NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Friday, May 15, 2026

Episode Date: May 16, 2026

Iran-linked suspect accused of terror plots on Jewish sites in U.S.; Trump’s high-stakes summit in China; U.S. seeks to indict Cuba’s Raul Castro; 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, we're live in Beijing as the Super Power Summit comes to an end. The new details we're learning about what was agreed upon as we tracked major breaking news back at home. The stunning international operation, the FBI taking this man into custody, saying he planned terror attacks in New York, Los Angeles, and Arizona. That suspect accused of coordinating attacks across Europe. This stabbing rampage in London and a synagogue firebasket. bombed in Belgium, how officials tracked him down. Also tonight, President Trump's red carpet walkout, capping off a historic summit with China, what Trump says happened behind closed doors with China's leader. The progress he's touting overtrade and how both sides came together over the war with Iran.

Did this meeting mark a monumental shift in relations between both countries? We'll explain. Mounting pressure on Cuba, our new reporting about the Justice Department's push to a indict former president, Raul Castro, and what Secretary of State Marco Rubio told me about the U.S. response to the island nations deepening crisis. The massive explosion at a lumber mill, nearly a dozen injured, emergency crews rushing to put out raging flames, what set off that blast? The senior assassin game almost turns deadly, an officer nearly shooting a teenager, playing with a water gun. Wildfire emergency raging flames burning through buildings, plus the dust storm, blinding drivers sending debris flying. Waymo's go wayward, wild

video of the self-driving cars circling a neighborhood cul-de-sac endlessly bumper-to-bumper backups. Is it a serious glitch? And the view from inside China, what these young people told me about how they view life in the United States, their favorite American artists, and the future of both countries. Nightly News starts right now. This is a special edition of NBC Nightly News, live from China. Reporting tonight from Beijing, here is Tom Yamas. And good evening, we are live in Beijing here at the Rattan Park in the heart of the city. The park, the site of an ancient altar known as the Temple of the Sun, now home to these beautiful gardens.

There were similar images earlier with the U.S. and Chinese leaders touring another garden here in the Capitol. one of the final moments of this superpower summit. After another day of intense face-to-face meetings, President Trump is now arriving back in Washington. We have new details tonight on one came out of those meetings and what promises, if any, President Trump may come away with to address the war in Iran. But first, we do have breaking news about that war in the attempt to bring it to America shores. Federal prosecutors today announcing the arrest of this man, the leader of an Iranian-backed paramilitar. group accused of carrying out terror attacks across Europe in recent months and plotting new attacks in New York, Los Angeles, and even Arizona. We have late details on how American

authorities found him and brought him to the U.S. to face justice. Tom Winter starts us off tonight. Tonight, the FBI and NYPD saying they foiled potential terror attacks against Jewish sites in New York, L.A. in Scottsdale, Arizona. Plots, they say, are all tied to the Iranian regime. This man, Muhammad al-Sadi, now held in a New York jail cell, is an alleged high-ranking member of the mysterious terror group called H-A-Y-I. Authorities say they've already carried out 18 terror attacks in Europe, primarily targeting the Jewish community, including this suspect, tackled by British police after a stabbing rampage outside a London mosque, and the group carrying out the firebombing of this Belgian synagogue. Tonight, the FBI says

H-A-Y-I is a front for the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah. And they say Al-Sadi's ties go right to the top of the Iranian regime. Multiple photos show Al-Sadi with former Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Kusim Soleimani killed in a U.S. drone strike during President Trump's first term. Al-Sadi has specifically threatened to kill President Trump on social media. He is certainly a leader in this terrorist organization, and he was directing an inspiring terrorist attacks. These photos exclusively obtained by NBC News show his arrival in New York last night after he was taken into custody by Turkish authorities, according to prosecutors. They say since April he's been communicating with an undercover officer, offering to pay tens of thousands of dollars to attack Jewish sites in the U.S. Tom, these are alarming developments. The suspect was in court today.

He appeared briefly in court. His attorney says he thinks he's a prisoner of war. Meanwhile, authorities believe the case underscores the wide variety of threats for events like the World Cup starting next month, Tom. All right, Tom, we thank you. Now to the Superpower Summit here with President Trump tonight touting new trade deals with China and revealing more about the high-stakes talks behind closed doors with President Xi, including on the conflict with Iran. Tonight, President Trump back home after that whirlwind summit here in Beijing. China rolling out the red carpet for President Trump until the very last moment. The president revealing more about his high-stakes meetings with China's President Xi, including on Iran, saying he did not ask China to pressure the Iranian regime to open the strait of Hormuz.

I didn't ask him to put pressure because, you know, I don't need favors. I think he will. I think automatically he'd like to see it opened up. he gets about 40% of his energy or his oil from that, you know, from the stray. We get none saying they had similar views. We feel very similar, right? We want that to end. And we don't want them to have a nuclear weapon. We want the straits open.

And tonight, President Trump revealing he could support a 20-year halt to Iran's nuclear program, but that Iran must end all of its nuclear enrichment, something the Iranian regime, is refusing to do. 20 years is enough, but the level of guarantee from them was not enough. In other words, it's got to be a real 20 years. On trade, the president looking to boost American businesses, bringing top American CEOs, now touting new Chinese orders of U.S. goods, including American agriculture. The farmers are going to be very happy, and they're going to be buying billions of dollars of

soy beans. And Boeing tonight describing a very successful. trip reopening the China market, receiving an initial commitment for 200 aircraft. China announcing they've reached new common understandings with the U.S., but has not given any further details. All of it after President Xi took President Trump on a tour of the gardens inside Chinese Communist Party headquarters, and the president touting their relationship at tea. He's a man I respect greatly. He can't really offend. What did they accomplish? Well, I think The base minimum we could talk about in terms of accomplishment is some stability.

We can say that perhaps things are less confrontational, at least for now. But no progress so far on U.S. efforts to secure the release of Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy publisher and critic of China's Communist Party convicted of violating a national security law. I brought up Jimmy Lai, and I would say the response to that was not positive. And we're going to have much more. from China later in the broadcasts. We're also following more breaking news out of Maine, a mass casualty event at a lumber mill,

a massive fire and explosion leading to multiple people being sent to the hospital. Emily Aketa is following this one. A devastating fire ripping through a lumber mill in Maine today, flames reaching above the tree line. There's been a huge explosion and silo just exploded, which is very bad. A lot of people are starting to...

Searsmont firefighters who are volunteers had responded to a silo fire that then exploded, according to one fire department in Maine, injuring firefighters and civilians, as well as destroying several fire trucks. The Searsmont Fire Chief telling a local paper, the explosion blew him 15 feet right through the air. That whole building is gone.

Maine Health Medical Center saying it's now treating 10 patients at its level one trauma center. You can see life flight helicopters arrive, as officials declared a mass casual event. I walked up to this very chaotic scene initially and not because of the efforts of the first responders, but because of the magnitude of the fire involvement and the amount of sheer buildings that were on fire. Maine's governor urging folks to stay clear of the area, swarmed by local, state, and federal agencies, including the ATF. Dron video capturing the aftermath,

you can see buildings reduced to ash. Robbins Lumber, a family business that owns and manages 30,000 acres, says all of their employees have been accounted for. Buildings can be replaced. Employees cannot. As fire officials investigate what caused this perilous blaze. Emily Ikeda, NBC News. Now to our new reporting on Cuba that the Justice Department is seeking to indict

that country's powerful former leader Raul Castro, the latest escalation in the showdown between the Trump administration and Cuba. Here's Gabe Gutierrez. Tonight, NBC News Learning the Justice Department is pushing to indict 94-year-old Raul Castro, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter. He's Cuba's former authoritarian leader who still wields immense power and is the brother of the late Fidel Castro. One of the sources says the charges, which a grand jury would need to sign off on,

would be related to a 1996 incident when the Cuban Air Force shot down two civilian planes piloted by a humanitarian organization, Brothers to the Rescue. Back then, the U.S. said audio showed the Cuban pilots celebrated the shootdown. Four Cuban Americans were killed. President Trump declining to comment on the report,

but slamming Cuba's communist regime. You talk about a declining country. They are really a nation or a country in decline. protests have erupted in Cuba as fuel shortages have escalated. On Thursday, a remarkable site in Havana, the CIA director meeting with Cuban officials. And that all comes as Cuba initially rejected a U.S. offer of $100 million in humanitarian aid. Tom, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Cuba's foreign minister says that's an absolute lie, that there is no money coming.

Are there any strings attached to that $100 million in aid? The only strings attach is that they have to be distributed by non-governmental sources like the Catholic Church. So what's the hold of? Cuba's lying? Cuba. They're hold up. Yeah, they're lying. They lie all the time. Gabe joins us now live here in China. And Gabe, today Cuba is reversing course saying they now will accept that aid. Yes, Tom, shortly after your interview, Secretary Rubio and the CI director's visit to Cuba, the audience president, Miguel Diaz Canal, posted on social media that the U.S. would not encounter obstacles in sending that aid. Still, Tom, tensions between the two countries continue to ramp up. But major

development's happening right now. All right, Gabe, we thank you for that. When we return in 60 seconds, what are all these Waymo's doing driving through a random neighborhood in a nonstop loop? The epic traffic jam of driverless cars. When we return, live from Beijing. We have wild video to show you tonight of an Atlanta neighborhood overrun by dozens of driverless Waymo taxis driving in circles over and over and over again. So what went wrong? Tom Costello now with the video. You might call them wayward waymos, one after another driverless taxis. Streaming into several Atlantic cul-de-sacs at virtually all hours of the day and night. So as more were coming in, more were going out. It was just a constant stream of coming in around the circle.

After roughly 50 of them showed up last weekend, the annoyed neighbors put out a traffic turtle, but that only led to longer backups. One of them almost did run over our cul-de-sac cats. buddy and so that that was the final straw the robo taxis appeared to be in a holding pattern waiting for their next assignment waymo tells mbc news it has already worked with our partner to address this routing behavior it's the latest waymo speed bump coming just days after the company recalled nearly four thousand robotaxies for software fix after some cars in texas and california drove into flooded streets and stalled. In recent years, Waymos have also failed to yield to school buses and caused rush hour gridlock. Nothing we are doing today with automated vehicle technology is safe enough. It's got to be better

tomorrow. And that is the change in trajectory we need for vehicle safety in America today. Waymo says it's already identified a software fixed for the flooding issue and it's refining its operations in extreme weather and says it's 13 times safer than humans and crashes involving pedestrians. Tom? Tom Costello for us. Tom, we thank you, and we're back in a moment with the blinding dust storm kicking up in the northern plains we'll show you and the video of a popular high school water gun game that nearly costs one student his life. That's next. We're back now with some alarming news out of Africa tonight where public health officials confirm a new Ebola outbreak in a remote area in Congo. Officials say 65 people have died and there are 240 more cases so far.

It comes a decade since the massive Ebola outbreak in West Africa that killed more than 11,000 people. Also tonight, we are tracking the wildfire threat in Texas. Look at this drone video of the chart area near Canyon, Texas, and sweeping across the plains. This intense dust storm in North Dakota, video shows the intense winds kicking up dirt and debris. And look at this hard-stopping video of a police officer, nearly shooting a teen, playing with a water gun. The officer was responding to a 911 call late at night in the Michigan suburbs, believing there might have been a burglary happening when the officer got ambushed by the teen with a water gun. He pulled his real gun. Thankfully, things didn't escalate. That team was playing a game called Senior Assassin that's played by graduating high school students across the country. When we come back tonight here on Nightly News, my conversation with China's next generation, how they see us, our culture, and even President Trump.

We are back now with a look inside China's capital. And while we were here in Beijing, we went to a tea house to hear from China's next generation of leaders. What they told us at times surprised us. Lori Giao, Lucien Chen, and Viola Ma are all college grads or about to graduate, living in and around Beijing. I was curious about their thoughts on America. So what are some American brands or products you like? Apple? Yeah, Apple.

Yeah, Apple. Yeah, Apple Watch here. What are some American artists you like? My favorite artist will be Lady Gaga. Yeah, I'm a little monster. I was the fun of Taylor Swift's since love story. I always feel there's a connection between me and her. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And this answer from Lori about religion, where in China, the communist government encourages atheism, surprised us. Anything else in American culture that you guys love? Well, I want to say it's love, but I've been really interesting and Christianity recently. Christianity? Yeah.

Like, I'm not religious, but, like, I have a couple of friends that I'm mad there. And then they were questions, so, like, they taught me something about it, but, like, I am atheist personally. So, like, yeah.

So you're Christian curious. Yeah. I wanted to know, like, why they believe in God. I also asked about a social media trend where young Chinese lie flat. Just like this, after graduation. Some say it's a protest to China,

this slowing economy. Some of them, you know, they were told to study hard, study hard by their parents, maybe since their primary. Yeah. And then they can't find a job. Not everyone. I don't think not everyone. But, you know, under a huge pressure, they don't know what they really want to do.

They were just told what they should do. I feel like personally, I have a very different story to tell because just judge from the experience of me and, like, my peers around me, we don't really kind of lay flat. I feel like it's more about trying to explore where the opportunity lies instead of just like saying directly that you can't find a job. Lion flies like to find a place for you to be who you are instead of being pushed forward. What is happiness for you, do you think, looking into your future? I think just I will stay focused on my job for a long time in the future.

I want to make real impacts. So for me, happiness is like to have your own house, to have the books you like. I think my wish is simple. But of course, it's not very easy to accomplish since nowadays the houses are very expensive to afford. And with Beijing hosting that historic summit between President Trump and Xi Jinping,

I wanted to know how they saw the future. Do you think in 10, 20 years, China and America are still friends, or do you think they are enemies? I would picture them as friends because I feel like the relationship between big powers is never like zero-sum games. And I definitely feel like cooperation would bring more opportunity to both sides. Well, I would say that I hope they would be fun. But, you know, I think. the reality is not like that. And that sentiment is where we leave you tonight.

We came to China to help us understand and show you what was going on. In front of the cameras, President Trump and China's leader Xi Jinping were all smiles. But behind closed doors, we now know China was direct about interfering with Taiwan. The Secretary of State told us the U.S. will not change its posture of supporting Taiwan. And that remains the biggest question mark. And in the battle for trade and tech dominance, America's CEOs were here, but we saw firsthand China's efforts to try and lead the world, building and exporting EVs on a mass scale. And at a price point, Detroit right now cannot match.

And we walked among rows and rows of robots. It's plain to see these large, heavy machines will likely be used to do more than dance and clean dishes. As for the people in China, many of them are living in modern times. In major cities, cash is almost never used. Everything is done on the phone, on an app, and under the watch of this government. Much has changed in China since Nightly News started reporting from here in the 80s. Tom Brokaw and his team at times had to hide their cameras,

attached to bicycles to tell the real story during crackdowns. Now, cameras are everywhere, but to watch everyone. So in many ways, China remains the same. As I walk Tiananmen Square, there is no escaping Mao Zedong looking down on the masses or the columns of surveillance. As China grapples with its future and the U.S., we hope to keep coming back and tell its story. That's nightly news for this Friday. I'm Tom Yamas. We thank you so much for watching tonight. And always, we're here for you. Good night.