‘March for Israel’; De adly highway bus crash ; Lester Holt interview with hostage families

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Good Tuesday afternoon. Tens of thousands of protesters gathered for the “March for Israel” in Washington today, Lester Holt has an exclusive interview with the families of American hostages being held by Hamas, and there’s been a deadly crash involving a bus full of students in Ohio.

Here is what’s in our Nightly Rundown.

“March for Israel” draws tens of thousands to Washington

A massive crowd gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. this afternoon to stand in support of Israel, denounce antisemitism, and demand the release of hostages held by Hamas.

Organizers for the “March for Israel” were expecting as many as 40,000 to 60,000 people from all over the country to attend the event.

Security was raised to a “Level 1,” the highest threat-assessment designation by the Department of Homeland Security, two agency officials told NBC News, amid a rise in hate in the U.S. and around the world since the Israel-Hamas war began.

Today’s march comes after numerous pro-Palestinian protests and demonstrations calling for a cease-fire in Gaza across the county.

On Monday, protesters demanding a cease-fire occupied Chicago’s Accenture Tower and a federal building in Oakland.

Family of 3-year-old kidnapped by Hamas speaks out to Lester Holt

The family of Abigail Mor Idan, the 3-year-old American girl taken hostage by Hamas, tells Lester Holt that she was in her father’s arms when terrorists shot him.

Abigail’s great-aunt Liz Hirsh Naftali is being joined by seven other families of American citizens who were kidnapped by Hamas, for an NBC News Exclusive interview airing on our broadcast this evening.

Hirsh Naftali said that when Abigail’s father was shot, he fell on top of her, and she had to crawl out from under his body. The girl ran to a neighbor’s house and sheltered in a bomb shelter, Hirsh Naftali said.

“The last thing we learned was that somebody saw [a] terrorist taking this mother, her three kids and Abigail out of the kibbutz,” Hirsh Naftali said. “That’s all we know.”

President Joe Biden expressed hope today that the hostages will be released, on his way to San Francisco for this week’s APEC summit. “Hang in there, we’re coming,” he said to reporters.

"I’ve been talking with the people involved every single day,” Biden added. “I believe it’s going to happen, but I don’t want to get into detail.”

As the negotiations continue, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed the death of another hostage, 19-year-old Israeli soldier Noa Marciano.

Gaza hospital digs mass grave as Israel and Hamas battle outside

Staffers at Gaza’s largest hospital buried about 180 bodies in a mass grave inside the complex, a surgeon tells NBC News, as the fighting between Israel and Hamas just beyond the gates prevents them from transporting the dead.

Hundreds of people, including dozens of premature babies, remain trapped inside the Al-Shifa hospital, officials said.

With electricity cut off, the infants had to be removed from their incubators, and doctors are taking drastic measures to keep them alive.

Israel says Hamas has a command center lying underneath the Al-Shifa Hospital, though the terrorist group denies that.

The Israel Defense Forces released video from beneath a children’s hospital in Gaza showing another purported Hamas command center, with a cache of weapons, and a room where the IDF believes hostages were held.

NBC News has not independently verified the claims in the video.

Charter bus carrying students involved in fatal crash with semi in Ohio

At least three people were killed, and 18 others injured, after a charter bus carrying students was rear-ended by a semitruck on Interstate 70 in Ohio, authorities said.

The bus was transporting students from the Tuscarawas Valley Local School District to an Ohio School Boards Association conference in Columbus, the district said in a statement on social media.

A total of 57 people were onboard the bus, Licking County Emergency Management Agency Director Sean Grady told NBC News.

The injured were taken to area hospitals, Grady said. Their conditions were not immediately clear. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

House to vote on plan to avert government shutdown

The House is expected to vote this afternoon on Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to avert the government shutdown looming at the end of the week.

The plan would temporarily extend funding for some government agencies through mid-January, and others through early February, but does not provide new funding for Israel, Ukraine, or the U.S. southern border.

The House Freedom Caucus has come out against the stopgap plan because it does not include deep spending cuts, but it could pass with votes from Democrats, who’ve signaled they are open to it.

While conservative hardliners in the House are opposed to the bill, they indicated they do not plan to oust Johnson over it — the fate suffered by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

In a tense moment today in a Capitol hallway, one of the Republicans who voted against McCarthy, Rep. Tim Burchett, accused the former speaker of elbowing him as he walked by.

Burchett told NBC News that McCarthy is “just a bully with $17 million and a security detail.” McCarthy denied elbowing Burchett, telling CNN “it’s a tight hallway.”

What else we're watching:

David DePape, the man charged with breaking into then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home last year and beating her husband Paul Pelosi with a hammer, took the stand today in his federal trial.

British police have arrested a man on suspicion of manslaughter in the death of American hockey player Adam Johnson. The name of the suspect was not released, though Johnson died after his neck was cut by a skate in a collision on the ice with an opponent, Matt Petgrave, during a game on Oct. 28.

U.S. inflation cooled to 3.2 percent in October year-over-year, down from 3.7 percent in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

President Biden is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time in a year Wednesday on the sidelines of the APEC summit in California.

The CDC warns at least 22 children in 14 states have been sickened by lead linked to tainted fruit pouches.

“It is with a heavy heart I say goodbye”: Matt LeBlanc paid tribute on Instagram to his late “Friends” co-star Matthew Perry.

Here’s your first look at the new floats in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

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.

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