i came to bayview hunter's point, where there was only one pediatrician to serve more than 10,000 children. daniel lurie said, i'm going to help. we opened a clinic for our most vulnerable children. i have worked shoulder to shoulder with him as we have brought solutions where people thought the problem was unsolvable. daniel doesn't take excuses. he holds himself accountable. and i know that he can do it for the city of san francisco. 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 a humanitarian zone in gaza. and 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. >> announcer: 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 rainfall. 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? >> 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. will probably make landfall sometime as you mentioned right around this time tomorrow evening. the 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 impact. 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 ten feet from central louisiana all

the way to 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? >> reporter: 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's 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, 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. >> reporter: 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. >> reporter: 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. >> reporter: and a new poll shows the importance of this moment for harris. while more than 70% 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 seems calm, cool and collected. >> reporter: 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. they expect him to target her 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. >> reporter: 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 bring a strong border. where has she been for 3 1/2 years? >> and peter, so much to watch for tonight. but we already know how some things will play out. >> reporter: 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's a handshake between trump and harris tonight. just to underscore the stakes here, 30% 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. >> reporter: 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? >> garrett haake, thank you. one of the likely topics in tonight's debate, immigration. and there is a new flash point, an ohio town with a rising number of haitian immigrants, and unfounded rumors there are now flaming tensions. here's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: 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, doing 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. >> reporter: 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. >> reporter: 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

b.s., disinformation, and dangerous. >> you'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. >> reporter: 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 8:00 p.m. tonight here on nbc. we want to turn now to 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. >> reporter: 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 cooldown 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? >> okay, dana, thank you. now to the middle east. israel today carrying out a deadly strike on 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. >> reporter: 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. >> reporter: the military's chief spokesman entered the tunnel where he says hamas murdered six hostages last week, including israeli american hersh goldberg-polin. >> but they were here in this tunnel in conditions where there's no air to breathe, where you cannot stand. >> reporter: 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 aysenur ezgi eygi 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. >> reporter: 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. rsv can severely affect the lungs and lower airways. but i'm protected with arexvy. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. rsv can be serious for those over 60, including those with asthma, diabetes, copd and certain other conditions. but i'm protected. arexvy is proven to be over 82% effective in preventing lower respiratory disease from rsv

and over 94% effective in those with these health conditions. (♪♪) arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. those with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain. arexvy is number one in rsv vaccine shots. rsv? make it arexvy. 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 sridhar reports from atlanta. >> reporter: a slow-speed collision at atlanta's hartsfield jackson airport. >> the whole tail of that crt's off. >> reporter: the crew of an airbus bound for tokyo seemingly unaware they hit a much smaller delta regional jet bound for

louisiana. >> we just hit something on the taxiway. could you tell us what it was? >> reporter: the accident just after 10:00 this morning knocked off the smaller jet's tail. >> it felt like when you're on the interstate and you hit the rumble strip. >> reporter: nathan pike, a producer for nbc's kansas city affiliate khsb, was on the smaller plane. >> you could hear the metal scraping against the outside of the plane. and it was just shaking really badly. >> reporter: in a statement to nbc news delta says the wing 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 gasety an aviation analyst for nbc news says an version will have to determine what happens. >> maybe they were programming their jet for takeoff. maybe there was some distraction in the control tour.

with the ground controller. maybe congestion had an issue. >> reporter: 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. i knew something was wrong. then i saw my doctor and found out i have afib, and that means there's about a 5 times greater risk of stroke. symptoms like irregular heartbeat, heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, or light-headedness, can come and go. but if you have afib, the risk of stroke is always there. if you have one or more symptoms, get checked out. making that appointment can help you get ahead of stroke risk. this is no time to wait. today's biggest feat wasn't booking appointments.

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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. >> reporter: 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. >> reporter: dr.

warren hern and his team in boulder, colorado specialize in second and third trimester abortion. >> these are all layers of bulletproof glass? >> correct. >> reporter: those against the practice say it's simply too late in a pregnancy to terminate. >> the democrats are radical because the nine months is just a ridiculous situation. you can do an abortion in the ninth month. >> reporter: dr. hern says his clinic doesn't perform abortions in the eighth or ninth month and they're extraordinarily rare across the country. just 1% 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, great distress and anguish. >> how often are women coming to you when their life is at risk? >> it's happening all the time. >> reporter: hern 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. >> "there are no words or gifts that can say thank you enough for

what you've done for our family." >> reporter: 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. >> reporter: 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. it feels that abortion is essential health care. >> reporter: since roe was overturned, 14 states have near total abortion bans and four more have bans after six weeks. >> 50% of my patients come from red states where they can get no help. >> reporter: 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. >> two clinics had told me no, turned 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. >> reporter: she was five months pregnant by the time she met dr. hern. >> i was devastated and terrified. >> reporter: as abortion remains a top political issue in 2024, dr. hern 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. >> reporter: dasha burns, nbc news, boulder, colorado. and we will take a break.

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finally, there's good news tonight. at last civilian astronauts are on their historic mission to travel farther in space than any human in 50 years. tom costello reports from kennedy space center. >> reporter: blasting through the predawn florida sky on a spacex rocket, the crew of polaris dawn. >> godspeed, polaris dawn crew. make you make it safe and come home safely. >> reporter: four commercial astronauts determined to make history. >> we can see the crew remain with their visors down in the locked position. >> reporter: 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 poteet, 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 2 1/2 years of attention. >> reporter: and they'll be flying too high to rendezvous with the space station in case of trouble. the mission also part 2 of a massive fund-raiser 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 inspiration 4. they raised over $250 million for st. jude. and we are continuing that. >> reporter: this is a five-day mission, splashing down on day 6, 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.