for all of us here at nbc 10, thanks for watching within i'm renee chenault-fattah. >> i'm jim rosenfeld. the news continues with "nbc nightly news." tonight, decision day in ferguson. have a good evening. on our broadcast tonight, breaking news, the grand jury's decision in ferguson, missouri about to be revealed as a community now waits on high alert. forced out, secretary of defense resigns under pressure we're told. tonight, the fallout and what it means for our future war plans. travel nightmare, a huge storm about to hit on the busiest travel day of the year. there are already predictions of transportation chaos for millions. and the highest honor this nation bestows on civilians today at the white house a slew of notables, kennedy, street, stevie and someone pretty well-known around here. "nightly news" begins now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this

is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. good evening. the grand jury in ferguson, missouri has reached a decision. and we will learn what they have decided a short time from now. their job is now done. they've been deciding whether or not there is enough evidence to charge a white police officer in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager. there is great caution surrounding tonight's announcement because of the violence that exploded in ferguson in the heat of this past summer while the whole world was watching, as they will be again tonight when this decision is announced. it's where we begin this evening with nbc's ron allen. ron, good evening. >> reporter: good evening to you, brian. yes, we expect a decision later tonight. and a very strong emotional reaction for the public hanging on every rumor about the speculation of what that grand jury may decide. some time later tonight the question will be answered, did officer darren wilson commit a crime or not when he shot and killed michael brown? behind the walls of this heavily

protected courthouse, 12 sit ens weigh the means of justice for officer darren wilson and ferguson resident michael brown. it happened on a hot saturday, august 9th, very close to high noon. an encounter between a police officer and a teenager that left the 18-year-old unarmed young man dead and ferguson, missouri in an uproar. >> i got my hands on my head! >> reporter: as word spread, unconfirmed brown had his hands up surrendering. police have said the teenager physically assaulted the officer who acted in self-defense. now, here, a state of emergency. >> whatever the decision comes out, we'll be ready to keep the peace and allow people to have their constitutional rights. >> reporter: the seven men and five women of the grand jury convened this morning. nine white, three black, narrowing st. louis county's demographic. nine votes needed to agree on a decision to indictment possible charges from murder to

manslaughter. >> they've got to be overwhelmed. they're subject to the same media onslaught everybody else in st. louis has been living under. >> reporter: grand jury kept secret to protect rights of the witnesses and accused. a process criticized by many who criticize the local prosecutor seen to close to police step aside. many want the facts of what happened publicly revealed. >> i'm asking simply that michael brown jr.'s life be found valuable enough in this society that it warrants a trial. that it warrants an account that is public that speaks to what happened on that day. >> reporter: through it all michael brown's family asked for peace. >> hurting others or destroying property is not the answer. no matter what the grand jury decides, i do not want my son's death to be in vain. >> reporter: the brown family was told a decision had been

reached before the general public was made aware of that. we also learned from court records today that officer wilson got married last month, october 24th. tonight, missouri's governor and many, many leaders here ask for peace and calm. brian. >> ron allen starting us off outside the courthouse there. ron, thanks. and as we await the announcement of this decision by the grand jury, let's bring in our senior legal correspondent cynthia mcfadden. cynthia, a grand jury of 12. nine is needed for a ruling, a majority. what have they been deciding? what's the standard? >> brian, obviously a young unarmed black man is dead. so one might think, well, if that's not a violation of the law, what is? the question is the law gives wide latitude to police officers who have to make life and death decisions in split seconds. it gives wide latitude to them. did this police officer reasonably fear that he was in imminent danger? if the grand jury says there's a question of fact about that, then they can bring back an indictment or they can choose not to. that's what they're grappling

with. was there reasonable fear of imminent harm. >> we will find out before long later this evening. in fact, cynthia, thank you as always. a shakeup at the top at the pentagon today. the civilian boss of all the men and women in uniform, defense secretary chuck hagel, a decorated combat veteran himself, made a surprise announcement he was stepping down. while it was called mutual, word around the pentagon resignation was not his idea. our report tonight from nbc correspondent jim miklaszewski. >> reporter: less than two years on the job, a somber chuck hagel flanked by president obama and vice president biden, announced today he was calling it quits. >> i have today submitted my resignation as secretary of defense. it's been the greatest privilege of my life. >> reporter: the white house and pentagon claim after a series of three recent meetings with the president, it was hagel who offered to step aside. but senior defense officials tell nbc news hagel was forced to resign. as the war with isis exploded in

iraq and syria, the white house appeared to lose confidence in hagel as he questioned the administration's strategy. after president obama called isis the junior varsity of terrorists, hagel warned the militant force was a potential serious threat to the u.s. >> they're beyond just a terrorist group. this is beyond anything that we've seen. so we must prepare for everything. >> reporter: if the white house is frustrated with hagel, the feeling is apparently mutual. republican senator john mccain said today hagel was shut out of the white house inner circle and critical foreign policy decisions. >> i can tell you he was in my office last week and very frustrated. >> reporter: critics claim hagel is being made a scapegoat for the administration's foreign policy shortfalls and blamed the white house for micromanaging the war. >> well, i think the national security council around the president has micromanaged badly i might add these wars.

hagel was out of the loop. >> reporter: as hagel prepares to leave, former pentagon undersecretary, mental anguish ill fluornoy, carter and jack reed considered the front runners. white house officials claim they lost confidence in hagel from the very beginning after disastrous senate confirmation hearing. but officials worry that if white house officials persist in micromanaging every aspect of the white house and military, nothing will change no matter who gets the job, brian. >> jim miklaszewski, thanks. let's run this by chuck todd, our political director and moderator of "meet the press." i talked to senior -- what just happened here? >> this is the president wanting somebody who's going to be a more forceful personality, a more forceful boss at the pentagon and he decided chuck hagel wasn't going to be that person. ironically two years ago when he hired chuck hagel the whole point was to have sort of not to

necessarily say a weaker secretary of defense, but a low profile secretary of defense because the whole job was winding down two wars and fighting with congress for funding. that job has changed. this is not chuck hagel's strength. it's something the president recognized and that's why he wants to change direction. >> chuck todd at the end of a big day in washington. thanks. now to let's face it is the number one priority for a lot of us this week, either getting somewhere or hoping our loved ones can get home for thanksgiving. with that in mind a major storm system about to hit just as an estimated 46 million americans hit the roads or head to the airport. as you can imagine, chaos is in the forecast. and in buffalo, remember they're bracing for a flood emergency as all that snow has to go somewhere. our report on all of it tonight from nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: still digging out from seven feet of snow, buffalo today dodged the worst predictions of mass flooding caused by higher temps and

melting. from washington up i-95 to philly, new york and onto boston, weather whiplash. a record warm day, but it's the calm before another storm. >> snow, sleet and freezing rain could impact holiday travel this year. >> reporter: wind, cold, rain and even snow are taking aim at a big section of the country from tuesday night through thursday. just in time for the great thanksgiving day escape. >> can you believe how low gasoline prices are? >> reporter: gas below $3 a gallon is a big reason 41 million americans are expected to drive this thanksgiving. in the midwest and east they could be making their way through sloppy, slippery roads. meanwhile, another 5 million americans are flying between wednesday and sunday. some of the nation's busiest airports could be choke points. airports to watch include washington, baltimore, philly, new york, boston, cleveland, detroit and chicago. the airline advice, check your e-mail and download your airline's app for the latest delays or cancellations.

>> we'd rather have people wait out storms at their homes as opposed to being stuck at the airport. >> reporter: and be warned, even if your flight is in the west, a major storm's ripple effect can reach all the way to the pacific. already today more than 100 flights canceled at o'hare because of weather. and now with this new storm inbound, american airlines is allowing passengers to change their tickets without a change fee, brian. >> tom costello, washington national for us tonight. tom, thanks. all of this brings us to meteorologist janice huff in the weather center. janice, you just heard already canceling flights out of o'hare today. where is it going to be worse? >> well, brian, looks like most of the eastern seaboard for sure as a storm begins across the southeast. the worst thing of course is that it's happening on thanksgiving eve. and it could start out as severe weather in places like norfolk, virginia and eastern sections of north carolina early wednesday morning. behind that the colder air it starts to snow over the southern and central appalachians. then we get to about midday on wednesday and it starts to

affect other nice corridor cities, new york city and boston with a mix of snow and rain and some heavier snow north and west in the higher elevations near those cities. and by 8:00 wednesday it's hitting boston full force and much of new england with possibly more than six inches of snow across that area. right now we're tracking the winds. and we have a high wind warning from ft. wayne, indiana to cleveland to buffalo where the winds have been gusting up near 50 miles an hour. seeing wind gusts of 36 right now in buffalo. 41 miles an hour in cleveland with power outages all over the place and in and around buffalo the streams and creeks are starting to flood now as the snow continues to melt there. brian. >> don't blame the meteorologists. they're just doing their job. janice, thank you as always. the talks aimed at getting iran to curb their nuclear program are going into overtime while secretary of state john kerry and the iranian president rowhani and others insisted they've made progress. they're pushing the today's deadline back another seven

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tonight has a lot to answer for now that claims of a particularly shocking sexual assault have been made public. as a result of the allegations, the university of virginia has suspended all fraternities for the rest of the year. but many students say that's not nearly enough. we get our report tonight from our national correspondent peter alexander. >> reporter: a chorus of outrage. this weekend angry stuntss marched through the manicured grounds of university of west virginia. the protests, a response to this lengthy "rolling stone" investigation into the alleged gang rape of a freshman two years ago. an assault lasting three hours with seven attackers leaving her beaten and bloody. and yet the victim, jackie, told the magazine her friends discouraged her from reporting it. >> they told her she would be blackballed from uva social life, that her reputation would be ruined as the person who cried rape.

>> reporter: when she did come forward several months later, she says the administration gay h -- gave her options but failed her. >> i think when i first read the article i was simply sick to my stomach. there was much more information in "rolling stone" than we had. >> reporter: tomorrow the university's board will meet to discuss its sexual assault policies. police have been asked to investigate the case. the house is vowing to cooperate saying the acts depicted in the article are viral and intolerable. uva is one of 88 schools under investigation by the federal government for its handling of sexual assault complaints. >> it's not just a uva issue. this is a pervasive national epidemic that we are hoping to continue to fight here at uva. >> reporter: this case is brought to light a staggering statistic, more than 180 students here who have been expelled for honor code violations like cheating since 1998, but not one kicked out for sexual assault. as for the alleged victim, jackie remains a uva student.

>> she has already come a long way. and i have a lot of hope for her. >> reporter: and hope her story will provoke real change. peter alexander, nbc news, charlottesville, virginia. we're back in a moment with a mystery solved, who was that man in uniform who at times brought highway traffic to a halt? she inspires you. no question about that. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach,

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>> that has to be the greatest thing i have ever seen. that may be the greatest catch i've ever seen in my life. >> millions of us watching last night from fans to journalists to fellow athletes called it the greatest catch of all time. but there's also this one catch. the nfl has this quirky rule, you need to win the game to advance in the standings. so it will be known forever as the game with that great catch, but the giants lost at home to the cowboys. tonight, the rare confluence of two monday night games because one of them was snowed out of buffalo. there was big news 53 stories above us here today. the rockefellers are leaving 30 rock. the family that built this building and transformed midtown manhattan in the middle of the depression is leaving their long-time perch to move to one rockefeller plaza across the plaza where according to one member of the rockefeller family they got a deal. they didn't get to be rockefellers by throwing money around. their current 56 floor offices

are so lofty, years ago the new yorker magazine wrote that because of the earth's rotation the folks who work way up there would travel more than a mile farther each day than the man on the street. it was a moment on veterans day that was striking because it stopped traffic. an army veteran in full military dress saluting a flag on a highway overpass in utah. he stood there for one hour when people saw it and realized it, they slow down, some stopped, some honked their horns, some got out of their cars and shook his hand. but we didn't know who he was until now. he's identified himself as 43-year-old jonathan walker, a retired army helicopter pilot from the third armored cav. he said he did what he did to call attention to all veterans in his own way. a story of perseverance making the rounds on the web. when a group of swedish adventurers went on a 430-mile trek through ecuador. they met a dog along the way,

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finally tonight, a slew of remarkable americans in one room. they come from all walks of life, the achievements that brought them together at the white house today as distinct as they are all diverse people. but they all now share one thing in common, the presidential medal of freedom. and the recipients include a very familiar face around here. our report tonight from nbc's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: the nation's highest civilian honor awarded today to 18 great americans including the man who coined the phrase, the greatest generation, nbc's tom brokaw. >> on the night the berlin wall

fell, only one american journalist was there. he reported on watergate, snuck a camera in to tianenmen square. >> reporter: the greatest generation now part of a lexicon. >> i never thought i would coin a phrase that would have that kind of enduring appeal. >> reporter: others honored included slain civil rights workers. record setting oscar nominee meryl streep. >> there's so many things you don't understand. >> wore a nun's has bebot. mastered every accent under the sun. >> reporter: stevie wonder, first album a young barack obama ever bought. >> that thing got so worn out. had all scratches. >> reporter: and for her life's devotion to human rights, ethel kennedy. she marched with farm workers in florida only a year ago today receiving the award first

created by president kennedy months before he was assassinated. in the same room where his casket was brought to lie in repose. what inspires you to keep up this work? >> you know, when you see somebody in trouble, your natural feeling is is there something i can do. and really everybody can do it. >> including helping to raise money for als research this summer by pouring a bucket of ice water over her head. as you may know she nominated me to do it as well. and as you may know i chose to write a check instead. >> reporter: a journalist, artist, freedom fighter, heroes all, andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. >> and congrats to all. special congrats to one in particular. that's our broadcast for this monday night as we begin a new week. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. and we sure hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.

>> j-l omp-- j-lo decked out fo dinner. and the supper stars of the amas. night of the booty. moments after j-lo and iggie

shake off the amas where j-lo went dressed to kill and celebrated with fast food, we have them covered top to bottom. plus. >> renee and ryan are running down the best and worst fashions. >> 20 women and counting, bill cosby's sex cosby's sex scandal explodes. the tv executive claiming that he paid women off with hush money. then, our new a-list interview with merrill, why she wants a word with the powered house behind how to get away with murder. in today's star photo feed, who is the 19-year-old posting pics. plus. >> i'm broke, you rich. >> why aj is going head to head with chris rock. now on extra, from universal studios hollywood, the entertainment capital of l.a. >> hey,