Welcome back to way too early. it s not quite 5:30 a.m. on the east coast or 2:30 out west. i m jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us there was a dangerous encounter between the united states and russia in the skies over the black sea. the pentagon says a russian fighter jet poured fuel on an unmanned drone and then collided with it. the drone was eventually brought down into the sea. nbc news correspondent covering national security and the pentagon courtney kube has more. reporter: the stunning showdown happening over the black sea near ukraine and russia when an unmanned american drone like this one called a reaper was confronted by two russian fighter jets weaving dangerously close to it, dumping fuel on the u.s. drone, and then colliding with it the russian jet s wing striking the reaper s propeller after the collision the u.s. downed the $32 million drone in
With an unmanned american drown calling it reckless, unsafe and unprofessional. the defense department says tha happened after 7:00 a.m. centra time this morning in international airspace above th black sea. about 40 nautical miles southwest of crimea. two russian jets started dumpin fuel onto and flying in front o an american and united drown. when jett got so close to the american drone it collided with it causing damage to the drones propeller. the uss says it was forced to crash to the drone in the water. russia s jets and landed safely in crimea. white house national security security spokesperson says the us has been flying over this particular airspace before russia invaded ukraine in today s reckless collision is not going to get her the united states. republicans south dakota senato mike rounds is on the senate armed service committee told fo news jennifer griffin america cannot allow it to happen. here s the senator s thoughts.
Chief of the faa i asked him why do these near misses seem to be happening so often. and the bakery helping young chefs rise to their full potential and inspiring america. announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt good evening, and thank you for joining us we ll get to that major weather news in a few moments. but first, we want to bring you the latest in what we know about a dangerous aerial encounter in the sky today between the united states and russia the pentagon saying a russian fighter jet poured fuel on an unmanned american drone, then collided with it over the black sea. it sent the american aircraft into the water the confrontation escalating already high tensions between the countries which are telling different versions of today s event. courtney kube has the latest for us from the pentagon. reporter: the stunning showdown happening over the black sea near ukraine and russia when an unmanned american
With my russian counterpart, minister shoigu, as i said repeatedly, it s important that greatly powers be models of transparency and communication. and the united states will continue to fly and operate wherever international law allows. russian officials have unilaterally declared the airspace part of their so-called special military operation. but it s an area of routine u.s. surveillance. russia denying they brought the uav down. they claim the drone s transponder was off. and say they will attempt to retrieve and study the piece of american hardware with millions. translator: as for the drone, the americans keep saying they re not participating in hostilities. yet, this is another confirmation that they re directly involved in these events, in the war. we took steps to protect information and to protect to
Welcome to the lead. i m jake tapper. this hour, the controversy following the university of alabama s basketball team onto the court, as questions persist involve the team s star player, a gun, and a woman s death. plus, it s the case that could result in the indictment of former president donald trump, and today, stormy daniels met with prosecutors. is she willing to go before the grand jury? leading this hour, a war of words intensifying amid an actual ground war. an unmanned american drone was forced to crash down in the black sea yesterday after two russianer jets taunted it. russia s clipping the propeller was probably a screw up.