NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Saturday, September 5, 2026

Episode Date: September 6, 2026

Millions under severe weather threat over Labor Day weekend; U.S. strikes Iran oil tankers after Iran fires at Naval ships ; Putin orders 72-hour ceasefire in Kyiv; 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, millions under alert as severe weather threatens to disrupt the holiday weekend. Dangerous storms moving through. Torrential downpours, washing out this football tailgroup. In Louisiana, roads underwater. This is we're learning more about the powerful tornado that touched down in Detroit. We're tracking it all. Tensions escalating as the U.S. strikes Iranian tankers in the Gulf. Retaliation, according to U.S. officials, after Iran tried to hit two U.S. Navy ships in a missile

attack. What the latest back and forth means for the region and for your wallet. A new push for peace in Ukraine has Jared Kushner and Steve Whitkoff arrive in Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin with a three-day ceasefire in Kiev, even as our team on the ground is forced to take shelter. New questions tonight after Lindsay Clancy's mistrial. Will prosecutors charge her again? Plus what we're learning about her life now is she waits for that decision. dedication. The growing measles outbreak nationwide. Thousands of cases reported the most in decades, and what a Pennsylvania health official is now saying about whether measles caused an infant's death there. In Nepal, a new day of miracles. More than a week after deadly floods, two people rescued from the wreckage,

and there could be more people still trap alive. NBC News exclusive, what sailors from the USS Abraham Lincoln told our team about, on the aircraft carrier during their nine-month deployment. Heart-stopping moments caught on camera of a fiery jet crash at an air show. The minor league baseball team marking a major milestone, breaking the record for the longest losing street. And there's good news tonight about how this team beat cancer, the little help from his friends.

This is NBC Nightly News with Jose Diaz Ballard. Good evening. We begin tonight with millions in the path of severe weather. Powerful winds, torrential downpours, and up to ping-pong ball-sized hail all threatening to derail Labor Day weekend. In Louisiana, heavy rain turning roads into lakes, slowing down drivers. In the Detroit area, tens of thousands are without power after storms there this week, a tornado up to a half mile wide tearing through part of the city. Now, more bad weather could be on. on the way for millions throwing a wrench in holiday plans. And as a record-breaking number of travelers hit the road for this Labor Day, a painful site at the pump. A gallon of gas topping $4 on average right now. Arles Kreutz is following the story and starts us off tonight. Tonight's severe storms threatening to wash out the holiday weekend for millions in the mid-Atlantic. While heavy rain flooding streets outside New Orleans, here you can see the wake these vehicles are creating in Slidell, Louisiana.

This, as power crews across the Detroit metro area, race to restore power to tens of thousands of customers still in the dark. The past couple of days, Mother Nature has not been our friend. Wow. Back-to-back storms striking there this week. In many cases on the east side, the infrastructure's not there. It has simply been picked up by the tornadoes. The tornado that touched down in Detroit Thursday,

the city's first in nearly 30 years. We're now learning that it was an easy. F2, winds of 115 miles per hour on the ground for more than three miles, all with one of the busiest travel weekends of the year underway. This is been crazy. Ready to go back home. And another challenge for folks this holiday weekend, the gas prices. Here in California, the price per gallon is over a dollar more right now than Labor Day weekend

last year. Drivers telling me they're feeling the impact. You're filling up and how are you feeling about filling up? How I'm feeling about filling up. It's a whole other rent. It's a double responsibility financially. Jared Flores and his wife from California's Imperial Valley are spending the holiday weekend in San Diego. They intentionally filled up their tank in Arizona before making the trip to the coast.

What I do is we'll go to Juma, fill it up because it's cheaper, and then we eat something over there and just have it ready for the weekend. And Liz joins us now from Los Angeles. Liz, we can see the traffic there behind you. what should travelers expect for the rest of the weekend? Well, Jose, the two worst travel days of this weekend have already passed, but Monday is expected to be very busy as well, both on the roads. You can see the traffic here. Monday, the worst congestion is expected between 2 and 5 p.m.

And also in the air with TSA expecting to process some 2.7 million passengers Monday. Jose. Liz Croyce, thank you. To the Middle East now, where the U.S. hit several Iranian targets in the Persian Gulf after military officials say Iran tried to strike U.S. warships in the region. Amish Alcindor is traveling with the president. Amish, what are you learning about exactly what happened here? Jose, earlier today, American military forces struck three Iranian crude oil tankers,

sinking one of them, according to a U.S. official. U.S. Central Command released this video, saying the strikes came after Iran launched missiles at a U.S. aircraft carrier and a guided missile destroyer. They were able to evade the attacks and know Americans were reported. it hurt as tensions in the region escalate just yesterday, President Trump downplayed the scale and the costs of the war, calling it, quote, small potatoes. Yet Americans are seeing the cost of the war at the pump. The national average for a gallon of gas is more than $4, and the cost of diesel fuel,

which is critical for delivering pretty much everything we buy hit an all-time high this week. The average price is now $5.85 per gallon. Jose? Give me Shalsendor in Bridgewater, New Jersey. Thank you. And don't miss Kristen Welker's big lineup on Meet the Press tomorrow morning right here on NBC. And now to the war in Ukraine and a three-day ceasefire is in place as top U.S. envoys visit Moscow to try and revive peace talks. Either side, however, appears ready to back down. Richard Engel is in Ukraine tonight. President Trump is trying to restart peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, as today his Donvoys, Jared Kushner, and Steve Whitkoff arrived in Moscow meeting President Putin. As Putin thanked Whitkoff for the visit, Whitkoff repaid the compliment, thanking Putin for implementing a ceasefire in Kiev during this diplomatic mission. I want to thank you for endorsing the no-shoot policy in Kiev and in Moscow for these three days. In Ukraine today, we visited the 9th drone brigade, central in the fight to drive Russian forces out.

of Ukrainian territory. Some of the drones are very large. Ukrainian soldiers call this one the vampire. It's a modified agricultural drone originally built to spread pesticides. Now it can take out a tank or carry key supplies like water, food, and medicine to troops that are otherwise unreachable.

It's a capability until now unheard of in warfare. But soon after that, we had to scramble for cover. While we were filming, the Ukrainian soldiers got information that a Russian glide bomb, a very powerful weapon, is in the area, so we stop our shoot and we're taking shelter in this bomb. At least another threat passes. Russian forces, according to Ukrainian emergency services, killed at least nine people in drone attacks in Harkev, Nipro, and around Keev.

So much for Putin's ceasefire. Kushner and Wittkopf are expected to travel to Kiev tomorrow. it would be their first visit to this country after several trips to Russia. Jose? Richard Engel in Ukraine, thank you. Tonight, there are new questions about what comes next after a mistrial was declared in the Lindsay Clancy case. Among them, will prosecutors decide to retry her?

And what happens to Clancy while she waits? Valerie Castro has a story. Tonight, Lindsay Clancy is waiting to learn if prosecutors will charge her again after yesterday's mistrial. jurors in her triple murder trial unable to reach a verdict Friday after nearly seven days of deliberations. I'm going to declare a mistrial. The jury of nine women and three men could not agree whether Clancy had criminal intent when she killed her three children in 2023 or if she was instead driven by postpartum psychosis before trying to end her own life. My heart breaks for her. She deserved that acquittal.

The nearly six-week trial featured 80 witnesses and hundreds of exhibits, the prospect of a recent. trial now in the hands of the district attorney. An attorney for Clancy's ex-husband saying in a statement that would be extraordinarily painful. While prosecutors work on next steps, Clancy will remain at this Massachusetts state hospital under psychiatric care. She is extremely, extremely well-regarded and well-liked on that unit. Clancy's case and live-streamed trial getting nationwide attention, a GoFundMe account raising more than a million dollars, naming Clancy's parents as the beneficiaries, the creator not tied to the family. We're also learning disturbing details of a case in Illinois, where police say a mother apparently killed her two-year-old son

earlier this week. Prosecutors say Corey Walsh had recently become very invested in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial and had been actively discussing the case, according to court documents. Walsh also telling police she thought the child was the devil and the Antichrist. The 40-year-old has been charged with first-degree murder. NBC News has reached. out to who is believed to be her attorney but have not heard back. Valerie Castro joins me now. Valerie, we could learn more about Lindsay Clancy's case in a matter of weeks. That's right, Jose.

The judge set the next hearing in this case at the end of the month. He has already indicated he would prefer a trial date to be set for later this fall if the district attorney plans to go ahead with a retrial. The defense says they'll request the jury to be sequestered if that's the case. Jose? Valerie Castro, thank you. In Nevada, police are investigating a death at the Burning Man Festival. Organizer said a man in his 50s had a medical emergency and was later pronounced dead.

The case is under investigation. Now, just last year, there was a homicide at the festival that has never been solved. Health officials in Pennsylvania confirmed that an infant is among those who have died in a growing measles outbreak. And nationwide, measles cases are at their highest level in decades. George Solis reports. Tonight, a coroner in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, confirming a six-week-old infant died for measles as cases of the highly contagious virus soar in the state and nationwide. We knew with certainty the child had measles.

It's unclear whether the child was born with measles or contracted it after birth. The county, noting the baby girl, also had what's known as Amish lethal microcephaly, a rare and severe genetic disorder, typically found in Amish communities. communities that leads to babies being born with small heads and underdeveloped brains. Measles outbreaks in the state soaring to more than 570 in recent months. Across the country, cases now top more than 3,000, according to the CDC, the highest level since the early 1990s. The agency has not reported any deaths so far this year. I think people don't remember how sick or dead that virus can make you.

We have doctors in our hospital now that we're admitting children with measles who've never seen a case of Beasles before. A month's long NBC News data investigation uncovering a dangerous backslide in vaccination rates in a vast majority of counties across the country. Health officials concerned there may be no end in sight, and that case counts could grow even higher with four months left in the year. Maybe more children have to suffer, more children have to be hospitalized, and more children have to die before we realize that this is enough, and we stand up for the children in this country, and we have the powers that be stand up for the children in this country, but that hasn't happened yet.

In November, a group within the World Health Organization will meet to determine whether the U.S. has lost its measles' elimination status, which health experts warn could indicate a loss of faith and the country's ability to control outbreaks. Jose? George Solis, thank you. Ten days after catastrophic floods devastated Nepal and left thousands dead or missing,

rescuers tonight are celebrating the miraculous rescues of two people, including a man who spent more than three. a week buried in a tunnel. Danielle Hamamjin has the latest. Tonight, the first images of rescuers giving water to a 64-year-old woman found alive on the fourth floor of her home submerged in mud

10 days after those catastrophic floods in Nepal. And more than five miles away, another miracle. A Chinese man pulled from a hydropower tunnel He says he shouted as loudly as he could every time he saw the lights of the rescue teams but was never heard until today. Rescuers are using thermal imaging drones to look for any signs of life.

More than 500 workers are still missing from the power plants. Yesterday, two others were found buried beneath the mud and rubble. This man telling rescuers he sat in the darkness, singing verses of a prayer, to hold on to hope. According to the State Department, dozens of Americans are among the thousands still missing

following last week's floods that washed away entire communities. The latest rescues giving many hope at a time when there's so little of it left. Danielle Hamamjan, NBC News. Still ahead tonight, our exclusive interview with sailors from the USS Abraham Lincoln about life on board during their record long deployment.

Also, stopped in their tracks, hundreds detained at L.A. police by L.A. police during a street takeover. Back now with an NBC News exclusive. Tonight, we are hearing from sailors from the USS Abraham Lincoln about what life was like on board during their record-breaking deployment. Here's Courtney Cubing. After being at sea for nearly 300 days, the sailors and Marines from the USS Abraham Lincoln are finally getting a break. What has been the best part about being on shore late? The food's much better. It's so good to see the sun.

Seeing the greenery. Like the trees around us now is like something I like a lot and haven't seen much of for all of this year. The Lincoln spent months assigned to the war with Iran conducting daily combat operations. The war made getting supplies on the ship impossible at times, leaving sailors without mail and fresh fruits and vegetables while working long hours day after day. Petty Officer Third Class Christopher Bell has deployed twice on the Lincoln. the last time was in 2024 to the Middle East. When I was on the last one,

I definitely thought that that was like the worst it could get. This one proved me wrong in many ways. Including the extended time at sea, which raised concerns about the crew's mental health. Having that much time out at sea, especially without any poor calls, is like very grueling and taxing the way that the crew has proven resilience

and stick-to-itiveness of everybody getting through this is impressive. The ship's fun boss plans events on and off the linking to help relieve stress. We just strive to improve the mental health of our sailors and Marines on the crew by providing activities. Like this soccer game against the local professional team in Patia, Thailand, or visiting an elephant sanctuary. Did you think you'd be kissing an elephant today?

No. Or he would kiss you back? No, I'd never thought of that. After four days here, the sailors are back aboard the ship behind me and preparing to leave Thailand on Sunday. Jose? Back in a moment with a terrifying moment as a jet goes down in a fiery crash at an air show. And finally, a win. The minor league team finally broke their record setting losing streak. Back now, the fiery crash at an air show overseas. Take a look at the video shows the

moment a jet fighter went down at a show in Greece today. You can see here the jet pulling a low altitude maneuver, then a huge fireball as it smashes into the ground, plumes of smoke rising from the crash site. The two jet pilots were killed. Luckily no one on the ground was hurt. And in Los Angeles, hundreds of people were arrested during a major street takeover there. Take a look at this video from the Harbor Gateway neighborhood showing huge crowds and more than a dozen cars blocking an intersection. Street takeovers like these have been an ongoing problem in L.A. with cars performing dangerous stunts and businesses being looted. And talk about a reason to celebrate the Red Pocket Mobiles of the Pioneer Baseball League,

finally notching a win after they set the record for the longest losing streak in pro baseball history. You see the team here celebrating their first victory after losing 40 straight games. Congratulations to the MOF. When we come back, there's good news tonight. The well-deserved round of applause for this. hospital volunteer. Finally, there's good news tonight.

So often the good news 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. Talk about a surprise. Here at upstate Galasano Children's Hospital in Syracuse, New York, the man who's always giving. I have the best job in the hospital. Just got his very own gesture of love.

That's Matthew Byrne, long-time hospital volunteer best known for the best hugs. I've done it for 30 years and God willing, I'm going to do it for 50. The hospital staff surprising him to thank him for 7,500 hours spent with kids in need. If there's something I can do to help ease their burden, it's worth every moment. Matthew, showing that a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of. Love goes a long way. People call me an angel, and I'm not. Anybody can be an angel. You don't need wings, you don't need a harp, you don't need a halo. All it takes is the willingness to give kindness to a stranger. At Penn High School in Indiana, the littlest faces get the biggest welcome.

During the school's first home football game, seniors giving a warm welcome to income. kindergarten. Class of 20. With high fives, hugs, and cheers. My home is being so fast because I was excited. Passing the pomp on to the next generation as those seniors begin their final year. It's good to see. Mia Fulton is used to serving up kindness.

At this Biscuitville drive-thru in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, she always asks. Welcome to Biscopville. How could I make a day better? She is a perfect example of just genuine love through a microphone. But now? Thank you for making my day better. Customers are lining up to pay that support forward during a tough time. It's the memories. The memories are going to lay it to my heart.

And for 15-year-old Mikhail Jones, a really big day. There he is after finally completing his cancer treatments, ready to ring the bell. But what he didn't know? His best friend, Eduardo, Jose and Bryce, all traveled to celebrate with him. I was really happy and proud for him. The boys met at Sunshine Camp, a program for kids battling cancer earlier this summer. Now, their friendship is stronger than ever. It's really nice to see how much this can impact someone and motivate someone.

but there's always light at the end of a tunnel. I have been supported since I've been supported since Saffircadarno's until the end of it. And that's NBC Nightly News for this Saturday. I'm Jose Diazboe.

Thank you for the privilege of your time and good night.