NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Friday, March 6, 2026

Episode Date: March 7, 2026

Trump demands ‘unconditional surrender’ from Iran; On the frontlines in Lebanon; Sources: Deadly strike on Iranian school likely from U.S. munition; 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 tonight as we come on the air, a new wave of strikes pounding Iran as President Trump demands the country's unconditional surrender and our new reporting, the president seriously considering ground troops. Explosions rocking Tehran, sending smoke and debris sky high. Dozens of Israeli fighter jets destroying the late Ayatollah's secret bunker. And the late reporting about possible boots on the ground will explain. The new front in the war, our reporter on the ground in Lebanon, as a new barrage of Israeli strikes, Rock Beirut, half a million people rushing to get out. Our investigation into the deadly strikes on an Iranian elementary school was the U.S. behind that attack, what new satellite images reveal. Growing economic fears, oil prices soaring at a record rate as stocks plunge. the airline CEO warning today that tickets are about to go up.

Deadly twisters tearing across the heartland, this tornado tearing a building apart, sending debris airborne, severe storms threatening millions from Texas to Michigan. Was a Wi-Fi jammer used on the night of Nancy Guthrie's disappearance to scramble security cameras? The potential new clue, as investigators asked neighbors if their internet was disrupted that exact night. Bodyguard beatdown, the mayor of San Francisco's security team attacked in broad daylight. What happened next? And there's good news tonight. Let the Paralympic Games begin. Athletes overwhelmed with emotion as they get to compete on the world stage.

Nightly News starts right now. This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas. And good evening. We are tracking fast-moving developments in the war with Iran. President Trump today setting a new end goal for the war, the unconditional surrender by Iran. And we have new reporting tonight that in private conversations, the president is considering sending in a small contingent of ground troops. We also have new video tonight. You see it here of dozens of Israeli fighter jets pounding a secret bunker under the late Ayatollah's compound.

And this Navy ship carrying Iranian drones destroyed. At the same time, our NBC News investigation into that. that horrific attack on an elementary school in Iran, revealing it's increasingly likely that the U.S. is behind that strike. We'll have more on that and the impact here at home with gas prices skyrocketing since the war began and the stock market having its worst week in a year. We're covering every angle of this story, and we want to start with Richard Engel on the ground in Tel Aviv. More waves of U.S. and Israeli military strikes against Iran tonight, including

including 50 Israeli fighter jets targeting a secret bunker under the late Ayatollah Khomeini's compound. The Israeli military says it was being used by Iranian officials. And U.S. forces destroying a large Iranian drone-carrying ship. The Pentagon says Iranian drone attacks have plummeted. President Trump posted there will be no deal with Iran except unconditional surrender. As we have new reporting, the president has privately expressed interest in, the idea of a small contingent of U.S. troops that would be used for specific strategic purposes inside Iran, according to two U.S. officials, a former U.S. official, and another person with knowledge

of the conversations. In a phone call with NBC's Garrett Hake, President Trump said he's not considering a U.S. ground invasion of Iran at this time, dismissing it as a waste of time, saying they've lost everything. They've lost their Navy. They've lost everything they can lose. And the White House seems to be rubbing it in, posting memes overnight on X. You want to see me do it again? Mixing combat footage with action movie clips. Several former senior U.S. military officials expressing outrage to NBC News, calling the posts undignified and disrespectful to everyone involved in the war.

All as Iran is still unleashing attacks. In Bahrain, the government says Iran, A hotel and two residential buildings. No injuries. And the president of Azerbaijan is now threatening to respond to what he called an Iranian terror attack Thursday, drone strikes on an airport and near a school. While in Israel, high school volunteers this morning

were cleaning up debris after this building was hit. I think it's scary, but it's meaningful that we're here, that we're helping here and not sitting in our house without doing anything. Though Iran still has a major ally, Vladimir Putin. Russia is providing intelligence to Iran on the location of U.S. forces in the Middle East, which could help locate American targets to hit, according to four sources with knowledge of the matter. Tom pressing Iran's foreign minister about Russia on Thursday. And they're actively helping you in this war?

Well, they have always helped us. All as Americans stuck in the Middle East are returning home. the State Department sending in charter planes as several airports are resuming commercial flights. I booked like three flights trying to get out of Dubai. This one's stuck. And so I'm finally home. Richard joins us now live. Richard, let's go back to that new reporting from NBC News about the possibility of a potential small ground unit inside of Iran of U.S. troops. The White House is responding tonight? They are. And our reporting is that no final decision has been made. the White House said that the story is based on assumptions from anonymous sources who are not

part of the president's national security team and not read into these discussions. Tom. Richard Engelfer us. Richard, thank you. There's a new front in the war tonight, Lebanon, with Israel targeting Iranian-backed Hezbollah there. Israel is sending out evacuation alerts to civilians before it strikes, sparking a chaotic mass exodus. Danielle Hamamjin is there.

Tonight, devastating explosions in a Beirut's. suburb. As Israel targets Hezbollah, a paramilitary group backed by Iran, the U.S., labels a terror organization. So we are getting a firsthand look of the aftermath of one of the Israeli strikes on Beirut. It's in a densely populated area as part of a bombing campaign that is for now only escalating. Half a million people already uprooted across the country of just six million, trying to escape the violence, fleeing Hezbollah strongholds in the southern suburbs, seeking refuge in central Beirut with not much more than the clothes on their back. Israeli forces send out evacuation alerts online, with no timeline before a strike.

A moment captured by Leila Sharur, who has 30 displaced relatives now crammed into her three-bedroom home. We met Leila and her granddaughter in central Beirut. When? When we finish? When? We want that. You want peace? Of course. Of course we want peace. The new round of clashes began earlier this week when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel, following the killing of Iran's supreme leader. Now the fighting is intensifying far beyond the capital to southern Lebanon.

And their growing fears this war will drag on no matter what happens in Iran. Danielle joins us now live. Danielle, you heard explosions earlier. What's happening there tonight? Yeah, Tom. In just the past few minutes, we started hearing gunfire, possibly a warning that strikes could be coming soon. Tom. Danielle, Hamamjin for us tonight. Danielle, thank you. Now to our NBC News investigation, it may be the most horrific incident of this war so far, a strike on an Iranian elementary school. No one has claimed responsibility. The Pentagon says it's investigating, but we have new reporting, tonight suggesting the U.S. maybe behind the attack. Molly Hunter has the details. Tonight, it looks increasingly likely that a U.S. munition was responsible for striking an Iranian elementary school, according to a U.S. official and another person familiar with the preliminary

findings of the U.S. investigation. Iranian officials say the strikes killed more than 170 people, mostly children. sources tell NBC news, the U.S. is still looking into whether the strike could have been the result of bad intelligence or poor tar. targeting. NBC News has geolocated and verified a new satellite image that shows at least seven impacts, direct hits on the school and a medical clinic on the same compound. In the first hours of U.S. Israeli operations Saturday morning, airstriks hit the Shazre Taipei Elementary School in Minab, Iran. NBC News spoke with a mother on the phone who said her seven-year-old son, Sohell, was killed in the strikes. By the time we arrived, she said,

The entire school had collapsed on top of the children. People were pulling out children's arms and legs. The school was built by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps on a compound once home to a military base. But multiple people on the ground, including a former principal, tell NBC News it hadn't been an active military base in more than a decade. Weapons expert Jeffrey Lewis says the satellite imagery

shows the strikes were deliberate. When you look at these buildings that have been destroyed, do they look targeted to you? the buildings on site were targeted individually and with incredible precision. Also tonight, Human Rights Watch concludes the weapons used were highly accurate guided munitions. The Pentagon says it's investigating. And at a briefing this week, Joint Chief's Chairman Dan Kane pointed to the area where the school is located, a strike symbol near the city of Minab. Now down the road from the school, rows and rows of tiny graves and no official claim of responsibility.

Molly Hunter, NBC News. A tough image to see there. Back here at home, the impact of the war with Iran is taking a toll across markets and at the gas pump. The biggest rise in oil prices ever in a single week. Christine Romans has that part of the story. One week into the United States war with Iran and the cost to the average American is skyrocketing. U.S. crude oil prices topping $90 a barrel today, surging 35% this week, the biggest weekly jump on record. gas prices up 34 cents a gallon since the war began. Drivers feeling it across the country. I don't even want to fill it up because I know it's probably going to be in the 90s. Markets today down again, the Dow Jones Industrial average above 50,000 just one month ago,

now down more than 3,000 points since it's high. And more pain is expected. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby today telling CNBC that higher airfares because of fuel prices will quote, probably start quick. The Trump administration asking for patience. Energy Secretary Chris Wright saying the surge in prices will be short-lived. Yeah, I think it's of order weeks. I would say in the worst case, but it's weeks, not months. For now, the critical strait of Hormuz, where 20% of the world's oil moves through,

is practically empty. This animation showing how active the strait was before the war and what it looked like today. Ships anchored outside the strait refusing to pass. through. Also today, a shocking jobs report showing a loss of 92,000 jobs in February. Unemployment, ticking up to 4.4%. All right. And with that, Christine, joins us now live in studio. Christine, the big question, how high will prices go? Yeah, one industry analyst, a veteran, told me that if you've got crude oil prices staying here, you're talking about 390 next week for gas. And if crude oil prices keep rising, you're talking about $4 a gallon pretty quick. Close to $4. All right, Christine,

we thank you for that. We also. First of some breaking news, tornadoes ripping across multiple states right now. With more on the way as we head into the night, George Solis is in the storm zone right now. Tonight, debris flying through the air as tornadoes, flooding, and volatile weather are on the move. In Michigan, a path of destruction. Buildings completely destroyed. This store, now a shell of what it once was. Watch as strong winds rip the roof off this building.

The relentless weather, creating dangerous conditions for travelers, this car driving in zero visibility. In Indiana, floodwaters swallowing up this big rig and leaving these trucks stranded with water surrounding them on all sides. At least seven suspected tornadoes roaring across Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma, where one claimed the lives of Jody Owens and her teen daughter, Lexi. Their family tells me they were trying to get home when conditions quickly deteriorated. Jody was on the phone warning her other children to take cover. In her last moments, she was calling her family to let them know to get to find shelter for this tornado. And the last words that they were heard were her trying to help others. Officials say their vehicle was swept hundreds of yards off the road.

Some of my biggest regrets in this moment is not reaching out more. is not letting her know how much she meant to me. Many small towns across America's heartland seeing big damage. The wind's strong and severe enough to break power poles and stretch power lines like these across roadways for miles. The destruction is widespread with the threat of more severe weather far from over. And George Elise joins us tonight in Tulsa and George, the tornado threat there remains. That's right.

I'm not able to hear one of those tornadoes. And across the plains tonight, that threat continues for some 32 million people. And that number actually goes up tomorrow to about 37 million people all the way from Texas to the Great Lakes. So as you can hear, this threat is far from over tonight. Yeah, we can hear it, George. So get to safety. We thank you for that report in 60 seconds, why investigators are back questioning Nancy Guthrie's neighbors. Did someone use a Wi-Fi jammer to scramble security cameras the night she disappeared?

That's next. We are back now with some potential new clues in the search for Nancy Guthrie. Investigators are now asking neighbors if they had issues with their internet the night she went missing, suggesting they may be looking into whether the suspect used a high-tech device known as a Wi-Fi jammer to scramble security cameras. Here's Liz Kreutz with how it works. Tonight, in the search for new clues, several of Nancy Guthrie's neighbors tell NBC News, investigators return this week asking them about any potential internet. internet issues the night of Nancy's disappearance. The homeowners say the agents told them several neighbors

mentioned glitches with their internet that night. One of those neighbors tells us when they checked on their ring cameras, this one here, the one closest to Nancy's property, said not available during the overnight hours of the abduction. Here in their backyard, you can actually see Nancy's home. It's that brick house there. Experts tell us it would likely take a professional grade Wi-Fi jammer to knock out internet all the way to the back of this property. Here's the jammer. Turn it, hold it up here. You turn it on. Security Tech Consultant Ted Neerhouse showed us how a Wi-Fi jammer can interfere with internet signal and home surveillance cameras. And you will see it go out. So that's what it looks like. It'll say not available or something along those lines.

But Neerhouse says he's skeptical a Wi-Fi jammer was used in Nancy's abduction. If they turned that thing on when they pulled up, you'd never have any video on any camera. So that's why I don't think anything was jammed. Slews have pointed out it appears there could be something in the suspect's pocket. We asked the sheriff about that earlier this week. Did he have a Wi-Fi jammer, a walkie-talkie? Have you been able to figure that? I've not looked at it that closely.

But yeah, I know that my team has looked at it with the FBI, every angle. And Tom, neither the Sheriff's Department nor the FBI have commented on any potential internet issues in the neighborhood. NBC News has also reached out to ring and not heard back. Tom. Okay, Liz, we thank you. We're back in a moment here. shocking new video of the mayor of San Francisco security team getting attacked just feet from the mayor.

We're back now with Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez officially dropping his re-election campaign after admitting he had an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide. Gonzalez made the announcement after he faced growing pressure from his colleagues, including top Republicans in the House this week. He says he plans to finish out the rest of his term. Also tonight, former University of Michigan football coach Sharon Moore has taken a plea deal over his alleged break-in at a former lover's home. Moore pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges after more serious ones like felony home invasion were dropped. More was fired from one of the most prestigious jobs in college sports last year after the school said he had an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.

And take a look at this shocking video in San Francisco. You see two men fighting with officers assigned to the mayor's security detail, the mayor walking away. as the assailants struggled and go down on the pavement with the officer. Police say the officers were injured and that the suspects were arrested. When we come back, let the games begin. The emotional start to the Paralympic Games officially getting underway in Milan. That's next. Finally, there's good news tonight for anyone missing the thrill of Olympic competition.

The Paralympics are now officially underway in Italy, and Emily Aketa is right there. Inside the historic Verona Arena, a historic moment, an impressive show of lights and acrobatics. Today's opening ceremony celebrating the start of the 50th anniversary of the Winter Paralympics. And you can see the countdown clock has hit zero, and behind me, the cauldron has been lit here in Cortina. This place buzzing with excitement from Paralympians and their families. United States of America. It kicks off nine days of competition that more than six. 600 athletes with a range of disabilities have worked tirelessly for.

Putting on Team USA Gear is a dream come true for Kelsey O'Driscoll. It's not real until you have the Al-Laurin outfit. Competing in para-alpine skiing just five years to the day after she broke her back in a sledding accident. And it's been a challenging journey for cancer survivor Noah Elliott calling Italy his redemption games. after a disappointing finish in Beijing, where he competed on a compound fracture. Fourth place is just off. To be here and actually feel healthy, coming into it strong, having a great season, I couldn't be more proud. A feeling shared by Paralympians' families.

Wonderful show at first from Laura Dwyer. Moments like this, moving Laura Dwyer's sister to tears. I know how much work she's put in to get here and really striving. So awesome for my whole family to kind of see it. Sorry. And now the world, too. Emily Kedda, NBC News, Cortina, Italy. Can't wait to watch those incredible athletes.

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.