NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Friday, March 8, 2024

Episode Date: March 9, 2024

Harris says Biden put to rest voter concerns about age; Exclusive: Texas governor defends his migrant and border policies; Gaza authorities say 5 killed by food aid pallet; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, President Biden hitting the campaign trail after his fiery State of the Union speech. The president launching a battleground tour after making his case for a second term to the American people and going on the attack against former President Trump over January 6th, abortion rights and Russia. And tonight, our interview with Vice President Kamala Harris on whether we'll see a Biden-Trump debate and given the concerns about Mr. Biden's age, would she be ready to serve? And one of the major topics of the president's address, the border crisis. Our NBC News exclusive with Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott,

how he grades the president's speech and why he calls the surge at the border an invasion. The terrifying moments, a United Airlines plane sliding off the runway in Houston just a day after the tire fell off another United plane on takeoff. The deadly aid drop in Gaza, a parachute failing to open. Witnesses say at least five people on the ground were killed. Tracking the severe storms on the move tonight. Former President Trump posting a nearly $92 million bond as he appeals the E. Jean Carroll verdict. The House set to vote on a bill that could ban TikTok. Would President

Biden sign it? What he said about that today. And the mythical mystery, who's leaving unicorns all around this American city? This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome. This has been a consequential week in American politics from the Super Tuesday primary landslide setting the stage for November to the State of the Union speech last night, which President Biden found the voice Democrats had hoped for and forcefully framed the fight ahead. The president touted the economic recovery, or as he called it, the greatest story never told. On reproductive rights, he vowed to restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land. And he blamed Republicans for not grabbing on opportunity to secure the border.

But there was no mistaking that it was also a speech about Donald Trump. Time after time last night, Mr. Biden drawing a sharp contrast between himself and the former president. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson today blasting the speech as hyper-partisan. Peter Alexander starts our coverage. Tonight, after a critical speech where President Biden took repeated swipes at his likely Republican opponent, Donald Trump. Now my predecessor, a former Republican president, tells Putin, quote, do whatever the hell you want. I think it's outrageous. And sparred with Republicans in the room. You're saying, oh, look at the facts. I know.

I know you know how to read. Vice President Kamala Harris tonight insists the president put to rest voter concerns the 81-year-old is too old for another term. Did he answer those questions last night? He was absolutely on fire and he answered any question that anyone might have. We also asked about Republican criticism of her readiness for the job. Listen, as it relates to me, I'm ready if necessary, but it's not going to be necessary. The president vowing to protect abortion rights. When reproductive freedom was on the ballot, we won in 2022 and 2020 and we'll win again in 2024. And slamming Republicans for rejecting a bipartisan border security bill at the urging of Mr. Trump.

Republicans say President Biden could solve the crisis on his own by executive order. The former president told the leadership of the Republican Party in Congress, don't put it on the floor for a vote because he has been very unapologetic and clear. He'd prefer to run on a problem instead of fix a problem. Given the Republicans aren't going to fix those problems with Democrats, why not do it by executive order? The American people deserve leadership that's about fixing problems. And that's why he's going to lose in November. We have a lot of work to be done,

but let us not negate the role and responsibility of leaders in Congress. One of the most dramatic moments, Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene challenging the president to say the name of Lakin Riley, a Georgia nursing student. Police say was murdered by a Venezuelan migrant who crossed into the U.S. illegally. Not really. Hi. The president then picking up a button Green gave him. Lincoln, Lincoln Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. That's right. But how many thousands of people being killed by legal to her To her parents, I say, my heart goes out to you, having lost children myself.

I understand. After Mr. Trump this week challenged President Biden to debate any time, anywhere, any place, the president today would not commit to one. It depends on his behavior. We pressed the vice president. I haven't talked to the president yet about that, but I'll tell you something.

On the one hand, you've got Joe Biden, someone who is competent, who is principled. And on the other side of that split screen, you've got the former president who glorifies dictators and has said he'll be a dictator on day one. Will you commit to do a debate? Peter, we just got through with the State of the Union, and I'm just so excited about what we accomplished last night and our president. So, Peter, what's some through with the State of the Union, and I'm just so excited about what we accomplished last night and our president. So, Peter, what's some of the reaction to the speech you're hearing from Republicans? Well, former President Trump was reacting in real time. He described the president's address as angry and crazy.

Top Republicans last year are calling the speech both divisive and partisan. Meanwhile, as it relates to President Biden, tonight already in Philadelphia, he's going to be hitting five swing states in the next seven days. All right, Peter Alexander, thank you. And as Peter mentioned, some of the most dramatic moments in last night's speech were on immigration. And nowhere is it more intense than in Texas, where the governor is in a legal battle with the Biden administration. He spoke late today with our Gabe Gutierrez. At the center of the border battle is Texas Governor Greg Abbott, repeatedly taking on the Biden administration, which he says caused the crisis. There's a number one issue in America, and that's securing the border. It's an issue on which he has failed.

We spoke with him late today in Austin. On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate President Biden's State of the Union address? I'd give it an F for failure. The governor fiercely opposes the bipartisan border security bill that President Biden is calling out Republicans for killing. We can fight about fixing the border or we can fix it. Governor, when did compromise become a dirty word? So compromise should be effective. The House has passed an effective border security plan. If Joe Biden really believes in compromise, he would work with the House chamber.

And work with the Republicans in the Senate. Why not pass that bill now? Because the Senate bill codifies illegal immigration and actually promotes even more illegal immigration. Governor Abbott has grabbed headlines with controversial moves, including busing migrants to Democrat-led cities to relieve overcrowded border towns. Now he's forging ahead with court battles over buoys in the Rio Grande, Razor Wire and Eagle Pass, and the new law, which would allow local police to arrest migrants for entering Texas illegally. A judge recently wrote, surges in immigration do not constitute an invasion.

Isn't that word invasion dangerous, Governor? So the word invasion is the word that is used in the United States Constitution. These are people who are coming across the border in violation of federal law in the state of Texas. Meanwhile, the White House has slammed many of his actions here in Texas as political stunts. Lester. All right, Gabe Gutierrez, thank you. Here at home, yet another incident today involving a United Airlines jet, the plane sliding off the runway in Houston, then one of its landing gear collapsing.

Tom Costello reports on what went wrong. Off the runway, tipped over and stuck in the grass, a United 737 MAX 8. Its landing gear collapsed. Flight 2477 Memphis to Houston touched down just before 8 a.m. Runway 27, clear to land. With another plane following close behind, the pilots were told not to slow too much.

Keep your speed up. That's approved. Okay. United 2477, we'll do. But the plane slid off a wet runway as it tried turning onto a taxiway. Another United flight close behind ordered to cancel its landing. United 1383, go around at 2477. I see you in the grass rolling the trucks en route. United says no passenger or crew injuries were reported. The runway closed. As investigators look into what happened and whether the plane's landing gear failed,

it comes one day after this incident in San Francisco. The last departure lost the wheel on departure, so we're going to have to shut the runway down. A United 777 headed to Japan lost one of six tires from its main gear assembly as it took off Thursday morning. The tire crashed through a fence, crushing several parked cars. No injuries. Runway 2A right is temporarily closed. The flight then diverted to LAX with investigators looking into how that tire came loose. And United says the flames from that mid-air engine stall on Monday may have happened after the plane's engine ingested bubble wrap

debris left on the runway. Every flight landed with passengers safe but shaken. Tom Costello, NBC News, Washington. We are tracking storms on the move tonight in the Midwest and Southeast, millions under severe risk across the lower Mississippi Valley and Gulf Coast. The main threat will be damaging wind gusts, large hail and flooding, overnight tornadoes, also a possibility. Tomorrow, the storms move farther into the Southeast from Florida to North Carolina. I want to turn now to the war in Gaza. The United States says all of its airdrops of food have landed safely in the territory, but that wasn't the case with another country's airdrop, and the results were deadly. Richard Engel has late details. This is what an aid drop into Gaza is supposed to look like.

As today, a Jordanian military cargo plane dropped pallets of food near Gaza City. They fall slowly. But this also happened today. As the pallets are dropped by another aircraft, one of the parachutes on the right of the screen fails to open. The package comes apart in midair, the pieces falling down with heavy thuds. The other pallets also drop very quickly. Palestinian medical officials and witnesses say five people were crushed to death. Establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean. Last night, President Biden announced the U.S. military will build a

pier to improve and expand the delivery of humanitarian aid. NBC News has learned it could take up to 60 days for it to be fully operational. But Washington also supplies Israel with weapons. Instead of telling us they will build a port to help us, stop giving the weapons they use to kill us, this man said. We were on an aid drop yesterday as a Jordanian military C-130 flew over northern Gaza. We've just given the signal that they're ready to drop. The pallets carried tens of thousands of meals. Our crew, filmed as hungry people, went searching for food.

As they searched, they approached Israeli troops, because that's where the food aid was. Not long after, an explosion can be heard. And an injured man is taken from the area. The Israeli military says its troops have opened fire on those who appear to pose a threat. Gazans face an impossible dilemma. Do nothing and go hungry and maybe starve, or search for food at the risk of being shot or hit by raining pallets. Lester. Richard Engel, thank you. The military's troubled Osprey aircraft has been cleared for return to flight even before investigators fully determine how recent deadly crashes happen.

Courtney Kuby reports. Tonight, after grounding all V-22 Osprey aircraft following a fatal crash last year, the Pentagon is now putting them back in the sky. Is the Secretary confident in the Osprey aircraft that it's safe? I think the Secretary is confident in the steps that have been taken to return it to flight. The Marine Corps plan includes three phases, extensive maintenance checks, refresher training for pilots with a goal of all aircraft flying again by summer. But tonight, officials still do not fully understand the fatal crash in Japan that

led to the grounding. Last month, NBC News reported the Japan crash centered around a problem in the prop rotor gearbox, according to officials familiar with the investigation. Pentagon officials not publicly confirming that, but acknowledging the part that failed on the aircraft was unprecedented. And they still don't know why it happened. There have been four other Osprey crashes in the last two years. We don't even know about Spencer's black box. Spencer Collart was the crew chief on an Osprey that crashed in Australia last August.

Twenty-three Marines were on board. Spencer and two others were killed. The cause is still under investigation. Just three months later, that crash off Japan killed eight airmen. When you heard that the Osprey had crashed, what went through your mind? I just wish maybe that the Ospreys had been grounded sooner. And tonight, Collard's family has new fears. His sister Gwyneth now engaged to an Osprey crew chief she met through her late brother.

They lifted the ban and I just, my heart sank. That's so scary to me. Still searching for answers as they remember Spencer. He was the kid who would fight off anybody who was bullying or, sorry. So being a hero makes sense to me. A lot of sense. On the Japan crash, Osprey manufacturer Bell Textron writing, quote, We are steadfast in our commitment to safety and are fully supporting the investigation.

Lester. Courtney Kuby at the Pentagon. Thank you. Here in New York, lawyers for former President Trump posted a $91 million bond today in the defamation case he lost to writer E. Jean Carroll. An insurance company provided the bond. This comes after a federal jury awarded Carroll $83 million in damages. The bond prevents her from collecting that money while Trump appeals the verdict. We'll take a break. In 60 seconds, the showdown emerging over TikTok as a bill that could ban the app and the U.S. gains momentum in Congress. What's at stake right after this? Back now with TikTok, the wildly popular app with 170 million users in the U.S. and many of them

are outraged over a bill set for a vote next week that could ban TikTok nationwide if it doesn't cut its Chinese ties. Here's Savannah Sellers. Tonight, the battle to ban TikTok nationwide if it doesn't cut its Chinese ties. Here's Savannah Sellers. Tonight, the battle to ban TikTok intensifying in Washington, with House leaders confirming they'll vote next week on a bill that would effectively ban the app unless it's sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. We can't have a foreign-controlled social media app pushing misinformation, certainly not to our children. After the bill was introduced earlier this week, TikTok blasted out this message, urging users to call their members of Congress and demand they vote against it.

Sidney Rosiak, who makes her money as an influencer, did just that. What would it mean for you if TikTok were to be banned? First of all, that is my career. So my career would be gone. Lawmakers say their phones rang off the hook. Well, I kind of went into mom mode, right? Because I know that TikTok has really weaponized our young people. I took it into my own hands, got on the phone and tried to explain to our young people why

we're doing what we're doing. TikTok's pressure campaign appears to have backfired. In a rare show of bipartisanship, a House committee voted unanimously in favor of the legislation. This isn't the first time the U.S. has tried to limit TikTok. In 2020, former President Donald Trump attempted to ban the app with an executive order. Last year, TikTok's top executive was grilled on the hill. We have seen no evidence that the Chinese government has access to that data. They have never asked us. We have not provided. Well, you know what? I find that actually preposterous.

Tonight, TikTok saying this will damage millions of businesses and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators. Mr. Trump now expressing concerns about the new legislation, saying it could make meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg more powerful, while President Biden says he supports it. If they pass it, I'll sign it. Savannah Sellers, NBC News. And up next, UFOs and alien beings. What the Pentagon now says about all those reports.

It sounds straight out of science fiction, but today the Pentagon released an extensive report on whether there is evidence of life beyond Earth and whether it's been covered up. Let's get more from Gotti Schwartz. Tonight, eight months after that out-of-this-world testimony on Capitol Hill. Were they, I guess, human or non-human biologics? Non-human. The official word from the Pentagon, no dead alien bodies, no crashed alien craft, and no government cover-up.

In a 63-page report, the DOD's UAP office saying they've interviewed more than 30 people, including heads of aerospace companies, CIA and defense officials, and found no credible first-hand information supporting the claims. Claims of hidden programs are largely the result of circular reporting by a small group. Also detailed, the government's long history with UFOs going back to the 40s, even touching on former President Bill Clinton's interest in Roswell. But the DOD insisting that was a mix of confusion over high-altitude test dummies, fatal plane crashes, and a program to detect nukes. But when it comes to some of the recent mysteries involving pilots or surveillance video,

the report was short on specifics. We have a serious issue that pilots are dealing with. They still don't know if these are potentially adversaries. The report's response to the UFO hype? A long list of earthly explanations. Saying there was no evidence of extraterrestrials, but a small percentage of cases had potentially anomalous characteristics or concerning characteristics. And Lester, yes, there are still a number of cases under investigation,

with the DOD saying they are now developing special sensor kits that they call gremlins to send out whenever new UFO hotspots are reported. Lester? Continues to fascinate, Gotti, thank you. Coming up, another mystery, tiny unicorns springing up all over one city. We investigate next. Well, finally, we can't go without telling you about the colorful creature spreading joy in one American city. Emily Akeda on the mystery of the unicorns. It's a typical blue sky day here in Providence, Rhode Island. Well, at first glance, look closer near the ledge.

This is where Bethelwood stumbled upon her first unicorn. Right here. Standing not even two inches tall, it was the mythic beast Chrome chrome sheen that caught Beth's eye. What was it like when you first stumbled upon a unicorn? I was like, it's such an unexpected surprise. Recently, these figurines have been mysteriously appearing all over Providence, on sidewalks, windowsills, planters, stirring up a citywide scavenger hunt. Are you going to try to find these? Yeah. It's kind of like a scavenger hunt. Are you gonna try to find these? Yeah.

It's kind of like a little Easter egg hunt. Despite scouring the streets all morning long, unicorns after all do have a reputation for being hard to find. It was when we sat down on this bench that we finally stumbled upon one. The burning question now, who is behind the colorful creatures?

Some locals point to the nearby Rhode Island School of Design. I have no idea who is behind this project. And that's great. Anyone can make art. Anyone can find art. Anyone can interact with it. Artists inspiring communities in surprising places is an age-old practice. In Chicago, potholes have been transformed into mosaics. And a Brooklyn artist anonymously redesigned business flyers. Whoever is responsible for the magic in Providence,

Betha is grateful for the reminder that sometimes the smallest gestures carry big impacts. It's just spreading joy. The world needs more joy. Emily Ikeda, NBC News, Providence, Rhode Island. And there you go. That's nightly news for this Friday. Thanks for watching. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night, everyone.