NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Episode Date: December 12, 2024

FBI director Wray says he'll resign before Trump inauguration; Police say gun in CEO killing matches casings found at crime scene; Progress in Southern California wildfire battle, but threat continues; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, the director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, announcing his resignation under pressure from President-elect Donald Trump. The FBI chief telling employees at a bureau town hall he will resign at the end of the current administration with three years left on his 10-year term. It comes after the President-elect announced plans to replace Wray with hardline ally Kash Patel and days after he criticized Ray in our NBC News interview. Also tonight, the new evidence in the CEO murder investigation. Police saying the suspect's gun matches shell casings at the scene and his fingerprints match those found on a water

bottle and a wrapper nearby. And the writings allegedly found in the suspect's notebook discussing his plans to kill. The explosive wildfire in Malibu destroyed homes, 20,000 people forced to evacuate. Among those fleeing the flames, stars like Dick Van Dyke and Cher. The strong storms impacting millions up and down the East Coast. The flash flood threat in New England and wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour. The growing mystery over the drone spotted over New Jersey. Where are they coming from and are

they a threat? The Pentagon today weighing in. And after some Grinches tried to steal their holiday cheer, the community theater where the show must go on. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome. With the writing on the wall, FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed today that he will step down from the job he has held for the last seven years. His departure announcement not unexpected after President-elect Trump recently put forth the name of Kash Patel to take over the job, leaving Wray the choice of resigning or being fired. Wray telling employees resignation is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray. Wray and the FBI are frequent targets of Mr. Trump's ire, often complaining the agency has become politically weaponized,

which Wray has denied. In turning to Kash Patel, who will require Senate confirmation, the incoming president would have a fiercely loyal defender leading the agency. Peter Alexander has more, including Mr. Trump's reaction. FBI Director Christopher Wray tonight revealing the bureau employees he'll resign before President-elect Trump takes office. I've decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down. Wray was selected by Trump in 2017, but he's leaving three years before his tenure term is up. After Trump made clear he wanted Wray out. This is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray while reinforcing

the values and principles that are so important in how we do our work. Trump has spent years attacking the FBI and Justice Department for what he says have been partisan prosecutions against him, and slammed W Ray in an interview with NBC's Kristen Welker over his role in the classified documents investigation. I can't say I'm thrilled with him. He invaded my home. I'm suing the country over it. He invaded Mar-a-Lago. I'm very unhappy with the things he's done. Trump today calling Ray's resignation a great day for America as it will end the weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice. Trump had already picked the man he wanted to replace Ray, Kash Patel, tonight meeting with Republican senators. We look forward to a very smooth transition at the FBI and I'll be ready to go on day one. Patel is a former federal prosecutor and a controversial Trump defender. Critics have

questioned his qualifications for the job and sounded alarms about his calls to go after those he says unfairly targeted Trump. Patel names roughly 60 people in his book as being part of the quote deep state. Do you want Kash Patel to launch investigations into people on that list? No, I mean, he's going to do what he thinks is right. Tonight, the FBI Agents Association is praising Ray for his steady focus on doing the work that keeps our country safe. This is not easy for me. I love this place. And Peter, there are some questions tonight about whether Patel will be confirmed by the Senate. Lester, no Senate Republicans are publicly against Patel, but he is facing scrutiny for past

comments, including vowing to turn the FBI building into a deep state museum. NBC News has learned that Patel told a top senator this week that he will not do that, according to a source familiar with their conversation. Lester. Peter Alexander at the White House. Thank you. In New York, police say evidence is building against the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, while a top police intelligence official warns the murder threatens to inspire what she calls a contagion of similar attacks. Here's Stephanie Goss. Tonight, Luigi Mangione remains locked up in a Pennsylvania state prison, fighting extradition to New York City on murder charges. The NYPD says its crime lab has made significant forensic breakthroughs in its investigation, potentially linking Mangione

to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The weapon the 26-year-old had on him when he was arrested in a Pennsylvania McDonald's matches evidence from the Manhattan crime scene. We were able to match that gun to the three shell casings that we found in Midtown. Fingerprints matched too, the NYPD commissioner says. We're also able at our crime lab to match the person of interest's fingerprints with fingerprints that we found on both the water bottle and the kind bar. A senior law enforcement official says the shooter left those items behind near the scene, along with shell casings that had the words deny, delay, depose, an apparent reference to the language health insurance companies use when rejecting claims. This is powerful circumstantial evidence,

and it's going to start coming in like an avalanche now that they've found Mangione. In addition to the gun and fake IDs, Mangione was also carrying a notebook, according to two sources familiar with the investigation, with this written inside. What do you do? You whack the CEO at the annual parasitic bean counter convention. It's targeted, precise, and it doesn't risk innocence. Echoing the language, frankly, these parasites had it coming, which was discovered in handwritten pages also found on Mangione, according to three senior law enforcement officials. The spotlight on health insurance companies has triggered a backlash online, with many voicing their anger at the industry. In New York City, fake wanted posters have appeared targeting CEOs of insurance companies. An NYPD intelligence and counterterrorism official today said Thompson's

murder resembles a domestic terror attack and threatens to set off a, quote, contagion. This guy's not a hero. He's not a hero. If you have if you have any issues with somebody, we don't go out there and commit violence. And Stephanie is outside the prison in Pennsylvania where Mangione is being held. Steph, when might we see him back in New York to face these murder charges? Lester, he has less than two weeks to challenge his detention, but legal experts say he's unlikely to win that challenge because of the mounting evidence against him in New York City. His attorney here says he's likely to plead not guilty to charges in both states. All right, Stephanie Goss, thank you. Here in Southern California, there's been progress in battling

that wildfire that blew up in Malibu, but the threat remains. Dana Griffin is in the fire zone tonight. Dana, are conditions finally improving? Lester, winds are finally dying down, but the fire is still a threat to homes. In this neighborhood, the burn scars show just how close flames got to that mansion. Tonight, Malibu under threat as a wind-driven wildfire continues to burn. Fire crews attacking the blaze from the air with water and bright pink fire retardant. Gusty winds can pick up those embers carrying them to canyons like this. It took just a matter of minutes for this hillside to go up in flames.

Several homes now destroyed, at least 4,000 acres scorched. An ongoing threat fueled by Santa Ana winds that kicked back up overnight. The entire fire area remains under threat as long as these red flag weather conditions persist. This morning, this couple dousing their brand new home with water in an effort to save it from approaching flames. What do you think when you see this? We don't want to lose it if we can help it. More than 20,000 under evacuation orders and warnings, including celebrities like Cher

and Dick Van Dyke. Other residents standing by in case they're told to evacuate. It's dangerous. It's causing a lot of damage and can cause a lot more damage. So we're just monitoring it so we know when to leave. Up to 1,500 firefighters working around the clock, catching hot spots before they grow out of control. Those types of things keep you reminded that these things happen up here, so you just have to be ready for them. With the threat of the next blaze just a spark away. Dana Griffin, NBC News, Malibu, California. We are also following severe weather on the east coast. Heavy rain and gusty winds from Georgia to Maine. Tens of millions were under wind and flood alerts. Hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed in the northeast and along the Great Lakes. Another foot or more of snow is possible when sharply colder air pushes in. From Syria

tonight, an inside look at the lavish lifestyle of President Bashar al-Assad, who ruled with brutal authority for decades until he was overthrown this past weekend. Richard Angle tonight going inside Assad's presidential palace. The former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad lived in a palace on a hill high above Damascus. Now it's under control of the rebels who overthrew him. Today they gave us an exclusive tour inside. I can understand why he wouldn't want to leave this. Assad and his wife seem to have modern tastes. You are first greeted by the grand atrium, accented by a classic wood-paneled library. Upstairs was for the family only, the apartment where the rebels say Assad lived. You could tell

this was really the inner sanctum because everywhere here there are thick bulletproof doors. They are extremely, extremely heavy, solid metal, electric keypads. This could have been sealed off, but in the end, it didn't do him any good. All the security was to protect his bedroom, ransacked after he fled. There's something curious whenever you go to someone's house. People always want to see their bathrooms, just get a sense of how they lived. Well, this was Assad's private bathroom in here with a jacuzzi tub. Can't imagine he'll be living this well in exile in Russia. Today, the new interim government said Syria is broke. Cash flow didn't seem to be a problem for the man at the top. Ah, his personal barber chair. So you can imagine him here getting ready for the day.

Assad lived well as a dictator until it all ended for the man accused of being responsible for the deaths of half a million Syrians, all to protect his life of power and luxury. Rebels we've spoken to here in Damascus say they want Assad to be sent back from Russia and tried here for war crimes. Lester? Quite a tour, Richard. Thank you. In 60 seconds, the growing mystery in the sky.

Where all the drones are coming from. What do we know right after this? All right, we're back now with the growing mystery over drones spotted in the sky over New Jersey and other states. The FBI is investigating, and today, the Pentagon weighing in on the mounting questions. Where are they coming from, and are they a threat? Here's Gotti Schwartz. Tonight in the skies above New Jersey, trying to get to the bottom of a mysterious wave of SUV-sized drone sightings that so far have proved impossible to identify or to stop. The minute you get eyes on them, they go dark. It's not an airplane. Reports of mysterious drones and lights in the sky are growing.

From over the warships of the West Coast to nuclear sites across the West to Langley, Virginia, and most recently to Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey. The Pentagon says there is no evidence the drones are coming from a foreign adversary, but lawmakers on Capitol Hill are demanding answers from the FBI. I don't have an answer of who's responsible for that, of one or more people that are responsible for those drone flights. Those who have sent drones up to give chase, like local sheriff's department, say they've never been able to see where they come from or where they land. Mine Hill Mayor Sam Morris chased this one down in his car and thinks the military should consider shooting them down. He says 11 drones have flown over a military site in New

Jersey recently. Those drones should have been blown out of the sky. Why are we putting up with this? And as more people start to look up at the night sky, the FBI is asking anyone with credible video to send them in for analysis. It's 2024. Are you telling me in this day and age somebody can fly drones of this size, the size of a car, if not bigger. And we have no idea who's doing it. For now, yet another growing mystery in the sky. Gotti Schwartz, NBC News, Morristown, New Jersey. And up next for us tonight, inside the shadowy lucrative body broker business, the latest in our investigation and the man at the center next.

We're back now with our series Dealing the Dead. We've previously reported on Texas Health Center using unclaimed bodies in medical research without consent. And tonight, our investigation has led us to the grim allegations at a Las Vegas strip mall. Here's Liz Kreutz. Be positive. Focus on the good things in our lives. This is the newest image for Apteen Nasiri, a former chiropractor turned self-help guru who just nine months ago was operating MedEd Labs, a now-bankrupt Las Vegas-based company that leased human body parts for medical training and research, all part of the shadowy and lucrative body broker business.

The body brokers take those bodies and they will many times cut them into parts and ship those parts to different users. You know, the heads may go one place, the limbs may go another place. Nassiri began MedEd Labs after losing his chiropractic license for misconduct. He pivoted to the body trade. But as he did, NBC News has learned, he also left a trail of scandal and allegations of unethical conduct along the way, including a lawsuit claiming he used company money for personal expenses like family vacations and his wife's false eyelashes, and complaints from medical school officials that he mishandled human remains, allegations he denies. Here in this Vegas strip mall in a suite between a psychic

and a tattoo parlor was the MedEd Lab's office. It's here where they received and held dozens of bodies, which they obtained from different places, including funeral homes and the University of North Texas Health Science Center. The Health Science Center, which was at the center of our investigation earlier this year, provided Nasiri with dozens of bodies and body parts. In emails obtained by NBC News, the center alleged she shipped remains back in dirty containers, including one likened to a scrap cardboard box, that he failed to return nearly 20 feet, and that he was holding more than 30 of the center's bodies for far longer than promised in MedEdLab's maxed-out freezers. In 2021, Nasiri also made national headlines for supplying the body of a World War II veteran who

died from COVID to an event that was charging $500 to view a public dissection in a hotel ballroom. Nasiri telling NBC News he didn't know the body would be used in that way, which the group that conducted the dissection disputes. What bothers you the most about that? It all bothers me. We should be treating these individuals with more respect. Dr. Tom Champney is an anatomy professor who helps oversee the body donation program at the University of Miami, where medical students are shown pictures and told life stories about their donors. My goal is to start early on humanizing these individuals. Is there any regulation of

this industry? There's very little regulation. There's no licensing. There's no requirement to accredit any of these groups. There's no inspection? None. No one's going to med labs? No. Checking out what's going on? Of course not.

In fact, there's probably more regulations about what you do with a refrigerator than there are what you do with a body. Over the phone, Nasiri, who canceled our sit-down interview, defended MedEdLab, saying, We respect our donors. It's an incredible gift. But his practices and NBC News' findings raise questions about the lack of oversight of the industry. As NBC News previously uncovered, the lack of regulation is what allowed the University of North Texas Health Science Center

to make millions in part by taking in, cutting up, and leasing out the body parts of unclaimed people. And in some cases, like that of Michael Coleman, while their own loved ones searched for them. He wasn't nothing. That's how they treated him, like he wasn't nothing, when he was everything to me. The center has since fired its body donation program manager. I was absolutely horrified. State Senator Tan Parker is now working on legislation to regulate body sales. How in the world can this be allowed to occur that we don't have any regulation? It is the wild, wild west, and that cannot be allowed. But for now, the industry continues to

grow, and NBC News' review of corporate filings suggests even Nasiri may still be active in it. A new body broker business is now registered at the former MedEd Labs address under his brother's name. The website, however, links to social media belonging to Nasiri, which includes posts with inspirational quotes like this one. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. And Liz, at the heart of this, we're talking about people. And it's hard to imagine there's so little oversight. It really is stunning, Lester. In fact, Nevada is one of a handful of states that has passed laws that give the State Board of Health the power to regulate businesses like MedEd Labs.

But five years now, after they passed that law, the agency has yet to begin any enforcement, Lester. All right, Liz Kurtz, thank you for that. We'll take a break when we come back. The performance of a nutcracker that almost wasn't. How a community came together to save the Christmas classic in the nick of time. There's good news tonight about a holiday show that must go on and a community coming together to keep their tradition alive. Here's Maya Eaglin. For these dancers in Canton, Michigan, the holiday season means showtime. More than 80 dancers performing the Nutcracker, marking the 40th anniversary production from the Plymouth Canton Ballet Company.

It is just a magical part of the holiday season. Despite months of rehearsing, the curtain almost didn't go up. The holiday spirit under fire after thieves stole a storage container. This Ring camera video capturing the moment their trailer and thousands of dollars worth of props inside were stolen, sending the show scrambling to replace them. Community members stepping in, raising more than $18,000. As many parents got to work. I built these clocks. Hopefully these last another 40. Another 40 years, but not another Grinch. Finally, opening night. What's the vibe? What's everyone feeling? Give me some words. Happy. Excited. New props decorating the stage, along with a holiday spirit, now stronger than ever.

If no one ever volunteered to help, then this show would happen. It means the world. It's the Nutcracker family, and now it's become the community family that has come together to put this show on. For a community that fought hard and worked together to keep a tradition alive. Maya Eaglin, NBC News, Cam, Michigan. And that is nightly news for this Wednesday. Thank you for watching. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night.