but thanks to some dedicated first responders, we had a happy ending here. firefighters helped yoga, that's yoga, to safety. this actually happens fairly regularly out there at the cliffs. we hear about it just about every weekend. dogs and sometimes their owners end up stranded on the cliffs above the waters. to the first responders out there, i know you know how to do this, but, boy, you get a lot of practice and you're great at it. good reminder to stay on the paths and keep your dogs on a leash, please. the first responders are great, but they've had enough practice. thank you for watching. "nightly news" is next. we're back at 6:00. tonight from here in maui now the deadliest wildfire in modern american history. frightening new video of residents escaping the flames. new images of the destruction left behind. fema touring the areas hardest

hit, dogs searching for bodies and the anger from some residents now boiling over >> where were you guys, you know where were you guys to try and get us out, evacuate us? >> plus the journey to lahaina our correspondent in the heart of the burn zone with workers combing through the horrific devastation and the homeowners seeing what was lost the death toll rising from this terrifying house explosion outside of pittsburgh. at least five are dead multiple homes are destroyed what caused it >> it shook us off our feet a couple doors up even. the da in georgia gearing up for a new indictment for former president trump, set to make her case on tuesday. we talk with one witness just subpoenaed the shocking scene at an l.a. area mall a gang of dozens raiding a nordstrom taking tens of thousands of dollars of goods. are thieves becoming more brazen

plus, from here in hawaii the decades old tradition that even the wildfires couldn't stop >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" reporting tonight from maui. tom llamas >> good evening. from here in maui, where we have just learned this is now the deadliest wildfire in modern u.s. history just behind us, this is the remnants of a house burned in another blaze as the entire island is battling ideal conditions right now for wildfires. what we know about this tragedy is already unbearable. nearly 100 dead. more than 2,000 homes and buildings destroyed. but we are still so far from understanding the full toll and we'll explain why tonight. this is the overhead view of the sweeping devastation in lahaina. we now know that only 3%, 3% of those homes have been checked for bodies just next to where we're broadcasting tonight we have two cars incinerated by the wildfires. that right there was a tesla

you can see what is left of the front row seats in the distance that was a lush, green hill scorched to the core it shows the power of these wildfires. the governor has been warning that the death toll will go up there are still so many residents who escaped the flames but are now searching for their loved ones tonight angry at officials and a warning system they say failed them >> reporter: tonight, this is what it looked and felt like escaping the lahaina wildfire. >> oh, no, guys. we have to leave >> reporter: this new video showing the sheer panic as a family stuck in a line of cars had minutes to escape before the flames engulfed the road out >> this is a disaster. >> reporter: that drive through hell is how this man and his family made it out alive >> i knew it was bad. >> reporter: it was moving fast? >> it was moving really fast it got to our homes within seconds.

>> reporter: with the fast-moving fire closing in on his home, he heroically grabbed both his kids and his friends' children their parents were at work and scrambled everyone out did you hear any alarms or get any warning? >> no alarms no warning nothing. no sign. nothing that we had to evacuate. not even police rolling by telling us to evacuate or anything >> reporter: the desperation of those chilling moments now turning to anger >> where were you guys to try and get us out, evacuate us? you know we're mad. we're mad. no, we didn't just lose our homes. we lost our town we lost history, you know? our kids are traumatized you guys messed up real bad. >> reporter: hawaii emergency officials have said sirens on the island weren't activated during the fire though other alerts by phone and broadcast were >> having seen that storm, we

have doubts that much could have been done with a fiery -- fast moving fire like that. >> reporter: the scale of the devastating loss now unprecedented in modern times. the deadliest wildfire in the u.s. in more than 100 years claiming at least 93 lives >> just so you know, 3% is what has been searched with the dogs. 3% when we pick up the remains and they fall apart, and so when you have 200 people running through the scene yesterday, i don't know how much more you want me to describe it that's what you're stepping on >> reporter: as fema and the governor survey the damage, search teams with cadaver dogs that just arrived to maui yesterday now scouring the ruins of historic lahaina again today. are you saying we're just at the beginning of this disaster >> so for the first few days, we had done searches in the streets and the cars that were in the

area but we couldn't enter any structures my police officers are trained to go chase bad guys, respond to robberies, take reports. they're not trained to go enter smoldering structures to go look for human remains. >> reporter: questions are also mounting tonight over the cause of the blaze, which is still under investigation, with fbi evidence recovery teams now on scene and a new class action lawsuit alleges the destruction could have been avoided if the utility company had de-energized its power lines ahead of the high wind weather. in a statement, hawaiian electric saying the utility doesn't comment on pending litigation, adding in part that high wind protocols were followed and that at this early stage no cause for the fire has been determined. >> this is joel and adela. >> reporter: for hundreds of families the focus remains their missing loved ones and now a demand for answers. >> we are not leaving. none of us are leaving we're going to rebuild our town and make it better >> reporter: they are speaking for so many here in maui the hardest hit areas of lahaina

have been virtually inaccessible to homeowners with only a few allowed back in. we haven't yet gotten a full view of the destruction. today our miguel almaguer made it in to lahaina just outside the restricted area. >> reporter: tonight these are the smoldering ruins of lahaina a desolate and dangerous landscape now only home to heart break. >> their cars have burned up their friends are dead animals are dead everybody is dead. there's dead people in the water. >> reporter: the grim reality on the ground, the search for the missing is turning into a recovery effort. this is the epicenter where authorities continue their painstaking, door-to-door search for bodies a death toll that rises daily. >> thank god that we still have each other and we're all alive and safe and accounted for it's like we're the only things we have now because everything we had in the past is gone >> reporter: charlie kamara watched the flames devour his hometown of 55 years

>> it looks like a war zone. it's bad it's bad cell phones are ringing in bodies they're finding. >> reporter: the pain here is palpable and so is the anger five days after the fire, access into the heart of lahaina is restricted >> it is as if they cut us off from the rest of the world. >> reporter: after a treacherous cliff side drive on what is technically a two-lane road, residents and our team were granted access into the remote ocean side town. but these are not the views anyone wants to see. the scope of the devastation is truly difficult to put into words. from every direction and every angle, all you see is home after home that's been destroyed rebuilding in this area will take decades first allowed in two days ago, locals are now being pushed further away barricades and road blocks deny residents of the one thing they want most.

>> i just want to see what's left of our homes even if it is still standing. >> reporter: calling the burn zone a toxic mine field. >> it is not safe. it is a hazardous area >> reporter: authorities insist they are working as fast as they can, but residents say official aid here has been slow to arrive. volunteers taking their own boats in to help >> we need medicine. we need pillows, blankets, food. >> reporter: good samaritans are overwhelmed with the magnitude of the disaster. >> i haven't gotten a break and i am just -- i have to help i have no other option >> reporter: tonight the loss in lahaina and maui's misery. miguel almaguer joins us live from lahaina when can most residents expect to be let back in? >> reporter: tom, that is a good question people who live outside lahaina are being allowed back into the

general area, but the burn zone behind me here, fema is in charge of that and it will likely take weeks. we don't have a definitive date just yet back to you. >> miguel almaguer for us tonight. we appreciate all your reporting. we'll turn to other news and new details about the deadly house explosion in pennsylvania that killed at least five people new video shows how destructive it was as officials try to figure out how it happened in the first place. emilie ikeda is there. >> reporter: tonight a western pennsylvania neighborhood in pieces after a deadly house explosion rattled the area the terrifying incident captured on a door bell camera. you can see debris shooting across the whole block and the fire ball that demolished several homes on saturday morning. >> we have a full building completely gone, copious amounts of debris. >> reporter: greg lives several doors down as a police officer, you hear an explosion and you run toward it. >> yes >> reporter: he helped carry his neighbor from the raging fire,

who now he says is in critical condition. >> we're fighting through the debris, the rubble, the fire, trying to get our neighbor out of there not a second thought was given. >> reporter: authorities concluded the recovery mission at the decimated lots today five people were killed, including one child. nearly 60 firefighters were treated by ems as the cause of the explosion remains a mystery, gas has been shut off in the neighborhood as a precaution >> at this point we can share our system was operating as designed it is still too soon to estimate when service will be restored. >> reporter: fire officials say the explosion leveled three homes and damaged at least another dozen in the pittsburgh suburb such a force blowing out windows, four homes away families like this now left to pick up the pieces and face the utter devastation that claimed the lives of five of their friends. >> i was with three of them the night before and then not even

12 hours later we find ourselves in this situation. >> reporter: emilie joins us live tonight from plum, pennsylvania what is next for residents there? >> reporter: well, tom, residents here still evaluating the extent of the damage not just on this unrecognizable block but debris was literally thrown across the neighborhood authorities say it could take months if not years to determine the cause of the deadly explosion. tom? >> okay. emilie ikeda for us tonight. now to a possible fourth indictment for former president trump. the investigation into the 2020 election interference in georgia appears to be heading to the final stage and more than a dozen people could be charged as soon as tuesday. ali rafa has more. >> reporter: is there any chance you take a plea deal in georgiar >> reporter: former president trump campaigning in iowa this weekend. unfazed by the prospect for

a fourth criminal indictment this week all eyes are on fulton county, georgia where the district attorney fani willis will likely go before a grand jury to make her case the former president and his allies broke the law in attempting to overturn election results. >> i just want to find 11,780 votes. >> reporter: trump lashing out at willis over the weekend, calling her racist and the probe a fundraising con job. two people central to the probe georgia's former republican lieutenant governor geoff duncan and journalist george chidi confirm they have been called tuesday to appear before grand jury. >> saturday afternoon i received a phone call from the da's office, one of their investigators to tell me that i should come in tuesday. >> reporter: chidi providing nbc news this image of what he says was a secret meeting at the state capitol on december 14th, 2020 >> i walked in with cameras blazing and was almost immediately escorted out of the room i was told it was an education meeting.

which is, very apparently now, not what was happening there >> reporter: trump isn't the only one in jeopardy legal experts say prosecutors may use a georgia organized crime law to potentially charge more than a dozen of his allies. >> they don't want to take the risk of going to jail for five years, and they may decide to flip and cooperate with the government against donald trump. >> a possible arraignment in georgia could be very different from what we've seen in the former president's other cases, correct? >> reporter: that's right. cameras are barred from federal courtrooms, but state rules are different. georgia largely allows them, meaning that the former president's potential arraignment could be televised, tom. >> reporter: okay. allie raffa for us, thank you for that. still ahead tonight, the shocking video of a massive violent mob robbery at a mall stealing tens of thousands of dollars in goods

we're back with shocking new videos of dozens of thieves swarming into a nordstrom in los angeles. those thieves running off with tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise and just the latest mass attack on a store sam brock has more >> reporter: an l.a. area nordstrom's blitzed saturday by smash-and-grab burglars, the latest to shock a

city. >> people were very scared, running as if there was an active shooter. >> reporter: police say the mob used bear spray to disarm security, with 30 to 50 people ransacking the handbag section of the store, stealing around $100,000 of high end inventory lapd promises to find those involved is there any doubt in your mind this is organized crime and has it become a lot more sophisticated? >> there is no doubt this is organized. some involves gang members some involves people you would identify as professional retail thieves. >> reporter: though the l.a. area alone has been battered by at least four such robberies in the last couple weeks it has been a national problem for years. from sledge hammers in new york city to san francisco's union square mayhem in 2021 to the sudden clothing grab in atlanta, this woman wrote a book on the crime trend and points to changes in local laws. is there something all of these cities have in common? >> it is the threshold for these

cities to prosecute for grand larceny. the threshold has increased for all of these cities. thenen we have baiail reform. >> reporter:r: she says sosome thieves no longer think twice about stealing with stores in 2022 losing tens of billions to theft. as for lapd's investigation, the criminals should expect harsh consequences >> to those individuals involved in this where bear spray was discharged against the security staff you're going to find an elevated prosecution clearly they were doing it in concert. >> reporter: sam brock, nbc news >> we thank sam brock for that we are also following a dramatic plane crash out of michigan just in where the pilots of this plane ejected just moments before it crashed you see it here. it happened at the thunder over michigan air show this afternoon. here is the good news. both pilots were rescued and they are expected to be okay the cause of the crash remains unclear. we're back in a moment with a warning about buying cheap prescription drugs in mexico and why they could be deadly

stay with h us

we're back with a new alert from the state department. many americans go to mexico to buy cheaper prescription drugs officials are warning pills sold there can be counterfeit or laced with deadly drugs like fentanyl aaron gilchrist has this one >> it is unbearable. every day is unbearable because he's gone. >> reporter: celia and terry harms hold tight to memories of their son jonathan he was only 29 when he died back in 2017. the coroner's report says from a fentanyl overdose. >> this was not johnny scoring on the corner. this was a migraine sufferer

trying to get pain relief and went to a pharmacy >> reporter: johnny harms suffered migraines his entire life and during an episode on his vacation in cancun he went in search of medication at a mexican pharmacy he took a pill labeled migraine tablets and hopped a flight back home to california with his girlfriend within hours, johnny harms was dead >> as soon as that poison was sold to him, it was just a matter of time before he would die. >> reporter: about 200,000 americans travel to mexico each year to buy prescription drugs often because they're cheaper. the state department is warning them, buy with caution, writing, counterfeit medication is common and may prove to be ineffective, the wrong strength, or contain dangerous ingredients which are exactly what researchers at ucla found when they tried to buy prescription drugs in northern mexico >> they look like an oxycodone but they contain fentanyl or heroin or they look like an adderall

but contain methamphetamine. >> reporter: for a report in the "l.a. times" reporters bought and tested 55 pills from 29 pharmacies all across mexico they say a little more than half were counterfeit and many contained fentanyl >> i am very concerned it seems to be something happening all over the country >> reporter: most of those tests were on purchases of individual pills, which could be used as party drugs. but maryland congressman david trone who asked for the state department warning >> i am extremely concerned. >> reporter: -- thinks all prescription drugs there are a danger what is your warning to regular folks going on vacation in mexico thinking if they need to grab a tylenol they can. >> they run a huge risk. they just got to stop buying any drugs in the mexican pharmacies. >> reporter: celia and terry harms say more needs to be done to get the word out. so no one else has to go through the pain they have endured >> he was a wonderful son. >> from our perspective he was murdered if we can save other individuals by getting the word out, by educating people, that will give

more meaning to jonathan's life. >> reporter: aaron gilchrist, nbc news when we come back here in maui the hawaiian tradition that even the wildfires couldn't stop

finally from here in maui an island steeped in so much history, once again turning to its traditions ♪ >> reporter: it is a tradition going back centuries ♪ >> reporter: hula, a symbol of the hawaiian islands this weekend's festival on maui now a memorial to loved ones

lost in the fires. >> we lament the loss of all of lahaina through this >> reporter: these dances with a history representing the sea and sky are now helping this community heal across the island today was about prayers and faith. ♪ >> reporter: at king's cathedral maui parishioners united in song the church sheltering residents who lost their homes in the flames >> we're feeding people, clothing people. it's been wonderful to see the love expressed, the aloha we call it. >> reporter: as more aid arrives on the island, these volunteers together chanting and finding strength in their own language ♪ >> reporter: as the sun rose on st. anthony's church this community is embracing one another as the long road to recovery begins >> we will take care of each other no matter what >> it is coming together and

helping one another that will provide healing and comfort. >> maui strong that is "nbc nightly news" for this sunday. i'm tom llamas in maui we thank you so much for watching ♪

right now at 6:00 morning victims as crews search through the burnt rubble we ar