Top Story with Tom Llamas - Friday, July 7, 2023

Episode Date: July 8, 2023

Valerie Castro reports from scorching hot Phoenix, Arizona, as record-breaking heat sweeps the country. Firefighters battle flames on a cargo ship in Newark, New Jersey, as the community mourns the loss of two firefighters in the blaze. A teenager helps save a family from a burning home on the Fourth of July. New video emerges of Britney Spears slapped by Victor Wembanyama’s security in Las Vegas. And Guatemala’s high court delays the release of contested presidential election results.

Tonight's summer sizzler, millions suffering through scorching temperatures. The death toll climbing from the brutal and unrelenting heat wave, border patrol airlifting hikers to safety after one of them passed out from extreme heat. Tonight, top story traveled to a sweltering Arizona, how residents they are coping with eight days of straight 110 degree heat, plus severe storms, unleashing dangerous hail in Colorado and triggering flash flooding in the nation's capital. We'll have full team coverage tonight. Also, inside the fire, new video showing the deadly blaze that engulfed a cargo ship in New Jersey, infrared cameras capturing the intense heat, radiating from the boat. Tonight, firefighters still working to put out those flames after two of their own were killed. The questions tonight, how did this happen and why did it turn deadly so quickly?

Ukraine's new weapon, the U.S. sending cluster bombs to help in the fight against Russia, the controversial weapons, which are made up of small warheads that scatter and explode, already banned in more than 100 countries, how the U.S. is defending the move tonight. Democracy under attack Guatemala's presidential election up in the air, after the leading candidate baselessly claimed the voting was rigged. The highest court now delayed the certification of results. Tonight fears this upheaval could push an already unstable nation over the edge and send more migrants to the U.S.

Ending an apology, new video showing the moment, Britney Spears was slapped by a security guard for Victor Wimbunyama. How that footage contradicts the NBA star's version of events and what we're hearing tonight from Las Vegas police. Plus, scary escape passengers stranded after one of the highest cable cars in the world malfunction, how firefighters in Ecuador got those people down. And a California team being hailed a hero

after racing to the scene of a raging house fire, How his quick thinking helps save that family's most prized possessions. Top story starts right now. And good evening. We begin tonight with the story that has dominated headlines all week. If you've been outside in nearly any part of this country, you have no doubt felt that brutal and oppressive heat. Triple-digit temps plus low air quality turning the air that we breathe into a toxic hazard. At least 13 people have already.

died because of this weather. Many more sickened. We want to show you now some of the dangerous effects of this record-breaking week, the hottest ever recorded on planet Earth. Border Patrol in Arizona, airlifting two hikers. You see them here to safety after one of them passed out from that extreme heat. And these soaring temperatures also triggering severe weather across Colorado, drivers having to navigate this, blinding rain and hail-coated streets after powerful storms blew through. And just outside of Washington, D.C., flash flood. leaving drivers stranded. You see it right here. The fire department reporting they rescued at least four people as that water rose up to their chests. And now a dust cloud from the

Sahara Desert. You see it here blowing across the Atlantic Ocean, threatening to make temperatures even hotter, parts of the South later this weekend. Bill Carrance is in the house tonight. He's tracking it all for us. We'll have his full forecast coming up in just a few moments. But we want to begin our coverage tonight with our Valerie Castro, who has traveled to the hottest of the hot spots, Phoenix, Arizona. So Valerie, I guess the only question we have is, how hot is it? Tom, it's Arizona in July, so you can expect it's going to be hot. You can even expect it's going to be above 100 degrees during the summer.

But what is unusual is the long stretch of high temperatures they've had for the last several days, and that is expected to continue. We picked up this infrared thermometer to get a sense of what the surface temperature is like. Here in this parking lot, it's reading 139 degrees Fahrenheit. It's not much cooler in the shade. In Arizona, where 110 degrees is the new normal, a heat emergency turning to a matter of life and death. Newly released video shows this chopper rescue in the mountains of Aravaca, Tucson Border Patrol responding to emergency calls from stranded hikers. Yeah, we're going to help you, bud.

One person falling in and out of consciousness, while the other suffered from extreme heat stress. Paramedics airlifting the pair and evacuating them to a nearby hospital where they are now recovering. It's 104 degrees here in the Phoenix area. It's not even 1 o'clock in the afternoon yet. It's going to get even hotter in just a couple of hours, 110 degrees for a high, around 4 o'clock this afternoon. These extreme temperatures here to stay, as excessive heat warnings have been extended through at least July 16th for much of the state. So I'm looking at the forecast, and it looks like there's highs reaching 118 and 119 by the end of next week. And that's the first for me in 10 cops. I'm staying inside.

Tanya is an Arizona native and on her way to work. But she's stocking up on ice first. She has to be outdoors for her job at a rental car company. I'm stopping at the Circle K to load me up, like probably about three or four cups of ice. So I can keep cool while I'm at work. There are days when it's so hot, she just gets sent home. They know that if it get too hot, that we just can call in to work and we won't have to go in. As AC units work overtime to keep.

keep up with a demand. One local company says they're getting up to 250 calls a day, asking for repairs or new units. Some suffering through triple digits with no relief in sight. Last night we were at like 102 degrees indoors. Phoenix hitting at least 110 degrees for the last eight days in a row. And experts expect that trend to continue into next week. The record is an 18-day stretch set nearly 50 years ago. That gives us very high confidence that is streak of very excessive hot temperatures continues right through the next seven to 10 days. This heat turning fatal with 13 heat-related deaths in the U.S. since mid-June, and experts fear this number is likely to rise.

Heat is the number one weather-related killer by far, not only in Arizona, but also across the entire United States. And so as a result, people need to take the heat very seriously. Okay, with that Valerie Castro joins us now live again from Phoenix. Valerie, you and your team were there in that heat talking to people all day long. What does 110 really feel like in a place like Arizona? Tom, you know when you open an oven door, when you're cooking something and that heat hits you in the face, that's what it feels like when you step out of the car here.

If you wear contact lenses like I do, they start to get dry and stuck to your eyeballs because it is just so hot. But it depends on who you talk to. We spoke to a woman who's lived here for more than 20 years. She says she's used to it. She knows to stay inside during the hottest parts of the day, drink lots of water. We spoke to another man who moved here from Louisiana last year, where it gets pretty hot. He says he's never experienced heat like this in his life. And Valerie, those people that you were talking to that basically are feeling that 102 degree temperature at night when they're trying to sleep with their families, how are those people coping?

Tom, it really depends on where you live in the city. but most people do have air conditioners in Arizona. It just comes with the territory. But at night, the temperatures do start to cool down slightly. Again, though, it's really hard to cool down when the heat is this oppressive. Yeah, it is. Okay, Valerie Castro leading us off here.

Valerie, great job out there. While the South battles these extreme temperatures, the rest of the country is also facing some severe weather. Potential tornadoes in the Midwest and flood risks in the east, leaving millions of Americans on high alert this week. And Jesse Kirsch has the latest. With cars caught in floodwaters near the nation's capital, mudslides in Vermont, and overnight hail roughly as big as baseball crashing down in Colorado. Tonight, a wild weather week isn't over, though some Americans are getting relief.

Extreme heat threatening 20 million people across the U.S. That's down from Thursday's 24 million, but still dangerous for many, with parts of Florida and the southwest most at risk. Yeah, unfortunately, no relief in sight for us with the way things are stacking up. up so far. El Paso now recording triple-digit attempts every day for more than three weeks straight. Sweltering heat impacting the U.S. and the world. Over the past four days, we've seen a new estimated record for the hottest global average temperature set, shattered, and broken again. Meanwhile, across the plains, severe weather's threatening eight million people from Denver to Little Rock, Arkansas, two inch hail, 75 mile per hour.

winds and isolated tornadoes possible. And further east, flood risks continue from northern New England down to Washington, D.C. Other cities like Chicago are finally cooling off, but the threat of extreme heat and storms will continue to rock some parts of the country for days to come, especially on Sunday, with 46 million people possibly facing severe weather from the Gulf Coast to the mid-Atlantic. Tom? All right. For more on the severe weather across the country tonight, let's get right over to Bill Karens, who joins us live in studio.

So, Bill, talk to us about what you're watching tonight. Yeah, obviously the heat this weekend, but the immediate threats also are the severe storms. We have a line of very strong storms that's heading through North Texas. Here's the Amarillo area. Look all the lightning strikes with this. Gusty wind, severe thunderstorm warning, and also the possibility of some large hail. Then into Saturday, we take the severe weather threat all the way from eastern Kansas, much of Oklahoma. We push it into Little Rock, Memphis, and possibly into Mississippi and areas of western Tennessee.

Tennessee. And then on Sunday, we take the severe weather threat through the southeast and all through the mid-Atlantic region. It's going to be widely scattered, but it could be strong enough for some wind damage and enough to ruin your afternoon plans. As far as the heat alerts go, we've eliminated Florida, so that's good. It was brutally hot today in Miami. And now we're watching mostly the Southwest. That's going to be the story this weekend. 112 Saturday, Sunday, Monday into the Phoenix area. Next week, well above average throughout this region. And Tom, that's when we have a chance of approaching all-time heat records in Phoenix next week. Okay, well, Valerie, maybe back out there. Bill, we showed our viewers that dust cloud that's coming from Africa across the Atlantic.

What more can you tell us about that? And how is that going to impact temperatures and air quality? Well, one of the big things that we watch for tropical season is this dust. The good thing that the dust does is it prevents hurricanes and tropical storms from forming. So that's one thing it does. Also, that dust, it blocks the sun's solar radiation. Right now, the Atlantic is at record warm values. We haven't had a lot of Sierra and dust. So the sun has been able to really heat the water up. That is changing. And so one thing that the dust will do is actually cool the Atlantic, and if that does get to Florida, it will actually make a little barrier. Hopefully it won't impact air quality, but it will reduce the temperatures a little bit. Okay, Bill Cairns, we will keep our eye on that.

And we have an update tonight on that massive cargo ship fire in Newark, New Jersey, that killed two firefighters. The blaze still burning roughly 48 hours later. Here's an aerial view of fire and smoke still billowing out of the top deck of that ship, which officials say is carrying about 1,200 cars and more than 100. containers. And take a look at this. The Coast Guard releasing these new infrared images just under that top deck. You can see the heat coming off those intense flames. The city of Newark mourning, both those firefighters that were lost there in that fire. Black and purple morning bunting displayed at their firehouses. Personal belongings returned to their families. And crews from New York, New Jersey, and the Coast Guard working around the clock to fight the

flames. Our correspondent, Ron Allen, is back out there at the scene again in Newark for us tonight. Ron, it looks like a little bit less smoke than we saw yesterday. Walk our viewers through those new infrared images that we're seeing for the first time tonight. Well, they're from the night when this whole thing ignited, and it gives you a sense of the intensity of the blaze. One of the investigators today described this as like a huge seal box that's sealed completely. It's 12 stories deep, and the fire is throughout that structure, and it's almost impregnable. That's why they're going to just let this thing burn for several days, they said. When Preston asked how long this is this going to burn, they said a couple of days, perhaps more, because it's so intense.

They're attacking it from the distance, from the water. There are hoses, streaming water on it constantly. It's so hot that the firefighters are not able to get inside. There are areas of it that are still inaccessible. It's unclear how many cars are burning, how much gasoline, how much oil, how much upholstery. You can imagine all the stuff that's in there to burn, and it's all packed in this very tight, hard to get to place. And that's why this thing is just going to burn for a while before firefighters really get into it. There's a lot of concern about the listing of the ship, because they're pouring so much water on it,

it's causing the ship to tilt in a certain direction to the right, essentially. And they want to try and offload that water as they pump more on to try and write the ship. There's no concern that it's going to tip over or sink, but this is early days, and there's a lot more water to come. And they're also concerned about the environment. There's a lot of smoke in the air, and they're monitoring the air from purities. And Ron, you know, I think we can even see the ship sort of listing from some of those aerials we have seen. I'm not sure it's the angle, but it does look like the ship is listing to one side. We mentioned the two firefighters who died fighting that blaze.

Are there any other firefighters that are actively on the ship? Are they fighting this entire fire from the canal, if you will? We haven't seen firefighters on the ship. They're certainly not rushing into it like they did when they got here the other night, because that's what they do. Newark firefighters, even though they weren't trained to deal with a huge vessel fire, they responded. That's what they do.

And they went in trying to save lives, trying to see if they're alive to save. And yes, there is some concern about the balance of the ship, which is why they're trying to get water off it. while they put more water onto it. And at some point, yes, they hope to get firefighters in there. The two who died are both Newark natives. Augusto Akeba, who was 45 years old and nine-year veteran, who we understand was studying to become a captain in the department,

and Wayne Brooks, Jr., who was 49, 18 years of service. There were stories written about him that he went to a local high school here and played football. And a lot of people knew these firefighters. Newark's a big city, but in many ways it's a small. town. We were by one of the firehouses the other day. It's in a community. There's a restaurant across the street. The restaurant, the people know the firefighters. It's that kind of place. It's a very small, big community. And there's a lot of hurt, a lot of grief going on here. Okay, Ron Allen, with that update tonight for us here on Top Story, Ron, thank you for that.

Next to Texas, where a 24-year-old man will spend life in prison for the 2019 mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart. The family members of the victims were in court to confront the convicted killer. NBC's Miguel Almaguerre has more. He showed no emotion as the judge sentenced him to 90 consecutive life terms in prison. Patrick Cruces did not address his surviving victims in court today or any of the family members of the 23 men and women he viciously gunned down. Paul Jimrowski lost his daughter and son-in-law. These last will never be brought back to life, so how is that justice?

Christopher Morales never said goodbye to his aunt. He's a pathetic piece of trash. He's a white supremacist, and there's a million of them out there. The now 24-year-old who pled guilty in February to avoid the federal death penalty is a self-described white nationalist. Let's go, let's go. Run, my boss, run. Who targeted Hispanics during his killing spree at an El Paso Walmart in 2019. Just before the massacre, he posted a manifesto, declaring in part, this attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.

I am simply defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by the invasion. We are looking for a voice of reason and a house of madness. We're trying to understand why didn't he do this and why didn't he do that? The killer's ideology has been shared by other mass shooters. The gunman who murdered 10 at a Buffalo supermarket cited the great replacement theory in his manifesto. The racist ideology falsely claims white people are being replaced by minorities. which was also referenced by the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter. In an average year, over 25,000 hate crimes in the U.S. involve a firearm.

Heartbreak measured one family at a time. 15-year-old Javier Rodriguez was the youngest to die in El Paso. His father brought his photo to court. So that he can see who he killed. He killed a 15-year-old. He didn't even know him. That's why. Tonight, the gunmen will spend life in prison as the victim's families endure a lifetime of heartbreak.

The gunmen avoided the death penalty by reaching a deal with federal prosecutors, but local prosecutors have the case next, and they can go after the death penalty. Tom. Okay, Miguel Almaguerre, for us, we have some major news coming out of the war in Ukraine tonight. The U.S. sending a controversial new weapon to the Ukrainians, the explosives, called cluster bombs, which you see in the video behind me here, are so dangerous to civilians. They're actually banned in more than 100 countries. And this is why. This is what it looks like when you open up one of those cluster bombs.

They carry many smaller explosives, which you can see here, right? That are all thrown in different directions once the bomb hits. But these bombs are notorious for also being duds, leaving all these little explosives later to injure and even kill innocent civilians. In many cases, children who pick them up because they look like a shiny, round ball. President Biden now defending his decision to send these new bombs. Courtney Cuby reports. Today, the Biden administration announcing it will provide a controversial new weapon to Ukraine, cluster munitions. Ukraine has been asking the U.S. for the cluster bomb since last year. President

Biden today explaining why now. The Ukrainians are running out of ammunition. Specifically, artillery rounds. Allies struggling to keep them supplied as they fight through a tough counter-effic. And so we want to make sure that the Ukrainians have sufficient artillery to keep them in the fight in the context of the current counteroffensive. And because things are going a little slower than some had hoped. When cluster munitions explode, they scattered dozens of small bombs over a large area, unleashing more widespread destruction than single rounds. Controversial because some of the small bombs may not explode. Embedding in the ground, becoming a threat to civilians, these duds can prove deadly, weak. weeks, months, or even years later.

It's a difficult decision. It's a decision we deferred. It's a decision that required a real hard look at the potential harm to civilians. Officials saying the U.S. will only provide the explosives with a dud rate below 2.35 percent. More than 100 nations signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, a treaty outlawing their use, but the U.S. did not. I discussed this with our allies, discussed this with our friends up on a hill. And we're in a situation where Ukraine continues to be brutally attacked across the board.

Ukraine assuring the U.S. they would minimize chances of civilian harm by not using the rounds in civilian and urban environments, recording where they use the rounds, and committing to demining areas after the war. The U.S. has roughly 10,000 cluster bombs in Europe ready to send to Ukraine in the coming days. We will not leave Ukraine defenseless at any point in this conflict, period. Okay, with that, Courtney Kubi joins us live tonight from the Pentagon. Courtney, as you mentioned there in your report, more than 100 countries, including many of our allies, signed that treaty outlawing these bombs, but the U.S. never signed it. So what kind of pushback is the president getting tonight?

That's right. And some close U.S. allies are disagreeing with the U.S. decision to send these cluster bombs to Ukraine. But according to the U.S. officials I've been speaking with, they expect that disagreement to be quiet and not to actually try to get the U.S. to stop with this decision. Now, remember, the U.S. informed NATO allies, including members of the Ukraine contact group, in advance of making this announcement today. But interestingly, Tom, President Biden is actually getting some pushback from members of his own party back here in the U.S.

Two Democratic members of the House of Representatives introduced an amendment this week to the National Defense Authorization Act, the NDAA, that would ban the transfer of all cluster munitions going forward. Now, why that's significant is because President Biden had to sign a waiver to send these to Ukraine. If this were to become law, he wouldn't be able to do that in the future, Tom. Courtney, Q be with us. Courtney, we really appreciate all your reporting tonight. Next, money talks what consumers and investors need to know from the business world and beyond. The unemployment rate for June ticked down to 3.6 percent as the U.S. added 209,000 jobs, but it was fewer than expected, leading experts to ask about whether the great resignation is

finally over. NBC's Halley Jackson has this report. At Pella Windows in Southeast Iowa, they need their workers and they need to keep them. Employee retention is absolutely top of mind. It's certainly one of our top priorities as a company. So the company over the past few years has spent about $30 million on housing, child care centers and restaurants in the small town where it's based and offered signing bonuses for certain positions. Now the company says retention rates are up 36% from the year before. We have the team members that we need at this point moving forward as compared to the high demand and needs during the pandemic. Pella is clearly not alone. As the economy added

209,000 jobs last month, new government numbers show in May job openings were down nearly 20% from their peak in March of last year. And while some 4 million people quit their jobs in May, That number is also trending down, 11% from its pandemic peak. To put it in plain English, workers haven't quit quitting, but the so-called Great Resignation is not as great as it once was. Quitting is coming down. The rate at which we were seeing people leave their jobs during the height of the Great Resignation, those days are behind us.

That's partly because there aren't quite as many jobs out there for people to switch to. And some workers, they're just happy where they are. Take Madison Viles, who's been in. at pause and wreck doggy daycare in Tampa, Florida for five years. I have a lot of trust and faith in the people who run the company that I work for. And I think that's a huge part of like employee retention, especially at a time like this when things are so unknown. Experts say the labor market is still strong, but it's cooling off a bit.

That is a key factor for the Fed, which meets later this month. It's widely expected to raise interest rates. Tom, the question is by how much and how many? times. Yeah, it's always the question. All right, Hallie, we appreciate it. Thank you for that. Still ahead. Britney Spears demanding an apology. New video showing the moment she was slapped at a Las Vegas restaurant by an NBA player security guard. What that video shows that contradicts the basketball star's account, plus a teenager in California racing to help a family whose house you see it there was on fire. What he did that may have saved their home. And later, the flooding emergency in Spain,

have you seen these pictures yet? Raging water sweeping away. cars, drivers trapped on the roof. The looming threat in the forecast will tell you where exactly in the country this is happening. Stay with us. Okay, we're back now with the latest on Britney Spears, slopped in Las Vegas, and a major update. Video obtained by TMZ capturing the incident, and it's now disputing claims made by NBA rookie Victor Wenbenyama about what exactly went down. I want to get right over to Dana Griffin, who joins us now from

she's been examining this video frame by frame a lot of people talking about this one dana so walk us through the new video and what are we seeing and does it back up what brittany said in her social media posts well tom yes and no so as we look at this video you kind of see her touch him and again i want to be clear this is only one angle obtained by tmc as you're seeing it here she's short compared to the seven four foot basketball player so she doesn't quite tap his shoulder like she claimed she touches his back and you see the bodyguard swiftly and forcefully block her hand, which result in spears hitting herself in the face with her own arm. That's according to police, Tom. Yeah, looks like a tap, but I can see what you're saying. It's only one angle. It does appear

that the video disputes what women Yama said yesterday about the incident. I mean, it sort of sounded like he was saying he was grabbed, right? He did. He said that he was grabbed from behind. He even kind of did this motion. But let's actually play that video. that interview so you can see for yourself that person grabbed me from behind so uh i didn't see i didn't see what happened because i was walking straight and we told those stuff but that person grabbed me from behind not on my shoulder she grabbed me from behind and uh so i i just know the security push her away i don't know about that one all right so it's tough yeah yeah yeah it's tough it's only one angle again all right uh what's the latest on the investigation there

So here's the thing, Tom. Police actually came out today and said that they are not filing charges against the security guard because they looked at surveillance video that we have not seen yet. And they say that it shows the guard push Britney Spears's hand away. And they say that she actually hit herself in the face with her own hand when the guard moved her arm. And the security guard and also a member of Britney Spears's own security team kind of corroborated the story that when it comes to securing a client and someone is reaching out towards. them it is your job and it is protocol to move their hand away so that may have been why we saw that response maybe it was a little too swift maybe it was a little too forceful and again from that angle that we see in this TMZ video it does look like he hits her but according to police that is not the case and that is why they are not filing charges here Dana Griffin yeah no and maybe they saw more angles than we did than this TMZ angle we appreciate all your reporting on that one We want to turn now to a fiery close call in the 4th of July, a family's garage going up in flames. But one brave teenager helped get the family to safety and save their home.

The whole thing was caught on camera. NBC Shack Brewster has the details. Tonight, the daring fire rescue caught on a cell phone camera. 19-year-old Caleb Delas Santos telling NBC Los Angeles he was enjoying July 4th fireworks with his girlfriend in Upland, California, when he spotted flames shooting into the air. We were just following just the smoke trail that we've seen in the sky. We eventually found the little road that led up to the house. The couple finding the garage of a home engulfed in flames, Caleb immediately jumping into action.

Quickly realizing the family was still inside the house. Right as I was opening the door, I met with the guy that was in the home, the homeowner, and he was just like in a frantic, like panic mode. He just kept saying, get the keys, get the keys. Caleb, racing to get the family's car keys, allowing them to move their cars, from the burning garage to get to safety. Caleb also making sure their pets were safe before going back outside and grabbing a water hose

to prevent the flames from spreading. Being that the firemen weren't here yet, like that he had turned on the hose and he would really help my husband kind of get it together and be like, hey, we need the car keys, let's move your cars, let's get those out of the driveway. And he was the, you know, thinker as everything is going on around us. Thanks to the teen's quick thinking actions,

the firefighters were able to save the couple's home. Delas Santos, crediting his dad who recently died for his bravery. Through the whole thing, my dad was by my side most of the time, just because he was like my garden angel in the moment. Like he brought me to that place at the right time. The homeowners say illegal fireworks stored in the garage may have set off the blaze, but fire officials are still investigating. And luckily, no one was injured. Tom. All right, coming up next, a consumer alert for parents, a recall issued for a popular kid's bike. The defect in the handle bars linked to more than a dozen injuries. That's next. All right, back now with Top Stories News Feed, and we start with a tough one. A former interpreter that

worked with U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan has been shot and killed here in the U.S. as he was just starting his new life. Video shows the moment the 31-year-old father of four was killed while working as a ride share driver in Washington, D.C. The victim worked with our military for a decade before fleeing Afghanistan for safety in 2021 following the Taliban takeover. It is unclear what led up to that shooting. Nearly 84,000 children's bikes are being recalled because of loose handlebars. Womb bikes, USA, recalling all sizes of their original model bikes for children ages 18 months to 14 years. So far, 19 injuries have been reported because of handlebars loosening or detaching.

The issue can be fixed with a free repair kit offered by the company. And a laundromat in rural Illinois was robbed by a suspect in a really unusual disguise. Security video showing a man in a bunny costume. That's right, in a bunny costume. Look at him crawling into the building before rifling through drawers and taking several items. The Quincy Illinois Police Department posting the video online requesting, there you go, full bunny, requesting the public's help to find that suspect. Okay, we are going to turn now.

To the Americas and a serious story, the contested presidential election in Guatemala. In a rare move, the highest court in the country delaying the release of results after growing calls of unfounded claims of voter fraud, international observers in the U.S. State Department condemning the move and calling it a grave threat to the country's democracy. So what's happening there? Ellison Barber has this one. Tonight in Guatemala, political pressure continues after a contentious presidential election that's been littered with voter fraud allegations.

The results over who will be headed to a runoff have yet to be certified. And in a never-before-seen move, the ballots now under review of the country's electoral Supreme Court. A controversial move that some say was instigated by frontrunner Sandra Torres and a group of political allies continuing to push a narrative of a stolen election. It's a decision critics say. is threatening the democratic process of a country already stressed by decades of corruption migration, with many fleeing to the United States. In this case, a page that was taken out of the U.S. playbook, and we saw it played in Brazil, and now we're seeing it being played in Guatemala, is the fact that you can distort election

results to try to sort of, in effect, steal the victory from your opponent. The initial results from the June 25th election surprised many. As the votes came in, two of the 20-plus candidates began to take center stage, including moderate reformist Bernardo Aerevalo, who ran on an anti-corruption platform. Arrivalho finished second behind former first lady, Sandra Torres. Somebody who had been polling at 3% of the vote in a very crowded presidential field ended up sort of somehow emerging from the pack and finishing. in second place and qualifying for the runoff.

So this took everybody by surprise. On July 1st, Torres and her allies challenged these results. And a day later, the country's top court agreed to freeze the certification of election results. It's a decision many saw as undermining the people's vote, and it drew international scrutiny. The Organization of American States urging that the results be recognized as human rights Watch called the move an abuse of the court system. And U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinkin described the actions as, quote, a grave threat to democracy. Today, electoral officials say the court-ordered review appears to uphold the original vote totals. Since neither candidate secured

a simple majority, both are set to face off in a runoff this August. a critical vote in the shadows of mounting distrust of government with ongoing corruption concerns over allegations that the current government has harassed, threatened, and imprisoned a number of judicial officials and journalists. I think that there's very much a feeling among the Guatemalan citizens who have mobilized to defend the ballot box, that they have power, that this is a citizen's movement

and they have power and that the backs of the, the autocrats are really against the wall. All right, Alison, Barbara, joins us now on set. So, Alison, as you mentioned in that report, there was mounting pressure going into this election. What was voter turnout like? You know, it's really fascinating because I think where you see the biggest indication of where things are at in the country is who showed up to vote but actually didn't vote. Almost a fourth of voters that participated in this election.

And turnout was relatively good, but about a fourth of the voters, around 17 percent, voted null or void, a protest vote, right? They're looking at these 29 candidates, and they're saying, we don't trust this system. We don't necessarily feel like things are in a direction that we're comfortable with us, so we are not going to actually be voting in this, even though we're physically showing up. So that's the big question as we move towards August, is what do those people do? Do they make a decision to vote for the candidate that sort of was this dark horse that came up at the last minute who has pushed for anti-corruption and more of a reform pro-democracy platform? Yeah, the anti-corruption candidate who now the world is talking about. Okay,

Alison Barber, we thank you. Coming up, the Darien Rescue, thousands of feet in the air, how firefighters in Ecuador managed to save dozens of riders who were stuck for 10 hours on one of the world's highest cable cars. We'll show you. Back now with Top Story's Global Watch and the deadly fire at a retirement home in Milan. Officials say the fire started on the first floor and quickly spread. At least six residents killed and about 80 were hurt. Authorities say, four of the victims died from toxic fumes. The cause of that fire is now under investigation. And major storms in northern Spain, leaving parts of the country underwater. Take a look at this

new video. It shows cars being swept away by raging floodwaters. You see it there, drivers climbing onto the roof of their cars to try and escape the flash flooding hitting the town of Saragosa, about 200 miles west of Barcelona. Luckily, no one has been hurt yet, but police are urging people to stay home with more storms in the forecast. And in Ecuador, a mid-air rescue on one of the world's highest cable cars. Look at this. The video shows firefighters climbing onto a gondola in Quito and sending passengers down to safety using a harness and a rope.

The riders were stuck for 10 hours due to technical failure. Nearly 75 people were rescued. No one was hurt. The cable car that gives sweeping views of the capital city is almost 13,000 feet above sea level. Okay, when we come back, a look at what you can binge and watch and listen to. This weekend, the new documentary about Sean White's last Olympic run, plus a new movie for horror fans with a star-studied cast, including pop star Cindy Lopper, and a big day for Swifties.

Speak Now, Taylor's version is here. Did you catch the change lyric? That's next. Hey, welcome back. It is Friday, which means it is time for binge-worthy. Our look at the best things to watch and listen to this weekend, and we are joined now by our friend, of course, a friend to Top Story, a friend to you, and a friend to families everywhere.

Internet Culture Reporter, Kaylin Rosenblatt. What's up? How are you? It's been a while. It's been a while. I'm so thrilled to be here there. Thank you for that introduction. Yeah, no, it's great to have you here. You're one of the OGs here on Vingeworthy. So we want to start first with a show that I watched, I binged, I highly recommend it, especially if you like Arnold Schwarzenegger. We have a short clip. Let's take a look at that now. There's a lot of things they had to learn. Obstacles that they had to overcome.

can get an injury, then all the athletic stuff is over. But the only thing that no one can take from you is your mind. Arnold Schwarzenegger terminated his box office competition. I was looking for another challenge, politics. That's good work. Okay, so if you don't like Arnold Schwarzenegger, you may be asking, will I like this show? And I think at the end of the day, it's an incredible story, right?

He went from a bodybuilder in Europe to becoming the biggest movie star to becoming the governor. and I'll give him a little bit of credit because he does tackle his biggest mistake in his life, which he addresses, which he, of course, impregnated his nanny and now has a son by her, Joseph Mena. And he talks about that a lot, and he addresses that. And he actually even reveals the moment that his wife asked him about it. And so, yeah, it's pretty tough. I know you don't have a lot to say about this because you haven't seen it. But I've seen it.

If you like Arnold, you're going to love it. If you don't like Arnold, give it a chance. And if you get bored with it, we have another show for you, right? It's called Shooting Stars. and it's on the greatest streaming network ever, Peacock. So this one you know about, tell me about it. This one is, it was more up my alley. So this covers the beginning of LeBron James' career.

It's actually based on a book that he wrote about his time in high school. And it just covers the start of what is, one of the most incredible careers in basketball history. Let's take a listen to this one because you got me hooked. I want to watch it. What's the like coaching the best high school player in the country? Play some defense. Sorry, you can't all be the tools in one.

What you said to me? How successful you become depends on how well you manage pressure. He's not just your player. He's your son, too. So we just ain't going to talk to each other for the overseas? What happens if nobody wants me? A whole lot more than just basketball. So it's the LeBron origin story, right?

Exactly. And even though we know this story, I still find it really interesting because how do you go from just being a regular kid to being the best high school basketball player and then going straight from high school to the NBA. It's the kid from Accord. I mean, listen, as a Miami Heat fan, I owe a lot to LeBron James. So I was a little unfamiliar with this part of his life.

I am really excited to take a look at this story in particular and see where the magic all began. I mean, he really has had one of the most epic careers in basketball history. And I find that, like, we know a lot about LeBron. We know about his family just since he's been in the NBA. But this story, even though it's how he first got on the map with a national audience, I still think that it's a story that people would love. to explore. So I'm looking forward to that, and I will be binging it this weekend. Next one up,

one of my buddies, Sean White, an Olympian, right? Incredible. Incredible. Three-time gold medalist, right? The guy's sick. Sick on a snowboard. He's sick on a snowboard, but I didn't know until I started digging into this documentary about this traumatic injury he suffered in 2018. Yeah. Where reports that he could have lost his life. He had a really traumatic injury while practicing for the Olympics, I believe. And it really, like, upturned his life and his family. I saw people on social media saying they were really enjoying this and getting to look at his family as well.

I haven't seen this when I do want to see it. Let's take a look at the clip. I was five when I started snowboarding. He started getting podiums in the pro events at 12, 13, 14. All of a sudden, I'm a millionaire at 15. And that was my biggest fear of plenty of women's families. It was wild. Things just blew up.

He won summer X games. He won winter X games. He won't Slope. Who does that? Oh, my God. I just won the Olympics. It's the best year of my life. I can't believe you.

My life was never going to be the same again. But I could help but think this is just the beginning. I just started to party. He definitely partied. Wow, a million bucks at 15. That's crazy. Tom, something we have a theme running through are these athletes who were almost child.

stars, really got their start as young kids became the greatest in their field. And then how did they deal with the fame? That's kind of, you know, some of the themes that we're dealing with. And it also explores his life post being Olympian Snowboard. It does. It does. And that's, as I mentioned, a lot of the people who have watched us online. So they were really interested to learn more about his family life, about his personal life. That's what this delves into. I spent some time with him when we interviewed him for, for your friend, NBC News. And he was a really nice guy. And he does. He has an incredible story. Really hard work or two. You can't become an Olympian like that unless you're working hard. We're going to take a big turn, right? We're going back to

the 80s. We're going crazy. We're going crazy with Wham. Wham! So this is on Netflix. It's burning up the charts on Netflix. Tell me about it. So this follows a story of the two friends who began Wham, I believe Andrew Ridgely and of course George Michael. It starts with their kind of incredible friendship and how they then grew to be this incredible sensation. You know, I wasn't around in the 80s, but I can appreciate so much of their music. And now I see Gen Z really embracing their music on TikTok. So this is a multi-generational story, and it's really heartwarming. And a lot of people on social media are also. And so many fans love George Michael, too. And this is sort of the story before he took off on that solo career. Our director, Brett Holy, is a huge Wham fan.

Ah, that's amazing. Yeah, and I think he even has a tank top, a wham tank top is going to right now. So I'm going to give him the pleasure of rolling a clip from this documentary. Yes, please. He's going to enjoy it. Let's watch. We met when I was 11 and Andrew was 12. And there was only ever one thing that I wanted to do. You get a soul. Being in a band with George. Andrew changed my life in exactly the way someone needed to change my life if I was going to be a pop star.

And that was it. Wham! I am a man. There you go. Not a huge Wham fan, but I will watch this when it looks fun. Yeah. I mean, listen, sports documentary or music documentary? I'm in.

Okay, you got it. That's good to know. The last thing on our watch list tonight, it's a scary one, right? It's the horror of Dolores Roach on Amazon Prime. We have a clip, which we want to play first before we talk about it, because the story may be a little confusing,

but it's scary. Let's see what these magic hands can really do here, huh? What have I done? I never did this before. Maybe I got to cut them with first. And I'm going to take the balloons, all those balloons. Don't worry about a thing, the lotus. I'm taking care of it.

I just want it to have a normal, simple. In hindsight, we probably should have explained it before. There's a lot going on there, but basically you have a woman who works in a massage parlor in an empanada shop. And I kind of like, because this is a Latino horror movie, based sort of off Sweeney Todd. That's what I was going to say. If you get the reference to Sweeney Todd, it's a pastry shop where someone killing people. Disguise is a different job.

This looks really interesting. I love Bloom House. I think everything they make is pretty scary, but really exciting. As the preview showed, they created Megan, which has been a huge hit. I really see this going far. Is this very violent? I mean, this is like art. You should just watch it with adults?

I would not watch this with your kids. Okay. Good to know. Always good to ask. We want to move on now to music. And we're going to go from scary music to Taylor Swift. Oh, the best. Yeah, for all the Swifties out there. So she's really seeing new music, but it's sort of old music. But the Swifties are loving it. It's like tearing up the charts. And we have a song, which I think we have a video for, and you're explaining me how it changed a little bit. Yes, absolutely. Okay. So let's play that if we can. He wasn't marked in a thing She was holding the matches

Whoa Soon she's going to find stealing other people's toys On the playground We'll make him as friends She should keep in mind She should keep in mind There is nothing

I do better than revenge Okay, so better than revenge is a song And we saw the lyrics there on the screen And this is part of my next question She changed a controversial line in the song Which was She's better known for the things that she does on the mattress.

Yeah. Uh-oh. She changed that to he was a moth to the flame. She was holding the mattress. Talk to me about this change here. Yeah, so this Taylor's not alone in changing some of these lyrics. A lot of, especially female pop artists, have kind of looked back to some of their lyrics and try to reassess some of the maybe internalized misogyny or slut shaming that they may have had in the past.

It was like maybe a cheap shot at women. Yeah. She doesn't want to tear women down. Exactly. And we saw this with Paramour doing, they don't perform misery business, which is under the same premise. Taylor's also changed some of her lyrics to make them, you know, you know, more with the times. And I appreciate this as a woman.

Yep, no, okay, all good. Next up, David Getta, right? He had a big one with BB Rexa. Yeah. I'm good, and now he's got something else that he's remaking. Yes. Let's play this song, and let's see people recognize it. I'm sure they will.

Yes. What is love? All right, so that's Anne-Marie with David Getta along with Coy LaRae, and we saw the, obviously, a hat tipper, if you will, like the neck shake to Night at the Rocksbury. So David Gett has obviously had a lot of popular with these throwbacks, and this is another one in that catalog. Yeah, I think of this is like reintroducing these songs to another generation. As you know, I spend a ton of time on TikTok. I see these songs popping up sometimes and people don't know that they're older songs.

Right, that's always scary. It's a little scary, but you know what? It's really great to sort of see these sort of hit the top 100 again. And in the music video, they do go full night at the Rocksbury at the end in the car, so it's a great. My kids have been jamming out to this one in the car, so it's nice to kind of know that, like, I used to dress

like that, I never did. Okay, next up, our buddy, Pesso Pluma. He's blowing up. If you're not listening to Pesso Pluma, I'm sorry, but you're just not cool. This is the song called Talum. Let's listen to it now. that is sort of surprised me. I'm new to Spotify. I was on title for a long time. I know it's

very strange, but Besso Bluma has literally almost every song in like the top 20, top 100. It's crazy. Everything that he's recording now, it's just going straight to the top of the charts. I turned this on, full confession, while I was putting my makeup on today. I could not turn it off. It is so addictive. Again, we've talked about me being a serious gringa on this show before, but I don't need to even understand the words to be able to jam out of this. Yeah, it's catchy, and it's great. We will make you an honorary Latino. Thank you. This is a good one, and if you like his music, I mean, definitely check this one out.

Last one, this is my summer jam right now. Lil Dirk, Jay Cole, all my life. Here's a clip. It's amazing. All my life. They're trying to keep me down. All this time. I thought I'd make it out.

So an uplip, they're going to take me, they're going to take me. No. All my life. All my life. Maybe trying to keep me down. So an uplifting message, Lil Durk, his album's got a couple heaters on it, just FYI. Oh, great. Are there other great songs on it?

Not one for the kids. I don't know if there's a non-explicit version. I don't know if there's a clean version. There probably is. But it's a great song. What do you know about it? Tell me more, because I don't know anything about it. Tom, you turned me on to this.

I mean, this one was, I thought, really fantastic. I listened to this also while I was getting ready to. I was just such an uplifting message, and I thought, you know, first of all, love the interpolation of all my life, which is fantastic. But I thought this was really empowering and just a really important song to listen to. I think one of the lyrics, in essence, says something like, I hope all my friends die because they reach old age. Like, I just thought it was such a powerful song.

Yeah, it's nice to get a very positive, uplifting hip-hop song every now and then. Yeah. Anyways, thank you so much for being here. We appreciate a great job. It was awesome. Maybe we'll, like, call each other text and maybe watch a movie. Exactly. be a lot of fun. Anyways, thanks so much for watching Top Story Tonight. I'm Tom Yammis, New York.

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