NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, August 5, 2025

Episode Date: August 6, 2025

Wildfires raging across multiple states; Tennessee suspected killer in custody after manhunt ;  Maxwell opposes release of Epstein grand jury testimony; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight on the front lines of California's biggest wildfire of the summer, the intense flames expanding to 82,000 acres as wind and dry conditions push fires across the west. Hundreds of structures threaten, keeping crews on their toes. Across the country, skies choked with bad air, causing poor visibility, slowing flights. Al Roker tonight standing by to tell us when it will all let up. Also breaking the man hunt and arrest of a man accused of killing four members of one family, the surveillance video of his final hours at large, and how this morning he was finally spotted inside the woods. Plus, the new subpoenas in the Jeffrey Epstein case, House Republicans targeting the Clintons and more, the new pressure on the Trump administration to release documents in that case. What sank the Titan submersible? The new report saying it was preventable, and that the company owned it, was warned its design was flawed for years, and that the hall was damaged before the doomed journey to the deep.

Tonight, how the company's leaders allegedly silenced concerns. The devastating flash flood inundating a village in India, rescuers describing the near impossible effort to save lives. And 80 years later, the moment that changed war forever. We return to Hiroshima, the site where the U.S. dropped the bomb, and President Truman threatened a reign of ruin. Our team speaking to survivors about echoes of the past and their warnings for the future. And the heroes in a helicopter when two of Baltimore's finest got a call about a man drowning, their quick-thinking emergency landing to save his life. You'll see the video, Nightly News. Starts right now.

This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yannas, reporting tonight from Miami. And good evening. Tonight as we come on the air, 100 wildfires raging across multiple U.S. states as air quality forces more flight delays. The fires burning across the west, you see them right here, seen major evacuations in the state of California with flames threatening almost a thousand structures. Firefighters deploying en masse to battle the growing blaze. In Arizona, the Grand Canyon fire becoming the largest in the country right now and showing no sign of stopping. More than a dozen states under air quality alerts, some of that stemming from those Canadian wildfires with hazy skies from Milwaukee to New York. Boston, again facing ground delays due the thick smoke in the air.

You see it right there. Our Liz Croyd starts us off tonight from inside the fire zone in California. and Liz, officials are telling you this place is hard to battle. Well, Tom, good evening to you. The fire burning in this forest right now is the largest in California. Firefighters tell us that the increasingly hot and dry conditions this week are making it even harder to fight. This fire is just one of hundreds burning across North America right now. Tonight, multiple wildfires impacting cities coast to coast.

In central California, the Gifford fire exploding to more than 82,000 acres, forcing hundreds to evacuate, with flames threatening nearly 900 structures. All the fences on the backside burned up. Satellite imagery showing a time lapse of the smoke, blanketing skies as far away as Las Vegas. And the fire started right around here on the highway, quickly charring thousands of acres. Firefighters say it's the steep terrain deep in this forest

that's made it so challenging to fight. You have extremely steep slopes, very rugged, and then places that haven't burned in a long time. We received less than 50% average rainfall this year. That's causing the fuels to be in critical fuel moisture level. The fire went of roughly a dozen burning across the state, from Big Bear to the mountains near Palm Desert. Further east in Arizona, firefighters battling the largest fire in the U.S. in the Grand Canyon, where the Dragon Bravo fire is now more than 125,000 acres.

In Maui, evacuations now lifted after a brush fire threatened homes near. Lahaina Monday, almost two years to the day since the deadly wildfire that killed more than 100 people. From the Great Lakes to the northeast, at least a dozen states under air quality alerts due to smoke from multiple fires burning in Canada. Hazy skies can be seen in cities like Milwaukee and New York. It's really not good. It's hazy out. I don't feel healthy out here. And in Boston today, another ground delay at Logan Airport due to low visibility. Meanwhile, further south, North Carolina dealing with a downpour. In Charlotte, some neighborhoods underwater. From fires to flooding, the threat of extreme weather this summer is not over yet. Liz Croyd's NBC News Los Padres National Forest. Liz Croyd's from the fire zone tonight. We are in Miami and so is Al Roker. He joins us live. Al, Liz was talking about that hazy air. We see it there in the radar. Is it going to stick around for a while? Well, we got another two days, basically, Tom. You can see the unhealthy air quality in Green Bay, Detroit, Scranton, Newark.

Albany, New York, all unhealthy. Now, here's the deal. We've got 746 active fires in Canada that jet stream bringing it down. So from Duluth all the way to Albany, we're looking at this big problem. But the good news is we've got high pressure that's going to filter in much drier, cooler, and cleaner air. And that means we'll have much better air quality by Thursday. And certainly, it'll mostly be gone by Friday.

All right, a bit of good news there. Al, great to have you here. Tonight, a suspect wanted for a quadruple murder in Tennessee has been detained in Jackson, a hundred miles southwest of Nashville where this happened after a manhunt that's lasted days. Priya Shrether is there. A suspected killer now in custody after evading authorities for a week. Just after 8 o'clock a.m., we received multiple calls of sightings of the suspect. Placing resources there immediately resulted in an additional citizen's call at about 8.57 a.m.

We took advantage of that quickly evolving situation and made the arrest at 9.05 a.m. They've got multiple callers stating they've got sightings of a man with a rifle that ran back into the woodline. Officials say this video from a ring camera showing 28-year-old Austin Robert Drummond dressed in camo and carrying a rifle help narrow down their search. Authorities say Drummond shot and killed four family members, then took an infant and abandoned the baby. in a random yard. I understand there's a connection between the suspect and the victims. Can you just speak to that relationship? Yeah, in terms of the relationship between the suspect and the victims, the suspect's girlfriend is a sister of a victim. In an interview with WMC, our NBC, Memphis affiliate, Ricardo Contreras says he spotted Drummond this morning. I think I was why I stole the phone

when they gathered immediately and the helicopter and everything, that was, I mean, they moved really quick. Officials tonight praising the community. All of the effort, all of the technology, all of the dog determination that we had was really came down to the community doing as was stated, seeing something and making that call. Authorities declined to share a motive but did recover weapons. Drummond is a convicted felon who was out on board. bond for attempted murder. Authorities also say they've arrested three accomplices in this case. Tom? Priya Shreither with that big update. Priya, thank you. We want to turn out of the latest on the battle over the files related to Jeffrey Epstein and whether they should be made public.

His co-conspirator Galane Maxwell saying today she's against releasing key testimony. Here's Kelly O'Donnell. Tonight, this blunt and jarring new statement in a case commanding much public attention, Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Gilane Maxwell is not. Those words from Maxwell's attorneys today as they filed a request to block the government's efforts to release long secret grand jury transcripts in the investigation of infamous sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell is serving 20 years as Epstein's co-conspirator in the sex trafficking of young women. Her lawyers insist that despite whatever interest the public may have in Epstein, her legal options are violated. and her due process rights remain.

Attention is swirled around Maxwell after the Department of Justice conducted two days of interviews with her in July. And later she was transferred from a Florida prison to a lower security camp in Texas that typically does not house sex offenders. Tonight the president said he played no role in her move. I didn't know about it at all, no. I read about it just like you did. In a separate development today, a fresh round of congressional subpoenas that target a group

of prominent national figures, including Bill and Hillary Clinton. House oversight also subpoenaed six former attorneys general and two past FBI directors, seeking their testimony this fall. Epstein victims are also weighing into the court about the potential of releasing those transcripts with mixed reviews. One woman writing, I am not some pawn in your political warfare, while another said this transparency and accountability is a form. of justice. Kelly O'Donnell joins us now live and Kelly, a House committee has also set a deadline for the Department of Justice to turn over more Epstein material. Yeah, limited time, Tom. The House Oversight Committee announced it would give the Department of Justice two weeks to deliver

to Congress all of its files on the Epstein case, files related to his death and all documents on Maxwell's prosecution going far beyond the grand jury transcripts. That deadline is August 19th. Tom. Kelly O'Donnell with a lot of headlines from the White House tonight. Kelly, thank you. With President Trump's latest round of tariffs set to go into effect as the clock strikes 12.1 a.m. on Thursday, new threats of new rates for at least one key trading partner. As Americans say, they're feeling the pain of high prices. Garrett Hake has that story. With less than 30 hours to go until his new global tariffs go into effect, President Trump warning he may raise tariffs still farther on key trade partner India, already facing a 25 percent.

import tax. That threat coming in a wide-ranging phone interview on CNBC. But I think I'm going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours because they're buying Russian oil, they're fueling the war machine, and if they're going to do that, then I'm not going to be happy. Trump policy uncertainty now affecting disparate parts of the U.S. economy. Tariffs again did take a bite out of this. Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar telling investors tariffs could cost their bottom line $1.5 billion this year. Hotel giant Marriott noting a drop in demand from government travel and international visitors to the U.S. And a new AP poll shows more than half of Americans consider the cost of groceries to be a major source of stress. Trump allies facing frustration over the

state of the economy. Why does it seem like when you make your voting decisions, they're based on capital rather than the working class? Nebraska Republican Congressman Mike Flood blasted with jeers at a town hall last night for saying this. With all due respect, sir, the Republican Party now more than ever represents the heart and soul, the working class. All this is the president is still being hit with questions over Friday's weak jobs numbers for the past three months and his decision to fire the head of the federal agency responsible for reporting them, claiming without evidence that the numbers were politically manipulated.

It's a highly political situation. It's totally rigged. Smart people know it. All right, Gary, let's turn to another headline I know you have tonight. Special envoy, Steve Whitkoff, we'll meet with Russian leaders in Moscow tomorrow. Yeah, Tom, those meetings come ahead of President Trump's Friday deadline for Russia to reach a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, or the president says, be subject to so-called secondary tariffs meant to punish Russia's trading partners like China and India and isolate them further from the global economy. Tom? All right, Garrett, we thank you for that. Tonight here on nightly news, we're marking a solemn anniversary, 80 years since the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, killing tens of thousands and leading to the end of World War II. Janice McEigher traveled there and spoke with survivors about the lasting impact.

Every morning at 8.15, the chimes ring out across Hiroshima, marking the moment in 1945. Marking the moment in 1945. when a U.S. bomber overhead dropped the world's first atomic weapon of war here. A signature mushroom cloud rising over wide-scale death and devastation. The target was this bridge. It's T-shaped, but the bomb veered toward the dome, which after the blast was the only building in a one-mile radius still standing. Thousands were killed outright. Radioactive black rain, poisoning. countless more. Taruko Yohata was eight years old that day.

She says she still has the scar from being hurled by the blast. Fearing another, she huddled under a blanket with her family. I didn't really understand what it meant to die, she says. But the warmth I felt at us dying together, I still remember to this day. Three days after Hiroshima, the U.S. unleashed a second bomb on Nagasaki, hastening Japan's surrender and ending the war at a price of nearly a quarter of a million lives. From the ashes, Hiroshima was rebuilt, now a busy city of more than a million people. But with the number of survivors dwindling here, soon living memory of that day will be gone.

Hello, excuse me, where did you come from? It's why, since learning what is great grandmother endured, Shunzasaki hasn't been shy about it. Instead, twice a month, the 12-year-old has been offering free guided tours to visitors around the city's Peace Memorial Park. Why is it important to talk about it? So the most scariest thing that might happen in the future is to forget what happened a long time ago. 80 years on, there are reminders here, like the chimes that ring out every morning. Janice Rackieferra, NBC News, Hiroshima. And we thank Janice and her team for that story.

In 60 seconds, their expedition to the Titanic ended in disaster. Now a blistering new report blames a culture of intimidation and missed warning signs for the disaster that killed five explorers two miles below the ocean surface. That's next. We're back now with the new Coast Guard report on the Titan submersible implosion that left all five people aboard dead, including the company's CEO. The probe found his company silenced warnings and that the disaster was entirely preventable. Here's Tiffany Gosk.

It could have been prevented. The U.S. Coast Guard concludes in a more than 300-page report on the deadly implosion of the Titan submersible. Five people were killed in June 23 on their way to. the Titanic wreck, more than 10,000 feet underwater. Among them, the CEO of Ocean Gate, the company that offered the ultra-exclusive and expensive tours. Jason Newbauer chaired the investigation. Was the company primarily to blame for this tragedy? I believe so. They understood the process. They just didn't follow it. The U.S. Coast Guard says a number of factors led to the sudden catastrophic implosion. Among them, the company had a toxic workplace environment.

and relied on intimidation tactics to avoid oversight, including the looming threat of being fired to silence employees concerned about safety. David Lockridge says he was fired in 2018 after repeatedly warning CEO Stockton Rush that the carbon fiber used to build the submersible wasn't safe. The hull popped and cracked, he says, during testing. Everybody was aware of that the hull was starting to break down. It should never have sounded like that at all. that was a warming site. During the 2022 operating season, the Titans hole began to make noise again. And what that meant was carbon fiber was breaking, you know, during each of those dives. Ocean Gate says it cooperated fully with the Coast Guard's investigation, saying it wound down operations after the tragedy. Today, the family of businessman Shazada Dawood and his 19-year-old

son, who both died on the Titan, thanked the U.S. Coast Guard and called for accountability and regulatory change, but added no report can alter the heartbreaking outcome for their family. Stephanie Gosk, NBC News. And we're back in a moment with the flash flood emergency in India. The incredible wall of water and mudslides destroying a village. That's next. Welcome back. At least four people are dead and dozens are missing.

Take a look at this. Severe flash flooding hit a town in northern India. Heavy floodwaters cascading down a hillside, creating a mudslide, tearing through houses and a market, leaving people trapped under debris and sludge, army and disaster response teams deployed to search for the missing with more rain expected in the coming days. Now to the scary landing caught on camera passenger plane overrunning the runway in Anchorage. You see that. Watch this dash cam as it speeds through traffic on a busy main road. Passengers were left shaken after the plane crashed through a fence. Before coming to a stop, the NTSB is now investigating.

And finally, look at this. A fireworks show turned into mayhem after a fire broke out at a summer festival in Japan, just south of Tokyo. Two boats were quickly set ablaze, sending those on board fleeing into the water to safety. All were rescued and no major injuries were reported. Authorities are trying to figure out what exactly went wrong here. Okay, when we come back, angels from above when a Baltimore police helicopter was on patrol, what they saw brought them down to earth and fast. Their incredible rescue and all the video next.

Finally, there's good news tonight about two Baltimore police helicopter officers who split-second decision saved a life. Brianna Ross from our NBC affiliate in Baltimore reports. Out on routine patrol in the skies above Baltimore, helicopter fox trot flight officers Craig Hoover and Andre Smith Jr. heard a call come over the radio. I got two tickets for a water rescue. It says drowning arrest out of water. A 25-year-old man who hopped the fence at a neighborhood pool after hours needed help.

I decided to respond to that call. Hoover and Smith knew this call was life or death and other officers were too far away to get there in time. I did see the bystanders. It appeared they had just pulled the victim out of the war. So circling over the school. Dre is passionate about saving and helping people. And when he said, if you give me on the ground, I'll do CPR on this guy. I had no choice. I had to find a way to get him on the ground. I'm putting the helicopter down in the field.

This guy looked like he's not breathing, not moving. He's in cardiac arrest. Have a medic get here, ASAP. Officer Hoover spotted an opening, a field next to the nearby school where he could land. On the ground, watch Officer Smith sprint to the patient's side. I knew right away just looking at him. just looking at him, he was in bad shape, and he needed compressions pretty quick. So I just, I just did it.

Smith, who was a lifeguard growing up, was able to get the man breathing again. It feels good. For me, it's just a regular day in the office. A heroic split-second decision and a life saved. Brianna Ross for NBC News, Baltimore. We thank Brianna and WBAL for their help on that story. And we thank you for watching Nightly News tonight. I'm Tom Yamis.

Tonight and always, we're here for you. die.