NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Friday, May 29, 2026

Episode Date: May 30, 2026

Trapped survivor rescued from cave; Two children among five killed in Virginia bus crash; Blue Origin rocket explosion could delay NASA's moon plans; 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 incredible rescue, a survivor trapped inside that Laos Cave pulled out alive. Now, divers racing against the clock to get the rest of the people trapped out. The dramatic moment, the survivor emerges covered in mud after a week inside that flooded cave. We hear from a rescuer as a rainstorm threatens the risky rescue of the others. The perilous conditions those divers are now up against at this hour. Also tonight, the deadly bus crash on I-95, smashing into cars, killing five. Video passengers escaping the wreckage through broken windows. How did this happen?

Plus, the car ramming into a Detroit airport, the driver arrested. Was this done on purpose? The massive fireball as Jeff Bezos's blue origin rocket explodes. The launch pad destroyed how it's blowing up NASA's plans to go to the moon. A growing number of artists bailing on President Trump's America 250 celebration on the national mall. So who's in and who's out? The deadly fall on North America's tallest mountain. Three climbers killed.

Another rescued what we're learning. The mysterious sonic boom. Camera shaking. Dog sent running after a noise rattled parts of the South. What set off that shockwave? Roller coaster rescue students stuck dangling 100. hundred feet in the air for hours how they finally got down. Emergency in the air, a small plane crashing right onto a hospital campus, how everyone walked away. And our series, Great Americans,

civil rights trailblazer, Ruby Bridges, you know the iconic images of her as a young girl almost 70 years ago. Now hear her inspiring message today. Nightly News starts right now. with Tom Yamas. Good evening. We begin tonight with the race against time to save four men trapped in a cave and the stunning new images of the first man who made it out and survived. This was that incredible moment, freedom, when that man crawls out, caked in mud after he was stuck down there for days. And here he is being whisked away by the rest of the rescue team. That moment after an hours long treacherous rescue deep inside a

cave in Laos in Southeast Asia. Here you can see those two rescuers finally reach him and then to give you a sense of what they're dealing with, these are the narrow passageways they had to work their way through. Tonight, four more men are still trapped down there and two are missing. The four have been stuck for more than a week after a flash flood trapped them while they were looking for gold. And now the clock is ticking with more severe weather on the way. Our Janice Mackie Freyer starts us off tonight. Tonight the extraordinary moment The first survivor guided out from a tunnel

looking dazed, covered in mud, but free. Then came a smile. After being trapped more than a week deep inside a cave. This video is showing rescuers squeezing down to reach four other men still stop. A rescuer telling him, I want to get you out. The man saying, I don't have the strength. Divers are now delusely. delivering water and food to them.

Crews have been pumping water out of the cave, but storms are threatening to flood it again. Another worry, signs of declining health and the men they're trying to free. If I don't get out, I'll die and won't get to see my wife and child, this man said. They're quite weak, so safety is the priority, says this rescuer, and we have to prepare for any. panic attacks on the way out.

The group went into the cave last week to look for gold, when heavy rain triggered a flash flood and blocked it with debris. Two men are still missing. Rescue teams and divers from Thailand, Japan, France, Australia focused on a high-stakes plan to get them all out. Janus joins us live and Janus, tell our viewers how they're racing now to try and get the rest of the trap men out. Tom, rescue teams are up against rising water, bad weather, sharp rocks, zero visibility underwater in these very narrow passages.

It's why confidence is a wildcard here to have these men overcome the risk of anxiety during a rescue that is as complicated for the divers trying to save them. Tom. And one being watched by the entire world now. Okay, Janice, we thank you for that. The other major story tonight, the deadly bus accident on I-95 in Virginia. killing five people, including a seven-year-old. It's the latest in a string of commuter incidents today. Here's Aaron McLaughlin.

Tonight, five people are dead and dozens more hospitalized after a bus crash in Virginia. Multiple people jumping out of windows, multiple vehicles on fire. New video shows the harrowing moment passengers escape the wreckage as first responders desperately trying to help those still inside the bus. According to state police, the mass casualty crash happened at 2.35. this morning off I-95 near Quantico. After the bus failed to slow down with the rest of the traffic approaching a work zone, slamming into six vehicles.

A 13-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy among those killed. The NTSB and state police are investigating. Meanwhile, an alarming scene at Detroit Metro Airport, after a car plowed into this terminal, shocking travelers. It was unbelievable. These images show the driver being led away handcuffs, officials say he seemed very disoriented. And overnight in New York City, this stunning photo captured by a passenger on a train to New Jersey, telling us the fire was followed by an

explosion. The MTA says two Amtrak work trains collided in a tunnel just outside Penn Station, injuring five workers enforcing both New Jersey transit and Amtrak to suspend service. Tonight, the MTA CEO slamming Amtrak, noting this is the third third. disruption to hit Penn Station in a matter of weeks. We are all dependent on Amtrak's broken infrastructure. We're all dependent on Amtrak not to have major events like this. And yet they keep happening. Let's pick it up right there.

Aaron joins us now live from New York City's Penn Station. Aaron, what are you hearing from Amtrak? Well, Tom, Antrach's chief operating officer apologized for today's incident, but he called MTA's criticism off base. Meanwhile here, service has been restored. some trains are still delayed for this evening's commute. Tom. Aaron, thank you. Dallas neighborhood is reeling tonight after that huge explosion, leveled an apartment building, and now we're learning more about who was killed and what could

have caused that blast. Ryan Chandler is there for us tonight. Ryan, what do we know about those victims? Well, Tom, officials tell us three people died here yesterday, two women and a child, as now all others have been accounted for after it was this building that was overcome with fire, after yesterday's explosion. Dallas officials tell us 19 families lived in that apartment complex as questions now swirl about how all of this could have happened. The NTSB is on site today. The investigation is centering around a contractor who may have hit a gas line before the catastrophic blast. Still so many questions, Tom, as now this community moves to mourn the three people we lost and rallies around all those families who are in so much need tonight, Tom.

Okay, Ryan, we thank you. We turn now to another blast. investigators are looking into what caused this massive explosion that ripped apart a blue origin rocket last night, apparently destroying the launch pad and potentially delaying NASA's plans for return of the moon. Here's Tom Costello. The explosion was massive, filling the nice sky with a brilliant orange. That's not good. Captured on doorbell cameras and shaking homes and bars in nearby Cape Canaveral. It looks like there was an explosion. Blue Origin's new Glenn rocket went up in a ball of fire during a routine ground test, fueled by methane and liquid oxygen, no injuries.

From the air, the company's only launch pad appears completely destroyed. Blue Origin owner, Jeff Bezos, posting, very rough day, but we will rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. The disaster comes just days after NASA award a Blue Origin, a nearly $200 million contract to launch components, and perhaps eventually astronauts to a lunar base. The grand return is close at hand, and we will not slow down. But now a potential delay to NASA's ambitious launch schedule set to start this fall.

And next year, with the Artemis 3 flight to test docking procedures in Earth orbit, former NASA chief, Charlie Baldwin. Space flight is hard no matter who's doing it. We know how to do it, but nature and physics and a lot of other things have a say in all this. It was just last month that another blue origin rocket failure left a satellite in a wrong orbit. And now a bigger failure as the company tries to compete with SpaceX and helps send humans eventually onto the moon. Tom? Tom Costello for us, we want to head to Washington now because President Trump tonight saying he's making a final determination over a potential nuclear deal with the Iranian regime after a meeting in the Situation Room today.

Garrett Hake joins us now. Garrett, we've just learned that meeting wrapped up early. That's right, Tom. President Trump made that post just before 11 o'clock this morning, but after what a White House official tells me was a two-hour meeting, still no final determination has been announced. Now, in his post, the president says the Iranian regime cannot have nuclear weapons and that the U.S. would dig up and remove Iran's enriched uranium, which he calls nuclear dust. The regime must also immediately open the Strait of Hormuz without charging tolls and remove mines. Well, tonight, two U.S. officials and another person familiar with the matter, tell NBC. news that the U.S. military has not confirmed that Iran has placed any minds in this trade of Hormuz despite their ongoing searches. Today, stock soared and oil prices drop to their lowest levels

on hopes of a resolution, but still no word. Tom. Okay, Garrett, hey, Garrett, thank you. The president also facing a growing number of musical acts pulling out of the celebration he's hosting on the National Mall to celebrate America's 250th birthday on July 4th. All as a judge is ordering President and Trump's name, be removed from the Kennedy Center now. Here's Monica Alba. Tonight, with preps already underway for an event celebrating America's 250th birthday on the National Mall, a new snag. This will be a time like you've never had in your lives, America to 50.

Six musical artists originally announced as performers now dropping out, many citing political concerns. Country singer Martina McBride writing, I was presented with an opportunity to perform. form at a nonpartisan event, but that turned out to be misleading. Rapper Young MC saying, artists were never told about any political involvement. And Poisoned Frontman Brett Michaels, writing, it's evolved into something much more divisive than I agreed to be part of.

The event is organized by Freedom 250, a public-private partnership launched by President Trump. We have a president that wants to celebrate 250 years of America, and that's exactly what we're doing. And that's how it was sold to performers. And not everyone is backing out. A representative for Vanilla Ice telling NBC News, he is proud to help celebrate America's 250th anniversary. Others still slated to perform include Flo Rida, C&C Music Factory, and Fab Morvan of Millie Vanilli.

And up first, the cage going up for that big UFC fight at the White House. The Defense Department offering troops free tickets, but requiring they meet certain height and weight workers, requirements, according to a Pentagon memo, which calls it a high visibility event. And tonight, a judge blocking President Trump's closure of the Kennedy Center and ordering his name be removed from the building. The president saying the judge should, quote, be ashamed, but conceding he will give control of it back to Congress. Tom? Monica Alba for us, and we are back in 60 seconds with a mystery in the South Carolina sky.

What was that? The sonic boom and the question swirling over what caused it. All next. We're back now with a mystery out of South Carolina after a big boom rattled hundreds across the state. It wasn't an earthquake, and NASA says it wasn't them. So what was it? Here's Jesse Kirscher. Tonight there's a loud, earth-shaking mystery swirling over South Carolina. You heard everything rumble.

What's going on? Around 5.30 yesterday evening, hundreds of reports came in about that thunderous boom. from rural communities to the state capital. Watch pets go scrambling. This airport hangar's walls rattle. Multiple cameras visibly shaking, too. Yeah, I'm sure you're going to start getting multiple 911 calls, but we had some type of, not sure,

for the earthquake or something. The U.S. Geological Survey says this was not an earthquake. NASA says it was not caused by one of its launches. The Space Agency ruling out a, meteor too. So what could it be? The U.S. Geological Survey says the recorded waves and eyewitness reports are consistent with a sonic boom. That's when an object like a fighter jet travels faster than the speed of sound, around 760 miles per hour or faster. Studding spike and drop in pressure sounds like a boom. A nearby Air Force base told our affiliate WIS, nothing reported there would

have caused the boom. We reached out to local law enforcement, but so far no answer. on the cause. Tom, still a mystery. All right, Jesse. And we're back in a moment with the roller coaster nightmare, the daring rescue after students on a field trip got stuck 100 feet up in the air for hours. We're back now with a daring rescue involving students on a field trip that were trapped on a roller coaster for hours. You can see the eight riders trapped vertically about 100 feet in the air on the Iron Shark coaster in Galveston, Texas. Here you can see the firefighters, to get up there. Those students were stuck for about four hours. The amusement park said the ride malfunctioned but stopped as designed to keep those riders safe. Also tonight, three climbers have

died in a fall while scaling America's tallest peak, Mount McKinley, in Alaska. A fourth climber also fell but was evacuated from the mountain and is now in critical condition. The four were members of a Latvian climbing group. And a small plane crashed near a hospital in South Florida. You can see it flipped on its back. Two people were on board. Both of them survived, and there were no reported injuries. The FAA is investigating what exactly caused that crash. All right, when we come back tonight, the latest in our series profiling Great Americans, meet the woman who at just six years old carried the weight of the civil rights movement just by going to school. That's next. Finally, tonight, our weekly series about Great Americans, where we talk with those who have

achieved so much and help so many about their life and this country. Tonight I spoke with a woman whose bravery at the age of six helped change our education system. Our great American this week, Ruby Bridges. And a note, if you're watching with your children tonight, she recounts a story and the racial slur used against her. What do you love about America? I haven't really lived in other countries.

We do have the opportunity. and basically it's up to you and what you do with that. It's a lesson Ruby Bridges learned in 1960 in New Orleans at just six years old. Even in the streets of so sophisticated a city of this one, violence overtakes forza. Wearing her best white dress and ribbons, she walked into William France Elementary, becoming one of the first black children to integrate an all-white school in the South. I remember them screaming. and chanting two, four, six, eight, you know, want to integrate.

And I didn't have a clue what the word integrate meant. The Supreme Court had declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional six years earlier. Regardless of what they say, my child is still not going to go with the college. But much of the South was still fighting it. Every decent, self-respecting, loving parents should take his white child out of that for a Ruby's father, a Korean war veteran, worried for his daughter. Her mother ultimately made the call. There was a knock at the door, and there were four very tall white men standing there.

And they had these yellow bands on their arms. I remember them saying that we're U.S. marshals. We've been sent by the president of the United States, that we're here to escort you and your daughter of school today. racist crowds waved Confederate flags. They were screaming and shouting and throwing things. And I immediately thought it's mighty grot, you know, living in New Orleans. There were police officers everywhere.

And I remember them saying, Ms. Bridges, we want you to walk straight ahead and don't look back. She remembers walking inside. As I climbed the stairs, I could see myself in the floor. Separate but equal is what we. We were told, and that was definitely not the case. The school was a lot nicer? Immaculate compared to what you were on. And I remember when I looked into the classroom before I stepped in, it was empty.

And I then thought my mom has brought me to school too early. And indeed, we were too early. Years too early. But Ruby kept showing up. There was a day you met some of the kids, some of the white kids, and they weren't very nice to you. I went in to play with them, and a little boy looked at me and he said, I can't play with you.

My mom said not to play with you because you're a nigger. The minute he said it, it felt like this huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I mean, even at six, it was like, so that's what this is about. That's why there's no kids here. It's about me in the color of my skin. The enormity of Ruby's first day, inspiring one of the most iconic paintings of the civil rights movement.

Norman Rockwell's The Problem We All Live With. So this is the illustrator. Now, a civil rights activist and children's author, her mission, is to ensure history is remember. Do you think your parents knew that we would be talking about this all these decades later? Oh, no. No way. They were more consumed with where the next meal was. going to come from. As a matter of fact, I know they weren't because after the first day, my mom said, oh my God, what have I done? It takes guts, though, too. Trust me, that was one thing my mother had. But yes, what's most American is that the opportunities can come. And we have to take

advantage of them. And when they don't, we have to make those opportunities. We live in a place where it's possible. And that is what I think is most American. We'll be Bridges, an American icon. To see my extended interview, you can go to NBCNews.com or the NBC News app. That's nightly news for this Friday. I'm Tom Yamis.

We thank you so much for watching. Tonight and always we're here for you. Good night.