league player in tears. "nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening. one question answered to raise so many more in the disappointearance of flight 370. the aircraft piece found on an indian ocean island beach could have come from a boeing 777 removing virtually any doubt after a year and a half, the first tangible piece of aviation's biggest puzzle has been found. our team is on the island tonight and here is exactly what experts saw that told them what they needed to know but what about the rest of the plane, the black boxes? and the passengers and crew. let's begin our coverage from reunion island with bill neely bill? >> reporter: good evening, lester, from an island 4,000 miles from where mh 370 is thought to have crashed but this coast has given investigators perhaps the biggest clue yet, more than 500 days into this mystery. the eye's of the aviation world are focused on this debris that investigators are convinced is the aircraft wing, which aircraft isn't clear yet. they now believe a part number 657 bb proves its prove a boeing 777, on one of those is missing, malaysia 370. they are examining the damage and encrusted shells on the piece. >> it's the first real evidence that there is a possibility that a part of the aircraft may have been found. >> reporter: investigators are also looking at what this man found, the remains of a suitcase nearby on the beach at the same time, origin unknown. [crying] >> reporter: for the families of the 239 on board endured 16 months of agony, the debris find brings more pain. sarah's partner was the only american on board. >> my life has been stuck, and that's i mean, i can't do that forever. >> reporter: families across the world have waited for any clue for so long. >> difficult not knowing anything. >> reporter: since the debris was found on this beach they have been searching day and night for more on fishing boats, a coast guard ship and the air, at first sight a helicopter will resume. experts believe more aircraft debris will be found. this piece will be tested in france soon, significant evidence that might unlock one of the great aviation mysteries. bill neely, reunion island. that new photo of a part number seems to eliminate any doubt about the wreckage on reunion island. sources say 657 bb corresponds to a boeing aircraft part listed in the manuel as a trailing edge wingeren wing flap. boeing engineers concluded the flap belongs to a 777. >> this wing flab is in relatively good condition. what can investigators gleam from that? >> they will look at the size and shape to see if it potentially could have come apart in flight or hit the water at a low impact speed. speed. >> 370, come back. >> the last words from mh 370 on march 8th before disappearing on the red eye with 239 people on board. the plane made a mysterious u-turn and satellite suggested a fly into the remote southern indian ocean. the first piece of debris located from the search zone off australia but search coordinators believe the plane is in that search zone. >> we remain confident we are going to find the aircraft and therefore, be able to locate and retrieve the flight data recorders. >> reporter: oceanographers say the currents in the indian ocean move in a counterclockwise pattern so not surprising debris washed ashore thousands of miles from the search zone but why isn't there more? >> you have to realize by now after 17 months is probably the size of texas an enormous span and there isn't much debris anymore because a lot of it has sunken down. >> reporter: french investigators will look at the wing flap closely to see if there is anything suggesting high-speed or low-speed crash or the angle, any sign of fire or scorch marks and do the does it come from a particular point of the ocean that can point to the resting place of mh 370. the therapy is somebody intentionally crashed the this plane, lester? >> thank you. to the story that shocked many here at home a former campus police officer going before a judge today in cincinnati to answer for a murder charge after his own body camera showed him fatally shooting an unarmed driver and now two other officers have been placed on leave in connection with this case. rehema ellis was in the courtroom. >> reporter: wearing a very different uniform, former university of cincinnati police officer entered court with his hands shackled. >> do you understand you've been charged with one count of murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter? >> yes, ma'am. >> reporter: pleading guilty in the shooting, an unarmed black motorists pulled over for a missing license plate. bail set at $1 billion. the courtroom erupted. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, this is a courtroom. >> reporter: the body camera captured the deadly encounter after he doesn't produce his license, he asks dubose to take off the seat belt and the officer appears to reach for the door. >> go ahead and take your seat belt off. stop! stop! >> reporter: seconds later, he shoots dubose in the head and appears to fall a. second video released of the body camera of another officer shows t the the him on the ground. >> he thought he would die. he thought he would be sucked under that car and run over. >> reporter: the prosecutor's office says its investigating other officers. today two officers, one of whom supports the claim he was dragged were placed on administrative leave. i sat down with dubose's family today. >> cold-blooded shot him for no reason at all. i saw it. i saw it with my eyes. >> reporter: they remember sam as a peaceful man. >> he loved all his kids, and they loved him. they loved him. [crying] >> reporter: in that packed courtroom for the arraignment, ray tinsing's father sat in the back. the investigation continues into the two other officers that responded to the scene. lester? >> rehema ellis thank you. there are fresh evacuations this evening in northern california as dozens of new wildfires flair up overnight, one of them north of napa. thousands of firefighters on the front lines struggling to spot the spread. joe fryer reports. >> reporter: these are the alarming sights and sounds of the this california summer the orange glow of burning top and the crackle of flames. >> this flame is really high and just burning really fast. >> reporter: in just the past day, more than three dozen wildfires broke out across the state, triple digit temperatures and gusty winds are pushing flames in unpredictable directions burning structures. >> looks like a bomb went off out there. devastating. >> reporter: the so-called rocky fire 100 miles north san francisco is moving quickly already deftaking enough ground to cover six football fields. >> some crews were in situations they had to get out quick. >> reporter: crews fight fire with fire burning dry fuel in the path of the flame, fear across the west evacuations are becoming a way of life. >> you don't know what it's like to be displaced until you are. youa/a don't have a through. >> reporter: right now in california 7,000 firefighters are tirelessly battling 14 large wildfires. the back breaking work takes crews and flammable material by hand and they know every inch of land and sparking the next los angeles. to an nbc report anything we've seen, how vulnerable we are to cyber espionage. it shows according to u.s. intelligence, china alone is responsible for hacks to almost 700 public ex pry and private targets in the u.s. we get more from pete williams. >> reporter: as the u.s. scrambles to learn the extent of a massive theft of federal government personnel records said to have been stolen by china, nbc news has a report that shows the reach of chinese cyber spying nationwide. this national security agency map shows a red dot for every successful computer intrusion by china over the past five years nearly 700 with computer attacks in every state but north dakota. the northeast corridor from washington to new york is a massive blob of red and intrusionings around california's silicon valley the regions of the pacific northwest and southern california's industrial base. among the trade secrets targeted the specifications for hybrid cars, formulas for profitable drugs and the workings of civilian and military air traffic control systems, the chinese target power and tell the lacombe mun -- telecommunications systems. >> there is no corporate structure, mom and pop organization immune from the threat. >> reporter: the fbi is investigating hundreds of cases of suspected chinese espionage. more than a year ago with estimates that chinese economic espionage cost the american economy $300 billion a year. if there is any good news, while the chinese are cyber spying more intensely the u.s. knows when they do it. pete williams, nbc news, washington. a knife attack during a gay pride attack, six people stabbed and seriously wounded. police say the attacker is an anti gay extremists who carried out a similar attack ten years ago and had just been released from prison. planned parent hood is under fire tonight, another undercover video surfaced from activists who criticized the organization's handling of aborted fetuses that comes as congress readies a vote on stripping planned parent hood of $500 million in government funding, which the group says it uses to provide a wide range of services to nearly 3 million people. halleie jackson has the report. >> reporter: by releasing a fourth undercover video, an anti abortion group is inflaming a controversy over how planned parent hood donates fatal tissue used for medical research. an official from a colorado clinic describes the public perception of the process. >> it makes more sense for the research -- >> reporter: the clinic chose not to enter into a deal with the activists posing as researchers as planned parent hood insists it's doing nothing wrong. >> we follow the law that says you cannot sell fatal tissue and we don't. women donate it. there is no selling and there is no profit. >> reporter: this week, it's website was hacked as planned parent hood braces for a higher steaks attack in congress prompted by the release of the videos, the campaign. >> is this about a debate over fatal tissue donation or abortion and about doing something to make waves to reignite the debate? >> i don't think it's either or and i don't think it has to be either one of those two. this is about documenting and illustrating really clearly for the american people what planned parent hood does to the body parts of the babies they abort. >> reporter: at least 18 congressional republicans are promising to oppose federal funding drawing fire from democrats. >> it's another effort by the republicans to, you know, try to limit the health care options for women. >> reporter: but even supporter hillary clinton called the vid yoeds owes disturbing. eight clips will be released in the fall when analysts say a political showdown could lead to a government shut down. hallie jackson nbc news, los angeles. still ahead tonight a major surge of swimmers getting swept away off american beaches. hundreds every day. we're there for the rescues the surprising reason behind this. the moment on the field that has so many people talking tonight fans brought to their feet do you like the passaaadd? it's a good looking car. this is the model rear end event. the model year end sales event. it's year end! it's a rear end event. year end, rear end check it out. talk about turbocharging my engine. you're gorgeous. what kind of car do you like? 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>> everybody in the ballpark thinks he's traded but him. because i hadn't said anything to him. how would you react? >> reporter: his manager said he didn't even know. >> somebody came to me and said wilmer is crying. why? well, he got traded. to who? for what? i didn't know. >> reporter: and this being a story about the mets the required twist is the trade fell through. >> i was sad, you know, being a mets forever. and all my teammates here. that's why i got emotional. >> reporter: flores, who signed with the mets when he was just 16 wanted to be a met for life. now that he still has his job, he'll have a little time to rethink that. harry smith, nbc news, new york. >> that will do it for us on this thursday night. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good night. welcome, everyone. we have a great show for you today. let's jump right in. first up we sit down with fran eggler from the kimmel center. see what you can expect when catching a show or two. >> broadway presents the best of broadway. it's a co-presentation of the kimmel center for the performing arts and the shubert organization which is the kimmel's partner. the largest broadway theater owner in new york city. they want to come to the academy and merriam and experience broadway caliber performances. that's what we seek to deliver those to them. broadway is the most popular of the performing arts. a lot of times people think, broadway is simple song and dance. broadway is everything from the new music to the classic the sound of music to we're bringing back "onc