Top Story with Tom Llamas - Friday, February 14, 2025

Episode Date: February 15, 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.

Breaking tonight, the Justice Department officially moving to dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The filing coming as a seventh prosecutor in the case has now resigned over the administration's push to drop those charges. Overview of the stunning turn of events, now moving to a federal judge. We'll take a closer look at what influence, if any, the judge could have and what a simmering showdown between the DOJ and New York prosecutors could mean for the future of justice in the U.S. US. Also tonight, mass federal firings. Thousands left without a job as the Trump administration cleans house. The positions eliminated and which department could be their next target. The dangerous storm on the move after unleashing torrential rains on Los Angeles, dash cam video capturing a driver escaping his car swept away in a mudslide. The grocery store's ceiling also caving in as this

storm now takes aim at 53 million Americans. We're timing it all out for you. The plea deal, in the shooting of Ralph Yarl, the 86-year-old man pleading guilty after the black teen, mistakenly rang his doorbell. NBC News speaking exclusively with Yarl's mother about the emotional moments inside the courtroom. And the shocking video. A young bull rider gored in the neck at the rodeo. We speak with him about how he narrowly escaped death and his plans to get right back on the bull and sang adios to duo. Language app Duolingo announcing the death of its beloved green owl mask. Scott. The hilarious social media reactions as fans and celebrities alike are grieving this loss.

So is it just a hoot or a clever marketing ploy? Plus the cost of love this Valentine's Day, the chocolate prices taking, shall we say, a bittersweet toll on the holiday. Top story starts right now. And good evening. I'm Sam Brock in for Tom Yamis tonight. A lot going down. Breaking tonight the decision of whether to drop the charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, now in the hands of a judge. It comes after a motion was just filed to dismiss the corruption case altogether amid heightened pressure from the Trump administration. That move sparking a showdown between the DOJ and some of its own lawyers, with more than a half-dozen

prosecutors stepping down. The dramatic standoff comes just days after the acting deputy attorney general, Emil Beauvais, pushed to drop the case, saying it was restricting Adams' ability to devote full attention to immigration and violent crime. Mayor Adams has long denied any wrongdoing. Let's quickly remind you of what he's actually accused of. Adams was indicted on five counts, including bribery, fraud, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations,

including free plane tickets and luxury hotel stays. A total of seven prosecutors have now resigned, one of the lead prosecutors, Hagen Scotton, warning President Trump that he could use the charges as leverage over the mayor and now calls for Adams to resign. are escalating. This mayor can no longer be the mayor of this city. Right now, New York City is being run by someone that cannot make the best decisions for

this city. But some legal experts are sounding the alarm on this entire situation. A former federal prosecutor writing in part, in his first weeks in office, Donald Trump has taken unprecedented action to invite corruption in the federal government and to undermine the guardrails meant to protect against it. This is beyond troubling. It is an emergency. We have a lot to get to this evening.

NBC's senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett starts us off. Tonight, the Justice Department officially abandoning its corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams. The formal motion to dismiss all charges filed by a career prosecutor in Washington after a standoff with prosecutors in New York who refused to go along. The lead attorney overseeing Adams' case in Manhattan penning a blistering resignation letter obtained by NBC News, laying into Trump-appointed DOJ Brass for saying the case was distracting Adams from devoting his full attention to the president's priorities on immigration

and crime. Attorney Hagen Scott in writing, no system of ordered liberty can allow the government to use the carrot of dismissing charges or the stick of threatening to bring them again to induce an elected official to support its policy objectives. Adding, if no lawyer with an earshot of the president is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool or enough of a coward to file your motion. But it was never going to be me. As Adams now faces growing calls to step down, the pressure he faces when it comes to supporting Mr. Trump's immigration objectives on full display, as the mayor and Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, appeared together this morning on Fox.

If he doesn't come through, I'll be back in York City, and we won't be sitting on the couch, to be in his office, up his butt, saying where the hell is the agreement we came to? Adams pushing back on the idea of any quid pro quo, saying tonight, I want to be crystal clear with New Yorkers. I never offered, nor did anyone offer on my behalf, any trade of my authority as your mayor, for an end to my case. Never. Still, the case touching off an upheaval within the department with at least seven prosecutors quitting, including those in Manhattan with sterling conservative credentials. As for what comes next here, a judge still has to sign off on this deal, so it's not quite a done deal, if you will. And while the judge can't exactly block it,

he could make it uncomfortable questioning the prosecutors about how all this went down. Back to you. All right, Laura, thank you. That's actually a great springboard now to our next subject matter. For more on this case, I want to bring in NBC News Legal Analyst, Danny Savalo. Danny, walk us through right now this filing the DOJ has just submitted asking to drop the case. As Laura mentioned, it now goes before a judge. What can that judge actually do here? Yeah. Forget the DOJ filing. What about all these letters and memos going back and forth between Emil Bovey, Danielle Sassoon, and other folks that are not filed on the record. The drama is happening not only on the record with the motion to dismiss, but off the record with these memos and letters going back and forth. Valleys fired back and forth

between Maine Justice, now headed essentially by Emil Bovey and Trump's appointees. And members of the Southern District who were holdovers, I guess you would say, from the old Biden administration. They're fighting back. So the motion is to dismiss, and yes, the court theoretically has to approve. And there are cases that have said where courts have held off on it or made it difficult, but in all likelihood, the case will be dismissed. So you sound skeptical that the judge is going to intervene here and say there's not enough in terms of the legal merit of dropping the charges which were brought for a reason in the first place to actually take action? Right. In theory, the rule requires consent, but the practical reality is what happens if the court orders the DOJ to continue

with the prosecution. And again, AUSA Sassoon did, or I should say act, then acting U.S. attorney Sassoon pointed out some cases where this kind of thing has happened, but the reality is the case is going to be dismissed. What does SDNY, the Southern District of New York, that office look like? You know, have seven prosecutors who have resigned. Are you expecting more? What are the long-term implications here? Maybe. A lot of people are talking about the Saturday Night Massacre during the Nixon era, which really only had a couple resignations. We're seeing more than just a couple resignations. So this is a really big deal. And it's so rare, especially for people who are not former federal prosecutors like me and people who are not involved in government to see this kind of internal battle play out right out in the open for everyone to see. I can't express to you enough how completely unprecedented it is, not the dismissal of it. Eric Adams, but just the infighting between Maine Justice and the Southern District. A lot of folks don't realize that there is a culture of, I wouldn't say, I would say tension

between the two. They are truly independent, but the Southern District does think of itself as independent from Maine Justice, even if it isn't. That's such a good point, right? Because there should be some sense of an impartiality there, the office views itself as its own entity. And yet now you have a situation where these, correct me if I're wrong, but these charges could be brought back at any time, right? So Mayor Adams, if the expectation is he's going to be acting impartially in his office, but he knows the specter of the charges coming back if he doesn't follow a certain policy agenda. Like, is it possible under these circumstances for an elected official to be doing his job without worried about some of these other outside noises?

It's the most intriguing part of this dismissal, is the dismissal without prejudice. Now, here's the thing. A lot of times when prosecutors dismiss charges, they dismiss without prejudice. They dismiss without prejudice. It's their preference because in prosecutor land, you always want the possibility of bringing them again. In other words, it's just, you know, it's good adversarial work. Instead of with prejudice, why not without prejudice? What if we find the body? What if we find the missing evidence? We want to be able to bring it back. And that is actually very normal. In practice, especially in state court, a dismissal without prejudice is as good as with prejudice because there are so many cases, they're not going to come circle back and come get your guide. But in this case, it sounds a lot like a leash. A leash we're saying to Eric Adams, we'll dismiss without prejudice, but I can promise you in a few months when that new U.S. attorney comes in, he's going to look at that case again, and we're going to see just how much merit it has. And between the lines, it sounds a lot like we're going to see how much you've helped us with our immigration policy since then, and maybe we'll bring this case again. It is pretty ominous. I mean, Thomas Holman even said on Fox & Friends as he was sitting next to Eric Adams, hey, if you don't honor our agreement, and Adams is like, what agreement? I will be back here, and he used some choice words.

Does that not raise alarm bells for anyone concerned about the ethics and sort of moral boundaries of the Justice Department? It raises alarm bells. Now, in fairness, Emil Beauvais, in his memo directing dismissal, said, hey, just in case you think this is a quid pro quo, it's not. And he explained why in a footnote. Adam said that. No, no, this is what Emil Bovay. But Adams also said that. Right, yes.

So everybody's saying there's no quid pro quo, but methinks everyone doth protest too much. I mean, it's not enough to dispel the idea of a quid pro quo by just saying nothing to see here. I mean, that's been since time immemorial. One last other question here. Can Letitia James, the Attorney General in New York, can she take any steps from the state level to bring any charges against Adams? It likely wouldn't be Letitia James. It would likely be more the Manhattan DA's office, although they would likely be conflicted out. So you're right, it could go back up to the Attorney General.

But in theory, yes, in practice, if they had not investigated and considered private, prosecuting him before. That, too, would be a bad look because it would look like, oh, the only reason we thought he was guilty of a crime is because the federal government decided to stop prosecuting him. Now we think he's guilty, even though we never thought that before. So it's theoretically possible, assuming the statute of limitations hasn't expired, but politically it feels unlikely. This is all. Fascinating, chilling to a degree, and the fact that you were able to bring Shakespeare into the equation, and you get extra points for that, Mr. Mcbeth. Is that Shakespeare? I have no idea. I'm pretty sure.

Danny Savalos. He does a little bit of everything. Thank you so much, Danny. We are also following news tonight of more federal workforce cuts by the Trump administration. Thousands more government employees fired today in departments ranging from the VA to the agency. Get this overseeing the nuclear stockpile. NBC News, senior White House correspondent Kelly O'Donnell has the full details. Tonight, a wave of new terminations for thousands of federal workers swept up in mass fire from the Oval Office. The president said more job cuts are coming. Beyond 75,000 workers, the administration says volunteered to quit with his offer of a promised payout. It's a big, tremendous saving for a guy. We want to downsize government, but make it better. Run it better.

Today, outside Health and Human Services, Valentine Hearts left for federal workers to protest Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. The first convening of Federal workers against Doge. Among those let go, first-year employees with probationary status, like 39-year-old Elizabeth Anaskevich fired from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I never would have imagined that this is what would have happened, and it would have happened so swiftly and so inhumanely. At Veterans Affairs, more than 1,000 employees dismissed. U.S. Forest Service, 3,400. Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration oversees the nuclear

stockpile. No specific figure, but a DOE spokesman stated less than a half of a percent of the total NNSA workforce was dismissed. A big target for Doge, waste or abuse of tax dollars. The government accountability office found in 23, $23336 billion in what's considered improper payments wrongly sent by federal agencies. Today, newly sworn in Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. And as far as the layoffs go, I don't have the exact number, but yes, those will be forthcoming. All right, Kelly O'Donnell, joining us now from the White House. And Kelly, we understand you have some more reporting tonight on Doge's attempts to access sensitive data at the Treasury. And Sam, you know, there are many lawsuits related to their activities.

And one of them focuses on whether those Doge teammates of Elon Musk can get into. to secure systems inside Treasury. 19 states, attorneys general, filed suit on this. A judge today heard arguments and is extending the temporary restraining order pending a final decision on this case. Sam? All right, Kelly, thank you so much.

The whirlwind in Washington continues. In the meantime, now to that powerful atmospheric river that slammed Southern California overnight, mudslides, pushing a fireman's SUV into the ocean and a rare California tornado damaging homes. This is a major winter. storm is set to March east now, bringing heavy snow and ice to much of the country, more of the same here.

Morgan Chesky is in the storm zone tonight. In Malibu, a mud-covered SUV tossed surf sign after a terrifying moment mid-storm. Dashcam capturing a rainfall torrent, exploding through concrete barriers onto the Pacific Coast Highway, where it swept this SUV off the road in seconds. The debris barely missing Hector Caldera's own tree. As soon as we start backing up to the other side, another slide, so we got trapped from both slides. Our crew there as the driver with L.A. fire climbed out shaken, but somehow safe. The close call blamed on an atmospheric river, drenching charred burn zones, flooding the Los Angeles

metro area, even unleashing a rare tornado near Oxnard. The house shook, and the noise got louder and louder, and it sounded like something hit the top of the house. mud lining streets beneath the Eaton Fire burn zone where residents say the slide swallowed nearly everything in its path all of a sudden you could hear the roar and this flash flood of mud came down the street it was horrendous a storm so violent the roof of this supermarket caved in I was like oh my god like I was scared out of my mind it was insane back in Malibu as a crane hoisted that

SUV back under dry land Captain Eric Scott stressing even though the rain The landslide risk remains. How much longer before that landslide risk ends? Usually 48 hours is our main concern after the rain stopped. But again, this is still rather tumultuous. There's a lot of burned, scarred footprints throughout Los Angeles, and we know there's more rain to come. All right there, Morgan Chesky, joining us now from Malibu.

You can just hear there, Morgan, the tenuous nature of all this. You talked about the fragility of the situation. It's a 48-hour window of concern over mudslide. and yet who knows where we go from here what are conditions like right now yes sam it's an odd sense of security a false one blue sky sunshine here but as you heard the firemen say these hillsides can still hold that water in it could be at risk for landslides for the next 48 hours or so that said officials are confident in releasing some of those evacuations that were issued yesterday and allowing people to go back to their homes in the meantime though with this better weather

than what we witnessed this time yesterday. Crews are absolutely busy trying to clean up this muddy mess outside of Duke's Malibu, where patrons were actually temporarily trapped inside yesterday as these mud flows made their way downhill sides and into the parking lot. PCH has been an absolute mess all day long, Sam. Crews have been able to make a significant amount of progress

on cleaning it up and allowing traffic to resume. But I have to tell you, it just takes one look at these charred hillsides, knowing how vulnerable they are to a number. another storm to make you look at the forecast and check when the next rain could be headed our way. Sam? Set up so perfectly, Morgan, as if we had a forecast coming up, which we do. Thank you so much. I really do appreciate that. For more on these relentless storms, NBC news meteorologist Bill Kerrins joining me now. We see, obviously, how thin this razor's edge is for Southern California right now, Bill. What are you seeing? What are you tracking at the moment?

Yeah, Southern California gets a break at least for the next three to four days, which will be good to get all that water off the hillsides. But the storm that hit the West Coast is going to cause significant problems. Starting tomorrow, a tremendous amount of rain is going to come down in Tennessee and Kentucky. I'm very concerned with flash flooding and river flooding there. Then tomorrow evening we get the snow and ice breaking out into the northeast. Then we get the whole system finally doesn't get off the East Coast until Sunday night. And then the cold air comes in behind it. So the number one concern for life and property is the threat of flooding. We have a rare high risk. Western Kentucky, Western Tennessee. That's the area.

We're most concerned with there could be upwards of six to eight inches in isolated spots, widespread three to about six inches of rain. And this is an area where the rivers are already swollen from so many storms. And we also could see some severe weather out of this with isolated tornadoes, Louisiana, Mississippi. And of course, the northern side of this, Sam, is going to be snow. Northern New England's going to get the worst of it up to or upwards of a foot. Yeah, just kind of incredible here. I guess, you know, what do you think the timeline is?

Are we talking about potentially any activity after, this next week, Wednesday, Thursday, whatever you're watching there, Bill? I mean, how long is it? The West Coast looks good, but the East Coast has already buzzed building for a chance of a North Easter on Thursday. We'll talk a lot more about that, though, when we get back from this holiday weekend. You'll stay very busy, Bill. Thank you so much.

Now to a new development of the case against the Missouri man who shot teenager Ralph Yarl for knocking on his door by mistake, the 86-year-old pleading guilty to second-degree assault in a case that sparked protests in Kansas City and garnered national attention. Shaquil Brewster was at the courthouse and he spoke to Yarl's mother shortly after that plea. Tonight, a guilty plea from Andrew Lester, the man who shot Ralph Yarl in 2023 after the teenager mistakenly rang the doorbell of the wrong home while trying to pick up his twin brothers in Kansas City, Missouri. This outcome ensures accountability for the defendant provides closure to Mr. Yarl and satisfies the need to achieve a just result in the case.

The 86-year-old seen entering the court in a wheelchair, pleading guilty to second-degree assault, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. The state will be requesting a sentence of five years incarceration. In the courtroom, Ralph Yarl and his family. Early in the hearing, Mom Cleo Nagby putting her arm around her son. I have mixed feelings. Everybody thinks it's a big day, but it's a big day that was too delugee. Well, I knew he was guilty. He knew he was guilty. Why did they take two years? In April 2023, Lester shot Yarl twice through the closed storm door of his home, telling police he was scared to death when the teen rang his doorbell just before 10 p.m. Yarl, who was a high school

honor student at the time, was struck in the head and arm. He survived, but has permanent physical and mental injuries, explaining to NBC News, Antonia Hilton, last year. Would you say it's been harder to physically recover or mentally recover? Definitely mentally, but as it comes to an uphill battle. It's a long road, but he's strong. He's not just strong. He's very, very strong. The dramatic update in this case coming just days before the scheduled start of the trial

that saw repeated delays. I have twin boys that are a 13-year-olds. Since the incident happened, these boys have never gone on another play date. Really? No. They've never had friends come over. Nagby now pushing the Clay County prosecutor to ask for a longer sentence in this case,

saying they've always believed race was a factor, even if it wasn't mentioned in the original charges. So if he's putting his word down for this black kid, he needs to fight with his guts, and he needs to fight for him with everything that he has. This is not just about Ralph. I say all the time, Ralph is alive for a reason, but Ralph was just a human that was God just save his life

so that people can see that we need to do more. Shaquille Brewster, joining us now from Liberty, Missouri. You can hear her heartache, Shaq. When could we see sent in here? And the family also, it appears like, is pursuing civil litigation as well? That's right, Sam. The sentencing is scheduled for March 7th,

and really it's up to the judge at this point in terms of what that sentence will be. State law allows for anything as light as one day in jail or says actually and or a fine, all the way up to that maximum seven years behind bars. You heard in that story there that the state prosecutor is going to be asking the judge for five years in.

prison. But talking to Yarl's mother, you really heard the pain in her voice. And she also said that this is going to help bring a sense of closure. This is going to help Yarl move on as he's in college right now and live the life that he wants to live. But she made clear that the fight is not over. There's that civil litigation against both Lester and his housing association that alleges he was careless in his actions. But she says she also wants this to start a conversation around gun violence, around racial bias, and around the value of life, Sam. Yeah, important points, as you heard, that her kids are going to be carrying this trauma now for a very long time. Shack Brister, thank you so much.

Absolutely. Still ahead tonight, the Bull Rider, lucky to be alive after being gored, the horrifying video. As that rider is pierced in front of a crowd, we're going to speak with him about these terrifying moments, and if he'll get back in the rodeo. Plus, late today, the woman who accused Jay-Z of second. sexual assault, now dropping her lawsuit, how his team is responding tonight. And the Pope hospitalized and forced to cancel multiple public appearances what we're learning about his latest health scare.

Stay with us. And back now with a scary moment at a rodeo in Florida near the Tampa area, a 24-year-old bull rider pierced in the neck by a bull's horn. and the entire thing captured on video as EMTs rushed in to try to help him. NBC's Marissa Para spoke to that rider who remarkably is now okay and a warning that some of the footage

in his story is graphic. Every time my heart would beat, that blood was spray. Professional bull rider Zach Nagley shows the scars from his near-death experience one week ago, gourd in the neck by the bull he was riding at a rodeo near Tampa, Florida.

And that was when the EMTs seen it and they immediately rest over and put their hands. on my neck and apply pressure without choking me out the paramedics seen in his video Max Pollock jumped in with critical care that helped save his life once we realized it was a there's a big hole in his neck essentially you just got to put as much pressure on it as you can using as much gauze as we can to have that stop the bleeding I don't think I've ever seen anybody like bleed arterially

like that the bull rider seen calmly on video moments before escaped death by a millimeter. Let's see if we can get it done. He hit me just directly on the right spot with enough horse. His horn actually went inside of my neck and serrated my smaller carotid artery. He missed my main jugular by one millimeter. Paramedics say he lost roughly a full liter of blood. Nagle describes nearly slipping out of consciousness. I couldn't see nothing. So I'm basically blind at this moment. My hearing is slowly going out. My breathing slowing down. And I felt that peace come over me. I think this is it.

I'm dying. And it's a very weird feeling. I was like, God, just give me another breath one more. And that was when I really started praying. Bull riding is one of the most extreme sports. With an injury rate, researchers say 10 times higher than both football and hockey. The 24-year-old shows how talking into eating normally will take time. Doctors say he's lucky to be alive, but he's not done with the sport yet.

Will you ever bull ride again? Yeah, I'll be back probably around mid-April once I'm fully healed up. Nagley says he has no hard feelings towards the bull or the sport. In fact, he can't wait to get back in the proverbial saddle. You're living life on edge. It's the freedom that comes with the rodeo. It's the friends, the family, the community that you're able to meet throughout all of these different states. That's really why I felt in love with it.

Just incredible. All right, Marissa Para, joining us now from Miami. You spoke with Zachary, that just incredible. interview, Morrison, and I got to say, like, I have the same question that anyone would have watching that. How did he not die? And he's going to be doing it again? He's going to go. Zach is going to get back on the bowl? Yeah, you could see from my face how shocked I was, too, Sam. I mean, you can only imagine how terrifying it was. He was telling us about how he could literally hear the hospital staff saying they could not find a pulse. They checked his neck,

they checked his wrist, they checked his arm, and Zach wasn't able to talk to them and tell them that he was still there. Thankfully, though, they kept looking and they did find that pulse in between his toes. So he credited his faith in God. He's a deeply religious man. He, of course, credited all the EMTs, the hospital staff that jumped into help and the rodeo community, because as you heard Sam, this isn't over for him. In fact, as you also heard him say, he wants to get back in there in the rodeo ring and even reunite with that pole once again, but hopefully with a very different ending next time, Sam. It's just amazing that he's alive. We're very grateful for that. I want to know what the percentage of moms who don't let

their kids play football because they're worried about injury. What percentage of that for bull riding? I'm thinking it might also be higher as well. Probably. Thank you, Marissa. When we come back, the recall over those popular igloo coolers, the products that the company says could actually cause serious finger injuries, even amputations. Which you need to know next. Back now with Top Stories News Feed, and this just in, the rape lawsuit against J.C., JZ, excuse me, has been dismissed. The suit, which also included rape allegations against Sean Diddy Combs, was dropped by the lawyer for the Jane Doe in this case. She initially alleged the two raped her in 2000 when she was 13.

Rock Nation, the company owned by JZ, releasing a statement, calling this a victory, but saying the suit caused trauma to his wife, Beyonce, and their children. Diddy, meantime, remains in prison on sex trafficking and racketeering charges for other cases. Pope Francis admitted to the hospital for bronchitis treatment. The Vatican saying that an examination found the Pope did have an infection of the respiratory tract and a slight fever. The 88-year-old Pontiff had to cancel scheduled events for the next three days. The latest diagnosis follows a series of other illnesses and injuries for the Pope

that includes a fall at his home just a few weeks ago. In his autobiography, he downplayed his health issues. saying it's just his age. And a consumer alert this evening, Igloo recalling two of its coolers over fingertip crushing and amputation risks. Igloo, issuing that recall after receiving a dozen reports that handles on their 90-court flip and toe-rolling coolers, pinched customers' fingers. That recall applies to more than one million units sold across North America between January

2019 and January 2025. Igloo says that customers should stop. using the cooler and contact the company for a free replacement handle. Now to add new details in that deadly mid-air collision in the skies over Washington, D.C. Authority saying the Black Hawk that crashed into the American Airlines flight was flying above the 200-foot threshold, but the pilots might not have known due to bad ultimatter data. Tom Costello brings us the very latest. Two weeks after the mid-air crash killed 67 people, NTSB investigators say the Army helicopters

black box indicates its radial altimeter showed 278 feet at the time of the crash, 78 feet above the 200 foot limit for helicopters. But the chopper pilots may not have known because their barometric altimeter may have been feeding bad data. In other words, they may have thought they're at one altitude when in truth they were at a different altitude. It's possible, but we have a lot of work to do until we get to that. The NTSB also says the chopper crew may not have heard a critical message from air traffic control to pass behind the regional jet. Passed too far, pass on this, RJ.

Because one of the chopper pilots keyed his mic over the words pass behind the. The RJ pilots may have tried to avoid the crash with a dramatic pitch up one second before impact. Was there any indication that the crew of the CRJ realized at the last second, they might be hit? Yes, there was an indication. And that is, we see a pitch up of the aircraft, so it was nine degrees. degrees up. Helicopters in and around Reagan National are required to fly down Chopper Route 4, hugging the east side of the Potomac under 200 feet near DCA. They had about one second between the

time they realized where the helicopter was until impact. So there was no chance for them to get out of the way. Tim Lilly is first officer Sam Lilly's father. He also piloted regional jets and Blackhawks around D.C. Sam's departure, he left a giant hole in our family. You just don't know how long you have with somebody you really love, and we weren't ready for him to go yet. The NTSB says it's also looking at whether the chopper crew's vision was limited by wearing night vision goggles. A final report on the crash could take up to a year.

Sam. All right, Tom Costello, thank you so much. Coming up next, climate change impacting your wallet this Valentine's Day, very specifically the price of chocolate soaring. Some products costing 12% more than just last year, how severe weather in Africa is driving. driving this change and how you can save a few bucks. That's next. And back now with money talks. And this Valentine's Day, something else is talking. The price

of chocolate. You might want to think twice about the amount of chocolate you're buying for your beloved. Price is skyrocketing over the last year. So experts say that you can expect to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 to 20% more for chocolate now than compared to February of 2024. Let's give you a look at some examples of what we're talking about. A king-sized two-pack of Reese's hearts will run you 259 this year. A year ago, that was 229. That's a 13% increase. On the right side of your screen, you see the Hershey's Kisses there, 549 this year, a big jump up from 489 a year ago. So to break down those rising costs and what to do if you're still on the hunt for something sweet, which we, of course, always are. Yahoo finance reporter, Brooke DePalma, joining us now.

All right, it's one of those things where don't be mad at the messenger on this one. And we know people love their chocolate regardless. But for this Valentine's Day, thank you for being here with us on this holiday. Why are we seeing chocolate prices just sore? Good evening, Sam. This is actually nothing new. We've been seeing this since early 2024, and it's largely because of a global cocoa shortage. That's primarily due to these key changing weather patterns that we're seeing in the largest region,

key sourcing region of global cocoa supply, and that's West Africa. These changing weather patterns are hitting that region, and that's leading to a lower supply. Now, we know that 80% of the total cocoa output globally comes from West Africa. And so because of these key changes, that's leading to lower supply, and that's ultimately leading to higher prices. Compared to last January, when this global croco crisis began, prices are up more than 100. and 43% according to Wells Fargo. And that is a scary thought for the consumer,

especially this Valentine's Day. It really is, as you're trying to balance all of the other things in your grocery basket that are just double-digit or more expensive than they were just a year or two ago. I'm wondering, like, how elastic or inelastic is the demand for chocolate, right? Like, if the prices rise,

do people still have such an appetite for chocolate that they'll keep buying it anyway, or do you see that maybe shifting a little bit? And what are some of the other options that people don't want to shell out more cash for chocolate. Yeah, well, companies like Hershey's and Mondleys are doing everything that they can in order to keep that consumer coming back because they know that consumers are inflation weary. They know that they're frustrated and tired of paying those higher prices, but they're also mindful

that they have to offset these higher costs, how much they're paying for those cocoa beans. And unfortunately, that's getting passed along to the consumer in forms of price. And we know that the cocoa harvest seems to be improving, but they're going to have to keep raising prices in order to continue to offset this deficiency in supply. And so consumers can look for ways to save. Certainly, shop tomorrow if you happen to be celebrating Valentine's Day over the weekend. We know that these stores are going to be putting out deals in order to get rid of their Valentine's Day inventory, but also look out for these different forms, perhaps, of chocolate. So, say, instead of a dark chocolate that contains more cocoa, look out for, say,

a chocolate bar with almonds in it. That's an interesting cheat code there. I would also say if you're buying your Valentine's Day chocolate after and you're trying to give that to someone like a month from now, they might be on to what you're doing, but I like where your head is at, Brooke. Thank you so much. I really appreciate your time here. Brooke De Palma from Yahoo Finance with everything you need to know about chocolate over the Valentine's Day holiday. Thank you, my friend. All right, from suites to now social media, something that is storymaking waves all over social media. The language learning app Duolingo killing off their own mascot. It's a move that's attracted mass attention from other companies, celebrities, even the World Health Organization.

Here's a look at the final farewell to Duo. If you've been online recently, you've probably seen something the internet has been buzzing about. Duolingo is dead. I am on Duo is dead. Why is he dead? Why is he dead? The death of Duolingo's mascot, the fuzzy green owl known as Duo, the killer stunt, sending shockwaves across social media.

The language learning app announcing the news in a post that's already amassed more than 100 million views, saying authorities were investigating the cause, but TBH, he probably died waiting for you to do your lesson. But what do we know? Oh, my God. My Shayla. Companies like Hilton, Chipotle, and even Netflix trying to borrow some of that buzz. Buffalo Wild Wings posting this video showing a trail of Duo's green feathers leading to a tray of its wings.

While global pop singer Duolipa responding with the words, Till Death, Duo Part, even the World Health Organization speculating on the cause of death, writing one thing we know for sure, it's not smallpox because the disease has been eradicated since 1980. But Duolingo now says the cause of death was actually a cyber truck asking the public to help identify the suspect. But not to worry, we're monetizing grief. One clue as to why Duolingo might have done this, the company, using the viral promotion to sell plushies of its deceased mascots and its CEO now urging users to take their sadness and start scrolling. Let's do what he would have wanted. Open up the app. Do a lesson and share your fondest memories. there is probably a much larger strategy here to keep the current audience interested and then bring in new users and bring in new people into Duolingo. It's just one of many viral hits by the tech app, which has 16 million followers on

TikTok. Last year, Duolingo reporting a total of 8.6 million paid subscribers up nearly 50% from 2023. Marketing people are realizing that people want to participate. People want to entertain. It's time for YouTube. Other brands reviving beloved mascots on social media, too. Wendy's and Pop-Tarts, bringing theirs back to create viral content. Even the WNBA's New York Liberty, growing their fan base with mascot, Ellie, the Elephant. It's become part of a broader culture, and I think that it absolutely is just going to grow in this global world.

As duo is laid to rest, the impact that. persistent green owl had on the brand appears to live on. Duo's death, sad in any language. When we come back next, a look at what you can binge watch and listen to this weekend. This is always great. The hit series, White Lotus is back, and so is Yellow Jackets. They're both into their third seasons now. Plus, Bridget Jones is returning with a new movie for Valentine's Day.

And new music from Sabrina Carpenter and Dolly Park. Stay with us. We're back now with Bingeworthy, our look at the best things to watch and listen to this weekend. And we are joined by Friend of the Program, Brian Balthasar. He's an entertainment journalist and pop culture expert. Brian, thank you so much for being here with us in studio tonight. As always, very appreciative. So we're going to start right now on the TV side of things.

Two hugely popular shows that are coming back now for their third season, right? We have White Lotus and we have Yellow Jackets. Let's start with White Lotus first. This is an Emmy Award-winning show. that is now set in Thailand. It's always exotic. There's always a lot of mystery and misbehaving. Let's take a quick look at one of those clips.

Everything will quiet? It's just work stuff. What I'm supposed to tell my family? We're poor now, and Daddy's going to prison. There has been more crime on the island. A lot of all freaked out. I think we need to call the police. Your job is to protect the hotel.

Do you hear me? I'm like hiring. So now, like, in addition to couple controversy, we have muggings or some sort of violent attack, there's elephants in there, and the cast is almost entirely new. Right. Jennifer Coolidge, who was a fan favorite in the first two seasons, is gone. But we have Natasha Rothwell returning from season one. And if the first two seasons are any indication, there will probably be a death. You know, that just seems to be what happened. So there's murder or at least some sort of crime and intrigue and suspense and some kind of.

complex relationships that will lead up to all these things. That's a given. The theme song, is it back? One that people went crazy for last year. They'd be crazy. They'd be crazy not to bring that song back. Exactly. It's super, super bankable. All right, so that's one thing that's on this weekend, that's Sunday on Max. Let's move now to Showtime in Paramount Plus. We're talking about Yellow Jackets. This year, we have Hillary Swank. Yeah. We have Joel McHale. What can people expect? But actually, first, let's check out that clip. Let's do it.

People are willing to do some messed up stuff just to see another day. I think Natalie knows what Coach Scott is. Does she deserve to be the leader? Instead of doing what was right for us, she did what she wanted to do. So tonight, we'll give the wilderness what it wants. Aren't you worried about what we're going to have to tell people if we get back? This place will follow us for the rest of our lives. So for those who are just seeing this show for the first time.

It's the third season. It looks like they're just sort of stranded on some island, Lord of the Fly style. It's basically like Lost meets Lord of the Flies. In fact, that's how they pitched this show before it started. So a teenage group of girls from a soccer team, their plane crashes. That's where the Lord of the Flies come in. But there's actually two timelines happening, the 1996 plane crash timeline, and then the current day, how they're as adults dealing with it.

Christina Ritchie, among the stars, who just nails it Juliette Lewis. And so now we have these two characters that you just refer to. Hillary Swank and Joel McHale will be bringing new characters in. And that lost element is mystery and intrigue and some unknown traumas that happen and why they happen is what we're going to look into in this season. And I love the two split screens as well that are not contemporary,

that sort of are being played out at the same time. Yeah, and you should watch it from the beginning. If you haven't watched it before, don't start with season three. Start from the beginning and catch up. It's a great binge-worthy show. There we go. You need a lot of time to binge three seasons,

but let's do it. So now on to the movies. Our next thing here is Omni Loop. It's featuring right now. streaming, I should say, on Hulu. That one features Emmy Award-winning actress Mary Louise Parker. And so talk me through this. They're almost as like a Groundhogs Day type feel to this. Let me show you the clip and we'll talk about it on the other side. I want to make it so I don't only have five days left. I have my whole life.

I think I know somebody who can help us. The nanoscopic man. Let's solve time travel. We've tried everything. And still, I can't do it. Do you think there's an alternate timeline where I do go on where I don't die of a black hole in my chest? So the premise is Mary Louise Parker's character has this black hole in her chest. Right. She's going to die. She's given 10 days to live, but somehow concox this mystery medicine she can take and go back 10 days in time.

She keeps doing it over and over again. You're making my life easier. She's a quantum physicist who's trying to. crack the code of both time travel and how she can repair and potentially change the course of her life in those days. And also you saw Ayo Adebri from the Bear in there. So she's a busy woman. And so it's an interesting film. You don't see many of these films of this kind of smaller scale happening out there. So I think this is a good one. And of course you have two great actresses leading the story. So I love the whole time travel thing. And also, I mean,

going back in time, but also more in like a philosophical sense, how would my relationships be different? What would you do differently? Wouldn't we all love to have that opportunity to change a few things? How many times do we all think about that very question in our own lives? So a lot to chew on there. Next up, we have the Golden Globe winner for the animated feature Flow that is going to be streaming on Max. Super fascinating backstory at all this.

Check out the clip and we'll talk about it. So obviously, it's an animated film. There's zero dialogue. Right. You just heard the audio. There's no dialogue in this. And you see the lead character. There's a flood and a cat, a lemur, a capybara. Am I saying Eric Kapibara?

A whale, a yellow lab. It's the story of their survival. ability to get along. You're seeing the tsunami right there. Interestingly, the filmmaker basically crafted this film almost entirely himself. It became a film festival, darling. It's as much for adults as it is for kids, because there's no dialogue, and it's an artistic triumph, just to look at it. So this is a work of art. It is, exactly. And also, who is the audience for this kind of thing? Well, that's just it. I think kids will enjoy the animation, but they're used to hearing all the music and the jokes and the laughter. So I think it's as much an adult play as

this is for kids. I think it's an interesting co-viewing experience. Indeed. No celebrities narrating animal characters this time around. Yeah, maybe sometimes it is. So Valentine's Day, in case you didn't know, has arrived. So if you're looking for some romance right now, two-time Academy Award winner, Renee Zellweger, back as Bridget Jones. This one is Bridget Jones, mad about the boy on Peacock. Let's check it out. We'll talk about it. Bridget, you're a widow with two wonderful children. My advice to you is put your own oxygen mask on first. You just have to get late. Shaz is right.

Oh my God. It's been four years now. You're effectively a nun. Very, very naughty nun. I've set you up on Tinder. What's Tinder? Mommy! Mabel suck up the tree!

We're going to die! Everything all right, Mrs. Darcy. Oh my God. I'm a magical man tree. I love that. What's Tinder, Mommy? So Colin Firth is actually in this as well. They reunite.

Well, Colin Firth, she's a widow now. So you're seeing a brief moment with him. But it's really about her rebuilding her life. We haven't seen her in nearly 10 years since the last film. She's got two kids. You see Hugh Grant is back. More as a friend or a confidant, or maybe a romantic interest. But there's another man in the cast.

I don't want to say too much because, you know, it's part of the journey of seeing where her life is going to take her. I love her in this role. Everyone loves her as this character. I love that Brits embrace her. Playing a British character in that accent. That is not always the case when an American actress plays a British role. And they've embraced it.

She nailed it from my perspective. I would also add, I'd never heard the term triadonis before, but she found a triadonis. I don't know which of the two male characters, that's a reference, too. We'll have to wait and see. You'll have to find out. Let's go to music now, and one of the most popular pop stars on the planet Sabrina Carpenter teaming up with a musical icon, Dolly Parton,

in their version of, please, please. Take a listen. Heartbreak is one thing, my ego's another. I bet you don't embarrass me like the other. How can you not hear that melody Please, please, please Please How can you not hear that melody

And your ears don't just immediately perk up? I know, and Dolly Parton's voice is perfect for this. They look like they could be related. And this, Dolly Parton is never not relevant. She is just, she's an incredible artist. There's not a musician out there that doesn't respect her art and her career, so I love seeing this pairing. You can listen to this right now,

and it's just as catchy, if not more than the original. Also, what do you make a voice? the black and white motif going on in the music video? I'm not hating that. I love that. Yeah. I think it also, they both look gorgeous. I'm sure nobody's hating on that either. I'm sure Dolly loves that. She looks fantastic. And it just feels nostalgic and classic. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

So lastly, so I used to love this band back at the Luminaires. Yeah. They've come out with their fifth studio album. It's called Automatic. It's out today. Here's the single off of that, the first one, same old song. Take a listen. There's a song. In La Brea where the top it's black, like a starving mouth for the innocent.

There's a folksy feel to it, and yet it's super contemporary as well, their sound. I mean, it's an easy listen. Super popular for concerts. Exactly. You kind of think you'd want to take in on a nice day. What do you make of this out? Well, I love it. Also, there's a harmonica riff that lends itself to that folksy sound.

They also recorded some of it. You might have seen a little bit of a shot of a church. They recorded some of the audio tracks in a church to give it that reverb and that beautiful folks. Oh, wow. Yeah. So use the acoustics of a church. Exactly, because you can't match that. You can't recreate that, but being in that space.

I love that. Do you think it's going to be something that fans will take in sort of that are big fans of the band? Or would there be a lot of pop hits off of this particular? A little fun fact about me. I'm horrible at predicting these things. I always get it wrong. I think if you love this music, you love it. You know what I mean?

It's a funny story that I'm terrible at predicting. It's not exactly a perfect science. So you and us and everyone out there and all can't do that. So when I want to be quoted, I'll be punished if I'm wrong. Brian, thank you so much, as always, for the insight. Brian Balthasar, our pop culture expert here on a Valentine's Day Friday. Thank you so much for joining us here on Top Story. I'm Sam Brock in New York for Tom Yamis.

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