NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Friday, March 27, 2026

Episode Date: March 28, 2026

Tiger Woods arrested and charged with DUI after rollover crash; Trump signs emergency order to pay TSA; FBI Director’s emails hacked by pro-Iran group; 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.

Breaking news tonight, golfing great Tiger Woods arrested and charged with DUI. Police say he was speeding when he crashed into a truck flipping his SUV. The new image is just in. His vehicle rolled over on its side. Authorities saying Woods appeared impaired, then refused a urine test. Police describing how Tiger had to climb out of the passenger side door. This just five years after this horrific crash and nearly 10 years after this DUI arrest. The golfer in jail right now. Also breaking no deal. House Republicans blow up the Senate

agreement to end the government shutdown and fund the TSA. The long lines at some airports stretching for hours again today. The president signing an emergency measure to pay the workers, will that end this crisis? The director of the FBI hacked, an Iranian-link group releasing Cash Patel's private files as revenge for the war amid new attacks across the Middle East. The market meltdown milestone today, the Dow plummeting into correction territory, down 10% from its high as President Trump scrambles to calm Wall Street. New tonight from Savannah Guthrie, her message to her mother's kidnapper, and the powerful reason she's returning to the Today Show.

The terrifying chopper crash in Hawaii, three people killed, but two survive, treated right on the beach. The sad update just in about the American Airlines flight attendant missing in Colombia, was he murdered? Our series, The Cost of Denial, and the retired firefighter, now fighting for his life. While he's battling insurance over the stage four lung cancer, he says he got on the job. And there's good news tonight about making memories. and the March Madness Tradition going strong from one dad to another. Nightly News starts right now. This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas. And good evening. We begin tonight with those stunning new images just coming into our newsroom. Golfing legend Tiger Woods was arrested and charged with DUI after a rollover crashed this afternoon.

And this was the scene of the accident. You can see his range rover rolled over on its side there. It happened in Jupiter Island, Florida, not far from West Palm Beach. Authority saying in a news conference late today that Woods passed a breathalyzer test, but that he appeared impaired and refused a urine test. Officials adding that thankfully, nobody was hurt. Today's crash comes five years after he was seriously hurt in this horrific accident in Southern California back in 2021. And it was nearly 10 years ago that Tiger was charged with a DUI when he was found asleep

in his car that result. resulted in this bug shot. Tonight, just as he was embarking on another career comeback, Woods is in jail again. Our Jesse Kerr starts us off tonight. Tonight, Tiger Woods is behind bars in Florida, charged with driving under the influence. Mr. Woods did exemplify signs of impairment. Just before 2 p.m., the Martin County Sheriff's Office says the golfing legend was driving alone at a high speed on a 30-mile-per-hour suburban road in Jupiter Island.

The 50-year-old was trying to pass a pressure cleaner truck. This is a small two-lane road, and there was no shoulder for this pressure cleaner gentleman to get off the side of the road. As he was trying to move to the side of the road, the land rover overtook him at the last minute, swirped to avoid a collision, but clipped the back end of the trailer. Authorities say Woods crawled out of the passenger door and that he and the other driver are not injured. Mr. Woods did a breathalyzer test, blue triple zeros. But when it came time for us to ask for a urinalysis test, he refused. And so he's been charged with DUI with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test. Woods was also charged with driving under the influence in 2017.

He pled guilty to reckless driving. And in 2021, Woods was driving nearly 90 miles per hour in a residential area of Los Angeles County, according to the sheriff. He hit a tree and the vehicle went air. airborne. Woods was not charged following that crash, but he did suffer numerous fractures in his right leg requiring emergency surgery. I feel I'm lucky to be alive. But barely a year after that crash, Woods remarkably returned to golf on its biggest stage. He played at the 2022 Masters and even put on a show for his fans in Augusta. Just last October, he underwent back surgery for the seventh

time. And earlier this week, Woods returned to professional golf for the first time in almost two years. This body is, doesn't recover like it was when it was 24, 25. It doesn't mean I'm not trying. I've been trying for a while. Woods is dating President Trump's former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump. Late today, the president weighing in. I feel so badly, he's got some difficulty. There was an accident, and that's all I know. Very close friend of mine. Jesse joins us now live outside the jail where Tiger Woods is being held. And Jesse, any idea when he could be released?

Tom, the sheriff says that the earliest that Woods could be released is eight hours after his arrest. That means the soonest we'll see that golfing legend walking out of this jail is close to midnight. Meanwhile, we have reached out to Tiger Woods' team, but we have not heard back. Tom. All right, Jesse Kirsch, leading us off tonight. We now turn to that stucing us off. breakdown in Washington, what looked like a deal to get the Department of Homeland Security back open and end the crisis at America's airports suddenly falling apart. And late tonight,

President Trump signing an emergency order to pay TSA officers again. Here's Ryan Nobles. Tonight, as security lines wrap around terminals from coast to coast, this is crazy. It's absolutely crazy. President Trump signing an emergency order directing the Department of Homeland Security to pay TS officers using existing funds, calling it an unprecedented emergency at airports. DHS saying TSA officers could start seeing paychecks as soon as Monday. This, after another stunning breakdown on Capitol Hill. House Speaker Mike Johnson blasting a bill passed by the Republican-led Senate that would have immediately reopened DHS without funding for Border Patrol and ICE.

This gambit that was done last night is a joke. The Republicans are not going to be. any part of any effort to reopen our borders or to stop immigration enforcement. That move guaranteeing the shutdown will extend indefinitely with the two sides pointing fingers. The Speaker plans to put up a bill that would extend DHS funding, including ICE and Border Patrol for 60 days. A planned Senate Democrats who want reforms to ICE say is dead on arrival. We press the Speaker. At one point is a leader on either side going to stand up and say, we have a path forward that everyone will agree to.

This vote today will extend the shutdown under any circumstance. No, it won't. No, it won't. This is not party blame game. This is a record. You can hold up the record. Rank and file members frustrated by the gridlock. I mean, the American people must be sick of that specifically. They're sick of politics.

They don't want this finger pointing. And even though TSA workers will get their paycheck soon, the damage may already be done. More than 480 TSA officers have already quit. If it looks like this is going to become the norm, then we're definitely re-evaluating our ability to maintain these jobs. All with travelers waiting for relief. Mike Rays showed up at a Houston airport and discovered his four-hour drive to Dallas

would be shorter than the security line to get on his flight. If I just left, got the truck and started driving. Ryan joins us now live. So Ryan, let's explain this to our viewers. nearly 500 TSA officers have quit. We know they are eventually going to get paid. Do we have any idea how long until security lines get back to normal? Well, Tom, if you are traveling, it will take some time before things get back to normal. DHS hopes to begin paying the back pay to these TSA officers as soon as Monday. But as we've pointed out, so many of them have left the job.

It could be at least a week or more before things get back to normal. Tom. Ryan Nobles and his team pressing those lawmakers for answers. We thank you. The stock market today hitting a troubling new milestone, plummeting into what's called a correction. Fueling the drop, fears about a drawn-out war with Iran. Christine Romans is here now live first, and Christine, walk our viewers through what's happening. Tom, new lows for the year today and substantial losses. Let's look at the Dow from its high before the war with Iran began. Now down more than 10 percent. That's called a correction. Why growing concern among international experts, the damage to the world's energy infrastructure has been grossly underestimated and will take

years to rebuild. U.S. crude oil searched to $101 a barrel today, as there's no telling when that critical strait of Hormuz will be open again. And mortgage rates now up to 6.64 percent on the sense the Fed will have to raise rates to fight inflation. And Tom, this caught our attention with stocks down so much. Campbell's, known for affordable soup, was up a dollar a share today, what some might call a trade anticipating tough times ahead as people switch to cheaper choices. You were right about those warning signs. All right, Christine, we thank you for that. the president and the Secretary of State trying to calm the markets with Marco Rubio saying today the U.S. won't send in ground troops. And we have new details on how the FBI director was hacked.

Gabe Gutierrez is with the president tonight. Tonight, as the war with Iran nears its one month mark, the FBI director's personal email account apparently hacked. Pro-Iran hackers publishing more than 300 emails and photos from what appears to be a personal email account for FBI director Cash Patel. The FBI is saying the hacked material involves no government information. All as President Trump says talks with Iran through intermediaries are progressing. They are being decimated. They are talking. We are talking now. They want to make a deal. Tonight, Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggesting U.S. airstrikes could end in a couple of weeks and saying U.S. objectives can be met with no ground troops.

schedule on most of them, and we can achieve them without any ground troops, without any. While on Capitol Hill, most Republicans strongly back the president's strikes on Iran. Look, this regime has been at war with us for 47 years. We need to do whatever we can to cripple in this regime. But there's also growing skepticism about the length of the conflict. As far as I'm concerned, it's time to come home. And as the president speaks to an investment conference here in South Florida, there is late word tonight, according to two U.S. officials that several U.S. service members have been injured when an Iranian missile hit an airbase in Saudi Arabia. None of the injuries are considered life-threatening, Tom.

As the fighting continues there, all right, Gabe, we thank you for that. We learned today that our colleagues, Savannah Guthrie, will return to the Today Show next month. And tonight, for the first time, we have her message to her mother's kidnap. tonight for the first time Savannah Guthrie talking about a message she posted on social media in hopes the person who took her mom realized who they were holding captives

she is full of kindness and knowledge talk to her and you'll see I remember you said talk to her talk to her that's what you said I remember see this extraordinary woman you're lucky to be in her company even if for a moment. See it?

Savannah also telling Hoda in that sit-down interview about how she and her family are finding resilience even as their agony continues. I will do it for my kids. I will. I will not fall apart. I will

not let whoever did this. Take my children's mother from them. I will not let them take my joy. They will not take my sister's joy. They will not take my brother's joy. They will not take our love.

They will not take our faith. But our anguish is real. We need help. We need someone to tell the truth. And despite everything she's facing, also opening up about coming back to the Today Show. It's hard to imagine doing it because it's such a place of joy and lightness.

And I can't come back and try to be something that I'm not. I want to smile. And when I do, it will be real. I will have joy. And my joy will be my protest. And this morning, Hoda announcing Savannah plans to return to Studio 1A on Monday, April 6th. Her today family will be waiting for her. I don't know if I can do it.

I don't know if I'll belong anymore. But I would like to try. I would like to try. And you can see more of Savannah's interview tonight on a special edition of Dateline at 9 Eastern 8 Central. When we return in 60 seconds, for years this firefighter battled the flames.

Now he's fighting with insurance for the treatment his doctor says he desperately needs. That's next. Back now with our series, the cost of denial, where we investigate the challenges people face with their insurance providers. Tonight, Bagad Chabin of our NBC Bay Area Station reports on the firefighter battling cancer and the insurance denial for the treatment his doctors say he needs. Ken Jones and Helen Horvath have been married for close to 25 years.

They met as young firefighters in San Francisco. Ken ultimately became the fire department's lead counselor, helping first responders cope with trauma and serious illnesses. In the fire service, you get yourself checked. Ken spent his entire career helping others, but his doctor believes those 17 years amid smoke and ash contributed to his diagnosis last year of stage four lung cancer. The couple found themselves in a battle against time and against Ken's health insurance, which denied coverage for part of his cancer treatment. It's painful.

It's painful, especially because of how unnecessary it is. This could have been prevented. Yes. The suffering of cancer is part of the human condition, but the suffering from insurance struggles is completely unnecessary pain. Ken's doctor wanted him to get chemotherapy to attack the cancer that had spread throughout his body and immunotherapy to train his immune system to also fight the disease. insurance said okay to chemo, but not immunotherapy.

You just automatically depend on that insurance being there, and then when it's not, it's quite a blow. Blue Shield of California administered Jones's Medicare Advantage Plan and told NBC News, our medical reviews follow clinical guidelines and are not based on cost. Now, in its denial letter, Blue Shield acknowledged the immunotherapy prescribed by Jones's doctor, is FDA approved, but only as a first-line treatment. The insurer determined Jones is ineligible because he'd already received other medications for his cancer. Sometimes though there's gray area in medicine. Dr. Matthew Goebbins is Ken's oncologist.

He believes Blue Shield is misinterpreting medical guidelines and says he should know. He helped craft them. Dr. Goobins is part of a prestigious panel with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, which issues the nation's most influential guidelines on cancer treatment. There are edge cases among our patients where those guidelines just don't apply. Dr. Gubin says Blue Shield is wrong to consider the immunotherapy a new medication for Ken because it was already part of Ken's initial treatment. Doctors paused it to try two experimental drugs.

Blue Shield still rejected the claim. So Dr. Gubens called the number listed on the denial letter to lodge an appeal. Did you ever reach anyone? I reached people who apologized, but they weren't the right place to send the appeal to, and often referred me back to the first person I talked to. How long were you on the phone? That day, I spent about three hours calling different phone numbers for this insurance company. Ken received more than $50,000 in donations to finally get one round of immunotherapy.

But the treatment needs to be repeated every few weeks. So Ken and his wife decided to abandon his Blue Shield Medicare Advantage plan in hopes traditional Medicare will cover future bills. It should not be that hard for us. Ken, a veteran firefighter, says he's now trying to protect others by sounding the alarm. You don't stop, just caring about other people just because you're having a hard time. Bagat Shabam, NBC News, San Francisco. And we thank Bagat for his help on that story.

When we come back, what we're learning about the helicopter crash off Hawaii and how two people survived. Plus, the update just in about the search for an American Airlines flight attendant who vanished during a layover. That's next. We're back now with a deadly helicopter crash in Hawaii. You can see the wreckage in the water off the island of Kauai. But there on the beach, two survivors being treated after making it out alive. Unfortunately, three others were killed. Also, tonight a sad update in the search for an American Airlines flight attendant who went missing in Colombia.

Officials in Medellín say they believe they found the body of Eric Fernando Gutierrez Molina. He was last seen out with coworkers before leaving with other people. Officials say the strangers last seen with him had a history of theft and using a sedative drug. Still to come tonight, the son keeping a March madness tradition alive to honor his dad. How his surprise brought this father and his sons together. It's next. Finally, there's good news tonight. A man who lost his father to cancer, finding a way to honor his dad's legacy,

tapping into a beloved March Madness tradition for the love of the game. This is the moment of sweet surprise from one dad to another. The gift of March Madness. You play it pretty cool. Look at this. For Tim Coffey, it's a tradition that began with his own father. Growing up, they'd watch games and compare brackets, traveling the country to cheer on their teams.

Watching the games of my dad was my favorite thing. He let time stop. The family tradition continued into adulthood until his dad passed away from cancer last August. As I'm watching these games, anytime my phone goes off, it's never going to say dad. So to honor his father this March, Tim decided to pay it forward, his way. this is a no-brainer. You guys have the best dad. Surprising another deserving dad with tickets. Max, what do you think?

Free to take these boys of the Sweet 16? What? I heard what he said, but it took a moment to register. Whoa, I can't believe this, you know. Max Clark is no stranger to Tim. Their families connected through a mentorship program 14 years ago, and they've helped each other through hard times ever since. This is a tradition my family always had.

It only feels right that now their family has. Tonight, Max and his boys are on their way to the game. The only person I could think that would have loved that moment more than me, and this opportunity more than me is my dad. What a great gesture. Max, enjoy that game with your boys. That's nightly news for this Friday. I'm Tom Yamas. Thanks so much for watching tonight and always we're here for you good night