tuesday. so if we get past friday we're okay. >> we'll make it. thank you for watching. >> we'll see you back here 11:00. tonight, chemical attack. children gasping for air, assad blamed for a grisly massacre on his own people. one of the deadliest of its kind in the six years civil war. russian investigation diversi diversions, first the wiretap claim without evidence, nowhe trump administration accuses obama's national security advisor of dirty tri tricks. susan rice fires back only to nbc news. advertisesers re-volt on bill o'reilly. at least a dozen companies pull their ads following complaints of sexual harassment. internet privacy rules rolled back, internet providers allowed to sell your browsing history without your permission. tonight, how to shield your information.

front lines here in south korea with the americans that could be called into action. "nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt, reporting tonight from south korea. >> good evening, from assange air base we learned moments ago from south korean officials, they have filed a missile into the sea of japan. as we told you those launches are tracked and identified on this base. this move highlights how tense things are in this region and why americans remain in a high state of readiness. we talked to some and will return in just a moment. and another trouble spot overseas, syria, the world acting with horror and revolgs to the apparent poison gas

attack that killed dozens of civilians and sickened dozens more, many small children. the bhows poiwhite house poin pointing the finger of blame to bashar al assad and president obama administration. now, is president trump willing to step in? a word of caution. there are upsetting images in this report. richard engel has the latest. >> reporter: these disturbing images taken just after the explosion. witnesses say it was a chemical weapons attack. in the video it appe appears to bear all the hall marks. this boy, using all his strength just to breathe. first responders dou doused the victims with water and stripped off their clothes to wash off what they said was a chemical weapon. medics and volunteers in this rebel controlled part of syria rushed the injured to local clinics, they claim

bashar al assad regime fired a chemical agent banned, saran. >> no one is doing anything to stop these death attacks. >> reporter: other victims were taken to a makeshift clinic built in a cave to protect it. there, a father kissed his daughter good-bye. nearby, this activist was recording what he was seeing, saying warplanes were still overhead, then -- hospitals are often targeted in this war that respects no conventions. amazi amazingly, the activists survived. in 2013, the u.s. threatened war when more than 1,000 people were killed in another alleged chemical attack. president obama had warned the use of chemical weapons would cross a red line. but when russia brok brokered a deal, a u.s. military response never came. in a statement on today's attack, president trump said these heinous actions by the bashar al assad are a consequence of the past administration's

weakness. a u.s. intelligence official tells nbc news tonight while details are still coming in it appears this was actually ha chemical attack. the syrian army denies it used chemical weapons. lester. >> richard engel tonight, thank you. turning back home to the drama over the russian investigation an critics are calling repeated attempts from the white house to deflect attention away from it. their latest target, former national security advisor, susan rice. >> reporter: for more than a month it's been the tweet that loomed over the president without any evidence mr. trump tweeting terrible. just found out obama had my wired tapped in trump tower, a charge immediately shot down by republicans. have you seen any evidence trump tower was wiretapped? >> seen no evidence whatsoever. >> no such wiretap exi existed. >> reporter: a rare rebuke from the fbi

director. >> i have no evidence that supports those twe tweets. >> reporter: james comey dropping a bombshell they are investigating whether there was hacking and the house intelligence chairman, devin nunes claiming he has seen intel trump transition officials were swept up in legal surveillance leading the president to say he felt vindicated. >> i somewhat do, i must tell you, i somewhat do. >> reporter: nunes walks back his charge and the "new york times" reports the information he used came from the white house. tonight, a new focus, white house going after obama national security advisor susan rice for requesting the names of trump officials accidentally collected by surveillance be revealed or unmasked. rice responding to us exclusively tonight. >> we only do it to protect the american people to do our jobs in the national security room. >> reporter: now, she's under fire from republican critics. >> i believe susan rice abused this system and she did it for political purposes. she needs to be brought in and

questioned under oath. >> did you seek the names of people involved to unmask the names of people involved in the trump transition, trump campaign in order to spy on them? >> absolutely. absolutely not, for any political purposes, to spy, expose, anything, but let me -- >> did you leak the name of mike flynn? >> i leaked nothing to nobody and never have and never would. >> reporter: former intelligence officials say all this takes critical focus away from the russia investigation. >> i think it is a distraction to go down the other alleys and won't in the end lead to an answer to the primary question. snow tonig >> tonight, members of the house caution the witness committee say rice is likely to be called as a witness in a widely highly politicized investigation. after being left for dead in congress, the white house is trying to revive plan to repeal and replace obamacare. it comes after president trump pond pondered leaving obamacare to, in his words, to explode, the

administration is trying again to reach a deal. how far are they willing to go to win over holdout republicans. hallie jackson has details. >> reporter: vice president pence today, rallying republicans to resurrect a healthcare deal, a new framework rising from the ashes less than two weeks after the original crashed and bu burned. >> the president and i remain confident wo working with the congress we will repeal and replace obamacare. >> reporter: what's the strategy now? offer to let states ask permission from the government to allow insurers to charge sick people more money, to keep costs lower for heal healthier people. no one could be denied insurance outright but may effectively gut the promise for protection of people with pre-existing conditions. >> ii ing think this is a hail mary pass to bring this legislation back and will be a more radical proposal than the first one. >> reporter: it's a nod to the political pressure republicans face to do something on healthcare and olive branch to the

holdouts in the conservative freedom caucus led by congressman mark meadows. >> negotiations are going on at an extremely fast clip. is there a vote ski scheduled? no. should there be a vote scheduled? no. >> i don't want to put an artificial deadline. we're not at that stage. >> reporter: the president at the bui builder's union. >> it was about time we had a builder in the white house. >> reporter: sticking to his construction zone instead. >> hello, ivanka. >> reporter: as his daughter keeps her focus on women in the work force on equal payday. >> my father wants to create 25 million jobs in this country and women need to participate for that to be fully realized. >> reporter: the president will be back on the hill again for more healthcare talks. speaker paul ryan won't be there a sign house speakers may let them work on their own. nobody wants to get out over their skis by

promising a plan or timeline that's not realistic. lester. >> hallie jackson at the white house tonight. thank you. the backlash this evening is growing against fox news star, bill o'reilly. a slew of advertis advertisesers including very big names today say they're pulling their ads from "the o'reilly factor" after more complaints of sexual harassment have come to light. anne thompson with the new fallout. >> reporter: bill o'reilly is rarely at a loss for words. >> hi. i'm bill o'reilly. thanks for watching us 234 tonight. >> reporter: so far he said nothing about the growing controversy of off screen allegations of sexual harassment. advertis advertisesers are speaking with their wall wallets, bmw, mitsubishi motors and drug maker glaxo smithkline are pulling their ads. all state saying inclusivity and support for women are

important all state values. we have suspended our advertising. they found fox news or o'reilly paid five women $13 million to settle harassment and inappropriate behavior claims against the star anchor. >> you're seeing companies speak about their values and convictions. if they're not aligned with fox news they're supporting with their dollars they will take those dollars away. >> reporter: late today, fox news said in a statement we value our partners and are working with them to address their concerns. o'reilly said his fame made him vulnerable to lawsuits and he acted quickly to put to rest any controversies to spare his children. his show is the number one cable program on news pulling in more than 1$100 million in ad revenue. more than 150 brands advertiseden 0 t een on the show this year.

today, companies wait to change their plans to see what if any changes fox and o'reilly make. as we said at the top of the broadcast, breaki ing news in south korea, word north korea fired and unidentified projectile into the sea after president trump said the clock has run out and all options on the table. all calling for more tough talk on nsk calling the south korean military exercises a dress rehearsal for invasion. we tagged along and found american and south korean officers confident as they pl planned to counter one of the more persistent threats this region faces. >> reporter: the war being wagered in this corner of south korea today won't draw a drop of blood. americans and south korean troops engage in mock urban combat less than 15 miles from the dmz, and

preparing for the war that has haunted far too long. >> we think we could see everything from conventional total war and civilian operati operations after victory, whether attack in urban strong point. >> reporter: as if on cue, the colonel was interrupted by a rescue chopper swo swooping in to pluck mock casualties from a rooftop. the americans and south koreans are taking part in an annual joint exercise kim jong-un has long decried as a provocation but what was seen on this side as a deterrent. still, the status quo that has gingerly maintained peace is threatened as kim jong-un races towards a nuclear weapon capability. it raises the question what about seoul and the think it will reign thousands of

artillery rounds on this metropolitan but won't go unpunished. >> this is a robust response not only american but south korean troops working hand-in-hand. >> reporter: the u.s. warplane is to quickly overwhelm and knock out the north's artillery threat. mobile radar units like this will track the incoming rounds from their source even before they land. you can't shoot what you can't see? >> exactly. >> reporter: this allows you to see what's coming at you? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: the eyes of a sophisticated response. >> you can track the rounds simultaneously? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: that's a lot. the mobile rocket system is the fangs of the response who quickly aim and fire right back at the source. >> this is a very important thing for us to go over and rehearse as many times in different scenarios as possible. >> reporter: this is what it would look like for real.

the fact that troops train within a few miles where they would fight is not lost on them. >> reporter: how has it affected the soldiers? >> they've gone there and done the communications checks and have the visibility they need and gives us a sense of purpose. >> reporter: like the airmen at the air base are hoping their preparation and rea readiness will give north korea pause. readiness will give north korea pause. still head, your (de♪p breath) (phone ringing) they'll call back. no one knows your ford better than ford and ford service. right now, during the big tire event, get a $140 rebate by mail, on four select tires. ♪

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president trump has signed a new law that rolls back internet privacy rules passed in the obama administration. no longer will internet providers be required to get your permission before selling your internet browsing history to market marketers. will your internet safety really be fair game? >> reporter: the last time you shopped online for a pair of sh shoes, did the ads follow you for days or even weeks? your internet provider knows far more about your browsing habits than google, facebook or amazon. now, that provider can legally sell that information without your permission. privacy advocates are so outrages, evan acelhainie has raised money for members of congress who passed the law. >> it sends a signal people are very upset their data is not

theirs anymore. >> reporter: it's unlikely internet companies would sell browsing history because they're still required to protect customer privacy presumably names, addresses and social security numbers. only anonymous bro browsing information could be sold but experts warn that may not be enough. >> somebody with a sophisticated algorithm could find out who you are by the breads crumbs on the internet. >> reporter: they say they're committed to protecting privacy because we value your trust. if you're still concerned, security experts suggest limit your web browsing to https sites. the s stands for secure. call your internet provider and opt out of targeted marketing. if you're really concerned, pay for a vpn, virtual private network that puts your web surfing in a bubble but it can disable some sites like video streaming. for the most part

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share the deadly fated that has we fallen others who defied kim jong-un. he is the deputy ambassador to the uk when he defected with his young wife and s sons. we met on the crowded streets of seoul fla flanked by security agencies whose identities we agreed to mask and talked about the airport assassination of kim jong-un's half-brother and expectation he could be next. >> we're out in public right now. are you afraid for your safety at this moment? >> at this moment i don't think so because, you know, there are, you know, many security -- the offices around. but anything can happen, you know. you see, even the half-brother of north korean believe kim

jong-nam was assassina assassinated. >> how did you react to that? >> at the time i heard the story i was not surprised at all. >> do you think kim jong-un ordered his death? >> definitely, yes. >> do you think he wants your death? >> yes. >> you think he wants to kill you? >> kim jong-un is a man with the character that anything no matter what it is a country or human being, you know, should be eliminated if a country or human being pose a kind of threat to him. >> in the united states, we would say you're a marked man. >> i'm sure i'm already a marked man. >> a short while later, away from the cro crowds, taye talked about the horrible price of his betrayal. >> your decision would

impact people you love. a brother and sister still in north korea. what is your expectation as to what has happened to them? >> i cannot definitely say to which place my family members were sent, but one thing i am sure is that they may have been sent to either to remote areas or labor camps or to some, worst scenario, they were sent to political prison ca camps. all their houses by now were confiscated by the regime. >> is that hard for you to live with? >> oh, yes, you know. so far i cannot get rid of this kind of nightmare every night. >> he has called in his words for the

elimination of kim jong-un and holds out hope some day being reunited with his family still inside of north korea. that will do it for us on this tuesday night inside the air force base in south mel b's restraining order against her ex. her explosive new court claims he beat her, blackmailed her with sex tapes and got the nani pregnant. now on "extra". ♪ extra, extra ♪ extra, extra mel b covered in bruises.

this shocking photos as she goes to court accusing her ex of physically beating her, forcing her into group sex, and extortion. ugly details from her $30 million split. what we just uncovered about belafonte's past. and bob harper suffering a cardiac arrest in the gym. how the picture of heating miraclously survived. heath ledger's intimate home movies revealed. nine years after his death, the emotional documentary, "i am heath ledger." and "dancing." joj is o working the dance floor for extra's bachelor nick. and jimmy fallon at universal