Petraeus as a fourstar u. S. Army veteran petraeus, with so much over the combat strategy over the past ten days. A fourstar veteran, when rumors surfaced he may be stepping down as head of the cia, some speculated he was running for president. Instead, he announced he would step down because of an extramarital affair. At a time when the cia was under fire for all it didnt know about the attack on benghazi, it is a huge step for the newly reelected president , and a profound personal failing for an officer who has given so much to his country. We begin tonight with nbcs Andrea Mitchell who broke the story, in our d. C. News room. Reporter good evening, his resignation because of an extramarital affair sent shock waves through the administration and everyone who knew his record of stellar service. The cia has been under fire, but this had nothing to do with benghazi or politics. It was entirely personal. He was a fourstar, the best known warrior of his generation, leader of combat force
Of the assault weapons ban. And then hes going to ask for more aggressive prosecution of existing laws. Let me separate this out a little bit. The first three items are things hes going to ask congress to do. There are actually already bills that have been introduced in the United States senate that deal with those three items. The fourth item has to do with people who essentially lie on background checks, they fail background checks. There were over 71,000 people in 2009 who failed on a background check in an attempt to purchase a gun, but only 44 of those folks were prosecuted. So the president is essentially going to order his Justice Department to say you know what, dont let these people fall through the cracks, prosecute the laws on the books. And interestingly enough, brian, this is something the nra, this last proposal, is something the nra says it supports. Well see. This is going to be a tough road to hoe in congress, we know that, but one of the things about this, brian, one
Good evening, we wanted to let our viewers on the west coast know what it is like to be on the east coast tonight, the freakishly powerful october storm will go down as one of the worst storms of all time. It is no longer technically hurricane sandy, a subtropical cyclone, a noreaster to some sta states, ten states under emergency, almost half the country warned about high winds all because of this. It has officially made landfall tonight just south of Atlantic City, new jersey, and has the power to alter the map of the jersey shore. And well see that in action in just a moment. Sandy is tonight causing flooding from massachusetts, to all the way west, a cloud bank visible over Lake Michigan. In new york, all eyes are on the continuing drama of that massive dangling construction crane, captured on video as it got blown up and over on its cab. It is now swinging in the wind, on top of 57th street. And picture this, the New York Stock Exchange is sandbagged. Cars were floating in the wat
Heading into another night in the dark. A huge area of the country on its knees where life has ground to a halt, because of this one storm. The death toll is now at least 40. The biggest city in the country has been staggered. Power is out for more than 8 million homes and businesses, and thats an early low ball estimate across 15 states. An early guess at the cost of this storm would begin at 50 billion in damage and lost business. The map of the atlantic coastline, especially the jersey shore has been simply redrawn in some areas. The president is touring the damage in new jersey tomorrow. Today he told the folks across this entire region, america is with you. Here is where this storm is now. Its centered 50 miles eastsoutheast of pittsburgh. Think of it this way, the same storm that plunged the east coast into darkness, was today causing 60 mile an hour winds as far away as gary, indiana. The storms being felt in wisconsin. It made a direct hit on the jersey shore. Nbcs ron allen is
Good evening. Im lester holt sitting in tonight for brian. While the cold war has been over for more than 20 years the growing chill of late between washington and moscow became downright frosty today as president obama called off his planned meeting with russias Vladimir Putin. A response to russias grant of asylum to admitted american spy Edward Snowden, but the split goes deeper than that and highlights the failure of the two most powerful men in the world to come to terms on dealing with everything from syrias brutal regime to arms control. Meantime, the president is also speaking publicly for the first time about the terror warnings emanating from the arabian peninsula. Chief White House Correspondent chuck todd starts us off with more on all that. Chuck . Reporter good evening, lester. Both sides insist the cold war isnt back, but it is clear the relationship with the United States and russia is getting pretty icy. Todays announcement that the president will not meet Vladimir Put