on mr. trump's potential vp short list. the gunman attacking the u.s. embassy in beirut. the 30-minute-long shootout in the street before he's captured. what we're learning. was it isis inspired? the deadly house explosion caught on camera. children playing in a nearby driveway running in terror. and 80 years after they helped turn the tide of war, we're with four american heroes as they return to normandy. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good evening, and welcome. the words, "and liftoff" packing plenty of meaning for boeing tonight as its long-delayed starliner capsule successfully carried two astronauts into space today. its third launch attempt in a month and a much-needed morale boost for boeing after a string of misfortunes. the launch also lifting nasa's hopes of making commercial vehicles its workhorses in space. tonight, the starliner is racing toward a rendezvous with the international space station, the first test flight of the capsule to carry humans. boeing playing catch-up with competitor, spacex, which has been flying to the space station for years. marissa parra has details. >> all systems firing on this rocket. now, let's push it to the heavens. >> reporter: all eyes on boeing's starliner, the space capsule perched atop a united launch rocket at cape canaveral this morning. >> and liftoff of starliner and atlas 5 carrying two american heroes. >> reporter: blazing into the skies with a crew on board for the first time. veteran astronauts, butch wilmer and suni williams, on a mission to the international space station. celebrations as starliner and its crew reached orbit on track to dock with the iss tomorrow. >> when we expand our fleet of spacecraft, what we're doing is expanding our reach to the stars. >> reporter: after nasa's decision to partner with private companies to take crews to the international space station, this milestone moment coming after years of delays. boeing's starliner behind schedule and over budget, a failed uncrewed test flight in 2019 plagued with software glitches. more recently, launches delayed due to a parachute that wouldn't hold the weight of the capsule after re-entry and flammable tape in the capsule that needed to be replaced, and today's launch comes after setbacks with the ual rocket including a helium leak and valve issue led to a canceled launch in may. then last week's attempt stopped with less than four minutes before launch due to a software problem. >> the vehicle's trajectory continues to look good. >> reporter: today, no room for error as boeing has been at the center of controversy for the company's commercial aircraft issues, the infamous door plug blow-out earlier this year costing boeing in production delays and reputation, but tonight, a congratulations from elon musk, founder and ceo of rival, spacex, which has been nasa's main way to send astronauts to the iss for the last four years. starliner paving the way for a new chapter in space travel. >> and, marissa, where does today's launch put the competition among private companies in the space industry? >> reporter: well, lester, spacex is still far ahead. its megarocket starship set for launch from texas tomorrow morning. its fourth uncrewed test for nasa's overall mission to return astronauts to the moon. lester. >> marissa parra, thank you. tonight we're watching the season's first dangerous heat wave with 31 million people under heat alerts from texas to california. temperatures in the 90s and 100s will be 10 to 20 degrees above average, and numerous records could be broken. tomorrow and friday will be the hottest days. the heat will start to ease this weekend. at his trial on federal gun charges, hunter biden's ex-wife and his former girlfriend testified about his drug use including around the time the president's son purchased a gun and denied being on drugs, which prosecutors say was illegal. here's ryan nobles. >> reporter: on day three of his federal criminal trial, hunter biden's former romantic partners testifying about his history of addiction. prosecutors say the president's son illegally lied on a government background check in 2018, denying his drug use in order to purchase a .38 caliber handgun. hunter's ex-wife, kathleen buhle, telling the jury how she learned her then husband was abusing drugs. "i found a crack pipe on july 3rd, 2015," she said. when she confronted him, she said he acknowledged smoking crack. she testified she never saw him doing drugs, but routinely searched his car for and found drug paraphernalia until 2019 when they were divorced. "he was angry on drugs," she testified, "but said he could function." at the time hunter was involved in lucrative foreign business dealings. also testifying, zoe kestan, an ex-girlfriend who hunter biden met while she was a dancer at a gentleman's club. "he used cash for a lot of things, a good amount of it was for drugs, she told the jury," saying "at one point he was smoking crack every 20 minutes or so." he was still an active drug user around the time he filled out the background check at the center of the case, but the defense team says biden did not knowingly lie on the form, looking to pour coals on the prosecution case. defense attorney abby lowell pressing the fbi agent. "do you know whether the defendant checked those boxes," he asked. "not from my own observation," she replied. "i'm not qualified as a handwriting expert." the prosecution later called gordon cleveland, the man who sold hunter the gun and watched him fill out the form that asked if he used drugs. "what did he write," prosecut. cleveland said, he wrot the prosecutor asked. cleveland said, "he wrote, no." and back in washington, house republicans say they'll file a criminal referral to the department of justice against hunter and james biden for lying to congress. lester. >> ryan nobles tonight, thank you. also developing, a major headline in the georgia election interference case against former president trump. hallie jackson joins us now. hallie, an appeals court stepping in here today. >> reporter: that's right, lester. they're pressing pause on the case altogether until a panel of judges decides whether the fulton county district attorney, fani willis, should be allowed to continue prosecuting this. now a lower court has already said yes, but mr. trump's team appealed argue ing she should be disqualified because of a conflict of interest, which willis denies, over a romantic relationship with an attorney she hired to handle the case. now, here's the most immediate impact, the time line, there is s no just no practical way it would get to a trial now before november's election, so that is perhaps a political win, if not a legal one yet, for mr. trump, lester. >> and, hallie, we're also learning more tonight about mr. trump's search for a running mate. what do we know? >> reporter: it's picking up steam with some potential vp candidates getting vetting materials according to five people familiar with the process. two sources say ohio senator j.d. vance, north dakota governor doug burgum, and florida senator marco rubio are on the list, and one source says senator tim scott, who you see there of south carolina, is in the mix too. mr. trump has suggested he will make his pick closer to the republican convention in july. lester. >> hallie jackson in our washington newsroom, thank you. overseas there was an alarming shootout outside the u.s. embassy in beirut. a suspect is under arrest tonight, and authorities say he was wearing isis insignia. here's raf sanchez. >> reporter: this is the moment a gunman opens fire outside the u.s. embassy in beirut. you can see him targeting a passing army jeep. the shooter, masked, helmeted, and armed with an assault rifle babbling lebanese tropes for a half an hour before he was shot and captured. >> the individual who was arrested was wearing what appeared to be isis insignia but we are conducting a full investigation with the lebanese authorities. >> reporter: lebanese officials say he's a citizen of syria and that they arrested five other people in widespread raids. a local security guard was seriously wounded, but all embassy staff are safe. the attack reviving painful memories of a suicide bombing at the embassy in 1983, which killed 63 people and comes as there are new fears the mideast conflict could spread with fighting intensifying along the israel/lebanon border between israeli troops and hezbollah, a militia that like hamas is backed by iran. today, 11 israelis injured in what hezbollah says was an explosive drone strike border warning that israel is prepared for. prime minister netanyahu visiting the border warning that israel is prepared for a military offensive into lebanon to restore security. now, the white house believes the best way to avoid a war in lebanon is to get a cease-fire in gaza saying tonight, the whole world should call on hamas to make a deal. lester. >> all right, raf, thank you. we want to turn now to the terror arrest in paris. officials saying a ukrainian-russian man is in custody after an explosive device detonated at a hotel near paris' charles de gaulle airport. the blast leaving him badly burned. investigators say they found bombmaking materials in his room. the motive is under investigation. president biden is in france tonight to mark the 80th anniversary of the d-day invasion tomorrow. kelly o'donnell is in paris, and, kelly, the president also thinking about the war in ukraine. >> reporter: that's right, lester. the weight of history meets current crises for president biden, who arrived here in france for what is a state visit. tomorrow he will join dozens of world leaders to mark the 80th anniversary of the d-day invasion at normandy. the president will talk about the enduring cause of preserving democracy with europe roiled by the first war on this continent since world war ii. the president will also meet with ukrainian president zelenskyy tomorrow. lester. >> kelly, thank you. and a program note tomorrow, i'll interview secretary of defense lloyd austin from normandy on the global challenges america faces here and abroad. republicans in the senate today blocked a bill that would have protected access to birth control. the effort by democrats was aimed at highlighting the party's differences over reproductive rights ahead of the november election. laura jarrett has more. >> the motion is not agreed to. >> reporter: the bill had little chance of passing, which may have been the point. the right to contraception act would safeguard access to birth control nationwide, but failed today to meet the 60 votes needed to pass in the senate. just two republicans voted for it. many dismissing the effort led by democrats as a stunt as contraception remains legal across the country. >> well, it's not a serious attempt to legislate. this is just a show vote in anticipation of the election. >> this is continuing the campaign of fearmongering we've already seen. >> reporter: democrats not hiding their intention to focus on reproductive rights heading into november and drawing a sharp contrast with republicans. >> there's the more devious claim that the right to contraception act is much ado about nothing, that it's unnecessary, that birth control could never possibly fall under risk. well, remember, people said the same thing about roe, but because of donald trump and the hard right, it's reality. >> reporter: as part of the high court's decision to overturn roe v. wade, justice thomas called on his colleagues to reconsider their past ruling guaranteeing contraception access underscoring the fragility of all reproductive rights. battles over state laws have flared up since, particularly in red states. >> access to contraception is vital in a state like alabama. >> reporter: robin marti runs a women's clinic in tuscaloosa. she says, "it's more important than ever to protect birth control with most abortions now banned there." >> we no longer see abortion patients, but we decided to stay open, because we knew speaking to our patients that for many of them, accessing contraception or even basic health care was almost as difficult as accessing abortion in the first place. >> reporter: laura jarrett, nbc news. in 60 seconds, amanda knox back in court in italy. the newest twist in the long and captivating case next. the lo captivating case next. in (♪♪ ) why did i keep missing out on this? before you were preventing migraine with qulipta? do you remember the pain, the worry, the canceled plans? and 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"when i couldn't remember the details, one of the officers gave me a little smack on the head and shouted, remember, remember," she said, "and then i put together a jumble of memories, and the police made me sign a statement." her early statements included accusing patrick lumumba, who was jailed for weeks despite having an alibi. >> what's your next step? will you appeal? >> we have a right to appeal. >> reporter: amanda knox's lawyer said she was too upset to talk publicly today. what she describes in court as a nightmare may not be over yet. lester. >> all right, keir simmons, thank you. here's a question to ponder during the break, how much do you need to retire? why many fear they'll never get there. break. how much do you need to retire? why many fear they'll never get there. offering twoe options, including the entyvio pen. infusion and serious allergic reactions can happen during or after treatment. entyvio may increase risk of infection, which can be serious. pml, a rare, potentially fatal brain infection cannot be ruled out. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, sores, or are prone to infections. liver problems can occur. entyvio. relief. remission. for real. ♪ entyvio, entyvio, entyvio ♪ ( ♪ ♪ ) start your day with nature made. the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. when my doctor gave me breztri for my copd things changed for me. breztri gave me better breathing, symptom improvement, and reduced flare-ups. breztri won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. it is not for asthma. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. don't take breztri more than prescribed. breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ask your doctor about breztri. ♪ limu emu... ♪ and doug. 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