tonight state of emergency, preparing for a potential disaster in the gulf. with tropical storm barry expected to make land fall in the morn, possibly as a hurricane. theheiggest risk, potential for catastroph flooding, as much as two feet of rain, and a life threatening storm surge that could hit new orleans hard. tonight preparing for the worst. president trump's labor secretary is out. alex acosta resigned over his role in a federal prosecution against jeffrey epstein. in late details, prosecutors now say epstein tried to pay off two potential coconspirators. r. kellyes arrd again this time on

federal charges of sexual misconduct involving underaged girls and allegations he paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy the silence of one of the alleged victs and her family. protests and outrage over undocumented immigrants that have been ordered out of the country as president trump defends the crackdown. and how a traffic stop by a sheriff's deputy -- >> there we go, come , honey, there you go. >> turned into a heroic life saving mission for a baby. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good evening on this busy news day, tropical storm barry is being felt along a the louisiancoast, now less than 24 hours from land fall as a likely hurricane. torrential rains and a storm surge expected ato produce life threening floods. in new orleans today, crews hoping to hold off the rising waters closed the flood gates at lake pontchartrain.

many residents heeding evacuation orders, n taking what while they run on provisions that left some storm shelves practically bear. our kerry sanders is in the storm zone tonight. reporter: tonight tropical storm barry and bearing do on southern louisiana. portions of the grand isle under water as o time has run out prepare. >> nobody should take this storm lightly just because it's supposed to be a category one when it makes land fall. >> reporter: tens of thousands of tourists and convention goers in new orlns packing up and getting out. >> they gave us word and we said that's what we're going to do. >> reporter: 3,000 members of the louisiana national guard are on alert bringing boats and high water vehicles. buhe biggest worry, not windwater which is already rising. while stm surge can batter a coastline, this is what storm .surge looks like it's a fast-moving, fast-rising flas flood.

with the power of the atlantic ocean behind it. in the crescent city named because the mississippi river d makes that harrn, there's another danger, that up to 70-mile-per-hour winds could cause a five-foot storm surge, pushing so much water t spillsriver over the top of new orleans levees. >> compounding the situation, the is mippi is eight feet above its usual level. see thosesubmerged trees over there? that's where the riverbank should be. >> residents unsure what's next. >> i've never seen it this high. it's pretty impressive. >> reporter: tonight in low lying areas outside of new orleans there are expectations of widespread flooding. meantime, in the city, there is now a sheltin place order. that means that residents should hunker down and stay off streets. lester, at this point it's now all about riding it out. the waves overtopping behind you.

kerry, thank you. let's get a read of where the stream is. let's brg in al roker. al, what are we looking at? >> reporter: lester, gh ri now barry is making its way toward the louisiana coast, currently 75 miles southeast of morgan city, louisiana. it's got winds of 65-miles-per-hour. it's moving west rt noest at six-miles-per-hour. land fall sometime early saturday morning and makes its way up into the mississippi river valley. we are worried about storm surge, anywhere from two to six feet and that will cause a lot of flooding. and then add on top of that tons of rain. we are talking about a high risk of flooding through the lower mississippi river valley. rain fall amounts vecould top out at o 25 inches of rain. but generally 10 to 15 inches of rain. either way, lester, it will be really devast with this.g all right, al. thanks. to our other big story breaking, the resignation of presid labor secretary. alex acosta faced harsh criticism for his role in the plea deal in florida in a sex abuse case against jeffrey epstein 11

years ago. our peter alexander has thattory. >> reporter: president trump and alex acosta today walking out of the white house together before that ensurprise announcem acosta was resigning. >> i jus want to let you know this was him, not me because i'm with him. he's a tremendous talent. >> reporter: acosta'su dden departure comes less than 48 hours after the labor secretary defended his role the as the attorney in the controversial plea it agreement wh jeffrey epstein whereps ein spent 13 months behind bars for soliciting prostitution from ami r. >> the goal here was straightforward. put epstein behind bars. >> reporter: acosta today. >> i do not think it is right and fair for this administration's labor department to have epsin as a focus rather than the incredible economy that we have today. >> reporter: president trump also revealing new details about his falling out with

epstein who he says he has not spoken to in 15 years. >> yes, and i did have a falling out a long time ago. y was not a fan of jeffstein, and daou watch people yestersaying that i threw him out of a club. i didn't want anything to do with him. that was many, many years ago. it sws you one thing, that i have good taste. >> peter joins me now. the presias already picked acosta's successor. >> that's right. the deputy labor secretary will take over on an acting sis. it is another cabinet post with an acting secretary. a list that includes critical departments homeland security. >> peter, thank you. let's get to those late new details now, the epstein case, federal prosecutors accusing him of witness tampering. anne thompson joins us. anne, what can you about that? >> reporter: these are very serious accusations and they come from a filing this evening by federal prosecutors. in it prosecutors are accusing jeffrey epstein of trying to influence potential witnesses.

prosecutors claim that two days aer the "miami herald" started publishing i.c.e. stories that led to epstein's latest criminal charges, he wired $100,000 to an account controlled by a possible cospontaneous spetor. coconspirator. l pstein is due back in federaurt on monday for bail hearing. he is in custody and pled not guilty to ckharges of sex traffiing and conspiracy. thank you. r. kelly is back behind bars facing federal charges of child poraphy and obstruction of justice. si the embattleer was arrested last night in chicago on more than a dozen sfelony counts. nbc' miguel almaguer is inhicago where 52-year-old kelly appeared in court today. his last arrest, this time r. kelly was detained by federal agents. he remains in custody today. a w 13 count indictment accuses the r&b star of engaging

in sex acts with five minors and recording the abuse. a second feder indictment involves five additional victims. bo>> we're talking a forced labor, child exploitation, the production of child pornography. >> reporter: with two of his associates also charged, kelly is accused of using his entourage and star power to recruit girls to engage in illegal sexual contact. ♪ i believe i can fly ♪ at the height of his career, prosecutors say kelly would not allow his victims to leave their rooms to eat or visit the bathroom withoutce ing his permission. investigators credit the docuseries "surviving r. kelly" with helping build eir case. >> it really put a spotlight on the magnitude of his acts. >> reporter: prosecutors also allege kelly paid off a minor and her father r at the centeof his 2008 child pornographyl

tr in which he was acquitted. kelly denies all charges. >> i didn't do this f. st this is not me, y'all. i'm fighting for my [ bleep ] life. >> we believe he's innocent. to we're going ight to prove he's innocent. >> reporter: but tonight kelly remains in custody and behind bars. not far from this courthouse in chicago kelly was arrested hivernight while walkindog. he did not enter a plea today. he's expected back in court next week. lester. miguel almaguer in chicago, thank you. protests around the country today ahead of this weekend's planned ackdown on thousands of undocumented immigrants who have been ordered out of the u.s. the raids today.ded let's get more from steve patterson. >> reporter: tonight cries of resistance on the eve of highly publicized i.c.e. raids targeting 2,000 undocumented timmigrants in ten major . the operation is only aimed at immigrants who are under court orders to leave the country.

>> people come into our country illegally. we're taking them out negally, very simple. it's something i like doing. but people have come into our country le lly. we're focused on criminals. >> reporter: but many fear that the raids will include other family members at the scene. >> to my family, this means fear. it stops us from wanting to go to work. it stops us from wanting to contribute to society. >> reporter: widespread deportation efforts aren't unique to the trump administratico. ing to i.c.e., more than 400,000 people were deported in 2012 under e obama administration, significantly more than the 2,000 people under president trump's white house last year. the difference analysts say, president trump has politicized it. >> it creates a lot of fear in immigrant communities. i don't think that fear is helpful from i.c.e.'sc safety mission. >> reporter: prominent democrats warning immigrants of their rights. alexandria ocasio-cortez tweeting

no one can enter your home without a ra judicial war. a preefrpive fight on the eve of a weekend stirring so much fear. the house voted to reauthorize funding for victims of the 9/11 attacks after powerful testimony first responders. lewis alvarez battled cancer pleaded with ng during emotional itestimonyn june. he died shortly after. if passed by these nate, funding would extend until the year 2090. breaking news tonight in indiana where firefighters battled multiple house fires in a neighborhood of west lafayette. officials say five st houses were deyed four others damaged. the cause not clear at this moment. one firefighter ff suered heat exhaustion. now to the incredibleeo. a member of the u.s. coast guard riding adr ug smuggler submarine in the pacific ocean. the narco submariner finallyurrendered

but most of the subs got through the dragnet. >> reporter: the coastar gud intercepting a fully loaded drug smuggler sub off south ng america, scrt the smugglers to stop their boat. then a brazen display of courage, riding the sub pounding on the hatch. finally five men surrender. unit happened in je, the video just now released. in all three coast guard ships intercepted 14 narco vessels, confiscating nd18 tons of cocaine a marijuana. street value, half a billion dollars>> hey acquitted themselves with great stinction and courage on the open seas. >> reporter: built in the jungle, the minisubs skim just rf below the sue. only 11% are ever caught. in a never ending game of cat and mouse with the coast guard. tom costello, nbc news, washington. tonigh look inside china and how that country is ing cutting edge artificial

intelligence not only to try to boost its oeconomy but also keep an eye on its own people. chief foreign correspondent richard engel shows us how. >> reporter: tonight a ch sparing no expense to dominate the world of artificial intellence. though much of the technology was developed in the united states, president xi jinping wants china to be the world's ai leader by 2030. officials showed up this sprawling port where thanks to ai, human workers are beinreplaced. >> these automatic cranes are dropping off containers on to driverless cars. >> yes! >> those little blue trucks. >> y>>. eporter: and while americans encounter aiy ay with companies like amazon and netflix using it to rank products based on what we bought and watched, china is now usin ai to rank its people. there are an estimated 200 million surveillance cameras in china and now they

not only know where kn you are, they who you are. many of the surveillance cameras feed into an ai system which caonly recognize your face but bring up your name, your social media activity, financial status, and criminal record. the ai calculates what's called a social credit score. if your score drops too low, you're denied access to airports and trains. >> the chinese government is using tificial intelligence and in particular the rapid and substantial and impressive advances they've made in facial recognition as a way to monitor people. it> reporter: chinese auths are using ai powered facial recognition to help pick out an ethnic group of muslims known as uighurs. anhave sent upwards of a million uighurs controversial re-education camps. this week 22 nations urged china to stop what they call arbitrary detentio china says it's part of a war on terror.

>> they've used ai to create more of a police state in china. >> reporter: china is investing in technology it believes will drive the global economy for decades to co and which allows the communist party to monitor its population on a scale never-before seen in human history. t >> richard, focus is on the trade war with china, i but understand they're talking a broader deeper view. >> of course the trade war is important, has economic implication, tut it's short term. in chie and time again we were told that there was a national mission now to overtake the united states and the ai piece is just part of it. >> richa engel, thanks. we want to let folks know you can watch more of richard's reporting "on assignment made in china" on sunday at 10:00.m.astern on msnbc. the shocking death of an american scientist on areek island. also how traffic stop for speeding .saved the life of this

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we're learning new details in the case of an american scientist scientist who was murdered in greece. police now say they're searching for a kni ey believe was used in the attack. >> reporter: tonight police say three suspects facing questions over the murder of world renowned american scientist suzanne eaton. her body will be returned to germany where she lived reports say leaving behind an investigation th has shocked the greek island of crete. police sources tell nbc news they're now looking for a knife believed to be used in the attack. eaton was killed by suffocation. detectives working on eory her body was hidden in a cave after her death. the secluded cav a former world war ii bunker only locals would know. 59-year-oldaton was last seen playing piano in her hotel. her family believed she had gone for a

run. her passport, wallet, phone, and cash left behind. only her running shoes missing. her husband and two children havflown to crete to help identify suzanne. in a statementhis week, her son max calling her a remarkable woman and brilliant scientists. police tell nbc news samples from under h fingernails will be dna tested. it may be their best lead. lester. thanks. ancoming up how a traffic stop for speeding turned into an incredible life-saving moment. why think about your heart? lower a1c helps, but type 2 diabetes still increases my risk atal cardiovascular event. and that's why there's jardiance- the first type 2 diabes pill that offers a lifesaving cardiovascular benefit for adults who also have known heart disease. it can significantly reduce my risk of dying from a cardiovascular event. and it lowers my a1c, with diet and exercise. jardiance can cause serious side effects cluding dehydration, genital yeast or urinary tract infections, and sudden kidney problems. ketoacidosisecs a serious side efft that may be fatal. a rare, but life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin

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the scene in de the scene in en, north carolina, an explosion at a kentucky fried chicken restaurant captured on surveillance video. the blast was so powerful it was felt several miles away. there were no injuries. no word on a cause. a potential speeding ticket turned into a race to sava baby's life in south carolina. kristen dahlgr has more on a hero officer who sprung into action.

>> what started as a traffic stop for ne speeding turinto a dramatic rescue. the 12 day old girl was unresponsive, her mom telling deputy she stopped breathing ter taking a bottle. >> i'm going to put her on your lap. i'm going to check for a pui e. got a pulse. she's got a pulse. >> reporter: he never stopped talking to the newborn has he calls for help and makes sure she's breathing. >> come on, baby. >> reporte finally a cry. >> there you go. as long as she's crying like that, g. she's breathin >> reporter: eventually paramedics cirrive. offis say tonight the baby is doing well thanks to a quick-thinking officer who was right there when she needed him. kristen dahlgren, nbc news. >> what an amazing drama. atthank goodness th officer was there. when we come back an inspiring story of a mother's love baked into a special dish. i have onh of the mcoitary, but i'm mmand central. it's so important to us that verizon

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in tonight's inspiring america, a follow up to a story a we told you abou few years ago about a mom who lost her 5-year-old daughter and how she chose to honor and remember her has now gone far beyond her imagination. >> it started with mac and cheese. it's just mac and cheese. >> when we first met becky nickels two years ago, she was delivering homemade ma and cheese to the children's hospital in austin filling freezers and hearts all from her loving libby food truck. he>> this is the one t kids chose a long time ago. >> libby was becky's daughter who died of

vecancer at age fi. when she was sick, alecky's mac and cheese was l she would eat. >> this would make her happy at she has inspired something that make other people happy. >> this week a celebration. loving libby's mac and cheese now on sale in more than 200 grocery stores across texas. >> very creamy and cheesey. that's my favorite part. >> becky entered a contest impressing the grocery chain atb with her food and her mission. parents of patients she has fed for years was there when becky saw her loving libby mac and cheese in the e stor the first time. >> thank y'all so much. as a mom i want people to know that libby was here. i don't want her to go away. to hear people saying oher name and see her name constantly has fulfilled that for . all profits will go toward providing more children's hospitals in the state with becky's food. that's "nightly news"

for this friday. i'm lester holt. from all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and gd ght.

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