NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Episode Date: March 21, 2024

Appeals court hears arguments on controversial Texas immigration law; Fireworks at House hearing in Biden impeachment inquiry; Manhunt in Idaho for inmate who escaped with help of gunman; and more on tonight’s broadcast. 

Tonight, the whiplash at the border, the fate of a controversial Texas immigration law, now in the hands of a federal appeals court. The three-judge panel hearing arguments over the law that they put on hold just hours after the Supreme Court allowed it to take effect. It would let Texas authorities arrest and deport migrants, but the Biden administration, arguing the state doesn't have that authority, what the judges signaled today. Also, tonight, the urgent manhunt.

Police say an inmate was broken out of a hospital by a gunman who opened fire. Three corrections officers wounded. The Carr police are searching for. The deadly house explosion in Utah. Debris showered all over the neighborhood. What caused it? The first full day of spring, but the snow spreading across the Northeast. Al Roker is here. The tense moments on Capitol Hill. Former Rudy Giuliani associate left Parnas testifying in the GOP's Biden impeachment inquiry. In our NBC News

exclusive, the allegation Parnas made that Republicans are acting as Russia's accomplices. The new drama for the royals where Princess Kate's medical records bleached at the clinic where she underwent surgery. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening, everyone, and welcome. Things are back to square one at the Texas-Mexico border tonight, at least for the moment, with the federal government back to being the sole enforcer of immigration laws. Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court gave Texas the okay to proceed with its controversial new border enforcement law that grants local authorities the power to arrest and deport migrants they suspect of entering the country illegally. But just hours after the Supreme

Court spoke, an appeals court panel quickly put another pause on implementing the law while it heard the case today. The legal back and forth leaving some local law enforcement uncertain about their roles and what comes next. Morgan Chesky is at the border tonight. Tonight, a controversial immigration law still on hold. 24 hours after the Supreme Court gave the green light for it to begin. Today, a federal appeals court holding a hearing over the Texas law known as SB4, which allows state and local authorities to arrest migrants suspected of crossing the southern border illegally

and allow state judges to deport them. The judges appearing skeptical of the law. This is the first time it seems to me that a state has claimed that they have the right to remove illegal aliens. Governor Greg Abbott standing by the law saying Texas is taking action because President Biden has not stopped a record number of migrants. What's going on on the border is nothing short of catastrophic. Texas had already placed razor wire and buoys to deter migrants from crossing illegally, moves challenged in court by the Biden administration. So far in 2024, most illegal crossings have been in Arizona and California,

a trend some border officials tell NBC News is due to those tougher policies in Texas. Zapata County Sheriff Ramundo Del Bosque is in favor of the new law. As before, I do support it. What we're targeting is the violence, the cartel, people that want to, violent offenders that want to come across. But in Maverick County, where crowds of migrants converged on Eagle Pass last fall, Sheriff Tom Schmerber has reservations. On its face, are you in favor of SB4? Not until I get more information how it's going to work. And do you know when that will be? I don't. The sheriff concerned over where arrested migrants would go. His detention center already at capacity. And we're

here in the middle trying to see what's going to happen, you know, but it's more like more like politics between the state and the federal government. That's the way I see it. And where does that put you? In the middle, like they're not concerned about us. It's concerned about them. So, Morgan, where does this leave us? The appeals court didn't rule on the Texas law today. Any idea when they will? Yeah, Lester, right now, that three-judge panel hasn't given no indication, but given how fast they've acted within the last 24 hours, that decision could come soon. And keep in mind, there is a good chance that all of this ends up right back in the Supreme Court. Lester? Morgan Chesky, thank you. In Idaho tonight, authorities are searching for an inmate who

escaped with a gunman who helped him get away after the prisoner was treated and released from a hospital. Here's Dana Griffin. Tonight, the urgent manhunt underway for an escaped inmate and an armed accomplice who ambushed officers at this Idaho hospital. They are dangerous, they are armed, and they have shown a propensity for violence. Police say 31-year-old Skyler Meade, shown here handcuffed and bloodied, was taken to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise Tuesday night for self-inflicted injuries. Then, just after 2 a.m. this morning, as Meade was about to be transported back to prison, the accomplice, Nicholas Umfenauer, opened fire, shooting two officers, a third caught in the crossfire. Police say they then fled in this gray Honda Civic.

We believe that this was a coordinated attack, certainly a planned endeavor to free him from custody. All three officers expect it to survive. They could be anywhere at this point. Investigators releasing these photos of Meade's tattoos and say he's a member of a white supremacist gang. He had been in prison for eight years after shooting at a deputy during a high-speed chase. He was eligible for parole in 2026. Police urge the public, if you see the suspects, do not approach them, but call 911. Lester?

Dana Griffin, thank you. In Utah, a pre-dawn explosion destroyed a duplex early today. It happened in the town of American Fork, south of Salt Lake City. Officials said the body of a woman was found in the fiery rubble while another person was safely evacuated. The cause is under investigation. It is spring, but tonight parts of upstate New York and Connecticut are still getting a taste of snow while more is on the way in the Midwest. Al Roker joins me. Al, what's in store? Well, Lester, already we've got winter weather advisories stretching from Montana all the way into the

Northeast. Tomorrow, snow will spread from Montana into North Dakota. The southern system is going to bring heavy rain to Texas and the Gulf. Then we move into Friday, steady snow in the upper Midwest and the Great Lakes, heavy soaking rains through the southeast. We move into Saturday. We're looking at systems merging along the East Coast. Heavy rain along I-95. Heavy snow up into New England with snow rainfall amounts anywhere from one to three inches from Florida all the way into the Northeast. Heavy snow from New England all the way into montana and a second storm lester sunday to monday bringing heavy snow to the northern plains so winter not quite done yet happy spring all right al thanks very much alabama today became the latest state to target diversity programs at

public colleges and other state agencies senior legal correspondent laura jared has late details tonight the governor of Alabama signing a new law banning all diversity programs across the state's public universities and government agencies. SB 129 has passed. It passed with overwhelming Republican support, but likely to face legal headwinds soon for its broad sweep. As of October 1st, any program that involves a, quote, divisive concept cannot receive state funding. Republican Governor Kay Ivey saying today, I refuse to allow a few bad actors on college campuses or wherever else, for that matter, to go under the acronym of DEI using taxpayer funds to push their liberal political movement, the law coming after days of debate in the state legislature.

Everybody in this room is created equal, and so I thank you for bringing this now that we can no longer taxpayer money and go to programs that teach us that we are actually different. But civil rights advocates arguing it tramples on the constitutional rights of students and faculty. When you have a bill like this and it's incredibly vague, folks get scared. This is going to have a direct impact on DEI offices across the state. Alabama, only the latest in a line of states taking sharp aim at diversity programs. Florida's Stop Woke Act, preventing companies from requiring diversity trainings, now tied up in legal challenges.

But back in Montgomery, students have been making their voices heard all month. DEI has never made me feel threatened, hurt. Alabama schools tonight now trying to sort through the implications of how to comply with this new law and still teach. Laura Jarrett, NBC News. Fireworks today at a House hearing in the impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Republicans pressing former Hunter Biden business associates, but one witness accusing them of peddling Russian propaganda. Ryan Nobles has late details for us from the Capitol. Tonight, a fiery inflection point in the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

Excuse me, sir. Excuse me, sir. This is Mr. Bobulinski. This is my time. House Republicans holding a hearing designed to feature Hunter Biden, who had asked to give public testimony but declined to appear. Instead, the committee heard from a pair of former Hunter Biden business associates who testified, despite President Biden's denials, he was involved in his son's businesses. He was an active, aware enabler who met with business associates such as myself to further the business. They say Joe Biden participated in person and on speakerphone in meetings and dinners with Hunter's foreign business partners. Hunter's former business associate, Jason Galanis, testifying from prison. The vice president said hello, some pleasantries, and I hope you had safe travels. And Matt said, quote, okay, you'd be good

to my boy. But Democrats firing back, saying there was no evidence of a crime. With any luck, today marks the end of perhaps the most spectacular failure in the history of congressional investigations, the effort to find a high crime or misdemeanor committed by Joe Biden and then to impeach him for it. Democrats invited Lev Parnas, a one-time associate of former President Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani, who testified that he was tasked with digging up dirt on Biden business ventures in Ukraine. I found precisely zero evidence of the Biden's corruption in Ukraine. In an exclusive interview, Parnas accused Republicans of being willing accomplices of the Kremlin. They're not getting down to the truth. All they're doing is of being willing accomplices of the Kremlin. They're not getting

down to the truth. All they're doing is pushing the same Russian narrative of propaganda. And tonight, the Oversight Committee chairman, James Comer, saying he will invite President Biden to testify at an upcoming hearing. Lester. Ryan Nobles, thanks. A big announcement today from President Biden in Battleground, Arizona. Billions in tech grants that will bring tens of thousands of new jobs at a time when many voters say the state needs an economic jumpstart. Christine Romans is there. President Biden today in the critical Swin County of Maricopa, Arizona, with a multi-billion dollar delivery. We will enable advanced semiconductor manufacturing to make a comeback here in America after 40 years. Mr. Biden announcing $8.5 billion in grants and $11 billion more in loans to semiconductor manufacturer Intel.

Money from the bipartisan CHIPS Act passed in 2022. The money going toward the construction and expansion of Intel facilities in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico, and Oregon. Combined, it will create nearly 20,000, 20,000 construction jobs. Here in Chandler, Arizona, 6,000 construction workers are building two chip plants known as FABs, projected to host 3,000 manufacturing jobs. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger says the government investment is essential to competing with China. It isn't just a question of our national security, it's every aspect of our economy as well. And these are great jobs. The owner of Chandler restaurant, Gadzooks, Aaron Poole, welcomes the investment and the foot traffic it could mean after years

of people working from home. In a fab shop, you actually have to go in to work. And he hopes out for lunch. Poole says business owners like him are in a paradox. Well, now we're at a point where you can't raise prices anymore. Consumer won't allow it. But he says he has no choice but to raise wages. 19-year-old cashier Talia Palaholani brings home $1,300 every two weeks. It's good that you get paid more, I guess, but then at the end of the day,

it's like everything's so expensive. It's like you're not really getting much out of it. Affordability top of mind here in Maricopa County. Over the past four years, home prices up 53%. Rents have surged 37%. People left to figure out how to make it all add up. We said people are paid more, but everything costs more. Right. And we just have to do more with less. With so many struggling with high housing costs and lingering inflation, President Biden has low approval ratings on his handling of the economy.

One of the reasons why he's highlighting bills like the Bipartisan Chips Act as he seeks a second term. Lester. Christine Romans in Arizona. Thank you. In 60 seconds, Princess Kate's health mystery. Did someone gain access to her medical records at the hospital where she had surgery? The new investigation next. There is new drama for Britain's royals as questions swirl about Princess Kate's health. An investigation now underway into whether Kate's medical records were breached at the hospital where she underwent surgery. Molly Hunter is in London. Tonight, a serious allegation of a data breach at the London hospital where the Princess of Wales had surgery back in January. Multiple UK news outlets reporting three staff breach at the London hospital where the Princess of Wales had surgery back in January.

Multiple UK news outlets reporting three staff members at the London clinic are being investigated for allegedly trying to access Kate's personal medical information, which NBC News has not confirmed. The UK government privacy watchdog confirmed to NBC News they received a breach report but didn't share whether it included one or more allegations. Kensington Palace not confirming whether or not Kate has been notified, referring questions to the London Clinic, which in a statement said, in the case of any breach, all appropriate investigatory, regulatory and disciplinary steps will be taken. Even if it's someone who is just feeling a little bit nosy, they should not have been able to access her record. King Charles was there in January for his prostate procedure.

Tonight, Buckingham Palace wouldn't comment on whether or not the King's medical data was affected. The allegation of a data breach comes amid continued scrutiny as photo agencies review past handout photos from the royal family. The Getty photo agency and Reuters now calling into question numerous digital inconsistencies in this photo taken by Kate in August of 2022. All signs that unless Kensington Palace fills the void, the headlines will keep coming. Data breach is a serious violation of British law. The health minister spoke about the hefty implications, which could include prosecution or fines. Lester. All right,

Molly Hunter in London. Thanks. Up next, the small town divided over migrants with more arriving to fill so many open jobs. Our report is next. We're back now with the divide over the migrant crisis. While many big cities are feeling the strain, some smaller towns are torn over whether to welcome migrants as they look to fill thousands of jobs. Julia Ainsley has our report. In major cities across America, officials say they've reached a breaking point, struggling to handle the record number of arriving migrants. But here in small-town Fremont, Nebraska, where there are just 39 workers for every 100 job openings, some are encouraging even more legal migrants to come. We need these people. We need this work done. This is what feeds the nation and the world. Many of the openings are at this

half-billion-dollar chicken plant opened in 2019. Young locals often move away, leaving those slaughterhouse jobs to migrants like Vicente Hernandez. With Hispanic migrants, although it is hard, although it is heavy, they endure, he says. The difference with an American citizen is that every time he finds a job, when he sees it is hard, he leaves it, he says. Hernandez and his wife are also pastors to the growing Guatemalan community. Once this town of 27,000 was nearly all white. Now, one out of six are Latino. Since 2018, the school district added almost 800 non- English-speaking students. Meatpacking is the biggest industry here in

Fremont. The state's chamber of commerce says Nebraska needs to welcome more migrants to fill jobs like these. But some residents here are resistant to that change. Voters backed a town ordinance twice, which says locals must tell the city that they are here legally before they can rent housing. The city cannot always verify the information, but people say the law remains on the books to send a message. Councilman Paul Van Baren supports it. Why was it brought up? Citizens had asked the city council to do something because it was pretty obvious that we were become a haven for illegals.

He argues slaughterhouses paying low wages to migrants lowers incomes for citizens and criticizes increased costs for migrant children at local schools. The sheer pressure of bringing in numbers of people has resulted in a considerable burden to the taxpayers. But City Councilman Mark Jensen, who's lived in the area since he was 10 years old, is against that ordinance. It's a bad look for our city. And he says Fremont needs to embrace change. Immigration is crucial. A lot of people that live and grew up here don't stay.

They move out. It's critical for us to have the people that we've got here. Back at the church, Vicente tells us he regularly gets about three hours of sleep a night. But still, he and his wife Maria say they've found their new hometown. Now I live the American dream, as they call it. I'm happy because I have everything, she tells us. State officials say they often have problems with undocumented workers using fake IDs. Just this month, four migrants were charged with using them to get slaughterhouse jobs. Lester. All right, Julia, thank you. And that is nightly news.

Join us tomorrow for an inside look at a first of its kind monument shining a light on a deeply personal side of American history for so many. Thank you for watching, everyone. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night.