Top Story with Tom Llamas - Friday, December 19, 2025

Episode Date: December 20, 2025

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.

Breaking tonight, the U.S. launching a massive retaliatory strike inside of Syria targeting ISIS. The military action said to be in response to the deadly attack on American soldiers. New video of American fighter jets launching before striking dozens of targets at multiple sites under the darkness of night after the president vowed revenge. Our new reporting on what targets were hit and what happens next. Also breaking tonight, hundreds of thousands of Epstein files just released. Some documents and images never made public until now. A photo of former President Bill Clinton appearing in a hot tub, plus Epstein side by side with Michael Jackson and other celebrities,

what we're learning. Stunning new details how the Brown University and MIT shooter evaded capture for days, switching license plates using different murder weapons, plus how a tip from this man posted online cracked the case wide open. Deadly knife attack. Horrifying video as a man wielding a knife throws smoke grenades it goes on a stabbing rampage in Taiwan. Brown stops today at some of the nation's busiest airports.

Travelers battling snow, torrential rains, and dangerous winds as the holiday rush begins. The abrupt exit for SNL star Bowen Yang, what we're learning about his shocking leave in the middle of the season. And one teacher's race to save Christmas for hundreds of her students, how strangers helped her pull off a holiday miracle. Plus, the new fee for one of the world's most popular tourist attractions, what it will cost, you to get up close to the Trevi Fountain. Top story starts right now. And good evening. I'm Ellison Barber in for Tom.

We are tracking two major breaking stories as we come on the air. Thousands of new documents and images related to Jeffrey Epstein released by the Department of Justice tonight, but we begin with the major military action by the United States in Syria. The U.S. announcing a, quote, massive and ongoing attack inside the Middle Eastern country. New video posted by U.S. Central Command showing fighter jets, attack helicopters, and other military assets carrying out what's being described as a large-scale attack. A U.S. official telling NBC News, Operation Hawkeye Strike, hit dozens of targets in Syria, targeting ISIS infrastructure and weapon sites. That official also detailing the weapons used, A-10s, F-16, Apache helicopters, and Haimars. The defense secretary blunt about their mission, writing in part, quote, this is not the beginning of the weapons.

a war. It is a declaration of vengeance. The strike coming in response to the weekend killing of two U.S. soldiers after ISIS fighters allegedly ambushed them in Syria. President Trump honoring the fall in during a somber dignified transfer in Dover, Delaware this week. The president vowed to retaliate in the hours after that attack, and today he promised that any terrorist who strikes America will be hit harder than they've ever been hit before. We have full-team coverage of this developing story, and I want to get right to NBC's Courtney Kuby, who joins us now from Washington. Courtney, what are we learning tonight about these strikes? Yeah, we know that they hit multiple targets and dozens of different strikes and locations.

And as you mentioned, they were going primarily after ISIS facilities, infrastructure, and weapons sites. It's all according to a U.S. official. Now, this is called Operation Hawkeye Strike. As we mentioned, it was in retaliation for this ambush near Palmyra, Syria last Saturday, killing two Iowa National Guard soldiers and a U.S. interpreters, multiple platforms. U.S. military platforms, A-10s, F-16s, Apache helicopters, artillery, Haimars, and interestingly, Jordanian F-16s all took part in today's attack. And we heard from both Secretary of Defense Pete Hegeseth about this today, as well as President Trump, about this unfolding operation, Ellison. Courtney, we know the defense secretary has said that this is not the beginning

of a war, but do we anticipate any sort of additional retaliatory strikes? We do. And right now, U.S. officials are saying, look, we should expect. The duration and the scope and the scale of this will depend in part on exactly how ISIS responds to today's first wave of strikes, a U.S. official telling me that the goal today was to go after as many different locations as they could where ISIS is trying to reconstitute right now. But remember, this is not the ISIS from a decade ago. They are not in large concentrated areas. They are spread out throughout various areas. This could go on for a matter of weeks at this point, Ellison, if in fact they want to keep going after ISIS. But again, the scale of this will also depend on how and if ISIS really retaliates for today. NBC's Courtney Cubey, thank you. These strikes, as we mentioned, coming less than a week after President Trump promised retribution

following the attack on those U.S. service members. Senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez has more on that. Gabe, what are we hearing from the White House tonight? Well, Allison, administration officials are touting this as a promise kept. You know, the president just posted on social media that the U.S. is inflicting very serious. serious retaliation, adding all terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned, you will be hit harder than you have ever been hit before if you in any way attack or threaten the USA. The president had attended the dignified transfer of the National Guardsmen

on Wednesday. These retaliatory strikes come just weeks after Trump hosted Syria's new president, Ahmed al-Shara in the Oval Office. Now, he's a former jihadist who once supported al-Qaeda, but now he's a U.S. ally. President Trump making it clear this week that he does not hold Syria's new government responsible for the ISIS attack on American troops. But, Alison, the stability of Syria

is seen as crucial to the administration's foreign policy in the Middle East. Elson? Gabe Gutierrez at the White House tonight. Thank you. For more, I want to bring in Colonel Steve. Warren. He's an NBC news contributor who previously served as the spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve. That's the U.S.-led counter-ISIS military coalition. Colonel Warren, the ISIS that the U.S.

just struck here does not hold the territory that it used to, in large part, thanks to the U.S. military operation you served in. How effective are large-scale strikes like this against a smaller, more insurgent-style ISIS? Yeah, they are moderately effective. These strikes will have several immediate results against ISIS. I believe they will drive ISIS to ground. They will cause the ISIS fighters who are struck to move. They will cause the ISIS fighters to speak, to talk through their various communications methods, and they will allow us to gather more intelligence on them. So they will have significant effects for our intelligence capabilities and for our ability to know where they are and what they're doing. So based on your experience, Colonel Warren,

region. How do you think ISIS will respond to these strikes? Do you expect a response and how soon could it be? They won't respond immediately. What historically ISIS has done in these cases is first they began sort of an internal purge. How did the Americans know we had weapons stored in this location? They'll assume there's a leak or someone has turned on them. So they'll first go through this purge process, which will actually, it helps us because they're fairly ruthless in their purges. They just kill who they think may have spoken to Americans. When that settles down, they'll reorganize whoever's in charge will now take charge, and then they will begin the planning process for if, when, and how they'll retaliate. And we know the administration, including

the defense secretary, has called the strikes a success. Pete Hexat's saying that they hunted and killed our enemies, but it can often take some time to know exactly how effective strikes are. You mentioned that it can be incredibly effective already for intelligence gathering purposes. But big picture, how long does it take to know whether or not these strikes truly had an impact? Well, we'll start seeing, you know, specific, you know, aerial photography. We have personnel in the area that can actually go and look at the sites that have been struck. So we will begin to gather intelligence here almost immediately. We'll have a full picture, most likely, within 48, possibly 72 hours, before we know really how much damage these strikes have done.

And when I say we, of course, it's the Pentagon. Then the Pentagon can decide how much of that information it puts out to the public. All right. Colonel Steve Warren, thank you so much. We appreciate your time and insights. Not of that other major breaking news we're following tonight. Hundreds of thousands of documents related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein just released by the Justice Department. Some images and documents never released to the public until now. NBC's Ryan Nobles with what's inside those files.

Tonight, for the first time, the Epstein files made public. The Justice Department posting hundreds of thousands of items online related to the DOJ's criminal investigations of the late sex offender, including photos that do not include context or prove any criminal activity. Here, former President Bill Clinton appears in a hot tub with someone whose face, is redacted. In another, Clinton is seen next to Epstein, and Michael Jackson seen here with Epstein. Another shows Epstein, co-conspirator Galane Maxwell, Mick Jagger, and Bill Clinton seated at a table. And this photo of Epstein with Richard Branson. The Justice Department and the FBI this summer said they, quote, did not uncover evidence that would warrant an investigation

against uncharged third parties. The documents contain numerous redactions, including to protect victims' identities. What is not fine is for him to engage in additional redactions without any explanation. And that's the question that we have. No administration had ever released the documents until Congress voted nearly unanimously to order the DOJ to make them public. We also want to know why the government failed in so many years. These crimes went on for decades through five different presidential administrations before Epstein was finally put in jail. it comes as new details have been published of Epstein's rise from private school teacher to financial advisor for the wealthy, described as a chronic liar who still gained the trust

of powerful people. The New York Times reporting he lied on his resume and abused expense accounts, citing interviews with people in Epstein's past. And tonight, a top Democrat demanding the DOJ explain what's in and not in the files that were released. So far, I have to say that the release has been disappointing from the initial read of it. But, you know, I reserve judgment until we go through all of the release. And Ryan Nobles joins us now. Ryan, we have been reaching out to people seen in these photos for their responses. Have we heard back yet? We have, Alison. Bill Clinton, he's not been accused of any wrongdoing tied to Jeffrey Epstein. And tonight, his spokesperson says that they can release as many grainy, 20-year-plus old photos as they want. But this isn't about

Bill Clinton. Richard Branson and Mick Jagger have not responded tonight. And, Alison, it's also worth pointing out that there's very little of the current president, Donald Trump, in the files that were released tonight. But there is still many more files to come. And the Deputy Attorney General said, we may not see all of these files for at least two weeks. Alison. Ryan Nobles, thank you. NBC News, National Law Enforcement and Intelligence Correspondent, Tom Winter joins us now for more on this. Tom, I know you and the entire team here have just been pouring through these documents. What has stood out to you so far? You know, I think the fact that just in the last hour, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District

of New York, personally pledged to the judge overseeing the Epstein case that, in fact, they have gone through the files. They've redacted them, I think, erred on the side of over-redacting. And the judge wanted the personal guarantee of the U.S. attorney that no material that shouldn't be released in the form of victim identifying information, all the things that were allowed to be redacted by law, that that information wouldn't be released. So we're still waiting on some of the significant components of the various case files here. I think it's important for people to realize that that we haven't seen a ton from the actual files

that the FBI would have itself. Now, having said that, there are a lot of files here. Today, they talked about several hundred thousands of pages being released. Well, a lot of that are documents that we've already seen before. We're talking about government reports, and not that they're insignificant, just that these are things that have been well reported on, some going back five or more years.

civil case filings, things like that. So what sticks out to me, a couple of things. One, the fact that the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office, Miami, even after Epstein signed that non-prosecution agreement, we're prepared to fly to Australia to meet with a potential victim, that they were not willing to let it die then. The FBI wasn't, at least, in Florida. We know that they wanted to charge Epstein,

even before the U.S. Attorney's Office did. This goes way back to the mid-2000s. Secondly, we're starting to get a sense of some of the New York case files, the fact that they were trying to reach victims, trying to find phone numbers, trying to find these people all these years later, that was back in 2019 as they were moving towards the eventual indictment of Epstein, and then, of course, he died by suicide. So there definitely were efforts that were taking place by the FBI, even if at that point the Justice Department wasn't prepared to move forward.

And Ryan mentioned we are expecting to get more information before the end of the year, but we were supposed to have all of it today, correct? Was that a surprise? We were supposed to have all of it today. I'm not surprised about it, given the compressed time frame. there's not a lot of teeth in the law that mandated every single document by 6 o'clock tonight. So I'm not particularly surprised about that. And then in terms of questions about what could happen next,

we mentioned that the DOJ is saying there isn't any evidence or what we've been told is there's not evidence uncovered in here that could warrant third-party charges of people who were not previously charged? Do you think that is going to be the case, or could we see other criminal trials? I think that's going to be the case. And, you know, I'm seeing a lot of people point out to the picture of Bill Clinton in the bathtub there, whether that was legal or not is one question, whether it's a problem. or not is quite another one, obviously, and people can come to their own conclusions for sure on that.

But the Justice Department and the FBI, under the Trump administration, said in a memo last summer that nobody signed and nobody dated, that, look, we've looked at the totality of the files. One of the first things they did when they came in, they took agents off of cases. They put agents in New York and Washington through hoops to go through all these files, and they said, we don't even have enough information to open investigation. You have to have some information to open investigation. I can't just say, Ellison, you're under investigation tonight if I work in the Justice Department. That's not how it works, or at least not how it's supposed to work. So they said they couldn't even open a case, let alone bring any potential charges. I don't see anything in the files tonight that, in my opinion, and talking to experts in law enforcement, that changes that.

And since they already looked at these files once before, they reviewed it again this spring. I don't know how we're going to come to a different resolution sometime by the early part of 2026. That's just based on their own statements. So I think there's been a lot of people that have suggested there'd be some sort of epic legal developments in this tonight. I think the level head of reporting has shown otherwise, and the documents are showing that too. All right, NBC's Tom Winter, thank you. You got it. Out of the stunning new details about how the alleged Brown University and MIT shooter evaded police for days.

NBC's Aaron McLaughlin on what he did to keep his identity unknown and the Reddit Tipster police now credit with cracking the case, wide open. Tonight, new details about how the alleged Brown University killer, Claudio Manuel Nevesh Valenti, evaded law enforcement for six days. He allegedly killed two students and wounded nine before murdering an MIT professor in Massachusetts. Authorities say Valenti later died by suicide. His body found in a storage unit in New Hampshire. Do you think he planned on killing anyone else? It's possible. He's a dangerous individual, very dangerous. Law enforcement officials, Tell NBC News, Valenti used advanced techniques to avoid being found.

It sounds like he meticulously planned this attack. Oh, there's no question about that. They believe he used different weapons for each murder, avoided using traditional credit cards, changed license plates on his vehicle multiple times, used an international SIM card in his phone, making it harder to trace, and he covered his face. Do you think he knew where all the cameras were? He definitely was conscious of that. Critical to cracking this case, a man law enforcement refers to his job.

A Brown University graduate who frequents the building where the attack happened. He views himself as an extension of the Brown community. Officials say John confronted Valenti in the building hours before the attack. Part of their encounter caught on this surveillance footage showing Valenti running away from John. According to court documents, John followed Valenti outside, where they ran by a Nissan he believed belonged to Valenti because his key fob set off the car lights. Two days ago, authorities put out this notice asking for John to come forward. He came forward within an hour.

John then alerted authorities to the Nissan and other important details. You described the lengths he went to evade authorities. Why did he kill himself? It's a question we have as well. We were posting information and very strategically posting certain things. I'm assuming he realized, but at the end of the day,

we were coming. We just received Valenti's autopsy results. Officials now estimate that he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound three days ago, a day after shooting and killing the MIT professor. And while they believe he had a personal connection at one point to that professor, officials here say they do not know

why he opened fire on a classroom full of students that he likely never met. Alison. Erin McLaughlin in Rhode Island there. Thank you. We want to bring in Providence Attorney General, Peter Neronon. Thank you so much for joining us tonight, Attorney General. Let me just start with the outstanding questions

so many people have here, right? Are we any closer to identifying some sort of motive for this attack? You know, not as I sit here tonight, Ellison. I think that may be something we can learn over the next several days, but I don't want to make any guarantees. This has been a case of twist and turns involving a sophisticated actor that was doing some inexplicable things. And so I don't want to speculate that we'll be able to answer that question. I'm going to try to. Of course, the case in Massachusetts seems very personal.

Brown, not so much. It's a decade or more between the last time he was associated with the university. So we'll try to get to that, get those answers for the families impacted, but I don't want to make any guarantees. Let me ask you about this person who's been identified by law enforcement or referred to by law enforcement as John. You have really credited him as being a huge component of. of cracking this case. Looking at the Providence Police Department's affidavit and arrest warrant here, and on page five of it,

it says a Brown University custodian spoke with a Providence detective and an ATF agent about his interactions with a quote-unquote suspicious person during his shift. In the next paragraph, the affidavit gets into that anonymous Reddit post where the user said in part, police need to look into a gray Nissan

with Florida plates, possibly a rental. That individual is then referred to as John. So just to clarify, is John, the reddit user and the Brown University custodian who had spoken to a Providence detective and ATF agent? He is the Reddit poster. We didn't know that until

he came into the province police station. He approached province police officers. We wanted to help. He is not the custodian. He is not. There are different people. Okay. Help us understand the timeline here a little bit more. A medical examiner has determined that the suspect died on Tuesday. Any more details you have about

that? Well, no. That that seems to be about right based on what we know now. We didn't know that yesterday. We did eventually learn that he had swiped into that storage facility on the 15th. We didn't have any evidence of him coming out, but of course we couldn't guarantee ourselves that he had not come out. You know, again, this was a sophisticated actor, as you're reporting earlier, went through all the ways in which he tried to dodge law enforcement. You know, the car was recovered in New Hampshire. There was a Florida plate. There was a main plate. The main plate

matched the car that was at the scene of the killing of the MIT professor. The Florida plate matched the car that was at the scene of the Brown or nearby the Brown murder scene and shooting scene. So this was a sophisticated actor. He could have stayed in there. Going in on the 15th, killed himself on the 16th. That seems likely. But that is. something that we've only begun to learn details of in the last 12 hours or so. So there was also this person of interest at one point who was brought in for questioning then released. When you look back, and I know hindsight is always 2020, but based on what you know right now, was that or anything else, missteps made by law enforcement that

delayed getting in touch and tracking this guy down from particularly when the Brown University shooting happened to two days later when he was in Massachusetts killing another person. Yeah. So I would say that the way we found this killer was by learning his name. And we learned his name by over a period of two days or so pulling all the video footage in the area. And we're able to retrace his movements, which led us to John. John led us to the car, which led us to the rental car facility in Boston, the photograph that just came up on your screen, the coats matched. We knew we had our guy, and then we had to locate him. Before getting there, over those three, four days, we had four, I would say four other leads on suspects, related to cars, for example, or related to cell phones. The person that you're referring to had a telephone that the FBI ran down as being in a town close to Providence. That person had links to Brown. when the FBI went to that location and attempted to speak to the person, the person was initially

uncooperative with the agents. The agents went into the room and they secured it. Now, we had to go get search warrants to check that evidence out, to see if it matched the evidence at the scene to run DNA evidence. That took about 24 hours. But while that was happening, we weren't stopping. We were continuing to pull the video that led to all of the other steps that led us to this So whether it's running that to ground. I mean, we must have had over 50 detectives and agents working this case. It was like all 50 were working on one part of it, one part of it. When those FBI agents covered that first initial lead,

all the other law enforcement back in Providence, I was there at the time, we're searching out other leads, but most importantly, trying to get that video evidence. By the time we had that evidence, we're probably now talking a couple days later, as my memory serves, then again, that takes us to our cooperating witness, John, John takes us the car, car takes us the rental facility, rental facility gives us the name. By that point, unfortunately, our MIT professor has already been murdered. And I have about 10 seconds left,

but are there any plans to do some sort of look back internal review to see if anything could have or should have been done differently? Not from a law enforcement perspective. I think Brown has some soul-searching to do in the sense of reviewing their plans. But this was an incredibly well-executed law enforcement response. And I'm proud of the work of all of the law enforcement agents and our prosecutors who were there. All right. Attorney General Peter Norona, thank you so much for your time tonight. We really appreciate it. Thank you, Alison. And we'll be back in just a moment with a horrifying knife attack in Taiwan. The man going on a stabbing spree sending crowds running for their lives. What we're learning

tonight. Plus, another round of severe weather slamming parts of the country and causing chaos at airports, what it could mean for your holiday travel plans. And gearing up for blast off, blue origin, counting down to its historic launch with the first wheelchair user set to reach space. That's ahead on top story. We're back with the terrifying scenes in Taiwan. A man throwing smoke grenades into a train station and later attacking bystanders with a large knife during the Friday night rush hour, killing three people.

NBC's Liz Croix has this report and a warning. The video is disturbing. Tonight, a horrifying rampage in the heart of Taiwan's capital. Videos show a man dressed in black running through a crowded shopping district in Taipei, yielding a massive night, indiscriminately slashing bystanders, for entering a popular mall, sending terrified shoppers running. Authorities say the assailant began his deadly Friday night attack at this nearby metro station where he threw five or six smoke grenades.

Videos show heavy smoke, filling part of the station, and commuters just feed from the attacker, taking shelter in a Starbucks. In this CCTV footage, you can see the chaos and someone falling to the ground. Everybody was panicking, said this McDonald's employee. What I did immediately was to get the customers to take cover and hide. This woman says she was among those attacked, saying it did not feel like a slash. It felt more like being hit. Then it really hurt. According to Taiwan's national news agency, three people were killed and at least six others hurt, and that the suspect, 27-year-old Chang Wen, also died after jumping out of a store window. Taipei's mayor says Wen was a wanted fugitive for evading military service.

Tonight, Taiwan's Prime Minister announcing increased security in public areas, seeking to calm a nation unaccustomed to violence. Liz Kreutz, NBC News. And still ahead on top story, the new warning to parents with kids on social media. We'll hear from one mother who says her teenage son took his life just days after joining Instagram because of a sextortion scam. Plus, why a judge threw out a murder conviction for one of the men found guilty in the death of hip-hop legend, Jam Master Jay. But first, top story's top moment and the heartwarming moment on the football field. 83-year-old Navy veteran Kenny Jari attended the Army Navy football game and joined the team of his alma mater on the field to celebrate their win.

It turns out, Kenny was the one being celebrated. with, take a look. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Great, good, good, good. Kenny says it is a day he will never forget. Stay with us.

More top story on the way. Back now with the wild weather sending holiday travel into a meltdown. Dangerous winds and heavy rain, triggering delays and cancellations at major airports across the country. NBC's Emily Aketa reports. Severe weather tonight rocking parts of the country and causing ground stops and delays at major airports packed with holiday travelers. It doesn't look good outside. More than 52 million people will fly over the holiday with the busy. days at airports through this weekend, plus just after Christmas.

Darlene Del Rosario calls this the nerve center for United Flights at Newark. We're always in planning mode, 24-7 for United Airlines to make sure our customers get the least impacted. So right now we're looking at this conditions for the rest of the day, high winds, rain for the most part, but we are all set up. They're grappling with thunderstorms and powerful winds in the Northeast, strong enough to topple trees onto power lines. A mix of wind and snow, stirring up dangerous conditions in the upper Midwest, and watch the force of these gusts, turning travel treacherous in Wyoming and making it difficult to see in Colorado, which is facing a rare, particularly dangerous situation alert for wildfire risk, as gusts topped 100 miles an hour. Our NBC affiliate KUSA is on the ground in Boulder. Here's one of those guests right now. This is what I'm talking about.

shutting off power to tens of thousands in case more trees and power poles snap as officials there urge people stay home and off the roads in a turbulent start to the holiday rush travels off to a bit of a bumpy start with flight cancellations and delays approaching 10,000 tonight and if you're driving AAA says you'll start to see congestion pick up on the roadways this weekend your trip time can more than double near some major cities from Boston to DC Ellison Emily Aketa. Thank you. Turning now to Top Story's news feed, Representative Elise Stefanik announcing today she will suspend her campaign for governor of New York and not seek re-election in Congress. The Trump

ally taking to social media to share the news, writing that she, quote, did not come to this decision lightly. White House press secretary Caroline Levitt praising Stefanik saying she has been an incredible advocate for the people of her district. And a federal judge overturning the conviction of a man in the killing of DJ Jam Master Jay. It has been nearly two dead. since run DMC founder Jam Master Jay was shot in the head in New York City. The DJ's godson, Carl Jordan Jr., was convicted of that murder last year. But the allegations against him hinged on the idea that he killed the musician after he was cut out of a drug deal. The judge ruling that the government lacked proof that the murder had been drug-related.

It is still not clear whether Jordan will be freed from jail. At a sudden exit for Bowen Yang, NBC's The Today Show reporting Yang will be leaving Saturday Night Live following this weekend's episode. The comedian and actor is in his eighth season of the show. He first joined SNL as a writer back in 2018, becoming an on-air featured player the following year, and then joining the main cast in 2021. His exit comes after a big cast shake up a few months ago, where five cast members left or were let go by the show. And Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin, is set to make history yet again, this time by sending an aerospace engineer who uses a wheelchair into space. Michi Benthouse is set to take off on Blue Origins rocket tomorrow morning. She'll be one of six passengers on board for the latest mission.

Benhouse has used a wheelchair since 2018 after a mountain biking accident left her with a spinal cord injury. According to Blue Origin, she continued to pursue her passion for access, advocating for greater access to space. She flew aboard a zero-g research flight back in 2022 and completed an analog astronaut mission. Next tonight, an urgent warning for families with teens on social media. It's a phrase you may have heard before, sextortion. It's when a scammer solicits nude or intimate photos and then threatens to share those images publicly unless the victim shares more or pays a fee. Last year, the FBI identified sexortion as a growing threat,

saying they've received at least 13,000 reports of online financial extortion of minors. And now two grieving families are taking a social media platform where these scams happen, to court, alleging that META and Instagram did not do enough to protect teens from extortion schemes. One of those mothers lost her 13-year-old son, Levi, in 2024, just two days after she says he downloaded Instagram on his phone. Investigators later told her Levi was a victim of sextortion and took his own life after scammers threatened to release compromising pictures.

In a statement, META calls sextortion a horrific crime, adding that they support law enforcement to prosecute the criminals behind it and that they can continue. to fight them on our apps on multiple fronts. For more on this, I want to bring in Levi's mother, Trisha Machesky, who joins us now, along with her attorney, Matthew Bergman, from the Social Media Victims Law Center. Tricia, I want to thank you for taking the time to speak us tonight. Speak to us tonight. I know this is something that is hard, and I imagine it never gets easier,

but we really appreciate you coming on with us tonight and sharing your story to help other families as well. So to start, could we just have you tell us a little bit about your son, Levi, the type of kid he was, the things he liked to do? I know he was big into baseball, right? Yeah. Levi was full of life and light. He was a straight-A student. He was a talented athlete. He played baseball, football, golf. He was like a people magnet. People were just drawn to him. He was fun to be around. It's absolutely adorable. He gave great hugs. Levi had his future planned out. He wanted to go to Career Tech.

He was going to get a college scholarship. He was going to join ROTC. He was going to go to business school, make all the money. But Levi was taken the day before he was supposed to start eighth grade. He didn't get to do any of that. I know when something like this happens, it can be hard to not put all of the blame on yourself. And I know you took tons of steps to try and protect your son when he was using his phone and also interacting online. Could you talk to us about that?

And what is your advice to other parents? Well, I was naive. There's no doubt about it. I was very trusting Instagram. said good for kids, ages 12 and up. My baby was 13 and a half. But I mean, we're parents. We do the absolute best we can with what we know. I mean, on our fridge, I brought them. There's our device guidelines. We set the boundaries. We set the expectations. We set the bar very high for our kids. I didn't know what I didn't know.

Matthew, let's talk about META's response here and dig into that a little bit more because they also said, and I'm quoting here, since 2021, we placed teens under 16 into private accounts when they sign up for Instagram, which means they have to approve any new followers. But in your complaint, you note that this feature should have applied to Levi since he was only 13, but on information and belief, it did not work. Tell us what you mean by that. Well, Mehta's own internal documents show that time and time again, when the choice became protecting young boys such as Levi or enhancing its profits, it always chose profits. The alleged program that went into effect in 2021 by Mehta's own internal documents didn't work 50 percent of the time. What happened to Levi was neither an accident or coincidence.

It was a murder that was facilitated by Mehta's deliberate design decisions. Since Levi's death, Instagram has updated its policies, or at least they've announced updates to their policies, to automatically put teens into private accounts with increased restrictions as well as parental controls, adding a slew of measures. They say would prevent teens from skirting age-restricted accounts by trying to register for accounts as adults. Matthew, do you see steps like that as movement in the right direction, or are those also insufficient in your view? Well, every step that saves a life is a step in the right direction. I don't want to deprecate those steps, but it's just not enough. The platforms are designed to be addictive to kids. They're designed to promote engagement from kids with all sorts of individuals, including

nefarious pedophiles and exploiters. And this is a continuing phenomenon. What happened to Levi happened after Metahead assured. the public that it had solved the problem, it had not. We believe that this is a deliberate design decision that META makes to enhance engagement of its users over the safety of young kids like Levi, and these horrific results are the foreseeable consequences of these decisions. This did not have to happen.

Tricia, the Pennsylvania State Police told us just the other day that they are still investigating what happened to Levi on the law enforcement front. How has that gone for you and your family? Have they been responsive to what happened here? They have a job to do, and I think they're doing it to the best of their ability. When you think about social media's involvement in all of this, I want to go back to a Senate hearing on child online safety where Mark Zuckerberg apologized to parents who have said Instagram contributed to their children's exploitation or deaths.

Tricia, if you were sitting in a room with Mark Zuckerberg, Mark Zuckerberg right now, what would you say to him? I'd love to invite him to my home. I'd let him sit and Levi's chair at the kitchen table that nobody sat in since Levi was taken. I'd walk him into Levi's room, and I'd let him sit and look at his trophies and look at his hats hanging on a wall. And then I'd ask him if his daughter was safe online. Matthew, what do you think needs to happen next in terms of this lawsuit? also broadly, what's been happening with social media companies?

What needs to happen is that kids getting online should have the same level of protection from predators that adults do when they get on Tinder. They should not be subjected to messages from strangers, and also they should be warned. You know, this practice of extortion is particularly virulent among 14-year-old. boys or young, young boys who are, because of their stage of biology, very vulnerable to these kinds of things, they need to be upfront with parents and kids about this clear and present danger. I mean, this was a family who was doing everything they could conceivably do to protect

their kids from online harms. They had no idea of this extortion risk, not because it didn't exist, not because META didn't know about it, but META chose not to provide the warnings that these families were entitled to receive. This family and every other family needs to have a sane appreciation of the risk that their kids experience when they go online in order to make the decision whether to allow them to do so. Matthew Bergman, Trisha Machesky, thank you both so much for your time tonight and for sharing some of Levi's story with us. We really appreciate you both. Thank you very much. And coming up on top story, Vladimir Putin holding a marathon

year-in news conference. Our Keir Simmons was in the room. impressing him on efforts to end the war, how the Russian president responded. And a big announcement in Rome today aimed at cracking down on tourists what it will cost you to get a close-up look at one of Italy's most popular attractions. Stay with us. Back now with the push for peace in Ukraine. President Trump urging Ukraine and European allies to move quickly on a deal, but at Vladimir Putin's annual end of the year press conference in Moscow, the Russian leader telling our

chief international correspondent, Keir Simmons, the ball is in Ukraine's court to end the war. Take a look. President Trump has a peace deal on the table. Ukraine is offering enormous compromises, yet you continue to talk of war. Mr. President, if you reject President Trump's peace offer, will you be responsible for the deaths of Ukrainians and Russians in 2026? We will not consider ourselves responsible for the death of people. It wasn't us who started this war. The ball is entirely in the court of our Western so-called opponents.

And Kier Simmons joins us now from Moscow. Kier, there is a lot of U.S. pressure for a peace deal by Christmas. Based on what you have heard from President Putin, it seems like there are few signs of compromise. I think that's right, Alison. In that answer, President Putin did say that Russia is compromising. We should point out that, of course, it was Russia that invaded Ukraine in 2022. What you heard President Putin's saying there was that he is not responsible for the war, he says, because of what he calls the root causes, by which he means things like the expansion of NATO.

But, of course, Ukraine would say that it is very much Russia. that is responsible for what President Putin originally of course called his special military operation. It was a four-and-a-half-hour question-and-answer session. It is traditional that President Putin holds it at the end of the year, really was dominated by questions of Ukraine. There were also complaints from Russians about their economic conditions, including a widow who said her husband had died on the front line, and she still hadn't gotten the money that she was due after. his death. But President Putin also answering claims by the Europeans that he is planning to attack Europe, calling them nonsense and promising, Alison, that there will be no more wars after Ukraine

if, and this is crucial, if Russia is treated with respect. So seeming to leave open, really, that possibility. And he has said in recent weeks and months that Russia isn't looking for a war with with Europe, but that it is prepared to fight one if one comes their way. The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, today, Alison, I should just say, saying that the U.S. is not pressuring either side, just trying to see if a deal is possible. But you really have to wonder with talk like that from the Russian leader, whether one really is possible at this stage, Alison. NBC's Keir Simmons, pushing for answers there in Russia.

Thank you. We appreciate it. Now to Top Story's Global Watch, a wave of violent protest, breaking out in Bangladesh. over the deadly shooting of a popular youth leader. Take a look at these scenes from the capital city of DACA. Thousands of protesters blocking a major public travel hub and crowd-setting fire to the office of the country's largest daily newspaper. Interim government is now urging people to resist violence

ahead of the country's parliamentary elections in less than two months. And Australia planning to launch a national gun buyback program following the mass shooting in Sydney that left 15 people dead. The government saying it will work with states to target newly banned and illegal fire. as well as the surplus of guns. New South Wales also announcing its changing its state laws to tighten licensing requirements and restrict access to high-risk weapons. And tourists in Rome who want to get close to the famed Trevi Fountain will soon have to pay a fee. Starting in February,

the city's mayor says it will cost two euros to get an up-close look at the popular tourist attraction. He told reporters the plan is expected to raise more than six million a year and will help reduce large and chaotic crowds at that fountain. Back here at home to the story of a Texas teacher who turned to TikTok to save a Christmas tradition at her elementary school. Donations from total strangers leading to a holiday her students will never forget. Here's Tom. Hi, my name's Kyle. In Fort Worth, Texas, one teacher was on a mission. And I have 50 days to save Christmas for the 400 students at my school. Kyle Murphy pleading followers to help keep alive a longstanding tradition at George C. Clark

elementary school. Many of our students don't have Christmas gifts at home. So 50 years ago, they decided to purchase a gift for every student so they can at least have something under their tree Christmas morning. But this year, the money came in short. So I panicked because I couldn't imagine having a student not wake up to anything under their Christmas tree. Out of options, she went to TikTok. I am going to post every day for the next 55 days and hopes of raising enough money to get these gifts to our wonderful kiddos. So Mrs. Murphy created a wish list on Amazon. Within 48 hours, the people of TikTok had purchased all gifts, and they were headed to my house.

Crates of presents delivered to her doorstep and strangers around the world pitching in. I got cash app and memo donations. Anywhere from a dollar, kids saying, this is all I have. I want to help, and this is the way that I can help. How do you think it is? Making sure each kid had the Christmas they deserved. All thanks to a teacher who wished to keep traditions and the Christmas spirit alive. With everything heavy going on right now, I think we're, as a society, we're skeptical when people reach out and ask for help.

But when this took off like it did, it just really, it sounds so cliche, but restore my faith in humanity. And when we come back, a look at everything worth binge watching and listening to this weekend. Emily Ann Paris returns, but she's taking viewers to a new city. Plus, the second season of Amazon's hit series Fallout just dropped. And, of course, we'll break down some of the top new music to get you in the festive move over the holidays. Stay with us. And we are back now with binge-worthy. Our look at the best things to watch and listen to this weekend, we're joined by entertainment correspondent Adam Havner.

Adam, it is so good to have you here. just jump in on a thing. I'm a little embarrassed to admit. I haven't really watched properly, but I know you can film me in, and I know everybody is obsessed. Emily and Paris, season five, and now she is in Italy?

She's in Rome. Rome? I'm so jealous. Emily, Paris, Rome, I go to Hoboken. How does she get jobs? She's really got the cushy part. Let's watch a clip, and then we'll talk more after. I don't think my ideas are translating,

but Rome wasn't built in a day. And yet, it only took you one day to destroy it. Rome is so new and exciting, but I have got a whole life for myself in Paris and everything is just going all about me. You know the saying you can't go home again? Well, you can. It's leaving. That's the hard part. That is not Hoboken. Team Gabriel or Alfie? Alfi? Sure.

Is that what I should say? Is it Gabriel? I say whichever when you all say. Well, we will see. I texted executive producer, creative Darren Starr. He said there's 10 episodes. You have to wait to the end. It's a. classic cliffhanger, and it's very, very jaw-dropping. And it's not too late to get into it, right? I could binge all four of them when I'm off next, not next week, the week after. Alison, it's number one on Netflix, season five, stronger than ever. You have plenty of time this weekend.

I'll put that on my to do-list. Okay, so the next one that we have is a popular series. It's on Amazon Prime. It's actually based on a video game, Fallout, back for season two. Take a look at this one. The stuff we fight for? Story has it used to believe in those things, too. I've always signed it for 200 years.

I've kept myself alive for one reason to find my family. I mean, I have heard a lot of people talking about it, and I'm always like, is it the video game, or is it the show? But people seem to just love both. Listen, I go to the church of Walton Goggins. He can do no wrong White Lotus, season three. Season two, this show is strong.

Him and Ella Parnell, her eyes so mesmerizing. I love her. And we get the origin story. of his character, Cooper, so he's out of the prosthetic, not that ghoul, and also McCauley Coakin, Home Alone. Ah! Oh, that is a really good season, too, and makes it even a little Christmassy. Yes, a little bit.

A little bit. I don't really, but I mean, McCauley Coakin, I'm like, he probably doesn't want that, but I'm like, you're Christmas to me, you're Christmas. He's great. He's great. Okay, so it's also been a really big year for music documentaries, right? There's this new one on HBO Max, counting crows. Have you seen me lately?

It profiles the band's front man. Take a look. As a front person, Adam took all this. angst and transcended it through music. I couldn't wait to make a record. And I thought, I'm going to write the fucking greatest rock and roll album. I mean, is there a Jen Aniston cameo? I didn't know they dated it.

Oh, yes. Where was I? Yes, it was huge news, huge news. What do you make it this one? 20 million albums sold. What were you? Was it around here, Mr. Jones? What was it for you?

Biggerla taxi? Yeah. Mr. Jones is great, though, too. I love, this is a feel good. If you love music, if you love this band, Adam talks about mental health in a positive way. It just, you learn a lot. It's really good.

You know, he was a bartender at the Viper. What? No, I didn't know that. Yes, it's fascinating. Okay, so you get really deep into the 90s music scene in so many ways. So good. Okay, I love that.

Let's talk Christmas movies. And what you can binge. And I will start with, like, my list of mandatory viewing for me personally at home. So here are a few that I'm. I like to watch every Christmas, and we'll be watching this time, Home Alone, that one and two, I believe, on Disney Plus, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, and Elf, those are streaming on HBO Max, and happiest season with Kristen Stewart. That one can be watched on Hulu. And I know you have some suggestions for us, Adam. What are your go-toes? Yes, I'm going to say, All in the Family, it's on Hulu and Pluto TV for free and also Apple TV. And all in the family, classic sitcom, but some of the best holiday episodes, they tackled hard issues. And to honor Rob Reiner, great actor, yes. That's a really good one to pick. And the holiday, I mean, it's all up, right?

It's not just the holiday episodes. You can watch all of it. Okay, great wreck. I love that. Should we do music? Please, ma'am. All right, there are some new holiday selections that are out this season. Mickey Guyton has a song called Sugar Cookies,

and she actually performed it on the Today Show. So let's listen to that. You're my sugar, sugar, sugar cookie, sugar. That goody, goodie, sweetenet. What do you think of it? I love Mickey Guy then. She can do no wrong. Oh, Holy Night, one of the best renditions, in my opinion.

Also, people don't know, Mickey can do a mean Britney Spears. Oops, I did it again. No. She's a talented superstar. I love Mickey. Okay, good for her. And that's, so Sugar Cookies is out now, but did she have an album out? A whole Christmas album is out right now, yeah.

Okay, great, love that. The next one, Kylie Minow. I mean, iconic, and everybody was so happy on trivia, the event. night it was like named these Australians and I was like I know Kylie went out thank you very much she has hit number one on the Christmas charts in the UK with this one and it is called x-mas She's taking the Chapel Rone playbook. She's like, did we do this for Hot to Go? We can do it again, yes.

She is the Mariah Carey of the UK. Number one, she went to Instagram and celebrate. It's a great album. And I love 10th anniversary from her first Christmas album. And Santa Baby, no one does it better than Earth a Kit, but Kylie Minogue gives her a run for money. So good. You got to listen.

Do you like the classics or the new people? I like both. I really like when there's like the crossover, which it sounds like she's doing over. You're getting like a slight tweak on the update. That's great. Thanks. Hey.

Adam Havner, thank you so much for being with us. We really appreciate it. And thank you at home for watching Top Story. For Tom Yamis, I'm Ellison Barber in New York. Stay right there. More news is on the way.