NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Episode Date: January 29, 2026

Race to restore power in freezing South; New video shows Alex Pretti interacting with federal agents days before fatal shooting; Close call on San Antonio runway; 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.

Tonight, the disaster unfolding across the south, hundreds of thousands without power in dangerously cold weather. The death toll rising and the temperatures are set to plunge even lower. Car after car sliding off an icy road, piling up in a ditch, an arena roof collapsing under heavy snow. Power crews hanging from a helicopter to restore electricity and pipes bursting inside the home of a family we introduced you to last night. how they're surviving. Plus, we're tracking a bomb cyclone, the areas that could see even more snow. The new video just in showing ICU nurse Alex Pretti in an altercation with federal officers days before he was killed. Plus, the two officers involved in the deadly shooting now placed on leave. And the attack on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, what we just learned was sprayed on her.

Also tonight, the man accused of murdering his wife so he could be with the family's au pair, testifying in his own defense, you'll see that husband take the stand, what he told the jury. FBI agents raiding a Georgia election center, what we're learning about the connection to the president's claims about the 2020 election. NBC News exclusive, the runway close call, a southwest jet nearly colliding with a private plane. You'll hear the frantic call inside the control tower that prevented disaster. Growing virus concerns U.S. health officials monitoring and infectious outbreak overseas, deadlier than COVID. Airport screening passengers what we're learning.

And there's good news tonight. Puppies rescued from a raging house fire and the dog finding his forever home with the firefighter that saved him. Nightly News starts right now. This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas. And good evening. We begin tonight with a deep freeze disaster unfolding across the south. And the weather there is all.

only going to get worse for millions. The death toll from the storm and brutal cold has now climbed to 68. Down south, millions still frozen under sheets of ice, leading to all kinds of dangerous situations from this scary pile up on the highway in Mississippi to this Arkansas arena roof. Look at that, collapsing under the weight of snow and ice. Hundreds of thousands are still without power. And some crews, you see it right here fixing the problem from the air by helicopter. That's incredible. The outage is making the cold a potentially life or death situation, including for families like the Martins, who you met on this broadcast just last night, but things just got worse for them. They've just been uprooted by a burst pipe flooding their home. There's more

cold and another storm now on the way are Bill Cairns. He's tracking that, but we want to start things off with George Solis back in Nashville. Tonight, the race to restore power in the south from the air with repair crews using helicopters and on the ground, as the nearly 400,000 people remain in the dark. At least 68 deaths are now being blamed on the dangerous winter weather nationwide as snow, ice, and freezing temperatures take their toll. Watch as the roof of this rodeo arena in Arkansas collapses from heavy snow, and as more drivers take to the roads, accidents piling up. In Mississippi, dramatic new video shows multiple cars already in a ditch on the side of the road. Then watch as this SUV loses control, slammed into a truck and adds to the

pile. In Indiana, icy roads causing this big rig to turn over on its side. In Tennessee, Nashville Electric Service today reporting more than 300 power poles broken and 900 crew members working on repairs. Few needed more than the Martin family. We first shared their story last night, huddled together on the floor under blankets for warmth. Today, a new crisis, a burst pipe flooding their home, water leaking everywhere. All the water came out on the floor here. Oh, this is where you guys were huddled up here. Yeah. Temperatures in Nashville have fallen below freezing for six straight days.

Life-threatening conditions for those without power like restaurant worker Madison Bright, now forced to stay with family. She showed us this text message she received saying the power was back on, even when it wasn't. We checked twice, and the power still has not been back on. Also in Nashville, the McCann family now sleeping in their car after burst pipes flooded their home and their floors froze over. I've been praying to God of, you know, can we? get any help. Also in Nashville, police responding to reports of an unresponsive man in his home.

We believe that he succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide poisoning, a growing concern. We have actually in the poison center had at least 46 cases of poisoning in children, and then across the board, both children and adult, 101 cases since Thursday night. George joins us again live from Nashville, where the race is on to restore power. And George, We can see those power crews still working there behind you in this big freeze. That's right, Tom. This crew actively working to restore power in one of these neighborhoods that was hardest hit here in Nashville. Part of their work includes chopping down through some of these frozen trees.

It is arduous work. And now, as you mentioned, it is a race against time ahead of that next expected freeze. Tom. George, so least leaving us off. George, thank you. Let's bring in Bill Carrence. And Bill, it is still so cold down there. And now we're tracking this bomb cyclone.

Yes, that's for the weekend, but we still have to deal with really cold air before and after. So we have 72 million people under cold alerts all the way down to Florida. The wind chills are going to be brutal once again through the northern half of the country from Chicago, negative 11 tomorrow, Cleveland, negative 9. And by the way, all the way down to the Gulf Coast below freezing. So as far as the bomb cyclone goes, it really turned into a monster winter storm on Saturday. The blue is snow all through the Carolinas, maybe a little bit in the Georgia. Southern portions of Virginia could get nailed by this. but the trend for New England and through the northeast is to be more off the coast.

So here's our first call on snowfall amount. Someone's going to have a chance for six to 12 inches here from Raleigh towards the coast. Wherever that heavy band of snow sets up on the backside, we're also going to have extreme wind gusts, up to 60 miles per hour power outages on the outer banks. But a lot of the heavy snow misses the New England area except for Cape Cod. Okay, we'll keep our eyes on it, though. Bill, we thank you for that. We have breaking news out of Minneapolis tonight.

New video just into our newsroom showing Alex Pready, the ICU NER, killed by federal agents in an intense encounter with other agents just days before. Camila Bernal reports tonight from Minneapolis. Tonight, a representative for Alex Pready's family confirming this newly released video shows him interacting with federal agents on January 13, 11 days before he was fatally shot. The video shows him kicking a vehicle and agents tackling him to the ground. The video does not show what happened before the incident. And tonight, the Border Patrol agents who were,

fired in Predi's fatal shooting are on administrative leave, according to the Department of Homeland Security. At a town hall last night, Representative Ilhan Omar was criticizing the Trump administration's response to Prattie's death. DHS Secretary Christine Nome must resign or face impeachment. When a man in the crowd charged her, spraying her with a substance in a syringe. Some of the liquid hit Councilmember Letricia Vita, who says it was terrifying, not knowing what it was. It's so scary when you don't know. And we've had some crazy incidents in this city.

It's like I think everybody's on edge. So it was even scarier. Omar's office said today it was told a preliminary report shows the substance was apple cider vinegar. Minneapolis police have arrested 55-year-old Anthony James Kamirchuk for assault. Omar is a frequent target of President Trump who said she probably had herself sprayed, knowing her. The president is also continuing to stand by DHS secretary, Christy Knoem, despite two Republican senators, now calling for her to go. She's never managed a large organization, and she's failing at every possible measure of the job. In a rare move, today DHS adopting a different stance than in the immediate hours after Preddy's death, when Noam made this claim later contradicted by cell phone videos.

This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement. DHS now saying it relied on reports from CBP from a very chaotic scene on the ground, adding an investigation is now underway. Camila joins us now live. Camila, let's go back to that new video of Alex Prattie. We're hearing tonight from his family about this video. Yeah, Tom, the family saying they knew about his previous interactions with, agents and releasing a statement tonight saying a week before Alex was gunned down in the street, despite posing no threat to ICE, he was violently assaulted. Tom.

Okay, Camila, we thank you for that. It was a dramatic scene in a Virginia courtroom today. The man accused of killing his wife so that he could continue his affair with the O'Pair, took the stand today in his own defense. Stephanie Gosk has the details. In a Virginia court, testify truthfully in this case under penalty of law. accused killer Brendan Banfield taking the stand in his own defense. Prosecutors say he conspired with the family's au pair to kill his wife Christine and another man, Joseph Ryan, by luring him to the house with a fake profile on a fetish website. Today, Banfield telling the jury that never happened.

I think that it's an absurd line of questioning that a plan was made to get rid of my wife. that is absolutely crazy. Banfield did admit he had an affair with the O'Pere Juliana Perez-Magaliers starting six months before the alleged murders on a night that his wife and daughter were in New York City. I did not stop her advances. When I went upstairs, she came with me into my bedroom. Banfield testifying that he told Magaliers that it was just an affair. fair and that both he and his wife had multiple affairs in the past. Prosecutors say Banfield came up with the scheme to kill his wife so he could start a new life

with Magaliers. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter and testified for the prosecution that there was a plan to kill Christine. Did he tell you what he wanted to do? Yes. What did he say? He mentioned his plan to get rid of her. Legal experts say taking the stand could be a risky strategy for a defendant, but it is also a chance for Banfield to tell his side of the story. He will be back on the stand again tomorrow. Tom. Stephanie, Gossack for us. Stephanie, thank you. We have new reporting tonight on an FBI raid of an election office near Atlanta today. County officials say the warrant relates to documents from the 2020 election,

which President Trump has falsely claimed was rigged. Aaron Gilchrest is there. Tonight, this video shows federal agents raiding an election center in Fulton County, Georgia. The county says it was served a warrant for a number of records related to 2020 elections, with the FBI calling it court-authorized law enforcement activity. All afternoon, a steady stream of local and state elected officials arriving at this sprawling facility trying to observe the agent's work. One state senator who went inside posting this video to social media that he says shows agents removing boxes of ballots. This is an order from on high to try to disrupt Fulton County's election administration just because Donald Trump is still

mad that he lost the 2020 elections. President Trump has long falsely claimed the 2020 election was rigged, something he brought up just days ago. It was a rigged election. Everybody now knows that they found out. People will soon be prosecuted for what they did. In the months after the election, the president asked Georgia's Republican Secretary of State to help him find votes to overturn the results.

And Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis charged the president with interfering with the election. That case was dismissed last year. Tonight, the FBI not commenting on what it's looking for or why. The FBI co-deady director arrived here from Washington just a short time ago. Meanwhile, those court documents detailing exactly what the FBI is looking for remain under seal. Tom? Aaron, thank you.

We have exclusive new reporting tonight about a frightening close call in the runway at San Antonio's airport. The FAA saying a quick-thinking air traffic controller averted disaster. Tom Costello with that story. It was a frantic last second call from the controller. A Southwest 7-37-Tayoff clearance. A Southwest 737-37-Torfer. A Southwest 737 cleared for take-off rolling down runway 2-2 at 115 miles per hour in San Antonio when a private Pilates PC-12 plane suddenly made a wrong turn onto the same runway heading towards the 737.

A head-on crash just seconds away. A good, cancel take-off player. It's casual take-off, sir, south-west. They stopped in time. the plane safely departed for Dallas an hour later, while another Southwest flight preparing to land was ordered to go around. What's got a 602-10 go-around by runway heading? I maintain 4,000. A Southwest spokesperson says the controller saved the day. The FAA investigating. For years, so-called runway incursions or close calls have been a top priority at the FAA, with 1635 in 2025, down 7% from 2024. Meanwhile, in Bangor, Maine, the NTSB says the black boxes from the private plane that crashed in snowy conditions Sunday night, killing all six on board, are now at the NTSB lab in Washington.

The airport remains closed. Unfortunately, the extreme weather conditions on the field are impacting the progress of the investigation. Investigators are analyzing the weather conditions at the time of the crash, and weather icing may have prevented the plane from taking off. All right, Tom, thank you. Health officials in the U.S. tonight are monitoring a deadly virus that is spreading overseas. Airports in the Southeast Asia are now heightening their airport screenings. Raff Sanchez is following this from London for us. And Ralph, what more do we know? So, Tom, airports across the region are stepping up their screening for what's known as the NEPA virus. This is a far more deadly virus than COVID. It has a fatality rate of between 40 and 75 percent, according to the World Health Organization.

Now, it's usually carried by fruit bats and human-to-human transmission seems to be rare, but there is no vaccine at this point, which is why these two cases in India are being taken so seriously. The Indian Ministry of Health says it's been doing contact tracing and it believes the virus is contained. And the CDC says it is monitoring the situation and it stands ready to assist if needed. Tom. Keeping a close eye on that one. All right, Raf, we thank you. And we're back in a moment with a terrifying moment caught on camera. camera, an avalanche, look closely, totally bearing a resort in snow.

And this rare and scary sighting a mountain lion on the prow in a San Francisco neighborhood. That's next. We're back now with a massive fire at a luxury ski resort in the French Alps. Hundreds of people were evacuated after the resort you see it here burst into flames, sending huge plumes of smoke into the sky. Skiers on nearby mountains were still able to see the smoke after the fire kept burning into the next day, luckily no injuries were reported. Also tonight, terrifying new video of a massive avalanche, a huge wave of snow in the background, and when it hits, zero visibility. Look at that. It happened in one of the most popular tourist areas in Kashmir between India and Pakistan, totally bearing the area

in snow. According to local media, there, nobody was seriously hurt. We've also got some alarming video out of Las Vegas where a wheel fell off a British Airways flight during takeoff. There's the plane and it's a little dark, but if you look closely at that circle there, you can see that wheel falling down at the tarmac. British Airway says they're supporting authorities with their investigations. The plane landed safely in London hours later. And this mountain line has been on the prowl roaming the streets of San Francisco. The woman who spotted him said she was sitting in her car when she saw him and took this video after he walked up the steps to her apartment building. Officials say he's now been captured and will be released to a safer place in the Bay Area, hopefully nowhere near the Super Bowl.

All right, when we come back tonight, there's good news, the firefighter, who saved these dogs from a fire, how we save them again. Finally, there's good news tonight and a reunion between two brothers, thanks to the hero who saved him. Their connection was immediate. Watch as this pair of pups are reunited for the first time. Remunctious, unbridled, and a bit bigger since the last time they saw each other as newborns. Still searching for animals. Rescued from this burning home in Georgia last March. Pickens County Fire Lieutenant John Isaac Holloway was one of the first responders who pulled the litter of seven puppies from the flames.

The O the chief let him know that we've located them. I get the window open and start handing the puppies out through the window. to him. He ended up bringing one home, naming him Lieutenant Peewee, Lou for short. While the rest of the litter also found their forever homes through rescue organizations, except for one, Creed. Me and my wife talked about it and I was kind of like, ooh, don't want anything to happen to one of the pups that, you know, I rescued. And, you know, we talked about it and was like, yeah, we'll foster it. Good boys. But the pups bond proved unbreakable in their reunion.

As the saying goes, Holloway's family, Foster failed, and now these brothers are back together for good. These dogs I've had a connection with from the moment that I rescued them means everything. Emily Ikeda, NBC News. All right, that does it for us tonight. That's nightly news for this Wednesday. I'm Tom Yamas. Thanks so much for watching tonight and always. We're here for you.

Good night.