nbc's maura barrett has the story. >> the louvre, scene of the mysteries disappearance of the mona lisa rocked the art world. way back in 1911 the mona lisa snatched from the halls of the louvre. >> a theft from the isabella stewart gardner knew seem was shockingly simple. >> reporter: fast forward to 1990, two men dressed as police officers brazenly walked out of boston's gardner museum with 13 paintings totalling $500 million. today another scandal unfolding and it's hitting the art world right in the chalupa. that's right, artwork mysteriously gone missing not from a museum or gallery but from, well, taco bell. they're now going for big bucks on the black market. >> i kind of think of it as the gamestop of art heists. >> reporter: reports of paintings disappearing from the franchises started in 2015. more than a decade after artist mark t. smith had been commissioned to create them. >> it's kind of economical in a way because the way it was framed it was like this great art heist. the thomas crown affair. >> reporter: smith is an accomplished painter, shown in galleries across the co

maura barrett has more. >> it was the florida fight over schools that captivated the nation.hing through the parental rights and educational law, dubbed don't say gay by opponents. several states swiftly and without much fanfare past their own laws replicating florida as part of a flurry of anti-lgbtq bills introduced in red state houses. the laws across 11 states obstructed gender identity in schools. >> this codifies the rights of parents and guardians and creates a system for remedies for parents wishing to address concerns. >> reporter: in north carolina, goes a step further, including a provision that requires teachers to notify parents of pronoun changes, advocates say effectively outs students, something that warrants 17-year- old milo, who is trans. >> if their parents found out they were trans, they would probably get kicked out of their house. >> reporter: experts with the widespread backlash to the bathroom bill of 2016, which was later repealed. >> that's where we are seeing these laws happen in 20 states at once, because half the country can't be boycotted. >> ar

nbc's maura barrett explains. >> reporter: something a prosecutor called the stuff that happens in mob movies, as a minneapolis jury heads into deliberations without two jurors after someone tried to bribe one ba and a second was asked about it by her family. a bag decorated with butterflies and $120,000 in cash on the inside. a woman showed up at the doorstep of juror 52 on sunday night with the bag, handing it to the juror's relative, saying it was a present for the juror, referencing her first name. she was told to say not guilty tomorrow and there would be more of that present. juror 52 immediately called 911 to report the incident. police finding 100, 50 and 20 dollar bills. >> when we have someone interfering with the jury process, that is supposed to be sacrosanct, something that is not touched throughout the trial. and this is really an interference in that. >> reporter: the judge saying it is a troubling and upsetting accusation. a wild development after the seven-week-long trial over the alleged theft of covid funds, the first of a chain of expected trials, and now a possible

maura barrett has the story. >> reporter: the saying, what's old is new again is ringing true for howe. >> i'm not saying dating apps are bad, but i think we broke it. we need to go back to the old-fashioned way for a little bit. >> reporter: gen z is seeking more interest in meeting people naturally. marking a notable rise in speed dating. >> attraction doesn't work in the way we use them on dating arche apps where you make a snap judgment on someone in less than 30 seconds, and that's not how things work in person. >> reporter: it led ariana to make a space for couples, curating dating events in person. >> what took our events to the next level was the interest that people want thad in-person connection. that has only strengthened with the decline of the use of dating apps. >> reporter: it's a trend across the country. a variety of young voters say it feels more genuine and safer than a potential cat fish online. a sociologist who previously worked for te tefortin bumble. >> they are going to learn the skills they need. >> reporter: these two became fast friends. >> putting yourself

joining us now is maura barrett. it's hot out there.h, no less. >> reporter: you might be able to see the sweat on my forehead. it's hitting 90 degrees. we are expecting the high 90s today and through the rest of the week. folks showing up. the ice cream man behind me getting ready to sell opportunities to cool off. people looking to get into the water. officials warning even when you are in the water, it's important to take a break and get hydrated and sit in the shade so you get out of the sunlight. they emphasize cooling yourself off is essential. scientists are warning more and more about the extended heat waves and record-breaking temperatures because of human-caused climate change and increased carbon emissions. that's consider we see early heat waves in mid-june. we don't usually see this until august. that's something scientists are pointing out. labor and environmental organizations calling on fema to allocate funding for heat disaster relief. that's not something that fema does, but it could help local communities distribute w

. >> all right, maura barrett, get cool if you can. thank you. we appreciate it. >>> we turn now to meteorologist bill karins, take us through what you're seeing. >> all eyes on the gulf, too, in case alberto does form. detroit, fort wayne, from new hampshire into maine, we've already broken our record high in new hampshire. cleveland, close to your record high for the day. along with caribou, maine, hitting 90 degrees. this big heat dome shifting around the country throughout late this spring is this weekend going to shift more to the south, northern new england gets a break not in the midwest and the southern great lakes and the heat is going to build back in many areas of the west, too, california is going to be central valley is going to get very hot this weekend. the problem is, no cooloff at night, many days in a row at least a week for some areas, 90-plus at night, as far as our potential tropical cyclone, big rainmaker, not a wind problem, it will focus on south texas over the next two days bill karins, thank you. >>> we're following some

maura barrett is in chicago. there's a little bit of a breeze thankfully there.know it can be hot. it can be humid. what are people doing to cope with this heat? >> reporter: yeah, ana, this breeze is really welcomed today coming into our fourth day of this heat wave here in chicago, and it's not -- it's expected to last through the weekend. the humidity still a factor here as well. we have that stifling stagnant heat that usually happens. again, the wind,ing with able to get in the water is a huge relief for folks here in chicago, especially as 75 million people are at risk as that heat wave moves east, as you mentioned from michigan to maine. the heat index is supposed to spike as high as 102 degrees in maine. it's important to note out in the northeast, a lot of folks, their homes don't have air-conditioning. they don't normally need it. here in chicago, the city had opened since or seven cooling centers. because today is a holiday, the juneteenth holiday, they're closing most of their cooling centers, only keeping one open. people go to public libraries to ge

let's start with maura barrett in steamy chicago for us. good morning. >> reporter: steamy is right. thankfully a little breezy right now. tomorrow is the first official day of summer, but don't try telling that to millions of americans already trying to stay cool thanks to this brutal heat wave bringing sweltering temperatures to much of the country. this morning, there is no relief from the unrelenting heat as scorching temperatures expand from the midwest to the northeast. >> i'm not looking forward to this week at all. it will be a killer. >> reporter: 11 cities tieing or hitting record highs on tuesday with another 75 heat records poised to fall by the end of the week. in syracuse, the heat index topping 100 degrees, while as far north as maine is expected to feel like 102 degrees. >> it's hot. really, really hot. >> it is sweltering out here. >> reporter: the historic temperatures triggering air quality alerts in six states. with many off for juneteenth, people doing whatever they can to beat the heat. >> what have you done to stay sc