NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Monday, January 27, 2025

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

Trump administration steps up immigration enforcement; Justice Department fires federal prosecutors who worked on Trump prosecutions; After California's wildfires, mounting concerns about rebuilding; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, ICE out in force in major U.S. cities. President Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration ramping up. Our senior White House correspondent, Gabe Gutierrez, in Chicago with agents as an operation is underway. Plus, the president's showdown with Columbia over deportations. The new firings at the Department of Justice, multiple officials who helped prosecute Donald Trump, dismissed. Plus, the president's expected executive orders impacting the U.S. military. In the Department of Justice, multiple officials who helped prosecute Donald Trump dismissed, plus the president's expected executive orders impacting the U.S. military. DeepSeek causing deep concern.

China's new artificial intelligence app putting U.S. tech companies on notice and raising new concerns about security for Americans using it. The emotional reunions. Four female Israeli soldiers freed by Hamas. The American hostage who could see freedom soon. And today the Palestinians returning to northern Gaza for the first time in more than a year. The scare in the air why this flight plunged 185 feet, injuring dozens of people on board. What United Airlines is saying.

Is it working? The new details about New York City's congestion pricing, drivers cringing at the cost, but is it going so well? Other major cities could soon join in. And the good news tonight for fans of women's soccer, the major milestone for an American superstar. But you believe it! soccer a major milestone for an American superstar. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome. The Trump administration tonight messaging it will not be deterred in its

mass deportation effort from a showdown with a strong ally over military deportation flights to very public apprehensions in cities across the country. Immigration officials reporting over a thousand migrants were arrested on Sunday in what appears to be a labor-intensive effort they say is focused on tracking down and arresting undocumented immigrants with criminal records, though officials admitting a wide net is capturing some without records. The Trump administration's resolve to keep a key campaign pledge tested over the weekend when Columbia's president refused to allow a U.S. military transport plane carrying deportees

to land, touching off a diplomatic showdown. Our Gabe Gutierrez followed ICE agents as they hit the streets of Chicago as part of the crackdown. Tonight, President Trump's promised crackdown on illegal immigration is underway. We get a firsthand look in Chicago, riding along with ICE agents at dawn. We are putting more resources towards enforcement now. The first stop, an apartment complex. No one answered the door. They're not allowed to go inside. So we're moving on. It can take a team of federal officers hours to make one arrest. I think on this team, we're close to 10. Close to 10. Just going after one suspect. That's a lot of manpower. It is. We're now heading to the northwest part of the city.

Yesterday, they couldn't find one particular 25-year-old from Mexico with a lengthy criminal history. But this morning, a surveillance team has just seen him at work. When we arrive at a tire shop, 25-year-old Christopher Lara is arrested outside. ICE says he has a criminal record, including home invasion and aggravated battery. Agents lead him away in handcuffs. A resident here telling us he supports President Trump's deportations. I don't mind an immigrant, but if they're breaking our laws, they don't need to be here. in handcuffs. A resident here telling us he supports President Trump's deportations. I don't mind an immigrant, but if they're breaking our laws, they don't need to be here.

A senior administration official tells NBC News ICE arrested nearly 1,200 undocumented immigrants on Sunday. Some wanted for assault and armed robbery, but adding only about half had prior criminal records, in addition to being in the country illegally. Do you expect collateral arrests in these operations? Yeah, you know, I definitely expect it to happen. I mean, we have the laws on the books and our officers are out there. Overnight, the president's mass deportation plan leading to a showdown with Colombia. After that, country's president abruptly turned away two U.S. military aircraft with deportees, saying a migrant is not a criminal and should be treated

with the dignity a human being deserves. Trump quickly threatening the country with a 25 percent tariff on all Colombian goods. The country's president backed down, according to the White House, agreeing to all of President Trump's terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of migrants. Back near Chicago, this woman is devastated because her father was arrested this morning. It breaks my heart, she says. And at an ICE processing center, there's Christopher Lara, the man we saw arrested earlier. He denies the charges against him. I went to school my whole life here, from preschool all the way to my senior year. Facing possible deportation

to Mexico, he also says he'd leave behind a five-year-old daughter. He does have serious charges and convictions, so I understand he has a daughter, and that's unfortunate, but we still have a job to do, and we still have to follow the law. And Gabe, just moments ago, President Trump spoke about that showdown with Colombia. Yes, Lester, in a speech to House Republicans just now, he suggested that he'd continue to use that terror threat to try and get countries to take back deportees from the U.S. If they don't, he says, they'll pay a very high economic price, Lester. All right, Gabe, thank you. And late today, multiple Department of Justice officials who prosecuted President Trump were fired by the new administration.

Kelly O'Donnell has late details. Tonight, from his Doral Golf Resort in Miami, a House Republican team meeting. In a single week, I've taken over 350 executive actions. As President Trump asserts his government makeover. I also signed an order to end the weaponization of our government against the American people. New tonight, a number of Department of Justice lawyers fired by the acting attorney general for playing a, quote, significant role in prosecuting President Trump. And new reaction after the president removed more than a dozen inspectors general, the independent watchdogs at agencies. While presidents hire and fire IGs, President Trump failed to provide required 30-day notification to Congress. Mike Ware is one of those dismissed. We're looking at what amounts

to a threat to democracy, a threat to independent oversight. New policies for the Pentagon. According to a White House fact sheet, the orders would reinstate those who were dismissed for refusing the COVID vaccine with full back pay and benefits. Another touts restoring merit and abolishes any remnant of the diversity, equity and inclusion bureaucracy, citing military readiness and order affecting transgender service members would prohibit males from using or sharing facilities designated for females, and ends use of identification-based pronouns. Also new, the White House released in black and white this official portrait of First Lady Melania Trump. Kelly, there's another headline tonight with President Trump's cabinet. That's right. The Senate easily confirmed Treasury Secretary Scott Besant. More controversial figures have their confirmation hearings coming up this week,

including Robert Kennedy, Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard. Lester. Kelly O'Donnell, thank you. Now to a rough day for the markets with NVIDIA losing nearly $600 billion in value, triggered by a major AI advancement in China that U.S. officials are already warning could be a threat to national security. Brian Chung is here. Brian, what do we know about this app? Lester, it's an AI chatbot called DeepSeek, and it's the number one free app on Apple's App Store. Those in the AI space have been impressed by how well it stands up to its American competitors, but it's Wall Street that's shaken by how cheap

its developers say they were able to train it, just $5.6 million. Now, if true, that would be more efficient compared to how much it costs to train ChatGPT and Google's Gemini AI, which were made here in the U.S. last year. Big question for a lot of users. Well, let's have the same national security concerns that we saw with TikTok. Well, it could. DeepSeek's terms of use are governed by China, and it raises serious questions over censorship and guided answers. Now, DeepSeek says it collects users' keystrokes and stores information in Chinese servers, as some lawmakers on Capitol Hill have already expressed concern. And it's a good reminder, by the way, Lester, to never give your personal sensitive information to any AI software. All right, Brian, thank you very much.

Almost three weeks after devastating wildfires destroyed homes in Southern California, shock has given way to frustration for many who just want to rebuild. Liz Kreutz is there. Tonight, as the shock of the Los Angeles fires wears off, for many, the daunting reality is settling in. Overwhelming. And with that, mounting frustrations about the cleanup. After the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently told residents it could take 18 months just to clear the debris before owners even begin to rebuild. That timeline leaving many families in limbo. It's not feasible.

How are people going to live in that timeline? How do people's loss of use cover them when they're still paying their mortgages, when they're now paying rents on top of it? Tonight, the governor says he's cutting the red tape, announcing an executive order waiving permits for the California Coastal Commission. Still, questions remain about the rebuilding timeline, the source of a tense exchange between President Trump and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass during the president's visit to the Palisades burn area Friday. They want to go to work and they're not allowed to do it. And the

most important thing is for people to be safe. They're safe. The mayor vowing to speed up the process. You have emergency powers just like I do and I'm exercising my emergency powers. You have to exercise them also. I did exercise them. Because I looked, I mean you have a very powerful emergency. And if individuals want to clear out their property, they can. But officials still saying it can take up to 10 days to clean out a single property with more than 15,000 destroyed. Everybody's desperate to get back onto their property. Palisades Community Council President hopes public pressure will speed up the process. If they make us jump through the hoops that we normally have to jump through to build a house,

it's going to take a long time. And there's too many houses that need to be built. Liz Kreutz, NBC News, Los Angeles. In the Middle East, an American could be among six more hostages expected to be released by Hamas this week as thousands of Palestinians make their way back to Gaza. Raf Sanchez has late details. Tonight for Israel, hope and fear side by side. Four female Israeli soldiers released from Hamas captivity over the weekend into the waiting arms of their parents after 477 days. And six more hostages slated to be freed this week,

including Arbel Yehud, a civilian, and potentially American Keith Siegel. But also today, a painful reminder. Not every story will end happily. Israel says of the 26 hostages still waiting to be freed in this stage of the deal, eight are already dead. And growing dread over the fate of the youngest hostages, Kafir and Ariel Bibas, along with their mother, Shiri. We spoke to the boys' aunt last week.

What is it like to not know what happened to them? It's paralyzing. Not knowing is so hard that not know what happened to them? It's paralyzing not knowing so hard that sometimes I just want to scream just tell me even if it's the worst thing I just want to know. And starting at dawn Israel finally allowing displaced Palestinian families to return to northern Gaza a river of humanity making its way back. We want to return, this girl says. Return to a Gaza city in ruins. The UN says 90% of houses are damaged or destroyed. But that won't stop the Akila family, who walked 10 miles to be here.

The children tied securely together as they push into the surging crowd, the last leg of the long journey home. And President Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is heading here to Israel on Wednesday. He also says he plans to head to Gaza. Lester. Raf Sanchez, thank you. And in Poland, dozens of Holocaust survivors returning to Auschwitz 80 years after liberation, honoring the roughly six million Jews and others murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators. Jesse Kirsch is there. The world may never see another moment like this.

Eyewitnesses to genocide returning eight decades after they were liberated. Eva Umlauf was too young to remember. But Nazi Germany's unspeakable horrors are embedded in her skin. She was tattooed before her second birthday. You are just a number, but this number is not only on the skin. This is deep. Auschwitz was Hitler's largest extermination camp, a place where roughly 1.1 million were killed. For the rest, their humanity was stripped away.

Often you could see two people sleeping in just one of these beds on these very basic bunks. You could see 700 to 1,000 people crammed into one building. Almost all of those murdered were Jews, most sent immediately to the gas chambers. I held on tightly to my mother's hand in the dark cattle car for countless hours while the cries and the prayers of so many desperate women permeated my soul and haunt me to this day. Tova Friedman arrived here when she was five. At one point, her mother hid her among corpses so she wouldn't be killed. I recall thinking, I will never, I will never let them know how much they are hurting me.

The Nazis tried to hide proof of their crimes, but the evidence is still here. Piles of shoes, glasses, suitcases. These survivors speaking at a time when anti-Semitism is surging. In 2018, 58 percent of Americans thought something like the Holocaust could happen again. Today, 76 percent think it's a possibility. We will never, never, ever allow history to repeat itself. Jesse Kirsch, NBC News, Brzezinka, Poland. A story that must be told. We'll take a break, and in 60 seconds, what caused the terrifying mid-air jolt and plunge of a United Airlines flight. Passengers seriously injured, but we know right after this. Investigators are looking into why a United Airlines flight experienced a sudden jolt over Africa, injuring dozens of passengers

before making an emergency landing. Tom Costello has details. On board United Flight 613 at the aftermath of a terrifying few moments, passengers holding tight to seat backs, the cabin littered with food and personal belongings, ceiling panels damaged and smeared with drink residue. It happened just 90 minutes into the flight from Lagos, Nigeria to Washington as flight attendants were serving passenger meals. Flight Radar 24 shows the Boeing 787 Dreamliner at 36,000 feet over the Ivory Coast when it experienced a sudden jolt, dropping 185 feet, then climbing more than 200 feet. Passengers and flight attendants went flying, some hitting the ceiling and reportedly unconscious. The pilot quickly announced they briefly lost autopilot and navigation

and were returning to Lagos with ambulances waiting. The Nigerian Airports Authority reports six people were seriously injured. Another 32 traded for minor injuries. United tells NBC News the plane returned to Lagos after a technical issue and an unexpected aircraft movement. This could have been something like cruise control in a car that suddenly disconnected and applied the brake. It would provide quite a jolt. The NTSB says it's joined the investigation into what happened. Meanwhile, United says it paid for passenger hotels and meals back in Lagos

before another plane could take passengers to D.C. The 787 involved remains grounded in Nigeria. Lester. All right, Tom, thank you. Up next, the surprising early results of New York's congestion pricing program. Will other American cities follow the lead? Here in New York, the initial results are in the country's first congestion pricing plan, charging drivers for entering the most crowded part of the city appears to have reduced traffic. Will other cities now follow? Here's Sam Brock.

New York's notorious for its traffic, but on this Monday, a pleasant surprise. Traffic is way down, way down. After a congestion pricing plan revved up earlier this month, charging most drivers $9 to enter this section of Manhattan. People are saving 10, 20, 30, 40 minutes on their commutes getting in and out of the city. The city's transportation chair points to a before and after of this normally jammed road to get to Brooklyn around 6 p.m. and to improved morning commute time since the change. Drivers taking the tunnel from Queens into Manhattan saw a 15 percent drop between 7

and 10 a.m. and the two major tunnels connecting New Jersey to the city saw 17 and 48 percent drops. I kind of like how the traffic has reduced, but I think the prices are kind of insane. These are the toll readers. Aaron Gordon in Bloomberg News posted cameras at one corner before and after congestion pricing. They found no change in commercial or for hire cars. Personal vehicles, though, did drop. But Gordon says it doesn't appear to disproportionately impact one income group or another. There wasn't much of a change at all, either in the share of expensive cars or in the share of, you know, median cars or in the share of cheaper cars. The city says this plan has cut traffic accidents in half, so the streets are safer.

The question is, how adaptable is this plan to other major U.S. metros? We're hearing from cities all over the country about how we did it. We have much greater density than any other place in the United States, but we have a great transit system. While no two cities are the same, a possible springboard for an issue that affects millions every day. Sam Brock, NBC News, New York. When we come back, there's good news tonight about a Team USA women's soccer player's million-dollar moves. Finally, there's good news tonight about hard work really paying off and another barrier shattered in women's sports.

Here's Steve Patterson. It's a moment that's more than a new player being introduced to fans for the first time. This is a moment history was made. Defended by Girma. Naomi Girma becoming the first ever million dollar women's soccer player. Great ball in.

By taking her talents across the pond to play for the storied Chelsea Football Club. A milestone reached in men's soccer decades ago. Girma calling the move an easy choice. I didn't know this would be possible for me. And yeah, I'm just so grateful to have this opportunity. She's been a dominant force in U.S. soccer, spending the last two years in the National Women's Soccer League

and leading the U.S. Olympic team to gold medal glory in Paris. Girma's coach calling her the best defender I've ever seen. She started playing soccer at a club in San Jose created by her dad, an Ethiopian immigrant who saw the sport as a way to bring their community together. We caught up with Girma last year before the Olympics. She brought us to her favorite Ethiopian restaurant and reflected on the type of player she hopes to be. I would just want to be someone who left their mark, I would hope, in a positive way and helped people feel included, felt like they

belonged in the soccer world and, yeah, in sports in general. Today, Chelsea posting a letter Girma wrote to her future self. Keep challenging yourself, it says. Keep holding yourself to a high standard. And most importantly, make sure you enjoy it all. As you know, that's when we produce our best. Steve Patterson, NBC News. And that is nightly news for this Monday.

Thank you for watching. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night.