we begin tonight at the scene with nbc's mark potter. mark, good evening. >> and good evening to you, brian. many of the first responders who came here to fight the fire did not need to be called in by the dispatchers. from their own homes here in tavares and surrounding areas, they actually heard the explosion and saw the blaze. the overnight blast and flames could be heard and seen for many miles and for several hours. as row after row of propane tanks exploded and sent hot metal flying through the air, injuring eight workers. the first of the explosions began at 10:30 last night at the blue rhino plant in tavares, florida, northwest of orlando. blue rhino fills and distributes propane tanks used in backyard grills. >> this is one of the worst fires i've ever come across. in the central florida area. >> reporter: officials say 53,000 20 pound tanks were at the plant and most exploded. today the charred canisters can be seen littering the property. this one actually flew across the road. authorities say the only good news is that the thr

our mark potter is there tonight with more. mark, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. behind me is the apartment complex where the shootings took place. it began last night and ended early this morning when police shot and killed the gunman holding hostages. one by one vans from the medical examiner's office left an apartment complex today with the bodies of six victims and the gunman who he shot his neighbors with a .9 millimeter handgun. the hours long ordeal began around 6:30 eastern last night when a building tenant identified as 42-year-old pedra alberto vargas used a flammable liquid to set fire to his apartment. a husband and wife in their 60s and 70s came to his apartment. >> he came out the door, mr. vargas, and shot both of them several times killing them right at the scene. >> reporter: the victim's daughter was nearby. >> i heard about 15 to 20 shots, anso i went outside and my neighbors were screaming that my parents have been shot. >> reporter: police say vargas then ran back through the smoke to his fourth floor balcony and fired ten to 20 more shots, ki

nbc's mark potter has our report. >> in broad daylight, mexican drug smugglers dump bails of marijuana as they try to outrun the u.s. coast guard. it happens routinely, day and night, up and down the california coast. off baja, the mexican navy finds immigrants trying to reach the u.s. with border security making it harder to cross by land, mek can 134ugleers are increasingly taking to the seas using fishing boats called congas. >> they run further and further offshore. >> they are also heading further north now. landed on the secured beaches of vapdenburg air force base and this one made it close to big sur. to avoid detection, they run through the environmentally sensitive channel islands national park off the santa barbara coast. >> they use them as a barrier and a place to rendez vous and refuel. >> smugglers left immigrants strand on one channel island and bails of marijuana on another. this area on santa cruz island is known as smuggler's cove and the scene of a tragedy in december when a u.s. coast guardsman was run over and killed by two men in a ponga boat. the victim was chie

mark potter, nbc news, miami. >>> now we turn to the weather conditions again making news tonight. specifically, this now dangerous heat consuming a huge part of the country. somewhat unbelievably, parts of now 43 states out of 50 are expected to reach highs of 90 or more by this evening. nbc's stephanie gosk following it all from outside independence hall in philly tonight, stephanie, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. here's a fact a lot of people don't realize. there are more deaths in this country from heat every year than from floods, hurricanes, tornados. and lightning, combined. this heat wave continues. it just gets more dangerous. searing, sweating summer. how are you guys holding up in this heat? >> it's really warm. >> you look like you're really warm? >> i'm melting, actually. >> reporter: today heat advisories and warnings were issued in about a dozen states, creating dangerous conditions for days to come. in philadelphia, the largest senior center is extending its hours. >> our main concern is, that a lot of our older adults are dealing with health issues

nbc's mark potter has the story tonight. >> reporter: in past years, the fourth of july on u.s. military bases was always an exuberant celebration. of service and sacrifice, with fireworks lighting up the nighttime sky. but this year, at many bases around the country, the skies will be dark as fireworks fall victim to the washington budget impasse and are canceled to save money under sequestration. >> it's sad. it just should be a celebration instead of it being so quiet. >> reporter: one of those bases is ft. bragg in north carolina, where the army says it can't afford it this year. instead, the nearby city of fayetteville is hosting the fireworks, after being awarded the money when ft. bragg staff sergeant jeff wells won a july 4th essay contest. where he complained about the budget cuts. he read for us his essay. >> to not have a fireworks display on our nation's day of independence for those who have fought to secure our freedom is not only a more rail degrading scenario, but a shame for those who sacrificed so much. >> reporter: other bases not having fireworks include camp

nbc's mark potter reports. >> reporter: since the crash of the "costa concordia" last year, cruise shipire, health threats and power outages like the one aboard the carnival "triumph" have grabbed headlines worldwide. now the issue of crime against passengers is drawing the attention of senate commerce committee chairman john d. rockefeller. >> cruise lines are on notice that the safety and protection of passengers is now their number one priority. whether they like it or not. >> reporter: according to the committee report, the number of crimes alleged aboard cruise ships is 30 times more than those reported publicly. the report says since 2011 cruise lines have reported 959 ale alleged crimes to the fbi while the coast guard reported only 31 crimes publicly. miami maritime attorney jim walker says this leaves passengers extremely vulnerable. >> it lulls families into a false sense of security and complacency when really they that sbe on heightened awareness there are potential dangers. >> reporter: under a law passed three years ago the company must report cruise ship crimes on the web

. >> joining me now from miami is nbc correspondent mark potter who's filed the zimmerman trial closelyit seems like she didn't want to let george zimmerman go free but she seems to have been talked into it. >> well, not quite, she said that there was discussion in the jury room that led eventually to that acquittal. what the jury said was b-29 would went by the name of maddy, her first name, in the abc interview, said in the beginning her first vote was find zimmerman guilty second degree murder but she and the other jurors looked carefully at the evidence and law in this case and they came to conclude there just was not enough evidence to find him guilty so he was acquitted. she said she still stands by that legal verdict today, although in her heart, emotionally, she might feel differently. according to abc, she also said that she actually feels the trial should not have even been held, that she considered it a publicity stunt. she also said she feels very badly for the trayvon martin family and feels that she owes them an apology. last night, trayvon martin's mother, sabrina fault b

nbc's mark potter has details from sanford, florida, for us. good day to you. >> reporter: good morning, richard. behind me is where the accident occurred. a one-car rollover on this highway ramp. you can see a warning sign over my shoulder. this is the place where police say george zimmerman and another man helped a family get out of that vehicle. >> we, the jury, find george zimmerman, not guilty. >> reporter: the incident four days after george zimmerman was found not guilty in his second-degree murder trial. police say last wednesday an suv carrying two adults and their two children was traveling northbound on the off ramp of highway 417 at interstate 4 when the driver lost control and went off the road and the vehicle rolled over. witnesses call a 911 noted some people had already stopped to help. >> i'm here with other team rushing toward the people joot sheriff's county office said one of the good samaritans was george zimmerman. in statement the office said when a deputy arrived at the scene, two men one of whom was george zimmerman, ha

we also have in florida nbc's mark potter, where all of you know people are held up in the governor's office, if you will, standing their ground against this controversial law. let me get your first impression. i think andrea mitchell put it so well. when breaking news in history happens, you have to have a moment to digest it. we've had a couple minutes. what's your gut impression here, joy? >> tamron, i immediately tweeted that you can't overestimate how huge this is a moment. an african-american president who really hasn't spoken that much about race. he did that big race speech when he was running. since then, everything he does is racialized but it's usually other people racializing him, whether it's the disrespect with which he's treated from the house of representatives or him saying that if he had a son, he'd look like trayvon and all the baggage dumped on to him any time he approaches the issue of race. for this president to come out and be so full-throated about it, to talk about experiences -- think about that. this man is the president of the united states. he's still had

for "today," mark potter, nbc news, miami. >>> carry desew ta covered the trial. nice to see you. we know this is a divisive and emotionally charged case. with the jurors speaking out, it keeps the discussion going. if you look at the evidence presented and the instructions the jury was given, did they do their job? >> they did their job. i think it's -- when you have cases like this that are so emotional and passional, it's very hard to separate your emotions and passions from taking the evidence and putting it in the categories and coming up with the right decisions. there were a lot of legal things going on with the case. second degree murder, lesser included defense. lots of issues. we spent a lot of time as attorneys questioning people saying can you set your emotions aside. that's very important. it's part of our system. >> juror b-29 said she did. >> she thinks he was guilty, but the evidence wasn't there. i have been on a jury. >> they won't let me. >> i'm surprised they let me. i let someone walk free that i think was probably guilty. part of the issue is what's reasonabl

mark potter, nbc news, miami. >>> the little school that could.op colleges. we'll tell you about the small school that came in second, but who was first? >>> the president of the national urban league joins me live at the bottom of the hour. o the gulf, bp had two big goals: help the gulf recover and learn from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. i can tell you - safety is at the heart of everything we do. we've added cutting-edge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a state-of-the-art monitoring center, where experts watch over all drilling activity twenty-four-seven. and we're sharing what we've learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. our commitment has never been stronger. peoi go to angie's listt for all kinds of reasons. to gauge whether or not the projects will be done in a timely fashion and within budget. angie's list members can tell you which provider is the best in town. you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare. now that we're expecting, i like the fact i can go onto a

. >> nbc's mark potter for us right now near miami. mark, for of all, what can you tell us about where the investigation is? >> the investigation is under way, although we are told that soon, within half hour, we will hear a statement from the police department right behind me here from the spokesman right at 2:30 eastern time. at least that's what he's saying. let me show you the scene here. this is the five-story apartment building in a working class area right near miami where the incident began around dinner time yesterday. it came to a conclusion in the wee hours of the morning today when police shot the gunman. now, what we're able to put together so far unofficially from talking to police, to witnesses, and a family member, is that this may have been b a dispute between a tenant and the management here. and that led to this shooting. and what we are hearing again unofficially from witnesses is that the older couple managing the building went to the apartment of a man living there with his mother, a man who had been a problem in t

mark potter is there for us this morning. ark, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you, savannah. the blasts and flames could be seen for miles. the fire is under control as officials try to figure out exactly why this happened. >> you know, there they go, boom, boom, boom. like three, four in a row. >> reporter: explosion after explosion. some caught on live tv. authorities say they don't know what caused the fire that sparked multiple blasts at the blue rhino plant. a propane business about 27 miles northwest of orlando. >> this is one of the worst fires i've ever come across in the central florida area. >> the explosions began before 11:00 p.m. on monday and spread to tractor trailers loaded with propane tanks. the facility which fills cylinders and transports them daily held 53,000 tanks on site. >> as the fire continued to spread there were more explosions. obviously presented problems for the fire patrol to get them under control. >> possible explosions blue rhino. we've had multiple 911 calls. possible 100

nbc's mark potter is in sanford, florida, with that story. mark, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, savannah. behind me is where that accident occurred, a one-car rollover on a highway ramp that's also where police say george zimmerman and another man helped get a family out of that vehicle. >> we, the jury, find george zimmerman not guilty. >> reporter: the incident occurred just four days after george zimmerman was found not guilty in his second-degree murder trial. police say last wednesday, an suv carrying two adults and their two children was traveling northbound on the off-ramp of highway 417 at interstate 4 when the driver lost control, went off the road, and the vehicle rolled over. witnesses calling 911 noted some people had already stopped to help. >> there was tons of smoke and other people were starting to rush towards the vehicle. >> reporter: the seminole county sheriff's office says one of the good samaritans was george zimmerman. in a statement, the office said when a deputy arrived at the scene, "two men -- one of

mark potter has more on why seaworld is defending themselves. >> a great spiritual power. >> reporterled "black fish" raises the question about whether orca's or killer whales should be held to perform. >> they are all psychologically traumatized. >> the 2010 fatal attack in orlando where a huge orca grabbed his 40-year-old trainer and dragged her under water where she drown. >> this was kind of the natural conclusion of that happening. >> reporter: a film director says she used to take her children to seaworld to enjoy the whale shows. in researching, came to believe keeping orca's in captivity is wrong and dangerous. >> they get very bored. they get incredibly frustrated and they don't survive for very long. then in some of these horrible cases, they, you know, kill each other or aggress and kill a trainer. >> reporter: seaworld entertainment launched an aggressive campaign to criticize the film. in written statement, it says "black fish" is a documentary. instead of a fair and balanced treatment, the film is inaccurate and misleading and regrettably exploits a tragedy. seaworld is

here's nbc's mark potter. >> reporter: 19-year-old justin carter has spent nearly five months in theounty jail in new braunfels, texas, near san antonio. he's being held on $500,000 bond. his father, jack carter, says he worries about his son's safety behind bars. >> he's scared for his life, and i'm scared for his life, and every minute he's in there is just another moment of torture for me and for him. >> reporter: police say during a facebook conversation last february, two months after the sandy hook elementary school shootings, carter wrote, "i think i'm a shoot up a kindergarten and watch the blood of the innocent rain down and eat the beating heart of one of them." authorities charged carter with making a terroristic threat, a third degree felony that could lead to a two to ten-year prison term if he's convicted. >> unfortunately, any time we have one of those comments made about a school system, the history of school violence has shown we have to take those very seriously. >> reporter: attorney don flaner ti, who represents carter, seen her years ago, said the teen only wrote

here's nbc's mark potter. >> reporter: in an interview juror b-29 said she was the one whose first vote in deliberations was to find george zimmerman guilty of second degree murder. >> george zimmerman got away with murder but you can't get away from god. and at the end of the day, he's going to have a lot of questions and answers he has to deal with. >> reporter: but the only ethnic minority juror who calls herself maddie said the jury came to agree there wasn't enough proof to find him guilty. >> as the law was read to me if you have no proof that he killed him intentionally you can't find -- you can't say he is guilty. >> we the jury find george zimmerman not guilty. >> reporter: and she stands by her verdict. >> i stand by the decision because of the law, and if i stand by the decision because of my heart, he would have been guilty. >> in a statement made thursday trayvon martin's mother said it is devastating for my family to hear the comments from juror b-29 comments which we already knew in our hearts to be true. that george zimmerman literally got away with murder. nbc news reac

nbc's mark potter has the story. >> reporter: while it lacked the drama of some of the high seas encounters. were caught red handed. panamanian officials said they first detained the ship because they suspected it carried illegal drugs. they found something entirely different. panama's president called it, quote, undeclared war-like cargo originating in cuba. he even tweeted a photo. the president said when the ship was boarded the crew of 35 resisted and the north korean captain had what appeared to be a heart attack, then tried to commit suicide. what the panamanians found hidden under sugar containers from cuba were pieces of a lark weapons system, apparently part of an aging soviet era surface to air missile unit. >> this looks very much like an air defense system radar rather than the kind of ballistic technology that would pose a real threat or potential their pose a threat to other parts of the world. >> reporter: u.s. officials tell nbc news the equipment was likely headed to north korea to be refurbished and sold on the global arms market for cash. that would violate international

potter author j.k. rowling, wesley snipes, mark cuban, 55. >>> here's what's coming up lat later, a-rod's fall from grace. now keep it right here for more news, weather, and sports. thanks for watching "early today." you have a great day ahead. >>> shame, shame, shame. >> new, oakland council members working well into the morning, making decisions on on two controversial issues. we'll have the overnight developments, next. >>> election results are in. who will be replacing disgraced south bay supervisor. >>> plus, now open. the major change on the south bay freeway if time for the morning commute. >>> how's this for up to the minute the minute you're up? live look outside. that is the bay bridge. doesn't look like fog. mike has your roads on wednesday, july 31st. this is "today in the bay."