NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Thursday, May 23, 2024

Episode Date: May 24, 2024

Relentless, deadly severe weather hits the U.S. and Mexico; Police and protesters clash in new demonstration at UCLA; Tennessee attorney general opens probe into Graceland fight; and more on tonight��s broadcast.

Tonight, the severe storms on the move after days of tornado strikes in the central U.S. and a deadly stage collapse in Mexico. The new video just in, the collapse as it happens. The powerful winds tearing down that stage at a campaign rally. The crowd scrambling for safety. At least nine killed, more than 120 injured. The same system producing a tornado in Texas. Homes destroyed, a hotel ripped apart. New images out of Iowa. A woman rescued from the rubble after a

tornado destroyed her town. And the new threat we're tracking tonight. And just out, the new forecast for the Atlantic hurricane season. NOAA warning, it's never seen one like this before. The new clashes on campus, pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA climbing onto rooftops, occupying a building, police moving into their camp while the school's president is away testifying on Capitol Hill.

Email scam, crooks tapping right into your bank account. Chances are you've already been targeted. And right after one of the hardest moments of his life, tapping right into your bank account, chances are you've already been targeted. And right after one of the hardest moments of his life, the high school valedictorian's inspiring speech bringing his classmates to tears. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. And good evening. I'm Tom Yamas in for Lester. Deadly and destructive severe weather both here and in Mexico is where we want to start tonight. In northern Mexico, take a look at this,

a political rally quickly turning into a triage center as severe wind gusts caused a stage to collapse, killing at least nine and injuring more than 100. And here at home, tens of millions are at risk of severe storms yet again, as so many Americans plan to hit the road for the long Memorial Day weekend. Late yesterday, it was a town in Texas. You see it here hit hard by a reported tornado with much of it destroyed. This after five people were killed in Iowa just the day before. And if this wave of violent weather we've been seeing all spring isn't enough, forecasters tonight are warning of an even more dangerous hurricane season, predicting possibly up to 13 hurricanes, an unusual and alarming number.

NBC's Maggie Vespa starts us off. Tonight, devastation from America's relentless run of severe weather rippling south of the border. New video showing the chaos at last night's presidential campaign rally in northern Mexico, where severe winds brought the event's stage crashing down. Mexican officials say nine people, including a child, were killed, more than 120 injured. That same system wreaking havoc stateside. Video shows an apparent tornado moving through central Texas. Homes and businesses in the city of Temple, including this hotel, ripped to pieces. One house, authorities say, struck by lightning, catching fire.

Meanwhile, in Iowa, the National Weather Service now confirming three powerful tornadoes plowed across the state Tuesday, leveling more than 200 homes. This dramatic video showing the moment rescuers saved a woman trapped under heavy debris, miraculously walking away. What was the noise like? Five freight trains and you just heard everything crashing around you. Tim Ergish worked with a couple who family confirms died in the storm. Dean and Pam Wiggins, churchgoers in their 70s who loved their family. You sure never expect someone to go that way.

Iowa authorities now saying five people were killed. FEMA's administrator touring the damage today alongside Iowa's governor, who's requested an expedited disaster declaration from President Biden and $11 million for cleanup. This after FEMA last year warned they were running out of money by fall. Well, we are facing another year where we're going to run out of our disaster relief fund. Right now, it's looking like it's going to be in about the August time frame, but we are seeing an increase in the number of disasters that we're supporting. Maggie Vespa joins us now live from Greenfield, Iowa.

And Maggie, I know we've just gotten an update. The National Weather Service now saying it was an EF4 tornado that hit the area where you are tonight. Yeah, Tom, exactly. An EF4 and of course, five is the highest rating. By the way, an EF4 packs winds of up to 200 miles per hour, and they figure that out by examining damage like this. And by the way, when FEMA's administrator today saw this damage here, she said no doubt everyone here who needs money to help rebuild will get it. Tom?

Maggie Vespa surrounded by that destruction tonight. All right, Maggie, let's bring in Dylan Dreyer tonight. No break in sight from this dangerous weather, right, Dylan? No, not tonight. And we have several areas where we're seeing some severe storms. We want to focus on this area down across Texas and into Oklahoma, where we do have tornado watches in effect through this evening. And then as we go into tomorrow, we still have the chance, a bigger chance of strong storms, although a lesser chance of tornadoes. But you could see how expansive it is from Chicago right down into Dallas. Then we go into the weekend and Saturday and Sunday, we're going to increase that threat of tornadoes once again. On Saturday, it's Wichita down into just north of Dallas. And then as we go into Sunday, we have this area that

includes St. Louis and Nashville, where we could see our best chance of tornadoes. And Dylan, I also want to ask you about that potential hurricane headline we had at the top there. It could be a record hurricane season. Yeah, NOAA came out with this this morning, and they are actually forecasting the highest number of storms ever. They've never forecasted this many before. It was 17 to 25 named storms expected, mostly because of just how warm the sea surface temperature is right now.

All right, could be a busy season for our weather team. All right, Dylan, we thank you for that. The protests we've seen all spring flared up once again today on both coasts as Congress questioned college presidents about how they've handled the chaos on campus. Tonight, Liz Kreutz is at UCLA right in the middle of one of those protests. And Liz, an intense scene tonight. Yeah, Tom, that's right. In fact, protesters have taken over yet another building here on campus. That's after police forced many of them to leave an encampment they had erected earlier

today. All of this time to the chancellor's hearing on Capitol Hill over those clashes here three weeks ago. At UCLA tonight, tensions again flaring up over the war in Gaza. Police clashing with pro-Palestinian protesters on campus after demonstrators erected a new encampment. Okay, another encampment has just popped up here at UCLA. You can see these protesters. They've barricaded themselves inside this plaza. There's a row of police here as they stand off with more protesters. That standoff happening the same day UCLA Chancellor Gene Block testified on Capitol Hill about his handling of the protests, seemingly unaware of the new protests forming. I should emphasize there is no encampment and there have been no demonstrations that are problematic.

Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar grilling Block over the university's response to an attack by counter protesters on the pro-Palestinian encampment. Are any of these people in jail? Are any of these people arrested? LAPD is working on trying to identify the people who were silenced that evening. No arrests have been made. This week, the university removed the campus police chief from his position. Meantime, at Harvard, hundreds of students walking out of graduation in protest of the school's decision to bar some students who participated in pro-Palestinian encampments from getting their degrees. Our freedom of speech and our expressions of solidarity became punishable. Back at UCLA, the new encampment taken down.

But with three weeks left of classes, the debate between free speech and hate speech raging on. I want people to be able to freely and safely go to class without being yelled at, without being targeted for their ideological or ethnic or religious identities. This is our university, and we're here to say that we will not be intimidated and put into this systematic silencing. Liz Kreutz, NBC News, Los Angeles. All right, we have a new twist in the battle for Graceland after Elvis Presley's family accused creditors of fraudulently foreclosing on his mansion. Priya Sridhar joins us tonight. An investigation has been launched, Priya? That's right, Tom. The Tennessee Attorney General is launching a probe

into this fight over Graceland after a Memphis judge blocked a foreclosure sale of the property scheduled for today. The investigation will look into Nasani Investments, which tried to sell Graceland, claiming Lisa Marie Presley used the estate as collateral on a $3.8 million loan she never repaid. But in a lawsuit, Elvis' granddaughter, Riley Keough, called it a false investment firm, saying they forged her mother's signatures to create a loan that never existed. Now, no representatives from Nasani appeared in court this week, and NBC News has not been able to verify the company's existence.

Tom? Okay, Priya Sridhar for us tonight. Priya, we thank you for that. In 60 seconds, the new warning about email scams robbing millions from consumers. How to protect yourself. That's next. All right, we are back now with a new alert for you about a phone and email scam. And chances are you've already been targeted.

Here's Tom Costello. Debbie Casey was at her computer when the email arrived, telling her she needed to act now if she wanted to cancel her $400 Geek Squad subscription. But she didn't have one. So she called the phone number in the email. That was her first mistake. She got a scammer on the phone who told her to click on an email link. And that may have been her second mistake, though she doesn't know how it happened. Within seconds, he was inside her computer and bank account, saying Geek Squad had refunded her too much money that she needed to return. And before I knew it, he'd already sent through Zelle

$2,000. Of your money? Of my own money, yes. She's hardly alone. New data from the Federal Trade Commission shows Americans reported losing more than $660 million in impersonation scams last year. Probably, though, a tiny fraction of the real number. They are trying to create a sense of urgency. They're trying to make you concerned that you're about to lose money. The most impersonated companies, Best Buy, Geek Squad, Amazon, and PayPal, while the most money was lost to Microsoft and Publishers Clearinghouse impersonators. I get these kinds of scam emails every single day. How should we be acting to protect ourselves? Never respond to the phone number, email address, website link that's in the actual message that you receive, because it could be entirely fake.

One big flag if you're asked to pay with gift cards or cryptocurrency. Best Buy's fraud detection advice, do not call any numbers or click any links that claim you have an issue with your device. Publishers Clearinghouse says never send any money if it is not free. It is not legitimate. I felt like I was too gullible. I mean, it made me feel like I was totally stupid. The FTC's advice, be skeptical of any email saying you owe money. Call the real company on a verified phone number and never transfer money to strangers. Tom? Tom Costello with those important tips tonight. All right, Tom, thank you. Next, it's not just you.

Home buying is a hassle. NBC News has a new tool showing the areas where it's hardest and easiest to buy. Stay with us. We are back now with our series, Priced Out, and the brand new tool NBC News is rolling out to help you navigate the many challenges of buying a home right now. Brian Chung has the breakdown. Erica Bellet and her husband began shopping for a home in 2020.

Do you want to go pick a book? Four years, two babies, one dog and eight rejected offers later, they are still in a rental. I don't think that we anticipated five years into our marriage we'd still be renting. They want to stay near their suburban New Jersey town. Their families are close by. The drive to work is short. But the prices of the houses, plus those high interest rates, really make it just unrealistic to be able to afford what it will cost you monthly to own a house. A new NBC News Home Buyer Index shows across the U.S. since 2022,

it's been harder to buy a home than any other period in the last decade. The index accounts for factors like median home sale prices, which over the last year are up 6%. Mortgage rates also climbing around 7% for a 30-year fixed, but also accounts for available inventory still tight, but getting a little better, up almost 13% nationwide. The NBC News Homebuyer Index grades the overall difficulty of homebuying on a scale from zero to most difficult, 100. In April, that measure was 82.4, near an all-time high. Translation, the average home is almost $70,000 more than the average household can afford. Households like the Belletts. It just doesn't feel like a reality right now. Not of your own

doing, but because of just the state of the housing market. Correct. I think if we could, we would have been in a house four years ago. Experts say the housing market is unlikely to ease up for buyers anytime soon. Forecasts predicting mortgage rates will likely remain close to 7% through the end of the year. Leaving potential buyers waiting even longer for that dream home. Brian Chung, NBC News, Lincoln Park, New Jersey. And we thank Brian for that. Up next, a class act.

The high school valedictorian delivering a speech his classmates will never forget. Finally, after a personal tragedy, the high school valedictorian taking the stage to deliver one unforgettable graduation speech. Shaky, nervous, and still in shock. taking the stage to deliver one unforgettable graduation speech. Shaky, nervous, and still in shock, senior Alam Hajij somehow took the stage at his high school graduation. I have one more thing to say. I want to see if I can get through this. In his valedictorian speech, he stunned his fellow graduates when he said this. My father died yesterday, May 15th, 2004.

Oh my God. And I attended his funeral today, right before graduation. That's why my shoes are fogging, that's why my arms are shaking, because I had to carry him into his grave and bury him. Alam's father diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just months ago. In their last conversation, Alam told his father he would graduate number one in his class. You told him that you were going to be the valedictorian. Could he comprehend that? He told me that he was proud of me.

And that's the one response he said that whole day that made sense. And it meant so much to me. Like, I knew he truly meant it. On the day of the funeral, Alam wasn't sure he could even deliver the speech. But something inside told him he had to. I had to do it for him. His message to the class? Work hard. His dad never got to graduate, but did everything to make sure his son did.

He was the one who pushed me to succeed academically. And it's true. It really is true. He's always pushed me to succeed. Tell me what you saw when you looked out into the crowd. I looked at the audience and they were all crying. I looked at my sister. She was crying. I was also so grateful that I was able to touch all of those people with my speech. I don't know if you're a spiritual person or religious, but do you feel like your dad was there with you at all or that he guided you? I would really like to think that. And I really think he did

because I still don't know how I was able to get through it. And we thank Alam for sharing his story. We thank you for watching Nightly News. I'm Tom Yamas in York. Have a great night. Thank you. sharing his story. We thank you for watching Nightly News. I'm Tom Yamas in York. Have a great night.