Thursday, December 14, 2023 |
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Thursday, December 14, 2023 |
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Good Thursday afternoon. Jury deliberations have begun in Rudy Giuliani’s election worker defamation trial, officials in Europe say Hamas members have been arrested in a foiled terror plot, and a bull on the loose caused some big delays today for commuters traveling into New York City. Here is what’s in our Nightly Rundown. |
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Jury deliberations begin in Rudy Giuliani defamation trial |
The jury began deliberations this afternoon in Rudy Giuliani’s civil defamation trial for the baseless claims he made about two election workers in Georgia. In a reversal, Giuliani decided not to testify in his own defense today, and the trial proceeded right to closing arguments. The federal judge in the case already found Giuliani, the longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, defamed election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, by falsely accusing them of election fraud. It’s now up to the jury to decide how much Giuliani will pay in damages. The attorney for Freeman and Moss argued the women are entitled to at least $24 million each. Giuliani’s justifications for his comments have wavered. In July, he conceded in a court filing to making false statements about the women, but outside the court on Monday, he insisted that “everything I said about them is true.” The judge warned that Giuliani’s comments Monday about the women amounted to “defamatory statements about them yet again.” |
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Four Hamas members arrested in plot to attack Jewish sites in Europe, officials say |
Seven people, including four suspected Hamas members, have been arrested across Europe for allegedly plotting to attack Jewish sites, authorities said. The arrests were made in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, according to officials in the three countries. Three of the suspects detained in Berlin, and a fourth who was arrested in the Netherlands, are longstanding members of Hamas, German prosecutors said in a statement. A Hamas official denied the suspects are linked to the group. |
Israel says war against Hamas will last “more than several months” |
The offensive to “destroy” Hamas will last “more than several months,” Israel’s defense minister told a top Biden adviser today. Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, arrived in Tel Aviv earlier in the day to meet with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sullivan spoke with the officials about the possibility of transitioning from high-intensity to “lower-intensity” military operations in Gaza, the White House said. The trip comes two days after Biden warned Israel was “starting to lose” support with its “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza. Netanyahu has pushed back on criticism of the war effort in Gaza, where the death toll has surpassed 18,000, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. “Nothing will stop us,” Netanyahu told troops in Gaza Wednesday, according to his office. For the latest updates on the Israel-Hamas war, visit our NBC News live blog. |
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Major storm system taking aim at East Coast |
Al Roker is tracking a major storm system that will impact the entire East Coast, with the threat of heavy rain, strong thunderstorms, flash flooding, and potential tornadoes. Flood and wind alerts have already been issued for parts of southern Florida, where the system is expected to bring heavy rain beginning tomorrow, intensifying into tropical downpours with strong winds by Saturday. On Sunday, the system will barrel up the East Coast, with heavy rain and high winds moving into the Mid-Atlantic and Appalachians. By Monday, the wet and windy conditions are expected to spread into the Northeast and New England, with rain potentially changing into snow across the Great Lakes. |
Putin vows no peace in Ukraine until Russia’s goals achieved |
Russian President Vladimir Putin said today there will be no peace in Ukraine until Russia accomplishes its goals, as the war nears the two-year mark. Putin took questions during a marathon year-end news conference that lasted more than four hours. It was the first time he’s held the event since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, after skipping it last year. During the event, Putin seized on the waning support among Ukraine’s western allies, with billions of dollars in U.S. aid being held up by the partisan divide in Congress. He said Ukraine has been getting “freebies” and now “apparently it’s coming to an end little by little.” Putin said there are currently some 617,000 Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine. Since invading Ukraine, 315,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded, according to recently declassified intelligence shared with Congress. |
JetBlue plane’s tail strikes runway as pilot avoids head-on collision |
A JetBlue plane’s tail struck a runway in Colorado as the pilot scrambled to take off to avoid a head-on collision when another plane came in for a landing on the same strip, according to the final report on the 2022 incident from the National Transportation Safety Board. Video of the close call appears to show the JetBlue plane with its nose pointed upwards as the tail scraped along the runway. The crew of the other plane, a Beechcraft King Air 350, radioed to the JetBlue plane, “I hope you don’t hit us,” according to the report released Wednesday. JetBlue did not immediately comment on the findings. The report comes amid a troubling increase in close calls on the nation’s runways. |
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Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. After the broadcast, access Nightly News video on NBCNightlyNews.com or the NBC News app. |
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