NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Friday, November 1, 2024

Episode Date: November 2, 2024

Harris slams Trump comments that Cheney would not be a 'war hawk' if she were sent to frontlines; Trump courts Arab American vote as Harris blasts RFK Jr.; Violent Halloween night leaves multiple people dead; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, four days left in the finish line in sight, but graphic rhetoric once again overtaking the campaign trail. Former President Trump going after Liz Cheney, saying she wouldn't be a war hawk if, quote, guns are trained on her face. Cheney comparing Trump to a dictator. Vice President Harris slamming his comments as violent. But Mr. Trump saying he was just referring to Cheney's backing of foreign wars. A fallout tonight. Plus how health care and Mr. Trump's vision of who would oversee federal programs is causing a stir. We asked the Republican nominee if he backs RFK Jr.'s controversial views on vaccines.

And after conspiracy theories in 2020, all eyes are on the vote. Our report, who's watching the polls, including those who believe the election was stolen. Halloween mass shootings across America. In Orlando, a local state of emergency after two were killed during a massive downtown celebration. Plus, three dead in a Denver suburb at a house party. The never-before-seen body cam released as the trial kicks off for the Marine veteran charged with choking another subway rider to death. What the video reveals. After one of the driest Octobers on record, the wildfires breaking out in the Northeast. And the good news, one of

America's favorite sports touches down in Africa. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome. We'll get to the politics of it all and our correspondence with the candidates in these final days of the presidential race in just a moment. But we start with a controversy over violent imagery evoked by Donald Trump during an event in Arizona last evening in which he said his foe, former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney, would not be such a war hawk if she had, quote, guns trained on her face. Mr. Trump saying, let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her.

Trump today saying he was only pointing out that Cheney hasn't had to face the consequences of war. But given the dark imagery of his words last night, it makes you wonder if those same words were spoken by a 14 year old online or in a classroom or by a co-worker in the workplace. Would alarm bells be sounding tonight? We'll have more about all this, including Ms. Cheney's response as we turn now to the campaign trail with four days to go, the race entering its final weekend. Here are the itineraries that will carry Vice President

Harris and former President Trump across the swing states this weekend, each in search of a path to 270 electoral votes and the presidency. Here's Peter Alexander. Tonight, Vice President Harris is hoping the road to the white house goes through wisconsin we knock on doors know how to text and call folks immediately upon landing here sharply criticizing former president trump for his comments last night about former republican congresswoman liz cheney he has increased his violent rhetoric in great detail, suggested rifles should be trained on former Representative Liz Cheney. This must be disqualifying. Trump in Arizona went after Cheney, arguing she would not favor war if she was sent to the front lines. She's a radical war hawk.

Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. OK, let's see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face. You know, they're all war hawks when they're sitting in Washington in a nice building saying, oh, gee, well, let's send let's send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy. Cheney responding this morning, this is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten those who speak against them with death, adding, we cannot entrust our country and our freedom to a petty, vindictive, cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant. Cheney, who after January 6th vowed to stop Trump from returning to power and was defeated in her Republican primary, recently campaigned with Harris. You cannot trust him. We've seen the man that he is. Trump today offering a rare

clarification, writing, all I'm saying about Liz Cheney is that she is a war hawk and a dumb one at that. I think that Liz Cheney is a disaster. All she wants to do is blow people up. If you ever put her into the field of battle, she'd be the first one to chicken out. She wouldn't fight. She'd chicken out so fast. Harris's team argues Trump's inflammatory language about his political opponents crosses a line and fits a dangerous pattern. His rhetoric has grown more extreme and he is even less focused than before on the needs and the concerns and the challenges facing the American people. And Peter, we're getting another reminder tonight of just how close this

race is and the critical battleground that you're in right now, Wisconsin. Lester, you're right. The last presidential contest here came down to 20,000 votes out of more than 3 million cast. Biden won it then and tonight. These two candidates are both converging on Milwaukee for dueling rallies just seven miles apart. Lester. Okay, Peter Alexander, thank you. Now to the Trump campaign, focusing on those so-called blue wall states and facing new criticism from Vice President Harris over former President Trump's vow to have Robert F. Kennedy Jr. take a central role on health care policy. Garrett Haik spoke with Trump late today. Tonight, former President

Trump working to crash through Democrats' so-called blue wall. But this is all you need to know. Kamala, who's grossly incompetent, broke it. I will fix it. We're going to fix it. We're going to fix it quickly. Campaigning in Battleground, Michigan. I will end inflation. I will stop the invasion of criminals pouring into our country. And I will bring back the American dream. Earlier, stopping at an Arab-owned restaurant in Dearborn. Please let us welcome Mr. Donald J. Trump. He's working to peel off Arab and Muslim voters upset over the Biden-Harris administration's handling of the war in the Mideast.

It comes as Harris is amping up her attacks on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has endorsed Trump and was traveling with him today. Trump praising him. How good was Bobby Kennedy Jr.? He's going to take care of women's health and men's health. Harris slamming Trump today. He has indicated that the person who would be in charge of health care for the American people is someone who has routinely promoted junk science and crazy conspiracy theories.

We pressed Trump about the vice president's criticism. She just said that she thinks he's the last person in America that should be involved in health care planning. Well, that's because they've lost him. He was a Democrat all his life, and they've lost him. And they're very unhappy about it. And I think they're very unhappy about their poll numbers because she is sinking like a dead ship. He is a great guy. I've known him a long time.

And all he wants to do is very simple. He wants to make people healthy. Though health experts have criticized Kennedy's debunked claims drawing links between vaccines and autism. You're comfortable with his views on vaccines, Mr. President? We'll be talking about a lot of things, but he's going to have a big role in health care, a very big role. He knows it better than anybody. He's got some views that I happen to agree with very strongly and I have for a long time. It comes as NBC News obtained video of House Speaker Mike Johnson talking about health care reform. No Obamacare?

No Obamacare. The ACA is so deeply ingrained, we need massive reform. Harris accusing Trump of wanting to end the Affordable Care Act. Be very clear that among the stakes in this election are whether we continue with the Affordable Care Act. Be very clear that among the stakes in this election are whether we continue with the Affordable Care Act or not. Johnson telling NBC News he, quote, offered no such promise to end Obamacare and in fact acknowledged that the policy is deeply ingrained in our health care system. Trump firing back overnight. She says I want to end Obamacare, affordable health, OK? Now, I never said that.

If we got something better, I would do it. But if we got something better, I'd do it. But I never said I'm going to end it. After Thursday's surprising stop in New Mexico to court Latinos, Trump will make another appearance in a non-battleground state tomorrow, Virginia, which his campaign is hoping to put in play. Lester. Garrett Haig, thank you.

It was a violent Halloween night in multiple cities across the country with deadly results, including a mass shooting in Florida. Now, one major city is in a state of emergency. Here's Jesse Kirsch. From coast to coast tonight, multiple communities are dealing with a very real Halloween scare, deadly shootings. In Orlando, Florida, the mayor issuing a local state of emergency and announcing a curfew after police say a teenager opened fire overnight on a downtown packed with tens of thousands of people. This police edited video shows the suspect walking through the crowd, appearing to turn back toward a blurred individual before raising a gun and firing.

Get on the ground! Get on the ground right now! Police tackling the alleged shooter within minutes. In total, eight people were shot, two killed, according to investigators. Among the survivors, 20-year-old Anthony Berry, who says a bullet grazed his head. What do you think happens if you didn't crouch? We wouldn't have this interview. It's not even if it's a definite fact. Meanwhile, Colorado police say a Denver area house party shooting left three people dead. And in Washington state, authorities say someone in a

Halloween type mask shot and killed one person at the Vancouver Mall. No one is in custody from either attack. But here in Orlando, police say they do have the 17-year-old suspect in custody. He now faces multiple charges, including two counts of first-degree murder with a firearm. Lester? Jesse Kirsh in Orlando, thank you. More than 40 million people across the Northeast are under red flag warnings tonight, including in northern New Jersey, where crews are working to get a wildfire under control. So far, it's swept through more than 100 acres, fueled by warm, dry weather. It comes after one of the driest Octobers on record in the region. Also tonight, the issue of contraceptive deserts,

places where many women don't have enough access to birth control. According to a reproductive rights nonprofit, more than 19 million women are affected, just as millions of Americans vote on access to contraception. Here's Dasha Burns. In the months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Maggie Olivia went to the pharmacy to pick up her birth control prescription. I ultimately ended up leaving and without birth control. Maggie, who now works for a grassroots reproductive rights group in St. Louis, said the pharmacist denied her prescription because they were unsure if it was legal,

which it was. How does that experience sit with you today? It feels infuriating. It definitely felt like I was doing something wrong. Two months later, she got pregnant and crossed state lines to get an abortion. When you can't control the care that your body can receive, it's a devastating feeling of powerlessness. Family planning experts say since Missouri's near-total abortion ban, women have been facing mounting barriers to accessing contraception.

Politicians purposefully conflate abortion and birth control. Our polling shows that almost 30 percent of Missourians don't believe or don't know that all forms of birth control are legal. That confusion, a strained health care system, and contraceptive deserts covering much of Missouri make accessing birth control more challenging. You say that there's contraception deserts. I guess I would respectfully disagree. Denny Hoskins is a Republican state senator

and voted in favor of a bill that would have excluded emergency contraceptives from Missouri's Medicaid program. They do have adequate access to contraception in Missouri. But didn't the state specifically take action to not support funding for contraception? We did. We did. Most certainly, I don't think that it should be paid for by taxpayer dollars. On Missouri's ballot this year, a constitutional amendment ensuring a person's fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which would include abortion and birth control.

Kate Wagner works at the only clinic in a 45-mile radius that provides the full range of birth control methods. Good morning, lady. Good morning. It's not just one size fits all. Six in 10 women in Missouri are concerned about elected officials passing laws that limit access to birth control. Some of our patients would, you know, show up and they would say, my device is due to be replaced next year, but I want to go ahead and have it replaced sooner than that because I'm worried about, you know, the politics changing. I remember somebody called the office and asked if she needed to rip her IUD out herself. She was so scared. Millions navigating the new and evolving landscape of reproductive health. Dasha Burns, NBC News, St. Louis, Missouri.

In 60 seconds, the new body cam video released as the trial gets underway for the manicures in that deadly subway chokehold incident. Here in New York, opening statements today in the trial of the Marine veteran charged with putting a fellow subway rider in a deadly chokehold. Emily Akeda reports on the new body cam video just out today. And we have to warn you, some of the images are disturbing. Tonight, new body camera video of Daniel Penny's first encounter with police as his closely watched criminal trial gets underway. The Marine veteran facing manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges

for holding Jordan Neely in a minutes-long chokehold on the subway. The medical examiner says that chokehold killed the 30-year-old. I don't know. I just put him out. Examiner says that chokehold killed the 30-year-old. Penny's attorneys say he was just trying to protect other passengers. He went to protect the lives of innocent strangers on that subway train from the terror that Mr. Neely was perpetrating. Neely, who struggled with homelessness and mental illness, was making threats like, I will kill, and had drugs in his system, according to the defense. But the prosecution argues that Penny used too much force for far too long, alleging an unarmed Neely was unconscious for 51 seconds before Penny let go.

Jordan was lying on the ground after being choked for six minutes straight and was never given aid. Who's the villain? It's not clear if Penny will testify, but his attorneys recorded this statement last year. I saw women and children. He was yelling in their faces saying these threats. I couldn't just sit still. If convicted of the top charge manslaughter, Penny could face 15 years in prison. Lester. Emily Aketa in New York. Thank you. Still to come, who's watching the polls where you vote as 2020 election deniers become poll challengers. We look at how it could impact the election. In tonight's vote watch, we focus on poll watchers who are

trained to report irregularities in the voting process. This year, several groups nationwide are recruiting and training people to fill those roles who deny the 2020 election results. Stephanie Gosk reports from Battleground, Michigan. In the Detroit Convention Center, mail-in ballots are being processed early for the first time in this largely Democratic city. This is what happened in 2020 when the count didn't start until Election Day. Anger over delays in the process. Spawning conspiracy theories like this one, that overnight a truck delivered fake mail-in ballots picked up in this nearby warehouse. There was never evidence of any of that.

Election officials say there was a late-night delivery, but of totally lawful ballots. Even so, a group that calls itself the Michigan Fair Elections Institute is calling on its members to investigate this warehouse and to watch it closely on election night. In the fallout from the 2020 election, at least three Michigan organizations, all with similar sounding names, have taken shape, training their supporters, many of whom believe the last election was stolen, to become poll watchers. They're out looking for fraud.

Are you concerned that they're going to disrupt this election? Yeah, of course. I mean, we're in an era of misinformation. And through that misinformation comes a desire to take very small, isolated incidents and make them much larger than they are. So far, the secretary of state says the voting and the early processing is going smoothly. Are you going to disrupt the election? No. We when we do our poll challenger training, we very much talk to people about following the laws, being kind and courteous. Sandy Kiesel runs the Election Integrity Force in Michigan.

She says her biggest concerns are mail-in ballots and voter registration. Do you think Donald Trump won this state in 2020? I think the data was messy enough that we don't know. Despite exhaustive audits, including in Michigan, confirming President Biden's victory, polls show a majority of Republicans still don't believe Biden won the last election. Since then, groups run by election deniers have organized hundreds of poll training sessions nationwide ahead of this election. Let me tell you why you're important, because there's so much fraud here, it's easy to find.

There's no evidence of widespread fraud, but faith in the election system is shaken. How difficult is it to restore that faith? Well, we need everyone helping us to amplify facts and not allow those with agendas who would cause them to spread misinformation to rule the day. David Jaffe is a Democratic poll watcher in the Detroit Convention Center. The process in this room works efficiently and fairly. It is set up so it is virtually impossible to cheat. The best way to restore faith, he says, is to let people join him and see for themselves.

Stephanie Gosk, NBC News, Detroit. Up next for us tonight, the Super Bowl champ helping kids reach their NFL dreams an ocean away. Finally tonight, the Super Bowl champ giving kids half a world away a chance to achieve their own NFL dreams. Here's Zinkeley Asamoah. On a continent dominated by a different type of football, America's favorite sport is vying for a touchdown with NFL Africa. Why'd you get it started? Well, I think it was important to give all those people that we knew in Africa that had the unique ability and all that talents the chance to play this wonderful game.

Since 2018, two-time Super Bowl champion and former New York Giant Osi Uminyara has hosted talent recruitment programs through the Uprise. Now the NFL partners with him to expand the league's presence in Africa. According to the NFL, today there are more than 130 players born in Africa or whose parents have immigrated from the continent. Go, go, go, go. The league hoping to grow that number. Our intention is to make American football global, so we're taking our game everywhere we can. Two, three, four. After Uminyara trains emerging prospects in Africa, promising teenage players have the chance to head to NFL Academy in London. 19-year-old Emmanuel Okoye took that path,

playing American football for the first time at an NFL camp. How did it feel when you learned you were heading to the United Kingdom? To be honest, I didn't feel like it was real. Okoye is now a student at the University of Tennessee on a football scholarship with hopes of one day playing in the NFL. You're not just trying to recruit players. You're also trying to build a fan base on the continent, right? Yeah, we have to do that. You've seen all those African names on the back of their jerseys on the football field doing something that you could possibly do. So, yes, I want people to see that. I want people to dream. I want them to have hopes and be like, I can do this in a sport that I'm very well represented in.

The NFL hoping new dreams will be realized in Africa. Zinclea Samoa, NBC News. And that is nightly news for this Friday. Thank you for watching. I'll see you back here on Monday. But a reminder, we've got a pretty big week ahead in case you haven't heard. Join our election coverage on Tuesday, starting at 7 p.m. Eastern. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night.