without saying that it goes to be the most anticipated one in the history of the race. and there is a lot of security here, and anywhere you look here in the common, you can see the security, and all along the 26.2-mile course. it is not so overwhelming that people are thinking it is taking away from the experience, but i had a few moments with the new police commissioner who has run a number of these mares on this, but this year, he is in a suit and tie, because his role has changed as the top cop of boston, and i asked him about the responsibility to make sure that the event goes off safe ly >> well, we have been planning for this for six months meetings after meetings, and it is a lot of pressure on me, but it is more personal on me, and it is still emotional for me today. we went through a lot over the last 12 months, and seeing what happened on boylston street last year, and what the victims have gone through, and that is the, you know, we all have the adrenaline to show that the day will go off without a hitch. >> there is a lot of adrenaline here in the boston common, because some of the family members will join up with the loved ones in the race, and with we rare expecting the are elite runners to run in unbelievably 26 miles in under 2:00, so we are expecting finish right over here on boylston street, tamron in just under two hour hours. and those to make it for the race is bombing survivor heather abbott. she was in a restaurant last year throwing her to the ground in the explosion, and tearing off her leg. she will be wearing a prosthetic to cross the line with aaron chatham, and she became friends with him after patriot player matt chatham carried h her to safety. >> how are you, this morning? >> fantastic. thank you. >> i have read your story and brought the tears and then cheering you and so there you r and tell me about the day, and when you will get into the race. >> i am really excited about today. i am about to head over to the restaurant to meet a group of my friends, including those who were with me last year, and hang out with the joe andruzzi foundation folks and wait for them to come through, and waiting for aaron chatham to round the corner on comm avenue and hereford street. and i will run the last mile with her. >> and i have read how torn you are, and you have accomplished something, and erin is going to be there with you by her side, and this is following in the footsteps of the day that you have an injury that you live with for the rest of your life? >> yeah, i mean, it is pretty emotional, and last year i met erin under such tragic circumstances, and as the year has gone on, she has trained to run the marathon, and i have trained to walk on my prosthetic l leg, and run on the blade leg, and it is getting to be a real big accomplishment for both of us to cross the finish line together. >> and i know that making it back to the mare nonis that goal in front of you, and the thing that keeps you going when your body is tired. but i also read that one of the things that inspired you and one of the favorites around here beyonce was a part of your, i guess your inspiration, and tell me a little bit about that. >> well, yeah. beyonce invite med to her concert last summer when she was here in boston and i got to go backstage and meet her, and it was terrific. she was so supportive and concerned about what had happened to her friends back in boston last year, and it was great to meet her. >> and so when you make it across the finish line, today, with your friend erin, obviously, it has not happened yet, but i can't imagine the joy that will seep through your body and that of erin's as just the champion that you are. >> thank you. yeah, i'm sure it is going to be a great feeling. >> we will be routing for you, and congratulations on getting to this point. i know that it has been a journey of hills and valleys as they say, but today, you are beaming. i can barely take my eyes off of the screen, because you have a glow. it is so great to see you. >> thank you very much. >> absolutely. well, turning now no theto other story we are following is the tragedy in south korea where the ferry sinking and the country is comparing the acts of the captain and the crew of that ship to murder. that is the word of the president. and anguished families are awaiting word on their children with the number of people killed in that disaster at 87, but more than 200 are missing and four more crew members with were taken into custody today. and meanwhile, transcripts show chaos and confusion on the ship when it started to list. a passenger asked a marine comptroller to answer by saying that the passengers should put more clothing and life jackets on. and bill neely has an update from south korea. >> good morning, tom tamron. extraordinary condemnation from the ship's crew from the top here. south korea's president park ca calling the action ogs of the captain and the crew incomprehensible, and they deserved the passengers and the first to escape. it is like murder, she said, and it cannot and should not be tolerated. she is not only siding with the families in calling for justice, but she is piling the pressure on the authorities to get to the bottom of how on earth this happened, and the prosecutors have now detained four more crew members, including the chief g engineer, and they are suspected of failing to protect the passengers. remember, the captain and two crew members have already been charged, and the captain with criminal negligence, and the new video has emerged of the captain in a promotional video shot four years ago, and it is is about this very route, this very journey. he saying that it is perfectly safe, and he says, traveling by ferry is the safest form of travel of all as long as the passengers obey the directions of the crew. well sh well, on this ship, that is exactly what they did, and it cost them their lives, because the crew told them to stay inside. the rescue operation is continuing, and the number of bodyings recovered from the ship are rising all of the time. and i had a chance to go out to operation myself on a small boat today, and look at it close-up, and it is extraordinary, and there are dozens of large and small boats an ships out there, and hundreds of divers accessing the sunken ship. they are bringing up the bodies more or less one by one, and not much other debris to be seen, and there is an oil slick on the surface of the water, but that it is in terps of the leak ship. and the civilian dive team says that the ship is completely flooded. he says there are no air pockets. there are no survivors. back to you, tamron. >> thank you, bill. in one day after deadly violence in ukraine threatened a fragile truce agreement, vice president biden is on the ground there, and he is expected to announce new aid package for the country. and we are going to go live there. >> and a teenager is alive after flying halfway across the pacific ocean inside of the wheel well of an airplane, and how did he survive and how did he breach the airport security, and the fbi is now investigating. and this. >> excuse me. >> and okay. the pennsylvania teenager who asked miss america to the prom was suspended after the school told him not to do it. some people have sided with him, and others feel like, listen, rules are rules, and the school officials are in charge. well, he claims that he is shocked by the national attention that he has received. and does the crime fit the punishment? it is the "newsnation" gut check. and join the conversation on twitter with tamron hall and my team at "newsnation." [ male announcer ] this is the age of knowing what you're made of. why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain. it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor. if your doctor decides viagra is right for you, you can fill your prescription at your pharmacy. or, check out viagra home delivery, a convenient place to fill your prescription online and have it shipped at no additional cost straight to your door. viagra home delivery. get started at viagra.com. sources tell msnbc that drone strikes have been carried out in yemen targeting al qaeda militants and strikes have killed at least 25 militants, and those strikes started saturday and continue through today. and they come several days after a video posted showing the leader off al qaeda in the arabian peninsula addressing a gathering of more than 100 militants there in yemen. and we will keep an eye on that. and hours ago, vice president joe biden met in ukraine to meet with the country's leaders amid the unfolding crisis. vice president biden is expected to announce a package of technical and economic aid assistance. this comes a week after the fragile truce that was tested with a deadly shootout with a check point in ukraine run by pro-russian militants. it happened after they opened fire on a truck, and we have jim neely live there in donesk, and this morning, ser gay lav rov accused them of violating the crucial geneva truce reached just last week. >> yes, that is true, tamron. the three-day truce called by the kiev government is holding, but today is the third day, and as you say, it is severely tested by the attack on the pro russian checkpoint saturday. and now the pro-russian separatists blame the right sector which is blaming the russian special forces, and perhaps the worst fallout of the alleged sunday violence and i have to say "alleged" because a lot of it and we saw it up close, a lot of it is very suspicious, and the fallout still is that ordinary ukrainians that we are speaking of are at the scene, and elsewhere in eastern ukraine, and not the extremists, but the people in the east who have wanted the dialogue of the kiev, at least some of them are prepared to join with the separatists as a result of the attacks. and if russia is driving the insurgency as suggested by kiev and the west and the goal is to incite division, it does seem to be working. there is no surrendering of the weapons, and no leaving of the buildings that we have seen by either side either pro-ukrainian or pro-russian, and the bottom line here, tamron, there is a lull right now, but it could be the calm before a dangerous storm. back to you. >> and back to the vice president being there, and some of the aid that has been announced, certainly, a great debate over whether the u.s. should do more and senator john mccain saying that the u.s. is not doing enough, and what is the reaction to the technical and economic aid that is going to be announced? >> well, prime minister that we saw on "meet the press" sunday has laid out a litany of needs. political needs, economic needs, military needs, and of course, he has asked the united states for more weapons and training, and he e won't get that. vice president biden is expected to announce as you suggested a package of economic and energy and governance assistance, and all of that is much needed as well, and much appreciated by the government in kiev, and the deal, and especially the deal to get the ukrainian forces enough short-term gas in case putin turns off the taps. the vmt h-- vice president has three important meetings with the cabinet leaders and the civil society leaders to discuss political reforms and the may election, and so it is a lot to get done, tamron, in a short term, because he leaves in 48 hours, and perhaps this is symbolic, but it is a show of support for a country struggling to get the grips on power here. >> jim maceda, we appreciate it. and shocking new study showing that pollution is far worse than the minority neighborhoods than the white neighborhoods, and the dangerous levels could lead to asthma, heart attacks and the author of the report will join me. and monday 21st, the boston red sox will plan a special tribute to the marathon. and they will wear special jerseys, and it will be an annual tradition. last night, the team held a pre-game ceremony to honor the bombing victims. and it was beautiful. and today, the music who faces six months in jail for allegedly assaulting a man outside of a d.c. hotel, and today, the judge ruled that his body guard was guilty of assault. event, get a great deal on a jetta tdi. it gets 42 highway miles per gallon. and get a $1,000 fuel reward card. it's like two deals in one. volkswagen has the most tdi clean diesel models of any brand. hurry in and get a $1,000 fuel reward card and 0.9% apr for 60 months on tdi models. my golden years will not just be gold plated. i had 3 different 401(k)s. e*trade offers rollover options and a retirement planning calculator. now i know "when" i'm going to retire. not "if." intercourse that's painfulit... due to menopausal changes. the problem isn't likely to go away... ...on its own. so it's time we do something about it. and there's help. premarin vaginal cream. a prescription that does what no over-the-counter product was designed to do. it provides estrogens to help rebuild vaginal tissue and make intercourse more comfortable. premarin vaginal cream treats vaginal changes due to menopause and moderate-to-severe painful intercourse caused by these changes. don't use premarin vaginal cream if you've had unusual bleeding, breast or uterine cancer, blood clots, liver problems, stroke or heart attack, are allergic to any of its ingredients or think you're pregnant. side effects may include headache, pelvic pain, breast pain, vaginal bleeding and vaginitis. estrogen may increase your chances of getting cancer of the uterus, strokes, blood clots or dementia, so use it for the shortest time based on goals and risks. estrogen should not be used to prevent heart disease, heart attack, stroke or dementia. ask your doctor about premarin vaginal cream. and go to premarinvaginalcream.com this is worth talking about. all stations come over to mithis is for real this time. step seven point two one two. verify and lock. command is locked. five seconds. three, two, one. standing by for capture. the most innovative software on the planet... dragon is captured. is connecting today's leading companies to places beyond it. siemens. answers. as earth week kicks off to d tod today, a new eye-opening study is revealing how the pollution is disproportionately affecting the health of minorities across the country. the researchers at a the university of minnesota call it environmental injustice and found on average that minorities in the u.s. are exposed to 38% higher levels of nitrogen dioxide than whites. nitrogen dioxide is a pollutant created by cars and construction equipment and industrial sources and linked to higher risks of asthma and heart attacks and joining me is the author of the study, julian marshall, associate professor of environmental engineering at the university of minnesota. >> good morning, tamron. >> and i stated that nitrogen dioxide is found in cars and industrial equipment and so that sounds like something that you would find in any neighborhood, white or black or hispanic or asian and why are you seeing the higher numbers in the minority communities? is. >> absolutely. this is a pollutant that is in all neighborhoods and found across the u.s., but the concentrations vary, and so what we did is to create a detailed map of how the pollution levels were higher or lower on the u.s., and then overlaid to the census information, and where people live and how the exposure varies from the race or the income level. >> well, looking at new york, and philadelphia and bridge forth, and stanford, connecticut, and providence, boston, and rhode island and new haven as ear a yas that have the no 2 disproportionately affecting minorities, but when you are looking at the background of new york, a densely populated city, obviously, but multicultural, boston and providence, rhode island, and high minority populations, but not certainly the majority, and how are you getting the numbers, especially looking at the communities that have diversity? >> sure. so, like many studies, ours perhaps raises as many questions as it answers, and we were tending to look at what is, and not exactly explaining what is happening, but from the study, looking at the kons traxs higher and lower and where people live of different groups by race as you mentioned, and looking at the correlations there, and we are seeing that the correlations differ by city. and some city have relatively large gap between the whites and the nonwhites and some cities don't. and so, you mentioned some of the cities that have higher gaps, and one of the surprising things that we found is that even in the relatively clean air cities and the clean air states you can have the large gaps between the whites and the nonwhites. >> and the point that you just made is that many times in a new study, it is going to reveal the information and exposes the information that deserves to be researched and delved into, and one of the big questions is why we are seeing this if the numbers are in fact accurate. >> well, so, our numbers are based on satellite data of the pollution, and measurement tools by the environmental protection agency, and land use of air and roads. and so why it is so much more different in some community thans others, and that is an important question. >> and how do you do that? what is the next step here? if you are a parent, and noticing that your child has asthma, and the first question you ask, especially, and i have done stories on it in minority neighborhoods where the uptick is regarding asthma, and you say why and what can we do about it? >> absolutely. that is important to note. air pollution has improved over time, and if you look since the clean air act was passed over several decades and the air pollution has improved, but we have a ways to go and it is worth celebrating the victory, but acknowledging that many people do want to see cleaner air for the health of themselves, and the families and their kids. >> so what is the next step in understanding the research? >> yeah, so, one thing is to start comparing the cities and the states and at what underlies the difference, and why do we see the large differences amongst the cities in the gap of expose sure of the for example whites and non-whites and the next important step is what can we do about that, and in that front, it would be like if we were to reduce certain emission sources, how would that change these dispair tis and can we target the emission reductions to the communities that are most exposed. we will look at that next. >> it is fascinating study, and we will see what you uncover x next in the research. thank you so much for joining us. we greatly appreciate it. >> thank you. and up next, the incredible story of a teenager who stowed away for five hours inside of the wheel well of an airplane, and many questions about this. how did he breach the airport security so easily? and how did he survive the other? nbc's pete williams will have the latest on the fbi investigati investigation. and now, con tre ver si to have the first lady to speak at a high school graduation ceremo ceremony, and 2,000 people have signed a petition to reconsider the plans to have her speak. they say that her speech would steal the spotlight from the students, and they say it is not about politics burk it is about ticket availability, and keeping the attention on the kids. we will look at this story. and the real housewives of atlanta