NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Friday, April 5, 2024

Episode Date: April 6, 2024

Magnitude 4.8 earthquake rattles East Coast; Family members of Gaza hostages speak out almost 6 months after terrorist attack; Anticipation of total eclipse creates boom towns in its path; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Breaking news tonight, the new aftershock as we come on the air after that rare earthquake rocked the Northeast, one of the strongest in the last century. The earth came from atop a Statue of Liberty, capturing the images as the 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook New York City. The tremors felt as far south as Washington, D.C., as far north as Maine, rattling homes, barbershops, coffee shops, and now the concern after that new 4.0 aftershock. Also, tonight, Israel's military dismissing two senior officers from their positions after

that deadly strike on aid workers. What it now says went wrong. And our NBC News exclusive, my conversation with the families of American hostages nearly six months since Hamas abducted them. How do you put one foot in front of the other? Like I live my life in agony and sadness. Their new plea to Prime Minister Netanyahu. The fire at Senator Bernie Sanders' office in Vermont.

Investigators late today saying it was arson. President Biden in Baltimore touring the site of the deadly bridge collapse and meeting with first responders and victims' families. The countdown to the total eclipse, the excitement causing a business boom in some of the most unlikely places. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome. A lot of conversations here in the East today began with the words,

did you feel it? Well, potentially tens of millions of people did. An unusually strong earthquake fell from Maryland to Maine. The shocker sending tall buildings swaying in Philadelphia, New York and Boston, among other places, and a new aftershock shortly before we came on the air this evening. At 4.8 magnitude, folks in the west would likely have been unfazed by this morning's quake, but earthquakes of this intensity in the east are not common. This is the strongest in this region in over a decade. It struck a little before 10 30 a.m eastern time this morning. Its epicenter was in northern New Jersey. There are no reports of widespread damage, though crews did survey bridges, airport runways, and the like.

Emily Akeda is near the epicenter in New Jersey with the latest. Scenes like this are typically out of the West Coast. But just before 1030 this morning, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the New York City area with shockwaves felt 300 miles away. Stopping people in their tracks at the barber and rattling nerves inside this coffee shop. Watch as the earthquake disrupts a UN meeting.

Earthcam even capturing the Statue of Liberty shaking. So you think this crack is from the earthquake disrupts a U.N. meeting. Earth cam even capturing the Statue of Liberty shaking. So you think this crack is from the earthquake? I do. Janelle Jensen lives by the epicenter in New Jersey, which sits near a major fault line. The entire house was just shaking. So in my head, I just thought that there was going to be an explosion. Crews and first responders now sprayed across the region evaluating buildings. Several homes in Newark had to be an explosion. Crews and first responders now sprayed across the region evaluating buildings. Several homes in Newark had to be evacuated and runway inspections prompted ground stops at JFK and Newark airports. Remarkably, no serious damage or injuries have been reported. We are going to be reviewing all potentially vulnerable infrastructure

sites throughout the state of Newark. It's the most significant earthquake to rock the East Coast since 2011 and the strongest one in New Jersey in nearly 250 years. This is a rare event. The earth was releasing some stress that had built up between the two plates and it'll now settle down for a long time. As shaken Northeasterners try to do the same. I'm a little jitterish, yeah, because you don't experience things like this in New York. And Emily, as we said, you're near the earthquake's epicenter in New Jersey.

We felt here in the studio, at least some of us here felt an aftershock a while ago. Do they still pose a threat? Well, Lester, there have been at least seven aftershocks in the region, including a magnitude 4 quake that rattled the ground here just minutes ago. Experts say these could linger for another several days and people should drop, take cover and hold on when experiencing one. Lester. Emily Aketa tonight in New Jersey. Thank you. Facing intensifying pressure from the U.S., Israel announced new steps to get humanitarian

aid into Gaza, and it released results of its preliminary investigation into an airstrike that killed seven aid workers. Here's Gabe Gutierrez. Tonight, the U.S. is cautiously welcoming Israel's commitment to open more aid routes into Gaza after a tense phone call between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The president declining today to answer whether he'd threaten Netanyahu with stopping military aid. I asked them to do what they're doing. What Israel is doing is opening a crossing to allow aid into northern Gaza,

using a port in southern Israel as a supply hub, and allowing trucks from nearby Jordan to bring aid through Israel into Gaza. Today, the president was also asked if his tougher tone with Netanyahu meant he was abandoning Israel. The Israeli military has removed two officers from their post and reprimanded three others after this week's deadly strike that killed seven aid workers from Chef Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen. It's very important that Israel is taking full responsibility for this incident. According to Israel's newly released report, its forces wrongly identified what they thought was a gunman on one of the aid trucks and mistakenly assumed there were Hamas terrorists inside.

The forces did not identify the vehicles in question as being associated with World Central Kitchen, calling it a serious failure. It was a terrible chain of errors and it should never have happened. World Central Kitchen says the admissions are important steps forward, but the charity is calling for an independent investigation because it says Israel's military cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza. Hostage talks are set for this weekend. A senior administration official says the president is urging the leaders of Egypt and Qatar to press Hamas for a deal. Lester. All right, Gabe, thank you. Now, almost six months since

the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel, the families of five Americans held hostage in Gaza still wait for proof of life and the safe return of their loved ones. I sat down with them yesterday to talk about their pain, frustrations, and hopes. They have seen the power of hope. Abigail was released on the 51st day of being a hostage. They have seen nightmares come true. My sister, Judy Weinstein-Hagee, my amazing sister, and her beloved husband, Gadi Hagee, were out for their early morning walk on October 7th and were the first victims of this terror

when they were murdered by Hamas-ISIS terrorists on motorcycles. They were shot, murdered. We learned that news about 76 days after that event. Well, for five months, my American born and raised cousin, Ruby, and his lovely wife, Hagit, believed that their son, 19-year-old Itai, was alive. They got the bad news, the unimaginable news about three weeks ago that he was actually amongst those who were murdered on October 7th. For some of these American families, the fates of their kidnapped loved ones are still

unknown and they're desperate for them to come home. It's hard for anyone to step into your shoes and to imagine what it's been like. How do you put one foot in front of the other? Like I live my life in agony, in sadness, like I'm worried sick for my boy. Like every minute of the day, every second of the day, I don't have nights. I don't have anything. But I need to continue with what we are doing, like to put it out there. Exactly. Freed hostages have told horrific stories of violence and sexual abuse at the hands of Hamas. I want to ask you about some of the reports we've heard from

hostages who have been freed about their treatment in captivity. For those of you who still have missing loved ones, is that something you need to hear or something you'd rather not hear about? It's very difficult. I don't like to hear about it. My aunt Aviva and Uncle Keith Siegel were both taken together. And Aviva was released on day 51, the same day that Abigail was released. And she's home and we're just, I don't even know how to express the amazing feeling. Yet at the same time, Keith is there. She knows exactly what Keith and all of the hostages are going through every single day. And I just want to underline the urgency.

The opportunity for a deal is not going to get any better than it is today. And I just, I think that's why we're all here today. The urgency and hearing Aviva's stories, it's horrific. All the testimonies, my heart just breaks. These are living, breathing human beings. Prime Minister Netanyahu, he needs to be that brave leader. He needs to be that powerful, strong leader. And he needs to make it clear. He's been talking for many months about how important hostage release is. We don't have any more time for talking. I asked about four-year-old Abigail. How is her emotional healing progressing? What

can you share with us? She's a beautiful child who, before the terrorist attack on October 7th, was running around barefoot and playing and dancing to Beyonce videos and just this beautiful life. She is able to do those things again. So on a day to day level, she is loved by family and she is doing wonderfully. But we all know that there is effects of seeing your parents murdered. Earlier in the crisis, the group met with President Biden at the White House. Do you feel the Biden administration still puts you and your loved ones as a priority? We feel that we get attention and support from the Biden administration. But at the end of the day, we need our loved one back.

They need to pull every lever, and it hasn't been done, or else we would have had our dear ones back home. Are you still talking to the administration? Are you hearing these? Yes. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we have an extraordinary amount of access, and they're incredibly transparent and available.

Are the Israeli army actions in Gaza right now complicating any effort to get your loved ones? The pressure on Israel to stop the fight and provide ceasefire and humanitarian support to Gaza is obviously increasing. Yet Hamas, ISIS can stop everything by releasing the hostages and putting down the weapons. There's a surplus of suffering going around and horrible mistakes are happening. The tragic, horrifying mistake of those seven aid workers getting killed. It's a straw that's breaking the camel's back. What happens when you begin to lose sympathy? Do you feel that that is occurring? It's a struggle, Lester. But we need to recognize that that chain reaction that brings us,

unfortunately, back to you after many months was unleashed on October 7th by Hamas in an unprovoked, savage massacre of civilian communities. Look at Gaza. How can you not look at that and not feel unbelievable sympathy, right, for the suffering that's going on there? And here we are with our innocent loved ones, hostages for 181 days, hidden in tunnels, they kind of disappear in this horror that's going on. And there's no question that it feels like the world is moving on. If you look at the Gaza border, which is where my son was abducted from, he's two, three miles away. They're so close and yet so far. And yet Hamas is still holding on to them. But what keeps them going? That's one line that we say every single day in our house and someone gave it to us in a sticker because we say it so much. Hope is mandatory.

Part of my conversation with families of American hostages held in Gaza. In Baltimore today, President Biden got a firsthand look at the efforts to clear away the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, touring the site by air and then meeting with first responders and families of the men who died in the disaster. Mr. Biden pledging to reopen the channel quickly and to provide financial support to the region. At a strong new jobs report out today in March, the U.S. adding more than 300,000 jobs, blowing past economists' expectations by about 100,000. The unemployment rate declining slightly to 3.8 percent. Wage growth was up 4.1 percent year over year, outpacing the rate of inflation.

And police in Burlington, Vermont are investigating a fire, suspecting arson, at the office of Senator Bernie Sanders. They're looking for a suspect who they say sprayed an accelerant on the door and set it on fire. The building's sprinkler system put the fire out. People were working in the office at the time, but there were no injuries. In 60 seconds, anticipation of Monday's total eclipse has become a total bonanza for so many towns and cities in its path. We'll take you to one of them right after this. Just three days to go now until the event of the spring. Solar eclipse excitement is taking hold across the nation. And along the path of totality, it's causing a business boom in some unlikely places.

Morgan Chesky has more now from his hometown in Texas. Tonight, the countdown's on for a celestial date with destiny. We've been talking eclipse for the last year and a half. Come Monday, a solar eclipse, passing over 31 million Americans living in the prized path of totality. So we are directly on the center line. Ennis, Texas, the blue bonnet capital, now capitalizing on its 4 minutes and 23 seconds of total darkness. All of our hoteliers told us that they opened up bookings last April 8th for April 8th and they were sold out within two to three days. And it says been sold out for a year? Yes. Wow. Nationwide, Airbnb says nine out of ten listings are booked along the Eclipse's path

from Maine to Texas. Anne Hopmeyer and her family arriving just in time from Germany. It's something special. It's not that easy to come over here from Europe, to be honest. Other towns are planning too, like Kerrville, Texas, where I was born and raised. Matt Gibson's cowboy hats now sit next to all things Eclipse. Eclipse business, not bad business here. No, no, very good business as a matter of fact. The town prepping to swell by nearly 10 times. Have you ever had to plan for an event of this magnitude of the scale?

No, no, not in Kerrville, no. This is just out, this is above and beyond anything. All of our safety people have been planning for so long, and they've got our backs, they've got this down. But come Monday, all eyes will be looking up. Morgan Chesky, NBC News, Kerrville, Texas. And up next for us tonight, machine therapy. Some think there's a role for artificial intelligence in mental health.

Back now with our series, AI Revolution. And a question tonight, can artificial intelligence be used to provide effective therapy? Here's Aaron McLaughlin. How have things been going since we last connected? It could be the beginning of any standard therapy session. It's okay to not be okay. But neuroscientist Daniel Toker is talking to a machine.

Obviously, I know it's not sentient. It's not a person, but it feels that way. He's been using Chachi PT for about a year, in addition to his actual therapist. It honestly surprised me how well it worked and how useful a tool it's been. OpenAI, the company behind Chachi PT, says it's not a replacement for mental health treatment, and we encourage users to seek support from professionals. And while multiple studies show CHATGPT can provide valuable support, the American Psychological Association is concerned with generative AI-powered chatbots being used for mental health. I think it's really important for individuals to understand that

not only is this not a replacement for a human provider, the chances that it could provide inaccurate information is just too high. There is one FDA-approved chatbot that offers scripted therapeutic responses, but none with generative AI, where the bot learns about you and offers individualized replies. I am feeling like I want to get back together with him. At Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, Nicholas Jacobson hopes to change that. Most people don't receive any type of mental health care. And a lot of that is, I think, a scale problem. Mental Health America estimates more than 28 million U.S. adults with a mental illness are not getting treatment. Jacobson wants Therabot, now in clinical trial,

to become the first FDA-approved generative AI chatbot for mental health. How does it compare with an actual therapist? So generally right now, the content's pretty similar. It's how available it is. Therabot's available 24-7. For now, it's text-based. The user types for on-screen responses. With more than 200 test participants now using the DataTrain bot for therapy, each conversation is scrutinized. We want it to say certain things, and we've trained it to act in certain ways.

But there's ways that this could certainly go off the rails. It's potentially dangerous. Absolutely. The demand is overwhelming. Yes. Is this the solution? I think this is a solution. One that, if it works, could go a long way to help America's mental health crisis. Erin McLaughlin, NBC News, Hanover, New Hampshire. That is nightly news for this Friday. Thank you for watching, everyone. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night.