>> all right jesse kirsch with some new reporting tonight. jesse, we thank you. >>> still to come, the new beginnings in uvalde the challenges and changes ahead for students going back to school tomorrow. >>> welcome back school starts tomorrow in uvalde, texas and with it big changes for students the community is still reeling from the mass shooting in may that claimed the lives of 21 at robb elementary. and while there are fears as the school year begins, there's also hope. morgan chesky is there. >> reporter: in uvalde flowers cover the names on crosses that have long since been memorized 21 lives lost in a town fighting for a better future when its elementary school doors open tomorrow. >> it's hard to stay but i really want them to go back i'm scared for them to go to school >> reporter: monica arriola feels stuck. on may 24th her son jeremy was inside robb elementary and heard the gunfire that killed two of his cousins and best friend, jose flores jr with his old school now being torn down, the 10-year-old admits counseling has helped bu

that's where nbc news correspondent jesse kirsch is right now.latest. has hurricane ian reached orlando? >> yeah, alicia, i'm sure you can hear it, the rain is pattering on top of us right now. this is some of the heaviest straight down fall that we have seen throughout the hours that we have been here in orlando. we are expecting as much as 30 inches of rain in some localized areas around here. and there's a flash flood warning in effect in this area for about another hour. so, that may be extended. we will be keeping an eye out for that. but certainly the rate is still kobe in droves. it's also draining off the side 's property where we are at right now. and yet it continues to pour into what should be a pulled a. o by the time just overflowed into one giant who will. and we checked in with you in the last hour. for people who saw that report as well you might notice that the water level is creeping upwards. so frankly, i don't know how much longer this location is going to be tenable for us. the water continues to choke inward. i checked the f

jesse kirsch.ant to bring in lieutenant general russel honore', the former commander of the joint tax force for hurricane katrina. he is a great american, a true patriot. i am honored that he is with us tonight. when we have storms like this, you are always the first man we call. help us understand, what kind of support through these communities need right now? >> right now, they will need support for people to help take care of their families. the first responders going out now, i heard earlier today, people at the state headquarters, set civilian stay out of the way but most of the people that will be saved at first flight in the morning will be said by neighbor's. that's an organic thing that will always happen, stephanie. so, first flight, neighbors will start up a neighbor's, as the water starts to recede, and as the winds go down because as good as the government is, they can't get everybody that needs to be rescued in that first 12 hours florida, because of the unknown demographics, probably

jesse kirsch is follow thing story. what do we know so far about the suspect and the investigation? yeah, about where i'm standing right now is the last place that police say that eliza fletcher was seen. that was early friday morning. authorities saying that she was on a morning jog, and according to an affidavit, a court document, she was on her run around here, and an suv drove past, then stopped, waited for her to continue past the suv, and authorities say at that point, that's when the suspect got out of the suv, aggressively approached her, and there was a violent abduction according to this court document. we are told that the suspect, 38-year-old cleotha abston, is staged -- charged with kidnapping and tampering with evidence. police are confirming to nbc news this same man pled guilty more than 20 years ago in a separate kidnapping case. he's being held on a $500,000 bond. we expect him to be making his first appearance before a judge tomorrow morning. as that unfolds, police continue searching for eliza fletcher. something that's notable beyond the fact that there is this

in some places like orlando with where they spent the day evacuating people from flood waters jesse kirsch is live in orlando for us tonight jesse. >> reporter: shep, you can see behind me, this community is still flooded out. officials say right here, they had to make around 30 rescues earlier. the biggest concern in orlando was the rainfall how much water was going to one in that it would run out of places to go we have seen that become to be a reality here officials say at this hour, we're still looking at more than 100,000 people in this county without power. thankfully, it is cool out tonight, which means people aren't going to be missing air conditioning necessarily as much as they might have if it was hotter in the aftermath of this storm. we are more than 100 miles from where hurricane ian first made landfall in the united states, and we were seeing powerful wind gusts and heavy rainfall even hours before the storm made it to this area that speaks to the severity of this storm, even outside of its direct path. obviously, it's now continuing its trek up the east coast we know there

jesse kirsch, stay safe. we'll talk to you soon. we'll be having briefings from local officials. joining us now, ceo of disaster recovery institute. chloe, thank you for being here. so we're seeing the pictures here. >> it will be days or weeks for these communities to recover. what should happen now in the crucial first hours? one of the big problems with hurricanes is there is too much water in all the wrong places. in this particular storm, you have torrential rainfall as well as the storm surge. to you have it coming from all sides. then you have the winds that have created all kinds of issues. so you have to survey, do the life safety piece and then try to restore systems as best as possible. so there is lots of players involved in that. the state and local governments are there on the scene doing their job. all of the utility companies, the federal government is going to step in. they're prepared to offer the support with the disaster declaration and all of those things. this is a key part of it that doesn't get covered very much. the businesses on site in that area have be

. >>> let's bring in jesse kirsch in orlando. you are aware of where the storm is headed.t is happening where you are. >> reporter: a perfectly timed wind gust coming through right now, joy. we got what is really just stronger bands of wind and rain coming through sporadically. it has definitely deteriorated here throughout the afternoon into the evening. what i want to stress is what you're seeing right now are just the northern bands of ian. we're still hours away from the worst impact of this storm here in the orlando area. but already officials have made it clear they don't people driving on the roads. they said the time for that was before 2:00 p.m. at this point people should be where they are going to be riding out the storm. the biggest threat here appears to be the rainfall. we're going to see wind gusts around 90 miles per hour potentially. but the bigger concern is the potential for measure -- more than two feet of rain. that could contribute to flash flooding as ian continues to crawl across florida. we have more strong winds coming through. it's been sporadic

nbc's jesse kirsch is in orlando. jesse, what are you seeing? >> yesterday when you and i spoke, we were looking at massive downpours behind me. all that water has to go somewhere. and this is one of the places it ended up. this is a neighborhood in orlando. these are homes, and you can see that many of them are currently at least partially submerged. we're going to push in on a basketball hoop out there because that's an easy reference point for highlight. we know the rim of a basketball hoop is ten feet tall. we don't know if that's regulation, but you can figure that's around ten feet up and you can see the basketball hoop, the beam is at least partially submerged in these waters. officials say in this community alone, they made around 30 rescues. this is one of the communities that includes mobile homes, and that is one of the types of homes officials were most concerned about yesterday. that's one group of people that officials had really been stressing, they should be making their way to hardened shelters to ride out the storm, so obviousl

nbc's jesse kirsch has more from memphis. >> reporter: from the skies and on foot, police scouring thisissing for more than three days. and this morning, even after arresting the alleged captor, police say the suspect won't tell them where to find the missing mother of two. >> more than anything, we want to see liza returned home safely. >> reporter: as investigators combed the city for any trace of the teacher, the 34-year-old's family sharing this video over the weekend, her husband, visibly emotional. >> she's touched the hearts of many people, and it shows. >> reporter: fletcher is the granddaughter of a local hardware store magnate, and the family is well known in the area. she was on her morning jog friday when 38-year-old cleotha abston got out of this suv, ran aggressively towards fletcher and forced her into the vehicle, driving away. hours later, the affidavit says two witnesses reported seeing the suspect washing his clothes in a sink and cleaning the inside of the car with floor cleaner, acting very strange. police say dna from sandals left after the abduction scene matched

nbc's jesse kirsch in orlando where many people are still flooded out of their homes. >> reporter: tonighttretches from coast to coast. in orlando emergency evacuations continued into this morning. people were carried to boats outside of their nursing home and shuttled to safety with many still in their wheelchairs >> is there anybody in there >> reporter: video just released showing sheriff's deputies using rope to form a human chain and rescue a woman whose car was swept away by strong currents. today more than 100 miles from landfill entire florida communities remain underwater. residents are navigating some streets by boat. in this orlando neighborhood even though it hasn't rained all day, the streets are still submerged as residents return to see what's left. >> it was like the entire world came crashing down on us we worked hard to have it and now it's gone. >> reporter: angela, sara and meredith are grateful to be alive. that's their home. do you think there's any chance you could still live there >> no. >> when the water is gone it will take so much land with it it won't be safe. >

jesse kirsch was there. >> reporter: more than four days after eliza fletcher vanished tonight the desperate seven for the memphis mother of two ending this tragedy police finding fletcher's body late monday behind an empty home roughly half a mile from where court documents say her alleged killer tried to cover up the crime. standing before a judge this morning, 38-year-old cleotha abston faced multiple charges, including especially aggravated kidnapping tomorrow he will be arraigned on two more charges, including first-degree murder. he has not yet entered a plea. >> while the outcome of this investigation is not what we hoped for, we are nonetheless pleased to remove this dangerous predator off the streets of memphis. >> reporter: authorities say abston abducted the 34-year-old teacher on her morning run frifriday forced her into this suv and killed someone he did not know. >> to lose someone so young and so vital is a tragedy in and of itself in this way with a senseless act of violence is unimaginable. >> reporter: evidence eventually leading to abston as fletcher remained missing did t

jesse kirsch is joining me from orlando. good to talk to you. how is orlando?own trees all over. we haven't run into as many issues on flooding on roads as we did yesterday and more good news from officials late this morning, more people are getting power restored which is huge because yesterday it was cool out. it's getting sunny and warm out here. so you can imagine people are going to be relying more on the air-conditioning. all of that said, there are still communities underwater and this is one of them. this is expected to be one of the harder-hit areas. and our photographer is pushing in on a basketball hoop out there. the orange part of the hoop should be around 10-feet high if it's a regulation hoop. you can see that going up the beam there, there is still a good amount of water. i can see by looking at the water line that the water is receding somewhat. but, again, this neighborhood is still essentially a lake at this point. in general, when we cover floods, you do not want to be seeing people trying to go inside, though, we do sometimes see people try

. >> jesse kirsch, as you said, two feet of rain.st take a moment and process what that means, with that looks like. jesse kirsch, in orlando, florida. thank you and stay safe. join us now for the state representative michelle rainier and florida state senator -- thank you both so much for being with us. representative crews, i want to bring in with you. bring us up to speed on how your constituents are faring after. facing the strongest hurricane in state history. >> i think that many of us will agree when folks are speaking about the bullets that we didn't just thoughts about what we -- grenade here. we are still seeing some bullets in our area. and we have areas that are experiencing flooding and the widespread power outages. and tampa police department is stretching stressing the importance of staying off the roads. we know that power lines will be down and that trees are down. and unstable limbs are hanging from trees. tampa police department just recently put some footage out of traffic lights crashing to the ground. so, they a

here's nbc's jesse kirsch. >> as july's waters went through eastern kentucky, willie says the watershad to be torn down. >> where we're standing, this used to be your home. >> this used to be my house. >> completely gone now. >> gone. >> miles away james and karen dean say they escaped to their barn's loft as water engulfed their house. >> if the barn had washed away, i don't know if i would saved it couldn't have but i would have because you got to be determined >> now they all tell us they're starting off with less financial help than they'd want. >> even though he lived this close to water for years, willie bush says he never thought about getting flood insurance and finally did but still didn't buy anything because it cost too much >> my daughter lives here and makes $13 an hour and 4 or 500 dollars a month for flood insurance. and 500 for her and 500 for myself. >> they have been needing insurance, since the creek could be this low. >> it is not something that could be needed. >> never thought it could be needed that's a waste of money. >> according to fema, both families live i

i want to bring in nbc news correspondent jesse kirsch live for us in orlando.s up to speed. >> you were talking about water rescue. that is something that can be treacherous in a flooding situation and we're always talking about how residents should not be themselves wading back into those waters. there is an added reason why. here in this part of florida. these waters behind me, they are alligator infested. and we have actually seen an alligator -- >> you know that for sure -- >> just within the last half hour or so. sorry? >> i said, do you know that for sure? and clearly you do because your eyeballs confirmed it. >> i do. repeatedly, we have repeatedly seen an alligator, and even just behind me, what should be a roadway, and of course, there is a sign that says slow, children playing, so this is a community, and that it has an alligator moving through it, and we saw people wading through the knee-deep water earlier and we gave them a shout to tell them that we saw an alligator and they turned around and hopefully they're okay. that is one thing to contend wi

jesse kirsch for us in orlando, stay safe, jessie. >> the eye the storm is passing just south of orlando osceola county. we're joined now by brandon arrington, the chairman of the board of commissions there. granted, good morning, goodnight whatever it is for you, i'm sure you've been up all night. i hope you're safe. it looks like it, right now. first of all, tell us the conditions there at this hour. >> sure, obviously we are worried about localized flooding here in osceola county, because it has been raining nonstop for about the 12 hours. i can specifically tell you that the pond behind my house is probably elevated the water level by four or five feet from where it was yesterday at about 2 pm. >> wow. >> and the spawn also connects to shingle creeks, we know there's going to be some flooding long shingle creek and similar other low lying areas, which is a concern for our community. >> seems like you are expecting it. does your county have the resources you need, that you're going to need, in the hours and days ahead? >> we believe. so we will continue to work with the state and fede

joins us from orlando is jesse kirsch. and i heard you earlier say you spotted an alligator. >> yes, and the alligator has made another appearance behind us recently, don't worry, i want to make clear, we have our team watching for this, and it did not come close to us, but we can see with our own eyes, and also the team has given me a heads up, if we see it, we can try to show it to you, and right now it is hiding in there. we are seen people walking down what should be a street recently and we shouted to them, to remind them that there is an alligator out there. and they turned around promptly, thankfully, and i hope they are okay. i want to give you an idea of how much water we are looking at in this neighborhood, off to the side here, we have a toefer -- we have a photographer here, and we have a basketball hoop here and you can see the water up the side of it, and what appears to be knee-deep water here and the water is higher than that on some people. unfortunately, the water has not fully receded here, and i know th

we >> saw drenching rains in the orlando area as check in with jesse kirsch. he's still there when we talk to the storm is in a laura orlando. what's a like today? >> yes stephanie is saw all that rain coming in and had to go somewhere, it ran or places to drain and we are in one of those communities you can see behind me those yellow reflective signs. those are street signs that are barely above water and it has receded a little bit, just inches over the last several hours that we've been out here. even though the wind is largely gone, it's been pretty much dry out here all afternoon and evening, the water is still not fully receding in this neighborhood. this area alone according to officials, had around 30 people rescued today. that gives you an idea, this is just one neighborhood. according to officials, this evening we are still looking at upwards of 100,000 customers in this county without power. but thankfully, it is cool out, so people aren't necessarily going to be relying on air conditioning in the same way that they may have if it were hotter in the

jesse kirsch joins us live from orlando, florida. seeing. >> reporter: yeah, so, nicolle, you can see the wind is blowing overhead. we've got the rain starting to move in, the conditions have been deteriorating here. and what is important to stress about what we are seeing right now is that this is far from the worst of what we are expecting from ian here. it made landfall 100 miles from where i am right now and we are expecting the worst to be in this part of the state in the overnight hours. and officials are expecting wind gusts up to 90 miles per hour here, we're concerned about the potential for two feet of rain in some isolated parts of this area, which could lead to flash flooding. and of course, we've seen the devastation that can cause in other parts of the country in recent months. earlier today, officials asked people in mobile homes in this area to move to hardened shelters to ride out the storm, as of 2:00 p.m. eastern time. officials did not want people on the roads. so, people should be where they are going to ride out

jesse kirsch is in memphis, following developments in the case. good morning.rning? >> jose, good morning. >> reporter: all of that is said to have unfolded just behind me. police say eliza fletcher was last seen in their near the university of memphis campus on friday, when she was on her morning run. authorities say that is when a suspect in an suv drove past her, and then stopped and waited for fletcher to jog by. at that point, investigators to say a suspect got out of the vehicle and kidnapped her. >> reporter: authorities are converging on this memphis neighborhood, scouring the area as the search stretches into a third straight day. alisa saying they found eliza fletcher's captor, and cleo stopped and has been charged with kidnapping and tampering with evidence, saying he abducted fletcher on friday and won't tell police were to find the mother of two. >> we want to see eliza returned home safely. >> reporter: fletcher's prominent family cheering this video, her husband distraught, at times wiping away tears. according to court documents, surveillance vi

jesse kirsch reporting for us there.h of queen elizabeth as buckingham palace expressed concerns for her health and her family makes its way to scotland to be with her. we'll bring you the latest details. and chuck hagel will join us, he was one of the former military officials who signed a letter warning that divisive partisan politics is making our country less safe. we'll speak to him. >>> also head, we'll speak with the parents of seth rich. he is the 27-year-old dnc staffer shot and killed in 2016. a new book revealed startling new details about the conspiracy theories pushed by some on the far right about their son's death that cause the the family great pain. "morning joe" is coming right back. >>> it would be interesting to see, i will tell you this, russia if you're listening, i hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. >> in july of 2016, then presidential nominee donald trump made those infamous remarks. encouraging russia to hack the email server of hillary clinton. as we later found out, r

we'll continue to bother you, jesse kirsch.about ali's brand-new book that seeks to answer a burning question in my mind. why haven't we elected a woman yet for president? why haven't we elected a woman yet for president? welcome to thursday night football, on prime video. let's go, baby! legendary players, amazing matchups. let's go! a new era begins. thursday night football, only on prime video. so small, so smart. hearing aids that i can personalize to each ear right from here. brilliant. better hearing made smarter. that's the year eargo difference. can you believe someone thought this would help you hear better? and no one will notice it? genius. now this is eargo. made to be heard. not seen. [upbeat music playing] ♪♪ welcome to home sweet weathertech home. a place where dirt stays outside. and floors are protected. where standing is comfortable. and water never leaves a mark. it's spotless under the sink. and kids can be kids. order your american made products at weathertech.com. >>> this question about whether or not a w

jesse kirsch has more. >> reporter: tonight, nbc news obtaining surveillance video appearing to be from roughly three hours after eliza fletcher's alleged abduction showing a black suv driving through the neighborhood where police discovered the mother of two's body, possibly the scene out lined in court documents. the suspect cleaning the interior of the car with floor cleaner, according to two witnesses, including his own brother. >> you are now charged with first-degree murder >> reporter: back in court today the 38-year-old suspect now being referred to as cleotha henderson, his legal name henderson temporarily denied bond as we learn more about his violent past tonight the shelby county juvenile court tells nbc news a court found henderson to have committed rape at age 14 the court saying it can release this information about a minor because the crime was so severe. henderson was later sentenced to 24 years in another kidnapping case but was released early in november 2020 thanks to credit for time served and working while locked up what do you say to someone who thinks this guy sh

>> unthinkable on so many levels. >> jesse kirsch for us in memphis, tennessee. you. >>> we turn to the brutal heat wave across the west. millions waking up to another day of hot, hot, hot temperatures. it's putting a dangerous strain on california's power grid. people are being asked to limit their energy use to avoid potential blackouts. miguel almaguer joins us from a power station in burbank. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the power grid here is stretched to the max but it's not broken. still it's going to be another scorcher across the area, some cities entering their tenth day in triple digits. not just california, all across the west 41 million people are under heat advisories. this morning california baking in the worst september heat wave on record. >> it's been torture, seriously. i'm ready to pull out the water hose. >> reporter: but largely winning the fight to keep the lights on. as the heat pushes the golden state's power grid to the brink of blackouts residents urged to conserve energy during the peak hours. governor newsom saying that ha

disappearance of eliza fletcher after dna linked him to the area where she went missing nbc's jesse kirsch has more. >> reporter: authorities converging on this memphis neighborhood, scouring the area as the search for this missing mother stretches into a third straight day police saying they found eliza fletcher's alleged captor, announcing he has been charged with especially aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence, saying he violently abducted fletcher friday, and won't tell police where to find the mother of two. more than anything, we want to see liza returned home safely. >> reporter: thursday, her prominent memphis family sharing this video, her husband clearly distraught, at times wiping away tears. new details adding to the heartbreak according to court documents, surveillance video early friday captured the moment the suspect got out of this suv, ran aggressively toward fletcher on her morning jog, and forced the junior kindergarten teacher into the vehicle before driving away. hours later, the affidavit says two witnesses including reported seeing the suspect wash his c