NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Thursday, March 21, 2024

Episode Date: March 22, 2024

Escaped inmate and alleged accomplice captured in Idaho; Landmark lawsuit accuses Apple of anticompetitive conduct to lock in users, protect profits; U.S. introduces Gaza cease-fire resolution at U.N.; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Breaking news tonight, the escaped inmate and his accomplice in Idaho now caught, but not before they may have committed more horrifying violence. The dangerous convicted felon and the gunman police say broke him out of the hospital in a brazen ambush, back in custody tonight. But while they were on the run, police say they may have killed two people. What we're learning. Also tonight, the blockbuster lawsuit, the Justice Department accusing Apple of having an illegal smartphone monopoly, what it could mean for your iPhone. The new NTSB report on an American Airlines plane running off the runway in Dallas, the error investigators say caused the brakes to fail. The U.S. turning up the pressure on Israel, calling for an immediate ceasefire, and the release of all hostages held in Gaza.

Back-to-back spring storms bringing snow from the Midwest to the Northeast. The stunning news involving baseball superstar Shohei Otani. His interpreter suddenly fired. The allegations of massive theft and illegal gambling. The medical milestone for the first time ever, the kidney from a pig transplanted into a human. And the powerful new memorial reclaiming a site with a painful past. Our emotional journey and the moment I made a very personal discovery. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt.

Good evening, everyone. We start with breaking news tonight. The manhunt now over for an escaped Idaho prison inmate and his alleged accomplice. Authorities say both men were arrested this afternoon after a short car chase. No shots were fired in contrast to yesterday when three corrections officers were shot and wounded, one by a parent-friendly fire during the escape. And now authorities say they are investigating two homicides that they say may be connected to the fugitives' time on the run. Dana Griffin has late developments for us. Dana, still a lot of questions to be answered tonight. Absolutely, Lester. These dangerous suspects were arrested in Idaho

without further gunfire after investigators say they may have killed two people while on the land. They managed to ditch their first getaway car and hop into another. Investigators now piecing together their movements over the last day and a half. Tonight, escaped inmate Skyler Meade and accomplice nicholas umfenauer arrested after a vehicle pursuit with police nearly 36 hours after their brazen shooting ambush on corrections officers outside of boise idaho hospital investigators say the men may now be tied to two homicides during their time on the run we did find the shackles at the scene of one of the homicides. The motive and why they did what they did, I don't know. The men taken into custody in Twin Falls, Idaho,

nearly 130 miles from the hospital, where three officers were shot during the initial escape. Station continuing had a driver who was a shooter. Authorities say both men are members of the white supremacist gang, Aryan Knights. According to the DOJ, the Aryan Knights was formed in the mid-1990s in the Idaho prison system. They often use initials AK to identify themselves, similar to the tattoos on Meade's stomach. The gang has also used violence to target inmates of color. I mean, the fact that they did, you know, basically a movie type shootout to free him from prison is just really bold. And it means that they've been planning it for a while. Authorities now turning their investigation to how they pulled off the coordinated attack and escape. With near certainty, this was not an accident.

This was a planned event. And we're channeling every resource we have into trying to understand exactly how they went about planning it. A sophisticated criminal plot coming to an end with these jailhouse friends heading back behind bars. Dana Griffin, NBC News. Tonight the U.S. Justice Department is looking to take a bite out of Apple, filing a lawsuit against the computer giant accusing it of monopolizing the smartphone market by restricting its operating system. Laura Jarrett now with the legal battle. Attorney General Merrick Garland announcing a landmark lawsuit today accusing tech giant Apple

of leveraging its dominance over the smartphone market to box out competitors in a way that hurts customers. Apple has consolidated its monopoly power not by making its own products better, but by making other products worse. Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies break the law. The Justice Department joining more than a dozen states in nearly a 90-page complaint accusing the company of violating antitrust laws through the iPhone, Apple Watch, and Apple Pay. DOJ saying the tech behemoth, which has more than a billion active iPhones worldwide, deliberately makes products less compatible with its competitors' devices. As any iPhone user who has ever seen a green text message or received a tiny, grainy video can attest. Garland specifically calling out Apple CEO Tim Cook, referencing this exchange Cook had back in 2022

when he was asked if the company would fix the problems associated with texting video between iPhones and Androids. Not to make it personal, but I can't send my mom certain videos or she can't send me certain videos. And so we buy your mom an iPhone. Apple today calling the lawsuit wrong on the facts and the law, saying it threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets. If successful, it would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple. The lawsuit, the culmination of years of regulatory scrutiny of Apple's wildly popular products, fueling its growth into one of the most valuable companies in the world. People love buying their iPhones. People enjoy their iPhones. It is the most popular

smartphone brand here in the United States. So, Laura, what does the DOJ want Apple to do to remedy this? Well, Lester, the government wants Apple to make its products more compatible with other companies' technology. But the department hasn't ruled out even breaking up Apple if necessary, a drastic step that hasn't happened since Bell Systems back in 1982. But, Lester, this is likely to be a legal fight that goes on for years. All right, Laura, thank you. We want to turn now to two aviation mishaps under federal investigation. But Lester, this is likely to be a legal fight that goes on for years. All right, Laura, thank you. We want to turn now to two aviation mishaps under federal investigation.

One involves an American flight that landed in Dallas with no brakes. The other involves another problem with the Boeing MAX 8. Tom Costello joins us. Let's start with what happened in Dallas, Tom. Yeah, this happened back in February as the American Airlines 737 landed on the DFW runway. The pilots found they had no brakes. They set their thrust reversers to maximum as the control tower started fire rescue just in case. The plane rolled off the end of the runway into an overrun area. Nobody injured. The NTSB found a maintenance team had improperly reconnected and swapped two hydraulic brake lines and electrical lines. American Airlines tells us the safety of our customers and team members is our top priority,

and we are fully investigating, cooperating rather, with the NTSB. Lester? And Tom, the second investigation could suggest another issue with the Boeing 737 MAX and quality control. Yeah, that's right. The FAA wants hundreds of MAX planes inspected over three years for chafing wire bundles that could cause the pilots to lose control. NBCNews.com was the first to report this problem. It dates back to 2021, when pilots momentarily lost control of a MAX that suddenly rolled to the right. The FAA warns wiring damage could lead to loss of control of the airplane. Boeing tells NBC News this is not an immediate

safety of flight issue. It's already being addressed, but it does come as the FAA focuses on quality control breakdowns at Boeing, Lester. All right, Tom Costello, thank you. Now to the Middle East tonight, the Biden administration taking a more aggressive stance and calling for an immediate ceasefire at the United Nations. Raf Sanchez is in Israel with late details. Tonight, Secretary of State Antony Blinken back in the Middle East as the U.S. for the first time puts forward a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. And we hope that all countries will back that resolution. Those against?

It's a marked shift for the US, which was left diplomatically isolated after vetoing three previous ceasefire resolutions. But those measures called for an end to the fighting even without a hostage deal. The new American resolution conditions a ceasefire on the release of hostages. The negotiators continue to work. The gaps are narrowing. While at al-Shifa hospital, Israel's military raids stretching into a fourth day. The IDF says it's killed 140 militants inside and captured senior Hamas operatives. But it's another blow to a health care system already near collapse. It's a fact Manal and Reem know well.

Both are mothers from Gaza, suffering from breast cancer. My wish is to see my children and grandchildren and go back home, Manal says. They were allowed out of Gaza for treatment in Jerusalem, but now an Israeli court is deciding whether to send them back to a place where basic medicines are impossible to find. Our fate will be death, she says. And the U.S. says it'll bring that U.N. resolution up for a vote Friday morning. Also tomorrow, the CIA director will be in Qatar trying to jumpstart those hostage negotiations. Lester.

Raf Sanchez, thank you. Now to the crisis in Haiti. The U.S. now flying trapped Americans out on chartered planes as the country descends further into chaos. Guadalcanal is in Miami as dozens arrive back on U.S. soil. This is what relief looks like. A plane of 14 U.S. citizens, including children, arriving in central Florida after a harrowing escape from Haiti. It took a couple of tries and they didn't give up. They stayed with us until the end of the mission. Philippe Armand was on board this flight, chartered by the state of Florida, with his wife and his two-year-old son. Very difficult part was getting around and making

it to the airport to fly out. We were dealing with little kids, not adults, so that made it even more stressful on the parents, and it was just scary. They were lucky. There are still more than a thousand Americans in Haiti, but with the airport and Port-au-Prince shuttered, roads closed, daily gun battles on the streets and armed gangs overrunning the capital, most Americans have no way out. I would say it's worse than a war zone. Private security contractors now going door to door trying to rescue them. Helicopter got surrounded today at the airport where the helicopter had to take off in a manner that was just, you know, I don't want to say unsafe, but again, the tower told him he may not be able to land there again. Another flight arriving in Miami today. I'm just happy because I get the United States. 66 more Americans now on U.S. soil. How is the country right now? The country in help. A country in chaos and people terrified for their lives hoping to get out. Juan Venegas, NBC News, Miami. And here at home, yet

more winter weather on the way. Tonight, 20 million people are under winter alerts from Montana to Maine. Parts of the Midwest could see three to six inches of snow with up to a foot possible in northern New England. Then another winter storm will bring yet more heavy snow to parts of these areas early next week. Up next, the major news on ensuring breakthrough weight loss drugs plus the groundbreaking transplant of a pig's kidney into a human. Could it be the answer for so many waiting for relief? Good news for some Americans who want access to those very popular but pricey weight loss drugs. Medicare now says it will cover the cost of Wigovi for patients with an increased risk

of heart attack, stroke, or other cardiovascular problems. But Medicare still will not cover Wagovi if it's only being used for weight management. And medical history made in Boston tonight. Doctors saying that for the first time, they have successfully transplanted a kidney from a pig into a living person. Here's Emily Aketa. Inside this Mass General operating room, a medical milestone. For the first time, a team of doctors transplanted a genetically modified pig kidney into a 62-year-old man

whose previously donated kidney failed and was struggling on dialysis. It's historical. Dr. Leo Riella first suggested a pig kidney knowing the patient could not wait for a human one. Of the 100,000 people in the U.S. on transplant waiting lists, the vast majority need kidneys. Most of our patients have to wait for an organ from the deceased donor list. And unfortunately, if they have to stay years on dialysis, that means their health is going to continue to deteriorate. Our immune systems typically reject foreign tissue, but through cutting-edge CRISPR technology from eGenesis, this pig kidney had 69 genomic edits to improve compatibility

and to reduce the risk of infection from viruses. Still, animal-to-human transplants are riddled with unknowns, including how long the pig kidney will last. But so far, the patient's nephrologist says the results appear promising. He has the surgery on Saturday, and we think he's on track for discharge this coming Saturday. So within a week? Within a week. In a statement, the patient said, I saw it not only as a way to help me, but a way to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive. We need a permanent solution. And dialysis was never made to be a permanent solution.

Could it essentially make dialysis obsolete? That's our goal. Emily Ikeda, NBC News, Boston. Pretty remarkable. Up next, the emotional journey into the history of the slave trade and how a new monument is changing the landscape. Now, the new memorial that has risen from the blood-soaked soil of an American tragedy, the enslavement of millions of Black people, a memorial park opening next week in Montgomery,

honors their lives with while quietly challenging movements to minimize our nation's racial history. I got a preview. The peaceful beauty of the Alabama River in Montgomery is undeniable, but so is its place in a brutal history. So the narrative will begin on this boat. Absolutely. Being sold down the river, being trafficked by boat or by rail was an absolutely terrifying experience for enslaved people. Brian Stevenson is the founder and CEO of the Equal Justice Initiative, which created the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park on these shores where the slave trade once flourished. There's not much in the visual record of that era that helps you get a sense of the humanity of these people. And so sculptures and replicas help weave the story from the places they were held. They would put them in holding pens where they would wait until

the auction. To the places they were whipped. So they would be shackled. Yes, you can see the metal points here. Along the trail, visitors are reminded this human trafficking was not just a stain on the South. North Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey, its tentacles reach north. No, it begins in the north. It begins in New England. Also posted here, laws that codify brutality against slaves. Homicides shall be deemed excusable when committed by accident or misfortune in lawfully correcting a slave. License to kill. That's right. That's right. And all of these laws really created an order that empowered people to use violence to maintain slavery. The monument

park joins the recently opened Legacy Museum, which documents the history and impact of the Atlantic slave trade. A third site, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, lays bare the raw history of lynching in America. It seems like a direct repudiation of some of the things, the movements we've heard over the last couple of years to not teach some of this history, critical race theory. For me, it's been a lifelong ambition to just kind of get people to reckon with the truth. We can't get there if we don't talk honestly about this history. The centerpiece of the sculpture park, this wall embossed with 122,000 surnames that were adopted by newly emancipated slaves during the 1870 census.

Prior to the 1870 census, enslaved people could only be numbers in the census or first name. And these are the names that represent the 4 million people who were emancipated and recorded in 1870. And, you know, we wanted to see them in a place of honor, see them on a wall. Scanning the names. You know what I'm doing now? Of course.

I find what I'm looking for. Here we go. Yeah, there it is marsh halt yes now that name was picked for some reason yeah that's right we don't know why no and what's interesting is um a lot of the names were names that people heard yes i sit there and I look at that and I think of who that name represents. Yeah, yeah. What they went through. Yeah. Could they ever imagine me? Yeah, that's the thing that's powerful. Standing here. Yeah. The urge is to grieve for them. Bryan Stevenson wants us to honor them. He quotes from the inscription at the base of the wall. We honor your perseverance in the midst the wall. We honor your perseverance in

the midst of sorrow. We honor your struggle for freedom. Your children love you. And the line that jumps out at me, the country you built must honor you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's what this monument hopes to do. Absolutely. A powerful, as you saw, personal journey of discovery. That's Nightly News. Thanks for watching. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night.