today it's allocating $10 million for hate crime reporting hot lines and prevention lester >> emilie ikeda, thank you. >>> president biden is in south korea tonight on his first trip to the region since taking office. kelly o'donnell is traveling with the president in seoul, where there was an incident involving the secret service kelly, what happened >> reporter: lester, this is an unwanted embarrassing distraction. two secret service employees are flying back to the u.s. tonight on administrative leave officials say outside the president's hotel wednesday, there was an off-duty incident, an altercation involving a variety of people this happened before mr. biden arrived. today, the president went to electronic giant samsung which will be making semiconductor chips in texas, creating new jobs and a warning. u.s. intelligence says north korea could conduct a missile launch, so officials are preparing contingencies for these meetings, and security lester >> all right, kelly, thank you. >>> also developing tonight, nbc news has learned the january 6th committee is in talks with former trump

lester >> emilie ikeda, thank you. >>> tonight russia's victory in mariupol appears to be complete with nearly 1,000 ukrainian soldiers surrendering at that steel plant, this as the first russian soldier tried for war crimes has pleaded guilty richard engel is in ukraine, and we have to warn you, some of the images you are about to see are disturbing >> reporter: ukrainian rescue crews today saved a 9-year-old boy after a russian strike on an apartment building in the eastern region known as the donbas. russia is now concentrating its military efforts there after taking over mariupol this week. but elsewhere, russia's war is faltering again. today, the u.s. re-opened its embassy in kyiv where ukrainian troops drove russian forces back two months ago now ukraine is pushing the russians back from the eastern capital kharkiv. in the nearby village all that's left of the russian troops is the devastation they brought. shockingly, some ukrainians stayed here throughout the battles, including nicolai living in the wreck of his home having survived on canned food and pickles. what happened her

emilie ikeda has more. >> reporter: tonight, covid infections are climbing coast to coast, and it's not just the number of cases. hospitalizations in parts of the country are starting to tick up too the cdc now urging residents in 56 high-risk counties to mask up. two-thirds of those areas are in the state of new york. >> i'm not here to stand here and say we're looking at shutdowns. i've said i'm going to protect the health of new yorkers. >> reporter: nationally caseloads are only a fraction of what we saw in the winter though new york city's recent numbers rival last year's delta surge. still the upward trend isn't stopping the season's most watched formal events, from fashion's biggest night at the met to the weekend's white house correspondents' dinner notably absent was america's top doc, who backpedaled earlier comments when he said we're out of the pandemic phase >> that does not mean that the pandemic is over by no means is it over. >> reporter: a possible sign of the future, south africa, where omicron first popped up. research there, which has not yet been peer reviewed, show

emilie ikeda reports >> reporter: with record levels of baby formula running dry nationwide, tonight, a crackdown on what officials are calling unconscionable costs wisconsin's governor issuing an emergency order prohibiting price gouging, as new york's attorney general threatened several dozen retailers with legal consequences for overcharging her office reporting this 20-ounce can of formula went for 30% more than usual in erie county. and a 32-ounce bottle jumped 50% in cost in the bronx. even steeper price hikes seen across online platforms >> have you noticed price gouging? >> oh, yes >> reporter: a one-two punch for mother of twin girls, samantha collins. >> imagine going and buying, you know, a little mcdonald's cheeseburger for $25, you know most people would be like, oh, no, i'm going to skip that well, a lot of people don't have that option when it comes to baby formula now. >> reporter: consumer watchdogs say there is no federal law prohibiting price gouging. and while some platforms do have policies banning the practice, they're often not well enforced what should consumer

say it's not a matter of axing your trips altogether, just simply being savvy with your spending emilie ikedaw york >>> and up next my report on people across the country helping ukrainian refugees feel at home and "inspiring america. helping ukrainian refugees feel at home and inspiring america. it's y. (driver 2) nope, i think it's your turn. (driver 1) i appreciate you so much, thank you so much... go. (driver 2) i appreciate your appreciation. it fills me. (burke) safe drivers save money with farmers. (bystander) just for driving safely? (burke) it's a farmers policy perk. get farmers and you could get a safe driver discount simply for having a clean driving record for three years. (driver 3) come on! (driver 1) after you. (driver 2) after you. (drivers 1 and 2) safety first! (burke) get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. ♪we are farmers.bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum♪ when hurting feet make you want to stop, it's dr. scholl's time. our custom fit orthotics use foot mapping technology to give you personalized support, for all-day pain relief. find your relief in store or onl

emily ikeda, nbc news, new york. >>> a busy holiday weekend has gotten even more chaotic for tens of thousands of americans over 3700 flights were canceled over the weekend, along with tens of thousands more delayed bad weather and staff shortages were among the causes of those cancellations. this as the tsa reported nearly 7 million people have flown since thursday that's up 25% from last year, and nearing prepandemic levels >>> and on this memorial day, we may see some dangerous weather brewing in parts of the country. nbc's michelle grossman is tracking it all. hi, michelle good morning >> good morning to you both. happy memorial day yeah, we're looking at a depreciation setup in the northern plains, parts telephone upper midwest. we have a setup where we can see long track tornadoes, severe weather, gusty winds, baseball-sized hail, even some heavy snow in the rockies. taking a look at radar we're already active this morning. we've been active all night long that's going last at least through the early part of tuesday. so we're looking at heavy rain even early this morning. we're

book early, avoid checking bags and be flexible with your timeline, as summer travel takes off emilie ikeda, nbc news, new york >>> all right. let's talk to nbc meteorologist michelle grossman. good morning, michelle so how is this memorial day shaping up for us? >> good morning, great to see you both we're looking at a dangerous severe weather setup, especially in the plains and also the upper midwest. we could see long track tornadoes, even baseball-sized hail, really gusty winds, and some flooding rains. let's take a look at radar because we're active already we've been watching this through the overnight hours. we're going to be watching it through tonight as well. this is what it looks like on radar. you can see some blue. that is some higher elevation snow we're looking at heavy snow falling in the rockies today and we're looking at severe weather as we head through the plains in the upper midwest. you can see lots of lightning here some darker colors indicating where that heavy rain is falling. that could lead to flash flooding we do have some watches this morning where we see green

nbc's emilie ikeda has the story. >> reporter: amid bad weather and staffing shortages among the frustratedberg who resorted to driving seven hours after delta cancelled the last leg of his flight >> i asked them at the service desk, why the flight was cancelled. they said, we don't have crew. >> reporter: are you worried about your trip home now >> oh, absolutely. >> reporter: the travel woes, a potential sign of what's to come, experts say. if demand remains high through the summer nearly 7 million taking to the skies so far this holiday weekend. that's up 25% from last year, shy of prepandemic numbers but airlines have thousands fewer employees than 2019. which means even small disruptions can have a rippling effect delta leads in cancellations this weekend, blaming bad weather and congested airspace, just days after announcing it's trimming summer flights by 2%. joining jetblue, spirit and alaska airlines and apparing ba to reduce reductions travelers stuck. >> i just want to get home, you know >> reporter: compounding frustrations, the average cost of a ticket nearly $400, a 28% increa

emilie ikeda has new details for us tonight. >> evil will not win, i promise you. >> reporter: today president biden and the first lady near the tops grocery store at the memorial site for ten people killed in a hate-fueled shooting rampage as they shopped on a saturday afternoon >> white supremacy is a poison it's been allowed to fester and grow right in front of our eyes. >> reporter: president biden denouncing hate and again pushing for stricter gun control >> we can keep assault weapons off our streets. we've done it before. >> reporter: and tonight we're learning more about the 18-year-old suspect's months' long preparation for his twisted attack nbc news has reviewe a series of online rants on the chat forum discord which appear to be written by the suspect where he describes his reconnaissance mission at the store back in march, detailing how he mapped out the store's aisles, was confronted by a store security guard for repeatedly entering the store and considered a school and churches as other possible targets he thought would have high percentages of black people >> you thin

here's emilie ikeda. >> reporter: tonight, an urgent manhunt for andrew abdullah who sources say is the suspect wanted by the nypd for shooting and killing a subway rider attack witnesses recalling the complete chaos on board. >> terror. absolute terror. everybody immediately reacts and started dispersing to the very ends of the cars >> reporter: the victim's family heart broken 48-year-old daniel enriquez was the son of mexican immigrants, an nyu grad who worked at goldman sachs and was headed to sunday brunch >> and i'm going to grieve forever daniel was my best friend even when we fought, i loved -- i loved -- him dearly my heart, it will never be the same. >> reporter: the senseless shooting amid a rise in crime up 40% in new york city transit crime surging over 60% just weeks ago, police responded to the worse subway attack in decades. and a spike in violence nationwide, too. more than a dozen major cities reaching a grim milestone last year, setting all-time highs for murder on friday, two people were killed in a mass shooting near chicago's magnificent mile >> it's frightening. i

information about who faces the highest risk for health issue as the temperatures trend higher here is emilie ikeda >> reporter: a sweltering heatwave. >> it's like an oven i'm so hot. >> reporter: hammering more than half of the u.s. and it's not even memorial day yet. >> it feels like we're in the dog days of august. >> reporter: as this weekend melted away record temperatures. 92 degrees in washington, d.c. 95 in philadelphia and richmond. and 93 in atlantic city, new jersey a stunning contrast to parts of the rockies, where late may snow dumped up to 20 inches in colorado >> there you go, cory. >> reporter: that same storm system then spawning tornadoes in michigan and eyeing the eastern seaboard with potential thunderstorms. but not before crowds soaked up the sunshine at the shore. >> we've been at the beach all day. >> reporter: while hot weather is welcomed by some as an early start to summer, a new study underscores its dangers. the more days with extreme heat, the more deaths, with the greatest impact on older adults, men, and black americans is this study a warning for what's to come >>

here's nbc's emily ikeda >> reporter: new details on the man behind saturday's stunning attack authorities confirming this wasn't the suspect's first run-in with trouble. last june state police say he made a threatening statement at his high school, susquehanna valley school officials alerted police, which resulted in a mental health evaluation. authorities say he was released shortly later. now, less than a year later, 18-year-old payton gendron is accused of killing ten and injuring another three streaming his first steps on a gaming platform. twitch said the feed was removed within two minutes of the violence what alarmed you the most leading up to this incident? >> this person intended to have a broad platform, livestreaming it, sharing his information, his ideas, his hatred online there are others who know this now. and that's what scares me, is how far this virus is now spreading and how quickly. >> reporter: the suspect drove several hours from his home in conklin, new york to reach buffalo. a day before the attack police say the suspect was canvassing several spots. he was targetin

jewish communities in new jersey which have now ramped up police patrols at a precaution. >>> emilie ikedabuffalo. thanks. >>> hailing a move by finland and sweden the two nations have formally applied for membership in response to russia's war on ukraine. and this is happening as we learn more about the state of those ukrainian forces finally removed from that steel plant in mariupol nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel with the details. good morning. >> good morning savannah so sweden and finland finally made it official, submitting their bids to join nato. and both nations are expected to be approved. and the approval process could be quite quick just take a matter of a few months this is a blow to vladimir putin, who had said his so called special military operation here in ukraine would shrink nato away from russia's borders. instead it appears to be bringing nato closer to russia while the fate here in ukraine of those fighters in the city of mariupol who had been holding on even though they were surrounded is increasingly uncertain. >> in ukraine, more buses evacuated ukr

we have emilie ikeda with more on all of this. emilie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. cases are spiking in places across the country like west virginia and south dakota. here in new york, we saw more than 10,000 infections in one day for the first time since january. experts believe the real count to be greater with so many people testing at home. this trend is concerning as we cross 1 million covid-19 deaths. this morning, the streets of new york city are coming back to life. the former epicenter of the pandemic is seeing troubling signs with the battle with covid. >> concerned about the numbers? yes, we are. preparation, not panic. >> reporter: the positivity rate exceeds 16% in parts of manhattan. >> most of the country remains in the green. not recommending indoor mask mandates. >> reporter: greater concerns to the epidemiologist is the rise of hospitalizations. >> the uptick, be it small, is concerning for me because we know that means people are having a rougher time. >> reporter: a sub variant is driving the fifth wave with cases surging near 60% nationwide in t

. >> reporter: griselda describing her older brother, daniel enriquez, to nbc's emilie ikeda, just one and killed on a new york city subway train, the fourth subway-related homicide in the city this year >> never would i imagine that my brother would be murdered like this assassinated. >> reporter: the sunday morning killing coming as the city struggles to combat a more than 62% rise in transit crimes while violent crime is up 40% cross the five boroughs. mayor eric adams vowing to boost the presence of police and invest in new technology. >> i want to bring technology, not metal detectors but technology that could identify a gun. and i want to bring that, move it around in the subway system so that we can identify guns. >> reporter: just six weeks earlier, ten people were shot on a brooklyn subway train during a weekday morning commute. police pointing out that unlike that incident, this time the surveillance cameras were working and captured these images of the suspect. as workers return to their daily commutes, many say they're left with no choice but to ride the subway >> there's n

nbc news correspondent emilie ikeda has the latest from buffalo. >> good morning, this tight knit community is still realing over what happened as they continue to be bombarded by additional threats. investigators say at least one man has been arrested for making so-called copycat threats in the wake of the attack on the supermarket tops mind me as we learn about the suspect's movements months before saturday. we told you how the suspect had been in the area on friday, date before at tack. he was scoping out the area and plow police are confirming he was in the buffalo area back in march. several employees at the supermarket tops confirmed to me and echoed that time line. they say once the images of the suspect first came to light following at tack, they immediately recognized him. one woman who is white to works at the supermarket said the suspect had confronted her back in march and said you are out of place here. you don't belong here. the police arriving within a minute or two when the violence started and they arrested him after he allegedly threatened to himself. and a stunning interv

castro with more from enriquez's sister >> reporter: describing her older brother daniel to nbc's emilie ikeda, the fourth subway-healthed rom side in the city this year. >> never, would i imagine that my brother would be marurdered like this. assassinated >> reporter: as the city struggles to combat rise in crimes, while violent crime is up more than 40% across the five boroughs mayor eric adams, vowing to invest in police and technology. >> i want to bring technology -- not metal detectors -- but technology that could identify a gun. and i want to bring that, move it around in the subway system so we can identify guns. >> just six weeks earlier, ten were shot during a weekday morning commute. police pointing out unlike that incident, this time, the surveillance cameras were working and captured these images of the suspect. as workers return to their daily commutes, many say they ever left with no choice but ride the subway. >> i wish it was more safer. >> most efficient way to go somewhere but you know what? it is what it is got to take your chances. >> >> reporter: while the mayor tries to

your family, hold on tight to your family. >> emilie ikeda reporting from buffalo.onel in the united states army reserve. congressman, good morning. we appreciate you being on this morning. you've introduced legislation before the attack in buffalo actually to raise the age to buy a semiautomatic rifle from 18 to 21. 18 is the age in this country. you have to be 21 to buy a handgun. first of all let's start with the existing law. why is there a difference in the ages between a handgun and a semiautomatic rifle? >> first of all, willie, thanks for having me on. i don't know why there's a difference, but if you're going to buy a handgun from a federally registered dealer you have to be 21. but that's not the case for a semiautomatic assault weapon. now some states like maryland do have that restriction. california has it. it's being challenged in the court. i offered that bill, it was bipartisan, to raise the age to 21. let me be clear, that's a half measure. what we really need is to reinstate the federal ban on semiautomatic assault weapons. that happened in the 199

emilie ikeda is keeping an eye on things from newark international airport. >> reporter: good morning saw the week and get off to a rocky start with flight cancellations and delays. amid staffing shortages and bad weather. it appears they are faring better this morning but experts say the summer travel boom, we will see more travel woes. this morning, frustrated flyers trying to get back home after thousands of delays and hundreds of cancellations but a damper on the holiday weekend pick darrell says he had no choice but to drive to his destination after the last leg of his flight was canceled. >> you are worried about your trip home now? >> absolutely, i did not want to do a seven hour drive. >> reporter: add weather to staffing issues who warned passengers to buckle up for a bumpy summer i had. >> nothing would keep me from traveling. >> reporter: nearly 7 million hit the skies this weekend rivaling pre-pandemic numbers but airlines are still operating a lower capacity and have thousands fewer employees than they did in 2019, they're trimming summer schedules to reduce disruption wi

emilie ikeda joins us with the latest on the man hunt good morning. >> reporter: good morning.razen shooting marking the fourth transit homicide so far this year. the suspect described as the dark skinned. heavy set male with a beard remains on the run this morning. terror on the train. another attack in new york city subway system sending a wave of fear over riders this morning. >> most efficient way to go somewhere. but you know what? it is what it is. you got to take your chances. >> reporter: in broad daylight, police say a 48 year old rider was gunned down as the q train crossed the manhattan bridge sunday. an unprovoked and fatal shot to the chest. >> the suspect was walking back and forth in the same train car. and without provocation pulled out a gun and fired at close range. and what we've gotten from the witnesses, there is to prior contact between the victim and suspect. >> reporter: dmitry was on board and called 9-1-1. >> everybody immediately reacted and started dispersing to the very ends of the cars. everybody huddled. >> reporter: the victim's family this morni

nbc news correspondent emilie ikeda has more. >> it is climbing coast to coast and it is not just thewns, i'll protect the health of new yorkers. >> reporter: case loads are only a fraction of what we saw in the winter. the new york city recent numbers rival last year's delta surge. still, the upward trend isn't stopping the season's most watched formal events. from fashion's biggest night at the met, to the weekend's white house correspondence dinner and missing was the top dog when he said we're out of the pandemic phase. >> that does not mean that the pandemic is over. by no means is it over. >> reporter: a possible sign of the future, south africa where omicron first popped up. research there which has not yet been peer reviewed shows new subvariants are dodging previous infection. >> it is not going to disappear. we're going to have to learn to live with this virus as we do with influenza. >> so what is important to know about the cases we're seeing right now and the severity. >> the cases we're seeing now are not severe. for the most part, if you're still unvaccinated, you could