Like math and science. The measure some cities are taking to lure teachers into their schools. Nightly news begins now. Nightly news begins now. From nbc news World Headquarters in new york, this is nbc nightly news. Reporting tonight, erica hill. Three childhood friends are being hailed as heroes tonight as authorities try to determine just what the gunman they tackled was planning when he boarded a parisbound train friday night, carrying an ak47 and a handgun. Officials say three Young Americans and a british man prevented a possible massacre. Belgiums Prime Minister is calling this a terrorist attack. While french officials have avoided that label, there are new signs for possible terror connections for the gunman. Kelly cobiella has more tonight from london. From london. Reporter the strain is still moving as they capture the chaotic seconds after a gunman is subdued. An ak47. The suspect restrained with a neck tie. Moments earlier, three childhood friends made a splitsecond decision, potentially saving many on board. I said basically lets go. I told them to go. And he went. And he tackled him. And he got cut by a knife after he tackled him. And at that point i showed up and grabbed the gun from him. Reporter National Guard alec skalatos, and Spencer Stone were on vacation on a highspeed train from amsterdam to paris friday. Police say the attacker boarded in brussels and some where in northern france opened fire. But then reportedly the gun jammed. We just all ran back there and we tried to like do whatever we could to beat him up just so he didnt shoot anybody. Reporter british basenessman chris norman joined in. I would rather die being active trying to get him down than sit in the corner and be shot. Reporter the suspect was arrested in arras, france. Remarkably only two men were injured. A passenger airman stone helped to save and stone who got a visit from top brass in the hospital today. Frances interior minister said the attacker is believed to be a 26yearold moroccan flagged for ties to islamic extremists says last year but not under surveillance. The french have 5,000 people that are potential terrorists that could target planes, airports or malls. Its impossible for them to just follow everyone. Reporter the heroes were given medals for their bravery. The americans also getting a personal thank you call from president obama. And late today, airman stone left the hospital for paris. And frances president will thank him and his friends in person. Tonight, french media are reporting that the suspect traveled to syria and had been flagged as an extremist in belgium, sprain, and germany. Nbc news has not confirmed that. Already some european leaders are calling for an emergency meeting to talk about how to make trains more secure. Erica . Kelly, thank you. Dramatic pictures of a fiery military jet crash during an airshow today. Several people were killed when the plane slammed onto a highway in southern england. More than a dozen others were injured as spectators looked on in horror. That entire event was also being streamed online. And a warning, some may find the moment of impact disturbing. Nbcs kristen dolgren has our report. Reporter what seemed like a perfect day for an air show, quickly turned tragic. The whole thing captured live as the military jet plummets into a busy highway, exploding into a ball of fire and thick, black smoke, killing killing at least seven on the ground and the pilot in critical condition. As it meant to turn on the run way, it just went straight down, crashed into the traffic lights. A big fireball. And that was that. Quite shocking. Very shocking. Reporter the 1950s Hawker Hunter plane was part of the air show in shoreman, england. Such a beautiful airplane. Reporter the plane started a loop but never pulls up, careening towards the highway and homes. This photo captures the jet just moments before impact. The pilot, he tried his best. You could see him fighting fighting right to the last second. It was that close. I mean there was babies there. There was children there. Reporter on the ground, chaos. Fans at the airshow were told not to move. Stay in your places, please. Everyone stay in your places, please. Reporter as rescue crews rushed to the scene. 14 others were injured. The investigation begins into just what went wrong. Kristen dahlgren, nbc news. In afghanistan, three American Contractors are among a dozen People Killed in a suicide bombing today in kabul. More than 60 others were injured after a suicide car bomber attacked a nato convoy driving through the capital city. The taliban has denied responsibility for the attack. Tense moments as thousands of migrants clashed with police on the border of greece and macedonia. More than 160,000 refugees have arrived in greece since just the beginning of this year. Most of them fleeing wars in syria, afghanistan, or iraq. Nbcs bill neely has more on their plight. Reporter they fled war. Thousands ran from tear gas in greece, clashing with riot police, trying to cross the macedonia border. Refugees from syria, among them babies, desperate for a better life in europe. We were there as many like them arrived in greece, coming ashore in small boats in huge numbers. Theyve left the horror behind, but this is no paradise. This is the beginning of a long road. Yes. Reporter they get little help. Their first stop is a squalid camp where food is scarce. Greece cant cope. These refugees live in a former prison camp, free to go but nothing is free. We dont have to be treated like this. Reporter there is desperation to eat and to leave greece. The worlds main Refugee Agency says all this is shameful. The conditions are unacceptable. Reporter it is not aid agencies but volunteers who help the refugees ashore. Nothing is being done by europe. It is a joke. Reporter few countries welcome them. Some are building fences to keep them out. Yet these are vulnerable refugees from war. I want to study in germany. And i want to come back to syria. Reporter they come in hope, running to a new life but facing a hard exile. Bill neely, nbc news, greece. Dozens of massive wildfires are still burning out of control in parts of the west tonight. There is little relief on the horizon. In washington state, the wildfire that left three firefighters dead earlier this week has grown by more than 100 square miles. Nbcs Gadi Schwartz is on the front lines. Reporter as flames are on the move for the ninth day straight, so are fire crews in black hawk helicopters. You can see the National Guard dropping in that bucket and filling it with water. This area has already seen some fire. Some homes have been lost. But you can see there are still a lot of homes here in harms way. And those helicopters are making water drops every five minutes. You cant always see what the fire is doing. Reporter in the town of omake, washington, scores of volunteers are showing up to be trained on how they can help in an epic firefight. Im young and im available. I want to contribute whatever i can. Reporter they are carefully shown what to do in case of an emergency. The state taking no chances after three firefighters were killed this week. In washington state, over a half a million acres has burned. Overwhelming resources and evacuees. Im so angry right now. Im so tired. Were prepping that road right now. Reporter at a Community Meeting last night, some people still cant belive they dont have a place to sleep. What have these fires done to your family . Turned everything upsidedown. This is the second year. This is the second summer that we have had to play this game. Reporter across the west, around 100 fires are kicking up Dangerous Levels of smoke. It doesnt surprise me it is the worst air quality because of the number of wildfires and number of acres burning in the last week or two. Reporter and in areas where homeowners hoped the worst had already passed, the fire is back. And this right here is the site that firefighters dreaded to see flames finally coming down the ridgeline. These properties right here, once again, being threatened and clearly this is going to be a long battle for firefighters. Erica, back to you. Gadi, thank you. Gadi schwartz tonight. New word tonight the epa was aware of a blowout could happen at the Colorado Mine where 3 million gallons of wastewater was unleashed two weeks ago. Documents obtained by the Associated Press mentioned the possibility as recently as may of this year. That toxic release sent wastewater flowing through rivers in colorado, new mexico, and utah. We are tracking two major storms tonight. Tropical depression kilo is expected to strengthen off the coast of hawaii. And in the atlantic, hurricane danny. Puerto rico is bracing for dannys approach on monday. The storm is currently a category 1, but it could weaken by then. We have an exclusive look inside the hurricane. He has our report tonight. Reporter at 10 00 a. M. , a an elite group of Hurricane Hunters sets out over the atlantic for on their first flight of the season. Their aircraft, nicknamed miss piggy is built to with stand massive amounts of turbulence. Outfitted with specialized radars, weather probes with weather sensors measuring a storms critical wind speed and humidity and ocean temperature. Three hours into our journey, the outer edges of hurricane danny. We rigged the plane with cameras to capture the moment of impact. Winds near the center of the storm can reach up to 150 miles per hour. But the hunters hunch right through. The eye, or dead center of the storm, ironically is the most peaceful and provides crucial data. Up to the front of the plane you have your navigator on the right. And then on the other side you have your flight director. Sort of the quarterback of this mission. At the very front, you have the flight station of course with two pilots and a flight engineer. And this is where you can see all of the action. Hurricane danny is their first. Did they tell you to go right into the bad weather . No. No. Its completely counter to every bit of training i have ever had as far as aviation and flying into weather. Reporter the elite team spend most of the journey studying the atmosphere and ocean in front of the storm. While it is too early to tell how much damage danny will inflict, Data Collected by noaa Hurricane Hunters is vital. In predicting natures costly storms. Jacob rascon, nbc news, over the atlantic. New video tonight of Vice President joe bidens motorcade making a last minute trip to washington, d. C. For meetings today as rumors continue to swirl about a president ial bid. Nbcs Kristen Welker has the latest developments. Reporter Vice President biden left his delaware home this morning, motoring to washington with a meeting with senator elizabeth warren. Further fueling speculation about a biden president ial bid. Before vermont senator Bernie Sanders entered the race, warren had been courted by many of the same progressives who unsatisfied with Hillary Clinton are now flocking to sanders. The behind the scenes conversations contrast sharply with the splashy moves of donald trump who flew his 757 by a football stadium friday night in mobile, alabama beav before addressing a crowd of 20,000. I want to have the election tomorrow. I dont want to wait. Reporter trump continuing to feed voters hunger for blunt talk and alternative to washington. We have politicians that dont have a clue. Theyre all talk, theyre no action. Whats happening to this country is disgraceful. Reporter with every fresh spectacle, trump solidifies his frontrunner status. While on the democratic side. I did not send or receive anything classified at the time. Reporter Hillary Clinton is facing new questions almost daily about her private email server. Polls show she is still the strong frontrunner but a majority of democrats also wanted by in to run. He is an authentic leader, is who he is, been in Public Office 45 years. Reporter sources tell nbc news the Vice President is talking to donors as he mulls over a run with supporters and family. Among the challenges, biden could be seen as dividing the Democratic Party and still mourning the death of his son. But he has run twice before and has long expressed a desire to be president. The condition of wanting to be president isnt something that just goes away. Politicians who have it, live with it and they die with it. Reporter clinton who is vacationing in the hamptons will campaign in iowa and ohio this week. President obama here on marthas vineyard, playing a lot of golf as his second term winds down. He has the luxury of watching it all from the sidelines. Thank you. Chuck todd will have much more on the roller coaster that is this 2016 race tomorrow morning on meet the press. When nightly news continues on saturday, the Desperate Measures some School Districts are taking to combat a major teacher shortage. As millions of children begin a new school year, a serious problem is getting worse. There simply arent enough teachers. Across this country, tens of thousands of positions remain unfilled tonight, leaving officials to try some unorthodox measures to fill those vacancies. Nbcs raheema ellis shows us why. Reporter as the new school gets under way in Dekalb County in atlanta, students are in the classroom but many teachers are not. There are 130 vacancies for fulltime teachers here. Nearly four times greater than the number five years ago. Administrators say the demand is especially high in math, science, and special education classes. The supply for teachers who have the expertise in those areas has dwindled. So were in a frantic competition to attract and to retain teachers who have that expertise. Reporter its a growing problem nationwide mostly in large, urban School Districts. And in california, theyre desperate to fill 21,000 teacher positions. We are beginning to see places hire teachers who are not certified, who have not started any training at all for teaching. Reporter whats causing this void in the classroom, among several things. Experts point to cutbacks in the recession years that led to teacher layoffs. In california alone, 80,000 teaching jobs were eliminated 2008 and 2012. Salaries were also being frozen. Class sizes were increasing. Working conditions were getting worse. Reporter painting an undesirable picture for many aspiring, teachers. But in philadelphia developers are getting creative. At the oxford mills apartment complex, they are trying to attract and keep teachers in the neighborhood and in schools. 60 of the units are designated for educators. In return, teachers get a 25 discount off the market rate, saving up to 400 a month in rent. Sixth grade teacher katey rockette says it means she can afford to keep teaching. It made our decision a lot easier. Were not millionaires. Were teachers. Reporter good teachers committed to what they do. And a nation struggling to get more of them at the head of the class. Raheema ellis, nbc news, tucker, georgia. Up next, as baby pandas make their debut in china, a giant panda in this country has some news of her own. Back now with a reminder that the clearance signs you see on the side of the road serve a purpose. The one were about to show you needs to be updated. Take a look at this this truck in the video is the latest victim crashing into this bridge outside boston on thursday. As you can see, the roof nearly ripped to shreds there. Last year alone, 15 crashes happened at that bridge. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt or injured. The city of philadelphia hoping to boost its reputation among robots after the demise of hitchbot. Thats the robot earlier this month we showed you created by canadians to show kindness of strangers. Tonight its replacement popebottle created by a philly Radio Station is out to prove to pope francis the city is in fact, a safe place. Like hitchbot, popebot relies on the kindness of strangers to get around and gives out a prize each week to a good samaritan. These baby pandas score a perfect 10 for making their adorable debut in china yesterday. They are among the 21 born so far at the chinese giant Panda Research center. Back in this country, we have our own special news. Late word tonight a panda cub was born at the national zoo in washington, d. C. That is the panda cam. When we come back, youll meet the doctor who bull riders call their secret weapon. Finally dont, finally tonight, hes known as the medicine man. The doctor with a very specific set of skills who bull riders seek out to heal their wounds. Nbcs Janet Shamlian has the story tonight. Reporter most of us would call them crazy. Modern day gladiators who earn their paychecks at eight seconds at a time in one of the most dangerous sports. But for chase outlaw and other top riders, its hard earned. Most have a list of injuries longer than the list of their wins. Broke my collarbone, neck, ribs. I had surgery on my wrist. So me and the doc got pretty close on that one. Reporter doc is what they call him. A secret weapon is what they consider him. Freeman has never been on a bull. But he has been on the professional bull riders tour 20 years. You come to work and youre prepared to do your job. Its kind of like anybody else. Your job just is a little different. Reporter the Orthopedic Surgeon is ringside every ride, hoping he might be needed, knowing at some point he will. Its a different breed what we are. And he knows about the ins and outs of the sport to put us back together to make sure we can ride a 2,000 pound bull again. Reporter its a unique understanding what they do. Theyre not competing. Theyre not getting a paycheck. You dont compete, you dont eat. Reporter for chase, having doc at his side promises one more chance at beating that bull. You jump off and you sort of just pump your chest. And 5,000 to 10,000 people screaming for something you just did. Thats a pretty good high. Aint no high like it anywhere in the world. Reporter a modern day medicine hoping rodeos most fearless back into the saddle. That is nbc nightly news for this saturday. Im erica hill. See you tomorrow on today and right back here tomorrow evening. Have a good night. Cuby kni rrytakcon vo ritnoat basically let. Basically let him go and he went and he got tackled by a knife. Childhood friends haled as heros tonight. One of the members jumps straight into action stopping a terror attack on a train in france. Good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining us. The three men from california risked their lives to stop a man from opening fire on a train full of people. This new video just released shows this trio taken by motorcade under heavy protection, to the u. S. Ambassadors residence in paris. They are scheduled to meet with the french president monday morning. Anthony sadler, Spencer Stone and Alex Skarlatos are from the bay area. Sadler also lived in the pittsburgh area for a while. Chuck, i understand these three are now speaking publicly about what happened. Thats right. What we are learning from them is the ability to recognize what was happening and then react immediately and forcefully. It is something that you hope from people, especially young men in a military in a