i'm contessa brewer. the story took the country by storm. an unsuspecting teen lured to a house of horror while two teenage boys stand as lookouts. the girl is badly beaten. but if that isn't terrifying enough, the attackers videotaped the assault, hoping to post it on the internet for their 15 minutes of fame. well, they got fame all right, and some may even get a jail sentence to go with it. this is what the world saw, 16-year-old victoria lindsey, or tori, as her friends called her, being punched, kicked and cursed at in the home of her friend, mercedes nichols. >> ooh, yeah, baby. ooh, yeah. >> the beating is an ambush. tori had spent a week at nichols' place in lakeland, florida, because she allegedly is having problems at home. so why would mercedes and five other girls turn so viciously on tori? polk county sheriff grady judd. >> this all erupted as a result of our victim supposedly trash talking these other girls on her myspace account and through text messages. >> you can hear one of the girls talking about the myspace messages. >>

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera."

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." u.s. troops in the wars in iraq and afghanistan have had some of the most high-tech fighting gear but they've also brought something else to the battlefield like never before. their cameras. the images captured have changed the way people back home see and hear what the troops are going through, thousands of miles away. a terrifying ied attack. >> combat patrolling at that time was hours upon hours of complete boredom punctuated by single moments of sheer terror. >> in the wars in iraq and afghanistan, by far the most common and deadly weapon against u.s. troops has been the improvised explosive device or ied. also known as roadside bombs, ieds have claimed the lives of 65% of all u.s. casualties in both wars. >> the improvised bomb is the signature weapon of both the iraq and of the afghanistan war. it's the number one killer of soldiers. it's the number one weapon of insurgents. they're also scary as hell. >> whoa! holy -- >> sometimes the difference b

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." have your friends ever e-mailed you a video that's so funny, so unique, or so completely absurd that you felt like you have to send it to everyone you know? if you've pressed "send," you've had a hand in spreading a viral video. it's not big budgets or great production values that make these videos so compelling. in this hour you'll see some of the most watched viral videos. each video has more than a million hits online. but why? you be the judge. ketchup and fries make a great snack, but can they make a work of art? using about ten packets of ketchup and a carton of fries, artist jason baalman proves, well, yes, they can. >> when i first saw it, i watched it a few times. i couldn't believe that it was real. >> it was very impressive and edible. >> in march 2007 jason posed a time-lapsed video on youtube, which shows him using french fries and ketchup to paint a picture of mcdonald's icon ronald mcdonald and "super size me" filmmaker morgan spurlock. >> this guy basically takes bags

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." it's the stuff of nightmares. you're on a plane, in a car or on a boat when suddenly you find yourself in a terrifying life or death situation. in this hour, you'll meet people who face their biggest fears and lived to tell the tale. their stories are real, and they're all caught on camera. just minutes after takeoff from burbank, california, the crew of jetblue flight 292 discovers a problem and prepares for an emergency landing. >> brace, brace, brace. >> a terrified passenger films the entire ordeal and records what could be his final good-byes. >> just thought i'd leave a message just in case that i love you. >> normally dave is a light-hearted guy, a comedian from southern california. >> you were filling the gas tank you would never leave. >> but on september 21st, 2005, he's in no mood for a long cross-country flight to new york. >> i woke up early and i woke up tired because my girlfriend and i had been in a big argument the night before. >> i dro

i'm contessa brewer. in this hour you'll see the most incredible video of collisions and meet survivors who were lucky to walk away alive. you might envision a racetrack or highway. but in our first story the scene of the accident is about the last place you would expect. imagine you're sitting outside your home enjoying a quiet family barbecue when a military plane swoops in and explodes in your backyard. it's a sunday picnic one family will never forget. air shows, exciting displays of the best in flight, held all around the world. a showcase of the rare and classic. an exhibit of thrilling tricks and intricate maneuvers. but at 10,000 feet, even the smallest mishap can result in disaster. september 1997, mark mcdonald and his family are visiting relatives in essex, maryland. nearby, hundreds gather on a warm, sunny day to watch the chesapeake air show. >> i was aware of the air show, and they did have quite a few planes that came in and made some very low fly-bys as they were making their landings. i c

i'm contessa brewer. bad behavior can sometimes seem like an epidemic, from road rage to bullying over the internet to fist fights on reality tv. our first video is a prime example of bad behavior. a mob erupts in violence, and not out of anger or frustration, but to celebrate the home team's victory. >> mayhem in the streets of los angeles. june 2010. 19-year-old student and part-time graphic designer jun gatuna ducks into a downtown bar to watch the last moments of the nba finals. the los angeles lakers versus the boston celtics. >> i just wanted to see what was going on, see if the lakers won or not. and if they did win, i just wanted to see how the victory celebration went. >> we won, baby! >> the final score, lakers 83, celtics 79. in game seven, the lakers clinched the title, and gatuna heads toward the arena. >> the atmosphere was very energetic. a lot of people were shouting celtics suck, lakers won, lakers won. i headed to staples center because i heard from a lot of friends that that's where a l

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." each year fire kills more americans than all natural disasters combined, and yet we may not think about the things that surround us as potential threats. gas lines, tanker trucks and even the electrical wiring in your car. when you least expect it, a fire can happen. and when it happens on a large scale, whole neighborhoods can go up in flames. a massive explosion turns a california town into hell on earth. >> what the -- is that? >> what the -- is that? >> september 9th, 2010, it's just another quiet summer evening in the san francisco suburb of san bruno. but then at 6:11 p.m., disaster strikes. this gas station surveillance camera records the edge of a massive explosion a quarter mile away that rips through the neighborhood. startled drivers abandon the pumps and begin to drive away. a woman flees, clinging to her baby. >>> residents grab their cameras and begin filming seconds after the blast. >> holy -- holy -- holy --! what the -- is that? holy --!

i'm contessa brewer. highway patrol officers know to expect the unexpected whenever they stop a vehicle. our first story pits an armed felony suspect against u.s. border patrol agents. the tense situation at the mexican border grows worse when officers make a crucial discovery about who else is in the car. a burglary suspect speeds toward the mexican border with a 1-year-old child as a hostage. >> he was holding the baby to his chest and the knife to the baby's neck. he told me they were not going to get him alive. >> one lane, 89 miles an hour. >> monday morning, april 20, 1998. a car tears down interstate 5 south of los angeles, hitting speeds up to 95 miles per hour. >> okay. they're passing eltoro now. >> as it hurdles toward the sex mexican border, officials get a heads-up. >> we got a phone call probably from the california highway patrol letting us know there was a southbound pursuit. >> probably heading for the border. >> the suspect, eddie price, is fleeing from l.a. police who tried to arrest hi

i'm contessa brewer. when people commit violent crimes, they put themselves and others in serious danger. the outcome is never certain, and police officers who respond are faced with the tough challenge of dealing with a threat while protecting the lives of innocent bystanders, often caught in the middle. a bank robber walks out after a heist, thinking he's scot-free and is instantly blind-sided by an undercover police officer. the officer comes out of nowhere, and the dramatic takedown is over in seconds. the boy's identity is obscured because of his age. the police officer's because he's undercover. the incident begins nearly an hour earlier on a cold, snowy morning in toronto, canada. a 16-year-old boy walks into a bank on february 26, 2008. he says he has a gun and demands $150,000. well trained bank employees take their time, complying with the robber's demands and alert authorities by silent alarm. the city's emergency tactical force responds. sharpshooters take up positions outside the bank and out

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." the courtroom has been a police for high drama. it is the suspenseful, long-awaited scene in so many movies, novels and television shows. but this next hour is not about the fictional courtroom. it's about the real one, whether it's the victim's family coming face-to-face with a family who threatened a beloved family member, a suspect who grabs a deputy's gun or a man who tries to escape. you will witness reactions that aren't scripted or rehearsed. chaos erupts in an ohio courtroom. >> i was shocked. i couldn't believe this was happen-ing right in front of me. >> it's november 16th, 2006, warren, ohio, a small town, two hours northeast of columbus. 24-year-old jason howard is about to be charged with aggravated murder for killing a man and shooting at two others. but it's the family of a victim in another murder case that suddenly charges into the courtroom in a raw and emotional outburst. five months earlier, howard's ex-girlfriend, jamiel west and her

i'm contessa brewer. these types of incidents can be scary enough to make you feel like your heart is skipping a beat. our first video is a heart stopping moment when a young girl goes into cardiac failure at a texas middle school and it's all caught on camera. it's a normal school day until a 12-year-old girl's heart suddenly stops beating. >> first thing i thought, scary. very scary. because i didn't know what i was looking at. >> september 26th, 2011, frisco, texas. kylie shea is walking the hallways with her friends when she suddenly has trouble breathing. attempting to sit down, she collapses and it's all caught on a time lapse security camera. kylie's friends run for help and the first person they see is phys ed coach and she has no idea what a dramatic turn her day is about to take. >> just a normal day. we just got through with p.e. and two girls came running in and said kylie is having a seizure come quick. i just took off as quick as i could. as soon as i got to her i could tell it wasn't a seiz

i'm contessa brewer. you're in a life-or-death situation and you can't help yourself. often survival depends not just on luck but also on the heroic acts of another person. they might be trained rescue professionals or simply bystanders tapping into courage they never knew they had. watch what happens when a helicopter crashes into a remote pineapple field pinning the pilot. a helicopter out of control. one man is frantically trying to save another man's life. it will take near superhuman strength, but warren ameral refuses to let his friend steve die, not here and not now. >> you know, you see your friend there. if you're not going to do nothing, you're going the lose your friend. so i asked the man upstairs to help me. >> warren, affectionately known to his friends as tiny because of his size, needs the help especially for what he is about to attempt. steve is in a ditch, unconscious, underwater, and his legs are pinned down by the weight of the chopper. it seems impossible, but tiny will somehow have t

i'm contessa brewer. rarely in a murder trial do you have the kind of evidence you're about to see. a killing captured on six seconds of videotape. no one who witnessed it could believe their eyes, nor would they be able to forget it, but would the videotape send a man to prison or help him get away with murder? we warn you, some of the video you're about to see is graphic and hard to watch. >> a professional photographer, haunted by the image he captured on camera. >> you go out and do stories and you have to wonder, is it going to happen again? >> the tragic story begins thanksgiving morning, 1992, in a little house in ft. lauderdale, florida. a 15-year-old girl named yolanda nunez commits suicide with her mother's gun. in a note she writes she's pregnant and writes that if her mother found out about it, she would never approve. it intensifies a hatred between emilio, the girls'f father, and the girl's mother. emilio blames maritza for yolanda's suicide. and wants to have her charged with the young girl

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." have your friends ever e-mailed you a video that's so funny, so unique, or so completely absurd that you felt like you have to send it to everyone you know? if you've pressed "send," you've had a hand in spreading a viral video. it's not big budgets or great production values that make these videos so compelling. in this hour you'll see some of the most watched viral videos. each video has more than a million hits online. but why? you be the judge. ketchup and fries make a great snack, but can they make a work of art? using about ten packets of ketchup and a carton of fries, artist jason baalman proves, well, yes, they can. >> when i first saw it, i watched it a few times. i couldn't believe that it was real. >> it was very impressive and edible. >> in march 2007 jason posed a time-lapsed video on youtube, which shows him using french fries and ketchup to paint a picture of mcdonald's icon ronald mcdonald and "super size me" filmmaker morgan spurlock. >>

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." fasten your seat belts. in this hour we'll be going on wild rides with men and women who never expected to find themselves in such dire situations, facing some daunting questions. will they have the strength to hold on? the will to survive? and the luck to be saved? a whitewater raft capsizes in class five rapids, leaving one woman struggling for survival in the raging water. >> let go of the boat! >> when she sucked down and disappears under the raft, i am petrified. >> burnt ranch gorge on the trinity river in northern california is a challenge to the most accomplished whitewater rafter. and commercial river guide john lane is just that, an expert with more than 20 years experience. >> there are days that you just feel invincible, your crew is firing on all cylinders. every once in a while, you get this feeling that things just aren't happening right or maybe there's just something inside you that worries a little bit. >> on this date, it's not a comme

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." the courtroom has always been a place for high drama. it's the suspenseful, long awaited scene in so many movies, novels and television shows. this next hour is not about the fictional courtroom. it's about the real one. whether it's a victim's family coming face to face with a family who threatened a beloved family member, a suspect who grabs a deputy's gun or a man who tries to escape. you will witness reactions that aren't scripted or rehearsed. chaos erupts in an ohio courtroom. >> i was shocked. i couldn't believe this was happening right in front of me. >> it's november 16th, 2006, warren, ohio, a small town, two hours northeast of columbus. 24-year-old jason howard is about to be charged with aggravated murder for killing a man and shooting at two others. but it's the family of the victim in another murder case that suddenly charges into the courtroom in a raw and emotional outburst. five months earlier, howard's ex-girlfriend, jamiel west and her

i'm contessa brewer >> i'm milissa rehberger. deadly tornados hit the mefd and we have four confirmed

i'm contessa brewer. that's it for this edition of "caught on camera >>> a cruise liner is sinking. >> my job is to rock and roll and not to rescue. >> almost 600 lives hang in the balance, and the captain is nowhere to be found. >> i was saying mayday, mayday, we're sinking. and he was saying, what rank are you? i said i'm not actually a rank. i'm a guitarist. >>> five kids plunge into frigid waters. >> if you don't do your job the best that you were trained with no hesitation, a child will die. >>> a baby falls into a well. >> you just wanted to reach down and pull them out of the ground. excuse me. >>> lives on the line. >> police. >> these are the passengers of the airplane that are caught in the power line. >> cameras recording all the drama. >> screaming for oxygen and an ambulance and rope. >> amazing tales of survival. >> i knew that there's no way i was going to make it to the surface in time to get a breath. >> "caught on camera: close encounters with death." >>> when life hangs in the balance,

i'm contessa brewer. brian bates and jimmy justice use their video cameras out in plain sight, looking for that big "gotcha" moment. but the savvy woman you're about to meet never wanted to catch anything like that. and hers is a very personal story. jackie taylor installed a security system, so-called granny cams, in her house, when her elderly father became bedridden. the cameras were meant to give her peace of mind. but what they recorded did anything but that. 90-year-old john taylor, a stroke victim, lies defenseless, as his nurse repeatedly beats him over and over again. >> she just was angry right from the beginning, shaking her finger at him, pounding him in the chest and his stomach. >> john's daughter, jackie, catches it all on a security camera, she installed on her home to be her eyes and her ears while she's away. this was a woman she trusted. a woman she considered a friend. >> she would say, jackie, you're like a daughter to me. you know, mother's day, i bought her flowers, things of that n

i'm contessa brewer. >> ooh, yeah, baby, ooh, yeah. >>> i'm melissa ray ber ger. violent storms have proven deadly in the midwest. two confirmed deaths in illinois after 11 tornados touched down. bill karens

i'm contessa brewer. brian bates and jimmy justice use their video cameras out in plain sight, looking for that big "gotcha" moment. but the savvy woman you're about to meet never wanted to catch anything like that. and hers is a very personal story. jackie taylor installed a security system, so-called granny cams, in her house, when her elderly father became bedridden. the cameras were meant to give her peace of mind. but what they recorded did anything but that. 90-year-old john taylor, a stroke victim, lies defenseless, as his nurse repeatedly beats him over and over again. >> she just was angry right from the beginning, shaking her finger at him, pounding him in the chest and his stomach. >> john's daughter, jackie, catches it all on a security camera, she installed in her home to be her eyes and her ears while she's away. this was a woman she trusted. a woman she considered a friend. >> she would say, jackie, you're like a daughter to me. you know, mother's day, i bought her flowers, things of that n

i'm contessa brewer. how well do you think you know yourself? in this show, we pose the question, what would you do? in situations that are confusing, dangerous, and even life threatening. some present ethical questions. some are questions of judgment. and others are uncomfortable. but briefly put yourself in the place of the people in these stories and ask yourself, did they make the right choice? and what would you decide? a car with its hazards on runs a red light and pulls into this hospital parking lot. with police in hot pursuit. the driver is nfl running back brian moats. earlier that evening, his wife gets an urgent phone call from a nurse telling them to come to the hospital. her mother, sick with cancer, is very close to death. >> get in there. get in there. let me see your hands. >> excuse me. my mom -- >> get in there. put your hands on the car. >> his mom is dying. >> officer robert powell gets out of his car, gun drawn, as she tries to explain. >> his mom is dying. >> do you understand? >> as i turned around, he has a gun pointed a

i'm contessa brewer. that's it for this edition of "caught on camera." >>> i'm milissa rehberger following breaking news. deadly storms pounded the midwest with illinois taking the hardest hit. at least four people dead in that state, a few dozen injured and scores of homes in washington are leveled. nbc meteorologist bill karens joins me with the latest tonight. >> as you mentioned, it's been a deadly day. these storms continue to race across the ohio valley. the worst of the storms were earlier. we haven't had new tornado reports in about two or three hours. that's the good news. the bad news is the wind reports are piling up. now 372 reports of high winds or damaging winds. that's the blue dots. notice the tornadoes. 77 reported tornadoes. many of them o couple hours ago, especially illinois and indiana hit the hardest. the wind reports are flying across the state. we have one tornado warning in areas of central ohio just to the northeast of columbus. mostly a rural area. just to the east of interstate

i'm contessa brewer. that's all for this heart-stopping edition of "caught on camera." >>> you never know when a moment could be your last. >> they very dangerously waved their weapons around and showed signs that they would use them. >> at any time -- >> you better get someone here. this dude is crazy. ah! >> -- a calm day can turn chilling. >> his head went under three times then people start falling through. just couldn't believe it was still happening. >> out of control. >> i saw terror on my baby's face, and i saw him fly back. >> terrifying. >> she was pleading that she didn't want to die. >> and life threatening. >> oh. [ muted ] >> hey, chloe. >> i really didn't think we were going to get to her in time. >> "caught on camera: in peril." >> there's a semi blocking. >> when a car accelerator jams on the highway, the race to save the driver's life is recorded on a state trooper's dashcam came. and in a desperate 911 call. >> please. oh, my god. i'm scared to death. >> it started to get a little nerve