on our broadcast tonight, privacy violation. a surprise ruling about the government spying on the phone calls made by americans. the question tonight, what will this change and when? safety questions about the kinds of anti-bacterial soaps used in millions of american households. what the fda is saying about how safe and effective they really are. the diagnosis. the first of its kind in a major

league baseball player who took his own life. tonight the concussion crisis in sports that now goes far beyond football. and making a difference for military families this christmas season. something amazing sprouting up across this country. "nightly news" begins now. good evening. the fourth amendment to the u.s. constitution prohibits unreasonable search and seizure. some of the original wording came from john adams himself in response to the british searching homes and businesses back in colonial times. well, fast forward to modern day and our lead story tonight, a federal judge has ruled the nsa is violating our fourth amendment rights when it collects data on phone calls

into and from the united states. in the name of keeping us safe, americans have sacrificed a number of freedoms since 9/11, including the privacy of communications. this judge's decision goes right to the heart of that. it's where we begin tonight with our justice correspondent pete williams in our d.c. newsroom. pete, good evening. >> brian, good evening. this is the first ruling by a federal judge to suggest collecting all the data about every phone call in the u.s. violates the constitution and the judge says that a supreme court ruling relied on by the government to defend the program is out of date. it's a serious legal blow to one of the most controversial practices of the nsa. a once secret program disclosed six months ago by a former nsa insider, edward snowden. the nsa gathers logs of every phone number dialled by u.s. phone customers, and dumps it into an enormous database. so much data the nsa is building a huge new facility to store it all. >> the purpose of these programs

and the reason we use secrecy is not to hide it from the american people. not to hide it from you, but to hide it from those who walk among you who are trying to kill you. >> reporter: the nsa says it checks the database only when it has a terrorism lead tied to a specific phone number. federal judge richard leon called all the data gathering indiscriminate and arbitrary invasion of privacy. i am not convinced, he said, the nsa database has ever truly served the purpose of rapidly identifying terrorists. he questioned the relevance of a 1979 supreme court ruling relied on by the government that said phone customers have no privacy interest in their calling records. the judge said that's been eclipsed by technology in what he called a cell phone-centric lifestyle. >> it ultimately will be a decision for the court of appeals or the supreme court to

decide anyway. what this one judge decides today is just a conversation starter, not a conversation stopper. >> reporter: it's a victory for a washington, d.c. lawyer who wanted to stop the government from collecting information about his calls. >> meta data allows the government to be able to tell who you are associating with, whether it's your doctor, your lawyer, your accountant, whoever. it is extremely intimidating. >> reporter: for edward snowden the obama administration rejected any idea what he be given amnesty in return for ending the leaks. >> he should be returned to the united states where he will be afforded full due process and protection in the system. >> reporter: the judge put a hold on the ruling to give the government time to appeal. so the nsa can gathering data for now. in a statement about the ruling snowden said a secret program when exposed to the light of day was found to violate americans' rights. brian? >> pete williams starting us off tonight from the d.c. newsroom. thanks. there is news tonight regarding a hugely popular line of consumer products used daily in millions of our homes.

they claim to be better than soap and water. but now the feds are telling the companies that make these anti-bacterial soaps to prove they are not only better but also that they are safe. we are talking about some 2,000 different products. nbc's tom costello is with us from a decidedly domestic-looking setting inside our washington bureau tonight. good evening. >> reporter: good evening. we are talking about anti-bacterial soaps and body washes, not hand sanitizers with alcohol or the stuff in the hospital. the concern is a specific chemical found in 75% of the products on the market. mid afternoon with three boys. there are lots of ways to pick up dirt and germs. >> if they use the bathroom, go to school, play sports, there is a lot of opportunity for them to be touching, you know, dirty areas. like a lot of parents lisa relies on anti-bacterial soap assuming it's better than regular soap and water but the

fda says that may not be true. it wants the makers of anti-bacterial soaps and body washes to prove their products are safe and more effective than soap and water. >> we have no evidence that presence of the anti-bacterial ingredients in these soaps and body washes actually prevent the spread of infection. >> reporter: the concern? that liquid soaps which contain triclosan or triclocarban may potentially interfere with hormones like estrogen, testosterone and thyroid functions which could affect childhood development and puberty. >> it is an artificial chemical which doesn't exist in nature. we are putting a lot of it in the environment for no obvious benefit that's been well demonstrated. >> reporter: the american cleaning institute insists the chemical has been researched and the products are safe. >> anti-bacterial soaps are effective. they do what they say they do.

they kill germs on the skin that can make us sick. >> reporter: the proposed rule requires the industry to prove that. otherwise the products may have to be reformulated, relabeled or removed from the market. in the meantime, for moms like lisa the fda concerns amount to a flashing yellow light. >> every day i'm thinking what is in our environment that could be a possible trigger for my child or any other child. anti-bacterial soaps have crossed my mind. whether a product americans use every day is truly safe and effective. the fda says if the new framework goes into effect the companieses would have until september 2016 to prove it. we reached out to dial, one of the biggest makers of anti-bacterial soaps. it says it is committed to ensuring products and ingredients meet the tough standards and their own safety standards as well. to check if your product has it, it is one of the first active ingredients. you can see it listed under the

drug facts. brian, back to you. >> tom costello in washington tonight. thanks. there is more new evidence tonight that multi vitamins don't work as well as a lot of americans had hoped they would. two new major studies have found multi vitamins do not protect the brains of aging men or help the survivors of heart attacks, as many previously believed. in fact, the government doesn't recommend taking multi vitamins as a way to prevent chronic diseases. an update on friday's high school shooting outside denver. a 17-year-old girl, claire davis, is in a coma fighting for her life. she was shot by one of her classmates at arapahoe high school. today the parents of the t 18-year-old who shot her, carl pierson came forward saying their thoughts are with the davis family and they are devastated by what their son has

done. friends describe him as a high performing friendly student who was angry over his dismissal from the school debate team. now overseas to syria where winter is setting in and the freezing weather is adding to the suffering from the nearly 3-year-old civil war there, a convict so far without end which has driven millions of syrians from their homes. today an unprecedented appeal from the u.n. for six and a half billion dollars to help with this refugee crisis that grows worse and worse with every new attack. nbc's keir simmons is inside damascus tonight. >> reporter: good evening, brian. tonight in damascus you can hear the sound of explosions. fighting continues around this city and across this country in a war that has claimed more than 100,000 lives according to the u.n. just this weekend, a devastating

attack in the northern city of aleppo. carnage in syria's largest city. amid smoke and burning cars, desperate attempts to rescue those buried by a massive barrel bomb like this one, dropped from the sky. children cling to parents, a badly injuried man is carried away. a boy trembles in shock. opposition groups say 26 children were among the dozens killed. the attacks continued today. barrels packed with nails and explosives dropped from government helicopters as seen in this cell phone video of an earlier attack. the death toll climbs on both sides of the war. just last week more than a hundred were killed when opposition fighters reportedly used civilians as human shields. we arrived in damascus at dusk. our journey from lebanon just

over 50 miles took seven hours through snowy mountains and checkpoints. an estimated million terrified syrians made this journey in the other direction, fleeing a country that's been tearing itself apart for almost three years. in all, almost 9 million people, more than a third of syria's entire population have fled their homes. those who get to camps like this one in lebanon now face a freezing winter in just tents. [ speaking in a foreign language ] >> reporter: my husband is sick and the cold weather is hurting us, this woman says. we are becoming sick from the smell of the stove. in a u.n. center, mothers crowd around me. help me get to the west, one begs, holding her 9-month-old child. others who look to the west for help, syria's more moderate opposition fighters are losing ground, battling not just president assad's force bus extremist rebels some link to al qaeda. america has withdrawn some aid fearing it will fall into the wrong hands. syrians are fighting over a country in ruins. as the world watches, so far helpless to stop it and families are caught in the middle with nowhere to go. tonight one u.n. official said even if the violence were to end tomorrow we would still have a major humanitarian crisis.

and the violence is not going to end tomorrow. brian? >> keir, thanks. a new honor for the departed nelson mandela today. a 30-foot statue of him was unveiled at the capitol in pretoria at buildings once the seat of the apartheid government. the same place mandela was sworn in 19 years ago as south africa's first democratically elected president. yesterday when the sun was high in the sky, in keeping with local tradition, nelson mandela was buried in qunu, his ancestral home. back home it's not even winter yet and much of the northeast ready for a snowstorm overnight. dylan dryer is watching from east rutherford, new jersey tonight. the calm before the storm. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. it certainly is. it's the timing of the storm that's going to affect so many people across the northeast on tuesday.

now, right now it doesn't look like much. we have snow coming down through wisconsin into illinois. the whole great lakes region will see one to five inches of snow. in the northeast we should see a widespread two to four inches. about five or six to the north and west of new york city. even as much as six to 12 inches through central and northern new england. by 5:00 tomorrow morning we should see the snow in the tri-state area. it will continually get heavier through mid-morning. then it moves into new england. heaviest around mid afternoon. really affecting the evening commute that way. so, again, it's not a block buster storm. we'll see enough snow to make the roads pretty awful for commuters on tuesday. brian? >> dylan from east rutherford, new jersey, tonight. thanks. still ahead for us, this concussion crisis in american sports. the new diagnosis tonight. the first of its kind in a pro baseball player that will have a lot of families and athletes

taking notice. later, making a difference. the mission to help military families this christmas. christm. as your life changes, fidelity is there for your personal economy, helping you readjust along the way, refocus as careers change and kids head off to college, and revisit your investments as retirement gets closer. wherever you are today, fidelity's guidance can help you fine-tune your personal economy. start today with a free one-on-one review of your retirement plan.

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[ male announcer ] guaranteed "wow" with deep sweep from oral-b. #1 dentist-recommended toothbrush brand worldwide. a big headline tonight out of the world of sports and medicine. as we said, it has a lot of families and athletes paying attention following word of the first major league baseball player ever to be diagnosed with the degenerative brain disease cte, which has been found in the brains of numerous deceased nfl players. there is evidence that the concussion crisis may go well beyond football. we get our report tonight from stephanie gosk. >> reporter: ryan freel played baseball fearlessly. tough for mom to watch. >> he said mom -- his exact words. mom, i don't know how to play any other way. if i don't play this way, no one will come to see me. >> reporter: being at the plate,

in this game freel is nailed in the head during a pick-off play at second. researchers at boston university who studied his brain now say the late cincinnati reds outfielder suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or cte. the first baseball player ever to be diagnosed with the disease. researchers say brain injury throughout his life contributed to the condition. >> it requires a lot of repetitive trauma for some people -- not everyone -- to turn on this progressive change to the brain that eventually leads to worse and worse functions. >> reporter: after freel retired his life went into a downward spiral leading to depression. last december the 36-year-old father of three committed suicide. his family donated his brain to the ct the -- cte center at boston university, suspecting he

may have had the disease which can only be diagnosed after death. researchers are focused on hockey and football players like junior seau who killed himself at 43. baseball isn't always lumped with those harder hitting sports but head injuries are a serious risk. the league proposed a new rule banning collisions at home plate. in the last season 18 players were put on the disabled list for concussions -- ten of them catchers. researchers caution that nobody should make hasty conclusions. >> unfortunately there is no way to draw a straight line between the cte found in his brain and his behaviors and changes in mood and ultimately his death. >> reporter: for the freel family, the news brings relief. >> i can't say i feel better. i feel relieved that i do feel better for my grand daughters. >> reporter: in a statement, major league baseball said they met with freel's mother and promised to be proactive when it comes to concussions and head

injuries. just the latest professional sports league to change rules to protect player brains. >> this is emerging as a big story in sports. stephanie gosk, thank you. up next after the break, remembering two of the icons of old hollywood. e icons of old hollywood. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of all day pain relief. this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. i took my son fishing every year. we had a great spot, not easy to find, but worth it. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function starting within five minutes.

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we got news over the weekend of the death of major hollywood stars beginning with peter o'toole, best known for "lawrence of arabia." a product of ireland. an eight-time academy award nominee. peter o'toole was 81. joan fontaine died as well. she's remembered for her acting as much as she was a decades long feud with her older sister oh olivia dehaviland. both sisters won oscars. fontaine won first for hitchcock film "suspicion" in 1942. joan fontaine was 96. secretary of state john kerry has returned to the place where he earned three purple hearts, a silver star and a

bronze star as a young man in the u.s. navy during the vietnam war. the secretary went back to vietnam for a boat trip designed to highlight the effects of climate change. while there, kerry told the vietnamese prime minister it was a good thing they didn't meet 45 years ago when they were fighting on opposing sides in the military. china has launched a roving vehicle on the moon. china's space program rapidly accelerated in recent years. there is intense interest in the mission to conduct lunar experiments. while they are behind the u.s. in terms of technology after all the first americans walked on the moon back in 1969, one space expert today said if china decides to make space exploration a national priority, the way president kennedy did in the u.s. over 50 years ago, if china become it is first nation to, for example, land on an asteroid, it could serve to motivate the u.s. to get back in the game in a big way. another break. when we come back, making a difference for american military

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for women. >> our making a difference report tonight is about an effort to bring extra brightness to military families this christmas. it's a mission that begins at christmas tree farms across this country. it ends in the living room of a lot of deserving families. we get the story tonight from nbc's kevin tibbles reporting this evening from fort leonard wood, missouri. >> reporter: this christmas, sergeant first class ryan moreno has been deployed to the living room to share in something his young family has never had before. >> this is our first real tree. >> reporter: a tree that started its journey 1,000 miles away in rochester, new york. one of 17,000 donated to trees for troops by 450 farms around the country. for soldiers here at home and around the globe, lighting up the season for eight years. >> i think it is something special and gives them hopefully a little joy and remembrance of times at home.

we can't wait for them to come back. >> reporter: local school kids adorn each tree with a heartfelt message. then they are loaded with military precision onto fed ex trucks by veterans and whisked to destinations as far away as the middle east and guam. here at fort leonard wood in missouri, families line up in the december cold to choose that special one. >> it's a blessing that they come all this way with all the trees just for the military. it just blows my mind every year that they do this. >> putting trees in every soldier's house and helping out soldiers. it's a good thing. >> reporter: single soldiers like gail brickley don't get trees, but she's here helping wives whose husbands may be away. >> make christmas feel like christmas. >> reporter: and it makes christmas smell like christmas, too. >> fresh. really fresh. >> reporter: the moreno family found the perfect one. >> we're good to go.

>> reporter: back home 9-year-old brianna has her favorite decoration. you got it when your dad was in afghanistan? >> yep. >> reporter: a tradition complete. a family together around the tree for christmas. >> this is a beautiful tree. don't you think? >> reporter: kevin tibbles, nbc news, fort leonard wood, missouri. >> how about that for a good idea? that's our broadcast on a monday night as we start off a new week. thanks for being with us. i'm brian williams. we of course hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com