richard engel is in syria for us tonight. >>> also breakin the feds arrest a man accused of plotting an attack on the white house. our pete williams has late details. >>> an american among the dead in that massacre at a luxury hotel overseas. he was a young ceo who helped with rescue efforts on 9/11. we're at the scene. erupts over the state n ad ess. >>> another major storm brewing from coast to coast. a foot of snow in parts of the northeast. al roker is here. >>> it changed this teenager's life. but it's the most expensive drug in america. >> $850,000. how do you justify that? >> how could one treatment cost that much? >>> families demanding answers as a doctor is accused of giving their loved ones fatal doses to hasten their deaths. the hospital says there could be dozens of cases. >>> and a big change on the american road. what's in, what's out, and why more people are ditching their sedans. >>> good evening, everyone. a deadly terror attack has taken the lives of four americans, injuring three others in syria. tonight isis is claiming responsibility for the suicide bombing at a

richard engel tonight inside syria with an american caught in isis territory. which the beheadings, , okat's execution. you know, i'm fm the united states, from texas. they like to execute people too. r g a llnhit a hit-and-run driver running down a gas station attendant while trying to leave without paying. a tragic dth over $22. >>> the shocking moment a baby falls out of a car and into the road. the child is okay. her mom, behind the wheel, not even realizing she was gone. >>> the razor ad taking on bullying and sexual harassment and sparking an intense balash. >>> and goodbye dolly. tonight famous friends and fans bidding farewell to the legeary carol channing. >> this is "nbc nightly news" with everyone.lt. president trump's pick to be the next attorney general vowed today he would quit if the president ordered him to fire robert le mu william barr, who held the job in the '90s, promising to p the russia investigation during his senate earing.mation of course, the last attorney general, jeff sessions, was forced out by an angry mr. trump after he recused h

joining us is nbc news' pete williams and chief foreign correspondent richard engel from london. pete, this is completely separate from the mueller investigation, we know, but it certainly reinforces what richard engel and others have been reporting now for quite some time, that she was connected to the kremlin, not some independent lawyer. >> right. here is how it all got started. the government was in this country investigate a real estate scam in new york that they say involved money laundering by senior russian officials, corrupt government officials. so the u.s. sent a formal request to russia asking for information. they got back information about this case from the russian government saying, oh, no, no, no, these guys had nothing to do with it, it was somebody else. the woman involved in the charges, i always have to look at how to pronounce her name. >> me too. >> veselnitskaya, she was a defense lawyer. she is a lawyer. she was helping out with the defense of some of these russian officials that were caught up in the u.s. investigation. she submitted an affidavit saying,

this is something that our colleague, richard engel keyed in on. he's reported extensively about kind of the russian component to this. i've been more focused on the new york city investigation and the new york prosecutor's action. we're starting to get a sense that some of this was kind of first referenced in richard engel's reporting just according to some information we're getting. i wanted to go back to your original question, and if you can repeat it, it was a little tough to hear. i'd be happy to answer it. >> it was essentially -- very quickly here, tom. by the way, we'll get richard engel in front of a camera any second. he's scrambling to do that. very quickly, she has no leg to stand on when she says i have no connections with russians based on what we're seeing from this charge, is that fair to say? >> i would say so, based on our preliminary read of the indictment documents today and the information that's being presented by the u.s. attorneys here today. she definitely appears to have those ties. >> i appreciate your caution and your s

our richard engel who has spent time with u.s. troops in syria has the latest. >> reporter: tonight the u.s. military says its withdrawal from syria has begun. but u.s. military officials tell nbc news that none of the 2,000 u.s. troops there are leaving yet. only some equipment. adding more confusion to a shifting syria policy. in december president trump announced mission accomplished in syria. >> we have won against isis. we've beaten them and we've beaten them badly. we've taken back the land and now it's time for our troops to come back home. >> reporter: a controversial decision leading defense secret because isis is not yet defeated and leaving would mean betraying kurdish allies. later, national security adviser john bolton suggesting the u.s. could stay for years. the u.s. military now won't comment on timelines. but officials tell us that transport equipment and personnel are being put into position and that the exit is underway. lester? >> richard engel tonight, thanks. >>> back in this country, so many wondering about

our richard engel has more. >> reporter: the dramatic plea to the u.n. from 18-year-old rahaf mohammad al qunun of saudi arabia. >> i'm not leaving my room until i see unhcr. i want asylum. >> reporter: begging for help, facing deportation, she barricaded herself behind this mattress in a bangkok airport hotel. she said she was abused by her saudi family, escaped, but was stopped in thailand on her way to australia. her passport seized. al qunun said she feared her family would kill her because she'd renounced islam. she filmed as people came to the hotel door. she wouldn't open it. >> i want asylum! >> reporter: with tens of thousands following her on twitter, late today thailand agreed to let her in the country, returning her passport. >> because of the determination to stand up for herself, to fight for her rights, she was able to buy the time that she needed to get unhcr in to see her. >> tonight, al qunun is out of the airport and being considered for asylum. the saudis say they didn't take her passport and that she was stopped for violating thai la

tonight veselnitskaya says she hasn't read >> richard engel ghnks. >>> the mother of a u.s. navy veteran says he has been imprisoned in iran on unspecified charges since july. nbc's andrea mitchell with more on that story. >> reporter: american michael white is in an iranian prison tonight, held for the last six months without any word from iran. his mother telling nbc news he is a navy veteran, and she only learned three weeks ago from the state department that he was alive. she filed a missing person's report when he went to see his iranian girlfriend and didn't make the flight home. at least three other americans have been in iranian jails for years. a fourth, former fbi agent robert levenson disappeared from iranian territory more than a decade ago. among the u.s. prisoners, former diplomat baquer namazi and his son. >> feel extremely abandoned and hope. >> reporter: getting them out could be harder because of renewed tensions after president trump pulled out of the iran nuclear deal last year, and secretary of state mike pompeo in jordan today wants to crack down furthe

nbc's richard engel has more. >> reporter: natalia veselnitskaya, the russian lawyer who met at trump tower during the 2016 campaign has been charged by federal prosecutors with obstruction of justice. the charges are not directly tr meeting. instead, center on e-mails first revealed exclusively by nbc news. >> what i wanted to ask you about are these e-mails, if you could take a look at them. >> reporter: but prosecutors said those e-mails are hers and show that in an attempt to exonerate a client, a powerful russian businessman accused of moneylaundering in new york, she helped write an official russian government document. >> she had an extraordinary level of access that was not at all consistent with her representations that she was essentially an ordinary private defense attorney. >> reporter: we asked veselnitskaya how close she is to top russian officials. you said your relationship with the prosecutor general is what? >> reporter: prosecutors said veselnitskaya was in, quote, secret cooperation with a senior russian official, a reason she and that trump tower meeting are of su

nbc's richard engel is back in iraq from syria today. any new information on -- this was an area that was not considered to be particularly dangerous. i know people, including you but others of our colleagues, who have been in and out of manbij. that really did not prove to be safe. >> reporter: manbij is still considered to be a dangerous area. it is not a front line area. it is considered liberated. u.s. forces do patrol there. kurdish forces patrol. they patrol on foot. it is not an active battle zone. it appears in this case they went to a restaurant and may have established a pattern, because according to neighbors in the area, several witnesses, u.s. forces went to only two restaurants in manbij, this was one of them, and would go several times a week. perhaps they thought it was more safer than it turned out to be. this was an ambush attack, a hit and run attack. but in other parts of syria, there is still an active battle zone with thousands of isis fighters concentrated in a pocket of about three towns that they still control. >

richard engel brings us the latest from syria next. us the latest from syria next the expert rootmetrics say is number one in the nation? sure, they probably know what they're talking about. or the one that j.d. power says is highest in network quality by people who use it every day? this is a tough one. well, not really, because verizon won both. so you don't even have to choose. why didn't you just lead with that? it's like a fun thing. (vo) chosen by experts. chosen by you. get six months apple music on us. it's the unlimited plan you need on the network you deserve. now buy the latest galaxy phones, get galaxy s9 free. i was thinking...d clot could there be another around the corner? or could it turn out differently? i wanted to help protect myself. my doctor recommended eliquis. eliquis is proven to treat and help prevent another dvt or pe blood clot... almost 98 percent of patients on eliquis didn't experience another. ...and eliquis has significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. eliquis is fda approved and ha

richard engel is inside syria for us. >> please stay safe, richard. >> now to speaker pelosi's move to shutdown the state of the union. >> the speaker called on president trump to reschedule the annual address now set for january 29th unless the government reopens this week. and she cited security concerns as the reason. >> this is -- requires hundreds of people working on the logistics and the security of it. most of those people are either furloughed or victims of the shutdown, the president's shutdown. >> nbc news capitol hill correspondent garrett haake joins us life. garrett, this has been one confusing story all morning. on one hand nancy pelosi citing security concerns. we have been hearing stuff that is other than that. tell us what the story is here. >> reporter: sure, i'll give you the facts and then the messaging and we'll see where they conflict. what we know is speaker pelosi sent a letter to the white house. she does cite security concerns. the state of the union is a national special security event. it's designated that by the department of homeland security. and in this

richard engel tonight inside syria with an american caught in isis territory.

. >> joining me from northern syria, our richard engel, what happened? >> reporter: let me comment first on that of the statement that you just played, there was a time where president trump used to say he would never telegraph his war plan to isis and giving isis the advantage. he often criticized president obama for telegraphing and troop withdrawals. he would not consider something like that. in syria, time and time again he has said that u.s. troops are leaving. a troop withdrawal had begun and still in its early stages. isis wants to show it is still here and it is a force to be reckon with. it wants to write the narrative that it was not defeated and managed to push out u.s. troops. what happens today according to multiple witnesses mattis the following. u.s. forces were on a patrol there and at one stage they were on foot and they were at a restaurant. it was 1:00 local time. they had stopped at that restaurant and witnesses tell us this was something of a pattern that they went to the same restaurant several times every couple of days they would

richard engel, our chief foreign correspondent. richard, thank you for being with us. and tom winter, our investigations reporter. tom, thank you as well. >>> turning back to president trump's prime time address tonight, democratic leaders are set to counter the president with an address of their own. house speaker nancy pelosi and senate minority leader chuck schumer will deliver a joint response from capitol hill. are the democrats prepared to offer anything to the president to resolve this shutdown, or will they hold steady on their push to reopen the rest of the government while congress and the white house negotiate on the wall? if they do not reach a deal soon, more than 800,000 federal employees will not get paid starting on friday. joining me, former chief of staff for nancy pelosi. and former spokesman to house speaker john boehner, michael steele. you're just trying to trip me up with all those extra names in the teleprompter. okay. the democratic response tonight and what they need to do. they've already offered a number of bills that would reopen the majori

richard engel confronted veselnitskaya in that in an sk interview, that was april of last year. why was veselnitskaya just indicted for it now? and actually a further question, it a look like she was indicted for this on skrbstruction of ju on december 200th. that indictment was filed under seal for some reason. and 19 days later today, this indictment was r unsealed and we're all now allowed to see it. why does that timing make sense, too? and then just as we were absorbing that news,an we got further word todayat that the chairs of seven major committees in congress are now challenging trump's treasury secretary over ary trump administration decisi that was announced just before congress to lift sanctions on companies associated with this man, oleg deripaska, an oligarch close to vladimir putin. he, himself, had an odd connection to paul manafort in the trump cocampaign. this is the guy to whom manafort offered private briefings during campaign. again, you know, why was the president's campaign chair offering private briefings on the campaign to a russian oligarch close tori v

nbc's richard engel reports live from the region. judge those stories plus targeting the white house. the fbi thwarts an alleged plot to carry out disturbing attacks in washington. >>> moving forward. the family of kidnapping survivor jayme closs opening up about the 13-year-old's road to recovery as her friends flood social media with messages of lone and support. >>> razor burn. gillette reprice to the firestorm aimed at men in this time of me too. the company calling the commercial a success. will the backlash end up hurting their bottom line. today, wednesday, january 17th, 2019. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with savannah guthrie and hoda kotb, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> welcome to "today" on this thursday morning. we're so happy you're with us, start urge day. and the snow is coming. >> it is. it is already in the midwest and headed this way. >> we've been talking about these powerful winter storm. this week the first-round of snow and ice is spreading. we'll get straight to al. >> good morning.

richard engel is in syria for us tonight. >>> also breakin the feds arrest a man accused of plotting an attack on the white house. our pete williams has late details. >>> an american among the dead in that massacre at a luxury hotel overseas. he was a young ceo who helped with rescue efforts on 9/11. we're at the scene. erupts over the state n ad ess. >>> another major storm brew

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. >>> the stage is set, the teams have arrangeand sher "richard engel on assignment" sherree is going to arrive to get you ready for super bowl week. >>> the former head of starbucks waves an independent bid for president. >>> plus our hinterview w america's youngest figure >>> you see that face? i asked her, do you care about the ?ga super bowl big weekend. >> my brain says patriots will win the super bowl by heart thinks rams -- want it is rams. >> i'm with you on that one. >> everyone except anyone in new england. >> i got heyou. >>> frenzy under way in atlanta where the city will be i hosting their super bowl but their first at the brand new mercedes-benz stadium. the patriots arriving in a fancy jet, complete with all five trophies on the side. tom brady getting ready to play in his ninth super bowl. los angeles arriving in a mor normal jet. the rams hoping for deja vu in atlant atlanta, the only super bowl win coming back in 2000 when they were the st. louisrams. wade phillips channelling his famous father. if y think wade phillips' out fit is something, wait until later. today

richard engel, nbc news, iraq. >>> when we come right back on 0 at six. we're going to check in with adam tuss in the storm team 4 by 4. here's a live look in the virginia area. adam and amelia draper getting you prepared if you plan to be on the roads tonight or tomorrow morning. >>> and julie carey joins us on set with the story of two virginia women whose family was torn apart by a deadly shooting, father and son gone, their killers still >> i would ask do you miss >>> well, here's another live look at what's happening outside. this is i-270 in clarksburg. you can see the snow most clearly aroun the street light there. traffic is moving slowly, the roads are wet. we're keeping tabs on a slowly evening >>commute. here's a look at storm team 4 rada showing the snow mostl north and west of d.c. some of you may only see rain tonight. amelia dper is tracking it all. >> the national weather service has i shoul a winter weather advisory for just about everybody in our area. all the counties here in purple. this is in effect now untiln 4:0 a.m. friday. overall

richard engel is in syria for us tonight. >>> also breaking, the feds arrest man accused of plottingk an att the white house. our pete williams has late details. >>> an american among the dead in that massacre at a luxury hotel overse he was a young ceo who helped with rescue efforts on/11. we're at the scene. >>> as federal workers denied their paychecks now line up at soup kitchens, a power struggle erupts over the state of the union address. >>> another major storm ewing from coast to coast. a foot of snow in parts of

richard engel tonight inside syria with an american caught in isis territory. which the beheadings, , okat's execution.

here is a portion of what our chief foreign correspondent richard engel reported for us tonight inside northern syria. >> reporter: these areas here on the front line are completely devastated, and u.s. and kurdish-led forces are still fighting against isis. there are as many as 4,000 isis fighters still in this area. hardly mission accomplished. >> isis has not been defeated. the president has yet to directly address this american loss of life. he did meet with republican members of the senate this afternoon who said the president remains committed to withdrawing american forces. well, with us to talk about it tonight, malcolm nance, a veteran of naval intelligence, special ops, homeland security with 35 years working in counterterrorism overseas and in this country. malcolm, i want to make two things clear. number one, we're going to watch four caskets with american flags come home. number two, it's germane and important to say that mike pence has a kid in the military. i also want to play for you what senator lindsey graham said. we'll start our conversation on the other side. >> an

richard engel also joins me from london. he has interviewed this woman. on the phone, danny cevellos. >> so, craig, the bottom line on this, is this relates to a filing that she made in statements she made in court as part of her legal representation. basically she said, no, i went through this legal process and was able to get certain documents and they show a whole series of facts that disputes what the government had pursued what federal prosecutors in new york had pursued in a civil case. this is all tied to a much larger money laundering and the m -- a whole host of other charges that were brought. this specificallyeralti relates assertions she had made in court documents. it turns out the information she put in court documents and the things she said and the documents she provided were actually drafted by the senior prosecutor in russia. in fact, they were not her own work, that, in fact, the claims that were contrary to what prosecutors filed here in new york were all supplied by a senior russian government prosecuting official. that's what she's c

nbc's richard engel, who interviewed veselnitskaya earlier this year and explains the significance of today's development. >> in 2016 when veselnitskaya was in new york attending that famous trump tower meeting with don junior, jared kushner, paul manafort, and others, she was also there helping one of her clients who was in new york being charged with money laundering. what we uncovered was an exchange of e-mails in which natalia veselnitskaya was exchanging drafts of the official russian government response to the u.s. justice department's request for information. at the time, she never disclosed that she was helping the russian government craft its official response. she was supposedly there just as a legal adviser, and it shows how deep her connections were to the russian government, how deep her connections were to individuals very close to the kremlin. >> on that note, let's bring in our leadoff panel on a tuesday night. peter baker, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times." former u.s. attorney joyce vance, who spent 25 years as a federal prosecutor. jeremy bash

nbc news's richard engel confirmed the information with a senior kurdish security official. casualties are reported, among them americans. it's not clear how badly they're hurt. the source also tells nbc news isis is claiming responsibility. >>> next here on "today in the bay" the top stories including the big news on the future of sears. what the development means for workers and stores. >>> and the bay area is bracing for the biggest storm so far this season. we're watching the creeks and kari is constantly updating her forecast. we're back in two minutes with more news. 6:52. you're watching "today in the bay." t. taking a live look outside, before you head out the door, here are the top stories on today in the bay-- >>>> befop before y before yo breakip breaking nebreakin with one story you may have experienced yourself, a 3.4 earthquake that shook parts of the bay area, centered near piedmont, hit about 4:42 this morning. here is a look at the seismograph. lot of people feeling this one, stretching across the bay area, that jolt a lot of people felt, this is down throug

. >> nbc keir simmons and richard engel have reported on this story and broke some of these very documents you see on your screen. those are now cited in this indictment alleging the government link. like any defendant, she is still innocent until proven guilty in america. so what are we learning tonight? when you take this together, these key developments, what does it tell us about the investigations into the 2016 campaign? well, let's look at it like this. it all started with some indictments of americans and skeptics of bob mueller argued, well, crimes at home aren't collusion. then we saw -- remember those indictments of russians, rod rosenstein came to the podium and announced them. it was a huge deal. and skeptics said, well, okay, but crimes abroad don't necessarily have help at home in america. so here and here but not here. but now we are seeing a new indictment of a russian who was in america. not only in america, she was in a room at trump tower with donald trump's top aides and family members. today is the first time we have seen two people in that room, one american, one russ

nbc news richard engel just confirming that information with a senior kurdish security official. casualties are reported. among them, americans. it's not clear how badly they are hurt. the source also tells nbc news ice sis claiming responsibility. we'll bring you more information as soon as we get it. >>> also still ahead this morning, the latest on the desperate rescue effort under way for a toddler who fell down a deep well. >>> plus -- >> i think it's really cool, and it's cool that everyone in the school got to put a lego on. >> a work of art with a kids toy celebrating a football legend. weather alert. today in the bay )s kari hall is tracking the storm hitting >>> back to our microclimate weather alert for you this morning. "today in the bay's" kari hall is tracking that storm hitting the bay area right now. she's also sharing the expected impacts on twitter. for updates, you can follow her @karihallweather. >>> developing for you right now, a rescue operation going on for a 2-year-old boy stuck in a narrow well in spain. that toddler got stuck on sunday. it's 350 feet dee

richard engel, thank you very much for that report. we'll be following that breaking news and john meacham, this will only probably exacerbate the problem of the president's abrupt draw down in syria, which is being dialed back but there's a conflict between the messaging of his administration versus what the president says himself. and i suspect the president might take this as an opportunity to use this incident to back up, actually, what he's doing when others would say it's just the opposite. >> yeah. our chief concern, obviously, is with the forces who may have been injured or even killed. and this is a moment where we need a commander-in-chief who puts the national interest ahead of one's own personal political interests. and i quiver a little bit at the thought of what might be said, is it possible that we're going to have a president who says see, i told you so. >> exactly. >> which is exactly what we don't need. and if you have any doubts about the importance of politics and civic life is, remember the character is destiny and

nbc's richard engel reports live from the region. > targeting tebi thwarts an allo attacks out disturbin moving forward, the family of kidnapping survivor jayme s openi up about the 13-yeas roa to recovery as her friends flood socialh media messages of love and suppor we're s happy you're bac > razor burn. gillet finally responds to the firestm over its controversi new ad aimed at men in this time of metoo. the company calling the t will tkl bh end up hurtin their bottom line. , january 17, 2019. >>> welcome to "to dwa" on this thurmorning. e happy you're with us. the snow is coming. >> it is. it's already in the midwestnd head this way. >> we've been talking about these p serful winterms all week. this morning the first round of snow and ice is spreading.l weet straight to al. >>> good morning. our friends on the wt coast gettg hammered ri here is the firstystem coming across. 33 million people under a winter weather advisory oratch the northeast.akotas int it's a quick hit and it's out. this is the one we're really watc of for tomorrow, snow spreg for the southwest, aha, chicago. then

richard engel is in an undisclosed area of syria, he joins us now. you have new details about what happened here? what can you tell us? >> reporter: so you just showed the video of that attack, that suicide bombing which was claimed by isis. you'll see it happened in a built up area right in the center. the explosion happened in front of a restaurant called the king's palace. it's a well-known restaurant, considered the best one in the old market in the city. a place of alleyways, of fruit and vegetable vendors. american troops were on patrol in that area, on a foot patrol. according to witnesses who live in the area, american troops had stopped there, they were interviewing, talking to people in front of the restaurant when they were approached by a man in civilian clothing who was hide hg hideing a suicide vest. this witness who lives in the area says that american troops would regularly go to that restaurant to eat. he said every two or three days while american troops were out on patrol showing the people that they were there, looking for isis, t