NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Saturday, February 22, 2025

Episode Date: February 23, 2025

Police officer killed, at least 5 others injured in Pennsylvania hospital shooting; Vatican says Pope Francis in ‘critical’ condition; Trump touts efforts to reshape government in CPAC speech; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, a terrifying attack inside a Pennsylvania hospital and the hostage situation foiled by police. The gunman, armed with a handgun and zip ties, opening fire inside the ICU. Staff members taken hostage, three workers shot. A responding officer killed in the line of duty before the gunman was killed in a shootout with police. We have two officers hit by gunfire. The attack sending people running for their lives. We're live at the scene. Breaking news out of the Vatican tonight after days of battling pneumonia.

An update on Pope Francis. President Trump speaking to supporters today after a massive leadership shakeup at the Pentagon. The president firing the nation's top military officer. And the new warning tonight from Elon Musk to all federal workers. Six more Israeli hostages released by Hamas, as both sides gear up for phase two of the Gaza ceasefire. Chaos at the mall. Multiple people killed, dozens injured when the roof caves in.

What may have caused this deadly accident? The future of health care. Please select a door. Why hospitals across the country are turning to robots like these. And an incredible rescue in Utah. A father and son saved after being stranded on a steep cliff. How a backpack they discovered kept them alive. This is NBC Nightly News with Jose Diaz-Balart.

Good evening. We are coming on the air tonight with the terrifying attack inside a hospital. Police say a man armed with a gun and carrying zip ties took hostages inside the intensive care unit at the UPMC Memorial Hospital in York County, Pennsylvania today. There was a massive police response. Hospital workers could be seen running for their lives. The gunman was killed in a shootout with police. Tragically, West York Borough Officer Andrew Duarte was also killed, protecting the community that is now in mourning.

We begin tonight with Maya Eaglin on the ground in York, Pennsylvania. Today, tragedy at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in York, Pennsylvania. Police responding to an active shooter on site. People frantically running from danger. Emergency dispatch calling for help. Reports of an officer down as well as the shooter down inside the hospital. Tonight, police identifying the shooter saying he's 49-year-old Diogenes Archangel Ortiz, who entered the hospital after 10 30 this morning carrying a bag that included a handgun and zip ties. Police say he held a doctor, nurse, and custodian hostage. All three shot and injured. Three officers also shot. One didn't make it. West York Borough Officer Andrew Duarte killed

while responding to the scene. This is a huge loss to our community. While no patients were injured, officials confirming tonight the shooter was killed by authorities. His motive, unknown. It is absolutely clear and beyond any and all doubt that the officers were justified in taking their action and using deadly force. Governor Josh Shapiro in York tonight honoring the hospital staff and first responders he calls heroes. I know that because of their work, lives were saved today here at UPMC Memorial. We're deeply grateful to all of law enforcement who answered the call today and ran immediately toward danger. Maya Eaglin joins me from that hospital in York,

Pennsylvania. Maya, what more do we know about the officer that was killed? Jose, we know that Officer Durarte had been in law enforcement for at least six years in the Westboro community here is inviting folks out to lay flowers at a nearby memorial later this evening. All of this as police are still investigating to find a potential motive from the shooter. Jose. Maya Eaglin in York, Pennsylvania. Thank you. We're also following major news from the Vatican tonight with Pope Francis now in critical condition. He's been battling pneumonia for more

than a week. Claudio Lavanga is at the Vatican and Claudio, the Pope's condition took a turn today. That's right, Jose. The Vatican says Pope Francis is still in a critical condition. Today he received a blood transfusion due to an anemia and also he was put under oxygen therapy suggesting that he, high flow oxygen therapy suggesting that his oxygen levels are low or that he was finding it difficult to breathe on his own. Well now the Pope is 88 years old he was hospitalized on February 14th after a long spell of respiratory problems. He was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia and an inflammation of the respiratory tract caused by two or more germs. On Friday, the doctors there said

that he's not out of danger yet, but at the same time, his condition is not life-threatening. And then today, his condition worsened, the Vatican said, but he is still alert. Jose? Claudio Lavanga at the Vatican. Thank you. Back here in the U.S., a major leadership shakeup at the Pentagon, the nation's top-ranked military officer among several who were fired last night. And there are signs some Americans are unhappy with the administration's push to slash the federal workforce. Von Hilliard reports. That's all we're doing when you think is keeping our promises.

Speaking to a crowd of his most fervent supporters, President Trump today touting his administration's efforts to reshape the federal government. The fraudsters, liars, cheaters, globalists, and deep state bureaucrats are being sent packing. His latest target, the Pentagon. In a Friday night purge, Trump firing the nation's top military officer C.Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs

of Staff. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last fall foreshadowing what would come. Well, first of all, you got to fire, you know, you got to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Any general that was involved, general admiral, whatever that was involved in any of the DEI woke, it's got to go. Trump selecting retired Air Force Lieutenant General Dan Raisin-Kane as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Kane first met Trump in Iraq while a commander helping lead the offensive against the Islamic State. He most recently served as associate director for military affairs for the CIA. And more shakeups at the Pentagon, the administration dismissing several top officers from the Navy and Air Force,

as well as the top lawyers for those branches and the Army. Plus, the Pentagon saying next week, approximately 5,400 probationary civilian staffers at the Defense Department will be released. I think he's going to drink that with his executive orders. The president's rapid remake of the federal government playing out to mixed reviews in congressional town halls around the country. In Nebraska, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders launching his own, quote, fighting oligarchy tour. Trump believes he can do anything he wants to do. The law does not apply to him. Trump today on social media pushing ally Elon Musk and his Doge team to get more aggressive.

Musk in turn then announcing on X all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week, adding failure to respond will be taken as a resignation. Three sources tell NBC News those emails are already being received today by federal employees, asking them to send five bullet points of what they accomplished last week, but noted employees should not include classified information. The deadline set for Monday at 11.59 p.m. And Vaughn, we saw what Elon Musk said about failure to reply to that email. But what is the White House saying tonight? Jose, a spokesperson in the administration tells me it'll be up to each individual agency

to determine the next steps for workers who don't reply, stopping just short of calling it automatic resignation. Jose? Vaughn Hilliard, thank you. And don't miss Meet the Press tomorrow when Kristen Welker interviews Senators Cory Booker and Mark Wayne Mullen. That's tomorrow morning right here on NBC. After a week of growing tensions,

it appears President Trump may be closing in on a deal to offer security for Ukraine in exchange for some rights to some of the country's most valuable minerals. Yamiche Alcindor has the details. Tonight, the U.S. and Ukraine are continuing to work on a deal that could give the U.S. valuable rights to Ukrainian rare minerals. President Trump speaking at the conservative conference CPAC this afternoon. I want them to give us something for all of the money that we put up and I'm going to try and get the war settled and I'm going to try and get all that death ended. So we're asking for rare earth and oil, anything we can get. The U.S. looking for payback for the billions of dollars

in aid it's given Ukraine since its war with Russia began three years ago. Ukraine hoping to get continued American support as part of a larger effort to end that war. On Friday, President Volodymyr Zelensky posting this video address. Saying, quote, this is an agreement that can strengthen our relations. And the key is to work out the details to ensure its effectiveness. Signs of easing tensions after sharp exchanges between President Trump and Zelensky this week. Zelensky rejecting a Trump proposal that would have granted the U.S. 50 percent ownership of Ukraine's rare earth minerals, including lithium, titanium and graphite used to make things like electric car batteries, cell phones and wind

turbines. Days later, President Trump calling Zelensky a dictator and saying Ukraine should have never started the war, though Russia invaded the country in 2022. But now tensions between the two leaders appear to be slowly thawing out. I think we're pretty close to a deal and we better be close to a deal because that has been a horrible situation. Yamiche Alcindor is live at the White House tonight. Yamiche, what are officials saying about the separate deal to end the war in Ukraine overall? Today, the White House press secretary said President Trump is very confident his team can get a deal done this week to end the war. But it's unclear whether that will actually be possible.

Jose. Yamiche Alcindor at the White House. Thank you. And now to the Middle East and today's release of six more Israeli hostages who were held in Gaza. That release raising questions about what will happen next with this fragile ceasefire. Ralph Sanchez has the latest. Tonight, six more Israeli hostages released from Hamas captivity in Gaza. Four of them kidnapped on October 7th and held for more

than 500 days. But the other two, Hisham al-Said and Avera Mengistu, spent a decade as prisoners of Hamas. Said, a Bedouin Arab and Mengistu, a Jew born in Ethiopia, both suffer mental health issues and wandered into Gaza 10 years ago, according to their families. Tonight, they're finally free, along with 22-year-old Omer Shemtov. Back in the arms of his parents, telling them, you have no idea how I dreamt of this. Shemtov was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival. We first met his mother, Shelly, just days after October 7th. No mother in all over the world needs to feel like I feel now. She left his bedroom exactly as it was on the day he was taken.

More than 600 Palestinian prisoners expected to be released. But Israel's joy, tinged with grief. The bodies of the youngest hostages, Kefir and Ariel Bibas, returned yesterday. And overnight, after delay and confusion, Hamas finally returning the body of their mother, Shiri. Israel's military says terrorists murdered the boys in captivity. They killed them with their bare hands. Hamas says they were in fact killed in an Israeli airstrike, along with thousands of Palestinian children.

And this was the last hostage release of this phase of the ceasefire. If the remaining hostages, including one living American, are going to be freed, Israel and Hamas will need to agree on the next phase. Jose. Ralph Sanchez, thank you. At least six people were killed in a deadly roof collapse at a mall in northwestern Peru. You can see the moment the roof starts to buckle here. Then a frantic search for survivors. About 80 people were injured, including young children.

Officials say torrential rains in Trujillo in recent days may have been a factor. Still ahead tonight, a dramatic cliffside rescue in Utah, how a father and son survived hours stranded on a narrow ledge, and how this backpack helped keep them alive. We're back with an incredible cliffside rescue. A father and son stranded in a Utah canyon. They made it out thanks to a huge stroke of luck. Camila Bernal has more. Tonight, an incredible rescue caught on camera.

A father and his 12-year-old son stuck on a steep mountainside in southern Utah. Let's take a closer look at that. Those white figures there, look closely. That's infrared video of the pair waving at a helicopter search team, desperate for help. We've located them. The two lost for hours hiking in Snow Canyon State Park. The man's wife alerting authorities.

They're just down below. With temperatures near freezing and their cell phone dead. They've got space blankets there. They survived in part because in that same spot, incredibly, they found a backpack with blankets, food and water, left behind by 15-year-old Levi Dittman, stranded in that same location just weeks ago. I'm insanely grateful that I could help them. That's what the backpack was intended for, was to help someone.

I just thought that someone would be me. As for the rescued pair, the dad tells us he's grateful and certain that in the future, no matter how long the hike, he will always be prepared for the worst. Kabila Bernal, NBC News. And we're back in a moment with the robots that are revolutionizing health care. We're back with a closer look at the future of health care. Across the country, hospitals are using robots to do everything from mixing medication to delivering them to patients. And Thompson went to a hospital in Washington to see for herself. Meet Cairo, the newest worker at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital's

oncology pharmacy. His colleagues say he's quiet, punctual, and pulls his weight, preparing roughly 40 of the hospital's 100 chemotherapy orders a day. Pharmacist Mame Adaka is a co-worker. He does, works really well alongside our team, but he's also a very important part of our team. Is he competition? No, no, we don't compete here. Mixing chemo drugs can be dangerous. The toxic formulas designed to kill cancer cells pose a risk to the pharmacists who handle them, requiring protective gear in the event of a spill.

You can see in front of the robot there's a screen right now. Senior Pharmacy Director Long Trinh says Cairo reduces that risk and increases productivity. It takes now 10 minutes on average for chemotherapy to be prepared by a robot, where it took maybe 20 minutes to be prepared by an employee. Cairo's specialty? Some of the most commonly used chemo drugs that treat 14 cancers, including breast and lung. Barcodes and cameras track Cairo's moves, ensuring the mixtures are correct. And then the chemo is handed off. What is this?

This is Luke, our delivery robot. After the chemotherapy medication is compounded, the medication can then be placed in the delivery robot to be delivered to the infusion suite for our nurse. Luke is pre-programmed to follow a specific route between the pharmacy and patients, equipped with sensors to make sure he doesn't bump into anything. More and more hospitals are using robots. Sir Mix-a-Lot does chemo prep at the Mayo Clinic. You could run into Robotussin, Zippy, and Charlotte at Dartmouth's Hitchcock Medical Center. And big pharmacies like Walgreens have robots manning micro-fulfillment

centers to combat human pharmacist burnout. They don't have to count and put pills in bottles, and actually putting them more on a patient-facing and a consumer-facing health journey. At Georgetown, It then routes to the robots. Trin insists Cairo won't replace people, but make pharmacist jobs easier. We can reimagine where the pharmacist's work can be located at, perhaps now located right at the patient bedside, working with the nurses, the physician to provide direct patient care.

Machines and man working together for better care. Anne Thompson, NBC News, Washington. When we come back, there's good news tonight about meeting your heroes and getting a chance to be the MVP on and off the field. There's good news tonight. So often the good news doesn't get as much attention as the bad.

So every Saturday we highlight the many people who spread joy and love. These are just some of those stories this week. He stops, starts, goes to basket, scoops, and good! This was a winning moment that brought longtime Michigan State coach Tom Izzo to tears. His team's victory over Oregon, tying legendary coach Bobby Knight for 353 Big Ten wins. I just want to thank each and every one of you because we're not done yet now.

I promise you we are celebrating tonight. But the Spartans win one week later. Pushing Izzo into the record books, becoming the all-time leader in Big Ten wins. And how's this for hoop dreams? Ella, thank you for stepping up with the play. That's Texas Christian University women's basketball coach Mark Campbell with a big surprise for walk-on player Ella Hamlin. But Ella, you've earned a full-ride scholarship.

Yeah! for walk-on player Ella Hamlin. But Ella, you've earned a full-right scholarship. The team letting the sophomore nursing student know just how much all her hard work means. In Buffalo, a life-changing shout-out by Bill's NFL MVP, Josh Allen. I know this is an individual award and it says most valuable player on it, but I think it's derived from team success.

It's a slick Rick in the mail room. So it got the world wondering, who is Slick Rick? That's Roderick Morrow, the team's longtime mailman, so touched that one of his heroes gave him a moment to shine. And he mentioned my name, I started crying. I basically broke down in tears. I couldn't believe it. Here's your very own Chevy Traverse. Oh my God, I started crying. I basically broke down in tears. I couldn't believe it. Here's your very own Chevy Traverse. Oh my God, I love you. Soon after, a local dealership stepped

in honoring Slick Rick with this car after finding out he'd been taking the bus to work all these years. Josh, you touched me for the rest of my life. I'm so proud of you. You look so beautiful. Talk about staying strong. That's Brianna Garcia holding back tears at her tap-out ceremony, a time-honored military tradition marking the end of basic training. Ready? One, two, three.

Ah! Brianna, who's in the Army, finally falling into the arms of her loved ones after months far from home. Oh, my gosh. Brianna, so take me then to that ceremony when you had your mom and your abuelita together. Just seeing everybody there in front of me just made me so emotional because I just love my family so much. When they both hugged me, it just felt like this is real. They're here. Brianna's dedication to service,

a personal victory, she says she never could have achieved without all their support. What does that moment represent for you? I felt like I accomplished something big because, I've never thought I would be able to do that. And we want to thank Brianna and all of those who serve our country for their military service. That's NBC Nightly News for this Saturday. Hallie Jackson will be here tomorrow night. I'm Jose Diaz-Balart. Thank you for the privilege of your time and good night.