NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, January 9, 2024

Episode Date: January 10, 2024

Monster storm system sparks deadly tornado outbreak in Gulf Coast and Southeast; Secretary Austin hospitalized for prostate cancer treatment complications: Walter Reed officials; Trump’s lawyer urges court to find him immune from prosecution for efforts to overturn election; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Breaking news tonight, the monster winter storm turning deadly as it slams the eastern half of the country. The massive storm system unleashing a tornado outbreak along the Gulf Coast. Homes ripped apart, water rescues in the southeast, where at least three are dead. Blizzard conditions in the Midwest, semis crashing and rolling over on the highway. Hundreds of thousands without power, and now the flooding fears as it pushes into the Northeast. Al Roker is here to time it out for us. Also tonight, the cause of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's secret hospitalization finally revealed. His battle with prostate cancer and new questions after the White House said it wasn't told about his diagnosis until today. Former

President Trump in a federal appeals court arguing he's immune from prosecution for his attempts to cling to power after the 2020 election. What the judges appeared to signal. Our one-on-one with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Israel. Is there still hope for another hostage deal? What he told us. The shocking moment on live TV, armed men taking over the studio in Ecuador. The growing questions about the panel that blew off that Boeing 737 MAX 9, were the bolts meant to secure it installed? And from flying cars to AI bartenders, the future is here at the world's biggest tech show. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt.

Good evening and welcome everyone. A large and deadly storm is hammering the eastern third of the nation right now, bringing an arsenal of heavy rain, heavy snow, powerful winds, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. Twisters leaving a trail of destruction in parts of the rain, heavy snow, powerful winds, severe thunderstorms, and tornadoes. Twisters leaving a trail of destruction in parts of the southeast. Tornado watches extending into the evening from Florida to Virginia. And those strong winds accompanying the storm have proven especially dangerous. The severe weather blamed for several deaths. 178 million people are living under wind alerts right now, while the Midwest and Great Lakes are in the snow zone. Most of Iowa under winter alerts right now. Heavy snow bands making driving very hazardous. All of this slowing down air travel, too, with more than 7,000

flight delays and 700 cancellations, not including those related to the Boeing 737 MAX 9 groundings. Al Roker has the latest storm track for us in just a moment, but first, Maggie Vespa with the storm's impact. Yeah, Lester, here in the Des Moines area, snow totals clocked in at close to 11 inches in 24 hours, and this is just one layer in a complex, brutal system that is making its way across the country. Tonight, across the U.S., our once mild winter taking a sudden, violent turn. Holy crap. A sprawling monster system sparking a rare and deadly tornado outbreak, with more than a dozen tornadoes reported along the Gulf Coast and in the southeast. Homes toppled like dominoes, some obliterated entirely. I just put all the kids in the bathtub with a mattress on top.

Authorities confirming three people dead across the south, including one hit by a tree in Georgia, another in North Carolina. Two people there also critically injured after a possible tornado touched down an hour outside Charlotte. They had got under the house and then it just sucked them all up and set it back down. Across the south, flooding is a major problem. This Ross parking lot near Atlanta, underwater. Meanwhile, blizzards blinding the Midwest, dumping several inches overnight. Whiteout conditions making roads treacherous. I'm ready for it when it comes, but it's kind of nerve-wracking. Tonight, 178 million people across the South and Northeast remain under wind alerts. 75 million in the Southeast and on the east coast under flood watches.

In hard-hit Iowa with less than a week until the caucuses snow forcing Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy to cancel campaign events. Downtown Des Moines, a ghost town. I can imagine that it's going to disrupt a lot of other people who are traveling and trying to get here. A sudden whiteout marking just one layer of this triple winter threat. Maggie Vespup, NBC News, Des Moines, Iowa. All right, for more on all this, let's turn to Al Roker. Al, what are the areas of greatest concern as we go into the night? Lester, it's flooding and severe weather. 75 million people from New England all the way down into the Carolinas under flood watches and warnings.

You can see we've got heavy rain along the coast. Tornado watches into this evening from Florida all the way on up into Virginia. And you can see wraparound snow now from Green Bay, Chicago, all into Burlington, Vermont. And we've got the risk of 21 million people under severe weather for wind gusts of 75 miles per hour. Strong tornadoes, EF2 or stronger, nocturnal tornadoes, twice as deadly. We're watching that. Heavy rain, one to three inches as you get up into New England. Upwards of six inches of rain up in northern, of snow in northern Maine. One to six inches as you get into the Great Lakes. Another storm behind this one, Lester.

We'll have complete details tomorrow morning on Today. And we will see you then, Al. Thanks very much. Now to the news kept secret for days from top U.S. officials, including the president. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was treated for prostate cancer. The surgery and his subsequent treatment for complications kept private. Courtney Kuby has the latest. Tonight, the mystery surrounding Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's secretive hospitalization revealed he was being treated for prostate cancer. His doctors say he

was diagnosed in early December, but defense officials say he hid the illness from top Pentagon officials and even the president. Nobody at the White House knew that Secretary Austin had prostate cancer until this morning. A statement from Walter Reed saying his surgical procedure on December 22nd was to treat and cure prostate cancer. They say he was under general anesthesia but released the next morning. But on Monday, January 1st, Austin was rushed back to Walter Reed via ambulance with severe pain, suffering from an infection and fluid buildup that was impairing his small intestine. On Tuesday, January 2nd, Austin was admitted to the intensive care unit and transferred some authorities to his deputy, Kathleen Hicks, while she was on

vacation in Puerto Rico. But Hicks and the White House were not told he was in the ICU until Thursday, January 4th. Members of Congress, senior Pentagon leaders and the public were not informed until the night of Friday, January 5th. This guy shouldn't be in charge of our military now. Well, I'm going to continue calling for full disclosure. I'm calling for a full hearing. The Pentagon now reviewing who knew what, when and why the White House wasn't told. Clearly, we could have done better and we will do better. Austin's chief of staff now ordering that these officials be told when Austin transfers authority to Hicks and why. Austin remains hospitalized tonight, having now spent all of 2024 in the hospital.

Doctors there saying he's expected to make a full recovery, but it can be a slow process. And Courtney, I know you're also monitoring some breaking news tonight in the Red Sea. Yeah, Lester, we are just learning of one of the most complex attacks by Houthi rebels against ships in the Red Sea in recent weeks. U.S. Navy ships shot down multiple missiles and drones that were threatening ships in the area, according to two U.S. defense officials. Just today, Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveling in the region, warning that attacks like this could have consequences. Lester. All right, Courtney Kuby, thank you. Former President Donald Trump was in a federal courtroom in Washington

today as his lawyer argued before an appeals court why he should be immune from prosecution for his efforts to remain in power. Laura Jarrett has more. Tonight, a ruling expected any time from the federal appeals court, which appeared deeply skeptical today of Donald Trump's efforts to derail the case about his attempts to overturn the 2020 election. I did nothing wrong. Absolutely nothing wrong. I feel that as a president, you have to have immunity. The Republican frontrunner watching on in court as his lawyer, John Sauer, urged the three-judge panel to break new legal ground and find the former president immune from prosecution, emphasizing everything he's been charged for took place when he was still in the White House.

We have the prosecution of the chief political opponent who's winning in every poll and is being prosecuted by the administration that he's seeking to replace. While the Justice Department argues nothing in the Constitution supports shielding Mr. Trump from prosecution now. Never before has there been allegations that a sitting president has, with private individuals and using the levers of power, sought to fundamentally subvert the Democratic Republic and the electoral system. It would be awfully scary if there weren't some sort of mechanism by which to reach that criminally. Judge Florence Pan, a Biden appointee, posing stark hypotheticals on what a future president could do if Mr. Trump's view prevailed. Could a president order SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? The answer, in Sauer's view,

yes, so long as the president was impeached and convicted first, pinning much of his argument on the Senate acquitting Mr. Trump at his 2021 impeachment trial, a position DOJ cast as frightening. What kind of world are we living in? The president has a unique constitutional role, but he is not above the law. And Laura, what can we expect going forward in this case? This appeals court is likely to rule very fast, Lester, potentially even this week or next. Now, if Mr. Trump were to lose in front of this appeals court, he could appeal even further, potentially up to the Supreme Court. All the while, though, the March trial date is ticking

and his lawyers have not been shy about the fact that their goal is to delay Lester. All right, Laura, thank you. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Israel tonight, his fourth visit since the Hamas terror attack, telling Israel the Palestinian death toll is far too high. Andrea Mitchell spoke with the secretary in an exclusive interview. Tonight, hostage families protesting for a ceasefire and the return of their loved ones outside Secretary Blinken's hotel as he was meeting inside with Israeli officials, but later changed his schedule to hear their complaints in person.

For them, these three months have been an eternity. I met with some of them after they met with you. They're angry. Where is the big stick, they said. Why can't you save our six children? How do you answer that? Well, first, no one can put themselves fully in the shoes of the families of the hostages. The hard part is the enemy gets a vote. Hamas. The secretary is saying negotiations are ongoing,

despite recent targeted killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders widely attributed to Israel. You haven't been given any optimism or any hope that Hamas will negotiate for hostage releases, despite those assassinations? In short, yes. It's my belief that they can and will engage on this. I pressed the secretary on the enormous death toll in Gaza, including the tragic killing of the Al Jazeera bureau chief's eldest son, after he had already lost two children, his wife and grandson. Did you raise that with the government here in Israel? Because there are many who believe that these are targeted killings of

this bureau chief's children and wife, the entire family. First, Andrea, as I said, I don't think any of us can possibly imagine what this man has been through. And when it comes to Palestinian men, women, and children, or for that matter, when it comes to journalists, we have consistently, and including today, urged, pressed the Israelis to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties. Blinken also said the U.N. is the only game in town for getting more food to starving Gazans, and they're working to get Israel to open more entry points for aid. Lester. Andrea, thank you. In 60 seconds, armed men take over a TV station during a live

broadcast. What's behind widespread chaos in Ecuador? Plus, Boeing Max nines remain grounded days after that terrifying flight. What investigators are zeroing in on? Take a look at this. Men armed with guns and explosives bursting into a TV studio during a live broadcast today in Ecuador. It happened a day after the president declared a state of emergency following a wave of violence tied to drug gangs. Police said all the attackers were arrested a short time later. The FAA said today that no Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft will be cleared to fly until inspected after that mid-air emergency over Portland, Oregon. The focus now, the bolts that were supposed to help hold the door plug in place. Here's Tom Costello.

Four days after that mid-air decompression explosion on an Alaska Airlines MAX 9, Boeing's CEO told employees in a safety stand-down today, we are acknowledging our mistake. Looking at the gaping hole, I've got kids, I've got grandkids, and so do you. This stuff matters. Every detail matters. The focus of the investigation, that door plug that blew out of the plane Friday, held in position using 12 stop pads and four bolts. But the NTSB says it may have shifted out of alignment. The bolts are missing.

A lab analysis will determine if they were ever in place. Now, both United and Alaska Airlines say they found loose bolts and hardware in more grounded MAX 9s. NTSB Chief Jennifer Homendy. Would this suggest that this is a bigger problem than just one plane? It certainly could. Right now, the NTSB is very focused on this aircraft. We want to determine how this happened. The door plug that blew out Friday landed behind high school teacher Bob Sauer's house. It was unbelievable that that thing that people had been looking for all weekend

would happen to be in my yard. With every MAX 9 grounded ahead of FAA inspections, the FAA today said the safety of the flying public, not speed, will determine the timeline for returning the Boeing MAX 9 to service. A former Boeing whistleblower who testified in Congress about two fatal MAX 8 crashes fears Boeing's culture has not changed. If things don't change, it's going to be a major tragedy and it's going to be horrible for families. With the MAX 9 grounded, United and Alaska canceled hundreds of more flights again today and expect to cancel flights

through the week. Lester? All right, Tom Costello tonight. Thank you. Up next, police drug tests lead to tens of thousands of mistaken arrests each year. The alarming new study with so many Americans caught in the middle. Back now with our NBC News exclusive. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Americans are arrested for drugs after police conduct field tests. But as Blaine Alexander reports, a new study finds many of those test results may be false. Simon Kofi and his wife were driving home from dinner in 2017 when they were pulled over by a Georgia police officer for driving with their high beams on. Step out of the car for me. He asked to search

your car. Yes. Were you surprised when he said that? Yes, a little bit. According to the police report, the officer smelled marijuana and then searched the car. Is there any marijuana in the car? Simon says he and his wife have never smoked. The officer found a bag of small white pills, folic acid, Simon says, a common vitamin for women who are trying to conceive as they were. So they were shocked when the officer returned and arrested them. They were taken to jail where the officer performed a field drug test on the pills. The result, positive for an illegal substance, ecstasy. We were stripped naked and we were asked to cough. It was like a movie. Yeah, we couldn't believe that because we knew nothing about what the allegation was.

The couple spent two weeks in jail. A Georgia Bureau of Investigation lab test later confirmed what Simon already knew. The pills were just vitamins. Now, a new, first-of-its-kind study shows Simon and his wife are among tens of thousands of Americans every year wrongly implicated by field drug tests. Our primary mission is to identify sources of error in the criminal justice system. Ross Miller led the nearly two-year study at the University of Pennsylvania. So this is one of the reagent tests used to at the University of Pennsylvania. So this is one of the reagent tests used to detect the presence of cocaine. Here's how the field drug tests work. Officers drop the substance into this small bag. If a vial changes color, that indicates the presence of an illegal drug. Penn's study found that of the nearly 1.5 million drug arrests each year, roughly half

involve the field tests. And of those, almost 30,000 arrests stem from a false positive. How significant is that number? For one thing, it's not a number. It's 30,000 people. That's 30,000 times a year that the criminal justice system is getting it wrong. The test instructions say findings must be confirmed by a secondary laboratory test. But Miller says in many cases, that's not happening. Especially harmful, he says, considering many of the tests are done at night. You can imagine that that situation can lead to a lot of sort of bad reads. Of those 30,000 mistaken arrests, the study finds nearly 90% result in a wrongful conviction.

At this point, it's the largest known specific single factor leading to wrongful convictions in the United States. Is it that the tests themselves are flawed or are the departments using them incorrectly? I don't think it's fair to say the tests themselves are flawed. These tests were never intended to be the final decision maker in terms of whether or not somebody was carrying drugs. The two drug test companies cited in the report and demonstration did not respond to our request for comment. For Simon and his wife, they were eventually able to get their record expunged and hope this study will spare others the same experience. If it could happen to us, it can happen to anybody too. Blaine Alexander, NBC News, Norcross, Georgia.

And coming up as we continue here tonight, the future of everything from cars to cocktails. Finally, tonight, a glimpse of the future from Las Vegas. Steve Patterson is at the Consumer Electronics Show. From holograms. Hi, how are you doing? To new gaming tech. We want to unlock the power in the human hand. To inventions designed to pump you up. I feel like a million bucks. The future is on display at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show. Check this out. This is cool. Soperno and Hyundai unveiling their air electric taxi. This is just a mock-up, and it's going to be ready in about 2028 or so.

But when it is, get ready to fly around town. Vertical liftoff, zero emissions, and in theory, zero traffic. This one can fly nominally 120 miles per hour. Artificial intelligence here is front and center. AI is even coming for your plate of food. Forget the fries. NuviLab is using AI to serve up a side of data with your meal, letting you know your calorie intake in real time. It is a mouse for your mouth. And then there's MouthPad from Augmental, allowing you to use your tongue to navigate a smartphone or tablet. Our primary

folks we're working with right now are people with disabilities, particularly severe hand impairments. CES even paving new roads for happy hour. This cocktail mixed by an AI bartender from the South Korean tech giant Doosan. In my lifetime, I'm going to walk into a bar and get a drink served by an AI robot. Of course. I think it takes less than five years. Okay, you heard it here first. Cheers. Steve Patterson, NBC News, Las Vegas. That's pretty good.

That's really good. Yeah, well, where's mine, pal? That's nightly news for this Tuesday. Thanks for watching, everyone. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night.