tom costello, nbc news, miami. >>> now to new dwept developments in the deadly in colombia. the airline has now had its license indefinitely suspended. and we have new images inside the crash scene with keir simmons. >> reporter: this is where 71 people died, almost an entire brazilian soccer team, wiped out. the plane appears to have clipped the top of this hill and just ripped apart. that's the wing that is turned back on itself and such was the force of the there, that's the front landing gear. there's no sign of a fire. strengthening the theory that the aircraft ran out of fuel. locals say it was just four minutes from the airport. the colombian police escorted us closer to the wreckage. investigators are picking through the twisted fuselage. beneath it there, one of the engines, still intact. all clues to what happened. >> translator: one of the victims, co-pilot c.c. arias, talked about her excitement for the team, hours fo her brother wrote this tribute on facebook. dear sister, i'm going to miss you for the rest of my life. one local who helped rescue the six survivo

here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: in a hospital bed in new zealand toni smiling 86-year-old buzz aldrin after a rescue from the bottom of the world. just tuesday he tweeted, south pole here i come. as he joined a luxurious adventure tour. but once there, at 9,000 feet, nearly double the altitude of denver, his condition territoried. a c-130 on skis, like this one, landed to medevac him to a research station, then on to new zealand, where he's described tonight as stable with fluid in his lungs, antibiotics. er doctor john torres has flown two rescue missions to the north pole himself. >> it looks like edema, a build-up of fluid in the lungs that happened at high altitude. if that happens, you have to get them down to sea level and on oxygen quickly. >> reporter: in 1969, buzz aldrin landed on the moon in apolo 11, following neil armstrong down the ladder to the lunar surface. >> we were given a fantastic opportunity to do w people have just not had come along in their life. >> reporter: for decades, aldrin has pushed for more manned missions. >> to infinity and beyond! >> reporte

here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: it's the kind of close call a lot of drivers can relate to. >> [ bleep ]. >> reporter: a lack of sleep, and suddenly -- >> [ bleep ]. >> your eyelids get ahead and it's like you go into a fog. >> reporter: the decision to drive drowsy has haunted karen roberts for years. a new nursing school graduate, she hadn't slept in 24 hours when she got off her christmas shift at cincinnati children's hospital. on her way home, she fell sleep and crashed at this intersection, suffering a severe brain injury, her left side paralyzed. >> i was in a coma for nine days and then i was in the hospital for two months. >> reporter: now new research from aaa suggests your risk of an accident jumps exponentially with each hour of lost sleep. most adults need at least seven hours a night. most -- more than a third of u.s. don't get it. drivers going on give to six hours of sleep are twice as likely to crash. on four to five hours, six times more likely to crash. less than four hours, the effects are similar to drunk driving, 11 times more likely to crash. many of us

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >> what an incredible icon. there aren't that many americans left that can say they have done the things he has done. >>> we have new details about the two georgia officers fatally shot on wednesday, officer yody snit and nick smar were best friends and engaged to be mayor rid. smar's sister was smith's fiancee. it started with a domestic disturbance. >> somebody punched holes in my walls. >> they're shooting. >> oh, no. he shot the police. he shot one of them. >> the officer was shot? >> yes, and i don't know. >> both officers had been fatally shot by alleged gunman miguel limbrick. >> reporter: a georgia community in warning. shortly after america's georgia police officer, nick smars flag-draped funeral arrived at the funeral home. a second officer had died, jody smith, who had clunk to life for a day, died in the intennessee care unit. the two best friends. >> jody was there for nick. he heard him dispatched. he knew he was thereby and he respond. >> reporter: the two cops were childhood buddies, went to the

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >> tonight celebrities and fans are mourning the loss of music icon george michael who died of heart failure sunday at his home in england. today elton john remembered the pop superstar as the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist. michael's sound was unmistakable, in a career that spanned nearly four decades, selling more than 100 million albums. ♪ if i could touch your body ♪ >> reporter: the tight jeans, the leather, those looks -- ♪ >> reporter: -- george michael commanded the stage. he burst onto the scene in the mid '80s, half of the pop sensation wham, the exclamation point punctuating their teen idol image. ♪ wake me up before you go go ♪ >> reporter: their hits included an anthem that stills our play list, and this holiday season seems bittersweet. ♪ last christmas, i gave you my heart ♪ >> reporter: the late '80s michael ventured off on his own, becoming a musical force. ♪ i gotta have faith ♪ >> reporter: the smash album "faith" selling more than 25 million copies and earning him a grammy. he became a celebrat

tom costello has more on his extraordinary life. two, one, zero. >> reporter: john glenn was more than an american hero. for more than half his life, he was a 20th century icon, perhaps best known for what happened on february 20th, 1962. >> two, two, one, zero. >> reporter: the first american to orbit the earth and put america back in the space race with the soviet union. >> roger, zero g and i oh, the view is tremendous. >> reporter: the late t.j. o'malley was at the nasa controls that day. >> range operations, go. the green light is on. >> reporter: until he died, he kept the button he pushed to send glenn into orbit. >> i hit that button and said, may the good lord ride all the way. >> god speed, john glenn. >> reporter: john glenn returned to a hero's welcome. and invitations to this universe in which we live increases, may god grant us the wisdom and guidance to use it wisely. >> reporter: his roots were always firmly planted in ohio, born in cambridge, went to a local college and married his childhood sweetheart annie. he fle

here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: in a hospital bed in new zealand tonight, a smiling 86-year-old buzz aldrin after a rescue from the bottom of the world. just tuesday he tweeted, south pole here i come. as he joined but once there, at 9,000 feet, nearly double the altitude of denver, his condition territoried. a c-130 on skis, like this one, landed to medevac him to a research station, then on to new zealand, where he's described tonight as stable with fluid in his lungs, but responding well to antibiotics. er doctor john torres has flown two rescue missions to the north pole himself. >> it looks like edema, a build-up of fluid in the lungs have to get them down to sea level and on oxygen quickly. >> reporter: in 1969, buzz aldrin landed on the moon in apolo 11, following neil armstrong down the ladder to the lunar surface. >> we were given a fantastic opportunity to do what other people have just not had come along in their life. >> reporter: for decades, aldrin has pushed for more >> to infinity and beyond! >> reporter: the animated character in toy story created in his honor.

we get the latest from nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: under arrest in washington, 28-year-old edgar wells, accused of firing an assault weapon inside the comet ping-pong pizza restaurant. welch told police he campaign child sex ring. >> let me state unequivocally, these stories are completely entirely false. >> reporter: the pizza-gate conspiracy began with a wikileaks and e-mail stolen from campaign john podesta about a fund-raiser involving the restaurant. users of the anonymous online message board, known for rogue political discussion, suggested without any proof whatever, that the word "pizza" was code for child sex restaurant. the conspiracy theory quickly spread to reddit and youtube, feeding fake online news stories, then jumping to facebook and twitter. eventually reddit banned the thread. both d.c. police and federal agents say the story is false. the website also claims there's a secret tunnel running from the pizza restaurants, up the store to the politics and prose book store, to traffic in children. but the book store says, there is no tunnel. for weeks the book store

nbc's tom costello explains. [ sirens ] >> reporter: it happens every 15 minutes. someone dies in a traffic accident. but traffic safety regulators say vehicle-to-vehicle, or v-to-v technology could prevent up to 600,000 crashes. here's how it works. using wi-fi connections, your car would be in touch with every other car in a 300-yard radius, even cars you can't see, sharing information about upcoming cross traffic that isn't stopping, warning the cars ahead have hit their brakes, or of an approaching ambulance, of an accident ahead, or slow-moving traffic. you, the driver, would then get visual or audible alerts. our automatic braking might kick in. >> the car can have a 360-degree field of vision, if you will, electronically and sense other cars out of our line of sight as drivers. >> reporter: connected vehicles could transmit slippery or icy road warnings. if it sounds like science fiction, audi is already rolling out technology that tells drivers how soon upcoming traffic lights are about to change. the key is to coordinate all the technology, so different ca

tom costello has more life. >> five, four, three, two, one, zero. >> reporter: john glenn was more than an american hero. for more than half his life, he was a 20th century icon, perhaps best known for what happened on february 20th, 1962. >> two, two, one, zero. >> reporter: the first american to orbit the earth and put america with the soviet union. >> roger, zero g and i feel fine. >> the late t.j. o'malley was at the nasa controls that day. >> range operations, go. the green light is on. >> reporter: until he died, he kept the button he pushed to send glenn into orbit. >> i hit that button and said, may the good lord ride all the way. >> god speed, john glenn returned to a hero's welcome. and invitations to address congress. >> as our knowledge of this universe in which we live increases, may god grant us the wisdom and guidance to use it wisely. >> reporter: his roots were always firmly planted in ohio, born in cambridge, went to a local college and married his combat sweetheart annie. he shot down three migs in korea. in 1997, a coast-to-coastup angeles to new york in less than th

tom costello, nbc news, miami. >>> now to new developments in the deadly plane disaster in colombia. lamia airline, which operated that doomed charter flight, has and we have new images inside the crash scene with nbc's keir simmons. >> reporter: this is where 71 people died, almost an entire brazilian soccer team, wiped out. the plane appears to have clipped the top of this hill and just ripped apart. that's the wing that is turned back on itself and such was the force of the impact, that way down there, that's the front landing gear. there's no sign of a fire. strengthening the theory that the aircraft ran out of fuel. four minutes from the airport. the colombian police escorted us closer to the wreckage. investigators are picking through the twisted fuselage. beneath it there, one of the engines, still intact. all clues to what happened. >> translator: one of the victims, co-pilot c.c. arias, talked about her excitement for the team, hours before the flight. her brother wrote this tribute on facebook. dear sister, i'm going to miss you for the rest of my life. survivors told us he

nbc's tom costello explains. [ sirens ]. >> reporter: it happens every 15 minutes. someone dies in a traffic accident. but traffic safety regulators say vehicle-to-vehicle, or v-to-v technology could prevent up to 600,000 crashes. here's how it works. using wi-fi connections, your car would be in touch with every other car in a 300 radius, even cars information about umcoming cross traffic that isn't stopping, warning that cars ahead have hit brakes, or of an approaching ambulance, of an accident ahead, or slow-moving traffic. you would get visual or audible alerts. our automatic braking might kick in. >> the car can have a 360-degree field of vision, if you will, electronically and sense other cars out of our line of sight as drivers. >> reporter: connected vehicles could if it sounds like science fiction, audi is already rolling out technology that tells drivers how soon upcoming traffic lights are about to change. the key is to coordinate all the technology, so different car makes and models are talking to each other, on the same frequency. >> human beings are fa

here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: in a hospital bed in new zealand tonight, a smiling 86-year-old buzz aldrin after a rescue from the bottom of the world. just tuesday he tweeted, south pole here i come. as he joined a luxurious adventure tour. but once there, at 9,000 feet, nearly double the altitude of territoried. a c-130 on skis, like this one, landed to medevac him to a research station, then on to new zealand, where he's described tonight as stable with fluid in his lungs, but responding well to antibiotics. er doctor john torres has flown two rescue missions to the north pole himself. >> it looks like edema, a build-up of fluid in the lungs that happened at high altitude. if that happens, you have to get them down >> reporter: in 1969, buzz aldrin landed on the moon in apolo 11, following neil armstrong down the ladder to the lunar surface. >> we were given a fantastic opportunity to do what other people have just not had come along in their life. >> reporter: for decades, aldrin has pushed for more manned missions. >> to infinity and beyond! >> reporter: the toy story crea

here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: it's the kind of close call a lot of drivers can relate to. >> [ bleep ]. >> reporter: a lack of sleep, and suddenly -- >> [ bleep ]. >> your eyelids get ahead and it's like you go into a fog. >> reporter: the decision to drive drowsy has haunted karen roberts for years. a new nursing scho she got off her christmas shift at cincinnati children's hospital. on her way home, she fell sleep and crashed at this intersection, suffering a severe brain injury, her left side paralyzed. >> i was in a coma for nine days and then i was in the hospital for two months. >> reporter: now new research from triple-a suggests your risk of an accident jumps exponentially with each hour of lost sleep. most adults need at least seven hours a drivers going to five -- on five to six hours of sleep are twice as likely to crash. on four to five hours, six times more likely to crash. less than four hours, the effects are similar to drunk driving, 11 times more likely to crash. many of us are sleep deprived and just missing an hour or two on a single night and the risk of

here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: in a hospital bed in new zealand tonight, a smiling 86-year-old buzz aldrin after a rescue from the bottom of the world. just tuesday he tweeted, south pole here i come. as he joined a luxurious adventure 9,000 feet, nearly double the altitude of denver, his condition territoried. a c-130 on skis, like this one, landed to medevac him to a research station, then on to new zealand, where he's described tonight as stable with fluid in his lungs, but responding well to antibiotics. er doctor john torres has flown two rescue missions to the north pole himself. >> it looks like edema, a build-up of fluid in the lungs that happened at high altitude. to sea level and on oxygen quickly. >> reporter: in 1969, buzz aldrin landed on the moon in apolo 11, following neil armstrong down the ladder to the lunar surface. >> we were given a fantastic opportunity to do what other people have just not had come along in their life. >> reporter: for decades, aldrin has pushed for more manned missions. >> to beyond! >> reporter: the animated character in toy story creat

tom costello has more on his extraordinary life. >> five, four, three, two, one, zero. >> reporter: john glenn was more than an american hero. for more than half his life, he was a 20th century icon, perhaps best known for what happened on february 20th, 1962. >> two, two, one, zero. >> reporter: the first american to orbit the earth and put america back in the space race with the soviet union. >> roger, zero g and i feel fine. >> the late t.j. o'malley was at the nasa controls that day. >> range operations, go. the green light is on. >> reporter: until he died, he kept the button he pushed to send glenn into orbit. >> i hit that button and said, may the good lord ride all the way. >> god speed, john glenn. >> reporter: john glenn returned to a hero's welcome. and invitations to address congress. >> as our knowledge of this universe in which we live increases, may god grant us the wisdom and guidance to use it wisely. >> reporter: his roots were always firmly planted in ohio, born in cambridge, went to a local college and married his combat sweetheart annie. he shot down three migs in ko

tom costello, nbc news, miami. >>> now to new developments in the deadly plane disaster in colombia. lamia airline, which operated that doomed charter flight, has and we have new images inside the crash scene with nbc's keir simmons. >> reporter: this is where 71 people died, almost an entire brazilian soccer team, wiped out. the plane appears to have clipped the top of this hill and just ripped apart. that's the wing that is turned back on itself and such was the force of the impact, that way down there, that's the front landing gear. there's no sign of a fire. strengthening the theory that the aircraft ran out of fuel. locals say it was just four minutes from the airport. the colombian police escorted us closer to the wreckage. investigators are picking through the twisted fuselage. beneath it there, one of the engines, still intact. all clues to what happened. >> translator: one of the victims, co-pilot c.c. arias, talked about her excitement for the team, hours before the flight. her brother wrote this tribute on facebook. dear sister, i'm going to miss you for the rest of my lif

tom costello, nbc news, miami. >>> now to new developments in the deadly plane disaster in colombia. lamia airline, which operated that doomed charter flight, has and we have new images inside the crash scene with nbc's keir simmons. >> reporter: this is where 71 people died, almost an entire brazilian soccer team, wiped out. the plane appears to have clipped the top of this hill and just ripped apart. that's the wing that is turned back on itself and such was the force of the impact, that way down there, that's the front landing gear. there's no sign of a fire. strengthening the theory that the aircraft ran out of fuel. four minutes from the airport. the colombian police escorted us closer to the wreckage. investigators are picking through the twisted fuselage. beneath it there, one of the engines, still intact. all clues to what happened. >> translator: one of the victims, co-pilot c.c. arias, talked about her excitement for the team, hours before the flight. her brother wrote this tribute on facebook. dear sister, i'm going to miss you for the rest of my life. one local who helped

>> tom costello, not looking too bad in d.c. there. let's get to the weather with meteorologist janice huff. how's it looking out there? >> the storm system in the southwest is the one that will cause the biggest problems. snow from the midwest to new england and light rain from new york city to washington, d.c. as the storm continues to move off to the east. so likely delays from that storm and slowdowns. we'll start with friday, heavy snow for the western part of the u.s. in the higher elevations, rain for southern california. as the storm moves into christmas eve, it moves to the central portions of the country. you see heavy snow in the rockies, rain and snow for the southwest. and then it continues into the central part of the country on christmas day. we're expecting a blizzard in the northern plains with rain and storms farther south and then to the east coast with just all rain. the areas you see here, the areas of snow, as much as 15 to 20 inches, especially with the blizzard over the northern plains. if you don't live in the

tom costello has more on his extraordinary life. >> five, four, three, two, one, zero. >> reporter: john glenn was more than an american hero. for more than half his life, he was a 20th century icon, perhaps best known for what happened on february 20th, 1962. >> two, two, one, zero. >> reporter: the first american to orbit the earth and put america back in the space race with the soviet union. >> roger, zero g and i feel fine. oh, the view is tremendous. >> reporter: the late t.j. o'malley was at the nasa controls that day. >> range operations, go. the green light is on. >> reporter: until he died, he kept the button he pushed to send glenn into orbit. >> i hit that button and said, may the good lord ride all the way. >> god speed, john glenn. >> reporter: john glenn returned to a hero's welcome. and invitations to address congress. >> as our knowledge of this universe in which we live increases, may god grant us the wisdom and guidance to use it wisely. >> reporter: his roots were always firmly planted in ohio, born in cambridge, went to a local college and married his childhood sweeth

here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: in a hospital bed in new zealand tonight, a smiling 86-year-old buzz aldrin after a rescue from the bottom of the world. just tuesday he tweeted, south pole here i come. as he joined a luxurious adventure tour. but once there, at 9,000 feet, nearly double the altitude of territoried. a c-130 on skis, like this one, landed to medevac him to a research station, then on to new zealand, where he's described tonight as stable with fluid in his lungs, but responding well to antibiotics. er doctor john torres has flown two rescue missions to the north pole himself. >> it looks like edema, a build-up of fluid in the lungs that happened at high altitude. if that happens, you have to get them down >> reporter: in 1969, buzz aldrin landed on the moon in apolo 11, following neil armstrong down the ladder to the lunar surface. >> we were given a fantastic opportunity to do what other people have just not had come along in their life. >> reporter: for decades, aldrin has pushed for more manned missions. >> to infinity and beyond! >> reporter: t his honor. >> he

here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: in a hospital bed in new zealand tonight, a smiling 86-year-old buzz aldrin after a rescue from the bottom of the world. just tuesday he tweeted, south pole here i come. as he joined a luxurious adventure tour. but once there, at 9,000 feet, nearly denver, his condition territoried. a c-130 on skis, like this one, landed to medevac him to a research station, then on to new zealand, where he's described tonight as stable with fluid in his lungs, but responding well to antibiotics. er doctor john torres has flown two rescue missions to the north pole himself. >> it looks like edema, a build-up of fluid in the lungs that happened at high altitude. if that happens, you have to get them down oxygen quickly. >> reporter: in 1969, buzz aldrin landed on the moon in apolo 11, following neil armstrong down the ladder to the lunar surface. >> we were given a fantastic opportunity to do what other people have just not had come along in their life. >> reporter: for decades, aldrin has pushed for more manned missions. >> to infinity and nd animated character in

nbc's tom costello explains. [ sirens ] >> reporter: it happens every 15 minutes. someone dies in a traffic accident. but traffic safety regulators say vehicle-to-vehicle, or v-to-v technology could prevent up to 600,000 crashes. here's how it works. using wi-fi connections, your car would be in touch with every other car in a 300-yard radius, even cars you can't see, sharing information about upcoming cross stopping, warning the cars ahead have hit their brakes, or of an approaching ambulance, of an accident ahead, or slow-moving traffic. you would get visual or audible alerts. our automatic braking might kick in. >> the car can have a 360-degree field of vision, if you will, electronically and sense other cars out of our line of sight as drivers. >> reporter: connected vehicles could transmit slippery or icy road warnings. if it sounds like science fiction, audi is already rolling out technology that tells drivers how soon upcoming traffic lights are about to change. the key is to coordinate all the technology, so different car makes and models are talking to eac

lester. >> tom costello, thanks, tom. >>> tonight federal prosecutors have arrested their case against dylann roof, the man charged with killing nine african-american worshippers at the emanuel a.m.e. church in charleston, south carolina. they ended their case with emotional testimony and the dramatic 911 call from one of the few survivors. >> after jurors saw these chilling videos of dylann roof taking target practice. people dead, i think. oh, my god. >> today they heard the horrifying 911 call from one of the church massacre's three survivors. 72-year-old polly shepherd. >> he shot the pastor. can the police come right away. >> she defense under a table and testified that roof asked, did i shoot you? no, she responded. and he said, i'm going to leave you here, to tell the story. >> he's still in here. >> then came more gunshots. >> what's going on, miss poly? >> after his arrest, fbi agents asked roof about the woman he spared. >> do you remember telling that lady, i'm going to let you live so you can tell my story. >> yeah, i remember saying that. but there's really no story. >> in

>> tom costello, not looking too bad in d.c. there. let's get to the weather with meteorologist janice huff. how's it looking out there? >> the storm system in the southwest is the one that will cause the biggest problems. as it moves across the country this weekend. snow from the midwest to new england and light rain from new york city to washington, d.c. as the storm continues to move off to the east. so likely delays from that storm and slowdowns. we'll start with friday, heavy snow for the western part of the u.s. in the higher elevations, rain for southern california. as the storm moves into christmas eve, it moves to the central portions of the country. you see heavy snow in the rockies, rain and snow for the southwest. and then it continues into the central part of the country on christmas day. we're expecting a blizzard in the northern plains with rain and storms farther south and then to the east coast with just all rain. the areas you see here, the areas of snow, as much as 15 to 20 inches, especially with the blizzard over t

tom costello, nbc news, miami. >>> now to new developments in the deadly plane disaster in colombia. lamia airline, which operated that doomed charter flight, has now had its license indefinitely suspended. and we have new images inside the crash scene with nbc's keir simmons. >> reporter: this is where 71 people died, almost an entire brazilian soccer team, wiped out. the plane appears to have clipped the top of this hill and just ripped apart. that's the wing that is turned back on itself and such was the force of the impact, that way down there, that's the front landing gear. there's no sign of a fire. strengthening the theory that the aircraft ran out of fuel. locals say it was just four minutes from the airport. the colombian police escorted us closer to the wreckage. investigators are picking through the twisted fuselage. beneath it there, one of the engines, still intact. all clues to what happened. >> translator: one of the victims, co-pilot c.c. arias, talked about her excitement for the team, hours before the flight. her brother wrote this tribute on facebook. dear sister,

lefter in. >> tom costello, thanks, tom. >>> tonight federal prosecutors have arrested their case against dylann roof, the man charged with killing nine african-american worshippers at the emanuel a.m.e. church in charleston, south carolina. they ended their case with emotional testimony and the dramatic 911 call from one of the few survivors. >> after jurors saw these chilling videos of dylann roof taking target practice. >> there's so many people dead, i think. oh, my god. >> today they heard the horrifying 911 call from one of the church massacre's three survivors. 72-year-old polyshepherd. >> he shot the pastor. can the police come right away. >> she defense under a table and testified that roof asked did i shoot you? no, she responded. and he said, i'm going to leave you here, to tell the story. >> he's still in here. >> then came more gunshots. >> what's going on, miss poly? >> after his arrest, fbi agents asked roof about the woman he spared. >> do you remember telling that lady, i'm going to let you live so you can tell my story. >> yeah, i remember saying that. but there's really

here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: in a hospital bed in new zealand tonight, a smiling 86-year-old buzz aldrin after a rescue from the bottom of the world. just tuesday he tweeted, south pole here i come. as he joined a luxurious adventure tour. but once there, at 9,000 feet, nearly double the altitude of denver, his condition territoried. a c-130 on skis, like this one, landed to medevac him to a research station, then on to new zealand, where he's described tonight as stable with fluid in his lungs, but responding well to antibiotics. er doctor john torres has flown two rescue missions to the north pole himself. >> it looks like edema, a build-up of fluid in the lungs that happened at high altitude. if that happens, you have to get them down to sea level and on oxygen quickly. >> reporter: in 1969, buzz aldrin landed on the moon in apolo 11, following neil armstrong down the ladder to the lunar surface. >> we were given a fantastic opportunity to do what other people have just not had come along in their life. >> reporter: for decades, aldrin has pushed for more manned missions.

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >> tonight celebrities and fans are mourning the loss of music icon george michael who died of heart failure sunday at his home in england. today elton john remembered the pop superstar as the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist. michael's sound was unmistakable, in a career that spanned nearly four decades, selling more than 100 million albums. ♪ if i could touch your body ♪ >> reporter: the tight jeans, the leather, those looks -- ♪ ♪ >> reporter: -- george michael commanded the stage. he burst onto the scene in the mid '80s, half of the pop sensation wham, the exclamation point punctuating their teen idol image. ♪ wa go go ♪ >> reporter: their hits included an anthem that stills our play list, and this holiday season seems bittersweet. ♪ last christmas, i gave you my heart ♪ >> reporter: the late '80s michael ventured off on his own, becoming a musical force. ♪ i gotta have faith ♪ ♪ >> reporter: the smash album "faith" selling more than 25 million copies and earning him a grammy. he became a celebrated force of

nbc's tom costello explains. [ sirens ]. >> reporter: it happens every 15 minutes. someone dies in a traffic accident. but traffic safety regulators say vehicle-to-vehicle, or v-to-v technology could prevent up to 600,000 crashes. here's how it works. using wi-fi connections, your car would be in touch with every other car in a 300 radius, even cars you can't see, sharing information about umcoming cross traffic that isn't stopping, warning that cars ahead have hit brakes, or of an approaching ambulance, of an accident ahead, or slow-moving traffic. you would get visual or audible alerts. our automatic braking might kick in. >> the car can have a 360-degree field of vision, if you will, electronically and sense other cars out of our line of sight as drivers. >> reporter: connected vehicles could transmit slippery or icy road warnings. if it sounds like science fiction, audi is already rolling out technology that tells drivers how soon upcoming traffic lights are about to change. the key is to coordinate all the technology, so different car makes and models are talki

we get the latest from nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: under arrest in washington, 28-year-old edgar wells, accused of firing an assault weapon inside the comet ping-pong pizza restaurant. welch told police he came to investigate pizza-gate, an internet rumor alleging a clinton campaign child sex ring. >> let me state unequivocally, these stories are completely entirely false. >> reporter: the pizza-gate conspiracy began with a clinton wikileaks and e-mail stolen from campaign john podesta about a fund-raiser involving the restaurant. users of the anonymous online message board, known for rogue political discussion, suggested without any proof whatever, that the word "pizza" was code for child sex trafficking at the restaurant. the conspiracy theory quickly spread to reddit and youtube, feeding fake online news stories, then jumping to facebook and twitter. eventually reddit banned the thread. both d.c. police and federal agents say the story is false. the website also claims there's a secret tunnel running from the pizza restaurants, up the store to the politics and prose book store

lefter in. >> tom costello, thanks, tom. >>> tonight federal prosecutors have arrested their case against dylann roof, the man charged with killing nine african-american worshippers at the emanuel a.m.e. church in charleston, south carolina. they ended their case with emotional testimony and the dramatic 911 call from one of the few survivors. of dylann roof taking target practice. >> there's so many people dead, i think. oh, my god. >> today they heard the horrifying 911 call from one of the church massacre's three survivors. 72-year-old polyshepherd. >> he shot the pastor. can the police come right away. >> she defense under a table and testified that roof asked did i shoot you? no, she responded. and he said, i'm going to leave you here, to tell the >> he's still in here. >> then came more gunshots. >> what's going on, miss poly? >> after his arrest, fbi agents asked roof about the woman he spared. >> do you remember telling that lady, i'm going to let you live so you can tell my story. >> yeah, i remember saying that. but there's really no story. >> investigators say there's a long st

>> tom costello, not looking too bad in d.c. there. let's get to the weather with meteorologist janice huff. how's it looking out there? >> the storm system in the southwest is the one that will cause the biggest problems. as it moves across the country this weekend. snow from the midwest to new england and light rain from new york city to washington, d.c. as the storm continues to move off to the east. so likely delays from that storm and slowdowns. we'll start with friday, heavy snow for the western part of the u.s. in the higher elevations, rain for southern california. as the storm moves into christmas eve, it moves to the central portions of the country. you see heavy snow in the rockies, rain and snow for the southwest. and then it continues into the central part of the country on christmas day. we're expecting a blizzard in the northern plains with rain and storms farther south and then the areas you see here, the areas of snow, as much as 15 to 20 inches, especially with the blizzard over the northern plains. if you don't live

let's go to tom costello. he joins us by phone. he covers aviation for us. tom, john glenn, it's hard to overstate what an american hero he was. >> you know, kate, i think it is not an understatement to say he was the last great american hero, and what i mean by that, he was respected by all sides regardless of whether you were republican or democrat. he was respected the world over. he was respected by the people who worked in the soviet space program. keep in mind this man's resume, and i had the great honor to meet him a few years ago, and i got to tell you, you know, it's one of thofs those moments where you hand shakes to think you're meeting this man. this was a world war ii and korean war hero. he set a speed record. he then went and joined nasa. he was the first man to orbit the earth in friendship 7. he came back to such a hero's welcome. keep in mind we were in a space race with the soviet union at the time. john f. kennedy ordered that he should never fly in space again. he was too valuable as an american hero to ever go back in space. john glenn

here is nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: next time you are on the road, look around. roughly one out of every six cars has a potentially defective airbag made by takata. airbags with ammonium nitrate inflaters under the right conditions can explode sending metal shrapnel flying into the front seat. without enough parts replacing all 69 million airbags is taking far too long. only 12.5 million have been replaced so far. now government regulators are picking up the pace. imposing deadlines on the models that need to be fixed first. >> we actually have priority to make sure that people in the highest risk get their inflator first. >> reporter: as of today, 19 brands and multiple models are included. cars at least six years old in hot, humid states are most at risk of an exploding airbag. the priority list is based on the age of the inflator, geographic location of the car, and whether driver or passenger [000:07:59;00] investigators report 11 deaths, 180 injuries. >> as you can see it still has her dried blood on it. >> reporter: in texas attorneys for serena martinez sa

tom costello takess through the timeline. >> reporter: it's the final stretch. just three days until hanukkah, four before christmas for the record 1.8 billion packages in the system this year. here are the deadlines you might want to remember. if using amazon, the li for two-day delivery is tomorrow. at walmart and kmart, the deadline is also tomorrow. the postal service says today is the deadline for priority mail delivery but the priority mail express deadline is friday. and if you're a real procrastinator, there's an app for that. cowerier service postmates will pick up your item from select retailers and deliver the same day but that comes at a price. >> shipping today so it will get there on time because i want my family members to get what they need for christmas. >> i'm a traditionalist. i like the postal. >> reporter: the shipping giants are getting even bigger. ups opening 15 new hubs and adding 95,000 temporary workers. fedex bringing on 50,000 workers. both companies determined to avoid a repeat of last year's shipping delays. beth runs a ups store i

tom costello reporting. he adds the devices can be very useful as long as you remember that it's always on, always listening. >> it creeps me out completely. i can't handle it. i need 20 years for that. >> rock 'n' roll -- talking about 20 years, it's been more than that -- has announced next year's inductees. >> one artist will make history by joining the ranks of other musicians. the late tupac the first ever solo hip-hop artist to be inducted. next year's others inductees include pearl jam, journey, yes, electric light organization have a and joan baez. 2017 was the first year pearl jam and tupac a nomination. >>> an unexpected and valuable donation for the salvation army. >>> plus, the holiday travel rush is building. lauryn will have the travel forecast in >>> a rare coin was found in a red kettle bucket. somebody with a heart of gold dropped it into the bucket this past weekend. it's worth about $50 for face value but might be worth as much as $1,200 to a collect or. >> going through our daily routine

nbc's tom costello at reagan national airport just outside of washington, dc. tom, you look warm. you look rested. you look like you had some coffee. how are the travelers behind you? >> reporter: i should run for election, don't you think? here what's going on. we have a really good travel day, for december 23rd, this ain't bad at all. look at the misery map. this is a great resource, realtime data on what's happening, major airports around the country. start in southern california, l.a. we've got some delay here at l.a.x. because runway construction under way and a package that was unexplained and had to deal with that a couple of days ago. and delays in l.a. they've got rain and wind in san francisco, that's causing delays there and move west and go to my hometown of denver. we've got a little bit of snow that's moving through, expecting to move through the rockies, so denver, which is already one of the busiest airports in the country. number five, it's got delays today and then the weather as you move through the midwest into chicago, not a lot of snow expected to impact airp

nbc's tom costello at reagan national airport with one of the best assignments of the holiday season. standing around and talking to travelers. how is it faring so far? >> reporter: well, it's warm and there's a starbucks 10 feet to my left. it ain't bad if you know what i mean and bathrooms inside. so it's all pretty good. smooth sailing here, not only here at reagan airport where things are moving quickly but really, nationwide. we lucked out with the weather. good situation. look at the flight misery map at this hour. this kind of tracks all the delays and cancellations nagswinag nationwide. we have only 230 delays nationwide. that's not much. one flight cancellation within the past four hours or so and watch the chicago area and midwest area because of the weather moving in there and there was an incident in the last hour or so down in orlando, katy, an individual who was in the, past the checkpoint, down at the gate, somehow got out of the gate and ran down on to the tarmac. he then confiscated or grabbed an airport vehicle and drove around on the airport ramp towards the fire st

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >>> coming up, two must-dos. if you have a live christmas tree in your house, new video from a demonstration held a few hours ago. strand restoring ading a father's faith.... stronger is being a typical kid... despite a rare disorder. stronger is seeking answers and not giving up until you find them. because we don't just want kids to grow up. we want them to grow up stronger. with your support, we can find more answers faster. make a gift today at childrensnational.org/givenow >>> it's the "today" show's biggest gift guide ever put together with the helpof housekeeping." >> let's take a look at items on the list. >> this is $60 for a nintendo flying off the shelves, the mini version of the original. >> okay. >> from 1985. you can get it at bestbuy.com. >> speaking of mini versions. >> yes, the echo dot. this is a personal assistant at amazon. what we love about it is you can call an uber, order a pizz

nbc's tom costello covers aviation. we've all taken the amtrak trail with the quiet car and then people are allowed to talk on the phones and i've seen some near knockdown dragouts. cannot imagine what it would be like on a plane. >> it will be great. talking to your spouse, arguing about your kids all the way to the kathmandu or wherever it is. the department of transportation is proposing to use the wi-fi system for people to make phone calls. the d.o.t. is not saying every airline has to do it but if the technology exists and the airlines want to allow it, they should be allowed to. however, this is a very big caveat according to the d.o.t. proposed regulations, they would have to tell their customers that this is going to be the situation on board the plane before those people ever bought a ticket. listen to this, america. tamron, listen to this. you have 60 days to comment. if you love this idea or hate this idea, you have 60 days to weigh in on the d.o.t.'s web site and we have a few of the comments already out th

tom costello has that story. >> reporter: under arrest 28-year-old edgar welch accused of firing an assault weapon inside a pizza restaurant. he came to investigate pizzagate. >> let me state the stories are completely and entirely false. >> reporter: the pizza gate conspiracy began with a clinton wikileaks and email stolen from john podesta about a fund-raiser involving the restaurant. users of the anonymous online message board 4chan known for rogue political discussion suggested without any proof that the word pizza was code for child sex trafficking at the restaurant. the conspiracy theory spread to r reddit and youtube, and officially the thread was banned. police and federal agents say the story is false. the website claimed there was a secret tunnel running up to the store to the politics and prose book store to traffic children but the book store says there is no tunnel. for weeks the restaurant and book store have received dozens of threats each day. >> we don't see this as a left/right thing or democratic/republican thing. this is really truth versus fiction. >> reporter: discredi

nbc's tom costello has been looking into that. >> santa! >> turn off the lights. >> reporter: in santa's bag this year, the must-have gadget for tech geeks and the rest of us. echo from amazon, nicknamed alexa. >> alexa, what is in my calendar this afternoon? >> you have a dentist appointment at 2:00. your flight is delayed by 30 minutes. >> reporter: and google home. >> turn the lights out in kevin's room, google. >> reporter: here is what you may not realize. that box of artificial intelligence is always listening, waiting for the wake-up words. >> okay, google. >> alexa! >> reporter: in california the potter family is already hooked on alexa. >> alexa, what day is christmas? >> christmas day will be on sunday, december 25th. >> reporter: answering questions on demand, playing dance music, even singing a song. >> ♪ jingle bells, jingle bells ♪ >> reporter: both devices are always on. they keep track of your questions and voice print. every inquiry is transmitted to a google or amazon server to collect your answer. all the conversation

tom costello, nbc news. washington. >>> i remember when he went back. that was cool when he was 77. >> hard to believe. about innovators. the greatest ones. empower us to do things we never imagined. that's essentially what he did. >> we'll be right back. this is violet. she's been waiting for this moment for awhile. a moment other kids wouldn't think twice about. her first bowl of cheerios. because now that cheerios are gluten free, violet, and many others are enjoying their first bowl today. ialmost everything. you know, ke 1 i n 10 houses could get hit by an expensive septic disaster. but for only $7 a month, rid-x helps break down waste. avoid a septic disaster with rid-x. the ex >>> it is that time of year again when drunk santas take over the city. you've been warned. the examiner reports that more than city bars will open their doors to santa claus clad revelers for the santa con pub crawl. it starts at noon in union square. >> starts at union square and spreads out everywhere. i would imagine a wet santa suit would be uncomfortable. >> doesn't c

here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: next time you're on the road, look around, nearly one out of every six cars has a defective air bag made by takata, air bags that under the right conditions can explode, sending metal shrapnel flying into the front seat. but without enough parts, replacing all the air bags has taken fair too long. now government regulators are picking up the miss, imposing deadlines on the models that need to be replaced first. as of today, 19 brands and multiple models are included. cars in hot humid states are most at risks for exploding air bags. the priority list is based on the age of the air bag inflator, and so far investigators report 108 deaths, 180 injuries. in texas, attorneys said sarina martinez's air bag exploded during an front end accident. >> i remember looking down and seeing flood blood all over my shirt and i thought i was going to bleed to death. >> the air bag maker takata says it has ramped up air back replacement kits to meet demand. to find out if your air bag is under recall, find your number under the dash, go to safer car.gov, your p

tom costello, thank you for joining us. i appreciate that. >>> turning to politics, president-elect donald trump hitting the road to say thank you to the voters who sent him to the white house. trump on his way now to cincinnati where he's going to hold a rally. that will come just hours after he tou he touted a deal to keep 1,000 jobs in indiana. his inauguration kicks off in 50 days. with me now, kerry burns, amy parns, senior correspondent for the hill. welcome back to both of you. amy, i ask you the politics of this. we had ali velchi on saying it is piecemeal approach to keeping jobs in the country. that may not be the biggest way to keep jobs here, but if you're the president-elect and you can go and announce that jobs are staying here, that's probably a pr win. >> it is, especially him. he's all about the facade and what's seemingly good and he's been telegraphing for a while he wants to do this. the problem is it co's coming o the backdrop of bernie sanders saying, wait a minute, if you're touting this to businesses

nbc's tom byrum costello brings us more on hess life. >> reporter: john glenn was more for more than half his life, he was a 20th century icon, perhaps best known on february 20th, 1962. >> 3, 2, 1. >> the first american to put america back in the space race with the soviet union. the late t.j. o'mara w massive control that day. >> job operations go. >> all panel lights are correct. >> reporter: until he died, he kept the button he pushed to send glenn into orbit. >> if i hit the destruct button, i said, may the good lord ride all the way. god speed. >> he arrived to invitations of congress. >> as this increases, may god to use it widely. >> reporter: john glenn's roots were planted in ohio. he went to cambridge, a local college and married his local sweet heart annie. he shot down three migs in korea, in 1977, a coast-to-coast record, los angeles to new york in less than three-and-a-half ours. then the early days of the astronaut correlateer immortalized in the movie "the after a career in business, glen was elected to the senate from his home state of ohio in 1974. >> john glenn ne

since the great recession, the federal reserve bumped up the rates banks charge each other, but as tom costello tells us, it will have an effect on all of us and what we may for a lot of things. >> the federal reserve raises overnight lending rates. >> reporter: today's hike, a vote of confidence that the economic recovery is real. while raising rates slowly, the fed is also giving itself room to lower rates again should the economy stumble. >> we expect the economy will continue to perform well. with the job market strengthening further and inflation rising to 2% over the next couple years. >> reporter: high other rates will become modestly more expensive. a federal student loans, and new car loans. also affected mortgage rates, which for years have been sitting near record lows. >> dor even's realtor told her to expect a rate hike, so he and her family just closed on thash first house in new york. >> our interest rate was 3.75. as of friday, the interest rates are 4.75. that's a $200 a month difference. >> reporter: if you took out a pop ullr adjustable rate mortgages, experts say no

tom costello, thank you very much. coming up to politics. they have been talking more than you might expect since the first meeting after the election. how much advice is president-elect trump taking from president obama? the answer might surprise you. we have more live pictures from the national pearl harbor member and state commemorations. survivors marking the 75th anniversary of the japanese attack on hawaii. i don't use super poligrip for hold, because my dentures fit well. before those little pieces would get in between my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable. even well fitting dentures let in food particles. just a few dabs of super poligrip free is clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. so it's not about keeping my dentures in, it's about keeping the food particles out. try super poligrip free. this is todd hardy. a fitness buff, youth baseball coach-and lung cancer patient. the day i got the diagnosis, i was just shocked. the surgeon in dallas said i needed t

tom byrum costello, nbc news, walk. >> what an incredible icon, we were talking, there aren't that many americans left that can say they have done what he's done. >>> two get married. the deadly incident that took their lives started with a do meftdic disturbance. here's the actual call to 911 that day. >> somebody punched holes in my walls. they're shooting. oh, no, he shot the police. he shot one of them. >> the officer was shot? >> yes and i don't know who he he we heard him dispatched to that call. he knew he was nearby and responded. >> reporter: both were killed following an intensive manhunt, a dramatic conskugs u collusion. 26 hours after the gunman shot those officers on the run, it ended with a self inflicted gunshot. the cop killer, desperate and holed up three miles from the pages long. >> reporter: he was a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. he wreaked havoc on this community. >> reporter: investigators say each got off one shot even after they were blindsided by the gunman responding to a domestic dispute call. he says the incident was captured on a body cam. >> i