Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Episode Date: March 5, 2026

Tonight's Top Story has the latest breaking news, political headlines, news from overseas and the best NBC News reporting from across the country and around the world Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Breaking news tonight as we come on the air strikes intensifying on Iran, the war spreading across the region as NATO shoots down a missile. Plus, Americans trapped and terrified trying to get out. The dramatic escalation, a U.S. torpedo blowing up and sinking in Iranian warship, new explosions inside of Iran as the U.S. aims to destroy missile launchers. The Iranian drone shooting across a golf course in Dubai and NATO air defense is knocking out the missile headed for Turkey. Will other Western countries be dragged into the spiraling conflict? Also tonight, chaos and confusion for Americans. They're stranded in the Middle East. You'll see one father's desperate effort to get back home for his son's first birthday

as drones force airspace into lockdown. Plus, the Americans taking the long road out their dangerous journey through the desert. President Trump's wartime decision are a new reporting on the pivotal phone call that set strikes into motion. The bitter Republican primary in Texas now has. to a runoff. President Trump says he'll endorse soon, but which candidate will get that critical vote of confidence? A plane crashing into a neighborhood, slamming into homes before smashing into a backyard, what we know about those on board. And rating retirement savings, a record number of Americans are dipping into their 401k's early. What you need to know if you're considering doing that.

Plus, how do Americans feel about the war with Iran? The results just in from our new NBC News poll. Top story starts right now. And good evening tonight. War in the Middle East intensifying with growing concerns the crisis could spiral even further. American and Israeli forces ramping up attacks on Iran's military, Navy and police as we get a first look at the new and old tactics employed in this fast-paced war. Here's something we haven't seen since World War II, the U.S. military, decimating a warship with a torpedo. U.S. Central Command saying tonight they've sunk more than 20 Iranian ships to the U. the bottom of the ocean. And here's something we've never seen before in combat. The U.S. launching long-rage precision strike missiles at Iranian targets for the first time. Part of an aerial assault

showing no signs of stopping, skylines across Iran clouded with smoke and flames from a barrage of missiles, the entire region caught in the crosshairs. Video taken in Oman shows a drone falling from the sky and exploding. And Lebanon under siege as Israel continues to target Hezbollah forces there. These chilling images in Syria showing children plain on an unexploded Iranian projectile lodged in the ground. And another Iranian missile headed for Turkey, a member of NATO, shot down by NATO's air defenses, threatening to draw U.S. allies further into this conflict. And amid the chaos and the destruction seems like this. Thousands of Americans scrambling to find a way out of the Middle East, with much of the commercial airspace shut down. You'll hear several of their stories tonight.

We're also learning more about the American service. members killed in this war. Tonight, you'll learn more about their brave journeys and their service. We have our teams tonight spread out across the region, and we begin with Richard Engel in Tel Aviv. There hasn't been a video like this in decades, a periscope showing the massive blast after an American sub destroyed an Iranian Navy ship. It's the first time since World War II an American sub sunk an enemy ship with a torpedo. Somebody said, on a scale of 10, where would you I said about a 15, and we're going to continue to do well. As the Pentagon describes sweeping success in the war's first four days.

Only the United States of America could lead this, only us. But when you add the Israeli defense forces, a devastatingly capable force, the combination is sheer destruction for our radical Islamist Iranian adversaries. They are toast, and they know it. The Pentagon released videos of U.S. strikes on Iranian missile launchers, limiting Iran's ability to carry out attacks, saying the number of ballistic missiles fired by Iran has plummeted 86 percent since Saturday, and that Iranian drone attacks are down 73 percent. The two most powerful air forces in the world, the U.S. and Israel, are dominating the skies of the world's largest state sponsor of terror. But Iran is still firing back and is attempting. to widen the conflict even further. Now targeting Turkey, a NATO member.

NATO's air defenses shot down an Iranian missile that Turkey says penetrated its airspace. NATO's Secretary General today backing the U.S. and Israeli operation that killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini. NATO will defend every inch of NATO territory. We are all better off with him gun and with the nuclear and ballistic capability being. beaten and degraded. While in Israel, Israeli-American Ziv Rotem showed us what's left of his home office after an Iranian missile exploded outside.

He says he's anti-war, but supports this one. I think that this war could be pivotal and could benefit a lot of people and could fight actual evil, which is the Iranian regime, I think. So we've just received an alert that there is another barrage coming, so we're taking cover under a building that was already hit and already damaged by an earlier Iranian attack. And there are the sirens. All as Israel expands its strikes on the Iranian back group Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran's Red Crescent says more than 1,000 Iranians have been killed in the war so far. Richard Engel joins us now live from Tel Aviv, and Richard, let's go back to something in your story there,

that new Iranian attack aimed at Turkey, which, as we all know, is a NATO member raising the stakes there. It certainly is. It is a major escalation. This Iranian attack at Turkey, and it's not the only one. Cyprus has been hit right now, as we're speaking, there is fighting raging across the Israel-Lebanon border. A former senior U.S. military official told me, Tom, that once you start a fire, you cannot contain it. And he was making an analogy to this war. Richard Engel leading us off tonight. Richard, thank you.

Tonight, thousands of Americans remain stranded across the Middle East. The Trump administration now considering the use of military planes to get them home as drones attack crippled commercial air travel. Kier Simmons reports from Dubai. Travelers across the region,

terrified by moments like this. Video obtained by NBC News today. A Dubai golf course, then a killer. a drone cruising overhead Sunday. After drones and missile attacks shut down airspace and led to tens of thousands of flight cancellations across the region. Today, the White House insisting it is working to get Americans home, saying they are chartering flights free of charge and opening up seats on military planes. The Trump administration will not rest until every American is home safely. Cody Green, desperate to get back to Tampa from Dubai. He says

packing for a flight feels like Groundhog Day. I've done this a few times already. Headed to the airport, only to find his flight canceled. That's my son's first birthday today and the party is on Sunday. I told my wife I would be home in time, I promised her. So tonight he went back again. All right, we're here. Dubai International Airport.

It's a little crazy. A lot of people. Making his way through the crowded airport. Well, we made it through security and customs with a total zero. I'd say okay. We're heading home. Green says he tried to get government help. I feel betrayed and left out to drive by my own government

who started this whole thing without any plan in place to get their own people out. Lisa Thompson and her young children who says she's heard drones over her house in Dubai. Really, really, really, really intense. Says the hotline Secretary Rubio told people to call for help was disappointing. To be honest, the information that we've received from the U.S.

been pretty poor. The White House says it has now fixed the hotline. All right, Keir Simmons joins us tonight from Dubai. Kier, is there any more signs commercial flights will start to open up soon? No sign yet, Tom, here in Dubai, the airport here now. They've put it back to the seventh of this month to get things going again. Hundreds of flights canceled tomorrow. Over in Qatar, Doha, the airspace is closed. We don't know when that airport is going to open. Remember, these airports are mega-hubs, Tom. It's not just about people flying out from here. It's also about those transfers, those layovers. The airline industry is being really knocked by this. One piece of good news, though, Tom, Cody, that father who's trying to head home to see his son's first birthday party. We've heard

from him. He's boarded. He's on his way home, Tom. That's great news, and we hope he makes it there safely here. We thank you for that. Tonight we're learning more about exactly when and why the president decided to strike Iran, a senior U.S. official telling NBC news that Benjamin Netanyahu called Trump last money to alert him to a meeting between the Ayatollah and his top advisors. Garrett Haik joins us tonight with more. Garrett, walk us through the timeline our team has pie together from that call to the moment the U.S. struck. Yeah, Tom, that call on Monday seems to be kind of a starting gun for this final march towards war, presenting the president with the kind of opportunity that clearly appealed to him to strike all of these senior Iranian leaders at once.

Now, ultimately, it was an Israeli strike that hit the Ayatollah, but it's clearly got the president thinking more about the military option. Over the weeks leading up to this strike, of course, the U.S. was moving more and more assets into the region. Then Thursday was the next big pivot point. That's when Jared Kushner and Steve Whitkoff, the president's negotiators, sat down with the Iranians and basically had what amounted to the final talk in Geneva. They offered the Iranians an off-ramp, they said, on their nuclear fuel, saying the U.S. would provide nuclear fuel. The Iranians wouldn't take it.

They reported back to the president that they didn't think the Iranians were serious about what they called a real deal. And then we know that the president ultimately made the decision. Press the go button, if you will, on Friday afternoon for those strikes that began Saturday night. And then while we have you here, Gary, you pressed the White House about Israel's role in the decision to strike Iran. What do they tell you? This has become controversial politically, the idea that it might have been Israel sort of pushing the U.S. towards war. Obviously, Benjamin Netanyahu has been a proponent of striking Iran for a very long time. I asked the press secretary how that information from Netanyahu affected

the president's decision making. Here's what she told me. I think it was important with respect to the timeline. But I think the president prior to that phone call had a good feeling that the Iranian regime was going to strike the United States assets in our personnel in the region. As for where the Ayatollah was going to be. That obviously had an impact on the timeline of the operation, but not quite the president's decision in its entirety. And Tom, I think that's consistent with a lot of our reporting and a lot of other news organizations reporting here that the president didn't necessarily want to wade into a situation in Iran unless U.S. force could be decisive. So the opportunity to get the Ayatollah, I think

clearly a factor in the ultimate decision-making here. All right, Garrett Hake for us. Garrett, thank you. For more on the U.S. operation in the historic and long-range weapons they're using. I want to bring in our NBC News military analyst. Colonel Steve Warren, Colonel, you have an extensive background, obviously, in the military. We want to talk about this image, which really struck us because we haven't seen this, right? Since World War II, I guess, it was essentially the look of a periscope, right, in a torpedo strike. What happened?

That was an extraordinary video, and the Navy hasn't fired a missile or a torpedo in anger since World War II. Why? Partly because they're simply the most powerful Navy afloat. None of our conflicts since World War II has presented the Navy with a target that they could use their torpedoes on. Okay. The U.S. also revealed it's using long-range missiles to strike targets in Iran. What do we know about these? And we were reporting it's the first time they've attacked Iran in this way. This is the first time, in fact, this missile has been used in combat. This is an army capability. We call it rocket artillery, is our technical term, but ultimately it's a missile. Range in excess of 300 miles. It packs about 200 pounds of high explosives.

All right, and then we want to know that this conflict is dominated by drones. This is modern warfare in the battlefield here, right? So talk to us about some of the drones that both we and the Iranians are using. Well, you hit that exactly right. This is the new modern warfare. This is drone warfare at its worst, or maybe at its best. What we're looking at here are Shaheed drones or possibly U.S. version of those called a Lucas drone. It's got a wooden propeller.

It only costs several thousand dollars to make. Wooden propeller. I mean, people are shocked by that. Well, they're shocked by it, but it shouldn't be because it's inexpensive. It's inexpensive and it works. And that's what we're trying for here is cheap, quick, and effective. Yeah, let's look at the map now. Walk our viewers through this over here. We want to know how far these weapons are traveling. We're talking about the drones and the missiles and some of the targets they're hitting. And even though Turkey is right there in the border with Iran, we're seeing that the battlefield is expanding.

Well, that's right. The Iranians have capabilities that can range in excess of 300 miles. And in fact, in some cases, almost 400 miles. So that reaches Turkey, which isn't even really shown here on the map necessarily. But Iran now has the ability to arrange almost everything you see on this map with some of their more advanced capabilities. And then we're hearing reports that they're thinking about arming Kurdish fighters. What exactly does that mean? Because we remember the Kurdish fighters from Iraq as well. That's right.

So this is an American plan to arm these Kurdish fighters. What this does is put Iran in a problem. It puts them in a vice. Now they have ground forces to their flank, potentially threatening all sorts of. of different supply chains, all sorts of different capabilities, and just giving them more to deal with. All right, Colonel Steve Warren, always a pleasure to have you here. We're going to be back in a moment with more of the escalating war in Iran. What we're learning about the American soldiers killed in the conflict, plus the big takeaways from those critical primary races, the surprises out of Texas

and what it means heading into the general election. Also, the plane crashing into a home, landing nose down in a backyard, the wild video ahead on top story. We're back now with that hotly contested Senate race in Texas. Now, to a runoff on the Republican side. The president says he'll endure soon, but who will he choose? And breaking late tonight and battled Congressman Tony Gonzalez, who's also heading to a runoff, admitting tonight for the first time that he did, in fact, have an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide.

NBC's Melanie's Anona, fallen at all. The dramatic Republican primary in Texas is not quite over, but President Donald Trump hoping to bring the bitter and expensive ordeal to an end. With incumbent Senator John Cornyn now facing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a May runoff, GOP leaders warning President Trump that scandal-planked Paxton could cost them the seat. I've spoken with the president already today about Texas. I hope the president will endorse John Cornyn. President Trump said Wednesday he'll be endorsing someone soon and asked the other candidate to immediately drop out of the race.

I refuse to allow a flawed, self-centered, and shamelessly. candidate like Ken Paxton, risk everything we've worked so hard to build. For too long, John Cornyn has turned his back on us. All while Democrats selected state rep James Tala Rico over Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. Talariko has leaned on his Christian faith and pointed to his electability, highlighting the record-breaking voter turnout in the state. The number of Texans who have never voted before but showed up in this election is unprecedented. In the House, a tough night for incumbents.

Dan Crenshaw, a war hero and the only House Republican without a Trump endorsement, lost. And Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez now heading to a runoff amid allegations he had an affair with a staffer who died by suicide. The House Ethics Committee announcing today it's investigating. Gonzalez says he welcomes the opportunity to present all the facts to the committee. Melanie Zanona joins us tonight from Washington. Melanie, and this is just breaking tonight. We mentioned it. we're getting news that Representative Tony Gonzalez has addressed the allegations that he had an affair with the staffer who later committed suicide. Here's what he had to say tonight.

Was there a relationship with this young lady who was working in your office? You know, very, very direct, pags. I made a mistake. And I had a lapse in judgment, and there was a lack of faith. And I take full responsibility for those actions. Since then, I've reconciled with my wife, Angel. I've asked God to forgive me, which he has, and my faith is as strong as ever. So, Melanie, a bombshell there, right? We know the representative had sort of evolved in his answers when asked this question.

This was horrific what happened down there in Texas. Talk to us about what happens next and what more did the congressman say about this affair? Yeah, Tom, this is a significant admission from the congressman. And previously, he denied these allegations, now admitting to this affair, which is against the House rules, to have a relationship with a subordinate. But he said he is willing to cooperate with the House Ethics Committee. He said not all the facts have come out. He pointed to a couple things that he took issue with that he saw in some of the media coverage. But no doubt, this is a damning revelation.

The House Ethics Committee is still going to investigate this just because he admitted to it does not absolve him of the rules of the House. And meanwhile, he still has that primary later in May, Tom. All right, Melanie Zanona on that breaking news. Melanie, thank you. I do want to bring on our political pros tonight. Ashley Etienne, a former communications director, to Vice President Kamala Harris, someone who knows Texas very well. And Hogan Gidley, special advisor to House Speaker Mike Johnson and former Trump White House Deputy Press Secretary. Hogan, I'm going to start with you. This is somewhat of a bombshell, right?

Even though he had evolved on his answer about that affair, does this essentially end Tony Gonzalez's political career in Texas, at least for now? Well, it's going to be up to him. But it sounds like right now it's going to be very difficult to carry on. The question really is, though, how many of his voters in his district actually knew about this information? Did it trickle all the way down? There were reports coming out. He had done several events leading up to election day, and no one even asked him about this. So, again, a lot remains to be seen here in this.

But are the voters going to decide this, or is he going to pull himself out of this race? I guess the only time will tell. Ashley, this is an incredibly important district. It covers essentially the whole border there in the south. of Texas, critical for a lot of reasons, right? But do Democrats now have a shot at this seat? Absolutely. I think what this exposes is how morally bankrupt the Republican Party is now, that they've, you know, waited to this moment to initiate an ethics complaint, the fact that the Speaker of the House is really turning a blind eye to this entire incident. And then you pile

on top of that, what we're saying from Ken Paxton, who's been indicted and has been impeached whose wife has said that she's divorcing him because of biblical reasons. I mean, that's what really has become clear about where the Republican Party is. They're not the party of religion, patriotism, all of those things. Now it's just a mess and a hodgepodge of,

to quote Hillary Clinton, deplorables. Hogan, I do want to ask you, President Trump came out today in somewhat of a surprise and saying he kind of wants to end this primary race down there in Texas between Senator Cornyn and Ken Paxton. Do we know who he's going to pick? Who do we think he's going to pick? I don't know, but obviously this race is going to be pivotal to control of the Senate,

obviously for Donald Trump's agenda moving forward as well. But this race is quite interesting because the MAGA base really doesn't like Cornyn all of that much. And the question is, well, they turn out if Cornyn is, in fact, the nominee. But then all the folks, you know, are so fired up for the, for the, for the people, his opponent, obviously, that this is going to be kind of the issue that I see driving forward because it's Cornyn who has stopped the Save Act, work with others in the House to prevent the Save Act from moving forward, things like that that will be an issue for Paxton moving forward that he can beat up Cornyn with. They've already spent $73 million, did Cornyn

attacking Paxton on this, and he didn't lose by that much. I think he spent $80 per vote, whereas Paxton spent like $5 per vote spending a few million dollars. So it looks like the is going to heat up, obviously, before election day. These barbs are going to get much worse. But it also seems as though much of the attacks on Paxton have already happened. And it hasn't really had that much of a dent in him. And when you've got an opponent on, go ahead. You have the Senate Majority Leader, Senator John Thun saying, we've got to put our support behind John Cornyn. He did surprise some people out in there in Texas with the amount of votes he got. Does it feel like the president is leaning towards the establishment Republican in this race over Ken

Paxton? I don't know that he's leaning one way the other right now. He's definitely looking at the race. But listen, Donald Trump has learned a lot of lessons during his time in Washington, D.C. as the president in the first term, and, of course, the subsequent elections he's run, because he knows candidate quality matters. And he endorses people at a staggering success rate. So when he looks over the field, he's going to make that decision on who he thinks can best win and then protect the America First Agenda in Congress, because Lord knows Democrats aren't doing that. Ashley, do you think this announcement and that announcement from On Truth Social that the president was going to endorse and he wanted the other person to essentially get out of the race? He was instructing Republicans in Texas how he wants this to play out.

Is this because Republicans are very worried about Tala Rico that he has more sort of widespread appeal than Jasmine Crockett did? He wins his primary race. Are Republicans now worried? Well, I mean, I definitely think they're worried. But I think the reason why the president probably tweeted that is because they want to save money. I mean, to Hogan's point, they're spending an exorbitant amount of money on this particular race, which diverts investments from other races like North Carolina and others that you also need to win. You shouldn't even be spending this much money in the state of Texas.

And the reason why they're spending so much money is, to your point, we've seen just last night, which was remarkable how Talarico made inroads into these really heavy, historically red suburbs around Houston, Dallas, and Austin, areas that now are trending more purple from George Bush to Joe Biden. And so that's really sort of the formula for him to win. And so I think it definitely is making the Republican Party anxious and nervous. I think in addition to that, you know, there's this obviously baggage that Paxton brings to the race that I would think you would want to contrast that with somebody like Talleyico

who's an altar boy. But it's baggage everyone already knows. I think that's kind of the issue here. Not many people know anything about Tala Rico. And as you find out more and more, this guy is as radical as they come. And so much like Spamberger, who ran as a moderate and everyone called her a moderate and then she's governing like a lunatic, the same thing applies to Tala Rico. When you start to realize, he said transgender people need abortion rights, that God is binary. He's fighting for men and women's sports.

Texas is not going to take kindly to a candidate like that. You can't put lipstick on a pig. enough to try and change that. Sure. But Hogan, to your point, people know that about Tala Rico, whether it's true or not. I don't accept what you're saying. But if they do know that about Tala Rico, he still made these inroads. The point is, though, can I just make one other observation here? The reason why Cornyn is so vulnerable or even Paxton is because of the mood in the state of Texas.

You know, it's my home state. I've never seen a dynamic where so many people, half of the state is disappointed with the direction of the state. Half of the state is disappointed with their own finances, feeling like the economy, the state's economy is not working to their advantage any longer. I've never seen a primary competition this embroiled within the Republican Party. So to me, that suggests there's a lot of vulnerability there. And if the president is smart, he's right to say, let's, let's nip this in the bud as much as we can and move forward. Ashley, Tala Rica largely outperformed Crockett in counties with a high population of Latino voters and white liberals. He's got that, right?

check-and-check. But Crockett carried the black vote. What does Tala Rico need to do to win over those Crockett voters? Because as you know, places like Houston, all the urban centers, Dallas as well, you got to put those coalitions together for Democrats to win in a red state like Texas. Absolutely. So I think there's three things he needs to do. One, he needs to put Crockett to work. She's incredibly popular with black voters. Hold her to her word that this one race is bigger than any one person. So put her to work. The second thing is He needs to continue to lean into the message that he's been delivering so far. Religion, it works with the black community, this division that's being created and stirred up by the president and the Republican Party.

That message works, and then the economic message works incredibly effectively well. And then to your point, what we saw him do with Latino voters. He did real engagement within the Latino community. He showed up. He engaged. He ran ads. He talked to people about what's happening in their lives and their experience. And I think if he takes that same formula, that same tactic within the black community, he'll definitely win over the black community easily. Yeah, Hogan, before we go, there's one more race I want to talk about.

Incumbent Congressman Dan Crenshaw was the only House Republican in Texas running for reelection without President Trump's endorsement, war hero. He lost his race to a state senator who had painted him as not conservative or MAGA enough. Is this a warning to Republicans that challenging the president could be the end of their political careers? I mean, we kind of know that for Republicans, you know, in the last few years of elections, but going into the midterms, is that a good playbook for Republicans? To do what? To essentially, maybe not vote for your district to vote whatever the president wants, to stick with MAGA, to be tried and true?

Well, I mean, listen, anybody who's getting the president's endorsement seems to be doing pretty well. But Dan Crenshaw obviously fell victim to some of this redistricting nonsense there, too, because his opponent basically got a major core of that voting block in his own hometown. So it was very difficult for Dan to overcome that. But, yeah, there's no secret that love is not lost between the president and Dan Crenshaw and several issues on several fronts. So embracing Donald Trump where it's popular is a very smart thing to do.

And across the Republican Party, when a president has 95, 97% approval, that's a pretty good method to winning your party's nomination. the congressional seat. Hogan, Ashley, so great to have both of you here. We thank you. Still ahead tonight. The new NBC News polls just in showing what Americans think of the war with Iran will break it down. Plus an update on the investigation to the search for Nancy Guthrie. What we just learned about some of those mysterious gloves found near her home. Stay with us. We're back now with our coverage of the war in Iran. Tonight we're learning about the six U.S. troops killed in an Iranian strike. There are friends and family speaking out about their lives and sacrifice. NBC's Courtney

And Cuby has their stories. The strikes in Kuwait were fast and furious. One of them hitting where a group of American soldiers were stationed, killing six. 20-year-old Specialist Declan Cody's sister says she still doesn't believe her little brother is gone. I just remember all of our conversations about what he was going to do when he came back. I just wish he kind of know one more time that we all loved him because he was so amazing and kind.

Captain Cody Cork was the kind of leader a junior soldier hoped to have. He cared about people. Hey, I'm not going to put soldiers in harm's way. That's what you look for in a commander. Sergeant First Class, Noah Teigen's left his mark on everyone around him. He is the kind of a person that's confident, but then respectful, easy to get along with right away. And Sergeant First Class, Nicola Moore, was just 39 years old. The mother of two supposed to return home later this month.

Two of the six U.S. soldiers killed when an Iranian drone broke through the air defenses and hit the operations center where they were working have not yet been identified. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs saluting their sacrifice. To our wounded warriors and their loved ones, we will never forget your sacrifice. Our nation stands with you and we are eternally grateful for your courage, your resiliency, your devotion to this mission and to our nation. While Defense Secretary Pete Heggseth suggesting the attention to their sacrifice is political. But when a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it's front page news.

I get it. The press only wants to make the president look bad. Tonight, the White House announcing President Trump will attend the dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base when the fallen troops return home. Courtney joins us now from Washington. Courtney, we know a number of troops were also injured in that drone strike. Any update on their conditions? Yeah, so so far, we know there are at least 10 individuals who are seriously injured in that attack. We don't know yet about whether any of them have been moved to serious condition, or from serious to stable condition. But we are learning a little bit more about how that drone may have gotten through. It's not that just that it got through the air defenses, but they were working in this facility that was essentially like some trailers put together with six foot blast walls around it.

The way that it was set up, there was no hardened overhead overhang or cover. And frankly, when the drone got through, there really wasn't a lot to protect them if it came in from above. And that was why this incident was just so tragic, Tom. Yeah, tragic is right. Courtney, we thank you for your reporting. The heavy toll of the war is being felt here at home. NBC News out with polling today showing a majority of registered voters, 54% disapproved with the president's handling of the situation in Iran.

When you break down that question along party lines, 79% of Republicans say they approve, and just 8% of Democrats do. But as our Shaquille Brewster found out, within those numbers, there is some nuance. He traveled to Battleground Michigan to learn more about how people. People are feeling about the war with Iran. Far from the bombs, drones, and missiles, Americans in a political battleground, Barying County, Michigan are reacting to a war raging thousands of miles away. It's pathetic.

It's not our war. I can't say I support a, I'm going to say, unjust war with no congressional approval. I think it's something that needed to be done. We live in a very dangerous, dangerous world. President Trump won this Republican-leaning county with 53% of the vote, helping him flip this swing state in 2024. I'm in favor of anything the president does. Did you vote for President Trump? Yes, I do.

But some Republicans, like artist Vincent Nimethy, say this isn't what they voted for. He said he was going to try to get out of wars, but he's putting us in it. And he's not putting himself in it. He's putting other people that we've already lost casualties. The service members already lost on the minds of many. I mean, I just hate seeing anybody get hurt. also closely watching the impact on the economy. I filled up my wife's car yesterday and paid $3.31 a gallon, almost 50 cents more than it was a week ago.

So you notice. So I notice. You kind of expect it when things go haywire, you know, it's a roller coaster. Things go up and down. And with the midterm primaries already underway in parts of the country, the war's impact in this battleground state and others is still being determined. You've flipped your vote on Donald Trump, you're in middle of the road Republican. How does what you're seeing in Iran impact what you do this November? Those that most match what I'm hearing out of Washington out of Trump are the people that I will not vote for.

And despite this war dominating headlines for the past five days, roughly a third of the people I spoke to said they either didn't know about the strikes in Iran or haven't been following closely enough, suggesting that polling and those initial impressions have time to shift. Tom? All right, Shaq, we thank United Top Stories News Feed, the House Oversight Committee voting today to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi. Lawmakers want her to answer questions about the Justice Department's handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. Five Republicans joined ranks with Democrats to support the subpoena. NBC News reached out to the DOJ for comment but have yet to hear back. An update tonight on the investigation to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, who went missing 32 days ago. In an interview with NBC News, the Pima County Sheriff revealed new details about some gloves that were found roughly two miles away from Nancy's home in Tucson. He says those gloves belong to a restaurant worker who's not connected to the case. The sheriff says teams are still working leads and testing DNA that they hope could lead to a suspect. Also in Arizona, wild video of a small plane that crashed into a home landing nose down in a backyard. It happened earlier today in North Phoenix. You can see the wing. Look at that broken off on the roof.

Inside the plane, a student pilot and a flight instructor. A fire department spokesman says both were taken to a hospital. along with a man who was inside the house. We're told the plane had some sort of mechanical problem as it was heading back to the airport. And legendary coach, college football coach, Lou Holtz, has died. His family announcing the news tonight. Holtz spent 33 seasons on the sidelines at six different schools,

but was best known for leading Notre Dame to its last national championship in 1988. After his coaching career, Holtz worked as an analyst for ESPN and CBS Sports. He was 89 years old. Okay, coming up on Top Story tonight, rating retirement savings. New data shows a record number of workers are now digging into their 401ks. What's behind the trend and what you need to know before tapping into your accounts? Stay with us. Every person that said, do not take money out of your 401k to pay off all of your

bills and to start your business because it's not going to work. I want to tell you. Thank you. I didn't listen to you. He's not alone, apparently. Right now, more Americans than ever are dipping into the retirement accounts early as so many face increasing financial pressure. An article that caught our eye in the Wall Street Journal titled record numbers of workers rating their 401k savings breaks down why this is happening, even as people see account balances reach all-time highs. I want to bring in the author Anne to Gerson. She's a longtime retirement and personal finance reporter. Anne, thanks so much for joining us.

Oh, you're welcome. So, Anne, why are we seeing sort of the spike in people dipping into their 401ks? Well, you know, there's a couple different reasons. I think that there's a couple different ways you can dip into your 401ks. And the one that I looked at is, are they're called hardship distributions? And they are exactly what they sound like. They're, you know, money that you can take out if you meet one of several different definitions of financial hardships. And then what happens when you take money out of your 401k?

Walk our viewers through step by step, what the penalties are, if you have to pay taxes, what exactly happens? Right. So there are two different types of 401Ks, but if you just take money out of the one that most people use, it's called a traditional 401K, you have to pay taxes, income taxes on the money that you take out. And then if you're under age 59 and a half,

you also have to pay a 10% penalty. So to take that money out, you know, people have pretty significant needs. needs that they have to meet because it's painful to have to pay income taxes and a 10% penalty on top of taking out the money that you need. Yeah, yeah. What's the difference between withdrawing and taking out a 401k loan? Because some companies offer 401K loans as well. Yeah, absolutely. So most companies do offer 401K loans. And with a 401k loan, you are basically taking out a loan from your 401k and you have to pay yourself back with interest over time.

And that happens automatically. It just comes out of your paycheck. I think where the hardship distributions come in are if you're facing some kind of very pressing financial need, say eviction or preventing foreclosure or something like that. And you know you're not going to be able to pay that money back out of your payroll contributions. Then I think that's when a hardship distribution makes a lot more sense than taking out a loan. You know, people are spending so much in America now. We're seeing rising credit card debt. Do you think this is because this issue with 401K withdrawals, is it because America is getting more expensive, or is it also because Americans are spending more? And I know the two are tied together, but we did see sort of this uptick since the pandemic of people just spending more and saving less.

It's hard to know. I mean, the data that I got, first of all, I should preface it by saying this is data from Vanguard, which is a very large 401K record keeper. So they have data for the plans that they help administer. And there are, you know, millions of people in these plans. So it's very good data. So, but all by way of saying this is sort of a slice of a look at a slice of a slice of a bigger pie.

And I think it is representative, but it's not, it's not necessarily representative of, you know, everybody. So I think that what Vanguard was able to give me was data on the reasons why people are taking these hardship distributions. And some of the most prevalent reasons are preventing foreclosure and preventing eviction and medical bills, also paying college tuition, and also purchases of homes, a first-time home. I mean, those are all, that's all not excessive spending. Those are all some of those bills to live and others just to get by. What would you tell someone who's thinking about withdrawing from their 401K? What should they keep in mind? It's a really hard choice. I mean, obviously, if you're faced with a choice between losing

your home and taking money out of a 401k, you know, there might be an overwhelming need that you have, and it's hard to prioritize saving for the future in that kind of a situation. You know, I think when it's something that is when it's something that's a less pressing need, And, you know, first of all, you have to meet certain definitions of hardship in order to get at this money. And most of them are, you know, pretty significant. But, you know, in some cases, maybe you have some leeway and you can take out a 401k loan and you can pay yourself back with interest. And if you can afford to do that, that's often a better way because that returns the money into your pot of long-term savings. When you take a hardship distribution, you're taking that money out and you're not able to put it back.

So, you know, that is something that people just need to consider very seriously. And if they have an alternative such as a low-cost loan, which 401K loans often are, that may be a better route. And Tergeson, we thank you so much you can read Anne in the Wall Street Journal. When we come back inside the desperate efforts to get Americans out of the Middle East, the long, and at times dangerous journeys some are taking through the desert to get home. That's next. We're back now with our ongoing coverage of the war in Iran and the Americans who remain stuck in the Middle East tonight. So many desperate to get out as violence escalates across the region.

But with flights canceled in many places, it's not easy. At a bus stop in Tel Aviv, our Matt Bradley spoke with several Americans starting their long and potentially dangerous journeys back home. For Americans, Helene and Jonathan Shankman, traveling to Israel, had been a dream trip. But when the war suddenly started, they found themselves trapped in Tel Aviv as Iranian counterattacks rained down. It was terrifying. It was just jarring and frightening. There are two of the perhaps tens of thousands of Americans now stuck in the Middle East. Their plans upended by violence. There are no flights out right now, so they're taking a longer route by bus offered for free

by Israel's Ministry of Tourism. Michael Rosenberg, a landscape architect from New York, is also boarding the bus. Do you think there could have been a little more warning from the U.S. government or help and getting you out? Politics. I don't think they had any concept, a plan for the American people who were here. The bus ride isn't without risks. In many ways, they're giving up the safety that they have here in Tel Aviv where almost every building is fitted with a safe room or a bomb shelter. The bus ride is five hours long. The drive through cities and rural areas far from bomb shelters and rescue workers taking riders to the Tabah crossing at the border with Egypt. For the Shankman's,

the risks are worth taking. We think that the possibility of them launching a ballistic missile at a bus, driving through the desert, is very remote. I caught up with Helene after they finally arrived at their hotel in Egypt. Is it like a weight being lifted off you now that you're out of Israel? Yes, absolutely. I told my husband, I can breathe. Tomorrow morning, they plan to fly, first to Italy,

and then after days of unexpected and dangerous detours home. Matt Bradley, NBC News, Tel Aviv. Matt Bradley, our thanks to you. Those Americans you just heard from are just some of the tens of thousands trying to escape the war zone with limited options by land, sea, and sky. Boat traffic has largely come to a standstill in the region, with Iran effectively closing the only passage out of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz. And a majority of commercial airspace is still shut down. You can see all of the red zones where airlines have canceled their flights. Many Americans now turning to private companies to help them get out. Dale Buckner is the CEO of Global Guardian, which provides private security resources all around the globe. Dale, thanks so much for joining Top Story tonight. I understand your organization, from what you've said,

has helped roughly 3,000 people get out of the Middle East since this weekend. Walk us through how this works. And if you need to get an American, say, out of Dubai, for example, what does that path look like? Yep, thank you, Tom. You are correct. We crossed over 3,000 evacuees here on day five. Number one, starting with an example coming out of Dubai is it's about journey management. It's about preparing the client of where they're going to consolidate, what kind of vehicle they're going to get on, and giving them an expectation of how long is that trip from Dubai to the border of Vermont? What does the crossing look like right now? Three, four days ago, we could cross in 45 minutes.

Now it might be five hours. And then from the border crossing into Muscat, putting them in a hotel, and then waiting on either a commercial flight or what has become much more prevalent of getting them out on charter private flights, typically to Europe. Talk to me about some of the scenes that you're encountering, some of those stories you're hearing from your clients. So there's no question people are scared in all the city centers.

What we're informing our clients is, once you're in the suburbs, once you're 30 minutes outside of Dubai, you're very safe. The probability of a rocket hitting the desert outside the city is incredibly low. So we like to tell our clients, your exposure goes down by over 90% as soon as we get you out of city center.

So people are scared. The drones have had wild success across the Gulf states, as you know. That has slowed down, admittedly, this past day. So we are seeing a slowdown, but that could change in 10 minutes, and that's kind of the nature of these war zones. But we are preparing them mentally to say, you have an opportunity to get out of this war zone. It's safe.

The probability of risk. goes down exponentially, you're simply better off getting out of these city centers and not waiting because you might wait for another week, two weeks, three weeks, we just don't know whether that's commercial options or waiting on the State Department. How much does it cost to get at least one personnel of the Middle East right now? Yeah, so it varies. You can imagine going from Bahrain to Jetta is going to cost more. It's just a longer duration with more assets, more fuel, things like that. Typically, you're talking anywhere between, call it, $15,000 to $25,000, depending on what country, what vehicles, and then what aircraft are being utilized. Okay, but $15,000, $20,000, that includes

the flight back to the United States? It depends on the platform. In most cases, it will. Okay. And how many calls are you guys fielding? So you can imagine what we've crossed 3,000 evacuees. To get 3,000 out, we've probably entertained at least 5,000. people. We do think we're going to hit over 5,000 in the next 48 hours. We are now seeing in the first three, four days, it really pivoted yesterday. A lot of onesies and twosies up to 20, 25 people at a time. Now we're seeing requests for 400, 1100, 1900. So today alone, we're now running entire convoys of buses, and we're bringing in 300-seat aircraft. Our latest aircraft left about an hour and a half ago, out of Riyadh, went into Cairo first, and ultimately has landed now in Berlin,

Germany. And then are you working in conjunction with the State Department, or is this all private transport? So we have talked to the State Department. We have not supported them yet, but we're in that discussion of where and when and how. In all of these cases, whether it's COVID, whether it's evacuation of Ukraine, the evacuation of Sudan, the evacuation of Kabul, we will always open ourselves, up to support the State Department in all of these scenarios. And then given the risks on the ground, what kind of guarantees do you give to your clients? We cannot. And this is the uniqueness of a war zone. I cannot control in Ukraine during Ukrainian evacuations where a Russian might, uh, mig might drop at a bomb. I can't guarantee where a drone is

going. What I can tell you, as I described earlier, is once you're out of that city center, your risk drops by over 90%. And that's really the play here. We have not heard of a single civilian being killed on a highway outside of any city center in the Gulf as of today. The Trump administration's coming

under a lot of criticism saying they didn't prepare enough for their personnel and for Americans that were living in the Gulf region, in Israel, for example, to get out. Is that criticism fair? And how much are you sort of assisting because those plans weren't in place? Yeah.

So number one, I would tell the American people, when you think about an employee at an embassy, I worked in the government for 24 years in the military, and I worked out of several embassies and a lot of State Department personnel, you have to understand they are there for a diplomatic mission. They are not there to evacuate tens of thousands of people that get stranded. That's not their job. They're not trained, man, and equipped for this. And the embassy's value is information, is guidance. and in the rare case, and at some point, I assume when the sky is clear, when the situation

is calm enough, they will bring in C-17s, they will bring in charter aircraft at scale. So they will get there at some point. The question, the calculus you have to make as either a corporate leader or a family member is simply, are you willing to wait and what's that risk? And if someone was killed randomly between now and that wait, is it really makes sense for you? So I do understand the frustration, but I do think. there's an element here of understanding that the State Department is not set up in these foreign lands for, if you will.

Dale, it's such a tricky business you're in, right? But it is a business. And I got to think that big companies, private government contractors, they can pay your fees. What happens when you run into a family or to a person who's out there in the Gulf region because either maybe they work for a religious mission, maybe they work for the Peace Corps, maybe they're working for a nonprofit and they don't have that kind of cash? What do you guys do in that situation? So listen, we fully understand that all of these scenarios pivoted into a humanitarian crisis at some point. We haven't quite got there yet, but we got there in Ukraine very quickly. So when we had empty bus seats in Ukraine and we needed to move people out of the capital to Leviv or live, that was very safe. We're going to fill those seats. As we go down this path and we have extra seats on these aircraft, we will go to our clients.

And 99% of the time, they will allow us to fill those seats for people that might not be able to afford this or have access to us. So we will cross that threshold. We will coordinate it. We've never had a problem with our clients understanding that either a bus seat or an airplane seat, and in many cases, we can sponsor that as required. Dale Buckner from Global Guardian, we thank you for your time tonight. That does it for us here. We thank you so much for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamison, New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.