Top Story with Tom Llamas - Friday, August 28, 2026

Episode Date: August 29, 2026

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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tonight, the number of missing doubling in Nepal and the warning it could happen again. The remarkable rescue, people pulled through the mud to safety. 2,000 now feared missing, including nearly 100 Americans. As we get new images of that powerful wave surrounding homes like this, our team is on the ground there. Here at home, new requests from the jury in the Lindsay Clancy case. The mom who admitted to killing her own children, the key evidence they're asking to see. The Texas school in lockdown, three students stabbed, others running for their lives just as the school year starts. The plane crashing onto a Florida beach landing upside down how the pilot was able to get out alive.

Overseas the violent drone attack in Ukraine, a woman barely escaping the blast. The high-speed high stair devil thieves standing on the hood of their car stealing from the back of a speeding truck. Plus the humanoid robots that will clean your home for just 30 bucks in a house. hour. But can they really get the job done? The CEO joins Top Story. And the warning to managers why a lot of employees could be taking off this November 19th will explain. Top story starts right now. And good evening. We come on the air. There is still an urgent mission to find survivors after those catastrophic floods in Nepal. The number of the missing has now doubled. Right now, authorities say nearly 2,000 people are unaccounted for 90 Americans among them because of this right here.

Tonight there is still hope, though, that we have seen remarkable rescues like this. Two emergency workers there crawling across the mud, reaching out to save this person who was trapped. Now, also, you can see others hoisting up people and survivors carrying them to safety on their backs. The Army and Nepal sending out helicopters to deliver aid and lifting people from the hardest hit areas. New video showing the sheer force of the water that rushed in with so little warning. A family stranded on the balcony of this home as nearly everything around them is destroyed. The true scale of destruction now coming into focus, entire neighborhoods wiped out, buildings and cars covered in think mud and debris, and tonight new concerns that even more flooding could happen at any moment.

In a moment, we'll speak with two Americans desperately waiting for a word about their missing parents. But first, Janice McErayer is in the flood zone. She starts us off. Tonight, an all-out race to find survivors. Near this tunnel, a rescuer crawling through mud to reach a man who's trapped and somehow pull him out. Rescuers carrying survivors on their backs. Hundreds were trapped here when waves destroyed a hydropower project. It took helicopters just to reach it.

And officials say there are a hundred more workers still stuck inside. Days after disaster hit, the number of people missing has doubled to nearly 2,000, and reaching survivors is treacherous. This family climbing to a balcony waving for help marooned by rushing water. Tonight the water is gone and their house is still standing, but surrounded by mud and debris. Rescuers so far unable to reach them. And now a new threat, reports that a lake created by all that floodwater in Tibet has burst. Go back to be.

triggering panic downstream in Nepal that more flooding would hit. Here at the river, officials are concerned that the water level may be rising, so they're using whistles and loudspeakers telling people to move back. New images also emerging of the moment that triggered the torrent of water. Clouds rising over where part of a glacier collapsed. There are still 90 Americans missing here. I just want to know she's okay. including Hoonirai's mother, who came to Nepal from Kentucky for her birthday.

She's so incredibly loved, and she's just, she has, like, the most, like, the most beautiful personality anybody could ever have. Janice McAfrere joins us tonight from Nepal, and Janice, this is sort of interesting. Officials there in Nepal are not asking for more search and rescue teams. Explain why. Well, USAID is beginning to arrive here. like food and blankets. But so far, Nepal says it doesn't want search and rescue help. Officials here insist their security forces are going to handle this. Yet there are 2,000 people who are missing in what is effectively a corridor of mud. So the magnitude of what those

rescuers are facing, Tom, is staggering. Yeah, it's terrible. Okay, Janice McAfeeferra for us. I want to bring in two of those Americans desperate for word from their missing loved ones. Drew Amin's mother and mother-in-law and Sonny Patel's father were part of a group of seven Americans making a religious pilgrimage to Tibet when the floods hit. They are lifelong family friends together tonight and they're joining Top Story. First, I am so sorry for what you guys are both going through right now. If we can, Drew, talk to us about the last time you spoke to your family and do you have any idea what is going on right now? So the last, The last time we both talked to our family was the night before.

They were planning to make the crossing where we saw that building getting hit by the water. It's funny because their car broke down before they were supposed to cross, and they would have crossed, and we would have fined if the car didn't break down. But there were, we just got messages saying that we'll see you soon, we'll talk to you soon, everything's great, everything's fine. My mom sent me pictures and they're like, this is what we're doing. We're doing our prayers and we're doing everything else. And heaven hurt since then.

So we're anxiously waiting to hear something, some sort of information. Sonny, does something like this, does it compel you to want to kind of just kind of run over there and just try to look for yourself? And I know it's hellish right now what's going on over there. But what can you do? You know, I'm sure it's so hard. Yeah, there's a lot of waiting around and a lot of staring at your phone. and there's really not much beyond that. I mean, my mom and Throof's wife are anxious to get on a flight and go out to Nepal,

but we're kind of taking the other approach as to, like, what are you going to do there? I mean, you see the videos that you guys are playing to open up the show, and it's rescue forces, you know, crawling around on the ground, carrying human full-sized adults, and, like, my mom's not capable of doing that, right? I don't think in any sane world she's going to be searching and rescuing. Now, they want to get over there and just be close, and I understand that. But it makes it pretty difficult to navigate a lot of emotions and a lot of, you know, practicality doesn't always weigh in. Drew, and again, I thank you for talking to us, but I know this has been very, very hard.

What did you think when you saw those first images coming in? Because I know, we see a lot of stuff in our news business. I thought the images were fake because they were so horrific and devastating. You know, you almost couldn't believe that. And did your families get any sense that this was a possibility? I know it was sort of a freak accident, but were there any talks of sort of a natural disaster bubbling up there? I mean, my parents, our parents are going for a pilgrimage

to one of our sacred areas in Hinduism. And truth is this is the easy part of the trip. This is the part where you're not expecting anything. When they're going up the mountain and they're doing their circle and they're doing their particular mud, like that's the part where we were going to be worried. Are they going to be okay? Are they going to handle this? And my mother has done this trip seven times.

This is her seven time. I myself have done this 10 years, like, no, almost 15 years ago. And I was shocked because I saw the building and I was like, I was in front of this building 15 years ago. and you see the tsunami. And honestly, that wave of water hits you with that wave of thought that my mother-in-law, my close family friend, my mom were in that building, and there's a shot that they may still be in that building. We don't have confirmation.

And it's just overwhelming to see the level of everything that's here. And as someone who's visited this area, it's heartbreaking even more because now you see the damage that's. gone to this area, but honestly, my first thoughts are about our families and hopefully they can come back safe. After seeing all this, it just gets scarier every minute we see it. Sonny, I know you guys have been in contact with people that are over there on social media. I mean, what can you do? Do you send photos of your family and say, have you seen this person? That's kind of why we're doing these segments, right? So we got in touch with, I think, I mean,

we've called every state agency we can think of. But when we talk to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, the suggestions were to get on socials and post on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. So that's kind of how this whole thing started to just raise awareness for anybody. You know, maybe someone sees these pictures and says, oh, I know somebody over there and they recognize somebody or something. Just any form of communication at this point, we're kind of looking for a miracle of sorts. So just any way to raise awareness and get pictures out there for the people that are missing, obviously our parents, but there's thousands of others.

So that's kind of our only approach right now. Drew, I heard Sonny mentioned the State Department. What has your communication been like with government officials here? The State Department has reached out to us. They reached out to us today. I mean, their frustration is probably ours, where we're worried they cross the border, and we're not getting much information from China,

and that's our problem. I mean, I almost feel more comfortable if they happen in Kathmandu, if it happened in Nepal. You guys are there. We have enough journalists. We have people there. But like, we hear nothing from China. And did they make it?

Did they not? Right? Like, there's an hour window where they may have possibly gone in a car and drove, and they may be safe or they didn't or they got caught. And there's no information that we have at all. We're trying to track their phone using their last ping. And it stops right on the bridge that we see these videos. And it's hard because we can't get any information.

So our State Department has been great. They've been reaching out to us. It's just that they can't give us any information that we don't know already. And that's where we're trying to go in any other avenue we can, just to get some glimmer of a picture or a phone call or something like that that can tell us that everything is going well.

Yeah, Drew Vamene, Sonny Patel. I am so sorry for what you guys. you're going through. If people are out there, you said you guys are on social media, that they can just reach out and look for the images there. Okay, I hope you guys get some type of information. Again, I'm so sorry for what you're going through. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right. Back here at home, we are also tracking another major story. We are on Verdict Watch in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mom who admitted to killing her three young kids. On day two of deliberations, the jury asking to see specific evidence, including a knife,

and two bags of pills. Emily Aketa is at the courthouse. Tonight, Lindsay Clancy's fate hanging in the balance. It's been a long day for everybody. After a second day of jury deliberations ended without a decision on whether the Massachusetts mom should be held criminally responsible for killing her three kids in 2023. But today, some insight into the jury room. Clancy's attorney seen walking a box of exhibits into the courthouse. He says the jury requested to see the jury.

the knife she harmed herself with and two bags of pills, including the one the defense held up during closing arguments. What can we infer from them asking for the physical evidence? Okay, one thing is they just might be getting organized, right? The second part is that it may get right to the crux of the case. How mentally ill was Lindsay Clancy? The defense doesn't deny Clancy killed her kids, but argues postpartum psychosis is to blame while the prosecution says Clancy was in full control. She left them, discarded on the basement floor, like broken toys. NBC News Learning today, one of the prosecution experts, psychiatrist Dr. Avram Mack, is no longer employed by a children's hospital in Delaware. They say he resigned on Monday

the same day he finished his testimony, contending Clancy knew right from wrong. But the defense hammered his credibility when Mack mischaracterized in episiotomy, a surgical incision. I'm referring to you saying that an episiotomy is a tear, and it's not. We were unable to reach Mack for comment. It's hard to say just how close the jury is to reaching a verdict, but the defense acknowledges it could take some time because of the complicated nature of this case, including 21 days of testimony to consider. In the meantime, the defense tells me that Lindsay Clancy is feeling nervous and scared. Jury deliberations will resume on Monday, Tom.

Okay, Emily Aketa covering that trial for us. Emily, thank you. In Florida, a pilot is lucky to be alive tonight after a stunning crash right into a Florida beach. George Solis with the incredible video. Tonight, the stunning crash along the East Coast. Watch as that small plane quickly loses altitude and slams into the water in Florida. You can see the large splash as it makes impact and flips over. It happened Thursday just off New Smyrna Beach. Very scary. And a lot of police and lifeguards come down.

They had four-wheelers. Authorities say the lone pilot was amazingly able to climb out of the aircraft without life-threatening injuries. I heard a loud backfire like one big top. No smoke. Just a real loud top in the engine. David Young recorded the video, crediting the pilot for taking swift action. He really couldn't put it on the beach.

beach. I mean, there's obviously people on the beach. With the plane lying upside down in the water, lifeguard Nicholas Jereau rushed in to help. He was definitely shooking up, but he seemed fine physically. After that incredible crash landing, it's definitely the craziest and most unexpected situation I've had to deal with. Okay, with that George Solis joins Top Story Live tonight. He is on the beach for us, George. Do we know about the condition of the pilot? Tom, amazingly, no known injuries. So he was evaluated there on site after the crash, unscathed. He was later taken to a hospital where, again, amazingly, no injuries. Now, as far as what's next, the NTSB and the FAA are going to investigate what causes crash. And by the way, we also

reached out to the banner playing company tonight. We did not hear back. Tom. Okay, George Solis for us, George, thank you. Not at Top Stories, Money Talks and the efforts to tame rising prices across the country. In his clearest warning yet, Fed Reserve Chair, Kevin Warsh, called inflation concerning, leaving the door open for the interest rate hikes in the future, possibly. Brian Chung is at an annual Fed meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Brian, great assignment to have over there. You're looking apart. We appreciate it. Not sure of we're going to do some dove hunting there, but let us know. What can we read into the Fed chair's remarks? Could we see an interest rate hike this year? Well, Tom, it really is more like hawk hunting out here in Jackson,

Wyoming. That is the economics term for policymakers that might be biased towards an interest rate hike, because that's what we heard from the Fed chairman just behind me at the Jackson Lake Lodge. This is exactly where we got this big splashy speech. This is an annual conference, but this is, of course, the first conference under newly minted Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, who's only been in the role for just a few months. And in that speech, he offered what some economists I've been speaking with all day described as a welcome and a pleasant surprise, because he offered a lot of detail, a lot of thoughts on where inflation is right now. He said that inflation is concerning, despite some more optimistic prints on prices in America

that we've gotten this summer. He seemed to suggest he's not happy with inflation. And even though he didn't say how he would deal with that inflation, he did reiterate that the Fed's playbook for dealing with inflation has historically been interest rate hikes, which means that he could be opening the door for an interest rate hike as soon as September. You had markets rapidly repricing off of those remarks earlier this morning, and a majority of traders now expect the Fed to hike interest rates in just three weeks. Okay, that's important there, that last part, what you just said.

Brian, you know, Americans are feeling the pressure of high prices at home. What more do the Fed Chair say about the current state of the economy? Yeah, well, on one hand, you have the Federal Reserve. Again, they have a dual mandate on one hand at stable prices, and he did describe inflation as something that is concerning to him. But on the other side of things, the Federal Reserve is also tasked with maximum employment, making sure that people have jobs, that they're getting paid well in those jobs. And he said the labor market does look steady.

Unemployment is just hovering above the 4% range, which most economists will say is relatively healthy. So he did say that's good. But again, reiterating that he has this concern about inflation is certainly something. You have to remember, this is a Fed chair that's new to the job. And he's also setting forth what he describes as pretty dramatic change. He wants to institute a new regime. That is going to cloud the outlook for how this Fed operates. I was speaking with one Fed official Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammock.

She actually preferred to raise interest rates earlier. she dissented in July, wanted to raise rates in that meeting. The board and the other Fed policymakers that get to vote on interest rates, they are a part of this picture as well that is increasingly clouded by this Fed chair who is still yet to set forth his agenda for that reform, meaning that the cloudy skies that you see right behind me here, the Teton's is a bit emblematic of what the Federal Reserve finds itself in as well, Tom. Oh, we'll take those cloudy skies.

It looks beautiful out there. Brian, enjoy your time there. We thank you for your report to Houston now where President Trump announced major plans to create a new space, Force Academy during a visit to NASA Space Center. The news coming as NASA prepares to launch its next generation telescope that is expected to give us a new look into the universe. Here's Tom Costello. Making history in Houston, the Artemis II crew awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor as President Trump announced the creation of a new academy for the Space Force military branch,

much like West Point, Annapolis, or the Air Force Academy. A nation cannot be first on Earth, if we're going to be second in space, just not going to happen. Mr. Trump then became the first president to call the space station from mission control. I just want to thank Jessica, Anil Jack, great Americans, great patriots, brave people. All as NASA prepares to make history this weekend, launching a next-gen telescope, expected to upend our understanding of the universe. The Nancy Grace Roman telescope will orbit a million miles from. Earth. We went into NASA's clean room to see how it will peer through vast stretches of space

to survey the infrared universe. So we can actually see back to about 600 million years after the Big Bang. Make no mistake, this telescope is going to revolutionize our understanding of the stars because its field of view is a hundred times greater than that of Hubble. So that will allow it to see thousands of planets, millions of galaxies, Billions, billions of stars that we have no idea are even out there. And that will give us the pointer to where we need to go to find planets that are like our own, an Earth-like planet around a sun-like star. And the ultimate question, is there or was there life beyond Earth?

Tom Costello, NBC News, at the NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center. All right, when we come back tonight, foul on the field, the parent, running out and tripping a young player on the other team, we're going to show you more of that video and what happened when police caught up to him. Plus, the hype is building for grand theft Auto 6, why it could be one of the biggest video game drops ever. You will not believe how much that game is expected to make. And a stranded climber rescued after spending hours clean to the side of this tiny ledge, how Cruz finally got him down. That's head on top story. We're back with a wild moment at a youth football game in Wisconsin, a father,

rushing the field, taking down a nine-year-old player. Police eventually catching up to that dad. Shaquille Brewster now on the video and the story. It starts as an explosive play in Wisconsin. But watch again in slow motion. Number 88 of the Racine Youth Eagles briefly runs out of frame with the ball. The camera catches up to him and look closely. Police say that's the father of a player on the opposing team, Terrence Bradshaw, tripping the nine-year-old boy whose nickname is Juju. This angle shows Bradshaw walking up, his pace increasing before the two both fall to the ground. After the incident, both leaving, officials calling off the game, police quickly locating Bradshaw.

How's it going? I know, officer. I apologize to the whole team. In newly released body camera video, he apologizes repeatedly. I'm more mad at myself than anything else right now because I shouldn't know. It's kids. Bradshaw telling the officer he was trying to stop the game after his own son was hit. Did you kick one of the kids? Did you kick? We slipped together. I was trying to stop it, but he was running, so we slipped. Explaining he was scared because his son had been hurt before and worried it could happen again.

Police say the player Bradshaw hit was not injured and cited Bradshaw with disorderly conduct. But Juju's grandmother tonight telling us she wishes more was done, saying he hasn't been playing like himself, since this moment. And even as officials called off that game, Juju was awarded that touchdown, which is in compliance with even NFL regulations, if something like that were to happen. By the way, we did reach out to Bradshaw.

He did not respond to our request for comment. Tom? Shack, thank you. Now to the Daring Rescue in California. A climber stranded on a six-inch ledge. Yeah, just six inches for hours. Clinging to the cliffside, Liz Croyd has the moments he was pulled to safety

and how he's doing now. My job was to stay alive. Rob Martin speaking out for the first time about the more than eight hours, he spent clinging to this steep cliff in California, Sierra, Nevada, as first responders made the daring attempt to save him. The incredible rescue began around lunchtime Saturday, when Martin, an experienced rock climber, says he got caught off course and realized he was stuck.

He perched himself on this tiny six-inch ledge, signaled for help, and waited. What was going through your mind? all of those hours. There's a lot of stuff. It was, you know, a lot of scary thoughts, a lot of lonely thoughts. It was very uncomfortable. My hands were cramping. The feet were the hardest part. You know, they're only half on the ledge. But amazingly, he held on, knowing the fully volunteer Mono County search and rescue team had sprung into action. He was just in a very dire situation. Hold on. Let me, let me get this. Mitchell Queering says it took their group at least two hours to locate

at first just there as a tiny speck and then several more to actually get close. Eventually reaching him after 9 p.m. This, the moment of relief. My message to Mitch and his team is, you know, thank you for saving my life. The full rescue lasted more than 15 hours with the group not getting safely back on ground until close to 5 a.m. I would not be sitting here if it wasn't for them and their sense of service. What does that mean to you? It's the entire reason that we do this. It means the world.

Liz Krois joins us from L.A. Liz, the conditions at that time also made this rescue that much more challenging. And if you can explain something to our viewers, when you look at that video, was he going from the bottom up or the up to the bottom or up, sorry, from the top down? It's just tough to see that there's any path there. Yeah, really there was no path, Tom. He was on what he thought was the correct path climbing up this mountain, but ended up realizing, uh-oh, I got on the wrong path. stuck here. He was able to, you know, SOS for help, those crews kicked into action. And part of the conditions you mentioned, it was so challenging because not only was it extremely hot, but there

was actually very strong winds at the time up to 50 miles per hour. And so these crews weren't able to use the helicopter to go rescue him. That is why these crews then had to climb themselves. And they actually had to get to the top of the mountain and then climb down to him using very dangerous and complicated rope techniques. Thankfully, Rob, the man they saved is okay. Obviously shaken up. He had some scrapes from holding on so long. But he said he wanted to speak out, Tom, simply to raise awareness for the amazing work that these rescue teams do. This group is fully volunteer donation base true heroes by doing this and saving his life. Yeah, you would definitely say that. Okay, Liz, thanks for that. Still to come tonight here on Top Story,

the high speed heist on the highway, we'll show you more of that wild video. Plus, our great American this week. From his iconic role as Lieutenant Dan and Forrest Gump to his mission to give back to veterans. You'll hear from Gary Sinise after this. Back now, Top Stories News Feed, and we start with a stabbing attack at a high school in El Paso. This was the scene at America's high school. You can see teens hiding under their desks as police searched the school and here you see others scrambling to safety. The El Paso County Sheriff's Department says three kids were hurt, but that they're all in stable condition. Authorities say a 14-year-old suspect has been taken into custody. and a narrow escape caught on camera in Ukraine.

Keep your eyes on the right side of your screen here. You can see that woman walking before a Russian drone just hits that parking lot in Kiev. Terrible. It sets off a fiery explosion, but miraculously, she's able to get up and run away. Officials have yet to comment publicly on this attack. And back here at home, actually not back here at home, in Egypt, there was a Hollywood-style high-end robbery. Video this gang showing jumps onto a speeding truck.

The truck climbs onto the hood and runs. bobs the truck, a frozen chicken. You can see them tossing frozen chicken into the truck bed. Egyptian officials say the situation took a violent turn, ending in a shootout with those three suspects. All right, now to a major update on what could be the most anticipated video game of all time. Grand Theft Auto 6. It doesn't come out until November 19th, but millions of fans have already pre-ordered copies. And now the publisher, Rockstar, has partnered with Netflix to stream footage of the gameplay for the first time.

A quick warning, this video game is definitely not kid-friendly. Take a look. You take this. Yeah, the clips feature some of the high-octane gunfights and violent car chases that made the franchise a cultural phenomenon. And many fans are already raving. Driver, what was your name again? That was peak. It was actually good.

There is no game that is going to compete with GTA6. Everywhere you look, it's just mind-blowingly impressive. A lot of analysts predict sales of GTA6 could bring in $4.5 billion. You heard that right. 4.5 billion by launch week, with games costing $80 a pop. The release has the potential to shatter records, and fans are taking this so seriously. They're actually taking off work, hoping to just play all day.

The Wall Street Journal warning managers to beware to prepare for a work blackout. One U.S. Army unit in Georgia even offering soldiers four days off when the game comes out if they agree to sign a re-enlistment contract. That's crazy. Joining us here on set is Ashley Wong. She's the journalist behind the great Wall Street Journal story and headline. Ashley, thanks for being here. People, sir, they're already starting to plan their lives around this. What makes this game so great?

So the thing that stands out about Grand Theft Auto is the world building, really. The richness of the graphics and the richness of this fake state called Leonida that they've created for GTA6. And people always talk about the morally complex characters. and the quality of the storylines and the fact that you can do anything from completing the challenges and rising up in the criminal underworld to just hanging out and doing petty theft all day long.

It's essentially sort of living and action movie if you were the bad guys. And the age for GTA6, obviously a lot of adults are playing this, but for kids, what is the usual age for them? I don't know exactly what the bottom limit is on the age, but I would say it's probably not, for any kids under 13.

So one of the reasons why this is a video game, but it's not for kids, is because of the things you can do. I think we saw a clip there where people were shooting at a police helicopter. What are some of the other things you can do in this game? So the other things you can do is you can drive your car through streets full of people.

You can rob banks. You can bust people out of jail. It really all operates around committing crimes and moving your way up through the criminal enterprise. There was also a big controversy when these games came out about the way women were treated. How is GTA6? Well, GTA6 is going to feature the first female protagonist ever in the franchise's history. And so fans are really excited for that. But yes, historically,

women have not exactly been front and center at Grand Thept Auto. Yeah, and also the crimes committed against women, too, right? And some of these games. And the way that women are portrayed in some of these games has been controversial. So earlier, there were some clips that were leaked online, right? And I think the publisher of the game said that was heartbreaking. Why was they so upset about that? Because there's sort of like a buildup to the suspense of when the game comes out? Yeah, well, it's been a 13-year wait. The last Grand Theft Auto game came out in 2013.

And so fans have been clamoring for this for years. I mean, some of the players that I spoke to were teenagers when the last game came out. And the release date has been pushed back twice. There was a leak in 2022. And so the more people have been asked to wait, the more they want to see. and that has led to the leaks. There's obviously a lot of promotion to buy the game, right? Have kids already played it?

I keep saying kids because it's a video game, but have gamers already played this and do they love it? I mean, we saw some of those hype videos that are on social media, but with a 13-year weight, I mean, the bar is high, you know? To my knowledge, no one has played the full game yet, but there's been plenty of previews, so there's been two trailers, and there have been, well, yesterday there was a preview on Netflix, that was about half an hour. That's the longest peak that anyone's got the game so far.

And so the combination of all those things kind of provided a look into the world of GTA-6. And so that's what people are responding to, but nobody has been able to play yet. Okay. Ashley Wong, you can read her in the Wall Street Journal. We thank you for coming on. Thank you so much. We're going to take a turn now to our series, Great Americans, where we talk to those who have achieved so much about their life and this country. Tonight, the man dedicated to giving back to our men and women in uniform, who inspired fired his iconic role in the movie Forrest Gumb.

Our great American this week, Gary Sinise. Number one thing that I love about America is the freedom that we have in this country. These are all personal coins have been given to me over the years. Born into a family of veterans dating back to World War I. That's me. Gary Sinise carries on his family's legacy of defending America's freedoms in his own way. All we're talking about here is four amps. In the end, you'll get bit.

This is actually the wig I wore in Forrest Gump. I never thanked you for saving my life. Seneas' breakthrough role changed the trajectory of his life. When I really started getting involved with our wounded, it was after playing Lieutenant Dan. He'd tell us to get down, shut up. Get down! Shut up!

Get down, shut up. His Oscar-nominated performance in Forreston, Gump. Heating a cord with veterans. I like the scene where Lieutenant Dan pulls Forrest out of the bed. You see that? Do you know what it's like not to be able to use your legs? Yes, sir, I do. And he tells him that he had a destiny. I was supposed to die in the field with honor.

That was my destiny. And you cheated me out of it. He had that understanding. understandable anger and despair that so many Vietnam veterans experienced when they came home from war. And we don't want that for anybody who serves our country. Senise became passionate about helping America's veterans. Then 9-11 was a turning point. We can never do enough, but we can always try to do a little bit more.

I can't tell you the number that I met who raised their hand after September 11th. They said, I felt called. you know, to do it. Well, I did too. His work culminating in the Gary Sinise Foundation, supporting those who risk it all for our country, service members, veterans, first responders, and their families, through mental wellness and financial support. To date, building more than 100 custom homes for severely wounded veterans.

What you do for the soldiers? God bless you. Hey, we build the podcast studio here. All while juggling duties as a dad. Senes' son Mack was an accomplished drummer and composer. We have the albums in here, the first record, and then the second record. When Mack developed a rare type of bone cancer, he joined his dad's foundation. My son was coming to help me. He was starting to feel, well, this is my history, too.

and that was that was beautiful to experience to see him just fall in love with it like that Mack passed away in 2024 at the age of 33 Gary now 71 navigates his own grief by helping those he calls freedom providers in their time of me you know if your own broken heart is is having trouble and you help somebody else

with a broken heart and you lift them a little bit. It's a little easier for you. Still ahead on Top Story, would you hire a robot to clean your home? One startup is already making it a reality. We'll talk to the CEO behind the tidy tech right after this. We're back now with the business promoting humanoid house cleaners for just $30 an hour. These robots are vacuuming floors, wiping down counters, and tidying up across San Francisco. They're made by Tau Robotics, a San Francisco startup that's inviting people to take part in their pilot program. But there's a bit of a catch.

The robots aren't fully autonomous just yet. Right now, they're steered by a human operator with help from AI. I want to bring in the CEO and co-founder of that startup, Alexander Coach. Alex, thanks so much for joining Top Story. Walk me through what happens when this robot shows up on your doorstep. Yes, basically they all arrive there, driven by our car. And they are usually still going with a human at the moment. And then, yeah, they'll go inside the house, usually start looking around, checking what is there to be cleaned.

And then usually start wiping down some surfaces. And then, for example, put some trash away, vacuum clean the floor, mop the floor, clean the toilet, and so on. And then they will leave again. Yeah, and so you said the goal is for AI to be able to run these robots without a human operator. How far away are you from that reality? Yeah, right now we have trained in the eye that controls the humanoid with a remote human operator. It's not fully autonomous yet.

And you also expect it to take quite a while to be fully autonomous in all circumstances, since the real world is just very complex. So we expect it to start next year running the humanoid at least part of the time without any remote human. Yeah. Are you losing money here essentially? you're essentially cleaning houses for $30 an hour, and you've got to pay a staffer to still operate that robot.

So is the bottom line sort of tough right now? Yes. Right now, we are still losing money. But also, I mean, we have to improve the operations at every point in the stack. There has to be a lot of people approved. But since we are already deploying early, we get the customer feedback, and we can improve it every week.

Yeah, when we see the video of these robots actually cleaning the homes. It's sort of interesting. How do you make sure the robot doesn't destroy an heirloom or break a plate or something maybe that is very valuable to the family that that robot is in?

That's also by the remote human operator helps. They know what optics they shouldn't go near. Also, for example, if there are children nearby, they're much more careful than with the humanhood. So that's where the human help is actually very useful. What about children, pets? You know, you want to make sure this humanoid doesn't step on the family cat and, you know, God forbid, something happens there with little Felix. With animals, actually, they are kind of scared of the humanoid, so they run away, which is for safety actually great.

I think as we make them smoother and more quiet, also they might become more comfortable with them. What about children? All operators are instructed to make sure the humanoid doesn't go near humans. and also there are warning stickers on them that humans should keep a distance. Also, at all we require always to be a human adult in the house. And then, Alex, your robots, I know, are not alone in the space. China is competing as well. I think they had a group of robots folding clothes.

This is some video of that right now at their humanoid robot games. How far advanced is China? Are we in the same space as them? Do you feel that you'll be to market quicker with these humanoid housekeeping robots before they are? I think we are the first one in the world to deploy human rights to paid customers in homes. I think China's very far ahead or very far definitely in the hardware space, the humanists they're built. If you look at the AI, I think the US and China are head to head at the moment. So you have this robot, it's going through a house, it's transmitting all these images back to a human.

How do you protect the privacy of your clients right now? What are you promising them? We only use the data for internal purposes for improving our service. And yeah, we are not sharing it with anyone else except for our own training pipeline. And also the human rights themselves, they have also a big sticker on them that they are recorded. data, so no one is surprised. Yeah, and what is essentially the benefit, the cost? Is it just going to be cheaper to pay the robot at the end of the day, and it's going

to do maybe as good, or let's call it 50% of a job as a human would? I mean, what do you think the sort of calculation for your customers will be in the future? Yes. It will be really better, it will be faster and cheaper. So, I mean, robots, they can definitely move faster than humans. there's no question. And as the control arguments improve, they will actually do this. And also, of course, the price will come down rapidly.

The hardware will get cheaper. The AI control will get better. And almost all the quality will simply get higher since, if someone have better cameras, they could detect dirt much better. They can be much more reliable. They don't want mistakes in the future. Yeah. We're building towards this.

If the robot is in the house and it's cleaning and it starts to sort of go a little crazier as the young people say crash out, is there sort of like a 911 call that people can get to your company? Is there an emergency shutoff switch? I mean, we already, the humans, they are by hardware or by our software. They're constrained to basically not move faster than humans can. So there are limitations. And then also since we have this remote human operator, they always have an emergency stop in their hand, basically. So if anything, goes wrong, they can shut it off. How can it, if it can't move as fast as a human, how does it clean faster than a human then? This is only an early stage limitation.

We, as the control systems improve, we will also increase this limit. Does the robot have a name? No, we haven't thought of a name yet. I mean, it's an individual robot has a name, but we haven't thought of a name for the product. Okay. Alexander, Coach,

thanks so much, but we may be seeing your humanoid robot. in a house or apartment near us soon. When we come back, everything you can binge watch and listen to this weekend, including the crime thriller with a stacked cast featuring Robert De Niro and Michael Keaton. Stay with us. We're back with BingeWord. We're looking at the best things to watch and listen to this weekend.

And joining us tonight is the host of NBC Chicago's Lifestyle Show Chicago Today, Matthew Rodriguez. Matthew, so great to see you. Good to see you again, Tom. Thanks for having. Yeah, thanks for being here. All right. So we're going to start with a psychological thriller you may have seen because they've been out there promoting it like crazy. Robert De Niro, Adam Scott, it's called The Whisper Man on Netflix.

Let's take a look. Soon you'll hear the whisper's spoken. If your window's left unlatched, you'll hear him tapping at the glass. If you're lonely, sad, and blue, the Whisper Man will come for you. Oh, I hope it doesn't come from me. Watch out. This is a movie on Netflix, obviously a huge cast, as we mentioned, including Robert De Niro. on so many other big names. So how is it? I know you watched some of it.

It's scary. Yeah, I started watching it. It gives me a little bit of silence of the lambs and that it's dark. It's a thriller. It's not so much a slasher kind of film. You know what I'm saying? Robert De Niro, obviously, gives a great performance every time.

I do love seeing Adam Scott in these roles. Huge fan, but I always laugh with him. This is a little different. Well, this is different. It goes to Severance. Yeah, a little bit like Severance. Now I think people look at him in that way, and this is an extension of that.

go very heavy. This is very not like if you're looking for a pick me up for the no, I hear you, I hear you. It's all right, but sometimes it's fun to get a little scared. I love it. Next up on Netflix, also a little kind of scary, a little freaky. You don't have to change your streamer right now. This one again is on Netflix. It's a docu series called The Death of the Pastor's Wife. Let's take a look at this clip. She needed a restraining order. Is it going to shut him down? Is it going to make him worse? Is it going to ramp it up? Walk away. Do you want to go to go? Mika was being stopped 24-7. For her to drive an hour and a half into the middle of nowhere

makes absolute zero sense. Matthew, some folks may be listening to this going, this sounds familiar. This is based on a true story, and it's a little weird and a little sad, right? Definitely a little weird, definitely a lot of like what was going on? So this is a true story. This young woman, Micah Miller, fell in love with her pastor. She was married to someone else. He was married to someone else. They had an affair. This is a real story, by the way.

This isn't a plot of a movie. And they get married, and then he becomes very obsessive. She ended up dying, not too long ago. A lot of friends, a lot of family think he is the one who did it. This movie walks through those scenarios. Got it. It's wild. I'm only, I finished the first part.

There's three parts to this. Okay. It's intense. Intense. Next up, adults is back. This is the second season on Hulu. People like to laugh. This is the one you're going to watch. Here's a preview clip. Freezing your eggs is so vulnerable. You need any help with that? Yeah, sure. Sorry. Go again. So the plot here is a group of adults all living together trying to be adults.

Yeah, it's like a modern-day friends. It's a Gen Z friends. But this is, it's much more raw, much more real. These are messy people. And I think whether you're in your 20s, your 30s, your 40s, when you say you're an adult, you don't really believe you're an adult, unless you're Tom Yama. Yeah, no, no, no. It's pretty laugh out loud, funny. And the second season, I have to say, is even funnier than the first in a big way. Yeah, and it's raunchy, it's out there. It's raunchy, it's relationships, it's money, it's, I can't pay the rent, all that kind of stuff. Up your alley?

You like it? I do. I actually think of all of these. It's one of my favorites. And the cast's super talented. Okay, great. That's good to know. Maybe we will watch it. Dark Matter is also back for season two.

This is a sci-fi thriller about a man stuck in an alternate reality. It's on Apple TV. Here's a preview. The box is the most powerful thing ever created. It's a gateway to other realities and other versions of us. I just want you and Charlie to be safe. Even if we find a perfect world, another one of you will. find us.

All right, Matthew, walk us through this one. This one, a lot of people don't know about it. The first season was loved by sci-fi fans. I love it because it's filmed in Chicago. If you notice that skyline, that's actually a modern-day Chicago. I just interviewed Blake Krooche, who is the author of the film, excuse me, the author of the book that this is based on. And now the series, he's the showrunner, and he's so excited to be able to expand the story

in this second season. And if you love the first, you're going to love this. this one even more. Okay, I think next up, this is a romance. I thought it was a rom-com. Might just be a romance. Is there any comedy? There's a light. There's a little bit of comedy. Okay. It's called The Last Sunrise. It's on prime. Okay, let's take a look. Everything okay? I'm just getting used to the new meds. They don't let me feel anything. Annie, you can have fun. It's Majorca. I'm going to go.

I'm so sorry. We just saw Eva Longoria in there in her favorite place, Spain, where she's always photographed in a bikini by the paparazzi. She uses it as an excuse to film there. Great place to film, a Yorka. How fun. Come on. Maya Rafiko, excuse me. She's great in this.

She's a great actress. I haven't seen her since Sicario. I'm pretty sure she was the one in Sycario. Super grounded. be one of those films that's just like light and you're like, skip. It's actually done quite well. Everyone in it is beautiful. It's done quite well as opposed to what quite bad? You know we talk about a lot of that are quite all right. But it's good. You enjoyed it. Yeah, I did enjoy it. I thought it was a sweet, you know, it's kind of a light. I'm not looking for anything. Amazon Prime. Sometimes you want that on the

weekend, right? Maybe a little rosé, maybe a little Sauvillon Blanc. And the last sunrise. All right, that sounds like a cocktail. Next up we have our music, one of the stars of Black Pink is out with a new solo album. This is called Fallen Angel by Jenny. Let's take a listen. Okay, Black Pink is such a big group. K-pop, right? Yeah, K-pop.

So how's this one? This was a little kind of chill. It's very, very chill. But listen, it's a huge star, though. Isn't she a huge star? Tens of millions of followers on all the platforms. This dropped today, this video, and it has millions of views already. You know, we have big stars who drop videos.

and they don't get that. So people are here for her. They're here for her music. It's very light, very, you know, surreal kind of... Maybe you watch it, maybe listen to an after-last romance. You watch that. Yeah, have a drink. You're still drinking that rosé.

Yeah, there you go. You haven't finished the bottle. And then you play this and turn the party up. This is Kendrick Lamar and Dahy. It's an all-star collaboration. This is called How to Pray. A lot of time. It could take a lifetime.

Oh, you've got to waste. Oh, maybe we can waste time. Maybe we can waste time. Maybe we can waste. A lot of co-labs happening here. So you have the Grammy-winning record producer, DJ Dahi. And then you also have an up-and-coming R&B singer, I'm told, by the great people here at Benjworthy, Amber Mark. Yes.

On this as well, along with the great Kendrick Lamar. I got to say, I didn't know who Daugie was. And now listening to his music, he's about to drop an album. him, he's really good. And you can tell he was a producer. He has a connection to the music. Kendrick Lamar must have loved this guy because he stepped in and said, hey, I'll collab with you. And for him to come out of the gate with this kind of collaboration, huge. Another moody song. Got a chill. This is kind of a chill, binge-worthy weekend, you know? Kind of sedated, you know? I'll come with showgirls next time for you. We need to like pump it up a little bit.

Get a little bright way. Matthew, great to see you. I hope you enjoy New York City this weekend. I'm going to Harry Styles tonight. Whoa! You got to go! We should have talked about that. Not to name drop. I'll come back next week. What day is today of the 30? I think it's the second. The second day.

Congratulations. That's a hot ticket. It's going to be a lot of fun. I didn't pay for it. Someone else did. Say hi to all our friends in Chicago, too. You go ahead. Thanks, Tom.

We thank you for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamis. Stay right there. More news on the way.