Tonight, the scathing report finding unlawful discrimination within a major US city's police department. Nearly three years after a botched police freight that killed Breonna Taylor, the justice department finding Louisville police routinely used excessive force and discriminated against black people. So what happens now and the new DOJ review announced in Memphis after the death of Tyree Nichols. Also tonight, new details on the four Americans kidnapped in Mexico. Two TO NOW BACK IN THE U. S. NOW NEW VIDEO REVEALING A FIFTH PERSON HAD BEEN IN THE VAN WITH THEM. WHAT HAPPENED TO HER? The new video of brawl breaking out on a southwest flight of date after that mid air attack on a United plane. We hear from a passenger who helped take the suspect down. The new storm threat in California as the death toll grows after record snow were tracking it. BOX NEWS UNDER FIRE, PRESIDENT BIDEN BLASTING HOUSE REPUBLICANS FOR GIVING TUCKER CARLSON THE VIDEO HE CHARRY PICK, to falsely portray the January state's attack as peaceful and the newly revealed text messages, what Carlson really thought about Donald Trump after the election ACTION. AND ON THIS INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY, THE ALL GIRLS TEAM OF YOUNG SCIENTISTS WHO FLED THEIR HOME AND ARROWING THE WORLD. THIS IS NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WITH LESTER HOLT. GOOD EVENING AND WELCOME ON THIS WEDNESDAY RARILY HAS AN AMERICAN POLICE DEPARTMENT ITS PRACTICES, ITS CULTURE, ITS PERFORMANCE BEEN SO THURILY AND BROADLY CONDEMN. The U. S. Justice Department announcing results of its nearly two year long review of the Louisville Metro Police Department. ACCUSING IT OF ENGAGING IN A PATTERN OF VIOLATING CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS THAT OFFICERS DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BLACK PEOPLE, ENGAGE AN EXCESSIVE FORCE AND INVALID SEARCHES. THE DOJ INVESTIGATION WAS PROMPTED BY THE twenty twenty DEATH OF BREONNA TAYLOR, A BLACK WOMAN WHO WAS FATALLY SHOT BY LOUISVILLE OFFICERS IN HER OWN HOME DURING A BUNCH RADE IN twenty twenty. ATTORNEY GENERAL MARIC Garland ANNOUNCING THE FINDINGS TODAY CALLING THE Pattern OF CONDUCT, UNACCETABLE AND HEARTBREAKING. TONIGHT THERE'S REACTION FROM CITY OFFICIALS AND WE HEAR FROM BREANNA TAYLOR'S MOTHER MIGUEL ALMAGUER HAS OUR REPORT. Reporter: TODAY SCADING REPORT FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE UNVEILED A DAMNING estimate of the Louisville Metro police department saying LMPD has long engaged in a troubling pattern of discriminatory law enforcement ACTICES. INVESTIGATORS FROM THE DOJ SITED, SERIOUS UNLAWFUL ABUSES, ESPECIALLY AGAINST BLACK PEOPLE. Some officers have demonstrated disrespect for the people they are sworn to protect. Some have videotape themselves throwing drinks at pedestrians from their cars, insulted people with disabilities, and call black people monkeys, animal, and boy. This conduct is unacceptable. The troubling eighty six page report cites uses of excessive force, unjustified neck restraints, and the unreasonable use of police dogs AND TASERS. OFFICERS ALSO CONDUCTED SEARCHS BASED ON INVALID WARRANTS. UNLAWFULLY STOPPED, SEARCH and detained citizens and violated the rights of people engaged and protected speech critical of policing. The US attorney general specifically cited a specialized unit originally called Viper. But the unit's activities were part of an overall enforcement approach that resulted in significant and unlawful racial disparities. The two year review into LMPD was launched after the twenty twenty shooting death of Breonna Taylor. The botched raid in which Taylor was not a suspect, help expose what federal authorities now call a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of their rights. I don't even know it's a thing. To know that this distinction that never happened and that it took three years for anybody else to say that it shouldn't happen. TONIGHT THE FAILURE TO PROTECT AND SERVE AT THE COST OF COMMUNITY TRUST. Reporter: AND MIGUEL, SOME CHANGES HAVE ALREADY BEEN IMPLEMENTED BY LOVIVIL'S POLICE DEPARTMENT WHAT ARE THEY SAYING ABOUT ALL OF THIS TONIGHT? WELL, LESTER, THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WHICH IS NOT CONSEATING TO A PATHERINE OF CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATION SAYS IT'S REVAMPING ITS training and support services for officers. The city is also working with the DOJ to implement changes. Meantime, we should mention after the death of Tyree Nichols and Memphis, THE DOJ WILL REVIEW THAT POLICE DEPARTMENTS USE OF FORCE OF POLICIES. LESTER? ALL RIGHT, MIGUEL, THANK YOU. WE WANT TO TURN NOW TO NEW DEVELOPMENTS ON THOSE AMERICANS WHO WERE KIDNAPPED CECO. WE HAVE JUST LEARNED THAT THERE WAS A FIFTH PERSON ON THE TRIP. GAG GUTIERREZ IS IN SOUTH CAROLINA WHERE THE AMERICANS ARE FROM. NEWSMAN: THIS IS VIDEO INSIDE THE MINI VAN HEADING TO MEXICO BEFORE four AMERICANS WERE KIDNAPPED. It was originally livestreamed on Facebook. A law enforcement source familiar with the matter tells NBC News, a previously unreported fifth person made the road trip. That left the group before the others crossed the border because that person did not have the proper documentation. We're blurring her face since she has not been publicly identified. Latavia Washington McGee, a mother of six, was among the Americans captured Friday when authorities say cartel gunmen opened fire on the minivan after they crossed into Mexico for a medical procedure. McGee's cousin, Shaieed Woodard, and close friend, Zendell Brown, were killed. McGee'S MOTHER SPEAKING TO CNN TODAY. Reporter: ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE GROUP, ERIC WILLIAMS, WAS SHOT IN THE LEG, and is now recovering. Did you have any idea that he would make such trip like this? I was totally shocked that had no idea he would go to Mexico. Robert Williams as his older brother. He watched the images of the two American survivors being brought back across the border on television. I was overwhelmed with emotion. I was very happy to find out he was okay. I was totally relieved. We're also learning new details about CHILLING ABduction. PICTURES RELEASED BY MEXICAN AUTHORITIES SHOW THE GUNMAN TRAILING THE WHITE MINNEVAN. MORE IMAGES SHOW TRAVEL DOCUMENTS LUGGAGE DEBICARS AND CASH INVESTIGATORS FOUND INSIDE THE VEHICLE. OVER A TENS FEW DAYS, INVESTIGATORS SCRAMBLE TO SEVERAL DIFFERENT HOSPITALS IN Area TO FIND THE VICTIMS DISCOVERING THEM IN THIS WOULDN'T SHACK SOME fifteen MILES FROM Matamoros. POLICE ARRESTED THIS MAN cused of guarding the Americans but are still searching for the gunman. Today, hundreds of extra troops from the Mexican army and national guard arrived in Matamoros to ramp up security. Authorities continue to say that the group of Americans was mistakenly targeted by cartel gunmen, but news of a fifth person on the road trip POINT TO A COMPLEX INVESTIGATION THAT IS ONLYwidening. LESTER? ALL RIGHT, GABE GUTIERREZ. THANK YOU. NOW TO ANOTHER ON BOARD DISTURBAN'S DRAMATIC VIDEO THIS time showing a brawl between plane passengers as the acting head of the FAA reiterated zero tolerance for unruly behavior. HERE'S TOM COSTELLO. IT HAPPENED AS SOUTHWES one:seventeen WAS BOARDING, Dallas TO PHOENIX. ONE PASSENGER BEGAN PUNCHING A MOTHER fellow travelers pulling them apart. Southwest says its crew helped to deescalate the situation, coming days after thirty two year old Francisco Torres threatened fellow travelers on a united flight to Boston. I will kill every man on these plates. Then try to stabbed a flight attendant with a broken spoon as fellow passengers tackled him. We are now in emergency aircraft. The captain declared an in flight emergency. Was subdued and has been detained right now. However, not going quietly. One of the passengers who subdued Torres told our NBC Boston station We had a hard time holding him down. It was total teamwork. Unruly, onboard behavior has been spiking since twenty nineteen. Last year, more than twenty three hundred reports, many involving physical and verbal assaults. On Capitol Hill today, the acting chief reiterated the FAA's zero tolerance. We will take every every step to ensure that that certain the action takes place against any perpetuity. But they FLIGHT DETINENTS ARE AGAIN CALLING ON CONGRESS TO CREATE A NATIONAL NO FLY LIST FOR BAD BEHAVIEN PASSENGERS. AIRLINES ARE BANNING passengers who act out badly on their airline. But that information is not shared with the rest of the industry. The FAA's zero tolerance policy means misbehaving passengers can face criminal charges and fines of up to thirty seven thousand dollars PER VIOLATION. LESTER: TONIGHT, TOM COSTELLO, THANKS. TONIGHT AUTHORITIES SAY AT LEAST THREE PEOPLE WERE FOUND DEAD IN THEIR HOMES FOLLOWING THOSE MASSIVE SNOWS storms that stranded so many in California. And there was another round of storms to come. Dylan Dreyer is tracking it for us, Dylan Ware, and when? Oh, well, it's going to hit Central California, and it's going to start tomorrow. And this time around, it looks like flooding is going to be the major concern. Floodwatches are in effect through Sunday. Now we have a strengthening storm system that going to make its way onshore. And we also have a huge atmospheric river of moisture crossing over the Pacific and bringing all of that water. And moisture onshore. So we are going to see several inches of rain impact areas like San Francisco, even going into Friday, it's staying in the San Francisco Sprint San Francisco area and points just to the south. We're also looking at mostly rain even in the higher elevations below eight thousand feet. So when you have six to eight inch of rain falling on top of all of that snowpack lester flooding is going to be a major concern and also the weight of all that snow on the roofs. Alright, Dylan. Thank you. A STRONG REBUTE FROM PRESIDENT BIDEN TODAY TO HOUSE REPUBLICANS AFTER THEY GAVE FOOTAGE FROM THE JANUARY sixth ATTACK TO FOX NEWS. WITH EVEN REPUBLICANS DIVIDED ON THE ISSUE. KRISTEN WELKER REPORTS. Reporter: TONIGHT FOR THE FIRST TIME PRESIDENT BIDEN WEIGHING IN blasting Republicans and Fox News opinion host Tucker Carlson for misrepresenting the January sixth attack after Carlson again aired select NEW FOOTAGE. THE PRESIDENT TWEETING MORE THAN one hundred and forty OFFICERS WERE INJURED ON January sixth. I'VE SAID BEFORE how dare anyone diminish or deny the hell they went through. I hope House Republicans feel ashamed. While Carlson showed some images of the violence he presented an alternate reality of the day, falsely describing it as, quote, mostly peaceful chaos, airing footage of the suspect known as the QAnan shaman who was sentenced to forty one months in prison. They helped him. They acted as his tour guides. Being walked around the capital by police. TO CAPITOL POLICE CHIEF NOT COMMENTING ON THE SPECIFICS OF THE VIDEO, BUT CALLING THE OVERALL REPORT FILLED WITH OFFENSIVE AND MISLEADING CONCLUSIONS. Carlson was given the footage by house speaker Kevin McCarthy. The bottom line is there's finally transparency. But many Republicans are denouncing the Fox News host. I think it's bull It was an outrageous act. A lot of people were injured. Meanwhile, newly revealed evidence in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation suit against Fox News shows soon after the election, summit Fox News wanted to move on from former president Trump, including Carlson, who texted a fellow Fox employee, quote, I hate him passionately. Speaker McCarthy says he released the footage CAROLSON FOR TRANSPARENCY AND HE'LL GIVE IT TO EVERYONE EVENTUALLY. BUT MCARTHY HASN'T DONE THAT SO FAR. LESTER: KRISTEN WELKER AT THE WHITE HOUSE. THANKS. China was front and center as US intelligence leaders appeared on the hill and laid out the biggest threats facing the United States. With more here's Andrea Mitchell. China's president Xi Jinping's control over the communist party and the military being ratified this week in Beijing. The greatest long term global threat to the US according to intelligence officials in the People's Republic of China, which is increasingly challenging the United States economically technologically, politically, and militarily around the world remains our unparalleled priority. Threatening America with control of global supply chains. Development of advanced weapons, plans to take over Taiwan and cyber espionage, recurring themes today technology and social media. Could they use TikTok to control data on millions of users? Yes. Could they use it to control the software on millions of devices given the opportunity to do so? Yes. Republicans hammering home China's cover up in the lab leak theory on the origins of COVID, not animal to human transmission. I just don't understand why you continued to maintain on behalf of the intelligence community that these are two equally plausible explanations. They simply are not I share your frustration with the fact that China hasn't been more cooperative on this issue. The annual report also highlighting China's increased efforts to meddle in US at the state and local levels, but says China still wants a stable relationship with the US. The director of national intelligence also said Russia's military IS UNLIKELY TO MAKE SIGNIFICANT GAINS IN UKRAIN THIS YEAR, BUT THAT VLADIMA PUTIN WILL PROLONG THE WAR EVEN IF IT TAKES YEARS, BECAUSE HE BELIEVED TIME IS ON HIS SIDE, LESTER. Reporter: ANDREY MITCHELL, THANKS. IN sixty SECONDS, THE NEW DRAF REPORT ON foes, the Pentagon's expert warning about a possible mothership coming close to Earth. Stay with us. It may sound straight out of a movie, but the Pentagon and a Harvard scientist have collaborated on a new draft report questioning if we're alone in the universe and whether we've already seen evidence of life beyond Earth, it was gotty shorts. Move over Chinese spy balloon or whatever else US fighter jet shot down last month, tonight out of Harvard University, a draft paper. About mysterious flying objects sounding almost like science fiction. There's a human. I think it's very likely that we are not the most intelligent civilization that ever existed. Renown Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb, teaming up with the new head of the Pentagon's UFO office dubbed the All Domain anomaly resolution office. Together, they say that interstellar objects detected in space could be signs of extraterrestrial life and that current sky mapping technology like the James Webb Space Telescope could miss such objects. It could have been a modern ship that released some probes in the habitable region around the sun. We have a visitor to our backyard. We should observe it at first. Professor Loeb now leading the charge to build better arrays of sensors to capture anomalies, but saying for now everything is hypothetical. And his paper is really meant to remind UFO hunters not to forget the laws of physics. Smargest, the reports from military personnel are intriguing, and motivate my work right now. I want my instruments to tell me what is really happening. Meanwhile, more video surfacing showing odd objects have been leaked to documentary UFO filmmaker, Jeremy Corbel, who recently released pictures of an orb shaped Remposal, and these images showing a cylinder flying over a rock. The Pentagon not commenting on the recent videos, but confirming prior videos released by Corbel had been filmed by service members. As for what they are, definitive explanations remain out of reach. Dayshorts, NBC News, THAT'S ONE TO TALK OVER OVER THE DINNER TABLE TONIGHT. UP NEXT THEY RECEIVE BILLIONS IN FEDERAL COVID RELIEF MONEY BUT ARE SCHOOLS USING IT WHERE IT'S NEEDED MOST OUR INVESTIGATIONS COMING UP. BACK NOW WITH OUR NBC NEWS INVESTIGATION AFTER COVID LOCKED DOWN SHOCKDOWN SO MANY SCHOOLS. THERE ARE QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW SCHOOLS HAVE SPENT THE BILLIONS IN COVID RELIEF MONEY THEY RECEIVE FROM THE GOVERNMENT. AND WHETHER IT'S HELPING STUDENTS ENOUGH WITH LEARNING LAWS, HERE'S STEPHANIE GOSK. Reporter: NORTH HOMBERLAND HIGH SCHOOL IN VIVINIA DESPERATELY NEEDED MORE SPACE. THINK THIS HAS BEEN ten YEARS IN THE MAKING. Adrienne: NOW PRINCIPAL TAVAS BURNS FINALLY HAS IT. IT'S A BIG SPACE? ABSOLUTELY. There'd be a partition over here so that we can do some classrooms in the afternoons and during the school day. This space actually will help with athletics. A one point five million dollars facility funded in part by the federal government's COVID rescue plan. One hundred and eighty four billion dollars of emergency relief for schools. It's also the biggest federal investment in public education in a generation. The BIGGEST ISSUE WITH MANY SCHOOLS, I THINK, IS FACILITIES. Reporter: AN ESTIMATED twenty percent TO twenty five percent OF THE MONEY HAS ALREADY BEEN SPENT ON CONSTRUCTION PROJECT ACCORDING TO EDUCATION RESEARCHER MARGARET ROSELL. MANY DISTRICTS HAVE ALREADY PUT THESE FACILITIES PROJECTS IN MOTION. SHE'S TRACKING THE EMERGENCY COVID FUNDS FOR SCHOOLS AND HAS SOME CONCERNS. I WOULD SAY GET THE KIDS BACK ON TRACK FIRST AND FACILITIES SECOND. So if the kids are learning, then by all means, you know, remodel the gym and and get the roof fixed. THERE IS DRAMATIC LEARNING LOSS FROM COVID. MATH AND READING SCORES FOR FOURTH AND EIGHT GRADERS HAVE FALLENED TO twenty YEAR LOW. IN DECEMBER WHEN IT BECAME CLEAR HOW FAR BEHIND STUDENTS WERE, THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SENT OUT GUIDENCE TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND STRONGLY DISCOUR BRIDGE SPENDING THE RELIEF MONEY ON NEW CONSTRUCTION. IN PART BECAUSE OF STUDENTS LIKE CHACE LOUMA, He was in first grade in Delaware when the pandemic hit. What did you find difficult? Looking at the teacher on a small screen. Yeah. No kidding. Did you find that there was a lot of stuff in your room that was a little distracting? Mhmm. Yeah. I bet. I bet. I bet. Yeah. A lot to staff. With help from the COVID relief fund, his school districts invested in summer school and tutoring, which is paying off. Do you think it's just a matter of time before he's right where he needs to be? Absolutely. His specific school and district provides all of the tools to be able to bridge that gap. Rosa says this moment is a wake up call to parents. I would call the school and say what do you have that can help get my kid back on track. THOSE PROGRAMS ARE OUT THERE. Reporter: IN NORTH Humberland COUNTY, THE DISTRICT HAS ALSO INVESTED RELIEF FUNDS IN TOOTERING AND SUMMER SCHOOL. WHILE PRINCIPAL BURNS SAYS THEIR NEW FACILITY WILL PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE AS WELL. THIS FACILITY IS ALL ABOUT school culture, school climate, and building connection. School districts have until September twenty twenty four to spend the relief fund before it runs out. Each one making top decisions in the face of so much need. Stephanie Gosk, NBC News, Heathfield, Virginia. Up next for us tonight will check back with some remarkable young women from Afghanistan teaching all of us to dream big. Finally, on this International Women's Day, the all girls group of scientists from Afghanistan, leading the way to a future of greater equality. HERE'S MALI HUNTER. Reporter: WHEN KOBLE FELT TO THE TALIBAN IN AUGUST OF twenty twenty one, THE ALL GIRLS ATHAN ROBONICS TEAM. THE SO CALLED ATHAN DREAMERS WERE FORCED TO EVACUATE. THEY'RE NOW BASED IN CUTTER We catch up with team member's nineteen year olds, Afzana Amati, Sadhav Hamidi, and seventeen year old captain Florence Puya. We are not just the robotic team and we are not just building the robot. It's a way to show your the other girls in the Panasonic talents AND DEER A COVER. BACK IN HERAT, BACK BEFORE THE TALIBAN TOOK OVER AT THE HEIGHT OF THE COVID PANDEMIC, THE TEAM BUILT THIS PRETTY INCREDIBLE, A FORTABLE VENTILATOR PROTOTIP. BUT NOW THERE'S A LITTLE OPPORTUNITY FOR SUCH INNOVATION. THE TALA AND HIS BANDED GIRLS FROM HIGH SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY. UNICEF ESTIMATES FOUR MILLION GIRLS OR OUT OF SCHOOL. I CAN BE the voice of my friends, and I can do something from here that can help them. And they know they're the lucky ones. Safely out of the country safe enough to dream big. Our friends are still in Nigeria, and they will be the future of science the future leaders, the future engineers, the one can bring a solution for the cancer. We are also trying hard serve our country from afar to tell the world and show the world that affluent girls can be amazing if they are given the opportunity AND THE AFRICAN DREAMERS, WELL, THEY'RE PROVING THAT EVERY DAY. MALI HUNTER, NBC NEWS, LONDON. And that's nightly news for this Wednesday. Thank you for watching everyone. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night. Thanks for watching our YouTube channel. Follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the NBC News app.
