here's maggie vespa. >> reporter: tonight, a record-smashing summer of extremes coast to coast as thatple-digit heat wave strangling the south for nearly a month spreads into the upper midwest and east coast. >> i am walking into a sauna. >> reporter: 125 million americans under heat alerts from phoenix to minneapolis to d.c. where the heat index is set to top out around 106 degrees. tens of millions also dealing with violent storms. a microburst blowing through brooklyn tuesday clocking winds up to 70 miles an hour in the roasting midwest, the unbearable heat destroying livelihoods. >> i've never experienced a drought like this. >> reporter: 32-year-old seth's family has owned this minnesota farm for five generations by now corn should be up to his chest, but amid widespread drought, his 5-year-old towers over shriveled crops. he estimates just 30% of his corn is viable and hopes to break even what are your chances, do you think >> it all depends if we get more rain. i mean, that's -- that's a million dollar question right there. >> reporter: meanwhile, feed prices for his cattle also

maggie vespa has alarming details >> reporter: in a michigan courtroom today, agony on display. victims' families crying as prosecutors played never before seen surveillance video of the 2021 oxford high school shooting that killed four and wounded seven. video the judge directed media not to show a teacher describing hiding in lockdown after being shot >> sent my husband a text message that just said, "i love you, active shooter. >> reporter: ethan crumbley often looking down, emotionless, as oakland county prosecutors argued the now 17-year-old should spend life in prison without parole, the harshest possible penalty under michigan law, for a rampage that haunts first responders tasked with running past the wounded to stop a killer >> something we weren't prepared for is, how do you push past a child that needs help >> reporter: crumbley pleaded guilty last year to 24 counts including first-degree murder and terrorism charges. prosecutors leaning on his social media posts, showing off his gun. video of him at a shooting range journal entries about torturing baby birds and a vi

maggie vespa is there for us. maggie, what's the situation there this evening?: so, lester, people here are absolutely in shock. raging floodwaters swept in before dawn, and they continued rising all morning. at the same time, that same system slamming north carolina where a violent tornado sent four to the hospital, and tomorrow another system is headed this way. tonight, dueling hallmarks of this summer's severe weather stretch. >> trees are down all over. >> reporter: in north carolina, this afternoon, a confirmed ef-3 tornado near rocky mount. wind speeds up to 150 miles per hour wreaking havoc on a highway, and destroying part of this manufacturing facility owned by the drugmaker pfizer. >> we really don't know exactly what the amount of injuries or if there's any deaths at this time. >> reporter: meanwhile, farther west, more devastation. kentucky tonight the latest state to get slammed with violent flash floods. in hard-hit mayfield initial reports show nearly a foot of rain falling since midnight. if verified, it would smash the state's decade-old record

. >>> finally tonight, maggie >>> finally tonight, maggie vespa takes us to california where, believerth on the slopes >> happy fourth of july! the white.r: on the holiday devoted to red, white, and blue -- a rare chance to shred the white. you're skiing on the fourth of july >> yes. >> hell, yeah. >> how wild is this? >> so sick, so sick. >> reporter: many repping their best stars and stripes. >> we're doing our best to not grow up. >> reporter: others simply in summer's finest. >> i've never seen the summer and i've never seen the bikinis. >> reporter: against the odds, this fourth of july weekend the slopes of northern california's majestic mammoth mountain remain primed for an estimated 10,000 patrtriotic runsns the snowy summer conditions remnants of a relentless winter, swelling the golden state's rivers a and streams and at its peak, burying the mountain's chair lifts. staff had to dig them out. how intense was that >> very. there were some that it took us a number of days to get dug out. >> reporter: even this lodge was completely submerged some 900 inches of snow piled up her

maggie vespa has more. >> happy 4th of july. >> reporter: on the holiday devoted to red, white and bluehred the white. you are skiing on the 4th of july? >> yeah. >> reporter: how wild is this in. >> so sick. >> reporter: many repping their best stars and stripes. >> we are doing our best to not grow up. >> reporter: others simply in summer's finest. >> i have never skied in the summer. i have never skied in a bikini. >> reporter: this 4th of july weekend, the slopes of northern california's majestic mammoth mountain remain primed for an estimated 10,000 patriotic runs. the snowy summer conditions, remnants of a relentless winter. staff had to dig snow lifts out. how intense was that? >> it took days to get dug out. >> reporter: this lodge was submerged. some 900 inches of snow piled up here on the summit, shattering previous records and stretching the ski season well into summer. a silver lining, some say, to a rough winter. >> it's great that we can enjoy it now. >> reporter: speaking of enjoying it, we can confirm, resistance is futile. this is july. this is wild. marking an unlikely

the attorneys say that he is a young boy struggling with mental health issue, and maggie vespa is followingty already, and what are we hearing from? >> zinhle, this is a miller hearing which says that no state across the country, cannot sentence a minor to prison without parole unless you have a hearing like this. yesterday, we heard the graphic and emotional testimony from to a teacher who was shot, and the first responders who saw the carnage, and today, we heard from the students, and basically the survivors, and we will play a sound bite, and this is graphic detail of what the student said. you will hear the student, but not the face, because that is per court order. >> at the same time i thought, there is no way. it was very quiet, and there was no screaming or nothing, but the gunshots. i dropped down, because that is just my reaction. >> what did you do when you dropped down? >> i just prayed. i covered my head. i didn't know if those were my last moments. >> that is crumbley there with the head down and we have seen that a lot in the hearing as the statements are read, and others ar

nbc's maggie vespa is at one today >> reporter: in min yap lis, the beaches are backpacked but this brutal heat is just one issue. on top of that, the can canadian wildfire smoke is back, sparking an air quality alert. >> reporter: and back in florida, this noah's ark style approach could be the lifetime the coral needs. these coral reefs are ultimately going to a gene bank where they are stay for the foreseeable future, but their fragments could end up back in the ocean. lester >> sam, thank you. >>> in 60 seconds, not seen for weeks, what happened to a top chinese official >>> plus, we're on the front lines with u.s. forces in a new battle against terrorism. it's an nbc news exclusive, next. >>> we turn now to the mystery involving a senior chinese official, out of sight for a month, and now removed from his job a as foreign minister. all at a critical time for u.s./china relations. andrea mitchell has more what are you learning? >> reporter: lester, foreign minister qin gang's firing is a huge embarrassment to president xh i former officials that xi plucked him from relative about se se

nbc's maggie vespa is in minneapolis. me, meteorologist michelle grossman and michael mann. good to have all of you. extreme heat, polluted air, major challenges for folks where you are in the twin cities. get us up to date. >> reporter: it is bizarre, right, to be talking about extreme heat out of minneapolis, minnesota. i talked to you from here before about blizzards and bone-chilling cold, what the city is known for. now i'm standing on a packed beach in minneapolis. this is the extreme heat kind of day one. it is arriving here as we speak with temperatures set to soar up to over 90 degrees and people are cognizant of the fact this is their dose of what the southwest has been getting for the last several weeks. that heat wave is expanding and spreading east. so here's what people kind of in this part of the country are getting that first taste of it had to say experiencing this. >> real hot. 100 degrees. triple digits for, what, four days? >> nothing you can really do. nothing you can do. it is hot. >> it is terrifyin

nbc's maggie vespa is on the ground in mayfield, kentucky, what's the latest from there?> we'll begin here with something of a hopeful sight. the water receding, this break is not expected to last very long. another round of severe showers and storms is headed this way. potentially producing more flooding, severe winds, even potentially tornadoes, knowing there could be a round two, kentucky's governor declaring a state of emergency, helping people get funds they need to clean up and brace for a repeat today. yesterday's system is the same one that also pommelled parts of north carolina. an ef3 tornado confirmed about an hour east of raleigh yesterday with wind speeds topping 150 miles per hour. four people there sent to the hospital, and a massive manufacturing plant from the drug maker or owned by the drug maker pfizer sustained severe damage. and then kind of also in the array of severe weather we're tracking that brutal extreme heat wave continues to tighten its grip on millions of americans from california to florida, in fact phoenix is set to hit three straight week

maggie vespa, thank you. >>> developments this morning in the mysterious disappearance of an alabamaan. police revealing they have been unable to verify most of carlee russell's initial account of events. the 25-year-old vanished last thursday after calling 911 to report a toddler on the highway prompting a search. then she returned home two days later saying she had been abducted. police say that she had done several internet searches before she disappeared including searching whether you have to pay for an amber alert and the movie "taken". russell's family is not commenting at this time. >>> someone in california is waking up a billionaire. a single winning ticket for that giant power ball jackpot was sold at a store in downtown los angeles. it's only the third time ever that that the jackpot has reached a billion dollars, and nbc's miguel almaguer is joining us with more on this. miguel, do we know who this lucky winner is? >> ana, not yet. it's definitely nobody here at nbc because everybody is here at work, so we know there's no winner here, and it's an especially good morning

maggie vespa is following this story for us. what else do we know about it? got the identity and the mug shot of the alleged shooter, the suspect in this case, they just released this photo of 29-year-old larry pickens, they say he's charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault in this shooting. right now being held on $1.2 million bond. initially in this case police were a little bit tight lipped about what happened. they got the call from the colin in colliersville, tennessee, a half hour east of memphis, around 2:00 p.m. yesterday just saying that a doctor had been shot inside an exam room. and when they arrived, they found dr. ben mauck, again, shot and killed. a prominent hand surgeon. officers arriving him, finding him dead at the scene. this is part of what they had to say in the initial briefing with reporters yesterday. take a listen. >> he was a patient, our understanding. other officers encountered the suspect on the south side of poplar, very near to the entrance. suspect had a firearm in his position. it was on his person. it wasn't in

nbc news' maggie vespa breaks down your chances of winning. >> the odds of taking home the powerballer not in your favor. they are 1 in 292 million, but that being said, the jackpot is up for grabs tonight, high enough to make a believer out of anyone. on the powerball end, you have $900 million up for grabs. if you stake the cash lump sum up front, that's $465.1 million. also with powerball, you have the chance to take home some kind of smaller lump sums, if you get five numbers without the powerball, you can bring home $1 million, four without the powerball, $50,000. again, mega millions also up for grabs this week. that drawing is tomorrow night. that's up to $640 million with a lump sum of $328 million. we already have tickets for both at this point in illinois, and that's in part because last year, again, here in illinois, a resident who still remains anonymous to this point, took home a mega millions jackpot of $1.34 billion. so it has happened before. it can happen here. and people around here are really hoping lightning strikes twice. back to you. >> thank you, maggie. >>> we

nbc's maggie vespa is at one >> in minneapolis, a place known for bone-chilling cold, the pipes a beaches are packed with people desperate to stay cool the canadian wildfire smoke is back sparking an air quality alert. >> repo >> our thanks to sam for that report >> to put this heat in perspective, 82 million americans are waking up to heat alerts this morning. michelle grossmann is tracking that sweltering heat as it expands across the country good morning >> good morning to you both. great to see you yep, we're starting to see the heat expanding to the midwest and yaen eventually to the northeast. it's all due to the heat dome in place. we've been talking about it for weeks and weeks and it is expanding. we're seeing that widespread and large heat dome spreading that heat into portions of the midwest and northeast. that is today. and in through the weekend we're going to see a bit of a pattern change by sunday for today temperatures into the triple digits once again for so many spots phoenix, wichita, lubbock. pierre, 105. going to feel like 104 minneapolis, 97. so many placeshen we're

. >> reporter: after a week of flight cancellations and rental cars, nbc's maggie vespa is today in california. >> three flights and counting canceled this week the latest was this morning's chicago to denver was the first leg of my trip i am now in san francisco and getting ready to drive at least six, seven hours. >> reporter: she's got company, a record 43 million americans are driving with gas averaging $3.54 a gallon, $1.30 cheaper than a year ago. on i-35 in texas, the hill family is headed to austin to float in the san marcos river >> we want to make sure that our kids have a great summer. don't let the prices scare you. you only get these memories once. >> reporter: it is summertime even if the livin' isn't always easy >> all right, tom, let's circle back to united airlines' difficulties the ceo is issuing a personal apology tonight. what's he saying >> reporter: yeah, that's right ceo scott kirby on wednesday night was stuck at newark airport with thousands of other passengers, could not get out. he couldn't even get a seat on the airline, so he jumped on a private plane and flew to d

. >> reporter: maggie vespa is there. >> we're here where if you come into room 5 you can see the roof of the hotel is completely gone. here's the same shot from above. the owner says thankfully no one was inside when the storm came through. >> reporter: and flash flooding in mississippi triggered by torrential rains multiple roads and buildings submerged [. >> my store is currently under water. >> reporter: triggered in part by a deadly heat dome that only tightens its grip on the southwest. in texas, the demand for electricity reaching the highest point ever, after 2021's rolling blackouts, there's fresh concern for that state's powerr thatgrid miami with days over hundred degrees. on the strip the pavement is dangerous. >> it super hot out here and so like the bottom of my shoes, i'm worried that it's going to get stuck to the concrete and melt. >> reporter: the trauma center is reporting a troubling rise in severe burns >> the pavement can heat up to 160, 170 degrees and all it takes is a couple seconds of your skin to be exposed to it be burned. >> reporter: christopher malcolm wa

severe weather, with oppressive heat and devastating storms wreaking havoc during the summer.nth of maggie vespa and erin mclaughlin report from kentucky and arizona with the latest. >> reporter: dueling hallmarks of this summer's severe weather stretch. >> trees are down all over >> reporter: in north carolina, a confirmed ef-3 tornado near rocky mount. wind speeds up to 150 miles per hour, wreaking havoc on a highway and destroying part of this manufacturing facility owned by the drugmaker, pfizer >> we really don't fknow what th exact of amount of injuries. >> reporter: further west, kentucky, the latest to get slammed with violent flash floods in hard-hit mayfield, nearly a foot of rain falling since midnight if verified, it would smash the decade-old record for the most rain in 24 hours water swallowing neighborhoods and submerging cars. >> opened up the back door and it started gushing inside the house. >> reporter: jeremy martin scrambled to get his fiance and five kid s out. no injuries have been reported kentucky's governor declaring a state of emergency, urging people to heed evacuatio

here's maggie vespa. >> reporter: tonight, a record-smashing summer of extremes coast to coast as that triple-digit heat wave statisticaling the south for nearly a month spreads into the upper midwest and east coast. >> i am walking into a sauna. >> reporter: 125 million americans under heat alerts from phoenix to minneapolis to d.c. where the heat indedex is set t to top ouout around 1 106 degrees. tens of millions also dealing with violent storms. a microburst blowing through brooklyn tuesday clocking winds up to 70 miles an hour. in the roasting midwest, the unbearable heat destroying livelihood. >> i've never experien >>> sinea o'connor, the striking irish singer that made headlines for her incredible voice and also controversy involving a pope has died. she was 56 years old. gordon is in hollywood for us with more on her life and legacy. >> reporter: carolyn, no cause of death has been released yet, but sinead o'connor has been posting recentlybout her pression followi teenage son a year ago by suicide. her fy issued a statement saying her family and friends are devastated and hav

maggie vespa has this one. >> reporter: tonight, the culmination of a months-long hazing scandal has northwestern university parting ways with its winningest coach ever. >> win on three, one, two, three -- >> win >> reporter: after 17 seasons, head coach and former northwestern linebacker pat fitzgerald was fired monday the university's president writing, "the head coach is ultimately responsible for the culture of his team." the firing follows a six-month independent investigation into allegations of hazing, which found evidence it happened, but no evi evidence, the school says, coaches knew still, the university initially suspended fitzgerald for two weeks, but over the weekend, reconsidered. northwestern's student newspaper published allegations from former players who claimed they endured coerced sexual acted, one dubbed the car wash, forcing them to spin naked in the showers as teammates entered and basically rub up against a bare naked man. former offensive lineman and son of mexicanimmigrants ramon diaz jr., who played under fitzgerald until 2009, also remembering racist hazin

nbc's maggie vespa is at one today. >> reporter: in minneapolis, a place known for bone-chilling cold, today the beaches are packed with people desperate to stay cool. but this brutal heat is just one issue. on top of that, the canadian wildfire smoke is back, sparking an air quality alert. >> reporter: and back in florida, the coral situation might look bleak, but this noah's ark style approach could be the lifeline it needs. these coral reefs are ultimately going to a gene bank where they'll stay for the foreseeable future, but their fragments could end up back in the ocean. lester? >> okay, thank you. >>> in 60 seconds, not seen for weeks. what happened to a top chinese official. >>> plus, we're on the front lines with u.s. foes in a new battle against terrorism. it's an nbc news excluse, next.iv type 2 diabetes?s? discscover the o ozempic® tri-zonene. in my ozempic® tri-z-zone, i i lowered mymy a1c, cv r r, and lostst some weigight. in studidies, the majorityty of peoplele reachehed an a1c u under 7 and maintatained it. ozozempic® l lowers the e rk of majajor cardiovovascular evs

. >> all of a sunddden, it was going all over >> reporter: nbc's maggie vespa is there. >> we're here in mccook, illinois where you can come into room five, you can see the roof of this motel is completely gone. the owner says thankfully no one was inside when the storm came through >> reporter: and today, flash flooding in mississippi triggered by torrential rains multiple roads and buildings submerged. >> my store is currently under water. >> reporter: this comes as more than 86 million americans sweat through triple-digit temperatures, triggers in part by a deadly heat dome that only tightens its grip on the southwest. in texas today, the demand for electricity reaching its highest point ever, after 2021's rolling blackouts, there's fresh concern for that state's power grid miami now 33 con techive days with a heat index over 100 degrees. and sin city is scorching. las vegas poised to tie its all-time heat record, 117 degrees, this weekend on the strip, even the pavement is dangerous. >> it is super hot out here, and so, like, the bottom of my shoes, i'm worried that it's going to

nbc news correspondent maggie vespa has the latest for us. >> reporter: this is not a sentence we saybviously this is a place we know and we come to to cover bone chilling cold and massive blizzards, but the heat wave that have been baking the southwest for weeks on end with temperatures well into the triple digits it's now made its way into the midwest andst it spreading east. temperatures here in minneapolis expected to top out around 97, 98 this week. the daily record tomorrow is 100 degrees. we're kind of in record tying territory. experts say this is the same system, the same heat wave that's been in the southwest for weeks on end. temperatures there well into the triple digits with doctors in the phoenix area for instance, saying they've seen two to three times the normal amount of patients they usually see in a summer, two to three times that for heat-related illnesses during this heat wave. also in the san diego area, nbc news confirming overnight a man in his 20s, a mountain biker who was just trying to help dehydrated hikers, he ended up dying of heat exposure and heat-relat

joining us from minneapolis is nbc news correspondent maggy vespa now. bad is it expected to get there today? >> reporter: it is supposed to be pretty bad. near 100, especially by the middle of the week. as you point out, we're in minneapolis, a place known for bone-chilling cold. we come here to cover major blizzards. here we are on this lakeside beach, which is expected this week to be packed with people trying to escape these near triple digit temperatures as that heat wave you talked about that has been baking the southwest for weeks basically spreads. the relentless heat. now affecting even more of the country. >> real hot. 100 degrees. triple digits for, what, four days? >> reporter: from st. louis to south florida -- >> nothing you can really do. nothing you can do. it is hot. >> reporter: -- to arizona where patients are being hospitalized for severe, even life threatening third degree burns, caused by contact with the scorching ground. doctors at the burn center at valley wise hospital in phoenix say they're treating two to three times more pati

we start with maggie vespa who is in minneapolis where the temperatures will be in the mid-90s today.. >> reporter: yeah, good morning. bizarre to be talking about it here in minneapolis. a place known for ben-chilling cold. but this week people are expected to flock to lake-side beaches like this to try to escape the near triple digit and potentially record-breaking temperatures as the heat wave baking the southwest spreads. >> reporter: the relentless heat now affecting even more of the country. >> real hot. 100 degrees. triple digits for, what, four days. >> reporter: from st. louis to south florida -- >> nothing you can do. nothing you can do. it's hot. >> reporter: to arizona where patients are being hospitalized for severe, even life-threatening third degree burns caused by contact with the scorching ground. doctors at the burn center in valley wise hospital in phoenix say they're currently treating two to three times more patients than in a typical summer. across europe, hundreds of millions are suffering through extreme heat including greece where our josh letterman reports th

we start with maggie vespa who is in minneapolis.ntly there is no escape from those high temperatures, and it is affecting the power grid, huh? >> reporter: well, craig, that's right. demand on the grid is stable and we are told it's stable for now. we should point out it's a bit chaotic morning amid overnight severe storms that rolled in. we saw in particular a lot of lightening, so we're undercover inside a parking garage and reporting in this extreme heat now thousands are without power. of course, this is only adding to this brutal stretch of severe summer weather that, as we point out, is sparing no corner of the u.s. this morning in the latest chapter of a mounting climate crisis, severe heat from coast to coast. >> we usually keep our windows closed, not letting the sun come through because that adds a lot of extra heat. >> reporter: the same monster heat wave that kept phoenix clocking in at 110 degrees or higher for 26 straight days and higher. >> third time this year we've reached 119 degrees. >> reporter: now barrelling to

the powerball drawing on saturday and that's sending tonight's jackpot soaring to $900 million, maggie vespal say slim to say the least. just powerball alone, as you said, $900 million. this time around, up for grabs. if you take the lump cash sum. that's $465.1 million. also with powerball, take home smaller lump sums. five numbers, a million dollars. 4 numbers without the powerball, you can take home $50,000. tomorrow night, there's mega millions. we have tickets for both at this point here in illinois, in part because last year again here in illinois, a resident took home a mega millions jackpot of $1.34 billion. it's happened before. it can happen here. people are hoping lightning strikes twice. >> pagie, thank you. >>> coming up, what new research is revealing about a new alzheimer's drug. >>> but first, time for today's daily nap shot. wimbledon, where carlos alcaraz is the new tennis champion. he bested novak djokovic the overwhelming favorite. certainly a very good reason for us to rest on the grass, of course at lot of celebrities there, too. >> the king of spain was there. >> i mea

maggie vespa is following this story for us.we know about the shooting and any potential motive. >> reporter: no word at this point on a potential motive. only saying in the person they've i.d., 29-year-old larry pickens the alleged shooter they say was indeed a patient of dr. ben mauck, a prominent orthopedic surgeon in the memphis area, this happened at collierville clinic. yesterday afternoon around 2:00, police telling reports they had gotten a 911 call that a doctor had been shot. when they arrived they found dr. mauck dead inside an exam room. >> the suspect had a firearm in his possession, it was on his person, it wasn't in his hand. he was taken into custody without incident, so we have the suspect in custody at this time. >> reporter: again, that suspect just now i.d.ed as larry pickens. dr. mauck is being remembered, the outpouring of support on social media for the clinic, local children's hospital where he worked as a prominent renowned, respected orthopedic surgeon, those who knew and worked with him asking the comm

maggie vespa joining me with more. ethan the day of the shooting from the testimony and then what comes next. >> so just keeping in line with what we heard. basically a lot of the testimony, a lot of the graphic, emotional testimony has been about ethan's demeanor, the degree to which he planned the shooting. executing at point blank range. and this is day two of what is known as a miller hearing named after a supreme court case that says that no state can sentence a minor to life in prison without the possibility of parole without a hearing. as to this is that hearing to determine if he ever should have the chance of parole. and today we heard for the first time from students who survived this shooting. and i want to note that you are about to hear student voice, you won't see her voice arrest name, but she talks about wanting to save a classmate. >> swha what is happening to her 1234. >> she was continuing tobleed a lot.her1234. >> she was continuing to bleed a lot.234. >> she was continuing to bleed a lot.34. >> she

maggie vespa spoke to farmer who was devastated after scorching conditions set hay on fire in his barntion is related to moisture and heat. if i had to put a monetary value on the contents and the structure i would say half a million. >> wow, ahead for us next hour, a new announcement from the white house about plans to protect workers and farmers like him during this extreme heat. >>> also ahead, the question at the center of a hearing for teenage school shooter who killed four of his classmates. should his age make him eligible for parole. he was 15 when the shooting happened. you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. ports" oc i served three overseas tours. i love to give back to the community. i offer what i can when i can. i started noticing my memory was slipping. i saw a prevagen commercial and i did some research on it. i started taking prevagen about three years ago. i feel clearer in my thoughts, my memory has improved and generally just more on point. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription. i'm saving with liberty mutual, mom. they customize your

maggie vespa live for us in minneapolis. ng, bloomberg is out with a new investigative report on how american made guns are making their way to foreign countries. thailand is purchasing the largest amount of american firearms. just a decade ago, the u.s. prohibited a plan put forward by the gun manufacturer to sell firearms to thailand. how did we get here? joining us now, one of the reporters of the bloomberg report, david, good to have you this morning. let's walk through this with the viewers and how and why thailand became a huge market for american firearms. >> you know, in the u.s. since the expiration of the assault weapons ban in 2004, there has been a big push among gun industries to sell weapons overseas. the u.s. now has 400 million guns, which is more guns than people, so they need to find other places to build a target. thailand, which always had its own gun culture, has been a big market for the u.s. but the thing about guns is, as we see in ukraine, when countries send weapons overseas, they want to make sure w

million up for grabs in tonight's powerball the mega millions prize, skyrocketed to 640 million maggie vespain chicago maggie, first of all, i can't believe no one's won yet you figure all the numbers have been chosen. what are the odds? >> reporter: so the odds just for powerbal alone, one in 292 million, so we'll say slim to say the least. these cash prizes, jackpots that are up tonight, and again tomorrow night for mega millions they're enough to make anyone a believer just powerball alone, as you said, $900 million this time around, up for grabs if you take the lump cash sum. that's $465.1 million. powerball fans will know, if you get five numbers, a million dollars. four numbers with no powerball, yo can take home $50,000. as we said, there's powerball, and tomorrow night, there's mega millions if you win both. that's well over 1.5 billion mega millions alone. $640 million that's a lump cash sum of 328 million. hoda, we promise that we're not going to get sucked into the excitement i bought two tickets last time i was here, our crew by the end of the day, had bought 12. i will note, the

let's start with maggie vespa. she's in flood-ravaged mayfield, kentucky, this morning. more rain could be on the way this morning, maggie. >> reporter: savannah, exactly mpt we will begin with a bit of a hopeful sight here in mayfield. the water has begun to recede, but that break is not expected to last long, with another round of severe showers and storms headed to this still-soaked community as that brutal one-two punch of heat and rain takes aim at millions nationwide. >> reporter: this morning, kentucky is bracing for another round of flooding after blinding rain completely drenched parts of the state on wednesday. that deluge washing out roads, stranding cars, and leaving entire neighborhoods in mayfield underwater, it's the last thing this city needed after a twitter swept through here two years ago, killing more than 50 people. >> when you see your town get destroyed by a tornado, and you're starting to rebuild, and it just gets washed away. >> reporter: according to initial reports, more than 11 inches of rain soaked the area wednesday, potentially setting a 24-

nbc's maggie vespa is outside the hospital where the boy is recovering maggie, good morning. >> reporterpened this morning a 10-year-old illinois boy recovering from devastating injuries suffered in a nightmarish fall from a local carnival ride. officials say 10-year-old huntley daniels was somehow thrown from this moby dick ride. it happened in antioch, illinois, near the wisconsin border huntley's uncle writing in a go fund me post, the child was flung approximately 10 to 20 feet in the air in heartbreaking scene, medics transporting huntley by helicopter as his little sister waved good-bye the police chief says his injuries were so severe, he was flown to a second chicago hospital undergoing surgery for broken bones in his face, jaw and leg. his grandmother says he's now in recovery >> he's a very strong kid, very tough kid. >> obviously our biggest concern is to make sure something like this doesn't happen again. >> reporter: officials later confirming the ride involved was inspected by the state earlier this year and was issued a permit to operate. nbc news has placed multiple calls