NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Monday, August 17, 2026

Episode Date: August 18, 2026

Actress Hayden Panettiere dies at 36 as investigation continues; American Airlines flight emergency on the tarmac; Lightning sparks massive explosion at Oklahoma pipeline facility; 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 new details in the sudden and tragic death of actress Hayden Penitier. The 911 call for the heroes and Nashville star reporting she went into cardiac arrest. First responders working to revive the 36-year-old at a South Carolina apartment. The tributes now pouring in for the actress who was so public about her battles with substance abuse and postpartum depression. Breaking tonight, emergency on the runway and American Airways. lines plane blowing its tires while landing at Chicago O'Hare. Lightning strike explosion, tanks at an oil facility in Oklahoma igniting into a ball of fire, plus the flooding disaster in the Midwest, wiping out bridges and ripping roads apart. Hawaii blasted by the remnants of a deadly hurricane,

homes completely destroyed down trees plunging tens of thousands into darkness, our team on the ground in one of the hardest hit communities. Rok Shakur's murder trial now begins 30 years after the rapper's death. The videos played in court of a fight just before the shooting. The evidence prosecutors presented that this man is behind the killing. Fraternity cocaine ring? The biggest bust accusing current and former Penn State students of running a drug trafficking scheme, making pledges cut and package cocaine.

The latest twist in the Luigi Mangione case, a judge putting his state, trial on hold will explain why. An American tourists killed while hiking to see the volcano on Mount Etna, how he died. New drone video capturing hundreds of sharks swimming off the East Coast will tell you where. And there's good news tonight, taking a leap of faith to celebrate 100 years of life. You'll meet the skydiving grandma proving age is just a number. Nightly news starts right now. This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yomas. And good evening. It's great that you join us on this Monday. We want to begin tonight with the new details and the new questions surrounding the shocking death of actress Hayden Panetteer, who was found dead in a South Carolina apartment complex. The star famous for her performances and

hit TV shows and movies was only 36 years old. These are the first images from this scene. Ambulances in a fire truck outside after EMS responded to a possible cardiac or Dispatch Audio at one point referencing an possible overdose. Pantier was pronounced dead at the scene, but it could be weeks before we know the cause. The actress grew up in public. Her first roles when she was just a toddler, she went on to play starring roles as a coach's daughter and remember the Titans and indestructible cheerleader and heroes and a country music sensation in Nashville.

The actress spoke openly in recent years about her struggles with mental health and addiction. And now his tributes pour in as family and friends and fans mourn the loss, a search for answers over what led to her death. Steve Patterson is following the story. It starts us off tonight. Tonight, Hollywood reeling from the shocking death of actress Hayden Panettiere. Sunday afternoon, paramedics rushing to this apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina, after a 911 call reporting a woman in cardiac arrest. Dispatch audio from the emergency response, referencing a person. possible overdose. Overdose. CPR's in progress. The 36-year-old actress pronounced dead on scene. These photos obtained by TMZ showing multiple ambulances outside the building, a neighbor describing the

scene. Just a bunch of commotion in the hallway and I had just heard about someone collapsing. The Greenville Coroner's Office telling NBC News, first responders initiated life support measures, but were unsuccessful. For more than three decades, fans of Penitier watched her grow up on screen. When someone gets snuck, it's hard not to try one. From her first commercials to starring in soap operas, followed by that precocious breakout role and Remember the Titans. Oh, come on, that was such a bad call. Then in 2006, Penitier became a household name.

I'll be okay. Starring in the hit NBC show, Heroes. My name is Claire Bennett. Later, playing an ambitious young country star on Nashville, earning two Golden Globe nominations. Her personal, life also made headlines. In recent months, Panetti are opening up about her mental health while promoting her memoir, including her decision to give her former partner full custody of their young

daughter. I was struggling with mental health and anxiety and the postpartum and having to act my way through it and just feeling like I completely lost myself. Nashville co-star, Connie Brownie, Britain, remembering panitier tonight. I have no words for this sad song, just heartbreak. A star beloved by Milligan's now gone far too soon. I feel like I have a lot more life to live. Steve Patterson joins us now. This is all so sad for her fans and for her family. And we understand an autopsy was completed today? Yeah, Tom the coroner revealing there were no signs of trauma that would have contributed to the star's death and that the official cause, it's still under investigation. Tom.

Steve Patterson for us. We have breaking news tonight about a frightening landing at Chicago's O'Hare Airport after multiple tires were blown out. The second time this has happened in two weeks, Ryan Chandler has the latest. Tonight, an emergency on the tarmac at Chicago O'Hare. Fire trucks rushing to this American Airlines jet after the FAA says the crew reported two blown tires upon landing. America, 3 is 60 requiring assistance. I heard he just blown a tire. And no one's panicking.

Everyone remains seated. The flight was arriving from New York's LaGuardia Airport with 180 people reported on board. American Airlines saying tonight, passengers were transported safely to the terminal by bus, and the aircraft has been taken out of service for inspection. This is the second time in two weeks a plane's tires have blown at O'Hare. Last week, a United Airlines flight was forced to abort takeoff after a blown tire. That blow prompting a massive emergency response as 161 passengers. and six crew were forced to deplane.

Ryan Chandler, NBC News. We're also tracking a deadly stretch of severe weather on this Monday, leaving a path of destruction across the Midwest, and now a stunning explosion in Oklahoma after a lightning strike hit a giant fuel tank. Maggie Vespa picks it up from there. Tonight, a stunning explosion in Oklahoma blamed on this relentless run of severe storms, with lightning striking massive tanks filled with natural gasoline,

according to owner- Explorer Pipeline. Dron video showing the jaw-dropping aftermath, balls of fire, and thick black smoke billowing into the air. It follows a harrowing stretch of severe weather coast to coast, from hail in Colorado to flooding in Ohio, in hard-hit Indiana, fast-moving floodwaters wiping out bridges, ripping apart roads, and swallowing entire neighborhoods in Indianapolis. Firefighters fanning out in New York. raps, rescuing residents. State officials now saying more than a thousand people were displaced from their homes and at least seven killed, including 19-year-old Matthew Mori and 59-year-old Stephanie Sally, who authorities believe was swept away in her car. Today, as floods finally recede,

people are pumping water out of their homes and power washing filth off their property. For many, what's inside is worse. Kenny McCree is raising three of his grandkids here, their rooms soaked. Has the river ever flooded your house before? No, man. He and his wife, Melissa, trashing everything the water touched. It was disgusting. It really was. The floodwater in your house. Yeah. Yeah, it was nasty. I don't know. Did it get wet? David Redifer and Lucy O'Brien worry their renter's insurance won't cover what's lost, and no demand for government aid will be massive. We're nervous. We don't know how long that's going to take. Maggie Vespa joins us tonight live from Indianapolis.

Maggie, the damage from these floods is so widespread. It's hard to make out, but that was a road there behind you? Yeah, Tom, exactly. I mean, floodwaters did this, ripped apart this road. Crews tonight racing to fix it in large part because over to the left, authorities tell us those are utility lines severed and sticking out of the water. It's causing outages in the area. Further proof that clean up here is a monumental task, Tom.

Still a dangerous scene out there. Maggie, thank you. More severe weather in Hawaii tonight where the remnants of Hurricane Lala battered the big island and Maui with relentless rain and damaging winds. Tonight, our Morgan Chesky has made it to one of the hardest hit areas. Tonight, heartbreaking scenes in the wake of Hurricane Lala, communities left unrecognizable, with devastation striking entire towns. The hurricane turned tropical storm, sidest wiping the Hawaiian islands with dangerous winds and torrential rains. Today our team reached Na'alehu, one of the hardest hit communities on the Big Island. And it is beyond clear in every direction you look here that this is the place that took the brunt of Lala's power. The small town turned into a muddy debris field with one of its only roads in buried beneath boulders, mud, and headstones, picked up and carried from a nearby cemetery.

Is this the worst you've seen? Absolutely. We met Thaddeus Griffith still in shock over what he survived. telling us the rush of water was so strong. It nearly washed away his new car. I came down and it's bobbing in the water. Oh my God, my heart sank. His neighbors losing everything.

Witnesses say in just a couple minutes, this mud flow picked up anything in its path. From a lawnmower to someone's backyard shed, the power is clear. And we're standing near the foundation of this very home, picked up and carried. Fortunately, the family inside made it out in time. Families here now fending for themselves.

Max Doneger and his wife, pregnant with their second child, doing their best to look after their two-year-old son. You don't know when you're going to have water back. You don't know when you're going to have power back? No. It's going to be wild, man. And Tom, tonight there's no telling when this road will be back open. Officials telling us they're still scouring damaged areas to get an assessment of the devastation. Tom.

The Hawaiian Islands rocked by that hurricane. Okay, Morgan, to Las Vegas and a courtroom there. trial that could end a 30-year-old mystery, who killed rap icon Tupac Shakur. Today, opening statements in the case against one of the men, prosecutors say, was behind it. Here's Dana Griffin. Tonight, prosecutors laying out a roadmap of murder, nearly three decades since the death of rap icon Tupac Shakur. Tupac is gunned down in a drive-by shooting from a white cataly in an act of revenge.

Prosecutors say Duane Keepee D. Davis, the sole living occupant inside that Cadillac, orchestrated the killing. Now, let's be clear. Dwayne Davis did not pull the trip. But what he did do was plan the retaliation for the beating of his nephew. Retaliation for this brawl captured on surveillance video hours earlier inside a Las Vegas casino authorities say. You see Tupac and death row executive Shugnight beating up Davis. his nephew, Orlando Anderson. Police say over a stolen necklace earlier that summer.

Today, prosecutors using Davis' own words against it, playing a series of recorded interviews and quoting from his own memoir. In the book, he says, then jumping on my nephew gave us the ultimate green line to do something to their... The 63-year-old was arrested in 2023 and has pled not guilty. His defense team argues his past statements were not reliable for... and Davis was known to BS. What you're going to find is that the state cannot prove to you, beyond a reason without the claim that he wasn't had anything to do with a first-degree murder.

A former Vegas officer testifying, this was Tupac's answer inside the ambulance when asked who shot him. And did he ever respond? Yes, he responded, no, we'll take care of it. Something like that. No, we'll take care of it. Now it's up to a jury to decide whose response. for one of the music industry's greatest unsolved murders.

And Dana, Davis has argued that he previously signed immunity deals with law enforcement that protected him from prosecution. Why do those not apply here? So Davis had an agreement with Los Angeles police connected to their investigation into the death of rapper Biggie Smalls. But prosecutors argued that Davis talking publicly about his involvement in Tupac's case made that agreement no longer valid. And some legal experts say had Davis kept his mouth closed, he wouldn't be on trial right now. Tom? Dana Griffin, watching that trial for us. Dana, thank you. We want to head to the White House now because a deadline came and went today for the U.S. and Iran to strike a long-term deal to end the war.

It comes as the president blasts key allies over the war. Garrett Hake reports from the White House. Tonight, the 60-day deadline to end a war with Iran, agreed to by President Trump and the Iranian regime, has now come and gone. The president pressed today on if the conflict's conclusion is any closer. They want to make a deal, but they're not going to make the kind of a deal that I feel is necessary. It's very simple. They can't have a nuclear weapon. The deadline was said as part of the ceasefire the president signed at Versailles in June. We reached an agreement with Iran that achieves everything we set out to accomplish. But both sides were soon again trading strikes in

accusing each other of violating the deal, keeping gas prices hovering above $4 a gallon, and largely halting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, with just three ships tracked passing Sunday. Today's special envoy, Jared Kushner, saying the president is still open to an agreement. He'll make the right deal when the right deal is ready. But tensions with key allies are also rising. The president saying in a new interview that if Oman strikes a deal with Iran on the strait that interferes with the U.S. peace process, quote, we'll bomb the S out of them. I don't think they behaved very well, but we'd handle them variously.

and blasting another key ally, South Korea, over what he said was its unwillingness to help deal with Iran. They said, we have 39,000 soldiers over there guarding you from Kim Jong-un, your next-door neighbor, and you're not going to help us on a very easy military operation in Iran. That's strange. The president also calling for joint military exercises with South Korea to be scaled back, citing his, quote, very good relationship with Kim. Tom. Garrett Hick at the White House, when we return in 60 seconds, the fraternity cocaine ring bust at Penn State,

students accused of making pledges packed kilos of the drug. Plus, the American tourists killed in Italy trying to get closer to an erupting volcano. And 100 years and zero fear the grandmother skydiving to commemorate the century mark. And she says it won't be the last time. We're back now with news from Penn State, where students are being accused of running a drug ring out of an off-campus fraternity. Authorities saying the drugs were primarily packaged at fraternity houses by both brothers and pledges. Aaron McLaughlin has the details. Tonight, a massive drug busted two fraternities near the Penn State University campus.

There was nothing junior or childlike about this type of conduct. With 12 current and former Penn State students charged in. with an off-campus cocaine ring, bringing in kilos of cocaine from Philadelphia and New York and using new pledges to cut and package the drugs at off-campus frat houses. We found a pattern of events that showed cutting and bagging cocaine was for some pledges and indoctrination into the Delta Epsilon and Sigma-Kai fraternities. Authorities alleged senior members of Delta Epsilon and Sigma-Kai ran the drug operation inside their fraternities between 2023 and 2004. The alleged ringleader Augustino Abatielo, an accounting student

with a passion for numbers, according to his About Me page. Witnesses told the grand jury he was the university's largest drug dealer, one witness saying in court documents that he paid Abatielo more than $50,000 for drugs. Tonight, the attorney general says Abatello is still at large. Delta Epsilon telling NBC News, members involved have either been expelled, suspended, or resigned. Penn State released this statement, saying it's horrified by the allegations. Adding criminal activity, including hazing, has no place at our institution, noting it's cooperating with law enforcement any way they can. The defendants have yet to enter a plea.

Aaron McLaughlin, NBC News. And we're back in a moment with the judge putting Luigi Mangione state trial on hold. will explain why. Plus, shadows in the water look closely. What's luring hundreds of sharks off this Atlantic Coast Beach next. Welcome back. Today, a judge in New York putting the state trial for accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione on hold. You'll remember just Friday, Mangione pleaded guilty to federal charges with his lawyers asking for the state case to be dismissed, citing double jeopardy rules. The judge now ordering prosecutors to respond to that request, October. Not as Sicily, where an American tourist has died after being struck by lightning,

a 29-year-old man was hiking Mount Edna, Europe's largest volcano. Authorities now closing some parts of the volcano slopes because it's been so active with explosions and heavy lava flows. And in North Carolina, drone video capturing what appears to be a school of hundreds of sharks swimming off the coast of Wilmington. The person that took the video says the sharks looked to be four to five feet long. You even see a large sting race. swimming among them. An expert tells us it's not uncommon for them to migrate to this area this time of year. All right, when we come back tonight, there's good news.

What happened when one grandson dared his grandmother to jump out of a plane? The sky high celebration just ahead. Oh, and she's 100. Wait till you see this video. Finally, there's good news tonight about a thrill-seeking grandma with a unique birthday tradition. She's celebrating a century on earth by jumping out of a plane. For Ruby McNally, there was only one way to celebrate her 100th birthday. The California grandma trading a party for a parachute, celebrating a century of life on Earth

by leaping out of a plane and skydiving over it. This jump, though, not her first. It's my third time. Third time jumping out of an airplane. That's right. What started as a dare from her grandson on her age. birthday turning into a once-a-decade tradition. At 100, you're not talking her at anything.

As for how her family feels? They're all scaredy cats. They're all scared of cats. This time, some of them are joining in on the fun. There's not that many other people on planet earth that can say, I'm going skydiving with the grandma, that's 100. I mean, it's pretty special. I hope that they'll carry on the tradition.

For Ruby, it's a feeling unlike any other. Out there flying and it's a wonderful experience. And for me, it was exciting and ready to go again. So will we see her jump again at 110? I'm aiming for it. I'm aiming for it. Happy birthday, Ruby. We'll see you in 10 years.

And our thanks to our Sacramento affiliate, KCR, for bringing us that great story. That's nightly news for this Monday. I'm Tom Yamas. We thank you so much for watching tonight. And always, we're here for you. Good night. Thank you.