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tv   NBC Nightly News  NBC  June 11, 2015 5:30pm-6:01pm PDT

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crowds. . >> part of the old facade. >> maybe we could reclaim some of it. >> the same. see you at 6:00. tonight, picking up the scent, the discovery searchers are calling their best lead yet. the heavy response as schools shut down and locals are forced inside, some arming themselves until two escaped killers are caught. breaking news in the tamir rice shooting after months of community outcry, a judge weighs in on charging the officers involved. flying blind, the co-pilot that crashed a passenger plane feared he was losing his eyesight and saw 41 doctors in five years. why didn't anyone raise a red flag? asleep at the wheel, a warning which sleep aids could double your risk of getting in a car crash. nightly news begins right now. >> announcer: from nbc news
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world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news." reporting tonight, lester holt. we're watching a flurry of police activity taking place practically walking distance from the new york prison where two dangerous cons broke out a week ago. today new clues and a fresh scent that forced a massive response. it's perhaps the biggest concentration of law enforcement we've seen yet. it's all happening in a wooded area about three miles away. guns are drawn, police trying to flush the men out. all this hitting way too close to home for many people who live around there, who remain locked in their homes ordered to stay inside. the question on everyone's mind, is it another false lead, or has this trail suddenly become red hot? i want to go right now to miguel almaguer for more. >> reporter: lester, good evening. the lockdown in this community is well underway and the search that began last night is expected to intensify tonight.
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authorities trying to corner the inmates who have been on the run six straight days. tonight the army and the manhunt, more than 500 heavily-armed officers on the move. search teams tracking k-9s who tracked one, not both of the fugitives deep into the forest. >> officer sweeney had a possible sighting. >> reporter: tactical teams say this is the best lead they had closing in on murderers david sweat and richard matt. >> k-9s, bloodhounds and lucky enough, they got a positive hit on a scent, and hopefully, it's fresh. it appears to be, and a footprint with some wrappers with some food. >> 12-3 be advised marshals and state police on scene. >> reporter: with officers stacked 100 yards apart, teams are combing an area in dense brush roughly 20 to 30 acres wide. three miles from the maximum-security prison they escaped from.
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many living close told to lock their doors. thomas la salle spoke to us from inside his home. >> everyone has shotguns and rifles and pistols. >> reporter: jennifer lives on the edge of what is now a hot zone. >> i'm pretty well off. i've got a gun on me. >> reporter: you're not scared to use it? >> i'm not. i took a hunter safety course when i was younger. i grew up in these woods hunting. >> reporter: even children are on alert. >> two people got out, broke out of jail. >> reporter: darlene caring for seven kids lives directly next to a checkpoint. >> trying to keep them calm, not worry them too much. >> reporter: tonight the massive push is on to find two killers, just outside the very prison from which they escaped. miguel almaguer, nbc news, dannemora, new york. this is stephanie gosk, what would cause someone to risk it all to spring two convicted killers from prison.
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sources close to the investigation say joyce mitchell told authorities, quote, she thought it was love. tonight there are news reports she was previously investigated for an improper relationship with one of the two inmates. toby mitchell defended his mother this week. >> she's not the kind of person that's going to risk her life or other people's lives to let these guys escape from prison. >> reporter: the two convicts popped out of this manhole cover between midnight saturday and 5:00 in the morning. joyce mitchell was supposed to be the getaway driver, but when they got out, she was nowhere to be found and sources close to the investigation say she got a case of cold feet. her first husband who hasn't spoken to her in almost 20 years believes she could have been manipulated. >> she's from dickinson, small town, she could be a country girl that got sweet talked by some city guy. >> reporter: mitchell isn't the first prison worker to get emotionally entangled with convicts. in oklahoma a warden's
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wife helped a murderer escape. in new mexico a guard admitted he had multiple affairs with female prisoners. inmates can be cunning. >> they will try to get you down that slippery slope. they will ask for a little favor and then a bigger favor and then a bigger favor until all of a sudden they feel they have their hooks, their claws into you. >> reporter: mitchell may have been hooked but in the final hour, it appears she left these two convicts high and dry. stephanie gosk, nbc news, dannemora. late developments in a case a lot of people have been closely watching. the shooting death of tamir rice in cleveland. he was shot and killed while he was holding a toy gun. a judge ruled there is enough evidence to charge the officers. ron allen with late details now. >> reporter: this police surveillance video captured the moment last november when tamir rice was shot and killed
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allegedly by timmy loehmann responding to 911 calls, the gun in the 12-year-old's hand was a pellet gun. a judge found probable cause loehmann should face murder and probable cause of accusations of negligent homicide and against his partner. the court is thunderstruck by how quickly the event turned deadly. his opinion in response to activists who used an obscure ohio law to ask the judge to weigh in. >> we're asking for an arrest. that's what the statute calls for. >> reporter: the judge's opinion is advisory, county prosecutors say they will present the case to a grand jury, well aware grand juries have not charged police in some recent high-profile shootings. rice's mother said she's trying to be optimistic. >> at the end of the day, he was a kid, 12-year-old kid. >> reporter: tonight no arrest warrants for the officers as
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activists demanded. now more hopeful rice's family have taken a step closer to finding justice. ron allen, nbc news, new york. to the story of an american high school student from virginia facing a lengthy prison sentence after he was unmasked in court as a recruiter for isis. our justice correspondent pete williams has the story. >> reporter: a senior honor student admitted today he managed to use social media connections to get a friend of his over to syria to join up with isis. for eight months, ali shukri amin who is 17 urged 4,000 twitter followers to contribute money to isis and figured out how to make contacts and got them to help
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reza niknejad, even drove him to the airport. with his mother watching, amin pleaded guilty to the charges. prosecutors called him bright and promising but said he was lured by isis social media into becoming a recruiter. >> it's a tragedy for this community as we have now lost yet another young person to the seductive allure of violent online propaganda. >> reporter: amin's lawyer said he began the blogging to oppose the brutal assad regime in syria but is sorry for what happened. >> he deeply regrets what he did and is trying to be an example for young people, being frustrated by powerlessness to make change will find non-violent ways to do that. >> reporter: it's rare when a case like this is brought against a juvenile but amin was charged as an adult and when sentenced in august, he could face a decade in prison. just a day after the obama administration announced hundreds more u.s. troops are headed to iraq, joining thousands already there training the iraqi army in the fight
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against isis, the white house is considering establishing new military bases in iraq years after the end of the u.s. combat mission. that potential move is raising new questions about the president's strategy. nbc's kristen welker has details. >> reporter: with the president's iraq policy under fire, white house officials provided few details what is under consideration. ben rhodes. >> we don't have a specific plan to open another base at this time but if we see a need the iraqi security forces have, we have the ability to move them from outside the country or within the country. >> reporter: officials say if the president decides to open new bases, more troops might be needed but not necessarily, this a day after president obama announced he's sending 450 more u.s. troops to the country for a total of 3550. the white house says the new troops are authorized to train,
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advice and assist iraqi forces in the anbar province. isn't this mission creep? >> no, this is the exact same mission we've been pursuing, which is to train and assist iraqis. >> reporter: supporters of the fight against isis say it's not enough. >> it's a step in the right direction but as the president admitted, he has no strategy to win. >> reporter: others argue the president broke one of the promises that got him elected. >> enough is enough. this is how we got started in vietnam and no one is going to say these kids are being put in harm's way. everyone knows the president was elected to withdraw us from this war that we shouldn't be in in the first place. >> reporter: white house officials pushed back against that criticism noting there were about 150,000 u.s. troops in iraq in a combat role when the president first took office. now that number is down to 3500
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non-combat forces. there is no denying they are potentially in harm's way. >> thank you. u.s. officials now acknowledging the massive hack into government personnel records is more serious than we were told. some of the stolen data was from diplomats and workers with security clearances who deal with nuclear and trade secrets. investigators told congress china's government appears to be behind it as nbc first reported last week. we're now learning more about what may have been going through the mind of a germanwings co-pilot who intentionally crashed a plane. a prosecutor revealing he sought help from dozens of doctors in the years leading up to the moment when he killed himself and 149 others aboard his plane. bill neely reports. >> reporter: andreas lubitz's victims are coming home. german students honored with roses, the pain still raw here.
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but what is still not clear, why lubitz killed them. family members heard he was mentally spiraling toward disaster. the french prosecutor found evidence lubitz saw 41 different doctors over five years with several visits in the final months including three to a psychiatrist. by then, said the prosecutor, lubitz was fighting depression, doubling his dosage of antidepressants and told a doctor he was sleeping only two hours a night and he claimed he had lost two-thirds of his eyesight. some doctors, said the prosecutor, judged lubitz too unstable to fly but feared legal problems if they told his airline. for relatives of the victims today, more pain hearing the final cockpit audio recording, some for the first time. they heard the alarms, he says, the bangs on the door. today the criminal inquiry opened into whether germanwings or the parent company lufthansa are liable.
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they could be charged with involuntary homicide if it's proved they were negligent in letting lubitz fly. as more bodies are flown home for burial, so many questions are still unanswered. bill neely, nbc news, london. all eyes on the skies right now in northern missouri where a tornado watch is in effect. dangerous-looking funnel clouds started forming over the kansas city area. forecasters are warning of potential 60-mile an hour winds and quarter-sized hail. a wild night could be in store. a lot more still ahead here tonight, including the warning about sleeping pills that millions of americans take, the potential dangers behind the wheel even when you think you're fine. which one researchers say increases your risk of an accident the most. and later, has the answer to california's water woes been lying right offshore the whole time?
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a big wakeup call for the millions of americans who take certain kinds of sleeping pills, including popular brands like ambien. we reported on potential dangers before, but a major new study today is revealing how much they increase your risk of getting into a car accident. in some cases doubling it. we get details from anne thompson. >> reporter: more evidence the prescription sleep aids you take at night may cause you trouble behind the wheel. a new study from the university of washington finds three sedatives nearly double the risk of vehicle accidents among new
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users. dr. ryan hanson is the lead author and pharmacist. he looked at three popular pills prescribed for sleep, restoril, ambien and desyrel. restoril increases the risk 27% and desyrel 91% and ambien at 120%. >> they increase your risk because they impair your judgment and reaction time. >> reporter: kerry kennedy, daughter of robert kennedy, hit a tractor trailer in july of 2012 after mistakenly taking an ambien. >> i want to apologize to the driver of the truck who i apparently hit. >> reporter: she was found not guilty of impaired driving. the study also finds the risk of accidents increases over time, and can last up to a year after you start taking the drugs.
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>> it's not just a risk to them if they are out driving, but it's also to each and every one of us out on the road. >> reporter: this problem led the fda two years ago to recommend women take lower doses of ambien because they metabolize the drug slower than men. the makers of ambien and restoril say their medications are safe and effective when used according to the label, making sure those on the road are aware of lingering risks from the night before. anne thompson, nbc news, new york. up next, the loss of a legendary hollywood actor from "lord of the rings" to "dracula," so many fans remembering him tonight.
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a big announcement in the world of business and media today as first reported by cnbc, rupert murdock is handing over control of 21st century fox to his son james, the
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84-year-old media titan will remain chairman and controlling shareholder of the company, which controls a major hollywood film studio, the fox network and fox news channel. another son, lachlan murdoch, will become executive co-chairman with his father. the ceo of twitter was the subject of tweets today after the company announced he's stepping down july 1st. dick costolo has been on the hot seat over twitter's sluggish growth since the company went public in late 2013. costolo will stay on in another role while jack dorsey will step in as interim ceo. ornette coleman has died, the legendary saxophonist. he won the politzer prize for music in 2007 and passed away at a hospital here in new york overnight. ornette coleman was 85 years old. a lot of fans of "lord of the rings" mourning a big loss today.
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sir christopher lee has died. his career on screen spanned more than 60 years over 250 movies, including the roles so many will remember him for. "count dracula" and a slew of thrillers throughout the 1950s and '60s. he played a bond villain opposite roger moore in 1974's "the man with the golden gun." millions of fans loved to hate him as an evil wizard in the "lord of the rings" trilogy. there is no word on his cause of death. sir christopher lee was 93 years old. when we come back, water, water, everywhere. could california solve the drought problem simply by tapping the pacific?
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a police beating video from salinas. ===take vo=== now, the department defends the officers... using the 911 calls. ===take vo janelle=== plus, not one, but two daring rescues in the fog near santa cruz. ===next close=== the news is next. finally tonight, more of our special series going to extremes. some of the creative and controversial measures some are taking to keep the water running in the west where the historic drought has some californians asking, is there a way to tap the water in the pacific? jacob rascon has our report. >> reporter: along the coast of northern california, the state's monster drought may have met its match. >> this is our well 60 feet below the beach. it's drawing seawater in and pumping it to the desalination plant.
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>> reporter: the little town of sand city operating the only working desalination plant in the state. >> an hour ago this was in the ocean. >> reporter: making the pacific ocean drinkable and not the least bit salty. >> how do you like it? >> reporter: it's good. facing historic drought conditions and mandatory water restrictions, many are wondering why can't we tap the pacific? in southern california some are going all in. the facility in san diego county is the largest desalination plant in the western hemisphere. >> it's going to change the way we look at water in california for decades to come. >> reporter: starting this fall it will pump 50 million gallons into the community every day. the seawater is forced through filters that remove salt and particles and leftover extra salty seawater is pumped back into the ocean, but many environmentalists are fighting back. >> it's absurd. i'll go to my grave fighting these things.
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>> reporter: attorney marco gonzalez sued them and lost and say some desalination plants trap and kill small fish and sea life. the process is very energy intensive and expensive. $1 billion alone for the carlsbad plant. >> we waste so much water in southern california. it's a matter of enforcement, accountability. >> reporter: what if the drought ends? >> after the last drought, no one ever came back here. >> reporter: santa barbara built this desalination plant 25 years ago, and never used it. but now -- >> this drought has been more extreme, more severe, and faster than anyone ever thought. >> reporter: santa barbara will rebuild it. >> i think the city residents get it that this desal plant is an absolute last resort. >> reporter: a drought-proof water supply not without its critics in a state running out of water and options. jacob rascon, nbc news. >> that will do it for us on this thursday night. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc
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news, thank you for watching and good night. oc: "hey get off of her, get off of her runs :03 ==raj/vo== new 9-1-1 c reveal the moments leading up to a salinas police beating, caught on camera. ====short open=== ===2-shot=== thanks for joining us. i'm raj matthai . ===2-shot=== and i'm janelle wang - in for jessica aguierre. ==janelle/cu== defending their actions. the salinas police department - under fire for a police beating - caught on cell phone video. today, the department released 911 recordings - hoping it will tell its side of today, the department released 911 recordings hoping it would tell its side of the story.
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nannette has details. >> well, the police chief says the video on its own is disturbing. the suspect has been diagnosed with drug inducing disorder interputting the public at risk. several police officers use their wand on a man on the ground. it was their only option and the 1911 calls, she was still on the phone when police arrived. >> please be careful with my son.