Transcripts For WRC NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt 20151202

Nbc nightly news begins right now. Announcer from nbc news World Headquarters in new york, this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. Good evening. Chicagos top come is out. There is new pressure on the mayor who fired him to follow him out the door. The political and emotional upheaval growing tonight from the videotape killing of a teenage suspect allegedly murder ed by a Chicago Policeman. More than the tape itself of a 17yearold be ing shot 16 times it is the battle to keep the video under wraps and the more than yearlong delay in filing charges that has mayor ram emmanuel in full damage control mode. Stephanie gosk has the developments. Reporter Chicago Police superintendent Gary Mccarthy is with us. Reporter earlier this morning Gary Mccarthy defended his job. Who said im not accountable . I have been held accountable. Reporter within hours he was fired. He has become an issue rather than dealing with the issue and a distraction. Reporter mayor rahm emanuel said the public trust in mccarthy eroded less than a week after this video of the 2014 shooting of 17yearold Laquan Mcdonald was released. Officer Jason Van Dyke fired the gun and is charged with firstdegree murder. He vows to fight the charge. The case raised larger questions about police abuse and lack of accountability. The mayor announced the formation of a task force. [ chanting ] reporter protesters may not be easily satisfied. We shall not be moved reporter the mayors fiercest critics suggest city officials kept the video from the public for over a year for political reasons, basing the claim on this timeline. October 20, 2014 mcdonald was shot 16 times by police and killed. In february of 2015, mayor Ram Emmanuelle was forced into a run awe off election. This as shootings and black lives matter were grabbing headlines. The city gave the Mcdonald Family a 5 million settlement. It would take seven more months for the video to be released and van dyke to be charged. Bernard hartcourt, a former university of chicago law professor is calling for the mayors resignation writing, theres been a coverup in chicago. I think there is serious doubt that mayor rahm emanuel would have won the election if this information had been available to the public. Reporter emanuel denies playing politics and say it is release of the video would have hampered the investigation. Mr. Mccarthy had become a distraction. There are a lot of questions in the room about you and your office. Have you become a distraction as well . Well, you will make that judgment. Im doing my job. I try to do it every day in a professional way. Reporter meanwhile today another family is calling for the release of another video. Dorothy holmes says dash cam footage shows a Police Officer shooting and killing her unarmed son, 25yearold ronald johnson, over a year ago. The police say he had a gun in his hand. A judge is set to rule on whether the video should be released december 10. There is still an active federal investigation in the mcdonald case. The mayor said the fbi is focusing specifically on how the Police Conducted that investigation, including how 86 minutes of video from a nearby burger king went missing. That investigation, lester, opens up the possibility of new charges. Stephanie gosk in chicago, thank you. Now to a major shift announced today in the u. S. Strategy to fight isis. Defense secretary carter saying more special Operations Forces will be deployed in iraq and syria and the mission will include a combat role. This despite assurances president obama made about the scope of the u. S. Mission in the region. We get more from nbcs chief Foreign Affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. With overwhelming evidence that air strikes alone wont stop isis, a significant u. S. Escalation on the ground. We are at war. Reporter up to 150 special Operations Forces, three times the 50 troops the president announced in october, conducting combat raids against isis in iraq and syria from bases in iraq. These special operators will, over time, be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence, and capture isil leaders. Reporter just last month president obama told lester we are not putting u. S. Troops on the front lines fighting firefights with isil. Reporter today the president s flatly disputed by his own commanders. Have we currently contained isil . We have not. Reporter this as the president in paris spent much of his time defending a military strategy that hasnt stopped isis or ended the killing field s in syria. Its not going to be easy. Too much blood has been shed. Too much infrastructure has been destroyed. Reporter its a military and diplomatic rubiks cube. You cant stop isis without ending the civil war in syria, the conflict that spawned the terror group. Standing in the way, russias vladimir putin. I dont expect that youre going to see a 180 turn on their strategy over the next several weeks. They have invested for years now in keeping assad in power. Reporter today germle any promised 1200 more troops. Britain vote s tomorrow to begin air strikes over syria. Assad doesnt seem worried by this. Nobody is taking the western officials seriously anymore. Reporter the administrations next goal ceasefire s in parts of syria by january 1st and peace talks for a Transitional Government now to include assad, a big concession for the russians for president obama who all along said assad must go. Lester . Thank you. In turkey, a bomb blast caught on camera. The explosion near a subway station in istanbul was thought to be a blown transformer. Officials later said they found a small pipe bomb that detonated at rush hour, send ing commuters running for their lives. At least five people were injured. Theres been no claim of responsibility for the blast. And a disturbing report out this evening about what caused an air disaster at sea. The air asia flight that plunged into the java sea nearly a year ago, killing all 162 people on board. Crash investigators blame poor maintenance and a cockpit crew that didnt understand the planes Automated Systems or how to recover from a stall they initiated. As nbcs tom costello reports its a deadly combination we have seen in air disasters before. Reporter today, investigators laid out the sequence of events that ended with an airbus a320 in the java sea. The trouble started when a warning light came on indicating a control malfunction. That control had malfunctioned 23 times on the same plane over the previous year, but was never fully repaired. But this time, the crews reaction was disastrous. The pilot inexplicably pulled the Circuit Breakers to the planes flight computers, causing the auto pilot to disengage. With the copilot flying the plane began climbing fast to 38,000 feet. That led to a stall. Then tragic miscommunication in the cockpit. Rather than telling the french copilot to push the nose down to recover from the stall, the indonesian pilot said pull down. The copilot continued pulling up as the pilot pushed down. The plane rolled 104 degrees to the left, then fell 38,000 feet to the java sea. The passengers on board would surely have known they were in trouble. The crew of this accident aircraft had multiple opportunities to save the airplane and to respond properly. They didnt. Reporter for years Safety Experts warned that many piemts overseas are overly dependent on auto Pilot Technology and lack basic flying skills. Among their examples, air france 447 over the atlantic and asiana 214 in san francisco. Today, investigators dropped a bombshell. Therefore, upset Recovery Training was considered not required. Reporter that the flight crew wasnt trained to re cover from a stall because they were assured it wouldnt happen. Air asia said it will learn from the tragedy. Meanwhile airline Safety Experts say this crash drives home their concerns about pilots who understand how to push buttons in the cockpit but may lack proper piloting skills, a big concern for pilots over seas but a red flag for airlines worldwide. Certainly unsettling. Tom costello, thank you. We are two months out from the first real test for the 2016 candidates among voters, the eye with a caucus. With donald trump atop the republican polls Hallie Jackson says the competition is intensi intensifying. Reporter in race for the white house its full throttle, two months out from iowa where ben carson is stalled, slipping behind ted cruz who is pulling closer to frontrunner donald trump. Fuelled by evangelical support and his signature strategy taking on his own party, most recently for not fighting back harder against misperception s that most republicans do not support contraception. This is a made up, nonsense example. Last i checked, we dont have a rubber shortage in america. [ laughter ] reporter cruzs comments raising eyebrows with jeb bush, in Single Digits in iowa and New Hampshire. Adding staff there but trumps still on top, trailed by marco rubio. Chris christie stuck in 7th and in overdrive, hoping to make his move after several key en dormts in a state where establishment moderates usually do better against outsiders. How seriously do you expect to win in New Hampshire . Even the loyal republicans who will be voting in the primary and dependent who is decide to participate are just starting to tune in now. Reporter still, even though insiders christie, rubio, bush and their supporters spent a combined 47. 5 million on tv ads, the candidates spending less are doing better. Just 3 million spent by carson, cruz, and trump who is kicking off december in the lead. The establishment knows it. Thats why they are generally in angina mode where they are having many heart attacks day in and day out trying to figure out how the he ll do we stop this . Reporter trump has proven unstoppable so far warning hes the biggest obstacle to victory. The finish line getting closer. There is only one way to the top. Its all through trump, lets face it. Reporter while trump dominated the polls since the summer, not long after he announced his candidacy, this time last president ial cycle it was Newt Gingrich who led the pack. He ended up losing iowa by more than ten points. Lester . Hallie jackson, thanks. From east to west a dangerous mix of weather including snowstorms, flood watches and ice warnings in the forecast. Millions are bracing for brutal conditions early in the season. We are still weeks from winter. Our National Correspondent Miguel Almaguer is in the middle of it. Reporter in the Mount Rushmore state the winter storm set records with heavy wet snow. In one day more than eight inches with even more on the way. Travelle in the upper midwest not just treacherous but deadly. At least one fatality in south dakota. In minnesota, nearly 400 crashes overnight. Whiteout conditions, sloppy and icy road s, plows and spinouts everywhere. I think it will be busy tonight judging by the weather so far. Reporter after heavy rain and more in the forecast, eight dams along the Tennessee River authority are spilling water. 9 million are under flood watches from tennessee to georgia, to north carolina. A large sprawling weather system is on the move. With it, the Northern Tier of the country could see temperatures 15 degrees above average and heavy rain, too. In the pacific northwest, freezing rain and ice is closing schools. We are taking it slow. s icy this morning. Reporter thousands are left in the dark on this frigid night. From coast to coast, it is getting ugly, as december just began. Here in colorado where its beautiful, these frigid conditions are also very dangerous. Nine different counties are under winter advisories tonight. The snow, ice and cold causing major problems all across this region as well. Lester . All right. Miguel, thank you. Still ahead tonight, warnings about salt. The growing health risk of consuming too much salt leads one big city to demand restaurant chains reveal how much is really in your food and its an eyeopener. And Mark Zuckerberg announces the bit of his first child and thats not the only big announcement he shared today. Medications, does your mouth often feel dry . 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Its no secret that too much salt can be bad for your Health Leading to high Blood Pressure, stroke, even heart attacks. Today, a new rule, the first of its kind, went into effect here in new york to en courage people to cut their salt intake. As nbcs rehema ellis tells us, it could spread to your city, too. Reporter there is a whole lot of this shaking going on in american restaurants. And now new york city requires that menus show it. Because too much salt leads to heart attacks, strokes, and high Blood Pressure. I think its important and maybe will make them put less sodium in items. Reporter so now, chain restaurants must post what some call a shaker of shame on any item with more than the recommended daily allowance of sodium. 2300 milligramsing about a teaspoon. Chipotles chicken burrito with the usual toppings has over 2400 milligrams in just one serving. Subways spicy italian sandwich has almost 3,000 milligrams. And tgi fridays new york which he had dar and bacon burger a whopping 4,280 milligrams. Some restaurants are fighting the new rule. Applebees in new york started posting the warning label a month ago. So far it hasnt changed the way people eat. I have been asking people about it in our restaurants now for the last month since we put it on. It really doesnt impact people one way or another. Reporter when you open the menu, what do you see . I see a lot of salt shaker. Reporter sam kass, former director of the white house lets move campaign is now an nbc news food analyst. Is there any hope that putting the salt labeling on the menu is going to change behavior . Of course not. But it increases the conversation, increases awareness. Thats critical to moving the dialogue forward. Reporter new york was the first city to require restaurant calorie labeling, now everywhere. The question today is will salt labeling be the next thing to shake up americas menu . 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Were back with a big sign of the times tonight. New federal statistics show nearly half of american households now only use cell phones. We are approaching a tipping point. Within a year, more than half will be totally wireless. Gone are the days of running across the house to grab a landline. The cdc says 47 of American Homes dont even have a land line. They are cell phone only. About 42 have both. If you have ever wanted to be a pilot but you have never flown a plane, heres your chance. Jetblue said it plans to recruit two dozen people to train as pilots, no experience necessary. But they will still have to log 1500 flight hours before they can carry passengers, just like those who come vie i cant more traditional routes like the military and civilian flight schools. The faa raised the maximum number of required hours that would be the minimum number of required hours in 2013 which has contributed to a pilot shortage. And facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is a new dad. He announced today the birth of his first child witheses wife priscilla chan. Its a girl and her name is max. He vowed to give 99 of the couples facebook shares worth 45 billion over their lifetimes to improve the world for the next generation. When we come back, music superstar adele doing something a lot of people didnt think was possible. Of people didntk was possible. Announcer nbc nightly news is brought to you by the salvation army. dramatic music centrum brings us the biggest news in multivitamin history. a moment when something so familiar becomes something so new. impact on metal introducing new centrum vitamints. A multivitamin that contains a full spectrum of essential nutrients you enjoy like a mint. New centrum vitamints. Go to centrum. Com for a 4 coupon.  new centrum vitamints. The kids went to nanas house. For the whole weekend. Zzzquil. The nonhabit forming sleep aid that helps you sleep easily, and wake refreshed. Because sleep is a beautiful thing. Finally tonight the music phenomenon so popular she only needs one name like madonna, beyonce or rihanna. Those three names only wish they had the selling power of adele who is shattering records many in the industry thought would never be broken. Nbcs ron mott examines the secret to her staggering success. So hello from the other side reporter her albums dont have fancy titles dreamt up in a marketing lab. 19, 21, 25, adeles age when the recording session s began. The numbers her latest eve effort is generating are staggering. 3. 38 million in the first week shattering the record set in 2000 by n sync. There is no precedent for someone to sell like this in 2015 in an age whe where by all other indications the idea of buying an album. Reporter five years have passed since her last album. Time she spent out of the spotlight becoming a mom. My kid comes first. My music comes second. And i come second, you know. Reporter shes not streaming the album at least for now, perhaps increase ing demand further. And unlike the past when Record Stores and lps dominated the industry, selling albums in todays digital era is more challenging, driven by an a la carte model where you can download just the songs you want. When we were young reporter now 27, the british pop singer is wowing the masses again. Adele is someone focused on the power and simplicity of a song and a voice. Reporter on full display when leaked audio of her vocal track from an snl appearance went viral. Hello from the outside reporter her unique talent raising the bar, finding mega success with a low key approach. Ron mott, nbc news, boston. And that will do it for us on this tuesday night. Im lester holt. For all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching. And good night. Good night. News reporters its a fish, but its been changed. Genetically altered by scientists. Critics call the process creepy, and label it frankenfish. Narrator genetically engineered salmon was just approved by the fda no labels required. Disturbing, right . Get this. If your state wants to label gmos, congress is trying a yearend sneak attack to block your right to label. Call congress. Demand clear labels, not high tech gimmicks. Dont let them overturn state gmo labeling. Protect our right to know. Lights, camera, access. I had 1 million for the flowers. No. No. Beautiful images from their honeymoon. Now its back to work. Im billy bush. This as weve uncovered so many more joe and sofia secrets from the wedding planner and the wedding singer