jacob rascon, nbc news. >> that will do it for us on this thursday night. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good night. oc: "hey get off of her, get off of her runs :03 ==raj/vo== new 9-1-1 c reveal the moments leading up to a salinas police beating, caught on camera. ====short open=== ===2-shot=== thanks for joining us. i'm raj matthai . ===2-shot=== and i'm janelle wang - in for jessica aguierre. ==janelle/cu== defending their actions. the salinas police department - under fire for a police beating - caught on cell phone video. today, the department released 911 recordings - hoping it will tell its side of >>> today, the department released 911 recordings hoping it would tell its side of the story. nannette has details. >> well, the police chief says the video on its own is disturbing. the suspect has been diagnosed with drug inducing disorder interputting the public at risk. several police officers use their wand on a man on the ground. it was their only option and the 1911 calls, she was still on the phone when police arrived. >> ple

we begin our coverage with nbc's jacob rascon. >> reporter: tonight berkeley california is mourning the loss of six students and seven others are fighting for their lives after a four-story free-fall. >> to have this happen at the start of this season is something that has left us all frozen in shock and in disbelief. >> reporter: the victims late today, olivia burke, owen culligan nikolai schuster miller walsh and ashley done hoe donahoe from california. >> people saying one of the balconies broke and at least ten from the second or third floor. >> reporter: it suddenly separated from the building collapsing onto the pavement some 40 feet below. fellow irish students say the collapse happened during a late-night birthday celebration, an irish woman turning 21. >> in the middle of the night, yeah walked outside and saw all the rubble on the street. >> reporter: northern california's a popular destination. hundreds of them staying near the university of california-berkeley working over the summer. >> it's truly terrible to have such a serious and sad accident. >> reporter: the deadly acc

jacob rascon, thank you so much. >>> also in california, experts are baffled by a mystery from the ocean. incredible images showing beaches there turned crimson. now, look closer and you'll realize those are crabs. thousands and thousands of them washing up by the ton on the shoreline. and as our joe friar explains, no one is quite sure why it's happening. >> reporter: not a grain of sand is visible in these images of california's balboa island, where the shoreline is covered in red tuna crabs. >> we occasionally see a bird that got caught by a cat or something, but i've never seen anything like this before. >> reporter: at times the layer of crabs has measured seven inches thick. >> what did it look like? >> red. >> reporter: they look like crayfish, only one to three inches long. to tourists it's a fascinating sight and pungent smell. >> it's neat to see it, but it was fun for a day, and now we're done with it. >> reporter: each day crews now spend about eight hours clearing the beaches. most of the crabs are dead or dying. >> this is quite the cleanup project, isn't it? >> yeah. it's

jacob rascon, san bernardino mountains. >>> now to a terrifying mid-air collision caught on camera. the red devils performed dozens of times a year. it was anything but routine who two parachuters collided, plummeting to the ground as thousands of spectators looked on. >> reporter: the british army's red devils parachuting team performed this free-fall stunt hundreds of time before. but as a fan recorded this video at a festival on britain's northeast coast friday, two skydivers suddenly collided. watch again. one parachute collapses. the man's lifeline flapping in the wind above a crowded harbor filled with thousands of anxious spectators. >> it was seconds of coming out of the aircraft itself that the entanglement happened. the whole harbor was just in horror. >> reporter: they had to think fast. one man wrapping his legs in the lines of the collapsed chute trying to slow his partner's fall. >> my heart was pounding. it was going pretty crazy. >> reporter: witnesses describe the man without a parachute falling fast, frantically flapping his legs. >> too bad it happened at a festiv

nbc's jacob rascon has late details. >> reporter: the most recent colorado shooting victim was apparentlyust out for a walk. the 65-year-old man gunned down late wednesday night. >> there's an opportunity to feel fear because we don't know if this is related to the other shooting. >> reporter: two weeks ago john jacoby was shot dead while riding his bike. in april, cory romero of shot in the neck while driving on the cincinnati. the attacks happened 90 minutes north of denver only miles from each other. investigators say the first two shootings are connected and they're looking into the third and into about a dozen report of random blown-out car windows in the area. >> the public needs to be vigilant. they need to be observant. and if they see any suspicious activity report it to your local law enforcement so we can investigate it. >> reporter: tips from the public have been critical in solving past serial shootings. in 2002 when snipers killed ten people in washington, d.c., and virginia in 2005 and '06 when shooters in arizona killed at least six and injured 19 and last year when a mach

jacob rascon starting us off tonight. thank you. >>> another major story still developing at this hour. the first tropical storm to hit texas in seven years tearing across the state right now, bringing torrential rain storm surge, and the threat of flash flooding and tornadoes as it moves north. we've got tornado watches in at least four states now with tens of millions in the path. nbc's janet shamlian is there. >> reporter: coastal communities in texas took the first punishing blow from tropical storm bill. >> pretty crazy. kind of turned bad fast. >> reporter: landfall came at metagorda island 150 miles from houston. with 60-mile-an-hour winds and heavy rain that sent waves of water rushing over roads. >> we don't want to stay too long because we're worried about it coming up over the road. >> reporter: in port la vaca 70 miles south a five-foot stornl surge. the weather channel's dave malkoff is there. >> this is a beach park. normally the water is all the way over there. but you can see that park bench is underwater.

>> jacob rascon for us. jacob, thank you. >>> want to turn to sheinelle, who has a possible development in the manhunt for those two escaped convicts. good morning. >> yes, good morning. there's new information about a possible sighting of escaped killers richard matt and david sweat. police say witnesses reported seeing two men walking along railroad tracks last week. they seemed to be heading to the pennsylvania border. this, as officials have also put a guard at the clinton correctional institution on administrative leave, saying that only it's in connection with the continuing investigation. >>> a wild police chase and shooting in tucson was captured on video. officers opened fire as the driver speeds away. you can see a major collision as the truck plows through an intersection, caught in several different angles by traffic cameras. cars were also rammed in a parking lot. and a police cruiser rammed the truck before he left the scene. officials say he is being investigated for multiple violent crimes. >>

nbc's jacob rascon tells us how police are investigating today. >> reporter: the video shows a texas police officer throwing down a 14-year-old girl in a bikini and then pulling his service weapon on two boys. three officers initially responded to a disturbance at a party at a community pool. cameras didn't capture what led up to the fistfight or anything else before police arrived but when they did, one officer is seen trying to reason with the crowd. >> don't take off running when the cops get her. >> reporter: another takes a much more direct approach. >> get on the ground. i told you to stay. get down on the ground. >> reporter: after warning a group of girls to get back, the officer had enough. this person captured a different angle. >> why are you holding her down? >> i was surprised really surprised. i didn't even, i didn't even comprehend it. >> our initial reaction was to put the officer on administrative leave so we can complete an investigation of the incident. >> reporter: internal affairs is now taking the case deciding the fate of an office who's caught on camera antics

nbc's jacob rascon is live in big bear lake, california. jacob. >> reporter: good morning, sheinelle. this is the largest wildfire burning in california now and the largest so far this year. an early kickoff to the fire season. more than 1,200 fire personnel on the fire working around the clock. what those fire crews are doing now is hiking into tough-to-reach areas and trying to get control of the edge of the fire closest to cabins and campsites, taking advantage of the overnight hours when temperatures are cooler and the humidity is higher. more than a dozen wildfires are burning right now in five states across the west. all in areas that are facing historic drought conditions. and even though here in the mountains no homes have burned nearly 100, as you said have burned between the other fires and are looking at a long weekend here in california and elsewhere with temperatures back up in the 90s and winds, as officials call them turbulent. sheinelle? >> all right, thank you, jacob. >>> a police body camera is raising as many questions as

>> all right, jacob rascon thank you for that. >>> we continue to follow breaking news a woman has comeing her brother was sexually abused by former househastert. we'll get the update in first read. >>> plus fungus found in medicines in the national institutes of health one of the world's premier medical centers. it's just one of the things we thought you should know. audible safety beeping audible safety beeping audible safety beeping the nissan rogue with safety shield technologies. the only thing left to fear is you imagination. nissan. innovation that excites. how much protein does your dog food have? 18%? 20? introducing nutrient-dense purina one true instinct with real salmon and tuna and 30% protein. support your active dog's whole body health with purina one. is there such a thing as a sure thing in business? some say buy gold. others say buy soybeans. i say, buy comcast business internet. unlike internet providers that slow down when traffic picks up, you get speed you can rely on. it's a safe bet. like a gold-plated soybean. reliably fast internet starts at $69.95 a month. com

>> jacob rascon, thank you. >>> the damage still being assessed from perhaps the largest hacking attack in u.s. history, data stolen on millions of federal employees, many of them with access to sensitive information, and as nbc's andrea mitchell reports, fingers are still being pointed in china's direction. >> reporter: you've been hacked. that's warning that will be sent to 4 million federal workers, roughly half civilians, the other half retirees or contractors. unwilling victims in an escalating cyber war. >> the fact that somebody let this happen tells me that somebody isn't paying attention. >> my clearance and everything, they already know everything about me, but i don't want that stuff getting out. >> reporter: many targeted have security clearances although officials say the hackers wouldn't know who had the highest clearances. who did it? the fbi is zeroing in on china, despite china's denial. >> we hope the united states side could discard this kind of suspicion and stop groundless accusation. >> reporter: still, u.s. officials and outside experts say the attack had china's

jacob jacob rascone has our report. >> reporter: the monster drought may have met its match. >> thist below the beach that's drawing sea water in and pumping it to the plant. >> reporter: the little town of sand city operating the only decell nation plant in the state making the pacific ocean drinkable and not the least bit salty. >> how do you like it? >> it's good. >> reporter: facing historic drought conditions and mandatory water restrictions many are wondering why can't we tap the pacific? in southern california some are going all in. the facility in san diego county is the largest plant in the western hemisphere. >> going to change the way we look at water in california for decades to come. >> reporter: starting this fall, it will pump 50 million gallons of fresh water into the community every day. the sea water is forced through filters that remove salt and particles, left over extra salty sea water is pumped back into the ocean, but many environmentalists are fighting back. >> it's nonsenseble and absurd. i'll go to my grave fighting them. >> reporter: attorney marp marco gon

>> nbc's jacob rascon reporting.s ago hillary clinton wrapped up her first of two stops in charleston, and she talked about poverty, but also about body cameras for police officers as well as the indictment of a south carolina police officer after the fatal shooting of a black man. >> i think the terrible you know tragedy in charlesson which led to the indictment was, you know a result of seeing the facts, of having information. >> so susan page is the washington bureau chief for usa today and i join susan here in d.c. which is great to be in person with you. it's really fascinating to see the machinations and the little twists from the campaign trail. we'll talk about machinations with trump here in a moment. but there's good news and bad news for clinton in swing state polls from quinnipiac university. first the bad news. we look at florida, ohio and pennsylvania where she's down double digits about whether or not voters trust her or not. so how can you be a successful candidate if voters don't really trust you, su

here's part of a report from jacob jacob rascon. >> 911, what's the address of your emergency? >> somebody just came in bleeding from their neck. >> reporter: cori romero survived her attack. a few mile ace way, a special needs man john jacoby was gunned down while riding his bike. the first homicide in the town of windsor in nearly a decade. >> he's bleeding uncontrollably on the side of the road. >> reporter: and this week several miles from the attacks a third roadside shooting. 65-year-old bill connole shot and killed late last night while walking near his home. >> the question is who is the so-called serial shooting and when or where will he or she strike next? joining me now is msnbc analyst jim kavanaugh. jim, would you classify this giving your experience knowing that two are linked in likely the third one is linked as well? >> yes, alex i clearly would. and also there is another nine or so incidents reported to the police of windows shattering. they are not all going to be shots, probably some could be road debris but you have people reporting, they hear a pop and then

jacob rascon is following the developing story for us. good morning. >> reporter: matt good morning to you. startling pictures from berkeley california just a block away from a luxury apartment building that caters to tudents at the university of california berkeley. the images just coming in. they came in right after the collapse happened. police responding and saying five people have been killed. eight others have been injured. some of those severely and with life-threatening injuries. police now looking into what caused the collapse. why did that balcony on the fourth floor of the apartment building come crashing down? the images as you can tell those people who are injured being loaded into ambulances. as we said the apartment building is a block away from the university of california berkeley. the call came in just after midnight in northern california of course. again firefighters and police have arrived on the scene. they are, of course now looking at what happened why did that balcony collapse and what were those students doing th

jacob rascon, nbc news, berkeley california. >>> some backlash over comments head by real are estate mogul donald trump when he announced he's running for president. he's the 12th high profile republican to enter the race. the billionaire said if elected he'll build a wall along the u.s.'s southern border. trump said pex cois sending drugs, crime and rapists into the country. >>> a tourist the in london learned the hard way the queen's guards yield for no one. this is the trooping the colors ceremony in st. james park. you can see the man with the camera watch this. totally unaware they were marching toward him. as the soldiers plow in you can hear them yell make way. lesson learned. be on your guard when the guards come marching in. >> kind of surprised they just mowed him down. >> a little zig zag would work. >> they said "make way". >> sheinelle, thank you very much. let's get the rest of the forecast from al this dallas. mr. roker? >> we have really strong winds here. i have big sean reese trying to hold this down. we have a tent to protect the cameras. it is blowing like crazy.

for "today," jacob rascon, nbc news, los angeles. >> we'll continue to follow the story. >>> meantime another big story, former house speaker dennis hastert due in federal cart in his alleged hush money case this week. this is a scanda >>> this is dividing the illinois town where he used to work as a high school teacher and wrestling coach as well. dave gutierrez is on this story, good morning. >> reporter: the mystery of what happened here at yorkville high school is deepening. as he prepares for court tomorrow, he is still not commenting, more former students are coming forward to defend him. he was once at the pinnacle of power, this morning, former house salespeopler dennis hastert is in hiding. the chief of staff isn't saying much about the former chief's indictment. >> i haven't worked for the man for nine years. >> reporter: today the question remains, who is individual a? the person he agreed to pay $3.5 million to conceal, pass misconduct? he's charged with trying to evade banking requirements and lying to the fbi. did you ever have any indication that any of this was going o

for "today" jacob rascon nbc news los angeles. >> we'll continue to follow the story. >>> former house speaker dennis hastert due in federal court in his alleged hush money case this week. this is a scandal that's dividing the illinois town are where with he used to work as a high school teacher and wrestling coach as well. gabe gutierrez is on the story. gabe good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the mystery over what happened here at yorkville high school decades ago is deepening. as he prepares for his first court appearance tomorrow hastert still isn't comment ing but his former students are coming forward to defend him. he was once at the pinnacle of power but former house speakerer dennis hastert is in hiding. his long time chief of staff isn't saying much about his former boss's indictment. >> i don't know anything about it. okay? i haven't worked for the man for nine year ares. >> reporter: today the question remains, who is individual a, the person the indictment alleges hastert agreed to pay $3.5 million to conceal past misconduct. he's charged with trying to evade banking

jacob rascon has the latest. what can you tell us? town for the summer on exchange visas and may have been trying to celebrate a birthday party. just after midnight, 13 people were on that balcony on the fourth floor of the apartment complex when it collapsed. four people were killed on impact. one person died and eight others injured, many critically. the u.s. ambassador said they were in town on the visa. those five killed were of irish decent and many injured may have been as well. building inspectors are working with investigators to determine what happened to the balcony, whether there were too many people on it at once or another issue with the building. that luxury apartment complex is one block away from the university of california berkeley. live in the news room, jacob rascon. back to you. >> thank you. a murder plot may have been part of the plan for escaped killers richard matt and david sweat as the manhunt in up state new york enters the 11th day. investigators are looking into whether joyce mitchell wanted the convicts

jacob rascon, nbc news, berkeley berkeley, california. >>> backlash after comments from donald trump when he announced he's running for president. the bill nar said if he's elected he'll build a war along the u.s. southern border and said mexico is sending drugs and crime and rapists into the country. the largest latino civil rights organization called trump an exceedingly silly man. >>> a tourist in london learned the hard way, the queen's guards yield for no one. this is from saint james park. you can see the man with the camera there. watch this. totally unaware a group of guards were marching toward him. as the soldiers plow into them, you can hear one of them yell, make way. be on your guard when the guards come marching in. >> oops. >> just mowed him down. >> i know. >> little zigzag would work. >> they said make way. >> thanks very much. let's get the rest of the country's forecast from al back down in dallas. mr. roker? >> reporter: i've got to tell you, it's still windy here. let's take a look. the weather looks pretty darn good out west. pacific northwest going to be gorgeo

jacob rascon nbc news los angeles. >> some good news there and we're happy for her. >>> let's go overlowing very closely. little leah still's battle against cancer. >> hoda's been following that battle very closely and she is close with the family. >> very close with that family. tomorrow marks one year since the stills first found out that leah had cancer. i had the chance to visit with her in the hospital on friday where she suffered a setback in treatment. the doctors are working hard to get her recovery back on track. >> reporter: just two months ago, the still family celebrated with leah as her dad announced a scan showed no results of any active disease in leah's body. >> the strength comes from your heart. my daughter has shown tremendous strength. >> reporter: with her spirits high and doctors giving the green light, devon surprised his daughter with a trip to disney world at the end of april. but on friday his social media account reflected a very different message. leah had hit a pretty serious complication. after 5-year-old leah was admitted to the hospital on may 5th she b

>> jacob rascone, thank you very much. >>> reports coming in this morning involving the indictment of man who died in 1995 has told news outlets her brother had a sexual relationship with hastert when he was still in high school. this is coming from reports by the associated press and abc news. nbc news has not yet independently verified this report. you'll remember hastert was a wrestling coach at a high school in illinois during the 1970s. we've made repeated attempts to get a comment from hastert. as of right now, we have been unsuccessful. >>> lots ahead on this busy friday edition of "the rundown"," marco rubio stumbling again over the issue of policy in iraq. and later, a big rise in new jobs added to the u.s. economy, but house speaker john boehner says we can do better. >>> also take a look at this a giant eight-foot alligator caused quite a stir down here in south florida. residents say the gator started going from door to door in a gated community. you know what this is the issue, he looks like he's slow he's big, he's heavy, but these things can go very fast if they wish. t

following developments in the case with nbc news correspondent jacob rascon.why police were called to the party in the first place? >> two series of phone calls into the police department. the first was about uninvited guests who apparently refused to leave. this was a community pool that was exclusive to a certain neighborhood. but which you could invite guests to. but the calls came in that there were way too many people dozens and dozens of them refusing to leave. and then moments later, police say they got another series of 911 calls about active fighting. we see some of that in separate video. two people who appear to be fighting. it's important to note that the video -- only shows so much. we don't know all that led up to the fighting. there are conflicting reports of who was invited and who was not and telling whom to leave and who was allowed and two series of calls about uninvited guests and active fighting. >> what about the officer we see in the video right now throwing the young girl on the ground. >> nbc news learned that the officer is a ten-year

nbc's jacob rascon has more on this story. good morning. >> reporter: savannah good morning. these otherwise safe and quiet communities have been rocked by this series of shootings. the fbi has now joined a task force promising unprecedented manpower and resources to catch the person or people responsible. >> he's bleeding uncontrollably on the side of the road. >> reporter: this morning the fbi local law enforcement are desperately searching for what they fear may be a serial shooter targeting northern colorado. >> help us look. keep your eyes open. pay attention in your neighborhoods. >> reporter: the first victim survived her attack shot in the neck in april. other drivers in the area reported shattered windows but no injuries. several weeks later jon jaycoby was shot. formed a task force and offered a reward. then on wednesday night, 65-year-old grandfather bill connole was gunned down while walking near his home. >> there is no positive link between this new investigation and the two other cases being investigated by the task force, but there is -- we have not been able