on the broadcast tonight -- deadly collapse. a balcony packed with college students at a birthday party plunges nearly 40 feet to the ground. tonight the rising death toll the victims fighting for their lives, and the questions. how did it happen? direct hit from a powerful tropical storm tearing across texas, barreling north. storm surge and tornado watches. major cities in the past. tens of millions in the threat zone right now. nbc news exclusive. the former naacp chapter president accused of lying about her race. tonight our revealing new interview with rachel dolezal. >> well i definitely am not white. >> what she told me about her physical transformation. and spy games?

a shocking baseball scandal. did a powerhouse team hack into a rival's computer? the fbi investigating. "nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is nbc "nightly news." reporting tonight, savannah guthrie. and good evening. you can just picture this scene. college students at a birthday party packed onto an apartment balcony, but it turned to horror when that balcony in berkeley california suddenly collapsed plunging nearly 40 feet to the ground. and tonight we know these are the six students who lost their lives. seven others gravely injured tonight. we begin our coverage with nbc's jacob rascon. >> reporter: tonight berkeley california is mourning the loss of six students and seven others are fighting nor lives after a four-story freefall. >> to have this happen at the start of the season is something that has left us all frozen in shock and in

dibleefs. >> reporter: the victims, olivia burke, eoghan culligan niccolai schuster lorcan miller and eimear walsh and 22-year-old ashley done ojo from california. >> the balconies broke and at least ten people fell from the second or third floor. >> reporter: the five by ten-foot balcony on the fourth floor of the library apartments on kitridge street carrying all 13 people when it suddenly separated from the building collapsing onto the pavement some 40 feet below. >> got a group of about 10 or so possibly fell off a balcony at 2020 kitridge. en route. possibly from the second or third floor. >> reporter: fellow irish students say the collapse happened during a latenight birthday celebration. an irishwoman turning 21. >> heard a bang in the middle of the night. and yeah just walked outside and saw a lot of rubble on the street. >> reporter: northern california is a popular destination for irish youths. hundreds of them staying near the university of berkeley working over the summer. the deadly accident

leading newscasts across ireland. the president of ireland speaking today. >> i was absolutely devastated to hear the news. particularly when one thinks of young lives. >> reporter: nbc news has learned the apartments built in 2006 and 7, are owned by granite library gardens and leased and management by gray star which also manages nearly a half million other apartments across the country. the deadly collapse near campus so far unexplained. the city has just removed what was left of the broken balcony. this as property management says they are cooperating with investigators who are themselves turning to engineers to see if anything was the matter with the structure itself. meanwhile, family of those irish students are making their way to this country. one irish official saying this tragedy touches every family in ireland. savannah? >> all right. jacob rascon starting us off tonight. thank you. another major story still developing at this hour. the first tropical storm to hit texas in seven years tearing across the state right now, bringing torrential rain storm

surge, and the threat of flash flooding and tornadoes as it moves north. we've got tornado watches in at least four states now with tens of millions in the path. nbc's janet shamlian is there. >> reporter: coastal communities in texas took the first punishing blow from tropical storm bill. >> pretty crazy. kind of turned bad fast. >> reporter: landfall came at metagorda island 150 miles from houston. with 60-mile-an-hour winds and heavy rain that sent waves of water rushing over roads. >> we don't want to stay too long because we're worried about it coming up over the road. >> reporter: in port la vaca 70 miles south a five-foot stornl surge. the weather channel's dave malkoff is there. >> this is a beach park. normally the water is all the way over there. but you can see that park bench is underwater. twl people camping here. police had to get them out of here in a hurry. >> reporter: across southeast texas

driving rain flash flooding and tornado watch. in the bayside community of seabrook water lapping dangerously close to homes. even visible from space. this photo by astronaut scott kelly from the space station. a region already battered once again under siege. >> i think our concern is still the evening commute. that's the time when most people will be on the roads and most people would be in some danger. >> reporter: heavy rainfall now pushing through texas. al roker is in dallas. >> now that bill has made landfall it will be weakening. we look for the winds to start dying down but the heavy rain continues, moving into dallas for the morning commute, on into oklahoma oak by this time tomorrow night. rainfall totals anywhere from about 8 to 12 inches in east central texas. about four to six inches as you make your way into oklahoma. >> reporter: as water pours into the region it's virtually disappeared from store shelves. as many stocked up. officials are warning

people to stay alert as the threat is not over. heavy rainfall overnight could once between trigger those dangerous flash floods. savannah back to you. >> all right. janet shamlian in houston. thank you. now to the race for the white house. and after decades ever very publicly flirting with the idea billionaire donald trump says he really is running for president this time around. his announcement was vintage trump, talking up his vast wealth and combining his first campaign speech with his first campaign controversy when he said this. >> when mexico sends its people they're not sending their best. they're sending people that have lots of problems. and they're bringing those problems with us. they're bringing drugs. they're bringing crime. they're rapists. and some i assume are good people. but i speak to border guards and they tell us what we're getting. >> chucked ed tochuck todd nbc news director and moderator of "meet the

press" pf we've seen this public dance from trump before. i guess the question is is this candidacy for real? will if be significant? >> it's more real than it has ever been. he's been flirting with running for president since 1988 and each time he flirted with it with the sense of just being a self-promoter it was clear it was a publicity stunt, and it's not yet clear to me that this isn't going to be yet another publicity stunt by him. he wants to get into the debates and things like that. and he wants to be taken more seriously. he's hired more serious operatives than he's ever done before. but then you saw him vamp and say what he said before. let's not forget four years ago this man went on a birther tear by buying into the conspiracy theory about the president of the united states. the interesting thing here savannah is all the other republican candidates don't want him on that debate stage but they're afraid of saying it. why? as you know and i know he's a media bully and they don't want to get into a mud fight with him. >> chuck todd in washington. i should mention trump of course does have a relationship with this network, which released a statement today saying "we will reevaluate trump's

role as host of celebrity apprentice had schit become necessary necessary. now to the exclusive interview with the woman at the center of a fire storm over the past few days. rachel dolezal, the naacp chapter leader accused of lying about her race. today we asked her if she has been so deceptive and just why there are so many questions surfacing about her past. >> let me ask you plainly. have you ever lied about your race? >> no. because never have i been asked are you human or not human, right? race as a construct is a fluid understanding. so i would say no. >> you know when someone asks you are you black, are you african-american you know exactly what they're asking you. and for you to say yes, is that an honest answer? >> when somebody's asked are you black, which i actually don't get asked very often,

until recently a few days ago, then i say yeah. i do -- i am black. >> do you understand why many people would think given your parents and your heritage that is at best a misleading answer? >> i can understand that. but again, up to this point i know who raised me. i haven't had a dna test. there's been no biological proof that larry and roseanne are my biological parents. >> there's a birth certificate that has your name on it and their names on it. >> i'm not necessarily saying that i can prove they're not but i don't know that i can prove they are. the birth certificate was issued a month and a half after i'm born. certainly there were no medical witnesses to my birth. >> it's one thing to embrace the questions as an academic matter. >> right. >> it's another thing to just actually be honest and transparent about who you are. >> right. well i definitely am

not white. nothing about being white describes who i am. so what's the word for it? the closest thing that i can come to is if you're black or white, i'm black. i'm more black than i'm white. >> have you changed your physical appearance? >> well definitely i've experimented with my hair since living in mississippi really. and doing hair on the porch, you know braiding. >> have you changed your skin color? >> some of those -- i don't know necessarily that my skin color has changed. it depends on the season right? i have not taken any melanin shots or any of the "black like me," you know some of the previous experiments with transforming into a darker-skinned person.

i haven't had surgeries or anything like that. some days if i have you know like bronzer or whatever glow. but other days i don't. and i think even the word disguise has been put out there. and it just sounds very like intentional and deceitful and structured. i just want to feel beautiful. i just want to feel beautiful. >> do you feel like a little bit under siege by all of this? >> oh, for sure. yeah. definitely. but i've really tried to kind of check out a bit and try to be present for my kids my sister and the movement and really see what's best for that right now. and make strategic decisions for that. but i'm going to need to do a little regrouping and be able to really process all the implications now as i move forward. >> one other note. dolezal's 13-year-old son franklin was

watching our interview today, and afterward asked to say something about his mother. >> i've always felt the maximum proud of her. no matter what she does i'm going to be proud of her. i always felt like she deserved more she deserved to be worldwidely known, but not like this. not as a liar a deceiver. she should be known as a hero. a person that has done so much. >> we have put an extended version of our interview with rachel dolezal on our website. we move now to the manhunt for those two escaped killers. and officials telling nbc news tonight what has seemed apparent for days now. this is the trial that has gone ice cold. nbc's miguel almaguer with the story. >> reporter: tonight a senior new york official tells nbc news the manhunt for richard matt and david sweat has gone cold after no fresh leads in four days. the dangerous fugitives could be anywhere. with joyce mitchell behind bars today her husband lyle visited

her in jail for the first time and later joyce's attorney's office. steven johnston says lyle is not speaking publicly but is supporting and standing by his wife. johnston responding today about allegations joyce may have wanted convicted murderers sweat and matt to kill her husband. >> i don't know very much about it other than i believe it's specious a specious argument. >> reporter: joyce and lyle mitchell worked at the clinton correctional facility where joyce is accused of helping sweat and matt escape. the prison considered among the most dangerous in new york. >> it is very violent. >> reporter: john mulligan served time with richard matt at clinton. >> it's terribly dangerous. i've had physical confrontations with people over the years. >> reporter: just weeks before the escape there was a prison yard brawl here. prison sources tell nbc news officials requested a lockdown but it was denied. jeff dumas retired in november after working at the prison for 22

years. >> if they would have done a facility frisk after the incident that they had in the yard if albany would have approved that for mr. recette, there's no doubt in my mind they would have found those two cells. >> reporter: dumas says guards no longer regularly patrol between walls, underneath buildings or on the very catwalk sweat and matt used to make their escape. >> those catwalks were part of a regular search. always looked at. but now we just don't have enough men. >> reporter: employees who used to work here say those budget cutbacks meant contractors would leave their tools in those catwalks, just like the catwalks that the prisoners used to escape from. we reached out to the department of corrections as well as the governor's office and did not get a response from them today. meantime officials concede those fugitives could be anywhere, even across the nearby border here in canada or as far away as mexico. savannah? >> all right, miguel almaguer thank you so much. we have a lot more still to get to tonight. major league spy scandal breaking

today. the baseball team being investigated by the fbi. did they hack into a rival team's computer? and later, a little boy who asked for nothing but cards for his birthday. the whole country responded. and now the most amazing gift of all from his best friend. meet the world's newest energy superpower. surprised? in fact, america is now the world's number one natural gas producer... and we could soon become number one in oil. because hydraulic fracturing technology is safely recovering lots more oil and natural gas. supporting millions of new jobs. billions in tax revenue... and a new century of american energy security. the new energy superpower? it's red, white and blue. log on to learn more. introducing the first ever gummy multivitamin from centrum. a complete, and tasty new way to support... your energy... immunity... and metabolism like never before. centrum multigummies. see gummies in a whole new light. you used to sleep like a champ. then

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st. louis cardinals employees hacked into a rival team's computer network to steal data on players. nbc's kevin tibbles has the story. >> reporter: an extra buzz at busch stadium as the hometown cardinals find themselves embroiled in a cyber scandal off the field. >> if the cardinals are in fact guilty then they should be condemned by major league baseball. >> can't believe it about my cardinals. sorry. >> reporter: the fbi and justice department say they have discovered evidence that front office officials for the cardinals reportedly using old passwords hacked into the computer network of the rival houston astros whose general manager jeff lunow used to work for the cardinals, possibly accessing closely guarded player and scouting information. >> i really don't recall another situation where an allegation of proprietary information being accessed or stolen. >> reporter: both the cardinals and the astros say they are cooperating with the investigation and will not comment further.

but one visitor from houston today was skeptical. >> it explains why houston has lost to the cardinals in the past. >> reporter: the big money world of sports has seen everything from cork bats to steroids. even deflategate in pro football. >> throw to the plate is -- >> reporter: now the much sought after winning edge might even include cyber spying. >> corporate espionage is at an all-time high and data is incredibly powerful. it's easy to get. it's hard to keep safe. and we're going to seep seeing this. >> reporter: the cardinals one of the most beloved and successful teams in baseball today tried to focus on the field. >> right now we just go about our business and realize it's something that's being dealt with. >> reporter: historically when the astros were in the national league they were often owned by the cardinals. well now the astros are in the american league and ironically lead the a.l. west. and by the way, savannah, the cardinals beat the twins this afternoon 3-2. back to you. >> kevin tibbles at the ballpark tonight.

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tonight the feds have officially banned trans fats ordering food companies to phase them out over the next three years. it's a move we first told you was coming last night. the government says it will prevent thousands of fatal heart attacks every year. the man who pleaded guilty to jumping the white house fence and getting deep inside the building was sentenced today to 17 months in prison. but with time served omar gonzalez could be released in december. gonzalez had a folding knife on him in september when he ran into the white house and was finally tackled in the east room. and we want to show you an amazing moment on the mound in seattle. this is 56-year-old tom willis. he was born without arms. and he threw out the first pitch at yesterday's mariners-giants game. it was perfect. right down the middle. how's that for inspiration? and when we come

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boy facing the battle of his young life. his wish inspired so many including his own best friend who's about to make a difference by doing something that would make his buddy so proud. here's nbc's ron mott. >> reporter: like most golfers 6-year-old ryan mcguire is always working on his game. whether in the rain even snow. but these days his drive isn't just about playing better. it's about playing for something meaningful. >> what's this big thing you're doing? >> playing 100 holes. >> 100 holes? in one day? >> yeah. >> wow. let me feel your muscles. have you got enough muscle for that? >> on a course built for kids ryan will play for his friend danny nickerson. ♪ whose birthday wish last summer was for a few cards. he got them. 750,000 of them. sadly, what he didn't get was more time. he died in april from an inoperable brain tumor. >> we're going to

golf. >> reporter: so to honor danny with the vocal support of their kindergarten classmates, ryan is raising money to help fight childhood cancer. $14,000 and growing fast. part of a larger golf fights cancer fund-raiser his mom organizes every year. >> i always want him to have hope. hope hope hope that a person can beat cancer. and that's why right now more cancer survivors are coming out to shake his hand and say guess what? i beat cancer. >> you have to earn your birdies. >> reporter: his granddad will help him pick the right clubs. >> my grandfather's going to be my caddie and he's a cancer survivor. >> i'll just hit it straight. >> reporter: and in a sport where keeping score is paramount, ryan isn't counting birdies and pars. he's settling a different score. teeing off on a deadly disease. >> because my friend passed away. danny nickerson. and he was a really good friend of mine. >> reporter: ryan is determined to fill 100 holes and countless hearts with hope.

ron mott nbc news norton massachusetts. >> and we are rooting for you. that'll do it for us on this tuesday night. i'm savannah guthrie. i'll see you tomorrow bright and early on "today." for all of us at nbc news, good night.

. under president trump, here's what would happen. >> the run for the highest office in the land is real this time around. but is it being taken seriously. i'm billy bush. we are breaking down the