[Music] tonight the chaos erupting in South Korea a major US Ally after the country's president declared martial law violent clashes breaking out between protesters and troops helicopters flying over Parliament after the president's surprise TV announcement declaring martial law accusing his political foes of sympathizing with North Korea but hours later the president backing down our live report just ahead also tonight another massive pile up involving cars and semis as Lake Effect fact snow pounds the great lakes and Northeast a train slamming a semi TR in the slush and the new snow threat after several feet have
already fallen President elect Trump agreeing to allow the FBI to begin background checks on his staff picks also the growing skepticism among Republicans over whether Mr Trump's pick for defense secretary will be confirmed and our new reporting the concerns among his former Fox News colleagues about his alleged alcohol use new details about that stow away who bordered a flight from JFK to Paris how she was allegedly able to sneak past critical parts of security at one of the country's busiest airports our underwater Journey with the endangered otter guarding the so-called redwoods of the Sea and
the one-of-a-kind Pharmacy that dispenses prescriptions for the soul this is NBC Nightly News with Lester h good evening and welcome us officials tonight watching with great concern as a serious crisis rapidly engulfs one of America's most loyal and strategically important Allies tonight South Korea on edge its National Assembly surrounded by protesters where there were clashes with security forces after the country's president declared martial law and mobilized the military citing the threat of anti-state forces and threats from neighboring North Korea opposition lawmakers moving quick to lift martial law but not before the government announced a ban
of all political activities and declared media and Publications would be subject to government control the crisis catching the US with 30,000 troops stationed there off guard NBC's Beijing base correspondent Janice Macky fryer joins us now Janice the president's move really came as a surprise that's right Lester after an extraordinary night president Yun is now facing calls for his impeachment while the White House just said it's relieved he's reversed course after declaring martial law tonight dramatic scenes of Chaos in South Korea one of America's key allies protesters scuffled with police outside the National Assembly Building some
windows shattered and helicopters flying overhead after president yunak Yol declared martial law aimed at stopping what he called North Korean anti-state forces in the government only hours later being forced to revoke it when opposition lawmakers held an emergency vote to defy the president and scrap marshal law some of them scaling fences to get back inside for it outside the parliament protesters pushing against armored vehicles while inside furniture piled high to keep soldiers out the US announced they had no warning of yun's plan in a country where nearly 30,000 American troops are stationed we are watching
the recent developments in the r with grave concern we are uh seeking to engage with our Republic of Korea counterparts at every level in an interview with Lester last year president Yun warned the North Korean threat was growing do you think that the US is paying enough attention to deterring a North Korean attack on the south yes definitely since my inauguration we're continuing our consultations with the United States yun's future now uncertain Janice Mike frer NBC news here at home millions are still feeling the effects of that Lake Effect snowstorm especially on snow covered roads
now another storm is in the forecast Ain mcglaughlin is in Eerie Pennsylvania for us tonight a white out in Eerie Pennsylvania and dangerous driving conditions I90 was shut down when low visibility caused four trunks to slide off the road according to County officials there were no reported injuries not far away there was a close call yesterday new video captures the harrowing moment a trailer truck became stuck in the slush over train tracks he's not going to stop oh man a freight train unable to stop plows into the side of the truck holy hell police say
thankfully the driver jumped out prior to impact and is fine tonight from New York to Pennsylvania there's been so much snow roofs are collapsing under the weight of it in Eerie this morning it was a loud bam it scared my sister the owners of Sparkle Clean Car Care tell NBC news they were supposed to be at work right around the time this happened Cadence Denning lives across the street you have a lot of snow on your roof are you worried yeah I am it started to get us worried since last Friday the region has been
measuring snowfall in feet not inches the plow drivers of Pennsylvania say they've had enough when you see snow like this what goes through your mind more work you might have to be out all night there snow coming down like this tonight up and down the East Coast millions are feeling the freeze with temps 10 to 20° below average here in the Northeast they're bracing for a Clipper storm set to strike on Thursday meanwhile as you can see Lester the snow's still coming down okay Aaron thank you tonight there are new warning signs at Pete heth's
path to nomination as defense secretary may be in jeopardy with Senate Republicans it comes as we have new reporting involving allegations about his drinking from former colleagues at Fox News claims the Trump transition team is strongly denying tonight Garrett H has late details tonight president-elect Trump's pick for defense secretary Pete Heth facing growing skepticism of his chances for confirmation amid damaging news reports do you need to address the questions about your character that been raised in these report and now 10 current former Fox News employees who worked with heith who hosted one of the Network's
morning shows telling NBC news that he drank in ways that concerned them to saying that on more than a dozen occasions they smelled alcohol on him before he went on air quote everyone would be talking about it behind the scenes one of the former Fox News employees said he should not be Secretary of Defense another former Fox News employee said his drinking should be disqualifying a trump transition spokesperson calling the allegations disgusting completely unfounded and false an attorney for heg referring us to the transition statement Fox News did not respond Mr Heth so many of
these stories about you have involved alcohol do you have a drinking problem sir Now NBC News has learned as many as six GOP senators are not comfortable supporting hegets nomination according to multiple Republicans with direct knowledge of the nomination process Heth can only afford to lose the support of three Republicans if all Democrats vote no the Articles up yeah some concerning I don't know if it's true or not but he'll go through the process he'll be asked about it we'll see what happens there are questions that some members have and um we're going to be
working for an answer are you among the members who have questions well I'm looking to be supported but no Republican senator has publicly said they will oppose hegf who's also a decorated combat veteran I think they've got a really good shot of getting them all through meanwhile late tonight another Trump pick abruptly pulled his name from consideration Chad chronister the sheriff in Hillsboro County Florida withdrawing his selection for administrator of The Drug Enforcement Administration posting quote over the past several days as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in I've concluded that I must
respectfully withdraw from consideration and Gareth the Trump team has also now reached an agreement with the justice department for an FBI background check of nominees yeah that's right Lester it's called a memorandum of understanding and some Republican Senators had been urging the Trump transition to sign worri that not getting these checks done in a timely fashion could delay confirmations or lead to unwelcome surprises just before hearings get started Lester Garett he thank you also tonight we're learning more about that stowaway and how she was able to get through airport security in New York and board
a flight to Paris without a ticket Stephanie gos reports tonight new details about the woman who allegedly snuck on board a Delta flight to Paris from New York's JFK Airport over the holiday that's compl different name passenger gyam Dooku shot this video that he says shows her being questioned when the flight landed she ended up pulling out this pass and give and gave it to the flight attendant and it was just not a boarding pass French border police say she did not have valid travel documents and was detained a source familiar with the matter says
Saturday night she was put on a return flight to JFK please help him United States broke my leg Gary Trier was on that plane with his family something triggered her to start being uh uncooperative he says she appeared to be Russian and middle-aged she was then escorted off the plane days before the woman managed to elude TSA ID checks and gate agents A source with knowledge of the situation tells NBC News she first used a lane reserved for flight Crews and then skirted the standard ID check but she went through a body scanner and voluntarily
removed two bottles of water that officers discovered in her bags eventually sneaking on to the Paris flight where she was ultimately discovered just wait for the police to come on board they may be here now the TSA says she was not carrying any prohibited items and did not pose a security threat Jerry faen is a former TSA director how surprised are you that she was able to actually end up on that plane without being stopped yeah that's I'm I'm very shocked we didn't catch her even boarding on the aircraft itself and how uh that happened
it's beyond my comprehension frankly and Seanie this story has us all thinking about the numerous checkpoints to get on an international flight what is Delta Airline saying about this well the airline won't comment on the gate check but it is doing an exhaustive investigation meanwhile multiple authorities Lester are looking at footage trying to determine what happened that day okay Stephanie thank you let's turn to what officials are describing as a sweeping hacking operation connected to China and impacting nearly all the major US phone companies Americans use hi Jackson explains new details tonight on what's being
called one of the worst cyber hacks in history with Federal officials revealing they've been investigating China for months after hackers compromise the networks of multiple us Communications companies and may still be lurking in the systems of at least some of them FBI and federal cyber security officials say these Chinese government Affiliated hackers managed to steel records intercept some voice calls even penetrate the wiretap system used by the justice department to investigate people suspected of crimes or spying officials say most of the private communication intercepted by the hackers involved people affiliated with the government or politics
but the access to companies like Verizon and AT&T means the communications of nearly every American are vulnerable and now a new warning to be careful what you communicate and use encrypted communication when you can think signal WhatsApp or iMessage those blue text bubbles assign what you're saying is protected is a warning like that Overkill in your view I think it's a good standard hygiene practice for operating in today's modern technology environment you have to be really mindful again about the technology you're using how it's secured the culprits officials say a group called salt typhoon the
same Collective allegedly behind the hacks of the Trump and Harris campaigns before the election a officials even now still trying to understand the scale scope and timeline of this hack we have to understand that the digital connectivity that we all rely on that we benefit from economically can also be used against us for its part China has denied past hacking accusations and last month accused the US of trying to spread disinformation despite what US officials see as a Clear Connection Lester Hy Jackson thanks in 60 seconds guarding against the grinches who steal holiday packages of
that's only getting worse how to protect deliveries after they land at your door coming up after online shopping broke records over the holiday weekend a warning tonight about a growing problem thieves stealing those gifts after they're delivered to your doorstep Christine Roman's now on how to protect your packages porch Pirates stealing your deliveries right at your front door last year 120.5 million packages swiped estimates the security firm safewise Professor Ben stickle studies this growing crime the volume of things that we're having delivered and the value of those things is just skyrocketed and with that comes
more theft often retailers will simply replace or refund a stolen item but they don't have to and at what point is the consumer responsible for that package so who's responsible for package theft really changes a lot in Most states once a package is delivered by a carrier on your property it's considered yours this holiday season a scramble to stay ahead Amazon Prime members can have their packages delivered into their garage or a locker UPS using AI to reroute atrisk shipments to a UPS store and doorbell cameras never more popular but those cameras don't always stop
thieves and according to one survey 25% of people who had a package stolen received no refund Now new types of insurance will cover stolen packages like porch Pals for $120 a year it covers up to three claims $22,000 total its founder James Moore just order away and then when it's liberty your P don't worry about it being stolen don't worry about any of that if it gets stolen we just replace the value of that package and experts say to keep packages safe track your delivery require a signature or pick up from the store rather than
pile up the boxes on the porch Christine Romans NBC News New York up next they're cute they're furry and they are helping Save the Ocean our Voyage into the depths of the Pacific with the sea ERS to save the forest of the sea we're back now their extraordinary underwater Journey with Nature's Guardians Of The Sea who protect one of our nation's Coastal Treasures Gotti Schwarz now with more in our series climate Challenge on a morning like this it is hard to remember that there is an ecological disaster that's happening off the coast of California in
order to show you how bad scotten we're going to take you underneath down here to show you how good it's supposed to be but before we could get in the water just over there family of sea otters we were surrounded by visitors this area is teaming with life once the coast was clear we geared up and descended into one of the most protected natural kelp forests on the west coast it feels so much like we're on a different plan it's like being in a forest up land Dr Josh Smith has been studying this fragile ecosystem
for years everywhere we look so Majestic down here the kelp can grow up to 100 ft tall look at how tall thisp is and suddenly we were making new friends absolutely incredible just incredible but here the real stars of the ecosystem are the elusive sea otter a recent study by the montere Bay Aquarium reviewing historical records found that those OTS have been a Cornerstone to protecting the environment and in the Central Coast they've been working overtime to try to protect the kelp forests from an invasion of purple sea urants brought on by warming Waters and
a die off of sea stars sea otters are really important predators in the ecosystem they're like the game wardens of the forest yeah they do tend to keep seurin populations under control but those sea urch and feasting otters are in danger we went under in a different spot to see just how much damage those purple urchins were causing it looks like BR desert and You' got these purple po all across the sea Flor here that's right the re is covered with purple sea Ur there these baseball tiny animals that like to eat C but there's
no C here theyve eaten at all the crisis reaching a boiling point 10 years ago when a major Marine Heat Wave ravaged the kelp and they completely TR form to resurface here to what we call a sea urin bar it's kind of depressing to see the baron like that how much of the kelp here in California has been lost right here in Monterey Bay we've lost about 70% or so of kelp forest at Montery Bay Aquarium hi OTS they've been researching ways to tackle the problem for years even taking us along on sea otter Rehabilitation
missions all right for now preserved behind glass and protected in the bay as biologists continue to search for Solutions in the sea Gotti Schwarz NBC News montere California what an amazing journey that was up next making people feel better with a prescription for poetry for some it's just the right remedy good news is [Music] next there is good news tonight about a pharmacy like you've never seen before where the prescriptions take a little poetic license here's Kelly Koba hidden in the heart of busy London a pharmacy dispensing a different kind of medicine a balm for
broken hearts Christmas spirit and joy so in each of the pale capsules that you can see there are extracts from poems that's right poems by turns a stone is grown in you and then a star oh it just gave me chill I know Deb Alma calls yourself a poetry pharmacist we'll lie in it and be it that's why so freely we call it our own using words to soothe the soul I was working with people with dementia actually um using poetry to assist communication and saw how um poetry could change someone's mood in her first
shop an old ambulance she decided to take poetry to people who didn't normally read it people just need some help to find the poem that they will respond to now at her poetry Pharmacy in London hand rolling little strips of wonder by the thousands I want has a room up there and you in it her place of healing a social media sensation the Blissful CLS of what kind of a mood does it put you in to come here quite karic there like a warm hug and it and there's a little something to satisfy our darker
sides too the more you suffer the better I feel oh gosh from imagination to Hope and healing what I heard was my whole self saying and singing what it knew I can happiness in a bottle Kelly Koba NBC News London that's Nightly News for this Tuesday thank you for watching I'm Lester Hol please take care of yourself and each other good night thanks for watching stay updated about breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or follow us on social media
