News Information and Media Site: Nightly Rundown: Speaker Johnson opposes Gaetz report release; Trial begins in Laken Riley killing; Video of severe turbulence on U.S.-bound flight

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By Dan Donahue

Friday, November 15, 2024

Good Friday afternoon. Several of Donald Trump's cabinet picks are drawing backlash, the trial of the man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley is now underway, and we have new video of the severe turbulence that forced a U.S-bound flight to make a U-turn.

Here is what's in our Nightly Rundown.

Speaker Johnson to "strongly request" House ethics report on Gaetz be withheld

House Speaker Mike Johnson said today he would "strongly request" the House Ethics Committee withhold its report on Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for attorney general, despite bipartisan calls from Senators to see the information before the confirmation process begins.

Gaetz had been the subject of an ethics investigation into whether he engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, but his resignation Wednesday effectively ended the probe. Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

The former Florida congressman is just one of Trump's controversial picks. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the conspiracy theorist and anti-vaccine activist, has drawn a mixed reaction from senators after Trump selected him for secretary of Health and Human Services.

After Trump's win last week, RFK Jr. told NBC News he wouldn't "take away anybody's vaccines."

And we're learning that Pete Hegseth, Trump's choice for defense secretary, was investigated for alleged sexual assault in 2017, police in California confirmed today. He was not charged.

"He was cleared," Hegseth's attorney, Timothy Parlatore, said in a phone interview. "There's not much more that I can say. It didn't happen."

Trial for man accused of murdering Georgia nursing student Laken Riley begins

A trial began in Georgia today for the man charged with murdering Laken Riley, the 22-year-old nursing student whose death became a flashpoint in the immigration debate after authorities said the suspect was an undocumented immigrant.

Prosecutors said in their opening statement that the defendant, Jose Antonio Ibarra, "went out hunting for females" the day he killed Riley in February, and that his DNA was found underneath her fingernails and his thumbprint was discovered on her iPhone.

Ibarra's defense attorneys called the evidence against him circumstantial, and said the case cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Ibarra has waived his right to a jury trial. Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard will consider the evidence and issue a verdict.

Severe turbulence on U.S.-bound flight; American Airlines plane climbs to avoid mountain

We're following multiple alarming incidents involving passenger planes, including the new details about the severe turbulence that forced a transatlantic flight to make a U-turn on Thursday.

New video from the Scandinavian Airlines flight from Stockholm to Miami shows passengers being jolted and items flying around the cabin. The airline said there were no reports of significant injuries.

There was another frightening midair incident on Wednesday, when an American Airlines plane departing Hawaii for LAX was ordered to make an "expedited climb" to avoid crashing into mountainous terrain.

The FAA said the tower instructed the flight to "perform an expedited climb after the crew did not make the assigned turn while departing from Honolulu International Airport."

The airline said that during the climb the crew "requested and received right-turn clearance and complied with controller instructions."

And at Denver International Airport, more than 100 passengers were evacuated from a Southwest Airlines plane today after a passenger's cell phone battery caught fire while the aircraft was still at the gate.

Red Flag Warnings in Northeast; Tropical Storm Sara set to bring rain to Florida

Critical fire weather conditions are impacting the Northeast today, with 42 million people under Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches across the region through at least Saturday, amid a historic drought.

Winds from the northwest are blowing smoke into New York City from the fires raging inland in northern New Jersey.

There is no significant rain in the coming weeks that will alleviate the bone-dry conditions in the region, according to forecasters.

We're also tracking Tropical Storm Sara, the system that's slamming Central America with catastrophic flooding and mudslides, and could bring disorganized showers and thunderstorms to Florida by Wednesday.

What else we're watching:

The Texas Supreme Court has ruled against lawmakers who used a subpoena to stop the execution of Robert Roberson, the inmate convicted on the now-controversial diagnosis of "shaken baby syndrome," paving the way for it to proceed.

After more than eight hours, crews rescued a man who had become trapped by debris after a collapse at a demolition site in Louisville, Kentucky.

Four out of five American men and women will be impacted by this by 2050, if trends hold, according to a new study.

Mike Tyson slapped Jake Paul during the weigh-in ahead of their bout tonight on Netflix.

Two spectacular sights will be visible in the sky this weekend.

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.