tonight, picking up the scent, the discovery searchers are calling their best lead yet. the heavy response as schools shut down and locals are forced inside some arming themselves until two escaped killers are caught. breaking news in the tamir rice shooting after months of community out cry, a judge weighs i on charging the officers involved. >> flying blind, the co-pilot that crashed a passenger plane feared he was losing his eyesight and saw 41 doctors in five years. why didn't anyone raise a red flag? asleep at the weep wheel, a warning which sleep aids could double your risk of get income a carhtly news begins right now. >> announcer: from nbc news world

quoter -- quarters in new york this is "nbc nightly news." reporting tonight, lester holt. we're watching a flurry of police activity taking place practically walking distance from the new york prison where two dangerous cons broke out a week ago. today new clues and a fresh scent that forced a massive response. it's perhaps the biggest concentration of law enforcement we've seen yet. it's all happening in a wooded area about three miles away. guns are drawn, police trying to flush the men out. all this hitting way too close to home for many people who live around there, who remain locked in their homes ordered to stay inside. the question on everyone's mind is it another false lead or has this trail suddenly become red hot? i want to go right now to miguel almaguer for more. >> reporter: lester good evening. the lockdown in this community is well underway and the search that began last night is expected to intensify tonight. authorities expecting

to corner the inmates who have been on the run six straight days. tonight the army and the manhunt, more than 500 heavy he-heavily-armed officers on the move. search teams tracking these who tracked one, not both of the fugitives deep into the forest. >> officer sweeney had a possible sighting. >> reporter: tactical teams say this is the best lead they had closing in on murderers david sweat and richard matt. >> k 9s, blood hounds and lock can you enough they got a positive hit on a scent, and hopefully, it's fresh. it appears to be, and a footprint with some wrappers with some food. >> 12-3 be advised marshals and state place on scene. >> reporter: with officers stocked 100 yards apart, teams are combing an area in dense brush roughly 20 to 30 acres wide. three miles from the

maximum-security prison they escaped from. many living close told to lock their doors. thomas la salle spoke to us from inside the home. >> everyone has shotguns and rifles and pistols. >> reporter: jennifer lives on the edge of what is now a hot zone. >> i'm pretty well off. i've got a gun on me. >> reporter: you're not scared to use it? >> i'm not. i took a hunter safety course when i was younger. i group up in these woods hunting. >> reporter: even children are on alert. >> two people got out, broke out of jail. >> reporter: darlene caring for seven kids lives directly next to a check point. >> trying to keep them calm not worry them too much. >> reporter: tonight the massive push is on to find two killers, just outside the very prison from which they escaped. miguel almaguer nbc news dannemora, new york. this is stephanie gosk what could cause someone to risk it all to spring two convicted killers from

prison. sources close to the investigation say joyce mitchell told authorities quote she thought it was love. tonight there are news reports she was previously investigated for an improper relationship with one of the two inmates. toby mitchell defended his mother this week. >> she's not the kind of person that's going to risk her life or other people's lives to let these guys escape from prison. >> reporter: the two convicts popped out of this manhole cover between midnight saturday and 5:00 in the morning. joyce mitchell was supposed to be the get away driver but when they got out, she was nowhere to be found and sources close to the investigation say she got a case of cold feet her first husband who hasn't spoken to her in almost 20 years believes she could have been manipulated. >> she's from dickinson, small town she could be a country girl that got sweet talked by some city guy. >> reporter: mitchell isn't the first prison worker to get emotionally entangled

with convicts. in oklahoma a warden's wife helped a murderer escape. in new mexico a guard admitted he had multiple affairs with female prisoners. inmates can be coning. >> they will try to get you down that slippery slope. they will ask for a little favor and then a bigger favor and then a bigger favor until all of a sudden they feel they have their hooks, their laws into you. >> reporter: mitchell may have been hooked but in the final how were, it appears she left these two convicts high and dry. stephanie gosk nbc news, dannemora. late developments in a case a lot of people have been closely watching. the shooting death of tamir rice in cleveland. he was shot and killed while he was holding a toy gun. a gunjudge rule there had is enough evidence to charge the officers. ron alan with late details now. >> reporter: this police surveillance video captured the moment last november when tamir rice was shot and killed allegedly by timmy

loehmann responding to 911 calls, the gun in the 12-year-old's hand was a pellet gun. a judge found probable cause loehmann should face murder and probable case of accusations of negligent homicide and against his partner. the court is thunder struck by how quickly the event turned deadly. his opinion in response to activist who used an obscure ohio law to ask the judge to weigh in. >> we're asking for an arrest. that's what the statute calls for. >> reporter: the judge's opinion is advisory county prosecutors say they will present the case to a grand jury well aware grand juries have not charged police in some recent high-profile rice's mother said she's trying to be optimistic. >> at the end of the day, he was a kid, 12-year-old kid. >> reporter: no arrest warrants for the officers as activists demanded. hopeful rice's family have taken a step

closer to finding justice. ron alan, nbc news, new york. to the story of an american high school student from virginia facing a lengthy prison sentenced after he was unmask in court for a recruiter for isis. our justice correspondent pete william mss has the story. >> reporter: a senior honor student admitted today he managed to use social media connections to get a friend of his over to syria to join up with isis. for eighty months, ali shukri amin who is 17 urged 4,000 twitter followers to contribute money to isis and figured out how to make contacts and help reza niknejad drove him to the airport w. his mother

watching amin pleaded guilty to the charges. prosecutors called him bright and promising but said he was lured by isis social media into becoming a recruiter. >> it's a tragedy for this community as we have now lost yet another young person to the subductive allure of violent online propaganda. >> reporter: amin's lawyer said he began the blogging to oppose the brutal rashad in syria but is sorry for what happened. >> he depeply regrets what he did and is ple for young people being frustrated by powerlessness to make change will find non-violent ways to do that. >> reporter: it's rare when a case like this is brought against a jive newel but amin was charged as an adult and when sentenced in august, he could face a decade in prison. just a day after out obama administration announced hundreds more u.s. troops are headed to iraq joining thousands already there training the iraqi army in the fight against isis the white house is

considering establishing new military bases in iraq years after the end of the u.s. combat mission. that potential move is raising new questions about the president's strategy. nbc's kristen welker has details. >> reporter: with the president's iraq policy under fire, white house officials provided few details what is is under consideration. ben rodes. >> we don't have a specific plan to open new bases at this time but if we see a need the iraqi security forces have we have the ability to move them from outside the country or within the country. >> reporter: officials say if the president decides to open new bases, more troops might be needed but not necessarily, this a day after president obama announced he's sending 450 more u.s. troops to the country for a total of 3550. the white house says the new troops are authorized to train, advice and assist iraqi forces in the

anbar province. isn't this mission creep? >> no this is the exact same mission we've been pursuing which is to train and assist iraqis. >> reporter: supporters of the fight against isis say it's not enough. >> it's a step in the right direction but as the president admitted admitted he has no strategy to win. >> reporter: the president broken one of the promises that got him elected. >> enough is enough. this is how we got started in vietnam and no one is going to say these kids are being put in harm's way. everyone knows the president was elected to withdrawal us from this war that we shouldn't be in in the first place. >> reporter: white house officials pushed back against that criticism noting there were about 150,000 u.s. troops in iraq in a combat role when the president first took office. now that number is down to 3500

non-combat forces. there is no denying they are potentially in harm's way. >> thank you. u.s. officials now acknowledging the massive hack into government personnel records is more serious than we were told. some of the stolen data was from diplomats and workers with security clearances who dear with nuclear and trade secrets. investigators told congress china's government appears to be behind it as nbc first reported last week. >> we're now learning more about what may have been going through the mind of a germanwings co-pilot who intentionally crashed a plane. a prosecutor saying he sought help from dozens of doctors in the years leading up to the moment when he killed himself and 149 others aboard his plane. bill neely reports. >> reporter: andreas lubitz' victims are coming home. german students honored with roses, the pain still raw here. but what is still in the clear, why lubitz

killed them. family members heard he was mentally spiraling towards disaster. the french prosecutor found evidence lubitz saw 41 different doctors within five years with seven visits in the final months including three to a psychiatrist. by then said the prosecutor lubitz was fighting depression doubling his dose of anti depresents and told a doctor he was sleeping only two hours a night and he claimed he had lost two-thirds of his eyesight. some doctors said the prosecutor judge lubitz too unstable to fly but feared legal problems if they told his airline. for relatives of the victims today, more pain hearing the final cockpit audio recording, some for the first time. they heard the alarms he says the bangs on the door. today the criminal inquiry opened into whether germanwings or the parent company lufthansa are liable. they could be charged with involuntary

homicide if it's proved they were negligent in letting lubitz fly. as more bodies are flown home for burial so many questions are still unanswered. bill neely, nbc news london. all eyes on the skies right now in northern missouri where a tornado watch is in effect. dangerous-looking funnel clouds started forming over the kansas city area. forecast also are warning of potential 60-mile an hour winds and quarter-sized hail. a wild night could be in store. a lot more still ahead here tonight, including the warning about sleeping pills that millions of americans take the potential dangers behind the wheel even when you think you're fine. which one researchers say increases your risk of an accident the most. and later, has the answer to california's water woes been lying right offshore the whole time? the off! outdoor refresher course. gatherings. sfx: ding! extended family, meet crowded living space. claustrophobia, meet bite-ophobia. sfx: buzz! it's time to un-learn your fear. step 1: open door. sfx: ding! step 2: light off! mosquito lamp. sfx: ding! sfx: ringing animation

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a big wakeup call for the millions of americans who take certain kinds of sleeping pills, including popular brands like ambien. we reported on potential dangers before but a major new study today is revealing how much they increase your risk of getting into a car accident. in some cases doubling it. we get details from ann thompson. >> reporter: more evidence the prescription sleep aids you take at night may cause you trouble behind the wheel. a new study from the university of washington finds three sedatives nearly double the risk of vehicle accidents among new users.

dr. ryan hanson is the lead author and pharmacist. he looked at three popular pills per scribed for sleep, restoril ambien and desryl. restoril increases the risk 27% and destrel 91% and ambien at 120%. >> they increase your risk because they impair your judgment and reaction time. >> reporter: kerry kennedy, daughter of robert kennedy hit a tractor trailer in july of 2012 after mistakenly taking an ambien. >> i want to apologize to the driver of the truck who i apparently hit. >> reporter: she was found not guilty of impaired driving. the study also finds the risk of accidents increases over time and can last up to a year after you start taking the drugs. >> it's not just a risk to them if they

are out driving, but it's also to each and every one of us out on the road. >> reporter: this problem led the fda two years ago to recommend women take lower doses of ambien because they metabolize the drug slower than men. the makers of ambien and restoril say their medications are safe and effective when used according to the label, making sure those on the road are aware of lingering risk from the night before. ann thompson nbc news new york. the loss of a legendary hollywood actor from "lord of the if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis like me... and you're talking to a rheumatologist about a biologic this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage. this is humira helping me reach for more. doctors have been prescribing humira for more than 10 years. humira works for many adults. it targets and helps to block a specific source of inflammation that

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a big announcement in the world of business and media today as reported from cnbc rupert murdock is handing over control of 21st century fox to his son james, the 84-year-old media titan will

remain chairman in controlling shareholder of the company, which controls a major hollywood film studio the fox network and fox news channel. another son lachlan murdoch will become executive co-chairman with his father. the ceo of twitter was the subject of tweets today after the company announced he's stepping down july 1st. dick costolo has been on the hot seat over twitter's sluggish growth since the company went public in late 2013. costolo will stay on in another role while jack dorsey will step in as interim ceo. orentte coleman has died, the legendary sax phonest. he won the prize for music in 2007 and passed away at a hospital here in new york overnight. ornette coleman was 85 years old. a lot of fans of "lord of the rings" mourning a big loss today. sir christopher lee

has died. his career on screen spanned more than 60 years over 250 movies including the roles so many will remember him for. "count dracula" and a slew of thrillers throughout the 1950s and '60s. he played a bondville in opposite roger moore in 1974's "the man with the golden gun." millions of fans loved to hate him as an evil wizard in the "lord of the rings" trilogy. there is no word on his cause of death. sir christopher lee was 94 years old. when we come back water, water everywhere could california solve the drought problem by tapping the pacific?

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it's red, white and blue. log on to learn more. finally more of our special series going to extremes. some of the creative and controversial measures some are taking to keep the water running in the west where the historic drought has some californians asking is there a way to tap the water in the pacific? jacob has our recourt. >> reporter: along the coast of northern california, the state's monostorm drought may have met it's match. >> this is our well 60 feet below the beach. it's drawing saw water in and pumping it to the desalination plant. >> reporter: the

little town of sand city operating the only working desalination plant in the state. >> an hour ago this was in the ocean. >> reporter: making the pacific ocean drinkable and not the least bit salty. >> how do you like it. >> reporter: it's good. facing historic drought conditions and mandatory water restrictions many are wondering why can't we tap the pacific? in southern california some are going all in. the facility in san diego county is the largest desalination plant in the western hemisphere. >> it's going to change the way we look at water 234 california for decades to come. >> reporter: starting this fall it will pump 50 million gallons into the community every day. the sea water is forced through filters that remove salt and particles and left over extra salty sea water is pumped back into the ocean, but many environmentalists are fighting back. >> it's absurd. i'll go to my grave fighting these things. >> reporter: attorney marco sued them and lost and say some

desalination plants trap and kill small fish and sea life. the process is very energy intensive and expensive. $1 billion alone for the carlsbad plant. >> we waste so much water in southern california. it's a matter of enforcement, accountability. >> reporter: what if the drought ends? >> after the last drought, no one ever came back here. >> reporter: santa barbara built this desalination plant 25 years ago, and never used it. but now. >> this drought has been more extreme, more severe and faster than anyone ever thought. >> reporter: santa barbara will rebuild it. >> i think the city residents get it that this desal plant is an absolute last resort. >> reporter: a drought-proof water supply not without its critics in a state running out of water and options. jacob rascoon, nbc news. >> that will do it for us on this thursday

night. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good night.

. >> so proud of miley. >> miley's family full force in her corner. i'm billy bush. just after her brand-new bisexual revelations, what a dad and big sis got to