NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Saturday, July 20, 2024

Episode Date: July 21, 2024

Trump holds first rally since assassination attempt; New details emerge about gunman at Trump rally; Protesters call on Biden to step down as Democrats remain divided; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

This is NBC Nightly News with Jose Diaz-Balart. Good evening. Moments ago, former President Trump and Senator J.D. Vance took the stage at a campaign rally together for the first time as running mates. That by itself is a major milestone in any presidential campaign. But tonight's rally comes one week to the day, practically the hour after that failed assassination attempt on Mr. Trump. There was a massive security presence there tonight, and we are learning more about the security lapses one week ago, including that the shooter flew a drone over the rally site just hours before he carried out the shooting. While the Trump vans ticket made their campaign trail debut, President Biden remains at his Delaware Beach home battling not only COVID, but the growing chorus of Democrats calling for him to drop out of the race.

We're going to cover all of it tonight. And we begin with Von Hilliard at that Trump rally in Michigan. Tonight, Donald Trump, now the official Republican nominee in 2024, back on the campaign trail. This is a hell of an arena. Appearing at a rally for the first time with his vice presidential nominee, J.D. Vance. And for the first time since the attempted assassination in Pennsylvania. When you think of it, it was exactly one week ago today,

almost to the hour, even to the minute. The security presence outside and inside this downtown grand rapids arena evident long lines at security screening is law enforcement keep a close eye on the crowd from the ground and from above is there an explicit ramped up security presence for something like this certainly after what happened last week, Secret Service, local police certainly don't want to have any incidents going forward. It doesn't matter if they're going to try to take shots. You know, we're still going to support them no matter what. The tighter security extending to Trump's new running mate, Vance and his family now under Secret Service protection. Trump took to the stage wearing a smaller bandage. In a new letter today, Trump's former White House physician, Ronny Jackson,

writing that the bullet struck the top of his right ear and came less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head. The bullet track produced a two centimeter wide wound, approximately the width of a penny. At first, you didn't know if he was even alive. And when he stood up and he raised his fist in the air, and then there was a collective cheer. I mean, that just, you know, you were just riveted. Less than four months from now,

we are going to win Michigan. We are going to take back the White House. Monumental answer. We want an America that works for Americans. And the only way to do it is to reelect Donald J. Trump, president of the United States. Vaughn, it's Mr. Trump's first rally back. What has his tone been like? Right. We heard a much more subdued tenor from Donald Trump at his Milwaukee convention speech. Tonight, though, he is back to, you could say, his old self, his normal intonation, even serving the crowd,

on which Democrat they'd like to face in the general election. Jose? Von Hilliard in Grand Rapids, Michigan, thank you. And new details are emerging tonight about the man who tried to assassinate former President Trump at that Pennsylvania rally. Investigators now learning more about what he looked at online and what he did in the hours before that rally. Georgeators now learning more about what he looked at online and what he did in the hours

before that rally. George Solis reports. Take a look at what happened. One week since the assassination attempt of the former president at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, authorities appear to be no closer to declaring a motive. But a clear picture of the shooter and the actions of 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks is emerging. A source familiar with the investigation telling NBC News Crooks flew a drone at the rally site mere hours before Donald Trump took the stage. While common for the Secret Service to ban drones over areas they are securing, it's unclear if that happened in this case. Drone and drone equipment were found in Crooks' car, according to a senior law enforcement source. Two senior law enforcement sources tell NBC News the FBI has uncovered more than 14,000

links on the phone of the shooter, and that online searches by Crooks involved depressive disorder, explosive materials, and chemical compounds, as well as information about the 2021 Oxford High School mass shooting and convicted shooter Ethan Crumbly. The details come as actions by the Secret Service come under growing scrutiny, including how long it took to get former President Trump off the stage following the shooting. The tense moments captured in this video posted on social media. The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General opening three probes examining the Secret Service's actions. All of it as pressure mounts on Director Kimberly Cheadle to resign. A group of GOP senators confronting her this past week at the RNC.

This is exactly what we were doing today. Stonewallers! George joins me now from Butler. And George, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheadle says she has no plans to resign. Yeah, that's right, Jose. No plans to resign. And it comes as the in-battle director is expected to testify before House Oversight Committee about the agency's response and security at the rally, as those calls for her to resign only grow louder.

Jose? George Solis in Butler, Pennsylvania. Thank you. There are new calls tonight for President Biden to quit his run for another term. But this time they aren't politicians. They're voters protesting outside the White House. Ali Rafa has the story. Thank you, Joe. It's time to go. Tonight calls on President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race extending beyond Capitol Hill. We are ready to unite behind a new nominee. Biden is losing. Protesters at the White House today. when we fight, we win, urging the president to

pass the torch. As NBC News learns that Mr. Biden's allies are warning party leaders that efforts to push him out are undemocratic, all while he continues recovering from COVID at his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware home. New tonight, sources telling NBC News Bill and Hillary Clinton are privately supporting Mr. Biden's repeated vow to stay in the race. While two people familiar with former President Obama's thinking say he has concerns about his former vice president's candidacy. All of this, as sources familiar with the Biden family's conversations tell NBC News, there are ongoing discussions about what the president's exit might look like if he were to drop out. The divide among Democrats only widening as more than 30 lawmakers call on the president to step aside without agreeing on a replacement. If President Biden decides to step back, we have Vice President Kamala Harris, who is ready to step up to unite the party.

NBC's Yamiche Alcindor is traveling with the vice president tonight. Vice President Harris is balancing defending President Biden and being ready to become the top of the ticket. Today, she spoke at a campaign fundraiser here in Massachusetts. She praised Biden and told donors, quote, we are going to win this election. But behind the scenes, NBC News is learning Harris's allies are weighing how to build their own campaign if the president exits the race. Ali, the Democratic National Committee is still moving ahead with its plans to nominate the president. That's right. Delegates will formally nominate the president on a virtual roll call the first week of August. But the door would still be open if he decided to drop out after that.

Jose. Ali Rafid, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Thank you. And now to the massive fallout from that global tech outage. Airlines slowly coming back online, but that's little comfort to stranded passengers still desperate to catch flights home. Adrienne Brada says our story. Tonight, frustration mounts at airports across the globe. I'm just frustrated because I just want to get home. This after a failed software update leaked to Microsoft Windows using CrowdStrike cybersecurity software crashed computers worldwide early Friday morning.

It seems like I'm in hell. At Chicago's O'Hare, Manachi Patnaik is trying to get home to Atlanta after a long flight from India. After two cancellations yesterday, she's still waiting. God knows when I can go back home to my kids. So it's really frustrating. Most major airlines now back online after grounding flights, but the aftermath of the outage leaving passengers reeling with more than 1,700 flight cancellations and thousands of delays across the U.S. today. We're deeply sorry for

the impact that we've caused to customers, to travelers, to anyone affected by this. CrowdStrike CEO apologizing Friday on the Today Show. The company now saying, quote, the issue has been identified, isolated, and a fix has been deployed. But with some hospital systems still impacted, the ripple effect of the crisis could be felt for weeks. Outside Philadelphia, Doreen McGettigan waits to learn if her cancer remains in remission. Her scan canceled, and she's unsure when it will be rescheduled. It's scary. It's just really a scary feeling.

Honestly, I cried a couple times because I'm scared. Some passengers still trying to reach their destinations, shedding tears as they wait. We just have to cancel the trip, at least our portion. The rest of the family can go. They'll be there, but we won't be able to make it, which is heartbreaking. Adrian brought us his El Hero Airport in Chicago. Adrian, any sense of how long until things in the airport get back to normal? That's the big question, Jose. Some people standing in this line more than two hours just to rebook their canceled flight,

only to be told the earliest they could depart is Tuesday. Others giving up, canceling their trip altogether. Adrian brought us in Chicago. Thank you. Still ahead tonight, an NBC News investigation. Israel says its attacks on hospitals in Gaza are aimed at Hamas. Doctors there are telling us a different story. Plus, a terrifying caught-on-camera traffic stop after a driver fired a machine gun at police. We are back with news from overseas. Israel has launched airstrikes inside Yemen. The missiles targeting Houthi rebels hit one of Yemen's critical ports today, injuring about 80 people. Israel says it's payback after the Iran-backed group launched a drone attack in Tel Aviv yesterday that killed one person.

We have an NBC News investigation tonight into Israel's attacks on hospitals in Gaza. Israel says they are targeting Hamas, which they say is using the hospitals to hide hostages and weapons. But health care workers there tell our Hala Garani a much different story. Filmed from inside Nasser Hospital, the moment the Israeli army surrounds the medical complex in southern Gaza. A tank in the distance. The sound of automatic gunfire. The IDF says they are going after Hamas in Gaza's hospitals. But NBC News spoke to 14 doctors and two nurses for this investigation, who say the Israeli military

is going far beyond that, deliberately destroying medical facilities and decimating the health care system. Their colleagues killed, arrested. The U.N. Human Rights Office says at least 500 health care workers have been killed since October 7th, including 50 specialist doctors, according to the Ministry of Health and Relatives. Two of them dying in detention. Dr. Hassan Abusita was last in Gaza in November. The ones that I know, the colleagues and friends, have all been killed within less than half an hour of getting home. In addition to the doctors killed, at least 214 medical staff have been detained.

NBC News spoke to a nurse whose name we are withholding because he fears repercussions. His account of abuse and detention closely resembles images broadcast in an Israeli report about a detainee camp in southern Israel. So, he needs to be in a sitting position for 18 to 19 hours a day. He describes repeated violent interrogations. The Israeli military says hospitals are routinely used by Hamas. We have credible intelligence indicating that Hamas held hostages at the Nasser Hospital. In the past, posting images of what they say is proof the group has used some of these locations to store weapons, like here at Nasser.

Of the over a dozen physicians NBC interviewed, all denied seeing militants or hostages within hospital walls. Since the start of the war, out of 36 hospitals in Gaza, at least 20 have been destroyed or are out of commission. They want to destroy the civilian society of the Palestinian people. And the hospitals are the cornerstones of the safety network for the people, for any civilian population. For the sick and injured in Gaza, there will be almost nowhere left to turn.

Hala Ghorani, NBC News. And we are back in a moment with the dramatic caught on camera moment. A driver shot a machine gun at police. We are getting our first look tonight at dash cam video of a terrifying traffic stop. This is the moment police in Los Angeles stop a possible drunk driver. Then, the driver shoots at them with a machine gun.

Stop this, stop this, stop this. Get the car, get the car! The driver then races off. One officer was grazed by bullets. Both got cuts from shattered glass. The suspect was later arrested. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has died. The Texas Democrats served since 1995, focusing on issues like racial justice and human rights. Jackson Lee announced last month that she was undergoing treatment for cancer and died yesterday at the age of 74.

That's NBC Nightly News for this Saturday. Hallie Jackson will be here tomorrow night. Thank you for the privilege of your time.