on this saturday night, takedown. how three americans tackled a gunman armed with an ak-47 to prevent a possible massacre on a train. and what other weapons the suspect was carrying. chaos at an airshow in southern england as a military jet slams onto a crowded highway. the terrifying moments all caught on camera. out of control. wildfires continue to grow in washington state as a call goes out to volunteers to help fight those flames. eye of the storm. straight into hurricane danny. an elite will group of hurricane hunters takes us for an exclusive ride inside the storm as it barrels toward puerto rico. and teacher shortage. across this country,

school districts scramble to fill a void in critical areas like math and science. the measure some cities are taking to lure teachers into their schools. "nightly news" begins now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news". reporting tonight, erica hill. three childhood friends are being hailed as heroes tonight as authorities try to determine just what the gunman they tackled was planning when he boarded a paris-bound train friday night, carrying an ak-47 and a handgun. three young americans and a british man prevented a possible massacre. belgium's prime minister is calling this a terrorist attack. while french officials have avoided that label, there are new signs for possible terror connections for the gunman. kelly cobiella has more tonight from london. >> reporter: the strain is still moving

as they capture the chaotic seconds after a gunman is subdued. an ak-47. the suspect restrained with a neck tie. moments earlier, three childhood friends made a split-second decision, potentially saving many on board. >> i said basically let's go. i told them to go. and he went. and he tackled him. and he got cut by a knife after he tackled him. and at that point i showed up and grabbed the gun from him. >> reporter: national guard alec s is kalatos were on vacation. the attacker boarded in brussels. and somewhere in northern france opened fire. but then reportedly the gun jammed. >> we just all ran back there and we tried to like do whatever we could to beat him up just so he didn't shoot anybody.

>> reporter: britishman chris norman joined in. >> tried to get him down. and sit him in the corner. >> reporter: the suspect was arrested in arras, france. remarkably only two men were injured. a passenger air man helped to save. and got top brass in the hospital today. france's interior minister said the attacker is believed to be a 26-year-old moroccan flagged for ties to islamic extremists says last year but not under surveillance. >> the french have 5,000 people that are potential terrorists that could target planes, airports or malls. it's impossible for them to just follow everyone. >> reporter: the heroes were given medals. and the americans getting a personal thank you call from president obama.

france's president will thank him and his friends in person. tonight, french media are reporting that the suspect traveled to syria and had been flagged as an extremist in belgium, sprain, and germany. nbc news has not confirmed that. already some european leaders are calling for an emergency meeting to talk about how to make trains more secure. erica? >> kelly cobiella don't. kelly, thank you. dramatic pictures of a fiery military jet crash during an airshow today. several people were killed when the plane slammed onto a highway in southern england. spectators looked on in horror. that entire event was also being streamed online. warning, some may find the moment of impact disturbing. >> reporter: it quickly turned tragic. the whole thing captured live as it plummets into a busy

highway, exploding into a ball of fire and thick, black smoke, killing at least seven on the ground, the pilot in critical condition. >> as it meant to turn on the run way, it just went straight down, crashed into the traffic lights. a big fireball. and that was that. quite shocking. very shocking. reporter: the 1950s hawker hunter was part of the fleet in shoreham. it plane started a loop but never pulls up, careening towards the highway and homes. this photo captures the jet just moments before impact. >> the pilot, he tried his best. you could see him fighting to the last second. it was that close. there was babies there. there was children there. >> reporter: on the ground, chaos. fans at the airshow were told not to move. >> stay in your places, please. >> reporter: rescue crews raced to the

scene. 14 others injured. the investigation begins into what meant wrong. kristen dahlgren, nbc news. three american contractors are among a dozen people killed in a suicide bombing today in kabul. more than 60 others were injured after a suicide car bomber attacked a nato convoy driving through the cap a tal city. the taliban has denied responsibility for the attack. tense moments as thousands of migrants clashed with police on the border of greece and macedonia. 160,000 refugees have arrived in greece since just the beginning of this year. most of them fleeing wars in syria, afghanistan, or iraq. nbc's bill neely has more on their plight. >> reporter: they fled war. thousands ran from tear gas in greece, clashing with riot police, trying to cross the macedonia border. refugees from syria, among them babies, desperate for a better life in europe. we were there as many

like them arrived in greece, coming ashore in small boats in huge numbers. they've left the horror behind, but this is no paradise. >> this is the beginning of a long road. >> yes. >> reporter: they get little help. the first is a camp where food is scarce. greece can't cope. these refugees live in a former prison camp, free to go but nothing is free. >> we don't have to be treated like this. >> reporter: there is desperation to eat and to leave greece. the world's main refugee agency says all this is shameful. >> the conditions are unacceptable. >> reporter: it is not aid agencyings but volunteers who help the refugees ashore. >> it's a joke. >> reporter: few countries welcome them. some are building fences to keep them out. these are vulnerable refugees from war.

>> i want to study in germany. and i want to come back to syria. >> reporter: they come in hope, running to a new life but facing a hard exile. bill neely, nbc news, greece. dozens of massive wildfires are still burning out of control in parts of the west tonight. there is little relief on the horizon. in washington state, the wildfire that left three firefighters dead earlier this week has grown by more than 100 square miles. nbc's gadi schwartz is on the front lines. >> reporter: as flames are on the move for the ninth day straight, so are fire crews in black hawk help cole te helicopters. this area has already seen some fire. some homes have been lost. but there are still a lot of homes here in harm's way. the and the helicopters are making water drops every five

minutes. >> you can't always see what the fire is doing. >> reporter: scores of volunteers are showing up to be trained on how they can help in an epic firefight. >> i'm young and i'm available. i want to contribute whatever i can. >> reporter: they are carefully shown what to do in case of an emergency. the state taking no chances after three firefighters were killed this week. in washington state, over a half a million acres has burned. overwhelming resources and evacuees. >> i'm so angry right now. i'm so tired. >> we're prepping that road right now. >> reporter: at a community meeting last night, some people still can't belive they don't have a place to sleep. >> what have these fires done to your family? >> turned everything upside-down. this is the second year. this is the second summer that we have had to play this game. >> reporter: across the west, around 100 fires are kicking up dangerous levels of smoke. >> it doesn't surprise me it is the worst air quality because of the

number of wildfires and number of acres burning in the last week or two. >> reporter: where homeowners thought the worst had passed, the fires are back. this is a site firefighters dreaded to see. flames finally coming down the ridge line. these properties right here once again being threatened. clearly this is going to be a long battle for firefighters. erica, back to you. >> gadi, thank you. gadi schwartz tonight. new word tonight the epa was aware of a blowout could happen at the colorado mine where 3 million gallons of wastewater was unleashed two weeks ago. documents obtained by "the associated press" mentioned the possibility as recently as may of this year. that toxic release sent wastewater flowing through rivers in colorado, new mexico, and utah. we are tracking two major storms tonight. tropical depression kilo is expected to strengthen off the coast of hawaii. and in the atlantic, hurricane danny. puerto rico is bracing for danny's approach

on monday. the storm is currently a category 1, but it could weaken by then. we have an exclusive look inside the hurricane. >> reporter: at 10:00 a.m., a an elite group of hurricane hunters sets out over the atlantic for the first flight of the season. their aircraft, nicknamed miss piggy, is made to withstand massive amounts of turbulence. with weather sensors measuring a storm's critical wind speed and ocean temperature. three hours into our journey, the outer edges of hurricane danny. we rigged the plane with cameras to capture the moment of impact. winds near the center of the storm can reach up to 150 miles per hour. but the hunters hunch right through. the eye, or dead center of the storm, ironically is the most peaceful and provides crucial data.

>> up to the front of the plane you have your navigator on the right. and then on the other side you have your flight director. sort of the quarterback of this mission. at the very front, you have the flight station of course with two pilots and a flight engineer. and this is where you can see all of the action. hurricane danny is their first. >> did they tell you to go right into the bad weather? >> no. no. it's completely counter to every bit of training i have ever had as far as aviation and flying into weather. >> reporter: while it is too early to tell how much damage danny will aoe frequent, data by noaa hurricane hunters is vital. jacob ras cone, nbc news, over the atlantic new video of vice president joe biden's motorcade making a last minute trip to

washington, d.c. for meetings today as rumors continue to swirl about a presidential bid. nbc's kristen welker has the latest developments. >> reporter: vice president biden left his delaware home this morning, motoring to washington with a meeting with elizabeth warren. before vermont senator bernie sanders speentered the race, warren had been courted by many of the same progress if's who those who are unhappy with hillary clinton are flocking to sanders. donald trump flew his 757 by a football stadium friday night in mobile, alabama before addressing a crowd of 20,000 there. >> i would like to have the election tomorrow. i don't want to wait. >> reporter: trump, continuing to feed voters's apparent hunger for blunt talk and an alternative to washington. >> we have politicians that don't have a clue. they're all talk and

no action. what's happening to this country is disgraceful. >> reporter: with every fresh spectacle, trump seems to solidify his front-runner status. >> i did not send neuer receive anything that was classified at the time. reporter: hillary clinton is facing new questions daily about her private e-mail server. polls show she is still a strong front-runner but the majority still want biden to run. >> he is an authentic leader. he's been in the public office for 45 years. reporter: sources tell nbc news the vice president is is talking to donors as he mulls over a run with family. he could be seen as dividing the democratic party. he is still mourning the death of his son. >> politicians who have it, live with it, and me die with it. >> reporter: clinton, who is vacationing in

the hamptons, will be in ohio this week. and he has been playing a lot of golf as his second turn winds down. he has the luxy of watching it all from the sidelines >> i bet he does. kristen, thank you. chuck todd will have more on the roller coaster that is this 2016 race tomorrow morning on "meet the press" when "nightly news" continues on this saturday, the desperate measures this saturday, the desperate measures some school dis could protect you from cancer? sfx: crunch what if one push up could prevent heart disease? [man grunts] one wishful thinking, right? but there is one step you can take to help prevent another serious disease-pneumococcal pneumonia. one dose of the prevnar 13® vaccine can help protect you from pneumococcal pneumonia. an illness that can cause coughing, chest pain, difficulty breathing, and may even put you in the hospital. prevnar 13® is used in adults 50 and older to help prevent infections from 13 strains of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia. you should not receive prevnar 13® if you've had a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine or its ingredients. if you have a weakened immune system,

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children begin a new school year, a serious problem is getting worse. there simply aren't enough teachers. across this country, tens of thousands of positions remain unfilled tonight, leaving officials to try some unorthodox measures to fill those vacancies. >> reporter: as the new school gets under way in dekalb county in atlanta, students are in the classroom but many teachers are not. there are 130 vacancies for full-time teachers here. administrators say the demand is especially high in math, science, and special education classes. >> the supply for teachers who have the expertise in those areas has dwindled. so we're in a frantic competition to attract and to retain teachers who have that expertise. >> reporter: it's a growing problem nationwide mostly in large, urban school districts. and in california,

they're desperate to fill 21,000 teacher positions. >> we are beginning to see places hire teachers who are not certified, who have not started any training at all for teaching. >> reporter: what's causing this void in the classroom, among several things. experts point to cutbacks in the recession years that led to teacher lay-offs. in california alone, 80,000 teaching jobs were eliminated 2008 and 2012. >> salaries were also being frozen. class sizes were increasing. working conditions were getting worse. >> reporter: painting an undesirable picture for would-be teachers. at the oxford mills apartment complex, they are trying to attract and keep teachers in the neighborhood and in schools. 60% of the units are designated for educators. in return, teachers get a 25% discount off the market rate, saving up to $400 a

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back now with a reminder that the clearance signs you see on the side of the road serve a purpose. the one we're about to show you needs to be updated this. truck in the video is the latest victim crashing into this bridge outside boston on thursday. as you can see, the roof nearly ripped to shreds there. last year alone, 15 crashes happened at that bridge. thankfully, no one was seriously hurt or injured. the city of philadelphia hoping to boost its reputation among robots after hitch bot. that's the robot earlier this month we showed you to show the kindness of strangers. tonight its replacement pope bot created by a radio station is out to prove to pope francis the city is in fact, a safe place. like hitch bot pope bot relies on the

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finally don't, he's known as the medicine man. the doctor with a very specific set of skills who bull riders seek out to heal their wounds. nbc's janet sham lee yann has the story tonight. >> reporter: most of us would call them crazy. modern day gladiators who earn their paychecks at eight seconds at a time in one of the most dangerous sports. but for chase outlaw and other top riders, it's hard earned. most have a list of injuries longer than the list of their wins. >> broke my collarbone, neck, ribs. i had surge on my wrist. so me and the doc got pretty close on that one. >> reporter: doc is what they call him. a secret weapon is what they consider

him. freeman has never been on a bull. but he has been on the professional bull riders tour 20 years. >> you come to work and you're prepared to do your job. it's kind of like anybody else. your job just is a little different. reporter: the orthopedic surgeon is ringside every ride, hoping he might be needed, knowing at some point he will. >> it's a different breed what we are. and he knows about the ins and outs of the sport to put us back together to make sure we can ride a 2,000 pound bull again. >> reporter: it's a unique understanding what they do. >> they're not competing. they're not g aetting paycheck. you don't compete, you don't eat. >> reporter: for chase, having doc at his side promises one more chance at beating that bull. >> you jump off and you sort of just pump your chest. and 5,000 to 10,000 people screaming for something you just did. that's a pretty good high.

ain't no high like it anywhere in the world. >> reporter: a modern day medicine hoping rodeos most fearless back into the saddle. nbc news, nashville. that is "nbc nightly news" for this saturday. i'm erica hill. see you tomorrow on "today" and right back see you tomorrow on "today" and right back here

narrator: one day. over 400 shelters across the country. one goal-- giving shelter animals a second chance at life, with 20,000 animals finding forever homes. woman (voiceover): i immediately fell in love. our life is better with duke in it. hi. hi. [music playing] narrator: this is clear the shelters. natalie morales: hello, and welcome to clear the shelters. i'm natalie morales, and today we're going to share some amazing stories that are sure to warm your heart. from the inspiring journey of some abandoned animals who escaped death to become extraordinary pets, to your favorite stars who have not only been touched by amazing shelter pets, but are also passing the love forward. i, too, have had my own life changed by a shelter animal. meet zara. our family rescued her three years ago,