NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Friday, August 28, 2026

Episode Date: August 29, 2026

Urgent rescue effort after deadly flood disaster; Jury in Clancy case requests key evidence; Small plane crashes on Florida beach; and more on tonight’s broadcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tonight, the number of missing doubling in Nepal and the warning, it could happen again. The remarkable rescues, people pulled through the mud to safety. 2,000 now feared missing, including nearly 100 Americans as we get new images of that powerful wave surrounding homes like this. Our team in the disaster zone tonight. Here at home, new requests from the jury in the Lindsay Clancy case, the mom who admitted killing her own children, the key evidence they're asking to see again. The Texas school in lockdown, three students stabbed, others running for their lives just as the school year starts. The plane crashing onto a Florida beach landing upside down how the pilot was able

to get out alive. Incredible Rescue will show you the video of crews saving a climber who clung to a tiny rock ledge just six inches wide for hours. on this mountain, how he was able to hang on. Parents behaving badly, the adult at a youth football game, accused of tripping a nine-year-old boy trying to score a touchdown, what he told police on body cam when they caught up to him. The blatant crime caught on dash cam video, these scammers, faking car crashes to defraud insurance,

the prison time they're now facing. Straight out of a movie, wild video of a gang, robbing a moving truck on the highway, you won't believe what they were stealing. Plus, the new push to rename Nashville's airport after Dolly Parton, the governor, wane in tonight. And our series, Great Americans, tonight actor Gary Senise,

how he turned his role as Lieutenant Dan into a mission to help veterans in real life. Nightly News starts right now. This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas. And good evening. We thank you for joining us on On this Friday night, we begin with those harrowing developments in Nepal. The number of missing there has now doubled to 2,000 people.

And there are growing fears that even more devastation could be on the way. Right now search and rescue crews are fanning out across the region with time running out to find the missing. We saw scenes just like this, rescuers trudging through thick mud to save lives, some even carrying survivors on their back like this. And right now, hundreds of people are still trying to try. like the family in this house. You can see their home being swallowed by that monster wave when the floods hit.

Tonight, that family is still stuck. You can actually see them there right outside on their balcony. And now there's a new threat that more flooding could happen at any moment. Our Janice McEugh-Frayer and her team are in the flood zone, and they start us off tonight. Tonight, an all-out race to find survivors near this tunnel, a rescuer crawling through mud, to reach a man who's trapped. somehow pull him out. Rescuers carrying survivors on their backs. Hundreds were trapped here when waves destroyed a hydropower project. It took helicopters just to reach it. And officials say

there are a hundred more workers still stuck inside. Days after disaster hit, the number of people missing has doubled to nearly 2,000 and reaching survivors is treacherous. This family climbing to a balcony waving for help marooned by rushing water. Tonight, the water is gone and their house is still standing, but surrounded by mud and debris. Rescuers so far unable to reach them. And now a new threat. Reports that a lake created by all that floodwater in Tibet has burst. Triggering panic downstream in Nepal that more flooding would hit. Here at the river, officials are concerned that the water level may be right. rising, so they're using whistles and loudspeakers telling people to move back.

New image is also emerging of the moment that triggered the torrent of water. Clouds rising over where part of a glacier collapsed. There are still 90 Americans missing here. I just want to know she's okay. Including Hoonirai's mother, who came to Nepal from Kentucky for her birthday. She's so incredibly loved and she's just, she has like the most, the most beautiful personality anybody could ever have. Janice is back in Nepal's capital tonight,

and Janus officials are not asking for more search and rescue teams? Tom, USAID is beginning to arrive here, blankets, food, things like that. But so far, Nepal doesn't want search and rescue help. Officials insist their security forces can handle it. Yet 2,000 people are missing in what is effectively a corridor of months. So the magnitude of what those rescuers face is staggering, Tom. An international tragedy. Okay, Janice, thank you for being there.

Back here at home, we are on verdict watch. The jury and the Lindsay Clancy trial, today asking to see specific evidence on day two of deliberations. The Massachusetts mother admitted to killing her three children. Emily Aketa now on what the jury wants another look at. Tonight, Lindsay Clancy's fate hanging in the balance. It's been a long day for everybody. After a second day of jury deliberations ended without a decision on whether the Massachusetts mom should be held criminally responsible for killing her three kids in 2023.

But today, some insight into the jury room. Clancy's attorney seen walking a box of exhibits into the courthouse. He says the jury requested to see the knife she harmed herself with and two bags of pills. Including the one the defense held up during closing arguments. What can we infer from them asking for the physical evidence? Okay, one thing is they just might be getting organized, right? The second part is that it may get right to the crux of the case. How mentally ill was Lindsay Clancy?

The defense doesn't deny Clancy killed her kids, but argues postpartum psychosis is to blame, while the prosecution says Clancy was in full control. She left them discarded on the basement floor like broken toys. NBC News Learning today, one of the prosecution expert psychiatrist Dr. Avram Mack is no longer employed by a children's hospital in Delaware. They say he resigned on Monday the same day he finished his testimony, contending Clancy knew right from wrong. But the defense hammered his credibility when Mack mischaracterized in episiotomy, a surgical incision. I'm referring to you saying that an episiotomy is a tear.

And it's not. We were unable to reach Mack for comment. All right, Emily Aketa joins us now live outside that courthouse in Plymouth, Massachusetts. So, Emily, any sense of whether the jury is close to a verdict? Well, it's hard to say, Tom, but the defense acknowledges that deliberations could take some time because of the complicated nature of this case, including 21 days of testimony to consider. In the meantime, the defense says that Lindsay Clancy is feeling nervous and scared. Jury deliberations resume on Monday, Tom. Okay, Emily, thank you.

breaking tonight a stabbing attack at a high school in El Paso. This was the scene at America's high school. You can see teens there hiding under their desks as police searched the school. And here you see others scrambling to safety. The El Paso County Sheriff's Department says three kids were hurt but that they're all in stable condition. Authorities say a 14 year old suspect has been taken into custody, a terrible way to start the school year. All right, today President Trump announced major plans to create a new space force, a cat, just days before NASA is set to launch its next generation telescope expected to dramatically expand our view into the cosmos. Here's Tom Costello.

Making history in Houston, the Artemis II crew awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor as President Trump announced the creation of a new academy for the Space Force military branch, much like West Point, Annapolis, or the Air Force Academy. A nation cannot be first on Earth if we're going to be. to be second in space, just not going to happen. Mr. Trump then became the first president to call the space station from mission control. I just want to thank Jessica, Anil Jack, great Americans, great patriots, brave people. All as NASA prepares to make history this weekend, launching a next-gen telescope, expected to upend our understanding of the universe. The Nancy Grace Roman telescope will orbit a million miles from Earth.

We went into NASA's clean room to see how it will peer through vast stretches of space to survey the infrared universe. So we can actually see back to about 600 million years after the Big Bang. Make no mistake, this telescope is going to revolutionize our understanding of the stars, because its field of view is a hundred times greater than that of Hubble. So that will allow it to see thousands of planets, millions of galaxies, billions. billions, billions of stars that we have no idea are even out there. And that will give us the pointer to where we need to go to find planets that are like our own, an Earth-like planet around a sun-like star.

And the ultimate question, is there or was there, life beyond Earth? Tom Costello, NBC News, at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. We have some new video we want to show you tonight. The moment of plane crashes and then flips over on a Florida beach. This is incredible, though. The pilot survived. George Solis, with that video tonight. Tonight, the stunning crash along the East Coast. Watch as that small plane quickly loses altitude and slams into the water in Florida. You can see the large splash as it makes impact and flips over. It happened Thursday just off New Smyrna Beach. Very scary. And a lot of police and lifeguards

come down. They had a four-wheelers. Authorities say the lone pilot was amazingly able to climb out of the aircraft without life-threatening injuries. I heard a loud backfire, like one big top. No smoke, just a real loud top in the engine. David Young recorded the video, crediting the pilot for taking swift action. He really couldn't put it on the beach. I mean, there's obviously people on the beach. With the plane lying upside down in the water, lifeguard Nicholas Giroux rushed in to help.

He was definitely shucking up, but he seemed fine physically. after that incredible crash landing. It's definitely the craziest and most unexpected situation I've had to deal with. The pilot was taken to a nearby hospital with amazingly known injuries. The FAA and NTSB were both notified to figure out what caused the crash. Tom? Injuries either, incredible. Okay, George, thank you.

Now to that daring mountain rescue in California, an experienced climber who became stranded and was clinging to a six-inch ledge for hours. is crediting rescue teams for saving his life. Tonight it was all caught on camera, and now he's telling his story to our Liz Croix. My job was to stay alive. Rob Martin speaking out for the first time about the more than eight hours,

he spent clinging to this steep cliff in California, Sierra, Nevada, as first responders made the daring attempt to save him. The incredible rescue began around lunchtime Saturday when Martin, an experienced rock climber, says he got caught off course and realized he was stuck. He perched himself on this tiny six-inch ledge, signaled for help, and waited.

What was going through your mind all of those hours? There's a lot of stuff. It was a lot of scary thoughts, a lot of lonely thoughts. It was very uncomfortable. My hands were cramping. The feet were the hardest part. You know, they're only half on the ledge. But amazingly, he held on, knowing the fully volunteer Mono County Search and Rescue team

had sprung into action. He was just in a very dire situation. Hold on. Let me get this. Mitchell querings says it took their group at least two hours to locate Martin, at first just there as a tiny speck, and then several more to actually get close, eventually reaching him after 9 p.m. This, the moment of relief. My message to mention his team is, you know, thank you for saving my life. The full rescue lasted more than 15 hours, with the group not getting safely back on ground until close to 5 a.m. I would not be sitting here if it wasn't for them and their sense of service. What does that mean to you? It's the entire reason that we do this. It means the world. Liz Croyce, NBC News. All right, we are back in 60 seconds. Still to come tonight here on nightly news.

The father on the field watched this taking down a nine-year-old headed for the end zone, what he told police when they found him. And the staged car crashes all part of an elaborate insurance scam, the prison sentence just handed down. Plus, our series tonight, great Americans, actor Gary Senise and his decades of helping veterans. Stay with us. We're back now with a troubling scene at a youth football game south of Milwaukee, a father rushing onto the field and taking down a player who was only nine years old. Shaquille Brewster now with the video. It starts as an explosive play in Wisconsin. But watch again in slow. motion.

Number 88 of the Racine Youth Eagles briefly runs out of frame with the ball. The camera catches up to him and look closely. Police say that's the father of a player on the opposing team, Terence Bradshaw, tripping the nine-year-old boy whose nickname is Juju. This angle shows Bradshaw walking up, his pace increasing before the two both fall to the ground. After the incident, both leaving, officials calling off the game. police quickly locating Bradshaw.

How's it going? I know, officer. I apologize to the whole team. In newly released body camera video, he apologizes repeatedly. I'm not mad at myself and anything else right now because I shouldn't make it. Bradshaw telling the officer he was trying to stop the game after his own son was hit. Did you kick one of the kids? Did you kick?

We slipped together. I was trying to stop the body with all the running, so we slid. Explaining he was scared because his son had been hurt before and worried it could happen again. it could happen again. Police say the player Bradshaw hit was not injured and cited Bradshaw with disorderly conduct. But Juju's grandmother tonight telling us she wishes more was done,

saying he hasn't been playing like himself since this moment. Shaquille Brewster, NBC News. All right, we're back in a moment with the car crash caught on camera, but it was all a scam, and now the fraudsters are paying the price. And the latest tribute to the Queen of Country, The major step tonight to get an airport named after Dolly Parton will tell you where. Back now with some insurance scammers caught on camera, you got to see this.

You see the car right there swerving in front of another vehicle and nearly causing a collision on a highway in Queens, New York. Then get this, that car reversing to slam into the car behind it to fake a car accident. Now, the people responsible for it are all going to prison. the Queen's District Attorney's Office says they stage three car crashes, just like this, seeking insurance payouts for damages. Also tonight, you've got to watch this wild video. It's Hollywood-style, high-speed robbery, but in Egypt. You see this gang in a speeding pickup truck, climb onto the hood, and they're robbing the truck, but you won't believe what they're stealing. It's frozen chicken. You see them tossing the frozen chicken into the truck bed, the wings,

the drummies, everything. Egyptian officials say the incident turned violent, though, ending in a shootout with those three suspects. And in Tennessee, Governor Bill Lee is proposing to rename the Nashville International Airport after Dolly Parton. His announcement comes just days after Parton's death. The proposal is set to be discussed at a meeting next month with the Metro Nashville Airport Authority. All right, when we come back here on nightly news, our series, Great Americans. Lieutenant Dan launched his career, but it also gave him purpose. Gary Seneas's mission to help our veterans. There's Good News Tonight is sponsored by Progressive Insurance.

Roundout Your Protection with Life, Phone, and Pet Health Insurance. Finally tonight, our series, Great Americans, where we speak with those who have achieved so much about their lives and this country. Tonight, the role of Lieutenant Dan made him famous, but it also gave him a mission. Our Great American this week, actor and philanthropist, Gary Sinise. Number one thing that I love about America is the freedom that we have in this country. These are all personal coins have been given to me over the years. Born into a family of veterans dating back to World War I.

That's me. Gary Sinise carries on his family's legacy of defending America's freedoms in his own way. All we're talking about here is four amps. In the end, you'll get bit. This is actually the wig I wore in Forrest Gump. I never thanked you for saving my life. Seneas' breakthrough role changed the trajectory of his life. When I really started getting involved with our wounded, it was after playing Lieutenant Dan.

He'd tell us to get down, shut up. Get down! Shut up! Get down, shut up. His Oscar-nominated performance in Forrest Gump, Heating a court with veterans. I like the scene where Lieutenant Dan pulls Forrest out of the bed. You see that? Do you know what it's like not to be able to use your legs?

Yes, sir. I do. And he tells him that he had a destiny. I was supposed to die in the field with honor. That was my destiny. And you cheated me out of it. He had that understandable anger and despair that so many Vietnam veterans experienced when they came home from war. And we don't want that for anybody who serves our country.

Senise became passionate about helping America's veterans. Then 9-11 was a turning point. We can never do enough, but we can always try to do a little bit more. I can't tell you the number that I met who raised their hand after September 11th, they said, I felt called, you know, to do it. Well, I did too. His work culminating in the Gary Zinnis Foundation, supporting those who risk it all for our country, service members, veterans, first responders and their families, through mental wellness and financial support. To date, building more than 100 custom homes for severely wounded veterans.

What you do for the soldiers? God bless you. Hey. We build the podcast studio here. All while juggling duties as a dad. Seneas' son Mack was an accomplished drummer and composer. We have the albums in here, the first record, and then the second record. When Mack developed a rare type of bone cancer, he joined his dad's foundation.

My son was coming to help me. He was starting to feel, well, this is my history, too. And that was beautiful to experience, to see him just fall. in love with it like that. Mack passed away in 2024 at the age of 33. Gary, now 71, navigates his own grief by helping those he calls freedom providers in their time of meet. You know, if your own broken heart is having trouble and you help somebody else with a broken

heart and you lift them up a little bit, it's a little easier for you. Gary Sinise, this week's Great American. That does it for us tonight on this Friday. We thank you so much for watching. I'm Tom Yamas. Tonight and always we're here for you. Good night.