york, we'll have our conversation with jimmy fallon about the start of a new era. nightly news begins now. good evening, today, an official of the united nations tried to tell the world so there will be no mistake that we are living in the middle of a modern-day hitler. we are talking about kim jong-un, the young leader of north korea. and this report from the u.n. is an attempt to wake up the world so no one will ever say as they did after world war ii, for instance, that they didn't realize how bad it was until it was too late. this evidence is based on interviews from defectors and survivors. the u.n. said today north korea, quote, has no parallel in the contemporary world. it is where we begin our broadcast tonight with our chief

foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell. >> reporter: north korea kim jong-un at his father's grave, a birthday tribute. even as the u.n. accuses the kim regime of vast horrors going back decades, deaths, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, sexual violence and forced abortions. >> there will be no excusing a failure of action because we didn't know. we do know. >> reporter: the survivors of the prison kept pictures to illustrate the torture and public execution of hundreds of thousands. for the u.n. and for human rights watch, an advocacy group. this man, a prisoner at camp 15 said a fellow prisoner trying to escape was dragged back to the camp behind a truck then executed for all to see. this woman, in prison for 28 years, drew pictures after she got out. she said guards would spit in

their mouths. if they gagged, they would be beaten, former guards told human rights watch many people lost their minds, children starved. families searched for snakes and mice to feed their children. and the report says that when women prisoners gave birth, they forced others to kil the baby by drowning it in water or choking it by holding a cloth or other item against its face, or putting the baby face down so that it can't breathe. >> this report is really the most comprehensive documentation that we've seen of the unimaginable cruelties of the north korean prison camp. >> reporter: this man, a north korean army general who defected said today's report will bring hope to the north korean people. but will they ever learn from it? >> i don't think there is a country that is sealed like north korea. >> reporter: the u.n. commission

warns china it could be guilty of aiding and abetting them. china calls it a plot to defame and sabotage its country. advocates where china has no veto say they should take action so this report gets a world forum. >> andrea, it is hard to hear about, but the u.n. says they need the world to know. andrea mitchell from our d.c. news room, thank you. now to a drama that played out earlier. it was all going as planned on board an ethiopian airlines jet that is until the co-pilot locked the pilot out of the cockpit of the aircraft and hijacked the people on board, with over 200 people on board including 11 american passengers. what followed was a tense few hours in the sky as the hijacker flew the aircraft to switzerland. we get more tonight from nbc's

ayman mohyeldin. >> reporter: inside this ethiopian flight 702, passengers in their seats, hands on their heads as swiss police prepare to board the plane on geneva. on the tarmac outside, police surround the plane, escorting more than 200 passengers and crew off one by one. the ordeal began hours earlier at the ethiopian capital, addis ababa, enroute to rome. but it never made it. instead it was hijacked by the co-pilot, a 31-year-old ethiopian. the hijacker redirected the plane over italy, which scrambled fighter jets after the plane signalled a hijacking in progress. over switzerland, the hijacker radioed that he wanted to refuel and said he feared for his life. >> we need asylum assurance that we will not be transferred.

>> reporter: he circled geneva repeatedly, a scene on this flight-tracking map before finally being allowed to land. the pilot, still locked out, reassured the passengers and asked them to be patient. the plane is safe, he said, the co-pilot is locked inside. he is not armed so there are no risks. the hijacker then climbed out of the cockpit window down a rope and turned himself in. swiss police say he now faces hijacking charges, ethiopian officials say there was no justification for what the co-pilot did and request his extradition. while passengers who lived through the ordeal finally made it to rome, relieved to be with loved ones, ayman mohyeldin. london. and now back here to russia to the action at these winter olympic games. here in sochi, a very big day on the ice specifically for the americans and we'll say right here at the outset we'll talk about some team usa results that have been out all day but will indeed be televised in prime time tonight. the americans made history with

a breath-taking performance in ice dancing and they won a medal in two-man bobsledding for the first time in more than six decades. the weather continues to be a factor here, thick fog in the mountains forced several events to be rescheduled. nbc's chris jansing has more, with all of it tonight, good evening, chris. >> reporter: good evening, brian, let's start with the ice dancers. i saw them after they skated tonight. what do you say to your partner of almost 17 years after winning gold, charlie white told meryl davis, simply, i love you. and although they are not romantically linked, they have now entered the olympics history books together. tonight, they are watching ice dancing in detroit. michigan natives meryl davis and charlie white followed up last night's world record performance in the short dance with another world record in the long. >> it has been amazing trying to

come to terms with being olympic champions. >> reporter: judges, awarding some rare perfect scores. >> they are just -- beautiful. it is breathtaking, so fluid the way they move across the ice, it is gorgeous. >> reporter: it is the first time in history america has claimed ice dancing gold. and the long waited for breakthrough in bobsled, after winning team usa's first gold in four man in vancouver, steve holcomb triumphed again, taking bronze with his teammate. >> so much hard work has gone into it. we're so proud to bring home a medal after a 62-year drought. >> reporter: bode miller, now the oldest alpine medalist ever at 36 with bronze in the super g, serving notice now he is ready for giant slalom. >> i don't think i'm done yet, hopefully i get to come down here and go through the process again. >> do you feel good about it? >> i do, i think a lot of people

will be surprised when i medal. >> reporter: the weather meant no medals tonight in snow board cross, the x game designed for danger with a high-flying potential for wipeouts. we saw that yesterday with the women. and today, fans came out to see the men. with racers anxious to get under way, and they're ready. >> we have a cancellation for the competition today. >> yeah, you couldn't see anything. i mean, we're going to be going big off the jumps and it is nice to be able to see where you're going. >> reporter: and the men's biathlon, postponed for a second time because the athletes could not see the shooting target. nothing to do but wait for the fog to lift. they are both on schedule tomorrow so if they actually come off it will be a huge medal's day in several different events. >> chris jansing with all things olympics tonight, a quick check of the medal count. at the start of the final week of competition, u.s. and russia on top tied for the lead with 18

apiece. followed by the netherlands, norway, and canada. in venezuela today, the government ordered three american diplomats to leave the country accusing them of helping to organize these anti-government protests that have turned violent and deadly in recent days. there are fears of more fighting tomorrow after opponents and supporters of the government called for new demonstrations. we have a correspondent on route, we'll have a complete report for that on this broadcast tomorrow night. and in the u.s. there is still more rough weather to report tonight. this is how it looked in wisconsin today as much of the midwest was pounded by heavy snow and ice again, creating more dangerous conditions, causing more flight delays and cancellations. it is all heading east again, and meteorologist janice huff is in the new york weather center with more tonight, good evening, janice. hi, there, brian, this storm is now moving through michigan, ohio and indiana, pressing through the east coaomorro

they are expecting anywhere from four to six inches of snow across ohio tonight. it hits new york city tomorrow morning for the commute. two inches here, boston it hits you for the evening commute. you could see another four to eight inches on top of what you have. then following that will be this huge warmup. here is wednesday, here is thursday, temperatures 60s and 70s in atlanta. by the time it gets to the northeast it will be in the 40s and 50s, meaning rapid snow melt. covering the northeast, the rapid snow melt could result in a lot of flooding by this weekend, brian. janice huff, as always, thank you, and a big night in new york for more reasons than one. coming up tonight, our revealing conversation with jimmy fallon, just hours to go before his debut as host of "the tonight show." what he told us about what you will see starting tonight. what will see starting tonight. you'll need when you retire?

then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going to have to rethink this thing. it's hard to imagine how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more. so maybe we need to approach things differently, if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪ i've got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. it's time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that won't relieve all your symptoms. new alka seltzer plus-d relieves more symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel. oh what a relief it is. see, i knew testosterone could affect sex drive, but not energy or even my mood. that's when i talked with my doctor. he gave me some blood tests... showed it was low t. that's it. it was a number. [ male announcer ] today, men with low t have androgel 1.62% testosterone gel. the #1 prescribed topical testosterone replacement therapy