NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, November 12, 2025

Episode Date: November 13, 2025

Democrats release Epstein emails mentioning Trump; House votes on ending federal government shutdown; Impacts of the government shutdown may not end immediately; 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 just in, the longest government shutdown in history is one step closer to coming to an end. Moments ago, the House voting to reopen the federal government. The next stop, the president's desk. The more than 40-day standoff set to end with tonight's House vote. The path to the president's desk cleared after several Democratic senators flipped aside with the Republicans. Democrats ultimately unable to secure an agreement to renew expiring Obamacare tax credits. Also breaking tonight thousands of pages of Jeffrey Epstein's emails released. Donald Trump's name appearing multiple times.

Epstein alleging that Trump, quote, knew about the girls and once spent hours at his house with an alleged victim. The White House firing back tonight saying the emails prove nothing, what the new documents potentially reveal. New twist in the search for missing nine-year-old Melody Buzzer, her mother in court today, the allegations she threatened a friend with a box cutter. stunning sky show northern lights dancing across the night sky visible as far as Florida where you can see them again tonight penny for your thoughts maybe not the final penny

minted today with the one cent coin going away will retailers now round up the amazing images a humpback whale breaching off the coast of california how's this for a photo bomb nightly news starts right now News with Tom Yamas. And good evening. We're coming on the air with breaking news. The longest government shut down in American history could soon come to an end. Moments ago, House Republicans voting to pass a bill designed to fully fund the government through the end of January. It comes after weeks of bitter standoffs between Republicans and Democrats, primarily over health care subsidies, only broken when several Democratic senators sided with Republicans, with

some believing they gave up too much. The next stop for the bill is the president's desk. Ryan Nobles has been tracking the shutdown since it started and kicks us off tonight. Hey, Tom, good evening, and you're right. The House of Representatives now passing that funding bill that would fully fund the federal government through the end of January by a margin of 222 to 209. There were two Republicans that voted no on this measure, but six Democrats, somewhat surprisingly, crossing over and voting with Republicans. to vote yes to get the bill over the finish line. The House Speaker Mike Johnson speaking tonight shortly after the vote saying that this was an unnecessary drama that took place

here in Washington over the past 43 days and saying that hopefully this means that the two sides can now come together to work on a wide range of issues. And that will be necessary. Because this bill only fully funds the government through the end of January, there is the possibility that we could be in a very similar situation here in the next couple of months. Now, this bill does fund three different parts of the federal government through September of next year. It also fully funds the SNAP program through September of next year, but some of the biggest federal agencies that create some of the thornyest issues in Congress, departments like the Pentagon, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and of course, the Department of Homeland Security are issues that still need to be resolved before now and January. This, of course, was an issue that was centered around.

health care and health care was not addressed in this funding package. Democrats were holding out with the hope that they would see some sort of an extension to the tax credits that are tied to premiums related to the Affordable Care Act. They were insistent that Republicans come to the table and negotiate around that. Instead, the only concession Republicans made was that the Senate would vote on a package extending those credits sometime in December. But there's no guarantee that Republicans will support that measure. And there's no guarantee that even if that bill were to asked the Senate that it would even come up for a vote in the House. But Republicans have said that they are committed to finding a path forward.

President Trump has also said that he is looking for a path forward. He is expected to sign that bill later tonight. Once he does, the government will be back up and running, but it will be some time before the impacts will start to lessen all across the country. Tom, that's a look here in Washington. We'll send it back to you. Now to the breaking news, shaking Washington today. 20,000 pages of documents from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein were made public, and in several of them,

Epstein emails about Donald Trump, shining a renewed light on their history. The House Oversight Committee obtained the documents using a subpoena, and this morning House Democrats released three emails that mentioned the president and until now have never been seen by the public. Gabe Gutierrez reports from the White House. Tonight, the White House is pushing back after House Democrats released emails from Jeffrey Epstein's state, putting new scrutiny on President Trump's relationship with the late convicted sex offender. These emails prove absolutely nothing other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong. In 2011, four years before Trump announced his run for the presidency, Epstein

emailed his co-conspirator Galane Maxwell. I want you to realize that the dog that hasn't barked is Trump. Redacted names spent hours at my house with him. He has never once been mentioned. The White House says the redacted name is Virginia Dufre, one of Epstein's most prominent accusers. Dufre, who died by suicide earlier this year, never accused Trump of wrongdoing. Writing in her memoir, Trump couldn't have been friendlier. It is not a coincidence that the Democrats leaked these emails to the fake news this morning, ahead of Republicans reopening the government. This is another distraction campaign.

In another newly released email after Epstein was indicted on sex trafficking charges, he wrote this about Trump in 2019. Of course he knew about the girls. He asked Elaine to stop. The president has said he broke with Epstein years before Epstein got into legal trouble and kicked him out of Mar-a-Lago when Epstein started taking club employees to work for him, including Dufre. He stole her, and by the way, she had no complaints about us.

And now Republicans also releasing 20,000 pages of documents. In one email, Epstein, after former Trump fixer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to violating and campaign finance laws wrote, I know how dirty Donald is. Trump has never been accused of any wrongdoing link to Epstein. The administration now facing growing bipartisan pressure with a new Democrat sworn in today becoming the critical 218th signature to force a House vote to release all the DOJ's Epstein files. I will sign the discharge petition right now to release the Epstein files. Justice cannot wait another day.

As for when the House might vote on whether to release the DOJ's Epstein files, Speaker Mike Johnson just said that he intends to bring the resolution to the floor next week. If it passes, it would then go to the Senate, where it's likely to fail. Still, the president has been ramping up pressure on Republicans. Top administration officials met today here in the Situation room with GOP Congresswoman Lauren Bobert, who had signed that petition. Tom. All right, Gabe, we thank you. And there's a lot of legal and political questions here. I want to bring in Hallie Jackson and Laura Jarrett now. So, Hallie, we're going to start with you.

We're 10 months into President Trump's second term. Republicans have been with him on pretty much every issue, but there's been a split in the GOP over the Epstein files. Yeah, you're right about that, Tom, both here in Washington and out in the country among his base. The president, based on what he said, is clearly frustrated with this topic. He wants it to go away, but it hasn't yet, and it's not going to anytime soon. And that's part of it. because of the political pressure from some in his own party, as you just heard about on Capitol Hill. And among voters, polling shows this is one of the few topics where a majority of those Republican voters, the president's base, do not approve of the way he's handled the Epstein

case, Tom. All right. And Laura, our viewers may be asking, is there any legal exposure here for the president civilly or criminally with these new emails? Yeah, despite the optics here, there's just nothing connecting the president to any crime or any wrongdoing. He has said he did nothing wrong. Even the victim, Virginia Jufre said he didn't do anything wrong. And so I think the issue continues to dog him politically, but legally there's no hook there for him, Tom. All right. And Hallie, you've done a lot of reporting with the families. A lot of the pressure to release the DOJ files has come from Epstein survivors and their families. Yeah, 100%. I've spoken with a number of survivors and they all want to see more transparency. They want the spotlight on the survivors

and they want to see this administration put everything out there. You'll remember that a judge blocked the release of some grand jury material earlier this year. I'll tell you that some survivors also say they want President Trump to definitively rule out clemency for Galane Maxwell. He hasn't done that just yet, Tom. Hally Jackson, Laura Jarrett for us tonight, guys, thank you. The shutdown has impacted millions of Americans. From federal workers going without paychecks to flyers facing mass cancellations and delays. Now the question is, how quickly can things return to normal? Here's Tom Costello. From airport control towers to checkpoints and terminals to food banks, millions of Americans are keeping a wary eye on Congress.

I think it's horrible how politicians, all of them, use us as pawns and, you know, bargaining chips. That's all it is. That's all we are. Again today, the FAA trimmed 6% of commercial flights, citing a shortage of controllers after two missed paychecks. Passengers again stuck or delayed. People can't travel for work, for family, for other events. Many families, including those missing SNAP benefits, have turned to food banks, with many of those running low. I'm actually quite worried about these subsequent weeks that will we have to turn away people just because we cannot serve that many who are going to come out for food.

Furloughed IRS worker Daniel Sharpenberg, a single dad, hopes he's back to work on Monday. I'm left feeling like, what was this all for, right? we suffered all this time. What was this all for? Back at the nation's airports, the Trump administration has warned Thanksgiving travel could be jeopardized if the government remains closed. Airlines say they could be back to a full schedule within days once the FAA lifts the flight cancellations. I think you'll be back to norm. As close to norm as you can get by Friday, Saturday. And so we're counting on Congress doing their job and making that happen, but Thanksgiving will be fine. Okay, and with that, Tom Costello

joins us from Reagan National Airport. Tom, we've been asking you this for weeks. It's the same question tonight. How are those cancellations and delays looking tonight? Yeah, so right now, 900 flights canceled today alone. We had about 1900 or so delays. Tomorrow, another 860 are supposed to be canceled. The FAA planning to again trim the schedule by 8% tomorrow, but we'll see how this all is impacted by what Congress does, Tom. All right, we hope they can get back on track soon. Tom, we thank you for that. out west to a story we've been following here. The disappearance of 9-year-old Melody Buzzard, missing for more than a month now, and her mother appearing in court after being

arrested on unrelated charges. There's a new development tonight, and Steve Patterson has it. Tonight, 40-year-old Ashley Buzzard appearing before a judge, all while a blistering multi-state manhood for her missing daughter, moves forward. Today, Buzzard pleading not guilty to one charge of felony false imprisonment, a judge releasing her with a GPS monitor. You're released on supervised release. The charge unrelated to Melody's disappearance. The accuser, in Buzzard's case, Tyler Brewer, says he's known Ashley for years and went to her home to help with the search. When he tried to leave, he says Buzzard threatened and held him against his will. In a now deleted social media post, he wrote, Ms. Buzzard became visibly distressed

after sharing information she appeared to regret disclosing. A box cutter was produced and despite multiple requests to be allowed to exit the home, I was not immediately permitted to leave. Authorities arrested Buzzard Friday. Her daughter now missing for more than a month. Investigators are continuing to reach out to Ashley to try to get, you know, give her every opportunity that we can for her to let us know where Melody is. Has her cooperation with the investigation changed it all since she's been in custody? Her cooperation has not changed. Surveillance video shows Ashley with her daughter in disguise, both appearing to be wearing wigs. The pair seen in a white Chevy Malibu. On October 7th, the rental car's license plate swapped

during the trip. Melody was last seen on October 9th, spotted near the Utah, Colorado border as investigators say they're committed to bringing her home. Steve Patterson, NBC News. We're also following another developing story in the skies across America. A powerful geomagnetic storm has made the northern lights visible, and there is more on the way tonight. Here's Emily Aketa with the stunning images. Overnight, brilliant shades of red, green, and purple painted the sky, from San Francisco Bay to farmland in Wisconsin. Here's a pilot's view over Chicago, all-inspiring auroras, even stretching unusually far south. My husband just woke me up because apparently there's northern lights in Florida tonight.

Thanks to the extreme intensity of a geomagnetic storm, when the sun blasts out charged particles at several million miles an hour that bombard Earth's magnetic. field. But it's not all about the beauty shots. Experts say these cosmic storms have the potential to disrupt electrical grids, satellites, and GPS communications. It even forced Blue Origin to postpone a spacecraft launch today. But for most, the impacts will be limited to stunning skies. It's kind of a spiritual feeling, kind of almost teary, because it's so beautiful. Something this grandmother and grandson got to experience together. She's always talked about it, and Vina would have fulfilled something like that for her. It was just like, it's priceless.

Part two of this solar show is expected to dazzle tonight across mainly northern parts of the country. Experts say, pull out your phone camera. Its long exposure can capture more color than the naked eye. Tom. We'll be looking for them tonight. All right, Emily, thank you. And we're back in 60 seconds with the very last penny ever minted. today, why it's the end of the line for the one-cent coin, and why it may cost you more,

we'll explain. We are back now with the end of an era. Today, the last ever penny was minted in Philadelphia, after President Trump said it no longer makes sense to produce the one-cent coin. Here's Liz Croix. Tonight, after more than 230 years in circulation, the U.S. mint in Philadelphia, pressing the last ever American penny. We're saying goodbye to the penny today. U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach on hand for the historic moment as production of the one-cent coins officially comes to an end. The final two

pennies going up for auction. It's still legal tender and we have over 300 billion of them in circulation. Earlier this year, President Trump calling the coin wasteful as the cost to produce just one penny is now almost four times its face value. For years, it's been a hotly debated issue. news did this report way back in 1990 about the first congressional bill attempting to eliminate the ill-fated coin. When we put a few pennies on the sidewalk, no one bothered to pick them up. But despite its growing irrelevance, the abrupt death of the penny has left some banks and businesses scrambling. Let's say that you go to a store and the cost is $5.53. You're paying in cash. What do you tell the customer? So right now, the vast majority of our members are going to

round that up to the nearest nickels. Retail trade groups now urging Congress to establish a national standard for rounding cash transactions. But tonight, many just saying goodbye. We're going to have a moment of mourning. Sharing their thoughts for a penny. Liz Croyd's NBC News. And nickel for your thoughts just doesn't have the same ring, but it does have a similar problem. The five cent coin cost nearly 14 cents to make now. All right. We are back in a moment with the growing recall. over baby formula that's making infants sick. Plus, your front row seat to a spectacular sight, a humpback whale caught breaching on camera.

That's next. We are back now with growing concerns over health risks from a popular baby formula. The FDA announcing it is expanding a nationwide recall of by-heart brand formula after an outbreak of botulism cases. At least 15 infants across 23 states were hospitalized after drinking the organic formula.

No deaths have been reported. By heart has recalled all of its products saying infant safety is the company's highest priority. The FDA is investigating the outbreak. And in Baltimore, a police officer has been indicted after a viral video appeared to show him trying to run a man over with a patrol vehicle. Robert Parks is accused of barreling through the grass

and speeding onto a sidewalk trying to run the man down. Parks is charged with attempted murder and more and could face up to 65 years in prison. prison. And check this out, a whale siding that was almost too close for comfort. These passengers on a boat off Newport Beach, California, capturing the moment a humpback launched its entire body out of the water, spinning in midair as you saw there and sending up a giant splash. You can hear boaters screaming with excitement as they watch this spectacular sight up close. Pretty cool. That's nightly news for this Wednesday. I'm Tom Yamas. And before we go tonight, a number of new viewers

have found us in the past couple of weeks, and we want to thank them. for joining us tonight and always we're here for you good night