Top Story with Tom Llamas - Friday, May 29, 2026

Episode Date: May 30, 2026

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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tonight, the incredible rescue, a survivor trapped inside the Laos Cave, pulled out alive. Now the race to get the rest of them out. The dramatic moment, the survivor emerging covered in mud after a week inside the flooded cave. We hear from a first responder as a storm now threatens the rescue of the others. The dangerous conditions those divers are up against at this hour. Also tonight, the deadly bus crash on I-95, five people are dead, dozens sent to the hospital. video of passengers escaping the wreckage through the broken windows. But how did this happen?

A car ramming into a Detroit airport, the driver arrested. Was it on purpose? The massive fireball as Jeff Bezos's blue origin rocket explodes. The launch pad destroyed how this could blow up NASA's plans to get to the moon. And roller coaster rescue, students stuck on a ride 100 feet above the ground for hours. We speak with the firemen who finally got them down. Clashes escalating at an immigration detention center in New Jersey as concerns grow over the conditions inside that facility. And inside Stalin's secret wine stash, 40,000 bottles on court for the very first time.

Plus, a mysterious sonic boom shakes South Carolina. So what caused it? Top story starts right now. Good evening. I'm Stephen Romo in for Tom tonight, and we begin with the race against the clock to save multiple men trapped in a flooded cave overseas. The stunning new images of the first survivor emerging from the darkness after more than a week underground. These are his shaky first steps outside, appearing dazed and overwhelmed. He's swarmed by teams of medical professionals there in Laos. The daring mission all caught on camera. You can see rescuers. navigating these narrow and flooded passageways trying to get to him. The heart-stopping video shows just how treacherous that underground terrain really is.

And then the remarkable moment, they find him, giving him a thumbs up and pulling him from that flooded tunnel. But four more men are still inside, surviving on food deliveries from those rescue teams. The group first went into the cave more than a week ago looking for gold, but flashed floods made it impossible for them to get out. At this hour, two men still missing. Now, concerns are mounting with another round of heavy rain on the way. Our Janice Mackey Freyer leads us off. Tonight, the extraordinary moment. The first survivor guided out from a tunnel, looking dazed, covered in mud, but free. Then came a smile. After being trapped more than a week, deep inside a cave.

This video showing rescuers squeezing down to reach four other men still stuck. A rescuer telling him, I want to get you out. The man saying, I don't have the strength. Divers are now delivering water and food to them. Crews have been pumping water out of the cave, but storms are threatening to flood it again. Another worry, signs of declining health in the men they're trying to free. If I don't get out, I'll die and won't get to see my wife and child, this man says. They're quite weak, so safety is the priority, says this rescuer,

and we have to prepare for any panic attacks on the way out. The group went into the cave last week to look for gold, when heavy rain triggered a flash flood and blocked it with debris. Two men are still missing. Rescue teams and divers from Thailand, Japan. France, Australia, focus on a high-stakes plan to get them all out. Wow, and our Janice Mackey Freyer joins us now from Beijing. So Janice, incredible to see that rescue.

They're now racing to try to save the other men trapped. What is the day ahead look like for these teams? Stephen, rescue teams are up against rising water, bad weather, sharp rocks. There's zero visibility underwater in these very narrow passages. It's why confidence becomes a wildcard here. to have those men overcome the risk of anxiety during a rescue that is complicated, even for the divers trying to save them. So no doubt, more dramatic scenes will be coming out of Laos in the coming days.

Stephen. All right, Janice, thanks so much. And turning now to the major headline we're following here at home. Five people killed in a deadly bus crash on I-95 in Virginia. One of the victims just seven years old, dozens more left injured. Now an investigation underway. Here's Aaron McLaughlin. Tonight, five people are dead and dozens more hospitalized after a bus crash in Virginia. Multiple people jumping out of windows, multiple vehicles on fire.

New video shows the harrowing moment passengers escape the wreckage as first responders desperately trying to help those still inside the bus. According to state police, the mass casualty crash happened at 2.35 this morning off I-95 near Quantif. After the bus failed to slow down with the rest of the traffic approaching a work zone, slamming into six vehicles. A 13-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy among those killed. The NTSB and state police are investigating. Meanwhile, an alarming scene at Detroit Metro Airport after a car plowed into this terminal, shocking travelers. It was unbelievable. These images show the driver being led away in handcuffs.

Officials say he seemed very disoriented. And overnight in New York City, this stunning photo, captured by a passenger on a train to New Jersey, telling us the fire was followed by an explosion. The MTA says two Amtrak work trains collided in a tunnel just outside Penn Station, injuring five workers enforcing both New Jersey transit and Amtrak to suspend service. Tonight, the MTA CEO slamming Amtrak, noting this is the third disruption to his. hit Penn Station in a matter of weeks. We are all dependent on Amtrak's broken infrastructure.

We're all dependent on Amtrak not to have major events like this, and yet they keep happening. Aaron McLaughlin joins us now from Penn Station for more on this. Aaron, a lot of people talking about that today. A real snag for the transportation system here in the New York City area. What are you hearing from Amtrak tonight? Yeah, well, Amtrak's chief operating officer apologized for today's incident. though calling some of the criticism coming from MTA, quote, off base. Meanwhile, tonight, service here has been restored, although some trains are still delayed for the evening commute. Steve.

Some still delayed. All right, Aaron, thank you. Now to new details on that devastating apartment explosion in Dallas, leaving a building completely leveled. Tonight, we're learning more about who was killed and the investigation into what caused the blast. For more on this, Ryan, what more are we learning about the victims in this incident? Well, Stephen, three people died here yesterday in that blast. It was two women and one child. And we're learning late tonight, according to some new reporting, talking to the family of one of those women. We do know her identity.

It was actually a prominent member of this community, active in the Democratic Party. Sylvia Collins was a precinct chair here, and her passing is drawing many statements from some high-level political figures across the state of Texas. as the Democratic Party now plans a vigil here in this neighborhood tonight. We still do not know yet the other identities, but the fire chief says that that investigation is ongoing and they're being incredibly sensitive as they still reach out to those family members. It's still breathtaking to see those aerial views of that fire that followed the explosion, Ryan.

And what are we learning about the investigation? Well, you're right. I mean, those aerial views are just jaw-dropping. And you see there's actually a blown out truck in the middle of all of that wreckage. I spoke with the attorney of that property who is representing them in this aftermath. He says that truck, he believes, belonged to a contractor that was working on the property. We know from the National Transportation Safety Board that they believe a contractor could have struck a gas line on the property triggering that explosion. Now there's a bit of finger pointing, assigning blame as still so many questions and anger remain for who.

who exactly was responsible for this, Stephen. All right, Ryan Chandler, following the latest from Dallas. Ryan, thank you. Now to the major setback for Jeff Bezos' blue origin, a rocket exploding on the launch pad, potentially delaying NASA's plans for a return trip to the moon. Tom Costello has this one. The explosion was massive,

filling the night sky with a brilliant orange. That's not good. Captured on doorbell cameras and shaking homes and bars in nearby Cape Canaveral. It looks like there was an explosion. Blue Origin's new Glenn Rocket went up in a ball of fire during a routine ground test, fueled by methane and liquid oxygen, no injuries. From the air, the company's only launch pad appears completely destroyed. Blue Origin owner, Jeff Bezos, posting, very rough day,

but we will rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. The disaster comes just days after NASA award a blue origin, a nearly $200 million contract to launch components, and perhaps eventually astronauts to a lunar base. The grand return is close at hand, and we will not slow down. But now a potential delay to NASA's ambitious launch schedule set to start this fall. And next year, with the Artemis 3 flight to test docking procedures in Earth orbit, former NASA chief, Charlie Bolden. Space flight is hard no matter who's doing it. We know how to do it, but nature and physics and a lot of other things have a say in all this. It was just last month that another Blue Origin rocket failure left a satellite in a wrong orbit.

And now this bigger failure, as the company tries to compete with SpaceX and helps send humans eventually onto the moon. Stephen? Tom, thanks. And for more on the Blue Origin Explosion, I want to bring in Micah Maidenberg, who covers space for the Wall Street Journal. Mike, thanks for—Mika, thanks for joining us tonight. As we just heard from Tom Costello, that Blue Origin is competing with SpaceX to work with NASA to try to get people back to the moon. So how big of a setback is this? This is a big setback.

This is a big deal. Look, space is hard. And one of the things that rocket launchers think a lot about, spend a lot of money on and don't want to lose is their launch infrastructure. Sometimes this gets overlooked in covering rockets and rocketry, but the launch pads, all the infrastructure that you need on the ground to support missions is really crucial. And Blue's pad took a big hit yesterday. Yeah, the rockets get all the attention, but launch pads pretty important as well.

Let's talk about SpaceX for a moment. They're about to go public, and there's been some confusion because founder Elon Musk seems to be contradicting some details in the IPO filing. So what's going on there? Yeah, as SpaceX is tracking toward a massive public offering next month, we recently saw the investor prospectus for that potential stock sale or that expected stock sale. And, you know, Mr. Musk had talked about this deal with Anthropic and how it might look. There is sort of an exit, you know, from both sides from that and how that sort of shapes up in the years ahead will be quite interesting to watch.

I mean, one thing that is really kind of fascinating about all of this is that SpaceX is very much an AI company now, right? I mean, just a few months ago, those of us like Tom and myself who've been covering SpaceX, thought of it as a launcher, as a satellite company, but they're an AI company now as well, and that's a big part of the IPO. Fascinating stuff. Seems like a lot of things are turning into AI these days. Also want to talk about the renewed space race.

Just hours after that blue origin explosion, China celebrated a new milestone in its space program. Its longest ever mission, they're trying to reach the moon by 2030. Should NASA be worried about China beating American astronauts to the moon this time around? It's a great question. Sometimes you hear people say, look, the United States has already been to the moon. We've delivered crews to the moon. We've done that race. We don't need to worry about beating China again.

But that's generally not the prevailing sentiment that you hear from NASA officials, certainly elected officials in Washington. They say, and they want the United States, through NASA and its contractors, to be on the moon again with a crew before China does, you know, towards the end of this decade. How that the Blue Origin explosion Thursday plays into that remains to be seen a little bit, but it definitely is going to be factoring into how the agency sort of thinks about its next steps over the next, you know, 18 months and two years. How long do you think it'll be before we know if the Blue Origin explosion will end up delaying the next phase of Artemis?

You know, another great question. I think at this point in the aftermath of the explosion, in the investigation that military officials, Blue Origin, others are doing right now, there's just a lot of unknowns. Unknown unknowns at this point, and everybody needs more data to sort of better answer that question. Launchpad explosions, ground test explosions are rare. They are a risk for rocket operators. And I think a lot of people are hoping Blue can move quickly to reset and rebuild and get flying again. But it's going to take some time and how long it's going to take is just not known right now.

All right. More wait and see you there. Thanks so much for your time tonight, Michael. Thanks for having you. Well, to Washington now, where President Trump says he's making a final determination on a potential nuclear deal with Iran, calling top officials into the situation room. Our Chief White House correspondent Garrett Haig joins us live with the latest on this one. Garrett, we've learned that meeting is now over. What else do we know? Yeah, Stephen, President Trump posted about 11 o'clock this morning that he was going to this meeting.

But after what a White House official tells me was about two hours behind closed door, the meeting was over. and we still have no deal to announce. The president in that post outlining what he wanted to see in it. He wanted to see Iran pledged not to have any kind of nuclear program going forward. He wanted the U.S. to be allowed to come in and dig up that nuclear material that's still buried inside Iran. He wanted the strait of Hormuz to be open without tolls, and he wanted it to be demined, which is interesting, because our colleagues, Courtney Kuby and Catherine Doyle have some reporting today, citing two U.S. officials and a person familiar that in fact, the U.S. military has found no mines in the Strait of Hormuz

despite their significant efforts to look. So we're waiting on this news of a deal. The markets like the prospect that there might be a deal. Stocks were up today. Oil prices were down. But as I'm standing here talking to you tonight, a little after 7 o'clock Eastern time, were nowhere closer officially to a deal than we were this morning. Disappointed in that, to say the least. And that's one side that we're hearing from. Have we heard anything from Iran on this? There were several of the Iranian negotiators and top officials who were posting kind of cryptically today. The one that caught my attention was from the Speaker of their Parliament, Ghalibov, who's been one of the key negotiators, who said that Iran at this point

no longer trust words. They want to see actions. And specifically, they want to see the U.S. take action before they would do anything, which might mean that despite that long list of demands from President Trump that I just laid out, it might take one of Iran's demands to be met, like the back of the blockade before anything shakes loose. Could that be the reason for the delay? It's possible, Stephen, but right now this is a pretty opaque negotiation. All right, we know you'll continue to watch it. Garrett, thanks so much. Well, still ahead on top story, the frightening roller coaster rescue riders suspended in midair for hours. We speak with the first responders who brought them to safety. And tensions boiling over

outside a New Jersey immigration detention center. The governor now taking action after days of clashes. Plus, the mysterious sonic boom rattling South Carolina residents. So what caused that shocking shake? Stay with us. Back now with a mystery out of South Carolina, a strange noise rattling hundreds across the state and sending animals scattering.

NASA says it did not come from them and it wasn't an earthquake. So what was it? or Jesse Kirsch digs into the theories. Tonight there's a loud, earth-shaking mystery swirling over South Carolina. You heard everything rumble. What's going on? Around 5.30 yesterday evening, hundreds of reports came in about that thunderous boom.

From rural communities to the state capital. Watch pets go scrambling. This airport hands. walls rattled. Multiple cameras visibly shaking, too. Yeah, I'm sure you're going to start getting multiple 911 calls, but we had some type of, not sure, for the earthquake or something. The U.S. Geological Survey says this was not an earthquake. NASA says it was not caused by one of its launches.

The Space Agency ruling out a meteor, too. So what could it be? The U.S. Geological Survey says the recorded waves and eyewitness reports are consistent with a sonic boom. That's when an object like a fighter jet travels faster than the speed of sound, around 760 miles per hour or faster. Starting spike and drop in pressure sounds like a boom. And Jesse Kirsch joins us now from Miami. Jesse, I love a good mystery, but I really want to know, do we know anything about what may have caused that sonic boom? We don't at this point, Stephen. I think that's the big question because we see all of those visuals, right? and you've got the shaking on the ground.

Those cameras are pointed at yards, driveways, people's front steps, but we're not seeing what might be flying by in the sky. Of course, NASA saying this was not a meteor, not something from one of their launches. A nearby Air Force base was even contacted by our affiliate WIS and the Air Force base told our affiliate that nothing reported there would have caused the boom either. We've reached out to local law enforcement

to try to get some answers as well. So far, no explanation from them on what may have caused this. Still a big question mark, a lot of shrugging going on about what this could have been. We know it could have been a plane like we pointed out going fast enough. Certainly you can imagine. I'm sure the Internet has all of its theories. And we'll just have to wait and see if we get an answer anytime soon. Well, something happened.

We'll dig into it. Jesse Kirsch. Thank you. All right, turning to Texas now, where a roller coaster malfunctioned, leaving riders stranded 100 feet off the ground. for hours at the top of the coaster's steep climb. Priscilla Thompson has that story. Heart stopping moments.

Students stuck on this roller coaster, 100 feet in the air, trapped on their backs in the sweltering Texas heat for four hours, the fire department says after the ride at Galveston Islands Pleasure Pier stopped mid-clim. I'm going to put a harness on the first two, and we're going to do them one at a time. First responders say they arrived to find the ride's emergency elevator not working, and had to use a bucket truck and ladder to get to the students who were on a school trip. One firefighter even strapping himself to the ride to reach them. Some of them were crying.

Some of them, you know, were, you know, antsy. Once you started getting them to laugh, them to get their minds off the situation, it made it a lot easier. All eight riders coming down one by one, reaching the ground safely, officials say, with no injuries. Once they made it to the ground, you could just see their body. Physically, they felt relief. There's some, you know, every time one would come down, there was a cheer.

In a statement, Pleasure Pierce said the ride experienced a malfunction at its initial ascent. However, as designed, it immediately stopped to keep everyone safe. It's not the first time a theme park thrill ride hasn't gone to plan. Visitors got stuck on this ride at a California theme park in 2024. After the park says the ride experienced technical difficulties causing it to stop. They're still up there. That same year, video showed people treasurer. at an Oregon amusement park, but data from the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions

shows incidents like these are rare. These Texas students grateful to have their feet back on the ground. A high-flying thrill ride turning into a high wire rescue. And Priscilla Thompson joins us now from outside that amusement park. Priscilla, I know Memorial Day is really when Galveston ramps up, as does pleasure peer. Any idea when that could be back up and running? Yeah, it's even a very busy day here even today. And as you can see, the Iron Shark, they were able to get that car down. It's no longer suspended in the air. But Pleasure Pierce says that they are going to be doing a thorough inspection. And after that is completed, only then will that ride be put back in service. Stephen? All right. Priscilla Thompson. Thanks so much. Well, coming up, a terrifying scene on the tracks,

a train derailment in Texas sending rail cars hanging off an overpass. What we're learning tonight. Plus, our latest installment of Great Americans, Tom's conversation with civil rights icon Ruby Bridges about America's past and future. But first, top story's top moment and a history-making night at a national spelling beat. It all came down to a dramatic lightning round spell off. Take a look. Terraglin. P-R-A-G-L-N. Homeland.

H-M-Y-N-N. Chicken Gunia. C-H-I-K-U-N-Y-A. Bromo cryptine. BROMO CR IPTI. And that means that Shrey, you are the two-time. Wow, that's 14-year-old Shrey Parikh from Southern California, taken home the trophy. But it was Speller Logan Bailey, who's also going viral for maybe the most relatable moment of the night.

I am so nervous right now. Jatra Riza. J-T-R-R-R-A-T-R-R-A. J-T-R-R-R-A. J-T. R-O-R-R-H-I-Z-A, Jack for Iza. That is correct. I would be sweating bullets if I had to spell any of those words. Congratulations to all those spellers. And stay with us.

More top story is on the way. We're back now with new testimony in the House investigation into the Jeffrey Epstein files. Former Attorney General Pan Bondi facing off with lawmakers behind closed doors. NBC News obtaining a copy of Bondi's planned opening statement. statement in which she says there were redaction errors in the Epstein records released by the DOJ, but maintains that since day one of the process, this department has been committed to accountability and transparency. NBC's Ryan Nobles joins me now from Washington. For more on this, Ryan, a lot of people have been waiting a long time for Pam Bondi to answer these questions. Walk us

through what happened behind closed doors today. Well, she didn't really provide much insight into what the committee was looking for. They wanted very specific answers to why certain names were redacted, and others were left visible when those public files were released. There were a number of powerful men whose names were redacted, but then some victims whose names were not protected, which was one of the goals of the Epstein Transparency Act. And she did admit that that was a problem, but it was one that they were fixing, and it was part of the fact that they were going through such a voluminous amount of information. But for the most part, what Bondi did was cast the blame off on her then deputy, who is now the acting Attorney General Todd Blanche,

saying that he was in charge of the release of these files. He's the one that has the specific answers to some of these questions. Democrats on the panel were not very satisfied with the answers that she gave, and a lot of questions are going to be raised going forward about whether or not the Department of Justice is going to be more transparent and more cooperative when it comes to the releasing of these files. Of course, she's a private citizen now, but was AG at the time with her punting so much to Todd Blanche, is it likely that he will be called in for questioning? That's always a possibility that the acting Attorney General appears before this committee. He's already appeared before this committee and the Judiciary Committee and answered questions

about the release of the Epstein files, but he's never been in the environment like the one that Pam Bondi was in today, which is a closed-door deposition where they are asked very important and technical questions, often from staff. There are lawyers that kind of understand the nitty-gritty about as it applies to the law. You know, Todd Blanche has been very blasé about the department's response saying that they've complied, even though there have been real concerns about the some three million files that the Department of Justice is still sitting on and the voluminous amount of redactions that exist in the files that have been released. But more broadly, Stephen, what the victims are most concerned about and what many in the Oversight Committee are still frustrated by

is that despite the fact that so much has been uncovered, there are no new investigations into the Epstein controversy. There have been no new indictments or any level of accountability beyond the accountability for Jeffrey Epstein and Galane Maxwell. And that's what survivors want more than anything. And they just feel as though the Department of Justice has made no progress in that department. Certainly a lot more questions to go. Ryan Nobles, thank you. Now to a story we've been following all week. Protesters facing off with ICE agents outside an immigration detention center in New Jersey. The governor today sending state police to the sea. Let's listen.

We all need to do everything we can to cool things down now. I will not give ICE the pretext to expand operations in our state. For that reason, New Jersey law enforcement is today establishing a peaceful, protected protest zone in the area right outside Delaney Hall. That comes after several nights of violent clashes. I want to get right to NBC New York reporter Checky Bedford for more on this. So, Chekie, what's the situation like right now? It looked very tense earlier in the week.

Well, right now it's kind of a standoff between protesters. And instead of ICE, it's state police. Take a look over here. They're kind of gathered in a group. They had tried initially to sort of form a line to stop people from moving any further. But protesters have basically said that they're not going to go into these zones. Now, police have been calling them the First Amendment, the designated First Amendment zone, and I want to show you what that is over here.

I want the photographer turn around so you could see this Penn area here that they want protesters to go in. Again, protesters say that everywhere is okay to have their First Amendment rights, and they will not go into this area. So it's kind of what we're doing right now is waiting to see what will happen, what will state police do, because this we're looking at right now is Doremus Avenue. It's the street right outside of Delaney Hall and traffic, as you can imagine, has been impacted. There is no traffic coming down this road now, and that has been an issue.

Over the last couple of nights, the governor says one person was hit by a car because of the tussle and the violence between ICE and protesters. Right now, ICE specifically is back in behind the gates of Delaney Hall here. They initially were standing out front face-to-face with protesters. That has been sort of the position all through the... the week, but now they're back inside their facility, standing back, and the governor says she wants them to be completely out of the equation, and that state police now would be taking over. It'll be interesting to see how it does play out with state police there. And Chekney, I know

you and your team have been there all week. Is there any indication of why things have been escalating? Well, we've seen things escalating as you go into the night. The later into the night you get, we see more people coming out, and we see more instances of violence between ice. and protesters. I think that there's notoriety. More people are hearing about it and decide to come out and blend their voice. We saw a couple of influencers here, Jolly Ginger, and then they've been getting into scuffles with conservative influencers here as well. And remember, tomorrow is supposed to be a pro-ice rally out here in front of Delaney Hall. And then you expect the opposite as well, the opponents of ICE to come out as well. So you can imagine that this is going to be a tense situation out here tomorrow. And they're hoping that these zones, these protests,

will help keep things safe. More to watch into the weekend as well. Cheki Beckford, thanks so much for your time. All right, now to Top Stories News Feed, starting with an ICE officer arrested for allegedly shooting a man during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. That arrest stemming from the non-fatal shooting

of a Venezuelan man back on January 14th. Nearly two weeks ago, prosecutors charged the federal officer with assault and falsely reporting a crime. DHS called the charges. called the charges a political stunt. And in Alaska, three climbers have died and one was rescued after falling from a treacherous route on Mount McKinley. The climbers were all part of a Latvian climbing expedition and fell on Wednesday. Bad weather complicated the rescue and recovery effort.

Mount McKinley is the highest peak in North America and Donali's past is considered one of the most dangerous routes to climb. Kenya's high court suspending a U.S. plan to create an Ebola quarantine unit for Americans there. That decision coming after backlash from medical workers and activists. On Thursday, the U.S. announced plans for a treatment facility for Americans exposed in Africa instead of flying them home. The deadly virus continues to spread across northeastern Congo. And in Texas, a massive train derailment leaving several cars hanging off an overpass. Aerial video from northwest Houston shows the train off the tracks, at least two cars jutting off the overpass. Look at that. Shutting down the road below for hours, officials reported no

injuries. Crews are looking into what caused that derailment in the first place. Now to our weekly series, Great Americans. Tonight, Tom sits down with a woman whose bravery helped change the education system. At just six years old, she became one of the first black children to integrate into a southern school. Our Great American this week, Ruby Bridges. And note, if you're watching with your children, she recounts a story and a racial slur that was used against her. What do you love about America? I haven't really lived in other countries. We do have the opportunity. And basically, it's up to you and what you do with that. It's a lesson Ruby Bridge has learned in 1960 in New Orleans,

at just six years old. Even in the streets of so sophisticated a city as this one, violence, overtakes reason. Waring her best white dress and ribbons, she walked into William France Elementary, becoming one of the first black children to integrate an all-white school in the South. I remember them screaming and chanting, two, four, six, eight. We don't want to integrate. Two, four, six, eight, we are white and white. And I didn't have a clue what the word integrate meant.

The Supreme Court had declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional, six years earlier. Regardless of what they say, my child is still not going to go with the college. But much of the South was still fighting it. Every decent, self-respecting, loving parents should take his white child out of that parochial school. Ruby's father, a Korean war veteran, worried for his daughter. Her mother ultimately made the call.

There was a knock at the door, and there were four very tall white men standing there. And they had these yellow bands on their arms. I remember them saying that we're U.S. marshals. We've been sent by the president of the United States, that we're here to escort you and your daughter of school today. Racist crowds waved Confederate flags. They were screaming and shouting and throwing things. And I immediately thought it's mighty grot, you know, living in New Orleans.

There were police officers everywhere. And I remember them saying, Ms. Bridges, we want you to walk straight ahead and don't look back. She remembers walking inside. As I climbed the stairs, I could see myself in the floor. Separate but equal is what we were told, and that was definitely not the case. The school was a lot nicer? The school was a lot nicer.

Immaculate compared to what you were on. Yes, the door opened, and there was this woman. She stepped out, and she said, hi. My name is Mrs. Henry. I'm your teacher. and that was when I looked at her and thought she's white. When I looked into the classroom before I stepped in, it was empty. And I then thought my mom has brought me to school too early.

And indeed we were too early. Years too early. But it was a great experience for me that year in the classroom with her. But it was a school year with just, by yourself. The worst part was the loneliness that I kept trying to figure out why am I the only kid in the school?

I don't see any kids. But Ruby kept showing up. There was a day that you met some of the kids, some of the white kids, and they weren't very nice to you. I went in to play with them, and a little boy looked at me and he said, I can't play with you. My mom said not to play with you

because you're a nigger. The minute he said it, it felt like this huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I mean, even at six, it was like, so that's what this is about. That's why there's no kids here. It's about me and the color of my skin. The enormity of Ruby's first day, inspiring one of the most iconic paintings of the civil rights movement. Norman Rockwood, the problem we all live with. So this is the illustrator. Now, a civil rights activist and children's author, her mission, is to ensure history is remembered. Do you think your parents knew that we would be talking about this all these decades later?

Oh, no. No way. They were more consumed with where the next meal was going to come from. As a matter of fact, I know they weren't because after the first day, my mom said, oh my God, what have I done? It takes guts, though, too. Trust me, that was one thing my mother had. But, yes, what's most American is that the opportunities can come. And we have to take advantage of them. And when they don't, we have to make those opportunities. We live in a place where it's possible.

And that is what I think is most American. Incredible that she experienced that at just six years old. Tom, thanks for that conversation. Well, coming up tonight, a growing number of musicians pulling out of America 250 performances, so who's in and who's out. Plus, Stalin's massive wine collection uncorked. The new video coming up next. We're back now with the growing number of musical acts pulling out of the Great American State Fair. That's the series of concerts set to be held on the National Mall this summer backed by President Trump.

Some performers saying the event now seems more political than when it was originally pitched. NBC's Monica Alba breaks it down for us. Tonight, with preps already underway for an event celebrating America's 250th birthday on the National Mall, a new snag. This will be a time like you've never had in your lives, America 250. Six musical artists originally announced as performers now dropping out, many citing political concerns. Country singer Martina McBride writing, I was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event. but that turned out to be misleading. Rapper Young MC saying,

artists were never told about any political involvement. And Poisoned Frontman Brett Michaels, writing it's evolved into something much more divisive than I agreed to be part of. The event is organized by Freedom 250, a public-private partnership launched by President Trump. We have a president that wants to celebrate 250 years of America, and that's exactly what we're doing.

And that's how it was sold to performers, And not everyone is backing out. A representative for Vanilla Ice telling NBC News, he is proud to help celebrate America's 250th anniversary. Others still slated to perform include Flo Rida, C&C Music Factory, and Fab Morvan of Millie Vanilli. And up first, the cage going up for that big UFC fight at the White House. The Defense Department offering troops free tickets,

but requiring they meet certain height and weight requirements. according to a Pentagon memo, which calls it a high visibility event. And tonight, a judge blocking President Trump's closure of the Kennedy Center, ordering his name be removed from the building. The president firing back, railing against the order, saying the judge should be ashamed of himself, but conceding he will give control of the Performing Arts Center back to Congress. Stephen?

Monica, Alba reporting there. Monica, thank you. Moving overseas now with Top Story's Global Watch, beginning with a Russian drone that went off course. It crashed into an apartment building in Romania, according to authorities there, ended up injuring two people and set the structure on fire. The situation adding to concerns that the war between Russia and Ukraine

could spill over into neighboring countries. And in France, the National Assembly voted to overturn a 17th century slavery law. France abolished slavery more than 150 years ago, but until the vote this week, a law had technically remained on the books, allowing people to be classified as property. Lawmakers cheered, some even getting emotional as it became official. And the collection of roughly 40,000 bottles of wine once owned by Soviet Union leader Joseph

Stalin was unveiled for the first time this week. According to Reuters, the stockpile housed in Stalin's native country of Georgia is now owned by the government. But maybe not for long. That collection is set to be auctioned off with funds reportedly going toward a wine education school in the country. Well, just ahead, everything you can binge watch and listen to this weekend, including Season 2 of the Dramity, The Four Seasons with Tina Faye and Coleman Domingo, plus actor Nicholas Cage in a new series from the Spiderverse and new music from Ariana Grande. Could it be the song of the summer? Stay with us. All right, we're back now with.

binge worthy, our look at the best things to watch and listen to this weekend. And joining us tonight is NBC News Entertainment contributor and CEO of pop viewers, Chris Witherspoon. Chris, always great to have you. Thanks for being here. Hey, Steve. What's up, man. Let's start off talking about this Netflix hit with Tina Faye, Coleman Domingo, the four seasons. We were talking about it. I watched the first season.

A lot of twist and turns here. Now there's season two. Let's get a little preview. Jack's have a little hard time lately. At night, he barely talks. to me. Like when he's high? No, Jack doesn't get high. I got nachos!

I never expected to be in charge of next estate. What if you keep it simple? Sell the boat. I can't sell the boat, Jack, because I treated it for two donkeys. Wow, it looks just as comedic, and maybe dramatic is the first season. I was expecting just a pure comedy with Steve Carell and Tina Fey, but they're a bit of drama in there. It's a little dark. And that first season had a major twist, as we talked about in the hallway. I don't want to give that away, no spoiler.

But this cast is back, Tina Fey, Coleman Domingo, who's having this run right now where he's almost in everything. Carrie Kenny Silver is also incredible on this. And it really does prove that like the middle age season of life also can be dramatic. People think when you hit your 40s and 50s, you got it all figured out. This show proves that you really don't. And there's also some twists and turns in this season and some really cool destinations. They're in the Jersey Shore. They're in Peak Skills, also Italy.

It takes your places. Nice. I love that. Okay. And another series returning for season two, Deli Boys over on Hulu. Let's take a little preview back. Okay. In the middle of a crisis here.

One more, one more. Roger's gone viral. We're in this situation because of you. You care more about the business than you do your own brother. Oh! You're going down. I want her back. Rajdaw.

Come to me. Why do I always have to hold people at gunpoint to get anything done around here? And I mentioned this to me looks like a movie. It's like a heist movie, but it's a series. It is so good. I love this show, Steve. If you haven't watched it, you have to binge it because the first season's out. Now, the first season had 10 episodes.

This new season only has six. So it's shorter. It feels like a movie broken up over six episodes. It moves a lot faster. The OG cast is back, but you got Fred Armisen joining this season. Also, Kumal, Nunjani, Andrew Rannells. It's just an incredible cast. And the show is laugh out loud, hilarious about these.

brothers who inherit their father's, like, business store for business, but it's like a cocaine empire. It's messy. It's like bloody, and it's so good. I love it. It's a surprise to them that their father did all this. Yes, they had no idea. Yeah. Now they're like knee-deep in it. Now they know for season two. This next one is a new drama starring Alice and Jenny immediately sign me up for this one.

It's about a grieving widow, though, planning her husband's funeral with her estranged son's assistant. It's like a riddle. Yeah, it's a little bit like a riddle. It's called Miss You, Love You on HBO Max. Let's take a look. I know Tyler won't check him when he gets back. That's what our relationship has become.

Just large chasms of time pass with no communication, and now I'll get the arbitrary text. Miss you and love you, Mom. You get that one, too. You've texted him yourself, but instead you chose to stay angry. I've shown him nothing but love. Reynolds, Reynolds. She is so phenomenal, I feel like, in everything she does. I'm still gagged from I-Tanya, where she won the Oscar or the diplomat that she was in this past season.

She's so good. But she plays a grieving widow. It's a dark comedy. It's a drama. It's a film. So you're in and you're out. But it really, her chemistry with Andrew, as you mentioned, it's her son, her estranged son's assistant. They meet for the first time.

And there's like this weird kind of like buddy love the kind of, you know, blossoms. One of those films that's kind of slow. But Allison carries it. Every scene she's in, you're just waiting. You're just waiting for it to have that moment. If you need an actor to carry a film, you want Allison in there. Oh, my God, everything. This one, this next one, interesting to me.

It's from the Spider-Verse, Spider-Noar, starring Nicholas Cage himself. I was not really prepared for this. I'm a comic book nerd. So I was not really prepared, though. I didn't pay enough attention. This was coming out. It's not part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's Sony's series of films.

It's fascinating to me. Let's take a look at that one. Were you really going to sit there? do nothing. There's never a hero. There's still time for you to become one. With the Amy Winehouse behind it. Yes, that is the perfect song for this trailer.

It's not Peter Parker, though. People are going to be surprised by this Spider-Man. It's kind of a reimagining of the Spider-Man's series and franchise. The films that we know all of it is set in 1930s, and it stars, as you mentioned, Nicholas Cage. And folks have been waiting for him to kind of play the good guy for a while. He's played so many billions. That's true. in this one, a detective who's aging, who also is the superhero of the city secretly.

What's kind of cool about this is you can watch this on Prime video in black and white or in color. So it's kind of cutting-edge series when you don't about it that way, but he's incredible in this. Okay, can't wait for that one. This next one we have, it's a new spin-off. It's a sci-fi series, an alternate history making the Soviet Union the first, the winners, I guess, of the race to land on the moon. It's called Star City. I think this is a spin-off of For All Man Kind. It's all it's on Apple TV as well. Let's take a look. Every mission is dangerous, Valia. Not like this. There's a signal coming from the ship that's not ours. It's on a frequency used by the

Americans. I can't take any more lives in my arms. Seal the building now. This is madness. Wow, that looks intense. alternate history thing. Is there a lot of buzz about this? I know a lot of people love for all mankind. For history buffs, the history buffs are buzzing right now. You mentioned it is a spinoff for all mankind. And what's kind of cool about this, I think this could be a new trend with some of these dramas is reimagining history. As you mentioned, it is the idea of the Soviets being the first to get to the moon. So there's espionage, there's lots of space travel. And it's one of those, those

history, I think, series that will get people talking, like, what if? And there's so many other moments in history that I think we could dramatize and may you reimagine, you know, this could be anything. Yeah, that's just your right. And it's Apple TV. Like, they know how to do premium, you know, that's true. They do. And Apple TV, I feel like a lot of their stuff goes under the radar. Yeah. You just hear like word of mouth. Like, yeah, but not the budget. The budget always on point. No, no. That's not under the radar. We don't have to talk about the morning show with Reese, Willish movies. Uh-huh. Let's talk some music. We got Ariana Grande actually releasing her first single her upcoming her eighth album.

This is hate that I made you love me. Let's take a listen to this one. Yeah, so listen, like you said, fans are already, like dying over this song. They're analyzing the lyrics already. And, you know, to me, this could be about her divorce that she had two years ago from Dalton Gomez. You know, she's talking about I hate that I made you love me. So it feels personal. It's so personal.

It feels vulnerable. And it feels like a new side of Ari. I would have preferred a bob like a summer bob. Yeah. This is a slowdown. Maybe they'll be more some up-tempo stuff in the album. I've been listening to the Wicked soundtracks with her in it, so it's like so different to hear like more of like a classic Ariana Ariana. And the new album comes out July 31st.

Okay, right around the corner. Lastly, Grammy winning pop star Kim Petrus is out with a deeply personal song that is a bop. Yeah, this is a bop. With some meaning behind it. Let's take a listen to that one. Yes. But with an important message behind it. This is off her new album.

The new album is called Detour and this song is called Detour and this song is called, the brutalist. It's about her growing up as a child and transitioning from man, from male to female. She talks about, you know, her father taking her to the clinic. It is very personal. It's upbeat. You can dance to it, but there's some deep nuances to it as well. I love Kim. Yeah, I feel like everything she does goes viral to some degree. The album is out today. Oh, out today. Okay, on a Friday. Let's go. Love it. A lot to watch and listen to this weekend. Chris Witherspoon, thanks so much. Of course, good being here.

We appreciate it. And thanks so much for watching Top Story. For Tom Yamis, I'm Stephen Romo in New York. Stay right there. More news is on the way.