Right now. Announcer from nbc news World Headquarters in new york, this is nbc nightly news with jose diaz balart. Good evening. Im Peter Alexander in tonight for jose. Breaking news on the Christmas Eve as president elect donald trump is trying to calm the controversy over potential conflicts of interest before he takes the oath of office now less than a month away. Tonight trump announced that hell dissolve the donald j. Trump foundation, a charity that bears his name and remains under investigation by the new York State Attorney general. Nbcs Kelley Odonnell brings us the latest on the breaking news from outside trumps mar lag go estate. Reporter the surprise Christmas Eve announcement. Part of an unfolding plan to detangibling the billionaire from a maze of business and family ties that could hinder his new administration. Trumps reasoning . He writes to avoid even the appearance of any conflict with my role as trump praised the foundations philanthropy. Im very proud of the money that has been raised for Many Organizations in need. The new York Attorney general launched an investigation in september over how the foundation used its funds. It would be incredibly unusual if there were allegations of inappropriatety by a nonprofit and we didnt investigate. Reporter the new york ag said not so fast. The Trump Foundation is still under investigation by this office and cannot legally dissolve until that investigation is complete. Trump has blasted the inquiry as partisan. The new York Attorney general is a democrat. Trump summed up his decision this way. I will be devoting so much time and energy to the presidency and solving the many problems facing our country and the world, i dont want to allow good work to be associated with a possible conflict of interest. Kelley, the foundation has a unique history. What more can you tell us about reporter well, peter, a bit of background. It goes back to 1988. There are no employees. Trump family members sit on the board. The irs cited the foundation and it paid a fine for Campaign Contributions here in florida that were deemed improper. Kelley, tonight a little bit more breaking news. President elect trump trying to fill out his white house team. Another key voice not coming with him. What do we know . Reporter fewer than four weeks to go, peter, and many people have seen jason miller on television. A Top Communications advisor to trump. Accepted the position of Communications Director in the white house. He announces he wont be taking that position saying hes had a chance to spend time with his family. His wife is pregnant with their second child and hes going to put family ahead of his career. But thats a loss to the Trump White House because hes been a huge part of that are strategy. Kelley, merry christmas. Thank you. The Prime Minister netanyahu is venting his frustration with the Obama Administration after a u. S. Abstention allowed the u. N. Security council to condemn israeli settlements in the west bank and east jerusalem. Netanyahu called it a shameful antiisrael ambush and looking forward to working with pleblgt trump. Secretary of state john kerry said the u. S. Acted with one primary objective in mind. To preserve the possibility of a twostate solution. In time for christmas a major winter storm is moving east through the rockies threatening to make lastMinute Travel tomorrow dicey from the midwest to the plains. Its an ugly forecast, freezing rain, snow, even the possibility of a tornado in places. Here is nbcs steve paterson. Reporter tonight treacherous conditions for a Record Number of holiday travelers. In california, a rare rainstorm drenching droughtplagued south. Record daily and havoc on washedout roads. Recent wild fires creating poor conditions on hillsides making a muddy mess. Further north snow shutting down interstate 5. Californias major artery. Closed in both directions. In washington state, ice and snow stranded drivers. A winter storm in spokane is sending more than 20 vehicles slamming into each other, including a city bus. Drivers here thankful no one got hurt. It was pretty scary but i felt safe we were going to bump into people. In iowa tractor trailers and cars were slid off the highway. Last Minute Travel will be dicey at best. Freezing rain potential, as well. Thats happening. Reporter in wisconsin, the Minnesota VikingsFootball Team trying scary situation. The players stranded after the teams plane skidded off the taxi way in icy conditions. Were definitely over the limit now. Reporter the vikings having to be rescued from the plane. Ice, rain, and snow across the country slowing the way for many trying to get home for the holidays. Steve paterson, nbc news los angeles. There is sad news on this Christmas Eve. Word of two deadly fires claiming the lives of children who were unable to escape. Their families left in a state of shock and mourning. Nbcs morgan rad ford has more. Reporter three children trapped and killed in a house fire minutes before Christmas Eve. Flames broke out in a gary, indiana apartment where a 2, 4, and 5yearold were pronounced dead. I seen the flames. I heard the kids help. It hurts. Reporter their mom and adult male rushed to the hospital. Were still going through the debris and checking out probably causes. Reporter hours later in pennsylvania, another fire. This time in a singlefamily home killing a 5monthold baby on the second floor and the grandmother and uncle lifeless at the bottom of the stairs. For the firefighters its going to be tough. Were going to get some emotional assistance for them. Reporter while authorities search for clues, a fresh reminder of a dangerous reality. Nearly 47,000 fires happen during the holiday season. Claiming more than 500 lives. Tonight sending shock waves of grief. Man, Christmas Eve. Thats the most heartbreaking thing in the world. Reporter a painful start to the holiday morgan rat ford nbc news new york. Overseas authorities arrested three people, including the nephew of the alleged berlin Christmas Market attacker. Theyre suspected of belonging to a terrorist cell and having contact with this man, anise amari. He later tied in a shoot out with police in italy. In the war against one of the worlds most vicious terror groups, the nigerian president is claiming victory over boko haram. The Group Responsible for kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls a few years ago. The Nigerian Army said it freed more than 200 captives. Most of the girls remain missing, as Lucy Kavanaugh explains. Reporter hope for a peaceful christmas renewed tonight as nigeria claims to have finally crushed the islamist streamist group saying they are on the run driven from their last enclave. Hostages freed. For seven years, theyve murdered and terrorized in their quest to set up an Islamic State in africa. Their brazen kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls inspired a Worldwide Campaign bring back our girls. Two years later, barely any escaped. Just 21 released. Most still missing. Boko haram joined forces with isis last year becoming its most sinister franchise. They actually are far, far more lethal. They were far more lethal than isis was. Reporter unlike isis, boko harams attacks are focussed on nigeria and neighboring countries. It could be possible that boko haram has been defeated a the base camp. They may have broken down into smaller units and going underground back into clan destine terrorism. Reporter as isis has already proven, losing ground doesnt mean they cant Lucy Kavanaugh nbc news london. Now to the, that syria. An extraordinary look at the incredible scope of devastation inside aleppo. A siege for so many years. Now reduced to rubble. Nbcs bill neely was inside that wartorn city. Reporter one Million People lived here, but east aleppo was a ghost town now. It has emptied. 30,000 people evacuated in just over a week. Half of syrias biggest city is destroyed. But aleppo has lost more than that. War turned its ancient sites to battle fields and rubble. This was the grand mosque before the war. This is it today. A thousand years of beauty blown to pieces. Gunmen were protected here, but not history. This was the market, the oldest in the world. Today it ruin. After 1200 years of business, its an underground arsenal filled with snipers nests and spent bullets. This was the citadel a World Heritage site. Today its a camp for victorious syrian troops. The walls breached by shelling. Its in ruins. Aleppo was one of the jewels of the arab world. Not anymore. The collapse began when rebels seized the eastern half and the regime bombed relentlessly. Whole neighborhoods wiped out. People have lived here for 8,000 years. It claims to be the oldest inhabited city in the world. They wont live here again. Amid this waste land, people salvage scraps. They are surviving but the is hardly living. Its hard to say this place is coming back to life after so death. A death toll thought to be in the tens of thousands after years of air strikes. But, frankly, the exact figure may never be known. Half of aleppos people are now refugees. Homeless and traumatized. Aleppo has fallen. It will take a generation to build it again. Bill neely nbc news aleppo. Back now to politics. A look at one of the pressing issues facing the next president. Health care for americas veterans. Donald trump has yet to announce his pick to head the department of veterans affairs. Hes already vowing to shorten the wait time to see a doctor and improve veterans access to private health care. Still, as our pentagon correspondent explains, there are plenty of questions how it will work. Reporter on his way to the white house, donald trump appealing to americas 22 million veterans. One of the big problems is the wait time. Vets are waiting six days, seven days, [000 12 59;00] reporter part of trumps plan, give every vet the option to go outside to a private practice of their choice. Similar options already exist for some veterans. The biggest choice . Veterans choice. Di dave maier tried it out for an eye exam. It took longer than if i would have went to the va. Reporter the program was designed for vets like myier. Those who live more than 40 miles from the closest va. For anyone who faces a wait time of more than 30 days. It would be good if we could get more local va help, but the program they have isnt working for us. Reporter congress created the 10 billion program after a 2014 scandal revealed some veterans were dying waiting for care. Nationally wait times of more than 30 days are down. Thats in part because doctors like lawrence goldberg, a nonva ophthalmologist in florida are looking to clear the backlog. Theyre putting [000 13 58;00] theyre in dire straits with their vision and then sending them to me because theyre not getting taken care of at the va expeditious. Reporter some doctors complain theyre going months before getting reimbursed by the va and may not continue in the program. First few patients it took over six months to get paid. They kept denying it. Reporter the response from the va . In the past two years va has increased access to care both inside va and through our work with private health care providers. Formyier who drives vets to appointments across minnesota, he said the best way to endure is by helping one another. Any time youre sitting at home feeling sorry for yourself, go spend a day at the va. Theres always somebody thats got it worse. Reporter as for the future of veterans care. Trump can ask congress to extend the Program Beyond next summer, expand it for all veterans, or create something entirely new. Nbc news minnesota. Tonight carrie fi intensive care at A Los Angeles hospital one day after the star wars actress suffered a heart attack on board a flight from london. Her family rushed to her side. Theres been an outpouring of support from friends and fans and former costars. Among them han solo himself. Harrison ford writes im shocked and saddened to hear the news about my dear friend. Our thoughts with carrie, her family, and friends. Exploding e cigarettes. More when youre close to the people you love, does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching moment . If you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. Taltz is proven to give you a chance at completely clear skin. With taltz, up to 90 of patients had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. In fact, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. Do not use if you are allergic to taltz. Before starting you should be checked for tuberculosis. Taltz may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Tell your doctor if you are being treated for an infection or have symptoms. Or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. Inflammatory bowel disease can happen with taltz. Including worsening of symptoms. Serious allergic reactions can occur. Nows your chance at completely clear skin. Just ask your doctor about taltz. Nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea heres pepto bismol ah. Nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea this holiday, the real gift isnt whats inside the box. Its whats inside the person who opens it. Give your loved ones ancestrydna, the simple dna test that can tell them where they came from by revealing their ethnic mix. Its a gift as original as they are. Order now at ancestrydna. Com. Breathe easier with your vicks vaporub. Soothing cough relief that starts working instantly. In california, it began with a Bus Passenger rushed to the hospital after an e cigarette exploded in his pocket. Investigators suspect a lithiumion battery is to blame. We have the possible recalls tonight. Reporter a terrifying bus ride in fresno, california as a passenger on the right e cigarette explodes in his pocket. Its the latest case of an exploding lithi lithiumion battery causing severe burns. This week in the uk, investigators releasing this video from inside a store where an e cigarette ignites over a baby stroller. Theda reporting nearly 100 cases of exploding e cigarettes since 2009. E cigarettes also raising alarm in the Airlines Flight was forced to land after a small fire on board. It was a lithiumion battery that caught on fire. Reporter currently e cigarettes are allowed in carryon bags. The Tobacco Vapor Electronic Association calls the incidents 100 avoidable. Retailers saying most explosions are caused by overcharging the batteries. Making modifications to small vaporizers or the batteries talking the metal in your pockets. Preventable with specialized carrying cases. In new york senator schumer is calling certain types of cigarettes ticking time bombs. We havent seen a single recall for any brand of e cigarettes. Actually the device goes boom. The industry is silent and the feds are silent, too. Reporter the fda and faa still evaluating how to regulate the and batteries sold every day. Gadi schwartz nbc news los angeles. A dramatic highwire rescue to at planters we know how to throw a remarkable holiday party. Just serve classy snacks and be a gracious host, no matter who shows up. [cricket sound] richard. Didnt think you were going to make it. Hey sorry about last weekend, i dont know what got into me. Well forgive and forget. Kind of. 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