Top Story with Tom Llamas - Jan. 28 | NBC News NOW

tonight the states of emergency along the east coast as that monster winter storm moves in snow already falling on parts of the northeast blizzard warnings in effect in some states for the first time in four years thousands of flights already canceled and some amtrak service suspended residents urged to evacuate in parts of coastal massachusetts over flooding concerns cities from virginia to maine bracing for as much as two feet of snow were tracking it all also tonight the bridge collapsed in pittsburgh just hours before president biden was set to visit the city to talk about infrastructure crews forming a human chain to help rescue people from a dangling bus the president visiting the scene promising change to the country's roads and bridges mix signals the pentagon's top leaders today saying russia is positioned to invade all of ukraine adding it's something they have not seen since the cold war days but ukraine's president now accusing the us and nato of creating panic our report from the pentagon and richard engel in ukraine final salute thousands of nypd officers lining manhattan's fifth avenue for the funeral of an officer killed in a shooting a week ago his widow's powerful eulogy calling out city leaders for a spike in crime and in houston a procession for a deputy killed there after officers in several other cities came under fire this week weapons looted thieves ransacking trains in los angeles now stealing gun shipments the concern tonight those firearms will end up in the hands of violent criminals and dangerous drive through the moment an suv plowed through a florida restaurant what police say happened top story starts right now [Music] and good evening on a busy friday night we begin top story with that major winter storm hitting the east coast new video shows heavy snow already falling in the northeast several states under emergency declarations at this hour according to flightaware nearly 3 thousand flights have already been canceled for saturday alone east coast hubs the most affected amtrak announcing major cuts to service throughout the weekend snow plows and sand trucks deployed across the region drivers urged to stay off the roads with powerful winds expected to fuel those whiteout conditions the concern tonight is for coastal flooding residents in parts of massachusetts urged to seek higher ground and winter alerts stretching from south carolina to new england you see the maps right there some states are seeing blizzard warnings for the first time in years new york city could see some of the heaviest snow yet emily aquetta is there and leads us off tonight tonight more than 60 million people are bracing for a dangerous winter storm barreling up the east coast from south carolina to maine this has the potential to be a historic storm a huge one last minute shoppers are stocking up for what is looking to be a potentially catastrophic event i know in three hours this place could be completely completely empty like nothing left so stocking up you know i'm not planning to go out this stretch under blizzard warnings for the first time in four years governors pleading with residents to stay inside be prepared to hunker down once you get home this afternoon and stay home several have declared states of emergency ahead of the expected hurricane force winds whiteout conditions and flooding in coastal towns like scituate massachusetts a community that could get slammed with two feet of snow kathy park is there the ocean surge is expected to reach up to three feet so flooding is a big concern in low-lying areas this harbor will likely be under water so officials are asking residents to consider leaving tonight before the storm hits amtrak already canceling many trains between d.c and boston and thousands of flights grounded until today competing forecast models suggested anywhere from a dusting to a crippling snow storm dumping double digits a massive margin fueling frustration for many in the storm's path two inches ten inches no one knows what's gonna happen so tomorrow we're gonna find out i guess all right emily aquina joins us now live from new york it looks like you have the salt trucks there behind you you know we reported on this storm for the past few days here on top story emily you've been right there at the forefront what is your sense you know officials have known about the dangers do you think they're ready we'll certainly get a clear answer to that with time but officials throughout the northeast have promised and assured that they are prepared for the worst just here in new york city 700 salt trucks already out prepping roadways pooling from salt like the barn behind me overnight that will switch to snow plows which totaled nearly 2 000 again just here in manhattan tom you know when we mentioned these airlines at the top of the broadcast what are we expecting as far as cancellations go as you mentioned already more than 3 000 flights canceled for tomorrow delta airlines suspending all operations tomorrow in new york area airports plus boston logan forecasters warned that this storm could usher in potentially impossible travel conditions tom back to you emily aquetta leading us off tonight here on top story dylan dreyer joins us now in studio for the latest on the track so dylan this is a big storm all eyes are going to be on this european us model walk us through the next several days well they are coming more in line now so i think you know now that the storm is imminent we are definitely knowing what the forecast is going to do at this point so i want to point out that we have not had blizzard warnings for the east coast since 2018 and we see those in effect from virginia all the way up to maine 68 million people are under some sort of winter weather advisory we have had a little bit of snow in the northeast back through the appalachians that's just a cold front that's really ushering in the cold air that is going to be in place for this bigger storm system to develop off the coast so as we go through the night after midnight through tomorrow morning that's when the mid-atlantic will see the worst conditions and then as we go into into the new england area it's really the saturday afternoon saturday night time frame where we'll have the strongest winds and the heaviest snow blizzard conditions means winds over 35 miles per hour visibility reduced to a quarter mile for more than three hours and that is exactly what is in the forecast because we could see snowfall rates of two to four inches per hour extreme whiteout conditions wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour and it is going to be absolutely treacherous to be outside and especially on the roads tomorrow now we are looking for about 8 to 12 inches of snow in new york city but you go farther east over a foot of snow in eastern long island and then you go up into new england in boston we could see 18 to 24 inches but in southeastern massachusetts we could end up with more than two feet of snow and more than two feet in boston would be the biggest snowstorm in january for that area here's a look at our projected wind gusts we could see gusts up to 40 to as high as 65 miles per hour combine that with the blowing snow and we have the reduced visibility but add to that the fact that the trees and the power lines will be covered with snow and we are likely going to see some power outages as well through the mid-atlantic and especially up into new england and across southeastern massachusetts temperatures are cold that cold air being ushered in behind that first cold front that's moved through today will be trickling down so sunday morning we are looking to start off the day with your wind chills well down into the single digits so the snow moves out quickly on saturday but then brutally cold temperatures work in for sunday and look at this the coldest it's been in eight years in florida orlando a wind chill of only 25 degrees so we've certainly been talking a bit also about the falling iguanas it's that cold down in florida so the cold is going to stick around for a while snow here falling iguanas down south all right dylan thank you so much for that now to the other major headline a major scare in pittsburgh a bridge collapse injuring 10 people first responders scrambling to form a human chain to rescue passengers from a bus that was left dangling the collapse coming just hours before president biden scheduled visit to the area to talk about our nation's infrastructure problems nbc news chief white house correspondent peter alexander has the latest it happened just before rush hour this aging bridge in pittsburgh collapsing into a flattened mess of concrete and metal taking with its six vehicles including a transit bus it was allowed sound rescue crews repelled more than a hundred feet down the hillside to help the injured amazingly no one was killed we got three hurt they've been looked at and i think 10 have been seen and they are ok the site offering a stunning backdrop for president biden's pre-planned trip to the city to promote the trillion-dollar bipartisan infrastructure law the president detouring to survey the scene and you can see the gas was rough you see it coming out on the other side of the concrete there still today's collapse was not without warning this tweet shows a stabilizing beam rusted through the 52 year old bridge has been listed in poor condition for more than a decade one of 45 thousand structurally deficient bridges nationwide 3 300 in pennsylvania alone ranking the state number two in the country for the most crumbling bridges trailing only iowa with 1.6 billion dollars headed to the state for bridge repairs over the next five years they're going to fix them all not a joke this is going to be a gigantic change president biden says the current situation is unacceptable you got to move the next time we don't need headlines saying that someone was killed when the next bridge collapsed all right peter joins us from a snowy white house tonight and peter you know when you see your report there you gotta think this could have been so much worse in pittsburgh if this bridge collapse had happened at rush hour or something like that yeah no tom you're exactly right actually tonight the ntsb has now launched a go team to investigate this collapse in pittsburgh state officials there say if it had happened any later the outcome would have been much worse the lieutenant governor in fact saying that there had been a two-hour school delay there in that district which hadn't happened any later would have been there could have been school buses and a lot more traffic crossing that area tom all right peter alexander first peter thank you next night america's top general saying the scale of russia's military buildup near ukraine is unlike anything since the cold war and that an attack could be quote horrific but there's a far different view inside of ukraine richard engel is there if it is a bluff russia keeps going all in with more troops heading to ukraine's border and late tonight president biden saying he's going to shift u.s troops in response i'll be moving the u.s and europe and the nato country engineer's term meanwhile the pentagon sounding what has become a daily alarm about russian forces there's a potential that they could launch on very very little warning that's possible a potential attack that could result in significant civilian casualties it would be horrific it would be terrible but ukraine's president velotamir zielensky accused the u.s and nato of creating panic that's harming ukraine's economy they just say that tomorrow there will be war he says this is panic how much does it cost our state the mixed signals are leaving ukrainians unsure of how seriously to take the russian threat it seems there will be no military invasion says marina i believe this i want to believe this but alexander viserov an army veteran says it's not an option to relax and stay calm tom when you look around here things don't appear very different shops and restaurants are open there's traffic in the streets but people are starting to get nervous tom okay richard engel again for us from inside ukraine as richard just pointed out there ukrainians are starting to get nervous this is mixed signals are coming from the white house and the pentagon what exactly is the u.s going to do if putin invades for more analysis on what general milley and secretary austin had to say and what the u.s is doing by putting troops on standby let's bring in nbc news pentagon correspondent courtney qb who was in that briefing room today tom we heard a very sobering assessment from chairman of the joint chiefs general mark milley and secretary of defense lloyd austin today they spoke about that situation that russian military buildup along the border with ukraine explaining that there are now more than 100 000 russian forces all in that area and detailing some of the massive capabilities that they now have in place saying that if russia were to decide to to stage a large-scale invasion of ukraine they have those capabilities in place now it's important to point out though that both secretary austin and general milley said that they don't yet know whether vladimir putin has made the decision to actually invade and they hope that diplomacy still has some place it has a place here and that they can de-escalate this situation but at the same time they spoke about how 8 500 u.s military forces are now on a heightened state of alert ready to deploy within a matter of days to eastern europe to help bolster the the defenses of some nato allies around ukraine now while we've been hearing that u.s military forces would not go into ukraine today secretary austin actually left open the possibility that some military could be sent in in advance of invasion if there is a need for a non-combatant evacuation or a neo he didn't say that decision had been made but he said that that was possible the military is ready if they are called in to do so again at this point none of those u.s military forces who are on that prepare to deploy order have been given the order to move in but they are ready if needed tom all right courtney qb for us courtney we thank you for that back here in new york now a solemn goodbye to a fallen nypd officer thousands of officers gathered forming a sea of blue to pay tribute after just 14 months on the job 22 year old jason rivera was shot and killed responding to a routine domestic disturbance call his widow with heartbreaking words of loss nbc's rehema ellis has the emotional day [Music] a sea of blue with officers from around the city and across the country outside st patrick's cathedral for a final goodbye to jason rivera inside mourners remembering the rookie new york city police officer on the job only 14 months he did it for the right reasons he wanted to make a difference both rivera and his partner wilbert mora shot and killed a week ago responding to a routine domestic disturbance call inside a harlem apartment proof no call is routine at just 22 years old rivera was so young with so much promise i'm the loneliest without you recently married to his childhood sweetheart today she's heartbroken for the life they won't live together i couldn't believe you left me her words echoing outside to a city in mourning the little bit of hope i had that you will come back to life just to say goodbye or say i love you one more time had left i was lost i'm still lost and she's angry with the new manhattan district attorney among the mourners whose memo called for the relaxed prosecution of some gun possession cases he since clarified his stance i hope he's watching you speak through me right now i'm sure all of our blue family is tired too but i promise we promise that your death won't be in vain rivera was one of five officers shot in new york city this month alone and part of an alarming increase in gun violence nationwide from milwaukee to saint louis to houston so far this year 26 officers have been shot four killed a procession this morning for a texas deputy sheriff killed on sunday yesterday three houston police officers were shot today officer rivera was promoted to detective first grade i love you to the end of time we'll take the watch from here in a grieving city a widow's vow never to forget and rahima joins us now live in studio rohima an incredibly sad day across the city but i do want to go back to what we heard from officer rivera's wife dominique it sounded like she was speaking for herself but it felt like she was speaking for a lot of new yorkers including the officers there without a doubt in fact you heard applause from so many of those in blue who were inside st patrick's cathedral when she called out the manhattan district attorney on his pledge that he would have some discretion if you will that ought not all gun cases would be treated equal and he was responding some for some calls from some members in the community but today the widow of officer rivera wanted to hear none of that and that was true for those officers who were standing and honoring him today as well the pain is never going to end for this family or for the department and it's just getting started because next week we have officer mora to remember as well yeah the grieving goes on in this city as you point out because rivera's partner officer moore he's going to be laid to rest just next week so there will be a flood of officers you'll see back on fifth avenue in front of st patrick's cathedral in just a few days okay rahima we thank you for that report still ahead tonight those rail thefts in los angeles you may remember them if you thought they were no big deal turns out some of the shipments that were looted contained guns the concern dozens of weapons are on the streets now plus the new video showing the moment a car plows through a restaurant with people inside the mix-up that caused that crash and a group of youtubers solving cold cases back at it again and in the water their latest discovery giving a family answers after two years stay with us top story just getting started on this friday night all right back down to some new and disturbing developments in those la rail thefts we brought you weeks ago it's not just packages nbc learning from local police officials that thieves also stole dozens of guns from the trains tonight the concern about where those stolen weapons may end up and how hard they will be to get off the streets jesse kirsch has this report on just how vulnerable these weapon shipments are the evidence is all over the tracks thousands of pilfered packages scattered across los angeles rail lines for months right alongside the stolen tvs and tablets more than 80 guns l.a police officials revealing to nbc news this week that one crew's august hall included a cache of semiautomatic shotguns as well as pistols la's police chief addressing the thefts in a meeting that gave us a significant concern as a source of again of further violence in the city officials say only two of the firearms have been recovered so far they're going to end up on the street and they're going to be used in crimes as an absolute certainty scott sweeto spent years as a special agent in charge with the bureau of alcohol tobacco and firearms he says it's pretty common for tens of thousands of guns to be shipped across the country like everything else security around guns on a train really just relies on the hope that people aren't going to realize what's in there right yeah exactly they're they're really relying on camouflage so once someone's able to break into the train they can actually look at the labels on these boxes and they can figure out that it's a firearm and literally steal it as easily as they could steal a box of ipads multiple law enforcement sources tell nbc news the crime sprees can last for hours before police realize what's happening much easier than targeting gun shops gun store burglaries get reported very very quickly there are more often than not alarms could mean the difference between a drive-by shooting or carjacking or an armed robbery being averted nationwide the atf says firearm thefts have been trending down over the past year but lapd data shows shootings are up and homicides increased 54 percent from 2019 to last year even as lapd says it recovered many more guns last year compared to 2020. when asked for comment the atf referred us to lapd and union pacific railroad which operates the rated trains and while the railroad company wouldn't comment on an active investigation it says dozens of special agents have been moved to the area our local station knbc spotting added fences and cameras too but even yesterday an open rail car rolling through l.a despite the ongoing efforts by union pacific railroad to solve some additional security elements we still have people that have that are still you know drawn to this location with the simple simply by greed all right jesse curse joins us now live from one of those tracks jesse i got to ask you what steps are the railroads taking to reduce the number of thefts tom we've seen extra cameras added extra fencing the rail line also says they've added dozens of those special agents but let me give you the reality check right where we are here in los angeles i don't see any visible signs around here of obvious added cameras i don't see extra security or police personnel and look at where that fence line is anyone could easily walk right down from the street level and be on the tracks and climb onto a train and then look at this visibility line you can see the tracks here are below the street level which means that the general public can't easily see what's going on and if that's happening some source is telling our team that it could be hours before police are able to realize what is going on down here yeah those trains are just sitting ducks there you mentioned in the piece i think i heard this correctly that authorities say only two of those guns were recovered but there's 80 that are missing any prospect they're going to find the rest of those that former atf official we spoke with tells us that sometimes guns aren't recovered or even realized to be missing until they are used to commit a crime he adds that it could take years to track down a weapon and of course tom there's always the possibility those guns are never found all right jesse kirsch making his debut here on top story just have a feeling we will be seeing a lot of you in the weeks to come thank you next to it cold case discovery the body of 66 year old annie lee hampton who has been missing since 2019 found earlier this week by a team of civilian divers with nearly 2 million followers on youtube it's really incredible what they're doing we've been tracking these amateur case breakers and clay essenwa has this story behind their latest discovery tonight for two and a half years it was a cold case that baffled authorities they couldn't find annie lee hampton but in just two hours after an anonymous tip a group of youtubers and scuba divers did in mariana kansas on wednesday watching them pull her car out of the lake upside down flipping it over and it knows she's in there it shouldn't have been another two years through the muddied waters of bear creek lake the faint glimmer of a 2001 pontiac grand prix a civilian diving group identifying the vehicle of the 66 year old black woman missing since october 18 2019. her sister says the close-knit family never gave up hope she'd be found especially her mother frankie mills has gone nearly two months without seeing or hearing from her daughter annie hampton she would always say even if she's no longer here even if you just find some bones give me the bone so i can bury my daughter annie's mother frankie mills would never get to say goodbye she died last year the group that found her daughter adventures with purpose travels the country to solve cold cases we're a specialty dive and recovery team and documents their work on youtube it's very moving very touching and that's why we do what we do so passionately this discovery joins a series of recent successes and we found the group identifying a mother missing in waco texas since 2019 just last week it's akia for annie lee hampton's family this discovery has left them questioning whether authorities did enough we could find one person within within weeks because they're famous and people that's not as popular as others don't have as much attention previously the police said we have searched in the air on land in the waters multiple agencies have helped us do you feel that enough was done for her no no i feel good that we finally found her but you know you don't feel good about the circumstances the arkansas state police telling nbc news they're quote conducting an investigation into the discovery of human remains earlier this week they say the remains have not yet been identified lee tells us that authorities requested her dna sample but she hasn't gotten a timeline on when they'll confirm the identity of the remains does this feel like closure to you it's closure from the standpoint of at least now we know where she is but it's not closure as far as who did this to her and why really powerful interview there sinclair uh you know it's so incredible because these are civilian divers right and this is i think the second story we've done where they've solved the case for police uh is law enforcement telling you anything on why they couldn't solve this and yet these civilian divers could yeah tom as you can imagine it's not the best look for the police department but to our reporters who they spoke with chief daniel strickland earlier this week said the group adventures with purpose has more advanced gear than the police does according to their website some of that includes underwater sonar gear and they're working without some of the bureaucracy you might find in government agencies so all things considered the police actually seemed grateful for the group they even said to us i consider them one of our resources now so a bittersweet ending but important that we could cover it yeah and a very honest statement there from police as well glad they're working together at least in solving these crimes all rights and clay thank you when we come back a legal loss for joe exotic the tiger king star will stay in prison the new sentence just handed down and to the rescue the two children caught on camera saving their neighbors pets during a house fire that's next stay with us [Music] all right time now for top stories news feed and we begin with the car crashing into a florida restaurant take a look new surveillance video shows the suv plowing through the restaurant in plantation florida police say the driver was pulling into a parking space and hit the gas instead of the brakes no one was injured but the entire restaurant was seriously damaged kia is recalling over 410 000 vehicles over airbag concerns the recall covers certain fortes made in 2017 and 2018 as well as a sedona minivan and sole suvs from 2017 through 2019 the company says the airbags may not inflate during a crash affected owners will be notified starting in march and the tiger king star joe exotic is staying behind bars exotic whose real name is joseph maldonado passage was re-sentenced to 21 years behind bars for a murder-for-hire plot the judge reducing his sentence by just one year he's accused of hiring two people including an undercover fbi agent to kill fellow tiger king star carol baskin all right and two pre-teens in rhode island rescued their neighbor's dogs from a burning home this is incredible video a home security camp captured the moment the 12 and 13 year old ran up to a home after they heard barking and fire alarms while on the phone with the homeowner they opened the front door and let out the two dogs but one of the kids ran inside to save a third dog who was locked in a crate they also managed to call 9-1-1 and the fire was quickly put out all right a couple of heroes there turning now to money talks what consumers and investors need to know from the business world and beyond borrowers in the us hold more than 1.6 trillion dollars of student loan debt but a new survey shows that more than half of the people who took out those loans now say it wasn't worth it cnbc's senior personal finance correspondent sharon epperson has a closer look at those numbers after taking out student loans and working her way through school kate bernick earned a master's degree and owed about one hundred thousand dollars in debt i don't think i went in understanding how long i would be paying those loans back it's been nearly 20 years and the 39 year old senior communications specialist still owes over thirty thousand dollars was it worth it for what you're doing now i used to be really proud that i had a master's degree but now it feels a little bit foolish bernick echoes the sentiment of many borrowers a new survey by cnbc and momentive found half of those with federal loans 54 percent say taking on student debt was not worth it it's a mortgage without the house at the end of it like bernick many borrowers said once the government's paws on federal student loan payments ends in may they'll have to delay buying a home and other financial goals to pay down their debt economist kristen brody says that can create an endless cycle you have less money to pass along to your own children which means they're more likely to need to take out student loans if and when they get ready to go to college so for giving student loans could help mitigate some of that cycle the national survey found 57 percent of adults believe president biden should make student loan forgiveness a priority broad loan forgiveness will forgive the loans not just of people who are experiencing economic distress but also people who are perfectly capable of repaying their student loans we should be giving for giving ten thousand dollars minimum in student loan debt president biden campaigned on this proposal some democratic lawmakers want to go further canceling up to 50 thousand dollars but these proposals haven't made it into major legislation for bernick who held jobs at non-profits and in government for over 10 years there may be another solution last fall the biden administration made it easier for certain borrowers who have worked in public service to get credit for past repayments and have their remaining debt forgiven federal student loans held by the department of education we appreciate your patience but it may take some time and sharon joins us now you know sharon one of the most striking findings in the cnbc survey is just who these massive student loan debts are burdening the most what more can you tell us about that well you know student loan borrowers can be of all races all genders and the all ages too there are senior citizens that are still have student loan debt that they're paying back but what we found in this survey that people of color and that women overwhelmingly have student debt blacks hispanics have more debt than whites than asians but it is women who have a greater percentage than men at 19 percent versus 11 percent and women of color in particular 30 percent of black women said they had student debt and 19 of hispanic women so it really is impacting women of color and talking to many economists and financial aid experts about this survey one of them pointed out that this can create an endless cycle of debt you take on debt and then you are unable to pay for certain bills throughout your life and then you your children want to go to college they take on debt and it just becomes a vicious cycle and she said that she thought that student loan forgiveness could kind of mitigate this cycle in some to some degree you know sharon i feel like any time you bring up student loans with friends or family or people you just meet everyone has an opinion everyone a lot of people have stories about their own student loans i know the people surveyed were also asked about their attitudes towards loan forgiveness and not everyone is on board what did the survey find there well the majority of americans are on board with president biden doing something and prioritizing student loan forgiveness the views are mixed though about exactly how to do it when you look at those who say that all loans should be forgiven for everyone about a third about 34 or so of the respondents said yes we agree with that in terms of making it just available loan forgiveness for those who are truly in need about 35 percent of folks said that was true and one in four or about 27 said no we don't think loans should be forgiven for anyone what many are saying and one financial expert that we talked to in particular pointed out that blanket or broad loan forgiveness would perhaps create a situation where some that were able to pay weren't paying and so you want to make sure that it's targeted he thought to those who were facing dire economic consequences but when you look at those who are in favor of loan forgiveness it is those who are in the lower income more than 40 percent of those with income under 50 000 said that they do believe that everyone should have their loans forgiven for those who make 100 thousand and above only about 25 percent said that all right cnbc's sharon epperson for us sharon thank you for that now to top stories global watch we begin with the rocket attack on baghdad's international airport new video shows a damaged civilian plane after several rockets hit runways and parking areas no injuries were reported the airport is next to a u.s air base no one has claimed responsibility just yet the u.n called a series of recent strikes in iraq deeply concerning all right now to deadly attacks on colombia's military we've been tracking these authorities say rebel groups the national liberation army in particular carried out simultaneous explosions at military headquarters across the country at least one person killed and more than two dozen injured the president called the bombings quote cowardly authorities they're calling on interpol to help with this investigation okay we head to china now where the winter olympics set to begin just a week from today the u.s and other nations enacting what's called a diplomatic boycott calling out china for human rights violations including violent crackdowns on democratic protests in hong kong in 2019 but the athletes are all still going nbc senior international correspondent kier simmons spoke with one of the leaders of that hong kong movement still fearful he could face repercussions from the chinese government after years leading democracy protests 28 year old nathan law fled hong kong in 2020 he does not think he has escaped china do you feel safe here outside china it's impossible for me to say that i'm completely safe you think you could be targeted outside china by the chinese government we all know how far-reaching china's arm could be he publicly cut ties with his family back home in hong kong to protect them now living in london he keeps his routines and whereabouts secret and is careful with who he befriends three years ago he led protests over a new law allowing hong kong people to be extradited to the chinese mainland for tribe included in their demands democratic reforms and a probe into police misconduct but in 2020 china adopted a sweeping national security law china said is to stop those who are security risks a warrant is out for nathan law's arrest when beijing um suppress us deprive us from our freedom and refuse to give us democracy we feel a strong sense of betrayal china's government had promised to allow hong kong to keep its western style freedoms president biden among those who have criticized china's communist authorities the situation in hong kong has deteriorated and the chinese government is not keeping his commitment law says beijing's failure to keep its promise is a warning to the world the chinese say repeatedly the us should not be getting involved in china's internal affairs these statements are all usual tactics of the chinese government to evade their responsibility to its people we're asking chinese government to respect the basic human rights of hong kong people next week the us along with the uk australia and canada will diplomatically boycott the beijing olympics not sending government officials to the games do you have hope the political situation in hong kong's dire but for me as an activist we are not entitled to lose hope hope is what drives us to continue our rights all right keir simmons joins us now live from london here let's pick up where that story just left off there so as you mentioned there is this diplomatic boycott you spoke to a lot of activists there and activists like nathan law do they think that goes far enough you know tom i asked nathan lord directly about that whether that diplomatic boycott was enough and he said it is the least that countries could do you know tommy gave a compelling speech to president biden's democracy summit last year in which he described watching with his own eyes as he says hong kong one of the freest countries in asia he says slid into autocracy and middle militarization imagine being nathan law tom initially he was one of the youngest legislators in hong kong then he ends up in jail now in his own words he describes himself as exiled here in london you're right athletes from around the world are heading for beijing meanwhile nathan law is facing charges of advocating secession tom he says he can never go back tom kier simmons for us tonight from london care we thank you for that report coming up the valentine's day slain a woman pulled from her boyfriend's car and murdered her killer found decades later that boyfriend speaking to dateline exclusively about her final moments top story has a preview coming up welcome back on fridays you know we'd like to take a look at what's coming up on dateline and tonight the 1974 murder of a 17 year old carla walker a texas high school student who was kidnapped from her boyfriend's car and killed after a valentine's day dance the case went cold until 2020 when detectives were able to use dna technology to track down her killer a couple of months earlier rodney had given carla a promise ring it meant a lot to me it meant i'm here i'm yours and i promise you back at the walker house carla's mom and dad were playing dominoes with relatives her big sister cindy and her little brother jim were watching tv it got to be 1am i heard a car hitting a curb and then i heard rodney's voice outside yelling mr walker mr walker helped me a little bit after that the front door's just pounding you know pound pound pound so jimmy and i both went to the front door together and opened it and it was rodney and he had was bleeding from his head down his face had blood all over his shirt just screaming and i looked over his shoulder like where's carla it was like they've got her they've got her they've got her i was like who who's got her all right dateline correspondent josh mankowitz joins us now josh thanks so much for joining top story carla's family waited you know more than 40 years for answers that had to be torturous without giving us too much how were investigators finally able to pieces together and track down the killer it had to be brutal for that family and and they would they waited a really long time this was this was modern technology this was advances in forensic crime fighting and crime solving but it was also good shoe leather detective work over the years and some of the evidence that was so carefully preserved in 1974 ended up being analyzed by technology that wasn't even close to being invented at that time you know we also heard from carlos former boyfriend there rodney in that clip you and i were talking before what was it like for him to revisit that traumatic night all these years later because i'm i'm sure i know people thought it was him oh yeah no no he uh rodney had a very difficult time those years uh there were a lot of people including a lot of people in law enforcement who did not believe his story and and thought that he had something to do with it so to have him finally exonerated um i think was a relief to him and to a lot of other people too josh mankowitz from dateline josh again great to have you on top story i'm sure we'll see you again and we look forward to dateline tonight you can catch the full story on an all new dateline at 9 00 pm eastern on the mothership nbc i'm tom yumas in new york i will see you back very soon take care thanks for watching our youtube channel follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the nbc news app you

Channel: NBC News

Views: 269,494

Keywords: NBC News NOW

Id: j_q0WLfX-zw

Length: 42min 32sec (2552 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 29 2022