Nightly News Full Broadcast - Feb. 28

tonight The Supreme Court showdown over President Biden's plan to forgive student loans Protesters gathered outside the courthouse as justices weighed the president's plan to eliminate $400 billion in student debt for 40 million Americans. Is what the judges pointed out today and tonight constitutional? the new coast-to-coast storm was intensifying in the west blizzard warnings in California a state of emergency in the mountains residents trapped by historic snows were tracking the threat just as the FBI director weighed the origins of coveting what he said about theory that it leaked from a Chinese lab, the head of the EPA in Ohio is again today in a battle between officials over where to send toxic waste from the train derailment, why the EPA's plan to transport contaminated water to Texas is back on track after local leaders objected to new drone strikes deep in Russia and will our rare look inside Crimea become the new flashpoint in the conflict? with Lester Holt, good evening and welcome everyone in a pair of cases that will affect tens of millions of student loan borrowers, the Supreme Court today heard arguments about whether the Biden administration had the authority to forgive some of those loans that the President's loan debt relief plan. to erase up to twenty thousand dollars in student loans for certain borrowers at an estimated cost of $400 billion, but it was suspended last fall by an appeals court today the plan appeared to face new headwinds before the Supreme Court when the justices Conservatives questioned whether the president was acting within the law, the White House defended the plan tonight as a helping hand for those recovering after the pandemic, but critics say the program is patently unfair to those who have paid off their debt or those who they never took out a loan in the first place Laura Jarrett has more now from Washington tonight the bun administration's plan to erase nearly half a trillion dollars in student loan debt in the face of a skeptical conservative majority on the Supreme Court and the government is coming and you tell that person they don't have to pay their loan the financial future 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 defend the president Biden's plan to erase ten thousand dollars in federal student loan debt for anyone earning less than one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars and twenty thousand for low-income borrowers.

Groceries are high. Gasoline is high. Like seeing a holiday this year, it's very difficult for me, right? and I'm not the only person on this vote, the liberal judge 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 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 questioning whether the administration overstepped its authority by bypassing Congress, most casual observers would say, if they were going to come up with that much money, they would think it was something Congress should take into account.

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 needed that money, but I chose not to. So how is it fair for people like me? I can't get a single cent from this program. Laura joined. I live now and Laura, despite her obvious skepticism about the president's plan, the judges could still dismiss the lawsuit. That's right. Lester, several of the judges did not seem convinced that the plaintiffs in this case had actually been harmed and had the legal right to sue all federal students in the meantime.

Loan payments will remain on hold for at least 60 days until the high court rules that Lester lowers Jared in the Supreme Court tonight thanks to a state of emergency in the mountains outside Los Angeles, where a record snowfall has left tens of millions stranded are under winter weather alerts here is Miguel Almaguer Before dawn a state of emergency was ordered in the mountains outside Los Angeles already buried under up to seven feet of snow trapped residents in Los Angeles County San Bernardino are rationing food and running low on supplies as another major Blizzard Barrels in a crazy, crazy storm have never experienced this kind of weather before in Lake Arrowhead Griffith vertican walked a mile through waist-deep snow to reach to a service station.

The main roads are impassable and many, like Teresa Grant, are stranded, we have not seen a snowplow. Within days, the Razor, this once-in-a-generation storm, closed over 70 miles of Interstate 80, a lifeline for commerce, luckily I have my dad with me otherwise I would panic. Across the country, more than 10 million are under winter weather alerts today with New York City seeing its first significant snowfall as thunderstorms and the threat of tornadoes approach the south, back to the West Coast. Another snowfall is coming, while the mountains outside of Los Angeles are beautiful, travel is not only treacherous for many, this is impossible.

The car is buried under feet of snow and another storm is expected tonight with 75 mile per hour winds. and up to a foot of snow. Leicester is fine, Miguel Almaguer, thanks after the Department of Energy's assessment that Covid likely originated from a lab leak in China, the director. of the FBI speaking about this for the first time today Peter Alexander is following this and Peter FBI Director Christopher Ray detailed the bureau's own assessment. Lester is a surprising new statement from the FBI director who for the first time speaks on camera about the FBI. assessment that says the source of covid was a laboratory leak in China, the FBI has assessed for quite some time that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a possible laboratory incident in Wuhan, where there is talk of a possible leak from a government Chinese. controlled laboratory that killed millions of Americans, the FBI first made that assessment with moderate confidence more than a year ago, and Director Ray's comments come just 24 hours after NBC News reported that the Department of Energy, whose experts run the US national laboratories, they also assessed the greed that began with the Chinese. lab League, although with little confidence, the White House has said that there was no consensus at this time in the US government on exactly how covid began and Ray today insisted that the FBI's work continues, but Lester criticized harshly to China for blocking international efforts to investigate what happened. there Lester, okay, Peter Alexander, thank you.

Disposal of toxic wastewater from the side of the East Palestine Ohio train derailment resumes today in Harris County, Texas, because facilities in Ohio and Indiana are at capacity and the EPA chief also returned to Palestine Eastern for For the third time since the derailment, Michael Regan attempted to reassure residents about the agency's commitment to cleanup authorities in Russia who were on high alert today after reporting a series of drone attacks near the border with Ukraine and in other parts of Russia, no victims were reported and they were cured tonight. Simmons has a rare look inside Crimea, the territory in southern Ukraine that Russia has occupied since 2014.

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crews rarely get so close to the Russian Navy. President Putin's prized Black Sea Fleet. We are in Sevastopol, home of Crimea. a crucial naval base that both sides may now be willing to fight for this is what President Putin will be determined to defend this is his real red line Moscow illegally annexed crime here nine years ago Ukraine wants everything back except removing Russia from this city teaming up with Putin's soldiers wouldn't 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 that links 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 that hit this bridge last October occurred, around this time of morning. My Rift gives us more weapons and we will 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 is Russian now, of course, Russian Praxovia, 73 years, she tells me that we traveled to the city of Bachisula, traditional home of the Tata ethnic group of Crimea, victims of human rights abuses.

The UN says that by opposing Moscow you will pray to God himself. This mother tells me why we can't break bread then. We found a father with a lot to do Losing your son is fighting for Russia How old is your son? What does he have? 20. 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 toward that surprising admission from Rupert Murdoch testifying that some top Fox News hosts backed false claims that the 2020 election was stolen Stephanie gosk on how this could affect the company and the defamation lawsuit against Fox News to go to trial in April in the months after the 2020 presidential election Fox News hosts and their guests called the vote rigged, we cannot allow the elections in the United States to be corrupted, this is an electoral nightmare .

News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch says Fox News was trying to walk the line between spewing conspiracy theories on the one hand and exposing the fact that they are actually false on the other, according to newly released court documents in a lawsuit. for $1.6 billion in defamation against the Dominion cable network. The voting system alleges that Fox News knowingly spread false claims about its voting machines to retain viewers in excerpts from an affidavit. included in a Dominion court filing Murdoch is asked if some presenters supported the narrative of a stolen election. Yes, they supported it and then added that I wish we had been stronger in calling it out in retrospect.

Fox News says Dominion's lawsuit has always been more about what it will do. generate headlines by taking an extreme and baseless view of the deaf reporting law that would prevent journalists from doing basic reporting calling the lawsuit a flagrant violation of the First Amendment what is the burden of proof in a defamation case must be proven not only that someone's statements were false, but that they were made with actual malice, so that's either knowing it was false or reckless indifference about whether it was false. Rebecca Touchnet teaches First Amendment law at Harvard. What confronted me was the unwillingness to confront the on-screen talent according to In the court filing the day before the assault on the capital on January 6, Murdoch wanted the presenters to say that the election was over and that Joe Biden won.

Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott told him privately that everyone is there, but we have to be careful using the shows and pissing off viewers Dominion says the hosts didn't declare Joe Biden the winner that night Stephanie gosk NBC News Within 60 seconds of the battle over Tick Tock, federal agencies ordered it off their phones, but could that rule be extended to the millions of Americans who love it? app, the White House has now set a deadline to remove Tick-Tock, the popular Chinese-owned app, from all federal devices, citing security concerns. Now there's a growing push to ban Tick Tock entirely in the US.

Let's get more from Jake Ward Every time American opens Tick Tock, each of them could be handing over personal information like names, email addresses and even physical location ; It all forms a vast database on Americans inside a Chinese-owned company and that has made tick tock the latest front in a deepening war of words with China, the White House said it needscurb foreign adversaries' access to US data, while China's Foreign Minister criticized the world's number one superpower for being afraid of a mobile phone app that young people like so much I'm 18, we all have 18 like let I share my information with China if I want, I literally don't care.

Federal employees have 30 days to remove ticking from all government devices. The House Foreign Affairs Committee is set to give President Biden the authority to basically ban it for all Americans. 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, in fact, a national ban has little precedent here in the US. , but it is common in China China typically prohibits large tech and social media companies from preventing their citizens from accessing them 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 Tick Tock statement. calls for talk of a ban on political theater and urged lawmakers not to censor millions of Americans, but a rare bipartisan coalition nonetheless threatens to ban one of the world's most popular apps Jake Ward NBC News New York, we have More than telling you comes a warning for parents, children exposed to deadly fentanyl, how is it happening now with our series, a nation overdose, we have reported extensively on the dangers fentanyl poses to adults and adolescents, but it is the age group that sees fastest rise in deaths from synthetic opioids.

Many children are accidentally poisoned with fentanyl. Now we get more from Kate Snow, the D and Boris Lavonier, they say they are living a nightmare. In August 2021 they were on vacation in Florida with their five children. Their youngest inora was 19 months old and she depended on us. Her dad Marie says they were staying at a vacation rental in Palm Beach County. Anora was making a mess in the kitchen taking out the pots and pans after a while she lay down to take a nap and When mom went to check on her she wasn't breathing and then I heard that Enora is dead and Nora is dead several months later the medical examiner ruled that her daughter died due to acute fentanyl toxicity.

She had never heard of fentanyl. Now they are suing the vacation rental company, among others, alleging that Inora was exposed to fentanyl residue left in the rental, while her story is extremely rare: the death of a young child from a fentanyl overdose seven times the amount lethal fentanyl found in the body of this two-year-old child. The number of young children being accidentally poisoned and deaths from synthetic opioids like fentanyl in children under five increased from 2015 to 2021. Santa Makovich, 10 months old, was playing in a San Francisco park last November when he left breathing, a paramedic recognized signs of an overdose and I used the reversal drug Narcan to save Senna's life, those first responders just saved my son's life and yes, we are so lucky to have the guy we have, the great Most deaths actually occurred because someone in the home is using fentanyl drugs.

It's everywhere on the drug market right now, but the second thing is that fentanyl is so potent that it only takes an extremely small amount to cause fatal poisoning in a small child. You've always had to think about drugs in a home with a child, yes, but this is different Vanessa durans is the commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families since 2020, the department has eight infants or toddlers who died after ingesting or coming into contact with fentanyl in February of last year, a baby died in Salem Connecticut Just a day before a caseworker was scheduled to see the family, a state watchdog criticized the Department of Children and Families for being deficient in keeping the baby safe.

I stand behind the work of our staff at that time and recognize that we have since had to adapt and change some of our strategies to address this growing need. Some of those changes require action within 24 hours when caseworkers think fentanyl is in a home we have our medical professionals our legal experts our child welfare specialists our substance use experts provide guidance on this Front line social worker to help them figure out how to keep that child safe, absolutely trying to save innocent lives. Kate Snow NBC News Hartford Connecticut, that's Nightly News for this Tuesday thanks for watching everyone.

I'm Lester Holt, please take care of yourselves and others. Good evening, thank you for watching our YouTube channel. Follow today's top stories and breaking

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