nbc's mark potter shows us the controversial way soldiers are being remembered and what's being done about it today. >> reporter: on main street an aging war memorial honors the fallen from world wars 1 and ii, korea and vietnam, reflecting the nation's segregationist past, it lists the dead from greenwood as either white or colored, which for those seeing it in 2015, a shock. >> this is sad, isn't it? >> i grew up here, when i see it in black and white, it just, it bothers me. >> reporter: it also bothers deeply the mayor of greenwood, welburn adams who leads a town that's 42% black. >> the term colored is offensive to me. i can only imagine how it feels to african-americans. >> reporter: arguing that whites and blacks fought and died and should be honored together, mayor adams raised $15,000 to build new plaques with all the dead listed alphabetically, not by race. >> i don't think main street is a place where you should be glorifying segregation. >> reporter: today those plaques still sit in the mayor's office after he learned a state law prohibits changing historical monuments wi

>> mark potter covering that story tonight. thank you. >>> now to a development that protesters have been calling for practically ever since a police officer shot michael brown dead in ferguson, missouri. the city and the police chief, thomas jackson, have agreed to what they're calling a mutual separation. that means the chief is stepping down effective next week. nbc's ron allen with this report. >> reporter: ferguson police chief tom jackson has faced withering criticism since the death of michael brown last august. his decision to withhold officer wilson's name while releasing video of brown in a robbery, fueled calls for resignation. the justice department investigation found jackson was running a police department rampant with racial bias. more focused on raising revenue through the courts than public safety. he had resisted constant calls to step down. jackson city manager john shaw out the door. >> we expect you to do more. >> reporter: the council approved a mutual separation agreement last night. and the top judge who

mark potter, nbc news, ft. smith, arkansas. >> she's a remarkable woman. we've got more on charlotte's story tonight on our website. that's going to do it for us on this wednesday night. i'm lester holt. thank you so much for joining us. and by the way, we know you can't always be with us at this time and that's why we're always available on demand. have a good night. >>> breaking news. in oakland right now a shooting on 580 that's snarling traffic at this hour. good evening and thanks for joining us. i'm janelle wang in for ray mathai. >> this is a live shot right now from our nbc bay area chopper over the 580 backup. these are the two cars that were involved in this accident/shooting. this is what we know right now. at some point about an hour and a half ago the people inside these cars either had some sort of altercation and the cars crashed, or they shot at each other and then the cars crashed. either way, one person was sent to the hospital, and the backup right now is huge. traffic backed up for miles. won't be getting better any time soon. the chp s

mark potter, nbc news, greenwood, south carolina. >>> up next, some "top gun" inspired moves. and we are taking you into the cockpit. >>> finally tonight, if you're afraid of heights hold onto your hats. tens of thousands will turn out for this weekend's los angeles county air show. among the biggest draws the air force thunderbirds. nbc's joe fryer managed to hitch a ride. >> reporter: the proud airmen who fly these fighter jets are impeccably trained pros. and every now and then they let a guy like me tag along. with our pilot major tyler ellison, aka wolf, we roar off the runway. within seconds of leaving the ground. >> get ready, here comes some gs. >> reporter: we're flying straight up, totally vertical to 17,500 feet off the ground, which you can see is directly behind me. that's just the beginning. for the next hour we're sampling all kinds of maneuvers including a loop that takes us completely upsidedown for a few moments. a window to the world now directly below. >> so we basically just did a whole loop around like a roller costar. >> reporter: yep, only ours took abo

lester. >> mark potter tonight. thank you, mark. >>> a newly hired attorney for the fraternity kicked off the university of oklahoma campus as some members are receiving death threats. now the chapter is considering suing the school in a bid to unsully its name after some members were caught on tape chanting racial slurs. we get a lot more now from nbc's gabe gutierrez who's on the campus. >> reporter: for days the racist chant has been widely condemned. today the university of oklahoma sigma alpha epsilon chapter fought back. >> we need to avoid a rush to judgment. >> reporter: its alumni have hired high-profile attorney stephen jones who represented timothy mcveigh in the oklahoma city bombing trial. after the video became public, university president david boren quickly denounced the fraternity. >> real sooners are not bigots. they're not racists. there is zero tolerance for this kind of racist and bigoted behavior. we don't want to be defined by those who completely violate our values. >> reporter: some experts

mark potter nbc news greenwood, south carolina. >>> up next some top gun inspired moves.aking you into the cockpit. ...and the wolf was huffing and puffing... kind of like you sometimes, grandpa. well, when you have copd it can be hard to breathe. it can be hard to get air out, which can make it hard to get air in. so i talked to my doctor. she said.. doctor: symbicort could help you breathe better, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. symbicort helps provide significant improvement of your lung function. symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections osteoporosis, and some eye problems. you should tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. grandfather: symbicort could mean a day with better breathing. watch out, piggies! child giggles doctor: symbicort.

mark potter nbc news ft. smith, arkansas. >> she's a remarkable woman.ve got more on charlotte's story tonight on our website. that's going to do it for us on this wbzednesday night. i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. we know you can't always be with us at this time and that's why we're always available on demand. have a good night . >>> the bachelor fin alley. >> the surprise twist ending exposed now on extra. >>> extra, extra. >>> new video. bachelor chris in tears as it all comes down to this. >> i'm excited to be in public with -- >> whitney, becca, or? >>> plus who's the frontrunner to be the next bachelorette? >> we have our beautiful pick right here. >> that's right. >>> now trending bobbi kristina turns 22 today as her boyfriend nick gordon sends a disturbing disturbing tweet. >>> then the all new, epic real housewives smackdown. >>> demi lovato from disney star to tabloid target. >> i heard you went to the e.r. are you okay? >>> jessica simpson back in her daisy dukes. >>> plus richard gere red carpet rumbling with a.j. this is extra at uni

our report tonight from nbc's mark potter. >> reporter: a salvage barge hired by the u.s. army arrived at the crash scene early this afternoon and didn't take long before it began pulling up the twisted wreckage of the downed black hawk helicopter from santa rosa bay. first to be seen the blades of the chopper. complicating the recovery is that the bodies of two members of the louisiana national guard flight crew were still trapped inside. today, the u.s. marine corps released the names of its seven special operations combat veterans who died in the training accident. they include master sergeant thomas saunders from williamsburg, virginia who served in kosovo, afghanistan and iraq. and staff sergeants marcus bawol and trevor blaylock. both from michigan. >> our thoughts and prayers with the marines, soldiers, their family and friends as we all mourn that tragic loss of life. >> reporter: also killed in the accident staff sergeant andrew seif from holland, michigan. he was the 2013 marine of the year and awarded the military's third highest decoration for valor. captain st

mark potter, nbc news, ft. smith, arkansas. >> she's a remarkable woman.ve got more on charlotte's story tonight on our website. that's going to do it for us on this wednesday night. i'm lester holt. thank you so much for joining us. by the way, we know you can't always be with us at this time and that's why we're always on demand. have a good night. thank you, cable for the slower internet upload speeds. for making me wait longer to share my photo albums. thank you cable, because if we never had you we wouldn't know the incredible difference verizon fios makes. in customer satisfaction studies, fios is rated #1 in internet speed and reliability - 8 years running. plus, fios has the fastest wi-fi available from any provider. period. see the difference get a fios triple play online at an amazing price, guaranteed for two full years! plus, get a $300 bonus with a two-year agreement. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v >>> lights camera access. >>> bruce on the loose party. >>> we go inside dad's very private new swan

mark potter, nbc news, miami. >> a new video has emerged reportedly showing the three girls joining isis militants. at the same time wither learning more about a young british woman who has been a key recruiter for isis. we have more from scotland. >> reporter: this video was made public this weekend. three girls at the istanbul bus station 12 days ago. police believe shamimi begum and her two friends are believed to have left that day to join isis, drawn in by a known recruiter. two days before she left, shamima begum had reached tout her on twitter. her name, axsa mahmoud, a 20-year-old from glasgow, scotland, she left her family in november 2013. >> we were horrified when we learnt that our daughter had become radicalized and had traveled to aleppo in syria. >> reporter: mahmoud grew up in glasgow. she had attended one of the best schools. nick clemens looked into her past. >> she had little friends, she was into music, had a crush on movie stars. nothing unusual that would make you think she would become a fantic or a radical. >> reporter: a stark contrast to her new life somewhere i

nbc's mark potter has more from nevar, florida. >> reporter: searchers have spent nearly two days working the crash site in heavy fog recovering pieces of the downed army black hawk helicopter including a fuel bladder. late this morning officials from eglin air force base made a dramatic announcement. >> at this time i can report that we have located the wreckage of the uh-60 black hawk. >> reporter: authorities say the chopper lies in 25 feet of water after making a high impact crash into santa rosa bay, east of nevar, florida. they confirm that none of the seven marines aboard or the four men army national guard crew survived. remains are still being recovered from the helicopter. a cause of the crash has not been given, but a former pilot says low flying chopper pilots sometimes become disoriented in dense fog which covered the bay the night of the crash. >> this can produce a phenomenon in the aviation world that we call the goldfish bowl effect. that's effectively when the horizon disappears and the sea melds in with the cloud. >> reporter: among the dead according to family and frie

mark potter nbc news miami. >> a new video has emerged supposedly showing the three girls joining isis militants. there was a young woman becoming a key are you krutrecr for isis. >> reporter: three girls at the istanbul bus station 12 days ago. police believe shamimi begum and her two friends are believed to have left that day to join isis drawn in by a known recruiter. two days before she left shamima had reached tout her on twitter. a 20-year-old from glasgow, scotland she left her family in november 2013. >> we were horrified when we learned our daughter had become radicalized and had traveled to a aleppo in syria. >> she had attended one of the best schools.m ens looked into her past. >> she had little friends, she was into music, had a crush on movie stars. nothing unusual that would make you think she would become a radical. >> reporter: a stark contrast to her new life somewhere in syria. now on her tumblr blog she lashes out at the west and encourages girls to join isis. bring a good pair of boots and makeup and jewelry because, trust me there is absolutely nothing here. in th

mark potter, nbc news, mexico city. >>> when "nightly news" continues on this saturday, the next phase for the missionaries stopped short by ebola. why they're heading back to africa. >>> and later, the man who sees green in all that white. yep, he's selling snow. white. yep, he's selling snow. working on my feet all day gave me pain here. in my lower back but now, i step on this machine and get my number which matches my dr. scholl's custom fit orthotic inserts. now i get immediate relief from my foot pain. my lower back pain. find a machine at drscholls.com major: here's our new trainer ensure active heart health. heart: i maximize good stuff like my potassium and phytosterols which may help lower cholesterol. new ensure active heart health supports your heart and body so you stay active and strong. ensure, take life in. meet the world's newest energy superpower. surprised? in fact, america is now the world's number one natural gas producer... and we could soon become number one in oil. because hydraulic fracturing technology is safely recovering lots more oil and natural gas. suppor