NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Saturday, November 8, 2025

Episode Date: November 9, 2025

Thousands of flights delayed as FAA cuts snarl major airports; Shots fired at federal immigration agents in Chicago, says Department of Homeland Security; Supreme Court allows Trump administration to withhold some food benefits; 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, mass cancellations piling up at airports across the country, long lines and major disruptions nationwide. Hundreds of flights canceled, thousands delayed as the FAA cuts back on air travel over the government shutdown. Passengers angry, with some delays up to four hours. And tonight, the government warning, it will get much worse with Thanksgiving right around the corner. Happening now, the Department of Homeland Security says shots were fired. at federal agents in Chicago. The questions tonight about what happened. The Supreme Court stepping in,

allowing the Trump administration to temporarily withhold billions of dollars in food assistance as the shutdown drags on what it means for millions who desperately need it. Bracing for winter, millions under alert as snow and bitter colds is set to move in all the way down to the Gulf Coast. The video showing cars speeding down the road

moments before crashing into a crowd with deadly results. UPS and FedEx grounding an entire fleet of planes, the same type involved in this week's deadly cargo plane crash. And tonight, the new federal order restricting when they can fly again. NBC News exclusive, our inside look at Galane Maxwell's emails, revealing what her life is like inside her new prison. And now Congress is investigating whether she got special treatment. it's official the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is here for the holidays and there's good news tonight about the journey of a lifetime for two penthouse decades in the making this is NBC nightly news with Jose Diaz ballard good evening we begin tonight with the chaotic situation unfolding at our nation's airports more than a thousand flights were canceled today and more than 5,000 delay and those numbers are

are only expected to increase in the days ahead. The chaos is part of the FAA's mandate to cut back on air traffic because of the government shutdown. This weekend, it was only 4% of flights, but over the next week, that number is going to increase, with 10% of flights set to be cut by Friday. Officials say the goal is to relieve the strain on air traffic controllers working without pay.

But with Thanksgiving around the corner, lines like this could get even long. longer. Stephen Romo leads us off tonight. Tonight, the growing chaos and cancellations at our nation's airports. There's some worry. There's some way. I'm not going to lie. A 90-minute ground stop plaguing Chicago's O'Hare Airport today due to air traffic control staffing shortages. I think that it's just gearing up to get worse. In this video, you can hear a pilot on an inbound flight telling passengers they're returning to the gate. Right now, we're just at the mercy of air traffic More than 5,000 delays coast to coast. At Newark Liberty, those delays lasted for hours

as that airport also experienced a ground stop due to staffing. And for the second consecutive day, more than 1,000 flights canceled. And I'm like, please don't cancel my flight. Please don't cancel my flight. Airlines cutting 4% of flights at 40 major airports following an order from the Trump administration to ease the strain on air traffic controllers who've been working for more than a month now without pay. We're in uncharted territory. The president of the National Air Traffic Controlers Association telling NBC's Kristen Welker the safety risk is growing as the shutdown drags on. People having real people with real lives having issues and then saying run the busiest airspace in the entire world. The challenge at the airports leading some to

choose the road instead. Hertz saying its one-way reservations are up more than 20% this weekend compared to last year. The mandated cancellations set to hit 10% by Friday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, warning the cuts, could jump to 15, even 20%, and threaten Thanksgiving travel. If the government opens on day one, will I see an immediate response from controllers?

No, the union is telling me it's going to take time to get them all back in. Stephen Romo joins me now live from Newark International Airport. Stephen, cancellations are already looking. grim for tomorrow. Yeah, that's right. Jose, Flight Aware is showing there are already nearly a thousand cancellations lined up for tomorrow.

And if we hit that mark, it'll be the third day in the row. We've seen cancellations at that level, leaving passengers scrambling to figure out what to do, Jose. Stephen Romo at Newark Airport, thank you. To Chicago now in an apparent violent clash involving federal officials, the Department of Homeland Security says shots were fired during an immigration operation. Shaquille Brewster. How's the latest? Tonight, growing questions after another round of violent clashes in Chicago between federal agents

and community members outraged at President Trump's immigration crackdown. This video appears to show Border Patrol agents apparently deploying flash grenades and tear gas on a crowd of people in the predominantly Mexican little village neighborhood. You can see one woman then throwing an object back. In another video, you see Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bevino appearing to hold a gas canister, commanding people to move. DHS today, writing in a statement, Border Patrol was conducting immigration enforcement operations when an unknown male driving a black Jeep fired shots at agents

and fled the scene. Chicago police saying they responded to the calls of shots fired at agents, also writing, there are no reports of anyone struck by gunfire. DHS says a paint can and bricks were also thrown at Border Patrol vehicles, and the shooter and vehicle remain at large. Today's clashes are the latest tied to President Trump's Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago that have led to dramatic scenes on the streets. A federal judge on Thursday issued a preliminary injunction, limiting federal agents from using

riot control weapons like pepper spray and tear gas, writing the government's previous accounts of these protests and uses of force are simply not credible. DHS says they will appeal the order. But tonight, federal enforcement now searching for a suspect after yet another violent day. Shack joins me now near the scene in Little Village. Shaq, what's been the reaction there? Well, Jose, the scene is clear, but the situation is still very tense. An elected official representing this area tonight setting an emergency protest after he says two of his constituents were detained by federal officers.

One, he says, was a 15-year-old, the other an 18-year-old who was just released from the high. but he says is still in custody. Meanwhile, Chicago's mayor now calling on the U.N. to investigate what he's calling a worsening human rights crisis in the United States. Jose? Shaquil Brewster in Chicago. Thank you. Across the country tonight, the impacts of the government shutdown are growing even more dire for millions of people going without food assistance after a Supreme Court order impacting the SNAP program. Yamish Alcindor reports. Tonight, millions of Americans who rely on the government for assistance living in limbo as the government shutdown drags on. In a late Friday night order, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked a lower court decision that had ordered the Trump administration to fully fund SNAP benefit payments by Friday.

That stay from the high court means for now, the administration can withhold about $4 billion in SNAP benefits. Agricultural Secretary, Brooke Rawlins, praised the order. You can't just create money to fund a program that Congress refuses to fund. At this point, it's not clear when and how much money will actually be delivered to the nearly 42 million Americans who rely on SNAP benefits. It's very emotional when you don't know how you're going to feed yourself or your family. I have a child with a lot of special needs and he's on a specialized diet. So without the help of the food stands, what can I do? The Trump administration has said it could make partial payments using a contingency fund.

In court filings, the administration has also argued that it cannot draw from additional funds to fully fund SNAP because doing so would take away resources from other programs like school lunches. Today, in a rare Saturday session, senators continue to hammer each other over the shutdown and its consequences. For this administration to go all the way to the Supreme Court, just to get out of having to pay SNAP benefits for hungry kids is pathological leverage levels of vindictical. As I'm glad to see that after 38 days, Democrats are finally warming up to the idea that their shutdown can't go on forever. And Amish joins us from the White House. Yamish, there's also a ruling tonight on the National Guard deployment. That's right. On Friday, a federal judge in Oregon issued a permanent injunction barring the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard on the streets of Portland in response to protest against the president's immigration policies.

But tonight, a White House official tells NBC news that the administration, plans to appeal that decision and expects to be, quote, vindicated by a higher court. Jose. The Michel Sondor at the White House, thank you. And don't miss Kristen Welker's big lineup for Meet the Press tomorrow morning right here on NBC. Also tonight, the first signs of winter are here. Video from northern Iowa showing the first snowfall of the season, coating neighborhoods, springing low visibility, and slippery roads.

Some parts of the Midwest already seeing over four inches of. of snow today, while millions across the U.S. braced for a cold blast coming tomorrow and into the week ahead. And now to an NBC News exclusive. It's a look at emails sent by convicted sex offender Galane Maxwell after an unusual transfer to a minimum security federal prison. Priscilla Thompson has more on what they reveal. Galane Maxwell, in her own words, describing life in her new prison home.

I feel like I have dropped through. Alice in Wonderland's looking glass, she writes, a federal prison camp, Brian, according to emails she sent to friends and family, reviewed by NBC News. I am much, much happier here, she writes. Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for recruiting minors to be sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein. The emails obtained by the House Judiciary Committee investigating allegations of special treatment written by Maxwell after an abrupt and unusual transfer from a low security facility in Florida to this all women's camp in Texas, typically reserved for white-collar criminals.

The move came amid backlash over the DOJ and FBI announcement in July that a review found no incriminating client list. Soon after, Maxwell met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Did you know of the existence of any such list? There is no list. Days later, she was transferred and writing emails gushing over her improved conditions. The food is legions better. The place is clean, the staff, responsive and polite, she wrote, saying in another, you were not allowed to steal, beat people up, and attack them with homemade weapons. The Justice Department, which oversees federal prisons, declined to comment. Maxwell's attorney saying in a statement, it's time to get over the fact that she's in a safer

facility. We should want that for everyone. The family of abuse survivor of Virginia Roberts Joufrey, who later died by suicide, saying, we strongly reject the notion that a convicted child sex trafficker should reside in a residential neighborhood, shielded by fences instead of bars. Priscilla Thompson, NBC News. We're back with a deadly crash in Tampa overnight, this video showing a suspected street racer barreling into a crowd killing four people and injuring nearly a dozen others. Police say it started with two vehicles racing before the crash.

22-year-old suspect was arrested at the scene. Also tonight, the shipping giants, UPS, and FedEx, are grounding their fleets of MD-1-1, their MD-11 cargo planes, the same type of plane involved in the deadly UPS plane crash in Louisville, Kentucky, this week. Dana Griffin has the latest, a warning. Some of the video is disturbing. As NTSB investigators comb through wreckage of this deadly MD-11 cargo plane crash in Louisville, Kentucky, dozens of MD-11s now grounded by two of the nation's top parcel carriers, FedEx and UPS. A UPS spokesperson writing, nothing is more important to us than the safety of our employees and the communities we serve.

This is the cockpit alert UPS pilots received as the grounding order was issued, telling them they are not to depart effective immediately. Boeing recommending the grounding out of an abundance of caution, and the FAA tonight making it official, issuing an emergency airworthiness directive, requiring the planes to be inspected before they can fly again. It will likely take up to a year before investigators determine what ultimately caused this week's crash. Captain Bob Travis heads the UPS pilot union. I'm confident that the NTSB to include our accident investigators that are there with them,

and UPS has their team on this as well, that they'll get to the bottom of this. Video shows the plane's left engine catching fire during takeoff and detaching, killing 14 people, including the three crew. members on board and others on the ground. A candlelight vigil held last night to honor the victims. When I heard that a child died, that hit me hard. I choked up. Jose, there are growing concerns tonight over grounding dozens of these cargo planes.

And if it could impact the holiday shipping season, both FedEx and UPS say they are implementing contingency plans to limit disruptions. Jose? Dana Griffin, thank you. We're back in a moment with the growing battle over addiction research. One Man's Mission to Pay It Forward, inspiring millions. We're back with a battle over addiction research. Nearly 30 million Americans have alcohol use disorder,

but funding to research what causes alcoholism is a lot less than research into other diseases like cancer. But now one man is trying to change that. Here's Kate's Known. Gene Bartison grew up on a farm with an alcoholic father. I can remember going through the barns and the haylofts and finding bottles of vodka and taking them down to the creek and smashing him. Bartison himself drank for decades while raising four kids with his wife. He got sober, but the cycle continued with two of his children.

Barton's son Tommy drank himself to death in 2016. I guess there is probably no way to explain what it's like to lose a son, particularly when, you know, I felt that it's sort of my fault, too. It's that pain that drove BARTISN to look for solutions. He was shocked to discover how little funding there is for research on alcohol use disorder, which affects nearly 28 million people in the U.S., about one in 10 Americans. We don't know what this medical condition is, and therefore the research becomes paramount. In 2021, BARTISN founded the Addiction Research Institute.

he was 82. A lot of people wouldn't start something like this, Gene, at 82. Yeah, but there was no question that this is what I had to do. It's become like a life's mission for you. Oh, it is. Absolutely. Right now, the National Institutes of Health funds more than 12 times as much research on cancer as it does on alcohol use disorder. We just don't see the philanthropy dollars in tackling substance use problems and other

forms of addiction that we do in many other areas of medicine. Danielle Dick runs the largest addiction research center in the country at Rutgers University. One project gathers genetic profiles as part of assessing the risk of substance abuse. We can powerfully differentiate already today who is most at risk. With more funding, she says they could share that science with treatment centers and families. Bartison and Dick agree stigma still stands in the way. Breast cancer has a whole month. People wear pink ribbons.

You don't have anything like that. No. No. But we will. We will. His work to fund research inspired by millions of families who know the pain of alcoholism.

I know that it kills. I know that it breaks hearts. It breaks families. And we need a solution. And that is. We'll find a cure. Kate Snow, NBC News, La Jolla, California.

When we come back, there's good news tonight about showing up for your friends and the big way this group showed their support when their friend needed it most. Back now with big news at 30 Rock, this year's Rockefeller Christmas tree arrived at its new home for the holidays today.

That 75-foot-tall, 11-ton Norway spruce made its way down from East Greenbush in upstate New York before it was installed this morning. The tree lighting ceremony is set to the 3rd of December. There's good news tonight. You know, so often the good news just doesn't get as much attention as the bad. So every Saturday, we highlight the many people who spread joy and love.

And these are just some of those stories this week. For this New Jersey woman, a journey decades in the making. Debbie Housechild is heading to London to meet her friend, Jane Bean, for the very first time. Their friendship began in the 70s when a children's show matched them as pen pals. They stayed in touch over the years, but then they realized 50 years had gone by. So they finally decided to meet. No longer an ocean away. Now they're finally making memories together.

This is the sound of service. That's Sergeant Daniel Snars, a teacher at Huntington North High School in Indiana, being sent off with an honor walk before his dreams of serving in the armed forces came true. A surprise from his students to thank him for his service and for being a great teacher.

Everyone knows running is hard. But when Jamie Castro started to lose steam at the Chicago Marathon... Hey, congratulations. Thank you. You're on your way. You're on your way. I'm so tired.

Coach Chris Bennett came to the rescue. You. When you get to this card, it's not proof that you did something wrong. It's proof that you did something right. You're good. You're good. You got it. All right? And then I want to hear about it when it's done. All right? You got it. You're a rock star. Those words of encouragement lifting Jamie's spirits and carrying her across the finish line. And in Charlotte, North Carolina, a run club heading to this hospital to support Emily Calais. A friend who just finished chemo. Her friends waiting patiently outside. What did that moment feel like? And what were the things that most stood out to you about what that moment meant? A joy that I've never felt before.

Like when do you get to walk out somewhere? Walk out somewhere and over 20 people are cheering just for you. I, like, could not stop crying, happy tears. Those friends there on Emily's big day after supporting her throughout her treatment. Running half marathons, raising money in her honor, and cheering her on when she needed it most. It finally made me realize, like, I'm not alone. I have so many people here rooting for me on my side. What is the universal message behind this?

That there is hope. and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I think you'll surprise yourself on, like, how much you're able to do and how important your community is, too. That's NBC Nightly News for this Saturday. Hallie Jackson will be here tomorrow night. I'm Jose Diazbollart. Thank you for the privilege of your time.

And good night.