NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Thursday, December 26, 2024

Episode Date: December 27, 2024

Growing speculation that plane was brought down by Russian air defenses; Multiple tornadoes reported in Texas as millions face storm risk; Delta says stowaway was able to board plane without ticket or boarding pass; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, the jet crash mystery was a passenger plane shot down, dozens killed, dozens somehow surviving. How did the plane get so off course and what hit it? New video revealing what passengers saw inside the cabin. Now, U.S. officials say the jet may have been hit by a Russian anti-aircraft system, as Moscow warns against speculation. Reported tornadoes touching down in Texas. This video just in tonight, as severe storms hit near Houston, heavy rain and wild

winds smash the West Coast, we'll show you the dangerous weather across the U.S. Also breaking tonight, the stowaway stopped as a plane was taxing for takeoff, how flight crews found the latest Delta passenger to manage to sneak through multiple layers of security. President-elect Trump's immigration policy takes shape. We asked the incoming border czar for answers. Will he bring back family detention and the looming fight between the federal government and cities that don't want to deport people? Our investigation, doctors told this cancer patient she needed routine screening. Why her health insurance declined it as her cancer got worse. Bird flu spreading the deadly impact on big cats and now the pet food recall sparking alarm. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening. I'm Tom Yamas in for Lester.

We start tonight with the growing mystery over what caused the crash of that passenger jet on Christmas Day and the possibility it was no accident. Onlookers watched in horror as the Azerbaijani plane, you see it here, banked, then crashed in a fiery ball, leaving 38 people dead, while remarkably, 29 others survived. Video from inside the cabin shows oxygen masks deployed moments before the crash. The plane was on its way to Grozny and Chechnya,

but was diverted to an airport nearby in another country after declaring an emergency just before the crash. Russian aviation authorities initially said it was likely the plane struck a flock of birds, but a U.S. official says it may have been hit by Russian air defense systems. A top Russian official is warning against early speculation with the investigation in its infancy. But tonight, questions are mounting across the world on whether it was shot down. It's where we begin tonight with NBC's Steve Patterson. Tonight, speculation and skepticism swirling over the skies of Kazakhstan.

As a mounting chorus of aviation experts and government officials, supported by new video of the wreckage, questioning what really happened. Moments after the crash, a shell shock survivor miraculously stumbling out of the plane's wreckage, while stunning video from inside the plane, as it was still in the air, shows people calm, even after oxygen masks dropped. The flight took off from Baku, Azerbaijan, early Wednesday, heading to the Chechen capital of Grozny in southern Russia. Russian officials saying the aircraft was diverted due to fog

and blaming the crash on an apparent bird strike. But enhanced video shows what experts say appears to be shrapnel damage. Aviation expert Matthew Borey reviewed the footage. If there was a bird strike, the presence of shrapnel inside the aircraft wouldn't be a factor, and the damage to the exterior of the aircraft would appear much different. The flight was likely shot down by a Russian air defense system of unspecified type and variant. The flight was in a region with significant military activity, and just 70 miles away on the same day, a Ukrainian drone was shot down, sparking this fire at a mall. The crash comes after a Dutch court recently concluded that a Malaysian Airlines flight was brought down in 2014 over Ukraine by a missile fired by pro-Russian fighters. Tonight, a U.S. official telling NBC News there are early indications the craft may have been hit by a Russian anti-aircraft system,

adding more evidence of Russian recklessness in the war with Ukraine. The Kremlin responding that it would be incorrect to make any hypothesis before the investigation comes to conclusions. Meanwhile, a day of mourning in Azerbaijan, red roses laid for the fallen. So Steve, with questions about whether this plane was shot down or not, where does the crash investigation stand tonight? Yeah, Tom, NATO is calling for a full investigation into the cause of the crash, but Kazakh officials say their investigation is already underway, with representatives from the airline's manufacturer expected to arrive on scene tomorrow.

Tom? All right, Steve Patterson leading us off tonight. Back here at home, we are tracking a series of winter storms across the West, and this just in reported tornadoes on the ground across the Houston metro area. Dana Griffin is covering it all for us tonight. Dana, what more do we know about this dangerous weather? Well, Tom, we know late this afternoon, several twisters caught on camera touching down in Texas. And overnight, another system expected to slam the Pacific Northwest, bringing more rain and snow. Tonight, multiple reported tornadoes in Texas. This one touching down 70 miles southwest of Houston. A driver captures this stunning funnel on camera.

Wharton County officials say there's no major damage or injuries reported yet. Northwest of Dayton, Texas, this reported twister spinning through fields. It's right next to that highway. Heavy rain and widespread flooding creating a post-Christmas travel challenge. Snarling ground and air traffic across the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Hundreds of flights delayed and canceled. Today, millions are under severe storm risks in the southern plains. In the Pacific Northwest, communities bracing for wind, rain, and snowy conditions as another atmospheric river takes aim at the region. Some parts of the Sierra saw

eight inches of snow. Crews clearing roads as holiday travelers return home. Came in hard and fast, actually. We had a lot of holiday traffic. And in Northern California, where part of the Santa Cruz Wharf plunged into the ocean, the restroom is now sitting on the beach, where onlookers turned it into a Christmas Day spectacle, taking selfies ahead of another high surf warning as we head into the weekend. Dana Griffin, NBC News. We are learning more tonight about yet another case of an airplane

stowaway. Delta turning around one of its planes on a Seattle runway after determining a passenger somehow boarded with no ticket. Here's Morgan Chesky. Tonight at Seattle's SeaTac Airport, federal investigators poring over security protocol after someone snuck on a Delta flight bound for Hawaii without a boarding pass. Port of Seattle police dispatching officers to a gate on Christmas Eve after the Delta flight crew discovered an unidentified passenger turning the plane around just before takeoff. Delta stating their staff followed procedures to have an unticketed passenger removed from the flight and then apprehended. Tonight TSA

confirming the individual did go through standard screening and did not possess any prohibited items but then bypassed the identity verification and boarding status stations somehow getting on the plane without a boarding pass. The incident happened on the same day that crews in Maui found a body inside the wheel well of a United flight that had traveled from Chicago. And over Thanksgiving, authorities say Svetlana Dali now faces federal charges after sneaking past security checkpoints at JFK to board a Delta flight to Paris with no passport or ticket. That's concerning.

Former TSA safety director Keith Jeffries tells NBC News no security system is perfect. Do these incidents as a whole raise new security questions? First of all, I will tell you that any time someone passes the ticket document checker location without being properly checked, that's a concern for TSA. It's happened way too many times in a short period of time. And Morgan joins us now live in studio. So Morgan, let's go back to that stowaway who tried to fly to Hawaii. Where does that investigation stand? Yeah, Tom, the TSA has already opened an independent review here, and they've also opened a civil case against this individual. That's standard procedure anytime TSA regulations have been broken, and that remains the heart of this ongoing investigation here. Tom.

All right, Morgan, we thank you for that. We want to turn out a new information about the plans by the incoming Trump administration to crack down on undocumented migrants. In an interview with NBC News, the man tapped to become the new border czar, Tom Homan, explained a battle could be shaping up between federal and local authorities. Here's Sam Brock. Tonight, the impending clash between the incoming administration and sanctuary cities looks closer to combustion after San Diego's board of supervisors approved a measure requiring the feds obtain a judicial warrant for undocumented migrants already in their jails.

Bottom line is I'm shocked at what San Diego did. And bottom line, we're still coming to San Diego to do our job. Look, it's more difficult, but we're still doing it. Thomas Homan is President-elect Trump's border czar and the former director of ICE. You see San Diego's recent actions as having no legal muster, and you're just going to move right through that? I think San Diego's legal actions as having no legal muster, and you're just going to move right through that? I think San Diego's legal actions will be in the litigation. It's the latest salvo in a showdown over immigration policy that also affects cities like San Francisco, Chicago, and New York. It's unfathomable to hear that the incoming administration wants to devastate over 28 million American families

in this country who live in mixed status households. Murad Awawda is president of the New York Immigration Coalition. He's also concerned that Trump's controversial family detention policy may be back on the table. You need to understand this. It's not in a, we say detention, but it's not in a jail setting. This is actually an open air campus, a family type facility that is open air, right? So we're not talking about Ways of Wired and a penal institution, things like that, to have child care, to have education and programs. There is no such thing as a soft detention site. There's no humane way of detaining children in prisons because that's what it ends

up becoming, even if it's a tent structure. President-elect Trump has promised deportation on a mass scale starting as soon as he steps into office as concerns over family separations remain high. Do you worry, though, that you will actually be separating children from their parents and punishing children for the actions of their parents. Our client, we have no plan to separate children from parents. The parents are going to have to make a decision. That's parenting one-on-one. I'm going to say it again. If you choose to have a child here in the United States while you know you're here illegally

and you know you're on a court order to deport, that's on you. A 2023 consent decree between the Biden Department of Justice and the ACLU banned family separations for eight years. Do you believe the decree needs to be reexamined? I think, yeah, we need to reexamine that, see if it makes sense from a national security perspective. Homan also said a decades-old agreement that prohibits the detention of children for more than 20 days needs to be looked at again and potentially re-litigated. Tom?

Sam Brock with that new interview tonight. Sam, we thank you. We want to head to the Middle East now. Israel launching a deadly airstrike tonight in Yemen, hitting the airport in Yemen's capital. It comes after recent missile attacks launched by Yemen's Houthi militia on Israel. Houthi officials said six people were killed and 13 were injured. It happened just as the head of the World Health Organization was about to board a plane, saying blasts hit just meters from him. He was not injured. Okay, in 60 seconds, the risk of bird

flu in cats, the major recall after it was found in pet food, and why the disease is proving deadly for majestic big cats like tigers, cougars and bobcats. That's next. We're back now with news that one company is voluntarily recalling pet food after they say it tested positive for bird flu. This after growing concerns that the virus is on the rise in parts of the U.S. and has killed at least 20 big cats at an animal sanctuary. Here's David Noriega with more. Tonight, a nationwide voluntary recall of pet food linked to bird flu, with the Oregon Department of Agriculture blaming a raw pet food product for the death of a house cat.

The case prompting Northwest Naturals to recall a batch of its feline turkey recipe product, telling consumers across 12 states to toss any two-pound frozen bags with sell-by dates in May or June of 2026. It's only the latest case of a domestic cat catching the virus. Viruses are very sneaky. They mutate very easily. Viruses are always looking for the next species that they can enter into. With health authorities in Los Angeles still investigating the death of two cats linked to bird flu in raw milk. Experts say this strain of avian influenza can be deadly to mammals, and cats are especially vulnerable.

That includes big cats, with the virus claiming the lives of 20, including a tiger, at a sanctuary in Washington state. What should pet owners do to protect their pets, especially their cats, from bird flu? The most common thing is if you have an indoor cat, is keep them indoors. You have eliminated the majority of the sources there. Also, you do not want the raw foods that we hear out there. With raw food a tiny fraction of the pet food market, most pet owners can rest easy. David Noriega, NBC News, Los Angeles. And we're back in a moment with our latest NBC News investigation.

When your health insurer refuses to pay for your cancer treatment, stay with us. Welcome back. Imagine trying to battle cancer while battling your insurance company. In some cases, it's a matter of life and death. Stephanie Gosk investigates the difficult choices cancer patients find themselves facing, even with a doctor's note. KSU has been battling cancer for nearly a decade. One of the hardest moments was in 2018. The cancer returned, stage four, metastatic. Did it feel like a death sentence in that moment? Absolutely. And it still does. It's just, it's almost like being on death row and just waiting. All of my off-label drugs. Remarkably, she was able to battle the cancer back, but her oncologist said it could return again

and PET scans were key to detecting it. How often do you have to get the PET scans? Should be four to five months. A schedule she followed until her private health insurance changed to Cigna. And she says the company wouldn't pay for the screening. They thought it was not medically necessary. Does your oncologist think it's medically necessary? Yes. So does Dr. Ashley Sumrall from the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

PET scans are all part of accepted guidelines. That means that multiple experts agree that a pet scan is appropriate. But Cigna refused to pay for the scans, which can cost $10,000 to $15,000 each. Sue's doctor appealed and was denied. With the delay in her screening, Sue worried the cancer would return. Angela Pike understands that struggle well. Her husband, Tracy, was diagnosed with stage four stomach cancer in 2023. He was so sick, he went from a 250-pound man to about 130 pounds. Tracy's doctors in Louisville ran out of strategies to help him. They said he needed HIPEC surgery, a kind of chemotherapy that a cancer center in

Houston agreed to perform. It was about 10 or 11 o'clock at night, the night before the surgery, where we got a phone call from the surgeon himself that the insurance had actually denied the surgery. In the denial letter, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois said HIPEC was experimental. But here's what the American Society of Clinical Oncology says. HIPEC is no longer considered experimental. It has crossed the threshold into widely available treatments. But not for the Pike family, whose surgeon appealed only to be denied. At one point, the mother of three took to TikTok with her guitar, hoping someone might be able to help them. Surgery was only $42,000. They put a price tag on my husband's life and they decided he wasn't

worth 42 grand. How desperate did you feel in those moments? It doesn't get more desperate than opening up your guitar case and standing in front of a hospital in 100 degree weather in Houston. He never got the treatment. Instead, his cancer spread. And roughly a year after his diagnosis, Tracy Pike died at the age of 46. Are you left wondering what would have happened if he had gotten that procedure? There are definitely a lot of days where I've thought about that. In a 2022 survey, clinical oncology professionals were asked about the effect health insurance authorization had on patient care. Eighty-seven percent said they resulted in denials of therapy.

Eighty percent said they resulted in disease progression. Thirty-six percent said they resulted in patient death. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, Pike's insurance company, declined to comment on her husband's case, adding, we are committed to increasing access to safe, appropriate, and effective health care based on the best available information and research. Sue's insurer, Cigna, tells NBC News, we strive to do our best to ensure that each person gets the appropriate care as quickly and easily as possible. We fell short for Ms. Sue. Cigna contacted Sue after NBC News reached out to the company for comment on our story.

Sue did ultimately get that PET scan this fall, she says, but only after her employer paid for it out of pocket. Your health is in the hands of an insurance company. Do you feel like they care about your well-being? No, I don't think so. As a result of me fighting for that PET scan, I found out that I have metastasis to my liver. The screening that had been delayed

confirmed her worst fears. Her cancer has returned. Stephanie Gosk, NBC News, New York. That's nightly news for this Thursday. Thank you so much for watching. I'm Tom Yamas in New York. That's nightly news for this Thursday. Thank you so much for watching. I'm Tom Yamas in New York. Have a great one.