Hallie Jackson NOW – Feb. 17 | NBC Files NOW

wherever you are it is the top of the hour and we're coming on the air with the powerful words from Tyree Nichols mother she says she plans to spend the next few months staring down each of the five ex-memphis police officers accused of killing her son we're going to take you inside the courtroom where those.

Officers today pleaded not guilty plus we're hitting the campaign trail with the guy who's naughty with officially campaigning but new polls show he's a GOP front-runner and why Florida Governor Rondo Santos is planning to make a big play in Chicago and newly revealed court documents show some of the biggest names of Fox News did not.

Privately believe what they were saying on TV about former president Trump's election lies that could have big consequences in that billion dollar lawsuit against plus working at a meat packing plant doesn't sound like a teenager's job does it we're going to break down the massifying for a huge food safety.

Company that apparently put 100 plus kids as young as 13 and super unsafe conditions 13. and in tonight's backstory you're going to want to watch this our reporter's personal experience covering the efforts to remember thousands of Japanese Americans interned during World War II here at home including her own grandfather.

Good day I'm Tom Costello in for Hallie happy Friday we're hearing new reaction from the family of Tyree Nichols after the five ex-memphis police officers accused of killing him set in court today that they're not guilty Tyree knuckle's mother called those cops out today they didn't even have the courage to.

Look at me in my face after what they did to my son so they're going to see me at every court date everyone exactly and um until we get Justice for my son well here are the five officers in court their lawyers made that plea today and the judge asked the community for time we understand that there may be some.

High emotions in this case but we ask that you continue to be patient with this well they need the time because there's a lot of documents that they need to sort through Court picks up again on May 1st you may remember the story Nichols a 29 year old black father and an aspiring photographer died three days after being.

Pulled over by the five former cops for what they said was reckless driving but the video shows no evidence of that numerous videos do show the officers striking punching kicking nickels repeatedly each former officer faces seven charges including second-degree murder and kidnapping and the prosecutors are not closing the door to.

Perhaps even more charges is there a possibility of more charges of course there is uh the generals and my boss has been you know extremely clear that this is step one uh today was just the start of the court process as U.S the investigation goes on all right NBC's Juan Venegas is in Memphis for us and gwat prosecutors.

Today suggested that there may be a bigger cultural issue at work here right inside the Memphis Police Department now the culture inside that department uh Tom uh what the district attorney was talking about today was specifically the the special unit that these former officers belong to the Scorpion unit that has now been a permanently.

Deactivated by the Memphis Police Department and the district attorney has spoken about this in the past and he did mention today what could be a lack of supervision for these special units and this is what uh the Scorpion unit has been heavily criticized for the way they operated that night the fact that they weren't supervised properly here's the.

District attorney speaking on camera earlier today foreign about an overall culture that needs to be Revisited and I think it really opens up the need for a broader conversation about police reform.

Now when he says it opens up a broader conversation he also made reference to these units that exist in police departments across the country saying that sometimes they are overly aggressive and again bringing up that lack of supervision we know that here in Memphis the police department as I mentioned decided to permanently.

Deactivate that scorpion unit a unit that those officers belong to Tom yeah we're also hearing from the lawyers for the former cops so what are they saying all right so uh one of the attorneys uh for tadarius bean uh spoke to the media today after the short hearing as he walked out some people were yelling.

Things at him and essentially what he wanted specifically it seemed uh is for the public to look at his client to Darius being one of these five former officers to look at him and separate him from the other officers his argument is that his client was just doing his job uh here's the attorney speaking on camera to our colleague Priscilla.

Thompson foreign does he regret any of his actions that night well you probably regrets being a Memphis police officer on that night because had he not been he wouldn't have been called to do his job the attorney very being very careful.

With his words um he also said that at this point uh he has not received any definitive information as to the cause of death of Tyree Nichols I should also mention that the family's attorney that spoke after the hearing also said that the family is waiting for the autopsy report and when they received this information they do plan to move forward.

With a civil case as well the next court hearing for the five former officers here has been scheduled for May 1st Tom okay guad keep us updated thank you guavanegas who's in Memphis NBC News is confirming late this afternoon that the alleged Chinese spy balloon was in fact launched from Hainan island in the South China Sea inan Island is an important.

Hub for China's military with a large submarine base and a space support there vice president Kamala Harris earlier today said the balloon incident was not helpful to U.S China relations she was addressing concerns over President Biden's decision to shoot down that alleged by a balloon earlier this month telling our own Andrea Mitchell in this.

Exclusive interview that even without an official policy the balloon had to come down we shot it down because it needed to be shot down because we were confident that it was used by China to to spy on the American people well China continues to push back saying the Biden Administration needs to work.

With China to manage the incident NBC's Janice Mackey Frayer joins us now from Hainan island where U.S officials say that's by balloon uh was launched uh Janus the U.S was tracking the Chinese balloons starting where you are and there's reporting that the balloons track over the U.S may have been a mistake leading to this International.

Crisis what can you tell us well there are still a lot of unanswered questions about what this Chinese balloon was doing why it was on the course that it was when it got caught up in the strong winds and uh got dragged into American airspace what we do know is that the balloon took off from here I'm on Hainan island in the South China.

Sea satellite images show the balloon launch site it's set back from the coast we went to see the site it's uh behind secure fencing obviously and a sign that marks it as a military zone now what U.S officials believe is that once the balloon took off from here they tracked it uh possibly over military bases on Guam and Hawaii before it continued on.

Its now Infamous course the U.S has concluded its recovery of debris off the coast of South Carolina the FBI now analyzing the sensors and antennas and other pieces of technology to see if they hold Clues as to what this balloon was up to China maintains that this was a civilian Airship that it was gathering weather data and that it was not for.

Military use but again a lot of questions still need to be answered uh as this investigation presses on Tom well President Biden and vice president Harris both saying that the shoot down was appropriate the Chinese government planed it down as you said any chance at all do you see of the U.S the president and president XI coming together to talk.

Or at least have a phone call well the the two men do have what they describe as a more personal relationship that said there is a very uh wide Gap in understanding on this issue and the the level of mistrust has definitely been on the rise uh initially when the balloon was identified by China as being owned by China China Express expressed regret.

Uh saying that it was Force Major that it was caught up in these strong winds that tone uh has now changed very sharply uh there are a lot of accusations they accuse the U.S of uh escalating the dispute unnecessarily of overreacting of being quote trigger happy uh they're threatening to uh have counter measures against U.S sanctions.

And as well China is accusing the U.S of flying its own high altitude balloons in Chinese airspace in including over xinjiang and Tibet so there seems to be a lot of space between these two sides and it's unclear when they will actually speak again Tom early morning there on Hainan island Janice thank you very much we appreciate it all right now to East.

Palestine Ohio where residents are just plain scared they've got a lot of questions since that train derailment and toxic chemical release two weeks ago now the state says the feds are helping to set up a medical clinic to address any health concerns we want them to be able to answer the residents questions evaluate symptoms.

Provide their medical expertise will also have access to the best experts in the world in regard to chemical exposures all right well the Ohio governor also stressing that the Municipal Water municipal water is safe to drink after testing but anyone who relies on private well water should keep using bottled.

Water for now for just in case NBC's George Solis joins us now from East Palestine all right George do people there believe the governor when he says that the water or the air are safe or are they skeptical yeah time people are still skeptical and part of that is some of that mixed messaging people that you know are using.

City water versus those that are on well water you heard the governor there say look people that are on City Water we've tested it we've retested it it is fine those are on well water at an abundance of caution you should still be using that bottled water earlier this afternoon I spoke with the mayor of the Town who said look I I'm drinking the.

Water he even had a taste test to prove that the water is safe but still people aren't just concerned about the immediate threat to their waterways and their airways they're worried about what may happen five ten years down the road talk to one resident I want you to take a listen to what she told me health-wise cancer I mean is this going.

To be a big cancer cluster I in five to ten years why walk my daughter down the aisle will I see her get married what's gonna happen that fear is very real here Tom boy you can certainly understand her sentiment there now Governor dewine says the disaster does not qualify for FEMA.

Assistance but the EPA is on the scene who's leading the cleanup operation right now is this the state is it the feds is it a joint operation right now the cleanup is falling in the hands of Norfolk Southern that's what the expectation is they will be here to do all of that Cleanup in tandem with some of the federal agencies that are on.

The ground here the EPA doing that air monitoring the soil monitoring one thing that Governor dewine said look we may not qualify for FEMA assistance but we are filing that paperwork right now so should there come a time where the train operator stops paying out which the expectation is they will pay for 100 of this we at least have that documented.

And the people will not be left without anyone to pick up the bill Tom all right George thank you George Solis who's there on the scene for us all right it is now up to Alec Murdoch's defense team to convince the jury that he is not guilty of killing his wife and son and they're hitting the ground running with their first witness late today minutes.

After the state rested prosecutors took three and a half weeks called more than 60 Witnesses and what locals say is the trial of the century down south and the state saved a big detailed data dump for last a South Carolina special agent walked the jury through an extraordinary timeline down to the second of Murdoch's movements including new details about.

His car it provides the jurors with a mental image of Murdoch speeding down a country road filled with potholes doing 80 miles an hour and what happened when he got to the scene what if anything in his statements to law enforcement that the defendant say about what he did when he arrived at the scene the defendant stated that he went.

And checked on Paul and Maggie to check the bodies and from the moment the Suburban arrived at the kennels how long did they take for that 9-1-1 call to be made less than 20 seconds over these last two days the jury has heard a lot about the alleged suicide for higher plot tied to an apparent.

Insurance scheme by Murdoch back in September of 21. prosecutors say it ties into a motive because of the 100 plus Financial crimes he's been accused of Murdoch says he's innocent NBC's Lindsey Reiser has been following the trial all right we're going to get to the state ending its case in a sec but walk us through now how the defense is kicking.

Off the argument here well Tommy first called the County coroner who testified that he determined the length of time Paul and Maggie have been dead when he arrived to the scene of the crime by feeling their armpits and approximating that time of death based on how warm they felt he notes he approximated the time of death was around 9pm using his.

Hand not a thermometer the defense here tried to show that because of more accurate tool like a thermometer wasn't used they can't determine a time of death and therefore Paul and Maggie could have been killed after 908 PM that's when Alex Suburban is placed in the area using vehicle data Tom all right so let's talk about the the.

Data dump we were discussing from the state on its last day it includes this never before seen data from Murdoch's own car that the feds or the prosecutors say pokes holes in The Alibi right well it really paints arguably the clearest most definitive picture yet of the night and it calls into question Alex own timeline that he's given investigators.

So let's show you some of this GM OnStar data from Alex vehicle that the prosecution themselves just got just days ago so again 908 around the timer right after investigators say the murders occurred the data places his Suburban right around the area where Maggie's cell phone was found the next morning then the vehicle is going 68 70.

Miles an hour to his mom's house stays there roughly 21 minutes that's less than half the amount of time Alec told investigators he was there the vehicle is then back of the kennels for less than 20 seconds as we just heard before Alec calls 9-1-1 remember he told authorities he had taken the time to check their pulses and the prosecution.

Time also showed cell phone data suggesting Maggie and Paul's phones were tampered with and that calls and texts to Maggie from Alec were deleted from Alex phone records for example he'd sent her a text asking her when she'd be home and the prosecution also showed that a couple weeks prior to the murders Paul his son was concerned about Alex pill.

Usage so in their cross the defense brought up the fact that investigators made that drive to Alex mother's house from the Murdoch property in about the same amount of time essentially implying Alec wasn't in this rush or Panic that night like the data suggests and the defense also tried to show that it was normal for Alec to be using his cell.

Phone constantly even after he discovered the bodies not only calling 9-1-1 but also calling and texting numerous people even his son's best friend within a few minutes after the discovery the defense says all those calls were normal but the investigator on the stand told the defense those calls were strange Behavior listen.

As an investigator I think that would be very odd given the scene and the whole situation that you're on the phone constantly yes I am standing over my son and wife and just witnessing that for the first time I would think that would be to have someone on their phone constantly like that I'd be in a State.

Of Shock if that was me personally strong data driven day for the prosecution now the defense will have their chance on Tuesday Tom and then it begins Lindsey reitzer thank you very much all right vice president Kamala Harris is meeting with world leaders today in Germany where much of the focus really all of the focus today has been.

On Ukraine president zielinski asked his Western counterparts for additional Military Support as fast as possible as his country braces for Russia's ongoing new offensive there is no alternative to speed because it is the spirit that the life depends on delay has always been and still is a.

Mystique after zielinski's speech Harris met with German Chancellor Olaf Schultz as well as the French President Emmanuel macron to discuss their continued support for Ukraine Harris is scheduled to give a speech at the conference tomorrow NBC's foreign Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell is in.

Munich for us so uh we are also going to speak with NBC's Chief International correspondent Kira Simmons he's in Moscow Andrea to you first you sat down with the vice president today uh did she give you any indication about what her speech tomorrow might be about and whether she expects the American people to continue their support for Ukraine as.

The war heads into its second year exactly Tom at first to the global support because here it's all about rallying World support the unity of the world NATO of course behind Ukraine and as zelinski said getting that those weapons in now getting the ammo they need the artillery and they need the air defenses because this Russian offensive.

Is already starting and they expect by March it's going to be in full swing so it's life and death for Ukraine but also she's a former prosecutor and she's emphasizing a big focus of this conference is the war crimes this is to get the world together behind a regime for prosecuting Ukraine is providing the evidence in real time because as Russia.

Retreats they are gathering more and more evidence of what Russia has left behind as well as more than six thousand children who've been taken forcibly from orphanages and from their homes from their parents taken to Russia or russia-controlled territory and sent you with so-called re-education camps it's really destroying the Ukrainian culture.

And their children their next generation this is partly what she had to say to me the independence of Ukraine Hal the American people feel about the atrocities we are seeing where a woman who was at a maternity hospital preparing to give birth was slaughtered I know the American people.

Feel a sense of moral outrage and a sense of responsibility for our nation to stand with the Ukrainian people we expect that the president is going to be announcing billions more for Ukraine when he goes to Poland next week right there on the border and that of course marking the anniversary just a year ago.

Zielinski came here in person defying U.S warnings that it was at that point days before the war started dangerous for him to fly and risk being shot down he had of course a U.S plane and escorts to get him back and forth but this time he's staying on home turf given the fact that the anniversary is coming but the support for the war is slipping back.

Home in polls there's a very large the largest ever bipartisan delegation here 60 members of Congress House and Senate both parties supporting the war Lindsey Graham and others from the Republicans but the house caucus Matt Gates and others back home are expressing concern the speaker is not here and that's the question now going into an election year.

Possibility of the economy downturn is the American people are the American people going to support it already that support is slipping for the billions for Ukraine and that's part of what's Happening Happening Here the speaker of the house is not there in Munich all right Andrea thank you very much we'll say goodbye to you late night even later.

In Moscow cure Simmons is in Moscow for us and cure a lot of reporting that Russia's new offensive is already underway but it's going rather badly we hear Putin clearly didn't expect this war to go so long it sounds as if uh he is committed though to keeping us going to the the very very end until Russia wins no matter the cost.

I'm not sure that he has any other choice Tom certainly you're right this year has not gone the way President Putin would have hoped this war has lasted far longer than he imagined it would he hoped weeks maybe months at best that being said just look behind me we've just been in Moscow now for just a matter of hours a time but look it's 1.

30 in the morning here in Moscow look how busy the roads are behind me the sanctions the utter isolation from the West that has not had the economic impact on Russia that had been perhaps predicted by Sam and all of that is important because Tom as we look ahead to the next year as the anniversary comes next week anyone who tells you.

They know what is going to happen is not being honest with you or they perhaps aren't even being honest with themselves the tectonic plates of international politics are shifting and people's lives are changing let me just give you an example I spoke to a Russian I know here in Moscow when I arrived today and he told me that he got a text message this.

Morning from a friend whose son had just died in Ukraine fighting in Ukraine with the Russians now he said there's obviously Devastation in that family but then he went on to say Tom kid don't jump to the conclusion that that means that that family will now turn away from its support for President Putin or or to turn away to from its support for this.

Russian so-called special military operation he said actually it's just as likely that they will double down on their support for President Putin that they will be furious frankly with ukrainians and I think what that tells us is that uh internationally and certainly between Ukraine and Russia positions are being becoming fixed.

People are digging in not just in trenches but but in diplomacy and and in families and and that tells us that it's very possible that in a year's time I will be standing here again talking about this ongoing conflict time and we should make the point that uh the Kremlin controls most of the media there in Russia and what is heard Akira thank.

You very much stay safe in Moscow thank you coming up we've got some breaking news out of Mississippi what we're learning about the series of shootings that have left at least six people dead yet another mass murder plus a senior Isis leader has been killed in Syria more details on the U.S military raid coming up in five things.

Foreign we're back Florida Governor Ronda Sanchez is not even officially running for president but there are a few polls showing him as a co-front runner with Donald Trump take a look at this Monmouth poll that shows to Santa's leading Trump among all Republicans in a.

Hypothetical head-on 53-40 and the Quinnipiac poll showing him just behind Trump but way ahead of Nikki Haley who is actually officially running it is super early in the race for a president already NBC's John Allen joining us now all right John you know the former Wisconsin governor Scott Kelly Scott Walker rather told NBC news today that.

DeSantis is probably in a better spot right now than he was when he was taking on Trump back in 2016. however is it really generally a good position to be in to be seen as a front runner this early on there's always some concern about peaking too early because we've seen a lot of candidates do that Scott Walker is one of them remember Michelle.

Bachmann at one point was a republican front runner at the same time if you're DeSantis and you're looking at a field that could be 14 15 people sitting there at 36 percent in the one pole or 53 in the other poll is a good indication that uh most Republicans know who you are which is the biggest challenge for any presidential candidate to get Name ID to.

Start with he's in a really good position right now the question is can he maintain that position while he's governor of Florida not an announced candidate and Nikki Haley despite having been in the Trump Administration doesn't have the same name recognition um the sand is expected to go to Chicago we understand on Monday speaking to a.

Police Union uh that Governor that States governor has said that he is not happy about the Santa showing up because of his dangerous and hateful agenda that is no place in Illinois and the sentence is bad-mouthed Illinois and Chicago a lot over the last year so what is he hoping to accomplish in Chicago it's very much true that Ron desantis's uh.

Views of the world do not match up uh with the majority of the electorate in Illinois however Ron DeSantis does match up well with some of those police officers he's going to be speaking to to it matches up well with donors in Chicago Ken Griffin in particular the big donor who is expected to put a ton of money billionaire put a ton of money.

Into DeSantis and then in addition to that Illinois a huge primary state for Republicans a lot of delegates available so there are good reasons for Ron DeSantis to go to Chicago uh even uh before a presidential campaign to kind of lay the groundwork for those things real quickly does he have the big personality that you would need to take.

On Trump and your view I mean it's a question it's the big outstanding question about him when he was in Washington as a member of Congress it's kind of a back bencher uh not well known not particularly well liked among his colleagues uh you know he doesn't have that Trump Charisma but maybe something a little bit inside of that Trump.

Charisma something a little less uh Brash and bold and uh and an outrageous frankly uh is is something Republican voters will be looking for we'll see John thank you very much all right we want to get you now over to the five things that our team thinks you should probably know about tonight number one breaking news out of Mississippi six.

People are dead and a suspect is in custody after a series of shootings near the state's border with Tennessee this afternoon police say the shootings happen at several locations and that the suspect is now in custody no word on a possible motive number two the U.S has killed a senior Isis leader in an overnight helicopter raid in Syria four.

U.S service members on a working dog were wounded in an explosion during the raid all four plus the dog are expected to recover number three three more people have been rescued in Turkey 11 days after the earthquake first struck but over in Syria International a groups say many in Rebel controlled areas of the country have been shut off from.

Rescue efforts more than 43 000 people have died number four looks like the man called the truth was caught in a bit of a lie NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce has to pay a 1.1 million dollar penalty to the SEC for unlawfully promoting cryptocurrency Piers touted Aretha Max tokens on Twitter but he did not disclose that he was also being paid.

In those so-called tokens to do so number five a new sleep study is showing that people may actually need more sleep during the winter months you've heard of REM sleep that's the part of the Sleep Cycle where you dreamed scientists found that lasts about 30 minutes longer in winter so there you go you have a good excuse to sleep in this month.

When we come back it turns out a lot of Fox News biggest stars privately were trashing former president Trump's false election claims even while they were promoting them on the air what we're learning from the newly unsealed court documents coming up next we're back and prominent hosts and.

Executives at Fox News apparently were agonizing behind the scenes while allies of Donald Trump promoted false conspiracy theories on the air about the 2020 election that according to a new court filing the filing is part of a 1.6 billion with a B billion dollar defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion voting systems NBC's Kelly O'Donnell has.

The story this is a legal drama that exposes one's private views of powerful figures at Fox News who according to a court filing rejected and ridiculed false claims made by then president Donald Trump and his allies about a stolen election but continued to promote and Stoke those election lies to their cable news.

Audience their allegations that their machines caused thousands of votes in one Michigan County to be switched from Donald Trump to Joe Biden but internal conversations texts and testimony in new court filings reveal that some of Fox's biggest names knew the claims were bogus part of a 1.6 billion dollar defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion voting.

Systems against Fox News and its parent company remember Trump lawyer Cindy Powell we have evidence of how they flip the votes how it was designed to flip the votes days after the election fox star Tucker Carlson wrote to his producer Sydney Powell is lying host Laura Ingram to Carlson and Sean Hannity Sydney Powell is a bit nuts sorry but.

She is fox's powerful founder and chairman Rupert Murdoch wrote to a top executive denouncing Powell's voting machine conspiracy theory as really crazy stuff the behind the scenes mockery also targeted Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani there's no question about that their machines can be hacked Fox's top-rated Sean Hannity wrote Giuliani is.

Acting like an insane person while Ingram remarked such an idiot dominance lawyers say that not a single Fox witness testified that they believe any of the allegations about Dominion are true while Fox responded there will be a lot of noise and confusion but the core of this case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of speech.

And this is Kelly O'Donnell is here with us in studio okay so that gets to the whole point right this is clear evidence that the Fox News team apparently knew this was all a big lie and yet they were going with it I don't know in the name of money you and I labor over every word we say if we get one word wrong we feel sick to our.

Stomach and yet they allegedly were repeating these lies that they knew were lies well as journalists you have some protections under the Constitution you can report on controversial things sure and that is in the public interest but if you knowingly report on things that are false there's this issue of malice neither one of us are lawyers but if you.

Knowingly report on that you can be held accountable for that and so that's part of what will be tested in this case Dominion believes that because through Discovery that's how they gathered all of this they got the text messages they got the internal Communications they got things that we would typically never see in real time they peeled back the veil.

On what was happening at Fox News and the days after the election and they learned things that we really had never heard before because it was in such stark contrast to what was happening on the air for Fox News and the viewers who believe them and so this will be litigated in court certainly Dominion says its brand has been damaged its.

Brand has been hurt badly and so has the public and so this is what will play out in court it's due to go to trial in April and it's a very different experience than what you and I uh deal with day to day where we in fact have our lawyers teams and so forth who review the work that we do so this is important for the public to know what.

Was being said at the time and what where is truth and where are lies can we underscore that every single word that you and I script that you and I say on the air is reviewed uh by NBC News legal and standards and it is it is you just don't go on the air and say stuff that you know not to be true let's bring in NBC's uh Danny savellis who of course is.

Our legal analyst all right let's cut right to the chase here Danny Dominion is saying that they were defamed by Fox their reputation was ruined and then Fox turned this around to claim a First Amendment right um does the First Amendment allow you to knowingly go on the air and and to fame somebody and then claim first amendment.

Protection yeah first you talked about just a second ago about everything you say is scripted checked carefully but I'm a guest and nothing I say is scripted I could say something insane right now and the reason I bring that up is it goes right to the First Amendment defense which is is a journalist participating in the defamation if they.

Knowingly have someone on like me who says something crazy and that is not whether or not they believe what that person says or even believes that person is crazy are they reporting on it and just putting that person out there because it's something of interest and it's newsworthy it's a tricky we will understood but we will not put people on.

The air who we know are are spilling Lies We simply don't do it it's against NBC News standards exactly right you're getting to the First Amendment issue that will be at the core of this case on the one hand does the First Amendment protect journalists who say well we may not believe what this person is saying but it's so newsworthy that it's worth.

Putting them on the air and we'll let the public figure it out or by putting that person on and knowing that what they're saying is false are they in essence adopting what that person is saying and then participating in the defamation themselves it's a tricky legal issue and one that has to be litigated.

We will all be watching this one very very closely and a lots at stake and a lot of money is at stake uh Danny thank you very much Kelly's already left but thank you to both still to come remember that horrific case that we told you about where an Alabama man was allegedly left naked on a concrete floor in a jail cell his family is calling it one of the.

Most appalling cases of jail abuse now the FBI says they are going to get involved so stay with us foreign the FBI is joining the investigation into the death of an Alabama man after he was allegedly left naked on a concrete floor in a jail for days Tony Mitchell died at the hospital hours.

After leaving a jail just outside of Birmingham last month his mother alleges he froze to death in a lawsuit that she's filed she is seeking leaked camera surveillance video of his time in custody that she says contradicted what county officials told her we're going to show you some of that just in a moment but a warning it is rather disturbing.

All right here he is being carried by guards to a car to take him to the hospital the sheriff's department is declining to comment now the Alabama attorney's General's office confirming that the FBI is in fact investigating the allegations along with the Alabama enforcement agency law enforcement agency the AG's office says it'll make.

Sure any appropriate action is taken we bring in now NBC's Morgan chesky all right Morgan the FBI is involved in this what kind of things could they be looking at yeah Tom they're going to be looking at what happened specifically from January 12th until January 26th that is the day officials say Anthony Mitchell died you.

Referenced that video that was taken on January 26th he was admitted on January 12th following a phone call from his own family Tom a welfare check afraid that he could hurt himself or be a danger to others that's when law enforcement initially took him into custody what happened inside that time span between the 12th and the 26th the federal.

Investigators are absolutely going to be keying in on as well as that video that the family says was leaked to them by a worker inside that jail allegedly capturing the mistreatment of this 33 year old man who the family says was left naked for an extended period of time on these cold cement floors and contained within this lawsuit the family.

Goes on to say that workers gathered around the entrance of his cell looked down on him as he apparently died of hypothermia Tom all right so what do we know about the cause of death or when will we know that officially right well this is still of course under investigation we do know according to the family's lawsuit that a doctor that.

Saw him upon arrival at that hospital in fact we have his verbatim here the internal temperature recorded for this man was 72 degrees while someone incarcerated is in jail is incarcerated in jail and the doctor does believe that hypothermia was the ultimate cause of his death I should say that the coroner has yet to release their autopsy results.

But that is from the Doctor Who has been working in conjunction with the family and I should add here Tom that a separate lawsuit has been filed against the jail here by the worker who allegedly released this video claiming that she was wrongfully terminated as a result of being a whistleblower in this case Tom interesting all right Morgan.

Thank you Morgan chesky reporting for us there all right you'll be forgiven if you uh think that this report come meet up now is right out of the 1920s the labor department says it has found more than 100 children working dangerous jobs cleaning slaughter houses across the country and what it calls a corporate wide failure the agency says one of the.

Largest food Sanitation Company packing start again sanitation companies called Packer Sanitation Services employed children from 13 to 17 years old working overnight shifts handling dangerous chemicals and cleaning meat processing equipment the company allegedly employed the miners at 13 facilities you see in this map here across eight states these.

Are some of the country's largest meat and poultry producers NBC's Julia Ainsley has been covering this story for us all right the company has already agreed to as I understand it a 1.5 million dollar fine is that right any other fines likely any other punishments likely not that we know now Department of Labor said today that this does not.

Preclude possible criminal charges of course that would come for from the justice department but I actually just got back from Nebraska from this very town today and Advocates that I spoke to there who are representing the children say 1.5 million is a drop in the bucket they want to see big changes for this company because they say this was a.

Systemic issue where they really profited off of vulnerable populations including migrant children in this case most of the children were immigrants and undocumented immigrants who were coming in working for far less money than what they would pay documented Americans and they say it's not really cleaning is a euphemism here what they're doing.

They're working with hot water dangerous chemicals some children showing up to school with burns on their hands that's been documented in police reports they sound vulnerable I mean if you're talking about immigrant immigrant children probably don't speak the language very well and it does sound like something right out of the 1920s or.

Is human trafficking involved here it's hard to believe it and now we do know from DHS officials that have spoken to that human trafficking is being investigated we still don't know how so many of these children and many of them from Central America ended up in Grand Island Nebraska in the first place or and now what we understand are many.

States across the Midwest that use child labor to do this Services now pssi the company said they didn't know that these were children they used false identification they thought they were adults so people I've spoken to who know the children say a 13 year old does not pass as an 18 year old yeah that seems hard to believe a 13 year old would pass.

As an adult Julia thank you stay on it thank you okay uh coming up next NBC covering hundreds of stories each day and because you can't possibly read watch or listen to all of them our Bureau teams have done it all for you so this is what they tell us is going down in their regions it's a segment we call the local from our West Coast Bureau a.

Suspect to a police belief shot two Jewish men in L.A over the past two days has been charged with two Federal hate crimes both victims were shot shortly after leaving a synagogue prosecutors say the suspect has a history of anti-Semitism and has confessed one of the victims is already out of the hospital the other we are told it's in.

Stable condition from our East Coast Bureau JFK airport is canceling all flights out of its Terminal 1 International Terminal for a second straight day after an electrical fire it was put out on Thursday night but the airport warns the shutdown could last until late afternoon tomorrow the travel Horror Story of the day listen to this.

One flight heading to JFK from New Zealand spent 16 hours in the air had to turn around halfway through eight hours in go back to Auckland another eight hours imagine that from our Southern Bureau a blast in a sky Over Texas Wednesday night was a meteorite strike police have confirmed that folks in the area called 9-1-1 to report explosions.

It shook the walls of their homes listen to this foreign yep that sounds like an explosion NASA says the two foot wide meteorite likely weighed about a thousand pounds coming up a really special and very personal look at part of our country's history that some folks may not remember.

In tonight's backstory our own Emily aqueda has the story of how Japanese Americans imprisoned here at home during the war are now being honored stay with us foreign time to turn up the volume here it's time to get to our back story our behind the scenes look at how a story comes.

Together and how it really fits into our bigger picture Sunday will Mark 81 years since then President Roosevelt signed an executive order that led to the internment of tens of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II that were held in camps it's a story that's personal for our own Emily aqueda she explains how she sat down with one.

Man whose mission was to document all of the names of those who were taken prisoner foreign lit room surrounded by little jars of soil from places like manzanar amachi and Poston hey we're looking for Kei hachiro sits the ericho meaning a book to console the spirits but there's no.

Prologue chapters not even a single sentence it's one thousand Pages simply of names more than 125 000 of them representing those incarcerated during World War II because of their Japanese Heritage in researching the story and trying to track down pictures it actually proved to be a little bit more difficult of a process than we're used.

To because documentation from Life inside the camps was really quite limited especially when you consider initially people weren't allowed to bring in cameras but in these pictures that do exist what really strikes me is the perseverance of spirit in really a terrible situation games of basketball playing out even maybe it's a pageant.

Being held on site a game of baseball before the airatro it was not known exactly how many Japanese Americans were ripped from their home homes and forced into what are widely known as internment camps a wrong USC Professor Duncan you can Williams and his team of researchers set out to write from Camp rosters and transfer lists in the National Archives.

To individual index cars from the Department of Justice and FBI they scoured records over the past three years what inspired you to pursue creating this book the idea of giving back people's names giving them individuality again in a way that their personhood wasn't acknowledged by the US government back in World War II with a.

Handful of interviews throughout the day the crew arrived before Dawn to begin unloading what you can see is an elaborate setup in multiple locations it was important for us to have the camera set before visitors started to arrive especially in the room with the array show we wanted to be flies on the wall interfere as little as possible with.

People's experience when they come to stamp their names reservations are book solid for months oh so significant which is how we arranged to connect with riko iwanaga who was imprisoned at amachi in Colorado what is it like to see your own name in the book it's an acknowledgment of what happened especially to see the parents names.

It's all very concrete to see it like this her daughter Maya by her side Maya you joined your mom for this experience today why was it important for you to be with her to stamp the names of your family in this book I think this book is so incredibly powerful because it's a tangible representation of what her generation in the generation before went.

Through it was super emotional turning that corner even the book's location has significance as we discovered in researching this story The Very block where thousands boarded buses for camps 81 years ago is now home to the sacred book of names on display here at the Japanese American national museum until.

October Seymour the journey to see the Euro and tell it story is also a personal one my own family was incarcerated in 1942. my grandparents just seven years old at the time so we first entered a place called Salinas Assembly Center but it wasn't until I sat down with my grandfather or.

Jichon in Japanese for a school project that I began to understand the weight of such an injustice I interviewed him for four hours the guard most immediate get away from the fence this with this gun and I just curious because by looking through the fence I could see our Old Farm you could see that road right through the barbed wire fence so I.

Always question why I was in this internment camp we paged through the Rachel to find my family members names my great aunt shiz grandmother Aiko and more okay so this is fumio Norman iquetta fumio is my grandfather's brother other so they were very young in the camps actually when he was in the Assembly Center he dislocated his hip.

Falling going up into the barracks and he was denied care for months and so now he still has a limp to this day he suffered permanent damage because of it eventually we turned to the year 1934 to find my grandfather Bungie Albert Ikea quickly taken aback by a wave of emotion he's since passed so it's so meaningful to get to stamp his name I just know.

This would be in all I stamped 12 names in the aracho and could have marked more but wanted to be cognizant of the Museum's time and other reservations Hali hayataka traveled all the way from Honolulu what was the experience like for you marking a stamp senior family members names in the era show it was great because I know.

That there will be remembered and it's going to be in writing and my stamp will be there each stamp a powerful Mark of permanence on a page of history that should never be erased um uh Emily joins us now Emily I have dear Japanese American friends in Colorado whose parents were in those camps in Colorado it is such an.

Outrageous Injustice even 81 years later how does this impact you seeing your family name in that book and your grandfather who you love so much Tom you can think that has touched me so deeply it's rare opportunities like this where our coverage our reporting is so deeply intertwined with our personal lives I.

Normally the people we're speaking with are asking them to be raw and forthcoming and suddenly I found myself in that situation and while certainly it's been an emotional process it has been an incredibly meaningful one something that I know my grandfather and my jichon would just be so proud of and uh would have uh just.

So much feeling and it would resonate so deeply with him in seeing the creation of this project I should note that the Erasure will be on display in Los Angeles until October anyone can stamp the book acknowledge these names not just Japanese Americans their goal is to have every single name in this book all 125 284 names with a stamp of.

Acknowledgment you know you talked about perseverance in that piece and uh that's exactly what these people did persevered while unturned and then they came out of the camps and they persevered and succeeded and built on the American dream yeah absolutely the perseverance of spirit was just absolutely so evident and I.

Think it also serves the service that's just such an important reminder to to teach history like this to prevent something like this from happening ever again Tom Emily that's great reporting and very personal thank you very much more in Emily's story tonight at 6 30 on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt that's a.

Wrap for us on this hour We're going to have much more on Monday same time same place the news continues right now thanks for watching our YouTube channel follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the NBC News app

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