inspiring america. announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt good evening, everyone forecasters are using terms like heat dome and atmospheric rivers to describe what is driving extreme weather conditions across the country tonight, from dangerous rain and flooding to crippling heat many will see triple-digit highs in fact over the course of the next seven days, over 250 million americans can expect temperatures 90 or hotter. and while drought-stricken parts of the west can t seem to buy a drop of rain, too much of it has fallen in montana and wyoming. it s been wiping out bridges, roads, and literally carrying houses away. yellowstone park closed tonight a crushing start to the park s busy vacation season. from tornado sirens blaring in chicago to fires in the west, this is already shaping up to be a summer to remember our team is in place to cover it all, starting tonight with gadi schwartz. reporter: tonight, weather extremes as destructive as they a
before like this so we it don t know how much underlying momentum there is to the economy. reporter: but higher rates mean americans pay more for credit cards, car loans and mortgages. a new $400,000 mortgage on january 1st cost $17.45 a month. after two rate hikes this year that payment is now $589 more likely to go up with higher rates to come tom, a lot of folks were rocked by the big stock market drop yesterday. what did it look like today? reporter: the dow lost 151 points today, the s&p down a fraction, nasdaq up just 19. investors will be making their next decisions based on what the fed decides on rates but already the bond market is suggesting a greater risk for a recession, lester tom costello, thank you. amid those record high gas prices the white house now says president biden will visit saudi arabia next month despite his campaign promise to isolate the saudi government peter alexander is at the white house. peter, this is a big turnabout for the president. rep