Top Story with Tom Llamas - Friday, February 16, 2024

Episode Date: February 17, 2024

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

Tonight, another major blow to former President Trump, a judge ordering him to pay up over $350 million and banning him from personally running his business in New York for three years. The highly anticipated ruling caps a months-long explosive civil fraud trial that put Trump's finances front and center. And the ruling doesn't just apply to the former president, but also to his sons and associates. We're going to break down the repercussions as Trump fires back. Also tonight, D.A. Fani Willis' father taking the stand in her defense. The hearing stemming from allegations that Willis benefited from her relationship with the special prosecutor that she hired in Trump's election interference case. Lawyers grilling key witnesses for hours. All of it,

part of an effort to disqualify Willis from the biggest case of her career. Her father backing up his daughter's testimony on why she keeps large amounts of cash at home and when he found out about the relationship. Alexi Navalny, Putin's fiercest political opponent, has died inside of a Russian prison. Reaction to his death was swift. President Biden saying he has no doubt that Putin is to blame. His supporters are defying Russian officials and laying flowers out in Navalny's honor. What we're learning about the moments leading up to his death and the legacy that he leaves

behind. Plus, busted in the backyard. The news hitting home, quite literally for one reporter, a robbery suspect caught hiding out behind her house. The terrifying moments where police swarmed in, nearly mistaking her husband for the suspect and the whole ordeal caught on camera. Killer Doc outrage, the woman convicted of killing singer Selena, breaking her silence in a new docu series. The controversy is mounting over the jailhouse interviews, as enraged fans are arguing she should not be given a platform. And Operation Get Elijah his mask back. Football star Jason Kelsey capturing headlines again after

celebrating his brother's Super Bowl win in a luchador face mask. But it turns out it wasn't his. Kelsey's vow now to get the prize disguise back to its rightful owner. Top story starts right now. The judge handing down the crushing financial blow to the former president after finding him liable for inflating his wealth. Now, on top of that $355 million damages, the judge ruling Trump will also have to pay interest on that money, which could lead to an even more massive total of $453 million. Trump is also barred from personally running a business in New York for three years. And his son's Eric and Donald Jr. cannot serve as an officer or director of any New York corporation for two years. This ruling caps an explosive months-long trial involving testimony from 40 different witnesses, including Trump and his three children.

There were also, as you know, heated exchanges in the courtroom between the judge and Trump, with the judge threatening to throw the former president out of the room at one point. This is all coming on the heels of a busy court week for the former president. First, a different New York judge ruling that his first criminal trial regarding those hush money payments will start March 25th. Then, a high-stakes affair in which Trump's team is hoping to disqualify the lead prosecutors in this Georgia election interference case. And the backdrop of it all here is that the Supreme Court is going to weigh in on whether the former president can claim immunity in his federal election interference case. NBC's Laura Jarrett starts off tonight's breaking coverage. Tonight, a crushing blow to the Trump family's real estate empire.

A judge in New York handing down a more than $350 million civil. penalty against Donald Trump plus interest for lying about his wealth for financial gain, barring him from obtaining loans in the state for three years, banning Mr. Trump's adult sons from running any company for two years, ordering they pay more than $4 million each. Today justice has been served. Today we prove that no one is above the law. The former president tonight assailing the decision and slamming the suit brought by New York's Democratic Attorney General. radical left Democrats, they're lunatics, and its election interfering.

If I weren't running, none of this stuff would have ever happened. With no jury at trial, today's ruling left solely in the hands of Judge Arthur and Gorin, who decided the heart of the state's fraud case months ago, finding the Trump family wrongly exaggerated the value of some of its most iconic properties on financial statements to receive better deals on bank loans. This trial was to sort out the penalty. Mr. Trump and his adult children all took the witness stand in the hopes of fending off a decision with massive consequences for their real estate portfolio and family legacy. I became president because of the grant.

Mr. Trump's defense team arguing there was no victim. The banks were repaid and testified they did not rely on Mr. Trump's valuations. The former president's attorneys had implored the judge not to impose a fine akin to the corporate death penalty. But today, the judge writing, quote, Donald Trump is not Bernie Madoff, yet defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways. Instead, they adopt a see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil posture that the evidence belies. That was our Laura Jarrett reporting there. With more on this ruling and what it could mean for Trump and his family's real estate empire, we bring in NBC News, legal analyst Danny Savalos, joining us from New York this evening. All right, Danny. A lot to get to here. I want to start with that number, though.

355 million. Of course, we expect Trump and his team to appeal that. It's a massive amount of money, but it's really even more than that. We talked about the interest, getting you closer to 450 million. So what does that say or speak to the depth of the criminality that the judge found here? Well, in a sense, this was about fraud and wrongdoing. And the criminality element is something that the Manhattan DA's office will certainly be looking at this opinion for, especially because they may be able to mine some interesting information. about the judge's conclusions. But strictly a civil case here. The problem for Trump is

it's the same problem that he may run into in the E. Jean Carroll case, which is this. He may have to post a bond if he wants to appeal. And he will appeal. He'll appeal to the Appellate Division First Department. And then from there, he'll try to appeal to the Court of Appeals. I believe he gets an appeal as of right. But the bottom line is, in most cases, for example, in the E. Jean Carroll case, he may have to post a bond. Similarly, you may have to do the same thing here. And that bond is essentially a guarantee. So in other words, when you appeal, you've been hit with this big financial penalty. The courts don't want you to appeal and then go spend all that money. And then 10 years from now, when the appeal is final and you do owe it, you say, oh, well, I spend it. So that's where bonds

come from. And so Trump may have to come up with some version of that bond or take out a loan on that bond. So there may be a check that he has to write in the relatively near future. But will he have to pay this penalty? Probably not. As long as he can post-bond. file the appeal, this case will be in the courts for years. And there's no real hurry the way there is in the criminal cases to resolve issues like immunity before he goes to trial. This is a straight civil case, has virtually nothing to do with him as president. So this may be the rare Trump case that follows the ordinary, regular, mere mortal timeline when it comes to appeal. So he could just be staring at a potential tab of $350 or $450 million for years. Four years.

for a decade. I mean, so that's the immediate consequence, though. In addition to one other thing, Danny, which the judge also ruled that Trump cannot personally run a business in New York for three years. What does that mean for the Trump organization? Is that essentially a corporate death sentence, as Laura alluded to in her story there? What should we take away from this? Yeah, not really in the sense that it's only a temporary ban. Far more interesting to me is that there were other defendants who were banned for life. No surprise, Alan Weisselberg. Alan Weisselberg had already apparently fraudulently testified. Alan Weisselberg was full of credibility issues, so many credibility issues that it became a separate

issue at the end of the trial. Justice and Gorin asked for briefing on the issue of whether or not or how to take reports that Alan Weisselberg may have been entering into agreements to admit his additional fraud and wrongdoing. So lots of issues with Alan Weisleberg, not a big surprise that he was banned for life. He may appeal that as well. But Trump is banned for three years from running a business. Not exactly the death penalty. There is a possibility of resurrection or rehabilitation here. But, I mean, certainly being banned from running a business, that too requires some definition. Does it mean, for example, that other people can run the business, but he can get paid out of it? That's an interesting question. I imagine it might be

something that the Justice here, Justice in Goran, is punting, so to speak, to the monitor, the independent monitor that he appointed former Judge Barbara Jones. Why do you think it was, Danny, that Trump was not banned for life from running a business in New York? And should we take that away as a victory for Team Trump here? I mean, victories are relative. And when you look at the judgment amount, the dollar amount, the AG pretty much got dollar for dollar what the AG was looking for. Pretty darn close. I mean, I think the Trump team would have been happy with maybe a third of what the AG was demanding.

So I guess you can say it's a minor victory that Trump has not banned for. life. But when you look at the relative culpability, we already have admitted guilt by someone like Alan Weisselberg. Donald Trump has four criminal cases pending, but as of today, is not a convicted criminal. That might have factored in. Also, what factored into Justice and Goran's decision is history. History matters. Maybe that's why Alan Weisselberg got the life sentence, and Trump did not. Justice and Goran went into an entire section detailing the history of Trump entities and their bad behavior. Going as far back, as the case against Trump University, which in a strange way was related to this case

because one of the loans that Trump apparently took out was in order to pay the judgment on the Trump University case because he didn't have liquid. He wasn't liquid enough to pay that. That raises, of course, Sam, yet another issue. All indications are that Trump isn't as liquid as he might make himself out to be. So can he even pay this judgment? Or really, the more immediate question is, could he pay this bond if he had to in order? order to appeal. Liquidity was an issue back when the Trump University judgment came

out. Now it may be an issue yet again. When you combine that together with the E. Gene Carroll case, there's a lot of bills that are coming due and quickly. And he may have to sell some assets in order to address that. But I would also ask, you know, the numbers are such a central component of all of this, Danny, right? And there is such disparity. So the exaggerated values of Trump properties, that's what's at the heart of this. And for example, Mar-a-Lago, Trump said that it was worth up to $600 million, while the property assessment by the county came in much, much lower, $18 million to $27.5 million. I mean, there's properties on Palm Beach that are worth way more than that, that aren't, you know, a club. So it makes you wonder how they derive at these

assessments. But the judge, in the decision today, writing of a history of see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil behavior, which Laura had mentioned earlier, that speaks to Trump's strategy of not giving an inch on this. How much do you think that affected the ruling? Sam, that wasn't even the best literary quote from Justice and Goran's decision. There was a section of his decision that got just positively English literature-ish, as he quoted, had a couple different quotes, one from Alexander Pope, but making the point in that same passage that you just cited, that Donald Trump and the defendants in this case were incorrigible, that time and time again, the point he was making in that quote was that these defendants simply did.

did not accept responsibility for what they did. And I may be paraphrasing, but I think you used some pretty harsh language that their unwillingness to admit it was borderline. I want to say delusional or something in that kind of range of language. So I mean, Justice and Gorin, that answered the question for me that throughout this 44-day trial, I wondered, well, you know, Justice and Gorin has been listening. Yes, there were fireworks on the front end. Yes, he had to admonish Trump when he testified.

But that was way back at the beginning. this case. There have been experts since, Deutsche Bank representatives. Maybe Justice and Goran, he's keeping an open mind. Maybe the Trump team has made some headway. We really couldn't tell. This decision made it clear that it's likely that Justice and Goran's mind was not changed one iota during the course of the trial, that the experts called by the defense simply didn't sway him, and that his view of this case in this 92-page opinion is pretty similar to months ago when he issued his summary judgment motion in 35 pages. Danny, we only have a few seconds left real quickly.

How strong of a case do you think Trump has right now for an appeal? And probably the biggest argument he has is the gray area of valuation of real estate and the Trump brand, maybe some admissibility as to evidence. That's always something you're going to try and raise, not likely to be successful, but probably his best argument are the same arguments he raised, but that were already denied by the judge in summary judgment and in this opinion. All right. what the next chapter has to hold. Danny Savalos, thank you so much for all that insight.

We turn now to that other major news that we've been following this out of Georgia. More testimony heard today surrounding the romantic relationship between Fulton County DA Fon Willis and special prosecutor whom she hired Nathan Wade. Now, the hearing will determine whether Willis is removed from the Trump election interference case altogether and her team. Willis's father today taking the stand after his daughter's fiery testimony yesterday. Blaine Alexander has all the details. In the Georgia election interference case against former President Trump,

this Fulton County hearing could determine the future of that case. For a second straight day, Judge Scott McAfee heard evidence on allegations that DA Fannie Willis financially benefited from a personal relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who she hired on the case. Now, Trump and several co-defendants are trying to have her removed. It is a lot. It is a lot. After more than two hours of surprise, five. testimony yesterday. Today, the state declined to call Willis for cross-examination.

I have one daughter, Fannie Willis. On the stand, Willis's father, John Floyd, pressed on what he knew about her relationship with Wade. At issue, when that relationship began, before or after she hired him. Wade and Willis said it was after. Did you ever meet Mr. Wade in the year 2019? Absolutely not. How about in the year 2020? Absolutely not. Also a focus, the issue of cash, which became central yesterday when Willis said that's how she would reimburse Wade for their vacations. It's a black thing, okay? You know, I was trained, and most black folks, they hide cash. And I've told my daughter, you keep six months worth of cash always. Now the question for Judge McAfee, will Willis be allowed to remain on the election interference case? What's at stake here? Well, what's at stake is that I'm pretty sure that if the DA is disqualified, I think the case is pretty much dead in the water because the chances that any new DA is going to be appointed to the case before the election is almost nil.

And Blaine Alexander, joining us now from Atlanta. Blaine, obviously, the stakes are incredibly high here. Do we have any sense of what comes next in this case and any expectation on when we might actually hear from the judge? Well, the evidence in this is done. That was covered in this two-day hearing that we've all been watching closely. Now what happens is that both sides are going to give a chance, give a chance to give kind of summations or wrap up the evidence, and then the judge is going to go away and make his decision. Now, Sam, we know he's not going to be ruling from the bench on this. He's going to go back, consider the evidence, and then issue some sort of written ruling in the days to come. So I expect that we could look for that in the next couple of weeks or so. Sam.

Yeah, tense days and weeks ahead here. Blaine, thank you so much for that. For more on this case, we want to bring in NBC legal analyst Angela Senadela. Angela, so much to dissect. The huge news, of course, this morning was that DA Fannie Willis was not recalled to the stand again today. Was this a sign? I mean, what do you read into that, that questioning her was only hurting the defense? How would you weigh their performance? Yes, so look, this was a great decision on Fonnie's part to not take the stand today. And it was her decision. The prosecution could have called her up and asked very friendly questions. But the point of that, which

have only been for her to tell her story. Now, look, yesterday when she came to that stand, she delivered. She was ready to tell her story. And I don't think she really left any gaping holes. The other problem with her taking the stand today, though, would have been that the defense and would have had another chance to question her on redirect. And yesterday, when they asked her questions, they were a little unprepared. They were a little shocked by the cash defense that was raised by both Willis and by Wade.

But guess what? today, they would have had 24 hours to prepare and likely would have come back with guns firing. So it was a good decision on her part. A lot of firing going on back and forth there verbally. You know, I would ask, I'm really happy, Angela, that you brought up the cash here. There were some big moments from when finding Willis. His dad took the stand. We heard in Blaine's piece a second ago him explaining the frequent use of cash, why she would

be paying in all cash. They also questioned why he didn't know more about a relationship with Nathan Wade until recently. Here's some more of what he had to say. Now, it wasn't common for your daughter to confide in you about her romantic life at all. No, and I haven't confided to her about mine before when I had one, okay? All right, so he's saying there was distance there. How do you think her dad came off as a witness? So, Sam, like this entire hearing, I would say his testimony was a total roller coaster.

When it started, we felt sympathy for him, and he gave a beautiful, touching story about how, As an African-American man whose credit cards were declined in a Cambridge eatery, he had to carry cash around, and thus he advised his daughter, under no circumstances, should you ever carry less than six months of cash in your home at all times. That was riveting and powerful. How can the defense attorneys then question that? But the problem then was on the defense attorneys also got him to admit that he heard all of the testimony yesterday, that the prosecution had failed in asking him to sequester.

So that means that his testimony today really went down in credibility after that admission was made, Sam. So, Angela, looking ahead right now, how do you think the judge is going to rule? Did the defense do enough here to get Willis removed from the case? What's the sort of takeaways that you think here? So this will really all depend on whether or not the judge decides that Willis and Wade were lying. That's really the heart of it. Admiss all of these questions that are asked, did he believe Wade and Willis when they said that their relationship started after she appointed him as prosecutor? And does he really believe that no money was given to Fani in the form of these trips,

that she really paid her way with the cash? So I don't think the judge is going to make that credibility determination in the defense's favor. But you never know, Sam. Angela, a lot to weigh there. Thank you so much for that. Now to the White House, and President Biden wang in tonight on the indictment of a longtime FBI informant, who's at the heart of the House Republicans' impeachment inquiry is accused of lying about derogatory information

regarding the president, including the Burisma officials, told him that they paid Hunter Biden and Joe Biden $5 million, and that it would take investigators years to find the illicit payments. Joining us now with more is Peter Alexander. Peter, you pressed the president about this today. What did he say? Yeah, that's exactly right, Sam.

So President Biden is now joining top Democrats demanding that House Republicans abandon their impeachment inquiry after the indictment of that long-time informant. Here is our exchange earlier today. Take a listen. An FBI informant at the center of the impeachment inquiry into you has been indicted for allegedly lying. Your reaction to that and should the inquiry be dropped?

He is lying and it should be dropped and it's just been an outrageous effort from the beginning. Just part of our back and forth earlier today, this informant's name is Alexander Smyranov. He was arrested Wednesday, charged with lying about financial ties between the president, his son, Hunter, and the Ukrainian energy company. You've likely heard the name Burisma. Accusations, Sam, that you noted have really been central to the Republicans' impeachment push. Among the things that we have heard from some of those Republicans is that this, due to this allegation, was the biggest example of corruption that they have seen in years.

The Justice Department says that Smyrnav falsely claimed the company paid the Biden's $5 million, each in. in bribes, as you noted for what they said was effectively special treatment. Tonight, the top House Republican says the impeachment inquiry does not rely on this informant's accusations, but on, quote, a large record of evidence and that they're going to continue to follow the facts, Sam. And we find out exactly what they can prove. Peter Alexander there, thank you so much for really digging into the details. That's what's going on at home.

Now tonight, we move back overseas to shocking news out of Russia. Alexei Navalny, a long-time Russian opposition leader and critic of President Vladimir Putin, has suddenly died in prison. NBC's Richard Engel has more on the mystery surrounding his death. 47-year-old Alexei Navalny was looking healthy, joking with a judge via video link from his Arctic prison just yesterday. Navalny's mother saw him Monday and said he was in good spirits. Yet somehow Alexi Navalny, Russian president Vladimir Putin's fierce.

and most energetic critic, drop dead suddenly at a penal colony in Siberia. Prison officials say Navalny went for a walk but felt unwell and quickly lost consciousness. They said medics could not revive him. President Biden blamed President Putin. Make no mistake. Putin is responsible for Navalny's death. Moscow supporters laid flowers to honor Navalny, despite a warning from the state prosecutor that protests would not be allowed. When a woman tried to unfurl a sign, she was taken away by authorities. Navalny started out as an anti-corruption blogger, exposing on his YouTube show the lavish

lifestyles enjoyed by Putin and his inner circle. Navalny was a central figure in massive protests against Putin in 2012. He was jailed and harassed and attacked with a green dye. that damaged his right eye. In 2020, while on a flight in Moscow, Navalny suddenly fell ill. He was poisoned by a nerve agent and flown to Germany to recover.

He blamed Putin for the assassination attempt. The Kremlin denied responsibility. And then came the most consequential decision of his life. Navalny returned to Russia after recovering from his poisoning. He deliberately put his life on the line and his principles first, until his death today, which is not confirmed by his family, but who don't seem to doubt it. Navalny's wife, Yulia, in Munich, called for President Putin to be punished.

We should come together and fight against this evil, she said. In 2021, President Biden warned Putin of devastating consequences, if anything happened to Navalny in Russian custody. NBC's Peter Alexander pressed him on that today. What consequences should he and Russia face? That was three years ago. In the meantime, they faced a hell of a lot of consequences, and we're contemplating what else could be done.

The Kremlin calls Western accusations unacceptable and says it does not yet know the cause of Navalny's death, but critics say that many of Putin's opponents have died just like this mysteriously, either poisoned or falling out of windows, or in this case, dropping dead. suddenly in prison. Sam? Yeah, shocking. Richard, thank you so much. Still ahead tonight? It's a backyard break-in, an urgent search for a robbery suspect,

ending outside the home of an NBC South Florida reporter. That reporter joining Top Story next to walk us through how this all went down. Plus, new drone video showing a target in West Virginia breaking apart under a sliding hillside, how Target right now is racing to try and fix the situation. and documentary outrage. The controversy surrounding an interview with the woman convicted of killing the Hano star, Selena.

Stay with us. All right, this next story is about when the breaking news comes to you. We are back now with the story of a reporter inside of her house when she noticed that police were surrounding it. They were in an all-out search for a robbery suspect. NBC South Florida reporter Marissa Bagg leapt into action to get it on every camera angle she could.

Take a watch. I mean, this is the kind of thing where we probably should not go outside. While home on a lunch break with my father-in-law and 19-month-old daughter, I looked out the front window to find Fort Lauderdale police swarming our street in Coral Ridge. What caught my eye was an officer with his gun in hand, staring through. the fence on the side of our house. I mean, this guy's looking in our backyard. Seconds later, another officer pulls up and takes his canine out, and we realize they're looking at my husband.

Who is? I was on the phone. My dad is calling me in. I'm waving him off. I was in the middle of the phone call, and he's like, no, get in here now. I rushed to the front door to tell the officers they've got the wrong guy. The exchange was caught on my ring camera. When we were all right when we were all safely inside when we were all safely inside the canine unit with guns drawn cased my backyard looking for I didn't know who at the time turns out it's a bad guy 30 feet away hiding next to our shed two minutes later they escorted a man down my driveway in handcuffs they'd found him hiding on the side of my house near the shed

So far as to me. Holy crap. You guys got him in your backyard. Unbelievable. And it's crazy to see your neighbor comes down and goes, he just jumped the fence. So I ran over there, and I must just saw you moving. I'm like, I got him right here. Yeah.

So luckily your wife came outside because the dog was coming in. Holy crap. Police say the suspect had just robbed the Star America Food in Delhi half a mile away on East Oakland Park Boulevard. Grateful that the police was able to get here quickly apprehend the suspect that everybody in our family safe. I mean, everything turned out okay, and you saved me from getting a canine sicked on me, so I'm very grateful. We are all grateful for that. Marissa Bagg, joining us now on a road trip with her family to Orlando right now. But carving out some time, thank you for doing this, Marissa, seriously. I'm not going to lie, when I'm watching this and you see the sliver through

your house of where your husband is standing and police officers with weapons drawn, like your heart just starts beating, watching this as a third party. What was it like to experience it as you were watching this all unfold? You know, thankfully, I wasn't thinking of the possibilities at first, but in this job, you know, we know police behavior. So when I saw that officer with his eyes really pinned on something in my backyard, I saw his hand on a weapon, and then realized because my father-in-law said, Odette is in the backyard. I was like, oh, man, he is looking at my husband, and I'm just glad I didn't hesitate to open the front door and tell them, please stop, hold on. I'm wondering, your husband, so he's back there, he's on the phone, oblivious to obviously everything that's going on around him.

At any point, did he or did you hear someone back there, or you only uncovered this guy once the police entered? Yeah, really, we didn't know anything was going on until the police got there. My husband was actually, like, making a deal on the phone with one of his company, so he really was just oblivious to, what was going on. A new definition of wheeling and dealing as you guys are heading safely and all together as a family onto your next adventure. Marissa Bagg, thank you so much for making time for us tonight. Of course. Good to see you. You too. Well, coming up next here, next tonight, the release of a new docu series that is sending

shockwaves right now among fans of legendary Tejano singer Selena. Nearly 30 years since her tragic death, Selena's convicted killer and former fan club president, Yolanda Saldivar speaking out from prison, but many superfans say they don't want to hear it. NBC Stephen Romo has more on the story. I knew her secrets, and I think that people deserve to know the truth. A new Oxygen docuseries telling the story of Tejano star Salina Kitania's murder through the eyes of her convicted killer, sparking outrage among fans. What story needs to be said straight here? You did it. Yolanda Saldivar, the one-time president of Saldanea.

Selena's fan club sharing her perspective in jailhouse interviews in the two-part docu-series, Salina and Yolanda, the secrets between them, premiering this weekend. I think it's time to set the story straight. It could potentially shed new light on that fateful day 29 years ago. Shot and killed in Corpus Christi, Texas today. When she took Selena's life. Here's what we know from that day. Inbezzling $30,000 from her businesses.

Salina confronted Saldivar at a Corpus Christi, Texas motel over embezzlement allegations on March 31, 1995. Selina ran from the motel room and collapsed in the lobby as Saldivar followed, according to court documents from her first unsuccessful appeal in 1998, which also say Salina was able to identify Saldivar as the person who shot her before she lost consciousness and later died at the hospital. Saldivar then sat in her truck outside, threatening to take her own. life. I brought this gun to kill myself. It took hostage negotiators nine hours to convince her to peacefully surrender. We once Saldivar put away for life forever. Saldivar claiming during the trial that it was all an accident, a claim she's trying to make once again, even though the jury didn't believe it. She was sentenced to life in prison in 1995. With the possibility of parole after 30 years.

Those 30 years will be up next March. Most lawyers would probably advise Saldivar not to participate in a documentary like this because it could affect her odds of getting parole. Many fans furious that Saldivar is the one now getting the spotlight. Selina's last words were Yolanda did it. But this just proves that the Oxygen Network don't got any fucking Latinos. NBC News asked oxygen about that backlash. The network declined to comment.

Oxygen is owned by NBC Universal, NBC News's parent company. We also reached out to the family for comment, but they also declined. But even though she's been gone for 29 years, fans are keeping her legacy alive. And Stephen Romo now joining us from our studios in New York. Obviously, Stephen, we're talking about a figure in Selena who touched so many people across countries, across generations. So why are emotions still running so high even now after so much time has passed since her death? Yeah, a bit of a personal connection with this one, Sam. As a Latino kid growing up in Texas, Selena loomed large for me like she did so many others. There I am with

my cowboy hat and camo and mullet, as you can tell. I'm from Texas. And so many other people just like me, second, third generation Mexican Americans didn't grow up fluent in Spanish. Selina didn't either. She embraced it in adulthood, embraced her roots. And it was really a symbol of a melding of these two cultures. And for her life to be cut short when it was, it was just such a devastating loss. She was actually recording an English crossover album that was expected to be a huge hit when she was killed.

A painful loss, and her legacy, of course, will be continued to be remembered for, I'm sure, generations to come. And of course, you know, the cultural convergence and your cowboy hat, both incredible in that story. Thank you very much, Stephen. When we come back, a Netflix star arrested. One of the actors from the hit show Outer Banks is accused of assaulting several employees at a Las Vegas hospital, how he was responding to the allegations tonight.

the hit Netflix series reportedly punched multiple employees at that hospital before being strapped onto a gurney. In the social media post, North said that he does remember the incident but was at the hospital for what he believes was a severe anxiety attack. He also says that no drugs or alcohol were found in his system. A target in West Virginia is breaking apart and now slipping down a hillside. New drone footage showing part of the massive store giving way and a huge crack in the ground underneath it. This is in Barbersville, West Virginia. and near the state's border with Kentucky, the store has been temporarily closed and that section of the store is just going to be demolished. Residents at homes behind the store also receiving voluntary evacuation notices and moving costs are being covered by target.

We turn now to major misconduct allegations within the highest ranks of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The Washington Post first to report that the acting deputy chief of the U.S. Border Patrol was suspended Thursday for shocking accusations. And NBC News, exclusively reporting that Dr. Alexander Eastman, the chief medical officer for CBP, pressured his staff to secure fentanyl lollipops for him, according to a whistleblower report that was sent to Congress for more on these alarming developments within Border Patrol. I'm joined now by NBC News Homeland Security correspondent, Julia Ainsley. Julia, this sounds surreal. Let's start right now with your exclusive reporting on Dr. Eastman. According to your report, he asked his staff to order those fentanyl lollipops for him to take at this. to the UN General Assembly meeting in New York last September.

What did those whistleblowers say about why he did this? Well, Sam, I actually got the opportunity to look at some email exchanges between Dr. Eastman and people on his staff. This is shortly after he had been on the job for just a few months, and he was getting ready to go to the UN General Assembly meeting where CBP would be providing helicopter cover for security cooperating with Secret Service. And he asked for fentanyl lollipops. It was something the staff wasn't used to ordering.

They asked a lot of questions. They also asked if there was a policy for this and if he had something in place to try to store and dispose of these lollipops if they weren't used. He said they would be used for pain management in case there was some sort of an incident where they had to rescue someone in the field or one of the pilots was injured. But when he wrote the policy and sent it back to them, he revised it to emit language that would require for him to state how to store and dispose of those lollipops. And so these whistleblowers brought that to the attention of the government. accountability project, they sent a letter to Congress to date. Now, I will say CBP is reviewing that. This has been sent to the Office of Professional Responsibility to look into whether or not Dr. Eastman broke protocol here. But as of tonight, he still remains on the job. Wow. So he's still acting CBP there, medical officer. And then we have the acting deputy chief Joel Martinez, who's facing misconduct allegations. What more do we know about why he was suspended? Really not a lot. I will say that CBP seems a little more definitive on this. What they're saying is that we do not tolerate misconduct within our ranks. It's much harder than what they said about Dr. Eastman. For Joel Martinez, we understand he was number two at Border Patrol. Whatever he did meant a swift dismissal yesterday. And he's someone who had a long career with CBP. We hope to learn more. But a lot of those reviews within the Office of Professional Responsibility, their internal watchdog, often stay

private, and they say they do that for privacy and personnel reasons. Julie Ainsley, thank you so much. Now, to Top Stories Global Watch tonight, where officials in Egypt say hundreds of displaced Palestinians storm gates on the Gaza side of the Rafa crossing today. Video showing smoke and a burning structure right near the border. Palestinian authorities were able to gain control, and the crossing has since been reopened. The unrest comes as Israel plans a ground offensive in Rafa, where more than 1.3 million Palestinians, the majority of the population is currently sheltering. Multiple countries, including

the U.S., have urged Israel not to move forward with those plans. Well, in Egypt also scrapping a controversial plan to renovate one of its ancient pyramids, officials announcing a plan to reinstall a layer of granite blocks on the smallest pyramid of Giza last month. That project immediately drawing backlash from around the world, prompting officials to reevaluate the plants. A review committee ultimately deciding it would be impossible to restore the granite without ruining the monuments. Coming up, it is a mask mission, and it involves Jason Kelsey going viral

for celebrating his brother's Super Bowl win in a luchador mask. See him right there with a little kid. That is important because the owner of that mask is a middle schooler, and now he would like it back, please. How Kelsey is now racing to return it. The sweet story with the beautiful ending.

Next. For those still in the Super Bowl, kind of mood and fever. We're back now with the story of one very special piece of Kansas City chief skier. Jason Kelsey celebrating his brother's Super Bowl win last weekend, wearing a luchador mask given to him by a young fan at an after party. But that boy is now asking for it back. And tonight, a reunion might be closer than you think. It's the mask that Jason Kelsey says took Kansas City Super Bowl celebration to the next level. The All-Pro Eagle Center tearing up the dance.

floor in Las Vegas with his brother Travis after the chiefs clinched their third Super Bowl in five years on Sunday and through it all Jason sporting this luchador mask there's something about finding that luchador mask that really just transformed the night it really did it for everyone it was insane that mask becoming a symbol of the celebration but it turns out it wasn't actually Jason's mask I gave him my mask and then he dropped it and then picked it and then picked it back up and then I got a picture with him wearing it 14-year-old Elijah Smith and his family watched their beloved chiefs take home football's greatest prize from the stands at Super Bowl 58 let's go! Elijah proudly wearing his lucky Luchador mask. Last year when I wore in Arizona I feel like every single time I put it on we would score touchdown. Elijah even had the mask signed by another chief star Trent McDuffie but when he met Jason on the dance floor he still made the handoff. I saw videos on Instagram this week of him wearing it at the next after party they went to. So he clearly never took it off the whole night. Jason eventually separated from Elijah and his

family in the craziness of the party. The Smiths elated at the chief's big win, but now hoping to reunite their son with his beloved mask. It would be pretty cool if he autographed it and sent it back. The only thing is, Jason, if you're listening, we just need the mask back. We just need the mask back before the season starts because it's a it's a lucky mask yes and so the chiefs need to luck rather than the eagles i'm sorry we're not eagles fans turns out jason kelsey was listening the eagle star posting on x operation get elijah his mask back is underway your mask indeed brings great fortune he said i owe you big time sorry it was commandeered a one-of-a-kind souvenir now on its way home from a night one young chiefs fan will never forget

And we did also speak to Sarah Smith, Elijah's mom this afternoon. She says that Jason Kelsey did make contact with the family, as he promised earlier today, and he plans on giving Elijah a call this afternoon once the eighth grader gets home from school. When we come back, a look at what you can binge, watch, and listen to all this weekend. The new documentary, by the way, about the Patriots Dynasty, of course, led by Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. What really happened behind the scenes? Plus, Jalo dropping a new album and a movie to go with it. And the new song by Duolipa.

We are back now with Bingeworthy. Of course, our look at the best things to watch and listen to this weekend. And joining us tonight as entertainment journalists and pop culture expert, Brian Balthazar. Brian, of course, thank you so much for joining us on Top Story. And I got to tell you, so many sports fans are going to be super pumped about this first one. The Dynasty New England Patriots, a new docu series on Apple TV Plus, about the team's franchise that, of course, included six Super Bowl wins, and plenty of internal strife.

Here's a look at that. This game is like a narcotic. You're chasing that forever. Breaking news right now, it's spy gate. Deflate Gate. Aaron couldn't separate himself from that dark side. That team won enough to become the villain. We worked for Bill, but we played for Tom.

Bill Tour Brady's hit completely off. There's things that are done that can't be undone. How you can see that clip and not be excited, I just don't think anyone would be, Brian. I mean, it takes us back to so many levels and eras of the Belichick Brady franchise dynasty. And I guess I would ask, people want to know the dirt. What really happened behind the scenes there? Do we get any of that? Oh, absolutely.

And interestingly, Tom Brady weighs in on why after 19 seasons did he leave to go to Tampa Bay? And the answer will probably not surprise you. And there's so many. The thing is, this is rife with drama and stories over a 20-year-old. period. 10 episodes, the first two are out right now. It's compelling, and the Tom Brady, Bill Belichick story is a great one in of itself. Especially with Belichick, of course, no longer coaching in the NFL at all. So the intrigue is just raised there. All right, up next, we have the return of a British drama series on Peacock. It's called Vigil. It's back with the second season

that includes the development of weaponization of drones and really modern-day warfare. Take a look at this. Somebody told him what we were doing here. Find out who. We're all suspects. Yes, of course we are. You're going to ask me if I did this. Why were you there?

Those drones are tools for oppression. And I didn't do anything wrong. Police! What evidence do you even have? I have enough. All right, Brian, this looks really dramatic. What should viewers expect? Right, so this is high on intrigue and conspiracy.

A combat drone is compromised, and this wider investigation shows you, that there's much more going on than meets the eye. Season one largely took place on a submarine. This has been opened up. The world of this show has been opened up. Lots of conspiracy going on in here. It's suspenseful drama. It's definitely worth a look.

Definitely a good weekend watching there. And I'm going to take you on a really wide swing now. From that drama to some childhood favorites here, we have a movie you can stream on Apple TV Plus with a twist now. It's called Welcome Home Franklin. It's the latest from the Peanuts Gang. Take a look at that. Hi, I'm Franklin.

I've lived in a lot of different. places my family is always on the move this was it our new town do you want to excuse me making new friends can be hard I'm Franklin Armstrong my name is Charlie Brown all right so we got a new character in this age old franchise and I guess he seems to be feeling a little bit left out what can you tell us about the show right well this is an early interesting story because Franklin was first introduced in 1968 after a teacher wrote in and asked Charles Schultz to integrate the comic strip. And so that scene you see where Franklin meets Charlie Brown is a recreation of the comic strip

introduction of the two. And even though we had Franklin in the series for a long time, we really haven't seen much storytelling in a show that's already very absent of diversity. So now we're seeing Franklin. We're seeing his origin story, if you will, and his struggle to meet friends when he moves into town. He's part of a military family. And interestingly, this is the first time that you see Franklin actually breaks the fourth wall and talks to the viewer. This is a long time coming, and I think it's worth a watch because we're seeing a greater expansion of a much more important story than we've seen in the years past. So it's reintroducing an old character, but really to touch upon modern-day themes.

And I guess what's the reaction been so far to that, Brian? Incredibly positive. No, obviously, it's difficult to talk about some of this subject matter in the context of a cartoon that's meant for very young children, but they're doing it in a certain way when Franklin Armstrong first sees all the kids. They're all eating vanilla ice cream. And that's a very interesting reference to the vanillaness of the cast up until that time. And you see he's talking about the artist he loves, among them Stevie Wonder. So it's interesting to see how this friendship develops and how it starts on him having trouble meeting friends because he's, you know,

never met these people before. And he's from a military family. But there's a lot of underlying issues that are very clear and evident in Franklin's story that come through here. Absolutely. That's a great metaphor with the ice cream that maybe would not have otherwise caught. So thank you for that. Up next, we have Jennifer Lopez, who released her first studio album in 10 years today, and that was alongside a film on Amazon Prime titled This Is Me Now, a love story. Let's take a look at that clip. It's never enough for you.

He's a liar. I've never lied to you. And the constant criticism? She thinks I'm her employee. Being with you feels like homeless. But I left home for a reason. Whenever someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always in love.

All right, this looks like part musical, part introspection of J-Lo, part dance flex. What are we getting into when we stream this? Yeah, you pretty much summed it up. I think it's, you could call it an epic fable. I think we're learning more about what this is now that we've heard. At first, it felt like we were talking about a documentary. This is kind of an epic recreation of her passion for love. She plays the artist.

She doesn't play Jailo, and many of the stars that appear. Some of them are playing astrological signs. Sophia Vergara plays cancer. Jane Fonda plays another astrological sign. Ben Affleck is in it briefly, but doesn't play Ben Affleck. So we're learning more that this is a 65-minute journey of music and dance and visual spectacle. There's Fat Joe there. Stars studded, but still a lot of mystery about what this is really.

about. So I'm interested. Yeah, and I was going to say, how can you tell a Jennifer Lopez love story without mentioning Ben Affleck somewhere? If it's going to be in the Dunkin' Donuts commercials, he's got to be in this. Right, exactly. You've got to see a little Ben. Without a doubt. Benifer. More new music now out this week. Lil Kim, I have not said that name in a long time, and Tay Brown out with a new song, Love for you. Let's take a listen. You got an old-school hip-hop queen there, sort of new-age artist, pairing together.

What did you think of this song? I think it's a great song. It's been five years since we've seen a single from Lil Kim. And I will tell you, it was a struggle to pick the clip that we can play on this. It is explicit. So kudos to the editor and the producer who picked that clip because it's well-chosen with a scalpel because there's a lot of references that I could not recite to you, but it's catchy. I think people have been waiting for a little bit, a little Kim.

And here it is. Yeah, maybe some parental oversight while you listen to that. Just a little bit. Just a little bit. Duolipa is now out with a new song that we can dance to. It's called Training Season. Take a listen. But if you really want to go there, you should know I need someone to hold me

closer than I'm living on whose love feels like a rodeo knows just how to take control. Brian, I find myself nodding my head and out listening to this. I'm pretty sure she played this at the Grammys, and it was awesome. She did. What's the early reception been so far? She just picks great tracks. She collaborates on great tracks. This is the second single on what will be her third album, inspired by a series, a string of bad dates.

And when they were all over, she went into the studio the next morning and said, okay, training season is over, implying that all these bad days are just training you for the right relationship. And there's something about she knows how to pick out. a bop, if you will. She knows how to pick out a bop. And also a man. She's raising the bar there. Thank you so much, Brian. Really appreciate this. Love me some dulype. I'm not going to lie. I'm Sam Brock in for Tom Yamis tonight. Stay right there because we have more news for you coming up on the way.