she got that dress with the extra money she saved using our brand new grocery outlet app. it's been really fun seeing what everyone's doing with the extra money they save. nice shirt. just got back from vacation. a butler? super nice guy. i got to start using the app. breaking news tonight, the new aftershock as we come on the air after that rare earthquake rocked the northeast, one of the strongest in the last century. the earth cam from atop the statue of liberty capturing the images as the 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook new york city,

the tremors felt as far south as washington, d.c., as far north as maine rattling homes, barber shops, coffee shops and now the concern after that new 4.0 aftershock. also tonight, israel's military dismissing two senior officers from their positions after that deadly strike on aid workers. what it now says went wrong. and our nbc news exclusive. my conversation with the families of american hostages nearly six months since hamas abducted them. >> how do you put one foot in front of the other? >> like i live my life in agony, in sadness. >> their new plea to prime minister netanyahu. the fire at senator bernie sanders' office in vermont. investigators saying late today it was arson. president biden in baltimore touring the deadly bridge collapse and meeting with first responders and victims' families. the countdown to the total eclipse. the excitement causing a business boom in some of the most unlikely places. and final four fever in cleveland.

will caitlin clark and iowa punch their ticket to the championship tonight? >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good evening, and welcome. a lot of conversations here in the east today began with the words, did you feel it? well, potentially tens of millions did. an unusually strong earthquake felt from maryland to maine. the shocker sending tall buildings swaying in philadelphia, new york, and boston among other places and a new aftershock shortly before we came on the air this evening. at 4.8 magnitude folks in the west would likely have been unfazed by this morning's quakes but earthquakes of this intensity in the east are not common. this is the strongest in this region in over a decade and struck a little before 10:30 a.m. eastern time this morning. its epicenter was in northern new jersey. there are no reports of widespread damage, though crews did survey bridges,

airport runways, and the like. emilie ikeda is near the epicenter in new jersey with the latest. >> reporter: scenes like this are typically out of the west coast, but just before 10:30 this morning, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the new york city area with shock waves felt 300 miles away. stopping people in their tracks at the barber and rattling nerves inside this coffee shop. watch as the earthquake disrupts a u.n. meeting. >> is that an earthquake? >> yeah. >> reporter: earth cam even capturing the statue of liberty shaking. >> so, you think this crack is from the earthquake? >> i do. >> reporter: janille jenson lives near the epicenter. >> the house was shaking, so in my head i just thought there was going to be an explosion. >> reporter: crews and first responders now sprayed across the region evaluating buildings.

several homes in newark had to be evacuated, and runway inspections prompted ground stops at jfk and newark airport. remarkably, no serious damage or injuries have been reported. >> we are going to be reviewing all potentially vulnerable infrastructure sites throughout the state of new york. >> reporter: it's the most significant earthquake to rock the east coast since 2011 and the strongest one in new jersey in nearly 250 years. >> this is a rare event. the earth is releasing some stress that had built up between the two plates, and it will now settle down for a long time. >> reporter: as shaken northeasterners try to do the same. >> i'm a little jitterish. yeah, because you don't experience things like this in new york. >> emilie, as we said, you're near the epicenter, and some of us felt an aftershock a while ago. do they still pose a threat? >> reporter: well, lester, there have been at least seven aftershocks in the region including a

magnitude 4 quake that rattled the ground just minutes ago. experts say these could linger for another several days, and people should drop, take cover, and hold on when experiencing one. lester. >> emilie ikeda tonight in new jersey, thank you. facing intensifying pressure from the u.s., israel announced new steps to get humanitarian aid into gaza, and it released results of its preliminary investigation into an air strike that killed seven aid workers. here's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: tonight, the u.s. is cautiously welcoming israel's commitment to open more aid routes into gaza after a tense phone call between president biden and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. the president declining today to answer whether he'd threaten netanyahu with stopping military aid. >> i asked him to do what they're doing. >> reporter: what israel is doing is opening a crossing to allow aid into northern gaza using a port in southern israel as a supply hub and allowing trucks from nearby jordan to bring aid through israel into gaza. today the president

was also asked if his tougher tone with israel meant he was abandoning israel. >> is that a serious question? >> reporter: the israeli military has removed two officers from their post and reprimanded three others after this week's deadly strike that killed seven aid workers from chef jose andres' world central kitchen. >> it is important that israel is taking full responsibility for this incident. >> reporter: according to israel's newly released report, its forces wrongly identified what they thought was a gunman on one of the aid trucks and mistakenly assumed there were hamas terrorists inside. the forces did not identify the vehicles in question as being associated with world central kitchen, calling it, a serious failure. >> it was a terrible chain of errors, and it should never have happened. >> reporter: world central kitchen says, the admissions are important steps forward, but the charity is calling for an independent investigation, because it says israel's military cannot credibly investigate its own failure in gaza. hostage talks are set for this weekend. a senior administration official says the

president is urging the leaders of egypt and qatar to press hamas for a deal. lester. >> all right, gabe, thank you. now, almost six months into the october 7th hamas attack on israel, the families of five americans held hostage in gaza still wait for proof of life and the safe return of their loved ones. i sat down with them yesterday to talk about their pain, frustrations, and hopes. they have seen the power of hope. >> abigail was released on the 51st day of being a hostage. >> reporter: they have seen nightmares come true. >> my sister judy, my amazing sister, and her beloved husband gadi were out for their early morning walk on october 7th and were the first victims of this terror, and they were murdered by hamas isis terrorists on motorcycles.

they were shot and murdered. we learned that news about 76 days after that event. >> for five months, my american born and raised cousin ruby and lovely wife believe their 19-year-old son was alive. they got the bad news, the unimaginable news about three weeks ago that he was actually amongst those who were murdered on october 7th. >> reporter: for some of these american families, the fates of their kidnapped loved ones are still unknown, and they're desperate for them to come home. >> it's hard for anyone to step into your shoes and to imagine what it's been like. how do you put one foot in front of the other? >> like i live my life in agony, in sadness, like, i'm worried sick for my boy, like, every minute of the day, every second of the day. i don't have nights.

i don't have -- i don't have anything like -- but i need to continue with what we are doing like to put it -- >> out there. >> -- out there, exactly. >> reporter: freed hostages have told horrific stories of violence and sexual abuse at the hands of hamas. >> i want to ask about some of the reports we've heard from hostages who have been freed about their treatment in captivity. for those of you who still have missing loved ones, is that something you need to hear or something you'd rather not hear about? >> it's very difficult. >> i don't like to hear about it. >> my aunt aviva and uncle keith seigel were both taken together, and aviva was released on day 51, the same day that abigail was released, and she's home, and we're just -- i don't even know how to express the amazing feeling, yet at the same time, keith is there. she knows exactly what keith and all of the hostages are going through every single day, and i just want

to underline the urgency. the opportunity for a deal is not going to get any better than it is today, and i just -- i think that's why we're all here today, the urgency and hearing aviva's story is horrific. all the testimony is. my heart just breaks. he's a living, breathing, human being. >> benjamin netanyahu needs to be that leader, and he needs to make it clear. he's been talking for many months about how important hostage release is. we have no time for talking. >> i asked about 4-year-old abigail. >> how is her emotional healing progressing? what can you share with us? >> she is a beautiful child who before the terrorist attack on october 7th was running around barefoot and playing and dancing to beyonce's videos and just this beautiful life. she is able to do

those things again, so on a day-to-day level she is loved by family and she is doing wonderfully, but we all know that there are effects of seeing your parents murdered. >> reporter: earlier in the crisis, the group met with president biden at the white house. >> do you feel the biden administration still puts you and your loved ones as a priority? >> we feel that we get attention and support from the biden administration, but at the end of the day, we need our loved one back. they need to pull every lever, and it hasn't been done, or else we would have had our loved ones back home. >> are you still talking to the administration? >> yeah, absolutely. i mean, we have an extraordinary amount of access, and they're incredibly transparent and available. >> are the israeli army actions in gaza right now complicating any effort to get your loved ones?

>> the pressure on israel to stop the fight and provide cease-fire and humanitarian support to gaza is obviously increasing, yet, hamas isis can stop everything by releasing the hostages and putting down the weapons. >> there is a surplus of suffering going around, and horrible mistakes are happening, tragic, horrifying mistake of those seven aid workers getting killed. it's a straw that's breaking the camel's back. >> what happens when you begin to lose sympathy? do any of you feel that is occurring? >> it's a struggle, lester, but we need to recognize that that chain reaction that brings us, unfortunately, back to after many months was unleashed on october 7th by hamas in an unprovoked, savage massacre of civilian communities.

>> look at gaza. how can you not look at that and not feel unbelievable sympathy, right, for the suffering that's going on there, and here we are with our innocent loved ones hostages for 181 days hidden in tunnels. they kind of disappear in this horror that's going on, and there's no question that it feels like the world is moving on. >> if you look at the gaza border, which is where my son was abducted from, he's two, three miles away. they're so close and yet so far, and yet hamas is still holding on to them. >> on what keeps them going. >> one line we say every single day in our house, and someone gave it to us in a sticker because we say it so much, hope is mandatory. >> part of my conversation with families of american hostages held in gaza. in baltimore today

president biden got a firsthand look at the efforts to clear away the collapsed francis scott key bridge touring the site by air and then meeting with first responders and families of the men who died in the disaster. mr. biden pledging to re-open the channel quickly and to provide financial support to the region. and a strong new jobs report out today. in march the u.s. adding more than 300,000 jobs blowing past economists' expectations by about 100,000. the unemployment rate declining slightly to 3.8%. wage growth was up 4.1% year over year outpacing the rate of inflation. and police in burlington, vermont, are investigating a fire suspecting arson at the office of senator bernie sanders. they're looking for a suspect, who they say sprayed an accelerant on the door and set it on fire. the building's sprinkler system put the fire out. people were working in the office at the

time, but there were no injuries. in 60 seconds, anticipation of monday's total eclipse has become a total bonanza for so many towns and cities in its path. we'll take you to one of them right after this. my active psoriatic arthritis joint symptoms held me back. don't let symptoms define you. emerge as you. with tremfya®, most people saw 90% clearer skin at 4 months and the majority stayed clearer, at 5 years. tremfya® is proven to significantly reduce joint pain, stiffness and swelling. it's just 6 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge as you. emerge tremfyant®. ask you doctor about tremfya®. ( ♪♪ ) (christina) with verizon business unlimited, i get 5g, truly unlimited data, and unlimited hotspot data.

so, no matter what, i'm running this kitchen. (vo) make the switch. it's your business. it's your verizon. just three days to go now until the event of the spring, solar eclipse excitement is taking hold across the nation, and along the path of totality, it's causing a business boom in some unlikely places. morgan chesky has more now from his hometown in texas. >> reporter: tonight, the countdown is on for a celestial date with destiny. >> we've been talking eclipse for the last year and a half. >> reporter: come monday, a solar eclipse passing over 31 million americans living in the prized path of totality. >> so, we are directly on the center line. >> reporter: ennis, texas, the blue bonnet capital now capitalizing on its 4 minutes and 23 seconds of total darkness.

>> all of our hoteliers told us they opened up bookings last april 8th for april 8th, and they were sold out within two to three days. >> it's been sold out for a year? >> yes. >> wow. >> reporter: airbnb nationwide, nine out of ten listings are booked along the path from maine to texas, and this family arriving just in time from germany. >> something special. it's not that easy to come over here from europe to be on this. >> reporter: other towns are planning too like kerrville, texas, where i was born and raised. matt gibson's cowboy hats now sit next to all things eclipse. not bad business. >> no, very good business, as a matter of fact. >> reporter: the town prepping to swell by nearly ten times. >> have you ever had to plan for an event of this magnitude of this scale? >> no, no, not in kerrville, no. this is just out -- this is above and beyond anything. all of our safety people have been planning for so long, and they've got our backs. they've got this down. >> reporter: but come monday, all eyes will be looking up. morgan chesky, nbc news, kerrville,

texas. >> and up next for us tonight, machine therapy? some think there's a role for artificial intelligence in mental health. noticing things that seemed...off. she developed agitation that may happen with dementia due to alzheimer's disease. sometimes she'd fidget with her fingers, get suddenly overwhelmed, and even throw things. and that was just never her. so we asked her doctor what else we could do. rexulti is the only fda-approved medication proven to reduce agitation symptoms that may happen with dementia due to alzheimer's disease. rexulti can cause serious side effects. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. report fever, stiff muscles, and confusion, which can be life-threatening, or uncontrolled muscle movements, which may be permanent. high blood sugar which can lead to coma or death; weight gain; increased cholesterol; low white blood cells; unusual urges; dizziness on standing; falls; seizures; trouble swallowing, or sleepiness may occur.

rexulti helped reduce my mom's symptoms. take action for your loved one. ask their doctor about rexulti. okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. yay - woo hoo! ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, nutrients for immune health. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. (♪♪) (geri) i smoked, and i have copd. my children are really worried. my tip is, send your kids a text. it may be the last time that you do. (announcer) you can quit. for free help, call 1-800-quit-now. [ cellphone ringing ] phone call from the boss? sorry. outdoor time is me time. for free help, sticking it to the boss, that sounds fun. we have sort of a flat hierarchy, so --

wait, flo isn't the boss? well, you could say i'm a boss at helping people save when they bundle. nope, thanks. we're not gonna say that. -i'd rather not. -very cringey. (♪♪) with wet amd, i worry i'm not only losing my sight, but my time to enjoy it. but now, i can open up my world with vabysmo. (♪♪) vabysmo is the first fda-approved treatment for people with wet amd that improves vision and delivers a chance for up to 4 months between treatments, so i can do more of what i love. (♪♪) (♪♪) vabysmo works differently, it's the only treatment designed to block 2 causes of wet amd. vabysmo is an eye injection. don't take it if you have an infection, active eye swelling, or are allergic to it. treatments like vabysmo can cause an eye infection or retinal detachment. vabysmo may cause a temporary increase in eye pressure after receiving the injection. there is an uncommon risk of heart attack or stroke associated with blood clots. severe swelling of blood vessels in the eye can occur. most common eye side effects were cataract

and broken blood vessels. open up your world with vabysmo. a chance for up to 4 months between treatments with vabysmo. ask your doctor. back now with our series "a.i. revolution," and a question tonight, can artificial intelligence be used to provide effective therapy? here's erin mclaughlin. >> how have things been going since we last connected? >> reporter: it could be the beginning of

any standard therapy session. >> it's okay to not be okay. >> reporter: but neuroscientist daniel toker is talking to a machine. >> obviously i know it's not a person, but it feels that way. >> reporter: he's been using chatgpt for about a year in addition to his actual therapist. >> it honestly surprised me how well it worked and how useful a tool it's been. >> reporter: openai, the company behind chatgpt says it's not a replacement for mental health treatment and encourage users to we encourage users to seek professional treatment. the american psychological association is concerned with generative a.i. powered chatbots being used for mental health. >> i think it's really important for individuals to understand that not only is this not a replacement for a human provider, the chances it could provide inaccurate information is too high. >> reporter: there is one fda approved chatbot that offers scripted therapeutic responses but not with generative a.i. where

the bot learns about you and offers individualized replies. >> i am feeling like i want to get back together with him. >> reporter: at dartmouth college in new hampshire, nicholas jacobson hopes to change that. >> most people don't receive any type of mental health care, and a lot of that is, i think, a scale problem. >> reporter: mental health america estimates more than 28 million u.s. adults with a mental illness are not getting treatment. jacobson wants therabot now in clinical trial to be the first fda approved chatbot for mental health. >> how does it compare with an actual therapist? >> so generally right now outcomes are pretty similar. it's how available it is. there are bots available 24/7. >> reporter: for now it's text-based, and the user types for on screen responses with more than 200 test participants now using the data trained bot for therapy, each conversation is scrutinized. >> we want it to say certain things, and we've trained it to act in certain ways,

but there's ways that this could certainly go off the rails and -- >> potentially dangerous. >> absolutely. >> the demand is overwhelming. >> yes. >> is this a solution? >> i think this is a solution. >> reporter: one that if it works could go a long way to help america's mental health crisis. erin mclaughlin, nbc news, hanover, new hampshire. up next for us here tonight, getting ready for the women's final four in what's likely to be a record-breaking night in cleveland. (avo) kate made progress with her mental health... ...but her medication caused unintentional movements in her face, hands, and feet called tardive dyskinesia, or td. so her doctor prescribed austedo xr— a once-daily td treatment for adults. ♪ as you go with austedo ♪ austedo xr significantly reduced kate's td movements. some people saw a response as early as 2 weeks. with austedo xr, kate can stay on her mental health meds— (kate) oh, hi buddy! (avo) austedo xr can cause depression, suicidal thoughts, or actions in patients with huntington's disease.

pay close attention to and call your doctor if you become depressed, have sudden changes in mood, or have suicidal thoughts. don't take if you have liver problems, are taking reserpine, tetrabenazine, or valbenazine. austedo xr may cause irregular or fast heartbeat, or abnormal movements. seek help for fever, stiff muscles, problems thinking, or sweating. common side effects include inflammation of the nose and throat, insomnia and sleepiness. ♪ as you go with austedo ♪ ask your doctor for austedo xr. ♪ austedo xr ♪ nothing makes a gathering great like eggland's best eggs. they're just so delicious. with better nutrition, too. for us, it's eggs any style. as long as they're the best. eggland's best. (bobby) my store and my design business? we're exploding. as long as they're the best. but my old internet, was not letting me run the show. so, we switched to verizon business internet. they have business grade internet, nationwide. (vo) make the switch. it's your business. it's your verizon.

salonpas lidocaine flex. a super thin, flexible patch with maximum otc strength lidocaine that contours to the body to relieve pain right where it hurts. and did we mention, it really, really sticks? salonpas, it's good medicine. liberty mutual customized my car insurance and i saved hundreds. that's great. i know, i've bee telling everyone. baby: liberty. oh! baby: liberty. how many people did you tell? only pay for what you need. jingle: ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ baby: ♪ liberty. ♪ feeling ughh from a backed up gut? ughh. miralax works naturally with the water in your body to help you go. free your gut and your mood will follow. for 8 grams of fiber, try mirafiber gummies.

♪♪ imagine a future where plastic is not wasted... but instead remade over and over... into the things that keep our food fresher, our families safer, and our planet cleaner. to help us get there, america's plastic makers are investing billions of dollars to create innovative products and new recycling technologies for sustainable change. because when you push for smarter solutions, big things can happen.

hottest ticket in cleveland as the women's final four tips off tonight, and caitlin clark chases destiny. here's jesse kirsch. >> let's go! >> reporter: tonight, history will be made in cleveland. where women are breaking records on the court and off from ticket prices to viewership. >> it's one of those things that is super cool for these girls to see. >> reporter: this week's lsu/iowa elite eight showdown was the most watched women's college basketball game ever, beating the 2023 nba finals and the 2023 world series. >> i think it's a combination of both exposure through tv, but it's social media. our players are out there. their personalities are coming out. >> reporter: the stars this year changing the face of women's

sports from lsu's angel reese to dawn staley, a powerhouse coaching reign to the number you see all over, iowa's 22. >> who is your favorite player? >> caitlin clark. >> caitlin clark. >> it doesn't get old seeing so many talk about women's basketball. >> reporter: it seems like every time caitlin clark dribbles a basketball, she breaks another record. in division 1 college hoops no one has more all-time points than her, women or men, and when it comes to three-pointers, no one has more than her, women or men. the question, will she be leaving cleveland with some hardware? even if she comes up short, women's basketball still wins. >> i want to be like them someday. >> reporter: jesse kirsch, nbc news, cleveland. that is "nightly news" for this friday. thank you for watching, everyone. i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night.

learning about an incident, where planes clipped wings on the tarmac.