NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Episode Date: February 1, 2024

Social media execs grilled in Congress over child safety concerns; U.S. plans 'campaign' of retaliatory strikes after killing of 3 soldiers, officials say; FBI Director Christopher Wray warns of alarming hacking threat from China; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, the extraordinary moment on Capitol Hill. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologizing to families after being told he has blood on his hands. Zuckerberg testifying alongside several other tech CEOs, standing and turning to the parents in the audience saying, I'm sorry. Many parents holding pictures of children they say were harmed by social media. One mother who lost her son speaking to us. But will social platforms get any safer? Also tonight, the U.S. preparing to strike back at Iran-linked targets in retaliation for the drone strike that killed three soldiers. Why the response could last for weeks and who the U.S. now says was responsible. The FBI director warning Chinese hackers are preparing to wreak havoc on the U.S., the major targets they could strike. A shocking crime, a man arrested for allegedly

killing his father, then posting a gruesome YouTube video. Dramatic body cam shown in court, the moment police arrested the parents of a Michigan school shooter. A major storm fueled by an atmospheric river slamming the west coast. When the worst will storm ashore. The pipeline inferno flames shoot 500 feet into the air. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening everyone and welcome. Today a reckoning for social media in this country over harm suffered by some of the youngest and most vulnerable users, children, and why proposed online safety measures have stalled. The CEOs of five popular social media platforms appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, where they faced angry lawmakers, were told they have blood on their hands and were met by a gallery that included child safety advocates and distraught parents.

Many carrying large photos of children they say were killed or affected in part by social media platforms, including victims of online sexual exploitation. In one terse exchange, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg prodded to face the families and apologize, and did just that. Our Kate Snow was there. The CEOs of Discord, Snap, TikTok, X, and Meta met by a sea of parents holding photos of children they say were victimized on the social media company's platforms. Mr. Zuckerberg, you and the companies before us, I know you don't mean it to be so, but you have blood on your hands. You have a product. You have a product that's killing people. The topic today, sexual predators targeting young people through social media and the blackmailing of teens tricked into sharing explicit photos.

Mary Rohde says it happened to her son, Riley, who then took his own life. Riley died on March 30th, 2021, when he was a victim of sexploitation on Facebook's Messenger app. You're on national television. Would you like now to apologize to the victims who have been harmed by your product? Show them the pictures. In a dramatic moment during questioning from Republican Senator Josh Hawley, Metta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stood to address the parents packing today's hearing. I'm sorry for the confusion. We have all been very vulnerable and knowing that you go through the things that your families have suffered. And this is why we invest in so much and are going to continue doing these screening efforts to make sure that no one has to go through the types of things that your families have had to suffer. When he stood up, he said, I'm sorry for your pain.

But I don't really think he's sorry for my pain. The tech CEOs today choosing to keep their remarks to their testimony, not stopping for any questions about the surge in child sexual abuse material online. Who did you think he was? He said he lived about 10 minutes away. He was my age, like 14, 15, just a regular boy. Ellen, whose last name we agreed to withhold, was 14 years old when she says she started communicating on Snapchat

with a person she thought was a teen. I'd never had attention from a boy before that, so it was an all all new area for me. She says she sent innocent photos of herself, and the boy soon began sending her sexually explicit pictures. Naked photos? Yes. More than once?

Correct. But his face was never in it. Her mom, Carrie, had no clue. She's sitting right next to me on our couch, probably talking to him. And you didn't know? I had no idea. What was your first clue that something was wrong? When Homeland Security came to my work, it turns out that a man outside of our state

has been talking to my daughter and had a plane ticket with her name, and he's ready to come get her. To take her away? To take her away. To take her away. According to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, that man who had been messaging Ellen had been communicating with other minors on social media. He has since pleaded guilty to child pornography charges.

Ellen is now thriving and in college, but the ordeal devastated her and led to thoughts of suicide. I didn't see a purpose in life anymore. I just thought my life was over after that. At today's hearing, Snap's CEO was apologetic over how the platform he helped create has been misused. Words cannot begin to express the profound sorrow I feel that a service we designed to bring people happiness and joy has been abused to cause harm. Snap says it does not have reports about Ellen's specific case, but called it illegal and against our policies,

adding, we work diligently to prevent predators from misusing and abusing Snapchat. On the Hill today, senators pushing for a number of bills to address children's safety on social media. What difference will today really make? This was a unique hearing. I think there's a major change because of those families, real people behind them, and because of the fact that the members are focusing a lot of their wrath, yes, on the companies, but on why are you opposing these bills? So, Kate, let's talk about those bills. What are these senators trying to pass, and where does the legislation stand right now?

Lester, there are at least half a dozen proposed bills ranging from requiring social media platforms to do more to protect kids, creating a new criminal offense for distributing sexual imagery, and even ensuring that these companies can be held liable in a civil court. Tonight, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tells NBC News this issue will be a legislative priority. Lester. Kate Snow starting us off from Capitol Hill. Thank you. Three days after the killing of three American soldiers in that drone attack, the scope of U.S. retaliation against targets connected to Iran is coming into sharper focus. Keir Simmons now with late details. Tonight, new details on the expected American retaliation for a deadly drone attack on U.S. troops for which President Biden holds Iran responsible. U.S. officials describing a

campaign that could last for weeks, expected to include Iranian targets outside of Iran. Telling NBC News the targets have not been finalized, but to expect strikes on multiple places in several countries and locations, including cyber operations. When you're talking about what we're anticipating here, which won't just be a one off, as I said, the first thing you see will not be the last thing. Today, the White House saying an umbrella group of Iranian backed militias called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq carried out Sunday's attack on the remote outpost in Jordan. Three American soldiers were killed.

And tonight, video of President Biden calling the parents of specialist Kennedy Sanders. We're promoting our posthumously to sergeant. Oh, wow. That is the best news I've heard today. Thank you so much. You don't know how much that means to us. But there are questions tonight. Oh, wow. That is the best news I've heard today. Thank you so much. You don't know how much that means to us. But there are questions tonight. U.S. strikes in recent months, retaliating for attacks by Iranian-backed groups,

including a faction of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, did not deter them. And the current delay in the U.S. response is giving the militias time to prepare. A senior Iraqi official tells NBC News many Iranian-supported factions have been evacuating bases. Meanwhile, tonight, one militia with ties to Iran, Qatayb Hezbollah, announcing its suspending attacks against U.S. bases. But a government advisor here says Iran and its proxies likely hope to push President Biden to stand down and cannot be trusted. They're still maneuvering. They are still collecting intelligence. They're still planning additional strikes on U.S. targets. And Keir joining us now. Keir, there's also news

the U.S. launched another preemptive strike against the Iranian-backed Houthi militia. That's right, Lester. It happened this afternoon. The U.S. saying it targeted another Houthi missile about to be launched because the Houthis have continued to terrorize commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Lester, it only underscores the immense challenge of deterring these Iranian-backed groups. Lester. All right, Keir, thank you. And an alarming warning today from the FBI director who says China is preparing to wreak havoc on American communities by hacking electrical grids, gas pipelines, transportation systems, and more in the event of war. Ken Delaney in now with that story. Tonight, the FBI director sounding the alarm about Chinese efforts to attack American power

grids, transportation systems, and communications networks. China's hackers are positioning on American infrastructure in preparation to wreak havoc and cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities. And Christopher Wray announcing a major takedown of a Chinese hacking operation on American soil, dubbed Volt Typhoon. Working with our partners, the FBI ran a court-authorized on-network operation to shut down Volt Typhoon and the access it enabled. Steps China was taking, in other words, to find and prepare to destroy or degrade the civilian critical infrastructure that keeps us safe and prosperous.

Wray and other officials say China poses the world's greatest cyber threat, and they warn that Americans remain vulnerable. U.S. Cybersecurity Chief Jen Easterly describing the devastating impact of a potential massive Chinese cyber attack. Telecommunications going down so people can't use their cell phone. People start getting sick from polluted water. Trains get derailed. Air traffic control system, port control systems are malfunctioning.

This is truly an everything, everywhere, all at once scenario. Easterly said China believes that sort of cyber attack would crush any American will to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion. In a statement to NBC News, a Chinese government spokesman denied China hacks into foreign networks, calling it irresponsible criticism. And Ken, you're also following a disturbing story about the death of a federal worker in Pennsylvania. What can you tell us? An absolutely horrific case, Lester.

A man is accused of killing his own father, who was a longtime federal government employee. His body was found decapitated. Police say the suspect then posted a 14-minute video rant denouncing President Biden and threatening to kill federal workers. He's being held without bail on a murder charge. Lester. All right, Ken Delaney, and thanks. In a Michigan courtroom, jurors saw a dramatic police video of the arrest of Jennifer Crumley and her husband in a Detroit warehouse days after their son shot and killed four students at his high school. Maggie Vespa is following this for us. Maggie, good evening.

Lester, good evening. Prosecutors are expected to rest tomorrow in Jennifer Crumley's involuntary manslaughter trial. And today they showed body camera video of Detroit police storming that warehouse where an officer testified Crumley and her husband James hit out with more than $6,000 in cash in the days after their son Ethan committed a mass shooting at Oxford High School. Jurors today also heard from a high school classmate of Jennifer Crumley, who said the two had an affair and that the morning of the shooting, she texted she was worried her son, quote, was going to do something dumb. The defense arguing Crumley had no clue how much her son was struggling and that the school could have done more to help him.

Lester. Maggie Vespa, thank you. Tonight, Northern California is bracing for a major storm. Another pineapple express blowing in from the Pacific with tens of millions under flood and wind alerts tonight. Liz Kreutz is there for us. Liz, this storm is really bearing down. Yeah, Lester, it is here in the Bay Area. It's been raining all day and the worst of

this storm is still to come overnight. More than 20 million Californians are under flood watches and we've already seen wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour. That has led to this massive tree to topple onto a home, trapping a young girl inside. It's also led to concerns of landslides and flooding. Now, by the morning, the storm is supposed to make its way south to Los Angeles and San Diego, which is still recovering from that historic flooding last week. And, Lester, it is not letting up. A second, more powerful atmospheric river is expected to hit on Sunday. Lester.

Liz Kreutz, thank you. In 60 seconds, escaping the war in Gaza, our inside look at the harrowing journey to safety and medical help for wounded children. Right after this. Back now with a harrowing story of survival. Children wounded in Gaza on a desperate journey to get the medical help they so badly need. Hala Gharani with our report tonight from Egypt. A hydraulic lift hoists little Zahra onto a plane.

Mama, the little girl, cries out. But it's not her mother's hand that reaches out for comfort. It's her aunt's, traveling with her on an evacuation flight from Egypt to the United Arab Emirates. Inside the plane, Zahra and some 50 other critically ill Palestinians from Gaza. Zahra's legs were crushed in an airstrike. Mama, the girl cries again, but her mother is not there, her aunt says, so Mama is what she calls her now. Zahra, too shy or traumatized to speak. On this Emirati Mercy mission, the 11th of its kind, there are children with fractures, complex head injuries, some with cancer. There was little

access to care or medicine in Gaza. Here, children finally get pain relief. Dirty bandages are replaced with fresh dressings. Twelve-year-old Noor will receive much-needed surgery on her legs. Acting quickly means preventing amputations. Do you want to go back to Gaza or stay out afterward, I ask her. Stay out, she tells me. The journey to this improvised Emirati flying hospital started at the Gaza border, a 45-minute drive away from this military airfield in Egypt. On our way there, miles of trucks carrying aid, unable to deliver their cargo. This is the border into Gaza from Egypt.

Patients are driven here on Palestinian red crescent vehicles. There's a list. Not every name is approved. So some of the most critically ill might make it all the way to this point and then be denied entry into Egypt. But these children at the military airport have made it out. A boy already used to life in a wheelchair whizzes past our camera. On board, the smiles of children excited for their first ever flight and the empty looks of those perhaps still adjusting to their new reality. When we reach Abu Dhabi, the last few patients are lowered onto the tarmac,

while those able to walk board a bus to the terminal. Out of harm's way, at least for now. Hala Gharani, NBC News, at the Al Arish Air Base in Egypt. And after a break, the spectacular fire after a gas pipeline explodes what went wrong and the new report on kids and learning after the pandemic are they finally catching up in math and reading some dramatic video out of oklahoma fire officials saying a gas pipeline exploded sending massive pillar of flames shooting 500 feet into the air, visible for miles. No injuries have been reported. The cause of the explosion is under investigation.

We turn now to our series, Kids Under Pressure. After America's students suffered major learning loss during the COVID pandemic, a new study finds they are recovering, but the impact could be long-lasting. Here's Blaine Alexander. It was a troubling trademark of the pandemic. Students learning through computer screens with growing concern over just how much they would be set back. Tonight, in the first-of-its-kind study, experts are now examining just how quickly students are recovering, looking at test scores across 30 states for third through eighth graders, comparing scores from 2019 to 2022 with those from 2023. They found while many students have made gains, they are still far behind pre-pandemic scores.

In math, which took the hardest hit, students have made up about a third of that regression, and in reading, 25 percent. It suggests we're on our way to a full recovery. We're certainly not there yet, but I think we've made up a lot more ground in one year than many people would have predicted, certainly more than we've ever made historically in one year. But the numbers also show the education gap between wealthy and low-income districts only widened with the pandemic. My worry is that the educational legacy of the pandemic will be a kind of persistent

widened inequality. Making matters worse, experts say, a $122 billion federal relief package to help fund programs like tutoring and summer school is set to end in September. How critical is that money when it comes to your recovery? It was paramount. Dr. Mark Sullivan is superintendent of Birmingham City Schools, where math test scores have almost completely returned to pre-pandemic levels. He credits more school hours and staff support with making the difference. But when that money goes away? We really have to be strategic

in only keeping those programs that we can afford that really move the needle on student achievement. Schools making significant strides with a long way to go. Blaine Alexander, NBC News. That's nightly news for this Wednesday. Thank you for watching, everyone. I'm Lester Hull. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night.