Building. How she is doing this morning, as investigators searched for what cause that disaster. And roaring back. Tiger woods, returning to his fistpumping ways, firing his lowest round of golf in three years, and he says he cant wait to get back on the course today. Saturday, december 3, 2016. Announcer from nbc news, this is studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And welcome to today on this saturday morning. Im craig melvin. Im sheinelle jones. Craig, so happy to have you back. Good to be back. Congratulations. I will tell you this is exponentially easier. I mean, it is good work at home. The best work you can do. I was doing at home. I thought you meant having two kids at home is easier. Oh, no. Having there you go. That makes more sense. Shes watching at home. So cute. It is so cute. All right, we have a lot to get to this morning. Starting with the new controversy for president elect trump. On friday, he spoke by phone with taiwans president , a conversation that is not sitting well with lawmakers here at hom nb Kelly Odonnell is at trump tower in new york. Y, good morning. Reporter good morning, donald trump hasn even selected a secretary of state yet. But he has already turned up international heat, breaking with longstanding protocol. This is about a very sensitive issue for china. The island of taiwan. It kicked off when donald trump picked up the phone. A seemingly ordinary press diplomatic land mine. President elect trump spoke by phone with the president of taiwan. Something no whi house has done in 35 years. The u. S. Only formally recognizes the peoples republic of china, and not the selfgoverning island. The Democratic National committee pounced. His foolish phone call threans our national security. The wrong message could be received, so he should be fully briefed by the state department before those reporter but top trump advisor, kellyanne conway, balked at the criticism. Donald trump is fully briefed on an ongoing basis, regardless of who is on the other end of the phone. Reporter trump reacted in all caps on twitter. The president called me. In another, he opined. Interesting how the u. S. Sells taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment, but i congratulations call. He is having private conversations, giving a readout here and there, but not trying to make policy and not trying to make waves. Donald j. Trump. Reporter he also took heat from sarah palin, who has sought a place in his administration. Palin criticized trumps deals to use tax dollars to keep carrier jobs in the u. S. , relief for hundreds slammed the plant as special interest crony capitalism. Reporter now about that call heard around the world, chinas Prime Minister has responded, describing as a small trick by taiwan and insisting there is only one china on the international stage, bedrock and must be adhered to. As we heard, president elect calls. It is not like the phone just rang and he picked it up. There was a decision made to receive it. Reporter the team working behind the scenes arranges and schedules times for these calls, and sifts through which foreign leaders at one point donald trump will speak to. There has been earlier controversy about this as well, because he did not in the very first days after the election speak to the british Prime Minister first. Breaking that kind of protocol. This, of course, reaching implications because of the tense relationship, complicated relationship with china. Theyre up set about this. We dont yet know if this is an intentional attempt or just be the disrupt ter that he talked about. Kelly, thank you. High drama at the high profile murder trial of a South CarolinaPolice Officer who shot and killed an unarmed black man, after days of deliberations, the struggling to reach a verdict because of one holdout jor. Gabe is in charleston this morning. Reporter in a highly unusual move that lone juror wrote a note to the judge saying he could not in good conscience convict Michael Slager. They are asking the judge to go home for the weekend and return monday morning. Caught on camera, stunning a nation. The trial of walter scott, hoping a holdout juror may change his mi. We believe within our heart that we will see justice for my brother. Michael slager reporter going home for the weekend, after a dramatic week, saying it was hopelessly a single juror sending this message to the judge. I cannot without a reasonable doubt convict the defendant. At the same time, my heart does not want to have to tell the scott family that the man that killed their son, brother and father is innocent. But with the choices, i cannot and will not change my mind. Reporter but no mistrial yet. The judge telling jurors to keep trying. It i we kept hearing it is over. Well wait until monday, see what happens monday. Reporter former North CharlestonPolice Officer, Michael Slager, is charged with murder. During the month long trial, he told the juror he told scott in selfdefense. I fired until the threat was stopped. Reporter he pulled scott over for a broken taillight, when scott suddenly bolted from his car. As scott broke away, he said he was in total fear for his life. One of the keys of this case is what is not on the camera. There have been weeks and weeks of testimony about what is not on that camera. Reporter months after the shooting, the city of North Charleston approved a 6. 5 million civil settlement for Walter Scotts family. However, no matter what happens in this case, Michael Slager still faces federal civil rights prison, if convicted. Craig. Gabe, from charleston, South Carolina. Ari, chief legal correspondent. Good morning. Good morning. Lets talk about the letter that the lone juror wrote. He writes in part, quote, we all struggle with the death of a man and with all that has been put before us. I still cannot without a reasonable doubt convict the defendant. At the same time, my heart does not want to have to tell the killed their son, brother and father is innocent. Het on to add, i cannot in good conscience consider a guilty verdict. How unusual is it to get this kind of glimpse inside juror proceedings . Very unusual. A dramatic letter, the kind of thing that anyone can relate to. A mans life hangs in the balance. Another man shot down dead from the video footage that so many people have seen. What we got a peek into, craig, is the deliberations jury before theyre even done. According to those letters that the judge read yesterday as well as a separate person from the foreperson, they are deadlocked, 111. The vast majority of the jury, a majority white jury by the way, does want to move forward on a guilty conviction. But you need 12 to get it. What happens on monday . If this person doesnt change his mind . This person is committed to paper, as craig was reading, conscience. So barring a sudden reversal, you would expect it to remain deadlocked and eventually when the process has been exhausted, you have a hung jury, which leads to a mistrial and then up to the state, the prosecution to decide if they want to try it again. Eyeballs on this one to see what happens. Stand by. We want to get your take on this next story. Mounting out rage of an apparent road rage after this man shot and killed a former nfl player, jacob rascon has more on that. Reporter sheinelle, the investigation is ongoing and theyre reviewing more evidence and theyll consult with the d. A. Office about what if any charges who admitted gunning down joe mcknight remains free they brought flowers, signs and heavy hearts. Set, but to the point of shooting someone three times total. Thats just too much. Reporter joe mcknights blood, still on the asphalt, too much for calvin lambert, a childhood friend of the former running back. I just seen him the other day. I aint going to see him no more. Reporter this morning, along with grief is mounting outrage a community horrified that ronald admitted to gunning down mcknight. But Jefferson Parish sheriff warns dont believe the rumors about mr. Mcknights death. Mr. Gasser did not stand over mr. Mcknight and fire shots into him. Reporter instead, the sheriff says, evidence shows that on thursday afternoon, afteren incident of road rage, he was shot after he got out of his car and walked to the the three cases were located within the vehicle. Reporter tributes poured in from old teams, usc, new york jets and kansas city chiefs. He was always upbeat, had a good time, no matter the situation. Reporter born and raised in louisiana, minutes from the memorial in his honor, mcknights troubling to friends. We the same age. That could have been me. Reporter and strangers you know, see another africanamerican die like i dont understand. Like why . Reporter overnight, the sheriff confirmed gasser had been arrested previously for another road rage incident, at the same intersection where he gunned down mcknight. In a statement, the Sheriffs Department says that an unidentified man called the how am i driving number on the back of gassers truck, found the man and beat him up. Sheinelle. Jacob, thank you. Well get to that previous incident in a minute. Knowing what we know, here you have a man who admits to the shooting. He remained on the scene. Gives his gun. If you cant charge them, a delay, a couple of days to do the investigation and figure out the charges and arrest, that would be okay. I think the larger question here looming over this is not i there is a threeday delay, but are they looking at not charging him with anything despite as you mentioned a confession to the shooting, a deadly shooting in broad daylight. Lets talk about this other incident back in 2006, where gasser allegedly gets into this altercation with another driver, same intersection, apparently here in new orleans. What kind of affect if any might that have on this investigation . It shouldnt have much of an so basically, it is not something that investigators should use to say whether or not this was a justifiable homicide. But if they do charge, it is exactly the kind of thing that you will see that lawyers in the prosecution try to bring up, because you try to make arguments about someones history and about their mental state. Having said that, defense lawyers are quick to say, hey, were only on trial for what happened in these five minutes, nothing before or after. No prior bad acts. That would be litigated. So with that s when can the charges come down . They need to decide whether there was a crime of violence, manslaughter or murder. Thats what they need to decide. I have to say, having watched this, there is a lot of questions swirling in the community about the handling. Chief normans press conference did not help address those questions. It was bizarre. It was bizarre. He came off as defensive. Selfpitting, what he said he about him, rather than the issue here. The issue is what happened between those two individuals, whether it was a crime, whether it will be fully investigated. Were hoping that process is transparent and improves quite frankly. Ari, thank you. Quick headlines now. Eight people were hurt after a bus crashed overnight in west texas. The bus slammed head on into a tractor trailer on a trip home from a friday night football game. Two people are in Critical Police are investigating the cause of that crash. Shock and mourning today at the university of Southern California over the stabbing dead of a professor. Police say a personal dispute led to a male student to attack a psychology professor. The suspect is under arrest. He is described as being in his 20s. The professor, who was a married father, was found on campus inside a science building. To the ongoing hunt for suspects in the brutal kidnapping of a california from shiri papinis mother, as police still try to identify her abductors. Gadi schwartz is in redding, california. Good morning, gadi. Reporter good morning. Investigators say the kidnappers are two women who brutalized sherry papini, and her husband is speaking out, saying he does not understand how anyone could be so for three weeks, shiri papinis four year old son and two year old daughter had no idea where their mother was. He tried explaining what happened to his little boy. He said are you looking for her. I said everybody in the whole world is looking for her right now. Reporter and then thanksgiving morning, released in chains, badly beaten, half starved and tortured. I just hugged her and held there. Reporter the sheriff has not released a motive in this case, but said she had been branded. Rebecca binder, an expert in trafficking, who helps train Law Enforcement was a slave herself for six years. She was convinced this is a case of trafficking. Ive been branded twice. Reporter another trafficking expert also point to the gee og graphy, emerald triangle, trade and human trafficking, and both papinis kidnapping and release happened along a sex trade route known as the pacific circuit. They keep trying, stay in each city for a couple of days, oftentimes following sporting events or conferences, anywhere where youll a heavy population that are potentially buyers. Reporter other experts still have their doubts. Some would question, why was reporter meanwhile, her husband says he will need time to heal, as investigators intensify the search. It made meick that there is people out there that could do Something Like this. Reporter now, a little later, the community of redding is coming together in a rally to prepare a giant Christmas Present for the papini family. Anyone to wear pink, shiris favorite color. Gadi, thank you. Were joined by pat brown. Good morning to you, pat. Good morning. This case so bizarre to a lot of people. How likely is this theory, this was a case of sex trafficking. And if it wasnt, could it be a straight kidnapping . Well, the sex trafficking thing is the least likely motive in my opinion. First of all, she is 34 years thats not the woman theyre going to kidnap for sex trafficking. Guys like 16, 17yearolds. There are drug addicts, run a ways, there are easier people to get, blond women, than a 34yearold woman who will set off a huge police investigation, and get her photo everywhere all over the internet and every media. You dont want that kind of pressure when youre grabbing it makes absolutely no sense. Also, you dont cut their hair off, brutalize them. I know you did a special last night. Did it clear up any of the questions you had about this case . Actually, it made it worst. There are a lot of people who question whether this is a hoax, and there is good reason for that. The husband came on, and he is private, yet he is going on a show and giving tremendous amount of information about the family. He seems to be trying to convince us that his wife is absolutely fantastic person, he is a fantastic person. The family is happy. And that she was beaten. But he doesnt seem to be very concerned about catching the people who did this. Youre criminal profiler. I dont want to speculate. What is your gut telling you . It is really it is one of those things you have to say. If you were a police detective, youre goi all the evidence and all the statements. For example, one of the things the husband said, which really threw me, he said when he came home and found his wife missing, and his kids missing, they may have been out someplace walking, he looked around and then he went on an app to find her phone, to find where he could locate her. He never says he called her. Then he says he called her mother, and he called the daycare. Then he went back to the app. He still doesnt call her. Why wouldnt he just call his wife to find out where she is . It doesnt mean is guilty of anything. The detectives have to look at all these things that dont make sense and pretty much none of this case makes sense at all. It is strange. All right, pat brown, thank you. To be clear, we should note here, i think the husband, he did take a lie detector test. He did pass that lie detector past. Fair enough. This is a case were going to continue to follow. Good to see you. Nice to see you too. Were talking about heavy, heavy rain through parts of texas, where we could see ovehe rain. You could see real heavy band of rain move through houston, san antonio, lifting north into the dallas area. We even have snow on the northern side of this system. But rain is going to be the biggest issue. We have the jet stream bringing in this area of low pressure. We have a lot of moisture thats moving in from the south. So were going to see pockets of persistent heavy rain through about monday before it starts to move to the southeast, where it is very much needed across parts the gulf moisture thats pump anything will certainly help bring in some of that much needed rain. It is back through houston, where we could end up with 8 to 11, maybe 12 inches of rain through monday. The bulk of it will fall today and on sunday, by monday, i and that is your latest forecast. Dylan, thank you. A frightening Building Collapse in south dakota. A young woman pulled alive from the latest from the scene overnight. The stories from the week that have everyone talking on this saturday morning, including one city search for mountain lions that backfired in a big imagine a world where the holidays are about joy again. Where days are filled with magic instead of madness. At t. J. Maxx, marshalls and homegoods, s why we never have crazy sales. Never make you clip coupons. And always have amazing prices on popular brands and thoughtful gifts. Its time to bring back the holidays missing drivers license shows up in the mail one year later. Wait until you hear who had it. Give it back. Thats a good one. How you can make this Holiday Season happy and developing news this a man from the town of burlington is in serious condition after a single vehicle crash in racine county. Multiple agencies responded just before midnight and found the man trapped in his vehicle in a ditch. He was taken to the hospital via flight for life and charged with drunk driving. Heres Brian Nizansky with were back on this saturday morning, the 3rd of december already, 2016. Just 21 days left until christmas. Im sure these folks have some shopping to do. After starting their morning with us her plaza the tree people. The tree people. They all come out. They show up for the tree. Theyre not here to see us. Well talk to them anyway. Here is a look at what is making headlines. On twitter, donald trump defending his call with taiwans president , saying she called him. The conversation, though, breaking nearly four decades