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

Episode Date: November 9, 2024

FBI says it stopped third attempt on Trump's life; Israeli soccer fans attacked after match in Amsterdam; Growing focus on what Trump's victory means for the Supreme Court; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, the alleged plot to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump linked to Iran and the three men now charged. After two assassination attempts on Mr. Trump, the FBI now saying it thwarted a murder-for-hire plot against him involving an Iranian operative and two men arrested in New York City. The images of their alleged gun arsenal and the calls for more security for the president-elect. It comes as Mr. Trump's transition is underway and the surprise as Elon Musk joins his call with Ukrainian President Zelensky, plus the move by the special counsel today in Mr. Trump's criminal cases and the potential impact in the Supreme Court, why there's growing pressure on liberal justice Sonia Sotomayor, the anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli soccer fans in the streets of Amsterdam.

Dozens injured, more than 60 arrests. Israel sending planes to fly those fans out. The wildfires raging on both coasts. Multiple infernos burning in New Jersey. And the state of emergency in California after more than 100 homes were burned. The new twist for the Menendez brothers, how will a new DA impact their push for freedom? The new screening that may be able to detect breast cancer that other tests miss. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt.

Good evening and welcome. While Donald Trump was doing battle with Kamala Harris on the campaign trail back in September, a deadly plot to kill the former and now future president was quietly unfolding. Separate from the two assassination attempts we knew about, this one, according to a criminal complaint, was hatched in Iran, directed by a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. The plan revealed today aimed at killing Mr. Trump before or after the election were he to lose. Today,

the U.S. Department of Justice charging an Iranian man and two alleged accomplices in the plot. The details emerging as the president-elect remains out of sight, taking a different approach as he builds a new administration. Garrett Haake reports. President-elect Trump has already survived two assassination attempts, and tonight the FBI is saying it foiled a third. This one, a plot by Iran to kill Trump before the election. These individuals allegedly plotted to murder an American citizen on our soil at the direction of a foreign terrorist organization. According to a criminal complaint, Iranian operative Farhad Shaqiri told the FBI the

plot was hatched by a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. Shaqiri said he was asked by that Iranian official to kill Trump in September. Shaqiri replied it would, quote, cost a huge amount of money. Shaqiri said the official then said, we have already spent a lot of money, so money's not an issue. Then telling Shaqiri replied it would, quote, cost a huge amount of money. Shaqiri said the official then said, we have already spent a lot of money, so money's not an issue. Then telling Shaqiri to provide a plan within seven days to kill Trump, and if not, to wait until after the election, because Iran believed Trump would lose, quote, and afterwards it would be easier to assassinate him. Two of Shaqiri's alleged associates were arrested.

Photos of their weapons were included in the DOJ complaint, while Shaqiri is at large, believed to be in Iran. Trump supporters now demanding the president-elect get more security. They are trying to kill, right now as we speak, president-elect Trump. They think they can get away with it. And that is what's so disturbing. A Trump spokesperson saying, quote, nothing will deter President Trump from returning to the White House and restoring peace around the world.

It comes as Trump's decisive margin of victory is growing. NBC News projecting that Trump will win Nevada, which means he's won six of the seven battleground states. Only Arizona remains unsettled with Trump in the lead. Trump tonight working out of his Mar-a-Lago home, focused on filling out his new administration, reportedly favoring cabinet candidates who come from outside Washington and have business experience over members of Congress, according to two sources familiar with the transition process. We're also told that billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Besant is now a leading contender for Treasury Secretary. I'm going to do whatever President Trump asks. Meanwhile, a federal judge granting a request by special counsel Jack Smith for a one-month pause to decide how to proceed in his case

against Trump, which will likely come to an end. And tonight, some Democratic governors announcing they'll resist new Trump policies. Massachusetts Governor Mara Healey was asked if her state police would cooperate on mass deportations. No, absolutely not. Every tool in the toolbox has got to be used to protect our citizens, to protect our residents, and protect our states. And, Garrett, tonight we have new reporting on Trump supporter Elon Musk and the president-elect's call with Ukraine's President Zelensky. That's right, Lester. When Trump took a congratulatory call from Zelensky on election night,

Musk walked into the room and greeted the Ukrainian leader, according to a source with knowledge of the conversation. The source says Musk then left and was not substantively involved in the call. Lester. All right, Garrett Hick, thanks. In Europe, authorities are calling it an outburst of anti-Semitic violence, attacks on Israeli soccer fans on the streets of Amsterdam after a match last night. Dozens of people were injured.

Megan Fitzgerald is there with late details for us. on the streets of Amsterdam after a match last night. Dozens of people were injured. Megan Fitzgerald is there with late details for us. Tonight, a violent and hate-fueled attack on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam. The mayor saying he was at the hands of anti-Semitic hit-and-run squads. I got a punch in my face, in my lip. It was organized. It happened in the hours after a game between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax as fans poured out of the train station in the center of the city, including Ido Gold. We saw a huge crowd, hundreds of people running in towards us, shouting,

Yuden, Yuden. That means Jews. The Israeli embassy in Washington says this video shows an Israeli fan being ambushed, though it's not been independently verified by NBC News. Dutch officials say people on scooters actively sought out Israelis to attack, punching and kicking them. I'm ashamed that this happened in the Netherlands, and it's a terrible anti-Semitic attack. Tensions had been building here ahead of the game. This video shows Israeli fans chanting death to Arabs. Another shows a Palestinian flag being ripped down.

There's a history of heated clashes between passionate soccer fans, but Gold told me he has no doubt what motivated this attack. It's not football, it's not sport, it's not politics, it's because I'm Jew. but Gold told me he has no doubt what motivated this attack. It's not football. It's not sport. It's not politics. It's because I'm Jew. Prosecutors say 62 were arrested. Up to 30 people were injured, according to the police chief, with five taken to the hospital. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared the violence to Kristallnacht, the night 86 years ago tomorrow when mobs attacked Jewish people in Germany.

18-year-old Tevel Karo is hiding in a safe house with other frightened Israelis. Well, all the Jews in one building, like we're in the Holocaust again. Eight years later, and it still feels the same in Europe. Some fans left on commercial planes sent by Israel. Tonight, they're grateful to be home. And Megan, there's another Israel soccer team that has a game in Europe next week. Yeah, Lester, the Israeli national team is heading to France. The Parisians say they will not be deterred by hate. That game will go on. Lester. Megan Fitzgerald, thank you.

Now to the wildfire emergencies here at home on both coasts. The mountain fire, as it's known, in California burning 20,000 acres, but there has been some progress. Dana Griffin is in Southern California. Dana, the fire is still active tonight. Lester, good evening. These sort of flare-ups behind me are what's concerning firefighters. That's why they are having these sort of choppers in the air, making drops as we speak. You see it coming down. This firefight is far from over. Tonight in Southern California, the devastation revealed. 132 homes and counting have been destroyed, dozens more damaged. Santa Ana winds dying down, but the

firefight continues. Firefighters using this small reservoir on a nearby ranch to scoop up the water and carry it to the front line. At the height of the firestorm, fear and uncertainty heard over crew radios. We're going to have numerous fatalities in here if we don't have companies engaged. Damage so vast, a state of emergency declared by California's governor. Overnight, Brandon Francis' family returning to utter devastation. I haven't heard or felt winds that intense before, so I knew something was coming. Smells like fire. This was the scene as the fire approached their Camarillo home. So that's a fire. There's three around us right now. Evacuating Wednesday with a seven-week-old baby.

What are you most grateful for? To have all of my family, just that we got out in time. The family's intimate moments, once shared in this home, now a pile of rubble. Are all of your memories gone? No, they're right here. They're right here and they're up here. You know, these are just things. It's just stuff and what we

really want to count on is family. In New Jersey, firefighters working through the night to stop growing flames that prompted new evacuation orders in Bergen County. In the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, 50 million are under red flag warnings. Back in California, crews are confident they'll knock this fire down as they brace for windy conditions next week that could stoke more flames. Dana Griffin, NBC News. Three days after the election, there is new focus tonight on the potential impact of President-elect Trump and a Republican-controlled Senate on the Supreme Court. Here's Gabe Gutierrez. Tonight, in the wake of President-elect Trump's decisive victory, there's growing scrutiny on what it means for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Republicans celebrating after Trump picked three justices during his first term. We could get to appoint another one or two, maybe, but I do watch that very closely. He also worked with Senate Republicans to confirm 234 federal judges. With voters giving control of the Senate back to the GOP, Democrats are now dreading what could be next. What most concerns you about a second Trump term? That he's going to get to appoint more Supreme Court justices and take a court that is already out of touch and make it more extreme. Some Democrats are also privately asking whether liberal justice Sonia Sotomayor, who's 70 years old and diabetic, should step down so President Biden could replace her.

Sonia Sotomayor needs to retire right now, a Democratic official working in the Biden administration told NBC News. She's shown no indication of doing so. Meanwhile, Democrats are analyzing how the Harris campaign raised a billion dollars and still lost. The party itself has increasingly become a smarty pants, suburban, college educated party. And it lends itself to the kind of backlash that we've seen. Late today, vice presidential nominee Tim Walz weighing in.

It's hard to understand while so many of our fellow citizens, people that we have fought so long and hard for, wound up choosing the other path. Now, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi telling The New York Times that it would have been better if President Biden had gotten out of the race sooner so the party could have had an open primary to choose his replacement. Lester. All right, Gabe Gutierrez, thanks. President-elect Trump has vowed to put 10 percent tariffs on most imports and a whopping 60 percent or more on goods from China. Christine Romans tonight on how U.S. companies are preparing and what it could mean for you. Shoemaker Steve Madden, known for its affordable, trendy designs, now preparing for

a new trend, President-elect Donald Trump's campaign pledge for tariffs on more than $400 billion a year worth of Chinese imports. Now the Washington Post is saying that you're talking about 60% tariffs on Chinese goods. Is that in the cards? No, I would say maybe it's going to be more than that. The trouble for Steve Madden, two-thirds of the shoes it sells in the U.S. are imported, 70% of those from China. The company's CEO now telling investors that will change.

And you should expect to see the percentage of goods that we source from China to begin to come down more rapidly going forward. Courtney Reagan is CNBC's senior retail reporter. If the U.S. puts 60 percent tariffs on goods from China, who pays for that ultimately? The consumer is ultimately going to pay for that increased price. You're going to see the prices at stores across the board go up. The National Retail Federation estimates new tariffs could cost Americans billions, raising the price of a $50 pair of sneakers as high as $64, a $40 toaster to $52, a $2,000 mattress set up to $2,190. A CNBC analysis says among the most vulnerable to tariffs could include retailers like Five Below, Wayfair, and Dollar Tree,

brands like Yeti and Crocs, and of course, the customer. Initially, that retailer or the product manufacturer will pay that price. If they don't pass it along to the consumer, they're making less in profit. So, Christine, the idea behind the tariffs is obviously to raise revenue, but also part of it is bringing more manufacturing into the country. But will it? Lester, there's a real divide among economists and executives about this. I take Steve Madden, for example, the CEO on the earnings call this week. He said he's been building up production in Vietnam, Cambodia, Brazil, Mexico as an alternative to China. The U.S. is not on his list.

All right, Christine, thanks very much. In 60 seconds, how the election of a new district attorney in Los Angeles could complicate any plan to resentence the Menendez brothers. We'll tell you more after this. There is breaking news tonight out of Seattle. Police say a man is in custody after a stabbing spree at four locations. The latest left five people injured. Four of the victims were taken to the hospital and one was treated and released. The suspect is also believed to be connected to several other recent stabbings in the city.

Also this evening, the new development of the Menendez brothers push for freedom. The current district attorney who just weeks ago recommended they be re-sentenced has been voted out of office. Liz Croyntz now on what it could mean for the case. The Menendez brothers bid for freedom, taking another twist as a new Los Angeles district attorney is set to take over for progressive D.A. George Gascogne, who has been supporting Eric and Lyle's request for resentencing. Sources close to Nathan Hockman tell NBC News he's likely to delay the key resentencing hearing set for just nine days after he takes office next month. But he's vowed to move quickly. And if I need more time, I'll ask the court for more time. But I won't engage in delay for delay's sake. The Menendez's need to know what the answer is. Renewed fascination in the brothers, who say they killed their parents

in self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father. And we are never going to. Fueled by Netflix's dramatic retelling of their story, with some celebrities and sympathetic TikTokers calling for their release. What's the other side that maybe folks aren't hearing right now? They're probably not hearing so much from the people who actually worked on the case. Those people take a much harsher view of this case than social media does, than those celebrities do. Now the original prosecutor on the case telling Dateline she's been receiving threats as she questions a new piece of evidence, a letter Eric allegedly sent his cousin stating he fears his father. I'd love to know when that letter was written.

You don't think it was written when they say it was written? No, I don't. I think people fabricate things. And Lester, sources close to the DA-elect tell us that once he reviews all the facts and evidence in the case, it is possible that he could disagree on the outgoing DA's resentencing recommendation. If that happens, it would not end the brothers' quest for freedom, but it would make it much harder. Lester. All right, Liz Kreutz, thanks. And join us for a two-hour dateline tonight for more of Keith Morrison's reporting and interview. It all starts at 9 p.m. Eastern on NBC. And coming up here tonight,

how a new test for breast cancer could save more lives. That's what you need to know in our Health Alert next. A health alert for you tonight on mammograms. For some women, the results can be difficult for medical professionals to read. But now there's a new kind of mammogram that may be able to detect breast cancer better. Anne Thompson explains. Teresa Bourdain is a mom, businesswoman, and breast cancer survivor. She says because of a mammogram designed for women with dense breasts. I think it probably saved me from, at a minimum, chemo, radiation, and certainly it could have progressed quickly.

She was part of a clinical trial to see if contrast-enhanced mammograms used to diagnose cancer by injecting dye into the patient could also be used to screen for cancer. Was it any different? No. The dye is a strange experience. Mayo Clinic radiologist Dr. Bhavika Patel led the clinical trial. And this woman is extremely dense. On a traditional mammogram, dense breast tissue shows up white, just like cancer. It would be comparable to trying to find a snowman in a snowstorm. With contrast-enhanced mammography, Patel says the picture is clear. The dye eliminates the dense breast tissue and lights up a potential tumor. This breast is this breast, same day, same time. These images are taken seconds of one another. In the trial, the contrast-enhanced mammograms found cancer in

14 patients. 14 cancers out of 460 people doesn't sound like a lot. When we talk about standard mammography, we hope to find four per thousand. We saw 14 per 460. It's about five to six-fold more than what a standard mammogram would show. More studies are needed before this test is approved as a screening tool, so it may not be covered by insurance. For now, women who want the test would have to find one of the medical centers that offer it and could have to pay out of pocket. But for Teresa Bourdonnais... Do you feel like that test saved your life?

Oh, 100%. It made all the difference. Anne Thompson, NBC News, Phoenix. A sound that hasn't been heard for more than five years, the bells of Notre Dame ringing together in Paris for the first time since the 2019 fire that devastated the historic cathedral. Notre Dame is set to reopen to the public next month. And that is nightly news for this Friday. Thank you for watching. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other.

Good night.