NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Thursday, March 14, 2024

Episode Date: March 15, 2024

Judge denies Trump's request to dismiss charges in federal documents case; Severe weather brings tornadoes, hail and heavy snow; Schumer says Israel's Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Breaking news tonight, the federal judge denying Donald Trump's motion to dismiss his classified documents case. The former president back in a Florida courtroom today for another showdown with special counsel Jack Smith. But the judge denying Mr. Trump's bid to throw out the charges over the documents the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago. And in New York, word that Mr. Trump's hush money trial could be delayed. But by how long? Also tonight, the massive tornadoes in the Midwest, millions under severe threats from Texas to Ohio, plus the major winter storm slamming the West, up to four feet of snow in Colorado. After five months of war in Gaza, some of the sharpest criticism yet from a top U.S. official. Senator Chuck Schumer urging Israel to hold new elections and oust Benjamin Netanyahu. Americans stranded as

chaos grips Haiti and put the U.S.-housed migrants fleeing the violence at Guantanamo Bay. The all-out search for a missing 22-year-old college student, the last known videos of him. Was he over-served alcohol before disappearing? His family speaking out to us. The biggest rocket ever built, successfully launched by SpaceX, but breaking up during re-entry, now the FAA investigating. And meet the new class of astronauts training to take America back to the moon. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome.

There are big developments in the criminal cases faced by former President Donald Trump. The first related to the federal classified documents case. A judge late today denying Mr. Trump's request that the case be dropped on grounds of unconstitutional vagueness. It was the first of two motions argued by the former president's lawyers during a day long hearing in Florida with Mr. Trump in attendance. Meantime, 1200 miles away in New York, what is supposed to be Mr. Trump's first criminal trial slated to start later this month may be delayed. The Manhattan D.A.'s office telling the judge in that case it would not oppose an adjournment of its hush money case not to exceed

30 days. Mr. Trump's legal team had asked for a 90-day delay. The D.A. says it wants to give the defense time to review thousands of newly provided documents. That trial currently scheduled to start on March 25th with jury selection. Laura Jarrett has more on today's legal split screen. Tonight in a new legal blow, a federal judge denying former President Trump's request to toss out criminal charges alleging he hoarded classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. The presumptive GOP nominee seen arriving this morning greeting supporters gathered outside the Florida courthouse. His attorneys arguing the law on national security secrets is too vague and that Mr. Trump believed he was allowed to keep the documents as his personal records, according to the Presidential Records Act, saying last night, I took them very legally and I wasn't

hiding them. But federal judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, tonight writing a dismissal over vagueness now would be, quote, premature and earlier at the hearing appearing skeptical of any argument to toss the charges based on the Presidential Records Act, telling Mr. Trump's team it's difficult to see how this gets you to the dismissal of an indictment. No decision yet on a trial date, Mr. Trump's team urging her to push it until after the November election. That ruling coming after a surprising setback for Manhattan's prosecutors just 11 days before Mr. Trump's hush money trial was set to begin. Tonight, the district attorney's office saying they do not oppose waiting 30 days to start the trial in an abundance of caution. The case where prosecutors have accused the former president of bearing a hush money payment to a porn star,

head of the 2016 election, now marred in a fight over a significant number of documents related to Michael Cohen, the man who made the payment. Records Mr. Trump's attorneys say they need to prepare their defense. According to a new court filing, tens of thousands of pages of documents were only recently turned over to Mr. Trump's team. A Trump spokesman responding tonight, this case has no basis in law or fact. And so, Laura, when might be here the date for the trial here in New York? Well,

the judge can rule any time now, Lester. As you mentioned, Mr. Trump's defense team says they need at least 90 days to delay here, given the number of documents. But the judge could do something shorter than that, or he could decide he wants to hear from both sides before ruling. All right, Laura, thanks very much. Tonight's other top story, severe weather ripping across much of the country from tornadoes touching down in several states late today to that massive snowstorm in the Mountain West. Dana Griffin has the latest. That is insane. Tonight, a tornado touching down in Indiana.

Several homes destroyed, trees leveled, and power out in the area. There's a whole house that's blown over over there. The entire house is brand new. They just moved in. Remarkably, no reported deaths. And in Kansas? We got a tornado on the area. There's a whole house that's blown over over there. The entire house is brand new. They just moved in. Remarkably, no reported deaths. And in Kansas, we got a tornado on the ground. Another twister. In Missouri, golf ball-sized hail. Meanwhile, the biggest snowstorm to hit Colorado in three years arrived overnight, dumping two to three inches per hour, leaving drivers stranded and parts of I-70 closed. And early and often, that's the strategy for some

residents trying to shovel their way through this continuous snowfall. I think I'm gonna be out here two more times. Today? Probably. Heavy, weighed down snow concerning for neighbors like Mary Eisen, trying to clear snow from her prized cherry tree. It's very stiff and there's a lot of water. More than 31,000 customers without power and most schools took a snow day. At Denver International, more than 800 flights canceled. I was supposed to be flying back home to Kansas City and unfortunately they got canceled. A bus carrying 60 women on a ski trip from Denver getting stuck for more than 15 hours on I-70. We got on the bus yesterday at 3 30. Some women stuck without their medicine. We have someone who with diabetes and we have

someone who got injured on the hill. By Thursday afternoon the group finally back on the road and proving their resilience. We kind of know how to handle things when they're tough. And there's hope. This March snow madness comes to an end Friday. And Dana, it's been snowing for more than 24 hours in some areas. So how much more is expected tonight? Yeah, there's still 12 hours left of this storm. What you see on the ground will likely double by tomorrow. It's going to be another long night for Cruz, hoping that tree limbs like this don't come crashing down. Lester. All right, Dana, thank you. In Washington, top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer

with some stinging criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling for new elections there, a rare rebuke of the elected leader of a key U.S. ally. Garrett Haik now with late details. As Israel targets Hamas in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis grows, the top Senate Democrat delivering a scathing rebuke of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he needs to be replaced in new elections. Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take the precedence over the best interests of Israel. Schumer, the highest ranking Jewish elected official in American history, laying blame for the war at the feet of Hamas,

but saying Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace. He has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows. Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah. Republican leaders slamming the criticism of Netanyahu, who is also known as Bibi, the democratically elected leader of a close U.S. ally. The Democratic Party doesn't have an anti-Bibi problem. It has an anti-Israel problem. It's just plain wrong for an American leader to play such a divisive role in Israeli politics while our closest ally in the region is in an existential battle for its very survival. Netanyahu has not responded to Schumer's comments. Meanwhile, President Biden has criticized Israel's military operations as over the top and privately complained of Netanyahu

quote giving him hell, sources told NBC News last month. Lester. Garrett Haig, thank you. Now to the increasingly desperate situation in Haiti, where hundreds of Americans are among those struggling to get out as the violence and chaos grows. Gabe Gutierrez is following it all from the neighboring Dominican Republic. Tonight, a catastrophe is unfolding in Haiti. Each day, people running for their lives. The gang violence in Port-au-Prince now trapping Americans caught in the crossfire. Hundreds of stranded U.S. citizens registering with the State Department. We just want to go home.

Missionary Jill Dolan and her family are stuck at a makeshift motel near the country's shuttered main airport. She's desperate to get back to Florida in time for her daughter's wedding. Instead, she's ducking for cover. We did hear gunfire like right outside at this gate and it was very scary and we all went running and we turned off the lights and just like hid in our room until it went away. Amid concerns of a mass exodus from Haiti, the Dominican Republic is increasing patrols along its border and the U.S. is considering temporarily housing Haitian migrants at Guantanamo Bay like it's done before. Today, in the Dominican border town of Dajabong, Haitians were briefly allowed

to cross into this closed-off market. But if they went too far illegally, we saw bus after bus deporting them. This widow, mother of six, told us she was desperate for food. We don't have work. We don't have a president. We have nothing, she says. This widow, mother of six, told us she was desperate for food. We don't have work. We don't have a president. We have nothing, she says. The UN just announcing that it's launching an air bridge, essentially a humanitarian corridor in the sky, to bring over humanitarian aid from the Dominican Republic across the border into Haiti. We also met Wanyu Jambier, who says he's from Miami. But as he recently visited family in Haiti, a gang overtook his bus, leaving him with no passport and no way out. They took all my stuff, my documents, my bags, my phones, my money that I had in my pocket.

Tonight, this is the edge of chaos, a humanitarian crisis at yet another border. And Gabe, it's important to note that violence is just one of the reasons so many Haitians are trying to get out. Yeah, that's right, Lester. We're just a few steps from the Haitian border. And so many people came here today in stifling temperatures for whatever little food they could get. It is not just the violence. The UN also estimates that nearly a million people inside Haiti are on the brink of famine. Lester. All right, Gabe, thank you. We're going to take a turn overseas now to the tensions with China. Tonight, we have rare access inside joint military drills as the U.S. and Japan make a major show of force

in the region. Here's Janice Mackey-Frayer. Here on Okinawa, amphibious carriers are landing on a beach to simulate a raid to take back an island. These are American vehicles rolling off a Japanese hovercraft. Japan and the U.S. expanding joint military drills to hone close coordination between forces. These drills happen fast. They're already heading back out to sea. And for the first time, the exercise called Iron Fist said to name China as the hypothetical enemy. Though the threat is real, says the U.S. ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel. What is it that China is doing that is creating this potential for conflict? Well, they're in conflict with everybody. There's no country in the region they're not in some kind of small, very small kinetic problem with. An untethered, unanchored China is destabilizing

China. With Japan facing its gravest security threat in decades, spending billions on American stealth fighter jets and cruise missiles to defend against China, but also Russia and North Korea. A key part of Japan's strategy involves fortifying an island chain with missile systems and a new military base that U.S. aircraft would use too, creating a wall centered around Taiwan, limiting China's access to the Western Pacific. China's claims over most of the disputed South China Sea are causing friction, with close encounters involving Chinese ships and aircraft.

The U.S. transforming its presence, too. We're the permanent Pacific power. You can bet long on America. For years, these drills were held in the U.S. and last year moved here as deterrence and a message that Japan is readying to fight. Janice McEfrayer, NBC News, Okinawa. In 60 seconds, the search intensifies for a missing college student in Nashville, seen on surveillance, but never returning to his hotel. The mystery after this. We're back now with the urgent search for a college student missing for nearly a week in Nashville. Tonight, his family is speaking out to us as authorities investigate whether he was over-served alcohol before he vanished. Here's Kathy Park. The search for 22-year-old Riley

Strain intensifying in Nashville. Crews using sonar equipment in the Cumberland River. It's just, we got to find him. The University of Missouri student disappeared last Friday night after his family says he left by himself from a downtown bar owned by country music star Luke Bryan. Do you know why he was asked to leave the bar? He was trying to pay his tab,

but he didn't have a tab. And the bartender was like, you've been over-served, you gotta go. Surveillance video revealing some of the last moments Riley was seen. One video appears to show him stumbling, even falling. It hurt to see no one help. Investigators say right now, no foul play is suspected. This is strictly a missing person investigation at this point. His parents say Riley stands out. He's 6'7", adding he was visiting Nashville with his fraternity brothers. I think the last text was around 7.45,

and I just said, I love you, and he said, I love you too. The family says Riley told his friends he would be back to their hotel, but when his friends arrived, Riley wasn't there, and they couldn't reach him on his cell phone. Police say this 911 call was made the day after Riley was last seen. Who is it that you're wanting to report as missing? We're here on a fraternity formal trip. It's one of my good buddies. Riley's family now on a mission to bring him back home. The operator and owner of Luke Bryan's bar says they will work closely with police.

Meanwhile, Tennessee authorities have launched an investigation into whether Riley was over-served alcohol. They did not say which establishments were under review. Lester? Kathy Park in Nashville. Thanks. Coming up, trying to stay ahead of a growing outbreak of measles. Chicago vaccinating hundreds with at least 10 cases reported there. Back now with the latest on the country's growing measles outbreak with cases this year so far in 17 states. Tonight, the focus is on Chicago with at least 10 measles cases, most of them tied to a single migrant shelter.

Jesse Kirsch is there. Tonight, Chicago officials trying to keep up with an outbreak of measles hitting multiple communities, including at least two public schools. Overall, the city reporting 12 cases in just one week. Ten of those infections connected to this specific city migrant shelter. At this point, would you say this situation is under control? Well, measles is quite contagious and it spreads among those who are not vaccinated. So we are trying to get it under control by vaccinating as many people as possible. Chicago's commissioner of public health says the city has vaccinated more than 900 shelter

residents. But that was after the outbreak began. And immunization takes time. It takes 21 days for the vaccines to become effective. This woman is staying at the shelter with her two young children. She agreed to speak with us if we concealed her identity. The conditions are awful, she told us. There's more than 300 people in one area. We're all crammed together. The city says it's trying to create more space, moving families with vulnerable pregnant women and children less than a year old to hotel rooms. Nationwide, the CDC reports at least 45 measles cases combined across 17 states so far this year.

But Chicago's outbreak underscores that new migrant arrivals can mean new public health challenges. Many here come from Venezuela, which has a low measles vaccination rate. Chicago's mayor says don't blame the migrants. They didn't bring illness. In fact, migrants are more vulnerable to the existing infectious diseases that we already have here. Chicago says it's also now offering vaccines right here at the city's landing zone when migrants get off buses to help protect

against the potentially deadly measles virus. Lester. Jesse Kirsch, thanks. There is late breaking news in the trial of James Crumbly facing charges after his son killed four students in a school shooting. Let's get right to Adrian Bradas. Adrian. Lester, it took that Michigan jury more than eight and a half hours to find James Crumbly guilty on all four counts of involuntary manslaughter. As that verdict was read, James Crumbly shook his head. Members of the jury deliberating more than eight and a half hours.

Prosecutors argued that James Crumbly could have prevented the shooting that led to the deaths of those four students. The defense said their client had no knowledge. Family members relieved tonight. Lester. Adrian, thank you. And up next for us, today's critical test in the new space race. Finally, the FAA says it will investigate a mishap during today's SpaceX Starship launch after the rocket and booster broke apart on re-entry. But NASA and SpaceX say there were many successes in today's flight, and it comes as the

newest class of astronauts prepares to one day ride the rocket to the moon. Here's Tom Costello. On its third test flight, the biggest rocket ever built flew farther and faster than ever before. Hot staging confirmed. Starship performing critical tests and sending back stunning images, breaking apart 45 minutes into flight on reentry. The SpaceX flight comes as 12 new astronauts earned their wings, with NASA preparing for some very big missions ahead. Hopefully some of these men and women you see on stage set their footprints on the moon.

Artemis II commander Reed Weissman will lead the crew that loops around the moon in 2025. By the end of the decade, future astronauts will use Starship to land on the moon. New astronaut Dr. Chris Williams. Have you dreamed of being among the first to return on the moon. New astronaut Dr. Chris Williams. Have you dreamed of being among the first to return to the moon? I absolutely hope it's me and you know and that I get the chance to do that. Under Artemis, an Orion space capsule will carry astronauts to a new space station called Gateway already under construction. This is Gateway, the space station that will eventually orbit the moon. On board, four of these modules will host four crew members working and living on the station

and sending astronauts from here down to the lunar surface. A sort of floating mothership. Eventually, all four will go down and then they'll come back and forth from here to get ready to go down to the surface or return home. Perhaps one day Starship will carry astronauts even further. Air Force fighter pilot and new astronaut Nicole Ayers. As a little kid I used to say I'm going to be the first person on Mars so even as a little child I had the Mars idea for the dream. And do you still? Of course, definitely. But before Mars, the moon is calling. Tom Costello, NBC News, Houston. It's all very exciting. That's nightly news for this Thursday. Thank you for watching, everyone. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other.

Good night.