for more on this, we turn to nbc pentagon correspondent, jim miklaszewski. jim, what is this all about? >> lester, this order today shocked u.s. defense and military officials, taken totally by surprise. military officials strongly deny u.s. commandos condone or took part in any kidnappings, torture or murders of afghan civilians or suspects. now, in the past, president karzai has taken the u.s. military to task, in part, to show the afghan people that he's in charge. but wardak province is a taliban stronghold, one of the hottest combat areas in afghanistan. so if karzai's playing politics here, it's an extremely dangerous game, lester. >> could this derail the planned 2014 withdrawal of the majority of troops, the schedule the administration is currently sticking with? >> well, people are already wondering that. president obama has already announced 34,000 troops. that's half the total american force will withdraw from afghanistan by the end of this year. but if u.s. forces are prevented from executing their missions, you may start to hear calls from here i

jim miklaszewski, nbc news, huntsville. >> quick note on our weather tonight.verywhere you looked across the plains and midwest all the way to the rockies down to texas, it was the big dig today for a lot of folks, shoveling, plowing out from under yesterday's heavy snow that spread over such a wide area in our country. power crews are also dealing with the wet, heavy snow on trees, icing on power lines in some places. the system is still dropping snow toward the east, it should continue right through friday. >>> still ahead, as we continue tonight, the disappearing act in a place where the waterfront is a way of life, an iconic american town now facing some very rough seas ahead. >>> and later, the honor bestowed today for the trail-blazing woman who refused to give up a seat on the bus. >>> for decades, commercial fishing has been the lifeblood of the new england coast. it helped to feed a nation, and nowhere is that more true than in gloucester, massachusetts, where men have gone down to the sea in ships for generations. but for reasons that are complex and

our report tonight from our pentagon correspondent, jim miklaszewski. >> reporter: wedged deep into aalley surrounded by soaring mountains, combat outpost keating in eastern afghanistan was a death trap. for staff sergeant clint romesha, it was indefensible. >> every which direction you looked, you were looking straight up at the mountain. >> reporter: romesha and the other soldiers at c.o.p. keating were under constant attack. but in october 2009, the taliban launched the most ferocious assault ever. and unleashed a deadly downpour of fire like shooting fish in a barrel. >> 360 degrees, we were taking, you know, rpgs, machine gunfire, mortar fire was coming in. i mean, it was accurate. it was, you know, on target. it was pinning positions down. >> reporter: the americans were vastly outnumbered, nearly 400 to 52. in the first hour, three u.s. soldiers were killed. others pinned down by gunfire. and with no regard for his own life, romesha led five others on a rescue mission. >> it was going to be a knife fight, getting to where we were going. >> reporter: romesha took out an enemy ma

we get the story tonight from nbc's jim miklaszewski. >> reporter: as a navy s.e.a.l. sniper in iraq, chris kyle was so feared, the enemy called him the devil of ramadi and put an $80,000 on his head. >> it gave me pride knowing i put fear in the mind of the terrorists and made them fearful of me. >> tragically, it was back home where kyle and a friend were shot and killed. the suspect is a 25-year-old marine reservist, eddie ray routh. without warning, routh allegedly shot the two victims with a semiautomatic handgun. he's in custody facing two charges of capital murder. sheriff tommy bryant told reporters, routh turned on his guards overnight. >> he became aggressive, and they believed he was about to assault them so they tased him and after they tased him, they put him in a restraint. >> reporter: routh served two tours in iraq. once back home, his family reportedly feared he was suffering ptsd, post traumatic stress, and asked chris kyle for help. >> some people are definitely coming back with ptsd. and i want to try to figure out everything i can do, possibly, to

nbc's jim miklaszewski is at the pentagon this morning. mick, what can you tell us? >> nobody was surprised by the test itself. they knew it was coming. no one knew the exact timing. this one, in fact, has set off alarm bells. early readings are that this nuclear device that was tested may be three to six times more powerful than any previous nuclear test by the north koreans. the north koreans also claim that they did it with a much smaller device, perhaps meaning that they have made progress in miniaturizing nuclear weapons that could be put on the top of ballistic missiles that could ultimately threaten the united states. nobody is confirming that yet but it's got everybody's attention. now today's test drew a rapid and strong response from the white house. the president condemned the blast, saying it threatens u.s. security and that the danger posed by north korea's threatening activities warrants further, swift and credible action by the international community. the united states will also continue to take steps necessary to defend ourselves and our allies. now,

jim miklaszewski says because of the sequester, the u.s.y has cut its patrolling the persian gulf. the persian gulf, i wonder how they feel about sequestration in iran. >> this is a very real thing. we had eric cantor yesterday giving a speech. he gave one line to the whole question of the fiscal situation. he says but we need to be about more than that. we have to be the happy party that talks about immigration, health care, job growth. all these other things. but then he's right back there talking about the sequester. and the party is unable to escape from that issue. if you can sigh what this is doing tho the united states military, you can infer it's going to be worse if the republicans with their budget were able to get their way. >> yeah. jared, to that point, you know, the mythical paul ryan budget aside for the moment. that in 35 months, this nation has created six million jobs. the house price. it remains a fragile economy. you said earlier in this interview that you don't think that these sequesters will provoke a double-dip reces

nbc's jim miklaszewski joins me with more.helping or at least a part of this program to help returning veterans readjust to life here. what else do we know about why they were there? >> reporter: chris kyle and quite frankly other u.s. military veterans including other s.e.a.l.s there in texas reach down to help those veterans struggling once they get back from the war. and one of the things they would do, quite frequently, is invite them to shooting ranges to more or less blow off some steam if, in fact, they were suffering some mental anguish or as it's known ptsd. post traumatic stress disorder but in this case, it's clear that this suspect in the case who is likely to be charged with two counts of capital murder was troubled but so far nobody has been able to say that he has ptsd. but certainly, it's something that chris and a friend had thought they needed to help this young man and this was the first time they had met him at this shooting range when he allegedly opened fire at point-blank range with a small caliber handg

nbc news chief pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski joins us with the latest on this.e police and witnesses saying happened here and where things went so wrong for chris kyle? >> well, police in texas have one suspect in custody. eddie ray routh, a marine corps reservist, 25 years old, who apparently, according to reports, was suffering from ptsd. now, chris kyle and other veterans there in texas would often try to independently help those with ptsd by taking them to shooting ranges to sort of blow off steam. now, according to officials in texas, this was the first time that kyle and his friend had met eddie ray routh at this shooting range about 50 miles outside ft. worth on saturday, when suddenly and allegedly, routh opened fire with a hand gun at point-blank range allegedly again killing both kyle and the other former service member. now, routh is in jail, he's expected to be charged with two counts of capital murder at this time, and according to law enforcement officials, the exact motive is unclear. again, it's suspected he was suffering from ptsd. we don't have

. >> nbc news pentagon krontd jim miklaszewski joins us live.st got a note secretary kerry was informed just before 11:00 p.m. yesterday and he is also spoken with the chinese foreign minister wels japan foreign minister on this issue. what are we likely to hear and see next? >> reporter: the focus is on china. even though china may have joined in condemning the act, the proof is in the pudding. they will have to step up and actually join in enforcing stricter, tighter sanctions against north korea. all this time, while the international community particularly the u.s. has been ratcheting up those sanctions against north korea, china has continued to provide oil and other critical supplies to north korea ignoring the international sanctions. so it really falls on china at this point. if they're really serious and in any kind of condemnation against north korea for this nuclear test to step up and join in these international sanctions, tamron. >> you have mentioned in your prior reports today, mick, this was an eye opener for anyone who belonged

we have jim miklaszewski with us. nbc's chief correspondent.hat are you hearing at the pentagon. >> officials knew this was coming although they didn't know the exact timing. this one has set off alarm bells, particularly because of the size of the blast. we're not relying on north korea claims here. south korea's seismic readings on the blast said it was somewhere about 6 or 7 kilotons, which could make it anywhere from 3 to 6 times more powerful than any previous weapon they set off before. north korea did claim they did this with a much smaller warhead, which would indicate they could be making progress miniaturizing a missile that could be launched at the united states. that's north korea and nobody is taking that seriously at this point and quite frankly, that's impossible to prove. within minutes, it seemed, after the blast was reported, the white house responded and president obama called it a highly provocative act that undermines regional stability and threatens ultimately u.s. national security. the president said it demands swift and