Michael phelps faces a familiar foe, ryan lochte, in his first comeback final. The thrilling finish today, friday, april 25th, 2014. From nbc news, this is today, with matt lauer and savannah guthrie, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And good morning. Welcome to today on a friday morning. Im matt lauer. And im Natalie Morales along with al roker and tamron hall. Savannah has the morning off. What a way to make a comeback for a guy who basically took the last couple of years. Says he played golf, gained 30 pounds, but its nice to hear those two names in the same sentence again, phelps and lochte, phelps and lochte. Headtohead the whole way, but were not going to tell you how it ends just yet. Youve got to hang on a little while. But first, we want to get to todays top story. Frightening moments for the crew of a Virgin Australia flight headed to bali. A passenger now under arrest after rushing the cockpit. Nbcs katy tur is in perth, australia, with the latest on this. Katy, good morning. Reporter good morning, matt. It was a flight from brisbane to bali, initially reported as a hijacking. And now were learning it was a severely intoxicated australian man. Drama in the air overnight when a 28yearold man rushed the cockpit of a 737 Virgin Australia plane traveling with 137 passengers onboard. The man reportedly made it to the locked cockpit door and began pounding and banging, trying to get to where the pilots were flying the plane. Pilots then broadcast this secret code to Ground Control of a possible hijacking. But before the man was able to get into the cockpit, the flight crew reportedly grabbed him and handcuffed him to a seat in the back of the plane. Authorities later said the man the flight from brisbane to bali landed safely with everyone onboard unharmed. The man was taken into custody where hes now being interrogated by indonesian officials. Now, Virgin Australia issued a statement saying the flight was at no time in any danger, and that the man was unarmed. To give you a little bit of context, its a National Holiday here today, and it could be the guy just got severely intoxicated before he got on the plane. Of course, though, it does not diminish how serious or how scary this situation was. Matt . Thats true. Katy tur in perth on this story for us this morning. Katy, thanks very much. Meantime, president obama arrived in south kors morning, the second stop of his asian tour. A country still reeling from last weeks tragic ferry disaster. Nbcs White House CorrespondentPeter Alexander is in seoul. Peter, good morning. Reporter natalie, good morning to you. That ferry disaster is really being seen here and felt here like a national tragedy. Today, president obama expressed americas deepest sympathies to the people of south korea, with more than 300 people, many of them high school students, dead or missing. At south koreas president ial residence today, president obama led his hosts in a moment of silence. As a show of solidarity, president obama offered items of remembrance, the u. S. Flag that flew over the white house the day of the disaster, and a magnolia tree from the white house south lawn, a symbol of renewal to be planted at the high school that lost so many students. Im a father of two daughters. I can only imagine what the parents are going through at this point. Reporter this afternoon, president obama offered this new warning, if russia doesnt deescalate the crisis in ukraine. Is he going to use military force and the kind of destabilizing activities that weve seen so far . Thats a choice that hes going to have to make. But we shouldnt make the choice easy for him. Reporter earlier, he laid a wreath at south koreas national war memorial. In this region, the unpredictability of north koreas young dictator poses its own constant threat. Korean leaders warning the north could conduct another nuclear test to coincide with the president s visit. Kim jongun remains an enigma. Thats why these neverbeforeseen photos from kims childhood revealed by north korean state media just days ago drew so much attention. The images shown as crowds cheered at a nationally televised concert. Kim song min risked his life defecting from north korea 15 years ago. Now living in seoul, he runs an antinorth korea Radio Station and still secretly remains in contact with a network of dissidents trapped inside. Under kim jongun, life hasnt gotten any better, he told me. For many people there, its only gotten worse. They live their lives in fear. On that topic, president obama said north korea is not just a threat to this region, it is a threat to the u. S. As well. Tomorrow before heading to malaysia, president obama will get a briefing from officials here at a u. S. Military base. Matt and natalie, then he will visit with some of the 28,000 american troops who are stationed in this country. All right, Peter Alexander in seoul, south korea, thank you. Meanwhile, were learning more this morning about a deadly attack at a hospital in afghanistan that claimed the lives of three americans. Nbcs keir simmons has more on that. Keir, good morning. Reporter hey, matt, good morning. Youre about to hear a statement that will leave you in awe of the woman who made it. The wife of a chicago doctor killed in afghanistan says she doesnt blame the people there or even the gunman himself. While his killing increases the fear that u. S. Forces leave afghanistan, the militants will turn on nonmilitary western targets. Dr. Jerry umanos spent nine years in afghanistan saving the lives of children. He worked in a nicu unit in kabul run by the Christian Charity c. U. R. E. He was shot dead thursday in his own hospital by policeman, thousands of miles from his family in chicago. Our family has suffered a great loss. Our family and friends have suffered a great loss. And our hearts are aching. Reporter they released these pictures of precious moments together. Dr. Umanos was killed with two american friends, yet his wife says they forgive. We dont hold any ill will towards afghanistan in general, or even the gunman who did this. Reporter in afghanistan, the innocent are increasingly targets. 2yearold abu shot four times, lost his parents during an attack on a hotel last month. Now even doctors caring for children are in the firing line, but they will not leave. This doesnt shake our resolve to continue to love the children of afghanistan. The children of afghanistan did not do this. Reporter his charity even says that after the attack, fellow medics stepped in and saved the life of the gunman who just killed their friend. The white house has condemned the attack. The u. S. Embassy in kabul described dr. Umanos as a humanitarian. But aside from all the politics, it just leaves you speechless. Heres a guy helping afghan families, saving newborn children, Training Afghans to do the same and he is shot dead while his incredible wife says they wont give up on afghanistan. Matt . Yeah, no question about it. Keir simmons in london for us this morning. Keir, thank you very much. Meanwhile, tamron is here with some troubling new developments in that ferry accident in south korea. Yes. Frustration is boiling over this morning for relatives of people still missing from the sunken south korean ferry. Also, new questions today on whether that boat was safe enough to be in the water at all. Nbcs bill neely has the latest. Reporter good morning, tamron. Investigators here now suspect that life rafts on the sunken ferry may not have worked properly. Evidence growing here that the ferry operators broke the rules and risked lives. The ferry sank with passengers trapped and life rafts unused. Only 2 of 46 were launched. Investigators have now seized its sister ship and found life rafts and escape chutes were faulty. They raided government offices, suspecting officials were bribed to pass both ships as safe. They suspect the captain lied, that the ship was overloaded with cargo, and that the steering was faulty. Do you think this ship was safe to sail . No. Reporter no . No. Reporter it was dangerous . Yes, yes, yes. Reporter this marine expert says loose cargo unbalanced the ship. The cargo was too heavy . And it was not secure . Right. I think so. Reporter anger is growing. Parents of the missing targeting naval officials. Why arent you finding our children more quickly, they asked . At sea, the grim search for bodies grinds on. Dozens of divers circling and entering the ship. More than 100 people still trapped inside. The operation here is focused entirely on recovering bodies. Its only when they salvage the ship, raise it up, that they can begin to prove what happened with the cargo and with the steering. But prosecutors are in little doubt that negligence on and off the ship cost hundreds their lives. As further evidence of that, it appears the Ferry Company didnt spend too much money training its crew. Last year it spent exactly 521. It didnt buy a lot of safety. Tamron . All right, bill, thank you. A frightening scene in Southern California when a school bus crashed near a golf course thursday. Officials say the bus drove off the road up a steep hillside and crashed into trees. The students, all seventh and eighth graders were coming from an after school activity. A dozen people were injured. The bus driver had to be pulled from the wreckage. He and two students were hospitalized with serious, but thankfully nonlife threatening injuries. It could be a big day for the future of college athletics. Northwestern University Football players will vote today whether to join a union. The National LaborRelations Board ruled the players are University Employees and therefore have the right to unionize. But the results of that vote may not be known for quite some time. The nlrb has agreed to hear an appeal from the university. The vote is likely to have huge ramification on how College Sports operate. New york yankees pitcher Michael Pineda will miss his next two starts after the league handed down a tengame suspension thursday. Pineda was ejected wednesday night after the umpire discovered he had pine tar on his neck. While commonly used by pitchers to improve their grip, it is against the rules. And an extremely rare birth getting tons of attention at a northern mexico zoo. Take a look. This is kumba, a rare cross between a zebra and a donkey. The zoo says the zonkey is very unusual because the donkey and zebra chromosomes are not compatible. Listen to this. The father, the zebra visited the donkey, winkwink, daily. What did he do . Drive over . Bring flowers and candy . This is the movie where the lion and the tiger mix together. Liger. I never saw it. Missed that one. Let us know if you know. I knew there would be a chris rock joke in here somewhere. But that didnt happen. Its not madagascar. Thats an animated one. This is going very well. I always thought a zonkey was a cross between a zebra and a monkey. Im kidding. This is going downhill. Mr. Roker has a check of the weather. Crackalacka. Hes cute, lets leave it at that. Lets show you whats happening out there. Remember we told you yesterday about all these forest fires here in the northeast, they continue in new jersey. Toms river, new jersey. This one finally under control. But for a while, 600 homes were evacuated. Thankfully theyre out. But the good news is there is some relief coming. As you can see on the radar, weve got showers and thunderstorms pushing toward us. As they do, theyre going to start firing up later this morning into this afternoon, cleveland, on into washington, d. C. Norfolk. Were going to look at strong showers and thunderstorms making their way into the northeast. Heres what weve got, generally a wide area of rain from charleston into raleigh, but we do have the risk of Severe Weather right along the southeastern atlantic coast. Were not looking at tornados out of this thing, but we are looking at the risk of hail, damaging winds and a lot of heavy rain. Were going to get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. Nbc bay area microclimate Weather Forecast is sponsored by yakult probiotic drink. Happy friday, you made to the end of the week. Showers which will likely impact your morning drive but not impact your entire day. I say keep your umbrella handy but by 5 00, 6 00 tonight starting to clear out nicely. Heavier downpours developing and rolling onshore here along the peninsula. All this getting ready to move over. 280 and 101 count on slick conditions and highs today will be on the chilly side. Napoleon dynamite. Better late than never. It is an important weekend for the worlds one billion catholics. Pope john paul ii will be made a saint along with Pope John Paul xxiii in an historic event at the vatican. But its not without controversy. Nbcs Anne Thompson is at the vatican this morning. Anne, good morning. Reporter good morning, natalie. At capacity, st. Peters square behind me can hold 80,000 people. But officials are expecting ten times that number to come here and witness history, because on sunday, the Catholic Church for the first time will canonize two popes together. All roads lead to rome for the worlds catholics. The script from chicago joining one million pilgrims expected to jam the streets around the vatican to see popes john xxiii and john ii made saints. Pope john opened the windows of the church to the world in 1962, convening the Second Vatican Council that modernized this ancient faith. He led the church for just five years. John paul ii served for 26, a major figure on the world stage, the pope from poland helped bring down communism. He was a charismatic leader with a more conservative approach to catholic doctrine. At his funeral in 2005, millions chanted sainthood now. Drowning out dissent. Voices of women, voices of sex abuse victims, voices of the more progressive folks in the church who felt they had gotten stomped on during the 26, almost 27 years of john paul iis papacy. Reporter his failure to respond to the sex abuse crisis has some saying john paul should not be made a saint. Cardinal donald wuerl of washington, d. C. Says sainthood does not mean perfection. Its a declaration that the person is a virtuous and holy person. Reporter the Historic Ceremony will be broadcast in 3d and followed on social media. It even has its own twitter handle. But for this group of catholics from brooklyn, there is nothing like being here. We are the only people who could bring people together, one bread, one body, one lord of all. Thats us. Reporter now, they will not only see two popes canonized, but they will also see two living popes. Pope francis will preside over the mass. Pope emeritus benedict is expected to attend. It will kind of be like a catholic allstar game. Matt . Its like a doubleheader. Anne thompson, thank you. Thats one way to put it. Its been a remarkable week when you consider that the vatican, last sunday was easter sunday, so obviously a big event for catholics. And now thousands and thousands expected to gather over this weekend. This is a big deal this weekend. Lets bring in vatican spokesman greg burke. Greg, good morning to you. Greg, can you hear me . Reporter good morning, matt, how are you . Im doing well, thanks. A lot of people are asking this is the fastest process to sainthood in the history of the Catholic Church for john paul ii . Why the rush . Why do it so quickly . Well, i mean, rush is an opinionated word there, because there are things that have actually happened faster. The pope can do whatever he wants. I think there are two important things here, matt. One is, its not a rush, but a number of people who wanted this. Pope benedict, we thought was one of the most conservative popes in the world until he resigned, of course. But obviously a very prudent man. Somebody who knew john paul ii for the better part and worked with him for the better part of 25 years. And hes the one who signed off on the normal fiveyear waiting thing. Fiveyear wait before a process actually starts. So benedict did that. I think thats one sign that we were pretty safe. The other is just the enormous outpouring of people coming for john pauls death. Thats part of the saintmaking process. Its not exactly a democratic process, but people do vote with their feet. When you go back and look now at john xxiii and the canonization of that pope, the normal procedure is two miracles are presented. With that pope, theres now been one miracle presented. I dont mean to make it an opinionated comment again, but, you know, why do away with the tradition there . Yeah, youre good on that. Thats one for pope francis to answer. But the pope essentially is allowed to do what he wants. John the 23rd has certainly been one of the most revered figures. Its often been done in the past as well, matt, so no controversy there. Its often been done in the past where a second miracle has been waived. Its waived all the time in the case of martyrs. I think its the immense popularity, the immense importance of john the 23rd for the church, and its also just an incredible sign of unity having the two popes together. All right, greg burke at the vatican this morning. Greg, thank you very much. We appreciate it. Well have more from the vatican coming up on weekend today. Meantime, one of the nations oldest magazines has announced a major change. Ladies home journal. Carson, you have much more on that. I do. Ladies home journal. 131 years, one of the oldest american publications. Als graced the cover many times. Yes. No longer, al. No longer. The ladies love him. This is kind of cool. First one right here back in december of 1883. Thats their first issue. 50 cents a year. Heres the most recent one. Sally field looking good on the cover. Our anchors graced the inside of the magazine throughout the years. Heres savannah. This was good. On coanchor matt lauer, hes like the older brother i wish i didnt have. Nice. Thanks for that, carson. Hoda and kathie lee. The question on our Facebook Page is this. How many magazines do you subscribe to . That could be behind why the publication by the way, there will still be digital and offer quarterly specials. None, ive totally gone