NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Thursday, November 13, 2025

Episode Date: November 14, 2025

Tanker truck leak spews ammonia gas in Oklahoma; Survivor’s family reacts to newly-released Epstein email; Senator John Fetterman hospitalized after fall related to heart issue; 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, the dangerous and chaotic scene, toxic gas leaking from a tanker truck, sickening dozens in Oklahoma, people fighting for their lives unable to breathe, hundreds evacuated from their homes. The toxic gas spewing from a truck, blanketing cars in a massive cloud of dangerous chemicals, dozens hospitalized some critically, hundreds huddling in shelters for safety, emergency responders rushing to the scene in gas masks. First on NBC, the family of the accuser mentioned in the newly released Epstein emails, speaking out, did she ever discuss spending time with President Trump? Senator John Federman hospitalized after a fall, the condition he suffered from, usually fatal, what we know. The government is open, but when will things return to normal? Flight cuts still snarling travel, plus when will federal workers finally get paid? A man dying just hours after eating a hamburger. The first reported death connected to a tick-induced meat allergy that's becoming increasingly common, the new warning tonight.

Our series, The Cost of Denial, the former insurance executive, now fighting the insurance company over rising premiums. The new front in the space race, what Jeff Bezos's company did today that it's never done before. And a highway shut down over a hog, the wild foot chase, to catch that pig. And there's good news tonight, the emotional surprise for young farmers who jumped into help after the Texas floods. When their town needed it the most, nightly news starts right now. This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas. And good evening. Imagine if the air we all breathe suddenly turn toxic.

That was the reality today for so many in Weatherford, Oklahoma. after a tanker truck carrying ammonia gas started leaking dangerous chemicals. Look at this here. It looks like a horror film. A massive cloud of the toxic gas blanketing a hotel parking lot, nearly covering all the cars. People describe being unable to breathe. Some said they felt like they were choking. First responders in gas masks, you see them here at the scene. More than 60 patients had to be rushed to the hospital.

Several of them airlifted. Hundreds of people living in the area were told to evacuate their homes. and fled to shelters as the gas spread. The dangerous chemicals began leaking near this hotel about 70 miles west of Oklahoma City. The gas dissipating as the day went on, but officials warning people living in the area to air out their homes. Ryan Chandler is there tonight for us. This was the chaotic scene in Weatherford, Oklahoma, a tanker truck spewing massive amounts

of toxic gas in a hotel parking lot. We just have a huge cloud of gas coming out the west side of the holiday in As first responders closed in overnight, dozens of patients in respiratory distress were rushed to a nearby hospital. Police say four were flown to Oklahoma City, deemed life critical. I remember screaming, I can't breathe, I can't breathe, what is happening, I can't breathe. Sherry Arcureo was working the front desk when panic broke out. It filled this hotel lobby, and you felt like you would know where to run. Yeah, like we didn't, I didn't physically see any smoke at that time.

I've seen pictures since, and it was like this giant, like a low flow cloud. system it kind of looked like that just covered the entire base of the entire hotel. Emergency crews and gas masks went door to door, telling hundreds of local residents to evacuate as the plume spread to nearby communities, including three senior living facilities. There was people choking. I mean, I was choking. You know, every breath was like a survival gas. This morning, I feel like I've aged and I probably smoked about 17 packs of sigs. And hydrous ammonia used for farm fertilizer has a suffocating odor and can be deadly. causing respiratory distress, burning skin and eyes.

It's attacking your lungs, the moisture in your lungs, and so it's very, very dangerous. This morning, local authorities announced the concentration in the air had reduced to acceptable levels, lifting the evacuation order. Tonight officials urging residents to open doors and windows to air out their homes. And Ryan joins us now live from the scene where, as you said, it's safe to be now, but Ryan, that tanker in question still there.

It is, Tom. You see that tanker farthest from us. That's where officials believe an equipment failure triggered this leak. We're also hearing from air gas tonight. They tell us they're working with authorities, encouraging everybody to keep following the guidance of local officials. Tom. Ryan Chandler leading us off tonight. Ryan, thank you. Now to the interview first on NBC News, the family of a prominent Jeffrey Epstein victim speaking out tonight after she was mentioned in those Epstein emails just released. In one email, Epstein claimed, she spent hours with President Trump. Hallie Jackson now with her family's response. The family of prominent Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts, Joufrey, tonight, speaking publicly for the first time since the release of never-before-seen Epstein emails. We have mixed bag of emotions right now.

How reckless it is of the administration and the White House to unredact our sister's name. Juffrey's name was initially redacted in one email released by Democrats, but later identified by Republicans. In the message, Epstein claims Joufrey spent hours at his house with Donald Trump. Did Virginia ever discuss with you this idea that she spent hours with Donald Trump at any point? That we're aware of. We've never had that conversation explicitly. President Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing linked to Epstein, and Jufre, who died by suicide earlier this year, did not accuse him either. Writing in her book, he couldn't have been friendlier. The president says he cut ties with Epstein in the early 2000s, after Epstein hired away Mar-a-Lago staffers, including Joufrey, to work for him.

These emails prove absolutely nothing other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong. Political pressure on the president may ramp up next week when the House votes to try to force the release of the Justice Department's Epstein case files. We're looking to Congress to do the right thing, and we're hopeful. The vote, moving forward now, only after a final signature from the newest member of Congress. Democrat Adelita Grahalva. What is your expectation for how many Republicans do you think may join Democrats on this? If they hear from their constituents, every one of them should.

Because this is not a partisan issue. Grahalva, alongside Epstein survivors, Liz Stein and Jess Michaels, who attended her swearing in Wednesday. As survivors, we can't do this alone. We need our allies to do in order for us to be able to do this work. We need the American people to not. stop putting the pressure on. It's only one tiny victory. You know, we can't, we can't just ride on that right now. Hallie joins us now live. And Hallie, what are the next steps for this vote? Well, Tom, early next week, we'll see how much support there is among House Republicans for this

plan to try to force the release of the Epstein files. But even if this bill passes the House, it faces an uncertain future in the Senate. Tom. Okay, Hallie Jackson for us. Hallie, thank you. A health scare for Senator John Federman today, who was hospitalized in Pittsburgh after he fell on a morning walk. Garrett Hake joins us now live, and Garrett, that fall was related to a serious cardiac issue that's usually deadly without treatment. Yeah, that's right, Tom. Senator Fenerman remains hospitalized tonight for observation and so that doctors can fine-tune his medication, a spokesman says, after a fall caused by what's called a ventricular fibrillation. That's a serious cardiac event, which the Mayo Clinic says is the most common cause

of sudden cardiac death. Essentially, the senator's heart momentarily stopped pumping blood to the rest of his body. The Federman suffered a serious stroke in 2022 and afterwards was outfitted with a pacemaker defibrillator, which can detect those issues immediately when they happen. His probably saved his life. The senator suffered only minor facial injuries in the fall, joking afterwards in a statement, quote, if you thought my face looked bad before, waited until you see it now. Tom. All right, not losing a sense of humor. Garrett, we thank you. The federal government is now back open, but we're likely to be facing impacts of the shutdown for days or even longer, including at America's airports. Once again, here's Ryan Nobles on when things will get back to

normal. Tonight, just hours after the longest federal government shutdown came to an end. It's an honor now to sign this incredible bill and get our country working again. New questions about how long it will take to recover from the impacts at America's airport. reports the FAA is still ordering a 6% reduction in flights through the weekend. One major airline tells NBC News it had to rebook 50,000 passengers over the last two weeks. Today, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noe, rewarding TSA officers who work during the shutdown without pay with $10,000. They're going to get a bonus check for stepping up, taking on extra shifts. And we've learned federal workers will start getting paychecks, including back pay, as soon.

soon as this Saturday. But federal contractors don't get back pay. Are you worried about being evicted? Oh, I'm very worried. They could come knocking any day. Like Althea Hart, a contractor for the Agriculture Department, who's gone without a paycheck for more than a month. It's like digging out of debt, managing a new job, going through an eviction, trying to find a new place. It's just, you know, it just piles on. As for SNAP food benefit assistance, the USDA says that states will receive their funds within the next 24 hours, but it could be until Monday before recipients get them. Tom? All right, Ryan, thank you. We are tracking dangerous weather tonight. The West Coast in for heavy rain, winds and flooding. As a strong storm is hitting right now. Bill Cairns joins us

now live, and Bill, how bad could this get? Los Angeles is expecting to get 25% of their yearly rainfall in just the next two days. This is a big storm for Southern California. It's a long-duration event, too. Today, it hit around San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, a lot of rain. We did have some wind damage. And then as we go throughout the forecast over the next two days, we shift everything southwards. So Friday, we're going to see on and off rain, especially those burn scar areas. But it's Saturday I have my eye on. That's when the heaviest rainfall will continue through Southern California. We're expecting rainfall totals in the mountains, up to six inches. In the cities, we could see three to four inches of rain. And if we get

that heavy rainfall in those burn scars from those horrific fires we had earlier this year, we could get those mud and debris flows, especially areas from Santa Barbara to L.A. We'll keep a close eye on. Yeah, residents got to be careful. Okay, Bill, thank you. Now to a health alert, and this is a strange one, the first reported death from a meat allergy caused by a tick bite, a man in New Jersey who died hours after eating a hamburger. Here's Anne Thompson with what you need to know. This allergy to meat, including beef, lamb and pork, tonight is linked to its first death. A 47-year-old New Jersey man ate a burger in 2024 and died four hours later. Two weeks earlier, he got sick after eating his

stake. It really illustrates the need for education because when he had the very severe episode of abdominal pain, they had no sense that that could be anaphylaxis. University of Virginia's Dr. Thomas Platt's Mills identified the death and the allergy behind it. It's called Alpha-Gal syndrome. It usually starts with a bike from a lone star tick that sensitizes a person's immune system to a sugar molecule found in the meat of mammals called Alpha-Gal. Reactions can include hives, nausea, and life-threatening anaphylaxis. Debbie Nicol lives with Alpha-Gal. I would wake up in the middle of the night with this extraordinary stomach pain.

One of 450,000 Americans with the tick-induced meat allergy. From the time of onset to my diagnosis in 2019, it was probably 11 or 12 years. And your doctor even went so far as to remove your gallbladder? That's correct. Alpha-gal is managed with diet. avoiding meat as well as dairy and lard from those sources and ticks. I still go out and hike. I still eat really, really well, even if it means I don't consume B for pork or dairy. It's a challenging lifestyle, but there are ways to find joy.

Ann Thompson joins us now live in studio, and our viewers are going to have a lot of questions about this. So are these ticks all over the country? Increasingly so, Tom. This problem used to be centered in the southeastern part of the United States, but as winters have warmed and the Dears that carry these ticks multiply, Alpha-Gal is now found in the north, northeast, and west as well. All right, Ann, thanks for telling us about that one. We'll be right back with our series, The Cost of Denial. Tonight, the former insurance executive going to war with an insurance company over skyrocketing premiums. Does he stand a better chance of winning? That's next. We're back now with our series, The Cost of Denial, where we investigate the challenges so many

Americans face with their insurance providers. Tonight, our look at one kind of insurance that has drastically raised prices. Why? Well, they never expected that many people to actually use the benefits. Aaron McLaughlin explains. Has this consumed your life? It really has. From his dining room table in Newington, Connecticut, David Schwitzer is battling a multi-billion dollar section of the insurance industry. We are budgeting more today for long-term care than we do for property tax, homeowners insurance, and monthly utilities combined. The retired insurance executive fighting, he says, to protect his family. If something happens to both of us and we don't have long-term care insurance, these are

the people that are going to have to figure it out. He tracks policy rate increases, holds seminars to educate seniors, and pushes state lawmakers to change the long-term care insurance industry. Because of a series of rate increases, David says he and his wife Judy can barely hold onto their policies, meant to provide coverage for things like nursing homes or in-home personal care when needed. It's all at a time when we're getting older and we're thinking this could happen. Back in 2004, the couple purchased their policies from Jenworth, one of the nation's largest providers, hoping it would help them financially if they needed care

in old age. Back then, each plan costs just over $1,100 annually. Now in their 70s, David and Judy are each paying more than $4,600 per year for long-term care premiums. That's almost a 300% increase. It was probably a case of bait and switch. We're offering you a really cheap policy, and then we're going to start giving you these rate increases, and we're going to see how far can we push you before you cry, uncle, and say, I give up, I can't afford it anymore.

In a statement, Jenworth told NBC News, the insurer has suffered significant losses on long-term care policies, pointing to faulty assumptions it made in the past, saying its rate increases are necessary to make sure, every policyholder receives meaningful long-term care benefits, adding it offers alternatives, including reducing certain benefits to lower monthly premiums. This is absolutely a crisis in terms of being able to offer the coverage to people that they need. Andrew Mays is the Connecticut Insurance Commissioner.

His office is responsible for approving rate increases. We have to ensure the companies remain solvent. The only thing worse than having to pay an increase premium is paying a premium for a policy that can't deliver. From the Connecticut Insurance Department database, NBC News, counted 38 separate rate hike requests made by Jenworth for its long-term care policies since 2011. Half of those requests were in excess of 50%. The majority were partially granted by Maze's department.

Jenworth is just one of many insurers requesting vast increases nationwide. How did so many major insurers misjudge this market so bad? That is a good question. I think they made assumptions based on the data that they had at the time. Who pays for those mistakes, the companies or the consumers? Sadly, it is often both. David and Judy have already paid a price and are now bracing for the next potential rate increase. If we walk away from this policy, we've taken $100,000 and just wasted it. Okay, Aaron joins us now live. Aaron, walk our viewers through this. What's at the crux of why these premiums

are going up so much. Tom, a big part of this is about the policies having to pay out. May says when many insurers sold these policies years ago, they assumed a certain number of folks would eventually drop them. That projection was way off the mark. More people held on. Now millions of seniors are paying the price. All right, Aaron, thank you for that. We're back in a moment with it. While police chase caught on camera, how did this pig end up running free on the highway? That's next. We are back now with liftoff for a massive Blue Origin rocket. The company's new Glenn Rocket now making its way to Mars with a pair of NASA spacecraft.

The rocket's mission to Mars is the first major test for the space company owned by Jeff Bezos. It also marked a big win after Blue Origin's rocket booster landed safely back on Earth, a feat only achieved by Elon Musk's Space X. Also tonight, we're remembering former NBC and ABC news correspondent Jim Avila, who died after a lot. illness. He won multiple awards over his long career. He was 69 years old. And here at home, wild video of a police chase in New Mexico, but this time the suspect, you see it there, was a pig. Seriously, you can see officers sprinting after it on an Albuquerque Highway before they trap it and carry it back to their cruiser. Police believe the pig, you hear it there squealing, was a pet. It is now in safe hands at an animal shelter till its owners claim it. All right.

When we come back, there is good news tonight about hardworking pain off and the special surprise for young farmers who stepped up when their community faced a disaster. That's nice, too. Oh, I miss that. There's good news tonight for a group of young farmers in Texas who jumped into help when their community needed them the most. Here's Priscilla Thompson. 17-year-old Druger Reeves is up before the sun, caring for his animals. But when catastrophic floods tore through Kerrville, Texas in July, it was his community that needed care. Everything was just destroyed, and then you're just like, what can I do to help?

What can I do to be there from my community? He and his future Farmers of America classmates jumped into action. Today, their event space is still operating as a command center, which means there was nowhere to hold their fall fundraiser. And the stock show, where scholarships are awarded, is now in jeopardy. If students are not able to show their animals and get that support, what is at stake? The future is at stake. Honestly, some of us won't be able to pay for college. So Ruger wrote a letter asking for help. But as much as we gave our community, the flood drained it dry financially.

He sent it to everyone he could think of. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is proud to be here. But it was the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo that answered his plea. And we were there for the moment they surprised Ruger with a massive donation. Half a million dollars for local agriculture programs. How are you feeling? Absolutely. I'm super grateful.

This is going to mean the world to everybody here. Gratitude from a group of students who gave so much. Percilla Thompson, NBC News, Kerrville, Texas. And that's nightly news for this Thursday. I'm Tom Yamas. Before we go, to those new viewers out there that have found us in the past couple of weeks, we want to thank you for joining us. Tonight and always, we're here for you.

Good night.