Hip-hop mogul Marion "Suge" Knight was taken to a hospital after suffering a medical emergency in a courthouse lockup after pleading not guilty to murder and other charges in a hit-and-run case, officials said.

Knight faced charges in court on Tuesday of murder, attempted murder and hit-and-run in the death of a man last week at a Compton burger stand. Details regarding the medical condition, which a sheriff's deputy described as an "anxiety attack," were not immediately available.

Updates: Follow @PatrickNBCLA

An ambulance followed by sheriff's department vehicles transported  Knight from the Compton courthouse. A law enforcement source told NBC4 that Knight was transported back to jail after his release from a hospital, but an official with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said he remained in the hospital at midday.

Attorney David Kenner spoke with Knight in the courthouse lockup.

"I saw him in the morning both before court and after court," said attorney Kenner. "He's doing fine."

Knight's next court date, a bail review hearing, is schedule for Feb. 9.

Prosecutors filed charges Monday against the 49-year-old Knight, co-founder of Death Row Records. He is accused of attempting to run down a friend and another man Thursday at a burger stand after an argument that began on a film set.

He pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning to four felony counts, which include murder in the death of 55-year-old Terry Carter, "attempted, willful, deliberate and premeditated murder" involving 51-year-old victim Cle "Bone" Sloan, plus two charges of hit-and-run. Knight's attorney, James Blatt, said Knight accidentally ran over the men as he tried to escape a vicious attack.

Sloan's attorney, Michael Shapiro, was asked outside of court whether Knight had any reason to fear for his safety.

"It just seems to me that a 165-pound guy against a car, I don't think it's much of a fair fight," said Shapiro.

Knight turned himself in the following day at the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department West Hollywood Station. Because a conviction in the case could result in Knight's third serious felony under California's three strikes sentencing law, Knight could face up to life in prison if he's convicted.

Knight's $2 million bail was revoked Monday after a court commissioner agreed with authorities that he was a potential flight risk and could intimidate witnesses. The ruling came after homicide detectives told the bail commissioner that Knight could face a lengthy prison sentence because of a violent criminal past, said Los Angeles County sheriff's spokeswoman Nicole Nishida.

Knight had been out on bail in a separate robbery case when the men were hit.

Knight was at the center of one of the most notorious rap conflicts of the 1990s, pitting Tupac Shakur against Biggie Smalls in an East Coast-West Coast rivalry. Knight was sent to prison for nearly five years for badly beating a rival with Shakur at a Las Vegas hotel, just hours before Shakur was fatally shot while riding in Knight's car just east of the Strip in 1996.

In the current case, Knight struck two men with his pickup in a Compton burger stand parking lot. The collision killed his friend Carter, a founder and owner of Heavyweight Records who was viewed as a local father figure and tried to help mentor young men in the community, said Doug Young, a friend and hip-hop music promoter. Also injured in the collision was Sloan, an actor and film consultant.

Authorities said Knight visited the set for "Straight Outta Compton," a film about the rise of the rap group N.W.A., and argued with Sloan, who was working at the location on Thursday. Sheriff's deputies providing security asked Knight to leave.

A short time later, the argument resumed in a parking lot a few miles away where Knight and Sloan exchanged punches through a window of the pickup before the two men were run down, authorities said.

Blatt has said Knight was attacked by four people, including Sloan, as he pulled into the parking lot after Carter requested he show up for a meeting. Blatt said Knight hit the gas and fled in fear.

NBC4's Nyree Arabian and Tena Ezzeddine contributed to this report.

Tweets by @PatrickNBCLA

The four-year-old poodle found with rubber bands cutting into her muzzle is ready for a forever home, County officials said.

Frankie the miniature poodle was found on January 3 in Logan Heights with rubber bands tied so tightly around her mouth that the bands cut through to the bone.

The poodle has been recovering, the San Diego County Animal Services (CAS) said, but the CAS is accepting special adoption applications for Frankie.

The County is hoping to help her find a home in time for Valentine’s Day. Frankie weighs about 10 pounds and loves to play fetch and be held.

“It's amazing to see how animals that have been subjected to such horrific abuse can be so quick to forgive,” said CAS Director Dawn Danielson. In a statement “Our little Frankie is bursting with love and she’s just looking for a special Valentine to love her back.”

The poodle has spent the last few weeks at a foster home, recovering from the surgeries she underwent due to her injuries. The Spirit Fund covered the $3,000 cost of her health care.

An animal abuse investigation is underway and the suspect. If convicted, could face up to three years in prison, a fine of up to $20,000, or both.

Those interested in adopting Frankie can find the adoption application online by clicking this link. Applications must be received no later than Saturday, Feb. 7. Staff members will then review the applications and pick the one they believe best suites Frankie’s needs and a decision made the week of Feb. 9. 

The adoption fee for Frankie is $69 and includes vaccinations, a microchip, a license, and a free veterinary visit. The poodle has already been spayed.

Officials at the San Ysidro border have begun carrying life-saving medicine as a part of a new pilot program.

The San Ysidro border port of entry is one of several locations picked by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency for its pilot program that equips officers with Naloxone, a drug that treat opioid overdoses.

Naloxone is a generic form of the drug known as Narcan, a nasal spray that can be given to victims of an opiate overdose.

The agency is the first federal law enforcement agency to initiate a program like this.

"CBP officers are the first to encounter thousands of individuals at border crossings, so it is imperative to me that we train our officers on how and when to use this potentially life-saving countermeasure,” said Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske in a statement.

As a part of the program, officers at select locations receive training to recognize signs and symptoms of an overdose and learn how to administer Naloxone. They also receive CPR certification.

The year-long program will also include several other ports of entry like El Paso, Fort Lauderdale International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, Laredo, San Luis, San Ysidro, and Seattle/Blaine.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department became the first law enforcement agency in California to test a similar program with cops carrying Naloxone in July for a six month period.

Potential presidential candidates and others are taking on the touchy topic of children and vaccinations, sparked again by the measles outbreak that started in Disneyland and has now infected nearly 70 people.

Republicans Chris Christie and Rand Paul stirred the debate over the outbreak that by saying parents should have a choice, only to be countered by Democrat Hillary Clinton coming down on the side of vaccinations.

The New Jersey governor made the first comments during a visit to the United Kingdom on Monday, telling reporters that the government needs to find a “balance” between parental choice and public health.

“We vaccinate ours [kids], and so, you know that's the best expression I can give you of my opinion," Christie said. "You know it's much more important what you think as a parent than what you think as a public official. And that's what we do. But I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well, so that's the balance that the government has to decide."

Later that morning, his office issued a statement that seemed to soften his comments, saying he believed that with a disease like measles there was no question that children should be vaccinated. Vaccines are an important public health protection, the statement said.

“At the same time different states require different degrees of vaccination, which is why he was calling for balance in which ones government should mandate,” it said.

Vaccinations can be tricky going for politicians.

During the last presidential race, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry disavowed his earlier decision to require schoolgirls in Texas be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted disease that causes cervical cancer. Merck & Co., the maker of the HPV vaccine, Gardasil, was paying to try to make the vaccine mandatory across the country but conservatives and parents groups objected, saying the demand could seem to condone premarital sex and interfere with the way they raised their children.

A recent Pew Research Center report found that differences between political parties over vaccinations were modest.

Sixty-five percent of Republicans, 76 percent of Democrats, and 65 percent of independents said that children should be required to be vaccinated, according to the Pew Research Center. In 2009, there were no party differences.

Greater divisions were based on age. More than 68 percent of American adults overall say childhood vaccinations should be mandatory versus 30 percent who favor allowing parents to decide. But among 18- to 29-year-olds, the number on the side of parental choice rises to 41 percent. Only 20 percent of adults 65 and older agree.

During this latest tempest, Democrats immediately accused Christie of trying to appeal to what the spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, Mo Elleithee, called the "radical, conspiracy-theory base that's wagging the dog of today's Republican Party."

"But if he wants to actually be a leader, then he should stop bowing to junk science and take a cue from President Obama by showing leadership that promotes facts and keeps our children and our nation safe," Elleithee said.

President Barack Obama earlier urged Americans to vaccinate their children.

"The science is, you know, pretty indisputable," he said.

Paul, the senator from Kentucky who has appealed to libertarians, initially did not back down from his comments to CNBC linking vaccines to mental disorders, despite widespread criticism. He presented the decision of whether to vaccinate as one of personal freedom.

"I have heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines," he said on Monday.

Rand also said he thought that vaccines were a good thing but that parents “should have some input” on whether their children received them. On Laura Ingraham’s radio show, he said most vaccines should be voluntary.

But by late Tuesday, he also issued a statement clarifying his comments, noting he had not said that vaccines caused disorders. He supported vaccines, had gotten them himself and had had all of his children vaccinated, he said.

Democrat Hillary Clinton had jumped in on Monday, tweeting, “"The science is clear. The earth is round, the sky is blue, and #vaccineswork. Let's protect all our kids. #GrandmothersKnowBest."

And Florida's Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and Louisiana's Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal both came out strongly for vaccines on Tuesday.

Rubio said all children should be vaccinated except those who needed medical exemptions.

"This is the most advanced country in the world," he said. "We have eradicated diseases that in the past have killed and permanently disabled people. My own grandfather was disabled by polio as a young child."

Jindal said he would not send his children to a school that did not require vaccinations.

"There is a lot of fear mongering out there on this," he said. 'I think it is irresponsible for leaders to undermine the public's confidence in vaccinations that have been tested and proven to protect public health. Science supports them and they keep our children safe from potentially deadly but preventable diseases."

House Speaker John Boehner was asked on Tuesday whether parents should legally be required to vaccinate their children.

"I don't know if we need another law but I do believe all children ought to be vaccinated," he said.

Meanwhile, members of parties came together over during a Congressional hearing over their concern about the outbreak.

“This is far too serious an issue to be treated as a political football,” Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee said. “People still die from measles.”

It’s been a dry start to 2015 and a just-released study suggests the chance at even near normal rainfall in the next three months is remote. As a result, firefighters around San Diego County may be battling more grass fires this spring.

The Southern California Geographic Coordination Center released its fire outlook report for 2015 on Tuesday.

Based in Riverside, the agency provides analysis on fire risk and danger for fire agencies throughout the region.

Its experts say San Diego-area fire crews may see “a significant spike in new starts with a heavier
grass fire season than the past few years.” There may be enough moisture in the brush to keep fire spread manageable if there is minimal wind, according to the report.

But by the beginning of June, analysts say the large fire potential may begin to climb back to above normal.

NBC 7 Meteorologist Jodi Kodesh said the rainfall story for San Diego is not a positive one for firefighters. Since Jan. 1, San Diego has only seen 0.42 inches of rain.

“Our normal for the month is 2.12 inches so, we are currently 1.70 inches below average,” Kodesh said. “And we will likely not fare well in February.”

December and January are the months when we historically average most of our precipitation. Without it, the dry fuel could cause above average wildfire potential into the summer months, she said.

“All of the new regrowth and long grasses of November and early December will eventually dry,” Kodesh said. “Especially if we see below average rainfall the next three months.”

As for the promise of an El Nino - the official outlook calls for a 50 to 60 percent chance of an El Niño during the next two months. That’s not what a state heading into its fourth year of drought wants to hear.

San Diego was in a similar position last year leading up to the devastating day in May when up to nine wildfires sparked on the same day across the county.

See the report here.
 

Longtime San Diego Chargers center Nick Hardwick announced his retirement from the NFL Tuesday, describing his pro football career as the "time of my life." 

Hardwick; who played 11 seasons in the NFL, all of them with the San Diego Chargers; is a former Pro Bowler and five-time team captain.

His 2014 season was abruptly cut short in early September after he was placed on the Reserve-Injured list for a neck injury.

Questions surrounding his future swirled for much of the season.

Hardwick, looking much different after a significant weight loss, told the media Tuesday, "This has been the time of my life, the pleasure of my life."

Hardwick, 33, first came to the team as a third-round draft choice in 2004 and has been a starter ever since.

The Chargers say Hardwick has started in all 136 games he has played in the NFL and in the last 67 in a row.

“This is a passage,” NBC 7 Sports Director Jim Laslavic said about Hardwick’s retirement. “Philip Rivers is moving forward without his good friend and confidante. This is a big step”

Laslavic, a former linebacker for the San Diego Chargers, recalled how Hardwick was in the center of all the action when LaDanian Tomlinson was reeling off all of his yards.

The offensive line has a strong bond and the center is the leader of that whole group, Laslavic said.
 

A San Diego man accused of sending a threatening message to a local Muslim civil rights group told NBC 7 he was sorry outside court Tuesday.

John David Weissinger, 53, of San Diego pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of making a criminal threat and possessing, buying or selling an illegal large-capacity ammunition magazine.

On January 14, prosecutors say Weissinger left a threatening voice-mail message at the San Diego chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) -- a message the receptionist received the next morning. He is also suspected of sending a threatening email to the group's Washington, D.C. chapter.

Weissinger, who was arrested last week, spoke to NBC 7 outside court and expressed remorse.

He said he had been drinking too much while watching the terrorism incident in France unfold so he did something stupid.

"When people are under the influence of alcohol, they tend to do a lot of things they would not otherwise do or later regret and would normally think twice about had they been sober," said Weissinger's attorney Tom Matthews. "Does he regret this? Does he think twice about it? I know my client certainly wishes he could take the day back and wished the situation never presented itself."

Weissinger said the gun magazine officials found at the time of his arrest was part of several weapons that belonged to his late brother. He said he sold most of the weapons he inherited.

The defendant was released on bond but the judge ordered him to attend meetings for substance abuse and refrain from alcohol.

His release on a $50,000 bond -- though prosecutors asked for a $140,000 bail--  has angered some of his alleged CAIR victims, who called him a terrorist.

"In the past few weeks, it has affected my life," said Hanif Mohebi of CAIR. "I don't feel safe. What about the victims of terrorism?"

Mohebi told NBC 7 has this been a Muslim person accused of making threats, bail would have been raised.

Weissinger faces five years in jail if convicted.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story said Weissinger is accused of threatening a local mosque in October. We regret the error.

A black Labrador puppy was rescued from the frigid Mystic River in Arlington, Massachusetts, after breaking away from its owners on a walk to chase some swans onto thin ice Tuesday, police say.

A woman and her daughters were walking along the river with their puppy Lucy when the dog spotted swans in the river, broke away and ran onto the ice near the Mystic Valley Parkway and Medford Street, police said.

The dog fell through the ice into the river, and state police in Medford were around 4:35 p.m.

Arlington firefighters Chris Gibbons and Joseph Andrade donned "warm suits" to help rescue her. Gibbons found Lucy about 30 feet from the shore before he broke through the ice as well, and with Andrade's help, they brought the dog to safety.

Lucy had a checkup with Arlington EMS before happily being reunited with her owner. 

A 911 operator told a teenage girl to "stop whining" just after her father was fatally struck by a car as he tried to change a flat tire along the Baltimore Washington Parkway in Maryland last weekend.

The dispatcher has now been placed "in a position where he won't have citizen contact" while authorities investigate what happened, an Anne Arundel County fire official said Wednesday.

Rick Warrick, 38, and his fiancee were taking Warrick's two teenagers to Dave & Buster's at the Arundel Mills mall Sunday night when their tire went flat on the BW Parkway in Anne Arundel County.

Warrick, a car salesman from D.C., and his fiancee pulled to the shoulder and got out of their 2007 Hyundai Sonata to change the tire. Warrick had gotten the doughnut onto the car and was tightening the lugs around 9:15 p.m. when they were both struck by a car that did not stop.

Warrick's fiancee, 28-year-old Julia Pearce, suffered two broken legs, a broken pelvis and a fractured skull. She tried to encourage Warrick to keep breathing, but he died at the scene.

News4's Pat Collins obtained the audio from Warrick's teenage daughter's call to 911.

"Can y'all please hurry up!" the teen asks.

"Ma'am, stop yelling, I need a location," the operator said. The girl then tells him they're situated along I-295.

"OK, 295, that's good. We're located now on a highway. Now that's a pretty long road," he says.

The teen then says two people were struck.

"Yes, they both..."

"OK, let's stop whining. OK, let's stop whining. It's hard to understand you... two people were struck, correct?" the operator said.

When the teen describes that her father and his fiancee are motionless and lying on the ground, the operator asks to talk to someone else.

"Is there someone else there I can talk to, because it's so hard..."

The teen then explains the only other conscious person is her young brother.

Russ Davis with the Anne Arundel County Fire Department admitted the operator used a poor choice of words.

"However, what he was attempting to do was to get her attention, to start ascertaining information from her," Davis said. "It was pretty clear at that point they didn't know where they were."

He added the situation could have been handled differently.

"There could be a better choice of words."

The driver who struck Warrick and his fiancee has not yet come forward.

"It's hard on me, and I think the right thing will be to do just to turn yourself in. Accidents happen and we understand," said Warrick's mother, Scharmaine Ferrell-Anthony. "It was a tragic accident."

Anyone with information is asked to call 202-610-8737.

Rescuers pulled one person from a capsized boat off Coronado Tuesday night.

The small boat flipped over at about 8:50 p.m. in the waters near the Hotel Del Coronado at 1500 Orange Avenue.

Heartland Fire officials say crews saved one person from the water near the boat, and paramedics are evaluating him to see if he has injuries.

Lifeguards are working to retrieve the boat.

A water main break in Balboa Park has shut down water to several buildings, closing a museum and canceling a performance at the Old Globe, officials said.

The 16-inch cast iron pipe ruptured around 2 p.m. Tuesday near the carousel in Balboa Park, not far from the zoo. The line runs under the park and likely deteriorated over time, according to the city.

The Spanish Village Art Center, the San Diego Natural History Museum and other buildings were left without water, though there was not any serious flooding.

In response, the Natural History Museum closed its doors, and a performance of "Murder for Two" at the Old Globe has been canceled.

"I feel for the theater," said Lesllie Ima. "It's a lot for them. They have to replace people, and I know it is expensive."

The Globe's Managing Director, William Murphy, said 580 people bought tickets for the musical Tuesday, so now they are offering ticket holders a refund or rain check. If you have a seat to the show, call the box office at 619-234-5623.

Crews are working through the night to repair the break, and they expect to have water back on between 8 and 10 a.m. Wednesday. There are no reports of structural damage.

The city says the department has not had a problem with this pipe before, but it is on the list of old infrastructure to be repaired and replaced by 2017.

Inside a small laboratory outbuilding in Bodega Bay, a squadron of lights cast a purple haze over a roomful of tanks, which gurgled incessantly in a watery chaos. Kristin Aquilino peeled back a lid revealing a cluster of mid-sized abalone shells clinging to the wall of a plastic bucket.

“These definitely represent the future of this program,” Aquilino said surveying the room of tanks.

In many ways, the roomful of tanks is akin to an aquatic rescue mission, allowing federally endangered white abalone a chance to get back on their feet and avoid what was certain to be an extremely stark future.

“These animals are really right on the brink of extinction,” Aquilino said while closing the lid.

White abalone were once a popular seafood delicacy, the precious take of divers and fishermen mainly along the Central and Southern California coastline.

“Families, they’d go out diving and collecting abalone together,” said Gary Cherr, director of the Bodega Marine Laboratory, “and white abalone was really important.”

But their popularity proved to be their demise — commercial overfishing in the '70s, and a rampant disease a decade later reduced their numbers to a paltry sum.

“We think there’s only a few thousand left in the wild,” Cherr said. “The population modeling suggests that within 10 to 15 years they could be truly extinct.”

In 2001, white abalone became the first marine invertebrate added to the Federally Endangered list. A federal research program attempted to breed them in captivity but failed because of disease.

Three years ago, researchers at UC Davis’ Bodega Bay Marine Laboratory took over the breeding effort.

“There hadn’t been any successful captive reproduction in a decade,” Aquilino said.

The Bodega Bay set out with a stock of 12 wild white abalone and began putting extensive research into the potential for diseases. From the initial dozen brood stock, the group successfully bred 120 white abalone by 2013. A year later the tanks held thousands, the youngest as small as a tiny speck - the largest about the size of a fist.

“So just in three years we’ve really increased our success,” Aquilino said.

But the true gauge of success may be several years away - the researchers expect if all goes well, they could end-up with tens of thousands more abalone in the next few years. Then the real work begins.

“The goal is to restore the wild population,” Aquilino said, “by putting enough animals out in the wild that they start to breed on their own successfully.”

The potential success of active breeding could raise the possibility of commercial white abalone farming, similar to what is currently exists for red abalone, which fishermen are allowed to take on a limited basis.

Cherr said the potential to resurrect a vanishing marine species could also raise hopes for other imperiled species.

“Just knowing that a species that is right on the verge of extinction,” Cherr said, “that we could actually bring them back and know that they’re out there is really important.”

Of course, the ultimate irony would be that a truly successful white abalone restoration effort could someday put them back on the table in some limited offering, a fact Aquilino happily acknowledges.

“My ultimate measure of success might be able to try one day,” she laughed. “I hear they’re really delicious.”

Josh Horton says he buys 90 percent of this clothes online, so what is he doing at the mall?

He's trying on clothes from a store that won't let you take their clothes home.

"I come in here, I try on different sizes, different colors. It's been great," said Horton.

The store is located at Westfield UTC in San Diego and is owned by Bonobos, the online retailer for men's clothes.

The company is opening up "Guideshops" around the country that allow people to see, feel and try on their clothes, but they still have to buy them online.

"You purchase the clothes in the store," said Guideshop manager Megan Cram, "but you actually don't walk out with anything."

Bonobos encourages customers to make an appointment and come in for personalized service. The store sells jeans, chino pants, shirts and even suits, but if you find what you like, you have to go onto the Bonobos website and order.

The order is shipped for free and takes three to five days to arrive. But in a society of instant gratification, will shoppers want to wait to get their order?

San Diego State marketing professor George Belch said we are seeing a tremendous change in retailing.

"You're now looking at a consumer who says, 'I don't need to walk out with it. I have patience to wait a day or two until it is delivered,'" said Belch.

Josh Dipert agrees: "Usually we do a lot of shopping on Amazon, so we get stuff overnight anyway, so it's pretty easy."

It appears "millennial" shoppers are used to instant access to information and then waiting for online orders to be shipped to their door. That appears to be the target audience for this Bonobos experiment.

Many of the items sell for between $88 and $98 and seem to be marketed to a younger shopper.

Megan Cram with Bonobos said shoppers who have come into the store know exactly what they are getting. As for other online retailers who might try the same thing? Cram said, "I think we are really in the forefront of retail."

UPDATE: The NTSB has launched an investigation into the fatal crash. Click here for more. 

Six people were killed when a Metro-North train packed with commuters from New York City hit a car on the railroad tracks in Westchester at the height of evening rush hour, sparking a fiery crash that's also injured at least 12 people, officials say.

The train out of Grand Central Terminal was going northbound on the Harlem line when it struck a Jeep Cherokee at the Commerce Street crossing in Valhalla at about 6:30 p.m., officials said. 

The Jeep was stopped on the tracks when the railroad crossing gates came down on top of it, according to MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan. The driver got out to look at the back of the car, then got back in and drove forward when the train struck the Jeep, pushing it about 10 train-car lengths up the track. 

The Jeep driver and five passengers on the train were killed in the crash, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a news conference Tuesday night.  The crash is the deadliest in the history of the Metro-North Railroad. Officials initally said six passengers had died, but MTA officials downgraded the death toll Wednesday morning. 

"This is truly an ugly, brutal sight," Cuomo said. "The third rail of the track came up from the explosion and went right through the car, so it is truly a devastatingly ugly situation to see." 

The rail did not hit any passengers, officials said.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday it is launching a team to the crash site to investigate. Cuomo and MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast said an event recorder on the train will help piece together the circumstances surrounding the crash. 

Chopper 4, first over the scene, showed a massive emergency response as the front train cars smoldered for hours, sending thick plumes of smoke into the air. 

Six hundred and fifty people were on board train No. 659, which departed Grand Central at 5:45 p.m. The train made one stop at 125th Street in Harlem before it proceeded express toward Chappaqua, the MTA said. 

Passengers' accounts of the crash varied according to where they were sitting along the train. Those in back reported only feeling only small "jolts" or "jerks" upon impact, while those sitting toward the front heard a loud explosion and saw smoke quickly filling their cars. 

Jamie Wallace, who was sitting in the back of the second car, recalled how everyone escaped the train after the crash. 

"We started to hear people further up toward the head of the second car start to panic a bit, and they were calling for a fire extinguisher," he said. 

But as passengers rushed to help, "we could not get the head car doors open for some reason, it was jammed," he said. "We then were trying to break the glass to no avail." 

"A number of us started smelling fumes from the car, the fuel, and we said, 'you know what, we need to get out.' The fire was starting to spread back toward the second car, and the second car finally did ignite," he said. 

Another passenger named Fred was on the fourth train from the front. He hurt his fingers when he smashed his hand through emergency glass during the evacuation.

"The thing that precipitated people really starting to freak out and break the glass and open the door was there was a loud 'bam,' explosion-type thing, and once we jumped off the side, there was another explosion to a lesser degree," he said. 

Neil Rader of Katonah was sitting in the middle-back of the train when he felt a "small jolt."

"It felt not even like a short stop, and then the train just completely stopped," he said. 

He said passengers in his car also had to evacuate by breaking glass on the doors to get out. He said he saw 50 to 60 ambulances at the scene as he walked to a nearby gym, which was acting as a holding area for the escaped train riders.  

"I've never seen anything quite like it," said Rader. 

Stacey Eisner, an NBCUniversal News Group employee, was sitting in one of the rear two cars of the train, and said she felt the train "jerk" at some point. The conductor walked through the train to explain what had happened, and passengers were calm at first, but tension began to build when they learned the train had hit a car, she said. 

About 10 to 15 minutes after the train "jerk," Eisner's train car was evacuated, with ladders used to get people out. People were taken either to a nearby rock-climbing gym called The Cliffs or allowed to walk to the Hawthorne Funeral Home, she said. 

Ryan Cottrell, assistant director at The Cliffs, told NBC News that the passengers who were brought there appeared to be shaken up but generally OK. Staffers who saw the incident from the front door went to the scene to help bring passengers into the gym, where they were providing shelter and warmth until MTA buses arrive to transport commuters to Pleasantville, Cottrell said. 

A few injured people were transported from the gym to the hospital, said Cottrell.

The train engineer was treated for his injuries at a hospital, but was not considered one of the casualties, Prendergast said. 

The Taconic State Parkway, which runs parallel to the Metro-North tracks in the area, was closed in both directions in the town of Mount Pleasant as police, EMS and firefighters responded. 

The Metro-North Harlem line will remain suspended Wednesday between Pleasantville and North White Plains. There will be limited bus/train service for Upper Harlem line customers beginning with morning rush hour service on Wednesday until further notice.

Normal train service remains between Grand Central and North White Plains, the MTA said. 

Harlem line tickets will be cross-honored on the Hudson and New Haven lines. Up to 300 parking spaces at the Westchester County Center and up to 50 parking spaces at the North White Plains Station will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The collision comes a little more than a year after new Metro-North President Joseph Giuletti took over, with a vow to make safety the top priority.

Multiple derailments in 2013 and 2014 -- including one in December 2013 that killed four people when a fatigued engineer fell asleep at the controls -- had prompted a federal review in which investigators concluded that Metro-North sacrificed safety in 2013 to accommodate an obsession with on-time performance.

The MTA says it has made dozens of recommended changes, but big-ticket items like automated train control could still be months or even years away. It appears too early to tell whether safety controls could have prevented Tuesday's collision. 

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, a vocal advocate for improved safety on the Metro-North, said in a statement he's spoken to Prendergast, who said that "a full and thorough investigation has already begun."

"At this early stage, it is premature to point any fingers of blame, but there are many important questions that must be answered in the coming days," Schumer said. 

Metro-North has established a family assistance center at the Mount Pleasant Town Hall at 1 Town Hall Plaza in Valhalla and a phone hotline at 1-800-METRO-INFO (800-638-7646).

A former San Diego Department of Motor Vehicles official pleaded guilty Tuesday to accepting bribes, including money, gift certificates and designer handbags, in exchange for helping people accused of DUIs, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Alva Benavidez, 51, a former officer of the California Driver Safety Office at the DMV, admitted to accepting more than $5,000 in cash and gifts from attorneys and their firms in her plea agreement, said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy.

At the DMV, Benavidez worked as a driver safety oofficer (DSO), where she presided over hearings to decide whether a person charged with driving under the influence should have their license suspended.

Benavidez admitted to giving favorable treatment to six different attorneys and six of their staff between 2005 and August 2014. In exchange for helping those clients, she was given checks and cash ranging from $250 to $750, as well as two Juicy Couture purses, Ray-Ban sunglasses and a Cheesecake Factory gift certificate.

In her plea agreement, Benavidez admitted to stealing arrest packets from the DSO before that information could be put into the database. She also set aside driver license suspensions and provided unauthorized temporary driver licenses for people who had previously been arrested for DUIs.

"Obviously, today's guilty plea exposes a troubling breakdown in the enforcement of our DUI laws. The investigation into corruption involving the DMV is continuing, and we will pursue the facts wherever they lead," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Kanter.

Benavidez has been released on bond until her sentencing. She will be sentenced at 9 a.m. on April 20.

Collisions involving trains and vehicles have dropped dramatically despite increases in highway and rail traffic. The Federal Railroad Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, points to engineering improvements including flashing lights, gates and traffic dividers, stepped up enforcement of traffic regulations and motorist education. About 94 percent of collisions are a result of drivers’ risky behavior or poor judgment, according to the FRA.

A rape victim, who met her attacker on a Christian dating website, is now filing a lawsuit against him. And in a twist, the attacker’s mother is also named in the suit for a social media message she allegedly sent to the victim’s brother.

Sean Patrick Banks was convicted of raping two women and sentenced to 37 years to life in prison last November.

One of the victims, Katie Kuhlman, 24, told NBC 7 her suit is all about holding a now convicted rapist accountable.

“I truthfully believe in accountability for your actions,” said Kuhlman.

The complaint, filed in Superior Court on Jan. 30, is seeking damages for rape, false imprisonment, hate violence and defamation.

The defamation stems from a Facebook post allegedly sent weeks before his sentencing by Banks’ mother to Kuhlman’s brother. It said, in part, that Kuhlman was sending an innocent man to prison.

“We pray every day that Katie will feel convicted by the Holy Spirit and tell the truth about what happened. I’m sorry to say, she has not,” the message says, according to the complaint.

“It was outrageous and despicable the way she reached out to a victim of rape, her family and said ‘Your sister is lying,’” said attorney Dan Gilleon.

“I do think that his mom sending a message to my family calling me a liar is not okay,” said Kuhlman. “I did exactly what I was supposed to do as a witness."

In a brazen statement during the sentencing hearing, Banks told the judge he would drop his appeal if Kuhlman submitted to a lie detector test. Last December, she did take the test, and Gilleon produced paper work that showed Kuhlman passed.

“I was more interested in taking it because of the comment he made about dropping his appeal if I would pass a lie detector test,” said Kuhlman. “I passed my test. I don’t know if he’s going to drop his appeal.

An after-hours call to Bank’s trial attorney had yet to be answered. Banks’ mother was also not reachable for comment.

Meanwhile, Kuhlman says she was "OK" after the traumatic attack. She says she’s comforted by other victims who have thanked her for standing up to her attacker.

“It makes me feel empowered and so good,” said Kuhlman. “I also feel like he can’t do this to anyone else, like I’ve protected so many women from being a potential victim of him and that helps me sleep at night. I feel really good about that.”

If a disaster were to strike San Diego, a map showing damage to roads, bridges and other infrastructure would be crucial for emergency crews to send out help.

So San Diego State geography professor Doug Stow has made it his mission to get that information as soon as possible with the latest aerial technology: drones.

With a $365,000 grant in hand, Stow is building a program that will create a before-and-after map in just minutes.

The first step is in the hands of emergency officials. Stow asks them to identify critical emergency locations like power stations, bridges, hospitals and dams. Stow and others then send out unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and piloted light sport aircraft (LSA) to take pictures of those places from above.

As they take pictures, the drones also record their GPS locations, which are saved in a computer program.

During a disaster, emergency personnel could use the same coordinates to send UAVs back to the essential spots and see if they have been damaged. The program is supposed to analyze the before-and-after images to spot the differences and highlight them to managers.

Stow hopes the program will detect crumbling walls, collapsed ceilings and buckled roads, among other things.

“The goal is for these images to look like they were taken by a stationary security camera, even though they were taken by an aircraft hundreds of feet overhead,” he said in a press release.
If the UAVs and LSA can be launched quickly, emergency crews could have a damage map within an hour or two after a disaster, Stow said.

But the project is not without its kinks. Stow and SDSU researchers, students and graduates are still trying to figure out how to exclude ordinary changes – like shadows or moving cars in a parking lot – from a damage map.

The San Diego County Office of Emergency Services and its counterpart in New Mexico are helping the researchers test out the software through simulated incidents, the school says.

“We think the UAV imaging market is about to explode,” Stow said. “Our technology can play an important role in its future.”

SDSU officials say the program builds on existing research from the school’s Center for Earth Systems Analysis Research for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Navy Postgraduate School.

It hasn't taken long for critics to mobilize against Mayor Faulconer's stadium advisory group.

Not only are the demographics of its membership being questioned, but so is its license to operate in secrecy -- and all this, before any proposal has come forward.

The mayor's waiting to invite public participation in the process after the advisory group comes up with a proposal later this year.

San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith has opined that the state's open meetings law doesn't apply to the nine-member panel.

So it's "street legal," but is it "street smart"?

Hizzoner's private "kitchen cabinet' is in the doghouse with a lot of San Diegans who think it should be out in the open with efforts to turn a billion-dollar civic project into bargain -- anything but a boondoggle.

"To a degree, it's up to them,” said Clairemont resident Brenten Scire. “But as far as the community goes, if it impacts the community, I think obviously everybody should have a voice."

In an interview Tuesday outside downtown’s Hall of Justice, Rancho Penasquitos resident Gail King added these thoughts: “They should involve all of San Diego -- it shouldn't just be San Diego 'proper.' My gosh, it's ridiculous!"

The stadium, now widely known by shorthand as “The Q,” was built via a city-county joint powers agreement, by way of a $27 million bond measure passed a half-century ago.

The new stadium advisory group will deal with a lot more zeroes.

"I'm sure everybody in town will read the entire report,” said Scott Lewis, editor of Voice of San Diego. “But there is something to be said for a process like the first task force that takes everybody along through this narrative that they go through themselves."

That first task force, working in 2003, met in view of media cameras and the public, taking walking tours of then-Jack Murphy Stadium and advice from anybody who wanted to speak their mind.

They eventually signed on to a Chargers-proposed redevelopment approach to the Mission Valley site that the team eventually abandoned after concluding it wouldn’t “pencil out” under economic and environmental conditions going forward.

Couldn't the 2003 group’s successors open things up beyond their own little circle?

"They have a fair amount of flexibility to do what they want,” said attorney Gil Cabrera, a port commissioner and former city ethics commissioner.

According to Cabrera, there’s no rule against the group inviting outside speakers and holding periodic meetings to hear from -- and brief -- the public.

"So if I was the chair, I would do as much of that as possible,” Cabrera told NBC 7. “Because that's going to help them, later down the road, if you have public buy-in on your recommendations."

Advisory group members who could be reached Tuesday declined comment on these issues – at least until after they meet, and make some early decisions, for the first time late Friday.

They aren't authorized to use city staff or lawyers in their work and will have to bankroll their own experts if there are costs involved.

"Even if you bring in outside counsel, it doesn't guarantee that the city attorney's going to agree with those opinions,” Cabrera noted. “So you could have outside counsel steering the committee in one direction and have the city attorney say we don't agree with that. And then you're starting over."

Some of the biggest names in golf are playing in The Farmers Insurance Pro Am Wednesday. 

“It’s going to be an amazing field today,” said spokesperson Mike Boyd.

Among the professional golfers teeing off early Wednesday were Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler, Charley Hoffman and locals Pat Perez and Phil Mickelson.

Fog delayed the start for several hours.

Boyd said the greens were in great condition and will present a real challenge for the pros during the open later this week.

The tournament runs Feb 5 - 8. Get ticket and parking information here.

For those who already have tickets, there are guidelines on what you can bring and what is banned. See the list here.