NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Friday, October 25, 2024

Episode Date: October 26, 2024

Harris looks for boost from Beyoncé at Houston campaign event; Trump focuses on migrant crime at campaign event in Texas; Trump, Vance and Harris-Walz campaign targeted by Chinese hacking effort, sources say; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Breaking news tonight, Israel launching strikes on Iran as we come on the air. Explosions reported near Iran's capital of Tehran, as Israel confirms it is conducting what it calls, quote, precise strikes on military targets in retaliation for what it says are months of relentless attacks, our live report from the region. Also tonight, the showdown in Texas with 11 days to go. Vice President Kamala Harris appearing with Beyonce at a rally in Houston focused on reproductive health. Former President Donald Trump sitting down for Joe Rogan's podcast and attacking Harris on border security after he called the U.S. the, quote, garbage can for the world. And Mr. Trump and running mate J.D. Vance's cell phone

said to be targeted by Chinese hackers. The Harris-Waltz campaign targeted, too. What we're learning, the deadly E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald's spreading to more states, dozens of new cases, and more people hospitalized. Six weeks after his frightening concussion on the field, the Miami Dolphins quarterback cleared to play despite calls to retire for his own safety.

This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome. We come on the air in the West this evening with breaking news out of the Middle East. Israel confirming military strikes on targets in Iran, calling it a response, quote, to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran. Multiple explosions in Iran tonight, according to state TV. A response has long been expected from Israel after that missile attack by Iran earlier this month. It comes days after an American intelligence leak anticipating Israeli plans for strikes. We have team coverage tonight. We start with Raf Sanchez in Tel Aviv.

Raf, first of all, good evening. You've got some new reporting on the targets being struck tonight. Lester, good evening. Israel says it is carrying out precise strikes against military targets inside Iran. I just got off the phone with an Israeli official. They say Israel is not targeting Iranian nuclear facilities nor oil fields. Now, that is significant because there had been deep concern inside the Biden administration that an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, the most sensitive sites in the country, could trigger an all outout regional war, while an attack on oil fields could send oil prices spiraling, which could cause chaos all across the global

economy. Now, we don't know exactly what it is that Israel was targeting. Iranian state media is reporting that there were explosions across the greater Tehran area. This Israeli official says that they were striking elements of Iranian infrastructure that could have threatened Israel in the past or could threaten it in the future. And as you said, this is the long-awaited retaliation to Iran's October 1st ballistic missile attack when some 180 missiles were fired from Iran towards Israel. They took just 11 minutes to get here. Several of them struck Israeli air bases across this country. The Israeli government made very clear in public and in private that it intended to retaliate for that attack. Tonight, that retaliation is underway. The question for weeks

now had been when, how, and at what scale would Israel respond? We are likely to get some of those answers in the coming hours as the dust clears, but there will be new questions, especially how will Iran respond? We know that Israeli and U.S. forces are on high alert across the region this evening. But at this point, Lester, Israel has given no new instructions to Israeli civilians. All right. Raf Sanchez in Tel Aviv. Thank you. President Biden, we've been told, is monitoring the situation from his home in Wilmington. We want to go to senior national security correspondent Courtney Kuby at the Pentagon. The National Security Council putting out a statement tonight saying the U.S. is aware

of the strike. But what, if any, involvement did the U.S. have, Courtney? So the U.S. had no military involvement in these strikes tonight, Lester, but the U.S. did get a heads up from the Israelis that this retaliation was coming. Now, even though the U.S. wasn't involved in this in the strikes tonight, there has been a lobbying campaign ever since that October 1st attack by Iran, Iran lobbying nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel. Since that time, U.S. officials have been urging the Israelis to make any retaliation or response proportional. That appears to be what we're seeing so far tonight, Lester, with what we just heard from Raf about the Israelis targeting military sites as opposed to

energy or nuclear facilities. Now, the kinds of things that the U.S. would be urging them to do are to hit targets that may be military in nature that they could have—the Iranians could use to attack the Israelis, launchers for those ballistic missiles, warehouses for some of and stockpiles for some of their missiles and even their drones, Lester. This comes a week after a serious U.S. intelligence leak, essentially assessing what Israel's response might be. How is that sizing up tonight? Yes. So why that that leak was so important and really so enlightening is because it showed not just what Israel could use to try to target Iran, to go after Iran with this retaliation, but also how Israel was preparing to defend against a possible Iranian response.

And that even factored in the possibility that this could go back and forth with a number of responses here. Now, we don't yet know exactly what Israel used here in these strikes, but it does appear at this point that with these military targets that they've gone after, there is a hope that the proportional nature of this, that we may not see the need for Israel to defend against a possible Iranian response. If they have to, though, the U.S. has also flooded in additional military capability into the region. Namely, the most critical of those is the THAAD system. It has the ability to see hundreds of miles out against a possible Iranian response. It will help the Israelis see with much more fidelity and time if Iran's going to respond to this, Lester. All right, Courtney, thank you. Joining me now is retired Colonel Jack Jacobs, NBC News military analyst. And Jack, Israel and Iran have exchanged fire before, but this appears to be an escalation tonight. Have they crossed a critical line yet? Probably not. There was probably a big discussion inside Israel about whether to attack these kinds of facilities, military

facilities or oil and transshipment locations, which would be probably much more devastating. And that's one of the reasons why it took so long for Israel to retaliate. The next thing to happen is whether or not Iran will retaliate. And if they want to dial it down, the likelihood is that they'll have proxies like Houthis, Hezbollah and even Hamas, what's left of it to attack Israel. If they want to escalate, Iran wants to escalate, they will attack themselves, Lester. All right. Colonel Jack Jacobs, I always appreciate your insight. Thank you. Now to the 2024 campaign, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump taking a detour from the battlegrounds and instead both in the Lone Star State. Harris making her case with a focus

on reproductive rights and with some help from Beyonce. Peter Alexander is there. Peter, already a huge crowd turning out. Lester, this line winds around for blocks. Thousands gathering here to see Vice President Harris alongside pop superstar Beyonce here in her hometown. The campaign looking to get some high wattage help in the home stretch. Vice President Harris tonight. Multiple sources tell NBC News getting a boost from Beyonce, whose song Freedom has become the campaign's anthem. Less than two weeks till Election Day, Harris is making this unusual stop in reliably red Texas to highlight what her campaign calls ground zero of the nation's extreme abortion bans.

Texas law makes no exceptions for rape or incest. Harris blames former President Trump, who's taken credit for the repeal of Roe v. Wade. Real harm has occurred in our country. A real suffering has occurred. People have died. Tonight, she'll share the stage with women who have suffered the consequences of new restrictive state laws, including Lauren Miller of Dallas, who learned at 12 weeks one of the twins she was carrying had a rare chromosomal condition, making its survival highly unlikely. She was hospitalized twice, but because Texas doctors would not perform an abortion, she had to travel to Colorado to get care. I'm not sounding the alarm bell about a hypothetical

made-up scenario. This was my real life. My health was on the line and my son's life was on the line. It comes 24 hours after a big rally in Battleground, Georgia, headlined by Bruce Springsteen. Actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry appealing to black voters to show up for Harris. And what I realize is that in this Donald Trump America, there is no dream that looks like me. Former President Obama again making a plea to men who polls show heavily favor Trump.

Some men who seem to think Trump's behavior is a sign of strength, that macho, you know, I'm going to own these folks. I'm going to put them down. I am here to tell you, that is not what real strength is. It never has been. Harris honing in on her closing message. It's either Donald Trump in there stewing, stewing over his enemies list or me working for you, checking off my to-do list. She'll be back in the battleground of Michigan tomorrow with Michelle Obama in this dead heat race. Peter Alexander, NBC News, Houston. Also in Texas, former President Trump going after Vice President Harris over border security. He's also focusing on the votes of Gen Z, especially young men, including his new interview with Joe Rogan. Here's Garrett Haig.

Tonight, former President Trump in Texas, flanked by Border Patrol agents and victims of crimes police say were committed by undocumented immigrants. Going after Vice President Harris over her expected rally here with Beyonce. Today, Kamala is here in Texas to rub shoulders with woke celebrities. Isn't that exciting? But she's not going to meet with any of the victims of migrant crime. Overnight, Trump amping up his attacks on the administration's border policies, arguing they turned America into a, quote, garbage can. When Kamala came in, she deliberately

dismantled our border and threw open the gates. We're a dumping ground. We're like a garbage can for the world. Harris firing back. You know, it's just another example of how he really belittles our country. While Trump today denying the claim by his former chief of staff, John Kelly, that he fits the definition of a fascist. It was phony stories by a general that got fired. When you fire people for doing a bad job, they get a little bit angry. And slamming Harris for repeating them.

She did call me a fascist, and everyone knows that's not true. They call me everything until, you know, something sticks. Trump also using his visit to Austin to record an interview with popular podcaster Joe Rogan, whose audience includes many of the politically disengaged young men the former president's campaign hopes to turn into Trump voters. And while Harris has the advantage with young voters overall, a new NBC News Gen Z poll shows among young men, Trump is only down by two points within the margin of error. I don't trust Kamala to run this country. We spoke to new Trump supporters at Arizona State. I like his policy

on closed borders and I don't like illegal immigration. He talks like I talk with my friends. Aiden Garth is a regular Joe Rogan listener and voted early for Trump. If people sit down and actually watch the full long-term interview, I think they'll see more kind of who Trump is, kind of not the evil guy that ever makes him out to be. Meanwhile, Trump is facing an allegation of groping from former model Stacey Williams, who says it happened more than 30 years ago in Trump Tower when Jeffrey Epstein brought her to see Trump. Just as soon as Donald saw us, his arms were around me and he

pulled me into him. And then the groping started and I just froze. Williams is a Democrat who first told her story publicly this week on a Zoom call, Survivors for Kamala. NBC News spoke to seven people who said Williams had told them about it between 2006 and 2022. The Trump campaign notes the accusation came two weeks before the election and says it is, quote, unequivocally false. And Garrett, it's notable that both Trump and Harris are spending time in a state that is not a presidential battleground. That's true, Lester, but it does have a competitive Senate race. Republican Ted Cruz appearing here with Donald Trump today. His Democratic challenger

Colin Allred expected to share the stage tonight with Vice President Harris in Houston. Lester. All right, Garrett Haig, thank you. And just developing this evening, both presidential campaigns apparently targeted as part of a Chinese hacking operation. Tom Witter is following this. Tom, what more do we know? Well, Lester, federal agencies are investigating the targeting of the phones of former President Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, as part of a broad hacking effort of telecommunication systems by the Chinese government. The same hackers also targeted people affiliated with the Harris Walls campaign. All of this, according to multiple people briefed on China's efforts. They say it's not clear tonight if China was successful in their attempts and the U.S. government said it is working, quote, aggressively to stop the threat.

All right, Tom Witter, thanks. In 60 seconds, the controversial return of Dolphins quarterback Tua Tungvaloa after suffering a third concussion. His defiant answer to those who think he should retire. Next. The star quarterback for the Miami Dolphins has been cleared to play again six weeks after he suffered a concussion on the field that had some pleading for him to retire for his own safety. Here's Jesse Kirsch. For the first time since his third confirmed NFL concussion, tonight Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tunga-Vailoa is preparing to suit up and play on Sunday.

Tua met with a litany, a laundry list, a long list of medical experts, and zero of them recommended that he shouldn't play football. The latest in a series of scary hits for Tunga-Vailoa prompted some to call for the 26-year-old's retirement. But earlier this week, Tunga-Vailoa told reporters he did not consider those pleas. I appreciate your concern. I really do. I love this game, and I love it to the death of me. The football star also says he will not wear a guardian cap,

the helmet cover allowed by the NFL and meant to provide extra protection. Personal choice. The NFL's top doctor says Tungavailoa would gain minimal benefit because he wears a specific type of newer, more protective helmet. We don't have guidelines that are rigidly structured around numbers of concussions and participation in sport. You recognize you have to individualize these treatment recommendations just like we do in other areas of medicine. But Harvard researcher Dr. Dan Danishvar says research does point to potential future consequences.

If you've had a concussion, you're higher risk of a future concussion. That doctor also helped publish new research this week saying that when people shake their heads after a hit to the head, they may be showing a sign of concussion. The NFL's top doctor tells me the league will review its own data to see if it can replicate results. Lester. All right, Jesse Kirsch, thank you. Up next, more cases in more states. The spread of that deadly E. coli outbreak tied to McDonald's quarter pounders expands. Now to that deadly E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald's. The CDC reporting dozens of new cases today as the outbreak spreads to more states. Maggie Vespa

has been following this for us. Maggie, let's start with the latest numbers. Yeah, so Lester, the CDC says 75 McDonald's customers report contracting E. coli. 22 of them were hospitalized, two developing a severe kidney infection and one person dying. The FDA investigating raw onions served on the quarter pounder as a potential source and McDonald's onion supplier, Taylor Farms, saying its food is safe, but they have issued a preemptive recall, adding, quote, our priority remains the health and safety of our customers. Now, McDonald's pulling the Quarter Pounder and Raw Onions from roughly 900 locations, saying they've stopped sourcing from the affected Taylor Farms facility indefinitely. Meanwhile, Lester, the CDC predicts case numbers will keep rising. All right, Maggie Vesper with our update tonight. Thank you. And that is nightly news for

this Friday. Thank you for watching. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other.