By Rima Abdelkader
Rock Center

Laurene Powell Jobs is speaking publicly for the first time since her husband Steve Jobs' death to advocate for immigration reform.

“I started getting more and more active around immigration reform because this was such a waste of lives, such a waste of potential, such a waste for our country not to have the human capital that we developed – geared towards improving our entire society,” said Powell Jobs in an exclusive interview with Rock Center Anchor Brian Williams airing Friday, April 12 at 10pm/9CDT on NBC. 

While Powell Jobs is focused and committed to her goal of getting immigration legislation passed, the intensely private Powell Jobs also addressed her husband's legacy.

“His private legacy with me and the kids is that of husband and father, and we miss him every day,” said Powell Jobs of the late Apple co-founder.  

Powell Jobs is leaving her own mark on the immigration debate. She and filmmaker Davis Guggenheim recently teamed up to promote immigration reform through the film "The Dream Is Now." They both appeared on Capitol Hill this week showcasing the film to members of Congress.

Click here to watch "The Dream Is Now" trailer.

“So my hope is that, when we tell this story, people see the human lives that are at stake,” said Guggenheim of the film that airs Sunday, April 14 on MSNBC. “It definitely has an opinion to it.”

Guggenheim, the documentarian behind “Waiting for Superman,” focuses his latest film on the fight over the DREAM Act. The DREAM Act (acronym for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) would provide high school graduates or students or those who have served in the military a pathway towards legal status.

The film focuses in part on Jose, a young boy who excelled in mathematics and dreamt of becoming a mechanical engineer.  He got a full scholarship to Arizona State University and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering – in a state that faced a shortage of engineers. Still, because Jose was undocumented, he wasn’t able to apply for the jobs his fellow students were eligible for.  Today, he works construction with his father and brother.

“It’s honest work, but he wanted to do more,” filmmaker Guggenheim added. “When he was a kid and he pledged allegiance to the flag, and his teacher said, “You know Jose, if you work hard in this country, you can do anything.” He bought into that and he believed it, and then he got to a certain point and the rules changed.”

Jose isn’t alone in feeling hopeless when it comes to pursuing what he feels is his full potential.  There are roughly 11 million immigrants that live in the United States without legal consent and without work documentation.

“We have educated individuals and individuals who want to further their education, passionately, deeply, right here in our country who we are not enabling,” Powell Jobs said.

Jose at a rally in Washington, D.C., for the passage of the DREAM Act.

Several thousand protesters, including Jose, also came to Washington this week demanding immigration reform. A bi-partisan push in both the House and the Senate to provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented men, women and children already in the US is underway.

By Kate Snow
Rock center Correspondent

If you’re going to spend a couple of days in paradise with a six-foot-three woman who used to hold the record for spiking volleyballs down the throats of her competitors, you have to expect you’re going to sweat a little.

Kate Snow

Kate Snow and Gabby Reece paddle boarding in Hawaii

Here’s what two days of filming with former beach volleyball star, model and fitness advocate Gabby Reece look like: 

Day one. Learn how to go stand-up paddle boarding on the Hanalei River in Hawaii.  It’s like a surf board but you stand on it and use a long paddle. And if you’re me, your toes clench the board in a desperate attempt to not lose your balance and go into the drink on national television. Cap that off with a ride on a crazy-looking combination of elliptical machine and bicycle. Make sure not to fall down. Take a photo standing next to Gabby and receive the following text from your sister: “Are you standing in a pothole?”

Kate Snow

Gabby Reece and Kate Snow

Day two. Eat a healthy egg white wrap for breakfast because you feel like Gabby might be watching even though you’re miles away from her. Then join her for her three-times-a-week workout class. No, she doesn’t take the class -- she’s the instructor. It started out as just a few friends following Gabby’s weight training and cardio circuit.  Now it’s at least 60 people crammed inside a dirty old warehouse, rotating through different stations. For example, you sit with your back against the wall as if you’re in a chair. Now, wait for your thighs to start screaming. Or grab these thick ropes and whip them up and down until you feel like you might just throw up. Do push-ups while also lifting arm weights. It goes on and on for a whole hour.

Here’s the truth. I liked all that working out. I liked getting out in the Hawaiian sunshine and really moving. I even liked the dingy warehouse. It feels good to be alive after you do a class like that. You feel like you could conquer anything. And that, of course, is Gabby’s point. Exercise, healthy eating, having sex with your husband more than once a month—it all matters. 

She writes about it all in her new book, “My Foot is Too Big for the Glass Slipper.” I have a feeling it will be a big beach read this summer. Women will pass it around and laugh about the story of actor Owen Wilson invading her home on the day she went into labor.

Kate Snow

Gabby Reece leading her fitness class.

“Gabby, do you have any sour cream to go with that chili?” he asked, as she was bent over in a contraction. Or the story of her girlfriend sending her an email that said, “Sorry about the magazine” -- that’s how she found out someone had photoshopped a photo of her butt to make it look as though she had a lot of cellulite. (She countered by posting her own real, unvarnished butt photo.)

Click here to read an excerpt of Gabby Reece's book, "My Foot is Too Big for the Glass Slipper"

There may also be a lot of talk about parts of the book where Gabby writes about gender roles and what works in her marriage. She and her husband have, shall we say, a rather old-fashioned arrangement. Her use of the word “submissive” is sure to cause an intense conversation. It already has in our newsroom.

By Janet Klein, Lauren Specter and Adrian Taylor
Rock Center

Updated 6:18 PM, April 12, 2013: In advance of Rock Center’s report on the supplement industry, the FDA issued a warning about DMAA, the supplement present in the popular product Jack3d. Following the FDA’s advisory warning, the Council for Responsible Nutrition, the leading trade association for the dietary supplement industry, called for manufacturers to stop producing products with DMAA and for consumers to stop using them. Both the FDA’s advisory and the statement from the Council for Responsible Nutrition are embedded below.   

NBC News

A bottle of Jack3d

Over the past few years, a popular dietary supplement has amassed a cult-like following of fitness enthusiasts across the country. From coast to coast, you can find small white canisters filled with a pink powder tucked into gym bags, stashed in lockers and sitting in kitchen cupboards. 

Devotees claim it gives them that extra edge they need to run that elusive last mile, or to lift that extra 10 pounds.

But detractors call it potentially dangerous, perhaps even deadly.

The supplement is called Jack3d (pronounced Jacked), but the ingredient that users say sets it apart from other pre-workout supplements is 1,3 dimethylamylamine - or DMAA. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says DMAA is illegal.

The FDA has received 86 adverse event reports  believed to be linked to DMAA. Serious side effects reported to the FDA include depression, anxiety, vomiting, loss of consciousness, chest pain, and even death.

NBC News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Nancy Snyderman sat down with Dr. Daniel Fabricant, director of the division of dietary supplements programs at the FDA.

Fabricant's message about DMAA was clear: "It is an illegal dietary supplement."

So why is it still being sold in the US?  Fabricant says, “banning it would be, you know…it’s difficult.”

The FDA has limited legal authority over supplements. In 1994, a law was passed by the U.S. government that declared dietary supplements exempt from pre-market FDA approval. 

“We don't have pre-market approval…we don't evaluate [dietary supplement] products for safety or efficacy prior to them going to market,” said Fabricant in an interview airing Friday, April 12 at 10pm/9CDT on NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams.

So what can the agency do?  On April 11, the FDA issued a consumer advisory warning against the supplement. A day later, the Council for Responsible Nutrition, the trade association representing the dietary supplement industry called on the manufacturer and consumers to heed the FDA warning.

“With this conclusion, CRN now calls on dietary supplement manufacturers to stop manufacturing these products and further advises consumers to stop using them,” said Steve Mister, president and CEO of the Council for Responsible Nutrition in a statement released today. “The safety and well-being of consumers is always our highest priority.”

This warning is not the first time FDA raised concerns about DMAA’s safety. In 2012, the FDA sent warning letters to 11 manufacturers questioning DMAA’s safety and challenging their claims that the ingredient even qualifies as a dietary supplement.  All of them voluntarily pulled their products - except for USP Labs, the makers of Jack3d. 

In a written statement to NBC News, Michael Petruzzello on behalf of USP Labs maintains that, “DMAA is a safe and lawful dietary ingredient.  We stand by the scientific evidence presented and believe there is no reason to withdraw it from the market.”

The company also points to “three published scientific papers [that] document that 1,3 DMAA can be extracted from [a] geranium found in particular areas of China,” meaning it is a natural substance, and is therefore not subject to the FDA’s drug approval process. 

Dr. Pieter Cohen, a Harvard professor and member of the Cambridge Health Alliance who studies supplement safety, disagrees with USP Labs that DMAA comes from a plant.

“DMAA has nothing to do with nature … That's an absolute myth perpetuated by companies selling it,” he says. “DMAA is a drug that manufacturers are passing off as a plant product.”

So if DMAA doesn’t come from the geranium plant, as USP Labs claims, where does it come from?  Cohen says “DMAA is ... produced in a factory.”

Debates over DMAA’s origins aside, Cohen thinks the ingredient should be removed from the market for another reason:  “Could it increase the risk of death? Could it lead to the death of a young healthy man? Absolutely.”

Dr. Cohen says DMAA behaves in the body like an amphetamine:  “If you took a low dose of this, you might notice a slight tremor-- a little more alert, awakeness, your heart beating a little faster.”

He also sees similarities between DMAA and another supplement that was famously banned years ago, Ephedra.

After the Jump, read the FDA's advisory warning and the statement from the Council for Responsible Nutrition.

Rock Center
Laurene Powell Jobs is speaking publicly for the first time since her husband Steve Jobs' death to advocate for young undocumented immigrants. Powell Jobs and filmmaker Davis Guggenheim recently teamed up to promote immigration reform through the film, "The Dream is Now."

Rock Center Anchor Brian Williams' full report airs Friday, April 12 at 10pm/9CDT on NBC. The documentary, "The Dream is Now," airs Sunday, April 14 at 4pm EST on MSNBC.

Rock Center

Model and volleyball champion Gabrielle Reece is the author of an upcoming book, "My Foot is Too Big for the Glass Slipper." Reece sat down with Rock Center's Kate Snow for a frank conversation about her new book and her marriage to surfer Laird Hamilton.  Despite her family's picture perfect image, Reece says her marriage nearly fell apart. 

Read More: Gabby Reece on Marriage: Men communicate through food and sex

Editor's Note: Rock Center's profile of Gabrielle Reece airs Friday, April 12 at 10pm/9CDT on NBC.

Rock Center

It was the greatest rock and roll record of all time. In 1969, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan formed the ultimate super group and recorded a super-secret album together: 'The Masked Marauders.' But it never really happened – it was all a joke.

Brian Williams reveals the true story behind 'The Masked Marauders.' It all started with a fictitious Rolling Stone record review.

If you were duped by the hoax, leave a comment below or visit our Facebook page or tweet us @RockCenterNBC.

By Linda Carroll, Kate Snow and Meghan Frank, NBC News

As a little girl, Bonnie Ihme had big plans. Bright and artistically talented, she dreamed of becoming an architect.

But the older she got, the more distant that dream seemed. By third grade, school had become a struggle. She felt easily distracted and found it impossible to focus in class. Eventually she abandoned her plan to be an architect. Ihme got married, had two kids and began cleaning houses and helping her husband with his business.

But even that simpler life felt impossibly difficult. The Michigan mom had trouble keeping track of all the threads of her life. She’d send her kids to school without sneakers on gym day. She’d forget to bring library books back. She felt more overwhelmed than ever before.

“I really would try hard to pull it all together,” Ihme told NBC’s Kate Snow in an interview airing on Rock Center Friday. “But when … you’re late for a Christmas concert that your daughter was really looking forward to going to and we get there and her class is walking back to the classroom and the tears in her eyes… you try harder.”

Ihme saw history repeating itself in her 10-year-old son, Jacob, who began struggling with school, just as she had. Jacob would spend hours doing his homework, only to forget to bring it to school the next morning. Ihme’s heart ached for her son.

Click here for more on ADHD symptoms

She decided to do something for him that no one had thought to do for her. She brought Jacob to a specialist in search of answers. After a battery of tests, the specialist diagnosed her son with ADHD – attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He then told Ihme that the disorder was often inherited. That was when she began to wonder if ADHD had been her problem, too.

“I knew I was bright,” she told Snow. “And on some things that they were teaching I was higher than the rest of the class. But then I’d struggle with a lot of the other things and wonder what was wrong with me.”

Ihme went through the same testing her son did, and at age 42, was diagnosed with ADHD.

By Anna Schecter
Rock Center

In the wake of a Rock Center with Brian Williams report on three deaths at a Scientology-linked drug treatment center in Oklahoma, the former president of the facility, and a former executive at a Narconon facility in Michigan have come forward to expose what they call deceitful marketing techniques and underqualified staff.

"Narconon preys on vulnerable people.  That's part of the sales techniques," said Lucas Catton, who stepped down as President of Narconon's Arrowhead facility in Oklahoma in 2004.

Courtesy of Lucas Catton

Lucas Catton working at Narconon.

In an interview to be broadcast Friday, April 5, on Rock Center, Catton and his former colleague, Eric Tenorio, alleged that Narconon advertises a bogus success rate of 75 percent to lure in desperate families of addicts and hires recent graduates to be counselors without any traditional drug treatment training.

Tenorio, the former executive director of Narconon's Freedom Center in Michigan, showed Rock Center official-looking certificates he received as a "Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor.” He said he purchased them for himself and his staff for several thousand dollars from an organization called the Pita Group, Inc., which was created by Kent McGregor, a contractor for Narconon’s Arrowhead facility located in Canadian, Oklahoma.

"No course.  No tests.  No oversight,” Tenorio said. “It’s absolutely fraud."

McGregor denied Tenorio’s assertions and said the Pita Group requires 20 hours of training and two years’ experience to obtain a CADC certificate.

Tenorio said he believes the deaths at Narconon Arrowhead could have been prevented if qualified addiction counselors had been on staff.  Beyond the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, he said, staff members do not receive instruction on how to treat people addicted to drugs or alcohol.

"Part of what I have to do to right the wrong is just be honest about it. If it gets me in trouble, that's the risk I'm willing to take. Any quote, unquote, ‘punishment’ that may come of it is better than someone dying," he said.

Both Tenorio and Catton describe Narconon's methods of treatment as "pseudo-science." 

Narconon promotes itself as a non-medical rehabilitation program.  Its methods include five hours a day in a sauna for 30 straight days and mega doses of the vitamin Niacin.

Narconon’s patients are called "students" and they study a series of eight books based on the writings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, part of a larger life-skills program that Narconon said has helped tens of thousands of people around the world lead drug-free lives.

The three-to-six-month program costs about $30,000 per patient, which is comparable to other addiction treatment programs.

Eric Tenorio around the time he went to Narconon for substance abuse problems in 1996.

Both Catton and Tenorio first arrived at Narconon in Oklahoma as patients in their early 20s, Tenorio in 1996, and Catton in 1998.  

They said at the time and for years after they thought the program helped them, though they now say it was more of a change of geography than Hubbard’s teachings that helped them get sober.

Another striking similarity in their experiences --  both men became Scientologists while at Narconon. 

"I dedicated all of my time, life, money; everything was dedicated toward the purpose of advancing Scientology's aims.  That is what you're doing at Narconon, is you're advancing the aims of Scientology," said Catton.

Catton alleged the Church of Scientology uses Narconon as a way to recruit new members, an assertion which both the Church of Scientology and Narconon deny.

Catton also said one of the main focuses at the management level was to bring in as much revenue as possible.  In 2011, Narconon Arrowhead alone brought in $10.88 million in revenue.

"You're willing to either lie to [prospective clients] or misrepresent who you are or take people who aren't really qualified; anything to bring in the money to keep the facility going, week after week after week," said Catton.

Catton claims the success rate when he was at Narconon was closer to 25 percent.  Narconon stands by its 75 percent statistic.

"It's all based on deception," Catton said. "Everything from the success rate to their counseling certifications, to their general requirements of what it takes to be a staff member to their connection to the Church of Scientology-- every single one of those things is deceptively portrayed to the general public versus what really goes on behind the closed doors," he said.

David Goldman/AP

Atlanta Public Schools defendant Sandra Ward, right, turns herself in at the Fulton County Jail accompanied by her attorney Robbin Shipp on April 2 in Atlanta.

By David Beasley, Reuters

Former educators indicted in a cheating scandal that has rocked Atlanta's public school system began turning themselves in to authorities on Tuesday, ahead of a deadline to surrender voluntarily.

At least three of the 35 former Atlanta public school educators indicted by a grand jury last week had reported to the Fulton County jail by mid-morning, according to jail records.

RELATED: School cheating investigation puts Atlanta teachers, principals at center of scandal

They face charges including racketeering and making false statements for allegedly conspiring to alter and improve standardized test scores to obtain cash bonuses, according to prosecutors.

Former Atlanta School Superintendent Beverly Hall was among the former teachers, principals and administrators named in the 65-count indictment returned on Friday. She was not among the first defendants who turned themselves in.

All of the defendants have been given a Tuesday deadline by the Fulton County district attorney's office to surrender or face arrest in their homes or workplaces.

Hall was named National Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators in 2009, the same year prosecutors contend widespread cheating took place.

She received a $78,000 bonus that year from the school system for improving its test scores, prosecutors said.

"The money she received, we are alleging, was ill gotten and it was theft," Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said at a news conference on Friday.

RELATED:

By Mary Kozelka
Rock Center

In January 2012, the Carnival owned Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Italy, taking the lives of 32 people.  Earlier this year, an engine fire left the passengers on the Carnival Triumph stranded for almost five days in the Gulf of Mexico. And three other Carnival ships had problems in March. News crews, government officials and concerned family members flocked to many of these locations to offer support and inspect damage. However, during the wall-to-wall coverage, one person was noticeably absent: Micky Arison, Chairman and CEO of Carnival Corporation.

Critics say Arison has distanced himself from Carnival’s problems, opting to sit courtside at a Miami Heat basketball game rather than go where his cruise liners were in trouble. Arison is the owner of the Heat.

But it is not Arison's public relations strategies that have garnered the wrath of Sen.  Jay Rockefeller. He is outraged by what he sees as Carnival’s abuse of the loopholes in the tax system. However, Carnival has said they pay all the taxes they are required to.

Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, told Rock Center's Harry Smith that he regards Carnival “very poorly” as a corporate citizen. Rock Center commissioned S&P Capital IQ to look into Carnival’s taxes and their team found that on billions of dollars in profits over five years, Carnival paid only .6 percent taxes.

In her first interview since her father’s trial for campaign finance fraud, Cate Edwards, 31, told Savannah Guthrie on TODAY that she was angry and “devastated’’ about John Edwards' affair with Rielle Hunter.

But the former presidential candidate's eldest daughter chose to stand by him while he faced charges of using campaign contributions to cover up the affair.

“He's my dad, you know?’’ Edwards told Guthrie. “We love each other and we support each other. That's just how our family is."

The trial publicly revealed the sordid details of the fallen political star's relationship with Hunter. During the affair, his wife, author and healthcare activist Elizabeth Edwards, was battling the breast cancer that ultimately took her life in 2010.

“I did not fault my dad for the trial,’’ Edwards said. “He made those mistakes, there's no question, but I never, never thought he did anything illegal. So I didn't think (the trial) was right.

TODAY

Cate stood by her dad through his campaign finance-fraud trial.

“It was difficult for our family to see this very private, very difficult part of our lives rehashed in front of everyone, but there was nowhere else I would have rather been at the time.”

Cate maintains a relationship with Frances Quinn, her father's daughter with Hunter. 

“She's my sister, and she’s just a really sweet, innocent little girl,’’ she said. “I certainly think of her as part of our family.”

John Edwards' eldest daughter: I was mad, 'devastated' about affair

Edwards had already endured the death of her brother Wade in a car accident when she was 14. Her world was turned upside down when her father confessed to the affair.

“I was devastated, and I was disappointed,’’ she said. “I mean, these are my parents.  I had grown up with a lot of love in my family, and it was hard to see them go through this.”

Edwards ultimately forgave her dad.

“I don't think we ever went through (not speaking to one another),’’ she said. “We're a family of talkers, so we try to talk through and get through things. There was a time I was angry with him, of course, but we worked through it.

“I think it's easier to stay angry than it is to forgive someone. Forgiveness is the tough thing. Yes, it was hard but we worked through it.”

At the end of Elizabeth's life, John Edwards called to ask the family if he could come to her bedside. She said yes.

Read more: Cate Edwards on late mom: 'Everyone deserves an Elizabeth'

“It was important for him to be there, and he came to the hospital room,’’ Edwards said. “The three of us, especially, have been through so much together, so we garner a lot of strength from one another. I think that being together during that time, and also for the kids to have their family together during that time, it's incredibly important.”

Cate met Hunter early in her father’s presidential campaign but has not spoken to her since. In Hunter's book, she wrote some unpleasant things about Elizabeth Edwards.

TODAY

Cate Edwards at her 2011 marriage.

“I thought it was a poor choice, I guess, is all I can say,’’ Edwards said.

John Edwards is raising his younger children, Emma Claire, 14, and Jack, 12, as a single father. She told Guthrie she highly doubts her father will run for office again.

“I think there is still good that he can do, but as a private citizen,’’ she said.

In October 2011, Cate married college sweetheart Trevor Upham, a surgery resident and cancer researcher. She is now hard at work on the law practice she started in Washington, D.C., and on the Elizabeth Edwards Foundation in Raleigh, where she's launched a program to pursue her mother's passion of helping underprivileged students.

"She really was in all facets of her life, starting at home, a great encourager, a great mentor,'' Edwards said. "I think that this really encapsulates who she was as a human being throughout her entire life, really encouraging people to reach their full potential.

TODAY

Cate and her late mom, Elizabeth.

"I miss her in sort of big ways and small ways,'' she said. "It's big things that go by, like my wedding. She wasn't able to be there. And then there are small things.  I mean, I get away with bad grammar. I never used to get away with bad grammar.

"I really miss her during March Madness, because she loved college basketball, and we were very superstitious. She would call me and say, 'Are you sitting in your living room, the kitchen? We're not playing well."

Family is still the most important important thing to Edwards. 

"It's not that complicated,'' she said. "I love my family and I'm loyal to them and I care about them. Their pain is my pain, and that's as complicated as it gets." 

By Rick Schindler and Laura T. Coffey
TODAY

Cate Edwards, the eldest daughter of former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards and author and health-care activist Elizabeth Edwards, speaks to Savannah Guthrie in an exclusive interview that will air Friday on TODAY and “Rock Center with Brian Williams.” 

In the interview — her first since her father's trial for alleged violations of campaign laws — Edwards opens up about her family, her late mother's legacy and Rielle Hunter. She reveals that her father first broke the news to her that he was having an affair with Hunter.

"He told me," the 31-year-old attorney and author said. "I guess he and my mom decided that that was, you know, how it needed to be done. So yeah, I was devastated. And I was disappointed. I mean, these are my parents. I had grown up with a lot of love in my family. And it was hard to see them go through this."

Amy Sancetta / AP

Cate Edwards (left) with her father, John Edwards, and mother, the late Elizabeth Edwards, in November 2004.

"Were you mad (about the affair)?" Guthrie asked.

"Yeah, yeah, of course," Edwards replied. 

John Edwards was elected a U.S. senator from North Carolina in 1998 and served one term. In 2004 he became Sen. John Kerry's White House running mate in the unsuccessful Democratic presidential campaign. He also made an unsuccessful bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

In 2011, he was indicted on six felony charges of violating federal campaign contribution laws to conceal an extramarital affair. He was found not guilty on one count, and a mistrial was declared on the other five charges. 

By Kate Snow
Rock Center Correspondent

First, a confession: I haven’t filed my taxes yet this year.  My husband and I are procrastinators. 

After working on this story, I’m more than a little worried about what we might find out when we do try to file.

For many months, Rock Center has been investigating an underworld of crime involving something that sounds really boring-- tax refund fraud.  But when you see the money these criminals are raking in and the luxury cars they drive, you’ll understand why it’s one of the fastest growing crimes in America.

It’s very simple.  Thieves steal your identity.  Somehow they get a hold of your name, Social Security number and date of birth.  (You can buy data like that on the street for $10).  Then they file a fake tax return electronically using invented numbers for your income and deductions.  Because the IRS often doesn’t verify those numbers until summertime, the thief gets a refund before anyone is the wiser.

Now you understand my fear.  Imagine you’re a procrastinator like me.  You go to file your tax return and discover that someone else has already filed in your name and received a refund from Uncle Sam.  The IRS doesn’t know who to believe.  So now the burden is on you, the victim, to prove you are the legitimate taxpayer.

It happened to Sheila Vosdoganes.  The past four years, she said, have been nothing short of “hell."

When her accountant went to file her 2009 tax return, it bounced back with a message telling her to call the IRS.  Someone had filed pretending to be Vosdoganes.  She called the IRS to try and sort it out.

“They didn't really seem interested at all in my case,” Vosdoganes said. 

“I was furious from the beginning because I felt like I had no outlet that was gonna give me a defined answer,” she said.  “I was constantly on the phone here at work, at home.  Constantly following up on it-- trying senators, representatives, anybody I could find that would lead me to a solution.  And I didn't see one happening.”

Vosdoganes did eventually receive the $5700 refund she was due, but it took months.  And even then it wasn’t over.  The very next year, someone used her information to receive a refund again.  She believes it was the same criminal two years in a row.

The IRS has made changes in an effort to help people like Vosdoganes.

In an interview with Rock Center, IRS Deputy Commissioner of Operations Support Beth Tucker said the agency has added new screening filters in its computers to flag when something might be fishy on a tax return.  And despite budget cuts, the IRS has beefed up staff in the identity theft section to deal with the increasing number of victims and tripled the number of criminal investigations over the past year.

IRS agents are also trying to cooperate more closely with local law enforcement in hard hit places.  In January, a nationwide sweep netted 389 people in 32 states. 

But Vosdognaes isn’t satisfied.  She’s nervous that her information may be used again and again to commit tax fraud.

“It's frightening because I don't know how long it will continue, when it will come back at me.  And that is something you lose sleep over,” she said.

The advice from the IRS for legitimate taxpayers?  File early.

I’ll have to try that… next year.

Editor's Note: Kate Snow's full report airs Friday, March 29 at 10pm/9c on NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams.

From a brawl breaking out in the Ukrainian parliament, to shamrocks in Britain for St. Patty's Day, to a daring urban wingsuit flight in Rio de Janeiro, to reading dogs' minds – Brian Williams catches up on the news you may have missed.

And about those wingsuit flyers, watch the full video after the jump. (Pun intended)