Top Story with Tom Llamas - Friday, January 13, 2023

Episode Date: January 14, 2023

At least nine people were killed across two states as a tornado outbreak sweeps across the South, the backpack of a 6-year-old student was searched before he shot his teacher, NBC News has learned that one of Biden's classified documents was marked "Top Secret," disturbing body camera footage shows Los Angeles police repeatedly tasing a Black man who later died at a hospital, and the emotional speech at the Golden Globes that brought down the house.

Tonight, the tornado outbreak carving a deadly trail of destruction. The drone footage showing the widespread destruction in the south. Confirmed EF2 and EF3 tornadoes touching down in Alabama. At least nine people killed across two states. One mother riding out the storm in a bathtub with her two-year-old son as their home was torn to shreds. Are Morgan Chesky on the ground with their heroine tale of survival? The shocking revelation after a six-year-old student,

shot his teacher. The school admitting an employee was warned the child had a gun hours before the incident, but a search of his backpack turned up nothing. The growing questions tonight from parents, why weren't the police called earlier? The new fallout from the Biden classified documents investigation, sources telling NBC news one of the files found was marked top secret, the government's highest classification. Kristen Welker pressing the White House tonight, will the president testify if called before the special counsel. Disturbing body cam footage out of Los Angeles. Officers responding to a car accident,

repeatedly tasing one of the men involved. That man later dying at the hospital. The investigation just launched. Overseas a gas explosion sending a giant fireball, more than 150 feet in the air. Evacuations now underway. Plus, the shocking takedown caught on camera, a man wielding a knife in a Walmart,

the customer who took justice into his own hands. And we'll show you the emotional speech at the Golden Globes that brought on a wave of nostalgia and brought down the house. The former child star from cult classics like the Goonies and Indiana Jones, now starring in one of the most critically acclaimed movies of the year. His remarkable second act, decades in the making. Top Story starts right now. And good evening. We begin Top Story tonight with those devastating scenes across the South. the death toll climbing. After a deadly tornado outbreak, tore across six states. At least nine people killed.

The loss of life and homes and livelihoods has been catastrophic. And we want to show you tonight some of the images that are coming into our newsroom right now. A surveillance camera at a car wash in Moulton, Alabama, showing the moment an EF1 ripped a building to shreds. The National Weather Service now conforming this powerful twister that you see right here that tore through Central Alabama was an EF3. winds reaching up to 165 miles per hour. At least seven people killed in that area alone. And the damage there is simply catastrophic. You look at all the damage here. These are homes.

These are people's lives. Some residents returning to pick up the pieces. R. Morganshecki is there with the story of one family that wrote out the storm in their bathtub as their home collapsed around them. His report in a moment as part of our full team coverage. But we want to begin with NBC's Blaine Alexander, who leads us off tonight from Selma, Alabama. Even an eagle-eye view can barely tell the full story of the storm's devastation. Across parts of the south, terrifying pictures of tornado sightings. With more than three dozen reported

tornadoes stretching across six states, including hard-hit Alabama, where some counties are under a state of emergency. In Selma, much of downtown took a direct hit. Annetta Smith has lived on this street most of her life. This is your mother's house? Yes. And this is your house? Now, she says, both are uninhabitable. When the storm hit, her 78-year-old mother was right in the living room. Miraculously, she barely had a scratch. She heard the windows breaking and the walls crackling and the walls followed me. The storms brought winds so powerful, they left power lines littering the streets, leaving tens of thousands without power.

Roots are just gone. And trees look like toothpicks. Governor Kay Ivy visited the damage. Soon, I'm going to make a call and try to talk to the president to encourage him to expedite the state of emergency. In Georgia, more devastation and deaths, including a five-year-old child killed when a tree fell on the family car and a state government employee who was out responding to the storm. While January tornadoes are not unheard of, the sheer strength of the storms, and the number of them are unusual for the dead of winter. in Selma, a city known for its role in the civil rights movement, Green Street Baptist Church was under renovation. It stood for more than a hundred years. People were able to come here

and worship. People that came from out of town were able to have somewhere to sleep. They had somewhere to eat. For so many across the south, those very places are now in ruins. And Blaine Alexander joins top story tonight from Selma, Alabama. Blaine, anytime you see a brick wall just tossed around like it is behind you. I mean, it is an unbelievable sight. You mentioned your report there, three dozen tornadoes in this historic city. Talk to us about the sense in that community

after surviving this horrific round of tornadoes. And, you know, that's one thing that really has been stunning about this. Really, Thomas, just how widespread this damage is. So when you talk about those reported tornadoes, that's across a number of states. And people have just been as terrified in state after state, basically seeing either tornadoes or hearing the train-like sounds come through that they always talk about. Now, here in Selma, when I've spoken to people, they really have said, you know, I spoke to one woman who says she's lived here the better part of her life.

She's never seen storms like this blow through, certainly something that caught a lot of people off guard. Yeah, and as your photographer zooms out there, we just see that destruction. It's even worse than what we thought. It's incredible. A lot of people died during these tornadoes, but in Selma, which was hit so hard, it appears everyone survived. How did that happen? You know, Tom, there's not a single person that we spoke to today that didn't marvel at that fact. You know, people who said that they had homes that were uninhabitable, people, the two people who, you know, have been involved in the renovation of this church even.

They said, yes, I look at the devastation. This is heartbreaking. But at the same time, they said to me, simply, they feel so blessed because they didn't lose anybody they love. They didn't lose a member of their community. And they say that really puts a lot of this into perspective. When we've talked to people, they've had to hide in freezers. They've had to duck for cover at the last minute. But either way, they have come out alive, Tom.

Okay, Blaine Alexander, first, Blaine, we appreciate that. Now to one family's story of survival. Morgan Chesky in one of the hardest hit areas. And he spoke to the Johnson family who lost so much but are grateful to have made it through a terrifying tornado. For Leah Johnson, it's the heartbreaking view. She somehow calls a blessing. When you look at that and you realize, your daughter was inside there.

I feel crushed because I wasn't here with her, but I'm very blessed and thankful that she lived. Her home turned inside out, shredded by a deadly tornado. You see it on TV, it looks a lot different when you're standing in it, and it's your house. But that's not the only reason. Her world was turned upside down when she realized the storm was headed straight towards her daughter, Amber,

and two-year-old grandson, James. I was terrified. And Amber says when her mom called yelling, take shelter, she knew exactly where to go. When you get in that bathtub with James, what are you telling them? It's going to be okay. Mommy's got you. Mommy's got you.

That's all I could say was come to sit with Mommy. Mommy's got you. Mommy's got you. Hold on to Mommy. And that's almost exactly when it struck. It picked us up sideways, and we rolled around a little bit, and then we stopped moving, and I looked up, and there was some roofing on us, and I pushed it off, and I told him to hold on to mommy.

You closed your eyes as it hit, and when you opened them, you were outside. Yes. Somehow Amber clung to James. The two both bruised and gashed by debris, but alive. If your mom doesn't call you and say, hey, get to shelter, where would you have been? In our bed, which is now over there, that white on top of the tree, that's our mattress, and that we were laying down for a nap. Today, the family returned, salvaging as many memories as they could, not to mention a family member. The Johnson's pulling their own dog from the rubble, along with precious remnants of the past. It was a picture of y'all in the house when we first got it.

History saved by a family blessed to still be here. I'm blessed. I know we lost everything, but maybe a few clothes and some pictures. but because she's alive. I'm okay. Morgan Chesky joins us now live from Otaga County right in front of that home that he was just reporting on where the Johnson's lived. And Morgan, it is so hard to believe that that family made it out alive. How are other people in that neighborhood doing? Yeah, Tom, we know in this immediate area, everyone was able to survive. But a testament to how tight-knit this area is.

only has about 50,000 people in the entire county when I mentioned that at least seven other people had been reported killed by this tornado. Both of the Johnson here said, we know they were members of the same church, and their thoughts went out to those folks who were not as lucky as this family was over the last 24 hours. Tom? Morgan Chesky, with just an absolute incredible story tonight here in Top Story. Morgan, we appreciate your reporting. We just can't believe how that family survived. For more on the forecast, NBC News meteorologist Bill Cairns joins us now. And Bill, before we started, I do want to ask you, I mean, this was pretty incredible what happened. We knew these storms were bad, but I think this kind of took a lot of people by surprise, right? Going into the day, we knew we'd have a chance of severe weather, damaging winds,

isolated tornadoes. If you were to ask any forecaster, are we going to have 37 tornadoes? We all would have said, no, this shouldn't be a big outbreak. But sometimes Mother Nature has different ideas. And, yeah, I mean, it looks like that one where Morgan was standing. that's going to be either an EF3 or an EF4 by the time they grade it. And is tornado alley shifting? Because over the past couple months, we've been talking a lot about tornadoes in the south,

not necessarily traditionally where you find them. People for a meteorologist for a while, we've been saying, you know, we've been having a lot more outbreaks like this one in areas of Tennessee and Arkansas and also down through Mississippi. And a study has been done. And it has been confirmed there's a downward trend in what we call the traditional tornado alley, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, and an uptick, what we call the Tennessee Valley. So it's not your imagination.

Finally, update us on California. We were talking about California earlier this week. We know they were getting hit with relentless storms. Where are we right now? Well, we have seen one go through today, and then tomorrow is the next one. And then we have one more bigger one that looks like as we go Sunday into Monday. So this is Saturday at 8 p.m. Heavy rain in areas of Los Angeles. So be careful if you have evening plans in that area. We're worried about landslides, debris flows. And then by the time we get to the end of the weekend. So this Sunday morning is fine. But here comes. that next storm into Sunday, into Sunday night.

We're worried about this one for Southern California, high winds, potential flooding, and maybe even landslides with that one. So again, one to four inches. Each storm by itself, Tom, is not an issue, but when we combine all three in the next couple of days, we're going to have more flooding problems. Okay, we'll be talking about it next week, Bill.

We appreciate that. We want to turn out of the alarming update on that six-year-old who shot his teacher in Virginia last week. The school superintendent revealing they got a tip earlier that day that the first grader may have had a gun. The child's backpack was actually searched by school officials, but no gun was found. Katie Beck tonight, the latest on this investigation. Tonight, shocking new details revealed after a six-year-old shot his teacher in a Virginia school last week.

The school superintendent revealing that a school administrator was told the child may have brought a gun to school that day. At least one administrator was notified of a possible weapon in the timeline that we're reviewing. and was aware that that student had, there was a potential that a weapon was on campus. The superintendent also saying a school staffer searched the child's backpack, but found nothing. Hours after the search, the first grade student shot his teacher, Abigail Zwerner, in the chest, with a 9-millimeter handgun. The 25-year-old hailed a hero for managing to get the rest of her class to safety. I believe that Ms. Zwerner, Abigail, that she saved lives on private. Day. Zwerner remains hospitalized in stable condition. Parents now demanding answers on how this

could have happened. Maria Navarette has two kids that attend Richneck Elementary. She says she doesn't feel comfortable sending them back to school until more is done to prevent this from happening again. Just the whisper of a gun should have been a phone call to the police with multiple school shootings happening, you know, around the U.S. The community pushing the school system to do more to protect students and teachers. Newport News police say they never got a call about that initial tip concerning the gun and the school district hasn't revealed how that tip came to them and if the boy was physically searched after nothing was recovered in his backpack.

No one has yet been charged in this case, but the investigation is ongoing. Tom? Katie Beck, with that stunning new development. Okay, thank you for that. Next to Washington and the ongoing fallout for the Biden administration. now under investigation over the handling of classified documents, at least one of which we've now learned, was marked top secret. The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee launching another probe into the classified material.

This has President Biden's faces growing criticism with his own parties and with his own allies. NBC News Chief White House correspondent, Kristen Welker, has the latest. Tonight, President Biden at the White House ignoring questions about the newly appointed special counsel. The president now. the focus of a criminal investigation into whether he mishandled classified documents, which were found at two locations not approved for storing classified material, including inside his garage at his home in Delaware, and his former private office that he used after the vice presidency, where we're learning at least one of the classified documents was marked with the

government's highest classification, top secret, according to a senior U.S. official and another person familiar with the matter. multiple aides who once worked for then Vice President Biden have been interviewed by federal law enforcement officials, according to two people familiar with the matter. The White House facing growing criticism for not telling the public about the classified documents for over two months. The first batch was discovered by Biden attorneys on November 2nd, a week before the midterms, yet there was no public announcement by the White House until just this week, and only in response to a media report. Today, House Republicans demand

ending answers, launching a new investigation. His attorney found these documents a week before the midterm elections. Clearly, they had to have notified their client, the president of the United States, and yet nothing was done about it. And they swept this under the rug. They hit it until it was leaked to the media. Tonight, multiple allies of President Biden tell NBC News they're growing frustrated with how the White House is handling the controversy, saying it's being made worse by the fact that Biden

officials are giving few details. One ally calling it a misstep, not to be more transparent. Now, the president facing the possibility of being interviewed by the special counsel. We pressed the White House. Would the president agree to sit for it on the record in person? I'm not going to get into specifics or get ahead of what's going to happen. Kristen Welker joins us tonight from the White House. Kristen, one of the things that really stands out in your reporting to me tonight is that even the president's own allies are criticizing him and the White House for the handling of this and the way they rolled all of this out, if you will, or not rolling out to be completely frank.

What are they saying tonight about their own allies criticizing them? Yeah, really good question, Tom. The White House not responding publicly, but one source familiar with the thinking behind the scenes here tells NBC News, look, they have been weighing their desire not to upset the Justice Department by releasing what they're calling, quote, granular details. Meanwhile, the president will be facing all of this when he delivers his state of the union address, which we delivered will be February 7th, Tom. Yeah, talk to me about that because now he's got to prepare for the state of the union, right?

With the whole country, we'll be watching to hear what he has to say. And we're also possibly awaiting an announcement on a re-election campaign. Right. The optics are just stunning. And Tom, this will be the first state of the union. The president will be delivering before a Republican-controlled Congress. Remember that. He's already, of course, facing these investigations, which have been launched against him by the Republican-led House investigations into him and his family.

And, of course, these classified documents will undoubtedly add yet another layer to all of those tensions. So the question is whether the White House will change strategy and potentially give more information about those classified documents before his address. And perhaps the biggest question looming over all of this, what you just said, Tom, is how this might impact the timing or even the substance. of a re-election campaign if he decides to run again, Tom. All right, Kristen Welker, and our White House team with a lot of new reporting on this story all week. The Trump Organization was fined $1.6 million today for a 15-year criminal tax fraud scheme.

A New York judge handing down the maximum penalty possible in the case. Last month, the Trump Organization was convicted on 17 felonies, including tax fraud and falsifying business records. The only individual charge in this case was the company's former CFO, Alan Weisselberg. He pleaded guilty in August, and this week was sentenced to five months in prison. Okay, we want to head overseas now to the war in Ukraine, where Russia is claiming to have captured the eastern Ukrainian town of Soledar, furious fighting, nearly destroying the region, and packing hospitals with wounded soldiers. Ukraine says this latest offensive is just a reflection of the power struggle within Putin's inner circle. Here's NBC's foreign correspondent Matt Bradley to explain.

Tonight, after months of embarrassing setbacks, Russia says it's taken. in the eastern Ukrainian town of Soledar. But the brutal fighting has left it in ruins and left medics racing through the wreckage to pick up the wounded, like this Ukrainian man. It's close combat. We have gunshots. We have grenade shrapnel wounds and so on. Incredibly, there are still civilians in this region.

This is how we survive, she says. We walk and cry. No one's thinking about people. But Ukraine's military insists Soledar hasn't fallen. We will never give up, this soldier said. Russia says taking Soledar will help them conquer the larger city of Bahmoud nearby, but both towns have little strategic importance. Ukrainian officials believe this fight is about a power struggle in President Putin's

inner circle between Russia's military and a Russian oligarch. That flag isn't Russia's. It belongs to a private army owned by Yvgeny Prigodzhen. The Prigin is doing all of this in Soledar and Bahmoud in order to further his own political ambitions. I would say that's the case, in particular strengthening his position in the apparatus that surrounds Putin. This is his only way to survive in the Russian Federation.

Yeah, Tom, and as Russia gains that little amount of ground, Western countries are under pressure to up their ante. We've just heard in the past couple of days that the German government may be about to allow for the resale of those much sought after leopard two tanks to Ukraine. That's a line that so far Washington has been unwilling to cross. Tom? A major development if it happens. Okay, we thank you, Matt, for that.

Still ahead, the disturbing body camera footage out of Los Angeles. A man tased by police multiple times, later dying at the hospital. His cousin, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, her message tonight. Plus the massive explosion overseas, take a look at that, a fireball shooting, 150 feet into the sky will tell you what happened. And the Dallas Zoo on lockdown today after a leopard escaped its enclosure, the update just into the newsroom will tell you about it. Stay with us.

Top story. Just getting started on this Friday. We're back now with recently released body cam footage showing a confrontation between a black man and a Los Angeles police officer. The police officer ended up using his taser and that man dying later that day. An investigation is now underway, and a warning. The video you're about to see is disturbing. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez with the video and the story.

Around 3.35 p.m. on January 3rd, an LAPD officer rides up to a traffic collision. Bystanders point to the man they say caused the crash. Keenan Anderson. The officer confronts him. Hey, stop right there. Get it against the wall. Get up against the wall. Anderson appears to comply for several minutes, but then starts to run away.

Now, get down over there! Turn over on your stomach right now! More officers arrived. Please don't do this, sir. Please, help me, please. Help me, please. No, please, help me. Help me, please.

At one point, Anderson yells. They try to enjoy it. Stop it, I'm going to take you. Yes, sir. Okay, stop it. Stop it on a machine. Stop it on the team. Yes.

Stop. Yes. An officer deploys his taser repeatedly. Anderson is handcuffed, taken to a hospital, and later dies. After approximately four and a half hours following the use of force, Anderson experienced a medical emergency. The 31-year-old was a 10th grade English teacher in Washington, D.C., who was visiting family in Los Angeles. I was in shock. Anderson was also a cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrice Cullors, who said,

as he tried to flag down police. My cousin asked for help, and that's not what he received. What I saw was a man who was afraid for his life and was pleading for help and was trying to protect himself. Eyewitness cell phone video released by the department appears to show an Uber driver telling another bystander that Anderson caused a crash and ran away. job right now. Don't think that the police is abusing him. He was trying to go away. Police say a preliminary toxicology report found Anderson had cocaine and marijuana in his system.

Tom? Okay. Gabe Gutierrez for us. That of the murder case that's gripped the country, Brian Coburger, appearing in court this week standing accused of murder of murdering four college students in the dead of night. Dateline's Keith Morrison spoke with some friends and family of those young victims. Here's a preview. I went into complete shock, absolute complete shock. I couldn't cry, I couldn't think. The Gonsalva's family's daughter, Kaylee, along with her best friend Maddie Mogan,

roommate Zana Kernodal, and Zana's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, had all been found dead in this house on King Road, just a couple of blocks from campus, killed just hours, really, after this. All four decked out in Gaines. game day gear before that Vandal football game.

What's it like seeing all this happen in your hometown in that place you love so much? It breaks my heart. Hayley Gensner is a reporter for KHQ, our local NBC affiliate. She grew up in Moscow, attended the university, and once lived just-off King. A beloved strip of homes where sorority and fraternity members often moved to spend their final semesters at school. I lived the exact life that they were living. And so it just, it really hit close to home, like, how could this happen? No one, it seemed, had a clue about that, or what to think or feel after the city's first homicide in seven years.

Moscow police were clearly working the crime scene, but publicly were saying, not a word about what they'd found inside, about what had happened, or who might have done it. And with that, Dateline's Keith Morrison joins Top Story tonight. Keith, the reporter you spoke to there, our colleague, a local NBC reporter, gave you some sense of the shock in Moscow. And, you know, there are towns like Moscow all across the United States that every Friday night they'll watch Dateline and say that kind of thing would never happen in this town. But it happened right there in that Idaho small town.

Has that sunk in? And what was the realization that you came across from speaking to people there? Well, it's still singing in. The students are coming back to class. The town is trying to get going again. I know they bravely put on their Christmas parade and kind of kept going. But this was a deep wound in that small community and across the river in Pullman in the neighboring community that then became involved in this story.

I've never seen a case so, you know, the world is. embraced this story and so much misinformation about it as well. I've just never seen anything quite this wild before. Yeah, the internet sleuths, of you will, and the Reddit boards sort of exploded over this because it was just so shocking. This case has been so public, as you mentioned. In some ways, it's just the beginning. The first preliminary hearing we reported this week is not going to happen until the end of June. And we've heard from the Gonzalez family a lot. I know you interviewed them as well. How has it been for the families to grieve because we really have not heard from the three other families in this

in this case? And they have declined, they have declined to speak. They want to grieve in private. They want to do, I think they have probably left it to the Gonzalez family to express the views that they have. You know, each family makes its own decision. And you have to respect people's privacy. But the Gonzalez, I think, felt that they needed to get out in public to try to goad the investigation to try to get something happening to try to express what a parent in a situation like that feels. They didn't think anything was happening. In fact, it was a kind of a classic traditional investigation.

It went quicker than a lot of other investigations of such times go, and eventually it produced a result that we are at today. Yeah. Okay. Keith Morrison for us. Keith, we thank you, and you can catch that special edition of Dateline. Tonight, 9 p.m. Eastern only on NBC. When we come back, Walmart Justice, a customer knocking down a man who had been brandishing a knife inside of a South Carolina store, what he used to take him out.

Stay with us. All right, we are back now with Top Stories Newsfeiting. We begin with a shocking takedown of an armed man in South Carolina at a Walmart. A warning. This video is also disturbing. phone video captures a man waving a pocket knife and threatening people inside the store in Colombia. That's when another shopper hits the man over the head with a stanchion. He was okay, but the group held him down until police arrived. Overseas now to the explosion at a gas pipeline

in central Lithuania. New video shows the massive fireball, flames reaching more than 150 feet in the air. So far, no injuries have been reported, but a nearby village was forced to evacuate. That caused is under investigation. And the Dallas Sioux was on lockdown after a club, a A clouded leopard escaped its enclosure. New footage shows officials finding the 25-pound four-year-old cat on zoo grounds late today. You can see it there if you look closely, I think. Officials say she tore through her habitat overnight, forcing the zoo to close to the public. No other animals or humans were her.

Okay, we want to turn now to the growing debate. Gas stoves versus electric. You may have heard about this. The commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, fueling the controversy after calling gas stoves a hidden habit. But what does the research say, and is anybody actually coming for yours? Our San Brock has the answers. Comments from a member of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, have fired up a major debate.

Will the United States of America ban gas stoves? Can they even do that? Are these people insane? In an interview with Bloomberg, a commissioner with the government agency called gas stoves a hidden hazard. It comes as mounting research links gas stoves. to health risks when it comes to breathing issues. A recent peer-reviewed study from a prominent medical journal found nearly 13% of childhood asthma cases in the U.S. are attributable to gas stove use.

It's terrifying as a parent to have a small child, a toddler who has asthma. Heather Price's then two-year-old son used to need an inhaler. But when they moved to a nearby home with all electric appliances more than a decade ago, she says her son's respiratory issues improved almost instantly. Do you think there's a strong likelihood that the reason your son developed asthma was because of exposure to a gas appliance? That's my sense of it. It was the one thing that, you know, the big thing that we changed. While the agency says they are looking for ways to reduce indoor air quality hazards related to gas stoves, which also emit the greenhouse gas methane, they are not looking to ban gas stoves. Still, states like California and New York are already moving

toward prohibiting the sale of new gas appliances by 2030 in an effort to reduce emissions. I think this is ridiculous, mostly because I hate cooking with electric stove. But experts say a nationwide ban is improbable, as are any forced changes to your kitchen. It's extraordinarily unlikely that any future ban would ever require somebody to replace an existing appliance. What we're talking about is new construction, residential developments. So what are the pros and cons of different stoves from gas, electric to newer induction technology. A lot of people, again, that grew up with gas are very comfortable with it. Jeff Jascot of aggressive appliances in Orlando says that electric and

induction stovetops are not just safer, but more efficient, even if there's less panache than cooking on an open flame. So every chef in the world is probably going to kill me for saying this, but I would say induction is faster, is just as responsive, cools off quicker, easier to clean up. Sam, we're going to Washington, and we're going to tell the politicians we have a solution. By induction. Everybody can be happy. Sam Brock, NBC News. Okay, we thank Sam Brock for that.

Next tonight to a new initiative aimed at helping America's veterans. Starting next week, U.S. military veterans who are in a suicidal crisis will be eligible for free emergency medical care. This due policy includes up to 30 days of inpatient care and up to 90 days of outpatient care with no co-pays or fees. The VA reported that more than 6,000 veterans died by suicide. in just 2020. Okay, we now turn to a new report, raising the alarm about prostate cancer.

It shows more men are being diagnosed with advanced cases. Tonight, NBC's Miguel Almagir, with a very personal connection to that story that he brings us. At 74, my dad, Tomas Almaguer, was enjoying retirement, traveling the world when his doctor broke the news. When you sat down with your doctor and he said you had prostate cancer, what went through your mind? I was stunned, frightened, confused. The devastating diagnosis, which came six weeks ago, revealed his prostate cancer was advanced. Doctors discovering lesions after a routine blood test known as a prostate-specific antigen test or PSA. It was really simple, really simple.

Any reluctance in taking the test? No, not at all. Not once I understood that it was just a blood test that I needed to take. In a new report, the American Cancer Society revealed, after a 20-year decline, prostate cancer cases have been on the rise in recent years. The sudden shift, resulting in a 4.5% annual increase in advanced stage diagnoses, likely due to a reduction in testing in previous years, tests that have shown to reduce the risk of dying by 53%. I would encourage all men to get prostate cancer screening, especially in this era with less invasive testing. I happen to be in a situation where it's aggressive and it's more advanced and, you know,

I might have saved myself some grief had I done this even earlier. To save lives, experts say men who have an average risk for developing prostate cancer should talk to their doctors about testing by age 50. For African Americans or those with some family history, conference. should start at 45. But for those with two or more immediate family members with prostate cancer, the age is 40. If my sons and my grandkids can get on top of this in an early age, then that's the smartest thing to do. Tonight, the cancer risk all men face and the diagnosis their families live with. All right, Miguel Almiger joins us now. Miguel, first, I just want

to thank you on sharing this story and bringing it to our viewers. I know it takes a lot of of guts and a lot of courage to share something so personal. I do want to start this cross-talk with you asking you, how is your dad doing tonight? Well, Tom, thanks for asking. I really appreciate it. My dad, like so many other American men, is in the place where he needs to make a decision right now. He's got the diagnosis. He has to figure out what's the best strategy to kind of take care of the cancer. In his case, it'll either be radiation or surgery. As a family, we'll discuss those measures. But ultimately, it comes down to the patient or my dad in this case. And of course, we're all hoping the best for him.

Point out in your story, when men should get tested, you know, usually around the age of 50, if they're African-American around the age of 45, and if there's a history, even as early as 40, what are some of the preventative measures that men can take? Well, the best thing for them to do is to talk to their doctors. Those changing guidelines actually caught me by surprise. I mean, we just found out six weeks ago that my dad had prostate cancer. So for me and my brother, it actually lowers the age of testing to 40. I'm 45. My brother's 48, so we're well past due now for that PSA testing.

everybody, whether you have some a relative or not who may or may not have cancer of this nature, the best thing to do is just to simply talk to your doctor. Send them a message, ask them, am I a candidate? Should I get tested? The PSA testing is super simple, and it can save your life. And again, Miguel, a big thank you to you. We will be keeping your dad in our prayers. All right, coming up, second act. Actor Kihoi Kwan winning his first Golden Globe this week for his role in everything everywhere all at once. But his journey to the top, was not always an easy one. His incredible story and his speech next.

We're back now with something that caught our eye this week because it was such an honest and powerful human moment. Kihoi Kwan returned to Hollywood after a 20-year acting hiatus with his thrilling performance in everything everywhere all at once. But while he's captivating audiences once again, Kwan made sure he never forgot the man who first gave him his big break decades ago and he answered the one question that had been,

haunting him his whole career. That's King Hoy Kwan walking to the main stage of the Golden Globes. Thank you. Thank you so much. Accepting the award, the best supporting actor for his role in everything, everywhere, all at once. If you're a movie lover, he may look and sound familiar. But you have to go way back to remember. Try almost 40 years back.

This is Mr. Round. Short Round. My name is Indiana Jones. That's Kwan and Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, making his movie debut and stealing scenes from the film's superstar, Harrison Ford. Wow, holy smoke. Cross-Ladding! Short, round. I'm set on it.

That breakthrough performance led to another role in another Spielberg film the very next year. He played data in the cult classic Goonies. And again, Juan was getting all the laps. I got a great idea, you guys. Slick shoes. Slick shoes, are you crazy? I told Key that we wanted him in Goonies even before anyone else had been, you know, cast. We actually designed that part.

Key came first, and the writing of that role came second. But after back-to-back home runs, the child actor, everyone was talking about, started to find Hollywood, was quick to forget. He would go 20 years without acting, talking about that struggle in his Golden Globe speech. As I grew older, I started to wonder if that was it, if that was just luck. For so many years, I was afraid that I had nothing more to offer. That no matter what I did, I would never surpass what I achieved as a kid. then acknowledging the famous director who gave him his big shot.

I was raised to never forget where I came from and to always remember who gave me my first opportunity. I am so happy to see Steven Spielberg here tonight. Stephen, thank you. And the directors, decades later, who gave him another chance. More than 30 years later, two guys thought of me they remember that kid

and they gave me an opportunity to try again it wasn't luck as he once thought but talent I got him on the silver screen Dan Kwan Daniel Scheinert thank you so so much for helping me find my answer you have given me more than I could have ever hoped can't get enough for that speech

and we hope to see more of Kwan in the near future. When we come back, a look at what to binge this weekend, a new animated series by Mindy Kaling, plus the star-studded film about the first black U.S. naval pilot and new music from Miley Cyrus and Shakira. That's next. It is Friday, which means we are back with binge-worthy. A look at the best things to watch and listen to this weekend,

and we are joined by the host of the podcast, Killer Questions with Darren Karp, and Shaken and Discheworthy. as well as a Bravo personality and a close close friend of top story. Darren Carr, welcome back. Happy New Year. Thanks. Happy New Year. We just say that. We get one. We get one. We get one. I want to get right into it because I'm just ready for the weekend. First up, it's called the drop. And I got anxiety when the team told me about this. We have a clip. I want to run it first and then we can talk about it after. Got it.

Monday. El baby swap. She's okay. She is very resilient. Babies are. You don't want a coconut, do you? This is not totally inappropriate, Joshua. We are in a hospital, not a hammock. Okay, so it gave me anxiety because it's about a baby being dropped.

Yes. I was like, is this a drama? And they're like, no, it's clearly a comedy. And it's for a couple that really is like starting to think about having a family. This is like the ultimate cringe comedy. Yeah. Anna Conkel, who plays the woman who does drop the baby. Stars in my other favorite cringe comedy, Penn 15.

So this is out on Hulu around right now. And she's partner with Jermaine Fowler. It's really funny, a little cringe for a parent. I am not that, so I feel I can kind of watch feeling very, very safe. But, yeah, she drops a baby, and it's a little bit of the mis-affet. And it's funny? It's very funny, but it's cringe. Sick humor.

All right. Next up, we have adult animation. It's a series from Mindy Kaling on HBO Max that revolves around Velma. You may remember from the Scooby-Doo. franchise and serves as a new twist on the mystery in cruise origin story. Love Scooby-Doo. Let's take a look. My name is Velma Dinkley, and I've decided to finally share the bone-chilling event

that drove me to assemble the greatest team of spooky mystery solvers ever. This is my story told my way. She has no brain! I am not dissing her. She has no brain! And it starts with a murder. All right, Darren, I want to be honest with you. I read a review this morning that was not good.

It was a rough review. So, how is it? All right. Are you a fan of Scooby-Doo? Yeah, I grew up, loved Scooby-Doo. Okay, so Velma gets her do in Scooby-Doo. I mean, it's an adult-animated series. It's a little more kid than adult for me, but this does warm my gay heart because we've always had the suspicions about Verma.

Yeah, that was the rumor. And they nod to it in this film. She describes her in Peppermint Patty, which I very much so relate to. But Mindy Kaling plays Velma in this. it's fun, it's light, you're not going to get cinematic glory from it, but it's a good binge, I think, that you could watch with the kids, too. I feel they've done so much with Scooby-Doo over the last decade. Because everyone loves it. They all want to bring it back.

It's a franchise. They keep sort of reinventing. Everything's derivative. Okay, we have another series on HBO Max this time again, the Last of Us, and it's actually based on a video game, which I did not know. Let's take a clip of the, look at the clip. Why are you so important? Somewhere out west. They're working on a cure.

I think what really impressed them was the fact that I didn't turn into a monster. She's so much as Twitches. It's okay. Okay, always a big fan of HBO Max. I just think they have, like, the Golden Touch sometimes. How's this? Me too. I usually am skeptical of any video game adaptations, but this one is actually kind of beautiful.

Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey star in this. They pay Joel and Ellie, not father and daughter, but kind of have that vibe. in this post-apocalyptic world. This is actually from the creators of Chernobyl, the Emmy Award, went to the series, which is beautiful, yeah. Beautiful, so that just kind of says all you need to know about the series. Beautiful about a horrible thing, but it was beautifully shot, yeah. Beautifully shot as is this.

A little walking deady, a little zombie as. So there is an act, because usually video game adaptations are action-driven, but this almost felt like a drama. This is a drama, but there's a little bit of a thriller because it's about, you know, zombies kind of taking over the world, but beautifully done and very, very cool. Okay, next let's turn to a movie on something called Netflix. I don't know if you've heard of it, but it's supposed to be like a good startup.

It's called Doggone. It's starring Rob Lowe, who I love. And it's based on a true story about a father and son's search for their lost dog. And I hear it's pretty sad. It's cute. Okay, let's watch. Gonker isn't any dog. He's my best friend. Everyone needs one soul who loves you because you are you.

That's who Conquer was for me. And now he's lost. Gunker! I promise you we will. find that dog. You promise? How can you say that? Because I believe it.

I'm asking Daring here, silently, if it's like old yeller. Is there any start, no, no, no, no, this is based on true story. A father and son, fathers played by Rob Lowe, who go hike the Appalachian Trail. They kind of have a fractured relationship and this really brings them together.

So, yes, it's about finding a dog. We all love dog films, anything with animals, but this is really about bringing their relationship back to life. And it is an inspiring true story. Some people are saying this is actually kind of the adventure film of the year. I'm not saying that, but other people are saying that. It's heartfelt. I love a good

father and son film. I might have dad issues. I'm not sure. But what's the name of the dog? It's like gonger or conquer? I had to listen to it like five times and it still behooves me. So whatever, you know. Okay. Last up on our watch list is a movie that was first seen in theaters. And it's now on streaming on Paramount. We've obviously seen this trend a lot. Plus devotion, the star-studded feature based on a true story about the first black aviator in U.S. Navy history. Let's check that out. The commanding officer called you one of the best pilots he's ever seen. It must be hard being the naval aviator. Absolutely.

Our whole world's looking different. Did you ever think that you'd be in a squadron with a colored aviator? Lieutenant Tom Huggner. Jesse Brown. It's good to meet you. Looks really great. Paramount Plus, I want to correct myself there. Looks really great. Top Gun aspects, but also a beautiful historic tale as well. I was going to say, yes, based on a true story. This is actually a really beautiful film,

and it's about the Lost Kind of American War, which is the Korean War. Jonathan Majors and Glenn Powell stars, these two best friends who actually are best friends in real life with what the movie is based on. Excuse me. And it is just beautifully done. I mean, this is about the first black aviator in U.S. naval history, which is kind of incredible, but just the shots are amazing. I did think a little Top Gun Maverick myself. I thought I was going to see Tom Cruise kind of come out there, but it's a really touching,

heartfelt, true story, which I think it brings nice to... Definitely watch that one. I'm actually more excited about our music this weekend, because we got some heaters, as I like to call them, and we also have a little bit of drama when it comes to music. First up, Miley Cyrus, can you set the scene for the song before we listen to it? Oh, my God. So first of anything Miley Cyrus

comes out with, I'm going to listen to. It's just a deep, raspy voice I love. The song, flowers. And some believe her voice is getting better from what I hear. I think it is. I mean, I can't stop listening to this song. I've listened to it, I think, 25 times today. It's just something that you want to dance to, but it's really about being an individual. It's about self-love. She doesn't need a man to buy her flowers, Tom. She's going to do it herself. Let's take a listen. And if you can take myself dancing, and I can hold my own head. Yeah, I can love me better than you can.

And if Miley wants to dress in an evening gown and walk and dance. In gold? And then take it off and have a bikini hate. She's Miley Cyrus. Who are we to stop her? Obviously, I have affinity for gold. But this is just so fun, and this is actually a song that's going to be on endless summer vacations, which drops in March. Okay, next up, this is the drama filled one, Shakira, with BizRap.

It's called BizRap music session number 53. It's a huge diss track. Let's just listen. Let's talk after. Sure. So in Spanish there, I know there's a video with the subtitle so people can understand English. It's about her ex-husband, Gerard P.K., who cheated on her. Yes, after 11 years.

After 11 years. With two kids. And usually the disc track is something you find in hip-hop, not really Latin music, but Shakir is going there. They're saying it's the disc track of the century. I believe it. I don't even understand half the track, and I can feel the heat in this song. No, there's some serious knock. serious knocks and I think after being together for 11 years I mean this was like a big

blowout last summer and now she's coming back with a vengeance and we're all going to be on Shakira's side obviously for sure finally we have something to look forward to when it comes to the Super Bowl and Rihanna she released a video let's take a look it's been 2,190 days dude Rihanna we've waited for you it's been over six years since the nine-time Grammy winner is a lot of everybody waiting for we've been allegedly waiting the last product we got The fans just predicted the end of Rihanna. The return of Rihanna. I know a lot of people are pumped up for this.

We've been waiting and begging Gerard Carmichael. Gerard Carmichael made a nod to it at the Golden Globes. Everyone was just focused on Rihanna, even though she didn't win. Like we've been waiting for a better part of almost a decade, it feels like. but I think it's been about six years. And I think people who aren't even going to watch a Super Bowl for the commercials and don't even know about football, they're going to watch it for her. And the best performances are artists who have a massive catalog of hits, and that's Rihanna.

Yeah. I mean, she's got people jumping up and down. It's going to be great. Even at that video, which literally just had people squawking behind her, which wasn't even really a song, had people jumping up and down. So this is going to be a hit. It's going to be great. It's going to be as powerful, I think, as Darren Carp on Bingeworthy. Like, people are going to be saying.

I would say it's close second. Close second. second. Yeah, yeah, that's what I think. Darren, thanks so much, as always. We love having you on. Thanks for having me. All right, and we thank you for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamison, New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.