Nightly News Full Broadcast - Feb. 24

tonight the drama in the courtroom is Alec Murdock is questioned in his double murder trial Murdoch is on the stand for the second day facing off with the Elite prosecutor the tense moments as Murdoch is questioned about the timeline and why he lied to police on his whereabouts on the night his wife and son were killed Murdoch denied inventing an alibi our team in court also tonight Ukraine marks one year of war with Russia President Zielinski's defiant message as fighting intensifies in the US announcing two billion dollars in new aid for Ukraine and the new peace plan offered by China the new winter storm hitting the West rare blizzard warnings in Southern California we are following our NBC News exclusive Mike Pence on the special counsel's pressure to force him to testify around January 6. his plans for 2024 and why he thinks the Republican Party needs to move on from Donald Trump, yet another scare on the nation's runways, how close two planes came to disaster, tensions in the skies are correspondents aboard an American surveillance plane when it is intercepted by a Chinese fighter plane, this is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt good evening and thank you for joining us tonight Alec Murdoch, sometimes memory fails, obvious contradictions and the admission in court of that he had lied to police were fertile ground for prosecutors today, as the accused double murderer spent another day testifying in his own defense at times. showing flashes of anger Murdoch at trial for the murders of his wife and 22-year-old son faces more cross-examination today prosecutors delve into the heart of their case against him the chronology of his actions around the time of the murders he faced The former lawyer with a cellphone records his own words from his initial interview with police, including the number of steps recorded by his smartphone, leaving Murdoch at times struggling to give

full

explanations.

Katie Beck is covering the judicial force in Walterboro, South Carolina, whose responsibility is at her doorstep. Mr. Murdoch. Bad things happen on the bench for the second day. Alec Murdoch faces a searing interrogation. The moment you are faced with facts that you cannot deny, you immediately come up with a new lie, isn't that so right? I wouldn't agree. with that proposition that you're ousting prosecutors who hit hard at inconsistencies in Murdoch's timeline on the night of the murders and Murdoch backs down in his own defense, even becoming combative when questioned about his memory of finding your wife's body and you're right I remember why I went to her and why because the only thing you care about is yourself answering some questions with clear certainty addressing your opioid addiction for 20 years admitting that you had pills in your pocket even while talking to investigators the night of the murders you're taking 60 a day or something like that, I mean there were days I took more than that, there were days I took less than that and other times I seemed unstable struggling with answers about why after he had returned from the pound to the house around the time of the murders his phone was recording 70 steps per minute while he made several calls in a row no sir, I didn't make jumps the prosecutors were playing for the jury the interviews of Murdoch with investigators statements that Murdoch now admits were lies.

I stayed in the house besides lying to them about going to the pound. I was cooperative in all aspects of this investigation. Very cooperative, except perhaps for the most important fact of all, that you were at the crime scene with the victims. minutes before dying the prosecution's repeated message to the jury Murdoch lied often and lied to many. You can do that so easily, so convincingly and so naturally, right? It's not for me to judge that's true in a brief Redirect to Murdoch's defense team pointing to phone data showing that Maggie's phone, which was dumped on the side of the road, never moved in sync with Alex at any time. moment after the murders.

Murdoch again denies that he is a murderer if he was under the pressure they are talking about here. I can promise you that he would hurt myself before he hurt one of them and Katie, this case is already in its fifth week. Any idea how much longer it will last? Well, Lester, we hope to hear some more witnesses on Monday and Tuesday and then closing arguments. and the case heads to the jury. Keep in mind that this jury has heard a mountain of evidence from more than 60 different witnesses, so it is difficult to say how long this deliberation might take.

Lester, it's okay, Katie, thank you. Let's bring in our senior legal correspondent, Laura Jared. Sir, did the prosecutors seem to move the needle today? The prosecution made the most of its breakthrough by attacking his confusing timeline just before and after the murders and repeatedly drawing the jury's attention to his alibi by citing his new story, but the prosecutor also risks losing the jury's focus when It jumped back and forth between the murders, on the one hand, and Murdoch stealing money from his clients, on the other, but in the redirection, the defense returned to its previous strategy, highlighting the charges Murdoch faces for financial crimes, such time to show the jury that he will probably face time behind.

Bars, whatever happens in this trial Lester Laura Jarrett thank you exactly one year since Russia invaded Ukraine a defiant message today from Ukrainian President Zielinski as China unveils its own peace proposal Richard Engel has been covering the war for us from the beginning and it's in Ukraine tonight foreign Ukrainians this morning observed a moment of silence for a war they were expected to lose, but no one here is celebrating that they have paid a high price to survive the worst year of their lives. President Zielinski thanked his troops and It is an honor for the tens of thousands of Ukrainians killed so far The Ukrainians have proven themselves invincible, he said later becoming emotional when talking about his own family, saying that his wife is working to help the children , this war does not seem even remotely about Poland, today a new German-made product was delivered.

The Leopard tanks are just the first four of 14. Ukraine is expected to launch a new counteroffensive when more weapons arrive, including American tanks. A year ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin thought Ukraine would fall quickly and that Ukrainians would be happy to join Russia. Instead, they left. their families will be refugees 13 million are displaced from their homes and then the Ukrainians came out to fight attacking apartment complexes like this is a terror campaign to scare Ukrainians into surrendering but it is not working and all the damage here and in this whole country is just convincing the Ukrainians Faced with the need to fight back further or lose everything, today the White House announced another two billion dollars in military aid for Ukraine and imposed new sanctions on Russia, although the sanctions so far have not deterred to Putin, the Secretary of State flashes a strong message to the members of the UN.

Members of this Council must not fall into the false equivalence of asking both sides to stop fighting: one man, Vladimir Putin, started this war, one man can end it, and now, after giving Russia a critical economic lifeline, China offers to act as peacemaker by presenting a 12-point agreement. peace plan that has no specific details, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas Greenfield speaking to NBC's Andrea Mitchell with a warning: If China were to deliver weapons to Russia, it would be a game-changer and something to talk about. We would have serious concerns. A year later, Ukrainians are fighting for their homes and it seems that Putin did not realize that there is no more powerful motivation than those incredible images after this unforgettable year and Richard, how is Ukraine responding to that peace proposal coming from China?

President Zielinski said he will do it. meet with Chinese President XI to discuss China's new peace plan, so Lindsay said there are some positive elements in it, so he will certainly leave his options open to see if China can or will convince Putin to stop its invasion . Lester, it's okay, Richard Engel, thank you and tonight you can see much more of Richard's powerful reporting from Ukraine, watch on assignment at 10 Eastern on MSNBC and stream on peacock in a speech in Texas today former Vice President Mike Pence pushed for unwavering U.S. military support for Ukraine after speaking with Ali Vitale and gave his take on former President Trump's bid for another White House run.

I think the times demand different leadership and I am sure that we will have better options in 2024 because I have spoken with him lately. I I I I I I haven't Ali Vitale joins me now from Austin, that wasn't the only thing Mr. Pence said about the former president, that's right, Lester. Mr. Pence contrasts sharply with his former boss by saying that Americans want to cite civility to return to politics and right now in his words. I ask for a different leadership experience, as for the former vice president, he told me that he and his family will make a decision in the spring about their own plans to run for president, but it seems that looming over all this is the Justice Department investigation Regarding efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, a senior law enforcement official told NBC News today that the special counsel asked a federal judge to force Pence to testify.

The former vice president reiterated tonight that he considers the request to be unconstitutional. Lester Ali Vitale, thank you and here in California and in several Western countries. United States: Severe weather tonight A dangerous winter mix of snow flooding and powerful winds in a region that rarely sees these conditions here is Miguel almaguer Blackout conditions in Santa Barbara in the Napa Valley wine region and hail in Los Angeles Tonight some of California's most iconic cities are now picturesque for this strange reason: a brutally cold winter storm paralyzing the region. I've lived in Los Angeles my entire life and haven't seen snow since the late '50s, when I was a kid, after the National Weather Service issued its first blizzard warning for Los Angeles. mountains in about 35 years Sunny San Diego did the same with its first blizzard warning in history with snow falling near San Francisco today it's really strange it's funny the Santa Cruz mountains were covered in a blanket and it was still snowing quite a bit strong.

I received several inches of snow that caused travel the Sierras had more than 16 inches in 24 hours compared to the slow snowfall in Minneapolis 13 inches in three days from the mountains the waterspout check that towards the coast extreme and icy weather conditions that dump snow, rain and hurricanes strengthen winds throughout an unusually cold and flooded region where the heaviest rains are expected tonight and overnight tens of millions here in Southern California are under flash flood and high wind warnings Lester, okay Miguel, thanks, let's bring Bill Karen, he's tracking the storm now Bill, what's in store for us?

This afternoon, Lester, the snow in the mountains at these lower elevations has been amazing, but we are now in the part of the storm that is very dangerous. We have torrential rains over downtown Los Angeles and in the mountainous areas outside of Los Angeles, already one to three. inches of rain, flash flooding is occurring now, we are imminent, we have life-threatening flash flooding and flood warnings, including the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara areas, so this will be a hazard through tonight, small streams, creeks , landslides, mudslides, all possible as we go. the next two hours and then the storm does not end, we bring Sunday's storm to the center of the country with a severe risk to the Oklahoma City, Wichita Falls areas, perhaps even isolated tornadoes and the final stop of this storm will be Monday night and Tuesday in New York.

England in the North East Lester we are going to see a snow storm okay Bill Cairns thanks in 60 seconds another close call on the runway involving two airliners why does it seem to be happening so often in New Mexico today ? The gunsmith on the set of Rust in his first court appearance Hannah Gutiérrez Reed is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of cinematographer Helena Hutchins Gutiérrez reads the lawyer says she plans to plead not guilty the judge freed her with rules can have a gun in his home after his lawyer said he has received threats Alec Baldwin pleaded not guilty Thursday and waived his court appearance now due to another close call on a US airport runway, the east roomyear involving two passenger planes in California, one plane forced to abort its landing to avoid another plane preparing to Mesa Airlines Flight 5826 was forced to turn around after the pilot noticed he had been ordered to land on the same runway, a sky from which WestJet took off.

We are spinning in the air. shuttle 5826 continues its climb continuing weather continues similar situations in Austin animation of a FedEx plane taking evasive action to avoid a Southwest plane at JFK airport when a US plane taxied in front of a departing Delta flight, you know it's a canceled takeoff in 1943 Plans and new details of a close call in Honolulu when a United flight pulled ahead of a landing Cessna cargo plane. The NTSB now says that the United Captain indicated that he lost consciousness of the situation on the runway. NTSB Chief Jennifer Hamandy, is she worried at all?

The head of the FAA says right now that we have had too many of these incidents in a very short period of time. In our view, there are too many incidents that occurred in too short a period of time, which is why we are investigating them amidst a recent cluster of incursions into runways or nearby situations, the acting head of the FAA has issued a call to action on security in light of some of these recent events that we have talked about today. I have decided to hold a security summit and security review. The only common theme appears to be human error, but the FAA stresses that U.S. airspace has never been safer.

The last fatal accident involving a major American airliner in this country was 14 years ago, this month Lester Tom Costello thanks below, our correspondent aboard a high-risk American surveillance flight when a Chinese fighter plane suddenly appeared outside the wing now with our rare access inside a US Navy mission at a time of rising tensions with China our Janice Mackey Frayer aboard a surveillance plane monitoring the South China Sea when she suddenly had a very close encounter with a Chinese fighter plane. Welcome to the United States Navy. Today's high-risk surveillance flight takes off from the US base on Okinawa. opportunity to see China's military getting stronger here as tensions with the US are rising just weeks after the US shot down that Chinese balloon and with China rising.

Boulder I've been in the Navy for 18 19 years and I can tell you that there is a dramatic change in that time specifically in the South China Sea, how airstrips are built, we fly through international airspace between the Philippines and Taiwan to the South China Sea, where China's military soon makes its presence known. The Chinese j-11 fighter and him flying right next to us, do you see a pilot and then a weapons systems officer in the back? They are armed with some air-to-air weapons and this happens more frequently. The Chinese plane was followed from 500 feet from the wing for more than an hour.

The Navy says this encounter was professional but that the PLA has been more aggressive. It is typical to have the type of encounters we saw today with PLA. It is an interception on the wing. a typical Friday for us the US flies patrol planes like this most days equipped with powerful cameras and surveillance equipment what China considers an intrusion this is a close up view of a Chinese warship in the water east of Taiwan have been radioing warning this plane to keep its distance. The planes are no longer coming. Are you all the responsibility? The rise of Chinese control in the South China Sea is best seen here on artificial islands that over the years have been fortified and militarized.

These recent images show a runway and radar sites for what has been called China. aircraft carrier that can't sink the US and its allies are now ramping up defenses here and China is making no secret of its plans to challenge Janice McAfee NBC News Okinawa and that's this Friday's Nightly News thanks for staying tuned everyone. Lester Holt, take care of yourselves and each other. Good evening, thank you for watching our YouTube channel. Follow today's top stories and breaking

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