NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Friday, July 11, 2025

Episode Date: July 12, 2025

New report sheds light on Air India crash that killed 260 people; Sources: FBI deputy director considers resigning; Wildfires force evacuations near Grand Canyon; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, the major clue just revealed in that Air India disaster, what the pilots said to each other just before they lost control. The new report just in on that crash that ended in a massive fireball, killing hundreds on board. Photos of the burned out controls, some of those switches in the wrong position immediately after takeoff, and why investigators are looking into whether one of the pilots intentionally cut off fuel to the engines. Also breaking tonight the Jeffrey Epstein files dividing the top levels of the Justice

Department. The FBI official and Trump ally threatening to leave the bureau after officials didn't release more files. President Trump in Texas one week after those deadly floods, took homes and families saying he's never seen anything like it. It comes as wildfire season takes off the giant plumes of smoke at the Grand Canyon, forcing evacuations, the lightning strike that set off the inferno, the incredible new details on the man dubbed the devil of the Ozarks, how he escaped prison.

He used a sharpie to make his prison clothing look like a law enforcement uniform. Plus, what was inside that cart that helped him on the run? Our Dateline exclusive, the Diddy Trial Insiders, speaking out for the first time. What his longtime personal assistant tells us, she witnessed firsthand. The skyscraper-sized icebergs adrift and heading towards a small town and the surprise in the sky, the helicopter dropping money and rose petals to fulfill one man's last wish. Nightly News starts right now. This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yama's

and tonight as we come on the air, we have some breaking news on that deadly Air India crash that killed 260 people. That flight, you see it right here, fell from the sky and crashed into a massive fireball. Investigators now revealing they believe the fuel supply to the engines was suddenly cut off. The question tonight, why?

The new report with images and new details from that cockpit voice recorder indicating one of the pilots was heard asking why the fuel supply to the engines was cut off, that other pilot then saying he didn't do it. You can see the burned and scarred controls from the Doom flight right here. That may hold the clues to solving this mystery. We begin tonight with Tom Costello in Washington.

The preliminary Air India crash report says that seconds after flight 171 took off, the fuel cutoff switches for both engines went from run to cutoff. Within one second, the engines lost power. The report states in the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots has heard asking the other, why did he cut off?

The other pilot responded that he did not do so. The switches were flipped back to run, but it was too late. The report says one of the pilots radioed a May Day as the plane soon crashed into a medical school dormitory. This report suggests that those switches were moved by a person. Whether it was inadvertent or deliberate, we don't know yet, but those switches were moved by a person. 260 people on board and on the ground died.

Newly released photographs show the plane's landing gear extended as photos from the ground confirm, and the fuel control switches back in the run position. Sources with knowledge of the investigation tell NBC News the fuel switch comes with a safety guard. A pilot must pull up and twist it to turn it off. The plane's black boxes providing the first clues. There are two black boxes onboard a plane. One of them is the cockpit voice recorder.

With multiple microphones inside the cockpit, it records the conversations between the pilots and all of the alarms going off. The flight data recorder captures thousands of pieces of data about the plane's performance. Previously reported cameras in the cockpit might also provide critical evidence. John Ostrower is the editor-in-chief

at theaircurrent.com. Why would that crew have turned off the fuel control switches? Is there any explanation for that? They haven't ruled out sabotage. That's on the table, but I would say that everything is on the table at this point, relative to all the possibilities for understanding why these switches moved. And Tom joins us now live.

Tom, let's be clear here. Is there any indication of a problem with the plane or its engines, or is this all pointing to the actions of the pilots? At this point, it is all about the pilots. If investigators have found an obvious malfunction or defect with the 787 or the GE engines by now, they would have issued an urgent service alert. But so far, none. None issued by Boeing, the FAA, the NTSB, Boeing, GE engines, none.

And the Indian Investigation Board says it does not recommend systemic actions linked to this crash. No global alert. Air India just out with a statement. Air India says that it stands in solidarity with the families and those affected by the accidents. And in fact, it acknowledges receipt of the report.

Tom. All right, Tom Costello with that stunning new report. Tom, we thank you. Now to our new reporting about a potential shakeup at the FBI over a disagreement about how much information to release involving the death of Jeffrey Epstein. Gabe Gutierrez is at the White House tonight. Gabe, this involves a top leader at the Bureau? Yes, Tom, Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino is considering resigning after a heated confrontation

with Attorney General Pam Bondi. That's according to a person who has spoken with Bongino and a source familiar with his interactions with Bondi. One of the sources saying Bongino is quote, out of control furious that the Justice Department is not releasing more information about Jeffrey Epstein and is threatening to quit unless Bondi is fired. Now during his time as a podcaster, Bongino questioned whether there had been a cover-up over Epstein's death. In response to all this, the White House now says, quote,

the continued fixation on sowing division in President Trump's cabinet is baseless and unfounded in reality. Tom? All right, Gabe, we thank you. Out West, hot and dry conditions are stoking wildfires, forcing evacuations at one of the most popular tourist destinations in America, the Grand Canyon.

Steve Patterson reports as crews get to work on the fire lines. Tonight, the sky's above one of America's greatest natural wonders, shrouded in plumes of towering smoke. The North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park now closed after the White Sage fire sparked by a lightning strike exploded overnight, rapidly expanding to more than 8,000 acres. Park officials telling tourists, get out now. We're going to have people responding, trying to combat this fire as best as possible. Whoa. Morgan Lane took this video from her property near the fire.

We got the live evacuation notice on our cell phones. Meanwhile, across the border in Utah, the Deer Creek fire burning out of control, also forcing evacuations as crews attacked the flames from the air. Back in Arizona, a major problem, sweltering conditions, fueling the fire. Can you feel that smoke right now?

Yeah, you can smell it. It's crazy. It's it's it's very thick, you know, almost apocalyptic to just see these clouds of smoke just coming in. Tom, no containment on this fire so far. The problem is the crews are also battling the forecast those high temperatures mixing with very strong

winds and miles of this dry brush. All the recipe for the flames to spread. Tom Steve Patterson for us tonight. Steve, thank you recipe for the flames to spread. Tom? Steve Patterson for us tonight. Steve, thank you. Now to the deadly flooding in Texas that claimed more than 120 lives. President Trump visiting the Hill Country today, surveying that damage and meeting with first responders and victims' families.

Here's Morgan Chesky. President Trump today on the ground in Kerrville, Texas, one week after the nightmare flood left a deadly wake of devastation. I've never seen anything like it. A little narrow river that becomes a monster. The president and first lady meeting with grief-stricken families and defending the local response after questions over whether more could have been done to warn those along

the river. It's easy to sit back and say, oh, what could have happened here or there, you know? Maybe we could have done something differently. This was a thing that has never happened before. With the number missing slowly dropping, the death toll remains staggering. The flood's now claiming at least 121 lives. Today, authorities identify Kellyanne Lightholt

as the latest loss from Camp Mystic. What do all the... Today authorities identifying Kelly and light all as the latest loss from Camp mystic. The 8 year-old seen here singing at a recent Christmas concert. In Dallas hundreds honoring another 8 year-old camper had Lee Hannah remembered with love near her hometown today survivors reckoning with reality and this was a living room.

In hunt Lori Lowe was home with her husband waking up overnight to water rushing in. I knew we were in trouble by the time we got our truck 3 feet deep raging river. This was a bedroom. Danny leave us giving us a heartbreaking tour of his gutted home. We're just in shock looking at everything here and everything

was still inside floating in. We even had fish in one of the rooms in there. Now an army of volunteers tackling this tragedy one day at a time. You got your whole house in your front yard and yet you somehow feel like one of the lucky ones here. Very fortunate because we're alive. And tonight here in Kerrville as the number of these crosses grows alongside the death toll search crews tell me they are prepared to be here working for the next several weeks,

if not months. Tom. Morgan Chesky again for us from Texas. Morgan, thank you. Now to the violent clashes as protesters try to block ICE agents from carrying out immigration enforcement operations, including at a cannabis farm in California. Liz Kreutz is there. Tonight, we're learning more about this chaotic showdown

between ICE agents who arrived at two Southern California cannabis farms, executing search warrants, and the protesters trying to stop them. This boy now looking for his mom, who he says is two months pregnant and among those detained Thursday. I want to go to get my mama.

I can't care her Guadalupe Torres says her husband, a US citizen in Iraq war veteran who works as a security guard here was also detained. Video shows him arriving in his car, talking to agents and later backing up as tear gas is deployed. Where is the Constitution in this? Where is the US in this like we fought for this?

We fought for your freedom and he's not even pretty. I said I telling us towards his husband was among several U.S. citizens arrested for assault borders are Tom Homan condemning the violence against ice agents, including these protesters throwing rocks at them and the FBI tonight looking for this man appearing to pull out a gun and open fire on officers.

What happened in California is just another example of protestors becoming criminals and they've been emboldened by even members of Congress who compare ice to Nazis and races and terrorists. This latest clash comes after two violent incidents in Texas. In Alvarado, police say attackers opened fire during a planned ambush on ice detention center wounding an officer in McAllen and our man was killed after shooting at a border patrol station back here in California DHS saying 200 undocumented workers were arrested and at least 10 migrant children, some as young as 14 or found working there.

This marijuana plantation is a clear-cut example of labor traffic which are heinous crimes. slamming President Trump' What is the mood right no There's a lot of concern to have the tear gas agai cruelty is the point. And says they fully comply with search warrants.

Meanwhile, we've learned that a worker who fell during the chaos of the raids is now on life support. The Farm Workers Union previously said he had died. Tom. OK, Liz, we thank you. Tonight, we're learning stunning details in the escape of the convicted murderer known

as the devil in the Ozarks. A black Sharpie and a can lid, some of the items he used to escape. Priya Sridhar has our story. Ozarks, a black Sharpie and a can lid. Some of the items he used to escape Priya Sridhar has our story. Tonight new details emerging on how a former police chief turned convicted murderer managed to escape an Arkansas

prison according to officials Grant Hardin seen here escaping an Arkansas prison back in May wearing a makeshift law enforcement uniform pieced together from old prison issued clothing that the 56 year-old colored with the sharpie he designed a homemade badge from a can lid a button and a Bible cover we have any indication as

to how long he had been preparing for this escape. Not a specific private you know the ballpark of 6 to 8 months as to when he was probably actively getting the material together starting to manufacture the uniform. Authorities add that Hardin had with him a pair of wooden pallets fashioned together to make a ladder and later set up a base camp near the prison. Two Arkansas prison employees have been fired, one for allowing Hardin to go outside the kitchen area where he worked unsupervised and the other for opening the gate from a watchtower and letting him walk off prison grounds without verifying his identity.

You don't open that gate for anybody or anything when there's not a ground person there to verify who it is. Harden, the subject of several true crime documentaries, was dubbed the devil in the Ozarks and was serving an 80-year prison sentence for killing a man and raping a school teacher. He was eventually found a mile and a half away from the prison. He has now been moved to a Supermax facility and faces new escape charges for which he's pleaded not guilty. Priya Sridhar, NBC News. And we'll be right back with an exclusive with some of the key witnesses in the Diddy trial now speaking publicly for the first time to Dateline about the abuse and Diddy's

instructions in those so-called freak offs. Now to exclusive new interviews and details about Sean Diddy Combs' criminal trial a week after it ended in a split verdict. Combs' former assistant and an exotic dancer involved in those so-called freak-offs now speaking out to Dateline. Here's Andrea Canning. Tonight, several insiders at the center of Sean Diddy Combs' criminal trial, once part of his closely guarded world, are speaking out to Dateline.

It was mania and it was just toxic. Capricorn Clark, a former personal assistant to Combs who testified for the prosecution, said she witnessed several disturbing incidents during her decade with him, including an assault on his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. I took Cassie back to Puff's house and the minute we walked in, he started beating her up in front of me. What do you do? Cry unfortunately.

He had on underwear and a robe. He kicked her the entire time. Sheree Hayes, an exotic dancer who also testified for the prosecution, participated in the so-called freak-offs involving Ventura, all while Combs watched. The instructions was I was not supposed to look at him, acknowledge him, talk to him. And we both were supposed to act like he wasn't even there. Despite that, Hayes says Combs directed the action

and Ventura seemed willing to follow his instructions. I can't look at those reactions and confidently say it was duress. It may have been, but I didn't read it that way. Ventura sued Combs in 2023, accusing him of sexual abuse and sex trafficking. He settled for $20 million with no admission of wrongdoing, but not before it became public.

After that came the criminal charges, the trial, and the verdict heard around the world. In the matter of U.S. versus Combs, count one, not guilty. Transportation for prostitution, guilty. Combs was found not guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking charges, but will be sentenced in October for his conviction on two other lesser charges. Andrea Canning, NBC News, New York. And you can see much more of Dateline's exclusive interviews

with those insiders tonight at 9, 8 Central. And we're back in a moment with a wild scene in Detroit where it was literally raining money, thousands of dollars worth, why it was one man's dying wish. Stay with us. And we're back now with massive icebergs floating dangerously close to homes in Greenland.

Look at that. These incredible images of skyscraper sized icebergs close to crashing on shore. Local officials say they're aware of the icebergs movement and are prepared for the worst. In Detroit, money, literally, look at this, falling from the sky. A helicopter hired to drop 5,000 bucks and rose petals to honor the last wish from Daryl Thomas who died last month. His sons got the chopper to drop all of that money. Thomas was a professional race car driver who was also a brother, father, and grandfather. And here at home we're remembering a

giant of politics. David Gergen died yesterday. He was a top advisor to four presidents across the political spectrum. Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton. He then was a mainstay as a political analyst on our televisions. David Gergen was 83 years old. And when we come back tonight, when a gunman showed up to his church, a deacon used his truck to stop a potential mass shooting. Now the community is giving him the keys to a brand new set of wheels. Thanks so much. Finally tonight, there's good news about the deacon who risked his life to save his community.

Shaquille Brewster has this one. But that doesn't mean that we didn't have. The live stream showed parishioners inside a Michigan church hearing gunshots and scrambling for cover. But outside, just moments before, Deacon Richard Pryor was in his Ford F-150 running late for church that Sunday morning in June when he saw a gunman approaching the building wearing a tactical vest.

It wasn't a smile, it was a smirk. He just kind of looked at me and just turned and continued walking with a gun in hand. Yeah, yes, yeah, he called 911, but knowing even seconds were critical prior struck the gunman with his truck, giving church security time to take

out the suspect, helping to save dozens of lives he put around through my truck that disabled my truck. The incident leaving prior without a truck to use. But now. Thank you again. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. A local Ford dealership gifting Pryor a prepaid two-year lease on a brand new F-150. I was overwhelmed. It was hard for me to kind of keep my emotions under control. A more than 400 horsepower reward for his massive act of bravery. All of us are capable of protecting each other.

A grateful community celebrating a Deacon's heroic instincts. Shaquille Brewster, NBC News. And that's Nightly News for this Friday. I'm Tom Yama. Thanks so much for watching. Tonight and always, we're here for you. Good night.