our coverage of the fires begins with joe fryer in carlsbad, california. joe, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. 22 families are without a home tonight in carlsbad including those at this house behind me. now the number one priority is a fire just to the east in san marcos where thousands more were evacuated. today we saw the battle up close. this is what danger sounds like, crackling and hissing as flames crawl across the san marcos hillside whipped up by unseasonably warm santa anna winding spawning tornados. phil has only a garden hose to keep the flames back, but it will take so much more. fire crews are using an air attack to attack the san marcos fire which continues to grow and threaten homes. soon a fence is all that stands between the flames and the colony of apartments, but a final barrage from the sky does the job. the departments are safe for now. then moments later in a different location, a million dollar mansion goes up in flames. >> it's day three, it's a better day than day one and two but we're not out of the woods yet. >> rep

we begin tonight in southern california, joe fryer is in carlsbad, joe, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. a thick layer of smoke covers carlsbad and you can see they resources are stretched thin, because north of san diego, there are now seven fires burning tonight. it didn't take long for the flames to devour homes in carlsbad, california. efforts to protect this home, useless for this owner. >> i tried to make it but naturally, who cares, right now, the house is gone. >> reporter: the massive fire is forcing mandatory evacuations in houses, apartments and schools and knocking out power and filling the air with smoke. flames are popping up across carlsbad, fuelled by very dry brush and strong gusts of wind. added high temps and low humidities, fire officials already knew a long day was on the horizon, around the same time another fire, 25 miles away at camp pendleton, where crews on a hovercraft joined the fight, while crews continue to battle a 1,600-acre fire that started yesterday in san diego. >> weather conditions right now give us grave concern. >> reporter: the fir

if you're a single mother, help can be hard to come by as joe fryer found unless you discovered a groupf willing volunteers making a difference in california. >> reporter: ear piercing construction noise is actually a welcome sound in this home. kathy, a sing the mother of two is getting a much-needed hand rail thanks to handyman john wanger who is volunteering his time. >> when you see the look on people's face we're able to touch, you have no idea how much it means. >> reporter: he's part of a group in sonoma county, california, called serve a little which helps single moms tackle their growing to do lists. >> it means a lot to me, it does. >> reporter: we'll see you at 4:00. he's the man behind it. >> we're able to put a roof on a single mom's house. >> reporter: he matches volunteers eager to do good with single moms working or going to school. >> a lot of people doing a little bit can make a huge difference. >> reporter: one of the greatest needs, auto mechanics, single moms that need help with car repairs. so repairman bill patterson donates his time fixing cars. he was raised by

>> joe fryer tonight. thank you. >>> tonight, there is late word of a third case of the mers virus in the u.s. federal health officials say an illinois resident tested positive but shows no signs of being sick. he had contact with a man that first brought the disease to this country. nbc's chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman joins us now with details, nancy, good evening. >> good evening, lester. the cdc decided today to announce there is a third case, the first case of transmission within the united states and that is significant because they have been watching this very closely. this virus, the middle east respiratory syndrome virus has been well-known in the middle east and globally for the past few years affecting more than 572 people but knowing to have caused at least 173 deaths. and it's the death count that almost 30% death rate that concerned people. so for the two index cases in the united states, that's why the cdc has been working 24/7 to follow every one, those two people, one in florida,

. >> reporter: this is joe fryer north of san diego where at least seven houses destroyed plus a complex with 18 condos, yet thousands more homes have been saved. >> that's a horrible sight to see. >> reporter: amanda and stan were hoping the odds would be in their favor, but they were not. >> just come out here every day. >> reporter: their hill top rental home at 404, the one with the priceless view is now gone. >> fireplace. patio, deck. >> reporter: it was on that patio deck and the tire swing and the play set where they made so many memories with their four children. >> seeing it is really, really difficult because it just makes you think of all the times together. >> reporter: the family had been renting this home for three years with dreams of possibly buying it. they ended up evacuating just hours before the flames arrived. >> i just grabbed some diapers, wipes, that was it. i didn't even think about the fact i didn't have shoes on. >> reporter: soon friends and relatives watching tv were calling them because they recognized the home that was so quickly destroyed. >> we heard 404

joe fryer, nbc news, los angeles. >>> and ucla returned a $425,000 gift and is rejecting a $300 million pledge from sterling's charitable foundation saying he does not share the school's core values. >>> now to people in southern california returning to their homes this morning after an enormous fire east of los angeles forcing mandatory evacuations. that fire spread to about a thousand acres in a matter of hours. a high fire risk continues today. toronto mayor rob ford taking a break from the campaign trail to get help for substance abuse. the news comes after reports from the toronto mail and globe of a second video of mayor ford smoking what appears to be crack cocaine. nbc news has not verified the authenticity of the video. a similar clip was released about a year ago and set off a firestorm for ford's office in the months following. ford was filmed numerous times in public where he appeared impard ai impaired and erratic. in a statement, he says this is one of the most difficult times in my life. i have a problem with alcohol and the choices i have made while under the influence.

joe fryer, nbc news los angeles. >> how about that?hat's our broadcast for this monday night as we start off a new week. thank you for being with us. i'm brian williams, we sure hope you'll join us right back here tomorrow evening. good night. nbc bay area news starts now. >>> right now at 6:00, caught on camera. watch as a map calmly walks up to a home and begins taking things that don't belong to him. now several neighbors say they've been targets too. good evening, and thanks for joining us. i'm janelle wang in for jessica aguirre. >> and i'm raj mathai. the midnight shopper, that's the name neighbors have dubbed for him. he's not taking packages or mail. it's happening in the julian st. james neighborhood. kris sanchez is in that neighborhood. >> reporter: he's not taking anything of any particular value, potted plants and other items. but neighbors say that's enough for them to be rattled. and now they're putting out the the the the surveillance of the man they have dubbed the midnight shopper. >> it's so brazen. >> reporter: unde

we get more on them tonight from nbc's joe fryer. >> reporter: there is no textbook that teaches students how to mourn a tragedy on this scale. >> you always think, oh, that doesn't happen to me. that doesn't happen in my town. >> reporter: so as the sun began to set on uc santa barbara's darkest day, thousands found strength by marching in silence. with candles lit, they made their way to a park in the heart of isla vista, where they honored the victims including sorority sisters veronika weiss and katie cooper and 20-year-old christopher martinez. >> chris, wherever you are now, we love you, man. >> reporter: chris was a sophomore english major with dreams of attending law school. >> i talked to him about 45 minutes before he died. >> reporter: his father richard says chris was killed outside the popular iv deli mart, where a memorial grows. >> he was the most warm, loving kind-hearted kid you could ask for. >> reporter: at the vigil, chris' freshman year roommate shared a favorite memory, the time chris suggested they eat a six-pound bag of chips then spend the night watching tv. >> th

we get the latest tonight from joe fryer in los angeles. >> reporter: the donald sterling controversy started with audio recordings, now the website radar online posted new audio that says is a secretly taped conversation between sterling and a friend. the audio has not been authenticated. >> you think i'm a racist? you think i have anything in the world but love for everybody? you don't think that. you know i'm not a racist. >> reporter: sterling was banned from the nba for life accused of making racist comments and recordings posted on a couple websites. the commissioner wants to force sterling to sell the clippers. >> you can't force someone to sell property in america. >> reporter: the team is owned by a family trust. now sterling's wife, shelley, wants to maintain ownership saying the ban does not apply to her or her family. >> she does not want to manage the team. they doesn't she doesn't want to do day-to-day operations. she hopes an investor group comes in and builds it. >> reporter: shelley's attorney says shelley is separated from her husband and considering divorce although

joe fryer, nbc news, los angeles. >>> and the big business news late today. a chinese company called alibaba filed paperwork for a billion-dollar initial public offering. the tech industry's largest ipo since twitter. while you may not have heard of alibaba yet, it's a powerhouse in e-commerce making more money than amazon and ebay combined. >>> after a break, still ahead monica lewinsky breaks her silence about the white house scandal, both of the clintons, and her life after all these years. >>> it has been almost two decades now since the clinton white house was shaken by scandal involving the president and an intern named monica lewinsky. there was the denial of the affair, then admission, humiliation and then a presidential impeachment. in the years since, monica lewinsky has rarely spoken of it but she made news today for an article written for "vanity fair." we get our report tonight from nbc's andrea mitchell. >> any comments at all? >> reporter: it was a prototypical scandal in washington. the president and the internal. monica lewinsky trying to esc

lester. >> joe fryer, thank you. >>> a thousand firefighters are now battling a huge wildfire in arizonatonight. the so-called slide fire is burning in rugged terrain but as it grows, it continues to threaten hundreds of homes and businesses near sedona. our report tonight from nbc's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: for five days, arizona's slide fire has swept across mountain ranges. flames racing up canyon walls. with 300 homes and structures threatened, the blaze is multiplying in size, now well over 10,000 acres. even with 1,000 firefighters on the ground, the inferno is difficult to reach. >> there's some very steep, rugged terrain in the middle, in the center of the fire, and we're having a hard time getting firefighters in there. >> reporter: with containment at just 5%, in certain areas crews are letting this fire go. the blaze has everything it needs. oxygen and dry brush. with so much fuel in its path, this fire will likely burn for weeks, if not months. firefighters even loaded these ping pong balls full of napalm to be shot onto hillsides with crews can ignite a slow and control

put the fires out. >> this year, they'll need every resource to save homes and lives. >> that was joe fryer from southern california. the fires have destroyed more than 27,000 acres and destroyed more than two dozen homes. >>> one more win. that's all it takes for a northern california horse to grab its place in history. >> california chrome has won the praekness! >> you heard it here. california chrome ran away with the win at the preakness stakes in maryland, and the owners who bought the horse for a mere $10,000 were told over and over that the horse was not a winner. well, they proved everyone wrong, didn't they? meanwhile, here in the bay area, hundreds of people watched the race at golden gate field. people we talked to said they love the horse's cinderella story. >> i'm so excited for this horse. i think it's awesome. i think he's going to take the triple crown. i really do. >> oh, yeah. i saw him at the derby. we went to the kentucky derby and saw him and we rooted for him when no one else did. >> the last horse to win the triple crown was affirmed back in 1978. the final leg of the

joe fryer is in escondido, california, for us this morning. joe, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester. as crews assess the damage, the number of homes lost continue to rise, temperatures are still making great progress, but thanks to a three-year drought the fire danger this season is not going away any time soon. the air attack is not over above camp pendleton. nbc news road along as a sea knight helicopter dropped water on the stubborn flames still burning here. the pilot lives in this area, so the mission is personal. >> let me get back to the town that's let me be part of their community. they've taken care of me, i want to be able to contribute back by taking care of them. >> reporter: the skies are looking much better than they did just a few days ago when flames tore through the region threatening thousands of homes. at least 60 houses and condos did not make it. >> losing the house, but at the same time you're thinking my family's with me, everybody's safe and all my friends are out and that's what matters. >> reporter: a doz

nbc's joe fryer is just north of san diego in escondido, california, for us tonight. joe? >> reporter: good evening, lester. all evacuation orders have now been lifted and crews are making good progress fighting the four fires still burning, three of them at camp pendleton. the final firefight is being waged on a military base. nbc news rode along on a marine helicopter that was attacking flames still burning at camp pendleton. >> target's under the nose. >> roger, perfect. >> reporter: the pilot was already battling a fire on the base last week when he was called to the cocos fire which was threatening his own neighborhood. >> and so the whole night i just wanted to go say i want to save my city, i want to go save my neighborhood. and we got that opportunity to do that. >> reporter: today more evacuated residents are returning home. >> when did you guys come back? >> just about a half hour. >> reporter: the hocky family left wednesday as the cocos fire started rolling down the hill toward their house. it stopped right across the street. >> we had no idea what the conditio

joe fryer, nbc news, los angeles. >>> and there is more backlash this morning. ucla has returned a $425,000 gift and is rejecting a $3 million pledge from sterling's charitable foundation saying he doesn't share the school's core values. >>> president obama is accusing republicans of abandoning the poor and middle class after the senate struck down a bill to raise the federal minimum wage. republicans argue that a wage hike could slow hiring at a time when job growth is already sluggish. the bill was one of the president's top legislative priorities. it would have gradually raised the minimum wane to $10.10 an hour. >> by preventing a vote on this bill, they've prevented a raise for 28 million hard working americans. they said no to helping millions work their way out of poverty. they told americans like the one who is are here today that you're on your own. without even looking them in the eye. >> all right. time to shift to this hard working man here richard lui with sports. >>> mike d'antoni stepping down even though they had the worst season in half a centur

here's joe fryer. >> reporter: it's a sign the sterlings may want to avoid along legal battle.rces with direct knowledge tell nbc news donald sterling will let his wife shelly negotiate the sale of the l.a. clippers. which drew a quick reaction from superstar lebron james. >> it's very important. we don't want this around our sport. >> reporter: it's news that resonated through sports radio. >> i think they came to their senses in the respect you don't become a billionaire if you're that dumb. >> there is also skepticism. >> any deal they are hatching together behind closed doors is probably not a deal that the rest of the world is going to want. >> she would like to keep a small sliver of ownership, a minority share. player is talked to will not let that happen. >> reporter: last week shelly sterling told savannah guthrie she shouldn't be punished. >> i don't agree what their decision is for me. i wholly feel that i've done nothing wrong, i've been with this team for 33 years. they are like my children. >> reporter: the controversy started when racist comments made by donald s

joe fryer has the very latest on the fight to contain these. >> reporter: the may fire storm has claimed its first life after a body was discovered. to the east a fire that started in san marcos has spread to neighboring escondido. >> three big black clouds of smoke and it took off like crazy. >> reporter: this is the county's number one priority. a destructive enemy to devour a large home and to break a family's heart. amanda and stan rented a hill top house with a priceless view for three years. >> our patio deck. >> reporter: they evacuated an hour before the flames took everything. >> it just makes you think of all the times together. >> reporter: we were there as the fire chewed through another hillside inching right up to a fence, the only barrier between rows of apartment buildings. >> now we go live to jennifer be jork land. what's the latest there? i understand there have been some arrests. >> reporter: there have been some arrests. they are perhaps unrelated to any of these particular fires that have been burning in san diego, but two teens were seen by some passers by setting

nbc's joe fryer has more. joe, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. six of the murder victims were students here at uc santa barbara. tomorrow, classes will be cancelled and there will be a memorial service as the school holds a day of mourning and reflection. on a college campus where questions typically come with solutions, this tragedy has left so many still searching for answers, so they gathered for an evening mass in honor of the victims. >> when i look at the pictures tonight of katie and veronika and chris and even elliot, i see sons and daughters and i ask that question, too, why did that happen? >> reporter: three of the victims were stabbed to death inside elliot rodger's apartment. they're identified as george chen, who was 19 years old, and cheng yuan hong and weihan wang, both 20. nbc news spoke with their neighbor, who asked not to be identified. >> i want the parents to know their kids didn't do anything wrong. that their kids did not deserve this at all. >> reporter: also among the victims, 20-year-old christopher michael-martinez, wh

joe fryer there with the latest on that tragedy. joining us now is retired atf special agent jim cavanaugh. we heard about the list of victims. and that's the concern right now. and when we understand the list now that we have the details of those killed as well as those in the hospital, it matches up perfectly with all of the videos and what he had posted just hours before what had happened. how was elliot rodger able to remain under the radar after authorities had perhaps seen videos before and had visited him in april? >> yeah. very interesting, richard, of course. but i think really he was on the radar for years. you know, he was getting therapists treatment since he was a young 8-year-old. his parents certainly knew his condition. they reported it to the police a month ago that he had posted some videos about maybe suicide and killing people. so what we're failing to do in america is to form the right structure within our police and mental health professionals to form the right little structure to read the warning signs and tak

nbc's joe fryer is in escondido that's north of san diego. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. overnight two teenagers were arrested for trying to start a couple of fires that were quickly extinguished here in escondido. they have not been connected to any of the larger wildfires we've seen this week including the one that burns through here, the cocos fire. which is only 10% contained and still destroying homes. the may fire storm has now claimed its first victim after a charred body was discovered at a homeless camp in carlsbad. mean while to the east, a fire that started in san marcos has spread to escondido. >> boom, boom, boom. three columns of smoke. >> reporter: dubbed the cocos fire, this is the county's number one priority. destructive enough to devour a large home and to break a family's heart. amanda and stan rented a hill top house with a priceless view for three years. >> our patio deck. >> reporter: they evacuated an hour before the flames took everything. >> it just makes you think of all the times together. >

here's nbc's joe fryer. >> reporter: a constant theme runs through the videos and writings of story onent fronts. i feel bad -- obviously the victims and their families. his parents also, having to now see this and realize what was going on in their son's life. >> and the fact that they frantically drove to the scene, hoping to stop it, but it was too late. just awful all around. >>> shift gears now, we'll get a check of the weather from al. >> today's weather is brought to you by the new windows. one experience for everything in your life. >> maybe during the memorial day weekend, you had a day at the beach. you didn't have one like they had in marquette, michigan. that's right. lake superior, you come down, hang out, play some ball. and don't have to worry about dodging ice chunks. well, water temperature, 37 degrees. tell her about the shrinkage, jerry! now that's a kayak trip. wow. all right, we're going to have a bit of a change in our temperatures coming up. got a cold front today. boston you're at 67. new york city, 89. washington, d.c. 90. tonight the front pushes through, and

for "today," joe fryer, nbc news, los angeles. >> this case touched a lot of nerves. >> a lot of emotiones of that. >>> coming up on "trending," have you seen slebtd celebriti late night show reading mean tweets about themselves? we don't know anything about that, not one thing. we're interested in that story. >> we're going to share some of our own. >>> next, one of the most adorable and probably unlikely trios you'll ever meet. how did a bear, a lion, and a tiger become best friends? sounds like a joke, but it's not. sounds like a joke, but it's not. honestly, the off-season isn't really off for me. sounds like a joke, but it's not. i've got a lot to do. that's why i got my surface. it's great for watching game film and drawing up plays. it's got onenote, so i can stay on top of my to-do list, which has been absolutely absurd since the big game. with skype, it's just really easy to stay in touch with the kids i work with. alright, russell you are good to go! alright, fellas. alright, russ. back to work! [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can

nbc's joe fryer's got that story in los angeles. > reporter: good morning, savannah. donald sterling had given his wife shelly authority to negotiate a sale of the clippers, but now donald sterling's attorney says he's no longer selling his interest in the team and plans to fight the nba. in his 26-page answer to the league's allegations, donald sterling argues he should not be stripped of the l.a. clippers. he says a jealous rant to a lover never intended to be published cannot offend the nba rules. sterling claims the now infamous recording of racist remarks taped by v. stiviano was recorded illegally without his permission. he says this was an argument between a jealous man and the woman he loved that should never have left the privacy of the living room, but stiviano claims their relationship was never romantic and that she had permission to record sterling. we spoke with her attorney earlier this month. >> she wouldn't remember everything he wanted her to do, she started taping him. >> reporter: the nba banned sterling for life

here's nbc's joe fryer with the story. >> reporter: for at least five days, no one noticed the mangled car in the woods that had tumbled a couple hundred feet down a colorado embankment. >> never thought i'd find anything like that. >> until hope and andy lombard drove by and just happened to look out their window at the right time. >> i walked down there and i saw a car is upside down and i saw there's a body inside. >> reporter: never imagining the woman inside could have survived, they reported it to first responders. >> what goes through our minds when they said somebody found a car with a body in it, well, we're thinking we're doing a recovery, not a rescue. >> reporter: but inside, kristen hopkins, a mother of four, was trapped, and somehow still alive. >> this is one of the most miraculous things i've seen in that amount of time that i've been doing this. >> reporter: using a sharpie, hopkins had scribbled pleas for help on an umbrella which she pushed through an open window. the messages, "need doctor, hurt and bleeding, thirsty and hungry, six days without food and water, plea

we have nbc's joe fryer on the scene there. what is the latest? >> reporter: good morning, savannah. we learned the fire is 25% contained after burning 1,600 acres. all of the evacuation orders have been listed. the fire danger is high in southern california. smoke and flame snaked in and around southern california close to several homes, including high-end estates. >> it is unusual in may to have wind-driven fires. >> reporter: fuelled by santa ana winds, the fire burned 1,600 acres forcing the evacuation of homes and schools. >> when mother nature gets nasty like this, it is not unlike a hurricane. >> reporter: while a small percentage of the burn area is contained, crews made progress with no buildings or lives lost. >> the major threat, or the major runs have been slowed down now and we're making sure we're mopping up the fire to make sure the fire does not continue. >> reporter: crews are bracing for another hot day with the potential for more fires and hot spots, and they know this could just be the beginning of a very long, dangerous fire s