tonight, what really happened? the new questions about the ambush in africa that killed four u.s. soldiers as one of them is laid to rest. show down in spain. the government now threatening to take over a region fighting for independence. $32 million deal. the huge reported settlement involve bill o'reilly and a woman who accused him of sexual harassment. retirement at risk? the idea by some in congress to draskicically cut the tax breaks for your 401(k) contribution. the inspiring message of an oscar-nominated film that resonated so strongly here, now moving women around the worl. and emoji fight. the lengths to which some will go to get their little symbols on your screens.

good evening. anytime a member of the american armed forces dies during a mission, the nation mourns and wonders how it happened. tonight there are new questions about the final hours of four american soldiers killed in niger earlier this month. a report in "the new york times" today says the pentagon's timeline where the soldiers were ambushed after a planned visit to a village elder might not be the entire story. they may have been pursuing insurgents in an unauthorized mission before the attack. nbc's pentagon correspondent hans nichols brings us the latest. >> reporter: army sergeant la david johnson was laid to rest this morning near his home in florida. johnson, a 25-year-old father, was killed in an ambush in niger earlier this month along with three of his cam rads. today new and conflicting accounts of what happened during the deadly mission. "the new york times" reports the nigerian military sources say the army convoy spotted and chased insurgents until they crossed into

neighboring mali. but the times adds citing u.s. military sources the soldiers didn't mention giving chase and claim they were ambushed and surrounded by insurgents outside a village, possibly tipped off by tribal leaders they were meeting. the pentagon is trying to determine whether they diverted in their routine patrol to embark on an unapproved mission. army said la david johnson was found nearly one mile from the ambush site, a signal from his beacon was tracked for several hours, fueling hope that johnson was still alive. a senior congressional aide tells nbc news the ambush stemmed in part from a massive intelligence failure. congress now demanding more information on counterterrorism missions across africa. >> you've got to have a balance here. you've got to keep us informed so we can make good decisions about do we want a thousand soldiers in niger. and if we don't want them, the way to deal with it is to cut off funding. >> there are roughly 800 u.s. mull tear personnel in niger, most building a new drone base which will

serve as the drone hub across the continent. the commander of u.s. forces in africa told congress earlier this year he had only a kwourter of the reconnaissance flights he needed and that impacts the readiness of his africa mission. >> so the readiness of the airplanes has gotten better, but when pu go from 12 to six the capacity is cut in half and the impact is we've got to do a better job coordinating and sharing assets because the africanen continent is extremely large. >> the senate armed services committee is set to meet next week seeking answers to major questions about the attack such as have are the soldiers acted beyond their planned mission to pursue insurgents without first gaining approval and, if they were dpifbl perms, who graptd it. >> thank you very much. president trump today said he does not plan to block the release of thousands much government documents related to the assassination of president john f. kennedy. the documents have never been seen by the public, and the president said that subject to the receipt of further information, he will allow the too i guess to be oemd. in 19 the 2

congressman dated that all the documents be released within 25 years. the deadline is this coming thursday. another former president, george w. bush, was the subject of harsh words last night by steve bannon, the former white house chief strategist, who has declared war on the republican establish not. bannon's attack came in california at the state republican party's fall convention. nbc's kelly o'donnell is at the high school. now, kelly, of all places to criticize a former president why would steve bannon attack president bush in front of are ps who likely voted for him twice? >>. >> caller: well, it really stands out. steve bannon calls himself president trump's wing man outside chtd white house and he is intentionally lighting new political wildfires. not only challenging sitting republican senators and party elites as out of touch, but calling george w. bush's presidency more destructive than any other. now, to understand why and why now, remember president bush spoke out this week, not criticizing president trump by name, but mr.

bush denounced the brand of nationalism that trump and bannon support. and he cautioned against bigotry and the, quote, casual cruelty seen in politics today. steve bannon went off. >> president bush to me embarrassed himself. speesh writer wrote a high fa lut inspeech. it's clear he didn't understand anything he was talking about, just like it was when he was president of the united states. >> bannon left the white house in august, but not the fight. this is about urging kefbt voters to reject the establishment heading into the midterm races of 2018 where bannon hopes nationalists style conservatives come into power. while president trump called bannon a friend, he disagreed with that strategy to oust party incumbents. the very republicans the president needs to pass any agenda like his promised tax cuts. >> kelly o'donnell at the white house. thank you. much more on this tomorrow on "meet the press." senators chuck schumer and lindsey graham will be among chuck todd's getsds. word tonight of another huge

settlement involving sexual harassment allegations against bill o'reilly. a new york times report not verified by nbc news goes into detail about a approximate $2 million settlement with a long-fox analyst. nbc's morgan raf fert has the details. >> caution, you are about to ger the no spin zone. >> tonight disgraced anger or man bill o'reilly is back in the news. according to a new york times report, o'reilly paid a $32 million settlement to liz wheel, a former fox news analyst often seen on his top rated prime time show. >> she worked with me for seven years on. >> the report alleges o'reilly had a none consensual sexual relationship with wheel, repeatedly harassed her and sent her gay pornography. in a statement released today fox admits it knew there was a settlement in january, but was informed by mr. o'reilly that he had settled the matter personally, adding the terms were confidential and not disclosed to the company. one month later fox

extended o'reilly's four year contract for $25 million a year. >> at the time fox resigned mr. o'reilly, it knew about the settlement and was also trying to make the argument to the public, its employees and its board that it had cleaned up workplace issues that had arisen under roger ailes. >> this was the sixth pay out made by o'reilly or fox to settle allegations against him. the company says the anchor's latest contract included a claws saying it could fire him if other allegations kiem up, which in the end fox says it acted on when he was ougsed in april. o'reilly continues to maintain his innocence. his attorney is calling today's report a smear campaign. last month o'reilly spoke to mat laur. >> you said at the time you did absolutely nothing wrong. >> correct. >> do you stand by that. >> i do. i never mistreated anyone on my watch in 42 years. >> all right. so in his statement o'reilly's lawyer

claims "the new york times" story ignored evidence taken under oath. he also says the reporting was based on unsubstantiated allegations, anonymous sources and incomplete or even stolen documents. >> thank you very much. overseas a deadly attack on the police today in egypt. it happened southwest of cairo as security forces moved against a militant hide out. officials say the police may have fallen into a carefully planned ambush. they say at least 54 policemen were killed in the fire fight. the government of spain announcing a forceful crack down in catalonia today, trying to crush the independence movement in that region. large crowds gathered tonight in barcelona, the capital, to protest the plans announced by prime minister of that country. this comes three weeks after a defiant referendum on independence. >> reporter: catalonia's auto my on the brink of being suspended for the first time in spain's history. hundreds of thousands protesting the never

before used nuclear option, article 155 of the spanish constitution, invoked today by the prime minister. his goal, to restore law and order to a region that has defied the spanish state. with senate approval the central government could remove catalonia's president and its government, take control of the police and local media and order new elections. but demonstrators see it as a cou, amtd at crushing their push for independence. >> to sack a government that's been denim accurately elected is going to quite an extreme. >> the leader furious. >> denim accurately deciding the future of a nation is not a crime. >> earlier this month catalonia's voters turned out to cast their battle in the unsanctioned independence referendum. the central government responded with force, breaking into polling stations to seize battle while catalonia is split over the question of

independence. tonight there's concern madrid's strategy could backfire and make an already tense situation even worse. australia has called it unprecedented. an open letter from north korea to the paermt of australia and other countries urging them to turn away from president trump and u.n. sanctions imposed on its nuclear program. australia has dismissed the letter as a rant. nbc's keir simmons is inside north korea tonight and has more on all of this. >> reporter: good evening. tonight what amounts to a tense stand off between north korea where i am now and washington. the north korean foreign minister vowing that this country will continue its nuclear program. while joint exercises between the u.s. and south korea off the coast here just wrapped up, exercises that the north koreans consider an extreme provocation. we came here to try to assess the views of ordinary north koreans. and while dissent is frowned upon here, what we found are many

people who say they want peace but are ready for war, even a nuclear war with america. and this weekend the nuclear rhetoric continues. the north koreans writing to the australians complaining of the heinous and reckless approach of donald trump and saying that if there is an attempt to topple the north korean leadership, it will lead to a nuclear disaster. the australian prime minister saying it's the north koreans who are threatening the stability of the world. more than four weeks after hurricane maria hit puerto rico, most people are still without power. water has been restored to almost three quarters of the island. some schools will be reopening next week. in the meantime, hundreds of children have moved to florida. putting new pressures on schools there. nbc reports from orlando. >> reporter: his hopes for a normal eighth grade washed away with hurricane maria.

>> for the disaster in puerto rico, for the hurricane maria, they need to come here with me. >> his mother came to florida three years ago to find a job during puerto rico's crippling debt crisis. now ryan and the rest of the family have joined her. >> what do you need to feel better, to feel more at home here? >> he want a house. you want to go to school, learn english. >> reporter: since the hurricane more than 1,000 new students have enrolled in orlando area schools which have also hired more than 20 teachers from puerto rico. >> we try and be welcoming. actually, we have one of our teachers actually secure a grant to provide uniforms. >> reporter: sonna guzman took in six relatives from puerto rico. for her niece the move means restarting

second grade in a new school. >> she has to stay at school. i don't want her to lose a semester. >> but ryan isn't ready to take that step. >> and now he worried for the language, for the situation, for bullying, for everything. it's hard. >> she says she hopes he'll be able to enroll next week. >> do you feel like this is another storm, another struggle you're having to go through? for these children and their families, a new uncertainty one month after the hurricane. nbc news orlando, florida. still ahead tonight, paying for tax cuts by limiting 401(k) contributions. will the proposal put your retirement at risk? also, the fight to put the lobster in what some consider its rightful place on our screens. for the holidays, we get a gift for mom and dad. and every year, we split it equally. except for one of us. i write them a poem instead.

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because my body can still make its own insulin. and once-weekly trulicity activates my body to release it. trulicity is not insulin. it comes in a once-weekly, truly easy-to-use pen. it works 24/7, and you don't have to see or handle a needle. trulicity is a once-weekly injectable medicine to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. it should not be the first medicine to treat diabetes or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not take trulicity if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, if you have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you're allergic to trulicity. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or symptoms like itching, rash, or trouble breathing. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. taking trulicity with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases your risk for low blood sugar.

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being devised could significantly reduce the tax benefit people enjoy for 401(k) contributions. >> without this incentive, probably it would be difficult to get people to save the amount of money that they need to save. >> according to a report "the wall street journal," the proposal being considered would reduce the amount a worker could contribute tax free to just $2,400 a year. today workers can put up to $18,000 aside each year with no tax. the generous tax treatment has allowed him to stash more money up front with the hopes of taking it out later in retirement when he is in a lower tax bracket. >> if these changes do go into effect, i do think it will impact the amount of money that i'm able to save for retirement each year. >> so why would congress change the tax treatment for the popular retirement plan? the change could increase tax revenue by more than $115 billion a year, which would offset income and corporate tax cuts the trump

administration and republican congress say they want to pass by year's end. >> a lot of people are really trying to play catch up, and it's just going to kick them with a bigger tax bill, for the average person that's saving $18,000 that's going to mean something like eight, nine or $10,000 more in taxes they owe. >> does this thing have a chance at actually becoming law? >> well, this is what it shows you. it shows you tax reform is massively difficult. we know the trump administration and republicans want to have a massive tax cut. you've got to pay for it somewhere and if you cut somebody is going to sweel on the other side no whaert you do. in this case it's going to be people like you and me who love putting money into our 401(k)s. that tax advantage is a huge positive, but the question is is there negotiating room. >> and how does that process go? >> lechbl, they're starting off pi saying you're going to go to 18,000 to only 2,400. but that can only be the first step to this dance. democrats could say

let's meet in the middle. of course at first blush people don't like this but at the tend of the day if you want to get tax reform done there has sob some give-and-take here. that's a given. >> thanks so much. appreciate it. still ahead tonight, they worked for nasa and were celebrated in an oscar nominated film. now their story is inspiring young women around the worl. t look at this... a silicon valley server farm. the vault to man's greatest wonders... selfies, cat videos and winking emojis. speaking of tech wonders, with the geico app you can get roadside assistance,

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depiction of three hammeringel unheralded women who worked for nasa at a critical time. well, it turns out that the film's influence has gone well beyond our shores. >> there's no mathematical formula for that. >> the oscar nominated film hidden figures going global with 80 u.s. embassies around the world flooded by requests for screenings. dozens of countries hoping to inspire their girls to become scientists and engineers. >> there was one female rso. >> sophia from arj tina, one of 50 women brought to the u.s. by the state department in a program to encourage women with hidden talents in science and math. >> you can't be what you can't see. and we need strong women, role models to be able to identify with them. >> spending three weeks with american trail blazers like nasa scientist tan. >> what made you think that a young girl could do this? >> really inspired me

and i thought wow, i want to work in space. >> according to the world economic forum women earn only one-third of undergraduate s.t.e.m. degrees despite accounting for 60% of college graduate. >> so you see a programmer, you will see only men so the stereotypes are all around the world. >> florence tan is no stranger to being the only woman in the room. born in malaysia, she came to the u.s. for college. starting at nasa in the 1980s, working on landmark missions like the famous cassini probe to saturn. >> what is important about mentoring women from other countries? >> by 2024 there will be almost a million engineering and computer science jobs. we don't have enough people to do this work. women. >> so we need women for these -- >> we need women. this is just for the national good. >> an untapped source of badly needed talent brought out of the shadows and into the labs. andrea mitchell, nbc news washington. when we come back,

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unitedhealthcare can guide you through the confusion, with helpful people, tools and plans. including the only plans with the aarp name. well that wasn't so bad at all. that's how we like it. aarp medicare plans, from unitedhealthcare. finally tonight, next week is a big one for the union code consortium. it's the international group that will meet to approve new emojis that show up on your phone and computer. today there are about 1,100 of them. 56 were added this year and about 75 are under are consideration for next year's additions. and as harry smith reports, there is one with a particularly determined backer. >> reporter: nick page

plies the waters near booth bay harbor, maine, in search of the crustacean for which his state is famous, lobster. >> it's a lot of work and a lot of expense to catch the little creatures. here we go. >> he fishes year-round. >> trap number one. >> sometimes works more than 20 hours a day. >> here is a legal one. >> been fishing for lobster since he was a kid. >> steamed is still my favorite way and in hot butter. >> in case you didn't know, lobsters are quieted the thing in maine, hey half billion dollars yearly haul. >> if it helps sell some lobsters, i'm for it. >> including maine senator angus king, who with thousands of others in his state. >> all right. look at this. >> is pushing to get the lobster added to the catalog of emoji symbols. >> there's a crab emoji. give me a break. the lobster is superior in every way to the crab. >> and not just a crab, there's a shrimp

emoji, an objecting toe pus emoji. there's even a squid. >> with all the gridlock in washington, right, getting a lobster emoji might be more doable than some of the work you do every day in your day job. >> you mean you're suggesting that the union code consortium might be easier to work with than the u.s. senate? maybe you're right. >> it seems only fair. why should maine tolerate this type of crustacean discrimination? the union code consortium may well want to heed senator king, for the people of maine will not abide crustacean without representation. harry smith, nbc news, booth bay harbor. and the union code consortium is expected to announce the newest emoji sometime between next week and january of 2018. and that's "nbc nightly news" for this saturday. tomorrow on nightly news with kate snow, do body cameras for police cut down on the use of force?

the results of a new study. thank you for the privilege of your time. good night. privilege of your time. good night.

welcome to notre dame stadium. one of those special college football evening. they have gathered from around around america to take part in the annual renewal of one of the sport's greatest rivalries. notre dame 2017 has walked the walk, the promise of a program re-energized now being recognized. a pair of game-changers in the backfield have the irish poised for a second half run. the trojans bring one of the nation's best young guns with a big future. sam darnold's heroics have already been added to usc history. tonight, can he add a coveted road win at notre dame? for fans, this meeting marks the annual chance to touch college football history. programs defined by championships, inspired by the