NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Episode Date: March 11, 2026

New strikes on Iranian ship; Drivers hit hard by surging gas prices; New video of ISIS-inspired suspect buying material to make homemade bomb; 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 U.S. unleashing a new wave of attacks on Iran after Defense Secretary Pete Hegeseth promised the most intense day of the war yet. The new strikes today, an Iranian ship destroyed the fighter jet chasing an Iranian drone. President Trump's new warning to Iran not to hit a critical shipping passage. Our correspondent pressing the White House on when this war will end. Also breaking tonight the bus in Switzerland on fire, six people killed. killed, arson now suspected was this terrorism. Plus, gas prices surge again today hitting not just drivers, the cost of deliveries now going up and farmers under new strain. The new video, is this the moment a teen purchased explosive making materials before throwing a homemade bomb in New York City as a suspicious package puts part of the city on lockdown?

The dangerous storm starting up right now, tens of millions on alert, Al Rowe, standing by. A former NFL star accused of murdering his girlfriend and then asking chat GPT how to cover it up. Our alarming investigation why you may not know if other patients died after surgery by your doctor. The emergency at Disneyland, five workers rushed to the hospital due to a hazmat situation, what we know. Caught on camera, car crashing into a barbershop, what went wrong? And there's good news tonight. basketball teams surprise tribute to a player's mom battling cancer. Nightly news starts right now. This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas. And good evening. We begin tonight with the escalating

battle over one of the world's most vital shipping channels. The U.S. and Iran trading new threats around the Strait of Ormuz, sending gas prices skyrocketing here in the U.S. This new video just into our newsroom showing strikes on more than a dozen Iranian vessels, including what the military said were ships that could have laid explosive mines in the strait. The president warning if Iran attacked ships there, the U.S. would hit back even harder. That comes just hours after the defense secretary vowed, in his words, the most intense day of strikes yet. That intensity on full display in these new videos. Launchers firing and intercepting Iranian missiles in the sky.

Iranian launchers, the U.S. says we're hitting in tunnels and under overpasses blown to bits. And this, Iranian boat after boat after boat going up in flames. All of it as we're learning more about the toll this war is taking on our service members. The Pentagon announcing some 140 wounded in addition to the seven that have already been killed. Our teams are covering the latest and we start with Garrett Hake at the White House tonight. Tonight, a massive wave of U.S. and Israeli strikes on the Iranian regime and a wild ride for oil prices. Due in part to this post from Energy Secretary Chris Wright that, quote, the U.S. Navy successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz.

Wright quickly deleting the post. I can confirm that the U.S. Navy has not escorted a tanker or a vessel at this time. President Trump warning Iran to stop threatening oil tankers from traveling through the strait. I will not allow a terrorist regime to hold the world hostage an attempt to stop the globe's oil supply. And if Iran does anything to do that, they'll get hit at a much, much harder level. And oil prices tonight plunging down to around $86 a barrel. All as inside Iran, the Pentagon says it struck over 5,000 targets. Today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran.

The most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes, including taking out hidden missile launchers. Ballistic missile attacks continue to trend downward, 90% from where they've started. And one way attack drone has decreased 83%. The Iran still launching attacks on its Arab neighbors. This video showing an Iranian drone chased by a United Arab Emirates fighter jet. In Bahrain, the government says a woman was killed during an Iranian strike on a rest of a presidential neighborhood. Tonight, new questions over the war's timeline with President Trump saying the U.S. is, quote, very far ahead of its initial four to five week schedule. It's going to be

finished pretty quickly. But also, we've already won in many ways, but we haven't won enough. And the president has also suggested he should have a role picking the new Iranian leader. We press the White House. Is the ending of this war also contingent on Iran selecting a leader that the president finds acceptable? And if so, how is that not the definition of a regime-change war? Look, as President Trump has blatantly and frankly stated, it's obviously within the best interests of the United States and the West to no longer have a radical terrorist in charge of Iran. We have objectives that we have laid out that the commander-in-chief wants to see achieved. And now a new image of the five members of the Iranian women's soccer team just granted asylum

in Australia. Iranian State TV brand- them traitors for protesting the Iranian regime by refusing to sing the national anthem. Yesterday, on the team bus, players had flashed the sign for help as crowds chanted, Save Our Girls. They are safe here, and they should feel at home here. Gary joins us tonight again from the White House, so I know you have new reporting on the U.S. service members who have been injured in this war? That's right, Tom.

The Pentagon's saying 140 service members or so have been wounded, most of them with minor injuries, and they've returned to duty, but eight are considered severely injured. And last night, the dignified transfer ceremony for Army Sergeant Benjamin Pennington was held. He's the seventh service member killed in this war. Tom? All right, Garrett. All that uncertainty over the shipping channel as well in the Middle East. The price of oil may have gone down today, but the price of gas still skyrocketing.

Camila Bernal now on the impact those prices are having. Fallout from the war, playing to see at every gas station. across the U.S. The price of a gallon of gas now up 55 cents since the war began. It definitely makes us second guess some of the financial decisions that we make. In California, with the country's highest prices, gas is well above $5 a gallon. 200 miles, 200 miles a day. Yasha Timinovich drives for ride share and delivery services for about 10 hours a day.

What is it like for you when you drive around and you see gas at 579? gallon. Makes me sick. Wild swings in crude oil prices also hitting hard for farmers just beginning the spring planting season. I have a tractor that requires a hundred gallons of diesel fuel to fill it up and it costs me $469. John Boyd grows soybeans, corn and wheat at his fourth generation family farm in Virginia. He says his fertilizer supplier can't even deliver what he needs. due to the war and the bombing through that area, the fertilizer isn't moving, which means it won't be readily available at all to me right now. And Josie's flowers in North Hollywood, Fernando Agela has already raised prices for deliveries

by 20%. If I have to eat the gas every time, it's going to hurt. It's going to hurt. And people are paying between $5 and $15 more on average in comparison to last week to fill up their gas tanks. But with pressure on the oil markets, those prices could continue to go up. Tom? All right, Camila, thank you. We're also tracking some breaking news out of Switzerland right now where a massive fire broke out on a bus,

leaving several people dead, and it may have been arson. NBC Sam Brock joins us now with what we're learning. Both horrifying, Tom, and fatal. Right now, police in Western Switzerland are confirming that a fire broke out on a postal bus and completely engulfed the vehicle in flames. Now, according to local media reports, look at that visual. there at least six people have died. Police say four others were injured.

All of this happening, Tom, on the main street of a small town, just west of Switzerland's capital, burn. You can actually see there are some folks running for their lives as it took an enormous response from firefighters to try and corral the flames. Police also say the fire might have been deliberately set, as you mentioned. Authorities so far have not commented on whether or not there could be a possible link to terrorism here. We'll be following.

All right, now you'll stay on top of it. Sam, we thank you. Tonight, NBC News has obtained new surveillance video of a suspect allegedly buying a fireworks fuse just days before investigators say he tried to carry out an ISIS-inspired terror attack in New York City. Jesse Kirsch, that's the details. This is the moment. Amir Balot allegedly walked into a Pennsylvania fireworks store and walked out with what he needed to set off a bomb. Days later, police say he was one of two ISIS-inspired teenagers who drove to New York City and tried to ignite explosive devices in a crowd outside the official home of New York City's main. Once we heard improvised device, we're at least going to do a check. NBC News spoke with phantom fireworks.

The company tells NBC News it searched for both suspects' names once they were made public. Everyone who buys something at your store has to give you their government identification and their home address. That is correct. So it does lend itself to be able to forensically look back and see. The company combed through security footage that it says it has now shown. shared with the FBI and shows Belot purchasing a 20-foot fuse in cash. The terrorism investigation also leading authorities to this Pennsylvania storage facility where the FBI says it conducted a controlled detonation yesterday.

And with New York City already on edge, today police were back near the mayor's residence after a suspicious device sent people fleeing from this park. The device was later cleared. This comes with security concerns escalating worldwide. In Toronto, two people got out of a car. early this morning opened fire on the U.S. consulate and took off, according to police, who say no one inside the consulate was injured. Jesse Kirsch, NBC News. We're also tracking tonight potentially violent night for severe weather. Al Roker joins us now live. Alam,

being told there's already reported tornadoes on the ground. That's right, Tom. In fact, we've got tornado watches right now for a good stretch from up almost about 1,100 miles from Illinois down into Texas. We've got tornado warnings in Texas right now, reports of tornadoes. in Illinois. You can see right for Peoria, Champaign, this area, 53 million people at risk for strong tornadoes, damaging winds, up to 75 miles per hour. This area in pink up in Indiana and Illinois, EF3 tornadoes or stronger EF2 everywhere else. And then tomorrow, 58 million people from Pittsburgh down into New Orleans. We are looking at a risk of severe weather from Pittsburgh.

Also tornadoes as far south as the Gulf possible tomorrow, Tom. All right, dangerous days ahead out. We thank you for that. We're going to turn out to a murder case in Tennessee with a new kind of evidence. A former NFL player is accused of killing his girlfriend, and detectives allege he asked Chat GPT how to cover it up. Here's Priscilla Thompson. Former NFL linebacker Darren Lee back in the spotlight, this time in a Tennessee

courtroom, accused of murdering his girlfriend and prosecutors argue using ChatGPT to try to get away with it. He asks how to cover it up. He asks what to say to 911. Lee was arrested last month after sheriff's deputies found his 29-year-old girlfriend, Gabriella Perpetuo, dead inside the couple's home. In body camera video played in a preliminary hearing, Lee tells deputies he doesn't know what happened. But prosecutors painting a different picture. She has two swollen eyes. I didn't do anything self-inflicted.

That's the lead detective. Reading chat GPT messages, prosecutors say were sent from Lee's phone. a day before perpetua was found dead, including questions about handling someone non-responsive. Chat GPT, they say, replied, this is serious, but you can handle it cleanly and protect everyone. Also appearing to reply to a question writing, yes, falls can cause puncture appearing wounds. They usually don't look like clean knife stabs. There's a whole new frontier. You have chat GPT, AI, smart watches, Alexis, all of those devices can now lead investigators in a criminal case. Lee's attorney declined to comment.

NBC News reached out to chat GPT's owner, OpenAI, and did not hear back. Priscilla Thompson, NBC News. And we'll be right back with our NBC News investigation into deaths following cosmetic surgery, while you might not know your doctor's track record, what we found out next. We're back now with our NBC News and KFF Health News investigation into what happens when patients die following cosmetic surgery and how doctors are held accountable. Here's Aaron McLaughlin. When Stierre Ballard didn't hear from her mom, Tamela Smith, for days, she kept calling until

finally a police officer picked up. I said, who are you and what are you doing my mom's phone? And he stated, well, this was Glendale Police Department and I'm here with your mom's body. The officer told her that it appeared Smith had a surgery. Our bodies know what is best for us. After seeing her advertisements online, she'd gone to board-certified plastic surgeon Heidi Reganus for liposuction and a Brazilian buttlift. Days later, Smith was dead. My granny was all I had.

Ballard later learned in the four months before her mother's death, two other women died following cosmetic procedures performed by the same doctor. And what is even more outrageous to Ballard, that doctor's still practicing medicine today. I just spoke to staff at this clinic and they told me that Dr. Heidi Reganus is still practicing medicine and performing procedures at least this location. It appears she's no longer working at the clinics where the deaths occurred and it's unclear whether she's performing surgeries. She never replied to our multiple interview requests. We've tried reading multiple times. No one's answering. An autopsy report listed Ballard's cause of death as renal failure of unknown cause, adding an injury directly from the surgery. cannot be identified.

But Ballard is now suing the doctor, alleging she failed to properly prescreen her mother, used proper surgical techniques and equipment, and failed to properly monitor her during and after surgery. The families of the two other patients who died also sued Dr. Reganus. One settled, the other lawsuit is ongoing. I'm sure, a thousand percent sure, if my mom had known, she would not have let that woman touch her.

Right here. Ballard filed a complaint against Regan. with the Medical Board of California. It's been nearly two years. Ballard says she's frustrated patients have no way to learn about any ongoing investigations. I say the medical board does not care. You believe that the medical board does not care whether a patient lives or dies? Absolutely.

And I can look you straight in your eye and tell you that with nothing inside of me doubting what I'm saying is the absolute truth. T.J. Watkins has been a member of the medical board for six years. He says situations like this are very common, pointing to a disciplinary process that he alleges endangers patients and is rigged in favor of the doctors. Nobody is protecting the patient. If you were really protecting the patients, there would be a notice right now that says this doctor is being investigated. Watkins is now advocating for state legislation that alerts the public when a doctor is being investigated for serious offense. Right now, there's an assumption that

all doctors are safe. And that is true most of the time. But in a small percentage of the time, it is absolutely not true. In a statement, the California Medical Board says state laws limit what information can be made public, writing the board diligently reviews and investigates all complaints, adding it is wrong to say that the board is failing patients and endangering lives. As for Reganus, her lawyers have denied the claims against her in court. She has a license to kill.

When is it going to stop? And how would you know? How will we know? And with that, Aaron joins us now live in studio. So, Aaron, we're now hearing about a fourth patient who was potentially injured by this doctor. That's right, Tom. Last month, California's Medical Board filed an administrative complaint against Dr. Reganus. It came after NBC News requested comment, though it is unclear if that's in response to that.

The complaint involves another patient who alleges the doctor botched her surgery. All right, Aaron, we thank you for that. We're back in a moment with the car plowing through a Texas barbershop. Look at that. Plus, the surprise sighting caught on camera dolphin swimming in New York City. That's right. That's next. We're back now with a frightening scene at a Texas barbershop.

Here it is, a car plowing right into the front of the shop as customers and employees jump out of the way. You can see the car here on security camera outside, veering off the road and just slamming into that business. Luckily, no one was seriously injured. And in New Jersey, this massive bus fire. Take a look, smoke pouring out of this transit bus on the Turnpike near Newark Airport. Officials say it happened after a tire blew out. 25 people had to be evacuated.

And again, no one was injured. Five Disneyland employees in California were taken to the hospital today after a reported hazmat situation. Police say they suffered shortness of breath and dizziness after they were exposed to some type of unknown odor. It happened in the backstage area near the Star Tours ride. Disney says, it came from building materials being used by a contractor. And in New York City, a very rare sighting. Video capturing a pot of dolphins spotted swimming through the East River,

leaping through the air as onlookers cheered on. It's very rare to see them in the area, and experts aren't really sure what drew them here. All right, when we come back, a basketball team's emotional tribute to one of their biggest supporters fighting her own battle off the court. That's next. Finally, there's good news tonight about a high school basketball team,

organizing a surprise for a team mom when you need it the most. The Mountain View Mavericks thrive in big moments. On and off the court. This Boise Area basketball team always sticks together. Go bad. A lot of my played with since eighth grade, I just love them all. Hey, bud. So when senior Tyler Harris's mom, Terry, received life-changing news.

I was diagnosed with stage four breastings. cancer. The entire team rose to the occasion. All the boys grabbed a flower and they came up the stairs. One player after another, each of them presenting Terry with a rose and a hug. She was really grateful and she was really surprised that they're there for her. These boys, they have my heart. The moment capturing the hearts of families in the stands and thanks to this video posted by their coach, more than a million people and growing online. It's hard to meet anyone nowadays that hasn't had someone in their family or close friend have to deal with cancer.

All that support and love definitely is nice to see for Terry. I think it's crazy to see how many other people are also going through stuff and like you never really know until you hear it. A gesture this mom and her Mabs will carry with them for life. It resonated with so many people and I think that would just take. change hearts and change the world if everybody could show a little kindness like that. Beautiful. You got this, Terry. Our thanks to our Boise affiliate, KTVB, for that story. That's nightly news for this Tuesday. I'm Tom Yamas. Thanks so much for watching. Tonight and

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