Top Story with Tom Llamas - Feb. 28 | NBC News NOW

Tonight a state of emergency was declared in Southern California and the images are incredible a monster storm trapping residents in the mountains outside of Los Angeles roads completely impassable grocery stores running out of food will talk to a family who has been stranded for days as yet another storm targets millions on its path from coast to coast we'll have the full forecast in moments our other big headline tonight the student debt showdown at the Supreme Court President Biden vows to forgive half a trillion dollars in student loans, but is that plan legal? with the conservative judges named on the court today and what it means for the 40 million Americans with college debt trapped by war tonight's incredible report from inside a Ukrainian city surrounded on all sides by Russian forces the few civilians Remaining forces forced to drink from drainage pipes to stay alive will take you deep inside the trenches with soldiers fighting to hold the front line, plus stunning footage of El Salvador's inmates crammed inside a new Mega Prison as part of the president's aforementioned war on gangs, but is this crackdown stopping violence with residents on the ground and human rights watchdogs now sane and ready to run Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, fueling rumors of a possible presidential race, launching a national tour to promote his new book, how former President Trump is responding to this blitz across the country tonight, and what a new poll says about who would win in a potential showdown in 2024, the main

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begins right now and good night, we start the main

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tonight with the state of emergency in California, a powerful snowstorm that closed major highways and left residents stranded in the mountains.

Take a look at some of the images that appear in the Sierra Nevada just as it gets hit with snow. You can see white conditions near Soda Springs in Northern California. Snow plows are struggling to keep pace in some areas that are expected to receive up to seven feet of snow. empty shelves in San Bernardino County, outside of Los Angeles, where many families remain trapped by snow, making it impossible for delivery trucks to pass or for those families to get out in a moment we will talk to a family with two children little ones that it's been snowing for days, how their mom tells us it's been keeping everyone's spirits up and at lower elevations, days of heavy rain that caused landslides, parts of the famous Mulholland Drive were closed after this The slope you see here gave way and much of the northeast continues to be excavated.

In the wake of yesterday's major snowstorm, hundreds of schools closed for the day in New York and New England and another storm across the country. Watch this, take note, it's expected to bring a lot more snow, heavy rain, and possible tornadoes. We will have all the information. We predicted at one point, but we start first with Miguel Almaguer and that terrible situation in California. Before dawn, a state of emergency was ordered in the mountains outside Los Angeles, already buried under up to seven feet of snow, residents trapped in San Bernardino County are rationing food and running out of supplies as another major storm snow Barrels in a crazy, crazy storm have never experienced this kind of weather before in Lake Arrowhead Griffith Vertigan walked a mile through waist-deep snow to get to a gas station.

The main roads are impassable and many like Teresa. Grant is stranded, we haven't seen a plow in days, the razor this once in a generation storm closed over 70 miles of Interstate 80. A lifesaver for commerce, luckily I have my dad with me otherwise I would panic nationwide more than 10 million are under winter weather alerts Today in New York City with its first significant snowfall as thunderstorms and the threat of tornadoes approach the south, but back on the West Coast another blackout looms . Not only is Tom's travel treacherous in some parts of California, there's no way this car is buried under several feet of snow and later today we're expecting another storm with 75 mile per hour winds and up to a foot more of snow.

Tom Miguel Almaguir will guide us tonight here on the upper floor with just one section. of California bombarded by snow to better understand what this state of emergency is like from the inside. Now we are joined by Luke and Natalie Granger, residents of Lake Arrowhead, and Luke is the fire captain for the city of Colton, both located in San Bernardino County, where a state of emergency was declared. Natalie Luke, thank you so much for joining tonight's top story. I know it's a very difficult night where you are placed first. I want our viewers to know where they are, they're just in the east. little northeast of Los Angeles, in the mountains, tell us what the last few days have been like for you and your family, well, it's been snowing and it's been cold, blizzards are a common thing here, they always have been, but The latter took on a lot of snow and kind of overwhelmed our local resources, to the point where there's no place to shovel the snow off the road anymore, so yeah, you know we have a video that you guys sent. we, Luke, I want to show our viewers this video because and I'm not sure if it was you pushing like it was the snowplow. um, your car, it looks like a Jeep is completely covered in snow, you can't even see it and it looks like whoever is pushing that machine isn't really doing much, there's someone with a shovel trying to help too.

I mean, how hard was it to dig people out, yeah, it's not easy, it's a lot easier if you can. keep it every two hours, but when you get overwhelmed and have nowhere to transport it either, what you can't see in the bottom of my Jeep is a Dodge Ram truck, oh wow, I'm tired, yeah, you can't. You can't even understand that, Natalie, what was the hardest part for you? What was the most difficult part? I know that you are still under the state of emergency. I think to keep up with the needs of our community there is a lot of family, family.

Again, this is because of this in advance and even with our preparations there are still basic and vital needs that must be met and the roads cannot be cleared fast enough by trying to physically meet those needs. um, they're hard, you know what you mentioned? The roads have not been cleaned enough. We have another photo that you sent. I think it was a gasoline truck or a tanker truck. I'm not exactly sure. He looked like he was stuck in the snow. There is a very powerful image here. What are some of the things that you guys need right now in your community, our community generally struggles with funding, although we are within a large county of San Bernardino County, it is still a very small and very unique community, although we are just 30 minutes from an urban city and We are missing a lot of that funding and resources.

The immediate needs right now are snowplows and not just snowplows. Important heavy equipment. This is a big load of snow. There aren't many areas to store it. Throw it away. We need a lot of equipment. There will be a lot of work just in our community, we have a lot of digging and plowing to do and this is a large, dense rural community so we need those resources immediately and we hope that with the state of emergency declared those resources become immediate for us we need that our grocery stores are full we need those gas trucks to get here the last thing we need is a lot of visitors right now until we can get those resources and get our community back to safe and functional living and Luke you know you're the captain of the fire department, one of the fire departments.

Can you talk to the governor's office or any Emergency Management official to get some of the things you need for your community? That's over my head. uh at my level, but the guys are doing everything they can, it's just that it's a big machine that supports logistically, uh, and everyone is doing what they can, um, but between Caltrans and San Public Works accounting Bernardino, uh, they depend a lot on uh. community and our neighbors, Travis Schneider, has gone to great lengths to bring his heavy machinery here and he is just one of a dozen mountain folks trying to make our lives better and more doable and get the people who depend on them out. emergency medications. um, trying to get to doctor's appointments, uh, on the roads that are open because it's impossible to get on the roads right now and Natalie, anything immediate that people can do, viewers are watching this or people Looking at California, anything they can do to help.

I think at this point, for those family members who have been stranded down the mountain, it would be helpful to get some type of resource from the Red Cross, perhaps resources like contacting those who need those life-saving medications and transporting them to this point. They only have escorts for residents going up the roads into the mountains, that's where my heart really hurts, or for these parents who need specific formulas and medications, people who are stuck down the hill somehow to get them to the Red Cross. or lifeguards who can take them sooner. To be honest, it sounds like a joke.

Snow rackets. Cross country ski until we clear more roads. That's our best transportation bet right now. Natalie, real quick, just because you. I mentioned this, there are families that need formula. I mean how serious the situation is, so people who see this can understand. I only have brief access to social media here and there. From there there was a family whose mother was trapped at the bottom. mountain of work and the father has the child, the baby and makes a call on social networks to ask for breast milk. um, you know, there are things that this community is so close-knit that they will take you from house to house on a sleigh, uh, if they have to get what they need, but the most important part to keep in mind is that these employees of our stores can't even go to work.

First responders can't get to where they need to be. We'd love to be out more, but we have to get out, so today was the first day with our neighbor bringing his heavy equipment and we might even get the chance to get out tomorrow and maybe help out a little more. Natalie and Luke Granger, we will be thinking of you and staying. at the top of this story in the coming days for more information on this forecast. I want to jump right into Bill Karen's bill before he gets to the forecast. What can that couple, that family expect in San Bernardino County over the next few days?

Good, Tom. I think people have to have the perspective that these are areas that are used to heavy snowfall, have some of the best equipment possible, and are getting overwhelmed. Let me give you an example. Mammoth has reported nine feet of snow in the last seven days. the UC Berkeley snow lab this year where they measure snow, it's like their job, they had three feet of snow just yesterday and it's still falling. I mean, we have blizzard conditions, 60 mile per hour winds, so not only is it snowing, but there are blizzards. they are blowing in different areas and this will continue through tonight and then it will slowly improve tomorrow and there is not a lot of snow after this storm system so the cleanup will begin, but you know, we are talking about feet of snow, mountains of snow that they have to remove. about 17 million people are in the path of this storm and the total snow, on top of what we've already had, could still get another two or four feet on top and there's that UC Berkeley snow lab at 36 inches in the Las last 24 hours and by the way the Lodge at Mammoth was closed today which is very rare and they now have over 500 inches in season.

They say the snow depth right now is between 12 and 15 feet, so if you take a metal stake and hit it. If it hits the ground, that's how deep the snow is in some areas of the Sierra, eventually this storm will come to the Northeast, but that won't be until Friday night and there will be some wet weather and also in New York City, but snow in the higher elevations and Tom will be done with it, this storm will bring us another bout of severe weather, it starts tomorrow, but Thursday is the warning day, maybe even some strong tornadoes, okay Bill, we appreciate it, We want to appeal now, next night, to a couple of Supreme Court courts. cases that will affect tens of millions of student loan borrowers arguments from today's court hearing on whether the Biden administration had the authority to forgive these loans NBC's Laura Jarrett has more from Washington tonight the Biden administration's plan to deletehalf a trillion dollars in student loan debt facing a skeptical conservative majority on the Supreme Court and the government comes along and tells that person they don't have to pay their loans the financial futures of over 40 million now in limbo people like Maggie Bell, the first in her family to graduate from college with thirty thousand dollars in federal loans that's hard it's depressing it's stressful she wants judges to uphold President Biden's plan to erase ten thousand dollars in federal student loan debt for anyone make less than one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars and twenty thousand for low-income borrowers groceries are high gas is high like seeing a vacation this year is very difficult for me, right, and I'm not the only person in this boat Liberal justice says today that the proposal will help the millions left struggling after the pandemic.

They don't have friends, family, or other people who can help them make these payments. The evidence is clear that many of them will have to default, but the White House plan is now on hold after six Republican-led states and borrowers sued several conservative judges. Today, when questioning whether the administration overstepped its authority by bypassing Congress, most casual observers would say that if you were going to give up that amount of money, they would do it. I think it's something that Congress Should Consider for President Rob is a college sophomore and the son of a taxi driver.

He did not take out federal loans and says it is unfair to force him to pay others' debts. I chose not to take this loan even though I could definitely benefit from it and I needed that money, but I decided not to, so how is it fair for people like me? I can't get a single cent out of this program. Laura joins the main story tonight from outside the Supreme Court. So, Laura, we saw her report there. I guess my question is, despite the skepticism of some of today's conservative judges, where do we see this going?

Could the lawsuit still be dismissed? Yes, at times, several of the justices, both conservative and liberal, seemed largely unconvinced that The plaintiffs in this case who brought the actual lawsuit, the borrowers, and these Republican-led states actually have the legal right to go to the courts here and if they don't have standing this whole case goes away Tom so so many Americans across this country are going to pursue this case because they have student loan debt does the Biden White House have a plan B? If this is overturned, there's always a plan B, but it may not be a course they want to take, of course, this actually came up as an oral argument today and the Biden Administration has to recognize that, of course, it could go through a much longer process using something called notice and comment that would potentially involve months and even years, obviously they would implement a shorter term solution.

Tom, okay, Laura Jarrett. Laura will also make her debut in the main story tonight. Welcome to NBC. We develop a power of politics. All eyes are on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ahead of a possible run for the White House. The governor releases a new book today and it is already the number one seller on Amazon. the page is filled with mentions of former President Trump and a new poll shows the two are likely to face off in 2024. NBC's Ali Vitale has this Ron DeSantis inching closer to a presidential run. God bless you all making stops all over the country meeting with donors. last weekend in Palm Beach and the release of a new book outlining a plan for America's rebirth, people would say how would you do it in Florida, the book marks a key step in defining DeSantis out of the State of the Sol, promoting his controversial response coveted by his proximity to former President Donald.

Trump and culture clashes, including Disney officially stripping them of their special status in the state yesterday. Disney ran the show in this state for a long time until I became governor and we said, you know, we're going to side with the people of Florida, but just because he's not in the race yet doesn't mean other Republicans aren't. anticipating the primary battle to come. I like what he has done. I am a Trump supporter. He will have to prove to me that he would be a better president than president. If Trump is elected, a new poll shows DeSantis trailing Trump in the theoretical matchup, but he sets the stage for an early race between two men.

DeSantis' book gives a new idea of ​​how he might take on his main rival - that is, not directly if At all, the book mentions Trump more than a hundred times in 288 pages and shows DeSantis as a steadfast ally both in Congress such as as governor of Florida, and at one point called Trump the most famous person to run for the Republican nomination since Dwight Eisenhower and said that in In 2016, Trump had almost instantly gained a large following and was now the man to beat in the primaries. He also parroted Trump's disdain for the media, calling investigations into alleged Russian collusion a media-driven hoax designed to sow doubt about the results of the 2016 presidential election and strangle Trump's presidency in the cradle.

It comes as others who once supported Trump are drawing their own indirect contrast with him, such as former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. I think we need to have a new generation. I think we have to leave the status quo. I think we need to put the old problems behind us and Trump's former vice president Mike Pence is implicit in saying he is considering running, the idea that he believes he could be at least a different president, if not better, than his former boss . Can you just outline a political difference you might have with him, well, I think the times demand different leadership and I'm sure we'll have better options than my old running mate, come 2024.

Okay, Ali Vitale joins to us now from Washington Ali, I want to To go back to something that you reported in the book, Governor DeSantis mentions President Trump. I think he is around 100 times, is what you reported. Did former President Trump respond to that? Yes, today he is responding to Tom and using words and phrases that we have heard him use before. when it comes to Ron DeSantis specifically calling him Sanctimonious Ron again and in true Trump style, referencing recent polls showing Trump ahead of DeSantis, that is true and has been true for a long time as we have been looking at not only the recent polls but also the poll trends, but really when you look at them, it's clear that there are always two men at the top of this field, it's Trump and DeSantis, even at this early point, and then Ali, I know that you have new reports for us tonight here in the main story about this arena. it's a timeline, you know, if we study what Governor DeSantis has done over the years that he's been governor, he hasn't traveled much outside of Florida, but now I know that he has some new reports and kind of tracking that We know he won't be attending CPAC, which is a big conservative conference that a lot of potential contenders like to attend, at least they did in the past.

Yes, leaving CPAC is quite notable, especially since it really is and has become. during the Trump years, as you know, a key conservative meeting and a place where they can really meet with the base gets some media coverage, although DeSantis won't be attending that conference this year nor will people like former Vice President Mike Pence, of course Trump gonna. that's fertile ground for him, but at the same time also, if you look at desantis' other trips, his team is apparently considering some trips not only in connection with his book tour, where he'll go to places like Texas, Alabama and California, but you might also be thinking about taking trips to states where we typically look for presidential candidates or presidential hopefuls.

I'm talking about Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, those could also be on the schedule in the coming weeks. They told me it's okay, Ali Vitale. Ali, we appreciate it, we want to go abroad now that authorities in Russia were on high alert today after reporting a series of drone attacks near the border with Ukraine and elsewhere in Russia, no casualties were reported and this night, NBC's The Cure Simmons takes a rare look inside Crimea. territory in southern Ukraine that Russia has occupied since 2014. This is for you. American

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crews rarely get this close to the Russian Navy.

President Putin's prized Black Sea Fleet. We are in Sevastopol. Crimea is home to a crucial naval base that both sides can now prepare to fight over this is what President Putin will be determined to defend this is his real red line Moscow illegally annexed Crimea nine years ago Ukraine wants it all back, but get Russia out of this city ​​collaborating with Putin's soldiers would not be easy Diana happily shows us that her passport is not her Russian passport, yes this may be a sign of what is to come, an explosion last October that destroyed the critical bridge linking Crimea with Russia.

Russia accuses Ukraine of the attack. Ukraine never admitted its responsibility. We traveled here by train. At that same crossing across what the UN calls Ukraine's internationally recognized border, the bridge reopened last week. This is where the explosion on this bridge occurred last October, around this time of morning. Ukrainian President Zielinski told the West to give us more weapons and Take back what came out, but Crimea, where we saw new signs for Airaid shelters, has many pro-Russian residents who say it is theirs, it is Russian or Ukrainian Crimea, She is Russian, yes, of course, Russian, Praxovia, 73 years old, tells me that we traveled to the city of Batistura, a traditional home. of the Crimean Tata ethnic group victims of human rights abuses the UN says that by opposing Moscow we all pray to the same God this mother tells me why we can't break bread then we find a father with a lot to lose his son is fighting for Russia How old is your son?

How old is she? She tells me and then says that Zelensky will not take back Crimea because we have our commander in chief in this year-long war. Now new battle lines are being drawn in America. The shocking images of To El Salvador's new Mega prison we are now seeing the first arrivals of 2,000 suspected gang members packed together like sardines as the president of El Salvador hails it as a victory human rights groups sound the alarm Valerie Castro has this story hundreds of inmates Barefoot and naked down to white shorts Running towards the new Mega prison in El Salvador where they are ordered to crouch on the ground one after another, these alleged gang members are the first prisoners of the complex called the center for the confinement of terrorism with a highly produced speech to police celebrating mass prisons. opening a cornerstone of their war on gangs also tweeting that they are no longer scary, are the new complex capable of housing 40,000 inmates considered the largest of its kind in America?

The president toured the facilities fully equipped with armed guards and a prison. Staff workshops for inmates to make goods, as well as dark isolation cells intended for solitary confinement and harsh punishments for anyone who tries to create trouble without sleeping mattresses or even visitors allowed. Ukella declared a state of emergency last March due to violence. He plagued the country with more than 60 homicides reported in just one day. The main

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has been following the story ever since by reporting on the mass arrests that followed as police chased suspected criminals. They say they have arrested more than six thousand suspected gang members.

The emergency declaration. was intended to be temporary but was extended several times suspended some constitutional rights such as arrest warrants and access to legal representation Human Rights Watch documented the arrest of thousands of people, including children, leading to the detention of 64,000 people, including 1600 children, what do you think of their use of social media for advertising this campaign? You are making enormous efforts to control the narrative of what is happening in the country when you do it through social media despite the controversial demonstration of strength that some say the crackdown on crime is working, the president sees The highest approval ratings of any other Latin American leader are those of El Salvador's National Civil Police, which reported a sharp decline in homicides in February in compared to previous years, while violence has decreased.

Some believe the cost may be too high. We do not know if those who are being detained have committed a crime or are simply there becauseThey were tattooed and were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Okay, Valerie Castro joins us now here in the studio. An interesting 90 approval rating and yet people were still afraid to continue. chamber to talk about his presidency some people are questioning the timing of this mega prison opening because of an allegation that was revealed here in the U.S. That's right Human Rights Watch is saying this is a way for the president distract from that accusation that was revealed last week against several alleged members of the MS-13 gang here in the United States and includes accusations that they participated in, quote, secret negotiations with government officials in El Salvador for things like sentences reduced prison terms and special treatment in exchange for reducing the number of public murders that would potentially benefit the president's approval as you mentioned Tom, but he has denied those accusations in the past.

Okay, Valerie, cash for Valerie. We appreciate that the car theft nightmare is still looming tonight. Chicago police searching for this BMW after it was stolen from a pregnant woman in a violent carjacking Why authorities blame Volkswagen for delaying their investigation and FBI director's surprising new statement What he said today about the theory that Covet leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan China On Tuesday we returned with a terrifying carjacking on the outskirts of Chicago. Police are now searching for two suspects who ran over a pregnant woman and stole her Volkswagen with her two-year-old son in the back seat.

Authorities say Volkswagen could have helped track the vehicle but refused until they paid NBC Steven Romo has more tonight the search is underway for this BMW and two suspects wanted in connection with a violent carjacking involving a child small outside of Chicago Police say this chase slowed down when the company that monitors the stolen car's tracking device initially refused to help find the suspects, that just scares me and scares me. You know, it's very sad. I wish I could do something. Investigators say a pregnant mother was hit by these car thieves who took her Volkswagen SUV with her two-year-old car. -old woman still in the back seat, the woman told police she stopped in her driveway last week and brought a child inside her home and when she returned to look for the second child she found that a white BMW had left her. stopped behind her and an individual got out of the stolen BMW attacked the 34-year-old victim, pushed her to the ground and jumped into the driver's seat of her Volkswagen.

According to investigators, the mother suffered multiple fractures to her lower body and she is now in stable condition after she was hit. able to call 9-1-1 initiating a frantic search for authorities. The contact is an unknown, tall, Finnish man carrying a light gray Zippo putty and a coveted light green style map. The Lake County Sheriff's Office says a detective noticed the stolen Volkswagen SUV was equipped. with a tracking service known as Carnet that could help them find the vehicle and the child, but they soon hit a roadblock. Sheriff's officials said they were told they had to pay about one hundred and fifty dollars to restore that service because the family's free testing had ended with the detective.

He said Hey, listen, this is life or death, a kidnapped two-year-old boy who was just violently taken from his mother. The employee indicated that we would have to pay to restart service for him to provide us with that information. Researchers say this. caused a delay in tracking that van from Libertyville Illinois, but luckily they got help from a good Samaritan who saw the car thieves dump the boy in a parking lot in nearby Waukegan, authorities say the van was also recovered unharmed Volkswagen told NBC News in a statement that they have an established procedure with a third-party provider for their carnet services that involves emergency requests and quotes.

Unfortunately, in this case there was a serious failure to process. We are addressing the situation with the parties involved. But security expert Bill Stanton says the people and systems that monitor such technologies need to be optimized because the delay in assistance was unacceptable. People need to know that even though they have a job, maybe a simple job is answering the phone to use that discretion, okay? Stephen Romo. joins us now on set Stephen, do we know how long investigators thought they were delayed because of this issue with the tracking device? Yeah, they say it took them about 30 minutes to figure out how to send that payment and get that information. and in that time the police were able to find that van on their own and this Good Samaritan was able to find this child in just 15 minutes, so that's the good news, but the police say that these two suspects are still at large and that they data could I have also helped them locate these people, yes, okay, Stephen Rome with a very strange story about an important one.

Steve, thanks when we come back with an update on the University of Idaho murders we've been following closely here on the authorities in the main story who revealed the secret. arrest warrant for Brian Coburger, the man accused of killing four college students last fall, what police found inside his parents' house the day he was arrested, that's next, okay, now we're back with top news, FBI Director Chris Ray sane on camera for The first time the agency believes the source of Covid was a lab leak in China, listen, the FBI has been assessing for quite some time that the Origins of the pandemic are most likely a possible laboratory incident in Wuhan or the one you are talking about. a possible leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab that killed millions of Americans and we want to mention, of course, that he made those comments to Fox News today.

The FBI first made that assessment with moderate confidence a year ago, but the comments emerged a day after NBC. News reported that the Department of Energy also assessed that the greed began with a Chinese lab leak first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The White House has previously said there is no consensus within the US government on the origin of the virus. New details about Brian Coburger's arrest. In the murders of the Ford University students in Idaho, a newly unsealed search warrant reveals that authorities confiscated four medical-style gloves, a flashlight, a pair of Nike shoes and several articles of clothing from his parents' home in Pennsylvania.

They also took a DNA sample. Investigators executed that search warrant during his arrest on December 30. He is currently in Idaho awaiting trial for those murders. An Ohio bus driver is being hailed as a hero after saving a student's life. Take a look at the video of safety showing driver April Wise carrying a student to safety by his backpack as if speeding The car pulls up next to her school bus. This happened outside of Dayton. Wise was later honored with an award for her quick actions. There is no known consequence for that driver yet and the FAA is investigating a close call between a Learjet and JetBlue flight, according to an FAA statement obtained exclusively by NBC News the incident occurred when the pilot of a Learjet aircraft took off without authorization while the JetBlue plane was preparing to land the FAA says the JetBlue plane had to take evasive action to avoid the other plane there is no news yet about it how close they were well, this is not a Washington where there are new calls to close a security breach in the Capitol.

A former capital police sergeant who was fighting rioters on Jan. 6 is now speaking out about a loophole that allows members of Congress to carry guns. On the House floor, our Ryan Noble spoke with some lawmakers who are now awaiting controversy. The deadly violence of the January 6 riots revealed glaring gaps in security. The officer in the middle of this melee that day is former Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Ganell. He is disturbing. He still worries that the vulnerability persists and could create a big problem. The protocol is that they pass us. Congressional security personnel never go through a security check when entering the capital complex and some openly boast of carrying weapons even to the floor of the house.

You know, I'm actually really enjoying the capital of the United States to start to feel like America again, a little more freedom after the capital, Riot, then-speaker Nancy Pelosi put magnetometers around the chamber, but in The moment the Republicans got the majority, the magazines went down, so you know. there are housemates who have guns on the floor of the house absolutely the day the metal detectors went down, maybe the day before, who knows, this loophole is something that California Congressman Jared Huffman wants to close. It's crazy to just assume that all these people are immune to those factors and that they can bring weapons to the capital of the United States and nothing will go wrong, this will happen at some point in a letter first shared with NBC News.

Huffman is calling on President Biden to appoint a new capital architect who will be responsible for managing the security of the complex and will directly address this issue. Sergeant Cannell maintains that the lack of screening for potentially hundreds of people makes the Capitol Police's job more difficult when there are members of Congress, uh, inciting people to come and violate. the capital and then imagining that everyone has guns inside and that we would be chaos and with threats against lawmakers at an all-time high, the mix of political passion and guns makes Republican Congressman Troy Nels, a former sheriff, nervous.

I support both ways. It's all about that, but this is the capital of the United States and it's like you know you're going to allow people to carry guns in the county courthouse in civil trials involving divorce proceedings. No, emotions are too high. Ryan Nobles joins us tonight from Capitol Hill. live Ryan. I have to think that this issue is so serious that it had to be raised and now entered into the public forum, although in highlighting this there is a lot of risk in exposing a vulnerability in the Capitol, how are the Capitol Police responding to everyone? tonight they didn't want to comment on it it's not the responsibility of the capital police to create this policy it's just their responsibility to enforce a policy like this it's the responsibility of the capital police board to do that that's part of the reason why Congressman Huffman is asking the new architect of the capital to weigh in on this, but I can tell you, Tom, this is something people talk about regularly here, that the 535 members and the people they travel with never pass screenings. security at any time.

By the time they get into this building, it's a security loophole and people are finally starting to talk about the need to close it, okay Ryan, we thank you for that, we're out of the mainstream news. Global surveillance and chilling new details about the migrant tragedy. Off the coast of Italy, prosecutors say the alleged smugglers charged 8,000 euros (about $8,500) for a trip they now call the Voyage of Death. The boat carrying about 200 migrants from Türkiye crashed and broke apart near Calabria. The bodies of at least 65 people were pulled from the sea and an oil tanker sank off the west coast of the Philippines, causing thousands of liters of oil to spill into the sea.

New aerial images show the spill, which the Coast Guard says extends for about three miles. The tanker was traveling with 20 crew members on board, where it experienced engine problems and became partially submerged. All crew members were rescued and tonight we have another report from the war in Ukraine. Our partners at Sky News take us inside a mining town on that front line. that is under constant bombardment by the Russian army the few residents who are trapped by the war are even forced to collect rainwater from drainage pipes to survive Alex he is there this is the mining town of Volidar, scarred and battered , is in the hands of Ukraine but is being continually attacked by Russia Foreign forces we entered with a military escort as it was attacked again.

The soldiers leading us toward front-line positions warn us to space out and not linger around. We need to move fast. This part isthe constant threat of an artillery attack. It's an instinct. waving zigzag across Broken Ground thank you as we take cover there are moments of silence before another shell whistles through the sky this place has been absolutely devastated by fighting all the apartment blocks have had their windows blown out there are craters of shells around us and there is still a lot of incoming fire and about 15,000 people lived here until it was destroyed by the war only a few remain there are no services and they collect rainwater from the drainage pipes to survive by always being close to the cover You are looking at perhaps nothing sums up the madness of war, more than this, the total destruction of people's lives and possessions, about two kilometers of enemies and then about two kilometers, the city, we are told, is strategically important since that Ukrainian forces can target Russian supply lines, which is why Moscow's forces are desperate to capture it.

Inside a bunker, one of the commanders has just coordinated a counterattack. He shows us a panorama of the city and the body of a dead Russian commando in a live broadcast transmitted from a drone, foreign, we were taken to another position near the city this time This time with a different brigade a message comes that the troops Russian forces have been on the move since the start of the Kremlin's new offensive. They have been very active along the contact line. The soldiers in the trenches respond by setting up an arc of fire with the knife. The cable in front of them is a last defense against the attacks of human waves from Russia.

The trenches on this part of the front extend for miles and miles. Now the team here, their job is to detect any movement. The Russians are only a couple of kilometers away and they also have a Russian radio and can listen to your communications. The soldiers here say they can defend their positions. They have been renewed in this hell, but Russia is a powerful enemy and doesn't seem to care how many men it pushes forward. news in eastern Ukraine we believe Alex and his team for that incredible report electoral unrest is coming in Nigeria voters are being shot and ballots are being counted for days the opposition now claims the ruling party has rigged a high-profile election risk the threat tonight to Africa's largest democracy and the impact it could have beyond the country's borders remain with us now with the turmoil in Nigeria following the country's presidential election this weekend, officials took days to count the votes, sparking violent protests and accusations of corruption in what was considered the largest in Africa.

Matt Bradley Saturday's vote looked like chaos Tonight's controversial results show support for continuity, handing a large victory to Bola Tanubu, the ruling party candidate, over Atiku Abubakar, who is running for the main opposition. The results angered Nigeria's main opposition parties, who walked out of the vote-counting center calling the polls a sham and demanding a rerun. They say long waits at polling stations, so we are still waiting for them, along with days of delays in counting votes or a sure sign that the ruling party is cooking the electoral boss. Much of the anger here is directed at the Nigerian Electoral Commission.

Voters are furious about the results. Nigeria's elections are a turning point for a troubled nation. It is the fiercest presidential contest since military rule here ended in 1999, but Nigeria is fending off a bloody Ismist insurgency in the north. Growing crimes such as kidnappings and a currency. crisis that has caused cash shortages, many young Nigerians have now pinned their hopes on Peter Obi who scored a surprise victory in Lagos, the home territory of the leading party the country has been through. Ok, Dark Horse's candidacy of ob was social media. Savvy rejected traditional tribal politics and challenged the establishment Titans for the first time, but regardless of who wins, these results will be felt far beyond the borders of Africa's largest country, a nation many see as setting the tone for the entire region Matt Bradley joins the top story tonight Matt, you had an important line there Towards the end of your report, where you said that this election will be felt beyond the borders of Nigeria, explain to our viewers why yes, It is not just because Nigeria has the largest population in Africa or the largest economy, but also because governance can be contagious.

Running can inspire neighbors and also bad elections and political violence can deter them Tom, that's a great point, okay Matt Bradley for us Matt, we appreciate you back here at home ticktock under threat Congress is moving to ban running popular social media app over fears China is using it to obtain sensitive material from here in the US Stay with us finally tonight the battle over Tick Tock, the popular social media app that was ordered removed from all government devices the platform now in the crosshairs of congressional lawmakers who are considering a nationwide ban over concerns it gives China access to sensitive user data Jake Ward tonight on how the company and users respond each time When an American opens Tick Tock, each of them could be handing over personal information such as names, email addresses, even physical location, all forming a vast database on Americans inside a Chinese-owned company and that has turned the tick tock on latest front in deepening war of words with China: White House says it needs to curb foreign adversaries' access to US data, while China's foreign minister criticized the superpower number one in the world for being afraid of a mobile phone application that young people like so much.

I'm 18, we're all 18. Like, let me share my information with China if I want. They literally don't care that federal employees have 30 days to remove ticking from all government devices that the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted today to give President Biden authority to essentially ban it for all Americans. Already 41 states have some type of ban in effect or under consideration. The ACLU says a ban would violate the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans. Experts say that, in fact, a nationwide ban has little precedent here in the U.S., but is common in China. China typically prohibits big tech and social media companies from being accessed by its citizens apparently for some of the same privacy concerns and reasons last year a tick tock executive addressed concerns about personal data under no circumstances would we give that data to China in a statement Tick Tock calls talk of a ban political theater and urged lawmakers not to censor millions of Americans, but a rare bipartisan coalition threatens to ban one of the world's most popular apps Jake Ward NBC News New York We thank Jake Ward for that and we thank him for watching tonight's feature story.

I'm Tom Yamas. in New York, stay there, more news on the way overseas, thanks for watching our YouTube channel, follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the NBC News app.