NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Episode Date: August 27, 2026

American tourists among hundreds missing after deadly floods in Nepal; New details on Dolly Parton’s death as tributes pour in; Bodycam video released from arrest of 49ers owner in prostitution sting; 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 deadly flood disaster in Southeast Asia, the urgent search for hundreds missing, including Americans. The monster wave of water at the border of Nepal and Tibet, this bus depot destroyed. Drivers scrambling to escape, entire neighborhoods swept away. The race to save people trapped right now. Also breaking the body camera rest video of San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York, just released what he told police when he allegedly tried to meet a prostitute. New details in the death of American icon Dolly Parton, what her team is revealing about her final moments and her funeral service as fans from around the world pay tribute. Landmark settlement

meta reaching a multi-billion dollar deal after Facebook and Instagram were accused of endangering children. The big changes the company will now make. This just in the alleged mastermind behind the 9-11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will now stand trial, the date just set by a judge. Breakthrough cancer drug, the groundbreaking treatment just approved by the FDA for one of the deadliest diseases. New twist in the Brian Koberger case, the new court hearing to decide if he can take back his guilty plea in the Idaho University murders. Horror mass suspect finally caught the cross-country takedown of the man accused of terrorizing people in Philadelphia. Remembering Tim Curry, the beloved actor known for his roles in the Rocky Horror Picture Show,

Clue, and Home Alone, too, has passed away. Roadside rescue a group of people lifting a car off a young girl trapped underneath. Nightly News starts right now. This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas. And good evening. We thank you for joining us on this Wednesday night. We want to begin with that deadly flooding and the mudslides in Nepal and Tibet that wiped out entire towns and villages in a matter of seconds. And the images are devastating. With more than 150 people killed and hundreds still missing, including, according to Nepalese officials, dozens of American tourists. These are some of the horrifying moments of impact. You can see people running for their lives before water. destroys everything in its path. In this clip shot from inside of a bus, you see it speeding away as waters rushing behind it, people outside trying to flee. And that same moment seen from above, the water washing away a bridge in its path, while another clip shows a house just crumbling to the

ground. Rescuers getting people out any way they can, plucking them out by a helicopter here, and this woman saved by a tractor caked in mud. It's still unclear what exactly caused the tsunami-like waves which hit the border area between Nepal and China's Tibet. Our Janice Mackey Freyer is following the story. She starts us off tonight. Tonight, harrowing images from when the flooding hit. Passengers on a bus panicking as they watch people trying to outrun a monster wave. A surveillance camera on the Tibet side of the China-Napal border showing crowds running for cover

just before a building is wiped away by a wall of water. Tonight, the trail of destruction along the border catastrophic. Construction workers scrambling to escape as the wave barrels towards them. That red truck also trying to outrun the torrent of water, but eventually is swept away. Buses lined up on this parking garage quickly destroyed. In Nepal, the four-and-after images showing the overwhelming scale of destruction. Entire communities along the border submerged in water and mud, effectively erased. In all, hundreds are now missing, including nearly 300 foreign tourists.

Nepal officials say dozens of Americans among them. The Nepal army has been deployed to the area's hardest hit. Many now buried in mud, this woman among the survivors. What caused the floods is still unclear, though officials believe, an earthquake might have triggered an ice avalanche that unleashed disaster. Tonight, the State Department confirms at least 54 Americans are impacted by this disaster in Nepal. Here in China, officials say they are rushing in rescue teams, so this really is a race against the clock on both sides of the border. Tom. Janice, Mackey Freyer on that horrific natural disaster. Okay, Janice, we also have new information tonight about Dolly Parton's passing and how she wanted.

wanted to be remembered. This has tributes pour in for the beloved musical icon from around the world. Joe Fryer is in Dollywood tonight with the latest. In the wake of Dolly Parton's death, her team revealing new details. After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her earthly life. Now at her request, a small private funeral service will be held for immediate family. Today, her Dollywood theme park opened its door. giving fans a place to gather together and honor the icon. A scene replicated across Severe County, the place she was born and raised. How do you open up today and do your jobs like it's any other day?

Made a promise to her that the show is going to go on. The Eli family traveled to Dollywood from Illinois. It's just a lot to take in. Somebody as famous as she is, and you just say, still feel like you just had her ripped out of your heart. The tribute spanned the globe from Buckingham Palace, where 9 to 5 played during the changing of the guard, to the Empire State Building, bathed in Dolly Pink.

Jolene, Tolley. Her goddaughter, Miley Cyrus, writing, The feeling of losing my Aunt Dolly is beyond what feels right to share, adding what I know is Dolly would want me to feel it, write a song about it, and then continue on in Be Sears. strong. Though we may get a little more Dolly music down the road. She recorded a song locked away in a time capsule until 2045. For decades, Dolly charmed the world with both her wit and unwavering faith. I love everybody. I try to find the godlight and everybody and we all have it.

Today at Dollywood, they posted these pink signs across the park, echoing what the singer declared for decades, I will always love you. And Joe, we're learning more ways Dolly's legacy will be carried on? Yeah, Tom, her new hotel in Nashville's on track to start welcoming guests next month. And her new Broadway show is coming to New York by year's end. It's set to officially open on January 19. That's the day she would have turned 81. Tom.

Joe Fryer for us from Dollywood tonight, Joe, we thank you for that. This just in police in Ohio tonight, releasing the body cam video from that arrest of the owner of the San Francisco 49ers in a prostitution. sting. Maggie Vespal with a video. Show me her hands. Show me your hands. Don't move. Don't do anything. Tonight, new body camera video showing

the arrest of San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York during a prostitution sting in Ohio. It's just before 10 a.m. You see York wearing his wedding ring pulled out of this gray SUV appearing to ask officers. Can I ask what you doing?

What are you doing there? I'm just driving. He meeting anybody? No. The officer searching him. You're just driving around in East policy? Yeah. And per court documents obtained by NBC News, officers finding $160 in cash.

Yeah, he's a real estate guy. He's got all the money. York arrested on engaging in prostitution, later pleading no contests to an amended charge of disorderly conduct. After court documents say he responded to an undercover ad placed on a known prostitution website, by a local human trafficking task force, then drove to this East Palestine trailer park where he'd arranged to pay a woman $140 for sex. The husband and father of two who filed for divorce earlier this year was sentenced to one day in jail, given credit for time served, and ordered to pay more than $1,100 in fines.

The NFL vowing to review the case under its personal conduct policy, York's lawyer did not respond to an earlier request for comment. Maggie Vesvob, NBC News. Now, that surprise settlement, META paying $18 billion to settle claims that Instagram and Facebook are harming children. The company also promising sweeping changes to protect teens. Here's Christine Romas with what parents need to know. Tonight, META, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, shelling out $18 billion to settle the lawsuit accusing the tech giant of designing its social media sites to addict children. fueling a teen mental health crisis. A bipartisan group of 29 states brought the suit, now celebrating the landmark settlement. We're making meta pay. These are significant changes that will keep your kids

and mine safer. Meta denying wrongdoing, but promising to change how children and teens use Facebook and Instagram. The framework we've negotiated will empower parents to easily manage their children's access to our platforms. Among those changes, a two-hour daily time. limit for teens under 18, a nighttime block between midnight and 6 a.m., stronger age verification, hiding the number of likes on a post, and blocking teens from using extreme beauty filters. The settlement coming four days into a trial where Meadow was potentially facing hundreds of billions of dollars in damages. Now the company will pay $18 billion, roughly just one month of its revenue. For New Jersey mother, Erin Popolo, this is personal. She says,

says her 17-year-old daughter, Emily, died by suicide after being bullied, including on Instagram. You don't think this is a quick fix for kids and parents. No, it's not a quick fix for kids and parents. It's kind of a band-aid. This is a good start, but we still need laws in place. We still need federal legislation. Christine joins us now live in studio. So, Christine, what about other apps like YouTube and TikTok? Metta would like one industry standard. They say that teens move fluidly across social media sites and there should be one standard. The full $18 billion settlement depends on those guys signing on to.

An important note there. All right, Christine, we thank you for that. We're also following more breaking news tonight. A trial date has officially been set for the alleged mastermind behind the 9-11 terror attacks. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Kelly, Kelly, O'Donnell joins us now. Kelly, this news comes just two weeks before the 25th anniversary of those attacks. Tom, a poignant anniversary coming up. Tonight, a military judge issued a new order that sets a trial date for colleague Sheikh Mohammed, also known as KSM, for June 28. KSM is accused of being a top conspirator for the 9-11 attacks. He has been held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for 20 years. He and other alleged conspirators will face a military commission that is separate from the federal criminal court system. Nearly 3,000.

Americans died on 9-11. Tom? Kelly O'Donnell first, Kelly, thank you. Now to a genuine breakthrough for one of the deadliest forms of cancer. The FDA approving a treatment that can extend the lives of people with advanced pancreatic cancer. Ann Thompson joins us now, and this is such a big deal. It is huge, Tom. It is a notoriously deadly disease, and this treatment could double survival to 13 months

compared to almost seven with just chemotherapy. That could be a wedding, a new baby. a graduation. The new pill is called Rasson Q, the once daily treatment that turns off the gene mutation causing cancer cells to grow out of control. It's approved for patients whose pancreatic cancer is spread to other parts of the body and who've undergone standard treatments already. It's available today and it could have implications for other cancers that have the same gene mutation. Tom, it's really good news. And again, a big deal. All right, Ann, we thank you for that as well. And we have another passing to tell you about tonight.

Tim Curry, the actor and star of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Clue has died at the age of 80. Chloe Malas now on his life and career. There's no need to shout. I'm not shouting. All right, I am. I'm shouting. I'm shouting. I'm shouting.

Tim Curry had a way of disappearing inside his roles. I, Georgie, and Penny Wise. Delighting audiences from Broadway to the box office for more. than 50 years. I'll get you a satanic mechanic. His iconic portrayal of the mad scientist, Dr. Frankenfurter, and the 1975 cult classic Rocky Horror Picture Show launched him to superstardom. The thing that resonated for me more than anything was don't dream it, be it.

Don't dream it. Curry was a British actor who effortlessly crossed the line between comedies like Home Alone, too. Cedric. Yes. Don't count your tips in public. And dramas, a versatile performer often tasked with darker roles. Hair is a boring. His renowned career began on the London stage in 1969, with his first professional role in the musical hair, eventually leading to Broadway.

Trim Your Sail! And the movies. Playing Long John Silver in the family favorite Muppet Treasure Island. A debilitating stroke in 2012 left him paralyzed and limited his public. appearances, but it never stopped him from working. Curry's speaking about his mortality in a recent interview with CBS Sunday morning. I didn't fear death. I tried to avoid it, but I suspect that in the end I will welcome it. Chloe Malas, NBC News. We're back in just 60 seconds with the new twist in the Brian Coburger case, a hearing that could allow him to withdraw his guilty plea in the murder of those Idaho college students.

And the incredible video, people rushing into the rescue to lift an SUV saving a girl trapped beneath it. We're back now with a major development in the University of Idaho murders, the man serving four consecutive life sentences for the brutal crimes getting a new hearing that could lead him to being able to withdraw his guilty plea. Our Morgan Chesky explains. Tonight, convicted murderer Brian Coburger now one step closer to a possible do-over. A judge granting the 31-year-old a new hearing as he attempts to take back his guilty plea for the murders of four University of Idaho students. Kaylee Gonzalez, Madison Mogan, Zana Kernodal, and Ethan Chapin.

Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty? Yes. Koberger reversing course last month. Writing in a petition from prison, he was convinced to falsely confess, accusing his defense team of manipulation. Claiming his plea, quote, was induced by unkept promises. allegations made without offering evidence. That filing a shock to the system for the Gonzalez family. That fact that someone locked behind bars still has the ability to re-victimize their victims,

that's something that isn't just very easy to get over. His 2025 guilty plea took the death penalty off the table, with a judge-sentencing Coburger to four consecutive life sentences. The Gonzalez family telling today, just weeks ago, they would have taken a trial over the plea. We really were in a perfect position to put our foot down and say, we're not going to allow this to happen in our state, and I would have liked to see that happen. Now, to actually get that new trial, Idaho law requires Koeberger to prove that his counsel

was ineffective, which is a tough legal hurdle to clear. His next hearing now slated for June of next year. Tom. Morgan, thank you. We're back in a moment with the cross-country takedown, how police caught a man accused of terrorizing people in a horror mask. Plus, the remarkable rescue more than a dozen good Samaritans lifting an SUV to save a young girl next. Back now with a big update on that masked man terrorizing people in Philadelphia.

The U.S. Marshal Service arresting the suspect in Las Vegas after following a trail of security cameras. Police alleged she approached more than a dozen people in a horror movie style the skies, including chasing a jogger and asking if they were ready to die. Investigators believe Zemir Hughes recorded himself and was doing this purely for social media content. Now to a remarkable rescue caught on camera, more than a dozen people in China rushing and watch this to help this girl that was trapped under an SUV. You can see her legs kicking. Her yellow electric bike overturned after she was hit by the car and dragged underneath. Together they actually lift that SUV and slide her out. She looks to be a

okay, a bit bruised though, but sitting up and talking. All right, that's nightly news for this Wednesday. I'm Tom Yamas. We thank you so much for watching. Tonight, and always, we're here for you. Good night.