okay. time to grab some cheesecake and your best friends. "golden girls" kitchen has officially opened. >> the limited time pop-up unto the lord. tonight, the desperate search for survivors in kentucky, the death toll there climbing after that historic flooding and now more rain is on the way. search crews working tirelessly to find the missing as residents get their first up-close look at what they've lost >> it's all gone all gone breaking news from the white house, president biden tests positive for covid again, now back isolation, but with no symptoms, how the treatment he took likely led to this rebound infection. amazing video of what appears to be space debris from a chinese rocket lighting up the sky as it crashes back to earth. tonight, where it landed

the major twist in efforts to free brittney griner, russia now wants a convicted murderer released as part of the deal new questions tonight after body camera footage reveals what happened before this georgia woman fell out of the back of a police car and died electricity rates skyrocketing across the country. >> $100 more a month is a lot of money. >> how you can save some cash. plus, america's newest billionaire, the mystery surrounding one of the biggest lottery winners ever >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with josé díaz-balart. good evening, i'm peter alexander. jose is off tonight. across eastern kentucky, the death toll from this week's punishing floods keeps rising at least 25 people have now died due to the surging waters and the state's governor tonight fears that is not the last of it this is still an emergency situation, he's warning

all of it as more rain is on the way to that region already, entire communities there are almost unrecognizable with roads washed away and power knocked out, and complicating the search and rescue effort, cell service is still down in many places we begin with jesse kirsch in the flood zone tonight. >> reporter: with historic flood waters pulling back in eastern kentucky, tonight, fears are becoming reality the death toll, climbing as expected, now at least 25 confirmed dead, including 4 children, all siblings according to a relative, 8-year-old madison, 6-year-old riley junior and 2-year-old chance, all tragically gone. >> i'm worried that we're going to be finding bodies for weeks to come. keep praying. >> reporter: kim and douglas stevens are some of the lucky ones along this isolated hillside highway, their home essentially became an island where we're standing right now, over the

last couple days, we would have been standing in water. >> yes. >> reporter: they spent around nine hours in their car on higher ground without an escape route, no cell reception, little food, water filling their first floor. >> everything you lived for is gone. it's gone. >> reporter: thankfully, receding waters mean rescue teams can reach further. tonight, those door-to-door searches are still urgent >> we have people with medical conditions who haven't been able to seek treatment for days. >> reporter: thousands still have no power, though cell reception is improving and some will likely go days without clean drinking water. >> there are some oil fields and gas wells that are contaminating the water. >> reporter: for now, fema says 18 trailers filled with clean water are on the way this is just one shed in one community, devastated i'm 6'1" and look at where the water level was on here. well above my head, just one city hit so hard by these floods as survivors get closer to the destruction, some are also closer to realizing they need a new place to live. >> it's all gone. all gone >> reporter: 70 years of memories washed

away, destroying the jackson, kentucky, home pete bard shared with two grandsons what do you tell them? how do you explain this to them >> you can't. >> reporter: amid the devastation, glimmers of hope too. dylan risked his life to save the sonogram image of his still-unborn baby boy. he's ready to rebuild. >> with each flood, it keeps getting higher and with each flood, we hope that's the biggest one, and it never seems to end. >> reporter: no chance you'd ever leave >> no chance i'd ever leave. >> reporter: how come? >> because this is home >> and jesse joins us now near lost creek, kentucky, where we'r getting a better picture of the devastation but they're not in the clear just yet, jesse. >> reporter: that's right, peter unfortunately, more rain is in the forecast for tomorrow, and that is not what they need. this is one of the worst scenes we have come across. you can see the home tilting off its foundation and there are more scenes even more devastating, including some structures that were literally swept away peter? >> look at those dramatic pictures there, jesse kirsch on the ground

jesse, thank you to the other breaking story we're following tonight. just days afte testing negative for covid and being cleared to leave the residence, president biden has tested positive again and is now back in isolation. his doctor tonight calling it a rebound case likely due to his taking a recommended treatment. monica alba is at the white house with the very latest. >> hey, folks, joe biden here tested positive this morning. >> reporter: president biden isolating in the white house tonight after testing positive again for covid-19 >> feeling fine. feeling good >> reporter: while the president currently has no symptoms, according to his doctor, he will isolate for the next five days to protect those around him mr. biden tested negative on tuesday evening, five days after initially contracting the virus last week. >> my recovery was quick and i am feeling great. >> reporter: unmasked as he returned to work in the oval office, and for two indoor events on thursday the president's symptoms resolved with the help of paxlovid,

a free antiviral linked to so-called rebound cases. the president tested negative for four days in a row before testing positive again on saturday morning. a trend among those who take the five-day course >> it's not exactly clear why this is happening, but experts have theorized that one reason is that because you take the paxlovid early in the course of infection, that your money system doesn't actually have a chance to mount its own response to the virus. >> reporter: still, health experts say the benefit of medication that prevents severe illness or death outweighs the trouble of testing positive for a second time. >> even though it's an inconvenience and it's delayed their recovery axial, it does not appear to be a dangerous consequence of paxlovid rebound. >> and monica joins us now from the north lawn monica, has the white house identified any new close contacts >> reporter: white house officials are working to determine

that very question right now. when president biden first had the virus, 17 close contacts were identified, none of whom ended up testing positive the president was scheduled to travel to delaware tomorrow and michigan tuesday, but both trips have been canceled peter? >> monica alba at the white house tonight, thank you. we are getting our first images tonight of space debris from a large chinese rocket that came crashing down to earth today. now nasa is criticizing china for putting people at risk molly hunter has the latest >> reporter: tonight, this video appears to show chinese space debris apparently re-entering the earth's atmosphere, crashing into the indian ocean the social media post out of malaysia showing fireballs, what may be pieces of china's most powerful rocket burning up on re-entry the rocket, which launched last week, was taking a new scientific lab up to china's space station. but once delivered, the rocket was in free fall, traveling more than 17,000 miles an

hour once in earth's orbit, hurtling towards, well, all of us >> it's moving very fast, and so, you know, what that means, in trying to predict where it's going to come down, is that if we wait just a minute or two, it's moved hundreds of miles and our predictions always have about 20% error our last prediction was plus or minus an hour when you think about that for a 90-minute orbit, that's more than once around the whole planet. >> reporter: right, so it either hits me or hits someone in beijing. when launched, the rocket weighed some 23 tons and it was the height of a ten-story building how big are the chunks what are we talking about? r talking the size of an suv o are we talking kind of gravelly are we talking a whole spectrum >> we're talking a whole spectrum. >> reporter: the chinese foreign ministry said the risk to the general public was low, which it is relatively, but in a statement today, nasa criticized china for the lack of transparency, saying sharing information is vital to ensure the

safety of people here on earth allowing rockets to return home uncontrolled doesn't break any laws, but it's bad behavior. molly hunter, nbc news, london tonight, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is ordering a mandatory evacuation in eastern ukraine as the fighting there intensifies. it comes as both sides accuse the other of war crimes after a strike on a russian detention center killed 50 ukrainian pows josh letterman is in ukraine tonight. >> reporter: tonight, russia facing growing allegations of war crimes after dozens of ukrainian prisoners of war were massacred in a strike that both countries are blaming on each other. russia's military saying ukraine used long-range himars missiles to hit a prison camp in russian-held territory in eastern ukraine. but ukraine says that's a lie president zelenskyy calls it a false flag attack, imploring the world to act >> translator: i'm especially appealing

to the united states of america a solution is needed, needed now >> reporter: these satellite images appearing to show the prison camp before and after the explosion. among those killed, ukrainian fighters who made their last stand defending the azovstal steel plant in besieged mariupo for 80 days. he says it was a vivid example of how russia publicly spits in the face of the whole international community. tonight, the u.n. is calling for an investigation. is this a war crime? >> yes, it's clearly war crime. to say that ukrainians shot their own people and their own soldiers, and it's complete lies. >> reporter: the attack comes as u.s. and russian officials negotiate a potential prisoner swap to free wnba star brittney griner and american businessman paul whelan, the u.s. offering a convicted russian arms dealer in exchange but now the u.s. says

russia is also demanding a convicted murderer, currently held in germany. a top u.s. official dismissing that russian proposal as not serious. tonight, ukraine's government says it will order the mandatory evacuation of all civilians still in the eastern region of donetsk where ukrainian and russian troops are engaged in fierce combat. president zelenskyy saying the government will help people leave. peter? >> josh letterman in kyiv tonight josh, thank you. tonight, new body camera footage is raising new questions about a georgia woman who died after being taken into police custody. the newly released video shows the moments just before and after the woman fell out of a moving police car but first, a warning some of the footage may be difficult to watch. here's erin mclaughlin >> reporter: tonight, the family of brianna grier reacting to this newly released police body camera footage, showing the events leading up to her death. >> my heart was broken, and see the picture i'm holding now?

we don't have it no more. >> reporter: as her mother, what was going through her mind >> you don't want to know. >> reporter: the 28-year-old georgia resident died july 21st just days after falling out of a moving police car. the mother a twins, a diagnosed schizophrenic, had been arrested during what her family says was a mental health emergency. >> get off me. >> reporter: in the video, you see the officers struggling to get grier into the police car she's handcuffed in front of her body. >> no. >> brianna, get up and walk >> i know how to get her up >> another appears to take out his taser >> you can tase me i don't care i don't care >> get up! >> reporter: then puts it back into its holster and quickly lifts her into the car. you can see and hear the rear door on the driver side shut minutes later, the officer stops the car. you see grier lying face down on the side of the road, having fallen out of the passenger side of the patrol car >> brianna. >> reporter: the officer checks for a response >> brianna. >> reporter:

investigators say they concluded the rear passenger side door was opened by one of the officers but then never closed, and that grier was not wearing a seat belt when she fell out of the car. >> she's not breathing. >> reporter: the officer propping grier's head up and calling for an ambulance. >> yeah, she's fine. she's breathing. >> reporter: she died six days later in a hospital after slipping into a coma >> where is that dash cam video? that should let us glean her coming out of the vehicle, and so we are demanding transparency we're demanding the release of all the videos >> reporter: grier's family says they're planning an independent autopsy, searching for their own answers. erin mclaughlin, nbc news still ahead here tonight, why electric bills are skyrocketing, and how you can bring yours down plus, the mega millions mystery who is america's newest billionaire

it was one of the biggest lottery jackpots ever and tonight it may be one of the biggest lottery mysteries. who won last night's $1.3 billion prize we know where the lucky ticket was purchased. we just don't know who bought it. george solis is on the story. >> reporter: tonight, all eyes on the chicago suburb of des plaines now making mega millions history. >> this is the largest jackpot ever won in illinois and the second largest ever won for the game.

>> reporter: a near record-shattering $1.34 billion ticket sold at this speedway gas station just outside chicago o'hare last-minute ticket sales making an already astonishing prize so much sweeter. now, the actual billion dollar question who's the winner >> we have not heard from the winner yet. we don't know whether or not they even know they won a prize. >> reporter: and we may never know that's because winners in illinois can remain anonymous as they have 12 months to claim their prize. that can be paid out over the next 30 years. or the winner can take a one-time lump sum of $780 million, but that's before taxes. in 2018, the largest mega million jackpot to date, a whoinppg $1.5 billion was also claimed by an anonymous player in south carolina these big payouts setting the bar even higher for anyone who loves to play. >> probably if it gets over a billion again, i'll play again. >> i just think that it's a shame that one person won should have been split up. >> reporter: tonight,

some are still walking away with newfound riches as a result of the drawing. the lucky store that sold the ticket poised to get half a million. 26 players walking away with a cool million each 375 others scoring 10 grand apiece >> got to play to win, right? >> that's true somebody's got to win. >> reporter: somebody did. tonight, the nation waiting to see who claims that life-changing prize. george solis, nbc news, philadelphia >> if you're flying through o'hare, better check your ticket, right? we're back in a moment with shockingly high electricity bills across the country how you may be able to save some money. plus the out-of-control wildfire now forcing new evacuations out west

with fire season already off to an explosive start tonight, a new wildfire is scorching parts of the california-oregon border the mckinney fire, it's called, has burned more than 30,000 acres in less than 24 hours, forcing dozens of evacuations so far that fire still burning out of control. in this shot, you can see tearing through a hillside just behind a business in one california town. first, the heat, now those eye-popping electric bills and it's not just because you've been cranking up the air conditioner. the price of electricity is skyrocketing nationwide with more price hikes to come. priscilla thompson explains why. give give predecessors gigi perez was shocked

to receive a $174 electric bill in the mail this month. >> reporter: how much is it usually during the summer for you >> last year, it was like $98 or $95. >> reporter: you're paying like 80 bucks more now >> yes, ma'am. it's a lot >> reporter: gigi, who lives on a fixed income with her daughter and three grandkids in houston, says they're trying to conserve energy to cut future bills and are now making sacrifices to pay this one. >> the first thing i was thinking, i said, i'm going to pay the bill, but we don't going to have no water or meat or something price is going up. i had to go down on something. >> reporter: texas has some of the highest bills in the country, while nationwide this summer, americans are expected to spend $540 on electric bills, 20% more than last year. some states are seeing even bigger increases. pennsylvania regulators are now warning of a 45% rate hike and starting monday, some customers in massachusetts, connecticut, and new hampshire, will see an increase of up to 50%.

>> $100 more a month is a lot of money. >> reporter: the price hike and the scorching heat is burning granite state resident, michelle >> frustration there's nothing we can do we just have to kind of, you know, accept it >> reporter: the reason for the spike >> a lot of that is because of the russian invasion of ukraine. because natural gas prices have doubled to quadrupled, our electricity prices have gone up with them. >> reporter: there are some steps you can take to lower your bill experts say, try turning the thermostat up a few degrees close blinds to avoid warming the room and if you get hit with a big bill, talk to your electric company about a payment plan >> it's 85 degrees here today, and it's pretty humid, and the air-conditioners are not on we're, you know, just trying to use as little as we can. >> reporter: with no relief in sight, both michelle and gg are considering moving to cool down their costs. >> i don't know what we're going to do, but you know, we need the electricity. >> reporter: priscilla

thompson, nbc news, houston. and when we come back tonight, the young teenager with a huge heart, how he took it upon himself to honor america's veterans

there's good news tonight about the next generation and how one teenager has gone above and beyond to honor the veterans in his community. boyd hooper from our station in minneapolis has the story.

>> reporter: a civic-minded committee could have spent years fund-raising and planning minnesota's newest veterans memorial. >> this dedication for this beautiful place of remembrance >> reporter: but olivia didn't need a task force, a business, and political leaders to conceive and execute a plan this impressive, just a teen >> that's me. >> dom could be forgiven for being a bit on edge as he prepared for the may dedication >> i'm trying not to think about it because of the anxiety that it gets. >> reporter: a month earlier, dom broke ground on the project in this city park after raising more than $77,000 >> this is my dad. >> reporter: and now, it's a proper place for olivia to honor its veterans dom was 15 when he started his eagle scout project by painting his town with flyers, meeting with veterans, and appearing in local media. 16 when dom and his contractors finished the memorial >> that right there is my dad's grandpa this one is my

grandpa's dad. >> reporter: 280 papers recognizing veterans who served and those who gave their lives. >> proud of you, dominic. >> reporter: kim's son, james, was killed in iraq. >> james has been honored in many cities, but this is our son's home. >> reporter: james can be found across the way from mark's father >> alfred william, he served in korea. i never knew him very good, because he was killed in a car accident when i was 1 year old. >> reporter: mark drove two hours to see the memorial built by a teenager >> first time today. >> reporter: that moved more than a few adults no committee, no treasurer, no head of public relations just a boy >> the memorial before you is a result of the generosity and support that i and the veterans of our community have received >> reporter: next time someone spouts off about the sorry state of today's young people, tell them about dom.

the teenager whose legacy in olivia is now etched in stone. boyd hooper, nbc news, olivia, minnesota. >> what a young man. dom says he wants to be a nurse in order to help people. we could certainly use him. that is nbc "nightly news" for this saturday. kate snow will be here tomorrow night i'm peter alexander. have a good night. right now at 6:00, another huge firestorm burning at the northern edge of the state forcing bay area firefighters to jump from one emergency on to the next. we'll have the latest on the

conditions. a deadly night in contra costa county. now a driver is behind bars after the collision. what we know about the case and the victims. it's not just san francisco. another major city declares an emergency for the monkeypox outbreak. we'll show you how far the virus is spreading in the country and how many cases are here in the bay area. news at 6:00 starts right now. thank you for joining us. >> we begin tonight with a live look from sacramento. right now firefighters and their families are paying their respects to firefighters who have died in the line of duty over the past three years. 82 men and women are being honored including 11 bay area firefighters and that includes san francisco jason cortez on the left of your screen. cortez died in an accident during a training exercise in 2020. also, christopher yach who died after battling