NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Episode Date: February 28, 2024

Former President Trump and President Biden are the projected winners in the Michigan primaries, millions in the U.S. are under a severe weather threat, and three days are left to avoid a government shutdown.

Tonight, the major cross-country winter storm on the move as we come on the air. Tens of millions on alert in the central U.S. for very large hail and strong wind gusts. A tornado watch in Chicago. Danger on the road. Semis crashing in Colorado, while elsewhere in the U.S., record warmth. We're tracking it all. Also, it's primary night in Michigan. A key test for President Biden facing a protest vote over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

Former President Trump expected to win over Nikki Haley as she sets her sights on Super Tuesday. Just three days left to avoid a government shutdown, the high stakes meeting at the White House. Can they cut a deal? The war in Gaza after President Biden raised hopes of a ceasefire by next week. Israel and Hamas both casting doubt. The court controversy in Illinois, a judge reversing his own ruling and throwing out a man's sexual assault conviction. Our interview, why he says he did it and our on-camera exclusive with the alleged victim. Her reaction after learning the judge was removed from the

bench. The new images from the Odysseus moon lander as we learn the spacecraft's time is running out. And the queens of the ice who just made figure skating history. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome everyone. For many of you watching us tonight, the temperature outside your door right now reads closer to summer than it does winter. But this February heat wave that has sent temperatures soaring into the 70s and 80s across the Midwest and Plains is about to take another wild and this time violent swing overnight. Milwaukee, which saw a record high temperature of 73 today,

now in the risk zone for severe weather. Some 41 million people in all in places that include Louisville, Detroit and Chicago facing a potential threat of large hail, damaging winds, even tornadoes. The weather whiplash is where we start tonight with meteorologist Dylan Dreyer. Dylan, good evening. Good evening, Lester. The temperatures have certainly been incredible. The record heat in St. Louis, 85 degrees for a high today. We got up to 73 in Milwaukee and Detroit. It hit 73, breaking the record of 63. But this warm air setting the stage out ahead of this cold front for some severe storms. We have tornado watches in effect, including areas like Chicago and Davenport, Iowa. The severe storm starting to pop up in that area. We'll also see another potential for severe weather down through the Louisville area with

wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour and very large hail. Tornadoes are also a possibility. And when they occur overnight, that could become very dangerous. And it's all out ahead of this cold front that's going to move east through the night tonight. It's moving into the Appalachians by tomorrow morning. And then heavy rain is likely up and down the East Coast as we go into tomorrow evening's commute, with temperatures tumbling back behind this cold front. All right, Dylan, thank you. It is primary night in Michigan, where polls have shown little doubt about another win for former President Trump and for President Biden, though there was an unusual move by some Democratic voters. Here's Gabe Gutierrez. Tonight, NBC News projects President Biden with a big win in the Michigan

primary, though facing an unusual challenger, uncommitted. We feel like our voices aren't being heard in the genocide that's being committed in Palestine. Here in Dearborn, with one of the nation's highest concentrations of Arab Americans, Ramzi Qasim told me he'd always voted Democrat. But this year, everything's different. I don't feel that I want President Biden to represent me. Instead, he and others are now voting uncommitted to protest the president's support of Israel and refusal to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Among them, one of the state's top Democrats. I was proud today to walk in and pull a Democratic ballot and vote uncommitted. On the Republican side, NBC News projecting a swift victory for frontrunner Donald Trump,

who has called himself the most pro-Israel president ever. When he was president, I was okay. And now I'm not okay. But his rival Nikki Haley already looking ahead to Super Tuesday. Walt Serdukin and his wife Sue voted for Haley, citing the age of the frontrunners. We need a younger generation who have different ideas than the older generation to move us forward. An NBC News poll shows 76 percent of Americans are concerned that Mr. Biden does not have the necessary mental and physical health to be president. 48 percent had those concerns about Mr. Trump, the 81-year-old president, trying to brush it off overnight.

Number one, you got to take a look at the other guy. He's about as old as I am. The border crisis also taking center stage tonight. Former President Trump blasting President Biden for announcing he'd visit the southern border on Thursday, days after Mr. Trump announced his own visit that day. Well, we found out how to get him off his ass, and that's nice. It took me announcing that I'm going down to the border. All of a sudden, he announces he's going down to the border. The White House says Mr. Trump's visit played no role in the president's announcement. And Gabe, in addition to that border visit, another key moment for President Biden will

be the State of the Union. Yes, Lester, a Biden campaign official tells us that they expect former President Trump to have the nomination locked up on Super Tuesday, so that then President Biden can really lay out his contrasting vision at his State of the Union address two days later. Lester? All right, Gabe Gutierrez starting us off. Thanks. Congressional leaders from both parties are speaking optimistically tonight about averting a partial government shutdown this Friday

after a meeting with President Biden at the White House. Kelly O'Donnell is there and has late details. Their meeting described as intense yet productive. The president and congressional leaders facing urgent deadlines and differing priorities from critical aid for foreign allies. I think the consequences of inaction every day in Ukraine are dire. To House Speaker Mike Johnson insisting the border crisis requires executive action from the president. The first priority of the country is our border and making sure it's secure. On top of that divide, threat of a phased federal government shutdown. Friday, the first wave of government departments and agencies run out of funds.

Among them, the FDA, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs. March 8th, the rest could close, including defense, homeland security, and justice. A painful replay for 36-year-old Navy wife and mother of two, Nikita Fowler. This is not our first or even second government shutdown, and it's just the continuous worry of how this is going to impact our family. Given the harsh consequences, talk of common ground. Shutdown would damage the economy significantly. And I think we all agree to that. And we need to buy part of the solution. Optimism, but no clear path yet from the speaker. We will

get the government funded and we'll keep working on that. And Kelly, a lot of the solution. Optimism, but no clear path yet from the speaker. We will get the government funded and we'll keep working on that. And Kelly, a lot of the focus here is on the new speaker. Lester, this really is a test for the uneasy Biden Johnson relationship. The speaker made a point today saying that he and the president had a separate one on one meeting, something he's wanted for months. But the White House characterized it differently, saying it was a brief moment as others left the room. Lester. All right, Kelly, thank you. In the Middle East tonight, no breakthrough in sight on a ceasefire in Gaza and possible release of Hamas hostages, despite those optimistic comments from President Biden. Raf Sanchez is in Israel tonight. Raf, where do things stand right now?

Lester, both Israel and Hamas tonight pushing back on those comments from President Biden that he hopes for a ceasefire deal by Monday. Israeli officials say they were caught off guard by the president's remarks, while Hamas is saying there are still major gaps between the two sides. But negotiations are ongoing. And right now, they're focused on a U.S. proposal that would pause the fighting in Gaza for up to six weeks, with Hamas releasing around 40 Israeli hostages, including women, in exchange for Israel freeing potentially hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Lester. OK, Raf Sanchez, thank you.

In Georgia, a key witness back on the stand in a hearing that will determine if the top prosecutor in former President Donald Trump's election interference case will stay in place. Senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett reports. This is the man defense attorneys in the Georgia election interference case were hoping would establish the timeline of the romantic relationship between Fulton County D.A. Fonny Willis and lead prosecutor Nathan Wade. I do not have knowledge of it starting or when it started. On the stand for the second time this month, Terrence Bradley deemed a potential star witness for Donald Trump and his co-defendants as Wade's former divorce attorney. Bradley confronted with text messages today he sent suggesting the relationship began before Willis hired Wade to lead the Trump case.

But on the stand today, I was speculating. He tried to walk that back. When did you first get knowledge of their relationship? I've said over again that I was not, I didn't have any personal information where I could personally say when it started. At issue for the judge to resolve, whether Willis benefited financially from hiring Wade, as defense attorneys have highlighted the pair's vacations together. It is a lot. It is a lot. Willis and Wade testified expenses were split and that their relationship only began after Wade was hired. But Willis's former friend cast doubt on that. You have no doubt that their romantic relationship was in effect from 2019 until the last time you spoke with her? No doubt. The state today opting not to question Bradley.

Now, on Friday, the judge will hear more arguments about the extent of Willis and Wade's relationship. But bottom line to remember here, Lester, the timeline matters less than whether she benefited financially from someone that she hired. Okay, Laura, thanks. In Alabama, new fallout from that court ruling recognizing frozen embryos as children. Facing backlash, Republican state lawmakers moved today to enshrine IVF protections into law. Kathy Park has more from Birmingham. Tonight, Alabama moving one step closer to preserving access to in vitro fertilization. Relating to in vitro fertilization is referred to the Committee on Health Care. With new bills introduced today by Republicans in the state Senate designed to protect IVF.

We work to foster a culture of life and I anticipate having a bill on my desk very shortly. Alabama Democrats introduced a similar bill in the House last week following the state Supreme Court's controversial ruling finding embryos are children. The ruling upending IVF procedures. Every one of the women here has invested, their families have invested emotion, time, and a ton of money. Today, the Biden administration's top health official, Javier Becerra, in Birmingham, meeting with patients and providers. Hannah Miles has been

trying to have a baby for three years. This is not an acceptable way to treat someone or families that are going through something so hard. This isn't a political talking point. She was weeks away from a scheduled embryo transfer when the ruling came down. It's like you already feel like you're being held hostage by IVF because it's my whole life. Now we're being held hostage by this ruling. Hannah's clinic has paused new IVF treatments, but for now, hers is moving forward. Having a child for you is priceless. Yes.

Yep. You do child for you is priceless. Yes. Yep. You do everything that you can. Because there are other choices you have. And tomorrow, hundreds of IVF patients and families plan to rally at the state capitol to send a message directly to lawmakers. Lester. Kathy, thank you. In 60 seconds, the shocking case, a teen's attacker was convicted of sexually assaulting her.

Then when it came to sentencing, the judge reversed his own ruling. Now he's been removed. Our exclusive reporting is next. We're back now with the legal firestorm in Illinois. A judge removed from the bench after reversing his own verdict in a sexual assault case. Our Maggie Vespa asked the judge why he did it and has the exclusive on-camera reaction from the alleged victim to his removal. Cammie Vaughn was 16 when she learned she'd have to fight. It was May 2021 in rural Quincy,

Illinois. Cammie says she drank at a party, fell asleep on a couch, and woke up to someone she didn't know holding a pillow over her face. I couldn't really see anything. Once I understood this man is raping me, I kind of pushed him off me. And I leave the room and went immediately crying and telling my friends what had just happened. The investigation and three-day bench trial were swift, with 8th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Robert Adrian convicting then-18-year-old Drew Clinton of criminal sexual assault. The charge carried a minimum sentence, four years in prison. What did you think when you heard the guilty verdict? I was extremely happy. Then, in January 2022, a stunning pivot at the sentencing hearing. You reversed your own ruling. Yes. According to

court transcripts, Judge Adrian said Clinton has no prior record and called the almost five months he'd already served in jail plenty of punishment, adding there is no way for what happened in this case that this teenager should go to the Department of Corrections. And with that, Judge Adrian found Clinton not guilty. There was no new evidence, nothing new to make him change his mind. It was like getting slapped in the face. For nearly two years, Facebook groups and petitions called for Judge Adrian's removal. Protests plagued his campaign for reelection. Clinton was not guilty. Which he won. Then, late last year, a rare hearing with the Illinois Courts Commission, the state's official oversight board. That commission has now removed you from the

bench. Yes. Today, Judge Adrian stands by his reversal, now saying he did it after revisiting the evidence. Once I did that, I saw that I made a mistake. I didn't explain my not guilty ruling because in order to do that, I would have had to say, well, I didn't believe her. You don't believe her. Yes, I didn't believe her. I would have had to say that in court. I didn't want to say that. She's a minor. The oversight board not buying it, writing Adrian intentionally subverted the law and then lied about it under oath to serve his own interests, adding they don't accept his contention that he made a mistake in finding Clinton guilty. This fight became about the judge. Yeah. Tammy, now 18, maintains she was assaulted.

The commission said you lied. Are they wrong? They are wrong. OK. They're totally wrong. If they would have looked at the evidence in the case, then they would have seen that he was not guilty. But they didn't want to do that because they knew they'd be facing the mob that I've been facing the whole time, and they didn't want to do that. So it's simpler just to sacrifice a poor judge.

You feel like you were sacrificed? I do. Clinton declined comment for this story, but through his attorney still maintains his innocence. For Cammie, now a high school graduate and still grappling with nightmares, winning one fight helps. Is this a form of justice? Yes, to me it is. He does not deserve that power over people. Maggie Vespa, NBC News, Quincy, Illinois. We'll take a break here. Up next, how artificial intelligence is raising alarm about bullying in schools. It is one of the more alarming developments from the AI revolution, the rise of deep fake images.

And now increasingly, these disturbing AI generated images are making their way into the nation's schools. We get more from Liz Kreutz. It's the latest incident of a new and insidious form of bullying. A group of students at a Beverly Hills middle school creating deep fake pornographic images of their classmates, swapping the faces of their peers onto pictures of nude bodies. I'm very disappointed. The school alerting parents after the images were shared among students via text. Beverly Hills Police are now assisting in the investigation.

This is new unchartered territory when it comes to information that's being you know created and disseminated the disturbing incident happening just weeks after fake nude images of Taylor Swift appeared online district superintendent Michael Bregge sees a connection I do believe that that played a big part in our students becoming aware of what's possible with the technology this technology is easy to use and so easily accessible. They can get it right on their phones,

instantaneously create content, and then send it anywhere. AI still so new, this all falls into a legal gray area. Experts say it's still unclear if the fake images are even child pornography. Why are there not more legal protections to prevent this type of incident from happening right now? This is one of the situations where law is oftentimes chasing after technology. A federal bill aims to criminalize sharing sexually explicit deepfake photos, but it's stalled in Congress.

Images can last forever. Ever. Yeah. If your image is already being flawed at this young age, it can really have an impact on their mental health. Parents tell us it's an issue that cannot wait. Liz Kreutz, NBC News, Los Angeles. And up next, breaking the ice, how their love of figure skating helped make college sports history. New images from the Odysseus over the south pole of the moon, and they may be among the last. The private company behind the first U.S. moon landing since 1972 said today it may only have hours of battery left after landing on its side. The Odysseus, which landed five days ago, was expected to operate seven to ten days.

And finally, they didn't just join the team, they created it. Yamiche Alcindor with the figure skaters breaking barriers on the ice. These Howard University students are skating into history. I'm out there skating. I just feel very free. I like that you have to keep going. So you fall a lot, but you had to get back up. Maya James and Cheyenne Walker grew up figure skating, but when they got to Howard, there wasn't a team. So they set out to change that. Why did you want to start a skating club at Howard? Because growing up, I didn't have

that much of a community of like people around my age that looked like me. I grew up knowing that we had a place on the ice. I just want to bring that same sentiment to Howard. Together, they petitioned Howard to approve and support a team, becoming the first ever at a historically Black college or university. There's so many historical things that have happened at Howard University, and now you're part of that rich history. What's that feel like?

Becoming a part of that legacy is just an overwhelming feeling of pride. The team began competing earlier this month. It's really amazing to see how quickly people can pick up the skills. I feel like such a proud mom. Why do you think more Black people aren't participating in figure skating?

I think it could be the lack of representation and I think the cost could be another factor but we're so happy that Howard funded us for ice time. Now the two hope others will follow. I just hope to inspire any black or brown little girls or boys out there that want to continue figure skating and honestly I hope to inspire other HBCUs or diverse institutions. Bringing new inspiration to the ice. Yamiche Alcindor, NBC News, Washington, D.C. And that's nightly news for this Tuesday. Thank you for watching, everyone.

I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night.