Nightly news begins right now. Good evening. The surprise criminal indictment of the once powerful speaker of the house, Dennis Hastert, on charges he lied about paying hush money to someone in his past glaringly left out the answer to the question so many were immediately asking what was that money supposedly buying . Tonight we may know the answer. Federal Law Enforcement sources are telling nbc news the payments relate to hasterts days as an illinois schoolteacher and coach and Sexual Misconduct with a student. Our justice correspondent Pete Williams has been digging into the story and has more for us. Hello, pete. Reporter lester the public charges against hastert whos the longest serving Republican House speaker, say only that he engaged in misconduct years before. But tonight, Law Enforcement officials describe it as sexual in nature with a Male High School student. No sign of Dennis Hastert today at his home in plana about an hours drive west of chicago. In nearby yorkville where hastert was a teach r and coach, strong support and disbelief. I would prefer to have never known that anything like this went on. Reporter a federal indictment says hastert agreed to pay someone from yorkville 3. 5 million to conceal whats cryptically a described only as past misconduct. The charges dont say what hasterts past misconduct was or who the person is referred to in Court Documents as individual a. But the indictment strongly suggests that the incident happened while he was a teacher at Yorkville High School from 1975 to 1981. And today Law Enforcement officials tell nbc news the payments were to a man and the misconduct was of a sexual nature while the man was a student. The Yorkville School district says it has no knowledge of his alleged misconduct and nor has any individual contacted the district to report such misconduct. Today, former coaches hastert worked with and students he coached were coming to his defense. Gary matlock was hasterts first state champion wrestler. The gentleman was a super professional as a teacher, as a coach as a human being. I would refer to him as my second father. Reporter anthony hule was hasterts assistant coach. There isnt anything that happened in the six years that i worked with denny that would ever make me believe that there was anything improper. Reporter prosecutors say hastert has withdrawn 1. 7 million from four of his banks to make the payments but cut back on the size of the withdrawals to illegally evade Bank Transaction rules. Former Congressional Colleagues express surprise at the charges. Both republicans and democrats. Its surprising i think that would be a universal response. And of course remains to be seen what comes forth now. But its very sad for him and sad really for the congress. Reporter theres been no comment from Dennis Hastert or his lawyer since the charges were revealed more than 24 hours ago. Because the Sexual Conduct happened so long ago, it cannot be prosecuted. The statute of limitations has long since expired. Pete williams, thanks. Lets turn to chuck todd our moderator of meet the press. Sometimes things are whispered, rumored. Who are you hearing in washington about all this . I talked to multiple colleagues, people very close to Dennis Hastert when he was in Congress Many of his congressional lieutenants, a bunch of his former staffers. I can tell you they all said collectively not a whiff. I had one said you could have knocked me over with a feather when you found out about it. They said the whole reason the guy was picked to be speaker by his republican colleagues was they were scandalplagued at the moment and he was considered the opposite of the group. I can tell you this this only adds to this long list of illinois politicians that have gotten into trouble over the years. But it really is a stain on congress. I had one say to me you know people sit there and say the place is filled with crooks and creeps. I want to say its not. But if Dennis Hastert turns out to be a crook and a creep, maybe the whole place really is. Chuck todd, thank you so much. I know youll have more on this on meet the press. See you sunday morning. Now to the deadly unrelenting downpour in texas where a state of disaster has been declared in 70 counties. Hundreds had to be rescued over the last 24 hours. Today the dallas area got some of the worst with it with officials saying a large portion of highway will close for a week due to flooding and the rain. It just wont stop with more storms firing up across the south tonight. Our Janet Shamlian has more from dallas. Reporter texas lashed again, this time dallas was hardest hit. Pounding rains flooded roads and brought the morning rush hour to a standstill. A portion of a highway now closed for up to seven days. More than 7 inches of rain slammed the area. More than 200 people needed emergency rescues, after flash flooding submerged cars. Even a tow truck driver who came to help others was stuck. The water shut my truck down and the water started rising immediately. Reporter north of dallas a Police Officer had to be airlifted out after raging floodwaters surrounded his squad car. Near houston, a triple threat. Waters rising on three different rivers. Several homes under water. You dont know what to do because you see it and its right there at your backyard. Reporter more than 35 trillion gallons of rain have fallen in texas in may, its rainiest month ever. Thats enough to cover all of texas in 8 inches of water. At some homes in hardhit wimberly mud covers nearly every surface. At Judy Thompsons house today, a big find today. Her husbands wedding ring. Floodwater ps may be toxic and snakes have washed up in some residential areas. Theres all kinds of things in the water. Reporter flooding also forcing several oklahoma highways to close. With storms predicted for this weekend residents are struggling to deal with more rain than theyve seen in years. The death toll from these storms now stands at 27. 13 people are still missing here in texas. And in whorton, south of houston, calls for a mandatory evacuation of some 400 homes as the Colorado River continues to rise. Lester . Janet shamlian in dallas, thank you. Now to the investigation tonight into several dangerous scares in the skies. Authorities looking for whoever targeted up to half a dozen commercial planes with a laser last night. Nearly blinding the pilots. This despite urgent warnings from the feds for people to stop doing this before something terrible happens. Heres nbcs tom costello. Reporter it happened at 9 30 p. M. Thursday. A commuter flight crew flying out of new yorks jfk airport. Theres somebody out just to the left side of the airplane shininggreen lasers. Reporter a few minutes later, it was an American Airlines flight headed to l. A. Looks like it was in a neighborhood in that area. We got struck about three or four times. Reporter and then delta flights to buffalo and boston delta 2292, left side or right side of the aircraft . We actually have a Police Helicopter underneath you. Im not looking down at it. But its lighting up the inside of the windshield. Reporter four to six flights hit in just a few years. Hes aiming it right at me right now. Hes directly south of me about one mile. Reporter nationwide, the faa says lasers are targeting planes roughly 12 times each day. In florida, a Police Helicopter was lit up leading to a chase and arrest. The green laser can flood dark cockpits with blinding light. Its happened to commercial pilot Robert Hamilton five times. As a pilot, there is no more critical tool that i have than my sight. And to lose that at one of the most critical moments of flight is a very serious safety issue. Its reckless behavior, frankly. It endangers a lot of people. Reporter Authorities Say its usually teenagers and young men pointing the lasers at planes unaware its illegal with penalties of up to 20 years in prison and a 250,000 fine. Tom costello nbc news washington. Tonight, the clock is ticking on the patriot act. Unless the Senate Takes Action in a rare weekend session, key and controversial parts of the law will expire at the stroke of mid sunday. Our White House CorrespondentKristen Welker joins us now. The pressure is on here. Reporter thats right, lester. So much praer so much pressure that the senates been called back from its vacation to get this done by sunday. And the white house ramping up pressure on congress. President obama said its critical to fighting terrorists and protecting national security. Heaven forbid weve got a problem where we could have prevented a terrorist attack or apprehended someone who was engaged in dangerous activity but we didnt do so simply because of inaction in the senate. Reporter but opponents like republican president ial candidate senator rand paul say the legislation violates civil liberties. The main sticking point, the provision that allows the nsa to sweep up details on the phone records of millions of americans famously exposed by edward snowden. Even if the Senate Reaches a compromise by midnight sunday the house is not in session until monday which means its very possible the program could shut down for at least a few hours. Lester . Kristen welker at the white house, thank you. A big announcement today from the white house and even though it was expected its nonetheless stunning after more than 30 years. Today, the u. S. Formally removed cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism. It comes as the two countries are trying to reestablish diplomatic relations after decades of tension. Todays announcement was roundly criticized by republicans with House Speaker john boehner saying it gives the castro regime quote, a significant political win in return for nothing. The organization that oversees professional soccer around the world may be facing the biggest scandal in its history including top officers charged with week with bribery, kickbacks and money laundering. But theyre controversial president was reelected are today, sepp blatter, to another fouryear term. Blatter said he wanted to fix the organization which he has run for 17 years. We have a lot more to tell you about on this friday night. Still ahead, chasing great white sharks. Come into the water with us see for yourself how much closer theyre getting to shore. And one of our favorite annual traditions around here. Some of the best advice for the class of 2015. Our salute to the graduates st every Auto Insurance policy has a number. But not every Insurance Company understands the life behind it. Those who have served our nation have earned the very best service in return. Usaa. We know what it means to serve. Get an Auto Insurance quote and see why 92 of our members plan to stay for life. Who. Is this . hi, i am heinz new mustard. Hi na na na na shes just jealous because you have better taste. Whatever. Hey. Keep your chin up. For years, heinz ketchup has been with the wrong mustard. Well, not anymore. Introducing heinz new better tasting yellow mustard. Mmm fact. Advil is not only strong its gentle on your body too. No wonder doctors and patients have trusted advil. For their tough pains for over 30 years. Relief doesnt get any better than this. Advil. Listen up. Im reworking the menu. Veggies youre cool. Mayo, corn dogs. You are so out of here ahh. The complete balanced nutrition of great tasting ensure. With nine grams of protein. And 26 vitamins and minerals. And now with. Twice as much vitamin d. Which up to 90 of people dont get enough of. Ohhhhhhh. The sunshine vitamin ensure now has 2x more vitamin d to support strong bones. Ensure. Take life in. One of the foots favorite rituals happens at the waters edge. Here, they must look their best. Smooth, Beautiful Skin is an advantage. The others can only hide in shame. Introducing the new dr. Scholls dreamwalk express pedi. When eating healthy and Drinking Water just isnt enough to ease my constipation i trust dulcolax tablets. I take dulcolax for dependable overnight relief and in the morning i am back to myself dulcolax, designed for dependable relief hard to believe its been 40 years since jaws hit the big screen and stoked our fears about whats lurking in the water. Great white sharks. And only now all these years later are we learning just how close theyre actually getting to shore and just how often. Nbcs Kerry Sanders is in the water. Reporter off the coast of cape cod, scientists began tagging great white sharks three years ago. Naming them too, including mary lee the shark is named katherine. Reporter and katherine. Whats going on there . Its counterintuitive. And now the real science emerging has researchers excited. Katherine right now is shes right there in that Little Orange dot. Reporter since katherine began transmitting, shes traveled more than 13,000 miles. Mary lee, an astonishing 20,000plus miles. The routes they swim look like a plate of spaghetti. And more often than anyone realized theyre very close to the east coast shoreline. Sometimes within 20 yards. Yet Scientists Say they cannot predict where a great white is going next. They do however, have a theory as to why sharks females in particular are like tourists coming to these warm waters off the coast of florida. The 80degree temperatures are good for their pregnancies. Today off the coast of jupiter, florida, we are looking for a great white. We encountered 20 bull sharks but no great white. Theyre out there, as spear fisherman gray shepard, found out off the florida coast. We have our monster, our boogieeymen boogeymen. And great white is definitely one of them. That particular boogie boogeyman has proven to be real. Reporter real and closer than any of us ever knew. Kerry sanders, nbc news, jupiter, florida. Up next tonight, we want to show you some spectacular views we havent seen in a long long time. A triumphant return to the top at the w i have type 2 diabetes. I started with pills. And now i take a longacting insulin at night. I take mine in the morning. I was trying to eat right, stay active. But i wasnt reaching my a1c goal anymore. Man my doctor says diabetes changes over time. It gets harder to control blood sugar spikes after i eat and get to goal. My doctor added novolog® at mealtime for additional control. Now i know. Novolog® is a fastacting, injectable insulin and it works together with my longacting insulin. Proven effective. The mealtime insulin doctors prescribe most. Available in flexpen®. Vo novolog® is used to control high blood sugar in adults and children with diabetes. Take novolog® as directed. Eat a meal within 5 to 10 minutes after injection. Check your blood sugar levels. Do not take novolog® if your bloogar is too low or youre allergic to any of its ingredients. Tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medicines you take. Ask your doctor about alcohol use, operating machinery, or driving. The most common side effect is low blood sugar. Symptoms may include dizziness, sweating, confusion, and headache. Severe low blood sugar can be lifethreatening. Other common side effects include low potassium in your blood and injection site reactions. Get medical help right away if you experience trouble with breathing serious allergic reactions like swelling of your face tongue, or throat, sweating, extreme drowsiness dizziness, or confusion. Now i know about novolog®. Taken by millions since 2001. Vo ask your Health Care Provider about adding novolog®. It can help provide the additional control you may need. Theres a more enjoyable way to get your fiber. Try phillips fiber good gummies plus energy support. Its a new fiber supplement that helps support regularity and includes b vitamins to help convert food to energy. Mmmmm, these are good nice work, phillips the tasty side of fiber, from phillips. Guys, its just the two of you. The setting is just right. But heres the thing, about half of men over 40 have some degree of erectile dysfunction. Well, viagra helps guys with ed get and keep an erection. And you only take it when you need it. Ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. Do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. Side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach and abnormal vision. To avoid longterm injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. Stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. Ask your doctor about viagra. Its been a Long Time Coming but today the Observation Deck atop one World Trade Center was opened to the public. Its now back as a breathtaking tribute to the american spirit rising again to the greatest height. Nbcs rehema ellis takes us to the top. Reporter after 14 years rebuilding what terrorists took away, the spectacular views are back. One world observatory had the highest view in the western hemisphere. On a clear day, you can see 50 miles away. Wendy Wendy Wendy Wendy wendy came from jupiter, florida. She wants her children to understand what this experience means. Your children werent even born on 9 11. Any thoughts of the world then and the world now . I think its a different place now. And i think it shows power and strength. Reporter riding the elevator to the observatory is stunning. You travel 102 floors almost a quarter of a mile in just 47 seconds. And along the way, a virtual time lapse recreating the development of new york city over the past 500 years. This was our pearl harbor. The view is amazing. Literally no other view like that in the u. S. Reporter in this building under this cloudless sky, america seems on top of the world. Rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. What a great moment. When we come back words of wisdom for the class of 2015 from some of the best commencement s great job k. Now lets get ready for the ball. Here it comes. Here you go. Good catch perfect alright, now for the best part. Lets see your pour. Ooo. Lets get those in the bowl these are way to good to waste right . ohhhh. Yeah testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. Testing. This is a captions test. We end tonight with one of our timehonored traditions here at nightly news. A salute to the College Graduates embarking on the next chapter of life and some of the best pieces of advices that will graduates have received at ceremonies all over the nation. It is my responsibility as a Commencement Speaker to prepare you for what awaits you in the future. Here it is. No one has any idea whats going to happen. If you havent found a job or decided on a career path yet, dont freak out. But do from this day before open yourself up to possibilities you might never have considered. Life is a long, bumpy road. That makes for an exciting ride. Choose a direction and if the road turns, turn. Do not be afraid to be disgruntled. Find new ways to do things. And do not run from big and bold challenges. Find your north star. And that means choices. Some are easy. Some are hard. And some will make you question everything. Even if youre nervous or unsure about what path to take in the years ahead, i want you to realize that youve got everything you need right now to succeed. Youve got it. Graduates, you made it. And youre [ bleep ]. Think about that. The graduates from the college of nursing, they all have jobs. The graduates from the college of dentistry, fully employed. The proud graduates of the ny school of law, theyre covered. And if theyre not, who cares . Theyre lawyers. Hold on to your old friends. Kiss your momma. Dont beat yourself up if you dont know what youre going to do tomorrow. But work hard and dont be lazy. And put away your damn iphone once in a while. Dont let anyone define your passion for you because of your gender or the color of your skin. The proudest people here wont be collecting degrees and maybe the parents of this class are thinking of another time when your milestones in life were well a little less ceremonious than today. Things like standing up the first time or starting to read books instead of just chewing on them. It doesnt always feel that way to parents. But they must have done a lot of things right. As a sailor i see graduation as akin to getting off a boat that is taking you on an amazing voyage. And then suddenly one day you arrive in the next port full of mysteries to be explored and the captain reminds you that this is where you get off. Were the glass of 2015. 2015 congratulations to the class of 2015 and all the moms dads and loved ones who got them there. And a by thanks to producer and editor for all their hard work putting those moments together for us. We enjoy it every year. Thats going to do it for us on this friday night. Im lester holt. For all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good nigh