NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Monday, July 6, 2026

Episode Date: July 7, 2026

Tens of millions across Northeast under flood alerts; Funeral for Iran’s late supreme leader; Top Team USA star to play in World Cup match after Trump weighs in on controversial penalty; New video of dramatic seaplane rescue; 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, several breaking stories as we come on. The dangerous flooding, slamming the northeast, tens of millions under alert along the eastern seaboard, and the Democratic Senate candidate now accused of rape. First, the terrifying moments of roof collapses at a warehouse club in New Jersey, a wall of water and debris coming down as shoppers scrambled to get out. Roads swallowed, cars submerged, and the moment an officer carries a baby through the floodwaters, We're in the storm zone tonight. Breaking right now, main Democrats calling on Senate candidate, Graham Platner, to drop out.

The new accusation of rape against him that he's denying what his accuser just said. Trump's goal, first the red card, then the reversal. Team USA star striker back on the field, President Trump personally stepping in, rivals calling foul, ahead of the biggest match in U.S. soccer history. The new body cam video of that crash landing in the East River will show you the moments officers pull passengers from a seaplane that came down hard in the waters off Manhattan. Millions flooding Tehran to mourn Iran's supreme leader are Richard Engel there as military members vowed revenge for the killing. Deadly Russian strikes pounding Kiev 22 killed just hours before President Trump goes to the NATO summit. driverless car meltdown, passengers stranded on the streets of San Francisco, one waymo driving right into exploding fireworks.

Teen takeover chaos caught on camera, an officer tackled and beaten, fights erupting, and the new warning from police tonight. But there's good news, a Navy dad back from deployment, and the surprise he pulled off at the zoo for his little girl's birthday. Nightly news starts right now. This is NBC Nightly News. This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas. And good evening. It is so great to be back with you on this busy Monday night. And we want to begin with the wild images emerging from severe storms that are clobbering the country.

Tens of millions of Americans facing torrential rain and flash flooding. In New Jersey, take a look at this, the terrifying moments when that roof caves in at a BJ's wholesale club, sending water and debris pouring down. And shoppers, you see them running for their lives. somehow everyone getting out of there okay. Out on the road's car after car stranded as floodwaters poured in. And this video capturing the moment an officer look closely is carrying a toddler to safety. And on New York's iconic Conny Island, people seem trudging through floodwaters just to get home.

This after the area was hit by more than six inches of rain very quickly. NBC's Aaron McLaughlin is in hard-hit Paramus, New Jersey. She starts us off tonight. Tonight, new surveillance video shows the moment the roof of a wholesale club collapsed, sending shoppers running for their lives, and a wall of water and debris crashing down in Monmouth County, New Jersey. People started screaming. It was just pandemonium. According to the sheriff, incredibly, no one was injured. The club, the latest casualty of a summer of severe weather. And tonight, the threat is far from over. Tens of millions across the northeast on flood. alert as torrential rains sends water surging, triggering travel delays at major airports, swallowing roadways, submerging cars, and catching drivers off guard.

Forget the car, man. It's material stuff. Leading to harrowing rescues. First responders guiding this woman and child to safety. And parts of New York's famed Coney Island completely underwater. This morning, an all-out effort to clean up. After a severe storm tore through this New Jersey suburb over the weekend. That tree came crashing down across those power lines, slamming into that house.

Buddy and Janet Scalera were home when a 75-year-old sycamore tree collapsed onto their garage. Oh, my God, buddy! They caught the chaos on camera. All of it camping off a hectic holiday weekend with more severe weather on the way. A wild scene there in New Jersey. Aaron joins us now live. And Aaron, we see the impact of that storm just behind you. We can hear what sounds like rain as well.

So many across the country lost power over the weekend. And where you are right now, residents are still in the dark. That's right, Tom. After a series of storms slammed the northeast tonight. Nearly 200,000 are without power, including this street in New Jersey. As you can see behind me, it is full of down trees, crews working through the rain to restore the power. Tom? Aaron McLaughlin leading us off tonight.

Aaron, thank you. We want to get to some breaking news just in in one of the biggest Senate races in the country. A woman who dated Maine Democratic Senate nominee, Graham Platner, saying he raped her. Ryan Noble's reports, top Democrats are now calling on him to exit the race. Tonight, Maine's Democratic Party calling on its own nominee to drop out of the Senate race there, with Graham Platner facing an allegation of rape, saying he's reassessing his campaign. We are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward. All as a woman who was previously romantically involved with Platner says he forced her into non-consensual sex five years ago.

He was heavily intoxicated, had intentions with me, and wasn't listening. And I said, no. I don't believe that you can think that that scenario was consensual. You have to understand that that wasn't when somebody is repeatedly, I mean, with somebody in the middle of it says, don't touch me. that's obviously not consensual. Politico saying they spoke with a man, Rassicoat, dated and confided in in the years after the alleged incident and reviewed documents, including emails between Rassicoe and her therapist. Rassicoe telling Politico she supports Plattner politically, but saying, I just want the truth out there. I just want people to have a whole scope of who he is as a person.

Platner denies the allegation. I wanted to directly address the troubling, serious, and false allegations against me. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false. Platner has maintained support from high-profile Democrats despite a slew of scandals, including a former girlfriend telling the New York Times he, quote, twisted her arm behind her back and shoved her in a bedroom, trapping her in, which he denied, and had a tattoo widely recognized as a Nazi-examined, SS symbol covered up after backlash, saying he did not know its meaning.

Ryan, these new allegations are terrible, and this is a massively important race for Democrats if they have any chance of retaking the Senate. Yeah, that's right, Tom. Democrats likely can't take back the Senate without this main seat. Platner is facing the incumbent GOP Senator Susan Collins. Now, he would need to drop out by July 13th in order to be replaced on the ballot, meaning the clock is ticking for him to make a decision. Tom. Ryan, on that breaking story tonight. Ryan, thank you. We are just hours away from one of the biggest matches ever for Team USA at the World Cup. But there's also some controversy. President Trump weighing in after a referees call threatened to sideline one of America's top stars.

Here's Steve Patterson with the big change. Tonight, Team USA's match just hours away. Facing Belgium and a growing controversy over whether one of America's top stars should be allowed to play. All I did, I asked for a review. FIFA now clearing the way for American Philharin Balligan to play. President Trump revealing he called the head of FIFA after a referee's controversy of red card had suspended him. I'm good at this stuff. I didn't think it was a foul. I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled. That was not a guy punching somebody in the face. This was the play in question. Baligan, stepping on the ankle of an opposing player, the red card given out after a later review of the video.

It would have meant a one game suspension for Balligan. I don't think it was the correct call. I think a yellow card would have been fair. FIFA then reversing course, delaying Balligan's suspension for up to a year after it was reviewed by a committee. FIFA's president tonight saying its decisions are made independently based on specific facts before them. It was a committee that made the decision and they made the right decision. You want to see a game with your best players. The people in Belgium, if they win the game, they win the game, they can't.

can be very proud. If they would win the game with a player missing, it would have been a different feeling. FIFA has delayed suspensions before, including Portuguese superstar Rinaldo, who was given a red card that could have caused him to miss two World Cup matches. But there's outrage in Europe over the delay in ball against suspension, the Royal Belgian Football Federation, saying it was astonished by FIFA's decision, suggesting it went against ethics, fair competition, and the interest of football. Belgian fans upset in Seattle. You know, rules are the same for everyone. You stick to it and that's it. But American fans rejoicing.

I mean, let's just play the sport and we're here to celebrate that. You know, we're here to celebrate our teams. And Balligan's American teammates excited he's back to. He was like, yeah, like, I'm in and then everyone just got hype and we're just, yeah, pump for him. And Steve joins us now surrounded by soccer fans there at Seattle's Fan Fest. And Steve, this match could not be bigger for Team USA. Tom, no doubt about it for every. everybody on the pitch tonight. This is the biggest match of their lives. If the U.S.

win, it would be the deepest run in nearly 30 years, which means quarterfinals against Spain, the team that may have just ended the last dance for Cristiano Ronaldo. We can feel that excitement tonight. All right, Steve, we thank you. We want to show you some new video now just in of a dramatic rescue caught on camera after a plane crash landed into a New York City River. The new images show the rescue as it happens. Here's Sam Brock with the tense moments. All right there to the left. To the left, right where the helicopter is.

Tonight, the frantic rush to save passengers on the East River. How many people are you got? Seed through brand new body cam footage from NYPD's Marine Unit. Come this way, come this way. After eight people on board a seaplane had to be rescued following a hard landing Sunday. You're doing really good. The NTSP and FAA now both investigating the incident, the sudden drama captured from inside the cabin,

where passengers remain collected, even as the aircrew, hit the water snapping off the piece that connects the wing to the fuselage. Moments later, this emergency call from the pilot. With helicopters above and NYPD boats racing to help, no one incredibly was seriously injured. Kathy Babes has been a pilot for 50 years and is certified on seaplanes. Sometimes the water is doing something you absolutely didn't expect at that moment in time and you end up with a hard landing. The nose will typically flip over, then everybody's upside down, and that is less survivable. And I give kudos to the passengers. They were remarkably calm.

Tonight, these passengers just relieved for the heroic response and a plane that stayed above water. Sam Brock, NBC News, New York. We want to head overseas now to Ukraine, a deadly new Russian attack happening, just as President Trump is said to arrive at a high-stakes NATO summit to pull Push for peace. Here's Chief International correspondent. Kier Siddens. Tonight, this is Russia's message to NATO, right on the eve of its critical summit. A massive fireball in the early hours of this morning.

Another Russian ballistic missile getting through. Ukraine's President Zelensky set to tell world leaders, Patriot missile defenses are an urgent priority, but they are in short supply everywhere. 22 Ukrainians dead today as fire crews again searched for survivors amid smouldering rubble the second Russian bombardment in less than a week

President Trump speaking with Russia's President Putin President Putin wants it to end I will tell you that very strongly good call and President Zelensky actually wants it to end now and we're going to be going to NATO

and we're going to be talking about it and I think we're going to get it I think we're going to get it ended Ukraine, for its part, hitting Russian oil refineries and Putin's prized Crimea. The Trump administration is reviewing America's military footprint in Europe, though European officials say they are now paying more towards their own defense. But on the eve of the NATO summit, President Trump, again questioning the value of the alliance. Tom?

All right, Keir, we thank you. In Tehran, millions flooding the streets for the funeral procession for Iran's late Supreme leader. Our Richard Engel is in Iran tonight with rare access. Iranian officials say millions attended the funeral procession today for Iran's former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Hamenei, assassinated by the United States in Israel at the start of the war in February. The body of the late Supreme Leader is right there on a truck who brought through the streets of this city. This is a show of mourning, but also a political rally, a show of national solidarity, a way for the Iranian government to show that even after the war with Israel and the United States,

that the government here is still standing. In fact, many Iranians say that because of the war, the government's grip on power has become even stronger. But not all Iranians remember Hamani fondly. For over three decades, he ran a strict authoritarian government, stoked regional conflict, and oversaw a brutal crackdown on women in 2022. the regime killing hundreds of people and arresting thousands. Today, opposition voices here were silent. We managed to speak to a member of the powerful Revolutionary Guard.

They almost never talk to foreign journalists. Do you think the war is over or do you think this is just a pause? We believe this war ends when we avenge the blood of Sayyid Ali Hamini and his soldiers. The war is not over for us, he said. And everywhere you looked, there were calls for revenge. The new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Moshdaba didn't appear today and hasn't been seen since he was injured in the same attack that killed his father. Tom? Richard, thank you.

Back here at home, several cities saw a rash of violence over the holiday weekend, fueled by dangerous teen takeovers. Our George Solis on the chaotic scenes. A violent brawl breaking out in South Carolina. A North Charleston police officer tackled to the ground and pummeled repeatedly during a Fourth of July gathering of teens and young adults that descended into chaos. The video does not show how the fight started. This officer seemed here firing his taser. Police say the 400-person crowd grew out of control. Four minors and two adults were arrested.

Authorities releasing these photos of guns and a makeshift spear recovered from the same. scene. The takeovers also ramping up in Raleigh where video show overrun streets and sidewalks, as authorities say more than 5,000 teens began fighting early Sunday morning. Both units are transporting the two shooting victims. Police say nine people were shot, and more than two dozen young adults now face charges ranging from fighting to assaulting an officer. Chaos also unfolding in South Florida, where authorities say a Miami-Dade sheriff's deputy's hand was burned by a firework that launched in his direction.

Authorities say with these videos now circulating on social media, more arrests are now likely. Tom? George, thank you. When we return in 60 seconds, Waymo traffic jam on the 4th of July. Look at this and the scary moment for one rider as fireworks fly. Plus the massive warehouse fire in West Virginia

still burning days later. We're back now with the Waymo meltdown in San Francisco. One running right through a fireworks explosion and others stuck in traffic leaving passengers furious when they ran out of battery. Here's Liz Croix. It's yet another self-driving car mishap. Our Waymo just drove into a firework. Rose Peterson and her fiance were in a Waymo on July 4th in San Francisco when the

robotaxie drove right over illegal fireworks in the middle of the street. It didn't even stop. It didn't break. It didn't hesitate. It just literally went on. nothing happened. Thankfully, the company says no one was hurt, but Rose says it left her questioning the car safety. We were just really upset and distraught and just thinking about what could have happened, not just to us, but the people around us. Meanwhile nearby, check out all these Waymoes. Several Waymo cars got stuck in the traffic following the city's big fireworks show. This is basically a Waymo traffic jam. Dave Gungona took this video after getting trapped in the gridlock.

People were getting out of their cars and they were actually yelling and screaming at these Waymo's. He says he was there for two hours before Waymo employees arrived. Some cars seem here getting towed away. Waymo says extreme traffic congestion disrupted normal operations and that some of their cars ran out of charge while idling. It all comes after a string of questionable traffic incidents involving Waymos. One recently drove into floodwaters in Atlanta and in LA last year, another appeared to drive right into an active police scene. And as for the incidents on July 4th, the company says a separate unoccupied Waymo drove over a firework and caught fire.

The company says they're committed to evaluating and learning from these events. Tom. Liz, thank you. We're back in a moment with the super typhoon pummeling the Pacific with wind gusts over 150 miles an hour. Stay with us. We're back now with terrifying video of a warehouse fire in West Virginia. Take a look at this. It was a giant plumes of smoke that erupted on Saturday.

The fire still burning more than a fire. A day later, the governor urging residents to shelter in place. Also today, a super typhoon slamming Guam in the Pacific with torrential rain and powerful winds more than 150 miles per hour. Video capturing trees blowing sideways you see here as the winds whip right through. And in China, video capturing a massive truck. Look at this. Exploding on a highway, sending an orange fireball and plumes of black smoke into the air. The blast even triggering a shock wave that ruptured the... road and killed two people. Okay, when we come back, the emotional reunion, a Navy father surprising his family with the help of a giant elephant.

That's next. Finally, there's good news tonight. A father deployed with the Navy reuniting with his family after nine months away with the help of a 7,000-pound elephant. A short walk is all that stands between this military dad and the family he hasn't seen in so long. That's Navy personnel specialist, first class Adam Popke, surprising his family. His son Charlie notices him first. Then his wife, Michaela, overcome with emotion. Finally, there's his little girl, Lorela, jumping into his arms.

Good morning. Yes. The elephant encounter, a surprise for his daughter's fifth birthday. Little did she know, an even bigger surprise was in store. I'm so happy Daddy's back. After nine months, it's just so amazing to be back with Charlie, Lorelei, and my wife. And this hug says it all. A family so glad to be together again. Great way to start the week.

All right, 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. You know,