we get our report on this tonight from nbc's gabe gutierrez in atlanta. >> come on in.his house is 2,164 square feet. >> reporter: over the past year, carl and stephanie have been desperately searching for their first home. >> this would be mommy's room. >> it's been a long year. >> reporter: the young couple and two toddlers looked at about 40 homes and made offers on about 13, but so far no luck. >> we were shocked. >> it's gotten to the point where even when you put in an offer, they are saying cash only. >> reporter: new data shows a record 43% of home seams this year have been all cash deals, even more in some cities like atlanta, new york and las vegas, where more than half of buyers pay 100% cash. in miami, two out of every three homes are being sold without financing. the reason? tougher lending standards, higher interest rates, and there is now more demand than supply. >> the first-time homebuyers getting priced out because they don't have the cash to scrape together to purchase homes. >> reporter: take this atlanta three bedroom home listed at $80,000. it sold

we get more on this tonight from nbc's gabe gutierrez. >> that day was the most terrifying day of my life. >> reporter: a year ago this week, briarwood elementary was torn apart, and amanda mccalister's three kids somehow survived. >> you have to prepare yourself, because you don't know -- hold on. what you're going to see. so that was the hardest for me. >> reporter: since then, researchers have been analyzing the damage in moore, looking for clues to see if structures can be better protected from future tornadoes. an engineer at the university of oklahoma, chris ramseyer presented initial findings to the state legislature, citing possible construction flaws at briarwood, which had been built about 30 years ago. he said the steel rebar in the school's cinder block walls was inadequate, only overlapping 6 to 8 inches in some spots when it should have overlapped at least 24. >> this wall should not have been able to come apart. >> reporter: he also found one support beam was not properly connected to the wall. the findings are now being peer reviewed by the american society of civil e

nbc's gabe gutierrez is on daytona beach tonight. be, good evening. >> reporter: cynthia, good evening. there have been at least 120 rescues in this county just today. for many vacations families, there have been some terrifying moments and for the lifeguards here, it has been a busy holiday weekend. from coast to coast, it's the unofficial start of summer. beaches jam packed. last winter's polar vortex a distant memory. >> it's an absolutely beautiful day. gorgeous day. >> reporter: this holiday weekend a wave of trouble. in florida lifeguards rescued more than 200 swimmers trapped in dangerous rip currents. including teresa's 10-year-old son. >> scared the living heck out of me. >> reporter: rip currents are powerful channels of fast moving water caused by shifting sands that can move of speeds of eight miles per second. if you're caught in one, your best bet is to swim paralal to the shore. >> don't panic. don't expel your energy. >> reporter: the 60 lifeguards here are stretched to their limit. >> the high pressure system built of

. >> and gabe gutierrez is there in moore, oklahoma, and on a somber day, there is the reality that thereso much more to do and rebuilding the do. what is the status there? >> well, it is a sombering anniversary, and it is incredibl incredible. we have been coming to moore for the last few months to show the follow-up stories of the community, and how they are rebuilding. you can see how the neighborhoods start to have more houses on the lots, and see some the rebuilding to take shape. this is plaza towers elementary, and this is the school where the seven children died and the first responders had to pull the children from the rubble. it was destroyed last year may 20th, 2013, when the ef-5 tornado roared through and it is mostly rebuilt, and the school administrators hope to open it in the fall, and have classes again, and this school along with briarwood elementary being rebui rebuilt. and now that is a big issue here in oklahoma, how to pay for rebuilding them. 1,100 schools in oklahoma do not have shelters in the their schools, and so who going to pay for them? and right now the legi

we begin with our teams on the ground tonight and gabe gutierrez in pensacola, florida. gabe, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. the water may be receding, but the scope of this disaster remains massive. more rain fell here than during hurricane ivan, a decade ago. in the florida panhandle today, high water and high drama. first responders on boats rushed to rescue dozens of panicked families trapped at this pensacola apartment complex, some clutching their children. she escaped with her one-year-old daughter. >> all my memories, baby's things, everything i own is gone. >> reporter: the governor declared a state of emergency as entire roads were washed away. this collapse swallowing unoccupied cars. >> i walked out this morning and couldn't believe it, never seen anything like that. >> reporter: the downpour reached its height late tuesday night, shutting down i-10 and leaving drivers trapped in their vehicles, some for up to ten hours. one woman died when she drove her car into high water. even this fire truck was no match for the rising flood waters, stalling on t

we're hearing from nbc's gabe gutierrez on the ground at the facility that it was nearly flooded from storms over the past two days. he spoke with the county commissioner. >> i'm shocked. i'm surprised. i'm deeply saddened. our community has had a lot of tragedy in the last 24 hours with all of the rain and all of the water and to come into the jail and find this out, we're just praying and we're hoping for the best. >> pensacola, florida, hit a new record with rain with 20 inches, the most the city has seen in one day since the year 1880, by the way. >>> it was one of the many areas across the country that we have been following that got hit hard by severe weather in recent days. rushing waters flooded many roadways forcing drivers to leave their cars stranded in some areas. in baltimore, the heavy rain caused an entire street to collapse into a sinkhole, swallowing several cars along the way. many areas are trying to recover from the rough weather this morning. jay gray has more. >> reporter: rushing floodwaters have torn apart roadways, stranded drivers and swallowed entire communi

for that story we turn to gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: in the adorable world of giant pandas -- >> soute! >> reporter: it's rarely easy to say good-bye. >> we know in the back of our mind it's bound to happen. when it gets to that point it's going to be tough. >> reporter: for keeper shanna dansburg and the rest of zoo atlanta, that moment is here. that moment is here for 5-year-old x e long and 3-year-old po. >> the boys are going to china to breed. >> reporter: giant pandas nearly died out in the wild. to reverse the status, china loans out many of its pandas to foreign zoos. they and cubs they produce much return eventually. >> the captive population of pandas is doing well. >> reporter: their older brother made this trip to china four years ago. on a fedex panda plane. panda express, if you will. the pair was scheduled to join them last year. but the zoo wanted to fatten them up before sending them home. >> reporter: for months it's been pandamonium at the zoo. >> it's not a sin to adore cute. >> reporter: abigail came decked out in her panda hoodie. even panda earrings. >> i ador

gabe gutierrez, nbc news, locust grove, georgia. >>> that's "nbc nightly news" for this saturday.exclusive interview with edward snowden on wednesday night at 10:00, 9:00 central time. i'm leslie holt reporting from new york. i'll see you back here tomorrow evening. good night. >>> nine championships, one hope. nbc sports championship season. >>> los angeles, california, game three, western conference final, l.a. kings, chicago blackhawks, series tied at one, thanks in large part to the kings' jeff carter, tied an nhl record in the third period of game two. for the blackhawks, andrew shaw returns, he's missed the last seven games, has not played since game one of the preview series against minn

here is gabe gutierrez. >> over here is actually where our house used to stand. >> reporter: for thealmost been a year since that awful day. >> i was panicking. my heart was totally breaking, because i had so much guilt for leaving my son at the school. >> reporter: their son, liam, was inside plaza towers elementary when that ef-5 tornado tore through moore. his teacher used her body it shield him. a documentary with a universal message. >> even in the darkest moments of whatever you're going through, there's always hope. >> recovery is going really well. >> reporter: steven irp is the film's producer and local pastor who has lived in moore all his life. >> it's really surreal to drive through neighborhoods where i used to ride my bike and schools where friends and teachers, and realize that the entire landscape has changed. >> a filmmaker approached him with an idea, to tell moore's deeper story, one of hope, resilience and faith. a project funded entirely by donations, with a provocative title. "where was god?" stories so powerful it was only fitting that the film would be shown i

this time good news spread faster. >> that was nbc's gabe gutierrez.hat breaking news out of afghanistan. the only u.s. soldier held by the taliban is free. details on that. also, dramatic changes at our historically black colleges and universities. next hour, we'll start our special series where we look at what these changes mean for the future of those schools. y chang. little things, anyone can do. it steals your memories. your independence. insures support. a breakthrough. and sooner than you'd like... ...sooner than you think. ...you die from alzheimer's disease. ...we cure alzheimer's disease. every little click, call, or donation adds up to something big. alzheimer's association. the brains behind saving yours. if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain. this is humira helping me lay the groundwork. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for ten years. humira works by targeting and helpin

gabe gutierrez is outside the jail and joins me now. gabe, there's a lot of confusion as to what happened and how many were injured or rescued from this collapsed jail. tell us the latest. >> andrea, good afternoon, we have received conflicting and confusing information from county officials throughout the morning. initially we were told two inmates were con fermed dead and everyone else was accounted for. recently within the past hour or so, we've heard from the county sheriff who says that two people are confirmed dead but that three people are unaccounted for. we don't know if those three are whether they escaped or whether they are in the hospital. we're hoping to find out more information in an afternoon news conference with possibly an atf official which is now part of the investigation. let me step out of the way here we're getting a closer look at the damage. this explosion happened around 11:00 last night. more than 100 people were injured. they were taken to local hospitals, we're told that most of them have minor injuries and

for "today," gabe gutierrez, nbc news. >>> so if you are in california you may want to head to the beaching if you can. here is a heads up on the latest clue from @hiddencash. it says getting ready for tomorrow at the beef, 36 of these stuffed with cash will be buried in the sand while you sleep. >> we're saying beach in los angeles. like a taxi in new york. a lot of beaches. >> how is no one seeing or spotted anyone hiding this cash? >> i guess that would be a bigger needle in a bigger hay stack. we'll tackle that next. mike is out with a final check of the weather. hey, mike. >> good morning to you. enjoying a beautiful day in new york city. fine folks from ohio joining us today. i've got to say it. o.h. i knew it was going to happen. let's show you weather in ohio and the rest of the country. very pleasant. across the south rain there and flooding will be a huge concern for us through the weekend. from houston to new orleans back into north florida and severe weather could be likely across the northern plains through the weekend including places like the twin cities and sioux falls, b

nbc's gabe gutierrez is in pensacola with the very latest for us. >> tamron, there is some confusion among county officials. earlier we've been told that two inmates have been confirmed dead and that the rest were accounted for. the sheriff now says that information was notentirely complete and while there are two inmates are confirmed dead, there are three unaccounted for. that could mean there are three fatalities or that they could have escaped and authorities are investigating that. the explosion happened at 11:00 last night and investigators are trying to figure out what caused it. there was heavy flooding in this area and the building was heavily damaged by that flooding yesterday, but again, investigators do not know exactly what triggered the explosion. about 150 people were injured and they were taken to local hospitals and many were treated with minor injuries. again, two people are confirmed dead. the latest information we have is that three other inmates are unaccounted for. some county officials believe -- the county officials are saying they're not sure whether those th

. >> and joining us is gabe gutierrez, and you think of the images and we heard of it that day in sheer fear, but moving ahead and looking at the sheer satisfaction of the people in the town, are the new building requirements meeting their concerns? >> well shgtamron, good morning. there has been a lot of progress made, and we are standing in front of the elementary school where a lot of progress has been made to rebuilding the school, and the school officials are hoping to open it in the fall with a storm shelter b through a lot of debate of how the pay for the 1,100 or so schools without a shelter. one architect recommends using a gym for the safe room and using the reinforced rebar, and the concrete room over a reinforced use of metal and three-point anchors, but the problem is that retro fitting every school in oklahoma with a storm shelter would cost more than $1 billion and the state legislature cannot agree on how the pay for it. moore, oklahoma, was the first city in america to pass new stronger rez dsidential codes s that the homes can withstand winds of 135-mile-an-hour, and f

. >> nbc's gabe gutierrez is in moore for us this afternoon.s one thing to be standing there in the aftermath of a tornado and another thing to be there one year later. >> reporter: yeah. exactly right. it's quite remarkable to see the neighborhood we're standing in right now was reduced to rubble last year. and right now most of it has already been rebuilt. plaza towers elementary which i'm standing in front of, it is well on its way to being rebuilt. school officials expect to open it in the fall when the school gets back to class. now, that is where seven children died. nearby briarwood elementary is being repaired. both of the schools will have storm shelters. but the big debate raging right now is how to get storm shelters in 1100 other schools here in the state. the cost of that is astronomical. it's close to a billion dollars by some estimates. but moore, oklahoma, has become the first city in the country to change residential building codes. they're now hoping the stronger building codes catch on in other parts of tornado alley. but mig

gabe gutierrez is there. gabe, what can you tell us? >> reporter: matt, good morning. the explosion, the apparent gas explosion happened around 11:00 last night. this morning, emergency officials are still assessing the damage if figuring out what happened. right now, at least two people are dead. 150 others are injured, that includes corrections officers and inmates. with retold we are told most have non-threatening injuries. they are scouring the building. we are told everyone was accounted for. this was a massive explosion. much of the building destroyed, part of it collapsed. one witness calls it again a massive explosion. he says the earth shook like an earthquake the building had around 600 people in it at the time. everyone accounted for. the inmates have been transferred to other local facilities, matt. >> the facility has been secure. there have been major roanes, gabe, lots of flooding. some people said that may have contributed to the explosion in some way. >> reporter: well, authorities are investigating the exact cause of the explosion. but as you said, th

gabe gutierrez is live at hartsfield jackson international airport in atlanta. richard. things have been going pretty smoothly here. here in atlanta they seem to know how to handle this rush. this airport handles 250,000 travelers on any given day. last year on memorial day weekend they saw about 1.6 million. by the end of today they expect that. no major delays today or anywhere else around the company. if we look at the misery map, we see a whole lot of green. some delays in the charlotte area. about 36 million travelers will be heading 50 miles or more from home and they won't have to be dealing with major increase in gas prices this year. what they will be dealing with, though, if they're traveling by air, a 6% increase in airfare when compared to last year. >> gabe gutierrez, thank you very much at the world's busiest airport. let's bring in heather hunter, the public relations director for triple a. big numbers of people getting out this year. what does this tell you? >> this year we expecting a big year for travel, we're expecting 36 million americans. tho

here's nbc's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: the unmanned vehicle industry is taking off.me in all shapes, speeds, and sizes. but this new frontier comes with major safety concerns. in march, a u.s. airways flight nearly collided with a drone near tallahassee's airport. now investigators say they may never know the truth about how it happened. the operator of that drone remains a mystery. and that's not the only incident. earlier this year, a pilot reported coming within 200 feet of a drone in new york. >> we saw a drone. >> reporter: this test video shows what happens when an object strikes a jet engine. the federal aviation administration is rushing to catch up with this growing industry. the latest technology on display this week at a convention in orlando. the faa has had safety and privacy concerns, because after all, it's hard to tell who may be watching. has the faa dragged its feet when it comes to regulating this industry? >> there is no doubt that the technology has outpaced the regulatory aspects. >> reporter: right now, hobbyists can only fly drones like this l

for "today," gabe gutierrez, nbc news. >> interesting. >> people who feel passionate about those.o, too. >> so put that in your pipe and smoke it. >> now you're going to hear it. >>> we have a series we call the social, and this morning we're tackling a biggie, pregnancy etiquette. having a baby is an exciting time, but as the baby bump grows, unfortunately sometimes so does the amount of awkward behavior and unsolicited advice, often from complete strangers. take a look. everyone loves a baby, but as most moms-to-be discover, the nine months leading up to the big reveal are often filled with socially awkward bumps in the road. >> it's a little pregs and big pregs. >> wait, when did we start -- >> isn't it amazing the difference in our sizes? >> people tend when you're pregnant to say wow, you look so big, how far along are you? or you look so small. >> out of nowhere, they'll just say, my god, your boobs are gigantic. >> a family was outright, how much weight have you gained? i don't know if they're tracking it or if they have some sort of pool going. >> you never say things like

let's get right to nbc's gabe gutierrez. he's in dallas this morning where people are cleaning up. gabe, good morning. >> reporter: savannah, good morning. a lot of cleanup here overnight. this huge tree no match for the high winds. it crushed this car. luckily, no one was inside. this fast-moving storm system hammered communities across the country. in minnesota, several reported tornados touched down, including this one in st. james. near des moines, iowa, golf ball sized hail. more than 47 million people from texas to minnesota in the system's path. this morning, communities around dallas are cleaning up after winds reached up to 70 miles an hour, toppling trees, damaging roofs and crumpling this mobile home, injuring a mother and her child. >> and it scared me worse that something flew off and it hit her, the wooden thing hit her. it scared me more about that than it did the whole house blowing over. >> reporter: a blown transformer caught on camera and the front wall of this church torn apart. >> people were telling me that it took out the front of the church, but i was shocked

nbc's gabe gutierrez is there with a one-of-a-kind trio. to you. >> reporter: mad, good morning. you know, this is just about as close to a 400-pound tiger, a 500-pound lion, on a 700-pound bear that you ever really want to get. thank you, "today" show. here's the thing. no one ever told these three predators that they weren't supposed to be friends. >> are we hungry? you want some? >> reporter: in the animal kingdom, this is something -- >> it's a small piece. >> reporter: you just don't see every day. >> lions, tigers and bears, oh my. >> reporter: they are known collectively as the blt. >> it's really amazing that the blt all interact like they do. >> lions and tigers and bears. >> oh my. >> reporter: unlike "the wizard of oz," in the real world they would never have met. the bear native to north america. the lion to africa. the tiger to asia. so how did they end up all together here? >> as far as we know, this is the only blt in the world. >> reporter: at noah's ark, an animal sanctuary in georgia. >> we've never told them that they're

nbc's gabe gutierrez is in wichita falls. good morning to you. >> reporter: matt, good morning.we are here pence the city's water treatment plant. officials insist this process is not only safe but but necessary because of the drought. some residents say it's just plain broke. in bone dry texas, desperate times can calling for desperate measures. >> it makes me nervous. i'm concerned about my kids' health. >> reporter: in wichita falls, problemlation 100,000, years of drought have prompted strict car wash restrictions. the city fears it will run out of water in two years. so it is fishing for answers down the toilet. >> we don't have any other options. >> just the very thought you might be drinking your own waste water is never comforting. >> reporter: that waste comes not just from toilets, sinks, bathtubs and dish washers. instead of decon tam nateing that water and relooreleasing i downvifr river, the city is connecting its waste treatment plant wage to a second facility that purifies the water. >> the water has already been treated once at the waste water plan. it's not raw