NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Thursday, January 25, 2024

Episode Date: January 26, 2024

From campaign to courtroom: Trump testifies in defamation damages trial; U.S. economy shows more robust growth as recession fears ease; Testimony begins in trial of mother charged in school shooting committed by son; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, Donald Trump testifying in the defamation civil trial brought against him by writer E. Jean Carroll. The former president on the stand today for just a matter of minutes, what he said that the judge quickly struck from the record, his testimony keeping him off the campaign trail as he and Nikki Haley battled for South Carolina. The warning he gave to her donors and one of Mr. Trump's former advisers, Peter Navarro, sentenced for defying a subpoena from the January 6th committee. Also tonight, the mother of the Oxford High School shooter on trial, the video shown of

her at a gun range with her son and the moment her tears led to a courtroom confrontation. New video of a 17-year-old murder suspect minutes after he escaped from a Philadelphia hospital, the urgent manhunt. The threat of more flash flooding across the South, we're tracking it. Alabama set to carry out the first ever execution using nitrogen gas, an untested method on a death row inmate after botching his lethal injection, the massive steeple collapsing at a church in Connecticut, and six months to Paris inside the new Olympic Village as we count down to the Summer Games. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome.

Former President Donald Trump had his say in court today as his defense rested its case in the defamation case against him by writer E. Jean Carroll. The former president spent under five minutes on the witness stand clashing with the judge over what he was allowed to say. Mr. Trump hoping to sway a federal jury in New York from ordering him to pay Carroll potentially millions in damages. While in the political forum, Mr. Trump is applying pressure to sway Republicans to rally around his candidacy for president, threatening to blacklist donors who contribute to his GOP challenger Nikki Haley. Mr. Trump also making waves in Congress tonight. Ryan Nobles has late details.

Tonight, after wins in Iowa and New Hampshire on the campaign trail, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump back in a courtroom, testifying for only a few minutes, his testimony limited by the judge. Last May, Trump was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming journalist E. Jean Carroll. Now a jury is weighing how much to award Carroll in damages, if any. Carroll is seeking $10 million. Trump was asked if he stood by his deposition, where he said Carroll was lying. He answered 100 percent, yes, later saying, I consider it a false accusation and that he, quote, wanted to defend myself, my family, and frankly, the presidency. The last

two statements struck by the judge. Meanwhile, Trump, the focus of new tensions on Capitol Hill with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell accusing the former president of trying to derail a spending deal that would include funding for Ukraine and Israel, as well as provide new policies and funding to deal with the border crisis. Are you concerned, though, that Trump's opposition is basically killing the supplement? I don't think so. Trump's allies slamming the proposal, saying it allows 5,000 migrants per day to be released in the U.S. How would you respond to critics that are saying that this is just being pushed off to make it a campaign issue for President Trump? Well, is it being pushed off? I mean, I don't know.

First, you'd have to go talk to the minority leader. We have record numbers of illegal immigration. Why? Because of this president's policies. While other Republicans believe Trump should be backing a deal. Why not have him make that case to some of your colleagues? I don't know what to tell President Trump yet about the final product. From my point of view, we need relief today. Also tonight, pressure is building on Nikki Haley. Now Trump is warning Haley donors that

if they keep giving to her, they will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp. A threat Haley seemed to welcome. Her campaign now selling t-shirts saying barred permanently. Get on a debate stage and let's go. Bring it, Donald. Show me what you got. Ryan, let's turn back to those negotiations over the border and Ukraine aid. Where do they stand tonight? Well, Lester, late tonight, the former president issuing a statement warning Republicans that a border deal could potentially be what he called a gift to Democrats. Despite that, the lead negotiators believe they could release the details of their legislation

early next week. They remain hopeful that a bipartisan deal can be struck. Lester. All right, Brian Nobles, thank you. A former advisor in the Trump White House, Peter Navarro, was sentenced to four months in prison today for criminal contempt of Congress. In September, Navarro was convicted for refusing to testify and provide documents to a House committee investigating the January 6th attack. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $9,500 he plans to appeal. In a Michigan courtroom today, the first testimony in the unprecedented trial of a mother charged with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly failing to prevent her son from shooting four students to death at his high school.

Adrian Bradas has more. Jennifer Crumbly didn't pull the trigger that day, but she is responsible for those deaths. Tonight, prosecutors laying out why they believe Jennifer Crumbly should be held accountable for her 15-year-old son's actions. He killed four people at Oxford High School. The defense hitting back. He did something she could have never anticipated or fathomed or predicted. Crumbly, charged with involuntary manslaughter, the first parent in the U.S. ever charged in a mass school shooting carried out by their child. They didn't do any number of tragically small and easy things that would have prevented all this from happening.

The defense appearing to shift blame onto Crumbly's husband, James, who has a separate trial. James Crumbly was responsible for getting the gun out, putting the trigger lock back on, storing the gun. Prosecutors showing this video of Jennifer and Ethan together at the gun range and calling its first witnesses. So it entered here and exited here. Teacher Molly Darnell showed jurors where she was shot. That memory still raw. So I looked down and I realized he's raising a gun to me. Crumbly, tearful at times, leading to a heated exchange in front of the judge. To have not just the defendant, her lawyer sit there sobbing. Tonight, the defense asking jurors to keep an open mind.

And we also learned today Jennifer plans to take the stand. Her attorneys say they aim to show who she was as a mother. Lester. Adrienne Broaddus, thank you. There's a manhunt in Pennsylvania tonight for a 17-year-old murder suspect who escaped from authorities. Police say Shane Pryor ran away after police brought him to a hospital for a hand injury. He has been awaiting trial since 2020. The U.S. Marshal Service says he may have escaped in a stolen pickup truck. We're tracking storms tonight. 19 million under flash

flood threats from Mississippi to New York after days of heavy rain from California to the deep south. One city in Texas getting more than a foot. The rain shifts north tonight and could impact the morning commute in cities like Chicago, Milwaukee, New York and Boston. A surge on Wall Street today. The S&P setting a new closing record after strong new evidence of the strength of the U.S. economy. Senior business correspondent Christine Romans has details. At this commercial glass factory in Ben Salem, Pennsylvania, owner Josh Berg says the much forecast recession of 2023 never happened. The year was good. The year was really, really good. You had new business, maintained existing business,

grew your workforce and grew your top line and bottom line numbers in a year we expected a recession. That's correct. As counterintuitive as that may seem. Work happening on factory floors like this one has kept the U.S. economy humming. In fact, economic growth last year, GDP, was stronger than the average for the entire decade before the pandemic. The economy grew 3.3 percent in the final three months of 2023. For the year, a robust two and a half percent fueled by strong consumer spending and hiring. Today's numbers smashing expectations. Continually throughout the year, we have had strong growth and in this case, stronger growth than expected.

President Biden in Superior, Wisconsin today. America now has the strongest growth, the lowest inflation rate of any major economy in the world. Yet polls show Americans overwhelmingly disapprove feeling the country's economic growth personally. But back in Ben Salem, tempered enthusiasm from Josh Berg. What was 2023 in a letter grade? A minus. A minus. Always room for improvement, but a well-earned year from everybody here.

And Christine, as you know, the Federal Reserve meets next week. So much riding on what they decide to do about interest rates. How does this news factor in? You know, Lester, we also got data today on the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation, and the numbers there show inflation is continuing to come down. That lends support to the idea that the Fed is headed for interest rate cuts this year. And that's part of what's been fueling the current stock market rally, Lester. All right, Christine, thanks much. In 60 seconds, the execution of a convicted murderer using a first of its kind technique to end his life. The controversy right after this.

The stunning images coming in tonight from Connecticut, an enormous steeple collapsing at a historic church in the city of New London, opening up a massive hole in the roof inside, covered in debris. One woman who was inside at the time got out safely. Authorities don't believe anyone else was inside and no injuries are reported. We turn now to Alabama and the plans for a first-of-its-kind execution. As Dasha Burns reports, the state is set to use a new untested method involving nitrogen gas on a death row inmate it has already tried to execute once before. The state of Alabama has already tried to execute Kenny Smith. This is a free call from... Kenny. An incarcerated individual at Alabama's Department of Corrections.

But tonight, the death row inmate is still alive. I'm terrified. It started when I was on the executing journey last November. Now, the state will try to execute Smith again with a method that's never been used before, death by nitrogen gas. The fact that they've got me lined up to be the again with a method that's never been used before, death by nitrogen gas. The fact that they've got me lined up to be the first with gas is really terrifying. Smith was convicted for the brutal 1988 murder of Elizabeth Sennett, hired by her husband, an Alabama pastor. Smith has been in prison for 35 years. He was scheduled

to die in November 2022, but the attempt at lethal injection didn't work, the third in a string of botched executions that year. How could a state give something so wrong? Chuck and Mike Sennett, Elizabeth's children, went to William C. Holman Correctional that night in 2022, expecting to see the justice they wanted. Instead, they say the failed execution failed them, too. What is that emotion? Anger. Anger. Anger. Yeah. They're supposed to know what they're doing there, but somehow they missed. Wednesday night, the Supreme Court rejected appeals from Smith's legal team over the method of execution, a method legal scholars say has many unknowns.

This is a method that has never been used in the history of the world as far as we know. So nobody knows what's going to happen, least of all the state of Alabama. But state officials expressed confidence in court, testifying that nitrogen gas is, quote, painless and humane. Smith's team has argued execution by nitrogen gas could lead to prolonged pain and suffering, that Smith may vomit in the mask and choke, or it could leave him in a vegetative state or even put others in the room at risk. Like spiritual advisor Reverend Jeff Hood, who will perform Smith's last rites. Lord, we have gathered here. And this morning, Hood received last rites

of his own. He'll be in the room when it happens, and a gas leak could be deadly to him, too. I have never, ever signed a waiver before going into an execution. This is the first time in human history that someone besides the person being executed is at risk of dying in the process. Smith says his biggest fear is that he might survive again. This is not going to go right. I'm expected to take the word of the Department of Corrections that they're going to get it right.

Tonight, the Senates will be in attendance once again. What would you say to your mom if she could hear you right now? I love you, and I hope we finally get you justice. Dasha Burns, NBC News, Atmore, Alabama. All right, we'll take a break. Coming up, the new measures on Instagram aimed at keeping teenagers safe. But do they do enough? And why now? It's a concern for so many families keeping their teenagers safe on social media. Now, Instagram is rolling out some new measures aimed at limiting who can message teens and more. Here's Stephanie Gosk.

For parents worried about who is messaging their teenagers on social media, Meta says it hears them. Announcing changes to accounts on Facebook Messenger and Instagram for teenagers under 16 years old. Today we're announcing a new default setting for teens around messaging that makes Instagram safer for them. Blocking DMs from anyone who they don't follow and aren't connected to. For parent-supervised accounts, changes made to that setting or any other safety and privacy setting now has to be approved by a parent. We believe that parents know what's best for their individual child. And we want to do what we can to empower parents to make those decisions to shape Instagram. The announcement

comes after steps taken earlier this month that limit teens' ability to see potentially harmful material and to alert them when they are spending a lot of time on the app at night. 95% of teens use social media and are on it more than three hours a day, which the Surgeon General says puts them at higher risk for depression and anxiety. Critics say these measures announced by Meta today don't go nearly far enough. These changes are about as effective as a screen door on a submarine. Tech-savvy teenagers may easily navigate around restrictions. How difficult is it for a teenager to lie about his or her age and set up an Instagram account? It is so simple

because we've never put in age verification and age assurance requirements. By the way, a trillion dollar company can figure that out. Stephanie, is Meta doing anything to establish age verification for these accounts? You know, Lester, I asked them that specific question and they said that it is a, quote, complex industry challenge. But they did say that they support proposed federal legislation that would require app stores to get parental permission for teenagers to download apps onto their devices. All right. Stephanie Goss, thank you. Up next, we'll take you to Paris and see how the city is preparing exactly six months before the Summer Olympics. In just six months, more than 10,000 athletes from around the world will descend on Paris for the Summer Olympics. Keira Simmons is there with a look and how the city is getting ready.

The clock is ticking down to the Paris Games. The merchandise already on sale. The venues almost ready. We got a look at the Athletes' Village. It's going to be ready. Oh, yeah. That's the crucial question. We are perfectly on time.

Really early. Six months from the Games, and they tell us the Olympic Village will be ready in six weeks. 3,000 apartments for more than 14,000 athletes and staff. Many venues are being recycled. The 1924 Paris Olympic swimming pool is being refurbished. Are you putting the water from the Seine in here? No. Paris Olympic swimming pool is being refurbished. Are you putting the water from the Seine in here? No.

The Seine, the centrepiece of the Games, hosting the first opening ceremony outside a stadium. Other iconic landmarks will become venues like the Place de la Concorde, where Olympic breaking will premiere. Sonny Choi will be there for Team USA. I'll be like sitting on the plane all of a sudden and I feel like tears in my eyes and I'm like, wait, I'm going, this is happening, like right now. As for the hometown fans, basketball is a huge draw

with NBA star Victor Wemanyama expected to lead Team France. Which country is going to get gold in the basketball? France. France. You sure about that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Actually, I think the US is going to get gold in the basket. France. France. You sure about that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Actually, I think the U.S. is going to get it. The U.S.?

Oh! As always. We'll see in just six months. Keir Simmons, NBC News, Paris. And that is nightly news for this Thursday. Thank you for watching, everyone. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other.

Good night.