ron mott has more. a powerful seven-point-five magnitude earthquake rocked parts of afghanistan and pakistan this morning, causing widespread causalities and collapsing buildings. the associated press reported the initial death toll in both countries as at least 46. authorities in afghanistan say about a dozen children at an all girls school there died in a stampede as people tried to evacuate the building. the death toll is expected to rise throughout the day as communications were knocked off-line for some time in the aftermath. witnesses say the shaking lasted longer than a minute, triggering mudslides in some areas and avalanches in some snow-capped mountains in that region. afghanistan's chief executive abdullah abdullah tweeted it was the strongest earthquake felt there in recent decades. the epicenter was about 150 miles from kabul and could be felt as far away as india. s/ ron mott/ nbc news/ london, england :47-:57 "pakistan's non combat-army units were also placed on stand by for emergency rel

nbc's ron mott is live in london are more. >> reporter: dara, good morning. details are sketchy, but we have confirm that would this plane is lost. russian air carrier disappeared from radar over the sinai peninsula en route to st. petersburg, russia. it's krooshed north of the sinai peninsula. and the wreckage of the plane has been located and we're told that the plane is an 18-year-old airbus a-321 and flight radar 24 radar show the jet was descending at a rate of 6,000 feet per minute before the radar signal was lost. a russian air transportation official tells nbc news that 217 passengers and seven crew members were aboard and that the flight was handed off to air traffic control in cyprus at 7:14 local time. but the pilots never made contact with atc vanishing from radar. it's suspected that many if not most are russian tourists are returning from vacation. to recap, metro flight 9626 is confirmed lost from radar, and it's crashed in the sinai area of egypt. we'll have much more as we go on throughout the morning. dara, back to you. >> ron mott, thank yo

let's go right to ron mott in london with the very latest information on that. ron? >> reporter: metro jet -- vladimir putin is declaring tomorrow a day of morning. after departing the ejipt shan -- went down in the northern sinai peninsula which has been the scene of clashes between egyptian military. according to flight radar 24, the plane was descending at about 6,000 feet a minute when it's radar slowed dramatically from 400 plus knots to about 62, that's very, very slow for a plane of that size. the pilot made a distress call and reported some sort of technical problem. the plane was carrying 224 people, 217 passengers and ejipt shan officials have been dispatched to the crash scene and we have not seen anything official this morning suggesting that there are in fact survivors. we the do know from reuters, reuters is reporting search and rescue teams on to the ground saying that 220 passengers have been found. as with we mentioned russian president vladimir putin has edeclared tomorrow a day of mourning. >> it's about 2:00 in the afternoon there in the area of s

ron mott, nbc news, london." >> clouds have moved in, but our temperatures are still quite mild. meterologist ben dorenbach is in next with the forecast. here's the live view from our skycam in spencer, iowa, where it's and degrees jeb bush was a very strong governor, probably the strongest governor in the history he was a young guy and i think there were some folks in the legislature that thought they might be able to run over him. that didn't happen. one tax cut wasn't enough- he had to do more. it wasn't enough to have 15,000 kids with school choice in florida, he wanted to have 100,000 kids. if he didn't like a project, it was going to be vetoed. it didn't matter if you were a republican. it didn't matter if you were his best friend. he said: 'this is where we're going, this is how we're going to reform state government...' every politician comes in talking about making change, and generally there's not much change. but governor bush made a lot of changes. he got the nickname veto corleone. if he saw something in the budget that he thought violated his conservative principles

ron mott .. nbc news .. london. the state department says u-s secretary and state john kerry spoke to the russian foreign minister to express his condolences and offered american assistance if needed. undefeated, 7 and oh. hawkeye undefeated, 7 and oh. hawkeye i'll tell you when that was, and how to move it out of the way, sunday night. --------------------- what could possibly bug a hawkeye fan about an 8-0 record? the baggag people make mistakes. like paying too much for wireless. so switch to u.s. cellular and we guarantee we'll beat the price on your current verizon or at&t plan. that's right, guaranteed to beat. plus, right now we'll give you a $150 promo card when you switch. don't let your next mistake be missing out. switch to u.s. cellular today for a price that's guaranteed if you think we can grow our economy while ignoring climate change, think again. america's most innovative companies are already moving to clean energy using existing technology to improve their bottom line. now we need a plan to help b

. >>> right now, we'll turn to ron mott. monitoring the situation from london. ron, what have you learned? >> good morning, again, dara. well, i'm looking at the flight returns, the radar returns and it would indicate to me as a pilot that before this plane lost its radar signal that there was some oscillating of the aircraft where it was doing one of these up in the air at flight level 27, up to flight level 30,000 feet in the air. obviously, something went wrong. we are getting reports from the associated press, quoting a member of the aviation community there that the pilot did make a distress call and requested landing at the nearest airport. now, we are told that there were 217 passengers on the plane, seven crew members, reuters is reporting that officials on the ground search and rescue officials on the ground have numbered more than 100 bodies that they have recovered including some children. that if there are any survivors they will be taken to suez and cairo hospitals. but i think it's going to be interesting as this investigation unfolds as to exactly

nbc's ron mott reports from london. a powerful seven- point-five magnitude earthquake rocked parts of afghanistan and pakistan this morning, causing widespread causalities and collapsing buildings. the associated press reported the initial death toll in both countries as at least 46. authorities in afghanistan say about a dozen children at an all girls school there died in a stampede as people tried to evacuate the building. the death toll is expected to rise throughout the day as communications were knocked off-line for some time in the aftermath. witnesses say the shaking lasted longer than a minute, triggering mudslides in some areas and avalanches in some snow-capped mountains in that region. afghanistan's chief executive abdullah abdullah tweeted it was the strongest earthquake felt there in recent decades. the epicenter was about 150 miles from kabul and could be felt as far away as india. (on cam) s/ ron mott/ nbc news/ london, england :47-:57 "pakistan's non combat-army units were also placed on stand by for eme

earlier today, isis took responsibility, but as nbcs ron mott reports, something that happened beforecrash is raising doubts about that report. >> reporter: russian air carrier metro jet flight 9268 crashed 25 minutes after departure from egypt. the wreckage in sinai. no survivors. all 224 died. three were ukrainian. a-321, 18 years old, bringing russian vacationers back home on a charter flight to st. petersburg when it disappeared from radar. russian and egyptian authorities will conduct an investigation. the plane was descending at a rate of 6,000 feet a minute when the radar was lost and slowed from 400 plus knots down to 62 knots in the final moments before radar contact was severed. the associated press quoting an egyptian aviation official. the pilot made a distress call and announced intentions to land at the nearest airport. there were hopes of survivors. as a result, nearly 50 ambulances were sent to the crash scene. in the end, none were needed for that purpose. >> translator: my child called me. he was on holiday with his family, my son, his wife and daughter. their daught

. >> ron mott, standby. and now, as you hear speed of 400 knots down to 60 knots which is losing 80% of the speed, and what does that tell you? >> well, it tells you that the automatic computerized flight control system was not working. actually there is three of them for redundancy, and for all three of them not to work, that is a loss of electrical power, and also nup in the beacon, the radar beacon that is used to track the plane went out quickly. and so the thing that, you can count on is that you will never have complete electrical failure, and there are six sources of electricity on the plane, and to have all of them disappear is unheard of. and then that brings back to mind, okay, how was the plane maintained? >> and we are et g are getting unconfirmed reports, tom bunn, what are the standards used nationally and interfashlly versed what we have here in the -- internationally versed what we have here in the united states with the neshgs, the sb? >> well, we don't is have good data, and so, it is sugge

ron mott, nbc news, boston. >>> there is a lot more ahead today. a stunning day in court. a murder that shocked the nation and led to major change now 25 years later. new witnesses, new evidence and a conviction over turned. >>> and kennedy family secrets, patrick sharing his private heartache and that of his parents. why he is doing it publicly and why not everyone in the family is happy about it. >>> the 1990 murder of a utah tourist on a new york city subway platform was emblematic of a city out of control. that year more than 2200 people were murdered and new yorkers were fed up and scared. several teenagers were arrested and later convicted of crime. today one of them now 43 appeared in a new york city courtroom and got the stunning news his conviction was overturned. it is a story we've been following for an upcoming dateline for more than a year. the ruling was swift. >> the court is going to set aside the conviction. and the court is going to order a new trial. >> the reaction emotional. >> the court will allow him -- [ cheering and applause ] >> 25 years after he

many consider it a dirty play but violent collisions like this are part of baseball as ron mott reports. >> reporter: in trying to break up a double play, chase utley of the dodgers instead broke rubin tejada's leg and raised a question fundamental to the game, fair or foul. >> he deserved to get suspended. this was a reckless and dangerous and dirty play. >> playing all-out is his calling card. violent collisions at second base are routine and accepted. >> double play and a fight breaks out. >> pete rose's broke out slide dusted up and cleared the benches in 73. and another hard charge four years later which got billy martin to charge the field and will clark's missile into ozzy smith had a predictable outcome. baseball's tradition in these matters is often a nod to sir isaac newton. for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. you hurt our players, we hurt yours. >> there is nothing dumber than the code of baseball. >> on sports talk today, retaliation was topic one. >> will there be retaliation? yes. >> reactions provoking spirited debate. over whether there should be ov

ron mott tells us more. >> reporter: liane says her 4-year-old son suddenly stopped growing last year and weighs less than his twin garrett. she blames flint's drinking water with officials who repeatedly claimed it was safe. >> both my children have been exposed. the one with the compromised immune system has blood poisoning. >> reporter: his lead level tripled. you've become a scientist living here. for months, she tested the family's water for any signs of chlorine to ward off harmful bacteria. >> zero chlorine. what does that tell you? >> that my water is not safe, but i already knew that. >> reporter: what worries her most are elevated levels of lead have been flowing from her taps. after a flood of complaints from residents and businesses about water quality more than a year leading to protests, boil advisories and filter giveaways, authorities including michigan's governor gave in announcing flint was returning to detroit's supply. >> the realization of increased lead exposure and a rise in the number of children with elevated blood lead levels was devastating for our community

ron mott, nbc news, boston. >>> we turn now to a story breaking late this afternoon. another apparent scandal for the secret service. this time reaching all the way to the top levels of the agency's leadership. a new report finds the secret service assistant director ordered a leak of information to embarrass a congressman in retaliation for his aggressive investigations into agency misconduct. nbc's kristen welker has late details. >> reporter: a devastating report for an agency trying to make a comeback. tonight, the homeland security department's inspector general said scores of u.s. secret service employees improperly accessed agency records of congressman jason chaffetz's 2003 application to join the secret service. he applied then to become an agent and was turned down. chaffetz is the chairman of the house oversight committee and was leading the investigation into a series of recent scandals at the agency. an investigation that continues today. the report said the actions of the secret service employees could be criminal. tonight, chaffetz reacted. >> digesting

ron mott, nbc news, boston. >> there is a lot more ahead today. a murder that shocked the nation and led to major change now 25 years later. new evidence and a conviction over turned. >>> and kennedy secrets. patrick sharing his private heartache and that of his parents. why he is doing it you total your brand new car. nobody's hurt,but there will still be pain. it comes when your insurance company says they'll only pay three-quarters of what it takes to replace it. what are you supposed to do, drive three-quarters of a car? now if you had liberty mutual new car replacement, you'd get your whole car back. i guess they don't want you smart. p with liberty mutual new car replacement, pwe'll replace the full value of your car. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. for over 30 years, in study after study, advil is unsurpassed in pain relief. nothing is proven stronger on aches and pains than advil. not tylenol. not aleve. nothing. relief doesn't get any better than this. advil. the kids are asleep. look what i got. oh my fr

our report tonight from nbc's ron mott. >> reporter: with hungary's border closed, the flow of tens of thousands of refugees and migrants continues unabated on an alternate route, nearly 13,000 arriving in a 24-hour period filing toward the small nation of slow vive ya through villages and fields they walk, watchful eyes above, desired destination for many, germany, though no guarantees. you slept in the rain? >> yeah, yesterday. >> reporter: the reality, few certainties lie ahead. uncertificate just one of them. prompting clashes are soldiers and police, protest fires, too, desperation and hunger in full view. this father fled iraq and isis-led violence with his family. future for your kids. >> yes, sir. >> this is so hard. so hard. >> reporter: it's a grueling march against time. where are we, this man asked? >> slovenia. >> reporter: with colder temperatures now fast on their heels. >> if the solution will not be found within ten days, we will enter very a very, very dangerous period. >> reporter: this is another successful border crossing. they're walking across this bruj from croa

ron mott, nbc news, along the croatian/slovenian border. >>> in this country, heated up this weekend in iowa where bernie sanders tried to sharpen the distinctions between him and hillary focused her attention on donald trump. nbc's kelly oe'donnell is in des moines. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, kate. the democratic primary has hit hit a point is showing the confidence after having a couple of very good weeked for her campaign while bernie sanders is trying to show the energy behind his very big crowd means he could win here. as democrats came together for a massive pep rally. a raucous ritual to fire up iowa democrats. team bernie sanders decided the raw decibel level showed their organizing strength. clinton's campaign countered with a more subdued but eye-catching light show. sanders trying to prove he is the true progressive made clinton his target with a string of differences it would the iraq war to trade and gay rights. >> now, today some are trying to rewrite history by saying they voted for one anti-gay law to stop something worse. that's not the case. >>

nbc's ron mott has our report. >> reporter: up to $1 million every day. >> it's a lure millions have found too good to pass up. >> you like winning? >> reporter: but are the contests fair? it's a question dominating the sports world after "the new york times" reported an employee of draft teams admitted releasing confidential data before winning $350,000 on rival sat fan duel. >> knowledge is power. you need to know more than the next guy to win. >> reporter: mike bigham of san jose, california, recently started playing with hesitation. >> the employees of the companies are winning these contests. that needs to be disclosed. because to me that's a conflict of interest. >> reporter: here's how it works. a contestant picks a roster of players, each carrying a monetary value based on their perceived ability to score points. after the games are played the scores are totalled and top finishers award prize money some topping $1 million. the contestants cannot see their opponents' lineups until the real games begin. so an employee who plays with access to this data has an advantage. abc's p

we get more tonight from nbc's ron mott. >> reporter: the team that blew the whistle on deflategate hasate with tom brady tonight. >> go, pat, man. get them! >> reporter: their first since the super bowl-winning quarterback spent months battling the nfl and accusations he is a cheater. so, how's that for motivation? >> i'm always pretty motivated, you know, regardless of the opponent, regardless of the team or the week. >> reporter: still, grade downplayed the significance of the game against the indianapolis colts. one reporter even challenged him, calling him a robot. >> i'm a human. there's no doubt. [ laughter ] definitely human. >> reporter: the new england pay the tree the i don'ts clonered the colts 45-7 the last time they played. few who covered the sport are sold on brady's meek approach, especially the man who broke the story. >> if they can put 80 on the colts, they are going to try to put 80 on the colts. i believe that they have every desire to not only beat the colts but to try and humiliate them. >> is tom grade cheater? >> i don't believe so. >> reporter: deflategate cas

we get more on this tonight from nbc's ron mott mott. >> hi, i'm tracy morgan, and i'm hosting "snl" this week with musical guest demi loevento. >> tracy, it's great having you here again. >> reporter: live from new york, it's tracy morgan, making his triumphant return to center stage a year crash that killed his friend and left tracy in a coma with a bad brain injury. and tracy being tracy, there's a joke there somewhere. >> did i used to work here? >> yeah, tracy, you worked here for like seven years. >> i can't remember anymore. >> oh. oh, my god, i'm so sorry. [ laughter ] >> i'm messing with you, bobby! >> what? >> yeah, i remember. i remember everything. >> oh, thank god. >> yeah, i remember you owe me $72. >> reporter: outside "snl" studios, fans camped out for tickets. >> i think he'll be back stronger than ever. >> he used to be one of the best on "snl" forever. >> you want to see him on his game and involved in a lot of the show. >> reporter: at "snl," the exhibition blocks from the real show, comedian todd small talks about morgan's long history of overcoming setbacks. >>

nbc's ron mott has more on that. >> reporter: in maine, stranded drivers. one abandoning his car for higher ground. other vehicles bathed to the hood. a day care forced to close, classes canceled, 9,000 without power. by 8:00 a.m., three to four inches of rain had fallen. three to four times as much water the drought-stricken area has seen all month, triggering flash flooding through states and in basements. by afternoon totals topped half a foot. >> it's a rainy day in the neighborhood. >> reporter: in massachusetts, downed trees and branches. one windshield shaerted. >> i'm just waiting for aaa. >> reporter: shannon woods had to be rescued. >> we had to be safely. >> reporter: a rhode island resident captured the bounding there. the drenching regionwide. a massive storm system moving from the mid-atlantic to the northeast, into new england. in fredrick, maryland, a collapsed roof at a construction company. no one hurt. visible beach erosion in the carolinas where locals sandb sandbagg sandbagged. virginia was especially hard hit. rivers swelling, firefigh

don mattingly expected the mets crowd to be electric tonight. >> ron mott, thank you. >>> still ahead, imagine taking off work for as long as you please. yet another well-known company offering unlimited vacation. it sounds like a good deal but what is the fine print and why are so many employees reluctant to take advantage of it. >>> and they met as strangers but an astounding incident between co-workers reveal they have a shared past. bradshaw? bradshaw? what a surprise! you know what else is a surprise? shingles. and how it can hit you out of nowhere. i know. i had it. c'mon let's sit down and talk about it. and did you know that one in three people will get shingles? (all) no. that's why i'm reminding people if you had chickenpox then the shingles virus is already inside you. (all) oooh. who's had chickenpox? scoot over. and look that nasty rash can pop up anywhere and the pain can be even worse than it looks. talk to your doctor or pharmacist. about a vaccine that can help prevent shingles. it's easy to love your laxative when that lax loves your body back. only miralax hydrates,

nbc's ron mott is a few miles away from here at citifield over in queens. ron, good morning. >> reporter: harry, good morning to you. we all know the cubs and mets have been victimized for years by bad luck. now one team is four wins away from getting back to the world series. energized fans on both sides are saying it is about time. fans of the chicago cubs and new york mets, good things have not come with the long wait. >> i have the pleasure to introduce the mets. >> reporter: it has been 29 years since they celebrated a world series crown in queens. 1908: faithful. only one gets the treat of playing for it all. 70 years ago in chicago, bar owner william sienna showed up at wrigley to root for the home team. the problem, the billy goat, the legend has it, cast a curse on the club. a black cat in '69 derailed that season. a cubs fan in '03 taking away an out five outs from the world series. >> why do things seem to fold at the most critical time? why are people's hearts broken over and over? better to blame a goat. >> reporter: at the billy goat tavern, th

carson and erica, back to you. >> ron mott in london. thanks. >> let's turn to tom costello who handles aviation news. tom, what are investigators looking at? >> reporter: i think they have to look at a number of things. they will look at the weather conditions at the time. right now, there is no suggestion that weather played a role. the mechanical history of the airbus a-321. this is a reliable plane. the biggest airbus in the family. it has a good record. they will look into the mechanical history of the plane and we don't know which engine configuration on the plane. one made by ge and one made by rolls royce pratt and whitney. they will look at the rate of descent. at last report, the plane was coming down 6,000 to 7,000 feet per minute. that is not a terribly unusual descent rate. it would suggest that somebody must have been trying to control the plane. keep in mind that for example, to compare that rate of descent to the plane we know crashed. air france 447 over the atlantic, descented 15,000 feet per minute. we don't know the c

here ooh nbc's ron mott. >> lame, tracy morgan! >> reporter: it was a heartwarming intro. tracy morgan hosting "saturday night live," a comeback performance after escaping death 16 months ago. >> thank you so much. nah, i'm just playing. getting right to the punch lines, his brain injury among them. >> people were wondering, can he speak? does he have 100% mental capacity? but the truth is i never did. i might actually be a few points higher now. music >> reporter: it was also a homecoming, returning to stage that made him a household name, familiar characters like brian fellows, out-of-control camel and all. >> i can't see, camel! where the heck are you, jackie chan? >> throwing in new ones for measure. >> this jukebox every night hoping someday someone want to share the magical rit wm me! not with these! but with these. >> it's me! >> reporter: morgan's hallmark is a deadpan delivery often punctuated with a dash of sapeny, and it was on full display last night, facing off against his ex-wife, morgan's old family was ready for a feud. >> commitment! >> oh, here we go. >>

ron mott, nbc news, london. >> i've been in afghanistan when a quake hits and it is a scary, scary thing> closer to home, herndon mayor is pulling closer school officials to provide new opportunities for students. >> our agenda tonight is to marry up the schools that need some support or would like some support with the safe communities looking for a place to go and see what great things we can make happen. >>> united methodist church has had hutch son celebration for the past ten years. they mentor students to provide them with everything from school supplies to food. >> the impact that this partnership has had is unmeasurable. we support our children's nutritional needs and their emotional needs and social needs and academic needs. >> the mayor hopes tonight's meeting will match more schools with faith partners that are willing to build relationships. >>> if you're a stressed out student or a stressed out parent, relief is on the way. what president obama is doing about standardized tests. >> and are you ready to start your christmas shopping. an early look at what could be a an early