quite a distinction. >> got to take out a small loan. >> we have a game coming up in a week or so on nbc. >> watch it on tv. teamwork. see you at 6:00. on our broadcast tonight, high drama. all afternoon an unresponsive pilot, a plane flying out of control, fighter jets scrambled and tonight a tragedy at sea. grounded in iran, a flight with 100 americans on board ordered to land. destroying isis, is the world finally going to get together to fight a brutal enemy? and risk factors. as tributes pour in for joan rivers. a closer look tonight at the procedure she was having just as millions do every year. and tonight what patients should know if they have one scheduled. "nightly news" begins now. good evening.

for several hours today a drama unfolded in the skies all the way down the eastern seaboard, out over the ocean across cuba before ending in jamaica as a privately owned plane, a turboprop aircraft with a veteran pilot at the controls who was unresponsive. radar systems lit up along the flight route. fighter jets were scrambled. they reported back they could see the pilot slumped over and it became then a matter of waiting for it to run out of fuel and fall from the sky. it's where we begin tonight. nbc's tom costello covers aviation for us and followed this story all day. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. that's what happened. at the controls a prominent rochester real estate developer and his wife, larry and jane glazer. he last communicated with controllers just after 10:00 a.m. it was 8:25 a.m. when this seven-seat business passenger plane left rochester, new york, headed for naples, florida. >> 2-1-5. on board larry glazer, a

rochester real estate developer and his wife, jane. their plane, a brand-new 2014 sacata tbm 900. when he contacted atlanta controllers, he reported a problem on board. >> we have an indication that's not correct on the plane. >> reporter: glazer requested permission to descend from 28,000 feet to 18,000 feet. once he levelled off at 25,000, controllers were unable the to raise him. >> tbm. tbm. maintain flight level 2-0-0. >> reporter: flying in a straight line south. f-15 fighter pilots intercepted the plane off the east coast, the windows frosted, the pilot slumped over. >> is he breathing? >> i can see his chest rising and falling. >> reporter: the leading theory, somehow the cabin lost pressure, incapacitating the glazers. >> in a matter of minutes you feel the effects, but in a matter of ten, 15, 20 minutes, then you will succumb. >> reporter: the plane kept flying on autopilot. the f-15s broke off the chase as it flew over cuba.

finally, 14 miles from the jamaican coast the plane went down in the ocean. it's happened before. in 1999 golfer payne stewart and five others died when their jet lost cabin pressure and flew for four hours before crashing in south dakota. in 2005, 121 people died when a greek airliner flew into a mountain after losing cabin pressure. depressurization is an urgent emergency, experts say. >> if it's an immediate or rapid decompression of the cabin, that requires the pilot to take instantaneous action. >> reporter: we don't know what happened. it could have lost cabin pressure with an engine problem or even a leak in a window or door seal. experts say they should have quickly donned oxygen masks and gotten below 15,000 feet as soon as possible. but they may have simply run out of time, brian. tom, thanks. now we turn to a different situation involving a different aircraft, this time a charter flight with up to 100 americans on board ordered to land in

iran. our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski with details. >> reporter: brian, that headline alone, americans forced to land in iran, sent immediate shockwaves back here to the u.s. the flight is a private charter run by fly dubai. today's flight with 100 american contractors on board took off from the bagram military base in afghanistan three hours late. so as the charter flew over iran, the timing of the flight did not match any existing flight plans. so iranian air controllers ordered the plane to land at bandar abbas or iranian fighter jets would be scrambled. the state department tonight is calling all of this a bureaucratic mix-up. but tell that to those americans on board. there's late word tonight that these americans are already in the air on their way to dubai and out of iran, brian. >> jim miklaszewski at the

pentagon tonight. thanks. the u.s. and nato allies announced a new coalition today aimed at defeating and destroying those isis militants in iraq and syria. word of this new effort came on the last day of the nato summit being held in wales. our senior white house correspondent chris jansing there again for us tonight. chris, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. world leaders came here facing a whole series of daunting problems including that new priority, the unexpected rise of isis. so meetings were added, adjusted and in the end the unanimous opinion was that isis poses such a significant and growing threat that degrading its ability to do harm just isn't enough. the day began with an awe-inspiring display of air power and ended with some potentially significant deal making. >> i would argue there's a lot that's been achieved -- >> reporter: over two days of intense conversations inside the walls of cardiff castle and

aboard the royal navy's fearsome new destroyer, a ten-country coalition was formed to destroy isis. >> you can't contain an organization that is running roughshod through that much territory, causing that much havoc, displacing that many people, killing that many innocents. >> reporter: a final plan could come within weeks. but allies are expected to focus on areas of expertise. britain with its special forces, jordan's intelligence operations and turkey helping with border control. the major challenge though is still to come getting arab nations to provide the boots on the ground that the west won't. >> we can support them from the air, but ultimately we're going to need a strong ground game. >> reporter: with more american bombs dropping in iraq today, there's also a political advantage. the president can more convincingly say he isn't going it alone. also announced today an agreement for a conditional cease-fire between russia and ukraine. >> i really hope that now --

will be launched. >> reporter: and if it doesn't hold, russia will get slapped with a new round of sanctions while nato forms a rapid response force to answer any future russian aggression. and after two days of dealing with the modern world's most vexing problems, the president made an unscheduled stop at an ancient wonder. >> how cool is this? this is spectacular. >> reporter: stonehenge, before heading home. secretary of state john kerry and defense secretary chuck hagel are not on air force one. they're heading to the middle east to work out details of building this coalition. and they hope to have a plan ready for the next meeting of world leaders at the u.n. general assembly later this month. brian. >> chris jansing covering the president in the uk tonight. chris, thanks. let's talk more about this. our political director and new moderator of "meet the press" chuck todd in our d.c. bureau. have we just witnessed the

president change his tune, change the response this week to isis and the threat it poses? >> i should think so, brian. you and i talked about this earlier today when he made those comments. basically he's using almost the same language that he and president bush both used to use when targeting al qaeda, which of course are the folks responsible for 9/11. and that is they want to destroy and degrade isis. no ambiguity anymore. and as you know, brian, for about a week he did leave some ambiguity. last week it was the whole idea he didn't have a strategy yet. even earlier this week during this trip when he talked about degrading and destroying isis to make them a manageable problem. this time today he left out that. it does seem as if you now see the machinery in effect where you have this president very reluctantly but you have this president preparing the country to get back on war footing even as he spent five years trying to get the country off of war footing. >> chuck todd in d.c. tonight. thank you very much. we'll see you sunday morning. speaking of which, on his inaugural broadcast, the president of the united states just back from that nato summit

will be among chuck's guests for an exclusive interview this coming sunday morning. new jobs numbers out today were weaker than expected. economists are hoping this is just an isolated setback. employers added 142,000 jobs in the month of august. that's the smallest gain in eight months, far below the average monthly gain over the past year. unemployment rate dropped slightly to 6.1%. but only because they say more people stopped looking for jobs last month. the third american aid worker now to become infected with the ebola virus returned to this country for treatment today. dr. richard sacra arrived in omaha, nebraska, from liberia. he was taken to an isolation unit at nebraska medical center. doctors say the 51-year-old family physician is very sick but stable. he contracted ebola at a hospital in liberia where he was helping to deliver babies. he is from boston, married, has three sons. tonight, hurricane norbert is churning off the coast of mexico. not expected to be a threat to the mainland u.s., but the

moisture from the storm combined with tropical storm dolly will bring heavy rain to the american southwest it's predicted. there are fears about flash flooding and mudslides as we go into the coming days. a funeral service will be held this sunday here in new york for joan rivers who died yesterday at the age of 81. as many who laughed at her humor and learned from her life paid tribute all day today. we got some insights today into the kind of person she was off stage. our report tonight from nbc's cynthia mcfadden. >> reporter: last night all three late-night shows paid tribute to joan rivers. >> talk about guts. she would come out here and sit in this chair and say some things that were unbelievable. just where you would have to swallow pretty hard and twice, but it was hilarious. >> oh, my god. i tuned in to "fashion police" every friday because they were the most hard core jokes on tv. >> reporter: but it was a

tribute on "the tonight show" after her 30-year exile that really pleased her. >> she was fearless. she would come out and say what you were thinking but you wouldn't say it. you would stop but she wouldn't stop. >> reporter: in public and private. in 2012 before going in for plastic surgery, cameras captured this intimate moment with her daughter, melissa. >> if i died this morning, nobody would say so young. i've had an amazing life. if it ended right now, amazing life. >> reporter: today as her daughter plans her mother's funeral, we're learning more about this surprising woman. how she graduated phi beta kappa from barnard. and friends with many of those she publicly mocked. >> joan, the queen of england, how do you do -- what did she say? >> hi, joan. >> reporter: comedian kathy griffin remembers rivers taking her to england to meet prince

charles and camilla. >> the world don't just know her. charles and camilla love her. prince charles said to me, well, without comics and newspapers, who would keep us honest? and i -- that told me i get joan. >> reporter: it wasn't just who she spent time with. adam martinez is the doorman across the street from rivers' new york city apartment. he never met her, but one christmas he got an envelope. >> it had my name on it and everything. and i opened it and there was $200 and said merry christmas to you and your family. >> reporter: just one of many such acts of random kindness. well, tonight word that there will be a red carpet at her funeral when friends and family gather here in new york city sunday. and the carpet will be buried with her, brian. >> a red carpet, what else? cynthia mcfadden here with us. cynthia, thanks as always. when we come back after a break, this procedure joan

rivers had undergone, millions of americans have done it every year. dr. nancy snyderman tonight with a look at the risks. and as kids head back to school, the secret to getting them to answer that age old question. one mom's brilliant technique. we tried it. it seems to work.

we are back now as promised with more on the death of joan rivers. and we have more specifically tonight about this procedure she was undergoing when something went wrong. doctors perform about 8 million endoscopies every year in this country. they are very common, but they also entail risks. we get our report tonight from our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: joan rivers checked into the yorkville endoscopy clinic for what was expected to be a routine procedure. it was anything but. at 9:40 a.m. the clinic called

911. six minutes later first responders arrived. 10:08 a.m. rivers was driven by ambulance to mount sinai hospital three minutes away. according to the latest figures, one in 10,000 patients a year die while having an endoscopy. several physicians have said today being 81 alone was a risk factor and perhaps joan rivers should not have been scoped in an outpatient clinic. >> the safety of outpatient endoscopy has been well documented. this is incredibly tragic but extraordinarily rare. >> reporter: there are two ways to examine the esophagus. one uses a skinny flexible scope inserted into the nose. the patient is seated and not sedated. another way inserts a larger scope in the mouth with the patient lying on his side under iv sedation. the optics are amazing. today i spoke with dr. jamie kaufman who says she tries to avoid sedation with older patients because of the risk involved. >> drugs are used to sedate the patient, really put them to sleep. almost all complications are

related to the induction and the use of anesthetic. >> reporter: before you have any procedure, ask your doctor, will there be sedation? is it necessary? what are the risks associated with this? and how should i prepare? may i stay on my current medications? and what is the time cutoff for having something to eat or drink. even a tablespoon of water before a procedure can jeopardize your safety. as for joan rivers, officials are reviewing the case. yorkville endoscopy declined to comment, but i can tell you having spoken to many physicians around the country today, brian, this clinic and its staff held in very high regard. we will know more definitely. >> yeah, this is a tough one. dr. nancy snyderman with us. thank you as always. we want to let our viewers know the special hour we're airing tonight celebrating the life of joan rivers. that's tonight at 9:00, 8:00 central on this nbc station. for us, we're back in a moment for an incredible first

for a 7-week-old and his parents. an emotional moment caught on video.

bruce morton has died. and tv news viewers of a certain age can still close their eyes and hear those words, bruce morton, cbs news, washington. the cbs news washington bureau was like murderers row back in the '70s. he was a member of that all-star team and part of that class of superb reporters. a harvard grad, an army veteran. he covered politics, a slew of political conventions and vietnam and watergate and civil rights, the space program and a number of foreign postings along the way. he was a beautiful writer who never wasted a word. bruce morton died of cancer at the age of 83. on the big island of hawaii lava is advancing into a new and rural area. it's approaching homes there at the rate of 800 feet per day. it's been erupting continuously since 1983. predicting the future path of lava floes is still a very

inexact science even on an island where it's been part of life for three decades now. high drama on the court, arthur ashe stadium. it was at the u.s. open in new york today. a tough scene to watch as peng shwei of china was suffering extreme pain believed to be from heatstroke. needed to be taken away in a wheelchair while her opponent wozniacki faces serena williams in the final. she expressed sorrow and concern on her condition. last night at the u.s. open it lit up as roger federer playing in his 14th open launched a stunning comeback as midnight approached keeping him alive for the semis. an incredibly emotional piece of video circulating on the web and speaks to the triumph of medical science. it's from victoria, australia, and it shows a 7-week-old boy born with profound hearing impairment diagnosed at one month of age.

we'll pick up the video as he is fitted with his hearing aid for the first time. you'll see what happened. >> that tells you it's not so bad -- >> hi there. >> oh, that's lovely. >> isn't it amazing? >> hi. hi. >> how about that? his mother said she was initially shattered by the diagnosis. she feared he'd be unable to talk or make friends later in life. but that video was shot in 2012 and we're happy to report he is now a happy and healthy 2-year-old. when we come back, advice for parents how to go about getting your child to answer the question, how was school today?

finally tonight, it's that back to school time of year and there is a universal truth we parents share. it happens when you ask your child how their day went at school, even a one-word answer is a big deal. well, tonight nbc's kate snow who sent her own kids back to school this week has our report on this effort to get kids talking. >> reporter: it's all so fresh

and new right now. the joy of school, the smiles, and the tears. it can make it hard for parents to say good-bye. which is why they ask their kids so many questions. is it hard sometimes when mom and dad say how was your day at school? >> yeah, a little bit. they always say every day. >> reporter: they always say it every day? >> yeah. after you get home from school. >> exactly. they always say it. >> reporter: so the kids always answer the same way. >> it's good. and i really like this, that, that. >> say it was good. >> reporter: sometimes are you like tired and you just don't want to talk about your day? >> yeah. >> take a nap instead of telling parents -- >> reporter: there it is. one of those universal truths about kids. >> when you ask them how was your day at school? they're like fine, fine. >> reporter: before she was a mom to simon, grace and ruth, liz evans was a teacher. so she posted questions on her

blog called 25 ways to ask your kids, so how was school today, without asking so how was school today. my kids went back to school this week too. so after zack's first day i called him to try out the open-ended question. so, zack, tell me something that made you laugh today? >> well, my teacher, since she's sort of new, we were sort of teaching the teacher while she was teaching us. >> reporter: that's all any parent wants, to know just a little bit more about their kids' worlds. >> i know as they get older it is going to be harder for me to keep those lines of communication open. so i feel like while i have them now where they want to talk to me, i need to take that and run with it. our window is so small. love you. be good. >> reporter: those back to school days, they pass so quickly. kate snow, nbc news, new york. >> kids talk to us. by the way, you can find these 25 questions on our website

tonight, nbcnews.com. that is our broadcast on a friday night and for this week. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we of course hope to see you right back here on monday night. in the meantime have a good weekend. good night. nbc bay area news starts now. good evening. thanks for being with us on this friday. i'm raj mathai. >> and i'm jessica aguirre. we begin with new details on a grizzly homicide case. a san jose woman has been identified as the victim. as we first reported last thursday, a burned body was found down an embankment near morgan hill. tonight there's a name to go with that body. robert honda joins us live. what do we know about the

victim? >> reporter: the sheriff's department is pretty up front about saying one big reason they're releasing the name of the victim is to find whoever is responsible for the death. family and friends of julie theresa calocci want the public to see happier images of the victim. they posted photos to raise money for funeral services. her body was dumbed around 8:00 in the morning august 28 and her body burned in an attempt to destroy evidence. >> we're really looking at this as a homicide, treating it as a homicide. that's why it's important for us to make as much contact with people that may have had contact with her the last 24 hours to really put together the pieces. >> reporter: the sheriff's department has not revealed the cause of death and declined to comment on things the victim may have posted online about knowing people in the professional escort industry. >> we're