NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Episode Date: June 3, 2026

Former reality star Spencer Pratt faces off with LA's mayor in primary tonight; School bus in St. Paul, MN crashes into university building; Passengers restrain man accused of trying to enter cockpit mid-flight Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tonight, the voting right now for the critical elections the whole nation is watching. The high-stakes mayoral race in Los Angeles, former reality star Spencer Pratt, with an insurgent campaign fueled by anger over those devastating wildfires. And will a Republican dominate in the race for governor in that deep blue state? Breaking news, a school bus crashing directly into a building, almost the entire bus through the wall, students, Rush to the hospital. Mid-air scare a man allegedly attempting to open the plane door and enter the cockpit, the passengers jumping in to restrain him. This just in divers back in the water in the Bahamas in the search for missing American Lynette Hooker. New video of a U.S. strike on an oil tanker breaking the blockade near Iran, will it impact those peace talks? The firefighter arrested after going on an arson spree, allegedly setting multiple fires himself.

Bear attack rampage an animal chasing a man, then pouncing before assaulting others. What's behind the rise in these types of attacks? Hailstorm rescue a police officer saving a driver surrounded by floating chunks of ice. The rare rainbow eruption, the dazzling sight as this Hawaiian volcano, spews lava. And there's good news tonight, the graduation surprise from the woman who saved this student's life. 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 begin with one of the nation's most talked about and hotly contested primaries finally coming to a head tonight. In California, where Republicans

could be in for a big night, surprisingly, of all places in the deep blue city of Los Angeles. In the mayoral race, there are a reckoning because of this. Last year's devastating wildfires, which caused widespread destruction across that city, possibly ushering in a primary victory for conservative reality TV star Spencer Pratt. You'll hear why he told me, despite no political experience, he's ready for the job. And the race for California's governor's mansion wide open right now. with Democrats concerned a handful of their candidates could actually split the vote

and boost a Trump-back former right-wing news personality right into the general election. NBC's Liz Croix has this covered and starts us off tonight. Tonight in Los Angeles, a final push in the high-stakes mayoral race here. Democratic mayor, Karen Bass, trying to fend off a strong challenge from political outsider

and former reality TV star Spencer Pratt. I want families to be able to thrive in the city. When you vote for, me. It's going to just be a mandate and change. It's a three-way contest tonight between Bass, Pratt, and Progressive Councilwoman Nithia Rahman. The top two vote getters advanced to the November election. Pratt rose to fame on MTV's The Hills. I was just enjoying myself and my wife and I get crying sisters in front of me. It says he was driven to run after losing his home in the massive palisades fire last year.

This is where I live. They let my home burn down. And gaining traction by tapping into voter anger over homelessness and crime. I'm the look around candidate. I just say, look around. Use your own eyes. Do you see what I'm talking about? I'm running on making the streets safe. He recently spoke to Tom. What about people that might say, is this just about self-promotion?

How do you convince those people that you say, no, I really want this job. I want to change the city? Yeah, let's rewind. Everything I've ever worked for burned in my house. I started this to expose the corruption and the negligence of our city leaders. We spoke to Bass late today. Mayor, Stetser Pratt, says that his whole campaign is about. about looking around and seeing what's happening under your leadership as mayor. How do you respond to that?

Well, let me just tell you that what we are going to focus on doing is continuing to get people off the street. The first time, two years in a row, we've had a decline in street homelessness. We're not going to get distracted by a TV reality show villain. But in devastated Pacific Palisades, many voters demanding change. We first met Harach-Andonian days after his home burned to rubble. He's backing Pratt. We had Arnold Schwarzenegger, you know, actor, Ronald Reagan, actor. These people didn't have any experience. But they had the common sense. So why not give them a chance? But in other parts of this Blue City, signs it will be a tight race.

Who are you running for mayor? For mayor, I'm going to give, I'm going to give Bass another go. And listen, tonight there are two dynamic elections happening right there in California. Also a key primary race for governor there. Yeah, Tom, that's right. Voters here are deciding who should replace Governor Gavin Newsom. And there are so many Democratic candidates in this race. It appears to be splitting the vote, meaning in this heavily blue state, it is possible that a Republican could advance and get one of those top two spots in a November runoff. Tom?

Liz Kreutz from the campaign trail in Los Angeles. We do want to get to some breaking news that's coming in now out of Minnesota. Dramatic video showing a school bus with children on board immediately after it crashed right into a building. Maggie Vespa has this story. Tonight in Minnesota, chilling new video of this school bus crashed into the side of a university building in St. Paul. You can see the building's windows smashed.

School supplies littered across the bus's hood. Police responding to the scene found close to a dozen kids on board. We have a school bus into a building. Security is on site. Authorities say three kids went to the hospital along with the driver,

all with minor injuries. Here, UC crews with a tow truck pulling the mangled bus out of the Robin Science Center at Hamline University, a private liberal arts college. Police say, thankfully, no one inside the building was injured. Later, you can see the bus's front end crushed. The crash happened around 2 p.m. today, and investigators say the cause is unclear, adding no other cars were involved when the unnamed driver went off the road. On the side of the bus, PTB services. NBC News has attempted to contact the company. So far, no response.

Maggie Vespah, NBC News. We also want to show you tonight some dramatic new video of passengers restraining a man mid-flight after authorities say he tried to open the cabin door and choke an off-duty flight attendant. Here's Tom Costello with that video. It happened on a frontier flight from San Juan Puerto Rico to Chicago. Broke out once. Video shows passengers restraining a 51-year-old man who the arresting officer says tried to choke an off-duty flight attendant, enter the cockpit, and tried opening an exit door while in flight.

One of the passengers holding down the suspect told local reporters he's a former martial arts fighter. Video shows him penning the suspect to his seat. Frontier Airlines tells NBC News the flight was diverted to Miami, law enforcement, boarded the aircraft in Miami and removed the passenger. Just the most recent case of a passenger becoming disruptive in flight. They were able to finally get control of them after multiple attempts to try to break the cockpit. On Saturday, a passenger allegedly tried breaking into another cockpit. Get me to the date. I want off. Or I'll take myself off. Okay. In April, a passenger attempted to open the main aircraft door, upset that his flight was delayed by weather.

So far this year, the FAA reports more than 640 unruly passenger. incidents. Passengers who assault or interfere with a flight crew can face a fine of nearly $44,000 per violation with multiple violations per incident. Actually opening an exit door in flight is virtually impossible because of the plane's cabin pressure, but a violent passenger can endanger everyone on board. Tom? A scary scene up there. Okay, Tom, thank you. We also have some breaking news in the search for Lynette Hooker, whose husband said she fell overboard in the Bahamas back in April. George Solis joins us now live, and George, the U.S. Coast Guard is now back out there searching in the water tonight in the Bahamas? Yeah, that's right, Tom. A U.S. source familiar with the matter says those dive teams from the Coast Guard are back in the Bahamas and that dive teams could be in the water as soon as tonight.

These dive teams expect to search this new area for new clues and evidence related to the disappearance of Lynette Hooker. And it comes after GPS data collected from the couple's boat appears to undercut what Brian Hooker told authorities about where the couple was when Lynette Hooker, went missing. Now, it's unclear what this data has officially revealed, but it seems to have driven the search to this new area. It's important to note that Brian Hooker has not been charged with any crime, and we did reach out to his attorney tonight for comment. Did not hear back. Tom? It is a major turn in this case. Okay, George, we thank you. We head to Russia now because one of the deadliest attacks on Ukraine in more than four years in the war has just happened. Ukraine now pleading for additional help from the U.S. Our Keir Simmons and his team have made it inside Russia tonight.

and cure. There are fears of new attacks tonight. Yeah, soon as tonight, Tom, President Zelensky says there may be another Russian bombardment on Ukraine after hundreds of drones and missiles rained down on that country. 22 people were killed. Thousands took shelter as they have now for more than four years of this long war. Zelensky is asking the U.S. and Europe for more air defenses, but the Iran war has put pressure on supplies. President Putin says the strikes are retaliation for a Ukrainian drone strike on a dormitory that Russia says killed 21. With negotiations between Russia and Ukraine effectively stalled, the escalating drone roar is ramping up tension between Russia and Europe.

Drones have rained down in Russia, including around this city of St. Petersburg, Tom. Okay, Keir Simmons for us, Keir, we thank you for that. We have an update in the other war we've been covering tonight, the U.S. striking a ship that was trying to break through its blockade of Iran's ports. Here's Garrett Haake. Tonight, you can see the hellfire missile launched into the engine room of an oil tanker trying to evade the U.S. blockade after what CENTCOM said was multiple warnings over a 24-hour period. All as Secretary of State Marco Rubio telling lawmakers the blockade, which is causing the Iranian regime to lose an estimated $435 million daily in oil revenue,

will stay in place until Iran reopens the Strait of Hormuz. firing on commercial ships. So condition number one is they have to reopen the streets. And that Iran must agree to curtail its nuclear enrichment. They have agreed to negotiate aspects of their nuclear program that just a month ago or just a year ago, they were refusing to even mention. But Democrats pressing Rubio. We are the strongest nation on the planet Earth and we're in a stalemate with Iran. And now we're begging to get back into a deal. No one's begging for anything here. The Iranians might be begging because their economy is losing hundreds and millions of dollars a day.

And also tonight, the president's appointment of his housing chief, Bill Pulte, to take over for Tulsi Gabbard as acting director of national intelligence is raising alarm on Capitol Hill. Pulte has urged investigations of Trump critics and has no intelligence background. The top Senate Republicans saying today that that job calls for professionals. Tom? Another fight coming up. All right, Garrett, great to have you here in New York. Back here in the States, we've learned of a wild story involving a vital.

volunteer firefighter now behind bars in Pennsylvania. Investigators accuse him of intentionally starting a string of fires, then joining crews to battle the flames, he said. Sam Brock explains. Tonight, police say the soaring flames breaking out in this Philadelphia suburb were the work of a volunteer firefighter. Three separate spots, prompting officers to ring this doorbell, warning nearby homeowners in one location, and first responders screaming for families to a

evacuate in another. All of it, part of the 30-hour arson spree, according to Pennsylvania police. Ignited by 29-year-old Justin Shaleigh, they say he worked for the very company in Southerton, Pennsylvania, called in to stop the flames, and that Shale actually responded back to the fire scene in two of the calls, that fire company tonight telling us he's been suspended. According to a police affidavit, Shali admitted to setting fire to wood logs at one location, Then moving to a detached garage barn a few miles away, the flames raging feet away from two homes with ten people inside. Police say Shali believed an employer who fired him in 2025 lived in close proximity to that location. Then finally, cries from a child.

Coming from a third neighborhood, Shali is currently behind bars, and his attorney told NBC News he had no comment. Police say they were able to track him down using a license plate reader, and on covered several wood logs, lighter fluid, and a fire radio in his car. The 29-year-old facing a slew of charges, including arson and reckless endangerment. Sam Brock, NBC News. And when we return in 60 seconds, the bear attack caught on camera. The community now on edge as these animals become more and more aggressive. Plus, the hailstorm trapping drivers in this river of ice.

And can you spot the rare site here over Hawaii and a... erupting volcano. We'll tell you more. That's next. Welcome back. There is a frightening trend out of Japan we want to tell you about the alarming rise of bear attacks. Four people injured just today. Camila Bernal now with the video. A dangerous bear attack caught on video. On the right side of your screen, you can see the bear chasing a man in circles outside a factory in Fukushima, Japan. The bear catches up and throws the young employee to the ground. an SUV appearing to scare it off. The black bear then heading inside the compound

where it injured another older worker and then reportedly two more people just today. It's the latest dangerous encounter in a country seeing a surge in bear attacks. According to Japan's Environment Ministry, a record 13 people were killed by bears over a 12-month period in more than 230 attacks. The highest number ever recorded. Climate change part of the reason.

With less food in the forest, bears come looking for opportunity. And experts say there are fewer traditional bear hunters left. In 2025, this bear attacked a woman on a sidewalk in northern Japan. And this brown bear slammed into a truck on Japan's northernmost island, pracking the windshield in the process. The military even deployed to help contain the problem. And Japan's Environment Ministry posted this video to teach children not to get close to bears. The bear in today's attack still not caught, forcing area schools to close down and stoking fear throughout a community.

Camila Bernal, NBC News. We want to show you this incredible rescue in extreme weather. There was so much hail last night in Denver. An officer had to wade through flooding and ice chunks to reach a woman trapped inside of her car. The officer prized the door open to lift her up and carry her out of the water right into safety. Nice job. And it's called the Rainbow State for a reason. Take a look at this from Hawaii.

Kilauea erupting and incredibly a rainbow spotted over the lava fountain, a rare sighting over those majestic islands. When we come back right here on Nightly News, the special graduation surprise from the person who helps save the student's life. You're going to love this story. Stay with us. Finally, there's good news tonight for one teen who battled stage four cancer and the graduation surprise from the woman who saved his life. This hug is a promise kept. Dr. Mary Austin first met Dylan Wanicki when he was 14, facing down a rare and aggressive form of cancer. His odds to live were slim, but Dr. Austin knew right away that Dylan was.

a fighter. The two became close across years of treatments and surgeries. Dylan even calling Dr. Austin his second mom. During one particularly difficult stretch of treatment, she made Dylan a promise. If he made it to his high school graduation, she would be there. Well, Dylan's now cancer-free and graduating high school. And Dr. Austin... After work. Dylan, we came to him to work. Dylan inviting the woman who helped save his life, his second mom, to celebrate. Before graduation, mom told me, like, hey, you know, she's in the operating room there. She's trying to make it. I was on call.

I didn't want to disappoint him if it didn't work out. So I knew that we were going to be cutting it really close with the flights. Yeah, the fact that she was there was just crazy. And she says how much she cares. And she kept her promise. All right. That does it for us. That's nightly news for this Tuesday. I'm Tom Yamas. We thank you so much for watching. Tonight and always we're here for you. Good night.