tonight, a big winter storm hits the middle of the country, more than a foot of snow in some areas, flooding in others. wild weather for millions ay won't be able to travel any time soon. the president told troops about a big pay raise duringis surprise trip to iraq, but the reality for those who serve is diffent. there are close calls and then there is this, wppened when a police officer and a fast-moving train almost collided. a manhunt for a gunmanho killed a beloved police officer. >> what needs to be known is that he was truly just a human being, and an american patriot. >> the suspect he illegally is still on the run, considered armed and dangerous. the homeland retary sets to visit the border as

we hear from the family of the second child toie in u.s. custody this month. >>and he made history with a trek across antarctica all byimself. >> just overcome with joy and emotion, tears streaming wn my face. to an audience of zero. >> our exclusive conversation with the explorer who is inspiring america. >> aouncer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good evening, i'm or te snow in lester. tonight, millions of americans are traveling or about to and severe winter weather is disrupting their plans in much of the country. a winter storm dumping snow and ice to the north, rain and flooding to the south and east, and it will last into the weekend. the severe storm threat including a risk for tornados along the gulf coast. ron mott starts us off tonight. >> reporter: in kansas, dangerous wind

blown whiteouts overnight, white knuckle driving in garden city sending some drivers off road. the governor declaring a disaster emergency for hardest hit areas. >> beautiful blizzard, shut the entire downtown. >> reporter: elsewhere across the storm zone, high winkansas city, hurry up and wait at airports, 5,000 delays and cancellatid growing. getting out of bi smarck, north dakota today a challenge. >> my flight was cancelled. i wasn't going to be t able to get until saturday, so i'm going to get a refund on that ticket. >> reporter: for others, a bumpy ride. an american airline diverted and two injured. >> we would start to move and stop again. >> reporter: to iowa, conditions bad enough to flip this van on its side. cleanup on the agenda in st. cloud. >> this is like the first main snow event we've had. >> reporter: in warmer spots, pounding rain, flooding iuston stranding vehicles and in mississippi. lightening in the

dallas metro forcing the cancellation of a college football bowl game in progress. >> most important big picture he is player welfare. >> reporter: while in snowy minnesota, police are looking for the driver of a semi that hit a trooper's car, the officer was not injure here in the upper midwes the new threat tonight, plummeting temperatures here in st. cloud they are expected to go below zero but saturday morning, that's why the crews worked hard to get the snow off the roads to keep it from being packed down into ice, kate? >> ron mott, thanks. let's check inith lan dreyer. what's the situation across the country? >> the storm is massive and weave a snowy side to the north and west of minneapolis. this is an area where the snow is cumulating six to 12 inches and blowing around, too. that's reduced visibility. on the southern side of this storm, we've had a line of severe storms swly moving from west to east today. we do still have tornado watches in effect and you can see

by the reds and ll oranges and s just how intense this rainfall is. this will slow move eastward through the night. tomorrow morning acro mid atlantic and up acrossno thheast, we're looking for heavy rain in the morning. we will see improvements in the afternoon across the southeast that line of severe storms will move ilate in the afternoon and then continue to produce that severe weather threat. we are looking for about three to four inches of rain. if you're traveling tomorrow, it is going to be a very slow go all up and down the east coast. along 95 the roads will be slow going and will likely see a significant airport inelay, especially in the moand then residual delays through the afternoon, kate? >> thank you. tonight we're hearing from the guatemalfamily of the 8-year-old boy that died on christmas eve after being detained by u.s. border officials. rsten nielsen is urging parents not to put children at risk

by heading to the border. jacob has the report. >> reporter: three days of his death, these arfirst gmages of 8-year-old feliez alonzo. nearly 2,000 miles from the new mexico hospital where he died, his mother is in mourning. [speaking foreign language]. >> reporter: she says the family was desperate to escape poverty when felipe and his father started their trek to america. d they were apprehende on the el paso border. border agents said they logged 17 welfare checks but on the morning of december 24th, an agent noticed the child was coughing and appeared to have glossy eyes. by 11:48 tnight, he was dead. cith cbp promising sweepinges including secondary medical checks on all children, homeland security will visit border tomorrow. but for felipe's family, their hope for a better life turned to grief.co nbc news. today was day six of the government really no sign of is

nycompromise with lawmakers home for the holidays, 8,000 government employees are left trying to figure out what to do with themselves and many wit paycheck. hallie jackson has more. >> reporter: not a creature has been stirring since waaturday in the empty hall of washington but in virginia. >> tre you go. >> reporter: free knitting lessons for fu oughed government workers. >> it's out of your hands, until back in my hands, i'll put something else in my hands and go from there. >> reporter: in kentucky, a plate of barbecue on the house. >> we're feeding government employees until they go back to lasts, it lasts. it >> reporter: in california, frustration for nicole lower whose husband is rd in the coast gnd won't get his regularly scheduled paycheck monday. >> what do we do after that if the pay doesn't come through? that's what most families fee the uncertainty of what do

we do? >> reporter: the white house today railed ainst democrats and reiterated the president wants money to beef up border security. >> it shouldn't be hard to get to where the president wants to be. >> reporter: senators on both sides making their cases for a shutdown solution. h>> it's going tot our economy. it makes no sense whatsoever. >> reporter: but making them from their holiday vacation lotions, which says a lot about what is happening in washington, nothing. >> how long do you think the shutdown will last, mr. president? >> whatever it takes. we'll have a wall. >> reporter: what's the way out of this stalemate? democrats could fer me money for a border wall, a political win for the president. the president could accept no money for a wall, a political win for democrats, or both ro sides could cose on boarder security

and each declare victory. no matter what happens, it's not an going to happe time soon. congress is effectively done working for the year, kate? >>hy is there so little urgency? >> reporter: they think pressure will build on democrats the longer this goes on and they know the president's base will back him in the fight for a wall oa border barrier. democrats think once they take control of the house and move to reopen the government, the pressure will then shift to republicans. daeep in mind it's also a holiweek, so things may pick up as it relates to the w merican public after the ar, kate? >> hallie jackson, thank you. during the president's surprise trip to iraq to visit american troops, there was another surprise. trump boasted about giving the military a big raise. he said it was the first raise in ten years. turns out those statements were incorrect. pentag correspondent hans nichols explains. >> reporter: president donald trump told the troops he commands to expect a big pay raise in the new year. co >> they said wd make it smaller, we could make, we could make it 2%, we could make i4%.

i said no, make it 10%, make it more than 10%. >> reporter: on januar1st, troops will see a pay increase of 2.6, not 10%. and trump's claim that this year's bump is long over due, also untr. >> you haven't gotten one in more than ten years, more than ten years. we got you a big one. >> reporter: yet according to trump's own defense department, military teersonnel have consly received annual pay raises. even lawmakers from trump's own party questioned the path. on't know where the 10% number came from. that's not accurate. >> reporter: the president pushed potics in front of soldiers in uniform. >> you're fighting for borders in other countries and they don't want to fight, e democrats, for the border of our country. >> reporter: rhetoric that some say threatens the military's political independence. >> any president to

include this president s to maintain that separation between politics in the military. >> reporter: asked how the president arrived at that 10% figure the white house couldn't say. kate? >> hans nichols, thank you. tonight president trump making a push for border wall funding siting an incident wednesday when authorities say a california police officer was killed by an undocumented immigrant. the officer, an immigrant himself was gunned down during a traffic stop and the urgent manhunt for the suspect continues. morgan has that. >> reporter: in tinywm , california, the overwhelming loss. >> i do not want to be here today. >> reporter: is still much sinking in. >> i would give anything not to. >> reporter: today's emotiona from police chief randy richards help find the man who killed 33-year-old officer ron singh. >> my department is hurting. >> reporter: he just took this oto on christmas with his

wife and 5-year-old son. five hours later, he was gunned down a affic stop. immigrated from fiji, becoming a police officer and driving two and a half hours ch way to the academy. >> this suspect unlike ron who immigrated to this country lawfully and legally, this suspect is in our country illegally. >> reporter: authorities launched a statewide search, police finding the suspect's dodge truck at a nearby mobiho park. >> please help us find this man and bri him to justice. >> reporter: justice to save a townno longer whole. , overseas n 12-year-old boy is alive and well after being swallowed up by an avalanche in then alps today. he was buried alive for more than 40 minutes until found. the chances of surviving more than 15 minutein the snow are low so rescuers are call thing a miracle. to a white knuckle moment caught on camera, a quick-inking police officer narrowly avoided disaster swerving out of the way to avoid hitting the speeding commuter train.

the video and what caused the near cras >> reporter: a close call captured on dashcam, a police officer in illinois heads down this street when a train seemingly comes out of nowhere, going about 50 miles an hour. ahead of him in the blue suv barely squeaks by. >> that's wild. that's wild. >> reporter: it's not until the er train is almost passed that the safety gates come down. >> you never expect something like that ever. one of the things that you depend on are signals, crossings going down. >> reporter: illinois's metro that hoperates the train says a in the equipment caused the issue last month. >> i wou hope they are taking very good, long look into it and making sure that it is as safe and secure as possible. >> reporter: most accidents at railroad crossings are caused ve byrs attempting

to go around safety gates. >> oh, he's going through, one, two. >> reporter: but technology and a reduction in the er nuf crossings has cut fatalities in half since the '90s. for his part, the officer knows how he is writing on facebook, i've bought tons of tickets from little league to charity raffles. i thought i wasn't a born with luall but little did i know, i had luck. here is all my luck being used all at once. if i never win anything again, i'm perfectly fine with that. no injuries were reported from the heart-stopping incident that could have had a much different ending. kristen dahlgren, nbc news. since 2002, getmo held people accused of plotting terror attacks u.s. it was never meant to be a permanent home and the officers running it say it needs serious repairs. we have this exclusive report. >> reporter: it was

supposed to hold the most dangerous suspects in the war on terror. tobut it wasn't buil house them for nearly two decades. with hundreds of u.s. personnel watching over them. president obama promised to shut it down, but president trump changed course. >> we're going to load it up with bad dude. >> reporter: admiral john ring is t military commander here and an nbc news exclusive, he says the classified detention camp is inough shape. we're only allowed inside the s nclassified camps. >> illing into the ground and deteriorating. >> reporter: the pentagon wants $69 milliofor a new detention camp, but so far congress said no. the biggest need ring says, dealing with ageing detaineth. oldest is 71. another had his fifth back surgery and had to have his cell reconfigured for a hospital bed. as you can see most of the doors aren't wide enough for a wheelchair, let alone a hospital bed.ev

worked as a psychiatrist. >> we're not meeting what we all expect as go medical care and we feel obligated to give as doctors and professionals in uniform or out of uniform. >> reporter: why won't congress approve the money? ou> the reality is people do bad things to us and the military is doing a good job of keing st of the bad folks out. >> reporter: for now, ring sees himself as a ring keeper waiting wa foington to tell him new detainees are on the way and whether there will be money to pay for them. julia ainslainsley, nbc news, guantanamo bay. still ahead tonight, from wildfires and tsunamis to earthquakes a hurricanes, we looked back at the tremendous cost of this year's natural disasters. also, an ed inle solo journey across a frozen landscape. no one has ever done it quite like this before and we hear for the first time from the man who did it.

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reminds us mother nature isn't going easy in 2018. they cost us too many lives and billions in recovery efforts. nbc's kerry sanders takes a look back. >> reporter: in indonesia, threats of i.nother eruption and tsunam after a wavef destruction this weekend killed hundreds. 2018 a year of seemingly back to back to back gl natural disasters. just name e fourth costliest year ever when calculating insured losses, overall economic los $155 billion. from the record ing wildfires in california, more than 22,000 homes destroyed. 100 people killed to hawaii's volcano, a billion dollars in damage. to the strongest s.hurricane in 26 ye i'm kerry sanders. ri>> reporter: hurcane michael, 155 mile per hour winds, making

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every year gallop puts out its list of the most admired men and women of america. barack and michelle obama, oprah was in second place and hilly clinton who held the top spot for 17 years came in third tied with melania trump. president trump was second ahe men. when we come back, the man who hiked across antarctica all by himself, we spoke with him about what it was like. are you taking the tissue test?

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the antarctic,

it's cold, unforgiving absolutely solitary. tonight we have a broadcast exclusive with a 33-year-old colin ocho brabray, an' ady, an explorer from oregon who made history this as the first man to trek across antarctica alone and unaided. it's tonight's inspiring america rt with nbc's joe fryer. >> reporter: in a week typically focused on the north pole, anned a -- adventurer is focussing us to antarctic where he made history. >> my letter to the world for people to dream g and be inspired. >> reporter: he's the first to go coast to coast without assistance. he started the 932 mile adventure november 3rd and crossed the south pole december 12th and on christmas decided to headache one final ardrive sprinting nely 80 miles in an

ambitious 32-hour stretch. >> i wonder if i can go for one crazy big push. ep >>ter: yesterday, the 54th day of his journey, he reached the finish line. >> when i arrive there had, i was, you know, extremely exhausted, overcome with joy and emotion, tears streaming down my face. to an audience of zero. >> reporter: obrady danced with danger before. in thailand he wasju d by a fire but that didn't stop h om finishing triathlons. >> i'm on the summit of mount everest. >> rorter: to scaling mountains and so much more. now he has tackled antarctica. >> a big as big is outside of the box. there is a reason nobody in history has a bee to accomplish this. >> reporter: another adventurer lewis rudd is tracking the continent and is near the end but in this in epic race, c o'brady can say he did

it first. >> did he ever? that is "nbc nightlyne " on this thursday night. i'm kate snow. i'll see you back here tomorrow. haor all of us at nbc news a great night.

liepghts, camera, action. >> everything is ngunravend he saw it in you. >> how simon helped mel b. and