News & Sports

Harri Anne Smith, a state senator in Alabama, has been in close contact with five-year-old Ethan's family since he was taken hostage last week. She said there are "lots of smiles" now that he's been freed and former FBI hostage negotiator Clint Van Zandt discusses the details of the case. (TODAY)

As Jimmy Lee Dykes continues to hold a five-year-old boy hostage in an underground bunker, more than 60 hours snatching him from his school bus, the family of the bus driver who was killed for refusing to hand children over to Dykes is speaking out for the first time. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez reports. (TODAY)

Alabama state senator Harri-Anne Smith and Alabama state representative Steve Clouse have been in touch with the family of the five-year-old boy being held hostage in a bunker. They discuss the case, saying the boy has a medical condition and medication has been delivered to him in the bunker. (TODAY)

A school bus driver was fatally shot in Midland County, Ala., by a man who boarded the bus with children on board and then abducted a six-year-old student. He is holding the child hostage in an underground bunker. WSFA's Samuel King reports. (TODAY)

A gunman who opened fire outside an Alabama nightclub turned himself in. NBC's Chris Clackum reports. (NBC News)

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum won Tuesday's primaries in Mississippi and Alabama, and called for conservatives to unite behind his campaign. Meanwhile, frontrunner Mitt Romney won Hawaii's caucuses. NBC's Peter Alexander reports. (TODAY)

The Justice Department Friday asked an appeals court to block Alabama's tough new immigration law, which took effect last week. Federal officials say the law invites discrimination against all foreign-born residents. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.  (Nightly News)

A white former state trooper pleads guilty to manslaughter in the 1965 shooting death of a black man at a civil rights protest. WSFA's Samuel King reports. 

Many of the people on Gulf Coast beaches seem to be workers cleaning up the oil, or officials inspecting the damage, but as NBC's Michelle Franzen reports, thanks to Jimmy Buffet, that will finally change. (Nightly News)

As Gulf Coast beaches took their worst hit yet on Saturday from the massive oil spill, there were few cleanup crews in sight. NBC's Mark Potter reports. (Nightly News)