tonight that swimmer sharing her story in an nbc news exclusive. announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt good evening an unsent letter described as a murder-suicide pact by a former trump white house lawyer stood at the core of testimony in today s january 6 committee hearing. three former top justice department officials describing former president trump s efforts to enlist help from the department to perpetuate his unsupported claims of election fraud, including pressure on the doj to send an official letter to georgia election officials. that letter falsely stating the justice department had identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election. when doj leaders refused to sign it, the president reportedly telling them just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me today s hearing focusing on the actions of former assistant attorney general jeffrey clark who witnesses say stood ready to do mr. trump s bidding. let
improve reliability, major airlines continue to trim summer schedules today united announcing it cutting 12% of daily flights at newark aaa believes airport frustrations will push more to the roads this independence holiday according to one study, many are eyeing las vegas, considered a top destination for july 4th. we are going to drive there actually, even with gas prices being so high. reporter: millions set to crisscross the country next week over a holiday experts fear will be marred by mishaps. emilie ikeda, nbc news, newark, new jersey a history making moment at th westminster dog show trumpet, a four-year-old bloodhound from illinois, becoming the first of his breed to win best in show at the 146th annual canine competition this year s show drew more than 3,000 dogs and more than 200 different breeds. up next, the american swimmer saved by her coach in a remarkable rescue. our exclusive interview with both
reports, the frustrations are growing ahead of the july 4th rush. reporter: for thousands of americans this week, their summer getaways land them in an airport armageddon we ve had multiple delays and chaos reporter: more than 2,000 flights axed just since yesterday travel app hopper reports more than a quarter of recent flights have been delayed, fueled by industry staffing shortages, soaring demand, and severe weather. i was in the airport for over five hours, maybe six. reporter: the chaos comes just as airports brace for another flood of travelers july 4th weekend an anticipated 11 million to pass through airports over the holiday despite soaring cost of travel. the price to fly spiking 45% since 2019 are we going to see the chaos in the airports continue? we are expecting to continue to see significant delays, demand, people booking travel and wanting to travel has well outpaced airlines rebuilding capacity. reporter: to