NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Episode Date: February 19, 2025

New images of crash landing in Toronto as investigators search for cause; Brutal winter weather sweeps country; Resignations and anticipated firings as Trump overhaul of federal government continues; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, the terrifying new video of the Delta plane crash in Toronto. The moment of impact when a passenger jet flipped over on an icy runway. The fireball erupting right before it overturned. Passengers suspended upside down in their seats. 21 injured, but incredibly all aboard are accounted for. The frantic evacuation and now investigators searching for answers on the plane's black boxes plus growing concerns surrounding Aviation safety after the latest flight scare how flight attendants trained to get passengers out alive The death toll climbing after severe floods ravaged, Kentucky at least 14 dead with another major winter storm

On the move nearly a foot of snow blanketing parts of the Midwest as the brutal cold returns, packing record lows for millions. Top Social Security and FDA officials quit. As President Trump's overhaul of the government escalates, plus thousands of federal firefighters in limbo, the potential consequences as fire season approaches. The U.S. and Russia meet for the first high-level peace talks without Ukraine, what it could mean for the war. Pope Francis battling pneumonia in both lungs with the Vatican is saying about the 88-year-old's condition. And is the ever-elusive flying car set to soar our first look at a vehicle that could make science fiction a reality? This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt.

Good evening and welcome. Cameras were rolling at the moment of impact in yesterday's fiery commercial airplane crash in Toronto. The view taken from another plane capturing the final seconds of a landing approach and then the touchdown where things appear to go very wrong. Flashes of flame around the landing gear, an entire wing breaking away as the body of the plane flips on its back. Canadian investigators late today announced the cockpit voice recorder and data recorder have both been removed from the plane for analysis in a lab.

They are among the valuable clues in the search for answers, including how all 80 people on board were safely rescued and how weather conditions at the time could have potentially affected the flight. Stephanie Gosk reports now from Toronto. Tonight, new terrifying video of Delta Flight 4819's crash landing in Toronto. The plane hitting the runway and bursting into flames just before flipping over. The video, apparently shot from the cockpit of another plane, could be a key piece of evidence, according to NBC News aviation analyst John Cox. You see the right wing depart the airplane, and the lack of that wing is what causes the airplane to roll over.

Remarkably, no lives were lost in the crash. Of the 80 people on board, Delta Airlines says 21 were treated in the hospital. 19 have been released. The fuselage of the plane still sits on the runway, where it will likely remain for the next two days, according to officials. We are currently without use of our longest east-west and north-south runways. Canadian investigators with help from the FAA and the NTSB will be looking closely at the weather. Monday, the fire chief said wind was not an issue when the plane crashed, but meteorologists reported gusts as strong as 40 miles an hour in the area. The conditions were challenging, but nothing more than professional pilots can handle.

Passenger Peter Kukoff says the descent felt normal until the plane hit the ground. Did you have a moment where you thought this is it? I think so, yeah. I mean, I was like, okay, the plane is crashing. Like, I'm gonna, if the plane is crashing, you're not gonna live. Drop it! Come on! The documentary producer shooting this video of people scrambling to get off the plane after being suspended upside down in their seats. Kukov struck by how the flight attendants remained calm and helpful. I feel like everybody handled it pretty well considering we were in a plane crash. Those are chilling pictures, Stephanie.

What effect are the shutdown runways having on air traffic at that airport? Well, it's slowing it down, Lester. You know, there was a backlog at this airport before the crash took place because of successive winter storms. Now officials are warning travelers there could be delays and cancellations for days. All right, Stephanie Gosk in Toronto, thank you. Tonight, 59 million people remain under winter alerts from Nebraska to North Carolina as the storm brings heavy snow to places like Kentucky. Shaquille Brewster is there.

Another brutal round of winter weather tonight sweeping across the country. Heavy wind and up to a foot of snow blanketing Missouri. In Kansas City, this truck jackknifed in the storm. Firefighters in Minnesota struggling with wind chills of 40 below, their equipment and lines freezing. In Detroit, a water main break forced families out into the cold amid freezing temperatures Monday after a four and a half foot wide pipe failed, swamping an entire neighborhood. Face feels like it's freezing. Wind chills in Chicago hitting 23 degrees below zero. It's brutal. It gets icy

out here. As the Arctic blast expands, it will plunge much of the country into bone-chilling cold, with parts of the Midwest bracing for as much as a foot of snow. This is a snowstorm in the middle of a natural disaster. Kentucky can see up to six inches. A new threat as towns have barely started recovering from historic winter floods. Heavy rain pushed the Kentucky River into much of downtown Beattyville. We got the flood first and we're trying to clean up the cold, frigid temperatures and the snow is coming later today. So we're doing the best we can. Fourteen people have lost their lives in Kentucky, including 73-year-old Donald Nicholson,

whose family says his truck stalled along a highway during a flash flood. I can't tell you over the years the times I've saw him see somebody out in the street needing a few dollars or whatever the case may be. He had the ability to help them. He would without a second thought. The tragic and unrelenting pace of winter weather not letting up. Shaquille Brewster, NBC News, Beattyville, Kentucky. Let's turn out of Washington where there are more high-profile resignations at agencies overseeing social security and food safety. It comes as more federal workers are bracing for possible termination this week. Here's Kelly O'Donnell.

Tonight, making his Mar-a-Lago club the backdrop for official business. The president offended steep cuts to federal programs and spending and praised the billionaire advisor Elon Musk, who is dismantling parts of the government. Elon is, to me, a patriot. So, you know, you could call him an employee, you could call him a consultant, you could call him whatever you want, but he's a patriot. Asked if he has any concerns about specific firing decisions, including a move to rehire fired employees who oversee the nuclear stockpile. No, not at all. I think we have to just do what we have to do. It's, you know, you're going to, it's amazing what's been found. New details tonight on the federal workforce shakeup, from big resignations to thousands of civil servants fired,

prompting a fierce defense from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Why are you not celebrating these cuts? If you agree there is waste, if you agree there is abuse, if you agree there is corruption, why are you not celebrating the cuts? Conflict leads to a top official quitting at the Social Security Administration. Acting Commissioner Michelle King, a 30-year veteran, resigned after two sources said she refused access to sensitive Social Security records, such as citizens' financial and medical information, to the Doge government efficiency team. The White House confirmed the resignation and said the president

wants the most qualified individuals not to appease the bureaucracy. At the Food and Drug Administration, the division chief over safety of the country's food supply resigned. At the Department of Homeland Security, a new round of terminations is expected among hundreds of high-level civil servants, at odds with the administration's goals, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Listen to these numbers. This is all fraud. President Trump read from pages of spending that he called fraud and corruption, but provided no evidence. Kelly, there's also late word about employees working on the country's response to bird flu who were let go. What can you tell us

about that? That's right. They were fired over the weekend and now the government is trying to get them back. The Department of Agriculture says it is working to swiftly rectify the firing of several employees working on bird flu outbreak, and they are considered frontline safety workers. Lester. Kelly O'Donnell, thanks. And President Trump's hiring freeze has stalled the onboarding process across federal firefighting agencies, raising some concerns for next season and some warn that could have deadly consequences. Jacob Soboroff explains. The danger of wildfire couldn't have been any lower when we visited the Columbia River Gorge in the middle of a winter storm last week.

But that's exactly why U.S. Forest Service firefighting captain Ben McLean wanted to bring us to southwest Washington, where he fought the Tunnel 5 fire in the summer of 2023. This isn't National Forest, though, is it? No, it's not. Why do you guys show up and respond here? Well, we're a part of our nation's promise to the public to respond to wildfire emergencies. That promise might be getting harder to keep, as President Trump's hiring freeze has thousands of federal seasonal firefighters in limbo at a time when onboarding for the next fire season should have already started. So by the time you made it here, this house was already up in flames.

It was in the process of burning down. I have firefighters who I should be bringing on, and I'm not able to. You can't hire people even if you want to right now? No, no, I can't. Why are you thinking about hiring firefighters right now? Look at this. Yeah, this is the time of year where we're training, we're preparing, we're getting the qualifications that we need to answer the call to service when the summer does come. The U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land

Management and the National Park Service employ more than 15,000 career and temporary firefighters. A crew from the Forest Service was credited with saving this neighborhood during the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles County. It was a federal crew, like the one McLean's a part of, where any delay in the lengthy onboarding process can affect the readiness of the team. Is there a message that you want, whether it's President Trump or other people in this administration, to hear and to understand about what you see as the urgency at this moment? I'd like them to ask the firefighters what they think,

because we don't have any skin in this game other than public service. Over a dozen U.S. senators have called for firefighters to be exempted. Pausing the hiring and onboarding of federal seasonal firefighters is simply irresponsible and dangerous. Our nation's wildfire response system transcends politics because wildfire transcends politics. And it's the right thing to do to bring on firefighters and ensure that the public is getting the service that they deserve and that they pay for. Even as the snow falls, an alarm sounding about fires to come. Jacob Soboroff, NBC News, Skamania County, Washington.

We turn overseas now to high-level talks between American and Russian officials over ending the war in Ukraine. Our Keir Simmons is in Saudi Arabia where the meeting took place. Keir, this was a major diplomatic shift for the U.S. and Russia. Yes, Lester, and tonight President Trump said he is more confident after today's talks here in Riyadh. The first formal meeting between Russian and U.S. officials since the war in Ukraine began did not set a date for a ceasefire or a summit between Presidents Trump and Putin. But the two sides did agree to high-level talks

and even cooperation on geopolitics and economics. That suggests the U.S. may be ready to remove Russian sanctions, proposals that will stun Europeans. Tonight, President Trump did say he supports Europe sending troops to Ukraine for peacekeeping, a move Russia said today it opposes, while Ukraine's leader said, again, he will not sign up to any deal he did not negotiate. Lester. Keir Simmons, thank you.

The Vatican is revealing tonight that Pope Francis is battling pneumonia in both lungs. The 88-year-old pontiff has been recovering at a hospital in Rome after falling ill with a respiratory tract infection. He was admitted on Friday to treat bronchitis. The Vatican is calling the Pope's health a complex picture, but says he is still in good spirits. In 60 seconds, how the crew from that Toronto plane crash used their training to get everyone out alive. Plus, higher odds that an asteroid

could hit here on planet Earth. What scientists are now saying about all this, next. We're back with an in-depth look at how the crash in Toronto appears to be a textbook case of how to survive and respond to an aviation emergency. NBC's Tom Costello explains. With the wreckage of that regional jet still resting on a Toronto runway, aviation experts say the fact everyone survived is due in no small part to the flight attendants. Everything, drop it. Who remained composed yet in charge, ordering passengers to wait as they ensured it was safe to evacuate, then move. They announced not to get out of their seats. So people were hanging there for, I'm not, I can't remember how long,

but just about a minute. And then they were like, okay, like get down. Veteran flight attendants call it a textbook response. They were very difficult conditions, directly an inverted plane, where this flight attendant had to find the opening, make that hole, and then shout the commands to get people out safely. Also textbook, the firefighting response, required to be on scene within three minutes. An MIT study shows fatal commercial plane crashes are rare. Just one in 13.7 million

passenger boardings globally. Like other airlines, Delta flight attendants go through weeks of intense training. Recreating the chaos of an emergency. The FAA requires you to evacuate a plane completely in 90 seconds. You've got to be on your game. Absolutely, emergency. The FAA requires you to evacuate a plane completely in 90 seconds. You've got to be on your game. Absolutely, absolutely. The goal is to try to get those customers off the aircraft as quickly as possible, especially in an emergency. The key is to kick your feet and your arms out and slide down

and let these guys catch you at the bottom. Commands must be concise and clear. Leave everything, jump and slide! Leaving purses, bags and backpacks behind. And Tom, I would think that compared to planes of years ago, the planes today are of tougher materials and may be better able to withstand a crash. Absolutely. Seats now can withstand G-forces. 16 Gs keep you secure. Interiors are flame retardant, giving passengers time to get out in case of a fire, Lester. All right, Tom Costello, thanks. Now to a major update from NASA,

the agency releasing new data that raises the odds that an asteroid could hit here on planet Earth. Marissa Parr joins us. Marissa, what are scientists saying about this? Well, Lester, scientists now saying the asteroid has a 3.1% probability of impact thanks to new observations. That is up about 1% from what we reported just a few days ago. Now, the asteroid known as 2024 YR4 is roughly the size of the Statue of Liberty. Scientists will use the James Webb Space Telescope to get a better look before the asteroid disappears behind the sun and out of view until 2028. Now, if this asteroid did hit, it would be large enough to wipe out a city, but still

a 96.9% chance the asteroid will miss the Earth entirely. But scientists have over seven years to prepare for that 3.1% chance. Lester? I love hearing from the optimists. All right, Marissa, thank you. We're back in a moment with a new push to bring flying cars to the skies. But the big question, are they ready for takeoff? In California, a startup says it's close to pioneering a piece of future tech many of us have been dreaming about for years, a flying car. Our Steve Patterson got an exclusive look mid-flight. For all the advances in automotive tech, one issue only seems to be getting worse. Gridlocked traffic. But this Silicon Valley startup says the solution comes straight from our imagination. The flying car. You can actually use it today and you can cut your commute at least in half, if not more.

Jim Duchovny says his company, Aleph Aeronautics, was able to create something we've been dreaming about since the Jetsons. We're trying to make science fiction a reality. And while not quite ready for the road, Duchovny says the flying car is about to take off. NBC News was given exclusive access to see their concept model with our own eyes. If everything goes smoothly, I'm going to watch a car fly over another car. We'll see. Sure enough, we watched it soar through the air over another car and land. But for all the magic

of this moment, we were heavily restricted, forced to shoot at least half a football field away, and we never actually saw the driver entering or exiting the vehicle. But you're not still all the way there yet because, you know, you wouldn't let me in the cockpit yet. There's a difference between you and the consumers. We still have some IP, intellectual property, which we're trying to protect. So far, more than 3,200 early adopters have pre-ordered their $300,000 all-electric flying car. And the company is aiming to begin production by next year. But practicality might be where the rubber meets the sky. Only a few countries allow for the kind of road-to-air reality Duchovny envisions.

It's going to be a slow, incremental approach, which is good for legal integration, which is good for consumer integration. But he says as demand grows, regulations will catch up with the tech. For now, it's still that cutting edge pie in the sky. Steve Patterson, NBC News, Silicon Valley. And how about that? When we come back, there is good news tonight, how this diner is serving up hope in Kentucky and bringing the whole community to the table. Finally, there's good news tonight in Kentucky. In the midst of so much devastation, residents coming together to help one beloved member of the community. The recent floods of Kentucky may have upended lives. But hope is already simmering at a beloved eatery and hazard, badly damaged in the disaster.

It's just an Eastern Kentucky thing. If somebody's in trouble, we help. Once word got out that Francis Diner was underwater... I mean, it's awful. ...help moved in. They always support us, so we're here to support them. At 84, Francis Napier, the matriarch of this local fixture, has been serving up tasty Southern meals for more than five decades. Why do you think it's so special? I get home cooking, you know, old country cooking. How are you, John? I'm good, honey. How are you? Good. But it's also the sign of warmth and generosity that keep diners coming back. Always put her love in her food.

It's like your grandma. She'll fix you anything you want. We're going to get cleaned up. Now the community that she's fed and nurtured for years is returning the favor, restoring her namesake restaurant. What do you want to tell the people helping you right now? I appreciate him so much. And as she rebuilds, she knows her late husband will be close by. What would he say if he was still here today? He'd be heartbroken. And he'd tell me everything would be all right.

Kathy Park, NBC News. Are you ready to get back into the kitchen? Yes, I am. Hazard, Kentucky. And that is nightly news for this Tuesday. Thanks for watching. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other.

Good night.