tom costello has late details. >> it happened just before 3:00 p.m. >> it looks like we have a plane into a house, heavy fire, we have a lot of wires down. >> firefighters first arriving on the scene in southeast akron, found an apartment house fully engulfed. roberta porter was just 50 feet away. >> i heard this big loud noise, the plane veered out of the sky and into the duplex. just a massive explosion. >> witnesses say a 10 seater business jet came out of the clouds and seemed to trip over utility lines. and plowed into the apartment house. the debris set the neighboring building on fire. >> oh, my god. >> a neighbor was live chatting with a friend when the plane suddenly flashed by her window. >> oh, my god. >> i need to go to the street. directly south of -- >> thankfully no one was in either building at the time. it's believed no one on the plane survived. >> we know the plane when it did go down, it struck the one house, and then continued on into an embankment just behind that house. the plane became engulfed in flames, which ignited the residents that had originally struck,

and tom costello, we have two fronts, really.ning for overseas flights and we have domestic flights, the kind that go on every minute of every day with a little added noticeable scrutiny. >> reporter: i think that's exactly the right tone, a little added notable security. i and myself have seen more tsa roving canines and dogs at checkpoints. in addition, as you know, over the last few months, tsa is no longer allowing some individuals to go into the pre-check line if they appear to be an individual who would pass muster. now the rule is you can only go through pre-check if you are already pre-check approved. that is one of the outcomes of the gao and the ig reports that found the tsa, really, in many instances not doing a thorough enough job at checkpoints across the country, in terms of screening people and looking for any possible weapons. that's part of the text of this discussion we've had over the last few weeks and months. in addition to that, we know the homeland security secretary has put out the word, not just to airpor

tom costello, nbc news, rockville, maryland. >>> still ahead this evening, millions flock to sea world to see it over the years but after widespread outcries one of the most popular and controversial attractions is coming to an end. >>> and also more than a dozen drivers instantly regretting where they parked. the mystery over why the earth swallowed their cars in an instant. >>> we're back with the big news from sea world today. a new plan to phase out the controversial killer whale show in san diego. it comes after intensifying criticism over the treatment of killer whales and amid sagging ticket sales. now the company is planning a new approach. our national correspondent miguel almaguer has details. >> reporter: sea world's trademark exhibit, the killer whale show, will be phased out next year. the stunning decision comes after years of criticism targeting sea world's treatment of orcas in captivity. the result, declining attendance. today's show, full of empty seats. the plan going public online to investors. >> we are listening to our guests, we're evolving as a company, we're al

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >>> and we're back back in a moment with a giant rock. a massive gem that just set a new world record and you won't believe how much it went for. opportunity has no slow season. no off-days, or downtime. opportunity is everything you make of it. this winter, take advantage of our season's best offers on the latest generation of cadillacs. the 2016 cadillac srx. get this low-mileage lease from around $339 per month, or purchase with 0% apr financing. >>> the heart of the ocean from titanic has nothing on this rock, that just set a new world record for the highest price ever paid for a gem at auction. it is a rare, flawless blue diamond known as the blue moon because something so special only comes around, you know, once in a blue moon. it sold today for $48.5 million at sotheby's in switzerland. it is 12 carats set in a ring about to weigh down some very rich private collector's hand. >>> but that price has nothing compared to this spending spree. $14.3 billion in sales clocked by a chinese e-commerce site in one wild day. the company is c

nbc's tom costello has our report. >> reporr: a security scare in miami last week. dozens of passengers held after tsa officers flagged a passenger's bags for a second look, then lost track of him. in the end, a falsealarm. the passenger was no threat. but a sign of heightened tension with an isis bomb the leading theory in the russian metrojet crash. the top concern, an insider, an airport employee who suddenly becomes radicalized by isis. it could be a ramp handler or cleaning crew member -- anyone with access to a plane. >> if you're an insider, you know the system in the airport. you know where the cameras are, where the doors are. you know who is a good screener and who is a bad screeeer or who is a little bit lax or who's not. >> reporter: every airport worker in the u.s. is regularly when it comes to criminal background checks, t ty're done by the airports themselves, required only every two years. and while some airports require every single airport worker to be screened every day, most airports don't require that. they argue there are too many workers to sc

and as nbc tom costello reports, it is a gaping hole that tonight we are seeing firsthand. >> reporter: at jfk airport today, business as usual at the employee entrance at terminal four. select airport workers swipe secure keys and enter a pin and then walked right in. unlike passengers and crew members, no i.d. checks, no metal detectors or explosive scans. no bag checks. it is the same routine captured here on cell phone video last january. no checkpoints inside either, except for the random tsa and airport police checks. nationwide, only miami and orlando airports fully screen every worker every day. surprisingly the nation's airports decide for themselves whether to screen employees. but an airport police union says it is a dangerous security gap. three years ago they wrote the tsa urging mandatory screening for all airport employees at the biggest airports, including tsa officers. >> when are we going to learn our lessons from the past and be proactive rather than reactive. >> homeland security called for fewer access points and more random employee screenings. after the metrojet

tom costello, thank you. >>> let's turn to politics now. new questions about some of the claims that dr. ben carson has made, specifically events he said took place when he was a young man. the questions come as the candidate faces more intense scrutiny now that some polls put him in the lead among republicans. we have more from chris jansing. >> reporter: it is a key moment in ben carson's life story. one that brought him from best-selling author to in demand speaker and now presidential candidate. >> i was offered a full scholarship to west point. got to meet the general. >> reporter: politico reported that west point has no records of carson applying or being offered admission an calling the story a fabrication. his campaign fired back. >> this book was written two decades ago. would i love to freshen it up, maybe, but it is all accurate. i mean, the words are not precise sometimes but it is all accurate. it is not made up. >> reporter: but still, carson admits it didn't happen exactly the way he described. telling "the new york times,"

nbc's tom costello has the new list which traffic nightmares are the worst. >> reporter: early morning in chicago, and the worst bottleneck in the country already living up to its name. a 12-mile stretch of i-90 that mark tear drives every day on his way into downtown. >> starting at 6:30 in the morning, that is when things get really congested here. >> reporter: the sun reflecting off the snow only aggravated the commute. while in southern california -- yet another day with record traffic levels now pounding the crumbling roads. at the top of the list on the nation's worst bottlenecks behind chicago's kennedy expressway, the 405, i-10, 110 and the 101 in los angeles. the lincoln tunnel on i-95 in new york and i-35 in austin, texas, and the top 30 choke points in the country cost commuters 91 million hours of lost time, 10,000 car crashes each year. and hundreds of millions of gallons of gasoline. the secretary of transportation said it is time for congress to spend the money to fix the nation's crumbling roads and bridges. >> what america is getting is a preview of what we can expect

our tom costello reports how investigators are trying to piece together clues as the u.s., meantime, considers new security measures for certain flights bound for the u.s. >> reporter: tonight, the possibility that terrorists smuggled a bomb on to the metrojet plane has u.s. homeland security considering new screening procedures for u.s.-bound flights originating overseas. >> currently the obama administration is reviewing a number of different steps we can take to enhance security for commercial flights bound to the united states from certain foreign airports. >> reporter: veteran investigators say if it was a bomb, there should be forensic clues. pitted or stretched metal surfaces, soot residue or scorch marks and signs of hot gas streaking across the plane's skin. >> you want to look for passengers with a lot of shrapnel in a particular area or a lot of shrapnel-type damage in a particular area of the airplane. >> reporter: photos show holes punching out through the fuselage, but what caused the explosion? on a separate tail section, no obvious scorch marks. 19 years ago, investig

tom costello, nbc news, salt lake city. >>> we're back in a moment with a day of remembrance in paris, just as the city is about to face another major test of its security. >>> awe-inspiring sights from volcano kilimanjaro. sending rivers of lava sending downslope. there are communities to the north of kilauea, but this eruption is currently not a threat to any homes or businesses. >>> exactly two weeks to the day from those horrific attacks in paris the french came together for a national day of remembrance, as the international manhunt continues for at least two suspected terrorists. nbc's gabe gutierrez has more from paris. >> reporter: they were young, most under 35. today france remembered the 130 victims in the deadliest attack in its history. some survivors still in wheelchairs. this man was having coffee that night and can't forget the faces of the attackers. >> translator: there aim kill as many as possible. >> reporter: although he was shot twice, he was lucky. >> translator: i had my passport over my heart protecting it, and my passport made the bulis ricochet. >> reporter:

. >> reporter: this is tom costello. with a tail of the plane found several miles from the rest of the wreckage, the evidence of what went wrong would be found in explosive residue or a hairline facture in the fuselage. the airbus a-321 was 18 years old with 56,000 flight hours it should have been considered mid aged. for a well maintained airbus jet. but there was the 2001 tail strike in cairo. and they will look at repair job and follow up inspections checking for cracks in the metal. each time a plane takes off or lands the skin of the aircraft contracts and expands. if a crack develops, the results can be catastrophic. >> after many cycles, ups and downs, the cracks will reach a critical point and break open. >> it happened before in 1985, a japan airlines 747 came apart in flight killing 520 people. a faulty repair performed seven years earlier was blamed. 1988, the top of a aloha airline flight killed a flight attendant swept out of the plane. the salt air was blamed for the corrosion. and in 2002, 225 people were

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >>> when we come back, how the conversation. i absolutely love my new york apartment, but the rent is outrageous. good thing geico offers affordable renters insurance. with great coverage it protects my personal belongings should they get damaged, stolen or destroyed. [doorbell] uh, excuse me. delivery. hey. lo mein, szechwan chicken, chopsticks, soy sauce and you got some fortune cookies. have a good one. ah, these small new york apartments... protect your belongings. let geico help you with renters insurance. think your heartburn pill works fast? take the zantac it challenge! zantac works in as little as 30 minutes. nexium can take 24 hours. when heartburn strikes, take zantac for faster relief than nexium or your money back. with the pain and swelling of my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis... ordinary objects often seemed... intimidating. doing something simple... meant enduring a lot of pain. if ra is changing your view of everyday things orencia may help. orencia works differently by targeting a source of ra early in

nbc's tom costello has late details on the investigation. >> reporter: new video from the crash site in the sinai tonight as u.s. intelligence sources said none of the passengers or crew members on the plane's manifest were on any u.s. terrorism data base. u.s. satellites did detect an infared flash heat signature at the same time and altitude as the plane's last known lotion but there is no sense of a missile strike. russia's transport minister going on tv tonight saying they have been combing through the debris field scattered over seven miles. >> our experts have examined the crash site and the state of the flight data recorders. >> reporter: the russia news agency said the recorders captured sounds uncharacteristic of a standard flight before the plane disappeared from radar. and tonight russia media report no signs of explosive trauma on the bodies of the victims. the question was there a bomb on board or did a catastrophic mechanical failure occur in mid-flight. >> if you have a pressurized environment such as a cabin, obviously a fracture is very serious and could potentially

tom costello, thank knew turning to politics now. and claims that ben carson has made, specifically events he said took place when he was a yng man. as the he faced more scrutiny as he is in the lead for republicans. we have more from chris jansing. >> it is a moment that brought him from best-selling author to in demand speaker and now presidential candidate. >> i was offered a full scholarship to west point. >> politico reported that west point has no applying or being offered admission an calling the story a fabrication. >> his campaign fired back. >> this book was written two decades ago. [ inaudible ]. but it is all accurate. i mean, the words are not precise sometimes but it is all accurate. it is not made up. >> but still carson admits it didn't happen exactly the way he described. telling "the new york times," it was you, know, an in formal. with a record like yours, we could easily get you a scholarship to west point. in fact, no one can offer admission which has a rigorous application process and low acceptance rate. >> nob

ayman mohyeldin is in cairo and tom costello covers aviation for us in washington. bill, give us a sense of the latest you are seeing on the ground in sharm el-sheikh based on this new news that russia is now halting all flights to egypt. >> reporter: yes, peter. that's the news that people here are talking about, not least the 50,000 russians who are here in sharm el-sheikh on vacation at the moment. that has shocked them, to be frank. i think there's an aspect of this that has shocked everyone. for the last few days, russia has been saying we simply don't believe the bomb theory, it's too early to say. but actions even from moscow now speak louder than words. it has the intelligence chief, the fsb chief, who recommended that all flights to egypt be stopped and president putin has agreed. i think the interesting thing is that they stopped all flights to egypt, not just to sharm el-sheikh but also to the capital, cairo. now, russia is saying this doesn't mean that we believe that the bomb theory is accurate but it's certainly the strongest indication yet that russia

tom costello, rockville, maryland. >>> still ahead this evening, millions flock to sea world to see it over the years bu'st aftta widespread outcries one of the th st popular and controversial attractions is coming to an end. >>> and also more than a dozen drive instantly regretting where they parked. the mystery o the way i see it, you have two choices; th le easy way or the hard way. you could choose a card that limits where you earn bonus cash back. or, you could make things easier on yourself. that's right, the quicksilver card from capital one. with quicksilver you earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, everywhere. so, let's try this again. it's easy to love your laxative when that lax loves your body back. only miralax hydrates, eases and softens to unblock naturally, so you have peace of mind from s r to finish. love your laxative. miralax. fact. when emergency room doctors choose an otc pain reliever for their patients muscle, back and joint pain. the medicine in advil is their #1 choice. nothing is stronger on tough pain than advil. relief doesn't get any better advi

as tom costello explains. >> reporter: fayetteville, north carolina. home to the 82nd airborne. it can take weeks or months for vets to get seen at the local va hospital here and fayetteville has had the longest wait times in the country. >> aggressive cancer. >> reporter: two years ago vietnam vet rick leslie says a doctor diagnosed his prostate cancer but he had to travel to durham for radiation, surgery, and treatment. >> they don't have availability of the resources to do the prost prostate cancer or urologist available to do it. usa today crunched the numbers. 41,000 full and part time jobs unfilled. in fayetteville, 59 of 187 position jobs vacant. among the highest rates, psychologist. 21% of those positions nationwide, open. in fayetteville the va had only half the psychologists it needed as of mid july. >> i hoped they could help me get my life back on track. >> reporter: scott served two combat tours in afghanistan and last year came home with ptsd but only had two psychiatric appointments in 18 months. >> i self-medicate more often than i should because i'm not receivi

tom costello takes us to a utah hospital that figured a way to get a handle on the problem and others are anxious to follow its lead. >> early morning at the university of utah med center, and robert garner is headed to replaces. a routine surgery performed every day in the country, but here, the surgery will cost less and he should recover faster. same true for the new mom having a c-section in o.r. five. university of utah health care system. >> when you compare us to other university hospitals across the country, we have seen our costs go down. >> you have dawn down? down a lot, 30%. through a software tool they developed to identify every penny spent. every bandage, aspirin, scalpel, iv, x-ray, how much it costs treat patients down to the second. by drilling down on the costs, the university determined that patient care here in the e.r. cost 82 cents per minute. $1.43 a minute in the surgical icu. the biggest surprise came in the o.r. take, for example, dr. a, who performs hernia repairs. his choice of instruments and meds put his o.r. costs 23% below other surgeons. and his patie