What Lester Holt told Tom Llamas before handing over ‘NBC Nightly News'

Los Angeles Times

2 days ago

Tom Llamas first stepped into NBC's Rockefeller Center headquarters in 2000 as a fresh-faced intern.
On Monday, he becomes part of television news history as the fifth anchor of 'NBC Nightly News' and the first Latino journalist to helm a daily English-language network evening newscast (one of his mentors, Jose Diaz-Balart, handles the Saturday edition of 'Nightly').
Llamas, 45, takes over for Lester Holt, who will move full time to NBC's 'Dateline' after a 10-year run in the anchor chair. Llamas will remain the anchor of 'Top Story,' a live, hourlong newscast on the network's free streaming platform NBC News Now.
The son of Cuban immigrants, Llamas grew up in Miami, where he continues to have strong ties (pop superstar Gloria Estefan and 'Sabado Gigante' host Don Francisco attended a party in Florida to celebrate his promotion). He lives in Westchester County, N.Y., with his wife, Jennifer, three children aged 12, nine and seven, and a dedicated room for his vinyl record collection built from a decade of crate-digging while traveling around the world on assignment.
He recently spoke with The Times about his new role.
You've known Lester Holt since you were a 21-year-old production assistant at NBC News. What advice did he give you for your new role?
He's been married to this job. And so I asked him about that, because my kids have always known me as a network correspondent and a network anchor. But he told me, 'Your life is going to change.' And he explained to me that everyone's going to want a piece of you and there's going to be a lot of demands, even more than you've ever experienced.
And he's been right about that. He said, 'You have to make the right decisions when it comes to your career and your family.' My wife and my kids have known that sometimes I'll be at a little league game or I'll be at a school play, and I have to run and jump on a plane because there's breaking news. And they understand that their dad does that. But we always have conversations about it. And it's tough.
Do your children watch 'NBC Nightly News' and 'Top Story'?
Oh yeah.
I had my 7-year-old explaining the election to his classmates. He was walking them through when President Biden stepped down and Kamala Harris took over the nomination. Sometimes it's tough. They were watching that night during Hurricane Milton last summer when a transformer exploded over my head, and that is a little scary. There were some text messages and calls to me quickly.
Sometimes they watch a little too much and we have to turn it off. But they are very plugged-in; they know the world around them. It's just the same way I was raised. We watched news in English and Spanish as far back as I can remember. Because my parents were always searching for news out of Cuba.
What are your early news viewing memories?
I can really remember any time Fidel Castro was going to be interviewed. It was always a major moment, right? I remember my parents watching the interview and then deciding if it was a fair interview or not and having an open conversation about that. So I'm hearing about conversations of fairness my entire life. And I see what it means and how viewers react to that.
Did that inspire you to go into the profession?
I don't know if it was an inspiration as much as it was a testament of how important the news is. It's just that my family relied on the news. They wanted to know what was happening in their home country. They wanted to know what was happening in America. And they listened, and they trust these people.
What made the powers that be decide that you should keep doing 'Top Story' while doing 'Nightly'?
It was actually my idea.
Right now, in this country, you've got to be everywhere. And I didn't want to lose what we've established for three and a half years. We just got nominated for an Emmy up against amazing legacy shows like 'Nightly News,' 'ABC World News Tonight' and the 'CBS Evening News.' To be in that circle with a streaming show that is three years old, that's been one of the greatest achievements of my career. Because this was a startup. And a lot of people said we couldn't do this, and we have.
President Trump basically declared war on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. [The Federal Communications Commission has called for an investigation into NBC's parent firm Comcast for what it describes as 'DEI discrimination.'] Has that muted the achievement of being the first Latino to anchor an English-speaking nightly newscast?
I don't think I got this job because I'm Hispanic; I think I got this job because I'm the best person for the job. And I know that's what NBC believes, too.
My life story is something I'm very proud of. [My parents] essentially came to this country with nothing. They had no money, they barely spoke the language, and this incredible country gave them a second chance. It gave them a new home. And they taught me hard work, but they also taught me to love this country. And I do, I think this is the greatest place in the world, hands down. To become the anchor of 'Nightly News' tells me that the American dream is still very alive.
You're from the streaming music generation, but you have a vinyl record collection. How did that happen?
Ten or 12 years ago, I went to my friend's house in Los Angeles and he has a record player. I think he played 'Sticky Fingers' from the Rolling Stones. We just chilled and we listened to the album. And I thought, 'What a great experience.'
Then I realized the other fun part about records is just finding them and collecting them, and trying to get original pressings. I have Wilson Pickett records that were made in Spain. I have Beatles records where the liner notes and the album covers are in different languages. I have a room where I have them — it feels like you're walking into a jukebox. It's where I read the paper sometimes. It's where I prepare for big election nights. I'll be in there for hours. It's how I relax.
What's on your turntable at the moment?
I'm in a bit of a hard-bop phase, so I'm listening to a lot of Art Blakey, a lot of Cannonball Adderley. I've been trying to find great live albums. I picked up this great five-record set from Bruce Springsteen, the run he had in the late '70s through the '80s. And a great album, which I got turned on to, is Elvis Presley's 'From Elvis in Memphis.' He recorded that in 1969, when Jimi Hendrix was taking off and Woodstock was happening. And it's just a very country Americana album with beautiful songs. It's got the Memphis Boys backing him.
You have good taste in music.
I appreciate it.