NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Sunday, April 13, 2025

Episode Date: April 13, 2025

Arrest made after arson at PA governor's home; More tariff confusion after Trump officials say exemptions may be temporary; FBI alleges teenager involved in plot to kill Trump; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Breaking news tonight, the new arrest after someone set fire to the home of the Pennsylvania governor. He and his family asleep inside. New developments late tonight about what police call an act of arson and potential attempted murder. Windows shattered, smoke billowing out. Governor Josh Shapiro and his family woken up to banging on the door from rescuers. And tonight, the governor emotional and forceful in his message. This type of violence is not okay. What else we're learning about how this could have happened.

White House whiplash and mixed messages over those new tariff exemptions on some products. Why officials say they may not be permanent and what it means for the price you pay. New development in the case of the teen charged with killing his parents, now allegedly tied to a plot to assassinate President Trump. An American pastor kidnapped in South Africa in the middle of a sermon, the latest on the search and what his church is saying at Sunday services. Spring break travel in full swing with some alarm bells for airlines. Why the Frontier CEO tells us he's still hopeful about the future.

You may be the only airline CEO right now who is optimistic. This is NBC Nightly News with Hallie Jackson. Good evening. We are coming on the air with breaking news out of Pennsylvania. We're late tonight. Police say someone's in custody after suspected arson at the governor's mansion with Governor Josh Shapiro and his family asleep inside. You can see what looks like smoke coming out of one of the windows of the residence here and the massive emergency response. Rescuers banging on the door around two in the morning as late tonight, the governor himself considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, delivering an emotional message, calling this an attack not just on his family, but on all of Pennsylvania.

Our Maya Eaglin is on the ground and starts us off. 38-year-old Cody Bomber now in custody and expected to be charged with attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson and more. After officials say he forcibly entered and set a fire at Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's residence in Harrisburg. He was able to, he acted very surreptitiously, and then he forcibly entered, and then he set the fire. Authorities calling the blaze an act of arson, saying local fire officials responded to the incident around 2 a.m., successfully evacuating Governor Josh Shapiro and his family while extinguishing the flames. The governor and his family were in a different part of the home, officials say,

away from the fire, but a portion of the house had a significant amount of damage from the blaze. This type of violence is not okay. Okay. Not okay. This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society. Officials haven't said if they believe the incident was politically motivated or a hate crime. Police say Balmer had a homemade device. He had some homemade incendiary devices. Just hours before the incident, Shapiro, who was Jewish, sent out this message for Passover with a picture of his family's Seder table.

If he was trying to terrorize our family, our friends, the Jewish community who joined us for a Passover Seder in that room last night proudly. And in a few hours, we will celebrate our second Seder of Passover again proudly. Maya Eaglin joins us now from Harrisburg, where one of the big questions, Maya, is how somebody got so close to the governor's residence in the first place. Yeah, Hallie, police say once a suspect hopped over the fence right over here by the governor's mansion, the security team was alerted, but somehow that suspect was able to make it inside the residence. So now security teams here are doing a full review to try and make sure something like this doesn't happen again. Hallie. Maya Eaglin in Harrisburg for us tonight. Thank you. To the economy now. Wall Street bracing for more uncertainty with mixed messages from the Trump administration over exemptions from punishing tariffs. The White House whiplash setting up what could be another chaotic week.

Yamiche Alcindor reports. Tonight, the Trump administration suggesting the president's new tariff exemptions on a number of electronics may be short-lived. They're exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, but they're included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two. So this is not like a permanent sort of exemption. That comes after President Trump yesterday exempted a number of smartphones, computers, semiconductors and other tech devices from the 125 percent tariff on Chinese imports and the 10 percent baseline tariff on other countries, leaving in place an existing 20 percent fentanyl related tariff on China. And amid an escalating trade war with China, a top aide said this when asked whether there are plans for the two countries' presidents to speak. Right now, we don't have any plans on that. This issue is truly at the leader's level.

Late Friday, the president signed an executive order titled Clarification of Exceptions. But today he posted saying there was no tariff exception announced on Friday. Meanwhile, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq are down since President Trump's inauguration in January. 61-year-old dog trainer and high school teacher, Gannetta Savoy, was hoping to retire before 68. But now, if this current trend continues, we won't be able to retire until at least 70. Maybe not at all. At the villages in Florida, the financial fears top of mind for Paula Orlando's pickleball group. There's just so much uncertainty with what people should individually do. At this point, it's a matter of just seeing the value go down.

Yamiche Alcindor is traveling with the president in Florida. And Yamiche, the White House is also now releasing President Trump's physical results today. That's right. The White House physician says President Trump is in, quote, excellent health with no abnormalities in his mental status. The doctor also noted that the president has a scar on his right ear from an assassination attempt last summer. Hallie? Yamiche, thank you. Also tonight, major new developments in the case of a teen charged with killing his parents, now also accused of plotting to assassinate President Trump. Maggie Vespas in Wisconsin with that story. Tonight, 17-year-old Nikita Kassab, already charged with the chilling double murder of his Wisconsin parents

now in the FBI's crosshairs for investigators believe plotting to kill President Donald Trump, according to newly unsealed federal court documents. The news stunning the small city of Waukesha. What's it like to hear that about your neighbor? It's terrible. I was just so torn by it. This FBI affidavit saying authorities found in the teen's phone a manifesto calling for the assassination of the president of the United States in order to foment a political revolution and promote white supremacy, along with materials linking him to a neo-Nazi extremist group. Investigators writing Kasap in messages with someone said he planned to use a drone in the attack that would drop a bomb with nuts, bolts, needles, and then flee to Ukraine. The affidavit stating Kasap had paid for, at least in part, a drone and explosives and was

communicating with someone with a Ukrainian number. It did not say where or when he allegedly planned to target the president. This after, back in late February, local authorities during a welfare check found the teen's parents shot to death in the family home. The affidavit saying the couple had been dead for roughly two weeks and Kassip living in the home with their bodies, then fleeing before he was arrested in Kansas. Investigators writing the killing of his parents appeared to be an effort to obtain the financial means and autonomy necessary to carry out his plan. Maggie Vespa joins us now outside the Waukesha jail where this team's being held. And Maggie, the White House is not commenting tonight?

Yeah, Hallie, that's right. We reached out to the White House for comment. We have yet to hear back this, of course, after multiple attempts on the president's life last year. Kassoff's attorney, for what it's worth, also not responding to our request for comment. He, the teenager in this case, has yet to enter a plea in the murder case tied to those state charges. At the same time, this affidavit indicating multiple federal charges could be coming tied to this now foiled assassination plot. Hallie. Maggie Vespa watching all of it for us tonight.

Thanks. At a Tennessee church calls for prayers this morning with an urgent search happening now for an American pastor reportedly kidnapped at gunpoint in South Africa during a sermon. George Solis has the latest. Hello, church. This is your missionary, Josh Sullivan, here. Tonight, an urgent search to find Josh Sullivan, a Tennessee pastor authorities say was kidnapped by armed men in South Africa

while preaching. Law enforcement there telling NBC affiliate WBIR Sullivan is being held for ransom and telling NBC News the investigation is at a very sensitive stage. The suspect allegedly forced the victim into his own vehicle and fled the scene with him. According to his blog, Sullivan moved to South Africa in 2018 to start a branch of Fellowship Baptist Church. You can see the sign here of our church. Sullivan touring the church in this YouTube video posted this past February. My heart dropped. There's no doubt about that. Pastor Tom Hatley has been a longtime mentor to the 34-year-old father of three, telling us tonight he's in touch with Sullivan's wife, Megan, who shared that she and her kids were there when he was abducted. I was obviously very concerned, and I hated that Megan and the children that witnessed this.

I've cried, my wife's cried, our church people have cried. Sullivan's mother telling NBC News, you never think about something like this happening to your child. The State Department saying it's aware of reports of a U.S. citizen kidnapped in South Africa. Today, back home in Tennessee, calls for prayers. We need to be praying for him and his safe return and that God would take care of him. George Solis, NBC News. Also tonight, 34 people have been killed in a massive Russian missile strike on Ukraine. The attack happened in the city of Sumy in the eastern part of the country as people were observing Palm Sunday. The attack comes two days after President Trump's envoy met with the Russian president

about a possible peace deal. Pope Francis once again making a surprise appearance in Rome today, greeting worshipers observing Palm Sunday in St. Peter's Square. You can see him there. The pope was in a wheelchair, but notably did not have oxygen tubes in his nose. He's still recovering after his weeks-long hospital stay for double pneumonia. Back in a moment with the head of Frontier Airlines and why this spring break season may be worse for them than last year. With spring break season in full swing, the airline industry is now looking ahead to summer, with some bracing for potential turbulence given the ongoing economic uncertainty.

But as the head of Frontier in our exclusive one-on-one, tells us he's feeling optimistic anyway. Right now, the spring break rush for families coast to coast. You are welcome to board at this time. But this year, a difference. It was a worse spring break than the last couple of years. People pulling back, according to Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle. What's become clear is obviously there's been some challenges with travel demand, and we've seen it in all industries now. Already this spring, one travel analyst warning alarm bells are ringing, with Americans spending less on trips now compared to last year. And major airlines, including American, Delta, and United, signaling a slowdown.

I think that as we look here today, I'm optimistic. You may be the only airline CEO right now who is optimistic about what the next six months to a year may hold. Well, I think what's happened is there's going to be a massive reversal of fortune. Over the last several years, the legacy carriers have done very, very well at the expense of us, but there's now too much domestic supply. Frontier sales pitch, lower prices for cost-conscious customers who can live without the extras. In any type of recessionary or kind of economic challenging environment,

the Walmart effect, you know, businesses like ours do well. And while President Trump has paused most of his most punishing tariffs, many experts still fear the remaining 10 percent and more could hurt the economy. And the biggest fallout for airlines may come from boycotts, with frustrated foreigners avoiding American travel. Already, bookings from Mexico are down 23 percent this year. Canada, 40 percent. Now we're seeing boycott travel to the United States out of Europe. So can you imagine? That's a massive market. This is a huge challenge. For now, Frontier is hoping

to lure domestic travelers by offering first class seats later this year and this summer eliminating the bag fee, capitalizing on competitor Southwest's decision to reverse its longtime perk of two bags flying free. We've been that kind of nickel and dime airline. Now for $19, you can get free change fees, free carry on bag and also gets your free check back. You think you'll make that permanent? Never see permanent on anything in this industry, but I will tell you that it's been wildly successful. Still, there are other challenges ahead for the airline industry more broadly,

like the nation's shortage in air traffic controllers. On a normal day with no weather, it's generally not that big of a challenge. However, I'll take Florida as an example. Spring break weekends. If you mix any kind of weather with that, we have cancellations across the industry. And the reason for it is we exceed the capabilities of all of the air traffic controllers there. Frontier's also taken some flack for things like on-time performance, for example. What are you doing to make that a better experience for folks? Well, look, that's something we talked to Secretary Duffy about.

The biggest challenges we have, number one, is ATC, and number two is common space at airports. It's not a level playing field. Biffle, a kind of selfie CEO, travels often on his own planes to assess the experience, and he's bullish on summer travel, typically the peak season for airlines. Is there any destination you're seeing kind of pop right now? I think the domestic is in vogue again because of a lot of things going on in the marketplace. And so I think you're going to see a lot of people travel all over the United States this summer. The summer's hottest destination? Maybe closer to home.

That's nightly news for this Sunday. Lester will be back tomorrow. I'm Hallie Jackson. For all of us here at NBC News, thanks for watching and have a great week.