Nightly News Full Broadcast - March 6

tonight the urgent search for four Americans kidnapped at gunpoint in Mexico the terrifying video that appears to show the Americans being dragged into the back of a van after gunmen opened fire on their minivan was it a case of mistaken identity to reward the FBI and what We also learned about the terrifying moments of this night in the year: the passenger of a United plane accused of trying to open the emergency exit and stabbing a flight attendant, the Southwest plane carrying out An emergency landing in Cuba, smoke fills the cabin and a passenger dies after severe turbulence.

California was hit with even more snow-desperate residents trapped for more than a week and new winter threats followed protesters and police clashing in Atlanta. Nearly two dozen now face domestic terrorism charges being investigated by the NTSB after another Norfolk Southern train derailed in Ohio. -one with Transportation Secretary Pete Budige, we asked if the company would be forced to pause operations. Jurors in Alec Murdock's double murder trial broke their silence. What do they say about his decision to take the stand. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good night all. thank you for joining us tonight Chilling images appear to show four Americans kidnapped at gunpoint moments after crossing from Texas into Mexico on Friday Tonight the FBI is asking for the public's help and offering a fifty thousand dollar reward to help locate the Americans who were attacked by gunmen After crossing from Brownsville, Texas, to Matamoras, traveling in a minivan with North Carolina plates, a woman is seen being dragged into a van, a US official tells NBC News that the attack It may have been a case of mistaken identity, authorities say a Mexican citizen died during the confrontation.

Gabe Gutierrez reports it happened in an area that has become increasingly dangerous. These photos shared widely on social media appeared to show the aftermath of the kidnappings. The FBI says the four Americans entered Matamoros, Mexico on Friday in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates before gunmen opened fire. and kidnapped them, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter told NBC News that this video shows part of the kidnapping that appears to show a woman walking alone, forced into a white van and then men are seen armed with bulletproof vests dragging other people into the vehicle we are closely following the assault and kidnapping of four US citizens in Matamorosa Mexico these types of attacks are unacceptable authorities say a Mexican citizen died during the incident a law enforcement official The law tells NBC News that the Americans did not cross the border for any criminal purpose and that this appears to be a case of mistaken identity Today the president of Mexico said they entered the country to buy medicine, although US officials have now confirmed that The Mexican government has revisited Matamoros to report on migrant tent camps for years, but violence there has increased the city of about half a million people just across the border from Brownsville Texas is home to warring factions of the gulf drug cartel friday shootings prompted the u.s. consulate to issue another security alert tonight fbi offers fifty thousand dollar reward for safe return of americans and gabe is with me now, do we know anything about the identities of Americans?

Well, Lester, the FBI hasn't confirmed any details, but I just spoke with a relative of one of the kidnapped people and she says the group was from the south. Carolina but she had a rental car with North Carolina plates. She says the group crossed the border for a medical procedure. A law enforcement source with knowledge of the matter tells NBC News it was cosmetic surgery and families are pleading for his safe return tonight. Gabe Gutierrez, thank you. Now on to those mid-air scares: The latest man arrested for allegedly trying to open a plane's emergency exit door during a flight and then stabbing a flight attendant who, after a Southwest flight was forced to land after of a bird strike, here's Tom Costello, happened on A United flight from Los Angeles to Boston Federal prosecutors say that 45 minutes before landing, a passenger tried to open an exit door between first class and economy class when the Flight attendants confronted the man.

He allegedly tried to stab one of them in the neck with a broken spoon. passengers boarded and subdued the passenger until the plane landed in Boston tonight Francisco Torres, 33, detained on federal charges while smoke and panic on Southwest flight 39-23 On Sunday the 737 was hit by birds as it took off from Havana Cuba On the way to Fort Lauderdale the engine exploded and caught fire, the terrified passengers put on oxygen masks while the crew returned making an emergency landing in Havana. Smoke started coming into the cabin and they just said stay in your seats and we had to start breathing.

Bird strikes are common but rarely cause serious problems. The damage from the 2009 Hudson Landing Miracle came after a flock of geese ripped out both of the plane's engines, while the tragedy aboard a private plane when passenger Dana Hyde, 55, of Maryland, died when the Bombardier Challenger plane went through severe turbulence. plane flying from New Hampshire to Virginia making an emergency landing in Connecticut, the ntsp says the pilots were dealing with a balance issue at the time, suggesting they may have hit clear air turbulence in a jet stream moving 50 to 100 miles per hour faster than normal. Air turbulence is not something that radar shows, so pilots cannot see it in advance.

Every year, passengers and crew members suffer head lacerations, broken bones and bruises in severe turbulence. This is exactly why we tell you to wear your seat belt, because if you don't. wearing your seat belt Windsor your turbulence like this happens can actually be deadly the incidents are rare but occur as the FAA prepares for an Aviation Safety Summit next week Lester okay Tom thanks parts of Southern California remain under state of emergency tonight with many residents still trapped after days of historic snowfall. Rescuers are still trying to reach those who are stranded and some are running out of food and medicine.

Miguel Almaguer is there as blizzard-like conditions blanket California cities already buried under feet of snow. We have neighbors who are panicking. They're without, you know, food, heat medication for almost two weeks, now residents trapped near Lake Arrowhead, just two hours from Los Angeles, have been asking for help today. High school teacher Steve Gaskell is a literal lifesaver, his jeep is loaded with meals and insulin for Marissa Cup Sack's uncle is stranded at home, thank you, it's overwhelming because my husband can't even get home. He is trapped at the foot of the hill as desperate rations of food and medicine, drifts of snow trap the most vulnerable who cannot dig or plow.

His departure is difficult, I'm really sorry that the National Guard and firefighters were called in to help, but his volunteers walked a few miles through waist-deep snow and made a difference. I think the first responders were overwhelmed with the sheer volume of calls they received. We are reaching the main roads that are being plowed. Manual equipment is slowly starting to reach seniors like Sydney White. I don't see myself leaving here without them, but with over nine feet of snow, the weight of these storms was too much for the only grocery store in the Crestline community, the parking lot is now a free food distribution site for residents like the monks who were lucky to pass the roadblocks people want to go home leave them at home tonight the feeling of desperation is expressed throughout this community As help finally arrives for some, but not for all, Miguel, What is the situation at the moment with the electricity and the water well?

Lester, people without power or water are slowly getting it back. I want to show you a live image from our drone above, it shows another major problem. they are dealing with this whole area with heavy snow that is collapsing the roofs less people in this area need help and they need it fast Lester okay Miguel thank you bringing Dylan Dreyers tracking all of this Dylan when is the west coast going to get some relief? Well, where is Miguel we are going to get some relief, but the next storm is already moving through central and northern California, where over the next few days we will see rounds of snow, so at least until Wednesday.

We will see several inches of snow in the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, we will see between one and three feet of snow, and then we will take a short break before the next major storm system hits the coast on Friday. Through Saturday we also have a small weak system moving across Lake Erie right now, this is going to produce enough snow to complicate things for Tuesday morning. The heaviest amounts will spread across north central Pennsylvania, but even in New York City, just north of Philadelphia, we could end up with enough on the roads to make things slick by tomorrow morning, okay, Dylan, thank you very much, alarming scenes on the outskirts of Atlanta, where police say they faced a coordinated attack by rioters at the site of a planned police training center tonight, more than 20 people are charged with domestic terrorism Blaine Alexander has late details in Atlanta a chaotic crash Atlanta police released this video they say shows rioters throwing fireworks at officers and setting fire to construction vehicles and a trailer in the end 23 accused of domestic terrorism throw Molotov cocktails large rocks a number of items to the officers their only intention is to harm the police call it a coordinated attack by violent agitators of the 23 arrested only two are from Georgia while protesters say it all started at a family music festival and that officials used excessive force to arrest some who were not involved, it all centered on a planned Public Safety Training Center that opponents have dubbed Police City.

The planned site is right here. 85 acres outside of Atlanta. A training center for both Atlanta police and firefighters. Now the officers have been stationed nearby, but. They say they will increase their presence in the coming days. Officials promote it as a way to improve community policing. This is where community and neighborhood policing programs will learn how to keep your neighborhood safe, but critics say it will do just the opposite. 90 acres of forest are going to be destroyed immediately to build a police city, so we see this as further militarization of the police. This is the latest flashpoint in a fight that has raged for more than a year.

In January, a protester was killed a Georgia State Patrol trooper injured tonight protesters say this is just the beginning of a week of demonstrations Blaine Alexander NBC News Atlanta we leave Ohio in another derailment by a Norfolk Southern train, this just a month after that toxic explosion in eastern Palestine. As outrage grows over the response of the railroad company and the federal government, Jesse Curse reports tonight that the NTSB is investigating another Norfolk Southern crash in Ohio. The company's fourth round in this state in less than five months. Springfield train crash caught on camera. company says 28 cars went off the track this weekend with two crew members on board no injuries reported or threats to public health 212 cars, some of which were tank cars carrying hazardous material Norfolk Southern says that wagons with hazardous materials were not among those that derailed today the company promises more investment in sensors that detect overheated wheel bearings, even one derailment is one too many and yet the average in recent years has been several each day.

Transport Secretary Pete Butterjudge says rail standards need to change, but in reality it's the entire industry that has been pushing hard to relax or delay safety rules, now is the time to try to find a way topossibly pausing Norfolk Southern operations until these investigations are completed; The reality is that our economy depends on a strong freight rail network that operates 24/7. We shouldn't have to shut down this country's rail system to make sure it's safe. Still, some residents here don't

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y trust what they hear from officials after last month's toxic derailment in East Palestine. From 200 miles away I don't know if it's frustrating but it's a little scary, I'm sure there are safety protocols in place, maybe they aren't being followed.

Bipartisan calls for rail safety reform grow as Norfolk Southern trains arrive here once again in the Move over Lester Jesse Kirsch thanks in 60 seconds Jurors in Alec Murdoch murder trial talk about guilty verdict, reveal their reactions after Murdoch took the stand. A lawyer for Alec Murdoch tells NBC News that he is now off suicide watch but remains isolated in a South Carolina prison and now we are hearing from some of the jurors who convicted him of murdering wife e son of him. Here is Katie Beck after six weeks of testimony and it tears me up. My boys face the juries and the Alec Murdoch trial by breaking their silence on the decision. to seal his fate, we already know that he is a lawyer, that he is capable of being emotional about cases, that he is capable of being emotional about himself, so I think we were able to read from beginning to end that Murdoch was found guilty and sentenced to prison life for killing his wife.

Maggie and her son Paul, now a convicted murderer behind bars Alec Murdock will remain in Kirkland Correctional Center for at least 30 days to be processed and evaluated Murdoch was on suicide watch for the first 72 hours and is now in protective custody locked up in isolation for 23 hours a day jurors say Murdoch's fate was close to being decided from the first minutes inside the Jury Room everyone had questions but we were able to explain everything jurors say Murdoch's decision to take the stand in his Self-defense hurt his case more than it helped, I think. which he believes is so convincing that he felt it was his last resort, but for several the cell phone video of the kennels tipped the scales towards guilt.

Some jurors accept that they may never understand Murdoch's motive, but they have no doubt that the punishment fits the crime he wanted to be in control of everything some thought it was more like greed could be in control Katie Beck NBC News Columbia South Carolina and next as we continue tonight our exclusive reporting on a new legal challenge to Texas' near-total abortion ban, return with our NBC News exclusive, a new lawsuit filed in Texas challenging the states' near-total abortion ban and seeking clarity on when doctors are allowed to intervene in dangerous pregnancies without fear to be prosecuted here is yamiche Alcindor when Amanda and Josh Sarovsky discovered they were expecting a girl.

They were delighted with the name they chose for her Willow, I mean it was magical. The first 17 weeks were very easy. Everything went very well, but just before week 18 something felt wrong. Amanda's body was preparing for birth too soon. The

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from her doctor was devastating and she said very quickly: "You know for once that you are going to lose the baby and she is not going to survive." I thought what they would do is come in and intervene immediately but she told me they couldn't because the baby's heart was still beating and I wasn't sick.

Texas law prohibited doctors from performing abortions except in a medical emergency. It endangers a person's health. life or important bodily function those who break the law could face life in prison take me back to what it was like to expect. He simply existed in sadness and fear. I was really very scared. This is simply not something that can be done with anyone else. The type of medical problem is that you have to ask if I am sick enough to receive treatment. It was just infuriating three days after diagnosis. Amanda's health deteriorated. Doctors performed an abortion, but serious infections led to sepsis and Amanda spent three days in the ICU because of the law I almost died nothing about this as pro-life now Amanda is part of a group of seven plaintiffs represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights who They plan to file a lawsuit against the state of Texas tonight until there is a legal fight, nothing is going to change and something has to change, but John Sego, president of Texas Right to Life, who helped craft the heartbeat law heart of Texas, says the law is clear as written and that doctors like Amanda's are misinterpreting it if they say they have to delay and wait the days. like you're talking about, that's medical malpractice, but if it's not clear whether this child can survive or not, Texas says we don't jump to conclusions, the doctors say the law is unclear, and as a result, I'm going to act for the side of being cautious and that means I might have to wait for a woman to get sicker and sicker before I can get the abortion I know she needs.

That is the wrong conclusion. Nancy Northup is the president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, the problem here is not that doctors are being too cautious, the reality is that without clarification of this Texas law, without a change in the circumstances that are happening today, women will become to die Sego does not agree the law does not put lives in danger the law is black and white about what a doctor can do and what he cannot do, does it ever make you think that there are situations that have happened after this law in which women's lives have been put at risk?

Yes, our mission is to save lives, so the fact that some women's lives have been in danger is something we take very seriously. A small team. Amanda and Josh are still mourning the loss of her. I know, damn, one thing gets me every time they expect something to change. I don't want anything more to have. kids, but I'm afraid of being pregnant again Yami will send NBC News Austin Texas and that's Nightly News for this Monday thanks for watching everyone. I'm Lester Holt, please take care of yourselves and each other. Thank you for watching our YouTube channel.

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