NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Episode Date: December 19, 2024

Trump denounces massive spending bill, pushing government closer to shutdown; CDC reports first severe case of bird flu in U.S.; Stocks drop sharply after Fed cuts interest rates and signals more cautious approach next year; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, President-elect Trump slamming a deal to keep the government from shutting down just days before Christmas. The President-elect and his billionaire ally Elon Musk coming out in opposition. Speaker Mike Johnson's deal days before the deadline, so what happens now? And the major blow for Matt Gaetz, Mr. Trump's former Attorney General pick. The House Ethics Committee secretly voting to release its report on him after its years-long investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use. Also tonight, California declaring a state of emergency over the bird flu after the CDC reported the first severe case in a separate state. What health officials are saying. A plunge on Wall Street after the Fed's decision to cut interest rates, the Dow falling more than 1,000 points. Its worst losing streak in 50 years. Flash

flooding on the East Coast, the winter storm moving into the Northeast. With rain and snow, we're tracking it all. Caught on camera, the deadly plane crash in Hawaii. The unruly passenger detained and later dying on a cruise ship, the FBI investigation, as we gear up for record holiday travel, our exclusive access inside the TSA and FBI bomb detection lab. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome in what could be seen as another sign of Elon Musk's growing influence within the Trump orbit. The president-elect joined Musk today in his call to scrap a spending bill backed by some Republicans, raising the chances of a government shutdown.

Musk, tasked with tackling wasteful spending in the new administration, posted throughout the day on his ex-platform, demanding the spending bill be killed, calling the package put forward by Republican Speaker Mike Johnson pork barrel spending. Later, Mr. Trump delivering the death knell following Musk's lead and calling for the package to be scrapped, dramatically increasing the odds of a government shutdown as soon as this weekend. Meantime, there are new developments today regarding the House Ethics Committee investigation of former Congressman Matt Gaetz. Ryan Nobles is covering it all. Ryan, this new move by President-elect Trump comes as that Friday deadline is quickly approaching. Lester, that's right. In fact, lawmakers were planning to vote on this massive spending bill as soon as tonight, but now they're left to grapple with the changes that President

-elect Trump is demanding. Tonight, President-elect Trump blowing up a bipartisan spending deal worked out by House Speaker Mike Johnson designed to keep the federal government open through March of next year, writing, quote, we should pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn't give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want. The bill extended government funding while also adding $100 billion for disaster aid and $10 billion for farmers. But it also included health care reforms and a provision allowing for pay raises for members of Congress, leading to conservative backlash. Billionaire Elon Musk, who will lead Trump's effort to cut government spending, writing any lawmaker who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in two years.

Tonight, Vice President-elect Vance talking about the spending plan known as a CR. Well, what the president believes is we should support a clean CR so all of the assets that contain a debt limit increase, that's the position of the president and that's what we're going to try to push for. All of it coming after another surprise headline. NBC News Learning, the House Ethics Committee has voted in secret to release its report on former Congressman Matt Gaetz, according to two sources familiar with the process.

Now the committee is set to release its findings by the end of the week. Gaetz earlier withdrew as Trump's pick for attorney general. I haven't been paying much attention to that. The committee looking into allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, which Gates denies. Tonight, Gates writing, I've never had sexual contact with someone under 18. It's embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now. A Justice Department investigation into the allegations was ultimately closed, with no charges filed against Gates. Ryan, let me circle

you back to the potential shutdown. Speaker Johnson is facing a really major challenge tonight. That's right, Lester. He needs to come up with a plan B, which will likely be a slimmed-down version of what he's already proposed. But that risks alienating support for some Democrats, and he needs to do it all by that deadline of midnight on Friday. Lester? All right, Ryan Nobles, thanks. There's new concern tonight about bird flu after the CDC reported the first severe case in a person, and California declared a state of emergency because of the spread of bird flu in cattle.

Our Ann Thompson has late details. The person who has contracted this latest case of the bird flu lives in Louisiana. But unlike the 60 other cases, the CDC says this case is severe, so much so the person is hospitalized in critical condition. And while most other human cases involve commercial farm workers, this is the first case of someone getting the virus from a backyard flock, according to the CDC. How concerned are you about this case in Louisiana? I'm very concerned. And I'm not saying that this is a cause for panic right now. But in the medium term, I think all the signs are pointing to

the temperature rising with bird flu in terms of its potential impact on humans. The CDC says the strain that has infected dairy cows is different from the one that sent the Louisiana resident to the hospital. Nine states have reported human cases of bird flu this year, and tonight California has declared a state of emergency over the outbreak to give local agencies more resources to prevent it from becoming a bigger problem. People should be alert. They should be vigilant, but not scared. It really reminds us all to get flu shots right now, because if you get infected with both bird flu and human flu, they can exchange genes and really make a variant that is more easily able to enter the human body and make us more sick. And join me now. Just what is the threat to the general public? The good news is, Lester, the CDC says the threat is low. There's no evidence of person to person transmission.

It has all been from infected animals to humans. So the advice is to avoid sick or dead animals. And if you own a backyard flock, you're a hunter or bird enthusiast, wear personal protective gear, gloves and mask when dealing with the animals. The same is true for farm workers. OK, man, thanks for that update. Stock markets closed sharply lower today with the animals. The same is true for farm workers. OK, man, thanks for that update. Stock markets closed sharply lower today, with the Dow falling 10 days in a row for the first time in 50 years. Today's sell off coming after the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by a quarter of a point. Christine Romans is here. Christine, what does this mean? Well, the rate cut was completely expected. But what wasn't the Fed signaling that next year it will slow the pace of cuts. So why? Well, the U.S. economy may be too strong to be cutting rates and inflation is

improving, but it's just still too high. The Fed chief called the U.S. economy remarkable. He called the job market solid. And what's good news about the economy was bad news for stock market investors. They were banking on lower borrowing costs next year. For consumers, it means mortgage rates, car loans, credit card interest rates may not come down as quickly as hoped. Still, the Fed chief says the U.S. economy is performing very, very well overall, Lester. All right, Christine Romans, thank you. In Russia, authorities say a suspect is under arrest after the assassination of a Russian general on a Moscow street. Keir Simmons went to the scene of that explosion earlier today.

This is the man accused of the stunning assassination of a Russian general outside his Moscow apartment, named by Russian state media as 29-year-old Akhmad Kabanov from Uzbekistan. Moscow investigators say he confessed to being recruited by Ukraine with an offer of $100,000 and safe passage to a European country. The bomb, hidden on a scooter, had been given to him, investigators say. When we reached the site today, there was still blood in the snow, surrounded by broken apartment windows, a killing in plain sight. It took just seconds as Igor Kirillov walked from this door, a scooter laden with explosives detonated. The whole thing videoed from a camera in a car just across the road and beamed,

Russian officials say, back to Ukraine. It was really loud and I woke up. Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his assistant were killed. A Ukrainian security source tells NBC News Ukraine's security services carried out the killing. 24 hours earlier, Ukraine had charged Kirillov with using banned chemical weapons against Ukraine, an allegation denied by Russia. Now the brazen assassination has brought the Ukraine war to Moscow's doorstep. That's horrible, I think, that something like this happens nowadays.

And Kir, you're following another headline tonight about the mother of Austin Tice, the American journalist who's missing in Syria. That's right, Lester. NBC News has obtained a copy of the letter Deborah Tice wrote to President Putin saying you have profound connections with the Syrian government. Former Syrian President Assad fled here this month. She asks Putin for help, saying she's willing to travel here to Moscow if it would help bring Austin safely home. Lester? All right, Keir Simmons, thank you. Parts of South Florida were underwater today after slow-moving thunderstorms moved through the area,

dumping several inches of rain that flooded roads and stranded some vehicles. And we're keeping an eye on more rain and snow elsewhere in the country. Bill Cairns is here. Bill, what are you looking at? Lester, we have a bunch of fast-moving storms we're going to be tracking right through the holiday weekend and into next week. The first one is an area of some snow and some light rain heading through the East Coast, making things wet but not causing too many problems. A higher-impact storm dives down from Canada tomorrow. We're going to have a snow day in the northern plains. It's going to move through the Great Lakes.

Friday, it heads for the east. It weakens at that time. We expect a plowable snow, one of the biggest snowstorms of the early winter season. In Minneapolis, four to six inches, up to six inches in Green Bay. Same for areas just north of Milwaukee. Lighter amounts around Chicago, only one or two inches, and then just a coating of snow in the east as we go through Friday. And the other thing, behind the storm, it's going to be a cold, bitterly cold weekend. Look at these windchill values, negative in New England and even New York at seven on Sunday morning. I was hoping those were typos. All right, Bill Kearns, thanks very much. Now to the battle brewing as President-elect Trump's plans for mass deportations take shape.

Tonight, there are major questions over whether there'll be enough resources to carry them out. Our Gabe Gutierrez got an inside look at one operation far from the southern border. The operation begins before dawn. Agents with ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who asked us to conceal their identities, gearing up at a parking lot in suburban Boston. We're along for the ride. We don't do large-scale roundups. Every individual that's here today has come to our attention because they've been arrested by a local municipality for a felony or an egregious crime. So after several hours of waiting, they've just found one of their targets and we're on the move. When we arrive, we see an immigrant from the Dominican Republic who he says is here illegally and is a convicted sex offender. He tells me he came to the U.S. for a better way of life and denies the charges against him.

He's led away in handcuffs. ICE agents have been watching this particular subject for at least a week. On this day, it took about 16 ICE agents to arrest five immigrants who ICE says are undocumented, have criminal records, and had been released on bail by local jurisdictions instead of being turned over to ICE, each requiring 40 to 80 hours of surveillance beforehand. Do you have enough resources to do this? No, no, we don't. And that's one of the problems that, you know, when jurisdictions don't cooperate with us, we have to go out into the community, which puts our officers at risk. But these are the waning days of the Biden administration.

President-elect Trump won, pledging to do much more, including mass deportations. And after Democratic city and state officials vowed to block Trump's deportation plan, incoming Borders R. Tom Homan is doubling down with this warning. If they cross that line and normally harbor a concealed legal alien, well, I'm going to seek prosecution. I am concerned of what a mass deportation would look like. Attorney Valerie Napier is an immigrant advocate who says calls to her clinic have tripled since Trump was reelected.

What do you say to those people who voted for Donald Trump and wanted a crackdown in the immigration system? And not everyone is a criminal. We pressed ICE about its current mission. There are some who fear that ICE will also arrest, you know, immigrants that are here that may not have criminal records. To that, you say what? To that, you know, what we are focused on is obviously public safety, national security threats. But then there are those two that have exhausted all legal means. In the end, they've been ordered legally removed from the United States, and we'll go ahead and effect those removal orders. Two U.S. officials tell NBC

News that even before any mass deportation plans, ICE is already facing a budget shortfall of $230 million. Lester? Okay, Gabe, thank you. In 60 seconds, the battle over TikTok now heading to the Supreme Court days before it could be banned. And the dramatic scenes in Hawaii as a plane crashes into a building. We'll have details right after this. TikTok is getting another shot at blocking a law that would ban the popular app in the U.S. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments over TikTok's challenge on January 10th. That's a little more than a week before the deadline for TikTok's parent company to sell the platform or see it banned across the U.S., citing security concerns. And in Hawaii, the NTSB is investigating why a cargo plane crashed into a building and burst into flames shortly after takeoff, killing the two pilots. The whole thing caught on camera.

Liz Kreutz has more. Tonight, the NTSB investigating what caused this small cargo plane in Hawaii to spiral out of control near a busy highway before crashing into a building near the Honolulu airport. It was working and all of a sudden had a big boom. This dash cam video showing the horrifying final moments of the flight. The Kamaka Air Cessna 208 slamming into an abandoned building, killing the two people on board who were conducting a training flight, according to the airline. I was sitting at my desk and all of a sudden I saw a small plane fly past my office window. It started banking and turning back towards the airport and then I heard a loud bang.

The crash creating this massive plume of smoke and flames seen for miles. First responders rushing to the scene. Fortunately, the building is an abandoned building, so it was the best case scenario. No one else was involved and two souls that were lost. The victims identified by family as Preston Kalohiwa and Hiram DeFries, young pilots in their 20s. And officials are praising the men, saying they avoided populated areas and a nearby fuel farm. The building they crashed into was empty and had been set to be demolished. Lester.

All right, Liz Kreutz, thank you. Coming up, as millions set out to travel, our exclusive look inside a bomb detection unit working to prevent guns and explosives from getting on airplanes. The FBI is now investigating after the death of a passenger aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. The man was reportedly detained after he was apparently caught on camera yelling and trying to kick in a cabin door aboard a ship that departed from Los Angeles. His cause of death has not yet been determined. And now to our NBC News exclusive. As we brace for a record holiday travel rush, we have rare access tonight inside the TSA and FBI's bomb

detection unit that responds to the latest threats coming from overseas and here at home. Here's Tom Costello. On a highly restricted range at the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, TSA and FBI experts replicate explosives from the latest terror threats. Three, two, one. And test the technology to spot explosive devices. The goal is to be able to utilize the brightest and best when it comes to understanding the chemistry behind explosives and explosive devices. The TSA's newest CT scanners flag potential explosives or hidden weapons. Here's a 3D printed gun, small.22, two knives, and a smoke grenade. Do you see these types of weapons every day?

Every day, all across checkpoints in the United States, and our CTs help us be able to detect these types of items. So far this year, more than 6,000 weapons detected, another record. But it will take until 2042 to roll out the best scanners to all airports. A top priority now, explosives found this year at DHL cargo facilities in Europe, which Western intelligence believes Russian agents planted. At the FBI TSA lab, chemists and technicians recreate explosive mixtures, analyzing the chemical signatures to test airport detection systems. The way that an explosive is molded can make all the difference. In this case, causing a significant dent in a one-inch piece of steel. Molded differently, the same explosive blew a hole right through, causing catastrophic damage.

And the threat matrix is changing daily. These are 3D printed firearms. Fully functional that have the capacity to function as a normal firearm. Assistant FBI Director Eric Pokorak with a sampling of 3D printed weapons and the 3D printers they use to recreate potential threats. Even a claymore mine. It's a 3D printed they use to recreate potential threats, even a claymore mine. Is the 3D printed weapon or explosive one of your most serious challenges today? It's definitely a serious challenge that we have because they are just as lethal as traditionally manufactured IEDs or firearms.

Nationwide, the TSA is now deploying handheld explosive ingredient detectors. The threat landscape is changing, so we're constantly trying to stay ahead of what's coming next. And one step ahead of a determined enemy. Tom Costello, NBC News, Huntsville. 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.