jacob rascon, nbc, sacramento. >>> now, back to the east where the death toll has sadly climbed to ten people tonight in western new york. where so much remains paralyzed in a state of emergency in and around buffalo, new york. the region mother nature has placed inside some sort of a bullseye. 135 miles of new york throughway remains closed, travel banned in towns outright after second wave of snow. and roof collapses are a fear because of the weight of it all. lester holt starts us off tonight in a community with over six feet of snow on the ground. >> reporter: day three. >> this is absolutely crazy. >> reporter: and the snow keeps falling. and the weight of it all, over five feet of snow and counting, is beginning to cause roof collapses. more than 100 patients had to be evacuated from this nursing home in cheektowaga today when the roof began to show signs of weakening. >> the roof is compromised. obviously has not collapsed yet, but there's potential for it. >> reporter: in hamburg more than two dozen people driven from the roads in whiteout conditions and deep snow have been hol

our own jacob rascon is at the mojave space port tonight. jacob, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. tonight the ntsb is much closer to understanding why the test flight failed while investigators are far from announcing an official cause, they're looking now at what one of the pilots did just before the space plane broke apart. tonight, the ntsb investigation has a new focus, the feathers or speed brakes on the tail of virgin galactic spaceship two. 20 minutes after takeoff at 45,000 feet, spaceship two separated from its carrier and its rocket ignited propelling the plane toward the edge of the atmosphere. nine seconds later the ntsb says cockpit video shows co-pilot michael alsbury unlocking the plane's feather. something usually done at a higher speed in altitude. the locks are in place to prevent aerodynamic forces from inadvertently deploying the feathers. the ntsb says once the feathers were unlocked, they deployed and the aircraft broke apart. 22 miles away from where it took off in a debris field five miles wide and this

for "today, jacob rascon, nbc news, los angeles."ive. for "today, jacob rascon, nbc news, los angeles." >>> i kept on top of things. i was energetic. then the chronic, widespread pain drained my energy. my doctor and i agreed, moving more helps ease fibromyalgia pain. she also prescribed lyrica. for some patients, lyrica significantly relieves fibromyalgia pain and improves physical function. with less pain, i feel better. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling or blurry vision. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. with lyrica i have less fibrom

jacob rascon, nbc news. >>> tonight, we are coming to the end of a very nasty week of weather. in the northeast more than 100,000 customers are still without power after the thanksgiving eve snowstorm. and in the middle of it all, one family went into crisis mode when two boys went out to play in the snow and went missing. we get our report tonight from nbc's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: the northeast whiteout wiped out power across pockets of the region. so much snow in new hampshire and maine, frozen power lines snapped. some 300,000 lost power during the holiday. >> been pretty hard. >> reporter: today, from as far away as toronto crews scrambling to help. no lights, no heat. many spending black friday in the dark. in upstate new york, a critical situation, this, the desperate scramble to save two boys buried under six feet of snow. >> me and my cousin were building a fort in the snow. and the whole top of the fort just fell on us. >> i was thinking that me and my cousin were going to die. >> reporter: an unsuspecting snowplow driver dumps snow on top of 9-year-old jason an

jacob rascon "nbc nightly news." >>> and that is it for "nbc nightly news."liams will be back tomorrow night. stay tuned for nbc football night in america. for all of us here at nbc >>> in kansas city, missouri, as the final month of the nfl regular season begins, tonight it's afc west rivals at arrowhead. the chiefs host the broncos. after leading the chiefs to the playoffs, alex smith has this team in postseason contention again. but like last year, it's wes welker and the broncos who are atop the division standing led by a future hall of famer at

jacob rascon "nbc nightly news." >>> and that is it for "nbc nightly news."liams will be back tomorrow night. stay tuned for nbc football night in america. for all of us here at nbc i love this new sirachi burger. it's siracha. sluracha? no. si-rah-chah. siriracha. no. watch how i say it. si-rah-cha. that's not helping. bam! that's jack's new spicy sriracha burger comin' in all hot and melty with jalapeños and bacon! but the best part? it's not just sriracha sauce, it's creamy sri-rah... slur-rah cha... whatever it's called, it's awesome sauce. >>> in kansas city, missouri, as the final month of the nfl regular season begins, tonight it's afc west rivals at arrowhead. the chiefs host the broncos. after leading the chiefs to the playoffs, alex smith has this team in postseason contention again. but like last year, it's wes welker and the broncos who are atop the division standing led by a future hall of famer at

once again on the story for us tonight jacob rascon in the mojave desert. good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. it is almost unbelievable that anybody could survive a rocket plane crash at the speed of sound. but new information from sources close to the investigation make peter siebold's story of survival even more astonishing. sources close to the investigation of the failed virgin galactic test flight tell nbc news at 45,000 feet after co-pilot michael alsbury prematurely unlocked the plane's tails or feathers and they deployed, the space plane actually broke up around the pilots, thrusting them at the speed of sound into an atmosphere with almost no oxygen. and sources confirm the pilots had no oxygen supply of their own outside the aircraft. both crewmen were wearing parachutes but only pilot peter siebold was able to deploy his. investigators theorize either alsbury's parachute failed or he blacked out and was never able to deploy it. the ntsb now says wreckage from spaceshiptwo landed as far as 35 miles away from the original debris field.

nbc's jacob rascone with more. >> the ntsb wants to be clear about the facts in the investigation. they don't tell us the official cause of the crash. that will take months and longer. but we now know video and flight data in and outside of the cockpit show what appear to be mistakes with both man and machine. man because the video shows the co-pilot unlocking the descent feathers or tails on the plane before the plane ever got into suborbit. and that's only supposed to happen as it descends. machine because even though the co-pilot unlocked it, there's also supposed to be a second lever pulled to actually deploy those tails or feathers. and they seem to have deployed on their own. virgin galactic's founder richard branson says this will not be a crippling incident. >> it's a grand program which has had a horrible setback that i don't think anybody watching this program would want us to abandon at this stage. >> the surviving pilot is recovering after surgery, talking to doctors, but not yet to investigators. when he does, he may very well prove to be a critical part in understandi

joining me from mojave, california, is jacob rascon. who's expected to speak at this news conference? >> reporter: as promised, the ntsb is here. they'll probably be here for a few days. they're here to look into exactly what went wrong. also expected on site today, richard branson himself here to be with the team and looking into what kind of a setback that will be to the program in general. friday's test flight was the first since january. it was meant to test a new engine and full mixture, what was supposed to happen was spaceshiptwo would be carried up to about 45,000 feet and then would separate from the mothership, a rocket would then propel it even higher and it would be in suborbit before gliding back to earth. it appears what happened yesterday is that at the moment of separation, only minutes after there was some sort of explosion. one of the pilots, we're told, was able to parachute out in time but was badly injured. his injuries are described as moderate to major. the other pilot was not able to make it out alive. there are

that was jacob rascon reporting. virgin galactic issues a statement that said our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families an friends of these brave men. now is the time to focus on all those affected by this tragic accident and to work with the experts at the ntsb to get to the bottom of what happened on that tragic day. and to learn from it so that we can move forward safely with this important mission. >>> napa quake victims are finally getting the one-on-one help they need when it comes to getting their federal aid. fema opened a disaster center to assist residents with their application process. officials are urging people to immediately register with fema. it's the only way to start the federal aid assistance application. >> they should get registered right now. as soon as -- i mean, it's sunday. you can do it anyway. >> you can also register online at disaster assistance.gov. the center will be open on weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. to help people with questions about federal assistance. >>>

>> jacob rascon in the mojave desert tonight, thanks. >>> a break here, still ahead tonight for us, the striking video showing a woman kidnapped off the street. and the clue that has investigators on the suspect's trail thankfully tonight. >>> and later, why a big arrival was something of a surprise in los angeles. >>> we're back with these images that have sparked a manhunt going on in two states. they show a young woman walking alone when a man suddenly approaches her, attacks her and drags her to his car. whether the suspect knew it or not, it was all captured by a surveillance camera. luckily more clues have now presented themselves in this case. we get our report from nbc's rehema ellis. >> reporter: this disturbing three-minute surveillance video shows a young woman's desperate struggle. police say 22-year-old carlesha gaither was kidnapped sunday night in the germantown section of philadelphia. today her mother begged for her daughter's life. >> give me back my baby. give me my child. please. >> reporter: the video shows a gray ford taurus being parked. moments later a heavily bu

nbc's jacob rascon joins us from mojave now with late details on the investigation. jacob, good evening. >> reporter: lester, good evening. tonight we're learning more about the pilots who were onboard, the surviving pilot was in surgery today. this is a first of its kind investigation with more than a dozen ntsb investigators on the ground. this as the commercial space community is reeling but remains optimistic. the pilot killed when virgin galactic space plane exploded over the mojave desert was identified today. the california resident now the first person ever to die during a commercial space flight. virgin galactic's founder, richard branson. >> in testing the boundaries of human capabilities and technologies, we are standing on the shoulders of -- yesterday we fell short. >> reporter: it was just after 10:00 a.m. friday when first responders learned the flight meant to test a new engine and fuel mixture had gone terribly wrong. at 45,000 feet spaceship two started breaking apart. in a first of its kind investigation the ntsb is analyzing all the debris and data

jacob rascon has more. >> reporter: the green camry is a total loss.rson. authorities say a window washer was preparing for his day on a platform on a roof of a bank when somehow he fell 11 stories screaming into a busy san francisco intersection. crushing the camry before bouncing on to the asphalt. >> i saw a black shadow coming from the sky. i just started running. >> i heard the shatter of the glass. the thud. >> i heard him scream as he was falling. >> reporter: a crowd of people rushed to his side. he was alive. it was just last week in new york that two window washers hung on for dear life after their platform gave way. trapping the men 68 floors up for two agonizing hours before firefighters rescued them cutting through the windows using diamond cutters. >> we have a successful mission. >> reporter: according to the window cleaners association, window cleaning is actually one of the safer industries. with fewer than three window washer deaths typically reported every year. in san francisco, nobody seems to know why the window washer fell. a cow

for "today," jacob rascon, nbc news. >> what a story. >>> hey, if you've been hanging on to your olding that one day you'd be able to use them again, we've got good news for you. records are making a comeback in a major way. a a time when online streaming services are taking a chunk out of profits, believe it or not, vinyl sales are actually growing. here's nbc's stephanie gosk with more. >> reporter: at united record pressing in nashville, one of the largest vinyl record-makers in the country, a funny thing is happening. 22 presses running 24 hours a day, six days a week, and they still can't make them fast enough. it's a far cry from 2005, when vinyl sales were nearly extinct. less than a million copies sold here in the u.s. last year, the number shot up to more than 6 million. >> this is actually all instrumental. >> reporter: record shop manager randy jones says his collection just keeps growing. >> johnny cash, willie nelson, chet atkins. that stuff flies out. even frank, good old blue eyes, frank sinatra. i always sell frank sinatra. we carry everything. >> reporter: records ar

jacob rascon is live with more. >> reporter: erica, good morning. the ntsb will investigate what went wrong. this as serious questions about what setback this crash willing for the future of space tourism. by helicopter and four-wheel-drive, recovery teams are searching for the scorched and broken pieces of spaceshiptwo. it was after 10:00 a.m. friday when something had gone terribly wrong. the photographs capture the moment the space ship started breaking apart at 45,000 feet. the highway patrol says one of two test pilots managed to parachute to safety, but badly injured. the second pilot never got out. >> our primary thoughts at this moment are with the crew and family and we're doing everything we can for them now. >> reporter: the failed mission was meant to test a new engine and fuel mixture. nbc news was here for the last test flight in the mojave when the mothership flew to 40,000 feet and separated. >> four, three, two, one. >> fire. >> reporter: that's when the space ship fired a rocket to send it higher. we spoke to david mckay about the

for "today," jacob rascon, nbc news. >>> coming up, it wasn't just human. people were thrilled with rokerthon. some of his four-legged friends were there for his famous hour. we will have a look at that, but ♪ >>> i love it. we're back on a saturday morning. hopefully al roker is sleeping right now to recover from the epic weather broadcast that took place in the record books. >> it was called rokerthon. in case you missed it, all 34 hours of it, dylan has a recap in the orange room. >> first of all, from one meteorologist to another, i have to say, way to go, al. you are absolutely amazing. i happen to stop by at one point to catch rokerthon in action and watched several hours at home. i couldn't look away. 34 hours of anything is a lot. we put together an abbreviated version of #rokerthon. take a look. >> let the rokerthon begin. >> gulf coast looking good as well. >> hello, hello, hello. >> tamron hall is -- oh, my golly. >> during one of my breaks, my microphone was on. we gave new meaning to live stream. >> roker. roker. >> we took time to try to break

. >> for today, jacob rascon, nbc news. >>> if you love sweets, you know sometimes it can be hard toting them. for some people that makes sense. there's growing evidence sugar can actually become addiction. there's help out there. maria shriver has more on the treatment program helping people kick their need for sweets. >> this is sobriety for sandy len ordonard leonard. lots of high profile and low sugar foods. >> you came here and found out you're a sugar a addict? >> a teacher from tennessee, she just graduated from one of the universities for people hooked on sugar. >> little debbies were my best friend. >> she began binging on tweets to cope with anxiety over work and her son leaving for college. >> i would hide them places in my home, in my car. >> when you ate or eat sugar, do you get a high from it like a person gets a high from a drug? >> yes. when i would finish the sugar, it would last an hour. i was needing some more. >> she's not alone. among middle aged women, one in 12 suffers from a food addiction. experts say hormonal changes on top of work and family stress lead man

. >> for today, jacob rascone, nbc news. >>> if you love sweets, you know sometimes it can be hard toting them and for some people that make sense. there's growing evidence that sugar can actually become an addiction, but there's help out there. nbc's special anchor maria shriver with more. >> this is sobriety for sandy leonard. lots of high protein, low sugar foods. >> you came here and found out you were a sugar addict. >> yes, i never felt satisfied. >> she just graduated from malibu vista. one of the first treatment centers for people addicted to sugar. >> little debbie was my bis friend. >>> once a healthy weight, sandy she began bingeing on sweets in her 40s to cope with anxiety over work and her son leaving for college. >> i would hide them places in my home, in my car. >> when you ate or eat sugar, do you get a high from it like a person gets a high from a drug? >> yes. when i would finish the sugar, you know, it lasts an hour, and i was needing some more. >> she's not alone. among middle age women, about one in twelve suffers from a food addiction. experts say hormonal change

jacob rascone is already live for us in the mojave desert this morning. can you give us the latest?ter: yesterday they secured the crash site. this morning ntsb investigators will be here to look at what went wrong and also sir richard branson will be here with his team and to look at what kind of a setback this is for the program in general. friday's test flight was its first since january. it was meant to test a new fuel mixture. what was supposed to happen is schayes sh spaceshiptwo would separate and a rocket would propel it higher and then it would glide back to earth. but it was at the point of separation when it appears this was an explosion captured by some photographs. one pilot was able to parachute out in time and was airlifted badly injured. the other pilot did not make it out in time. the spaceshiptwo as we know was supposed to at one point carry paying passengers into suborbit more than 700 people have already bought a ticket at a quarter million dollars apiece. nbc news has an agreement to document that inaugural flight with paying passengers. as for the future of the

abc's jacob rascon has more on this. jacob, good morning to you. >> matt, good morning to you. new information, play by play, second by second of what happened just before the plane broke apart, as investigators say human error is one of a host of issues that could explain why the co-pilot unlocked the plane's braking system prematurely. overnight, the ntsb released a detailed timeline of the failed test flight that killed one pilot and injured another in california's mojave desert on friday. at 10:07:19 am at 45,000 feet, virgin galactic spaceship two separated from its carrier and its rocket ignited. nine seconds later, ntsb says cockpit video shows michael alesbury who died in the crash unlocking the plane's feathers or brakes, something usually done only when the plane is ready to glide back to earth. ntsb says when the co-pilot unlocked the feathers prematurely, they appear to have deployed by thesz. seconds later, the aircraft broke apart. >> reports of debris 35 miles northeast of that section. >> reporter: the surviving pilot, who parachuted out of the aircraft. interna

nbc's jacob rascon has the very latest. >> reporter: sources close to the investigation into virgin ga lachlt c. tic's failed test flight tells nbc news at 45,000 feet after michael alsbury opened the feathers and they deployed, spaceship disintegrated around the pilots, launching them faster than a speed of sound into an atmosphere of no objectioxygen. only pilot peter siebold was tiebl deploy his parachute. either his parachute failed or he blacked sbout was never able to deploy it. ntsb investigators are leaving the mojave desert, turning their focus to analyzing data and considering new industry recommendations. >> we have a lot that we don't know. this was one fact in the several links of a chain to determine the totality of what caused this mishap. >> reporter: richard branson has vowed to push his program forward, borrowing a line from nelson mandela when he tweeted the greatest glory in living lies not in never falling but rising every time we fall. after spaceship two fell back to earth the question now is just when and how space tourism will finally have liftoff. jacob rascon

first, jacob rascon has the latest on the investigation. good morning to you. >> reporter: matt, good morning to you. the ntsb wants us to be clear, these new facts don't tell us the official cause of the crash. that will take much longer. video and flight data taken inside and outside the cockpit was a mistake by both man and machine. a break in the investigation into virgin galactic's failed test flight killed one pilot and injured another, active chairman saying the tails or feathers of the space plane, which are only supposed to deploy as the aircraft re-enters the atmosphere deployed before the plane ever got into space. ntsb saying video from inside the cockpit shows the co-pilot, michael alsbury, who died in the crash, unlocked the feathers as the rocket ignited. they don't deploy simply because they're unlocked. video and flight data confirmed nobody pulled that lever. the feathers deployed on their own. seconds later, the aircraft came apart. >> we're a long way from finding cause. we still have months and months of investigation,

nbc's jacob rascon has the latest. >> the unexpected announcement came overnight.n galactic's failed test fight that killed one pilot and injured another. the ntsb's acting chairman saying the tail or feathers of the space plane which are only supposed to deploy as the aircraft entered the atmosphere deployed before the plane got to space. the ntsb saying video from inside the cockpit shows the co-pilot, michael alsbury, who died in the crash, unlocked the feathers seconds after the plane's rocket ignited which is too soon. but the feathers don't deploy simply because they're unlocked. that requires a second lever. video and flight data confirm nobody pulled that lever. the feathers deployed on their own. seconds later, the aircraft came apart. >> we are a long way from finding cause. we still have months and months of investigation to do a lot that we don't know. >> it broke apart at 45,000 feet. and this is the biggest piece of what is left. what would have carried six space tourists and two pilots into sub orbit. more than 700 people have already bought tickets