lester? >> sam, thanks. let's talk about the deep freeze. al roker is here. what are you looking at? >> all right, lester, you can see the remnants of that snow still coming across washington, d.c. that's just about done. as sam mentioned, 10 to 25-degree below average temperatures tomorrow right into the weekend. windchills low single digits from sioux falls into the low 20s into the midsection of the country. and then we've got a second storm coming. it's going to move out of the gulf, out into the atlantic. right now what we're looking at from thursday to saturday, a widespread area from the midatlantic down to the south with heavier snow. ice in the mid mississippi river valley. strong storms down through the gulf. the model is not sure right now, lester, but we could be looking at a major snow impact event into the weekend. >> all right, al, thanks very much. >>> at the u.s. capitol, it was a very different scene from january 6th four years ago. the snow, as you just saw, but also congre

lester? >> okay. jesse, thank you. >>> now to president trump announcing more dramatic changes tonight, including ending federal government diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that he views as discriminatory. here's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: from the government agencies that oversee air travel to public health to criminal justice, the debate over diversity is exploding throughout the country. making good on a campaign promise tonight, president trump is slashing all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across the federal government. >> we will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based. >> reporter: the president signing an executive order his first day back in the white house. >> this is a big deal, merit. our country's going to be based on merit again. can you believe it? >> reporter: and overnight this new government memo saying dei policies result in shameful discrimination and directing federal agencies to place all dei employees on paid leave by this evening. after

lester?all right, garrett haake, thank you. and ten of the executive orders announced today involve immigration. a cornerstone of president trump's political identity. gabe gutierrez with that story. >> reporter: tonight, president trump taking sweeping action on immigration. >> and i will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country. >> reporter: the in the executive orders, trump declaring a national emergency at the u.s.-mexico border, reinstating the remain in mexico policy, which requires asylum seekers to wait outside the u.s. while their cases are processed, designating drug cartels foreign terrorist organizations and trying to end birthright citizenship, those that's exacted to be fiercely challenged in court. the fourth amendment says anyone born in the u.s. is a citizen. >> we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. >> reporter: the trump administration has promised ma

lester? >> morgan chesky, thanks. >>> on capitol hill today president-elect trump's choices for attorney general and secretary of state were among those facing questioning at senate confirmation hearings. ryan nobles now with late details. >> reporter: tonight, a split-screen moment on capitol hill. half a dozen high-stakes confirmation meetings for president-elect trump's cabinet picks, including his choice to lead the justice department, former florida attorney general pam bondi, who vowed to keep politics out of the prosecutorial process. >> there will never be an enemies list within the department of justice. >> reporter: bondi replaced trump's original choice for the job, former congressman matt gaetz, who withdrew when it was clear he could not win enough republican votes. bondi is expected to be confirmed by the republican senate. >> i'm glad he picked you. he knows you, he trusts you, and you're highly qualified. >> reporter: but today senate democrats grilling her over potential trum

>> yeah, lester. no question this is a major blow to the former president, the president-elect, who had tried every way possible to get this sentencing called off. tried to get it blocked. they appealed every way they know how. and tonight the supreme court handing down a very short order saying it will go forward. they're refusing to block it. we don't know all of the reasons why but they do at least list two. saying one, he still has an appeal in the state court if he thinks there were evidentiary issues with things that came in at trial. and two, they also say because judge merchan who's overseeing this case said he's not going to get any prison time they're going to let it go forward tonight, lester. >> laura, thanks very much. >>> former president jimmy carter is remembered for his kindness, compassion and character as four of his successors were among those who gathered for his funeral at the national cathedral. here's kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: the passing of a president offers a rare moment

lester. >> richard, thank you.ve been speaking with the families of the american hostages for months now. a short time ago, i spoke with adi alexander, the father of edan. i asked him how he's feeling with the news of the deal. >> i'm very happy and grateful that finally, finally this deal is being sealed. it's unbelievable. >> there are so many american families, all created this incredible bond. we've talked to you over many months. what is your feeling for the entire group of americans especially? >> mixed feelings, really happy about everybody, but on the other hand, we have four american hostages that were murdered october 7th. and still being held there. hopefully the parents will get their loved ones for proper burial and we'll get our loved ones to live out our lives happily ever after. >> what do you know about the conditions edan has been in? >> other than the last video on the thanksgiving weekend, which showed us a sign of life, we have no additional informatioion. >> have you played over in your mind w

lester? >> okay. garrett haake, thank you. >>> in 60 seconds, can an insurance plan meant to be a last resort option for people in california handle the burden of thousands of wildfire claims? our investigation is next. ere's toothpaste white, and there's crest 3dwhitestrips white. whitens like a 400 dollar professional treatment. pilot: prepare for non-stop smiles. crest. and my progressive rep was super helpful. tom hayes is passive progressive. the way kevin says he always has to help you. tom doesn't have progressive, so he takes it out on those who do. if you switch you can save hundreds. that's great. you can buy more of that cologne we all love. huh. progressive called me back about the claim i filed. support when you need it? i wonder what that's like, huh? in my office. now, tom. -don't be passive progressive. -this is bad right? switch to get good coverage and savings for yourself. ♪♪ vicks vapostick provides soothing non-medicated vicks vapors. easy to apply for the whole family. vicks vapo

lester. >> i'll tell you, you can't help but feel they're going to get there.y're going to be okay. gadi, thank you. let's bring in bill karins now, firefighters catching a small break with the winds but how does it look in the days to come. >> lester, it's important we get these containment numbers up in the next two to three days. because the santa ana winds will return. this is the lowest the winds hahave been nce the fires erupted two, three days ago. as we go through tomorrow afternoon, they kick up into the 20 to 30 miles per hour range. that shouldn't hamper the fire firefighting efforts. we do expect the santa ana winds to return. strong high pressure comes down from the pacific northwest. this increases the pressure gradient in southern california. that is the santa ana winds, and we think we could get wind gusts in the 40 to 60 miles per hour range monday night into tuesday. now, this isn't 80 to 100 like we just saw. this is strong enough to cause significant problems, and also the big climate headline today, we found out that 2024 was the warmest ye

lester? >> all right, gabe, thank you. >>> late today multiple department of justice officials who prosecuted president trump were fired by the new administration. kelly o'donnell has late details. >> reporter: tonight from his doral golf resort in miami a house republican team meeting. >> in a single week i've taken over 350 executive actions. >> reporter: as president trump asserts his government makeover. >> i also signed an order to end the weaponization of our government against the american people. >> reporter: new tonight, a number of department of justice lawyers fired by the acting attorney general for playing a, quote, significant role in prosecuting president trump. and new reaction after the president removed more than a dozen inspectors general. the independent watchdogs at agencies. while presidents hire and fire i.g.s, president trump failed to provide required 30-day notification to congress. mike ware is one of those dismissed. >> we're looking at what amounts to a threat to

lester?> all right. tom llamas starting us off tonight. thank you. >>> now we want to go to las vegas, where police say a man blew up a tesla cybertruck in front of the trump hotel in las vegas on new year's day. morgan chesky reports on his military special ops background and some serious unanswered questions. >> reporter: tonight authorities idtifying the suspected driver of the bomb-laden tesla cybertruck that exploded outside the trump international hotel. saying evidence points to master sergeant matthew livelsberger, who was behind the wheel. now investigators piecing together the 37-year-old's i.d. and final few days. >> first and foremost is a military identification. we also found a passport. >> reporter: authorities say the body was burned beyond recognition but the coroner found a gunshot wound to the head prior to the explosion. >> there are two tattoos that has given us a lot of confidence that this is in fact the same person. >> reporter: inside the truck investigators found fue

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lester? >> all right, gadi, thank you. >>> until today it was hard to imagine destruction on this scale. today our liz kreutz saw some of the worst of it. >> reporter: a massive and deadly wildfire emergency is unfolding in southern california. from the pacific palisades to pasadena multiple infernos continuing mass destruction of homes and businesses. tens of thousands forced to evacuate. >> last night was one of the most devastating and terrifying nights that we've seen in any part of our city at any part of our history. >> reporter: on the coast the palisades fire exploding to more than 15,000 acres. 75-mile-per-hour winds overnight pushing the flames up the pacific coast highway where it overtook the iconic city of malibu and created this apocalyptic scene stretching for miles on the california coast. we're watching multiple beachfront properties here just go up in flames. first responders trying to get a hold of the fires. all the neighboring properties here destroyed as the winds are pi

lester? >> kelly o'donnell, thank you. >>> now to a rough day for the markets with nvidia losing nearly $600 billion in value, triggered by a major ai advancement in china that u.s. officials are already warning could be a threat to national security. brian cheung is here. brian, what do we know about this app? >> lester, it's an ai chatbot called deepseek. it's the number one free app on apple's app store. those in the ai space have been impressed by how well it stands up to its american competitors. but it's wall street shaken by how cheap its developers say they were able to train it. just $5.6 million. now, if true, that would be more efficient compared to how much it cost to train chatgpt and google's gemini ai, which were made here in the u.s. >> big question for a lot of users. will this have the same national security concerns we saw with tiktok? >> well, it could. deepseek's terms of use are governed by china and it raises serious questions over censorship and guided answers. now, de

>> reporter: yeah, lester, good evening. amazingly, still snowing. more than 80% of the departing flights today from dca canceled. the airport says the runways some schools not reopening . until thursday as this storm continueues to slodown many aspects of everyday life. >>> tonight, a bout of arctic blast blanketing d.c. with more than a half a foot of snow fall, leading to serious safety hazards on the roads, like this crash today on the beltway, involving four vehicles, including a dump truck, a reminder of the rarity and danger of the system. >> we haven't had snow like this really in memory. i mean, this is the most at one time that i have ever seen since living here. >> reporter: even as the snow also freezes activity into the city. >> no people, no trucks, no cars, and a lot of empty space. >> kind of weird. >> reporter: the sprawling storm disrupting travel, around 2000 flights have been canceled and more than 6000 delayed nationwide. this morning in chicago, a ground stop at o'hare airport, and kansas city international clocking 11 inches of

good evening lester. in fact, a woman just came up to us saying she heard the news and she ran here, but she said, where is everybody? why aren't there celebrations? it is quite subdued here. and frankly speaking, the family members of some of the hostages have chosen to stay home. as one person told me at another protest nearby, she said to me, you know, it is disbelief. it is literal disbelief until they see the hostages come back home. so there will be no celebrations. this is hostage square, where obviously you can see the pictures of the hostage, the slogan bring them home now are all over the city of tel aviv. behind me you will see as well some of the tents. the tents were set up for the family members of the hostages in the early days, and they've been there ever since. and over the past 15 months there have been structures like this tunnel behind me, a makeshift tunnel to show people what it's like to live day in and day out in the dark. behind me, over here. you'll see. you'll see a count 466 da

. >> reporter: lester, good evening to you.u see behind me here is a pile of misery, and it is not unique. there are several communities and neighborhoods and residential areas that look just like this. this was a shopping center and beyond that a school. and now you can't even figure out what it is. tonight, everyone in this area is praying that the winds don't pick up. a firefighter telling me that the smallest ember with those winds can turn into a blow torch. this is what the most destructive wildfire in los angeles history looks like. >> everything is gone. >> reporter: the toll of the devastation is staggering. thousands of structures already obliterated. more than authorities can even count. the burn area in the pacific palisades now bigger than manhattan. the fire killing five people. >> i think the death toll will rise. i hope i'm wrong, but i think it's going to rise. >> reporter: these apocalyptic conditions now in their thid day and the biggest infernos are still zero percent contained. this is one of the eeriest sc

lester. >> thank you. president trump arrived in los angeles where he will be touring areas devastated by wildfires after visiting a north carolina neighborhood destroyed by hurricane helene. he blasted fema's response and suggested closing down the agency. here is peter alexander. >> reporter: president trump in north carolina ravaged by hurricane helene four months ago. the president, along side the first lady again complaining that fema's response has been too slow. >> unfortunately our government failed you. it wasn't the trump government. it was the government run by biden. >> floating a dramatic move, eliminating fema entirely. >> i think frankly fema is not good. fema turned out to be a disaster. i think we are going to recommend fema go away. >> reporter: proposing the white house send relief directly to states and give more control to the governors. the president doesn't have the power to shut down fema and will need congress to give him the power to remake or get rid of any agency. fema makes the

. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news with lester holt." >> good evening and welcome. the new trump administration, making visible strides tonight, as it looks to demonstrate the seriousness of its illegal immigration crackdown. since yesterday, i.c.e. agents carrying out several hundred arrests of undocumented immigrants with criminal histories. some rounding a workplace raid in newark, new jersey, that has drawn anger from local officials. while on the u.s.- mexico border, additional troops are now on the ground to reinforce security. military air crews, now flying deportation missions. the widecast net now apparently includes a deportation of certain migrants who are temporarily allowed in the country under rules established by the biden administration. it's where we begin tonight with gabe gutierrez. >> tonight, a dramatic escalation of president trump's illegal crackdown. the first of 1500 troops touching down in el paso, texas, to support border security. and for the first time, migrants being deported, not on charted flights like before. two flights landed in gu

>> lester, good evening. tonight i want to show the viewers how the alleged terrorist got on to bourbon street. he came with his white pickup truck. that is the entrance to bourbon. he jumps the curb and gets over a police car and heads down bourbon street starting his killing spree. tonight we learned his truck wasn't his only weapon. he also had a firearm and explosive device. in the opening hours of the new year, terror on the streets of new orleans. cell phone video capturing the scene of bodies sprawled along the city's famed bourbon street. the wounded being treated while still laying in the road. >> we are dealing with ems right now. >> reporter: video courtesy of earth cam showing police racing towards the carnage where a driver plowed his pickup truck into the crowds in the historic french quarter. racing through the street, killing as many as 15 and injuring dozens of others. >> he was tell bent on creating the carnage and the damage he did. >> reporter: police say the suspect started his attack at

. >> this is "nbc nightly news," with lester holt. >> good evening. and welcome. i've covered wildfires in california since the earliest days of my career, when i don't remember anything quite like the firestorms raging across southern california tonight. multiple major infernos, destroying thousands of homes and businesses. killing at least five people and defying efforts to contain them. firefighters in pacific palisades, outmanned, and in some cases, out of water. hydrants running dry. firefighting aircraft grounded for a time by fresh winds. some gusting a hundred miles per hour. rows of homes and restaurants, along the pacific coast highway, were consumed by the flames. this is what it looked and sounded like. >> almost haunting, the pacific palisades fire, growing to nearly 16,000 acres. 40 miles away, the eaton fire turned deadly and has exploded to over 10,000 acres. tonight, thousands in the region are under evacuation orders, filling shelters, schools are closed, while power is out for 1.5 million southern californians. gadi schwartz is in the fire zone

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lester. >> morgan, thank you. >>> heads up about a deep freeze.h of the country about to look like this as temperatures plunge going into the weekend. they will feel it first from the northern rockies to the southern plains. then across the nation on sunday. more than 300 million americans will experience below average temperatures by monday. >>> turning to the breaking news out of texas. elon musk's spacex losing contact with its massive multibillion-dollar starship on its unmanned seventh test launch. tom costello joins us now with more. tom, what have you learned? >> it happened at 5:30 p.m., lester. starship was off the pad quickly. it looked great and a few minutes after lift-off in fact the booster rocket came back down to the pad just as spacex planned and demonstrated they can do. that incredible move. however, the same time starship, the spaceship, apparently disappeared. but spacex says that they lost telemetry. we have video from the turks and caicos islands of what may be starship breaking up over the islands. so now spacex says that t

lester? >> peter alexander at the white house, thank you. >>> and there's growing backlash tonight over the president's broad actions on immigration, including lawsuits by dozens of states and even a church sermon. here's more. >> reporter: at the national cathedral today, prayer and politics collided. >> the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. >> reporter: with president trump looking on, the bishop delivered an unusually political sermon criticizing his deportation plans. >> i ask you to have mercy, mr. president, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. >> reporter: the president later responding. >> i didn't think it was a good service. they could do much better. >> reporter: tonight the backlash is growing after sweeping executive actions on immigration. >> if i were to lose my parents to deportation, my whole world would fall apart. >> reporter: at least 22 states are already suing over trump's attempt to end birth right citizensh

>> no question, lester.rs are sort of functioning and how they actually get taken up on the ground, how they went about getting effectuated, if you will, and then sometimes it's a purely on the substance, as it relates to now defining the sexes as to biological sex at birth. that's going to immediately likely trigger an equal protection challenge because there is existing federal law on the books right now that the supreme court has said is valid, and you cannot discriminate against people based on their gender identity. then, there's going to be, you know, challenges as it relates to things like birthright citizenship. that's another one we expect him to take up as it relates to his efforts to control immigration. birthright citizenship, something we are guaranteed in the constitution, it dates back to slavery, and making sure that african americans were treated equally in this country, and so if he tries to do a prospective gutting of something like that, again, expect to see immediate challenges on substa

i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night.ngings, and i got the evacuation orders right on nbc bay area news tonight, we're watching a destructive and fast moving, powerful wildfire burning through pacific palisades. we're tracking where the danger is right now and what we can expect in the coming

nightly news," the inauguration of president donald trump, reporting from washington, d.c., here is lester holt. >>> good evening, welcome on this day, marking a turning point in america. tonight donald j. trump has become the 47th president of the united states, appearing just a short time ago at the presidential parade. seated at a desk in front of 20,000 supporters, mr. trump signed a sweeping set of executive orders, a rebuke to his predecessor who he helped usher on to nighthawk earlier. the culmination of a extraordinary comeback, defeating kamala harris and overcoming legal obstacles that dominated his years out of office. bringing together former presidents and tech titans with informal but important role in the next administration. mr. trump declaring that america's decline, as he put it, is over. painting a dark picture of the government and the country. bidens departing by plane, the end of an era. and donald trump's stunning return to the pinnacle of power. just hours into his new term, president trump delivering on some of the dramatic changes he promised. at a desk at his mas

. >> this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening and welcome. a federal court judge temporarily blocked one of the center pieces of president trump's rapid fire reshaping of american policy. today a reagan-appointed judge declared the order blatantly unconstitutional and putting a pause on the president's action. the first but likely not the last legal challenge to the trump administration's crackdown on immigration which the white house reports is underway with hundreds of arrests of undocumented immigrants. numbers similar to the biden administration. gabe gutierrez now with the latest from the white house. >> reporter: tonight the first legal roadblock for president trump's new immigration agenda. a federal judge blocking the president's attempt to end birth right citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants. the 14th amendment says that anyone born in the u.s. is a citizen. trump says it is a magnet for illegal immigration but the judge today calling the move a blatant violation. the legal showdown comes as the white house promised th

. >>> this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. >> good evening, and welcome. we begin tonight with the growing controversy over president trump's decision to pardon or commute the sentences of more than 1500 defendants, who took art in the deadly january 6th attack on the capitol. late tonight mr. trump defending the action, more than 200 of those serving prison time have already been released. some of the defendants convicted of assaulting police officers that day. today, the newly freed january 6th defendants were celebrated by some as heroes while victims of that days violence expressed a sense of the trail and even some republican lawmakers expressed surprise. peter, moments ago you had a chance to press the president about those pardons? >> president trump is defending those pardons, saying that he is still a fierce supporter of police officers but tonight the criticism about these pardons is growing. >> tonight the president is facing new backlash for pardoning or commuting the sentences of everyone convicted for their actions on january 6th, and those s

. >> reporter: lester, this is a chaotic situation unfolding now.hearing reports of people trapped. hundreds of people have been trying to get out creating gridlock traffic. all of the cars around me are abandoned with people that got out to get out on foot. there are hundreds of firefighters who are working te fire right now. all of it is driven by an intense wind event that is just getting started. the wind-driven wildfire blazes through one of southern california's most iconic neighborhoods. people are waiting and it is a parking lot. >> i rushed over to pack my belongings and i got the evacuation orders. >> reporter: residents told to get out, some people getting trapped. >> homeowners are saying they are unable to access any exit routes. there is fire on both sides of the road. >> reporter: many abandoning cars in the gridlocked traffic. fire crews using a bulldozer pushing cars out of the way to clear a path. we are in bumper to bumper traffic. flames on both sides of the road with very little visibility. >> up and around those two homes, they

lester holt getting ready for nightly news. among the top stories. major change in plans for the presidential inauguration and the changing security precautions as well. lester joins us in about 3.5 minutes. pete g. writes, "my tween wants a new phone. how do i not break the bank?" we got you, pete. xfinity mobile was designed to save you money and gives you access to wifi speeds up to a gig. so you get high speeds for low prices. better than getting low speeds for high prices. right, bruce? -jealous? yeah, look at that. -honestly. someone get a helmet on this guy. xfinity internet customers, get a free unlimited line for a year when you buy one unlimited line. zoo is recovering well. remember he was in a onesie. you remember azula's was found inside that rolls-royce during a traffic stop in central california. she was being kept illegally and needed medical care. so the officers took her to the oakland zoo. her care team says she is making steady progress. they've upgraded her quarters with exciting climbing structures and enrichment. good for her.

>> lester, we expect the president will visit los angeles tomorrow. we expect he will survey and view some of the damage from these wildfires, some of the communities ravaged by these fires like here in malibu, you can see this is an example of the destruction, these coastal homes, all destroyed, usually you can't even see the pacific ocean on the pacific coast highway. meanwhile, state officials in california said they have secured $2.5 billion in state funding, which will be specifically targeted they say, to clean up and recovery here in los angeles. >>> let's get to the shooting and standoff in san antonio, a gunman, wounding several police officers at an apartment complex. >> tonight, seven san antonio police officers are recovering after being injured during an hours long shootout, responding to a call at this apartment complex. >> the first officer arrived to the callly member of the suspect stating , there was the callsuicide from in a family member. he arrived on the scene and he wound up being shot. >> police say the call was from the family

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this is "nbc night >> this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> >> good evening and welcome. the political will behind president-elect trump's second cabinet is gettings it first test with pete hegseth. you would be left thinking he is either unfit to lead the pentagon or an excellent choice as a change agent for a military bureaucracy. democrats focused on past hegseth comments about women in combat and excessive drinking. hegseth slamming allegations as anonymous false claims and part of a smear campaign. lawmakers were sharply divided along party lines just six days before trump's inauguration. that is where we begin tonight. >> reporter: president-elect trump's embattled pick to lead the pentagon, pete hegseth, making an impassioned pitch for the job. >> it is time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm. my only special interest is the war fighter. >> reporter: arguing he is the target of false attacks. >> there is a coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media against us. >> reporter: hegseth facing a grilling from senate democrats, over a 2017 sexual as

i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other.what mistakes can they avoid? we're joined by the mayor of paradise. his town was destroyed by wildfire

i think this was a speech for the history books, lester. this is a president delivering his final farewell address to the american people. yes, defending his legacy. but also with this very firm warning. it harkens back to what we heard from obama when he talked about the fragility of the american democracy before then president-elect trump was set to it take office for the first time. a similar theme that we are hearing from president biden here tonight. again, expanding on it. warning of a potential oligarchy, framing this around his hope that the state of our democracy will remain strong in the future. >> thanks. briefly to peter alexander. describe the room, the oval office and this speech. >> reporter: to pull back the curtain, we are told by those in the room, there were a half dozen senior officials who were there with him, including his chief of staff, the first lady who he glanced over at at the end of his remarks, joined by the vice president and second gentleman there in the oval office, describing them he did like family just be

we're just grieving right now. >> our thanks to lester holt for that. >>> authorities have identifiedpected driver of the cybertruck that exploded outside a trump hotel in las vegas. they found theilitary id of matthew livelsberger inside the burned vehicle. he served as a green beret and was based in germany but was approved on leave. authorities are waiting for dna confirmation but tattoos also point to the 37-year-old being the suspect. >> his body is burned beyond recognition, and i do still not have confirmation 100% that that is the individual that was inside of our vehicle. we also discovered through the coroner's office, that the individual had sustained a gunshot wound to the heaprior to the detonation of the vehicle. >> livelsberger rented the cybertruck in denver on december 28. officials tracked his route from colorado to las vegas using data from charging station. the fbi searched at least one home in colorado springs. the motive in this case is still unknown. >>> let's turn now to the happenings today on capitol hill where house speaker mike johnson is fighting to hold o