Good evening to our viewers in the west. President trump who has been unwilling to publicly criticize russia today made a dramatic turn about declaring relations between the two countries to be at an alltime low. His comments coming hours after secretary of state Rex Tillerson shared the same assessment following a high stakes meeting with russian president Vladimir Putin. The friction is over what russia may or may not have known about the recent deadly chemical weapons assault on civilians by its close ally syria and the u. S. Wished to drive syrian president assad from power. Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell has the latest from moscow. Reporter President Trump tonight in a role reversal, once talking up the possibility of warmer relations with moscow, now the cold reality. We may be at an alltime low in terms of relationship with russia. Reporter secretary of state Rex Tillerson taking that message directly to Vladimir Putin during a twohour meeting tonight. The worlds two foremost Nuclear Powers cannot have this kind of relationship. Reporter tillerson the highest ranking official to visit moscow became a cloud over the campaign and the presidency. This visit turning into a tense showdown. Much of it over syria and that deadly chemical attack. Tillerson saying for the first time the u. S. Might consider war crimes charges against syrian president assad, one way to force assad from office. It is possible the threshold necessary to charge him may be achieved. Reporter the war of words over syria starting early this morning. Putin rejecting white house intelligence that assad launched the chemical attack and russia was covering it up. Putin asking, where is the proof that the syrian army used chemical weapons . There is none. While President Trump using his sharpest words yet about assad. Thats a butcher. Thats a butcher. Reporter and leaving open the possibility that russia, with soldiers on that syrian air base, may have known a chemical attack was about to be launched. I would like to think they didnt know but certainly they could have. They were there. So well find out. Reporter overshadowing the u. S. putin relationship, the Election Year hacking. Tillerson brought it up with putin. Were mindful of the seriousness of that particular interference in our elections, and im sure that russia is mindful of it, as well. Reporter a charge the Russian Foreign minister shot down. Translator i can only say once again, that just as indicates with the socalled Russian Hackers and the chemical incidents in syria, we would very much like to get some concrete evidence, not just words. Reporter and after hours of often testy talks, no progress on tillersons chief goal, getting russia to back away from assad. The idea that russia is now going to see the light about mr. Assad and remove him, is fanciful. Reporter the secretary of state was even lectured by the Russian Foreign minister about washingtons conflicting messages on syria and even why he hasnt filled so Many State Department staff jobs. A sign that the u. S. russia relationship has a long way to go. Lester . Andrea mitchell in moscow, thank you. We want to bring in our chief Foreign CorrespondentRichard Engel who is following developments from overseas. Richard, we heard tough talk both sides, obvious disagreement, what do you make of it . Well, there are some very real tensions, but is this the alltime lowest relations between moscow and the United States have been . Of course not. There is posturing going on here. Lets not forget the Trump Administration is facing multiple investigations into potential collusion with the kremlin. So that is part of the backdrop and very much suits President Trump and his close advisers to try to talk rush to russia and create distance between them and the kremlin. Also, on the other side, putin has his own domestic evidence. If there is one person that may have a bigger ego than trump, it is Vladimir Putin. Putin has presented himself as someone who can never lose. And he has definitely put his eggs in the basket of Bashar Al Assad fp so even if assad has become a liability to moscow and its increasingly clear assad has become a liability, he cant back away because President Trump is telling him to back away from assad. Richard engel with some perspective. Richard, thanks. In addition to the reversal on russia, President Trump has made an abrupt about face in a number of other Foreign Policy fronts that includes his often expressed doubts about nato and his vow to take economic action against china. We get more from nbc News White House correspondent kristen welker. Reporter tonight President Trump making a number of stunning reversals as he faces multiple Foreign Policy crisis after repeatedly calling nato obsolete on the campaign trail. Nato in my opinion is obsolete. Maybe nato will dissolve. And thats okay. Reporter now, mr. Trump changing his tone while standing next to nato secretary general in the east room. I said it was obsolete. Its no longer obsolete. Reporter the move aimed at getting nato allies to ramp up their support in foreign fights and also pressing those countries to pay their fair share to support natos mission but another striking reversal tonight after vowing to label china a currency manipulator as a candidate. They are grand masters of currency manipulation. Reporter tonight telling the wall street journal theyre not currency manipulators, explaining taking that step could influence his talks with china on north korea. The president wants chinas help to press north korea to back off its recent Nuclear Provocations and saying the shifting policies reflect a onetime candidate adjusting to serving in the nations highest office. Its a learning process the president is going through. There are things one says on the campaign trail and face the realities of the office. Reporter still, mr. Trump is ramping up his war of words with north korea, making it clear the United States is prepared to go it alone if china doesnt get on board. A sentiment he conveyed with an unexpected call with chinas president last night. I said the way youre going to make a good trade deal is to help us with north korea, otherwise well go at it alone. That will be all right, too. Going at it alone means going it with lots of other nations. Reporter this as he faces Foreign Policy tests on multiple fronts. Right now the world is a mess. By the time im finished, its going to be a lot better place to live in because right now its nasty. Reporter tonight the white house is paying close attention to north korea. Saturday marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of the countrys founder. The isolated nation used those types of anniversaries in the past to test its military might. Lester . Kristen welker, at the white house, thank you. More fallout and damage control from United Airlines which now says it will reimburse every passenger on board that flight sunday when Security Officers dragged a passenger from his seat to make room for crew members. Late today, we learned two more of those officers have been placed on administrative leave until further notice and tonight, there are indications the passenger is preparing a lawsuit against the airline and airport. Nbcs tom costello has the latest details. Oh, my god. Reporter this afternoon dr. David dao, the man beaten and dragged from the united air flight filed an Emergency Court petition to preserve all video, voice recordings, crew and passenger manifest as the united ceo went on tv to formally apologize. He was a paying passenger sitting on a paying seat on our aircraft and no one should be treated that way. Reporter oscar munoz says employees werent given the training to use common sense. This teacher took his group of students off the plane after the incident. It was violent and disturbing. I was really particularly saddened by what happened. It was also somewhat embarrassing. Reporter like most airlines, uniteds 46page passenger contract spells out why passengers can be bumped. In addition to being oversold or overbooked, passengers can be removed for failing to compile, failing to dress properly, even women who are nine months pregnant. In hawaii united passenger jeff fern says he was told to get out of the first class seat he paid for to make room for a higher priority passenger. At that point, it was either comply or well call someone from security and physically evict you. Reporter united says it happened after switching to a smaller aircraft and its sorry for the entire experience. Most Airlines Overbook to ensure flights are full. Industry experts say united should have offered sundays customers more valuable travel vouchers and gift cards rather than call security. Meanwhile, with so few airlines, passengers have few alternatives if they are bumped. United Airlines Says when it involuntarily bumps somebody, it does so based on their airfare, frequent flier status and when they checked in. But now, United Airlines has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in stock market valuation. Lester . Thank you. Tonight police in sacramento launched an investigation into one of their own officers after cell phone and dash cam video shows an officer roughing up a pedestrian stopped for jaywalking. Officials are calling the images disturbing and nbcs Miguel Almaguer has the story. Right here reporter the confrontation turns violent in seconds. A Sacramento Police officer slamming then beating a pedestrian stopped for jaywalking. Hey, why you beating him like that . Reporter with the man pummeled by a flurry of punches, sacramento pd calls this punishing beatdown disturbing and unacceptable. No, that was wrong. Mounting a criminal investigation against one of their own. I thought i was going to be like the next trayvon martin. Reporter he says he was walking home from work when it happened. I felt like they were going to draw a gun out and shoot me in my back or try to break my arms off or something. Reporter releasing three dash cam videos, Sacramento Police promise transparency. Stop right now. Stop right now before i take you to the ground. Reporter ignoring the officers commands, the standoff escalated when cane took off his jacket. And then said this. You can take your gun away and fight me like a real man. Its a disturbing incident based on the video, you know, we dont condone this behavior with any of our officers. Were much better than that and hold ourselves to a very high standard. Reporter naomi shot the video and posted it to social media. The video tells itself. He did not resist nothing. Reporter in a climate where police are often recorded and conduct scrutinized, tonight this officer is off the street and the man accused of jaywalking faces no criminal charges. Miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. Still ahead tonight, banning trans fats, new evidence experts say it really does have Health Benefits ahead of restrictions that will affect every american. Also, our one on one with oprah winfrey, the new passion project bringing her back to tv about a woman that changed modern medicine forever. Were back now with Important News about trans fats, they are in so many foods we love but have been linked to higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Now a new study out today finds banning trans fats keeps people out of the hospital and encouraging because trans fat restrictions will take effect nationwide next year. Nbcs ann thompson has our keeping you healthy report. Reporter the temptation of trans fats, enhancing fried foods, chips, cookies and cakes to the delight of consumers and bane of doctors. Empty calories increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes and curbing trans fats improves health. A new study finds, three years after new york counties banned trans fats, people hospitalized for heart attacks and strokes dropped by more than 6 . There is no recommended daily allowance for a safe trans fat consumption. Study haves shown just a couple grams of intake can increase your risk for heart attack and stroke. Reporter how do trans fats do that . By raising your bad cholesterol levels and lowering the good leading to plaque buildup in your arteries that can lead to heart attacks and stroke. Cardiovascular disease is responsible for onethird of the deaths in the u. S. And cost the nation almost 1 billion a day in lost productivity and health care expenses. When new york city banned trans fats in restaurant the ten years ago, critics cried nanny state. Next year the fda will ban it in processed foods nationwide. Do all these items have trans fats . And thats the problem, you never know. Reporter dr. John torrez says you must read labels, looking for trans fats also called partially hydrogenated oils. They can label it zero trans fats, but they can have up to half a gram of trans fats per serving. A bag of chips will have five to ten servings in there in just one serving. And as you know, nobody eats one serving of potato chips. Now to our conversation with oprah winfrey, talking about her return to tv with a starring role in a new passion project coming to hbo. The true story of one of the most important women in modern medicine. Oprah opens up to nbcs kristen dahlgren. All i got to say about that is hallelujah. Finally someone want to talk about my mama. Reporter she plays the daughter of Henrietta Lacks. The woman that transformed medicine and had no idea. To this day many never heard her name. I started asking people, do you know, have you ever heard of Henrietta Lacks . No one had. Reporter something win friday is determined to change. The significance of what her cells meant is significant. And now the world will know that. Reporter she died at Cervical Cancer at Johns Hopkins. Her unique cancer cells were the first to grow in a lab. She never gave doctors permission to use her cells and her family was never told. We didnt know nothing about nothing. Reporter like nothing they had seen before, those cells shortened to hela instead of her full name were used to test the polio vaccine and drugs used to fight cancer, just to name a few. Her daughter debra and author rebecca finally uncovered the truth but debra died just before the book was published. I refuse to cry with you, kristen but i could when i think about debra, how eager she was to know about her mother and have this story told. Reporter henriettas cells were reproduced in labs around the world and millions of dollars changed hands. Becca showed me the paper wheres he wanted to use her name but the lawyer hopkins made all that money off our mother. Hopkins hadnt made a dime. Reporter Johns Hopkins says it did not profit, the family got nothing but for the next generation, there is new mission now. You cant be proud of what was done. So when you think about that okay, something bad happen but so much good has come from it. Reporter david lacks sits on a board at the National Institute of health helping to decide just what henriettas gene sequence is used for. We ought to think of the lacks family as some of the greatest philanthropists in medicine of all time. Reporter they speak around the country urging doctors to never forget the patient behind the petri dish. She was a woman. She was black with limited education, limited finances and look what she has done for the world. Reporter rebecca set up a foundation for the lacks and others that contributed to science without their consent. If anyone had taken a few minutes to listen to her and answer her questions, it would have changed the whole story for her, for her family. Reporter a family now taking back its history. I think what were trying to say is that her life really mattered. Reporter a legacy just like henriettas cells living on. Kristen dahlgren, nbc news, los angeles. An important story to be told. When we come back, the new discount walmart is offering to online shoppers, though, there is one catch. Well tell you more in a moment. Next at 6 enough is enough. Garvin vo the new tactics officers in berkeley are taking to identify these men. And end their nearly 6week run from the law. Jess live cam 160 plus. Light rain right now. But heavier rain taking aim. How much will fall by midnight. Next close the Worlds Largest retailer walmart is offering a new discount to online shoppers. Just be prepared to leave the convenience of your home to get it. Walmart is going to cut prices on thousands of items ordered online if customers agree to pick them up at the closest store. Its walmarts latest shot at an ongoing retail war with amazon. And finally tonight, we wanted to acknowledge the passing of dorothy mengering. You may know her better simply as daves mom. She became an unlikely celebrity in her 70s baking pies and covering the olympics as a special correspondent on her sons late night show. The audience loved her and so did we. Our thoughts are with dave and the whole letterman family. Dorothy mengering was 95 years old. That will do it for us on a wednesday night. Im lester holt. For all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good night. Bracing for more