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2024. courthouse murder. a kentucky judge shot dead inside his own chambers. the accused gunman is the local sheriff. what we're learning about a possible motive. candidate controversy. north carolina's republican nominee for governor is facing mounting pressure to resign. he's accused of posting racist and sexually graphic comments online. why he insists he's not going anywhere. breaking news, deadly strike, a top hezbollah commander is reportedly killed by an israeli air strike. it's the latest escalation in a wave of attacks across lebanon. we are on the ground in the region. and it's sho-time. dodgers superstar shohei ohtani makes major league history. how he hit it out of the park during last night's game. if you've not heard already, it's 50-50, and we'll get to why for shohei ohtani. we're going to start today in kentucky with really tragic news, a small community grappling with the murder of a

well-known judge, the suspect now behind bars, is the local sheriff. this all unfolded thursday afternoon in letcher, kentucky, in eastern kentucky on the border with virginia. state police say county sheriff mickey stines is charged with one count of first-degree murder. they say stines fired multiple shots inside the judge's chambers, killing judge kevin mullins after an argument. police say sheriff stines surrendered to authorities at the scene. maura, what is next for the sheriff now, and what do we know about their relationship, the judge and the sheriff? >> reporter: well, the sheriff has been charged with first-degree murder. he's being held in a jail in the next county over because what's curious here about this situation, given the rural community, these types of crimes, these types of arraignments would typically be held before judge mullins. that's not possible here, but that's something officials are working out.

in terms of their past professional relationship, we know that the sheriff was employed as a bailiff at the letcher county district court about five years ago before he was elected as sheriff and so given, again, rural, small town community, in addition to that role in the district court, it's likely that they would have overlapped professionally, especially in the law enforcement world. but investigators are still looking into what this argument that unfolded into the shooting could have been all about, kate. >> maura, a commonwealth attorney for the county said the community's completely devastated, as you can only imagine, but the murder. what else are you hearing in reaction to his death? >> reporter: well, judge mullins has served as a judge in this county for about 15 years. he's been a champion for helping people get substance abuse treatment, helping open an opioid treatment facility, actually, and this is something he's well known in this 20,000-person county. it's a small town. and so, when you hear something

like the attorney, i'm hearing a lot of grief-stricken, very shaken up, matt butler added, if you knew letcher county, you'd know that families stay tightly connected." a lot of questions still to be answered but the community comforting each other as the investigators continue looking to get answers to those questions. >> all right, maura barrett, thank you. shocking allegations have completely upended the race for governor in north carolina. republican candidate mark robinson is vowing to stay in the race after a bombshell report from cnn dropped yesterday. the report was based on a cnn investigation, and it alleges that robinson, the current lieutenant governor of north carolina, frequently posted on an adult video website more than a decade ago. in one instance, allegedly calling himself "a black nazi" and expressing support for bringing back slavery. nbc news has not independently verified the posts in question.

robinson has denied the cnn report, calling it "tabloid trash." dasha burns joins me from wilmington, north carolina. what has the reaction been like in north carolina since this all came out? >> reporter: kate a lot of people, obviously horrified by the details in this report, but so far, the north carolina gop is sticking with the lieutenant governor, putting out a statement last night, calling this attacks from the left. the question is, as the pressure grows, do they continue to stand by him? particularly, what does this mean for former president trump? >> and north carolina is really key, right. it's a swing state. it's key for president trump's past victory in november. how is his campaign responding, or have they? >> reporter: it's really going to be a challenge for the former president. the democrats are having a field day with this. he has said some positive things about the lieutenant governor in the past.

he has called robinson better than mlk, mlk on steroids. he's given him his full-throated endorsement, and so this puts the trump team in a tough position. they did put out a statement not addressing robinson directly, not naming him, but saying simply that the campaign is focused on winning the white house and saving this country, and north carolina is a vital part of that plan, in part, but where the former president goes with this, whether he pulls the endorsement, how he handles this going forward could have a real impact in a state that's as critical as north carolina. >> and dasha, on the flip side, you wonder whether democrats are seizing on this political moment, seeing an opening in north carolina. >> reporter: oh, yes. yeah. absolutely. the harris campaign is already out with an ad, tying trump to robinson, putting out some of those words that i just mentioned that he said about him before, and one of the spokespeople for the harris campaign is telling nbc news they're going to be putting a lot more ad dollars, whether

it's tv ads, billboards, et cetera, into north carolina, given it's such a battleground and really trying to connect the down-ballot candidate up to former president trump. >> dasha burns in north carolina, thank you. well, with 45 days left to go until election day, georgia's election board today voted on new rules that will change the way elections are conducted in that state. among the changes, requiring counties in georgia to hand-count all ballots cast in november. critics say the new rules could significantly delay election results and introduce more errors and chaos at the ballot box. >> if i were to hand this stack of paper to three random people in this room, especially at the end of a long voting day, and ask them to arrive at the same total number, do we think that's feasible? because i personally don't think that's very feasible. asking our election workers to do this on every voting day is asking for errors. >> nbc news correspondent priya sridhar joins us from

georgia's state capitol. i know the board taking these decisions on is led by republicans, but you've got some republicans, like the -- actually, the guy who's in charge of elections there saying this may not work. >> reporter: yeah, absolutely. the secretary of state here in georgia, brad raffensperger, has said that these rules are creating 11th-hour chaos and that's really the concern here, the new rule that was just passed today would require that three election workers in each precinct hand-count the ballots and get the same result as what the voting machines were tabulating on election day itself, and many of the election workers that you heard from in the public comment period earlier today said that given manning and staffing, that that was going to be a really hard task after such a long day, a 14-hour day on election day. i did get a chance to speak with one of those three republicans who's on the state election board, and i asked her, you know, a lot of the critics who are against these new rules say they're just furthering distrust from people in the election system. let's take a listen to what she

had to say. what would you have to say to critics that this is feeding into people's distrust in the election system? >> no, it's actually mitigating their distrust in the election system. their distrust has been here since 2018, if not times prior before that, but definitely showed up in 2018, and it's been sitting here, and at some point, you have to address it, and that's what we're doing. >> reporter: so, kate, the concern here is that, as you mentioned, we're 45 days away from the election, and in many cases, in counties across georgia, those election workers have already been trained, so many of the directors were saying that essentially, changing their job responsibilities and their job functions at this point is just simply too late, and another huge concern is that the election results could be delayed if we're having to have people actually hand-count those ballots and arrive at the same number on election day itself, kate. >> all right, priya sridhar in georgia, thank you. time for today's cnbc money

minute. nike is shaking up its leadership, and three mile island is set to reopen. >> hi, kate. nike's ceo, john donahoe, leaving next month. critic long-time nike veteran elliott hill will come out of retirement to take over. the federal trade commission is suing three drug middlemen for inflating insulin prices. the s.e.c. accusing the big three pharmacy benefit managers of creating a rebate system that raised insulin prices to boost their profits. according to the ftc, the companies handle about 80% of the nation's prescriptions. the companies have yet to respond. and constellation energy plans to restart the three mile island nuclear plant and sell the power to microsoft for the datacenters used to support

artificial intelligence. constellation expects to bring online a unit one reactor in pennsylvania in 2028. that reactor is separate from one that melted down in 1979 in the country's worst nuclear accident. but certainly an interesting development, kate. >> yeah. all right, seema mody, thank you. coming up, they sound like they're straight out of a horror movie, venomous spiders that fly, where they're spinning their web of trouble and really how dangerous are they. later this hour, "friends," celebrating three decades since its television debut. we'll stroll down memoryane l l oooh! this is our night! shingles doesn't care. but shingrix protects. only shingrix is proven over 90% effective. shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach.

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israel's military says it killed a top hezbollah commander in a "targeted strike" in lebanon's capital, beirut. the country's health ministry says at least 14 people have died in lebanon, and that number is expected to go up. dozens more were injured. that strike came after hezbollah launched 140 rockets into northern israel today. the israeli military says most of them were intercepted by the iron dome defense system in israel. nbc news chief international correspondent keir simmons is in beirut for us. keir, what more do we know about the strike where you are in beirut and the hezbollah commander that was maybe targeted? >> reporter: well, kate, we saw the israeli jet flying over beirut here in the moments before that strike. we didn't hear the blast. the smoke rose over beirut in

the kind of hezbollah-controlled area of the city, if you like, where hezbollah dominates across to my right there, and then, these pictures emerged, and the damage, really striking, frankly. the building with the front blown off, rubble everywhere. as you mentioned, 14 killed so far, that's the count, but they are still pulling bodies from that rubble, so expect that to go up. and then among the hezbollah commanders that israel says it has assassinated in this move, it includes this leader who was even wanted by the u.s. there was $7 million for information about him, for his involvement in the 1983 bombing of the israeli embassy here in beirut. now, killed here in beirut by an israeli jet. and it comes as president biden

is effectively admitting, really, that despite his best efforts, he's really struggled to come to a peace agreement. we've seen the exchange of fire on the border between israel and hezbollah overnight. that continues. >> yeah. secretary of state today, i think, said, we're not giving up, but as you say, president biden seems to be indicating that it's getting much, much harder. for our american viewers, keir, the escalation in the last few days is obvious. the israeli -- excuse me -- devices killed at least 37 people in lebanon this week, so how concerned are folks where you are? >> reporter: oh, look, people are worried here in lebanon. they've been worried for almost a year about a full-scale -- an all-out war. they are worried. they've been worried in the past few days just about their own devices, you know, fears that their devices might explode, despite, of course, israel accused of this kind of targeted

operation to assassinate members of hezbollah. yeah, you mentioned the biden administration saying now it's still working towards peace. prime minister netanyahu of israel saying that "our actions speak for themselves" in a tweet just today and the israeli defense force saying that they will continue with this action until tens of thousands of israelis can return to their homes on the border with lebanon. israel's northern border. so, certainly, right now, it doesn't look as if this crisis that has rocked this region for so long is abating in any way. >> keir simmons, thank you for being there for us. appreciate it. the secret service has released a new internal review of the attempted assassination of former president trump in butler, pennsylvania. the agency's acting director blamed a series of communication errors, calling it mission

failure. the former president was injured, of course, during that rally back in july. the gunman was killed. today, the house of representatives expanded the scope of a task force investigating that butler shooting to include sunday's apparent assassination attempt in west palm beach, florida. the house also unanimously passed a bill to increase secret service protection for presidential and vice presidential nominees. that measure now heads to the senate. nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent ken dilanian joins me now. ken, the agency's director spoke with reporters for about an hour earlier today. what else did we learn about the investigation into that butler, pennsylvania, shooting? >> reporter: this was a remarkable news conference, kate, acting director ronald rowe was frank and candid about what he said were profound failures by the secret service of planning and execution. principally, he said that the secret service never explained to local law enforcement that they needed to secure that rooftop from which the sniper

fired, and he said the failures were bad enough that there would be disciplinary action against individual secret service agents, although he couldn't talk about that. take a listen to what else he said. >> issues were encountered the day of the visit with respect to line of sight concerns, but they were not escalated to supervisors. while some members of the advance team were very diligent, there was complacency on the part of others that led to a breach of security protocols. >> reporter: and again, he couldn't say what would happen to agents that were disciplined because of rules about personnel, but he made clear that there would be some accountability for the failures, kate. >> all right, ken dilanian for us, thank you so much. coming up, breaking news involving the u.s. soldier who sprinted into north korea last year. the charges that he just pleaded guilty to. we'll have that for you. you're watching "nbc news daily." we are also streaming free 24/7 on nbc news now.

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two police officers charged in connection with the death of an unarmed man appeared in court this morning. they were looking to get their case thrown out. nbc bay area's bob redell is at the superior court in oakland with the latest developments this morning in alameda county. superior court judge here in oakland said that he'd be issuing a ruling online before the next hearing on october 11th. the defense wants this case dismissed because they argued that the prosecution violated the statute of limitations. the three alameda police officers who are out of custody. they were in court behind me this morning with their attorney surrounded by several sheriff's deputies who were keeping a watch over the crowded courtroom gallery. they are charged with the involuntary manslaughter of mario gonzalez,

who died when they allegedly pinned him to the ground during a scuffle back in 2021. now, this morning, both sides agreed with the judge that three years is the statute of limitations for filing charges in a case like this, and that when the complaint was filed this past april, it was one day prior to the expiration of the limitations. the judge did ask why the prosecution waited until the last minute to file those charges. the assistant d.a. in court, this morning said they were waiting on a final report from an expert who reviewed the case, and at the last minute filing was not due to any sort of mishandling of the case. outside court before the hearing, mario gonzalez's mom joined about 25 to 30 activists, calling for an end to what they call bruce police brutality and to demand justice for her son. if they dismiss the case, the case of mario gonzalez are going to be mired, broken, and it's going to be something like a

respectful back in 2021. the alameda county district attorney at the time declined to charge the officers. da pamela price revived the case shortly after taking office in 2023. defense attorneys believe the charges may have been rushed because price is facing a recall election this november here in oakland, bob redell. nbc bay area news. we are learning new details about a cal fire engineer accused of setting five small fires in the north bay. police arrested robert hernandez of healdsburg this morning. healdsburg hernandez is suspected of setting fires near geyserville, healdsburg and windsor while he was off duty, including the geysers fire just a couple of weeks ago, which burned in sonoma county. luckily, all fires burned less than an acre. the investigation is ongoing. anyone with information is asked to call cal fire. fall officially starts on sunday, but don't expect a cool down. here's meteorologist kari hall with the details. happy friday to you. we're looking at nice and mild weather across the

bay area. just a touch warmer compared to yesterday for some of our inland valleys. but you really won't be able to tell the difference near the coast with san francisco's high in the upper 60s. oakland will see a high of 73 and 84 in concord, going into saturday. this is when our temperatures get a little bit more of a bump, and we'll be in the upper 80s and low 90s, up to 93, in ukiah, 94 in clear lake, while in oakland, we're still in the upper 70s in los gatos. we'll see a high of 86 degrees. sunday, our first day of fall, will be even hotter. a lot more 90s on the map here from the south county to the tri-valley and to the interior east bay. we'll take a look at what's ahead in our 7-day forecast that's coming up in the next 30 minutes. thanks, kari. a potential traffic nightmare for anyone driving through the east bay this weekend. starting at nine tonight, southbound 680 will be closed between acosta boulevard and the five 8680 interchange in dublin. the shutdown is scheduled to last until 4 a.m. monday morning. caltrans says the shutdown gives workers the

time and freedom to repave that stretch of highway without having to worry about cars zipping by. one spokesperson says a lot of work is getting done in a short amount of time. we actually managed to shrink 40 nights of nighttime closures into one weekend, caltrans says. two more 680 closures are scheduled for next month. the overall repaving project won't wrap up until december of 2026. you can go to our website, nbcbayarea.com for the full 680 closure guide. just click on the link in the trending bar. oh, this is so sad. just six home games left for the a's in oakland before they packed their bags for sacramento and stay there until their las vegas stadium is ready. the team starts its final home stand tonight, wrapping up 57 seasons in oakland. they're hosting three games with the yankees, followed by three games with the rangers. the final home game is scheduled for next thursday afternoon. if you don't have

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so for faster pain relief, advil the pain away. bottom of the hour now. here are some of the stories making headlines on "nbc news daily." music mogul sean "diddy" combs is on procedural suicide watch as he awaits trial on alleged sex crimes. a source familiar with the situation told nbc news this suicide watch is "procedural

with high-profile clients." the source added that combs "remains strong and focused on his defense." combs has been in custody in new york city since monday night. and when we mentioned suicide, we always like to remind everyone that help is available. call or text the national suicide prevention lifeline at 988. you can reach out online at 988lifelife.org. imagine taking your dog for a walk and being followed by a nine-foot alligator. officials say that's what dog walkers were dealing with in sail fish point, florida. neighbors say they started the reptile near a dog-walking area. deputies were able to keep the gator cordoned off until a professional trapper came. the alligator has since been relocated. l.a. dodgers star shohei ohtani became the official founder of the 50-50 club against the miami marlins last night. he is the first major league baseball player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season, and he did it in impressive fashion.

smashing three home runs, stealing two bases in a 20-4 rout of the marlins. we are following breaking news this hour out of texas. u.s. army soldier, travis king, who ran into north korean territory last year, has just pleaded guilty to five counts, including desertion. nbc news correspondent kathy park is following that breaking case for us. kathy, can you remind us about what we know about why travis king decided to run into north korea and what did he just plead guilty to? >> reporter: hey, kate. good afternoon to you. let me start with those charges. he pleaded guilty, one count of desertion, one count of assault on a noncommissioned officer, and three counts of disobeying a superior officer. and we should point out that this is all happening in military court, a court-martial, so no cameras allowed in court, the judge ruled earlier today no laptops either, so we do have a

producer who is monitoring the proceedings very closely. right now, they are on a break, but that is the latest news. but as far as how we got here, this incident all unfolded july of last year when travis king, he was apparently with a tour group in south korea at the time when he decided to dart across the border to north korea. obviously, he was detained right away by north korean officials and he was held for nearly two months and then later expelled and handed over to u.s. custody. even before he did this, he was facing a number of other charges stemming from allegations of assault as well as damage to public property, and he spent time in south korea related to those charges, spent about two months in a south korean prison, and then he was released, but shortly after that, he was being escorted by military officers to the airport. he was supposed to head back to the u.s. to face further disciplinary action, but at that time, he apparently linked up with a tour group, went to that demilitarized zone or very close to it, and then decided to cross

over, and obviously, that's kind of how we ended up with this hearing today, but he accepted a plea deal last month and decided to plead guilty to those five charges ahead of today's hearing. >> all right, kathy park for us. thanks. the republican governor of ohio is criticizing both former president trump and his running mate, senator jd vance. governor mike dewine, pushing back on the debunked conspiracy theory that haitian immigrants in springfield, ohio, are eating pets and wildlife. dewine himself is a springfield native. last night, members of the community gathered for a town hall to figure out -- try to figure out how to move forward. and we're showing there an ally, vivek ramaswamy, an ally of president trump on the ground as well. correspondent shaquille brewster is in springfield. >> reporter: hi there. well, throughout the day, we have been watching a little bit of a back and forth between republican leaders about what exactly is happening in springfield. we saw ohio's governor, mike

dewine, in "the new york times" this morning write an op-ed where he named former president donald trump and jd vance by name and said, as a supporter, "i am saddened by how they and others continue to repeat claims that lack evidence and disparage the legal immigrants living in springfield. this rhetoric hurts the city and its people." and jd vance, through a spokesperson, said that he and governor dewine don't agree on every issue, but didn't address the claims that they've repeated and instead said that former president trump will focus on closing the border and will stop the chaos. but when you talk to people here, there is that fear that we've heard since the wave of bomb threats after those claims were initially made, and frustration going back to the situation here in this town for years. but you do have an influx of legal haitian immigrants that, in part, have caused a strain on city resources in areas like education, health care, and

housing. that was a big topic at a conservative town hall that i attended just yesterday. listen to what some people told me afterwards. >> the eating the dogs and cats, i don't believe was ever true, but it provided attention to our situation here, and if it has helps bringing all the police in, the education, vivek is here. it's brought national attention. >> these people, if they come from haiti, these are probably the nicest people i've ever met. when we talk to them at the car wash, they're just excited to be here. we like to hear their stories, so we ask them, when did you come to springfield? what do you like most about it? we're just excited that they're here, they're succeeding, but also they're contributing back to our economy. >> reporter: meanwhile, those hoaxes are still having an impact. yesterday, the mayor of springfield signed a proclamation essentially giving the city more power to respond to the increased risks that they're seeing, and there are still state troopers posted at

every school building here in this city. the governor is saying that that is going to be the posture for the foreseeable future. back to you. >> all right, shaq brewster, thank you. halloween system is fast approaching but this fall, there's an invasive species popping up in states across the country that's already giving people a scare. they are called joro spiders, and they're catching some attention for their bright colors and the unique way they move. here's nbc correspondent emilie ikeda. >> reporter: stretching up to four inches long with an eye-opening yellow color, the northeast's newest creepy crawler seems to be straight out of a spooky thriller. this real-life nightmare now haunting new ground with younger ones shooting we say to catch the wind and seemingly float to travel. the invasive joro spider from east asia has been reported in nine states over roughly the last decade. just this month, in pennsylvania.

>> they've arrived to the philadelphia area where i live. this isn't okay. >> reporter: to make matters worse, head of penn state's insect identification lab says they're here to stay in the u.s. now that we're seeing joro spiders in new states, what's that a sign of? >> so, joro spiders popping up in new areas was inevitable, but it's unpredictable. because eggs can be laid on things like vehicles and boats and other objects that get moved, they're bound to show up in new places as humans move them around. >> reporter: the good news? experts say humans and household pets can't be physically harmed by the spiders' weak venom and tiny fangs. emotional trauma, though, is another story. >> i do not like spiders. >> reporter: amanda bowen lives in georgia where the eight-legger is the most prevalent. >> i was on a trail with my husband, and he said, stop. and i was, like, literally three or four inches away from going face first into one. >> reporter: the joro spider is capping off a summer of bugs.

a historic buzz of cicadas swarmed the southeast and midwest, including our own maggie vespa. >> are they in my hair? >> stay there for a second. >> oh my god, there it is. >> reporter: while parts of the northeast saw the return of the spotted lantern fly, something the joro spider actually eats, along with any insect that flies into its lair. emilie ikeda, nbc news. a beloved sitcom celebrating a major milestone, "friends" first debuted right here on nbc in 1994 and since then, the show has become a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. morning news now anchor joe fryer spoke with the show's creators about how three decades later, it's still there for you. ♪ no one told you life was going to be this way ♪ >> reporter: at age 30, "friends," the show, is now older than the characters when the show debuted in 1994.

>> welcome to the real world. it sucks. you're going to love it. >> reporter: a fact not lost on the sitcom's proud parents, creators david crane and marta kaufman, who executive produced with kevin bright. >> i would imagine it's kind of what it must feel like when your kid turns 30, and you're like, how did that happen? >> well, maybe i don't need your money. wait, wait, i said, maybe. >> reporter: a sentiment recently shared by jennifer aniston. >> oh, god, don't make me cry. >> reporter: who became emotional when looking back on the show. >> it's so strange to even think that it's 30 years old, because it actually just -- i remember the day that it was going to premier. >> pivot! pivot! >> reporter: the cast's chemistry was clear on the first day of rehearsal. >> when the six of them got on stage together, i literally got a chill up my spine and thought,

this is special. >> how you doing? >> reporter: and while it's hard to imagine "friends" by any other name -- >> it was "insomnia cafe." "six of one." "friends like us." >> reporter: you must be grateful it's not "insomnia cafe." i don't see that being the juggernaut. viewers became fast friends with "friends," making the six leads overnight stars. they spoke with "today" about their sudden success just weeks after the premier. >> it's pretty amazing. i mean, i think we're all really sort of taken aback by it. >> do you worry about staying power? >> enjoying things, absolutely, but the work is important. you can't sort of get lazy and sit back and say, hey, we're a hit, we're going to be fine. you've got to keep up the -- >> the momentum. >> the momentum. >> reporter: they did for 236 episodes. >> you're my lobster. >> reporter: spanning ten seasons. >> they'll know that we know they know we know.

>> reporter: delivering countless quotable moments. >> we were on a break! >> reporter: and one quirky song. ♪ smelly cat, smelly cat ♪ >> reporter: five years ago, we honored the show with singing phoebes on the plaza. ♪ it's not your fault ♪ >> reporter: over the years, the show has been watched more than 100 billion times across all platforms, including streaming. >> when you have preteens coming up to you, telling you how much they love your show, and asking you, will there be more episodes? >> we get that a lot. i get emails about it all the time. everybody has a great idea, and the great idea is, their kids, grown up, doing a "friends" show. >> reporter: to that, you say? >> oh, no. no, no, no. >> look at me. i'm chandler. could i be wearing any more clothes? >> reporter: a reboot was never in the cards. but a reunion was in 2021. >> first couple years, we ate

every meal together. >> that's right. >> even on the weekends. >> reporter: that night together is especially meaningful after matthew perry's death last year from what the medical examiner calls the acute effects of ketamine. >> i have to imagine it's impossible to think about 30 years without thinking about matthew. >> he'd been fighting the good fight for so long, and it really did feel like, from the reunion, that he had finally found some peace. >> it's a huge loss, and it does make the 30th a little fraught. >> reporter: what helps is to think of his incredible talent. >> i went to that tanning place your wife suggested. >> was that place the sun? >> he made us laugh every day. >> david always said he was the funniest man in a room. >> can we get some coffee? >> sure. where? >> reporter: turns out the theme song had it right.

after all these years, these friends will still be there for you. joe fryer, nbc news. good stuff. up next, talking about weight can be really hard and uncomfortable. how we can wk together toro

in today's m mental health

check, for a lot of people, talking about weight can be a sensitive subject. that's partly because of the negative stereotypes and attitudes that society equates with certain body types. experts call it weight still ma or sizism. it's something that more than 40% of adults in america across a range of different body sizes say they've experienced at some point in their lives. joining us to talk more is kelly, a clinical psychologist. good to see you again. talk more about the words, weight stigma and how that shows up in society. >> sure. so, weight stigma is any negative belief or stereotype that you apply to someone purely based on their body and their appearance. and it shows up in our culture, right? there's a lot of societies that equate thinness with success and weight gain with failure, and that permeates the way we portray folks in our media where we usually see thin bodies a ideal and beautiful and larger bodies as a sign of laziness or

poor health, and it goes all the way into our health care system where our medical professionals are trained to assume that you can tell somebody's health based off of their weight, which leads to poor care for all of us, because it creates blind spots in their recommendations. >> we asked you if there were things that people unknowingly say that sort of contribute to weight stigma, and if you can walk us through a few of the things we might not realize we're saying. >> a really common one is, you're not fat, you're beautiful. that phrase makes it seem as if beauty and weight are mutually exclusive, and fortunately, in recent years, the modeling industry has absolutely proven that wrong with the diversity of beautiful bodies that they display. another common phrase is, i feel so fat today. using "fat" as a descriptor for feeling negative, just perpetuates this weight stigma. and this idea, if you just lose

weight, all your health problems will go away. this misses the millions of different sources for health problems and assumes that all negative health complications are related to weight. >> you know, sometimes, i think it's hard to know if you should comment at all on someone's appearance, let alone their weight, and even if you're complimenting, like, oh, you seem like you look really fit right now. is that just a never? like, don't ever say that? is that the best rule? >> yeah, it is. the best rule of thumb is to just avoid commenting on folks' appearance in general. there are so many other things to talk about, like what you know this person for and how they make you feel, and that way, you can avoid accidentally offending someone or saying something that they could be thinking about for the next day. >> there's also been some research that shows that weight stigma is intertwined with racism. can you talk about that link? >> sure. early in the 19th century, there was an entire field of science that was focused on eugenics that not only talked about whiteness and thin bodies being more desirable, but it actually

made the case that they were superior, and so, that same belief system is still very pervasive today in our current beauty standards, and it often leaves people in larger bodies and folks who are from the black community, the indigenous community, and other communities of color, feeling marginalized. >> just in a -- we only have a few seconds, but in a sentence, what can we all do? how can we help combat the stigma? >> we can be inclusive of everyone, uplift folks regardless of how they look and remember that, truly, what is on the inside matters most. >> yeah. >> yeah. ke ll(♪♪) with wet amd, i worry i'm not only losing my sight, but my time to enjoy it. but now, i can open up my world with vabysmo. (♪♪) vabysmo is the first fda-approved treatment for people with wet amd that improves vision and delivers a chance for up to 4 months between treatments, so i can do more of what i love.

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for sudden breathing problems. it is not for asthma. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. don't take breztri more than prescribed. breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ask your doctor about breztri. gum problems could be the start of a domino effect parodontax active gum repair breath freshener clinically proven to help reverse the 4 signs of early gum disease a toothpaste from parodontax, the gum experts. oooh! this is our night! shingles doesn't care. but shingrix protects. only shingrix is proven over 90% effective. shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site,

muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today. area, but in a different location. cruz announced a small fleet of cars is now operating in sunnyvale and mountain view, but with some big differences. the big one these vehicles are now manned with human drivers. autonomous testing will not start until later this fall. also, passengers will not be allowed in the cars until the company receives new permits. leaders in each city are excited about the new partnership, but some residents are skeptical. i would honestly rather have them tested in san francisco, like you're driving in a more peaceful area. i don't know how you can really get an accurate gauge. at least a driverless car is better than driving drunk. but then also a driverless car could hit someone. late last

year, regulators pulled the plug on cruise cars. the move came after one of its robo taxis dragged a woman who had been hit by another car in san francisco and then thrown into its path. cruz has since settled with that victim. caltrans is offering free rides this weekend. it's part of its rollout of its electric fleet for the first time ever. caltrans will have 100% zero emission trains. we got a chance to check out the trains this morning and they've got some cool perks. not only do they run quieter, but they now have a designated car to park bikes. there's also onboard wi-fi for the first time and outlets on all the seats. finally, travel times are estimated to be shorter with the electric trains. one caltrain official says a trip from san francisco to san jose can now be made under an hour. we're looking at a warm start to fall with temperatures back up in the 90s in some parts of the bay area. here's meteorologist kari hall with our forecast. well, take a look at the high heat

that's ahead going into our weekend. we are back to summer. even as fall officially begins on sunday morning. that afternoon, we'll see a high of 94 degrees and some of our inland valleys. on monday, it's even hotter, 98 degrees, and we're still dealing with some heat on tuesday, but it gradually starts to ease up on wednesday into thursday, but still above normal, with highs in the upper 80s and overnight lows around 60 degrees. as we take a look at san francisco, we're going to be nice and mild here. a little bit warmer, but still pretty comfortable throughout the weekend with highs in the mid seconds into the upper 70s on monday, and then we're back to our more normal pattern here by next wednesday and thursday. thanks, ri and we'll beka

zero. consumer investigator chris kamara responds to the biggest issues facing viewers in the month of august. happy friday. our team just ran august

numbers. let's take a look at the top things viewers are complaining about. home and appliance repairs are tied for fourth place. next, we have banking problems possible scams and fraud stole second, and our most complained about category yet again is travel. it took 10% of all of our august cases. case in point jocelyn. in pacifica. she canceled a flight when her mom passed away. our condolences. well, the booking website and her airline were quibbling over her $930 ticket price. jocelyn tapped us to break the finger pointing match. the booking site responded and refunded jocelyn's $930. if a travel mishap is weighing you down, maybe we can help. snap the qr code on screen right now to fill out our consumer complaint form online. have a great weekend. thank you. you too. chris. you can get all the latest news also kris how to videos on our website

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