targeted strike launched by the israeli military on hezbollah in lebanon's capital beirut. israel saying the strike killed several senior hezbollah members including a top commander suspected in a pair of 1983 bombings that killed more than 300 americans. today's strike coming after those waves of deadly device

explosions. also tonight the south carolina death row inmate asking the supreme court to halt his execution after a key witness said he is innocent. the race for the white house, the controversial change in georgia requiring ballots to be hand counted. the major problems critics say it could cause. kamala harris in that key battleground today slamming donald trump over abortion. the secret service admitting to failures during the july assassination attempt on mr. trump. and after that apparent second attempt, the agency now pleading for more resources. the kentucky sheriff behind bars accused of fatally shooting a judge in his chambers. what was the motive. our update on a story about americans crushed by medical debt. one man owing tens of thousands for cancer treatments for his late wife and the major change since our first report aired. and the founder of the 50/50 club, shohei

ohtani, slugging and stealing his way into baseball history. >> starts the 50/50 club. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good evening, and welcome, everyone. the mideast on tenterhooks tonight after israel launched a targeted air strike inside lebanon that killed a top hezbollah commander and at least 13 others according to state media. israel saying ten commanders are among the dead. killed today, the man israel identifies as the head of the iran-backed militia group's operations. and a figure the u.s. believes played a role in the deaths of more than 300 people in the bombings of the american embassy and marine barracks in beirut in 1983. his death coming as hezbollah today unleashed waves of its own rockets towards northern israel in apparent retaliation for those deadly attacks against hezbollah that employed electronic devices rigged with explosives. all as the region appears to be sitting closer to the edge of a wider war.

keir simmons reports now from beirut. >> reporter: the bomb that hit beirut today assassinating high-ranking hezbollah commanders, israel says, blew the walls from the front of a building killing at least 14 and injuring 66 according to state media. this, the impact of a single israeli strike, as lebanon lives with the threat of all-out war. president biden insisting today, peace is still possible. >> a lot of things don't look realistic until we get them done. we have to keep that. >> reporter: israel says its air raid killed a shadowy hezbollah commander. ibrahim akil. this picture of him from decades ago. the u.s. accused him of involvement in two 1983 deadly bombings in beirut. the u.s. embassy and the marine corps barracks. his life ended today by an israeli jet over the same city.

"our goals are clear. our actions speak for themselves," prime minister netanyahu posted. after a week that saw pagers and walkie-talkies explode in the hands of hezbollah operatives, the dead and injured including children. >> it's a nightmare. >> reporter: we met this eye surgeon rushing between hospitals. >> if you're going to go down and talk to the parents and tell them, we're sorry, we couldn't save any of your kids' eyes. >> reporter: hezbollah returning fire today launching katyusha rockets over the border after an israeli bombardment overnight. israel's defense minister tonight vowing, we will continue operating against hezbollah until we achieve our mission ensuring the safe return of israel's north communities to their homes. tonight more war seems inevitable. >> keir, you were there today when that strike happened. >> reporter: lester, we heard the israeli jet overhead then

minutes later saw pictures of the destruction. lester, this is not what de-escalation looks like. lester. >> all right. keir simmons in beirut beirut, thanks. in south carolina a death row inmate said to be executed tonight for a murder nearly three decades ago making a last-ditch request for a reprieve after a key witness changed his story. laura jarrett is with us. some breaking news about this. >> we just got the order in from the justices minutes ago. the high court declining to block the execution of freddie owens. now he still has an opportunity with this pending petition before the governor of south carolina, he was set to be executed at 6:00 p.m. eastern tonight so we await word all while the victims' family is stilling waiting for closure here. he said he was innocent. after years of appeals came up short, 46-year-old freddie owens making a last-minute plea for clemency this week. his lawyer securing a sworn affidavit from a man who provided key testimony against

owens but who now says he lied, and owens didn't kill irene graves, a mother of three who was shot in the head during a robbery of a speedway in 1987. steven golden, 18 at the time of that shooting, now says he was high on drugs when police initially questioned him and prosecutors offered him a deal to flip on owens adding, quote, i was scared that i would get the death penalty if i didn't make a statement. >> it's remarkable the two days before a scheduled execution to have someone come forward as steven golden did. he did not want to see an innocent man die for something that he didn't do. candidly none of us should. >> reporter: yet the state supreme court rejected those arguments from owens' defense team finding that newly recanted testimony from golden insufficient without knowing more about how and why he signed it now. the high court also pointing to other evidence of owens' guilt including his multiple past confessions to killing graves.

graves' son archie, who lost his mother just as he was starting his freshman year in college, told nbc news today, i'm just ready to close this chapter on this part of our lives. laura jarrett, nbc news. in georgia vice president harris today attacking former president trump on abortion rights as election officials in that key battleground state make a controversial change. here's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: tonight in-person early voting is already under way in three states, virginia, south dakota and minnesota. >> this is the most consequential vote in my lifetime. >> reporter: and now a new controversy over how ballots will be counted in battleground georgia, the state's gop-led election board voted to require counties to hand count all ballots cast on election day, a move critics say could delay the reporting of results. >> so, what are we trying to do here? we're trying to sow chaos?

>> reporter: even though their attorney general says the election board may be overstepping its authority, republican supporters say hand counting is important for election integrity. >> allowing our elected offices to have as much data as possible should ensure that they will certify. >> reporter: vice president harris traveling to battleground georgia highlighting abortion rights. >> this is a health care crisis, and donald trump is the architect of this crisis. >> reporter: last night at a star-studded virtual rally hosted by oprah winfrey, relatives of the 28-year-old pregnant woman, amber thurman, blamed her death two years ago on delays in her care because of georgia's restrictive abortion laws. >> i want y'all to know amber was not a statistic. >> reporter: meanwhile former president trump arguing he should be getting more of the jewish vote. >> if kamala harris wins instead of the most pro-israel president ever, you will have the most anti-israel president by far. >> reporter: saying the jewish community would be partly to blame if he's defeated. >> if i don't win this

election and the jewish people would really have a lot to do with that if that happens -- >> reporter: both presidential campaigns now ramping up outreach to younger voters. in battleground wisconsin, this first-time voter tells us he thinks trump will improve the economy. >> i feel like he was the first politician that says what he wants. >> reporter: while harris supporter, fourth year med student kaitlin landry, who wants to be an ob-gyn says abortion rights are critical. >> i'm super excited about someone who has a female perspective, a perspective of someone who is a minority. i think that's something we need. >> reporter: tonight the vice president is rallying supporters here in wisconsin where polls show the race is a dead heat, lester. >> all right, gabe gutierrez, thank you. secret service out with a new report admitting to failures in the july assassination attempt on president trump.

our kelly o'donnell reports. >> reporter: new details about what went so dangerously wrong. major mistakes in planning and communications by the secret service that allowed a would-be assassin to shoot former president trump firing from an unsecured rooftop in butler, pennsylvania. >> while some members of the advanced team were very diligent, there was complacency on the part of others that led to a breach of security protocols. >> reporter: today the secret service released a portion of its internal review calling the assassination attempt a security failure. the acting director says, disciplinary action is coming. >> these employees will be held accountable. >> reporter: but with so many threats, the agency says more resources, technology, and manpower are needed to keep up an intense pace of protection for the candidates. >> will they have to live differently in order to be safe? >> we want them to make sure that they can live their lives with some type of normalcy, but they must do so with us

providing the highest levels of protection which we have been doing since july 13th. >> reporter: one immediate change to better coordinate plans and communications. the secret service says local agencies must be present inside the federal command center at events. lester. >> kelly, thank you. a kentucky sheriff is behind bars charged with shooting and killing a judge in his chambers. the two knew each other well, but as adrienne broaddus reports, the motive is a misery. >> reporter: a sheriff who vowed to protect and nerve -- serve now on the other side of the law. >> shots fired. shots fired. >> reporter: police say sheriff shawn "mickey" steins shot and killed judge kevin mullins in his chamber thursday. investigators are searching for a motive. >> we know that it was an argument between the two that led to it but what exactly transpired prior to the shots being fired

still we're trying to get answers to. >> reporter: the 54-year-old judge served for over a decade on the bench. >> in a word, patient, is what he was and compassionate. >> reporter: attorney seth combs is a longtime colleague of the judge. >> big loss in a lot of ways, honestly just trying to accept that it's real. >> reporter: according to court documents, sheriff steins is listed as a defendant in a 2022 lawsuit where one of his deputies is accused of sexually abusing a woman in judge and alleged steins the lawsuit alleges that steins failed to adequately train and supervise the deputy. meanwhile, the sheriff turned suspect is behind bars tonight leaving the tight-knit community stunned. >> my heart goes out to the family, both of them, but i -- this is shocking really. >> reporter: and tonight the sheriff who has been charged with murder has not hired an attorney. lester. >> all right, adrienne, thank you. just ahead progress on crushing medical debt after our recent report, what one major company has agreed to do for thousands of americans

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ask your doctor. ♪limu emu♪ ♪& doug.♪ and if we win, we get to tell you how liberty mutual customizes car insurance so you only pay for what you need. isn't that what you just did? service! ♪stand back i'm going to show ya,♪ ♪how doug and limu roll, yeah!♪ ♪♪ ♪you know you got to live it,♪ ♪♪ ♪if you want to win...♪ [bump] time out! only pay for what you need. ♪liberty, liberty,♪ ♪liberty, liberty.♪ an update to a story we brought one week ago. an update to a story we brought one week ago. we introduced you to terry belk, one of the millions of americans drowning in medical debt facing grueling financial pain, but now as christine

his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer that would ultimately take her life. the hospital sued for his own prostate cancer treatment with interest a debt of $8,000 and all changed with a call he received early this week days after his story was featured on "nightly news." what did they say on the phone? >> well, he said that i had been through a lot and that they're moving forward in a new direction as it relates to, you know, patient care and they're going to be lifting liens and canceling judgments on all ex-patients. >> reporter: for terry and thousands of

others atrium's parent, advocate health, now announcing it is canceling all judgment liens previously placed on homes and real estate as part of its efforts to collect unpaid medical bills and that it will also forgive the outstanding debts associated with those liens. >> we are sick and tired of waiting. >> reporter: rebecca is a health care advocate in north carolina. >> what a weight off their shoulders that this is no longer an issue, so we're thrilled. we're excited. by the way, we're hoping other hospital systems follow suit to what atrium has done. >> reporter: in all advocate health is canceling more than 11,500 liens across six states, some like terry belk's dating back more than 20 years. >> look at that. >> whoa. >> reporter: for our initial story on the $220 billion americans owe in medical debt, belk told us this. >> i'm sure i'm going to take this debt into the afterlife. >> reporter: now he and thousands of others can breathe a sigh of relief. >> i'm sure that my wife in heaven is

looking down and is pleased because she know that she did not leave a defeated, broken man here on earth to carry on. >> well, christine, first of all, thanks for doing this follow-up. great news for terry and potentially thousands of others, but why now for this health system? >> advocate says it was the next logical step in a process that began in 2022 with its leaders examining ways to improve access and the affordability of health care. >> all right, christine, thanks. we're back in a moment with an nbc exclusive. could what's happening to pregnant mothers in one state be a warning for other states? [comedian] i was like put a pin in it, we're done! [audience laughing] oh no! she's gonna make me pee my pants! you and me both! ever laugh so hard you leak? well always discreet keeps me worry free all set long, by holding even my biggest gushes. with up to zero leaks, wet feel, and odor. so you're not just dry, you're laugh until you cry dry. everyday protection for every level of leak.

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we are back with an nbc news exclusive about the maternal mortality crisis unfolding in texas and fears that the near total ban on abortion there could push pregnancy-related deaths even higher. zinhle essamuah reports. >> reporter: what was your first pregnancy like? >> it was just so textbook. >> reporter: but kaitlin cash's subsequent pregnancy s were anything but. in 2023, the 37-year-old from texas

almost died giving birth to her healthy daughter. >> i'm never going to name that baby. >> reporter: after her placenta failed to deliver, she continued bleeding and needed a d&c, which is often part of an abortion but can be necessary in other circumstances. she says she waited more than an hour to do it, but her condition continued to deteriorate until she lost consciousness and needed a blood transfusion. she says the delay was later explained by a social worker. >> she just kind of goes, oh, yeah, we don't do d&cs anymore. >> reporter: kaitlin nearly became part of an alarming trend. the cdc data exclusive to nbc news reveals texas saw a 56% rise in maternal mortality in 2019 and 2022 compared to an 11% uptick nationwide. the biggest increase was among white women up 95%. texas passed a near-total abortion ban back in 2021. 13 other states followed suit after the dobbs decision. >> is texas a bit of a canary in the coal mine when it comes to this issue? >> we have to pay attention to the data coming out of texas. texas, i fear, is a harbinger of what's to come. >> reporter: in texas abortions are still

allowed to save a pregnant woman's life. >> you have practiced in women's health for over a decade. how does it feel for you working out of texas now? >> very different. >> reporter: doctors like leah tatum are advised to use their best judgment, but if a court later rules they got it wrong, they risk losing their medical license, life in prison, or $100,000 in fines. >> is it clear to you when you can perform an abortion and when you cannot? >> no, not really. so there is just this hesitancy that you can feel practicing in texas. >> reporter: the cashes believe it's a systemic hesitancy that contributed to kaitlin's experience. >> i went into that delivery woman with a doula and health insurance, and i'm white, and i have a masters degree. i went in with every privilege you could think of, and that still happened to me. >> reporter: now kaitlin advocates for abortion rights. >> what do you feel when you look at your

daughter? >> i feel deeply saddened and guilty about the future that i'm giving her. i get up every day, and i tell these stories, and i relive this trauma, because i'm going to tell her that i did everything i could for her. >> reporter: zinhle essamuah, nbc news, austin, texas. we will take a short break here. when we come back baseball's legend in a league of his own. >> ohtani, the greatest day in baseball history! so i started my own studio. getting a brick and mortar in new york is not easy. chase ink has supported us from studio one to studio three. when you start small, you need some big help. and chase ink was that for me. earn up to 5% cash back on business essentials with the chase ink business cash card from chase for business. make more of what's yours.

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finally shohei ohtani is rewriting baseball with his speed and his swing. morgan chesky with the good news tonight for baseball fans. >> reporter: in a game where greatness is oft debated. >> ohtani sends one in the air deep right field. he is in a world of his own. >> reporter: last night in miami brought baseball immortality for shohei ohtani. >> but he got his foot in. the 50th for ohtani. >> reporter: the l.a. dodger notching his 50th stolen base before a swing rewriting the history books. >> back it goes, gone! shohei ohtani starts the 50/50 club. >> reporter: 50 stolen bases, 50 home runs, making ohtani the first person in baseball ever to achieve both in a single season.

>> this is not real life. he is not human. >> reporter: ohtani's 50/50 almost instantly untouchable joining joe dimaggio's 56-game hitting strike in 1951. the moment celebrated back in his native japan. even marlin fans couldn't resist a curtain call. another stolen base and home run before the night was over. >> the greatest day in baseball history! >> reporter: the day shohei proved he is an elite all his own. morgan chesky, nbc news. los angeles. >> legendary. that's "nightly news." thank you for watching. i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night. >> shohei ohtani starts the 50/50 club.

the city hall insiders have a formula: grow the system, exploit the system. take mark farrell's record. after receiving the largest ethics fine in city history for breaking campaign laws. mark authorized a commission almost every year he was in office. he was even caught taking donations from people he would then appoint to commissions, including a felon convicted of bribery. san francisco's challenges demand urgency, not more of the same failed insiders. what investigators say he was doing while he was off duty. good afternoon. i'm audrey asistio. welcome to nbc bay area news at 4:30. our jodi hernandez is talking to firefig