Top Story with Tom Llamas - Feb. 3 | NBC News NOW
good evening I'm Kate snow in for Tom yamas tonight we begin top story with the brutal Arctic blast taking hold temperatures already nose diving at this hour and it's only expected to get worse take a look at these numbers wind chills as low as negative 57 expected tomorrow the National Weather Service warning that in these conditions frostbite can occur after just five minutes of exposure here's the scene at the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire just unbelievable powerful gusts there expected to drive the wind chill down to negative 100 degrees we saw snow and powerful winds in Upstate New York overnight some snow expected throughout the weekend but the major concern remains that frigid cold Bill Karens is here to walk you through the forecast and how long this will all last but first let's get right to Emily aquetta who leads us off from a bitterly cold Boston as the coldest weather in North America descends on New England 18 million people will experience the wrath of -20 wind chills or worse I'm definitely definitely feeling it the winter wallet first freezing the Upper Midwest and allowing Wisconsin's Ice Castles to flourish Beauty you can see but a dangerous freeze you can the cold now shuttering several school districts in New York and Massachusetts including Boston which is under a cold weather emergency doctors there urging people to heed official warnings and limit time outside these temperatures will be life-threatening and if you are at the extremes of age very young or older you're more at risk of developing symptoms and getting sicker faster across the Northeast warming centers offer Refuge to Residents trying to beat the bitter freeze that could bring record lows to New York City Providence and Boston Saturday morning northern Maine could sink to a stunning wind chill of 60 below with intensifying winds kicking up snow globe-like conditions potentially the worst in a generation look at all that powder that is sitting right above the ice but nothing compares to the minus 100 windchill on New Hampshire's Mount Washington meantime the south is still thawing out from the deadly ice storm that's left the region in a tangled mess of trees and power lines Days Later nearly 300 000 residents remain without power I am a step in the bed two days so and my apartment is cold power outage is now a threat in the windy Northeast too more than 35 thousand in the dark tonight as the weekend's weather packs a dangerous punch and Emily aqueda is with me now from Boston where temperatures are plunging Emily I know you're hearing about a fatality now and it sounds like it's why authorities are telling people to stay inside foreign this appears to be the first weather related fatality in Southwick Massachusetts we've learned from authorities that strong winds toppled a tree onto a car tragically there was an infant inside who died that death comes as we continue to see these wind gusts pick up and temperatures continue to plunge we started the day around 32 degrees here in Boston and now we are in the single digits and wind chills will take us closer to minus 30 overnight experts say in such extreme conditions frostbite can set in within just a matter of minutes okay all right Emily thank you for more on this record-breaking freeze here's NBC News meteorologist Bill Karen's bill just how cold is it going to get how long is it going to last yeah tonight's the danger Point once we get through the day tomorrow the Wednesday off the sun will slowly go to work but this is the worst of it right now throughout areas of Central and Northern New England the sun has said the temperatures are plunging and the winds are still howling and the windshield values are just you know they're going down like fast we to show you how low they are so in 25 million people the areas here in the reddish the darker colors that's where the concerns are literally from Hartford northwards uh Capital District the Catskills northwards those are all the areas where it's the worst this morning it was the coldest in the Great Lakes it's still cold it's only 11 in Detroit and 10 in Chicago Minneapolis you still have a windshield negative 14. it's not exactly warm but the wind's not howling as it is in the Northeast the wind chill is now dip to 11 in D.C we're at four in New York City and Boston is now dropping Like a Rock negative 16 already but that's still nothing compared to Northern New England and of course our eyes will go to Mount Washington only three people live there year round their weather Observer is in a building that's you know specially designed for this stuff but it's a negative 106 right now the wind is gusting to 110 miles per hour and the temperature is negative 45 degrees that's some of the most extreme weather ever measured on our planet in like over history I mean it's ridiculous so in the areas where that are actually populated it's not exactly warm either we're at negative 51 now in Greenville Maine if you're in the negative 50s it takes about three to five minutes for frostbite if you have any Exposed Skin whatsoever that's why they're telling everyone don't get stranded in your vehicle stay indoors tonight wait this out and tomorrow will be better so here we are 7 A.M tomorrow Albany negative 31 Boston negative 30. then the winds die off a little bit during the day the Sun goes to work it's not exactly toasty by 4 P.M but at least Boston's close to zero Albany seven in Maine about negative 13 windshield that's a lot better than the negative 40 you have now and by the time Sunday rolls around look at this it's almost like this never happens Sunday afternoon in Boston is going to be in the mid 40s maybe approaching 50 degrees that's going to be like a 55 degree warm-up from tomorrow morning okay it's pretty amazing you know how extreme this is and then how quickly it's gone yeah it's going to feel like springtime on Sunday Bill Cairns thank you let's go to the other major headline tonight growing concern over the suspected Chinese spy balloon now making its Way East the Pentagon has been weighing all options even considering shooting it down all while trying to weaken the balloon's surveillance Gathering capabilities our Pentagon correspondent Courtney cubey broke this story last night she has the very latest the suspected Chinese spy balloon is on the Move Over the continental U.S though
the Pentagon won't reveal its exact location track or speed flying near U.S military assets along the way I'm not going to be able to go into specific locations again other than to say it's moving Eastward at this time this footage captured by the NBC News affiliate in Kansas City appearing to show the balloon NBC News has not verified the video Pilots also reporting a derelict balloon adrift in the area the U.S military first detected the surveillance balloon in Alaska earlier this week tracking it through Canada and into Montana spotted less than 200 miles from the U.S intercontinental ballistic missile silos on Wednesday President Biden decided not to bring it down after senior military leaders warned debris could hit people on the ground it's roughly the size of two school buses and defense sources say flying at sixty thousand feet while U.S officials say it doesn't currently threaten commercial Aviation or civilians they are not ruling out taking it down eventually I think we're going to have to shoot this thing down and I know the Pentagon is working those options and will present them with the president NBC News has learned the U.S is already taking action to weaken its surveillance capabilities according to two senior defense officials including using counterintelligence measures to obscure its views and physically moving things out of its path some balloons have the ability to release drones or sensors but U.S officials insist that has not
happened here this balloon has a large payload but the Pentagon says there is no evidence of any nuclear or radioactive material today the Chinese government admitting it's theirs but saying it's a civilian Airship used for research mainly meteorological the Pentagon disagrees the fact is we know that it's a surveillance balloon and I'm not going to be able to be more specific than that the Biden Administration saying it's a clear violation of law but the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs insists quote China is a responsible country tree and is always strictly abided by International laws NBC News Pentagon correspondent Courtney cubey joins me now Courtney so many questions here how is this balloon moving who's controlling this thing so we're no we know according to the Pentagon that it's able to maneuver it's able to actually move and that it's the Chinese who own it so they're being very particular about specific details that we've been asking around here but they are confident that it is the Chinese they are maneuvering it across the U.S moving in the Eastern Direction and it's still over the continental U.S the pentagon's saying today that it will probably be over the U.S for a few days Kate for a few days and and how does the Pentagon know so much about this balloon you wonder if they've gotten up close to it somehow they have we know that they have in fact they've used things like a wax which is a surveillance aircraft f-22s which are an attack aircraft a fighter aircraft but they have very Advanced surveillance capabilities as well so they've used things like that and then there's a number of counterintelligence measures that we're hearing a little bit more about tonight that they've been using to not only look at this at this Chinese spy balloon but also to be able to potentially obscure the view that it's able to to get of the ground oh interesting Courtney cubey at the Pentagon for us Courtney thank you while defense officials work on how to rein in the balloon the incident has derailed a crucial visit to China for Secretary of State Anthony blinken our Andrea Mitchell has more on the Foreign Relations Fallout that Chinese spy balloon blowing up Secretary of State Tony blinken's high-stakes trip to China in light of China's unacceptable action I am postponing my planned travel this weekend to China Lincoln would have been the first Secretary of State to visit China in six years now calling it off even though he was expected to meet with China's president Xi Jinping to smooth relations at a time of historic tensions the two superpowers at odds over China's support for Vladimir Putin in Ukraine threats against Taiwan North Korea's nuclear program trade and China's spying on the U.S we have to send a very clear
signal to China that this is unacceptable experts say it's no coincidence China launched its spy balloon the same week the U.S announced new military bases in the Philippines 100 miles from Taiwan to deter an invasion what are the other consequences that China should have to take for these actions what do the opportunity costs of not meeting with the Chinese and with the Chinese president I can only imagine what the reaction would be in China if they were on the other end since I said job one is getting it out of our airspace key Republicans say canceling blinken's trip is not a strong enough response do you think the U.S should have shot down the balloon or taken action against it in the last couple of days I do we're talking about defending our Sovereign airspace and I don't think the Chinese Communist Party would hesitate to shoot down an American asset that was in their airspace secretary blinken says he still wants to make the trip but won't say what China has to do to make that possible although China has sent spy balloons over the U.S before officials say never lingering over the U.S for so long and just as America's top Diplomat was leaving for Beijing to meet with China's president okay all right Andrea Mitchell with that thank you with this suspected spy balloon escalating tensions between the U.S and China what is the Diplomatic path forward look like I want to bring in Anna Ashton she's the director of China corporate Affairs at Eurasia group Anna nice to see you so secretary blinken called this a quote unacceptable action what kind of message is the secretary sending by canceling this trip what's the message to China well you know Kate I I think he didn't really have a choice in this instance I mean first of all uh if the Bible administration had gone forward with this trip despite the fact that it's been long in the making despite the fact that it's very important under the circumstances it would have looked like the the White House was giving China a pass to act with impunity and um even rewarding China for that um so I don't think that there was really a choice here and I think the Chinese know that and our correspondent earlier today at Janice Mackey Frayer who's based in Beijing said that this is a real black eye for China this is something they were looking forward to they were celebrating that that the secretary of state was coming to visit yeah it's a it's a tricky situation that we're in right now uh the US and China it's hard to say exactly how much China was looking forward to this visit how much the U.S was looking forward to this
visit but both sides certainly thought of it as incredibly important um you know the the relationship's been in a downward spiral for pretty much the entirety of the six years since former Secretary of State Tillerson went to Beijing and uh it has been a commitment by both President Biden and president she since the G20 meeting last November that both sides would attempt to stabilize the relationship put a floor under it and high-level dialogues are a crucial piece of that but there are ongoing provocations from the perceptions of both sides ongoing tensions and ongoing you know strategic conflicts between the two Nations and and that means that even if the visit had gone forward uh it was very unlikely would we would have seen any sort of significant outcome from it it just would have been keeping the doors open and hopefully that will still happen in the next couple of months China on this balloon China says essentially this was a mistake it wasn't done intentionally it was it you know it was just floating in the wrong place um Gathering weather research but I hate to say it could this be a trial balloon if you will to see you know if they did do it intentionally are they doing it to try to see how they bought an Administration response it's a good pun the trial balloon pun I like it um you know I think that the explanation that it's a weather balloon that just veered off course would be plausible under lots of circumstances but there are a couple of problems here first as Courtney cubey said um Pentagon officials have have noted that there are pretty clear indications that the balloon is not out of control that it is durable and it is being directed um second Beijing does not appear to have addressed with U.S counterparts the balloons presence in U.S airspace until after there were public reports about it and that is surprising if this was truly you know errant and an accident it lends weight to the possibility that this was intended as some sort of an aggressive political signal ahead of talks Anna Ashton great to have you with us tonight thank you turning to California now where 9-1-1 calls made during the Monterey Park mass shooting have just been released they capture the terrifying moments after a gunman opened fire at that ballroom dance studio what was supposed to be a joyous celebration on the eve of the new Lunar New Year quickly shattered Steve Patterson has that story for the first time we're hearing the 9-1-1 calls from the Monterey Park Lunar New Year shooting revealing chaotic moments of panic and fear somebody is uh somebody had a gun the the Monterey Park a gunman walked into the Star Dance Studio in Suburban Los Angeles opening fire killing 11 and wounding nine calls flooding 9-1-1 from the area hi this is Monterey Park police uh we're responding to a possible shooting the city releasing audio after a public records request one man calls in desperation from the parking lot outside the dance studio his girlfriend 65 year old my my nan was shot through the car's windshield the operator trying to help through the horrifying situation it is she awake can she talk to you may can you talk to me okay is she is she breathing taking taking breaths oh no let me see die I'm not sure authorities say she never woke up the calls also revealing chaos at the scene and Emergency Services coordinating a response at Garvey and Garfield uh yeah we are already on our way there 65 year old Daniel Sue was there and suddenly I heard this uh a few seconds later I saw people in the middle of the the ballroom start running and then I raised my head and see that a man he also lay himself on the phone before me I I can see the blood flowing from her his shoulder are you scared are you yes yes the calls to 9-1-1 how long ago a lot of people for 911 the 72 year old gunman fled before being disarmed at a second Ballroom caught on this security footage it dawned on me that this was the moment to disarm him I could do something here that could protect everybody the man who disarmed him Brandon say honored this weekend by the city of Alhambra his actions just some of the heroism from that tragic night okay this is just they'll get to you yeah yeah yeah right here right here they talked to the policeman yeah the police come here Steve Patterson joins me now from Los Angeles it's hard to listen to those Steve nearly two weeks later do we know any more about the gunman's motives it's okay just to remind our viewers the gunman was found dead by police in a van with a self-inflicted gunshot wound the very next day after being surrounded by police meanwhile as you mentioned two weeks later and no still no motive we know investigators have interviewed Ballroom patrons going back five years but no one seems to have a connection to the shooter authorities say it is the primary focus of their investigation okay Steve thank you the double murder trial against Alex Murdoch continued today his defense trying to paint him as a kind and caring person incapable of killing his own wife and son but today prosecutors called the the son of his longtime housekeeper to the stand who alleges Murdoch stole money from their family after the housekeeper died at Murdoch's home Katie Beck has the latest again tonight will evidence of Alec Murdoch's alleged Financial crimes be heard by the jury the ruling still to be decided prosecutors calling more witnesses without the jury present Friday including the son of Gloria Satterfield the Murdoch's former housekeeper who died at their home in 2018 after a reported fall down the stairs did he give him permission to steal your money no did you ever get one sent from Alec Murdock when he was still before all of this happened now Murdoch's accused of stealing a four million dollar insurance payout for satterfield's death the defense earlier this week showing the jury a different side of Murdoch a birthday celebration for Alec Murdoch in happier times his son Paul delivering the cake painting a wholesome picture of the family I thought they had an awesome relationship as well from everything that I could see but prosecutors say this video and other defense questioning opened the door for their Witnesses who they say describe Alex darker side testifying about how he stole money from the family firm and his clients they need to understand really what this man was hiding another video stirring debate this one uploaded to Snapchat by Paul Murdoch about an hour before his death but prosecutors taking aim at Alex clothing in the video the clothes don't match the white t-shirt and shorts he wore when investigators arrived less than three hours later those are the clothes I saw in the video on Friday the jury heard witness testimony stating that there were no fingerprints found at the crime scene and that shell casings found near Maggie Murdoch's body were similar to others found on the property back to you Katie back for us still ahead tonight the growing legal trouble for a popular app Snapchat accused of allowing drug dealers to sell their products through that app more families join a lawsuit against the company and another tarmac Miss have two planes clipping wings today at Newark Airport in New Jersey the latest in a string of unusual plane incidents in that area what's going on stay with us foreign to a growing lawsuit against Snapchat families who've lost their children after they took pills containing fentanyl are accusing the popular social media app of turning a blind eye to drug dealers using their platform with deadly consequences one overdose Survivor saying getting access to drugs was so easy on Snapchat he calls it quote Amazon for drugs tonight's Snapchat in the crosshairs families who've lost children saying the social media site gives drug dealers free reign families like mine wake up every single morning finding their kids dead in their bedrooms Amy Neville says her 14 year old son connected with a dealer through the app and purchased pills which he didn't know contained fentanyl Neville like so many other families now facing the ultimate heartbreak and they're gone because apps like Snapchat make it accessible these dangers accessible to our kids now more than 50 families are taking legal action a string of lawsuits starting last October alleging Snapchat ignored the harms its product was causing users handing the reins of its app over to drug dealers I had no idea uh how pervasive this problem was Matthew Bergman with the social media victims Law Center is representing the families he says calls with tragic stories keep coming yesterday we had seven phone calls from parents instead of lost kids while many social media companies have faced drug sales on their platforms Bergman says unique features on Snapchat like disappearing messages and the snap map that can give users the locations of potential dealers make it an ideal platform for illegal sales oh yeah there we go one overdose Survivor showed our Seattle affiliate King TV just how easy it is to find a dealer he did it in a matter of moments this one willing to deliver to his house it was pretty much Amazon for drugs in a statement Snapchat told us it works closely with law enforcement and uses Cutting Edge technology to find and shut down drug dealers accounts block search results for drug-related terms and redirect snapchatters to resources about the dangers of fentanyl the company also helped to launch a PSA campaign in October is that one pill could change your whole life more kitchen no more kids should know snap Inc says user reports related to drug sales on the platform are in Decline but the families who've already lost children still looking for more amid the devastating loss it whatever it is that they say they're doing it is not enough and they need to do more all of these stories underscoring the importance of having the conversation about fentanyl everyone agrees we need to make sure young people know not to trust any pill that wasn't prescribed you just don't know what's in it and the amount of fentanyl on the tip of a pen is enough to be deadly let's turn now to the latest in a chain of robberies appearing to Target lgbtq customers at a particular venue in New York City Police say suspects are gaining access to victims phones using face ID before getting away with thousands of dollars Valerie Castro has more on the investigation and the renewed warning from the NYPD tonight A Sinister slew of robberies targeting an lgbtq venue in Manhattan the NYPD renewing warnings after five people were drugged and robbed of thousands of dollars the mo a mix of drugs and Technology a captain in the city's 10th Precinct describing how it all plays out at a local police community council meeting so what we think is happening with this scheme is uh they're being worn away from the club babies to say hey you want to come with me I got some good drugs or something like that and then once they get into a car to do whatever it is that they're going to do um at some point or another they don't know what happened three incidents happening at this gay bar in the Chelsea neighborhood The Eagle NYC in October and November each time police say men in their 30s and 40s were incapacitated their own faces then used to unlock the facial recognition feature on their cell phones the suspects able to access the victim's accounts in each case stealing between one and five grand according to police the city's office of nightlife warning bar patrons to change the unlock option on cell phones to one that is passcode protected it can scan your face without your consent and when you are not aware and that is something that could then open you up to more Tech violence police say two other victims a 49 year old man and a 19 year old woman visiting the city were targeted at a local hotel not associated with the lgbtq community but the neighborhood already on edge after similar incidents occurred in Hell's Kitchen last spring it's scary actually because it could happen to anyone it's scary it's really really scary in those alleged robberies the outcomes were deadly 25 year old Julio Ramirez and 33 year old John umberger died in separate incidents shortly after leaving two gay bars with unidentified groups of men their families telling our New York station their bank accounts were drained and both men appear to have been drugged there is definitely a system of being drugged whether it's through drinking something or needles or or whatever the that renders the person immobile to protest from being taken advantage of and it wipes out your memory despite the similarities and the fact that no arrests were made in last year's deaths police say they have not found a relation to the most recent pattern of robberies that former NYPD Sergeant Joseph jacalone says publicity around the crimes could have inspired others could we be looking at a copycat situation well certainly right so when we report about these cases uh you know the previous Set uh some people might get the idea like hey this is a great idea Valerie Castro joins me here in the studio so after all of this the Eagle bar has taken some action right Kate after the most recent cases in January The Eagle NYC posted something to its Instagram account that included surveillance video of two men that were outside with the bar patrons and there was a warning saying quote do not take rides from these guys that post has since been deleted but the bar stating it reported the known offenders to appropriate authorities we reached out to The Eagle NYC for a statement but they've not responded so many questions here Valerie Castro thank you for reporting on this appreciate it when we come back the Iowa woman mistakenly declared dead how workers at a funeral home realized she was still alive and the punishment now handed down to her hospice facility we're back now with top stories news feed and breaking news a sixth Memphis police officer has been fired over the death of Tyree Nichols the department says after an internal investigation officer Preston Hemphill has been quote departmentally charged and terminated police say he violated multiple department policies including rules about the use of a taser gun five other officers have been criminally charged for the deadly beating of Nichols earlier this month a woman in Iowa was found alive inside a body bag at a Funeral Home Police say a nurse at the Glen Oaks Alzheimer's Special Care Center had mistakenly presumed the woman was dead she was found just hours later gasping for air at the funeral home the woman was taken to the hospital and returned to the hospice facility she did die two days later that hospice now facing a ten thousand dollar fine police in Los Angeles are searching for a person caught on camera are punching a woman and then stealing her puppy new video shows a woman in red sweatpants striking another woman in the face while the victim was holding her one-month-old Maltipoo the suspect then pushed the dog owner to the ground before taking off with that puppy the woman was treated for her injuries at a hospital the dog is still missing an update tonight A 24-year-old man has been arrested in connection to two monkeys stolen from the Dallas Zoo the emperor Tamarind monkeys you may remember were reported missing from their habitats on Monday they were found unharmed in an abandoned home nearby there a day later the suspect is charged with six counts of cruelty to animals and the FAA is investigating another mishap at a New York City area airport officials say two planes clipped Wings on the tarmac at Newark International Airport today a Boeing 787 was being tugged when it bumped an orlando-bound United Airlines flight no one was hurt but it does come after two unusual incidents at nearby Jay FK airport earlier this month let's turn now to Money Talks what consumers and investors need to know from the business world and Beyond and the stunning jobs numbers out today in a jobs report employers adding more than 517 000 jobs last month far more than was expected unemployment now at its lowest level in more than 50 years Tom Costello has more by any measure today's jobs report was a shocker wow wow a blast off of a number that's the highest number since February of 22. the new jobs report way exceeded
expectations that's the strongest two years of job growth in history by a long shot employers went on a supercharged hiring binge in January adding 517 thousand jobs economists had expected just 187 thousand hires that pushed the unemployment rate down to 3.4 percent the lowest since 1969. more people are coming into the market looking for jobs and getting jobs the biggest job gains were in Leisure and Hospitality Business Services government and Health Care surprising since it comes amid a wave of corporate layoffs including 3M IBM a Google Microsoft Amazon and Goldman Sachs LinkedIn Chief Economist Karen Kimbrough are there still more jobs than people to fill them there's at least one job for every job Seeker that comes to our platform and these jobs are spread across a multitude of Industries Michelle Valera was laid off from her marketing job two weeks ago she's applied for 77 jobs and had three interviews today I know there's always going to be something it's just a matter of finding it or working towards finding it and Tom Costello joins me now from Washington DC Tom this jobs report comes just two days after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the eighth straight time right in an effort to curb inflation so how do these new job numbers affect what they might do next it's good news but it creates this big headache for the Federal Reserve right because now they may have to raise interest rates a ninth time to tame inflation and it seems counterintuitive it seems strange but the FED wants to see unemployment rise to ease wage and price inflation so the speculation now just maybe the country can avoid a recession with inflation easing as we've seen at ease and unemployment now at 1969 low so cross your fingers Kate all right Tom Costello thank you now to top stories Global watch and an update on the deadly mosque bombing in Pakistan that we told you about earlier this week new surveillance footage shows the bomber dressed in a police uniform Crossing two security checkpoints before entering the mosque police say they believed the attacker was a fellow officer at the time and guided him into the building the suicide bomber then detonated his device just as prayers began at least 100 people were killed in Chile deadly wildfires have burned nearly 20 thousand acres as a summer heat wave there engulfs the country new video showing the Flames ripping through the Bobo region where nearly 40 fires are burning several people killed and hundreds of homes damaged there a state of emergency is in effect and multiple towns and multiple towns and are being evacuated there and a mafia Hitman has been arrested after 16 years on the Run police say Edgardo Greco was found working as a pizza chef under an alias in France he is a convicted murderer with ties to Italy's most powerful organized crime group his arrest comes less than three weeks after Italy's most Wanted mafia boss was apprehended in Sicily thank you so much for watching top story for Tom yamas I'm Kate snow in New York stay right there more news now on the way thanks for watching our YouTube channel follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the NBC News app
2023-02-04 20:38
