NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Nightly News Full Broadcast (March 7th)

Episode Date: March 8, 2025

Gene Hackman died a week after the rare hantavirus killed his wife; South Carolina prisoner dies by firing squad; Trump denies Musk clashed with cabinet members; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, what officials just said about the mysterious death of Gene Hackman and his wife. The devastating news conference laying out the timeline. What officials say killed Hackman's wife, Betsy Arakawa. It's called hantavirus, incredibly rare and spread by rodents. Officials also saying the Academy Award winning actor died of heart disease and Alzheimer's one week later. The questions we asked the medical examiner. Also breaking tonight, the death row inmate set to die by firing squad in South Carolina, the first in years. The extreme weather slamming parts of the East Coast, the multi-story scaffolding

collapsing in Boston. The new reporting, Elon Musk clashing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over layoffs. What the president said tonight about the showdown. Explosions in the sky. A second SpaceX launch explodes moments after liftoff. Chunks of the capsule raining down on the Caribbean. On the front lines are Keir Simmons, the first American network correspondent in a part of Russia where Ukrainians are on the attack. Plus, Trump's new warning to Putin. You did not kill a soul. Absolutely not. You didn't do any of those things you've been convicted of doing. Correct. Convicted killer Lori Vallow Daybell speaks out in her first TV interview to Dateline's Keith Morrison

what she told him about her blockbuster case. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. And good evening. I'm Tom Yamas in for Lester. Tonight as we come on the air, the medical examiner in New Mexico sharing stunning new details in the death of Gene Hackman and his wife. Betsy Arakawa now thought to have died from a very rare infection spread by rodents known as hantavirus. Gene Hackman believed to have died a week later in that same house of heart failure and Alzheimer's. Investigators laying out a detailed timeline of the Hackman's last days, including final emails and surveillance from a shopping trip on February 11th. Liz Kreutz starts us off from Santa Fe with more on the mystery revealed.

Tonight, authorities announcing legendary actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease complicated by advanced Alzheimer's. The 95-year-old alone for several days after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died first in their Santa Fe home. I can tell you that he was in an advanced state of Alzheimer's, and it's quite possible that he was not aware that she was deceased. The medical investigator saying an autopsy shows 65-year-old Arakawa died of hantavirus, an infection spread by contact with rodent droppings that can be deadly in roughly 40% of cases as fluid builds up in the lungs.

A person can die very quickly without medical treatment. Officials laying out a timeline saying the last known sighting and communication from Arakawa was February 11th, when she was running errands, picking up groceries and dog food before returning home and was not heard from since. Numerous emails were unopened on her computer on February 11th. There was no additional outgoing communication from her or known activity after February 11th. Police believe Hackman was likely in the home for days with his pacemaker showing his last activity a week after his wife's death. Do you believe given his Alzheimer's status that Mr. Hackman was able to live on his own and survive for those seven days?

I'm not aware of what his normal daily functioning capability was. He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease. And I think ultimately that is what resulted in his death. What about starvation? There was no food in his stomach, which means he had not eaten recently, but he had also no evidence of dehydration. The couple's dog, Xena, that died in her crate is undergoing a necropsy,

but officials say it's possible she did starve. Tonight, after their deaths sparked nationwide intrigue, answers to a tragic ending for the Hollywood icon and his wife of more than three decades. Liz, it's all so tragic. What more have investigators been able to learn from their emails and cell phone records? Yeah, it really is, Tom. Investigators say they're still working with police to try to access all of the cell phone records. But they say right now, Betsy Arakawa's last known communication was an email she sent her massage therapist the morning of February 11th.

They say that there's no indication that Gene Hackman tried to contact anybody in the days after his wife died, which may not be surprising, sadly, given his advanced Alzheimer's. Tom. Liz Kreutz leading us off tonight. Liz, thank you. We have more breaking news now. We turn to the death row inmates sentenced to death by firing squad in South Carolina. Incredibly rare in this country. Sinclair SMY joins us now live on set. So Sinclair, how and why did it go down this way? Yeah, Tom. So Brad Sigmund chose this method of death. And NBC News can confirm that as of 6.08 p.m. this evening, the 67-year-old died by a firing squad of three. Sigmund had the choice of electrocution, lethal injection, or firing squad, but this is what he wanted. A metal chair, a hood over his head, and a target over his heart. That is how South Carolina death row inmate Brad Sigmund chose to

die, the fourth execution of its kind in 50 years. The 67-year-old was sentenced to death for killing his ex-girlfriend's parents with a baseball bat in 2002. Sigmund's lawyer says his client chose death by firing squad because it offers fewer unknowns than lethal injection. He knows it's going to break his bones. He knows it's going to destroy his organs. But the alternative is potentially an excruciating 20-minute death. Sigmund's execution carried out by three Department of Corrections volunteers, shooting live rounds of ammunition at his heart. I want to make sure it's going to be carried out as professionally as possible. And they're pros. They've rehearsed. Death by firing squad is legal in four other states,

with Arizona now considering the same. In a U.S. Supreme Court application, Sigmund's defense says in South Carolina's last three lethal injections, inmates' deaths took more than 20 minutes, citing state autopsies showing prisoners' lungs filled with blood and fluid akin to drowning. A death by firing squad happens almost immediately. It doesn't mean it's not going to be painful, but lethal injection is absolutely painful. The grandson of Sigmund's victims telling local media Sigmund took away the rock of their family. Sigmund's last words calling for an end to the death penalty. Zinclea Samoa, NBC News. We want to turn to that dangerous weather situation across

the Northeast now. 13 million at risk for high winds. Gusts of up to 62 miles an hour brought down this scaffolding in Boston. Wood pipes and netting littering the road there. And not far away in Connecticut, an enormous tree you see here crashing onto a mail truck. Luckily, no one was injured. OK, now to our new reporting on the drama surrounding Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, Doge, at a contentious meeting where the world's richest man clashed with members of President Trump's cabinet. Gabe Gutierrez reports. Tonight, new drama over Doge. Two people familiar with the exchanges tell NBC News that a closed-door cabinet meeting yesterday got

contentious with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pushing back against billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. Some details have come out about your cabinet meeting with Elon Musk and some clashes potentially between Secretary Rubio and Secretary Duffy. No clash. I was there. You're just a troublemaker. And you're not supposed to be asking that question because we're talking about the World Cup. Elon gets along great with Marco and they're both doing a fantastic job. But the two sources say Rubio and Duffy did push back on Musk, accusing him of firing their employees without any consideration for whether

letting them go was a good idea in terms of maintaining quality and critical staff. Just yesterday, President Trump placed new limits on Musk's downsizing, saying cabinet secretaries will now be in charge, using a scalpel instead of a hatchet. I don't want to see a big cut where a lot of good people are cut. Musk recently huddled with congressional Republicans. We're making good progress. Many supporting his mission to slash the federal bureaucracy. My thinking on Musk is a rock star.

The tofu crowd is mad. But, you know, when you trim fat, pigs squeal. That's just the way the world works. Well, tonight, the Trump administration is also responding to recent campus confrontations over Gaza, canceling about $400 million in federal grants to Columbia University over what it says is the school's continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students. Jewish student Eden Yadigar says she's feared for her safety. I have been screamed at on campus.

I have friends that have been physically assaulted on and around campus for being Jewish. A spokesperson for the university says it's committed to combating anti-Semitism and ensuring the safety of its students. Gabe, it is busy at the White House tonight. I know you have new reporting about President Trump reaching out to Iran about talks to restrict its nuclear program. Yes, Tom. President Trump now says that he sent a letter this week to Iran's supreme leader trying to strike a new agreement to restrain the country's nuclear program. It's a major pivot for the president, who withdrew from a previous Iran nuclear deal during his first term.

Tom. All right, Gabe, we thank you for that. Now to the escalating trade war launched by President Trump, today proposing even more new tariffs on one of the U.S.'s biggest trade partners. Garrett Haik for us tonight in Toronto. On the icy streets of Canada's largest city, a new attitude toward the U.S. You don't stab the back of your friend. I think it's disgraceful. We're very pro-Canadian.

We don't want to be the 51st state. Canada has been ripping us off for years on tariffs. In the Oval Office this afternoon, President Trump floating new tariffs on Canadian lumber and dairy products on top of the 25% levy imposed this week on most imports from Canada. And we may do it as early as today or we'll wait till Monday or Tuesday, but that's what we're going to do. We're going to charge the same thing. It's not fair. The confusion and costs chipping away at Canadians' innate politeness.

This is going to screw us and it's going to screw you guys. Pardon my words, but yeah, you guys, all your prices are going to go up and all our prices go up. Canada has responded with escalating tariffs of its own on billions of dollars of American goods. Provincial governments, too, are taking forceful steps to encourage consumers to buy Canadian. Ontario's government-run liquor stores sell nearly a billion dollars in American products every year, but right now you won't find any on their shelves. The government ordered them to stop selling American wines and liquor earlier this week. What is your message to Donald Trump specifically? Stop the chaos. Ontario's premier Doug Ford even

threatened to cut off Canadian electricity sold across the border, which powers some one and a half million homes and businesses in New York, Minnesota and Michigan. That's the last thing I want to do. But President Trump is trying to destroy our country. And today, the Canadian government launched a $5 billion fund to help businesses navigate the tariffs and find new markets for their exports, suggesting Canada doesn't see a truce in this trade war anytime soon. Tom. Garrett Haig for us on assignment.

Garrett, thank you. We head overseas now to Russia. President Trump tonight with a new warning to Putin that he's strongly considering sanctions unless there's a ceasefire, all as we're getting a rare look from the front lines inside of Russia from our Keir Simmons. Hours after Ukraine officials say a Russian missile struck a hotel, killing four people, President Trump with a new threat to Russian President Putin, posting Russia is absolutely pounding Ukraine and that he's strongly considering large scale banking sanctions, sanctions and tariffs on Russia until a peace deal is reached. I'm finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine. It may be easier dealing with

Russia, which is surprising because they have all the cards. I mean, and they're bombing the hell out of them right now. And I put a statement in a very strong statement. Can't do that here in Russia. It does not seem like ending the war will be easy where it's now become a fact of life. In the Russian city of Kursk, air raid sirens are ignored. NBC News, the first U.S. network to reach the region since Ukrainian forces invaded this Russian area last year. A response to President Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

A road bristling with Russian military takes us to the frontline town of Rilst, where the mayor shows us a concert hall he says was struck by Ukraine killing two people. President Trump has said that Russia is ready for peace. We hope for peace, he says, and normal existence. In Kursk, Russian and North Korean troops are locked in a battle with Ukrainian forces. We have to liberate our territory, the mayor says, without question. He shows us a crater outside an elementary school. Do you think about the Ukrainian schools that have been targeted, the kids that have been killed in the past three years? That's a provocative question, he replies.

In Russia, criticizing the war means jail, and no one we spoke to blamed President Putin. Everything rests on Zelensky, this man says. Others believe President Trump can help. Trump's this wonderful man. But Russian officials tell NBC News they're not in a hurry for a Trump-Putin summit. Moscow plans to drive a hard bargain. Tom? Kir Simons in Moscow tonight for us.ir, we thank you for that. In 60 seconds, the new fallout from yet another Starship explosion over the Caribbean. The new air traffic control audio just in and what Elon Musk is now saying. We are back now with the FAA ordering SpaceX to conduct a thorough investigation after a second Starship rocket exploded over the Caribbean last night. Some flights in the U.S. temporarily grounded as debris rained down. Here's Tom Costello.

The question for investigators tonight, how could a massive SpaceX Starship explode yet again in nearly the same place? Flaming debris falling from the sky. The raining debris visible from South Florida and several Caribbean islands. There it is. Boom. You can see we've lost several engines and we've lost attitude control of the vehicle. Thursday's event eerily similar to the January loss of another starship over the Caribbean. Now I'm just vectoring you away from the zone of the debris. This time, nearly 240 flights disrupted as the FAA diverted planes and ordered airport ground stops. While the booster rocket landed perfectly back at the launch pad, SpaceX says Starship itself lost several engines before tumbling out of control

and any surviving debris would have fallen within the pre-planned debris response area. On X, CEO Elon Musk called it a minor setback. The biggest rocket ever built is going through robust testing, igniting, then shutting down and reigniting engines that might one day carry astronauts. What they're doing is they're trying to simulate what's going to happen when they get closer to the moon. The FAA says it will be involved in every step of the SpaceX-led mishap investigation, even as Elon Musk has led job cutting efforts at the FAA. Tonight, the FAA says it must approve SpaceX's final report and corrective action. A return to flight will happen when it's convinced that public safety is not jeopardized. Tom. Tom Costello for us. Tom, we thank you. Stay with us for an NBC News exclusive,

a jailhouse interview with Lori Vallow Daybell serving life for killing her kids. What she told Dateline's Keith Morrison. That's next. We are back now with an exclusive jailhouse interview with Lori Vallow, who's serving life in prison for murdering her two children. She's now pleaded not guilty to the murder of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, in Arizona. And that's where she sat down with Dateline's Keith Morse. As they brought her from her cell at a women's jail near Phoenix, she winked at the camera. Hello, come on in. Before sitting for her first ever TV interview, a sign of things to come.

Are you keeping track? I'm keeping track. She is Lori Vallow, once labeled the most hated mother in America, convicted of murdering her own two children, 16-year-old Tylee and 7-year-old JJ. Hey, Chad and Lori. Where are your kids? She was caught with her new husband and spiritual guru, Chad Daybell, in 2020. And months later, investigators found the children's bodies in Chad's backyard pet cemetery. Tonight, those investigators speak out for the first time. That was a very emotional moment. Did it number on you?

Yeah, those aren't, those are memories that, you know, don't go away. Also speaking out, Lori Vallow's only surviving son, Colby. I felt really guilty for even being the only one that didn't get killed. I think that's for a long time. Now, charged with murdering her fourth husband, Lori Vallow is representing herself. I'm in trial coming up, as you know. Do you know that, Keith? She'll remain in prison for life no matter what happens in her upcoming trial. Chad Daybell is on death row.

But for Lori, it's as if the evidence and her convictions don't exist at all. You did not kill a soul. Absolutely not. You didn't participate in killing a soul. No. You didn't conspire to kill a soul. Correct. You didn't do any of those things you've been convicted of doing. Correct. Lori Vallow, as unrepentant as ever as she prepares to face justice again. Keith Morrison, NBC News, Los Angeles. And you can catch Lori Vallow Daybell, the jailhouse interview on Dateline at 9 Eastern tonight, right here on NBC. Okay, when we come back, hidden in plain sight, the secret history of this Selma, Alabama coffee shop, now serving up an important lesson about the past. 60 years ago this Sunday, peaceful marchers in Selma, Alabama were met with brutal violence.

Priscilla Thompson returned to a coffee shop that's turning a painful past into hope. Every day, customers stroll in and out of this orange building. Good morning. Picking up coffee, often unaware of what the building once was. Do you know what that used to be? No, I'm not familiar with that. This is actually the window from which blacks had to be served when this restaurant was a segregated diner. Today, this is the coffee shop

in downtown Selma. But decades ago, it was the Thirsty Boy Diner, where a hamburger and drink would cost you 24 cents and black people were served out back. What do you remember of the Thirsty Boy as a child? We would come by for the infamous ham sandwich. And I can remember we didn't come in the front door. We walked through this window. The segregated diner was the site of sit-ins and focus of freedom songs and just steps from the Edmund Pettus Bridge were on that fateful Sunday 60 years ago today.

Unarmed demonstrators marching for voting rights were attacked by police armed with batons, dogs, and tear gas. But the arc of the moral universe bent toward justice, with the Voting Rights Act signed into law later that year in August of 1965. And here in Selma, Jackie now runs her coffee shop out of that once segregated diner, with that divisive window now filled with accolades from around the world. There's community. There's unity. There's love. There's light. And there's a successful black woman that's operating in a space that 60 years ago did not stand for those same things.

And now this is a place for everybody. This is a place for everybody. Priscilla Thompson, NBC News, Salma, Alabama. And we thank Priscilla for that great look back. That's nightly news for this Friday. Thank you for watching. I'm Tom Yamas. Have a great night and a week.