NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Thursday, July 9, 2026

Episode Date: July 10, 2026

New video showing U.S. strikes on Iran; Ex-roommate: Charlie Kirk killing suspect said he wished "he hadn't done it"; Maine Democrats scramble to find new Senate candidate; 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 our new reporting on the security concerns of the brand new Air Force One as combat with Iran ramps up. New video of a fresh round of attacks as President Trump cast doubt on a new deal. And why we just learned the president did not take the new Air Force One on part of his latest trip. Plus the mystery renovations at the White House, the scaffolding and tarp going up today, what the president is renovating now. New revelations in the Charlie Kirk murder case, the video of the suspect's roommate, telling prosecutors Tyler Robinson admitted to the killing and never before seen images of the rifle allegedly used in the assassination.

Inside the chaotic race to replace Senate candidate Graham Platner, who just ended his campaign, the candidates jumping in, and we'll show you how one is even repurposing his old campaign signs from a past election. Dangerous flash floods on the move, powerful storms putting millions at risk, flight delays and cancellations piling up across the East Coast. Deadly shoe factory fire, dozens killed as this building goes up in flames. Workers fleeing to the rooftop, one clinging to the building. The college athlete found dead after a July 4th party on a remote island. His parents now demanding answers, what could be the last photo of him before his death.

Brooklyn Bridge Rescue, dramatic video as the NYPD climbs 100 feet up to save a woman's life. Flaming propane arson attack, a man lighting a business on fire, the officers rushing in to put out the flames. Disturbing video capturing a suspect hurling a Molotov cocktail at Houses of Worship. Nightly News starts right now. This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas. And good evening. it's great to be with you tonight. We want to start with the new questions about the new Air Force One, a controversial gift from the Qatari government that the president was advised not to fly in

for part of his overseas trip this week. sources telling NBC News the plane does not have all available defensive capabilities in a growing threat environment as the U.S. and Iran intensified their attacks, raising fears that we could go back to all-out war. This was the scene in an Iranian port city as U.S. officials tell NBC news, the U.S. has not launched new strikes on Iran since last night, but that the U.S. has been shooting down Iranian drones and missiles. It comes as the situation in the Middle East threatens the spiral out of control, while back home we're tracking what could be another major renovation at the White House. Look at this giant tarp being draped over the scaffolding there today. We have new details tonight on what is being done behind that tarp.

Arkell O'Donnell is there at the White House covering it all for us tonight. Fire and fear. New video shows a fresh round of U.S. strikes on Iran. After Iran's recent attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. We just hit them very hard. And I say we hit them 20 to 1. Every time they hit us, we're going to hit them 20. The return to fighting after the president claimed for months that Iran was ready to deal. But now, new doubt. I just don't know if they're worthy of making it. I don't know if they're going to honor the deal. Heightened tensions prompted a very visible security change involving that new luxury version of Air Force One.

Two sources say the Secret Service recommended that Mr. Trump not fly the commercial plane gifted by Qatar as he departed Turkey Wednesday, as a precaution not due to a specific threat. The White House said the new plane has been fitted with high-level security protocols. However, sources familiar with the aircraft say it does not have all of the defensive capabilities built into the older military-grade presidential plane. Tonight, the president back at the White House where more construction is underway. The White House entrance obscured by scaffolding and a new tarp with an image of the columns. While on the South Lawn, work continues on a first-ever helipad for Marine One landings.

We're building a helipad, beautiful helipad. Beyond Washington, today the Trump-Name. was added to a Tennessee bridge and Palm Beach Airport now bears the president's name. The new airport code, soon to be his initials, DJT. All right, with that, Kelly joins us now live from the White House. Kelly, when we look behind you there, it actually looks like it's fine that there's nothing different, but there's actually a tarp there, and you have some new information about what's going on behind it? It's really a photo illusion, Tom, when you look at the front of the White House. Tonight, the White House has what's happening there behind that scaffolding is maintenance work,

repair of the columns. But this work raises questions because the president shows a different, more ornate style of columns for the ballroom edition. That's prompting concern that he could alter the entry here. However, tonight, the White House tells me the current scope of work does not include design changes. Tom? Okay, Kelly O'Donnell with that new reporting, Kelly, thank you. Now to a volatile weather situation, we're tracking across the eastern seaboard. Water is swamping roads from New Jersey to Maryland and making travel dangerous on one of the summer's busiest travel days. Flight delays and cancellations are mounting, and our Bill Kerranger is right here tracking it all bill. So it's going to be a turbulent night ahead. Yeah, this was not the day to fly to the East Coast. We got near record volume and we have thunderstorms that are just plaguing us up and down the East Coast. The worst of it has been from the Philadelphia area towards Wilmington. New York City kind of missed out. D.C. had a bunch of strong storms. moving through, but flash flood warnings from Philadelphia to Wilmington, Delaware, life-threatening flash flooding as much as four inches of rain has fallen just in the last few hours.

And how about these airport arrival delays? We are between two to three hours widespread from LaGuardia to Philadelphia all the way down to Dulles Airport. The other story that's going to develop in the next couple of days is going to be this incredible heat wave in areas of the West. We are going to be watching not just record high temperatures, but the possibility of all-time record high temperatures. One spot that I'm watching closely, Tom, Billings, Montana.

They've never been above 108 degrees. They have a chance this weekend. Higher than 108. That's incredible. All right, Bill Carins, we thank you for that. We're going to turn now to dramatic moments today in a Utah court in the case of the man accused of assassinating political activist Charlie Kirk, never before seen photos of the alleged weapon

and what the suspect's former roommate in a recorded interview revealed. Here's Camila Bernal. For the first time, we're hearing from the former. roommate of Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk. I started crying a little bit and said he wishes he hadn't done it. This moment from a previously recorded interview is part of a prosecutors consider a confession Robinson made to his then roommate and romantic partner Lance Twigs. The video shown today at a hearing in Utah along with messages, they exchanged the day of

the September 2025 shooting. So this would have been from Tyler. says drop what you're doing, look under your keyboard. Prosecutors say under that keyboard was a handwritten note that said, I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I'm going to take it. Kirk's wife Erica, who has been in court all week in tears as that note was read. Twigs describing their interaction the day after the shooting like this. I just asked him in person if what he said was true the night before and he said it was.

In court today, prosecutors also showing never-before-seen photos of the rifle believed to have been used by Robinson and engraved bullets. Will you read the markings here? A fascist? Robinson has not yet entered a plea. His lawyers argued against Twig's statements being released, saying they would harm their clients right to a fair trial. Tom. Okay, Camilla, thank you. Now to the political chaos back in Maine, that could be the key to who controls Congress in November.

November. The Democratic candidate for Senate there saying he's out and now the frantic race to replace him. Here's Ryan Nobles. Tonight, Democrats in Maine starting from scratch in search of a new nominee after embattled Graham Platner ended his campaign in the wake of a rape accusation. I intend to file my paperwork to withdraw. Platner denied the accusation against him and said he was only dropping out because the political infrastructure around him had collapsed. We're going to lose all of the things that any campaign needs on the basic level, simply to function.

His exit now kicks off a frantic sprint for Maine Democrats to pick his replacement by July 27th. The party planning a 600-person convention with the goal of creating a competitive contest with multiple candidates. A different approach from the process that led to Kamala Harris, replacing Joe Biden as the party's nominee for president in 2024. Already, at least a half a dozen candidates have jumped into the race, including Riv Shah, who lost the state's primary for governor, repurposing his campaign signs to reflect the new race, and distancing himself from the former nominee.

I would not accept an endorsement from Graham, nor have I sought one. Some voters relieved that Platner is out, but worried about the chaos his exit has left behind. Well, it just thrown confusion into everything. Meanwhile, incumbent Republican Susan Collins continues on in search of her sixth term. And once again, Democrats concede she will be tough to beat. I'd like to find somebody who's young and, you know, stop this Trump train that I think Collins is the co-conductor of. Ryan Nobles joins us now live.

And Ryan, we know Plattner has suspended his campaign, but he isn't officially out of the race just yet. No, Tom. He's technically not. Platner is still the party's nominee until he files paperwork with the Secretary of State withdrawing from the race. He has told his campaign he will not do that until Monday's deadline. Tom. Ryan Nobles for us, Ryan, thank you. In China tonight, the death toll is rising after a fire, tore through a shoe factory there. Video showing workers racing to escape. Janice Mackey Freyer with the images now coming in. Tonight, terrifying scenes at a shoe factory in southeastern China, where flames and thick smoke engulfed the entire building, trapping workers on the roof.

A man standing at the edge as a woman cries out, come on, jump, they're afraid. And this person holding on to the building before they fall. In this video, voices saying, firefighters can't get there. 239 people were inside the factory when the fire broke out, according to Chinese state media. Volunteers tried using ladders to help some escape.

Officials say at least 28 people were killed. Widely covered across state media, the blaze is the latest in a string of fatal workplace accidents here, including explosions at a fireworks factory and inside a coal mine that prompted nationwide scrutiny of workplace safety in China. The fire at the shoe factory started on the ground floor, a local official told state media and said that materials there were poorly stored and highly flammable, making it hard for rescue teams to get people out.

The fire prompted swift and public criticism from China's leader Xi Jinping, who ordered a full investigation and said those responsible for the tragedy should answer for it. Tom? Janice, Mackey Freyer for us tonight. Janice, thank you. Back here at home, there are growing questions over a Mississippi college athlete who died over the 4th of July on a boating tree. to an island with friends. They came back, but he did not.

Aaron Gilchrist has borne the investigation. Tonight, the urgent search for answers as the mystery grows over what happened to Nolan Wells, the 18-year-old college athlete found dead last seen on a 4th of July trip. His body recovered from the water near Horn Island off the Mississippi mainland on Monday morning. His body was washed up on the shore, and so we have to get to the answers.

Authorities say Wells took a boat to the island with friends on Independence Day. This photo may be one of the last taken of him. Wells was reported missing by his family that evening after the friends returned home without him. It's unclear if any of the people in the photo were with him when he disappeared. Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump

has suggested race may be a factor in the investigation. Nolan was the only African-American in the group. And so it is making people harking back to the sins of the past in the state of Mississippi. And so I think that's why people are so concerned with getting to the truth of what happened to Nolan Wells. Some have speculated that videos circulated on social media

show Nolan in an argument with other people, but even the person who shot it says she doesn't know who is talking or what it appears to show. The Jackson County Sheriff's Office is asking people on the island that day to turn over any unedited video or photos, specifically those depicting alleged altercations or containing images of or believed to include Nolan Wells. The rumors are out there, but the truth is what we want to get to law enforcement. A local judge posted on Facebook that her son was on the boat with Wells,

writing that he cooperated with investigators and that her son decided to leave because of boat damage and that Wells made a decision to stay on the island and return inland later with another group of friends. I think the family deserves the truth, and that's what we're here to provide for them. Tonight, the family waiting on state and independent autopsies, as Nolan Wells is being remembered by a former coach as an outstanding athlete who carried himself with humility and led by example. Aaron Gilchrist, NBC News. All right, when we return in 60 seconds, the dramatic video from high above the Brooklyn Bridge,

how the NYPD brought a climber down safely. Plus, the man accused of setting fire to a business using a propane tank as a blow torch, how police brought him in. And our series, Business in America, how AI is keeping one of the most iconic blue gene companies on the cutting edge. We're back now with the urgent effort to save a woman climbing one of New York City's most iconic landmarks, the Brooklyn Bridge. Aaron McLaughlin with the daring NYPD rescue that was captured on camera. I got you. I promise. Tonight, new video shows a harrowing rescue at the top of the famed Brooklyn Bridge. Specially trained officers with safety harnesses climbing up the cables.

You can see them high up in the air, the water more than 100 feet below. According to the police commissioner Wednesday evening, the NYPD Emergency Services Unit responded to 911 calls of a person in distress. My name is Chris. What's your name? I just want to talk. What's happening today? Body camera footage shows an officer approaching the woman who has not been named. Her face blurred by the NYPD. I want to help you. That's why I'm up here right now. I genuinely care.

I do. Listen as the officer gently tries to talk her down, meeting the crisis with compassion. It's a permanent solution to a temporary problem. It really is. I don't know what you're going through, but I want to understand. We have services we can get you to. The strongest thing you can do right now is, accept help. I promise you, that's the strongest thing you can do.

Police say the conversation lasted for nearly an hour before a team of first responders restrains her, safely removing her from the bridge and taking her to the hospital for evaluation. Tonight, the New York Police Commissioner praising those officers for their extraordinary care and courage. Aaron McLaughlin, NBC News, New York. And great work by the NYPD there. All right, when we return, the arson suspect, wielding a propane tank as a torch. How police stopped him. Plus the man accused of hurling Molotov cocktails

at Houses of Worship, while he was doing next. We're back now with wild new video of a man carrying this flaming propane tank through a restaurant in Tampa, Florida. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says the building was filled with smoke and flames when they arrived. You can see it there.

Authorities also said the suspect was holding two knives when they got on the scene, he now faces multiple charges, including arson. And take a look at this disturbing video. Surveillance catching a man caught on camera throwing a Molotov cocktail at a Jehovah's Witness building in Queens, New York. Police say this was one of two attacks on houses of worship that happened last night, and that the 26-year-old man was charged, was linked to a third incident as well. Charges are still pending. And in our series business in America, our Savannah Sellers sat down with Levi's

CEO Michelle Gass, the first woman to serve as chief executive in the company's history. They went deep inside Levi's vault, including a look at these genes that are more than 150 years old, but the company is also increasingly turning to AI for its future. Is that being embraced by the people who work on your creative teams? It is. And for us, I think that's a really important point, because we are a brand about authenticity, about craft. But if this can be a tool to help our teams think broader or lead to that next idea, then we absolutely should use it.

So it's not a replacement at all. Gas also says the goal of using AI is to help customers, including plans for a virtual shopping assistant that can help customers pick out their next outfit. All right, that does it for us tonight. We thank you for watching Nightly News on this Thursday. I'm Tom Yamas. Tonight and always we're here for you. Good night.