on this saturday night, against all odds. a 7-year-old girl walks out of a plane that crashed and killed four others in her family. tonight her remarkable story of survival and her journey to summon help. piece by piece. the most hopeful signs yet that the wreckage of the doomed airasia plane itself has been found, one week after it went down. game on. now just a year away from the start of presidential primary season the jockeying has begun. we'll look at all those who may be in the running. and desperate move. families relocating to colorado in hopes of treating their children's illnesses. the latest twist in the marijuana boom.

>> good evening, everybody. it was a knock at the door one kentucky man won't ever forget. on his doorstep a frightened and injured little girl. the lone survivor from a small plane that had crashed nearby killing her family. tonight that 7-year-old miracle survivor has been released from the hospital as investigators descend on the crash site in rural lion county kentucky. the private twin engine plane went down during a flight from florida to illinois. emerging from the wreckage the traumatized young girl set out through the woods in the cold and dark in a desperate attempt to find help. nbc's gabe gutierrez is there tonight to tell us more of this tragic and remarkable story. gabe good evening. >> reporter: lester good evening. this plane crashed several hundred yards behind me. faa officials have been here throughout the day and investigators from the national transportation safety board are

on their way. this family had been vacationing in florida, but on their way home something went terribly wrong. the door knock took larry wilkins by complete surprise. >> i go open the door and this little girl was standing there with a bloody nose and bloody legs and bloody arms. >> reporter: standing before him, 7-year-old saylor gutsler. >> she told me, she said her mom and dad were dead and she was in a plane crash and the plane was upside down. >> reporter: incredibly saylor had survived and walked about three-quarters of a mile through cold dark woods, before knocking on larry's door. killed in the crash, her parents, marty and kill berle gutsler, her 9-year-old sister pipeler and cousin wiler. saylor used the plane's burning wing to light a branch to find her way through the woods. >> the 7-year-old has come out of the woods alone. >> reporter: police rushed in but had trouble finding the aircraft. >> she's upside down in an

aircraft that's crash-landed. she shorts a t-shirt. she's 7 years old. she has broken bones. she pulls herself out of the aircraft she's in a place she doesn't see any lights. she walks through thorns briars a 12-foot ditch creek bed and continues to walk in that environment with no shoes on until she sees a light at a house. >> reporter: on friday the plane had taken off from key west then stopped to refuel in tallahassee en route to mt. vernon, illinois. the small piper pa-34 was at an altitude of 1800 feet when it reported engine control and lost contact with air controllers. it crashed near kuttawa, kentucky. >> it was raining in the area. he would be close to the freezing level and that's where you could pick up icing. sometimes at a very rapid rate. >> reporter: in the family's hometown of nashville,ity his.

utter heartbreak. marty gutzler gotten his pilot's license before his drivers license. he had taught his kids survival skills. tonight federal investigators are trying to determine exactly what went wrong and larry wilkins is thankful he answered the door. >> she done good. she's a brave, little girl. >> reporter: amazingly saylor who is in the second grade has already been treated and released from the hospital. she is with her family tonight. they just released a written statement, asking for prayers and privacy. lester? >> gabe gutierrez starting us off tonight, thank you. a sad day here in new york where a wake is under way tonight for the second of two police officers killed in an ambush in brooklyn two weeks ago. but once again the grief is against the backdrop of tensions between the police and the city's mayor. we get that story from nbc's john yang. >> reporter: in the cold rain

and snow they came by the hundreds today to honor a fallen officer, new york police department kifdetective wenjin liu. out in force his brothers and sisters in fwlu. jetblue flew more than 1100 police for free from as far away as california. >> it doesn't matter if you're in the south, midwest, west coast here. >> show respect for the officers that we lost here. >> reporter: members of liu's family traveled from china, also flying free. his wife of only a few months spoke to reporters last month, two days after liu and his partner, detective raphael ramos were brutally gunned down as they sat in their patrol car. >> we will stand together and get through this together. >> reporter: also attending, the new yorkers, liu and ramos helped protect and serve. >> i just felt that he had given his life for the city and so he deserves to be recognized. >> reporter: new york city mayor

bill beblass yo and police commissioner bill braton arrived together and were greeted by salutes from some officers. last week hundreds of officers watching a big screen outside turned their backs. even before the protest over eric garner's death and complaints by many officers that de blasio didn't lend enough support to police there had been tensions between the police and the mayor. de blasio was elected on a pledge to end the practice known as stop and frisk. some say relations have been further strained by contentious contract negotiations. on friday, bratonton wrote in a message to all officers that they are "bound by the tradition, honor and decency that go with the profession." not threatening discipline he said "a hero's funeral is about grieving not grievance" hoping to head off a repeat of last week's silent protest at tomorrow's final farewell to

detective liu. much of the country is dealing with extreme weather. again tonight parts of texas and the oklahoma panhandle got as much as seven inches of snow in a storm that was again last night. to the north near pittsburgh a salt truck in charge of melting ice instead became a victim of it smashing into a house. while in mississippi at least one tornado touched down and more were possible as damaging weather passed through parts of that state and louisiana. for more on all this let's turn to weather channel meteorologist chris warren. hi chris. >> hello to you, lester. severe weather the big threat and an ongoing threat right now. i want to show you where that threat is going to be through the evening and as we look at this know that already there have been several tornado warnings already some damage with trees down power outages. power lines down at least four mobile homes have been heavily damaged in parts of mississippi. to the northeast, there is a snow threat especially new england, looking around a foot of snow in some areas, and that very dangerous freezing rain will be an issue.

expecting to see ice into the morning hours, black ice a big concern, could be power outages with this as well. then there are some big changes on the way for the northeast, sunday it will be wet. however, 65 in new york. almost 70 in washington d.c. that is well above average this time of year and then some major changes. we're looking at monday temperatures down just above freezing in many areas. inland areas will be into the 20s and then we have some dangerously cold arctic air coming all the way down from the north pole and lester parts of the midwest and the northeast will be dealing with some of the coldest air so far this winter season. >> all right, chris warren thank you. despite continuing bad weather, it looks like some large parts of that airasia jetliner may have been located today as more victims of the disaster were identified one week after the plane was lost. we get the latest from indonesia and nbc's kelley cobiella. >> reporter: it's their best clue yet, in 09 feet of water,

four large objects. searchers tried to get a better look with underwater cameras but couldn't get them to work in rough seas. instead, a mapping ship measured them from the surface. the biggest piece is 59 feet long and 18 feet wide and appears to be part of the jet's body. another is 31 feet long and 15 feet wide and scattered around chunks of debris 39 feet long. the head of the indonesian search and rescue operation says he's confident they've found the wreckage from airasia 8501. the key now, tracking down the black boxes. >> it's also important for investigators to understand the condition of each of the victims as they're recovered, because that could shed light on how much impact forces were sustained by the aircraft in each of the victims. >> reporter: today they expanded the search area and identified more bodies as more families learned their loved ones were among those found.

agun darmono already buried his sister-in-law. his 9-year-old niece and mother are still missing. he told me waiting is hard to bear but it's in god's hand. the flight attendant was found with her name tag still on. airasia founder tony fernandez helped the family bury her as his airline faced more scrutiny. the indonesian government has grounded airasia flights from surabaya to singapore indefinitely while they determine if the airline filed all the proper paperwork for that route. toot another u.s. navy ship arrived to the area to help the indonesians with the search. the "uss ft. worth" joins the several hundred dollars u.s. troops on the "uss sampson" who have been helping with the recovery efforts since monday. lester? >> kelly kobecobiella thanks. we're just three days into 2015 but perhaps just 13 months or so away from a first presidential primary. in national politics that's a nanosecond and so for the field

of potential candidates the 2016 battle for the white house begins now. kristen welker takes a look at the state of the race. >> reporter: former florida governor jeb bush was the proud father friday watching his son, george p. bush get sworn in as texas land commissioner. but there are fresh signs bush is considering his own political future and a race for the white house. earlier this week he resigned from all of his corporate and non-profit board positions, after announcing on facebook last month that he's actively exploring a bid. polls show bush is the prohibitive front-runner in a crowded field, with names that include texas senator ted cruz kentucky senator rand paul and new jersey governor chris christie and just this week senator marco rubio from bush's home state of florida told npr he's still keeping his own options open >> as far as you know speculating whether two people from the same state can run, it's not unprecedented. >> reporter: all eyes are on hillary clinton. this week she teased supporters

with this e-mail titled "announcement" that turned out to be a fund-raising letter for her family's foundation. >> she said she was going to take time off over the holidays and she actually did it. now it's january, people are waiting to are her to do something. among those waiting, vice president joe biden, former virginia senator jim webb martin o'maly and vrm senator bernie sanders. political analysts say clinton and bush have such strong name recognition and fund-raising potential at this point, other candidates might be intimidated. on the other hand their connections past and present could become liabilities. >> everyone knows who hillary clinton is. everyone thinks they know who jeb bush is and all of that carries potential baggage. if they have business entangled, all kinds of things that because they are the front-runner make them the biggest target. >> while name recognition and money may give a starting advantage to clinton and bush, other factors wild cards for now are bound to shape the race -- economic frukt wagss, volatile

events on the world stage, natural disasters and verbal gaffes all of the things that make every presidential campaign unique. lester? >> kristen welker tonight thank you. >> the new congress convenes on tuesday with the republicans firmly in control and some highly divisive issues on the agenda. for more let's turn to chuck todd the moderator of "meet the press." chuck, where will the republicans start? >> they'll start with a symbolic president to test the president and his veto pen. we know it will be a big year on poshlly health care immigration, but the keystone pipeline one of the first things this republican congress with the help of some democrats if they still will lead in the senate in order to get things to the president's desk that will be the first test of the president's veto threat and it could be the first veto he ends up issuing of 2015. after that the question is where are they going to try to get along? how much does the republican leadership say we have to figure out where we can govern and where to work.

issues like trade that's a possibility. tax reform some people are optimistic. i'm not as optimistic as much. and then to me the big wild card lester is going to be the improving economy. does the improving economy as we've seen a ton of story this is year does it give president obama new political capital to use in 2015 to get more of his agenda through? we do know he feels very emboldened and plans to stay that way post-vacation. >> chuck, we'll see you tomorrow and chuck will have more on the big issues facing our divided government tomorrow on "meet the press." former senator edward w. brooke tide. he served from 1967 to in the 79. he was the first african-american elected since reconstruction easily defeating his democratic opponent at a time when 2% of the massachusetts population was black. he was known especially for promoting fair housing policies. edward w. brooke was 95 years

old. when "nbc nightly news" continues, some desperate families are trying to get hold of a rare form of medical marijuana. and some catnip for those who love felines and coffee. we'll expl at book club they were asking me what you're doing now, janice. blogging. your blog is just pictures of you in the mirror. it's called a fashion blog todd. well, i've been helping people save money with progressive's discounts. flo, can you get janice a job? [ laughs ] you should've stuck to softball! i was so much better at softball than janice, dad. where's your wife, todd? vacation. discounts like homeowners' multi-policy -- i got a discount on this ham. i've got the meat sweats. this is good ham, diane. paperless discounts -- give it a rest, flo. all: yeah, flo, give it a rest. i was out for a bike ride. i didn't think i'd have a heart attack. but i did. i'm mike and i'm very much alive. now my doctor recommends a bayer aspirin regimen to help prevent another heart attack. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen.

i like it when my hygienist lets me know i'm doing a good job. i like it when my toothpaste lets me know too. that's why i went pro. go pro with crest pro-health. for an intensive clean. i can really feel it deep cleaning my mouth. for a 4x better clean try these products together. that was a great check up. i'm louis, and i quit smoking with chantix. quitting smoking is a challenge and it's a lot easier to go into a fight when you've got somebody that's got your back. having chantix as a partner made it more successful. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix helped reduce my urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. some people had seizures while taking chantix. if you have any of these stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix or history of seizures. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems or develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away

if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. chantix absolutely helped me quit smoking. ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. since colorado legalized the sale of marijuana one year ago, attention has focused mainly on the boom in recreational pot sales, but a growing number of people are actually moving to

colorado to gain access to a special kind of medical marijuana. our report tonight from nbc's harry smith. >> we need to change the perspective of what people think of cannabis. >> reporter: they call themselves medical refugees some 200 families have moved to colorado for something they can only get here -- a rare type of medical marijuana. howdy. i'm harry. >> nice to meet you. >> reporter: including 10-year-old braden fleming, who has epilepsy. handsome young man. >> thank you. >> reporter: his family came from houston to colorado springs, just to be on the waiting list to get a medicine called charlotte's web. >> several people's response was, who does that? who picks up their life and just moves? but those are people that don't have a child with epilepsy. >> reporter: braden suffers from doza syndrome marked by small and uncontrollable seizures. he had one in the middle of our conversation.

>> or i watch baseball. >> reporter: was that one right there? >> yes. >> reporter: charlotte's web is a strain of marijuana low in thc. the psychoactive ingredient but high in cbd, a mystery compound believed to have healing properties. >> cbd is something that has captured the national imagination, political imagination, the fear of the medical community. >> reporter: dr. edward ma is a denver neurologist, studying charlotte's web. he warns it doesn't reduce seizures for everyone. >> 20% to 30% are having a pretty dramatic reduction and it tails off from there. >> reporter: well aware of the odds the flemings moved here anyway. how happy would you be if you could live your life every day and not have any seizures anymore? >> i would love that. it'd feel like i'm in heaven, probably. yes.

>> amen. >> reporter: just before christmas, braden started taking charlotte's web. now the flemings wait to see if it works. harry smith, nbc news, colorado springs. >> and that's just part of harry's much broader look at the pot industry in colorado. it's called "marijuana country: the cannabis boom." it will air this monday night on cnbc. when we come back here tonight, the hits just keep on coming from the red army choir. ♪ clap a i make a lot of purchases for my business. and i get a lot in return with ink plus from chase. like 50,000 bonus points when i spent $5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account. and i earn 5 times the rewards on internet, phone services and at office supply stores. with ink plus i can choose how to redeem my points. travel, gift cards even cash back. and my rewards points won't expire. so you can make owning a business even more rewarding. ink from chase. so you can.

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show show"3&iz[z yesterday. the revival of the old vinyl records continues in this country. nielsen put vinyl record sales at 9.2 million this past year a 52% increase from 2013 and the highest level since they started

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finally tonight, we'll be the first to admit there's been no shortage of stories about kaugz on this broadcast so tonight something different. cat cafes, as we hear from nbc's keir simmons. >> reporter: they're clever. cats but can any cat ever have been as cunning as these furry divas who persuaded some folks to give them their own cafe in new york where you can fall in love and take home one of the cats. all of them previously homeless or abandoned. >> you get your cat within a couple of days and that's your cat, like you get to play and fall in love with a cat. >> reporter: just this week three cats were picked for adoption. there's now a cat cafe in vienna too, and here in east london. though it's felines first.

you can come here for a cup of or tea, but shhh. it's nap time. come on in pull up a chair and, well i've been sent on easier interviews. hello. just woken up. these days pets are not always possible if you live in a city apartment. perhaps that's why these cafes are so popular among humans. what are you having? coffee? no? it is run in principle by a human. >> the best about the company of animals, uncomplicated. >> reporter: but there's no doubt who is in charge. >> in taking pictures make sure your flash is off. cats need 18 hours of sleep every day. >> that's nice they're walking all over you. >> cats yes, cat passion. >> reporter: and if you do make it along, fair warning. okay sorry. what did i say? do your best not to upset the locals.

keir simmons, nbc news london. >> that's "nbc nightly news" for this saturday. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today" and then right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac

the following is a presentation of the redskins network. coming up tonight on the redskins coaches show with jay gruden, we wrap up the season with the coach. time for the redskins coach issue with jayf# by aaa. ♪grorñ welcome to the final coaches show of the season. i'm larry michael at redskins park. we'll get to the show in a moment. the redskins a