NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Thursday, August 8, 2024

Episode Date: August 9, 2024

Noah Lyles wins bronze in the 200 meters, then reveals he has Covid; Harris and Trump to face each other in September debate; Bodycam video reveals more about the attempted assassination of Trump; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, the heartbreak here at the Paris Olympics. American sprinter Noah Lyles missing out on a historic gold after being diagnosed with COVID. Noah Lyles, after taking the bronze in the 200 meter, having trouble breathing, leaving the track in a wheelchair. Lyles, who is hoping to become the first American in 40 years to win double gold in the 100 and 200 meter, later revealing he'd been diagnosed with COVID two days ago. Should he have raced at all? Plus, USA men's basketball down 17 points. Then the thrilling comeback. Our full coverage from Paris tonight. Also tonight, the showdown is on. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris agreeing to a debate next month. And Mr. Trump proposing two more. Will Harris say yes? And just out new body cam video from the assassination attempt by Mr. Trump proposing two more. Will Harris say yes? And just out new body cam video from the assassination attempt by Mr. Trump. The chaos as officers tried to get to the gunman

on the roof before he could fire. The chilling new details in the thwarted terror plot to attack Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna. How police say the prime suspect planned to use knives and homemade explosives to kill as many people as possible. Debbie making a second landfall as a tropical storm, unleashing deadly tornadoes and major flooding as it moves up the east coast. And our conversation with USA cyclist Kristen Faulkner on her ride into Olympic history. This is NBC Nightly News reporting tonight from the Olympics in Paris. Here is Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome. It wasn't the way American sprinter Noah Lyles and the world had anticipated today's final in the 200 meters could go. All eyes were on Lyles

to see if he could win a second gold after winning the 100, a feat not accomplished by any American sprinter since Carl Lewis 40 years ago. Instead, Lyles won bronze and then made the stunning announcement that he was positive for COVID, raising questions about whether he should have raced at all. But the U.S. also thrilled on the track, striking gold in hurdles and long jump, and in men's basketball, coming from behind to pull out a win over Serbia and advancing to the finals against France. But let's begin with these big developments tonight on the track. Tom Yamas is here. Tell us about it. Last row is one of the most unpredictable moments of the Olympics. Noah Lyles came out to the track, jumping up and down, hyping up the crowd. But after the race, he left in a wheelchair telling the world he has COVID.

Can Noah Lyles do it? Tonight, Noah Lyles lining up for the 200-meter final, hoping to make history and become the first American man to win the 100 and 200 at the Olympics in four decades. But it wasn't to be. Lyles outrun by Botswana's Letsy Leitobogo and his own teammate Kenny Benarik. What's your message to all the Kung Fu Kenny fans out there? Stay tuned. I mean, tomorrow's going to be fire, but I mean, this job not finished. Immediately after the race, Lyles appeared winded, laying on his back and looking as

though he was having trouble breathing. Then he went to get medical attention, taken off the track in a wheelchair. Lyle's in a mask, later revealing why. I woke up early, about 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning, and I just was feeling really horrible. And I knew it was more than just being sore from the 100, you know. Woke up the doctors and we tested, and unfortunately it came up that I was positive for COVID.

Questions now swirling about whether Lyle should have been allowed to compete with COVID. USA Track and Field saying they followed all Olympic guidelines, releasing a statement saying in part, After a thorough medical evaluation, Noah chose to compete tonight. We respect his decision and will continue to monitor his condition closely. In all, Team USA won a remarkable eight medals in track and field today. How fast can she go? Going 1-2 in the 400-meter hurdles, where Sydney McLaughlin-Lavrone was fast and flawless,

winning back-to-back gold and setting a world record. Tonight, the undisputed queen of the hurdles. You were all by yourself. What did that feel like? I knew it was a fast race. I didn't know how close anyone was. The stadium's so loud. Just grateful. Just wanted to run my race. And another 1-2 finish for Team USA in the 110-meter hurdles. Grant Holloway is striking his way to goal! With Grant Holloway taking gold and Danny Roberts silver.

She has her final jump. In long jump, Tara Davis-Woodhall celebrating her gold with snow angels in the sand pit. Oh, a little too strong. Woodhull celebrating her gold with snow angels in the sand pit. Late today, the star-studded U.S. men's basketball team surviving a huge scare from Serbia, which led by double digits at halftime. But the U.S. came storming back in the fourth quarter, led by Steph Curry, who finished with 36 points. To be able to dig deep the way we did, you know, we would love to win by 20 every game, but this was extremely fun.

They'll take on France, stacked with NBA stars like Rudy Gobert and Victor Weminyama on their home court in the gold medal game on Saturday. Tom Yamas, NBC News, Paris. And on primetime in Paris tonight, Noah Lyles competes in the 200-meter, and Sidney McLaughlin-Leroney competes in the 400-meter hurdles. It all starts at 8 Eastern on NBC. We'll turn now to the showdown over presidential debates. Tonight, we've learned there will be at least one with former President Trump also asking for two more.

Garrett Haake has late details for us. Tonight, at least one debate showdown now set between former President Trump and Vice President Harris for September 10th. With Trump announcing in a news conference, he's also accepted debate invitations from two more networks and challenged Harris to commit as well. We'd like to do three debates. We think we should do three debates. Harris telling NBC's Shaquille Brewster she is committed to just one. Will you be participating in all three? I've always been on record. I am looking forward to debating Donald Trump. We have a date of September 10th. I hear he is finally committed to it. I'm looking forward to it. What about the other two? Let's make sure we get the...

Trump tonight also criticizing the vice president for not holding any news conferences or sit-down interviews in the 18 days since President Biden stepped aside. She should be doing interviews. She doesn't want to do interviews. And the reason she doesn't is, number one, her policies are so bad. A Harris aide told NBC News Harris and running mate Tim Walz would like to do a joint interview, quote, in a few weeks. While Trump was also asked about abortion rights, repeating his false claim most Americans wanted Roe v. Wade overturned when polls show the opposite. I think the abortion issue has been taken down many notches. I don't think it's a big factor anymore, really. We brought it back to the states. Everybody wanted it in the states.

Today, Harrison walls in Michigan meeting union voters, part of a five-day battleground barnstorm. You know, when you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for. A new CNBC poll shows Trump leading Harris nationally by two points within the margin of error, the same slim lead he had over President Biden. But Democratic enthusiasm has spiked. Eighty-one percent of Democrats now satisfied with Harris as their nominee, compared to 33 percent who now satisfied with Harris as their nominee, compared to 33 percent who were satisfied with Biden. To what do you attribute her rising in the polls as becoming a more competitive race since she's taken over? Well, she's a woman.

She represents certain groups of people. But I will say this. When people find out about her, I think she'll be much less. And Garrett, tonight you have some new reporting on the Trump campaign strategy. That's right, Lester. The Trump campaign is still very confident in this race. They believe that Harris's recent surge has been a sugar high fueled entirely by Democrats who had soured on President Biden coming home to Harris. They believe her record will ultimately disqualify her with the independent voters she needs to win this election.

Lester. All right, Garrett Haig, thank you. Also tonight, we're learning more about the attempted assassination of former President Trump with dramatic new body cam video showing how local law enforcement blamed the Secret Service for the security lapse. Gabe Gutierrez reports. Tonight, newly released body camera video is revealing more of the confusion and frustration right before and after former President Donald Trump was shot. I told them they need to post the guys over here. I told them that the Secret Service, I told him that Tuesday.

The footage, some of which is no audio, is from the Butler Township Police Department in Pennsylvania. It shows two officers trying to intercept the gunman on a roof seconds before he tried to assassinate the former president last month. One officer lifts the other to the roof. He sees the gunman off camera and falls back to the ground. That officer then runs to his car to grab a weapon. It's closed, bro. Dude, he turned around on me. As backup arrives, there's confusion about where the gunman is.

This building. He was on top of this building, the left one. By the time that officer returns to the roof, a sniper had already shot and killed the would-be assassin. The officer questions the apparent lack of communication. That's how I was calling out, bro, on top of the roof. We're not, we're on the same frequency. About 10 minutes after the shooting, another local officer is furious with the Secret Service. I told them they need to post the guys over here. No, we're inside, in the building. I talked to the Secret Service guys. They're like, yeah, no problem. We're going to post guys over here. Late today, the Secret Service said it was reviewing that body cam footage and updating its policies to ensure a tragedy like this

never happens again. Last week, the agency's acting director testified before Congress that he could not defend why that roof was not better secured. Lester. All right, Gabe Gutierrez, thank you. Here in Europe, new details of the alleged plot to carry out a terrorist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna and the tip from U.S. intelligence that led to the arrest of the suspects. Keir Simmons has the latest. This 19-year-old, who investigators say was ready to kill himself and large numbers of people using knives and explosives at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna this week, was arrested yesterday at his apartment 50 miles from the stadium. Police revealing they found bomb-making manuals, explosives and detonators. The 19-year-old had recently quit his job, saying he had big plans, they say,

adding he had consumed large amounts of ISIS and al-Qaeda propaganda. A 17-year-old alleged accomplice, who officials say had recently taken a job providing services for the Taylor Swift concert venue, was also arrested. And a 15-year-old is being questioned. NBC News has learned the concerts were cancelled after a tip from a U.S. intelligence agency. Taylor Swift fans consoling each other in Vienna today. I'm so glad everyone is safe. This girl came from California to celebrate her 13th birthday.

There were a lot of tears, but I'm happy that other people are feeling the same and we're having a lot of fun together. This plot appears to have been hatched in only the last weeks and months. And tonight, Austria has not raised its threat level. Lester. Keir Simmons, thank you. Tropical depression Debbie is bringing major flooding to the Carolinas and parts of Virginia as it crawls up the East Coast after making a second landfall overnight and unleashing deadly tornadoes. Marissa Parra is in the storm zone for us tonight.

After days of Debbie's deluge, widespread flooding and whipping winds in North Carolina, reported tornadoes spawned by the storm wreaking havoc overnight, destroying this middle school in Lukuma and these nearby homes. 85-year-old Rudine Hawley's granddaughters say she was inside when the tornado tore through. So where was your grandma? She was in this bed right here. She survived? Yes. Now they're trying to salvage what they can. That's like my word of the day. Everything's overwhelming. Their neighbor died after his home collapsed on top of him. Emotional part will hit us a little later, but right now we're just trying to get the job done. In North Carolina and Virginia, the threat of both tornadoes and flooding remains high. Priscilla Thompson is about 30 miles south of Fayetteville.

With nowhere to go, water is now gushing out of manholes, flooding roads and now threatening homes. Shivering in blankets, these three children described their rescue from a creek in Raleigh as floodwaters rose. It was very scary. It was just rushing on and there were a bunch of sticks and they were they were hitting us. Further south, Bladenboro, reeling from the rush of rain the town couldn't handle. It's very heartbreaking for these businesses that worked so hard and called this place home. Tomorrow, flood risks and tornado threats continue moving north from Virginia to Vermont. Remnants of Debbie should be arriving in New England by the weekend. Lester. All right, Marissa, thank you. In 60 seconds, has enough been done to bring Lahaina back after the wildfire that killed more than 100 people? We return to Maui one year later

as people struggle to find somewhere to live. Tonight marks one year since the historic wildfires on Maui that killed more than 100 people. Now, even as progress is being made, there's still so much uncertainty for those who lost everything. Steve Patterson is there. So none of this is permanent. In a way, Uhikuhue Kabanting is home, back living on the land she loves. There are some people who will say, you know, you shouldn't be there, you can't be there. And then there are other people who are like,

it's your property. Isn't that your right to be there? She evacuated and survived the Maui fire that killed 102 and destroyed 2200 structures, her home and orchard business among them. We can cook out here. In June, after nearly a year bouncing between emergency housing programs, she moved back onto the Lahaina lot where her home once stood. Water tanks. That's a lot of water. With no water, power, or sewer service,

Ui says after a year of uncertainty, being home made sense. A recent survey found close to 60% of fire survivors have moved at least three times. Ui is one of the very few back on her own land. Many blame local and state government for slow solutions. Because it was a disaster, we felt like it might go quicker than normal. We had great hopes. Maude Cumming feels the frustration. Just days after the fire, the nonprofit she runs broke ground on a modular housing project for victims.

She says red tape has held up the completion of the Ohana Hope Village, built to house 300. Of the 88 units, just 10 are occupied. People are still not settled, so the need is real. Year one was survival. Year two is rebuilding. Hawaii Governor Josh Green. Do you agree that red tape is a problem in sort of making significant progress and getting people back in their homes? Of course the red tape feels terrible. All I can say is we're doing our best. Last week, Green announced a $4 billion settlement for fire victims. Pending court approval, payments would begin next year.

I'm very, very optimistic that now that we have the settlement and that we're seeing houses go up, people will get there three times faster. His hope is that cash will also help families buy vacation rentals as permanent homes. I would encourage people, if they own a short-term rental on Maui, to please sell it to a local person. But we need those houses for our people. Survivors trying to rebuild the community on land fought lost. We want to see our neighbors return and their kids continue to grow up in this neighborhood.

Steve Patterson, NBC News, Maui. Coming up, how Team USA's Kristen Faulkner found her passion after a whole different career and rode it to double gold. Our conversation is next. Welcome back. I've made my way to the Louvre, an icon of Paris, where Team USA's Kristen Faulkner spent past on her way to a gold medal. Today, I spoke with Faulkner about her remarkable run here, winning not one, but two golds. At an age when many Olympic athletes are considering retirement, Kristen Faulkner instead found her passion. There seems to be a moral to this story for other people that it's never too late to pursue your dreams. Am I making this up or is it? Yeah, definitely. I mean, I was in my 20s when I discovered cycling and I was in my late 20s when I became a professional cyclist and I'm in my 30s at the Olympics. And so I definitely think if you are passionate about something and you're willing

to work hard and take feedback and learn quickly, then it's never too late to start anything. We introduced you to the Homer, Alaska native a few days ago. She first tried cycling as a hobby when she was living in New York City, working in finance. Is this how you saw the movie playing out? You with two gold medals at the end? Absolutely not. I mean, it was something I dreamed about, but I never anticipated two medals and two golds. He is about to author the upset of a lifetime.

Her first gold came in Sunday's road race, which Faulkner actually didn't qualify for. A teammate gave up her spot so she could race. The gap is exploding. But with two miles to go, Faulkner made a move and never looked back. She is the genuine article. What was going through your mind? You know, honestly, I knew I wanted to attack there from the moment I saw the course, actually. And knew I wanted to attack there from the moment I saw the course, actually. And I saw the course several months before the road race. I knew that if I got to a group of five and we were close to the end, I wanted to attack there. Then on Wednesday, she struck gold again, this time in the team pursuit. I was going to ask you if you keep

looking down to make sure those are there and that they're still gold. I feel them because they're quite heavy. So I do feel them. My niece and nephew, they said, what do the silver and bronze look like? We haven't seen one of those yet. What's the word on the street in Homer, Alaska right now? I hear they want to have a parade for me, which I'm quite excited about. But I'm going home in the winter. So I don't know how they're going to do a bike parade in the middle of Alaska,

you know, in the middle of winter when there's two feet of snow on the ground. But we'll make it work. That is nightly news for this Thursday. Thank you for watching everyone. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night from Paris.