Top Story with Tom Llamas - Monday, April 15, 2024

Episode Date: April 16, 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, the first criminal trial of a former president is officially underway. Former President Trump facing felony charges for falsifying business records tied to an alleged hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. The stunning moment when more than 50 potential jurors raised their hand saying they could not be impartial. Tonight, we'll break down the key players in the courtroom and ask the question, what What type of case does Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg have if both his predecessor and the Justice Department passed on it? Also tonight, Israel vowing to strike back after Iran launched a barrage

of drones and missiles. Officials telling NBC news a response could be imminent. World leaders, including President Biden, urging restraint as Israel decides its next steps. Back at home, outrage growing over the conflict in Gaza, protesters shutting down the Golden Gate and Brooklyn Bridges. Also tonight, the FBI investigating the Baltimore Bridge collapse, federal agents boarding the ship that brought down the Francis Scott Key Bridge last month. Did the crew know about a mechanical problem before they left the harbor? And could their company be liable for the deadly collapse? Plus, how the sole survivor of that construction crew made it out alive what his attorneys are saying tonight. We're also following breaking news out of Australia,

police in Sydney, just confirming a stabbing inside of a church. was terrorism. A bishop attacked during a sermon on a live stream. Several other people hurt. This attack just days after a stabbing rampage at a Sydney area mall left at least six people dead. Renegade tow truck. Video showing a tow truck attempting to latch onto a car while the owner was driving it. The driver narrowly getting away before being chased down by that tow truck. We hear from the man who captured this video about the startling moments. Plus hidden cargo shocking video as Texas police uncovered nearly two dozen migrants smuggled inside a flatbed trailer, the driver of the truck leading police on a pursuit before then taking off how authorities

made that disturbing discovery. And game-changing draft, the WNBA adding new superstar rookies to their roster tonight. We sit down with the unstoppable Caitlin Clark coming off a record season. Could this rookie class change the WNBA forever? Top story starts right now. And good evening, former President Trump making history becoming the first former president to stand trial on criminal charges. Trump seated in a Manhattan courtroom as 96 potential jurors were vetted in the unprecedented case. The former president accused of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. The former president denying all wrongdoing, firm in his vindication, just before entering the courtroom. Nothing like this has never happened before.

It's never been anything like it. This is an assault of our country, and it's a country that's failing. But today was all about the jurors as prosecutors and the defense began the heavy lifting of seating a 12-person jury in such a high-profile case. The judge named dropping some major figures that you may recognize, and they could play in the judge. a key role in this case. The judge asking the jurors if they personally knew, Rudy Giuliani, Dan Scavino, Donald Trump, Jr., Ivanka Trump, Melania Trump, even Kelly Ann Conway. It's a long road ahead for the former president. The judge making it known he is just like any other defendant threatening to arrest him if he doesn't show up to court every day. The trial, which could last

six to eight weeks. So how will he handle balancing the campaign trail and the courtroom? And will there be a political fallout for Trump ahead of the 2024 election? We're breaking it all down, and we start tonight with NBC's Laura Jerry. Donald Trump's sitting in a Manhattan courtroom today watching the process of whittling down a pool of hundreds to a jury of 12 with six alternates, people who will soon sit in judgment of the former president, the first to ever face a criminal trial. We're not going to be given a fair trial. It's a very, very sad thing. 200 people summoned to the courthouse today questioned about their background. media preferences and views on Mr. Trump.

In deep blue Manhattan, many jurors swiftly dismissed for saying they cannot be impartial. The judge driving home the stakes of the unprecedented moment for the presumptive GOP nominee, warning Mr. Trump today, if he fails to show up, he risks arrest. Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the 34 counts of falsifying business records, a low-level felony, but the story prosecutors seek to tell more soared and sweeping. Previewing their central theme today of a presidential campaign rocked by the release of the infamous Access Hollywood tape, fueling Mr. Trump's determination in prosecutors telling to buy the silence of Stormy Daniels, allegedly directing Michael Cohen to pay her $130,000 so that she wouldn't go public saying she had sex with Mr. Trump,

something he maintains never happened. The former president later reimbursing Cohen through a series of checks, allegedly doctoring his company's internal records to cover it all up. That payment was to hide damaging information from the voting public. The participant's scheme was illegal. The judge ruling prosecutors cannot play the Access Hollywood tape at trial, but can introduce what he said. Mr. Trump's team expected to highlight how the previous DA and federal prosecutors declined

to press charges in this case, while Mr. Trump lambast the case as a Democratic conspiracy to hurt his re-election chances. This is a persecution like never before. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. And again, it's a case that should have never been brought. It's an assault on America. The trial expected to stretch on six to eight weeks and feature testimony from Cohen, Daniels, members of Trump's inner circle like former aide, Hope Hicks, and possibly Mr. Trump himself.

I would testify, absolutely. The risk of cross-examination, substantial. But the more immediate threat, possible violations of the gag order, prohibiting Mr. Trump from attacking trial witnesses. All right, with that, Laura joins us tonight live from Lower Manhattan outside of court. So, Laura, you were inside for what was a long day inside of that courtroom. Your observations on the former president. His courtroom behavior has varied depending on which trial he's in.

Yeah, Tom, it's a painstaking process. The former president is sending stone face there, many times not showing any emotion at all. Other times closing his eyes, leaning back in his chair, other times intently, leaning in, looking at the evidence that's projected on the little monitor that's in front of him. Everybody's obvious eyes focused on the former president there. We were in the overflow room where you can sort of see, you know, obviously him and the judge, but we couldn't see the prospective jurors that were questioned.

He, though, at Tom, appeared, the former president did appear to be following along very closely. There's a 42-question questionnaire that gets presented to each juror, And they have to go through every single question out loud, providing their responses. And he was following there along very intently, as far as we could tell, Tom. And jury selection will continue tomorrow with more questions, which could really stretch on for days, if not weeks. And then, Laura, you know, in those images we were seen of the former president in the courtroom, we saw his lawyer right by his side. Talk to us about his legal team in this case.

Republicans and some Trump supporters had questioned the efficiency of his team in that Manhattan civil fraud trial that he lost. Yeah, this is a very different trial team. This is an experienced team made up of former state and federal prosecutors. Todd Blanche, obviously, the one that's leading the team. But he's also got his hands full time. He's hearing or handling, really, the former president's other cases, which are not on track to go to trial, but still have motions and other things pending, like a classified documents case in Florida, quite serious, and also consuming his time while he's here in Manhattan.

You saw him whispering with his client, the former president, while seated at counsel table today, very engaged, advocating strongly about why the former president shouldn't have to be in trial in certain days because the judge made it very clear time. He is expected to be here every single day. And if he doesn't show up, he's risking arrest, quite serious. And then on that point, we heard the former president complain after court today about, I think he was invoking his son Barron Trump's graduation, high school graduation, and how he may not be able to attend? Right. So Barron's graduation, as we understand it, is coming up in mid-May. And And today, Todd Blanche, Mr. Trump's lawyer, made a request for him to get that day off a trial to attend.

The judge didn't say he can't go. What he said is, let's wait and see how the trial is going. I don't want to make a ruling on that right now. Obviously, the former president bristling at that, as any parent would want to be able to attend that. But I think the judge was also signaling today that he wants to take a hard stance on this schedule. He thinks that this trial has been purposefully delayed for many weeks and months now because of the legal tactics that the former president's team been engaged in. I think the judge was trying to signal today. This is an important trial. He made it clear. This trial matters just like any other. And he even told former President

Trump, he cannot go to Washington, D.C. for the Supreme Court hearing next week on what's going to be a major case having to do whether or not he's immune from prosecution. Even that case, Tom, he said he cannot go to that. He needs to be here in Manhattan. Laura, Jared, leading us off tonight here on Top Story, Laura, we appreciate all your reporting. For more on the first day of former President Trump's hush money trial, I want to bring in Sarah Zari. She's a criminal defense attorney and author of the book, Unprecedented, a simple guide to the crimes of the Trump campaign and the presidency. And Rebecca Royfe, she's a former Manhattan assistant district attorney and law professor at New York Law School. Sarah, I'm going to start with you.

What did you think about that moment where more than half the jurors raised their hands that they could not be impartial? And I ask you about this, right, because it's no secret. Manhattan is an area where a majority of the voters are Democrats. It's a very liberal area of the country. Can the former Republican president get a fair trial here in Manhattan? You know, Tom, I think he can and we'll get there. Obviously, this is going to be a long, drawn-out process because he is the most polarized and polarizing political figure and a former president. And I think that sometimes, I have to be honest, sometimes jurors say that because they don't

want to sit on a jury. In this case, although I think that this judge is showing a lot of care and caution, starting with jury selection. He is not really inquiring further into these jurors who raise their hands and saying that they're biased or they can't be unbiased. He's just saying, you know, if there's any remote possibility that you can't be fair and impartial, it's best that you go. So it's really interesting to me because typically when a juror expresses that initial propensity towards bias, there's additional inquiry that's made by a judge. And here he's like, please go, you know.

So I think he's being very cautious with this. Rebecca, I know you worked with the former DA, or I should say the current DA, Alvin Bragg, when you were a former assistant DA. Do you think he has a strong case? Because I'm just curious here, right? What does DA Alvin Bragg see that the great legal minds of the Justice Department and even his predecessor, Sy Vance, did not see because they didn't bring this case? Well, first of all, this is a different statute. The New York prosecutors have different tools in their toolkit than the federal prosecutors do. And so I do think that what they have enables them to bring this case in a more convincing way than maybe the federal government would have been able to do.

And second of all, I think that it's not that he sees something that other people didn't see. I think that he patiently waited for the evidence to come forward. And I think it remains to be seen. We really need to wait to see about the strength of the evidence. But one of the things that I can say at this point is that it is very clear that what he is doing is bringing a case. that is a run-of-the-mill case for the Manhattan DA's office. We used to bring cases based on this statute all the time and had another person been found to have committed this kind of crime

or if there was evidence that they had committed this crime of crime. This is precisely the kind of case that the Manhattan DA would have pursued. But, Rebecca, isn't this also uncharted legal territory? We have a district attorney in Manhattan trying a case that was connected to a federal election. Former president wasn't running for governor, right? He was running for president. So how does this work?

Explain it to our viewers. So in a certain way, it really isn't unprecedented, and that's because the federal part of the crime comes in in terms of the intent. So the real crime here, the meat of the crime, is falsifying your business records. Manhattan is the center of the financial world. And Manhattan has a strong interest in making sure people aren't doctoring their business's records in order to commit or cover up, avoid accountability for some other kind of crime. And so it's really the intent that has to do with that federal crime, which is kind of a side issue. But why does it raise to a felony? It goes from a misdemeanor now to a felony.

Yeah, so the felony part is the intent. A misdemeanor would be if you just have an intent to defraud. You're just trying to trick people. But in order to turn it into a felony, it has to be an intent to commit another crime. But that intent part, it can be an intent to commit any kind of crime. It has to do with intent, which is something that is well within the state's parameters to define what that intent might be. Sarah, to get a conviction here, they have to prove that Trump knew that the payment was illegal and that he knowingly and willfully violated the statute.

But aren't his defense attorneys going to argue, listen, Trump wasn't doing this to win the election. He was doing this to protect his family, protect his wife, and protect his reputation. Yeah, it's like the Edwards defense, and it will fall flat. It can be easily debunked because simply that we knew about the Stormy Daniels' since 2011. And yet there was no exchange of money. There was no offer of a money transaction. It wasn't until two weeks before the 2016 election that this hush money was paid. And we know that after, that there was a communication with Michael Cohen that he'd instructed that the payment be made after the election, which again, is consciousness of guilt. It's that he knew that it's

illegal, so he wanted to make it look innocuous. And so that's why I think that the DA has a strong case to prove intent. Intent's not usually easy to prove. You've got to get into the defendant's head. But here, I think there's a lot of circumstantial evidence beyond Michael Cohen's testimony. I hear a lot of chatter about him not being credible, but there's a lot of corroboration that I think the DA has to prove intent here. Well, Rebecca, I want to ask you about Michael Cohen. Would you feel comfortable if he was your star witness? I would, as a prosecutor, you're used to having really hard witnesses. I mean, of course you prefer if your star witness is a nun, but it just never happens. So when you have a witness like that, what you really want is corroboration.

And as in this case, how does a jury believe him, though, if he's a convicted perjurer, right? He's slippery at best. He has clear vendetta against the former president. You just have to watch cable news and run any interview. How do you convince the jury that, listen, what he's saying is the truth and it's impartial? Well, you know, at this point, he really doesn't actually have a big incentive. It's not like he's going to have some kind of sentence cut or something like that, which normal cooperators do. So in a way, you don't have this. that hurdle. You have other hurdles, but the way that you help a jury believe a problematic witness is by using other evidence to prop up their testimony and also suggesting, look,

of course, this is a liar. But even liars sometimes tell the truth. And he is because the other evidence shows that he is. In sort of that same vein, Sarah, if you were defending former President Trump, would you put him on the stand? Because he told our Gabe Gutierrez that he will testify. Oh, hell, no. I mean, he is the biggest problem that President Trump has is that he can't keep his mouth shut and it's the things that he says. But even, Tom, even if he made the best witness, he shouldn't testify because of the many open cases that he has against him. And anything he says in this case can be used, just testimony can be used across the board. What I just found about today that was so significant, Tom, was that essentially the court said, you can't have your cake and eat it too.

you've got to make that decision whether you're going to testify or not because your lawyers can't get up and say talk about what you may or may not say. In other words, testify for you if you are not in fact taking the stand. That was really significant and interesting to me because that decision is so fluid

and is not made up front so early on in the trial. So essentially he's cornered. If he's really going to testify, he can't be bluffing and puffing about it. And his lawyers are not going to be testifying for him. Rebecca, how ugly do you think this case is going to be for the former president and his family because you're going to have

a porn star, you're going to have a hush money payment, allegations of an affair, allegations of an affair when your current wife had just had a child. I mean, it's going to get pretty salacious and ugly. It is, although all of this information is already public. I suppose it's animated in a way that it hasn't been in the past to have these particular people. And he's going to be hearing it again in real time. He's going to have to be facing this. Right. And I think that's hard. with everybody scrutinizing his reactions and his demeanor during this whole trial, including the jurors. I think that makes it much harder, but it's not like I don't think there's that much that's new that's going to come out in that particular regard. Okay, but you think prosecutors are going to use everything in their toolbox to sort of detail to the jurors what exactly happened here?

Because, I mean, at its surface, it is a sexual affair with a porn star. And that's, I mean, the details, none of those details are going to be pretty. Right, of course. And I think that that's true. But, I mean, one of the things is it's not illegal to have an affair. It's not even illegal to pay somebody to cover up an affair. I'm more talking about how it's going to look for the president as who's running for presidency. I mean, the former president. Right. So for the political optics of it, I think absolutely, you know, it's just a matter of how much the people who are voting for him actually care about that. I mean, that's one of the things that we learned in the last election after the Access Hollywood tape came out. Everybody thought this was going to be, you know, this big moment. And it wasn't. the question is, are we peeling off voters or are voters immune to this at this point? Yeah, or are they going to be paying attention? Okay, Rebecca Roy, we appreciate that. Sarah Zari, always a pleasure to see you. Thank you. We want to turn out to our other major headline tonight, Israel vowing to respond after Iran's massive aerial assault.

Israeli-American forces shooting down hundreds of drones and missiles. Fears now growing of a wider conflict as the world waits for Israel's next move. Richard Engel on the ground for us tonight in Jerusalem with the latest. 18 hours after Iran attacked Israel with hundreds of drones and missiles, Israel tonight is vowing to strike back. An Israeli official telling NBC News a response could be imminent. While touring a base that was lightly damaged, the only known damage in Israel, the chief of staff of the Israeli army today said, Iran will face the consequences for its actions. We will choose our response accordingly. That announcement came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

held a second war cabinet meeting in two days. Throughout his career, Netanyahu is advocated for a tough approach against Iran, including military action. And this is a pivotal moment for him. A senior Israeli official telling NBC News that the cabinet agreed that a military response is needed to show deterrence, but that it should avoid provoking a regional war,

and be coordinated with the United States. Easier said than done. Israel is promising to respond, even though President Biden told Netanyahu not to escalate further because with U.S. help, Israel shot down 99% of Iran's missiles and drones. The U.S. even led a hastily organized coalition to defend Israel that included Jordan and the U.K. The day before Iran's attack, President Biden warned Iran not to strike.

President, what is your message to Iran in this moment? Don't. But Iran isn't listening either. Soon after, the Iranian drones and missiles were heading toward Israel. We watched as Israeli missile defense systems were in action over Jerusalem's old city, wholly for billions of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. For the last several minutes, we've seen these flares streaking all across the skies over We're Jerusalem, and now for the first time we're hearing the air raid sirens.

The Pentagon says it's shot down around a hundred of the drones and missiles. Iran says it's done that the barrage was its only response to Israel's deadly air strike on Iran's embassy compound in Syria. But Iran warned today that any Israeli reprisal would be met by an immediate counter strike. Tonight there are fears that the long-running shadow war between Iran and Israel is breaking out into the open, with the United States right in the middle of it. Richard Engle joins us tonight from Jerusalem. Richard, when we go back to your report and some are advising Israel on a measured counterstrike,

what exactly does that mean? Does that mean something outside of the battlefield like a cyber attack? I mean, because you just wonder if Israel keeps launching rockets. Will Iran keep launching drones? So it's really the billion-dollar question. What is an appropriate response? How can Israel launch a military strike or a counterattack that doesn't provoke a regional war? Iran says that if there is a counter strike, it will respond with an even more extensive attack than the one it carried out.

So what would be appropriate? Would it be a cyber attack? People I'm speaking to officials in the region doubt it. They think that Israel would have to do something public, visible in order to establish deterrent. So if it was hit by fire, it has to return fire, but how much without provoking a regional war? And that is really a question that I think Israel's trying to answer and which the U.S. is trying to answer as well. And the two countries might not see eye to eye on that. And then, Richard, that brings me to my next question, right?

And you bring up this point in your report as well that neither Iran nor Israel seem to be listening to President Biden right now. Is the president's influence diminished in the region? And what does that mean for the wire conflict? It seems that the president's influence is certainly diminished, and that is bad for this region, bad for the United States. If you have your close ally not listening to you, a close ally that the United States just worked to defend, CENTCOM was directing the international part of the mission that shot down all of these drones.

The commander of CENTCOM was here on the ground. helping to plan the operation, providing weapons to Israel, that is something the U.S. has been doing for a long time. If despite all of that, the prime minister thumbs his nose at the President of the United States, that's a problem. And if your enemy doesn't respect you, doesn't take you seriously, then that is a double problem. So it is a significant problem, I think, that we're facing right now.

Richard Engel, in Jerusalem with his team tonight. In Washington, President Biden trying to prevent first. escalation, as we just heard there. This has protesters across the U.S. are ramping up calls for an end to the war in Gaza. Here's Gabe Gutier's with those images. Tonight, the pressure is mounting on the Biden administration over the war in Gaza. Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters today block traffic on New York's Brooklyn Bridge with several arrests. Oh, good. Police say protesters near Chicago's O'Hare International Airport today substantially delayed

travelers. And on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, multiple arrests after protesters snore traffic there for hours. The demonstrations come as President Biden touts what he calls an unprecedented military effort to defend Israel. Together with our partners, we defeated that attack. In the Oval Office today, he met with Iraq's prime minister as he tries to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East. We're committed to a ceasefire that will bring the hostages home and preventing conflict from spreading beyond what it already has. The president spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu this week and following Iran's attack, urging restraint.

A senior administration official tells NBC News the president told Netanyahu to take the win, and that although the White House's commitment to defend Israel is ironclad, the U.S. would not participate in offensive operations against Iran. To ask it bluntly if Israel retaliates against Iran for the U.S. support them. To answer bluntly, I'm not going to get into Iran. hypotheticals. We don't want to see a wider conflict. Today, the White House stressed Iran did not provide warnings to the U.S. about its time frame for launching an attack on Israel. Some Republican critics argue the Biden administration has emboldened Iran.

It's time for the commander-in-chief to lead allies and partners in an international effort to impose meaningful costs on Iran. House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing intense pressure to bring Israel and Ukraine funding up for a vote after sitting on it for months. With just breaking, he told GOP lawmakers that he planned to do it this week in separate bills. Tom? All right, Gabe.

We thank you for that. For more on Iran's attack and possible Israeli response, I want to bring in Jason Razan. He's a global opinions writer at the Washington Post. He once served as the post-Turon Bureau Chief and was wrongfully detained by Iran for 544 days. Also with this tonight is Colonel Jack Jacobs, a retired U.S. Army colonel, Medal of Honor recipient,

and an NBC News military analyst. I thank you both for being here. Jason, I want to start with you since you know Iran so well. This was the most telegraphed attack I think I have ever seen, right? Most drones did little or no damage. Was Iran out for blood, or were they trying to appease their hardliners? It could be either, Tom, but I think that the reality is that they failed spectacularly if they were trying to exact blood from Israel.

They were unsuccessful and incredibly high rate. And I think ultimately what we saw in this attack is the best that Iran's military forces can muster. And I don't think that they have much more behind it. Yeah, Jason, I want to follow up with that because this may be new to a lot of people who don't cover Iran and don't follow Iran so closely and who have grown up with Iran as an enemy to the U.S. for so long.

You're saying this is the best of what they have and they may have used up all their drones, or at least a big portion of them? I think that they have drone capabilities to produce more drones, produce more missiles, but ultimately they don't have air defense systems the way that we expect other nations like Israel do. Their air fleet is from the pre-revolutionary era going back to the late 1970s, early 80s. Their military spending is about on par with that of the Netherlands. while Iran is a very dangerous regional entity and regime and carries out all sorts of malign activities, when it comes to conventional warfare, they cannot stand up to the U.S., Israel, or any of our

partners. Colonel Jack Jacobs, next question for you. Israel's Iron Dome worked. I think another system called David Sling also helped out there in Israel. They were ready for this attack, and you heard me talking about this with Richard. So what do you think their counterattack looks like? Well, it's hard to say. Richard Engle talked about the unlikelyhood of there being a cyber attack, but Israel's got the capability of conducting cyber attacks, has done so in the past against Iran,

could probably do so again, if it's so chose. Special operations, black ops, always a possibility. Outright attacks on Iranian soil, of course, would inflame Iran. It would widen the war. But as we've already heard, Iran is not particularly interested in a wider war. Their military capability is small in comparison to the allies and even to Israel alone. Israel has F-35s, can launch missiles from long distances and do a great deal of damage to Iran. So Iran is not particularly interested in engendering any kind of response on the ground inside Iran. which would cause a wider war. Israel needs to be very, very careful.

At the end of the day, even though they've been advised by the president not to do anything on toward, even if they do it, there's going to be support inside the United States for a counterattack. Perhaps an attack on a proxy, Israel counters proxies all the time. It's difficult to say what is going to happen or when it's going to happen. There's talk that it might come soon, but as the saying goes, revenge is always a dish best-eaten cold. Jason, I do want to ask you, when we talk about, and everyone throws this phrase around a wider regional conflict, right?

What exactly does that mean? If Israel were to unleash a ton of more weapons on Iran and cause more bloodshed over there, who backs up Iran, right? If they can't stand up to Israel themselves? Is it proxy groups? Or is it just insurgent groups that start attacking Israel? Do you think actually other countries get involved in this war? I don't think other countries get involved in it immediately,

but obviously there is a growing access with Russia and China and Iran. So I think the threat of a much larger-scale conflict looms in the background is part of the reason why the Biden administration has been so adamant about trying to contain this right where it is. I also think that the other element of this that we've stopped talking about, is Iran's nuclear program, and the risk of them proliferating and going out and going over that breakout point to develop a nuclear warhead. And if they do that, the follow-on effects of other regional countries that currently don't have a nuclear bomb that would go out and get one very quickly. So I think that there's a lot of reason to try and nip this in the bud and slow down this conflict as much as possible.

Jason, briefly, do the Iranian people want a war with Israel? Absolutely not. I think it's a good question, Tom. The reality is that the Iranian people have overwhelmingly shown in recent years that many of them do not support this regime, that they want a freer, more open future. And a fight on their own soil is the last thing that I think the vast majority of Iranians are looking for. 35 years ago, the war between Iran and Iraq ended. Over a million people were killed in that war. And it's something that is a scar that has never really fully healed. And I don't think that the Iranian people are courting anything other than a future of openness and democracy and connectivity with the rest of the world. Colonel Jacobs also briefly, how far does this set back the negotiations of a ceasefire or a hostage swap with, Hamas? It sets it back a long way, but we've been adamant since the very beginning about

the possibility of getting the impossibility, getting all the hostages back. We don't even know how many are still alive. This is something that's going to have to play out over a long period of time. It doesn't take this to slow that down. That was slowing down by itself. It's going to be difficult to negotiate any kind of hostage return under any circumstances, even with the large majority of Israeli forces currently out of Gaza, Tom. Colonel Jack Jacobs, Jason Rizan from the Washington Post. I thank you both for your time tonight. Back here at home now to the investigation into what went wrong aboard the cargo ship

that caused the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse. The FBI launched a criminal investigation, boarding that ship this morning with search warrants. Lawyers for some of the victim's family say this moved by the feds is a step in the right direction. Tonight, the FBI opening a criminal probe into the catastrophic Baltimore Bridge collapse that left six construction workers dead. Early this morning, federal agents boarding the container ship Dolly, the 985-foot vessel that slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge last month, sending it, plunging into the Patapsco River. The investigation, which was first reported by the Washington Post, will look into the critical events leading up to the disaster.

A key question, according to two senior law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation, did the crew have prior knowledge of any potential mechanical problems that would have made the vessel unsafe for the harbor? The moments after it left the port of Baltimore captured on this live stream, showing the lights flickering on and off minutes before the crash. In a court filing the owner and manager of the Dolly seeking exoneration in connection to the crash, writing in part the casualty was not due to any fault. neglect, or want of care on the part of the petitioners. The families are very happy and appreciative to the federal criminal investigation that was announced today.

Attorneys representing two of the construction workers killed in the bridge collapse and the sole survivor announcing their own investigation today. They died while pursuing the American dream, but this was all preventable. That is why we've been brought in to investigate and find out what has happened and give these families a voice. because the thing that's getting lost right now is the voice of the victims. Revealing harrowing new details about how they say Julio Cervantes-Swarres,

the sole construction worker who survived that fall into the water, made it out alive. He survived because his window was manual. He was able to roll down the window and escape. You can imagine how frightening that is. And then he was able to hang on to some drift steel and survive. And late today, officials announcing they've recovered another body that was trapped in the vehicles

at that bridge site. The person's identity has not yet been released, but this is now the fourth construction worker to be located and identified. Two more remain missing and of course are presumed dead. We will stay on top of this. Now to the forecast and 25 million people at risk for severe storms across the country. It could be a dangerous night. For more on this threat, let's get right over to NBC News meteorologist Bill Karens. Bill, time all this out for us. We have a couple areas, Tom, that we're worried about. And it's not just today. I think tomorrow is going to be worse, especially tomorrow we even could be tracking, maybe even tornadoes.

So we have an area in the Central Plains, and we also have this area in Washington, D.C., southwards of Richmond. We already had about ping pong ball size hail near Dulles Airport earlier in Washington, D.C. Later tonight, through the overnight hours, two-inch hail as possible. That's enough to do significant damage, especially in areas of Kansas and Nebraska. We do have one severe thunderstorm watch from Rapid City. We have a tornado watch down around Abilene, Texas. So far, no tornado.

But this area here, we've been tracking these storms all afternoon, a lot of reports of hail, and that continues. Richmond, Virginia's in the middle of these storms now. These are heading down towards Williamsburg, and this will continue into southern Virginia as we go throughout this evening. Now, tomorrow, this is going to be a little more dangerous, but we're going to add tornadoes into the mix, and also big areas like Des Moines, Kirksville, to Dubuque. So we'll watch this tomorrow, Tom, maybe even a few strong tornadoes. All right, we'll stand top of it. Bill, we thank you for that. Still ahead tonight, a tragic update in the disappearance of two kids.

Kansas moms. Their bodies discovered in a rural part of Oklahoma, two weeks after they went missing while going to pick up one of the women's children, before people now arrested, including the grandmother of those kids. Plus, traumatic video in San Francisco showing a tow truck trying to haul away a car while the driver was still inside at the wheel with the man who shot this video told us about the chaotic scene. And history destroyed the urgent search now for tourists caught on camera, breaking a rock formation in Nevada, that's 140 million years old. This is crazy. Stay with us.

All right, we're back down with a shocking and bizarre moment cut on camera in San Francisco. It's new video showing a tow truck driver trying to tow a car while someone was inside of it driving it on the road at the time. Driver was able to get away, but witnesses say they were followed by the tow truck from, multiple blocks. NBC's Adrian Brodus has this one. Confusion on the streets of San Francisco, as the driver of this truck labeled specialty towing attempts to latch onto a car with someone behind the wheel in the driver's seat. I saw a Waymo with its hazards on, and then he went for the car next to it, which had people in it, and started loading that. And they started backing up, and he started chasing him with

the tow truck. What the fuck are you doing? Stunned, Jeff Furlin, started recording. on his phone. He maneuvered the forks under the front tires. He continued to chase them backwards with the forks down. And then when he went to take off, as soon as he takes off, he's raising the arm. On its website, specialty towing hails as, quote, the best towing service you can depend on. But according to official documents, city attorney David Chu believes that is the same company he suspended from doing business with the city, though he acknowledges there are several towing companies with specialty in their name. Chew's office says the company he suspended, quote,

scammed people out of hundreds of dollars by illegally towing cars and making them hard to retrieve. So assuming this is specialty towing, this is the same towing company that our office previously moved to suspend and debar from receiving city contracts. Hi, this is Adrian Broaddus calling back from NBC News again. We called the number on the tow truck seen in the video and the owner of the company for answers. After the first call, a representative said they would call back. As I was attempting to leave a message for the owner, someone answered.

They picked up and hung up, so I couldn't even finish my message. We just want to know what happened. We want to hear your side of this story. And so does Furland, who still can't believe what he saw. It's hard to figure out the motive for this one because it's so extreme. and unprecedented. Yeah, a lot of questions here, Adrian. Great work trying to get some answers there.

So do San Francisco police have any leads? Because it appears this might be criminal. You know what, Tom, if they have any information, they haven't shared that with us. Police are only saying this is in an active investigation and there haven't been any arrest. Meanwhile, the two adults who we believe were in the vehicle that day haven't responded to our calls either.

The good news here, no one was physically. hurt, but so many questions tonight. All right, Adrian, we appreciate all that. We thank you. When we come back, the shocking traffic stop discovery, new dash camp footage showing a truck driving off the side of a road before the driver flees the nearly two dozen people

then found inside the truck's flat flat bed. The details next. Okay, we are back down with Top Stories News Feed. And we begin with an update. Rust Armour, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison. 26-year-old was found guilty last month of involuntary manslaughter for the deadly onset shooting of cinematographer Helena Hutchins in 2021. Actor Alec Baldwin was also charged with involuntary manslaughter in January. He pleaded not guilty. His trial begins in July. Authorities in Texas making a disturbing discovery during a traffic stop. New video showing Texas DPS the moment they tried to pull over a tow truck.

I should say a truck for inspection when the driver runs off the road and then takes off on foot. Officers then discovering what they say was 23 migrants hit it inside the truck's flat bed. Officials say the group that included children was concealed without proper ventilation when person was hospitalized for dehydration. And a search for two suspects caught on camera destroying ancient rocks at Lake Mead in Nevada this weekend. Viral video shows two men shoving the sandstones off the edge of a cliff near the Redstone Dune Trail just outside of Las Vegas. Vegas. The protected stones are around 140 million years old. Park Rangers shared the video asking for the public's help in finding those suspects if arrested they could face prison time. Okay, now to the details in the case of two Kansas women missing moms and the possibility

their bodies were found today. Four people are in custody tonight, but as Sam Brock reports, the motive, it's still unclear. After a multi-week search for two Kansas women, 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jillian Kelly. Tonight, Oklahoma authorities revealing the discovery of two bodies in rural Oklahoma, believed to be the missing moms. On behalf of the entire FBI, I want to express our sincerest condolences to the family and loved ones of Veronica and Jillian. The pair left a small Kansas town in late March court document show to pick up Butler's children for visitation at a birthday party, with Kelly only there to supervise the visit. When they didn't show up for the party, Butler's family went looking and found her abandoned car, which uncovered evidence of a severe injury, including blood on the roadway and Butler's glasses near a broken hammer.

It's absolutely devastating. They were both young and vibrant, and they deserved more. Now, four people are behind bars charged with murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy, including the children's grandmother, Tiffany Adams, who authorities say was in a year's long custody battle with Butler. State investigators saying the grandmother had later purchased five stun guns and three prepaid cell phones. Those phones then pinged at the last known location of Butler and Kelly at the time of their disappearance, according to police. The teen daughter of one of the suspects telling authorities her mom was part of a self-proclaimed anti-government group they called

God's misfits and told her things didn't go as planned, but they would not have to worry about Butler again. As for the suspects tonight, Tom, they remain in jail. They have not yet been assigned counsel. Police saying that Butler's children at the very center of this custody dispute are out of harm's way. They said not a single shot was fired when bringing those four suspects in. It's also noteworthy that of the two women who are now dead, one of them wasn't even directly involved in whatever this family feud might have been. She just happened to be supervising a visit at the wrong place at the wrong time. That's the very latest here from Guyman. Tom back to you. with a little update on that big mystery there in Kansas.

Coming up, terror in Sydney. A bishop stabbed inside of a church during a sermon that was a live streamed in what authorities are calling a terror incident. This attack just days after a deadly stabbing rampage inside a mall in Sydney that left several people dead, who authorities believed the suspect was targeting. Back now with a terror attack in Sydney. A bishop stabbed inside of a church while delivering a sermon.

He is going to survive, but this attack just, days after at least six people were stabbed to death inside a mall in the Sydney area. NBC's Molly Hunter has the late-breaking details. And a warning, we're going to show you the moment of the church attack. It is graphic. Tonight, Sydney, Australia, and morning again, after two rare and unrelated stabbing attacks in three days. On Monday, a horrific moment captured on a church service live stream. In the middle of a sermon, a bishop stamped repeatedly inside an Orthodox.

a Syrian church in what authorities are now calling a terror attack. Cell phone video from inside that was verified by Reuters shows the suspect, who police say is just 15 years old, pinned down by other churchgoers and later arrested. The young person has sustained injuries to his hand as a result of his actions. We do know that he's not a regular attendee at the church. While other worshippers rushed to the bishop's side before first responders arrive. According to officials, the bishop, along with three other victims, were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. This comes just days after Saturday's stabbing incident at a mall in Sydney's suburbs.

At least six people were killed, including a mother protecting her nine-month-old baby, according to eyewitnesses. The baby got stabbed, and the mom got stabbed, and the mom come over with a baby and threw it at me, and just holding the baby, it looked pretty bad. The male attacker was shot by a police. police officer. And earlier today, police said they believe the attacker was targeting women. It's obvious to detectives that seems to be an area of interest that the offender had focused on women and avoided the men. Australia's Prime Minister laying a floral tribute calling Saturday's attack a horrific act of violence.

Our nation offers our deepest condolences and sympathies to all those who are grieving for someone they have lost. And we send our strength to those who have been injured. And tonight, a black ribbon projected onto the sales of the Sydney Opera House to honor the victims. Molly Hunter, NBC News. All right. Now, our other international headlines and top stories, Global Watch, we start with a deadly cable car accident on Turkey's southern coast. Video shows crews dangling from wires to rescue survivors after a cable car in the resort city of Antalya hit a pole and flew open.

One person was killed, seven others hurt. When they fell to the rocks below, 174 people were initially left stranded in the air overnight, but all have since been brought to safety. And a brawl breaking out during a parliament session in the country of Georgia. Look at this. Television footage shows the leader of the ruling party getting punched in the face by an opposition party member while speaking. The incident sparked fighting among several other lawmakers on the parliament floor. The lawmaker who was punched had been said to reintroduce a controversial bill requiring, organizations that accept funds from abroad to register as foreign agents.

Okay, when we come back live from the WNBA draft, NBC's Stephanie Goscis in Brooklyn tonight as the stars of this year's March Madness punched their tickets to the pros, including, of course, Iowa's Caitlin Clark and LSU's Angel Reese. We're bringing you the moment. The first name was called. That's next. All right, finally tonight, the WNBA draft is officially underway in a historic year for women's basketball. To absolutely no surprise, though, Iowa Hawkeyes superstar,

Caitlin Clark, going first, heading to the Indiana fever. And I'm joined now by NBC Stephanie Goss, who's there right at the draft night in Brooklyn. Stephanie, take it away and tell us about all the excitement. That just happened, right? Yeah, just moments ago, and as you mentioned, not a big surprise, no drum roll needed for that one, but still an amazing moment, Caitlin Clark saying, even right before, she still felt a little bit of anxiety before she was chosen. You know, the WNBA is trying to harness all the excitement around Caitlin Clark and her other players and bring that into the professional league. And there are signs that it may be working. You know, they haven't sold tickets to the draft since 2008. They sold them out in 15 minutes.

This is a dream. This is something I wrote down on a piece of paper when I was in, like, second grade, like, get a basketball scholarship, playing the WMBA. Her record-breaking final season in the NCAA, turbo-charging interest in the women's game. The Indiana fever is first up in the draft. I heard that season tickets are going like blazes in Indiana. Have you heard that rumor? I have heard that rumor. I don't know the exact numbers, but I think they're selling pretty well.

She's just that much fun to watch. Every time you go to take one of those logo threes, I think. to myself, she's never going to make that. And then you don't have confidence in me. No, I mean, I know I should. I should have confidence. But then you do make it. What goes through your mind right before you take that shot?

I think the biggest thing is just confidence. I think sometimes, like I feel like I'm closer to the basket than I really am. She's also unflappable or seems to be, even on Saturday Night Live. Caitlin Clark. Thanks for having me. for poise and skill creating legions of young fans. Who do you want to see? Taylor.

All of the little kids, most of them little girls, who are so inspired to play basketball because of you. What does that mean to you? I think that's like the reason you do it, just to see them scream your name or have your jersey on. That's something that never gets old. The jersey is going to change, but the excitement isn't going anywhere.

And Stephanie joins us again live from outside the draft. So Stephanie, Caitlin's becoming. such a big star over the last few months. Even more so, some of her future NBA counterparts who will be drafted in June, the number one pick in the NBA draft, will likely make over $10 million in his first year. But Caitlin's salary is going to be probably around $76,000. She'll make a lot more money with endorsements. But do we think this is going to change the game now that she's there and hopefully bring up

those salaries for women's basketball players? Yeah, I mean, it's possible, Tom. The top salary right now is about $240,000. So what increases the salaries? More money. The money comes in through media deals and corporate deals. And if you can harness, like I said before, all that enthusiasm in this last season for her in college and bring that to the pros, you might just get salaries on the rise. You know, there are already teams that are playing Caitlin Clark have moved their venues to bigger places because the demand for tickets is going up.

And Stephanie, we only have about 10 seconds. Could you feel the excitement in that room when you were in there? Well, it's terrific. And you have to keep in mind, these young women have worked their entire lives to get to this point. But they are also riding this incredible wave that's exciting for them. But it's exciting for anyone who cares about women's sports. And you see that in their faces. Tom.

Yeah, such a cool chapter. We're looking forward to what the future holds. Thanks so much, Stephanie. We thank you for watching Top Story. Have a great night.