here's meagan fitzgerald >> reporter: tonight, thousands of sri lankans reaching a breaking point, protesters storming the presidential palace, swimming in the pool, working out in the palace gym and occupying the president's office one protester saying, i'm not wrong in saying that we have won this struggle today. the president now announcing he'll be stepping down next week and hours after the prime minister vowed to resign, protesters torched his home >> at the moment, things are moving successfully and i think ultimately we will be successful and at the end, we will make a good change for our country. >> reporter: change is what these protesters have been fighting for since march. they say government corruption has crippled the economy, leading to a fuel crisis and poverty the united nations estimating over a quarter of the country is currently food insecure today's protests following a violent night, the capital under curfew after police fired tear gas on demonstrators it's just the latest chapter in the country's long history of bloody civil unrest the island nation is fed up and pushin

meagan fitzgerald reports. >> welcome to wnba all star - >> reporter: tonight the wnba kicking off the all-star game honoring one of its biggest stars. >> and selected as an honorary all-star starter, brittney griner b.g. >> reporter: her wife, cherelle sitting courtside is a message. >> i'm so grateful that everybody in this arena is still remembering my wife. >> reporter: brittney griner, thousands of miles away, locked in a russian prison, but present in this arena tonight. >> february 17th -- >> reporter: a video documenting her journey from february until now playing at halftime >> we need her home. >> we need to get her back home. she deserves to be home >> we are, b.g., will not be exhausted >> reporter: players wearing jerseys with griner's name and number, 42 griner was detained at a moscow airport for allegedly having vape cartridges containing cannabis oil griner pleading guilty late last week >> it was unintentionally brought to russia, because she was in a hurry as she was packing. >> reporter: her attorney hoping that plea expedites the process getting her closer to possi

meagan fitzgerald explains >> reporter: for many of us, getting and staying healthy is usually top of mind. a typical go-to? vitamins after all, americans spent nearly $50 billion alone on supplements last year, but a new analysis published in the journal of american medical association says for the average healthy adult, they may not be necessary they reviewed 84 studies to assess the impact of vitamins and supplements in preventing heart disease and cancer dr. michael barry is vice chair of the u.s. preventive services task force >> we don't have enough evidence to recommend for or against them with those two exceptions of vietnam e and beta carotene which we recommend people not take. >> reporter: according to the public's analysis, beta carotene was associated with increased risk of lung cancer and death from heart disease, while vitamin e had no proven effects dr. jeffery linder wrote an op-ed about the study. is it pointless to take vitamins? >> if there was a big benefit from multivitamins and supplements, we'd sort of know by now. >> reporter: the vitamin industry, which spent

set to hit 40 degrees celsius, which is 104 degrees fahrenheit this coming week, jose. >> meagan fitzgerald in london, thank you. >>> just ahead, caught on camera, the new shark sightings close to popular beaches after a recent string of attacks >>> also, the emergency landing on a missouri highway we'll tell you why police arrested the pilot. >>> swimmers up and down the east coast are keeping a cautious eye out for sharks today after a recent string of attacks off new york's long island and now underwater cameras near another popular beach are revealing just how many great whites are getting closer and closer to swimmers kathy park reports. >> reporter: tonight, new underwater images show great white sharks lurking off the coast of cape cod close to shore buoys detected two separate sharks. this one was spotted wednesday morning and that same day another seen prowling around a different buoy ocean researcher chris paparo says shark sightings near land is a sign the ocean is cleaner and the fish they feed on have returned. >> they were overfished for so many years we stopped seeing them. t

with more on that, here's meagan fitzgerald >> reporter: tonight, the uk getting blasted with unrelenting heat, known for its rain, instead hitting record-setting temperatures, today logging highest temperatures ever, 104 degrees. the usual high in july, 75 and adding to the misery, fires now spreading across the city hundreds of firefighters battling flames and stretched thin as the mayor calls the situation critical the blistering heat gripping a country not equipped for this type of weather train tracks and runways, buckling, disrupting and canceling services millions sweating it out in a nation where most live without air-conditioning but climate experts say, this is just the start. >> certainly what the uk has never seen before, but unfortunately, i think going forward, we may well see this type of heat across the uk more and more common. >> reporter: in spain and portugal, more than a thousand deaths and more than two dozen fires are raging, with temperatures topping a scorching 114 degrees. one spanish fire got so close, it forced a train to stop. and in france, many tour de france

meagan fitzgerald is on the front lines tonight. >> reporter: tonight, wildfires across europe raging of control. in spain, this powerful wall of flames still spreading as firefighters urgently work around the clock. 11,000 people tonight forced to flee their homes. >> in. >> reporter: in italy, nine cities are under extreme heat warnings as fires in the north of that country are now crossing into slovenia. and in france, more than 2,000 firefighters using army bulldozers desperately trying to contain the largest fire the bordeaux wine country has seen in 30 years. so far, more than 50,000 acres have burned, twice the size of paris. just about an hour ago, this entire field was on fire. we know that planes dropped fire retardant trying to put it out. but here's the concern. you can see the smoke, the hot spots that are still smoldering. fire officials say with the right wind and heat, this fire could reignite. it's all hands on deck to try and put out the flames. local farmers joining the fight, using their water trucks to fill up fire engines on the front lines. this is your home. ho

the island nation is fed up and pushing back for a better future meagan fitzgerald, nbc news. >>> comingle's monitoring a serious heatwave. >>> plus, these teens ditcher in graduation robes in favor of firefighting gear, all to save a fellow classmate's house from burning down all...the...symptoms. need to deal with this. so your doctor tells you about trintellix, a prescription medicine for adults with depression. okay, feeling relief from overall symptoms. hmm. and trintellix had no significant impact on weight in clinical trials. so there's that. trintellix may increase suicidal thoughts and actions in people 24 and younger. call a doctor right away if you have these, or new or worsening depression, or new or sudden changes in mood, behavior, thoughts, or feelings. do not take with maois. tell your doctor about all medicines you take to avoid a life-threatening condition. increased risk of bleeding may occur, especially if taken with aspirin, nsaid pain relievers, or blood thinners. manic episodes, eye problems, low sodium levels, and sexual problems can occur. suddenly stopping trint

. >> joining me now is meagan fitzgerald who has been watching this from london. griner's wife said the state department is not doing enough to get her out. they want a meeting with the president, which is, of course, how the trevor reed's family managed to finally get him swapped in april and back home. is there any sign that there's diplomacy going on with russia? we know what's going on with putin and the u.s. right now. could not be worse. >> reporter: you are right. sheryl griner has been critical and very candid about how she's frustrated with the u.s. government, how she doesn't feel they are doing enough to secure britney's release. she points to last weekend. there was a scheduled call where she was supposed to call her on saturday, which was their fourth wedding anniversary. that never happened. she said that britney tried calling several times but didn't go through because of a staffing issue at the embassy. she points to that as why her trust in the u.s. government is eroding and why she questions whether or not they are working hard enough. as you men

. >> reporter: family and fans waiting and hoping for her return meagan fitzgerald, nbc news. >> a mom is sounding off against american airlines after she claims they lost her child monica's daughter was flying by herself from chattanooga to miami. she was supposed to have a flight attendant accompanying her. after the flight landed, she got a call from a rep who told her her child was missing. >> the thought that somebody could have taken her is terrible still. like i still am having bad dreams about it. >> the airline says we take these matters very seriously and looking into what occurred >> gilliam said they tried to offer her free flights and a limo service, but she has rejected the aoffers. >>> here a spirit airlines plane catches fire the brakes overheated, sparking the fire as they touched down. no one was hurt. >>> novak djokovic has done it again. the 35-year-old won his seventh men's single title he knocked off nick kyrgios and has taken home his 21st single title. he's one championship away from rafael nadal's record. >> and on the women's side a rising star scored elena ry

joining me is nbc news foreign correspondent meagan fitzgerald. an, thanks for joining us on this. we haven't seen a lot of brittany. what do we know about what actually happened in that courtroom today? >> reporter: you're absolutely right, we don't see much of her. today we saw her in court in handcuffs, she was accompanied by officials from the u.s. embassy. journalists weren't allowed inside the courtroom with the exception of two, and cameras weren't allowed inside either. court got under way, it lasted 2 1/2 hours. she was officially read her charges against her. she did not enter a plea. we understand two people testified against her. these are officials, we understand, from the airport, as you mentioned, february 17th is when these airport officials claim that they found these vape cartridges filled with ash eesh oil hashish oil and she's been detained ever since. we've spoken with experts who say this is a show. she faces up to ten years in prison, which is why it's so important, what's happening at the highest levels of our government, th

joining us from london is nbc news foreign correspondent meagan fitzgerald. what more can you tell us about the fires and what this declaration means? >> reporter: lindsey, good to be with you. the uk has already said this is going to be a crisis situation for the last several days. they declared a state of emergency here. we're seeing a massive fire breaking out in a residential area on the outskirts of london. right now information is still coming in. we do know that 15 fire engines have responded. we know that around 100 firefighters are on the scene fighting this blaze. they're stretched thin, the uk seeing its highest temperatures ever at 104 degrees and possibly climbing. so you're thinking about these firefighters that are fighting this blaze and then, of course, battling this heat. we're talking about a country that is not prepared for heat like this. the infrastructure is breaking down in certain locations, we're seeing that, where there's damage to runways at airports, seeing train tracks buckling. remember a lot of people in this country live witho

i want to bring in meagan fitzgerald in london. the last i checked, it was 102 fahrenheit.ver it is, it's the hottest day in 363 years. how does it feel? how are people coping? >> reporter: chris, it's hot. like you mentioned, this country is not ready for temperatures like this. people are doing everything they can to stay cool. you see them behind me jumping into pools, into ponds, lakes, buying fans. the reality is, not everybody can do those things, which is why this is a crisis situation. this is why the government declared a state of emergency across the country as these temperatures soar, possibly past the 104 degrees fahrenheit today. also, we are seeing massive fires throughout london. one of them in particular is in east london happening right now. we know 15 firefighters -- 15 fire engines, rather, are on scene. 100 firefighters are trying to tacking this blaze. there's other fires breaking out throughout the city. i want to read this quote. this is a tweet from the london fire brigade. we have declared a major incident as firefighters battle several significant

joining us from london is nbc news foreign correspondent meagan fitzgerald.is declaration means? >> reporter: lindsey, good to be with you. the uk has already said this is going to be a crisis situation for the last several days. they declared a state of emergency here. we're seeing a massive fire breaking out in a residential area on the outskirts of london. right now information is still coming in. we do know that 15 fire engines have responded. we know that around 100 firefighters are on the scene fighting this blaze. they're stretched thin, the uk seeing its highest temperatures ever at 104 degrees and possibly climbing. so you'r

>> meagan fitzgerald in london, thank you. >>> coming up, 7:09. dylan, you got your eye on the weather here and overseas. >> everywhere, it's not going to end any time soon. that's what's scary about this heat wave. take a look at where we're going to see the high temperatures today. warmest down through texas 90s through the middle of the country. really 80s, 90s and 100s across the united states. 219 million people will see 09 90 or higher 44 million people will see temperatures above 100 degrees. that is the air temperature. when you factor in humidity, it is so brutal to be outside you need to stay in the air conditioning as much as you can. record highs, near record highs expected all through the weekend. all the red dots are cities that we expect the record temperatures, including the northeast, even the interior northeast, as well take a look at the numbers today. with the heat index, little rock will feel like 115 st. louis, 101, indianapolis, 104. birmingham, alabama, will feel like 103 in the northeast, we'll see the heat in philadelphia