Top Story with Tom Llamas - Friday, May 24, 2024

Episode Date: May 25, 2024

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

Tonight airports and roadways jam packed as millions travel for the holiday weekend. The Memorial Day weekend rush already breaking records, signaling a busy summer travel season ahead. The unofficial start to summer off to a rough start with delays and cancellations and nasty weather casting a cloud on weekend festivities. Severe storms putting 45 million Americans at risk tonight, that threat stretching into the weekend. We're timing it out. Also tonight, Americans killed in Haiti, a young missionary couple ambushed by gunmen, their compound coming under attack as gang violence plagues that nation. A mother describing her heartbreaking call with her son moments before he was killed. A Pennsylvania man freed after being detained

in Turks and Caicos for bullets in his luggage. The father facing up to 12 years in prison, walking away with no jail time. The decision to let him come home and the other Americans now hoping for a similar fate. New deadly riots unrest in a French territory escalating after President Macron traveled to the region to calm tensions. The state of emergency in New Caledonia as violent clashes over election reforms persist. Pop star arrested, singer Sean Kingston handcuffed during a concert, a SWAT team raiding his Florida mansion and taking his mother into custody. The theft charges the two now face. and a chilling mystery a step closer to being solved.

Investigators working to identify thousands of victims two decades after remains were discovered at the property of a suspected serial killer. And rescued from the flames, two car infernoes caught on camera, an officer rushing in to save people trapped in a burning car and a former Marine in the right place at the right time, pulling a three-year-old from a car just moments before it exploded. Top story starts right now. Good evening. I'm Ellison Barber in for Tom Yamis. Tonight, the holiday weekend rush is on as millions of Americans hit the roads and the skies ahead of Memorial Day.

And this year, projected to break records. Nearly 44 million Americans traveling during the unofficial start to summer. Taking a live look at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, and the busy. I-676 in Philadelphia, airports and highways still packed at this hour. Road trips are expected to set a record with more than 38 million set to travel by car. Drivers should prepare for rough conditions like this, hail and torrential rain in Texas leading to big backups. Tonight, 45 million are at risk for isolated tornadoes, damaging winds, and flash flooding as relentless storms continue to pound the central portion of the country. This tornado wrecking havoc in Duke, Oklahoma,

and severe weather could have a serious impact on air travel with an estimated three and a half million Americans flying this weekend. This year, airport crowds are expected to reach records not seen in nearly two decades. Rounds of storms will persist well into the holiday weekend. Bill Carrance is standing by to time it out, but we start tonight with NBC's Tom Custon. Kikoff to the summer travel season with 20-year-high Memorial Weekend traffic hitting the roads. But signs of trouble already with the fire in Boston's Ted Williams Tunnel creating havoc. And at the airport's record-breaking numbers of passengers. The weather looks good right now, so hopefully my flight doesn't get canceled.

The TSA says today alone could set a record with 3 million checkpoint screenings. I just need your ID. Hold on to your ticket. Already five of the busiest TSA days ever had been this month, setting up another summer stress test for airports and airlines. Last year, we saw a 10-year low in terms of the cancellation rate. So far, that's holding this year. We'll be looking to the airlines to see if they can keep that up. At DFW Airport, the nation's second busiest, the command center watches it all. From here, they monitor 20 miles of underground baggage track at DFW.

80,000 bags a day moving through the system through five terminals. You see a lot of green. That's fantastic. Green is good. American Airlines, with its new baggage control room to speed up bag delivery and cut its lost luggage rate. Bags with tight connections at hubs are loaded last, so they're offloaded first. And now some are going on earlier flights. We have found that very, very effective in ensuring that bags are either traveling with our customers or slightly ahead of our customers. We're customers into some of our key markets. If I get to the airport two hours early, my bag may make an earlier flight to Reagan Airport

or LAX or wherever I'm going? It could. Right. Today, thunderstorms pause departures in Chicago, while a brief communication failure at Memphis control affected Nashville and Dallas flights. One big threat this summer, the FAA is still short 3,000 air traffic controllers, despite pushing through big classes at the air traffic control. Academy. And Tom Costello joins us now from Reagan National Airport. Tom, the staffing shortages

you just mentioned, why is that still such a big problem for the FAA? Yeah, it's been persistent, a couple of reasons. The FAA has a mandatory retirement age for controllers of 56, and they have a lot of controllers retiring. There's a high burnout rate in the academy, 30% burnout rate, and then 30% of people quit once they're on the job. They don't like the long hours. They don't like having to work weekends and holidays and overnights. And once they get into that pressure cooker of a job, 30% simply walk away. And Tom, yesterday we saw nearly 9,000 delays and hundreds of cancellations due to weather. In terms of just day-to-day traveling, how are things looking?

We got about 5,800 delays today, about 200 cancellations. And it's all about the weather. And specifically, it is about the Chicago O'Hare. O'Hare area. O'Hare and Midway both have had some slowdowns and, in fact, ground stops at a certain point. Toronto right across the border, of course, has also had some issues. So this has been a problem really in the Midwest corridor. Tom Costello, thank you. And the risk of severe storms complicating the travel picture this weekend after a stunning 26 reported tornadoes touched down across the Great Plains and Midwest yesterday alone, leaving behind a devastating trail of

destruction. Here's NBC's Maggie Vespa. Oh my gosh, dude. Yeah, that's a big old tornado. Jaw-dropping video, painting a familiar picture, an apparent monster twister tearing through Oklahoma on the ground for nearly an hour. Hale hammering the town of Duke overnight. As a merciless streak of tornadoes stretches on. Iowa's governor today announcing President Biden approved a major disaster declaration, speeding up help for people. in Greenfield, ravaged by Tuesday's deadly EF-4 tornado. Basically, we're going to have to start from scratch.

Storms slamming the state again. This car catching fire near Des Moines this morning after winds ripped down power lines. Hours later, heavy machinery pulls a metal roof from a tree after a reported tornado hit Western Illinois. Authorities say no one was hurt. Ten-year-old Michael cleaned up debris with his brother after seeing the twister from his school bus. I saw it getting ready to come touch the ground. How did you feel when you saw that?

Nervous and scared. Couldn't get to him and that's the worst feeling ever. A parent can ever imagine having. 2024 is the third most active year on record with 900 reported tornadoes. More than a third in May. And Maggie Vespa joins us now. Maggie, that little boy and his mom, understandably so scared there. You have been on the ground all week talking to a lot of families finding themselves in similar situations.

What stood out to you the most as you've been reporting? Yeah, it's kind of the sentiment similar to what 10-year-old Michael said in that piece where he told us actually in another part of our interview that he's been through drills before. He's read about tornadoes in school. Like if you grow up in the Midwest, it's just a fact of life. You live through countless tornado warnings that produce nothing. So when you're finally hit with one, that rattles people. But in this case, people are also rattled knowing they're a part of a pattern, they're a part of this streak this year. This is the third most active year, as we said, on record.

And people know that they're getting slammed by what just feels like a relentless wave of severe weather. It was perhaps most encapsulated yesterday by FEMA's administrators saying that their staff and their team was already on the ground in Iowa. After a tornado earlier this month in Minden, they just moved everybody over to Greenfield when it was hit earlier this week. So it's just been exhausting for everyone and daunting to see how big this is. We appreciate you being out there and bringing us those stories. Maggie Vespa in Illinois, thank you. And heading into this holiday weekend, millions are still at risk for a dangerous severe weather outbreak. So let's get right to NBC News meteorologist Bill Karens.

Bill, walk us through what to expect. Yeah, the trick is going to be on a holiday weekend. A lot of people are in places that they aren't used to and knowing where the shelters are, things like that. If you're out of your house, it's a different thing. But when you're not, it can be scary. So let's get into the forecast for tonight. We're not going to see a tornado outbreak tonight, thankfully, about time, right? So just severe thunderstorms, isolated, strong wind gusts, and hail is the problem.

And this will continue until about 11 p.m. or so, then everything should begin dying off. We've had continuous thunderstorms up here north of St. Louis. And then we have a lot of flash flooding issues going on also. And you can notice all the bright, right, kind of how they're training in the same location, almost like train tracks moving here from west to east. That's when you get some serious flash flooding issues. Chicago has a break right now. Some showers are trying to head your way. These tornadoes, by the way, were early this morning around Davenport.

Closer look at St. Louis. Downtown, you're just fine to the north of the north of where the big thunderstorms are. There's a couple to your west, so St. Louis, some of those may try to drift your way. Let's stop a little further to the south. We've had thunderstorms dancing around the Dallas-Fort Worth area. They're getting up here close to the airport now, so we could possibly see another ground stop here shortly. Hale's the biggest threat with these storms as we go throughout this evening. Tomorrow, different story.

Tomorrow could be a tornado outbreak. A very serious situation for anyone here in the orange or red colors. The red is a four out of five. There's a chance that could even go up to what we call a high-risk scenario. They're very confident that we're going to get super-celled thunderstorms with the possibility of them being violent in this hashed area. And then Sunday night, Sunday night into Sunday morning, those storms roll through Missouri and into Illinois and into Indiana. So, Allison, tomorrow is going to be a very scary day late in the evening in the middle of the country. We just hope they all miss.

You know, we don't know. We're going to have big tornadoes. We will be ready, but hope for much better than what it looks like right now. Bill Cairns, thank you so much. As we head into this Memorial Day weekend, according to AAA, those 43.8 million travelers headed to various destinations, that number up 4% from last year. And 38 million people are hitting the road by car. That is the highest on record for Memorial Day weekend.

NBC news correspondent Antonia Hilton joins us now from Sokakis, New Jersey. Antonio, you have been out there all day reporting what has traffic been like and what are you hearing from travelers? It has been a busy, congested day here, Ellison. And at this rest stop, people have been coming in as a steady stream, families, friends traveling in groups together, grabbing water bottles, using the restroom, getting food. And I've been talking to people who told me that they watched as their Google Maps. MAPSAT went from telling them their trip was four hours to six and a half hours. They were expecting in some cases to maybe be stuck in the car for as much as 10 hours. So people are not so much surprised by this, but they are really bracing themselves for it. We're seeing about a 4% increase over where we were last year, these record numbers,

and the vast majority of them are traveling on the roads. Take a listen to some of the conversations I've had with travelers today. How's the traffic looking to you? Terrible. It's pretty bad. We've been on the road for already an hour and we just left New York. My hopes for this weekend is that we can just get to places on time. And some officials here in the New Jersey, New York area have been urging people to use public transportation or the train systems that that's available to them.

But even Amtrak has had some issues. The New Jersey governor had to write to Secretary Buttigieg to urge him to do something about some of the failing infrastructure for the Amtrak railways. And so really, no matter what you are doing, tonight or tomorrow, expect for there to be delays and some crowds, Elsa. Antonio, four viewers who are hitting the road, say tomorrow or even later tonight, what are the best and worst times, really, to take that journey on the road? Yeah, we ask the experts for some of this advice as well. So the very best time to leave happened to be yesterday, unfortunately, so that window has closed. you are still at the office or packing up your things right now you should hang out a little bit wait until after 8 p.m. to get on the road that's supposed to be the best tonight tomorrow though

if you are planning to head to a barbecue or to see some family try to leave in the morning sometime before 1 p.m that is going to make your trip a whole lot easier if you wait until the middle of the day the afternoon crunch you're going to be stuck in some of these long pretty painful weights all right next year people mark it down leave earlier than right now otherwise 8 p.m. tonight. Antonia Hilton in New Jersey. Thank you. Next tonight, we turn to the Turks and Caicos. One of five American tourists charged with bringing ammunition into the country illegally has been freed. NBC news correspondent Priscilla Thompson, who reported for us last night on this, has more on what's next for the Americans

still behind bars. Absolutely elated. Can't wait to get home. American Brian Hageridge walking out of court in Turks and Caicos, a free name. man today after being detained there for more than three months. A judge sentencing the father of two to a year-long suspended sentence and $6,700 fine. After Hageridge pled guilty to possession of ammunition that he says was accidentally left in a checked bag he used for hunting trips. The crime punishable by 12 years in prison. The judge setting aside that minimum, citing the act being unintentional that he has no prior criminal record and the impact on a his five-year-old daughter.

Overwhelming, just joy. This is what we've been waiting for for the last 101 days. To be home and hug my kids, it's the best day. The financial toll, an estimated $100,000, a family spokesperson says. Off we go. Now Hageridge is headed back stateside, as four other Americans facing similar charges in separate incidents await their day in court. We did it.

Got it. God did it. Thankful, thankful, so happy. Sharita Greer and Ryan Watson are now hoping for a similar fate. I also have so much comfort knowing that he's getting to hug his kids tonight. And I want that for him almost as bad as I want it for me. Tonight renewed hope for returning home after they say paradise became a prison. And Priscilla joins us now.

So Priscilla, I do want to pick up where you ended your piece. When will the next American actually be in court? to learn their fate here. Yeah, Ellison, a second American, Tyler Winrich, is due back in court, expected to be sentenced before Tuesday. And meanwhile, those other three Americans will also be in court in the coming weeks as hearings are continuing in their cases. Ellison?

Priscilla Thompson, thank you. We move now to Haiti as violence on the island nation continues to escalate. Three missionaries, including two Americans, were shot and killed. killed by armed gangs. NBC's senior White House correspondent, Gabe Gutierrez, has this story. Tonight, Davy Lloyd's mother is in agony. He died doing what he loved because he just wanted to help the Haitian people. Elisa Lloyd and her husband founded missions in Haiti more than 20 years ago. The independent nonprofit runs schools and churches. Last night, she picked up her phone to learn an armed gang was terrorizing her son, his wife Natalie, and a Haitian colleague.

He had already sustained a beating at the hands of a gang, and they had come into the compound. They had taken everything. Then at that time, a second gang entered. None of them would survive. Davy was just 23, and Natalie, 21. Today, her dad wrote, My Heart is Broken in a Thousand Pieces. They put gasoline. They set the house on fire, and then they broke the door down and went in and shot him.

Armed gangs control most of Haiti's capital since the assassination of the country. President three years ago. More than 2,500 people were killed or injured by gang violence in the country in the first three months of this year. Now Kenya will lead a multinational security force to help stabilize Haiti. The Biden administration has promised to set aside $300 million for the effort, but the president stresses there will not be American troops on the ground. We're going to supply logistics, intelligence, and equipment. Tonight, with the future of the nonprofit Elisa Lloyd founded uncertain, she's remembering her son, who she says just wanted to make a difference.

He just had a heart to do what was right, and I just don't know how I'm going to deal with all of it, but I know that God's faithful. The U.S. government continues to have a do-not travel warning in place for Haiti. With the U.S. government personnel, they're forbidden from even walking around the Capitol. Elson? Gabe Gutierrez, thank you. Now to the war in the Middle East, where the United Nations highest court ordered Israel to halt its military operations in Rafah, but Israel showing no signs of complying.

NBC News international correspondent Rafz Sanchez has the latest. Tonight, this Israeli air strike hitting Rafah. Our team in Gaza following fire crews trying to put out the flames. What the Palestinian need is immediately stop war. The strike coming just as the UN's highest court ordered Israel to stop its military operations in the city to protect civilians. Israel must immediately hold its military offense. The ruling is binding, but the World Court has no means of enforcing it. And Israel, giving no sign it'll comply, saying it launched a just war to eliminate Hamas

following the October 7th terror attack, and that it's acting to reduce as much harm as possible to civilians. But nearly a million Palestinians have been displaced since the start of the Rafa operation. the court's action today adding more pressure on Israel after war crimes prosecutors earlier called for the arrest of both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders. The White House called that move against Israel outrageous. We don't think there's an equivalence between what Israel did what Hamas did. The court today also calling it deeply troubling that Hamas still refuses to immediately release

its hostages. Israel's military says it recovered the bodies of three more hostages today. call with President Biden tonight, the leader of Egypt agreeing to allow more aid into Gaza through Israel. Elsa? Ralph Sanchez in Tel Aviv. Thank you. Staying overseas, we turn now to the French territory of New Caledonia, where a voting reform bill has sparked weeks of deadly protest. French President Emmanuel Macron on the ground in the island territory in an effort to restore order. But within hours of his arrival, police fatally shooting a man during an altercation with protesters. Here's the latest. Tonight, after more than a week of deadly unrest in the French territory of New Caledonia,

French President Emmanuel Macron visiting the riot hit island, announcing that he will delay voting reforms that sparked the mayhem. I'm engaged to not pass in force for trying for several weeks to redone a chance to the appeasement and to dialogue. It's not a check in blank because we can't cede at the violence and say we abandoning But violence has already taken hold of the territory. On Friday, just hours after Macron's visit, a police officer shot and killed a man after being attacked by a group of about 15 people, according to the territory's prosecutor.

The seventh shooting death since the start of the conflict. Officials say the officer is in custody, and there is in ongoing investigation. New Caledonia is an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. More than 10,000 miles away from France that has been under French control since 1853. Last week, rioting broke out before French lawmakers voted on a bill to allow French residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years to vote in provincial elections. A move, some local officials fear will dilute the vote of the indigenous Canock People, some of whom also won independence. I think there are ways of re-establishing peace in New Caledonia, but it can't be done sort of with a magic wand, and certainly just postponing the vote on the electoral is not sufficient. There's a lot of trust that now has to be rebuilt before the negotiations can lead to a fruitful outcome.

McCrone's visit coming after politicians and activists warned the country was on the verge of losing control. The war here in New Caledonia, the civil war here. As residents of New Zealand and Australia evacuate New Caledonia, a state of emergency and curfew remains in place across the island. And President Macron saying the state of emergency there can only be lifted if local leaders decide and demand that barricades placed out by demonstrators and other locals that they get put up and cleared away. Still ahead tonight in update on Alec Baldwin's legal battles, the actor seeking to have his involuntary manslaughter charge dropped in the fatal shooting of the cinematographer on the set of the movie Rust.

The ruling just issued by a New Mexico judge. Plus, Sean Kingston taken into custody in California and his mother arrested after authorities raided his Florida mansion. The charges they're both facing and how police say Kingston used Justin Bieber's name allegedly to commit crime. and the chilling discovery at the home of an Indiana serial killer and the effort now underway to identify more possible victims. Stay with us. We're back now with the bombshell arrest of singer Sean Kingston, the artist known for hits like Beautiful Girls and his collaborations with Justin Bieber, taken into custody in California, accused of defrauding several businesses out of luxury.

items. His mother arrested too. NBC's Marissa Potter has more on the raid at his Florida home and what was found inside. Tonight, the shocking arrest of singer Sean Kingston, accused of fraud and theft by Florida authorities. The rapper arrested at Florida when in the Mojave Desert of Southern California shortly after performing on the U.S. Army base. Social media video showing sheriff's deputies were there before taking him into custody. behind her back. Hours before, a SWAT team raided Kingston's mansion in South Florida, arresting his mother, Janice Turner, on charges of fraud and theft.

Ms. Turner, you are here pursuant to a warrant. She's now being held on $160,000 bond. Arrest warrants say Kingston and his mother defrauded several businesses out of high-end luxury items, including an $80,000 custom-made bed and a bulletproof Cadillac escalate. Sean Kingston is a part-time recording artist and a full-time thief. Attorney Dennis Card represents a company that filed a civil lawsuit in February against Kingston for allegedly not paying for a 232-inch television worth $150,000. Card says Kingston reached out to his client about the TV over Instagram.

He said, look, I'm working with Justin Bieber right now. We're making a music video and, you know, we'll use. used this cool, this home theater system in the music video. He got away with making a very small down payment on the system. It was $30,000. He was supposed to make a subsequent payment, which he never did. According to Card, photos obtained by TMZ from inside the rate of his Florida home show that massive entertainment system.

It seems very clear that Sean Kingston relied upon his celebrity name if these allegations are true in order to perpetrate this alleged scheme. Kingston, whose stage name is an homage to his family's hometown in Jamaica, rose to fame with his hit single, Beautiful Girls, almost two decades ago in 2007, collaborating on the song Enie Meenie in 2010 with Justin Bieber. Shortly after Kingston's arrest, his lawyer, confirming to NBC news that his client will waive extradition to Florida, saying we want him back ASAP so he can show this is merely a civil case and not criminal. We look forward to challenging this in court.

And Ellison, that attorney we spoke to, Card says his client is not the only one that Kingston reached out to offering some sort of collaboration with Justin Bieber. He says he's spoken to a number of Kingston's alleged victims and describes a sort of pattern. The majority of them say that Kingston reached out to them over Instagram. He name dropped Justin Bieber and then before defrauding them. So we have reached out to Justin Bieber's team and Allison.

We haven't yet heard back. Marissa Para in our Miami Bureau. Thank you. Turning now to a chilling story out of Indiana, where human remains found at the home of a suspected serial killer have been identified. Investigators working to identify even more victims in hopes of solving a decade's old mystery.

NBC's Yasmin Vasugian has more on this. Tonight, an Indiana community getting just a shred of closure after the remains of Jeffrey A. Jones missing since 1993 were finally identified. Those remains found on the estate called Fox Hollow Farm of now deceased suspected serial killer Herbert Baumister. Authorities believe he frequented gay bars to lure men to his home, later killing, dismembering, and burying them. They allege he murdered more than 25 people in the 1980s and 90s. These remains are 30 years old. They've been burnt. They've been crushed.

So that makes our DNA efforts difficult. Jones' identification coming from just some of the thousands of fragments of bones and other remains recovered from Baumaster's property. Authorities reportedly first searched the property back in 1996 after Baumaster's son found a human skull, 60 yards from the home. They initially identified eight victims. limitations in DNA testing technology made IDing the rest nearly impossible. In 1996, DNA technology really was not something local law enforcement and medical investigators were familiar with. In 1996, Baumeister died by suicide before authorities could question him, leaving families without any explanation. But new advances have allowed authorities to analyze more of those unidentified samples and cross-referenced some

with DNA profiles from genealogy websites leading to Jeffrey Jones. Jones is just the latest to be IDed in recent years. The family of missing man, Alan Livingston, also never giving up the search. I know he's there. I know he's there. I know. That man got him. I just know it. I feel that. Sharon Livingston ramping up her efforts after a cancer diagnosis, just says the local coroner rededicated his office to the case. Her son Alan identified last October from a leg bone. I think it's important that we give the opportunity to these families to bring us much of their loved one home.

Yasmin Vasugian joins us now. Yasmin, what are authorities doing to identify additional victims? Imagine just how harrowing this is, Ellison, for the family members that are waiting for these potential victims to be identified. 10,000 remains found on this property for additional. additional DNA profiles as well, bringing the total number of victims from this alleged serial killer to 12. Investigators, though, Ellison, they are committed. They're going to be sending these remaining remains to the FBI for further investigation and hopeful identity. Yasmin Vasugi, and thank you. When we come back, a deadly standoff unfolding on a California highway.

Dozens of squad cars and SWAT teams and armored vehicles involved in an hours-long standoff with an armed driver in Orange County. Howed that terrifying scene came to an end late today. Stay with us. Back now with Top Stories News Feed, and we began with an update on Alec Baldwin and the Rust movie set shooting. A New Mexico judge denying Baldwin's appeal to have the trial dismissed. His lawyers had argued critical evidence was not presented to the grand jury, which indicted the actor earlier this year. Baldwin is charged with involuntary manslaughter for the fatal shooting of cinematographer Helena Hutchins. He has pleaded not guilty. The charge carries a maximum

sentence of one and a half years in prison. And a deadly sandoff shutting down in Orange County California Freeway for quite a few hours. Traffic stretching for miles as SWAT teams and armored vehicles surrounded a blue sedan. You can see it right there. It stopped in the middle of a lane on an expressway. But this standoff, it lasted for several hours. The driver of that car later pronounced dead at the scene, though it's not clear yet how he died. And a passing to note, Morgan Spurlock, the man behind the Oscar-nominated documentary Super Size Me, has died from complications due to cancer. The documentary which chronicled the 30-day period when Spurlock ate only McDonald's sparked a national debate about the role of fast food in America's

obesity epidemic. Spirlock went on to produce nearly 70 documentaries on a range of subjects before his admission to being, quote, part of the problem during the Me Too movement effectively ended his career. He was 53 years old. Now to the Pentagon where senior U.S. officials tell NBC News the Biden administration is increasingly concerned about the alliance between Russia and North Korea as the U.S. braces for potentially intensifying military actions from the countries ahead of the November election. NBC's Pentagon correspondent, Courtney QB, joins us now from our D.C. Bureau. So, Courtney, walk us through what your sources are telling you about the possibility of this threat. So, Ellison, officials are bracing for the possibility that North Korea could

engage in more provocative military action than the U.S. and the world have seen in the last decade. This could be everything from more missile tests with demonstrating new advanced technologies to even another nuclear test, it would be their seventh under this regime or the possibility of some sort of aggressive action against South Korea. They're bracing for this in part because it's an election year. During election years historically, North Korea has conducted more provocative activity, but they are also looking at the fact that North Korea now has this increasing, strengthening relationship with Russia, and that may be emboldening their behavior.

And they are all looking towards the possibility that this activity could ramp up. and even culminate right before the election in November, Ellison. Talk to us a little more about that timing, because I do think, even though, and I heard you say there's this precedent for them ramping up before an election in the U.S., I think to a lot of us, it's like, but why? What do they care? Are they trying to help this candidate or this candidate? Do we know why they tend to do that and why this election might matter more to them? So historically, it's been for several reasons. Number one is just to sow chaos. Number two, they just want attention, right? During an election year, provocative behavior may get a little

bit more attention because of the possibility of some sort of potential conflict. But in this case this year, the officials we spoke with said they are looking at the possibility that Russia may actually be encouraging North Korea to carry out more provocative action. Now, as part of this strengthening relationship, Russia has received millions of rounds of artillery and ammunition from North Korea that's already having an impact on the ground in Ukraine, but Russia in response is giving North Korea things like fuel and food. but they are also providing some military equipment and potentially some military technology things like more advanced missile technology even nuclear

submarine technology officials here are concerned that that technology could be provide them with that advancement that could make North Korea even more potentially confrontational or dangerous in the one meet weeks and months ahead Allison what does the Pentagon or other US officials plan to do in response to this is there any indication that they may take some sort of preemptive action on this? Not at this point. So the two things that they're really looking at are strengthening alliances. We've seen a lot of that in recent months, strengthening specifically with Japan, with South Korea, with allies in the region. But the Biden administration has also made outreach, advances towards

North Korea, attempts to have for some sort of diplomacy. Again, historically, when the U.S. and North Korea are talking, there is less provocative action by North Korea. There's a hope that maybe there'll be some of movement on the diplomatic front, but the reality Ellison right now, there hasn't been any kind of movement in that front. Courtney Kuby, thank you. Coming up next, two fiery rescues caught on camera in Florida and in California. The heroes that jumped into action to save people trapped in burning wreckage. The youngest person rescued just three years old. Stay with us. will watch and a look at what is happening around the world, starting tonight in Papua New Guinea, where hundreds are feared dead after a massive landslide. Dozens of homes were flattened

and families buried alive in a remote northern village. The landslide hit a village in the Inga province around 3 a.m. local time. Video shows people carrying their belongings as they fled through rocks and debris. Officials say an emergency response is now underway. Now to Mexico, where violent disputes between street performers escalated in the city of Moralia. This security footage shows a group of Marachi's attacking a flame swallower. You heard that right. The brawl starting with the Maracchi's punching him to the ground and kicking him. The flame swallower fought back dowsing the mariachi's inflammable liquid and set them ablaze. No arrest were made. The flame swallower is currently hospitalized. And a humpback whale entangled in fishing rope was freed after

a rescue operation in Australia. A special crew saved the whale off the coast of Rottnest Island in a four-hour mission. The team's first satellite tagged the animal, then tracked its movements before safely freeing it from that rope. And back here at home now to two fiery rescues this week, the moment two heroes jumped into action, all caught on camera in two different states. Rahima Ellis has this story. Anybody else in there? Is there anybody else inside? Tonight, a heroic Florida police officer seen on camera leaping into action, coming to the

rescue after this disastrous car crash at a Lauder Hill intersection. It sounded like a bomb. Like a bomb. Boom! The car bursting into flames, trapping four people. There's a fire. There's a risk that you might get burned in the, you know, in the mix. But you have to check to see if there's somebody inside that car.

There's two people in here. Where? Where? Body cam shows Officer Jason Reyes rushing into action, grabbing a fire extinguisher to fight the flames, battling billowing smoke before firefighters arrive. Here, let me bust out the window. He then uses his baton to smash a car window and help rescue a trapped survivor. Finding her, she was scrunched up almost underneath the steering wheel.

So getting her out, I was very surprised when she was breathing. was breathing. That woman just one of four victims rescued and taken to the hospital. You got to act sometimes to kind of put yourself off to the side. That's what we do for a living. You know, put ourselves second to the public. That rescue, not the only act of bravery this week. Instincts absolutely adrenaline kicked in. I was all go. Former Marine Troy White driving his own daughter home from soccer practice when he saw this fiery wreck along the side of the highway in Contra Costa County, California. Ran over there. as fast as I could.

When I got there, the mother was climbing out of the vehicle through the top. Still trapped in her car seat, three-year-old Paisley. She was just dangling and her foot was touching the ground through the broken window hole. Troy pulling the little girl to safety. It crossed my mind that it was dangerous, but, you know, it has to be done. Minutes later, the car explodes. Paisley's mother, thankful for Troy, telling our Bay Area Station, because of him, my daughter gets to celebrate her fourth birthday.

Just honored to be able to do it and thankful that I was there. Troy, a recovering addict, thankful to be at the right place at the right time. I'm six months clean and sober today and life is so good today and I'm so blessed. Paisley's family feeling blessed as well, saying Troy is now part of their family. Rahima Ellis, NBC News. When we come back, what to binge watch and listen to this weekend. A new documentary about the Beach Boys plus a sci-fi thriller starring J. Lo and Billy Eilis shout with a brand new album. Chris Witherspoon is in the house to break it all down right after this break.

We are back now with binge-worthy, our look at what to watch and listen to this weekend. Joining us now to help break it all down is NBC News. contributor, Chris Witherspoon. Chris, we're so glad to have you, especially headed into a holiday weekend because a lot of people are going to totally take the cozy up by the cow trout, right? It's the time for it. So the first one we have Disney Plus, and it is actually a docu-series about the Beach Boys, and there's interviews, I understand, with the band. Let's watch. The Beach Boys just represented some sort of fantasy. They were participating in the creation. of a California dream. Man, they made me want to go to where they had cars and girls and bikinis and sun.

Their music takes you someplace. Listen, everybody was surfing, surfing USA. I know, I was like, you did catch you. This is kind of incredible, because they sold over 100 million albums worldwide. It takes you back to the beginning. And they formed this band in Hawthorne, California, 1963, three brothers and cousins, and they went on to take over the world, basically, with their music.

So it's interesting to a new generation, but also telling you the good vibrations and the bad vibrations, because it wasn't all good. That's really interesting, and I imagine, too, in the Disney Plus range of, like, people who are on that app, I'm like, probably a lot of people that maybe don't actually know a lot about. But they probably heard one of their songs. Their songs are included in so many of these modern, like, animated films, so kids probably know the song, but not the story behind the song, this is that. So this might be a good one to watch, dads with teens, moms,

Or grandma with teens. Or grandma with teens. That's my mom watching my son. Yes. Yes, that's perfect. Okay, I love that. This next one, I just Netflix. Two words for you.

LaVar Burton. Uh-huh. Watch it. Reading Rainbow wanted children to know. There's all kinds of stories out there. And while it may not be stories from your neighborhood, it's stories from a neighborhood you should know about. Roll tape.

Ready? We would all throw ideas in without worrying about how dumb they were or how difficult to achieve they were. I did everything, they asked. I mean, everything. Ow! He really did everything. I mean, obviously.

I mean, he's an icon. He's a legend, and he is the moment. I just, I love this show growing up. I love the theme song. Whoopi Goldberg is produced in this documentary. And it really is a nod to this show. It's kind of like a little engine that could. Yeah.

It came on 83. It lasted until 2009, 23 seasons. Yeah. And really helped young people get excited about this. books and learning, and LeVar Burton became like a legend. For me and most of my friends, we watched this show like it was our job, every single episode. I feel like for most millennial era, especially like reading Rainbow LeVar Burton was a part of like what raised you. The documentary itself is called Butterfly in the Sky, which is the song, Butterfly in the sky. I could go right now,

but I'm not. I love LeVarbert. When you're watching him do all that stuff too, I'm like he was kind of in some way like the OG Anthony Bourdain of where he's like, I'm going to try this new He's in his hours late in his life, and I think it's so beautiful to see it happen. I do, too. Okay, I love that. I'm so excited to watch that one. The next one, Lady Gaga fans, Gaga Chromactica Ball. It is on Max.

Watch this. We don't have much time. Harlan's planning an attack. Atlas. My primary protocol is to keep you alive. Same. I don't need your help. I don't trust any AI.

Smith? Atlas, this won't work if you don't trust me. All right, look, that is Atlas, a sci-fi thriller with Jaylo on Netflix. Gaga is going to be the last movie we talk about it, and I got too excited. So let's go, Atlas. How is it? Listen, I watched this last night, Jaylo can do it all. She plays this AI expert whose mother is like the Queen of A, the Steve Jobs of AI, but she

kind of distrusted, and she's kind of taken on this robot, who's gone rogue, he has a this army of AI robots, you know, watching these kind of sci-fi set in the future movies normally, like, oh, that could never happen. This feels like, actually, this one might be happening in three years. Yeah. I'll be moving to Belize and hiding from everybody. But she's stunning in the movie, lots of action, lots of great, like, you know, robot scenes and such and whatnot.

Okay, I love that. So this next one that we have, it's a movie that is streaming on Max, actually. So many Max movies. Okay, so this is Dune Part 2, which I am curious because I never saw the first one. I know a lot of people love this, Zendaya, Timothy Shalameh. Let's watch. You've been fighting the Harkinans for decades. Oh!

My family's been fighting them for centuries. Your blood comes from dukes and great houses. Here, we're equal. What we do, we do for the benefit of all. I'd very much like to be equal to you. So, obviously, this was like huge, everybody knew was being like, let's go to the movie there, let's go see it. Yeah, yeah. I did not know and never saw a part one.

I'm like, was there a part one? There was, right? Okay, just knowing the first one, Timothy Cholomey's character, Paul, his family gets slaughtered. So this one's all about revenge. So he teamed up with Sendea's character named Shawnee, and they're now going to seek revenge against the folks that killed his family. And it's like this dynamic duo. They're amazing. The film came out in February.

It made $700 million. Yeah, huge success. Yeah. so well. So now you can watch it four months later on Max. Is it bad if I haven't seen part one? Do I need to see that first? Actually, no. The first one's kind of slow and just listen to my words. It's just revenge. This is revenge against the family got killed. That's it. Okay. We love it. All right. On board and now this next one I already introduced because I was too excited. Lady Gaga has a new special on Max Gaga Chromatic Ball. Watch.

I love I've always just said I was just born this way. I love a good concert, take it at TV. Like, I have, I'm embarrassed to say how many times I watched Homecoming Live, Beyonce on Netflix. And this, I'm like, wait,

I have the live album when I'm feeling down. I'm like, you know what, track seven, and I'm like ready to go. I don't know you weren't part of the Beehive. Love it. Now I know. When they do the drum line, and it's like, oh, yeah.

And you're like, she just had an outfit change. that part. This looks really good though. Yes, this is from 2022 for when Gaga had this chromatica ball at the Los Angeles Dodgers Stadium and it's all the glitter, all the glamour, the costume changes, pyrotechnics, and she revealed yesterday that she got COVID five times, five different days on her 20 day tour in 2022. So I don't know if she had COVID in this one. Did she still do it? But yeah, she told the whole she told the crew and the dancers and I have COVID and they were like, let's keep the show going. Wow. They loved her that much. They're willing to risk it all, I guess. I would never do that for

I don't know for you, Alison, but for Beyonce, I would, but I don't know about it. It's really high bar. Yes, really all the COVID Beyonce. You can just breathe everywhere, yes. Okay, so next speaking of music though, Billy Elish does have a new album out. And she's been getting a lot of buzz for this. She literally had like a whole concert venue, listen party, if I'm not mistaken. So this song is called Lunch.

I could eat that girl for lunch. Yes, she dances on my tongue. Tastes like she might be the one. It's great one. And I could never get enough. I could buy you so much stuff. It's a craving of the crush. It's great.

It's so catchy, right? Really is great. And also, this is a song that's so many young women trying to figure out where they stand. Yes, need to hear and feel like, okay, let's, we feel seen. This is great. Yeah, Billy came out as queer last year. So she's really standing ten toes down. And that with this song, right in time for Pride Month.

It is the, I think, the second single from her third studio, album that's called Hit Me Hard and Soft. And it explores themes of queerness, sexuality, gender identity. And to your point, young kids right now are dealing with this. And they look up to Billy. She's an Oscar winner, but she also is a vibe for the teens right now in the alphas. So get into it. It's so great.

She's so good. I mean, she and funny is like everything they touched. I mean, it's like from what was I made for to this? It's such a totally different world, but she's nailing it. Yes, with amazing range. I'm so proud of you, okay. So finally, Wallows, which. I really like this band.

They're out with a new song that's called You, Parentheses. Show me where my days went, which for me, the big parentheses is a no. But let's listen. So I do love the wallows, but I'm like, you can't have your song title be one word and then a 20, a whole sentence,

in a parenthetical citation, I'm against it. But this song sounds good. Listen, people love them. They sold over 3 billion albums at a Today Show concert this morning. Oh, they did. Yeah, this morning, and it was booked to the hilt. But they met when they were like 9 or 10 years old in Los Angeles. Their alternative rock band based in L.A., and they're a vibe right now.

The kids are into them. Apparently, you are as well. I am. I'm sorry for criticizing the parenthetical citation long. I did not know you were also on a show that I work with this morning, but we love it. Thank you. And we love you. Chris Witherswood, thank you so much for being here. Happy Memorial Day weekend.

All right, thank you at home for watching Top Story. I'm Ellison Barber in for Tom Yamis in New York City. Stay right there. More news now is on the way.