Top Story with Tom Llamas - Friday, July 12, 2024

Episode Date: July 13, 2024

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

Breaking tonight, Alec Baldwin's case dismissed the explosive end of the involuntary manslaughter case against the famous actor. Baldwin breaking down in tears after the judge concluded that the state withheld evidence. The shocking decision after Baldwin's lawyers filed motions to dismiss this morning. The questions over bullets that may be linked to the death of cinematographer Helena Hutchins while on the set of the movie Rust. One prosecutor resigning from the case, while another called herself to the witness stand to argue against the defense or legal analysis on how this all came to such a stunning close. Tonight's other major headline Biden's defiance grows. President Biden campaigning in Battleground, Michigan, after defending his candidacy in a high-stakes news conference, his performance drawing a mixed response. Some saying it showed his firm hand on foreign policy. Others argue it elevated their concerns about his. reelection bid. At this hour, more lawmakers calling for him to step aside. The new details about

a contentious video call between the president and House Democrats. Frustrations boiling over in Texas as power outage crippled parts of the state. Desperation growing as residents bake in triple-digit temperatures, 40 million Americans now under heat alerts, and the storms triggering flash flood warnings across the eastern seaboard. Migrant terror link. House Republicans demand answers from the Biden administration after NBC reports about migrants on the terror watch list found in the U.S. what they're asking for tonight. Terrifying close call, jaw-dropping video as a plane comes within feet of crashing into a Colorado mountain. The heart-stopping moments as the aircraft plunges toward the ground before quickly ascending. Holocaust survivor reunion

in emotional update to a story we first brought you. A woman discovering a relative after believing her family perished during the Holocaust. That relative rescued from a ghetto at a young age, also getting the surprise of his life. The two finding each other thanks to DNA testing will show you the emotional moment they come face to face for the very first time. And ranking the best 100 books of the 21st century will reveal which ones topped the New York Times list and which ones did not make the cut. Top story starts right now. Good evening. I'm Ellison Barber in for Tom Yamis. We're coming on the air with breaking news. And a dramatic turn of events late today, Alec Baldwin's rush trial dismissed just days after it began.

New video shows the actor reacting to the news sobbing in his hands as the decision was read. His wife, Valeria, also in the New Mexico courtroom. The judge siding with the defense that prosecutors hid evidence about ammunition that was linked to the deadly onset shooting of Helena Hutchins back in 2021, the special prosecutor calling herself to the witness stand to defend against those accusations. But during cross-examination, revealing her co-prosecutor resigned. It's not the first legal win for Baldwin in this case, involuntary manslaughter charges were dismissed in April of 2023, but then a grand jury indicted him on that same charge again this past January. The big question tonight, what does this mean for the film's armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed?

Remember back in April, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison for an involuntary manslaughter conviction. She is now seeking a retrial. We'll get to that in just a moment, but we're going to begin tonight with NBC's Dana Griffin and the day's dramatic moments in court. Dana, this is just a shocking turn of events. Give us the latest. What do we know right now? So when you talk about what's next to come, I reached out to Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's attorney, Jason Bowles. He tells me that they are seeking her immediate release. It is a Friday, and I will say court is closed in New Mexico, so I'm not sure how quickly that's going to happen. But this is a major upset, I want to say major upset, but this is a major decision by the judge. And she said that

this is something that you don't just take lightly. You have to meet every element of a Brady violation, essentially, that says that the prosecution withheld evidence, evidence that could have been helpful to the defense. So this all started because yesterday in court, we learned that this retired police officer showed up to the sheriff's office during Hannah's trial and said, hey, I've got some rounds that may be linked to the death of Helena Hutchins. I think you should take a look at it. And the judge said it was the sheriff's office responsibility and the prosecutor's office to make sure that that evidence was or to make sure that those rounds were put into evidence tied to the case. The defense says, we never got to see that evidence. And that's why

they raised this motion today. The jury was sent home this morning, so they never got to hear what happened. I'm sure they've heard the news by now. And as you mentioned, Alec Baldwin, emotional as the judge's decision was read aloud. She said something in court that was really interesting. She says the conduct by the prosecution was highly prejudiced, and there was no way for the court to write this wrong. So the only proper sanction was to dismiss this case, and that's what we saw just moments ago. Ellison? Talk to us a little more about Ball, Have we heard from him or his legal team outside of the courtroom just yet? And we've had teams in and out of the courtroom throughout this week.

When you're talking to your sources, was this verdict or this decision by the judge? Did it come as a shock? I understand she didn't just dismiss it right, but she dismissed it without prejudice, meaning charges cannot be brought against Alec Baldwin again. Am I understanding that correctly? Exactly. The state cannot prosecute him or try to prosecute him again. So getting back to his team, we have not heard from Alec Baldwin or his team.

His wife, Hilaria, left the courtroom. Their family left the courtroom to a car that was waiting outside. They did not address the cameras. We did hear from prosecutor Kerry Morrissey. She said that she disagrees with the court's decision, but respects it. So again, it's just a very shocking turn of events. I don't think anyone expected this. Maybe the Baldwin team knew it.

And I think the big question is how long have they known her? about this because they have tried time and time again to throw this case out. They've raised some interesting points, but the judge has dismissed them every time. So the big question is, how did they get this information? And did they work overnight to try to come up with this case? The prosecutor asking some really tough questions to the detective who first admitted on the stand today that it was her and the prosecutor who made the decision to enter this into evidence, but to not link it to the Rust trial. And that was the major mistake in this case.

And that's why Baldwin is walking free and will not have to face a jury and any more court time regarding this case. It has been three years of him being indicted. The charges drop, him being indicted by a grand jury. And here we are again. Alec Baldwin has been set free from this cloud that has been hanging over his head.

But it's also important to remember that there is a family out there that is also hard. broken because they were looking for answers and they won't get that through this court case because it is now over. Dana Griffin with that late breaking news, thank you. We appreciate you and your reporting. Let's continue with this topic and bring in NBC News legal analyst, Angela Senadela now. She joins us here in studio. Let's pick up a little bit where Dana left off this question of how and when did the defense get this information. From a legal perspective,

does this seem like something that they just stumbled on last minute and it was sort of of a Hail Mary and they were right or do you think they had been looking into this and knew something was up earlier and that maybe this would be the result? No, I don't think they knew at all. I think this was a bombshell that was just really revealed in the last 24 hours and that's why this all unfolded. So we saw even in the defense's opening statements, they were saying, how did these live rounds get onto the set? That's the million dollar question. Really what even you and I've been talking around about since this case started years ago. So what happened today was momentous, Alison. What happened today was the judge saying that this withholding of evidence

was so extreme that it did not give the defense a chance to even develop a strategy to test the ammo, any of that whatsoever. And because of that, that constitutional violation was so big that he gets to walk free. Are you surprised the judge decided not just to dismiss this, but to dismiss it without prejudice? So the judge actually dismissed it with prejudice. So the first time it was without prejudice, not the judge, but the charges were dismissed the first time. When they're dismissed without prejudice, then that means that they can re-bring them. But what the judge said today is she wasn't just going to declare a mistrial, which then would have meant the prosecutors could bring it again. But because double jeopardy would attach at this

point, it was already being adjudicated. There was no option here besides letting him go. So dismissed with prejudice for this case, what does that mean for Hannah Gutierrez-Reed? I mean, a lot of this evidence that was brought up surely was used in her trial, right? And she's in jail right now because she was convicted. Does she have a slam dunk on an appeal? So it is not a slam dunk, and I will say because of this. So the prosecutor, when she was on that stand today and she was being interrogated, she claimed that this retired individual who brought the evidence forth also brought that evidence

to the defense attorney in Hannah Gutier's Reid's trial repeatedly. The defense attorneys then either didn't look at it carefully or just disregarded it, but that they had the opportunity. So it's not clear to me whether or not in that case the defense attorneys had it withheld so that they didn't get a fair trial or if they could. But to me, the next question is,

is what's going to happen with Seth Kenney because he then is where all these trails lead to. So what happened today with the ammo was that it was linked, allegedly, on the stand to Seth Kenney, who is the ammo supplier. So that then would be a great lead for the investigators. Why not follow that?

Do you expect them to, or do you think this stops here? I think they absolutely should. So there were also some wild allegations made today that perhaps this was intentional by him because he was trying to somehow get back at Hannah Gutier's Reid or ruin her career. If there is that allegation,

they should follow that through given how far they followed this through with Alec Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. When you look at just this latest trial for Alec Baldwin, do you see this as a situation where there was sloppy police work from the beginning? Were prosecutors, amateurs, and not equipped to handle it? Do you think it was

more nefarious than that? Some combination therein? Or did Alec Baldwin just have an amazing defense team that caught the little things? So, Alison, it's hard for me to impute some sort of sign intent here. But I do think that there was a lot of clear, just shoddy police and frankly, prosecutorial behavior that should never have happened. From the beginning, the fact that the prosecutors brought a charge about a law that didn't exist when the event happened? I mean, that is an easy constitutional violation that off the bat should have never happened. And then the fact that this gun was destroyed multiple times,

the key piece of evidence, key piece of evidence. So just repeatedly, these errors have been just enormous, not what you see in a trial. I do think, though, in all fairness, in New Mexico, you don't see cases like this happen often. So obviously, their experience was somewhat limited. They also had limited resources. they had to request from the legislator an increased budget to even address this.

They didn't have it prepared. And then you've got Baldwin, who has, frankly, fantastic lawyers, fantastic defense team who won it for him today. All right. It'll be interesting to see what happens next. Angela Senadella, as always, thank you. We appreciate you being here. All right, we're going to move now to the other breaking news we've been following. President Biden remaining defiant after last night's high-stakes news conference.

The president's performance at that conference coming with mixed reviews. views. He stood his ground on foreign policy topics, but was criticized for mistakenly calling Kamala Harris, Vice President Trump. And the list of Democratic leaders publicly calling for him to step aside, it is still growing. Now at 19 lawmakers, five of those individuals speaking out after or during last night's presser. The president determined to stay in the race as he meets with voters in the critical swing state of Michigan. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez has the latest from the campaign trip. Tonight, President Biden in Battleground, Michigan, trying to turn the page after defending

his fitness for office. Hopefully, with a little bit of age, comes a little bit of wisdom. The swing state crucial for his re-election. A new poll out today conducted before last night's press conference suggests the race is unchanged since the debate. Cut the crap. Get behind this man like people are getting behind Trump. Okay?

And bottom line. Still, the debate performance has some Democrats here rattled. Would you consider yourself a Biden supporter? I was a Biden supporter right up until the debate. Now I really would like to see an open convention. Deborah Lewis Langston said she'd now prefer to vote for Vice President Harris. Biden being 81 years old, no fault of his own. Things just don't work like they used to work.

And I'm 71, I can tell you, they just don't. Please, I see it. At that high-stakes press conference last night, night, the president drew praise for his command of foreign policy, but also criticism for this gaffe. Look, I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be Vice President, but I think she was not qualified to be president. So let's start there. After former President Trump quickly mocked his opponent, swapping Vice President Harris's name for his, President Biden shot back. By the way, yes, I know the difference. One's a prosecutor

and the others a felon. Today, two weeks after the New York Times editorial board urged President Biden to leave the race. It published another essay. This one calling former President Trump unfit to lead. Writing Mr. Trump has shown a character unworthy of the responsibility of the presidency. He has demonstrated an utter lack of respect for the Constitution, the rule of law, and the American people. The former president meeting yesterday at Marlago with Hungary's authoritarian Prime Minister Victor Orban, just days after Orban met with Vladimir Putin. A contrast with President Biden, who at the same time was meeting with otherworldly at the NATO summit.

And Gabe Gutierrez joins us now from Detroit, Michigan. Gabe, there was clearly a lot of public interest in President Biden's big press conference. I understand you have some new reporting on the initial viewership numbers, and they seem to be pretty high, right? Hi there, Allison, yes. According to Nielsen data,

25 million viewers watched the press conference last night. That's more people than watch the Oscars, Oscars, making it be the third-most-watch non-sport event of the year behind the State of the Union and the presidential debate. If people weren't tuned into the campaign before, they certainly are now. This man is dangerous. Gabe Gutierrez with an enthusiastic crowd at Biden's rally. And the mood in Congress remains tense. Today, one Democrat lawmaker telling President Biden it's time for new leadership in the party.

NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles has this late-breaking news for us tonight. What exactly happened here? Allison, we're told that this call with President Biden and a group of Hispanic members of the congressional delegation led to Congressman Mike Levin of California directly confronting the president and telling him that the party needs new leadership. The president did respond to Levin's claim saying that he is prepared to get out on the road and answer many tough questions from voters and journalists as this campaign continues. New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffreys, the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, today informing his colleagues that he met with President Biden following last night's press conference and, quote, directly express the full breadth of insight, heartfelt perspectives, and conclusions about the path forward. Jeffries did not say his caucus is all in on Biden as the party's nominee.

Should we read into that? Well, I think it's self-evident right now with almost 20 members. have come out saying, I think we need a different nominee, that the caucus is not united. Even more Democratic members have now called on Biden to end his campaign, despite his well-received press conference last night, including the ranking member on the powerful House Intelligence Committee, Jim Himes. I'm asking us to step away from the love and the loyalty and just say that the numbers suggest that we're going to lose.

Defections from Biden growing, but as of yet, no mass. exodus. Joe Biden is focused on the future of this country. And I always say the best predictor of future performance is past behavior. Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina telling the today shows Craig Melvin that he still believes in Biden, but said if need be, Vice President Kamala Harris is up to the job. Absolutely. No question about that. She has acquitted herself well in the job as vice president. The current situation, a sort of purgatory for Democrats on the Hill. One members worry cannot fester for much longer.

I don't want to be biting my nails every time President Biden gets on a stage. That's the dynamic at work. We need to be shifting the attention to the other guy. And Ryan joins us again. Ryan, tell us a little more about that video call. Is it fair that we're describing it as contentious? I think so, Alison. There's no doubt that our sources are telling us.

us it was a tense moment. From what we can tell, it's one of the first times that President Biden has been directly confronted by a member of Congress about the angst that many of his fellow Democrats feel here on Capitol Hill about the future of this campaign. And the president's going to continue this outreach. We're told that he has a call tomorrow with another group of House Democrats, but one House Democrat telling me that this was something that should have been done the day after the debate, not two weeks after the debate, and that the damage that has already been done may be too much for the president to overcome. This member describing it to me as too little and too late. Allison? Ryan Nobles on Capitol Hill. Excellent reporting. Thank you.

For more on the divide within the president's party, we want to bring in Don Callaway. He's a Democratic strategist and the host of the caucus room podcast. Don, thank you, as always, for joining us on Top Story. Let's start with that conversation or the conversations happening around Biden's performance last night. In some ways, the baseline seems to be there were a couple gaffs, but nothing major. How do you think he did? And was it enough to stop the bleeding here? I think he did really well, and it was not enough to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, people are going to focus on the Vice President Trump gaff, and then there was a mistake at the end, mistaking Zelensky and Putin at some point. But listen, he had a substantive speech that was

powerful, and he was correct on all the stuff. And most importantly, he spoke truthfully, unlike the presumptive Republican nominee. But here's a deal. It's not enough. When we spoke a week ago, Ellison, there was one Democrat, I think, who had spoken out. By midweek, there were five, and today there are 19. Inside Tip, the Congressional Black Caucus is meeting during their annual PAC meeting tomorrow in New York City. I imagine that Hakeem Jeffries will have some insider discussions there. I interpreted Hakeem Jeffries's letter to suggest to Democrats who are unsure that it is safe, it is okay to come out. That speaks to a very important dilemma that we have. We have the Biden camp who is holding up Joe Biden, as they have for the last 50 years of his career,

and they have made him the President of the United States, and you have the leadership of the Democratic Party. These are two distinctly different camps which don't see eye to eye right now. And I think that the leadership of the Democratic Party is finding a way to respectfully usher the president out of being the presumptive nominee. Now, the last thing I'll say is that it has to go to Kamala Harris. That's really the only reasonable nominee from a political perspective as well as from a procedural perspective. We're talking about the possibility of Harris in a minute, but I want to pick up on what you mentioned, the number of Democrats speaking out, asking President Biden to step aside that just continues to grow. The latest number, as you said, 19 lawmakers. You can see them there on your screen, most of them from the House, one from the Senate. Now we have this reporting that Representative Mike Levin told Biden to his face that he should drop out. What do you think is going to be the tipping point, if there is one, for President Biden? Is it just the sheer number or a matter of someone, high enough in the party saying, okay, it's time for you to step down, withdraw someone like Nancy Pelosi, just for a name for an example that would possibly change his mind.

I'm glad you asked. I think the tipping point actually happened today when my good frat, brother Hakeem Jeffries, who is the next speaker and currently the minority leader of the House Democrats, when he wrote that letter, you can read between the lines of that letter after having been in the political comms game for 20 years, and you can see that he is giving dissenting Democrats the space to be able to openly say that. I think after this weekend, people go home for one last round with their districts. The Congressional Black Caucus is getting together, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and getting together separately, leadership discussions are going to be had.

And let's be clear, the party writ large owes a debt of proper treatment and protocol to Joe Biden. There are serious discussions which probably have yet to be had. This can't be a very comfortable place for the president or his wife or his family, which he loves so much. But the tide is coming. train has left the station. So I think the tipping point was today when leader Jeffreys wrote that letter, effectively freeing his house colleagues to be able to just say. If Biden does say, okay, I'm going to walk away, does this sort of slow drip of it taking days and maybe weeks when and if it actually happens, does that slow moving train, if you will,

help President Trump or former President Trump in this race? It doesn't help President Trump. Listen, there is a very small folks. of folks in the middle who are the persuadable voters going into this election. We know on one side who will vote for Donald Trump and the people who are going to probably vote for Donald Trump were going to be with him no matter how much he lies, no matter how much, how many convictions he has and so on and so forth. Listen, the earlier would be better for Biden, but none of it really helps Trump. The earlier to get President Biden out of there in a dignified way and to begin to empower the next nominee, who I fully expect will have to be Kamala Harris

for like a number of reasons, like I said. But at the end of the day, I don't really see it helping Trump, because once we get past this and get to the nominee, even if it takes a whole other month through the Democratic National Convention, at the end of the day, it's going to be a head-up battle for 90 days between September and November. Harris, when you look at recent polling, Vice President Harris is beating former President Trump. Do you think this should play out in a way where Biden steps aside and she is just the natural next successor? Or do you think it should be something like James Carville outlined in his New York Times op-ed this week, where there's a series of town halls with other potential Democratic candidates in the room?

I don't think we have time for that. I think the proper time to have done that was a year ago. And maybe 10 years from now, the historians will dissect who knew about Biden's decline a year ago or two years ago and who didn't get together and say something and perhaps everyone can share blame in various think pieces. But the reality is that I don't think we have time today for what I consider a liberal hunger game. to try to use the next six weeks. Listen, Kamala Harris has the one thing that any presumptive competitor to her does not have, and that is nationwide, if not global name recognition.

That matters a lot because we have a compressed time cycle in which produce our nominee to the world, to the entire country. It takes an incredible amount of penetration to get to that amount of name recognition for one to even be competitive. And she's already the sitting vice president. He has a tremendous start.

There's also the financial discussion of the legacies of trade. transferring $150 million to a new nominee. I think she could accept that money easier than anyone else. All right. Don Calloway, thank you for your time and insights as always. We appreciate it. Turning now to the forecast and stifling power outages in Houston, more than 850,000 people suffering through a fifth day without power, and at least four dead from heat due to power loss this week. Heat alerts still in effect for millions out west, plus a flood threat here on the East Coast. So let's get right to NBC News meteorologist Bill Karens, who is of course

watching it all. Bill, what's the latest? Yeah, Allison, the East Coast is worried about flash flooding, and we'll talk about that heat in Houston coming up over the weekend. So Richmond, you're under a flash flood warning. This is a slow moving system. It's very humid. These thunderstorms have a lot of moisture with them. They're dropping a lot of rain in a short amount of time. In all, we have flash flood watches. They'll go from Boston to New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, down through the Carolinas, 43 million people included. It's going to be hit and miss. Not everyone's going to get four inches of rain. but isolated areas will, and that's what we'll have the flash flooding.

And that'll be heaviest early tomorrow morning around New York City and Philadelphia in southern New England. Talking about Houston, they had rain and thunderstorm go through. It felt like 100 earlier today. Now it feels a little bit cool. They're still super humid, but at least it's only 83. The high is going to be 94 over the weekend, and we're still going to be watching the heat index about 110 or so.

And the heat just continues to spread the West. Another unbelievable day. Now we're spreading advisories into the middle of the country. and we've already tied or broken record highs today. Look at Denver, 101. Salt Lake City, 104, you're one degree away from your record. Phoenix, you're one degree away. Vegas, you just tied your record. And it's like six days in a row in Las Vegas for record highs.

Pretty incredible stuff. And then as we head towards the weekend, tomorrow's very warm. And Ellison, morning everyone on the East Coast. It's not going to be enjoyable. 101 on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Get your portable fans ready. Bill Cairns, thank you. Still ahead tonight, House Republicans,

demanding information over concerns at the southern border. Their search for answers after NBC reports about migrants on the terror watch list found in the U.S., what we're learning. And a terrifying close call, a plane taking a nosedive nearly crashing in Colorado, will show you that startling video. Plus, the major AT&T data league hackers gaining access to texts and calls of nearly every AT&T customer. Stay with us. We're back now with exclusive reporting on migrants and a potential link to terrorism. House Republicans demanding answers from the Department of Homeland Security,

their latest probe into concerns of security at the U.S.-Mexico border. NBC's Julia Ainsley has more. Tonight, Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee issuing a subpoena, asking the Department of Homeland Security for more information. following NBC news reports of migrants with potential terror links being released into the United States. We know individuals on the terrorist watch list are apprehended. We have some that get released into the country. We want to know the details of how they're handling that. Mark Green, chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, led hearings earlier this year that led to the impeachment

of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. He has disagreed with the Biden administration on nearly every tenant of its immigration policy. This is his third subpoena for information from DHS. The other two have gone unanswered. This time he said he wants information to shine a light on what he says is a major terror threat caused by Biden's border policies. Let's turn out of our exclusive reporting on a potential terror threat. Earlier this year, NBC News reported on an Afghan migrant on the terror watch list, released into the United States by Border Patrol, an Uzbek man arrested by ICE in Baltimore for possible ties to ISIS. An over 400 migrants brought into the U.S. human smuggling organization. Green recently received a classified briefing on the ISIS-linked smuggling

group. What we've been told is this was a financing thing for ISIS. So it's a mechanism for ISIS to make money, sort of like the drug cartels do. An NBC news analysis found fewer than 0.01% of migrants who have crossed the border so far this fiscal year are on the terror watch list. And the total number under Biden, just over 1,700, is similar to Trump's 1400. Still, security officials have recently sounded the alarm about the serious threat of a terror attack. In March, FBI director Chris Ray testified that he was concerned about the same ISIS-backed smuggling group at the border. There is a particular network that has, where some of the overseas facilitators of the smuggling

network have ISIS ties that we're very concerned about and that we've been spending an enormous amount of effort with our partners investigating. And the former acting head of the CIA, writing the light of the CIA, writing the light of the are blinking red just as they were leading up to the 9-11 terror attacks. Now the House Homeland Security Committee demanding DHS provides case information on each migrant on the terror screening database that has been apprehended at the southern border since Biden took office, including whether they have been detained or deported. In a letter to DHS, Green says the committee requires the documents and information compelled

by the attached subpoena to fully evaluate potential legislation to reform the department's handling of its encounters with aliens on the terror screening database at the southwest border and the potential security vulnerability those encounters posed to homeland security. Adding that the reviews provided so far have been insufficient for the committee to fully analyze and evaluate the department's operations and decisions. Does it change the policy at all? Does it change the way things are done? Does it make Americans safer? No, we impeach Alejandro Mayorkas and he's still breaking the laws written by Congress. So probably not, but at least we're sure. We're sure. showing the American people what's going on. That's the best thing I can probably do right now.

If the department does not respond to the subpoena for more information, it would be up to the Justice Department to enforce it. And Ellison, being on the watch list doesn't necessarily make a migrant a terrorist. Many migrants' matches are based on bad information or loose affiliations with terror organizations. Ellison. Julia, thank you. When we come back, missing in Mexico, a 14-year-old from Utah vanishing, along with her two young cousins, while she was visiting family in Mexico City. What authorities believe happened to her while she was walking to a store.

Back now with Top Stories news feed, starting with the Utah teenager who is missing in Mexico. Authorities say 14-year-old Elizabeth Gonzalez was visiting relatives in Mexico City when she disappeared along with her two young cousins while walking to a convenience store. Authorities believe an adult may have tripped them into getting in a taxi.

The FBI is working with Mexican authorities to find them. A small plane nearly missing a Colorado mountainside, new video capturing the aircraft almost crashing into Devil's Thumb, which is located just west of Denver. The Federal Aviation Administration says the single-engine Cessna 152 was in route toward the mountain when it stalled and descended. It landed safely at its destination. So far, no word on how many people were on board. And a consumer alert, AT&T says a massive data breach impacted nearly all of its customers.

The telecom giant says it learned in April that hackers illegally downloaded customer data on a third-party cloud platform. The data contains calls and text records between May and October of 2022 and some from January 2023. No names were included. The Justice Department, FBI, and FCC are investigating. We want to turn now to a moving update on the story we brought you a few months ago. A genealogy test connecting a Holocaust survivor living in Israel with family he never even knew existed here in the U.S. Our Sam Brock was there for the emotional moment they met for the very first time. At a crowded Charleston airport, Anne Medin-Helman braces herself for the moment she's anticipated for months.

How are you feeling right now? I'm trying to breathe. On the other side of a jet bridge, Shalom Kurai, fresh off a flight from Israel, is preparing for something he's waited for his entire life, finding family. When I see you, Shalom, I want to give you the biggest hug. A My Heritage DNA test in the summer of 2023, initiated by researchers studying the roughly 100 children saved by Lina Kukler-Zilberman during World War II, including Shalom, match the Holocaust survivor with his second kid. cousin from South Carolina, leading to this moment. Don't cry. Happy tears.

Happy tears. For 25 years, Anna has been trying to complete her family tree, thinking all her relatives on her father's side who remained in Europe during the Holocaust were killed. Until last year, when the DNA test revealed a connection to a name she didn't recognize. It was quite a shock. and we kept on looking and I got a picture of him that came up and it was seeing my brother. Shalom was saved from the Warsaw Ghetto in 1941, smuggled away in a potato sack at just two years old. His name changed to conceal his Jewish identity.

He was hidden in multiple orphanages in Poland and moved to France after the war with the woman who rescued him before ultimately finding refuge in Israel in 1949. Now, embraced by dozens of family members, he never knew existed. How you doing, Shalom? This is Bradley. Including the youngest, 22-month-old Bradley and 11-year-old Gia. I feel it's exciting, but also overwhelming because there's so many people. We came all the way from Montana so that they could experience this. Shalom says he never even knew the concept of family.

This is something that I grew up with all my life. But as he accepts this Kiddish Cup passed from generation to generation. It's so weird. It's clear he can certainly see now the love that was waiting for him all along. I feel like I've given the children and Shalom a gift that was never expected to happen. And it's something that hopefully that they will remember forever, that family is everything. Sam Brock, NBC News, Charleston, South Carolina. Coming up, a segment for all book lovers.

The New York Times releasing its list of the top 100 books of the 21st century so far. The list created with the help of legendary authors, poets, and even someone in the NBC family. So did your favorites make the top spot? That's next. We're back now with the book list making waves this week. Over the last several days, the New York Times slowly releasing its list of the top books of the 21st century so far. They asked living literary icons for help with the rankings, and today they dropped the very top picks. Almost a quarter century's worth of stories and characters ranked one through 100, taking the New York Times top six.

spot. Elena Ferranti's My Brilliant Friend, which was turned into a hit HBO series and follows the lives of two friends in the outskirts of Naples in the 1950s. It's the first book in a four-part series and has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. It's been translated in dozens of languages. It's rather a dynamic deep story and at times surprisingly philosophical. Also gripping the readers, despite the series. continued success is the real identity of the author.

It's unknown. Verante is using a pseudonym. Oh, thank you. The list's runner-up, warmth of other sons by Isabel Wilkerson, which she calls the epic story of the great migration when nearly six million African-Americans moved away from the south to other parts of the United States. This is in some ways a universal human story of longing and fortitude and courage. And rounding out the list's top three, Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantle, chronicling a fictionalized version of Thomas Cromwell's assent to power in the court of Henry the 8th.

An expression of slyful amusement. The New York Times taking in votes from hundreds of, quote, literary luminaries, including legendary authors, poets, essayist, and journalist like NBC's own Jenna Bush Hager. Finish it and one reading. And with iconic names like Stephen King, submitting a ballot, readers are also getting to see their favorite authors, Picks. And for more on this list, marking the best books of the 21st century, we're joined by editor of the New York Times Book Review, Gilbert Cruz. First of all, it's an honor to have you. I can't tell you how many times I have looked at an end of the year, New York Times book review list, and then bought half of them as presents for people. So it's always a great list.

but this one is really fascinating because you pulled a hundred books that are the best books, according to this panel that you have compiled, of the 21st century. We mentioned in our piece before the top three, but talk to us about why the decision was made to put this list together, why now, and in terms of the theme, how did you guys come up with this idea of who would be involved in choosing them? Sure, thanks. So we are on the verge of 2025, the quarter century rapidly approaches, and, and, you guys, And at the New York Times Book Review, we reach out to authors every single day, every single week, asking them to review books for us.

We often get famous writers writing about famous books. And so we say, we have all these people. We could try to tell our readers what the best books of the century are, but why don't we go out to some other people that are experts? And we start coming up with names, wrote a couple hundred names down, then that grew to a couple hundred more. And then in the end, we asked over a thousand people. We sent out over 1,000 emails to authors, novelists, nonfiction writers, critics, poets, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. We got 503 people to respond, which I think is a pretty good response rate. And we counted up the votes, and this is what we came up with.

So talk to us about some of the top books or at least top 20 that maybe people hadn't heard of and should give a read to. I brought this one from home because I was thrilled to see Say Nothing by Patrick Radenkeef on the list. I think it was number 19. And this is one of my favorite books of all time. It's the book I tell everybody I meet. You've got to read this. It's really good. What are some of the other top books? So number 20 is a book called Erasure. This is by an author named Prisville Everett. People might be familiar with this book because it is the book that was adapted into the film American Fiction, which was nominated for several Oscars last year. Prisville Everett is an American

author who's been writing for a very long time. And the film adaptation of the film adaptation of American fiction and a book that he put out this year called James is really sort of elevating his profile so I think erasure is one that after people read James which is a retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the slaves perspective they'll go back and check out erasure that's an amazing book never let me go which came in at number nine is a book by the Nobel Prize winner Caswell Ishiguru was also made into a film and it's sort of a dystopian story about a bunch of kids at an English boarding school, there is a secret that I'm not going to reveal here, but once you find

out that secret, it's sort of cast the entire book into a different light. And it's also very sad at the end. Several of these books are. You know, whenever there are these big lists that come out, there's always a lot of talk online about what should have been there, what is on the list that didn't deserve it, what should have been higher, it's inevitable. Of course. When you're putting together a list like this, is it more stressful or just an absolute labor of love? It has to be a labor of love, right? I mean, when you work in a place like the New York Times Book Review, when you work in books, you work there because you love books. And a hundred seems like a lot. But if you think about all the books that are published over the course of a year, and then you

multiply that by more than two decades, a hundred is actually not that many. And so I'm very proud of this list, I'm aware that there are a lot of books that could have been on here. The books that go from 101 to 150 are amazing books. You sort of had to pick a conceit. A hundred is a great number. But there are many, many, many amazing books that could have made this list. When you were reaching out to people and saying,

hey, will you give us your list of books that you really like, people like Stephen King, these authors that so many people know and love, was there anything you got from some of those big names that you were like, oh, that's interesting. I didn't expect them to pick that book. That is a good question. I mean, at this point, a lot of people have noted that Stephen King picked one of his own books, which is great. He's a master.

He's been writing for four decades. He writes for the New York Times Book Review all the time. He is allowed to pick his own book. And I actually suspect, and this is no, not to any author, that the reason that some people didn't want us to run their ballots is because they picked their own book. And why wouldn't they? If I was an author, I have to look out for myself first. I would pick my own book. And so we had a couple of authors who were able to get over their embarrassment and put their ballots out into the world and admit to that, which I thought was very big of them.

Yeah. And then in our last 20 or 30 seconds here, as someone who loves to read, I love reading, but I also know for a lot of people wanting to get into it, it can feel daunting. Even when you have a really big list like this, what is your advice to someone who's like, should I start to be a reader, but I'm not really a reader? Why books? I think that anyone who thinks they are not a reader is thinking of school, and they're thinking of being forced to read. And that's not what this list is about. This list, I would argue, has something for everyone from long books to short books, fiction and nonfiction, books that are genre books, books that are literary books. I think you should read our list. You should see if any of these appeal to you, and then give it a shot. And if it doesn't, put the book down.

People feel obligated to finish a book once they pick it up. Don't do that. Life is too short. There are lots of books to read. But I think you should give one of these a shot. It is an amazing list, and I have added so many to my summer to read list. Gilbert Cruz, thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it.

And if you prefer TV shows and music over books, Top Stories Been Towardy is up next. The new docu-series takes you inside the work of tracking serial killers, plus the movie chronicling the life of beloved actress Faye Dunaway and new music from Katie Perry. that and a whole lot more when we come back. We're back now with binge-worthy. Our look at the best things to watch and listen to this weekend.

We're joined now by NBC News Entertainment contributor Chris Witherspoon. Chris, so good to have you, as always. We have a lot of really good topics and a lot of things I didn't know is out. So I'm excited to get your take on these. The first one that we have, a new mystery series on. on Apple TV starring Rashida Jones. It's called Sunny. Let's watch.

It's so good. Mrs. Sakamoto, I'm afraid we have bad news. My family was in a plane crash. Things have been weird. Can I help you? I have a gift. Hadima-mastay, Susie, son. I'm Sunny.

Bring it in. OK. Robots can be of great comfort. I don't want a robot. When I read the summary of this, I really didn't 100% know what was going on, but I was intrigued. What's your take? A lot going on. It starts with a woman named Susie Sakamoto, who's in Japan, and her husband and her son go missing and thinks that they're dead.

But they're actually, I can't give it away. Okay. I can't spin there. There's an AI robot that comes to live with her from her husband. Her husband basically created it, and since it's to live with her, it's very freaky. Kind of a cautionary tale on AI. It could be deadly, but it's just done so well. TV knows how to do these kind of like high brow, high technology shows, and it's Rashida Jones.

Is this, you can't go wrong with it? Or all the episodes already out or? Is this Ted Lasso style? No, it's kind of like Ted Lasso style. Yeah. So I think it's like eight episodes all together. Okay. And it's starting this weekend. Starting this weekend. Okay. It's out right now, actually. Oh, it is. Okay. So you can binge a little bit. Yes. Yes. Okay. So the next thing we have is something for anybody who likes true crime. I'm a huge fan. It's called Masterwine to think like a killer. And reading that title, I did think weird. I don't know that we needed to doc about how to

be a killer. But it's not about that. It's about a woman whose innovations in crime hunting changed history. This one is on Hulu. Watch. At the time, she was the only woman at the FBI. There was this aura. Women need to be protected. And here was Ann Burgess, full speed ahead. They would interview serial killers face to face. People like Ted Bundy, Monty Russell, Ed Kemper. The problem was we had to make sense out of the interviews. by this woman. Yeah, this lady Anne Berg just worked at the FBI in the 70s, and Willie is the person that kind of helped understand the profile of serial killers.

And right now, it's just like everyone's watching all these true crime shows. I'm binging worst roommate ever on Netflix. I'm obsessed with it. Can't get enough. Not that I want to know how serial killers think, but it's good to kind of like outlive these folks. It's good to look for the flags, too, you know? And Anne breaks all those down. Also, just like her history.

She's just like someone who is a part of like American history, and now we're getting to know more about her. And to be a woman to have done that at the time. It seems really pioneering. Yeah. Have you watched Mind Hunter on Netflix? Yes. I was going to say this reminds me.

The character's name is Wendy Carr. Dr. Wendy Carr is based on Ann. Oh, awesome. And Mindhunter was great, but there was never a second season. So this is like the second season we wanted. On Hulu. Yes, okay, but on Hulu. Yes.

That is great. Okay, this next one is a reality sports series. It's on Netflix. And it follows the 2023 season of NFL receivers. And it is called receivers. I do catch passes. I do score touchdowns. touchdowns. I get to do everything.

I'm like running back, gig returner, receiver. He does it all. I'm big on celebrations. If I dance, I needed to go viral. Let's go! It's fun. That hit to a sensitive area.

Oh, that sucked. What do you think of this one? I watched it. It's so good. It's a spin-off to a show that was called quarterback that was on Netflix. This was all about receivers. tell you, the quarterback's had it kind of easy. These just you just get beat up. Like, you're going to watch their personal lives. Also, how they're actually out on the field injured.

Like, one of the guys had, like, hand, foot and mouth disease, broken tendons, and it's out there receiving all these, like, you know, the balls that are flying in air, you know? And everyone's like, don't high-five us. Yeah, it stars like five NFL players, Devonte Adams, George Kittle, Debo, Samuel, Justin Jefferson, and Ammon Ross, St. Brown, a whole new respect for them. And produced by Peyton Manning. Oh, and it's worth watching, even if you're not a football film. Oh, totally.

Okay. If you watch the Dallas Cowboys to the leaders documentary, it's the perfect thing to watch after that. Because that's to me. I'm not a huge fan, but I love athleticism and grit. Yes, it is always really interesting to hear stories and especially when there's always pockets of like an underdog narrative in the sports ones. And each story has that for the show.

Awesome. Okay. This next one, and it's the last one on our watch list, it's called Fay. It's on Maxx, and it's about the life and career of Fay Dunaway. Here's some. Fay is the persona, and Dorothy Fay is that little girl from the South. The acting was a way to escape from my family experience, which was painful. My mom would keep her emotions inside and then let it out.

I was very depressed, moody, and I'm still responsible for my actions. I came to understand the reason. Use those feelings. They're who you are. They make you strong. They don't make you weak. I mean, it looks like it's got all the right elements. I'm obsessed.

Some folks might not know who Faye Dunaway is, but she was an icon in the 60s and the 70s. huge film called Mommy Dearest. It's a cult classic. It came on like 81. And she won an Oscar for one of her films called Network. It was like a broadcast network. This is her kind of looking back at her life through her own lens. And she's saying that she was difficult. She admits to being bipolar. Just like you get interviews with her son, Sharon Stones in it. But she really is one of those legends who I feel like we don't have that many of them left. And you can now dive in and it's like learn her story. Interesting. And so it's not sanitizing. No, it's not

She played Joan Crawford in Mommy Dearest, and she kind of has that Joan Crawford-esque way about her in real life. It's fierce. It's everything. Please watch it. Okay. The last thing we have, this is, I feel like everybody's talking about this everywhere. Every time I look at the TV, it's like a clip. Katie Perry, if you haven't heard, I don't know where you have been.

She has a new song out. This one is called Woman's World. Listen. What do you make it's all the brain and anthraise Because baby, we ain't going away What do you make a minute? I mean the body, yada, yada, yada, yada. I know, I didn't want to say it, but you look amazing.

It's a moment's empowerment song and anthem, but it's also she's showing off this body post baby. She's like a two-year-old son. You just told me that. I didn't even know that. To your daughter, yeah. Two-year-old daughter, but she looks incredible. The new album comes out, September 30. This is the first single off of it.

It's called A Woman's World, but the album's called 143, which apparently was like a code word for, like, love back like in the 90s. I don't remember that. I was in the 90s. We didn't write that in our notes, but the album's about love, and she looks just fierce. I'm still here for baby. Yeah, good for her. All right. Thank you for being here, Chris.

Fun as always, Chris Witherspoon, we love when you come by. Thank you at home also for watching Top Story. I'm Ellison Barber in New York for Tom Yamis. Stay right there. More News Now is on the way.