NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Sunday, December 7, 2025

Episode Date: December 8, 2025

Weekend wintry mix brings heavy snow, flight disruptions across U.S.; Trump vows to escalate military campaign in Caribbean; Ukraine peace talks advance as Russia escalates strikes; 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 digging out from a wintry blast, heavy snow and whiteout conditions from the Midwest to the northeast, snow plows working overtime after crashes, oof like that one on an Illinois highway, and now the rush to dig out before the work week begins. President Trump pledging to take his military campaign near Venezuela to a new level, as the Pentagon Chief suggests more strikes are coming. Chaos at one of the world's busiest airports, after several people ended up pepper spray. Accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione back in court tomorrow. The new images of evidence taken after his arrest, a knife, zip ties, and what police say was a to-do list, what it could all mean for the case against him. More problems at the Louvre tonight,

a water leak damaging Egyptian artifacts just weeks after that dramatic jewel heist. What happened after this unexpected guest? Look at that, wandered into a Christmas parade. New warning signs about the economy, the holiday shopping season, setting records. But at the same time, millions cutting back will explain. And there is good news tonight about getting in the holiday spirit and one town's determination to keep their tradition alive. This is NBC Nightly News with Hallie Jackson. Good evening. We are coming on the air tonight with a new blast of winter weather sweeping into the northeast. millions in its path slammed with snow, sleet, and more.

Look at what it looked like in the Midwest here. Big rigs sliding off the roads. Some of these cars half buried. And tonight, the digging out, including at NFL stadiums in Green Bay and Buffalo. You see it there. The early December freeze snarling travel from Atlanta to Chicago with more on the way. Our Adrian Bradus starts us off. Tonight, heavy snow sweeping from the Midwest to the northeast.

The whiteout creating dangerous conditions on the roads. You good? In northern Illinois, this semi-truck jackknifed off the highway. Dron video capturing crews pulling a car to safety after landing in a snowbank. A weekend of winter-like weather chaos in Chicago, wind chills in the teams with temperatures staying below freezing until Tuesday, and that means... The slush and snow you see on streets like this could refreeze, turning the street into ice. Residents in the windy city braving the cold.

It definitely seems like a little bit more than normal this early on. This is what people prepared me for when they said, like, oh, Chicago winters, there's a lot of snow. It's really cold, and it seems like this is, we're finally getting it. Snow ice and fog causing travel headaches at some of the country's busiest airports. With ground stops today in Chicago and Atlanta. And with NFL games underway, a rush to clean up the slush with snow. in Green Bay and in Cleveland. Back in Chicago, residents digging out, embracing for the winter season ahead. Temperatures are expected to be below freezing here in Chicago through Tuesday.

I don't think I'll be out too much. Adrian is out in Chicago where the snow has stopped falling, Adrian, but a new system is on the move. That's right, Hallie. Here in Chicago, some area saw up to six inches of snow. Now a separate system will impact the Mid-Atlantic this week. Nine million people are under winter weather alerts in Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Halie? Adrian brought us in Chicago. Thank you. Here in Washington, President Trump is hinting at a new phase of his military campaign against drug cartels as his defense secretary faces growing pressure over those attacks at sea. Gabe Gutierrez is at the White House. Tonight, amid growing scrutiny over those airstrikes in the Caribbean, President Trump

is planning to take the military campaign to a new level. Drugs coming into our country by sea, down 94%. The president says he might target drug smugglers by land, not just in Venezuela, but in other countries. We're going to start that same process on land because we know every route, we know every house, we know where they live. It comes as Congress investigates that controversial double-tap strike in early September that killed 11 people, including two survivors who'd live through the initial

attack. Admiral Frank Bradley, who ordered the follow-up strike and says he consulted a military lawyer throughout the operation, told lawmakers in closed-door testimony the boat was traveling from Venezuela to Suriname, another country in South America, and that the drugs were bound for Europe or Africa, not the U.S. That's according to an official and a person familiar with the briefing. All of these strikes are unlawful. The sources also said military aircraft overhead spotted the two survivors waving their arms, and that the follow-up strike, came more than 30 minutes later. Some Republicans see it differently. It looked at one point like they were trying to flip the boat back over, presumably to rescue its cargo and continue their

mission. Despite the president last week signaling he'd be willing to release video of the second strike. I don't know what they have, but whatever they have, would certainly release. No problem. Defense Secretary Pete Hexeth was non-committal this weekend. Whatever we were to decide to release, we'd have to be very responsible about. So we're reviewing that right now. As he pledged, more strikes. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics. Gabe is joining us now from the White House. And Gabe, we are also seeing a kind of show of force now with U.S. troops in the Caribbean. Yeah, that's right, Halley. More American troops are being deployed to Puerto Rico. Soldiers and equipment seen here

arriving on the island this weekend for training. It all comes as the U.S. keeps ramping up the pressure on Venezuela. Halie. Gabe Gutierrez at the White House. Thank you. A new setback for the Justice Department tonight, pushing to bring a new indictment against former FBI director James Comey. A federal judge is now blocking the DOJ from accessing key evidence it used to secure its first indictment against him when Comey was charged with lying to Congress, which he denies. Those charges were later dismissed. To Ukraine and new momentum in the push to end the war there, officials point to progress on peace talks, but it's coming as Russia stages a new round of deadly strikes. Keir Simmons is tracking it all.

Tonight, Ukraine is calling this a massive attack, multiple strikes on the industrial city of Kremlinchuk. The unwavering Russian onslaught, even amid peace talks, Russia's Ministry of Defense releasing images of its aircraft dropping bombs. President Putin on a trip to India this week saying Russia will take more land by, quote, military or other means. President Zelensky attending memorials for the families of soldiers who fell defending you. Ukrainian territory. Tomorrow, Zelensky will meet key European allies in London. President Trump's son, addressing his father's foreign policy, was asked whether Trump will walk away from Ukraine. I think he may. He was speaking at a forum here in Doha. I don't think Ukraine is going to be abandoned, but I think for years, again, it was the same

thing as the last answer, which is, well, we want to attack Russia, we want to do this, we want, well, when it comes to actually writing a check ourselves, no, no, no, the U.S. is going to do it. The American public doesn't have an appetite for that. Europe's representative for foreign affairs, hearing him speak in Doha, then talking to NBC News. Europe has failed to release billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine. Isn't the big picture that? It demonstrates that Europe is powerless to achieve its goals of supporting Ukraine. No, you can't say that we are powerless.

We're actually quite powerful. And we shouldn't underestimate our own power and overestimate Russia's power. I mean, their economy is not doing well. Meanwhile, the Trump administration's new national security strategy has angered some Europeans for its criticism of their domestic policies. The Kremlin says it aligns with Russia's vision. Halley? Keir Simmons in Doha, thank you.

A chaotic scene at London's Heathrow Airport, a huge police response. Look at that with armed officers rushing in. Police say a group of people was hit with pepper spray during a robbery at a parking garage there. One man was arrested. Several people were taken to the hospital, but fortunately, they were not seriously hurt. Here at home, accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione is expected back in court tomorrow for a key evidence hearing in his case, with new photos of that evidence now released, including what police describe as a to-do list. Valerie Castro reports.

Tonight, a closer look at what accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione was allegedly carrying the day of his arrest. Newly released photos from the Manhattan DA's office documenting items like this handwritten note with what appears to be a shopping list for a USB, digital cam, hot meal, water bottle, and trash bags, a hand-drawn map of Altoona, Pennsylvania where Mangione was arrested, and a to-do list with the words survival kit. Police also collecting his clothes, a pocket knife, zip ties, and a Greyhound bus ticket from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, arriving the night of the United Healthcare CEO's murder. Other photos showing a visa gift card, a single ride metro ticket, and a USB drive prosecutors say Mangione was wearing around his neck. Last week, the DA's office releasing these photos of Mangiote's computer and thousands of dollars of cash they say he was carrying, including foreign currency, apparently from Asia.

All of it potentially setting up a case for prosecutors that this was a premeditated act. How significant is it that all of these photos of this evidence is being released? significant. Much of this hearing has been kept out of the public eye because the defense attorneys had argued that if information became public but was ultimately suppressed and did not make it into the trial, the jury pool would be tainted. Mangione's defense team hoping to get evidence thrown out, including the alleged murder weapon, arguing he was questioned before being read as Miranda rights. He has pleaded not guilty to both federal and state murder charges. Valerie Castro, NBC News. New developments tonight about a major settlement stemming from a deadly police-involved shooting in San Diego.

The city has now agreed to pay $30 million to the family of 16-year-old Canoa Wilson over this incident captured on camera. Wilson was running away from gunshots fired by another person when he ran past an officer who shot and killed him, according to the family's lawsuit. We are following more trouble at the Louvre tonight with a water leak damaging hundreds of items just weeks after that big jewel heist. Danielle Hamamjin is looking into this, and Danielle, it's still not clear what the full scope is, right? Yeah, more bad news for the Louvre, Halley. This time it concerns the library of the Egyptian antiquities department. One official at the Louvre telling French media today that a water pipe leak in late November impacted one of the rooms. They've identified between three and 400 works that have been damaged and they're not done counting.

The official says no precious books were affected, but this is raising serious questions about how. how secure items are at the most famous museum in the world. All this happening, of course, just weeks after that jaw-dropping jewelry heist. Now, French police have made multiple arrests in that case, but the jewels worth more than $100 million have yet to be recovered. Hallie? Danielle Hammam, Jim, thank you. Still ahead tonight, the new warning signs about the economy.

And the red flags, even as holiday shopping, sets records. And you got to look at this one. A black bear crashing a Christmas parade. show you what happened. Next. You got to look at this. A black bear crashing the party at a Christmas parade in Gatlinburg, Tennessee over the weekend. There it is. It's making its way right along the parade route, totally unfazed by the crowd. One of the people at the parade told our team the bear was safely lured away from the scene. All's well. That ends well. By now, we are well into the holiday shopping season, which is already breaking records. Even as a lot of folks say,

pulling back. As our Vicki Wynn reports, it's highlighting the divide around who is actually spending all of that money. This holiday season, while some shoppers splurge, others are digging for deals. And it's $20 for that? I feel like that's a good deal. Experts say they're seeing consumers going in two different directions, what they're calling a K-shaped economy, where the very wealthy are getting wealthier, thanks to stock market gains and rising home values. And they're spending big on things like fancy cars and premiums. seats on flights. But a weakening jobs market and rising inflation are leaving many other Americans feeling like their money isn't stretching far enough. How far do you feel your dollars

are going this year compared to previous holidays? Well, in all honesty, it's a little harder this year. Peyton Riley is one of many consumers turning to discount stores to save. She says she used to only get groceries from Walmart. Now she buys clothes and home goods there too. And she says she's shopping less at retailers like American Eagle and Old Navy. I wouldn't say that we are just struggling or anything like that, but I feel like because of the economy, everyone has taken a hit. You're trying to budget where you can.

And that is why I've been liking to go places like Walmart. Walmart and TJX recently reported stronger than expected sales, not just drawing in lower and middle income shoppers, but many higher income shoppers too. It concerns me when I hear that affluent customers are shopping at lower price. retailers like Walmart and TJX because it's a sign that things are getting expensive all around. And consumers aren't just trading down. Many are also financing their spending. By now, pay later use hitting an all-time high on Cyber Monday, topping $1 billion. People are going to

be shopping this season no matter what. So whether they can afford to or not. And so I do fear that consumers, both lower income and upper income, might be bringing some debt into 2020. Your sign to make a budget and check it twice before buying presents this year. Vicki Wynne, NBC News, New York. There is good news tonight about how holiday spirit is helping one community heal, shining a light, literally after the darkness. Ten, nine, eight. It's the moment this crowd has been waiting for.

Three, two, one. Come on, man! The splendor of Christmas Tree Lane, a time-honored holiday tradition here in Altadena, California, since 1920. But this moment almost didn't happen. In January, the Eaton fire tore through the area, destroying homes and shattering much of the community. It hit us hard, you know, more than half the town was lost.

That included Stuart Brawley's home, and the Pasadena Waldorf School where he teaches a music production class. It's interesting to think back to last Christmas. It was probably the last time a lot of our town felt happy. Welcome to American Idol. A longtime fan of the lights, Brawley says he wanted to volunteer this year by helping the student choirs. We haven't lost everything. It's something that we're continuing.

The fire didn't take it away from us. For months, dozens of volunteers put in the work to rebuild that Christmas magic. The effort paying off. Tonight was a lot fun. It felt like Christmas. And this year, these lights bringing record turnout with everyone eager to keep the tradition alive. Everyone's happy to be here, happy to have a reason to come back. A much-needed light on Altadena this Christmas, bringing hope for brighter days ahead. Christmas, you always want to be joy and peace and all the things that Christmas is supposed to represent.

But for this year, it's also about healing, starting over, connecting to the community again. again, after many, many months apart. To be it's love. And that is nightly news for this Sunday. We've got much more ahead with Sunday night football next, the Texans versus the Chiefs. Tom will be back tomorrow. I'm Hallie Jackson.

For all of us here at NBC, thanks for watching and have a great week.