NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Thursday, August 13, 2026

Episode Date: August 14, 2026

Luigi Mangione expected to plead guilty in federal case; New evacuations from intense flooding; USS Abraham Lincoln to head home amid concerns about living 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.

Tonight, breaking news, the new twist in the Luigi Mangione case, the alleged CEO killer now expected to plead guilty in federal court. The surprising reversal in the high-profile case with plea negotiations ongoing, what Mangione could plead to, and why it could bring an end to his New York State case as well, what we're learning tonight. Also breaking the disaster emergency in Indiana, new evacuations, rescue crews using a front-loader. to save people, other families returning to destroyed homes, and the threat is far from over. Plus, Hawaii bracing for a rare and dangerous weather event, Tropical Storm Lala could become a hurricane on track to slam the islands as Kilauea is now erupting. Shipping out, the USS Lincoln set to head home from the Middle East amid concerns over poor conditions for sailors, the concerning man overboard incidents, and new images.

of their meals aboard as families sound the alarm. Plus Philadelphia House of Horrors, investigators finding disturbing videos of two missing women inside this man's house. The murder suspect known as the master manipulator for her elaborate disguises finally caught. Our series, The Cost of Denial, the labor and delivery units closing down across the country,

why this mom-de-be says it's making her rethink having more children. Fireball near Rome and an ammunition plant exploding what's set off this blast. Bear in the bistro, the animal caught on camera, taking a seat at an Aspen restaurant. Wild video capturing an octopus latching onto a fisherman's face, how he escaped that sea creature's grip. And there's good news tonight, a grandmother marking her last day of chemo and her granddaughter, surprising her in uniform to ring in that incredible milestone. Nightly News starts right now.

This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yomas. And good evening. We thank you for joining us on this Thursday night. We begin with a major update in the case of accused CEO killer, Luigi Mangione, with sources telling our team he's expected to plead guilty during a court appearance tomorrow. In a stunning reversal, Mangione is now expected to plead guilty in federal court, where he faces stalking charges in connection to this moment, the killing of former United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson back in 2024. We don't know yet which stocking charges he will plead guilty too,

but he could change his mind at any time. He's set to go to trial in New York in a state murder case against him just weeks from now. If Mangione does plead guilty in the federal case, his team may try to get the more serious state charges dropped. Our Laura Jarrett starts us off tonight. Tonight, a dramatic reversal for Luigi, Mangione now expected to plead guilty in federal court, according to sources familiar with Friday's planned hearing. The 28-year-old had pled not guilty to federal stalking charges, accused of killing

United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk in 2024. But the exact terms of any proposed plea deal with prosecutors? Unclear tonight. Mangione's lawyers in the Justice Department declining to comment. There's a conference scheduled for 11 a.m. on Friday. And that's all we can say at this time. Sources caution plea talks continue. Mangione met with his lawyers this morning and can still back out. The judge overseeing the federal case would also have to sign off on any agreement to make it official. But the specter of a deal comes at a crucial time for Mangione.

He's currently set to go to trial in New York State Court early next month. Prosecutors here are pursuing second-degree murder and gun charges. And he's pled not guilty in the closely watched case that already seen twists. Earlier this summer, the defense team briefly floating the possibility of arguing Mangione was suffering from an extreme emotional disturbance,

only to withdraw that suggestion a day later. But his attorneys have consistently maintained he's been treated unfairly, facing both federal and state charges at the same time. Double jeopardy is a big thing here, right? Mr. Mangione is being charged

in three different cases for one incident. Laura joins us now. live in studio. So Laura, talk to us about the defense strategy here. If he indeed does plead guilty to this federal charge, what happens with the state case? Because they're trying to pull something off here, right? The defense is likely to point to New York law, Tom, which essentially says you cannot be prosecuted twice for the same act, the same criminal transaction. And here, they're going to say, it's all about the killing of Brian Thompson. And so even though the federal charges for stocking, the state charges for murder, it's all about the same thing.

Now, the prosecution is going to push back on that and say, no, no, no, these are different charges, different elements. It's the same transaction, but there are different harms here. And so that's what the judge is going to have to decide. But bottom line, Tom, there may be reasons that Mangione actually wants to plead guilty in the federal case. Spending time behind bars for the rest of your life in a federal penitentiary is very different than a state prison. It's a good point, and we'll be in court tomorrow. We'll learn a lot more. Thank you for that, Laura. Next to the devastating images coming out of Indiana, where the governor there has now declared a statewide disaster emergency. Maggie Vespin, her team,

team with the families returning to their ruined homes as more rain is on the way. Tonight, families across the storm zone bracing for new rounds of heavy rain and dangerous flooding as they try to clean up the damage already left behind. East of Indianapolis in Cambridge City, Indiana. The whole house is trash. We were with Brooke Boomer Shine and her boyfriend Timothy as they returned to their home for the first time. after swimming to safety Wednesday morning. That's their blue house right there, surrounded by rushing waters.

A man rescued from his marooned boat out front. I'm so sorry. How are you even taking this in right now? I'm not. I have six kids. You have six kids? Yeah, they were supposed to start a school yesterday. We worked our whole life for this.

The couple telling me they have flood insurance, but just learned most of their possessions aren't covered. Indiana's governor now declaring a statewide disaster emergency after scenes like this in nearby Hagerstown, a front loader rescuing multiple people. This as conditions have forced authorities to suspend the search for a missing teenager in the Mississinua River, one of four jumping off a bridge overnight.

Three others rescued uninjured. It's all hands on deck. Rivers are still rising right now. Powerful floodwaters washing away, part of Interstate 70, crews racing to repair and reopen that major thoroughfare. And we're seeing new video from Tuesday's massive system to South Dakota Highway Patrol troopers nearly struck by lightning. And Maggie Vespa joins us now live from northeast of Indianapolis in Anderson, Indiana.

Maggie, every time we see you, we see more water and families in that part of the city where you are now being ordered to evacuate. Yeah, Tom, families in other parts of the city as well. And you can see here water creeping up around these homes with the white river here still rising, expected to crest hours from now at a record-breaking 24 feet. And this with more rain falling, Tom. All right, Maggie Vespa for us. Maggie, stay safe out there.

We are also tracking a rare weather event about to hit another state. Imagine a hurricane hitting a volcano. It could happen in Hawaii this week, so I want to bring in Bill Cairns now. Bill, tell us our viewers what you're tracking tonight. Yeah, so Tropical Storm Lala formed. and this is going to be a close call. It may end up turning to be a hurricane hitting the Big Island. That has never happened in our recorded history.

So here's how we're looking. Right now it's still kind of a weakest storm. It's going to begin to strengthen over the next 24 hours. Saturday morning it makes its closest approach to the south side of the big island of Hawaii. Winds possibly around 75 miles per hour. But if you know anything about the volcano, it's extremely tall, and that's going to mean a ton of rain, Tom. We could see one to two feet on the volcano.

Yeah, Bill, so you have Killaway up, possibly a romewomeness. It was erupting earlier. What happens when all that water and wind comes over it? One of the biggest steam baths that we've ever seen, Tom. We are going to be watching all of that hot lava that happened in the last 24 hours. The rain hitting it, it'll make a form of crust, it'll hiss, and there'll just be a huge steam bath all over the crater. A wild weather event. All right, Bill Cairns, we thank you for that. Tonight, the aircraft carry, the USS Abraham Lincoln and its crew of 5,000 sailors and Marines now set to head home from the Mideast with sailors families, raising some big alarm. about poor living conditions, plus a sailor even going overboard. Here's Gabe Gutierrez. Tonight, with growing concerns about deteriorating living conditions aboard the aircraft carrier

critical in carrying out strikes against Iran, a U.S. official telling NBC News that USS Abraham Lincoln is now set to sail home after a lengthy deployment. The switch comes amid alarming complaints from service members and their families, including these limited meal portions. And now a U.S. official says one sailor went overboard and was quickly. rescued. The ship has not made a port call in 244 days, a record. It's been difficult. It's longer than she's experienced. Typical deployments have been six to eight months. Melanie Stowe says her daughter has been aboard the Lincoln since last October. They had hangar bays that would not close.

So they were taken on water into the lower hangers. I know that they've had some issues with some of the plumbing. Two U.S. officials tell NBC News, Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Kane has warned President Trump and Defense Secretary Hexeth about lengthy deployments and declining morale. Today, Hexeth was asked about conditions aboard the Lincoln. Completely misrepresented. Listen, we make sure that every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment. Some deployments are longer than others, and I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody. The Lincoln will now head home to San Diego and will be replaced in the Middle East by the USS George Washington, a process that typically takes several weeks.

Tom? All right, Gabe, we thank you for that. Tonight, investigators describing a house of horrors discovering disturbing videos from inside a home of two missing women who are now believed to be dead. Valerie Castro has the latest. Tonight, two missing women now believed to be dead after police uncovered what they say are graphic videos from this Philadelphia. home. It's real dark. But what we saw is these two girls alive. There's a period of time and what appears to us that they're deceased. The women, Gabrielle Amarando, reported missing in 2012 and Maribel Friesis last seen in 2018. Their bodies have not been recovered, according to police.

The videos, which have not been made public, part of a massive trove of digital evidence seized from the home in June. There's 600,000 images. 70,000 videos and over 10,000 pages of writings. Investigators zeroing in on the property following the arrest of 44-year-old Eugene Horch after police say they found drugs and weapons in his car along with a fake DEA badge. Search warrants executed at the home, also turning up five urns with cremated remains, drugs and a gun, according to police. Horsh remains in federal custody on a weapons charge and fake federal credentials.

His attorney did not respond to an NBC News request for comment. He has not been charged in connection with a homicide. Usually when we have a homicide investigation, we have a body. We have body parts. This time we do not. Valerie Castro, NBC News. And in Texas, a story that is garnering a lot of headlines. A couple's surrogate is now fighting for custody of the baby boy she carried,

arguing she should be given parental rights instead of the biological parents who are also fighting for him. Ryan Chandler explains what led to this legal battle. In Dallas, a boy's birth triggering a dramatic custody battle, pitting the baby's biological parents against the surrogate who carried him. The boys' California-based parents faced a devastating decision after a diagnosis at 20 weeks. They learned the baby, who was being carried by a surrogate from Alaska, had a serious heart condition called hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

They chose to terminate the pregnancy. But gestational carrier McKenna West objected. fleeing to Texas for medical care and legal refuge. I didn't think that I could live with myself doing that. West sharing her story with the anti-abortion organization, Live Action. She's fighting for legal parenthood over the baby she carried to term in Texas. I just know that he, he's a fighter and he deserves to be surrounded by people who are 100% willing to fight alongside him.

The boy was born Wednesday. West is calling him Gabriel, but he's roomy to his parents who want to take him back to California for medical care. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton intervening to support the surrogate, urging a court to prohibit the child's removal from the state. The court cited with the state in part blocking any attempt to transfer the child, while also prohibiting the gestational carrier from asserting any parental rights over him. Tonight, the biological parents' attorneys telling NBC News, as if the heartbreak of his condition were not enough, they are devastated to see their family tragedy transformed into political theater. Adding, our clients' only focus at this time is ensuring that their baby receives the medical care that he vitally needs and that they, as his parents, are able to spend every precious moment they can with their beautiful newborn son. Ryan Chandler, NBC News, Dallas. And we're back in 60 seconds. Still to come tonight, the fiery explosion at an ammunitions factory near Rome.

What set it off? Plus, our series, The Cost of Denial, with delivery units closing their doors across the country, this mother-to-be says it's making her think twice about having more kids. Stay with us. We're back now with our series, The Cost of Denial. And tonight, the troubling trend for expectant mothers with labor and delivery units increasingly, closing down across America. Here's Ann Thompson.

In the picture postcard twin villages of coastal Maine, Newcastle and Damrescada, signs of trouble ahead. Maine Health announcing the closing of the only hospital labor and delivery unit in Lincoln County. I think it's going to have a deeply negative effect on our community. Pregnant with her first child, this area is where 33-year-old Leslie Wolfe and her Fiancé Ben chose to build their family. Their baby boy due in mid-November. I can see the little face. Yeah, we got a little side profile here. Could be one of the last deliveries at Maine Health Lincoln Hospital that locals call Miles, less than a 10-minute drive from

Leslie's home. Living rurly comes with certain compromises. Businesses close earlier. You have to drive further to get to the grocery store. But this labor and delivery unit has existed for so long for 84 years and its closure did not need to happen. You're not willing to compromise on that? Completely not. Many must. A new report from the March of Dimes finds more than half of U.S. counties lack a hospital with labor and delivery services, affecting 370,000 birth a year.

I don't know that we would have moved here knowing that we couldn't have given birth here necessarily. Banding with other women. Keep birth local. Leslie is trying to stop the closure scheduled for just a few weeks after her due date that would make the next nearest delivery unit about an hour away. If that is, all goes well. Towns on the route like Wisconsin, often packed with tourists in the summer, snow and ice in the winter.

I just shuddered to think about the potential of being in labor and being stuck in traffic in Wisconsin on that single lane road. It's terrifying. Miles will be the 10th labor and delivery unit to close in Maine since 2020. Maine Health declined an interview, but in his statement cited, low birth volume at the hospital and an inability to hire enough doctors and nurses to safely support a reliable 24-hour labor and delivery program. Its decision now weighing heavily on this mother-to-be. Is your concern so great that you would move out of Lincoln County? It's something that my partner and I have talked a little bit about.

I think it's a concern so great that we might just consider not having a second child. The future of a hospital impacting the future of this family. And that March of Dimes report says it's not easy to find an OBGYN in this country, especially in rural America. The report says in more than a third of the counties, there's not an OBGYN, or midwife. Tom. All right, Anne, we thank you for that report. When we come back tonight, the fugitive known for her mastery of disguises finally caught after a manhunt across three states.

And I'll have what he's having, the bear who broke into one of the hottest restaurants in Aspen. That's next. We're back now with the search for a Florida murder suspect that is police described as a master of disguise. Officials say that this woman, Isabel Johnson, has been captured after a month's long search. Johnson had been described by authorities as a master manipulator. She is wanted in the connection of the death of a young father whose remains were found in a shallow grave. Also tonight, the boom

near Rome. Watch this again. You see that fireball blasting into the sky. The explosion happened at an ammo plant for a major Italian defense manufacturer. It was caused by a fire and appears to have started in the powder department. Local officials say nobody was hurt. Back here at home, look who got the best table in the house, a black bear in Aspen, Colorado, sitting down at a fancy restaurant after it got through a side door, no time to even hear about the specials. The restaurant told our newsroom one of the employees got it out by guiding it back out the door. The bear said he's been kicked out of better places. And the next time you have a bad day at work, think about this guy. Just look at this. A wild moment for this fisherman in the Philippines.

On his face, yes, that is an octopus. The man said the octopus was hard to handle. clearly and that it almost ripped his face. All right, when we come back tonight, don't worry, there is good news, and it's next. Finally, there's good news tonight. A grandmother's last day of chemo made unforgettable by the one person she never expected to see. Here's Jesse Kirsch. Welcome to your last treatment. With one chemotherapy treatment to go, Barb Ewers had every reason to celebrate.

We're so happy for you. But she had no idea someone would be crashing her party. Barb's granddaar, Faced Dyer. I would do anything for her. We've always been very, very close. They stayed close when Barb's breast cancer returned more aggressively. What are you doing? And for Barb's big day, Faith in Airmen at Joint Base Andrews drove seven hours overnight from Maryland to Ohio.

I just cannot wait to see her. I was proud of her. And she was there to see Barb declare victory. It was just utter shock. I just, I couldn't believe it. The moment taking off on TikTok, one user commenting two warriors in one room. That really struck me and touched me. After a long cancer battle, this hug might have been the best medicine of all.

I felt very loved and very special that day. Jesse Kirsch, NBC News. And that is the best medicine. That's nightly news for this Thursday. I'm Tom Yamas. Thanks so much for watching tonight and always. We're here for you. Good night.