NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Saturday, May 30, 2026

Episode Date: May 31, 2026

Four more men rescued after more than a week trapped in a flooded cave in Laos; Mysterious loud boom rattles New England region; Dueling protests face off at New Jersey ICE detention center over detainee conditions; 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.

This is NBC Nightly News with Jose Diaz Ballard. Good evening. We begin tonight with a remarkable rescue in Southeast Asia. Four more men finally free after they were trapped in a cave for more than a week. This was the scene in Laos earlier when those men were brought back up to the surface. Survivors embracing their family members and the people who saved them. Take a look at this new video showing just how dangerous conditions were below ground. You can see just how cramp that cave is, with one of the rescuers literally pulling himself

through a narrow, flooded passage. Our Janice Mackey Freyer starts us off tonight. After 10 days trapped in a flooded cage, a remarkable rescue. Four men were able to walk out, exhausted but elated to be alive. It took an international rescue effort involving divers and specialists from at least half a dozen countries,

the head of the operation, posting screen grabs of two of the men smiling at the hospital. They quickly called to thank, as he wrote, it really warmed our hearts. Every trip into the cave was a risk for rescuers, navigating narrow tunnels in the dark with little room for error. Volunteers pumping muddy water out around the clock in a race against time, weather and uncertainty. Divers had been preparing to go in and get the men, who had been learning how to use the oxygen tanks. Then in a fortunate turn of events, the water receded enough for them to one after another emerge on their own, put on stretchers to get the medical attention needed

after being underground with no food and increasingly toxic air. Twenty-four hours earlier, the first survivor was taken out by divers, covered in mud, his hands injured. He says, my name is Muwe, telling rescuers, I'm okay, I'm all dry, giving relief to families and momentum for rescue teams. But tonight, attention focused on two others who are still missing. What began for the men as a search for gold, now a daring rescue with the world's attention. That is not yet over. An incredible outcome. Janice joins us live from Beijing. Janice, what's the latest you've heard on the two remaining men?

Jose, with this breakthrough, search teams now plan to explore an area deeper inside the cave beyond where the five were found. They're cautious, though. Rescuers know the sections are heavily flooded. They're narrow, they're dark. They remain the most hazardous parts of this operation. Jose? Janice, Maggie Freyer, thank you.

Back here at home, a massive boom rattled new and. England today, jolting people across three states. This, just days after a similar incident, shook South Carolina. Aaron Gilchrist reports. Tonight, New England rattled by a mysterious boom, a deafening blast, even setting birds a flutter. Captured by cancras and herd across Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, prompting calls to 911. So we get calls from multiple locations, but not that. confirmed as an explosion. An afternoon of arts and crafts interrupted for Bianca DeLorenzo and her kids outside Providence.

The heck was that? Talk to me about your reaction. I mean, I saw the video that you posted. We actually bought a tree fell on our roof. So my husband ran outside and he's like... ...video entering or exploding in the atmosphere today. Adding the energy released at breakup is estimated to be equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT, which accounts for the loud booms. This thunderous noise, coming less than 48 hours after a similar

situation, baffled residents across South Carolina. The U.S. Geological Survey saying that cacophony was consistent with a sonic boom, where an object like a jet travels faster than the speed of sound. For now, silence simply shattered by sounds from the skies. Aaron Gilchrist, NBC News. And now to a tense situation unfolding in New Jersey, tonight protesters have been facing off with ice agents and police outside a detention center for days, with some of those clashes turning violent.

Valerie Castro has more. Tonight, crowds gathering outside this immigration detention center in New Jersey. Demonstrators lining up, facing off against police and counter-protesters for the ninth day over conditions at the Delaney Hall facility in Newark. If they're going to be in there, treat them properly. Be humane. Overnight, tensions erupting into chaos.

Police with riot shields pushing the crowd back to a new designated protest zone, spraying people with tear gas, even ordering our NBC New York crew out of their car. The clash is coming just hours after New Jersey Governor Mikey Cheryl ordered state police to secure the area. With ICE agents withdrawing. It was absolutely necessary to avoid escalation from ice. Over the past week, agents and police pepper spraying protesters, protesters hitting back. The Department of Homeland Security says six were arrested for allegedly assaulting officers, including one man charged for kicking and biting them.

The pepper spray was off the wall. Do you foresee this escalating further? Honestly, yes. The protests sparked by reports of a hunger strike inside the 1,000 beds. at ICE facility, with detainees complaining of poor living conditions, including spoiled food and insufficient medical care. The White House pushing back. We're not providing luxury housing for providing a sanitary place for them to be detained. The concern for tonight is that things could certainly escalate once it gets dark as they have over the last several evenings,

but you can see state police here already. In the meantime, Governor Mikey Sherrill says she is requesting access to see the inside of the facility for herself, but says so far she's been denied, She's also asking for Delaney Hall to be shut down altogether. Jose. Bally Castro in Newark, New Jersey. Thank you. We turn now to the alarming spread of the Ebola virus with health officials racing to get the deadly outbreak under control. Molly Hunter reports.

The World Health Organization's top official now in the Ebola hot zone, Director General Dr. Tajos, touching down in the Democratic Republic of Congo, working to reassure the public. This outbreak is caused by the Bundibugio virus, for which no license vaccine or treatment currently exists. But this is not without hope. With more than a thousand suspected cases, the WHO estimates up to half of those infected with the rare, highly contagious strain could die. Sharing accurate information matters. Certain practices, including touching the bodies of those who have died from Ebola, can spread,

The virus further. Aid group doctors about borders says the virus is already way ahead. And the virus is spreading faster that we're being able to respond, that we'll be able to scale up. But also it's because we don't know where the virus is. In recent weeks, frustration is boiled over, health facilities attacked, now being rebuilt. And in Kenya, a high court has blocked a U.S. plan for a specialized facility to treat Americans exposed to Ebola. senior U.S. administration officials now say Americans infected would be sent to Europe rather than the U.S. to leading facilities like the one in Nebraska housing the cruise ship passengers exposed to Hanta virus.

Special lunch delivery this Saturday here at the National Quarantine Units. Those passengers, according to the CDC, could return to their home states as early as next week to complete quarantine. And while there is no indication Hanta virus has spread in the U.S., health officials are now racing to catch up to the deadly abode. outbreak raging in Central Africa. Molly Hunter, NBC News, London. President Trump is responding to the performers who dropped out of a performance for America's 250th anniversary. Julie, Sirkin, joins us from the White House.

Julie, good evening. The president has a new idea to replace the planned concert. Exactly, Jose. President Trump tonight is teasing the next big performer to entertain Americans, celebrating the nation's 250th birthday, writing on Truth Social, I am ordered my representatives, you see it there, to look into the feasibility of doing an America is back rally and event. The man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime will headline, referring to himself. Several musical artists who were slated to perform during the

multi-day event next month announced they were pulling out, citing political concerns, including Poisons, Brett Michaels, Martina McBride, and rapper Young MC, a spokesperson, Jose for Freedom 250, which is backed by the president confirming to NBC news that President Trump will, personally kick off the Great American State Fair on June 24th, Jose. And Julie, we're also learning more tonight about the president's health. Yes, Jose, on Friday night, the administration released a memo detailing the president's annual physical, the White House physician noting Trump has gained 14 pounds since last year's exam and says the bruising on his hand, which you might have caught in multiple photographs as we

have, as a result of, quote, frequent handshaking combined with aspirin use for cardiovascular prevention. Overall, the president's doctor says he is in excellent health. Jose? Julie Serkin at the White House. Thank you. And don't miss. Don't miss. Meet the press tomorrow when Kristen Welker will interview former vice president Mike Pence. That's tomorrow morning right here on NBC. Still ahead tonight. Our inside look at the AI industry and the army of lobbyists coming to your statehouse, pushing back against efforts to regulate the technology. Back now with a closer look at the push to regulate AI, as big tech leaders publicly call for new safety rules. Chris Glorioso from NBC New York reports big tech lobbyists are pushing back.

I was truly thinking to myself, how could someone do this to me? When New Jersey's Francesca Manny learned two years ago, she had been digitally disrobed with a phony AI deepfake, she and her mother became what you might call citizen lobbyists. traveling to their state capital of Trenton, urging state lawmakers to crack down on deep fakes. When I heard how many girls were being affected by this and women and children, I knew I started to have to go for the lawmakers, and that's exactly what I did. It turns out the professional lobby for big tech is taking note. Because of political gridlock in Washington, lobbyists for AI are now turning their attention

to the 50 state houses, among the biggest. A group called TechNet representing the likes of open AI, Anthropic, Meta, Amazon, Google, Nvidia, a who's who of big tech and media companies, including Comcast, the parent company of NBC. Last year, TechNet boasted of trying to influence more than 800 pieces of state legislation and of getting its way 87% of the time. They want to be the ones to write their own safety rules. In New York, each of these state lawmakers told us TechNet and other AI lobbyists have sought to slow down or even bury their AI safety bills.

They, you know, last year when we try to move this bill, they actually killed the bill last year. A rep for TechNet said the industry group does not work to kill bills, but rather to strengthen them and educate policy makers. In an emailed statement, TechNet wrote in part, we believe innovation and responsibility go hand in hand and are always working to develop smart guardrails that promote safe, responsible, use of AI. Of course there will be rules. Of course there need to be some guardrails. In public comments, AI CEOs have urged lawmakers to pass new safety rules, even warning AI can pose grave dangers. I think it's going down a very dangerous path. But ethics filings from across the nation show TechNet often flatly opposes AI safety rules. The group is listed as opposing a chatbot safety bill in Wisconsin, opposing a Nebraska bill with provisions addressing AI-generated child sex abuse material,

opposing regulations on AI data centers, and opposing tougher rules on AI liability, privacy, and social media. TechNet told us it supports the aims of all those bills, but pushed for changes, believing the policies would conflict with existing law, deprive people of key services, or have unintended consequences. Publicly, big corporations will say they want regulations, and and then in practice, we'll try to lobby against every meaningful bill against them. One of the bills TechNet is listed as opposing was this New Jersey legislation championed by Francesca Manny. It criminalizes the use of AI deepfakes to harass or extort. Lobbyists for NBC's parent company Comcast also sought changes on the bill, but Comcast did not respond when we asked for specifics.

This is now the law of the land. Last spring, Manny and her mother were there, as the bill was. signed into law. Do you feel like your example shows you can beat the lobbyists? 100%. Despite opposing the New Jersey deep fake bill, TechNet told us it lobbied in support of the Federal Take It Down Act signed by President Trump last year. That law makes it a crime to share non-consensual intimate images and requires companies remove those images upon request. Jose. There's good news tonight. So often the good news doesn't get as much attention as the bow to every Saturday, we highlight the many people who spread joy and love, and this week we're celebrating

a huge victory for students across the country. This month, we saw hard work pay off for so many students. After years of studying, grads across the country are stepping into their futures with huge shows of support. Assisting with the hooding is his wife. Like this family fair at Michigan State University. That's Jacob Sharon getting his medical hood. placed by his wife Alexandra while holding their twin sons, Matthew and Mark.

And get this. Just last year, Alexander graduated from the same school with their sons, too. It's just been kind of a dream come true for us, something that we had dreamed of even before starting medical school. So now being kind of on the other end of it, it's really just been, it's been awesome. at the University of Tulsa Chelsea I Dinson is now Dr. I Dinson after she received her doctorate in cybersecurity with her adorable study buddy Georgia Jane who also got a hood of her own and for first generation graduates it's not just the students succeeding it's also their parents and family members who sacrificed so much so they could make their dreams come true. Like sisters, Genesis and Azalea Calderon, who wanted to share their big moment at UC Berkeley. Christopher Luna, sharing this emotional moment with his parents, earning his computer science degree from Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Amy Garcia, who got her nursing degree from NYU honoring her parents, who left their home countries to give her a better life. Okay, perfect. And the same is true for Julio Cesar, who's the same. shared this moment with his adoptive parents, his sister, Olga Maria, and brother-in-law, Ramon Ramirez. Julio, take me to that moment when you graduate and there you are standing with your sister and her husband, your parents.

That was the best moment, I think, of my life. I held back so many tears right in there in that video, but as soon as that video was over, I just, I broke down because that moment meant so much to me because I didn't know that I could be to this point. Julio Cesar says Olga Maria kept him on track to earn his associate's degree. And now, he's one step closer to becoming a dental hygienist. And he says sharing that cap and gown was a no-brainer. Everyone has their own path.

It doesn't matter how long it takes to get there, as long as you take baby steps to complete this goal like I did, you will get there. Congratulations to all those graduates on their next chapter. That's NBC Nightland News for this Saturday. Hallie Jackson will be here tomorrow night. I'm Jose Diaz-Belard. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Good night.