costello is accepting a college basketball scholarship instead. blake mccoy, nbc news, chicago. >>> and still ahead here tonight, a growing epidemic that kills dozens every day. the unprecedented action the cdc is taking to combat a danger that americans too often find into. >>> also, heads of state. behind this surreal >>> we're back now with what the centers for disease control call an emdeckic of growing pain pill addiction. people getting pain bills after an injury or surgery, millions getting hooked and on average a million people are dying every day from overdoses. nbc's tom costello has the health alert every family should hear. >> reporter: from the cdc today a nationwide health alert. the country, it says, is in the midst of an endickic of pain killer abuse, strong opiates with names percocet, oxycodone and oxycontin and now the cdc is urging doctors to reconsider whether the opiates they prescribe are really necessary. >> reporter: these painkillers are very addictive. they are opiod medications and have the same chemical properties in i

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costello is accepting a college basketball scholarship instead. blake mccoy, nbc news, chicago. >>> still ahead here tonight, a growing epidemic that kills dozens every day. the unprecedented action the cdc is taking to combat a danger that americans too often find themselves spiraling into. >>> also heads of state. fascinating story behind this surreal gathering of presidents past. >>> we're back now with what the centers for disease control calls a growing epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse in america. people getting pain pills from their doctors after an injury or surgery. millions getting hooked. and on average, a stunning 46 people are dying every single day from overdoses. nbc's tom costello has the health alert every family should hear. >> reporter: from the cdc today, a nationwide health alert. the country, it says, is in the midst of an epidemic of painkiller abuse. strong opiates with names like vicodin, percocet, hydrocodone, oxycontin. now the cdc is urging doctors to reconsider whether the opiates they prescribe are really nece

costello is accepting a college basketball scholarship instead. blake mccoy, nbc news, chicago. here tonight, a growing epidemic that day. the unprecedented action the cdc is taking to combat a danger that americans too often find themselves spiraling into. >>> also, heads of state. fascinating story behind this surreal gath i know how it is. you're all set to book a flight using your airline credit card miles. and surprise! those seats sometimes cost a ridiculous number of miles, making it really hard to book the flight you want. luckily, there's a better way... with the capital one venture card. with venture, you'll earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, every day. and when you're ready to travel, just book the flight you want, then use your miles to cover the cost. now you're getting somewhere. what's in your wallet? what backache? what sore wrist? what headache? advil makes pain a distant memory. nothing works faster stronger or longer what pain? advil. ibs-d. you know the symptoms when they start. abdominal pain. diarrhea. xifaxan can

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tom costello, what are you hearing? >> flemish television is reporting the explosive may have been tatp, which is a common explosive and it may be the same used in the paris attacks. and a building which is connected to the european commission in downtown brussels, that has also been evacuated. can we hold the picture right there if it's possible for a moment? that photograph right to the right of it, if you could hang a right, that would be where the starbucks is beep starbucks. starbucks is saying there are reports that the explosion took outside the airport, they can confirm all of the starbucks partners have been accounted for and safe. that is coming from starbucks that explosion seemed to have gone off right next to the starbucks and amazingly nobody killed in terms of the employees. >> when you say it's a kiosk, is it a self-service -- >> i'm sorry, it's a poor use of the world. it's kind of like a stand. it not like a big starbucks that we would could go. >> tapt is very powerful but created by some very powerfu

take care. >> tom costello, what are you learning? >> flemish television, so far they've been very accurate on their reporting. the airport is in flemish territory, if you will. they are reporting they are actively looking for a suspect who they believe was last seen on some sort of a surveillance photograph or camera wearing a white sweater. there may be other suspect who the attack but one suspect they're actively seeking. and police are repeating the same thing over and over again to the media in belgium and this is please do not report on our tactics, what we are doing and where we are, we have an active situation under way. so the media in belgium are trying to adhere to that but they do report that one suspect wearing a white sweater is missing. >> all we've seen are videos coming from cell phones and things like that. we have not even begun to scratch the surface of the surveillance footage. we'll see a lot of that coming out over the next couple of days. reaction. the front-runners in the presidential rate, donald trump join u

as tom costello reports some may be too trusting of teenage drivers. >> reporter: teens behind the wheel, we've seen the countless video, driven to distraction. the stats are alarming. >> if you're going to die prematurely, the two worst years are between 16 and 17 and the reason is because of driving. >> when it comes to our own kids studies say many parents may simply be too relaxed. either they trust their own kids too much or they're tired of car pooling their children, yet teen car pooling, it turns out poses the greatest danger. according to aaa, if a 16 or 17-year-old driver has a passenger under 21 in the car, they are 44% more likely to be killed in a crash, having two passengers under 21, doubles that risk, and it quadruples with three or more young passengers. >> teens think they're invincible and they're not harm to themselves of getting in a car crash. >> reporter: it's something 16-year-old holly stoner has seen firsthand. >> i think most people, it's trying to look cool for their friends like, there's no cops around, let me just go through this stop sign, or let me just do

as i said, tom costello covers aviation for us and has more to report. tom. >> flemish television is as i mentioned about five minutes ago reported that an unexploded device believed to be a suicide belt was found in the airport and police are moving to detonate that or to take care of it separately. we don't know if this is the same incident but the belgian military called in to take care of some suspicious package or device at the airport. that may be one and the same, we are not clear on that. i can also tell you flemish television is now talking to doctors about the victims that they have seen. one of them a trauma surgeon, i believe, from a hospital from luven about five miles or eight miles away from the airport reporting that some of the victims have nails embedded in them. in other words, it looks as if these improvised explosive devices contained nails and they are pulling nails out of the victims. another surgeon from yetta which is a suburb of brussels reporting at least one and maybe more victims who have had to undergo amputations today. the

here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: it's happening at airports nationwide. lines to get through tsa. >> do you have a boarding pass for me today? >> reporter: in seattle today, backups, delays and mounting frustration. >> i missed my flight on wednesday. more than two hours i couldn't get through that. >> reporter: same story in chicago and atlanta. >> they are long. >> reporter: dallas an newark. >> they sent us from one line to another. >> reporter: meanwhile, at some airports, closed checkpoints. the tsa chief on the defensive in minneapolis today. >> it's no different than if you were to go to disney world at the peek period of the year, you are goingo expect to stand in some lines. >> reporter: what's the problem? a record surge in passengers. 140 million expected to travel this spring alone. the tsa says passenger volume nationwide is up 7% over last year. some passengers are carrying on more to avoid baggage fees creating choke points at the scanners. and they are spotting high-profile audits. a record 2600 guns were confiscated last year. the tsa is

here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: it's technology that's proven to save lives. braking also known as aeb applies the brakes when a car or object is approaching fast and the driver isn't reacting. today government regulators announced the biggest automakers have alleged to make aeb standard equipment in all cars in six years, covering 9 the9% of the new cars on the market. >> life-saving a ex b systems will be not just a pricey option on top of the line models, but a given for any american consumer in the thu car market. >> reporter: technology that's badly needed. early estimates suggest 35,000 people died in motor vehicle crashes last year alone. one person every 16 minutes. safety experts believe automatic braking systems could have saved 12,000 of those lives. the technology used forward-facing radars, lasers or cameras to watch for objects that are approaching rapidly. if the driver doesn't hit the brakes, aeb kicks in. it can really catch if you're not paying attention, the brakes will slam on for you. >> this technology is implemented across the fleet, cou

yet as nbc's tom costello reports, patients often forget to tell their doctors they are taking them. >> reporter: for 42-year-old shell he newhouse a devastating cancer in both breasts. she opted for a double mastectomy and then on the advice of holistic practitioners loaded up on any dieta supplement that promised to build her immune system and fight cancer. >> i was taking 60 pills a day. >> reporter: 60, 60 supplement pills a day? >> yes. >> reporter: but when she went back to dana farber cancer institute to begin chemotherapy her white count was too low to start, likely due to all the supplements, say her doctors. >> she didn't realize it was important for me to know what she was take when she was on chemotherapy as it wasn't a prescription medication. >> reporter: it took weeks without supplements before her white count was high enough to begin the chemo. now new research indicates it's becoming more common. the biggest concern many supplements can interfere with cancer drug, either lessening their effectiveness or make being them more toxic and many prescribing doctors never kn

nbc etom costello has details. >> reporter: in plus custody at l.a.x. neatly wrapped and stacked bricks of cocaine, 60 pounds of it confiscated after a flight attendant allegedly tried to get a security checkpoint in terminal four. police say the suspect not in uniform flashed a jetblue i.d. but was randomly selected for a secondary screening. that's when she grabbed her bags and began running from the checkpoint and quickly dropped the bags and kicked off her gucci shoes and ran down an up escalator. last seen running towards terminal five. experts saying the fact that she got away and cocaine nearly got through are big red flags. >> today it's employee smuggling drugs. tomorrow it could be be a employee smuggling guns. the day after tomorrow smuggling a bomb. >> at l.a.x. known crew members are not wroird to go through the same full screening passengers do and can be pulled aside randomly. fearing an insider threat like the one that may have brought down a russian jetliner last fall, veteran aviation security experts have long called for many more ran

as nbc's tom costello reports. >> reporter: they are two of america's biggest complaints, a few extra lbs around the mid-section and not enough sleep. >> i definitely don't get as much sleep as i would like to get. some nights i do. some nights i don't. >> i don't get as much sleep as i would like. >> as soon as i wake up i feel like i'm starving and all i want is food. >> reporter: new research from the university of chicago shows it may be part of a vicious cycle. the less sleep we get the more our produce produce a chemical in the blood that increases our cravings. the same system triggered by marijuana. cravings for the sweets, salty and fatty foods we snack on in the afternoons and evenings. >> we're actually eating more calories than needed for energy costs of being awake longer. >> reporter: previous studies have found when sleep-deprived adults got an extra hour and a half of sleep a night, the recommended eight for junk food dropped. people who get less than six hours are at an increased risk of obesity. this dock >> getting 300 calories a day is two cookies in two weeks can

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >>> there's a lot more to tell you about tonight, including a shocking waste of costly cancer drugs. why medicines worth billions of dollars are literally being thrown away, and we're all getting stuck with the tab. >>> also, after sharing the screen with the likes of ryan >>> there is growing outrage over not just the sky-high cost of cancer drugs but also over the huge amount of those drugs that are being wasted. we're talking billions of dollars of expensive medicines literally being thrown away, and it's all because of a one-size-fits-all approach to packaging. nbc's anne thompson has details. breakthrough cancer drugs, precious, expensive and wasted, up to $3 billion a year says a shocking new study from memorial sloan-kettering >> we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars for nearly every drug we looked at going in the trash. >> reporter: why? doses of these cancer drugs are determined by a patient's weight, but manufacturers sell or two vial sizes so it's harder to tailor the dose. >> they can get paid for the dose, and if they can put i

tom costello, thank you. let's bring in michael leiter, former director of the national counterterrorism center and now executive vice president of lidos which does national security work for the government. michael, what's your take and what we're witnessing today and the impact going forward? >> lester, i think what is so remarkable here is that we had the attack in pair its, the arrest three days ago and officials were still not able to disrupt this cell. that tells us that the network is more sophisticated and likely communicating in ways that are making it possibly immune and in a very, very dangerous sense, so what that consequence is i think is really telling for europe, and i think we will see over the coming weeks a change in europe politically to tighten borders in that they really need to now create a more system that currently does not exist across the continent. >> appreciate the analysis. >>> still ahead, president obama facing criticism for his response to the brussels attack. why his day at th

tom costello has more on how to fix the problem. >> reporter: it's happening at airports nationwide,gonizingly slow, long lines to get through tsa. backups, delays, and mounting frustrations. >> i missed my flight wednesday. two hours i couldn't even get through. >> reporter: same story in chicago and atlanta. >> it's long. >> reporter: dallas and newark. >> reporter: meanwhile, some airports closed check points. the chief on the defensive. >> it's no different if you were going to disney world at the peak period of the year, you're going to expect is to stay in line. >> reporter: 140 million expected to fly this spring alone. volume is up 7% of last year. and passengers are carrying on more to avoid fees and choke pointing areas. 2,600 guns were confiscated last year. it is at its lowest staffing level for five years. now it is training to staff up. training 192 officers each week. in minneapolis, some improvement but they say it's only a start. >> i don't think we can be satisfied until people feel good about >> reporter: the advice, get to the airport really early and brace yourse

tom costello, nbc news, mclean, virginia. >>> in the battle for the white house,

tom costello, nbc news, boston. >>> we're back in a moment with the proud >>> awful news from canada tonight where actor dillon o'brien has been seriously injured on the set of a new "maze runner" movie in vancouver. the young star was hospitalized after some sort of mishap during filming of the film studio 20th century fox did not release details. production has been shut down while he recovers. >>> history in the military tonight. defense secretary ash carter says president barack obama will nominate the first woman to head a major combatant command. senate air force general lori robinson would head the u.s. northern command which was created after 9/11 to coordinate and improve our homeland defenses. >>> the newest resident in our nation's capital has finally come out of its shell, a baby bald eagle hatched on a live web cam this morning at the national arboretum and viewers who stayed tuned also got a peek at its very first viewing. a second eaglet is expected to hatch this weekend. the adorably funny >>> finally tonight, the little kids with big talent on tv's for "little big sh

tom costello has the details. >> reporter: in atlanta this morning -- >> they're making us evacuate. >> reporter: -- panic. the south terminal evacuated. a false alarm as police across the country move to a heightened state of alerted in airports, subways and train stations. at union station in washington, amtrak police dogs were working the next krout bound train. a viper team walks inside. >> we want to keep the terrorists off their game. we want to be unpredictable and we want to be in places when it's best to be there. >> reporter: security experts insist the show of force is a powerful deterrent. but americans pass through so-called soft terror targets every day. schools, shopping malls and sporting events. the 2013 boston marathon bombing, a prime example of a 26-mile soft target. since that day, boston police have added more than 150 cameras, and made terrorism a daily priority. >> it's all about tenls intelligence, all about outreach and the public stepping up to help us. >> reporter: homeland security said it's critical the public remains vigilant, looking out for people who

tom costello explains. >> it's the leading cause of cancer deaths in the u.s. more than 150,000 people expected to die from lung cancer this year alone. the vast majority, current or former smokers. 15% are nonsmokers. now, surprising research has found a potential lung cancer risk factor for them. certain foods that quickly elevate a person's blood sugar level, so called high glycemic foods. >> they tend to be processed, white, a lot of added sugars, they don't tend to have a lot of fiber or other nutrients in them. >>> the md anderson cancer center studied 1900 lung cancer patients. patients who never smoked were more than two times as likely to develop cancer. the so called high glycemic carbs like porch corn. and also, saltines and pretzels. the sudden blood sugar spike can affect the way cells grow. >> what this does, it causes insulin resistance in the cells. these lead to potentially the increasing growth factors that are associated with the development of cancer. >> it's far too early to conclude white bread causes cancer. tom costello, nbc news, washin

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >> we're back in a moment with a close call that totally shocked >>> sponsors are distancing themselves from maria sharapova after the tennis superstar admitted testing positive for a banned substance. nike, porsche and luxury watchmaker tag heuer suspended ties. sharapova claims she didn't know meldonium, a medication she used for a decade, was added to the banned list at the start of the year because she didn't open an e-mail link from doping officials. >>> a tv reporter from northern california almost became news himself when this happened live on the air. >> a confusing situation for -- >> a car came barreling right at alex savage and his camera operator, both barely managed to get out of the way. the vehicle had just been involved in an accident sending it careening off the road. amazingly no one was injured, but what a close call. >>> and talk about a close call. captured the moment a small plane nearly landed smack on a building on long island, new york. the faa says the plane lost engine power and had to pull off an emergency landing with t

tom costello, nbc news, houston. >>> that will do it for us on a friday night. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching. good night and have a >> announcer: today on the meredith vieira show. a high school principal is a student's yearbook picture. and a then what has chrissy towing an fired up. >> and real life super power that loves you speechless. one man's powerful mission to help other ares. >> hang in there. >> wait until you see the surprise for him. makes you feel real good. [applause] >> meredith: hello, everyone. thank you. you want to know who is on the show? my first guest is an actress, tv mary lou hener is here. and has a super memory and remember every detail of every moment of her life dating back to 18 months old. i know. i don't remember what happen two minutes ago. let's talk about what is hot now. lilliana is out on assignment. we are welcoming back sunny melissa. [applause] we love to have you here. >> love to be here. >> meredith: what is it about here you love? >> i am going to say this one and all of you, too? it is a great energ

nbc tom costello explains it's the question many security experts have been asking since the attacks. >> reporter: two and a half days since the attacks on brussels, 12 americans are known to have been injured, including three mormon missionaries. but several are still unaccounted for, including two with u.s. government connections. also missing, husband and wife stephanie and justin shults from kentucky and brother and sister sascha and alexander pinczowski from new york. were they among americans deliberately targeted? the chairman of the house intelligence committee says yes. the their location at the time of the attacks key. here's where it happens. in the brussels airport departure terminal, the check outlanes were in row 8. delta airlines was in row 11. belgian prosecutors say the bombs went opp here, near rows 1 and 2, just inside the entry door, not far from the starbucks and close tot brussels airlines counters. meanwhile the maelbeek sub sway station is the prime stop for the european union government buildings. the u.s. embassy is a mile further down the street and serviced

as nbc's tom costello plains is it's just a symptom of our nation's much larger crumbling infrastructure. >> reporter: a stressful commute in the nation's capital today. >> a drastically different day for >> reporter: has hundreds of thousands of subway riders turned to car pools or buses or teleworked from home. the entire system shut down. safety crews today found two dozen frayed and charred power lines after an underground fire on monday and a smoke event last year killed one. nine dead in a 2009 crash. >> none of us have in good conscience could send the trains out even with full knowledge of the participants of what the situation was knowing the risks that we had. >> reporter: public transportation experts say d.c. is symptomatic of detained mass transit systems nationwide with backlogged maintenance now totaling $86 billion. >> the 40-year-old system is a worn out system unless you invest in it continuously. >> reporter: not just subways, a quarter of the nation's roads are in disrepair. 70,000 bridges structural deficient. among the most iconic washington's duquesne memorial brid

nbc's tom costello is working his sources. tom, is there a rethinking now of maybe the whole airport needs to be secured? >> reporter: well, i think that that would be an ideal situation, lester, but the challenge, of course, is you simply don't do that, and you don't have necessarily the money to do it. there is a reality here that there are tight budgets across the country. you know, there's been a great deal of concern all along that if there is a soft target, if you will, at the airport, not that the whole thing isn't a soft target, but they are particularly vulnerable between the parking garage and the checkpoint. some security experts say, listen, what really needs to happen is a robust police or military presence in that zone between the curb and the checkpoint. the more officers you have, heavily armed officers, whether in europe or here in the states, that in and of itself seems to act as a deterrent, and then in addition the more people who are speaking up and saying something that looks like it's out of the ordinary

we'll turn to tom costello. i don't know if you heard, we had a witness on, nato consultant, who was very, very he described those two explosion explosions that sounded to him like both had taken place inside the terminal. what did you make of that? >> i have to tell you, we talked about how well i know that terminal. matt knows the terminal well. the devastation there looks really quite significant. i'm not sure that they're going to be able to reopen this airport as quickly as they originally thought. by the way, every u.s. carrier that was flying into brussels, the planes have either been diverted or the passengers are safely on the ground. several flights into brussels already in the air from other longer destinations, but not the united states, have been amsterdam, paris or antwerp. they're small regional airports but putting some planes there. i think you think of that is as belgium's 9/11. putting the entire city, the entire country of 11 million i was just on the phone with my wife, who is in touch with

nbc's toto costello explains to us. >> reporter: they are two of america's biggest complaints, a few extra lbs around t midsection and not enough sleep. >> i definitely don't get@ as much sleep as i like to get. some nights i development soo nights i don't. >> i don't get as much sleep i would like. >> as soon as i wake up, i feel the university of chicago shows it uay be part of a vicious cycle. the less sleep we get, the more our bodies produce a chemical in the blood that increase cravings. cravings for the sweet, salty and fatty foods we snack on in the afternoons and evening. >> we're eating more calories than needed for the energy cost of being awake longer. >> reporter: previous studies found when sleep depriveded adults gtd got an extra hour of sleep night, their cravings for jurningfood dropped. this doctor runs the sleep center at med star georgetown university hospital. >>iven 300 calories a day which could be one or two cookies in about two weeks can result in gaining oneound of extra fat. >> in just two weeks. >> in just two weeks. >> reporter: the best advice, doctors s

tom costello, thank you. we know you continue to stand by. >>> let's bring richard engel back in and more on the terror investigation. richard, good morning. >> good morning. senior counterterrorism officials says that this is clearly a coordinated attack. described it as sophisticated. and they are concerned that there could be follow on attacks. intelligence sources tell nbc news that syrian trained isis militants are in europe looking for targets. they don't know exactly what countries they're in. they don't know exactly what targets they're looking for but that is a significant number. going back to what pete williams was saying earlier. thousands of europeans have to link up with isis and many getting combat training in iraq and syria. and then returned home. that's compared to only 70 americans who i've told either went to join isis or tried to join isis. still 70 is a number, a high number and nothing compared to the thousands in europe. so far there has been one claim of responsibility from isis. we h