News Information and Media Site: Nightly Rundown: Helene death toll soars to 200; Melania Trump supports abortion rights; Israel’s deadly new strike on Beirut

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By Dan Donahue

Thursday, October 03, 2024

Good Thursday afternoon. The death toll from Hurricane Helene has hit a grim milestone, former First Lady Melania Trump appears to have come out in favor of abortion rights, and Israel launched a deadly new strike on Beirut as it prepares to retaliate against Iran.

Here is what's in our Nightly Rundown.

Helene death toll surpasses 200, deadliest storm to hit U.S. since Katrina

The number of deaths linked to Hurricane Helene has now soared to at least 202 in the Southeast, making it the deadliest storm to hit the U.S. mainland since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

It's now been a week since Helene made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region as a monster Category 4 hurricane, and hopes are fading in the search for hundreds of people who remain unaccounted for.

Nearly half the deaths from Helene occurred in North Carolina, where the devastation has hampered efforts to deliver relief to some of the hardest-hit communities.

In South Carolina, two grandparents were found hugging each other after they were killed by a tree that fell on their home, their grandson said.

President Joe Biden, after seeing firsthand the damage in North Carolina on Wednesday, is touring the disaster zones in Florida and Georgia today.

Melania Trump supports abortion rights, says there is "no room for compromise"

Former First Lady Melania Trump appears to have come out on favor abortion rights, breaking from her husband's position on the highly divisive issue.

"Without a doubt there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth. Individual freedom. What does my body, my choice really mean?" she says in a video posted today on social media.

Her husband, former president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, has attempted to walk a fine line on abortion, taking credit for the fall of Roe v. Wade, while saying the issue should be left up to individual states.

Mrs. Trump's post comes after The Guardian reported that she wrote about defending abortion rights in her upcoming memoir.

Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign responded in a statement: "Sadly for the women across America, Mrs. Trump's husband firmly disagrees with her and is the reason that more than one in three American women live under a Trump Abortion Ban that threatens their health, their freedom, and their lives."

Liz Cheney campaigns with Harris, Trump on the trail in Michigan

Liz Cheney, the former Republican congresswoman and fierce Trump critic, will join Vice President Kamala Harris at a campaign event this evening in the critical battleground of Wisconsin.

The two will appear in Ripon, the city known as the birthplace of the Republican Party, as Harris makes her pitch to GOP voters who may feel disillusioned by former President Donald Trump.

This afternoon Trump is campaigning in Michigan, another key swing state, where he's holding at a rally at Saginaw Valley State University.

Trump is also firing back today after Special Counsel Jack Smith laid out his case to continue prosecuting the former president on federal election crime charges, in a sweeping legal brief that was unsealed on Wednesday.

Trump "resorted to crimes to try to stay in office" after his loss, Smith's team wrote in the new filing, which was made in response to the Supreme Court's ruling that Trump had immunity for some of his official acts in office.

On his social media site today, Trump accused the Justice Department of "election interference" and called Smith's case "a scam."

Israel launches deadly strike on Beirut as it prepares Iran response

At least nine people were killed in Israel's deepest strike yet on Beirut today, as the military prepares to respond to Iran's massive missile attack earlier in the week.

The Israeli military also warned residents in more than 20 towns in southern Lebanon to evacuate immediately, a sign that its ground offensive against Hezbollah may be expanding.

On Tuesday, Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, though most were intercepted, according to Israel's military. Iran described the attack as retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others.

As Israel prepares to strike back at Iran, President Joe Biden said he opposes an attack on Tehran's nuclear sites.

What else we're watching:

Nearly 200 passengers were evacuated from a Ryanair plane in Italy after a fire erupted in one of the engines before takeoff today, Italian media reported. The airline confirmed the crew "observed fumes on the outside of the aircraft."

Jury deliberations began today in the trial of three former Memphis police officers charged with federal civil rights violations in connection with the 2023 beating death of Tyre Nichols.

Tina Peters, a former Colorado county clerk and 2020 election denier, was sentenced today to nine years in prison for crimes related to a voting systems beach in her county.

The body of Emily Strite, a Missouri mother-of-four who's been missing for nearly six months, was found in a wooded area on Sept. 28, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office announced.

Alec Baldwin's troubled movie "Rust," now has a release date, nearly three years after the fatal on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

A popular TikTok star has been charged with second-degree murder.

Caitlin Clark has been named the WNBA's Rookie of the Year.

More younger people are getting this type of cancer screening, a new study finds.

Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. After the broadcast, access Nightly News video on NBCNightlyNews.com or the NBC News app.