NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Monday, May 5, 2025

Episode Date: May 6, 2025

Trump launches incentives for migrants in the U.S. illegally to ‘self deport’; Search underway after suspected smuggling boat capsizes near San Diego; Dave Portnoy speaks out after antisemitic incident at Barstool bar; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, the fallout from President Trump's exclusive sit-down on NBC, the aftermath after the president said on Meet the Press, I don't know, when asked whether he had an obligation to uphold the Constitution when it comes to deporting citizens and non-citizens. Plus, the president's new tactic, he says, is aimed at getting undocumented migrants to self-deport. And his controversial plan to reopen Alcatraz, one of America's most notorious prisons. The desperate search, at least three people are dead and more missing after a boat of migrants overturned near San Diego. The controversial new military strategy Israel

is taking in Gaza. We're on the ground in the Middle East. Jury selection underway in the Sean Diddy Combs trial, what the music mogul told the judge about how he was feeling, and the list of celebrity names from Michael B. Jordan to Mike Myers, jurors were told could come up. Philadelphia police investigating the anti-Semitic sign in a night spot that has outraged the world of barstool sports. And as the conclave to choose a new pope nears, Francis' lasting impact on a pasta factory with an amazing story to tell. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome. NBC News' exclusive interview with President Trump from over the

weekend presenting new insight tonight into the president's reading of the Constitution and the right to due process, seeming to suggest at one point in the interview with Kristen Welker that applying due process to citizens and non-citizens alike might prove impractical in terms of sheer numbers when it comes to deportation, saying he'll rely on brilliant lawyers that work for him to clarify what the Supreme Court says about due process. And the president once more lamenting the courts in general are preventing his administration from deporting the worst of undocumented criminal offenders. This as he seeks to raise the stakes in his tough talk on crime by rebooting a notorious lockup. But first, Gabe Gutierrez with a new twist in the administration's crackdown on illegal immigration.

Tonight, President Trump is ramping up his mass deportation effort. His administration now offering $1,000 stipends and travel assistance to undocumented immigrants who self-deport. We're going to pay each one a certain amount of money and we're going to get them a beautiful flight back to where they came from. Cheaper, the Department of Homeland Security says, than the $17,000 it costs to detain and deport them. The president says if they leave voluntarily, they could potentially return legally. Maybe someday, with a little work, they can come back in if they're good people.

The president also defending his crackdown on illegal immigration during an exclusive interview with NBC's Kristen Welker. While the vast majority of deported migrants have gone through the usual legal process, the president has used the Alien Enemies Act to deport a small number of alleged gang members. Critics say that has bypassed due process. Your secretary of state says everyone who's here, citizens and non-citizens deserve due process. Do you agree, Mr. President? I don't know. I'm not, I'm not a lawyer. I don't know. Well, the fifth amendment says. I don't know. It seems, it seems it might say that, but if you're talking about that, then we'd have to have a million or two million or three million trials. We have thousands of people that are some murderers and some drug dealers and some of the worst people on earth, some of the worst, most dangerous people on earth. And I was elected to get them the hell out of here.

And the courts are holding me from doing it. But even given those numbers that you're talking about, don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president? I don't know. I have to respond by saying again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said. What you said is not what I heard the Supreme Court said. They have a different interpretation. The president also saying he'd reopen and expand California's infamous Alcatraz prison to hold violent criminals. It was shut down in 1963. Experts tell NBC News it's two to three times more expensive to house prisoners there. Nobody's ever escaped from Alcatraz and just represented something strong having to do with law and order.

We need law and order in this country. And so we're going to look at it. Meanwhile, the Treasury Secretary is teasing new trade deals soon. Our goal with trade policy is to level the playing field for our great American workers. And following his tariff rollout, the president is blaming his predecessor on the economy three months into his term. I think the good parts of the Trump economy and the bad parts of the Biden economy because he's done a terrible job. He did a terrible job on everything. And Gabe, you also have some breaking news in a case involving Mifepristone, the abortion pill. Yes, Lester, in a new court filing, the Trump administration

is taking a similar position to the Biden administration, urging a judge on procedural grounds to dismiss a lawsuit by three Republican led states to limit access to Mephepristone. While the filing doesn't discuss the merits of the case, it suggests the Justice Department is in no rush to drop the government's defense of the abortion pill. Lester. All right, Gabe, thank you. Now, the tragedy off the coast of San Diego, where three people are dead after a suspected smuggling boat capsized. Authorities say at least 16 people were on board as the search for survivors continues. Liz Kreutz has more. Tonight, a desperate search underway after authorities say a boat suspected to be smuggling a group of migrants capsized off the coast of San Diego, killing at least three people. Possibly five to eight patients all appear to be CPR status. Can you upgrade this to a major medical? According to the Coast Guard, four others were taken to a local hospital, and multiple people are still believed to be missing, including two children.

We have a possibility of numerous patients that are missing at this point in the water. The beat-up panga boat was first spotted by construction workers just north of Torrey Pine State Beach at around 5.30 this morning. Several agencies responded with lifeguards on rescue boats and others walking the beach looking for any survivors. We don't know the ages, but it was a mix of men and women on that boat. Human smuggling off the Southern California coast has long been a dangerous and often deadly way for migrants to try to enter

the U.S. Boats often launch from Mexico, sometimes charting hundreds of miles in the dead of night. Earlier this year in San Diego, drone video capturing a boat suspected of smuggling migrants crashing near shore, tossing passengers into the ocean. And in 2023, eight people died when a boat believed to be carrying migrants also capsized. It's a tragedy of the highest order that people have to do that. And as for today's incident, authorities have not said the nationalities of those on the boat, how many people they believe are still missing and where exactly they believe that boat was coming from. Lester. Liz Kreutz, thank you. The Army has paused helicopter training flights around the Pentagon as it reviews an incident

from last week. Two commercial jets were forced to go around during their approaches to Reagan National Airport because of a nearby Army helicopter. All of it comes after the fatal January collision of a commercial flight and Army Blackhawk helicopter. Now to that major shift by Israel and its war against Hamas in Gaza, saying it will restart its ground defensive and plans to hold on to the territory it sees. Matt Bradley has the latest. Tonight, Israel prepares for a massive escalation in Gaza and a new strategy approved by the security cabinet to take over land and hold it. They say to prevent Hamas from taking it back. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling it a

powerful operation to defeat Hamas and free the remaining 59 hostages. We will not give up on anyone, he said. Israel says it will move Palestinian civilians to safety in Gaza's south and will revamp aid distribution, they say, to keep it away from Hamas. We're going to help the people of Gaza get some food. People are starving. Hamas is making it impossible because they're taking everything that's brought in. Aid agencies say Israel's new plan uses aid as a pressure tactic and say its two-month-long blockade has pushed Gaza to the brink of famine. One of Gaza's only remaining soup kitchens is a scene of desperation. We're hungry almost every day, says this little girl.

Please, stop the war. Now. We don't. This woman says her, her husband, and her children are all ill. A new approach comes a day after a missile fired by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels evaded Israel's sophisticated missile defenses. So this is the crater left by yesterday's impact. Nobody was killed, but just look at how close it was to this huge international airport. Tonight, Israel launching retaliatory strikes against Houthi targets. Many hostage families are criticizing the planned offensive, saying it could lead to the deaths of their loved ones. Lester. Matt Bradley, thanks. Growing

outrage tonight after an anti-Semitic message was displayed at a popular barstool sports bar in Philadelphia. The disturbing moment was caught on camera, and now founder Dave Portnoy is speaking out. Here's Sam Brock. In videos that have already garnered tens of millions of views. There was a sign yesterday that said, f*** the Jews. I've been shaking. I've been so f***ing mad. Barstool sports founder Dave Portnoy, voicing outrage over an anti-Semitic sign, he says was ordered in his Philadelphia bar and then posted onto social media. Maybe it wouldn't have shocked me as much if I didn't see it in a bar that I owned.

But yeah, the uptick in anti-Semitism has been noticeable. Did they apologize to you? Oh, yeah. I mean, they were doing what I would say anybody would do. We're not anti-Semitic. It was a joke. But at this point, you're caught red-handed. Some who were there,

shocked by what they saw. I was out and I seen it and it said that sign and I was just like, whoa, it threw everybody off guard. Portnoy, who's Jewish, says both waitresses who served the group were fired. With Temple University immediately taking action, the president sang in a statement, in the strongest terms possible, let me be clear, anti-Semitism is abhorrent. It has no place at Temple. The university has placed one student on interim suspension, with a police investigation ongoing, as some Jewish students on campus express their concern. It kind of feels, you know, like I have to watch my back all the time just for wearing my star out. It's not a good feeling. Meanwhile, Portnoy pushing for accountability.

Let's try to like turn a hideous incident into maybe a learning experience. And says those responsible had initially agreed to his offer to send them to Auschwitz in Poland, where roughly a million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. But then late today, Portnoy says one of them walked it back. And he's like, well, you know, I had nothing to do with it. I felt pressured into admitting that I had anything to do with it. Adding the trip for that individual now off the table. Portnoy said he's positive that the two people at the center of this are both Temple students. Now, the university says it's still investigating as expulsion is still on the table. Lester.

Sam Brock, thanks. Now to our NBC News exclusive. As a senior official in the first Trump administration, Miles Taylor, published an anonymous op-ed criticizing the president. Now President Trump has signed a memo ordering a probe into Taylor. Laura Jarrett spoke with him. People need to know how real it is to be blacklisted by the president. For a brief moment, Miles Taylor was anonymous. I got into government to serve my country.

Now he's anything but. The former Homeland Security official who once detailed his observations inside the first Trump administration in an anonymous op-ed, now accused of leaking classified information and treason in a presidential memorandum. Did you ever knowingly disseminate classified information? I know I've never broken the law. I know that I've assiduously upheld my national security obligations. You can't threaten Americans to not exercise their First Amendment rights because they're fearful the president of the United States will prosecute them. The 38-year-old says

he's now receiving a barrage of threats. My wife has to read online about people saying that they'll put me in front of a firing squad. We were told by security experts to go update our last will and testament. The president denies he's seeking revenge by directing investigations of his critics. No, I just look at people and I'm not directing anybody. Do you believe that you are being investigated by the federal government? I have seen indications that they are out there rummaging through my past. What I worry about is that they will try to use this tactic, this bludgeon of the bully pulpit of the presidency to go shut people up.

Taylors hired Abby Lowell, who's represented everyone from Hunter Biden to President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. For the head of the executive branch of government to order, literally order, a criminal investigation is unprecedented. When asked if a criminal investigation is underway, DOJ and Homeland Security declined to comment. But Lowell says he isn't waiting for an indictment. I'm asking all those judges who are the guardrails of protecting the rights of citizens to be on the lookout for requests that come to get information against Miles or others. Is what's happening now something you think that is unique to Miles Taylor? I don't think it stops with Miles, but I think Miles is a good test case if the system works. Laura Jarrett,

NBC News. In 60 seconds, inside court on day one of Diddy's criminal trial, what he told the judge about his state of mind and when his medals were lost to wildfires, how a famed Olympian got another shot at his old goals. Jury selection is officially underway in the sex trafficking trial of Sean Diddy Combs. Chloe Malas was in federal court today, and Chloe, no jurors selected, but a pretty revealing start to the eight-week trial. Lester, that's right. It was an illuminating first day of court. Combs entered the courtroom wearing a crewneck sweater and a white button-down shirt. He had some gray in his hair and in his goatee. And at one point, he told the judge that he needed to use the bathroom and that he was

feeling a little bit nervous. Now, also, several celebrities were named today, although they haven't been accused of any wrongdoing. They might be mentioned during the course of the trial. Their names are Michael B. Jordan, Mike Myers, Kanye West, and his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, who has accused him of years of physical and emotional abuse. And she is expected to testify during the trial. Now, Combs has vehemently denied all of the allegations against him. I also want to point out that celebrity attorney Mark Garagos, he was present in the courtroom. His daughter is Teni Garagos, one of the lead attorneys for Combs throughout this trial. Now, a source telling NBC News that he hasn't joined the team, but he is advising on jury selection.

Lester. All right, Chloe, thank you. As the Met Gala gets underway up next, the celebrities taking America's biggest fashion night by storm. It's the sound we long associated with video calls, the Skype ringtone. But today, the once popular platform signed off for the last time. Skype is owned by Microsoft, which is shutting the video calling service down in favor of Microsoft Teams. American swimmer Gary Hall Jr., a 10-time Olympic medalist, but when fire swept through his L.A. home earlier this year, those hard-earned medals were destroyed. Well, today,

the swimming legend received replica medals from the International Olympic Committee for his achievements in Atlanta, Sydney, and Athens. It's known as fashion's biggest night. Celebrities and tastemakers are arriving at the 2025 Met Gala. The star-studded event ushers in the latest fashion exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This year's theme is super fine, tailoring black style. It's focused on the history and politics that have shaped black fashion and beyond. When we come back, ahead of the conclave, Pope Francis's lasting impact on the young inmates getting a fresh start through pasta.

With the final preparations underway for the conclave to pick the next pope, there's good news tonight, a final act of charity by Pope Francis. Here's Anne Thompson. In Italy, pasta is sacred, made with just two ingredients, semolina and water. But Pastificio Futuro has a little something extra. The factory sits outside the Caso del Marmo Juvenile Detention Center in Rome. Here, Pope Francis washed the feet of the young inmates on Holy Thursday. Then, before he died, he gave the factory all the money in his bank account, some 200,000 euros. Its employees are current or former inmates, giving Carmen Egalo a way to return to society. Pope Francis donated the money to pay for the mortgage here. What difference will that make in your future?

He says he now has a future because of Francis. Food technologist Gianfranco Desideri leads the factory. I started here to make good pasta, and then I understand the real purpose of this project. So I help these guys to change their life. You're trying to make good men. Yes, I'm trying. As word of Francis' donation spread, sales of the 10 different pastas got a papal spike. Each bag with the Pope's advice, don't let your hope be stolen. That special ingredient,

a final gift from a man who practiced what he preached. Anne Thompson, NBC News, Rome. And join me and Anne live from the Vatican starting tomorrow night for the conclave to choose the next pope. That's nightly news for this Monday. Thank you for watching. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night.