nbc's rehema ellis has details. >> reporter: 71 million americans have high cholesterol. a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke. but for some taking cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins, both measures sometimes just aren't enough to reduce the threat of cardiovascular disease. >> genetics plays a pretty significant role in people's cholesterol levels. so in spite of their efforts to lower their ldl either with drugs or exercise or diet they just can't get the levels low enough. >> reporter: results from a new study show an investigational drug significantly lowered ldl, the so-called bad cholesterol, by as much as 60%. that's above and beyond the benefit of statins alone. >> these drugs increase the activity of receptors in the liver that actually pull cholesterol out of the bloodstream. and if you give both drugs together, those receptors become so active that they're literally sucking the cholesterol out of the blood. >> reporter: the drug called evolocumab could be approved by the fda later this year. it's designed to be injected every two to four weeks.

nbc's rehema ellis is in manhattan's east village neighborhood with more. rehema. >> reporter: good evening, lester. firefighters say at least 12 people were hurt, 3 of them critically injured. the mayor says it doesn't appear that anyone is injured -- or i should say that anyone is missing. but the scene is still very active. a frightening scene in manhattan's east village. firefighters were called to a two-alarm fire late this afternoon, but the situation quickly escalated. that two-alarm fire turned into a seven-alarm. >> we thought it was a bomb or something, and then my manager actually thought a car ran into the restaurant. >> i saw the whole store front just on the street. >> reporter: more than 250 firefighters from at least 50 fdny units were on scene trying to control the inferno, but it was too late. the five-story building was quickly engulfed in flames. and less than an hour after it began the building housing more than two dozen residential units and a restaurant, collapsed. >> there was a pretty loud sound, obviously. walked outside and just s

rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. >> drink it up. >>> up next the dramatic midair rescue after a skydiver apparently suffers a seizure at 9,000 feet. >>> the northern illinois huskies didn't just bring down the house last night, they brought down the hoop. you've probably never seen anything like this before. the 6'7" player, a thunderous dunk, and you see what happened. he pulled down the entire hoop's structure, nearly taking out one of central michigan's opponents. fortunately, no one was hurt except the chippewas who lost by 18 points. >>> one of baseball's biggest ambassadors is dead. miniminosaute minnie minoso was a seven-time all star was the first major league black player coming out of cuba. during the 1950s, the outfielder was one of the best players in the game. today, president obama praised minoso for innovating baseball and cited his speed, power and optimism. he was 93 years old. >>> it was a little over three years ago when the "costa concordia" ran aground and nearly 100 people died. tonight on "dateline," some of those who escaped that shipwreck share their own stories

nbc's rehema ellis has more for us. >> reporter: the faces of the mourners said it all. friends and relatives of the sassoon family gathered in jerusalem today to say good-bye to seven children. gabriel sassoon, their father, cried and prayed for his three girls and four boys who died in weekend in a raging fire at their new york home. from 16-year-old eliane to 5-year-old yaakob, he wanted them all to be happy. he described them all as pure beautiful roses. the rabbi says they're now flowers in god's garden. over the weekend thousands of the family's orthodox jewish neighborhood gathered to pay their respects. >> it's really heartbreaking. i really hope that those beautiful angels rest in peace. >> reporter: neighbors say their mother tried desperately to get help for her children trapped inside after she'd jumped out of a second story window with their only surviving child. both remain in critical condition. investigators believe the fire was caused by a malfunctioning hot plate left on for the jewish sabbath when the observant do not turn electricity on or off. no wor

nbc's rehema ellis reports. >> reporter: it's a case of, not again. first day of spring, is this what you were expecting? >> absolutely not. >> reporter: heavy snow crippled the morning commute in maryland and in philadelphia. snow-covered roads made for treacherous travel. two people died after their car crashed on the atlantic city expressway this afternoon. today, from newark airport to washington dulles, the northeast saw more than 585 flights canceled, nearly 583 others delayed. in new york's long island, the hope is this is the last time they'll have to sand and salt the roads. >> another shot of cold air comes in over the weekend. temperatures in the northeast will drop to 10 to 15 degrees below average. >> reporter: it's not the first time we've had march storms. the superstorm of 1993 dropped more than three feet of snow from alabama to new york. >> i'm really looking forward to spring. but this is really not the first day of spring i'd imagined. >> reporter: other big snowfalls on the first day of spring, washington, d.c., 4.2 inches in 1965

>> rehema ellis. >>> now to a place that could use all this. talking about the west where drastic new rules are going into a place to save water, in a region absolutely parched by drought. california lawmakers are working on a relief plan. but the state would need 11 trillion gallons of water to recover from its emergency. and now warmer months are on the horizon. nbc's miguel almaguer is in piru, california, for us tonight. miguel, good evening. >> reporter: lester, good evening. this is symbolic of california's drought. lake piru just outside of los angeles is at 20% of capacity. all of the green you see around me should be covered 30 feet under water. officials here say they haven't seen water levels this low for this long in decades. this is the crisis crippling california, a drought so devastating nasa's senior water scientist is sounding the alarm. >> if we don't take measures to conserve our surface water in our reservoirs, we'll have about a year's worth of water left. so it will be gone. >> reporter: reservoirs are dangerously low beca

rehema ellis is live in boston. what have the jurors heard so far today? >> reporter: good morning.at they heard so far is from two witnesses from the bombing. they're in recess now, 10 to 15 minute recess. second witness testified for a short amount of time there was no cross examination by the defense. same happened with the first witness as you point out, jessica kensky. the second witness is a friend of a boston student, lindsey lu here studying at boston university, and was killed in the attack. and it was tearful testimony from the witness talking about her friend who had died and also about her own injuries she suffered severe abdominal injuries as well as suffering some loss to ear drums, damage to the ear drums. earlier we heard from jessica kensky, as you point out, she lost both legs as a result of the bombing. one leg was amputated that day, we understand she lost a second leg earlier this month. she had been treated as you point out at walter reed hospital. she said it was a devastating decision to have the amputation of the second leg. she called her injuries her words

nbc's rehema ellis is following this one for us. rehema good morning. >> reporter: good morning, peter. the air canada plane flight ac-6. 24 made an abrupt landing at the halifax airport in bad weather and skidded off the runway. officials say 25 people suffered minor injuries. the plane left toronto late saturday with 133 passengers and five crew members. authorities say the plane touched down in stormy conditions. the region was under a snowfall warning. passengers describe a chaotic landing. >> we were coming in to land and all of a sudden there was a big flash. it was guys on that side of the airplane said he cut off a power head. took all the power in the airport. then when that happened the plane just came down bang. >> the incident also knocked out power to the airport but power has since been restored. an airport spokesman also said that they're looking into weather conditions and whether that played a role. this is the second incident in the past week with an airbus 320. the tragic plane crash in the french alps also involve

nbc 10's rehema ellis has more details including what officials say led to the explosion. >> reporter: the collapse caught on camera in manhattan's east village thursday afternoon. the first of three buildings to go down. >> we have a major building collapse on second avenue. >> reporter: after firefighters responded to a two alarm fire that quickly escalated to a seven alarm fire. >> i ran outside and saw people injured, pretty terrible. >> get out of the area. >> reporter: 250 firefighters from at least 50 fdny units were on scene trying to inging to control the blaze in the bull gilding. one man caught on tape helping a woman down from a fire escape right before firefighters arrived. the collapse came less than an hour after the fire began. >> fully involved fire at this time. >> reporter: flames quickly spread to neighboring structures as crews worked overnight to contain the fire that new york city mayor bill de blasio says was possibly caused by plumbing and gas work. >> we are praying that no other individuals are found injured and that there are no fatalities. >> that was nbc'

rehema ellis joins us from outside the courthouse in boston.tter account apparently kept by tsarnaev. >> reporter: good morning. we learned about this twitter account from an fbi agent, steven kimball who returned to the stand today for cross examination by the defense. there were two twitter accounts, one of a religious nation and one in a secret name of ghuraba. it says it means stranger out in the west we should stand out among the nonbelievers as one body. on cross examination, the defense tried to show many tweets according to them were taken out of context, could be misleading. should tell you also on the stand today, a boston bomb technician expert who testified that he examined. boat that tsarnaev was found in that night, and inside he said there were writings in pencil there was blood and bullet holes. he also said one of the messages inside said and i am quoting, we muslims are one body you hurt one, you hurt us all. another quote was i'm jealous of my brother. this was reference to the fact his brother was killed and now his brother

nbc's rehema ellis is outside the courthouse in boston and joins me now. this could boil down to an argument a defense argument against the death penalties. that's what they're trying to argue, is it not, that in fact he was not the prime person involved. and of course the federal argument is he was a co-conspirator. >> absolutely, andrea. it may well indeed boil down to that. in the opening statements this morning by the defense attorney judy clark, she described the defendant's actions as, quote, they're inexcusable. she went on to say, quote, a series of senseless acts caused by two brothers. but then she went on to say it's going to be a lot to ask of you, but we ask you to keep your hearts and minds open. understand that this defense attorney is one who also tried the case for ted kosinski, the unibomber. men who could have been subjected to the death penalty, but judy clark was on that defense team that managed to get them life in prison instead of the death penalty. so they are conceding some things that the government has already stated. but she's

rehema ellis, thank you for that report. back to our top story this hour.ermanwings co-pilot deliberately crashed that plane, but why? that angle is next. when i'm shopping for a used car, i want to be comfortable. i don't want an aggressive salesperson breathing down my neck pressuring me into a decision. when i go to the supermarket there's no one pushing me to buy the more expensive cereal. i just want to shop like i do everywhere else. ♪ ♪ as long as people drive cars carmax will be the best way to buy them. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ great rates for great rides. geico motorcycle see how much you could save. i really admire my mother. despite what people said she bought me a sewing machine and she let me play with dolls and that was something that was kind of growing up culturally, it was quite unacceptable and she really dared to let me be different. [thunder and rain] [thunder and rain] [thunder and rain] >>> back with our coverage of the deliberate downing of germanwings flight 9525. we go back to the staging area near the site of the crash in france with n

rehema ellis is in boston.video, also saying the crimes were senseless and that they would not try to side step his

let's go to rehema ellis. good morning. tell us what's taken place so far today?yesterday. they called back to the stand the fbi agent that examined those accounts steve kimball. he said tsarnaev had two accounts, one more religious in nature they had over 1,000 tweets of the two accounts. on cross examination today he testified that twitter accounts were left open and even updated after the defendant was in custody. on direct yesterday, we should tell you the government revealed there were several accounts again of religious nature. one including something that said in part, i think we have a full screen of it said from tsarnaev i want the highest levels, i want to see alla every day. another tweet posted five hours after the bombing said ain't no love in the city stay safe. on cross examination today, it was revealed that another tweet said i shall die young was from a russian rap song and the defense went on to show that another tweet about partying on september 11th was actually a quote from a comedy central show. it seems the defense is trying to point out th

. >> rehema ellis joins me from outside of the boston courthouse. a lot of activity today but certainly most of it emotional. >> reporter: absolutely, thomas it was there were eight witnesses called this morning before they and of eight called by the prosecution not one was cross examined by the defense? some ways it might be a continuation of the statement from the defense, that it was him, there's no need to dispute this. one of the witnesses we heard from was jeff bowman many people might remember him, he lost both legs. he said at one point he thought he was going to die but made peace with it but realized when he found himself surviving this he then said i only had one thought at that time and that was to tell what i knew. he had seen the defendant prior to the explosion and shared the information about the description with the police and says he was pleased that that description may have led to the capture and arrest of the defendant in the courtroom now. >> day two rehema ellis in boston. thank you. we continue to follow breaking news after a

>> rehema ellis, thank you so much. we'll check back with you throughout the remainder of the program for all the latest from boston. >>> just getting started on "rundown." happening now, a pair of fires we're watching. firefighters working on a house fire on the left. these are pictures from arlington, texas, and second on right, a warehouse fire coming in from right here in south florida. opa-loka in miami-dade area near one of the private airports here in south florida. more details as we get them. >>> plus two major decisions from the justice department. what about the officer who shot and killed michael brown? the other about the ferguson police department. reaction, next. >>> plus -- >> ambulance -- >> i need an ambulance, fast. get me to the hospital. >> the u.s. ambassador to south korea attack wd aknife. we will have -- well all the latest on this very scary scene, ahead. >>> plus iran's foreign minister sits down with nbc news to talk about the nuclear negotiations with the u.s. >>> this is "the rundown," only

nbc's rehema ellis joins us from outside the courthouse in boston. what's the defense strategy in this? >> the defense strategy is that she's going to say that tsarnaev, the younger brother, 19 years old at the time and his older brother, tamerlan 26 years old, that the younger brother who's in court right now was dominated by his older brother, that he was an impressionable teenager who was basically doing his brother's bidding. she's going to ask the court to look upon it that way. she's said it's going to be a lot to ask of you, but i'm going to ask you to keep your hearts and minds open that this young man, 19 years old, again a teenager at the time was being swayed by a brother whom he considered in many ways a father figure. >> bring us up to speed on what else happened in the opening statements so far. >> in those opening statements the prosecution i should tell you painted a very different picture of tsarnaev calling him essentially someone who is determined and an indiscriminate killer. if his opening statement, he said there will be proof t

. >> all right rehema ellis, thank you so much.pdate on the news that broke here on "the cycle" yesterday. michael brown's family plans to file a civil lawsuit against officer darren wilson. this in spite of the justice department's decision. >> they don't accept this self-defense theory. they believe there were plenty of witnesses who came forward that saw what they saw. everything is on the table. without question they have the right to state actions, but they also have the right to individual civil actions under the federal law as well. >> and protesters also dissatisfied with the doj's decision demonstrating outside the ferguson police department last night and called for an overhaul of the entire force. yesterday attorney general eric holder outlined a pattern of racial bias and excessive force by ferguson police. >> a community where this harm frequently appears to stem in part from racial bias both implicit and explicit. in this context, a highly toxic environment, defined by mistrust and resentment stoked by years of bad fe

rehema ellis is in boston. we are getting details, hearing the defense say that it was him, referring back to dzhokhar tsarnaev in the video, also saying the crimes were senseless and that they would not try to side step his guilt. >> reporter: for sure tamron. we even heard a short while ago that the prosecution ended its opening statement and the defense attorneys began their opening statement. we should tell you that in the prosecution statement that lasted a little more than an hour he shared some details about this bombing that happened nearly two years ago, very graphic details, painting a picture of what the day was like it was a marathon day for people in boston and a red sox game being played but also told them about what the defendant allegedly did. you have someone inside sharing information with me. let me read it for you. according to the prosecution, they said tsarnaev was not there to watch the marathon he had a backpack over his shoulder and inside that backpack he had a bomb, the type of bomb p

nbc's rehema ellis joins us from the federal courthouse in boston. day two, again, emotional testimony about the loss of life and just the great pain but going back to what they heard from the defense attorney they do not deny their client's role in this so what is their strategy here? >> well, you're right, tamron. there's been no denial from the client. in fact right now we're on the sixth witness today for the prosecution. the previous witnesses so far today, there was no cross-examination by the defense. in part it may be what you are talking about and what's on the front page of the newspapers and that's essentially this stunning admission from the defense team and that is that it was him, this being a picture of tsarnaev. you pointed out that in the courtroom today there was this testimony from the boston police officer, and it was emotional and powerful testimony from frank ciola who talked about being with crystal campbell and he also said when he heard the explosion, he said it was like a cannon going o.people running and screaming. he looke

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. >> rehema ellis, appreciate your time. >>> up next, zoom through some of the other stories making news kelly days on embarking from an out of this world space experiment. >>> later, apple reveals details of the long awaited smart watch. it may have surprises in the works. details on that and more here on "the rundown." it's more than the cloud. it's security - and flexibility. it's where great ideas and vital data are stored. with centurylink you get advanced technology solutions from a trusted it partner. including cloud and hosting services - all backed by an industry leading broadband network and people committed to helping you grow your business. you get a company that's more than just the sum of it's parts. centurylink. your link to what's next. how do crest 3d white whitestrips compare to a whitening toothpaste? let's see. the paste didn't seem to do much for me. the whitestrips made a huge difference. that's not fair! crest whitestrips work below the enamel surface to whiten 25 times better than the leading whitening toothpaste. crest whitestrips. the way to whiten when it comes

rehema ellis is at the scene. what is the latest there?>> reporter: what i can tell you is that authorities now say 25 people have been injured, four critical in this massive powerful explosion that leveled one building and two others collapsed, we're also hearing authorities say two people are unaccounted for, one the family of a 23-year-old man who say he was dining in a restaurant of the building that collapsed, the other a worker in that restaurant. authorities are now investigating whether a gas leak was responsible for the explosion. the collapse caught on camera in manhattan's east village thursday afternoon, the first of three buildings to go down. >> we have a major building collapse on second avenue. >> reporter: after firefighters responded to a two-alarm fire that quickly escalated to a seven-alarm fire. >> i ran out and i saw glass all the way across the street. >> reporter: 250 firefighters from at least 50 units were on scene, trying to control the blaze that quickly engulfed the five-story building. housing more than two do