NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Episode Date: July 22, 2026

Reported tornadoes hit New York City area; Secretary Hegseth grilled over growing cost of war with Iran; Gunman opens fire in Nevada shooting rampage; 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.

Breaking news tonight, the dangerous tornadoes reported hitting the New York City area right now. This massive funnel cloud spotted just outside the city. Down trees cutting off highways, violent downpours, submerging neighborhoods. At least one person struck by lightning, where the severe storms are headed next. Plus tracking tropical storm bertha, bearing down on the Gulf Coast, we time it out. The school bus carrying students slamming into a building, multiple people hospitalized. The shooting rampage terrorizing an entire neighborhood,

a man with an AR-15 firing randomly. The terrifying moments caught on multiple cameras. The major admission from New Jersey's governor that hundreds of non-citizens voted illegally how she says it happened. Danger in the water drone video capturing a monster great white shark lurking near unsuspecting young swimmers. The amazing discreet.

70 years ago, a Pan Am plane crashed into the ocean thought to be lost forever until now. The moment these researchers found it. The tragic accident leaving this young actress known for her role in massive blockbusters dead. Garbage truck explosion, what set off this blast, leaving a worker injured. Daring bridge escaped, the police pursuit, then the suspect leaping out of a car diving into the waters below. Bear break in what this Colorado man did to get this massive animal out of a car. 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 possible tornadoes touching down in the New York City area and the threat of more to come in the hours ahead. Look at this massive funnel cloud churning over one town in New Jersey. The rain and wind coming in so far. violently, this neighborhood now underwater, and these trees knocked down, bringing interstate traffic

to a standstill. Over New York City, the sky turning nearly black, and you can see it here, the skyline basically disappears. The weather causing a massive slowdown at the nation's airport, more than 5,000 delays, and more than 2,000 cancellations across the country just tonight. And the threat is not over yet for the northeast with more expected. We're also tracking Tropical Storm Bertha. Take a look at this. It's taking aim right now down south, and you can see it already kicking up massive wind and waves down in Florida. That storm set to bring dangerous conditions to the Gulf States in the coming days. We're covering all of it tonight.

We want to start with Aaron McLaughlin in New Jersey for us. Tonight, this video appears to show a massive funnel cloud in New Jersey just outside New York City, round after round of severe weather bearing down on millions across the northeast. This time lapse showing the storm rolling through Manhattan with multiple tornado warnings west of the Big Apple and at least two reports of twisters in Morris County, New Jersey. This is a time to see cover in a secure place. Man, it's shut through. The storm taking out trees and blocking lanes of traffic. Look what it did.

Look at the trees. Floodwater swamping streets in Bergen County and torrential downpours across the tri-state area. The rain is. Flooding is far. south is Maryland. Drivers navigating flooded streets in Ocean City. And in the south, Tropical Storm Bertha looming in the Gulf. Double red flags in Panama City Beach, Florida warning beachgoers to stay out of the water. Bertha bringing dangerous rip currents and waves up to 11 feet. Are George Solis in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, with people getting

sandbags to protect their homes from flooding? I'd rather take the necessary precautions that I need than have water coming in my house. Meanwhile in the west, monsoon rains inundating Prescott, Arizona. And in western Colorado, heavy rain sending mud and debris onto Interstate 70, shutting it down. Tom, I spoke to a man who said he was driving down this road when all of a sudden a wall of water just came gushing down. Video shows his car trapped. He said the water was all the way up to that tree. Thankfully, he's okay. And his car has been. toad, but it's a powerful demonstration of just how dangerous and fast these floods can be. Tom. So many treaches areas out there tonight. Okay, we thank you for that, Aaron. Bill Cairns joins us

now. Bill, walk us through all the severe weather we're watching, and also that big storm bertha. Yeah, so we had two tornadoes reported in areas of New Jersey. The threat from the next couple hours will be southern portions of New Jersey. We've also had numerous tornado warnings this afternoon in areas of Kentucky with one reported tornado. As far as flash flooding goes, we now have flash flood warnings in New York City, Baltimore, Richmond is included in a huge section of West Virginia and southern Ohio and numerous spots south of the Louisville area. Airports, as you can imagine, have been a disaster in the northeast today, one to two hour arrival delays, thousands of flights have been canceled. As far as Bertha goes, it's as strong as it's going to get right now,

and then as the next couple days go on, it will slowly weaken. It should be heading for southern Louisiana tomorrow at this time. Usually that would be a big problem, but a lot of the heavy rain is going to be to the south of this storm and it's going to weaken as it heads across the northern Gulf. We will be watching wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour on land, but that by Louisiana standards should not cause a lot of problems. A bit of good news for the Gulf. All right, Bill, we thank you for that. We have some terrifying video we want to show you now out of Nevada. A man on a shooting rampage, opening fire on a neighborhood with an AR-15 seemingly at random. Here's Dana Griffin with those videos. Tonight, a gunman opening fire.

Unbleaching multiple rounds in this North Las Vegas neighborhood, randomly firing as he appears to roam the streets. Doorbell cameras capture the shirtless man with what police say is an AR-15. Look, as he walks down the street Sunday pointing his gun, even knocking at a front door. He crouches down on this porch to take aim. Ryan Adams films the shooting from a window before the gunman starts firing in his direction. What the f***? Oh, get down. Adams warns his family to take cover. We were armed and just sitting tight, you know,

hoping that he didn't come in. And fortunately, for us, that he didn't. Couple on the... Later showing our Las Vegas station, KSNV, were several bullets pierced his home. We just found a bullet fragment right here on the side. And then it actually buried in the wall. Police arrived with guns drawn.

The suspect on the ground before taking off running. Police say the suspect resisted their attempt to take him into custody and once apprehended, he became unresponsive, adding they believe he was impaired. The gunman was later declared dead at a hospital. A chilling end sending terror through this quiet neighborhood. Dana Griffin, NBC News. Also tonight, a multi-vehicle crash in Maryland sending a school bus full of kids, plowing into a storefront. You see it here. Baltimore County officials say a student and two adults, including the bus driver, had to be hospitalized, but only with minor injuries. The cause, though,

is still under investigation. And tonight we are learning hundreds of non-citizens in New Jersey were able to cast ballots because of a software glitch. Ryan Nobles joins us now live, and Ryan, the governor came out today and revealed this herself. Yeah, that's right, Tom. New Jersey's governor, Mikey Cheryl, said that a DMV software error led to more than 6,000 non-citizens being registered to vote when they signed up for driver's licenses or identification cards. 400 of those non-citizens actually cast ballots in New Jersey elections between 2023 and 24, though it's unclear which elections. Now, the governor said they were registered as Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliated voters, and there's no evidence that any

elections were swayed as a result. The state is now in the process of removing all of those names from the voter rolls, the number of non-citizens accidentally registered to vote were a tiny percentage of the overall New Jersey electorate. President Trump, of course, putting pressure on Congress to pass new laws that would require all voters to demonstrate proof of citizenship before being eligible to vote. Tom? Ryan Nobles for us, and we're going to stay in Washington now because there were new attacks between the U.S. and Iran, even as the Trump administration made its case to Congress for billions in additional funding to cover the cost of this war. Here's Gabe Gutierrez.

Tonight, the fighting in the Middle East spilling onto key U.S. allies. Iran says it's targeted Amazon's data infrastructure in Bahrain, as well as radar systems in Kuwait. All the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have declared a rent-seat blockade on Saudi Arabia. All is President Trump doubles down. And we're not finished at all. Now his administration is providing a new estimate for the Iran-war's cost so far 37 and a half billion taxpayer dollars. And we cannot afford inaction.

Defense Secretary Pete Hagseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Cain grilled on Capitol Hill. We need some hard answers and some straight talk. And interrupted several times by protesters as they asked lawmakers for an extra $67 billion in part to pay for the conflict, which began in February. Democrats blasting HECS Seles. leadership. You, sir, are the failure. You don't have a long-term plan to actually win this war. Win the war. The men and women are going to be able to do it, but they need to have leadership. When will you show leadership? Of course we have leadership. When will you show leadership? Why will you show some leadership and stand up for your fellow Democrats who won't fund the troops

who stand and play partisan politics while you don't give us the money? Tomorrow, President Trump is sent to attend a dignified transfer ceremony for the latest American casualties, including 30-year-old Sergeant Michael Swinton, who the Pentagon says was killed. while disposing of a drone in northern Iraq. It's a great honor for me to do it. These are people that want it, and they feel like I do, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Gabe, let's pick it up right there.

President Trump today also issuing a new threat for a key site inside of Iran? Yes, Tom. Today he was pressed on whether he'd strike Pickax Mountain, a fortified site near one of Iran's main nuclear facilities. The president saying the U.S. will be hitting the area pretty soon and very heavily.

Tom? Gabe Gutierre. at the White House. We want to go now to a close call in California. A great white shark seen swimming terrifying close to a group of kids in the ocean. Liz Kreutz has the new video and the reporting on why there have been so many recent shark sightings this summer. Tonight, a shocking video off the coast of Southern California. A 10-foot great white shark spotted dangerously close to a group of children swimming north of Los Angeles. The kids seem smiling and even waving to the drone camera seemingly unaware that the

the massive predator was just feet away. I did get nervous. My heartbeat did go a little higher. Carlos Gowna took the terrifying video from about a mile away. I'm searching the shores, and this particular shark came from the depths, and I saw it near the swimmers. They definitely didn't have any idea. They waved at the drone. The video highlighting what experts say is one of the sharkiest summers in a decade off the California coast,

driven by an El Nino weather pattern that's warming up the ocean waters, leading to more shark sightings, including incidents like this. A heart-stopping moment in June has a curious shark circled a surfer sitting on his board. But despite the uptick, Chris Lowe of California's Shark Lab tells us that luckily for those in the water, this doesn't actually mean more shark attacks. We don't necessarily see a big correlation between shark bites and strong al-Ninos. What we do see are more sharks. So many that...

So there's a shark right there swimming behind you. See it? Right behind me. Look at that. There were several swimming. during our interview today with Carlos. This is life every day right now. This summer is insane. Liz Croix, NBC News.

And an even bigger discovery found in the waters off Puerto Rico, a 74-year-old aviation mystery, finally solved. A missing Pan Am passenger plane was found on the ocean floor, and cameras were there the moment researchers located it. Tom Costello has this one. Missing for 74 years, this was the moment. The search for a piece of aviation. history finally paid off.

Oh, my God. Oh my God. Is that a plane? That's a plane. There, in the waters off Puerto Rico, 2,000 feet below the surface, the fuselage, and that iconic Pan Am logo. Oh my God, there's writing. It's her. The Discovery Channel team had just found Clipper Endeavor. So this plane was coming here to New York, right? Yeah, to what's now JFK, and it was good Friday. Yeah, people were flying up here from Puerto Puerto Rico for the Easter weekend. It was April 11th, 1952. Pan Am Flight 256 had just left San Juan Puerto Rico when they suddenly lost two engines and crashed.

But in 1952, there were no flight attendant safety briefings. People did not know where the exits were. They didn't know where flotation devices were. 52 of the 69 people on board died. Fast forward to 2026, and the discovery team was offered an advanced autonomous underwater drone used for surveying gas and mineral fields. That's a plane. Whoa.

It's right. Look at that. Oh my God. The haunting images of the final resting place for 52 people and a crash that changed aviation safety forever, has the government soon ordered pre-flight safety briefings. This is the only grave marker that those people will really likely ever have. And so it's important to remember that debt that we owe them. A piece of American history no longer.

longer lost at sea. Tom Costello, NBC News, New York. And we're back in a moment with the dangerous garbage truck explosion. What caused this blast? Plus, bear breaking. Look at this, how one man freed the animal that got stuck inside that car. That's next. Welcome back. Tonight, Hollywood is remembering actress Kaylee Hoddle, who was killed in a car crash in Maryland. The 18-year-old was death and is best known for her role in two Godzilla movies. Her father, who was an ASL teacher, announcing her death in an emotional video. The local sheriff's office said the car she was riding and veered off the road around 3 a.m. when she was killed. Academy Award winning actress Marley Matman posting this photo tribute of her together. Now to a dangerous garbage truck

explosion caught on camera, video shows workers in Milwaukee loading trash into a truck when the blast just goes off. You see it right there. One worker was tossed to the ground. officials say he had to be hospitalized with an eye injury and a concussion. Authorities say the explosion started from an improperly discarded medical oxygen tank. And in Missouri, watch how one suspect tries to flee police. He jumps out of his moving car and just dives right over the bridge. The sheriff's office says he was taken into custody shortly after deputies had minor injuries while detaining him but are going to be okay.

Now to Colorado, and this is a wild one, a bear breaking into a car, people waking up to this, finding the bear trapped inside the vehicle. There it is perched right in the front seat, riding shotgun. It was stuck inside for hours overnight, laying on the horn, but the car owners said they assumed it was a neighbor. They eventually were able to get him out by using a rope to open that door from a very safe distance. All right, that does it for us. We thank you so much for watching nightly news on this Tuesday. I'm Tom Yamas.

Tonight and always, we're here for you. Good night.