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tv   NBC Nightly News  NBC  November 20, 2013 5:30pm-6:01pm PST

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on our broadcast tonight, road rules, a big change coming to the way millions get around in this country. crunch time. something of a natural wonder that folks consume every day. its amazing affects against heart disease and stroke. and a scare for lindsey vonn, now injured again in another crash. an update on her condition. and paying tribute. two presidents and the heart of the kennedy family honoring a legacy that still burns bright. nightly news begins now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this
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is nbc nightly news. we begin tonight with a federal government action that affects the way millions of americans get around. for half a century in this country seat belt advocates have been pushing for seat belts in buses. now a change is coming. we learned today the government is going to require seat belts on some buses. and while it's something of a safety landmark there are lots of questions and lots of exceptions. we begin with stephanie gosk. roughly 55 million passengers shuttled through here. very few of them had the option to use seat belts. that's about to change. when commercial bus crashes
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happen, the injury and death toll can be high. 15 people were killed in march of 2011 when a bus flipped on i-95 in new york city, rolling over and ramming into a guardrail, the roof completely sheered off by a signpost. fewer people would have died if seat belts had been installed. today after decades of debate, the national highway safety administration announced new rules requiring seat belts in all new commercial buses. >> this will save one to nine lives per year. >> reporter: 700 million passengers travel by muss annually. mostly senior citizens and children. between 2000 and 2009, there were 209 deaths. installation costs for seat belts are minimal. seat belts add an additional $13,000. many manufacturers have already
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independently started installing seat belts on new buses. >> it's good to have the extra option for safety. >> there was a seat belt on the bus today, and i wore it. >> reporter: it does not require buses already on the road to be retrofitted because industry officials stay would be too costly. the new rules do not include city or school buses either. the administration says school buss are already safe, relying on a different kind of restraint system. some safety experts say today's step is a small one. >> i'm hopeful that the battle won't take that long for school buses. >> reporter: installing seat belts in buses is only half the battle. they only provide more safety if people decide to use them. >> thanks. a republican member of
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congress today pleaded guilty to cocaine charges. representative trey radel of florida, a freshman congressman was arrested as part of an undercover sting operation. our justice correspondent has more on how he came to the attention of authorities, and how he got caught. >> reporter: congressman trey radel walked into a washington, d.c. courthouse as the first member of congress ever pleading guilty for cocaine. he was caught, authorities say, because a member of a drug ring that was under federal investigation told agents that a congressman was a repeat customer. so they set up a sting. here's how prosecutors say it happened. congressman radel met with an undercover police officer at this restaurant in the dupont circle neighborhood and agreed to buy 3.5 grams of cocaine for $260.
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here's what 3.5 grams of baking powder looks like. they went to the undercover police officer's car, back out on the street federal drug agents moved in. he is a former radio talk show host, and anchorman in florida. >> i don't want my son growing up in a bankrupt nation. >> reporter: his hard fought battle ended with victory from tea party members. the florida democratic party called him an embarrassment to his state. >> people do like the redemption, but they don't like their representative going to washington, d.c., buying cocaine and partying it up while they're struggling to get by. >> reporter: he says he wants to continue serving the nation and
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pledged to begin in patient drug treatment back home in florida. now to the war in afghanistan. after 12 years, there's a plan outlining what happens after u.s. combat troops come home next year. tonight secretary of state john kerry confirms there's now a final draft of that deal. meanwhile, there are growing concerns about an upsurge of violence and chaos as the u.s. operation winds down. our chief foreign correspondent richard engle saw the effects close up in kabul. >> reporter: kabul's main trauma hospital may be the best place to diagnose the problem. the symptoms don't look good. civilian casualties of war, up 45% across the country over last year of the in some areas, hospital officials say 80%. children like this one hit by
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shrapnel, this one shot in the face. and this one on her way home from a wedding when a bomb exploded by the family car. her nails still painted for the party. what happened to this one? >> this man came with a gunshot wound. >> reporter: the chief surgeon has worked for 11 years run by an italian charity. >> the number of workers -- >> reporter: they're setting up new clinics to cope with rising demand. because as american troops are leaving, the taliban is making a come back. and this is the hospital add n minnesomen straighter. >> this 12 year old lost both of his legs when a mortar hit his house. taliban fighters were near by. >> translator: i looked down,
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and my legs weren't there. >> reporter: he lost his sister and brother too. at the hospital, he makes a fast recovery. but before he can go home the stitches and bandages have to be removed. and it hurts. a lot. he is so upset a child near him starts crying too. then, thankfully, it's over. he is cleared to leave. and will soon be fitted for prosthetics. this girl is being discharged too. but then what? at home, he tells me he wants to be a doctor, but the family can't afford the therapy he needs. as america draws down, the war among afghans seems to be getting worse. richard engle, nbc new, kabul. sadly, this was another bloody day in the other nation
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where the u.s. has recently departed. in iraq. scores of people were killed in a wave of bombings both in and around baghdad, part of a growing insur jensy against the shiite led government. six people were killed and 16 wounded. back in this country, the reverend billy graham has been hospitalized. he is experiencing a respiratory congestion issue, similar to the one that ailed him just a few weeks ago. as was the case then, we are told tonight the family is expecting he'll return home in a day or two. he turned 95 years old earlier this month. now to a big scare for the woman who is arguably the biggest star of the winter olympic games in sochi. she has just come back from devastating injury. now there's word she's been
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injured again. just over two months until the games begin. >> reporter: lindsey vonn trying to find the perfect grip. in the high-speed world of downhill ski racing you have to be on the edge of a crash. she is no stranger to both. tuesday morning, the olympic downhill champion crashed. another set back for one of america's best hopes for sochi. her spokesperson says she sustained a mild strain to her right knee, partial tear to her right acl. this doctor who is not treating her say these types of injury ks take a long time to heal. >> a partial tear, which is what they're reporting, could be fatherly serious, because it wasn't probably 100% strong yet
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anyway. >> reporter: in february, lindsey blew out the same knee in a devastating crash at the world championship. she has admitted she can take her training too far. >> i'm probably the most dangerous person for myself. >> reporter: it took six months for lindsey to get back on her skis. and when she finally did, nbc news was with her in the chilean andes. her publicist says she'll rest for a few days and pursue aggressive physical therapy. >> she is clearly a, if not the poster child of the olympic games. we saw her come through with an ininjure prior to 2010 in vancouver. she is as tough as tough gets. >> reporter: with less than three months to go before sochi,
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america's golden girl may be down, but no one's counting her out just yet. nbc news, denver, colorado. still ahead for us, big news from doctors about the amazing benefits of what sure is looking like a wonder food, helping people stay thin and healthy and live longer. and later, a star-studded gathering at the white house, some of the big names there to receive this nation's highest civilian honor.
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as we said, there's health news tonight having to do with a portable food group that a lot of people eat in some form every day. the news is the benefits from them and how many different areas of personal health can benefit from them. our report from nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: while they may not be a fountain of youth, the research suggests just a handful of nuts every day could be a
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life saver. >> the evidence suggests that if one chooses nuts over other alternative foods there is a 20% improvement in mortality which is quite striking. >> reporter: researchers looked into more than 100,000 men and women over 30 years. they found that the more often people regularly ate nut, the lower their death rate. people who ate one ounce of nuts seven times a week were 20% less likely to die from a variety of causes, heart disease, stroke, and infection. and it doesn't matter what kind of nuts. peanuts, mipistachios, all of tm have an impact on health. they've been saying for years it's the best you can eat. >> all of these nutrients rolled up into this product.
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we reap the benefit. >> reporter: the research was paid for by the national institutes of health and a small grant from the nut council. the study found that people who eat nutteds tend to be thin and healthy. >> you're going to risk adding extra pounds. >> reporter: researchers are still examining the exact relationship between nuts and better health. they suggest an ounce a day could go a long way. and one more health-related item. if you are among the million hostage aspirin in some form, research shows the best time to take it is at night. heart attacks are more likely to happen in the morning hours, and new research just presented suggests an aspirin at bedtime
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to cut that risk. we are back with fans clamoring to buy a piece of history melted down.
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all veteran air travelers know the command by heart. it goes something like this. flight attendants prepare all doors for arrival and cross-check. then you all hear one r and one l. it was that one l that was the problem on board a jet blue flight from ft. myers to boston. the emergency slide partially deployed while in flight. not supposed to do that. cause unknown. problem contained. flight made an emergency landing in orlando and safely taxied to the gate. the annual projection from the folks at triple a, they say fewer americans will be traveling this thanksgiving, but still a healthy amount, around 43 million of us. and a first we can remember concerning gas prices. the average price of gas in california is now lower than new
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york. while it's only one cent, it hasn't generally been true. the people who knew to be looking skyward in the eastern half of the u.s. were richly rewarded with a show. a rocket launch carried a record 29 different satellites into orbit. there are now 13,000 satellites in earth's orbit circling us 24/7. george w. bush and laura bush stopped by the tonight show with jay leno last night. and the talk turned to the former president as painter. the web has been filling up with pictures painted by 43, mostly cats and dogs, but an occasional late night talk show host. jay leno was presented with a pretty good likeness.
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and the former president talked about turning to paint after politics. that first meant finding an art teacher. >> i said i'm thinking about painting. she said what's your objective? i said there's a rembrandt tr trapped in this body. hockey fans tend to be different. when the stanley cup champion chicago blackhawks decided to sell rink ice, it surprised no one when it sold out. it's for a good cause, the chicago black hawk's charities. even though the water has been used, dirty, cloudy and not fit for consumption, have you any doubt that fans will do shots with it, baptize children with
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it? that's just how fans are. one president honors another president at the white house and they both honor a fallen president at arlington.
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in dallas, texas, for many
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years now there has been a white x in the road to mark the exact spot where president kennedy was assassinated. some have found it a bit ghoulish. people have taken their photograph there. the city has paved over it, wanting a fresh road surface as friday's 50th anniversary approaches. and finally, it was one of those days at the white house. a star-studded gathering as some towering figures in modern american history received this nation's highest civilian honor, created, in fact, by jfk just before his assassination half a century ago. and shortly after the ceremony, one of the recipients joined president obama for the tribute. >> reporter: two presidents laying a wreath at the eternal flame that marks his grave site
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50 years after john f. kennedy's death. joined by ethyl kennedy and other family members. robert kennedy would have been 88 years old today. and at the white house, another part of the kennedy legacy. 16 new resip yebtss of the presidential medal of freedom. >> this marks the 50th anniversary of president kennedy establishing this award. >> reporter: america's highest civilian honor, but jfk didn't live to present the first medal. instead, lyndon johnson gave the award to marian anderson. at the white house today, the tradition lives on. >> i'm grateful, bill, as well for the advice and counsel that you've offered me on and off the golf course, astronaut sally
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ride. >> she blasted through the ceiling. >> reporter: oprah winfrey. >> her bosses told her she should change her name to susie. i have to pause here to say i got the same advice. >> reporter: feminist icon gloria steinem. >> her one piece of advice to gu young girls is do not listen to my advice. >> reporter: ben bradlee. >> i hope we carry away a reminder of what jfk understood to be the essence of the american spirit. >> reporter: the 44th president beginning a tradition begun by
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the 35th president even as his flame burns on. andrea mitchell, washington. i'm brian williams. of course we hope to see you right back here tomorrow thank you for joining us on this wednesday. >> another wet day and sluggish commute around the bay area. giving you a live look now outside in san jose where the roads are just starting to dry. this is what the drive looked like under taylor street. very slow, very wet, and flooded. the story across the bay as well, the rain across san francisco was a big inconvenience for anyone trying to get around. nbc bay area's chief meteorologist is here with a
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look at the storm, where it is now and how much rain we've actually had. >> that storm system is moving off towards the south after very heavy bouts this afternoon. we saw those flooding issues across the bay area. the ground is so extremely dry it's that much harder for the water to get down into the lower surfaces. half an inch to an inch was good enough to produce areas of flooding. let's look at the 24-hour rain totals. san francisco close to an inch. then you'll also see san jose now at 0.76. also for hayward, 0.62 for you. a lot less there in fairfield with 0.35 as a lot of that mismoisture was squeezed out of the storm by the time it got to concord and fairfield. san francisco, over the past 24 hourings, 0.91 of an inch of rainfall. and when you compare that to the overall storm

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