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Tonight, an extreme weather emergency taking hold across the south.
A confirmed tornado touching down in Mississippi, multiple people trapped inside a bank that sustained major damage.
Another funnel clouds spotted on the Florida coast.
Plus, a flash flood warning in Mobile, Alabama, roads turning into rivers leaving drivers stranded.
And a tropical storm strengthening in the Atlantic.
Could we see a rare June hurricane?
We'll bring you the latest track.
Also breaking tonight a submersible vehicle heading toward the Titanic shipwreck disappearing in the deaths of the ocean.
A billionaire from Britain also a record-breaking explorer on board with four others.
An urgent search and rescue effort complicated by bad weather now underway.
How soon experts believe that sub could run out of oxygen.
Overseas, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken meeting face-to-face with China's President Xi,
the high-stakes summit, an effort to cool skyrocketing tensions.
What Blinken told our Janice Mackey Frere about progress made today
and how the U.S. is moving on from that contentious spy balloon incident.
Inside Ukraine's counteroffensive, dramatic video showing the brutality of trench warfare at Russia's front lines.
That as Ukraine ramps up efforts to take back occupied territory,
the new reinforcements coming from the U.S. that could give troops a major boost.
Plus, a remarkable rescue off the coast of Florida, a houseboat capsizing in rough water,
A man jumping in to save two women trapped inside.
You'll hear from that hero tonight.
And celebrating Juneteenth, Americans in cities, large and small,
gathering to mark the anniversary of the end of slavery.
Tonight, a look back at how one woman helped make today a federal holiday
and a look ahead at the work that still needs to be done.
Top story starts right now.
I'm Aaron Gilchrist, in for Tom Yamis.
We begin tonight with that relentless and severe storms taking hold across the south.
Tornadoes flash flooding and now the threat of a hurricane have millions of people on alert at this hour.
Late today, a funnel cloud spotted just off I-10 in Mississippi.
Nearby Moss Point taking a direct hit as well, multiple people trapped inside a bank on Main Street after that tornado tore through.
Trees and power lines knocked down by the force of the wind there, officials urging residents to stay off the road.
roads until they can be cleared. We are also following another scary scene on the Florida
Panhandle, a confirmed tornado there, carving a path across Sandestan. At this moment, no reports
of injuries or fatalities there. In Alabama, a flash flood crisis unfolding at this hour,
heavy rain sending water pouring into people's backyards, threatening to wash away cars.
And possibly the biggest threat of all now, the first tropical storm of the season gaining
strength in the Atlantic. Bill Karen, standing by with the latest timing there and where
tropical storm Brett could strike. We want to begin, though, with that dangerous situation in
Mississippi first. The tornado that touched down tonight, the second in as many days. NBC's
Blaine Alexander leads us off with those devastating scenes. Across the south, it's the
unforgiving sound of summertime severe weather striking in the dead of night. Its latest target,
Lewin, Mississippi.
Whoa, that was big.
Overnight, a reported tornado
tore through this community an hour outside
of Jackson, where people were rushed from
their mangled homes on stretchers.
Daylight reveals the true scope
of the devastation, trees
torn to shreds, homes, now
unrecognizable. All of it
leaving more than two dozen people injured
and claiming at least one life,
67-year-old Georgine Hayes.
She's a good person, good church
person, you know. Her cousin,
lives right across the street. He helped pull her from the rubble.
Her house, where the black jeep at?
Right there. It was right there. It's gone. There ain't nothing there.
So it's completely gone. It's the latest in a deadly storm system sweeping across the south and central plains, producing at least 17 confirmed tornadoes in just four days.
Among the towns hit, Perryton, Texas, where the storms destroyed downtown and this mobile home community, killing three people.
Oscar Hernandez lost his four businesses in a matter of minutes.
He spoke to NBC's Priscilla Thompson.
All the loss, all the people that lost their lives.
Severe weather continues to sweep the south.
Today, a confirmed tornado along the Florida panhandle.
And flash flooding in Alabama, an ominous sign of what's to come.
And across the region, hundreds of thousands of people remain without.
power in some of the very places that are seeing triple-digit highs, making cleanup like this all
the more difficult with more threats of tornadoes tonight. Aaron?
Blaine Alexander for us tonight, and those storms still threatening millions as we head into
the evening. Let's get right to meteorologist Bill Cairns. He's keeping an eye on all of this
for us. Bill, walk us through this. What are you watching? Aaron, the worst weather all day long
has been near the Mobile, Mobile Bay Area, and now along the Mississippi Coast. You can see this fire hose
of thunderstorms. It was very slow moving. It dumped eight to 13 inches of
rain over Mobile, the east and west side here of the Bay. And that's where they had the
flash flood emergency going on for like three hours. And unfortunately, another badge of new
thunderstorms forming right over the top of Mobile. Now, this won't dump another eight to 13 inches,
but I've already heard reports of a foot and a half of water on the highway. So, I mean,
you can only imagine that water's trying to drain out. And then we've got new areas of rain
coming in. Also, severe thunderstorm warning in between Biloxi and Bay St. Louis
on the very tail end of that. So tomorrow, we're going to move this thread of
little further towards the west. So we're going to go from the Mississippi, Alabama,
border, including the Bloxie area. I just told you about Bay St. Louis, Baton Rouge, New Orleans,
Lake Charles, and Alexandria. Isolated tornadoes once again, torrential rain. And because
Aaron, it's rain day after day in these areas, we will see more flash flooding, too.
And Bill, I know you're also really closely watching this tropical storm in the Atlantic now. Walk
us through that. What are you seeing? Yeah, I mean, there's two parts of this. One is, like,
why is a storm forming all the way out in the Atlantic this time of year? It's extremely rare.
And that's because our ocean temperatures are extremely warm, much warmer than they should be.
So this tropical wave came off of Africa, it's over warm water.
There's not a lot of wind shear to tear it apart, so it's forming.
I mean, it might as well think it's like August instead of middle of June.
So the hurricane center thinks that Brett will become a hurricane likely by Wednesday.
And then hopefully our fingers across, it looks like the wind shear is going to increase,
maybe some of the effects of El Niño, and that will help weaken it as it gets closer to Puerto Rico,
the Virgin Islands or possibly did Dominican Republic.
The co-in of uncertainty, the forecast air, does go north of Puerto Rico or into the Central Caribbean.
So it's not even guaranteed we're going to get hit in areas of Puerto Rico.
So we'll continue to watch it.
But yes, a little bit of a head scratcher, Aaron, already tracking of the potential first hurricane.
Just a couple of weeks into the season.
Bill Karens for us tonight.
Bill, thank you.
Now to another major headline tonight, an urgent search for a group of adventurers.
Their submersible vehicle set to visit the wreckage of the Titanic,
lost contact on Sunday, some 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod.
The Coast Guard now racing against the clock to find that sub. NBC's Tom Costello has late-breaking
developments.
U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard ships are at this hour rushing to the North Atlantic as two U.S. C-130
planes surveyed the vast ocean surface for any signs of a private submersible and the five people
on board. Last seen Sunday morning as it descended to survey the wreck of the Titanic.
During the course of the dive, they lost communications, and we have not had communications with the submersible since then.
The 21-foot submersible named Titan, made of titanium and carbon fiber, is owned by Ocean Gate, an operator of small subs for research, film production, and tourist trips to the Titanic for $250,000.
On board a pilot on four passengers, including billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding, who'd taken a submersible to the Mariana,
French and flown in space on Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. On his Instagram account Sunday, he signed
his name on the logo as he announced he'd be diving to the Titanic. His company later tweeted
4 a.m. start this morning on the RMS Titanic Mission 5. The sub had a successful launch and
Hamish is currently diving. Today, Ocean Gates said our entire focus is on the crew members
in the submersible and their families. We are working toward the safe return of the crew members.
CEO told our Seattle King 5 last August, he caters to Titanic enthusiasts.
We have a number of people who come with us, we sometimes refer to as Titaniacs, people who
have just been consumed by the Titanic, and it was just great to take them down.
The Titanic rests at treacherous depths, 12,500 feet below the surface.
1,500 people died when she sank in 1912.
The missing sub was only supposed to be gone for 6 to 8 hours, with 96 hours.
of reserve oxygen. Already, Canadian P8 search planes have dropped sonar buoys on the rough seas,
listening for the sub in a deep, vast expanse of ocean. Are they listening for voices? What could
they pick up? We're hoping that they can pick up any unusual sounds, maybe tapping on the hull or
voices or those types of things, any signs of the vessel there in the water. And so that's why we've
really pressed in with the capabilities that we have.
Aaron, here's the challenge.
If the U.S. or the Canadian Coast Guard can identify, can hear that sub.
The problem is they don't have the deep sea rescue capabilities to dive down and get to it.
So both the U.S. and the Canadian navies are rushing assets to the area.
They're also contacting private companies that have those capabilities, but the clock is ticking.
And if they find this submersible, the chances are it's going to be a very, very challenging and complicated rescue.
Thank you. Aaron. Tom Costello reporting for us today. For more on this desperate search for that submersible and its passengers, I want to bring in retired U.S. Navy Captain and former submarine commander, David Marque. Captain, we appreciate you making time for us today. A couple of questions for you here to start. Can you help us understand the difference here? I think people are familiar with the word submarine, maybe not so much with submersible. Can you help us understand the practical difference and what your understanding is of what might cause a vessel like this?
to lose contact.
Yeah, submersible is a submarine that just doesn't have a real big motor,
so it can't drive itself in and out of port.
So it needs a mother ship basically carries it out to where it wants to go.
The Titanic, in this case, then they release it, and it can then go underwater and do its thing.
Now, this is a very special submersible because it is designed to go two miles deep,
and that's rare.
Most submarines don't go nearly that deep.
And so this issue of losing contact after an hour and a half, what would cause something like that to happen?
It could be something pretty simple, like a mechanical failure with just a communication equipment.
If that were to happen, I would expect them to abort the mission and come back up to the surface.
It doesn't look like that's what happened because they've been searching the surface and no one has seen them on the surface.
So if they had a mechanical problem that caused the suburb to then sink to the bottom,
they have a much tougher problem because now we have to find them in a much harder place,
and we've got to get to them and get them out of there.
So how does that happen then?
How do they execute this search?
We know that there have been buoys dropped.
We know that there have been planes flying overhead,
and there's no sight of this submersible near the surface of the water.
So you've got to go much deeper, I would imagine,
to even start to look in the right places, right?
Right? If the submarine is making noise and if they're alive on the submarine, they will be doing their best to make noise.
They'll be banging on the hall. They may have things that they can release that would make noise.
Then that noise can be triangulated by these listening buoys and we'll get a good sense of where they are.
If they're not making noise, it makes the problem about a thousand times harder because now we're looking for a bolder, large boulder size rock.
on the bottom of the ocean that has the wreckage of the Titanic and other rock formations down there.
So you need a deep scanning sonar, high-precision scanning sonar to be able to do that.
And to get that kind of a ship in that location may take more than a couple days.
I was going to say, how do they do that?
I mean, we're talking about the Titanic being more than 12,000 feet below the surface of the water.
This submersible vehicle could go that deep or deeper.
as you noted, at least from what we know of the submarines,
you can't get a submarine down that deep.
What does a rescue effort look like?
How does that take shape for something like this?
Yeah, it's really, really, really a very tough technical problem.
I think for the good thing is it's pretty small.
So if we could hook it or grab it with a claw
or get a two-mile cable that goes down with a hook,
but we need someone to get that hook onto the ship.
that is very hard because you've got two miles, the current is swirling it around, you don't really have control.
So I think the only way to do that is get another ship down there.
And these ships are very, very rare, and then have that ship be able to manipulate the cable and get it to hook on to the distressed ship, if we can do that.
And times of the essence, they have about four days of oxygen that they, available to them.
And I was going to ask you about that, 96 hours from yesterday when the ship originally went into the water.
Is that a good amount of time for something like this, for a rescue like this, to be executed?
And how reliable is that source of oxygen for this submersible?
It's probably a reliable source of oxygen.
It comes from fixed tanks, simple valves, open the valve, let the oxygen in.
They can also extend the life of the oxygen by breathing less.
And the way you do that is by napping, sleeping, being quiet, not a lot of unnecessary exertion.
So you're using as little oxygen as possible.
The problem is you want more time than that, because even if we could locate the ship,
it's like 1,000 miles from the middle of nowhere.
It's 1,000 miles from New York.
So let's say we had one of these ships in New York Harbor right now, and it started steaming out.
A thousand miles is about a two, two and a half day journey.
So even then you're pushing right up to the limit of the time that the crew has.
Retired Navy Captain David Marquay, thank you.
Heading overseas now to Beijing, where Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
It was a high-stakes visit after months of escalating tensions between the U.S. and China.
While the two sides claimed progress, there was no real breakthrough.
through in reestablishing vital military communication.
Our Janice Mackey Frere spoke with Secretary Blinken after his meeting.
Good afternoon.
Tonight, a high-stakes visit to Beijing, capped by a handshake,
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, meeting China's President Xi Jinping for 35 minutes
to stop what officials call a downward spiral in relations.
Direct engagement and sustained communication at senior levels is the best way
to responsibly manage our differences.
ensure that competition does not veer into conflict.
Xi's message to Blinken, I hope that through this visit, Mr. Secretary,
you'll make more positive contributions to stabilizing China-U.S. relations.
There's no shortage of flashpoints here.
Tension over Taiwan.
China's role in the fentanyl crisis.
Unanswered questions about the origins of COVID.
Chinese officials not holding back on their grievances either,
like U.S. export bans on technology.
Tonight, in an interview with NBC News, Blinken said the two-day visit has stabilized ties, at least for now.
Both China and the United States, I think, recognized that we were in an increasingly unstable place in our relationship.
I think this is the start of a process to put a little more stability into it.
But China refused Blinken's request to reopen military crisis lines that were cut off by Beijing nearly a year ago.
Since then, some close calls, including this Chinese warship, sailing within 150 yards of a U.S. destroyer in the Taiwan Strait.
And this Chinese fighter jet darting in front of an American surveillance plane, something we saw for ourselves when we were on board another U.S. Navy plane intercepted by a Chinese jet.
We've seen a couple of very dangerous incidents in the last couple of weeks.
China says the encounters are justified to protected sovereignty.
Blinkin's first trip here was called off after that Chinese spy balloon, which was shot down after it flew over the U.S.
Senior U.S. officials told NBC News it collected intelligence from American military sites.
I think it was more embarrassing than it was tension.
So with Beijing, the balloon incident is over.
It's water under the bridge?
We did what we needed to do to protect our interests.
We said what we needed to say and make clear what we needed and make clear.
in terms of this not happening again.
And so as long as it doesn't, that chapter should be closed.
And Janice McAfriere joins us now from Beijing.
Janice, while the U.S. and China have called Blinkin's Visit Progress,
you mentioned in the story that the military crisis lines are not going to be reopened here.
How is that going to impact these close call incidents we've seen?
And does that make this trip sort of a limited success?
But these crisis channels are direct lines of communication between U.S. and Chinese militaries.
They're seen as essential to avoid miscalculation, to avoid misinterpretation.
And those lines of communication have been cut for nearly a year.
Beijing cut them in the aftermath of that contentious visit to Taiwan by then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
the U.S. has been trying to get them back on track. Undoubtedly, there could be more close calls. That is the concern. Secretary Blinken says that China should want to get these lines of communication open again. So you're right. It is difficult to qualify the visit as a success when the goal was a stable relationship, and it's hard to have stable relations when your militaries can't talk to each other.
I wonder, too, Janice, if these meetings, this meeting is going to open an opportunity for President Biden to meet with President Xi.
That is the expectation and the aim. There's the sense that this visit by Secretary Blinken was the mile post, let's call it.
And now we're going to see more high-level cabinet visits. The Treasury Secretary, the Commerce Secretary, they could come within weeks, which is what Chinese officials are.
looking for, given the slowing economic growth here. And there is the expectation that President
Xi could meet with President Biden in the U.S., and that could happen before the end of the year.
Erin.
Janice McAfeeferre in Beijing, thank you. A federal judge today ordering former President Trump
and his lawyers not to share evidence from the classified documents case with the media or the
public ahead of the trial. The judge also limiting the former president's access to the evidence,
saying Trump needs to have supervision while viewing discovery materials.
NBC News Justice and Intelligence correspondent Ken Delanian is joining us now.
So Ken, walk us through this protective order.
I understand is what this is.
It doesn't cover the classified materials involved in this case.
Talk to us about how standard a move this is for a judge to make.
It's quite standard, Aaron.
What it covers is all the evidence that the Justice Department has gathered over the last year.
All that testimony before the grand jury.
those documents and emails and text messages, they have to turn that all over to Donald Trump
and his attorneys so they can prepare a defense. So that's a massive amount of information,
including from people who work for Donald Trump, the names of witnesses, for example. And so
what this order says is that, first of all, they can't disclose any of that stuff to the news media.
And secondly, as you mentioned, there's some restrictions about how the defendant can actually
access the information. Only the lawyers can store it. Donald Trump is allowed to take notes under
this order. But even the notes must be.
stored with the defense lawyer. So the judge here really trying to take steps to make sure that
what has happened before in cases that Donald Trump's involved in doesn't happen here, which is
he goes on social media and starts tweeting out, you know, closely held details about witness
testimony or whatever. Because look, let's face it, people who surface as a witness in this
case are maybe subject to threats against their life. We've seen it happen before. And so
there's a lot of concern. As you said, this does not cover the classified documents, though.
that's going to be subject to a whole separate set of procedures. There'll be a special
master, some kind of official name to be in charge of all the procedures governing that. So as
of now, we don't know yet what's going to happen with those. So you talk about the potential for
something to end up on social media or to be said from a podium at a campaign event, maybe?
What are the consequences for the Trump team if somebody doesn't cooperate here, if they do talk
about or share some of this evidence? The consequences could be severe. They could include contempt of
court, which could include going to jail if the judge was angry enough. The issue, though,
is going to be enforcement. How do they prove? Let's say something sensitive leaks to the news
media. It's just like any other leak. It's really difficult to prove who actually did it if people
use good tradecraft. And so that's going to be the challenge here. On the flip side, you know,
these are officers of the court, former federal prosecutors representing Donald Trump. And they know
what the rules are. And they know that if they do something wrong and they're caught or their client is
caught, the consequences would be severe. So that's what the expectations here is that
the lawyers will police the client, Aaron. And just a few seconds left here, Ken, but we saw
the president, former president in court last week. He pleaded not guilty. What's the next step
in this case? There will be motions. There may be a motion to dismiss the indictment. There's
going to be large amounts of litigation for which Donald Trump doesn't have to go down to
Florida, but the lawyers will file papers and they'll argue before the judge. And this could
take a year or it could take longer than a year, Aaron. We'll have to see.
for us tonight. Ken, thank you. Appreciate it. Now to Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive against
Russia, the intense fighting leading to small gains for Ukrainians as more troops trained to take
on those Russian forces. NBC's Raf Sanchez is in Harkiv as Ukrainian special forces start to fight
trench by trench. And a warning, this video may be disturbing.
Tonight, Ukrainian forces releasing this footage of close quarters combat, commandos and
intense gun battles trench by trench shooting Russian soldiers. The video blurred because of its graphic
nature. Two weeks in, Ukraine's counteroffensive is gaining ground, but slowly and at a cost.
This assault with tanks and self-destructing drones leading to the liberation of a hamlet in Zaporica.
Ukraine's flag raised for the first time since it fell under Russian occupation more than a year ago.
But right now, progress is being measured in small villages, not cities.
Russian forces are dug in and bringing their superior air power to the fight.
Ukrainian troops also advancing through fields of Russian landmines like this.
But Ukraine has a new tool in its arsenal.
And it comes from the U.S.
These troops are simulating, loading up onto an American-made MRAP.
This is a mine-resistant vehicle supplied by the United States.
States, and it's designed to protect Ukrainian troops as they pass through waves of Russian minefields.
Each vehicle weighs 14 tons, and the U.S. has given Ukraine more than 500 of them since the
start of the war.
And though this driver hasn't had American training, he used Google to fill in the blanks.
We searched for about five days to find the air conditioning, he says.
These troops are from the Hurricane Brigade of Ukraine's National Guard.
They're a mixture of combat veterans and new recruits, and they're practicing the kind
of trench warfare they'll face when they join the counteroffensive.
Are these men ready to fight for real in the east?
Yes, they're ready to some extent, he says.
They've gone through almost four weeks of training and still have a little more to go.
This officer, codename Jeannie, is one of the units veterans.
Before the war, you were helping people learn English, and now you're fighting full-time.
Yeah.
Did you ever imagine this would be your life?
No, I never dreamed of it, you know, in this way.
But in 2014, it was obvious.
I cannot stay away from this.
Do you feel that there will ever be peace here?
Yes, of course, when we're going to kill all Russians.
When you win?
Yes.
How long do you think that will take?
It doesn't matter how long it will take.
We need to stop them.
Ordinary people taking up arms and determined to fight for as long as it takes.
And Raff Sanchez joins us now from Harkiv, Ukraine.
Raf, we go back to the big picture here.
How concerned are the people there in Ukraine where you are about sort of the slow progress of this counteroffensive?
Yeah, Aaron, well, publicly Ukrainian officials are putting a brave face on this.
said earlier tonight that whether it's sooner or whether it's later, the blue and yellow flag of Ukraine is once again going to be flying all over the south and the east of this country.
It is also worth saying that at this point, two weeks or so into this offensive, it is just too early to judge whether it has been a success or a failure.
And that's because we've yet to see the Ukrainians mount an all-out assault on one part of the Russian lines and really kind of push all their chips to the middle of the table.
Aaron. And Raf, I understand, too, that Ukraine says it hit several Russian ammunition depots.
What can you tell us about that?
Yeah, Ukrainian officials are saying that they used long-range weapons to hit these Russian
depots deep behind enemy lines. You saw just these enormous plumes of smoke visible for miles
in every direction. We don't know exactly which weapons the Ukrainians used, but analysts are
taking this as a sign that the Ukrainians are getting increasingly sophisticated.
at carrying out these kind of long-range strikes.
Aaron?
Raff Sanchez for us tonight.
Raf, thank you.
Now to the Middle East and a violent weekend in Israel
and the occupied West Bank.
Protesters taking to the streets in Tel Aviv
over the Prime Minister's controversial judicial reform plan.
This, as an Israeli military raid
in the occupied West Bank, killed at least five Palestinians.
NBC News Foreign Correspondent Matt Bradley joins me now.
Matt, I want to start with these protests over the weekend.
Demonstrators we know have been pushing back.
against these judicial reforms for a while now.
The Prime Minister, though, Netanyahu is saying that he is going to move forward.
Yeah, we heard from the Prime Minister.
He said yesterday that he was going to move forward.
He wasn't exactly clear on what that would mean.
It sounds as though he basically is going to be tabling this proposal once again and trying to move forward.
This proposal, which has divided the country so profoundly and caused unprecedented protests
from about January until March of this year.
Now, Benjamin Netanyahu and his confidants say,
but the reason why is because it was the opposition who backed out of a judicial forming committee last week.
And that's why Netanyahu decided to break with the negotiations that he would pledge he was going to go through
and would instead decide to proceed with this legislation.
So we can expect to see more and more protests, Aaron, as the days and weeks go on.
And, Matt, we mentioned this situation in the city of Janine, in the West Bank, the Occupy West Bank,
that it is intensifying.
Help us understand how that started and where things stand now.
Yeah, I mean, as far as we know in Janine, there's fighting that's still ongoing right now.
But the situation started before dawn this morning, and that was when the typical maneuver by Israeli security forces, they moved into the city of Janine.
They were trying to arrest what they said were two suspects in the homes of people who had already been detained.
Now, this erupted into an enormous burst of gunfire, and actually one Israeli troop carrying vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive.
device, and that's when we saw another very rare event, when we saw Israeli helicopters shooting
missiles at some of these homes. Now, that hasn't happened since the second Intifada about 20 years ago.
So, again, we've been seeing these raids over and over again, deadly raids that have killed
more than 100 Palestinians over the past year and a half, and now we're seeing the violence
escalating. That's also a very troubling sign for the near future. Aaron?
Matt, Bradley, in London for us tonight. Matt, thank you. And still ahead tonight.
a horrific story out of New York City, a dog stabbed to death in Central Park, the argument
between the owners that allegedly led to that violent end. Plus, lounge chairs and umbrellas
flying around a popular Florida beach sending two people to the hospital. What caused that
dangerous scene? And the houseboat capsizing, trapping two people inside, a man diving into the water
to save them. What he told Top Story about the moment he knew he had to jump into action. Stay with
us.
We're back now with a shocking story of a dog that was killed after a dispute between two pet owners in Central Park in New York City.
The suspect pulling out a knife and stabbing the other owner's dog who had been put down, who had to be put down shortly after.
Our Stephen Romo has the latest.
Tonight, police investigating the deadly stabbing of a pet dog after an altercation in New York City.
Central Park. This was blood. This was my dog. My dog never got up again. The dog's owner who asked
not to be identified, heartbroken, telling NBC New York, his 13-year-old German Shepherd Pit Bull Mix,
Eli, was stabbed right in front of him. He's a great dog. You know, he's my boy.
The New York City Police Department saying that at around 8.30 Saturday evening, they got two calls
for this incident, one about a vicious dog and another for a
dog stabbed, which they confirmed happened. It's unclear who those calls were from. Eli's owner says
he and his wife were walking their two dogs on leashes when they walked by this man. Authorities say
the suspect's dogs were unleashed. One of his dogs tried to bite my little one and he tried
to tell me that it's okay. And I tried to talk sent him. He says an argument broke out with
the man who he was familiar with. Then he says the dogs attacked him.
and Eli. I kicked one of the dogs off my dog at one point. I did what I could and it wasn't
enough. That's when he says he tried to defend himself and pepper sprayed the man, but things
kept escalating, even saying his dog growled and may have bitten the other man in the chaos.
Started pulling my, he dragged my dog about 10 feet, trying to rip the collars off. But then he took
out a knife and started carving. And my dog growled and he stuck him. Felice say the staffed dog
was taken to a local animal clinic where it had to be euthanized.
Dog owners in the area reacting to that violence.
It was pretty sad to hear what happened.
But, I mean, off-leash dogs have been a problem here for a long time.
Usually, if the dogs are problems, it's not the dog's fault.
It's the owner's fault.
One person we spoke to who did not want to be identified claims to know both dog owners
and says he still feels comfortable walking in the park.
I think it's generally safe.
I know many people who walk here at night.
It's not dangerous.
Police say the unidentified suspect is not in custody.
And for now, the owner says he just wants justice.
It's a coward.
It's a coward act.
And I hope they find him and prosecute him.
And Aaron, dogs have to be leashed in Central Park for most of the day, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
And in some areas like playgrounds, they have to be leashed at all time.
something people hear we talk to say does not always happen.
Meanwhile, that investigation is ongoing,
and police have not announced any arrests.
Aaron, back to you.
Stephen Romo in New York City, Stephen, thank you.
When we come back, pop star BB Rexa hospitalized.
The singer hit with a phone during a concert,
how she's doing tonight, and the 27-year-old man now under arrest.
Back now with Top Story's news feed, and we begin with an update on the mass shooting at an elementary school in Nashville.
Two of the parents whose children were killed inside the Covenant School in March are now asking a judge not to release writings from the shooter.
A lawsuit is calling for those documents to be made public in hopes of finding a motive for the shooting that left six dead.
The school also confirming today students will not return to that building in the fall.
A frightening scene caught on camera at a beach in Florida.
Video showing umbrellas and chairs flying into the air on Clearwater Beach after a water spout moved onto the shore.
Two people were taken to the hospital there after they were hit by some of those items.
They are expected to be okay.
There are warnings posted about potentially hazardous conditions.
And a scare on stage for pop star BB Rexa.
Video showing the moments someone launched a phone onto the stage during a concert in New York City.
It hit the singer right in the face.
The artist was immediately taken to the hospital.
hospital. She later posted these images on social media showing her injuries and writing, quote,
I'm good. Police say a 27-year-old New Jersey man has been charged with assault. And a close call
outside of New Jersey elementary school, video showing an officer leaping into action,
saving a child from being pinned between two cars during drop off at school. The officer was
newly assigned to the West Ridge Elementary School as a special law enforcement officer.
as this is part of an effort for the police and school districts to work together to keep kids safe at school.
A dramatic rescue off Florida's Gulf Coast where people inside a capsized houseboat were saved in the middle of a storm.
The hero's actions caught on camera as other boats struggled to get close.
NBC's Guadvinagus spoke to the man who jumped in for that rescue.
Tonight, gripping video of the moment, two women trapped inside a capsized houseboat were rescued Friday morning in Florida.
Oh, my God. That boat, look at that thing. He's going to capsize, too.
Video acquired by our NBC affiliate, WJHG, shows the moment boy Jordan jumped off a fishing boat without hesitation to help rescue the women trapped inside the houseboat, which served as a shop out in the sandbar.
I jumped off the boat I was on into the water and then grabbed a two by four, ripped the two by four off the structure, and smashed in the window.
The first window pane is a sliding glass.
they were trapped behind. Boyd says just minutes before, the women and another friend were
towing the floating shop when an unusual storm took them by surprise. I mean, we were very
blindsided. From the time that we knew that there was going to be a storm coming to the time
that people were walking out of the water was probably less than 20 minutes. Travis Brady was
in a fishing boat with two of his friends near the marina off the Gulf Coast of Panama City
and saw Jordan jump into action.
He, without hesitation, was just in the water, helping those people.
Moments later, Brady and his friends taking action themselves, trying to get close enough
to those in the water to provide support.
Debris flying around them, their own boat needing to operate through severe weather.
Within 15 minutes, we were in, you know, five foot, six foot waves.
Boyd says the waves made it impossible for everyone to climb on board.
to Brady's boat, forcing his friends to swim to shore, while he made it on board to rescue
his own fishing boat before it crashed into the seawall.
It restores your faith in humanity, makes you really reflect on the things that are important
in life.
I'm going to try not get emotional, but it was just, it was an intense moment.
What could have ended in tragedy avoided, thanks to selfless quick thinking and a group
effort in response to Mother Nature.
And Boyd also telling us all of this happened about 300 yards from the shore.
He added that the two women and his friend made their way to a nearby sandbar where they were able to stand in water
and then make their way to safety to shore.
All of this, of course, a reminder of how fast conditions can change when operating in water.
Aaron?
Guad vanegas for us tonight.
Guad, thank you.
Coming up, Medicaid purge.
More than a million Americans dropped from Medicaid coverage since April.
What's behind the massive cuts and what Medicaid users need to know.
News is more than a headline.
It informs.
It inspires, and it still matters.
To cover it, you have to be in it.
And that's what we're going to do.
Every night, we take you to the front lines of the story where it's actually happening.
With NBC News Journalists on the ground from all over the world,
we cover what you need to know and bring your news feed to life in prime time and stream.
live. It's your news playlist every night.
Top story with Tom Yamas, weeknights at seven, on NBC News Now.
We are back now with the latest effort by some states to curb surveillance efforts.
The newest war on privacy is over car license plates and tracking women who may be driving
to get an abortion. NBC's Ann Thompson has more.
If it feels like you are being tracked, it may be because you are at red lights, going in and out of
the office on your smartphone. But what if you could be tracked seeking a legal abortion,
simply by your license plate? I don't think people realize how much of their personal data
is collected, that their whereabouts are tracked. That's why Illinois Secretary of State
Alexei Janullius backs what he says is a first-in-the-nation bill to outlaw sharing or selling
license plate data for women seeking abortions. Who has access to license? Who has access to license
plate trackers.
A number of private and public entities have this personal, sensitive data.
Data he fears could be weaponized, as some states try to criminalize helping someone get
an abortion, even in a state where it is legal.
Three other states have passed laws aimed at protecting health data from such efforts.
When they travel, whether it's to an abortion clinic or the grocery store, we need to make
sure this data is protected.
Illinois right-to-life executive director Mary Kate Zander opposes abortion.
Do you think this bill is necessary?
I think it's unnecessary.
They're trying to create a narrative around what the pro-life movement may or may not be doing.
She says her organization is not trying to criminalize women seeking the procedure.
Is the right-to-life movement tracking license plates of women?
No, no.
Absolutely not.
Has it done that in the past?
No, absolutely not.
in the future? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. That's just not a tactic that we would use.
With a quarter of their patients now from out of state, Illinois Planned Parenthood CEO Jennifer
Welch is not convinced. Patients need to know that when they come for health care,
that information won't be shared with anybody, law enforcement, activists, anybody else.
Data collection and privacy. A new frontier in the nation's fight over abortion rights.
Ann Thompson, NBC News, Chicago.
Another health care issue for millions of Americans, new sweeping Medicaid cuts in more than two dozen states.
Starting in April, states began re-evaluating people's eligibility after a three-year pause during the pandemic.
Just in the last two months, more than 1.5 million people have been dropped from coverage.
According to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a vast majority of those dropped were removed for not completing paperwork.
In a letter to state governors last week, the Secretary of Health and Human Services urged states to slow down, writing in part,
I am deeply concerned with the number of people unnecessarily losing coverage, especially those who appear to have lost coverage for avoidable reasons.
For more on what this means for the 93 million Americans who rely on Medicaid, Julie Rovner, the Chief Washington correspondent for KFF Health News, joins us now.
Julie, we appreciate you being here.
can you walk us through what happened in April and why we're seeing now this sudden purge?
Yes, for three years, the federal government told states, we'll give you extra money for Medicaid
if you leave everybody who's on the rolls and everybody who joins alone until the end of the public
health emergency. Congress later set that at March 31st, that states could and have to start
reevaluating people's eligibility. But there was a concern that states were going to do it too fast,
That's what the secretary and many advocacy groups are worried about right now is that people are being dropped who shouldn't be, who are still eligible, and that people are going to lose insurance and not know that they may be eligible for other types of insurance.
You know, and as we think about the numbers here in the last two months, your organization, KFF Health News, found that Oklahoma, Idaho, Utah, Florida, and Arkansas have dropped at least 50 percent of the people whose cases they reviewed from coverage.
help us understand why we're seeing larger numbers of cuts in some states.
Well, of course, at this point, there are a certain number of people who are no longer eligible for the program.
That's what these states are trying to do is find those people and take away their coverage.
What's happening, though, is that states are, many of these red states are in such a race to do this
that they are dropping people who are still eligible because they would like to get them,
they would like to get their Medicaid rolls smaller.
We also know that the federal government says administrative processes caused a lot of the problem
that we're seeing now and that some Americans have been dropped inadvertently in the last
couple of months. Are there ways that state agencies can sort of help to mitigate some of the
trauma here? Well, one of the things that the secretary is trying to get states to do is slow down.
States continue to get additional money from the federal government for their Medicaid programs
through the end of the year. That was done to tell states, yes, you have to start re-evaluating people's eligibility, but you don't have to do it all at once. That's a big problem. And there's things that people can do, too. Make sure if you're on Medicaid that your state office knows where to find you. A lot of this is because state mails out a renewal form and that person has moved. You can also, many people who are going to be dropped are probably eligible for other insurance. And states are required to
help them find it.
All right.
We appreciate your expertise on this.
Thank you.
When we come back, scenes from across the nation on this Juneteenth, from Texas, where
the last slaves found out they had been freed 158 years ago to New York and Los Angeles,
how Americans are marking the holiday from coast to coast.
Back now with a historic comeback for a beloved baseball stadium, players and fans reclaiming
part of African American history.
at a storied ballpark in New Jersey that once hosted the Negro League.
NBC's Ron Allen explains.
At the Jackals' home opener against the minors in Patterson, New Jersey, a huge comeback.
The grand reopening of historic Hinscliffe Stadium itself.
I get goosebumps when I think about it.
We need to keep this kind of venue in places like this, you know, flourishing.
One of the last ballpark still standing from the days of baseball's Negro leagues and segregated sports.
A hallowed venue that for the past few decades had been shut down, abandoned, and about to be demolished.
At its worst, what do you remember about this with?
At its worst, what I remember are the trees growing in the stands, people living in the press box.
Brian Lopento helped lead a local effort to save the stadium, now a national historic landmark that just underwent a $100 million renovation.
The Minor League Jackals' new home, once home for the New York Black Yankees and New York Cubans,
where legends such as Patterson's own Larry Dobie, who broke baseball's color barrier after Jackie Robinson once played.
A lot of legends played here. Do you feel that?
I can feel it. I mean, I'm grateful that I'm playing, you know, in the same place that a lot of, you know, legends played, you know.
This is the real field of dreams. This stadium is sacred, and this stadium tells the story of the struggle for social justice, civil rights, and American integration.
Re-opening day, a chance for fans to celebrate and enjoy sites many thought they'd never see.
What do you think when you're in this place now?
You know, I mean, what I think is, wow.
And the jackals held on to win the opener 10-6.
All of those legends who played here, perhaps giving the home team, an edge.
Ron Allen, NBC News, Patterson, New Jersey.
And finally tonight, celebrating Juneteenth,
the now federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S.
The day marked with marches, musical performances, and a call to action.
America marking 158.
years since the end of slavery. Black history is American history. Events around the country
celebrating June 19, 1865. The day troops arrived to ensure enslaved Africans in Galveston, Texas
were freed. Two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation declared freedom for enslaved
people across the Confederate South. Juneteeth means victory. It means black pride. It means celebration.
It means happiness. It means love. It means joy for our black community.
That joy echoing across the nation.
Starting in Galveston, the birthplace of the holiday.
General order, number three.
Spirits high at a Milwaukee, Wisconsin parade.
Happy birthday!
Ohioans sounding off in Cincinnati.
Crowds gathering in both New York City and Los Angeles.
And back in Texas, the annual Opel Lee Walk for Freedom,
drawing supporters in Fort Worth.
Make yourself a committee of one.
Opal Lee, the woman known as the grandmother of Juneteenth, leading the march at 96 years old, despite sweltering temperatures.
It was her 1,400-mile walk in 2016 when she was 89 that helped convince lawmakers to recognize Juneteenth as a federal holiday.
None of us are free until we are all free.
And we aren't free yet.
Texas was the first state to make Juneteenth an official state holiday beginning in 1980.
But it wouldn't become a federal holiday until 2021 when President Joe Biden signed the last.
law marking Juneteenth National Independence Day.
All right.
This year, 28 states and the District of Columbia legally recognized June 10th as a public holiday.
Today, Connecticut celebrating June 10th as a legal state holiday for the first time.
And Kentucky's governor declaring June 19th, 2023 to be June 10th National Freedom Day in his state.
I will also continue to push for this day to be recognized as an official state holiday.
celebrating the progress that has been made, but also recognizing the work that still needs to be done.
This is an ode to our ancestors who have done the work, but to tell everyone, including ourselves
for the future, that systemic racism is still real, that black love and joy is still real,
and that we all have to band together between government, community organizations, community-based
organizations to do the work to radically change where we know freedom will look like.
Happy Juneteenth. Thank you for watching Top Story for Tom Yamis. I'm Erin Gilchrist. I'm Erin Gilchrist.
in Washington. Stay right there. More NBC News now on the way.