmed almost every year since johnny carson moved it here in 1972, but now, the show is headed towards you, back east to new york, with a new host. >> i want to -- >> on the shows wednesday night. >> congratulate our good friend, jimmy fallon. >> no shortage of material. >> today, i accepted a new position. i'm going to be the head basketball coach at rutgers university. thank you very much. >> this is late night with jimmy fallon for now. >> after an admittedly awkward few weeks. >> nbc and i have reached a peaceful, amicable agreement that is beneficial to both sides. april fools. >> nbc announced it had reached a deal and tonight show will go to jimmy fallon and move back to new york next spring. >> starting in february, i'm going to be hosting the tonight show here on nbc. a lot more emotional. it's a lot more emotional for me than i thought it was going to be because i didn't know when anything was happening, we were going to say anything, and then you think of everything and you realize all the people you have to thank. where have to say thanks to jay leno. >> leno has helmed the show since johnny carson left. and he took over for conan o'brien. network executives are hoping fallen can draw a younger demographic. >> tonight, tonight, my ratings were all right. >> while leno joked on leaving his number one in the ratings, in 2009, he said this. >> they always want you to leave it while it's still on top. and i get that. >> we're still friends, right? >> of course, we're still friends. >> making for what many hope is a much smoother transition when leno leaves this team. >> jimmy fallon is a famously nice guy. he doesn't want to be perceived as pushing leno out of the chair. when leno signed his last contract, i think he knew this was it. >> now, overnight at jimmy fallon tweeted today was one of the most excited days of my life. i read every tweet and every post and i thank you. our congratulations go out to him as well. as for jay leno, he said in a statement, you know, he's a famous car buff. he said i'm be at the garage, but hollywood insiders say don't be surprised if you don't see him showing up on the air somewhere in the future. >> kristen dahlgren, thank you so much. i think jay leno will have a lot of options. >> david letterman said his mom called and said, so, dave, i see you didn't get the tonight show again. >> but he's moved on. it's fine. coming up, louisville's kevin ware opens up about his gruesome injury and when he expects to be back on the court playing. >> and we'll test out what is called the water fall swing live on our plaza. they promise we won't get coming up, why jon stewart and his show are in the middle of an international incident this morning. >> we'll have that story after a check of your local news and weather. we went out and asked people a simple question: how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed: the official retirement age. ♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] open up to a fresh new world of taste at mcdonald's. ♪ introducing the new premium mcwrap -- a blend of tender, juicy chicken and tantalizing 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[ kids growling excitedly ] ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] with its rich, silky smooth taste there's magic in every piece of dove® dark chocolate. ♪ there's magic in every piece of dove® dark chocolate. you'll really dig the savings at the petsmart spring savings sale. save up to 25% on thousands of items, and save $10 on all bayer k9 advantix® ii and advantage® ii flea or tick products in 6-count packs. at petsmart®. behaves like the surface of your skin. now watch what soap does to it. ♪ if soap breaks down this paper, just imagine what it's doing to your skin. soap strips your skin. dove is different. ♪ with 1/4 moisturizing cream, dove doesn't strip your skin like soap. ♪ good morning. i'm jon kelley. here is what's making headlines. the president waking up in san francisco and heading to atherton for a few fund-raisers today. also, the man accused of plowing into a san jose walmart is expected in court this afternoon. facebook set to make a huge announcement in a few hours speculation around the social media giant unveiling a brand new smart phone. happening right now, all that rain over the bay area, hitting hard. a live look at san francisco where you can see the roads wet and dangerous. we will get to traffic in a bit. let's get to christina loren to tell us what's happening from the skies. good morning. good morning to you, jon. the main band of rain pushing into the central valley headed towards lake tahoe. we're getting a little bit of a break. we are going to keep the chance for spotty activity in the forecast until 9:00 a.m. by this afternoon, light, isolated activity. that's all that's going to be left over. enough sunshine to warm us up. 68, livermore, 66, fremont, 67 on the way to redwood city. let's spend some time on your outlook because of changes ahead. good news is, they should clear out just in time for the home opener at at&t park as the giants get back at it. saturday into sunday. a few showers early saturday. we will see showers around on sunday afternoon. the warmup is on potentially ramping your numbers up to 90 degrees by wednesday of next week. we're going to keep watching that system for you. 7:27. let's check on your drive. that's been a rough one. hey, anthony. that is crazy. almost 90 degrees this morning. oakland has been the slow spot. we have been watching 880. earlier, an accident that closed down two lanes. lots of red and yellow approaching the bay bridge. down south on 880 into hayward and fremont, very slow going. an accident at the dumbarton bridge. drizzle continues as slow-going commute continues there. anthony, thank you very much. another local update for you in one half hour from right now. the "today" show coming back at you. 7:30 now on a thursday morning. it's the fourth day of april, 2013. take a look in the distance there, that is what's called a waterfall swing installed here on our plaza. look at what you see in it. that is al roker's face. designed and figured out by guys right here in our area. now, we're going to get on the swing in a second, savannah, and we have been guaranteed we would not get wet as we went through that thing. >> they were testing it out earlier, they wore rain slickers, prepared for the possibility they would get wet, and i believe they did get wet. so i don't know, did you bring your slicker today? >> i have a slicker upstairs. al, have you ventured on to that thing yet? >> no. i -- the swing itself is soaking wet. you guys are going to get wet just sitting on this thing. >> i think it's time to bring one of the interns in. >> exactly. inside the studio, i'm matt lauer along with savannah gurthrie. >> i know, you hate when your hair gets frizzy. going to happen. did you get rejected from the college of your dreams? well, a high school senior did. she took to the "wall street journal" to vent. and the reasons why she said she didn't get in, they're raising some eyebrows. we will talk to her just ahead. and kevin ware speaks out for the first time since he suffered that terrible injury to his leg over the weekend. and we're going to have more of that. but let us begin with an unusual controversy between the u.s. and egypt involving jon stewart, if you can believe that. foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell explains. >> they call him the