catie beck, nbc news. >>> and now to the new backlash against a controversial comedian, louis c.k., who was accused last year of sexual misconduct, has sparked yet another outrage over leaked audiotape of him mocking school shooting survivors. here is nbc's stephanie gosk. >> i bet none of you had the same year i had. >> reporter: sexual misconduct allegations left louis c.k.'s career in tatters, all fodder for this recent stand-up act at a new york comedy club that was leaked on line. >> i lost so much [ bleep ] in a day. >> reporter: but it was what louis c.k. had to say about school shooting survivors that is triggering an angry backlash. >> why does that mean i have to listen to you? how does that make you interesting? you didn't get shot. you pushed some fat kid in the way and now i've got to listen to you talking? >> reporter: last year, multiple women accused the 51-year-old of exposing himself without their consent. at the time the comedian admitted to misconduct, saying he acted irresponsibly. but added he felt the incidents were consensual and that he would step back and take

catie beck, nbc news. >> what great kids.lad we coulright now at 6: cracked walls and sidewal >>> we didn't sign on for that. nobody here did. >> cracked walls and sidewalks. the work to fix a problem in the south bay that only created more problems. >>> right now our stormranger s a series of things are storms lines up on the bay area. when to expect wi and heavier rain coming up >> pg&e files for bankruptcy. what it means for the recent victims of our wildfires. the news at 6:00 starts right now. good evening. thanks for being with us. >>> the largest utility in the company wants chapter 11 bankruptcy, which will allow it to reorganize its debt but stay in operation. the utility is facing billions of dollars of potential damages from wildfires. that move comes despite state investigators determining last week that pg&e equipment was not to plame for tubbs fireback in 2017. it announced this month it planned to file for bankruptcy. it is already facing lawsuits over the camp fire that destroyed the town of paradisek. the cau

catie beck, nbc news. >>> and now to the new veacklash against a controial comedian. louis c.k. who was accused of sexual misconduct sparked another outragover leaked audio tape of him mocking school shooting survivors.he is nbc's stephanie gosk. >> i bet none of you had the same year that i had. >> reporter: sexual misconduct allegations left louis c.k.'s career in tatters. his movie "canned" a netflix special cancelled is recent standup act at a new york comedy leub aked online. >> i lost so much [ bleep ] money in a day. >> reporter: it was at he said about school shooting survivors that is triggering an angry backlash. i have to listen to you? how does that make you interesting? you didn't get shot. you pushed a fat kid in the way and n i got to listen to you talking? >> reporter: last year multiple wen accused the 51-year-old of exposing himself without their consen at the time the comedian admitted to misconduct sayinhe ted irresponsibly but added he felt the incidents were consensual. today a father whose children were victims of a shooting wrote to the comic. my daughter

catie beck, nbc news. >>> coming up, shocking video. a student with autism dragged by a teacher. >>> and close call. a terrifying moment on the highway. stay with us. >>> caught on camera, police tending to a disabled car on a highway in ohio when a vehicle slams their cars. first responders jump over a barrier a split second before they would have been hit. no one was seriously injured. >>> tonight, a kentucky teacher has been fired after she was caught on camera dragging a boy with autism down a school hallway, prompting outrage from parents. kristen dahlgren has that story. >> reporter: this is the video angel nelson saw of her 9-year-old son allen, dragged down a hallway by his teacher. >> i was in shock, and i was very traumatized. for this to happen in front of all of his classmates. >> reporter: the family's attorney subpoenaed the video after being told what happened. >> get up. >> no. >> reporter: nelson says allen, who has autism, suffered a sprained wrist in the incident last october. >> he had an outburst, and they were tryi

catie beck, nbc news. >>> also ahead tonight, are you secretly being tracked? who could be buying your cell phone location. >>> and our exclusive, the first man ever to finish this epic race by himself. >>> next tonight, who's tracking you? an alarming new report on cell phone carriers selling your location data. nbc's kristen dalgren explains. >> reporter: everywhere you go, your cell phone is right there with you. but who else knows where you are? for a few hundred bucks, it could be anyone. >> i'm not a law enforcement offi >> reporter: in an investigation for "mother board," reporter john cox was able to track a cell phone through a bounty hunter for $300. >> they sent me google maps, screen shots of the approximate area of where the phone was, and it was correct. >> reporter: many telecom companies sell your phone's location data to other companies for things like detecting fraud or roadside assistance. but those companies can resell the data, making it available to virtually anyone, showing your phone's location down to 1,500 feet, or five square blocks.

here is catie beck. >> reporter: at the peak of his addiction, 15-year-old luka kinard was spending $150 a week to support his vaping habit. >> i noticed this is getting of control. >> reporter: his parents noticed too. a stellar student on track to become an eagle scout, suddenly withdrawn and unmotivate >> he went from being a straight a student to an f student. >> reporter: luka was one of thd 3.5 million mi and high school students using e-cigarettes, intended to be a safer alternative to smoking.li but expertke sharon levy say i for teencan be addictive, and the impact on their developing brain still unknown. >> they're getting very high nicotine levels in their bloodseam, and that's causing them problems with things like paying attention and focusing. and that's really new. >> reporter: now at her addiction clinic, she is seeing a surge in teens strugglinabto kick the. >> we're seeing more mental health and psychiatricroblems that are happening immediately. c reporter: after luka says excessive vapingsed him to have a seizure, his parents sent him to a 40-day treatment program wher

catie beck, nbc news. >>> now to a miracle overseas. more than a day after an explosion leveled an apartment building and killed at least nine people in russia, rescuers pulled a baby alive from the rubble. here's nbc's lucy kafanov with the details. >> reporter: the moment even amazed rescuers. an 11-month-old baby boy pulled out of the rubble alive after surviving for more than 36 hours in freezing temperatures. a glimmer of hope for authorities desperately searching for survivors. this video capturing the moment a deadly gas explosion ripped through the ten-story russian apartment building monday. dozens of people still feared trapped. but rescuers heard that baby's cries. i saw parts of the cribs, his first responder says. we cut the linoleum, and i saw a face. the baby, named ivan, had frostbite, a head injury, and fractures. but he was swaddled in a blanket and warm bedding, which helped him survive frigid temperatures of minus 4 degrees. his mother was able to escape when the building came down. my elder son and i fell through, s

nbc's catie beck has the latest on this developing story. >> reporter: a family new year day trip to a florida zoo turned terrifying, when a 2-year-old girl toppled into a rhino exhibit. a witness posting this picture of a white shoe. >> she's conscious at this time. >> reporter: the brevard zoo in melbourne says during the educational experience with rhinos, children 3 years of age and older are led by a zookeeper and able to touch the 4,000 pound animals separated by a series of steel poles. >> while the father was kneeling down and holding the child, the child stumbled backwards and fell between the bars. the father and mother brought the child out immediately. at least one, if not two of the rhinos made contact with their snout. >> reporter: the toddler airlifted to a hospital. the mother also treated for a noncritical injury to her arm. the incident similar to a 2016 incident at the cincinnati zoo, when a 3-year-old boy fell into a gorilla enclosure and was tossed about by one of the animals who was later killed. the rhino exhibit remains closed pending investigation, the zoo sa

catie beck, nbc news. >>> coming up, shocking video.t with autism dragged by teacher. >>> and close call. a terrifying moment on the highway. stay with us.ca i n do more to lower my a1c. because my body can still make its own insulin. i take trulicity once a week to activate my body to release its own insulin, like it's supposed to. trulicity is not insulin. it works 24/7. it comes in an easy-to-use pen. and i may even lose a little weight. trulicity is an injection to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. don't use it as the first medicine to treat diabetes, or if you have type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. don't take trulicity if you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, you're allergic to trulicity, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of a serious allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck or severe stomach pain. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. taking trulicity with

catie beck, nbc news. >>> a desperate manhunt is under way this new year in texas. 7-year-old girl was shot and killed while riding in a car with her mother on an early morning coffee run. her mother was hit in the arm and is still in the hospital. sheriff's deputies released this surveillance image of the mysterious red pickup truck. they're looking for the gunman, possibly a white man with a beard, in his 40s. >>> a winter blast is wreaking havoc on kansas farms. temperatures have dipped below freezing, and that's threatening cattle and crops in the central part of the state. it's another reminder that mother nature did not go easy on us in 2018. all over the world, hurricanes, wildfires, floods and tornadoes. all told, they've cost us too many lives and billions in recovery efforts. nbc's kerry sanders looks back. >> reporter: 2018, a year of seemingly back-to-back-to-back global natural disasters. just named fourth costliest year ever. in economic loss, $155 billion. from the record setting wildfires in california, more than 22,000 homes destroyed. 100 people ki

catie beck, nbc news. >> what great kids. glad we could ll eir story. that's "nightly news."bc al [ whistling ] >> assaulted and battered when he walked out of his apartment. >> a horrific middle of the night attack on seempire's j smollett. the details youav

here with more is nbc's catie beck. >> reporter: instead of celebration, a new year will begiil in griefor f and friends of 22-year-old alexandra black. >> she lov everybody that she met and loved all the animals she came across. >> reporter: the north carolina sanctuary where she was killed by a lion remainso closed t the public. investigators trying to understand how the animal was able to get out and kill black, wan intern had started just ten days ago. >> the person that was attacked, how bad are they hurt? >> they're incapacitated. >> they're incapacitated? >> reporter: the lion, seen in this online video, was shot and killed by deputies. now animal rights group peta urging the unaccredited center's closure, calling it a roadside zoo. the conservator center passed two recent inspeheions by usda and has no reported safety complaints. black's former co-worker at an indiana wildlife park says she died for a cause she loved. >> the world has lost a person who really was able to speak one-on-one and understand their connection with >>animals. eporter: black's family remembering her as a