weather with you wake up in the morning. >> that's our news at 6:00. i'm jim rosenfield. >> and i'm jacqueline london. up next is "nbc nightly news." we'll see you tonight at 11:00. breaking news tonight. shocking comments from president trump in the oval office. sources tell nbc news he attacked immigrants from africa and haiti using vulgar language to describe their countries. asking why do we want them here. the grim search in california to find people buried alive. tonight the new view of the sudden force of nature. >> a flash flood right there! get out of here. go. >> as the water rushed in. a new alert about your taxes. why you need to pay extra close attention to your paycheck to make sure you're getting the right amount. the sex scandal swirling around a gop rising star governor admitting he cheated on his wife but denying explosive allegations he threatened to blackmail the other woman. and when every second counts, why

can't 911 tell exactly where you are when you call from a cell phone. >> that's crazy. that's got to be almost 16 blocks away. >> what our team found that could cost you in an emergency. this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt. good evening, everyone. using vulgar language, president trump today questioned why the united states would allow people from haiti and africa into the country, describing those places using an expletive while suggesting people from norway might be more acceptable. he reportedly made the comments during a white house meeting with a bipartisan group of senators. the white house tonight is not denying the president made the remarks. now, we want you to know our report includes that expletive once so that you can hear the complete quote for yourself. of course, it may not be appropriate for some of our younger viewers. nbc's peter alexander has details. >> reporter: the president tonight apparently uncorking another astonishing statement. complaining to lawmakers in the oval office about protections for

immigrants. why do we want these people from, quote, all these shithole countries here. a democratic aide familiar with the conversation, he was referring to african nations and haiti. when he said that the u.s. should have more people from norway, whose prime minister he met yesterday. a spokesman not denying the words but saying certain washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries but president trump will always fight for the american people. it comes as lawmakers try to hammer out an immigration deal with time running out for hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants called dreamers. the crass remark punctuating a wild day in washington with president trump fiercely criticizing the controversial foreign surveillance intelligence act or fisa just hours before congress was set to vote. the president resurrecting his unfounded attack on the obama administration claiming this is the act that may have been used to so badly surveil and abuse the trump campaign by the previous administration and others. the intelligence community immediately

erupting. >> i thought the president's tweets, once again, were irresponsible and not thought through. >> reporter: even republicans frustrated. >> the tweet is a mistake. the president is supporting the vote today. >> if you're a member of the intelligence community and you woke up this morning and saw that tweet, it's hard for me to describe the outrage and consternation. >> reporter: the president posted his tweet that contradicted the white house's public position after this direct appeal from a fox news analyst. >> mr. president, this is not the way to go. >> reporter: president trump later this morning appearing to reverse himself, get smart. the white house in damage control with chief of staff john kelly hustling to the hill and paul ryan getting on the phone with the president. >> we don't know what the terrorists are up to. the consequences are really high. >> reporter: the program ultimately passed. tonight, top democratic lawmakers are blasting the president's vulgar comment, one calling

it unforgivable. here at the white house president trump felt particularly frustrated when today's immigration discussion turned to the visa lottery system, a program that he wants to end. >> a lot of news from there tonight, peter alexander, thank you. the latest on another major story we've been following. authorities fear the death toll will rise again as search teams race to find several people still missing in the flooding and mud slides in southern california. now officials have identified the 17 people confirmed dead in this disaster. four of them are children. nbc news national correspondent miguel almaguer is on the ground and in the air again for us tonight. >> turn around! the flash flood's right there. >> reporter: this is the moment -- >> get out of here! go! >> reporter: the force of nature arrived. >> oh, my god, mom! >> people think of water like a river. you wouldn't last two seconds. it's a blender of huge 50-foot logs and five had been foot by

five-foot boulders grinding. >> reporter: somehow this man and his family escaped what so many others could not outrun. >> i don't know how anyone could survive this. >> reporter: after searching for his mom, josie, hayden gower learned her body was recovered overnight. diane brewer lost her best friend. >> i never could imagine such a scene. >> reporter: from above it looks like a war zone. the coast guard plucking families, even pets, where search teams on the ground could not reach them. they've been in the air here now three days, but now no sign of survivors, just a mud flow from the mountains all the way into the ocean. the shoreline marred with debris. highway 101 shut down into next week. >> hey, oprah, how are you? >> reporter: montecito's famous residents grateful for what they still have. >> i am going to do whatever i can for the rest of the community. >> reporter: there's

been more than 100 rescues. inga gilbar carried out of her home by firefighters when mud poured in. >> we had no idea what a flash flood was until i saw this torrent raging river coming down with cars and rocks. >> reporter: tonight, the mud slide may be over, but so many of what's been carried away will never come back. authorities say more than a hundred homes have serious damage. there's real concern that neighbors could be trapped in debris fields like this one. when that mud came pouring downhill, it was powerful enough to blast holes right through homes and rip them apart. anything inside could have traveled up to two miles away. when many survivors return back to their homes, their houses will be unrecognizable. lester? >> the force of those flows in that video continues to astound us. miguel almaguer in california, thank you. now to those new developments about your taxes tonight and the reason you'll want

to take an extra close look at your upcoming paychecks. the irs today released the new tax tables for companies to calculate how much tax to withhold from employees' paychecks. but the irs says employees should take it upon themselves to doublecheck their employer's math. tom costello has the details. >> reporter: if you're like millions of americans wondering whether the new tax law will mean more take-home pay, a warning tonight, you may need to do your homework. the irs says it's up to all of us to double-check your p paystubs starting next month month. the irs only rolled out the new tables today. >> there's a lot of work left to be done, but we're estimating that 90% of the workers will see an increase in take-home pay because of the tax cuts act. >> reporter: the white house is anxious for americans to see that higher take-home pay, but so far employers have had to use last year's tables to calculate withholdings. employers are now

scrambling to use the tables released today by mid-february. >> there's a lot of confusion. we've been handling phone calls for the past three weeks. >> reporter: boston cpa jeff levine's advice for middle class americans don't change your personal exemptions to increase your take-home pay, at least not yet. >> this has been promoted as a major tax law change. the real savings might not be as large as they think. so if they make a large change to their withholding deductions, they may end up owing taxes at the end of the year or face a penalty. >> reporter: next month the irs will roll out a new online calculator to help americans determine whether their employer is withholding too much or not enough tax so they can then ask their employer to make an necessary adjustments. tom costello, nbc news, washington. and we're already seeing the effects of those tax changes on american companies. today walmart, the nation's largest private employer, announced plans to raise wages, hand out bonuses and increase benefits. but there's some bad news for employees and

customers at some walmart-owned sams club stores. we get details from gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: tonight a pay raise at the nation's biggest retailer. wages at walmart will now start at $11 an hour, up from $9. eligible employees will also get up to $1,000 bonus depending on their years of service. characters raina works at walmart with her husband. >> that just means more we get to spend a little bit and put into savings account for our three kids for the future. >> reporter: but the news comes on the same day walmart announced it was closing dozens of sam's club stores. walmart's one of more than 100 companies passing on savings after congress cut the corporate tax rate to 21% including jetblue, southwest and american airlines, a handful of banks, at&t and nbc parent company comcast. >> our historic reductions to the business tax will

raise annual household income by an average of $4,000. that's a tremendous number. >> reporter: policymakers are divided on how much of this financial optimism is due to tax cuts and how much is due to low unemployment. >> at the end of the day, we're running out of workers. when you run out of workers, you got pay more. >> reporter: companies like walmart are having to find new ways to keep the employees they have. and with corporate profits expected to soar, wall street hit another record high today. lester? >> gabe gutierrez, thanks. after a slight warm-up from the deep freeze across much of america, here it comes again. tonight 60 million people are under winter weather alerts as a huge ice storm moves across the country. snow, ice and freezing rain could create slick and dangerous conditions tomorrow morning affecting the commute in cities like detroit, indianapolis, nashville and memphis. and forecasters are warning, as the ice builds up, it could bring down tree limbs and cause widespread

power outages. now to the flu emergency raging across the country. this year even people who got the flu shot are getting sick. so why is this season so bad? we sent nbc medical correspondent dr. john torres who is an emergency room doctor himself, to one of the busiest e.r.s in the nation to get answers. >> reporter: in brooklyn, this doctor and his staff are seeing a 30% spike in flu patients. how many patients coming in the door with the flu have not gotten the flu shot? >> we've seen a fair number of people even if they've gotten the flu shot are still getting ill from the flu. >> reporter: people like murial greenblatt who gets her flu shot every year. >> i was feeling very weak. i couldn't walk. >> reporter: children are getting sick, too. many schools are closed. why is the flu so bad this year? the vaccine is only 30% effective against this year's strain. which is more aggressive than those in recent years. >> so those younger

folks have not ever been exposed to that strain of virus and they're more susceptible. >> reporter: doctors say go to the hospital if you have trouble breathing, can't keep fluids down, have a fever over 100 for more than a day. >> if the symptoms are very severe, come to the emergency department. >> reporter: another reason this flu season is so bad, it started early. but experts aren't sure whether it's peaked or if it will continue to get worse before it gets better. >> dr. john torres, thank you. now to the scandal swirling around a gop rising star. the governor of missouri, a former navy s.e.a.l., admitting he cheated on his wife, but he's denying explosive allegations that he threatened to blackmail the other woman. and there's late word tonight prosecutors in st. louis are launching an investigation. nbc's blake mccoy is in missouri with the story. >> reporter: hours after delivering his televised state of the state speech -- >> thank you to sheena, my beautiful wife and our first lady.

>> reporter: missouri governor eric greitens, a former s.e.a.l. and republican rising star, released a joint statement with his wife admitting an extra marital affair. there was a time when he was unfaithful in our marriage. this was a deeply personal mistake. eric took responsibility, and we dealt with this together honestly and privately. the admission follows a bombshell local news report with a man who says he's the ex-husband of the other woman. his identity concealed by the tv station. he says he secretly recorded his wife during counseling. we've altered her voice. >> i met eric a year ago, and i instantly had a big crush on him. >> reporter: in the recording, which nbc news has not verified, she says the governor threatened to blackmail her with a naked photograph to stay quiet. details the governor's attorney calls outrageous and false. no sign of greitens today -- looking for the governor. is he here? -- either at the capitol or the

governor's mansion. tonight fallout, calling for an investigation. one tweeting, stick a fork in it. his wife sheena says it's between them and god and telling those who wish to peddle gossip to stay away from me and my children. blake mccoy, nbc news. there's a lot more ahead. still ahead, what if 911 can't find you during an emergency? and those who serve. the 6-year-old boy who liberty mutual saved us almost eight hundred dollars when we switched our auto and home insurance. liberty did what? yeah, they saved us a ton, which gave us a little wiggle room in our budget. wish our insurance did that. then we could get a real babysitter instead of your brother. hey, welcome back. this guy... right? yes. ellen. that's my robe. you could save seven hundred eighty two dollars when liberty stands with you. liberty mutual insurance.

essential for vinyl, but maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. because there are options. like an "unjection™". xeljanz xr. a once daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. xeljanz xr can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. don't start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz xr, and monitor certain liver tests. tell your doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections

are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. needles. a must for vinyl. but for you, one pill a day may provide symptom relief. ask your doctor about xeljanz xr. an "unjection™". back now with an alarming investigation into our country's emergency 911 system. an overwhelming majority of americans now use cell phones to call for help, but there's a dangerous down side. the 911 system is still so low tech often dispatchers can't find you when you need help the most. nbc news national investigative correspondent jeff rossen tells us what's being done to fix it

in tonight's "rossen reports." >> reporter: it's a public safety crisis. because of old infrastructure, emergency dispatchers often can't locate you when you call from a cell phone. and it's happening from the west -- >> ma'am, ma'am. >> i know you need an address. i don't know an address. >> reporter: to the east. >> i'm in a car in the lake. >> reporter: chanel anderson drowned when 911 couldn't find her. >> ma'am, i'm losing air very quickly. >> give me the address one more time. it's not working. >> reporter: critics call it outrageous. you can order an uber on your cell phone to your exact location. here's my uber right now. she found me. you can post selfies on facebook. when i tag the location, yep, there it is. facebook knows exactly where i am. but not when you call 911. i first exposed this problem three years ago, trying 911 myself outside d.c. >> 911, what's your emergency? >> reporter: hi, this is jeff rossen with nbc news. just want to know if you can tell me where our location is on

your computer? >> showing 4641 west south road. >> reporter: that's not here. >> absolutely not. that's about a quarter mile away. >> reporter: at the time federal officials promised to fix it. so we just tried again. this time in colorado. i'm wondering if you can tell me on your screen right now where it says i am. >> 66th place and dover street. >> that is crazy. >> reporter: where is that? >> that's got to be almost 16 blocks away. >> reporter: to make that even more crazy, that's the emergency dispatch center. we're in the police department. it's across the hall from where that dispatcher is sitting. >> yes. >> reporter: what do you make of this? >> when it comes to public safety, when we need to save lives, we cannot have this gap. >> reporter: this is life and death. >> this is life and death. >> reporter: the fcc says by 2021 all wireless carriers must give more accurate location data, but that's still years away. the fcc declined our request for an interview telling nbc news, they're working on multiple fronts to promote a modernized

911 system supporting enhanced tools and features. some blame the wireless carriers, too, saying they're not doing enough. the industry telling us they've established a multi-city trial to evaluate new technologist and they're working closely with the public safety community. but until then -- this dangerous gap. we'll stay on it. a troubling flaw in the system. coming up, the new warning from the fda about the medicine you shouldn't be giving your kids. and why one your kids. and why one ok, so with the award-winning geico mobile app, your kids. and why one our customers have 24/7 access, digital id cards, they can even pay their bill- (beep) bill has joined the call. hey bill, we're just- phone: hi guys, bill here. do we have julia on the line too? 'k, well we'll just- phone: hey sorry. i had you muted. well yea let's just- phone: so what i was thinking- ok well we'll- phone: yeah- let's just go ahead- phone: oh alright-

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aeromexico plane nearly landed on the wrong runway within a mile of another aircraft before it was diverted. the airport had two similar incidents last year. and we couldn't resist showing you the cutest new employee at the museum of fine arts in boston. meet riley, not a bomb-nifing dog but a bug sniffing dog. the weimaraner puppy was brought on board to use his sense of smell to find insects that could endanger the work of art. up next, a little boy's emotional up next, a little boy's emotional your body was made for better things than rheumatiod arthritis. before you and your rheumatologist move to another treatment, ask if xeljanz xr is right for you. xeljanz xr is a once-daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. it can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections,

including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. don't start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz xr, and monitor certain liver tests. tell your doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. xeljanz xr can reduce the symptoms of ra, even without methotrexate. ask your rheumatologist about xeljanz xr. smile dad. i take medication for high blood pressure and cholesterol. but they might not be enough to protect my heart. adding bayer aspirin can further reduce the risk of another heart attack. because my second chance matters.

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horrible massacre inside a texas church. he lost family in the attack, but he gained a community who has embraced him with love and support, especially the fireman who helped save him, who was there for his recovery and who today delivered on a promise. he is one of those who serve. on that november day in a rural texas church, the peaceful sounds of prayer were shattered by gunfire. on the floor among the bodies and the bibles was 5-year-old ryland ward, shot five times. his stepmother and two sisters were killed. firefighter rusty duncan was one of the first on the scene. >> i went to a certain aisle, and was checking pulses, when a little hand grabbed my pant leg. i saw his eyes looking up at me. and i knew i had to get him out of there. >> reporter: ryland spent more than two months in the hospital, where he celebrated his 6th birthday.

firefighter duncan and his family visited often. during one of those hospital visits, duncan talked to ryland about some day taking a ride in his fire truck. >> he says, let's go right now. i said, i don't have it here right now. he said, well, go get it. i said, i can't go get it. we'll wait for the doctors to say you can go, then i'll pick you up in it. >> reporter: as any 6-year-old will tell you, a promise is a promise. and duncan kept his. this afternoon, firefighters, police officers and other first responders escorted ryland home in duncan's fire truck. the people of sutherland springs were there for the big homecoming on the main street of this little town. >> he was sitting in the truck waving out the window. he looked like a little kid on christmas morning. >> one of our angels is coming home. >> reporter: a community that was broken is now rebuilding by relying on their faith and each other. we appreciate you

spending part of your evening with us. that is "nightly news" for this thursday night. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watc >> announcer: now on "extra," ellen and oprah united in grief, as their hometown is devastated by the deadly mudslides. >> there are families missing. they're finding bodies. >> announcer: their 'moose on the facetime as ellen is forces to evacuate. . >> we're going to get together.

and gayle on the final white house rumors. wendy going after the youngest kardashian sisters. >> i baby is still going to look like the old you. double celebrity wedding news, brittie engaged? the giant clue. and rickey martin's announcement he secretly got married. >> three days of party. plus wile did teresa giudice meet up with a divorce attorney. tonya harding tonight dropping new bombshells. what part of the story still haunts her? >> it makes you cringe. plus one on one with hugh jackman on turning 50, hugh grant facing off with mark. who has the more regal british accent? >> people from my neck of the wise say you speak lying a