on our broadcast tonight, storming the plane, a bomb scare mid-flight, fighter jets scrambled over the u.s. and the terrifying scene after the emergency landing. violent night in the middle east as the israelis reject a cease-fire and warn they may go in bigger. too close for comfort, when a drone whizzed by an iconic tourist attraction and the cops then found out who was at the controls. nfl firestorm, the football star, domestic violence and now the outrage over the punishment. and what she's having, as a big movie marks a big milestone, tonight, the number of women who still go back to reenact one of hollywood's most memorable scenes. "nightly news" begins now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams.

good evening. it was early this morning on a summer friday and most americans have no idea what was happening in the skies above them. a flight from canada southbound to panama was over the united states when a passenger onboard is alleged to have become agitated and made a remark about a bomb. the response included f-16 jets escorting the plane back to canada. and once it had performed a huge u-turn and was back on the ground, the video you're about to see and hear shows not only the hair-trigger response of aviation security but also how militarized law enforcement has become these days. it's where we begin tonight. nbc's tom costello covers aviation for us. he's in our d.c. newsroom. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. at one point this morning air traffic control, law enforcement and defense authorities from both the u.s. and canada were tracking this plane and coordinating their joint response as norad dispatched

american fighter jets from ohio. >> heads down! heads down! >> reporter: it was a heart pounding few moments for 183 passengers and six crew members onboard a canadian plane headed to panama this morning. suddenly they were back on the ground in toronto, a heavily armed s.w.a.t. team coming down the aisle. >> get down in the back! get down! >> reporter: for passengers including children who were headed to a sunny vacation, terrifying. >> they stormed in. it was extremely scary. they came in front and back of the plane. and they yelled, hands up, heads down. and it was just awful. kids were scared. i was scared. >> all i saw was guns and hands up and everything. it was quite scary. >> reporter: sunwing flight 772 left toronto at 7:00 a.m. headed south for panama, but once over u.s. air space a 25-year-old canadian man allegedly began using foul language with flight attendants, complaining of canadian taxes then reportedly

threatening to blow up the plane. within minutes the pilot was turning around headed back north as air traffic controllers communicated with homeland security and canadian authorities. the flight path from flight aware shows the 737 making a u-turn as it was over west virginia then cutting north along the ohio-pennsylvania border where two u.s. f-16 fighter jets intercepted and escorted the plane back to canada. toronto air traffic control then warned other carriers of delays. >> there's an emergency going on with a bomb threat with 33 left and there are fighter jets that are operating overhead. there's confusion talking with the military -- >> reporter: once on the ground the s.w.a.t. team commander decided to move fast. >> hands down, heads up! >> you have to make a decision, do we move easy, swiftly or hard? in this case he decided to move swiftly to assure the safety of all onboard. >> reporter: tonight, a canadian citizen is under arrest charged with making threats against an aircraft. u.s. government sources say they were surprised to see the robust

s.w.a.t. team response, but they also stressed canadian police had to take this threat very seriously. brian. >> keep thinking of that mom with her kids, how scary that must have been for them and all the other passengers. tom costello starting us off from washington tonight, tom, thanks. in the middle east, israel said tonight it may significantly expand its ground operation in gaza. this warning came after israel rejected a plan for a cease-fire that was proposed by u.s. secretary of state john kerry although it appears there could be a brief pause in the fighting in a few hours time. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in gaza again tonight. >> reporter: there's no cease-fire here. far from it. israeli air strikes killed at least 80 in gaza today, dozens of homes destroyed. and from gaza rockets are still flying at israel, some aimed at the international airport where passengers ran for cover and an air canada flight aborted a landing as the iron dome defense system eliminated the threat.

after days of shuttle diplomacy and a six-hour delay of today's news conference for more diplomacy, secretary kerry didn't have much to announce. >> why are we not announcing that that has been found yet tonight for a simple reason, that we still have some terminology in the context of the framework to work through. >> reporter: but the divisions are far deeper than just language. israel insists gaza be demilitarized. no more rockets, no more tunnels. hamas insists israel lift its blockade. neither side will budge or stop fighting. and for the first time since this crisis began palestinians in the west bank where many don't support hamas came out in solidarity. protesting yesterday's attack on a u.n.-run school in gaza where at least 16 were killed. israel says its mortars might have mis-fired. the attack left this 3-year-old with shrapnel in his head.

his father said the explosion came right in the middle of the people. they were missing arms and legs. nearly 10% of all gazans are now living in u.n.-run schools. they came here to find a safe place, now they feel like targets. the israelis are killing our children because they can't get to our fighters. it's their revenge, he says, but we will never give up. which leaves the people of gaza one of the most densely populated places on earth on the losing side of an unending fight. richard engel, nbc news, gaza city. >> so despite this talk of a possible brief humanitarian pause in the fighting overnight u.s. time, john kerry has largely come up empty handed tonight in the middle east. and meanwhile there's growing concern about the escalating conflict in ukraine. andrea mitchell covers the state department. she's in our d.c. newsroom tonight. andrea, let's start with the middle east. hamas, robust enough to fire off

enough rockets to abort a landing at ben gurion airport in tel aviv, yet the human death toll, the civilian death toll, goes on. >> reporter: it goes on. the hope is that the 12-hour pause could be the basis for a seven-day cease-fire, but so far neither side has wt they want. kerry's going to keep trying. he's going to paris for more meetings tomorrow. but this terrible stalemate shows how little leverage the u.s. has right now with israel and can only deal with hamas through its allies. something kerry did for hours on the phone today. the u.n. secretary general said today there is no military solution and that the two sides have to talk. that's not happening. and while the world has been distracted by this, brian, 1,700 more people died in syria this week. >> and the u.s. is distracted by a lot, another front, vlimir putin far from contrite. he has kind of used the attention being elsewhere in the middle east to do something else militarily. >> reporter: indeed. ukraine, brian, is now a hot war

again. the u.s. says that russia has been using heavy artillery against ukraine's military from russian territory to offset recent military gains by the kiev government against separatists. the u.s. has now shared satellite intelligence today with nato showing the mapping of heavy weapons at a russian base near the border. the u.s. warns those weapons are about to be moved into eastern ukraine to re-supply the rebels. and rather them backing off after the malaysian airline was shot down, vladimir putin is doubling down, brian. >> andrea mitchell tonight in our d.c. bureau. andrea, thanks. one day after the crash of that air algerie flight in mali in west africa, we're now getting our first look at that crash site tonight. one of the plane's black boxes has been recovered. investigators arrived to search for the cause. unlike the scene in ukraine, this scene was quickly secured by hundreds of military troops. and as to a cause, while there has been conflict in mali and

notification went out to aviators, the radar however shows the plane passed through some very heavy weather right before the crash. all 118 souls on board the md-83 were killed. in this country an awful story in philadelphia today, a pair of carjackers careened out of control and slammed their stolen suv into a woman and her three children selling fruit on a street corner to raise money for their church. sadly, all of the children, ages 7, 10, 15 were killed. their mother is fighting for her life in the hospital. as is the woman who was carjacked and also critically injured after jumping the curb, the suv then slid across the grass, crashed into a tree. the two carjackers themselves took off from the scene. tolice are looking for them ght across as you might imagine the city of philadelphia. president obama met with the leaders of three central american nations today, urged them to do more to stop the flow of migrant children in the

united states. he told the presidents of honduras, el salvador and guatemala they need to make it clear to their people that most of those trying to get here will not be permitted to stay here. meanwhile, the "new york times" reports the obama administration is considering a pilot program to allow some children and young adults from honduras into the united states on humanitarian grounds. they would be screened in honduras, and those rejected would be sent back if they attempted to enter the united states. if you haven't seen them, it's only a matter of time. drones are popping up all over the place as more and more people are able to purchase the unmanned aircraft and send them aloft with cameras attached. this week one of them came very close to the most famous landmark in seattle. we get our report tonight from nbc's rehema ellis. >> reporter: it's stunning video captured with a drone flying so

close visitors atop the landmark tried to reach out and touch it. witnesses said they saw the camera-equipped drones glide to a hotel two blocks away from the space needle where an amazon employee reportedly told police he had purchased the drone at a hobby store. while the drone did not hit the space needle, police had a little fun on twitter saying, still standing after reported drone strike. this is just the latest breathtaking video coming from all over the country captured by drones. a device that is for the most part unregulated and everywhere. we're seeing images of weddings, tourist attractions, they're even showing real estate to potential buyers. but while drones have been useful to emergency workers from fire fighting to search and rescue operations, they are banned from national parks out of concerns for wildlife. commercial use of drones is illegal. and amateurs can only fly them below 400 feet. >> there's no question that the

current regulatory situation have tremendous chilling effect on this new industry in the united states. >> reporter: even amateur drone supporters want more access. >> this technology has a tremendous upside for which we'll get to see the value as time goes on. >> reporter: it's estimated there could be 7,500 small drones in commercial use by 2018. while the regulators fight over the rules, the amazing pictures just keep coming. rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. growing outrage in the nfl and one of its stars after a violent incident caught on camera. and now the punishment that has followed. later, the close call, more dangerous than anyone knew. just how close we came to losing every cell phone on the planet. and that's just for starters. p. and that's just for starters.

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a lot of people are angry tonight at the national football league and the baltimore ravens and one of their star players after his arrest for domestic violence, an incident that was caught on camera that received widespread attention. and now the punishment handed down by the league, which critics say is far too light. we get our report on all of it tonight from nbc's willie geist. >> reporter: it was business as usual on the practice field this afternoon for baltimore ravens running back ray rice after the nfl suspended him for two games thursday stemming from a violent fight in february with his then-fiancee.

tmz sports posted surveillance video which shows rice dragging janay palmer, who appears unconscious, out of a hotel elevator in atlantic city, new jersey. rice's attorney verified the video but only shows the end of what happened. >> we were in this together. >> reporter: the pair married in march, just one day after his indictment for aggravated assault. but rice entered a diversionary program to avoid prosecution. >> i'm working every day to be a better father, a better husband. you know, and just a better role model. >> he'll walk in for the touchdown! >> reporter: the ravens organization has rallied around rice. >> stand behind ray. he's a heck of a guy. he's done everything right since. he makes a mistake, all right, he's going to have to pay a consequence. >> reporter: but commissioner roger goodell in a letter to rice wrote, we simply cannot tolerate conduct that endangers others or reflects negatively on our game. this is particularly true with respect to domestic violence and other forms of violence against women. >> you don't hit on women.

you don't hit on people. period. >> reporter: but how, critics ask today, could the league that suspends players four games for infractions like testing positive for marijuana, hand down only two games for assault. >> this is a commissioner who in most cases over punishes. why would he underpunish? >> reporter: and the decision lit up social media. ravens fan lindsay hamilton tweeted, i love the ravens, but the nfl punishment for ray rice sends the message that domestic violence isn't a big deal. should be ashamed. >> this is the kind of outcome that can alienate female fans and can alienate male fans who look at this and say, wait a minute, this isn't the kind of punishment that should arise for this kind of behavior. >> reporter: another headache for a league that has had plenty of them lately. willie geist, nbc news, new york. and we're back in a moment with a noisy fight that exploded today between a pair of music titans. pair of music titans.

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based on what we know now, it's worth wondering how life would have been different if a sunstorm had not barely missed us back on july 23rd of 2012. it just aimed away from planet earth at the last minute. it came very close to being the worst in 150 years. and remember back then we were days away from the london olympics and in the middle of a presidential campaign. according to nasa, physicists are just now realizing how close we came to getting clobbered by waves of solar energy, a mass ejection of clouds of the sun's plasma, that would have crippled satellite communications and the power grid. that means blackouts, city water systems, transportation, health and medical facilities.

saved for director rob reiner's mom. >> i'll have what she's having. >> reporter: a quarter century later many come here to sit and eat and role play at harry and sally's table. some really role play. >> yes! yes! yes! >> oh! oh! >> it gets reenacted i would say maybe once a weekish. and it's always very, very funny and kind of awkward too. we enjoy it. whoever does it gets a big round of applause usually. >> reporter: is this something that it's just going to last because the story is so believable and the characters are? >> it keeps enduring because it's real. because it's charming. because it's heartfelt. because it's two people who should be together. and after all isn't that what it's really all about? >> reporter: 25 years later we're still in love with falling in love. kevin tibbles, nbc news, new york. the food there is really