it vanished. it's not over yet. severe winter weather slams the south dropping bounding hail and heavy rain. as the system rolls east, it's bringing with it the threat of tornadoes and heavy snow which could blanket the nation's capital. it's all keeping dylan very busy. golden guys. >> a fantastic moment for these athletes. >> that it is. the united states sled hockey team takes down russia at the paralympics and are proudly showing off their gold medals today, this sunday, march 16th. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with lester holt and erica hill live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. welcome to today on this sunday morning. i'm erica hill. >> i'm lester holt alongside jenna wolfe and dylan dreyer. malaysian airlines flight 370 missing for nine days this morning. >> it is, of course, our top story. this morning investigators are taking a closer look at the pilots of that missing jet. they are examining and elaborate flight simulator one of the pilots had in his home. they are not, however, ruling out the passengers nor the ground crew. they are looking at everyone. today an already vast search area meantime has grown significantly as the malaysians are asking for help from more countries around the globe. we have the story covered from all angles. we begin with kerry sanders in wad with the latest. >> good morning, erica. as we enter day nine, malaysian officials this morning say the search area is no longer concentrated just over water, they announced at a press conference this morning they're looking over huge land masses of 11 countries, mostly in central asia. for investigators who suspect the pilot and copilot may have hatched a deadly plan, new information may shoot that theory down as the airline has revealed the cockpit crew did not request to fly together. today the u.s. navy has its p3s and 8s off the coast of myanmar, also called burma. as investigators begin to turn to the vast indian ocean, the search will slow down. why? the u.s. navy is flying its planes from kuala lumpur. if it takes three hours to get there, it takes three hours to get back to refuel with about nine hours of total flight time, that leaves only three hours for searching. the best-case scenario would be finding the so-called black boxes, usually the flight data record irs provide answers. in this case if the voice recorder is ever found, it may end up frustrating investigators. >> it only records information for two hours and then overwrites itself. if this is a six or seven-hour event, we've lost all the good stuff. >> can you tell us what you were doing inside the house. >> in kuala lumpur, flight 370 is now a criminal investigation. mrs. there search the homes of the pilot and copilot. the pilot's home flight simulator was removed by police to see if perhaps the erratic route flight 370 took was first rehearsed in cyberspace. >> i think law enforcement officials are looking at the pilots' homes to understand their broader relationships, their e-mails, their computer files. >> reporter: what remains unanswered is what route the plane followed as it went west. to track the path officials are relying heavily on technology never designed to locate an aircraft. the 777 has an antenna that automatically sends bursts of data. like how much fuel engine is burning, engine performance. a team of clever technicians realized the pings also reveal how far the plane was from the orbiting satellite. so if this balloon were the satellite and this string were the signal bouncing to and from the plain, you can draw an arc as to where it might have gone. that's why the search area now includes 11 countries like kazakhstan. this inboard communication system happens in the background, but investigators now believe someone tried to shut it all down within the first hour of flight which adds to the theory the disappearance of flight 370 was a deliberate act. >> that theory also adds to the mystery and number of questions. kerry sanders thank you. >> let's continue that thought. greg five is a former ntsb investigator. everybody theoretically is a suspect. i know you continue to lead toward the pilots and you do so based on where that pilot was last seen on radar, handing off now between vietnam and malaysia. the pilots make a final radio transmission. walk me through your theory based on what happened at that point. >> i think when you look at the timeline itself, it's very compre compressed. everything ab pierce to be normal up to the last communication of the pilot saying okay, good night, something to that effect. there was a sequential shutdown of the transponders and the a car's data prior to that. i find it hard if somebody broke into the cockpit, was taking over command of the airplane, they'd be able to accomplish all these things and get the pilots to do that in a very, very short period of time because the left-hand turn followed shortly after that communication. >> we learned the pilots did not ask to fly together that night. if you assume that one of the pilots took this action, went rogue, they would have to overpower the other one. i know in the united states some pilots are certified to carry weapons on board. do we know if that's the case with international crews? >> that's not a universal policy around the world. i don't know what malaysia's policies are. of course, there are things in the cockpit that could be used as a weapon if you want to disable someone in the cockpit without their knowledge. >> pilots have to undergo periodic medical recertification. is there anything psychological they have to go through to be certified to continue to fly commercially? >> typically there are a battery of psychological tests when they first come on with the airline. they go through a profiling and that kind of thing just to make sure they're psychologically stable to operate a large commercial aircraft. but that is not necessarily part of recurrent training or all of the periodic medical certifications that pilots go through. >> greg, lastly, you have drawn parallels over the last several days to what happened here to a silk airlines flight in the late '90s that went down over sumatra. it was later determined the pilot purposely crashed that airplane. i think a problem a lot of folks have is why, if that was the case here, would a pilot want to fly six hours before dumping the plane in the water. it doesn't make sense. >> lester, when you look at some of the things we've seen just in society where somebody barricades themselves before they want to take their own life, or they want to make a statement, this may not be the statement necessarily of somebody getting on a radio and making a comment. it may be that for the fact that we are here nine days into this and the world is still talking about this and following this drama, if you will, that's a statement in and of itself. so we're really going to have to rely on the criminal investigation to see if it can bear out the motivations of one or both of these pilots. >> we'll keep asking the questions and searching for the answers. greg five, thanks very much. while the calendar may say there are only a few days left until spring, winter seems to be ignoring that queue. there is another big storm sweping ab cross the west. in the south, heavy snow tomorrow. dylan is on top of all this. good morning. >> good morning, erica. it started off as a big rain storm through texas. take a look at this video as the storms got severe. we saw two-inch diameter hail, golf-ball-sized hail in north texas. it came down hard and fast and even caused damage to the cars, too. you can see the ominous looking clouds. it looked like there would be rotation in this cloud but we have no confirmed tornadoes from yesterday. we do have a tornado watch in effect until noontime in this red box along the gulf coast states along with real heavy rain as well. you can see the whole system spreading to the east. this area of low pressure is going to start to move to the north and east. we do have a slight risk of more severe storms, this time further east, from new orleans through the panhandle of florida. heavy rain to the north of that. and right on the northern edge as it runs into some of that colder air, we could end up with snow. and that swath from st. louis over into washington, d.c. where we could see some accumulating snow. perhaps as much as about three to six inches in some areas. it looks like hagerstown over to southern new jersey we should see about one to three inches. erica? >> all right, dylan. thanks. we'll get more of your national forecast in a bit. back overseas now. residents of ukraine's crimea region are voting on whether to split ouf and join russia. it's a vote that has united states very angry. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in ukraine with the latest. >> reporter: good morning, lester. voting has begun in crimea for this ref wren dem. the people today are deciding on whether to remain as part of ukraine or break away and join up with russia. the voting is taking place mostly in schools. voters we've been talking to predominantly say they want to join up with russia. a lot of their motivation is economic. the economy of russia is stronger than the crimean economy. they hope if the people here become russian citizens they will also be entitled to russian state pensions. this cannot, however, be described as a completely open, free and fair vote. there are russian troops on the ground. there are pro russian militias that have taken over the streets, taken over the parliament building behind me. the results could be announced fairly soon. but it already seems likely that this referendum will pass and that this peninsula, the crimean peninsula could become the newest part of russia. >> richard engel, thank you. david gregory is moderator of "meet the press." good morning. >> good morning. >> richard set up what's happening in crimea today. for a lot of folks this morning many united states, we know there is a large focus on this. we know this is very important and being watched closely in washington. why does it matter to us here in the united states? >> well, i think the big question is about vladimir putin and how far he's going to go. the united states doesn't want actors around the world seizing territory that is independent, sovereign territory, especially at a time when ukraine was trying to build a democracy and move more toward the west. that becomes the real concern here. we've seen this from russia before. this has only soured relations between the u.s. and russia further. that's the consequence. we also have allies there in that part of the world, in the baltic region in particular who are part of the nato alliance that the u.s. is beholding to and has sworn to protect militarily. >> there have been calls for president obama to be more involved here. as you point out here, president putin is not one that takes suggestions, shall we say, well. there has been significant criticism for the president. senator john mccain calling on the president to be more forceful, more involved here. how much realistic ki can the united states do? how much sway do we have? >> that is the question. it's going to become an economic war. that's where you have u.s. intervention here, the seizing of assets, targeting companies that are close to the kremlin. there also could be a response by russia that could impact u.s. businesses as well. that's part of the calculation. i think that's part of the effort. in the united states, western earn countries, e.u. countries put pressure on russia and get putin to think about that as we moves forward oopsz. if you're put tin, you have to think about what can you do to destabilize a country at your doorstep. he's done that with a cessation vote. he would like to make it easy for them to improve as a democracy. >> we'll take a closer look at what you have coming up on "meet the press" later. top for a look at the rest of the morning's stop stories with jenna. >> good morning. high everyone. we'll start today in venezuela are where violence continues in caracas. anti-government protesters have spent the last six weeks rallies in the square. at least 25 people have been killed since the protests began. firefighters are still working to contain brush fire out in southern california. so far it's charred 350 acres in the town of thermal knocking down power lines and destroying a building. no injuries have been reported. officials expect to have it under control by tomorrow morning. comedian david david brenner has died. he appeared more than 150 times on carson's show. a family spokesman says the comic's grave site will read, if this is supposed to be a joke, i don't get it. brenner was suffering from cancer. he was 78 years oath. if you drive a honda odyssey model years 2005 to 2010 we have a recall to tell you about. the automaker is recalling nearly 900,000 minivans because a fuel pump cover can deteriorate and cause a leak. they say no fires or injuries have been reported. any time you put two adults in costumes with limited peripheral vision and parade them in a room full of screaming fans, temperatures will flare. stony brook and albany battle it out during the america east title game. off the court, their mascots were doing the exact same thing. it was albany's damion the great and stony brook's wol fi the seawolf had to be separated. it got so bad. on the court albany won 65-60. >> i'll give you two guesses who i rooted for on that one. but the first one doesn't count. >> a hard foul. dylan is back with a quick look at the rest of the nation's forecast. >> for st. patrick's clouds will work in. it will be breezy. temperatures around 27 to 32. snow stays further south. looks like washington d.c. and areas like delaware could end up with a couple inch os snow. three to six tonight and through the morning commute. now here's a peak out your window. >> good morning i'm storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. winter weather advisories in hair marry. winter storm warnings points west and south of washington. temperatures this morning are in the upper 30s to around 40. plenty of sunshine now allows for a little recovery. no rain on storm team 4 yet. leading edge of the rain drops, this will start as rain 5:00 to 7:00 this evening changing over to snow after that. that's your latest forecast. lester? >> dylan, thanks. it's a jungle out there for some amazon.com customers. the wildly popular online shopping company is jacking up the price of its prime membership. as ron mott tells us, loyal customers are not happy. >> reporter: consumers can be a fussy lot, balking, at times revolting to changes in be loved products and services. ask coca-cola which dared to tweak flavors in the '80s, for netflix which tried to split its dvd rentals and streaming video to great dismay. >> netflix is getting slaughtered by its own price hike. >> reporter: now it's amazon's turn. the online retailer says it's raising the cost of its prime membership for movies and kindle ebooks fr ebooks for the first time from $79 to $99. sarcasm to pay more. >> $99 that's prit pricey. >> reporter: support is out there, too. >> they have to make a profit, also. they're giving you free shipping. >> reporter: the noise coming from wall street so far is mostly joyful. amazon's stock has climbed since the announcement. >> they can keep a solid chunk of their 25 million prime customers, that's an additional $20 on each one of those accounts. that's going to add direct tloi the bottom line. amazon is in the middle of a crowded field for online video subscribers including competitors like comcast and hulu owned by nbc's parent company. considering the angst amazon has stirred up, rumor has it they're looking to join the streaming tunes business which could be music to many people's ears. the u.s. faces off with russia once again on the ice. a gold medal on the line. we'll have the highlights and jake and i have been best friends for years. one of our favorite things to do is going to the dog park together. sometimes my copd makes it hard to breathe. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function starting within five minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better. come on, boy! [ female announcer ] symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. [ man ] now symbicort significantly improves my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. and that makes a difference in my breathing. today, i'm hanging out with my best friend. talk to your doctor about symbicort. i got my first prescription free. call or go online to learn more. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. [ telephone rings ] [ shirley ] edward jones. this is shirley speaking. how may i help you? oh hey, neill, how are you? how was the trip? [ male announcer ] with nearly 7 million investors... [ shirley ] he's right here. hold on one sec. [ male announcer ] ...you'd expect us to have a highly skilled call center. kevin, neill holley's on line one. ok, great. [ male announcer ] and we do. it's how edward jones makes sense of investing. ♪ celebrations are already under way in some cities. we thought why not get into the spirit with some trivia? >> jenna is putting us to the test in the ofrng room, which should be the green room today. >> i'll throw pink just to really mess it up. everybody is irish on st. paddy's day. how well do you know your irish? st. paddy's day trivia. these are easy questions. st. patrick's day is celebrated to commemorate which of the following events, the day saint patrick was born, the day saint patrick found the first four leaf clover or the day saint patrick died sgr . >> it's either born or died. >> i love when everyone's answer starts with obviously. you are correct, it's the day saint patrick died. how about this one. what is erin go bragh. >> ireland forever. >> dylan. >> we're two for two. >> this is not going to last. nor the next one i want to bring our plaza fan of the day in. this is stephanie. stephanie is going to read this one for you guys. we made it extra specially fannish. >> which american city holds the largest st. patrick's day parade. new york, chicago or boston. >> i couldn't imagine that better well red. >> i'm going new york. >> i'm going to say boston. >> how about you? >> i'm going new york. >> it is n.y. how about that. stephanie that was fantastic. are you going to do anything crazy special today? >> my daughter's tenth birthday. we couldn't think of a better way to celebrate than here at the "today" show. >> stephanie, thanks for coming in. happy birthday to your daughter. >> thank you very much. still to come on a sunday edition of "today," we are going to cooking class to see how to whip up healthier meals. look at the dream team there. we were in a competition and we may or may not have won. we were in a competition and we may or may not have won. more ♪ oh, there's an energy crisis happening alright. a human one. and it's time to fight it. quaker's good energy is just what you want. it's how we help keep go-getters like you... going... and getting. one bite at a time. make it with milk for a boost of protein. quaker up. from crest 3d white, new brilliance toothpaste and boost. after brushing, our exclusive boost polishes your smile and whitens with 3x the stain lifting ingredient for a smile that dazzles. new crest 3d white brilliance. for a smile that dazzles. the triple-groove wand combs through for clump-free length. while a potion with strengthening proteins drenches lashes for spellbinding volume. do you believe in magic? dare to be revlon. [ male announcer ] let the rich robust flavor still ahead, we'll take you to the largest pet trade show on and irresistible aroma of nescafe clasico stir what's inside of you. ♪ [ engine revving ] [ tires screech ] ♪ [ male announcer ] that was bold. real bold. ♪ smoke? nah, i'm good. [ male announcer ] celebrate every win with nicoderm cq, the unique patch with time release smartcontrol technology that helps prevent the urge to smoke all day long. help prevent your cravings with nicoderm cq. that helps prevent the urge to smoke all day long. all the goodness of milk, all the deliciousness of hershey's syrup. thiscampaign is about i'm runnyou more than me.- but this it's about brianna, who will breathe cleaner air because as attorney general i forced polluters to put in place $4.6 billion dollars in pollution controls. for caren, i fought big banks, winning $1.6 billion in mortgage relief for her and thousands of marylanders. for myra and her kids, they're safer because i brought the beltway snipers to justice, and fought child pornography and internet predators. for eric and mickey, i went to court to fight for marriage equality. for hundreds of baltimore kids, i started an inner city lacrosse league. and when a judge blamed an 11 year old girl for being sexually abused by saying "it takes two to tango," i took that judge on. i don't put up with things like that, it's not who i am. i take on tough fights and get things done for the people of maryland. good morning. it is 8:26 on march 16th. i'm richard jordan. d.c. police want you to take a look at this man here. detectives believe he's responsible for a sexual assault earlier this week. officers say he attacked someone around 2:30 tuesday morning. the if you recognize him or have information on the attack, call d.c. police. two people including this man here are waking up behind bars. michael jerman and his girlfriend regina were arrested for robbing carter bank and trust in virginia. police arrested them friday after a tip came in on their crime line. both of them are now charged with robbery. if you are headed to d.c.'s st. patrick's day parade you may wanted to take metro. streetss are closed from 7th to 17th street in northwest. the parade will start at noon and should wrap up around 2:30. this year east theme is selfless service. service. we're going to check your servhi, are we still on for we'rtomorrow?o check your tomorrow. quick look at the weather. nice day, beautiful tomorrow. tomorrow is full of promise. we can come back tomorrrow. and we promise to keep it that way. driven to preserve the environment, csx moves a ton of freight nearly 450 miles on one gallon of fuel. what a day. can't wait til tomorrow. good morning. i'm storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. warnings and advisories are posted this morning. temperatures generally 30s to near 40 degrees right now. we'll see a rise in temperatures today. curtesy of early morning sunshine. we'll gradually make it to mid and up 40s today. skies become mostly cloudy. rain drops likely to arrive between 5:00 and 8:00. it will start as rain however it will change to snow overnight. most likely scenario three inches around town. good chance it could be less or more. three to six inches around town. richard? ♪ >> we waited for two months to celebrate my daughter's tenth birthday on the "today" show. >> hi everyone in louisville, we made it to the "today" show. >> hi erica. >> celebrating spring break with the "today" show. >> how you doin "today" show! ? >> we're doin just great. good morning, welcome back on a sunday morning, it's march 16, 2014, great crowd on the plaza. some of the pictures our audience is posting. great to have them here. who was doing the wheelbarrow race? >> me and jenna -- >> lester -- whatever. that girl. >> dylan and i did it. we went one way and they went the other. if we both get down on the floor, are you going to use both shots. they only used one shot. >> we only have so much time. >> lester was in makeup. >> sometimes a guy wants to feel pretty. >> i'm going to leave that one alone. we want to get you caught up on the morning's top headlines at this hour. police are examining an elaborate flight simulator that one of the pilots of the missing malaysian airliner had set up in his home, this as they also say the search area for flight 370 has expanded dramatically eight days after the flight's disappearance. voters in the crimean region of ukraine are going to the polls to decide if they want to join russia or become an independent state. it's been called illegal by the eu. the eu is taking steps to increase sanctions against russia. bundle up. here we go again. another huge storm bringing hail, rain and even tornado watches to the south, on a clear path to the washington, d.c. area where it could dump several more inches of snow. still to come in this half hour, we'll take you to the largest pet trade show on the planet to tell you about the best pet products you want to get your hands on. we will show you how to cook classic dishes with a fraction of the calories and fat. we did it here on the set. we know this is possible and you always, always need to have fun in the process. >> you look very focused. these guys are like professional chefs. these guys are amazing. >> it was fun. we had a really good time. del roy lindo from "believe" will stop by to tell us all about the new show. first, exciting news from the final day of paralympic competition in sochi. saturday the u.s. defeated russia in the sled hockey showdown. kristen dahlgren is back with more on the epic match-up. >> good morning, lester. somehow history seems to happen when russia and the u.s. take to the ice together. this was no different. >> ten seconds remaining -- >> reporter: it was one of those olympic moments for the ages. >> american sled hockey team has done what no other sled hockey team has been able to do. >> reporter: back-to-back goals for team usa this time topping perennial rival russia. but getting here wasn't easy. sled hockey has been called murder ball on ice. players are strapped into shreds wielding ice picks. the fact they're disabled doesn't stop the hits. after all, these are players who have already proven they're tough like josh sweeney, a former marine who scored the winning goal for team usa just five years after he lost both his legs in afghanistan. >> it took a lot to get here. and now that we're here it's almost unbelievable. >> reporter: so it's those stories that make this one so sweet. ♪ >> reporter: there are a lot of americans with new hardware after these games. >> this is going to be extremely fast time. >> reporter: it was a sweep for team usa in the snowboard cross. >> i'm ecstatic, so stoked to be able to show the world what i'm so passionate about. >> reporter: then there's tatiana mcfadden born with spina bifida, the wheelchair racer just took up swkiing about a yer ago and now has silver. overall americans won 17 medals. as the paralympics come to a close today, it is in that spirit, an end to the games but not the inspiration. >> every day when i watch them get to the ice, get dressed, take their stuff off, all of those types of things, it's incredible the price they've paid, and they deserve to win a gold medal. >> the paralympics can be game changing, not just for the athletes but for all of us watching. these were the most watched paralympics ever, ticket sales up 30% from vancouver. many more watched it on tv. >> such a cool moment. kristen, thank you. let's get a check of the weather from dylan. trying to figure this out. celebrating 90 years. no one here is 90. >> together we're 90. i'm her daughter. i'm 30, she's 60. >> that equals 90. we're looking at heavy rain across the gulf states. a tornado watch in effect. new orleans to pensacola, florida to the panhandle there. looking at chance of possible tornados, large hail like in texas yesterday. and damaging winds along with heavy, heavy rain. on the northern edge of this we could see an icy mix and even snow in missouri, indiana and parts of western virginia. we could end up with a few inches by tomorrow in d.c. >> good morning everyone. sun is shining, temperatures around 40 today. our forecast today. the increasing clouds, chance of rain moving in this evening. this will start as rain, changing to snow in the evening hours to early tomorrow. day thyme hitime highs 30 to 40. tomorrow's high temperature only near the freezing mark. on average, three to might be as much as six today's top spot features st. patrick's day, the 43rd annual st. patrick's day in washington, d.c., wrc, channel 4 down there, they're celebrating a day early, but a lot of places are. all the irish culture will be on display with traditional irish dancers and floats cruising down constitution grab your lucky shamrock and check out the festivities and come here tomorrow and celebrate for the entire week. >> sounds like a plan. up next, pet lovers rejoice. we'll tell you the latest and greatest products in the ♪ ♪ ♪ your current deviled eggs, they got enough devil? the one-of-a-kind, creamy blend of sweet and tangy. miracle whip and proud of it. in the history of mankind. has one march. meant. so. much. your quicken loans college basketball bracket picks could change your life...forever. ♪ the quicken loans billion dollar bracket challenge with yahoo sports. pick a perfect bracket. win a billion dollars. enter today at quickenloansbracket.com. ♪ [ male announcer ] spring is calling. save 20% when you buy two scotts fertilizers -- one to use now and one for later. this morning on today's pets, an inside look at the greatest show on earth from pets. jill rappaport got back from the global pet expo in orlando. we are lucky you are here to share the goodies with you. >> actually i drove with ruby. it was just announced that americans spent a record $56 billion on their pets last year. it's no surprise that the biggest pet trade show in the world was packed. my ruby gave it a paw's up: it's the tenth annual global pet expo -- >> so excited. featuring everything your pet could ever want, need or dream of. this event is the super bowl of pet trade shows. 6,000 visitors from 100 countries, nearly 3,000 booths spanning 13 football fields. >> like a wow factor when you walk in here. >> reporter: miles of aisles catering to every creature imaginable. a smorgasbord of food and fashion. along with the latest in tech and toys. a few of which sent my ruby into a tailspin. check this out, ruby, and he's very quiet. there were, of course, plenty of costumes. look, a hot dog for the hot dog. and tons of tantalizing treats. doggy breath? i don't think it's working yet. you got to eat it, chew it up sweetie pie. celebrity pets were on parade like internet sensation and popular pomeranian tido. and for the average pet on the go, fancy strollers as well as stay-at-home options to keep fido fit. this year's show seemed to hit all the right notes with the critics that really count. aside from what's new and what's hot, the event also showcased heart, highlighting service dogs and shelter pets. >> it's a really good message to put out to adopt and not shop. >> reporter: one food company is going one step further, making it a mission thole rescue animals. >> every bag of food we sell, we donate to a dog in need. any time you feed your dog, you're feeding a shelter dog as well. >> reporter: good enough to win one of this year's kov prizes. >> reporter: you actually won this year's best new product showcase award. >> you can't spend enough money on your pet. every pet you own deserves to ha the best. >> reporter: for the pelts themselves, at the end of the day, perhaps they only crave the basics, a bed, a bone and a good belly rub. >> you and ruby brought back a couple of your favorite products. >> as the mother of five rescues, i brought back jean use items and also a pet for rescue. isn't he cute, sherman, standard poodle. he is sporting what is a very hip bandana. you can see this. >> a pocket. >> it is not a pocket. it's a water bowl. it's lined. >> that water by the way is very cold today. >> if it had landed on ruby -- >> i have to show you this. if you have a chow hound at home, this bowl, see the maze-like pattern, it forces animals to eat slowly and safely. >> my dog jake needs that. he inhales his food. >> we have ruby, a fashionista and she hates what rain does to herself. >> a rain coat with a portable umbrella hat. he's chowing down slowly and safely. finally for fido on the move, the ultimate toy. >> aim it away from lights and cameras. >> the canine camera. >> we'll go to break on that one. we didn't hit anything. we will be back. what you need to know about cooking some of your favorite meals, making them more healthy without sacrificing flavor. we're sharing everything we learned in our cooking class. but first these messages. it is day 16 of our 30 days to a better you series. this weekend we've been talking about how to make delicious food without the guilt. yesterday we tackled how to lighten your lunch. if you missed it, you can check it out on today.com. today we're continuing our healthy food education by learning how to cook classic satisfying dishes without the fat and calories. we visited joe cameron for a lesson. >> can everyone take whatever favorite dish we have, make a couple substitutions and turn it into a relatively dish. >> totally. >> is it going to taste good? >> yes. >> we'll make a puffer deli out of celery root. it's carb free. using a lean cut of meet, low pasta, very little olive oil. >> how much am i going to save? >> a normal pole of pappardelle, 850 calories. this one about 300. >> it smells amazing. >> it smells better than the microwave. >> i did this. >> so we've done pasta. now mashed potatoes. instead of mashed potato, we'll put in collie flower. today a contest, erika and lester and my assistant jennifer. >> the other good news is jen is not a factor in whatever culinary competition we're about to do. >> garlic and non-fat cream cheese. this will make it creamy. nut meg and parmesan cheese. it will be up to you and your team how much of these ingredients you want to add. on your mark, get set, go. ♪ >> i hate this thing! >> the winner is, i can't believe i'm saying it, but it's jenna. >> mashed potatoes caloriewise, we're talking like 315 a cup. this right here 210. guys, we have been to italy. we've got the pasta going. we've been to france. we did mashed potatoes, now to china, a shrimp quinoa. what is it? >> it's an ancient grain. >> it's got protein in it and fiber. >> classic fried rice, there's always eggs in it. let's take out the cholesterol and the yolk. all i want is the white. this is how you do it. flat surface over the glass bowl. i want to go in with the shrimp and the ginger and garlic. >> you want egg white so we save cholesterol, quinoa instead of rice. >> big savings. a lot of protein, a lot of different vitamins you would never get with rice. we've spent the past hour replacing some of our favorite foods, cutting the calories by more than half, pumping up the nutrition. should we eat? >> yes. >> please. >> here is to low calorie high taste. >> and to dylan. >> and to dylan. >> i think we ruined it because we all had five helpings. >> by the time we actually sat down we were so full. >> dylan was supposed to join us. that day of our class you had to go cover a winter storm. >> like there's been winter storms every day. >> luckily there were leftovers which chef joe brought to the studio for us to try. >> welcome to our kitchen. >> i love it. >> if you have a favorite comfort meal, say mac and cheese or eggplant parm, how do you figure out how to lighten it? >> the first thing is you've got to be motivated. you have to jump into this type of stuff. one huge resource go to a cooking class, get a good kick start. another thing is be willing and open minded to change things, move pasta for celery root. move potatoes for cauliflower. be open minded to all the possibility. >> you can make mistakes. it's okay to go out and make mistakes, try something else. >> absolutely. make mistakes. you were in cooking school with us. make as many mistakes as you want. >> that's a good place to start. >> you also really stress that it's helpful to have certain tools in your kitchen. you brought some of your favorite must-haves with you this morning. >> tools are the next step. if you have all the right ingredients, what are you going to do if you have a broken pan and a dull knife. >> if you have a cuisinart, you'll eat so many more vegetables. i love this. you will really change the way -- also good for purées, things like we did with that. >> doesn't take up your entire kitchen. >> tiny. >> the celery root still looks like pasta to me. >> i thought it was pasta. >> you thought that was mashed potatoes. it's actually mashed cauliflower. >> these tools change the complete dynamic of the food and make your brain believe you're eating something that you're used to. >> it also takes an amazing teacher. >> it does. >> you're a great teacher. >> we're coming back. >> please! >> my kids love both of these. thank you. they were great. >> happy to hear that. >> you can find the recipes for all three dishes we learned to cook at today.com. just ahead what does everything mean to you? with the quicksilver cash back card from capital one, it means unlimited 1.5% cash back on everything you purchase, every day. it doesn't mean, "everything... as long as you buy it at the gas station." it doesn't mean, "everything... until you hit your cash back limit." it means earn 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every place, every occasion, all over creation. that's what everything should mean. so consider... what's in your wallet? everything life throws my way. except for frown lines. those i'm throwing back. 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[ male announcer ] making it easier than ever to get the best -- that's powerful. in the new nbc show "believe," delroy lindo protects a young girl with special powers. good to have you here. >> thank you. >> first of all, congratulations. the show is a big hit right off the gates. >> that's good to know. >> tell me about milton winter, your character. >> in a nutshell, i am the main protector for bo, the young lady duh refer to with the powers. i'm her main protector. >> this show o involves a lot of special effects. what's that like for you? is it times harder for you to work with all that stuff? >> not really. first of all, i, myself, have not done a lot of special effects work in the show, but one of the interesting things about the show -- there are special effects, but that component of the show, it's grounded in reality enough so that it's not too fantastical. hopefully that helps audiences believe, no pun intended. >> relatable. >> relatable, thank you. >> you're still in the middle of shooting season one now. what has it been like getting to know your other castmates. >> unbelievable. they pay me to say that. >> that's fine. >> i get a lot of money. >> if you want to share, plenty of people available. >> mine, all mine. no. it's good. it's a very good set, a very relaxed set. i'm including the crew. i have to mention the crew. it's a really good crew. they pay me extra. >> great to have you here. "believe" airs sundays at 9:00, 8:00 central here on nbc. we want to check in once again with david gregory for a look at what's coming up on "meet the press." >> good morning. u.s. officials are very concerned that they haven't found the missing malaysian airlines jet as of yet. we'll cover this this morning as well as the crisis in ukraine. i'll talk with president obama's senior adviser dan pfeiffer and two key voices from the senate just back from ukraine. comedian bill maher on what ails american politics, all this morning on "meet the press." >> we'll see you soon, thanks. >> that will do it for us oven this sunday morning. >> i'll see you back here for "nbc nightly news." until then, so long everybody. have a great, great sunday. we are preparing for snow across the region. here is a live look outside. nice and calm now. we are tracking this approaching weather system. we'll let you know how it could affect you. good morning everyone. i'm richard jordan. i'm angie goff. a different picture this time tomorrow. welcome to news 4 today. sunday, march 16th. looks like a battle winter and spring. our meteorologist breaking it down. good morning chuck. >> good morning. we were 70 yesterday. sun is out and shining this morning. i promise within 12 hours it will be raining and not long of that seeing the switch from rain to snow late tonight into early tomorrow. what a beautiful picture outside this morning. bright blue skies in the weather headlines. sun is out. much colder than yesterday. generally mid to up 40s for high this is afternoon. that's a big drop from 70 yesterday. winter storm warnings are under. winter weather advisories where snowfall will be lighter. heaviest of snow arriving midnight and 6:00 a.m. tomorrow. roads go from slick and