>> to wave that world series flag. >> nightly news is next. >> see you at 6:00. thanks, folks. on this thursday night, breaking news. new video from that fatal encounter in south carolina, what the police dash cam video shows. walter scott pulled over and questioned, then jumping out of the car and running away. tonight, what the tape reveals and the questions that remain. also our nbc exclusive, the witness that reported that shooting comes together with the victim's family. tonight, the police officer's mother speaks out for the first time. violent storms tearing across the country. tornadoes, hail and lightning strikes, exploding power lines. tonight, 95 million americans in the storm zone. and call for help. sandra bullock wakes up to an intruder loose in her home. tonight, the chilling 911 call while hiding in her closet. "nightly news" begins right now.

from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news." reporting tonight, lester holt. good evening. there's video showing the start of what would become a fatal encounter between a north charleston, south carolina, policeman and the motorist he is accused of murdering. police dash cam video shows a routine traffic stop. it's saturday morning. walter scott pulled over for a broken taillight. officer michael slager approaches the car. there is a brief conversation about whose car it is. scott seems to say he is purchasing it. the officer returns to his car apparently to check on scott's driver's license. at one point, scott starts to exit the car, but complies when told to stay inside. then watch what's about to happen.

but it's that other tape, the one seen around the world of slager minutes later shooting an unarmed and fleeing scott in the back that's turned this into a murder case. in a moment, we'll show you exclusively an emotional meeting between the young man that videoed the shooting and walter scott's family. first, gabe gutierrez starts us off from north charleston with more on the new tape and other developments of the day. gabe? >> reporter: lester, good evening. in a case where video has already been so crucial, this new dash cam footage fills in some of the gaps but doesn't answer the central question, why the shooting? the dash cam video shows officer slager approaching the car walter scott is driving. >> can i see your license, registration and insurance card? >> reporter: the two men talk. >> your brake light's out. >> reporter: scott is missing some paperwork, and officer slager returns to his squad car. >> gotta stay in the car. >> reporter: less than a minute later, scott gets out of his car, takes off running, but the camera did not capture the fatal

shooting, leaving unanswered questions about what led to the deadly confrontation. >> not going to be a dispositive game changer in terms of finding out what really happened because we still have some time that's unaccounted for. >> reporter: north charleston police are facing tough questions about their actions after saturday's shooting. according to the incident report, multiple officers witnessed other officers providing first aid. one describes applying pressure to the gunshot wound, another assisted with first aid and cpr to the driver. a third reports seeing someone administering chest compression. in part of the cell phone video, officers are seen attending to scott, but he remains on his stomach and no chest compressions are seen. it's also unclear how soon it happened after shooting because of a break in the recording. >> what i saw i believed to be a police officer removing the shirt of the individual and performing some type of life-saving, but i am not sure what took place.

>> reporter: feidin santana, the man who took the video, told lester he was surprised medical attention took so long. >> the cop turned on his face at all so he could breathe if he was alive. >> he remained face down. >> he remained face down, yes. >> reporter: officer slager is charged with murder and has not yet entered a plea. late today his mother spoke publicly for the first time. >> from one mother to another, i can understand this. so i just want them to know i'm sorry that this happened and that this has made a change in everybody's life. >> reporter: the officer's mother says she has not spoken to her son since the incident and she has not even seen the video. police here now say they'll begin reviewing that separate incident from 2013. lester? >> all right, ghab gabe, thank you. if not for the witness who

recorded the shooting on his cell phone some are asking would the officer have even been charged? and what would the family walter scott have known without that video? late today that witness and that family came together. nbc's craig melvin was there, he joins us from charleston. craig, what was the meeting like. >> reporter: lester, it was sad and powerful. feidin santana, the 23-year-old young man that took the cell phone video of walter scott being shot, he first showed it to the family because he wanted the family to know precisely how it was their loved one died. behind me a short time ago, an emotional reunion. >> this is santana. this is feidin santana. >> oh, thank you, god. oh, thank you, god. thank you, lord. thank you, god. thank you. thank you, god. thank you. thank you.

thank you. >> thank god for you. thank god for you. >> does this help put y'all at peace? >> glory, hallelujah. >> i just want to say thank you. i don't know how this would have turned out without the video. i just want to thank you. i don't know how much i could thank you more. i just really -- i'm appreciative. i'm grateful. i'm so glad that you had enough courage to turn that video in. from the bottom of my heart, really, thank you for doing that. >> for myself, the person, and for them and all his family, i guess if i would have been in that situation, maybe they were the ones who witnessed this, i am sure they would look for justice also. >> thank you, god. >> reporter: santana is from the dominican republic.

folks behind me here today says he now has family in north charleston as well. also today the family announced they plan to file a civil lawsuit against the north charleston police department. lester? >> what a remarkable moment. thank you. tonight, we continue to monitor a major outbreak of severe weather. 95 million americans in the threat zone this evening and into tomorrow, stretching from the great lakes down to texas. at least one tornado reported already today as several states get pummeled by hail and winds up to 70 miles an hour. nbc's national correspondent migel almaguer is in east st. louis, illinois, where they're bracing. miguel, good evening. >> reporter: lester, good evening. with warm temperatures, whipping winds, ominous skies, the concern tonight is going to be tornadoes. as mentioned it appears one may have already touched down. the next 12 to 24 hours could be a wild ride. tonight, this is what millions

of americans in at least five states are bracing for. baseball-sized hail, smashing out windows. >> it sounded like fireworks, like grand finale fireworks. >> it was a little spooky. it was a little too close for comfort. >> reporter: 70-mile-an-hour winds so powerful this semi was toppled in indiana. floodwaters rose without warning. tonight, a mess in missouri. >> all of a sudden it came up, my '57 chevy, that's my gem. hopefully it will clean up. >> reporter: several states hammered. indiana, kansas, kentucky. outside chicago, pounding rain and lightning. one bolt bringing down power lines, causing a fire caught on dash cam. in parts of missouri the night sky was electrifying. a plane bound for denver struck by lightning, leaving a gaping hole in the nose. funnel clouds spotted over the midwest, including this one with

a rainbow in kansas. outside st. louis, today the debris field is as scattered as the weather. downed trees, roofs ripped off, and power is still out. in potosi, missouri, people said they could feel the storm coming. >> you could hear noise up top, there was a pressure change. >> reporter: tonight, more dangerous weather is closing in. as is often the case with tornadoes, the weather this evening is going to be unpredictable. they're asking tens of millions to listen to local warnings and to heed them. as for those already hit with damage, they could once again be in the bullseye. lester? >> miguel, thank you. our meteorologist dylan dreyer is in the studio with us. dylan, where should we be focused tonight? >> there are several tornado watches in effect including major cities like chicago and st. louis. we've also seen a lot of activity across northeastern ohio and northern west virginia. they're firing up ahead of a cold front that will move east. sets up across the great lakes

tomorrow morning and the east coast as we go into friday evening. we are looking for widespread, severe storms with tornadoes likely, anywhere from texas up into the southern great lakes. we could also see heavy downpours, dangerous cloud to ground lightning, wind gusts near 75 miles per hour, and hail about two to three inches in diameter. we are looking for threat of severe storms friday, too, but they will not be as severe as today. we still could see an isolated tornado, but there's a much less chance of that, and the whole storm system, lester, is gone by the time we get to the weekend. >> dylan dreyer, thanks very much. history could be made as early as tomorrow in panama when president obama finds himself face to face with cuba's leader for the first time since the two countries decided to improve relations. but ahead of their arrival in panama, violence is erupting in the streets. nbc senior white house correspondent chris jansing has more. >> reporter: chaos, ahead of the

long-awaited summit of the americas. fists flying. about 100 supporters of the castro regime heckled cuban exiles from miami. a highly charged reaction to cuba's return to the summit after a half century-long ban. >> change is hard. >> reporter: following president obama's decision to restore diplomatic ties with cuba, he call cuban leader raul castro then. they met briefly a year earlier. but the two coming face to face to talk after years of animosity will be the most-watched moment. >> do they sit down and have substantive conversations or is it a meet and greet? >> reporter: castro wants cuba off the list of nations that sponsor terrorism. >> i won't make a formal announcement today. >> reporter: obama is expected to move to drop the terror designation as soon as tomorrow. first, though a visit to a museum deaddicated to reggae star bob marley in jamaica. >> big fan since i was in high school. >> reporter: a low key moment ahead of a high stakes weekend.

chris jansing, nbc news, panama city, panama. the secret service faces another in a long line of scandals, a high ranking supervisor with allegations of assault, raising questions about whether they can clean up its act without bringing in an outside authority. nbc white house correspondent kristen welker has more. >> reporter: halvier morales was a standout a senior supervisor recently promoted. now he is the face of the latest secret service scandal, accused of assaulting a female agent. >> it seems like déjà vu all over again. >> reporter: government sources say it started march 31st at this d.c. bar. the female agent alleges morales, her boss, propositioned her here and then later at agency headquarters tried to get physical. she says she fought him off. secret service director joseph clancy placed him on leave and stripped his security clearance, saying in a statement, any threats or violence that endangers our employees in the workplace is unacceptable and will not be top rated. clancy was tapped to lead the agency after a series of embarrassments, including a man

with a knife making it into the white house, then last month on clancy's watch, surveillance vy video captured two top agents allegedly driving into an active crime scene after a night of drinking. >> it is going to take time to change some of this culture. >> reporter: an official review board concluded an outsider was needed to reform the agency. but the president picked clancy a 27-year secret service veteran. lawmakers are standing behind him, but stressing the urgency. >> i would say to director clancy, we have to move even faster. the president's life is on the line. >> reporter: we reached out to morales for comment, got no response. the department of homeland security inspector general and d.c. police sex crimes unit are investigating. lester? >> kristen, thank you. new developments in the murder case against wealthy release heir robert durst. it appears he may be trying to communicate with the outside world with a handwritten letter from behind bars. nbc's stephanie gosk has the story.

>> reporter: robert durst spoke publicly for the first time since his arrest, pleading not guilty to two weapons charges in a new orleans courtroom today. the charges are slowing down his extradition to los angeles for the murder of susan berman, a crime he denies. held without bond, durst may be reaching out to the public through the mail. "los angeles times" reporter molly hennessey fisk received a letter with a return draesaddress for robert durst. it was signed simply "bob." >> i had written to him, i wrote a very open-ended letter saying if there's anything you would like to say, feel free to write back. >> reporter: it is written in sloping cursive. sharing an array of personal details. while living in l.a. the author writes "i loved watching the traffic come up and mush into santa monica. my interests are opera and pro football." a "new example of hollywood gone

berserk." the author says he suffers from full blown hydrocephalus, a condition that leads to fluid buildup in the brain. and then concludes "i have said nothing about charges, crimes or trials. if any of this gets published, please copy me. bob." durst's attorney did not confirm the authenticity of the letter but says he doesn't mind who his client writes to just so long as he doesn't discuss the case. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. there's a lot more ahead tonight. an intruder in the home of one of the world's biggest movie stars. tonight we're hearing her call for help as she hides in a closet. also, good news, the sweet surprise hidden in a cake for this expecting mom who already has six boys, and her priceless reaction.

we are back with a chilling 911 call for help made by oscar winner sandra bullock, woken by sounds of an intruder inside her home, and hiding in her closet waiting for police to arrive. nbc's joe fryer takes us through it. >> hello? >> reporter: an emotional 911 call from sandra bullock was the first piece of evidence presented today during a hearing for the man accused of stalking the actress and breakinher los angeles home. >> i'm in my closet. i have a safe door in my bedroom, and i've locked it. and i'm locked in the closet right now. >> reporter: last june the suspect, joshua corbett, forced his way in through a locked glass door.

bullock's son was not home at the time. from her closet the academy award-winning actress could be heard breathing heavily throughout the real-life drama. >> i hear them, i hear someone banging on the door. >> in your bedroom? >> reporter: she stayed on the phone with the dispatcher for 15 minutes until police finally arrived. >> someone is knocking on my door. >> reporter: when corbett was arrested officers say he was carrying a notebook with pictures of bullock and handwritten letters. according to officers, he said sandy, i'm sorry, please don't press charges. corbett pleaded not guilty. as for bullock, she is not expected to testify during this pretrial hearing, but the 911 call speaks volumes. joe fryer, nbc news, los angeles. we are back in a moment with the explosion that leveled a neighborhood and those who are now ordered to pay dearly for it.

a california utility company is getting slapped with a record fine for this massive gas explosion and fire that killed 8 people and injured 66. pacific gas & electric has been ordered to pay 1.6 billion penalty for the blast that destroyed three dozen homes in san bruno in 2010. much of the money used for safety improvements. an alarming report, concerning the security of our nation's airports. it uncovered 268 perimeter breaches at 31 airports since 2004, everything from stowaways sneaking in to an suv ramming through a gate and driving onto a runway. the tsa says perimeter security is not its responsibility. that's in the hands of each airport and state and local law enforcement. a consumer alert, sabra hummus is recalling about 30,000 cases because of possible contamination with listeria. the recall is nationwide, it includes the 10-ounce and

17-ounce 6-packs. if you would like to check yours, find the sku number at the bottom of the bar code, match to the list of numbers included in the recall which you will find on our website. when we come back tonight, what the palace said about whether prince george is getting a brother or sister.

finally tonight, the palace has revealed new details about the impending birth of prince george's little brother or sister, including the fact that william and kate have chosen not to find out the sex of the baby until it arrives. but the moment they find out probably won't be on camera unlike the video of one mom gone viral. her reaction, priceless. here's nbc's kate snow. >> reporter: a mom who already had six boys is about to learn the gender of her seventh child. blue cake for boy, pink for girl. >> it's gonna be blue. >> reporter: but that's not what the cake says. >> you can't have a boy every time. you really can. i thought we were just the boy people. and now we're the boy people plus one. >> reporter: remember when everyone tried to outdo each other with videos of the best marriage proposals? now it is videos showing moms learning the gender of the baby.

>> now that most couples are finding out what they're having, it's kind of taking away the excitement at the hospital. why not make it into a party and a celebration? >> reporter: cutting a cake is old school. now there's confetti thrown by the family, confetti out of a cannon, balloons out of a box, fireworks, oh, and this. >> show us which car you're in, lauren! >> i think it is a boy. >> reporter: the reveal doesn't always go so well. >> it's a girl? >> yeah. it's going to be a girl. >> oh. >> it's a boy? >> i hate boys! >> reporter: sometimes it is safer to wait for the surprise on delivery day, but then you don't have an audience. kate snow, nbc news, new york. >> great stuff. that's going to do it for us on this thursday night. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news thank

you for watching, and good night. nbc bay area news starts now. >> it doesn't keep people out who want to penetrate the fence. >> right now at 6:00 how secure are our local airports? the red flag is being raised after a new revealed that two bay area airports topped a breach list. >> good evening and thanks for joining us. i'm jessica aguirre. >> and i'm raj mathai. sfo and sjc are on this dubious list. the faa says the bay area airports need to improve security. newly released numbers show that sfo had more security breaches than any american airport over the past ten years.

nbc bay area's scott budman joins us from sfo this evening. scott, what is the explanation here? >> reporter: lots of them raj. security officials here admit these breaches are a problem. they say they'll do what they can to try to clamp down. it's not what you want to hear about your local airport, but san francisco international since 2004 had the most intrusions of any airport in the country, 37 of them. >> we're very focused on learning from every single incident. >> reporter: sfo officials say they're cracking down but also note they have 15 miles worth of perimeter to secure six miles of which is water. >> six of these 37 incidents are specifically related to water incidents, boaters in distress, wind surfer that drifted too close. these subjects were met by police by boat, taken back out to the bay area. >> reporter: san francisco isn't