lester holt: they did.s boss and agreed to lead them to el chapo's five safehouses. [spanish] lester holt: a squad of more than 50 mexican marines and us agents swarmed the area. drew and brady flew in from the base with another contingent of mexican marines. drew caught much of the operation on his phone. i said, perfect. it's done. he is done. lester holt: what followed was a tense cat and mouse game as the mexican marines raided el chapo's safehouses and stash pads throughout culiacán in search of their prize. first message that comes in from my guy says, "cameras everywhere. the place is a fortress." lester holt: drew understood that when he and brady arrived at one of the safehouses. and i see the steel-reinforced door. it's about 6 inches thick. taking the marines probably 10 to 15 minutes to get through that door. lester holt: these images inside those safehouses revealed details about el chapo's drug operation and his life underground, like these fake green bananas that drew says the cartel filled w

lester. >> all right, tom, amazing. we're not all that far from each other and what a different world we're living in right now as that eye passes over. we've been following this shifting track of the storm all evening. al roker joins us now. al, again, it just made landfall. you saw tom there in relative calm. >> that's right. it happened at siesta key, lester, and so now it is making its way to the northeast 15 miles per hour with 120-mile-per-hour winds, and right now you can see, siesta key is the spot, landfall now, it will continue to make its way across the state between orlando and melbourne as a category 1 storm eventually and then out. now, as far as the winds are concerned, we are talking right now observable wind gusts, 59 in tampa. 47 miles per hour in sarasota. gainesville, 31. we're expecting upwards of 129-mile-per-hour wind gusts in sarasota, lakeland, orlando, 61 miles, captiva, 63, and then the storm surge, anywhere from 6 to 9 feet around tampa, sarasota, 9 to 13 feet, fort myers beach, 8 to 12 feet

lester. >> all right, tom, thanks. >>> al, milton is moving faster than expected. >> that's right, lester. in fact, the system pushing to the north. storm surge, something we're concerned about, 120-mile-per-hour winds moving northeast at 15. we do have tornado watches still in effect until 9:00 this evening. it makes landfall sometime, we think, between 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. with tropical force winds. right now these wind gusts, 39 in tampa, 48 in west palm, gainesville, 30, and some places could see wind gusts of up to 127 miles per hour in sarasota. the storm surge again going to be a big issue. we're going to watch that very closely, and then as we also watch to see what happens as far as the rainfall is concerned, we are talking about upwards of 18 inches of rain. we've got a flood risk that's going to be stretching from orlando to the east coast and back down to sarasota, lester. still a very volatile situation. >> this is something else. al, thank you. >>> they are bracing for a major storm surge in ft. myers to our south. sam brock is there. sam, it's already been a dangerous d

had no military involvement in these strikes tonight, lester, but the u.s. did get a heads-up from the israelis that this retaliation was coming. now, even though the u.s. wasn't involved in the strikes tonight, there has been a lobbying campaign ever since that october 1st attack by iran. iran lobbing nearly 200 ballistic missiles at israel. since that time u.s. officials have been urging the israelis to make any retaliation or response proportional. that appears to be what we're seeing so far tonight with what we just heard from raf about the israelis targeting military sites as opposed to energy or nuclear facilities. now, the kinds of things that the u.s. would be urging them to do are to hit targets that may be military in nature that they could have -- the iranians could use to attack the israelis, launchers for those ballistic missiles, warehouses and stockpiles for some of their missiles and even their drones, lester. >> it comes a week after a serious u.s. intelligence leak essentially assessing what israel's response might be. how is that sizing up

lester. >> all right, tom, amazing. we're not all that far from each other and what a different world we're living in right now as that eye passes over. we've been following this shifting track of the storm all evening. al roker joins us now. al, again, it just made landfall. you saw tom there in relative calm. >> that's right. it happened at siesta key, lester, and so now it is making its way to the northeast 15 miles per hour with 120-mile-per-hour winds, and right now you can see, siesta key is the spot, landfall now, it will continue to make its way across the state between orlando and melbourne as a category 1 storm eventually and then out. now, as far as the winds are concerned, we are talking right now observable wind gusts, 59 in tampa. 47 miles per hour in sarasota. gainesville, 31. we're expecting upwards of 129-mile-per-hour wind gusts in sarasota, lakeland, orlando, 61 miles, captiva, 63, and then the storm surge, anywhere from 6 to 9 feet around tampa, sarasota, 9 to 13 feet, fort myers beach, 8 to 12 feet

i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other.ne ♪ ♪ you say you're all alone well that's real sad ♪ ♪ and you keep leaving notes stuck on my door ♪ ♪ guess you're hungry for some more oh well that's too bad ♪ ♪ 'cause i ain't that lonely yet ♪ ♪ no i ain't that lonely yet ♪ ♪ after what you put me through ♪ ♪ no i ain't that lonely yet ♪ ♪ nothin' left you can do to try and bring me 'round ♪ ♪ 'cause everything you do just brings me down whoa ♪ ♪ {chorus} ♪ ♪ i ain't that lonely yet ♪ ♪ no i ain't that lonely yet ♪ ♪ after what you put me through ♪ ♪ no i ain't that lonely yet ♪♪ [cheers and applause] >> kelly: welcome to "the kelly clarkson show." give it up for my band. [cheers and applause] that was ain't that lonely yet from 1994. he is working on his first studio album in nearly ten years coming up next month and the first single is a duet with post malone. let's welcome our first guest. he lives two floors up or he hosts his show. they haven't let him out of 30 rock since he started at "saturday night live." he just lives h

lester? >> stephanie gosk tonight. you. >>> in 60 seconds a new battle over abortion playing out in the supreme court on the first day of the new term. >>> plus, with one month to election day why new comments about immigrants are drawing heavy scrutiny. scrutiny. rer skin. with bimzelx, this is my shot to say i'm back. most people got 100% clear skin. some after the first dose. serious side effects, including suicidal thoughts and behavior, infections and lowered ability to fight them, liver problems, and inflammatory bowel disease have occurred. tell your doctor if these happen or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine or plan to. start to get yourself back with bimzelx. ask your dermatologist about bimzelx today. you'll love this! centrum silver is clinically proven to support memory in older adults. so you can keep saying... you mastered it! you fixed it! you nailed it! you did it! with centrum silver. clinically proven to support memory in older adults. [thinking] someone smells "too fresh." did she take my old spice

lester? >> all right, al, thanks very much. on the way here today, we saw roads leading out of the flood zones filled with traffic, many who witnessed what helene did a few weeks ago, complied with mandatory evacuation orders and made their escapes from the storm zone, leaving behind community likes this one empty and vulnerable. tonight, time is running out with the ferocious category 5 hurricane milton heading straight for the florida gulf coast. >> you must leave. i'm not asking you to leave. i'm telling you must leave. >> in vulnerable areas, police blasting out last-minute notices to evacuate. >> quickly secure your home or business and safely evacuate the area. >> there are signs many here are heeding the dire warnings. >> absolutely going to leave now. take whatever i can get in my car. >> bumper-to-bumper traffic heading out of town, while some of the region's most iconic communities look like ghost towns. in st. pete beach, we found the streets mostly empty today, except for piles of

lester? >> all right, raf sanchez, thanks. >>> and chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in southern lebanon right across the border from israel. richard, you've covered this conflict for a very long time. does it feel certain that israel will retaliate here? >> oh, israel will absolutely retaliate. and prime minister netanyahu is already giving some hint at what israel intends to do. tonight he listed off the names of several militant leaders who have attacked israel in the past. nearly all of them subsequently assassinated by israel. so israel could carry out targeted attacks against iranian officials believed to be associated with this missile barrage. there could be attacks on nuclear sites, military facilities. how far israel goes will determine the course of this war in the middle east. lester? >> all right, richard engel, thanks. as you heard, the u.s. actively participated in defending against the iranian strike as the president and vice president kept a close watch on the situ

lester? >> all right, peter alexander tonight, thank you. >>> this evening, the trump campaign firing back after controversial comments from president biden as both campaigns focus on crucial latino voters. garrett haake is in arizona tonight. >> reporter: tonight, former president trump in battleground georgia, talking about shutting down the border if he's elected. >> it will be done in the first hour of the first day. >> reporter: while the trump campaign is slamming president biden following these comments overnight appearing to reference trump's legal troubles. >> we got to lock him up. [ applause ] politically lock him up. lock him out. that's what we have to do. >> reporter: the trump campaign saying, quote, joe biden just admitted the truth. he and kamala's plan all along has been to persecute their opponent, president trump. the white house responding late today. >> he said "politically. politically lock him out." that is what he is referring to. >> reporter: meanwhile, there is grow

lester. >> hallie jackson, thanks. >>> and the director of u.s. cybersecurity telling nbc news that america's adversaries are waging an all-out effort to hack and influence the election. tom costello reports from inside the command center. >> our secure floor. >> all cybersecurity. >> so cybersecurity and physical security of critical infrastructure. >> reporter: it's in this room that america's director of cyber and infrastructure security, cisa, says the nation's shields are up with u.s. adversaries targeting the elections. >> what we are seeing are russia, iran, china conducting influence operations, disinformation operations focused on two goals, to undermine american confidence in the legitimacy of our elections and to stoke partisan discord. >> reporter: last week pennsylvania election officials quickly labeled this video a fake, which depicted somebody allegedly ripping up ballots for donald trump. >> fbi, the intelligence community and cisa came out affirming that it was a fake russian video. look, we are going to see more of this. >> repo

lester? >> rehema ellis, thank you. >>> turn to a story just breaking, a controversy involving new york congressman mike lawler shown in a photo in black face wearing a michael jackson costume two decades ago. hallie jackson is following this. halle, lawler already responding this evening? >> yeah, lester, he is. he is not denying the authenticity of the photo which was obtained by "the new york times." he says it happened at a college halloween party in 2006. he was 20 years old. "the times" reports lawler was well-known on campus as a big fan of jackson. lawler telling nbc news tonight, and i'm quoting here, my costume was intended as the sincerest form of lattery. for anyone who takes offense of the photo, he adds, i am sorry. lawler seen as a rising republican star in deep blue new york with his house race one of the most closely watched in the country, key to gop chances of keeping control of the chamber. lawler's democratic opponent has not yet commented. lester? >> hallie jackson, than

lester? >> all right. garrett haake, thank you. >>> and tonight vice president harris is going after republican voters in three critical states who might be open to a candidate other than former president trump. kelly o'donnell is on the trail with the vice president. >> reporter: a battleground trio today. pennsylvania, michigan, and here in wisconsin. >> i ask for your vote. >> reporter: where vice president harris is looking for red bricks to fortify the democrats' blue wall in a tight race. >> donald trump is an unserious man. but the consequences of him being president of the united states are brutally serious. >> reporter: joined on the trail by former gop congresswoman liz cheney, who said she believes many women who object to abortion are also worried about consequences for women's health care from strict state abortion laws. >> that's not sustainable for us. as a country. and it has to change. >> reporter: cheney, a fierce trump critic who lost her wyoming primary in a landslide, now

lester?right, gabe gutierrez starting us off, thanks. >>> and the harris campaign tonight zeroing in on that unusual campaign event by former president trump to try to cast doubt on his fitness to be president again. hallie jackson with more on this. >> reporter: vice president harris looking to flip the script against former president trump, putting his age and health front and center. her campaign pointing to mr. trump's unusual soundtrack session overnight, after that pause for medical help for audience members. ♪ there's no need to feel down ♪ >> reporter: mr. trump today calling the interlude amazing, and a great evening. >> it was awesome. i was dancing with him. i loved it. >> reporter: but the harris campaign suggesting mr. trump appeared lost, confused, and frozen, as democrats ramp up a push to cast doubt on mr. trump's mental fitness. >> he's confused. he's a nearly 80-year-old man. one. >> if anyone gets out to vote on >> reporter: they're pointing to stumbles like this one. >> if

lester? >> hallie jackson starting us off. thank you. you can see hallie's complete interview on nbcnews.com. >>> meanwhile, former president trump returning to battleground north carolina today after trying to appeal to latino voters in florida. garrett haake is covering the trump campaign for us. >> reporter: donald trump returning tonight to the tar heel state for the second straight day, looking to shore up a southern battleground that's voted for republicans for president in the last three elections, but remains competitive now. >> we're going to win north carolina. >> reporter: earlier, holding a roundtable with latino community leaders in south florida, boosting about his support. >> an incredible community. and i liked them and they liked me. now they're seeing numbers that are shocking. >> reporter: and unleashing a torrent of personal insults against vice president harris. >> she's lazy as hell and she's got that reputation. she's a radical left lunatic. >> reporter: meanwhile, form

lester? >> all right. garrett haake, thank you. >>> vice president harris crisscrossing battleground michigan today where she focused on the economy as she prepares her closing pitch to voters tomorrow. here's kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: all in on michigan today. with vice president harris making three stops. her job here, hammering her economic message. >> my approach will strengthen america in many ways including our economy. donald trump will weaken america and our economy. >> reporter: the vice president seeing a semiconductor plant in saginaw. >> nice to meet you. >> reporter: meeting union labor trainees in macomb county. >> on the issue specifically of what is good for unions and union labor, he's been awful. >> reporter: tonight in ann arbor a rare rally reunion with running mate tim walz, who met with union machinists in wisconsin this morning and pounded former president trump's record. >> he talks a big game. but he was an absolute disaster for working people. >> reporter: while

lester? >> peter alexander starting us off tonight. thanks. >>> tonight, former president trump with his own pitch to voters, going after vice president harris on the economy and the border, while making no mention of those racist remarks by a comedian at his madison square garden rally. here is garrett haake. >> reporter: tonight, former president trump back in battleground pennsylvania. >> we have six days, six days to go, joe. we got to win. >> reporter: after making his own pitch to voters ahead of he'll deliver change on immigration. vice president harris' closing argument tonight. trump vowing he'll deliver change on immigration. >> kamala harris has obliterated our borders. >> reporter: and the economy. >> millions of americans are lying awake at night worried about how they'll pay their bills, because kamala wrecked their backlas family finances. >> reporter: but also facing new fallout after his madison square garden rally and bipartisan backlash over a comedian's racist remarks, inc

. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening, and welcome. seeking to keep the federal election interference case against donald trump alive, special counsel jack smith has laid out a 165-page legal argument that mr. trump's actions to overturn the 2020 election results were those of a private candidate for president and unrelated to his job. smith in a court filing unsealed today says trump resorted to crimes to try to stay in office after his loss, launching increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states smith has tried to find a path that complies with the u.s. supreme court ruling that mr. trump has limited immunity for actions taken in his official capacity as president. smith providing newly heard evidence in the case including conversations between the then president and his vice president, mike pence, in which pence urged him to abandon his quest to try and stay in office. tonight, donald trump posting online calling the case unconstitutional and a witch hunt. ken dilanian has late development

. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening, and welcome. kamala harris taking a detour from the battleground states tonight for a strategic stop in texas, a place she plans to frame as the heart of strict abortion bans adopted across the country. one of her closing arguments as the race enters its last miles, today for a second day harris harnessing the power of celebrity sharing the spotlight with some of her highest-profile endorsers, beyonce taking the stage with her this evening in houston. donald trump, who also happens to be in texas, calling out the vp for spending time with celebrities as he highlighted border security and crimes police say were committed by undocumented migrants, once more comparing america to a garbage can. the former president also looking to widen his appeal among male voters. peter alexander begins our reporting tonight. >> reporter: lester, this line winds around for blocks, thousands gathering here to see vice president harris alongside pop superstar beyonce here in her hometown. the campaign looking to get s

lester? >> okay. richard engel, thank you. >>> and off the coast of alaska a dangerously close encounter for us to report. a u.s. military jet capturing the moment when a russian fighter plane came alarmingly close, prompting the american jet to turn away. it happened in international airspace. a u.s. commander said it was unsafe, unprofessional, and endangered all. >>> in 60 seconds, we're hours away from a potentially crippling strike by dock workers from new england to texas. the goods you use that could be affected. next. okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. yay - woo hoo! ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, nutrients for immune health. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. (♪♪) >>> welcome back. i'm liz kreutz in los angeles with late-breaking news. mlb legend pete rose has died at the age of 83. rose is considered one of the greatest and most controversial baseball players of all time. nicknamed charlie hustle, he spent most of

lester? >> gabe gutierrez, thanks. >>> in florida the destructive power of hurricanes milton and helene coming into sharper focus tonight. the landscape changed in parts of the gulf coast. stephanie gosk saw the damage by land and sea. >> reporter: tonight the barrier islands on florida's west coast are digging out. >> nobody ever expects this. >> reporter: manasota key was slammed by the brunt of milton's wind and surge. >> very challenging times for sure. >> reporter: fire lieutenant chad wynn gave us a boat tour of the worst of it. >> it's something we'll never get back. it's crazy, part of history's truly gone. >> reporter: while the manatees swim unfazed, the key is likely changed forever. the land connected before the hurricane, but when the storm came in it was so strong it blew a hole through the island. further down the coast houses are decimated. >> that sea wall is there to protect the houses, but hurricane milton was so strong that it actually picked up those huge boulders and hur

here's lester holt. good evening. we're coming on the air with breaking news and what appears to be a major escalation in the middle east. tonight, iranian state tv is reporting there have been explosions on targets in tehran. it comes just weeks after iran launched a direct missile attack on israel. this escalation comes amid growing concerns about a wider all out war breaking in the region. i want to bring in our pentagon correspondent, courtney qb. courtney, what are you hearing from there? yeah, so this is something that we've been waiting for, for several weeks now. and this is israel and israeli military response to the large scale attack by iran. several weeks ago on israel. now, the iran on that night launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles towards israel, several of them striking. fortunately, the majority of them were able to be intercepted by the israeli military with some help from the u.s. military. but since then, we have been hearing from u.s. and israeli officials that a response was coming. well, that

lester. you can see those heavy sheets of rain all around me. the wind gusts blowing around those trees, which are probably the biggest and best indicator for you to see just how powerful it is. and just to let our viewers know we are taking extra precautions because of all that debris that we've been reporting on for days left over from hurricane helene, which could become lethal projectiles. that is why we are not out there in the elements as much as we are. we are taking precautions, but this is also the reason why we're seeing suspended operations for at least five different county emergency rescues. they say that this is not something they're going to play around with. we heard this for days. they warned us that they would not be able to perform the same overnight emergency rescues that we saw with hurricane helene, and the big risk, the big factor is that debris that would be flying around. so here in the tampa area, i know there's so many questions on what exactly the storm surge or th

lester. >> all right, ken dilanian starting us off, thanks. >>> let me bring in garrett haake covering the trump campaign. garrett, with early voting already under way in many states, the question being asked tonight, could this impact the race? >> well, lester, the conduct described in the filing has already led to donald trump being impeached and that month's long blockbuster congressional investigation. it's hard to imagine that new details alone revealed could shift the opinion of voters about an issue that has been so thoroughly publicly vetted already. but all of the polling shows this is going to be an incredibly close race, right to the end and relitigating such a divisive chapter in the trump presidency is certainly not the way the trump campaign wants to be closing out this race, lester. >> okay, garrett haake, thank you. >>> the middle east is on edge tonight for israel's potential retaliation after that massive missile attack by iran. while most were shot down, we are getting a fi

lester holt joins us from new york right now. >>> breaking news tonight, the tragic death of a former member of one of the world's biggest boy bands. the news just coming in, liam payne, former singer with the band, one direction, dead at just 31 after a fall at an argentina hotel. what we're learning from officials in argentina tonight. >>> also this evening, with just 20 days until the election, the candidates on a media blitz. vice president kamala harris giving her first formal interview to fox news looking to broaden her appeal to republican voters. >>> former president donald trump appearing at two town halls and hoping to close his gender gap with women declaring himself the father of ivf to an all female crowd. >>> the push to resentence the menendez brothers for the 1989 killing of their parents. nearly two dozen family members rallying for their release. >>> the new jersey detective fatally shot in a home invasion. what was the motive? >>> weeks after our jailhouse interview, the texas death row inmate with autism denied clemency just one day before he is set to become the f

lester. >> all right. peter, thank you. >>> already the trump campaign is making allegations that there has been election cheating in battleground pennsylvania, but they produced no evidence. hallie jackson has a reality check. >> reporter: videos like these of long lines in bucks county amplified by the trump camp alleging something nefarious. >> the trump/vance campaign has just filed a huge lawsuit against bucks county for turning away our voters. >> reporter: but in reality, bucks county says they were trying to stick with business hours and miscommunicated that plan to some people waiting to submit mail ballots. now, after a court order, they'll be open through friday, then there's this allegation. >> they've already started cheating in lancaster, they've cheated. we caught them with 2,600 votes, and every vote was written by the same person, ha, ha, i wonder how that happened. >> reporter: they weren't votes. they were hundreds of fraudulent registration applications, and officials also wonder why it

lester? >> all right, peter, thank you. >>> former president trump is in arizona, making controversial comments about the special counsel. garrett haake joins us. garrett, you're at trump's rally tonight. >> reporter: lester, the former president was heavily focused on the border and the economy here, issues he believes will propel him in arizona and when he campaigns later tonight in nevada. tonight, with less than two weeks until election day, former president trump hitting critical battlegrounds, including the campus of arizona state. >> i will launch the largest deportation program in american history. we'll get them out. >> reporter: and overnight in georgia. >> i'd like to begin by asking a very simple question. are you better off now than you were four years ago? >> reporter: a new poll shows trump going into the final stretch leading vice president harris by two points nationally, within the margin of error, and showing most americans, 54%, disapprove of harris' job performance as vic

lester? >> erin mclaughlin, thank you. >>> there is breaking news from texas right now where a civil court judge has temporarily halted tonight's scheduled execution of robert roberson, whose story we have been reporting here on "nightly news." the state attorney general, however, is challenging the judge's decision as we speak, meaning the execution could possibly go forward this evening still. for 20 years, robert roberson's story has never changed. did you harm your daughter nikki? >> no, sir, i did not harm my daughter. >> but what has changed is the now controversial shaken baby syndrome diagnosis that convicted him of killing his 2-year-old daughter in 2002. you did nothing that led to her death? >> no, sir. >> roberson said he had rushed nikki to the hospital after she had fallen from her bed and he found her unconscious. doctors determined the little girl had bleeding behind her eyes and brain, which was also swollen, three symptoms known in medicine as the triad. at the time, doctors