>> steve patterson, thank you. for more on the path of this storm and what's coming up in the days ahead, let's bring in meteorologist indra petersons. this has been an incredibly powerful system. take a look here in the last 24 hours, upwards of 10 inches of rain through southern california. as we mentioned, that's not the end of the story. unfortunately, in the pacific, already looms a second system expected to make its way through sunday as we move in through monday. you see the moisture pouring towards northern california. there will be a slight change here. more scattered showers in southern california. look at the flood threat through northern california. especially towards oroville, they could see 3 inches of rain. the one blessing, it's expected to be a colder system. likely the runoff will not exist until later in the season as we'll see snowfall. >> not just the storm out west, there's unusual weather in the rest of the country as well. >> severe weather threat in texas, that first system farther to the e

steve patterson, nbc news. >>> there's a big game going on in houston right now. after two weeks of hype, super bowl li between the new england patriots and atlanta falcons is under way. a test for law enforcement on top of keeping everyone safe. ron mott is at the game. >> reporter: america's unofficial holiday, the super bowl. a great escape for loyal fans. >> we're rising up. this is our year. >> reporter: who is going to win? >> definitely new england. bringing home number five. >> reporter: keeping them safe is no vacation for law enforcement. with black hawks monitoring above, thousands of paws and boots on the ground. two miles away, several hundred march towards the stadium over politics. >> this is our chance to let america know how we feel. >> reporter: a pretty big undertaking to safeguard the super bowl. >> yes. we're prepared and we'll be successful. we have built into our plans, protest activity like this. we plan for it. >> reporter: the big showdown is on the field. tom brady going after his fifth super bowl ring and matt ryan for atlanta named the

steve patterson visited the neighborhoods and spoke to families dealing with the fallout. >> forwardee. >> reporter: inside the home of terry kano and her son joseph, life seems normal. >> close to beating you again. >> reporter: outside an invisible threat. >> there is a certain amount of risk that he's taking just walking out the door. >> reporter: the kanos and many of their neighbors' yards are saturated with pollutants harmful to childhood development in concentrations up to 100 times higher than health standards. >> breaks my heart. >> reporter: the source of the threat, exide technologies, lead acid battery recycling facility five miles from downtown l.a. officials say the smelter inside this exide facility spewed harmful chemicals including lead over a radius of 1.7 miles. that impacts several communities including an estimated 10,000 homes. state records show the plant had been operating on a temporary permit for more than 30 years. cited by the state for dozens of violations. in 2015, exide shut down the facility and pledged to help clean up. a deal that took criminal prose

steve patterson takes a look. >> reporter: it's oscar night. in the middle of the glitz and glamour, this year's award season has taken a more political turn. meryl streep at the golden globes calling out president trump without ever saying his name for seemingly mocking a reporter with a disability. >> this instinct to humiliate, when it's modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everyone's life. >> reporter: the president who has repeatedly denied making fun of the reporter's disability, fired back twitter calling streep overrated. streep could be back on stage tonight. she's nominated for her role in "florence foster jenkins." also nominated mahershala ali for his role in "moonlight", ali, who is muslim, talked about inclusion at the screen actor guild awards. >> the opportunity to see the texture of the person, the characteristics that make them unique. there's an opportunity to go to war about it. >> hollywood celebrities, filmmakers, all the nominees this year feel they're speaking for the count

more tonight from steve patterson. >> reporter: from florida to washington state, families across the country are down for the count. >> feel better. >> reporter: near seattle, this mom is running a living room infirmary. her family of six all sick with the flu. >> we haven't had -- been hit quite like this in, i can't even remember when. >> reporter: have you seen a lot of people down there quoufing? in washington state alone, 148 people have died from the flu this season. putting the state on track for i worst flu is season in seven years. 40 states are reporting widespread flu activity with more than 30,000 reported cates cases of influenza in the u.s. 15 children have died, seven in one week. >> i think people forget the flu kills tens of thousands of americans each year. >> reporter: it's why doctors across the country are pushing the importance of immunization. >> the most important thing people can do from preventing them from getting the flu is getting vaccinated. >> she was a ray of sunshine. >> reporter: rebecca works with an organization called families fighting flu. >> i t

steve patterson spoke with the lawyer and has our report. >> reporter: for nearly two hours, muhammad ali jr. claims he was detained at the airport. family spokesman says ali jr. was repeatedly questioned by customs officials about his religion, origin and name. in a statement to nbc news, mancini said "the whole thing was triggered business his beliefs." this is only about religion, make no mistake about this. he's the son of late boxing legend muhammad ali. like his famous father, the 44r- jamaica on february 7th with his mother. muhammad ali's second wife. mancini says she was questioned but not detained after showing customs agents a picture of herself with her late ex-husband. it's unclear why he waited foreign e. more than two weeks to share his story. ali jr. was never detained before and can find only one explanation telling nbc news, his father fought for his religious rights and now that trump is president, he has to fight. the cbp is profiling. u.s. customs and border protection say they cannot discuss individual travelers, however, all international travelers arriving in t

nbc's steve patterson shows us what happens next. >> reporter: a close call on the couch as a family laptop bursts into flames and then does it again and again. >> it's really scary when it exploded on me. i wasn't expecting it. it was really loud. >> reporter: 17-year-old devon johnson was home with a friend as surveillance cameras rolled. the dell laptop had been charging on the couch just feet away. after blowing out the flames, unplugging the computer, and placing it on the patio, it burst into flames again. after devon thinks he's extinguished it for good, he moves closer and boom. >> no warning. it didn't heat up. iid it literally just exploded. >> reporter: the sudden combustion seems to be caused by the lithium ion battery, the same kind found in hoverboards and cell phones that have caught fire, prompting nationwide recalls. >> that's a big fire. and it could have been worse. if those guys weren't there, wow. >> reporter: ucla scientist bruce dunn is an authority on lithium ion batteries. he says cases of laptops lighting up like this are extremely rare. >> fact they have it

steve patterson has more. >> reporter: a close call on the couch as a family laptop burst into flamesn does it again and again. >> really scary when it exploded on me. i wasn't expecting it. it was really loud. >> reporter: surveillance cameras rolled. the dell laptop had been charging on the couch feet away. after blowing out the flames, unplugging the computer, and placing it on the patio, it burst into flames again. after devin thinks he's extinguished it for good, he moves close, and boom -- >> no warnings. it didn't heat up. it didn't smoke. it literally just exploded. >> reporter: the sudden combustion seems to be caused lie the lithium ion battery. the same kind found in hoverboards and cell phones that have caught fire prompting nationwide recalls. >> that's a big fire. it could have been worse. if those guys weren't there, wow. >> reporter: scientist bruce dunn is an authority on lithium ion batteries. he says cases of laptops lighting up like this are extremely rare. >> the fact that they are had it on a couch, it couldn't dissipate the heat. all the protection wasn't workin

that is where nbc's steve patterson is right now. steve, what is it like out there right now?reporter: well, dara, this is being billed as the most powerful storm to hit southern california in years. you're talking about mud flows, you're talking about flash flooding, you're talking about power outages. and as you mentioned, that situation behind me, crews pulling cars out of that massive sinkhole. the power of the storm on full display, and it's already proven deadly. this morning, southern california ravaged by rain. parts of the region getting a month's worth of rain in just one day. the rain and wind proving deadly. in victorville, rescue crews discovered a person dead inside a car submerged on a flooded road. and a 55-year-old man was killed, electrocuted when a tree downed several power lines falling on top of his car. southern california is littered with trees from gusts up to 80 miles an hour. and at one point during the night, nearly 150,000 customers in los angeles with no power. gushing water careened down streets, overturning cars, and causing a rush hour washout.

steve patterson is there. he'll give us a closer look at how dangerous that was. >>> another republican lawmaker is calling for an investigation into russia. marco rubio took to twitter last night saying i am very confident the senate intel committee i serve on will conduct thorough bipartisan investigation of pew tip interference and influence. his tweet came shortly after he and the intel committee met with fbi director james comey behind closed doors on capitol hill. >>> meanwhile, vice president mike pence is trying to reassure world leaders about president trump's desire to reset u.s. russia relations. here's what he said this morning at the munich security conference. >> with regard to ukraine, we must hold russia accountable and demand they honor the minsk agreements beginning by de-escalating the violence in eastern ukraine. and know this -- the united states will continue to hold russia accountable even as we search for new common ground, which as you know president trump believes can be found. >>> an

nbc's steve patterson is in hollywood outside the dolby theater where it's all going to happen. steve, good morning. >> good morning, willie. the controversy was diversity leading to the on-line trend oscars so white. this year is expecd colorful leading to a hash tag of its own, oscars so political. >> how would like him remembered? >> reporter: the oscars celebrate the best movies and performances of the past year. but tonight politics may play a leading role. the award season so far has been more political than ever. at the golden globes, meryl streep took on president trump. >> when the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose. >> reporter: at the stre screen actors gilda war wards. >>> oscar frahadi's film is nominated. but he's boycotting president trump. >> i just don't see a world where people decide to be quiet about that. [000:12:58;00] political protests in the past and they haven't gone over well. >> you very regretfully cannot accept. >> reporter: marlon brando turned down the best actor oscar. she was booed. morgan was criticized for putting down pre

joining me now, steve patterson in los angeles. a report that the grammy producer is actually encouraging people going up on that stage to make political statements. >> you're referring to ken ehrlich, who has been producing the grammys for 30 years this will be his 37th time. he said the quote was, bring it on. basically these are artists who have political messages, things they want to say and should be free to do and say that. so, he's basically welcoming them to do that. we do expect some political messages. i don't think it will be out of the realm of possibility to hear a few politically charged things coming up tonight. but even before you look at who is going on stage, who is going to say what, i think some story lines coming into the grammys are already politically rationally infused and charged. adele versus beyonce, head-to-head, big battle. adele has won 10 grammys. beyonce has won 20. but beyonce hasn't won for those big categories and has a politically racially charged album versus adele's album which is more traditio

nbc's steve patterson explains how the problem happened and what's being done to fix it right now. >>eporter: officials here are a predicted 30-foot wall of solid water that could come if one of these spillways collapses. so the emergency evacuation order was given out quickly on sunday night. nearly 200,000 people told to evacuate their homes, many of them we've spoken to simply threw their belong egs in plastic bags, threw those plastic bags in cars and headed into a very scary situation of people trying to escape and get out of here. that was basically caused by so much rainfall that we've gotten in this month. there's been so much talk about the drought in california over years. now it seems like, especially in northern california, there's been so much water that it's overloading some of these dam systems. this one was simply overloaded based on the fact that the spillways were also damaged by the amount of water, the erosion on the primary spillway and then the secondary spillway led to officials worrying about those spillways possibly giving way to a massive tidal wave, which wo

steve patterson brings the latest from l.a. >> reporter: tonight's 59th grammy awards shaping up to be the mother of diva duals, beyonce versus adele. ♪ >> reporter: beyonce leads the pack with nine nominations hoping to spin lemonade gold. she's up against adead for best record, album and song. ♪ hello from the outside. >> reporter: another story line, who won't be attending. drake with eight nominations is choosing to remain on tour while kanye and justin bieber are expected no shows after questioning the relevance of the grammys. frank ocean is boycotting them by not submitting his album over concerns of racial inequality. >> race is coming up a lot. it's on the top of people's minds, the grammy's are concerned about it. ♪ i have 100 million reasons to walk away. >> reporter: will lady gaga take on president trump when she performs with metallica? she avoided controversy at the super bowl. they look back at prince, george michael and david bowie. bowie is up for best alternative album. the honor would be his first win for music. it's guaranteed someone will win their first grammy as

nbc's steve patterson has the latest from l.a. ♪ >> reporter: tonight's 59th grammy awards shaping upo be the mother of all diva duels. beyonce versus adele. ♪ >> beyonce leads with nine nominations hoping to spin grammy gold out of "lemonade." ♪ she's up against adele for best record, album and song. ♪ >> another major story line who won't be attending this year's ceremony. drake with eight nominations is choosing to remain on tour. while kanye and justin bieber are expected no shows, after questioning the relevance of the grammys. ♪ and singer frank ocean is boycotting altogether by not even submitting his critically acclaimed album over concerns of racial inequality. >> the issue of race is on top of people's minds and the grammys are concerned about it. ♪ >> another question looming will lady gaga take on president trump when she performs tonight with metallica? she avoided controversy at the super bowl. this year, the grammys look back at some fallen idols, prince, george michael, david bowie. ♪ ♪ look up here i'm in heaven >> reporter: bowie is up for best alternative honor. tha

ginning me now from oroville california steve patterson remains there. steve you are with some of the evacuated folks? >> reporter: we are at the largest evacuation center here taking people from this oroville dam crisis. we spoke to the red cross last night. they told us this place took an estimated 1600 people for dinner. people had to sleep on the ground because they ran out of cots last night. and then you factor in another 1,000 who slept in their cars in the parking lot. this is just one center. i want to give you a look around. you can see supplies. these are hygiene products, cleaning procts. you can see that because a lot of peopleou have to remember basically had to evacuate during that mandatory evacuation on sunday just with the shirts on their backs. not even enough time to really take any personal items. one of those people is here, jennifer topman. you have a 4-year-old son? >> i do. >> reporter: you saw some of the signs of this even before it started. can you tell us what you saw? >> yeah. i dropped my son off at preschool on tuesday morn

steve patterson is live outside the dolby theatre. good morning. >> good morning. everyone remembers in the run-up to last year's oscars ceremony, the controversy was diversity, leading to the online trend oscars so white. this year, the speeches promise to be much more colorful, adding to a hash tag of its own, oscars so political. >> how would you like him remembered? >> the oscars celebrate the best movies and performances of the past year. but tonight, politics may play a leading role. the award season so far has been more political than ever. at the golden globes, meryl streep took on president trump. >> when the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose. >> at the screen actors guild awards, mahershala ali, a muslim, support about the importance of inclusion. >> there's an opportunity to see the texture of that person, the characteristics that make them uniq unique, and there's an opportunity to go to war tubt. >> an iranian director's film is nominated, but he's boycotting the ceremony over president trump's travel ban. >> every day there's ne

steve patterson is live in l.a. about these bigger artists, battling for top grammy honors tonight, steve. >> the glitz, the glamour, the red carpet, star-studded performances. no matter how you feel about the show itself, this is music's biggest night. but it also promises to be a little provocative, maybe a little bit political as we explore and check out some of the biggest highlights and store lines heading into tonight. take a look. tonight's 59th grammy awards, shaping up to be the mother of all diva duels, beyonce versus adele. ♪ beyonce leads the pack with nine nominations, hoping to spin grammy gold out of "lemonade," up against adele for best album, record and song. ♪ hello from the outside >> another major story line? who won't be attending this year's ceremony. drake with eight tour. while kanye and justin bieber are expected no shows after questioning the relevance of the grammys. ♪ and singer frank ocean is boycotting the awards altogether by not even submitting his critically acclaimed album over conce

steve patterson shows us. >> a close call on the couch as a family laptop bursts into flames and then does it again and again. >> it's really scary when it exploded. it was really loud. >> 17-year-old devon johnson was home with a friend as surveillance cameras rolled. the dow laptop had been charging on the couch just feet away. after blowing out the flames, unplugging it and placing it on the patio, it burst into flames again. after he extinguished it for good, he moves closer and boom. >> no warnings. it didn't heat up. it didn't smoke. it literally just exploded. >> the sudden combustion seems to be caused by the ligt i don't remember ion battery, the same in hoverboards and cell phones that prompted a nationwide recall. >> that's a big fire. it could have been worse. >> reporter: ucla scientist bruce dunn says cases of laptops lighting up like this are extremely rare. >> the fact they had it on a couch meant it couldn't dissipate heat. it means all the protection that should be in there wasn't working. >> reporter: to minimize risk of a fire, don't soft it on a soft surface like

steve patterson, nbc news. >> that is a good reminder how deadly flu is.do forget. >> it's flu season. >>> rain and plenty of it to go around over the next five to six days across the bay area. we've got storm ranger up working late tonight atop scanning the bay area. most of the rain is across the south bay out towards the east bay and tri-valley. quick view here of dublin. wet roadways as you head through the 580-680 interchange. could have some pondinging on on ramps and off ramps. we'll take you down into the south bay. san jose, breezy at times, seeing some relatively lighter rain compared to heavy year rain in the santa cruz mountains. you can see the camera is still bouncing around. some wind gusts close to 30. there you see the steady rain across the santa cruz mountains. we continue to see one band of rain move on and then more bands come on in. it's pretty interesting as you take a look here on the satellite view, many times we talk about an atmospheric river. this is what it looks like, originating from north of hawaii. this is the rainfall boos

. >> reporter: steve patterson, nbc news, los angeles. >>> the view from one small city and how it's thinking of immigration. >>> as the president's immigration order plays out in washington and beyond, it's worth saying cracking down on immigration happened decades ago. >> reporter: hads el tp, pennsylvania, population 25,000. good paying jobs gave way to warehousing and food processing work when the coal industry collapsed. the economic change brought another massive shift in exploding latino population, from just 5% in 2000, to 37% ten years later, more than 8,000 new hispanic residents. no one knew how many were undocumented, but local leaders citing concerns about crime and cost of schools and health care passed laws in 2006 to keep those in the country illegally out of town. >> it was all about the safety of the people. you know? you can't protect your people if you don't know who else is here. i think that was the whole idea behind the illegal immigration act. >> reporter: the controversial laws imposed fines on landlords and businesses caught hiring or renting property to und

our thanks to steve patterson of nbc news. >>> to the markets, of course another day of records.ow, the s&p, the nasdaq and now the russell joining the party. bob pisani watching all that from the floor. >> it's not just the indexes, carl. finally getting individual breakouts from individual stock. it's not just apple hitting a new high. techs are breaking out. apple is at a 52-week high. tesla, seagate, adobe, hitting new highs. regional banks like zion, for example, or regent gions financ are hitting 52-week highs in the bank sector. industrials, a large swath, general dynamics, honeywell, paccar, emerson, all 52-week highs. new high list is expanding nicely now that there are significant breakouts including the russell 2000. the etfs, tech not surprising. xlk. midcaps as well, metals and mining, the xme. vanguard pacific, stocks over in asia hitting new highs. vanguard's emerging market, vwo is hitting 52-week highs. in fact, global markets are expanding. let me show you an etf. you can own the whole world in the etf. this is the entire world x the united states. this is also

back to you. >> steve patterson.nk you so much. >>> we turn to politics and new reaction from president trump just a day after tweeting that the media is the enemy of the american people. it was just about 20 minutes ago he tweeted saying don't believe the mainstream fake news media. the white house is running very well well, i inherited a mess and i'm in the process of fixing it. let's advance to the schedule for today for president trump. he'll be hold what's billed as a campaign-style rally in florida, a day after deliveri remarks yesterday at a boeing plant in south carolina. >> kwwe are going to enforce ve strongly, enforce our trade rules and stop foreign cheating. tremendo cheg. tremendous cheating. we want products made in our factories by our workers stamped with those four magnificent words -- made in the usa. >> usa! usa! >> all right. so all of this as the white house is dealing with heightened scrutiny over alleged contacts between members of the trump campaign and russian officials. another republican l

. >> i'm steve patterson in los angeles. breaking news of a possible dam spillway failure and flooding in northern california. the sheriff's department is now ordering the immediate evacuation of communities downstream from the oroville dam. 50 to 100,000 residences could be affected by this emergency evacuation order. the spillway has led to severe erosions and the dam could collapse within hours. water was raging after heavy water saturated parts of california over the last month. tonight, officials warning residents, quote, this is not a drill. stay with nbc for the latest developments. now back to kate snow. >>> in the west, more guns were sold in that state than ever before. and california was not alone with a surge of gun sales as the fight over guns is heating up. nbc's katie beck has more on all of this. >> reporter: gun enthusiast david martinez has owned guns all his life. recently he found an urgent reason to buy a new one. >> once i heard that they are going to ban the ars i stopped to get one. >> reporter: he's

steve patterson has more on this new surge. >> reporter: from florida to washington state, families across the country are down for the count. >> bubble gum. >> reporter: near seattle, this mom is running a living room infirmary. her family of six all sick with the flu. >> we haven't been hit quite like this in -- i can't even remember when. >> reporter: in washington state alone, 148 people have died from the flu this season, putting the state on track for its worst flu season in seven years. and there's cause for concern nationwide. according to the centers for disease control, 40 states are reporting widespread flu activity with more than 30,000 reported cases of influenza in the u.s. so far this season, 15 children have died, 7 in just one week. >> i think people forget that influenza kills tens of thousands of americans each year. >> reporter: it's why doctor as cross the country are pushing the importance of immunization. >> the most important thing that people can do to prevent them from getting influenza is to get vaccinated. >> she was like a ray of sunshine. >> reporter: rebecca

nbc's steve patterson. >> reporter: craig and sheinelle, good morning. this is being called the most powerful storm to hit southern california in years for good reason. you said it, flash flooding, mudslides, power outages. a massive sinkhole behind me that swallowed two cars. crews working on that right now. thankfully nobody hurt here. the power of this storm on full display. it is proven this morning, southern california ravaged by rainfall. parts of the region getting a month's worth of rain in just one day. the rain and wind proving deadly in victorville, crews discovered a person dead in a car submerged on a flooded road. a 55-year-old man was killed, electrocuted, when a tree downed several power lines falling on top of his car. southern california littered with trees from gusts up to 80 miles an hour. at one point during the night, nearly 155,000 customers in los angeles with no power. gushing water careened down streets and overturning cars and causing a washout. >> it is incredible to see how big this flood is. >> reporter: part of i-5, a major

steve patterson has more on this new surge. >> from florida to washington state, families across theountry are down for the count. >> near seattle, this mom is running a living room infirm tri, her family of six all hit with the flu. >> we haven't been hit quite like this since i can't remember when. >> a lot of people down there coughing. >> in washington state alone, 148 people have kied died from the flu this season, putting the state on track for the worst flu season in seven years. according to the centers for disease control, 40 states activity with more than 30,000 reported cases of influenza in the u.s. so far 15 children have died and seven in just one week. >> i think people forget that influ enz da kills tens and thousands of americans each year. >> why doctors across the country are pushing the importance of immunization. >> the most important thing people can do to prevent it is get vak natured. >> she was a ray of sunshine. >> ra becca hendricks works with families fighting flu after the illness claimed her 5-year-old. >> i treated it like a common cold and when i took

steve patterson is in oroville, california with the latest. hi, steve. >> reporter: good afternoon.hat emergency spillway took some serious erosion damage on sunday. that's when engineers got in there and discovered that something was wrong. keep in mind, those that emergency spillway, it's been the first time really that it's been used since the dam's inception, generally the primary spillway is the one that will be used to your honorer that water down when the lake level gets far too high. in this case, though, there was some significant damage on the primary spillway, about 250-foot, 40-foot deep hole in the middle of that one. here you have a situation where both spillways are damaged. it's sunday. they discovered the second one that's now in use is damaged as well. so they had to call that mandatory evacuation order, an emergency order. nearly 200,000 people evacuated from their homes. they have to move as quickly as they can because they say it may happen in about an hour this spillway may collapse. you have people taking their personal items, throwing it in plastic bags, hitt

steve patterson has the latest. >> reporter: last night there was a prediction of a 30-foot solid wallter that may come through, unleashing on communities downstream from this dam. engineers were there on sunday and they found some damage that gave them cause for concern, enough to issue a warning for nearly 200,000 people who had to be mandatory evacuated from their homes, told to leave basically immediately because they felt like it was so in danger it may break within the hour. then you had a panic of people trying to get as many items as they could out of their homes, into their cars caught in traffic jams, trying to escape this situation, escape this area. this comes after the primary spillway had already taken major significant damage, 40-foot deep hole had already breached that spillway. that one was already -- engineers are back on scene, trying to determine where exactly the damage is so they can hopefully bring these boulders that are being loaded behind me and fill that breach so once again it can be at least structurally sound. there's a thought about lifting this evacuatio

steve patterson is live this mortgage. >> reporter: good morning, craig and sheinelle.his is the most powerful storm to hit southern california in years for good reason. first of all, the rainfall has been absolutely incredible. more rainfall in some places in one day than those areas would get in one month. what does that mean? it means flash flooding, absolutely everywhere. washed out roads causing dozens of accidents. in one case, rescue crews found a man submerged in flood waters. pronounced dead on the scene. the wind has been just as bad. wind gusts up to 80 miles an hour. in some cases, toppling trees and landing on power lines. the power lines arcing and sparking. in one case, a tree land oed on top of a car which killed a 55-year-old man. about 150 calls for downed power lines last night. about 150,000 customers without power in the los angeles area. mudslides also a major problem. nearly 200 homes in the hillside communities thought to be in the red zone or the threat zone. that situation will only get worse after the storm ends because the rainfall saturated

steve patterson joins me from oroville, about 70 miles north of sacramento.ing the california national guard has told 23,000 service members to be ready to deploy if needed. what's the situation now and what's being done to patch up that hole? >> reporter: that call for the national guard is almost unprecedented. the last time the call has gone out to the entire national guard like this is 1992, the l.a. riots. that's to give you an idea of how massive this operation is. look behind me. have you ever seen sandbagging like this, using boulders? they brought in boulders from all over the region. they're going to load the white bags up and try to fill in the breach on the spillway. that is the danger. there's a huge, massive crater in that about 250 feet wide, 40 feet deep earlier this week. they couldn't use that. for the first time really in 48 years, they started using this emergency spillway, until engineers found erosion in that as well. so the operation behind me is part of a larger respiratiopera make sure people are safe. there are emergency workers line

steve patterson is there, on the ground in oroville. what happened this weekend to cause 200,000 evacuations. that's a huge number. >> reporter: stephanie, to be blunt with you, officials were worried about catastrophe to the tune of a 30 foot solid wall of water that would have been unleashed had the secondary spillway burst open. that would have overwhelmed levees and overtaken homes and ended up on top of people trying to escape this region. that evacuation order given on sunday night, nearly 200,000 people evacuated from their homes. many of those people simply threw their items in plastic bags, put them in their cars and headed off to a scary situation, bumper-to-bumper traffic of people trying to frantically escape. this started as an inverse to the story we have been reporting in california that this state was not getting enough water. now there's a constant deluge particularly in northern california this month. all that water is released as rainfall into this lake system. that lake system became overwhelmed. the dam started to b

. >>> nbc 10 national reporter, steve patterson, has more from oroville. >> reporter: officials are tryingoid catastrophe. 30 foot wall of solid water could come if the spillway collapses. the emergency evacuation order given out quickly sunday night and nearly 200,000 people told to evacuate their homes, many of them we've been told threw belongings in plastic bags, into the cars, and headed into a scary situation of people trying to escape and get out of here. that was basically caused by so much rainfall that we've gotten this month, so much talk about the drought in california over years, and now it seems like, especially in northern california, there's been so much water it's overloading dam systems. this one was simply overloaded because the spill ways were damaged by the water, erosion on primary and secondary spillways leading to officials worrying about spillways giving way to a massive tidal wave which would devastate communities, particularly low lying in this area. now the work is done, and engineers are checking out the spillway to shore this up before the next rainfall is pre

nbc's steve patterson shows us what happened. >> reporter: horror on the ground in riverside, california a small plane slammed into a residential neighborhood. the impact killing passengers, leveling homes and sending a fireball into the sky. the wreckage burning for hours, billowing black smoke seen for miles. two women who were ejected from the plane survived. witnesses were shocked to see the victims pulled from the rubble. >> i heard the lady that was pulled out when i was rushed to the hospital. i heard her scream, "help me, help me." we didn't know where she was. it was very scary. >> reporter: fire officials say five people were in the cessna 3-10. the victims flying back to san jose after attending a cheerleading competition at disneyland. >> it's horrible. when you couple together they were going to a cheer competition, and this is supposedly a happy time and then just to have a tragic incident like this. >> reporter: the plane went down about a half mile away from their riverside municipal airport. >>> president donald trump is just hours away from delivering his first address

steve patterson, thank you. >> you it. thank you. >>> much more ahead.orth korea reminding the world they are still relevant. the latest on last night's missile test at the top of the hour. ♪ why do so many businesses rely on the u.s. postal service? because when they ship with us, their business becomes our business. ♪ that's why we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. ♪ here, there, everywhere. united states postal service priority : you >>> msnbc headquarters in new york, test of wills, north yeea launches a ballistic missile. president trump's so far unusually measured. what could happen next? >>> people take to the streets of mexico, demanded respect from president trump as his rhetoric on immigration gets more heated. >>> clash of the musical titans, beyonce and

nbc's steve patterson live in hollywood for us. eve, can we expect the fireworks we've seen at other awards shows this season? >> reporter: thomas, the fireworks are already under way. you look at the build-up to this awards show, look at the s.a.g. awards, the golden globes, and even some which would be normal hollywood parties that have turned into rallies, all of this, the big build-up towards what is expected to be a very political show tonight. >> and how would you like him remembered? >> reporter: the oscars celebrate the best movies and performances of the past year, but tonight, politics may play a leading role. the awards season so far has been more political than ever. at the golden globes, meryl streep took on president trump. >> when the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose. >> reporter: at the screen actors guild awards, ma miersch la ali, a muslim, spoke about inclusion. >> there is an opportunity to see the texture of that person, the characteristics that make them unique. and then there is an oppo

. >> reporter: steve patterson, nbc news. >>> in other health news there is a change when it comes toan pap loma virus vaccines. researchers are consolidating the treatments. instead of three shots, some children only need two. doctors are hopeful parents will be more likely to commit to the vaccine now because they don't have to fight the kids about the shots. now only two. doctors recommend people aged 11 to 26 get that vaccine. they say the vaccine is most effective before the age of 15 and can help to prevent cervical cancer. if you get your child vaccinated before they turn 15 and they haven't started the three-part series yet, then they only need the two doses. >>> okay. coming up next, queen elizabeth is celebrating her reign today. a first the queen has achieved. >>> first, nbc bay area news responds. >> we're handling questions about income taxes. chris chmura is here with the truth about irs audits. >> you won't be forced to answer questions in a dark room with a detective. most irs audits are handled by the mail, and some even result in bigger refunds. >>> all right, chris.