Today’s Top Stories from NBC News
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SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2026
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In today’s newsletter: Families of Americans missing after Nepal’s deadly floods are desperate for answers. Pete Hegseth is considering a presidential run in 2028, sources say. And why a police officer’s death and the grim search for his wife shook first responders.
Here’s what to know today.
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Some were on spiritual pilgrimages when a deluge of muddy water, ice and debris roared through Himalayan valleys along the border between Nepal and Tibet. Now, their families are waiting anxiously for news as an increasingly desperate search continues.
Of the dozens of Americans still missing, officials said, many were trekking to Mount Kailash, a sacred site in Tibet revered by Hindus, Buddhists and followers of other faiths as the cosmic center of the universe.
Anurag Goel said his father, Anil, was part of a group of 12 that crossed from Nepal into Tibet just minutes before the flooding began. He has not heard from him since.
Maya Patel counts herself “extremely lucky” to be alive, but some members of the group of 36 she was traveling with remain missing. Radhika Sharma, a doctor in North Carolina, said her parents were among seven people heading to Mount Kailash. They had just crossed into Tibet when the flooding began, she said.
The Nepal Tourism Board reported that 65 U.S. citizens remained unaccounted for as of Friday. The U.S. State Department said approximately 90 Americans may have been affected and that it was “not aware of any U.S. citizen deaths.”
The death toll in Nepal rose to at least 626 on Saturday, as more than 2,400 people remained missing in the country.
Find out more about the missing Americans.
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President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. had reached an agreement with Venezuela to take control of the country’s 65 billion barrels of oil reserves, a move he said would more than double America’s reserves.
The announcement comes months after the U.S. military carried out an operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Trump is also facing increasing pressure ahead of the midterm elections, as gas prices remain high and the war in Iran approaches its six-month mark.
What to know about Venezuela’s oil reserves.
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has told close friends and associates that he is considering a run for president in 2028, according to two people familiar with the conversations. Hegseth and his wife, Jennifer, believe he shares some of the qualities that made Trump popular with the MAGA movement — toughness, defiance and conservative views on social issues, the sources said.
Hegseth’s appearance earlier this month at the Iowa State Fair, a traditional springboard for presidential campaigns, fueled surprise and speculation about his political ambitions. But Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell dismissed the rumors, saying Hegseth’s “main priority is leading the War Department.”
How Iran could factor into a potential campaign.
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- A White House teleprompter operator was ordered to pay $172,000 for making prediction market bets based on Trump’s speeches.
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- Milo Yiannopoulos, an internet troll known for his controversial right-wing political views, was arrested by ICE for “failing to show up for his immigration hearing,” DHS said.
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Jury deliberations will resume Monday in the trial of Lindsay Clancy, who is accused of killing her three children. Yesterday, Kevin Reddington, Clancy’s attorney, said jurors wanted to see the bag of pills he displayed during closing arguments, as well as several other pill bottles and a knife entered into evidence.
The trial is in its home stretch after five weeks of testimony from more than 80 witnesses. Clancy is charged with fatally strangling her three children — Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months — on Jan. 24, 2023. The jury, made up of nine women and three men, must determine whether Clancy is guilty of first-degree murder in the killings.
More on Friday’s deliberations.
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- Imagination Playground
- Imagination Library
- Musical Dreams
- Country Dreams
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Find out the answer and test your knowledge of this week's most-read stories. (The answer to the question is also at the bottom of this newsletter.)
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Karen Solomon loomed large in the world of law enforcement and first responder mental health.
She authored books on the subject and lobbied the federal government to change how it treated the families of first responders who died by suicide. She often worked directly with those families, sending gift baskets and flowers, and in some cases, traveled to help them personally. She pushed for a memorial for those who did not survive their struggles – and after considerable legwork, helped establish the nation’s first, in Texas.
So it came as a massive shock when authorities announced on Aug. 18 that Solomon’s husband, a longtime Massachusetts police officer, was found dead, and they were actively searching for her – a fugitive who should be considered armed and dangerous. Six days later, she was found dead in the woods with a gun nearby.
I wondered how those first responders were processing the news, so I began tracking down current and former law enforcement officers who worked with Solomon or knew her. This story is what I found.
— Tim Stelloh, breaking news reporter
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- For subscribers: In East Tennessee, the question isn’t whether to kill the Flock cameras. It’s how.
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Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown. Today’s newsletter was curated for you by Elizabeth Robinson.
By the way, the answer to the quiz question above is B. Imagination Library.
If you have any comments — likes, dislikes — send us an email at: MorningRundown@nbcuni.com
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