on our broadcast tonight -- bombing iraq. u.s. war planes strike again. late today targeting isis,wo years now since the last american troops left. tonight this new american mission. it was a homicide. a surprise ruling in the death of james brady who died this week, three decades after taking a bullet meant for president reagan. will it mean murder charges for john hinckley? why your credit score could be getting better very soon. there are big changes that are on their it way that could mean a lot of help for families. and easy riders. a great american summer tradition, this year even bigger and louder than ever. "nightly news" begins now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news with

brian williams". good evening. american war planes have been back in action again today in the skies over iraq, hitting targets on the ground in iraq because, while the world was watching, ukraine and russia and israel and gaza, a violent group called isis has swept across iraq. they have civilians and religious minorities on the run and threatened with death. and they're nearing the city of erbil where americans are living and working. the president who pledged to bring americans home from iraq has been forced to send them back, at least into iraqi air space, in a two-pronged humanitarian and military mission. and we begin here on this friday night with our pentagon correspondent, jim miklaszewski. >> reporter: two u.s. navy fa-18s struck first, taking out isis artillery that had been firing at kurdish forces at erbil. hours later, an unmanned predator drone hit an isis mortar position not once but twice with hellfire missiles,

followed by four fa-18s that obliterated an isis convoy with eight 500-pound laser-guided bombs. in his nationwide address thursday night, president obama said the air strikes are necessary to protect american lives at the u.s. consulate in erbil. >> i've directed our military to take targeted strikes against isil terrorist convoys should they move toward the city. >> reporter: the air strikes are also aimed at supporting kurdish fighters, u.s. allies overrun by isis rebels this wee president obama cautioned, however, any u.s. air strikes would be limited. critics accuse president of playing domestic politics and that limited air strikes will do little to stop the relentless advance of isis rebels. >> we're doing empty political gestures that won't have a significant humanitarian impact, won't prevent genocide. >> reporter: but the president is committed to doing just that, with tens of thousands of yazidi

and religious refugees forced to flee the rebels and now trapped in a mountaintop dying of thirst and starvation. president obama ordered the first of what may be many u.s. military air drops of tons of food and thousands of gallons of water to the desperate refugees last night. since january, isis with only 15,000 forces has seized a large section of east and northern iraq, with unspeakable brutality that includes mass executions and beheadings. they now control a wide swath of iraq, syria to the north, and recently launched attacks in lebanon, with a real potential to threaten the united states. >> i think isis is a threat to the u.s. homeland. there are westerners fighting with isis today who can come back to western europe and the united states and attack. >> reporter: president obama vowed that he would not drag the u.s. back into a ground war in iraq, but some military

officials fear that the limited campaignings now put on the table could commit the u.s. to a long-term commitment to an endless sectarian war. brian? >> jim miklaszewski starting us off again tonight. jim, thanks. talking about our dangerous world, with this renewed conflict, iraq becomes the latest no flight zone joining a widening list of nations where the faa has determined the air space is dangerous, warning aircraft to avoid the areas in red and show caution when flying over the countries in yellow. now to the other brewing conflict in the middle east. the three-day cease-fire between israel and hamas eed early today, as hamas resumed firing rockets into southern israel, almost 60 of them launched from gaza, two israelis reportedly injured. israel hit back with air strikes. palestinian officials say at least five were killed, three of them children. talks aimed at a longer term cease-fire continue in cairo.

james brady, ronald reagan's former press secretary, died earlier this week, and he was remembered on this broadcast and elsewhere for his humor, his humanity and as an icon in the gun control battle. then late today came a remarkable development from washington. after an autopsy on brady, the medical examiner ruled his death was a homicide, stemming all the way back to 1981 and the bullet from john hinckley's gun that was intended for president reagan but hit brady instead. we get r report toght from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> reporter: after conducting an autopsy on james brady, a suburban washington medical examiner has concluded that his death was a homicide, that it was causedy a nshot wound suffered at the time a man tried to assassinate president reagan, john hinckley, jr. he was found not guilty by reason of insanity by a jury in 1982. since then, he's been dergoing mental treatment at st. elizabeth's hospital in washington. and in recent years his family

has sought and won permission for him to make longer visits, up to 24 days, to a family home about 120 miles away in williamsburg, virginia. for months now, a feral judge has been considering a request to eventually let him st there full time if the shorter visits go well. federal officials say tonight they have reached no decisions about whether to take any further legal action against hinckley because of this new finding, and it's far too soon to know whether this finding will in any way complicate the hinckley family's efforts to get hilonger stays away from the hospital. hinckley is 59 years old. and though it's been 33 years since the shooting, the secret service stil follows him whenev he leaves the hospital. there's no s of te ons murder so murder charges are theoretically possible. officials say tonight they're a long way from any decisions. no comment yet from his widow sarah brady. so we don't know whether this is the end of a long legal saga or

the beginning of a new one. >> james brady died monday. he was 73 years old. pete williams, thanks. high winds and heavy rains in hawaii as the first of two storms hits that state. thankfully, hurricane iselle was a tropical storm by the time it made landfall. still, the first storm of its kind to hit the big island in over two decades. the second storm, now a category 3, is right behind this one, and hawaiians are hoping for a predicted northern track. nbc's jacob rascon is in hilo tonight on the big island. >> reporter: on the southeast shore of the big island -- >> oh, my god! >> reporter: -- a startling wake-up call. >> you could hear the heavy winds blowing and then all of a sudden you hear the crackling. >> reporter: downed trees and power lines, some homes barely survived. maureen's cars didn't make it. >> my two cars are underneath. >> reporter: overnight, tropical storm iselle pummeled coastal towns like hilo and puna.

rivers threatened to overthrow their banks and this scenic waterfall turned into a raging rapid. the storm forced some 1200 people into ecuation centers. outside, rains, heavy winds up to 66 miles per hour blocking major roadways and cutting power to over 20,000 people. winds so powerful they uprooted this giant tree, sending it crashing into this karate school. today as the storm moved out to sea, heavy rain still pound the island, flash flood warnings remain in effect, and some areas expect to get more than 14 inches. hawaii's massive cleanup effort now overshadowed by the threat of another major storm, but the statmay get a break. >> the models continue to shift julio away from the hawaiian islands. so as we get into the weekend and the storm approaches, i think the effects will be very minimal to the island chain. >> reporter: the governor of hawaii saying late today the national guard will assess the full extent of the damage from the air.

this as more than a million people on the islands look ahead to the cleanup and business as usual. brn? >> jacob rass cone in hilo, hawaii, tonight. jacob, thanks. the world health organization today declared ebola a public health emergency, said there needs to be a coordinated, international response as nigeria became the latest nation to declare a state of emergency. inhis country, we heard for the first time from dr. kent brantly, one of the two americans battling the virus. nbc's kate snow has our report tonight from atlanta. >> reporter: from his isolation room, dr. kent brantly wrote his first message to the world. i am growing stronger every day, and i thank god for his mercy as i have wrestled with this terrible disease. today the other american with ebola, nancy writebol, was well enough to ask her sons for a starbucks coffee. her husband david isn't sure how nancy got sick, but because he could be infected, too, he can't leave liberia to be at his wife 0's side until the cdc clears

him. we spoke with him today. i imagine it must be really hard to be apart from your wife right now. i'm curious if you are still really worried about her, or do you think she's in the clear? >> well, yeah. i don't believe that we can say she's in the clear. i would say she's in very good hands. i do miss her, miss being with her. she's the be part of my life. >> reporter: susan grant is in charge of the nursing staff in the emory isolation unit. >> we have 15 nurses, five doctors and chaplains and a broader team of amazing people who are caring for these folks. >> reporter: two nurses are assigned to each patient 24 hours a day, always in protective gear. this strain of ebola is killing 60% of the people who come in contact with it. why would any nurse want to do that? >> they're vercompassionate people. they see themselves as this is why they are here, to meet those needs. >> reporter: in liberia, there aren't enough health care workers. army roadblocks have shut off access to the hardest hit places. i held the hands of countless individuals as this terrible

disease to their lives away from them, dr. brantly wrote day. i witnessed the horror firsthand and i can remember every face and name. >> let's not turn a blind eye to what's happening because, if we do that, then we are in grave danger of losing our humanity. >> reporter: both families asking americans to pray for west africa and for them. kate snow, nbc news, atlanta. news tonight on the economic front. we learn today of some big changes coming to the business of compiling and determining credit scores in this country. this is likely to be good news for a lot of americans. our report on that tonight from nbc's stephanigosk. >> reporter: for millions of americans it's a moment they dread, the credit check. ranging from 300 to 850, a credit score is every consumer's key to a loan, for a car, a house, a credit card. >> the ideal score that you wa to get for the best loan is going to be about 720 or higher. if you fall below that, know

that you're probably not getting the best rate. >> reporter: too low a score, no loan. day one of the most popular credit score creators, fico, announced it is ready to boost the numbers and make borrowing easier, especially for the 64 million americans with medical debt collections on their report. >> when it comes to medical debt, a lot of consumers may inadvertently forget to pay it and it ends up going into collections. they thought it was already being paid by their insurance company. >> reporter: fico will now weigh that debt less heavily so consumers with unpaid medical bills and otherwise perfect credit could see their score jump 25 points. in fact, that now goes for any kind of paid-off debt. for example, say you didn't pay your phone bill and it went to a collection agency. in the past, even if it was eventually settled, that one bill could damage your credit score for years. now fico says if it's paid off, your score doesn't come down. ultimately, the new rules, once

adopted, could free up money into the economy and provide a much-needed jolt to spending. all good as long as down the road the borrowers still pay their bills. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. still ahead here for us on a friday night, found alive. a young girl swept away in the '04 tsunami. how she was discovered ten yrs later. an emotional family reunion. and later, we're hitting the road with half a million strong riding high on the hog. ankful f, the legacy of usaa auto insurance can be one of them. if you're a current or former military member or their family, get an autinsurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life.

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begins with arthritis pain and two pills. afternoon arrives and feeling good, but her knee pain returns... that's two more pills. the evening's event brings laughter, joy, and more pain... when jamie says... what's that like six pills today? yeah... i can take 2 aleve for all day relief. really, and... and that's it. this is kathleen... for my arthritis pain, i now choose aleve. get all day arthritis pain relief with an easy-open cap. halfway around the world tonight, an astonishing reunion for a family in indonesia. a young girl swept away by the 2004 tsunami that took so many lives, including, they thought, hers. but ten years later, she's been instead und alive. we get our report tonit from nbc's anne curry. >> reporter: all this mother uld hold on to for ten years was a photo of her two children, lost in the 2004 tsunami.

today, jamalia jana is overwhelmed with joy, unable to stop her tears. her daughter was found. god has given us a miracle, she says. my heart beat so fast when i saw her. she hugged me back and felt so comfortable in my arms. the 2004 soueast asian tsunami, one of the deadliest in history, killed nearly 228,000 people across 14 countes. it struck without warning, as we see in this video of children playing before being swept away. this mother told us she watched as one of her children was grabbed by the ocean. she was inconsolable. jamalia's daughter was just 4 when she disappeared. every day since, jamalia says, she prayed her daughter was safe. those prayers were answered when a relative just happened to see the girl's familiar face. the now 14-year-old says she remembers resting on a board and the next thing she knew she was on land.

she was rescued by a fisherman on a remote island, then raised by an elderly woman some 60 miles from home. reunited, jamalia says she recognized her daughter immediately. her mother's instinct, she says, all the proof she needs. with her daughter's return, the family has hope their son is also alive. hope and an indescribable joy, a chance to make up for lost time. anne curry, nbc news, new york. and we're back in a moment with the dramatic end to our long national nightmare 40 years ago tonight. at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease artitis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief

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nexium 40 mg is only available by prescription. talk to your doctor. for free home delivery, enroll in nexium direct today. it w it was the moment everyone knew it was over. three republican leaders in congress, hugh scott, barry goldwater and john rhodes, went to the white house to tell richard nin he would not survive impeachment, he would not survive watergate.

the very next day, 40 years ago tonight, a huge television audience watched as the president of the united states announced he would resign after insisting he would not. >> i have nevebeen a quitter. >> richard nixon said that all his political life. >> i don't believe that i ought to quit because i am not a quitter. >> through one crisis after another, he refused to give up, though he was never above self-pity. >> you don't have nixon to kick around anymore. >> six years after what he called his last press conference, nixon waelected president, then reelected in a landslide four years later. nixon was a study of psychosis and extremes. the same man who opened the door to china was also petty and vindictive and convinced he was surrounded by enemies. that led nixon twatergate and a conspiracy to obstruct justice. white house counsel john dean

broke ranks with nixon and exposed the cover-up, which is detailed in his new book. >> how could he so foolishly do things that would result in the destruction of his own presidency? and, sadly, the simple answer is he wasn't as savvy as i thought he was. >> i shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. >> i'm a fighter. i just didn't want to quit. also, i thought it would be an admission of guilt, which of course it was. >> former president nixon fought to restore his reputation, always refusing to examine himself too closely. >> as far as sitting down and psychoanalyzing myself and saying, now, how could i have been a better person, it's just not my bag. >> when nixon died in 1994, five living presidents attended his funeral. bill clinton said nixon should be judged by his entire career and not just watergate. >> the enduring lesson of richard nixon is that he never

gave up being part of the action and passion of his times. >> another lesson can be found in nixon's own words the day he left office. >> always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. and then you destroy yourself. >> the endlessly fascinating saga of richard nixon 40 years ago. and as we head into the weekend, there's news from the heavens tonight. here's hoping you have a cloudless sky where you live this coming sunday night for the supermoon, 12% bigger, 30% brighter than our regular moon. it will be at least a year before we e anything else like it. when we come back after a break, harry smith at the all-american ritual that rumbles into a small town every summer at this time. so imaginewhat if there was a new class of medicine at works differently to lower blood sugar?

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peanuts! peanuts! crowd cheers! choose nexium twenty-foureop hour for frequent heartburn. i'd always wanted the protection of the purple pill® now, i have it. get nexium level protection ™ and for a limited time save six dollars at nexiu4hr.com finally here tonight, because of the stories in the news of late, we sometimes have to remind ourselves that it's summer after all. so we figured it was time for a ride away from it all to a place in souakota that gets very noisy d very cwded this time of year with one of the great spectacles on two wheels.

this year it was attended by our own harry smith. >> reporter: every august in the black hills of south dakota, you can hear thunder in the valleys. this thunder doesn't come from the sky. it comes from the road. motorcycles by the hundreds and thousands descending on the tiny town of sturgis for the annual motorcycle rally. >> there's nothing better, harry. harry, i'm telling you. >> reporter: and if the crowd looks a bit menacing, the trh is most of the folks here are less sons of anarchy than guys from rotary. >> you're not a hell's angel? >> no, i'm not. >> reporter: what are you? >> i'm a police officer. >> reporter: think of it as a kind of family reunion for free spirits or people yearning to be. shelly denning has been here eight times. >> everyone who loves their motorcycle is here doing what we love to do. and you can just feel it. >> reporter: there's lots of vets here. they say there's a connection on the road you don't find in civilian life. lloyd williams served eight

years in the marine corps. >> you get back in the real world it's a little bit boring. you get on a motorcycle and you get to have some fun, ride the edge a little bit. >> reporter: and surprise. married couples, too. robert morgan had his wife's picture painted on the fender of his bike. >> all the other women go, oh, that's so nice. >> reporter: are you flattered? >> um, no, not exactly. >> reporter: there's a lot of america to see in these parts. mt. rushmore is nearby, and the even bigger crazy horse is just down the road. so the bikers ride the hills and come to town for a beer. jason peterson said it best. >> it's like therapy. drive down the road, and nothing else matters. >> reporter: there's blu on the front porch and bikes to envy. an unconventional convention for the folks who want to ride free. harry smith, nbc news, sturgis, south dakota. >> long may you run. that's our broadcast for friday night. for this week, thank you for

being here with us. i'm brian williams. lester holt will be with you this weekend. we of course hope to see you right back here on monday night. in the meantime, please have a good weekend. good night.

so was anybody doing drug or sleeping together on the set? >> it is negative, well, [ bleep ]. >> new saved by the bell controversy. is it all one big