good morning. mystery in the air. one of theiles of a northwest airlines jet that erflew its destination by 150 miles denie thcrew was asleep at the controls. >> nobody was asleep. no argument took place. >> okay. so, what was going on in the cockpit? where's the vaccine? big delays in long-awaited swine flu vaccine mean long lines at clinics and frustrated patients as the virus continues its relentless spread. and caught on tape -- a frustrated grandma fed up with her neighbor takes matters into her own hands. wait till you hear what made her so angry. today, saturday, october 24th, 2009. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a saturday morning. i'm lester holt. >> i'm amy robach. i think when a grandma goes after you like that, you really can't fight back, right? doing this? >> the lady was whaling. it was one of those neighbor pet peeves wll explain, but i think maybe some conflict resoluon lessons might be in order. >> we can only hope that's in their future. we have a lot to get to this morning including the desperate search for a missing college student. >> 20-year-old morgan harrington, a junior at virginia tech, was last seen a week ago at a metallica concert. the fbi, police,frnds, t counity and the band are getting involved and her parents are hopeful her daughter will come home safe. we'll talk to them. we'll switch gears and tell you about positive numbers in the housing market. sales of existing homes have been on the rise for a few months, but they took a bigger th expected lea upward in september. barbara corcoran tells us why sales are surging and why this trend is likely to last. and sneakers that maybe sound too good to be true. manufacturers say they can tone your legs and, get this, all you have to do is walk around in them. we'll check them out with the help of some volunteers coming up in just a few minutes. >> i think it's the technique of how you have to walk in them. a little -- >> heel-toe thing? >> i think so. mystery in the skies. a northwest jet misses its destination by 150 miles, its flight crew out of touch for about an hour. what was going on inside that cockpit? nbc's kevin tibbles has the latest. >> reporter: any investigation into what went on in the cockpit of northwest flight 188 may be hampered by this older model cockpit voice recorder which only records 30 minutes at a time and likely missed the critical moments. one of the pilots in the cockpit, richard cole, denies speculation the crew had fallen asleep. >> nobody was asleep in the cockpit. norguments took place. >> reporter: the airbus a-320 departed san diego late, heading east, following it cross-country flight path. but instead of landing in minneapolis, it flew right past it, 150 miles past it eventually performing a sky-high u-turn at 37,000 feet over eau claire, wisconsin, and headed back to the minneapolis/st. paul airport. >> cleared to land. >> cleared to land. the runway 35. going to gate 14. >> reporter: passenger brett boarland was in row 17 and kept looking out the window. >> why are we still way above the louds? we can't see any city lights, any ground lights. >> reporter: controllers say the pilots stopped responding about an hour before flight 188 was supposed to land, calls that were becoming increasingly anxious. >> so there was a high level of anxiety, definitely. there were 13 separate attempts by different air-traffic controllers to try to establish communications with northwest 188. >> reporter: sources say armed air national guard fighter jets were on the runway and ready to scramble if needed. >> you just start thinking about the little things that could have happened. you run out of gas. you know, do i look out the wind, see an f-14 flying next to me? >> reporter: once contact was established, controllers asked the crew three separate times if everything was okay. at first the pilots responded, we were distracted, then later added they were discussing a company issue. but before landing, the pilots were put through a series of maneuvers in the air to prove to controllers they had command of the aircraft. >> 6,000 and slow to 190 northwest, 188. >> reporter: whatever the reason, experts say it's cause for alarm. >> i think flabbergasted is even a better word, that you could have a situation where not only do they fly over the airport but, you know, the fact that they fly 150 miles. that's a pretty big miss. >> reporter: the ntsb says it will interview the two northwest pilots to find out just what happened on flight 188. for "today," kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago. >> and now here's lester. amy, thanks. new figures from the centers for disease control show the swine flu outbreak is still spreading and attacking mostly the young, including 95% of college campuses. but the vaccine that was supposed to help protect the population is taking a lot longer than predicted to get into the hands of the people who want it and need it in some cases. nbc's chief science correspondent robert bazell has more. >> reporter: the children's medical center in dallas. about 150 kids a day arrive at the emergency room with flu-like symptoms. more than 10,000 have come in the past two months. >> we're seeing a higher volume than normal for this kind of respiratory illness, viral respiratory illness. >> that was awesome. >> reporter: 10-year-old jay kor henderson, one of the very very bad cases spent three weeks in intensive care. >> it was very scary. every time the doctor came out, it was worse and worse. >> reporter: these scenes are being repeated throughout the country. they're becoming more common as the flu spreads. still striking mostly young people. 46 states now have widespread swine flu outbreaks. the number of visits to doctors and hospitals for flu symptoms continues to skyrocket. last week alone, more than 2,500 people were hospitalized in the u.s. and 90 died, 11 o them children. >> to be basically in the peak of flu season in october is extremely unusual. >> reporter: experts agree the best hope of shutting down the pan dem sick vaccines. in july, the federal government predicted there would be 100 million doses of vaccine against the new virus by now. as of today, 11.6 million have become available. officials apologize to allhe people who want vaccine and n't get it. >> we're nowhere near where we thought we'd be by now. we're not near where the vaccine manufacturers predicted we would be. >> reporter: in a race between a vaccine and the virus, the virus is winning for now. for "today," robert bazell, nbc news, new york. >> we've all got a lot of questions about this. coming up a bit later in the broadcast, we're going to get some answers to some of those questions about swine flu and the vaccine,here it is and when we'll be able to get it. >> right now, tamron hall has a check of the headlines. good morning. >> good morning, everyone. we begin in pakistan where a missile from a suspected u.s. drone killed 14 people. meanwhile, the pakistani army have captured the strategically located hometown of a taliban chief after fierce fighting. it's all part of pakistan's eight-day offensive in the taliban and al qaeda strongholds. back here in the united states, police in an affluent suburb of new jersey are looking for the killer of a priest. father ed heinz was found murdered friday morning in a rectory of st. patrick's church. police have no suspects. it is the town's first violent death in over 20 years. memorial services will be held late they are morning for the 61-year-old best known for his outreach and working with the needy. and no word yet on what caused that massive explosion at a fuel storage site in puerto rico's capital of san juan. seismologists say the blast was the equivalent of an earthquake. five workers at the plant managed to escape with minor injuries. if you are one of t millions of parents whoought baby sign stein videos, you may be able to get your money back. the refunds come after legal challenges over claims that the videos were educational. buyers can exchange dvds bought between june 2004 and september of this year for another einstein product or a cash-bk refund. finally, the story we've been talking about. don't get grandma mad. trust me. a 67-year-old grandmother lost her temp we are a neighbor over a long-standing feud on the use of a driveway. the 4'10" british woman you can see right there smacking away the guy's 37 years old. that's a newspaper in her hand, and she's not afraid to use it. the man's business partner caught the whole thing on his phone. grandma is charged with assault and the video a youtube sensation. that is the news. not often do you laugh at an assault, but where was she when bullies were picking on me in second grade? >> how much could that newspaper really hurt? >> we don't want to test it out, amy. >> up the side of your head. tamron, thank you. nbc meteorologist bill karins has a look at the forecast. what is up this weather? it's cold, it's warm. i don't know what to dress for the morning. >> transition, right? transition from summer to ll. today will feel like sumner a lot of areas. the most important thing is it won't be an all-day rain. a summerlike day for boston, new york, some areas with the sun breaking ou warm, humid, but when it rains it'll come down hard with thunderstorms and downpours. so, the heaviest steady rains will be new york north wards up to northern new england. the rest of the country looking pretty good today. the middle of theation cool but sunny, very much like fall. the northern rockies, that's where we have the good saturday morning. i'm meteorologist chuck bell. off to a cloudy but ver mild start in the washington area. temperatures right now honing in on 70 degrees in a lot of spots. 67 downtown and 72 in fairfax county. 69 in montgomery county. 68 in prince george's county, maryland. there are a couple of showers coming our way. and expect rain possibly heavy at times later on this afternoon. rumble or two of thunder can't be ruled out. highs today mid 07s. that's a look at your saturday forecast. amy? >> already, bill. thank you. the fbi has joined the search for missing virginia tech junior morgan harrington, who disappeared during a rock continuer is one week ago. tips have been pouring in, but so far there is no solution to this mystery. >> we have a purse, and we have a cell phone. we have a missing girl. >> reporter: police and family are still searching for clues after the disappearance of 20-year-old virginia tech student morgan harrington. >> we do not know whether she is alive or has met some kind of l te. rorter: the mystery started last saturday night when harrington and her friends went to a metallica concert in charlottesville, virginia. before the concert ended, harrington left her friends to use the restroom. later, she called her friends from outside the concert venue to say she had left the arena and couldn't get back in. >> there has been no contact with morgan or from morgan. >> reporter: her parents notified police the very next day, saying their daughter didn't come home as expected. her fatr gave an emotional plea. >> i'd like to say if morgan is out there, please come home. if someone has morgan, please let her come home safely. >> reporter: now in its seventh day, the massive search continues with police and volunteers. metallica even posted a plea of their own on their website saying one of our fans is missing and asking for help. her friends created a facebook page. harrington's friends gathered for a vigil as her mother, jill, recalled the last time she had spoken to her daughter. >> saturday as she left, morgan's last words to me were 241, mama, i love you too much, forever, one more time. >> and joining us now are morgan's parents, dan and jill harrinon. good morning to bo of you. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> and thank you for being with us. this has to be a tremendously difficult time, and i know you all are doing your best to get the awareness out there and trying to find your daughter. john, i want to start with you and take you back to saturday. when you heard what happened that night, that your daughter had used the restroom, she couldn't get backnto that venue, into the concert, so she just called her friends and said, hey, i'm going to find my own way home, does that sound like something your dghter would do? >> you know, it doesn't most of the time, but kids are impulsive, especially in that exci excitement, or perhaps she knew who she could get a ride with. you know, we don't know. we wish we did know. >> and, jill, i know she had been looking forward to this concert for a very long time. you helped her pick out an outfit that day. take us back to that day. was there anything out of the ordinary with your daughter? >> no. it was a regular day for us. you know, got up, made tea, had coffee, chatted some, you know, showed the outfits, showed me -- how she was going to do her makeup. you know, just we spen time together. >> and, dan, i understand that you and your daughter have a uniquely close relationship. she's given you her computer pass words. she was never trying to hide anything from you, probably not very typical for a 20-year-old. talk about your daughter and what her personality is like. >> morgan's sort of a copy of me in many ways. she's really a very sweet person, i think kind of an innocent individual who probably is quite trusting. she is quite artistic, loves to read, and really over the last six months i think jill and morgan and i have had just a phenomenal relationship and experience. you know, she goes to school only 35 miles from here, and we've been able to have daily contact with her. and, you know, of course she's close enough she can come in and out. she's a wonderful person. >> she was a daughter who had lots of contact, and you said in one word you wanted to describe her? >> one word that comes to mind when you think of morgan is shiny. she was beautiful, and sheas betifuinside, too. she radiated light. her brother said yesterday when he came in, which was chilling for us, but at the same time some hope, he said, morgan has a purpose in this world, and morgan is so special that whoever took her is going to keep her around for a while. so, please let morgan go, no questions asked. let her come home to us. morgan, we are trying to shine our heart to you as a beacon to come through wherever you are. come back home. please keep sending your tips and information to morgan. we need her home. >> we will absolutely get that number out to those who are watching. and dan and jill harrington, our hearts go out to you. and certainly we are hoping and praying for the best for you and your family and of cose for morgan. thank you for your time this morning. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> and if p you have any information about this case, please call the virginia state police 24-hour tip line. the number on your screen, 434-352-3467. here's lester. a familiar face returns to "weekend tu" this morning. jack ford, award-winning journalist and former trial lawyer. he anchored "today" for four years and covered high-profile legal cases for the network including the o.j. sison trial. now he's adding novelist to his resume, a thriller called "the osiris alliance." welcome back. >> nice to come back. >> nice to get up early on the weekend. >> i'd forgotten that special joy of your alarm clock going off at 4:00 in the morning. >> i love the idea for this book was born in the studio, which we'll talk about. since you are covering all things legal, i want to pick your brain about a couple stories including the casey anthony case and the death penalty. you've been covering that. what are your thoughts on that? >> that's unusual. as a lawyer, i tried a half a dozen death penalty cases and you always look at them carefully. here, one of the things that happened recently, her lawyers were in court arguing the judge should throw out the murder counand throw out the idea of the death penalty being on the table. they've argued that because no one has net been able to say how this child died -- medical examiners have characterized it as a homicide, but no one has been able to say what was exactly the cause of death. so, her lawyers argue, well, how can you then go forward and make this a death penalty case when you can't even point to how it was that it's happened? >> the prosecution's entire case, but it looks like it's not far from an open and shut. >> no. they're going to say, look, if you see the remains here and remember the remains had duct tape across the mouth and other things, prosecutors say that by itself has to indicate to you that this was some type of horrendous death, so the prosecution is going to try to put together bits and pieces here to suggest to a jury that there's enough here for them to say this was a particularly atrocious or heinous type of death and they're going to say that's enough for them to consider the death penalty. >> let's turn to your book. this is a story -- first of al characters you're familiar with. >> prosecutor -- >> former special operations -- >> former special forces soldier and a woman, tv investigative reporter. >> didn't have to go far for material here. >> it's interesting. people have asked me, she is essentially an amalgam of a the marvelous women i've had a chce to work with over the years. i have bits and pieces of all of them as part of her. a fun character. >> a lot of people y, is that me? >> and i say, yes, it is. >> good answer. >> yes, it is. >> good answer. the idea was born in the studio. explain the connection. >> years ago when i was hosting the show and also working as a chief legal correspondent for nbc news, during the midst of the o.j. simpson trial, we decided to do a piece comparing the lindbergh kidnapping trial with the o.j. simpson trial. the idea was people were saying the o.j. simpson trial was the trial of the century. ultimately, it became the conclusion it was the lindbergh trial that was the trial of the century. i had also, when i was a young lawyer, had handled the case inside of the courtroom. they preserved the little, small courtroom in flemington, new jersey so, i had an interest in it. but i spent a lot of time putting the piece together for the "today" show that we did, and i thought ultimately that would make a real good springboard for the story. >> really good to have you here. you have a lot of friends here. you walked in and i thought uh-oh. you are the man. >> nice to see a lot of friends. >> congratulations. >> thank you. >> jack ford. all right. still to come, an unsolved mystery. last flight of amelia err hart. ♪ happy landings to you, amelia ♪ she was the record-setti pilot who dared to take on challenges many men of her time wouldn't dream of. for decades, american have wondered what happened to amelia errhart. now a major hollywood film takes a look at her life. nbc's manuel almaguer has a report from the airstrip she called home. >> another national heroine. >> reporter: it's been years since she vanish preponderance of the evidence we may never know what happened inside the cockpit. the mystery still captivates a nation, and amelia earhart still challenges millions to fly. earhart crossed borders and broke barriers. her story is what movies are made of. amelia, released today, chronicles her record-setting flights across the atlantic, her solo journey over the pacific, and her final flight in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe. >> for a quarter century, the world has wondered -- >> when she never returned, the fascination with earhart only grew. mary level wrote one of the books that inspired the movie. >> suppose she finished the flight. she'd certainly be a record holder. but i don't know that she'd be remembered now. >> reporter: today she isn't just remembered. she'