NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Episode Date: February 12, 2025

Musk joins Trump to defend aggressive cost-cutting moves; American teacher Marc Fogel released from Russian prison; Trump doubles down on controversial Gaza plan while meeting Jordan's king; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, billionaire Elon Musk facing questions for the first time over his cost-cutting moves. The major moment with President Trump in the Oval Office defending their deep government spending cuts as battles play out in the courts. What they said about the Democratic criticism of Doge. Why Musk says the federal bureaucracy should be slashed. And the president is asked, will he follow federal judge's rulings against him? The American teacher on his way back to the U.S. after being imprisoned for three and a half years in Russia. What we're learning about the deal, 100 million under winter weather

alerts, whiteout conditions in Kentucky, the nation's capital under snow, as West Virginia gets more than a foot in where the next round is headed. Plus, I never broke the law, and I never would. The political stunner, the back story of why the Trump DOJ is abandoning the corruption case against New York's Democratic mayor. What's behind the shift? The battle between the American tech giants and the global face-off for the future of AI. The tuna recall impacting major retailers across the country. What do you need to know?

And the good news, a gallery on ice. You've heard of Burning Man? Is Minnesota's version Freezing Man? This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome. President Trump didn't have any kind words for judges who have paused some of his efforts to rein in government spending, saying today maybe we have to look at the judges. With Elon Musk at his side in the Oval Office, the president claimed without evidence that

the sweeping downsizing effort has already exposed billions of dollars of government waste and corruption. He credited Musk, who in turn defended the propriety of his role, as an unelected official given broad authority to reshape the American government from the ground up. Musk insisting he is accountable for his work, while the president said he would ensure the billionaire businessman steers clear of conflicts of interest. Gabe Gutierrez reports. Tonight, tech titan Elon Musk with his young son in the Oval Office. If we don't do something about this deficit, the country's going bankrupt.

Defending his aggressive push to downsize the federal government. If you have rule of the bureaucrat, if the bureaucracy is in charge, and then what meaning does democracy actually have? But the leader of President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, the wealthiest man in the world whose businesses have massive federal contracts, was also pressed about potential conflicts of interest. All of our actions are fully public. I fully expect to be scrutinized and get a daily proctology exam, basically. Might as well just camp out there. So it's not like I think I can get away with something. Following criticism from Musk,

the Department of Homeland Security today firing several FEMA workers, accusing them of circumventing leadership by using taxpayer money to pay for New York City hotels for migrants. The public is saying, why are we paying all this money? This is for years this has gone on. But Musk was pressed about what Democrats call a hostile takeover of government. You couldn't ask for a stronger mandate. The people voted for major government reform, and that's what people are going to get. Democrats also argue a constitutional showdown may be brewing as the Trump administration faces mounting legal challenges over its cost-cutting moves. Public employees who serve this country well, you should be respected, not rejected. Over the past week, judges have temporarily hit the brakes on President Trump's freezing

of some federal spending, which was challenged by several blue states, and offering federal workers buyouts opposed by some unions. And now a judge who's an activist judge wants to try and stop us from doing this. Why? Why would they want to do that? I campaigned on this. I campaigned on the fact that I said government is corrupt. And it is. Today, Vice President J.D. Vance in Paris after suggesting judges aren't allowed to control the president's legitimate power, setting up a new battle over presidential authority. The issue here isn't the courts trying to control the president.

It's the president trying to control the law. I agree wholeheartedly with Vice President J.D. Vance. What Doge is doing is making sure that your taxpayer dollars, all of us, are spent in the way that they're intended to be spent. President Trump tonight. Maybe we have to look at the judges. I think it's a very serious violation. Saying he'll follow court rulings. I always abide by the courts and then I'll have to appeal it. Gabe, you also have new reporting tonight on two of President Trump's cabinet picks. Yes, Lester, the president's choice or director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, just picked up support from two key

Republicans. Her confirmation vote was expected overnight, but the snowstorm is delaying it. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s confirmation vote could also come later this week. All right, Gabe. Thanks. Enjoy the snow. Now to the surprise announcement. American teacher Mark Fogel, who was held in Russia for three and a half years, is heading home. The Trump administration is securing his release. Garrett Haight joins us now. Garrett Fogel will be arriving in Washington later tonight. That's right, Lester. Fogel is flying back as we speak. A White House official posting this photo of him aboard the private plane of Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, who led the negotiations for his release in Moscow. The Pennsylvania native was sentenced to 14 years in prison for possession of cannabis, which his family says was to treat back pain.

The U.S. considered him wrongfully detained. President Trump said today the U.S. gave Russia, quote, not much in return for Fogel's release. Fogel's family saying they are beyond grateful he's coming home. Lester. All right, Garrett Haig tonight. Thanks. Let's turn now to that high stakes meeting at the White House between President Trump and Jordan's King Abdullah, where the president doubled down on his controversial plan for Gaza. NBC's Andrea Mitchell has late details for us. Jordan's King Abdullah at the White House after President Trump threatened to cut off aid to Jordan if the king doesn't take in Palestinians from Gaza, which Jordan has opposed. King Abdullah

offering instead to take in thousands of sick children from Gaza. I think one of the things that we can do right away is take 2,000 children that are either cancer children or in a very ill state to Jordan as quickly as possible. That's really a beautiful gesture. That's really good, and we appreciate it. The president also doubling down on his plan to own Gaza and rebuild it. We're not going to buy anything. We're going to have it, and we're going to keep it, and we're going to make sure that there's going to be peace and there's not going to be any problem. I can tell you about real estate. They're going to be in love with it. King Abdullah is saying Egypt will present a plan in response to the president's,

who then suggested he won't withhold aid to either country. I don't have to threaten with money. We do. We contribute a lot of money to Jordan and to Egypt, by the way, a lot to both. But I don't have to threaten that. I don't think I think we're above that. Meanwhile, President Trump also doubling down on his threat to Hamas after seeing how emaciated three Israeli hostages were when they were released last week. They look like Holocaust survivors. The president repeated his demand that Hamas not just release a few hostages this week, but all of them by noon Saturday. They either have them out by Saturday at 12 o'clock or all bets are off. Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu has put his troops on alert

along the Gaza border, saying if Hamas does not live up to their end of the hostage deal on Saturday, Israel will resume intensive combat operations. Lester. Andrea Mitchell, thanks. Over 100 million people are under winter alert, stretching from Colorado to Maine. Tonight, the White House under a cascade of snow, as you saw a few moments ago. Sam Brock is in Washington. And Sam, the first wave of snow already coming down there pretty hard. Yeah, Lester, as you can see, it is really coming down, as you said, right now and starting to stick. Projections for Washington, D.C., somewhere in the range of four to six inches. And Lester, other parts of the country are getting absolutely walloped right now, like Kentucky, which is seeing blinding snow on its highways. West Virginia has

already received more than a foot of snow and Arkansas, which is buckling under an ice storm. This is the first, Lester, of back-to-back-to-back storms impacting the Mid-Atlantic, the Midwest and Great Lake regions and the Northeast with this weekend expected to be awfully messy. Meantime, back here in D.C. for hundreds of thousands of families, school and access to open roads is an open question. Bluster back to you. All right, Sam, thanks very much. New York City Mayor Eric Adams is vowing to regain the public's trust after the Department of Justice dropped corruption charges against him.

Tonight, there are questions about his political future and what it could mean for other high-profile prosecutions. Here's Laura Jarrett. I never broke the law. Mayor Eric Adams speaking out now for the first time since the Justice Department's decision to drop its corruption case against him. I absolutely never traded my power as an elected official for any personal benefit. Top DOJ official Emil Bovee directing federal prosecutors in New York late Monday to dismiss the bribery charges

against Adams immediately, but leaving the door open to a future investigation. Bovee saying the case indicted by a grand jury last September and set for trial this coming April has improperly interfered with Mayor Adams bid for reelection. The general election still nine months away. Bovey also suggesting it restricted the mayor from devoting his full attention to the Trump administration's priorities on immigration and crime, raising fresh questions tonight about how the DOJ will treat criminal investigations going forward. More serious in the long run is the damage this does to the whole idea of criminal prosecutions being separate and apart from the president's policymaking. This certainly is a message that any public official who is prosecuted against whom charges

are not dropped simply hasn't made the right call. Adams pled not guilty to charges of taking bribes in exchange for political favors, while President Trump appeared sympathetic to his case last year. I think that he was treated pretty unfairly. Adams later traveled to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago just days before also attending his inauguration. And Laura here with me. Are there other prosecutions in New York that the DOJ could weigh in on? Certainly, Lester. This is an office that routinely handles public corruption cases. Meanwhile, some defendants, like Senator Bob Menendez, hoping that the president will step in with a pardon. All right, Laura, thanks very much.

Now to a stunning moment on the floor of the House, a sitting member of Congress publicly accusing her ex-fiance and several others of a long list of serious crimes. Ryan Nobles has the story. South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace taking to the House floor to publicly accuse four men, including her ex-fiance, of what she described as heinous crimes against women, including herself. I'm going scorched earth. So let the bridges I burned this evening light our way forward. Mace, without specific evidence, spent close to an hour detailing allegations, including rape and filming women and young girls without their consent. She accused her ex-fiance, Patrick Bryant, of being at the center of the scheme, which she says she uncovered on his phone.

I found myself face to face with the darkest corners of humanity. Bryant, who Mace was engaged to until 2023, vehemently denied her claims. I categorically deny these allegations. I take this matter seriously and will cooperate fully with any necessary legal processes to clear my name. The other men named by Mace in the speech also forcefully denied the allegations and called them untrue. Mace also attacked South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson. There were deliberate delays in an investigation in what I turned over. Wilson, who could be a future political rival

of Mace's and the South Carolina governor's race, said the congresswoman has her facts wrong. She's never voiced any concerns about her case. And had she raised any concerns, I would have been completely shocked because I was unaware that she had a case being investigated. By giving her speech on the House floor, Mace has wide latitude under the Constitution's Speech and Debate Clause, which protects members' comments from lawsuits. But those comments need to be part of legitimate legislative activity. Mace argued the allegations were part of her rationale for introducing bills related to the protection of women. A source with direct knowledge tells NBC News she consulted with a lawyer to make sure the

speech was constitutionally protected. Of the four men Mace made accusations about on the House floor, only one is under active criminal investigation, her ex-fiance. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division confirms there is a probe into allegations of assault, harassment, and voyeurism, but no charges have been filed. Lester. Ryan, thank you. In 60 seconds, billionaire battle. Elon Musk looks to buy control of Sam Altman's open AI. And the feud between the two tech titans gets personal. What Altman said today about Musk. Next. In Paris today, an international summit on artificial intelligence. Vice President J.D. Vance was there arguing against strict regulation. But as Brian Chung reports, the drama between tech titans Elon Musk and Sam Altman took center stage.

Vice President J.D. Vance on the world stage today, sharing his vision of an America first agenda on artificial intelligence. The United States of America is the leader in AI and our administration plans to keep it that way. But offstage, a more personal, escalating battle for AI supremacy. Elon Musk making a $97 billion offer to take chat GPT maker OpenAI from its CEO, Sam Altman, who Musk has called scam Altman and a swindler. Altman punching back, offering to buy Twitter from Musk, and today at the AI summit in Paris, saying... Probably his whole life is from a position of insecurity, I feel for the guy. The growing public feud now a major falling out between the two tech billionaires

who co-founded OpenAI together in 2015. I think we've got a really talented group at OpenAI. You are unusually fearless and willing to go in the face of other people telling you something is crazy. But now, Musk's company, XAI, is a competitor to Altman's OpenAI. I mean, look, OpenAI is not for sale. The two are also fighting in court after Musk sued Altman and OpenAI, alleging that they double-crossed him on a promise to keep the company a non-profit. OpenAI saying they need to become a for-profit company to raise money. Caught in the middle, President Donald Trump, close with Musk,

but also heaping praise on Altman at a recent White House event. I would say the, by far the leading expert based on everything I read, Sam Altman. A former friendship gone foul, with the future of AI hanging in the balance. Brian Chung, NBC News. Now to a consumer alert, the FDA announcing a voluntary recall over the risk of botulism, a potentially fatal type of food poisoning for some canned tuna in dozens of states and D.C. sold at Trader Joe's and Costco. The FDA and the manufacturers say it's out of an abundance of caution due to a pull tab defect. Still ahead as we continue here tonight as the White House announces new orders on gender affirming care, our reporting on the

personal side of the new legal landscape next. After a flurry of executive orders, families and doctors are now scrambling, trying to navigate what, if any, transgender care children and teens will be able to receive. Stephanie Gosk explains. A campaign promise. No serious country should be telling its children that they were born with the wrong gender. Turned into a flurry of executive orders targeting transgender people and the institutions that support them. One of the recent orders bans federal funding of transgender medical care for individuals under 19. Basically, me getting care is like my house. Imagine somebody's coming in, an architect who got to detail your house and all this. We're going to take away your house. Is that how you feel right

now? They're taking away all our houses. 17-year-old Akani Drizdale-Ash has been getting transgender care, including hormone blockers, for three years. I didn't feel connected to my body. It started maybe when I was in fourth, fifth grade. For me as the parent, the most important part was like just getting connected with support for my child. My child is depressed. Akani's mother took him to a clinic in New York City. I think it's important to screen those young people to make sure that they understand, in particular when they're legally minors, to make sure that their parents understand. Dr. Jeffrey Birnbaum treats Akani. He says he and his patients are afraid about where the country is heading. I am certainly scared about what could happen to both me, my institution, and every other institution where young people are coming for care.

There are currently 26 states that have laws or policies that restrict gender-affirming care for minors. Six hospitals in states where it is allowed have changed their policy, according to the White House. NBC News reached out to another 10 hospitals in states where it is currently allowed, and two confirmed their policies changed as well. The executive order is already facing legal challenges, and it's not clear how enforcement will work. You have a government right now that is taking concrete actions to prevent you from living the way you want to live.

And I wonder, how does that affect you today? It seems like we're repeating, history repeating itself. I would do what the people before me did, what we always will do, stand up for ourselves, lift our voices, and come together. Stephanie Gosk, NBC News. And coming up tonight, while most of us are staying indoors, we'll take you to a frozen lake that has been transformed into a gallery on ice. There's good news to report tonight. It's next.

Finally tonight, the good news in Minneapolis, where a band of artists transformed a frozen lake into an art gallery unlike anything you've ever seen. Here's Maggie Vespa. Every winter when the land of 10,000 lakes freezes over, make art happen! stubborn Minneapolis artists turn one into the ultimate stage. Welcome to the Art Shanty Projects, 20 interactive exhibits, the trippier, the better, on ice for those who dare. Yeah, it's very wild. I keep asking her, are we okay? We do get a lot of frozen lake first timers. Frozen lake first timers.

The festival began 21 years ago when a pair of artists learned frozen lakes lack building codes. Organizers measure the ice daily, topping the minimum 10 inches, not always a guarantee. Last year, warm weather started melting the ice and the festival closed early this year they came back in full force on display a play on the plight of pigeons dumpster fire disco nod to uh wild stuff that's happening in the world right now. Even Froga frozen yoga. It's like the opposite of hot yoga. All drawing people together. You've never walked on ice before. In a season that normally drives us indoors. That was so Minnesota. On a stage where, while it lasts, anything goes. Oh, my God.

Maggie Vespa, NBC News, Minneapolis. It kind of warms your heart, doesn't it? That's nightly news for this Tuesday. Thank you for watching. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night.