tonight, the infernos in california. wildfires claiming more lives and property up and down the coast. >> i'm devastated, i'm heartbroken, alone, i'm scared. >> we're in one town reeling from back-to-back disasters this week. return of the florida recount. when will elections for governor and senator of the sunshine ate finally be settled? commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of world war i, a solemn american memorial, the president absent, as new questions surface about the balance of power in europe and in the world. with warming waters off the coast of maine, what will become of the state's billion-dollar lobster industry? plus, preventing heart attacks and strokes.

millions are at risk, and there's some big news out this afternoon about a pill that could help protect you. and icons of the american west under threat. the wild horses and the people working to save them. good evening. parts of california are hell on earth tonight. three massive wildfires are burning out of control. the largest in northern california is now the most destructive in the state's history. to the south, two others are ripping through seaside communities. more than 174,000 acres already destroyed, and today, the news that at least 11 people have died, dozens missing. nbc's kathy park is in malibu, one of the hardest hit areas under alert tonight. kathy. >> reporter: the home behind me is a total loss. firefighters are still actively on the front lines waiting for

the winds to come back, and in northern california, a major wildfire there obliterated one community and is threatening another. ferocious flames in southern california tearing through the region, destroying homes and lives. >> i came around the corner, and i was like, is that -- >> reporter: michelle lost everything. >> my babies grew up in this house. >> reporter: overnight, the woolsey fire doubling in size fanned by fierce santa ana winds forcing massive evacuations, including animals, dozens of horses staying calm in the chaos. the entirety of malibu threatened. >> the fire crew were doing a great job, but they were underpowered, really. so overwhelming. >> reporter: iconic beaches charred.thislitzy celebrity enc ghost town. pepperdine university had students sheltering in place. today, crews are not only

battling fires, they're fighting fatigue. more than 5,000 firefighters working around the clock. meantime, in northern california, the town of paradise practically wiped off the map. >> paradise is gone. >> reporter: the so-called camp fire is the most destructive wildfire in california's history. >> oh, my god. the fire took everything. >> reporter: at the height of the firestorm, panicked residents escaped as flames roared on both sides of the road. many abandoned their cars. some didn't make it out. thousands have nothing left. >> i'm devastated, heartbroken, i'm alone, i'm scared. >> reporter: tonight the golden state glowing up and down, staying on high alert as dry conditions and heavy winds return, making the dynamic situation even worse. kathy park, nbc news, malibu. and in thousand oaks it was really a one-two punch. just 24 hours after living through that horrific mass shooting at the borderline bar &

grill, residents there were hit with the fires. nbc's steve patterson met some of the people there. >> reporter: in the span of just one day, a community reeling from what felt like insurmountable tragedy was struck again. a fast-moving wildfire sparking widespread evacuations, 24 hours after a mass shooting. >> it's kind of like mother nature kicking us while we're down. >> reporter: ventura county sheriff sergeant eric bichau was on scene after a shooter opened fire at the borderline bar & grill, 12 people shot and killed, including his friend and colleague of more than 30 years. >>ev i mean, he died a hero. >> reporter: then after working along with thousands of others, were forced to evacuate. dozens of homes destroyed. how do you deal with all that? >> i don't know. i don't know. there's no playbook for this to be honest with you. to have these two incidents

overlapping each other is unprecedented. >> reporter: at the center of both tragedies the thousand oaks teen center, first a reunification center for now an evacuation air. >> emotions are high and varying. >> reporter: the red cross working around the clock since is shootings. >> we're a strong community and times like these do bring the best of us together. >> reporter: back-to-back devastation shaking a community to its core but not breaking it. >> you have to take it a step at a time. we'll recover. we'll get through it. >> reporter: and for just one more example of how tight-knit this community is and the people who serve it, this home behind me belongs to a ventura county fire engineer, the home nearly burned to the ground, but the firefighter it belongs to is out battling back against those fires as we speak. jose? >> steve patterson, thank you. now back to the midterms. votes are still being counted, key races not yet called in ten states. but much of the focus now on

florida, where too close to call theaces for senator and governor. nbc's ron allen explains where things stand now. >> reporter: the nation's midterm elections still incomplete with a laser focus on florida's first-ever statewide recount. with the governor's office and a senator's seat up for grabs, passions are running high. >> we are standing up for our rights to have every vote counted, which i think nobody on either side should ever oppose. >> reporter: democrats and florida law demand a recount as republicans claim there's been fraud. >> you folks have sat in here and heard repeatedly how people voted twice, people voted in h. okay? we heard that. >> boo! >> reporter: today florida officials ordered a recount of more than 8 million ballots. the margin is razor thin. in the senate race,

rick scott leads bill nelson by less than 13,000 votes. in the governor's race, congressman ron desantis leads by 33,000 votes over tallahassee mayor andrew gillum, his election night concession now withdrawn. >> i am replacing my words of concession with an uncompromised and unapologetic call that we count every single vote. >> reporter: why a recount? nbc's ali vitale. >> counting votes after election day is normal. as ballots came in, candidates sow their leads cut by thousands. >> reporter: heavily democratic broward county, scene of past election fights with national impact. protests this time but no hanging chads. they've started the recount by machine. results from all counties are due by next thursday. if any race still falls within a margin defined by law, officials will have to recount again and

do it by hand. jose? >> ron allen, thank you. tonight, we're getting our first inside look at the military buildup along the southern border. just this week the trump administration made it harder for undocumented immigrants to seek asylum in the u.s., but that doesn't seem to have deterred the caravan of migrants stilt -- still heading north from mexico. gabe gutierrez reports. >> reporter: it only took a few days but on nearly 40 acres in donna, texas, a military base is up and running. any idea how long you'll be here? >> no. >> reporter: as some soldiers there are more than 5,600 active duty troops spread across the southern border, most in texas, the others in arizona and be l apprehend any undocumented immigrants, but the military says the mission is mostly logistical support for customs and border protection. a day after the midterm elections the pentagon said it was no longer calling the mission operation faithful

patriot but rebranding it as simply border support, no reason given. >> barbed wire used properly can be a beautiful sight. >> reporter: that's provided fuel to skeptics who say the extra troops were a political ploy to stoke fears about illegal immigration. what is the most unique part of this mission? >> i will say that one of the most unique things in my experience has been the short notice of this. most folks didn't know this mission would exist. >> reporter: command sergeant major matt howard, like all the troops we spoke with here, says he's focused on the mission, not the politics. >> we're soldiers. we follow orders. we were given lawful orders by the people above us. let the folks up higher handle that. >> reporter: citing two defense officials, cnbc reports the troop deployments could cost $220 million by the end of the year. gabe gutierrez, nbc news, donna end of world war i, american dignitaries gathered at a cemetery to honor fallen american soldiers.

there was a notable absence, however. bad weather kept president trump from attending. nbc's kelly o'donnell is with the president in paris. >> reporter: a night out at a paris museum for more than 80 world leaders. here to commemorate a century since the end of world war i. but the white house declined coverage of the president and first lady arriving for tonight's dinner hosted by french president emmanuel macron. this afternoon at an american cemetery northeast of paris, the president's absence was notable, missing a scheduled visit to honor fallen u.s. soldiers from the great war. white house chief of staff john kelly and joint chiefs chairman general joseph dunford represented the president. mr. trump was scheduled to go by helicopter, not motorcade. but the white house said poor visibility meant he could not make the 100-mile roundtrip on marine one. no explanation from the president himself, who tweeted

he had very productive meetings. earlier, a different kind of chill. >> i do appreciate the fact you came here. >> reporter: new tension in a relationship that had been full of public displays of affection. >> the united states can only do so much, in fairness to the united states. >> reporter: but president trump bristled at emmanuel macron's recent suggestion that europe needed its own army. >> we're getting along from the standpoint of fairness, and i want it to be fair. >> reporter: the press secretary says presidents trump and macron worked out their differences in their meeting, while here in mp vladimir putin, who arrives tomorrow. it should be just a quick hello and not a formal engagement. jose? >> kelly to to -- o'donnell in paris, thank you.

in north carolina, authorities are still searching far 13-year-old girl kidnapped on monday. investigators have now released surveillance footage of a man walking in the area where she disappeared. child abduction, every family's worst nightmare, and tonight we learn about one little girl able to fend off her would-be abductor with a simple strategy. nbc's kristen dahlgren has more. >> reporter: just south of phoenix, arizona, one word made all the difference. >> this one time it saved my daughter's life. >> reporter: mom brenda jones describing the moments her 10-year-old daughter was walking home alone from a park this week when a man in a white suv pulled up. >> he said her brother had been in an accident and she needed to come with him. >> reporter: the girl did what her mother told her. she asked the man for a code word, a simple pass word the family set up a few months ago to make sure anyone picking her up was really supposed to. >> i never thought it would be used, and i'm very proud of her for remembering that. >> reporter: local sheriff mark land says it spooked the suspect. >> the guy covered his face, panicked, and took off.

>> reporter: if not for that one code word, things might have been much worse. >> prepare your children. you know, you can never prepare enough. >> reporter: other simple things parents can do to keep their kids safe, don't put your child's name on things a potential kidnapper might see. children trend to trust adults who know their name. have an updated i.d.-style photo and get your child fingerprinted. stranger abductions are rare. the lesson tonight, sometimes a little planning can save little lives. kristen dahlgren nbc news. now to the waters off maine where the lobster boats have been having a very good year, but will it last? there's concern that rising sea temperatures could push the lobsters north to canada, seriously disrupting a billion-dollar industry. here's anne thompson. >> reporter: along maine's jagged coastline an armada of lobster boats 4,300 strong. >> there we go. lobsters in the first trap. >> reporter: from deck to plate,

serving up a billion dollars a year to the state's economy, a booming lobster population actually helped by climate change. >> as the waters in maine have warmed up over the last 20 or 30 years, that's made this environment really good at producing lobster. >> reporter: but the gulf of maine research institute warns the warming waters will eventually drive the lobsters away. up two degrees since 1990, the gulf of maine is projected to rise another two degrees by midcentury. would that be enough to drive the lobsters further north? >> so lobsters will keep kind of moving north. places in canada will enter the sweet spot. >> reporter: canadian lobster is heresy at steve's clam shack in kennebunkport. how important is this guy to your business? >> it's incredible. this represents 50% of our sales. but if it ever goes away, i can't fathom that, but it would be devastating.

>> reporter: preparing up to a thousand pounds of lobster a day, attracting past presidents and perhaps aspiring ones, who want to eat and see. he's got his rubber bands on so he won't hurt you. out on the water, lobsterman tom martin practices the decades-old conservation methods that help keep the fishery healthy, tossing back lobsters too small and too big. >> see that tail clipper has a notch taken out of it? >> reporter: so we know she's an egg-bearing female. >> exactly right. >> reporter: she goes back in. >> for the rest of her life. >> reporter: going back to keep lobsters coming up in this era of climate change. anne thompson, nbc news, portland, maine. still ahead tonight, preventing heart attacks. important new research about the supplement that could save your life. that'rdecse of psoriatic arthritis.ritis ta. ne and helps stop the progression of joint damage. for people with moderate to severe psoriasis,

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meeting and published in the medicine" is finding that a prescription drug made of pure fish oil could significantly reduce the risk of a heart attack. >> i think it's the biggest development in cardiovascular prevention since statins. >> reporter: researches looked at more than 8,000 patients who had elevated levels to-fat in the blood, triglycerides, and were taking the statin. they found those who took fish >> i think this trial and its u immediately practice changing and useful for patients. but beyond that, i think we'll spawn a whole line of scientific research trying to figure out how did this drug work. >> reporter: the drug is fda approved and costs $278 a month. side effects include a low risk of internal bleeding. but for dr. mark, he has more peace of mind. >> hopefully it will keep me going for the next 30 years.

>> dr. torres, is this a fish oil you can buy in the vitamin aisle of a bodega or a pharmacy? 6 >> no, it's very different. they contain a different form of fish oil. this is not applying to over-the-counter fish oil supplements. those contain a different form of fish oil. this capsule contains omega 3s but it's highly purified and requires a prescription. we are back in a moment with a special holiday delivery of the world's most famous christmas tree here in new york. how does it get here? we'll let you know. so, that goal you've been saving for,

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in london, the queen and other members of the royal family hosted a commemoration of the end of world war i today. her royal highness, the cambridges and sussexs attended a festival of remembrances at royal albert hall. a number of artists performed. the event honors all of those who have died in wars. and now to a story that's closer to home, actually right outside. the rockefeller center christmas tree arrived today. the norway spruce, 72 feet tall, 45 feet wide, donated by shirley figueroa and lycette gutierrez from upstate new york. it made its way on a really big flat bed and a crane about five stories tall put it in place. amazing, isn't it? takes more than two weeks to decorate. they'll flip the switch on the lights on november the 28th. when we come back, symbols of the american west under threat.

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or are prone to infections. xeljanz xr can reduce the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis. don't let another morning go by without talking to your rheumatologist about xeljanz xr. we are back now with a story about some beautiful animals in the american west getting a new lease on life. wild horses threatened by severe drought until some remarkable volunteers joined in to save them. here's joe friar. >> reporter: they are icons of the american west, untamed symbols of freedom, but the wild horses roaming these vast lands are in need of a steady hand.

a caretaker like simone. >> just the thought of not having them here was absolutely horrible and irreversible. >> reporter: it started with an unusually dry winter that left parts of arizona, utah, and colorado, and new mexico under the most severe category of drought. when it wasn't raining, did you think, uh-oh? >> yeah. it was just very worrisome. you know, we saw the grasses wither and die. >> reporter: soon the horses were dwindling too. in may nearly 200 were found dead and many more were close, like red beauty. how bad a shape was he in when you found him? >> he was in terrible shape when we found him. it wasn't hard to decide, this guy needs to be rescued. >> reporter: that's when the oustepped in, rescuing and caring for horses in arizona that could no longer survive on their own. among those saved a foal they've named nikoda. if your group didn't step in, what would have happened? >> they would have died a pretty awful death.

>> reporter: volunteers didn't stop there. for months now, they've been bringing hay to the horses. they pull sleds loaded with up to 100 pounds of forage marching a mile into the desert. >> i know it's only a temporary thing, but it's the least that agriculture department to humanely manage the horses. already the animals are getting healthier. >> it feels good to make a difference, and there's no greater reward than knowing you made a difference. >> reporter: an all-out effort to preserve the calming beauty of the wild west. joe friar, nbc news, mesa, arizona. >> that's "nbc nightly news" for this saturday. kate snow is in tomorrow night in weddings that's becoming a highly viable thing. thank you for the privilege of your time and good night. thing. thank you for the privilege of your time and good night.

. >> welcome to the us bank nbc

sports report. >> three iconic venues. three tradition-rich programs. that is what stands between the irish and a chance for a championship. >> one play at a time. >> after nine games and nine wins over big names. >> touchdown, notre dame. >> with new heroes emerging almost every week,s now a sprint to the finish. >> 97 yards. >> tonight in south bend it is senior night. some players will take the famous walk for the final time and one last time they will come face