Top Story with Tom Llamas - Monday, July 8, 2024

Episode Date: July 9, 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 president and the White House on defense as they face mounting questions about the president's health. Visitor logs revealing a Parkinson's expert visited the White House eight times in eight months. The White House press secretary sparring with reporters today saying she can't confirm why that person was there, but reiterating Biden's not being treated for Parkinson's. Tonight, a neurologist joins top story. Democrats versus Biden, the embattled president, riding back against growing calls from his own party that he step aside as the list of representatives continues to grow. His defiant response to his critics as he commits disdain in the race. Also tonight, Hurricane Barrow slams Texas, the rainmaker with high-speed winds hitting the state's Gulf Coast. Drone video showing homes destroyed as more than 2.5 million people

are left without power. But where is Barrel headed next? Bill Karen standing by to time it all out. Deadly hospital strike, Russia, launching a barrage of missiles on Ukraine, killing at least 36 people, and injuring hundreds more. The attack, including a strike, on a children's hospital in Kiev. Grand Canyon crash, a gust of wind, hits an anchored hot air balloon, sending it airborne and through a craft fair, injuring three people, including a child. Barcelona battles tourists, thousands of Spanish protesters, taking to the streets, spraying visitors with waters. guns and shouting at them to go home. Why the frustrated locals are calling for an end to what they call mass tourism. Jumping into action and unmanned boat spinning out of control in a New Hampshire lake, kids on the water in the boat's path, the incredible moment a teenager hops off his wave runner to stop the chaos. You'll hear how he did it in our spotlight interview.

And day one of Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial, the actor just leaving court, our team New Mexico with the latest. Top story starts right now. And good evening. I'm Tom Yamas. Great to be with you guys. Tonight, President Joe Biden's health is under scrutiny once again, as questions swirl as to why a Parkinson's expert paid multiple visits to the White House. According to public visitor logs, a neurologist from Walter Reid, who specializes in Parkinson's, was at the White House eight times in the past eight months. One of those visits included a January meeting with the president's personal doctor. Reporters today pressing White House press secretary, Corrine John Pierre, about why this doctor was visiting, leading to these tense moments.

That I am not sharing confirming names from here. It is the security reasons. I am not going to do that, Ed. It doesn't matter how hard you push me. It doesn't matter how angry you get with me. I'm not going to confirm a name. It doesn't matter if it's even in the log. I am not going to do that from here.

The news coming as a growing list of Democrats. You see them right here, now at least nine of them, calling for the president to withdraw from the race. Again, those are Democrats. President Biden firing back in a letter to Congress saying, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, and the voters and the voters alone decide the nominee of the Democratic Party. Tonight we're speaking to a neurologist here on Top Story,

as well as a staunch supporter of President Biden, Pennsylvania lieutenant governor, Austin, who will join us live. But first, we want to get right to NBC's senior White House correspondent Kelly O'Donnell, who leads us off. The message from President Biden today, the debate over his debate is over. I am not going anywhere. The president says he has now assessed the country's mood after visiting voters across battleground states. Today, he phoned into MSNBC's Morning Joe. I wanted to make sure I was right that the average voter out there still wanted Joe Biden. and I'm confident they do.

The first lady amplifying his message in three states. For all the talk out there about this race, Joe has made it clear that he's all in. And to Democrats on Capitol Hill, the president sent more than 1,200 words to get on board. Any weakening of resolve only helps Trump and hurts us. Nine Democrats in Congress have now called on Mr. Biden to drop out, including at I think he should step aside. I think it's become clear that he's not the best person to carry the Democratic message. Tonight, new questions surround why a Parkinson's specialist has visited the White House eight times in eight months, according to visitor logs. One visit

indicated a meeting with the president's doctor. Questioning during today's briefing grew tense. Has the president been treated for Parkinson's? No. Is he being treated for Parkinson's? No. He's not. Is he taking medication for Parkinson's? No. NBC News has reached out to the specialist who has not responded. The White House would not discuss why he visited, citing security, and noting the medical unit also cares for military staff here. But regarding the president, the press secretary said definitively he has only been checked by a neurologist during his formal annual exam. He has seen a neurologist three times, three times, not more, not we're here.

Not more than that. Not more than that. While Mr. Biden is under increased scrutiny, he noted that former President Trump has been laying low. He hadn't done a damn thing since the debate. He's been riding around the golf cart for 10 days. Tonight, ahead of next week's Republican convention, unveiling the party platform,

which mirrors Mr. Trump's positions on immigration and reproductive rights. Notably, it does not call for a federal ban on abortions. All right, Kelly O'Donnell joins us tonight live from the White House. Kelly, let's go back to that briefing room, right? There were tense moments there in the White House press. House press briefing with Karin Jean-Pierre. I know you had an exchange with her. I want to play you another exchange with Ed O'Keefe of CBS News. Let's take a listen.

The president, I can tell you, has seen a neurologist three times as it's connected to the physical that he gets every year that we provide to all of them. But it's a very basic direct question. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a second. Eight times or at least once in regards to the president specifically. Hold on a second. Not what you should be able to answer by this point. Wait, no, no, no, no, no, wait a minute. Ed, please.

A little respect here, please. So, Kelly, I guess the question voters and our viewers probably want to know is, is the White House not being forthcoming about questions over this neurologist? We do know from the public records, which anyone can see. His name is Dr. Kevin Kahnar. We see him right here. He has a specialty in Parkinson's. He has visited the White House eight times since August. And so I guess the question is,

Is the White House not being straightforward, or they're not asking, answering questions, or are they just following protocol? Well, your question sort of prompted the energy you saw in the briefing room today, and that was uncharacteristic. It did get tense. There was back and forth, and we were pressing to try to get clarity. Because if this specialist came to the White House and had nothing to do with the president, it seems on its face that would be something they could simply tell us. It is true that people come to the White House to care for military service members who are assigned. to the White House. They worked here. Other staff members. The president's doctor is the head of the White House medical unit. So if he was meeting with this specialist, was it about the president's care or was it about other things related to running the White House medical office? That's why

we were pressing it. In addition, we are still waiting to have a better understanding of since the debate what kind of medical care has the president had. He said he had a checkup. And the White House had originally said, no, there wasn't a checkup. Where it stands right now, they say, He has not had any kind of formal exam. He's been checking in with his doctor by phone. They talk multiple times a week. But he's not had any sort of exam since the debate, and they don't expect a physical exam until next year, the annual exam.

It seemed to us that a public record of visitor logs, and those only go through March, we don't have more recent data to know if this specialist has been here any other times, that we were pressing because it seemed reasonable to us as journalists, that you could tell us, is it related to the president or was it not related? And that's what drew out all of that tension between reporters and the press secretary. And just to go back to this, Kelly, I know it was in your report, but I want to make sure we, NBC News has reached out to this doctor. We have not heard back.

That's correct. He's assigned to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and his name is in the public record here. But of course, it doesn't say whom he's treating. It just indicated in one of the logs that the president's doctor was involved. On other dates, we have done our own checkback to what was President Biden doing those days, and he was traveling and things like that. So we don't have any reason to believe this physician actually saw the president. We don't have any data to support that one way or another.

He may have just been meeting with the president's doctor. At least that was an indication in one of the logs for one of the eight visits. So if this had to do with someone else who receives medical care at the White House medical unit, we were trying to press them to make that public, that it was someone else. not their name or who they are, but just that it wasn't the president. And I also, in my exchange with the press secretary reminded her that the president can waive his privacy and his medical records in that annual once a year visit are made public, a report about it at least, not his full medical record, but a summary. And he can waive his privacy. So if there are questions that

he would like the public to have a better sense about regarding any medical care, the president could authorize doctors to make that public. And Kelly, real quick, run us through the president's schedule because there might be a big news conference sometime at the end of this week? Yes, it's going to heat up, not only because the president is trying to be out there to demonstrate his ability to do the job, but the way the calendar rolls. So tomorrow he welcomes NATO leaders. Thirty-eight countries are going to participate on Thursday. He will have a full press conference. They say, we don't know exactly how many questions, but it will be several at least. And he will also then hit the road again, visiting Michigan, Texas, and Nevada

over the next several days. a lot on his plate. Kelly O'Donnell leading us off tonight. All right, Kelly, we thank you for that. To talk more about those eight White House visits by the Parkinson's expert, I'm joined tonight by Dr. Tom Pitts. He's a quadruple board-certified neurologist. He sees patients with Parkinson's all the time. He diagnoses it. I want to be completely transparent here. You've never examined President Biden, from my knowledge, you've never even spoke. Have you spoken yet to President Biden? Never been in the same room. And we're just going to use what we have so far, which is what we've seen, the president's interviews, and the information

coming out of the White House. So my first question to you is, as somebody who's a neurologist, what you've seen from the president over the last two years, what you saw at the debate, the last few interviews, the way he speaks, the way maybe he walks. Have you noticed anything that gives you a red flag as a doctor? Oh, yeah, I see him 20 times a day in clinic. I mean, it's ironic because he has just this classic features of neurodegeneration. I mean, word finding difficulties, and that's not, oh, I couldn't find the word. That's from degeneration of the word retrieval area. He's also overcome stuttering. though. Could that be part of that, too?

No, this is not a palatal issue or a speech discrepancy, which is very different from a lemono dysfunction, actual word retrieval, where you pick a similar question or talk around the issue, plus the rigidity, monotone voice. Wait, go back to that, the rigidity. What do you mean? Rigidity, loss of arm swing, standing up lordically. You notice when he turns, it's kind of end-block turning, it's not a quick turn. So that's one of the hallmarks of Parkinson's, is rigidity and bradyconnesia, slow movement. And he has that hallmark, especially with the low voices that said was a cold hypophonia.

A small, monotone voice like this over time is a hallmark of Parkinsonism. I could have diagnosed him from across the mall. Here are some of the symptoms from Parkinson's. We just had him up there on the screen if we can put him back. What about the movement? Some people have pointed out the way he walked sometimes. It's not very fast, small steps. Is that something that is common in people who are battling a disease like Parkinson?

Yeah, it's a hallmark, shuffling gate. that. So little steps. Loss of arms swing from the rigidity. When we walk, we have a nice cadence. You notice he doesn't really swing his arms. And end block turning, meaning he kind of pivots around his foot. If you said, hey, President Biden, he wouldn't go like this. But I also know, I also don't tell me if I'm wrong here, it's very hard to diagnose Parkinson's, isn't it? It's not simple. I mean, I've heard that it can be. It's one of the easier movement disorders to diagnose, actually, because it's so clinic. There's very little others. And I'm you know, I'm a Democrat, I always say, going about this.

Right. It's just like, this guy is not a hard case. But I've had relatives who have gone through issues, neurological issues, and I've heard that sometimes Parkinson's is not very easy to nail. You have to take a lot of tests. There's a lot, I mean... Early on, if you're just present with, like, hallucinations, that could be a variety of things,

or just the cognitive problems. That could be Alzheimer's versus Parkinsonism, and that becomes a little nebulous. But once you start manifesting the hallmark motor symptoms, slow movement, rigidity, mass facies, hypophonia. I mean, if a med student did not pick Parkinson's on the test, they'd be remediated. Let me ask you, if you had, if you had, you know, and I know you can't, you have no idea what happened in the White House, but a neurologist coming eight times in eight months, does that tell you

anything? Is that, is that, I mean, I know you're just, you're just sort of speculating here, but does that tell you anything or no? Well, I mean, I don't know if they're like the best of friends or something, but that's a very specific, you know, he's a movement disorder. That's a sub-specialist in exactly what he has. And there's very few young people, like a Marine Guard, Most people would be med-boarded out for any type of movement disorder at a young age. Like, if you had Huntington's, Korea, early-onset Parkinson's, dystonia, bad essential tremor, you're usually med-borded out. So I highly doubt there's... What does that mean med-borded out?

Med-bordered out? I mean, the military would not let you... If you have seizures, for example, you cannot usually be in the military. That is, you are medical-bordered out. So you're saying you don't necessarily believe, and they're not saying this, but they said there's thousands of military members that go to the White House. They're treated there for health reasons. you're not buying that that's a random military person. No, that would be very odd

to just see a random movement disorder case at the White House, you know, especially a young guard. There aren't many young people that have movement disorders that could be in the military. And then, you know, a lot of people have called for a cognitive test.

What exactly would that entail? What does that mean? Now, that's the key, because word-finding retrieval doesn't necessarily mean you don't know what you want to say. What I cannot comment on is his ability to make good decisions.

His motor symptoms are degenerating. He has Parkinsonism. That is a fact. He has degeneration of the brain. Show me the MRI. Show me he doesn't. You know, put your money where your mouth is. He definitely has it. But the problem is, when you look at his situation, you can't say, oh, I know for a fact that because he didn't retrieve the word, he didn't know what he wanted to say. And that's why both him and Trump should take the four-hour neuropsychological testing, which is the hallmark test for cognitive performance. What are you doing this test? A lot of things. So, for example, they may have you say, like, say as many words you can in a minute that start with F. Block building, retrieval. I may say cup and have you

recall it three minutes later. Trail drawing. These are done with a PhD and neuropsychology has nothing to do with psychiatry. And we can tell if you have that's four hours long. Four hours. It's a full day. We tell people bring a snack. It is a full day. And that's not the mocha, which was a bedside test that President Trump took. You know, these are tests that are screening tests. They don't rule in, you know, if you do great off. There's no way to sort of lie in this test, to sort of ace it even though you're saying. No way. This one will, it will come out in the wash.

For example, if I do the bedside exam to an accountant, and I ask them, what's 100 minus 7? Even the worst neurodegenerated patient, if they worked at a high education level or something like that, is going to get that right. But in the four-hour test, it will come out. Finally, I mean, you said you're a Democrat, you're a doctor. You sound like you're frustrated with what the White House is saying. Yeah. Why? Well, because, you know, I'm an American before everything. And I look at it and say, when I used to see Russia, Soviet Union, North Korea, when they just make outrageous things, you know, like when North Korea can't keep the lights on and they say, oh, you know, it was some faulty power thing. I kind of hate that kind of stuff. They had four years. My own party had four years to find, you know, this was a wreck in slow motion. And they had four years to find out of 350 Americans, one person that could take the place. And here we are the day before school trying to do the homework and replace. a guy who's got a neurodegenerative disease. Dr. Pitts, we think you've joined Top Story.

And again, I know you've never examined President Biden. I want to say that you've never spoken to President Biden, but you're going off what you've seen on television and interviews and all of your expertise. Yeah. Doctor, we appreciate that. Like we mentioned, now nine Democratic lawmakers are calling for President Biden to not seek a re-election bid. That list, including New York Congressman Jerry Nadler and Seth Moulton,

the congressman from Massachusetts. That briefly ran for the Democratic nomination for the 2020 presidential race. NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles joins us from the Capitol. Ryan, thanks for standing by for us. First day after this recess, what is the vibe on these Democrats that have come out and said the president shouldn't run again? Well, there definitely seems to be a level of ambivalence on Capitol Hill right now, Tom. In many ways, Democrats seem to be stuck in suspended animation. Many of them unwilling to take a full-throated endorsement of President Biden, but at the same time,

many of them unwilling to completely throw him overboard. And we saw that from particularly a lot of Democratic senators today who said that they want to have a family conversation. They want to figure out the path forward, but they're committed to being Donald Trump in the fall. Right now, though, they're not sure which path they need to take. Ryan, are viewers, you know, the voters out there, they may not be as familiar with all these congressmen, right? There's nine of them. Is there any pattern with these nine lawmakers? Are they in critical swing districts? Do they have bad relationships with the president? No, there really isn't any kind of rhyme or reason amongst this group.

different parts of the country. Some of them are frontline members who are in at-risk seats in the upcoming election, but some of them like Lloyd Doggett of Texas, who was the first member of Congress to come out and say that President Biden should step down, is in a safe district, who has known the president for a long time and has been a long supporter of his. So it's also important to keep in mind that this is just the tip of the iceberg. We've had many, many more members of Congress tell us on background that they believe it is time for the president to step down, but they're unwilling to make that move publicly because they'd like for him to come to this realization on his own.

And while there are certainly a number of members of Congress that are unhappy with the president, there is a growing list of Democrats that are rallying to his support to get behind him, among them. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who I just spoke to moments ago, who said she spoke to the president over the weekend.

He insisted that he's staying in the race. She's sticking with him. She believes he'll be the Democratic nominee and he has her full support. Ryan, real quick, right? This takes some guts to come out here against the president. I just say that because politically speaking, if President Biden stays on the ticket and he wins, these members likely are going to be ostracized. Well, Tom, I'm taking a step

further. If he stays in the race and loses, they could be blamed for weakening him as a candidate heading into the November election. It is extraordinarily risky for these Democrats to step out in the way that they are. That's one of the reasons that you're seeing it not happening in mass and that most of these conversations are happening behind the scenes. But I have to tell you, tell you, Tom, the overwhelming sentiment here on Capitol Hill is that they need to come to a conclusion sooner rather than later. They can't allow the president to continue to just twist in the wind without the unified support of his party behind him. If this continues for much longer, it's just going to serve to benefit Donald Trump. Ryan Nobles from Capitol Hill,

Ryan Terrific Porting, as always. For more on the path forward for President Biden, let's bring in Austin Davis. He's the Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania and is supporting President Biden. Lieutenant Governor, thank you very much for being here. We appreciate you coming on top story as a surrogate for the Biden campaign. We know you were at an event with President Biden in Harrisburg yesterday. How did you find him? Well, thank you so much, Tom, for having me. You know, I found the president to be sharp. He gave a rip-roaring speech to about 600 people in Harrisburg at a labor hall. I thought the president was sharp. He was on point. He stayed for about an hour after remark, shaking hands with everyone in the sweltering heat.

It was about 95 degrees yesterday. I think the president did a great job making the case on why he should continue to be our nominee, why he's in this race until the very end and why he's going to beat Donald Trump. Lieutenant Governor, what do you think about this reporting from NBC News and other outlets, right, about this neurologist visiting the White House eight times? And it's not about who this doctor is or how many times he's at the White House. It's more about why the White House can't just say yes or no if he was examining the president. Why, you know, does it upset you that the president hasn't taken a cognitive test or at least been forthcoming about this neurologist?

Yeah, look, I think the White House press secretary was clear today in the press conference that the president does not have a neurological disease like Parkinson's, that he's not under care for that and that he's not taking medication. And so I think that was asked and answered. And so I'm comfortable with her response to that question in this story. But she never really answered the question about why that doctor was there eight times. And really, she could have just said, no, he wasn't there to see the president, but she never said that. So my question to you is when Biden took office in 2020, hold on. When Biden took office in 2020, President Biden took office in 2020, he promised to run the most transparent administration out there. This was coming off the Trump years.

Do you think he's going back on that promise during this episode right now? Look, I don't think the president is going back on that promise. And to your point, the White House press secretary said today that she could not respond specifically because of security reasons. We know the medical unit at the White House oversees all of the folks who work in or around the White House, particularly the military aides, while the president's personal doctor as the head of that unit, there are a lot of people that get seen by that unit. And so I don't think, I think the president has been completely transparent about his help.

He's been more transparent than Donald Trump was when he was in the White House. And I think he's been at the same level that President Bush and former President Obama were at in terms of transparency around their health. So I think the president has been transparent. Yeah, it's strange, right? Because if the neurologist wasn't examining the president, why not just say that and put it to bed and put voters concerns to bed? But we'll move on. The horse race polling has not changed substantially, right, since that debate. But President Biden did take a hit in the poll numbers where he was already losing, right?

Let's put it up here. In the latest New York Times-Syana College survey after the debate, 74% of registered voters said President Biden is too old to be an effective president, including 59% of Democrats, 79% of independents. How can he possibly win this election when a big majority of his own party and four and five independents think he's too old for the job? Yeah, look, I think the president's going to win this election by doing what he's been doing. He's been barnstorming the country for the last 10 days with events in Wisconsin.

here in Pennsylvania, he spoke to over 1,200 people in audiences in Philadelphia and Harrisburg. And this week is going to be people are going to see when the president hosts NATO here in the United States that he is more than capable of continuing to do this job, not just to run for president and be reelected, but to continue to serve as the leader of our country for the next four years. So I would encourage folks to just continue to watch what the president's been doing. And to note, for the last 10 days, Donald Trump has been in seclusion on a golf course. So I think the president has proven that he has the stamina to go to distance, and I'm proud to stand with him and support him. Lieutenant Governor, I want to play you some of President Biden's recent comments attacking the press's credibility and the veracity of recent polls.

Let's take a listen. You've been wrong about everything so far. You're wrong about 2020. You're wrong about 2022. We were going to get wiped out. Remember the red wave? You're wrong about 2023. He said all the tough race.

We won them all the two. You haven't seen the fall off in the polls. You haven't seen the reports of discontent in the Democratic Party, House Democrats, Senate Democrats? I've seen it from the press. Mr. President, I've never seen a president at 36% approval get reelected. Well, I don't believe that's my approval. That's not what our polls show. Attacking the media for reporting what's happening in the Democratic Party right now,

not believing established polls. Isn't that the kind of behavior the Democrats were attacking former President Trump for? Yeah, look, I think the reality is if you look at polls, if we followed polls in 2016, Hillary Clinton would be the president. In 2022, there would have been a red wave. And I think what ultimately matters is what voters are going to decide. Voters overwhelmingly voted to nominate President Biden to be our Democratic nominee. And what we've seen over the last few weeks, the last 10 days is voters are sticking by the president. So I think the only poll that really matters is the poll that's going to happen on election day when voters go to the polls and

vote. And I will say this nomination, and this election is going to be decided by voters. It's not going to be decided by the media. It's not going to be decided by elected officials on Capitol Hill. And one thing that I've seen across Pennsylvania is that voters are sticking with Joe Biden. Finally, Lieutenant Governor, is President Biden the only Democrat that can beat Donald Trump in the general election? Yeah, look, he's the only one that's beat him so far. No, no, no, that's not what Mr. Lieutenant Governor, you've been so honest about this interview and so great. But the question I asked is, is he the only Democrat that can beat Donald Trump in the election and the general election this year? Yeah. And I'd like to finish my answer. President Biden is the only Democrat that has beaten Donald Trump in 2020, and I believe he's going to be the only Democrat that can beat him in 2020.

Okay. Lieutenant Governor, we thank you for your time, and we thank you for answering all our questions. We appreciate that. We want to turn now to our other big story that we're following tonight. The weather and what is now tropical storm Beryl leaving a deadly trail of destruction tonight as the former hurricane powers its way into the center of the country. At least four people have been killed, millions of homes and businesses, still without power and massive amounts of rain inundating highways in Houston. Kathy Park is in Texas with a late update on this devastating storm. Tonight, Texas taking a direct hit from Beryl, flashing the coastline with punishing winds and waves,

as a Category 1 hurricane. Communities completely underwater, while the force of the storm tore up entire homes. A tornado even reported in Jasper. Howling winds. People's houses flying by your house. Roos ripped off. Priscilla Thompson spoke with one family in Wharton,

who got out just in time. This massive tree came crashing into this home. The couple inside telling me they just narrowly escaped. We're in the living room and we moved away. That's where all the spiked wood came down from the ceiling, so we probably would have been killed. As a storm moved farther inland, Beryl showed no signs of slowing as conditions quickly deteriorated, with rainfall totals close to a foot in Houston. The flooding is getting so bad.

It is shutting off the interstate in both directions. Some vehicles are trying to make it through. Other vehicles are getting stuck, but most cars are actually stuck and actually turning around and going back the wrong way cameras were rolling as this man was saved on another Houston highway I think people are urgent to get somewhere not realizing that if they drive through they're going to be in a much worse situation with wind gusts nearing 90 miles per hour trees toppled onto homes at least four Texans have died emergency and rescue crews in many communities including Houston racing to get people to safety literally getting calls across

Houston right now asking for first responders to come rescue individuals in desperate life safety conditions. The deadly storm now heading toward Arkansas, leaving behind a devastating path of destruction. And Tom, we are still tracking a lot of damage across Texas, but the good news is the water is receding very quickly. In fact, this road behind me, it was actually underwater just a couple of hours ago. Meanwhile, a lingering issue continued. to be widespread power outages at the height of the store. More than 2 million customers were without power. It could be days before everyone is back online.

Tom? OK, Kathy Park out of Houston for us. Kathy, thank you for more on Tropical Storm Barrel and the million still under flood watches. Let's get right to NBC News meteorologist. Bill Cairns, who joins me in studio. Bill, where are you watching tonight? It's tornadoes.

It's been amazing how many have been forming this afternoon. So this morning, it was like the landfall, the rainfall, the storm surge. Now we've been tracking tornadoes all day long. We've had nine tornado reports. At this hour, we have one, two, three, five separate tornado warnings ongoing in northern Louisiana and southern portions of Arkansas. Tornado watches are up until midnight. And the only ones that were really focused on now, this storm just produced two tornadoes, those little icons right here.

These will be approaching areas outside of Texarkana. Shreveport, you finally look like you were in the safe zone after being near numerous storms all afternoon long. And this one that just went over the top of Camden, Arkansas looks very strong. As far as the storm itself, the winds are low. We're not going to see additional power outages, mostly just going to be. going to be concerned with isolated flash flooding through the overnight hours. We're watching areas from Lufkin, northwards, especially the Ozarks, and the mountainous areas, and numerous flash flood warnings in Missouri, too.

This area was wet before barrel, and now, Tom, that area is going to get soaked later on tonight. And then, Bill, before you go, we know dangerous heat is affecting much of the country. We want to show this to our viewers here in New York, a wild headline video from Citizen App showing a bridge that connects the Bronx and Manhattan, and it's stuck. It kind of rotates, but it's stuck right there. officials said they had to stop working due to the heat. They literally had to call in boats to work to cool it down. What is the heat looking like over the next few days? Yeah, steel expands when it gets hot and it was 95 in New York City. It's the hottest day of

the summer. So that's what caused that bridge not to be able to close after it opened. So 128 million people on the East Coast, it is hot, it is humid. The West is just incredibly hot. We've broken all-time records in like five different cities this past weekend. So tomorrow, DC will feel like 104, Charleston 108, kind of a rinse and repeat. thing. It's really not going to end anytime soon. And in Houston, you're under a heat advisory. A lot of people don't have power. And it's going to feel like 100 to 105 tomorrow. So that's why people are going to be like wanting to get the power on in a hurry. And how about Las Vegas? Tom, it hit 120 over the weekend. Before this year, the hottest temperature ever was 117. They may do that

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in a row. I mean, ridiculous temperatures out west. They're wondering what's going on. July. Sizzle is right. All right, Bill Cairns. We thank you for that. Still ahead. Alec Baldwin on trial, the Rust actor facing involuntary manslaughter charges after that tragic onset shooting nearly two years ago. What to expect from the long-awaited trial now underway. And Grand Canyon crashed, the scary moment a gust of wind sent a hot air balloon airborne in Arizona, sweeping through a craft fair and injuring multiple people, including a child. Stay with us. Top story just getting started on this Monday night. We are back now with the trial of actor Alec Baldwin getting underway today.

The actor charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Helena Hutchins on the set of the film Rust. For more on this, NBC Chloe Malas joins us tonight from Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she's covering the trial for us. Chloe, I want to start with some new video we have of Alec Baldwin leaving court today. Talk to us about what's happened on day one. Yeah, so today there were these motions, pretrial motions, and the judge. Judge ruled on all of them, and one of them was key. It was a big win for Baldwin's defense team, and it has to do with Alec Baldwin being presented to the jury as a producer on the film.

So remember, he starred in that movie, Rust, but he was also a producer. And special prosecutors here in New Mexico have said all along that Baldwin had a responsibility to make sure to ensure safety on the New Mexico set because he was essentially one of the bosses of the production. But the judge today ruling that that will not be presented to the jury. Look, they went back and forth on a lot of issues. It was contentious at moments. Ballwin appearing stoic, hunched over, taking notes, talking to his legal team. And like you said, just a few moments ago, he left. But tomorrow is this pivotal moment when jury selection begins Tom. And they have to somehow find 12 jurors that are impartial here in Santa Fe that somehow

haven't heard and don't have opinions really when it comes to what happened on the set three years ago here in New Mexico. Yeah, I mean, they sure will after they listen to all that evidence. So, you know, some people will say this is the worst case scenario for Alec Ball when he's about to stand trial. But what really is the worst case scenario for here? If he is found guilty, what could he, what could he face? So he faces up to 18 months in jail. And when you look at what just happened four months ago to the film's armor, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, on that same charge of involuntary manslaughter. She was sentenced to 18 months in jail. And so we do know that she's going to be coming to Santa Fe. They're moving her. They're transferring her this weekend.

She's going to be called by the prosecution to potentially testify. But we know that she wants to plead the fifth. She doesn't want to cooperate. When it comes to Alec Baldwin, that might not necessarily hurt him. I think that if he takes the stand in his own defense, it's going to be a game time decision when it comes to his legal team. And, you know, again, if he is found guilty, it doesn't necessarily mean that he is going to be sentenced to 18 months in jail. It's that that's the maximum, Tom, but it really comes down to what the special prosecutors would suggest to the judge and what the judge ultimately decides. But then again, he could be found not guilty.

So there is that version too. Chloe Malas for us, Chloe, thank you. When we come back, political turmoil in France, riots erupting in the country after a shocking election victory from the leftist party. What this means for France's leadership, less than three weeks before the Olympic, Our team on the ground in Paris next. All right, we're back down with Top Stories News Feed, and we start with the frightening hot air balloon crash in Arizona.

New video showing the balloon getting swept up in a sudden gust of wind while it was being set up for a craft fair. Police say it detached from its tether and collided with nearby structures and vehicles. Two children and an adult were taken in the hospital with minor. injuries. And Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to criminal fraud charges tied to the two deadly crashes we've been reporting here. Court filing shows the company will avoid trial by pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government. Prosecutors say the flawed design of its max 737 planes caused two crashes overseas in 2018 and 2019 that killed a combined 346 people.

It will pay more than $240 million in fines and must invest over $450 million in safety and compliance programs. Moving overseas now to a deadly day in Ukraine, a children's hospital in a maternity clinic struck by Russian missiles, according to Ukrainian authorities. At least 36 civilians dead, including two children. We want to warn you the details and video are disturbing. Danielle Hammamjin has a story. This is the terrifying moment Ukraine's largest children's hospital is hit by a missile. One of dozens of strikes. on buildings across the country. The rare daytime Russian attack killing at least 36 civilians and injuring

more than 170 across the country, according to Ukrainian authorities. Little Edry was being treated in the hospital when it was struck. She was rushed out in her mother's arms, her catheter still in place. It's a nightmare, says her mother Tatiana. Reports that three heart operations were being performed at the time of the strikes and that debris from the explosions fell into patients' open chests. Outside of what's now left of the hospital, injured and sick children with their families, dazed and sobbing.

As first responders and volunteers sifted through the rubble looking for survivors, the sheer disbelief that sick children may have been intentionally targeted. President Zelensky saying Russian forces fired more than 40 missiles as he shared the haunting images of blood splattered on the floor and debris filling the hospital rooms. Hours later, Ukraine's largest maternity and fertility clinic was also hit, falling debris leaving a gaping hole in the building and killing at least seven people. Other areas facing losses of life and property. A missile wreaking havoc on a residential building in the building. the capital, rescuers pulling out bodies of victims. The strikes destroying parts of Krivi Rik,

leaving windshield smashed and debris littering roads in Kiev's Lukianivska district. The Russian Defence Ministry standing by the operation, saying the objectives of the strike have been achieved. The assigned objects are hit. Ukraine requesting an emergency meeting in light of the attacks. Directing attacks against civilian and civilian objects is prohibited by international humanitarian law, and any such attacks are unacceptable. President Zelensky promising a swift retaliation. Beyond any doubt, we are going to rebuild everything that these terrorists have destroyed, and beyond any doubt, we are going to answer these savages from Russia.

Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched hypersonic missiles today that travel at 10 times the speed of sound and are hard to intercept. Russia, meantime, denied targeting civilians, as it always does, claiming it was targeting military and industrial facilities, but that Ukraine, in trying to stop the attack, launched anti-aircraft missiles, and that's what caused the damage in the Capitol. Tom.

Violent developments out of Ukraine, we thank Danielle for her report. We head to France now, where there is mounting political uncertainty just weeks before the Olympics. In a shocking election victory, the leftist party coalition known as, The new popular front defeated the president's Centress Ensemble Alliance and the far-rights national rally. Now, it's unclear who will be the country's prime minister or in key security positions as France begins to welcome athletes and fans from around the world. Here's Josh Letterman.

Rockist celebrations turning into riots on the streets of Paris after a shocking victory by left-wing parties. Police firing tear gas and demonstrators climbing a statue in the iconic Place de la Republic square. In Lyon, France's third largest city clashes breaking out between leftists and supporters of the far-right national rally, who were expected to win big, but came in third place. Ushering in an unprecedented period of political uncertainty for France, less than three weeks before hosting the Olympic Games. Is there anyone in France who knows what's going to happen next? Nobody knows what's going to happen next, I fear.

and not even the president, not even the person who at some stage is going to be nominated as prime minister. French parliament now roughly evenly divided among far-right members, centrists and leftists, leaving nobody with a governing majority. Under divided government, President Macron, a centrist, will have to share power with a new prime minister, presumably from the left. Should French citizens be expecting gridlock, at least for the short term? Probably they should be, because it's not clear at all what kind of new government can be formed. The far right kept out of power in part by a last-minute move by centrist and leftist parties

to team up and create a firewall against the far right. Hundreds of candidates dropped out, leaving just a single opponent for the far right in each race. On the streets of Paris, a mix of relief and frustration. I also wanted to leave France because I didn't want to stay in a country where racism, xenophobia, can be openly. How much do you think will change? after last night's results.

Nothing will change. I think nothing will change in France because the country will not be manageable because there's several parties and nothing would change. It's the same people with the same ideas. But for the far right, defeat also came with glimmers of hope. The national rally has worked for years to rebrand itself and shed its reputation for being anti-immigrant and extreme. And it seems to have worked.

Though they didn't snag the majority, the party in the national. its allies made huge gains, picking up more than 50 seats. In the small village of Garganville, voter Jean-Marc Follier tells me support for the national rally is exploding in rural France. There's this perception that the far right is anti-immigrant. How do you feel about that? It's not anti-immigrant, because we need immigration in our country. But what we don't want is illegal immigrants and gets benefits without working.

The national rally's 28-year-old leader, Jordan Bardella, vowing to fight on. saying the wave carrying us is a strong one and will lead us to power. Josh Letterman joins us tonight from Paris. So Josh, I know you mentioned this in your report, but will this affect the Olympics in any way? That's a big question. A lot of people here in France are asking too, Tom. It is true that we don't know who's going to be in key government positions like the interior minister, who has been overseeing security for the Olympics.

Mr. President Macron has said he's keeping his prime minister in place a little longer, which may mean he intends to have a caretaker government stay in position through the Olympic Games. We also heard from the Olympic Organizing Committee saying, look, the preparations for this have been done months in advance. Everything is all set, barring some dramatic unforeseen development. There should be no impact on the Olympics going off without a hitch, Tom. I guess, Josh, what I was alluding to also was security, right? if, God forbid, something happens in Paris, will that government by then have figured everything out of who's in charge of what?

Well, frankly, we don't know that. We don't know whether the current ministers will stay in place through that period of time or whether President Macron is going to be under such pressure, frankly, by the left, who just won massively to put their people in charge, that there will actually be a turnover and we could have brand new people in charge of government ministries just at a time when something potentially could take place. And so right now, we have a little clarity about exactly what France's government's going to look like just three weeks from now when those Olympic games get underway. All right, Josh Letterman, coming to us just outside the Arc de Triumph there.

Josh, great to see you. Coming up, anger boiling over in Barcelona. We're going to stay in Europe to talk about this story. Locals spraying tourists with water guns chanting, go home. We'll tell you why they don't want visitors in the beautiful Spanish city. That's next. We are back now with Top Story's Global Watch. In Europe, summer travels in full swing right now, and many tourists are making their way to Barcelona and Spain for those beautiful beaches, Paella and Sangria. But they're not exactly receiving a warm welcome. Some locals are now protesting against visitors, including tourists, and those demonstrations are making a splash. Guadvanegas has the details.

A water fight on the streets of Barcelona. Some locals spraying tourists with water guns as they ate at popular restaurants sending visitors fleeing from their tables. Thousands of protesters walking through the city over the weekend, chanting tourists go home and carrying signs with anti-tourists slogans. Restoration and hotels is the group that makes really big money, but all the people are in a very poor situation and they don't. have enough money to live. That's a problem. Barcelona is one of the top tourist destinations in the world, home to iconic sites like La Sagrada Familia and Park Guell, in addition to beautiful beaches. Officials reporting more than 33 million people from all over the world visited the city in the first five months of

2024 alone. Tourism bringing in a whopping 9.6 billion euro in 2023, according to the Tourism Observatory of Barcelona. But some locals say mass tourism is not only overwhelming the city, but also making the cost of living unaffordable to its residents. I would stress the declining quality of life for local residents, and that would include the increasing cost of housing, the noise, the litter, the displacement of long-term residents, and the relentless construction. Rent in Barcelona has risen nearly 70% in just the last decade, according to Mayor Jauma Colbray. In June, the mayor announcing a plan to stop renewing permits for rentals used by foreign visitors by 2028 after saying a boom in short-term rentals is to blame. The city assuring the move would make 10,000 units available to locals in four years. The last years, the city has turned completely for tourists, and what we want is a city for citizens and not in service of tourists.

A dilemma for a welcoming city to shift focus and take care of. of its own. Guad Venegas joins us tonight from the Telemundo Center in Miami. So Guad, people visiting Barcelona or planning to visit Barcelona in the months ahead, could they expect to see more of these protests and possibly be hit by these water guns? Well, Tom, for the people that were at those establishments, they was at the wrong place at the wrong time, right? I mean, there's a lot of visitors in Barcelona that's just unfortunate that they were right

there when the protesters came. But this is a sign of that anti-tourism sentiment in Barcelona. which we expect to continue. It's not only the protest. There's also signs around the city that are asking tourists to go home. Now, the city has already approved increasing the tourist tax from 3.25 euro to 4 euro. That's a small increase. But again, it's another sign that Barcelona wants to limit the people that are coming into the city. And in the future, what we can expect is Barcelona to become a much more expensive destination for the tourists that do decide to go. And things are going to change, Tom. A lot of the people that visit this city, do it because it's known to be a welcoming city with vibes from people that come from all over the world.

That perhaps will change as local official make these new changes to make it much more difficult for those that want to visit and more affordable for the people that live in Barcelona. So all of this should be kept in mind when someone is planning to go to the city, Tom. Guad vanegas for us from Miami Guad. We thank you for that. When we come back back here in the states, jumping into action, a boat spinning out of control in a New Hampshire lake after its captain was not. knocked off, a 17-year-old leaping from the back of a jet ski onto the boat to make sure it didn't hurt anyone. That brave teen joins us next in Top Story Spotlight. Stay with us. Welcome back. Time for Top Story Spotlight and the brave move by one teenager during a boat rescue that may have saved some lives. Here's what happened. You can see this boat here.

It's speeding uncontrollably making donuts in a New Hampshire lake after the driver was knocked off. And you see right there, that's when 17-year-old Brady Procon jumped from a jet ski to the boat to avoid it crashing into a sailing school that was happening on the same lake. ProCon was able to steer the boat to safety, and no one was hurt. It all happened so fast. Brady joins Top Story tonight. Brady, first, take us back. I mean, what exactly happened, and when did you notice the boat going out of control? So I was sitting on my back porch with my family, and there was a boat doing donuts.

ripping up the lake in the no wake zone. So my dad yelled, hey, there's like no wake zone, and he realized that there was nobody on the boat and told me to hop on my jet ski while he goes on his boat to try and throw a line onto the propeller of this boat. And I made my way out on the jet ski and saw the boat doing donuts with kids around and right next to the dock. Yeah, it was pretty wild. So Brady, obviously, you know your way around the lake and you know your way around boats. And when you look at the video, it looks like it wasn't that big of a deal. But this was really dangerous, right? Because like you said, it's an outboard motor. You have that propeller going. You have people in the water. This is incredibly dangerous, right? That boat could

have crashed into other boats or, as we mentioned, into the sailing school. Yes, it definitely was. There were people all around it and probably hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of boats and a dock. Could have gone wrong in so many ways. So when you decide to jump on your jet ski, and you and your dad are kind of figuring this out, you go into Baywatch mode, you're going in there, you're jumping on the wave runner, and are you, I mean, do you know what you're going to do? Do you know what your move is, or it just kind of hits you instinctively? I didn't really know what I was going to do at first, but when I saw a guy on the jet ski

getting really close to it to the boat and he couldn't quite get it, I knew exactly what I had to do. And so did you figure it out, did you get with somebody else to get on that wave, because it looked like somebody else was riding it with you yes it was my neighbor Justin King and he was getting really close to that boat but he didn't realize it was a center console at first so he couldn't reach it from his own jet ski with just him driving so I called him over and asked if I could hop on the back of it so when you jumped on I mean were you nervous or did you know you were gonna make it I was definitely nervous but

I didn't really realize it at the time, I guess, and I knew I was going to make it because I didn't really have any choice. Yeah. So when you get on, you slow the boat down. What exactly happened to the captain, do we know? So the captain was knocked off trying to reach a tennis ball in the water, and one of the masses of the sailboats from the kids tipped over and hit the throttle on the boat, sending the captain off the boat into the water. That sounds totally random, but obviously incredibly dangerous.

After you rescued the boat, you jumped on, we could hear people clapping there. Were you the king of the lake? Pretty much, yeah. A bunch of people said thank you and good job, all this. Brady, congrats again. You definitely are incredibly brave, and you got a great story for your summer. We'll talk to you again. We thank you for watching Top Story.

I'm Tom Yomis in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.