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Tonight, the death toll from Haleen reaching a grim new milestone as hopes fade in the search for survivors. A week after Haleen made landfall, the growing desperation, the deaths from the storm soaring beyond 200. Inside the urgent mission to deliver relief to cut off communities. Our interview with the administrator of FEMA, is aid flowing fast enough? And just in, the verdict in the federal trial of three former Memphis police officers in the beating death of Tyree Nichols. The controversy for a New York Republican congressman, a photo surfacing of him in blackface for Halloween nearly two decades ago. How he's responding. Kamala Harris campaigning in Battleground, Wisconsin with Liz Cheney, the former Republican Republican Congresswoman and fierce critic of Donald Trump as the former President hits the trail in another key swing state. Plus, his wife, Melania Trump, coming out in support of abortion rights. Her dramatic break from her husband. Our report on the Texas death row inmate convicted in the shaken baby death of his daughter. But was it based on outdated science? Did you harm your daughter, Nicki? No, sir. I did not harm my daughter. The fight to stop his execution. Our nation's capital has about 700 parks, and he's on a mission to visit every last one.

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I'm going to just see how many I can see. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome Misery and still more loss in the Southeast, almost a full week after Hurricane Helene swept through the region, causing the catastrophic flooding that ripped apart so many communities. At least 215 people are now reported dead in six states, and that number is almost certain to rise. Helene, now the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland United States since Katrina, almost two decades ago. Rescues still going on almost seven days later. Sam Brock is following this It's still unfolding tragedy from Asheville, North Carolina. And Sam, so many people are still unaccounted for. Yeah, Lester, that was the real revelation right now. Bunkum County saying that figure went from four yesterday to 200 to night. But with homes in debris on the roads like the ones behind me in communication gaps, it's a figure that is constantly fluctuating. Almost seven days after Hurricane Helene battered large stretches of the south, the search for those unaccounted for continues as new stories of survival come to light. The water rose so fast and got so strong that I just had to grab a post and hold on.

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The devastating death total is only expected to grow. So far, at least 215 fatalities now confirmed across six different states. From Florida's Penales County, with around a dozen drownings, to Georgia's statewide suffering, recording more than 30 fatalities. Then there's North Carolina, where more than 100 have died. Search and rescue efforts taken some miraculous turns. Former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle using a private helicopter to deliver supplies, spotting a stranded survivor only because he was hoisting a mirror, also in the mountains. Employees of Skyfire AI firing up their drone and showing us how they work with governments and even private companies to locate the missing.Aid for local law enforcement to help search and rescue, to help find routes, to better get aid in and out.We take a bird's-eye view of the destruction in Burnsville, North Carolina, an hour outside of Ashe. Is this the area they've been searching? There has been a lot of search and rescue in this area. I know it's been very difficult for them to get up here. This is one of the areas they're saying still needs a lot of supplies to get moved in. On this day, choppers, likely medevacs, fly overhead as the Skyfire team shows us roads that have been buckled, broken, and chopped off.

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All the while, families wait. We've had conversations with people who haven't seen their loved ones in a week, and it's completely heartbreaking. Their efforts, even helping companies like CVS who determine road and bridge status so they could get medications to patients in need quickly and search for several employees who were unaccounted for following the storm. The damage On the ground, in this case, an access bridge by a local quarry that's all but gone, indicative of the challenges that lie ahead for restoring infrastructure like water. Swana Noah Fire Chief, Anthony Pendlin, addressing the decimated pipes. I don't think there's a word How to describe it. I don't know how long this is going to take. For so many tonight, the road ahead is long, but their mere survival is something to celebrate. The front door, the water pushed it in, and it pushed in the back door, and within 30 seconds, it went from the ground to neck level. Sam Brock, NBC News, Asheville, North Carolina. Joining me now is Deanne Criswell, FEMA Administrator. Administrator Criswell, thank you for being with us. I know you were back in the air in a chopper today. Are you seeing places that you simply can't get to on the ground still?

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Lester, we are. We're seeing communities that are still isolated and having a difficult time getting commodities, talking to local officials and hearing about how they're getting food and water up into some of these more isolated parts of their communities. But we're seeing everybody come together, local, state, federal, nonprofit, private sector, really coming together to make a difference. As the lead federal agency on the ground there, what's the order of priority right now? It is still life safety. There's a lot of search and rescue teams here on the ground. We want to make sure that we're getting them into the communities. The next one is the commodity delivery, keeping that flow of commodities moving into the communities, making sure we're reaching people that perhaps haven't been reached yet. And then the next big one is going to be the water restoration. Once we can get that water restored, we know a lot of people are going to be able to start their recovery process. You mentioned a search mission. Is there a recovery mission right now? Are you accounting for those we have not heard from since the beginning of all this? That's the big focus for the state and all the local officials here is making sure that they do account for everybody.

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And so they are still searching and trying to make sure we've reached everybody. We hope to find more and reunite those that haven't been accounted for with their loved ones. Let me quickly ask you about what people should expect from FEMA right now. You know there's frustration. What's your response? We've been moving commodities, people, resources into this area since before the storm hit. We are going to continue to bring those resources in, listening to the local officials. One of the reasons I'm here, so I can see firsthand what's needed. People should know that we are going to be here till every person has everything they need. My interview with the FEMA administrator earlier today. Just in tonight, the split verdict in the federal trial on the police beating death of Tyreen Nichols during a traffic stop in 2023. Rahema Ellis is with us. Rahema Tell us what happened in court. For sure. Lester, late this afternoon, verdicts came down for three former Memphis police officers accused of federal civil rights violations in the case of Tyree Nichols. The case stems from a traffic stop last year. Police approach Nichols for reckless driving, according to a statement from Memphis Police Department.

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Officers say Nichols tried to run away, and then a confrontation occurred. The 29-year-old died a few days later. The three former officers were among the five fired carried after last year's beating, which sparked a national outcry. In today's verdict, all three were convicted of charges of witness tampered. Demetrius Haley was found also guilty on four of six charges, including a lesser count involving bodily injury. Lester? All right, Rahema Ellis. Thank you. We'll turn to a story just breaking, a controversy involving New York congressman Mike Lawler, shown in a photo in blackface, wearing a Michael Jackson costume two decades ago. Halley Jackson has Following this, Halley Lawler already responding this evening. Yeah, Lester, he is, and he's 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, with Lawler telling BBC News tonight, and I'm quoting here, My costume was intended as the sincerest form of flattery. For anyone who takes offense to the photo, he adds, I am sorry.

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Lawler is 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. Halley Jackson. Thank you. Now to the Race for President with former President Trump speaking on the economy in battleground, Michigan, today, while Vice President Harris is in Wisconsin with a prominent Republican, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney. Here's Gabe Gutieris. She was once one of the most conservative members of Congress. But tonight, Liz Cheney is standing alongside Vice President Harris. This year, I am proudly casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. The Vice President campaigning today in Ripon, Wisconsin, the birthplace of the Republican Party back in 1854. He who violated the oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America. And make no mistake, he who, if given the chance, would violate it again. Meanwhile, former President Trump slamming yesterday's release by a judge of new evidence from Special Counsel Jack Smith in the now delayed January sixth case, including Trump, allegedly responding, So what? The report's Mike Pence was in danger.

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This was a weaponization of government, and that's why it was released 30 days before the election. And it's nothing new in there. Trump today in Battleground, Michigan, blaming Harris for the ongoing port strike that's threatening to raise prices. Kamala Harris has unleashed nothing but Chaos and suffering for American labor with historic inflation. She's made life excruciating for the blue collar workers. Here in Battleground, Wisconsin, Trump supporters we spoke with are deeply skeptical of Cheney, who lost her GOP primary in a landslide. Do you think that Liz Cheney speaks for the Republican Party? No. Absolutely not. But Jerry Eiler, who once voted for Trump, now backs Harris. Did Donald Trump drive you away from the Republican Party? Absolutely. I'm totally disillusioned with the way the MAGA group has gone and all the people who stand there and pretend his lies are truth. While Harris has received the most support from organized labor earlier today, the International Association of Firefighters voted not to endorse any candidate. That's seen as a blow to Harris just weeks after the Teamsters Union did the same, Lester. All right, Gabe, thanks very much. There is breaking news on that dock worker strike that has shut down major ports along the East and Gulf Coast.

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Let's bring in Tom Castello. Tom, what do we know? Breaking in the last few minutes, the 45,000 longshoremen have agreed to suspend their strike because the Maritime Alliance, essentially the employers, have agreed to now a 62% pay hike, up from their first offer, a 50%. So they're suspending the strike until mid-January. And that means there should be little to no disruption on getting goods to store shelves. And this now will end well before the election, Lester. All right, Tom Castell with We've got breaking news. Thank you. In 60 seconds, Melania Trump's defense of abortion rights, breaking with her husband on the issue. Up next. There is a divide between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on abortion rights, and now Melania Trump is weighing in. Here's Garret Hink. Tonight, the Trump family, a house divided on the issue of abortion rights. Former First Lady Melania Trump defending them in an unreleased memoir, writing, Restricting a woman's right to who choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body, according to a Guardian report, unconfirmed by NBC News. And Mrs. Trump posting today. There is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth, individual freedom.

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Her position in stark contrast to that of her husband, the Republican presidential nominee who opposes federal abortion rights while supporting exceptions for rape, incest, if the mother's life is in danger, saying decisions on restrictions should be left to the states. Former President Trump also regularly boasting about the repeal of Roe v Wade, falsely claiming majorities supported that decision. Democrats, Republicans, and Everybody else and every legal scholar wanted it to be brought back into the States. Despite their disagreement on abortion rights, Melania Trump remains a strong political supporter of her husband, who spoke out late tonight. We spoke about it, and I said, You have to write what you believe. I'm not going to tell you what to do. You have to write what you believe. I said, You have to stick with your heart. I've said that to everybody. But tonight, the Harris campaign highlighting the split between the Trumps, releasing a statement that reads in part, Sadly for the women across America, Mrs. Trump's husband firmly disagrees with her and blaming former President Trump for abortion restrictions in Republican-led states, saying it, Threatens their health, their freedom, and their lives. Garret Hake, NBC News, Saginaw, Michigan.

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And next for us tonight, my interview with a man on death row who would be the first to be executed for a conviction tied to shaken baby syndrome. Now, the lead detective says a grave injustice was done. We're back now with a story I have a Texas man said to be executed in two weeks for a crime many, including the detective who arrested him, believe never occurred. In an exclusive interview, I spoke to him on Death Row as a movement builds to save his life. Robert Robertson has spent more than two decades on Texas's death row, convicted of fatally shaking his two-year-old daughter, Nikki, in 2002. Did you harm your daughter, Nikki? No, sir. I did not harm my daughter. Robertson said he woke up one night to find Nikki had fallen out of bed. Hours later, she was unconscious. Her lips blew. He rushed her to the hospital. And you told the medical staff that she had fallen? Yes, sir. They didn't believe my story. Detective Brian Wharton from the Palestine Police Department was called to the hospital. They were frantically working on this child, trying to figure out what was going on with her.

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And somewhere in there, Shaken baby came into the vernacular. The medical staff told the detective that Nicki showed signs of abuse and believed she had been shaken to death. And then there was Robertson's curious demeanor. He wasn't upset. He He had a flat effect. That was a red flag as far as you were concerned? Well, it struck us as odd. Nicki was pronounced dead, her father charged with her death, and a year later, he was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to die. He is totally innocent. And not just that, there was no crime. Robertson's current attorney believes Nicki was misdiagnosed, and that after detecting bleeding behind her eyes and on her brain, which was also swollen, together known as the Triad, the doctors looked no further for a cause. Back then, it was seen as almost a magical formula. You don't need to look at anything else. You can assume abuse occurred in the form of violent shaking. If not shaken baby, then what killed Nicki? There was this tragic death of a chronically ill child. The doctors missed the fact she had a severe life-threatening pneumonia But at trial, Robertson's jury never heard the full extent of Nicki's chronic health history.

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More than 40 doctor visits over the span of her short life and a fever of over 104 two days before she died. And then prescribed medications that could only have pushed her further over the edge by suppressing her ability to breathe. Information the police never looked into. Did you have a chance to look into her medical history before arresting Robert? No, we did not look into her medical history. Again, we were chasing an abuse case. Pediatrician Dr. Andy Aznaz, who was not involved in the case, says identifying abuse requires a thorough investigation. When making the diagnosis of abuse of head trauma, context is absolutely critical. No one can make this diagnosis in the absence of a lot of other important information. And neither police nor the jury knew Robertson had autism explaining his perceived lack of emotion. He wasn't diagnosed until 2018. Wharton, now a minister, believes he helped send an innocent man to die. Why are you here? Because I owe Robert nothing less. And so it's my responsibility to help give him a voice, to help him be heard because he is an innocent man. Thousands are fighting to save his life, including a large bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers, some even praying with him on death row.

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All of Robertson's The appeals so far have been denied. Unless the courts or Texas governor Greg Abbott step in, Robertson will be executed on October 17th. I know the part of Robert that I hear in my head is that childlike commitment to hope, and that he would say that I can't give up hope. Can his life be saved at this Gosh, I pray it can. If we can't save someone like Robert, who is so clearly innocent, then truly, we're lost. If you could speak to the governor directly from the heart, what would you tell him? Governor Abbott, I did not do this, and I'm just hoping, praying that you do the right thing. How are you preparing for your own death, your own execution? I'm at peace if it happens, but I'm not ready because I don't think I should be executed when I'm innocent. We reached out to the governor several times for comment and did not hear back. Coming up the good news, one man's mission to walk in all the parks. It's a position of nature. There is good news tonight about the hundreds of parks in our nation's capital, and one man visiting every one of them.

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Here's Emily Aketta. Between the gridlock on the Capitol Beltway and Capitol Hill, Jacob Benston is on a mission to explore Washington, DC's more serene spaces like Kingman Island. You can hear the freeway in the distance, but if you look in front of you, greenery and the wildlife. Biking, eating, and kayaking his way through every single park in the city over the course of this year. We're talking about more than 700 parks. This is an ambitious project. It is ambitious. They built North-South Street, and then these diagonals that create lots of chaotic intersections. The result was like there's all these little triangles and circles and parks all over the city. He's cataloging those hidden gems as part of a project for a local publication. While also noting where there's room for improvement, from accessibility to maintenance, sometimes with a dash of humor. There's a nice drinking fountain over there for humans. It does not work, but the dog fountain. Fenton will check off revered parks like the National Mall and US National Arboretum, but also lesser known spots. The city's boundary Stones date back to the 1700s, and there's a surprising oasis on the George Washington Memorial Parkway.

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I have gained an appreciation of our local parks that I didn't have before. There's so many places that I thought I knew, but now I realized there's actually a lot that I had to uncover. Rediscovering a sense of wonder in your own backyard. Emily Iketta, MBC News, Washington, DC. And that is Nightly News for this Thursday. Thank you for watching. I'm Lester Hall. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night.. Thanks for watching. Stay updated about breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or follow us on social media.