here is jacob ward >> reporter: this carport manufacturer had a problem.ichigan-based plant was suffering from a labor shortage. >> we are working a lot of overtime. people are working seven days a week at some of our plants because we don't have enough people to run the lines. >> reporter: so the head of hr went to her boss with a radical idea, quit screening applicants for marijuana use. >> it is legal people can, you know, use it there's medical benefits to it, so why penalize people that could be very, very good workers for their usage outside of work? >> reporter: as word got out, the applications rolled in the facility went from one application a week to six >> it is important to note that the quality of the candidate hasn't decreased by any means. we're continuing to receive qualified candidates, so it has been a really positive change for us. >> reporter: this isn't some one-off experiment across the country, companies are doing away with marijuana screening to expand the pool of potential applicants the nation's second-largest employer, amazon, le

jacob ward has a report from california. >> reporter: tonight, dozens of wildfires raging out of controlthree or four fires in the last month and it's scary. >> reporter: california, idaho, montana, washington, and oregon. the bootleg fire has burned more than 200,000 acres. now nearly seven times the size of san francisco. and drought conditions are making it worse. >> it's never been this low. it's unprecedented. >> reporter: lake mead is at its lowest levels since the 1930s. this week, officials will close this boat ramp in nevada. without enough water, vegetation dries out and becomes ready fuel. >> it's like a stocked fireplace. tinder packed, ready to go up. >> reporter: symptoms of climate change fueling the fires. this fire season is six weeks ahead of schedule. firefighters are preparing to not only fight fires overnight to avoid heat exhaustion in triple digit temperatures, they're trying to grapple with the new behavior of fire. walls of flame higher and moving faster than we've ever seen. >> and we thank jacob ward for that report from california tonight. >>> coming up, where

nbc's jacob ward has more on how officials are trying to tackle this massive threat. >> more than 80y scorching 1.2 million acres. scientists predict not just more fire this summer, but more dangerous fire because the fuel is so dry. >> dryer it is, the faster it can spread. he runs one of the top fire labs at san jose state university. his team measures plant moisture. >> in april we thought oh, this looks really bad and then may, still looking bad. june, oh, this is looking really bad and now in july it's the low of the we've measured. >> the difference between a fire that runs through moist vegetation like this and fire that runs through dry vegetation like this is the difference between a fire that the department might put out and one that might destroy a neighborhood. just beyond this dry fuel new houses are going in right where they can burn. >> knowing what you know, would you live here? >> no. this is very dangerous. >> this is when the skies turn orange. >> he builds complex simulations to help predict fire behavior as the west faces a new kind of danger. >> it's affecting u

nbc news correspondent jacob ward has our report from california. >> tonight dozens of wildfires ragingfor fires already, in the last month. it's getting scary. >> 2 million people have red flags warning, california, idaho, montana washington and oregon. the fires is the mega fire of 2021, it's burned more than 200,000 acres. doubling in size, for four straight days. nearly seven times the size of san francisco. drought conditions in 94% of the west are making it worse. >> it has never been this low, it is unprecedented. >> lake mead only a third full is lower than it's been since the 1930s. it's one of several depleted reservoirs across the southwest. >> climate change has a strong fingerprint on what we're seeing right now in lake mead. >> this weekend they want to close this boat ramp on the nevada side saying lowell water levels and danger to voters. without enough water, vegetation dries out and becomes fuel. >> it's like a stock fireplace, tender patch ready to go up. >> symptoms of climate change, fueling the fires, this fire season is about six weeks ahead of schedule. outbreaks

with how business owners are now responding, here is jacob ward >> in california, a pack of thieves flees with armfuls of stolen merchandise, security tags still attached. in washington, a coordinated attack on store shelves. in new york, another group strikes. >> turn around on your face. >> this isn't just shoplifting >> this isn't candy bars this is hundreds of dollars of merchandise. >> yes, but we're really seeing the growth of organized retail crime. they prey on vulnerable folks. they'll go to a juvenile, a homeless person. they'll say here's $100, here's a list of things we need you to go in and steal. >> criminals often resell stolen goods online or return them for gift cards in san francisco, we filmed thim open market where stolen items are offered up every morning a report found $700,000 per billion in sales is lost to theft. less than a tenth doesn't sound like much, but when some items are sold at cost just to bring customers in, it's a big number. if you're a national retailer facing a shoplifting epidemic, what do you do in san francisco, six target stores are going to try

threatened our customers are feeling threatened and we really don't want that to happen >> reporter: jacob ward, nbc news, san francisco. >>> when we come back. the man driven to help his community one free car at a time. >> one of the quickest things is checking this out >>> there is good news tonight about serving those in need and the small-town restaurant owner driving real change in his community by putting people back behind the steering wheel elliot middleton's barbecue ribs are famous in the small town in south carolina. >> can you check outside for one slab of rib >> reporter: he is the chef and co-owner of middleton and maker restaurant, just north of charleston. but he is also a trained mechanic >> i wake up with energy i wake up with this drive to just -- to just do. >> reporter: and he spends his days off fixing and donating cars for people in need a critical calling in a rural town with few options. >> no ubers, no taxis, no bus services or anything like that around the area. you need to go to the grocery store, you need to go to doctor's appointments you need to go to a pharmacis

. >> reporter: jacob ward, nbc news, ventura, california. >>> just ahead tonight, the world class dancersinging the beauty of ballet to communities across the country. was knocking me out of my zone, but lowering my a1c with once-weekly ozempic® helped me get back in it. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic® ♪ my zone? lowering my a1c and losing some weight. now, back to the show. ozempic® is proven to lower a1c. most people who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. and you may lose weight. adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increa

jacob ward, nbc news, howell, michigan. >> and coming up tonight, late word from a spokeswoman for texasovernor greg abbott, or is she? we will let you be the judge. u be the judge age before beauty? why not both? visibly diminish wrinkled skin in... crepe corrector lotion... only from gold bond. [♪♪] are you constantly cleaning and sanitizing your bathroom? for an easy solution that lasts, try microban24 bathroom cleaner. simply spray and wipe away to easily dissolve soap scum, and kill 99.9% of viruses and bacteria initially. then reapply and allow to dry on tile to prevent mold and mildew growth for 7 days, or on countertop surfaces to keep killing bacteria for up to 24 hours. try microban24 bathroom cleaner. brand power. helping you buy better. do you struggle to fall asleep and stay asleep? qunol sleep formula combines 5 key nutrients that can help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and wake up refreshed. the brand i trust is qunol. >> once they step back into the state of texas that will be arrested and brought to the texas capital and we will be conducting business. >> la

facebook itself, and now we are joined outside of facebook headquarters in melo, california, with jacob wardthe company found to be good for the bottom line and yet worrying for the not being good for world in general. over and over again in silicon valley, you know it is an engineering culture and data is going to win the argument, and that is a favorite phrase famous at facebook, but in the case of face:00 boo, it is actually running an experiment at one point that showed that people were less engaged when they saw more uplifting news, but actually more engaged when they saw quote, unquote news that was bad for the world. so we asked facebook and the representatives of facebook about the tension within the company. this is what they said. >> in order to keep being profitable, they need you to keep being on facebook, and if that is more news that is bad, that is what they will show you. >> it is not in facebook's standpoint from the representational or financial standpoint to push the users to negative content. >> people are complaining about how divisive the world has become, and does face

our report on that tonight from nbc news correspondent, jacob ward. >> reporter: car part manufacturerfering from a labor shortage. >> they were working a lot of overtime, people working seven days a week in the plants because we don't have enough people to run the lines. >> reporter: the head of hr went to her boss with a radical idea. quitin applicants from marijuana. >> people can use it, there's medical benefits to it why penalize them for usage outside of work. >> reporter: as word got out, the applicants rolled in. >> the quality of the candidate has not decreased, we are continuing to receive qualified candidates. so it's been a positive change for us. >> reporter: this is not some one off experiment, across the country, companies are doing away with marijuana screening to expand the pool of potential applicants. the nation's second largest employeer, amazon, they stopped screening for weed usage last month. 19 states have legalized recreational marijuana and each have different employee protections. weed is legal in these states but employees can be fired for using it outside o

jacob ward in tahoe city, california. jake, one thing to deal with heat if you can go inside and get relief in air conditioning. if you don't have power, people are going to die. >> reporter: that's absolutely right, stephanie. you know, i am standing in a beautiful scene, and today, the high is projected to top 88 degrees. that sounds like a pleasant temperature. trouble is, i am on lake tahoe. this is a place like so many where human beings go to get away from the heat. here in california, it seems we will not be escaping it today. power is the big danger. just about an hour north of me currently rages bootleg fire which is at this point out of control, a fair phrase to use. as a result, one of the most important infrastructure pieces in california is under threat, and that is our electrical connection to oregon, what's called the coi, california oregon interchange. it is a spinal column of electrical supply that runs down through oregon, through california, providing power not just to where i am standing but down towar

joining us is nbc's jacob ward.ons seem to be making things worse. what have they told you and how are they trying to protect the power grid there? >> reporter: that's right, jeff. just north of where we are standing is a pair of fires, one of which is burning out of control inside california and then the bootleg fire in oregon threatening the electrical supply to california. that is because of a linkage that forms sort of a central nervous system of infrastructure up and down the west coast. it begins in oregon and runs all the way down toward southern california. it's called the california/oregon interchange. it is a sort of interdependent arrangement. it is absolutely under threat by fire at the moment. when you listen to officials describe the kind of flames they're seeing, it's pretty disturbing. >> the difference here is the super drought. so fire is doing erratic behavior and really just extreme fire behavior. normally we see fire behavior like this in these big fires not until august or september. you know,

. >> nbc's technology correspondent jacob ward got an exclusive look inside the book he sat down withany that they say is bent on growth at all costs and a company that has ignored years of warnings that what it has built is divisive and even dangerous. to its nearly 3 billion users, facebook's mantra is to connect people but a new book suggests the truth is much more ugly. >> what is an ugly truth about facebook >> in order to keep growing in the way that facebook has grown, people are going to continue to get hurt >> these award winning investigative reporters for "the new york times" in their new book tell the inside story o facebook between the 2016 and 2020 elections >> we had over 400 people, mostly employees currently there or who have left who have confided in us what they think are very, very troubling patterns within the company. >> reporter: they say most of their sources. >> reporter: anonymous because they feared retribution from facebook and they say the founder, mark zuckerberg, believed in growth at any cost. take donald trump, whose inflammatory speech and false claim

attention of former president jacob zoom as turned into protests against poverty and inequality. hundreds of protesters have gathered in iraq. the city after a fire at a corona virus ward killed 90. 2 people. the prime minister is promising accountability. it's the 2nd time in 3 months that a fire has torn through a hospital in the country. and us president joe biden has called the fire who the voting rights, the pests of our time, and the queues republican lawmakers of attempting to subvert the electoral process . several democratic politicians from texas and left the state to try to stop a senate vote that could prevent americans from casting violence. the cuban interior ministry says one person died, an anti government protest on monday. police have been out in force after the demonstrations began on sunday with cuba president accusing the us and cuban americans of spurring on the protests. a u. k based rights group says cuba has restricted access to social media and messaging apps. there have been protests in the occupied with bank after israel denied a request by jailed palestinian activist the gerard to attend her daughter's funeral. the demonstrators gathered ou

fire at a cove at 19 isolation ward in a hospital in iraq, south africa, the president ordered in the army to deal with violence and writing the jailing of for monday to jacobs. irma, dozens of people arrested during cuba is biggest protests and decades. as the president playing us for the countries of ah, rebel forces into grow, say they've seized a major town and a new offensive. and a few of you. a rebel spokesman says the town of riah was taken off, the federal and horror of forces withdrew. it's the most intense fighting scene since rebels took the main city of mikaela in june of the conflict began 8 months ago between european government forces and the 2 growing people's liberation front . catherine soy has more now from her mirror in the tig region. well what we're hearing is that the 2 great defense forces on making. 1 this halls and. 1 we're told re to a town called korean. it's not clear whether they are in full control of a lack of that's what. 5 counts right, we have seen you very difficult to verify and dependently this video because communication is still down in many parts of the grove. we have seen video of what appears to be in forces and sp

a fire at a cove at 19 isolation ward in the hospital in iraq, south africa, the president orders in the army to deal with violence and writing off the jailing of jacob, dozens of people arrested your cuban biggest protest the decades president plains, the us, the country's problems, ah, rebel both is integral. i say that thieves a major town and a new offensive in ethiopia. a rebel spokesman says, the town of riah has been taken off the federal and her forces relative. it's the most intense fighting since they took the main city of mckayla in june, rebels, so fighting is also taking place in western areas of to cry. the conflict began 8 months ago between central government forces, cynthia, to grow people's liberation front. we will bring you more on that story as it comes to hand or rocky president by hom, sala is blaming corruption for a hospital father killed at least 63 people. he's promising accountability after the place at a corona virus. isolation was in april, a similar incident led to widespread protests. coffee coffee loop has hold up with this report. the license bodies cover the 4 of his hospital board in the iraqi city of no cd. most o

ward and a hospital in iraq. south africa's president orders in the army to deal with violence and writing off to the jailing of formerly to jacob zoom up dozens of people arrested during cubans. biggest protest to decades, the president blames the us, the country's problems. ah, the rebel forces integral. i say the seas, the major town and a new offensive in ethiopia, a rebel spokesman says the town of ryan was taken off the federal and her forces withdrew. it's the most intense fighting scene since rebels took the main city of mckenna in june. a conflict began 8 months ago between europe and government forces and the 2 gripe people's liberation front, katherine sawyer has more from whom era in the to grow region. well, what we're hearing is that the 2 great defense forces on making. 1 this halls and. 1 we're told re to a town called korean. it's not clear whether they are in control of a lack of the. 5 calendar, right, we have seen you very difficult to verify and dependently this video because communication is still in many pas drive. we have seen video of what appears to be in forces and special forces withdrawing from that.

ward in southern iraq, fires now under control in the city of necessary. so that because army has been deployed after protest triggered by the training of former president jacob zoom a term violent, at least 6 people have been killed and hummed, arrested. and dozens of texas democrats have left the state to prevent new voting restrictions from being passed at the latest escalation in a battle with republicans abuse them. majorities in state capital to introduce measures making it harder to vote. but president jo biden's, due to deliver a major address on protecting voting rights. later on tuesday, he's been under pressure from some within his own party to do more to counter restrictions introduced and republican control states. white house correspondent, kimberly how get report. it's a white house under increasing pressure to act, expanding the right to vote. the access of people across the country to vote is going to be a fight of his presidency. last month. us president joe biden tasked his vice president, comma le harris with counter republican efforts to restrict the voting rights of some americans. republicans allege the 2020 presidential election was ri

ward in southern iraq. the fires now under control entity of nasiriyah. so africa military has been deployed up to protest, triggered by the jailing of former president, jacob's too much on violet. at least 6 people have been killed and hundreds arrested. to be president is blaming outside forces us sanctions for promoting the biggest anti government protests in 3 decades as anger over worsening economic crisis on the government handling of appendix england will lift almost all corona virus restrictions from next monday, despite the number of cases across the u k rising to its highest level in months. the prime minister barak johnson says it's the right time to do it, but is urging caution. jolly angela reports the so called freedom day for england is going ahead as planned on july 19th, bringing freedom from legal restriction, but not from covered $900.00 cases which are on the rise. the 5 minutes. subarus johnson is rebranding the moment, asking people to move forward with caution. not rhetoric. this disease creative iris continues to carry risks for you and your family. we cannot simply revert instantly from monday the 19th of july to life as it was before

ward. several local officials have been suspended and arrested. in april, a similar incident led to widespread protests, violence and looting, a continuing, and parts of south africa, the form of president jacob's uhm was jailed for 15 months. at least 10 people have been killed and hundreds arrested. them, it is in prison after he had been found guilty of contempt of court. maneesha is enduring, its worst wave of groan of are so far, averaging about 9000 new cases in the past 5 days, hospitals are overwhelmed from medical work is a, there is a shortage of vital equipment, including oxygen, ventilation. the surgeon infections is being blamed on the delta variance. indonesia is also in the grip of a worsening outbreak with a record $40000.00 new infections reported on monday. people are still having problems getting oxygen and medication is hard to come by. to spain, most popular tourist regions rolling out new measures to rein in growing corona virus cases. catalonia is limited private and public gatherings to 10 people. while in valencia, a curfew is being imposed. the headlines, the news will continue here on al jazeera and off the inside story. see then, i started cheerfully in front of the