NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Friday, April 10, 2026

Episode Date: April 11, 2026

Artemis set to splashdown; Inflation surges, fueled by fuel prices amid war in Iran; American and Iranian delegations gather in Islamabad ahead of peace talks Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tonight, mission accomplished. The historic splashdown with the Artemis 2 crew now safely back to Earth after the most dangerous part of the mission yet. The dramatic new images coming in tonight. Look at this. The four astronauts making a daring return to Earth, traveling at 7,000 miles an hour on the final approach. The Navy ships out in the Pacific to retrieve them. The crew making it through the riskiest part of the mission, facing temperatures up to 5,000 degrees. We're tracking every moment of these heroes' homecoming.

Inflation spiking as the ceasefire with Iran teeters on the break. The new numbers on how much more you're spending on gas and food. Plus, peace talks with Iran just hours away, the vice president leading the U.S. team in Pakistan. Mystery in the Bahamas, the husband of a mom who went missing interviewed by police today. And you'll hear his phone conversation with a friend describing in detail his version of events. She basically just bounced off the dingy in the middle of a little blow. Close call at LAX, a frontier plane slamming the brakes to avoid trucks while it was taxiing, just weeks after that deadly crash at LaGuardia.

Open AI CEO Sam Altman's home targeted by a Molotov cocktail today, then the threats outside his office. The arrest tonight. The teenage cheerleader dead, her parents say, after drinking too much of a popular energy drink. The first public look at plans for President Trump's new arch set to be built right there in the nation's capital, nearly a hundred feet bigger than the one in Paris. Will she run again? The new and most direct comments yet from former Vice President Kamala Harris. And there's good news tonight about meeting your heroes and the emotional connection that saved so many.

Nightly News starts right now. This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas. Good evening. I'm Hallie Jackson in for Tom tonight, and we begin with that historic and daring splashdown for the Artemis II space with those four astronauts safely back here on Earth after 10 days in space. Take a look at the scene off the coast of Southern California moments ago with the Orion capsule splashing down to officially conclude the cruise mission, a mission making history, with these astronauts becoming the first humans to travel to the moon in more than half a century. Take a look, an inside look at what it was like on board up there earlier today. Before the crew pulled off the most daring and dangerous part of their whole journey, reentering the Earth's atmosphere. With the capsule facing 5,000 degree temperatures, that moment of the trip back so critical, NASA had to change the trajectory to try to make it less dangerous. But as we speak, those astronauts have made it through safely, marking another huge milestone in American space travel.

Our Tom Costello starts it off. And Tom, an incredible ending to this journey. It was. It was nearly a 700,000 mile journey from start to finish. Keep in mind that they did a big elliptical loop around the earth and then went out around the moon. 252,000 miles just there. And there they came back just a short time ago, splashing down off the coast of San Diego, right on the money. Could not have been more accurate. The shoots deploying and slowing that vehicle down from 25,000 miles per hour,

Mach 33 when it entered the atmosphere at 400,000 feet and then slowing it to 19 miles per off of that very gentle splashdown right there off San Diego. Immediately, Navy ships were in the area along with helicopters and divers. The USS John P. Murtha is the recovery ship that is on station. On board that ship, rather, they have a full medical team, including an ER dock, who is prepared for a full evaluation. This completes this historic trip, 10-day mission going to the far side of the moon and back could not have gone any better. These are live images now as we watch the spaceship bobbing, rather, in the water and waiting for a full recovery from the divers who will approach, waiting for a power down, approach and then extract the team.

Nothing at all to consider anything having gone wrong here in the last few minutes. it just went perfectly, of course, in that spaceship, Commander Reed Weissman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Cook, and the Canadian astronaut mission specialist Jeremy Hanson, who all of whom the world has really fallen in love with over the last few weeks, and especially over the course of their mission, taking them to see a part of the moon that no human eyes have seen before. Now, let's explain that. Yes, Apollo missions did orbit the backside of the the moon, but they were at such a low altitude. They didn't take in the full picture of the moon on the far side. That's what this mission was all about, but really it was a test flight, testing

out this Orion spaceship so that it can be used in the future to eventually bring humans to that lunar orbit for a moon landing as soon as 2028. But every possible meter, if you will, This mission has gone perfectly, and now all four astronauts safe, back on the ground, just off San Diego, on the water, rather, just off San Diego, as they now prepare for their first weekend back on TerraFerma. Halley, back to you. To our other major story tonight, the historic spike in prices with new numbers just in showing inflation surging. So why is it getting so expensive? Mostly because of the war in Iran, which is highlighting the high stakes ahead of this weekend's peace talks. Garrett Hake reports from the White House.

Tonight, on the eve of an historic negotiation, a revealing new look at how the war is hitting Americans' wallets. Gas prices in March skyrocketing 21%, the largest one-month spike on record. And that fueled a surge in the inflation rate to 3.3%, the biggest jump in nearly four years. All as oil prices remain high, with traffic through the Strait of Hormuz at a standstill. Just two ships passed through the Strait today. calling the regime's control of the strait, quote, short-term extortion. We're going to open up the Gulf with or with or without them, but that'll be open. We're going to be, or the straight as they call it. And I think it's going to go pretty quickly.

And if it doesn't, we'll be able to finish it off. It all comes as the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East appears to be largely holding, with no U.S. or Iranian strikes reported today. But one potential stumbling block is Lebanon. where Israeli strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah continue, with more than 1,900 people killed since early March. Iran's parliamentary speaker, expected to be a key negotiator in peace talk set to begin tomorrow in Pakistan,

writing that a ceasefire in Lebanon had been, quote, mutually agreed upon and must be implemented before the talks can begin. The White House denies that Lebanon is included in the current ceasefire. But President Trump told NBC News Thursday that he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and expected the Israelis to quote, low-key it in Lebanon. Vice President Vance departing for Pakistan this morning. If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we're certainly willing to extend

the open hand. If they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find that the negotiating team is not that receptive. Garrett's joining us now from the White House. Garrett, these talks could be historic even before they begin. No, that's right, Halley. If Vice President Vance, even so much as shakes hands with a member of the Iranian delegation. It would amount to the highest level direct engagement between the United States

in Iran since 1979 and the Islamic revolution that brought the Iranian regime to power in the first place. Haley? Gary Haak at the White House, thank you. So let's take you to where those critical negotiations will kick off in just a few hours. Kier Simmons is on the ground in Pakistan tonight. Kier, good evening. Hali, good evening. We just landed in Islamabad ahead of the talks. The Iranians have arrived. The vice president is en route. disagreements that have threatened to derail the negotiations. The Iranians' maximalist demands include the lifting of sanctions while the Trump administration is looking for multiple concessions, including the release of American detainees. And that oil choke point,

the strait of Hormuz, will be central to the success or failure of these negotiations. It's set to be a contentious meeting. The stakes couldn't be higher. Hally? Keir Simmons, thank you. So the Bahamas now and new developments in the case of a missing American mom, police, interviewing her husband today as we're hearing new audio from him describing the moments he says she went overboard. Jesse Kirsch is on the ground for us tonight. Tonight, Brian Hooker is still behind bars and may be charged with murdering his wife, according to his lawyer. You think they are looking at him for possibly being charged with murder? Right. Based on the fact that they're saying that they believe he caused her harm that resulted in her death.

That suggests murder to me. Attorney Torell Butler says police questioned her client for more than three hours today. Hooker says his wife, Lynette, fell from the couple's small dingy in rough weather. We have no evidence that, or at least we've not been informed of any evidence that anybody has been recovered or any information in relation to her death. The Royal Bahamas police force has not commented on these claims. That was the craziest out in the abacos sea. Also new tonight this apparent recording of Brian Hooker

describing what happened as his wife went overboard. She basically just bounced off the dinghy in the middle of a little blow, like 20-some-nine winds that popped up. I think she tried to swim back to the sailboat, back to our sailboat, which was probably, I don't know, thousand yards or something. I yelled. I couldn't see her anymore.

NBC News cannot verify the audio's authenticity. Brian Hooker's attorney says she cannot either. Marnie and Blaine Stevenson say they've known the Hookers for more than two years and recorded this call with Brian Monday night. What would you want people to hear most from that call? The flares. Who saw a flare? Somebody had to see that.

I grabbed the flares by then. I came with, I had two flares. But they didn't see the flares, I guess. Nearly a week after investigators believe Lynette Hooker disappeared. The Bahamian military says the search continues by land, air, and sea. Jesse's joining us now from the Bahamas. And Jesse, you're in front of the building where police have been questioning Brian Hooker. It sounds like it may have gotten emotional.

Yeah, Brian Hooker's lawyer says he even broke down in tears when he was being interviewed here earlier today. That lawyer also says that Brian Hooker denies any wrong. wrongdoing as the search for Lynette Hooker continues. Hally. Jesse Kersh, thanks. One of the biggest leaders in tech, the founder of Open AI, under attack today after police say somebody threw a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman's home. Camila Bernal joins us now, and Camilla, sounds like that was only the beginning. It was, Halle. He also made threats against the company's headquarters, but police say they have arrested the 20-year-old man who allegedly threw that Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman's home in San Francisco. It landed near a gate.

and this happened around 4 in the morning. The man escaped on foot, but then about an hour later, the suspect went to Open AIs headquarters and threatened to burn down the building. Officers quickly recognized him and arrested him. And in a statement, Open A.I. said, thankfully, no one was hurt. Charges are still pending, and the San Francisco Police Department says this is an active investigation. Hallie. Camila, thank you.

A dramatic close call at yet another airport overnight with a plane packed with passengers, narrowly missing trucks. Here's Morgan Chesky. At LAX, the pilot's voice broke through almost in disbelief. The call to air traffic control coming around 11 p.m. Wednesday, when a frontier flight bound for Atlanta was cut off before it could take off. Two trucks cut off frontier at Kilo and Bravo. The service road.

The red eye carrying more than 200 passengers and seven crew barely missing, not one, but two vehicles. One pilot sounding the 11. The FAA confirming flight 3216 was taxing when several service vehicles on a service road crossed in front of the aircraft. What concerned me about this event is there seems to have been a miscommunication. Jeff Gazetti is a former NTSB investigator. Who exactly has the right-of-way here? The right-of-way is always extended to the aircraft. The aircraft has many passengers on board, so all the ground vehicles need to give way to the aircraft.

Like the fatal collision at LaGuardia just weeks ago, both incidents occurred at night involving vehicles. But at LAX, because it was a taxiway and not a runway, speeds were much lower. Tonight, the FAA says no one was hurt, and the incident remains under investigation. Morgan Chesky, NBC News, Los Angeles. To the nation's capital now into first look at a controversial construction plan. President Trump's proposed 250-foot Washington arch set to stand over twice as tall as the Lincoln Memorial. Monica Alba has the new images and the pushback tonight. New proposed renderings tonight for President Trump's controversial 250-foot arch in the nation's

capital. Complete with a winged Lady Liberty, the structure itself would clock in at 166 feet tall, with the added statue on top bringing it to 250 feet to celebrate 250 years since America's founding. For comparison, the Lincoln Memorial stands at 99 feet. The Arc de Triomph in Paris, 164 feet. I'd like it to be the biggest one of all. We're the biggest, most powerful nation. If it proved, the arch would go here, just across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial on Columbia Island, which is still considered part of D.C.

And very close to Reagan National Airport, raising questions about whether it could impact flight patterns in one of the country's busiest air spaces. The Arch has already faced legal setbacks, with veterans and historians suing over traffic concerns and the loss of an unobstructed view between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial. Veterans are the ones that should like it. It's called a triumphal art. It's the president's latest attempt to leave his imprint on Washington after making significant changes, including tearing down the east wing to make room for his $400 million ballroom project, which also faces an uncertain future in the courts. Monica Alba, NBC News, Washington.

When we return in 60 seconds, a new warning for parents. the family who says this high school cheerleader died after drinking too much of a popular energy drink. Next. Energy drinks seem to be everywhere these days, the fastest growing part of the beverage industry, and hugely popular with teenagers. Now one family is sounding the alarm, saying they could be deadly. Emily Aked explains. Alani knew energy drinks have swept social media.

But a new lawsuit targeting distributor glazers beer and beverage alleges its high amount of Caffeine played a role in a 17-year-old's fatal cardiac incident. Only caffeine was found in her system. Attorney Benny Augusto says Larissa Rodriguez, an active cheerleader and honors student with no pre-existing heart problems, drank Alani knew often. So much so, it was even incorporated into her invite to homecoming. But the lawsuit alleges the only cautionary language on the can, not recommended for children, is printed in small, inconspicuous texts that is easily overlooked. We are specifically going after them for failing to warn and failing to prevent innocent people from taking this drink, not knowing the risks.

The defendant, Glazer's beer and beverage, did not comment, while Alani News owner, Celsius, which is not a defendant, says it believes consumers should have clear information about what they are drinking. In 2024, Panera nixed its highly caffeinated charged lemonade and settled numerous lawsuits that blamed the drink for. several deaths and injuries, but denied wrongdoing in court documents. Some expert groups say teens should not consume more than 100 milligrams of caffeine a day. Alani Nu contains 200 milligrams. Even small amounts of caffeine can have over-exaggerated effects in younger people. As this 17-year-old's tragic death is putting a renewed spotlight on popular drinks. Emily Ikeda, NBC News.

When we return, former Vice President Kamala Harris, with her story. strongest response yet about a possible run in 2028. And the wild police chase through yards into a house under a trampoline all captured from above. Next. Back now with former Vice President Kamala Harris signaling she might run for president again in 2008. The former VP saying at a conference in New York City, in her words, I'm thinking about it in her most direct response yet about whether she is planning to run again. Also, tonight, take a look at this dramatic chopper video released by Michigan State Police. So look at this. You see this driver skitting out of control through this neighborhood in Detroit?

Then the driver gets out, ends up taking off on foot. You see it there. He breaks into a house. He goes and hides under that trampoline there, then jumps a fence before about a dozen officers swarm him to take him down. You see that. Police haven't said yet why he was being chased. When we come back, the emotional meeting you'll only see right here on nightly news. 14 people who have never met before until now with one thing in common. They all helped save each other's lives. Finally, there is good news tonight.

More than a dozen strangers changing each other's lives through organ donation, coming together for the first time with our cameras there to capture the history-making moments in Texas. This is the moment seven people who for so long desperately needed new livers came face-to-face. with the donors who saved their lives. I'm so happy to meet you. I've been wanting to meet you forever. University Health in San Antonio, coordinating what it says is the largest liver transplant chain in the country, bringing together people willing to donate to loved ones, but who

ultimately weren't matches, swapping them with donors who were. I was like, if I can't help dad, I can help someone else. 14 surgeries went into this historic process, all of it, starting with Robert McDonald, He signed up to donate, inspired by a friend in need. I was asked, like, if you would like to, you know, remain eligible to be a donor to not somebody that you know, but somebody who might be a stranger. The hospital called a few months later.

He was a match and donated part of his liver to a man who he met for the first time today. 50-year-old Jody Dietert. More than thank you, but without you, I just never remember. I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be standing here right now if it wasn't for you. So you don't know what that means. I know. I don't. Even as real as it's become, I mean, it still feels somewhat surreal. A series of life-saving gifts connecting strangers, giving so many a second chance.

It is going to be something I look back on that I'm really proud of that if I did nothing else in my life, that I can at least say, hey, you know, I did this. And that is nightly news for this Friday. I'm Hallie Jackson. For all of us here at NBC, thanks for watching and have a great night.