tonight, double disaster -- a rising death toll as wildfires, then tornadoes explode across the south. new threats, new warnings as a big part of the country gets hit with wild extremes. no charges in a fatal police shooting that sparked days of protests. why prosecutors say the officer was justified. in using deadly force. frantic final words from the pilot of that doomed jetliner, repeatedly telling air traffic control his plane was rapidly running out of fuel. how could this have happened? art of the deal? donald trump turns a campaign rallying cry into action, saving jobs at carrier, from moving to mexico. what did it take? and making it work -- the big american company where every day is take your child to work day. and employees couldn't

right now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good evening, trying times in the south tonight. fire, water and tornadoes, part of twin deadly disasters that have struck over the last 48 hours. violent storms spawned twisters overnight, killing five people in two states, including tennessee. which is still that exploded the night before in the great smoky mountains. and today we learned three more bodies have been recovered from the scorched ruins, bringing the death toll to at least seven. we've got it all covered, starting with nbc's jacob rascon in alabama. >> tornadoes reported in six states and nowhere was hit harder than here in rosalie, alabama. i'm standing inside what used to be the

of the rubble alive. while several of his neighbors did not survive. barrelling through the southeast, dozens of tornadoes reported from florida to mississippi. late today, pictures showing a possible funnel cloud near atlanta. threatening a major metropolitan area. >> it's devastating. i mean, it breaks my heart. >> overnight the town of rosalie, alabama, devastated. the one shopping plaza, reduced to piles of wood and bricks. the owner, greg day, alive. nearby, another survivor, bob wright, hoping to find pictures of his family members, who did not make it. >> i lost two, my brother's boy, his daughter, and that boy's, his boy's girlfriend. >> their mobile home tossed across the highway. three people died, two hospitalized. including cynthia wright. >> how do you remember them? how do you hope people

that's about all i can do, buddy. >> 31 reported tornadoes in two days. the path of destruction spreading over 550 miles. >> and i thought we were going to die last night. >> including through polk county, tennessee, where jennifer young, her husband and two sons barely escaped. >> my husband saying there's a tornado coming. there's a tornado coming. get the kids, grab the kids. >> their neighbors, not so fortunate. back in alabama, hope after a family of seven took shelter inside the day care center they own. the twister leaving nothing but the bathroom. the family recovering in a nearby hospital. the healing and the clean-up only just beginning. jacob rascon, nbc news, rosalie, alabama. this is kerry sanders with our first up-close look at damage in gatlinburg, one of the areas

flames. in the aftermath of the frantic evacuations, now a different chaos, tracking down those still-unaccounted for. no one's heard from alice haggler since the fire raced through her neighborhood. >> my mother call immediate frantically, that the house was on fire. we got disconnected. and because of that, i haven't heard if her since. >> then, there's michael reed. still waiting for news. >> looking for my wife, constance. and my daughter, lily. who is ne chloe, who is 12. >> the greatest fear? those missing could be dead. today, the death toll rose to at least seven. this morning, much-needed rain began to fall in the drought-stricken smokies. but it was too little, too late. 17,000 acres here burned. gerry morgan lost all her mother's keepsakes, including photos, treasures that took on extra meaning after her mom died

all of her silver ware. everything's gone. >> the morgans escaped as the flames engulfed their driveway. they thought the fire department had the blaze under control. >> when you look at this, can you believe this? >> no. we thought they would be able to stop it. >> you prayed? >> i -- yes, i prayed that they'd stop >> in addition to the widespread devastation that goes on for blocks here just beyond downtown gatlinburg, today the rain caused problems of mudslides and rock slides. forecasters say tonight the threat of rain here with thunderstorms and through the south will continue, but by tomorrow it should be gone. which will allow folks at least some here in gatlinburg to come back in and begin cleaning up. lester? >> all right, kerry sanders in tennessee, thank you. there are new

protests. prosecutors have decided not to charge an officer for the killing of keith lamont scott in charlotte, north carolina in september. authorities maintain scott, whose wife recorded the confrontation, had a gun on him. nbc's gabe gutierrez has the latest. >> don't shoot him. don't shoot him. >> more than two months after this dramatic video stunned the nation, today the district attorney announced that brent vincent, the charlotte police officer who shot and killed keith charges. >> it's my opinion that officer vincent acted lawfully when he shot mr. scott. >> the shooting sparked nights of violent unrest here. social media catapulted the story into the national spotlight, based on false information, the prosecutor says. according to state investigators, initial witness accounts that scott was holding a book proved to be false. his wife's statement she didn't know he owned a weapon, also false according to

month before about a firearm in his possession. and they say witness claims that it was a white officer who shot scott are also untrue. police say they were trying to serve a warrant to a different man at an apartment complex when they saw scott with a gun and marijuana. investigatsor say scott ignored commands to drop the weapon at least ten times. >> keith, don't you do it. >> did you shoot him? did you shoot him? [ bleep ] dead. >> the prosecutor also released new surveillance video, of scott at a nearby convenience store shortly before the deadly encounter. >> the bulge you see here is consistent with the holster and gun that was later described by officers and located at the scene sbxt what appears to be a hollister also appears on a freeds frame from a camera. scott's family is planning a lawsuit. >> this is an open carry state there

from an open carry state to now there's imminent dapger, aggravated imminent danger and therefore deadly force should be used. >> the scott family is asking that any protests remain peaceful. >> thank you. we're learning more information about what may have caused the tragic plane crash in south america that killed 71 people. six miracle survivors found in the wreckage. in the past hour, we got new video of the team on board the doomed flight before takeoff, in high ir also tonight, air traffic control audio reveals the pilot's urgent final words repeatedly saying he was running out of fuel. we get the latest from nbc's kir simmons in colombia. >> in colombia and brazil, memorials, instead of a soccer match. in the brazilian team's empty locker room, flowers and candles. and tonight, a stunning recording obtained by the "associated press." apparently between the

died because their plane ran out of fuel. we're asking for priority in our approach. we have a fuel problem. the controller tells the pilot he can start his approach in seven minutes. two minutes later, the pilot again asked to land. but is told there's an aircraft below. she asks, how much time do you have to stay put? fuel emergency the pilot responds, i'm asking for immediate descent. a short time later the pilot says the pne is in total electrical failure and out of fuel. the aircraft slams into the side of a hill. short of medellin airport. >> they should have had a minimum of 45 minutes reserve fuel. and they only held for seven or eight minutes. so it's obvious that they were well into that reserve fuel. >> flight attendant jiminez suarez told doctors here the lights in the plane went out and then impact. three players survived.

coma. are you amazed that he survived this? >> yes, i am. >> among the 71 who perished, a player pictured last week finding out his wife was pregnant. his future as a father and the hopes of an entire team wiped out. keir simmons, nbc news, medellin, colombia. politics, the ongoing drama of who's in, who's out of president-elect donald trump's incoming administration. during the campaign, trump repeatedly promised to drain the in our nation's capital. as our halle jackson explains, he's choosing washington, d.c. and wall street insiders to stack his team. >> he won the white house, partly by promising a purge in washington. >> we are going to -- drain the swamp. >> but now, the president-elect's latest cabinet picks panned by democrats. quote so much for draining the swamp.

alligators. taking special aim at steven mnuchin, officially announced today as donald trump's choice to head the treasury department. >> feeling terrific. >> he was trump's chief fundraiser. a hollywood financier behind movies like "mad max," and a former goldman sachs banker who today pushed back against criticism he took advantage of homeowners during the financial crisis by buying a failing bank. >> we bought it from the government in highly competitive six-month auction. we saved a lot of jobs and we created a lot of opportunities for corporate loans. >> trump's transition team argues there's no one better to help reform the tax code than private-sector picks like mnuchin and like newly named commerce nominee, billionaire investor wilbur ross. so far, almost all the president-elect administration picks have ties to washington or wall street. and now it's insider and former trump critic, mitt romney, who is in the hunt to lead the state

dinner of steak, scallops and frog legs. >> he did something i tried to do and was unsuccessful in accomplishing, he won the general election. and he continues with a message of inclusion and bringing people together. >> today the president-elect is announcing that in a couple of weeks he plans to explain how he will in his words, get completely out of business operations for the trump organization, with one big question being whether he'll still have an ownersh stake. that will be his first news conference in more than four months. >> halle, thanks very much. president-elect also poised to make an announcement tomorrow, delivering on a promise to save jobs at an indiana company. carrier air conditioning says its reached a deal to keep 1,000 jobs in the state, half the number carrier was planning to shift to mexico but what was the strayed-off? nbc's kevin tibbles has reaction from employees. >> shift change in indy.

>> our jobs are being saved. >> a different mood from last february's announcement that 1400 jobs were being moved to mexico. >> to move production from our facility in indianapolis to monterey, mexico. >> back then, candidate donald trump pounced. >> if i were in office right now, carrier would not be leaving indiana. that i can tell you. that i can tell you. >> following negotiio thanksgiving, last night a tweet from the president-elect. we will keep our companies and jobs in the u.s. why did carrier reverse course? well details have not been released, sources familiar with the negotiation say carrier will receive tax incentives from the state where vice president-elect mike pence is governor. sources add carrier's parent company, united technologies, a major defense contractor now avoids angering the

technologies' business, more than $5 billion, comes from the u.s. government and the pentagon is united technology's single biggest customer. >> robert james who has made furnaces for 18 years, has questions, too. >> we need to know what's behind it. is there anything that's going to be asked of the union. >> but for jt bray, raising a young family -- relief. >> some people are saying it's a christmas miracle here. we get to keep our jobs and i'll be happy. the kids will be having a good christmas, we't daddy won't have his job. >> tomorrow the president-elect and governor pennsylvania will be here to tour the carrier plant and talk to its workers. left centre. >> kevin tibbles in indianapolis, thank you. still ahead, new details in a kidnapping mystery that has captured much of the nation's attention. what a mother of two is now telling police about the suspects she is now telling police about the suspects she my friends think doing this at my age is scary. is now telling police about the suspects she i say not if you protect yourself.

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new details in a california. authorities are hunting for two kidnappers who abducted a mother and held her for three weeks. investigators say she showed signs of torture and starvation. when she was found on the side of a highway, 150 miles from her home. here's nbc's gotti schwartz. >> six days after sherri papini was found chained and beaten, investigators finally have a more detailed description of the two hispanic women suspected of kidnapping her at gunpoint as she went

home. >> both of the subjects spoke in spanish. the majority of the time. of her captivity. the suspects concealed their faces. >> papini spent hours giving interviews to detectives. >> i will confirm that the suspects did brand her. >> what could that mean? >> maybe a method of torture. it could mean a way of control or exerting control over a person. >> her husband, keith papini telling "people" magazine in a statement that his broken, her hair chopped off, her body covered in bruises in beatings. writing she was thrown from a vehicle with a chain around her waist, attached to her wrists with a bag over her head. the same bag she used to flag someone down when she was able to free one of her hands. there are still so many unanswered questions so far no motive or information on where she was held for three weeks. and why her kidnappers released her on thanksgiving day. investigators now working with a sketch artist as detectives

kidnapping to others in several states, while papini recovers with her family by her side her husband crediting his wife's survival with her will to stay alive. gotti schwartz, nbc news, redding, california. up next here tonight, the manhunt for a thief caught on camera. striking gold in ?? as soon as i became a parent i changed as a person, drastically. ?? i tried hard to quit smoking. ?? but when we brought our daughter home ?? now i have nicoderm cq. the nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release technology helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. it's the best thing that ever happened to me. can you say thanks nicoderm cq? every great why needs a great how. ?? when you think of saving money, what comes to mind? your next getaway? connecting with family and friends?

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kind of parental perks you almost never see these days, here's nbc's jolynn kent with more. >> for hans cole every day is take your child to work day. >> my office is just about 100 feet away from the child care center, so i can look out my window and see him playing out in the playground here. >> outer wear brand patagonia's day care is the squealing, laughing heart of its corporate headquarters. >> there's this understanding that children are part of life and a part of meetings, while dads feed in the nursery. any parent can swing by for a quick hello. >> i'm going to meeting. >> the company says offering this kind of in-house child care for 33 years is not a distraction, rather than an investment that's paid off. >> 100% of moms returning to work after leave we figure we recoup over 90% of our costs. >> parents paying $1200 a month for

johnson, whose job takes her around the world. wherever she goes, her daughter and caregiver go, too. all paid for by the company. >> it allows me to excel in my job. but it allows me to excel in my life, really. >> patagonia's model is rare. on-site subsidized child care in the u.s. has dropped from 9% in 1996, to just 2% in 2016. >> often what you'll find in the marketplace is that people understand that something can be but they don't have the tools in terms of how to implement it. >> tyler wellborn's mom, susan, brought him to day care at 18 months, now 30 years later, he designs wetsuits for patagonia and has standing breakfast dates with mom at work. >> it allowed me to not worry about where my kids were when i was busy. it's kind of like an extension of the family. >> full circle for a company that hopes to inspire others to put family first, too. jolynn kent, ventura,

it for us on this wednesday night, the rockefeller center christmas tree will be lit tonight during a live broadcast. i'm lester holt, for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and have a good night. "i'm still in shock. i can't believe i lost 35 good friends " now at six. an eastern iowa soccer coach is hit hard by the tragic plane crash in south america. auditions for the finalists to be the next president at an area university continue -- with a familiar face in the spotlight today. with winter creeping in -- people responsible for keeping our roads drive-able wait for the first big storm. good evening everyone, i'm amanda goodman and i'm ron steele. thanks for joining us tonight.

plane crash that killed nearly an entire brazilian soccer team hits very close to home for an eastern iowa man. here's a look at the crash in colombia earlier this week -- wreckage sprawled across a mountainside. the pilot of the plane told air traffic control that the plane ran out of fuel -- and was in electric failure. amazingly -- six people were rescued alive from the crash -- but at least 71 people died. professional soccer team and 21 journalists -- on its way to the finals of a south american championship. the shock from the crash reaches all the way to iowa. kwwl's kristin rogers catching up with a coach for an area professional indoor soccer team. he has a close connection to many killed in the crash. kristin joins us live in cedar