NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025

Episode Date: September 3, 2025

U.S. conducts strike on boat from Venezuela; Texas man charged with murder after doorbell prank; Maine mom creates landline pod for her children; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Breaking news as we come on the air from the White House, the military strike in the Caribbean. The president putting out this video saying 11 drug traffickers on that boat were killed in a precision strike. The White House says the drugs were headed to the U.S. coming directly from Venezuela. This says the president prepares to send the National Guard into Chicago, the governor and mayor pushing back hard ahead of possible immigration rates and crime crackdowns. And the new legal questions after a federal judge ruled the president's deployment of troops to Los Angeles was illegal. The death toll soaring in Afghanistan, entire villages destroyed by that catastrophic earthquake. Rescuers racing to save those trapped in the rubble amid aftershocks. The deadly doorbell prank, a Houston man now charged with murder, accused of fatally shooting an 11-year-old boy who rang his doorbell and ran away in a game called Ding Dong Ditch.

Our exclusive accusers of Jeffrey Epstein and Delane Maxwell speaking out, their plea for justice and the call for the DOJ to reopen the investigation, all coming amid a new bipartisan push in Congress to unseal more Epstein files. The festival goer found dead at Burning Man in a pool of blood, the hunt for clues in this homicide investigation. The new deals coming to McDonald's, why Big Mac combos and more could soon cost less, and who they're trying to bring back to the restaurant, And hold the phone.

The group of families going retro, bringing back landlines why they feel more connected than ever. NBC Nightly News starts right now. This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas. And good evening. We come on the air tonight with breaking news. The U.S. has launched a military strike against a boat in the Caribbean, killing 11 people on board. The president says the boat was part of a car car car. operation, carrying drugs from Venezuela, and heading right towards the U.S.

It comes as the Trump administration picks up its fight against drugs coming into the country, ramping up ice raids and cracking down on crime, including escalating federal enforcement with the National Guard in more major American cities. Today, focusing on Chicago and declaring, quote, we're going in. But there are growing legal questions after a federal judge ruled today that the president's deployment into L.A. early this year was illegal. More on that in just a moment. But we start tonight with Gabe Gutierrez, who has the latest on that strike. Tonight, the White House releasing this dramatic video of the U.S. blowing up a boat in the

Southern Caribbean. President Trump says it was carrying drugs from Venezuela and that the strike killed 11 members of the notorious gang Trenneragua or TDA. We have a lot of drugs pouring into our country coming in for a long time. And we just, these came out of Venezuela. We took it out. Last month, the Pentagon deployed three guided missile destroyers to international waters near Venezuela after President Trump designated several drug cartels, as well as TDA, foreign terrorist organizations. The U.S. did pull off a large-scale prisoner swap with Venezuela this summer. Now tensions with Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro are rapidly escalating. The Maduro regime is not the legitimate government of Venezuela. It is a

narco-terror cartel. Tonight, the president saying no U.S. forces were hurt in the strike. Maduro has claimed that the U.S. military built up in the Caribbean is aimed at overthrowing his government, and he's deployed troops along his borders. Tonight, a senior White House official is downplaying any possibility of the U.S. invading Venezuela, but says the president will use any means necessary to tackle drug cartels. Tom. All right, Gabe Gutier is leading us off with that new video tonight.

Meanwhile, President Trump announcing tonight he's also prepared to send in the National Guard to Chicago to crack down on crime, while Democratic leaders there argue there's no crime emergency to justify it. Here's Peter Alexander. President Trump tonight promising a federal crackdown on crime in Chicago, asked whether he'll send National Guard troops there. The president responded, well, we're going in. I didn't say when, we're going in. And singling out the state's Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker, who opposes the move. So watch Pritzker get up and say about, we're going.

don't need help. We're safe, but two weeks ago, they had six people murdered. Chicago is a hellhole right now. Late today, Pritzker warning the Trump administration is planning to send unidentifiable agents in masks to raid immigrant communities. The terror and cruelty is the point, not the safety of anyone living here. And arguing there is no need for National Guard troops in Chicago. There is no emergency that warrants deployment of troops. The president's announcement comes just hours after a federal judge dealt a blow to his crackdown in California. The judge arguing the recent deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles in response to immigration protests was illegal. Judge Charles Breyer, a Biden appointee, siding with California Democrats who sued, saying it creates a national police force with the president as its chief, but allowing those National Guard soldiers to remain while the case is appealed.

Back in Chicago, the murder rate has dropped 32 percent. sent this year, but there was more violence in the city over the holiday weekend with eight homicides and 58 people shot. And now some local lawmakers there say Democratic city leaders should accept President Trump's move to send the National Guard. Violence still remains the number one issue that everyone is concerned about. The city of Chicago can definitely use Trump's help to increase public safety. But tonight, Chicago's mayor is objecting to any National Guard deployment, instead calling on the president to restore hundreds of millions of dollars in crime prevention grants that the Trump administration slashed this year. Tom.

All right, Peter Alexander at the White House for us. We head overseas now because the situation is going from desperate to dire in Afghanistan as aftershocks rattled the region and the death toll there from Sunday's catastrophic earthquake continues to climb. Here's Keir Simmons. The death tolls soaring. Fourteen hundred now in this devastating Afghan earthquake and tonight officials warning of an exponential rise in casualties, as communities cut off by the destruction finally get help. The UN says the number impacted could reach hundreds of thousands. Here, a child bewildered, lifted from a Taliban government helicopter, the only way to find many

families in isolated villages near the epicenter of Sunday night's 6.0 earthquake. But the clock is ticking. Pictures emerging of one destroyed home after another. of children's bodies covered in simple cloth and of the agony of families. The official government number tonight, 3,000 injured and at least 5,000 homes destroyed. But this one man says about 300 to 350 people are still under the rubble. In California's Bay Area, Afghan-Americans find themselves even further away. We feel the pain and hopefully we can help them. While the Taliban is running the evacuation.

of survivors and scores have wounded. We're all worried about it, but hopefully the government of Afghanistan can help them out. I'm not sure how much they're capable of, but we're hoping. Just this year, USAID's support for Afghanistan was heavily cut. Tonight, its people need help. Tom. That much is clear. All right, Keir, we thank you. To the war in Gaza now, as the Israeli military's campaign in Gaza City escalates,

some reservists are refusing the call to serve. Richard Engel has our story tonight, and we have to caution the images you're about to see are very disturbing. Palestinians are fleeing from Gaza City again, getting out before Israel launches a major ground offensive against the city. The Israeli government says to root out Hamas and search for hostages. Palestinians are heading south to a so-called safe zone, where Israel claims food and shelter will be provided.

Bahadahad and his eight-year-old sister Ilham were in that safe zone today, walking barefoot to a charity kitchen. I wish I could be like kids around the world, reading, studying, and learning, Fahed says. These children were also in that safe zone today. They were collecting water when their families and the Ministry of Health say they were hit by an Israeli strike. The hospital can't cope. An injured boy shares a stretcher with another who just died. Two dead sisters are laid side by side.

As a child bleeds on the floor. The Israeli military claims it did not carry out attacks in the area. As Israel is in the midst of calling up 60,000 reservists for the offensive on Gaza City, today a small group announced in Tel Aviv. They're refusing to serve, which here could lead to jail time. Max Kirsch, an American-Israeli, proudly served in the Israeli army on numerous occasions, including after Hamas went on a murder and kidnapping rampage nearly two years ago. Why don't you support the war now?

The war right now is a direct threat to our future. It's a direct threat to the future of Israelis, of civilians, of our own values. So far, Prime Minister Netanyahu appears unconcerned by our future. opposition in the ranks. Today, he thanked reservists who are reporting for duty and said the war is now in a decisive phase. Tom. Richard Engel with those devastating images out of Gaza. Okay, Richard, back here at home to Houston where police are charging a man with murder in the death of an 11-year-old after an apparent doorbell ringing prank went horribly wrong. Jesse Kirsch has the story. Tonight, Gonzalo Leon Jr. is behind bars after police say he shot and killed an 11-year-old boy who was

pranking people in this Houston neighborhood. The 42-year-old suspect appeared before a judge today. You're accused of the first-degree felony offensive murder. According to investigators, 11-year-old Julian Guzman and his cousin were ringing people's doorbells and running away Saturday night. Then the prank, often known as ding-dong ditch, turned deadly when the boys allegedly reached the wrong house too many times. The suspect came out of the gate next to his house, fired once into the ground.

and then drew down on this 11-year-old boy who was running away. You don't think he haphazardly shot the gun and it accidentally hit the boy. You believe that he aimed at this boy. That is exactly what we believe. Sean Tier is the prosecuting district attorney. Was there ever a moment where your team considered this may have been self-defense? No, never. Investigators say the boy was shot in the back.

There were no weapons that this young man had. There's nothing to suggest that he was taking property. Police say Leon Jr. was questioned and released before the SWAT detail helped take him into custody earlier today. Meanwhile, the Houston community is memorializing a child's life cut short. The suspect is expected back in court tomorrow, and the DA tells me he believes that man is still a danger to the community. Tom. Terrible story. All right, Jesse. Now to our exclusive interview with Jeffrey Epstein and Galane Maxwell survivors and their

family members speaking out together. Hallie Jackson did that interview and joins us now live. Hallie, there's also some breaking news tonight about the release of the Epstein files. Are we learning anything new? That's right, Tom. Some 30,000-plus pages of material, and Democrats have said that most of it is not new. But more transparency is exactly what those survivors and their family members tell us they want to see.

A show of hands here. If you or somebody you love was abused or trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein or Galane Maxwell. all of you. For the first time publicly, nine Jeffrey Epstein survivors or their relatives together. Why did you decide to come here today? I'm coming here because there's been a severe miscarriage of justice, a delay in accountability. Each of us in our own way over the past several decades have stood up and told our stories so that someone would listen to us only to be faced with the frustration of being ignored. Alone, we are afraid.

Together we are feared. Jenna Lisa Jones, Lisa Phillips, Jess Michaels, Marika Chartuni, Liz Stein, the siblings of Virginia Roberts Joufrey. She should be here. I am so honored to be here with

with you guys. She would be here. She'd be screaming, you know. And Wendy Avis. Were you abused by Jeffrey Epstein? Yes. She has never before spoken out about the abuse she says she suffered at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein when she was a teenager in Florida. I just put it behind. You didn't talk about it, didn't think about it, nothing. And it was kind of like, okay, now you have to heal from

this. Now you have to address it and face it for the first time ever. Like this is real. How many of you want to see more documents released publicly related to the Epstein case? They tell us no one from the Justice Department has reached out to them. Nobody in this room has heard at all from the Department of Justice? No. And they're furious about the interview between the Deputy Attorney General and convicted Epstein co-conspirator Galane Maxwell conducted over two straight days in July. There's no reason why someone like that should be platformed when we are ignored.

she is the abuser and why are we so concerned with how she feels about things and her opinions now they want more accountability and more investigations from the justice department who else would like to see the DOJ reopen this investigation yeah all of you had they done their job in the first place we none of us would have to be sitting here on camera today president trump has downplayed the renewed attention on the Epstein case and while white house officials have said no leniency is being discussed in Maxwell's case, the president has not publicly ruled out a pardon for her. Show of hands. Who would like to see President Trump definitively rule out a pardon for Gillane Maxwell? Every single one of you. Pledging they will not

be silent in their push for accountability. As a community, we have to stand up and we have to say enough is enough. Enough is enough. No more. We have to change the culture and we have to provide safety and protection and belief when people come forward. It's what Virginia would be doing right now. Maxwell's attorney tells NBC News tonight, they cannot, quote, respond to every outlandish claim or they wouldn't be able to get work done, adding, again, quoting here, that only when plaintiff's lawyers came knocking did they start pointing the finger at his client. We have reached out to the White House and DOJ, but we have not yet heard back. Tom. All right, Hallie Jackson for us, Halley, we thank you. When we returned the latest on the

burning man and homicide investigation. And later, why the CEO of McDonald's is turning heads as the company discounts its menu, we'll explain. That's next. Back now with big news on the Big Mac front, McDonald's is returning extra value meals to the menu, hoping to lure some families back as they balk at fast food prices. Christine Romans on why it's a sign of the times for the economy. McDonald's is putting value back on the menu.

The extra value meal is back at the Golden Archie. What you want is what you get at McDonald's today. A long-running promotion last offered before the pandemic. Starting September 8th, eight combo meals, the company says, will save customers 15% compared with buying an entree, fries, and drink separately. And for a limited time, a $5 sausage McMuffin with egg meal and an $8 Big Mac meal. It's the latest salvo in a value war, as big chains offer new deals and discounts to lure inflation-exhausted Americans.

McDonald's CEO acknowledging strain among some consumers. It's really kind of a two-tier economy. Traffic for lower-income consumers is down double digits, and it's because people are either choosing to skip a meal or they're choosing to just eat at home. Restaurant expert Jonathan Mays says McDonald's price cuts signal a new phase in the year-long value war. Consumers have seen price increases everywhere.

Housing costs are up. It costs more to get a car. more you've got student loan repayments. You've got all of these things that are hitting the U.S. consumer at once, and they're feeling to pinch. McDonald's planning more deals for November as fast food chains fight for your dollar. Christine Romans, NBC News. All right, we're back in a moment with the breaking news and the Cardi B civil case.

The verdict just in. That's next. We're back now with breaking news out of California. A jury has cleared Grammy Award winning rapper Cardi B of a assault allegations in a civil trial. A female security guard sued Cardi B for $24 million, alleging that the rapper assaulted her at a doctor's office back in 2018. Cardi B. has denied those allegations. And police in Nevada are asking for the public's help in identifying a man, they say, was found dead in a pool of blood at the Burning Man Festival just this weekend.

Authorities are investigating the death as a suspected homicide and say the victim is a white male between 35 and 40 years old. Officials are urging anyone with information to contact law enforcement. And this was a spectacular view in parts of the U.S. last night. A solar storm lighting up the sky, making the northern lights visible. Look at that. And good news, scientists predict the lights could appear again tonight. All right. When we come back, it's for you.

Discouraged by the rise of cell phones, meet the people who set up their own landlines to talk to family and friends to keep their connection to one another. That's next. Finally tonight, there's good news for parents looking for ways to keep their kids off of screens. Rahima Ellis on the mom in Maine going retro to keep kids connected. In South Portland, Maine, 10-year-old Molly Morris is dialing into something completely bizarre for most kids her age. Hello. An old-fashioned landline with a curly cord before she.

got one, this was just a mystery. What did you think it was? A toy. I didn't get the fun of it because I didn't know how to use it. But Molly found out it's not a toy on her 10th birthday after asking her mom for a cell phone. She was hopeful, but we pivoted and we surprised her with a landline. Karen Morse is a mental health professional. Were you worried about the amount of screen time? Yeah, absolutely. So I knew what I wanted to do at home was a little bit simpler. That meant putting one landline in the dining room to keep all conversations in the open. Hello? Soon, Molly got the hang of it.

So did her eight-year-old sister, Piper. I think it's terrific. They both love the independence. I kind of, like, get the advantage of, like, scheduling my own play dates. The only drawback at first, their friends didn't have a landline. I only could call my grandparents. Anyone else? But Mom got busy spreading the word.

Today, they have a landline pod of about two dozen people, including Molly's best friend, Scout. Hello. Hi, Scout. I was really exciting because I had wanted one after I heard that I couldn't get a cell phone. Now, Scouts' dad says something wonderful is happening. I feel like we are holding on a bit more innocence for longer, and I'm letting them be kids. Cell phones will come, but not right now.

Hi. Rahima Ellis, NBC News, South Carolina. Portland, Maine. All right, 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. Okay. Bye.