on our broadcast tonight, american hostage mystery. isis is claiming the death of a 26-year-old woman from arizona. they say she was killed in an air strike in syria, but a lot of doubt is being raised about possible isis propaganda. a flood emergency in the american west. several states slammed by way too much rain way too fast. homes flooded, highwater rescues on the road. and in the east more snow on the way. moment of crisis, what we've learned about that deadly commuter train disaster like the ordered at that crossing that were never completed. and stolen tax refunds, a new warning tonight as a lot of americans go to file their taxes and then are told someone's already done it. and someone's trying to make off with your money. "nightly news" begins now.

from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. good evening. the organization that is hell-bent on terrorizing the civilized world is tonight claiming another victim, a young american woman, a 26-year-old from arizona. until today they have not named her. we have not named her in keeping with her family's wishes, but her family has now given us the permission to identify their daughter kayla mueller. isis is claiming she was killed in an air strike by the jordanian air force. striking isis targets in retaliation for that jordanian air force pilot who was killed by isis. this is an awful turn of events today, potentially tragic for a young american woman and her family. we have it covered for you here tonight. richard engel is standing by to talk to us from iraq. but first we begin with nbc's andrea mitchell in washington. andrea, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian.

u.s. and jordanian officials are cautioning tonight against those isis claims that the only american woman held by the terror group has been killed in syria by a u.s.-led bombing raid. her name is kayla mueller, a 26-year-old aid volunteer from prescott, arizona. a 2009 graduate of northern arizona university in flagstaff. seen here in pictures now provided by her family, including one with her mother, marsha. she's described as adventurous, ie dillistic, passionate about helping the victims of bashar al assad's civil war in syria. posting this video in 2011, two years before she was taken hostage. >> i am in solidarity with the syrian people. i reject the brutality and killing that the syrian authorities are committing against the syrian people. >> reporter: volunteering among syrian refugees she was captured by isis near aleppo in 2013. and today the group claimed she was killed by coalition bombs, a

shaky claim at best. isis posted pictures with the caption "the building in which the american female captive was buried beneath its rubble," but isis says she was killed in raqqa. the pentagon says there were no u.s. or jordanian combat missions near raqqa. gun camera video showed yesterday's raids were in al hasakah, 140 miles away. >> we do not at the present have any evidence to corroborate isil's claims. >> reporter: even as jordan's queen led a rally against isis today in amman. for kayla's family in arizona it has been an excruciating 18 months. with only a few tantalizing clues from her captors, proof of life last may, a ransom demand, a u.s. special forces rescue attempt in july. but kayla and the other captives had already been moved. three americans held with her, james foley, steven sotloff and peter kassig were since beheaded. but kayla was never paraded on

camera by isis giving hope she was still alive. today, a former french hostage tweeted, kayla mueller was among the very last of my former cell mates last detained. i was full of hope she could have a way out. tonight, for kayla's family there's no way to know her fate as the agonizing wait continues. brian. >> andrea mitchell in washington. our thoughts remain with that family tonight, andrea. thanks. isis continues to try to prove its savagery. and while the u.s. continues to attack isis from the air, it's fallen to others to carry out the offensive on the ground. the problem, those on the front lines say they're not getting the support in the fight they need. that report tonight from our chief foreign correspondent richard engel in irbil, iraq. >> reporter: we joined washington's closest allies in the war against isis. kurdish troops traveling past the mosul dam to their newest front line outpost. holding this ground has been a hard fight. in just two weeks they've lost three men and been attacked by 20 car bombs.

a commander showed us the wreck of one saying a kurdish fighter stopped it in the nick of time with a shoulder-fired rocket. kurdish fighters called peshmerga have taken back some ground from isis. this base is proof of that. but it's slow going. >> right now looks like this is going to be a long war. >> reporter: head of the kurdish region's security council says neither air strikes nor praise from washington are enough to win this war. so are you saying despite all this praise the help isn't coming to the kurds? >> praising is good. we also see ourselves as trusted allies the united states and the free world, but fighting needs more than just praising. it needs guns. it needs weapons. >> reporter: and those weapons simply haven't been coming. the kurds here are lightly armed, just rifles and rocket launchers. and they're being attacked daily.

so there was just an incoming round in this area. luckily it overshot this position. you can see where the soldiers there, the kurdish fighters are looking [ gunfire ] there comes in another round. so let's try and find a more secure area. this base cuts deep into isis territory and controls what was the main isis supply route from syria. now, isis wants it back. all that stands in its way are these men. >> we will fight as much as we can. we are not going to give up or surrender to isis. >> reporter: there are american advisers here in irbil, that's where they're based in the north, what are they telling you? >> they're trying to evaluate the situation to coordinate the air strikes with the peshmergas and our forces on the ground. and basically they are doing their best. >> reporter: are they frustrated? >> i think many of them are just as frustrated as we are. >> reporter: and, brian, i can

tell you american military advisers who are right here in irbil but not officially allowed to speak to us are deeply frustrated. they agree the kurds need more and bigger guns, but they're not authorized to provide them. brian. >> richard engel from irbil in iraq for us tonight. we'll stay on this story, obviously. we turn now to news in this country. and for a lot of people that means weather. folks are keeping a close eye on the skies as we head into the weekend. from coast-to-coast in fact. torrential rain slamming several states in the west as this major system pushes ashore. and in the east another big snowstorm coming together. nbc's miguel almaguer has our report. >> reporter: the river of rain is now pouring into northern california, the most powerful storm this year set to dump sheets of water for five straight days. outside sacramento -- >> we heard some big booms and all the power shut off. >> reporter: wind speeds top

nearly 80 miles an hour. up to ten inches of rain could fall here. in the mountain town first responders are bracing for an emergency. >> we have already done reverse 911s, advised over 1,000 people that this water's coming. >> reporter: with trees toppled into cars and homes, power out for thousands near medford, oregon, the cleanup is underway. but outside seattle one community is still flooded in four feet of water. now there is fear mudslides could be triggered next. the storm system that's walloping the west is being funneled by the pineapple express, an atmospheric river dumping a stream of topical moisture across the region. the express can be hundreds of miles wide and a thousand miles long. >> it's like pointing a big hose right on california. you get a lot of rainfall in a short amount of time. >> reporter: still, all the rain won't end california's drought.

the snow pack is just 25% of average. the state's largest reservoir more than half empty. the last three years the driest in state recorded history. a historic drought and now a crippling storm. the pineapple express giving the west a wild ride. while northern california is getting rain, it is snow that this state desperately needs to help alleviate the storm and that's not going to happen in this weathermaker. while the rain has temporarily stopped, it is the wind kicking up now. the river behind me, brian, could see another 13 feet of water over the next 24 hours. this entire region under a flash flood warning, brian. >> miguel almaguer in northern california for us tonight. miguel, thanks. for more on the storm and the next snow event churning up, al roker pulling night duty with us. hi, al. >> brian, we told you yesterday we would see this moisture coming in. and there's no end in sight,

unfortunately. strong rain, winds through monday, another 10 to 15 inches of rain before this is all over. plus lake effect snows pushing into upstate new york today ahead of this big system causing a multicar pile-up along i-81. some 30 vehicles involved including four tractor-trailers. it was a mess. miraculously nobody seriously injured, just some bumps and bruises. parts of the highway were completely closed. here we go now. second system coming in. it's bringing the snow, it starts sunday into monday. ice in new york. heavy snow to the north. and the snowfall amounts, the european model, which has not been doing that great this year, calls for a foot of snow around boston. the american model, a foot of snow, three to six inches in new york city, bri. and ice on top of that. monday morning's commute is going to be a mess. >> sporty out there again, al roker, thank you, as always. we are learning new

information tonight about the tragedy on the train tracks north of new york city including the calls for help in the moments after that commuter train slammed into an suv on the crossing. there's also new information about safety changes that were ordered at that crossing, changes that were never completed. we get our report tonight from nbc's tom costello. >> 911, what's your emergency? >> there was a car that was hit by a train in mount pleasant. >> reporter: the first calls for help capture the confusion and panic. the train was on fire. >> the train, metro-north right at valhalla station past lakeview just exploded. >> the train exploded? >> yes, the front car just exploded. people are jumping out of the train. >> reporter: an explosion was caught by the commuter train hitting an suv stopped on the tracks. we learned today that new brighter warning lights were ordered for the crossing in 2009 but never installed. and there are no bells at the crossing to warn motorists of an oncoming train. the suv driver, 49-year-old ellen brody was stuck in traffic

beyond the flashing lights, she may not have known a train was coming. >> this grade crossing is not required to have bells because there's no pedestrian walkway. >> reporter: today, ellen brody was laid to rest. also remembered today eric vandercar. meanwhile investigators again were collecting evidence in the burned out remains of the train car where five passengers died. nationwide there are 2,000 ailroad crossings each year. last year 239 people died. many of the crossings date back 50 years or more. >> in a country that can put a man on the moon, we can design better grade crossings that save lives and prevent this kind of crash. >> reporter: tonight the ntsb says mrs. brody was indeed driving on a road that was not her normal route because of a car accident that sent cars detouring around it. meanwhile investigators are

looking at cell phone records for mrs. brody and engineer. that's standard part of any investigation. they want to make sure distraction didn't play any role. >> tom costello still on the story, thanks. as we all saw on video this week it took just seconds after takeoff for that transasia flight to run into trouble in taiwan. less than three minutes for it to end in disaster careening out of the sky. tonight, we have a better idea of what happened when control was lost and never regained. along with the remarkable story of a family that made it out of there alive while so many others did not. our report again tonight from nbc's ian williams. >> reporter: dazed but alive just moments after the crash. lin ming way clings to his 2-year-old son, lin, his wife and son had changed seats to be together at the back of the plane. it probably saved their lives. today, lin described how the plane shook violently as it plunged to the river. all the seats fell off, he said. the passengers were trapped underneath.

retrieved from the plane's black box cockpit data showing how quickly things went wrong. 37 seconds into the flight an alarm, trouble with the right engine. six seconds later the pilot powers down the left engine, struggling to level the plane. more alarms as the plane loses speed. two minutes and six seconds in the pilot's distress call. in the final seconds the pilot tries to restart the engines but time runs out. 58 people aboard, just 15 survivors. among them the family of lin ming way. his son still in intensive care but out of danger. ian williams, nbc news, beijing. still ahead for us tonight on a friday night, dramatic measures from the nation's largest do-it-yourself tax preparer as customers who went to file their taxes were told someone's already done that while trying to steal their money. done that while trying to steal their money. hurts. my hair hurts. this is what it can be like to have shingles.

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an alarming notice from the most popular web service for people who file their own taxes. we got late word before we came on the air tonight that turbotax has started processing state income tax returns again after freezing them over the last 24 hours. the reason for the halt, many users found someone had already filed to claim their refunds illegally. our report tonight from nbc's anne thompson. >> reporter: nicole miller hadn't even started thinking about her taxes until last week. >> i got an e-mail saying that

my e-file was successful and i hadn't even filed my taxes yet. >> reporter: not only that but her state taxes were filed in georgia. miller lives and works in wisconsin. so she'd called turbotax, the software company she used for the last three years. >> turbotax told me that i was likely the victim of fraud. >> reporter: complaints from miller and customers across the country forced turbotax to stop processing state tax returns thursday. its parent company says independent security experts found the problem is not a breach of turbotax system. it says it's identity theft with information obtained from other sources outside the tax preparation process. because this additional systems put in to prevent fraud, set up a hotline and free credit monitoring for victims. at this time of year taxpayers can't be too careful. >> you need to make sure that you are using programs that are encrypted and that you're using the programs on a secure line. don't use the wi-fi at the

coffee shop to file your taxes. >> reporter: miller says she always looks forward to getting a refund, but will file differently this year. >> i'm definitely not going to use turbotax or any sort of online service ever again. we're going to get an accountant this year. >> reporter: to make sure her family and not someone else gets her refund. anne thompson, nbc news, new york. back in a moment here with an update on a student and principal who inspired so many people across our country. we'll show you where their story has taken them now. heir story has taken them now. the real question that needs to be asked is "what is it that we can do that is impactful?" what the cloud enables is computing to empower cancer researchers. it used to take two weeks to sequence and analyze a genome; with the microsoft cloud we can analyze 100 per day. whatever i can do to help compute a cure for cancer, that's what i'd like to do.

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the job market continued the trend of the last few months with the u.s. economy adding 257,000 jobs in january. that's better than economists expected. unemployment rate, however, ticked up to 5.7%. reason given for that many people who previously given up on finding a job are now actively looking again. u.s. congressman alan nunnelee has died.

a republican from mississippi. he represented the northeastern district part of the state. he had just won re-election to his third term. he's been in failing health for some time following the discovery of a brain tumor. the congressman was just 56 years old. he leaves behind his wife and their three children. we have an update tonight on a story we've been covering on this broadcast. this was the image that went viral. 13-year-old student from brooklyn, new york named vidal who shared his story about his extraordinary principal on a website called humans of new york. he described all the good she does including her dream of bringing her students on a visit to harvard. well, the donations started pouring in topping $1 million and counting. and yesterday look at this, here they are, vidal and principal lopez meeting in the oval office with president obama who saw their story and asked to meet them. when we come back, complimentary breakfast, complimentary wi-fi and now complimentary canines. complimentary breakfast, complimentary wi-fi and now canines. people with copd

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complementary canines in the hopes of filling a vacancy perhaps in their lives. our story tonight from nbc's janet shamlian. >> are you checking in? >> i am. >> reporter: a friendly bark and a wagging tail, that's the greeting at a north carolina hotel where a canine holds in the lobby and sometimes crashes happy hour. >> this kills me every time i'm here because i always have to resist the temptation to bring one home. >> reporter: like the guests anna belle is here only a few days. >> some dogs last an hour and a half, and some dogs last a little longer. it's amazing. >> reporter: the rescue in the aloft hotel has teamed up for a one-of-a-kind effort, giving sheltered dogs visibility that will likely save their lives. >> she dropped her toy and ran over to me and i looked at him and said i'm ready. >> reporter: they adopted bridget after meeting her in the lobby. >> sometimes when they're seen behind bars and shelters, it's

hard to imagine this could be your family pet. but when they're in venues such as these, it's uplifting, it's enlightening. >> reporter: a los angeles rescue using this retro clothing store as an adoption spot. not everyone's shopping for t-shirts. at the hotel guests don't take the dogs at checkout. there's a waiting period to ensure what started as a chance encounter really is something more. >> it's not every week i come back in there's a new dog, new breed, it's very special what they're actually doing here. >> reporter: the new turf for pet adoption, a temporary stay on the road to a forever home. janet shamlian, nbc news, north carolina. that is our broadcast for this friday night and for this week. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. lester holt will be here with you this weekend. we of course hope to see you right back here on monday evening. in the meantime have a good weekend. good night.

lights camera access. do we know how she is right now? >> a fight in the bar here. >> as bobbi kristina's bedside vigil continues, the stress takes its toll. i'm billy bush. we'll tell you who was involved in