Top Story with Tom Llamas - Monday, January 12, 2026

Episode Date: January 13, 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.

Breaking tonight, clashes intensify in Minneapolis as Minnesota sues to keep ice operations out of their state. The growing escalation days after a woman was shot and killed by ice. Officers smashing car windows dragging out and arresting a man, tear gas and flashbanks launched at demonstrators as a thousand more ice officers arrive. Protesters surrounding officers, whistles blaring our reporters right in the action. Also tonight, the criminal inquiry into Fed chair Jerome Powell. Powell. Powell blasting the investigation in a rare video, saying the president is trying to intimidate the Fed over interest rates. What President Trump told our reporter about the probe, as some Republicans speak out against the inquiry. Hundreds killed in Iran and many others feared dead as the government cracks down on nationwide protests.

What President Trump just announced moments ago. New surveillance of an arsonist dowsing a synagogue in gasoline before lighting it on fire. the disturbing details about his alleged confession. A paraglider crashing into the ocean, beachgoers rushing in to save him, what caused a sudden free fall. The wild brawl at a youth hockey game, eight-year-olds throwing fists,

why did no adults intervene? And new perks for renters. We speak with a real estate consultant about why landlords are now luring people with free rent, gift cards, even moving vans to get more properties off the market. Plus, Utah now the first state to allow AI to prescribe medication. We'll talk to the doctor behind the pilot program about the risks of

putting AI in charge of your health. Top story. It starts right now. And good evening. We begin tonight with the chaos and the outrage of Minnesota as tensions between ICE officers and protesters reach a boiling point. Federal agents in Minneapolis smashing the windows of this car, dragging out a person before appearing to detain him. It's not clear what happened immediately before or after this video was taken. Our team on the ground there captured, these chaotic moments, ice officers launching tear gas and pepper spray at protesters. These violent clashes happening just two blocks away from where 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed by an ice officer in her car last week. Anger over her death and President Trump's

immigration cracked down triggering a weekend of unrest. Thousands of protesters taking to the street saying they won't stop fighting until federal forces leave their state, but the Trump administration showing no sign of backing down, sending hundreds of additional federal officers into the city. The pressure mounting in Minnesota as the immigration battle now heads to courts. The state's Democratic officials filing a new lawsuit to push the feds out. Nike Vespa is on the ground in Minneapolis and leads us off tonight. Tonight, mayhem in a Minneapolis neighborhood. Anti-ice protesters banging on federal officers vehicles who deployed tear gas to disperse crowds.

This officer appearing to pepper spray someone out the window of a moving van. Look at this behind me. see people arguing with that border patrol agent with this federal officer. We're seeing scenes like this popping up across Minneapolis. I'm just, I'm mad. I'm very mad. You're mad right now? Yes. Well, not right now. I've been mad. And this video showing immigration officers pulling someone out of a car who they say was impeding enforcement operations. The Trump administration now surging hundreds more federal law enforcement officers to the city. The weaponization of a vehicle, a deadly weapon against our law enforcement.

enforcement. We're seeing that's becoming a more and more common tactic. DHS touting the work of federal officers in Minneapolis the last few days, saying they've arrested criminal suspects in the U.S. illegally, including with convictions for sexual assault of a child, rape of a child, homicide, and manslaughter. What are they out there protesting for? They are actively trying to impede law enforcement operations and end the President Trump's mandate to deport illegal alien criminals from out of the state. communities. But Minnesota Democrats now suing to block the surge in officers here. This is, in essence, a federal invasion of the Twin Cities and Minnesota, and it must stop.

While tonight amid the chaos, that's Jamie Schwaesnettle. Earlier, he showed us how residents opposed to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement track ICE officers, communicating via encrypted chat, saying the protests here will go on. People who live in this neighborhood have been through enough. We don't need tear gas. We don't need goons and masks with machine guns setting off tear gas bombs here. Like, they should just leave us alone. Back out, back out.

Maggie Vespa joins us tonight from outside ICE headquarters in St. Paul tonight. We can see those demonstrators there behind you, Maggie. Are these clashes continuing to the night? Tom, they definitely are. We have a car coming behind our producer here, so I want to be careful. I want to point out, though, we've had our team seeing officers, deploying pepper spray and tear gas multiple times tonight. The latest. Look at these protesters here slapping that car. We've seen a lot of this throughout the night. People confronting cars,

confronting, get back out of the road, get back out of the road. Drivers as they come through here, a lot of them going into the localized headquarters. Tom, as you can tell, this is a dynamic situation. It's a chaotic situation. Officers at times pushing protesters back. Suffice it to say, the anger here on the ground is palpable. Clearly not going anywhere for a while, Tom. Okay, Maggie, you and your team stay safe out there. It is a dynamic scene, as you mentioned. We want to track that other headline that we're watching tonight, the escalating showdown between President Trump and chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell.

The Department of Justice opening a criminal investigation after the president repeatedly and publicly slammed Powell for not lowering interest rates. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell has the latest from the White House. A stunning escalation in the White House feud with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The Department of Justice is launching a grand jury. jury investigation. Powell himself announced that the Federal Reserve has been subpoenaed. Today, the White House denied that President Trump sought the probe. No. As for whether or not Jerome Powell is a criminal, that's an answer. The Department of Justice is going to have to find out. Powell says the inquiry is about his June testimony before Congress on the renovation of the

Central Bank's Washington headquarters that the president viewed in July, where he slammed cost overruns pushing the price tag from $1.9 billion to $2.5 billion, though not taxpayer money. The president has pounded Powell over interest rates. Well, I'd love him to lower interest rates. Other than that, what can I tell you? The DOJ declined comment on what it called ongoing investigations. Powell, who had avoided conflict with the president, engaged. The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates

based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president. In a phone call with NBC News, the president said he would not use an investigation to pressure Powell. What should pressure him is the fact that rates are far too high. That's the only pressure he's got. The investigation set off alarm bells for some Republicans. North Carolina's Tom Tillis vowed to block any Trump nominees to the Federal Reserve.

Another example of an amateur hour as far as that. CONCERN. House Speaker Johnson backed the DOJ. No. The Justice Department is not being weaponized. OK, with that, Kelly, joins us tonight live from the White House. So, Kelly, you have some new reporting that the Treasury Secretary is pushing back on this investigation? This is interesting because it shows the tension. Secretary Besson spoke directly to the president about this, and a source familiar with that conversation described the situation as being a mess, and that Besson is, quote,

frustrated that the probe of Powell creates unnecessary distractions. Also new today, we see that all of the living former Fed shares and a number of Treasury secretaries and top economic advisors serving presidents of both parties put out a joint statement. And they called this unprecedented to use prosecutorial powers in what they argue could undermine the independence of the Federal Reserve and that that could have far-reaching implications. So this is a story that will continue to percolate, and it was so notable today to see a handful of Republicans being really concerned about what the president's team through the Department of Justice has done here. Tom? Okay, Kelly O, thank you. I want to bring in NBC News legal analyst, Danny Savadles for us. So Danny, Powell has said this probe is related to his testimony

before the Senate about renovations to the Federal Reserve office buildings. But from what we can tell, what does the actual crime look like here? And in his video, he's alluded to the fact that he's think some of this is related to the interest rates as well? It's hard to say, but likely false statements is a good bet. Misappropriation of funds might be another area that they're looking at, but it's really hard to say at this point, possibly even a form of obstruction. There are several different statutes that deal with making false statements, including false statements to Congress.

So any of those could be on the table, but it's really difficult to speculate at this point. This, as you know, is not the first DOJ investigation, right? It's just somebody who the president does not like. This has happened a lot over the past year. Let's take a look. You got New York Attorney General Letitia James, former FBI director James Comey, former National Security Advisor John Bolton,

Fed Governor Lisa Cook, Senators Adam Schiff and Mark Kelly, and Representative Eric Swalwell, all vocal Trump critics who have either been indicted are the subjects of investigations or have been referred to the DOJ. None have been convicted and all deny the accusations against them.

And Republicans will say, listen, Democrats use what's known as lawfare against President Trump with either criminal indictments or indictments against his business, look in several investigations in multiple states. But I want to ask you, who is sort of watching the shop, if you will? Who is investigating the Justice Department,

if they're doing the right thing or the wrong thing? It's the Office of the Inspector General, but obviously nothing's wrong here? There are really, too. There's the Office of the Inspector General, and then there's the Office of Professional Responsibility. They troubleshoot things like ethics. There's some overlap there, at least symbolically.

But you're right, OIG can't stop an investigation. They can investigate wrongdoing, but they don't have the power to enjoin what DOJ is doing in terms of a prosecution. So investigated, they may, but DOJ is going to continue investigating and prosecuting who they see fit. And I asked this question because there have been prosecutors that have either been fired or have resigned because of some of these investigations where they, according to the report cited, there wasn't enough evidence here. There's new reporting now in the Wall Street Journal as well along all these cases, that now the president, is apparently not happy with Pam Bondi this, according to the Wall Street Journal, because she hasn't been aggressive enough in prosecuting his opponents.

So I guess I want to circle back to that question. I mean, the Justice Department obviously doesn't have unlimited powers. Congress can watch them. We mentioned the OIG. What else has to happen here? If anything to Ferris is happening, who's the one to flag it? There are a number of different ways. I mean, there's not going to be any kind of civil or criminal liability for prosecutors

because they're usually completely immune for whatever prosecutorial decisions that they make. in terms of oversight, the oversight is the president. That's how the executive branch is formed. The president is essentially at the very top of the executive branch, although he does not give orders to DOJ. The attorney general is a somewhat different cabinet member, because he is an attorney, he or she is an attorney. The attorney general is supposed to exercise independent judgment as a prosecutor.

That makes the AG a little different than another cabinet-level position. So there is accountability with the attorney general. But of course, as we've seen, even as far back as Nixon, you can fire your attorney general and try to put in somebody that you think is going to be more favorable to you. If any of these investigations were purely because of politics and allegations that President Trump was behind these, which no one has been able to prove and people are calling these out, but nobody has really been able to connect the dots yet. But if that were to happen, where would that originate from? Where would what? Do you rid the prosecution?

Yeah, or I mean, I mean, this is something that if it were to happen, that the media would have to investigate? or would there be something else there? So you're asking, is there accountability at the end of the road for prosecutions that are ultimately political? And I think history shows the answer to that is no. And you pointed out correctly that not only Trump, but during the first Trump administration,

several people in Trump's circle were prosecuted as well, likely more than we saw on that visual that we just had up on the screen. But for every new administration, there's always been complaints that there's retaliation. But here, it just seems, at least, that it's much more direct. And while Trump himself may not be giving the orders,

there's that parallel, the famous quote, Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest? Trump may not have to give direct orders. He's putting people in place that already know what Trump wants, and they're executing what he wants. And in a strange way, that might be how the framers designed the Constitution. But we shall see. Danny Savalas for us, Danny, we appreciate that.

We want to turn now to Iran, where the crackdown on anti-government protests appear to be getting worse. Just moments ago, President Trump, who has already threatened military action there, announced that any country doing business with the Islamic Republic will have to pay a tax on businesses done with America. Richard Engel has the latest.

The few images protesters managed to share with the world despite the government's internet crackdown reveal a nation in open revolt and facing a brutal crackdown. As Iranians search for loved ones, killed or missing, a U.S. official with direct knowledge of events tells NBC News, protests have now spread to every province in Iran and that the government seems to be on its heels. President Trump, who threatened to attack Iran in support of the protesters, says he's reviewing military options. The Speaker of Iran's parliament today warned if the U.S.

attacks, American bases will burn. President Trump said that would be a big mistake. If they do that, we'll consider things targets that they wouldn't believe. If they do that, we will hit them, at levels that they've never been hit before. And they won't even believe it. I have options that are so strong. So I mean, if they did that, it'll be met with a very, very powerful force. In Iran, state media, the only media amid the communications blackout is telling Iranians the government is in full control.

As pro-government counter-protesters have been mobilized, Iran's president took to the streets. The country's supreme leader went so far today. as to claim victory, praising his security forces for defeating what he described as rioters backed by Israel and the United States. Iran's Islamic government in power since 1979 may be breaking, but its security forces appear to remain intact. Richard Engel joins us tonight live from Washington and Richard, the president just announcing those tariffs on countries doing business with Iran.

Explain that to our viewers. It's a slightly different tactic because Iran is already one of the most sad. sanctioned countries on earth. The economy is in free fall. People in Iran don't have money. The government doesn't have money. So sanctioning Iran even more would be of very little effect. But this new tariff, a 25 percent tariff, targets countries that do business with Iran and will attempt to extract money from them. And the countries that do business with Iran are primarily Russia and China. All right, Richard, stick around for us. I want to bring in NBC's Yasmin Vasuvian. She's, her parents are from Iran. She spent a lot of time reporting there.

Yasmin, you were born here. What are your friends and family back in Iran saying? It's not good. And there is an internet blackout, as we well know. There are food shortages. We know that there has been a shortage of water for quite some time there in Iran. Banks are shut down. Groceries stores are shut down as well. Oftentimes during the day, people are staying at home because they fear for their life, for their safety, and then going out into the streets at night to protest. They say the casualty numbers that we are reporting are far lower than what is actually happening inside the country. But of course, as journalists, it's hard for us to get a real picture of what's happening inside Iran without access to the Internet. For them, information

really is power. And what's happening right now is authorities are going around Iran, They're taking away satellites because they're able to use VPNs to actually get access to the outside world. And with those satellites, they're no longer able to use those VPNs. And now they're having to rely, for instance, on Starlink. And there are some, there is Starlink inside the country. And I actually just spoke to someone on the ground there who has kind of four separate hubs inside the country, funneling Starlink services to various people throughout the country. Their goal is to reach a thousand cities throughout Iran to allow them to gain more access to the

outside world. Richard, you've covered protests there before. We've seen these over the years that the Ayatollah took over and the Islamic Revolution there. Does this one feel different in any way? And I know we've had a lot of conversations about at some point either the secret police, the military has to either get with the demonstrators or stop defending the administration and the people in power for things to change there. Is this different? It does. It does feel different. And if you look at protests, you know, there's protest. There's then there's revolts and there's revolutions. And it looks like we could be in the revolutionary phase in Iran.

As you say, the key difference is the security forces. Do the security forces break or not? And ultimately, once the security forces break, if the security forces break, the regime can't hold on to power. And that is really the key factor that I'm watching here right now. What do the security forces do? at some stage, Iran is a relatively united population. Iranians are not going to want to keep shooting at fellow Iranians. There's not a religious divide. There's not a real ethnic divide.

There are some. But it is generally a Persian country of Persians. And they're all suffering economically. So there is this ideological divide, those who are with the regime and without and against the regime. But once that breaks down and the police decide they don't want to do this any more than I think we could see a real revolution and a regime change. Yeah, as when the president has threatened Iran over and over again saying that he sides with the protesters, that if there are killings like this, he will intervene. What can the U.S. do to really make a difference? So you spoke with Richard about these tariffs, the 25% tariffs.

What's interesting is I was just speaking to folks who said to me that, you know, in protests passed, the idea domestically inside Iran has been, we're going to do this on their on our own, right? We are nationalists. We will rise up on our own. This time, I think, is different because they recognize that they need outside support in order to topple the current regime. But what they don't want is, for instance, a mass bombing campaign across the country in which millions of Iranians could feasibly be killed in order to topple the regime. Instead, they want to know that they have support from the outside, and what that may look like could be, for instance, more targeted strikes that we saw over the summer during the 12-day war between Israel

and Iran. They don't necessarily think that these types of tariffs is going to resonate as support from the outside to the protesters inside. But it does seem as if, and this is what's most interesting, that we've seen the protest before, of course, after the killing of Massa, Amin, those things did eventually fade out. This does seem like it has some real energy behind it. it could go on for some time if, in fact, they're able to get support from the outside of the country. Yasman, Richard, we thank you so much for being here tonight. What major update back here at home in the startling murders of an Ohio dentist and his wife, the ex-husband of the woman killed now charged with their murders, making his first court appearance today.

And tonight, her family revealing new details about their past relationship. NBC's Air McLaughlin was in the courtroom today. This is the first time we're seeing accused killer Michael David McKee in court. The vascular surgeon, clean cut in handcuffs, wearing a yellow jumpsuit, speaking only to say his name. During a two-minute-long court appearance, where he waived his right to an extradition hearing. Heave his right to an extradition. McKee now charged with two counts of aggravated murder for the shooting deaths of his ex-wife Monique Teppi and her husband, Spencer. Tonight, the Teppi's brother-in-law tells NBC News, McKee was an emotionally abusive person when he was with Monique, adding it was obviously a shock.

that something like this could happen, but we quickly believe McKee had something to do with it. Phyllis Williams is close friends with Monique's mother and attended her wedding to McKee back in August 2015. They were not surprised who the perpetrator was, and I'm very glad justice will be served. The couple had no children and divorced after less than two years of marriage. Court documents cited incompatibility. Three and a half years later, Monique married Spencer Tepi, sharing this in her vows. I had quite a journey to get to you, countless bad bumble dates, wrong relationships, and waterfalls of tears. But it was worth every cringing second because it led me to you.

The couple had two children ages four and one, who were also inside the Columbus, Ohio home when McKee allegedly opened fire. Eleven days later, McKee was arrested for the double homicide, roughly 400 miles away in Rockford, Illinois, where he practiced medicine. Today in court, McKee's public defender said he plans to plead not guilty to the charges in Ohio as soon as possible. And it's unclear when McKee will be extradited. Officials here say it's up to authorities in Ohio to come pick him up. The judge set a status hearing for next Monday.

Tom. Aaron, thank you. We're back in a moment with disturbing video capturing an arsonist, pouring gas inside a synagogue before lighting it on fire. What we're learning about that anti-Semitic attack. Plus, chaos on the ice growing questions tonight after a youth hockey game turned into an all-out brawl. What happened? And a paraglider fail at Florida at a Florida beach, a man plummeting. Look at this, hundreds of feet down into the water, how crews pulled him to safety.

Ahead on top story. We're back with bizarre moments on the ice at a minor league hockey game in Pennsylvania. Video showing eight-year-old players in an all-out brawl during an intermission game with no parents or referees appearing to step in, not even the mascot. Now, the league overseen the players saying it was staged and promising to investigate. Sam Brock has this one. Rare sight on an ice rink. This now viral clip shows eight-year-olds exchanging blows during a Hershey Bear's minor league hockey game intermission, throwing punches, swinging sticks. And as you can see in this video, even hurling themselves on top of each other.

Leah Hollandbach captured the video of the Mites on Ice. It was about a good two, three, four minutes. In it, you can see the home team's mascot skate right by the skirmish. Did you see adults trying to intervene? No, there was no adults trying to intervene. Our on ice guy, he was trying to get our mascot,

Coco the Bear, to stop the mics. The crowd reacting, even roaring at times. Where were the parents? Where were the coaches? So the coaches, they were off the ice watching this. We're not on the ice, that's for sure. Parents flooding social media with comments like this.

That's the best intermission entertainment I've seen in years. And it was amazing that goalie was decking guys. The Atlantic Amateur Hockey Association condemning the chaos saying appropriate disciplinary action will be taken against those players and team officials involved with the staged fight, suggesting adults could have been involved in planning this. Whether it was staged or not, really I don't think makes a difference. The executive director of the National Council of Youth Sports says this type of behavior is high Unusual. Young people are not small adults. This may happen at the professional level,

but it really is not something that could or should happen, you know, at the youth level. A lesson for some parents trying to pave the right path for their kids. All right, Sam, Bragg joins us tonight. Sam, you know, we want to reiterate, because I talked to some dads that your kids play hockey. I didn't grow up around the ice. But they said this is very unusual. And that's what you're reporting is showing as well. So where does this stage part comes out? Because I think that would be so hard for kids to be so choreographed in this fighting. Whether it was staged or it wasn't staged.

Oh, it's still wrong, right? It is wrong. But either way, this happened only a few weeks earlier, right? On December 22, this is video from that prior incident. It is almost like deja vu all over again, to quote Yogi Berra. There's a cross-check into the boards there. And then all of a sudden, you'll see the puck gets cleared. And these kids are still on top of each other time.

The clip itself is like 45 seconds to a minute. This happened in Hershey, Pennsylvania, only three weeks before. And look at this, right? And so you go onto social media, if you have the courage to do so. There's 500-plus comments about this recent incident, and people saying things to the effect of these kids deserve a pizza party. This is so great they're going to remember this day for the rest of their lives. Like the Karen's out there that have a problem with this, that's the overwhelming majority

of comments. So you're trying to create this split screen and understand how parents could perceive it that way. the youth hockey league, the ice league, there did come out and say we're conducting an internal review. We're going to talk to the appropriate parties, try to figure out what's going on here. But the kid's safety is the most important thing in all this. They're saying that. We're looking at these images, and those two things don't seem to sort of coalesce. All right, Sam Brockford's.

This is a weird one. I'm sure we'll stay on top of it. We thank you, everybody. Coming up, the scary scenes on the slopes this time, dramatic new video of people getting swept up in avalanches, how they narrowly escaped. plus the terrifying ride for a U.S. bobsleder forced to take a solo run after his teammates never made it on the sled. But first, Top Story's top moment on this Monday, a stunning comeback win for the Chicago Bears over the Packers this weekend, and excited Dad taking his celebration and his son to the street. Take a look.

So they win? The official Bears account commenting, best thing ever, hopefully the neighbors felt the same way. Stay with us. More news on the way. All right, we are back now with a disturbing case out of Mississippi where authorities say a 19-year-old has been charged with arson after breaking into a synagogue and lighting it on fire. The new video shows the suspect pouring gasoline inside. Jesse Kirsch has this one. Tonight, this is what's left of Jackson, Mississippi's only Jewish House of Worship after an anti-Semitic attack. The Beth Israel synagogue largely reduced to rubble after a suspect deliberately set fire to the temple. This synagogue's surveillance footage shows the hooded attacker.

pouring gasoline inside. Authorities say 19-year-old Stephen Spencer Pittman is now charged with arson after confessing to lighting the fire because of the building's Jewish ties. According to the FBI, map data shows Pittman left home early Saturday, stopped at a gas station, and then arrived at what he called the synagogue of Satan. That's when he allegedly used an axe to break a window, poured gasoline, and set the synagogue on fire. Later, Pittman allegedly laughed as he told his father what he did and said he finally got them. Investigator say the suspect's father turned in his son. The attack against the synagogue is an attack against all of us. A congregation spokesperson says no synagogue members were injured in the attack, but at least two sacred prayer scrolls were destroyed.

Antisemitic incidents have been surging in the U.S. after Hamas's 23 terror attack on Israel, according to recent data from the Anti-Defamation League. This was not the first attack on on Beth Israel. In 1967, the Ku Klux Klan bombed the temple and the home of its anti-segregationist rabbi, according to the synagogue website. Jesse Kirste joins us tonight live from Miami. Jesse, we know the suspect was in court. What more do we learn? Yeah, Tom, and according to our Jackson, Mississippi affiliate, he made that a court appearance from a hospital bed. The FBI affidavit says that the suspect's father spotted some burn wounds in the aftermath of the attack, as he was learning more about what unfolded. As this unfolded today, we are learning more from the synagogue community itself,

the congregation saying that it is planning for Jewish life in Jackson to continue proudly and even defiantly. Tom. Okay, Jesse Kirsch for us, Jesse, thank you. Time now for Top Story's news feed, Senator Mark Kelly suing the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Pete Higsteth over the efforts to downgrade his military retirement rank. The Democrat from Arizona calling the attempt to censure him and demote him, quote, unlawful and unconstitutional. Heggseth said last week that Kelly made seditious statements in reference to a video where he urged military members not to comply with illegal orders. The Pentagon declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.

A terrifying moment caught on camera near Palm Beach in Florida. Rescue officials say this paraglider plummeted around 500 feet into the ocean after strong winds suddenly caught his parachute. It caused it to partially collapse. He apparently got tangled up in the parachute. shoot lines and lifeguards had to cut them before helping them back to the shore. We're told the 53-year-old is expected to be okay. In New York City, about 15,000 nurses walked off the job today.

The health care workers hitting the pick-up line outside. You see them here. This happened at multiple hospitals. Negotiations failed to reach a new contract. Union officials say they're pushing for better safety, staffing, and pay. But the hospitals argue that those demands are too costly. The hospital hire temporary nurses to step in during the strike. And a shocking scene at the World Cup for an American bobsled team.

This is wild. Three of the four athletes slipping on the track there, one of them slamming into the ice wall. Only one man makes it actually into the sled as it takes off, a four-man ride turning into a solo run. The International Bob Sled Federation calling it, quote, an absolute nightmare for the driver and for the crew. Okay, new warnings tonight after multiple avalanches were reported this weekend, videos capturing the sheer power and the danger of the snow. As we're learning one incident in Washington State left two skiers dead. NBC's Liz Kroits has more. Tonight, multiple avalanches creating a dangerous few days on the slopes.

This harrowing video showing a skier in the mountains between Spain and France being violently swept downhill by an avalanche. You can hear her calling out for her dog as she slides down the mountain for some 15 seconds, finally safely coming to a stop. The incident is one of several recent avalanches from Juneau, Alaska, where there's an evacuation advisory following multiple avalanches, including this one, to Washington State, where on Friday, an avalanche turned deadly. Officials say 38-year-old Paul Markoff and 43-year-old Eric Henney were killed while skiing in the eastern Cascade Mountains. According to the sheriff's office, two others they were with survived, using a small satellite device to send a distress call. They were shaken, and they had

tried to do what they could to find and save their friends unsuccessfully. The avalanche risk also high in Colorado, where this video shows a group of skiers swept up in the Rocky Mountain National Park. Officials say one of the riders dislocated his shoulder while grabbing onto a tree. Thankfully, they all made it out alive. What is it about the conditions right now that are triggering these avalanches? Well, all but one of these were avalanches and wind drifted snow. And so it was a combination of a little bit of new snow, a bunch of wind, that drifted that new snow. And then it was a really nice weekend. It just lured a lot of people out into the mountains. An important warning, this winter.

It joins us tonight from L.A. Liz, what are some of the things experts say to watch out for? I mean, when you're skiing? Yeah, I mean, if you're going to go out, especially if you're going out into the back country, experts say you need to check the avalanche conditions. You heard him there. He said a lot of snow mixed with high winds can elevate that risk. That is because the wind will blow the snow into what they say are these sort of slabs or plates of. snow that then can break up and become an avalanche. You can check that forecast at avalanche.org. If you do find yourself, it's rare, but if you find yourself in a situation like that where you are in an avalanche, experts tell us that you should try to get out of that avalanche debris flow

as best if you can. That is so dangerous. And if you can't, you should do whatever you can to keep your head above the surface. Tom. Some good tips there, Liz. We thank you for that. Now to the tactics. Some landlords are using to draw in new renters. The Wall Street Journal today had a story that caught our eye, pointing out that the rise of rent concessions or the special perks that luxury building owners are offering in an effort to attract tenants is growing. Some of the most renter-friendly cities appear to be concentrated in the country's Sunbelt in Phoenix, Arizona, more than half of all new rentals come with some sort of concession. Austin, Texas, and Jacksonville, Florida, also high in that list. Common perks include one to three months of free rent, Amazon gift cards, even discounted

sports tickets. That sounds good. And even free moving I want to bring in real estate consultant and developer Anita from Malayan for her perspective on this. Anita, thanks so much for joining Top Story tonight. You're based in Phoenix, which we mentioned in the top city for rent concessions right now. Why are landlords there having to turn this tactic? Turn to this tactic. The Wall Street Journal pointed to development during COVID. Yeah, thanks, Tom. Thanks so much for having me. Yeah, I think that's been part of the issue. I think COVID, there was a lot of development, and I think a lot of developers thought the work for from home trend for professionals would continue. And I think what we're seeing now

is a lot of buildings are opening at the same time. And so there's just a temporary oversupply in the market. And so landlordsers are just trying to work through that. And I think the best strategy for them is rather than lowering the rents, they're just offering concessions. And I think... So what are you seeing there in Phoenix? What has sort of struck your eye? Yeah, there's a lot of different things. I mean, anything from, like you said, one month to three months free. That's pretty standard. People are getting creative. There's things like Cardinals tickets. There's, you know, U-Haul bands that people are paying for. I think it's also, we're also seeing people wanting to keep existing tenants in place. So there's a lot of incentives.

Friends of mine just were mentioning that they're getting four weeks free rent if they just renew their leases. So you're seeing a lot of tactics to keep existing tenants in place as well. So I do want to ask, you know, Phoenix was sort of seen as one of those cities of the future, right, especially post-pandemic, a lot of people moving to Arizona for a variety of reasons. Did they overbuild? Are there too many units now? Are there a glut of condos and apartments? Yeah, I think that's a great question. And I don't think they did overbuild. I think in the long term, we will see things sort of level out. And I think what's important to also keep in mind is that this trend is mainly for luxury apartments, which is not all apartments. If you look at other

other traditional apartment units or even lower income or workforce housing apartments, there's actually a lot of demand for those. Just last week, 13 projects for workforce housing got approved. We're currently developing a project for workforce housing. So I think this is an issue for just luxury real estate, luxury real apartments. And I think as they burn through some of that inventory, I think we'll start seeing demand level out. Do you know, yeah, do you see a common? thread from all the cities. I mean, I know Las Vegas was another one of those cities. We saw

Jacksonville as well. Is there a common thread there? I know you mentioned the luxury developments, but what are the cities all have in common? Because they sort of do sound like those post-COVID boom cities. Yeah, I think the one thing they all have in common is you're seeing a lot of migration from places like California. If you look at each of the U-Haul data was released just last week. And so there you saw that people are leaving California for the last six years. been leaving California more than they've more people been leaving than they've than have been moving in and those people are going to a lot of places like Phoenix Vegas and and those some different Sun Belt regions and so I think

those areas are continuing to see that migration come in from those cities were much cheaper than places like California better taxes whether not weather necessarily but lifestyle so I think we're starting to see more of that trend continue okay so great to have here, Neh. We appreciate. Thanks for your time. Still ahead tonight, you're probably used to go in to get to a doctor to get medications, but now one state is turning to AI bots to help fill prescriptions. You heard us right, how it works and what it means for patients. Plus, the moment a dog starts a house fire by chewing

on a ski glove. We'll show it to you. That's next. We're back now with Top Stories Health Check and Utah announcing a first-of-its-kind pilot program, allowing residents to refill some prescriptions using artificial intelligence. The state partnering with a tech startup Doctronic, the company labeling itself a trusted AI doctor. But this doesn't include all drugs on the market. For a $4 fee, the Chapotkin process renewals for 190 commonly prescribed medications, but for safety reasons excludes pain killers, ADHD drugs, and injectables.

With that, I want to bring in Doctronic co-founder and vascular surgeon, Dr. Adam Oskowitz. Dr. Thanks so much for joining Top Story tonight. Thank you for having me. Yeah, a chatbot playing the role of a doctor might be hard for some people to wrap their head around. Walk me through how this program works. Yeah, it's very similar to a doctor's visit for most people. What happens is people will come to our website and they will start engaging with an AI. The AI will identify if they have any prescriptions within their electronic health record.

Once we do that, we will then go through a process to make sure that the prescription is safe to renew. After that has been done, the AI will determine whether or not it can proceed and send the prescription to a pharmacy or if it needs to be escalated to a human doctor. So let me ask you a question. Why would a person start using this AI chatbot tool instead of just calling their doctor's office? I think a lot of it just comes down to access, right? I think we all know that doctors are really busy and getting a hold of your primary care doctor can take two weeks or two months. Oftentimes, we don't have that amount of time to renew medication. And so by doing this, we improve access for a lot of people who just can't get renewals on time. How accurate is it? It is extremely accurate.

We have actually evaluated our AI system and compared it to human doctors because that's the gold standard. And when we do that, we find that our AI is consistent with what human doctors would do 99.2% of the time. And how complicated is it for somebody out there who's not super familiar? with AI, to sort of get their records and to get on this website and for the AI to have all that health history. I know you mentioned the electronic records, but how easy is that to transfer? Yeah, from a patient's perspective, it is quite simple. It's as easy as going to the website. We then actually do the check for them electronically to see if there is a medication within the electronic health record. They don't have to do that themselves. And then it just really feels

like answering a series of questions the same way you would with the doctor. So it is actually designed for the non-tech savvy person. You know, there are people, obviously, as you know, that are hesitant to trust AI with their medication, concerned that the chatbot could miss things, a human physician wouldn't. The CEO of the American Medical Association saying in a statement, let's put this up for our viewers here, while AI has limitless opportunity to transform medicine for the better, without physician input, it also poses serious risks to patients and physicians alike. What's your response to that? I mean, I fully agree that AI needs to be rolled out in a safe way. But the fact of the matter is that we have a supplied demand mismatch with health care.

There will never be enough doctors to meet the demands of patients. And so we do need to look to technology to improve access and allow people to actually get the health care they need. You know, there is a huge problem if you don't get your medications, right? Medication noncompliance actually costs the American, it costs America about $100 billion every year. That comes in the form of poor health outcomes. non-needed emergency room visits. That problem is just as important as worrying about potential errors or problems with health care itself. I know there are certain drugs, especially the ones that people can get hooked on,

addicted to, that aren't regulated through your system, but is there a concern that maybe a patient who maybe is not really all there, maybe they have some mental health issues, and they're using the chat bottle a little too much to keep getting the medicine? How do you make sure that doesn't happen? Yeah, I think it's important to understand that this. This isn't the typical AI system that you might use today, like going to open AI or anthropic. It is fundamentally different. So while AI is the thing that powers it, it has guardrails in place that cannot be broken.

So we determine whether or not a person is actually on the medication. We do about a dozen checks on the back end to make sure that the medication is safe looking at things like, is the dosage correct? Are there drug-drug interactions? Is this something that's safe for a person of this age? And so it is actually not possible for somebody to coerce the system into giving them a mess with safe. Dr. Oskowitz, thank so much for coming on here and explaining this. We'll see how it rolls out and works for people out there. We appreciate your time.

Thank you very much. Okay, time now for Top Stories Global Watch, where we're going to check off headlines around the world. We're going to start with some devastating wildfires in Southeast Australia. Take a look at this. Authorities say they've killed at least one person destroyed hundreds of buildings and left thousands without power. Dozens of fires have been burning since last week. So far, we're told the flames have scorched more than 800,000 acres larger than the entire state of Rhode Island. Malaysia and Indonesia are now the first countries to block Elon Musk's GROC over concerns that the AI chatbot is being misused to create sexually explicit images.

We've done a lot of stories here on this. This as regulators in the UK just announced their launching investigation to see if GROC violated laws by allowing users to share sexualized deep fakes of children. NBC News reached out to X for comment but has yet to hear back. Musk has previously called these actions a, quote, excuse for censorship. And first responders in Canada releasing some new video of a dog, sparking a fire inside of a home. This is a strange one. Security footage shows the pup on a couch appearing to chew on a heated ski glove.

Authority say was powered by a lithium ion battery that caused the fire. This happened late last week at a house near Ottawa. Cruise showed up quickly to put out the flames, and yes, they were able to rescue that dog. Okay, when we come back tonight here on Top Story, we're going to break down all the buzz and the backlash from this year's Golden Globes and show you the strangest moments from the ceremony. Plus, the emotional moment on the eyes for the American figure skater who just turned a spot on the U.S. Olympic team less than one year after losing his parents. That story next. We are back now with Hollywood's biggest party, the Golden Globes. The ceremony which spans both TV and film unofficially marks the start of the award season.

And there were some big surprises and upsets, but also. Also this year, some aspects of the actual show that had viewers scratching their heads. Here to break it all down for us is Rotten Tomatoes Awards editor and a friend of mine, Jacqueline Coley. Jacqueline, so great to see you. Thanks for being here. I want to start with the first, I guess, maybe the big upset. It was in the drama category for movies. Walk our viewers through what happened there. Yeah, so I think the perennial sort of favorite going into this was going to be sinners. A lot of folks were behind that from an audience standpoint and a critical standpoint, but it was actually Hamnet, which is produced by Steven Spielberg, directed by Chloe Zhao, about the death of William

Shakespeare's first son that ended up taking the top prize and best drama, which was somewhat unexpected by other folks, but I actually did predict it on rotten tomatoes.com, so I kind of knew. All right, well, there you go. Even though sinners didn't win, it was a pretty big night for the studio for Warner Brothers. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I think overall Warner Brothers took home nine prizes across television and film, best comedy. It also took best box office achievement for sinners. And on the television side, Noah Wiley came back after 30 years on ER to do another medical drama, taking home best drama and best actor for the pit. Not bad when your studio's up for sale, right?

I will say, I'm sure Noah Wiley's happy to go into this whole thing with some new hardware. So it was interesting, right? Because the ceremony sort of had like announcers, play-by-play people. And we're not talking about an emcee or a host. We're talking about something completely separate. We do have a clip of it. Let's play and let's see what we think of this.

He was also in this category, told me on the carpet that he had a time machine and he went in the time machine. He said, Amy is going to win. And then Jason Babin said, he and John Krasinski also had their money on Amy. Now the question is, will Amy be, I guess, on their podcast, which I think she has been. So sort of a play-by-play as Amy Poehler won for actually the first ever Golden Globe for Best Podcasts. So what's been the reaction online? I mean, I think folks were unexpected with it.

First of all, Kevin Fraser was one of the play-by-pay person. He's actually done that. And he's excellent. He's great broadcaster. Yeah, done that many times. But Mark Malkin, who's actually the variety correspondent, he was. was the addition and Variety's parent company, Penske Media, is also the owner of the Golden Globes. And I think they were trying to get more of their talent there. And although it was something

that folks had not seen before, they tried to go with a familiar voice. Somebody that folks recognized from the red carpet, I will say they're going to get a lot of feedback they already have. And folks have talked about it. I think they were trying new things to bring in more folks. Right. And there's something wrong with that, right? Because, I mean, the Oscars is going to YouTube eventually, I think, at a few years. And so these award shows are going to evolve Speaking of sort of the evolution, something else they tried was the betting market, something we see in sports. It was almost like they were trying to bring a lot of stuff we see in sports to these award shows. Talk to us about the partnership with Polly Market and what happened there.

Yes, and I don't have a ton of details of it, but Polly Market, they were showing the sort of audience reaction and their predictions on who would win each individual category leading into each awards. And I think what was interesting is we mentioned sinners being the upset, or sorry, Hamnet being the upset of sinners. I think it was interesting to see sort of the audience take of it going into it. And although I think some purists may not necessarily understand about the betting, people have been talking about and predicting and prognosticating and kind of betting on the Oscars for as long as we've had it. And so I think like with sports and with other things, this is just the Golden Globe saying, if there's aspects of other parts of entertainment that folks are gravitating towards, maybe we can bring this into this because, again, they're really trying to add in more folks to the audience.

Trying to make it more interactive. We have an example of that. Let's play it for our viewers. Let's check out the top three predictions on Polly Market. Leading the top predictions on Polly Market. And looking at the top three predictions on Polly Market. Listen, all the nominees tonight are so funny, but it looks like there's a familiar favor pulling ahead on the Polly Market predictions. Look, I will say gambling, not a big gambler,

but gambling does make things a little bit more excited. People like the action sometimes. And maybe it'll track a different group into that audience as well. Like many awards shows, the Golden Globes went a little bit long, over three hours long. It was a very long night. But some big awards were still presented in commercial breaks. What's the take with that?

I mean, I will go ahead and say it, first of all, I'm an awards editor. I've dedicated my life to the art of moving motion pictures and giving out trophies for it. So to see a two-time Oscar winner, Ludwig Gorensen, Ryan Coogler's longest collaborator, not give his acceptance speech for Best of Roald. That was very disappointing for me. First of all, he's an excellent guy to listen to to talk about film, but especially talk about Ryan. We did get the clip later, but I think of all the feedback and maybe criticism that they've gotten. That's the one that folks were really upset about, because it's also one of the few Kraft Awards that has given out at the Golden Globes.

Before we go, how'd you like the DJ and the music? So that was kind of an interesting one. I loved when Snoop went up there to Snoop. Some of the other choices and other shows, they do them instrumentalized. I think that's maybe a more easier, palatable way. But this is the home of the Grammys. I think they were trying to lean into that Grammy's influence. It didn't feel like the DJ at times knew what the categories were.

I don't know. It was a little off. Anyways, Jacqueline, you were great, and we want to have you back. So thanks so much for seeing it tonight. We're going to move on now. Finally tonight, one figure skater turning tragedy into triumph. Maxim Naumov moving so many with his emotional performances at the national championships, honoring his late parents who passed in that tragic DC plane crash. Now, with the Olympics just weeks away, he's fulfilling a family legacy.

When Max Naumov was a little boy, he dreamed of one thing. I always dreamed of being in the Olympics. Skating this weekend with an Olympic. spot on the line. Nearly one year after losing his parents in the 2025 mid-air flight collision over the Potomac. Everyone in this arena standing. Despite his strong scores, a spot on the U.S. Olympic team still hung in the balance. Come on in.

That is, until this moment. So you're on the 2026 Olympic team. Congratulations. Tears of joy, a dream shared with his parents finally realized. Throughout the competition, he kept their memory close. We did it. We absolutely did it. Now Mobb sharing this heartfelt message.

Every letter, every call, every text, I see it, and it helps me. his parents' legacy with him. This time, onto the Olympic team. They'd say we're proud of you, but job's not finished. We're just getting started. All right, we can't wait to watch all of Team USA in just a few weeks. That does it for us tonight. Thanks so much for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamus in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.