lester >> kathy park, thanks. bill cairnes joins me now. bad is the lingering threat looking like tonight >> we're halfway through the severe weather outbreak, already 100,000 people without power and we had a report of a five-inch hailstone in mississippi that could tie the stated record that's a softball falling from the sky. so, severe weather threat goes from dallas all the way to savannah we're going to have isolated tornados through the night and a lot of possibilities of wind damage that will be the biggest concern. these are the areas of greatest concern, mississippi, alabama, areas of georgia, and dropping down towards the gulf coast later on this evening, but later tonight, dallas and little rock, you're going to have isolated storms right through your evening. as far as air quality, the smoke is back. this is the worst ever air quality measured in the twin cities and this is from the fires in canada once again. we're also watching that heat in texas. this is a heat wave lasting towards the weekend. >> bill, thank you >>> in new y

kathy park, nbc news >>> tonight, more than 100 million people remain under air quality alerts, as that smoky haze from canada's wildfires covers much of the midwest, the mid-atlantic and the northeast. the pittsburgh pirates playing through it today. elsewhere, a big part of the country is still sweltering under dangerous heat that will last into the weekend. >>> the weather is just one factor behind this week's travel meltdown at the nation's airports. while most airlines are returning to normal, united is still struggling here's tom costello with that. >> reporter: final approach to the holiday, with thousands of flyers spending another day stuck, stranded, and frustrated >> our flight was set to leave at 8:00 a.m., and it got canceled hours before we were supposed to fly out. >> reporter: while most airlines have recovered from this week's weather-related meltdown, united airlines is still struggling on monday, tuesday, and wednesday, it canceled a quarter to a third of its flights. united says ops are now improving, but still canceled 14% of flights today with its key hubs hit hard

kathy park now with late details. >> the defendant is not guilty. >> reporter: tonight former school resource officer scot peterson breaking down in the courtroom, as he listened to a florida jury acquit him on all counts of negligence. >> i got my life back. >> we got our life back. >> we've got our life back after 4 1/2 years. >> reporter: prosecutors argue peterson should be held accountable for staying back more than 45 minutes as students and staff at marjory stoneman douglas high school were being gunned down by nikolas cruz. >> every time the trigger is being pulled, another child is being shot. he stands there with the knowledge of the 28-year deputy assigned to protect the children, knowing that the number one goal in that moment is move towards the sounds of gunfire. >> reporter: peterson did not take the stand, but his lawyer said his client didn't know where the shots were coming from. >> he stands there, vulnerable as you can be, risking his life, and gets on the radio and yells "shots fired" because every second does matter. >> reporter: after parkland, police response

let's bring in nbc news correspondent, kathy park, and msnbc legal analyst, lisa rubin. s been going on for a couple of weeks now, kathy. and just bring us up to speed on what the parkland parents were saying about scott peterson? >> reporter: i think you summed it up pretty well, just a few moments ago. i mean, it's extraordinary what we saw in the courtroom a few moments ago, you saw scott peterson extremely emotional. he was sobbing. he was in tears. going into this trial, which lasted roughly 2 1/2 weeks, he was anticipating possibly prison time, nearly 100 years, but just moments ago, the jury handed down the decision, not guilty on all of the eleven counts. he was facing seven counts of felony child neglect, plus three misdemeanor counts of culpable negligence as well as a perjury charge, and once again, not guilty on all of those charges, and throughout this trial, katy, the prosecution, they argued that he failed to act as a school resource officer instead of going in and stopping the bloodshed and the massacre, he stood back, stood back for more than 40 minutes,

nbc's kathy park is live on the ground in warrior, alabama. i'm seeing the power of mother nature behind you. what is expected going forward, and is the community preparing? >> well, chris, i think the first order of business is to clean up this massive mess behind me. this is kind of an example of what we're seeing throughout the suburbs of birmingham here. the homeowner tells me that this tree fell down this time yesterday. he was hunkering at home, sheltering in place, as the storms barrelled through. he said the rain was coming down so hard he didn't hear these trees coming down. take a look at this. look at the root system here, i'm 5'8", it's way taller than me, and also here on the ground is this marker, this yell tube, a few inches underneath the ground is a gas line. it didn't rupture. it could have been a whole lot worse. robert, the homeowner allowed us on the property to show the damage. fortunately no damage to the home. it is unscathed. he did, however, lose four big trees on his property. power outages still a big concern throug

nbc news correspondent kathy park has the details. >> the defendant is not guilty. >> reporter: formerurce officer scott pederson breaking down in the courtroom as he listened to a florida jury acquit him on all counts of negligence. >> i got my life back. we've got our life back after 4 1/2 years. >> reporter: prosecutors argue pederson should be held accountable for staying back more than 45 minutes as students and staff at marjory stoneman douglas high school were being gunned down by nicholas cruz. >> every time the trigger is being pulled, another child is being shot. he stand there with the knowledge of a 28-year deputy assigned to protect children knowing theb the one goal in that moment is move towards the sounds of gunfire. >> reporter: pederson did not take the stand, but his lawyers said his client didn't know where the shots were coming from. >> he stands there vulnerable as you can be risking his life and gets on the radio and yells shots fired because every second does matter. >> reporter: after parkland police response to school shootings gained even more attention. from

sam brock, kathy park, thanks to both of you. much appreciated. >>> meanwhile, those canadian wildfires are once again creating a smoky haze over parts of the u.s. minnesota, wisconsin currently under air quality alerts in some areas. the thick smoke first hit northern minnesota wednesday morning. by the afternoon it had spilled into minneapolis. today the smoke is expected to hit some of the dakotas and possibly iowa too. so stay inside around there. >>> a deadly chokehold caught on tape. and now a grand jury indictment. we'll dive into the charges former marine daniel penny now faces in the death of jordan neely. >>> plus, one of the tennessee three back on the ballot today. will voters re-elect him after his expulsion reignited the gun control debate? you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. reports" only on msnbc cut! another health insurance commercial, another aqua-aerobics scene. yup. most health insurance companies see us all the same: smiley seniors golfing, hiking... don't forget antiquing. that's why i ch

kathy park bringing us the grand opening.re learning about a very special albatross, thanks to our sponsor netflix in our series "our planet too." we can't wait to talk about that and talk about the bird's unique parenting skills. >> mr. roker, how about a check of the weather let's do it! >> let's look at your week ahead. a severe storm risk up and down the eastern sea board. below average temperatures out west mid-week, we have cool and wet weather in new england sun and clouds out west. by the end of the week, more showers in new england a chance of storms across the great lakes. no heat relief in sight down to the gulf pleasant the western third of the country. that's what's going on around the country. >>> good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. it's going to be a nice day. we start out cloudy and cool, but it's going to be mild for the afternoon for the inland areas, reaching the low 70s. it's going to be about the same tomorrow, but slightly warmer wednesday. that will be the trend through the end of the week with w

with us now, nbc news correspondent kathy park is joining us in warrior, alabama. 's near birmingham, and nbc news meteorologist michelle grossman is standing by for us. first, kathy, to you. how bad is the damage where you are? >> reporter: well, ana, as you just mentioned, that severe weather rolled through the south during the afternoon hours as well as through the overnight hours, and this is kind of what we're waking up to this morning. a big cleanup ahead for thousands of residents here in alabama, this massive oak tree actually split in half we're told at the height of the storm yesterday afternoon, fortunately, though, even though that the limbs are danging very close to the power lines, power was not knocked down in this community, no damage to property as well. but a lot of residents say they are still very much on high alert with what could spark up later on today. but an hour and a half southwest of us in utah, alabama, some damaging storms that we were tracking yesterday actually destroyed a home, trapped people inside, injured one person as well, two p

let's begin with nbc correspondent kathy park. you're in warrior, alabama. that's north of birmingham. people there are bracing for potentially more damage. what are you seeing and how are people dealing with what is already left behind here? >> good afternoon to you. this time yesterday, the storms are really starting to fire up and they were barely across the south including here in alabama at times. at the height of the storm, wind gusts were clocking in at 60 miles an hour. and of course, the trees, look at this massive tree. no match when the gusts were coming through. we're told this tree fell around 1:00 yesterday. fortunately, the home owner was inside, hungering down. he didn't actually hear the trees coming down because the rain was coming down that hard. when he came outside, it was quite a shock to see something like this. you might notice this yellow marker. right below it is a gas line a couple inches down. we're told fortunately, this didn't rupture. the problem could have been a whole lot worse. we're standing on robert's property. he was kin

it all covered, including al's full forecast but we will start in warrior, alabama, with nbc's kathy park with the latest on all the storm damage hey, kathy, good morning >> reporter: hey, hoda, good morning to you that severe weather stretched across several states, including right here in alabama, spawning possible tornadoes as well as powerful storms, and this morning many residents are waking up to damage like this. you'll notice this massive oak tree behind me is split right in half neighbors say this happened at the height of the storm yesterday afternoon. fortunately, no damage to property or even power lines but residents say that they are still on edge for what today will bring a string of tornadoes carving a path of destruction through the south. south. the warnings ringing out as deadly storms touched down in alabama and georgia, tearing apart buildings, downing trees and power lines, and leaving roads impassable overnight, more than 30 million americans also in the path of a line of intensive, fast-moving wind storms. at times, gusts breaking 80 miles an hour. >> the trailer s

kathy costello lives in danville and she's trying to get to atlanta. she arrived at sfo early thursday morning. i got a text message just as i was pulling into the parking garage and said i've rebooked for tomorrow evening. redeye kathy has now spent hours sitting at the airport trying to rebook your flight. well, i'm trying to find another way out of the airports or even another location around the bay. but not having a lot of like everything's and with the 4th of july weekend, almost here, the situation could get worse. triple a predicts that 4.1, 7 million americans could take to the skies in the days ahead. that would be the busiest 4th of july air travel weekend ever now for anyone traveling over the next few days. some of the usual advice applies. check with your airline before you leave home to make sure your flight is still on time. and also try to arrive at the airport. >> earlier than you might normally. but for now at sfo, charles clifford kron, 4 news. >> 5 and a half million californians are expected to hit the road this weekend. despite the high price at the pump. 4th of july travel starts today. and it last until the middle of next week.

chronic lung disease in the big apple broadway shows and racing at the belmont park were canceled, with new york governor kathy hochul announcing more measures to protect horses. new york city public schools are going remote and some flights have been grounded. unfortunately, this smoke is impacting visibility in a big way, particularly in the airports in the new york area, laguardia, jfk, newark, the airports in the dc area, baltimore dulles and dca, and then also philadelphia in the nation's capital, major league baseball, the nationals versus diamondbacks baseball game was postponed. the national zoo in d.c. is also closed. president biden is advising people to follow local warnings to keep up time. go to the app that now.gv and check on one another. the smoke is even impacting the white house's itinerary. there pride events scheduled to be on the south lawn thursday night was rescheduled for this weekend in. for more insight into the smoke shrouding the eastern us, we're joined by dr. mary penske, director of air pollution and health research at stanford medicine center for asthma and allergy research. dr.

chronic lung disease in the big apple, broadway shows and racing at the belmont park were canceled, with new york governor kathyl announcing more measures to protect horses. new york city public schools are going remote and some flights have been grounded. unfortunately, this smoke is impacting visibility in a big way, particularly in the airports in the new york area, laguardia, jfk, newark, the airports in the dc area, baltimore dulles and dca, and then also philadelphia. in the nation's capital, major league baseball, the nationals versus diamondbacks baseball game was postponed. the national zoo in d.c. is also closed. president biden is advising people to follow local warnings to keep up to date on the air quality in real time. go to the app that we provide. it's called air. now.gov and check on one another. the smoke is even impacting the white house's itinerary. there pride events scheduled to be on the south lawn thursday night was rescheduled for this weekend in washington. martha rivera, fox news. and authorities say the most destructive fire in colorado history was caused by embers from a smoldering

kathy costello lives in danville and she's trying to get to atlanta. she arrived at sfo early thursday morning. i got a text message just as i was pulling into the parking garage and said i've rebooked for tomorrow evening. redeye kathy has now spent hours sitting at the airport trying to rebook or flight. well, i'm trying to find another way out of the airports or even another location around the bay. but not having a lot of like everything's and with the 4th of july weekend, almost here, the situation could get worse. triple a predicts that 4.1, 7 million americans could take to the skies in the days ahead. that would be the busiest 4th of july air travel wetkend ever. all right. back live. now if you're heading to the airport today, friday, you're traveling for 4th of july. some of the usual advice applies. check with your airline before you leave home to make sure your flight is still on time. it's still going to leave. and then also get to the airport early as you can a little earlier than you might normally. >> but for now at sfo, charles clifford kron, 4 news. all right, charles, thank you so much for that live perspective. we appreciate it. welc

races at belmont park are canceled today but the belmont stakes for now is still set to happen on saturday. we are waiting on a news conference from new york governor kathy1:30 so we'll follow that and bring you what she says. david: it is nice to see the skyline behind you. i don't think yesterday, at 2:00 , you could see it and again , it may get worse today. we don't know, but at least right now, it's better than the worst of yesterday. nate, thank you very much. let's bring in fox weather's kendall smith. kendall? when is it going to get back to normal? >> you know, david i'll have to say this is the question everyone is asking right now. nate was just mentioning how bad it got yesterday, so we did see in fact the worst air quality ever on record right here in new york city. that shattered the old record set back in july of 1981 so we've not seen conditions this bad in quite some time and i thought this was interesting in terms of our comparison. yesterday, our aqi, air quality inn dem rating was 436. that was the highest level possible and we compare that to beijing china, an area that typically has poor air quality yesterday they were 55 which is a