carvy. >> thanks for joining us. lester holt joins us next with nightly news. >> see you back at 6:00. good night, folks. on the broadcast tonight, monster storm. another blizzard about to hit with the intensity of a category 2 hurricane. 70-mile-an-hour winds, cold that feels like 30 below zero. and tonight, our look at what all that snow piling up is doing to homes. was it a hate crime? under intense pressure on authorities, the fbi is now invoed. and the president is weighing in after the murder of three muslim college students sparks a movement. escape from isis. two young women live to tell the world about girls as young as 8 being sold into marriage. tonight, richard engel with a powerful nbc news exclusive. and, the mystery. a dead prosecutor, allegations of a cover-up, and a case that could bring down a very powerful woman. "nightly news" begins now.

from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news." reporting tonight, lester holt. good evening. thanks for being here this friday night. the dead of winter isn't supposed to be a picnic, but let's face it, we don't often see them this harsh. dare we say it? yet another blizzard has its sights set on the northeast tonight. boston once again in the line of fire. some new england cities looking at close to two feet of snow later this weekend, but the winds may be the bigger story here. at times gusts reaching near hurricane speed. right now 16 states are under winter weather advisories. this weekend's storm follows on the heels of a dangerous cold snap with bitter wind chills being felt tonight in cities from the mid-atlantic northward. we begin in boston with nbc's ron mott. ron, good evening. >> reporter: hey, lester, good evening to you. as we head into the weekend nearly 35 million americans are under a winter weather advisory. nearly 6.5 million will face

blizzard warnings this weekend. for the folks who live around here after all of this snow and this brutally cold air that's moved in they're starting to resign themselves to live with these rough conditions for the foreseeable future. what snow lumped in mounds as far as the eye can see, new englanders are steadying themselves for yet more. with few spaces left to put it all, some at their wit's ends. >> i'm freezing. >> i'm freezing. my fingers are numb. >> just staying inside as much as i can and trying not to ever go outside. >> reporter: a blizzard warning in effect. stores are crowded. snow supplies in demand. food and other essentials too, preparing to hunker down. >> if nothing else, you end up cooking and not being able to get out of the house. >> reporter: one of the biggest concerns, wind. forecasts call for gusts approaching hurricane force. 40 to 50 miles an hour in new york and philadelphia, 50 to 60 along coastal maine, 60 to 75 on nantucket. the coast guard is warning mariners.

>> a powerful storm will be impacting new england water -- >> reporter: power outages are feared, dangerous road conditions likely. >> we will urge everybody to please stay off the road during the storm through saturday night into sunday morning. >> reporter: boston's snow fatigue is hard-earned. snow falling 16 of the past 25 days, more than 42 inches in february, the snowiest ever. nearly 80 inches this season, striking distance of the all-time tally of 107.6. the national guard is deployed having cleared 700 fire hydrants and ready to respond this weekend. >> freezing. so cold. >> reporter: back in boston, the red sox are headed for spring training. a city hopeful they'll send some sunshine back. ron mott, nbc news, boston. there are intensifying calls tonight for authorities to declare a hate crime in the murders of three young muslims this week in north carolina. local police have said the killings stem from a dispute over a parking spot.

but now the fbi is getting involved and the president himself is weighing in. the report tonight from nbc's pete williams. >> reporter: with passions still high a day after an emotional funeral in north carolina for three young muslims murdered on tuesday, muslim leaders led a prayer session on capitol hill and worked the halls pushing for a hate crime investigation. >> all numbers show that american muslims are perceived in a negative light more than any other discriminated or oppressed minority in america. >> reporter: as the fbi said it will look at the evidence, stopping short of launching a formal investigation with local police in charge, president obama said in a statement that no one in the u.s. "should ever be targeted because of who they are, what they look like or how they worship." investigators say it appears that craig stephen hicks, the man charged with the murders, acted out of anger over long-running disputes over parking spaces and noise at the apartment complex where he and the victims lived. all three shot in the head. deah barakat, a dental student,

his wife of less than two months yusor abu salha and her sister razan, an architecture student. investigators say the suspect's postings on facebook show no animosity toward muslims. he called christians hypocritical for opposing a plan for a mosque near new york's ground zero, and he made fun of people who believe in the bible. but legal experts say attacking people because they're religious regardless of their faith could still be a hate crime. >> usually people think of that in terms of animosity towards one particular religion, but if you have animosity towards all religions, that would seem to fit within the statutory language. >> reporter: even if evidence is found that the killings were motivated by hate that might not make a difference legally. hicks is charged with first-degree murder, that's a crime punishable in north carolina by death. if the prosecutors choose to make this a capital case, lester. >> all right, pete, good to have you here, thank you. it's been a wild week of drama in the state of oregon culminating tonight with the resignation of a four-term governor caught up in a scandal

involving his fiancee. nbc's hallie jackson is in the state capital of salem. >> reporter: he hasn't been seen in public for days and apparently saw no reason to face his constituents even this afternoon announcing his resignation only in an audio statement. >> nonetheless, i understand that i have become a liability to the very institutions and policies to which i've dedicated my career and indeed my entire adult life. >> reporter: in defiant remarks governor john kitzhaber blamed a media frenzy insisting he will be cleared in two investigations involving his fiancee sylvia hayes, who he calls his first lady. >> i apologize deeply for my actions and omissions. >> reporter: the oregonian reports she tried to make money from firms trying to do business with the state. yet another controversial headline after the revelation she broke federal law two decades ago by accepting money for a green card marriage. >> there are serious consequences. i made a very serious mistake. >> reporter: the tipping point?

a criminal investigation opened just this week that had even kitzhaber's fellow democrats reconsidering their support. >> i think the situation over the last couple of days has really indicated his inability to focus on his job and has undermined his ability to govern. >> reporter: now the governor's 35-year career in public service reduced to a single sentence as he steps down. secretary of state kate brown ready to step in. late today, secretary brown talked with reporters calling this a sad day for oregon and adding there's a lot of work to be done between now and wednesday when she'll be sworn in. and when that happens, lester she will become the nation's first openly bisexual governor. >> a dramatic day of testimony before a weekend break in the trial of the man accused of murdering chris kyle the former navy s.e.a.l. who inspired the hit movie "american sniper." on the stand today a former sheriff's deputy say he heard the defendant confess in no

uncertain terms. the report from jacob rascon. >> reporter: today there were gasps in the courtroom when they said i heard mr. routh say i shot them because they wouldn't talk to me. i feel bad about it but they wouldn't talk to me. i'm sure they've forgiven me. inside his home investigators found pipes, a bong and other drug paraphernalia and routh's uncle told the jury they were getting high when chris kyle showed up. a few hours later they lay dead at the gun range. that afternoon routh came back with kyle's ford f-150 and told his uncle, i'm driving a dead man's truck and told his sister he sold his soul for a truck. that and the fact that he fled the scene suggested that routh knew he did wrong, prosecutors argue. footage captures routh rambling

saying, i don't know if i'm going insane. and, quote, i can feel people feeding on my soul. kyle's widow taya attended every day, an emotional first week of testimony, another chapter in the "american sniper" story. routh has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. the trial pibcks up again monday. >> jacob rascon for us tonight, thank you. the white house calls it a defining challenge of the 21st century, the vulnerability in this country to cyber attacks. president obama today at an event in silicon valley signed an executive order to combat cyber threats but key partners in the business world are skeptical of trusting the government. the report tonight from chris jansing. >> reporter: as the consultant in a two-man shop in rural georgia, ryan says he never expected this. >> turn my computer on and it started making this awful churning noise. >> reporter: his computer was hacked twice and it nearly crippled his business. >> a very frustrating two months

of just trying to get everything back. >> reporter: even more frustrating, most criminal hackers operate on virtually untraceable parts of the internet the dark web, where you can buy credit cards, passports, even hire a hacker for a wide range of jobs. this says, a medium job is ruining people. >> that's right. that's what it would cost for this service they're selling. >> reporter: it has exploded. five times as many now as in 2009 and growing. 56,000 threats investigated last year by the department of homeland security alone. today president obama met with business leaders including apple's tim cook and signed eded an executive order. >> it's the wild wild west. and to some degree we're asked to be the sheriff. >> reporter: but ceos from google yahoo! and facebook skipped the summit many companies reluctant to share sensitive information with the feds. another part of the white house strategy -- hire more cyber detectives like these at a

private firm in atlanta. a kind of cyber csi unit. >> we just basically have to find out what they're doing, how it's working and figure out a way to stop it. >> reporter: ryan's hacker hasn't been caught but he's changed. >> i'm careful what e-mails i read, what documents i open. >> reporter: trying not to get run over by sophisticated cyber crooks. chris jansing, nbc news atlanta. it is now well know that there is no mercy among the terrorists of isis often the men in areas they overrun are viciously murdered but the women suffer a fate that may be worse than death. sold into slavery sometimes many times over to suffer unimaginable brutality. tonight two who escaped share their story with us. richard engel in northern iraq. >> reporter: the suffering of the yazidi people indelible images of men, women and children reaching out for help.

food, water, blankets, dropped on the sinjar mountains by americans. but help didn't reach everyone. in the refugee camps of northern iraq, we met survivors of the horror that went on in the village of kuchu. its people seen here in better times, couldn't reach the mountain, so they were still in the village when isis arrived. when they took the men, we didn't know how many were going to be killed says 19-year-old farida who didn't want her face to be shown. in fact, isis killed almost all of the men, but they had other plans for the women. they were grabbed by the hundreds and sold off to isis fighters as the spoils of war. isis is reviving the barbaric tradition of the slave trade, proudly showing its fighters in this isis video discussing the yazidi women they're about to buy. we showed farida the video. she instantly recognized the men. i saw that one, and this guy, she said. i don't know their names, but i saw them.

she saw them laughingly inspecting more than 80 yazidi girls, picking out the ones they wanted. all of the girls were screaming and crying because they didn't want to go with them, she says, so they beat the girls and dragged them away by force. farida was raped repeatedly for three months. they sold me from one man to the next, she says. the ordeal was even harder for the younger ones. they raped girls who were 9, 10 years old or even 8, she says. they would say the older ones know something about men while the younger ones know nothing. hweida is one of the innocents that the isis fighters sought out. she's 12. she didn't know what rape meant. only that she woke up bleeding. he was old, she says, about the man who bought her. he was 50. somehow she escaped, but she's so badly traumatized that only now three months later is she able haltingly to even speak again. she and farida are being coaxed

back by this remarkable woman from a charity. the girls call her mom. their real mothers are still being held by isis. farida had never seen the video of the isis men. i see this, she says, and i think of all the girls they still have because they are doing everything imaginable to them. we just want justice. >> and richard engel joins us now from northern iraq. this story, richard, leaves one almost shaking with anger. you've seen so much in war zones. how did you process coming face-to-face with this particular atrocity? >> well frankly, lester there's a word we don't use a lot in the news media, but it fits here. this is evil. it was absolute evil by design. this was not a war crime that happened by accident. this is isis policy. now, luckily, these two girls, amazingly, managed to escape. they both walked away while their captors weren't looking.

they had to walk for hours, knocking on doors until they found people who were willing to bring them to a safe place. now they are in a safe place here in northern iraq. and they're getting help. >> all right, richard, i know they are getting help. you've written a lot more about this. it's on our website. thank you for being with us tonight. we're back with more after this.

there was a case of international intrigue playing out tonight that is grabbing attention from argentina to iran and here in the u.s. it started with the death of a

prosecutor investigating the president of argentina. it involves allegations of a cover-up, and now conspiracy theories are running wild. we get our report tonight from our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. >> reporter: argentina's controversial president cristina fernandez at the center of a mystery worthy of grand opera or musical theater. ♪ don't cry for me argentina ♪ >> reporter: a prosecutor dead, a gunshot wound to his head, the night before he was going to present evidence implicating the president in a scandalous deal with iran. a month later his replacement. a new prosecutor now asking a judge to file charges against the president. the case, allegedly conspireing with iran for cheap oil in exchange for covering up iran's role in argentina's worst terror attack, the 1994 bombing killing 85 people at a jewish center in buenos aires. protesters demand answers. a country teetering on default

is obsessed with conspiracy theories. the question for many is will it come to anything will it end in anything, and will this mystery rof what happened to the prosecutor ever really get resolved? >> reporter: argentinians are asking if the prosecutor murdered, who ordered it. was the president's government involved? was it a spy agency gone rogue trying to bring her down? or was israel's spy agency mossad somehow involved? some people even blamed the nazis and their descendants who found haven in argentina after the war. argentina in an election year with a collapsing economy is already in crisis. >> fundamentally shakes the political landscape. >> reporter: a country in which 30,000 people just disappeared under military dictators in the past. now again caught up in conspiracy theories about murder. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. we're back in a moment with a surprising admission from a member of the supreme court. why ruth bader ginsburg said she

dozed off with millions of people watching.

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announcer: but hurry! sleep train's ticket to tempur-pedic event ends sunday! ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ david carr was a warrior for the truth, our biggest champion, the best we had. that's how friends and colleagues at the "new york times" are remembering him today. carr was the "times" media columnist. a brilliant, insightful writer and tireless reporter who survived cancer, overcame drug addiction and went on to a remarkable second act. his chronicle of the media landscape was must reading. david carr collapsed in his beloved "times" newsroom last night. he was 58. so much for being sober as a judge. supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg reportedly told a crowd she was "not 100% sober" during this year's state of the union address. cameras caught the 81-year-old justice looking a little sleepy during the speech last month. apparently the justices had been pregaming it with a bottle of

fine california wine which ginsburg says she couldn't resist. when we come back, the fantasy of millions of women has come true. this racy best-seller is now on the big screen.

there is a movie out this weekend that's expected to -- how should i put this -- dominate the box office. "fifty shades of grey" adapted from the book series that has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide is now in theaters everywhere. it is released by universal pictures owned by our parent company. our kevin tibbles just had to see the guilty pleasure. >> anastasia. >> christian. >> reporter: and with that this most-talked about film heads off in the direction of fantasy. >> what happened? >> how long ago did you get your tickets? >> a month ago. >> reporter: it's already expected to gross a record setting $60 million this valentine's weekend. the more guilty pleasures book club came on a girls' night out. what have you been imagining all these years? >> oh -- let me tell you, fan me down. it's hot.

>> sit down. learn a thing or two. >> reporter: and while some religious organizations and women's groups object to the subject matter "50 shades," with its seemingly unbelievable storyline is selling out. have you got "50 shades of grey"? >> i've got hundreds. >> reporter: being a guy i took my queries to the local paint shop where love comes in many colors. now, you may think grey is a rather boring color, but 50 shades of it have got things all stirred up just in time for valentine's. you can now buy 50 shades teddy bears or adult themed products at target, of all places. even spice things up at a san francisco hotel. and the verdict? no grey area here. you want part two? >> i want more. >> it was the worst pile of [ bleep ] i've ever seen. >> reporter: some are even returning with their boyfriends. >> they better love it, otherwise we leave them for you.

>> you can leave at any time. >> reporter: kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago. that will do it for us on this friday night. i'm lester holt. i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today." for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good night. nbc bay area news starts now. >> there is only one way to defend america from the cyberthreats. that is through government and industry working together. >> right now at 6:00, the white house leaning on silicon valley. president obama in town tonight, outlining his bold plan. good evening. thanks for being with us on this friday. i'm raj mathai. >> and i'm jessica aguirre. happening now, the president finishing his day in san francisco. this is new video right now. the president leaving a fundraiser within the past half hour. he stayed there for about an

hour and a half. $10,000 was the price to get a seat, and it went up from there. mr. obama spent the bulk of his day, though, at stanford university, where he called on silicon valley to help put a stop to cyber attacks. nbc bay area business reporter scott budman was at the summit. but we begin with mark matthews outside of the home of investment banker sandy robertson where that private event was being held this evening. mark? >> reporter: about 60 people including san francisco 49er tight end vernon davis, entrepreneur wade and his wife lorna, we also saw the ceo of dignity health lloyd dean, and real estate moguls from the east bay wayne jordan and his wife quinn delaney. 60 people are paying upwards of $10,000 a piece at sandy and jeannie roberts' mansion on russian hill. the robertsons have already donated to ready for hillary. early this morning t