00:00:39

Strong tornado.

00:00:39

And tonight, 100 million people in the storm zone. Rob Marciano with the timing and track. Meet Mexico’s tiniest soldier, a 15-pound chihuahua named Commando. And the Good Stuff– one woman’s battle and the lifelong friend with her every step of the way. Should we, like, high five? Yay.

00:01:01

From CBS News headquarters in New York, this is the CBS Evening Newswith Tony Dokoupil. Good evening. And we begin tonight with that midair attack, one pilot stabbing another, and then apparently trying to bring down a commercial airliner en route to Tel Aviv today. Video shows the harrowing moments on board after passengers and crew broke into the cockpit, battled the alleged attacker, and then regained control. And it was a passenger, we’re told, who pulled back on the controls to take the plane out of a nosedive. All of it happened about two hours out of Dubai, when the flight, with more than 150 people on board, suddenly lost altitude and changed course near the Jordanian border before making an emergency landing there in Saudi Arabia. Aviation experts say it’s a wonder the plane was able to land at all after such a sudden drop. CBS News Senior Foreign Correspondent Imtiaz Tyab has our report tonight from Tel Aviv. [SCREAMING]

00:01:57

Terror in the skies. On a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, passengers’ cell phones captured a journey that unraveled into chaos. In the aftermath, two bloodied men, the wounded captain identified as Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, and beside him, the co-pilot accused of stabbing him, restrained on the cabin floor. CBS News has learned he is of Omani origin. According to eyewitnesses, the wounded pilot unlocked the cockpit door before collapsing, allowing others to rush in, including passenger Assaf Rajwan, who fought the attacker in the cockpit before other crew members took control of the plane. [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

00:02:41

Whoever is hearing me, we need help, he says. We are in the Tabuk area of Saudi Arabia, which we don’t know. All the passengers are OK, but not the pilot. We need help. A little more than two hours into the flight, the plane suddenly plunged. Preliminary flight data indicates a drop of more than 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds. It climbed again, then dropped once more before finally leveling out. Inside the cabin, families held on to one another, unsure of how much time they had left. Nearly 10 hours after their ordeal began, a replacement FlyDubai plane brought most of the stranded passengers to Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport and into the arms of those waiting for them. Among them, Assaf Rajwan, still trying to take in his heroism. I didn’t think about it. It’s just something that you do without thinking. [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

00:03:35

In a video statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot, quote, “apparently attempted to crash the plane with its passengers on board. Nearly all of them Israelis.” He credited the wounded captain, Machchhar, with helping save 174 people. Is something like this truly preventable? It’s nearly impossible to prevent something like this happening, because, as some people have said, you can’t prevent crazy somebody being in a cockpit at the wrong day, the wrong time, whatever it is– their motives. And tonight, the alleged attacker is in Saudi custody being interrogated. And all FlyDubai flights to and from Israel have been suspended. Investigators are now trying to establish how something like this could even happen. And what needs to change to keep passengers safe from something so horrifying like this from happening again. Tony. Imtiaz, thank you very much. The Israeli Defense Minister has called this an attempted jihadist terrorist attack. But, moments ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told me that while the passengers on board are certainly heroes, they don’t yet know the motivation of the attacker. I don’t think it was a hijacking. I think it looks like a suicide attempt, simply because of what this hero, Yaniv, has described. When he went in, this guy was trying to jam the equipment between the two flight seats– the pilot seats. He wasn’t sitting in the pilot seat trying to stabilize the plane. He was trying to jam the equipment. So that’s pretty good evidence, I’d say. But this is being– this pilot, the attacking pilot, is now being interrogated in Saudi Arabia. He’ll be, I assume, moved very quickly to Dubai. He’s an Omani national. He’ll be investigated, interrogated, and we’ll join the interrogation, find out what happened there exactly. Mr. Prime Minister, the reason I ask is because what makes you sure this is attempted terror and not a mental health issue of some description? Well, it could be. I don’t know. We’ll find out soon. We’ve had signs that Iran, and particularly through its proxies, was intending to heighten terrorist attacks against Israel and Israeli nationals abroad. But I think it’s too early to say whether there was this Iranian collusion here. I think we’ll find out. Won’t take a long time. And you can see more of that interview online, including questions on other news of the day matters– the future of Gaza and also whether the prime minister ignored warnings about Hamas ahead of the October 7 attacks. But we turn now to breaking news in the alleged gang rape at Cornell University inside a frat house there. New York Governor Kathy Hochul says she spoke with the president of Cornell today, and the university has agreed to bring in outside counsel for an independent investigation into the school’s response to that rape allegation two years ago. Our Tom Hanson has exclusive details tonight from Ithaca, New York.

00:06:40

The shock waves continue at Cornell University. It’s these 10 words from a former student, who told campus police, “I can say with 100% confidence I was raped.” That allegation, made nearly two years ago, came to light only after CBS New York received a transcript of an interview the woman did with Cornell Police, three weeks after she alleges she was gang raped at a fraternity house on campus. The Tompkins County District Attorney now says the rape claim never crossed his desk. Today, my colleague, Lilia Luciano, pressed him about that. To be clear, you never saw any statement where the victim alleged to be raped. I never saw that statement. It was not included in the six-page statement. We felt that we had a comprehensive and complete account of what happened, and we had no reason to believe that there was missing or omitted information.

00:07:30

Also in the transcript, the woman, when asked if she was OK with the initial sexual encounter, told campus police, as much as I can be because, again, I was super drunk when I got there. But I was pretty OK with all of this. But then added, I was being hit at the same time, physically hit, very, very hard. She alleged she was coerced into having sex later on and that she was completely and totally incapacitated. CBS News has obtained the six-page sworn statement the DA said his office received. In the summary, the woman at one point says, I had become extremely uncomfortable with how this night was turning out. So my thought was if I do ketamine again, maybe I will pass out. She went on to say, my thought was if I passed out and these men had sex with me, then they could be charged with rape. No one was charged. The district attorney’s office dropped the ball here– not Cornell, not the police department. Unfortunately, we’re two years out now.

00:08:24

On the Cornell campus, students are on edge. Everyone deserves to know exactly what happened in 2024, who was responsible of relaying that information to the DA’s office, and why exactly did that case now just get reopened. And students here will have the chance to talk to university officials at a town hall tomorrow. Meanwhile, Cornell and the Cornell Police Department both declined our request for interviews. And, Tony, we’ve also reached out to all of the accused. We heard back from two through their lawyers who deny the allegations, Tony. Tom, thank you very much. We turn now to weather, dangerous weather, threatening part of the country tonight. Nearly 100 million people at risk tonight, and it stretches into tomorrow as well. This tornado barreled through Central Kansas late this afternoon, passing across roads and through fields. That’s after two tornadoes battered parts of the Texas panhandle last night. With more rain on the way for that region, they are giving out sandbags ahead of the next round. Meteorologist Rob Marciano tracking it all. Hey, Rob. Hey, Tony. Yeah, it’s been a rain and flooding headline now shared with tornadoes and severe weather like we’ve seen. And we’ve got a tornado watch that’s in effect until at least 11 o’clock tonight. That, coupled with other severe thunderstorm watches down in Texas and the flood watches across nine states, some of those until Friday and several more inches of rain coming. We’ve got the trifecta of this upper low, a strong one coming through the Rockies, that Pacific moisture, Gulf, and Caribbean moisture all combining for, really, a north and south very long stretching gradient of rainfall, tornado threat, and flash flooding across I-80 tonight– Lincoln, Omaha, you’re in it. Des Moines as well. Then tomorrow morning, Dallas, you may be getting crushed with severe weather and intense rainfall that could bring flooding there. Down I-35 into Friday morning, San Antonio and Austin may very well be in this. How much rain will we see? Well, in spots, we’ll see 2, 3, 4 inches. In other spots, we could very well see up to 7 inches of rain. So a wet week ahead across a large chunk of the country. Tony. Rob, thank you very much. The White House today is defending the Trump administration’s use of millions of your taxpayer dollars for a series of TV ads promoting President Trump, all in the run-up to the midterm elections. Chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes, who asked President Trump about that ad campaign, is here to fill us in with more. Nancy, good evening to you. Tony, good evening. These were President Trump’s first public comments about these controversial ads that first started airing on TV last week, featuring him touting his accomplishments with the unusual tagline “paid for by the US government.” CBS News has confirmed that DHS paid a private agency up to $20 million for this ad campaign. Your critics say those ads might violate federal propaganda laws. Why should US taxpayers pay for that? Well, I’m not running for office.

00:11:06

Right. And so the ads are given by me, but I’m not running for office. And I don’t talk about anybody. That’s an ad for the spirit of our country. Now, if somebody said that that’s wrong, I’ll gladly pay the money. But these are ads for the country. But is it a good use of taxpayer dollars? You have to understand, I’m not promoting a candidate. I’m not promoting myself, because I’m not running for office. I’m promoting the country. Multiple Senate Republicans have spoken out against the use of public funds for these ads. One of them, Thom Tillis, even likened the ads to something that might be aired by the Hungarian dictator Viktor Orban. Tony. Quite a comparison. Nancy, thank you. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth talked today about the state of the US fighting force on the same stage where, a year ago, he called for things like no more beardos or fat generals. Today’s speech was similar in tone, but came with another major cut to the ranks of US admirals and generals as well. Here’s senior national security correspondent Charlie D’Agata.

00:12:07

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth began the day with what he called PT at the Pentagon, on the warpath before gutting one in five of America’s most experienced generals and admirals across the services. The media calls that a purge. I call it accountability and long overdue.

00:12:30

Hegseth has previously pushed out nearly 20 senior officers, plus the secretaries of the Army and Navy, and blocked several women and minorities from being promoted. Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall served under President Biden. He said it will take a generation to recover from Hegseth’s moves. We don’t have an excess of generals sitting around with nothing to do. And we don’t have overly inflated positions. So what he’s doing is a political stunt, frankly, that is going to have very negative impact.

00:12:59

Hegseth boasted about ridding the Pentagon of what he called woke culture. No more diversity quotas, no more gender pronouns, no more identity months, only the warrior ethos.

00:13:13

Hegseth’s reshaping of the military has come at a time when the country is at war with Iran, planning to bulk up its presence in Europe, and carrying out missions in the Caribbean. Kendall said the challenges the US military faces right now require more than physical fitness and a warrior ethos. We’re in an intellectual contest just as much as we are in a physical contest with our adversaries. And we need to emphasize that part of what the military does just as much as the physical fitness side. This comes on a day the US military announced the completion of a long planned pullout of troops from Iraq, more than 20 years after the invasion of Iraq and ending a 12-year military campaign against ISIS. But Iranian backed militias in Iraq are already celebrating what they see as a victory. Tony. Charlie, thank you. Britain’s prime minister says there are strong indications that Iran was, indeed, involved in a suspected terror plot on an airbase in Southern England, a base used by the US military. Five men were arrested near that base on Sunday. And yet today, in an interview with our broadcast partners at the BBC, Prime Minister Andy Burnham defended the suspects’ release on bail as the investigation continues. The authorities have this under, as I say, the strongest grip and the closest control. And I can assure you of that. President Trump says the US knows everything and would not have released them. Mexico has a new plan to fight crime. Meet Commando. He’s 8 inches tall. He’s a chihuahua. And he is now an official member of Mexico’s National Guard K9 unit. The uniform, 10 out of 10– tactical gear, goggles, even a tiny camera, apparently, for future missions. But for now, they say his beat is not life or death, but public relations. And who is the fattest of them all? It is bear number 89, better known as Backpack. He won the most votes in the 2026 Katmai National Park Fat Bear Competition. Known as a gentle bear who uses quiet strength to find preferred hunting and snacking spots, he is nonetheless more than 1,000 pounds and now plans to celebrate by sleeping until May. Still ahead, the Good Stuff– the importance of a friend in the fight against cancer. [MUSIC PLAYING] We’re back with the Good Stuff tonight. A cancer story that’s not really about cancer at all. It’s about two friends who met as little kids and have lived through every stage of life together. And that now includes this. My name is Jen, and I have cancer. We’re five days out from chemo.

00:15:50

That’s Jen Taylor and her best friend, Adrien Finkel, both 41, in what has become dozens of videos posted to social media documenting Jen’s often brutal battle with breast cancer. The second week kind of sucked, but I feel like if I push through it enough, it’s always going to be OK.

00:16:09

12 weeks of chemo, a double mastectomy, all of it. But also, the sisterhood of doing it all with your best friend at your side. We made it. We did it. We made it through today. Should we, like, high five?

00:16:22

They decided to put it all out there in hopes of being a light to others, and to remind people that while the chemo fights the cancer, it’s almost always a friend who saves your life. It was, like, an active choice to wake up in the morning and choose to not be miserable. And I really think we’ve nailed it. Like, I really do. I mean, also, that’s where there’s so much joy and friendship.

00:16:47

It’s the only time I forget that I have cancer. Jen is still in treatment. She’s hoping to finish up soon. But Adrien, of course, is still right there by her side. That’s another day in America. I’m Tony Dokoupil. We’ll see you right back here tomorrow. Goodnight. [MUSIC PLAYING]