"nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> a break in the hunt for who is behind a series of bomb threats against jewish institutions. a 31-year-old man is jailed in st. louis, tonight accused of making threats against jewish centers in four states. but authorities say he's not behind the big wave of over 100 similar threats that have sent children and staff evacuating jewish institutions across the country. instead, they're calling the suspect, a copycat who was trying to settle a personal score with an ex-lover. our justice correspondent, pete williams, has more. >> reporter: for months telephone bomb threats to jewish centers and schools have alarmed the jewish community. now the fbi says this man, 31-year-old juan thompson of st. louis, made eight of those threats, copycat calls, intended to get back at a woman who broke off a romantic relationship with him eight months ago. >> law enforcement at all levels is a close friend of the jewish people in america and we're so appreciative.

"nightly news" begins now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with jose diaz-balart. >>> good evening. it happened again, this time to president trump. late last night a man scaled the fence that surrounds the white house complex. the secret service intercepted him before he got into the building where the president was spending the night. according to court documents, the suspect was carrying two cans of mace in addition to a letter to the president. nbc's kelly o'donnell is at the white house with more tonight. >> reporter: 20 minutes before midnight friday, a frigid 33 degrees outside the white house and president trump was home. when officials say a backpack-wearing intruder scaled a security fence between the white house and the treasury building on pennsylvania avenue. but the suspect was not stopped until he reached the south grounds of the white house. according to the police report, the suspect identified as 26-year-old jonathan tran told a secret service officer, i am a friend of the president, i have an appointment. officials sa

top obama officials tell nbc news they did not approve the raid. from all of our reporting from former military officials it was never green lighted by the obama administration. >> with responsibility comes accountability. the president authorized that mission and it did not go well. i think that's fairly clear at this point. >> reporter: and >> it was a very successful mission. they had a lot of information, a lot of different things that they really wanted to get. >> reporter: nbc news has reported senior officials say the raid has not yet produced intelligence of value. >> you have to understand whether you can do it better, literally, so that the sacrifice of this brave young man does not go in vain. >> reporter: new questions about the president's first test as commander in chief. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. >>> tonight federal investigators have arrived at the scene of a small plane crash in southern california in a heavily populated neighborhood. the tragic accident was caught on camera. there are survivors. miguel almaguer is the

> nbc news exclusive. a woman who made a daring leap caught on camera jumping from a moving car trunk to escape her alleged kidnapper telling her harrowing story. >>> super bowl stunner. as the fbi hunts down tom brady's missing jersey and finds a second one that was also missing. tonight, who's being blamed. >>> and memorial mystery. our monday "inspiring america." "nightly news" begins right now. >>> good evening. the head of the fbi dropped two bombshells over capitol hill today. both however landing at the white house doorstep. james comey in public testimony joined a growing chorus of intelligence officials and lawmakers rejecting president trump's tweeted claims of being wiretapped by president obama before the election. >> i have no information that supports those tweets. and we have looked carefully inside the fbi. the department of justice has asked me to share with you that the answer is the same for the department of justice and all its components. >> then there was this. that the trump campaign

"nightly news" begins right now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening to our viewers in the west. the nude photo scandal involving the sharing of compromising photos of u.s. servicewomen online has expanded beyond the marine corps tonight. investigators discovering more postings and a virtual market for the photos. top officials, including tonight the defense secretary, strongly condemning the behavior as the army and air force open their own inquiries into just how far this scandal may reach. we get the latest from our pentagon correspondent, hans nichols. >> tonight defense secretary jim mattis weighing in on the scandal for the first time. we will not excuse or tolerate such behavior if we are able to uphold our values and maintain our ability to defeat the enemy on the battlefield. with the marine corps' investigation accelerating after more nude photos of female service members emerge. new pictures on the website anon-ib showing photos of women in uniform. the website's users encourage participants to find a

peter alexander, nbc news, the white house. >>> now to an exclusive nbc news investigation on a highly controversial practice going on at our borders involving u.s. citizens with valid passports, not suspected of any crime, not on any government watch list, being stopped and told, turn over your cell phone and your pass word. we get more tonight from our senior investigative correspondent cynthia mcfadden. >> reporter: it happened in early january at the canadian border to buffalo couple akram shibley and kelly mccormack. he's a filmmaker, she's a student, both born in the usa. >> that to me felt like gross violation of our rights. >> reporter: u.s. customs and border protection agents held them for two hours, took their cell phones, and demanded their passwords. they turned them over. three days later, they once again drove 20 minutes from home to canada for dinner. but they were stopped gain. this time akram refused to give over his phone. >> you know officer grabbed me from behind, grabs me by the throat. another officer grashs me by the legs. third officer pulls out my cell phone.

"nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt reporting tonight from washington. >>> good evening. just over five weeks after decrying what he called american carnage during his inauguration address, president trump returns to capitol hill for a primetime speech before a joint session of congress where he's planned to deliver a speech of unity. the president is expected to strike some familiar themes on jobs, obamacare and protecting the country from terrorism. but late today, the president dropped this surprise. he's thinking about issuing a call for an immigration bill during his remarks tonight. is he open to compromise on the issue? our coverage starts with nbc's hallie jackson. hallie, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. this was the president's signature issue as a candidate. and now president trump signaling he may be more open to negotiation than he was it's something that could earn him new allies and maybe new enemies on capitol hill as the president leaves for the last minute whether he will call for the compromise.

"nightly news" begins right now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening to our viewers in the west. for the second day in a row a rare display of bipartisanship at the nation's capital on a critical matter. the democrat and republican leaders joining together in a public rebuke of president trump's wiretap claim. like the house counterparts the day before, the senators saying they have seen nothing to substantiate claims that president obama had trump towers surveilled ahead of the 2016 elections, but there is no retreat when the white house tonight which is angrily firing back and offering news articles for the justification for the shocking claims. hallie jackson has details. >> reporter: a bombshell statement triggering an explosive response. >> hold on. hold on. hold on. i'm making a point. >> reporter: after the committee president trump wanted to investigation his accusation of spying, found there's nothing there. quote, based on the information available to us, we see no indication that trump tower was the s

from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening, after suffering defeat in congress in his promise to replace obamacare, president trump returned back to the executive order route today to try to deliver on another major campaign vow, bringing back a dying coal industry, a jobs move like the healthcare gamut entails shredding another major piece of the obama legacy, in this case, regulations meant to protect the environment. tonight, the president's actions are sparking celebration in coal country and outrage among environmentalists and whether some of those jobs can ever come back. >> reporter: as president donald trump struggles to find his footing in an attempt to show strength today by obliterating his predecessor's move on environment he says he will create jobs. >> we will put our miners back to work. >> reporter: mr. trump once called climate change a hoax said he is ending the war on coal. >> that is what this is all about, bringing back our jobs and bringing back our dreams and making america wealthy again. >> reporter: th

"nightly news" begins right now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening to our viewers in the west. the cia is urgently assessing the impact of what may be one of the most damaging exposures of vital secrets the agency has ever experienced. purported details released by wikileaks of how the cia is able to turn personal and home devices into potent eavesdropping tools for spying overseas. in short, the keys to the agency's cyber arsenal. tonight nbc news has learned a scramble is on within the cia to find the source of the leak, possibly one of their own. we get details from nbc's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: tonight the cia and fbi racing to find out who is behind what could be one of the worst u.s. intelligence breaches in modern history. that bombshell release of thousands of documents wikileaks claims were stolen from the cia. nbc news now learning from a senior u.s. official that the documents contain authentic information about the cia's top secret tools for hacking. >> if i were inside the agency today, i'd

"nightly news" begins now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with jose diaz-balart. >>> good evening tonight. the president of the united states who had hoped to be celebrating the beginning of the end of obamacare is instead looking for ways it move on from what many are calling a major defeat. on friday, the president asked speaker of the house, paul ryan to pull the bill that he had publicly started during his historic campaign. today, members of congress and the administration fanned out across the country trying to calm fears this the debate over the bill had stoked. to make the case for how the republican-controlled congress and white house are going to advance their agenda after their efforts to change health care failed. kelly o'donnell has the latest from washington, d.c. >> today the trump administration tried to shake off defeat and move on. >> don't worry, america. >> the vice president greeted supporters in west virginia. and down played the botched repeal of obamacare. >> congress just wasn't ready. you saw it. >> friday's r

sfaurns -- >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening to our viewers in the west. >>> the man who spilled the goods on line about some of america's most sensitive cyber tools is taunting the cia. the founder says there's more bombshells to come. he is suggesting the cia is playing catch up and is offering a broad hint as to who may have stolen the data and what we learned may be one of most damaging intelligence briefings in modern history. we get new details tonight on the story from our chief foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell. >> reporter: tonight julian assange claiming the cyber breach is far more devastating than the agency knows or acknowledges. >> the central intelligence agency lost control of its entire cyber weapons arsenal. this is a historic act of devastating incompetence. >> reporter: warning he has a lot more to release, saying he got the stolen documents from a former government contractor working for the cia. >> the material has been spread around contractors and former american

"nightly news" begins now. >>> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with kate snow. >>> good evening. the testing of a new high thrust rocket engine in north korea drew strong reaction from president trump today on his flight back to washington from his weekend in florida. the president said, quote, north korea is acting very badly. that new test came just as the u.s. secretary of state was wrapping up a trip to the region in china. matt bradley is in seoul, south korea tonight. >> reporter: a new engine fueling a fresh round of north korean propaganda. an engine test which some say could propel an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching u.s. soil. dictator, kim jong-un promised to get it in this year's new year's speech. north korea put on a provocative display of force, unprecedented two nuclear tests last year. and it's successfully fired four ballistic missiles off its coast two weeks ago. korea watchers expect a new nuclear test any day. if it happens, north korea's test results will almost certainly be different. the

matt bradley, nbc news. >>> breaking news tonight. a south korean military official tells nbc news that north korea has fired a projectile that landed in the waters off of north korea's east coast. it was not immediately clear what was fired but north korea has staged a series of missile test launches in recent months. >>> back in this country, one big city says it will stop a practice that's coming under growing scrutiny, sending a bill to parents for kids that -- for time their kids spend in juvenile detention. dozens of state and county governments have permitted these charges for decades. the billing policies were meant to keep parents invested in rehabilitating their troubled kids and offset the cost of housing them. nbc's ronan farrow has more tonight. >> reporter: when camilla davis spears' 16-year-old son came home after nine months in juvenile detention for a fist fight at school, she thought the worst was behind her. then a shock. a summons like this one to appear in court, where she was told she was being billed for his det

"nightly news" begins now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with kate snow. >>> good evening. hopefully you remembered to spring forward today and reset your clocks. but spring is a distant promise for much of the u.s. tonight. snow coated parts of the carolinas this morning. there is more coming tonight. almost 100 million people are under winter weather watches or warnings. flakes falling right now in minneapolis, as you can see in this live picture. chicago ready for a messy commute in the morning. the east coast and new england bracing for the biggest snowstorm of the season. we begin tonight with sara dolloff. >> reporter: with just over a week to the start of spring, winter refuses to release its icy grip on much of the u.s. >> oh, my god. it's actually snowing. like it's real snow. it's sticking to the ground. >> reporter: this morning residents in north, even south carolina, waking up to falling snow and several inches already on the ground. >> it's so exciting. >> reporter: a winter wonderland for some, treacherous conditions fo

nbc news learned that the u.s. is deploying some 275 more soldiers to northern iraq, according to the two military officials to bolster u.s. support for iraqi forces pushing to retake mosul. right now, the secretary of defense is responding to claims that u.s. strikes in mosul led to one of the biggest civilian casualty events since the fall of saddam hussein. nbc's hans nichols has details. >> reporter: with the battle to retake mosul ramping up, pentagon officials today on defense. assessing whether u.s. air strikes may have killed more than 100 civilians in the heavily populated western part of the city. defense secretary jim mattis responding for the first time. >> we go out of our way to always do everything humanly possible to reduce the loss of life or injury among innocent people. the same cannot be said for our adversaries. >> reporter: the pentagon reviewing roughly 700 video feeds of air strikes hitting mosul over the past ten days. the investigation one of more than 30 separate inquiries into allegation

. >>> nbc news investigation. u.s. authorities seizing cell phones, demanding passwords from american citizens, all without a warrant, and it's legal. >>> new pain relief. a game-changing treatment for arthritis sufferers. >>> inspiring america. a major milestone for the oldest living survivor of pearl harbor. "nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening to our viewers in the west. winter has saved its biggest punch for last. tonight, exactly a week until spring, this image from space shows a powerful storm system gathering right now that forecasters fear could paralyze much of the northeast tomorrow with blizzard conditions. 85 million people will potentially be impacted with 31 million from eastern pennsylvania all the way to southern maine, including new york city, under blizzard warnings. the ripple impact is already being felt at airports around the country. 6,000 flights for today and tomorrow already can

"nightly news" begins right now. >> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening. president trump still looking to justify his thus far unproven and widely rejected claim that his campaign was spied on by president obama, today gave oxygen to the newest white house claim. that british intelligence was in on the alleged surveillance plot. it happened during what was already a potentially delicate meeting between the president, and german chancellor angela merkel. meantime tonight, another major u.s. ally, the british government, is simmering over the allegation. nbc's peter alexander has details. >> i think it was -- >> reporter: tonight confronted by a european reporter for his wiretap allegation against president obama, a defiant president trump taking a new shot at his predecessor. >> as far as wiretapping, i guess, by, you know, this past administration, at least we have something in common, perhaps. >> reporter: a swipe at the national security agency, under mr. obama that monitored german chancellor angela merkel's cell

nightly news begins right now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening. we learned late today that ivanka trump's recently announced informal role in his father's white house is about to become a formal job, despite her proclamations during the campaign she had no desire to be part of the administration. mrs. trump is joining her husband jared kusnyer as a federal employee, albeit, unpaid. a family business wrank led watchdogs and today's announcement was to address the concerns. ivanka trump is the first daughter or son to work in their father's white house since eisenhower was president. christian welker has details. >> reporter: tonight, it's official, ivanka trump now a federal employee in her father's white house. her title assistant to the president. she's always had a seat at the table at meetings with foreign leaders and discussions on business and the economy, most recently moving into a west wing office. it's a move ivanka seemed to initially resist. >> people think you'll be part of the administ

"nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening to our viewers in the west. it was the unexpected calm after a stormy five weeks. president trump's softer and more measured tone in his address to congress was the most immediate and surprising takeaway from the evening, earning his due even among some critics. today as the focus recentered on the message itself, it became clear that the trump agenda has not softened, setting up potential showdowns with not just democrats but from within the president's own party as he pivots to the hard work of turning his ideals into laws. white house correspondent kristen welker starts our coverage. >> reporter: tonight, president trump shifting his focus to the road ahead after laying out big policy goals last night. >> the time for small thinking is over. >> reporter: the president praised for striking a more positive tone. the challenge now, turning rhetoric into reality. today, the president met with republican leaders at a strategy lunch a

nbc news confirming u.s. intelligence officials concluded terrorist likely have engineered a way to get explosives into laptop computers that could be smuggled on an airliner why they were banned as carry ones in several airports in the middle east. pete williams tonight with the story. >> reporter: for the past week, passengers on flights from ten airports in the middle east and north africa have been forbidden to carry on board electronic devices larger than a cell phone. now u.s. officials say one of the reasons for the new restrictions is a new government analysis suggesting terrorists developed the means to conceal explosives and laptop computers in a way that could elude security screening. a senior u.s. official says it's the result of analyzing recent attacks on airliners including this bombing of a passenger plane last year in somalia using parts found from that in other recent bombing attempts, fbi experts have reverse engineered how the bombs may have worked. they are worried resulting laptops coul

nightly news begins right now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening to our viewers in the west. the echoes of president trump's explosive twitter accusations against president obama over the weekend drowned out today's news, the integration of a new travel ban. the white house operating in low-profile mode today as the president's spoex -- spokes people seem to be trying to catch up with their boss and the source of his head scratching allegation, that former president obama had ordered the wiretapping of trump tower during the campaign, but with no offer of evidence, democrats suspect it's all an attempt to deflect attention from the russians. >> reporter: the rarely press-shy president staying behind closed doors today, standing behind his explosive, unproven claim he was spied on by president obama. quote, just found out that obama had my wires tapped in trump tower just before the victory. >> the president's tweets speak for themselves. >> reporter: press secretary sean spicer calling for a congressional in

neat nightly news begins now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is nbc nightly news with kate snow. >> good evening. hopefully you remembered to spring forward today and reset your clocks, but spring is a distant promise for much of the u.s. tonight. snow coated much of the carolinas. and 100 million people are under watches or warnings, flakes falling in minneapolis as you can see in this picture. chicago ready for a messy commute in the morning. and the east coast and new england bracing for the biggest snowstorm of the season. >> reporter: with just under a week until the start of spring, winter refuses to release its icy grip. >> it's real snow, sticking to the car. >> reporter: this morning, residents in north, even south carolina waking up to falling snow and several inches already on the ground. >> it's so exciting. >> reporter: a winter wonderland for some. treacherous conditions for others. on the shores of lake ontario, a winter so surreal they had to say it was really nature not photo shopped. and forecast temperatures with wind chills of 9 below. snow is

"nightly news" begins now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with jose diaz-balart. >>> good evening. paris once again the site of a possible terrorist attack. this one fortunately thwarted. a man saying he was "there to die for allah" stole a machine gun from a soldier at orly airport killed before he could take a single life tonight france remains on edge under a state of emergency since a number of terror attacks from "charlie hebdo" to the massacre at the bataclan. keir simmons has the latest tonight from the scene of the attack. >> reporter: his dead body spread across the floor of an international airport, an automatic weapon on his chest. police say in the last hours of his life, shot and injured a police officer, hijacked a car and for a few terror-filled minutes held a soldier hostage at paris orly airport. the french prosecutor said he said "i am here to day for allah. i was carrying a copy of the could ran." as passengers panicked, the end came. he grabbed a gun from a female soldier. "he was holding her by the throat and he wa

"nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening to our viewers in the west in what has been an especially busy news day both here at home and abroad, which is where we start with a deadly terror attack in london today just outside parliament. the attacker plowing his car into pedestrians in the city's westminster bridge in the shadow of big ben, turning the iconic span into a scene of carnage before he stormed the gates of parliament itself, leading to a deadly encounter with police and forcing lawmakers and others to race for cover. tonight, the attacker and four others, including a police officer, are dead. at least 40 others, some school children, were injured. a gruesome scene in the heart of london and that's where bill neely starts our coverage. >> reporter: at the very heart of britain's democracy, murder and terror. dead and injured outside parliament. tourists among hundreds running for their lives. the suspected killer and a policeman getting medical help moments after

"nightly news" begins right now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening to our viewers in the west. just three weeks on the job, attorney general jeff sessions is caught in a growing political and legal firestorm over his silence about contacts with the russian diplom diplomat. sessions announced he will step aside from the investigation into russian meddling in the election. it still leaves open why he omitted such contacts during his senate confirmation hearing in january. pete williams is at the department of justice and has details. pete. >> reporter: lester, after day -- a day of calls from some democrats for him to resign, jeff sessions said he has concluded he must bow out of making any decisions involving the investigation of russian's attempt to influence the elections. he said he is doing it to avoid the appearance of a conflict. >> good morning, mr. sessions. >> reporter: the attorney general said he sought the advice of career justice department officials beginning several days ago before making today's dramatic a

"nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt reporting tonight from washington. >>> good evening to our viewers in the west. our top story is still developing. a gruesome accident on the rails in mississippi late today involving a stopped tour bus and a freight train. the violent collision has killed four people and sent dozens to hospitals. some of the victims had to be cut from the mangled wreckage. the bus carrying around 50 people was believed to be headed to a biloxi casino when the crash happened. nbc's gabe gutierrez has late details. >> we need an ambulance. we're going to need some ambulances. >> reporter: after the collision, utter chaos. >> there's multiple people all over. >> reporter: authorities say a freight train heading eastbound slammed into this charter bus at a crossing in downtown biloxi just after 2:00 p.m. local time. the bus dragged 300 feet down the tracks. >> we had two victims that had to be extricated. they were trapped. we had to use the jaws of life. >> reporter: police say about 50 people were on the bus. mo

. >>> "nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening to our viewers in the west from los angeles again tonight. the signature republican promise to repeal and replace obamacare is down for the count tonight. president trump and house speaker ryan throwing in the towel, a stunning outcome as late today ryan pulled the bill moments before the vote in an acknowledgement that it was certain to fail. >> i will not sugar-coat this, this is a disappointing day for us. doing big things is hard. all of us, all of us, myself included, we will need time to reflect on how we got to this moment. what we could have done to do it better. >> minutes after ryan spoke, the president himself facing cameras and pointing fingers in the oval office. >> we had no democrat support, we had no votes from the democrats. they weren't going to give us a single vote. so it's a very difficult thing to do. >> the president speaking as if it were democrats, not republicans, who hold the majority. and while he's correct that there was no democratic support

up next is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. see you tonight at 11:00. >>> breaking news tonight, terror attack in london. at least four dead, 20 injured as a man goes on a rampage barrelling a car through a crowd of people fatally stabbing a police officer inside the gates of parliament. heroes leaping into action. tonight, who's behind it? >>> lif support. the health care bill in grave condition. there's no plan b. final drama before tomorrow's vote. >>> and new revelations tonight throwing the future of the congressional russia investigation into doubt. >>> shocking call for help. a 9-year-old girl pleads with 911 from the back seat of her car. her parents passed out from a suspected heroin overdose. >>> and inspiring america. 91 years young and still on duty. "nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening. it's an especially busy news day, both here at home and abroad. the deadly terror attack in london just outside pa

. >> that's our news at 6:00. >> up next, nbc nightly news with lester holt. >>> breaking news tonight -- meltdown for the republican plan to repeal and replace obamacare. doomed to fail, the speaker pulls the bill. an embarrassing defeat for president trump. tonight the fallout, the blame game and what it all means for millions. >>> surveillance backtrack, the new revelations about the trump team might not be what was first implied in the bombshell announcement. >>> scorched earth -- wildfires blaze a path of destruction and tonight a new threat -- violent storms moving in. weekend danger across a big part of the country. >>> harrison ford's scare, we're hearing what the movie star said when he discovered his mistake. >>> a wounded warrior overcoming obstacles and living out his dream. >>> "nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening, the signature republican promise to repeal and replace obamacare is down for the count tonight. president trump and house speaker ryan throwing in the towel, a stunning outcome as late today

"nightly news" begins right now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening to our viewers in the west. we learn more today about what's behind those surprise restrictions on passenger electronics on some airline flights as a major u.s. ally imposes its own tighter rules. american security officials are temporarily banning passengers from bringing devices larger than a smartphone in the cabin of planes traveling to the u.s. from parts of the middle east or africa. we learn today it's not in response to a specific threat, but is based on some recent intelligence. how concerned should the traveling public be? nbc's miguel almaguer has details. >> reporter: the new security measure affects some 50 u.s. bound flights each day and in most carry on electronic devices after elevated intelligence indicating terror groups continue to target planes, smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items. the ban involves ten airlines in mostly muslim countries in the middle east and africa with direct flights to the

"nightly news" begins now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with jose diaz-balart. >>> good evening. it is unprecedented and unproven. president trump today accused president obama of using the federal government to tap his phones just before last year's elections. part of a flurry of early morning tweets. here you see some of them shifting the sung off of whether the trump campaign had any communication with the russian government. the president supporters are lauding his aggressive public attack. his critics say it's a concerning abuse of power. president obama spokesmen fired back it's unequivocally false. our casey hunt is in west palm beach tonight with president trump. >> reporter: without offering any evidence, president trump today making an explosive claim, that president obama tapped his phones before the election. >> this is what democracy looks like. >> reporter: starting at 6:35 a.m. the president sent a string of five tweets, "terrible," he wrote. "just found out that obama had my wires tapped in trump tower just before the