NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Monday, June 1, 2026

Episode Date: June 2, 2026

Trump speaks to NBC News amid Iran talks and administration's apparent abandonment of $1.8 billion fund; Fired police officer charged after video appears to show him repeatedly punching woman; Race against time to find and rescue two men in Laos Cave; 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 tracking two major developments out of the White House, the rare and sudden reversal from the Trump administration over what critics call a $1.8 billion slush fund. Plus, the president speaking to our reporter as Iran walks away from talks. The surprising Republican revolt against the administration's fund. Now, the White House is backing down, appearing to end the plan that critics say could have set taxpayer money to the January 6 rioters. our new reporting on how it fell apart. Plus, what the president just told our Garrett Hake about where talks with Iran now stand

after Iran announced it's walking away from negotiations and we are following new strikes right now. Also tonight, the police officer charged after he was caught on camera, repeatedly punching a woman, how he was fired from the force and now arrested the charges he faces. The race against the clock to rescue two men still missing in a campaign. cave, rescuers hearing noises from down below, giving new hope that they could be saved just like these four men. The game-changer treatment for pancreatic cancer, the new pill, doubling the survival rate for those battling the disease, how the breakthrough drug works. Underground discovery inside the sprawling cross-border tunnel connecting the U.S. to Mexico. What else was found?

This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas. And good evening. We begin tonight with a dramatic shift from the White House, appearing to back down from that $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund, which critics bashed as a slush fund for the president's allies. That major reversal in response to a rare but intense revolt from inside the president's own party as Republican senators pushed a torpedo the plan. A judge had already paused the fund and critics had warned those convicted over the January 6 attacks they could. have received payments. That setback for the president comes as talks with Iran seemed to have stalled, maybe even ended. Iran today saying it has walked away from negotiations. But the president today told our Garrett Haake, he'd be, quote, very happy to stop talking with the country. And with the talks paused, there was new fighting, these new images showing Iran launching missiles at U.S. bases, the U.S. hitting back with strikes of its own. Garrett Haake has fallen at all for us tonight. Tonight, the Trump administration appearing to abandon plans for its $1.8 billion, so-called anti-weaponization fund amid stiff Republican opposition and the judge's order to halt work on it.

The Department of Justice saying it, quote, disagrees strongly, but will abide by the court's ruling. People were destroyed. They went to jail. President Trump had defended the fund created to compensate people, he says, were unfairly prosecuted by the Biden administration. But it drew bipartisan condemnation, including a closed-door clash between acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and GOP senators, amid concerns it could be used to pay January 6th rioters. This is just stupid on stilt. All of tonight, President Trump is facing that showdown in Iran talks. President Trump telling me in a phone interview that if a Iranian regime wants to suspend negotiations with the U.S., as Iranian media has reported, he would be, quote, very happy with that.

If they don't want to talk, that's okay with me, he told me. I don't particularly want to talk either. We talk too much. The president adding that the U.S. would, quote, just go silent. We'll keep the blockade of Iranian ports, but not resume bombing. Quote, I think I can wait as long as they want, he told me. They're losing a fortune. Their country is falling apart. CENTCOM says it has disabled five commercial vessels and redirected 121 others as part of the U.S. blockade. and this weekend, the U.S. launching self-defense strikes on Iran after Iranian forces shot down a U.S. drone. Iran also attacking its Arab neighbors again, firing at U.S. forces in Kuwait. But the president insisting time is on his side.

We're getting what we want slowly. Very tough negotiators. It takes a long time. I'm in no hurry. I'd like to say I'm there. Garrett joins us now live from the White House. And Gary, I know you have some new reporting on the mixed messaging from the White House about Iran. Well, Tom, just a few hours after our conversation, the president posted the talks with Iran are, quote, continuing at a rapid pace.

He also said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and representatives of Hezbollah, who all agreed to end combat in Lebanon. But Netanyahu said after the call, the IDF will respond to attacks and operate as planned. Tom. All right, Garrett Hakefors, Garrett, thank you. A North Carolina police officer caught on camera punching a woman over and over has been fired. and now he's the one who's been arrested charged with assault. We do want to warn you some of the images you're about to see are graphic. George released tonight with that video and the investigation.

Tonight, the former North Carolina police officer caught on camera, repeatedly punching a woman, has been charged with assault. This doorbell video shows the moment that officer, now identified as 22-year-old Carson Heider, pushes 34-year-old Sheree Moore to the ground before unleashing a barrage of punches. As he strikes her, a second officer can be seen running into the frame to intervene. Moore is eventually placed in handcuffs and can be heard asking for mental health care

and pleading for officers to call her father. I'm not on my medication comedy. It's unclear what happened in the moments leading up to the encounter, which happened just outside Charlotte. Her family telling us this photo shows Moore's bloodied face. According to court documents obtained by NBC News, Moore was arrested for breaking or entering, resisting arrests, and assaulting a government official, accused of grabbing and ripping Hyder's uniform. The resisting arrest and assault charges have been dropped.

Hyder was fired over the weekend after video of the arrest went viral. The police chiefs saying officers were conducting a criminal investigation in the area when they encountered a suspicious female. The actions taken by one of our officers during that encounter are disturbing and inappropriate. Heider turned himself in this morning and was later released on Bond. records reviewed by NBC News show Moore and Hyder have a history. Just last year, Moore pled guilty to resisting arrests in a separate case that also involved Hyder.

The family is now being represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who in a statement said no person in crisis should ever be subjected to this kind of treatment. It's unclear who's representing Hyder. Tom. George Solis, George, we thank you for that. We want to turn to the midterms now because it may be the most important Senate race for both parties this year. And tonight, the Democratic candidate in Maine,

facing a new scandal with revelations he was sending sexually explicit text to half a dozen women while married. Now the candidate and his wife are speaking out. Here's Ryan Nobles. Tonight, Graham Platner, the oyster farmer whose insurgent Senate campaign caught fire with Democrats in Maine, now addressing his latest scandal. Amy and I have a very loving and very happy marriage. They would very much like to try to rip that apart. Plattner's campaign admitting he sent sexually explicit text messages to at least half a dozen women while he was married. His wife had brought the text to the campaign's attention. Their existence was leaked to the media by a former staffer. I find it really shameful that there's a group of media outlets and people who are willing to

spread gossip. The sexting scandal, the latest controversy for Platner, who's running against longtime GOP Senator Susan Collins. There's a series of Platner's inflammatory past social media posts, including where he blamed victims for rape and said a Purple Heart veteran who was shot by the Taliban didn't deserve to live. I can't tell you the number of veterans who have contacted us to say how deeply offended they were by Plattner's comments. And then there's the tattoo Plattner acquired during his time in the military that resembles a Nazi SS symbol. Plattner said he was unaware of the meaning of the tattoo and has since covered it up. And has apologized for some of his posts.

Tonight, Plattner facing Democratic criticism. Yeah, I have concerns. That guy has questions to answer, and that's what campaigns are for. But also renewed support. So do I think you to win? Absolutely. And we desperately need somebody like him here in the U.S. of it.

The latest polling shows Platner leading Collins. The last time she ran for re-election, Collins was trailing in the polls, but still won comfortably. Tom? Ryan, thank you. We head overseas now because it is a race against time to find and rescue the two men still trapped in that cave in Laos. We have amazing new images tonight of the other five after they were rescued,

and now there are new signs that the two still missing may be alive. Janice Mackie Flair has the latest. Tonight, the rescue is focusing on two men still missing, 12 days after entering the cave, divers using ropes to repel down deep shafts, with another team exploring holes for new ways to get into the cave, but finding even bigger roads. risks. Josh Richards was one of the divers. The two tunnels that were there are so razor sharp

that they couldn't drop down. So it's those kind of risks, dropping into holes where you know literally nothing because no one has ever done it before. When they were in there, they also heard noises, scraping sounds deep inside the cave, a knock on the rock with a hammer, returning a noise that wasn't an echo. I just couldn't pin down what this noise was that I could hear. It wasn't a consistent noise either, and it wasn't an echo. Weather remains a problem, with torrential rains slowing the search, the plan, according to rescuers, to drain the cave system so they can reach chambers beyond where five men were already found. Lower water levels inside over the weekend allowed four of them to crawl out,

over 800 feet on their own, a day after the first survivor was freed by divers. The head of the operation, emotional, telling NBC. News, we have only the equipment we brought with us, but I think we did it, he says, and for the rest, we will try to do our best. The world watching the expanding search for two men, and ideally, a new path to find them. Janice Facky-Frae, NBC News, Beijing. We have a major medical breakthrough to tell you about tonight a new treatment for pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancers you can get that could double survival rates,

and that same pill could potentially be used against other types of cancers as well. Anne Thompson has the latest. It is the drug-giving former Senator Ben Sass extra time as he lives with pancreatic cancer that spread. Tumor volume in my torso is down 76%. Driven down, he says, by the experimental drug, Diraxin Rassip. A new study shows the pill taken daily, doubled survival time for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, from 6.6 months with chemotherapy to 13.2 months with Daraxan Rassum. Results that earned a rare standing ovation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology

Meeting over the weekend. Dr. Brian Wolpin led the research targeting a gene called KRAS. When mutated, it causes cancer cells to grow out of control. Daraxan Rassab turns it off. stops it, puts it in the off position, and then the cancer can't grow anymore. And that's why it works in patients. And maybe in more cancers, including colon, ovarian, and non-small cell lung cancer. There are side effects, including the rash on Sass's face, but it's the benefits that has the drug on the fast track for approval. Debbie Orkut is still alive, two years after her diagnosis of pancreatic cancer that spread to her liver. This is just a little bump along the way, and I fully intend on fighting it every inch

of the way. Good boy. Savoring each extra day, living with one of the most lethal cancers. And with that, Anne joins us live in studio. So, Anne, you mentioned the drug being fast track, but what about people that don't have time to wait? Well, Tom, in fact, the FDA has addressed that, and it is okay making Diracin RASA available to metastatic pancreatic cancer, patient.

outside of the clinical trial. A request must be made by a doctor to Revolution Medicines, which is the maker of the drug. And this is truly a dramatic improvement. Yeah, sounds like an incredible breakthrough. All right, and we thank you for that. All right, when we return in a moment how law enforcement discovered a massive underground tunnel

connecting the U.S. to Mexico will tell you the crimes police say it was used for. We're back now with a stunning underground discovery. federal agents in Mexico uncovering an 869-foot tunnel, nearly three football fields long, connecting Tijuana with the San Diego border. Mexican officials say it was discovered during a search and was likely used for trafficking weapons, drugs, and explosives. Also tonight, Denver hit by an intense hail storm, golf ball-sized hail pouring from the sky. You can see it hitting the water of this pool below a high rise, but sent a river of slush just streaming down the street as severe storms,

rolled through. That's nightly news for this Monday. I'm Tom Yamas. Thanks so much for watching tonight. And always, we're here for you. Good night.