gutierrez-reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter but not guilty of tampering with evidence. our report coming up. the biden and trump rematch set after nikki haley announces she's suspending her campaign but declining to endorse the former president. now, the battle is on for her supporters. the gop uniting behind mr. trump. senate republican leader mitch mcconnell after saying mr. trump was responsible for the january 6th attack today endorsing him. the crackdown in new york city. the governor deploying hundreds of national guardsmen into the subways as transit crime surges. in philadelphia, the mass shooting near a transit bus. 18 shot. what we're learning. in the middle east, the first deadly attack launched by the iran-backed houthis in response to the israel-hamas war. the massive cyberattack causing chaos at pharmacies nationwide. patients blocked from getting their prescriptions. and is this the future of air travel? the tsa's new technology that lets you screen yourself. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening. just breaking tonight in new mexico, a verdict in the involuntary manslaughter trial of hannah gutierrez-reed, the armorer who loaded alec baldwin's gun in that fatal shooting on the "rust" movie set. tonight the jury delivering a split verdict just hours after getting the case, finding gutierrez-reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter, but not guilty of tampering with evidence. cinematographer halyna hutchins was killed in the incident, and actor and executive producer alec baldwin is set to go to trial next. chloe melas is here to digest this breaking news. chloe, what's the latest. >> good evening, lester. it took the jury just over two hours to deliver their verdict finding hannah gutierrez-reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter and not guilty of tampering with evidence. her mother, emotional as gutierrez-reed was remanded into custody. she now faces up to 18 months in prison, and the nearly two-week criminal trial, witnesses described a reckless environment on the new mexico film set, which gutierrez-reed was in charge of guns and ammunition. emotional testimony included the film's assistant director who handed the prop gun loaded with live ammunition to actor alec baldwin. baldwin fired the gun killing cinematogrpaher halyna hutchins. prosecutors in their closing arguments called gutierrez-reed's actions careless and thoughtless and her defense attorney doubled down on placing the blame on baldwin. he also faces involuntary manslaughter charges. his trial begins in july and he has pleaded not guilty. let's turn to the white house. president biden and former president trump easily dominating super tuesday, unofficially setting up a november rematch. with nikki haley dropping out, there's a new battle for her supporters, all as mr. trump is calling on president biden to debate. garrett haake now with the late effort. >> reporter: tonight, the rematch, though polls show most americans don't want it after their massive wins in nearly every super tuesday contest, president biden and former president trump appear set for another face-off. with nikki haley now dropping out of the republican race.with nikki h dropping out of the republican race. >> in all likelihood, donald trump will be the republican nominee when our party convention meets in july. i congratulate him and wish him well. >> reporter: haley then challenging her former boss, whom she pointedly did not endorse. >> it is now up to donald trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him, and i hope he does that. >> reporter: the battle now on for her backers. president biden urging haley supporters to join him in opposing mr. trump writing, i know there's a lot we won't agree on. i hope and believe we can find common ground. mr. trump inviting haley's supporters to join, quote, the greatest movement in the history of our nation while boasting haley got trounced last night. >> they call it super tuesday for a reason. >> reporter: the former president carrying 14 of 15 states in play overnight, nbc news projects, securing landslide victories from maine to minnesota to california with haley winning only vermont, allowing mr. trump to focus fully on president biden. >> he's the worst president in the history of our country. there's never been anything like what's happening to our country. >> reporter: mr. trump also securing the endorsement of mitch mcconnell, who had sharply criticized the former president's conduct around january 6th and was the last remaining member of republican congressional leadership not to support his return to the white house, but today mcconnell praising trump writing, during his presidency, we worked together to accomplish great things for the american people. despite her big defeat, haley did attract more than a quarter of the vote in many primaries. trump's challenge, haley voters unwilling to shift their support. >> there's no way i want trump in office. >> reporter: meanwhile, nbc news projecting president biden won nearly every democratic contest except for a surprising loss in the american samoa caucus. recent polls show mr. trump leading mr. biden in a head-to-head matchup within the margin of error. now the trump campaign will look to scale up and shift focus towards november. >> the people shouldn't expect a big change in tone or strategy from the campaign or the candidate. >> why? it's working. what we've currently done is working. >> all right, garrett joining me now. garrett, the former president now challenging president biden to debates. >> that's right, lester. after boycotting the republican primary debates, mr. trump says he's now willing to debate president biden, quote, any time, anywhere, any place. the biden campaign responding, not committing to debates yet saying they will consider it at the appropriate time. lester. >> all right, garrett haake tonight, thank you. breaking news in alabama where a final bill to protect in vitro fertilization has passed, this after the state supreme court ruled that frozen embryos are children. laura jarrett with late details. >> reporter: tonight, fertility patients and doctors in alabama anxious to see a new bill signed into law that's meant to shield clinics from costly lawsuits. under the new law, fertility clinics and companies would not be criminally responsible if an embryo is destroyed and civil damages are now limited to the cost of one ivf cycle. >> we have women who have been waiting for this bill to pass, and, in fact, anticipating embryo transfers as soon as tomorrow or friday. >> reporter: the bills were fast-tracked by state lawmakers under mounting pressure to course correct after that alabama supreme court decision allowing three couples to sue for wrongful death when their frozen embryos were dropped and destroyed at a fertility clinic. multiple clinics fearing the court ruling would open the door to civil lawsuits abruptly halted all ivf procedures. some embryo shipping companies also pausing all business in and out of alabama sending many patients in the middle of fertility treatments to call on lawmakers to do something, but the new bill does nothing to address the underlying reasoning of the court decision equating frozen embryos to children. >> when i was discussing the issues, it's like putting a band-aid on a hemorrhaging wound when we're talking about the constitutional crisis. >> reporter: megan whose surrogate had an embryo transfer canceled cautiously optimistic about this new law if only a temporary fix. >> it has been probably the worst two weeks of our lives. we were devastated, and then we heard about this legislation, and so then we became hopeful again. it's been an up and down roller coaster. >> and, laura, it sounds like these treatments could resume pretty quickly. >> that's right, lester. it depends, though, on how fast the governor signs it into law. the clinics tell us they're prepared to restart treatments very quickly, even with all of these outstanding legal questions, lester. >> all right. laura, thank you. here in new york, a wave of violent crime in the subways prompting governor kathy hochul to order the deployment of hundreds of national guard members to protect passengers. with more on that, here's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: in new york city subway riders are on edge. >> i don't feel safe. >> reporter: crime is rising on the trains according to nypd data. in recent weeks multiple violent assaults including this terrifying moment, when a woman bashed cellist ian forster in the head performing on a subway platform. the second time he's been attacked. >> they say lightning doesn't strike twice but this was a terrible moment of deja vu. >> reporter: today new york's governor kathy hochul is assembling a team of 1,000 including the national guard and state police to help secure the massive transit system. >> these brazen, heinous attacks on our subway system will not be tolerated. >> reporter: teams will be stationed at the busiest and most problematic stations searching bags. civil liberties activists calling it overreaction and overreach. >> do you think you will have an impact on weapons getting on the subway with these bag searches? >> absolutely. first of all, it's a deterrent, and if anyone is thinking of coming into the subway system with a weapon, there's probably a good chance they'll get caught. >> reporter: mike kemper is the nypd transit chief. the big problem, he says, is repeat offenders. >> we arrest people all the time that have 50 plus arrests, 100 plus arrests. >> reporter: the dramatic moves in new york happening as 77% of americans are concerned about a rise in crime, even though fbi data shows violent crime has been dropping nationwide since a spike in 2020, but multiple cities are taking steps to crack down. in philadelphia, the chief of transit police vowing to aggressively combat crime after three deadly shootings in a week involving the city's buses. eight teenagers shot today alone. >> we're going to target every criminal code on the books. >> reporter: in san francisco, voters passed two measures on tuesday aimed at law and order including expanding police surveillance tools with more cameras and drones. in new york city, they will also be adding cameras. in this control center they can see every station. soon they will have cameras on every subway car. >> and, stephanie, as you know, millions of people take the subways here every day. they certainly can't check everyone's bag. how is this going to work? >> reporter: so, lester, the transit chief says they'll focus on the busy stations and those places where they've had repeated security issues. these search teams will rotate around. they could pop up anywhere. the transit chief says that's part of the strategy, lester. >> stephanie gosk in new york tonight, thank you. in the middle east there has a been a deadly attack on a commercial ship by an iranian-backed militia. u.s. officials say a missile fired by houthi militants killed three crew members. they are the first deaths reported in a wave of houthi attacks on ships that have continued despite retaliatory strikes by the u.s. military. and we'll turn now to the crisis in haiti. the prime minister leaving the country and now on u.s. soil as violent gangs overtake most of the capital. the question now, will the u.s. get involved? let's get more from gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: tonight, haiti is on the brink of civil war as it spirals into chaos. the u.s. along with a group of caribbean nations is pressing haiti's prime minister to speed up a political transition. ariel henry had been missing for days but landed yesterday in puerto rico. clashes between gangs and heavily armed police have escalated after a mass prison break over the weekend. the white house says it will not send in american troops. >> we have underscored that now is the time to finalize a political accord to help set haiti on a path to a better future. >> reporter: right now the near future looks bleak. henry took office following the 2021 assassination of haiti's president. we were there as the violence ramped up. this has become daily life here in haiti. tires burning on city streets, protesters furious. now gangs control about 80% of port-au-prince. the state department is urging all americans to leave immediately, but the main airport is shut down. in miami, haitian americans are scrambling to evacuate loved ones. >> human beings should to be live in a peace, not in a crime like that. >> reporter: this man says his uncle went to visit his mother in haiti, but now gang members are holding him for ransom. >> your family is calling you crying. this is crazy. >> reporter: right now it is not clear whether haiti's embattled prime minister plans to return to the country. the white house said today it is not helping him in puerto rico. lester. >> gabe gutierrez at the white house, thank you. we'll take a break. in 60 seconds, the massive cyberattack affecting hospitals, doctors' offices, and pharmacies. the impact on patients and what you need to know right after this. 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. he hits his mark —center stage—and is crushed by a baby grand piano. you're replacing me? customize and save with liberty bibberty. he doesn't even have a mustache. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ ♪oh what a good time we will have♪ ♪you... can make it happen...♪ ♪♪ try dietary supplements from voltaren for healthy joints. we are back with a massive cyberattack against a health care giant and the chaos it's causing for everyone from hospitals to doctors' offices to pharmacies and patients. liz kreutz with our report. >> thank you for calling magnolia pharmacy. >> reporter: at magnolia pharmacy in los angeles, it's been two weeks of chaos. >> it's impacting everybody, pharmacies, patients. >> reporter: the pharmacy left in limbo from a cyberattack on change healthcare, the nation's largest medical claims processing company that for days has prevented many providers from filling patients' prescriptions. this pharmacy has moved to an entirely new server so they can now process prescriptions, but it's not a perfect fix and still can't look at patients' insurance information or take coupons for name brand drugs. >> sometimes it takes one hour to two hours for one single patient to find their insurance. >> reporter: change, which is owned by unitedhealth group, says it processes 15 billion transactions a year and works across more than 67,000 pharmacies. >> the $590 we paid out of pocket yesterday. >> reporter: sienna keller says she had no choice but to pay out of pocket for what her stepdaughter needs to treat her diabetes. >> that's a lot of money. >> yeah, and i don't know how much longer we can really afford to go through it. >> reporter: tonight change healthcare not responding to reports it's believed to have paid a $22 million ransom to the hackers. in a statement the company saying, it is working closely with law enforcement and that it's implemented work-arounds to help bring some systems back online. in the meantime, experts say patients should ask their doctors about obtaining drug samples or lower cost alternatives. >> this system needs to get fixed. >> reporter: a massive disruption showing how vulnerable and interconnected our health care system is. liz 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reporter: darryl has lived in erie county, pennsylvania, all his life. the former maintenance worker is an avowed steelers fan and muscle car aficionado. in 2020 he voted for biden but three years later he said the economic growth the president talks about isn't helping him. >> how does the economy feel to you? >> it doesn't feel well. it says everything is doing better, but it doesn't feel that way. >> reporter: darryl's kids, both in their mid-20s and employed, still live at home. >> when i retired i didn't expect my kids to be here with me. my golden years for me and the wife -- >> you thought you would be on siesta. >> yeah, having fun. >> and come november -- >> if it's biden and trump, it's bad. >> are you considering going third party? >> yeah, yeah. >> reporter: president biden narrowly flipped this bellwether county in 2020 thanks to strong democratic turnout and won the state, but with his approval rating on the economy at just 36%, polls show swing state pennsylvania is very much in play. >> i think he has done a good job. >> reporter: republican turned independent mary ann frontino is planning to support biden. >> we did not go into a recession. it's kind of surprising that people aren't more in support of him. he has a real pr problem, a big pr problem. >> reporter: that problem for the president is playing out at eduardo's tavern where we met a group of conservative customers. >> you've got low unemployment rates. wages are up. inflation is easing. the stock market is doing well, but are you feeling any of that? how do you feel about the economy day to day. >> i'm not sure i agree with what you just said. >> i never planned on using some of the money that i saved to retire that i had to use because of the economy. >> groceries, gas, everything you have to buy every day is way more expensive than previous years. >> do you feel like there's a disconnect between what the biden administration is saying about how good the economy is versus what you feel? >> 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