NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Friday, September 13, 2024

Episode Date: September 14, 2024

Boeing factory workers strike after rejecting contract; More than 100,000 acres scorched as wildfires rip through California; Trump doubles down on not participating in another debate; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, another major blow for aviation giant Boeing. More than 30,000 workers walking off the job. The first strike of its kind in 16 years at Boeing, halting production of some of the company's best-selling planes. The latest setback for Boeing after a series of safety scares. What the workers are demanding and how it could impact you if you're flying. Also tonight, the race to stop raging wildfires in the West, snowmaking machines used to save a ski resort, and after a daring rescue, the hero firefighter speaking

out to us. The race for the White House, Donald Trump speaking to reporters today vowing large deportations if he's reelected, beginning in the Ohio town at the center of baseless claims he's pushed about Haitian immigrants. Our Richard Engel on the ground in war-torn Gaza. The new images revealing the scope of the destruction. Justin Timberlake pleaded guilty to a lesser charge after his DWI arrest. The pop star's warning outside court about drinking and driving. And the mini-masterpieces so small, well,

they can only be viewed by microscope. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome. Aerospace giant Boeing, already experiencing one of the most turbulent periods in its history, is tonight facing a potentially crippling strike. More than 30,000 workers in the Pacific Northwest walked off the job overnight, a move expected to sideline production of several aircraft models at a time the company is struggling to recover from high profile accidents, lawsuits and investigations. While there is no immediate impact on consumers, a prolonged strike could disrupt new aircraft deliveries to airlines and ultimately affect flight schedules at a time of growing travel demand. The machinist union demanding more money and benefits hitting the

streets after soundly rejecting the company's offer. NBC News senior correspondent Tom Costello is on the story. For an iconic American company, after a late-night vote tally, 2024 went from bad to worse. More than 33,000 workers walking off the job. Assembly line production in the Northwest expected to slow to a standstill. The 737, the 767, and 777 all affected, with nearly 95% of union members voting to reject Boeing's latest offer. They haven't been increasing the wages since 2016, and the cost of living here has skyrocketed. It's just the latest body blow to America's aviation giant.

Boeing's stock down 35% this year. January's door plug blowout and federal investigations found a breakdown in Boeing's quality control. Top execs, including CEO Dave Calhoun, out. In July, the company pleaded guilty to a federal charge tied to two fatal max crashes overseas. Boeing's offer a 25 percent pay hike over four years but without yearly bonuses. In 2014 workers lost their pensions. Now the union wants a 40% pay hike. This strike is the first one in 16 years at Boeing and it couldn't come at a worse time. After agreeing to his own 39 million dollar pay package,

new CEO Kelly Ortberg urged union members to take Boeing's offer, but the union said no. This is about respect. This is about addressing the past, and this is about fighting for our future. The strike comes as Boeing's space is also losing money. NASA did not trust Boeing's Starliner spacecraft to bring two astronauts home from the space station, so Starliner left the station without them last week. Astronauts Sonny Williams and Butch Wilmore will come home next February on a SpaceX ship. Today, they talked about it from space. Let down? Absolutely not. Never entered my mind. 90% of our training is preparing for the unexpected. And sometimes the actual unexpected goes beyond what you even think that could happen. Well, Tom, first of all, good to hear from those astronauts. But let me take you

back to the strike for a moment. The airlines have been saying for a while they need more planes to keep up with their schedule. So how will this impact the flying public? Well, if airlines don't get the planes they order, they can't fly the schedules they promised. By the way, the 787 made in South Carolina, not affected by the strike. Boeing says it is anxious to return to the negotiating table. Lester. All right, Tom Costello starting us off. Thanks. We'll turn to the wildfire emergency in the West now. Firefighters battling three massive blazes and we're learning new details about a firefighter whose rescue effort left us in awe. Dana Griffin is in the fire zone. A change in weather revealing a new landscape.

More than 100,000 Southern California acres scorched. Hi, guys. Hello, hello. Hey. Evacuees are returning home. So glad. I mean, glad for everyone up top and down here, the whole community. Some finding nothing left.

Right here was our workshop and shed just to see my neighbor's houses and what good people they are. This is now an air attack. Helicopters scooping up water, taking it deep into the wilderness where the fires are mostly burning. Earlier this week, as flames closed in on the Mountain High Ski Resort, snowmakers went full blast, saving most of the resort. And we now know the hero behind this heart-stopping moment, a barefoot woman rescued just in time by Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mike Martinez. What did she say to you when you finally scooped her up? She, like I said, she was in a lot of pain, screaming and yelling,

just wanted help. He drove her to an ambulance. There have luckily been no deaths associated with these fires and you likely prevented one yourself. How does that sit with you? Well, hearing it that way, I mean, it feels pretty darn good that I was able to help somebody. But like I said before, I mean, this is our job. This is what we do. And I wouldn't change my job for the world. And here, a firefighter picking up an American flag, dusting it off and putting it back in its place. As the firefight continues, moments of humanity and hope. Dana Griffin, NBC News. We turn out of the race for the White House, former President Trump taking questions from reporters today, saying again there will be no more debates as he comes under scrutiny for ties to a far right conspiracy theorist and what he just said about her late tonight. Let's get more from Garrett Haik.

Tonight, former President Trump doubling down to reporters on his vow he won't participate in a third debate, despite his earlier commitment to do three. Ninety four percent of the Republicans said I did phenomenally in the debate. We pressed him late today. And after one debate, you say you're done. No, no, not one debate. One debate with Kamala Harris. Excuse me. I ran against Crooked Joe Biden.

I had a debate. They say I won by 19 or 21 points or something. But you ran against Kamala Harris now. I ran against. Then all of a sudden they put her in. We had a debate. I obviously did very well. And Trump was asked about

far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who traveled on his plane to the debate. Her racist posts about Harris and questioning of 9-11 as an inside job, leading other Republican allies to urge him to disavow her. I have concerns about her rhetoric and her hateful tone.

That doesn't represent MAGA as a whole. She's been a supporter of mine. She speaks very positively of the campaign. Laura has to say what she wants. She's a she's a free spirit. Harris last night attacking Trump's debate performance. It was the same old show. Same old tired playbook we've heard for years. It's time to turn the page. While Trump in Harris's home state, going after her record on immigration. A president has a duty to keep you safe. Kamala will turn America into a poor, violent third world refugee camp. We have a border that's the worst of any border ever in the world.

And vowing deportations from the Ohio town where he falsely claimed Haitian migrants were abusing animals. We will do large deportations from Springfield, Ohio, large deportations. But Springfield officials say those Haitian immigrants are there legally under temporary protected status. And late today, Mr. Trump posting he disagrees with Loomer's comments. Lester. All right, Garrett Haig, thank you. Now to the war in the Middle East and our rare access today inside Gaza with the Israeli military and the images our team captured revealing the scope of the devastation. Our Richard Engel is there. The Israeli military today took a small group of reporters for a rare visit inside the Gaza Strip. Gaza is otherwise closed to foreign journalists.

Everywhere you look, there is just nothing left standing. The military wanted to show us how Israel's punishing war has broken the back of Hamas in the city of Rafah. NBC News agreed to blur the faces of troops for what the Israeli military says are operational security reasons. The tour was led by the military's chief spokesman, Admiral Hagari. The Rafah brigade is not functional military-wise. The scale of the devastation was beyond anything I've seen in more than two decades covering war zones. Israel says that it defeated Hamas in this area, destroyed their military infrastructure. But this is the price of victory. While some Hamas fighters may still be around, you don't see them.

You don't see anyone. You look around here. I don't know how people can possibly live here again. Utter devastation. There's going to be rage and anger from the Palestinian population for decades to come after this. So what do you do next? War, and this war specifically, is a tragedy for Israelis for sure. And it's mostly tragic for the hostages, 101 hostages that are still being held in this kind of conditions by Hamas. But they're not the only one hostage.

It's also the Palestinians here that are hostages. We will not allow another 7th of October. For now, the troops search through the rubble, hunting for tunnels. This is the tunnel where Israeli forces found the bodies of six hostages, including American Hirsch Goldberg Poland. It's about 65 feet to the bottom. Some of the tunnels in this area are twice as deep. The conditions were appalling. Dark, humid, of course, the fear.

And they'd been there, Israeli forces say, for weeks before they were executed. Admiral Hagari today lit a candle for each of those hostages. As Israel pushes ahead with operations in Rafah, now a wasteland. Richard Engel, NBC News, Rafah, the Gaza Strip. Some compelling images. Now to the growing financial burden for millions. Americans owe some $220 billion in medical debt. And as Christine Romans reports, for some, there's no way out. Look at that lady. These medical bills have followed Terry Belk since 2003, when his wife Sandra was diagnosed with breast cancer. We had private health insurance and we thought we had good insurance. But anyway, that was $23,000. Outside of what the insurance

covered. Right. Terry has been telling his story for years, talking to our Charlotte, North Carolina affiliate in 2022. It's a lot of money to me. We wanted to hear how to this day the debt continues to haunt him. You weren't running away from these bills. No, I wasn't running away. I was trying to actually pay them. About 14 million Americans owe at least $1,000 in medical debt. The top three states, South Dakota, Mississippi, and Belk's home state of North Carolina.

As his wife battled cancer, he stopped working as a car salesman to care for her. Then the calls started to come, even before her death. We regret to contact you during this difficult time. They was threatening lawsuits and judgments and running our credit. He signed a deed of trust, a type of lien with the health system, allowing them to collect $23,000 when he sells his home. So this medical debt follows you around? allowing them to collect $23,000 when he sells his home. So this medical debt follows you around?

It follows you around. Literally. It's like an albatross around my neck. We asked Atrium Health about Terry's case. A spokesman told us Atrium stopped filing liens to collect unpaid debts owed by patients in 2022 and has used litigation against patients, quote, as a last resort. Belk signed the deed of trust voluntarily, the spokesman said, quote, and presumably on the advice of his attorney. Bernita Haynes is a senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center. The average medical debt is not necessarily tens of thousands of dollars. It can literally just be

a thousand dollars that a person owes that they simply can't pay. And it is the biggest cause of personal bankruptcy. Tactics to collect the debt can range from garnishing wages, putting a lien on someone's house like Terry, or even a civil arrest warrant. In June, Vice President Kamala Harris and the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a proposal to remove medical debt from people's credit reports, which, according to the White House, would help lead to the approval of 22,000 more mortgages a year. Credit reports are extremely important when folks are trying to obtain a loan for a home or an auto loan, things like that. As president, Donald Trump cracked down on surprise out-of-network bills that can lead to so much medical debt. Some states are passing their own laws to protect citizens against interest in late fees,

liens on their homes, or abusive collection tactics. And North Carolina's governor negotiated with hospitals to eliminate $4 billion in debt for Medicaid beneficiaries going back to 2014. But Terry Belk says his debt is too old to qualify for the recent relief. All of this is a physical and mental strain on me. And there's more. Terry owes $8,000 for his own prostate cancer treatment. I'm sure I'm going to take this debt into the afterlife. For Terry and millions of Americans, health care turned into a financial crisis. Christine Romans, NBC News, Charlotte, North Carolina. We're back in a moment with Justin Timberlake's new guilty plea and his warning to others.

We have an update tonight on singer Justin Timberlake after he pleaded guilty in connection to his DWI case today. Chloe Malas now with his warning tonight. I try to hold myself to a very high standard. Justin Timberlake had a message after striking a plea deal in his DWI case. Even if you've had one drink, don't get behind the wheel of a car. The pop star was pulled over in June after police said he failed to stop at a stop sign in Long Island's affluent Sag Harbor. Arrested after failing a field sobriety test, the arresting officer wrote that the Grammy winner's eyes were bloodshot and glassy and was unsteady afoot. The singer has maintained he only had one drink.

As part of Timberlake's deal with prosecutors, he pled guilty to a non-criminal traffic violation, not driving while intoxicated or DWI, but DWAI, driving while ability impaired. His license will be suspended for 90 days. He'll pay a $500 fine and do 25 to 40 hours of community service. I wouldn't say Justin Timberlake's getting the celebrity treatment, but he's getting a good deal. It is not a crime. It is a violation. And yes, it is in the same category as a speeding ticket. This is a mistake that I made, but I'm hoping that whoever's watching and listening right now can learn from this mistake. Chloe Malas, NBC News, New York. When we come back, there's good news tonight.

The tiny sculptures inspiring some big dreams. Finally, there's good news tonight about an artist who uses his big talent to create microscopic masterpieces. Here's Josh Letterman. Just because you can't see something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Barely visible to the naked eye, these are the smallest sculptures on earth, made by artist Willard Wiggin, who can see a whole world in the eye of a needle. I can sculpt the size of a human blood cell, so that's pretty small. His tools are so tiny, he paints with an acupuncture needle with an eyelash glued to the end. The work's so delicate

he has to slow his breathing, working in between the heartbeats. As soon as my heart stops, that's when I move. Do you enjoy the process of making one of these? No. When you're working through that microscope, things keep going wrong. If this is so frustrating to do, why

do you keep doing it? I do it because I can, and I do it because I can. And I do it because the joy that it gives people. Brilliant. The joy comes here when Willard gets to see the look on people's faces as they see what's in the microscope. You would spend ages looking at it because it's so incredible and it's just so amazing. It's a lesson in perseverance Willard learned as a child

with undiagnosed autism. One of the teachers used to take me around the school and tell all the kids that I was a consequence of failure, so I stopped speaking. My hands became my voice. Today, Willard is on a mission to show what people with autism can do. What would be your message to kids growing up with autism feeling different? Never allow anybody to tell you you cannot become what you are going to become. In other words, dream big and never let anyone make you feel small.

Josh Letterman, NBC News. What patience he has. That's nightly news. Thank you for watching. I'm Lester Hull. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night.