Tuesday, October 20, 2026

0:00This episode is brought to you by WHOOP, the wearable health and fitness coach that gives you personalized insights into your sleep, recovery, strain, stress, stress, and overall health. so you can finish summer feeling more aware of what you're capable of. With Whoop, you can better understand how your body is responding to travel, training, late nights, warmer weather, and packed weekends. It helps you see what's supporting your energy in recovery and what might be holding you back. Visit join.whoop.com slash SiriusXM. This holiday, all plans, even unlimited, are just$15 a month. A holiday deal this good obviously deserves an enormously expensive holiday song, like All I Want.

0:38Right. Okay, we can afford that. You know what? Forget the music budget. We're going to stick with whatever's in the public domain. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for a 12-month plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. New customer offer for initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. Tonight, the final countdown to the midterms. Now just two weeks away. The new giveaways President Trump is promising. The president now saying he'll deliver cash and gas waivers for farmers, but only if his party wins.

1:13Democrats slamming it as political blackmail as millions of early votes pour in. Nor 'easter threat, the storm churning up the East Coast right now, already bringing dangerous surf and flooding to the outer banks. Plus, Ukrainian President Zelensky meeting with U.S. officials as President Trump says he's speaking to Vladimir Putin about him freeing American prisoners is a deal now in the works. Violent ice arrest caught on camera. Officers pinning a California man face down in a gutter, handcuffing him as he screams his arm is broken. How the agency is responding tonight. Flight emergency, a plane's tire bursting as it landed at Chicago O 'Hare with hundreds of passengers on board.

1:57The emotional update from Christina Applegate revealing she was misdiagnosed and doesn't have MS. How could the doctors have been so wrong? Nightly News starts right now. This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Yawmas.

2:16And good evening. We thank you for joining us early on this Tuesday night. We want to begin with President Trump's new push to keep Republicans in control of Congress, with millions already heading to polls, those pivotal midterm elections exactly two weeks from tonight. President Trump, You see him there right now headed to North Carolina to try and boost the Republican Senate candidate in one of the toughest battleground races for the party. The president facing new criticism tonight for attempting to lure voters with incentives like gas waivers to benefit farmers and thousands in cash for everyday American.

2:50The catch, though, he says those things will only happen if Republicans win. But voters are already heading to the polls in droves. So far, nearly 13 million Americans have voted early, either by mail or in person. Monica Alba is with the president in North Carolina tonight. She starts us off. Tonight, with two weeks to go, President Trump traveling to North Carolina to rally Republicans. They have to want to get out to vote. A state he won three times, but where Democratic former Governor Roy Cooper is leading former RNC chair Michael Watley in polls. I hate to say it, you're sort of tending toward the purple.

3:24Overnight in deep red Kansas, the president boosting incumbent Senator Roger Marshall in a tight race against Democrat Adam Hamilton, blasting Democrats on border security. But the Democrat agenda is a plan to extinguish Western civilization. They want to open the borders. And promising permanent emergency waivers for ethanol mixed gasoline and cash to Americans, but only if Republicans win. But if Adam Hamilton is in, I'm not doing it. If we lose, you get nothing. All as there's new controversy in Ohio over this ad featuring Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton's estranged mother. She's lied her entire life.

4:04My daughter needs help and she can't help you if she needs help herself. Acton's brother tonight condemning the ad in a statement released by her campaign, saying their birth mother stayed married to a man who sexually abused Acton. Describing the ad, which circulated on social media, as a, quote, desperate, disgusting attack. As tonight, there's record early voting in parts of Texas. This Democrat coming out to back James Tallarico over Ken Paxton. We've seen where the Republicans are leading us. Down the drain. While back here in North Carolina, we met this voter who's supporting the GOP. Why did you want to be here tonight?

4:40To show everybody that we still support Trump. Monica joins us now live from the president's rally tonight. Monica, I know you have more new reporting on the early vote totals we were talking about at the top of the broadcast. to solve real problems. Yeah, Tom, 13 million ballots cast so far. That includes 8 million mail-in ballots and 4.5 million in-person votes. And here in this state, North Carolina is on track to beat early voting numbers compared to the last midterm elections. Tom. Monica, thank you for more of NBC's political reporting exclusives. You can scan the QR code on your screen and subscribe now.

5:18OK, we want to move now to President Trump's push to end the war in Ukraine. Now pressuring Ukraine to make a deal in announcing Russia may soon release an American it's holding there. Here's Garrett Haake. Tonight, amid new strikes in Russia and Ukraine, President Trump flashing frustration at the war's impact on U.S. energy costs, urging Ukraine's president to strike a deal to end it. Zelensky has to want to settle this war. and if he doesn't, I think it's going to be a very bad thing. Look, we have given tremendous amounts to Ukraine. We've got nothing back other than high diesel. Tonight, Zelensky saying the U.S.

6:00has resumed sharing intelligence about Russian missile launches. We are thankful that intelligence works. Now, I'm speaking about early warning. After Zelensky yesterday posted this image of what he says is a Ukrainian toddler named Angelina hit by a Russian drone strike. Candidate Trump routinely promised to end the war on day one. If I'm president, I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours. Today, on day 638 of his second term, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff meeting with Zelensky for talks in Oslo. While tonight, President Trump suggesting a deal may be near for Russia to release 73-year-old American citizen Stephen Hubbard, who Russia says it captured fighting for Ukraine in 2022.

6:45I've been talking to President Putin about Mr. Hubbard. I'd love to get him back. It's time. It's time to have Mr. Hubbard back. Zelensky says Whitcoff will head to Russia tomorrow, carrying a proposal for security guarantees that could help end the war. Tom. Garrett Haig at the White House down to the nor 'easter churning up the coast. It's bringing intense surf and storm surge along the outer banks. You can see all the water eating at the homes and the dunes there. Bill Karens is here. Bill, take us through the nor 'easter path. Yeah, we need the storm to move away from the Outer Banks. That's where the hugest problems are.

7:19We're going to continue to watch the wave action there in the Outer Banks over the next at least two days. Each high tide cycle, we're going to have more and more problems, and the highest one will be Wednesday evening. Other flood advisories up and down the coast, too. Inland areas have no problems whatsoever. Sunny, nice, just a little breezy. On the coast, though, is where we could see some higher wind gusts. That's where we could see gusts areas like like Nantucket up to 40-mile-per-hour winds. Down along the coast, even Hatteras could have 40-mile-per-hour winds. Not enough for power outages.

7:46To the west, this is the next storm that's going to be moving in. Already 7 million people under flood watches. This storm will be moving in tomorrow. It's good because it will help us get some wet weather in areas that have all the fire danger. But we could see thunderstorms, and we could also have new fires start from those lightning strikes, Tom. Okay, Bill, we'll stay on top of that. We thank you. This just in tonight, an American Airlines flight suffered a blown tire as it landed at one of the country's busiest airports. Here it is at O 'Hare just after the landing. The FAA says the crew had a brake issue and a blown tire.

8:16You see here passengers disembarking in the middle of the tarmac via stairs. It's just the latest blown tire incident at that busy airport. We also have new video tonight of another violent ice arrest, this one in California. And according to one member of Congress, the man handcuffed face down was an American citizen. Steve Patterson has that video. My arm is broken! Tonight, new outrage aimed at federal immigration officials over this. Gut-wrenching screams from the ragged voice of a man who a California congressman says is a U.S. citizen. My arm is broken. Stop! Video shows Ricardo Gonzalez of Long Beach, California, handcuffed, bleeding, pinned down by ICE officers.

8:57Help me! Help me! Begging for help while bound in a gutter as a large crowd surrounds the scene. The detention happened Saturday afternoon during what the Department of Homeland Security says was a targeted enforcement operation. It's unclear what led up to the arrest. But video moments before appears to show Gonzalez on his e-bike rounding the corner and encountering an unmarked SUV. Federal officers, some wearing masks, swarmed Gonzalez. He's like, I'm a U.S. citizen, so I have no idea. Next thing I know, he's on the ground. His family saying his arm was broken and that he was tased multiple times.

9:35Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson says Gonzalez is a former city employee. Residents shouldn't be put in these situations. Families shouldn't have to live in fear in their own neighborhoods. DHS says ICE officers were confronted by anti-ICE agitators, calling Gonzalez a rioter, adding ICE did not hit an individual on a bike. An individual was arrested after he smashed the mirror of a government vehicle. Gonzales's daughter, Leslie, says her father is now recovering and receiving treatment. She's also calling him one of the hardest working men out there. Tom? Steve Patterson for us. Now to that stunning revelation from actress Christina Applegate, who's been so public about her battle with MS.

10:15But now her doctor's telling her she doesn't have the disease and was misdiagnosed. Emily Akeda has more. Christina Applegate! Emmy-winning actor Christina Applegate, who has become one of the most famous advocates for living with multiple sclerosis, revealing a shocking health update from her doctor. She came into my room and she said, congratulations, you don't have MS. Applegate explaining on her MS-focused podcast with fellow actor Jamie Lynn Sigler that after recent testing utilizing new technology, she learned she was actually misdiagnosed five years ago. It's very unnerving and it's really confusing for me.

11:00She's not alone. A 2019 study at MS specialty clinics found nearly one in five patients were misdiagnosed with the progressive disease of the central nervous system. What's complicated about diagnosing MS? There is no single diagnostic test to say, yes, you have MS, no, you don't. And so what the clinician needs to do is really listen to the patient, think about that history, perform a neurological examination, obtain MRI imaging. Applegate's deteriorating health has forced her to step away from her decades-long acting career, receiving a standing ovation at the 2024 Emmy Awards. The 54-year-old, along with her doctors, now returning to a search for answers.

11:49Emily Ikeda, NBC News. All right, that's nightly news for this Tuesday. Stay right here to watch the NBA championship. Nick's take on King James and the Sixers. Coverage begins right now on NBC. I'm Tom Yamas. We thank you so much for watching tonight. And always, we're here for you. Good night. This episode is brought to you by Whoop, the wearable health and fitness coach that gives you personalized insights into your sleep, recovery, strain, stress, and overall health. So you can finish summer feeling more aware of what you're capable of. With Whoop, you can better understand how your body is responding to travel, training, late nights, warmer weather, and packed weekends.

12:29It helps you see what's supporting your energy in recovery and what might be holding you back. Visit join.whoop.com slash SiriusXM.