NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Episode Date: June 6, 2024

Boeing’s Starliner lifts off on its first crewed mission, taking two astronauts to the ISS, a dangerous heatwave is threatening millions from California to Texas, Hunter Biden’s ex-wife testified in his federal gun trial, and more in tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, the historic launch, Boeing Starliner blasting off on its first long-awaited crewed mission after years of setbacks, the moment of liftoff, Boeing Starliner carrying two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. The mission ushering in a new era of space competition as Boeing looks to take on Elon Musk's SpaceX. Also tonight, the dangerous heat wave. More than 30 million under alerts from California to Texas, where temperatures could break records. The dramatic testimony in Hunter Biden's gun trial, his ex-wife and former girlfriend taking the stand, what they told the jury about his history of addiction, as prosecutors argue he lied on a federal form

to buy a firearm. Just in the appeals court, halting Donald Trump's Georgia election case amid scrutiny over D.A. Fannie Willis, and our new reporting, the names of Mr. Trump's potential VP shortlist. The gunman attacking the U.S. embassy in Beirut, the 30-minute-long shootout in the street before he's captured. What we're learning, was it ISIS-inspired? The deadly house explosion caught on camera, children playing in a nearby driveway, running in terror.

And 80 years after they helped turn the tide of war, we're with four American heroes as they return to Normandy. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome. The words and liftoff packing plenty of meaning for Boeing tonight as its long-delayed Starliner capsule successfully carried two astronauts into space today, its third launch attempt in a month, and a much-needed morale boost for Boeing after a string of misfortunes. The launch also lifting NASA's hopes of making commercial vehicles its workhorses in space. Tonight, the Starliner is racing toward a rendezvous with the International Space Station,

the first test flight of the capsule to carry humans. Boeing playing catch-up with competitor SpaceX, which has been flying to the space station for years. Marissa Parra has details. Let's put some fire in this rocket. Let's push it to the heavens. All eyes on Boeing's Starliner. The space capsule perched atop a United Launch Alliance rocket at Cape Canaveral this morning. And liftoff of Starliner and Atlas V carrying two American heroes.

Blazing into the skies with a crew on board for the first time. Veteran astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams on a mission to the International Space Station. Celebration, says Starliner and its crew reached orbit on track to dock with the ISS tomorrow. When we expand our fleet of spacecraft, what we're doing is expanding our reach to the stars. After NASA's decision to partner with private companies to take crews to the International Space Station, this milestone moment coming after years of delays. Boeing Starliner behind schedule and over budget. A failed uncrewed test flight in 2019 plagued with software glitches.

More recently, launches delayed due to a parachute that wouldn't hold the weight of the capsule after reentry and flammable tape in the capsule that needed to be replaced. And today's launch comes after setbacks with the ULA rocket, including a helium leak and a valve issue led to a canceled launch in May. Then, last week's attempt stopped with less than four minutes before launch due to a software problem. The vehicle's trajectory continues to look good. Today, no room for error as Boeing has been at the center of controversy for the company's commercial aircraft issues. The infamous door plug blowout earlier this year costing Boeing in production delays and reputation. but tonight a congratulations from elon musk founder and ceo of rival spacex which has been

nasa's main way to send astronauts to the iss for the last four years starliner paving the way for a new chapter in space travel and marissa where does today's launch put the competition among private companies in the space industry well lester Lester, SpaceX is still far ahead. Its mega rocket starship set for launch from Texas tomorrow morning. Its fourth uncrewed test for NASA's overall mission to return astronauts to the moon. Lester. Marissa Parra, thank you. Tonight, we're watching the season's first dangerous heat wave with 31 million people under heat alerts from Texas to California. Temperatures in the 90s and 100s will be 10 to 20 degrees above average, and numerous records could be broken.

Tomorrow and Friday will be the hottest days. The heat will start to ease this weekend. At his trial on federal gun charges, Hunter Biden's ex-wife and his former girlfriend testified about his drug use, including around the time the president's son purchased a gun and denied being on drugs, which prosecutors say was illegal. Here's Ryan Nobles. On day three of his federal criminal trial, Hunter Biden's former romantic partners testifying about his history of addiction. Prosecutors say the president's son illegally lied

on a government background check in 2018, denying his drug use in order to purchase a.38 caliber handgun. Hunter's ex-wife Kathleen Buell telling the jury how she learned her then-husband was abusing drugs. I found a crack pipe on July 3rd, 2015, she said. When she confronted him, she said he acknowledged smoking crack. She testified she never saw him doing drugs, but routinely searched his car for and found drug paraphernalia until 2019 when they were divorced. He was angry on drugs, she testified, but said he could function. At the time, Hunter was involved in lucrative foreign business dealings. Also testifying, Zoe Keston, an ex-girlfriend who Hunter Biden met

while she was a dancer at a gentleman's club. He used cash for a lot of things. A good amount of it was for drugs, she told the jury, saying at one point he was smoking crack every 20 minutes or so. According to Keston, Hunter was still an active drug user around the time he filled out the background check at the center of the case. But the Biden defense team says that Biden did not knowingly lie on the form, looking to poke holes in the prosecution case. Defense attorney Abby Lowe pressing FBI agent Erica Jensing. Do you know whether the defendant checked those boxes, he asked. Not from my own observation, she replied. I'm not qualified as a handwriting expert. The prosecution later called Gordon Cleveland, the man who sold Hunter the gun, and watched him fill out the form that asked if he used drugs.

What did he write, the prosecutor asked. Cleveland said he wrote no. And back in Washington, House Republicans say they'll file a criminal referral to the Department of Justice against Hunter and James Biden for lying to Congress. Lester. Ryan Nobles tonight. Thank you. Also developing this evening, a major headline in the Georgia election interference case against former President Trump. Hallie Jackson joins us now. Hallie, an appeals court stepping in here today. That's right, Lester. They're pressing pause on the case altogether until a panel of judges decides whether the Fulton County District Attorney, Fannie Willis, should be allowed to continue prosecuting this.

Now, a lower court has already said yes, but Mr. Trump's team appealed, arguing she should be disqualified because of a conflict of interest, which Willis denies, over a romantic relationship with an attorney she hired to handle the case. Now, here's the most immediate impact, the timeline. There is just no practical way that this would get to a trial now before November's election. So that's perhaps a political win, if not a legal one yet for Mr. Trump, Lester. And, Hallie, we're also learning more tonight about Mr. Trump's search for a running mate. What do we know? It's picking up steam with some potential VP candidates getting vetting materials, according to five people familiar with the process. Two sources say Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Florida Senator Marco Rubio are on the list.

And one source says Senator Tim Scott, who you see there of South Carolina, is in the mix, too. Mr. Trump has suggested he will make his pick closer to the Republican convention in July. Lester. Hallie Jackson in our Washington newsroom. Thank you. Overseas, there was an alarming shootout outside the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. A suspect is under arrest tonight and authorities say he was wearing ISIS insignia. Here's Raf Sanchez. This is the moment a gunman opens fire outside the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. You can see him targeting a passing army jeep. The shooter, masked, helmeted and armed with an assault rifle,

battling Lebanese troops for half an hour before he was shot and captured. The individual who was arrested was wearing what appeared to be ISIS insignia, but we are conducting a full investigation with the Lebanese authorities. Lebanese officials say he's a citizen of Syria and that they arrested five other people in widespread raids. A local security guard was seriously wounded, but all embassy staff are safe. The attack reviving painful memories of a suicide bombing at the embassy in 1983, which killed 63 people, and comes as there are new fears the Mideast conflict could spread, with fighting intensifying along the Israel-Lebanon border between Israeli troops and Hezbollah, a militia that, like Hamas, is backed by Iran. Today, 11 Israelis injured in what Hezbollah says was an explosive drone strike,

Prime Minister Netanyahu visiting the border, warning that Israel is prepared for a military offensive into Lebanon to restore security. Now, the White House believes the best way to avoid a war in Lebanon is to get a ceasefire in Gaza, saying tonight the whole world should call on Hamas to make a deal. Lester. All right, Raf, thank you. We want to turn now to the terror arrest in Paris. Officials saying a Ukrainian Russian man is in custody after an explosive device detonated at a hotel near Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport.

The blast leaving him badly burned. Investigators say they found bomb-making materials in his room. The motive is under investigation. President Biden is in France tonight to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion tomorrow. Kelly O'Donnell is in Paris and Kelly, the president, also thinking about the war in Ukraine. That's right, Lester. The weight of history meets current crises for President Biden, who arrived here in France for what is a state visit. Tomorrow, he will join dozens of world leaders to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion at Normandy.

The president will talk about the enduring cause of preserving democracy. With Europe roiled by the first war on this continent since World War II, the president will also meet with Ukrainian President Zelensky tomorrow. Lester? Kelly, thank you. And a program note, tomorrow I'll interview Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin from Normandy on the global challenges America faces here and abroad. Republicans in the Senate today blocked a bill that would have protected access to birth control. The effort by Democrats was aimed at highlighting the party's differences over reproductive rights ahead of the November election. Laura Jarrett has more. The motion is not agreed to. The bill had little

chance of passing, which may have been the point. The Right to Contraception Act would safeguard access to birth control nationwide, but failed today to meet the 60 votes needed to pass in the Senate. Just two Republicans voted for it, many dismissing the effort led by Democrats as a stunt as contraception remains legal across the country. Well, it's not a serious attempt to legislate. This is just a show vote in anticipation of the election. This is continuing the campaign of fear mongering we've already seen. Democrats not hiding their intention to focus on reproductive rights heading into November and drawing a sharp

contrast with Republicans. There's the more devious claim that the Right to Contraception Act is much ado about nothing, that it's unnecessary, that birth control could never possibly fall under risk. Well, remember, people said the same thing about Roe, but because of Donald Trump and the hard right, it's reality. As part of the high court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Justice Thomas called on his colleagues to reconsider their past ruling guaranteeing contraception access, underscoring the fragility of all reproductive rights. Battles over state laws have flared up since, particularly in red states.

Access to contraception is vital in a state like Alabama. Robin Marty runs a women's clinic in Tuscaloosa. She says it's more important than ever to protect birth control, with most abortions now banned there. We no longer see abortion patients. But we decided to stay open because we knew, speaking to our patients, that for many of them, accessing contraception or even basic health care was almost as difficult as accessing abortion in the first place. Laura Jarrett, NBC News. In 60 seconds, Amanda Knox back in court in Italy. The newest twist in the long and captivating case, next.

We're back now with a deadly explosion rocking a suburban Chicago neighborhood. The blast caught on surveillance camera, sending two children playing in a nearby driveway, running away in terror. Officials say a man's body was recovered from the rubble. Also tonight, nearly 17 years after she was accused of killing her roommate, Amanda Knox was back in an Italian courtroom today, still fighting years after she was accused of killing her roommate, Amanda Knox was back in an Italian courtroom today, still fighting years after she was exonerated of the murder. Here's Keir Simmons. Tonight, Amanda Knox, who was jailed, then cleared of murder, now convicted of slander in a retrial for accusing another of the killing.

She arrived at an Italian court today for the first time in 13 years. After the stunning judgment, the Seattle native wiped away tears and embraced her husband, handed a three-year jail sentence she will not serve after already wrongly spending four years behind bars. She's extremely upset about this outcome of the decision. Back in 2019, she told NBC News' Lester Holt she was hoping to move past the guilty or innocent label. I wonder if people would care about my experience beyond whether or not they think I'm guilty or innocent. This was Amanda Knox, aged 20, hours after her roommate was murdered

in the idyllic town of Borussia. Meredith Kircher was found half naked with almost 40 stab wounds. Her real killer served a 13-year jail sentence. But in emotional evidence today, Amanda Knox told the court of her interrogation by Italian police without a lawyer. When I couldn't remember the details, one of the officers gave me a little smack on the head and shouted, remember, remember, she said. And then I put together a jumble of memories and the police made me sign a statement. Her early statements included accusing Patrick Lumumba,

who was jailed for weeks despite having an alibi. What's your next step? Will you appeal? We have a right to appeal. Amanda Knox's lawyer said she was too upset to talk publicly today. What she described in court as a nightmare may not be over yet. Lester. All right, Keir Simmons, thank you. Here's a question to ponder during the break.

How much do you need to retire? Why many fear they'll never get there. We are often told the economy is strong, but a lot of Americans just don't agree, and many are worried about something that may be decades in the future, retirement. Here's Christine Rummans. 88-year-old Jacqueline James taught public school in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania for three decades before retiring in 1998. You worked for 30 years. You paid into your pension and every every single check you pay into Social Security and your pension. You knew you were never going to make a lot of money and you knew that you were building your retirement. Yet, through a quirk of state law, she and about 70,000 other retired public workers in Pennsylvania have had zero cost of living

adjustments in over 20 years. The $25,000 a year she gets now is the same it was then, while the cost of living has nearly doubled. She's given up cable TV, cut out some of her favorite foods, even stopped buying mulch for her flower beds. I do less and less and less. I'm always figuring, what can I stop doing now? What can I stop doing now? Of course, most of today's workers won't have pensions, according to the Federal Reserve, just 22 percent. Far more common now are retirement accounts like a 401k, where the burden is on you to save enough to last a lifetime.

Just a ways up the road from Stroudsburg, Victor Martins and his son Jonathan run a family construction business. Do you feel ready to retire now in this economy? No. You've got a 401k and an IRA? Yes. Do you think that'll be enough for you to retire on someday? I don't think so, personally. And that's even though they are saving. Nearly half of American families have no savings in retirement accounts at all. That retirement insecurity explains some of today's

pessimism in a strong economy, says economist Teresa Ghilarducci. We don't have a pension system that's designed to last for as long as people are going to last, to the 90s and 100s. We're putting people in little boats and floating them off into the ocean and saying you have to take care of yourself. For many, Social Security is a lifeboat, but was never meant to be the sole source of retirement income. On Victor Martin's job sites, business is brisk, but he worries about the future. We've diversified ourselves. I've got an IRA. We're putting money back into the business.

So hopefully I can still, you know, take a paycheck from that. Diversification is no longer an option for Jacqueline James. I'm disturbed. I'm disgusted, and I don't know that I can do anything about it. She's left to hope the law changes so she can finally get a raise. Christine Romans, NBC News, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.

And up next here tonight, their return to hallowed ground. The memory still as clear as the waters off Normandy, 80 years after D-Day. Finally, 80 years after they helped change the course of history, where were some of America's surviving D-Day heroes as they returned to the beachheads of Normandy? Here's Kelly Kobiea. Tonight on the ground and in the air, Normandy is celebrating and remembering the thousands who fought here 80 years ago. For many of those men now in their 90s and 100s, the memories are crystal clear. It looked like every ship and boat in the world was right out there.

This was to be the longest day. June 6, 1944, D-Day. The Allied invasion had begun. The U.S. and its allies stormed the beaches of Normandy, breaking through Nazi defenses, a massive assault that would lead to Allied victory. Now, eight decades later, veterans reuniting here, likely for the last time. Looking back at letters they wrote. Dear Mom, just a few lines to tell you we are all okay. Diaries they kept. Cruising off the beach,

infantry ashore. And mementos they saved for all these years. What's this? That's a piece of shrapnel. Just right here. 99-year-old Ben Miller was a medic, and at 19 years old, one of just a few thousand carried to Normandy in gliders. He's looking for the place his glider crashed. They were not experienced pilots, but they glided as best they could. Ben landed near St. Marie-Église, considered to be the first town liberated by Americans, where he treated injured paratroopers. Today, he returned for the first time,

meeting locals, including André Ouvry, who was here that day, 18 years old and nine months pregnant. My pleasure to meet different people and see how they recovered through it all and for them being so kind to us. The greatest generation still reminding the rest of us about the true meaning of heroism and sacrifice. Kelly Kobiella, NBC News, Normandy.

They literally changed the world. That's nightly news for this Wednesday. Thank you for watching. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night.