NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Thursday, February 13, 2025

Episode Date: February 14, 2025

Trump says peace talks over Ukraine War will begin immediately; Growing showdown over DOGE's efforts to downsize federal government; Parade of winter storms slam U.S.; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, evacuation orders and dangerous pileups as a major storm pummels the Pacific Coast. The massive fiery crash in Oregon and whiteout conditions. More than 100 cars, trucks and semis shutting down a busy interstate. First responders having to go car by car. But much needed rain from the same storm turning burn scars into mudslides after those historic wildfires. Al Roker is tracking it all. The revolt at the DOJ. Top Justice Department lawyers quit when Trump officials told them to drop the Eric Adams corruption case in New York. After President Zelensky raised concerns, President Trump's saying Ukraine will be part of peace talks to end

the war. And he's asked, does he trust President Putin? Horror in Germany, a driver plowing into a large crowd, dozens injured, all of it less than a mile from where world leaders will soon gather. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confirmed how he is poised to reshape the nation's approach to health and health care. The asteroid that NASA says has a two percent chance of hitting Earth in 2032. Tom Costello on the case. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome. Just weeks after fleeing fires that rampage across Southern California, residents of burned out communities are facing imminent new danger

tonight ahead of a dangerous mudslide threat. The West Coast once more in the path of an atmospheric river bringing heavy rain, wind and mountain snow. Whiteout conditions contributing to a more than 100 car pileup along a major interstate in Oregon. Some injuries reported there. Back in California, charred hillsides that were weakened by January's fires, now prime for potential disaster from February's floods. Debris flows forcing new evacuations and warnings as virtually the entire country rides through these back-to-back storms. Morgan Chesky starts us off tonight from Los Angeles. Yeah, Lester, good evening. And unfortunately, this atmospheric river is already causing mudslides up and down the Pacific Coast Highway, and that landslide risk only going up as this river moves

in. Tonight, a massive winter storm system blamed for this frightening scene outside Portland, Oregon. More than 100 cars and trucks piling up in snowy conditions. Some catching fire. There is a vehicle on fire in the westbound. It is fully involved. It's nasty. Rescuers reporting injuries and multiple victims stuck inside vehicles in a collision that shut down Interstate 84 entirely.

In Southern California, that same system unleashing an atmospheric river of rain. Near Los Angeles, charred hillsides from the recent wildfires facing a new threat. Evacuation for the residents. Officers going door to door following mandatory evacuations, stretching from vulnerable neighborhoods in Altadena to Malibu. We expect these heavy rains to last through Friday morning, which puts burn areas at particular risk for landslides, mud flows. Conditions so bad, the EPA announced they're halting crucial cleanup efforts until the rain subsides.

Fire crews have spent weeks shoring up vulnerable areas to keep hillsides and dangerous runoff in check. But the real test lies over the next 24 hours with rock slides already shutting down parts of the PCH. For those who call this area home, a new wave of anxiety setting in. Definitely nervous. My main concerns if there are landslides on the PCH that could possibly like jail us in here. Burn zone fears amid a new weather nightmare. Morgan Chesky, NBC News, Malibu. All right, let's turn down to Al Roker now. The next few hours could be punishing. That's right, Lester. 32 million people out west in California looking at heavy rain,

another several inches falling before it's all over. That storm redeveloped Saturday, making its way through the midsection of the country. Heavy snow and ice from the Midwest to New England. Tornadoes down to the south. Then Sunday, a wintry mix along the coast. Heavy snow from Chicago, Cleveland on into Buffalo. We're looking up to a foot of snow in parts of northern New York and on up into New England. Also anywhere from four to six inches from Memphis to Charleston. Flooding possible and the risk of severe weather from Atlanta all the way down to Houston for high wind gusts and tornadoes. We'll have complete details coming up tomorrow morning on Today, Lester. Okay, I will see you then. Thanks. In New York, a dramatic set of resignations by top federal prosecutors after the Trump Justice Department ordered the criminal corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams be dropped. Laura Jarrett and Tom Witter join me.

Laura, what led to all this? Well, Lester, we obtained this letter from the now former acting U.S. attorney, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, Danielle Sassoon, who reveals her office was prepared to seek additional charges against Adams that says she recently attended a meeting with top DOJ brass where the mayor's lawyer suggested that Adams could help the Trump administration with immigration matters if his criminal charges were dropped. Now, she refused to go along with this, and multiple other prosecutors have now quit within DOJ. The Justice Department not commenting tonight, but the top DOJ official who originally

ordered the charges dropped, Emil Bovey, says here in this letter that Sassoon was insubordinate and has now put at least two other prosecutors involved on administrative leave. All right, let me turn to Tom now. What are Adams and his lawyer saying about all this? Right, Lester. Well, Adams' attorney says the idea that there was a quid pro quo is a, quote, total lie. And Adams says tonight that he did nothing wrong and suggested the charges against him were a weaponization of the Justice Department, punishment for speaking out against former President Biden's immigration policies. However, prosecutors recently disclosed that the investigation started before Adams was even elected mayor. Lester.

All right, Tom and Laura, thanks to you both. We turn now to the fallout over President Trump's announcement that both Ukraine and Russia have agreed to start peace talks. President Trump was asked today, does he trust Russia's President Putin to follow through? Here's Garrett Haig. Tonight, President Trump saying Ukraine's President Zelensky will have a seat at the table in upcoming peace talks to end the Ukraine war. I mean, they're part of it. We would have Ukraine, we would have Russia, and we'll have other people involved, too. But the Ukraine war has to end. Overnight, President Zelensky cautioned, quote, we cannot accept any agreements made without us. Some NATO allies reportedly blindsided by news of yesterday's Trump-Putin call, according to a European official, and frustrated over

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appearing to make concessions to Russia before talks began. Hegseth today saying he was just being realistic about a war stuck in a bloody stalemate. The borders won't be rolled back to what everybody would like them to be in 2014. It's not a concession to Vladimir Putin. It's a recognition of the hard power realities on the ground. President Trump was asked if he trusts the Russian leader. I believe that he would like to see something happen. I trust him on this subject. And he called for Russia to rejoin the so-called G7 group of the world's most advanced economies. Russia was expelled after annexing Crimea in 2014. I think it was a mistake to throw him out. Look, it's not a question of liking Russia. All you talk about is Russia,

and they should be sitting at the table. All of it as the White House closed out its buyout program for federal workers overnight after a judge allowed the cost-cutting effort to go ahead. The White House says 75,000 federal employees took the offer, short of their goal of roughly 100,000 workers. Tony Yang, an IT specialist for the Department of Agriculture, took the buyout, saying he wouldn't return to the office five days a week as President Trump required. Do you feel like this process has been respectful of the work you've put in in your career? Absolutely not. Me being a veteran, a disabled veteran at that, you know, we put our whole entire life into public service. And all of a sudden, one man comes in and throws it all away. Now, Elon Musk says his Department of Government Efficiency should take dramatic steps to slash

spending further. We do need to delete entire agencies as opposed to leave part of them behind. If you don't remove the roots of the weed, then it's easy for the weed to grow back. Deleting an entire agency would require an act of Congress. Meanwhile, Hamas has now backed down, saying it will release more hostages Saturday. Hamas earlier threatened to pause releases, which sparked sharp warnings from both Israel and President Trump. Lester. OK, Garrett Haig, thanks. Ukraine will be a primary focus for leaders at the Munich security conference tomorrow.

But on the eve of the summit, a suspect rammed a car through a nearby crowd, injuring dozens. Andrea Mitchell is in Munich tonight. Andrea, good evening. Good evening, Lester. Security here in Munich is always tight for the annual security conference. But now everyone is on even higher alert after what happened earlier today, less than a mile from here. This was the chaotic aftermath moments after a car plowed into a crowd in Munich. Victims lying on the ground, first responders rushing to help, officials calling it a suspected attack. This witness says it seemed to me the car accelerated before it drove into the crowd. The suspect was driving that white Mini Cooper that you can see

behind me when he plunged into the crowd. You can still see the debris on the street, including the stroller. Officials say at least 30 people were injured, including children. According to police, an officer fired a shot at the Mini Cooper before they moved in and arrested the driver. Police say the suspect is a 24-year-old asylum seeker from Afghanistan who lives in Munich and may have an extremist background. The interior minister says he had a previous criminal record related to drugs and thefts. There is no indication of a motive, but the suspect drove into a crowd of 1,500 protesters rallying for higher wages. The police say there's no indication so far that the attack

is linked to the security conference. Those attending include Vice President J.D. Vance, who arrived with his family just hours after the incident. While security is tight, public spaces are soft targets for car rammings, increasingly common, with 14 people killed in New Orleans on New Year's Day and five at a Christmas market elsewhere in Germany in December. Tonight, Germany's chancellor saying the suspect in today's incident must be punished and he must leave the country. Andrea Mitchell, NBC News, Munich. President Trump's controversial pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services has been confirmed. After overcoming initial Republican skepticism, Ryan Nobles is on Capitol Hill.

Ryan, this happened on a largely party-line vote. That's right, Lester. But the lone GOP vote against Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the former GOP leader Mitch McConnell. Kennedy was quickly sworn in. He will now preside over a $1.7 trillion budget that oversees important departments like the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration. Now, Kennedy says that he'll focus on ending what he calls the chronic disease epidemic. He did face fierce Democratic pushback over his past criticisms of vaccines. Next up, Kash Patel,

who is Trump's pick to run the FBI. He's expected to get a confirmation vote next week. Not one Republican has come out against him. Lester. OK, Ryan, thank you. President Trump once again wading into the global trade war today. The ammunition tariffs, but they are not without setting off alarm bells, including within his own party. Christine Romans explains. Tonight, President Trump ordering his administration to investigate imposing tariffs on any country worldwide it deems to be employing unfair trade practices. They charge us a tax or tariff and we charge them. Mr. Trump's focus on foreign nations fees like value added taxes or VATs.

The EU has been very nasty. It's just been they haven't treated us properly. Today's move comes even as there is growing concern within the president's own party over the tariffs he has already announced, including on steel and aluminum imports, all goods from China and 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which are paused for now. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell writing in an op-ed, the president's aggressive proposals leave big lingering concerns for American industry and workers. Industry leaders also concerned. Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford, blunt in a call with analysts this week. Let's be real honest. Long term, a 25 percent tariff across the Mexico and Canadian border would blow a hole in the U.S. industry that we have never seen.

That worry rippling through smaller businesses around Detroit as well. Every single manufacturer will be affected in some way by an increase in tariffs. At Glassman Auto, George Glassman sells foreign-made vehicles and deals every day with foreign auto parts. What do tariffs mean for your customers? Higher prices. No doubt. No doubt. When these reciprocal tariffs go into effect, if at all, remains unclear.

That uncertainty creating a challenge of its own for businesses here in the U.S. and their customers trying to plan ahead. Lester. Christine Romans, thanks. We'll be right back in 60 seconds with an asteroid that could be on a collision course with Earth, but how likely is it to hit? Tom Costello is tracking it next. Tonight, the world's top astronomers have their eyes trained on an asteroid that could be on a collision path with Earth in 2032. Here's NBC's Tom Costello.

In the vastness of the galaxy, a single rock, asteroid 2024 YR4, is getting a lot of attention. NASA's asteroid trackers say it has a 2.3 percent chance of crashing into Earth around Christmas 2032, more than the one% chance they gave it last month. Give us the reality check. Is this asteroid going to hit Earth? Up-to-date calculations say that it has about a 2% chance of hitting Earth in eight years, which is a 98% chance that it's not going to hit Earth. In 2022, NASA's DART mission successfully slammed it to an asteroid named Dimorphos, 7 million miles from Earth, pushing it into a slightly different orbit.

And we have impact. A critical first test of a planetary defense to push future asteroids away from Earth. YR4 could be 300 feet long, not as big as the dinosaur killer, but bigger than the meteor that exploded over remote Russia in 2013, causing massive damage but no deaths. If YR4 hits Earth, it'll likely be in an empty ocean in the southern hemisphere. Out of all the asteroids known, it's the only one now that could possibly impact Earth, but there's a 98% chance it won't. Lester? I'll go with the 98, Tom. Thanks. We're back in a moment with our NBC News investigation,

the new lawsuit that claims a link between hair dyes and cancer. All right, we're back now with alarming allegations. A new lawsuit saying ingredients in hair dyes used by thousands of hairdressers could be giving them cancer. Senior national correspondent Kate Snow has our story. Hector Corvera spent his childhood helping his parents work the fields in California's Central Valley. We were out there working the hot sun, and I remember asking myself that question. Is what I'm going to do the rest of my life?

His answer was to go from cutting crops to cutting hair. Hair would always grow. I wouldn't be out of a job. But he says coloring hair for more than four decades took a different toll on his body. In 2023, he was diagnosed with bladder cancer. He remembers this conversation with his doctor. He says, what do you do for a living? And I said, I'm a hairdresser. Hmm. That explains it. He said that. Yeah. And in that moment, did you think, oh, he's seen this before in hairdressers? Corvera is the plaintiff in a new lawsuit against 13 companies. Attorney Alan Smith alleges Corvera's repeated exposure to chemicals in their hair dye products caused his cancer. He's seeking damages. These are known chemicals that cause cancer.

Smith made millions for clients when Johnson & Johnson settled claims that its baby powder caused cancer. He says he plans to file multiple other hair dye cases soon. What are you accusing these companies of doing? I'm accusing these hair dye companies of, number one, manufacturing a product that's unsafe. I mean, at a minimum, I would want these manufacturers to provide a warning. Smith points to a substance that's formed when hair color ingredients are mixed together. We spoke with a half dozen researchers and doctors who say while there is not strong evidence of a link to cancer for clients who get their hair dyed, numerous studies have found a link between repeated work exposure and an increased risk for bladder cancer. The FDA says under the law, cosmetic products and

ingredients generally do not need FDA pre-market approval and notes the industry reformulated products after some hair dyes were found to cause cancer in lab animals in the 1980s. But the lawsuit alleges dyes are still dangerous. There are definitive studies that have come out decades later showing the manufacturers did in fact not do what they said they were going to do. Are you alleging that the companies that make these products are misleading the FDA and the thousands of salons and workers and people who use these products? A hundred percent. NBC News reached out to every company named in the lawsuit. One company, Cody, says they no longer make or sell hair dye products in the U.S., adding the claims against Cody are unsubstantiated and without merit.

Bristol-Myers Squibb says it has no liability for products manufactured by Clairol, which it sold in 2001. Clairol and other companies named in the suit, like L'Oreal, had no comment, some saying they do not comment on pending litigation. Hector had his bladder removed, a new one created out of his intestine. He spends a lot of his time now caring for his grandson. I pray to God that give me some more time to see him grow. You know, but I still have that thought in my mind that, you know, this thing can come back, you know. You still worry a little bit?

Yeah. He says he'll never work in a salon again. How are you? Kate Snow, NBC News, Exeter, California. He says he'll never work in a salon again. Kate Snow, NBC News, Exeter, California. That's nightly news for this Thursday. Thank you for watching. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other.

Good night.