she'll travel to another state for the procedure. it comes after an appeals court put the decision to allow it on hold. could her move land anyone in jail? the stunning building collapse in new york city. rescue crews urgently searching the scene tonight. the deadly toll after more than 30 tornadoes swept through the southeast. six killed in tennessee including a 2-year-old, and the incredible stories of survival. the father who saved his family with just moments to spare. our nbc news exclusive. richard engel's interview with a released hostage. what she told us about the conditions inside the tunnels. plus her concerns about those remaining including her husband as so many face starvation as fighting intensifies in gaza. the special counsel asks the supreme court to decide if donald trump is immune from prosecution for trying to overturn the 2020 election. as our new poll finds him with an unprecedented lead in iowa. battling counterfeit drugs. undercover video of a crime in progress. and our exclusive inside look at how a major drug company is fighting back. and the comeback kid. bronny james takes the court months after his health scare as his legendary father cheers him on. >> announcer: this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt. good evening and welcome, everyone. there are late-breaking developments to report in the case of a pregnant texas woman who went to court for the right to abort her baby that doctors have told her will not survive and that could harm her own health. a lawyer for kate cox cites a deterioration of ms. cox's health condition as to why she has now chosen to seek medical care outside of texas, which has a six-week abortion ban. a ruling by a texas judge last week allowing her to go forward with the abortion at 20 weeks was swiftly challenged by texas officials. her attorneys saying cox's health is on the line. the supreme court ruling against her. senior legal correspondent laura jarrett has the latest. >> reporter: tonight in texas a mother must leave her home state to get an emergency abortion her doctors say she urgently needs but the state has tried to block. at the center of this legal roller coaster 31-year-old kate cox. >> this has been a hellish week for kate. >> reporter: a mother of two now 20 weeks pregnant who discovered two weeks ago the baby she's currently carrying has a fatal genetic condition and will not survive. >> i never thought i would ever need or want an abortion. >> reporter: that painful reality raising a host of serious health complications for cox herself, who says she has been to the emergency room four times in the last month alone. and now her attorneys say in a new letter tonight, "due to the ongoing deterioration of ms. cox's health condition ms. cox is now forced to seek medical care outside of texas." last week a state court judge ordered texas attorney general ken paxton not to enforce its six-week abortion ban against cox or her doctors, finding her life, health and fertility at serious risk. >> the idea that miss cox wants desperately to be a parent and this law might actually cause her to lose that ability is shocking and would be a genuine miscarriage of justice. >> reporter: but that decision was swiftly put on hold late friday after paxton's office petitioned the state's highest court to stop her procedure, arguing she doesn't meet the criteria for a medical exception. nancy northup leads the group fighting on cox's behalf. >> as difficult as kate's situation is, she had the means to be able to leave the state of texas. that is not the case for most people. >> reporter: cox's case highlighting a stark new chapter in the battle over abortion access. >> this is what happens when abortion is criminalized. >> and laura, the breaking news tonight, the supreme court of texas has made a ruling on the merits of the case. so where does that leave us? >> that's right, lester. the state's high court has just ruled that her doctor didn't do enough to show she was facing a life-threatening physical condition. at the same time this court is saying that a rtrdergnant woman does if she needs a life-saving abortion. bottom line here is cox is now set to leave the state. so it doesn't impact her. but the decision clarifies the legal standard going forward, lester. >> all right. laura jarrett, thanks. in new york city urgent efforts under way tonight as emergency rescue crews respond to a partial building collapse at a six-story apartment building. it happened in the bronx where it appears that the corner of the building collapsed to the street below. the fdny says no injuries have been reported. scenes of devastation in tennessee after deadly tornadoes rip through areas near nashville this weekend. blayne alexander is there for us. blayne, so many homes look like the one you're in front of right now. >> reporter: oh, absolutely, lester. in fact, officials say that across the storm zone there are more than 150 structures like this that are barely standing or need to be demolished. now, tonight across tennessee thousands of people are still without power as temperatures are set to dip into the 20s. for so many people, lester, the recovery is just getting started. with the light of day comes the true scope of nature's fury. across middle tennessee as many as 13 reported tornadoes tore through the area saturday. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: including in clarksville, site of a confirmed ef3 tornado. >> oh, my god! whoa! >> reporter: jeffrey kuyazo was in his driveway when the winds started picking up. >> that's when i saw the big old cloud just spinning, you know, the tornado -- >> you actually saw the tornado. >> yes. it was dark brown, white cloud just spinning with debris on it. >> reporter: his three children were watching tv inside. >> that room up there, that's our living room. >> reporter: jeffrey rushed them to the car, deciding rather than hunker down at home he would try to outrun the storm. this video shows the funnel descending on his neighborhood as they scrambled to escape. >> my daughters were in the car. my oldest one was in the back. and she was screaming "daddy, it's coming. it's coming." >> reporter: incredibly, they made it out. but across the storm's path six people were killed, including a 2-year-old child. dozens more taken to the hospital. it's part of the same unforgiving storm system that dumped rain on alabama, whipped tornado-force winds in north carolina, and in the northeast flooded parts of new york and connecticut. while leaving areas of virginia covered in snow. back in the volunteer state, true to its name, there's no shortage of help. as jeffrey and his wife, suhaily, take in what's left of their home. inside a christmas tree still stands, but not much else. >> we were spared. god spared our lives, yeah. >> reporter: blayne alexander, nbc news, clarksville, tennessee. we turn to our exclusive reporting from israel. richard engel with one of the hostages released by hamas, who gives a chilling description of life for those still in hamas captivity. all as conditions in gaza turn more desperate. >> reporter: one of the first hostages freed by hamas, 85-year-old yocheved lifshitz, tonight tells us time is running out to save the hostages still in gaza. >> how concerned are you about the ones who didn't get out? >> translator: the lack of air in the tunnels as well as the shortage of food and medicine could bring people to complete exhaustion, and they just won't make it. they need to get out today. otherwise, they won't live. >> reporter: yocheved was taken from her home in nir oz, a small kibbutz of 400 residents where hamas killed or kidnapped 1 out of every 4 people. >> translator: we walked several kilometers underground. the ground was damp. the walls were wet. we walked there until we reached a large room they had prepared in advance. i don't know how many are still alive, especially the elderly and sick. they are not getting anything and barely enough food. >> reporter: as israel continues to attack hamas, food is increasingly scarce in gaza. a desperate crowd today rushed to take whatever food aid they could in rafah. the u.n. says half of the population is starving and diseases are spreading. in southern gaza 15-year-old ruheifa bakr today tried to count the number of times she's been displaced. "we are tired, so tired. we are begging for one bite," she says. 90% of gazans have been driven from their homes according to the u.n. many are now living in the open desert. that wall is the egyptian border. the end of the line. nowhere is left that's safe for gazans or the hostages. including yocheved's husband of 63 years, oded, still held by hamas. >> translator: he was a very talented person. he was a brilliant journalist. he is still an excellent economist. i don't want to say was in the past tense. >> reporter: yocheved and her daughter sharon tonight made an urgent appeal to hamas, the israeli government and the united states, which vetoed a u.n. resolution for a ceasefire to release the hostages. >> translator: there are sick people there who don't get the medicine they need. they won't last long. only a negotiation can release and return them. >> make a christmas miracle. make the hanukkah miracle. and let us have our people back. >> reporter: israel has released the names of 20 hostages it says have died in gaza and holds hamas fully responsible. lester? >> richard, thank you. also tonight, special counsel jack smith asking the supreme court to decide if donald trump is immune from prosecution in the election interference case. as our new poll finds the former president surging in iowa. here's priscilla thompson. >> reporter: tonight, special counsel jack smith asking the supreme court to decide if former president trump is immune from prosecution for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election because he committed the alleged crimes while in office. the high court agreeing to consider whether to hear the case on an expedited basis. trump tonight calling the case completely politically motivated. >> 2024. >> okay. >> who's your candidate? >> trump. only trump. >> only trump? >> no other option. >> reporter: insurance agent ken mason says trump's legal woes won't matter on election night. >> even with all those legal challenges you believe a majority of the country will vote for former president trump? >> i will because of his accomplishments. >> reporter: mason is part of the 51% of likely iowa caucusgoers who say trump is their top pick, up eight points from october. according to a new nbc news/des moines register media comp poll. it's the largest lead ever in this poll this close to a competitive republican caucus. trump's closest rivals ron desantis and nikki haley are both trailing him by more than 30 points. their numbers have moved little in the past month, even with desantis spending considerable time and money here. >> i just keep hoping the polls are wrong. >> reporter: amanda wallace hopes the case against trump will disqualify him. the 55-year-old preschool teacher says she's backing desantis. >> groceries are just so much more expensive. gas. just everything is so much more expensive. >> reporter: how excited are you to caucus for desantis? >> i don't know if i'd say excited, but i'm willing to. i'm not real excited to go all in for anybody. >> reporter: that lack of enthusiasm also reflected in the poll. 70% of trump supporters have made up their minds, more than double the haley and desantis supporters saying the same. >> he's a gift from god to answer many people's prayers. >> reporter: priscilla thompson, nbc news, des moines, iowa. a new report finds the suspect in that massive pentagon intelligence leak acted alone. the air force inspector general says jack teixeira did not receive help but his unit failed to take proper action. after becoming aware of his intelligence-seeking activities. 15 personnel were disciplined for dereliction of duty. teixeira is charged with leaking classified documents online and has pleaded not guilty. in 60 seconds, college presidents under scrutiny over antisemitism on campus. after penn's president resigns, can harvard's president survive? resigns, can harvard's president survive? what hundreds o f i'm jayson. i'm living with hiv and i'm on cabenuva. it helps keep me undetectable. for adults who are undetectable, cabenuva is the only complete, long-acting hiv treatment you can get every other month. cabenuva is two injections, given by my healthcare provider, every other month. it's really nice not to have to rush home and take a daily hiv pill. don't receive cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients or if you taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva. serious side effects include allergic reactions post-injection reactions, liver problems, and depression. if you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms, stop cabenuva and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have liver problems or mental health concerns, and if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. some of the most common side effects include injection-site reactions, fever, and tiredness. if you switch to cabenuva, attend all treatment appointments. ready to treat your hiv in a different way? ask your doctor about every-other-month cabenuva. every other month, and i'm good to go. tonight hundreds of faculty are fighting for harvard's president to stay put as the university faces intense scrutiny days after she testified to congress on antisemitism on campus. stephanie gosk has more. >> reporter: at harvard university hundreds of faculty are rad the school's president, dr. claudine gay. >> i totally support claudine gay. >> reporter: in the wake of last week's controversial hearing in congress on antisemitism. >> i personally don't think her actions merits her going. >> reporter: saturday university of pennsylvania president liz magill resigned from her post. during the hearing both presidents testified that calls for the genocide of jews did not necessarily violate their campus rules. >> it can be depending on the context. >> it does not depend on the context. the answer is yes, and this is why you should resign. >> reporter: president gay later apologizing, clarifying that calls for genocide were vile and have no place at harvard. now a letter signed by more than 700 faculty members urges the university's top governing body to resist political pressures including calls for the removal of president gay. >> is it fair to say that presidents at universities and colleges nationwide are dealing with the same issues and trying to answer the same questions? >> absolutely. these are issues that are boiling on all of our campuses. they provide a setting for intense debate over very divisive subjects. sometimes it hits the guardrails. >> reporter: the spike in antisemitism not just being felt on college campuses. in california a couple in their 70s was attacked on their way to synagogue this weekend. >> all of a sudden i saw the guy hitting my husband with the belt and screaming -- i'm sorry. "give me your earrings, jew." >> reporter: her husband hit several times. the suspect is now charged with a hate crime. stephanie gosk, nbc news. next for us tonight, the investigation into accusations of fraud in a bottle. the elaborate system pumping counterfeit drugs across the country. family is just very important. she's my sister and, we depend on each other a lot. she's the rock of the family. she's the person who holds everything together. ♪♪ it's a battle, you know i'm going to be there. keytruda and chemotherapy meant treating my cancer with two different types of medicine. in a clinical trial, keytruda and chemotherapy was proven to help people live longer than chemotherapy alone. keytruda is used to treat more patients with advanced lung cancer than any other immunotherapy. keytruda may be used with certain chemotherapies as your first treatment if you have advanced nonsquamous, non-small cell lung cancer and you do not have an abnormal “egfr” or “alk” gene. keytruda can cause your immune system to attack healthy parts of your body during or after treatment. this may be severe and lead to death. see your doctor right away if you have cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, diarrhea, severe stomach pain, severe nausea or vomiting, headache, light sensitivity, eye problems, irregular heartbeat, extreme tiredness, constipation, dizziness or fainting, changes in appetite, thirst, or urine, confusion, memory problems, muscle pain or weakness, fever, rash, itching, or flushing. there may be other side effects. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions, including immune system problems, if you've had or plan to have an organ or stem cell transplant, received chest radiation, or have a nervous system problem. it feels good to be here for them. living longer is possible. it's tru. keytruda from merck. ask your doctor about keytruda. with 30 grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks. -ahh, -here, i'll take that. woo hoo! ensure max protein 30 grams protein, one gram sugar, 25 vitamins and minerals, and nutrients for immune health. 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(♪♪) (♪♪) (♪♪) get exclusive offers on select new volvo models. contact your volvo retailer to learn more. we're back now with a closer look at the pharmaceutical industry and how companies fight criminals who make millions by tampering with prescription drugs. a cnbc investigation found that sometimes pharmacies and even patients are in on it. here's contessa brewer. >> reporter: investigators say this is a drug diversion in action. in this south florida apartment a woman, her husband and son remove patient names from prescription pill bottles. >> he's using that lighter fluid, a harsh chemical, to clean the bottle and remove the pharmacy prescription label. >> reporter: it's part of a complex operation. across the country counterfeiters are tampering with pill bottles, sometimes even swapping out the life-saving medications and selling them to pharmacies. steven mahmoud is assistant special agent in charge at health and human services' office of the inspector general. >> drug diversion is widespread, and it impacts the entire country. >> reporter: here's how it works. a patient fills a prescription for medication, sometimes worth several thousand dollars, but turns around and sells it for a fraction of that in cash. the buyer, known as an aggregator, removes the patient information and sometimes alters the contents of the bottle, then sells it to a distributor, who sells it back to pharmacies at a discount. this man, who agreed to an interview if we concealed his identity, served time for a past pill diversion scheme. he says it was easy to persuade patients to sell their medicine. >> they have aids, cancer, and they don't have any money. so for $120 they'll sell everything. >> reporter: from there they're sold to distributors who have relationships with thousands of independent pharmacies around the country. >> pharmacies that are on the receiving end of these diverted prescriptions, do they know? >> some do. some don't. >> reporter: these thousands of bottles all originally were prescribed and filled for patients. now they fill an evidence room at gilead sciences in northern california. >> we are playing a bit of a game of whack-a-mole. >> reporter: laurie mayall oversees global product security at gilead, which manufactures hiv medications biktarvy and descovy. >> we know upwards of 80,000 bottles of counterfeits were entered into the supply chain. >> reporter: gilead first learned it had a serious problem in 2020 when reports came in of biktarvy bottles filled with a completely different medication. then they found a slew of counterfeits. this bottle doesn't even contain pills, just rocks. >> why do you think somebody would try to pass this off as a real bottle of prescription medicine? >> all they need to do is make the sale. >> reporter: as for these three? they were convicted for their connection to a prescription drug counterfeiting operation. >> i'm saddened and disheartened that the schemes cross the entire united states and the territories, but i'm not surprised. fraud is always evolving. >> reporter: for nbc news contessa brewer, foster city, california. >> and don't miss contessa's full report on cnbc and on cnbc's youtube page. up next for us, back on the court, bronny james thrilling crowds after his health scare. bronny james thrilng bronny james thrilng li ♪i'm hearing different ways for me to screen for colon cancer.♪ ♪it's time to use my voice,♪ ♪i've got a choice, more than one answer.♪ ♪i sat down with my doc.♪ we had a talk. ♪knew just what to say.♪ ♪i asked for cologuard and did it my way.♪ cologuard is a one-of-a kind way to screen for colon cancer that's effective and non-invasive. it's for people 45 plus at average risk, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider for cologuard. ♪i did it my way!♪ i've always been prone to hair thinning. i'm genetically predisposed. i just gave birth. i was under a lot of stress. i started taking nutrafol. we test our formulations with the highest rigor of clinical trials and we're the number one dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement. i noticed it becoming... stronger and thicker. nutrafol has taken me back to the hair i was meant to have. i am back to me. start your hair growth journey at nutrafol.com i have moderate to severe crohn's disease. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are looking up, i've got symptom relief. ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ feel significant symptom relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements. skyrizi is the first il-23 inhibitor that can deliver remission and visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. and the majority of people experienced long-lasting remission at one year. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. liver problems may occur in crohn's disease. ♪ now's the time to ask your gastroenterologist how you can take control of your crohn's with skyrizi. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ ♪ learn how abbvie could help you save. why are we the only birds heading this way? ♪ [ screams ] we're trying to get to jamaica. stay close and... everything will be all right. i'm ok. i'm ok. finally, some good news in the sports world with bronny james making his big debut months after a major health scare. kaylee hartung has more. >> reporter: just 4 1/2 months after suffering cardiac arrest this is the moment bronny james made his college basketball debut. >> it's great to see him back on the court. >> reporter: his legendary father, lebron james, courtside. the sold-out crowd on their feet, celebrating the university of southern california freshman. >> three, got it to go! bronny james! >> reporter: bronny's remarkable recovery coming after his family says he underwent a successful surgery this summer to treat a congenital heart defect. >> we prayed as a family. we had great doctors along the way the whole time telling us that they believe things will, you know, work out for us. >> reporter: now the next generation of basketball royalty. >> blocked by bronny! >> reporter: is even emulating dad. >> how many times have we seen lebron james chase down a play? there you go. >> reporter: bronny played just 16 minutes off the bench. as long beach state upset the trojans in overtime. but nothing could spoil the gratitude the 19-year-old felt. >> i just want to say i'm thankful for everything. my parents, siblings for supporting me through this. this hard time in my life. >> reporter: lebron reflecting on the emotional day on instagram writing "all i can say is bronny, you're simply incredible. you've already won the ultimate goal championship and that's life." kaylee hartung, nbc news, los angeles. and that's "nightly news" for this monday. thank you for watching, everyone. i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night. taking care of people living at mobile homes. the extra layer of protection