Top Story with Tom Llamas - Friday, April 5, 2024

Episode Date: April 5, 2024

Tonight's Top Story has the latest breaking news, political headlines, news from overseas and the best NBC News reporting from across the country and around the world.

Breaking tonight, new and strong aftershocks felt across the northeast, after a rare earthquake shakes the region. The strongest quake to hit the area in more than a decade, catching many off guard. Security camps capturing the moment houses start shaking, even animals left frightened. In New York City, this earth camp rattling, New Yorkers left in disbelief as they felt buildings tremble. People darting out of a New Jersey coffee shop, the initial earthquake and after aftershocks rattling the nerves of many unaccustomed to the tremors. Also tonight, Israel under pressure, opening more aid routes into Gaza after that tense call between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu and new details of why the convoy carrying World Central Kitchen

Aid Workers was targeted. The horrific moments as the relief workers are identified. The workers honored in mourning with the same care and compassion they gave to the region. Desperate search in Taiwan rescue workers scour a national park for those still trapped. Days after a massive earthquake rocked the island. The biggest challenge, crews are facing as the window to find survivors closes. Diddy's son accused. New disturbing allegations against music mogul Sean Diddy Combs and his 26-year-old son. A woman working on a yacht claiming she was sexually assaulted during their family vacation.

This accusation, the latest in a wave of lawsuits against... the famous record producer. Escaping captivity, new surveillance video showing the moment police say a woman in Florida fled from a man who had kidnapped her and tortured her for months, the woman hiding in a gas station until help arrive, the dramatic police chase on a highway that eventually led to the suspect being hauled off into custody.

Tide pod recalled more than 8 million detergent packets prone to ripping causing serious harm, the urgent warning to parents of young children. An eclipse craze, the countdown to the total solar eclipse is on. Stargazers flocking from all around the globe to catch a glimpse of the rare celestial site, how people of all ages are gearing up for the astronomical event. Top story starts right now. And good evening. This is breaking tonight.

Aftershocks are still rattling the northeast after a rare earthquake shakes the region. The tremors fell from Maryland all the way to Rhode Island, leaving so many in disbelief. This earth cam video, take a look at it, capturing the scary moments. The camera on Lady Liberty shakes, the few short seconds feeling like much longer for so many because it was such a surprise. In New Jersey, this garage is just a few miles from the epicenter of the earthquake, and you could see how it was shaking uncontrollably. And people getting their Friday morning coffee stopping in their tracks, right? As they notice the quake moments later, some of them dart out of the shock.

shop. I'm calling it a Java jolt there. And the barber chairman, that'd be the best place to be when an earthquake hits this barber and his customer here. You can see them that kind of freaked out a little bit. I hope that barber had a steady hand. Pets caught on camera freaking out as they felt the tremors moments after this. The cat runs out of the room. Its owners race out of the house. Cat was a little smarter, a little faster. The earthquake of magnitude 4.8, it left very little damage. But unlike the West Coast, the East Coast, as you know, is far from used to such a large jolt. NBC's Emily Aketa starts us off with our coverage of these aftershocks as they continue into the night.

Scenes like this are typically out of the West Coast. But just before 1030 this morning, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the New York City area, with shockwaves felt 300 miles away. Stopping people in their tracks at the barber and rattling nerves inside this coffee shop. Schools normally... Watch as the earthquake disrupts a UN meeting. Is that an earthquake? Yeah. Earth cam even capturing the Statue of Liberty shaking.

So you think this crack is from the earthquake? I do. Janiel Jensen lives by the epicenter in New Jersey, which sits near a major fault line. The entire house was just shaking. So in my head, I just thought that there was going to be an explosion. Crews and first responders now sprayed across the region evaluating buildings. Several homes in Newark had to be evacuated and runway inspections prompted ground stops at JFK and Newark airports.

Remarkably, no serious damage or injuries have been reported. We are going to be reviewing all potentially vulnerable infrastructure sites throughout the state of New York. It's the most significant earthquake to rock the East Coast since 2011 and the strongest one in New Jersey in nearly 250 years. This is a rare event. The earth was releasing some stress that had built up between the two plates, and it'll now settle down for a long time. As shaken northeasterners tried to do the same. I'm a little jitterish, yeah, because you don't experience things like this in New York. All right, Emily Akeda joins us live from near the earthquake's

epicenter, roughly 50 miles outside of New York. So Emily, there's been some aftershocks. We've been feeling them tonight, including one that just happened, it registered at a 4.0, I think. Can we expect more of that? And how should people, you know, sort of handle this? Yeah, Tom, that's a great question. And that aftershock, the epicenter of it happening, not far from where I'm standing. We felt the ground starting to shake about an hour ago. We had this moment of where we all kind of looked around and acknowledged. Did you feel that, too? It's one of at least a dozen aftershocks that have happened since this morning's 4.8 magnitude earthquake. And experts say these will likely linger for another several days,

urging people who are experiencing one to drop, take cover, and hold on. Tom. All right, some serious advice there. Okay, Emily, thanks for leading us off tonight here. We want to turn out of the latest on the war in the Middle East. Israel announcing new steps today to get humanitarian aid into Gaza after yesterday's tense phone call between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli military also releasing its findings from a preliminary investigation into the strike that killed seven aid workers earlier this week. Here's NBC's Gabe Gutierrez for the details.

Tonight, the U.S. is cautiously welcoming Israel's commitment to open more aid routes into Gaza after a tense phone call between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The president declining today to answer whether he'd threatened Netanyahu with stopping military aid. I ask him to do what they're doing. What Israel is doing is opening a cross-ink to allow aid into northern Gaza, using a port in southern Israel as a supply hub and allowing trucks from nearby Jordan to bring aid through Israel into Gaza. Today the president was also asked if his tougher tone with Netanyahu meant he was abandoning

Israel. The Israeli military has removed two officers from their posts and reprimanded three others. After this week's deadly strike that killed seven aid workers from Chef Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen. It's very important that Israel is taking full responsibility for this incident. To Israel's newly released report, its forces wrongly identified what they thought was a gunman on one of the aid trucks and mistakenly assumed there were Hamas terrorists inside. The forces did not identify the vehicles in question as being associated with World Central Kitchen, calling it a serious failure. It was a terrible chain of errors and it should never have happened. World Central Kitchen says the admissions are important steps forward, but the charity is calling for an independent investigation. because it says Israel's military cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza. All right, Gabe Gutierrez joins us tonight from the White House.

So, Gabe, it sounds like this phone call was a small victory for the Biden administration. Is that how the White House is characterizing this? Well, Tom, the White House was very eager to tell what Israel had agreed to, just hours, really, after that tense phone call. But Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said today that really, the, um, the, um, the, um, the key for this will be in the results. Will that humanitarian aid actually be allowed to go in over the next couple of days? But certainly, Tom, this is being viewed as a victory here at the White House. And then, Gabe, I know you have some new reporting on the next round of hostage talks. Yeah, that's right. That next round of hostage talks is set to begin this, or to continue this

weekend in Cairo. And President Biden, just in the last few hours was told by a senior administration official, he wrote a letter to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar to try and urge them, to urge Hamas, to get to a deal here, Tom. Gabe, while you're answering that question, the control room got in my ear and told me that you also have some new reporting about a development that's just happened with Iran. Well, yes. Look, the Biden administration, according to two U.S. officials, they are warning Israel that there could be a retaliatory strike from Iran. Now, you'll remember, Tom, that just a few days ago, earlier this week, there was an airstrike inside Syria at an Iranian embassy

compound. And Iran suspects that it was Israel. And we've been hearing from national security officials that that is a major concern about what could happen next. Could Iran retaliate against Israel and therefore escalate this conflict, which the U.S. for quite a while now has been trying to prevent from escalating into a wider war, Tom? Gabe Gutierrez, with several developments coming out of Washington concerning the Israel-Hamas war. And we have some more new reporting right now in the moments immediately after that deadly Israeli strike. New video from NBC News showing a world central kitchen worker identifying his seven colleagues who were killed in that attack. Hala Garani has this story, and we do want to warn you at home.

The video you're about to see is very disturbing. April 1st, 2024 will forever be remembered as a night of bloodshed, and horror for Muhammad Zanin. In this exclusive NBC video filmed the night of the attack, the World Central Kitchen Employee at the Alaksa Martyr Hospital in Dar al-Bala goes from body to body, his voice shaking into a cell phone. The foreigners. All of them are dead, he cries.

He recognizes Palestinian Saif Abu Taha. He was my friend. Passports on the bodies of the deceased identify the victims of the Israelis. Israeli strike on the relief convoy, including Australian national Zomi Francom. Much of the footage is too graphic to show unblurred. The injury is so catastrophic, there was no hope for the victims. The following morning, our cameras follow the bodies as they're transferred south to Rafah. The prayer for the dead, the look of consternation and disbelief on the faces of the relief workers.

How could this happen? World Central Kitchen says they had told the IDF where they were and that their vehicles were clearly marked. No one expected this. Mohamed Zanin helps load the bodies of the six foreign nationals onto separate ambulances. Their names handwritten in both Arabic and English on plastic tarps. Damien reads one. Jacob reads another.

Their passports in a Ziploc bag. damaged by the force of the explosion that obliterated their convoy. The vehicles cross into Egypt through the border gate that is not allowed nearly enough aid in and that made the World Central Kitchen sea deliveries necessary, a final mission that cost seven dedicated humanitarians their lives. Hala Gharani joins us tonight from Jerusalem. Hala, as far as the assignments go, it doesn't get more grim than what Muhammad had had to do there.

IDing his co-workers after that attack, he was there every step of the way. Has he spoken out, is he still working amid this dark time for the World Central Kitchen? Well, when I was looking at the footage that was sent to us from Gaza by our team on the ground, he was asked questions when he was identifying the bodies and he was in such a state of shock that he was unable to answer. He was unable to even come up with the words to explain what he was experiencing. Muhammad works for World Central Kitchen, but you have to remember that their operations are now suspended

and that aid organizations have suspended in large part their operations inside of Gaza. And so local Palestinian groups have filled some of that void and are distributing some of the food deliveries that organizations like WCCK are unable to do right now. So that's the situation on the ground. Of course, is that if there is some sort of guarantee provided by the Israeli government that aid organizations can work in a safer environment, that those food deliveries and essential basic needs deliveries will resume, Tom. And then, Hala, you know, when this news first broke, it was terrible just to hear about this.

But then to see your story and to see their bodies and to see the massive hole that was in their vehicle from when that bomb hit. How do you think stories like this documenting the atrocities of the war and are going to affect the war moving forward? So many of the images we couldn't air, not even blurred. I mean, the injuries were absolutely horrific, absolutely horrific. I think what's interesting about Israel is that when you watch news channels here, you don't really see those images. You see them a lot more abroad, you know, international news organizations. might air images of Palestinian suffering or a destruction more. Here the focus is more on the hostages, on the Israeli military operations, so there's a little less of that.

But internationally, if you look at polling, including in the United States, what you see emerge is a huge age divide. The 18 to 25s are much more likely to hold, you know, views that are sympathetic to Palestinians than, say, the over 65s. So you're starting to really see an interesting kind of rift to develop generationally in the United States, almost more than right versus left. So that's kind of how these images, I think, are impacting public opinion, a little bit less than Israel and perhaps more internationally, Tom.

Hala, Garani, with a very powerful and new take on the atrocities that happened over this week in Gaza. Okay, Hala, thank you. We want to stay overseas now to the devastating earthquake in Taiwan, where rescue teams are dead. desperately searching for hundreds still stranded after landslides, blocked tunnels, roads, and trails leading out. The rescue is taking place amid hundreds of aftershocks. Janice Mackie Freyer is on the ground with the latest. It's inside this rugged national park that a massive rescue effort is underway. With roads, tunnels, and trails blocked by fallen rock from landslides,

emergency teams have been pushing in on foot and getting people to safety by air, including children trapped since the earthquake hit. Others managed to walk out. For days, rescue teams have been working to reach hundreds of people stranded inside this national park. Helicopters have been taking supplies to them, like food and water, until they're able to airlift them out. Most of the people are stuck at a hotel inside the park where they're said to be safe.

But several others, including foreigners, have been reported missing. Already at least five bodies have been recovered from the debris. Those who are rescued are brought here, a staging area near the park's entrance. Among them, this family visiting Taiwan from Seattle. On a day trip to the Taroka Gorge National Park to go hiking. What did it feel like being in the hotel when it happened? With the window for finding survivors closing, rescuers say time is crucial. The biggest challenge hampering the operation, aftershocks, more than 400 and counting,

and rain could cause even more rock to slide. We see many people, they got injuries, their back, or some injuries by the rock, he by the rock. So we have got a fracture. Taiwan is accustomed to earthquakes, that it's prepared. helped stave off wide-scale disaster. In Hualien, they're repairing roads and cleaning up. That building leaning precariously, now being demolished. While in the mountains, rescuers say the work will continue until they get everyone.

Janice McAfriar, NBC News, at Turoco Gorge National Park, Taiwan. Back here at home to new developments on the tragic bridge collapse in Baltimore, a family member of one of the victims telling NBC, news, they have found his brother's body amid the wreckage. It comes as President Biden visited the collapse site today. And Biden with a message to the people of Maryland, quote, the nation has

your back. NBC's Aaron Gilchrist has more. President Biden today getting a bird's eye view of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, partially submerged or still resting on top of that container ship that slammed into the bridge on March 26th. The president and Maryland

Governor Westmore getting a briefing on the massive salvage operation as Divers are mapping what's underwater and teams are cutting and removing what's above. We're going to move heaven and earth to rebuild this bridge as rapidly as humanly possible. President Biden calling on Congress to fully fund the reconstruction of the key bridge. After days of uncertainty, the Army Corps of Engineers announcing an ambitious timeline for reopening the Patapsco River, allowing ship traffic in and out of Baltimore's port again by the end of May. Right now, we're kind of circling the wagons. We don't know what's going to happen next.

El Sordo bought a marina and restaurant one mile from the bridge just three weeks ago. Since the bridge collapsed, business has slowed and boats are barely moving. He'll be applying for a low-interest federal loan next week to pay his bills. We don't want to fire anybody. We want to keep them here working, happy, healthy. And yeah, like I said, I mean, we don't know yet. 20,000 workers are connected to the port of Baltimore, the president says his administration reaching out to businesses large and small, asking them to keep workers on the payroll.

Tom, after the president's briefing today, he met with the family members of the six men who died in the bridge collapse. And just before we came on the air with you, our George Solis learned from one of those family members that the body of Minor Suazzo Sandoval was recovered from the Patapsco River here. A White House official telling me the president was aware before his visit today. Tom? And still several victims trapped underneath that water. Okay, thanks so much for that, Aaron. Now to the latest on Donald Trump's legal battle. Special counsel, Jack Smith, considering the extreme measure of attempting to... to have the judge presiding over the classified documents case recused. The special counsel and Judge Eileen Cannon have been engaged in a hostile standoff over potential juror instructions that one prosecutor says could force Smith to push the, quote,

nuclear button seeking the judge's removal for more on what this means for the case. Moving forward, I'm joined now by NBC News Legal Analyst, Angela Sinaldella. As we've said, these two have had a number of intense back and forths. What's happening right now? Okay, so first of all, this motion to do. that was brought by Trump's team was denied by the judge. And in that case, it had specifically to do with this Presidential Records Act. This is a huge deal because Jack Smith's team brought all these charges under the Espionage Act. And those cases are pretty straightforward. It's you

took these documents, you weren't supposed to, you didn't return them, and then it's a straight line. But President Trump's team has brought up this totally different, almost obscure argument out of left field, which Jack Smith's team never thought was even relevant. Now, the back and forth is whether or not that should even be part of this trial whatsoever. When it comes to the jury, and instructions. Or period, period, at all. But the problem is then what Judge Cannon did is she brought forth these instructions two different versions and asked both sides to comment on them.

Now, both of these instructions, both versions included this Presidential Records Act. Use it as a framework. Tom, jury instructions are almost the most important because they ask the jury to determine guilt or innocence based on this legal framework. And she, in those instructions, in both versions, really use the presidential records. So is this unusual what she's doing? It's extremely unusual, first of all, to even bring up her instructions at this point. That's usually something that's hashed out during the trial, often close to the end of evidence being presented.

So the fact that she's doing it now gives you a sense that she's trying to suss out how both sides feel about the Presidential Records Act, how strongly they'll object to it, and also just how they will use it as part of their defense and prosecution. She's almost getting information through this process, but it alarmed Jack Smith's team because they never even wanted this act to be part of the conversation whatsoever. This is such a highly watched trial, right? And this was actually one of the trials that most people thought people like you that Trump was in the most trouble with, right, because of the evidence. Is it going to be very awkward and is it rare for a judge to be removed? It is extremely rare. And also, let me tell you how awkward this process is going to be if they decide to do it.

They have to actually ask the judge herself to recuse herself. They don't go directly to the appeals court. They have to ask her. She has to either agree or deny the motion. Then they take that motion up to the appellate court. And for whatever reasons they present, they have to show that she was so biased that there was no way she could have ever made a fair decision. This is really rare, Tom. So what's the next step now?

What's going to happen now? Or what may happen? So he has a couple options, Jack Smith's team. First is to do this extraordinary step of asked for the recusal. But second, more likely, is to ask for her to just deny using the Presidential Records Act whatsoever as part of this trial. So everyone thought it was somewhat of a win that this motion to dismiss on the Presidential Records Act was denied. While that's true, she really left the door open for this to be used for the trial so he could go back to the judge and say, we need this eliminated entirely. Because from Jack Smith's team perspective, this will totally confuse the jury.

Jack Smith seems also they've complained about the pace of this case, right? How do this, will this play into this? Yeah, the pacing is a problem, but also problematic for Jack, is that this is not something that you can really complain about. It's not something that will affect whether or not she's biased. You can't take this to the appellate court and say, look, we're not getting speedy enough decisions. It's not something that he can complain about it publicly or not really, or it's getting to be careful. Yeah, you can complain about it publicly, but it's not a legal issue that will change. anything. Because ultimately, defendants are the ones who have a right to a speedy trial.

They're the ones who have that constitutionally protected. The state doesn't really. You know, in a lot of Trump's other cases, his supporters will say he's gotten sort of a raw deal in almost every one of these cases. In this case, does it look like the judge is siding with the former president? Well, I think you can judge that based on how Trump is talking about these judges. And he has really been praising Judge Cannon, which means that his side really does believe that the judge is, siding with him. Okay, we're going to have to wait and see what happens. Angela, great analysis, as always. Still ahead tonight, more allegations against Sean Diddy Combs. The rap mogul now named in a new lawsuit that alleges his son sexually assaulted a woman on a yacht in 2022. The audio clips obtained by NBC News that lawyers for the plaintiffs say prove she denied the advances. Plus,

the surveillance video reportedly showing the moment a woman escaped her kidnapper after allegedly being tortured for months, a dramatic takedown of the suspect on a Florida highway. And a consumer alert tonight why parents of young kids should check their tied pod packages. We're going to explain. Okay, we're back down with another shocking allegation against music mogul, Sean Diddy Combs. Combs now being named in a new lawsuit that alleges his son sexually assaulted a woman in 2022. It's just the latest in a wave of lawsuits accusing Combs, who is a subject of a federal sex trafficking investigation. Ellison Barber reports, and a warning some of these details you're about to hear are disturbing.

Tonight, more accusations against Sean Diddy Combs and now one of his sons. A new 31-page lawsuit filed on Thursday details a trip in 2022, where the plaintiff alleges she was working as a stewardess aboard a yacht owned by Combs when his son, Christian, drugged and sexually assaulted her. The lawsuit alleges that an audio recording made during the night in court, question is evidence of the woman denying his advances as he gropes her. The plaintiff's lawyer provided those clips to NBC News. In one recording, a woman, believed to be the alleged victim, is heard saying, excuse me, you don't touch my legs like that, I'll be my legs the way I want to. If I want to do this, then I will. You don't touch my legs like that. Soon after, according to the lawsuit, Christian speaks and tries to get it.

her to stay. Who can I talk to me? I'm going to say I requested you right now. Well, you can take your hand off my for the first thing. According to the lawsuit, the alleged victim then left the recording studio and attempted to resume her stewardess duties. But the suit alleges Christian found her again, this time asking her to find him a place to sleep. She claimed she showed him to a cinema area, but instead of resting, she alleges in the suit that he became violent and wouldn't let her leave. He groped her, the lawsuit claims, took his clothes off, grabbed her arms and tried to force her to perform oral sex on him. The woman claims she fought him off until someone else walked in. The lawsuit includes photos of a bruised forearm, allegedly the victims. As for

Christian's famous father, the suit claims he turned what was sold as a wholesome family on his yacht into a hedonistic environment where employees were exposed without their consent to unlawful drug use, sex work, and general chaos. Representatives for Christian and Sean Combs did not respond to NBC's request for comment. It comes amid a wave of legal troubles for the rap mogul who had two of his homes rated last month and is facing multiple sexual assault and sex trafficking lawsuits. allegations he has denied and so far has not been criminally charged. Legal experts say prosecutors could use the claims in the new lawsuit to build a broader case.

There is a statute under federal law called RICO, the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act. It allows prosecutors to really connect those dots between the various criminal acts, such as the sex trafficking, such as forced labor, such as all of those allegations that we have read, which, if proven, would constitute together a larger criminal enterprise. Okay, with that, Alison, Barbara, joins us now in studio. Ellison, great to see you. So this is not the first lawsuit we've seen where other people are named. But has anyone been criminally charged yet? So related to all of this legal activity, so far, there has only been one known arrest,

and it was for a 25-year-old associate of ditties. And interestingly, he wasn't charged with anything related to sexual harassment, sexual assault, or sex crimes. it was a charge related to possession of cocaine. And Diddy's lawyers have pointed to that in the past to say, look, Diddy has not been arrested or criminally charged. In fact, after that raid happened on two of his homes, they released a statement calling that raid, an overuse of what they described as military level force, and also saying, we want to

remind people in all of these criminal and or civil different allegations that have come forward, Diddy has never been arrested or charged. And that is true still at this point. but from the legal experts we've spoken to, they say that could change. And sometimes prosecutors are waiting to build an even bigger case, not just against one person, but maybe multiple. Tom?

Okay, Ellison, Barbara, with those new legal developments in the Diddy cases. Alison, thank you. Coming up, the eyedrop killer sentenced. The Wisconsin woman convicted of poisoning her friend with eyedrops learns her fate, the prison time she faces, and the hundreds of thousands of dollars she stole from the victim. That's next. Time now for Top Stories News Feed.

We start in Wisconsin, where a woman has been sentenced to life in prison for poisoning her friend with eyedrops. In November 39-year-old Jesse Kershefsky was convicted of intentional homicide. Authorities found a lethal dose of a chemical found in eyedrops in the victim's system. Prosecutors say Kershevsky was the victim's caregiver and also defrauded her out of $200,000. In Florida, a woman escaping after being allegedly kidnapped and tortured for months. New surveillance video showing the moment she breaks free. You see her there running. It's blurred, but you can make it out from her kidnapper's car near Tampa.

She then runs into a gas station where she waited until police arrived. Witnesses say her face was swollen and bruised. The following day, the suspect leading police on a dramatic chase. Look at that. He was eventually pulled from the car and is now facing several charges. An alarming report from our partners at Telemundo on missing children in the U.S. analysis from Telemundo finding that one in three missing kids under 12 in this country are Hispanic. Currently, there are at least 130 Latino children in that age group who are reported

missing. Experts say a majority of the missing kids' children cases include family abductions or runaways, but it's unclear why the number of Hispanic children is higher. And an important consumer alert, 8.2 million bags of popular laundry detergent pods have been recalled. Federal regulators say the products by Procter & Gamble include some tied and gain pods. The zipper on the packaging bags can reportedly split open, leaving them accessible to children. Products could be deadly if ingested. So far, no injuries and no reports of injuries, we should say. All right, we want to turn out of Money Talks and a major jobs report just released today. The new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealing a job growth boom in March,

Topping expectations with more than 300,000 jobs added to the workforce. The report also showing the U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 3.8%. To help break down what this all means, I'm joined now by NBC News Senior Business Correspondent, a good friend of Top Story, Christine Romans. Christine, great to see you on this Friday. So the expectations, we exceeded it by 100,000. Do we know why? We know why, because the economy is just churning new jobs.

Companies are hiring. Main Street is booming in the jobs. And economists just have been a little bit behind the curve. Every time thinking that all those Fed rate hikes were going to cool the labor market, just hasn't happened. And do we know where the jobs were? Oh, yeah. There were a lot of jobs in health care. Just about everywhere in health care, you've got jobs growth, government jobs, also construction jobs.

And this would interest in me, Tom, because those jobs pay better. And considering that you've got these high interest rates and mortgage rates, it shows resilience in the overall economy when you're growing construction jobs like that. And leisure and hospitality, back to pre-pandemic levels for the first time. You always want to hear about people working, people getting work, but we also have this problem with inflation. So how does this affect inflation? How does this not slow it down? So there's a number we looked at today, 4.1% that's wage growth. That means paychecks are growing 4.1% year over year. That is stronger than inflation, so that is good. That's good for people. That means your purchasing power is better, but it's not quite as hot as it was the month before.

So that's why we're watching it for the Fed to make sure a strong job market is. isn't going to start spinning out more inflation. Does this change, you think, any of the Fed's plans as we get closer and closer to the new year? I think when you have a job market this strong, it's hard to make the case for cutting interest rates. You cut interest rates when you're weak. This is not weak. This is a, well, this is an A. I'll give it a letter grade an A in the job market, probably a good solid B plus in the overall economy right now.

And you don't cut interest rates in that kind of environment. Otherwise, you could, again, worry about inflation. So I think the Fed can be cautious and will not be cutting rates any time soon. Let's talk about people's 401Ks and the stock market. I think we have some graphics we want to put up here for our viewers right now. So the Dow is up today by, I think, 307 points. Yesterday it was down 530. It's worst day of the year.

And it's been a rough week with four straight days of drops in a row making this the Dow's worst week in 2020. But it's been really great recently. So how do the new numbers plan to all this? So it's really important in the context. You've had a huge run since the middle of last year. Big, big gains. And now, because of numbers like these job support numbers, the market is, traders are trying to figure out, wait,

is the Fed really going to be cutting rates anytime soon? The market has been betting on the Fed starting to cut rates. In such a strong economy, it doesn't really make the case for a rate cut this month. Maybe not even June. Maybe they do it in June. It depends on what the inflation numbers show. It's just still showing you, Tom, this balancing act the Fed is watching. And Wall Street now is starting to say, hmm, maybe these rates stay higher for longer.

But overall, you've got corporate profits are strong. The economy is firing on all cylinders, stronger than expected in many cases. And that was what had been driving the stock market. And a lot of valuations are back up. Yeah, absolutely. Christine Romans, great to see you. Have an awesome weekend. Coming up, the eclipse craze, 150 million Americans in the path of totality for Monday's total solar eclipse.

We take you to one Texas city gearing up to host a quarter of a million people. the astronomy fans who traveled across the world for the big event. That's next. Welcome back. Grab those glasses because the countdown is on to Monday's total solar eclipse. It will cross North America, including 15 U.S. states. Some cities will see the moon fully cover the sun for more than four minutes and 20 seconds. One of the first U.S. cities of the path of totality,

Kerrville, Texas, which is about 65 miles northwest of San Antonio. And that's where Morgan Chesky has been talking to people from near and far, gearing up for this big event. Well, it's kind of out of the ordinary. It's just fantastic. So I've been waiting for this for years. Across the country, Americans counting down to a rare celestial phenomenon. Super Bowl World Series Stanley Cup kind of mixed into one.

On Monday, a total solar eclipse. when the earth, moon, and sun all line up together will cross North America. More people may witness this eclipse than have witnessed any eclipse in the history of civilization. Oh my gosh! Yes! With clear skies, more than 31 million people are on what's known as the path of totality. But even outside the path, a whopping 150 million more Americans will be able to see at least some part of it. That's about 99% of the entire country. Exciting. Very exciting.

A lot of preparations are happening. All eyes will be on Carbondale, Illinois, the so-called Eclipse Crossroads of America. They were in the path of totality for the solar eclipse in 2017 and will be in it once again on Monday. You can look up, you can see it. You know, it's right there in front of you. The eclipse first touches the U.S. in Texas. The small town of Kerrville, now known as the Eclipse Capital, is expecting upwards of a quarter million people. The county even issuing a disaster declaration ahead of April 8th.

Have you ever had to plan for an event of this magnitude of the scale? No. No. Not in Curville. No. This is just out, this is above and beyond anything. How does it feel to plan for years for an event that maybe last five minutes? Five minutes. I know. That's kind of a $50,000 question there. It's overwhelming. Many eclips hopefuls also flocking a few hours north to the town of Ennis. All of our hotel years told us that they opened up bookings last April 8th for April 8th, and they were sold out within two to three days. And again, that's international guests nationwide, sold out within two or three days.

Ennis has been sold out for a year? Yes. Wow. Yes. And they aren't just coming from the states. Tourists from as far as New Zealand, India, and Germany making their way to the Lone Star State for totality. It's not that easy to come over here from Europe, to be honest. It takes a lot of planning and preparation, so it's special to be here.

This event bringing out some well-seasoned eclipse chasers, including this woman who has seen 20 eclipses on all seven continents. I want to see every solar eclipse on the face of the planet, so I have a map of all of them from 2010 to 2060. And also ushering in a new generation of astronomy lovers. I think it's interesting just to see it and how. The sun and the earth and the moon are just going to be like aligned. All right, Morgan Chesky joins us tonight from Kerrville, Texas. Morgan, explain the energy where you are, and it's not just Texas, right? You're hearing bookings are up across the country ahead of this eclipse.

Yeah, Tom, from Texas all the way up to Maine. If you look at where those bookings are along the path of totality, we are seeing nearly sell-out crowds. Time and time again, these towns are saying that they haven't had occupancy available now, not just for months, but really the past year here in Currville, Texas. We know that hotels have been sold out almost since this eclipse came on everyone's radar about a year ago. And so if anyone has any plans on seeing this in person, they'll likely be potentially crashing in their car. That's how much interest there is along this 100 mile or so path that really stretches across the country here.

And Morgan, we see you have the glasses in your hand there. How should people safely watch this eclipse? Walk us through that. Yeah, a great question here, Tom. And everyone wants to look for the ISO on the inside of their eclipse glasses. That lets you know that acronym that they're safe to wear. And because there are some clouds forecast here, whether you have cloud cover or not, experts say to keep these glasses on, you're obviously not going to be able to see anything until the actual moment happens. I can safely look at the sun right now.

But this is what you want to have on during that time. Of course, any prolonged exposure of your eyes to the sun could pose serious issues. The optometrists don't really want to be having a flood of calls after this eclipse, and that's why it's important to pick these up. Although, again, ISO, that's the acronym you want to see on the inside of the glasses, making sure you're good to go on Monday. Yeah, you have to make sure it has those letters. All right, Morgan, before we go, we know this is going to be a huge event for Curville,

but we understand that 20 years ago there was actually a bigger historical event, And that's when a young Morgan Chesky, you see him right there, led the Kerrville-Tivey antlers to a 13-and-1 record. Look at that big hunk of man there, defensive end. All over the state, people feared this guy, except for that Bieber haircut. I won't give you too much trouble for the haircut. How big is this in your hometown, man? It's got to be the biggest event since then, Tom, no doubt. And, in fact, I thought that my high school reunion, I wasn't going to say what year you beat me to it.

I thought that was going to be the highlight this year. My mom was the one who reminded me months ago, hey, are you coming here to cover the eclipse? Everybody's talking about it. It's been an incredible blessing and cool experience to come back to the old stomping grounds and talk about the eclipse. I've had more than a few teammates tell me,

hey, Morgan, if you go and do another story on TV, make sure you mention the football team. So I'm glad I can check that box. You know, we weren't the biggest. We weren't the fastest, but, you know, we could hold our own. Okay, Tom? The Tyvee Antlers, and as a defensive end, he was like an eclipse, man.

No one could get by him. All right. Morgan Chesky, man, great to talk to you, and that was fun going down memory laying with you. And when you're not safely looking up at the sky, make sure to tune into NBC News Now for a two-hour special on the eclipse, led by Nightly News anchor. Lester Holt, that begins at 2 p.m. Eastern right here. And we have some more suggested viewing in Bingeworthy, which is up right next, a new docu-series for true crime fans about the infamous murder cases. in New York City, plus the star-studded movie about the high-profile 2019 interview with Prince Andrew and new music by college. That's all coming up.

Welcome back. It is Friday, which means it is time for bingeworthy. Our look at the best things to watch and listen to this weekend. I want to bring in NBC New York's digital reporter, Kay Angram, a good friend to bingeworthy and Top Story. Kay, great to see you. Always great to be here. I haven't done Midgeworthy in a very long time, and they told me the last time I did it. It was with you. It was. Which was a long time ago, right? A couple months ago. It's always great to be back. Great to have you back. So let's start first with Colin Farrell. He's got a new series out.

It is on Apple TV. We have a little clip. Let's take a look. Another beautiful day in California. Out here, I'm one of the good guys. Look good and bad can be in the eye of the beholder. So he plays John Sugar, a private detective in Los Angeles. Yes. Looks awesome. Kind of film noir, if you will. I like that series noir. Exactly. And so,

I mean, all you got to say is Colin Farrell and people are excited. I mean, it's great because, like you mentioned, based in Los Angeles, he is on the case of a missing woman, who is the granddaughter of this big-time Hollywood producer. And he finds out that there are a lot of twists and turns, people who are after him. I mean, just check out the trailer. It gives the dim, the dark, the gruesome, the who's after who. So it's looking to be really good. But it's more than like Philip Marlow, right? It's like he's got also, he's got action. There's a lot of action in this as well, right? There is. I mean, you get that from the trailer. He turns the corner. There's a knife. He's like, ah, it's big. You don't want to mess with him. You don't want to mess with Colin Farrell.

You don't want to mess with Kay either. She's got some movies. We want to stick with crime now, and we have a docu-series about the most chilling murders that have happened in New York City, recent history. It was actually created by Dick Wolfe, but this is all real. Let's take a look at that. Mystery surrounds a gruesome murder of the man in New York Central Park. The murder rate was off the chart in New York City. Probably worked on 1,500 murder cases. Every single case takes a little piece out of her soul. I don't think I've ever wanted something more than to get justice for those people. So, Kay, when you're not doing entertainment, you're not doing binge-worthy, sometimes you're out there.

Yes. On those mean streets covering crime for WNBC. On those mean streets of New York, exactly. If you love true crime, this is your series, right? Yeah, if you love true crime, if you love Law and Order, right? You mentioned Dig Wolf. He's the creator of Law & Order. But this is that just without the script, right?

These are real stories. You're hearing from real detectives, real folks who were on these cases that took place here in New York in the 1990s and the 2000s homicides. And so they are sitting down and revisiting some of those challenging cases. Including the infamous Carnegie Deli murders from 2001, too. So if that rings a bell to you, if you love true crime, this one's on Netflix as well. So check that out. Next up, I'm really excited about this one. I love movies about our business.

This one's called Scoop. Here's a preview. Everything's changed. The FBI are raiding Epstein's home. You can't stay silent. South storing room, two chairs, six feet apart. It's like a Western. Make no mistake.

If we don't get the tone right, the story won't be him. It'll be us. Your Royal Highness. All right, this film, it is on Netflix. A lot of Netflix love tonight. Got over at our producer over there. So this is about News Night and that huge interview that made so many headlines with Prince Andrew

about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. And so take it from there. What happens? Yeah, so, I mean, if you saw that trailer and some of that looked familiar, it's because It does play to that infamous interview back in 2019 with Prince Andrew, where they were asking him about his friendship, you know, with Jeffrey Epstein. And so this is that look into the moments leading up to that big interview. How they got the interview, how they got it, the producers behind it.

The women journalists who made it happen. And it was, it was a team of female journalists, which is so incredible. This right here, is this one already out on Netflix? That one, yes, it is. I'm sorry. Because this one didn't pop up on my algorithm. I'm going to have to, like, go back and maybe log back in. Add it to your favorites.

Our next one up, guess what this one's on? I don't know. I think this segment was brought to you by Netflix. It's on Netflix. This one's called Ripley. The crazy thing about this one is that it's a remake of something we saw. It's a long time ago. Matt Damon, don't forget.

That talented Mr. Ripley. But this one's a little darker. Let's take a look. What line of work are you in, Tom? Accounting. You're a very hard man to find. He came to Italy, moved into Dickey's house. He just wouldn't go away.

You like art, Tom? You're in the right place. You like art, Tom? Why you're in the right place? You like art, Tom? He moved into Dickey's house and he wouldn't go away. So the talented Mr. Ripley, the one with Matt Damon, was super creepy. Yes.

This one is even darker, right? It is darker. It is that noir that we were talking about earlier. Right. But it's really shot beautifully. And so it does look at, you know, that story of the guy. He makes a deal with this rich businessman. Please go off, bring my son back.

But it's creepy. It's chilling. You know, one of the things that the talented Mr. Ripley did was it was a very transporting experience. It took you to Italy, right? It took you to the coast of Italy. Is this the same? I mean, it looks like you mentioned the way it was shot. It was beautiful.

Gorgeous, beautiful. Yes. So definitely shot on location. I mean, you can check out, right? It looks like that old-timey feel, the black and white. That was intentional, by the way. On a big stars here, tell us about some of the stars here. Dakota Fanning, hello, she's in it.

You also got Andrew Scott. He's everywhere. He's the thing with Andrew Scott. He's like popping up everywhere. We can't get enough. People really like him. Very talented? Yes, he is, of course.

I remember from Fleabag. He was in Fleaback. Excellent there. Okay, we want to move on now to some music. Time to jam out, right? Let's do it. New single, Caled, not DJ Khalid. The artist, Khalid.

Let's take a listen. to change and I hope you believe and nothing that I got Can't I move forward If have your relationship I get in done And the same if it's in you So you

I'm sorry in love With me Don't fall in love with me So Caled's on the floor With this song You kind of have to be in a mood Right or it gets you in a mood It is very much movie

I'm moody I'm so proud of him Because it feels like You know he really started out It started out in his teens But now he's like coming, becoming the R&B king that we've all seen him to be.

And so he's saying, look, to my future lovers, look out, I'm going to be hard to love. Maybe don't fall in love. I don't know. Yeah, are you into people who take naps on the floor? Maybe you are.

That's this guy. Okay. Next up, Imagine Dragons. They have a new single as well. Let's listen to that. Like me up in sight of Caves Just threw away the key

I'm running down me I was driving in my car throwing up my hands Put it in close I can do this with my eyes closed All right Get ready for that Vegas pool party Okay

And guess what? They brought the six pack abs So are you looking I love that you mentioned that Because listening to it I'm like I'm definitely playing this at the gym Like it goes hard at the gym for sure And like imagine dragons

They're giving us all They're giving us rap They're giving us pop rock They've got a lot going on. It is definitely a feel-good music. Always a good time. Always a good time, with you, especially. Do they have a whole new album out?

Is this a single? Yes, so it's a new single. They've got a lot of new music that's been dropping lately that have already been rising on the charts, so that's another one. All right. Kay Angram, so great to see you, as always. Thanks for being here.

We really appreciate it. Having me. And we thank you for watching Top Story all week. I'm Tom Yamison, New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.