Top Story with Tom Llamas - Friday, July 11, 2025

Episode Date: July 12, 2025

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

Breaking tonight, the major clue into the deadly air India crash was a critical switch turned off. The preliminary report just in, what the pilots said to each other in the cockpit just moments before the plane went down, killing nearly everyone on board. The potentially fatal error investigators are now zeroing in on. Also tonight, extreme weather from coast to coast, the Midwest, in the crosshairs of violent storms, as wildfires raged near the Grand Canyon, forcing tourists to evacuate, and the new threat on the way for flood-ravaged communities,

Bill Cairns, standing by for us. The handling of the Epstein file sending MAGA loyalists over the edge. The deputy FBI director threatened to leave his post. Could his boss, Cash Patel, be next? Also tonight are hyperbaric chambers safe? A physical therapist killed inside a machine at his own practice.

The chambers are popular with celebrities and athletes now being called into question. Dash cam video capturing a horrific semi-truck crash the moment it barreled into oncoming traffic. Coming face to face with a mountain line, we speak with a hiker about this terrifying encounter, how she escaped. Plus the surprise in the skies,

one man's dying wish to give back to his community, literally making it rain dollar bills. And the urgent water bottle recall after customers were blinded by caps that exploded. The story starts right now. And good evening. We're coming on the air tonight with new details in that deadly Air India plane crash. Investigators are now looking into whether one of the pilots may have cut fuel to the engines in the seconds before that disaster.

You may remember those chilling images, Air India, Flight 171, losing altitude moments after takeoff last month, smashing into the ground below, erupting into a massive fireball. The crash, killing 241 people on board and 19 people on the ground. One man miraculously walking away, you may remember this, this British National, later detailing how he escaped the aircraft seconds before it exploded. Tonight, a preliminary report from Indian authorities containing these new images of the charred remains of the flight recorders, as well as the controls of the doomed aircraft. The report also suggesting that moments after take off, the engine 1 and engine 2 fuel cutoff switches, transition from run to cut-off positions, one after another, with the time gap of a second.

In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other, why did he cut off? The other pilot responded that he did not do so? The big question tonight, did one of those pilots intentionally cut the power to the engines? Tom Costello has that new report and leads us off. The preliminary Air India Crash Report says that seconds after Flight 171 took off, the fuel cutoff switches for both engines went from run to cut off. Within one second, the engines lost power. The report states, in the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other, why did he cut off? The other pilot responded that he did not do so.

The switches were flipped back to run, but it was too late. The report says one of the pilots radioed a Mayday as the plane soon crashed into a medical school dormitory. This report suggests that those switches were moved by a person, whether it was inadvertent or deliberate, we don't know yet, but those switches, removed by a person. Two hundred sixty people on board and on the ground die. Newly released photographs show the plane's landing gear extended as photos from the ground confirm. And the fuel control switches back in the run position. Sources with knowledge of the investigation tell NBC News the fuel switch comes with a safety guard.

A pilot must pull up and twist it to turn it off. The plane's black boxes providing the first clues. There are two black boxes on board a plane. One of them is the cockpit voice recorder with multiple microphones inside the cockpit. It records the conversations between the pilots and all of the alarms going off. The flight data recorder captures thousands of pieces of data about the plane's performance. Previously reported cameras in the cockpit might also provide critical evidence. John Ostrower is the editor-in-chief at theaircurrent.com.

Why would that crew have turned off the fuel control switches? Is there any explanation for that? They haven't ruled out. Sabotage, that's on the table. But I would say that everything is on the table at this point relative to all the possibilities for understanding why these switch is moved. Tom Costello joins us live tonight here on Top Story. So Tom, let's be clear.

Is there any indication of a problem with the plane or maybe the engines? Because it's sounding like all points are headed to the pilot's actions. I think you're right. It is all about the pilots right now. If investigators had found an obvious malfunction or a defect with the witness, defect rather, with the Boeing 787 or the engines made by GE. By now, they would have issued urgent service alerts, but so far none. None issued by Boeing, none by GE, none by the FAA or the NTSB. And the Indian Investigation Board says it does not recommend any systemic actions linked to the

plane. No global alert. By the way, Air India is out with a statement on X. It says we continue to fully cooperate with the AAB, that's the investigative body, and other authorities. It says, as the investigation progresses, but given the act of nature of the investigation, Air India is unable to comment on the details of the findings so far. Tom. All right, Tom Costello with that stunning new report leading us off. Tom, thank you. Now to our other major headline tonight after a week of Mother Nature's unrelenting fury across the country. Millions in the Midwest are still under a threat. A possible tornado touching down in Iowa. NBC's Maggie Vespa is on the ground at Chicago. O'Hare has traveled delays spike into the thousands, Maggie, and a tornado watch

is now in effect for where you are? Yeah, Tom, that's right, really, for the entire Chicago area. That was just issued in the last hour or so. It's in effect until 11 o'clock tonight, local time. And you touched on it there. I mean, the effects from these storms are just really stacking up, and that includes chaos when it comes to air travel. O'Hare had to issue a ground stop earlier today,

and now those delays nationwide, you're right, soaring into the thousands as these latest storms, frankly, fire up. Tonight, tornado sirens blaring as chilling video shows a massive apparent twister touching down near the famed Iowa Speedway outside Des Moines, delaying practice for an IndyCar race. This stunning photo shows a massive wall cloud there as storms move through. Tonight, 24 million Americans are under threat of severe storms and possible tornadoes across the Midwest. In Illinois, punishing hail barreled in overnight as heavy rain flooded Rockford and this

morning part of Chicago this stunning photo showing lightning striking both the Willis Tower and Hancock building nearby carry firefighters believe lightning sparked this house fire this latest round capping an exhausting week of violent storms nationwide rescued in North Carolina Thursday where authorities now say two people died as cars were swept off the road a Davidson County couple and their friends now stranded after floodwaters wiped out the only road leading to their home this Never crossed my mind. Something as catastrophic as this is. That's Maggie Vest before us, and we're also tracking wildfires in northern Arizona tonight,

shutting down parts of the Grand Canyon and sending tourists scrambling. The white sage fire already scorching thousands of acres as firefighters battled to contain the flames. Steve Patterson now with the urgent warnings from authorities. Tonight, the sky's above one of America's greatest natural wonders shrouded in plumes of towering smoke. The north rim of the Grand Canyon National Park now closed after the white sage fire sparked by a lightning strike exploded overnight, rapidly expanding to more than 8,000 acres. Park officials telling tourists get out now. We're going to have people responding to trying to combat this fire as best as possible. Whoa.

Morgan Lane took this video from her property near the fire. We got the live evacuation notice on our cell phones. Meanwhile, across the border in Utah, the deer across. Creek fire burning out of control, also forcing evacuations as crews attacked the flames from the air. Back in Arizona, a major problem, sweltering conditions fueling the fire. Can you feel that smoke right now? Yeah, you can smell it. It's crazy. It's very thick, you know, almost apocalyptic to just see these clouds of smoke just coming in. Tom, no containment on this fire so far. The problem is crews are also battling the forecast, those high temperatures, mixing with very strong.

strong winds and miles of this dry brush. All the recipe for the flames to spread. Tom. It's been such an active somewhere all over the country. All right. We thank you for that. Let's get right to NBC meteorologist Bill Karens, who's starting off with that tornado threat in the Midwest tonight, Bill. Yeah, explosive storms are rolling through Iowa into Wisconsin. Davenport in the last hour was under a tornado warning. I saw a picture online of a small tornado. I haven't heard of any widespread damage in downtown Davenport, but everyone was in their storm shelters and the sirens were going off. Now we're watching this line to What's accelerating. Watch this pulse right here. Boom. The storms are moving really fast. And when I see that, I know there's extreme wind damage happening. I've already seen reports of an 85 mile per hour wind gusts and at least three wind gust reports in the 70 mile per hour range. There's a lot of trees down. There's a lot of power lines down. And this line is still accelerating now into Wisconsin. This is Madison and this is Rockford, Illinois. It's right along the border here. And you notice we have one active tornado warning. That is, even if it's not a tornado, there's a probably likely straight line winds of at least 80 miles. per hour with this line. So that's just ahead through Monroe. It's going to be a lured along

Interstate 39 south of Madison heading down towards Rockford as we go throughout the next hour or so and then some of this will try to make its way towards Milwaukee and Chicago. Hopefully it'll weaken by the time it gets there. But Tom, it looks like right around 10 p.m. for both of those cities. Keep an eye to the sky. Yeah. And then Bill, while we have you there, I do want to talk about some of the rain too. We're going to get to Texas in a moment here with Morgan Chesky, but there's more rain for different parts of flood ravaged communities and we had so many different parts of the U.S. this week. Yeah, this is exactly what we don't need. I mean, significant flash flooding has already taken place with the line of storms I just showed you.

But when we get a wider view, we have flood watches that are up now for areas of New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma. Now, the Curraville, the Guadalupe River, is not as of right now under a flood watch, but Rio Doso is, and we expect on Saturday the potential for at least some heavy rain in that mountainous terrain where the burn scars. Now, you know, will we repeat what's happened a couple days ago? Hopefully not. But the possibility is there for, you know, training of thunderstorms, and heavy rain in that region. So even with the possibility, with a cleanup going on, you know, prayers with them. And then as we watch what happened Saturday night into Sunday, we're going to watch

this cluster of storms redeveloping from San Angelo and diving southwards. Now, we don't know yet if it's going to be over the Guadalupe River Basin or not, but when we have all these people out there trying to get these recovery operations going, the river's been going down ever since the big flood. We do not need to add more water and have the river level going up, and then it gets muddy more again. It gets more difficult. So for all the families and everyone else and everyone, all the first responders out there, we're hoping that this misses and doesn't hit this region as we head into the weekend.

Then it looks like by the time we get through Sunday afternoon, those storms kind of exit and leave that region. So Tom, that'll definitely be a story to watch as we head through the week. Yeah, we're going to have to track that because that could be more devastating news for Kerrville, and that's where we're headed next. All right, Bill, we thank you for that. One week since those deadly floods devastated the Texas Hill country, President Trump on the ground in the disaster zone,

meeting with first responders and families in mourning as the agonizing search for the missing continues on. NBC's Morgan Chesky reports. President Trump today on the ground in Kerrville, Texas. One week after the nightmare flood left a deadly wake of devastation. I've never seen anything like it. A little narrow river that becomes a monster. The president and first lady meeting with grief-stricken families and defending the local response after questions over whether more could have been done to warn. those along the river.

It's easy to sit back and say, oh, what could have happened here or there, you know? Maybe we could have done something differently. This was a thing that says never happened before. With the number missing slowly dropping, the death toll remained staggering. The floods now claiming at least 121 lives. Today, authorities identifying Kellyanne Lytol as the latest loss from Camp Mystic. The eight-year-old scene here singing at a recent Christmas concert. In Dallas, hundreds honoring another eight-year-old camper, Hadley Hanna, remembered with love near her hometown.

Today's survivors reckoning with reality. This was a living room. In Hunt, Lori Lowe was home with her husband, waking up overnight to water rushing in. I knew we were in trouble by the time we got to our truck, three feet deep, raging river. This was her bedroom. Danny Olivas, giving us a heartbreaking tour of his gutted home. We were just in shock looking at everything here, and everything was still inside floating, and we even had fish in one of the rooms in there. Now, an army of volunteers tackling this tragedy one day at a time.

You got your whole house in your front yard, and yet you somehow feel like one of the lucky ones here? Very fortunate because we're alive. Morgan Chesky joins us tonight once again live from Currville, Texas. Morgan, we were just talking to Bill Cairns there about some serious storms that may be on the way to where you are. I know you've experienced some rain in the last week. Are residents concerned about this, and what would another storm do to that area? Yeah, Tom, there's certainly a hyper awareness, the likes of which we probably have not seen before here in Kerrville, just as a result of the memory of what happened one week ago today.

We do need to keep in mind the location of the rain really matters here. We're looking at 11 inches of rain that fell in three hours over the headwaters of the Guadalupe overnight, Thursday night, into Friday. morning. That is what was really the catalyst a week ago. So we're going to be keeping in a close eye on radar as where this particular rain pattern can fall. You know, anyone who lives up and down this river, you know, they're certainly not staying there. This is still a cleanup phase. And I should say this is still a search phase, Tom, because that number of the missing in Kirk County has sat at 161 for several days now. Conditions are getting hot, brutal terrain for crews to go.

in some of the remote stretches of river. However, crews tell me, Tom, that they are prepared to be here not for days or weeks, but months, to try and bring some sort of closure to the families that do not have that as of this point in time. It is the unimaginable here. And again, as you mentioned, a weekend now with more rain potentially on the way, Tom. Morgan, Chesky, him and his team have been reporting, doing some incredible reporting from that region all week. Morgan, we thank you and everyone you're working with down there, taking care of us. being us informed and making sure no one forgets about Kerrville.

We are also following developing news out of Washington, multiple sources telling NBC news that Deputy FBI Director Dan Bonjino is considering stepping down over the handling of the Epstein files. Gabe Gutierrez has been following this breaking news for us at the White House tonight. And Gabe, we should put this in perspective for our viewers. You're talking about one of Trump's biggest allies at the FBI. Yeah, that's right, Tom. Look, and this is quite the disagreement, apparently. Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino is considering resigning after a heated confrontation with Attorney General Pam Bondi. That's according to a person who was spoken with Bongino and a source familiar with his interactions with Bondi.

Now, one of the sources saying Bonino is, quote, out of control furious that the Justice Department is not releasing more information about Jeffrey Epstein and that he's threatening to quit unless Bondi is fired. During his time as a podcaster, Bongino questioned repeated. whether there have been a cover-up over Epstein's death. And many Trump supporters have as well. They're furious. They were furious when the DOJ flatly said earlier this week that Epstein had killed himself. Now, one source familiar with DOJ's leader's perspective

says that Bondi, FBI director Cash Patel and Bongino were on the same page on all this until the criticism started to come in. And then the source said, Bongino just couldn't take it, Tom. What is the White House saying tonight? Are they defending this? Are they standing by him? Well, the White House did release a statement saying, quote,

the continued fixation on sowing division in President Trump's cabinet is baseless and unfounded in reality. Now, two sources familiar with President Trump's thinking said that he has not lost confidence in anyone involved in all this, and his full confidence in his team. And one source added, right now, there is no expectation, Tom, for any changes to the leadership. Okay, Gabe Gutierrez at the White House. Gabe, thanks. Now to the violent clashes in Southern California, protesters trying to block ice agents from carrying out immigration enforcement operations, including at a cannabis farm in California. NBC's Liz Crois has this report. Tonight, we're learning more about this chaotic showdown between ice agents who arrived at two Southern California cannabis farms executing search warrants and the protesters trying to stop them.

This boy now looking for his mom, who he says is two months pregnant and among those detained Thursday. I went to go to get my mom, but I can't get her. Guadalupe Torres says her husband, a U.S. citizen in Iraq war veteran who works as a security guard here, was also detained. Video shows him arriving in his car, talking to agents, and later backing up as tear gas is deployed. Where is the Constitution in this? Where is the U.S. in this? Like, we fought for this. We fought for your freedom and he's not even free. Ice tonight telling us Torres's husband was among several U.S. citizens arrested for assault. Borders are Tom Homan condemning the violence against ICE agents, including these protesters throwing rocks at them.

And the FBI tonight looking for this man appearing to pull out a gun and open fire on officers. What happened in California is just another example of protesters becoming criminals. And they've been emboldened by even members of Congress who compared. are used to Nazis and races and terrorists. This latest clash comes after two violent incidents in Texas. In Alvarado, police say attackers opened fire during a planned ambush on an ICE detention center wounding an officer. And in McCallin, an armed man was killed after shooting at a border patrol station.

Back here in California, DHS saying 200 undocumented workers were arrested and at least 10 migrant children, some as young as 14, were found working there. This marijuana plantation is a clear. cut example of labor trafficking and child trafficking, which are heinous crimes. But immigrant advocates slamming President Trump's deportation efforts. What is the mood right now in this community? There's a lot of concern and a lot of fears to have the tear gas against civilians. The cruelty is the point.

And tonight the farm says they fully comply with search warrants. Meanwhile, we've learned that a worker who fell during the chaos of the raids is now on life support. The Farm Workers Union previously said he had died. Tom. Liz Croyd's a lot of new reporting there. Liz, we thank you. Still ahead tonight. The new concerns over hyperbaric chambers. After a physical therapist was killed inside the medical machine, what went wrong at the treatment as the treatment gains popularity with notable celebrities like LeBron James swearing by it? And the dash cam capturing this horrific big-grid crash look at that,

the driver slamming into the median and oncoming traffic will tell you what happened here. Plus one man's dying wish finally granted why he wanted this helicopter. to rain down money and rose petals. Stay with us. We're back now with a tragic death in Arizona, a physical therapist killed by a fire that ignited in a hyperbaric chamber, raising questions over the safety of those treatments when they're given outside of a hospital. NBC Sam Brock has this one. There are new concerns tonight over the safety of some hyperbaric chambers after a physical therapist in Lake Havasu, Arizona, Walter Foxcroft, died this week inside one of his wellness clinic's own chambers, according to the Lake Havasu Fire Department. The devices are sealed

enclosures where the pressure can increase two to three times the normal atmospheric pressure, and users can breathe 100% oxygen. The local fire department sang, the first arriving crews identified smoke throughout the building and an intact hyperbaric chamber that appeared to have had a flash fire in the chamber with one patient inside. The 43-year-old, A father and husband was the owner of Havasu Health and Hyper Barracks, according to the company's website. The flashfire and circumstances are under investigation. A graduate of the University of Arizona and a Wildcats mascot, Foxcroft's being remembered tonight by Arizona's cheerleading team, which posted on Instagram. Wally was an unforgettable presence on the sidelines, an energetic, charismatic performer known for his signature moonwalk and passion for bringing joy to Arizona fans.

His death marks the second time this year someone has died from a fire in a hyperbaric chamber. The other, a five-year-old boy from Michigan, killed in January, undergoing treatment for ADHD and sleep apnea. Neither are currently on the approved FDA list of treatable conditions using hyperbaric chambers. John Peters is the executive director of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, which promotes responsible and safe use of hyperbaric medicine. How tightly regulated is the industry? It is not tightly. It's not regulated hardly at all. So the regulations really stem around equipment and the envelope that the equipment lives in. NBC News has reached on to Arizona state health officials who have not yet responded for comment. Hyperbaric chambers have seen a rapid growth in popularity in recent years, famously used by Michael Jackson years ago, now embraced.

by the likes of LeBron James. For athletes, it's kind of a no-brainer if you can kind of have the time and give the investment to use it. Michael Phelps, in his record-breaking 2012 Olympics. Michael sleeps in a hyperbaric chamber to increase his lung capacity. And Justin Bieber. I strongly believe in it. The FDA has cleared hyperbaric oxygen therapy for certain conditions, but Peter says it's a relatively limited scope,

like those recovering from radiation therapy or vascular disease. When you hear Justin Bieber promoting, this kind of treatment or athletes? Why is that material? Young healthy individuals, there's really a lack of evidence as to what effect it will have on a normally functioning individual. What's left now? A family in grief and countless questions after tragedy struck this town in Western Arizona and what regulation might come from it. Sam Brock joins us now live in studio here on Top Story tonight. And Sam, I mean, look, obviously some athletes and and others, professionals swear by this.

Talk to me about the regulations here because that's a horrific story. It's a very important question. If you go to the FDA website right now, Tom, there are 13 conditions that are listed as being authorized. People think of, you know, diving, decompression-related illness. That would be one of it, carbon monoxide poisoning, radiation injury. Those are the common ones. But the reality right now and the concerns are, there are wellness clinics all over the country that are listing dozens upon dozens of other conditions that are not authorized by the FDA.

So to the original point, in terms of the regulation side of this, the question becomes, do you have to have some level of intervention? Because right now it is considered a class two medical device, which means you would have to find a device that has FDA approval. If it does not, that could lead to legal consequences. All right, Sam, Frank for us, Sam, thanks for explaining that one. When we come back, a major 911 outage, the state warning of intermittent outages,

and who you should be calling instead, good advice. And the burglary caught on camera in Massachusetts, the rare cards these thieves were after, and they have nothing to do with sports, we'll explain. But first, top story's top moment, and one man's dying wish to make it rain over his community. Literally, East Detroit native, Daryl Thomas, passed away in June and wanted to donate money to his community,

so his sons organized this creative way to make good on that sky high promise. Take a look at this. And there's up in my knee, but my uncle on the middle of grassy. Yeah, play. The best to ever do it. Yeah, boy. Yeah, boy. All right.

The helicopter dropped $5,000 and rose pedals as well over his community. That is pretty cool. Thomas Bean remembered tonight as a beloved father, brother, business owner, professional race car driver, and yes, a man who made it rain. All right, stay back. Stay with us. We're back in a moment. All right, we are back now with Top Stories News Feed, starting with the statewide 9-1-1 outage in Pennsylvania.

The state's emergency management agency sent out an alert saying the system is not functioning and they're working to restore service. Residents are asked to contact local 911 centers or non-emergency lines, okay? No word on what caused the lines to go dark or when they might be back up and running. A popular water bottle recalled after its lid suddenly ejected, leaving at least two people with vision locks. This is a strange one. Walmart says it is recalling roughly 850,000 Ozark Trail stainless steel bottles. Specifically, there's 64-ounce containers. Experts say the caps pop off when carbonated and perishable beverages are stored inside over time. Consumers should immediately stop using the product and can contact Walmart for a refund.

Dash cam video capturing a semi-truck crash in Palm Springs, California, killing two people and injuring several others. footage shows the moment the big rig crosses over the median, going airborne, and slamming into several oncoming cars. Authorities say the semi-truck driver was at fault, no word yet, on his or her condition at the time. And Massachusetts police are searching for a thief who stole more than $100,000 worth of rare Pokemon cards. The security cam footage capturing the break in, the burglar smashing through the front door of the shop, taking cards from a case and running off. The new Bedford shop owner said the most valuable items stole. was a box of cards worth $30,000.

All right, studying new details are emerging in the escape of that convicted murderer known as the devil in the Ozarks. A black Sharpie and a soup can lid just some of the items he used to break out of prison. NBC's Priya Shweather has this one. Tonight, new details emerging on how a former police chief turned convicted murderer managed to escape an Arkansas prison. According to officials, Grant Hardin, seen here escaping in Arkansas prison back in May, wearing a makeshift law enforcement uniform pieced together from old prison-issued clothing that the 56-year-old colored with the Sharpie. He designed a homemade badge from a canlid, a button, and a Bible cover. We have any indication as to how long he had been preparing for this

escape? Not as specific. It had probably been, you know, the ballpark of six to eight months as to when he was probably actively getting the material together, starting to manufacture the uniform. Authorities add that Hardin had with him a pair of wooden pallets fashioned together to make a ladder and later set up a base camp near the prison. Two Arkansas prison employees have been fired, one for allowing Hardin to go outside the kitchen area where he worked unsupervised, and the other for opening the gate from a watchtower and letting him walk off prison grounds without verifying his identity. You don't open that gate for anybody or anything. Um, when there's not a ground person there to verify who it is.

Hardin, the subject of several true crime documentaries was dubbed the devil in the Ozarks and was serving an 80-year prison sentence for killing a man and raping a school teacher. He was eventually found a mile and a half away from the prison. He has now been moved to a Supermax facility and faces new escape charges for which he's pleaded not guilty. Priya Shrether, NBC News. Okay, next tonight to the warning coming from emergency room documents. across the country. There's seen a growing number of traumatic injuries involving children and e-bikes. NBC's Aaron McLaughlin has a closer look at why these bikes can be so dangerous.

And the story of one family now heartbroken after losing their 13-year-old son. My heart is broken. Still broken. The parents of 13-year-old Emiliano Munoz, or Emmy, say their son loved to play soccer, hang out with friends, and ride his electric bike. called me three minutes before and he said, Mom, I'm going to the soccer field. His mother, Maria, says, minutes later, Emmy was gone. Killed, his parents say, when his e-bike collided with a cable stretched between a fence and a post. E-bikes are essentially bikes equipped with electric motors. You can either pedal, rely on the motor to propel you, or both. Some can hit speeds in

excess of 20 miles per hour. Research shows that while they've been growing in popularity, so too has the number of accidents and near misses. Even the batteries that power the bikes, especially if manufactured or handled improperly, can be dangerous. These machines go much faster than a regular bicycle. We see a lot of extremity fractures, a lot of broken bones. We see a lot of facial fractures. And sadly, a lot of brain bleeds, traumatic brain injuries.

Dr. John Dr. John Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Rouse is a pediatric trauma surgeon in Florida. He says his hospital has seen an exponential rise in the number of e-bike-related injuries, skyrocketing from just three in 2022 to 74 injuries last year. Halfway through 2025, they've already treated up to 60 kids, mostly between the ages of 10 and 16. Would you allow your child to ride an e-bike? No, I would not. And I have two sons with the brain injuries. These can be very sad, very life-altering events. Matt Moore is from People for Bikes, the Trade Association for the United States bicycle industry, which includes e-bikes. Electric bicycles are pretty regulated. The problem is that some of these devices, we call them e-modos, attempt to be both a motorcycle or

a electric dirt bike, but sold as an electric bicycle. But they can be unlocked or unlimited, have the speed governor removed. And now they're a 35 mile per hour electric moped or motorcycle. And a child is operating it on a public street. But even, say, a child going 20 miles per hour is very fast. It is fast. And many of our manufacturers recommend that you need to be 16 to use their product. Emmy's parents say at the time of the e-bike accident, he was wearing his helmet and safety gear. The family lawyer tells NBC News they plan to file a lawsuit to prevent future tragedies. Telling our affiliate, they'll never be the same. I'm so proud of him. I'm so, I've never told him, but I'm so proud of him. He was my life. He was really.

While the Trade Association representing e-bike manufacturers argues that this space is well regulated across 44 states, those regulations can vary widely. For example, in the state of California, if you are under 18, you are legally required to wear a helmet while operating an e-bike. While there's no such requirement in many states, the Trade Association recommends a specialized helmet if you're operating an e-bike, regardless of age. Tom. All right, Aaron McLaughlin. Great story there. Aaron, we thank you. We turn out of Top Story's Global Watch singer Chris Brown back in court today over new charges related to a 23 nightclub brawl. The R&B star pleading not guilty to two lesser assault charges for allegedly striking a music producer in the head with a bottle. The additional charges come after Brown pleaded not guilty to a more serious charge of causing grievous, excuse me, bodily harm last month.

the 36-year-old musician was first arrested back in May and was released on a $6.7 million bail as he awaits trial. A new video of flames engulfing a luxury super yacht off the coast of France. Look at this. You see the fire ripping through the 130-foot yacht. Black smoke filling the sky. At least two people were rescued from the ship. Officials say the boat, which was docked near St. Trope, could sink in the port. No word yet just on how that fire started. And a massive iceberg, actually a couple of them floating, dangerously close to.

homes in Greenland. Look at this. The images show the skyscraper-sized icebergs on the cusp of crashing into the island shore. Officials are warning locals to use caution when visiting the water. Authorities saying they are aware of the icebergs movement and are prepared for the worst. Pretty scary. Okay, coming up next, the terrifying showdown with a mountain line. A California hiker coming face to face with that right there on a popular hiking trail. What experts say she did exactly right and what you should do, if that you ever find a lot. staring right back at you. Stay with us. We're back now with a wild encounter out of California.

A hiker in Los Padres National Forest finding herself just feet away from one of the state's largest predators as she managed to capture the face off on video. Here's NBC's Marissa Para with the details. No, no. Terrifying moments on a Southern California trail. No, no. A local hiker suddenly face-to-face with a mountain lion. And it would walk and look at me and walk a little more and look at me and I was, that was terrifying.

Courtney Rissora was hiking alone on the Gridley Iron Trail in Ohio, California on July 3rd when she says she spotted a mountain lion in a nearby bush. She says she immediately went into survival mode and her instincts kicked in. I put my arms up, I yelled at it. I said, go away, go away. It knew I was there, obviously at that point. I don't, I didn't feel like it was going to. run down at me. Experts say Rosura did exactly what you're supposed to do if you and a mountain lion come face to face. What this woman did, which was very clever, is she asserted herself as not being prey. For Scalante is a wildlife expert and biologist. He says mountain lion sightings across the United States are not atypical, including unconfirmed sightings in places where

mountain lions haven't been seen in years, like this large cat-like animal who was caught on a ring camera in Rochester, New York, prompting local police to issue a shelter in place for residents after the first reported sighting. I just kept running. I heard the roar. I spent off. I ain't playing with no lion. Galante says there are things you can do

to try to minimize your chances of running into a mountain lion while hiking. You act like prey. The predator will treat you like prey. So be large, be loud, be assertive, always maintain eye contact. If you can throw something like a rock or something like that while making noise

without bending over and making yourself look small. But he warned that. animals are unpredictable. And even when you do all the right things, the outcome could still be tragic. Last year, a man was killed by a mountain lion in Northern California and his brother severely injured, even after their family said they followed expert advised to make themselves appear larger. According to California's Department of Fish and Wildlife, this was the first time a mountain lion killed a person there in 20 years. But Galante says at the end of the day, it's on us, the humans, to share mother nature with our big cat neighbors. I don't think we should

fear mountain lions. What I do think we should do is be well educated and understand the risks we're taking when we decide to go on a hike. For Surrup, she says she's now more vigilant and better prepared than ever, hitting that same trail the very next day. I took bear spray with me and an air horn. I was like, yeah, I'm going to face this. I'm going to face my fears. I'm not going to let this stop me. Some new tools and a changed perspective she'll keep for the rest of her life. Marisipara, NBC News. Michigan church leader who likely saved the lives of his congregants as a gunman approached by using his Ford F-150. Now his Detroit community finding a motor city-style way to say thank you.

NBC's Shaquille Brewster has this one. But that doesn't mean that we didn't have. The live stream showed parishioners inside a Michigan church hearing gunshots and scrambling for cover. Please, everybody come to the back. But outside, just moments before, deacon Richard, Pryor was in his Ford F-150 running late for church that Sunday morning in June when he saw a gunman approaching the building wearing a tactical vest. It wasn't a smile, it wasn't a smirk. He just kind of looked at me and just turned and continued walking. With a gun in hand.

Yes, yeah. He called 911, but knowing even seconds were critical, Prior struck the gunman with his truck, giving church security time to take out the suspect, helping to save dozens of lives. He put around through my truck that disabled my truck. The incident leaving Pryor without a truck to use. But now. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. A local Ford dealership, gifting prior a prepaid two-year lease on a brand new F-150. I was overwhelmed. It was hard for me to kind of keep my emotions under control. A more than 400 horsepower reward for his massive act of bravery. All of us are capable. of protecting each other. A grateful community celebrating a deacon's heroic instincts.

Shaquille Brewster, NBC News. When we come back, the surprise return of Justin Bieber, that's right, the Bebes has got new music, the pop star out with a new album today going head-to-head with the Backstreet Boys, also dropping new music this week, plus the new series from Lena Dunham, her first major TV project since Girls. Bingeworthy with Brian Balthazar coming up next.

We're back now with Bingeworthy. Our look at the best things to watch and listen to this weekend. And tonight we're joined by a Bingeworthy All-Star, Bingeworthy Hall of Famer, First Ballot, Entertainment Journalist, producer extraordinaire, media mogul, Brian Balfazard. Stop, and I love it every minute. Brian, go on. Brian, so good to see you on this Friday. Great to be here. How you doing?

I know you're excited about this first one we have here. It is called Ballard, if I am correct. And it is sort of from the same crime genre. Mike Connelly, if you love his books, you're going to feel this one. From the Bosch series, yeah. From the Bosch series. All right, thanks for helping me out here. That's why we bring Brian out here.

Let's see a clip and talk about it on the flip side. The coal case unit are reserves and volunteers. We work in the basement of this building, and yet we're still getting results. I stuck my neck out for you, Balik, when the chief and others had a different idea. Captain's got us working on a new case. case. Murder that happened in 08. That's what 17 years with no arrest looks like. This thing dried up. What do you think we're going to get from in now? Pretty intense, Brian. I feel like I need a drink or something. Right, right. Exactly.

Well, I always feel that way. Okay, so Maggie Koo plays Renee Ballard, a very well-respected detective who actually blows the lid on one of her colleagues, kind of whistle blows on the colleague. So then she's relegated to the basement to the cold case unit. But this show, suspense, thrills, chills, twists and turns, insider secrets, getting great reviews. There's only about nine or ten reviewers right now, so it's still got 100% on Rotten Tomato. Maggie Q feels like she's having a moment.

What else do we know her from? She was in Nikita, let's see, one of the Mission Impossible films. She's one of those people that's kind of some people know her, but I think this is going to be the show that kind of bloated out. I do want to ask you a lot of times with these new crime dramas, and I'm not saying it's this one, but they can feel like they were made kind of fast.

They're not as good as they used to be. You compare them to something like Law and Order or CSI. How is this one? Well, this one, again, like 10 episodes. So, you know, sometimes when you see a long series, you see them walk down the whole hallway. You know, like, I didn't need to see the whole lot. You don't need to drink the whole glass of water.

This one, actually, the pacing is really good. Okay, and it's on Amazon. You can watch it right there. Okay, and we have another one, Dexter. Dexter again? Back again. This is like the third different spin-off series. All right, let's watch this one.

Dexter. Ghost. Chief Bishop told me that you were in that. She said that you were the Bay Harbor Butcher. So much for the happy reunion. What better place to hide? It's the greatest city in the world. Nobody knows who you really are. All right, this one is Dexter Resurrection, Paramount Plus, the sequel to the series Dexter New Blood.

Right. People who love Dexter, they can't get enough of the killing. Because we had a prequel. Yeah, he's like the killer you hate to love, I guess. Michael Seahull's back. And the reason the resurrection plays in, because the last arc, the last season, he was presumably killed, a gunshot to the chest by his son. So apparently now he's coming out of a coma and the show is relocating to the big apple right here, the big rotten apple right here in New York City. Are Dexter fans, I mean, and I remember when this started in Miami, do they still love this series? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, the thing is you, obviously, we're seeing a lot of reboots, revisits, sequels, prequels, like IP is everything now. So it's much easier to get an existing brand renewed than it is to get something new through. So that always plays a role. Yes, exactly. All right, next up from the creator of girls. I feel like it's been a minute since we've heard about her work, right? Let's see this one. I don't know too much about it, but it's a romantic comedy about a girl who moves from New York to London after a breakup. Actually, I do because of this thing called teleprompter. Anyways, let's take a look at this clip.

Ah! Jess, hi. How are ya? Girl, are you good? You're unhappy. Leaving me is the worst thing that anyone's ever done. Change your life. Go to London.

Seriously? You love London. You saw Spice World nine times in the theater. I could do it. I could go and find my English dream. You know a stakegrounds, starting gardens. Ah! Good luck with that, love.

Oh, shit. This one's called Too Much. It is on Netflix. Tell me about it. Okay, so we have Megan Stalter. I don't know if you watch Hacks, but she's kind of stealing every scene she's in on hacks. Her own series here. Lina Dunham, kind of based this on her life. Megan Stelter's character, her relationship goes bad, so she moves to her company's London office to start a new. It's almost a little Emily and Percy, but it's Megan Stalter in London. Now she strikes up a relationship with a guy played by Will Sharp, a musician. You may remember Will Sharp from White Lotus Season 2.

Interestingly, as a musician, he's singing and performing live in this. Oh, I didn't recognize him. Okay, I saw him there with a long hair. Yeah, so he's basically launching a music career because of this series, because the show, the songs he's singing on this. A real? Musical career? Okay. Time will tell.

We'll see if it takes off. Dude's talented. Next up, I don't know why, but I'm excited about this one. This may be the one I'm most excited about. Building the band, it's a reality show competition, and some of your favorite old-school, all-boy band members are in it. Let's take a look. We've invited 50 singers to take part in a music experiment.

Only six bands will make it out of these booth. They will then compete against each other in front of guests, judges. Kelly Rowland, Liam Payne, I'm our star mentor. Nicole. All right, huge cast there from what we can see. A lot of stars, a lot of action. It is reverberating here in Bidgeworthy tonight. So who's here?

Because you recognize a lot of people. Yeah, you saw Nicole Scherzinger, age of stars. Michael McLean, actually is the late Liam Payne. I know, I couldn't believe that. And so this is kind of, Love is Blind, meets American Idol, meets the voice. Whoa, that is a sales coach right there. And that's what's interesting.

These platforms have long for the past year has been asking for shows that burst through that music competition scene with a new hook. And Love is Blind being popular. So these musicians are performing without seeing each other. And so these bands are being formed without seeing who they are just hearing them, which is very interesting because Leon Payne, one direction was assembled,

by Nicole Scherzinger on X-Factor. That's pretty amazing. How's AJ as a host, right? I don't think I've seen him yet. And he said this was a really kind of a coming of age moment for him because it's so relatable for him to be looking at these young or not they're not all young actually, but looking at all these musicians being put together to a brand. And a programming note.

We're going to have more on the Pack Street Boys in a minute later in the broadcast, right? All right, Brian, so stay with us. Next up is a docu-series about the world of child influencers. This is really fascinating. Let's take a look. Hey, guys. It's me, Ethan. You don't have to say, hey, guys, it's Ethan all the time.

You already said it one time, okay? Sometimes you have to do videos, and I don't want to do it that day. We treat it like a business. That's why we continue to do well. I don't feel like we're exploiting our kids. You have over 100,000 subscribers, and you don't even know what you're doing. It's a never-ending demand. Brian, I'm not an expert on this, but I know a little bit about this.

because of my kids, they watch it on YouTube. I mean, and they're locked in. When they see a kid influencer or a family that is a family influencer, they love watching that content. So this show is all about that? Well, it's kind of a moral and ethical dilemma, really. Because you see, there's a baby on here that has 196,000 followers. Wow.

A baby, one of the families has $129 million. And so you're seeing... A $129 million? Yeah, yeah. And so you're seeing... And the money is big, first of all. But not for everyone, right? Not for everyone, but you've got to start somewhere.

Some of them are making $150,000 a month. or more, and then you get brand deals. But the tricky part is, like, you know, they're cranking out this content, and sometimes the kids don't want to do it. Well, not only that, to do all this content, you have to constantly be working. Hey, you're a media mogul, Ryan. You know, like, to create this content, kids think it's easy. It's not.

Yeah, it's not. And they have to do it all the time to stay up in the algorithm, to stay relevant. Oh, my gosh. I got to watch it. It's on Hulu. Next up, we're transitioning to music. The Bebes, Justin Bieber, has got a new song, and it's great. Here it is.

album. Oh, I haven't heard the whole album. I just heard the single. And it's largely, it's kind of low-key slow jams. There aren't a lot of upbeat tracks on this, and he's the sole executive producer, so he's really owning this new kind of genre of his music. It'll be interesting to see the response long-term. Like 10 years ago, he did one of these sort of slow-jam albums, and it was great. And so maybe the Bebes is back. We'll be supporting him. Finally, Backstreet Boys. We talked about them. People wanted them back. We're going to go back to our returning coverage of the Backstreet Boys. And sort of a new single? Listen, we'll explain on the back end. But I won't be it that way.

No good advice. Ain't nothing but a party. No more lies. Ain't nothing but a mistake. So Brian, the song sounds familiar. What's different about it? Well, they basically are using the original lyrics that were written for this song that are a little bit more

of a kind of a healthier relationship. There was a little more mystery to the original version. But fans will know that song. But this is really about kicking off their residency in Las Vegas at the Sphere tonight. They're doing the Sphere. Backstreet Boys. That's kind of weird, though,

because I thought the Sphere was like a whole visual thing. Yeah. So what, you go back to the 90s? You don't think the Backstreet Boys got the video, man? Maybe. Okay, it's going to feel good. Yeah. Brian, so great to have you on a Friday as always.

Thanks for much. And we thank you for watching Top Story all week long. Stay right there. More news on the way.