Nightly News Full Broadcast – March 3

tonight Alec Murdoch sentenced to lifein prison for the murders of his wifeand youngest son the stunning fall forthe once prominent South Carolinaattorney Murdoch facing the judge todayafter the jury took less than threehours to fight him guilty of killing hiswife Maggie and their 22 year old sonPaul what Murdoch said in courtdeclaring his innocence one final timebefore the sentence was handed down thejudges scathing words condemning thequote monster that Murdoch has becomeour team at the courthouse also tonightthe deadly storms on the Move in theSoutheast after tornadoes left a path ofDestruction across three states 80million under wind alerts hundreds ofthousands without power were tracking itthe White House revealing PresidentBiden had skin cancer removed at WalterReed what his doctor is saying about theprocedure the infant death linked to acommon device used by so many mons thecdc's warning to parentsand my conversation with the Vietnam Warhero who received a long overdue honortoday at the White House[Music]news with Lester Holtgood evening and thank you for beingwith us in barely 15 hours Alec Murdockwent from disgraced attorney toconvicted killer to a man who tonight iscondemned to life in prison the wheelsof Justice moving rapidly in SouthCarolina where the jury began itsdeliberations only mid-afternoonyesterday three hours later findingMurdoch guilty of murdering his wife andson and today his sentencing hearingwere emotions ran high Murdoch wearing ajail issue jumpsuit as he learned hisfate two consecutive life sentences thejudge speaking to him in personal termstelling him he would have to reconcilewith as he put it the monster you havebecome Murdoch one more time denying heharmed his wife and son but admittingthat he continues to lie Katie Beckreportsbeforeuttering Court in a tan jumpsuit andshackles judge Newman offers thedisbarred attorney who once practiced inthe same court a final chance to speakthe truth but I'm innocent I would neverunder any circumstances hurt my wifeMaggie and I would never under anycircumstances hurt my son Papawell and it might not have been you itmight have been uh the monster youbecome when youtake 15 20 30 40 50 60 opioid pills newman who has reserved opinion and commenton the case for six weeksskiing from the heart Friday aboutMurdoch's tangled web of lies to haveyou come and testifythat it was just another ordinary daythat my wife and son and I were out justenjoying lifenot credible not believableyou can convince yourself about it butobviously you have the inabilityto convince anyone else about that butMurdoch's defense team feels ultimatelythat it wasn't fair they plan to appealon grounds that Murdoch's Financialcrimes should have never been admissibleso it was judicial bait and switchMurdoch's team says they wavered onwhether he should testify in his owndefense but in the end decided withoutit he'd have no chance to be foundinnocent if he didn't take the stand alawyer who's been accused ofmutilating his wife and son what wouldthe jury think of that it was really atough call in this case was he alwayssolid on the side of wanting to testifypretty much yes at times during thetrial Jim Griffin who was originallyretained to represent Paul Murdoch inthe 2019 boat case overwhelmed withemotion I respectfully the request thatyou do not compounda family tragedy with another thing itnever once during the whole period oftime that I ever think Alan could havemurdered Maggie and Paul and then I sithere todaymy belief in that is as strong as it wasthe day they were murdered would youcall Alec Murdock your friend yeah he heis my friend I am like many others I'mdisgusted with his conduct as a lawyerand he's put a black stain on a legalprofession he has been very graciousvery humble but for the judge amendsAren't Enough handing down twoconsecutive life sentences sayingaccountability has come to call and willfor all of Murdoch's remaining days andI know you have to see Paul and Maggieduring the night times when you'reattempting to go to sleepI'm sure they come and visit yousureall day and every night I'm sureKatie one thing we have seen in thismodern trial is the role technology nowplays in solving crimesthat's right Lester typically when youthink of forensics you think of DNA orfingerprints but in this case it wastext messages social media posts and GPSthat told the story of this timelineboth sides agree that without thatcritical piece of evidence the cellphone video from the kennels this casemight have ended another way Lester allright Katie back thank you and joiningme now is senior legal correspondentLaura Jarrett Laura what are the chancesof a successful appeal under thesecircumstances the odds are not in hisfavor here lesser the defense team hasvowed to take this all the way up to theSupreme Court if necessary but thestandard for overturning a jury verdictit's quite High it rarely happens andthat's because arguing that there waserror at the trial isn't enough he'dhave to show one that actuallyinfluenced the verdict as we just heardMurdoch's lawyers say the judgeshouldn't have let in evidence of hispast Financial crimes to prove hismotive in this case that it tainted thejury's view of their client but it's notclear that it made any difference to theend result at least one juror says thatit was the video placing Murdoch at thescene of the crime just moments beforethose murders that was most compellingLester but what happens now in thosefinancial issues yeah some 99 differentFinancial crimes those are still pendingin front of the very same judge thatsentenced him today and that everythingthat Murdoch admitted on the stand inthat case can be used against him in thefuture Lester all right Laura Jaredthank you and tonight don't miss atwo-hour Dateline special on the Murdochcase that's at 9 8 central time here onNBC let's turn down to the severeweather threat stretching from the OhioValley to the southeast and what couldbe another dangerous night for Millionsafter at least half a dozen reportedtornadoes swept through the regionhere's Morgan cheskywe've got to bringyeah to bring the air in 24 hours atleast seven Twisters of carveddestructive paths through four statestossing semi trucks on highways andleaving homes in pieces my truck wasshaking the neighbors lost their roof welost a part of our roof in Texas thepower of straight-line wins undeniablegusts topping 70 miles per hourshredding a boat marina in secondstearing off its roof sending debrisflying in Alabama some woke up to anightmare we didn't hear anything untilplywood crashed through our window soall we heard was a giant crash tonighthigh winds and flash floodingresponsible for at least five deathsacross several States now as the stormchurns East more than 80 millionAmericans are under wind alerts thePrinceton this storm is right on top ofyou the wind gusts here 60miles per hour likely at least onereported tornado hitting Kentucky wehave already lost way too many peopledue to flooding tornadoes and otherweather events so we want everybody tobe safe today and tonight officialswarning these storms may start withdrenching rains but devastating windsand potential tornadoes could soonfollow Lester all right Morgan thank youlet's turn now to bill Karen's he'stracking this storm's ability watchingclosely tonight good evening Leslie thisis one of the strongest storms we'veever recorded in the Ohio valleys rightover the top of Indiana during the daytoday these thunderstorms produce over130 high wind reports we have over 1million people in the dark right nowwe've even had a few injuries from treesfalling on people the areas of concernthrough this evening still high windseven though the severe weather threatsdiminishing we're still going to havereally high winds through much ofKentucky Tennessee into areas of WestVirginia near Pittsburgh and then thesnow portion of the storm will betonight we have near blizzard conditionsright now from Detroit into areas oflower Michigan tonight the worst of thatweather will be in higher elevations ofNorthern New England a lot of the biggercities are going to get enough snow toshovel and plow but it's the mountainousareas that will get up to a foot sostill not done with this huge storm yetall right Bill Carriage thank you forthat update we'll turn now to thepresident's Health the White Housephysician revealing today that a lesionremoved from President Biden's chestduring a routine physical at Walter Reedlast month was a basal cell carcinoma acommon form of skin cancer the doctorsaid the procedure on President Bidenwho was 80 years old was successful andthat he requires no further treatment awarning tonight from the CDC the parentsof newborns are being advised tosterilize equipment used for bottle andbreastfeeding after the death of aninfant was linked to a contaminatedbreast pump a CDC report found the babyhad a rare infection from the same typeof bacteria that led to the recall onpowdered infant formula last year andthe CDC also tracking the surge insevere stomach flu sending children andadults to the ER Nationwide the agencywarning of a new drug-resistant strainof superbug they've deemed a seriousPublic Health threat here's Maggie Vespatonight the latest chapter in America'smonster cold and flu season makingstomachs churn Coast to Coast Mama's gota house full of sick babies the CDCflagging stunning surges in multipledebilitating stomach bugs namelyneurovirus the rate of tests coming backpositive nearly doubling since Januarynow at a staggering 17 the ultracontagious virus which can cause days ofvomiting diarrhea and fever clobberingkids and adults alike yeah I'mtraumatized a little bit Chicago areawife and mom Emily ferrett says the bughit four-year-old Hannah first thenswept through the family hitting her andher two-year-old Levi at the same timewe're texting my husband I'm like youneed to come home from work it was sointense I was like I don't know how tofunction right now many families rushingto emergency rooms does that meanthey've been throwing up for some periodof time like it's ongoing yeah so somepeople say hey I've been vomiting forseveral days I can't keep anything downthe treatment is supportive care sothings like staying hydrated restingwhen you can this week the CDC alsosounding a separate alarm about shigellaanother stomach bug that in the lastdecade has increasingly become drugresistant five percent of cases lastyear deemed almost untreatable theagency calling the bacteria a seriousPublic Health threat one thing stunningpatients here hand sanitizer does notkill neurovirus Dr stress washing yourhands with soap and water Lesterimportant information all right Maggiethank you in 60 seconds we'll go to thefirst state to restrict dragperformances with many more trying to dothe same what's behind it and what thebills sponsor in the lgbtq community aresayingthey have long been a part of mainstreamAmerican entertainment but this weekTennessee became the first state torestrict public drag performances sayingthey threaten children as Antonio Hiltonreports more States could soon follow[Music]career performanceshowas a trans woman from rural TennesseeDede says drag gave her an outlet and acommunity but that Community is now onedge it's definitely very scary Idefinitely always get our security towalk us to the car now I would I neverdid that before this week Tennesseebecame the first state to pass a lawthat will restrict drag performances onpublic property or anywhere a childcould see them conservatives say dragshows expose children to sexuallysuggestive content while performers heresay the law is discriminatory and feelsdesigned to push them back into thecloset I hate it I absolutely hate itbecauseI can't be myself no more I have to bewhat they think I should be I wouldstill sponsor Jack Johnson argues thislaw isn't meant to Target the lgbtqcommunity it's about protecting childrenare you trying to send a signal ofcourse some types of communities sometypes of people aren't welcome here inTennessee the only signal I'm trying tosend is that you shouldn't be doingsexually graphic you shouldn't besimulating sex acts in front of childrenthe law the law targets performanceshonors but doesn't say how performanceswill be determined to be harmful orsexual who's going to decide what'ssexually explicit what's inappropriatewell the same way any law is enforcedwith our law enforcement our districtattorneys the same way they prosecuteany other criminal offense Ken Peters isa pastor and a parent he organizeddemonstrations in support of this law Ithink it's ridiculous for folks to thinkthat we Christians shouldn't push ourvalues and our ideology just like thelgbtq movement has a right to pushtheirs we Christians feel targeted Iknow they might feel targeted from thesituation that's really not our heart wefeel like our lifestyle our culture ismost of the lawmakers in there agreewith you how can you feel targeted wefeel targeted in the country as a wholemaybe not in Tennessee that's why wemoved hereacross the country similar laws are inthe works with conservative lawmakersand at least 13 other states advancingbills to restrict drag for DD Tennesseeis home her family is here so she saysher only option is to stay and fight anykind of a discriminatory Bill like thisthey are trying to bully you that we area very very strong community and sowe're not going anywhere and Antoniothis wasn't the only Bill affecting thelgbtq community the governor's sidethat's right Lester Governor Bill Leealso signed legislation that prohibitsdoctors from providing gender affirmingMedical Care to transgender childrenincluding puberty blockers and hormoneschildren who are already on thosemedications will have until March of2024 to cycle off them Lester AntoniaHilton thank you up next I speak withthe nation's newest Medal of Honorrecipient about a heroic day in Vietnamand the long road to today's ceremonythank youat the White House today President Bidenawarded the Medal of Honor to a blackVietnam vet who saved three injuredsoldiers during a fierce battle even ashe suffered multiple wounds it is arecognition that took nearly 58 years tohappen writing what some see as ashameful wrongChris Davis has been waiting more than ahalf a century for his country to honorhis heroism Davis crawled through bloodmud pain and withering enemy firecarrying his wounded comrades on hisback to reach this moment at the WhiteHouse that it took a battle againstbureaucracy for him to receive the Medalof Honor leaves many who have heard hisstory dumbfounded it's been a long timecoming what's the moment feel likeeverything is goodand I feel very comfortable andit took a while it took a long while butit's hereand I'm really proud to be an Americanit was early summer 1965 just monthsafter Bloody Sunday in Selma Alabamathen Captain Davis a Green Beret on hissecond tour in Vietnam at War for hiscountry while back at home in some wayshis country was fighting him when oneday his commanding officer asked him tobe in charge he made a point of sayingyou know this is an all-white teeas a black man do you think you couldhave itI said no problem right here sir there'sa couple of guys from Alabama one fromMississippi is that going to be aproblemI said I don't think so sir he and threeother special forces soldiers weretasked with training South Vietnamesetroops then one June night he led theminto a ferocious battle specialistRobert Brown was wounded and pinned downDavis crawled out to get him suffering ashrapnel wound from a grenade knockedout some of my teeth and uh triggerfinger and my trigger finger was shutoff yeahit hurt but it didn't hurt that muchthat I that I was stopped and once I gotout thereBrown said to me sir am I going to dieand I remember saying to him not beforeme after rescuing Brown Davis crawledback onto the battlefield to help MasterSergeant Billy Waugh who was pinned downhis leg in tatters had him to take hisone goodly leg and wrap it around mybodyand it was mud and then blood I mean itwas a justa hell of a place to be Davis's heroismLED his Commander to nominate him forthe Medal of Honor but the Army lost thepaperwork he was renominated four yearslater and again it vanished some blameracism Ron dice fought with Davis one ofmany who advocated for this honor isthere any really plausible explanationas to how this could have happenedI I don't have one you think it was raceI doI absolutely do did you fear that itwould never happen I forgot that itcould happentoday at the White House an honordelayed but so richly deserved ColonelParis Davis an American hero that'sNightly News for this Friday thank youfor watching everyone I'm Lester Holtplease take care of yourself and eachotherthanks for watching our YouTube channelfollow today's top stories and breakingnews by downloading the NBC News app