NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Episode Date: June 4, 2026

FBI kills suspect to end hostage standoff; New attacks by Iran and U.S. strain an already shaky ceasefire; Scott Pelley disputes CBS account of firing as tensions mount at ‘60 Minutes’; 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 terrifying hostage standoff in California coming to a deadly end. A suspect with bombs apparently strapped to him, shot and killed by the FBI. The snipers taking aim. Hostages rushed to safety. That suspect, even putting some explosives on the people he held captive, how the strike team took him out. Breaking news from Washington, the Republicans who just defected voting to end the war in Iran. as Iran hits an airport in Kuwait, and now President Trump says he wants to meet with the new

Ayatollah. Startling video of an attempted kidnapping, a woman handcuffed and screaming for help, how a truck driver saved her. The vote's still being counted right now in those high-stakes California elections. Mayor Karen Bass advancing to the general, so will reality star Spencer Pratt face off against her where the count stands? Chaos at 60 minutes. Veteran journalist Scott Pelly fired, and now he's firing back at the network. Deadly train derailment, train cars mangled and piled up after colliding with trucks on the tracks.

Our exclusive new reporting about that CIA officer arrested for stealing millions in gold bars from the spy agency, the classified military program he worked on. Cave Rescue Survivor speaks what one man Manfred told our reporter about the two men still missing. And there's good news tonight, the heartwarming surprise for a group of young kids as World Cup fever kicks into high gear. Nightly News starts right now. This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas. Good evening. We begin tonight with the 15-hour hostage nightmare in California that finally came to an end when an FBI strike team shot and killed the man.

who was holding them. All of those hostages safely rescued, but it was a chaotic scene over the day and night, as you see here. This video is showing officers leading a group of people to safety away from the building. And it all started on Tuesday in the city of Bakersfield in central California, sparking a massive police response. When a man entered the offices of the school superintendent, explosives strapped to his body, the marathon negotiations stretching late into the night as fears grew that innocent lives may be lost. The suspect then strapping more possible explosives to the hostages. The FBI ultimately taking over and take a look at this. Those are snipers positioning on a roof and a heavily armed tactical team heading towards the scene

later ending that standoff. We have new details tonight about the suspect and his possible motive. NBC Steve Patterson is there and he starts us off tonight. Tonight a harrowing 15-hour crisis. This man strapping explosives to himself, spouting demands to authorities, while keeping multiple hostages tied, terrorized, and held captive. At approximately 4.30 a.m. this morning, that's when the hostage rescue team neutralized this subject. Authorities say the suspect, 41-year-old Anthony Scott Searles Harris was shot and killed at the scene by an FBI strike team. No one else was hurt, including all hostages inside. The advisors and male subject inside the bank with a...

Police called to the scene Tuesday afternoon when authorities say, Earl Harris stormed an office building in downtown Bakersfield that also houses a bank, claiming to have an explosive device barricading himself on the second floor where he took 10 employees from the Kern County Superintendent of schools as hostages. Some had additional explosives attached to them, according to law enforcement. Five of those hostages were tied up, officials say. Video taken during the crisis shows two people inside that building. Crisis negotiators able to secure the release of two hostages during the day.

The first being at 359 p.m. and the second being at 8.24 p.m. But as the night went on, the suspect became more erratic. And knowing one of the hostages was diabetic, they were running out of time. That's when the FBI sent in their strike teeth. Authorities say Searle Harris was an Army veteran, dishonorably discharged in the mid-2000s, for going AWOL and is a registered sex offender. He was no stranger to law enforcement and has a criminal history of using weapons to commit violent offenses. And Steve, this happened just there behind you. Big question still is why.

Are authorities investigating any of the motives here and if the hostages were targeted? You know, right now, Tom, authorities don't believe those officials were intentionally targeted. But take a look at the scene. Look around. You can see the scene is still being processed authorities searching for a motive to what amounted to a terrifying ordeal for this entire community. Tom. Steve Patterson in Bakersfield leading us off. We have breaking news now out of Washington, the House voting late today to bring an end to military action.

in Iran. Four Republicans joining Democrats in that vote. It comes, though, as Iran attacks its neighbors hitting an international airport. Our chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel, reports from the region. Tonight, in a stern rebuke to President Trump, the House of Representatives voted to pass a resolution ordering Trump to stop the war with Iran. Four Republicans joining all Democrats in the symbolic vote, reflecting a growing frustration with the ongoing conflict, Congress never authorized, a war which today took a turn for the worse. In the most violent flare-up in weeks, threatening an already shaky U.S.-Iran ceasefire. Today, Kuwait's main airport took a direct hit from Iranian drones.

A terminal caught fire. Flights canceled. Kuwaiti officials say an Indian resident was killed and dozens injured. The U.S. fired on Iran as well, attacking a military installation on an island, and turning around and disabling more ships heading to Iranian ports. But late today, President Trump appeared dismissive of Iran's attack, calling it not very strong. We hit them very hard on something else unrelated, and so they were responding. He insisted a deal is still close.

The negotiation itself has gone very well, actually. Very well. Mr. President, it could happen. I mean, if it happens, and it might not happen, who knows. But if it happens, it could happen like over the weekend. In an interview released earlier, Trump said the U.S. military blockade of Iran could last until September, but called it unlikely, adding he hopes to meet Iran's supreme leader, whose father Trump authorized killed in a joint U.S. Israeli operation. We probably will meet at some point, depending on how it all works out. All right, Richard joins us now live. Richard, Israel's military presence inside southern Lebanon continues to complicate getting a peace deal with Iran. It certainly does.

And Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said today that Israeli troops will stay in southern Lebanon. He said they are necessary for Israel's security to defend against Hezbollah. Iran's foreign ministry tonight said that unless there is a real ceasefire in Lebanon, there won't be a ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. Tom. Richard, thank you. Out West, they are still counting the votes in California in that high-stakes primary where former reality TV star Spencer Pratt is predicting he'll advantage.

to the November election to face off against L.A. Mayor Karen Bass. Here's Liz Croix. Tonight, with votes still being counted in the highly watched race for L.A. Mayor, former reality TV star, Spencer Pratt, predicting he'll advance to November's election. The guy wanted five more months of me exposing all the failures of our mayor. So it's going to be a fun ride. I hope she's ready. Pratt currently in second place, while NBC News projecting incumbent Democratic Mayor Karen Bass has already advanced. I don't care where you're from when you got here or why you're here. You are an Angelino and we are going to fight for you. Celebrating with this post on social media, although it's the first time in 20 years.

A sitting L.A. mayor could not get a majority of the vote and was forced into a runoff. We can do debates every Friday if she would like because this actually became my most favorite thing to do. It's the latest twist for Pratt, a Republican who decided to run after losing his home in the Palisades fire last year. and tapped into voter anger over crime and homelessness. And there's a surprising surge for a Republican in California's governor race too. Conservative commentator Steve Hilton currently leading the pack. When people say how are you going to win in California as a Republican, my question is, how will a Democrat win based on the record that they are putting before the people?

But in this heavily blue state, he's in for an uphill battle. His likely opponent, Democrat Javier Bacera. If he wins, the former Biden cabinet member would be the first. Latino to run the state in more than 150 years. This is your state. This is your state. November, here we come. And Tom, we're inside the L.A. County ballot processing center right now.

You can still see all of these workers still processing the thousands of ballots that are still coming in. The vote by mail system here in California means that in tight races, it can sometimes take several days until a winner is announced. Tom. And we know you'll be standing by for all those results. All right, Liz. Thank you for that. It is one of the biggest news shows in this country, and its marquee reporter

has been fired. 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelly is officially out at CBS News, and he's firing back tonight at the network leadership that pushed him out. Aaron McLaughlin has the latest on the turmoil at the top-rated show. I'm Scott Pelly. Tonight, long-time 60-minute veteran correspondent, Scott Pelley is firing back after being fired by CBS. Pelley saying CBS executives are lying about why he was let go from one of the top-rated shows in America. The longtime CBS reporter had blasted the new Tom producer of 60 Minutes and CBS News leadership in a staff-wide meeting saying they are murdering the story newscast. Peli then met with top executives, including the network's controversial editor-in-chief,

Barry Weiss, who said that despite attempts to engage with him, they weren't able to find a way back after she says he broke the newsroom's foundation of trust and mutual respect. Pellie also accusing management of wreaking havoc on the show and instructing him to injecting him to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. As parent company, Paramount Skydance is a $110 billion merger with Warner Brothers Discovery awaits regulatory approval from the Trump administration. The ticking clock of 60 Minutes has been around for 58 years and near the top of the ratings for decades. What we're really looking at is 60 Minutes, gold standard of journalism, most popular news program in America for over half a century,

fundamentally being completely redone, rethought, restructured. Barry Weiss, founder of a conservative-leaning website, was brought into the network to change things up. She cleaned house at 60 minutes, getting rid of the show's top producers. And with four full-time correspondents recently out, only three remain, including the legendary Leslie Stahl, who has yet to speak publicly about the chaos at her show. Erin McLaughlin, NBC News, New York.

When we return in 60 seconds here on Nightly News, woman running down a country road in handcuffs saying she was being kidnapped. We talked to the truck driver who saved her. Plus, look at this, the massive train car pile up after a truck drove right onto the tracks. And the first survivor from that cave in Laos speaks to us. Does he think there are more survivors still trapped? That's next. We are back now with a terrifying incident caught on camera, handcuffed woman,

seeing running down a rural road begging for help and telling her, truck driver who stopped to help that she'd been kidnapped. Our Jesse Kirsch picks it up from there. A woman in handcuffs sprinting down a South Carolina road. Hey, we got a girl over here running for her life. Watch the woman race toward this semi-truck with a swerving car right behind her. seemingly that car was trying to run that person over. The truck's driver, Anthony Moore, telling me that he was driving Friday morning in Aiken County, South Carolina when that woman suddenly emerged from the woods. He ran up to my truck and said, please help me. He's trying to kidnap me.

You can see the man here, identified by investigators as 39-year-old Jonathan Willard. According to a sheriff's office report, the victim says Willard approached her while she was out on a walk, claiming to be with the police. He placed her in handcuffs, then into the rear of his car. The victim says she believed him at first, but got suspicious when he kept asking the same questions. Eventually, Willard pulled over, according to the report, and that's when the victim made her remarkable escape, running to the road and to more. Did you, for even a split second, think this was a legitimate law enforcement officer? No, sir. Space looked dirty. You were smoking a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Willard has since been arrested and charged with impersonating a law

enforcement officer and with kidnapping after this disturbing scene caught on camera. Jesse Kirsch, NBC News. All right, we're back in a moment with our exclusive. Why did a top CIA officer have $40 million in gold bars? That's next. Back down with a major train derailment in Iowa. Take a look at this. More than a dozen train cars crumbled about an hour from Des Moines. A witness said a semi-truck tried to cross the track while lights were flashing and colliding with that train. Officials saying at least one person is dead and another is injured. Also tonight, new details about a CIA officer. arrested after $40 million in gold bars were found at his home. Three former U.S. officials with knowledge of David Rush's involvement tell NBC News that he served as a liaison to the Pentagon for sensitive nuclear submarines. It's one of the most highly classified military programs. He has not yet entered a plea. And NBC News speaking to one of the five survivors who made it out alive from that cave in Laos,

he tells our Janus Mackey Freyer tonight that he had been in the cave about five times before and thinks the two men who are still missing took a different path than his group. And get this, he believes they are still there and fighting to survive. When we come back tonight here on nightly news, the crowd goes wild. The special surprise for an elementary school soccer team as the World Cup is set to kick off. That's next. Finally, there's good news tonight. With the World Cup kicking off in just over a week, an elementary school soccer team got a once-in-a-lifetime surprise.

Our Chloe Malas was there and our cameras were rolling. Find a new game. Find a new gay, Victoria. For one youth soccer team in Queens, the road to the World Cup started in a school gym. Because of a very special mommy that did something for us. Every single one of you. Tickets for each child to attend the World Cup match between Norway and Senegal later this month. The surprise coming after Wing Yi sang, one of the player's mom, Mom nominated the team for Stubhubhub's Access New York program, which gives free live event tickets to kids.

That was very emotional, and I just was so happy for them. The principal of PS171Q says more than 90% of the school faces economic hardships. They should have these experiences that others have. Like, why can't they have these experiences? They deserve it. Many of the kids could hardly believe it. Can you describe to me? emotions right now. I'm like excited and happy. I've never went to the World Cup and I've watched it

every year since I was too. Little team from Queens is going now headed to one of the world's biggest games. We're going to the World Cup. Kelly Malas, NBC News, New York. World Cup here they come. That's nightly news for this Wednesday. I'm Tom Yamis. We thank you so much for watching tonight and always we're here for you. Good night. God!