at&t paying out millions in refunds after it was accused of misleading customers about unlimited plans. are you entitled to money back millions bracing for the coldest temperatures and first snow of the season al roker tracking that and the new trend among american business what would you say to a four-day workweek? >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt >> good evening. we begin with that horrific massacre of american women and children ambushed on a highway in northern mexico as they were on their way to go shopping and visit family nine people in all were killed, apparently at the hands of drug traffickers. the victims were part of an extended family, descendants of a mormon offshoot group that settled in the area decades ago tonight five wounded children are back in the u.s., being treated in arizona our miguel almaguer is there. >> rhonita and four of my grandchildren are burnt, shot up >> reporter: it was a bloodbath south of the border

at least nine americans, including six children slaughtered in the mexican state of sonora. >> right on the road out of la mora >> reporter: the family, traveling in three vehicles was ambushed by gunmen believed to be local cartel, but it's unclear if the attack was targeted or a case of mistaken identity five were injured, several airlifted to arizona. witnesses describe a terrifying scene, a child shot in the back, babies trapped in a burning car among the dead, 30-year-old rhonita miller and her four children, including 8-month-old twins. 13-year-old devon langford survived the attack and then walked 14 miles to get help. >> it was awful seeing skulls just sitting there on the floor of the car burnt and broken. >> reporter: the victims are all american citizens living in northern mexico, descendants of mormon settlers that moved to the area decades ago. >> this is a whole new level of cartel violence.

>> reporter: the brutal attack comes in a year marked by deadly violence in the region just weeks ago, cartel gunmen storm the city of culiacan, killing eight, injuring 20 more a siege forcing the government to release the son of infamous drug lord el chapo guzman, who had been captured president trump tweeting today "this is the time for mexico, with the help of the united states, to wage war on the drug cartels." president trump later spoke with the mexican president. both condemned the attack the u.s. offering assistance to ensure the perpetrators face justice. tonight, mexican authorities continue to work the chaotic scene, looking for the gunmen who slaughtered three american mothers and their six children tonight officials at this tucson hospital where the survivors were airlifted are being incredibly guarded. they will not release any information r coitions lester >> all right miguel, thank you. also breaking this evening, a bombshell development in the house impeachment inquiry. a key witness changing

his story about military aid to ukraine. our kristen welker is at the white house tonight. >> reporter: tonight, in a major reversal, gordon sondland, the u.s. ambassador to the eu now says there was a quid pro quo with ukraine over military aid. sondland first testified he was not aware of one, but he updated his testimony this week with a three-page written statement saying his memory had been refreshed after other witnesses contradicted him. nearly six weeks after that july phone call between president trump and ukraine's leader, sondland says he remembers telling a top ukrainian official that ukraine would not get military aid until it committed to investigating the 2016 campaign and the bidens sondland does not directly tie president trump to the effort. he describes a phone call where he asks the president whether the white house was withholding military aid to get investigations sondland says mr. trump told him i want no quid pro quo. i want the president

of ukraine to do the right thing. sondland says i wouldn't say he hung up on me, but it was almost like he hung up on me. but sondland describes the president's personal attorney rudy giuliani as pushing for the probes, telling lawmakers mr. giuliani's demands kept getting more insidious as the timeline went on, adding state department officials were fully aware of the issues with mr. giuliani, but there was very little they could do about it if the president decided he wanted his lawyer involved swift reaction from democrats. >> the president of the united states abused his power everything you're seeing in this transcript fills in details. >> reporter: but in other transcripts released today, former special envoy to ukraine kurt volker said he saw no evidence the president wanted to withhold a white house meeting unless ukraine launched investigations the answer to the question is no, volker said, there was no linkage, though volker called giuliani's actions a problem that impeded u.s. officials' ability to build the relationship the way we should be doing with ukraine

but the white house says the transcripts show there is even less evidence for this illegitimate impeachment sham than previously thought highlighting sondland's admission, he does not know when, why or by whom the aid was suspended. president trump blasted democrats overnight. >> while we are creating jobs and killing terrorists, the radical democrats are going totally insane >> and after top republicans called for the whistle-blower's identity to be revealed, the whistle-blower's lawyer is now urging lawmakers to protect the person's identity and, quote, reflect on the important role whistle-blowers play lester >> kristen welker at the white house. thank you, kristen now to the trial of roger stone, which began today in washington the president's former campaign adviser and long-time friend is charged with lying to congress, obstructing justice, and tried to tamper with a witness, all tied to the investigation of russia's interference in the 2016 election stone left the trial early today,

complaining of food poisoning. it's only the start of november, but several states are about to get a big blast of winter. al roker is tracking it al, what are we looking at >> lester, arctic air and strong winds are going to make for brutal windchills from thursday into friday single digits to the low teens. and then as we move into the week, from fargo, st. louis, cincinnati, buffalo to new york, it is going to be bitterly cold. we're looking at a storm system moving in thursday with snow in the interior northeast by late morning. heavy rain making its way along the i-95 corridor, and then thursday and friday, western great lakes heavy snow interior heavy snows in the northeast and new england, and that's not the worst of it. we've got even colder air coming next week lester >> i'll look for the gloves al. thanks at&t will pay a major settlement after the federal trade commission found it misled customers, promising unlimited data in some plans, but instead limiting service. jo ling kent on the money you might be due back tonight >> reporter: tonight,

at&t paying a $60 million fine the ftc saying the company misled 3.5 million customers. the agency saying at&t promised unlimited data plans, but if customers used too much, the wireless giant would throttle their phones, slowing down their connections by as much as 90%, making it difficult or impossible to sur the web, use the gps, or stream videos the ftc saying today at&t promised unlimited data without qualification and failed to deliver on that promise at&t responding, saying even though it's been years since we applied this network management tool in a way described by the ftc, we believe this is in the best interests of consumers. customers will get an automatic credit to their monthly bill and former customers will receive checks there is no need to submit a claim. >> we're talking a couple of dollars each it's really not going to compensate the consumer for whatever hassle it suffered >> reporter: the

advice for customers, read the fine print. and if your connection slows down, file a complaint. jo ling kent, nbc news let's turn now to a shocking incident in south florida. a sheriff's deputy charged with a felony today for slamming a student to the ground. the stunning surveillance video now released gabe gutierrez has more tonight >> reporter: it seems to come out of nowhere. a school resource deputy slamming a 15-year-old girl to the ground >> it's embarrassing, okay >> reporter: today the local sheriff announced 38-year-old deputy willard miller was charged with child abuse. after a bond hearing, his attorney had no comment. he'd been hired three years ago and was assigned to the cross creek school in mpo ach, florida. >> i think it's awful. i think it's not right. they have to know how to control themselves. >> reporter: authorities blurred the faces on the surveillance video, which has no audio, so it's not clear exactly what happened before the incident in late september, but you can see the girl appear to kick the deputy while

he is on the phone the sheriff says that doesn't matter >> i would hope that every cop in america would disagree with that type of response. >> reporter: this comes after another broward county deputy was fired last week for punching a hospitalized handcuffed man and earlier this year, another deputy banged a teenager's head on the ground during a violent arrest near a high school. >> i'm tired of it >> reporter: tonight the sheriff acting quickly after this newest incident. >> we can't police ourselves, then who is going to police us >> reporter: suspending deputy willard without pay as he faces a felony charge gabe gutierrez, nbc news there is outrage tonight at a popular restaurant chain a group says employees at a buffalo wild wings just outside chicago in naperville asked them to move on behalf of another customer because of their race here is nbc's ron mott >> this is very tough. >> reporter: justin vahl got an unexpected question from a host at a suburban chicago buffalo wild wings where he had gone with a big group, including 12 children.

>> he asked me what race i was. immediately i wa appalled i was astonished i responded what does that matter? so the host said well, we have a regular customer here who doesn't want to sit around black people. >> reporter: already seated, the group was asked to move. they left instead, but not before taking this picture of the diner they believe made the shocking request his wife then took to facebook, writing the guy was staring at us the entire time, giving us looks. in 2019, this type of behavior should not be accepted all of this playing out in front of the kids >> a couple of the kids, coach, what's going on coach, we getting kicked out i said no, we're not getting kicked out we're just not spending our money here. >> reporter: buffalo wild wings says it terminated the employees involved, adding we have banned the customer who exhibited the inappropriate behavior from all buffalo wild wings sports bars for life. >> it was completely shocking not only the customer

who was there, but the wait staff actually agreeing to do that? >> sometimes you have to speak up for changes. >> reporter: outrage after racist treatment during a trip out to eat. ron mott, nbc news, chicago. all right. now to our nbc news exclusive. inside syria with the u.s. troops on a new mission, protecting the country's oil fields nbc's courtney kube with a rare access inside the u.s. base. >> reporter: we're inside syria with u.s. troops who have been moving into a remote base, including a national guard unit from south carolina. the u.s. is still working with kurdish allies known as the syrian democratic forces, or the sdf u.s. military leaders say the mission here continues to be to defeat isis, but the footprint has changed. many u.s. special operators who are here targeting isis have left, replacing them ar infantry troops, including national guard soldiers with these bradleys we go up for an aerial view with major general eric hill, who commands the special

operations task force across syria and iraq. u.s. troops now working to keep oil fields out of the hands of isis. >> we will continue to secure that whole area with the capability we have >> reporter: general hill's troops are also dealing with a strained relationship with the kurds >> we're working with the sdf, and we have continued to be partnered with them. >> reporter: the commanding general for iraq and syria tells us the mission has not changed. >> really, the enduring defeat of isis mission that we have, the oil fields are contained inside of that. >> reporter: most u.s. troops have already withdrawn from northern syria what's unclear now is how many others may remain as part of this current mission. lester >> all right courtney, thank you. we're less than a year away from the 2020 election, and there is another democratic debate this month. so we asked what's most important to democratic voters as they weigh their decision our harry smith spoke with a group of them and is taking their questions straight to the candidates in our new series "what matters.

tonight's south bend, indiana mayor pete buttigieg. >> reporter: we're at the bethlehem brew works in the key swing state of pennsylvania with a group of 11 democratic voters talking about what matters to them. how important is defeating trump to everybody at the table? >> extremely important. >> number one, yes >> reporter: defeating the president and issues of money, or lack thereof. >> the top 1% is garnering more and more of the total wealth in the world. >> it's worse than that it's the top .1% >> what i'm saying to you -- >> 99% >> i agree it's the top .1%, true it's the top .1% that is benefitting >> reporter: omar reyes' question, one that many here were asking >> how would you fix income inequality in the united states? >> reporter: we took to it the dining room table of south bend, indiana mayor pete buttigieg. does that sound like what you've been hearing on the campaign trail >> yeah, absolutely. i think what people

are seeing is a president who says the economy is doing great. just look at the stock market and a lot of folks around the country and around here in south bend saying, well, what about me? >> reporter: what would be the number one thing you would try to do to address some of those issues >> certainly a higher minimum wage increasing access to unionization so people can bargain for higher wages, not just the minimum wage making sure that people can get the kind of support that they need in terms of health, sick leave. >> reporter: the midwestern mayor supports a wealth tax. he wants guaranteed paid family leave. and for the national minimum wage to grow to $15 an hour you can almost hear a collective groan, though, from business people in america hearing even that short list who's going to pay for that that's us, and that's going to be a drag on the economy. >> well, here's the thing. the economy has grown faster than it is right now under periods where we had fairer tax policy and invested more. i'm pretty sure that when we have fairer taxes, wealthy people will still be wealthy,

but we won't have levels of inequality that literally threaten the future of the republic >> reporter: to pete buttigieg, the stakes for this 2020 race are that high. harry smith, nbc news, south bend, indiana. >> we've got a lot more to tell you about tonight. just ahead, how does a four-day workweek sound to you we'll look at why some companies are embracing that idea. also, a shooting and a desperate call to 911 the shocking reason why investigators say police never came. stay with us

let me turn this out to talk around the dinner table how would you like to work just four days a week the idea is catching on with workers, and it turns out some companies really like it too here is tom costello >> reporter: erin mccoy crams a lot into her 40-hour a week job, but she does it in four days, not five every weekend is three days long. time for friends, hiking and family. >> when i come back, i just feel so much more refreshed and ready

for the workweek than i have at other jobs where it was five days a week >> reporter: graphic designer killer visual strategies switched to four-day workweeks five years ago after noticing productivity plunged on friday. since the change, a turnaround productivity is up 20%. employees choose whether to take mondays or fridays off. >> our goal is really focusing on bringing down that burnout and that stress, but we really weren't expecting to see such a boost in productivity >> reporter: nationwide, 17% of employers offer the chance to compress the workweek, squeezing the same number of hours into fewer days. when microsoft tried a four-day workweek in japan, productivity jumped 40% the big benefits say the hiring pros, the four-day weeks cut the stress from the 24/7 environment so many people work in, expected to be just a email, phone call or text message away. and, says killer strategies, as companie struggle to find qualified employees

amid low unemployment, its employees are staying much longer, finding a new work/life balance. tom costello, nbc news, washington up next for us tonight, a 911 call for help, and why the dispatchers were fired. up next, the 911 personnel under fire after an emergency call was mishandled while investigators say the supervisor was apparently streaming netflix.

up next, the 911 personnel under fire after an emergency call was mishandled while investigators say the supervisor was apparently streaming netflix. here is morgan chesky. >> reporter: tonight two 911 dispatchers are out of a job from what took place at this florida gas station when a gunman opened fire. his bullet barely missed a woman sitting in her car she called 911 three times, but the police never came, in part because the supervisor was distracted, watching netflix and hulu on the job, according to investigators. >> she's concerned she is going to die. she doesn't know what is going on at this moment, and no one responded. >> reporter: police say the first mistake came when two 911

operators mistakenly logged the call as a suspicious incident instead of a shooting, and the supervisor didn't catch the error. the lead investigator calling it a catastrophic failure after an internal investigation revealed at the most critical time when the incident occurred, a movie was playing at her workstation, streaming flicks instead o responding to calls has gotten the supervisor suspended. >> we're not perfect, and obviously we made mistakes, and this day we made one. >> reporter: and tonight coral springs says this mistake has now prompted a major change in their policy, saying streaming services of any kind while on the clock is now forbidden. lester >> morgan, thank you up next for us tonight, a life-saving twist and a heartwarming proposal.

finally, we got to tell you about the veteran cop who changed two lives this weekend.

here is kevin tibbles. >> reporter: their beat is the street chicago cops erin gubala and mike nowacki. nowacki, a s.w.a.t. team medic, was pounding the pavement in full gear in a 15-k charity run. >> it looks kind of heavy. >> how about 50 pounds >> reporter: he also had an engagement ring burning a hole in his pocket, because girlfriend officer gubala was on duty at the finish line. but something wasn't right. >> on the radio, i hear him call out 4650 adam, i'm administering cpr. >> reporter: the young woman had collapsed. her heart had stopped. so duty calls? >> yes >> yes >> as soon as i heard medic, i just went into medic mode. >> reporter: nowacki and a firefighter went to work, performing rive until an ambulance then after saving the life of one woman, nowacki finished the race, got down on one knee and asked another to spend the rest of her life with him. >> he pulls out this ring, and he says, erin i don't know what else to say, will you marry me of course i said yes >> reporter: a race

run, a life saved, and the yes of a lifetime. >> i love you. >> i love you too. >> reporter: all in the line of duty kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago. >> that's what i call a very good day. that's "nightly news." i'm lester holt.n's ♪ ♪ never been worse, so ♪ you must like me for me ♪ we can't make ♪ any promises now ♪ can we, babe? ♪ but you can make me a drink ♪ dive bar on the east side ♪ where you at?

♪ phone lights up ♪ my nightstand in the black [cheers and applause] ♪ 'cause i like you ♪ this ain't for the best ♪ my reputation's never been ♪ worse, so ♪ you must like me for me ♪ yeah, i want you ♪ we can't make ♪ any promises now ♪ can we, babe? ♪ but you can make me a drink sing it, girl. ♪ is it cool that i said ♪ all that? ♪ is it chill ♪ that you're in my head? ♪ 'cause i know ♪ that it's delicate ♪ is it cool ♪ that i said all that ♪ is it too soon ♪ to do this yet? ♪ 'cause i know ♪ that it's delicate ♪ isn't it? ♪ isn't it? ♪ is it cool ♪ that i said all that ♪ is it chill ♪ that you're in my head? ♪ 'cause i know ♪ that it's delicate ♪ is it cool

♪ that i said all that ♪ is it chill ♪ that you're in my head? ♪ 'cause i know ♪ that it's delicate ♪ isn't it? ♪ isn't it? ♪ isn't it? ♪ isn't it? [cheers and applause] >> kelly: welcome to "the kelly clarkson show." all right, you know taylor is joining us on "the voice" is a mega mentor and the final knockouts are tonight at 8:00. you better watch and you better vote. it's a really talented bunch of artists. it's crazy. this season is really, really good. okay, let's meet the person who requested this song. hi, cory. why did you want me to sing that taylor song? >> first of all, i'm a huge fan