An Orthodox Jewish mixed martial arts fighter and member of the American Top Team was shot dead during a home invasion Monday night in Boca Raton, Florida, police said.

Aaron Rajman, 25, was killed during an argument with several men who entered the home in the Sandalfoot Cove neighborhood and fired at least one shot at him, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. The suspects then fled the scene.

“It’s a tragedy and extremely painful for [the family]. Painful for everyone who knew him,” said Rabbi Zalman Bukiet, co-director of Chabad of West Boca Raton.

Rajman was born in the Bronx, New York, and lived in Boca Raton with his mother and siblings. He made his professional MMA debut in April 2014 and had a 2-2 record, according to the SunSentinel. He was 8-1 as an amateur prior to that.

Rajman is the only Orthodox Jewish fighter in the country, and was believed to be one of the few Orthodox Jews in all of the sport. Known for entering the ring in a Yarmulka and Tzitzis, those who knew him said his faith played an important role in his life.

Bukiet, Rajman's Rabbi at Chabad of Boca Raton, said the fighter was a servant to his community.

“He was a very good person,” said Bukiet. “Extremely good-hearted person and it’s extremely sad for everybody, extremely sad. As I said, we’ll give the family privacy. They’re really in shock and in pain.”

Detectives are investigation the shooting.

Police are urging the public to contact the Palm Beach County Crime Stoppers with any information. The number for Crime Stoppers in Palm Beach is 1-800-458-TIPS.

A man who tried to kidnap a 6-year-old boy in San Diego on the Fourth of July was caught in the act when his truck wouldn’t start -- and he asked the victim’s family for help with a jump.

The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) said the bizarre incident happened at around 11:45 p.m. as the victim’s family was leaving a party along Ontario Avenue in San Diego’s Fox Canyon community. The boy had walked out to his family’s car ahead of his parents and was waiting at the door.

Police said a 52-year-old suspect had pulled up to the area in his truck. He saw the boy, got out of his truck and picked up the boy from behind. He put him in the front seat of his truck and allegedly told him to lie down and be quiet.

When the would-be kidnapper tried to drive away, his truck wouldn’t start.

Police said the man asked the boy’s family for help jump-starting his truck and, not realizing the child was inside, they began to help him. 

Soon, the boy’s parents came outside and began to look for him.

As the family searched for the boy, police said the suspect continued to try to jump-start his truck.

One of the boy’s family members walked up to the suspect’s truck and asked him to help the family search for the child. At that point, police said the family member saw the boy in the front seat of the suspect’s truck.

The family pulled the boy out of the truck and held the suspect at the scene until police officers arrived. The SDPD said the suspect was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping; his name was not released.

No injuries were reported.

A CNN reporter is pushing back against critics, including Donald Trump Jr., who are suggesting that he blackmailed the Reddit user who created a video of President Donald Trump pummeling a man with the CNN logo superimposed on his face.

Reporter Andrew Kaczynski wrote Wednesday that Reddit user “HanA**holeSolo” created the video of Trump, which was retweeted by the president on Sunday.

HanA**holeSolo later took down the post and wrote an apology for posting the video and other anti-Semitic and racist posts, CNN reported. NBC News has not been able to verify the identity of HanA**holeSolo.

In his report, Kaczynski wrote CNN had confirmed the Reddit user’s identity, but would not publish his name, “because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed his remorse by saying he has taken down all his offending posts, and because he said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again.”

Kaczynski added, “CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change.”

Conservatives on social media, including Trump Jr., seized on the caveat, painting it as blackmail by CNN.

“The Modern Left is Dangerous. They tracked down, bullied and threatened a Private Citizen into submission because of a Gif. #cnnblackmail,” one Twitter user wroter.

“CNN showed their patriotism on July 4th by blackmailing the person who made an anti-CNN video. #CNNBlackmail,” another wrote.

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The network defended its reporting in a statement Wednesay, writing: "CNN decided not to publish the name of the Reddit user out of concern for his safety. Any assertion that the network blackmailed or coerced him is false. The user, who is an adult male, not a 15-year-old boy, apologized and deleted his account before ever speaking with our reporter.”

Trump Jr. posted a number of critical tweets about the language in Kaczynski’s report, including one that suggested — without evidence — that the Reddit user who made the video is 15 years old.

“So I guess they weren't effective threatening the admin so they go after & bully a 15 y/o? Seems in line w their "standards" #CNNBlackmail,” Trump Jr. wrote on Twitter.

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On Twitter, Kaczynski defended his report, writing the Reddit user is middle aged and saying the caveat of releasing his name was only meant to convey that CNN had not made an agreement with him about releasing his identity.

“This line is being misinterpreted. It was intended only to mean we made no agreement w/the man about his identity,” he wrote in one tweet.

In response to Trump Jr., Kacynski wrote: “Again. HanA**holeSolo is not 15 or anywhere close to it. This is POTUS' son spreading misinformation.”

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Three San Diego startups were named winners of a tech innovation contest by global media company Red Herring.

The Red Herring Award, established by the tech media company in 1996, is meant to highlight the most promising tech companies of the year. Red Herring looks at growth rate, market maturity, market disruption, revenue, and the company’s global impact. Past winners have included Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and thousands of now-public companies.

San Diego startups that made the list this year are tech startups eSub Construction Software, bracelet maker Maria Shireen, and biotech upstart StemoniX.

The San Diego Business Journal has featured eSub and StemoniX in past issues. Read more on StemoniX’s founding here, or on the startup’s recent $2.5 million seed round here. Read background on eSub’s technology here, or the company’s recent $5 million Series A here.

And for more on Maria Shireen, pick up the next edition of the Business Journal on July 10.

Check out the full list of Red Herring winners for 2017.

One person was shot in a deputy-involved shooting in Vista Wednesday, confirmed the San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO).

San Diego Fire-Rescue crews are responding to reports of the shooting at the 300 block of North Melrose Drive. It happened around 10:30 a.m., near a church in a residential area.

An SDSO homicide team is en route to the scene. According to SDSO, deputies do not appear to have been injured in the shooting.

No other information was immediately available.

Please refresh this page for updates on this story. Details may change as more information becomes available.

In May, New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski made headlines for donating $70,000 to support women’s athletics at six school districts across New England, including Boston’s.

At a ceremony commemorating the gift, Gronkowski doled out autographs and selfies to a crowd of female athletes gathered around him. “Give it up for our ladies right here,” he said, turning toward the cheering students.

Donating to public schools can be a great opportunity for celebrities to give back — while attracting positive publicity — but the process often requires more than simply cashing a check.

For Boston Public Schools, the novelty oversized check they received from the Gronk Nation Youth Foundation was merely ceremonial, since what was donated did not actually come in the form of cash.

“The portion of the donation designated for the Boston Public Schools is a product donation that will go toward the purchase of sports gear for female BPS athletes,” BPS Communications Director Richard Weir said in a statement.

While it’s not unusual for celebrities to center their charitable organizations around the causes that matter to them, it’s becoming more common for them to try and cater donations toward the needs of a particular school or district.

It can come publicly, as with Chance the Rapper's $1 million donation to Chicago Public Schools (matched by the Chicago Bulls), or more discreetly, like Nicki Minaj quietly sending funds to educate children in a small Indian village.

In some cases, schools must comply with the benefactor’s wishes in order to receive a donation, and even in situations where the school has a greater say in how the money is used, there are usually guidelines it must follow in order to prove the funds are being well spent.

“Most grants do come with terms and conditions and a written grant agreement,” said Aaron Dorfman, president and CEO of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. Donors “want to make sure that they have a legal, binding agreement in place so that if something goes wrong or it goes off the rails they can attempt to get the money back, or at least argue that they did everything they could to try and make sure that the money was used appropriately.”

That kind of agreement was important when the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave a $40 million grant to Pittsburgh Public Schools in 2009.

Before the district was chosen, officials had to prepare an extensive proposal outlining how they would use the funds to improve teacher effectiveness. And once the grant was secured, the foundation maintained a great deal of oversight.

“Twice a year the district and the union would come together with the foundation,” said Tara Tucci, the district’s director of performance and management. “We would talk about any changes of course that might need to happen and communicate together about how the implementation was going.”

Disagreements between the teachers union and district officials in 2014 delayed the creation of improved criteria for evaluating teachers, which was one of the requirements for receiving the grant.

In response, the Gates Foundation issued a statement urging those involved to come to a resolution, leaving payments in jeopardy. Eventually the union and district obliged.

Among other things, the money has been used to create a bonus program that rewards outstanding teachers and established paid “career ladder” positions that allow instructors to take on leadership roles similar to those of an administrator while remaining in the classroom.

“It’s enabled us to create a culture where we’re providing feedback and there’s a continuous kind of growth and improvement,” Tucci said.

Another major donation to schools that hit some bumps in the road is the $100 million Mark Zuckerberg gave to Newark Public Schools in 2010.

Announced on “Oprah” and meant to transform the district, the donation came with no strings attached. But much of the money was squandered on unions and consultants, according to a 2015 book, “The Prize,” which chronicled the donation's implementation and found it left a mixed legacy.

The district’s superintendent, Chris Cerf, wrote an op-ed reviewing the book that said it was balanced, “shining a light on the maddening intractability of much that needs fixing in urban education” but also that it “caused some philanthropists to question additional investments in public education.”

Dorfman said mishaps like these are not unusual when dealing with public figures: “Celebrity philanthropy is less strategic, less thoughtful, more likely to be deployed improperly.”

One common mistake he’s seen among celebrity foundations — like the Gronk Nation Youth Foundation, which did not return requests for comment — is “hiring family or friends to run their organizations.” In Dorfman’s eyes, hiring people with expertise in the field is crucial to success.

For those looking to circumvent the common roadblocks associated with philanthropy, crowdfunding websites like DonorsChoose.org have become a popular tool. DonorsChoose has raised a total of $548,504,503 and funded 927,733 projects since it was started in 2004, according to the website.

On DonorsChoose, educators can post grant requests for specific projects. When one is fulfilled, DonorsChoose uses the money to purchase the requested materials and send them to the schools.

“There’s no exchange of cash and the teachers don’t have the burden of going out and having to buy everything,” said Chris Pearsall, vice president for brand and communication at DonorsChoose.

(Disclosure: DonorsChoose.org is a partner in NBC- and Telemundo-owned stations’ Supporting Our Schools campaign.)

The site allowed Laura Simon, the STEM coordinator for Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District in Southern California, to take school supply matters into her own hands — and she likes that.

“I’m marketing myself and saying what we need and why we need it,” said Simon, who received a grant from actress Gwyneth Paltrow last year that enabled her to buy iPads.

She never met Paltrow, whose donation came as part of #BestSchoolDay, an annual day of giving in which celebrities and executives flash-fund pending projects in the state or district of their choice.

The idea came after Stephen Colbert, who is on the DonorsChoose Board of Directors, auctioned off his set from “The Colbert Report” and used some of the funds to pay for every project in his home state, South Carolina. Other participants have included Serena Williams, Ashton Kutcher, Elon Musk and Anna Kendrick.

“You can choose based on what’s important to you, what you believe in,” Kendrick told Colbert in a 2016 interview on “The Late Show.”

Dorfman said that crowdfunding sites like DonorsChoose can be helpful to those interested in supporting a cause because they have “the advantage of being very easy and open and accessible, [allowing] lots of small-dollar donors to get behind things that they care about."

A Lakeside brush fire, burning near several surrounding mobile home parks, is spreading quickly, Heartland Fire officials said. 

The blaze broke out around 1:30 p.m. on the 13000 block of Highway 8 Business, Heartland Fire officials said. 

The flames are burning rapidly through light fuel, firefighters said. 

No one is injured. There is no word on evacuations. 

There is no word on a possible cause. 

No other information was available.

Please refresh this page for updates on this story. Details may change as more information becomes available.

Fire officials are battling a 15-acre brush fire near the San Diego and Orange County border, Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) officials said. 

The fire broke out Wednesday afternoon at the end of Avenida Pico in San Clemente, near the County border.

The flames are burning away from nearby homes, OCFA officials said. 

Orange County fire officials and Camp Pendleton fire officials are on scene.  

Air support is en route, OCFA officials said. 

No other information was available.

Please refresh this page for updates on this story. Details may change as more information becomes available.

Forty-four states and the District of Columbia have either fully or partially declined to provide data requested by President Donald Trump’s commission on vote fraud, according to NBC News.

Both Democrats and Republicans have expressed outrage at the Presidential Advisory Commission on Voter Integrity’s request for personal information about voters. Privacy concerns and claims that the commission is politically motivated are among reasons for states’ refusal to hand over the information.

Trump created the panel, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, in May through executive order.

In the span of 26 days, the 2017 San Diego County Fair welcomed 1,565,933 visitors, sold nearly 7,000 doughnut-fried-chicken-ice-cream sandwiches and saw around 2,500 daredevils bungee jump.

The Wild West-themed fair wrapped up Tuesday. Just before midnight, fair organizers rounded up the final tallies of how the annual event shaped up. Turns out, this year brought the second-largest attendance in the history of the San Diego County Fair; the day with the most attendees was this past Sunday, with 93,874 guests walking through those gates.

Other interesting numbers from this season at the Del Mar Fairgrounds:

• Chicken Charlie – the authority on unique, fried fair food – sold close to 7,000 of its Krispy Kreme Ice Cream Chicken Sandwiches and 30,000 Peanut Butter Meatballs
  • 5 Weirdest Things We Found in the San Diego County Fair Lost and Found

• For its popular fried potato treats, vendor Australian Battered Potatoes went through 14,000 pounds of spuds, 8,400 pints of oil, 240 gallons of ranch dressing, 60 cases of cheese sauce, 200 pounds of bacon, and 150 pounds of sour cream.

• Bacon-a-Fair, THE place to eat bacon at the San Diego County Fair used more than 30,000 pounds of bacon this season for its dishes, including 350 pounds for its bacon-wrapped asparagus.
  • What to Eat at the San Diego County Fair

• Fairgoers devoured 18,000 pounds of Giant Big Ribs from Biggie’s Meat Market.

• Vendor Corn Star grilled 48,000 ears of corn.

• Vendor Dixie’s Donuts fried more than 281,000 mini doughnuts.

• Seventy-six kegs of Blood Orange IPA from Hess Brewery – a craft beer brewed specifically for the San Diego County Fair – were consumed.

• The fair’s annual toy drive collected more than 11,000 stuffed animals for local children – shattering the all-time record.

• About 2,500 people braved the Bungee Plunge this year; the oldest jumper was 71, while the youngest was 8 years old. About 50 people got cold feet at the top.

• The top 10 fair rides this season were: Crazy Mouse, The Big Wheel, G-Force, Magnum, Sky Flyer, Olympic Bobs, Fast Track Slide, Alien Abduction, Rave Wave and Infield Carousel.

• At the daily Coco’s Pie-Eating Contest, 240 pies – or 1,072 slices of pie – were eaten.

• In a Bubble Gum Blowing Contest, 207 pieces of bubble gum were consumed.

• Visitors took 2,864 photos with the fair mascot this year, Diego the Pinto Pony; 45 kids cried upon seeing the mascot.

• The fair’s 20-minute Fourth of July fireworks show includes 2,394 aerial shots.

• The fair’s 68th annual Livestock Auction raised $528,1454 raised for 4-H and FFA youth, by selling 121 hogs, 74 lambs, 46 cattle, and 53 goats.

• The fair’s Lost & Found collected 147 lost credit cards, 154 lost cellphones (with all but 26 returned as of Wednesday), 115 lost keys. Check out some of the weirder things that wound up at the fair's Lost & Found here.

The San Diego County Fair ran from June 2 through July 4. The fair continues to be the largest annual event in San Diego County and one of the top 10 fairs in the U.S. and Canada, drawing about 1.6 million visitors every summer.

Animals shelters in San Diego County saw an increase in the number of dogs arriving after the Fourth of July fireworks.

Forty-five dogs were brought to three shelters in the county between 7 p.m. Tuesday and 12 p.m. Wednesday.

Dogs can get spooked by the sound of fireworks and often run away. 

The County Animal Services offered free microchips for dogs prior to the Fourth of July festivities so the beloved pets could be reunited with their owners should they run off.

The department microchipped more than 1,000 dogs.

"If someone is missing their dog, they can check our website or visit our shelters to see if we have their runaway pets. We encourage people to look at surrounding shelters too as dogs can easily run from one shelter’s jurisdiction into another," said Daniel DeSousa, Director of County Animal Services.

Click here to check the department's website. 

You can also check the lost and found page to see if your pet's photo has been posted.

If a dog is not claimed within three business days and does not have any identification, they will be put up for adoption. If the dog has been identified but not picked up in five business days, the department will make them available for adoption the following day.

According to county officials, nearly 60 dogs ended up at the county shelters on Fourth of July and a few days later in 2016. The year before, The shelters saw 67 dogs.

A pickup truck overturned on the freeway and rolled down an embankment in University City, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) confirmed.

The incident occurred at 5:06 p.m. on the eastbound State Route 52 near Interstate 805. 

The pickup truck drove from the westbound side into the eastbound side of the State Route 52, CHP officials said.

At this time, the crash is not impacting traffic.

A woman suffered an injury to the head and was bleeding, according to CHP.

No other information was available.

Please refresh this page for updates on this story. Details may change as more information becomes available.

Hundreds of volunteers collected more than 800 pounds of trash from San Diego's beaches Wednesday, tackling the mess left by a weekend of Fourth of July parties and picnics.

"While it’s disappointing to see the beaches trashed, it’s always amazing to see the huge difference that three hours of work can make," said Caroline Canter, the San Diego County Chapter Coordinator for the Surfrider Foundation.

Nearly 500 volunteers helped the Surfrider Foundation clean up four popular beaches this morning. There are few holidays that leave as much trash on San Diego County beaches as the Fourth of July, according to the organization.

By the afternoon, the volunteers had picked up 800 pounds of junk and "too many marshmallows to count" that would have otherwise ended up in the ocean, said organization officials.

That junk included around 7,000 cigarette butts, 947 pieces of styrofoam, as well as a toilet seat and a hockey stick, said organization officials.

"Sadly, much of this litter is made up of plastic, which exacerbates an already critical pollution problem devastating marine life in the world’s oceans," said a statement from the group.

In collaboration with I Love a Clean San Diego and San Diego Coastkeeper, there were four cleanups hosted from 9 a.m. to noon.

"We are really happy to see the number of volunteers that came out this morning to help clean the beaches after the busy and long holiday weekend," said Canter. "We can really see the community coming together to keep San Diego’s beaches clean and beautiful.”

The organization picked these beaches because of their notorious reputations of being completely trashed after the Fourth of July.

About 500 students will have to retake their Advanced Placement (AP) exams due to violations of test administrator seating policy, officials with the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) said. 

Many AP exams taken at Scripps Ranch High School have been declared void because the chairs in which the students were seated during the testing session were placed too close together in the exam room. Partitions were placed between students, which also violates policy.

The SDUSD Board Vice President for District B, Kevin Beiser, said he is disappointed in the board's decision to void the students' AP exams.

"In my opinion, they should have administered, maybe a lesser penalty, such as a sanction. Instead of going to what some people are calling the nuclear option," said Beiser.

There is no evidence of student cheating, according to SDUSD.

A petition requesting that the College Board reconsider voiding the test scores for the students has gathered more than 2,300 signatures as of Wednesday night.

The College Board and its test administrator, Educational Testing Service (ETS), notified school officials that the test results had been invalidated on Wednesday.

Based on the investigation, the students were seated too closely together with partitions placed between their desks. The College Board's seating rules prohibit any kind of partitions.According to the College Board, those seating rules are in place to make sure no student gains an unfair advantage.

SDUSD officials say they strongly disagree with the decision to void the students' AP exams, but legally, the agency has a right to invalidate the test scores.

Students will have several opportunities to take make-up exams, with the first retest dates set for July 17 through July 20. The next opportunity will be in August.

The void AP exams could have big consequences for students with summer vacation plans or other conflicts during the retesting dates. It's especially significant for seniors who already planned their first semester of college feeling confident with their prior test performance.

"We were told where to sit, it was not our choice," said incoming senior at Scripps Ranch High School, Marissa Barnes. "Now because of that, we have to suffer."

Barnes added she has a summer job and will not be able to make the retest dates.

A parent and student forum is planned at Marshall Middle School on July 5 at 6 p.m. to discuss this incident further.

An accusation filed by the Attorney General of California, on behalf of the Medical Board of California, details how La Jolla Doctor Michelle Brown dealt with substance abuse while still holding a valid medical license to practice in California.

According to the documents, Brown traveled to Thailand twice to enter a substance abuse program, once in 2009 and again in 2014.

The documents also indicate she entered the Betty Ford Center in 2010 and the Promises Treatment Centers program in 2013 and 2015.

“How does a serial drunk retain her driver’s license, let alone her medical license?” Jamie Court, President of Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, asked after reviewing the accusation against Brown. “Either the medical board was asleep at the wheel or there was inadequate reporting to the state.”

When driving to the Betty Ford Center, in May of 2010, she was involved in a car accident and arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, according to the documents.

Five years later, while returning to Promises, the documents say she “suffered hallucinations” and was admitted to psychiatric hospital for detoxification.

A year and a half later, in November 2016, she crashed into two parked cars after exiting a freeway, the documents show. She was “disoriented as to her whereabouts” and arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, according to the documents.

A hearing on the Board’s Accusation has not yet been held. NBC 7 Investigates contacted both Brown and her attorney but did not receive a call or response.

“There should be new legislation to require any doctor who was involved with a DUI to make that fact public,” Jaime Court said. “If they are repeat offenses, there should be no plea bargains, no deals, and no medical license. We need no tolerance for repeat offenders policy in the medical profession.”

The accusation filed by the state details a mental evaluation agreed to by the doctor. In this evaluation, the interviewing doctor determined “respondent’s mental illness, including her substance misuse, has impaired her ability to practice medicine with safety to the public,” according to the documents.

Brown’s medical license was placed on an interim suspension by the board in April. Now, the board must determine whether to continue the suspension or revoke her license.

NBC 7 Investigates is reporting on medical professionals accused by the public and the California Medical Board of wrongdoing in order to bring information to the public and increase transparency of medical practices in the San Diego region. Currently, this information is reported by the Medical Board on its website.

Medical professionals are not required to disclose this information to their patients.

The United States is willing to work with Russia to establish no-fly zones and other measures to stabilize Syria, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday.

In a statement sent as he departed for a summit meeting of the Group of 20 major economies, Tillerson said the volatile situation in Syria would be a topic of discussion between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, NBC News reported.

"The United States and Russia certainly have unresolved differences on a number of issues," Tillerson acknowledged, but "if our two countries work together to establish stability on the ground, it will lay a foundation for progress on the settlement of Syria's political future."

The San Diego Medical Examiner came out with new numbers that show, in the last six months, 24 people have died of a Fentanyl overdose.

Fentanyl is a type of synthetic opioid that is 40 to 50 times more powerful than heroin.

One of the most recent victims was 38-year-old Jennifer Duffin, owner of Jennie's Café in Oceanside. The restaurant was a favorite breakfast spot for many residents.

Now, the restaurant is gone.

"Great food, always packed and all the employees seemed to be happy," said Andrew Michael, a friend of Duffin's.

Michael worked next door to where Jennie’s Café was located.

He said "Jennie" would never let him pay for his coffee since he was one of her neighbors and added she had big heart.

When he learned she died of a drug overdose, he said he couldn’t believe it.

"I was blown away. I’m thinking 'Not Jennie' -- the lady with kids, a smile on her face. A hard-working lady,” Michael said.

In May, Duffin was found dead inside her Vista home. Her cousin and a friend were also found dead.

The Medical Examiner determined she died of a combined drug overdose -- in her system were ethanol, morphine, meth, and Fentanyl.

The two others died of a Fentanyl overdose.  

Over the last seven years, there have been nearly 170 Fentanyl overdoses. The largest concentrations of deaths were in the North County and in the City of San Diego.

Last year, there were 36 Fentanyl overdoses.

Click here for a map of reported Fentanyl overdose cases.

"My message to the kids or anybody else out there taking this drug, 'Stop. Stop now and get help.' There’s help out there, a lot of help," said Michael.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, more than 44 million people in the U.S. are living with student loan debt; it adds up to more than $1 trillion owed.

Student loan debt is the second highest kind of debt in the nation, behind mortgage debt and according to the U.S. Department of Education, about eight million borrowers have given up paying on more than $137 billion.

National figures show the government’s efforts to help some borrowers get back on track may be going to waste and in some cases is costing the government more money than they are collecting. For example, according to an NBC 7 Investigates analysis of government figures, under the U.S. Department of Education Rehabilitation Program, the department usually pays $38 to collect $1 of student debt.

For a borrower, once a loan is in default, it can get rehabilitated. Once in the loan rehab program, borrowers pay a minimal amount toward their loans for nine months, with most paying as little as $5 a month, according to debt settlement attorney Dan Gamez.

After rehabilitation, the loans are in good standing.

"It's like a reset button was hit," Gamez said. "You get benefits back, you get forbearance, you get deferment you get an option of going to income based repayment plan."

The government pays debt collectors up to $1,700 for each borrower’s loan that goes into rehab. The debt collector gets to keep that money even if the borrower defaults after rehabilitation.

According to Gamez, 90 percent of those eligible for an income-based repayment plan after rehabilitation do not enroll in one, keeping them tied to their original loan terms that usually have higher monthly payments.

"If you went from paying $5 a month in a rehab to being in a standard repayment plan, your repayment could be $600-700 a month right off the bat," Gamez said.

Rep. Susan Davis (D-53 Dist.), is a senior member of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce. She said she thinks it’s confusing for students.

"I think we have to look at how those loans were set up and why students aren't able to resolve them a little more efficiently," she said.

Davis, along with Reps. John Sarbanes (D-Md.), Gregory W. Meeks (D-N.Y.), and Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) has called on U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to review the Department of Education’s Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.

She told NBC 7 Investigates she has yet to receive a response from the Education Secretary.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has filed suit against Navient, one of the largest loan servicers. The lawsuit accuses Navient of failing borrowers at every step of the repayment process in order to save money.

Navient denied the allegations and in a statement to NBC 7 Investigates said the company has helped more than 12 million borrowers navigate loan repayment and "...borrowers we service are 31 percent less likely to default and 49 percent of loan balances we service…are enrolled in income-driven repayment."

Click here to read the entire statement from Navient. 

The iconic Hotel del Coronado will become a Hilton hotel by the end of the summer, the Hilton announced Thursday. 

The 129-year-old historic property, known by many across the world, will join the Hilton's smaller Curio Collection, an ensemble of upscale properties, according to Curio's website. NBC 7 has reached out to the Hilton and representatives at the Hotel Del for details. 

The 28-acre property, built 1888 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977, was set to be bought last March for an estimated $6.5 billion. However, the deal did not go through. 

The Hilton will take the place of previous owner KSL Resorts. The company has managed the historic property for more than a decade. 

Mark Nogal, global head of Curio for Hilton Worldwide, told the U-T that the Hilton is not looking to change the Hotel Del.

“So quite literally, there will just be a couple plaques near the front door because we don’t want to change that independent identity that the Del has. It will always be the Hotel del Coronado," he reportedly said.

The Hotel Del is expected to become a part of the Curio portfolio by the end of July, according to the Curio site. The Curio Collection includes dozens of four- and five-star hotels across the world, like the Boulders Resort in Arizona. Three of those are in California, including the Hotel La Jolla. 

The iconic Hotel del Coronado, with its red turrets, is one of the most recognizable hotels in the world. Many recognize it from the movie "Some Like It Hot", filmed at the hotel. 

It now offers close to 700 rooms and 11 restaurants and continues to draw celebrities and other high-profile guests to the Coronado shoreline.

Check back for updates on this developing story. 

Authorities have released photos of the suspect vehicle wanted in connection with a fatal hit-and-run in Chula Vista. 

Pablo Rosa-Velez was heading eastbound on Main Street Monday afternoon at the time of the fatal crash, Chula Vista police (CVPD) said.

As he was pulling out of the driveway of a storage facility on his motorcycle, near Industrial Boulevard, a late 90s or early 00s model Ford Explorer struck him, police said. 

The driver fled the scene; the tan or gold car was last seen driving westbound on Main Street, and then north on Industrial Boulevard, police said. 

Rosa-Velez was pronounced dead at the scene. The husband had gotten married earlier this year and was expecting his second child, his family told NBC 7. 

A GoFundMe page has also been set up to help with the burial expenses for Rosa-Velez.

Police continue searching for the driver and car involved. The suspect car will have damage to its driver side. The car is known to frequent the South Bay, especially Imperial Beach, police said. 

The investigation is ongoing. If you have any information regarding this suspect or the vehicle, please contact Officer Javier Castillo or Dustin Bruzee at 619-691-5392 or 619-409-5440.

No further information was available.