Top Story with Tom Llamas - Monday, August 17, 2026

Episode Date: August 18, 2026

Tonight's Top Story has the latest breaking news, political headlines, news from overseas and the best NBC News reporting from across the country and around the world Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tonight, new details in the sudden and tragic death of actress Hayden Panetteer, the 911 call for the Heroes in Nashville star reporting she went into cardiac arrest. First responders working to revive the 36-year-old at a South Carolina apartment. The tributes pouring in for the actress who was so public about her battles with substance abuse and postpartum depression. Breaking tonight, emergency on the runway in American Airlines plane blowing its tires while landing at Chicago O'Hare. Lightning strike explosion tanks at an oil facility in Oklahoma igniting into a ball of fire. Plus the flooding disaster in the Midwest wiping out bridges and ripping roads apart. Tupac Shakur's murder trial now begins 30 years after the rapper's death. The videos played in court of a fight just before the shooting.

The evidence prosecutors presented that this man is behind the killing. Fraternity cocaine ring? the biggest bust accusing current and former Penn State students of running a drug trafficking scheme, making pledges cut and package cocaine. Switched at birth, two mothers speaking out after discovering their sons were swapped at the hospital when they were babies, why it took nearly 40 years for them to realize what happened. Jellyfish swarming several East Coast beaches will tell you where they are and why they're invading the coast. Plus, murders in Baltimore are dropping at an unprecedented rate.

The mayor joins us live to talk about the major shift happening in his city. Top story starts right now. And good evening. We begin with new details in that shocking death of Hayden Panetteer. The actress who grew up in front of the eyes of America found dead at just 36 years old. And tonight we are learning more about her final moments. The Nashville star found unresponsive in her Greenville, South Carolina home yesterday. Paramedics rushing to the scene after a 911 call reported a woman in cardiac arrest.

And these photos obtained by TMZ show ambulances outside Panetteer's apartment complex. Officials say first responders tried life-saving efforts, but she was pronounced dead on the scene. The cause of her death, though, is still under investigation. Dispatch audio referenced a possible overdose. For decades, she was a mainstay on our screen, starting at just 11 months old in commercials and soap operas, and then her breakout role and remember the Titans alongside Denzel Washington, going on to star an Ice Prince. NBC's heroes and Nashville.

But her adult life plagued by addiction, grief and postpartum depression. She eventually gave up custody of her only daughter to seek treatment. Those struggles in the alleged abuse she faced as a child actress detailed in her memoir, This Is Me, A Reckoning, released just this year. And tonight tributes have been pouring in for those who shared the screen with her. Our Steve Patterson leads us off with more. Tonight, Hollywood reeling from the shocking death of actress Hayden Panettiere.

Sunday afternoon, paramedics rushing to this apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina, after a 911 call reporting a woman in cardiac arrest. Dispatch audio from the emergency response referencing a possible overdose. Overdose. CPR's in progress. The 36-year-old actress pronounced dead on scene. These photos obtained by TMZ showing multiple ambulances outside the building, a neighbor describing the scene. Just a bunch of commotion in the hallway and I had just heard about someone collapsing.

The Greenville Coroner's Office telling NBC News, first responders initiated life support measures, but were unsuccessful. For more than three decades, fans of Penitier watched her grow up on screen. When someone gets snuck, it's hard not to try one. From her first commercials to starring in soap operas, followed by that precocious breakout role and remember the Titans. Oh, come on. That was such a bad car. Then in 2006, Penitier became a household name. I'll be okay.

Starring in the hit NBC show, Heroes. My name is Claire Bennett. Later, playing an ambitious young country star on Nashville, earning two Golden Globe nominations. Her personal life also made headlines. In recent months, Panettiere opening up about her mental health while promoting her memoir, including her decision to give her former partner full custody of their young daughter.

I was struggling with mental health and anxiety and the postpartum and having to act my way through it and just feeling like I completely lost myself. Nashville co-star Connie Britton, remembering Panetteer tonight. I have no words for this sad song, just heartbreak. A star beloved by Milligan's now gone far too soon. I feel like I have a lot more life to live. Steve Patterson joins us now live from L.A. Steve, you know, you feel for her fans and her family and all of her friends out there.

We understand an autopsy was completed today? Yeah, an initial autopsy, Tom, the coroner revealing there were no signs of trauma that would have contributed to the star's death and that the official cause, of course, still under investigation at this point. Tom. Okay, Steve Patterson, leaving us off here. Steve, we thank you for that.

For more on this, I want to bring in Dina Gavis. She's a New York Times contributor who interviewed and profiled Hayden Panetteer just a few months ago ahead of the release of her memoir. Dina, thanks so much for joining Top Story. I got to tell you, I read your interview and the last quote froze me. I just could not believe it. I want to put it up on the screen for our viewers. Here's what she said. This is the last thing she's told you, at least in the story.

I just can't believe I made it through alive, she said. She was still pacing, talking about how she was doing the interview. with you. When you read that back or when you thought of that, what did you think today? It's just, it's so sad. And, you know, I got a lot of tech. I woke up to a lot of texts this morning from people who had read that piece and knew that I interviewed or had read it today and just said they, it was kind of chilling for them. And to me, I guess it's the same because it really struck me in our interview that, you know, I've interviewed a lot of people over the years about a lot of very, very tough topics. And no one's ever asked to pace,

before. And it just really struck me as, like, maybe there was a sense of unease. You know, when I talked to her, she was very sweet. She was very genuine about, like, hoping that the book would reach people, but the pacing really, it struck me. And then thinking about it today, it was just, you know, it's just very, very sad. In her memoir and conversations with you, she details some pretty disturbing experiences, being handed pills before red carpets and forced to be around predatory men in Hollywood at a young age. You know, when you're read an interview. I know I know sometimes things are taken out, things are edited. What stood out to you of all the stories she was telling you? I mean, there's really, you know, a lot, she puts

a lot of it in her book. It's a very raw book, but I think a lot that stood out to me was that there was this sense that she felt she couldn't speak out about certain things in Hollywood. And I think this was a time in Hollywood, too, where a lot of women felt that way, that if she spoke up, she'd get fired or she'd never get hired again. And so they just, kept so much of that predatory behavior or somebody handing her, you know, what she called happy pills when she was a teenager. And she just felt silenced.

And that really struck me as that, I don't know. I mean, I think it's different today, but at that time, and when the tabloids were so ruthless, she just felt she couldn't speak out, which was, you know, another sad part of her story. When you were talking to her, did you think she was still struggling, or did she sound like somebody who was in recovery?

She sounded very good to me. She was so sweet and genuine. We, like, connected in the interview because I told her I lost a sister to addiction, and she lost her brother to addiction. And she just, she seemed, like, genuinely sorry, but also when it came to her book and kind of getting back into the world,

she seemed good to me. I mean, you always worry, you know, especially knowing how addiction works. You always kind of fear and hope is like the dance that you're dancing. And so you always kind of feel. for them and hope for them. So, but she seemed to me actually, like, genuine and ready to kind of get back out there

and tell her story. She talked to you about her daughter, and this is sort of one of the sad tragedies of her life. The daughter lives with her father in Europe. Our thoughts, of course, are with them and the family and everyone who loved Hayden. What did she share with you about that relationship and sort of that process? She talked about, you know, obviously it was very hard having to give up custody, but she said, in the spring that they were in a really good place, that they were, I think the word she used, that they had a friendship. I don't know how often they physically saw each other, but they

would talk and they would, you know, FaceTime and that her daughter was like getting to the preteen years of asking her mom, you know, like fun girly advice, and, you know, there's just so much hope in that. And so I really feel for her daughter, obviously, but it sounded like they were, their relationship was in a really good place. You know, it is so sad. You wrote that, Panetteire said she hoped her story would help anyone else who's experienced lost, like she has her, has battled addiction, as you were just mentioning. She's so young, only 36. How do you think she'll be remembered? I mean, I hope, you know, because you always hope with somebody who suffers from this that that's not the defining thing, you know, that people

think about them. I mean, they're so much more to the person, right? So I would think is a huge talent and as somebody that entertained millions of people. for really her entire life, honestly. She gave a lot. And when you read her book and for me talking to her, like she put her heart and soul into the work. And I think that maybe was hurtful to her in some ways. It's hard to access those emotions as a kid.

But I think hopefully she'd be remembered as just a huge talent and not remembered for the struggles. Incredibly successful. Dina Gaspin, we thank you for taking the time to talk to us tonight. Thank you. Tonight we're also coming some breaking news that's happened at a Chicago. an American Airlines flight blowing its tires while landing at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.

And you'll remember this is the second incident in just the last week. Ryan Chandler has the late details. Tonight, an emergency on the tarmac at Chicago O'Hare. Fire trucks rushing to this American Airlines jet after the FAA says the crew reported two blown tires upon landing. America's 360 requiring assistance. They heard you just blown a tire. No injuries. And no one's panicking.

Everyone's remaining seated. The flight was arriving from New York's LaGuardia Airport with 180 people reported on board. American Airlines saying tonight, passengers were transported safely to the terminal by bus, and the aircraft has been taken out of service for inspection. This is the second time in two weeks a plane's tires have blown at O'Hare. Last week, a United Airlines flight was forced to abort takeoff after a blown tire. That blow prompting a massive emergency response as 161 passengers and six crew were forced to. to D. Plain. That was Ryan Chandler. We're going to turn out of the severe storms wreaking havoc

across the country, a lightning strike, igniting oil tanks in Oklahoma, sending a ball of fire and smoke into the sky. It comes as parts of the Midwest remain underwater. Our Maggie Vespas in the storm zone. Tonight, a stunning explosion in Oklahoma blamed on this relentless run of severe storms, with lightning striking massive tanks filled with natural gasoline, according to owner- Explorer pipeline. showing the jaw-dropping aftermath, balls of fire, and thick black smoke billowing into the air. It follows a harrowing stretch of severe weather coast to coast, from hail in Colorado to flooding in Ohio, in hard-hit Indiana, fast-moving floodwaters wiping out bridges, ripping apart roads,

and swallowing entire neighborhoods in Indianapolis. Firefighters fanning out in rafts, rescuing residents. State officials now saying more than a thousand people were displaced from their homes and at least seven killed, including 19-year-old Matthew Mori and 59-year-old Stephanie Sally, who authorities believe was swept away in her car. Today, as floods finally recede, people are pumping water out of their homes and power washing filth off their property. For many, what's inside is worse. Kenny McCree is raising three of his grandkids here. Their rooms soaked. Has the river ever flooded your house before? No, ma'am. He and his wife, Melissa, trashing everything the water touched. It was disgusting.

It really was. The flood water in your house? Yeah. Yeah, it was nasty. I don't know. Did it get wet? David Redifer and Lucy O'Brien worry their renter's insurance won't cover what's lost, and no demand for government aid will be massive.

We're nervous. We don't know how long that's going to take. Maggie Vespa joins us tonight from Indianapolis. Maggie, you've been covering this disaster for days. The damage is so widespread behind you. It's hard to make out. We know that's a road, but it sort of speaks to how widespread the damage is. Yeah, Tom, it's almost like this was a road, right?

I mean, floodwaters will zoom in. Did this. They ripped apart this road over the weekend. And you can see crews are racing, basically, to repair it largely because obviously people want access to the road. But also, if you can pan over to the left and zoom in on that as well, those are authorities say utility lines, severed and sticking up out of the water. And that situation, they say, is creating outages in the area. So you're right.

Just one more example and kind of proving how monumental a task cleanup here is going to be, Tom. Maggie Vespa, there again on week two of what's happened in the Midwest. We turn to Hawaii now where the big island is in cleanup and recovery mode tonight. After Hurricane Lala unleashed powerful winds, devastating floods and much. slides. New drone video. Here it is. It shows buildings covered in mud. Look at this. Trees torn down as tens of thousands remain without power. Morgan Chesky is on the ground in one of the hardest hit communities. Tonight, heartbreaking scenes in the wake of Hurricane Lala. Communities left unrecognizable with devastation striking entire towns. The hurricane turned tropical storm

sidest wiping the Hawaiian islands with dangerous winds and torrential rains. Today our team reached Nalaehu, one of the hardest hit communities on the big island. And it is beyond clear in every direction you look here that this is the place that took the brunt of Lala's power. The small town turned into a muddy debris field with one of its only roads in buried beneath boulders, mud, and headstones, picked up and carried from a nearby cemetery. Is this the worst you've seen? Absolutely. We met Thaddeus Griffith still in shock over what he survived, telling us the rush of water, which so strong. It nearly washed away his new car. I came down and it's bobbing in the water.

Oh my God, my heart sank. His neighbors losing everything. Witnesses say in just a couple minutes, this mud flow picked up anything in its path from a lawnmower to someone's backyard shed. The power is clear. And we're standing near the foundation of this very home picked up and carried. Fortunately, the family inside made it out in time. Families here now fending for themselves. Next, Doniger and his wife pregnant with their second child doing their best to look after their two-year-old son. You don't know when you're going to have water back. You don't know when you're going to have power back? No. It's going to be a while, man. And Tom, tonight there's no telling when this road will be back open.

Officials telling us they're still scouring damaged areas to get an assessment of the devastation. Tom. Hawaii got hit so hard there. Okay, we thank you so much for that, Morgan. Tonight the deadline to end the war in Iran has come and gone. The U.S. failing to strike a long-term deal as President Trump blast key allies over the war. Garrett Hake is at the White House. Tonight, the 60-day deadline to end the war with Iran, agreed to by President Trump and the Iranian regime, has now come and gone. The president pressed today on if the conflict's conclusion is any closer.

They want to make a deal, but they're not going to make the kind of a deal that I feel is necessary. It's very simple. They can't have a nuclear war. The deadline was said as part of the ceasefire the president signed at Versailles in June. It's an agreement with Iran that achieves everything we set out to accomplish. But both sides were soon again trading strikes and accusing each other of violating the deal, keeping gas prices hovering above $4 a gallon and largely halting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz,

with just three ships tracked passing Sunday. Today's special envoy, Jared Kushner, saying the president is still open to an agreement. He'll make the right deal when the right deal is ready. But tensions with key allies are also rising. saying in a new interview that if Oman strikes a deal with Iran on the strait that interferes with the U.S. peace process, quote, we'll bomb the S out of them. I don't think they'd behave very well, but we'd handle them very easily. And blasting another key ally, South Korea, over what he said was its unwillingness to help deal with Iran. They said, we have 39,000 soldiers over there guarding you from Kim Jong-un, your next-door neighbor,

and you're not going to help us on a very easy military operation in Iran. That's strange. All right, Garrett Hake joins us now live from the White House. Garrett, the president today also defending his decision to scale back military drills with South Korea. Explain to our viewers why this is so important. Yeah, Tom, and it's not at all clear how much teeth there may be to this order, which the president floated on truth social earlier today, saying that these kind of big drills that the U.S. conducts with the South Korean military,

like we do with other allied militaries all around the world would be scaled back this year, in part because of what he described as his very good relationship with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean dictator. The president went further in that Oval Office meeting today, said he's had some recent conversations with Kim Jong-un, and that these sorts of things wouldn't be necessary. But I think the real truth of the matter here might be closer to what the president said in that bite we played in the piece. His frustration that South Korea, again, like other allies, has not been more. forthcoming with the help that the president wants to end the war in Iran. The president takes a very transactional approach to foreign policy, and here he sees an ally that we protect

with American troops stationed in South Korea and them not doing as much to help us. This seems like the way he feels like to rattle the South Koreans a little bit. Okay, Garrett Hake, with that update at the White House. Garrett, thank you. We're going to be back in a moment here on top story with the alleged cocaine ring. Run out of two Penn State fraternities? New Pledge is even asked to help cut and pack up the drugs the arrest just made. Plus opening arguments in the long-awaited Tupac Shakur murder trial, will we finally learn what really happened? And the alleged medical mix-up, two mothers say their sons were switched at birth nearly four

decades ago, how they realized the mistake. Stay with us. We're back now with the alleged cocaine ring connected to Penn State University. More than a dozen people arrested accused of selling drugs out of two off-campus fraternity houses, even asking pledges to pack Keelellan. I mean McLaughlin has the details. Tonight, a massive drug busted two fraternities near the Penn State University campus. There was nothing junior or childlike about this type of conduct.

With 12 current and former Penn State students charged in connection with an off-campus cocaine ring, bringing in kilos of cocaine from Philadelphia and New York, and using new pledges to cut and package the drugs at off-campus frat houses. We found a pattern of events that showed cutting and bagging cocaine was for some pledges and indoctrination into the Delta Epsilon and Sigma Chi fraternities. Authorities alleged senior members of Delta Epsilon and Sigma Chi ran the drug operation inside their fraternities between 2023 and 2024. The alleged ringleader Augustino Abatielo, an accounting student with a passion for numbers, according to his About Me page. Witnesses told

the grand jury, he was the university's largest drug dealer. One witness saying in court documents that he paid Abatello more than $50,000 for drugs. Tonight, the attorney general says Abatello is still at large. Delta Epsilon telling NBC News, members involved have either been expelled, suspended, or resigned. Penn State released this statement, saying it's horrified by the allegations. Adding criminal activity, including hazing, has no place at our institution. noting it's cooperating with law enforcement any way they can. The defendants have yet to enter a plea. Erin McLaughlin joins us now, and Erin, you were mentioning the Attorney General.

They're thinking about more charges, too? Yeah, that's right. It was interesting watching the Attorney General's press conference. One word he seemed to avoid is the word hazing, and that's because hazing has legal weight in 44 out of 50 states, including Pennsylvania, which most recently in 2018, passed an anti-hasing law after the death of the state. of a Penn State student in 2017 during a hazing incident.

So this university has history here. The Attorney General was explicitly asked in this press conference, are you looking at potential hazing charges? He says that is still on the table and the investigation continues. OK. Erin McLaughlin, good to have you here. We thank you for that.

Turning now to one of hip-hop's biggest unsolved mysteries, who killed rap icon Tupac Shakur. Today, opening statements in the case against one of the men, prosecutors say, was behind it. Here's Dana Griffin with what happened in court. Tonight, prosecutors laying out a roadmap of murder, nearly three decades since the death of rap icon Tupac Shakur. Tupac is gunned down in a drive-by shooting from a white Cadillac in an act of revenge. Prosecutors say Duane Keefe D. Davis, the sole living occupant inside that Cadillac, orchestrated the killing.

Now, let's be clear. Dwayne Davis did not hold the trip. but what he did do was plan the retaliation for the beating of his nephew. Retaliation for this brawl captured on surveillance video hours earlier inside a Las Vegas casino authorities say. You see Tupac and death row executive Shug Nite beating up Davis's nephew Orlando Anderson. Police say over a stolen necklace earlier that summer. Today prosecutors using Davis's own words against it. playing the series of recorded interviews and quoting from his own memoir.

In the book, he says, then jumping on my nephew gave us the ultimate green light to do something to their... The 63-year-old was arrested in 2023 and has pled not guilty. His defense team argues his past statements were not reliable, and Davis was known to BS. What you're going to find is that the state cannot prove to you beyond a reason without the claim that Keefei wasn't had anything to do with a first-degree murder. A former Vegas officer testifying this was Tupac's answer inside the ambulance when asked who shot him. And did he ever respond? Yes, he responded, no, we'll take care of it. Something like that.

No, we'll take care of it. Now it's up to a jury to decide who's responsible for one of the music industry's greatest unsolved murders. Dana Griffin joins us now from LA. So Dana Davis has argued that he previously signed a. immunity deals, right, with law enforcement that protected him for prosecution. Why do those not apply here? So Davis had those agreements with Los Angeles police connected to their investigation into the death of rapper Biggie Smalls, but prosecutors argued that Davis talking publicly about his involvement in Tupac's case made that agreement no longer valid. And some legal experts

say, had Davis kept his mouth closed, he would not be on trial right now. Tom? Yeah, and then before you go, prosecutors mentioned. rapper, disgraced rapper mogul, Sean Diddy Combs. He won't be called as a witness? Why was his name being brought up? Yeah, so Diddy was mentioned briefly during opening statements today. Prosecutors say that he hired Davis as unofficial security while he traveled on the West Coast. And in his memoir, Davis alleged that Combs won at night and Chakor dead and offered Davis money to kill them. But Combs has long denied having any involvement in the shooting, and he is not on the witness list.

Tom. Okay, Dana, thank you. For more, I want to bring in NBC News Legal Analyst, Angela, Senadella. So, Angela, explain this again. I kind of want to go back to this. So he signs these immunity deals. He says, listen, and this is what happened with Tupac, and now he's being prosecuted for that crime. Explain this to me. So the immunity would have only applied, as Dana laid out, if he didn't talk later. And that is what has been argued in front of the judge. So unfortunately, for him what happened was that after the immunity deal, he also then went on television and also wrote a book, essentially mirroring the same statements that he said earlier.

So the point at which you go out into the public and you then reveal what was in your immunity deal, allegedly or theoretically, that then immunity will elapse. So that is why it is now being prosecuted, Tom. How hard is it to convict someone of murder if they did not pull the trigger? So in other jurisdictions, it might be a lot harder. Now, in the state of Nevada, legally, it is not that hard.

So if you aid, a bet, you plan, or if the jury does believe his own words that he was the shot caller behind this, legally, he should be just as liable for murder as if he had pulled the trigger. But there's always a question of jury psychology. If the jury there will then think that maybe he had less of a role just because of this difference. But from a purely legal perspective, it's the exact same thing, Tom. What do you think about his defense attorney? There was a lot, obviously, we could watch today in that Las Vegas courtroom. What was your take on the strategy?

So I think the defense is actually pretty strong here, in spite of the fact that the prosecution has his own words, and that's for a lot of reasons. First of all, this whole prosecution has taken almost 30 years to get off the ground. So first of all, the defense said that there was so much infighting, so much shoddy investigation, that it was sloppy. And every year that that continues on, it just increases the seeds of doubt in the jury's mind. Because remember, all the defense has to do is just raise a seat of doubt. Now, there's also this, like, wild question that though, of lying, right? So the prosecution is in this strange bind where the more that they try to convince the jury that this man is a liar, the defense actually uses that to their

advantage and says, yes, he is a liar. He actually was lying in these books. That also goes to why this whole 30-year delay is important, because the defense is claiming that this man told people the same story so long ago. He told the LAPD. He told the FBI. He told TV. He also wrote it in a book. And the fact that it is taking so long to prosecute means that nobody ever believed him, that the feds never believed him, the police never believed him, prosecutors never did. So they're actually using that to their advantage, Tom. Yeah. And then as we mentioned, and you mentioned to 30 years, right, how hard is that to prosecute a case when so much time has gone by? Yeah, so a lot of the reasons I said, and then on top of that, there's even more. So all the other people who are

riding in that Cadillac are deceased, right? So there's no one to ask. And then, actually corroborate his story. Furthermore, there's almost no forensic evidence that's been brought forth. And due to the allegations of the investigation itself, having been shoddy and sloppy, as a defense is making, they're really saying, look, nobody had anything. So finally, 30 years later, they're just trying to pin this on my client, but in reality, you know, they should have figured this out earlier if they had anything. So all of that time really helps the defense, Tom. Angela Senadella, thank you for being here tonight. We appreciate it. Coming up, Baltimore's big drop in crime, the city once known for violence, now seeing a declining killings.

We'll speak live with the mayor about what's going on. Plus, the new warning tonight for people heading to the beach, dangerous jellyfish taking over some popular tourist spot. Look at that. But first, top story's top moment, and you may know Saratoga Springs for its horse racing. But this weekend, there were some smaller athletes on the course for the second annual Corgi Cup. Take a look. Off any moment, the flag is up. They're off, a fast start for Butch Kwergy, but on the far outside, it was a huge run from Kona.

Kona smoking the competition, running its race. Congrats to all the small but mighty competitors. What a great moment there. Stay with us. More top story after the break. We're back now with a striking reality out of Baltimore, a city that's faced repeated criticism from President Trump and from others. over its high rate of crime, but now it's making headlines for the exact opposite. Baltimore had its lowest number of homicides through the first six months of the year,

with just 60. That's down from 68 homicides over the same period last year, 88 the year before, and 142 back in the first half of 2023. That's a decrease to even outpaced the national decline from 2019 to 2026. Homicides dropped by 31% in major cities across the U.S., but in Baltimore it fell by 68. Joining us tonight, the man leading the city of Baltimore, Mayor Brandon Scott, who has been in office since 2021. Mayor Scott, thanks for joining Top Story. What do you think is working to drive these numbers down? When I took office in 2020, we talked about we were going to look at violence in Baltimore in a different way.

We were going to look at it as a public health all-in approach and not just solely putting on the black of our police officers. And when you look at it the way that we've been doing it, when you have our police officers throughout group violence reduction strategy, focused on the small percentages of people less than 2% who are responsible for the overwhelming amount of violence in our city, going after those folks, but also offering people a chance to change their lives. You see this impact. When you have us going after illegal guns coming into our city, gun trapper, because gun stores, gun companies who have been going around our laws helping to fuel this violence, when you see those great cases that our police officers are making hand into our state's attorney,

our U.S. attorney and our attorney general here in Baltimore, you see that. When you see this historic investment that we've made into community advanced intervention through safe threes, through we are us, all these community-based organizations who have been waiting to have the city invest in them because they are the people closer to the problem, so they're people closer to the solution. All of that together, coupled with our historic investment into young people in schools and wrecking parks and youth jobs. Yeah. All of it. How Baltimore has done this. So the Department of Justice, as you know, started monitoring Baltimore police a decade ago after the

death of Freddie Gray and unarmed black ban and police custody. How much has changed since then? And does the DOJ deserve some of the credit for getting these numbers down as well? Well, the truth of the matter is that Baltimore deserves the credit. Baltimore did this, right? We were not, we were a city, I was on the city council back then. We weren't told that we were going to have a consent decree. We asked for it. Baltimore asked for it. And what we are as a guiding example of how you can reform a police department that is light years where it was, not just in 2015. but in the 90s and the 80s when I was growing up, and we still have a long way to go. When you can see a department that's reforming and reducing gun violence at the same time,

that puts aside all the things that people normally say about police reform. You can do both. You can have an all and above approach. One thing does not have to outweigh the other. I was in your city for a right-along with police officers in Baltimore back in 2021, after the police department was mandated to make reforms and working on earning trust from the community. where does trust of the police stand now and how far do you have to go? Well, we have a long way to go, but we have come a mighty long way. When you think about our homicide division clearing 60 percent, over 60 percent of their homicides,

you don't do that without a better relationship with the community. A few short years ago, we had 37, 40 percent clearance rates. When you see the amount of tips that come into the police department, folks who are actually saying they want to help the police get rid of. illegal activity in their community, that doesn't help them without rebuilding relationships. No, we are not done by a long shot. But when you think about where we were some 10, 11 years ago versus where we all today, we have come a long way of improving how our police department and our community works together. As we were getting ready for this interview, my team says that

as city council president, you slashed the police budget by $22 million. But after you were elected mayor, you actually increased that same budget by $28 million. What did you look at? learn and why did you change? So it's not a change. I think this is something when folks have to get into the details. I didn't slash the budget by $22 million. I found $22 million in their budget that not even a sitting police commissioner who would become my police commissioner at the time knew what the money went to.

No one will allow any organization to operate like that. And in fact, what I did was in units that we didn't really need to help us meet our consent decree reforms by putting people. back into patrol cars so they could police their communities. And when you talk about the increase, that increase essentially is just salaries rising because of our new contracts and us giving offers us more money and benefits. But this was never for us a defund the police quip per se. This was how can we right sides and have a both and approach?

We have now been able to make historic investments into CVI, over $50 million into CVI for us versus also making sure that we're supporting our police department, while we also made records of investment into our school system and recreation of parks with $200 million in capital. You've heard this, but I want to play it for our viewers. This is President Trump talking about your city last year. I'm not walking in Baltimore right now. Baltimore is a hell hall.

Baltimore is a horrible, horrible deathbed. It's a deathbed. What's your message to President Trump tonight? My message is always it always has been. We don't need the president here, but he should understand that Baltimore is the city that is leading us. countries a reduction in violence and we don't have the National Guard. And we don't have all these other things that they say that we need. We have done it ourselves with the folks who have been here working to improve our city. And all we need our federal government to do is support us in doing

the things that we've been doing it because we have come a long way without the help that he thinks we need. We have a great federal delegation here in the state of Maryland. They have been grateful and helpful. We just need him to get out of the way. Mayor Brandon Scott, we thank you for joining Top Story and talking to us tonight. Yes, sir. Thank you. Now, at Top Stories News Feed, we start here in New York, where a judge is now delaying Luigi Mangione's state murder trial. It comes just days after he pleaded guilty to federal stalking crimes in connection with the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the state's charges citing double jeopardy rules. Prosecutors now have until early October to respond.

And a prehistoric find at the Jersey Shore, a father and his son were looking at the state's for shells on the beach when they found this. Look at this. It's a megalodon tooth. The shark has been extinct for more than three million years. It's one of the largest predators to have ever lived with some reaching around 60 feet in length. Imagine that. Experts confirmed the fossil saying it's rare to find one in such good shape and describing it as a once-in-a-lifetime discovery. And on the beach as farther south, massive hordes of jellyfish are plaguing popular tourist spots, packs of the stinging predators spotted in the waters in Maryland and Delaware. sees George Stoley takes a closer look at why.

For some beach goers, these dog days of summer include sun, sand, and a sudden sting. Ah, son of a jellyfish, I'm out of here. Giant swarms of jellyfish spotted in the water at beaches in Maryland and Delaware. Hundreds appearing to float on the surface in Ocean City and about an hour north in Rahobith Beach, too. Lifeguards say this season is especially bad. It was almost a 100% guarantee that you would get stung. got in the water. The quality of sting has risen as well. We've seen people with stings that last for the whole day as opposed to 30 minutes. And while these ocean invaders have been the subject

of satire, you're going to have to pee on it. What? It brought Jenna Dobrinsky's summer swim to a complete stop. I was paddling out a little bit and then I tried to stand up and then all of a sudden I feel like an electric shock on like my chest area and I look down and it's like this giant white jellyfish. This is what her stings look like now, about a week after being in the waters of Ocean City, Maryland. I've been going to Ocean City for as long as I can remember. I don't remember a year where the jellyfish have been this bad. Look at that. So why so many jellies? Marine experts say warming waters and climate change could be to blame. We had a drought this spring and early summer, so we have saltier water that's going

to, again, be more favorable for growing jellyfish. Oh, oh, holy crap. Beach regular Jimmy Charles says he was stung on his ankle or walking along the shore with his family in Ocean City. The tough part is my kid wants to be in the water the whole time. And, you know, children, their skin is so much more sensitive. So, you know, that's the real issue is protecting our kids from these stings. I don't know, have the answer to it, but this year was definitely, definitely tough. George Release joins us tonight.

George, there's a lot of wives' tales out there about what you should do when you, actually get stung. So what do the experts really say? Yeah, that's right, Tom. Some of them bordering on absolute, just comical nature. But the reality is the tried and true methods include things like using vinegar, hot water. One lifeguard telling us they even use shaving cream to help try to get some of those barbs that are still stuck in the skin. The best thing to do, of course, is to check with a lifeguard, check the jellyfish index. And they'll tell you whether or not the waters are even safe to go into at that point. but this problem seeming it's going to persist as these waters stay warm.

Tom? The jellyfish index. Okay, you always learn something new on top story. George, thank you. Okay, we're going to take a turn now to the shocking discovery for two North Dakota mothers' home DNA test, revealing that their sons were switched at birth nearly 40 years ago. Now they're suing the hospital over the alleged mixup. Courtney Arnold with our Fargo, North Dakota affiliate KVLY, has the story.

Two babies, one hospital. At a mistake, these families say stole decades of memories. In court filings, two North Dakota families accused Unity Medical Center in Grafton of switching their newborns on January 26, 1988. The only two babies born there that day. They say each boy went home with the wrong parents, and no one knew for more than 36 years. Liz O'Toole. I had Kyle at age 25.

She lives in Minneapolis and raised Jeremy Morrison. But DNA shows her biological son is Kyle Belin. Our families never knew each other. We didn't hang out together. They were not in the same daycares. The lawsuit claims hospital staff switched the boys in those first hours when nurses took babies in and out of the nursery. The truth started to unravel decades later,

not in a lab, but on a laptop. after Kyle took a test. He wasn't sure, well, you know, did this come out all right? Did I mess things up? I mean, winter in North Dakota, sub-zero, did something happen to the test results that wasn't right? So he took a second Ancestry.com test. He asked me to take the test, and I was not really willing to take the test. I basically told him, well, I'm your mother.

I gave birth to you. And your dad's your dad. So you're my child. So you're my child. When the results came back, they tracked down Jeremy, who grew up in Graham Forks and lives in Colorado with his wife and kids. Liz says DNA confirmed what the family was already starting to suspect. We had professional labs done. So, yeah, DNA doesn't lie.

Even so, for both mothers, the news felt unreal. Shocked disbelief. It felt surreal. I remember I wasn't so much shock. Kind of that I was pretty much calm. And all I could think of was, how is Kyle taking this? How is he handling this? Who is this other person named Jeremy?

Where are they from? Where are they at now? Do they know? As they dug into their past, things started to click. People say he looks like the hatchkiss side. That is my maiden name. That he looks like the hatchkuses. You know, it looks like dad.

My dad. Evelyn raised Kyle and his older brother, Darren, on a farm near Adams, about a half hour west of Grafton. They fought a lot. The two kids were too close in age. Kyle was more of the ninja. I thought he was going to go in the services, the armed services somehow,

because when he grew up, he was doing the ninja thing and Nintendo game. But those were the two things that he was really into being a little ninja when he was young and video games. Today, Kyle lives in Michigan. Jeremy left Graham Forks for Colorado. But when the truth came out, they came back to meet the families they never knew.

I'm looking at a 36-year-old man who's almost an identical to his brother, Darren. Yeah, it was pretty emotional. It was pretty strange at the same time, getting to know actually a perfect stranger. Liz admits it's been hard on the men. Knowing what they could have had, could have had. him. The hospital denies every allegation. I'm just very frustrated and disappointed that the hospital is saying that it didn't happen on their watch. For Evelyn, the anger is tied to every moment missed. To be confronted with this 36 years later is a shock, number one. Number two, I feel robbed. I feel angry at the hospital that this even happened because I trusted them to not only deliver, my child, but to present my child and let me lead with my own biological child.

And I've missed 36 years with Jeremy. I've missed all the milestones that happened in his life from his first tooth that he lost to his first steps, to graduation, to proms, his wedding, and all my grandchildren. You can't get back that time. There's nothing you can do about it. You just have to try to carry on. Liz and Evelyn are still learning how to be mothers to sons. They didn't raise. But for the ones they did, I have two sons now. Kyle's my son, and I love him, and he'll always be my son.

Their love stays the same. Yeah, that's not going to change. Our thanks to Courtney Arnold, still to come tonight, the new push for peace in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyat, who meeting with President Trump's son. son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is a breakthrough within reach. Plus, another museum heist in Italy thieves breaking in and stealing Renaissance art worth millions. The search for the suspects right after this. Back now with Top Stories Global Watch and the high-stakes meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu and President Trump's son-in-law, special envoy Jared Kushner. The two sides now coming to an agreement on the path forward for Gaza after Netanyahu publicly rejected President Trump's 15-point peace plan earlier this month. NBC's Matt Bradley's reporting on this from Tel Aviv. He joins us now. Matt, I know you have some new reporting about what the U.S. and Israel have agreed to and how a U.S. general could be involved in the future of Gaza. That's right.

So we're talking about General Jasper Jeffers. And this is a general who is close to President Trump. He was now, and he has been, leading the International Stabilization Force. That's one of the groups that was created under that October 2025 deal that ended the war in the Gaza Strip, though it didn't end the fighting. But Jeffers is now going to be running this supposed force that several mostly Muslim majority countries have already pledged personnel for.

But it's unclear whether or not this pretty small fighting force. I mean, we're not talking about a lot of countries, and we're talking about the number of personnel maybe in the hundreds would be presumably going into the Gaza Strip and disarming Hamas. And that would mean Hamas, according to what we've been hearing from the meetings that Jared Kushner had today with Benjamin Netanyahu would be handing over their weapons to this international stabilization force led by this American general. That's something that still is really going to need to be hashed out on the Hamas side. They haven't been very clear about whether

or not those weapons are going to be able to be going to anywhere elder than Palestinians. And that's something the Israeli side has really, really strongly rejected. And then, you know, if the U.S. and Israel do get on the the same page. What about Hamas? We know that Kushner met with their leadership as well. That's right. Hamas met yesterday with the leadership of Hamas. Halil Al-Lahya, who's a former negotiator in Cairo. Now, it was a really consequential meeting, and for nothing else, than the optics of having the leader of Hamas meeting with a high-level American diplomat, which is effectively what Jared Kushner is. But the people that I was speaking with here in Israel

said it didn't sound as though Kushner came from Cairo with a message from Hamas. directly. But for the people that I spoke with here in Israel, they were saying that this meeting between Kushner and Netanyahu was really more focused on bringing those two sides together. It's unclear whether or not Hamas is going to have much say in things going forward now that it looks as though Benjamin Netanyahu has really managed to bring Jared Kushner, at least, the president's son-in-law, back into his good graces and basically into his fold. Okay, Matt Bradley for us from Tel Aviv. Matt, thank you. We're going to stay overseas now with the latest art heist rocking Europe, thieves making off with four Renaissance artworks from a museum in Sicily.

Our Ralph Sanchez is tracking the latest in raft this heist coming just hours after Italian police announced they cracked a separate heist? Hey, Tom. Yeah, police in Italy barely had time to celebrate cracking one major stolen art case when another one fell right into their laps. Here's the deal. On Friday, Italian authorities announced with a lot of fanfare that they had solved a mystery from up in northern In southern Italy, back in March, a group of thieves broke into a museum there. You can see a pretty stunning CCTV. They're going from gallery to gallery. They're taking these paintings off of the walls. And in just three minutes, they make their escape.

They have three paintings worth a cumulative $10 million. Now, on Friday, Italian authorities announced not only had they arrested five people in connection with the case, but they had safely recovered all three of those paintings. Now, fast forward just 24 hours, and you have another museum robbed and more masterpieces missing. This time, it's in the city of Messina down in Sicily, in southern Italy. These are paintings by the 15th century Renaissance master Antonello de Messini. Authorities are not giving a whole lot of detail about how this latest heist was actually carried out. But what they are saying is that it was done during a major religious,

festival that was happening in the city. Some 100,000 people were out on the streets. Big occasion, the police were very focused on crowd control, and authorities believes that that provided the perfect cover for this heist to go down. Now, Tom, one question we often get asked is, what do the thieves actually do with these stolen masterpieces? Can you resell a painting that's so recognizable the whole world is looking for it? Experts say a couple of things. One, these thieves can ransom the paintings back to the museums they stole them from. Two, it is sometimes the case that you get a private collector who basically commissions the thieves to go out and steal these priceless peaks of art for their own personal collection.

But finally, these paintings can also be pretty useful collateral for organized crime groups when they are carrying out black market, underworld negotiations. they can be useful bargaining chips. And so that is why art theft remains an absolutely booming business. Tom. Raf, we thank you for that when we come back, the high-flying celebration for one woman marking her 100th birthday by jumping out of a plane, that special skydiving stunt

and how she hopes it will inspire others coming up right after this. Finally tonight, we introduce you to the thrill-seeking grandma with a unique birthday tradition, skydiving. Ahead of her 100th birthday, she took to the skies to celebrate. a century on Earth. For Ruby McNally, there was only one way to celebrate her 100th birthday. The California grandma trading a party for a parachute, celebrating a century of life on Earth by leaping out of a plane and skydiving over it.

This jump, though, not her first. This is my third time. Third time jumping out of an airplane. That's right. What started as a dare from her grandson on her 80th birthday, turning into a once-a-decade tradition. At 100, you're not talking her out of anything. As for how her family feels? They're all scaredy cats.

They're all scared of cats. This time, some of them are joining in on the fun. There's not that many other people on planet earth that can say, I'm going skydiving with your grandma. That's 100. Yeah. I mean, it's pretty special. I hope that they'll carry on the tradition. For Ruby, it's a feeling unlike any other.

Out there flying, and it's a wonderful experience. And for me, it was exciting and ready to go again. So will we see her jump again at 110? I'm aiming for it. I'm aiming for it. Thanks so much for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamerson, New York. Stay right there.

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