Top Story with Tom Llamas - Friday, December 13, 2024

Episode Date: December 14, 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.E

Tonight, breaking news, the new bombshell revelations in the CEO murder case. Did authorities know about Luigi Mangione before his arrest? We're just learning law enforcement spoke to Mangione's mother one day before he was arrested at a Pennsylvania McDonald's. That conversation reportedly after San Francisco police recognized Mangione from a missing persons report and flagged the FBI who alerted officials on the East Coast. We have all the late breaking details. Also tonight, an NBC news exclusive. The woman filing a civil lawsuit against rapper Jay-Z, accusing him and Sean Diddy Combs of rape when she was 13 years old, now speaking out. What she's saying about the music mobile as our reporting finds inconsistencies surrounding those allegations.

Will RFK Jr. pushed to get rid of the polio vaccine? New York Times report saying that his lawyer once tried to revoke the shots longstanding approval. The move is Kennedy, President-elect Trump's choice for Health and Human Services Secretary, prepared. for the confirmation process, a host of lawmakers speaking out about the vaccine, credited with effectively eradicating the disease in the U.S. Surviving chemical warfare, victims of Syria's deadly nerve gas attack speaking freely for the very first time since the Assad regime fell. We hear from them directly about the horrors they endured and their renewed hope that Assad will be held accountable. Bitter blast, Arctic air fueling a Great Lake snowstorm,

sending temperatures plunging. The ice storm warning just issued. has millions brace for a brutal cold snap. When you might see those frigid temperatures rebound. And questions over mysterious drone sightings, now reaching a fever pitch. Lawmakers demanding some answers as hundreds of devices are seen hovering in the sky. Now the president-elect is weighing in.

And a manhunt in Philadelphia for a suspect in a deadly home invasion. A mother left paralyzed after she was shot, how Siri may have saved her life. Plus, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hospitalized in Luxembourg, in Luxembourg, what we know at this hour. Top story starts right now. And good evening, I'm Sam Brock, in for Tom Yamis. Tonight, new details emerging about who reported what and when during the manhunt

for CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione. Could the NYPD have tracked him down earlier? We have just learned, according to two sources, familiar with the matter, that the FBI actually initiated. a phone call with Mangione's mom, Kathleen, on the Sunday before his arrest, where she told them the suspect photo, quote, could be him. Now, let's look at the timeline here of how it all started. San Francisco police confirming that Mangione's mother filed this missing person's report for him that was back on November 18th, roughly two weeks before the shooting.

United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down on December 4th. That's when a manhunt for the suspect ensued. A San Francisco police officer saw the wanted poster for the and felt that he had some similar characteristics to the missing persons report. So on December 5th, that officer alerted the FBI in San Francisco, raising a flag about Mangione. Now, the FBI on the West Coast, then passing the information along to its office in New York,

and the FBI in New York, then giving the tip to the NYPD, which says it was one of hundreds of tips that they received. But it was not until days later that Mangione was caught in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Now, with the NYPD saying the day of his arrest that Luigi was off their radar entirely, even earlier that day. Some big questions looming at this hour.

Could Luigi Mangione have been caught sooner? And what is the NYPD's vetting process when handling just a flood of tips? We speak with a former NYPD chief in just a moment. We are also going to hear from the CEO of United Health Care's parent company releasing this op-ed in the New York Times, acknowledging the health care system is flawed. We've got a lot to get to.

NBC's Stephanie Gask starts us off. Police say Luigi Mangione was on the run for five days after allegedly murdering United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson, the NYPD saying they didn't ID him until after his arrest. But tonight, two senior officials tell NBC News, someone did think they recognized the face in that now infamous photo from a Manhattan hostel. A police officer in San Francisco made the connection to a missing person report filed by Mangione's mother in November and notified the FBI. of hundreds of tips the NYPD says it received in the days following the murder. But it did not stand out to investigators because of its general nature, according to the officials. In the report,

Mangione's mother said she last spoke to him on July 1st. On October 1st, a former classmate tells NBC news, Mangione's cousin reached out to his high school classmates, mentioning he'd been missing for months and had suffered a back injury. Mangioni is now locked up in a maximum custody Pennsylvania prison, while the NYPD says investigators are still trying to determine a possible motive. United Health Care says the 26-year-old was not covered by its health plan, but written pages found on Mangione mentioned the company by name, according to the NYPD. He does make mention that it is the fifth largest corporation in America, which would make it the largest health care organization in America, so that's possibly why he targeted that company.

suggesting the murder was more ideological than personal. The shooting unleashed a torrent of criticism aimed at the health insurance industry, with concerns that it could turn into copycat violence. In Florida, a woman was charged with threatening her health insurance company after she told an employee, delay, deny, depose, you people are next. Echoing the words law enforcement officials say were written on the shell casings at the murder scene. She's pleaded not guilty. Wendell Potter is a former health insurance executive, who left the business disenchanted. He now advocates for reforming the $1.4 trillion industry. The anger is not new. I saw it when I was in the industry. I think this was some kind of

a catalyzing event that made people want to respond in some way and vent their anger. In an op-ed today, the CEO of United Group, the parent company of United Healthcare, says his colleagues provide critical health services and are being barraged with threats, but also acknowledges the health system does not work as well as it should, adding, our mission is to help make it work better. And a new detail we're just learning from two sources familiar with the matter, that after the FBI received that tip from San Francisco Police, a member of law enforcement reached out to Mangione's mother's Sunday night the night before the arrest, and she said the suspect could be him.

Sam? All right, a key change in all the sequence here. Stephanie, thank you for more on this. I want to bring in Terrence Monaghan. He is the former NYPD chief of department and an NBC news contributor, Terrence. Thank you so much for joining us. We heard initially from the family, the Mangione family.

They were shocked and devastated by this. It was unclear what level of contact had or had not existed between his family and police. And then we find out that Kathleen Mangione actually had filed a missing person's report weeks before the murder and that now the FBI had initiated a phone call with her prior to Mangione's arrest.

What does this change, if anything, about this investigation? When you look at it, there was so many tips coming in, so many different people who it could be. So everyone had to be vetted out. You had to take a look at it. You had to ascertain if they could have been in New York during that time period that the crimes happened. So the family would reach out, and then someone would reach back out to them, someone from law enforcement reaches back out to see. Where are you? What do you know about him?

Tell me, do you think it could be him that did this crime? And then now you have to start looking at Luigi and see if he matches some of the electronics and everything else that was recovered from the scene. Given the snapshots of photos that were released by police over the period of several days, do you think that that would necessarily be a slam dunk for family members to be able to recognize their loved one, or is it hard to say? I looked at that picture, and if it was someone I knew, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to identify him right off the bat. I would have a clue. I would think it's a possibility. Let me reach out. But if you look at a person's history, if you don't think that person is capable of such a. a heinous crime. Do you think, ah, could this person I haven't seen in a while have done it?

You may think it. You may not be sure if it's him, you may not want to give out this information, have him be a focus of a nationwide manhunt if it's not them. So I could see a little hesitation. Tell me about this. You said it yourself, hundreds and hundreds of tips. How does the New York Police Department try to vet through all of these if they're flagged by the FBI, but it's kind of vague in terms of the potential connection. How would police officers and investigators know to go to the top of the pile? This must be the guy or could be the guy. There is no top of the pile to you vet them. So you may have 50 different individuals that you're looking at. Now you take those individuals and you just get their alibi. Are they guaranteed to be out of New York during that

time? So now you can quickly eliminate that group. Do you have a group that was in New York during that time? Well, let's see, narrow that down and start working them. Once you get someone that may have been in New York, Now you have a more intensive investigation on those individuals, but it's a lot of work, painstaking work, and we're talking over just a five-day period with nationwide tips coming in. It's a laborious process. Hindsight is 2020. Do you think that five and a half days to actually apprehend their man indicates there was a good amount of communication and workflow between the FBI and the NYPD, or do you think things could have been done better? I think the communication was tremendous. If you take a look at where they were, from what I

understand between some of the investigations that were going on in New York, the electronics that had been recovered, work that was done, they were closing the gap on him soon. They were going to be able to identify him if it wasn't for the Atuna. They would have had him shortly. This is an individual that shot someone and disappeared. And you were able to trace back and get his picture one time that he took that mask off. You got that mask. And now you were able to start doing all sorts of unique sort of investigations within this to identify him. There was so much evidence strewn around the crime scene that investigators were able to obtain that you feel like it was a matter of time. This would have happened regardless whether it was

a conversation with the Mangione family or not. Absolutely. Techniques being utilized by the NYPD, the feds working together. They were able to track a lot more movements that haven't been released yet, knowing where he went, knowing certain things he did. And I'm sure within a couple of days they would have had an identification. Terrence, lastly, do you know if his mom, Kathleen Mangione, is it your understanding she was interviewed, obviously, or spoke with the FBI beforehand? Has she been interviewed since? As far as I know, she was interviewed by a member of the task force, an NYPD FBI task force. And as far as I know, she has not been interviewed yet by the PDI. I believe she may have some lawyers involved. For sure. I have no doubt she does.

And this investigation certainly is going to go on for a long time. Terrence Monaghan, of the NYPD, Chief of Department. Thank you so much. We appreciate your time, sir. You got it, sir. All right, we're going to switch gears a little bit here now to the weather and communities right now. Across the Great Lakes that are facing a bitter blast of cold and snow. If you live there, you certainly know what I'm talking about, some of that. Western New York buried by more than 30 inches of snow in some places,

making for treacherous travel conditions. Erie County reporting more than 50 vehicles that just skied right off the road yesterday alone. For more on the winter weather, Wallop. News meteorologist Bill Karin's joining us now. Bill, we've obviously got the cold, we've got snow, and we're still more than a week away from winter officially, at least. Walk us through what we're looking at right now. Yeah, and buckle up for this roller coaster ride over this next week and a half, right up until Christmas. We've got one storm after another, a couple cold shots in between, a lot of storms with mixed precipitation. So the cold air's in place. It's still zero in Fargo right

now. It feels like New York's at 24, not much better. Northern Maine's cold, too. Now the warm air is trying to move in. A lot of times when this happens, we get ice. And that's the case. a sleet right now mixed with some isolated freezing rain around Omaha. This is going to be widespread during the night's night, a very dangerous, treacherous drive anywhere from Minneapolis down to Omaha overnight. We even have an ice storm morning from Des Moines to Cedar Rapids to just south west of Burlington. We could get up to a quarter inch of ice. That's enough to have some isolated power outages on, you know, those tree limbs start to crack and they start to crumble a little bit. But just a lot of slip and fall potential. This is really the first real chance

of ice that we've had so far this winter season. And it has been a busy one already. Bill Carrance, thank you so much for that. To politics now. And the latest controversy enveloping the President-elect's pick to run Health and Human Services, RFK Jr. Now reporting is coming out from the New York Times showing that Kennedy's lawyer had asked the FDA to revoke the authorization of the polio vaccine. This happened two years ago. The polio vaccine has protected millions for decades and all but eradicated the disease in the United States. Erin Gilchrist has the reaction coming in late tonight, and also from the Trump campaign. Tonight, a growing firestorm around President-elect Trump's pick to lead the nation's health department, RFK Jr. The New York Times reporting Kennedy's lawyer, Aaron Siri, asked the FDA

two years ago to revoke approval of the polio vaccine, which has been used for nearly 70 years to inoculate millions against that deadly disease. The polio vaccine is one of our safest vaccines. It's actually responsible for almost the near extinction of wild polio virus. The new revelations sparking swift backlash. You can't make this stuff up. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren blasting Kennedy in a video posted to X. Say goodbye to your smile and say hello to polio. This is a man who wants to stop kids from getting their polio and measles shots. He's actually welcoming a return to polio, a disease we nearly eradicated.

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, a polio survivor, also speaking out in support of the vaccine, saying efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed, they're dangerous. Adding, anyone seeking the Senate's consent to serve in the incoming administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts. In response to the New York Times reporting, Kennedy and the Trump transition team releasing identical statements, saying, the polio vaccine should be available to the public and thoroughly and properly studied. In a statement to the New York Times, Siri said all of his petitions were filed on behalf of his clients. Kennedy's vaccine skepticism has become a hallmark of his public health image, pushing debunked claims that childhood vaccines can cause autism. In an interview with Time magazine, Trump echoed

those concerns, saying, we're going to have a big discussion. The autism rate is at a level that nobody ever believed possible. Pam is gonna be great. But in an interview with our own Kristen Welker on Meet the Press, Trump seemed dubious about taking the polio vaccine off the market. The polio vaccine is the greatest thing. If somebody told me to get rid of the folio vaccine,

they're gonna have to work real hard to convince me. I think vaccines are, certain vaccines are incredible. Polio was once one of the most concerning childhood illnesses on the planet, a vicious infectious disease that sometimes invas invades the central nervous system causing paralysis. It was responsible for more than 500,000 deaths a year globally before the introduction of a vaccine in the 1950s. Now it's virtually non-existent in the U.S. and most other places around the world. While in the United States,

we're free of paralytic polio, there is still a risk if we stop vaccinating that we may see cases occur again. This is something that we really still need until this virus, is eradicated from the planet. Last month, Kennedy addressed concerns about his vaccine views with our Von Hilliard. Vaccines are working for somebody. I'm not going to take them away. People ought to have

choice, and that choice ought to be informed by the best information. Aaron Gilchrist, joining us now from Washington, D.C. Aaron, RFK Jr., still has to get congressional approval before he would become HHS secretary. So the question now is, how will this new reporting impact his chances

of confirmation? That really is a big question. Part of this, you could say, is just sort of part of the process, right? We know that when you're chosen to be a cabinet-level secretary during the transition process, there are going to be people who dig into your past. They're going to dig into the past statements, for example, of people who are connected to you. And so these things become a part of the news cycle. When it comes time for confirmation hearings, though, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will have to answer questions about the things that other people have said to him, about him, or on his behalf, and sort of make an accounting as to whether he supports those ideas or not in this moment. And then those people in those confirmation hearings are going to make some decisions about whether they will vote for him or not. And so ultimately, we will see what happens come January when the new Congress takes session. Sam? Yeah, that hearing is going to be a hot ticket. Aaron Gilchrist for us there. Thank you so much. Aaron. Now to a growing mystery tonight. Lawmakers and now even President-elect Trump are demanding

answers about unexplained nightly sightings in the skies over New Jersey. And now other states as well, widely presumed by some who live there to be drones. The mysterious aircraft so far not deemed a threat, according to the federal government. But with at least 80 sightings overnight in New Jersey alone, many are asking, what are these things? Who is controlling them? NBC's Aaron McLaughlin has the story. First drone of the night, just getting home from work. Tonight is the mysterious sightings spread from Maryland to New York, New Jersey. I've never seen anything like it.

And beyond. So two do calls from local and state officials for answers and accountability. No state can become the wild west of drone activity. And now high profile officials are among those reporting sightings. Last night, former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan says he captured this video appearing to show dozens of large drones hovering over. over his home. The same evening, U.S. Senator Andy Kim says he saw this over a reservoir while out drone hunting with local police. Some appear to hover or at least seem to be in position. That's citing among the 79 reports overnight in New Jersey, according to a senior official,

with reports every evening since November 18th except for Thanksgiving. The state's governor firing off a letter to the president demanding answers saying that existing laws limit the ability of authorities to counter this activity. We don't know who's flying them or what information they're collecting. While in Mendham, New Jersey, the mayor is taking action, setting up a task force to track the activity. So this started in November. Is it possible that people just started looking up in November?

I think it's possible. I spoke to the sheriff. He told me drones have been around for a while, but not to this degree. The naval weapon station, Earl, also confirming several instances of unidentified drones entering the airspace above the facility. The FBI should be standing at a podium with the Department of Homeland Security and briefing the public.

Tonight, the FAA responding for the first time on camera to the drone sightings, reminding the public of the rules. It's okay to fly them in most areas as long as you stay below 400 feet. And if you're flying at night, the drone must have certain lighting. With anxiety spreading online.

I'm freaking out over here. Officials acknowledge there are still many more questions than answers. And in the last half, hour, we've seen a number of what appear to be drones, all flying erratically with flashing lights. Sam? All right, Aaron, still going on, clearly. For more on the growing concerns surrounding this drone mystery, I'm joined now by Rob Demiko. He is the founder of Sierra One Consulting and the former FBI counter drone unit chief. So tons of expertise in this area, Rob,

thank you so much for joining me. Clearly, you know, this is a concern for many, many people, authorities. So far, I've said it's not a foreign threat, but they're not explaining what exactly it is, certainly not in any detail. So what's going on here? I think now you're at the point where you have people flying drones just to fly drones, either to look for other drones or to add to the chaos and the hysteria that's going on. But I still think 90% of the sightings are planets, manned aircraft, when you're not used to looking into the sky, all those things look different. Low orbit satellites, they all appear to be something flying over. You can't tell how false.

they are, and everyone, like, all this proof out there, there's no, like, there's no proof from a counter-dron system. New Jersey State Police has a counter-dron system. Why aren't they showing us what this activity looks like on it? And it is interesting also. The federal government has said, you know, the White House, the FBI, DHS, they've said that they have looked at the imagery and they don't see anything that confirms drones, more so as manned aircrafts, to really reiterate your point. I guess my question would be the FBI is the agency that does determine whether or not there's a national security risk here. But now that they clearly have done that and say there's not one,

who picks up the ball when it comes to monitoring the actual drones themselves because the FBI is not in the drone chasing business. So is there a gap there or who picks this up? Well, they're not. The FBI is not. For special events, we would go out for weaponized drones. That's what we're looking for. The FAA is the people that really regulate this.

They control the airspace. Local governments don't because federal air. airspace is federal. But again, it's G. But what gets me now is Congress is coming to the FBI. When I was in the FBI, we were going to Congress almost demanding that the FBI be allowed to train state and locals, one, how to detect drones. And if they ever get the authority how to mitigate drones by bringing it down, shooting them down is out of the question almost. A drone can fall and kill someone so that you're chancing someone dying for like a drone sightseeing or something. That's very strict. But we went to Congress and asked them to allow the FBI, like the bomb tax, train, stay in locals, how to track drones, and if it's a safety issue, how to mitigate them. But they refuse to. And again, the FAA is the one in charge of drones. And if it's 400 feet and below, and you can see it and you have the right lights on, there's nothing illegal about it. Rob, we got about 30 seconds left.

Real quickly, talk to me about the modern-day usage of drones and how they could also be dangerous, from everything from warfare to surveillance. How have they evolved over time? It's unbelievable. And everything weaponized on drones is going on in Ukraine right now, both by Russia, by Ukrainians, both offensive and defensive. That's where drone tactics are coming in.

We saw them in Syria and Iraq with ISIS was the first one to start dropping grenades. That's a threat. And then, of course, the nation, state, are a bit different because they're such a different technology. Like Iran would not be flying drones that have lights on at an altitude that people can hear it. Definitely. Rob, thank you so much for your expertise on this. Truly appreciated. Still ahead tonight. An NBC News exclusive, the woman accusing rapper Jay-Z and Sean Diddy Combs of Rape coming forward what she is telling

our Chloe Malas about the alleged incident when she was 13 years old and are reporting finding inconsistencies in her recollection. Plus, surviving chemical. warfare victims of the sarin gas attack at the hands of Syria's Assad regime unable to tell their stories until now what they're saying about the atrocities that they faced and dramatic video as flame shoot out of a plane engine this flight forced to make an emergency landing stay with us we'll be right back well we are back now on an update on a high profile case that we've been following. Jay-Z's rape accuser coming forward, but with contradictions in her account. Earlier this week, the woman accusing the music mogul of raping her when she was 13 years old

spoke out exclusively to NBC News. Our Chloe Malas has the investigation and a warning. The details in this story may be disturbing. You should always advocate for yourself and be a voice for yourself. You should never let what somebody else did run or run your life. A 38-year-old mother from Alabama who has filed a lawsuit accusing Sean Diddy Combs and Jay-Z of raping her when she was 13 years old is speaking out to NBC News for the first time. She asked us not to reveal her identity. What made you want to come forward and talk today? Because I think that I've been quiet long enough about what I've been through and it's been hard enough to be quiet.

but it's a chapter of my life that I'd like to close. An NBC News review of her account found inconsistencies with her allegations. She says that she went to the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000 to catch a glimpse of her favorite celebrities. You weren't scared to be all alone? No, with having autism is a... like, feeling like you live your life in a shatter-proof, jogural ball. The world's on fire.

The fire is inside the ball with you, but there's no way for you to get out. In addition to having autism, the woman says she suffered a head injury. The night of the 2000s, VMAs, she says a friend drove her from Rochester, New York to Manhattan, a more than five-hour drive. Her attorney provided NBC news with the name of the friend who has since died. The woman says she spoke to Combs' limo driver who offered her a ride to an after party. I stumbled upon Diddy's driver who told me that I was exactly what Diddy was looking for. What did you think when he said that to you?

I thought it meant that I was just pretty. She went to a White House, she says, where she spoke to musicians, Benji Madden and his brother. I'm talking to Benji Madden about his tattoo because, you know, I have a really is about his tattoo that's the last supper because I have a religious background. So it was just something to talk about. In a statement to NBC news, a representative of the Maddens confirmed that they did not attend the 2000 VMAs and that they were on tour in the Midwest at the time. At the after party, she says she had a drink that made her feel woozy. Then she says Combs and Carter took turns raping her while a female celebrity watched. D.C. comes in and rapes me.

Well, he's, well, he, at that point, I was fighting, trying to get away from him. And he put his hand over my mouth and told me to stop it, cut, you know, stop it, cut the shit. After the alleged rapes, she says she ran to a gas station where she called. called her father, who picked her up and drove her home. We wrote home in silence. He didn't ask me what happened. He didn't ask me what I did or where I was. In an interview with NBC News, her father said he could not verify the claims.

Quote, I felt like I would remember that, and I don't. I have a lot going on, but I mean, that's something that would definitely stick in my mind, he said. When we asked the woman about the contradictions in a phone interview on Friday, she said that she stands by her statements. I have made some mistakes, she said. Honestly, what is the clearest is what happened to me. The inconsistencies in her account of an incident alleged to have happened 24 years ago does not necessarily mean the allegations are false. The accuser's attorney Tony Busby said, because we have interrogated her intensely, she has even agreed to submit to a polygraph. This has been extremely distressing for her to the point she has experienced seizures and had to seek medical treatment due to the stress. In a statement to NBC News, Sean Carter said this incident didn't happen, and yet he filed it in court and doubled down in the press.

True justice is coming. We fight from victory, not for victory. Is any part of you scared coming out against such powerful people? Yeah, I'm scared of what could happen, but I'm more afraid of letting it eat me alive from the inside out than I am of. you know, being chastised by their fans. All right, Chloe Malas, joining us now live. Chloe, we just heard a very strongly worded statement from Jay-Z. What else are you hearing from him and his team? Yes, so his attorney said that they're going to ask the court to, quote, dismiss this frivolous case.

And also moments ago, we heard from Diddy's legal team. And I want to read you some of what they said. They said, quote, this is the beginning of the end of this shameful money grab. And remember, he remains behind bars at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center, and his criminal trial begins in May. All right. Very thorough reporting there. Chloe, thank you so much for that. Well, coming up next, when we return, the urgent search for a suspect in a deadly home invasion, how Siri may have helped save a woman after she was shot in that home and left unable to move. And welcome back.

Now with Top Story's news feed, starting with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hospitalized while on a congressional trip in Luxembourg. Here's what we know. Spokesperson for Pelosi saying the 84-year-old tripped going downstairs and was admitted to the hospital for an injury. Now, they did not elaborate on the extent of those injuries. Pelosi was traveling with a congressional delegation commemorating the 80th anniversary of a World War II battle. And a bird strike tonight forcing an emergency landing at New York's JFK Airport, video showing a bird flying into a plane's engine right during takeoff and nearby LaGuardia Airport causing sparks to fly. You see it right there from the engine immediately after. The Charlotte-bound flight safely landing at JFK, thankfully, with a severely damaged

engine. Luckily, nobody was hurt. Now tonight we move to a deadly home invasion right outside of Philadelphia. Police tonight saying that they have arrested one man but are still searching for a second suspect after they allegedly broke into a woman's home, shooting and killing her son and leaving her paralyzed. The mother managing to survive after she used Siri to call police. NBC Stephen Roma reports. Tonight, a manhunt underway after a home invasion just outside Philadelphia left one man dead and his mother severely wounded. We're dealing with some really terrible people at this point that have committed an atrocious crime. Bernadette Gadio telling investigators that in the early hours of Sunday morning,

she was asleep when two intruders broke into her home, woke her up and opened fire striking her. Her 25-year-old son rushing into help, Bernadette says, but the assailants shooting him too, as they fled with a jewelry box and video game console, according to police. Bernadette unable to move using Siri to call 911. Her son was later pronounced dad. It was a very brave move on her part because I think indications are that the individuals were still in the house at the time.

Police using surveillance footage and phone location data to identify two suspects, Kelvin Roberts and his boss at a junk removal company, Charles Fulforth. Authorities arresting Fulforth just yesterday on murder and several felony charges, saying they uncovered multiple guns at his home. He's awaiting arraignment and has been denied bail. But investigators are still searching for Roberts. They're offering a $5,000 reward, hoping to bring some semblance of justice to Bernadette and her surviving family. She's paralyzed right now and trying to work through that. But she seems to be getting a little bit of movement, we hope and pray for more of a recovery from her. Stephen Romo, joining us now live in studio.

Stephen, obviously, this is so heartbreaking. Do police have any sense at all this, at all the trappings of a robbery? Why this would have turned deadly? Yeah, that's what's so puzzling to investigators, Sam. It turned deadly over stealing a jewelry box and a game console. A young man died. His mother shot multiple times here. The violence, though, while it doesn't make sense,

it's one of the reasons that police are looking for Roberts so intently they are considering him armed and dangerous and really want to get him behind bars because he remains on the loose right now. A 25-year-old dead and a woman paralyzed over a game console. Thank you, Stephen. Appreciate that. Well, we're going to turn overseas now to Syria

and the renewed calls for justice from victims of chemical weapon attacks under the Assad regime. NBC News, foreign correspondent Matt Bradley, traveled to the site of the deadliest single attack to hear directly from those. survivors. And a warning now, the following report does contain graphic images. It's been more than 11 years. But the people of Ruta, Syria, haven't forgotten how it felt to inhale poisonous

sarin gas. This hour, we've got to have our own, because there's a my body, like a sphinje. We're not I'm going to say that I'm not going to have a lot of them because of the people that had with them have taken care of chemical. It's all right. It's all right. Some people have died, from them, they're children, from them, from them, they're

men. The day of the Baghdaddy estimates that more than a thousand people were killed in one of the Assad regime's most notorious chemical attacks. The U.S. government estimated the attack killed nearly 1,500 people, mostly women and children. So he's saying that the reason why they use chemical weapons here he thinks is because this was kind of the origin of the peaceful protest that inspired the revolution on the internet. And that's why the regime targeted this place with chemical weapons as an act of revenge.

But the Assad regime has fallen. The Syrian people, once beset by dictatorship in war, are celebrating in the streets. Now that there's peace, the people of Huta are yearning for justice. They want to see those who perpetrated this punished. This man also survived the Ghouta attack. He and others won assurances that atrocities like this one will never happen again. He says that there were thousands who were killed, thousands who were tortured, and he and the Syrian people, they're not going to be able to breathe freely.

They're not going to be comfortable until they see Bashar al-Assad and all of his accomplices put to justice. The organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons held an emergency meeting on Syria's stockpile yesterday in the Hague and pledged to send weapons inspectors to Syria. After the Ruta attacked, the organization destroyed about 1,100 metric tons of sarin, VX and mustard gas. But the Assad regime continued to use chemical weapons on its own people. And experts believe there's still chemical weapons left in Syria.

So far, the Biden administration has expressed concern about the stockpiles, but it's not leaving the matter to international groups. We are certainly focused and concerned about and the potential use of chemical agents falling into the wrong hands in Syria. That work is really being done through other partners. So even as Ruta recalls its tragic past, many here are looking forward to a future that's no longer threatened by chemical weapons. But you're in the future, you know, how do you, what you'd

what you'd want to be from the mostok of it, I'm going to say, and Sam, the pursuit of justice for Syrians is even playing out in American courts. Yesterday, a grand jury in California charged Samir Osman Sheikh, who led the notorious Adra prison for several years with several counts of torture and conspiracy to commit torture. Sam? Matt, thank you so much for that very important reporting. We'll be right back. All right, this is a fun one. Back now with a special basketball game between teenage girls and FBI agents.

You probably didn't think I was going to say that. All part of an effort to build trust and relationship. between the most powerful law enforcement agency in the land and young people in the D.C. region. Kendalayan reports from Washington. Call it basketball diplomacy, a group of teenage students from Washington, D.C., taking the court against the women hoopsters of the FBI. The idea, give the kids a chance to learn about the bureau, while also trying to give the bureau's faltering public image a boost.

I've mainly learned how you can do a lot of things inside of the FBI. You don't have to just be an Asian. What are the things that you've heard about that interest to you? Maybe just like actually working with technology. Polls show public confidence in the FBI has fallen in recent years, and the Bureau would like more people to know about all the things it does that have nothing to do with the big Washington controversies. It also wants to recruit more women and people of color.

Those two goals coming together on the FBI's famed basketball court, deep in the bowels of its DC headquarters. President Obama used to play here. Now the FBI is hosting a series of friendly games with local teams from minority communities. A group of high school players edged out a male FBI squad in January. On this day, it was young women squaring off against a female FBI team, some of whom had played in college. But it wasn't just basketball on display.

The teens were able to talk to the agents and tour the FBI's museum. It's pretty cool. What kind of things that you learned today? interested to you about this. Investigating crime schools. There are so many cool opportunities here in the FBI. The agents told the students about different careers at the Bureau, including many that don't involve carrying a badge and a gun. Our goal was to provide an opportunity for kids in the community to come into the FBI to not only have the chance to play basketball here, but to engage with the men and women of the FBI.

DC native John Lensner is FBI Director Chris Ray's former chief of staff. We want people in the communities to not only trust law enforcement, but also to see themselves in law enforcement so that they can imagine themselves having a career in public service. Nikki Flores is an FBI intelligence analyst. I hope they come away with the FBI is a welcoming environment and it's potentially something that they could do and that it's something they could aspire to be a part of and that the FBI really is a family and we're a team, much like they're a member of a team, the FBI is a team as well. In the end, the agents came out on top in the game, but the students won something bigger. I hope they come away with some inspiration, really understanding their own purpose. I know a lot of them or most of them may not become FBI employees or FBI agents, but I hope through our stories, the information that we share, they can see themselves achieving whatever it is that they want to.

An agency that once excluded women and minorities, now trying to inspire a new generation. Kandelanian NBC News, Washington. Basketball as a bridge to connections. Very cool, Ken. Thank you so much. Still ahead tonight. Look at what you can binge watch and listen to this weekend.

Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, haven't heard those names in a while, maybe two decades after the simple life and the newest holiday movie to get you into the spirit of the season. And we are back now with Bingeworthy. Our look at the best things to watch and listen to this weekend.

And I am joined. I have the honor of being joined by NBC. DC News entertainment contributor, Chris Witherspoon. Chris, thank you so much for being with us, my friend. Thank you for having me, Sam. We're finally together in person. I know, finally in real life. I love it. So let's talk about this dark comedy on Netflix. No good deed. It goes unpunished. Clearly you've watched this. Show you a quick preview. I just want to start over. Just because things got f***ed up doesn't mean it has to stay that way. It's rare you get to meet the sellers. You know all the secrets. Hey, Shane, people find out what really happened in that house.

Huh? What? What? You think you can scare me, Mikey? All right, we see Ray Romano. Yes. Lisa Kudra. Icons.

Luke Wilson. Big cast. Yes. And they're all vying for this, like, 1920s villa. What's going on here? Lisa and Ray have this home. That's like their family home. They raise their kids in.

They put it on the market. And then these three couples that are kind of crazy, lots of layers to these couples. They are all vying for this house. There's a murder that happened in the neighborhood. I won't give them too much away, but it's good. To me, it's a dark comedy. We never really have seen these two actors in this kind of light. We all grew up watching them in friends.

Everybody loves Raymond. And they have such great chemistry. I learned a new thing this week also. Lisa Kudrow said there are certain episodes of Friends she hasn't watched yet, which is kind of wild to me. Certain episodes of Friends is that she hasn't watched? But she was in them, presumably? Yes.

She did it on a press tour on the Face Show. Yeah. She hasn't seen all the episodes of Friends. That's my new fun fact, Sam. By the way, so you're going throwback to the 90s. I think the name's Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie will ring a bell. Let's do it. Everybody remembers them and their reality TV stint, if you will.

Yes. Well, here we fast forward 20 years and they're back with an encore. Take a list. Now Paris and Nicole are reuniting for the next big endeavor. We decided to turn our famous song, Sana Sana, into an opera. What? Sana Sona Sala Sala. Oh.

When you think about Nicole Ritchie and Paris Hilton, you don't go to opera. Yeah, I think it's safe to say. No, that's probably a statement many people would agree with. So operatic, we associate these two with the Simple Life, of course. This is on Peacock. Tell me a little bit about what's going on in the encore. So so many folks watched the show Simple Life back in the day. It came on 2003.

seasons and really kind of kicked off this genre of reality TV. I'm going to say this. We would not have the housewives were it not for Paris to Nicole in many ways. They kind of kicked off that genre. But now they're reuniting 20 years later. Fans have been waiting from to come together and they're doing all the old shenanigans. Only three episodes though. They're going back to Arkansas. They're doing all the weird simple life things and also trying to launch an opera with this random murder they made up called Sonanza. So that's not a real thing. No, they made it up and they're having a one night only opera that happens in episode three. Manufactured opera based on a song and a name that doesn't really exist or happen.

Which what they did, in the first iteration of the show, they made up so many random words. It's just one of those words. So I want to go now to, speaking of things that were very much unknown. Jamie Fox went through a period of time, right? Where not a lot of people knew what was going on with him, his health situation. Well, now we have this new sort of like stand-up slash tell-all on Netflix. It's called What Has Happened?

Here's a clip of that. The condition of actor Jamie Fox. Family members rush to the hospital. We should be praying for the brother. Come on that light. Somebody in the clone department, you get lazy. Jamie Fox has now spent more than two weeks in an Atlanta hospital. Jamie Fox literally died.

May he! May he! I'm red! And I'm so glad to see y'all here. I'm so glad to be here. What had happened was. There you go, as the name suggests. A lot of people certainly had a lot of interest in what was going on.

Is this the first time we're hearing firsthand from Jamie Fons? 100%. Yeah, he's only the narrative, and it's called What Had Happened was, which is like a phrase views in the black community. I've heard it once in quite, yeah. But it's really him breaking down what had happened. In 2003, just last year, he kind of went off the grid. People were saying that he almost was near death.

What happened was he had a really bad headache that resulted in like a blood, a brain bleed that led to a stroke. He lost all of his memory for 20 days, had to re-learn how to walk. So this comedy special is really unlike any comedy special. It's him kind of, you know, standing ten toes down on his truth, but also being really vulnerable and raw, and he cries at certain points. Wow. Talking about what he went through, but it's so great to see he's back and he's okay.

Did we know that he had to sort of re-perform and learn all these functions? So his daughter, who introduced him, really kept everything on the DL. They gave no kind of press release, no interviews. This is the first time that we're learning it, and it's equating to huge ratings. Like, everyone's watching it now to understand what happened and where's he at now? If for no other reason than just the mystery around what happened to him. So, A-List actor, no doubt. Okay, so let's shift gears for a second to something that's also more serious here,

based on a Nobel Prize-winning novel called 100 Years of Solitude. I can see you already nodding. You're feeling it. This is on prime video. Let's take a listen. by others, even the form of to die, and this place,

it's going to call Macondo. Aureliano was the first human who was made eyes abjured, looking the

world with a curiosity without a sombre. And my apologies, I should say it's on Netflix, not Prime Video.

So the actor, the very first sequence of this teaser is standing in front of a firing squad, and then suddenly you feel and hear a little bit more

about his back story, Tell me about 100 years of soul. I mean, it's based on this book by Gabrielle Garcia-Marquez that came out in 1967, sold over 50 million copies. I love this book. I read the book, not in Spanish, but translated into English. But this takes place in Colombia where he's from. It's about this family and kind of how they go through different generations,

and you really get attached to the characters. There's 18 episodes, so Netflix really invested in this. Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, his sons are involved. The first nine are out now, and the memorial come out later on next year. But critics are loving this. this. 18 episodes is a major financial investment. It's a saga.

Oh, 100%. And so how much of an evolution is there in terms of his family story? I mean, is there really like a long arc if you're going to spend that much time? I mean, these characters from the book, they're multi-generational and you really fall in love with them over the course of a hundred years. So you're going to kind of join a character called The Colonel and kind of watch as his lineage progresses and all of the sort of mystical things that happen in this town. Do you know what time period does this all take place?

It's like the early 1900s, they're kind of building a railroad in Colombia, but it's filmed in Colombia, so it's very authentic. And his sons are actually involved in this, and a funny story, he didn't want this to be made into a show or a movie. Interesting. But he said whenever he died, whatever you want to do with my legacy is up to you. Wow. And it does feel authentic. So his family stepped in. This is almost sort of an homage.

Yes. Interesting. That's a great, great point there. Obviously, we have the holidays right around the corner. There are always a lot of Santa-related or Christmas-related movies. This one's a little bit different, though. So it's starring, it's Red Warner's the name of it. It's starring J.K. Simmons and Dwayne the Rock Johnson.

And there is a kidnapping involved in this movie. Take a look. All the things happen. Reach! Someone took Nick. We're going to find him. I'm bringing in Jack O'Malley. He's probably the best tracker in the world.

You guy's a legend. What am I doing here? Last night, Red One, also known as St. Nicholas of Myra, was abducted from the North Pole Complex. Are you saying Santa Claus? What? Santa Claus is kidnapped. Here's my first question, all this, tons of big stars in this movie. Who is this movie directed for?

Are we talking about a younger audience, older audience? To me, it's for kids. Like, I saw a little of my son who's 13. We both loved it, but we even thought a little too old for it. You know, to me, it's for younger kids. It's silly, it's goofy, it's your reverend. But the red one is Santa Claus. He does get it looked at it by a Viking.

And Duane the Rock Johnson's like this bodyguard slash elf. Yeah. Also, Chris Evans. But it's a huge budget. They spent over $200 million on this. They're both action stars. Huge name stars. And I think it's just a cool kind of, you know, new twist on a Christmas film.

And now it's coming to Prime Video. It did okay in the box office. Yeah. They're going to make that money back with folks engaging on Prime Island. Okay. So it's always like the second life, if you will, of these movies going on to And they came really fast. It hit theaters just last month.

So now it's already on Prime. Just in time for Christmas. All right, we're going to wrap right now with a little music. And so this is kind of a hybrid here. Georgia Waze is the name of the song. It includes Cuevo, but also Luke Bryant. Right? You got country, you got hip-hop.

Here's a sample of that. G-E-E-A-R-G-I-A. That's just how I was raised. Stuck in my Georgia. Now, are they, like, off-roading or on a golf course? Where is this set? I mean, they're going fission, I believe, in Georgia. What's kind of cool is they're all from Georgia.

Luke Bryan, Teddy Swins, the Cuevo or rapper Cuevo. They're all from Georgia. The Georgia Boys. This is kind of a nod. Georgia Boys unite. They're coming together and just, like, bringing all these different genres together to showcase what it is to be a Georgia boy. Do you feel like there's been more of a hybrid,

specifically between country and hip-hop and recent years? I feel like Lil Mazzack. might have achieved that at the highest peaks, but it feels like there's like a whole trend going on. When I watched this video, the first thing I said, is Cuevo going to go country? Because he feels like he's going all the way in, and it's working. Look at Beyonce.

So many stars who we didn't think would go country, they're going country. That's an excellent point as well. And there's huge money there, so. You might think originally, like, kind of culture clash or country clashes or country clashes it. Cuevo owns this. And so many rap artists are from the country.

They're from Georgia, Florida. They're country boys. Back to the roots, quite literal. Quite literally. Chris Witherspoon. Thank you so much for your time, sir. I really appreciate that. That is going to do it in terms of your preview for this weekend. And thank you for watching Top Story. I'm Sam Brock in New York for Tom Yamis. Stay right there because more news is on the way.