Transcripts For KNTV Today 20140911 : vimarsana.com

Elevator attack five months ago. And america remembers. The nation pauses to honor the thousands lost in the worst terrorist attack in this countrys history 13 years ago today, thursday, september 11th, 2014. From nbc news, this is today. With matt lauer and savannah live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Welcome to today, tom is filling in while savannah is on maternity leave. Homecoming week, happy to have you here on this important day in american history, 13 years ago we sat there for hours of the 9 11 attack. We were talking about that, all my journalistic career, and life for that matter, it was a day i had no idea what was coming next. Everything i knew as a journalist, a father, as a husband, as a citizen, to get through that day. We talked through the day, dont speculate. Tell what we know, and we knew so little. They learned as we did. Even as we were just astonished by the images we saw on the monitor in front of us. Friends and colleagues weve known for a long time, honor to do that broadcast with you. I felt the same way, all in good company, knew what we had to do, and what was important. Happy to have you here. A lot to talk to you about and drama unfolding at the Oscar Pistorius trial in south africa this morning. The judge there delivering part of the verdict before adjourning for the day. Live in a moment. Wed like to begin with the pledge from the president in a prime time speech to the nation to destroy the terrorist group known as isis. Nbc National Correspondent Peter Alexander is at the white house with that. Peter, good morning. Reporter matt, good morning. After weeks of criticism of not having a clear strategy, he said he would lead a Broad Coalition to destroy isis. The president delivered expanded air strikes to hit targets in iraq and syria as well and insisted the u. S. Will not be dragged into another ground war. Vowing a steady, relentless effort, president obama put it clearly that the u. S. Is at war with isis. We will take down terrorists that threaten our kri, wherever they are. Reporter the president prepared to launch air strikes in syria. This is the core principle of my presidency. If you threaten america, you will find no safe haven. Reporter while again ruling out u. S. Combat troops, the president announced 475 more american troops will head to iraq to advise the Security Forces. The war like that of yemen and somalia, president obama stressed, not iraq and afghanistan. While emphasizing that isis is a danger to the middle east, he also offered a blunt warning. Whats left unchecked, the terrorists could pose a growing threat beyond that region, including the United States. Reporter still, the president concede eradicating a cancer like isis is not without challenges. Any time we take military actions, there are risks involved especially to the men and women who carry out the missions. Reporter the president insisted he has the authority to target isis, but on wednesday night, welcomed congressional support for his strategy. I believe we are strongest as a nation when the president and Congress Work together. Reporter but the president s toughest critics say, again, he missed the markets. Isis is well armed, rich, they have a huge control of areas as large as the state of indiana. Obviously, he doesnt understand the nature of the threat. Reporter here at the white house, Senior Administration officials tell nbc news that saudi arabia will hold training for antiisis fighters. President obama did not mention a timetable, or an estimated cost, but clear the second straight president to surpass his successor with another war. Thank you very much. Our political director and moderate of meet the press, chuck todd, of course, watching the speech last night. Begin with the obvious. The president is taking his presidency on this move, this is a very dramatic change in his policies in the middle east. Not so long ago, he was trying to disengage from the war, and now hes reigniting it and putting a big bet on the troops on the ground there who come from iraq and saudi arabia and other places to be partners. Thats a big risk, isnt it . It is. In fact, hes hoping somehow the same strategy that has worked to degrade al qaeda in places in the ungoverned parts of afghanistan will somehow work here, but the question is will others truly put boots on the ground in syria . What happens when the u. S. Military destroys isis . I dont think anybody has any doubt when the u. S. Military wants to go about doing this, we did it with al qaeda, could do it with isis. What happens to syria then . What happens to the vacuum . Thats something the president did not address last night. While the country is clearly horrified over what they saw in the beheadings, they want some action. They want something. I dont know if its going to be something that is going to be as quick as the country thinks its going to be. But, chuck, the latest poll you indicated shows 61 of the people think it is now time to do something about isis. Can that help him with his republican adversaries on the hill . Well, it is. Look, hes going to get some support for what he wants to do. He wants money to train the syria opposition, but what does the opposition look like . What is it going to be that its going to take a long period of time to do this . Thats something that i think overtime youre going to start seeing someone on capitol hill say, okay, theres no end date in this. Is it the type of war thats just never going to end . Once you get rid of isis, who comes next . Thats the part of this that the president failed to address last night and something he wish he did. Well have more about that, of course, on meet the press this sunday. Thank you. More on Oscar Pistorius, broke down repeatedly as the judge issued part of the verdict clearing pistorius of murder and premedicated murder charges. Today, we are at the white house in south africa, jeff, good morning to you. Reporter matt, good morning to you and those on the west coast. Let me start by saying things work differently in south africa than back home in the u. S. The verdict, a long process. The judge explains why she reached the verdict before announcing the verdict. We have breaking news we mentioned. The judge today ruling out premeditated murder and lesser charge of murder because theres not enough evidence to prove murder. She said he did not intend to kill his girlfriend, but could go to jail for culpable homicide. Oscar had to fight his way into court today. Inside, the moment of truth, the judge reading her ruling analyzing every witness, 37 in all including oscar pi tstorius himself. The accused was a poor witness, he failed to witness properly and selfexamination given the fashion that he was more worried about what the impact his answers cause rather than the questions asked. Reporter but in a courtroom bomb shell, the judge did a complete 180 saying she believes pistorius that it was an accident, that he didnt mean to kill reeva. The question is did the accused seek the possibility of the results of death . Clearly, he did not subjectively foresee this as a possibility that he would kill the person behind the door. Reporter cleared of murder, a victory for the defense. Reevas family in disbelief, pistorius crying in court. Surprising . Entirely. I think the entire law is surprised. Found that he had no intention to kill who was behind the door. Even though he fired four shots . Exactly. I find it odd as well. Reporter could be convicted of culpable homicide, which is negligence, and the judge hinted today thats likely. I am of the view that he acted too hastily and used excessive force. In the second force, its clear that his conduct was negligence. Reporter so to recap the breaking news in this case, the judge now says theres not enough evidence to find pistorius guilty of murder so two options now are culpable homicide, which goes towards negligence. Should he have known better to go to the door and fire it. Or, by the way, could get a full acquittal, walk out a free man. The judge just said a short time ago that pistorius was clearly negligent. She used that word negligent, pointing to culpable homicide, but then suddenly adjourned court today. Well learn his fate tomorrow, matt. All right, again because the system of justice in south africa is different from what we are acustomed to seeing in the country, the reading of the verdict takes a longer time with the judge going through the evidence she heard over this period of time, so jeff will be back at the courthouse tomorrow. The culmination of the verdict, and well be there live with him. Right now, its 11 after the hour, and heres tom. Major developments in the ray rice scandal, getting so much attention in this country on every outlet. They hired Robert Mueller to conduct an independent investigation into the investigation. This comes after a Law Enforcement claims he sent a video of the elevator assault to the nfl executive, the rorchal one that was graphic. We have the latest to tell us whats going on. Good morning to you, tom. The nfl commissioner roger go goodell said he never saw the tape in question and said he never had it. Theres reports countering the claim saying they had the tape in april, and theres audio confirming the reseat. If true, the holding of the job and league as credibility could be in serious jeopardy. That disturbing video in an elevator surfaced this week in the possession of League Officials five months ago. This according to an unidentified source speaking with the associated press, a voice mail left on april 9th confirming the tapes arrival in which she says, youre right, its terrible. Nfl spokesperson responded saying, in part, what we are not aware of anyone who possessed or saw the video before it was made public on monday, end quote. That echoes the stance of nfl commissioner Roger Goodell in speaking with cbs news tuesday. We assume there was a video. We asked forred voo. We asked for anything that was pertinent, but we were never granted that opportunity. Reporter the ap report rendered goodells stance and in the eyes of many, his nfl future tenuous. The organization of women is calling for goodells resignation. We know he took action against ray rice not because he saw a video, but because we saw that video. Reporter meanwhile, a dozen members of congress sent a letter to goodell demanding the highest level of transparency in detailing the extent of the n nfls investigation. While others claim anger at the timeline saying the first video of him dragging an unconscious needed a worse penalty. He should have been fired right there and then. Reporter rice has been fired since and suspended indefinitely, but the question at this hour, will goodell survive . Nbcs bob costas. I take him at his word for the time being, but if credible evidence surfaces that he saw the tape or knew essentially of its contents before this week, then i think that could cost him his job. Reporter as rices former team prepares to host the steelers tonight, the owner says he never imagined the graphic and onesided nature of the attack and regrets not doing more to obtain the tape that reveals this. I was picture her wailing on him and him smacking her and maybe her head was this far from the wall, and with her inebriation dropped. Why did i conclude that . I wanted to. I loved him. Reporter we contacted the Atlantic City Police Department and Atlantic County District Attorney attempting to confirm details in the aps report, but, again, they declined to comment. All right, josh, thank you very much for that. Lets turn to dan patrick, cohost of nbcs football night in america and National Syndicated Radio Program the Dan Patrick Show, dan, good morning to you. Good morning, matt. Robert mueller a credible guy, and we have two owners overseeing the investigation, steelers and giants respectively. Lets be honest, they have invested interest to turn out well for the league. Is it a fair investigation . I think its too early to say. I want to see what they come up with. The nfl investigating itself is the concern i have. I was told on august 4 they had not seen the tape. In the meantime, and they knew it was a big issue, you either made the ruling www. Se ining wi the tape or dont go out to see what was on the tape and made the ruling. The nfl backed itself in a corner with what happened to ray rice. Yeah, who knew what and how much did they know . This is a point that you talked about on your show, dan. A couple years ago, the new Orleans Saints were involved in bounty gate, where the defensive coordinator was accused of using money from a slush fund to injury players on other teams. The coach of new orleans was never said to be involved but suspended for a year, and the reasoning that commissioner goodell used for that is that if youre running a team, you should know what happens on that team. Do you think that same reasoning is going to be used against Roger Goodell in this case . Well, i think its fair to bring it up. If youre running a league, would roger suspend roger . Thats what it coming down to for me, matt. They want answers to it. We fire somebody. I want to know those answers, and if Roger Goodell is transparent with this, is it something where he would suspend himself or owners big on reve e revenue, be big on brand as well. When your audience is 44 female, you have people to answer to here, and i dont think weve had complete answers, complete transparency. Well wait to see what develops, dan, good to talk to you, more on the Dan Patrick Show today on the nbc sports network. Natalie is here with 9 11 tributes. Good morning to you. Today is the anniversary of the 9 11 attacks. Memorials will be held, and we are in lower manhattan. Good morning. Reporter natalie, good morning to you. Ceremonies in new york, in lower manhattan, started just after the First National moment of silence at 8 46 when the country paused when the first plane struck the north tower. After that, family members begin reading the names of the victims. The victims not only of the 2001 terrorist attacks, but also of the World Trade Center bombing in 1993. That ceremony will wrap up just after 12 30 eastern time today, and for the first time ever, the National Memorial, which opened three years ago, will be open to the public on 9 11, opening to the public at 6 00 p. M. Tonight. Meantime, as you mentioned, there are also observances happening in washington and in pennsylvania. At the pentagon this morning, the president and first lady attending. In the remarks, the president talked about how america stands tall, in his words, 13 years later. In pennsylvania where flight 93 went down, the medal will be presented to the 43 people who lost lives on that aircraft. People remember across the country as we mark this, the 13th anniversary of the 9 11 attacks. Natalie . Thank you. Dozens of Michael Brown supporters arrested wednesday after trying to shut down a major interstate highway. The protest on i70 near downtown st. Louis was aimed at forcing the special appointment of a prrs to investigate the browns shooting. The 18 yearold was shot by a Ferguson Police officer on august 9 creating unrest in the streets. Rough waves too much for a kayaker. They have huge waves on like michigan. Waves reached almost ten feet, but the fun quickly turned dangerous as rip currents knocked him out of the boat. A camera man noticed he was struggling, and someone threw him a flotation device, surfers assisted, and he was pulled on shore. The cay yakker said, quote, sometimes you are humble by Mother Nature a bit. The game of golf, if you play it, you know t challenging, frustrating, and not everyone takes the same approach. However, when they go after the flag stick on the green, including this baby bear who would not stop at nothing to get that flag. Spinning around and around in circles. Are we sure thats a baby bear . I think so. Eventually, he did, but he could not rip it from the pole, got bored, and gave up there. The baby bear saw the ball on the green and decided let me go for that. That looks like more fun to play with. Such great video. We see the golfer in the shot there. Thats a montana bear emulating my putting stroke. Youre right, it was. Natalie, thank you very much. Mr. Roker, i see rain. We have a system pushing along, and well see possibilities of flooding making our way down to memphis. In fact, the showers and thunderstorms causing big problems, flash flood watches and warnings from jones borrow into memphis today. Well continue to watch that moving on in with the showers and thunderstorms, little rock, memphis, the storms move along the track line trains on the track. Could produce up to 3 inches of rain causing problems there later this morning. Well get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. Ocal weather coming up in the next 30 seconds. Thank you for being my hero and my dad. To you. In san bruno, High Pressure is forcing everything right to the surface. As a result we have that thick fog over the golden gate bridge. You can actually see above the clouds. 88 on the peninsula. Its going to be warm. Thats it, after we get through this heat wave, temperatures are going to crash and expecting showers potentially next wednesday. Coming up, toronto mayor rob ford. Coming up, the toronto mayor rob ford, hospitalized and the Health Crisis hes facing. Why did she stay in an abusive relationship and why she sees the ray rice video as a water shed moment for Domestic Violence. First on thursday morning this is today on nbc. I gotta have that bag. Italian leather . For an amazing deal, and i love that designer. [ shopper ] you paid how much for that . [ female announcer ] two stores. Two amazing ways to score. T. J. Maxx and marshalls. Do you still use one . Why the wallet could be an endangered species, and the new taxi service for women only. That kills both fleas and ticks. Vets recommend it. And dogs, well, theyre begging for it. Nexgard is for dogs only. And