i m pamela brown in washington. the top stories for you on this saturday night. protesters rally across the nation one day after the city of memphis releases the horrific video showing the violent arrest of tyre nichols. plus ukraine claims russia is pounding a key town near donetsk. and president trump meeting with voters in two key states as he jump starts his third push toward the white house. you re in the cnn newsroom. we begin tonight in memphis, where the fallout from the killing of tyre nichols is leading to a major move by the police department there. tyre nichols did not deserve this at all whatsoever. moving forward, i just don t know what can help this city. today peaceful protests have been unfolding in memphis and other american cities outraged by the killing of tyre nichols by five police officers now charged with second degree murder. we want to warn you. the police video you are about to see is graphic and deeply troubling. three weeks ago nichols l
country. velshi starts now. good morning to you. it is sunday, january the 28. i m ali velshi. demonstrators in major cities around the country took to the streets again yesterday after the memphis police department released footage of the brutal beating of tyre nichols by five members of its own police force. in the continuing aftermath, memphis pd announced yesterday that it has permanently deactivated its scorpion unit. scorpion what the departments anti violence group which has been under scrutiny in recent days after it became public that all five of the police officers who were fired, arrested, and charged with second degree murder in nichols death where members of the unit. joining me now from memphis, tennessee, is nbc s antonia hylton who have been covering the story from the beginning. antonia. welcome tell us a bit about this new development with the scorpion unit, of which all five of these police officers were members. ali, i was actually with protesters yest
boston, and d.c.. take a look at your screen right there. just to name a few of the places where we are watching this demonstration on s unfold. it s no secret that tyre nichols death is another reminder of the cycle of police violence normalized in this country. like so many of these cases, it started at a traffic stop. the driver just trying to get home. those were among nichols last words. in fact, as police video released yesterday clearly revealed. tonight we still don t know what led to the traffic stop in the first place. memphis police initially said officers pulled nichols over for reckless driving on january 7th. however on friday a memphis police chief told msnbc a review of police video shows no evidence that nichols was driving recklessly. we are going to show you some of that video, nichols traffic stop and initial interaction with police. it s very graphic but it shows with the 29-year-old was up against as he drove to take a picture of the sunset. man, i did
welcome to the beat. ari melber. we begin tonight with breaking news. murder charges have been issued for all five memphis police officers former officers for the beating death of tyre nichols. those officers are in custody. the people you see on your screen, now in civilian clothing, booked and incarcerated what would be a murder trial. they are charged with killing this individual through a knowing state of mind, and all five we ll explain the legalities of this accused of contributing directly to the death. this is justin smith, em met martin, desmond mills jr., demetrius and tadarius bean. this is a case that has royaled memphis. it s also a case that chose how law enforcement responses to law enforcement killings are changing. he died three days after being pulled over for what was something that shouldn t have been a violent interaction at all, alleged reckless driving. the d.a. revealing more about what was a confrontation where nichols apparently fled on foot
funeral service for tyre nichols this afternoon. it comes as details about what happened the night nichols encountered police are coming under new scrutiny. and we re learning more about the past conduct of some of the officers involved. more on that ahead. also this morning, bone chilling weather sweeping the nation. a triple threat of freezing rain, sleet and snow causes accidents, power outages and grounds thousands of flights. parts of the country are bracing for windchills that could dip as low as negative 60. we re tracking this brutal cold coming up. plus, face to face, after a public war of words over our country s debt limit as president biden and speaker mccarthy are set to meet at the white house this afternoon. the expectations according to our us who team could not be lower. what both sides are bringing to the table. and the 2024 gop presidential primary is about to get a little more crowded as former u.n. ambassador nikki haley moves closer to becoming for