lester >> erin mclaughlin tonight, thank you >>> up next, serious new safety questions about a popular child booster seat obama: he's been a leader

erin mclaughlin, nbc news >> glad for this family >>> up next, the extreme ways people are paying off their medical bills. we meet some patients volunteering hundreds of hours in exchange for free surgery >>> snow angels, the inspirational message left for one mom now giving hope to many >>> we're back with your money your life. sky high medical bills are a growing burden around the country and it's leading a lo of americans to take extreme measures to cover the cost ann thompson explains. >> we raised over $18,000. >> reporter: today desperate americans seek cures for crushing medical bills, in churches >> i want to say thank you. i don't want to cry. >> reporter: online fundraisers, medical campaigns, the number one category on gofundme and viral videos >> all you have to do is ask for an itemized bill with every charge >> reporter: despite a strong economy, medical costs are rising faster than income pushing americans to extreme. a study last year found medical bills led to nearly 60% of individual bankruptcy >> if you're facing an illness with a huge medical bill, you get creative

erin mclaughlin, nbc news. >>> we'll be back in 60 seconds with one city's toxic water mess poisoning waterways and drinking water. the mayor calling it devastating. >>> and our special series, your taxes. with great tips on how you can save big >>> two deadly tragedies are raising concerns tonight in and around a popular colorado ski resort town. nbc's steve patterson on the avalanche and the accident of the ski lift. >> reporter: tonight, questions cloud the air over vail's scenic slopes after a deadly accident investigators piecing together how 46-year-old jason varnish died after slipping through a gap on a ski lift in the blue sky basin area officials say he asphyxiated hanging from the lift after becoming entangled in his quote. the coroner telling vail daily the coat ended up going up and around his head and neck area, putting his neck in a position that compromised his airway. >> it's awful. still not sure exactly how it happened but tragedy. >> reporter: the resort telling nbc news it's conducting a full investigation, adding the lift has been thoroughly inspected and is oper

lester >> erin mclaughlin tonight, thank you >>> up next, serious new safety questions about a popularhild booster seat obama: he's been a leader throughout the country for the past twelve years, mr. michael bloomberg is here. vo: leadership in action. mayor bloomberg and president obama worked together in the fight for gun safety laws, to improve education, and to develop innovative ways to help teens gain the skills needed to find good jobs. obama: at a time when washington is divided in old ideological battles he shows us what can be achieved when we bring people together to seek pragmatic solutions. bloomberg: i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. >>> tonight, troubling findings from a propublica investigation into one of the country's well-known makers of car booster seats for children, suggesting they may offer little to no protection in certain car crashes. here's tom costello. >> reporter: in 2016, the brown family had no way of knowing that a week after a family trip to disney world, 5-year-old jillian would be on life support after suffering a catastrophic spinal cor

here's nbc's erin mclaughlin to explain. >> reporter: back stage at the westminster dog show, game facese place is about to go on. >> yes >> reporter: how are you feeling? >> anxious >> reporter: at this parade of pooches, the question, who will win best in show >> here at westminster, any dog can win. >> reporter: maybe the newbie, the west african hunting hound it's too soon to say the fluffing >> takes me five hours once a week to bathe her. >> reporter: strutting their stuff to claim best of group what makes him special >> everything. >> reporter: the chance at canine glory do you think he's going to go all the way? >> oh, sure, why not >> reporter: last year a wire fox terrier took top dog king arthur, some say he has nothing on scam of the tramp, winner of the 2019 world's uglyest dog contest. >> every dog is so cute in their own way. >> reporter: proof or woof, beauty really is in the eye of the beholder erin mclaughlin, nbc news, new york >> so fascinating every aspect of the dog shows, how intense it really is. >> i can't wait until -- you know how when it comes to human beauty

erin mclaughlin, nbc news. >> i still don't know. >> of course you can still do it the old-fashionedg us at this time in the morning. we sure appreciate it. >> streaming did change everything syndication was always the goal when it comes to these sitcoms but 400, 500, 600 million dollars we're talking about for five-year deals. >> a lot of hours of tv. >> a lot of competition out there. >> we thank you for waking u >>> i couldn't believe it. >> we have lost a family. >> right now at 4:30, a final farewell. the public memorial happening in hours for kobe bryant and ate others killed if a helicopter crash. we'll take you to the staples center with more on bryant's celebration of life. >>> plus growing coronavirus concerns. the new cases in italy being reported emptying seat streets and the legal battle brewing in california over what is next for those quarantined. >>> good morning. i'm marcus washington. >> and i'm laura garcia. we'll get to the morning compute in just a bit. but first the forecast is kari. >> it looks

erin mclaughlin, nbc news, new york. >>> every year, american colleges open their doors to hundreds of of students and researchers from china. the vast majority of them, of course, are here to get a good education. but tonight we take a closer look at why u.s. intelligence officials are warning some may have sinister motives, acting as spies for their government, and how that charge is being received on campus. ken dilanian has the story. >> reporter: the chairman of harvard university's chemistry department arrested by fbi agents, charged with lying about more than a million dollars in payments from the chinese government. a boston university researcher accused of being a secret operative of the chinese military. another harvard researcher caught at the airport allegedly trying to smuggle biological materials to china. all three incidents were this week, and they're not alone. u.s. intelligence officials say america's world class university system has become a soft target in the global espionage war with china. >> all the research, development, cutting edge technology, all the ideas e

erin mclaughlin has more on their incredible payday as the streaming wars hit a new peak >> we were on break! >> reporter: after over 15 years the break is over. the "friends" reunion is officially happening. set to reunite for a one-off unscripted special. part of the may launch of hbo max, a new streaming service from warner media >> for the fans it should be the super bowl >> reporter: the special, available along with the entire "friends" catalog. >> pivot pivot! >> reporter: warner media's pivot toward "friends" reportedly cost over $425 million to lure the library away from netflix for five years a splurge in the so-called streaming wars with the classics going to the highest bidder nbc universal, the parent company of nbc news, starting a new streaming service called peacock, reportedly purchasing exclusive rights for "the office" for over $500 million. >> i want people to be afraid of how much they love me >> reporter: in addition to "friends" hbo max reportedly paid out $600 million for five years' worth of rights to "the big bang theory. netflix shelled out for "seinfeld" rig

. >> nbc's erin mclaughlin is life in new jersey. erin, what is the latest on their conditions?ning, lindsey. officials say they're optimistic for the four chinese nationals being tested at this hospital. they don't think they have the coronavirus. meanwhile, hundreds of americans from nebraska to tokyo have been quarantined. and scientists race to figure out this mysterious virus. a 60-year-old who had contracted the virus in wuhan died thursday. and this morning, growing fears the virus may be spreading here at home. according to the cdc at travis air force base near san francisco, five evacuees rescued from the epicenter earlier this week have been rushed to local hospitals after showing symptoms. >> we're being very aggressive. using quarantine measures that haven't been used in 50 years. >> friday, three more planes full of evacuees from wuhan landed at military bases in san diego, san antonio, and omaha. across the country, hundreds of americans remain in quarantine. american is one of them. he arrived wednesday still in good spirits despite being stuck at a military base

erin mclaughlin reports on what led to the suspect. >> reporter: a stabbing death in the student tessonfident we have the person who stabbed her in custody. >> reporter: they announced the arrest of a 14-year-old boy and he has been charged an adult, although due to his age, nbc news is not naming him. according to the complaint, his dna was found on majors' fingernail clippings. >> the complaint paints a picture of the video evidence and the blood evidence and the smartphone evidence and the witness identification and the defendant's own statements. >> reporter: it's been two months since the murder of tess majors on the evening of december 11th, the barnard freshman was walking through a manhattan park. three individuals surrounded majors and stole her cell phone and fatally stabbed her. >> some of the last words she was known to have said was help me, i'm being robbed. >> reporter: the day after the stabbing, another boy, 13 years old, was arrested and charged with second degree murder and robbery. authorities calling this latest arrest, a milestone. >> sadly, it cannot bring back

nbc news correspondent erin mclaughlin joins us now from newark, new jersey.an is enacting new restrictions in response to the coronavirus outbreak. tell us about that. >> reporter: that's right, royal caribbean as well as other cruise lines taking the extraordinary step to ban all chinese nationals from boarding their cruise liners, this after the events that unfolded here in new jersey on friday. four chinese nationals were evacuated off of a royal caribbean cruise liner docked in bayonne, accompanied by medical professionals. they were brought to this hospital here in newark and placed in isolation, and the authorities taking the decision to do this based on certain symptoms, although those symptoms they're saying were not indicative of the coronavirus. we heard that from the royal caribbean cruise line in a statement as well as from the mayor bay yoof bayonne. they're taking no chances bringing them to this hospital placing them in isolation and testing them for the virus. one of the patients tested positive on board the royal caribbean for the flu. anothe

one official singling out the state of washington lester >> reporter: erin mclaughlin tonight, thank. >>> up next, serious new safety questions about a popular child booster seat s of car booster seats for children, suggesting they may offer little to no protection in certain car crashes. here's tom costello. >> reporter: in 2016, the brown family had no way of knowing that a week after a family trip to disney world, 5-year-old jillian would be on life support after suffering a catastrophic spinal cord injury in a horrific car crash today jillian is paralyzed below her neck and relies on a ventilator to breathe. her parents say her evenflo big kid booster seat failed to protect her. >> her body was just flung, and she just was -- you know, it really didn't support. >> reporter: now a propublica investigation has found evenflo's ow internal crash tests show children sitting in a big kid booster seat could suffer serious head, neck and spinal injuries in a side-impact crash. >> their own top car seat engineer admitted that if a child's body moved the way that the dummy did in the crash

joining me now msnbc's molly hunting and erin mclaughlin.start with you in hong kong and with what is developing in china. this, the world health organization has come out and said we're not at the peak of this thing yesterday, numbers continue to increase. >> that's exactly right, ali. we have heard from health officials this may not be the edged, it may only get worse. about those numbers coming out of china, coming out of wuhan, we are not in wuhan. janis mackey frayer got into wuhan a week and a half ago. we're not there to see how many beds are filled, how many cases there actually are so we're going off of the official chinese numbers. going off of those numbers, a number that struck me is that the death rate in wuhan is more than 4%. it is so much higher than the rest of china. of course the epicenter of this outbreak. but i also think that we're getting the numbering as they test people, ali, and we don't know how many people are infected who might not have been tested. >> erin, let's talk about the situation where you are in newark.

the big competition here in new york, who will be top dog in the westminster dog show here is erin mclaughlin >> reporter: backstage at the westminster dog show game faces are going on you're about to go on. how are you feeling? >> anxious. >> reporter: this parade for pooches, who will win best in show >> here at westminster, any dog can win. >> reporter: maybe an ancient west african hunting hound but it's too soon to say at the second oldest sporting event in the country all the fluffing >> five hours once a week to bathe her. >> reporter: today fiercely strutting their stuff to claim best of group. what makes elton special? >> everything. >> reporter: the chance at canine glory. do you think he'll go all the way? >> sure, why not >> reporter: last year a wire fox terrier took top dog his name king arthur, some say he's got nothing on scamp the tramp winner of the 2019 world's ugliest dog contest. >> every dog is so cute in their own way. >> reporter: proof or woof beauty is in the eye of the beholder. >> all cute and all lovable. >>> that's "nightly news," i'm lester holt thank you for wa

erin mclaughlin has more >> reporter: tonight in the bronx, a gunman in custody. after two chilling attacks targeting police both shootings caught on camera. >> this was an attempt to assassinate police officers we need to use that word >> this morning just before 8:00 a.m., the 41st precinct was under attack the chaos caught on this surveillance footage >> picture yourself on a sunday morning at work and bullets start flying all around you >> the suspect lays on the ground, authorities say, only after he runs out of bullets. one officer was shot in the arm he's expected to make a full recovery >> only by the grace of god that we are not talking about police officers murdered inside a new york city police precinct >> reporter: the suspect later identified by nbc news as robert williams described as a career criminal for attempted murder 12 hours earlier, williams was two blocks away. surveillance footage shows the moment the suspect opened fire as the policeman drives away. one officer was shot in the neck, released from hospital today. >> an attack on a police of

erin mclaughlin, nbc news. >>> happening tomorrow, protesters plan to send facebook a direct message in the form of a human billboard. activists say they're going to create a human billboard on highway 101. it's going to spell out truth matters. the location very close to i.e. mark zuckerberg's house in pao y alto. zuckerberg has defended his decision to allow political ads with false claims saying banning them would amount to censorship. >>> now to making it in the bay, our in-depth look at the bay area housing crunch. we're getting a detailed look how developers plan to transform treasure island and the nearby buena island in the coming years. it includes a ferry terminal and 22 miles of walking and biking paths. housing construction has already started. >>> next tuesday alameda county leaders set to announce a plan aimed at holding utilities more accountability for safety violations. they'll introduce the utility accountability and wildfire prevention act of 2020. flow, legislation would give local district attorneys enforcement power if utilities fail to comply. >>> the federal g

erin mclaughlin is here with more. >> reporter: peter, good morning. dlib rakeliberations have gone four days. the jury asked if it could be hung on two of the charges, but unanimous on theus charges but unanimous on the remaining three, prompting the judge to send them back to deliberate some more. in the trial of harvey weinstein a dramatic cliff-hanger. after four days of jury deliberations. >> do you remain confident, sir? >> the jury sent the judge a note asking if they can be hung on counts 1 and/or 3 and unanimous on the other charges. counts 1 and 3 the most serious of the five charges, predatory sexual assault could send weinstein to jail for life. the jury's question suggested has reached a decision on other counts including rape. the latest twist in a tumultuous trial centered around the testimony of three women. miriam haley testified in 2006 weinstein forced oral sex. actress jessica mann testified in 203 weinstein raped her in a manhattan hotel room and actress anabella sciorra testified he raped her in the mid-'90s. her testimony is crit