classic inspiring america. announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt good evening it is happening. the dreaded winter storm putting holiday plans literally on ice for millions is under way. a stunning 105 million people under some kind of winter weather alert right now from blizzards to rain and floods, fierce winds to life-threatening cold the storm system has it all weather service forecasters in buffalo bracing for what they re calling a once in a generation event. as we come on the air, wind-driven snow has moved from the plains into the midwest, and temperatures are falling through the floor. in denver, the thermometer plunging 37 degrees in 1 hour the most dramatic drop there ever 37 states including those in the deep south are under windchill alerts as real feel temperatures fall below zero in many places and as feared christmas travel plans for millions in jeopardy right now. well over 2,000 flights in and out of u.s. airports canceled with more expe
those who are impacted by that hurricane as we get through this. and on that note, i wish all of you a very good and safe tonight. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thanks for staying up late. i will see you at the end of tomorrow. end of tomorrow we have a lot to get to. today, right thing alex jones was ordered to pay nearly a billion dollars in damages for the extraordinary vicious lies that he spread about the sandy hook massacre. in just a few minutes, we will be joined by the lawyer who won that case for the sandy hook families. we will also be talking to the democratic nominee for u.s. senate from north carolina. her races super close, and it s one of a handful of contests that could determine senate control. national democrats understand that, and are making a huge last-minute investment in their candidacy. she will join us live a little bit later on in the show. first, we have breaking news tonight of donald trump s mar-a-lago document sca
and new day continues right now. so the hearing the january 6th committee has been building up to tonight in primetime. i m john berman, brianna is off, chief white house correspondent kaitlan collins is here. they really have been building up to this. we have a huge day ahead of us. people are waiting to see what are they going to say about that black hole of time of what happened on january 6th in the oval office. and they say they have new information. the focus is going to be the 187 minutes during which former president donald trump was at the white house and this mob of largely trump supporters storming the u.s. capitol. the committee will present a minute by minute account of what they call donald trump s dereliction of duty. what he did not do despite pleas from his aides, allies, his family. you are going to hear that phrase dereliction of duty we expect quite a bit. tonight is also going to feature never before seen outtakes of this moment where former pre
single text exchange is from the capitol police chief to the head of the secret service uniform division asking for help as the riot escalated. we got one text message. and i haven t seen it yet. it will be sent over to me. it is obviously this doesn t look good. and so, you know, coincidences can happen, but, you know, we really need to get to the bottom of this. the january 6 committee and inspector general aren t the only ones demanding answers from the secret service. more from jessica schneider. reporter: key secret service text messages from date before and the day of the capitol attack are still missing. the secret service under subpoena from the january 6 committee acknowledging they are still unable to uncover the texts after admitting that data was lost because of a routine phone replacement program. and now the national archives is demandingn ing answers sending letter laying out concerns about the unauthorized deletion of text messages and telling the secr
as we wrap up a holiday week, the problems facing our nation sometimes might seem insurmountable, the divide over abortion rights, the unease over the economy, an election lie getting more entrenched. we ll talk about all of that, but i want to start today talking about gun violence. tomorrow will mark one week since the deadly mass shooting of the july 4th parade in highland park, illinois, outside of chicago. while shattered families are still grappling with all they lost in that senseless slaughter, cnn is learning more about the warning signs from the alleged shooter that despite illinois s red flag law did not prevent him from buying that semi-automatic rifle police say he used last week. the young man spent time at his father s highland park deli growing up, and police were often called to the home for domestic disturbances between the parents. in 2019 police came to briefly confiscate a collection of knives after the then 18-year-old threatened to, quote, kill everyone