Is nbc nightly news with brian williams. Good evening. All day today and continuing into tonight at this very moment a huge manhunt is underway by land and air for the two remaining terrorism suspects in yesterdays brazen attack on journalists working at a magazine in paris. The death toll remains at 12. The search has been centered in a wooded area of the french countryside. Police are in fact hoping these suspects are illprepared for the cold nights of the french winter. In addition to the day of mourning in france, the human reaction to this terrorist attack has been almost universal and remarkable. We begin our coverage with our team in paris tonight. First to lester holt to start us off. Hey, lester. Good evening. Reporter brian, good evening to you. A day of mourning has been a day of anxiety. People here have been glued to a drama playing out about an hours drive from here. A hunt for two of the suspects who were reportedly seen earlier in the day. A third suspect, an 18yearold, turned himself in last night. This country is on high alert. Parisians paused in solemn silence today, remembering the victims of yesterdays attack. [ gunfire ] reporter while just 40 miles away, police swarmed an area northeast of paris in frances champagne region. A manhunt on a massive scale. Roads blocked, s. W. A. T. Teams going doortodoor after what is believed to be the last sighting of the suspects, brothers said and cherif kouachi. Nbcs bill neely in the thick of the hunt. Reporter police initially came here because at a gas station up the road an employee reported seeing two armed men. A short time ago two men were seen abandoning the car and then heading into the woods. There are huge numbers of antiterrorist police, s. W. A. T. Teams, even military. Reporter today, a photo emerged from inside the offices of Charlie Hebdo where the staff of the satirical magazine was massacred. Apparently revenge for the the magazines caricatures of the muslim prophet muhammad. A survivor saw fellow cartoonists gunned down, telling londons daily mail, it lasted five minutes. I had taken refuge under a desk. Among the dead Stephane Charbonnier and his bodyguard policeman. Me and my family have to be strong, his brother said today. Also killed, gunned down in the street was policeman ahmed miaribet, who happened to be a muslim. Frances Prime Minister warned another attack is a concern. And parisians were rattled by news a policewoman was killed and another person wounded in a shooting in a southern suburb. Turns out it was unrelated to the paris terror attack. But nerves here are frayed nonetheless. Are you fearful it will happen again . Sure. We have some fear. Reporter meanwhile, i am charlie has become a mantra of solidarity in this city. Here in republique square, pens form the peace sign. As the lights of the eiffel tower twinkled out tonight in honor of the victims, thousands gathered in the open determined to keep Free Expression alive. Lester holt, nbc news, paris. Reporter this is richard engel. Their faces are now known all over france. The kouachi brothers, said, 34, and cherif, 32, sons of algerian immigrants but born in paris. Their story of radicalization goes back a decade. In 2005 cherif was a wanttobe rapper, who delivered pizza and worked the fish counter at a supermarket. He was also watching images of the iraq war. The abuse of prisoners at abu ghraib which he said enraged him. This is the low Income Housing project where the kouachi brothers lived in their early 20s. They were reportedly petty criminals and occasional drug users working odd jobs. Cherif was also increasingly angry. He decided to travel to iraq to fight u. S. Troops there and started training. He jogged every day at this local park and learned to use an Assault Rifle from a man he met in this local mosque. But before cherif could travel to iraq, he and several of his associates were arrested. One of frances leading terrorism experts. Cherif was released after 18 months and initially appears he was under surveillance. But that became expensive, so eventually they stopped watching cherif closely. The time came when the Intelligence Services assessed that he posed no more threats and he went underground. Reporter in 2010 cherif and his brother were questioned, but subsequently managed to evade surveillance, reportedly traveling to yemen and syria, and then return to execute frances worst terrorist attack in decades. And tonight, brian, were learning new details. U. S. Counterterrorism officials tell us that one of the brothers, the older brother, said, received months of training in yemen by al qaedas branch there. And both brothers were on the u. S. Nofly list for years. Brian . Richard engel and lester holt both starting us off from paris tonight. Thanks. And starting overnight and into today weve been correcting something we first reported here. We were told by not one but two senior u. S. Intelligence officials that this manhunt had ended last night with all three suspects either dead or captured. And while these sources have been reliable in our previous reporting, the intel they passed along to us last night turned out not to be correct. And now as to the repercussions from this attack around the world and in this country, we get that angle of the story from our justice correspondent, pete williams. Reporter new york city is posting extra police around diplomatic facilities at the United Nations and the French Mission and consulate. More security too in chicago for the consulate there. And more Police Presence at the consulate in atlanta. The french government has asked for additional security at its embassy here in washington. And in response the secret service has stepped up patrols. Police nationwide have been urged to be extra vigilant in response to the paris shooting, but theres been no security directive from federal authorities, and no change in the Terror Threat level. Thats largely because u. S. Officials see the attack in paris as an act of retribution. Like a mob hit some Officials Say, with no connection between the terrorists in paris and anyone here. U. S. Officials say they sympathize with the french government, which has revealed that the two suspects were known to police and had been under surveillance. American Officials Say the u. S. Faces the same challenge, trying to keep tabs on a growing number of terror suspects here. Ron hoskel, former fbi assistant director, says conducting secret surveillance is very manpower intensive. To surveil one person could take potentially dozens of people over the course of 24 hours. Reporter why . Well, in a Perfect World you dont want the target of your surveillance to know youre there. And that means for physical surveillance potentially rotating vehicles, rotating people, so that when they look in their rear view or side view mirrors theyre not seeing the same person twice. Reporter late today president obama made an unannounced stop at the French Embassy here where he signed a condolence book. He talked earlier by phone from air force one with the fbi, Homeland Security and intelligence agency. Officials say he was told there are no credible Terror Threats against the u. S. Brian . Pete williams wrapping up our coverage from the d. C. Newsroom. Pete, thanks. In this country another big story continues to be this brutal cold from north to south, its even snowing in jacksonville. Twothirds of the nation now caught in the grip of it, in fact, 26 states recorded temperatures below zero today forcing School Closures and a lot of them. Nbcs ron mott covering all of it tonight from boston. Reporter frigid air continues to rain across much of the country today, slowing or shutting down the flow of more than water. With temperatures in 40 states expected to plunge below freezing. Icy streets near cleveland after a water main break. Blizzard conditions in north dakota. Even snow and ice in jacksonville, florida. Its a bonechilling quiver nearly coasttocoast. Weve got that snow, you can see it on the sky cam barely making out downtown. We have one more day of the bitter temps to get through, possibly some snow. Reporter in new York City Police and postal workers had no choice but bundle up. In virginia two injured firefighters in sub zero temperatures. Is anybody out here . Reporter in nashville, patrols in search of the homeless to help them escape bitter cold. All right. Its going to be the coldest night of the year, well get you inside if you want. Reporter in Chicago Schools are closed, meaning the ymca was open for working parents. Days like this the ymca is a savior. Reporter and in minnesota another blast of winddriven snow making its way to new england. This quickmoving snowstorm will race through the great lakes overnight producing a few inches of snow, even across new england friday morning. And then the lake effect snow kicks back in where some areas could pick up one to two feet. Reporter record low temperatures from a chilly 10 in greenwood, mississippi, to 17 in mobile, alabama, breaking a record that has stood since 1886. Just 19 degrees in pensacola, 8 in charlotte, 2 below in wheeling, west virginia. Here in boston the big chill was clear, even if downtown crowds were not. Now, tonight some folks in the upper midwest are dealing with blizzard conditions. Here in boston overnight, we got the kind of cold we dont get all that often around here. Temperature fell below zero for just the third time in the past ten years, brian. Ron mott in boston tonight. Ron, thanks. As weve been reporting the ground wont stop shaking in parts of texas where another earthquake just today now brings the total to 20 over just the past two days or so. Thankfully they havent been big shakers, but theyve shaken up a lot of texans. We get our report tonight from nbcs jacob rascon in irving, texas. Drop cover, hold on. Reporter every student in california may know the drill, but in irving, texas, this has never happened. Earthquake drills like fire and tornado drills will now be mandatory. You guys felt it . Oh, wow. I felt all of them. I felt all of them. Reporter you felt all of them . Not a single earthquake ever recorded in north texas before 2008. Now there have been 127 the last 20 here in irving and most of those in the last three days. Irving is obviously quite close to dallas. Reporter Southern Methodist university is the local earthquake authority, now busy installing new seismic stations. Generally speaking we have not been studying earthquakes in our backyard until recently. Reporter heather studies why all of a sudden seismic activity . Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is suspected. Its a multibilliondollar industry in texas. There are reasons to consider the potential link between earthquake sequence in north texas and oil and gas activities. And its just one of many causes we look into. Reporter so far the largest north texas quake has been minor, a 3. 6. Not enough to cause significant damage. But when youve never felt one. Oh, my god, it shook my house. I know, well, ive been here 44 years and ive never felt it either. This is my first time. Reporter in this second grade class theyre ready. The reason why you cover yourself is in case the roof starts falling or something. Reporter in case the sudden and so far unexplained shaking gets any worse. Jacob rascon, nbc news, dallas. The feds are forcing honda to pay out a record 70 million in fines for failing to report over 1,700 claims for injuries and at least one death. Honda publicly admitted in november it had seriously underreported claims linked to possible vehicle defects from 03 to 2014. This fine is the largest ever handed out by the national highway Traffic Safety administration. A lot of meetings and phone calls today among prominent California Democrats as we learned today one of the most prominent is stepping aside. Senator Barbara Boxer, first elected in 92, after a decade in the house has announced she will not seek a fifth term in the senate. An open seat in the state with 40 Million People is a big political event, and there are already predictions this could be the firstever 1 billion senate race. An independent investigation now backs up what the nfl has contended all along, that no one in the league saw that violent elevator video of ray rice striking the woman whos now his wife before the images were made public back in september. Former fbi director Robert Muller led this investigation. His report does not completely absolve the nfl. It also concludes that even without the video the league had more than enough to go on and to launch more indepth investigation than it had originally commissioned. Still ahead for us this evening, the airline employees fired after refusing to fly because of what they saw written on the plane. Also, the Public Appeal for help for some beautiful creatures who are suddenly in desperate need. Over a dozen former Flight Attendants for United Airlines are fighting back tonight after they were fired by the airline for refusing to fly because of something they saw that had been written on the fuselage of the plane, something they took as a possible risk to their safety. Our report tonight from nbcs tom costello. Reporter it happened at San FranciscoInternational Airport last july 14th. This plane, a United Airlines 747, was preparing to depart for hong kong with 300 passengers and crew onboard when the first officer noticed graffiti drawn in the grease on the rear of the plane, the words byebye next to two faces, one happy, one not so happy. Within minutes the entire crew had seen the photo including Flight Attendant grace lam. When i saw that, i was frightened. I was so scared. I have 24 years flying, ive never seen anything or heard anything like this before. Reporter Malaysia Airlines had just gone missing four months earlier, the war in syria was raging and Homeland Security had warned terrorists might target commercial airliners. But after security and maintenance sweep, the captain and airline determined the graffiti was likely a prank drawn by ground personnel probably in korea, the planes previous location. Still, 13 Flight Attendants, all of them veterans, refused to fly. The flight canceled. In october united fired the 13. In a statement the airline tells nbc news, our flight operations, safety and maintenance teams appropriately investigated and determined there was no credible security threat. These 13 Flight Attendants never should have been fired. They raised a legitimate concern about the security of the aircraft. And they were retaliated against for that reason. Reporter now the Flight Attendants are asking the Labor Department to intervene and order their reinstatement. United Airlines Says it will defend itself vigorously. Tom costello, nbc news, washington. And we are back in a moment with a surprising possible downside to those beautiful long lashes we hear advertised so often. The man hailed as a hero when canada suffered a terrorist attack on parliament has been rewarded for his bravery with the job of a lifetime. Kevin vickers will be canadas new ambassador to ireland. Vickers was sergeant at arms, a 30year mounted police veteran. He was applauded by parliament and the Prime Minister after bringing down the gunman that awful day. Women have been warned efforts to lengthen their eyelashes may be doing their eyes a disservice in the end. Eyelashes have a job of shielding the eyes from wind and dust. A new study says longer lashes can often serve to funnel and redirect more air and thus dust into the eye. Australia has been dealing with a huge outbreak of wildfires, especially in victoria, south australia. Homes have been destroyed, thousands of acres burned. And now an effort to help the marsupials whove been caught in the fires. Koalas are being rescued and brought to animal hospitals, many with burns to their paws from clinging onto burning trees. Because they need special mittens to heal, they have put out a call to local knitters. Theres even a knitting pattern to follow. And australians are responding to ease the koala suffering. When we come back tonight, the images that say what can scarcely be put into words about that attack in paris. Finally tonight, a story about the positive backlash that followed a very bad day in paris. If the terrorists who attacked the offices of that french magazine were attempting to silence it, their efforts have been an abject failure. The magazine normally prints about 60,000 copies a week. Its instead going to do a print run of a million copies for next weeks edition, thanks to one large donation helping to pay for it. Its part of a huge outpouring of support and grief for the victims all over the world. That story tonight from nbcs peter alexander. Reporter across the globe today ordinary people drew their weapons. Instead of bullets, the only lead they lifted at the tip of a pencil. These images the most powerful proof free speech wont bow to terrorism. From the streets of paris, no fear it reads. To this vigil in sydney where australians sang the French National anthem. At the Washington Post it felt like an attack on me and my work. Reporter Pulitzer Prize winning political cartoonists first reaction to the paris shooting was shock, then anger, and finally action. The finished product, that the pen will endure, he writes. I wanted to take the tools i use and speak immediately to that and as forcefully as i could. Reporter like any good image, most of todays cartoons didnt need a caption. This where a broken pencil becomes two. James mccloud of the evansville courier. Darren bell of the Washington Post writing group. The rallying cry, je suis charlie, i am charlie. The message indelible on social media too. The philadelphia inquiry ib quirer. Cartoons dont kill people. Humorless fanatics kill people. Reporter on latenight tv jon stewarts humor took a pause. I know very few people go into comedy, you know, as an act of courage. And those guys had it and they were killed for their cartoons. Reporter the pen is mightier than the sword was first written more than a century ago. But those words have renewed meaning today. Peter alexander, nbc news, washington. And thats our broadcast on a thursday night. Thank you for being here with us. Im brian williams. We, of course, hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. Goodnight. Nbc bay area news starts now. Well im very sorry that she decided to retire. Its a loss i think. But god bless her for her decision. Right now at 6 00, a political shakeup. Senator Barbara Boxer is stepping down. What it means for the state and the legacy she will leave behind on capitol hill. Good evening and thanks for joining us. Im janelle wang in for jessica aguirre. And im raj mathai. Its been a legendary run. And now her 22year run in the senate is over. Tonight, why Barbara Boxer is calling it quits, and the jockeying for position to replace her. Nbc bay areas Michelle Roberts begins our coverage of this political shakeup. Good evening, michelle. Good evening. I spoke to her family. They say she has been anxious to get home and spend more time in california. But still two more years left in the senate. Shell be working on Immigration Reform and also access to health care. As long as there are issues and challenges and strife i will never retire. Because thats the meaning of my life. Reporter senator Barbara Boxer says she will continue to fight for equality. But in 2016 she will step down as an elected official. I want to come home to the state that i love so much california. Reporter her family calls this a proud day. I dont think she ever expected that she would end up in public life. Reporter doug boxer believes his momsrnn legacy whz berny her1zcnqzgn rights environment. I dont think weve everu ; n seen sof2ru twzy u tc peoplesnn that generally havent had a voice in the syst