announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt good evening, and thank with us. official assurances that all is safe near the site of that ohio toxic train derailment aren t playing well with many area residents tonight, not with people experiencing physical symptoms and fish dying by the thousands in nearby streams. it has been almost two weeks since the train jumped the tracks in eastern ohio near the pennsylvania border spilling tanker cars carrying hazardous chemicals. after a controlled burn meant to avert a catastrophic explosion, officials signaled it was safe for evacuated residents to return, but tonight there is worry, skepticism, and anger about what is really happening and about what people are being told ron allen is covering it for us tonight. reporter: tonight outrage growing less than two weeks after that massive train derailment and the controlled burn of hazardous chemicals sent up a toxic plume of black smoke in east palestine, ohio. it doe
to the 2020 election. coming up, what it tells us and what it could mean for donald trump. and at this hour, a message from residents of east palestine, ohio, to federal, state, and local officials. do your jobs because we are scared and we re worried. just a short time ago, the head of the epa arrived at the site of that toxic train derailment, but he shouldn t expect a warm welcome after residents spent hours last night laying into officials who insist the air and water are safe, despite growing reports of people getting sick. we ve got the latest on that and the notable know shows at the town hall meeting coming up. plus, after multiple days of letting his officials do the talking, president biden is finally expected to address those unprecedented shootdowns of objects in the sky, perhaps as early as today. why has it taken so long, and no matter what he says, will it be too little, too late for his critics? we start with the growing outrage in ohio. concerns escalat
what were they? how much has been recovered. do we definitively know the level of threat they posed or lack thereof. bipartisan critics have been saying there s plenty that isn t classified that the american public has a right to know, and we are now waiting, as you see, for the president to come to that podium and begin. but in the meantime, let s talk to nbc news senior white house correspondent kelly o donnell, along with nbc news capitol hill correspondent, ryan nobles and robert gibbs, former obama press secretary and an msnbc political analyst. robert, let me start with you, you know the criticism has been out there, the pressure the white house has been under, you have been in the white house when a president was under pressure. what does he need to deliver right now? well, i think the more than people want to know what level of new information we have about the three objects that have been shot down recently. i also think the president needs to outline what our post
the ship s chandeliers, the new footage from previous explorations coincides with the 25th anniversary of the blockbuster film i m flying. why are people still so fascinated by the wreckage the drama, the human drama of titanic. this is something that i think sits in the human psyche. reporter: shoving off from southampton, england, to new york in 1912. she was hailed as the most luxurious steamship in the world. reporter: after the titanic struck an iceberg and sank, more than 1,500 people died tonight, the ship still lays at the bottom of the sea but remains the object of worldwide fascination. miguel almaguer, nbc news and that s nightly news for this wednesday thank you for watching i m lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night
psyche. shoving off from south hampton, england, to new york in 1912. after the titanic struck an iceberg and sank, more than 1,500 people died. the ship still lays at the bottom of the sea. but remains the object of worldwide fascination. miguel almaguer, nbc news. thank you, miguel, for that report. we ve got a lot to cover in our second hour of chris jansing reports, let s get right to it. any moment now, we re expecting to hear from president biden, the moment he s been under heavy pressure to deliver for the better part of the last week. he s going to come to this podium, and give us more information about those recent military shoot downs of the chinese spy balloon and the three other unidentified objects over northern american airspace.