>> jacob rascon, thanks. >>> ben carson is facing new questions about his friendship with a convicted felon. carson has taken a hard line on health care fraud, yet as chris jansing explains, he fought to keep his friend from going to prison for that very same offense. >> reporter: ben carson calls alfonso costa his very best friend. he is a driving force behind carson's charity, owner of a resort where carson vacations, but also a convicted felon. working out of this office as an oral surgeon, costa pled guilty in 2008 scamming more than $40,000 from insurance companies. nbc spoke exclusively to the prosecutor today. >> he caused the insurance companies to finance the expansion of his business. >> reporter: as first reported by the associated press, in a bid for leniency, ben carson wrote a letter to the judge saying next to my wife of 32 years, there is no one on this planet i trust more. he testified at costa's sentencing. they became friends because our value systems were almost identical, adding, i love him. >> fraud is fraud. dr. costa pleaded guilty to fraud. >> reporter: costa

but the place jacob rascon takes us to is where glamour meets grime. and now like the artifacts inside it is being sold off or destroyed piece by piec >> reporte they say one persos tsh i another' treasure inhis se, iis also a living. >> we hang on to things just like this because it is so odd-ball. >> nathan's junk yard, 26 acres in the heart of los angeles, it a field of dreams for anyone with a clunker. and for hollywood. the back drop for hundreds of commercials and music videos, tv shows and movies. >> without a doubt, the coolest thing here is the shark from jaws. junk yard jaws. also known as bruce. >> reporter: there is a jeep from the 1967 arab-israeli war. and an l.a. county far from the 1950s. >> these are hard to come by. >> for nathan, it is personal. >> this yard, i grew up here. >> reporter: it has been the family since 1962. but now nathan has decided to close the yard and sell everything. >> having a lot of stuff wds up owng you, as opposed to you owning it. >> reporter: even the treasure has to go. take this double-decker bus from bri

nbc's jacob rascon has more. >> reporter: it is the winter formal. the popular dance now shutdown. the school administration says the gym looks more like a nightclub. >> if the kids are doing something on the dance floor, that's completely inappropriate they would not do in front of their parents, they should not do it on the high school dance. >> reporter: some call it grinding and twerking. made popular at award shows like this one. and some were in maine and colorado and vermont. at cleveland high school and elsewhere, when the students ignored the dance rules. future dances were canceled. >> it is not everybody's fault. it is not our fault they do that. the dance shouldn't be canceled for everybody. >> reporter: the district spokesperson says it is a matter of keeping students safe and comfortable. >> this is way worse than "dirty dancing." this is over the top and sexual in nature and inappropriate. >> reporter: the move reminds some of "footloose." an oklahoma town where dancing was forbidden until 1980. everybody cut footloose >> reporter: cleveland high says it is the stude

for "today," jacob rascon, nbc news, los angeles. >> michael b. jordan had to get ripped for that. >> it paid off for all of us who get to watch it. there is no official talk of a sequel at this point. michael b. jordan said he'd be interested in stepping back into the ring. >> there will be a sequel. >>> final check of the forecast? >> much colder up here this morning. as everyone is getting ready to go home, it'll be chilly on the east and west coast. look at the fact we have freeze advisories out in california. temperatures only in the 30s and 40s. you go farther to the north, 20s and 30s. this is very much below average, with highs today certainly on the cold side. running 5 to 15 degrees below average for highs. elsewhere across the country, we're looking at still icy conditions back through the plains. rain through texas and into parts of the midwest. another storm system getting its act together through the rockies. spreads to the upper >> that's your latest forecast. >> dylan, thanks. >>> up next, our sunday story. uniting audiences throug

jacob rascon has more on reed"'s knockout success.s. about "creed," apparently the best "rococ" movie since the original. rocky balboa battled apollo creed, beating him in the sequ sequial. fighting with him and then defending him. in the latest installment, apollo's son is played by michael b. jordan. >> when we were doing scenes on the street, all the people, "rocky, hey, rocky!" >> reporter: "creed," a small-budget film with modest expectations i i more than a spinoff. >> you have a new african-american lead in the role. you have a new director. it's a fresh start for the franchise. "rocky" not written or directed by sylvester stallone. the new director had to o nvince stallone to sign up. >> this is his create and he's directed it in his own way. >> i wanted this relationship to be simpymbiotic. both of the characters are in need. >> reporter: the classic underdog sportsstory for a new generation. already, talk of a sequel and an oscar nod for stallone, who hasn't been nominated since the 1976 otherwise. "creed" said to be a knockou

nbc's jacob rascon has details? >>> after two months of anger and unrest on campus an announcement that's stunning. >> i'm resigning from the university system. >> and hours later the chancellor announced he will be stepping down. this semester has been plagued with the racial attention. >> i'm glad something has finally been done? >> in september a group of white students shouted the "n" word at him. >> someone screams the "n" word autoanother me again. >> others reported a skast kah on a dorm wall. and the university's response was lacking. even infuriating, they said.a d. and the university's response was lacking. even infuriating, they said. they could hardly believe the news. enough to bring some to tears. enough for protest leader jonathan butler to end his hunger strike after eight days. >> our humanity is worth fighting for and that is what we're saying in this moment. that we're worth fighting. >> the anger is fueled by racial attention across the country. including last year's riots in ferguson less nan tw

but as our jacob rascon reports, it is only one place where racial tensions are boiling over. >> reporter: the team is back on the field, after a day of change, many protesters vowed was only the beginning. >> we do have power. it's a few individuals on our team, look what it becomes. >> amid the excitement over the resignation of the president dan chancellor, protesters were seen shoving a freelance photographer. >> i have a job for you. i'm documenting this. >> reporter: the professor seen in the video may lose her job. >> why not? >> reporter: the missouri conversation is a tale of two americans. university of missouri, you embarrassed me this week, writes one man. >> the demographics of the country are changing. pretty soon this will no longer be a majority white country, that is making a lot of people very nervous, very angry. >> reporter: universities around the country have been plagued with racial tension this year, video of a university of oklahoma fraternity singing a racist song went viral. there were protests at duke after a student hung a noose from a tree. another student in

our jacob rascon has more from the increasingly empty-looking campus. >> reporter: a cloud of confusion and fear now overshadowed the university of missouri. after police arrested 19-year-old hunter park on a charge of making terrorist threats. allegedly posting on the social media site yik yak, i'm going to stand my ground tomorrow and shoot every black person i see. adding don't go to campus tomorrow and we will kill you. some students started packing their bags. >> i think people are terrified. i honestly think people are thinking of of another ferguson. >> reporter: adding to hysteria, a white student heard ridiculing black students. online the story took on a life of its own. rumors that the kkk had descended on campus. but the rumors proved false. the student body president apologized for unknowingly spreading misinformation. many professors canceled class. police out in force as worried parents called students to rush home. >> come on. >> it is super crazy. the thought of a peaceful protest and now there is all of this backlash. >> i can't believe this is happening here. >> repor

nbc's jacob rascon tells us more. >> reporter: after two months of anger and unrest on campus, an announcement as sudden as it was stunning. >> i'm resigning as president of the university of missouri system. >> reporter: and hours later the chancellor announced he is stepping down at the end of the year. students say this semester has been plagued with incidents of racial harassment. >> i think there has been a lot of racial tensions and i'm glad that something has finally been done. >> reporter: in september, the black student body president said a group of white students had shouted the n-word at him. other students reported a swastika left on a dorm wall. and the university's response was lacking, even infuriating, they said. [ chanting ] >> reporter: they could hardly believe the news. enough to bring some to tears. and after protest leader jonathan butler to end his hunger strike after eight days, appearing weak and unsteady. >> our humanity is worth fighting for and that is what we're seeing in this moment. >> reporter: they celebrate not because it is the end of a journey, but they hop

nbc's jacob rascon has details. >> reporter: after two months of anger and unrest on campus, an announcement as sudden as it was stunning. >> i'm resigning as president of the university of missouri system. >> reporter: and hours later, the chancellor announced he will be stepping down at the end of the year. students say this semester has been plagued with incidents of racial harassment. >> i think there's been a lot of racial tensions, and i'm glad that something has finally been done. >> reporter: in september, the black student body president said a group of white students had shouted the "n" word at him. >> i'm walking down the street and someone slings the "n" word out at me again. >> reporter: other students reported a swastika left on a dorm wall. and the university's response was lacking, even infuriating, they said. they could hardly believe the news. enough to bring some to tears. enough for protest leader jonathan butler to end his hunger strike after eight days. appearing weak, and unsteady. >> our humanity is worth fighting for, that's what we're saying in this moment that we'r

nbc's jacob rascon has more on how it came to this point. >> reporter: after two months of anger and unrest on campus, an announcement as sudden as it was stunning. >> i'm resigning as president of the university of missouri system. >> reporter: and hours later, the chancellor announced he will be stepping down at the end of the year. students say this semester has been plagued with incidents of racial harassment. >> i think there's been a lot of racial tensions, and i'm glad that something has finally been done. >> reporter: in september, the black student body president said a group of white students had shouted the "n" word at him. >> i'm walking down the street and someone screams the "n" word out at me again. >> reporter: other students reported a swastika left on a dorm wall. and the university's response was lacking. even infuriating, they said. they could hardly believe the news. enough to bring some to tears. enough for protest leader jonathan butler to end his hunger strike after eight days. appearing weak, and unsteady. >> our humanity is worth fighting for. that's what we

jacob rascon has the story on what happened leading up to his controversial resignation. while the mizzou tigers lost this weekend... they're larger battle off the field. the team standing with many of their fellow students...faculty... even lawmakers from both parties... demanding university president tim wolfe resign or be fired. the tigers head coach tweeting this photo of the team and coaching staff with the caption: "we are united. we are behind our players." a tipping point in a movement vowing to protest... walk out... and in one student's case.... not eat... until wolfe is gone. the anger stems from alleged acts of racism on campus in recent months... and what many say is wolfe's woefully inadequate response. black students, including the student body president, say they have faced repeated shouts of the "n" word... and last month, a swastika smeared in human feces on a dorm building wall... when the group "concerned student 1950" - named after the year university - called on the he appeared apathetic. "what do you say systematic oppression is?" and another confro

>> jacob rascon in denver. happy thanksgiving to you. >>> al is keeping an eye on the storm from the starting line of the macy's thanksgiving day parade. good morningng happy ththksgiving, buddy. >> you, too, guys. beautiful day here, sunny and in the 40s. on the radar, we are looking at itself up. it's bringing ice, rain, and snow. here's the travel troubles we're looking at. starting with today, a day that used to be kind of quiet as far as travel is concerned, now it is aay where everybody iout there. denver, colorado, we're looking at freezing drizzle, snow, and frigid cold. dallas and houston, texas, stormy, developing thunderstorms, heavy rain, and strong winds. as we get on the roads on i-35, from kansas city to dallas, storms, soaking rains going up to minneapolis. low visibility. chicago, it'll be rainy, showers and flooding possible. friday here's what we've got. more showers in the midwest. we're also looking at heavier showers and thunderstorms. look for snow making its way from oklahoma city to alb

and as jacob rascon reports, mizzou is just one of several mpuses where cial tensions are oiling over. the football team credited with sacking its president is headed back to the field. after we have provedlose football players have power amid the excitement over the resignation of the president and chancellorr proteeers were seen shoving a freelance photographer... [i'm just trying to do my job - y you need to get out of here] now the journalism professor seen in the video may on social media, the political correct to the extreme - dr ed dorn teaches civil years of white privilege as it some people very angry very uncomfortable, very nervous" universities around the country have been plagued with racial incidents this year. video of a university of oklahoma fraternity singing a racist song went viral... ere were protests at duke a ater a student hung a noose from a tree... another student in mississippi hung a noose around a statute of the school's first black student... hundreds prrtested at ucla after students wore blackface to a party... protesters saying, because of you guys at u

and as jacob rascon reports, mizzou is just one of several the football team credited withacking its president is headed back to the field. we have provedlose football players have power amid the excitement protesters were seen shoving a freelance photographer... [i'm just trying to do my professor seen in the video may lose her job... too. nats: on social media, the missouri conversation is a tale of two americass university of missooi, you embarrassed me this week political correct to the extreme - dr ed dorn teaches civil rights history at the university of texas6 "we are a nation that spent 200 years of white privilege as it were, that form of privilege is beginning to erode, that makes country have be plagued with racial incidents this year. video offa universityyof there e ere protests at duke after a student hung a noose from a tree... another student in mississippi hung a noose around a statute of the school's first black student... hundreds protested at ucla after students wore blackface to a arty... and at yale, protests have erupted after weeks of racial tension.... the mi