air and get ahold of it a lot better by tomorrow. we're back at 6:00. thanks for joining us. on the broadcast tonight -- hurricane warnings as tropical storm arthur gathers steam. with evacuations now under way, holiday and vacation plans a big question for millions tonight. security alert. new steps tonight to make sure bombs don't make it onto planes bound for the u.s. border crisis. taking sides in a desperate situation unfolding in california. mothers and children driven away from a town where angry protesters don't want them. and without warning. the story behind this terrifying scene on the streets of philadelphia. "nightly news" begins now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news with brian williams". good evening. brian has the night off.

i'm lester holt. july fourth holiday plans are on hold tonight for a lot of folks living and vacationing along the north carolina coast and potentially beyond as the season's first tropical storm arthur gains strength, threatening to become a hurricane tonight or tomorrow. a state of the emergency has been declared for coastal counties in north carolina, including the outer banks, already under a hurricane warning. arthur is packing maximum sustained winds of 70 miles an hour, just below hurricane strength, and could make landfall by friday morning. the latest tracking on arthur in a moment, but first kerry sanders in kill devil hills, north carolina, with the urgent preparations now under way. hi, kerry. >> reporter: good evening, lester. those who live in this area and have experienced nasty weather before know that even a tropical storm can be very dangerous. arthur is expected to impact this area as early as friday morning. and by then, it could be a category 1 hurricane.

no angry seas yet, but weather forecasters say stand by. residents on the outer banks who went through hurricane irene three years ago know the routine. the four-foot storm surge in that hurricane washed away portions of north carolina highway 12, cutting off cape hatteras and oak la coke from the mainland. this will be the first test of that re-engineered, rebuilt highway. >> don't put your stupid hat on. >> reporter: the north carolina governor declared a state of emergency along the coast today. already hardware stores report residents have cleaned out batteries and lantern supplies but there's still plenty of lumber to board up, which so far few have done. among the worried from florida to virginia, those lured into the atlantic by bigger than usual waves. hidden below, powerful rip currents. >> usually most injuries occur

right before a storm or right after a storm. >> reporter: traffic to the outer banks is already building. this area is a popular july fourth destination, hotels in kill devil hills say their phones have been nonstop. >> we're hoping people will still stay with us, ride the storm out and then enjoy the rest of their weekend. >> reporter: farmers along the coast are worried about corn and bean crops. >> early in the season, but it still could blow it down, damage it. >> reporter: damage tonight a worry. will arthur punish the outer banks or move slightly west and only brush the coast? if arthur just brushes this area, it will still rain from here all the way north, which is why tonight in five states from north carolina all the way up to massachusetts fireworks shows have been postponed. lester? >> kerry, let's get more on the path of the storm and what we can expect. we bring in weather channel meteorologist jim cantore now. he's on the outer banks in salvo, north carolina. jim, what does it look like?

>> reporter: lester, this thing is coming toward the outer banks no question about it. let's time it out for you. in about 12 hours very much a possibility of being a hurricane here, right to the east of charleston, south carolina. then about 8:00 a.m. friday, just off or right on hatteras island, which is where we are right now. that's going to be the worst of the surf, the rain and the wind. we're talking about winds that could be 90 miles per hour. by 2:00 p.m. friday, the area will be improved but continuing to move northeast toward nova scotia by 2:00 p.m. saturday. so to recap for you, the impacts to the outer banks, there is now a mandatory evacuation for hatteras island. that's many, many visitors and people starting at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. dangerous surf beginning as early as tomorrow, even if the sun is out here. again, some of the worst weather we're expecting could be 90-mile-per-hour winds, very, very heavy rain and obviously a big interruption to many holiday plans here on the outer banks. >> thank you, jim. new intelligence against the backdrop of growing instability in the middle east is triggering

alarm bells here at home tonight about threats to commercial airline flights heading into the united states. and today the department of homeland security announced plans to increase security at airports overseas. specifically, they plan to step up screening for passengers flying to the u.s. the steps in response to a growing concern that extremists in the middle east are trying to develop explosives that would escape detection. nbc's tom costello reported last night this action was likely, and tonight he's in our washington bureau with the latest. >> hi, lester. government sources stress this has nothing to do with the july fourth holiday but intelligence that militants fighting in syria are cooperating with a bomb maker in yemen or bomb makers who are working on explosives that might get through airport security checkpoints. the concern? the commercial aircraft could be the target of extremists now fighting in syria and could slip onto a u.s.-bound plane departing from the middle east, europe or north africa. today homeland security told

airlines and select airports in the region to ramp up security for u.s.-bound flights. it means passengers are likely to see more random pat-downs, more screening of carry-on bags, more swabbing for explosive residue, and extra scrutiny of electronics as well as measures we won't see. >> i think the threat we see today coming out of syria and iraq is as dangerous as anything we've seen since 9/11. these groups are committed. they have people who can travel to the west and unfortunately they are likely getting the technology that gives them the capability to attack aircraft. >> reporter: government sources say their concern now is based on intercepted communications, the travel patterns of foreign fighters and the risk of poor airport screening in some countries. the tsa sets a security standard that airlines and airports overseas must meet. now the u.s. is offering assistance to help foreign governments and airlines tighten security and be even more vigilant. again, this doesn't affect u.s. airports, only select airports

overseas with really special focus on the mediterranean, the middle east and also parts of north africa. lester? >> when, tom, is this going to be kicked into gear? >> over the coming days is what we're told by officials within the government. they also say they need to consult with other airports and other governments about how this is going to come into effect. they make a point, not every airport and not every country has the level of sophistication we have. therefore, they really need to try to work with these countries individually to help get them into proper compliance. >> all right. tom costello in our washington newsroom, thank you. in california tonight, more than 1,000 firefighters are battling a quickly growing wildfire near the popular napa valley tourist area. it has burned more than five square miles and has forced the evacuation of 200 homes. it's reported to be 30% contained right now. authorities say none of the area's vineyards is threatened at this point. in southern california, an emotional human drama is playing out tonight over how to handle hundreds of migrants who have

been flown to the area after crossing the border into texas. hundreds more are expected in california by week's end, and, as we're seeing, people are now taking sides. nbc's miguel almaguer is in murrieta, california, again tonight for us. miguel? >> reporter: lester, good evening. tonight a much different scene, only a handful of protesters and no buses for now. citing safety concerns officials would not say where those undocumented immigrants headed for this facility finally ended up, but nbc news has learned many have been released into communities. at the center of the immigration crisis, three buses forced to turn around and head to a holding facility along the u.s./mexico border. inside, 140 undocumented immigrants from central america, mostly mothers and their young children. now alone and scared, walking into an uncertain future. >> they're not born here! >> they need to go back to mexico!

>> reporter: this is how they were greeted when they arrived in murrieta, california, 100 miles north of the border. >> move over or you'll be cited. >> reporter: the anger, tension what many call hate was palpable. >> usa! usa! >> reporter: dozens of protesters refusing to allow the young families into their community. >> thousands of people being allowed into our country illegally, and we're coming out here to voice our objection against that. >> reporter: but more than voices were raised. this immigration advocate was spit on. >> it's heartbreaking to see this happening coming from the land of opportunity. >> reporter: the spectacle spilled into the night. tension on both sides of the road. are you proud or embarrassed of what happened in your city yesterday? >> well, as far as exercising the constitutional rights, i'm proud of that. >> reporter: allen long, the mayor of murrieta, knows what

happened here has the nation watching and talking. >> people need to understand that they're showing their emotion and passion about a federal policy that's not working. >> reporter: for donia cruz, it's personal. this young mother carried her 14-month-old baby boy william from honduras across 1,000 miles of uncertainty. it was very unjust and full of hate, she says, especially because we are people that are just coming here to look for a better life. the next group of undocumented immigrants may reach murrieta on july fourth, independence day. city officials say what is happening here is just the beginning. they expect several waves of undocumented immigrants to arrive at this facility every 72 hours for the foreseeable future. lester? >> all right, miguel, thank you. we turn now overseas, a day of fighting between palestinians and israelis in east jerusalem after a palestinian teenager was abducted and killed.

it came just a day after the funeral of three israeli teenagers. nbc's ayman mohyeldin has been following the violent showdown all day and found himself caught in the middle of it. ayman? >> reporter: lester, the palestinian teen's family says he was killed in the revenge of killing the israeli teens that were buried yesterday. they say his body was so badly burnt it wasn't recognized. israeli leaders are condemning the killing and calling for calm. in the neighborhood where we are and where his family lives, there's nothing but outrage. young palestinians in east jerusalem chanting for their fallen, angry at israel, vowing to fight, barricading a major road, burning tires and targeting israeli security forces with stones and molotov cocktails. at first the soldiers keep their

distance, firing stone grenades at the demonstrators who gather more rocks to throw. suddenly, things change. as palestinians try to reinforce their position, one is wounded and carried in an ambulance. israeli soldiers seize the moment and assault the front line, firing stun grenades and rubber bullets. we are trapped behind a car full of reporters. >> journalists! journalists! >> reporter: yelling at the israelis that we are journalists as incoming fire lands inches away. we try to get out of harm's way, but soldiers take aim at us and order us back. as the clashes continue, we make our way down the street to the home of the murdered palestinian. inside, we hear gunshots and explosions just outside the door. there won't be any justice for us, the father says. the israeli government encourages violence and we had to pay the price of their revenge. on the streets outside, the clashes continue for hours, both sides refusing to back down. lester, the neighborhood where we are tonight feels like a

battle zone. in fact, throughout the night these types of small stun grenades have been lobbed all over the streets, littered with rubber bullets and stones being thrown by the palestinian protesters. now, the israeli police insist they will investigate this murder with the same rigor and all the same resources they would investigate any attack on israeli jews. but it's far from calm and the problem and fear is that in the coming days after the body of this boy is released it could trigger more violence. lester? >> ayman, thank you. still ahead, a huge explosion raising safety concerns tonight about propane gas on food trucks and at home. and later, overnight sensation. the world cheers for america's newest sports hero.

they have been popping up in greater and greater numbers on street corners in cities across america. those popular food trucks, dishing out everything from tacos to lamb kabobs. but the fiery explosion of a food truck in philadelphia, caught on tape, has exposed the danger not unlike a danger some backyard chefs may face over this coming holiday weekend. rehema ellis has our report. >> reporter: a surveillance camera captured the dramatic explosion of a food truck in philadelphia. >> big boom, smoke, screams. something i'll never forget. >> reporter: more than a dozen people were injured, including a mother and her child. four employees and one pedestrian are in critical condition. >> her whole back got scraped with debris, and she was screaming all the way up the street, i'm on fire, i want my

mom, i want my mom. >> reporter: in this cell phone i have individual video, you can see the smoldering truck and passersby pulling two people from the truck.video, you can s smoldering truck and passersby pulling two people from the truck. police say a significant leak was detected in one of the truck's two 100-pound propane tanks. that caused a propane vapor cloud to envelope the truck and ignite at the grills, causing the explosion and catapulting a tank 50 feet into a nearby yard. but what happens more frequently, experts say, are explosions from backyard grills. this video of a training exercise at the massachusetts fire academy shows how violent grill fires can be. between 2007 and 2011, gas grills were involved in an average of 7200 fires. 27% of the grill fires started on a courtyard, terrace or patio. barbecue fires let to ten deaths and 140 injuries. >> we'll see several types of calls related to that. people being burnt, unintended

things such as gas leaks, sometimes people don't hook the grill up correctly. >> reporter: tonight in philadelphia, the investigation continues into what caused that nk to leak. rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. when we come back, on the very date her famous namesake disappeared, a big milestone for amelia earhart.

hardly a week has gone by this year when gm hasn't issued a recall. the numbers are daunting, 26 million vehicles in the united states. and consider this. of more than three dozen key gm models, only three have not been involved in the recalls, the chevy equinox crossover, the gmc terrain and the chevy volt plug-in hybrid. today is the 50th anniversary of a true milestone in this country's history. on this date in 1964, president

lyndon johnson signed the civil rights act, outlawing racial segregation. and discrimination. lbj used more than 75 pens to sign the new law, giving one to the reverend martin luther king jr. and another to attorney general, robert ken day. whose late brother john f. kennedy proposed the civil rights law the year before. another anniversary today. it was 77 years ago in 1937 that amelia earhart went missing during her pioneering attempt to fly around the world. she was never found. but today another amelia earhart, no relation, is making the same trip along with a co-pilot and has already made it halfway, spending the night in tanzania. she tweeted that her namesake's spirit of adventure lives on in many women around the world. by the way, you can track her journey on our web site nbcnews.com. and a rocket carrying a nasa satellite lit up the skies in california early this morning. it's on a mission to track carbon dioxide, the main culprit

behind climate change. the delta-2 rocket blasted off from vandenberg air force base speeding toward low earth orbit. the satellite is known as orbiting carbon observatory-2. it will monitor carbon dioxide from 438 miles up. the goal is to study how the environment absorbs carbon dioxide. here was the scene in northern new jersey, something right out of winnie the pooh as a black bear cub got his head stuck in a jar he found in a trash can. as rescuers approached, he climbed up a tree. they tranquilized him, brought him down and got the jar off the cub's head. everything was all right, but chances are he had a heck of a headache. next, overnight fame. a man who proved that winning is only part of the game.

finally tonight, he is at the top of his game, but as professional athletes go, fair to say that relatively few people knew the name tim howard until the last couple of weeks. even though team usa lost in the knockout round of the world cup, howard's performance as goalkeeper against an assault from the belgian team will be remembered for a long time to come.

our story tonight from nbc's katy tur. >> reporter: for 93 minutes, tim howard gave the fans something to cheer about. diving, lunging and swatting away everything in his path. the team usa goalie was a brick wall. 16 saves, the most in a world cup tournament since 1966. >> that's what i signed up to do, you know, stick my face in front of balls and try to keep them out. report thus. >> reporter: thus was born an internet team name, hashtag, things tim howard could save. it starts from the evil king jafry in game of thrones, the dinosaurs from extinction. for a moment, a keen wikipedia user even appointed him the u.s.

secretary of defense. >> i think that even secretary hagel would agree with me that tim howard demonstrated an ability to repel an opponent with remarkable courage and bravery and athleticism yesterday. >> reporter: chuck hagel, the real secretary of defense, called him to congratulate him. born and raised in new jersey, howard was diagnosed with tourette's at age 10. soccer was his escape, and he was good. really good. going pro in new york at 18. soccer wasn't his only sport. >> no. he was a very accomplished basketball player in high school. >> reporter: eddie brahini was howard's high school basketball coach. >> at graduation there were a lot of disappointed college basketball coaches. >> reporter: although team usa didn't advance, they won over the crowd. >> we saw all the videos and highlights of our fans, and it was special to be a part of that. they felt like they were part of it here, and we felt like we were part of it back home. >> reporter: and there's no arguing howard is coming home on top. katy tur, nbc news, new york. that's our broadcast for this wednesday night. thank you for being with us. i'm lester holt. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.

nbc bay area news starts now. right now at 6:00, turning up the intensity of that firefight in napa county. the one thing firefighters feared the most is now happening. good evening and thanks for be being with us. i'm raj mathai. >> that fear growing. more than 1,000 firefighters with a new enemy. for much of the day it's been a draw with neither the fire nor firefighters gaining a lot of

ground. it has burned an estimated 3800 acres so far, and it's only 30% contained. that's the same containment that the fire had 24 hours ago. but that could soon cheick, leaving the fate of nearly 200 homes in jeopardy. >> jeff ranieri is tracking the shifting wind, but we begin with mark matthews near pope valley. what's the new information about the damage with this fire? >> reporter: they have upped the number of structures that have been burned in the fire from five to seven. they now say that five outhouses or five, i should say sheds burned. and one hunting cabin and one actual residence. we'll tell you more about that in a minute. the most significant change is that the winds have picked up, and it has exasser batesed this fire. from the air, that's how this fire is bei