Top Story with Tom Llamas - Monday, April 24, 2023

Episode Date: April 25, 2023

Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson and CNN host Don Lemon part ways with their networks, President Biden finalizes his re-election campaign announcement as new NBC News polling shows voters don't want him to run, more than 16,000 Americans are stranded in war-torn Sudan after the U.S. evacuates its embassy in the capital, a prom night shooting in Texas leaves at least nine teenagers injured, and an economic crisis engulfs Argentina as inflation in the country surpasses 100%.

Tonight star anchors Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon out of a job. The stunning announcements from CNN and Fox News less than an hour apart. Fox parting ways with Carlson effective immediately, despite him being the network's top-rated host, averaging 3 million viewers a night. And CNN and Don Lemon also parting ways following multiple controversies surrounding the morning anchor. Lemon taking a social media to say he was blindsided and fired after appearing on air. But tonight, CNN saying that is not true, the new details behind the surprise departures. Ready to launch, sources confirming to NBC news that President Biden is planning to announce his reelection as early as tomorrow.

But a new poll shows 70% of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, do not want him to run again. So how can his campaign convince voters he's up for the job? And how likely is a 2020 rematch against former President Trump? Stuck in Sudan, an estimated 16,000 American citizens. unable to leave the African nation as two warring generals fight for control of the country. The length, some of them are going to try and escape after the U.S. Embassy and 80 diplomats were evacuated from the war-torn capital in a secret mission over the weekend. The ceasefire just announced that may buy them some more time.

Plus, Argentina's worsening economic crisis, inflation there soaring past 100% for the first time in decades. Many residents now living in poverty. from the country's embattled president. Ed Sheeran on trial, jury selection beginning in New York City. As the British pop star faces allegations, he copied a 1973 hit by Marvin Gay for Sharon's Grammy-winning song, Thinking Out Loud. And dinner in space. The French company preparing to serve up fine dining in the stratosphere, how they're planning to do it, and how much will it cost? You won't believe. Top story starts right now. Hey, good evening.

We begin with that major news shakeup tonight. Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon parting ways with their respective networks. Fox News announcing the departure of their most popular primetime host, sending shockwaves through the media industry, and catching his millions of viewers by complete surprise, after the host closed out his show on Friday, we should mention, saying he would be on air Monday. His departure coming after that massive settlement between Fox News and Dominion voting systems,

where his show was one of several accused of pushing lies that the 2020 election was rigged. He's also reportedly facing a new lawsuit by one of his former producers, Abby Grossberg, who previously sat down, you'll remember, with NBC's Cynthia McFadden in an exclusive and wide-ranging interview. She's accusing Carlson of promoting a hostile and discriminatory work environment, including accusations that sexist and anti-Semitic remarks by producers were commonplace in that Fox newsroom. And about an hour after the Fox announcement, CNN anchor Don Lemon writing on social media that he was fired, despite appearing on air this morning, CNN confirming he will no longer work for the company, but they are disputing his accounts of what happened.

Lemon has also found himself in the middle of multiple controversies. Now, both networks are looking to fill a vacant anchor chair. JETALS straight ahead. Tonight, the cable news world rocked by a massive shake-up of two of America's highest-profile personalities, now off the air. And we'll be back on Monday, in the meantime, have the best weekend. But Tucker Carlson won't be back tonight. Fox News announcing the anchor with Cable's biggest ratings is parting ways with the network. Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have mutually agreed to part ways.

Less than an hour later, CNN morning show anchor Don Lemon broke even more news with a tweet. He'd been fired from CNN, saying in part, I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned. After 17 years at CNN, I would have thought that someone in management would have the decency to tell me directly. CNN News Central starts right after the sprite. Hi, everyone. He had appeared on the show just this morning. CNN, though, later firing back, saying in a tweet, Don Lemon's statement about this morning's

events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management, but instead released a statement on Twitter. The seismic shift in cable news started with tremors over the last few months for both anchors. For Carlson, the departure comes just one week after Fox settled the Dominion defamation lawsuit over election misinformation for more than $787 million. a lawsuit in which Carlson played a key role and was slated to be called to the stand to give testimony before the massive settlement was reached. Tucker, a leading voice in conservative media and a staunch defender of former President Trump. The leaders of the witch hunt are witches. Carlson kept having guests on his show who spread conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, saying votes were stolen from the former president.

When someone put up on the internet, actual machine, new machine election fraud. I retweeted it, and they took my Twitter down. Until exhibits from the Dominion Fox trial suggested his personal views might be different. Texting an undisclosed person, he, quote, truly couldn't wait to ignore Trump most nights. And quote, I hate him passionately. I can't handle much more of this. And from the right of Tucker Carlson, have a great weekend. See you Monday.

Carlson first launched a prominence on CNN's crossfire as a young bow-tied Reagan Republican. After several years at CNN, he moved over to MSNBC, where he hosted a nightly show called Tucker. Welcome back. But his true popularity grew when he moved to Fox, first as an analyst, before launching his own show and skyrocketing to the top of the ratings with 3.5 million viewers a night. A quick programming note on Tuesday will be heading down to the East Coast of Florida to speak to Donald Trump. And a close relationship within President Trump that increased his influence and popularity. In fact, his most recent interview with Trump, just 12 days ago, a huge rating success, drawing 6.7 million viewers, his highest since 2020.

Think of it, Tucker. I've been through seven years of bull-h-hack investigations. Carlson's no-holds-barde opinion style saw him call out countless people in the political and media world, including Don Lemon. The bottom line is, it looks like it's over for Don Lamont. Lemons firing came just nine months after a high-profile. move to revamp CNN's morning show, a major priority for the network's new management team. But just three months into the new show, Lemon said this about presidential candidate, Nikki Haley.

Not in their prime. Nikki Haley is in her prime. Sorry. A woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s. What do you talk? Wait. His co-anchors trying to get him to clarify his comments on the air. Don't shoot the message.

I'm just saying what the facts are. Lemon later tweeting an apology saying, the reference I made to a woman's prime this morning was inartful and irrelevant, as colleagues and loved ones have pointed out, and I regret it. But reports emerged of him having trouble with his co-anchors, and then three weeks ago, an investigative article in variety that alleged misogynous behavior dating back years, including threatening text. Allegations Lemon denied. Lemmon had been at CNN for 17 years, establishing himself as one of TV news's most prominent African-American anchors, but also as a lightning rod. In 2013, telling black people five ways to, quote,

fix the community. Here's number five. Pull up your pants. Suggesting the missing MH370 flight may have disappeared into a black hole. What if it was something fully that we don't really understand. A lot of people have been asking about that about black holes and on and on and on. And while speaking with a Bill Cosby sexual assault survivor, suggesting she could have gotten out of the situation. You know, there are ways not to perform oral sex if you want to do it. Lemon apologized after that interview.

Tonight, two major forces in cable news on opposite ends of the political spectrum, both off the air. For now. All right, with these major media ousters sure to impact the future of TV news, I want to bring in our panel tonight. First up, Variety Senior TV editor, Brian Steinberg,

NBC News contributor Stephen Hayes, and journalists and contributing writer at Buswet, Lindsay Granger. I thank you. you all for being here. Brian, I'm going to start with you. There's some new reporting from the Wall Street Journal tonight on Tucker Carlson. Of course, the Wall Street Journal is owned by Rupert Murdoch, which also owns Fox News. The reporters found, quote, this, Fox took issue, right, with remarks Mr. Carlson made that were derogatory towards the network. People familiar with that matter said. What more have you heard about the reasons for his departure

and how it was connected to the Dominion lawsuit? Our understanding that Rupert Murdoch and the Murdoch family triggered this. This was a decision made at the highest levels of Fox Corporation. The decision has come, you mentioned the Dominion lawsuit. They lost or are paying out more than $780 million. It's no small amount for any corporation. I do think the Murdox see some money at issue, and I think Tucker Carlson was making

some denigrating remarks about the network and people who worked there, and maybe they decided, you know, it's enough. Stephen, you worked at Fox News before you came over to NBC News, and you left in part because of things that Tucker Carlson said and did over there. How surprised are you that Fox News has finally cut ties with, I would argue, their biggest star? Yeah, well, I think the ratings would argue that you're right, Tom.

I'm surprised. I will be honest. I didn't see it coming. I think we've got a lot to learn about exactly what precipitated this mutual parting of ways, if it was, in fact, a mutual parting of ways. There's obviously a lot of reporting that this lawsuit brought by Abby Grossberg and some tapes that she had made may have played a role. It may have forced their hand in some respects.

There's also, as you say, the fallout from Dominion and other claims that Tucker has been saying things to his audience that just aren't true. That is why I left Fox in large part. He produced a documentary called Patriot Purge that suggested that the federal government was going after half of America just the way that the federal government had gone after al-Qaeda. It wasn't true. I think people at Fox knew it wasn't true, and it was allowed to air anyway. There was certainly a lot of internal consternation and disappointment that that special had run on Fox Nation. And other people had raised objections to what was in that documentary and some of the other things that Tucker had said. So this is surprising that it happened and maybe that it happened this way so abruptly.

But there is a long history here leading up to this moment. Steve, you know, but there's huge political implications with this move. I want to put up something else on the screen. This is from Mediite. It's a news website that covers this industry. And it was quoting Steve Bannon on his podcast saying, basically, there's no reason to watch anything on the Murdoch Empire. So essentially, a major break between Fox News, if you will, and the MAGA movement. Yeah, I mean, Steve Bannon, to be fair, has been saying things like this for a while.

His remarks at CPAC earlier this year had similar comments. But no question that I think you're going to have hardcore MAGA movement move to separate even more from Fox. And frankly, those are exactly the kind of headlines that I think led executives at Fox News not to act on Tucker Carlson earlier. When they had, there were real concerns, I think, at the executive level before this. And they didn't act in part because Tucker Carlson was his own man and the things that he did at the network were largely unsupervised. And they did, they let him have that freedom in part because I think they were seeking to avoid exactly the kinds of headlines that you just showed us. us. Lindsay, I want to transition out to Don Lemon and talk about him for a little bit. He'd been at CNN for 17 years. He obviously had some controversies, which we highlighted

in my report, but he also had some acts of strong journalism. He was a good interviewer. He had a huge following, right? What do you think this means for the future of CNN and Don Lemon? Well, I think if we just look at both situations, since they happen within hours of each other today, you know, people are going to decide and companies are going to decide what they want to look like and how they want to define themselves moving forward. And so I think letting go of two of your biggest forward-facing anchors is, you know, something that we haven't seen in a long time in the media industry is a shake-up, and we're going to see how this plays out for CNN and Fox as well. You know, I think that for me, looking at Don Lemon and his statement on CNN and him saying

that he's been there 17 years and was blindsided, you know, CNN obviously rebuts that. It seems to me that even with Fox and Tucker Carlson and New York Times reports that he found out today, just like the rest of us, there has to be some civility in letting someone go in the media industry. And I think even though I understand with Conan O'Brien, when he left the Tonight Show, we saw that he brought a Bugatti on set, and that cost NBC more than a million dollars. And so there are stunts

and things that can happen, you know, that can go waywards. But I do think that's important... I think we're going to get a little lost for Lizzie. About Don Lemon, though, in particular, I mean, I mean, you're a woman. You saw what he said about Nikki Haley. I mean, at that point, was that a point of no return, or do you think you could have apologized and moved on? Well, I think a lot of people were pining

for him to apologize and move on. I think in that space, Nikki Haley is a woman. And so she's running for president. And by all means, that's not the conversation that we were ever having about Donald Trump. So obviously, that's a real issue that women had at the network. Many women came forward saying that they were uncomfortable with that statement. However, I do think that Don Lemon has been someone who committed, like I said, 17 years, which is why I said I'd like to see the civility come back into losing your job

or leaving a network and being able to leave and say goodbye. You think CNN shouldn't have fired him? No, I think that they should have gave me the opportunity to at least have his last show. I think it's a difference in how you leave and what the plan is the way forward. But I think with both cases, we saw that they had one day and it's kind of gone tomorrow, here today, going tomorrow. You said on Friday, Tucker said he'd be back Monday and he wasn't. Brian, what does this mean for TV news? I mean, we've had such a tumultuous five years.

Every network has seen a major anchor, a major executive. We'll actually have more on that later on our show. But people are leaving TV news that had monster followings and monster ratings. And it's strange because if you look at sort of the evening news stars from prior years from the 80s and 90s, even in cable news, be network or cable news. We didn't really see these shakeups. What's happened to our industry? I think there's a sense that being provocative in the news arena is a little dangerous all of a sudden. Look, people are moving from live TV viewing to streaming. And what gets live audiences, news and sports. Large audiences drive advertising, drive cable subscriptions and

programming fees. To lose large live audiences, it's a danger now. So when you have a provocative you know, opinion person, ranting on primetime TV or morning TV, all of a sudden it's not as safe as it once was. The way to generate big ratings, they may harm your business in other ways. Stephen, on that point, do you think Tucker Carlson changed because he believed everything he was broadcasting, and we have reason to believe he did not through some of his texts?

But when Tucker Carlson sort of became part of mainstream media, he was that conservative, he was wearing the bow tie, he was making intelligent conservative arguments for the right on CNN. And then I've talked to people who've known Tucker for a long time, and they were sort of surprised at his change. He sort of filled that void that was left by Bill O'Reilly when he left the network. Yeah, and then took it much further. Look, I think Tucker's a showman, and a talented one. I think he was good at what he did if you don't care that much about telling the truth.

And I think that was a big part of the problem. I mean, I hope Brian is right. I hope that provocation for the sake of provocation doesn't have the kind of audience we've seen it have over the past decade. And I hope that at a bare minimum, we have people who are dedicated to telling the truth and not misleading their audience in order to keep their audience. But I think Tucker was a showman. I think, you know, he often said things in order to be provocative in order to get attention. And these are things that we learned through the Dominion discovery process in several cases. He just didn't believe.

I think those people who have known Tucker well for years, and I know a lot of them, think he just lost his way. He was making arguments he didn't believe in order to get attention, and it was ultimately pretty damaging. Lindsay, on Don Lemon, do you think it's fair what happened to Don? And I say this because Don was celebrated under a prior administration, prior management at CNN, for being who he was, for speaking his mind, and saying what he believed. And then when new management came in, they wanted to move away from that, right? They wanted to move back towards the middle. They put him on the morning. He was a successful late-night personality.

Do you think in some ways they possibly set him up for failure? Well, looking at Don's journey. You know, he came into CNN, and a couple years later, released his book. He came out. It was one of the first public national news anchors that let everyone know he was gay in his memoir. And then also shared that on his network and became and stepped into more of himself. We saw him doing New Year's Eve events and things like that. And then he also had his news show.

And I think they allowed him, especially during the pandemic, to lean all the way into who he was. And so with that, when you have new management and then they move you to a morning show where morning people, people are getting their kids ready for school, having a coffee and want to relax. Don Lemon was kind of jarring in that position. and everyone didn't really understand that placement. And so I think when you put him there, that is setting him out for failure. So to leave, I don't think a lot of people were surprised, but it's unfortunate, like I said, with 17 years in the game somewhere, you just want a proper goodbye.

Shot of bourbon with your Cheerios. It doesn't always go well. That doesn't go well. Brian, what do you think about that? Was Don Lemon in some ways? I mean, look, I'm not defending the things he ever said, but what I am saying is was he set up for failure by being moved to the morning show

when he had such a big sort of personality that he just kind of said what he thought. He followed Don's trajectory. Don was about to do a live talk show for CNN Plus, the streaming site. Clearly, I think Don is long that wanted to do somebody he's poking in cultural debates, you know, being a little more provocative and controversial. I think he's long tried to do these kind of things. I don't think the morning was where he wanted to go. And I think he found it. Morning is a more sacrosan place, not a place to kind of shake things up. It's a tender time of day.

Any anchor will tell you. The audience kind of warms you slowly as they're getting up. personal kind of experience. So Mourner is going to be a very different place to maneuver, and three different personalities coming into the area for the first time over at CNN, needed a little more handholding and guidance. The New York Times is reporting that a recent interview Don Lemon did on CNN is what was sort of the final straw. I want to play that for our viewers now. Let's take a listen. I think we should be able to express our views regardless of the color of our skin. We should have this debate. I'm not saying you should express your views,

but I think it's insulting that you're regarding you as a fellow citizen. That's what I think we should see. whatever ethnicity you are explaining to me. Whatever ethnicity I'm I'll tell you what I am. I'm in Indian American. I'm proud of it. But I think we should have this debate. Black, white, doesn't matter. I think we should have this debate on the content of the ideas. If you're going to do it, you should do it in an honest way and in a fair way. And what you're doing is not an honest and fair way. Lindsay, you know, it was interesting. I saw this exchange. And I'll be honest with you. I think Don was asked for his opinion in that exchange. He gave his opinion. He was speaking for a lot of people maybe in America at the time.

I thought it added to the conversation. I thought it made for a good TV moment. I was confused that CNN was upset for that, because in that debate, you would want somebody who is African-American, speaking on behalf of African-Americans. I get he's a news anchor, but he's also part of this larger conversation. What were your thoughts? Well, I think his role changed when he went to the mornings. Like we said, it's a daytime arena, and we understand what that looks like, especially

you haven't been in nightly news so long, and me haven't worked on a daytime talk show. I understand what the parameters around those things are. And so when you're there, nobody wants to see people really sparring over politics first thing in the morning. And if you're going to have a conversation, let it be calm and relax. And so also the guest booking and all that stuff, that's something to consider when you know that the anchor from primetime that is specifically known for this type of conversation is in daytime, you know, where it's going to go. And so I think you even saw his colleague get a little uncomfortable, grab her phone and start texting a little because that's not the nature of what the show is intended to be. Yeah, Stephen, you know, you could look at all this and you can look at journalism in America and sort of start. started with the Trump campaign taking off and the coverage of President Trump and how that sort of changed American journalism.

And I think what happened to a lot of people, it happened, I think, both to Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon, is even though they were sort of always on one position, I think it got to a point where people were rooting for that sort of opinionated journalism. And in some cases, people wanted to come back to center or at least come back to reality. And it sort of caught them both off guard. Yeah, look, I like opinion journalism. I think there's nothing wrong with opinion journalism. In fact, I think sometimes the best journalism in America is opinion journalism, but it can't be opinion journalism untethered from facts. You have to start with the facts. You have to make your case with the facts.

We have to basically have some agreement about what the facts are, and then we can have a big fight about how to interpret them or what policies should flow from them. I think what got some people in trouble was just sort of setting aside the facts in order to make their case, or not even stopping to consider what the facts might be. Look, it's hard to work in television, right? I mean, I think any of us who've worked in television, you have these moments where you think, I hope I don't say something stupid in the heat of a moment that I know I'll regret, and maybe I didn't mean, and it causes me to lose my job or end my career. So in that sense, you have to be sympathetic for people who have just stepped in the wrong place or said the wrong thing. I don't know that that's what happened here.

I mean, it certainly sounds like with Tucker, again, a lot more to learn here, we can point to things that he said and did that were dishonest. With Don Lemon, I think, there's a pattern here. There's a history. And that's a little bit different than somebody having a bad day and saying the wrong thing. Stephen Hayes, Lindsay Granger, Brian Steinberg. We appreciate your time and all your analysis here on Top Story tonight. We have more media news tonight. NBC News Now's parent company, NBC Universal is also dealing with a sudden departure.

CEO Jeff Shell announcing Sunday he is resigning after disclosing what he called an inappropriate relationship with an employee, which he says he, quote, deeply regrets. Comcast confirming the news saying he was out effective. immediately after an investigation found inappropriate conduct. But in a statement, the lawyer for CNBC anchor Hadley Gamble, the reporter accuser in this case, says, quote, the investigation to Mr. Shell arose from a complaint by my client of sexual harassment and sex discrimination.

Neither Shell nor Comcasts have responded to that statement. Okay, we want to turn out of some political news. In Washington, President Biden said to announce his campaign for re-election as early as tomorrow. This comes as new NBC News polling find some troubling numbers for Biden. and some mixed results, his potential Republican rematch challenger, former President Donald Trump, is facing. NBC's Kristen Welker, breaks it down for us.

Tonight, President Biden's team putting last-minute touches on his re-election announcement. Expected as soon as tomorrow, three sources familiar with the planning tell NBC News. It's expected to come in a pre-taped video message. Part of it filmed last weekend at the president's Delaware Beach home. The president was asked about it today. He's likely to tout progress on jobs and infrastructure, with sources saying a key theme of the video will be to finish the job. But our new NBC News poll shows only 41% of Americans approve of Mr. Biden's job performance, 54% disapprove. And on the eve of his potential announcement, 70% of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, say they don't want Mr. Biden to run again.

48% of them citing his age as a major factor. Mr. Biden is 80 years old. After the midterms, we asked the president about polls saying a majority of Americans don't want him to run for re-election. How does that factor into your final decision about whether or not to run for re-election? It doesn't. What's your message to them? Watch me. All of it sets up a potential epic rematch between President Biden and his predecessor, former President Trump.

Our polls showing 60% of Americans do not want Mr. Trump to run either, though his support only growing among GOP voters after his recent indictment. 68% of Republicans say the charges were politically motivated and Republicans must support him. 26% want a candidate who will not be distracted and can beat Mr. Biden. Kristen joins us tonight from the White House. So, Kristen, what do we know about Biden's 2024 campaign manager? Well, Tom, according to two sources familiar with the planning, NBC, who tell NBC news, the president is expected to pick Julie Chavez Rodriguez to lead his campaign.

She's a top advisor here at the White House. She's also the granddaughter of labor leader Caesar Chavez. She was on Vice President Harris's 2020 presidential campaign when she was a candidate and was eventually hired by Mr. Biden's campaign as deputy campaign manager and senior advisor to Latino outreach. Now, she would be the first Latina to run away. winning presidential campaign if Mr. Biden is reelected, Tom. Yeah, important as Democrats try to shore up more Latino voters this time around. And Kristen, last week you broke the news he was going to announce early this week, right?

But on that same day, there was also big news about the Hunter Biden investigation. I'm curious, how much has the White House, or I should say, the election team, the re-election team, prepared for news coming out about Hunter Biden while the president is trying to make his case for reelection? They're certainly bracing for it, Tom. But look, his top advisors insist the development surrounding Hunter will not impact the timing of when he announces he's running for re-election. And just taking a step back, Tom, this investigation has loomed large over the president's entire first term. So this is something that they have really been bracing for and have been grappling with for quite some time.

Now, as for the president, again, and this is important, sources stress, nothing is finalized until Mr. Biden announces it himself, Tom. All right, Kristen, welcome for us tonight. Kristen, thank you. And like Kristen mentioned, a new NBC News poll had some alarming numbers relating to President Biden's approval rating in a 2024-24 presidential run. We have an expert political panel to break down those numbers as well as the state of what Republican voters are thinking. I want to bring in first NBC news political contributor and analyst Matt Dowd, Democratic strategist and former advisor to the Obama administration, Amisha Cross, and Republican strategist and MSNBC political analyst, Susan Del Persu. I thank you all for joining us tonight. Matt, I want to jump it right with you. You are our polling guru.

What do you think about President Biden? Kristen mentioned in her package about 70% of Americans not wanting Biden to run, including 51% of Democrats. Can he bounce back from that? Well, you know, this is an example of polling data that is interesting but is meaningless in the course of this. Because, I mean, and we ask it a lot. Like the right track, wrong track question, I don't know why we continue to ask right track wrong track. It doesn't matter. Voters vote.

they've disconnected from that. This question is, it's as if we're going to think there's a world that doesn't exist as a way it is. Joe Biden is going to be the Democratic nominee, and Donald Trump, in my view, is likely to be the Republican nominee, so it's going to be a choice election in this. I think the only thing about Joe Biden is, as all candidates, they have to be cognizant of their vulnerabilities. This is a vulnerability that he has to just be cognizant of, which means he's going to have to go out of his way to answer that and show, capability, show energy, show all those things that sort of confront this. But on its own, it doesn't tell us anything about whether or not somebody's vulnerable. These two candidates,

Donald Trump and Joe Biden, are going to be the nominees. So the question, as I said, while interesting, is meaningless. Okay. But for the purposes of this segment, and regardless of what you say, Matt, and I do respect you, if I'm a candidate for office, 70% of the country asking me not to run, I would be a little concerned. And with that, I want to bring in Amisha, Biden's announcement for president comes at a time when his approval rating also struggling, we should mention. We can put it up here. Only 41% say they approve of the job Joe Biden is doing in office. Are Democrats concerned at all, or do these kind of numbers not matter because Joe Biden will be running for re-election no matter what?

These kind of numbers don't really matter, one, because of the timing of the election. We're looking at numbers a year and a half out of the election. This is a president who, when he ran in the Democratic primary around this time, also, had really, really bad numbers. I think that for Joe Biden, there is the memory of people continue to underestimate him. They've done it his entire career. He has always risen above. He has always showcased his strength. He has made historic investments in infrastructure. He's made historic investments in early childhood. He's made historic investments in the Chips Act, bringing jobs back to America, developing our economy from the middle out and from the bottom

up. This is a president who is someone who has a record to run on and a record, quite frankly, extremely impressive. I don't think he has anything to worry about. And the black, brown coalitions, the younger voters, they will come out in support of Joe Biden no matter what. I think Democrats are worried about one thing, and I'm going to bring this question to Susan. Susan, even though the president may have a difficult time, the Republican Party is also struggling to put a head up against a front order like Donald Trump. Only 5% of people polled said both candidates should run for office, right, with most people saying neither should run. So my thing is, I actually think there is a lane for Governor Ron DeSantis, right?

And again, he's double digits behind former President Trump in our poll. But if people don't like President Biden and they don't like former President Trump, to me that's the argument if I'm a Ron DeSantis to voters. Maybe. And the reason I say that is because Ron DeSantis will still be running as a Republican who recently signed a six-week abortion ban after six weeks. He has gone more and more conservative to try and win a primary. That does not make him a candidate to beat Joe Biden if he is that bad on really important issues.

I think we've talked about this before. Right now, Ron DeSantis stands at 61 disapproval with independent women in Florida. That is a no-go. Now, when we look at this survey, I think Matt made a really good point. It's a great question, but how relative is it? Once Joe Biden is the nominee or the candidate officially. Yeah, there's no turning back. Then that's it.

And that's what this announcement coming up, maybe tomorrow or later this week, is all about it, is to put rumors to rest, to make him a candidate and let's go forward. I don't think we're going to see something drastically different from Joe Biden. Are there any Republicans you like that you think will have a chance that could maybe surprises? Those are two different things. Who I like, yes, who I have a chance, probably not. But that's not to say, and I still think that there's enough time for Donald Trump to really blow up by the end of the year, and Ron DeSantis to be deemed not a viable, winnable candidate for Republicans,

that maybe there's someone else that can show up that we don't know about it. It could be the mayor of Miami. There's a lot of different things that can happen, and that's what politics is about. Otherwise, the Republicans lose. Mayor Suarez may be happy to hear that. that take. Matt, I want to go back to you. Let's talk about the realities that we know as they are right now, and let's talk about Ron DeSantis and where his polling numbers have been so far. If you were advising Governor DeSantis right now, Matt, what would you tell him? Because you could

make the argument, maybe he peaked too early, or maybe he hasn't peaked at all yet, and there's still a lot of time. Well, first, if he could not be himself, that would be the first start. Okay, pretend like you're working for him, Matt. Don't pretend like you don't like you don't like him, Okay? No, no. I'm just saying his problem, he's got a name ID problem, which is as people get to know him, they dislike them. That's a problem for a candidate running for President of the United States. If I were given advice, what I think they've done is made a classic, classic error. They thought they could act like they were running for president, not run and get in later in this. The problem with Donald Trump is Donald Trump doesn't wait for anything. And so what he's done is he's left this vacuum of time for Donald Trump to push back to find him, and he's not pushing back on Donald Trump. If he wants to run, he needs to decide quickly, and he needs to full front confront Donald Trump. If he's going to play this game where he leaves open this opportunity, Donald Trump will step in and wreck the furniture, and Ron DeSantis is part of the furniture unless he gets in the race. That's the problem for Ron DeSantis.

He's picked the wrong strategy because Donald Trump will define him before he even gets off the ground. Amisha, I think it was very telling that President Biden is going to pick a Latina to run his campaign. had huge problems with Latino voters, both in the 2020 election, the midterms, and polling lately also shows they're still having some trouble. What do you think this means for the campaign, and you think they're just taking no chances when it comes to Latino voters? They're definitely taking no chances, but they're also choosing someone that Joe Biden believes in.

Yes, this is demographically interesting. Yes, it's going to raise a level of awareness, but let's not forget that this is a woman who they've trusted for a long time. And also bring that voice to the room, right? A seat at the table and a voice there, somebody who's worked in Latino. voters. Oh, absolutely. That was going to be my next point. Historically, she has been so strong in not only building Latino constituencies, but also working in progressivism, also making sure that the activist voice is heard. She is someone who, this administration absolutely trust,

and someone who has a longstanding throughout the Democratic Party. So yes, there is the Latino push. Obviously, those voters really do matter. And demographically speaking, depending on their country of origin. We do see those systemic shifts. But I do think that we're walking into another era of public policy, another era of politics, where all is not lost and the Democratic Party does not want to give up the Latino vote. The Democratic Party is not ceding the Latino vote. And they're going to fight for it come 2024. Susan, going back to Republicans, this is sort of out of nowhere, but I still think it's important. When I talked to Republican voters after the 2020 election, the people who I'd covered in 2016 when I covered the Trump campaign, going back to those voters asking them if they were still going to

stick with Donald Trump. Almost several I talked to said they were ready to move on from Donald Trump. And two names I kept hearing over and over again were Governor Ron DeSantis and Tucker Carlson. Do you think there's any scenario in the world where we see Tucker Carlson leave Fox News and enter the race for president? Well, he didn't just leave Fox News. He was fired from Fox News. And we don't know exactly why, but that could be part of the reason why he ends up not running

for anything and just hiding behind, you know, a podcaster. He has a massive following, though. I would say next to President Trump made me the biggest fall. He does, but we don't know what happened. And that could be the problem for Tucker from going forward in anything. We shall wait and see. Susan, Amisha, Matt Dow, we thank you all for joining Top Story tonight. We went to head overseas now to the escalating crisis in Sudan.

More than 16,000 Americans stranded in a war zone as two rival generals battle for control of the country. But a newly announced 72-hour ceasefire sparking hope those trapped by the fighting will soon be able to leave. Richard Engel has this story. Late word tonight of a 72-hour ceasefire, another attempt to stop Sudan from spiraling into civil war. As two rival generals battle for control, leaving more than 16,000 Americans, many of them dual Sudanese nationals, stranded in the war zone. There are no U.S. plans for a mass rescue mission.

The U.S. Embassy is urging people to shelter in place or find safety, if they can, at their own risk. We've continued to be in close communication with U.S. citizens and individuals affiliated with the U.S. government to provide assistance. In Khartoum, running battles have cut the power and water. The airport where fighting has been intense is closed. So this weekend, President Biden authorized a secret rescue mission to evacuate the American embassy. Helicopters flew 800 miles from Djibouti landing on the embassy grounds after midnight Sunday. Three Chinook helicopters rescued about 80 government employees. and their families. Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the U.K., and others have managed to run flights

to airlift their citizens and some Americans. But thousands of Americans remain. Mohamed Ahmed Ahmed is trying to escape to Egypt by bus. His family back in Iowa is nervous, saying ticket prices are skyrocketing. I just wish that our federal government would we consider helping citizens. It isn't right to leave them behind like this. American travel writer Lakshmi Parsarati managed to send us this video from the Capitol. So I'm not feeling too great about the help that I've received from the embassy at the moment. So I am just preparing to go it alone and figure out how I can get myself to safety. Tom, it is too early for optimism.

This ceasefire deal was announced by the United States, so there is a degree of American involvement, which is seen as positive in Sudan, a sign of international engagement. But there was another ceasefire just this past weekend, and it didn't hold. Richard Engel for us tonight. Richard, thank you. Still ahead tonight, back here at home, the prom night shooting. Gunfire erupting at another party filled with teenagers.

At least nine people shot what were learning about the search for suspects. Plus the massive warehouse fire in Philadelphia, thick black smoke covering the city for hours. Is there a health risk for residents? And Ed Shearing on trial, the jury seated today to decide whether or not the pop star copied a hit Marvin Gay's song. Stay with us. Top story, just getting started. We're back down with a horrific prom night shooting. Nine teens in Texas shot over the weekend at a post-prong party. And today a new poll shows that over 40% of teenagers fear they could be the victim of gun violence.

Our Priscilla Thompson has this report. Teens forced to trade prom dresses and tuxedos for hospital gowns after nine were shot at a prom night after party. It was supposed to be the most wonderful night of these kids' lives, greatly affected them. And it'll be something they never forget, you know, unfortunately not in a positive way. The victims, ages 15 to 19, are all expected to survive, the sheriff says. Officials say three remain hospitalized. Investigators say around 250 teens were at a Saturday night party in Jasper, Texas, when chaos erupted. I seen the pop it makes a bright light and I seen it popped and I fell.

Jasper High School senior Madeline Collins hit the floor as gunshots rang out. Then she heard the cries of her cousin. She was on the ground with a gunshot wound and all I can hear was her screaming my name and saying, Maddie, please help, help, help. No arrests have been made, but police are interviewing persons of interest. They say cars seen at the party were involved in a shooting later that night. and the two incidents may be connected. This, just the latest incident of bullets shattering the innocence of a high school right of passage.

A new poll out today finds nearly half of young Americans have felt unsafe in the past month, and 40% worry they'll be a victim of gun violence. Oh my God. The violence in Texas erupted exactly one week after a shooting at a Sweet 16 birthday party in Alabama, left four dead and dozens. injured. Six people have now been arrested and charged with reckless murder. Today, the

birthday girl's brother, 18-year-old Phil Stavius Dowdell, was laid to rest. His sister and mother still grappling with their loss. Why would they come there to our latest sweet 16 and run our party and give her memories around our birthday that we won't never forget. Her birthday on the 14 and feel got kept on the 15th. They're going to be very hard. Back in Texas, some teens nearly caught in the crossfire. I'm lucky. I'm like really lucky. And the people who got shot but still is alive is very lucky. Priscilla Thompson joins us now live.

Priscilla, investigators are interviewing persons of interest, but still asking the public to come forward with information. What exactly are they looking for? Yeah, Tom, the sheriff's office tells me that they're looking for anyone who may have photo or videos from the actual party. or from the aftermath of that shooting to come forward with that information. They say that the investigation has been very active today, and they are hoping to hold a press conference tomorrow

to announce new developments in the case. Tom? Okay, Priscilla, we thank you for that. When we come back, another shooting impacting young people this time on a college campus. The community college in Oklahoma placed on lockdown and at least one student killed, the police are saying about this terrifying incident. All right, we're back down with Top Stories News Feeding. We begin with the deadly shooting at a community college in Oklahoma.

Officials say one person has died after a suspect opened fire on Rose State's campus just outside of Oklahoma City. Campus buildings were on lockdown until police were able to track down the shooter and take them into custody. Authorities believe the victim and the suspect knew each other and that this was an isolated incident. The investigation is underway into a massive three-alarm warehouse fire infillity. Philadelphia. Aerial footage shows thick black smoke billowing into the air. The building engulfed in flames with several tractor trailers also burning. One person was hurt, but they are expected to be okay. A shelter-in-place order has been lifted, and the city's Department of Public Health is monitoring that air quality there, but say there is no risk at this time. And the U.S. copyright trial against

Ed Sheeran began in Manhattan Federal Court. The family of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote Marvin Gay's 19703 classic. Let's Get It On, has a huge shearing of copying parts of the song for his Grammy-winning hit, Thinking Out Loud. The British pop star who has denied the allegations expected to testify during the trial. All right, we turn out of the Americas and Argentina going through its worst economic crisis in more than three decades. Prices of goods literally doubling since this time last year, annual inflation over 100%. And with the country's presidential elections coming up later this year, the current president, Howling out of the race, Juan vanegas has more.

An economic crisis worsening by the day. Argentina becoming unaffordable for essentially its whole population, suffering 104% annual inflation, according to its official statistics agency. A lot of people in need, people in the streets, and a need for more jobs, said this man, as his country holds the unsettling place of second worse inflation in Latin America only behind Venezuela, the economic crisis leading to a political upheaval. On Friday, President Alberto Fernandez sharing this video,

informing the country he will not run for re-election, admitting Argentina is facing tough times. My administration took over a country in debt in recession, in default with high levels of poverty and inflation, said Fernandez, also blaming the COVID pandemic for some of the economic shortcomings. But the move opening up a political vacuum of sorts. His vice president, Christina Fernandez de Kiersner, found guilty of corruption, which she denies, also says she's not running.

Neither is center-right opposition party leader and former president Mauricio Makri. As the country's leaders step back in the streets, people urging the government for help. I have zero capacity to save, compared to last year what I could have saved dropped by 60 70% said this woman, adding the inflation in Argentina feels like never before. But currency instability is a long-standing stain on the country. The last time Argentina saw inflation over 100% back in 1991, when restaurants lined their walls with worthless bills and shop owners closed in protest. Now, workers taking to the streets again. Demonstrating against poor living conditions and a country borrowing $44 billion last year from the International Monetary Fund.

In the case of the comedoreers, for example, the soya-bacia-bacied by the inflation and for the decision political of this government, to not enter the food as part of the reduction of the gas social to pay the fund monetary international. Economic experts say if the government is spending more than it collects in taxes, there are only two solutions. Either they print money that creates inflation or they collect, they issue new debt. This government totally destroyed the possibility of issuing new debt. So they have to finance primarily by printing money.

We're seeing the crisis, a drought making soy, corn, and grain scarce. When those things seminaling, in a proportion, a basis in the animals, the country preparing for a presidential election this fall in hopes that someone can save Argentina from its own economy. And with that, Guad vanegas joins us tonight from Miami. So Guad, across Latin America, voters are turning left in major elections, right? We've seen it in Colombia, in Brazil. What's expected to happen in Argentina with that election coming up? Well, Tom, in Argentina, we have three main political parties, right? We have the left-wing union, which is the one the president belongs to. Then we also have the center-right party and the far-right now. So,

So far, the polls have seen a dramatic increase in support for the right-wing party this year, while the center-right party and the left have both lost ground. So the race appears to be tighter and tighter. All three parties are within just a few points. And, of course, some of the most prominent candidates are stepping away from the campaign right now, so it doesn't look to be mirroring the rest of Latin America right now with that move to the left. Things should get interesting as we move closer and closer to the election in October, Tom.

All right, Guadvinagus, with a very important story. out of that region for us. Coming up on Global Watch, police racing to catch drug smugglers in a high-speed chase on water. The video is incredible. All caught on camera. As the boat slams onto the shore,

we'll have the heart-stopping moment. Plus, dining out of this world, literally, imagine eating a meal on the edge of space. Well, French company is designing space balloons with luxury cuisine. You won't believe, though, how much it's going to cost.

That's all coming up. Time now for Top Store. global watch. And we start in Jerusalem with a car ramming attack. Israeli police say a Palestinian man drove his car into a crowd at a popular market in what authorities are calling a terror attack. At least five people hurt. Police say the driver was shot and killed bystander. The violent attack comes hours after Israeli troops killed the Palestinian teenager during a raid in the West Bank. A high-speed chase with suspected drug smugglers caught on camera in Spain. Take a look. Spanish police releasing this aerial footage showing authorities trying to catch

a speeding boat off the coast of Mallorca. The boat then driving onto shore with police then chasing the suspects on foot through a tourist-packed beach and into the coastal city. At least three people arrested and more than a ton of hashish seized, authorities say the boat came from North Africa.

And a sunken World War II ship found off the coast of the Philippines. Researchers announcing they've located the wreck of the Montevideo Maru, a Japanese ship that once carried more than a thousand allied prisoners of war, primarily Australians. The team used sonar technology to find the ship at a depth of more than 13,000 feet deeper than the Titanic.

There are no plans, though, to remove any artifacts or remains from that wreck. And are you looking for a new dinner spot? What about the edge of space? French company Zivalto is planning to bring diners 15 miles into the stratosphere, starting in 2025. The company, along with aerospace engineers, designed a luxury space balloon. This is sort of a mocked up version here. it'll be filled with either helium or hydrogen. Once it reaches peak altitude about three times higher than a commercial plane,

diners can enjoy French cuisine and drinks for three hours. So how much does all this cost? Well, the entire trip will be about six hours, and it will cost $132,000 per person. There will only be 60 flights a year, taking six passengers at a time. Pretty big meal ticket there. All right, coming up, artificial intelligence, helping the blind. A new AI tool giving those who have lost sight a new independence they didn't think was possible.

That's next. Welcome back. All year we've been reporting on the AI revolution happening across the world. There's been lots of speculation about both the promise and peril of artificial intelligence. Tonight, a new story. This one on how it's helping a visually impaired comedian better navigate the world. Tonight, Ellison Barber has more on this trailblazing technology. It's weird when the dog knows more people. than you. New York comedian Brian Fishler lost his vision nearly 15 years ago due to a progressive retinal disease. Good boy. Wesley, his guide dog, helps him navigate the world around him.

Where is the shampoo? But now another helper, right at Brian's fingertips. The shampoo is located on the bottom shelf towards the last side of the picture. Brian is one of about 100 people beta testing the new AI-infused, be my eyes. Do you feel like you have a bit of your independence back with it? Absolutely. Absolutely. It's very empowering. Since 2015, Be My Eyes has connected blind or low-vision users with sighted volunteers who through video calls verbally describe what the user is facing. I don't mind asking for sighted help, but it drives me absolutely bonkers. Now, he may not need to. The new AI tool in Be My Eyes is powered through GPT4. Like in exchange with an actual person, Brian can take a picture with his phone and follow up with the call. question. What's in my refrigerator? Within seconds, he gets an answer from the virtual assistant,

which Brian has programmed to speak at a rapid pace. We slowed the audio down for clarity. I can see that there are several items in your refrigerator, such as a parts of milk, almond milk, soda cans, the water filter pitcher, homis, and various packaged foods. So what makes it different for you versus having a cited volunteer? Privacy. You know, a cited volunteer, there are certain things you don't necessarily want them to help you with. I hope we can launch this into the world in a couple of months, but we're going to make sure that it's working really well and that it's safe and effective. Mike Buckley is the CEO of Be My Eyes.

Why change something that's working? Why replace people with robots? What do you say to that? Because it's what our community wants. There are some people who may not want to call a person. I talked to a woman who said, I didn't want to call a volunteer today because my kitchen was messy. Be My Eyes Human Volunteers will remain just a click away, and the virtual assistant, just like the app currently, will be free to individuals who use it.

For Brian, the AI is now key to everything from picking out clothes to finding building numbers. Please wait. Virtual Volunteer is writing a message to deciphering a menu. Alpine hoppers, $8.95. Serve with Cajunatch, chicken dumplings, $8.95. Serve with a terriaki dipping sauce. What is this? As one of more than 250 million people in the world with vision impairment, Brian says the tool he's testing is simply. Life-altering. Having this kind of information in the palm of my hand, it's just going to change so many things. Ellison Barber, NBC News, Queens, New York.

We thank Ellison for that story, and we thank you for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamerson, New York. Stay right there. More news on the way. You know,