NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Sunday, February 9, 2025

Episode Date: February 10, 2025

At least a dozen injured in Pennsylvania explosion; Winter storms batter the Northeast and Midwest; President Trump gives interview ahead of the Super Bowl; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, the explosion at an industrial plant in Pennsylvania and the desperate race to contain the fire. The plant, look at this, surrounded by flames. Firefighters and workers hurt the moment the explosion happened, caught on camera. Locals reporting feeling the explosion from miles away, then told to shelter in place for hours. Another one-two punch of winter storms heading for the eastern half of the country as the Northeast digs out now from more than a foot of snow. Thousands of flights affected. President Trump's high-profile Super Bowl sit-down. What he says about new tariffs coming tomorrow and making Canada the 51st state.

Is it a real thing? Yeah, it is. The bird flu outbreak hits New York City's zoos as the nationwide crisis gets worse and egg shortages reach a new level. The last straw. President Trump says he wants to ban paper straws. We take you to one city that's already gotten rid of the plastic kind altogether. Video game chaos after

PlayStation's servers crashed. So what did gamers do with all that newfound free time? This is NBC Nightly News with Hallie Jackson. Good evening. We are coming on the air tonight with the aftermath of that dramatic plant explosion in western Pennsylvania, sending at least 12 people to the hospital, including five firefighters, according to local officials. The explosion caught on camera. Look at this here. You see the flames pop out there from above the roof line and then an image after image, that thick black smoke billowing into the air. People nearby forced to stay inside their homes, some after feeling the impact of the explosion, and emergency crews racing to the scene. Our Priscilla Thompson reports.

Heart-stopping moments in Pennsylvania. An explosion at an industrial plant creating a massive inferno. That is freaking huge. In Sagertown, about a half hour from Erie, flames burst through the roof of Parker Lord Corporation. Oh. With a loud boom. Shook the whole back wall of the building. I thought it was ice falling off the roof. Bright orange flames seen here raging at the adhesives and coatings manufacturing facility. Major, major explosion. A massive plume of black smoke filling the sky. Emergency crews rushed to the scene. I have several of these firefighters out here.

We need both of them. Seven workers and five firefighters were injured, officials say, all non-life threatening. They've been there for a few minutes fighting a fire when there was an explosion. NBC News reached out to the facility's parent company, Parker, for comment, but did not hear back. Tonight, officials say a shelter-in-place order has lifted as they continue to monitor air quality. Priscilla Thompson, NBC News. So the winter storm's now battering the Midwest and Northeast. The big digout after some places got more than a foot of snow. Thousands of flights affected. And this is only the beginning of what's expected to be a one-two

punch. Maya Eaglin reports. Tonight, the massive cleanup after the winter storm that slammed millions. Please be careful. Have good traction. Take little steps. Up to 14 inches fell in upstate New York. Maine and Vermont saw more than 12 inches. Thousands of flights were delayed across the country. Some freezing rain coated the snow, resulting in this pileup in Minneapolis. These cars sliding through the highway in Rockland County, New York, and this Amazon truck in Indiana veering off the road.

But there's even more winter weather expected for the country this week. One system developing over the southern plains Monday will likely have snow falling in the Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic on Tuesday. Then right behind it, a second snowstorm brewing over the plains early Wednesday and dropping a wintry mix over the Great Lakes and northeast again by Thursday. Bill Brosmith with West Hartford's Public Works Department says those back-to-back storms could put a strain on snow removal departments. We go through about 300 ton of salt per storm. Wow. That's a lot of salt. And is there enough left in the reserve for this next upcoming storm? It'll be close, but we're going to get some more. Residents spending the day clearing out their driveways, bracing for the next snowfall. More snow. What do you think about that? If it's fluffy snow, then I'll probably like it. And then if it's hard snow,

I'll probably not like it. It'll be a little tough to shovel up, right? Yes. Maya joins us now from West Hartford, Connecticut. And Maya, some road crews still have work to do before the next set of storms. Yeah, Hallie, crews still have to clear snow piles like this one. And as those two back-to-back storms approach, highway officials are going to have to make sure their plow drivers get enough rest over the next few days. Hallie? Maya Eaglin in Connecticut, thank you. President Trump tonight saying more tariffs are on the way as soon as tomorrow and sitting down for the traditional Super Bowl pregame interview

with headlines on everything from Elon Musk to making Canada the next state. Yamiche Alcindor has the details. President, thanks for having us. Tonight, in a high-stakes interview during the Super Bowl pre-show, President Trump defending Elon Musk as he tries to slash federal agencies. Bottom line, you say you trust him. Trust Elon? Oh, he's not gaining anything. In fact, I wonder how he can devote the time to it.

He's so into it. But I told him do that, then I'm going to tell him very soon, like maybe in 24 hours, to go check the Department of Education. He's going to find the same thing. The president pushing back on judges who have temporarily blocked efforts by Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOJ. I think it's crazy. And we have to solve the efficiency problem. We have to solve the fraud, waste, abuse, all the things that have gone into the government. His administration back in court tomorrow,

trying to push through their widespread buyouts for federal workers. While on Saturday, a federal judge temporarily blocked Musk and Doge staffers from accessing sensitive payment systems at the Treasury Department. A new poll by CBS News and YouGov showing Trump with an overall approval rating of 53 percent. Meanwhile, on his way to the Super Bowl, the president saying on Air Force One that he's serious about his proposal to take over Gaza. Think of it as a big real estate site and the United States is going to own it and will slowly, very slowly, we're in a rush development. Trump also saying he will announce a plan for new tariffs tomorrow.

What countries will those go on? Everybody. Steel. Including Canada and Mexico. Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25% tariff. What about aluminum? Aluminum too. And in the Super Bowl interview,

when asked if he is serious when he says he wants Canada to be the 51st state. Is it a real thing? Yeah, it is. Yamiche is joining us now from the White House. And Yamiche, President Trump also says he's spoken with Russia's President Putin. That's right, though President Trump didn't confirm when that conversation took place. Trump also said he plans to meet with Putin in the future and wants to end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible. Hallie. Yamiche Alcindor, thank you. To the growing bird flu emergency now, and you see what it's doing to the price of eggs, sending them skyrocketing. Now the virus is hitting

some of the country's most well-known zoos. Shaquille Brewster has more. The nationwide bird flu outbreak tonight hitting New York City zoos. The Wildlife Conservation Society scrambling to protect other animals after they say three ducks died from bird flu at Queen's Zoo. Twelve other birds also dying at the Bronx Zoo after possible exposure to the virus, though officials say they're still waiting for tests to confirm bird flu was the cause. The nonprofit that operates the zoos writing in a statement, we moved vulnerable bird species to protected areas in our parks. On Friday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered a week-long shutdown of all live poultry markets in the New York City area after seven cases were detected during routine inspections.

Let me be clear, there is no immediate public health threat. The CDC has linked 67 human cases and one death to the virus since 2024, but the spread among animals have led to growing concerns among consumers. The average person really does not need to do anything specific to bird flu. The highest risk group are people who have their day-to-day jobs where they are around lots of animals. Millions of birds have been slaughtered driving up egg prices at grocery stores where many shelves have been wiped clean.

Experts emphasize it's still safe to eat chicken and eggs that are fully cooked and to drink pasteurized milk but they say people shouldn't consume raw milk because dairy cows can easily come into direct contact with infected birds and contaminated items. Unfortunately, because of the name, I think people have thought that this just happens in birds. But what we're seeing is that really any mammal can be exposed and get infected by bird flu. An outbreak spreading to new environments with no sign of stopping. Shaquille Brewster, NBC News. In the Middle East today, Israel's military is withdrawing from a key corridor dividing the Gaza Strip.

It's the latest step in the ceasefire process that has allowed some families to travel back to their homes in Gaza. Our cameras were there when many realized not much is left. Yasmin Vesugian reports. This is the reality for many children in Gaza. A baby, unaware she's homeless. This is the reality for many children in Gaza. A baby unaware she's homeless. Her father desperate to make something out of nothing. The scars of war that tore buildings and families apart.

And young sick children separated from their parents. For the first time in nine months, kids in need of urgent medical care have begun to evacuate Gaza through the Rafah crossing. As the buses are loaded, we see a father, tears streaming down his face as he says goodbye to his son. This little boy leaves a brother behind. I wanted to go with my brother who was sick and my mom, says this eight-year-old, but they wouldn't let me through. While much of the focus on the ceasefire has been on the hostage release, the need here is tremendous. Thousands of patients with trauma, burns, amputations, and more, many of them children. But under the ceasefire deal, only 50 are set to be evacuated each day. The conflict has destroyed much of Gaza's infrastructure. Weeks before the ceasefire deal, two more hospitals were destroyed, leaving over two million with only five small hospitals.

Those returning to the north are finding nothing, their homes destroyed. Nadine evacuated to central Gaza with her family more than a year ago. Now back in Gaza City for the first time. This is the situation for other people. They don't have a tank, they don't have homes, they don't have tents, they don't have anything to build, anything to rebuild what is left. Her brother Jude is inconsolable and grieving for their older brother. This is our land. They take this from us without something.

My brother has been killed. What do I do? Just watch this. It's honestly... I don't know what to say now. Yes, truly. Where's my brother? I want to see him again.

Entire families living and sleeping amidst rubble to just feel the comfort of being home. And a generation of kids bearing the wounds of a merciless war. Yasmin Basugian, NBC News. Back here at home, a dangerous day on the tracks in Nebraska with two train derailments there. Here's what the first one looked like in the western part of the state. You see containers off the tracks and on fire. That's not too far from the Wyoming state line. The second happened a few hours later near North Platte. Cars carrying grain off the tracks, blocking a road. No one was reported hurt in either of the derailments. Still ahead tonight,

the pushback on paper straws. Why the White House may be about to step in. And game over, panic as PlayStation goes dark for a day. So what triggered that massive global online outage? We're back with a question stirring up a lot of opinions when it comes to the straws you use, paper or plastic. President Trump's pledging to ban the paper kind. So just how far could he go to bring plastic back? Here's George Solis. It's a debate Americans won't suck up and move on from pesky paper straws. This is one of the most inefficient designs I've ever experienced in my whole 24 years of existence on this planet. Who the hell wants to sip their drink through a piece of cardboard? Or potentially polluting plastic ones.

President Trump now promising to sign an executive order undoing Biden-era policies to phase out plastic straws and other single-use items across the federal government. Mr. Trump posting on his social media site, True Social, back to plastic. The order would not make paper straws illegal, but it would prohibit the federal government, the largest buyer of single-use plastics, from buying them. Several states and cities have introduced their own rules on plastic straws, with many offering exceptions for plastics if the customer specifically asked for them.

On Miami's iconic South Beach, the use of plastic straws and stirrers has been banned since 2019, many businesses using biodegradable straws like these instead. Here, the straw wars in full swing. I mean, it's just incredible that someone would want to destroy our environment. So you guys are not in favor of rescinding paper straws? Of course not. It's definitely tougher to use a non-plastic straw, but you've got to get used to it. It's better for the environment.

But across social media, paper straws, not particularly popular. Who even thought paper straws were a good idea? I call them the 15-second straw. It's been a hot-button issue for the president, who previously rallied against paper straws on the campaign trail. Now it has to be a paper straw, so maybe it doesn't work. You know, the paper straws come wrapped in cellophane. Environmental advocates highlight the immense toll of single-use plastics on our ecosystems.

Most plastic straws cannot be recycled. Plastic is everywhere, and it's not going away. And it's ending up in our bodies, in our waterways, in our soils, in our air. What remains to be seen is what ripple effects this move will have on our planet and our beverages. George Solis, NBC News, Miami Beach. We're back in a moment with the global PlayStation server crash. A day without video games. Could it happen again? It was the panic heard from basements and bedrooms around the world this weekend.

PlayStation servers down for a day. Games offline. So what happened? And what did everyone do with all that free time? Here's Dana Griffin. PlayStation, what the **** you got going on right now? An apocalyptic PlayStation outage played out over gaming consoles around the world.

Customer service. Users started experiencing issues Friday night, unable to access popular games like Fortnite and Call of Duty. Video games were once stored on physical media like computer discs, but now they're stored online. And when the system went down, players couldn't access their accounts. This is disgusting. As users complained on social media, major brands started trolling too. Popular store GameStop, which still sells discs, writing, Bet y'all want physical copies now.

Girlfriends rejoiced. Moms took advantage. And after nearly a day of lamenting clientele. Okay, there we go. Everything's working now. PlayStation is back up and running, the company writing on X, PSN has been restored, adding, Sorry for the inconvenience. For those of us who are not gamers, why should we care about these sort of outages? Cloud outages can affect anyone.

It was gaming now, but it could be your email. It could be your photo service. It could be the service that provides your cellular connectivity. PlayStation has not responded to our request for comment. They did say on social media the problem was an operational issue and all PlayStation Plus members will receive an additional five days of service. Hallie? Dana Griffin, thank you. That's nightly news for this Sunday. But before we go, another kind of goodbye for our weekend nightly family, because this is the last broadcast for our longtime executive producer, Matt Frucci. You see him there in the control room. Give a little wave, Matt. That's where he spent the last eight solid years, eight years

working weekends. He is now headed to a new Monday through Friday adventure at NBC. He's been a supportive and generous leader to this incredible team with good judgment about good journalism. He's also the kind of guy who starts every meeting with a personal touch. He knows your pet's name and your favorite TV show and where you're going on vacation. As Jose points out, Matt has been an instrumental part in the success of these broadcasts, and Jose and I both appreciate Matt's many contributions. So, friend, cheers to you. And we know you will spend every one of your newly free Saturday and Sunday evenings tuning into the show from home, just like everyone else. To all of you, thank you for watching.

I'm Hallie Jackson. Have a great week.