announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt good evening, and welcome. after a dangerous confrontation in the skies, a warning tonight from russia to the u.s. not to fly aircraft near its airspace throwing the onus on the united states for that midair collision between a russian and american plane over the black sea yesterday. the u.s. making clear its pilotless surveillance plane was flying legally in international airspace when it was knocked from the sky by a russian fighter jet that had been flying close and aggressively the act raising alarms in the pentagon. secretary of defense lloyd austin confirming he spoke by telephone today with the russian defense minister, though not revealing the nature of their conversation. the u.s., however, accuses the russians of reckless and unprofessional behavior, and we have new reporting tonight on just how high up the orders came from in russia. peter alexander is at the white house with more reporter: tonight, for t
chief of the faa i asked him why do these near misses seem to be happening so often. and the bakery helping young chefs rise to their full potential and inspiring america. announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt good evening, and thank you for joining us we ll get to that major weather news in a few moments. but first, we want to bring you the latest in what we know about a dangerous aerial encounter in the sky today between the united states and russia the pentagon saying a russian fighter jet poured fuel on an unmanned american drone, then collided with it over the black sea. it sent the american aircraft into the water the confrontation escalating already high tensions between the countries which are telling different versions of today s event. courtney kube has the latest for us from the pentagon. reporter: the stunning showdown happening over the black sea near ukraine and russia when an unmanned american drone like this one called a reaper was c
three feet of snow in parts of the northeast. in the west evacuations after storms bring rain and floods to california. now crossing the country. stocks falling on wall street amid fears another major bank could fail. the terrifying accident at a texas zoo. a tree falling on multiple people including a child. what we re learning. the high-stakes hearing. the judge in texas who could ban the abortion pill nationwide, even in states where abortion is legal. what happened in court? and america has a new favorite pup after more than 30 years. which breed beat out labrador retrievers to become the top dog. announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening, and welcome. after a dangerous confrontation in the skies, a warning tonight from russia to the u.s. not to fly aircraft near its airspace throwing the onus on the united states for that midair collision between a russian and american plane over the black sea yesterday. the u.s. making clear its pi
headquarters in new york city. could a political battle that s splitting the republican party also influence the outcome of the actual war some republican lawmakers obviously think so, slamming ron desantis for arguing the u.s. should stop helping ukraine. what it could mean for the congress, the country and the kremlin. plus, the hugely consequential hearing on abortion happening right now in texas. how the opinion of a single judge could impact the lives and health of millions of women across the country and wall street under pressure again, with the dow falling from the opening bell, now down about 700 points, at least close to it. the new bank that investors scrutinizing and what it means for your money coming up. bus we start with the clash over america s role in ukraine, shaping up to be an early defining moment in the republican race for president. it pits ron desantis who has now aligned himself with donald trump by calling the war a territorial dispute, that th
united 2003, cancel takeoff clearance. aborting takeoff, aborting takeoff, united 2003 reporter: all close calls that led acting faa administrator billy nolen to call for tomorrow s safety summit some of the headlines are downright scary. flying safe right now? lester, i can say to you, to your audience, to the american people that flying is absolutely safe we have the safest most complex system in the world. we work at it every day, and it is absolutely safe reporter: why is this summit so important right now we ve had these events over the past few weeks that gives us a moment to say let s stop, let s reflect, let s ask ourselves the question, are we missing anything? is there anything that we should be doing different and remind ourselves always, always that we can never become complacent and never take this incredible safety record for granted. we ve seen more of these or is this what you would describe as a cluster i would describe it as a cluster.