NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Episode Date: September 10, 2024

Harris, Trump face off in crucial presidential debate; Trump tells NBC News the biggest challenge in debating Harris; Ohio community becomes flashpoint in immigration debate; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, two major stories as we come on the air. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump set to face off in their high-stakes debate, and Tropical Storm Francine on a collision course with the U.S. First tonight, Francine expected to strengthen to a hurricane this evening as it closes in on the Gulf Coast, bringing life-threatening storm surge and up to a foot of rain. Al Roker is standing by. Also tonight, the highly anticipated

clash between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Their first and potentially only debate before the election with the race in a dead heat. Both candidates expected to go on the attack. And what Mr. Trump told us his biggest challenge will be tonight, our full team coverage. The scary moment on the tarmac in Atlanta, two Delta planes colliding, the tail of one aircraft knocked off. We just hit something on the taxiway. Could you tell us what it was? What the airline says happened. The raging wildfires in the West forcing new evacuations. The deadly Israeli airstrike on the humanitarian zone in Gaza, a new video inside the tunnel where six hostages, including an American, were reportedly killed,

and the historic launch the all-civilian SpaceX crew set to travel farther away from Earth than any human in more than 50 years. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome. There is breaking news tonight on several fronts, including the first presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, now just a few hours away, with the potential to nudge the needle in an incredibly tight race. But more urgently tonight, we are also tracking Tropical Storm Francine, feeding off of warm Gulf waters and expected to spin into a powerful hurricane as it takes aim at the Louisiana coast, with New Orleans currently in its potential path and now under a hurricane watch.

Tonight, hurricane, flood and storm surge alerts are posted along the coast, where all day people have been preparing their lines of defense. Francine packing winds up to 65 miles per hour and forecasted to produce flooding rainfalls. The storm will likely make landfall about this time tomorrow. We'll get to the debate, but first, Al Roker is here. And Al, what's the latest on Francine's track? Well, right now, Lester, we're looking at this thing moving relatively slowly, currently northeast at 10 miles per hour. It's 360 miles southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana, with 65 mile per hour winds.

We'll probably make landfall sometime, as you mentioned, right around this time tomorrow evening. Hurricane warnings up for much of the Louisiana coast. New Orleans in a hurricane watch. We look for this system. Don't worry about the category. It's the impacts. We could see wind gusts of up to 95 miles per hour, widespread outages and damage to homes. Plus, we've got that storm surge ahead of those winds, five to 10 feet from central Louisiana all the way to the parts of the Louisiana Mississippi coast. We're looking at a moderate risk of strong flooding because they've already had recent rainfall. So all this heavy rain could make more flooding even more likely when we're looking at up to 12 inches of rain. Lester. All right, Al Roker, thanks very

much. For more, let's go to Jesse Kirsch, who is in New Orleans. And Jesse, how are they bracing for Francine there? Lester, we're talking about the possibility of three to five feet of storm surge, flooding and even tornadoes here as we wait for Francine's landfall. With the storm's latest forecast, Francine's path would have New Orleans on the right. That is typically the side of a hurricane that sees the most devastation from rain and wind. In anticipation of landfall today, there were cars lined up around the block outside of this city sandbagging site. And the city is urging residents to finish preparations this evening and to shelter indoors during the storm, which formed closer to Louisiana than others. That means less time to prepare.

Lester. All right, Jesse Kirsch, thank you. Just moments ago, the scene in Philadelphia as former President Trump's plane arrived for tonight's high-stakes debate against Vice President Harris. It's a critical showdown with polls showing the race is a dead heat. Peter Alexander has late details for us. Tonight, our first look inside the debate hall, just hours before the historic face-off between Vice President Harris and former President Trump here in Philadelphia. A crucial night for both candidates in front of what's likely their largest audience ahead of the election. For Harris, a chance to showcase what her campaign

calls one of her greatest strengths, her experience as a prosecutor who can take on Trump. I know Donald Trump's type. In fact, I've been dealing with people like him my entire career. Sources tell NBC News she's been holding mock debate sessions looking for ways to get under Trump's skin to provoke an outburst. There's no floor for him in terms of how low he will go. And we should be prepared for that. We should be prepared for the fact that he is not burdened by telling the truth. And a new poll shows the importance of this moment for Harris. While more than 70 percent of likely voters say they know enough about the VP, nearly 30% say they need to know more information about her. I spoke to the vice president. She seemed calm, cool, and collected. For former President Trump, tonight's a key opportunity to press Harris,

who's rarely appeared in unscripted settings since becoming the nominee. Sources tell NBC News after a series of loose prep sessions, he did more intense preparation over the last three days. Expect him to target a record on issues where polls show Americans trust him more, including the economy. We delivered an economic miracle, which Kamala and Joe turned into an economic disaster. And the challenge changes in her positions, including on immigration. Flip-flopping. She's the greatest flip-flopper. I mean, now she's saying, oh, we want to build a strong border. Where has she been for three and a half years?

And Peter, so much to watch for tonight, but we already know how some things will play out. Yeah, Lester, that's right. We're here in the spin room. Donald Trump already won the coin toss. He has chosen to deliver the last closing argument tonight. As you know, the mics are going to be muted for a candidate when it's not their turn to speak. And we'll be watching if there was a handshake between Trump and Harris tonight. Just to underscore the stakes here, 30 percent of registered voters in a new poll say that they will make a decision off of this event. Back to you. All right, Peter, thank you. And Garrett Haake is also in Philadelphia. Garrett, you spoke with the former president today.

That's right, Lester. Former President Trump seemed eager to get onto the debate stage tonight. He told me the hardest part of preparing to debate Vice President Harris has been adjusting to her recent changes in policy positions. But he argues that those changes will make her not believable to voters. And the strategy for the Trump campaign tonight, sources tell me, is to highlight what they view as Harris's most liberal stances over the course of her career and argue that those are her true beliefs, regardless of wherever she says she stands now. Sources close to Trump tell me he's grown more focused as the debate's gotten closer and polls have tightened in his favor. They believe the vice president's honeymoon is all but over and they can end it tonight with a strong performance. Lester. All right, Garrett

Haig, thank you. One of the likely topics in tonight's debate, immigration. And there is a new flashpoint in Ohio town with a rising number of Haitian immigrants and unfounded rumors there are now flaming tensions. Here's Gabe Gutierrez. Tonight, Springfield, Ohio, finds itself at the center of a raging immigration debate. With violence escalating in Haiti over the past few years, Ohio's governor says around 15,000 Haitian immigrants have settled in Springfield, filling jobs and boosting the economy,

but also straining local resources, sparking outrage from some residents. I'm angry that foreigners are using up the resources that were set up for the Americans that reside here. Those tensions first flared in Springfield last year, when a Haitian driver without a valid license crashed into a school bus, killing an 11-year-old boy. Then, this week, former President Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, amplified an unfounded claim on social media. Writing reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country. Springfield's mayor said late today the story about pets being killed originated in another town entirely, involving a woman who was arrested for animal cruelty. We have not been able to verify any credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed,

injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community. Also today, Vance acknowledged it's possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false, while the White House called it BS, disinformation, and dangerous. We've got now elected officials in the Republican Party pushing, you know, yet another conspiracy theory that's just seeking to divide people based on lies. And let's be honest, based on an element of racism. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine now says that the state is sending more resources to help Springfield officials deal with the migrant influx while calling on the federal government to do more. Lester. All right, Gabe, thank you. You can watch

the debate and our complete coverage, including Peter, Garrett, Kristen Welker and Hallie Jackson, starting at 8 p.m. tonight here on NBC. We want to turn out of that wildfire emergency in the West where yet another big fire is threatening more homes and forcing some new evacuations in Southern California. Dana Griffin is there with late details for us. Dana, the terrain is making it really tough. Lester, this is the front of the line fire. Fire officials tell me there are 40 to 50 homes down there.

They are hoping to spare them from these raging flames. Just South of here, a new explosive fire in Southern California. The airport fire burning critically close to communication towers after threatening homes, sending residents fleeing the

California National Guard is here in San Bernardino County, where a state of emergency has been declared. A cool down could help the firefight because temperatures are expected to gradually drop. But the focus tonight is putting the brakes on these fast moving flames before they make it to more populated areas. Lester. OK, Dana, thank you. Now to the Middle East. Israel today carrying out a deadly strike in a humanitarian zone in Gaza and new images showing how and where those six hostages recently killed by Hamas were being held.

Richard Engel is in Jerusalem. Israeli airstrikes today hit a humanitarian zone in Gaza, where Israel has ordered Palestinians to go for their safety. Leaving 20-foot-deep craters, the blast tore through a tented camp. Civil defense officials say they recovered 19 bodies, but suspect others were swallowed by the sand. Israel says it targeted a Hamas control center and killed three top militants, as the Israeli military today released a video to explain why it's fighting in Gaza.

There was a hiding floor. The military's chief spokesman entered the tunnel where he says Hamas murdered six hostages last week, including Israeli-American Hirsch Goldberg-Polin. But they were here in this tunnel in horrific conditions, where there is no air to breathe, where you cannot stand. NICK SCHIFRIN, But the fighting is not only in Gaza. Today, the Israeli military admitted it's highly likely its troops unintentionally shot and killed a Turkish-American woman, Ayshanur Ezgi Egi, last week during a protest in the

West Bank. Secretary Blinken had pointed criticism. In our judgment, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank. The Israeli military said today the hostages killed in the tunnel were likely kept there during their final days or even weeks. Lester. Richard Engel, thank you. In 60 seconds, it wasn't just a clipping of the wings, the airport collision that knocked the whole

tail off a jet full of passengers. How could it have happened? Next. Alarming moments today at the world's busiest airport. Two Delta planes colliding on the taxiway, the tail of one of the aircraft knocked off. Priya Shrader reports from Atlanta. A slow speed collision at Atlanta's Hortsfield Jackson Airport. The whole tail of that CRJ is off. The flight crew of a Delta Airbus bound for Tokyo, seemingly unaware they just hit a much smaller Delta Regional jet bound for Louisiana.

We just hit something on the taxiway. Could you tell us what it was? The accident just after 10 this morning knocked off the smaller jet's tail. It felt like when you're on the interstate and you hit the rumble strips. Nathan Pike, a producer for NBC's Kansas City affiliate KSHB, was on the smaller plane. You could hear the metal scraping against the outside of the plane and it was just shaking really badly. In a statement to NBC News, Delta says the wind tip of the Tokyo-bound plane came into contact with the smaller aircraft, adding nobody was injured and they've rebooked the 277 passengers on new flights. Jeff Gazzetti, an aviation analyst for NBC News,

says an investigation will have to determine what happened. Maybe they were programming their jet for takeoff. Maybe there was some distraction in the control tower with the ground controller. Maybe congestion had an issue. The FAA and the NTSB are investigating this incident. Experts say these types of taxiway collisions are rare, and the slower speeds help prevent any injuries. Lester.

All right, Priya, thank you. Up next, with reproductive rights front and center on tonight's debate stage, the doctor leading one of just five clinics of its kind in the country tells us how his practice and the women he's treating have changed in recent years. Back now with the battle over abortion. Missouri's Supreme Court today ruling abortion rights will stay on the ballot in November after a legal battle to remove it. Since Roe was overturned, the nation has become a patchwork of abortion laws. And tonight, we visit one state where women are traveling to obtain a rare and often misunderstood form of the procedure later in pregnancy.

Here's Dasha Burns. Behind these doors is one of only five clinics in the country where women can access the rarest and most controversial form of abortion. The majority of women who come to see you, what is their circumstance? It ranges from the 12-year-old kid who's pregnant from her stepfather to the 45-year-old woman who desperately wants to have a baby and finds out that she has a fatal illness that is incompatible with being pregnant. AMNA NAWAZ Dr. Warren Hearn and his team in Boulder, Colorado, specialize in second- and third-trimester abortion.

These are all layers of bulletproof glass? DR. WARREN HEARN Correct. AMNA NAWAZ Those against the practice say it's simply too late in a pregnancy to terminate. DR. WARREN HEARN The Democrats are radical because the nine months is just a ridiculous situation, that you can do an abortion in the ninth month. AMNA NAWAZ Dr. Hearn says his clinic doesn't perform can do an abortion in the ninth month. Dr. Hearn says his clinic doesn't perform abortions in the eighth or ninth month and that they're extraordinarily rare across the country. Just one percent of abortions are performed after 21 weeks. He tells us he doesn't want to do this work, but unforeseen circumstances

create a need for it and that strict abortion bans in red states are partly to blame for an increase in patients seeking him out because it's taking them longer to find care. What is the emotional experience of the patients that come and see you? Well, the great distress and anguish. How often are women coming to you when their life is at risk? It's happened all the time. Hearn says many of the women who come here are dealing with very wanted pregnancies that have gone very wrong, like the family that wrote him this letter.

DR. JOHN B. There are no words or gifts that can say thank you enough for what you have done for our family. AMNA NAWAZ We visited that family at their home in Texas, where abortion is banned, except in limited cases to save a woman's life or health. In 2023, they received a tragic diagnosis 24 weeks into their pregnancy, a severe fetal anomaly and possible consequences for Emma's future fertility.

We looked at each other and immediately just knew, as husband and wife, that that was the best decision for our family to have an abortion. Unfortunately, the immediate recommendation was to go out of state. A year later, the couple became parents again to Louie. My heart and mind have been forever changed about this issue in the worst way of course because we had to go through it to really understand the issue and it feels that abortion is essential health care. Since Roe was overturned 14 states have near total abortion bans and four more have bans after six weeks. DR. WILLOW WALSH, Colorado, 50 percent of my patients come from red states where they

can get no help. LISA DESJARDINS, That means clinics like this one are overwhelmed, making getting an abortion harder for women in states without bans, too. Like Willow, who asked we only use her first name and not show her face for her safety. Willow is from Colorado, where there are no gestational limits on abortion, but she still struggled to find a clinic with available appointments that could perform the procedure to clinics had told me No, turn me away the third clinic. I called they told me no again because of how far along I was And that they had recommended that I go to this place. She was five months pregnant by the time she met Dr. Hearn.

I was devastated and terrified. As abortion remains a top political issue in 2024, Dr. Hearn vows to keep going. Why do you do this work? Because it matters. It matters for the health of the woman. It matters for their families. It matters for our society. And now it matters for freedom. Dasha Burns, NBC News, Boulder, Colorado. And we will take a break. Up next, the good news from out of this world, the space mission sending civilians to walk in space for the first time.

Finally, there's good news tonight. At last, civilian astronauts are on their historic mission to travel farther in space than any human in more than 50 years. Tom Costello reports from Kennedy Space Center. Blasting through the pre-dawn Florida sky on a SpaceX rocket, the crew of Polaris Dawn. Godspeed, Polaris Dawn crew. May you make history and come home safely. JOHN YANG, For commercial astronauts determined to make history. JARED ISAACMAN, We can see the crew remain with their visors down in the locked position.

JOHN YANG, Late tonight, they will have traveled 870 miles from Earth, the furthest any human has ventured since the Apollo missions. In command, Jared Isaacman, the billionaire entrepreneur paying for his second space trip. Pilot Scott Petit, mission specialist Sarah Gillis, and medical officer Anna Menon. Passing through the Van Allen belts of high radiation, the crew will record their own exposure levels for future SpaceX moon missions. Then on Thursday, wearing brand-new spacesuits, the first commercial astronaut spacewalk, leaving the entire spaceship open to the vacuum of space.

Objectively, it would be the riskiest part of the mission. It's also the one that's received rightfully probably the majority of the last two-and-a-half years of attention. JOHN YANG And they'll be flying too high to rendezvous with the space station in case of trouble. The mission also part two of a massive fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Hospital. We also believe it is important to address the challenges that we face here on earth today. This is a continuation of what was started on Inspiration4. They raised over 250 million dollars for St. Jude and we are

continuing that. This is a five-day mission splashing down on day six, probably off the coast of Florida in the Atlantic Ocean, weather permitting. Lester? All right, Tom Costello, thanks for sharing that with us. That's nightly news for this Tuesday. Thank you for watching. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night.