tv NBC Nightly News NBC December 31, 2010 6:30pm-7:00pm PDT
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on the broadcast tonight, deadly storms. 2010 comes to an end with a huge and violent weather system that's left death and destruction in the midwest. high alert. tight security in times square and beyond as new york rings in the new year. tonight, the extraordinary mission under water to prevent the unthinkable. "making a difference." americans helping one anotr and changing lives in the process. a closer look at the impact you had this year. and on this new year's eve, the celebrations already under way around the world. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television
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good evening. i'm kate snow in for brian on this new year's eve. we begin with a line of deadly storms that's swept across the middle of the country. there were 20 tornadoes reported today across four states. arkansas, missouri, illinois and oklahoma. at least six people have died, and there is tremendous damage. homes destroyed, roofs ripped off, and trees and power lines down. it's all due to a huge ms of warm and unstable air that swept across the middle of the country, from the gulf coast all the way north to michigan and wisconsin. we are covering all of it tonight starting with michelle hofland in sunset hills, missouri, just outside st. louis. good evening, michelle. >> reporter: good evening. the first reported tornado touched down in arkansas early this morning, killing an elderly couple and a farmer as he was milking his cows on his dairy farm. it was just the beginning of a
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deadly day. the violent winter storm that tore through the nation's midsection hit the town of cincinnati, arkansas, particularly hard, killing three people in a town of about 100, and injuring more than a dozen. >> this is our house. this is all that's left of it. >> reporter: tammy borden's boyfriend was inside their century old house when the storm hit. amazingly, he survived. >> all of a sudden everything lifted up. it threw him over there in that field over there. >> reporter: fast-moving high winds flattened hundreds of homes and left thousands without power. >> it was phenomenally fast. it came out of nowhere. >> reporter: high winds too in missouri where a state of emergency was declared after tornadoes reportedly killed at least three. >> reporter: there's trees in the roadway. power lines. we've got to make sure all that's taken care of so the roadways will be open. that's our first primary thing. >> reporter: at ft. leonard wood, missouri, where no injuries were reported, this twister was captured on tape.
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>> it's about 300, 400 yards away from my house. >> those ahead of this storm system, you should seek shelter immediately. >> reporter: it was the worst december storm to hit st. louis in 30 years, leveling east ten homes, toppling power lines and flipping over cars. >> there was just a wall of wind and water that came through and then we came out to this. just utter destruction. >> reporter: and this is one of those trucks that was flipped over in this deadly storm. that deadly tornado that ripped through four different states in the midwest and it continues to threaten more damage as it continues to move east. kate? >> unbelievable. michelle, thank you. the weather channel's julie martin is in hard-hit cincinnati, arkansas. julie, we think of tornadoes as a spring-summer phenomenon. can you walk us through how this happens on december 31st? >> reporter: yeah, very unusual. in fact, this is usually the
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most quiet time of year for both severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. but this new year's eve will go down as record setting for both. here in cincinnati, ohio, the site of three fatalities. in fact, you can see just how powerful this tornado was. this one packing winds of about 140 miles an hour. how did all of this happen? we mentioned that warm air coming up from the gulf. it was just enough to mix with some very turning winds in the lower atmosphere, all coming together at just the right time, relatively low odds of that taking place, but all of it happened early this morning, again, producing 20 tornadoes, stretching across four states. 70 severe weather reports, as well. so the timing was certainly not good. a lot of people were sleeping, not even up on this holiday morning. also, kate, this will go down as the second deadliest tornado outbreak on new year's eve, ever. >> julie, can you give us a sense -- i know you're in
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cincinnati, arkansas, a very small town. how devastated is the town? >> reporter: well, about 14 homes are completely damaged or destroyed. in fact, just across from me, the site of those fatalities, an elderly couple in their mobile home were killed early this morning. next to them, a business owner out tending to his cattle killed, as well. this is a very small, rural community of about 100 people. as you can imagine, everyone ending this new year -- this year rather in shock. >> julie martin in cincinnati, arkansas tonight. thank you. behind the warm air mass, that caused all those tornadoes, extremely cold air that brought a major snowstorm to the plains. blizzard conditions led to road closures in nebraska, with blowing snow, sending visibility to zero there. it is very cold, all the way down in arizona, as well. folks had to bundle up for the fiesta parade near phoenix. temperatures there 20 degrees below normal. there still is a risk of
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more storms tonight and meteorologist chris warren is at weather channel headquarters in atlanta with the very latest on that. chris, who needs to be on the lookout at this point? >> reporter: well, kate, this is an ongoing situation. it is not over. the areas we'll be watching tonight will be from louisiana all the way on up into tennessee, and this is the cold front we've been talking about separating the very warm and moist air, coming up out of the gulf, and that colder, drier air moving in from the north. and this will be moving off to the east. this is your forecast here for saturday, for new year's day. severe weather threat won't be as extensive but it will still be around along this front. you can see anywhere in red, that is where we have the threat for severe weather as we make our way into tomorrow. that's your saturday forecast. for sunday, many of the same spots in the south, mainly closer to the gulf where we do have that warm and moist air. again, the threat as we go through the weekend, kate, will be diminishing. again, it is not over.
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>> the weather channel's chris warren. thank you for that. now to this city, where times square is filling up fast for tonight's big celebration. along with the revelers, scores of police and other security measures. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel follows security efforts around the world, of course, and tonight he joins us from times square with a rare look inside new york's operations. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening kate, from times square. security officials say there are no specific threats but this is nonetheless a major undertaking for the new york city police department, which since 9/11, has developed into a world class counterterrorism force. in new york's times square tonight, 17 miles of barricades. bomb dogs. thousands of police officers. and surveillance helicopters are out. but much more in new york is hidden.
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often in plain sight. on the hudson river by ellis island, the former gateway to america, a barge and crane are mostly unnoticed. but quietly, they're constructing a major anti-terrorism upgrade to new york's underwater subway lines. the subway tunnels under the hudson river are over 100 years old. unlike most of new york city's subway system, which is burrowed through solid bedrock, the underwater tunnels sit just under a thin layer of silt and mud, leaving them vulnerable. so this crane, piece by piece, is lowering a protective shield to bombproof the tunnel. the reinforced casings are being lowered over the tops of the tunnels on the bottom of the hudson. the insides of the tunnel are being hardened, too, lined with steel plates. and finally as a last resort, flood gates are being installed at both ends. to plug the tunnel in a worst case scenario. new york police commissioner ray
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kelly told nbc news the $600 million upgrade stems from a 2006 terrorist plot. >> it was a plot to flood the so-called bathtub, the world trade center site and targeted the path tubes. it's a point that has to be given special attention, and that's what the port authority is doing. i think it's prudent and wise to do precisely that. >> reporter: to hardin it from above and put in flood gates to make it a tough facility? >> exactly. >> reporter: this camera room where we did the interview is also more than it seems. it takes in thousands of video feeds from across new york and runs them through powerful computers. the computers are programmed with an algorithm to recognize patterns and pick out almost anything. >> so you can program them to look for whatever you want them to. >> right. in front of a particular camera, if you want to see everyone who has worn a red jacket for the
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preceding 30 days, we can do that. you can go back and look at that history. >> reporter: for privacy, the new york police department says the computer files are deleted after 30 days. there are obviously, kate, certain counterterrorism measures that we cannot discuss on air. but in general, security officials here want any would-be terrorists to know that new york city is a much harder target than it was on 9/11. kate? >> and richard, exceptional security tonight on this night for new year's eve. but is it true every day those cameras are always in place? >> reporter: those cameras are always in place. what's different tonight is you see all of the components of the counterterrorism coming together at one time. there are ships out in the harbor. helicopters in the sky. radiation detection equipment. all of this is here. but on new year's eve, it's brought out at one time and used all right around this location, times square.
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kate? >> richard engel in times square this evening. thank you. and on this final day of 2010, it is worth noting the united states continues to be involved in, of course, two major conflicts and to pay a heavy price. since the war in afghanistan began more than nine years ago, 1,339 americans have been killed and 9,885 have been wounded. in iraq, 4,433 americans have been killed, and just over 32,000 have been wounded since that war began almost eight years ago. on wall street today, the dow finished an up year on an up note, gaining just under eight points in very light holiday trading. for the year, the dow was up 11%. finishing off the second straight year of gains after the financial meltdown of 2008. when "nightly news" continues on this new year's eve, the sisters being released from prison with one very unusual condition. and the question that it's raising tonight.
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we have a followup on a story we first told you about last night. a plan to release two sisters from prison in mississippi after one sister pledged to donate a kidney to the other. even though the sisters came up with the plan to donate the kidney, should the state sanction it as a condition for their release? here's nbc's justice correspondent pete williams. >> reporter: the proposed transplant of a kidney has touched off an ethical debate after a decision by mississippi's governor. haley barbour ordered the release of two sisters serving life sentences for armed
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robbery, saying they're no longer a danger to society. and one of them, jamie scott, will die without a kidney transplant. he said her sister, gladys, should be released too after agreeing to be the kidney donor. their mother told nbc's "today" program that it was gladys who suggested nilt the first place. >> my daughter gladys stated in january, when my daughter jamie's kidneys first shut down, that she would be willing to give her sister a kidney. >> reporter: experts on medical ethics say despite the sister's generosity, a decision to donate a kidney should be entirely voluntary, with no conditions whatever. >> the framework we have in place to try and avoid exploitation of people is voluntary choice, you don't get anything back for doing it except thanks. but when you link it up to shortening life sentences or prison commutation, i think you're changing the framework. >> reporter: while the governor cited the danger to jamie scott's health and the cost of the state for caring for her, the naacp and other groups
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praised his decision and some involved in the case say they believe the governor really did think their life sentences were unjust but gave a medical reason for political cover. experts on sentencing say governors have become more reluctant to use their pardon powers for fear of being labeled soft on crime. >> it's hard to read a governor's mind, but most governors are aware of what they perceive to be the politics of these issues. so they sometimes may be looking for other factors to make that decision easier for them. >> reporter: tonight, one of the victims of the armed robbery says the sisters played only a minor role and regardless of the medical issues, it's now time they were released. pete williams, nbc news, washington. there is no new year's eve pardon for gunslinger billy the kid, who, according to legend, killed 21 people, one for each year of his life. new mexico's governor had been asked to pardon the outlaw based on his testimony before a grand jury more than a century ago. but governor bill richardson said the historical record was not clear enough to grant
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clemency. the end of the year marks the end of a record-setting winning streak for the university of connecticut women's basketball team. the huskies lost their first game in more than 2 1/2 years. after 90 wins they fell to stanford 71-59. when we come back, the party has started. ringing in the new year around the world.
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you're looking at flood waters sweeping through northern australia where days of pounding rain have now flooded an area larger than texas. some two dozen towns have been inundated, forcing more than 200,000 people from their homes. and in that part of the world, the new year has already begun. nbc's martin fletcher is keeping an eye on all the celebrations across many time zones, designed to get 2011 off to a grand start. he joins us tonight from london. happy new year, martin. >> reporter: thank you kate, you too.
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with the weather, the economy, it's been a rough year worldwide. but for a few hours at least, all that is set aside as new year celebrations unite much of the globe. new zealand opened the new year celebrations well enough almost a day ago. that was eclipsed by its neighbor's celebrations in sidney, australia. >> three, two, one, happy new year! >> reporter: sidney calls itself the world's new year capital. seven tons of fireworks with 1.5 million aussies lining the walls. in fact, across the time zones, each stroke of midnight looks like the next stage in a fireworks competition. taiwan. four marks for trying. while japan did its own thing. traditional prayers by monks ringing in the year of the rabbit, and thousands of silver balloons trailing notes with people's hopes for the future. myanmar was muted.
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its nobel peace prize winner, aung san suu kyi, freed from seven years house arrest last month, sharing her hopes. >> we hope we will see a year that is happier for all the people of the world, including the people of burma. >> reporter: and in moscow, the emphasis was on security. 5,500 police for 1.5 million people. in germany, a million people came together at the brandenburg gate that once divided east from west. it's all a pleasant piece of escapism for a world that needs it. here in london, we just finished now with midnight and the fireworks display lights up the river behind me. london's colorful mayor promises it will be glittering and primal. i can't wait. kate? >> okay, martin, have fun. thank you. when "nightly news" returns, a very special "making a difference" report.
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very special edition of our weekly "making a difference" report. tonight, as we look back at 2010, it's not just the people in the stories who are making a difference to others. on this new year's eve, we wanted to show you how you, the viewers, have made a difference, too. these are the stories we talk about the next day, the next week. a father who simply wouldn't give up on a son who suffered brain damage at birth. the struggle to bring music to chicago's south side schools. or the 21-year-old woman with cerebral palsy, living in a nursing home, then taken in by a loving family. three days before christmas, she got engaged to an old friend who also has cp. >> he said, i can't get down on one knee, but will you marry me? and i said yes. he's just a really nice guy and i love him. so 2010 changed my life. >> you have changed a lot of
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lives this year. in the first hour after our story about a woman who sends service dogs to people with disabilities aired, their inbox filled with more than 100 offers of assistance. you've sent $60,000 to date, and every week since, about 15 people have applied to receive a dog. animals clearly touch a nerve. when we told you about amy riles' effort to help horse owners who are struggling financially, viewers donated 3,000 bails of hay, worth $18,000. we told you the story of a selfless physician, who built a clinic for an island who never had a doctor before. >> just felt like it was a gap that needed to be filled. >> we knew in october that dr. david nichols was waging his own battle with liver cancer. >> thank you, tangier, for letting me into your lives. please know that while i may leave you in body, i'll never leave you in spirit. >> so many of you wrote to thank
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him for his service. yesterday, dr. nichols passed away, knowing how many people cared. in the wake of the oil spill in the gulf, you cared enough to send money for a laid off oyster worker to pay for her daughter's first birthday party, a party she thought she would have to skip. >> i couldn't believe how many people reached out, stepped up. >> a stranger, dan gladden, sent thousands of dollars to all the workers at that plant. his words capture what so many of you have told us, that a simple act of kindness can go a long way. >> i didn't hesitate for a second. and i just did it, and i felt great every moment since i did it. i honestly did. >> it goes a long way. a reminder, you can watch many more of our "making a difference" segments on our new website, makingadifference.msnbc.com. that is our broadcast for this new year's eve. thank you so much for being with us. i'm kate snow. for brian williams and all of us here at nbc news, have a safe and happy new year.
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-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com . six hours to go until the clock strikes 12:00. and right now preparations are in full swing as the bay area gets set to ring in the year 2011. good evening, everyone. i'm tom sinkovitz. whether it's a night on the town or a quiet night in with friends, new year's eve 2010 will mean many things to many difft
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