Top Story with Tom Llamas - Friday, June 9, 2023

Episode Date: June 10, 2023

Former President Donald Trump is indicted on 37 counts related to his handling of classified documents, Natalee Holloway disappearance suspect Joran van der Sloot appears in court, Texas announces its plans to use buoys to deter undocumented migrants from crossing the Rio Grande, Iowa prepares for Pride Month as a number of state legislative proposals threaten to restrict same-sex marriage, and two of the record number of climbers taking on Mount Everest this year share their stories.

Tonight, breaking news, former President Donald Trump criminally charged on 37 counts. The bombshell indictment unsealed by the special counsel outlining Trump's alleged mishandling of government documents, photos showing boxes of classified materials stored in a ballroom and a bathroom in Florida. Prosecutors alleging Trump showed classified documents on at least two occasions to people without the proper clearance. What we're hearing from Trump tonight as he becomes the first president charged with a federal crime. Plus, the reaction coming in from Trump's GOP primary opponents.

The other major story we're following tonight that dangerous haze still lingering in the sky. Millions of Americans under air quality alerts as that smoke from Canadian wildfires spreads to the south and west. The new city is getting hit hardest today. Vandersloot in court, the primary suspect in the disappearance of Natalie Holloway pleading not guilty to extortion charges in Alabama. That's after a chaotic, extradition to the United States. Holloway's parents standing just feet away from him what we're hearing

from that family tonight. Plus, the dramatic moment of train plowed through a tractor trailer, where the driver of that truck was at the time of the collision. And peak danger, Mount Everest on track for its deadliest season on record. What's driving a troubling uptick

in fatalities at the world's highest summit? Top story starts right now. And good evening. I'm Aaron Gilchrist, in for Tom Yamis. We begin top story tonight with that bombshell indictment of former president Donald Trump. The special counsel alleging Trump knowingly and unlawfully kept classified documents after leaving the White House. A trove of new evidence released today, and we want to walk through the timeline here. All of these details laid out in that 49-page indictment.

In January of 2021, Trump ended his four-year term as president, at which point he lost. his authority to hold classified documents. But over the next several months, Trump and his team stored dozens of classified documents in a ballroom, a storage room, even a bathroom at his estate in Florida. Then, in July, at his golf club in New Jersey, Trump allegedly showed a classified plan of attack prepared by the Department of Defense to several people without security clearances, even admitting in an audio recording that he knew those plans were classified as he was sharing them. Later, Trump shared a classified military map with the representative from his political action committee, again, someone who did not have the necessary clearance.

Back at Marlago, in December of 2021, an aide to the former president, Walt Nauta, texting this photo, which shows classified documents spilled across the floor. That aid today also federally indicted. The following month, Trump's team voluntarily handed over 197 classified documents to the National Archives. But by May, a grand jury issued a subpoena believing there was more to be returned. At that point, according to a Trump attorney, quoted in the indictment, the former president said, wouldn't it be better if we just told them we didn't have anything here? Not heeding that advice, Trump's team turning over an additional 38 documents insisting it had fully complied with that subpoena. But then, this discovery in August of 2022, 102 classified documents uncovered there when the FBI's

searched Mar-a-Lago. And that brings us to today, Trump facing more than 30 counts related to his alleged mishandling of those documents and for misleading investigators, charges if he's found guilty, that could result in years behind bars. The former president and his lawyers have maintained that he has done nothing wrong, but the upcoming trial now looming large over his presidential campaign as well. Here's NBC News, senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett. tonight new details on the stunning move by the special counsel the first federal indictment of a former president who's also the leading republican challenger to president biden special counsel jack smith alleging mr trump mishandled classified documents after leaving office and obstructed efforts to retrieve them from his estate in florida we have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone smith laying out 37 criminal counts against the former president including charmed under the Espionage Act, accusing him of improperly retaining national defense information. The indictment says among the classified documents kept in boxes, information about U.S. nuclear

programs, potential vulnerabilities of the U.S. and allies, and secret plans for retaliation in case of foreign attack. Our laws that protect national defense information are critical for the safety and security of the United States, and they must be enforced. violations of those laws put our country at risk. The boxes were stored in various places around Mr. Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, including a ballroom, a bathroom, and shower, an office space, his bedroom, and a storage room. Prosecutors attach photos to the indictment showing boxes stacked along the walls in storage rooms,

another showing several documents spilling out of a box. Mr. Trump responding late today, writing the box contained newspapers and personal pictures. indictment also alleges Mr. Trump showed classified information to people without security clearances on two occasions, including at his golf club in New Jersey in July of 2021, where during an audio-recorded meeting with a writer, publisher, and two members of his staff, he showed them, quote, a plan of attack that Mr. Trump said was prepared for him by the Department of Defense and a senior military official, saying, quote, as president, I could have declassified it. And now I can't, you know, but this.

is still a secret. Those commons seemingly a direct contradiction to the former president's previous defense. I took what I took and it gets declassified. That using his power as commander in chief, he had already declassified the documents he took to Mara Lago. If you're the president of the United States, you can declassified just by saying it's declassified, even by thinking about it. Over night, Mr. Trump blasting the indictment as another partisan attack. This has been going on for seven years. There's never been anything like what's happened. I'm an innocent man. I'm an innocent person. It's called election interference. They're trying to destroy a reputation so they can win an election. This all began with a request from the

National Archives to return any classified documents held at Marilago. The FBI ended up searching the property, and tonight the indictment alleges Mr. Trump obstructed investigators' efforts, including suggesting his own attorney falsely represent to the FBI and grand jury that he did not have any subpoenaed documents, making a plucking motion for his lawyer to remove classified materials from the batch that would be turned over to the government, and even directing his bodyman, Navy vet Walt Nauta, who is also charged to conceal them from his legal team and the FBI, even suggesting destroying some of them. And Laura Jared joins us now from New York.

Laura, you've been covering this since it broke last night. What does this indictment tell you about how the Justice Department is going to prove Trump? involvement here. Erin, all along there have been questions about exactly what prosecutors had by way of evidence to show not just that the boxes ended up down in Florida when they weren't supposed to be there, but that Trump actually had something to do with it. And today was the first time we really saw it all laid out in a narrative form. Of course, there's been so much great reporting on this story, but they took it a step further

today, really laying it all out because, of course, the president doesn't use text messages or emails to send the kind of communications we're talking about. And so instead we piece it together. You see in this document, in this indictment, through the text messages of Walt Nata, his body man, who's relaying the president's orders to other people. And it's quite striking once you see it all laid out there in plain text. You know, I want to ask you, too,

about the potential penalties that the former president is facing here. What sort of prison time do these seven charges carry? Yeah, it's important that we talk about this carefully here, because when you see 37 counts against the president and you add all the time he's facing there together, it looks like he's facing hundreds of years in prison. That is not the right way to look at this. Each of the counts has different ranges

in the range of five years to 20 years in the case of obstruction in some cases. But in reality, if he was ever convicted, those sentences would run concurrently, which means at max we're talking about 20 years. We're not talking about hundreds of years. All right, Laura Jarrett for us in New York today, Laura, thank you, appreciate it. For more on these charges and what they mean for the former president,

I want to bring in former federal prosecutor, Christy Greenberg, now. Christy, thank you for joining us tonight to help us understand exactly what it is we're looking at here. I do want to walk through a few of the key pieces of evidence, some of which we saw in Laura's story there a second ago. January 2021, the discussion about a classified military operation at the Bedminster Club in New Jersey. The former president quoted as saying, quote, see, as president, I could have declassified it. Now I can't, you know, but this is still a secret. And then later in the indictment, he's discussing subpoenas for classified documents and made statements that were sort of equivalent to, we'll put it up on the screen here. Wouldn't it be better if we just told them we don't have anything here?

And, well, look, isn't it better if there are no documents? So help us understand sort of the prosecutor mindset here. How does this undercut Trump when he claims that he can declassified documents at any time? Sure. So let's take each of those in turn. So the recording, which we have a transcript of in the indictment, it goes towards the fact that Trump is disclosing classified information to people that do not have the proper security clearance, don't have any security clearance to be able to access it. And it's a plan of attack. The document was a plan of attack on a foreign country.

And he knows, incredibly knows that he is being recorded and consented to being recorded while he shares classified information. It is that brazen. And you have even the staffer during the recording laughing about it. So this is someone who is clearly not taking the protection of classified information seriously, despite the various statements that he had made. that he was doing so. And then you have the statements to his attorney. Wouldn't it be better if these documents didn't exist? That goes directly to the heart of the obstruction here. He is all

over this indictment. He is packing the boxes himself with the documents. He is reviewing the documents. He is tracking their movements. He is making sure that he is controlling what is going back to the government and what he is keeping himself. And that picture is so vivid in not only the text messages and the surveillance footage that's described in the indictment, but also in his own attorney's notes that detail exactly what Trump told him about not wanting to produce documents back to the government in response to a subpoena. It's incredibly damning evidence. When you look at that evidence, you look at those notes, you look at these newly released

photos we saw boxes containing classified documents on a stage here in ballrooms and bathrooms. the indictment says that that information included in these documents pertain to nuclear weapons, vulnerabilities of the United States, vulnerabilities of its allies. What do you see as a potential line of defense for the Trump team if and when this goes to court? Well, the defenses they've already outlined are so easily disproven and countered by the indictments. So one of the defenses from his attorneys had been that he didn't actually pack the boxes, that this is just a White House institutional process and things get scattered, and he didn't know what was going on. It was his subordinates that were involved.

But the indictment says that's not true at all. He's directing all of the traffic. He is the one who's telling them what to put in there, and he's personally involved in the process. So really, that defense kind of goes out the water. And then this idea that this other defense that he had already declassified the documents, and that he could do so just by thinking about it. Well, that's disproven by his own words in the recording, where he says, I have a classified document by my hand.

I knew I could declassify it when I was president, but I can't now. His own words will shatter that defense at a trial. I do want to ask you one last thing, Christy. Some are speculating that the special counsel will pursue a plea agreement with Trump's alleged co-conspirator here, his personal aid, Walt Nauta. How likely do you think that is and what value might he bring to the special counsel's case as a witness? So there was public reporting that the special counsel's office had really tried to get Mr. Nata to cooperate and that he wasn't budging and that they didn't really believe what he was saying.

Obviously, he's making the false statements that he didn't know about the movement or location of the boxes as outlined in the indictment. But it's one thing to get someone to cooperate when they're not charged, and maybe they think they won't be charged. But once you see your name in an indictment with the former presidents of the United States in counts involving obstruction of justice and false statements and you see that you are facing prison time, that is a very, very different posture. And so I would imagine Mr. Nodd and his attorney are looking at this indictment and having real conversations about whether or not to cooperate against the former president. All right. Former federal prosecutor, Christy Greenberg, with us tonight. Christy, we appreciate it. Thank you. The top Republicans rushing to defend the former president after his indictment, his allies, and even his 2024 rivals coming out in support and condemning the Justice Department's investigation. NBC's senior Capitol Hill correspondent Garrett Hakey is near Trump's estate in Bay.

Bedminster, New Jersey, tonight. Tonight, an historic shake-up in the race for the White House, the Republican frontrunner, former President Trump, facing federal criminal charges. And now Mr. Trump getting backup from some of his Republican rivals. His top opponent, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, writing, quote, the weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society.

And his former vice president, Mike Pence, urging public patients, but blasting the Department of Justice, calling it a sad day in America. The day after a former president of the United States faces an unprecedented indictment by a justice department run by the current president of the United States and a political rival.

And this from GOP candidate Tim Scott. What we've seen over the last several years is the weaponization of the department justice against the former president. And House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. It goes to the core of equal justice for all, which is not being seen today, and we are not going to stand for it. Few in the GOP criticizing Mr. Trump,

though fierce Trump critic Chris Christie writing, No one is above the law. Mr. Trump, who was seen on the golf course today, has politically survived multiple criminal investigations, and being impeached and acquitted twice, and has been bracing for this moment, which would almost certainly derail most presidential campaigns. But now fundraising off the indictment after seeing donation surge following his indictment in a Manhattan court two months ago,

even selling T-shirts printed with the indictment date, a pro-Trump political group releasing this new ad. Stand with President Trump. Many Republicans slamming what they call a two-tiered justice system, pointing to the ongoing federal criminal investigation of President Biden's son, Hunter, and the special counsel investigation of Mr. Biden's own handling of classified documents, with some found in his Delaware home and garage, though Biden attorneys have cooperated with investigators. Tonight, the president was asked about the indictment of his top GOP challenger. And Garrett Hake joins us now.

Garrett, House Republicans are planning to defend President Trump. They want to investigate this indictment. That's right, Aaron. It's the same playbook we saw after Mr. Trump's first indictment in New York. Here, House Conservatives, led by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, are asking for documents, supporting information about the search of Mar-a-Lago, already setting up a situation where they can conduct oversight on an active investigation and criminal case. They ran into some trouble trying to do that in New York, but it's a way to run political interference on a legal case for Donald Trump, whom many of them have already publicly endorsed.

Garrett Hague for us in New Jersey tonight, Garrett, thank you. Now, with many Republicans standing by Trump's side, how will this shake up the campaign trail for candidates who are reluctant to speak out? I want to bring in our panel now, Brendan Buck, former senior advisor to House Speaker's John Boehner and Paul Ryan. He's also an NBC News political analyst and time national political correspondent Molly Ball. Brendan, I'll start with you on this. We have these images now of these sensitive documents in various places around Mar-A-Lago, a party. of this indictment from the special counsel here. What do you make of this strategy that we're seeing with so many Republicans still lining

up behind the former president? Yeah, I'm actually at a loss when you're looking at Republicans who have said their job is to defeat Donald Trump in the primary. They're running against him, have decided that this is not a moment to seize, to take advantage of. Instead, they're running interference for him. It was breathtaking watching Mike Pence earlier. You would be forgiven for thinking that he was his running mate instead of somebody

running against him. You have to think that there are only so many opportunities you have to draw a stark contrast. This should be an obvious one looking at what we have here today, but they're giving him all a pass. He's only going to pay a political price if people make an issue of this, and right now they don't seem to want to do that. You mentioned Mike Pence, and we saw in Garris' piece there, Chris Christie is making the comments that he made sort of in line with what he's been saying about the former president. Mike Pence, though, making comments today, I want to play a little bit of what he had to say. We'll talk about it on the other side as it really. relates to how things have unfolded with his indictment. Let's watch.

I had hoped that the Department of Justice would see its way clear to resolve this matter without an indictment and said so earlier this week. That being said, let me be clear on a few points. No one is above the law. And in America, we have to stand on the rule of law, irrespective of politics. Secondly, the handling of course. classified materials is a very serious matter in this nation. And so I'll ask you both to weigh in on this. I mean, what we have here is the former vice president and now a candidate for president saying we should not have indicted this former president, but also the rule of law is what

we should be following here. Essentially, or what is he trying to do here? What are we getting from Mike Pence in this moment? It seems like he's trying to have it both ways a little bit, right? On the one hand, as Brendan said, he is a political. opponent now of Donald Trump. On the other hand, Trump has created such a muscle memory in so many Republicans of reflexively defending him, reflexively, you know, falling back on this tactic of delegitimizing the FBI,

you know, really delegitimizing, I think, the rule of law in the minds of a lot of Republican-based voters to the point that they've painted themselves into a corner. They now cannot use this as political ammunition because so many Republican-based voters are so convinced that any attack on Trump is just him being attacked by the deep state or what have you, and that Trump is the victim here, and they're afraid to go against that. And so it becomes a self-reinforcing cycle again. And Brenda, as a strategy, what's happening? And it only insulates him further.

You know, there are potentially further indictments coming in. Each time, you know, he was indicted in New York, and everybody rallied to his defense. They're rallying to his defense here to various degrees. This just means the next time this happens, he's even more insulated. He becomes more bulletproof. And look, if you want to preserve your standing with Republican voters and Trump supporters, I get it. Like, if you have a future and you want to make sure you don't rock the boat too much, I get it. But don't run for president against him then.

I mean, I like to ask people, like, what do you think Donald Trump would do in this situation if one of his rivals was indicted? Do you think that he would come out and say that, oh, well, they're being handled unfairly? No, he would pounce on them. Of course he would. That's your job. So if you don't want to upset anybody, I get it. Just don't present yourself as an alternative Donald Trump. Yeah, Molly, Brennan mentioned New York here.

We had the hush money case that came to light. We saw poll numbers go up after people started to learn what the details of that indictment were. Obviously, these charges are more consequential. We're talking about espionage. We're talking about national security implications here. Any indications yet of how voters are seeing what's happening today, what happened today in Florida? I don't think we know yet if that cycle is going to repeat itself, Because, as you say, there is a difference in the situations.

And we do have candidates in the race now who do seem like they may be willing to make the case in a more forceful manner. Chris Christie, Chief among them, you know, we've seen Asia Hutchinson make some strong comments. And I guarantee you that behind the scenes right now, all of these Republican campaigns are frantically trying to figure out whether and how to approach this topic, right? I mean, this is still very new news, and the details in the indictment, the details in the charges had not come out yet when a lot of those comments were made. So do they come out with stronger statements? It's certainly possible. And I think that – but I do think that that New York indictment was an inflection point in the campaign

because it did show how Trump could use this self-reinforcing cycle to insulate himself, as we've been describing. And having set that precedent, he has made it that much harder for anyone to attack him on that basis. Vernon, given what we know the accusations are now, if you're advising Chris Christie or any of the other candidates at this point, what's the advice? I mean, do you come out more forcefully against? Do you say this indictment is so damning? Where do the other candidates go at this point? Yeah, if your goal, again, is to defeat him in this race, you would have to think you have to.

I mean, how many opportunities are you going to get? One, this is what we're going to be talking about for a very long time. And what we did see was last time when everybody rallied to his defense, his numbers did go up. Again, we don't know if that's going to happen this time. But what I can be pretty confident in is if nobody tries to draw a contrast, it probably will happen again. The facts here speak for themselves. Obviously, everyone has a presumption of innocence. But this looks really, obviously, very bad.

And it would not be hard to say, you have a national security implication for what you're doing here. This is not a serious person. This is a person that we think, you know, potentially be handling classified information and making decisions. This is a leadership issue that you can be making. Very easy contrast to do. This is not hard to do. You just have to be willing to maybe upset a few Trump voters, and I don't know if they're

willing to do that. All right. The conversation continues. Obviously, we'll be talking about this for months and months to come. We appreciate you both. Molly Ball, Brendan Buck. Thank you. Thank you.

Let's turn now to our other big story tonight. Hundreds of wildfires in Canada burning out of control today. and while the hazardous smoke that blew all away this week is finally easing, 64 million Americans remain under air quality alerts. So let's get right to our meteorologist Bill Cairns. Now, Bill, talk to us about the latest alerts here and what the rest of the weekend looks like. Yeah, Aaron, you made a great point.

The fires are still burning. Just the wind direction has changed. And it's blown in some maritime air off the ocean into areas of New England and New York and cleared out those areas. But with fires, as they still burn, if the wind direction's in the wrong for you, then it's going to bring more smoke. smoking. Now, maybe it won't be like, you know, the Morris pictures we had a couple days ago,

but you'll still see the hazy sun. You'll still have those sunrise and sunsets with kind of an orange glow in them. And some of the worst air right there now is in areas of Michigan and also Indiana. So from Detroit to Chicago, we've had a pluma smoke blowing through the, from Canada southwards, and that's where we're seeing some of the highest readings as far as air quality goes. New York, you're in the green. That's great for you. Moderate, still D.C. to Richmond and improving. Still a little bit on hazy there in the Raleigh area. That should improve tonight. but you notice that the unhealthy air is in Detroit at 113, and there's that one little spot there that's in the red, which is very unhealthy for everyone. So how does the smoke look as we go through

the weekend? So let's take it through tonight. There's that smoke I was mentioning in Michigan. As you wake up tomorrow morning, you'll notice that hazy sunrise around areas of eastern Ohio, around Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Notice not bad at all in the mid-Atlantic region. As we go throughout the day on Saturday, we get a couple plumes of smoke, one going through central Pennsylvania. But again, what was different this week was that a lot of the smoke was at the ground. Typically, it's up in the air and you're not breathing it in. So just because we show smoke on this map doesn't mean it's going to be right down at the surface. But from New York to Hartford, you should notice that Sunday morning. And then we really clear it out as we head towards the end

of the weekend. But as you mentioned, I mean, we still have over 235 fires burning out of control across Canada. We need the rain over these areas. We're going to get it in areas of the west from Alberta to British Columbia. And even in Quebec, we got a chance of some rain on these fires. But Aaron, I was talking to some fire experts. A lot of these fires, they say, will not be put out until winter, five months from now. I have a funny feeling I'm going to be talking a lot about smoke, occasionally, all summer long. All right, we appreciate the heads up on that.

Bill Karens for us tonight. Bill, thank you. And still ahead tonight, the deadly shark attack overseas, a tourist mauled at a beach in Egypt. The special team called in to track the shark down. Plus, the main suspect in Natalie Holloway's disappearance, making his first court appearance in the U.S. The plea he made in court right in front of Holloway's family. And the new video showing a train slamming into a semi in North Carolina, what we know about the driver of that truck and why that railroad crossing is becoming a point of concern.

Stay with us. And welcome back. We want to take you now to Alabama, where the suspect in the Natalie Holloway disappearance was in court today. Her family in court as well just feet away from Yaron Vandersloot in a tense courtroom. NBC's Sam Brock was there. After years of avoiding the American legal system, Yorin Vandersloot, the chief suspect in Natalie Holloway's disappearance in a T-shirt, jeans, and handcuffs, pleading not guilty to extortion and wire fraud charges. Each charge carrying a 20-year sentence if he's convicted.

18 years to the day, almost, and to have Joran Vandersloot here in Natalie, Holloway's hometown, finally to have justice served. It's just surreal. Today, the family showing up in court to see Vandersloot face to face. Say thank you for your continued support. We greatly appreciate it. Natalie's mother, Beth, sat stoically a few rows back, staring occasionally at Vandersloot roughly 10 feet away.

She's never given up hope in the search for justice, telling NBC news in 2015. What I care about is information as to what happened to Natalie, and I just try to stay focused on the facts. Vandersloot has never been charged with Holloway's murder, although he was among the last people to see her alive in Aruba back in 2005. That's when Holloway was on a high school graduation trip. The charges against him tied to an FBI sting operation in 2010,

where he's accused of accepting $25,000, promising to tell Holloway's family how she died and where to find her remains. John Q. Kelly, the Holloway's longtime attorney, met with Vandersluat in Aruba. He took me to the location where he said Natalie was buried. About a week later, he indicated that it was all a hoax, which, was sort of his M.O. along with everybody, get the money and then say it's a hoax and, you know, avoid criminal prosecution. The person whose office issued the indictment in the first place against Vandersluid, former U.S. attorney in Alabama and current NBC News legal analyst, Joyce Vance. This was an opportunity to hold him accountable without being able to pursue something more serious.

That's right. Originally, this looked, you know, like something that you would characterize as being awful but lawful. And then as the team began to dig deeper, they realized, no, there's a prosecutable federal crime here. Just last month, the Peruvian government, where Vandersloot has been serving time for the murder of a different woman, granted a temporary surrender. Setting into motion, this wild scene at the airport in Lima, where Vanderslut's handcuffs were removed, and he was handed over to U.S. authorities. Then arriving later that day at an Alabama airport flanked by a team of federal agents. Before being whisked away by motorcade to a jail just outside Birmingham, now set to remain in detainment throughout the trial in Alabama. Whatever the outcome of the trial here, we do know that Vandersloot is headed back to Peru once these judicial proceedings are over and that he has a murder sentence there that will not be finished until 2038. And then only after that errand would he come back to the United States to potentially serve any sentence here?

As for my conversations with Natalie Holloway's brother Matt, he really captured it the best. He said, yes, this is a semblance of justice. But then his wife stepped in and said, we want convictions, but what we really want are answers, and we want to know where Natalie is. It's the latest here in Birmingham. Aaron, back to you. Sam Brock Forest in Alabama, thank you.

When we come back, a new kind of border barrier, Texas announcing a plan to deter migrants from crossing over from Mexico, what they're planning to put in the Rio Grande when top story continues. Back now with Top Stories News Feed, and we begin overseas with the deadly shark attack at a beach resort in Egypt. Officials say a Russian tourist was mauled to death by a tiger shark in the Red Sea in front of other beachgoers. A boat was launched to try to help the man, but it didn't arrive in time.

Swimming in that area is banned for at least two days. A special team was able to capture that shark and kill it to be studied. A shocking train collision caught on camera in North Carolina, a new video showing the moment a train slammed into a semi-truck. This is outside Charlotte. You see it there just smashing to pieces from the trailer from the back end there. The driver did make it out in time, and nobody was hurt here, but this is the third time a truck has been hit by a train at that railway crossing just this year. And Texas officials announcing a new effort to deter migrants at the border using buoys. Governor Greg Abbott saying the state will spend a million dollars

to install these buoys in the Rio Grande River. They sit four feet above. the water and are expected to make it difficult for people to cross. Those buoys are also anchored to the riverbed with webbing to prevent swimming under them. Now we turn to Iowa where Pride Month celebrations are underway as the debate over same-sex marriage is heating up. A series of proposed state bills now threatening the legality of those unions in Iowa. NBC's Stephen Romo sat down with the couple who played a pivotal role in bringing same-sex marriage to the Midwest.

Tonight, as Des Moines, Iowa prepares for its annual pride celebrations, a cornerstone of the LGBT-Q-plus community now under threat. After earlier this year, Iowa legislators put forward a pair of bills that would ban same-sex marriage and allow residents to deny the unions on religious grounds. Despite the 2015 landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage. nationwide, a ruling that would take precedence even if these bills pass. It was in 2009 when Iowa was ahead of the curve, at the time becoming the third state in the country to legalize same-sex marriage, allowing couples like Kate and Trish Barnum to tie the knot. We knew that we had the support of our family.

We knew we had the support of our friends. We didn't have the support of government. It was their love story that ultimately. became the basis of the lawsuit, Barnum v. Bryant, paving the way for same-sex marriages in the state. But more than a decade later, the conversation has shifted. We like to think that we live in a place where we are accepted and that our government isn't going to try and take away rights that had already been granted to us. It seems to have ramped up, and I'm not sure what the impetus was. Do you feel like the legal status of your marriage

is safe? I would hope that our legal status is safe, but with the laws that are coming, I don't know. It's not just the status of our marriage, but it's the status of just being able to be yourself. But Iowa's same-sex marriage ban is not an

outlier. In 2023 alone, more than 520 anti-LGBQ bills have been introduced in states across the country, a new record according to the human rights campaign. People are right to be afraid because we really have no assurance whatsoever that those rights are going to be protected.

For Kate and Trish, the uncertainty of Iowa's future very much a concern for the present. Would we leave the state? We might. If marriage rights are taken away from us, we might leave the state. I don't want to. We don't want to because this is home. And Stephen Romo joins us now from Des Moines, Iowa. Stephen, you know, along with the legislation, there's been a lot of backlash lately for the LGBTQ community, right? For folks who are celebrating pride tonight in Iowa. What are they telling you, how are they feeling about the climate this year? Yeah, Aaron, there's some disappointments, there's some frustration that the fight over marriage rights is still ongoing. They also say that despite this bill,

these bills that we're talking about, though, they know there is a lot of support here. They feel supported, and Gallup polling actually shows 71% of Americans are in favor of gay marriage. That's despite these bills that we've been talking about. So people here say they have a lot to be hopeful about. Stephen Romo and Iowa for us tonight. When we come back making the climb, Mount Everest seeing a record number of climbers this year. We're going to introduce you to two people who made that trek, including a double amputee who did it with prosthetic legs. We're back now with stories from Mount Everest. A record number of climbers making the dangerous trek this year.

NBC's Janice Mackey Frere caught up with two people who reached that summit, now sharing the challenges and triumphs from their trips. Every spring for a short time, the winds whipping at the summit of Mount Everest relent just enough to give mountaineers from all over the world a crack at reaching the very top of it. For Rebecca Long, a 29-year-old climber from Boston,

that chance came on May 17th when she stood on the summit and realized a dream. There were some tears coming into my eyes, just like finally circling for months. But it's just devastatingly beautiful up there and so scary, too. This was a record year on Mount Everest for the number of permits issued by Nepal's government. Most of the climbers from the U.S., China and India. But it's also shaping up as the deadliest. At least 12 climbers have died and five are still missing,

according to a database that tracks fatalities. Overcrowding remains one of the most serious safety issues. Remember that video from 2019 that showed bottlenecks and long lineups? Well, it was no better this year. That was probably the most terrifying part to me because there was just a line of people going in both directions too. So as you're trying to pass everyone coming the other direction to go to the summit. For generations, Mount Everest at 29,000, 29,000, above sea level has symbolized the ultimate and mountaineering adventures.

Oxygen is so scarce at the top, it's known as the death zone. Temperatures as low as minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit. That's a summit behind me. Which makes what Hari Buddha Magar did all the more remarkable. A former soldier in the British Army's Gurkha Regiment, he lost both legs to an IED in Afghanistan in 2010, became the first ever double amputee to see. stand on top of the world. We submitted at 3, 10, normally.

People submit at 8, 9 o'clock in the morning and pretty much no go after the 12 o'clock. But if you want to make history, I think we need to take a little bit risk. He did it on prosthetic legs made in the U.S. to prove that no goal is impossible. We'll inspire not just this generation, but I think we'll also inspire for the next generations. Janice Mackeyfraer, NBC News. Well, now we turn to a school project like no other. An eighth grade class in California, 3D printing a prosthetic hand for fellow student.

The finished product, not only changing his life, but there's two. Here's Maya Eaglin. In this classroom at Almondon County Day School in San Jose, California, these eighth graders are learning the basics of 3D printing and modeling. So what I want you guys to do is work on this mold parts. But they were presented with an advanced opportunity. when the mother of a third grade student in the same school asked teacher Joanne Pepini if the class could print a prosthetic for her son Trent, who was born without a fully formed right hand.

And in my mind, I'm like, yeah, that'll be nice for college and high school kids, but I wanted to do something with it. This is one of the pieces for the hand. Middle schooler Sarah Vender, up for the challenge. At first I was a little unsure because I've never made a hand before. With some help from online instructions, Sarah and her classmates, got to work on their own prosthetic prototype. So this is our failure box. Working for a whole month to improve their design.

I really wanted to make sure it was perfect because I knew that this would change his life if it went well. And all that hard work? Yeah! Paying off. I was so relieved that it works. I was like, yes, it works. The hand even made in the colors of the San Jose Sharks, Trent's favorite hockey team.

I felt happy and I was super excited to show my clothes. Class. Oh, look how excited they all are you. Trent thrilled to show off his new hand to his class. Look at that. Look at that. We were crying. We were all.

We were just ecstatic. We're running around. And Trent's running outside. And the kids are high-fiving him. And, you know, everybody was just emailing me and crying and tears. And even a surprise visit from the shark's mascot. What started as an elective class, now inspiring Sarah, proving her work can help others. Yeah, I just saw that he was so happy.

and it made me feel so good that I was able to do something that could help him so much and yeah, I definitely think that I want to pursue that. My Eaglin reporting there, some good lesson for all of us to learn, I think. When we come back, a look at what you can binge watch

and listen to this weekend, the story behind the Flaming Hot Cheetos plus the final season of the hit show Never Have I Ever. And there's new music from Nile Horn. Stay with us. We are back now with Bingeworthy, our look at the best things to watch and listen to this weekend. We're joined now by USA Today's host of Entertain This, Ralphie Aversa.

Ralphie, good to see you. Thanks for coming on Top Story tonight. Aaron, I hope you got your popcorn over there, right? Because the team here in New York, they got us loaded still. I don't know what's going on in D.C., but here, I'm going to work on that the next time. So let's get started then. The first one we have is actually a biopic based on this is a true story of a man who claims he created Flaming Hot Cheetos, right?

It's called Flaming Hot. It's on Hulu and Disney Plus. Let's take a look. The guy started at the berry bottom. I know I don't look at it, but I got a Ph.D. I'm poor hungry and determined, sir. Okay, I can see you're going to be a weird one. What's happening?

Layoffs, son. Rito L.A. isn't getting enough orders to keep the factory open. Who eats Cool Ranch anyway? That lady. What is it? It burns. I like it. I like it. A lot of people say that about Flaming Hot Cheetos, right?

So this is also, I know, Eva Longoria's directorial debut, what are you hearing about this movie? Yeah, as far as movies, it's her directorial debut as well. Richard Montagnas, by the way, is the real-life rags to Rich's story that this is based off of Jesse Garcia placing. Hearing some good things about this movie. Fun fact about Jesse, though, the actor, he had never tried Flaming Hot Cheetos until this movie. So they did five takes of where he eats him. He's had five in his entire life, that's it. But hearing a lot of great things about it,

and it was a story that Evo really wanted to tell. Again, as you said, streaming on Hulu and Disney Plus. Yeah, it looks interesting and fun. So something to watch there for sure. Now we want to talk about a popular series that's back for its fourth and final season. This one is on Netflix. It's called Never Have I Ever.

So for folks who haven't seen it, let's take a quick look. We're finally seniors, and honestly, I think we're doing pretty great. that I've done the deed, I can focus on what's important. It's done! I think we've really grown to being the poised, fearless women we always dreamed we'd be. Oh, there's Ben. Pardon me.

You've got to talk to him at some point. What's the deal with you two now? I cannot believe you. I assume it was like a one-time thing. What's up, Davey? Hey, Paxton. Wait, what? Paxton?

So this is a series that was created by Mindy Kaling. I know. What are the fans of this series saying about this and being the final season. Well, they're sad to see it go. And by the way, those fans include my wife, Sherry. She loves this show. It's a really easy show to watch.

It's perfect for this list here, binge-worthy. Maitre Ramakrishnan is the star of this one. She plays Debbie. And as we see in this fourth and final season, she has her eyes set on Princeton. She also does a little bit of growing up. I won't elaborate too much. Don't want to spoil anything.

But sad to see this one go. The fourth season does look really good, though. It sounds like there's going to be a this, They sort of tie things up for the main character, though, right? Yeah, at least as far as her four years in high school, yes. Right, okay. Well, the next one we have is The Ultimatum Queer Love. Also on Netflix, it features five couples at sort of a crossroads in their relationships,

and they participate in this different kind of dating experiment. The finale is now out, so folks can binge that whole series. Let's check it out, and then we'll talk more on the other side. I feel like I've fought my person. You'll choose someone, and you'll choose someone. Move in together in a trial marriage, and then you'll do the same thing all over again with the person that you arrived with. And whether you leave your engaged, single, or newly in love, each of you will decide what your future holds. I'm going on dates with eight beautiful women.

Where's my drink? Like, game on. Game on, for sure. Ralphie, explain a little bit more about how this all works. All right, so this is a series that's been in the works for a couple different seasons with Netflix. So it's called ultimatum, and you have a couple, and, you know, one person in the couple is, you know, really dedicated and wants to take that next step. The other maybe not so much, and so they're given an ultimatum, and they can either choose another partner and kind of get a glimpse into seeing what their future might be like with that other partner or stick through it. So with this particular series, we have all women and non-binary people who identify as queer.

As you mentioned, the full season is out and the reunion as well. I know all the talk about reunions these days, Scandival and whatnot. So this is definitely binge-worthy this weekend. And I always appreciate a little drama like that. You know, it's going to be that kind of a show for sure. Now we, yeah, we have a based on a true story. That's actually the title, based on a true story. It's starring Kaylee Cuoco and Chris Messina.

It's on Peacock. Let's take a quick look. Can't pay any of our bills. And you just lost your job. We have a baby on the way. So tell me, how are we going to get by? She is the victim of the West Side Ripper. It's him.

I know my killers. What if we make a podcast about this together? We could bring them in on it. Bring the killer in on what? The podcast. We force them to do it. Oh, my God, this is going to change our lives. So I've been seeing this trailer in different places for a few days now.

Tell us a little bit more about this new show. All right. So basically you have some true crime aficionados in this one, starring, as you mentioned, Kaylee Cuoco, and Chris Messina. Tom Bateman is in this one as well. And they've fallen on some hard times, they're expecting. So they start a podcast based on a murderer. Then they think, oh, you know what would be really good for this podcast?

Let's invite the person we think is the murderer onto the podcast. And so that's how things play out. Things, by the way, worked out great for Kaylee. Of course, she plays someone who's pregnant in it. They wrote her real-life pregnancy into this show. She had a daughter in March. Nice. It works out for her, for sure.

It's going to be interesting. It sounds pretty good. So the last thing on our watch list tonight is the crowded room. This is on Apple TV Plus. This is a mini-series that stars Tom Holland that was shot partly in a place that's familiar to a lot of viewers. So here's a clip of that. There's blasts everywhere. Signs of a struggle.

A lot on the floor. What about the girl? No sign of her either. I'm thinking that he off her. What did you do? This wasn't a random shooting. He's hiding something. What happened in that house?

Where did they all go? I have these blank spots. They're not the only people close to you to disappear, are they? Hmm, so we caught a glimpse of Rockefeller Center in there. This looks like a pretty intense series. What more do we know about it? All right. Amanda Seifred also stars in it.

How intense was it, Aaron? Well, Tom Holland apparently told Extra that it was so intense. It broke him, and he's taking a year off from acting. So a well-deserved break, certainly, from Mr. Mr. Peter Parker himself, however, yeah, this is something that, you know, if you're into psychological thrillers, this show's right up your alley. Yeah, it looks like it's going to be that kind of really intense sort of a mind-thinking sort of a piece of cinema there.

So let's move on to music now while I still have you here. Renee Rapp out with a new song, Snow Angel. I want to play a little bit of that song. I can make it faster if I hurry. I ain't drilling the snow until I'm worthy, but if it cues me, I try. Yeah, so this is a single off of Rapp's upcoming album. What do you think? A new song here from Renee Rapp.

What do you think? Yeah, title track from that album. I like it. I think, you know, I've been covering music forever. I think the best songs always come from the artists and or the songwriter's personal experiences. This one did really, really good stuff from Renee. Yeah, nice. All right.

Well, finally tonight, we have a new album. This one is from Niall Horan, who was on the Today Show Plaza this morning on NBC. So here's one of his new songs. It's called The Show. It's all fun and games. It's all party ends. Oh, take. Ready for the ride.

If everything was easy, nothing ever broke, if everything was simple, how would we know? How to fix your tears, how to fake a show, how to be in a smile, how would we know? Yeah, so this is his first album since 2020. We know that his fans are true fans, really true fans. What are the reviews on this one? Oh, yeah, and those fans go back to those One Direction Days. The reviews have been positive so far for this one. as well. Nile kind of opening up a little more about his personal life and about his

mental health on this album. I was a big fan of the first single as well. Heaven. Of course, we just heard the title track. Great stuff from Nile Horne here. All right, sounds good. A lot of really great stuff to binge over the weekend. Ralphia Versa, we appreciate you. I'm still jealous that you got popcorn and I have water, but you know, water is good for you, so... Myer, Charles Warren, D.S. I see ya. Take it easy. And thank you for watching Top Story tonight. For Tom Yamis, I'm Aaron Gilchristian Washington. Stay right there. More NBC News Now is on the way.