tonight, trump's celebrates saving jobs at carrier, we now know the cost paid to keep them. tonight the campaign's over, but the rallies are not. without a trace. family members missing in the devastating wildfires scorching the smokey mountains. why searchers now fear they may never be found. hostage crisis. nearly a dozen held inside a florida bank. tonight the dramatic moment they distracted the gunman, allowing the s.w.a.t. team to storm inside.

legendary astronaut buzz aldrin, falling ill at the south pole. a medical emergency at the bottom of the world. and magic mushrooms, wait until you see how they're helping cancer patients feel better. some say it's changed their lives. "nightly news" begins right now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is n"nbc nightly news" with lester holt. but donald trump was back on the trail today, this time to run a victory lap and celebrate an early success in his pledge to keep american jobs from leaving the country. in his first public event since the election, mr. trump appeared at the carrier plant in indianapolis to trumpet a deal to keep over a thousand jobs previously earmarked to leave the country, in the u.s. the deal is raising high expectations, as well as some eyebrows,

long tide of vanishing manufacturing jobs. nbc's kristen welker has details. >> reporter: president-elect donald trump taking a victory lap in indiana. >> hi, everybody. >> reporter: touting a deal to save more than a thousand jobs at carrier, from getting shipped to mexico. >> companies are not going to leave the united states anymore without consequences. not gonna happen. >> reporter: the deal gives the h company, $7 million in state tax breaks over ten years, in exchange for carrier investing $16 million into its plant. but 1,300 more jobs are slated to go to mexico. sources familiar with the negotiation say one motivating factor, carrier's parent company, united technologies, has billions of dollars in contracts with the government. for the first time, pointing to a story he saw on "nightly news." >> they were going a story on carrier, and

see this. >> reporter: in this story, this strong message to the president-elect. >> we want you to do what you said you're going to do. we're going to hold you accountable. >> reporter: trump saying he was using carrier as a euphemism on the trail, acknowledging it was too late to intervene. >> at first i thought, i wonder if he was being sarcastic, because this ship has sailed. it was 6:30 in the evening and i said, i'm going there. >> reporter: many carrier workers >> it's a christmas miracle. >> reporter: but just a mile down the road, other workers wondering if he can save their jobs too. >> do for us what you did to carrier. >> reporter: he's a father with two children in clerge. >> i know they say something about the trump train. i don't know what kind of train it is, but don't let it stop at carrier, keep on rolling, let's get them all back. >> reporter: since 2000, the u.s. has

jobs. some to overseas, others to automation. >> the president is not going to get involved individually in every one of these things, but i think we can expect in the trump administration, a more active federal role in these sorts of cases. >> reporter: mr. trump is holding a rally here in cincinnati, ohio, aimed at being reminiscent of a campaign-style event, although as of right now, the crowd size is considerably smaller. but this is the kickoff to a thank you tour. mr. trump poised to country, thanking his supporters for helping him win the white house. lester? >> kristen welker, thank you. let's turn to the deadly one-two punch on the violent storms and massive wildfires we've seen this week in the southeast. dozens of tornadoes carved a trail of destruction through seven states. and the death toll from the fires has climbed to ten and many others are still missing, leaving anguished loved ones desperately waiting for word. nbc's kerry sanders brings us the latest.

sunrise in gatlinburg this morning, put out by firefighters within two hours. with the downtown in this tourist dependent community spared, but still evacuated, high anxiety because a single ember could ignite what remains. the fire storm this week, burned so hot officials say the bodies of of the missing may never be found. john and janet summers from memphis were in gatlinburg on vacation. no one has heard from them since. their three sons, vanderbilt burn unit tonight. >> looking for my wife. >> reporter: michael reed among those waiting three days now for authorities to tell him where his wife and two daughters are. police chief russell brakens. >> what is it like for you, because you have the families reaching out to you, wanting answers? >> it's one of the most difficult things you can imagine. >> reporter: among the dead, alice hague ler, her son james says at

grandmother of two. my mother was my best friend, someone who cared about everyone, never met a stranger. >> reporter: with more than 400 firefighters working 12-hour shifts, exhaustion. this photo on facebook captioned -- as close as we got to seeing sleep in 36 hours. the clean-up in the smokeys is just beginning. and today, clean-up of a different sort across the south. tornado damage. 34 twisters across seven five dead. in alabama, a tornado with wind speeds up to 127 miles an hour, leveled the town of rosalie. tonight after three days of mother nature's fury, the forecast is finally for calm. tonight here in the smokeys, as many as eight people are still unaccounted for. family members wondering if they'll ever find their loved ones. especially if they ran into the woods in a panic. lester? >> kerry sanders, thank you.

played out for hours this morning in florida. a gunman, holding nearly a dozen people inside a bank, quickly surrounded by a s.w.a.t. team, as well as worried family members. nbc's jacob rascon has details on a harrowing day. >> looks like they got them out of the bank. >> reporter: they were hostages. now survivors. >> it was scary. i thought it was a dream, but it was so real. it was real. >> reporter: it was around 9:00 at the community first credit union, when the alleged gunman, 23-year-old nicholas da'quan humphrey walked into the bank with a dog and a handgun and demanded money. >> when he shot up in the air, i knew he meant business. >> reporter: initial reports indicated someone had been shot. >> all units responding to district 24. gunshot wounds. >> reporter: that turned out not to be true. but humphrey negotiators he would start shooting if his demands were not met. >> reporter: la tar

tellers inside. >> i haven't heard anything from him. >> reporter: after about an hour and a half, negotiators convinced the gunman to free two hostages. minutes later, two other people, hiding inside the bank, unknown to the gunman, made a daring escape. >> tapt, the s.w.a.t. team went in. >> reporter: they used a battering ram, putting themselves between the suspect and the hostages. surrounded, humphrey surrendered. the hostages were freed at last. >> so she's okay? >> she okay. thank you, lord. thank you. >> reporter: a reversal of fortune, the hostage-taker, now a prisoner. jacob rascon, nbc news. there's a developing story we're following tonight from new orleans. former nfl player joe mcknight has been killed in a shooting incident with another driver, a possible victim of road rage. the suspect was arrested at the scene.

usc in college, and then the new york jets in the pros. he most recently played in the canadian football league. now to a dramatic medical emergency involving an american hero. buzz aldrin, who landed on the moon with neil armstrong in 1969, had just arrived at the south pole as part of a private tour group. but once there, his condition quickly deteriorated, triggering a high-risk rescue mission. here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: in a hospital bed in new zealand toni smiling 86-year-old buzz aldrin after a rescue from the bottom of the world. just tuesday he tweeted, south pole here i come. as he joined a luxurious adventure tour. but once there, at 9,000 feet, nearly double the altitude of denver, his condition territoried. a c-130 on skis, like this one, landed to medevac him to a research station, then on to new zealand, where he's described tonight as stable with fluid in his lungs,

antibiotics. er doctor john torres has flown two rescue missions to the north pole himself. >> it looks like edema, a build-up of fluid in the lungs that happened at high altitude. if that happens, you have to get them down to sea level and on oxygen quickly. >> reporter: in 1969, buzz aldrin landed on the moon in apolo 11, following neil armstrong down the ladder to the lunar surface. >> we were given a fantastic opportunity to do w people have just not had come along in their life. >> reporter: for decades, aldrin has pushed for more manned missions. >> to infinity and beyond! >> reporter: the animated character in toy story created in his honor. >> he's pretty ir repressible. he's a force. >> reporter: tonight, nasa has been in touch with the new zealand doctors and believes aldrin is doing well.

adventure. tom costello, nbc news, miami. now to new dwept developments in the deadly plane disaster in colombia. the airline has now had its license indefinitely suspended. and we have new images inside the crash scene with keir simmons. >> reporter: this is where 71 people died, almost an entire brazilian soccer team, wiped out. the plane appears to have clipped the top that's the wing that is turned back on itself and such was the force of the impact, that way down there, that's the front landing gear. there's no sign of a fire. strengthening the theory that the aircraft ran out of fuel. locals say it was just four minutes from the airport. the colombian police escorted us closer to the wreckage. investigators are picking through the twisted fuselage. beneath it there, one

happened. >> translator: one of the victims, co-pilot c.c. arias, talked about her excitement for the team, hours before the flight. her brother wrote this tribute on facebook. dear sister, i'm going to miss you for the rest of my life. one local who helped rescue the six survivors told us he found a cell phone with multiple missed calls. so many have been left grieving by this tragedy. keir simmons, nbc news, colombia. >> raging against isis, as u.s.-backed forces pushed deeper into mosul to drive out isis, more civilians are getting caught in the middle and the only medical care available for many of them on the front lines is being provided by two american volunteers. on a mission to save lives. we get their story tonight from our richard engel, inside iraq. >> reporter: this is probably the most important clinic in all of iraq now. because almost every civilian injured in

derek coleman, from san diego. >> i got the artery. >> reporter: and pete reed from new jersey. >> the very first day we were here, we had over 65 casualties. including 12 dead on arrival. >> reporter: the americans are the first ones to give care to civilians like farida. shrapnel upon tore into her legs moments ago. her brother says isis is firing indiscriminately into mosul. the two own. >> quit my job, sold my truck, sold most of my possessions. came out here on a hope and a dream. >> reporter: the volunteers initially came to work with iraqi forces to help fight isis, but they realized they could do more good saving lives. >> how many front-line medical posts like this are there in mosul right now? >> one. >> you're standing in it.

leave their bases and help out on the front lines. so reed and coleman stepped in. where are you getting these supplies? >> we've had various generous donations from private individuals, small organizations, and we've been able to make it work. >> the shoulder. >> reporter: coleman, a machinist, only has basic first aid training. reed has more. he's a former marine, who served two tours in afghanistan. >> i still have some fight left in me. i could use my medic >> reporter: they say they've treated more than 500 people, but they have no doubt which ones they'll remember forever. >> kids. >> hands down, kids. >> yeah, dealing with children, wounded children, dying children. we've had some days with half a dozen kids die. >> take cover, take cover! >> reporter: they've had some close calls, like when they were chased by an isis car bomb. but the injured people of mosul are depending on them. >> and i have every intention of staying here until the battle

engel, nbc news, mosul, iraq. a lot more ahead tonight, new hope for cancer patients from an unlikely and illegal source. the tripy drug that many say is giving them a new lease on

we're back now with what you might call an unconventional way that has helped some cancer patients

you might say, in the form of magic mushrooms. and doctors say for some, they're working, well, magic. we get more from nbc's kristen dahlgren. >> reporter: when you think magic mushrooms, chances are something like this comes to mind. but you may soon think of this, a medication. two small but encouraging studies out today show the hallucinogenic ingredient in some mushrooms reduced anxiety and depression in 80% of patients for more than six months after receiving just one dose. >> so you've been through a lot in your life. >> reporter: gale was in her fourth bout with breast cancer. >> i was really feeling sorry for myself and feeling very stressed. >> reporter: after extensive psychological testing, she was given a pill and watched closely by doctors, as she listened to music and went on a vivid mind trip. >> it's beautiful.

embrace. >> reporter: cowan took the drug two years ago and still -- >> every night when i get in bed, i find that i have this smile on my face. >> reporter: it's that long-term effect that has doctors hoping for more studies. conducted under tight dea regulation and medical supervision. >> people should not look at this research and data and extrapolate from that, they can go get mushrooms illicitly, try it and think it's going to h researchers are encouraged by the potential of psychedelics to treat things like alcoholism, smoking, and depression. just this week, the fda approved a large-scale trial using ecstasy for ptsd. once criminal compounds, getting a second look. and giving some, like gale cowan, a second chance. >> i think it's wonderful. >> reporter: kristen dahlgren, nbc news, new york. we're back in a

a surprise noumt tonight from one of the most high profile business leaders in america. starbucks chairman and ceo howard schultz says he'll step down as the company's chief executive in april. he'll become executive chairman and the starbucks president will take over as ceo. schultz has been with the company since 1982. do you still need to book your holiday travel tickets? you might want to wait if you buy this week, you can save a little over 2% on your tickets, according to a report. but if you wait until next week, the savings can jump to nearly 5%. and lights, camera, christmas at the white house. the obama family on hand to flip the switch tonight for their last christmas at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. president calvin coolidge began the tree-lighting tradition in 1923. and here in new york, right outside, we've got quite a tree of our own.

gathering to light the rockefeller christmas tree last night. a jam-packed crowd, not letting a little rain -- actually, a

finally tonight, the enormous emotional outpouring for a u.s. navy veteran who had fallen on tough times. he was homeless and hadn't been in touch with his family in years. yet our harry smith explains, this week, hundreds of strangers who'd never even met him, came from miles away to honor him and his service. ? ? >> reporter: there was a funeral tuesday morning near casper, wyoming. t was for someone important. people, especially veterans, came from across the state to pay their respects to a man they did not know. steven ryman, a homeless man who served in the navy in vietnam, died in a local hospital two weeks before. locals didn't know him. so the coroner asked for help in finding his loved ones. as word spread, so did the notion that his service to his country should be honored, respected. >> it's our honor for those of us still here to do this for the

sister was finally located. she and her brother had been out of touch for several years. >> i never, ever expected a turn-out like this. >> reporter: earlier this year, people in kansas paid homage to a homeless vet named eton gilmore, awarded a purple heart in vietnam. in the spring, another homeless veteran named serena vine was buried with honor in virginia. on any given night, tens of thousands, perhaps as many as 40,000 american streets in search of shelter. men and women who come home from the service, but for reasons difficult and sometimes indiscernible, can't reconnect with civilian life. the chapel at the state veterans cemetery near casper, was filled to overflowing for steven ryman's funeral. his death is a reminder of all the other homeless veterans. while they have done their duty, our duty to them remains unfulfilled. harry smith, nbc news.

it for us on a thursday night. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and