blayne alexander has more for us and, blayne, what is walmart saying about this >> reporter: lester, this is the largest retailer to announce it will no longer carry electronic cigarettes the retail giant explained the move in a statement citing the growing federal, state and local regulatory complexity and uncertainty regarding e-cigarettes now this comes after an eighth person died this week from what health officials call a vaping-related lung illness. the cdc warns that number is expected to se president trump recently announced his administration will ban flavored e-cigarettes walmart and sam's club will stop sellin e-cigarettes when their current inventory runs out. lester >> blayne alexander with that, thank you >>> we're back in a moment with a final act for a nuclear plant with a notorious past the juul record. they took $12.8 billion from big tobacco. juul marketed mango, mint, and menthol flavors, addicting kids to nicotine. five million kids now using e-cigarettes. the fda said juul ignored the law with misleading health claims.s puino overturn san francisco's e-cigarette

blayne alexander has more for us and, blayne, what is walmart saying about this >> reporter: lester, this is the largest retailer to announce it will no longer carry electronic cigarettes the retail giant explained the move in an internal statement citing the growing federal, state and local regulatory complexity and uncertainty regarding e-cigarettes now this comes after an eighth person died this week from what health officials call a vaping-related lung illness. the cdc warns that number is expected to rise president trump ed h administration will ban flavored e-cigarettes walmart and sam's club will stop selling e-cigarettes when their current inventory runs out. lester >> blayne alexander with that, thank you >>> we're back in a moment with a final act for a nuclear plant with a notorious past >>> a sad note tonight on the passing of suzanne whang.hunts" for nine seasons on hgtvg roles on many other tv shows including "las vegas," "general hospital," "without a trace" and "nypd blue." she died after a 13-year battle with breast cancer. suzanne whang was 56 >>> news tonight about

blayne alexander with tonight's justice for all. the greatest in the history of women's game. >> my urge is to go find a ball. >> reporter: nhe >> it's hard but when to a place that you know is right, it makes it a little less hard. >> reporter: that new place, fighting what she calls wrongful conviction. >> call is from a correctional facility. >> reporter: on the line, jonathan irons arrested at 16 he was sentenced to 50 years for a non-fatal shooting he's entering year 23. >> i'm not guilty of this. >> reporter: the more maya investigated his case, the more she agreed. >> there was no physical evidence, no dna, footprint, fingerprint. that began a journey for me of having my eyes open to oh my gosh, people are in prison who shouldn't be there. >> reporter: so maya shifted her game know focussing on things that matter most to her like freeing jonathan. >> she's at the top of the mountain in taking a break to help me that's so encouraging. >> we're all most at voice, so many other people get a voice. >> reporter: and perhaps anothe

jose >> blayne alexander, thank you very much. >>> when we return, our correspondent answered 100 robocalls in one day what happens when he confronts the callers? >>> back now with a frightening near miss on a highway in michigan a tow truck driver was at work when an suv crossed the white line take a look at that. narrowly missing him it did hit the truck, causing the suv to launch in the air and before landing miraculously, the suv driv survived. >>> they are one of the biggest nuisances of modern life robocalls. our jacob ward decided to answer 100 of them in one day to figure out who's behind them and how you can protect yourself >> reporter: it was the ultimate in robocall torture >> hello >> hello >> hello >> thank you for staying on the line. >> yes, sir, are you the person responsible for the electric bill? >> reporter: 100 robocalls in one day funneled to my phone and me answering every single one of them >> i just need to ask you a few quick questions. >> the people on the other end of these robocalls are criminals. >> reporter: the goal? to determine what the scam really is >> th

nbc blayne alexander has what you need to know. >> reporter: tonight, a terrifying mosquito-born illness claimed two more victims known as eastern equine encephalitis, eee is transmitted by a single bite friday officials confirming a island, the victiman there diagnosed just ten days ago. >> there is no vaccination to prevent eee. this is one of the most deadly mosquito-born infections. >> reporter: eee is rare but comes with a 33% fatality rate. the numbers of human cases nearly doubling from last year, 11 confirmed so far this season including seven in massachusetts. within days, symptoms can go from headache and fever to brain swelling and coma. 14-year-old savannah neigan >> her brain is trying to heal itself and she can't do anything until that happens. >> reporter: experts say with no known treatment, your best option, protect yourself keep windows closed and when outside, wear bug spray with deet and cover up during dawn and dusk hours blayne alexander, nbc news. >>> one of the country's best-known doctors is revealing a heartbreaking diagnosis he missed in his own family dr. oz o

and before that blayne alexander. appreciate both of you. >>> meantime seven people confirmed dead and others injured in a highway shooting sfl spree in texas. there are more than 15 crime scenes along a 15 mile stretch between the cities of midland and odessa. officials say the 36-year-old suspect who terror iz ized the towns had been fired from his job just hours before leading police on a deadly high speed rampage. the gunman was shot and killed by police in a movie theater parking lot ending the shooting spree that started after a routine traffic spot. garrett hague is in odessa. what more do we know about the status of the victims? >> reporter: here at the hospital where those most seriously injured victims were taken, some good news this morning as some conditions have been upgraded. still ten here, one this critical condition, one in serious and eight in fair condition as of this morning. when dealing with gunshot wounds, you are talking about very serious injuries even for those who might have been hit in an e

here is nbc's blayne alexander. >> reporter: elizabeth anderson's son was diagnosed with neuroblastoma six years ago. >> i try not to think about it. >> reporter: sean has been cancer free for three years. his mother says sean's stem cells saved his life and was comforted knowing the hospital had more in storage. >> he has relapsed once. >> reporter: earlier this month sean received a letter from children's hospital los angeles. >> he just gets maybe halfway through it and starts hysterically crying. >> reporter: he is one of 56 patients whose stem cells were destroyed. the result of a freezer malfunction. >> if it were to come back, a small chance i could die or my treatment options have been lowered to what i can get, and it was just really sad. >> reporter: harvesting stem cells is a painful and invasive process. >> they will harvest the stem cells before somebody undergoes cancer treatment for that phase of cancer treatment and insurance policy for later on. >> reporter: the hospital added no child's health is in jeopardy as a result of this incident still for sean and his mom it's

he's speaking out after another late-night host said fat shaming was good nbc's blayne alexander hase. >> reporter: in a world of late-night laughs, a rare serious moment. >> let's be honest fat shaming is just bullying. >> reporter: on his program, "the late late show," host james corden opened up about his own struggles with obesity. >> now, there's a common a insulting misconception that fat people are stupid and lazy, and we're not. >> reporter: a direct response to fellow late-night host bill maher. >> being fat isn't a birth defect nobody comes out of the womb needing to buy two seats on the >> reporter: in a segment about health care, maher shifted the focus from congress to the food americans consume. >> fat shaming doesn't need to end. it needs to make a comeback. it's what goads people into saying maybe i can do better. >> reporter: corden, who tapes his show on the same lot as maher, shot back. >> we're not all as lucky as bill maher, you know we don't all have a sense of superiority that burns 35,000 calories a day >> reporter: speaking candidly in personal terms. >> we k

blayne alexander, nbc news >> just ahead here on "early today," a sunday stunner for u.s.n defending champion novak jock 1ri67 plus serena williams survives a nasty injury to advance to the quarterfinals. you're watching "early today." blast detergen t... ...she loved it. her son loves it. and her husband loves it too. and the delivery woman... ...awkward. new gain scent blast. love it or hate it, it's intense. yof your daily routine.lf so why treat your mouth any differently? listerine® completes the job by preventing plaque, early gum disease, and killing up to 99.9% of germs. try listerine® and for on-the-go, try listerine® ready! tabs™ hey great dog. what do you feed them? blue buffalo lizzie gets purina dog chow ever read the ingredients? could you read a few? sure. of course. deboned chicken whole grain corn chicken meal meat & bone meal brown rice corn gluten meal barley animal fat oatmeal soybean meal while both foods provide complete and balanced nutrition. 9 out of 10 dog chow feeders prefer the ingredients in blue buffalo. and get your dogs delicious blue treats

blayne alexander, nbc news >> that's a new way the game is played now >> it really was a sweet momentwledgment and respect you don't tend to see like that. they both got really emotional it's a lot of hard work that paid off i love she acknowledged the parents. so much goes into that >> the sacrifices they've made, great to be able to see that thanks for watchin could really cause massive destruction and do not put your life in jeopardy by staying behind. >> deadly serious, hurricane dorian pounding the bahamas overnight with 200 mile-per-hour wind gusts as the monster storm crawls toward the u.s. >> then to odessa texas, as seven lost their lives and 20 were injured. >> next, hong kong experiencing some of the most chaotic demonstrations in weeks with new

. >>> a newly released >>> tonight a newly released 911 call is sparking outrage in arkansas blayne alexander has the details. >> you're going to need a boat. >> reporter: when debbie stevens' car was being swept away by arkansas floodwaters. she did the only thing she could, she called 911. >> lord, please help me i don't want to die. >> reporter: operator donna renaud can be heard trying to help >> ma'am, ma'am. we'll get somebody out to you, just hold on >> reporter: about 10 minutes into the 24 minute call, renault who recently submitted her resignation and was working her last shift appeared to lose patience >> i'm scared. i've never had anything like this happen to me before. >> well, this will teach you next time, don't drive in the water. >> i couldn't see it >> i don't see how you didn't see it. you had to go right over it. >> reporter: nine minutes later telling stevens. >> miss debbie, you're going to have to shut up okay i need you to listen -- listen to me >> reporter: renault did not respond to nbc's response for comment. the police say the call, while concerning, was not crimin

nbc's blayne alexander has our sunday's spotlight. >> if you know basketball, you know maya moore.after that. two olympic gold medals and an ncaa winning streaks still in the books today. >> you lost four games. four is too many. >> reporter: her wins took her to the white house so many times. president barack obama joked she should move in. >> basically there is a maya's wing at white house. >> maya announced she's sitting out this season. >> why walk away from that? >> there is season of life when you run harder than other things. and so i felt like the season was coming for me where i needed to run harder after criminal justice reform. >> reporter: a passion sparked more than a decade ago by an unexpected visit to a missouri prison. >> up until that point, i didn't know anyone in prison and was not thinking of prison. >> reporter: maya was 18 when she met jonathan ire, he's been behind bars by almost a decade, arrested at 16 and convicted of a non-fatal shooting. jonathan is 23 years into a 50 years sentence. >> i want the truth. >> what is that? >> immine am innocent. >> the mo

. >> blayne alexander joins me now from california. blayne, this was sad news.saying 20 bodies have been recovered in total. they believe there are some of the ocean floor and there are some that they don't know. >> reporter: yeah. absolutely. and now they're beginning or continuing, rather, that difficult test of going in and trying to recover the rest of the victims. and it's a very difficult process, ali. they talked about it during the nauz conference earlier today. again, they did see some they believed had come to rest on the ocean floor, but they also saw some they believed was inside the wreckage. it's upside down. it's moving around. so their priority number one is to try and stabilize it so they can get in and get to the rest of the victims. now, one thing that we learned from the news right now is they're in the process of trying to figure out the question that so many people have is what exactly started that fire in the first place. how and where did that fire start? we know that they're talking with the five survivors from that wreckage. the five cr

. >> nbc news blayne alexander has the latest for us. did have that press conference. bring us up to date on the newest that we learned. >> when you see the flames shooting up from that boat, when you hear the mayday call, you understand why it truly is like the official said truly the worst case scenario -- eight people have been confirmed killed. they have been able to recover four of those victims and they say that they'll have to identify them through dna. we're told that there are two men and two women. now, there are four more victims that they say their bodies have come to a rest on the ocean floor. they're still working to be able to recover those bodies at this hour. chris, there are still two dozen people that are unaccounted for. they're very much they say in the search and rescue phase. here is where the boat is right now. it sank a few hours after that mayday call came in, but we understand that it's inverted and it's now come to a rest on the ocean floor. so this is really, as the officer said earlier, the worst case scenar

. >> joining me from california, nbc news correspondent blayne alexander who has been following thisroughout. i heard a coast guard captain say today there was a lot of adrenaline and confusion during that and the radio dispatcher was just trying to get information by asking about locked doors. but that there were none. >> correct. that's absolutely right. so certainly a lot of questions and that was really one of the biggest questions asked during that news conference. there's also been reports as you heard, were those areas locked? one of the officials today actually knocked that down. said this is an open sleeping space. i believe that we have a little bit of that sounds too how they responded to that. and then we'll talk on the other side. >> there are no locked doors in accommodation space. it's open birthing. the only privacy that you have and i'm sure that you've seen because it's on the vessel's website are curtains. that's it. >> they were trapped by the flames on top? >> i would suspect. >> so you heard him say there are no locked doors aboard that vessel. that's an importa

. >> joining us now msnbc news correspondent blayne alexander. quite a 24 hours this has been.ow that authorities are no longer looking for survivors, where does the investigation go? >> well, stephanie and ali, that is exactly it. we've learned really tragic news as we kind of listened to these developments from the news conference which is still ongoing right now that it is no longer a search and rescue it is now search and recovery. there is no evidence there are any additional survivors. so we know there are still people, still people who are unaccounted for, about nine people. so divers now have the very difficult task of trying to get inside the remains of that boat and it's a very difficult task because, remember, this boat is now under water. it's submerged in about 62 feet of water, upside down, and it is very unstable. you've got shifting currents that are moving it all around. divers, more than 24 hours later, have not been able to get inside. in fact, during that briefing you heard the officials say that they have seen evidence of victims still inside. but they just

a master class on the court and lesson for life blayne alexander, nbc news. >> that is support that is "nbc nightly news" for this sunday. i'm kate snow. for all of us here at nbc news, have a great night. ♪ ♪ new sichuan hot chicken. for a heart breaking limited time only at panda express. >>> right now at 6:00, planes and police. we continue to track breaking news out of oakland international airport. the news at 6:00 starts right now. good evening everyone. thank you for joining us. i'm terry mcsweeney. at oakland international airport where a driver trying to escape police made it on the tarmac and he made it in the good. ally wolf is there live with the details. >> reporter: terry, we're in the area where this happened. we can tell you the gate over my shoulder here that suspect rammed and got through to the tarmac. over to my other side, that's the water.

blayne alexander, nbc news. >>> and now to an nbc news exclusive, an internal report by the customs and border protection agency on what exactly is causing the mass migration from central america to the united states their answer involves the weather. and its effects on crops there. nbc's jacob soboroff went to guatemala to investigate. >> reporter: the roots of guatemala's migration crisis are here, in the once fertile farmland now dried out. many who have left were in the coffee business like this farmer he says he is barely surviving by selling bananas instead. >> you know at least 100 people that's left for the united states? >> no less than 100 people >> reporter: they've been hard hit by drought, and a plant killing fungus fueled by climate change. chiquimula, this village leader, took us to a coffee farm. >> this is the fungus. it is the consequence of drought in guatemala, before, there were really good-paying jobs. >> reporter: his coffee plants previously as good as cash, now worthless. >> this is elizabeth we have made it to her farm and she is showing us what she grows here.

nbc's blayne alexander has more. >> reporter: felicity huffman left court friday facing cameras and aday prison sentence after admitting she paid $15,000 to inflate her daughter's s.a.t. score as part of a massive college cheating scandal. in the courtroom an emotional huffman told the judge i was frightened. i was stupid. and i was so wrong. speaking about the oscar nominated actress, the prosecutor said there is no paparazzi in prison. prison is the great equalizer. but for many the case is reigniting the debate over whether there really is equal justice for all. prosecutors pointed to the ohio case of kelly williams bolar a single african-american mother who registered her children for a suburban school district using her father's address rather than the dangerous neighborhood where she lived. in 2009 she was arrested, initially sentenced to five years in prison. later reduced to ten days and three years' probation. >> what happened to her is all too common for black, brown and poor people in our criminal legal system. >> reporter: singer john legend noting the discrepancy tweeted

blayne alexander, thank you so much for joining us. >>> coming up we head back to hurricane dorian whichs unleashing devastation on the bahamas like the island nation has never seen before. new details on how the united states will help the island in recovery. plus we are taking you live to florida and south carolina as residents there prepare for dorian's wrath. y. but we're also a company that controls hiv, fights cancer, repairs shattered bones, relieves depression, restores heart rhythms, helps you back from strokes, and keeps you healthy your whole life. from the day you're born we never stop taking care of you. from the day you're born if you have moderate to thsevere rheumatoid arthritis, month after month, the clock is ticking on irreversible joint damage. ongoing pain and stiffness are signs of joint erosion. humira can help stop the clock. prescribed for 15 years, humira targets and blocks a source of inflammation that contributes to joint pain and irreversible damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections including tuberculos

blayne alexander is following the story from our l.a. bureau. what can you tell us?> reporter: we're now getting our first look at how massive the fire is. those pictures that we're now just getting into our newsroom. you see the 75-foot boat is fully engulfed in flames. we do know we're getting new numbers about the rescue efforts. we know that five crew members were able to make it off. they have been rescued. one of them reportedly has minor injuries. that is according to the u.s. coast guard. but there are still 34 people, chris, who are unaccounted for this morning. so we are talking about an active rescue scene, active rescue operation right now. coast guard officials. multiple units have been dispatched trying to get nearly three dozen people off of that boat. this is the santa cruz islands just off the coast of santa barbara. of course we're talking about a busy labor day weekend. certainly a primetime for boating. and this tragedy that struck about an hour or so ago when we first got the tweets from the u.s. coast guard. again, 34 people still not accounted

blayne alexander has more. >> reporter: good morning to you. that party continues this morning.t's being billed as alienstock, a music festival for those with extraterrestrial interests. at one point, more than 2 million people said they would boldly go in search of area 51. it turns out the actual crowd is much smaller. but officials say they're ready. if the truth is out there -- >> are you out here? >> trying to find my home. >> reporter: -- these folks are ready to find it. >> who doesn't love aliens? >> reporter: in the remote nevada desert, a pair of festivals is attracting sci-fi buffs from far and wide, ready for their own close encounter. the music fest spurred on by the facebook event. the creator of the page has disowned the idea, claiming it was all a joke. that hasn't stopped hundreds who want to believe. >> i want to get the face. >> reporter: the hidden secrets have captured our imaginations. >> so secret that the mere mention of his name is a federal offense. >> are we referring to area -- >> reporter: feeding our fascinations with another world. >> there's no ar

for "today," blayne alexander, nbc news. >>> still to come, music on a mission.k for a festival today. >>> bringing together top artists and everyday activists, in the human brain, billions of neurons play in harmony. for people with parkinson's, some neurons change their tune, causing uncontrollable tremors. now, abbott technology can target those exact neurons. restoring control and harmony, once thought to belost forever. the most personal technology is technology with the power to change your life. >>> good group outside today. still to come on "today," this football fan raised $2 million for a children's hospital. and iowa football fannd t governor there are standing behind him, despite a new controversy surrounding some of his old tweets. >>> plus, live from new york, "saturday night live" kicking off its -- are you ready -- 45th season. >> 45 years. >>> first, these messages. cologuard: colon cancer screening for people 50 and older at average risk. honey, have you seen my glasses? i've always had a knack for finding things... ...colon cancer,to be exact.

blayne alexander has that story. court today, each facing a different opponent after facing each other in one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the tournament so many people are still talking about their match, or more specifically, what happened after it was over. >> reporter: this morning, 15-year-old fan favorite coco gauff will be back on the court for a round of 16 doubles match after sunday's win with partner mcnally. but it is what happened after saturday's loss in the singles bracket that left so many smiling. >> i'm going to cry. >> oh, you're good >> after her decisive third round victory, reigning u.s. open champ, naomi osaka, invited her younger opponent, coco, to share the spotlight in a joint interview. >> i'm going to learn a lot from this match i don't want people to think i'm trying to take this moment away from her because she really deserves it. so thank you >> the fact that both of us made it and we're both still working as hard as we can, i think it is incredible. >> reporter: it comes a