miguel almaguer, nbc news. >> tough choices >>> up next for us, the big change announced expected to make it easier for americans to buy hearing aids. >>> why are so many schools lagging to make it safer amid covid? >>> a big move by the fda today will give millions of americans something they've long awaited a new rule a class of hearing aids that will be sold over the counter. it will allow people with mild to moderate hearing loss to buy hearing aids without a prescription or exam. >>> kids under pressure. white house calling for schools to use federal covid relief money to improve air quality as stephanie gosk reports, most haven't made the upgrade >> reporter: after more than two years of a pandemic, school is starting up in ohio and it's coming in like a breath of fresh air. >> our students are behind the least we can do is provide them, you know, comfortable climate with good air quality. >> reporter: this small town has taken on a huge project. a total overhaul of the school ventilation systems. one of the best ways to protect students from covid. >> it helps reduce the sprea

miguel almaguer is here for us now. miguel, what do we know >> reporter: lester, good evening james "whitey" bulger was one of the most infamous mob bosses in american history after eluding police more than 15 years, he was finally captured in a santa monica apartment building not far from the los angeles fbi field office four years ago after his conviction while incarcerated in a federal penitentiary in west virginia, bulger was savagely beaten to death. today three men who were inmates were charged with conspiracy to commit murder bulger seemed to have a target on his back after becoming an fbi informant and working with authorities to put away his former associates bulger went on the run. when he was found in santa monica hiding in plain sight under a fake name, authorities found hundreds of thousands of dollars and an arsenal of weapons stashed in his apartment wall bulger famously succeeded osama bin laden at the top of the fbi's most wanted list seven years after his arrest and just a few hours after he was transfe

at 94, the voice of summer he wasn't a player, but his play by play made him a giant here is miguel almaguer >> it's time for dodger baseball! >> reporter: with those easy words in his unmistakable voice, vin scully cemented a legacy as legendary as those of the players he called. >> slow curveball, see ya later >> reporter: armed with a mastery of th game and the grace of a folksy friend, scully brought the field to life during his 67-year career >> there's 29,000 people in the ballpark and a million butterflies. >> reporter: as the dodgers' play by play man, he marked american history >> there's a high drive in the deep left center field >> reporter: when hank aaron smashed babe ruth's home run record >> a black man is getting a standing ovation in the deep south. >> reporter: more than a decade later >> look who's coming up >> reporter: when an injured kirk gibson gave the underdog dodgers a walk-off world series win, scully perfectly captured what only he could coin >> in a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened >> reporter: born in the bronx in 1927, the slender r

tonight both officers remain on administrative duty, cleared of wrongdoing in the eyes of the law miguel almaguer, nbc news >>> in michigan today, two men were found guilty in a plot to kidnap the governor. it was their second trial after their first ended with a deadlocked jury. the case shining a light on rising extremism in the u.s we get more from andrea mitchell. >> reporter: in a surprising turn, the two men barry crofton d adan fox were found guilty charged with planning to kidnap the governor at her michigan vacation home and blow up a bridge to slow police responding. prosecutors say they practiced using weapons and conducted surveillance >> all of our elected officials, everyone, deserves to be able to live in safety and not in fear. >> reporter: whitmer became a target of armed protestors in the spring of 2020 over covid restrictions now up for re-election, she says today's verdicts prove that violence and threats have no place in our politics. and those who seek to divide us will be held accountable. from covid to election conspiracy theories and organized extremist groups, law enforc

miguel almaguer reports. >> it's a big one. >> reporter: two weeks before the start of the nfl season, one of the league's most promising stars facing serious troubles buffalo bills rookie punter matt araiza accused of involvement in the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl last year while he attended san diego state university according to a new civil lawsuit, he raped a drunk high school senior before leading her into a room where she was sexually assaulted by multiple teammates >> when a young woman gets raped at 17, she doesn't forget about it. >> reporter: the teen says she arrived at the halloween party with friends after drinking she says after telling araiza she was in high school, he gave her a drink she believes not only contained alcohol but other intoxicating substances she was raped outside. she says, and then his teammates took turns assaulting her for a year and a half. the victim's attorney sharing these photos saying she went to police the next day and underwent a rape exam her father speaking out. >> i would like to see the people that did this to my daughter held account

miguel almaguer has a look at what they're facing >> reporter: the record rainfall in cities like dallas triggered hundreds of emergency rescues across the region. before sunrise, commuters were swimming from their cars to reach higher ground firefighters pulling drivers to safety as a wave of murk floodwater washed over roads like interstate 30 >> i'm going to drown in this car. i had to kick this door out just to get out of the car >> reporter: the harrowing rescues came as fast as the water did. just outside dallas more than 13 inches of rain in 12 hours >> let's hope the people in the middle got out because that was really, really deep. >> reporter: the 1 in 1,000 year rain event snapping the city's second longest dry streak with almost half a year's average rainfall in just hours >> we couldn't stop it we put down towels and it just overtook our living room. >> reporter: from drought to deluge, tonight the southwest is facing a wave of problems after too much water too fast. amid scenes like these in new mexico, rapid rainfall also washed out a road leading to carlsbad caverns >> wo

miguel almaguer, nbc news. >>> a former police detective in louisville, kentucky has pleaded guilty a charge after she falsified the warrant on the raid on breonna taylor's apartment. she was killed in march 2020 when her door was broke down during a drug search warrant police returned fire, killing taylor they say detective kelly goodlet lied as part of the cover up her sentencing is scheduled for late november. >>> now a whistle-blower complaint involving twitter, accusing the social media giant of misleading the feds and putting the private data of its users at risk. our gabe gutierrez has more. >> reporter: first a respected hacker known as mudge, he's filed an 84-page whistle-blower complaint, alleging the social media giant misled federal investigators. the complaint accuses twitter of violating a 2011 settlement with the federal trade commission by falsely claiming it had a solid security plan. it also alleges too many employees had access to sensitive user day ta, violatios of rules zatko speaking with cnn. >> large tech companies need to know what the risks are and need to ha

miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. >>> now to an nbc news exclusive. after a summer of airline melt downs the transportation department is warning airlines to improve their customer service policies or the government will order changes to compensate passengers for delays or cancellations. here's tom costello. >> reporter: after receiving billions in taxpayer support during the pandemic the nation's airlines are tonight under intense pressure. improve their customer service or the government could soon impose tough new passenger rights. transportation secretary pete buttigieg. so now you're kind of laying down the law for the airlines. they can either pony up on their own or you're going to enforce this for them. >> that's right. i'm giving them an opportunity right now. we can do more rule makings and even more enforcement. >> reporter: in a letter to airline ceos buttigieg writes the level of disruptions americans have experienced this summer is unacceptable. 23% of u.s. flights delayed an average of 52 minutes. contributing factors weather and air-tr

miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. >>> and tonight more evidence or at least hope that inflation have peaked. the average price of gas has now dropped below $4 a gallon. the lowest since march. and there are more positive signs here's tom costello. >> reporter: while the national pump price average is dropping, now below $4 a gallon, nbc news sampling found prices can vary greatly. $3.33 in dallas. $3.69 in north carolina $3.83 on the jersey shore. $4.32 in philly. $4.79 in chicago $5.05 near portland, oregon and $6.29 at this station in los angeles. while pump prices have dropped from a national high of $5.01 in june -- >> i can really see the difference from two months ago to now, and it's beautiful for me >> reporter: there are still 81 cents higher than a year ago. >> awful almost $120. >> reporter: analysts say that prices could drop to $3.90 by labor day, hurricane season poses a big risk. >> that could knock the refineries offline for a period of time and that could increase prices nationally >> reporter: also potentially driving prices up, the u.s. will stop tapping the s

here's miguel almaguer >> reporter: across the country, the lines still stretch for blocks as the u.s. continues to struggle to vaccinate americans against monkeypox. this as cases now double in counties like los angeles and miami-dade >> monkeypox is serious. every american should take monkeypox very seriously. >> reporter: after withering criticism the administration bungled a fast deployment of vaccines from overseas, the white house declared a public health emergency last week. how worried are you that this will become endemic? >> we can get ahead of it this is not covid. covid, we had to shut down our schools >> reporter: hoping to stretch the limited supply of vaccine, the fda just granted emergency use authorization for 1/5 of the dose to be administered under the skin instead of full dose into underlying fat. the u.s. invested more than a billion dollars developing the vaccine but has just over 1 million shots on hand. you can't think the rollout has gone well so far >> given where other countries are, we're in a far better position with vaccine and providing access to those a

miguel almaguer on why so many deals are now falling through. >> reporter: tonight, in a housing markethaps as volatile as the economy, new signs of trouble buyers backing out a survey citing rising costs and falling confidence in the market has triggered homebuilder cancellation rates to more than double since april. it comes as 16% of new contracts were canceled on existing homes in july. >> probably every other day i would say do we actually need to go back to the drawing board? >> reporter: taylor briggs and lauren sparks nearly backed out of their contract as mortgage rates climbed from under 3% to over 5% during the time it took to build their home >> i think we expected the interest rates to go up because they were historically low, but they went up so quickly that it was very quickly adding like hundreds of dollars a month to our monthly payment estimate >> reporter: experts say most prospective buyers are changing their minds for two reasons. after months of waiting mortgage rates have reached staggering new highs and others are worried about inflation and overvalued homes with

miguel almaguer has details. >> reporter: in the grips of a prolonged and historic drought, the u.s.nprecedented water cuts to state ace long the colorado river. the lifeblood of the american west, serving some 40 million people. facing a tier 2 shortage for the first time in history, authorities say in january, arizona will lose 21% of its yearly water allocation from the river, as nevada loses 8%. >> it's a complex problem, politically, economically, socially. >> reporter: climate change has only intensified a 23-year mega drought and the critically low water levels, snaking from the rocky mountains to the southwest. the river waters sustain some of the largest cities in the country. but 80% is used to grow produce that feeds the nation. >> we must be conscience of the fact that we deal with finite resources and need to manage accordingly. >> reporter: hydropower production could see be threatened. water cuts made by the government come after the seven states involved couldn't reach an agreement on their own. future cuts impacting even more states, seem inevitable. hoping to avoid

people now dead, the fire remains a major threat to people and property near the oregon border miguel almaguer is there >> reporter: after quickly igniting into the state's largest and deadliest inferno this season, california's mckinney fire is still a blowtorch, ripping across forest land as it takes lives and threatens nearly 5,000 structures >> i look out the window, a big orange glow. and all of a sudden, man, it's here >> reporter: he was lucky and saved his home during an epic fire fight, but many of his neighbors lost everything. after two people were discovered inside a car unable to outrun the flames, today we learned two more bodies were found at separate homes >> as dry as the fuels were and as hot as the weather's been, all it takes is one weather event, a spark and it's going. >> reporter: ballooning to some 60,000 acres the blaze did stall overnight, but thunderstorms which bring desperately needed rain, also come with lightening and the threat of new fires. >> still a very volatile fire. >> it's kind of been a sleeping giant over the last couple of days i expect to see somethin

nbc news national correspondent miguel almaguer has the latest. >> reporter: this morning dramatic rescuesover the southwest. in dallas, cars stuck on i-30. people swimming through the floods. and a chain of rescuers pulling passengers to safety. drivers across the area stranded overnight. ten million people across the southern plains are under flood alerts. areas that have seen less than an inch of rain in the last two months could get two and a half inches per hour. it comes after heavy rains in the west as flash flooding led to a desperate and ongoing search for a 29-year-old hiker in utah's zion national park. the family of jettal telling our affiliate ksl, they believe this video shows her and another man desperately trying to stay above the rushing waters. >> about 20 minutes worth of rain created all of that. it looks like a tsunami. >> fellow hikers were able to rescue the man further down stream but couldn't find the 29-year-old. >> her back was turned as she was going down and where that bend was, she got soaked into the undertoe. >> later discovering her mud filled backpack and

through more than 56,000 acres of grass, dry timber and brush since it began on friday here's miguel almaguer >> reporter: after quickly igniting into the state's largest and deadliest inferno this season, california's mckinney fire is still a blowtorch, ripping across forest land as it takes lives and threatens nearly 5,000 structures >> i look out the window, big orange glow. and all of a sudden, man, it's here >> reporter: frank oldfield was lucky and saved his home during an epic firefight. but many of his neighbors lost everything after two people were discovered inside a car unable to outrun the flames, we learned two more bodies were found at separate homes. >> as dry as the fuels were and as hot as the weather's been, all it takes is one weather event and a spark, and it's going. >> reporter: ballooning to some 60,000 acres, the blaze did saw thunderstorms, and the threat of new fires. >> still a very volatile fire. it's been a sleepy giant over the last couple days i expect to see something different today. we're on our toes for this >> reporter: the monstrous and deadly blaze still

here's more from miguel almaguer. >> it was pretty scary. >> reporter: pilot andrew cho says he's luckyplane crash landing onto a california freeway, clipping the back of a pickup truck with three people inside before bursting into flames in the middle of traffic about 50 miles southeast of los angeles. miraculously, no one in the plane or on the ground was injured. >> responding to a plane crash on the freeway. >> this video appears to show people running from the wreckage. >> airplane landed on the freeway. >> reporter: he and a friend were taking a lunchtime flight to catalina island in his single-engine piper when he began to have engine trouble and had to quickly decide where to land. >> we weren't going to be able to make the airport landing field without hitting a building. i had to make a decision to land on the freeway. >> reporter: cho and his friend kicking out a door of the plane minutes before the plane erupted into a fiery ball of flames. firefighters putting out the blaze as everyone in the area breathed a sigh of relief. >> i'm ecstatic, i'm alive. >> no kidding. here's

nbc news national correspondent miguel almaguer has the details. >> james whitey bulger one of the mosts mob bosses in american history after eluding police for more than 150 years he was finally captured in the santa monica apartment building not far from the los angeles fbi field office. four years ago, after his conviction while incarcerated in the federal penitentiary in west virginia, bulger was savagely beaten to death, three men inmates were charged with conspiracy to commit murder. bulger seemed to have a target on his back after becoming an fbi informant and working with authorities to put away his former associates, bulger went on the run, when he was found in santa monica, hiding in plain sight, under a fake name, authorities found hundreds of thousands of dollars in an arsenal, and an arsenal of weapons stashed in his apartment wall. bulger famously succeeded osama bin laden at the top of the fbi's most wanted list, seven years after the arrest and hours after he was transferred to west virginia, bulger was killed. the three men accused of conspiring to commit murder could f

miguel almagu recommend has the details. >> the new guidelines could impact how millions of americanswhen they should get tested for covid. and what students nationwide should expect when they return to the classroom. >> just days before, nearly 50 million children head back to school, the cdc is easing and streamlining its guidance. in a major shift, the centers for disease control now no longer recommending quarantine, even after exposure. and no ongoing screening in k-12 schools. though exposed students who have symptoms should still test. the agency also releasing specifics on when indoor masking should be implemented. >> what do you think the reaction will be from students and parents about these new guidelines? >> i think that they're similar to what the previous reaction was, that they were saying okay, we can go back to normal but we still want to take precautions. >> with the new guidance applying to all children, regardless of vaccination status, the vast majority of kids under 12 remain unvaccinated. dropping protective measures, says dr. murray, could be a major mistake. >

nbc news national correspondent miguel almaguer has the details. >> reporter: the two officers who wrestledshard brooks, including the one who fired the fatal shot, as he ran away, will not face criminal charges after the 2020 death that sparked nationwide protests. >> officers had no way of knowing or anticipating that within seconds of this encounter, both would be attacked by brooks. >> reporter: atlanta's special prosecutor announcing officers garrett rolfe, who fired his gun, and devin brosnan committed no crimes and that the use of deadly force was reasonable after brooks stripped one of the officers of his taser, then fired that weapon at police as he ran. >> both acted as reasonable officers would under the facts and circumstances of the events of that night. they were justified in the use of force regarding the situation. >> what's up, man? hey, you're parked in the drive-thru right now. >> reporter: after discovering brooks asleep behind the wheel in a wendy's parking lot, authorities say the 27-year-old, who was drunk and high, suddenly began fighting with officers and posed a th

nbc's miguel almaguer with this report. it is just about the top of the report.ming up on 9:00 in the east and 6:00 out west. and another busy hour including a new report from "the washington post" revealing president trump's lawyers agreed the classified documents he took with him from the white house upon leaving office needed to be returned. over a year before the fbi search of mar-a-lago. one the rotters behind that scoop will be here with us. and we're following flooding in the south. where historic rainfall has battered central and southern mississippi. and california is a step closer to banning the sale of new gas-powered vehicles. we'll tell you when that could go into effect. and later this hour, bill nye the science guy will be here on his new show on peacock that explores how we could avert impending global disasters. that is all ahead. but we begin with president biden's ambitious plan to cncel thousands of student loan debt for millions of borrowers. 43 million people are set to have a portion of their student loan debt erased and 20 million could cl

miguel almaguer has the latest for us good morning. >> reporter: good morning.over 10 million people under flash flood warnings things turned overnight in texas. in dallas cars were stuck in high water on the i-30 and many people were forced to swim to safety a chain of rescuers had to pull passengers and drivers stranded overnight. areas that have seen less than an inch of rain in the last two months could get as much as 2.5 inches per hour. other areas hard hit, in utah authorities are still searching for a 29-year-old hiker swept away by floodwaters at zion national park. another man clung to a tree to survive. arizona and new mexico saw rescues, today there could be more trouble ahead in hard it hit texas and further east as the threat of flooding continues. >> miguel, thank you >>> police are investigating a crash yesterday that killed at least three indiana state university students and seriously injured two others it happened about 10 miles from the campus the county sheriff said the vehicle left the road, hit a tree and caught fire according to the schoo

nbc's miguel almaguer is at dodger stadium with a look back and the tributes pouring in. >> reporter:d morning. vin scully was as legendary as any dodger player. you could actually learn more about the game from listening to his broadcasts than watching the game on television. his voice helped define baseball. this morning generations of fans honoring vin scully. the legendary dodgers broadcaster with an unmistakable voice. >> it's time for dodger baseball! >> reporter: his poetic play-by-plays beloved. >> there is 29,000 people in the ballpark and a million butterflies. >> reporter: bringing the action on the field to life. >> the 1-2 pitch on the way. slow curveball. see you later. >> reporter: for decades his steady, smooth voice narrated many of baseball's greatest hits. from hank aaron's historic 715th home run in 1974, surfacing bake ruth's record. >> a black man is getting a standing ovation in the deep south for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol. >> reporter: to one of the most improbable home runs ever. scully behind the mic as kurt gibson emerged from the dugout

making a final push for a re-trial in the murder of his wife laci peterson and their unborn son miguel almaguerscott peterson was back in front of a judge, hoping his legal team could prove their there was jury misconduct during the first trial that gripped the nation 18 years ago and he needs the judge to agree granting a new trial and perhaps a shot at freedom. >> arriving in a san mateo courtroom, the famous convicted killer scott peterson and his hopes for a new trial for the murder of his pregnant wife laci peterson is now in the hands of a judge. >> good morning, your honor. >> the defense delivering jury was biased against him and lied to the court during jury selection. >> failing to disclose in a questionnaire that a judge had previously granted her a restraining order when she was pregnant, because knight really feared for her unborn child. she issued a restraining order, a three-year restraining order. >> the prosecution arguing knight did not intentionally lie about her history to get on the jury. >> she had no bias against scott peterson >> with his family watching, peterson now 49

bursting into flames on a california highway incredibly no one was hurt nbc national correspondent miguel almaguer has the details on this one. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, incredible indeed. two people were on that plane, and when you watch that video, it's hard to imagine they escaped unharmed the pilot saying a lunchtime leisure flight suddenly took an alarming turn. >> it was pretty scary. >> reporter: pilot andrew cho says he's lucky to be alive this morning after these terrifying moments tuesday. his small plane crash landing on to a california freeway, clipping the back of a pickup truck with three people inside before bursting into flames in the middle of traffic. about 50 miles southeast of los angeles. miraculously, no one in the plane or on the ground was injured. >> a plane crash on the fairway. >> reporter: this video released by tmz appears to show people running from the wreckage. >> airplane landed on the freeway. >> cho says he and a friend were taking a lunchtime leisure flight to catalina island in his single engine piper when he began to have engine trouble and had

. >> miguel almaguer for us. thank you. >>> breaking news on a story we've been following all week. the teacher strike in ohio's largest school district appears to be over. a tentative agreement has been reached between teachers and columbus city schools that ends the strike that started on sunday and forced tens of thousands of students into remote learning. among the demands there, smaller class sizes and building improvements. teachers will return to the classroom on monday under the agreement. good news out of columbus this morning. >> they just wanted air conditioning, right? they didn't want more pay, just some ac. >>> let's turn to the weather and get the rest of dylan's forecast. >> they need it in columbus. going to stay hot in ohio, through the northeast. we have the august heat with the humidity in place as well. temperatures into the upper 80s and lower 90s, feeling warmer. we have the potential for flooding along the gulf coast, and southwest monsoon season. the northern plains look beautiful, a mix of sun and clouds, temperatures more comfortable in the upper 70s. that

witnesses say it's miraculous she survived miguel almaguer with more on what happened. >> reporter: weround the mara vista neighborhood before crashing police say it's an open investigation. a high-speed ride ending in a fiery crash. the driver, actress anne heche, hospitalized with serious burns. video obtained by tmz shows what appears to be heche's blue mini cooper first crashing into a garage in los angeles, reversing and then speeding away a witness captured what looked like heche's blue car flying down residential streets a short time later she crashed into a home. >> vehicle into a building, two story single family dwelling with heavy smoke showing >> reporter: plowing straight through it and sparking a blaze that quickly engulfed the property >> i could see a big hole in the house. it was all the way through the front room and into the back >> reporter: neighbors came running to find heche in the car. >> we were thinking there's no way she could still be alive >> reporter: the fire department pried heche from a smoldering car and took her to a local hospital her spokesperson sa