>> miguel almaguer in los angeles tonight. miguel, thanks. >>> now to the growing tensions over iran. a component of this actually as u.n. nuclear inspectors return to that country, the question fuelling high anxiety in washington and around the world is will israel attack iran's nuclear program. the u.s. is working hard to try to make sure that doesn't happen, but israel may not be on the same page. our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell is in our d.c. newsroom. you and i have been told by mostly different officials, some of them the same, that every time we see a delegation from the u.s. fly to israel it's because this has reached another critical point in pressing their case. here we are again. >> reporter: here we are again indeed. as you know so well, the administration is back to reshuffling back and forth to israel almost pleading with officials there not to attack iran, arguing that economic pressure has finally gotten tehran to agree to nuclear talks. in tehran, tel aviv and washington, high stakes dip

it's where we begin tonight with nbc's miguel almaguer in l.a. miguel, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. we found a bargain for you tonight $4.35 a gallon for regular at this gas station. a deal because so many gas stations are charging upwards of $5 a gallon. the gas station owner here telling us he's been forced to raise his prices every day, sometimes every hour. >> $86.92. >> reporter: the pinch at the pump is putting the squeeze on drivers everywhere. today backlash from both sides of the register. andre vanderlock owns three gas stations, a chevron, texaco and this shell. >> consumers should be very, very angry and very challenging of the oil companies. that's where it all starts. >> reporter: from california where the average price of unleaded gas spiked 11 cents in two days. >> $110 bucks. >> reporter: to new york where the state average is edging close to $4 a gallon. >> i think it is out of control. >> reporter: anger over what a,a a predicts could be record highs this summer, projected national average of $4.35 a gallon wi

miguel almaguer, nbc news, california. >>> that is our broadcast on a thursday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. of course, we hope to see you back here tomorrow evening. good night. >>> good evening, thanks for joining us on this thursday. i'm ran math thigh. >> i'm jessica aguirre. >>> fallout tonight following an exclusive report from the nbc bay area investigative unit. today, san jose employee unions filed a formal ethics complaint against high-ranking san jose officials, including the mayor. >> our watchdog reporter exposed the story last night and the tonight there are a lot of

nbc's miguel almaguer reports from graham, washington, outside seattle. >> reporter: investigators call the raging fire a double murder suicide. inside the home, three bodies. josh powell and his two young boys. powell was denied custody of his children last week. >> found two five-gallon cans of gas. one was with the bodies. >> reporter: police say on sunday he slammed the door on a social worker who brought the children for a supervised visit. minutes before the fire, powell wrote a chilling three-word e-mail to his lawyer. it read, "i'm sorry. good-bye." >> this was not a tragedy. this was a horrible murder of two little kids. >> reporter: powell had been in a bitter custody battle with his missing wife's parents chuck and judy cox. today, they spoke of the loss. >> we know that the children are with their mother. and they're safe. >> reporter: in a recent interview, powell continued to deny any involvement in his wife susan's disappearance. >> i could never hurt susan or my sons. and everyone who knows me knows that. >> reporter: susan powell vanished in december 2009, the same nigh

miguel almaguer, nbc news, california. >>> that is our broadcast on a thursday night.eing here with us. i'm brian williams. of course, we hope to see you back here tomorrow evening. good night.

>> miguel almaguer, thank you. >>> earlier on "today" ann spoke with chuck and judy cox. they say the boys had only recently began to open up, telling them what they recalled about the night their mother disappeared. >> they basically kept saying how they went on a vacation in the desert camping and mommy and daddy, they stopped at some place and mommy and daddy left and then only daddy came back. >> there was some discussion about mommy being in the trunk of the car. is that right? >> yes. >> that was based on a picture drawn by braden at preschool. he drew a picture of the minivan. the day care providers asked him who the people were. he said that was his daddy, charlie and himself and that mommy was in the trunk. >> chuck and judy cox said they had begun to fear that josh could turn violent against the boys in one of the scheduled visits and made their concerns known to police. >>> mortars raining down on homs, syria, as international pressure increases to stop the crack down. the russian foreign minister is in damascus this morning, one day after the u.s. closed the e

they suffered and they died. >> that was miguel almaguer reporting.social worker who brought the boys to the house and called 911 did everything she could. like many others connected to the case, she is now working with grief counselors. pat? >>> hotel workers in new york will soon have a new measure of security. a new agreement gives them panic alarms to summon help in case of an emergency. officials say the move is not prompted by the case of a maid who accused the former head of international monetary fund of rape. that case was dismissed. the panic alarm's proposal is part of a labor contract set for a union vote next week. the rule would have to be implemented at hotels within a year. >>> a woman who submitted nearly $10,000 worth of fake cancer treatment claims will spend close to nine years on probation. 52-year-old debra brown was sentenced tuesday in pennsylvania after pleading guilty to submitting the claims between 2006 and '08. the claims were for her husband's prostate cancer, even though he was cured after surgery in 2006. brown also sub

miguel almaguer joins me now with more. miguel, what sort of evidence has been uncovered now? police uncovering that explains the motivation of powell decide to go take these drastic measures? >> reporter: thomas, we've learned police believe josh powell had been working on this house fire and planning it for at least a day. on saturday they believe he began to put the plan in motion. they say he with drew some $7,00 from his bank account and transferred the money to another account. they say that he bought 10 gallons of gasoline that was used as an accelerant to light this home on fire that he planned to give away his boys' toys, that he certainly had begun thinking about this on saturday. of course you just heard that dramatic 911 call that was made moments after the boys walked into the house and josh powell, we learned, also made his own voice mails. he sent voice mails to family and friends just 20 minutes before that house fire. here is what he said. >> this is josh. i just wanted to say good-bye. i am not able to live without my sons, and i'm not able to go on anymore.

nbc's miguel almaguer is with us from l.a. tonight where prices are surging right now. migu miguel, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. it's usually memorial day, presidents' day. while it's not the norm it is a bellwether. pain at the pump. >> it's probably $10 more a tank than it was last week. >> reporter: the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline now tops $4 a gallon. this station getting close to $5. commuters have never seen prices so high so early in the year. patience is running on empty. >> i'm going to start riding a bike if it goes higher than that. >> reporter: californians aren't the only ones emptying their wallet to fill up the tank. on the east coast prices are surging toward $4 a gallon. parts of the midwest hovering near $3.50. no state is lower than wyoming at $3.03. in hawaii they spend nearly $4.25. analysts say three reasons are driving the early spike at the pump. >> the perfect storm, the juggernaut we are facing in rising gas prices is, one, the geopolitical issues in iran and elsewhere. the second would be investors and spec

joining me from california this morning is nbc correspondent miguel almaguer. doing now in light of the attention on her, her mom and in light of the funeral arrangements? >> she is certainly struggling with the death of her mother, whom she was close to, especially in the later years of her life. she was 18 years old and by her mother's side constantly traveling all over the road with her. she was really a serious part of her life. she was just spending so much time on the road. she watched her parents make headlines for successes and female yours. her mom was whitney houston, the queen of pop. she considered bobbi kristina brown to be her jewel. he or she saw her mother as her jewel. she was also a caretaker for her mother when she had problems with rehab and relapsing. certainly very difficult. she was at the hotel on saturday when whitney houston passed. she was rushed to the hospital suffering from stress and anxiety. bobby brown rushed to be with her and is with her today as they cope with whitney's death, thomas. >> miguel, thank you so much. >>> a lot of

>> miguel almaguer, thank you.powell's parents, chuck and judy cox, now joining frus seattle. good morning to you both. we are so, so sorry about this news. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> i want to first give you a chance to say whatever you wish about your grandsons, charlie and braden. what can you tell us about them? >> it was great to have them with us. they were becoming more and more happy and more just loving children. we're missing them. >> i understand they were becoming more playful and they were becoming more talkative. what were they revealing about the night that your daughter, susan, their mother, disappeared. judy? >> they basically kept saying how they went on a vacation in the desert camping and mommy and daddy, they stopped at some place and mommy and daddy left and then only daddy came back. >> there was some discussion about mommy being in the trunk of the car. is that right? >> yes. >> that was based on a picture drawn by braden at preschool. he drew a picture of the minivan. the day care

>> all right, miguel almaguer, thank you so much. a quick programming note, "dateline" will have a look at the powell case friday at 10:00/9:00 central time on nbc. >> let's head to the news desk for the top stories of the morning. natalie, good morning to you. >> good morning. a major breakthrough in california where the hotly contested gay marriage ban known as proposition 8 has now been overturned and declared unconstitutional by a federal appeals court. the ruling applies only to california. the case could be headed to the supreme court. >>> new york prosecutors will not pursue rape charges against the police commissioner's son. the manhattan district attorney's office found criminal charges were not appropriate following an investigation into the rape accusation against tv anchor greg kelly. kelly's accuser said he assaulted her after they met for drinks in october. kelly denied wrongdoing. >>> pennsylvania prosecutors are pushing to have jerry sandusky kept indoors only while under house arrest after neighbors complained the fo

miguel almaguer is in beverly hills.rter: we still don't know what caused houston's life to come to an end here at the beverly hilton hotel. like so many superstars she had troubles in her life. she may have looked and sung like one but as far back as 1993 whitney houston was quoted saying "i'm nobody's angel." her image changed when she married bad boy bobby brown in 1992. >> you started seeing the scandal and drama. you would in somewhat distant horror watch and say, please let this stop, let this recover. >> reporter: houston became fodder for the tabloids. there were missed shows, drugs in her luggage, public meltdowns. in 1996 after the release of "the preacher's wife" houston admitted to using drugs every day for a year or two. in 2002 told abc's diane sawyer she had limits. >> first of all, let's get one thing straight. crack is cheap. i make too much money to ever smoke crack. crack is whack. >> reporter: the next year houston had bruises and a cut lip after a fight with her husband. she later called the incident

miguel almaguer has more on this story. good morning. >> reporter: ann, good morning.ice say the burned down home is a crime scene. they call it a double murder-suicide put into motion by josh powell. it happened days after a judge denied him custody of his children saying he'd have to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation. the fire broke out just moments after he left an e-mail with three words that read, "i'm sorry. goodbye." >> reporter: the house went up in flames just moments after powell's two young sons arrived with a social worker for their scheduled visit. a neighbor captured the aftermath in this home video. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: firefighters put out the blaze but had no chance to save 7-year-old charlie and 5-year-old braden, the powell's young boys. >> we believe this was intentionally planned. it looks like ak century sel rant was used. >> reporter: police say powell opened the front door, let the bishops inside, blocked the social worker from entering, slamming the door in her face. she called the supervisor, said she smelled gas in the home. moments l

for "today," miguel almaguer, nbc news, medford, oregon. >> ashley's mother and step-father join us now. good morning. >> good morning. >> she died just 11 days ago. why are you here? what do you want to say? >> we want to bring awareness to children about helium and that it is serious. it is dangerous and it does kill. we also want children to know that when adults are trying to hang out with you that should be the first sign that it's not a safe situation. adults shouldn't be hanging out with children like that. >> reporter: the adult in this case is identified as catherine mcclune, 27 years old. justin, do you hold her to some degree responsible for the death of ashley? >> absolutely. yeah. she took our child without our permission. she took other children without adult permission. i believe if a child is in your care and you're an adult, you're 27 years old it's not like you're 21, 22, 23, just turned ab an adult, you need to take responsibility. you didn't ask any parents if you could have their kid at your house. >> she didn't know if ashley had allergies or any of the other child

>> miguel almaguer in los angeles. thank you very much.nterestingly we have admiral general shabaz al adin with us now by phone. general, good morning. thank you for taking time, running your busy dictatorship to join us on "today." >> good morning! i have been very busy today. i delayed 30 executions to do this. >> well, that's probably good you delayed them. the big question now, general, is will you or will you not be walking the red carpet at the academy awards on sunday? >> well, those gongsters banned me. normally i would be impressed by an act of cowardice by a faceless regime. but they have until midday on sunday to give me my tickets back. if not they will face unforeseen consequences. >> you mentioned those consequences. >> by the way, how is your family? [ laughter ] >> not so good now. what kind of unimaginable consequences, general? >> well, let's just say oil prices might be raised. >> that's unimaginable. by the way, how is your eunuch al roker? >> oh, dear. i don't know if you watch a lot of movies but there is a movie nomi

miguel almaguer is in los angeles for us this morning. good morning. >> reporter: natalie, good morning. the price for premium has already topped $5 a gallon. while this gas station isn't necessarily the norm, the prices could be come summer. across california, sticker shot at the pump. >> $96.92. >> reporter: the golden state putting drivers in the red. the statewide average here, $4.03 a gallon a bargain compared to this gas station where premium tops $5. >> it's going to hurt. it's going to be painful. >> reporter: this is a record. gas prices have never been so high so early in the year. >> it impacts everything. it impacts how much cheerios costs, how much you pay for the 7-11 hot dog. >> reporter: california isn't the only state being drained at the pump. new york is closing in on $4 a gallon. the midwest hovering near $3.50. washington state, $3.64. wyoming is the cheapest at $3.03 while hawaii is the most expensive at $4.23. by april, experts say the national average could top $4.25. by summer some cities will see $5 a gallon. ana

nbc's miguel almaguer is live in los angeles. and miguel, good morning.ation. >> reporter: chris, good morning to you. we certainly still don't know a lot of information, as you just mentioned. the autopsy is complete, but really, what the coroner's office is going to wait for before they can rule on the cause of death is that toxicology report, and it could take up to a month or two before we get that back. as you mentioned, there have been some preliminary reports from outside news agencies that xanax and alcohol may have been a contributing factor to whitney houston's death. here at the beverly hilton behind me. but again, that has not yet been confirmed. it will take about six to eight

thank you so much, miguel almaguer. we appreciate that. now, whitney houston was supposed to attend mentor clive davis's party at the beverly hills hotel. we'll talk about what happened at that party when word spread of whitney's death. musician herby hancock was there, and he'll join me in just a few minutes. >>> but let's talk politics now, because it is game on. battle lines are drawn. the president is unveiling his budget just about an hour from now. his plans draw some very sharp distinctions between him and the republica republicans. he calls for raising taxes on the rich and billions of dollars for roads, energy and manufacturing paid for by savings from two wars. republicans are slamming it because it will, for a fourth straight year, produce a $1 trillion deficit. >> the time for austerity is not today. we need to be on a path where over the next several years we bring our deficit under control. right now, we have a recovery that's taking root, and if we were to put in austerity measures now, it would take the economy in the wrong

>> nbc's miguel almaguer, thank you very much for the story. >>> up next, strategy talk in the fightuestion of religious freedom or women's rights? >>> plus, in our three big business headlines, are americans ready to spend? you might be surprised by a new number just out. this is "weekends with alex witt." >>> well, everyone, will come back to "weekends with alex witt." mitt romney is trying to avoid a setback with the maine caucuses. romney and paul are holding events across the state. a report today suggests a very tight race between the two candidates. neither rick santorum nor newt gingrich is actively campaigning in the state. have have no events scheduled today. >>> we have new reaction this morning to president obama shifting his position on contraception coverage and health insurance. president says the revamped policy will both protect religious freedoms as well as a woman's right to contraception. under the plan, religious employers will not have to cover birth control for their employees. instead, the government will demand that insurance companies will directly responsib

miguel almaguer has more from los angeles on the story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the price for premium has already topped $5 a gallon. while this station may not be the norm it could be an indication of what's to come this summer. across california, sticker shot at the pump. >> $96.92. >> reporter: the golden state putting people in the red. $4.03 a gallon a bargain compared to this premium station where premium tops $5. >> it's going to hurt. >> reporter: gas prices have never been so high early in the year. >> it impacts everything. it impacts how much cheerios costs, how much you pay for the 7-11 hot dog. >> reporter: california isn't the only state being drained at the pump. new york is closing in on $4 a gallon. the midwest hovering near $3.50. washington state, $3.64. wyoming is the cheapest at $3.03 while hawaii is the most expensive at $4.23. experts say the national average could top $4.25. by summer some cities will see $5 a gallon. three reasons are driving the skyrocketing price for gas. >> the perfect storm, the juggernaut we are facing in rising gas

>> miguel almaguer, thank you for your reporting on the story. more on this in the next half hour.well's brother-in-law will be joining us to speak out in a live interview. for now, once again, here's matt. >> all right, ann, thank you. >>> now our exclusive interview with president obama. before watching the super bowl he sat down with us for a wide-ranging interview at the white house. i started by asking the president if he's satisfied with the intelligence we have on iran and their nuclear ambitions. >> i think we have a very good estimate of when they could potentially achieve breakout capacity. what stage they're at in terms of processing uranium. but do we know all the dynamics inside iran? absolutely not. and i think one of the difficulties is iran itself is more divided than it was. knowing who is making decisions at any given time inside of iran is tough. we do have a pretty good bead on what's happening with the nuclear program. >> one of the things we do know, i would maimagine, is that they are conducting a lot of research and development far underground. i understand