NBC Nightly News Full Broadcast - September 21st, 2021

tonight the promising news from johnson and johnson on covet booster shots the company announcing a second shot of its vaccine dramatically boosted immune response it comes ahead of an fda decision expected this week on boosters for pfizer's vaccine but confusion mounting who is eligible for boosters and when breaking news the autopsy results in confirming remains found in wyoming are of the missing woman gabby petito her death ruled a homicide as authorities returned to a wildlife refuge to search for her fiance who vanished a week ago also president biden hosted uk prime minister boris johnson at the white house late today hours after his first address to the united nations his message of unity at a time of rising tensions with allies and what he said in defense of the chaotic u.s withdrawal from afghanistan the president also vowing to get the crisis at the border under control as outrage grows over these images border agents on horseback confronting migrants and word tonight tens of thousands more may be on the way the faa calling for a crackdown on unruly passengers what it's giving the airlines a week to do and the race against time to save the world's largest tree this is nbc nightly news with lester holt good evening we have been under an avalanche of confusing information about covet vaccines and booster shots led by the white house's premature push for those extra shots for everyone to start today that's not happening but today johnson and johnson did become the latest vaccine maker to claim an extra dose increases effectiveness in j's case 94 percent compared to 70 percent for a single shot but they still have to submit more data to regulators and even friday's endorsement by an fda advisory panel of pfizer booster shots for older americans has still not been formalized leaving most of the 182 million fully vaccinated americans still waiting for what's hoped will be extra protection from covid stephanie goss sorts it out for us good news today for people who receive the single dose johnson and johnson vaccine the company says new data shows it is holding up against covid 19 variants and jnj says a booster could do even more if given within two months of the first shot a second dose can provide 94 percent protection against moderate to severe covet both pfizer and moderna have said a booster of their vaccines will increase antibodies especially in people over the age of 65. last month the white house said boosters would be widely available in september but the fda has yet to authorize the extra shots for any of the vaccines except for people whose immune systems are compromised my body doesn't make enough antibodies to any disease so i have to be extra careful and extra protected 42 year old sarah ouellette got her third shot in july for you personally how much better do you feel having that booster so after every single dose it's just a little bit of like more relief okay maybe i'm more protected now last week an fda board recommended pfizer boosters for people over 65 and those considered at high risk a final decision is expected later this week but some people aren't waiting many of these are occurring in the context of people who may believe there merit another shot in advance of our recommendations federal health officials acknowledged in august that people were getting unauthorized third shots because they believed they should do we have any examples of people who have gotten an unauthorized booster and it's harmed them in any way no i haven't seen any evidence suggesting that it's been harmful to people and i understand that for some people that might mean well what's the downside i think you want to make sure you're getting the the right booster the right dosing the bottom line say health experts is that the vaccines remain strong protection people should wait for a final authorization on boosters it does make it really incumbent on the fda and the cdc to act quickly so that people don't get frustrated and go out and do this on their own all right so stephanie let me ask you this within days we could see the pfizer vaccine approved for 65 and older if that happens and you're sitting here and you had a modernist shot or a j j shot where does that leave you well lester you said it this is a decision on the pfizer booster for people who got moderna and johnson and johnson they're just going to have to wait all right stephanie thanks very much there's breaking news in the gabby petito case the fbi announcing it has identified remains found in wyoming as hers while the search for her fiance resumed today in florida as suspicion about his involvement grows miguel almaguer has the latest gabby petito's body was officially identified today the coroner now ruling her death a homicide discovered in this remote stretch of wyoming's teton mountain range authorities have not yet said how she died but named her missing fiance brian laundry a person of interest from minute one brian laundry has done absolutely nothing other than to help himself and buy time so that he could cover his tracks and his actions twenty four hundred miles away in florida tonight the intensifying search for laundry in this alligator infested swampland laundry's parents told investigators he came to the 25 thousand acre reserve for a hike a day before he was named a person of interest in his fiancee's disappearance trains very difficult essentially 75 percent of it's underwater after an fbi raid at their family home laundry's parents telling nbc news through their attorney he left their house with a backpack and hasn't been seen in a week we've been lucky so far last spotted together in utah laundry and gabby petito have been documenting their cross country trip her disappearance and his refusal to speak to investigators he was very kind of awkward and confused resulting in a flood of tips from those who say they saw laundry alone or the couple's van we came across a white van with millions following the case every encounter including this run-in with police during a domestic dispute has now been analyzed on social media petito's family fears she may have been killed weeks ago this affidavit shows her family received a text from her cell phone in late august which they believe may not have come from her our plan for today is tonight those with answers to this deepening mystery are gone and now as one search ends another intensifies miguel joining us now miguel do police have much more to go on beyond what laundry might be able to tell them is potentially the last person to see her alive well lester there's been multiple false sightings of laundry in recent days they've all been checked out by police and cleared meantime here in wyoming a final autopsy could reveal exactly when petito was killed and how she died lester all right miguel almaguer thank you president biden on the global stage today with his first address to the u.n general assembly the president saying we're at an inflection point in calling for unity while facing sharp criticism from key u.s allies peter alexander has more facing growing doubts about his promise to unite america's allies president biden delivering his debut speech to the united nations calling for global cooperation to combat climate change and covet bombs and bullets cannot defend against covert 19 we need a collective act of science and political will declaring the world is at an inflection point to deliver for our own people must also engage deeply with the rest of the world the speech a key credibility test for the president who came into office saying he would restore america's relationships that were frayed under former president trump i'm sending a clear message to the world america is back but in recent weeks president biden's been criticized by prominent allies most notably for america's chaotic troop withdrawal from afghanistan today the president tried to turn the page we've ended 20 years of conflict in afghanistan and as we close this period of relentless war we're opening a new era of relentless diplomacy that message comes after a stunningly sharp rebuke from france accusing the biden administration of a quote stab in the back france for the first time ever recalling its ambassador after a dispute over the u.s sale of nuclear-powered submarines to australia then there's the us's rivalry with china the president never mentioning the country by name we are not seeking a new cold war the united states is ready to work with any nation that steps up and pursues peaceful resolution to share challenges topping that list climate change ahead of a crucial summit this fall president biden vowing to double american aid to poorer nations tackling the climate crisis whether we choose to fight for our shared future or not will reverberate for generations yet to come and peter here with me in new york the president is working up on sure strengthening those alliances tomorrow once again yeah that's exactly right at the white house he's going to be hosting a virtual covid summit the white house says this is an effort to ramp up vaccinations worldwide and to increase the supply of life-saving medications around the globe all right peter alexander thank you good to have you here president biden for the first time speaking out about the crisis at the border with new warnings about tens of thousands more haitian migrants on the way to the u.s also the vice president weighing in on those images of border patrol agents on horseback morgan chesky is in texas tonight on the texas border 8 500 mostly haitian migrants still inside this tent city where questions outnumber answers who stays who goes and how much longer can they wait many beneath this bridge for more than a week surviving on food and water handouts some even swimming back to mexico to buy more president biden today addressing the crisis for the first time during a border visit today texas governor greg abbott blaming the search on president biden's more relaxed border policies when you have an administration that is abandoning any pretense of securing the border and securing our sovereignty you see the on rush of people like what we saw walking across this dam now new warnings of more massive groups of haitian migrants possibly on the way to the u.s internal documents obtained by nbc news show dhs officials tracking more than twenty thousand gathering in columbia three thousand others in peru and another fifteen hundred people in panama while the vice president weighing in on those images of border patrol agents blocking migrants on horseback human beings should never be treated that way at a del rio shelter we made haitians dirty and elude seville the young couple expecting their first child coming here from south america and have spent the last week beneath the del rio bridge i gotta feed my baby you know i gotta feed my wife and my all my family durney planning to become a barber in brooklyn where family lives hoping he won't be deported with a biden administration allowing most families applying for asylum to stay in the u.s until their court dates how is haiti right now it's terrible and if you were sent back there what would happen hey i'll probably die you can't you can be in the street and you'll receive a gunshot you know it's very very terrible and tonight we've learned authorities have already deported about a thousand migrants back to haiti and on one of those flights sources say a group assaulted three ice agents and pilots just the latest sign of rising tensions from the border lester all right morgan chesky thanks in just 60 seconds the new warning to airlines about the growing number of unruly and dangerous passengers the faa today told airlines they need to do more to stop the staggering number of disruptive passengers on airplanes you may have even seen some of this behavior yourself tom costello is at reagan national airport tom this problem seems to only be getting worse nearly 4 400 reports so far this year of unruly dangerous behavior even air age behavior much of it centered around the mask mandate some people upset about having to wear a mask and sometimes alcohol is involved passengers and flight attendants have been assaulted pilots forced to divert to other locations so police can board now the faa wants the airlines to report back within a week on concrete steps to reduce this bad behavior it is serious business fines of up to 35 thousand dollars people can be banned for life by the airline and the justice department now under pressure to prosecute these cases which have become so serious lester all right tom costello thanks across many parts of the country new covid cases have dropped slightly in recent days but in the northwest some hospitals have had to make difficult decisions about rationing care as things get worse gabe gutierrez has more on that in spokane washington multi-care deaconess hospital is turning down more than half of patient transfer request from other states because there's not enough room how frustrating is it that a year and a half into this pandemic you're still having to deal with this oh it's this was a really tough week i'm finishing the end of seven days in the icu and i will tell you it's an emotional roller coaster as covet cases surge across parts of the northwest some hospitals are considering whether to activate what's known as crisis standards of care essentially guidelines for how to ration resources just several miles down the freeway is the idaho border a state with few coveted restrictions no mass mandate and one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country idaho is known for its prideful independence and so we have certainly struggled with vaccination rates as we know and that struggle has translated into a hospital system and a healthcare system that's overwhelmed to relieve the pressure on hospitals idaho has officially activated crisis standards of care this vaccine clinic is also being converted into a monoclonal antibody treatment center we're going to continue as vaccine clinic and monoclonal antibody until we get past this surge and hopefully on the other side of the pandemic in montana billings clinic is already limiting ecmo treatments external machines that can function as a critical patient's heart and lungs we toured its icu earlier this month and met 24 year old patrick bershia i would i wish this stuff out like my worst enemy at all days later patrick was placed on a ventilator and this weekend passed away he leaves behind a young son every time we moved him we weren't sure if the end was going to be in that moment and so i just wanted to be there to hold his hand at many of these hospitals the staffing crisis is the worst they've seen during the pandemic this one in northern idaho alone has about 500 job openings lester all right gabe gutierrez thank you up next the impact climate change is having on children we're going to take you to guatemala for a first hand look back now with the devastation from climate change leaving families in central america to make the dangerous journey to the u.s border hoping to feed their children megan fitzgerald has more from guatemala in our series climate challenge from high above this looks like a lush landscape but when you peel back the layers a very different story these fields are ravaged crops inedible millions of guatemalans are on the brink of starvation are you scared see why el jose vasquez is struggling to feed his family the farmer and father of four says his crops are being destroyed by climate change what's the problem with this that's because the soil is rapidly deteriorating triggered by extended periods of drought followed by torrential rain the warming climate also causing more catastrophic weather events in 2020 two category four hurricanes hit central america in the span of two weeks washing out entire villages in guatemala climatologists warn it will only get worse and disproportionately impact impoverished countries jose took us inside his home where his wife does what she can with the little they have so how long do you think this food will last you for [Music] so it's a constant hunt for food i see nearly half of all children in guatemala under the age of five are chronically malnourished in rural areas that number soars above 50 percent the government is stepping in providing food for families in need and opening clinics across the country to help starving children these women walked miles to be here so their babies could be monitored malnutrition has severely stunted their growth like ubalda's 13-month old daughter isabella ubalda lives in this room with her three children dirt floors and walls made of slats she says she does the best she can with the little she has but worries that still may not be enough to save her severely malnourished baby girl what do you fear most for your baby for millions of guatemalans this is life it boils down to one thing survival the climate crisis also fueling the crisis at the u.s border hundreds of thousands so desperate they're making the dangerous trek north like darwin mendes he tried crossing three times he now owes smugglers nearly 30 thousand dollars in a country where most people make six dollars a day still he says he'll try again because he can't support his family with his crops now practically bare i thought for so many it's a choice between starvation and migration comments about how it cut the way or touched away the painting a reality as the climate crisis tightens its grip forcing people to the extremes in guatemala megan fitzgerald nbc news up next for us tonight the battle to save a towering treasure from a devastating fire finally the urgent effort to protect a magnificent living piece of history from the flames of an inferno here's erin mclaughlin nestled inside the so-called giant forest the largest tree in the world and the race to save it from encroaching flames the iconic tree known as general sherman is over two thousand years old stands a towering 275 feet high almost as tall as the statue of liberty the sequoia has attracted tourists from around the world with flames creeping closer crews cover the base of its massive trunk with fire resistant wrapping in an effort to protect it there are so many reasons to protect these trees for tree lovers they are so special one massive blaze torching over 23 thousand acres the burn area visible from space we've got crews working all through the giant forest looking for those new spot fires and extinguishing them redwoods like these and giant sequoias have adapted to fire so even if the flames reached them they could still survive fire officials say it's really down to the intensity of the flames and forest management concerned visitors sharing their fond memories of adventures to see the tree sequoia national park is an absolute gem it's a national treasure we've seen real material mortality in the giant sequoia as a result of climate driven fire the race is on to protect the great general sherman and the surrounding towering treasures erin mclaughlin nbc news and that's nightly news for this tuesday thank you for watching everyone i'm lester holt please take care of yourself and each other good night [Music] thanks for watching our youtube channel follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the nbc news app you

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Length: 21min 7sec (1267 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 21 2021