"nightly news" is next. on our broadcast tonight, no holds barred. vladimir putin like we rarely heard him before, flashes of anger at president obama and defiant over ukraine where there has been a new explosion of violence. a growing recall, nearly 2 million pounds of potentially tainted beef and more products ing added to the list while the entire population of a big city is told to beware of the water. >> seconds from disaster, commercial airliners on a collision course in the sky. a fourth near miss in the matter of weeks and questions what is to blame. on the road again at age 90, bob dole has gone home embarking on a mission across kansas, where they are happy to see a native son return. "nightly news" begins now.

>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. good evening. he is a man at the center of so much of the news we cover of late and just today we heard vladimir putin, the president of russia speak in a way we never heard before. this was at an economic forum in st. petersburg in russia, and while mostly the subject was ukraiew ukraine and the recent actions there, putin took a chance to take a big swing at washington, the u.s., and president obama. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in moscow tonight and starts us from there. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. in some comments putin said he would deal with whoever wins presidential elections in ukraine this weekend, but his tone changed when he talked about washington and he said president obama effectively is to blame for the entire crisis in ukraine.

violence in ukraine, ahead of this weekend's presidential election. at least 40 killed in the past 48 hours as government troops fight pro russian separatists. before a friendly audience in an economic conference in st. petersburg, it was putin's turn to unload on washington. accusing the u.s. of medaling in russia's backyard and backing an illegitimate ukrainian government. he admitted u.s. sanctions are hurting business but saved his sharpest jabs for president obama when questioned by cnbc's jeff cutmore. >> president obama accused you of untruths when it comes to supporting some of the separatists groups. >> who is he to judge, seriously, putin asked. if he wants to judge people, why

doesn't he get a job in a court somewhere. a slap heard back in moscow on this warm, spring day. sanctions are starting to be felt here but so far the russian president is unhurt. putin's aggressive rhetoric and actions are proving extremely popular here. two recent polls put his approval ratings at 81 and 85%, the highest in years. >> i like putin for his attitude towards russia. >> i like president putin because he is very strong person. >> reporter: anger at the u.s. is growing here, reminding some of the cold war. but today, when russia high school seniors dressed up to celebrate their graduation, they were still dancing to american rock 'n roll, right in front of red square, some things just bring people together, no matter how bad relations get.

putin today spoke about edward snowden and said he is a defender of human rights, not a russian spy. and i know, brian, you spoke to him here not long ago and we'll hear more directly from snowden. >> took the words out of my mouth. richard engel starting us off from moscow tonight. and this reminder, as we have just returned from moscow, having traveled there for our interview with edward snowben, his first on american television, it was a wide-ranging and revealing conversation. the hour-long special airs wednesday night at 10:00, 9:00 central on this very nbc station. in in country, as we get set for memorial day week, we have two stories tonight about health hazards. one the possibility of tainted food across a wide area of the country. the other is impacting life in a big way in one of the nation's largest cities, so we have two reports tonight beginning with nbc's kevin tibbles. >> reporter: the massive recall hits just as americans venture

out to enjoy the warm weather and do some cooking. how do you like your burgers? >> medium rare. >> reporter: under 2 million pound ground beef products traced to wolverine packing in detroit are being recalled in 12 states, suspected of being tainted with e.coli bacteria. >> because of the poison it produces, this e. coli can cause severe illness. >> reporter: 11 people in four states have been hospitalized, including kevin mcdermott of grand rapids. >> i didn't have a clue what was going on. i've never been sick like that before in my life. >> reporter: while no product tested positive, wolverine says it was prudent to voluntary recall the beef. at first, it was thought the suspect meat was delivered primarily to restaurants, but the expanded recall includes several grocery chains, which means those planning to dust off grills this holiday weekend, should be aware of where their meat comes from and how it's cooked. >> reporter: doctors say ground beef should be cooked to at

at least 160 degrees, if not well done. >> because undercooked beef is where people get into trouble. >> yeah, i definitely make it well done. >> reporter: a second recall is underway for hummus dip that may contain listeria and sold by target, giant eagle and trader joes across the country. as memorial day roms around, the medical advice is to check the labels and cook your meat. >> i'd rather be safe than sorry. >> reporter: to help keep the sizzle in your holiday. kevin tibbles, nbc news, highland park, illinois. this is mike tiabi. they're turning to bottled water in portland, oregon, today after city officials issued a boil water warning. the reason, three positive tests for e. coli. >> we're advising people to boil for at least one minute any water they are going to drink, brush their teeth with or use for ice. >> e. coli is present in

the digestive system, but certain strains can cause diarrhea, abdominal cramps and vomiting. it can cause problems for children and elderly. >> there could be other things, that's the reason for the cautious approach. >> reporter: portland prided itself on maintaining the cleanest water supply in the country. an alert on a massive scale, affecting 670,000 customers. city workers started shutting off public drinking fountains, restaurants and families are adjusting and the internet was jammed with worries and wisecracks. one joker saying luckily, i only drink beer anyways. city officials say it could be a brief inconvenience. >> i have every expectation that we will declare an all-clear tomorrow. >> reporter: if not, it will make a whole city's holiday weekend plans a little more complicated. mike tiabbi, nbc news, los

angeles. no letup for firefighters where a massive wildfire is burning out of control, but with cooler weather in the forecast, crews are making a big push for containment and more optimistic tonight. this fire is burning near flagstaff, arizona. our report tonight from nbc's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: this road, 89a should be crowded with tourist traffic this memorial day weekend. instead, it's shut down. this scenic highway, the only way for firefighters to reach the burn zone. today we found crews using fire to fight fire. >> we'll use fire in a controlled manner to deprive the fire of fuel as it moves towards the control line that we identified. >> reporter: the so-called slide fire is making dramatic and aggressive runs through the national poor rest. hot embers are flying and new flare-ups keep spotters busy.

perched on a lookout, fire teams shift resources, both on the ground and from above. the air attack cris-crossed this canyon all day long making precision drops on hot spots making a run up this canyon. nearly 12 square miles of pristine forest land are blacking, 300 mountain homes in danger. the weather has shifted, cooler temperatures, high humidity and even rain in the forecast, but there could also be a new threat. >> the question is if you have thunderstorms and no rain, we have lightning and more fires. >> reporter: this weekend, 850 men and women on the front lines are bracing for a battle. no holiday from this fire fight with plenty of dangerous days ahead. with containment at 5%, crews will do all they can to take advantage of better and cooler weather but they admit the fire

fight here will likely last weeks. brian? >> miguel in flagstaff again tonight, miguel, thanks. federal investigators are examining a series of midair close calls involving commercial airliners, several potentially catastrophic near misses just recently in a matter of weeks. two jumbo jets on a collision course, each traveling at about 600 miles an hour, about the speed of a bullet leaving the barrel of a gun. our report from tom costello. >> reporter: may 9th in houston, flight 601 was departing on runway 9 and another leaving for mexico city on runway 15, but the controller apparently made a serious mistake. instead of telling the vancouver flight to turn left, the controller told the flight to turn right into the path of the other plane. the controller quickly realized his mistake. >> stop your turn, stop your climb and stop your turn. united 601. >> reporter: the planes came

within 400 feet vertically seconds away from disaster. april 24th in newark, an arriving 737 flew right over the top of a departing express jet regional flight cleared for takeoff on an intersecting runway. that was real close. . >> reporter: they missed each other by just 400 feet. the faa since ordered changes to the runway layout. >> the common theme is we have a lot of aircraft in high density air space. >> reporter: april 25th northeast of kona, hawaii, a united 757 on a collision course, flying at 33,000 feet, 600 miles an hour when their collision avoid dance alarms went off. the united plane dove 600 feet to avoid a head-on. controllers mistakenly put both planes at the same altitude. they are looking at the role veteran or new controllers played. >> if the humans are making the

same errors over and over again, we need to look deeper and say, is there a procedure problem? >> reporter: despite the involvement of controllers, the faa sees no similarities with any of these incidents, but it is looking at whether the large number of retiring controllers is in any way a contributing factor to the problem. brian? >> tom costello in washington tonight. thanks. bowing to pressure, donald sterling agreed to surrenderer his stake in the la clippers to his wife. sources are telt -- telling nbc news, shelley sterling is moving forward with the sale of the team. the couple had previously signalled they planned to fight the nba to maintain ownership over the racist tirade caught on tape. several high-profile names, as you may know, have been mentioned as potential buyers including magic johnson and oprah winfrey. in washington today, president obama made it official nominating the mayor of san antonio, texas, julian castro as the secretary of urban housing

and development and a change for sean donovan who has been nominated to run the office of management and budget. jot conyers, the veteran democrat from michigan won a battle today. the 85-year-old democrat from detroit first elected in 1964, he's the second longest serving member of the house of representatives. earlier today, state election officials declared him ineligible for the primary because of problems gathering valid signatures to run again. late today, a federal judge in effect may have spared his political life, reversed that and his name will appear on the ballot. still ahead tonight, deep impact as tens of millions of people hit the road, temperatures have climbed but the damage from the brutal winter continues. and later, an emotional scene at the airport. a pair of marine corps veterans reuniteded after years apart. ed. . . .

aaa estimates over 36 million of us will travel 50 miles or more this holiday weekend, most by car. this is a live picture from kimball, tennessee. i-24. notice the truckers on their way home from the holiday weekend amid the traffic. as you may know, it's not easy out there. the roads are still in very bad shape in some places after a severe winter, but potholes are still out. an update from katy tur. >> reporter: at this tire shop in new york city. >> here is an example of a car that just came in. the tire is totally bald. there is no tread on it. >> reporter: the effects of a nasty winter are still being felt. how many more cars are you seeing on average? >> hard to quantify, 30 or 40 cars every day, up 20 or 30%. >> reporter: all the damage this boom for business is one result of the winter of our discontent.

>> potholes. if you go down some of these streets, they look like a war zone in iraq. >> reporter: the relentless cold, snow and ice turned roads into mine feds, no doubt you remember. how does the winter weather actually cause potholes? take the road itself. the pavement is just the top layer. below that is a base layer of travel and then soil. when it rains, water seeps through the pavement and if it's cold enough it can freeze and expand and when it melts, a hole is created between the pavement and base layer meaning when a car goes over the weakened spot in the pavement it breaks and a pothole is born. not good, also not good, it's nearly summer and those holes are still a problem. take chicago, the city filled 525,000 of the craters. at $12 a pop, it cost $3.6

million so far. >> we seen potholes affect everything from suspension to wheel alignment to the tires. >> reporter: leaving frustrated but creative folks from indianapolis to scranton. no choice but to make the best out of a bumpy situation. katy tur, nbc news, new york. we're back in a moment with a sign of the times, something that hasn't happened in well over 60 years.

there has been a change for the u.s. population, for the first time since 1947 the most common age group is not among the baby boomers. the most common age in america is 22 year olds, meaning a higher concentration of them than any other age. this is great news if you need help setting up apple tv. they think this shift in the population took place as early as 2011 and the result of both immigration and ageing. if you have clear skies

where you live and you're at all inclined to see a stunning and free show in the heavens tonight, do so. go out any time between 11:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. eastern to see what could be an active meteor shower that may verge on a rare meteor storm with shooting stars in the sky. they say look mostly to the north for as many as 30 an hour, 200 of them per hour. it's always a great sight every year at exactly this time, the u.s. naval academy, the hat toss and while it takes awhile to sort it out, the answer is yes, they all get theirs back because conveniently, their names are inside them. just over 1,000 men and women graduated today as newly minted navy ensigns and marine corps second lieutenants. the thought of those who have served, a marine has been reunited with his beloved dog

named thor. deno hill said thor is the only thing that got him through afghanistan. it's a safe bet thor would say the same thing. they love each other and he's been trying to bring thor to the states for four years and finally do so with the help of groups that reunite the military and their service dogs. after a break, when we come back, one last campaign, this time highly personal for a giant of american politics and a decorated war veteran.

finally here tonight, when he left his native kansas he was fighting in world war ii. and he's always credited the people of kansas for helping him to put it back together. after a lifetime spent in public service, bob dole returned to thank the public at age 90 and harry smith was along for the ride so tonight, mr. smith goes to the heart of dole country in kansas. >> reporter: the body may be frail but the voice is unmistakable. >> i'm not running for anything, though, i'm thinking about 2016. [ laughter ] [ applause ] >> reporter: yeah, that's bob dole, once known as an attack

dog, at 90 he purrs. >> i want to thank y'all for coming, one time i can say to you i don't want any of your money. [ laughter ] >> reporter: the republican senator, vice presidential and presidential nominee is on a county by county thank you tour of his beloved kansas. >> well, thanks for coming. >> thank you for being here. >> reporter: he wants to show gratitude to the people who placed so much faith in him. >> well, isle be darne be darne. >> well, isle be darne be darnl. >> reporter: it's not a one-way street. >> i've always been a fan of bob dole. i wish he could have been president. >> reporter: the all american boy from russell went to college to study medicine but soon, duty called, world war ii. he was horribly wounded on the battle field. neighbors took up donations to cover the cost of recovery. dole never forgot that, and they have surely not forgotten him. >> all you've done for kansas, the fact that you and others

saved the refinery in 1988 is right up there. >> i just want to share my appreciation for the things you did for me as a disabled vietnam veteran. >> reporter: dole told me he thought he went would run into an old friend or two, maybe have time for coffee. instead, there are crowds. >> it makes you feel good that people even remember your name, let alone come out to see you. >> reporter: people who remember that he fought for them on the battle field and in washington. >> do you know how much they love you? >> yeah, they seem to think i did a good job. so i have to go back and check my records. >> reporter: ask any kansan. they would say the record speaks for itself. >> thank you for your service. >> harry smith, nbc news, kansas. great story to end on. that's our broadcast for this friday night, as we head into memorial day weekend. thank you for being here with

us. i'm brian williams, lester holt will be here with you this weekend. have a good weekend. good night. nbc bay area news starts now. right now at 6:00, it's get away day, but take a look at this backup of the bay bridge. people heading into the city right now. no one seems to be getting anywhere quickly. good evening. thanks for joining us. >> jess and raj are off tonight. happening now, the memorial day weekend is here, and that means, as we've seen, crowded roads where the commute is at a crawl in many places. on the left is interstate 80 in emeryville.

that's stop and go, mainly stop. and there's a highway closure near at&t park. gerard moncure has a preview of tonight's giants game and jeff ranieri has the forecast. jodi hernandez is in the heart of the gridlock. >> reporter: there's a lot of sitting around going on in the city tonight. take a look at this long line of traffic along sixth straight at brannen. this is where one of the entrances to southbound 280 has been closed. and you can see that folks are re-routing traffic. and with the giants game-set to start in just about an hour from now, things aren't going to be getting any better. >> it's crazy how it has been hours here. one block. >> i'm heading down just to seventh street, ancan't get there just to make a right on