Top Story with Tom Llamas - Monday, January 01, 2024

Episode Date: January 2, 2024

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

Tonight, the urgent rescue efforts after a deadly earthquake shook Japan, the powerful quake sending residents running in terror, entire homes crumbling into the ground, major roads cracked open by the force of the tremors, a massive fire triggered near the epicenter, power cut off for hundreds of thousands, plus the first tsunami warning issued in more than a decade, and fears tonight of more aftershocks to come. Back here at home, the rush to return, more than 100 million people who went away for the holidays, now making their way back, protests snarling traffic near one of New York's busiest airports on one of the biggest days for air travel. And a teenager who was flying alone to Cleveland, Ohio, sent to Puerto Rico

instead, how he ended up on the wrong flight. Deadly shark attack officials in Hawaii identifying the 39-year-old surfer who was killed by a shark off the coast of Maui. The chilling first-hand account from a man who witnessed the gruesome encounter what he says he saw in the water. Fugitive mom arrested. A Colorado mother wanted in the deaths of two of her kids detained in the UK. How authorities say she was able to flee the country in the first place. Plus, the shocking moment a man appears to try to kidnap a toddler at a Walmart in Florida. The arrest just made and meet the first grader who's already putting most of us to shame. The six-year-old, a member of Minsa with a genius IQ, what he says he's gearing up for next.

Top story starts right now. Good evening. I'm Ellison Barber in for Tom Yamas. We begin top story tonight with those terrifying moments playing out overseas in Japan and the urgent search for survivors trapped under the rubble. A powerful 7.6 magnitude earthquake rocking Western Japan late in the afternoon. This home in Kanazawa City rattling on its foundation. This man clutching onto appliances to stop them from crashing down. Moments of panic inside this train station as commuters run to take cover, items toppling off of shelves all around them, the violent, shaking, flattening entire homes.

You can see the plumes of smoke rising into the air at least four people killed, and officials fear more could be trapped. Authorities believe the quake triggered this massive fire in Ishikawa, just miles from the epicenter. The force of the shaking, cracking roads in two million still on edge with multiple aftershocks reported. A tsunami warning, in effect, for several hours now ground downgraded to an advisory. But residents urged to stay away from the coastline with authorities warning this is not over yet. NBC News, foreign correspondent Megan Fitzgerald, leads us off with the latest.

This is the moment the dangerous and powerful earthquake struck, rocking the rocking the train platform, violently shaking homes, residents inside grabbing on to whatever they could as the ground beneath them shook. At this door, people fled as food tumbled from shelves. The quake also sparking this massive fire in Wajima. Tonight, officials say at least four people are dead as rescuers search the rubble for more people trapped in their homes and under buildings. The magnitude 7.6 quake, the strongest of several, to strike the western region of Japan.

Everybody was panicked at that time. Wow. Johnny Wu shot this video in Nagano, where he was visiting to snowboard. You can see all the snow from the electric wire goes down and also from the roof go down. Soon after the earthquake, Japan issued a major tsunami warning with initial fears that waves could top 16 feet. Nearly 100,000 people told to evacuate and seek higher ground. That warning now downgraded. But officials are urging people to stay away for their own safety.

It was the first major tsunami warning since the massive 2011 quake and tsunami that killed nearly 20,000 people. Tonight, the nation now facing the aftermath of another powerful quake. Tens of thousands are without power and roads in the region are cut off. This woman documenting the damage in her neighborhood. We're in serious trouble, she says, please come help us. Megan joins us now from London. Megan, with roads collapsed around the region. How are supplies humanitarian aid getting end to the people who need it the most?

Well, Alison, the prime minister who is heading the nation's disaster relief has deployed the military and says they're using boats to get supplies to those in need. Alison. Megan Fitzgerald, thank you. We want to turn now to the latest out of the war in the Middle East. Israel pulling thousands of troops out of Gaza tonight as the IDF says they are pacing their resources for a longer war. This coming after the showdown in the Red Sea over the weekend, the U.S. Navy sinking three boats with Houthi rebels from Yemen. NBC News, foreign correspondent Josh Letterman, has the latest. Tonight, the Israeli military says it's pulling thousands of troops out of Gaza for now to pace itself for the long. hall. A U.S. official telling NBC news it appears to be the start of the new phase in the war

that the Biden administration has been pushing for. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is warning the war is expected to last many more months. That war has been fueling growing tensions between Iran and the West, including in the Red Sea, where over the weekend, Yemen-based Houthis who are backed by Iran, tried to hijack a container ship and shot at U.S. Navy helicopters. U.S. forces then sunk three Houthi boats, killing everyone on board. Now, Iranian media say Iran has sent in a warship. The Houthis say they're targeting Israeli-bound ships in solidarity with the Palestinians, but have repeatedly attacked ships with no connection to Israel.

How does the U.S. strike a balance between deterring Houthi attacks and triggering a war in the region? I think this is the point where the diplomacy must lead in all this. so we can keep this war local between Hamas and Israel. And Josh Lederman joins us now from Tel Aviv, Israel. So, Josh, you have some new reporting about an Israeli citizen who was originally thought to have been a hostage inside of Gaza, but now you've learned they were actually killed during the October 7th attacks. What can you tell us?

That's right, Allison. His name is Ilan Weiss. He was 56 years old. He had been part of his kibbutz's emergency receipts. response team on October 7th was missing since about 715 in the morning. They thought he might be a hostage in the Gaza Strip where his wife and daughter had been taken, but now authorities here say they have determined he actually was killed on October 7th. His wife and daughter, by the way, were released as part of that earlier hostage release. And Josh, Israel's high court

today struck down a key part of Netanyahu's incredibly controversial judicial overhaul, something that we saw massive amounts of protest prior to the terror attack on October 7th. What can you tell us about that? Yeah, this was really the big story in Israel for all of last year until October 7th, Allison, this controversial judicial overhaul that really put Prime Minister Netanyahu's leadership and prime ministership in jeopardy. Now the court is invalidating a key part of that. They say that the court should maintain the ability to throw out laws that are considered

unreasonable after they're passed by the Knesset. The big question now is, will this once again ignite these internal tensions and divisions here in Israel over this judicial overhaul, or will the country remain focused squarely on the war? Because just like after 9-11, here in Israel, we really saw a rally around the flag effect after October 7th. Those discussions about the judicial overhaul have largely fallen to the back seat. And so the question now is, this once again become a major issue for the Israeli public? Josh Letterman in Israel, thank you. And as the war rages on, the threat of an expanding conflict continues to loom.

For more on this, I want to bring in NBC News military analyst, retired General Barry McAfrey. General, thank you so much for joining us. Let's start with what happened this weekend. The U.S. does not have boots on the ground in Gaza, but they are involved in this war. When we watch what is happening in the Red Sea, the question is how much bigger can it get? Is there a real chance that in 2024, the U.S. is once again at war in the Middle East? Well, clearly the Biden administration has a major focus on trying to prevent escalation of the war. Secretary Blinken's been focused on this from the start, but the danger is enormous.

The Iranians have now put a warship into the Red Sea, which is surprising to me. It has no real combat capability to confront the U.S. 5th fleet, but it is there. It's supporting the Houthi rebels who have been interdicting international commercial shipping, and the potential for that to flare up is enormous. We also see the Iranians have been sparking their proxies in Syria, in Iraq. The Hizbollah faction, 100,000 fighters north of Israel. So the entire region is in a situation where it could ignite to a regional war, which would serve no one's interest to include Iran.

You know, I have heard some experts make this argument that it benefits Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu politically if the United States and other allies believe this fight could significantly expand beyond Gaza. And you touched on this a little bit, but I think the argument people are making there is they're kind of saying fears of an expanded war in the region are exaggerated. Do you think that's true, or do you think we really are kind of in a tenderbox situation where something could at any moment make this war expand? You mentioned Hezbollah. They have been hitting parts of northern Israel from Lebanon since this war began some 90 days ago, but we haven't seen them engage really beyond that. Do you think that's because they don't actually intend to?

Well, I hope that's the reason. By the way, I don't believe for a minute that the Israeli War Cabinet would allow Netanyan to take actions that weren't focused on the survival of Israel. So I think that would be a just nonsensical conclusion. What I do think is that the Israelis right now are losing the information war. Economically, they're starting to stagger under the burden of 220,000 reservists that have been called up and are no longer in the workforce. They're maintaining the better part of three divisions to deter Hezbollah in the north. And then finally, their agricultural system lost, you know, quarter of a million the Israelis had to get pulled out of the Israel bordering the Gaza's trip and also settlements up

in the north near the Golan Heights. So Israel, I think, is coming to a conclusion. to probably within a few weeks, they're going to be forced to agree to some ceasefire. They're not going to get back to 129 hostages that remain hopefully alive under Hamas control by ground combat. So a ceasefire, I hope, is in the offing. We're seeing humanitarian aid now come in from, about to come in from Cyprus. The Israelis have agreed to lift their 16-year blockade. So it may be we're in the last phases of intense combat between Israel and Hamas. Netanyahu canceled a war cabinet meeting just last week. It was a meeting where they were expected to discuss plans for Gaza the day after. And from the Israeli perspective, they mean the

day after they have achieved their declared military goals here, which include returning the hostages, securing Israel's borders, and fully ridding the Gaza Strip of Hamas so that group has no military or political power. Is post-war Israeli occupation of Gaza inevitable? And how risky is it when a country at war doesn't have a concrete plan for the day after? Well, I don't think Israel has the political have to create a coalition or an international security force to govern Gaza and potentially the West Bank. That's going to fall to the regional major Arab states, the Egyptians, Assad. Jordanians and others. The United States will probably be the spark plug to provide the leadership

to bring that together. But without some new institution taking over security and reconstruction in Gaza, you would have Israel on the ground sitting on a continuing bitter insurgency. So it's just not going to work. I think the danger is no one will. show up and the IDF will remain in Gaza for another months or for years. Not a good outcome. All right. General Barry McAfrey, thank you. We appreciate your time and insights. With the holiday season now coming to a close, Americans are packing their bags and heading home after what AAA called the busiest holiday travel season ever at U.S. airports. We want to jump right over to NBC News correspondent Emily Aketa, who joins us now from Newark Airport.

take us through the numbers of this year's travel rush. How significant are we talking? Hey there, Allison. Well, you think about it. More than 115 million people traveled for the holiday, according to AAA, and now many of them are trying to get home. Today is expected to be one of the busiest days for airports. We saw a massive crowd just clear out from here at Newark a matter of minutes ago. Looking at the numbers from TSA, they've screened more than 2.6 million people on seven out of the 10 days surrounding the Christmas time. To put that number in perspective, that is more than the traffic that was ever reached throughout the same period in 2019. So we're talking before the pandemic. So a massive rush, especially in the skies.

The FAA says, despite the surge, still 2023, saw the lowest cancellation, flight cancellation rate in the past five years, certainly welcomed improvement from the flight mayor that we saw last Christmas, Ellison. Yeah, Emily, I mean, is there any concern that? delays and cancellations could get worse. I mean, as you said, New Year's Day, it is expected to be the busiest travel days. Should people still be bracing for a possibility of delays? Alison, things do appear to be easing, especially as more people have been kind of scattering their travel with the flexibility of remote work. And looking at some of the numbers from today, we saw just a handful of actual flight cancellations, more than 2,200 flight delays,

according to flight aware. Some of the problem spots we saw, for instance, in the JFK airport, LaGuardia Airport, these New York City area airports, for instance, officials has warned people to arrive especially early because of pro-Palestinian protests that had caused a lot of traffic in those areas. Another pain point that we will likely continue to see to play a role throughout the year. Just on Friday, we saw this major airline industry trade group representing some of the most, the biggest airlines pen a letter to the Department of Transportation, also the FAA, blaming in part for an increase in delays over the holiday period on air traffic control, staffing shortages.

That's something we'll likely continue to hear more on Ellison. And, Emily, before we let you go, we are learning about another lost traveler. This time, it was reportedly a 16-year-old on Frontier Airlines sent to Puerto Rico instead of his intended destination of Cleveland, Ohio. What happened there? Yeah, you can imagine the stress and the chaos for that family of the 16-year-old. We heard from the parent of the 16-year-old who says that he arrived to the airport earlier, early, who was set to fly from Florida to Cleveland, but he mistakenly boarded the wrong flight.

The family says that they never actually scanned his ticket, which allowed him to get on the plane, and he landed in Puerto Rico instead, leading to so much stress and chaos for a number of hours. Frontier Airlines says it did apologize to the family, and they did. get the 16-year-old to his desired destination the next day. But as you can imagine, just a lot of stress for that family, knowing that their kid actually left the country for a short period of time, Ellison. Yeah, no kidding. Emily Aketa in Newark, New Jersey. Thank you. And some winter weather also playing a role in that holiday travel rush with some snowfall across the Ohio Valley and Appalachians and rain showers in the mid-Atlantic. For more on this,

I'm joined now by NBC News meteorologist Bill Karens. Bill, what are you looking at tonight? week. I hear there could be weather. Weather trouble. First snowstorm. Could it be a big snowstorm on the East Coast? Well, first, let's get there, because that's like five days away. And happy New Year to everyone. So what Ellison was mentioning was these snow showers and rain showers in the mid-Atlantic today. Some areas in Maryland got an inch or two, but this hasn't caused any traveled issues at all. So let's fast forward to tomorrow and tomorrow evening. This is the next storm threat. It doesn't look like much. It's coming on to the West Coast. By West Coast standards, it's not a huge big ordeal.

have some mostly rain, only snow at the highest of elevations. So we take the storm, we watch that Tuesday. On Wednesday, we take it down over Vegas into the heading towards the four-corner region. That's Wednesday into Thursday. Again, some high elevation snow, some rain showers, not going to cause a ton of problems. Then more snow begins to break out. This is as we go into Thursday through Colorado, northern New Mexico, and eventually into Kansas. This storm will then continue its trek. And the big question is, where will it trek along the east coast? Who will get the heaviest snow? Because it's going to get energized from moisture out of the Gulf. So our American model, we call it our GFS model, the U.S. model, takes it from Pensacola off to Carolina coast, a little more of a southern

track. This would keep enough cold air in the snow, Appalachians, maybe Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, and over in New York City, and towards Philadelphia. The European computer model is similar, but as you'd expect five days away, it's slightly different, a little bit more to the north, which would bring more snow to Boston, Albany, Hartford, northern portions, and maybe snow to rain mixed areas like I-95 from D.C. to New York. So we got a bunch of days to watch this. But the bottom line is that for the first time, like all winter long, we've got a big snow forecast. So if we combine those two models, this is who has the possibility of snow over the next seven days. And for the first time, all winter, it's a huge chunk of the

country. And Allison, it does appear. Someone on the East Coast is going to get a big snowstorm Saturday into Sunday. We'll figure out exactly who that's going to be in the days ahead. Right, Bill Karens, thank you. Moving down to the southern border now, where illegal crossings reached an all-time high. Texas Governor Greg Abbott and President Biden clashing over immigration policies, casting blame on one another for the surge of migrants. NBC News correspondent George Solis has those details. Tonight, after weeks of scenes like this at the southern border,

NBC News has learned December marked a record all-time high in crossings. Some 300,000 undocumented migrants crossing the border, according to DHS officials. It comes as more migrants arrive daily in already overwhelmed cities by plane near Chicago and by bus this morning in New Jersey, sent by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. It's a type of chaos that this governor is committed to administering. Local officials say sending the migrants to New Jersey is an attempt to sidestep New York City's new rules regulating arrivals of buses of migrants. This is not stopping people from coming, but about ensuring the safety of migrants.

This, as a battle over immigration policy, is brewing between Governor Abbott and the Biden administration. The Department of Justice threatening to sue Texas if it implements a controversial measure that would allow state and local authorities to arrest jail and prosecute migrants suspected of entering the U.S. illegally. Abbott says the Biden administration is refusing to enforce immigration laws, and Biden border policies are encouraging the migrant surge. Here in New York, many migrants end up. up at the Roosevelt Hotel, one of the many taxpayer-funded migrant shelters. Jose Ischevedia from Venezuela has lived here for six months, telling me he's illegally selling

coffee on the street, but with good reason. He says he's not just going to sit around and wait for a handout. He's going to sit here and work to provide for his family. The father of four saying he's doing whatever it takes to survive. The main thing these mayors are saying is that they need help from the federal government here in New York City. Mayor Adams saying the city is reaching a breaking point. with up to 4,000 migrants arriving weekly.

Allison? George Solis in New York. Thank you. Turning now to former President Trump and the latest in his legal battles or his efforts, rather, to stay on the ballots. In Maine, Trump's legal team planning to immediately appeal the decision made last week

to remove him from the ballot. This comes days after the former president appealed the decision in Colorado to ban him from the ballot up to the Supreme Court. Trump's recent legal problems playing out with just two weeks before the Iowa caucus. Let's bring in our paper. panel, Julia Manchester, she is the political reporter for The Hill, and NBC News legal analyst

Danny Savallo. So, Danny, let's start with the legal items here. The latest ruling in Maine. What are the next legal steps in this case? The decision in Maine was an administrative one by Maine Secretary of State. The next step for appeal would be to take it to the Maine courts. Now, contrasts that with Colorado, where a similar decision was reached, but by the Colorado Supreme Court. The case is in the judicial branch. And I say that because a lot of folks are framing this as, oh, well, will the Supreme Court just take this up? And I'm not so sure it's as simple as that as just taking those two issues. Is Trump an insurrectionist and is he an officer within the meeting of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment?

Oh, would that it were that simple? It is not, Ellison. For example, is this even justiciable by the courts? Because if this is something that really is commended to the executive branch or the legislator, branch, then Colorado may have been wrong simply because it was decided by a court, and Maine may have gotten it right because it was not. So even that little distinction there may make the two cases different. Plus, they're interpreting each state's own laws. So how can you say they're even that similar for the court to take up en masse? Interesting. Okay, so Julia, all of this, it is coming as the 2024 GOP primary season is really getting started in full force, right? In Iowa, Trump is more than 30 points

ahead of Florida Governor Rhonda Santas, who is in second place? How is the Trump team using the ruling in Maine and also in Colorado on the campaign trail? Well, listen, they're doing what they've done in the past, and they're using it to galvanize their very loyal base and the GOP primary base. You know, it was interesting last month when just hours before we heard the news that Trump was removed from the Colorado ballot. We saw that the Trump campaign was literally decorating campaign rally stage with pictures of his mugshot and Christmas decorations. And then, of course, he had something more to talk about with that ruling. He really uses it to gin up his base and really push the narrative that he is the victim of a political and legal establishment that is biased against him. And you're also seeing a lot of Republicans down the ballot sort of run with this as well.

I thought it was interesting after in Maine, you saw the Secretary of State there removed Trump from the ballot. And you saw a number of congressional Republican operatives going after Congressman Jared Golden from Maine, a vulnerable Republican. So this is something that's not only impacting, I would say, the top of the ticket, but it's starting to trickle down. And I'm curious to see how we'll see Democrats and Republicans tie their opponents up and down the ballot to these legal issues of Trumps. Yeah, we'll talk more about that in a minute, but I am curious when we're looking at Nikki Haley here in solid second place in New Hampshire. Do you think she has any sort of opening in Iowa or other early states to possibly put DeSantis in third? I mean, Iowa and New Hampshire especially, they can just be full of surprises. It was not that long ago we saw Amy Klobuchar do really well there.

If Trump doesn't come in, or if DeSantis rather doesn't come in second in the first two races, does that mean he is effectively out? I certainly think she has the possibility to come in or the potential to come in second in Iowa. We know that DeSantis is a very strong ground game in Iowa, but of course, Nikki Haley had that very big endorsement in backing of the Coke network and got a lot of cash and resources from that. So it wouldn't necessarily be surprising to me to see her come in second, but I think whoever comes in second in Iowa will likely be a distant second to former President Trump. But we'll see. Obviously, these races, as you said, can be full of surprises. But in New Hampshire, I think Nikki Haley certainly has some more leeway there. She is firmly in second place. And when you look at Chris Christie, who in a lot of polls out of New Hampshire is in third place, you know, if he were to drop out of the race, he's given no indication that he will, that support could go to Nikki Haley, given that a lot of his supporters are never Trumpers or opposed to the idea of Donald Trump. But we saw that with last week at her gaff over slavery and the Civil War and, you know, the cleanup she had to do. Christy was able to go on the offensive against her, and she was put in a weak spot. So, you know, it goes to show you that so much can happen between now and January 15th of the New Hampshire primary.

Yeah. Okay. So, Danny, when we are looking at Colorado and Maine, we'll go back to Donald Trump, you did a really good job of explaining kind of this minor distinction between the two of what it could ultimately come down to, the court in one state deciding it. that not being the case of the other. If you are Donald Trump's legal team and you're dealing with this issue of just him being on the ballot, are you more worried right now about what's going on in Maine or Colorado? Yes, Donald Trump should be worried because there are any number of reasons in any number of states where he could be removed from that state's ballot. And it may be decided on some independent ground that leaves the Supreme Court unlikely to take it up. Consider for the fact, for example, that almost all of these cases have to be decided on state law.

because federal elections are a blend of both constitutional and federal law and also state laws. So if there are adequate independent state grounds for that decision, one state may have it in a way that the court doesn't want to touch, and another state might not. It only takes a few states. So for that reason alone, Donald Trump should be concerned. On the other hand, for him to remain off the ballot requires a lot of things to happen. If you're just betting, look at all the other courts so far that have ruled on the issue. The vast majority of them have gone for keeping Trump on the ballot. The anomalies appear to be Colorado and Maine so far.

That's why we're talking about them. And there are a lot of hooks for the Supreme Court to hang, turning this case over, and putting them back on the ballot. A lot of opportunities for them to do that. Okay, let's talk about special counsel, Jack Smith, because there is some news as it relates to that. He's now urging an appeals court to reject Trump's efforts to dismiss the election interference case, or his one at least, under the grounds of presidential immunity.

right? So what does that mean for Trump in that particular case moving forward? Yeah, there's a lot of ways we can just distill this immunity issue down to a pretty simple, maybe over simplified analysis. No one has ever argued, including the Trump team, that a president is immune for absolutely everything he does, because you can imagine many crimes that have absolutely nothing to do with being the president. Assault, a DUI, any of the normal street crimes, drugs, guns, whatever. In this case, the argument really is, is a president in entitled to immunity for conduct within the outer perimeter of his official acts. Both sides agree that that may be the test.

So the real question is, is what Trump did within the outer perimeter of acting as president? If you're the Trump team, you're arguing, I was worried about the integrity of our elections. And if you're Jack Smith's team, you're going to argue, really? I don't know. I think you could ask yourself if this had been going the other way. If someone called up Trump and said, hey, look, I think this election is corrupt. and it's corrupt in favor of you winning. You're doing better because of the corruption.

Do we really think Donald Trump would have thrown up all the roadblocks and made all those phone calls to write the wrongs and let Joe Biden win the election? I don't think so. So the point is that I think it's a pretty easy analysis in the end. If a court concludes that what he did only favored himself as a candidate and had nothing to do with conduct within the outer perimeter of being the president. Although this issue is incredibly complex, you really can distill.

it to a sentence, which is, look at the stuff Donald Trump did, and is it within the outer perimeter of presidential conduct? If it is, he might be immune. If he's not, he's definitely not immune. All right. So, Julia, Trump's legal problems, obviously, they have a political impact for Republicans. And we have seen his opponents in this odd political position of defending the person they also want to beat. And then, of course, it has an impact for Democrats, too. So what does it mean for President Biden and his reelection campaign? Yeah, it's really unclear right now because we see that these legal issues in a political sense have in a way benefited former President Trump. It's forced his opponents in the GOP primary field to have to talk about it and answer to it instead of talking about their own campaigns.

So that gives Trump more attention. But in terms of President Biden, you know, I think a lot of this will hinge on his own strategy. if he continues to focus on issues like the economy, like health care, you know, abortion, for example, issues that play well with Democrats and kitchen table issues, that would definitely help President Biden and sort of drawing a contrast between himself and incumbent president focused on the issues and former President Trump, someone who seems to have chaos following him wherever he goes. Now, you know, of course a lot of this will depend on, you know, if the economy, does in fact get better. There seem to be indicators that it is improving. That's good for Biden.

But, you know, I think voters looking at this probably view a lot of Trump's legal issues with fatigue and kind of chaos and not wanting to, you know, move along with this. So a lot of this depends on, you know, external factors as well. All right. Julia Manchester and Danny Savalos, thank you both. We appreciate it. Still ahead tonight, a fugitive mom tracked down in the U.K. The Colorado mother wanted in the murders of two of her children. The question tonight, how did she manage to slip out of the country? Plus, a major update in the mysterious disappearance of a Florida woman last spotted in 2011. The discovery just made along a highway near Disney World and new details emerging about a deadly shark attack in Hawaii.

What we're learning about the victim and what one eyewitness says they saw as he tried to call for help. Stay with us. We're back now with a deadly shark encounter in Hawaii. A surfer off the coast of Maui attacked by a suspected tiger shark, losing his leg before first responders arrived and later dying of his injuries. NBC news correspondent Liz Croix has the chilling details from a witness who called for help. It's a New Year tragedy in paradise, a deadly shark attack in the waters off the Hawaiian island of Maui.

The shark just started biting him and cool him down. On New Year's Eve, officials confirming the death of 39-year-old surfer Jason Carter, who they say died after a suspected tiger shark dragged him under the water Saturday morning at Maui's Paia Bay. Ikaya Kapisi, a witness nearby, saying the shark was as big as a Tacoma track. The dorsal fin was almost as big as his body. The height of it was almost as high as his head sitting on the board. First responders used jet skis to pull Carter from the water. attempting life-saving measures once they reach shore before transporting him to a local medical center.

Carter later dying of his injuries. It was hard to hear him like screaming the whole like when I was patting in his screaming. County officials closing two nearby beaches in the wake of the attack. The eighth shark encounter recorded in Hawaii last year, but the first that turned deadly. Across the Pacific in Australia, a snorkeler capturing this harrowing footage in early December. coming face to face with the ocean's most fearsome predator. His friend coming to his aid. In the first seconds, it was really panic for me. After that, I tried to think to folk, what I have to do.

And I tried just my best to save him. That victim, losing part of his right leg, but escaping with his life. But just days ago, a much different outcome. A 15-year-old surfer killed by a great woman. White, marking Australia's third deadly shark encounter in recent months. Back in Maui, the weekend's attack now leaving another family mourning. It's just trying to pray for his family. It's just a tough, tough thing to see. This isn't the first shark attack recorded at Maui's Paia Bay. A 51-year-old French tourist was bitten there back in 2022, losing her left arm and part of her

right hand. Thankfully, though, she managed to survive. Ellison, Liz Kreutz, thank you. Turning overseas now, where an American mother is behind bars in the UK after being on the run for days. Police say the Colorado woman killed two of her children and injured a third. The murders coming after a long and contentious divorce battle. NBC news correspondent Adrian Brutus has more. Tonight, the father of his seven and nine-year-old is planning a funeral after police say their mother, his ex-wife, killed them. The accused Kimberly Singler was arrested in the United Kingdom on Saturday, ending a more than a week-long manhunt.

The 35-year-old faces multiple charges, including first-degree murder. The deaths follow a nearly four-year custody dispute with Singular and her ex-husband. On December 19th, Colorado Springs Police say they responded to a burglary report at a home. That's where they found the two children dead and their 11-year-old sister, injured. Police say Singler, who also had minor injuries, initially cooperated with investigators, but then disappeared. Court documents NBC News obtained show Singler accused her ex-husband of, quote, endangering the physical health of their children. Those claims were unsubstantiated. Soon after, the court granted Singler's ex-husband visitation with the children

for a period starting on December 16th, according to court documents. The media, point for both parties was at the Colorado Springs Police Department. It's unclear if Singler ever arrived with the three children on the 16th. The next day, the children's father made an emergency motion for the custody agreement to be enforced. Instead of handing the kids over to their father, three days later, they were found dead. As for why Singler was allowed to leave the country, police say when they responded to that 911 burglary call, she too was treated as a victim and a witness. She was also transported to the hospital along with her 11-year-old daughter. Police say at the time they didn't have enough probable cause to detain her.

Adrian brought us NBC News, Chicago. When we come back in attempted kidnapping caught on camera. A man appearing to grab a four-year-old at a Florida Walmart before a family member stepped in, where police later found that suspect and a major recall involving a type of of special baby formula. What parents need to know. That's next. Back now with Top Stories News Feed, and we begin with a dangerous police chase

just blocks from the New Year's Eve celebration right here in New York City. At least 10 people, including three officers, were injured when a black sedan, crashed into the sidewalk just after 1 a.m. One woman pinned under a food truck, she is expected to be okay. Police say they were responding to reports of a, quote, disturbance in the car when the driver attempted to flee. Charges are now pending.

A major break in a missing person's case near Orlando, a civilian dive team discovering a submerged van with human remains inside in a pond just off the highway near Disney World. Tonight, the family of Sandra Lemire, who disappeared after going on a date back in 2011, says the vehicle belonged to her, and they believe. leave the remains found inside our Sandra's. Police say further testing is needed to confirm. A Florida man has been charged with attempted kidnapping after trying to snatch a toddler at a Walmart. Police say this surveillance video shows the moment Pablo Hernandez tried to take a four-year-old boy by the hand and lead him away from his parents inside a Lee County Walmart.

Luckily, a family member was there and intervened. Police were able to arrest Hernandez at his home within the hour. He has not yet entered a plea. And a warning tonight for parents of infants. The FDA reporting a voluntary recall of nutrimidgen brand formula powder due to a possible bacterial contamination that they say can cause life-threatening infections, including meningitis. The recall covers 12 and 19-ounce cans of the product designed for babies with dairy allergies. More information is available on the FDA's website. Next tonight, the alarming increase in respiratory illness is nationwide. The CDC reporting at least 30 states are seeing high or very high numbers of respiratory illness that includes fever plus a cough or sore throat. And hospitalizations

related to COVID are up by almost 17%. Let's bring in NBC News medical contributor Dr. Kavita Patel. So Dr. Patel, these numbers, they seem to just keep growing. Can we only expect them to rise as the last few weeks of holiday gatherings, people being around each other, finish? and how much higher do you think these numbers could actually get? Yeah, Alison, we're starting to see what we would call exponential growth. To your point, all the recent gatherings and all the travel that's happening, literally as we speak, for people trying to get home and then all the people trying to get the work, those are just incredible opportunities to spread any of these viruses.

And you've mentioned not just COVID, it's everything that you and I probably know between us a dozen people that are battling one of these illnesses. And that's only going to rise. We should see that come down, but it'll take several weeks. And then remember, hospitalizations and unfortunately, death can take several weeks even after that. So we're in for a bit of a rocky January. You know, Dr. Patel, obviously, vaccinations are important in preventing these illnesses from spreading rapidly. We can talk about herd immunity.

We can talk about the fact that people are less likely to get this at all if they've been vaccinated. But when we look at vaccination numbers, and we have some of them on our screen here, they're pretty low. Is this the new normal? I mean, should we expect this combination of RSV, COVID, and the flu every year? And when we're talking about vaccines and vaccine fatigue, what is your message to people who maybe think, I was supposed to get the flu shot in October? I was supposed to get a COVID booster back then. Didn't do it.

Got sick anyway, so why bother? Should they still go get these vaccinations? Yeah, and I try to tell people that these vaccines don't necessarily prevent you from ever getting the illness. What they do is they handle the things that I worry about, Ellison, which is, making you sick enough to go to the hospital and then dying. And I think that that's, you know, we think of that as like, oh, that's older people, that's sicker people.

Alison, we've got babies that are very healthy that get RSV, something that we do have an immune kind of recommendation for, kind of a vaccine type of medicine, and we could give that to people. So those low numbers all across the board, COVID, flu, RSV, I do hope with education, they come up. I think on COVID, people are just tired, and they do feel like, even if I get the vaccine and I get it, it's still miserable. And I think we're getting more and more data that shows that, especially with this variant going around the world,

JN1, that our current booster really does cover us and protects us from getting into the hospital. And then don't forget the treatments out there. So there's vaccines and then there's treatments. And we do have treatments for COVID, for the flu, and then in some cases, RSV. So don't feel defeated. Make sure you get the information. And specifically when we're talking about RSV and that vaccine, it was such big news that it became available. It is recommended for people who are over the age of 60, pregnant women, and also young children.

Is that vaccine accessible? And right now, in terms of questions, parents or older people might have for you, what is kind of the biggest question you're getting from people and your general advice for people who might be considering taking their kids to get this, especially? Yeah, and my own kids included. So for the younger kids, eight months and under, it's an antibody. So think of it, if you remember, the monoclonal antibodies we talked about during COVID, it's like a type of immunity, but it's not technically a vaccine. That's usually in a

pediatrician's office. And the good news here, Alison, is that once your baby gets that, they have, and it's not immediate, but they get protection pretty darn quickly within days. And then for over the age of 60, it's a traditional vaccine. That can take a while, like 10 to 14 days to kind of kick in. But I will tell you, Alison, we can prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths and hospitalizations with those vaccines. What I tell parents, we're very nervous about, you know, this is new. doctor? Is this something I would do? I tell them about kind of the data that went into this. It wasn't just one year of RSV data. This is decades of trying to do something against RSV. And then I tell them I do this for my own family, including myself. So I think that these

are the only ways that we can kind of debunk it. It's person by person. And I do have, I will say this, that everybody asks me, can I get all of these things at the same time? If you're older or trying to space the flu and COVID vaccines, but if you're a young, healthy child or baby, or an adult or a teenager. You can get them all. I now tell people get them all in one arm. So do you have one good arm? Because you might be sore for a while. But it is safe to get multiple vaccines at the same time. I did the flu and COVID last year. Both arm. Same arm. I was all right. And I was glad I did it. Dr. Kavita Patel, thank you so much. We appreciate it. Thank you. Coming up next in Olympian killed overseas, an elite runner found stab to death in his brother's car. The arrest just made in that case.

and the dramatic rescue in Scotland, a crew racing to find a climber who got separated from his party in the middle of a blizzard, how they got him to safety. Stay with us. Now to Top Story's Global Watch, and we begin with two arrests late today after Ugandan Olympian was killed. Kenyan police say runner Benjamin Kiplagat was found dead in his brother's car in the town of Eldorrette on New Year's Eve with stab wounds in his neck and chest. Authorities say two suspects were arrested today. The motive believed to be robbery as the athletes' money and cell phone were taken. Kipla got competed for Uganda three times at the Olympics and specialized in long-distance running. And rescue teams braving a blizzard to save a stranded climber in Scotland.

Authorities in the Karen Gorms National Park say the climber was separated from their team around 5.30 p.m. on Saturday as conditions deteriorated. First responders battling whipping winds and sub-zero temperatures to pull down. that climber to safety, that climber now recovering and expected to be okay. With the war in Gaza, sewing divide across the world, an unlikely duo is bringing people together to bridge the gap. Two tour guides, one Palestinian, one Israeli, sitting down with NBC News correspondent Marissa Parra to discuss their journey to find common ground and how they're trying to share it with others. Chocolate hummus is a cultural insult to everybody. Cooking dinner together in this Harlem apartment is not where Kobe Skolnick. You have olive oil, right?

Or Aziz Abu-Sara thought they would be. But after 13 years, their pros at working side-by-side. But then we moved this? No, no, no. Keep it here. Just move this. Kobe was born to a Jewish Orthodox family in Israel and disease to a Palestinian family in Jerusalem.

Together, they became a dynamic duo leading tours to see their homelands. But all of that came to a sudden stop on October 7th. I ran a travel company that ran a lot of trips to Israel and Palestine. and now we're running zero trips there. Tourism in the region has been slashed since the war between Israel and Hamas began, leaving Kobe and Aziz now giving tours of a different kind,

around difficult dialogue here in the United States. Could the young version of either of you ever imagine being here next to each other right now? Not a chance. No, Palestinians, for me, I didn't have empathy. I didn't even can look at them. I grew up with the Palestinian narrative, which, you know, Israel, every Israeli, and even every Jew in the world wants to displace all of us. There's only us versus them.

Today, they're taking that history to discussion events of all kinds. And this night, it's a dinner party. Today we'll try to say, okay, you're mad. For instance, it's so much pain. What do you want the other side to tell you? So first, welcome everybody again. Thank you for coming for dinner and gathering. Kobe and Aziz say while their tours have stopped, their work has doubled.

From what I've heard from a lot of my Muslim sisters this past month is that they're walking on eggshells, that they're afraid to speak their mind. If we can understand the story and feel the person, we connect over stories. We don't connect over political opinions. I think that can get us somewhere and get us to listen to each other. Their hope that engaging in tough but civil conversations can move the needle. We can still sit together and say we don't see each other as an enemy. We're not on the opposite side. What would success look like for you?

Thousands of young people having the courage to talk to the other side in a way that changed the perspectives. Marissa Parra, NBC News, New York. When we come back, we will introduce you to one of the smartest people in the country, and he is just six years old, the very exclusive club he is now part of, and what he plans to do with all that brain power. Stay with us. And finally, tonight, we want to bring you the story of a Texas six-year-old with a particularly bright future. He is one of the youngest people ever to be admitted into the high IQ society, Mensa, and he is already committed to helping others. My name is Chandler, and I am six years old.

Chandler Hughes, a six-year-old savant. 13 times 6 equals 78. Good job, Chandler. It started early. He started reading that one year, nine months. He was in pre-kindergarten but finished on a second grade reading level, a second grade math level. Finally, 14 times 14, 196.

Today it was, oh, yeah, I know, up to my half. 15 time tables. I could do 22. 2.10, 2.25. Chandler, even testing high enough to join the high IQ Society, MNSA, open to those who score in the top two percentile of IQ tests. He joins a special fraternity of people

who are essentially geniuses. He joins a small but impressive group of youngsters, including Cash Quest, who's from Los Angeles, and at just three years old, had an IQ of 146. We've never really sat her down and said, let's read. We will introduce her to something, and if she takes

to it, she takes to it. And Ila McNabb from Kentucky, who now holds the Guinness World record for the youngest Mensa member, joining at just over two and a half years old. Are you sick? Let me take your help. Chandler Hughes one day hoping to use his gifts to help others. Well, he wants to be a doctor. A medical doctor, because I want to help people when they're sick. But right now, the Hughes family is focused on giving this talented young man the support he needs to succeed. Just working on the socialization factor, I think for us is the next piece. He's in a great environment where his teachers, his peers all support him. Just seeing how we can take this and increase literacy and mafrates in our community and for him to continue to

succeed in life. Thank you so much for watching Top Story for Tom Yamis. I'm Ellison Barbara in New York. Stay right there. More news now is on the way.