NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Thursday, September 10, 2026

Episode Date: September 11, 2026

Trump pledges $5,000 for Americans if GOP wins; Staten Island barge fire kills one; Delta Air Lines mid-air emergency; 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 presidential payout promise, can President Trump give a $5,000 check to every American adult? The president's pitch offering to pay $5,000 if Republicans win the House and Senate. Democrats calling it an election year stunt, we press Republicans on if it could really become a reality and where the money would come from. Deadly oil barge explosion off New York City. One worker killed. What set off this blast? Mid-air emergency passengers strapping on oxygen masks as a delta plane suddenly plunges tens of thousands of feet. Why did the plane suddenly lose cabin pressure? A massive sinkhole at the mansion owned by Nicholas Cage triggering evacuations now for dozens. AI doomsday fears reaching a fever pitch.

More researchers at top companies coming forward to NBC News with concerns that the tech could kill us all. Our series, the cost of denial, we're with the firefighter on his first trip back to the World Trade Center since 2001. Why he tells me his time there has caused dementia, the coverage he's fighting for. The bizarre revelation from singer Rick Springfield that he killed a man while performing for troops in Vietnam. Save from the sea of 15-year-old stranded for days in the frigid Alaska waters rescued by a nearby boat. and the jet lag bowl, the L.A. Rams and 49ers kicking off their season in Australia tonight, 17 hours ahead of home. Both teams tackling the time change very differently. So who's right? 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 want to begin with new questions about President Trump's pledge to give every American adult, a $5,000 check if Republicans win the House and Senate. The president announcing that plan at the Republicans' midterm convention saying it will be called the Trump dividend. The plan would cost the U.S. more than a trillion dollars. Democrats are already blasting the move as a stunt. The president has floated some similar payments in the past, but not all have materialized. We have new reporting tonight on how realistic these payments are, and we press

key Republicans on whether Congress would even pass it. The Republican Convention back in session tonight as the GOP faces several big challenges heading into election season, including the war in Iran and inflation. Our Ryan Nobles is in Dallas at the convention. He starts us off. Tonight, President Trump defending his provocative new plan, with Republicans facing headwinds going into the midterms. He's pledging to give every American adult a $5,000 check if Republicans keep control of the House and Senate. If the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000. It will be called the Trump dividend.

The plan would cost over $1 trillion. The president suggesting it would come from tariff revenue. But that still would not be enough. Because they can't. I'll tell you what, because the Democrats can't do it. Because with them it's negative growth. With us, it's so positive. Democrats already hammering the president.

proposal, calling it an unrealistic election year stunt. This is the biggest liar to ever serve in government period. Pathological. And look, the dividend is not happening. President Trump earlier gave $1776 to members of the military, but other promised rebates never materialized. Congress would have to pass the new plan. We pressed a top House Republican.

Is that realistic? I, well, we'll have to wait and see it. He wants the American public to share in the great success that this country's having. All of this as the president rallied Republicans at their midterm convention. So I'm asking you to pretend that I'm on the ballot because if we lose, you're going to lose your border, you're going to lose your tax cuts, you're going to lose your safety and security. And in a surprise, Democratic Senator John Federman appearing on video, blasting his own party. I'm always going to stand with America. I'm always going to reject the extremes and socialism.

Ryan joins us now live there in Dallas from the convention. And Ryan, one high profile Republican senators now criticizing this $5,000 payment proposal. Yeah, that's right, Tom. And it comes after President Trump is now suggesting he could make this dividend a reality without Congress. Main Senator Republican Susan Collins, who's locked in a tight race, is questioning how much this dividend would cost and who would be eligible for it. Meanwhile, President Trump set to speak again tonight. Last night, he was scheduled to speak for only 30 minutes. He spoke for nearly two hours. Tom. Ryan Noble's leading us off tonight. We want to turn out to some more developing news and explosion on Staten Island. A barge catching fire and dark smoke is filling the air as firefighters

rush to the scene. Authorities say at least one person has been killed. Ida Siegel from our New York station is there with that video. The baby. Tonight, explosions. Rocking a barge on New York's Staten Island. Dark smoke billowing from the shipping container, triggering a massive emergency response. Fire trucks arriving to the scene. Firefighters responding to reports of a large blaze racing to contain the flames.

There were three explosions, but the first one was the biggest, and then I was praying that nobody got hurt. And when the ambulance came, I said, oh, go. Don't tell me, you know, because that was the last thing I wanted to see was them. Initial reports, one man was killed, no identification has been released, crews on scene securing remaining petroleum from the container. Authorities have not determined the cause of the fire as the investigation is underway. The shipping yard is located in a residential neighborhood. There are homes right across the street.

Late this afternoon, the fire department confirming two firefighters also suffered minor injuries. Tom? Ida, thank you. We are following two separate emergencies on board Delta flights tonight when both planes lost pressurization. In one case, oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling. Tom Costello has more. It happened at 36,000 feet. Oxygen masks suddenly dropped. Passengers panicked as Delta Flight 2311 L.AX to Salt Lake reported losing cabin pressure. The pilot's 2311 currently rapid descent. We'd like to get down to 9,000 and we'll direct Las Vegas. The pilots quickly put on their own masks. The auction deployed.

That's permanent. Then descended 27,000 feet in just 10 minutes, diverting to Las Vegas. I mean, you could definitely feel that we were going down. Passenger Jordan Maynard grabbed his phone. There was a couple minutes there where you didn't know if you needed to text my wife, tell her that I love her and the kids. Thankfully, the plane landed safely in Vegas. Then today, another emergency. A different Delta plane leaving JFK for Phoenix also lost pressure. We had a pressurization issue.

That flight returned safely to JFK. These are rare occurrences, but pilots are trained to get on oxygen and descend the airplane, and that's exactly what happened here. A loss of pressurization can cause crew and passengers to lose consciousness. In 1999, a Learjet, carrying golfer, Payne Stewart, and five others, lost pressure than flew for four hours before crashing. And Utah, Jordan Maynard, just thankful to be home. I gave the kids a kiss while they were asleep, laid down, just laid next to my wife,

and just relax, kind of try to catch my breath. Delta says both crews followed policies and procedures to land safely. The FAA is now investigating. Tom? Tom, thank you. Also tonight, NBC News, learning several U.S. military aircraft were damaged during an Iranian missile attack. A U.S. official says it happened on an air base in Jordan earlier this week and that the aircraft were not damaged directly by the missiles, but by falling debris after the missiles were successfully intercepted. All but one of the jets are back in service.

Okay, we head to California now, the growing issues from that massive sinkhole in Malibu outside a home owned by Nicholas Cage. We told you about this earlier this week, but much of the neighborhood now forced to evacuate. Dana Griffin joins us, and Dana, what are officials there telling? you. Well, Tom, the sign here says it all. Area closed due to hazardous conditions. A city official telling me today that his greatest fear is that people or cars could fall in and there could be further collapse. After the ground gave way Tuesday morning, the hole is now an estimated 50 feet wide. While five homes are damaged, more than 30 are red tagged, meaning families cannot return until it's safe. That's because the damaged street currently prevents first responders from reaching

people in an emergency. And that city official believes that coastal erosion is likely the cause. It could take repairs up to five weeks. Tom? All right, Dana Griffin for us, Dana, thank you. Now to those new warnings about AI and the headlines couldn't be worse, that AI could kill all of mankind within the next decade. Three researchers from inside leading AI companies now coming forward to NBC News with their fears.

Here's Christine Romans. It was the resignation that Rickashire. around the cyber world. Jacob Coxon's post now viewed more than 155 million times, explaining why he quit leading AI firm Anthropic over concerns of a doomsday scenario. He talked last night with Tom. You truly believe that AI could kill us all in less than a decade? Yes, I do. And it's not just me. Many people working in the industry, including people, executives, senior researchers, all genuinely believe that there is a substantial

probability that this technology could kill everyone. Now more former AI insiders coming forward to NBC News. But there are no adults in the room. Josh Engels, who just recently left Google's deep mind, is also speaking out about the risks of a possible AI takeover. AIs would be in control of the world. I don't know if this would mean like everybody would immediately be killed by, everyone would immediately die. I don't know if that's the case. But it definitely seems like like a possibility. Google did not respond to our request for comment. Engles is now working at an AI safety nonprofit, Joe Benton heading there to having quit his job at Anthropic two weeks ago. What is the worst case scenario, Joe? I think the worst case scenario is that humanity, as a

species, we lose control of our future. Anthropics says it recognizes the unprecedented risks, and we continue to build models with some of the strongest safeguards in the industry. And today announced it has disrupted multiple threat actors who used Claude to develop software for weapons design and development. Some of those cases coming from Yemen, Russia and China, and involving development of biological weapons. Many calling for the top AI companies to slow the development of new models. Coxson warning a potential apocalyptic future is closer than people think. It's plausible within six months. The models pose risk of taking over the world. AI insiders now compelled to warn the rest of us.

Christine Roman's NBC News. All right. Ahead on nightly news, our series, The Cost of Denial. We go back to Ground Zero with a firefighter who now says he has dementia after his service there, and he's not getting the coverage he needs. The shocking revelations from the singer of Jesse's girl saying he killed a man when he was in Vietnam as a performer. And the team found alive surviving on the bottom of this skiff after days in the freezing sea. Stay with us.

We are back now with this moving light show over Lower Manhattan, making the shape of the Twin Towers, 2,97 drones taking flight, one for every life lost on 9-11, 25 years ago. Tonight in our series, The Cost of Denial, we look at the people who were there at Ground Zero. saying they're experiencing early onset dementia now, 25 years later, and are feeling left behind. For the first time in 25 years, Stephen Stollerich is stepping foot at the site of the World Trade Center, where he worked as a volunteer firefighter in the days after 9-11. His memories from that time remain vivid, even though this 61-year-old has been diagnosed with dementia. Do you remember 9-11? I mean, can you remember it? It's like yesterday.

I saw one tower on fire, and then, boom, there goes the other one. And then a couple days later, the fire department is for volunteers to go in, and I'm going. And he was there when President Bush first visited Ground Zero. You were in this crowd when George Bush gives that famous speech? For two days, he was working by the pile, helping in the cleanup. As soon as you walk past the checkpoint. Even before you got to the checkpoint, no matter which way the wind shifted, you could smell it. What was it like?

Death. Smell of death, fear. And now fear is what Stephen and his wife, Teresa, are grappling with. They think his work on the 9-11 site led to his early onset dementia. The one thing he did ask me, and I promised him, he said, don't put me away. And I said, I would do whatever it takes to keep you home. I'm never going to leave him. I will do whatever it takes.

I will never put him in the facility. Tom, never. As a 9-11 volunteer, they say there should be help. Do you believe the stuff he was breathing in on that pit has stayed inside of him forever? Yes, without a doubt, 100%. Anybody warn you? Anybody say anything?

Hey, guys, be careful. We don't know what this is. No, here's a mask. Yeah, that's a good. half of the time it was on, half of the time it was off. You couldn't breathe with it, so you took it off. Stephen was one of thousands of first responders working at the site of the attack exposed to that toxic air.

The World Trade Center Health Program was created to help survivors and first responders. It currently covers medical conditions like asthma, various cancers, and PTSD, but not dementia. Teresa says a few years ago, Stephen began growing more agitated, confused. Why did that bother him? Why did he get so angry? Why is he yelling? Well, that was the first telltale sign. Then things started to happen where, oh, he left the oven on. Things not put in the right place? Yes. Researchers say it's part of a new 9-11 health crisis emerging 25 years later. The toxins from that time now potentially causing dementia in many first responders in their late 50s and early 60s. An inordinate amount of patients seem to have cognitive impairment. Dr. Benjamin Luft at Stony Brook University filed a petition for dementia in 9-11 responders under 65 to be covered by the World Trade Center Health Program. The CDC, which runs the program, says a decision on the petition has not been made.

But Love sees a clear connection between the dust inhaled by first responders like Stephen and the decline they're facing today. That dust would we believe found its way to the brain and began this process. In a study of more than 5,000 first responders, his team found that those with the greatest exposure to toxins at the World Trade Center site are 14 times more likely to be diagnosed with dementia before age 65, compared to those exposed to the lowest levels. The cost of this is not just financial. It's the cost of the future and the life we thought we would have, right? I know his mind will be taken away a little bit of time, but his heart is what I fell in

love with. And I will always love him. And just as important to Stephen and Teresa as getting coverage, getting the recognition that his service led to his illness. I'll be anchoring live from Lower Manhattan in the show. shadow of the World Trade Center tomorrow on nightly news. All right, when we return tonight, no food, no water, and brutal conditions at sea, how a teen survived on the hall of a skiff for days. We're back now with an incredible rescue out in the Bering Sea near Alaska. Look at this,

a 15-year-old boy kneeling on the bottom of his overturned skiff after he survived days in the frigid water without food or fresh water. Our Alaska affiliate reports that his brother and cousin, who were also on the boat, died. The Coast Guard says he was found miles away from shore. Also tonight in the music world, rocker Rick Springfield, singer of Jesse's girl, revealing to Joe Rogan, he killed a man in Vietnam while he was there performing for troops. He said it happened during the war in 1968 before he was famous and adding he was staying at a U.S. Navy encampment when it came under attack.

He said he threw a mortar that hit a Viet Cong attacker. Springfield says that experience never left him. And in college football, LSU officially waving the white flag of surrender, saying it will not roster two players who spent training camp in the NFL. The football powerhouse sparked a massive controversy, trying to add pro players to the team. The move de-escalates a major legal battle over whether the school complied with the SEC's rules. When we come back tonight, the Jetlag Bowl,

the Rams and 49ers set to battle not just each other, but a brutal time difference as well in Australia. were there, we'll explain. Finally tonight, the NFL is gearing up for an unprecedented showdown in Australia. Two California teams traveling to the other side of the world to face off down under, but the teams are taking two completely different strategies to deal with the jet lag. So who's right? Janice Mackie Freyer in Australia for us.

The NFL is going somewhere. It's never been before. Melbourne, you're in for a train. The Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers kicking off tonight in Melbourne. Let's go! The buzz is all about the Z's jet lag, a potentially major factor. It takes about 15 hours to travel from California to Melbourne, then add in a 17-hour time difference. I feel like I'm in the future.

Never before have two NFL teams traveled so far for a regular season game. So in a lot of ways, this is also about. of the sleep schedules. The 49ers arrived in Melbourne a week ago, giving themselves days to adjust. I try to see my family's time, but it says yesterday. I don't even get how that's possible. The Rams trying the opposite strategy, touching down roughly 24 hours before kickoff, the goal to keep their bodies and minds on U.S. time.

I think our body box will be right on and ready to go. Experts say it can take one day for every time zone traveled for your body to to adjust, whether that's domestically, and that's three-time zones or in this situation, going 16-time zones for the 49ers and Rams. Two teams ready to take on jet lag and each other. Janice Fike Frier, NBC News, Melbourne. 16 time zones. We're going to have to see who wins.

All right, that's nightly news for this Thursday. I'm Tom Yamas. Thank you so much for watching. Tonight and always, we're here for you. Good night.