NBC Nightly News Full Episode - July 18

Breaking tonight, the president sues. over a report he personally wrote a. birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein. This. as the Justice Department moves to. unseal grand jury testimony from the. Epstein criminal case. As scrutiny. mounts over the president and Epstein's. relationship, the Wall Street Journal. reporting he personally wrote the. disgraced financeier a vulgar message. for his 50th birthday. Now the president. suing Dow Jones, the papers publisher, as well as the reporters. It comes after. a rare reversal from Trump calling on.

his justice department tonight to. release grand jury testimony in the. criminal case. Plus, the deadly. explosions at a Los Angeles sheriff's. training facility. Three deputies killed. after two military type explosive. devices were brought there overnight. So, what set them off and what happened? Just in the deal to send 250 people. deported from the US to Venezuela. They're being exchanged for the 10. people you see here. Americans that were. detained by the Maduro regime. She. avoided being kidnapped while she was at.

work. Now, the teen who barely got away. is speaking out. Her message to you if. you find yourself in the same situation. Current call for Steven Colbear. The. shock news that CBS is ending one of the. most storied shows on television. What's. behind the late show cancellation? And. what's the future of the industry? The. chaotic scene after a Beyonce concert. let out the stampede on an escalator. that spilled out onto a busy subway. platform. Driverless car fleets take off. in cities across America. Would you let.

your kid ride without a driver to their. next soccer game? Why some parents are. Nightly News starts right now. >> This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamz. >> And good evening. Jeffrey Epstein died. nearly six years ago, but the intensity. over questions about his death and the. people he was associated with has only. intensified. Now, the Wall Street. Journal reports that President Trump. sent a vulgar note to Epstein for his.

50th birthday as part of a book compiled. by none other than Galain Maxwell. The. paper cites documents they reviewed, though NBC has not independently. verified them. The president has. vehemently denied the report and is. suing the papers parent company which is. owned by Rupert Murdoch. The president. has been trying to dampen the latest. flare up on the interest in this case, calling on his justice department to ask. a judge to release any grand jury. material after the DOJ and FBI announced. earlier this month there was no Epstein.

client list. Here's Garrett Hake on the. rapidly developing story tonight. Tonight, amid the ongoing firestorm over. the administration's handling of Justice. Department files on notorious sex. offender Jeffrey Epstein, the president. filing a 10 billion dollar liel lawsuit. against the Wall Street Journal's parent. company, owner Rupert Murdoch, and the. reporters behind its article describing. an album prepared by Epstein's former. girlfriend, Galain Maxwell, for his 50th. birthday back in 2003. According to. documents the journal says it reviewed.

the album contained letters from Trump. and dozens of Epstein's other friends. and associates. NBC News has not. independently verified the existence of. the documents. The Wall Street Journal. says the letter contains several lines. of typewritten text framed by the. outline of a naked woman which appears. to be handdrawn and says the text. consists of an imaginary conversation. between Trump and Epstein. The president. strongly denying the report saying this. is not me. This is a fake thing. It's a. fake Wall Street Journal story, adding,

I don't draw pictures of women. It's not. my language. It's not my words. According to the Wall Street Journal, the written dialogue of the imaginary. conversation includes the lines, Donald, enigmas never age. Have you noticed. that, Jeffrey? As a matter of fact, it. was clear to me the last time I saw you, Donald, a pal is a wonderful thing. Happy birthday, and may every day be. another wonderful secret. Vice President. Vance slamming the report, posting, where is this letter? Would you be. shocked to learn they never showed it to. us before publishing it? Does anyone.

honestly believe this sounds like Donald. Trump? All of it after that rare. reversal from President Trump. Tonight, the Department of Justice asking a. federal judge to unseal grand jury. testimony related to Epstein. Following. this overnight post from the president. based on the ridiculous amount of. publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I've. asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to. produce any and all pertinent grand jury. testimony subject to court approval. By. law, grand jury testimony is kept secret. with some limited exceptions. The.

president's sudden about face and. attempt to silence an uproar from some. of his most vocal supporters who wanted. all Epstein related material to be. released. The president had blasted. those supporters as weaklings for. falling for what he called a distraction. pushed by Democrats. >> The credible information's been given. >> It's people that are really doing the. Democrats work. They're stupid people. and today suggesting there was no. damaging information on him in the. files, posting, "If there was a smoking.

gun on Epstein, why didn't the Dems who. controlled the files for four years use. it? Because they had nothing." The. controversy heated up after Bondi. repeatedly teased the release of Epstein. files. >> It's sitting on my desk right now to. review. >> But then the DOJ and FBI releasing a. memo saying they had found no. incriminating client list of Epstein and. that they would make no further. disclosure. And Garrett joins us. tonight. Garrett, earlier this week, the. president told you he had total. confidence in Attorney General Pam.

Bondi. But you have new reporting. tonight that there's a different feeling. among others in the White House. Yeah, Tom. Some White House officials are. frustrated that the president has been. left to clean up what they believe is a. mess created by Bondi and the DOJ with. the release of that memo in the first. place. Now, as for that filing asking. for grand jury records to be released, the DOJ cites the enormous public. interest in this case in their appeal to. the judge to release that information, but a decision on that could take some. time. Tom. >> Garrett Hake leading us off from the. White House. Garrett, thank you. Now to.

another breaking story. An explosion in. Los Angeles that killed three veteran. sheriff's deputies who were part of an. elite arson explosives team. The sheriff. said today it's his department's largest. loss of life in more than 150 years. Here's Camila Bernal. >> A deadly and devastating explosion. rocking the Los Angeles County Sheriff's. Department. >> There's definitely a black cloud uh. hanging over the Los Angeles County. Sheriff's Department and our county. family. >> Three highly trained deputies killed.

after what appears to have been an. accidental explosion. According to. sources familiar with the investigation, >> this is unfortunately. the largest loss of life for us as the. LA County Sheriff's Department since. 1857. >> Deputies were handling at least two. militaryra explosives, according to. those sources, saying the explosives. were retrieved last night, then. transferred to the Biscaloo training. center. And at 7:30 this morning, an. explosion.

>> We have an explosion in the training. facility. Video of the scene shows the. glass of this SUV blown out, signaling. the blast may have happened next to the. bomb squad vehicle. The deputies killed. were part of the department's elite. arson explosive team. >> Explosives are incredibly unforgiving. and they are always dangerous. Despite. all your experience and all the. precautions, if you make one little tiny. mistake, there can be a tragic outcome. Tonight, the sheriff's department and. law enforcement around the country.

mourning the three deputies who served. between 19 and 33 years. >> It very much is a shock to me still, but. some of the best deputies I've ever. worked with. >> It's a big loss for the department. >> Absolutely. >> And Camila joins us tonight from that. training facility. Camila, a lot of. different law enforcement agencies now. involved in this investigation. Yeah, Tom. In addition to the LA County. Sheriff's Department, you have state and. federal agencies helping, including the. ATF and the FBI. And one of the big.

questions for these agents is what. happened? Why were these devices. transferred to this location? Tom, >> Camila Bernal for us. Camila, thank you. This just in tonight, 10 Americans the. State Department says had been wrongly. detained just released by the Venezuelan. government. Kelly O'Donnell has been. tracking the late developments. throughout this day. And Kelly, we're. just getting our first glimpse of them. after their release. >> That's right, Tom. Tonight, those. detained Americans are on their way. home. We'll show you an image now from. the president's envoy showing the 10.

Americans who had been held by. Venezuela's Maduro regime, an adversary. of the US. on a flight tonight, we're. told, and officials say they are being. swapped in a deal involving US ally. Salvador and President Ble, who is. turning over 200 alleged Venezuelan gang. members who had been deported to his. country by the Trump administration and. then held in that notorious SECOT prison. in El Salvador. Now they will go back to. their home country, Venezuela, and the.

Americans are making their way home. Tom. >> All right, Kelly O'Donnell. Kelly, thank. you. We have an update tonight on that. killing of a woman in Maine who was out. on a pond paddle boarding earlier this. month. Officials filing a murder charge. today against a teenager. Aaron. McGlaclin is back now with more on this. Uh Aaron, tell us what you know, >> Tom. According to the petition filed. today and obtained by NBC News, 17-year-old Devin Young of Frank, Maine, has been charged with the murder of. Sunshine Stewart. This photo is the. profile picture from Young's Facebook.

account. The body of Sunshine Stewart, who was 48 years old, was found, according to police, near a campsite in. the small town of Union, Maine on July. 3rd, triggering a manhunt that led to. Young's arrest earlier this week. Young. appeared today before a judge via Zoom. and entered a denial, which is the. juvenile version of not guilty. The. state filed a motion to try him as an. adult. His attorneys declined to. comment. His next court hearing is set. for late August. >> Okay, Aaron, we thank you for that. In. Florida tonight, we're hearing directly.

from a young woman who police say fought. back against a wouldbe kidnapper in a. harrowing close call. All of it caught. on camera. Here's NBC's Jesse Kersh with. that interview. >> With this young woman's screams piercing. the air, investigators in St. Augustine, Florida, say her alleged attacker tried. pushing her into a stolen pickup truck. >> But surveillance video shows the teenage. store employee would not go quietly. She. fought back. just that I had to get away and I was. terrified that he was going to hurt me.

>> In a video released by the St. John's. County Sheriff's Office, 18-year-old. Emma Marere Marine, in her own words, now describing the traumatic June 29th. ordeal. It. >> was just a normal day, just. [Applause]. he came in an hour and a half before the. incident and then he just used the. bathroom and left. Marine says when the. man came back, he started grabbing. merchandise and then she tried to stop. him from leaving.

>> I block his way and then he said, "What. are you going to do about it?" And then. I sort of froze up a little bit. >> According to authorities, Marines. attempted kidnapper is 31-year-old. Theodore Michael Tundador, who fled and. was later arrested. >> Hands on your head. >> He now faces multiple charges. NBC News. reached out to his attorney, but has not. heard back. Meanwhile, the sheriff's office is. applauding Marine's response, screaming, fighting back, and getting people's.

attention. >> I hope this can show other women and. young females like myself that you can. fight back and that it doesn't matter. how small you are. >> Jesse Kersh, NBC News. Now to that. announcement that's rocked late night. TV. CBS cancelling The Late Show, which. has been a television institution for. the last three decades. Here's Chloe. Malas on why now. >> I want to let you know something that I. found out just last night. Next year. will be our last season. >> Steven Clar's live studio audience.

stunned by his bombshell announcement. >> I'm not being replaced. This is all just. going away. >> CBS calling the decision to cancel the. late show purely financial, adding it is. not related in any way to the show's. performance, content, or other matters. happening at Paramount. Coar show which. tapes here at the Ed Sullivan Theater. has been the top rated late night talk. show for nearly a decade. The only other. host David Letterman who made his debut. in 1993.

as host Kir became known for his. political commentary. >> The New York Times says Trump's trade. war could be his biggest economic. gamble. But who better to gamble with. our economy than a guy who somehow. bankrupted his own casino. I'm kidding. Obviously it was multiple. casinos. Steven Coar. >> Earlier this week, Colbear slammed CBS's. decision to settle a lawsuit with Trump. for $16 million over a 60 Minutes. interview with Kla Harris.

>> Now, I believe this kind of complicated. financial settlement with a sitting. government official has a technical name. in legal circles. It's Big Fat Bribe. >> CBS's parent company is also in the. midst of a multi-billion dollar merger, which needs the administration's. signoff. President Trump posting today, I absolutely love that Colbear got. fired. His talent was even less than his. ratings. Colbear's ratings have been. steadily declining. A person familiar. with CBS's Thinking telling CNBC that. the show loses money for the network.

The advertising revenue for network late. night shows has been cut in half over. the last seven years. Younger viewers. don't tune in at 11:35 like the older. generation did. Tonight, Co Bear's late. night competitor Jimmy Fallon calling. him one of the sharpest, funniest hosts. to ever do it, adding, "I really thought. I'd ride this out with him for years to. come." Khloe Malas, NBC News, New York. And when we return, getting your own car. is a right of passage for so many teens. across the country. Why some are turning.

to driverless cars to get to practice or. get home. Stay with us. >> Who's driving the car? Even as many of. us are trying to decide if we would get. into a driverless car, a new question. for parents now. Would you put your. 14-year-old in one alone? Steve. Patterson has that story. >> Of all the ways for 14-year-old Michael. Whitlock to hit your ride. >> Hi, Limo. >> Nothing feels more natural than being. driven without a driver. >> I'm a competitive figure skater and so.

sometimes if I need to get to an early. practice or if I need a ride home from. practice, I'll take a Whimo. their. family among the first in Whimo's new. teen accounts program. Earlier this. month, Whimo, owned by Google parent. company Alphabet, launched the service. allowing Phoenix area teens aged 14 to. 17 to catch their own rides with. accounts linked to their parents. How. much value has this added to your life? >> It's been a blessing. You know, I work. full-time. My husband works full-time. So, it gives us more flexibility. No.

driver, no parent, just a teen like. Michael on the road in an AI powered. robot. >> Teens can ride 24/7 across the entire. 315 square mile service area. >> Is there some risk with that amount of. autonomy? Like what kind of protections. are in place for teens? >> I mean, teens can share their status. with their parents. So, there's real. time information exchange about where. they are, where they're going, and. there's a very specifically trained. writer support team to help them if. there's something that goes on in that.

teen ride. Whimo already operates in. five major markets for adults. While. rare, there have been instances of the. riderless cars malfunctioning. Like for. this man, whose Whimo wouldn't let him. out at the Scottsdale airport. >> Busy. >> This car is just going in circles. >> Whimo says that incident was due to a. glitch fixed with a software update and. builds its tech as the world's most. experienced driver. Their data touts 88%. fewer serious injury crashes than an. average human driver. I would rather her. be in a driverless car with a better.

safety record than in a car with a new. with a new teen driver. >> Having never tried one myself, Michael. ordered us a ride. >> Yell at you. >> It's moving. >> Oh my gosh. >> This is Doesn't freak you out? >> No. >> For Michael, no cause for worry. Just. another Wednesday. Do you feel safer in this car than you. would in a friend's car? >> Yeah. >> You feel safer in this car than you.

would in your parents' car? >> Yeah. >> Wow. So, you really do feel like this is the. future and you're totally comfortable in. it. >> Yeah. 100%. Yeah. >> The future, Whimo says, coming to more. cities soon. But to Michael, already old. news. Steve Patterson, NBC News, Phoenix. All right, and we are back in a. moment with a massive stomach bug. outbreak on a cruise ship that already. made more than 140 people sick. We'll.

tell you which boat. Stay with us. An urgent manhunt is underway in Texas. following a deadly highway hit and run. Police say they are looking for several. suspects, one armed with an AK- style. rifle who fled the scene in San Antonio. after their car slammed into a passenger. bus bound from Mexico on Thursday. The. force of the crash, hurling the bus into. an 18-wheeler. Four people have died and. 13 more, including some children, were. injured. Also tonight, a rough ride for. a Royal Caribbean International cruise.

ship with more than 140 passengers and. crew members sick. From a. gastrointestinal illness, according to. the CDC, the voyage happened from July. 4th through the 11th, going from Los. Angeles to multiple stops in Mexico and. back again. The Royal Caribbean Group. says the health and safety of everyone. on board is their top priority. And. officials in Atlanta are now saying an. insect might be to blame for this. stampede at a subway station after. Beyonce's cowboy Carter show earlier. this week. Police say they heard a. scream and that witnesses said a young.

girl was reacting to seeing a bug. Nine. people were injured in that chaos. Okay, when we come back, by day she's a. dentist, but for decades, she's answered. hundreds of kids questions in search of. answers from the tooth fairy. There's. good news tonight. That's next. [Music]. Finally, there is good news tonight. But. before we share it, if you have kids. still at the age where they're losing. teeth, you might want to cover their.

ears. Our Savannah Sers with the story. of a dentist stumbling into a role that. has made her a favorite with children in. search of the tooth fairy. >> A gap tooth grin and a surprise under. the pillow. A visit from the tooth fairy. means you're growing up. >> Gave them to the tooth fairy. That's. awesome. >> But with growing up comes skepticism. Is. the tooth fairy just mom and dad? Enter. Dr. Porva Merchant, a pediatric dentist. in Seattle by day and tooth fairy by. night, or rather by email. So, the tooth.

fairy is kind of like your alter ego. Is. that right? >> Yes. It sort of happened by accident. >> It all started with a kitschy email. account designed to keep dental school. applications organized almost 20 years. ago. The address obvious enough that. panicked parents wrote in hoping for a. magical answer from an inbox that may. not exist. Like this. Kaden thinks it is. me giving him money for exchanging the. tooth. I wrote back, "Dear Kaden, I've. received an email about your lost baby.

tooth. I'll stop by with a special. surprise for your tooth.". >> Just one of more than 6,100 wishes. answered. >> I get a chance to be a small part of. your life, and it's just sending off. good vibes into the world. >> Little Caroline wrote, "I'm so sorry I. swallowed my tooth, and I love you." One. youngster asked, "Can I borrow my tooth. back only for one day? I want to show it. to my friends, please." And some are. running investigations. >> If I see you in person, I will believe. you. If I don't, that means you're not.

real. >> And the tooth fairy never forgets her. sign off. >> Don't forget to brush and floss. Happy. growing up. Love the tooth fairy. >> Savannah Sers, NBC News. >> You can't forget to floss. That's. nightly news for this Friday. I'm Tom. Yamos. Thanks so much for watching. tonight and always. We're here for you. Good night. Look at that sparkly smile. So good. >> We thank you for watching and remember,

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