Top Story with Tom Llamas - Monday, May 15, 2023

Episode Date: May 16, 2023

A man attacks a Virginia congressman’s office staff with a baseball bat, FL Gov. Ron DeSantis takes veiled shots at former President Trump as he inches closer to a campaign announcement, Turkey’s presidential election heads to a run-off, Memphis Grizzlies' star Ja Morant is suspended by his team again after another video streamed online appears to show him holding a gun, and two shark attack survivors describe their harrowing encounters with the fearsome predator.

Tonight, breaking news of violent attack at the office of a U.S. Congressman, a suspect armed with a baseball bat, storming into the office of Virginia Democrat Jerry Connolly, looking for him, but brutally attacking two members of his staff, one of them an intern on her first day on the job. What authorities are revealing tonight about the attacker. Another developing story at this hour, a mass shooting reported in New Mexico. Three people killed, nine injured. Two police officers shot as well. the latest details just coming in.

Also tonight, the swell of migrants along the U.S. southern border beginning to dissipate after reaching record-level highs last week. Thousands of migrants swiftly processed and released into the U.S., where many of them are headed and how communities across the country

are dealing with the surge. DeSantis on the clock, the Florida governor, fueling speculation he will make a run for the White House after moving his staff into a new office, a move that triggers a two-week deadline to make a formal announcement. So when will he step into the ring? Plus, the new attacks he's leveling at his potential

GOP rival, former President Donald Trump. Plus, Grizzly's guard, J. Morant, suspended for appearing to wave a gun in an Instagram video just months after a similar incident left him sidelined. What all of this could mean for the NBA star's lucrative endorsement deals and his future in the league. And surviving a shark attack, two heart-stopping encounters, a fisherman in Hawaii capturing the moment a massive tiger shark rammed his kayak and a 13-year-old in Florida fighting off a shark and living to tell the tale. Tonight, she'll tell you exactly how she did it. Top story starts right now.

Good evening, everybody. I'm Aaron Gilchrist, in for Tom Yamis. We begin top story tonight with a disturbing act of political violence in Virginia. Police say a 49-year-old man armed with a metal baseball bat stormed into. the office of Representative Jerry Connolly today attacking staff members after realizing Connolly wasn't there. Two of the staffers, including an intern, injured in that rampage, others hiding as glass and computers were shattered all around them. At this hour, we do not know why that suspect chose to target Connolly, though we do know

he does live in Virginia's 11th district, one of the wealthiest districts in the nation that Connolly has served for eight terms. NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Noble leads us off tonight. Tonight, police in Fairfax, Virginia, working to figure out why a man entered Congressman Jerry Conley's district office and went on a rampage. It is very concerning, and it's quite frankly scary that someone can just walk up to an office holding a baseball bat and just start swinging. According to Connolly, the suspect identified by police as Juan Ka Tron Pham came into the office demanding to see the congressman who wasn't there. He allegedly then went on the attack, hitting two of Connolly staffers with a metal bat, one of them an intern. It was her first day on the job. He then went into a rage,

crushing office computers and breaking glass. Police arrived within five minutes and took FAM into custody. Both staffers were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. We are all praying for the quick recovery for the staffers. Pham was not known to Capitol Police, but filed a lawsuit against the CIA last year. year, claiming the agency had been wrongfully imprisoning him in a lower perspective based on physics and alleging that he is being brutally tortured from the fourth dimension. According to Capitol Police, threats against members have skyrocketed from just over 4,000 in 2017 to almost 10,000 in 2021. The same year as the January 6th attack. But it's been

more than just threats. Within just the last year, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was violently attacked at their family home in San Francisco. Going back further, in 2017, a group of GOP members were targeted by a gunman while practicing for the Congressional baseball game. And in 2011, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords suffered a mass shooting that killed several of her staff members. And Ryan Nobles joins us now from Fairfax, Virginia. So, Ryan, what do we know?

What about the latest on the charges that FAM is facing? Yeah, Aaron, Pham is being charged with me. multiple counts as a result of this attack, including a felony for aggravated malicious wounding, and he's currently being held without bond. Now, in addition to those two staffers that were hurt, we're also told that a police officer was injured during the arrest, but he is expected to be okay. Aaron? All right, Ryan Nobles for us in Fairfax, Virginia tonight. Ryan, thank you. We move now to the southern border. There's been a sharp decrease in the number of migrants' crossing since the end of the Title 42. Still, detention

facilities are taxed and more northern cities are increasingly feeling the burden. NBC's Miguel Almagare has more. Tonight, four days after the border restriction known as Title 42 was lifted, officials are rapidly releasing migrants into the U.S., with Border Patrol processing facilities now over capacity. More than 21,000 migrants currently in custody in facilities meant to hold just 18,000, according to two DHS officials. This woman just released in California says, I do it all for my family. I was able to cross. We were lucky.

It comes as the Biden administration says illegal border crossings have dropped nearly in half since Title 42 was lifted. How do you think things are going at the border, sir? Much better than you all expected. The president touting the drop. over the weekend. After the Border Patrol reported 11,000 apprehensions on Tuesday and Wednesday, that number dramatically dwindled to just over 4,000 Saturday and Sunday. The Biden administration believes their series of new stricter enforcement rules for asylum seekers is slowing the flow.

But while the number of migrants crossing the border is no longer a record, it's still high. Many of the migrants are being sent to cities where they don't have the resources to handle them. of Laredo, Texas, says his city remains on high alert. Now, the unfortunate reality is that we're, we're and already at near capacity in our hospitals before Title 42 expired. With more migrants coming by train to Denver, in New York City, they arrived on school buses today. Mayor Eric Adams says the influx will cost taxpayers $4 billion by 2024.

Many hotels now becoming shelters. Officials say one reason for dropping border number. is increased cooperation from Mexico, where these migrants from Guatemala could no longer get permits to go north, the weary, now growing desperate. We are here at God's mercy, says this man, just hoping to pass.

And Miguel Almaguer joins us now from San Diego. Miguel, what exactly our official saying is the reason behind this drop in border crossing apprehensions? We are in Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says that the Biden administration's tough new policies are having an impact that essentially migrants need to follow the law in order to get into this country legally. And if they don't, they'll face severe consequences.

But no one sure exactly how long these lower numbers will last. Aaron? Miguel Al McGarren, San Diego. Miguel, thank you for more on the latest at the U.S.-Mexico border and how the surrounding communities are really being impacted. Let's bring in the mayor of McAllen, Texas, Javier Villalbos. Mr. Mayor, we appreciate you. about making some time for us and joining us on Top Story tonight. I know that you signed a disaster

declaration for your city. That was on Friday. How has your city been impacted since the end of Title 42? You know what? We work very hard to make sure that McCallon is a very safe city. It's one of the safest in the country. And we are very fortunate that even after the lifting of 42, I guess because of the education or at least what was going on across the border, the NGOs, the Mexican authorities, border patrol advising the immigrants about the potential impact or ramifications of Title VIII, we did not have the expected surge. And it's a lot more orderly than expected, and we're hoping that it stays that way. Well, let me ask you a little bit more about that. Obviously, you know, the Biden administration, others have reported that illegal border crossings have dropped off

nearly half since Title 42 was lifted. To what degree have you felt that decrease in the number of migrants who are needing help, who are needing aid in your community? You know, for the past decade, we've had immigrants coming in all the time. So even before the lifting of 42, it was always a couple hundred. And right now, we're at the same number. There was an uptake right before the lifting of 42, and it concerned us quite a bit. Fortunately, like I'm telling you, they're eating the advice of the individuals about the ramifications of Title VIII. And then fortunately also, there's a lot of protection being afforded to our area by whether it be Operation Lone Star, the federal government border patrol. They're realizing that

it's not going to be the way it used to be. And Title VIII, they have to be careful because they can be kicked out for five years. Well, outside of the enforcement part of this, how do you feel you're handling the needs that have come up as you saw a bit of an increase before Title 42 ended? and what you're still dealing with today, have you felt like you're getting the support you need from the state, from the federal government? We work very well with the federal government, with the state government, with our local and county officials, and we've been doing this like I stayed for about a decade. So logistically, if the numbers are what they are right now, we can keep on doing it.

Of course, we'd rather not. It's not an issue we should be involved in, but public safety is our main concern, and we need to make sure that our residents and also the immigrants are taken care of. So we, if it stays the way it is right now, we'd be very comfortable. Well, you know, you mentioned the fact that you've dealt with these issues for more than a decade and having to support migrants as they've come into your city. You know, there are a lot of communities right now in the United States that are starting to see what you've been dealing with

and what you've been able to handle for so many years. Do you have any advice for the leaders of these cities that are farther, north from Texas that are now having to support migrants who are coming into those areas? But you know, it's totally different. We've always said that the immigrants, the immigrants passed through McAllen, passed through the Rio Grande Valley. They're not here to stay. They're looking to go to Chicago, New York, the bigger areas, even northern Texas, but they don't stay here. So we've kind of predicted for a long time about the potentially what could happen to the northern cities, and it's finally happening. You have the mayor of New York, the mayor of Chicago now

with concerns, but those are concerns about people or re-immigrants staying there. We just, it's a flow through for us. They never stayed here. It was never their intent. So we don't have the same issues. Our issues were just to assist and sending them up upstate. Mayor of McAllen, Texas, Xavier Villalbos. Mr. Mayor, thank you. We are also following breaking news out of New Mexico where at least three people are dead after a mass shooting in Farmington. That's about 200 miles northwest of Santa Fe. Authorities there are just giving an update about the teenage suspect who was also dead. Let's get right to NBC News as Dana Griffin now who joins us from Los Angeles with the late details on this. So Dana, what have you

been able to learn about this shooting so far? So Aaron, the police tell us that they responded to what they are calling a chaotic scene. Seeing this male suspect actively firing on people in this neighborhood. They confronted the suspect around 11 o'clock a.m. local time and killed them right there. We know nine people have been shot, three killed, and among the injured, two officers, one from Farmington Police, the other from New Mexico State Police. We're seeing some images now just showing the scene there in this community. We've also learned that there's a possible TikTok video showing one of the alleged murders. Police tell us that they are still trying to authenticate that video. But again, the suspect is dead. This happening, as you mentioned

in Farmington, which is located about three hours northwest of Albuquerque. Now, you mentioned, Dana, at least three people dead here, several more injured. Any updates of any sort on either of those groups of people? So we know that the two officers are being treated for their injuries. We don't know the extent, but we are told that they are both in stable condition. As far as the other victims, We have not received any additional information or any information about their ages. Police are still trying to determine why this 18-year-old male suspect was in this neighborhood, and what's the motive behind this attack? So obviously this is still an ongoing investigation there,

but what are police telling the community at this point? So right now they are looking for what they are calling eyewitness information, whether that is video or any tips that you may have about this. It could help their investigation, so they're asking the community for that. We've also heard from Governor Michelle Grisham. She released a statement saying that she is grateful to law enforcement for their quick response. She also noted that she is praying for the families of the victims, the wounded in the entire community of Farmington. She also said that this serves as yet another reminder of how gun violence destroys lives in our state and our country every single day.

So obviously just a very upsetting time for that community. as they work to learn more about why this happened and try to heal from it. Aaron. All right, Dana Griffin at our Los Angeles Bureau. Dana, thank you. Now to that four-year investigation over whether the FBI mishandled its probe of ties between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia. Special counsel John Durham slamming the agency in a 300-page report today saying the Bureau

never should have launched the investigation. Here's NBC News Justice correspondent Kandelanian. Tonight, in his long-awaited report, the special counsel looking into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, blasting the FBI's performance as seriously deficient. John Durham, concluding the Bureau was too quick to open an investigation into the Trump campaign in 2016 based on raw and uncorroborated information, while saying the FBI was much more cautious and skeptical about allegations against the Clinton campaign. Code-named Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI probe examined alleged links between the Trump

campaign and Russia and led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, who in the end did not find any conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, while noting some Russians contacted the campaign. Tonight, Mr. Trump posting, the American public was scammed. As part of Durham's investigation, an FBI lawyer pleaded guilty to falsifying records in an application for a secret warrant to conduct surveillance on a Trump campaign aide, Carter Page. But after nearly four years, Durham's report does not find corrupt. or conspiracy, or recommend any wholesale changes.

Durham lost the only two criminal cases he brought to court, with juries acquitting these two men of lying to investigators. Durham's report follows this 2019 report by the Justice Department's Inspector General, which found that the FBI made mistakes, but was justified in opening the Trump investigation. And Ken Delaney joins us now from Washington. Ken, the special counsel report was highly critical of the FBI, as you just laid out in that piece there.

Now the Bureau is weighing in, right? Yes, Aaron. The FBI is telling us in a statement tonight that they have overhauled the way they approached national security investigations made a number of changes and reforms. And they say that if those reforms were in place back in 2016, a lot of the missteps outlined in this report might not have happened there. Candelanian in D.C. Ken, thank you. Moving to politics now where the campaign for 2024 is heating up again. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appearing on the verge of announcing.

his candidacy. In Iowa this weekend, DeSantis taking newly, new thinly veiled shots at his potential rival, former President Donald Trump, saying Republicans need to reject the culture of losing. Von Hilliard was in Iowa this weekend and has the latest. In the biggest signal yet that Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, will enter the presidential contest, would-be campaign staffers, today began moving into an office space that will serve his campaign headquarters. NBC News has learned. He is now on the clock with 50. days to declare his bid for the White House. This move after a weekend across Iowa.

In which DeSantis previewed a new line of attack of former President Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination, although he did not utter his name. We must reject the culture of losing that has infected our party in recent years. The time for excuses is over. Trump on his social media account, trashing his likely rival's personality.

The problem with Ronda Sanctimonious is that he needs, a personality transplant, and those are not yet available. Trump's rally scheduled for Saturday in Des Moines canceled because of a tornado watch in the area. His supporters leaving without seeing the former president, who instead called into a Christian nationalist conference featuring prominent conspiracy theorists, including Michael Flynn, his former national security advisor. Trump pardoned Flynn in 2020 after he pleaded guilty to lying to FBI investigators about

his communications with the Russian ambassador. Now he's talking about a Flynn comeback. General Flynn, he's some general, he's some man in general. You just have to stay healthy because we're bringing you back. We're going to bring you back. Currently, Trump's lead over other potential candidates is its greatest yet. Trump is the only one for me. I drove four and a half hours here just to see him.

And I love Ronda Santis because I have a house in Florida. And I think he's a great governor, but it's not his time. Others including New Hampshire governor, Chris and Nunu, also still mulling whether to jump into the GOP race. Sununu telling MSNBC's Jen Saki this weekend. Look, you don't debate Donald Trump on policy. The guy has massive insecurities. He's a loser.

Republican voters watching. I would love to have a new candidate kind of represent our party and want to bring our generation back into it. And now Aaron DeSantis' official spokesman in the Florida governor's office announced his departure from that role today. He is expected to join his political operations. And it's worth noting, the Super PAC that was set up this spring to boost his potential candidacy is already spent $10 million touting the Florida governor. So there is a lot of support right now behind this potential bid.

It's now a matter of whether he does it here in these weeks ahead and decides to take on Donald Trump. Aaron? Von Hillier for us tonight. Now, with DeSantis likely to get into the race in the coming weeks, will he shift his strategy around President Trump in order to win over his voters? I want to bring in our panel now. NBC News political analyst Elise Jordan and former Biden White House Deputy Cabinet Secretary Cristobal Alex. He's also an MSNBC political analyst. Elise, there was an October NBC news poll that found 65 percent of Republicans believe President Biden did not win the election legitimately. Do you think DeSantis will actually come out and say Trump lost in 2020? We've seen where DeSantis has just danced around it so much, Aaron. And he tries to say,

let's move beyond it, but he doesn't really want to get into addressing it because it is a big deal with GOP primary voters. And that's why I still am not so bullish on DeSantis' overall prospects, because when you have the Republican primary electorate believing that Donald Trump had an election stolen and then say he happened to lose to Ron DeSantis in the Republican primary, which I don't even think would happen right now, but say he did. Would those voters turn and back Ron DeSantis in the general election against Joe Biden? And that's not what I'm sure about. I'm not sure that enough of the Republican primary voters would turn out for Ron DeSantis. Well, Christoella, let me get your perspective here. I mean, do you think that this message of

rejecting the culture of losing is one that's going to resonate with voters for Ron DeSantis? Is that an effective way of sticking that tag on the former president? It may be the best shot he's got, and I'm sure they're poll testing a lot of this, but the truth of the matter is these are two extreme candidates, and the message that we're going to be hearing from there's going to be very extreme. If you just look at what DeSantis is doing in Florida, whether it's fighting for book bans, whether it is enforcing and enacting the country's strictest anti-abortion laws. The list goes on and on. I mean, it's a pretty extreme position.

But Donald Trump's position's the last, well, a couple of the days have been pretty extreme, too. He just talked about bringing back the family separation policy. I think one of the darkest chapters in our nation's history, really the practice of ripping babies from the arms of their mothers at the border. He talked about basically bringing back some Q&ON folks, and that's a pretty scary sight. You know, Elise, I wonder how much more aggressive Ron DeSantis would have to get, right? I mean, Trump definitely gets traction for how he goes after people. We know that was the case in 2016 and 2020 as well.

Is that something that could work for DeSantis? How far does he need to go? Erin, I just think you're seeing Ron DeSantis trying to out-trump Trump, and no one is capable of doing that. As one Republican operative told me, people didn't like New Coke, and you're seeing that with the reception of Ron DeSantis overall. you aren't going to out-trump Trump. Maybe voters will look for something different.

Maybe they'll get so sick of seeing Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump go at each other that they might actually want a kind or gentler candidate. I doubt that very much will happen. But I think that his strategy of trying to be Trump on steroids just isn't going to work when the real thing is still around the corner. Christobel, I wonder who would be a better opponent for President Biden? Who would he rather face? You know, I think he beats them both.

But to be perfectly honest, I think either one will be a tough match. It'll be a slug fest. And the country being as polarized as it is, you know, flip a coin. My money would be on Joe Biden, who's proven time and time again, that when he's up against the ropes is when he does his best. We have this old saying, this Mexican saying, or Dicho. They try to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds.

And that's Joe Biden time and time again. And really, I would argue, the most successful president in modern history against all odds, right? He told me a new job, first black Supreme Court justice, first major gun legislation, and many years. And on the flip side, look at DeSantis. I think he's a terrible retail politician. I just watched some of those videos from Iowa.

It reminds me of this old Veep episode, right, when Selena Myers gets to a reception too early, and her staff are saying, normalize, normalize, act normal, and she just can't do it, and he just can't do it. But when you put him policy by policy, Joe Biden, accomplishments versus what DeSantis has done. I think not only is it a very stark difference, but DeSantis doesn't have much to show. And quite frankly, folks are just afraid of Donald Trump. So I would say, in both cases, Joe Biden will win. At least one last question to you here. DeSantis signed a bill today defunding diversity programs

at state universities in Florida. He also enacted one of the more restrictive abortion bills in the country. We know. Do you think he's alienating, or to what degree is he alienating swing voters with these moves? You know, anything with education, that's catnip for the GOP base, and I'm not surprised at what he's doing there. But I have been surprised that DeSantis has waited into abortion with such an extreme policy because he knows that this is not a general election winner, but yet he's going forward with it because I think he feels that threatened in this primary. All right, Elise Jordan and Cristobel, Alex, we appreciate you both today. Thank you. Let's turn to the weather now, and the deadly weekend across the plains.

At least 67 tornadoes reported in that region since Friday, including a destructive EF1 twister that was in Laguna Heights, Texas. The storm killing won and injuring at least 10 others. And in San Antonio, dangerous flash flooding, submerging vehicles, dozens needing rescues from their cars. For more now on the tornado outbreak and the week ahead. We turn to meteorologist Bill Karens in studio with us here. So, Bill, that Laguna Heights tornado touched down in the early.

morning hours. What more do we know about the storms there? Yeah, good evening, and those are always the scariest ones. Middle of the night, it was 4 a.m. People weren't in an area that they thought that they should be scared of tornadoes, and they weren't up, probably didn't have their phones on or their weather radios. And yeah, that's when it's very, you know, nighttime tornadoes, nothing scarier. So what we're dealing with now was nothing like that, you know, 67 tornadoes in two days, Friday and Saturday. But we haven't had any since Saturday. So that's good so far. We just did have a tornado warning in southern Missouri, but no reported tornadoes with it. So central Texas, southern Missouri, and a few strong storms here in areas of northern portions of Alabama and also north

Georgia. The worst weather in the country is along Interstate 44 right now. We do have some flash flood warnings, one just north of Springfield and another one just east of Springfield with this cluster of thunderstorms. This will continue northwards. The driving out 44 will be great. And eventually we could get some of this up towards the St. Louis area. You are in a flash flood watch until early tomorrow. And as far as tomorrow's storms, we're focused on Tennessee, Kentucky, and then pushing them into areas of North Carolina and Virginia does include Charlotte, Asheville, Boone, Roanoke, may be isolated around Richmond. The timing of those storms earlier in the afternoon in Kentucky and then heading into areas of

North Carolina. And at top of that area, we could also see flash flooding in this same region. So it may's not disappointing. It's our most popular month for tornadoes and severe weather, and we're certainly delivering. All right. Idiotologist Bill Karras tonight. Bill, thank you. Overseas now for a series of high-stakes meetings.

President Zelensky making the rounds looking for support from Europe's leaders as he ramps up the fight against Russia. Kier Simmons with the latest now. Tonight, Ukraine says this video shows it blowing up a Russian ammunition depot near bitterly contested Bakhmuts. It's not Ukraine's long-anticipated spring offensive, not yet. But meeting with the British Prime Minister today, President Zelensky vowed that is coming. We really need some more time, not too much. We'll be ready. Signing the visitors' book, Together, we will win.

The UK promising more weapons, including long-range attack drones. And as President Zelensky toured European capitals this weekend, France pledged further tanks and armored vehicles, and Germany promised a massive $3 billion more in aid. I'm praying for peace, the Pope told Zelensky, when they met, but Ukraine wants more territory back first. President Putin under pressure, Russia admitting two commanders were killed last week. His longtime ally, Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, reported to be sick, denied today

by Lukashenko's office. And another sometime partner for Putin, Turkey's President Erdogan, tonight faces a runoff election to keep his job. And Keir Simmons joins us now from London. Kier, another key player in this war, China is also mounting a major major. diplomatic offensive, right? It certainly is, Aaron, three senior diplomats have made three separate trips to Europe in as many as three weeks. Why are they doing that? Well, clearly China wants to improve its relationship

with Europe. I also think that China wants to support Russia, but would like to see this conflict out of the way. It is making things very, very difficult. So just in the coming week, Iran, we will see China's envoy to Ukraine, travel to Ukraine, travel to Russia, travel to France, travel to Germany. Now, can China make a difference? Clearly, it is close to Russia. Maybe that will have an impact. Don't be surprised when negotiations eventually happen if China is at that negotiating table. And you know, Kim, we've also heard President Zelensky say to expect major developments this year. What can we expect exactly? How realistic is that? Yeah. Well, I think he's, once again, flagging that they believe, the Ukrainians believe,

Aaron, that they will be able to gain territory, get back territory from the Russians. Their own territory, of course. I think that's what he's saying here. I think there's also an understanding by the Ukrainians that the U.S. election cycle there, that that actually has an impact, that there isn't all the time in the world, if you like, that there will be a kind of tiredness with supporting Ukraine. amongst its partners over time and that therefore they do need to push on it's a battlefield though in the end we don't know really what is happening right now many

journalists not many journalists can get close and we certainly don't know how things are going to play out in the months ahead keir Simmons for us in London tonight staying overseas Turkey's highly anticipated presidential election now headed to a runoff with no candidate winning at least 50% of the vote opponents to current president Erdogan hope to see an end to his 20 years in power. Raph Sanchez has the latest. Tonight, Turkey's presidential election on a knife edge, and with it the future of the country's democracy

and its relationship with the West. Opponents of President Rejib Taya Berdwan hope to beat him in a knockout and bring an end to his 20 years in power. But the authoritarian leader defying polls that had him trailing and sounding triumphant in an early morning speech. We do not doubt that the choice of our nation, which gave the majority in the parliament

to our alliance, will be in favor of trust and stability in the presidential election. But Erdogan's still short of the 50 percent needed for a first-round win, and now faces a runoff in two weeks' time against challenger Kamal Kailash Dirolu, who today urged his disappointed supporters to fight on. I am here and so are you. I swear, I will struggle until the end. I am here. opposition is not claiming voter fraud, but is accusing state media of unfairly boosting

Erdogan. An argument echoed by international observers. The incumbent and the ruling parties enjoyed an unjustified advantage, including through biased media coverage. But turn out a stunning, near 90 percent, even in areas devastated by the earthquake that killed tens of thousands earlier this year, democracy amid the destruction. and it is not clear what will happen. Erdogan was first elected in 2003 as a reformer. But after a failed military coup against him, he's become increasingly authoritarian, jailing journalists and tightening control of the courts.

Do you see this as a last chance for democracy in Turkey? Sadly, I have to say so. So far, I have argued that Turkey is not an autocracy. It's a democracy that has fallen under an autocrat. But with so many institutions having folded under President Erdogan, I think that if Erdogan wins again, the last independent institutions will fold under him. Relations with NATO also strained under Erdogan, who lashed out at President Biden on the campaign trail and has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia. His challenge are promising to repair ties with the West, including by greenlighting Sweden's membership of NATO, which is currently being blocked by Erdogan. An election with much at stake for Turkey and the world.

And Raff joins us now. Raf, the runoff, the final part of this election is, what, two weeks away now? What can we expect ahead of that final vote? So, Aaron, only Erdogan and his challenger, Kailich de Rolu, left in the race. They are going head to head. There are no debates, just the two men campaigning across the country. And they will be competing fiercely for the voters who supported a third-party candidate in the first round. candidate now eliminated, but he got about 6% of the votes. And I should say, Aaron, the market

seemed to expect that Erdogan is going to come out on top here. And that is because he only needs to improve very slightly on his performance in the first round, whereas the opposition needs to do a whole lot better than they did to get over that crucial 50% threshold. Aaron. Raph Sanchez with us tonight. Ref, thank you. Still ahead tonight, a deadly fire breaking out in Texas, a refinery near Galveston going up in flames, an investigation into the cause now underway. Plus, talk about airing your dirty laundry where police in Cleveland found a suspect hiding during a drug bust. And NBA star Jai Morant suspended again after appearing to wave a gun on social media for the second time. The reaction coming in from the sports world and the question tonight, will his biggest sponsors decide to drop him?

Stay with us. We're back now with more trouble for an NBA superstar. The Memphis Grizzlies, John Morant, facing new scrutiny after he appeared to flash a gun on a social media live stream for a second time. The team suspending him while fans wait for the official punishment from the league. NBC's Valerie Castro has a story. He's a 23-year-old NBA phenom, known for his high-flying dunks. But John Morant, the Memphis Grizzly's sensational point guard and one of the league's most promising rising stars is in trouble again for his actions off the court.

For the second time in three months, Morant's seen holding what appears to be a gun on social media. John Morant has been associated with guns more than he's been associated with winning. The incident captured during an Instagram live stream, Morant briefly flashing what looks like a handgun while riding in a friend's car. A representative from Morant did not respond to requests for comment, but the Grizzlies announcing in a tweet, we are aware of the social media video. He is suspended from all team activities pending league review. The league will get involved, and from what I've heard, the league will come down much more harshly this time. In March, Morant found himself benched after posting this video on Instagram live, appearing to brandish a gun at a Colorado nightclub. Later claiming the firearm wasn't his, while apologizing and releasing a statement saying,

take full responsibility for my actions. Telling ESPN, I made a, you know, terrible mistake. You know, I made a call and said, you know, I need to get away and, you know, I need to, you know, find myself again. And, you know, that's when I entered the counseling program. And, you know, I've been there for a couple weeks now. That incident resulting in an eight game suspension.

The salary loss reportedly costing more than $600,000. But Morant potentially stands to lose even more in endorsements. Putting in 50% more. Powerade posted this commercial with Morant, its first athletic partnership in more than five years, just before the previous incident. It's no longer up on YouTube. The company didn't respond to our request for comment. There you go. And now all eyes on Nike, his signature shoe day one, hitting store shelves just weeks ago with another sneaker release scheduled for later this month.

Nike hasn't responded to our request for comment. The sports world chatter after this latest incident, blistering. going to happen now, Nike going to pull that shoe? It's Power A going to pull that drink. The NBA collective bargaining agreement prohibits players from having firearms while traveling on team business. This incident, though, taking place in the off season. It's more of an image thing. But a blossoming career still at stake. You're going to squander $200 plus million. You're going to squander that. That's going to go away like this. And Valerie Castro joins us now. So Valerie, is the league saying much at all about how it's going to handle this situation now?

So, Aaron, it's now the off season for the Grizzlies. They lost in the playoffs, so the league is likely in no rush. But the NBC Sports Managing Editor, who you heard from in our piece, isn't the only person reporting a harsher punishment could be in order this time around, potentially a longer suspension. There's also the possibility of fines. The last time this happened, the NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called his behavior, quote, irresponsible and reckless, but there was some criticism that the league didn't come down on him hard enough.

We have reached out to the league for comment to see what they plan to do in this case. but we have not heard back so far. We will see what happens in the fall. Valerie Castro, thank you. When we come back, mid-air scare, a Southwest Airlines flight forced back to Honolulu for an emergency landing. What the airline says caused that scare.

That's next. Back now with Top Stories News Feed, and we begin with the deadly fire at a Texas oil refinery. Aerial footage showing crews trying to fight that fire near Galveston. At least one employee was killed there. The cause still under investigation. This comes one week after another fire at a Houston area refinery sent nine people to the hospital. Several people arrested in Ohio after a dramatic drug bust that was caught

on camera. Take a look here. Body can videos showing the moments police found a suspect hiding in a clothes dryer. This is in Cleveland. Other suspects in that bust were hiding under the stairs, in the attic, even under some blankets. Police say they found a variety of drugs at the including meth and cocaine. All of the suspects are now facing drug possession charges. The Federal Aviation Administration investigating an emergency landing in Hawaii. Officials say a San Diego-bound Southwest Airlines flight forced to return to Honolulu after our window cracked two hours into the journey.

Initial reports from the incident indicating that window is near where the first officer sits in the plane. Southwest is doing a maintenance inspection of that aircraft now. We turn now to the news. rocking the media world, Vice Media filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today. The once fast-rising digital media company valued at nearly

$6 billion, now facing an uncertain future amid major job cuts and the end of Vice News tonight. Let's bring in Sean McNulty now, the creator and writer of The Wakeup, a daily newsletter at the Anchler for Entertainment and Media Executives. Sean, Vice started as a punk music

magazine in 1994, went on to become a global media company. It really changed the game of covering news stories in a lot of ways. Talk about the significance of the company filing for bankruptcy protection today. Yeah, I mean, it's been a long time coming to a degree. This isn't, you know, shocking news that came out today. It's more of a finalization of things that have been in the works for a while.

But, yeah, I mean, if you came of age in the 2000s and even the 2010s, it was the rising rock star and digital media, they were the ones that figured it out, had this, you know, $5.4 billion dollar valuations. Shane Smith, the CEO, is everywhere. and now to be in bankruptcy and essentially selling for, you know, $225 million is just, it's a little stunning, but it's also indicative of where digital news publishing is at right now. You have BuzzFeed trying to get at $0.44. You have other companies trying to merge together with New York and Fox and Group 9 kind of doing this consolidation thing.

Everybody's trying to find a solution here to some larger secular issues that are really having a big effect on the market. So let's dig into that a little bit then, Sean. You mentioned that. company was once valued at almost $6 billion. Now it's agreeing to be sold for $225 million. We know the company has significant debt. Can you dissect that a little bit for us? Do you have some understanding of what it's been doing wrong? I mean, they're just not making it up money. I mean, honestly, you know, it's an age-hole problem to a degree. It's not to be simplistic about it. But, you know, you took too much money in an investment. You weren't getting the revenue back to justify that. You had a lot of market forces change from the mid to late

2010s where Facebook doesn't surface this content news content as much anymore, which is a big, you know, driver of traffic. You had interest rates rise. So if you have a lot of debt, servicing that debt becomes a lot more difficult. And then, you know, the ad market challenges that are out there in 2022 were, you know, well covered, whether from TV and then certainly even harder in digital, you know, digital publishing online media. So, you know, advertising, you have interest rates, your debts becoming less manageable, and your source of traffic and revenue isn't as much, and those are your factors right there. You know, you referenced the fact that Vice Media is not the only media company that's struggling these days, right? We know BuzzFeed just shut

down its news division. There are other companies dealing with major layoffs. What are the biggest challenges, in your view, in the industry right now? A lot of it is reliance on advertising, and when advertising takes a hit, we've seen this before in the way back to the 2002 recession, you know, which is really 2008, when you have no other main levers to pull, when your revenue is primarily coming through advertising, and maybe the business isn't on as sound footing as you'd like it to be, if you lose, you know, and that falls out, you really feel that, and that's what we're seeing right now. And you see companies like the New York Times and Wall Street Journal also reporting

in Q1, pretty sizable advertising hits anywhere from, you know, 7 to 13 or 13 percent, but advertising at the New York Times is maybe, I think, about 20 percent of their total revenue. They've shifted to a subscription-based model again. So these companies that did not are really left holding the bag, and that's what we're seeing right now, trying to map out a future ahead, but sometimes the clock just runs out on you. All right, Sean McNulty. We appreciate your perspective tonight. Thank you. We turn down to top stories. Global Watch and breaking news out of New Zealand. New video showing a fire ripping through a four-story hostel in Wellington.

At this hour, at least six people are dead, but several people are unaccounted for. And officials say they expect that death toll to rise. This 92-room facility also allows long-term stays and is regularly used by the government for emergency accommodations. Mass evacuations underway after a deadly cyclone in Myanmar. New video there showing the powerful storm pummeling the western part of that. country, damaging buildings, flooding roads, the cyclone-packed winds up to 130 miles an hour. It brought storm surge up to 12 feet. At least three people killed there, and 400,000 people had to be evacuated. And growing controversy over a record-breaking jewel auction in Switzerland.

Hundreds of jewels from a late Austrian heiress sold for more than $195 million, the most expensive private jewelry collection to be auctioned. However, there were calls for the sale to be stopped because the owner's husband built his wealth by buying businesses sold by Jews who fled Nazi Germany. Christy's auction house said it will donate a large amount of the proceeds to Jewish organizations. Coming up next, when sharks attack, a shark caught on camera ramming a kayaker off the coast of Hawaii and another biting a 13-year-old girl in Florida. Those two incredible stories of survival. Next. We are back now with a weekend of shark attacks, a surfer presumed dead in Australia

after parts of his broken board were discovered in the water. And back here at home, two people, thousands of miles apart, coming face to face with the predator, but luckily surviving. Sam Brock has their stories. A terrifying shark encounter caught on camera. A tiger shark lunging at this fisherman less than two miles off the coast of Hawaii

and holding onto his kayak. In a split second, that shark ran me, it ran the rail of my kayak. It's miraculous that I think. get knocked over it. The fisherman saying he managed to kick the shark with his foot before it released the boat and swam away. Tiger shark ran me. I think I luckily hit it in the eye or near the eye so it swam off and didn't want any more kicks in the face from me. Thousands of miles away in a Florida state park, a casual swim turned downright scary for a local

teenager. It bit me in the stomach first and right as it bit me in the stomach. I shoved my arm, like where it was biting me, so it didn't get my stomach and it got my arm instead. Eighth grader Ella Reid now on crutches, but recovering after she says a shark bit her out of nowhere. It then circled back and attacked her again. I remember just like breathing really heavily and then when it like latched on my stomach not being able to breathe at all because I was just like what the heck is happening. Running on pure adrenaline, she fought off what she believes was a four to five foot bull shark before springing out of the water and facetiming her family. At first I thought she was joking, actually. And then she says, I'm not joking. And she took the camera and

she panned it on her body. I kind of just froze and freaked out. Ella, suffering bites to her torso, arm, finger, and knee, and ultimately needing 19 stitches. But during an appearance on the Today Show, she says she's not ruling out getting back in the water. I'm a little nervous that I'll be scared when I go back in the water, but like, I'll probably be scared the first, like, hour or something, and then I'll just be like, all right, it's the same. Still, the dangers of parents. tragic scene overseas in South Australia, a beloved teacher, presumed dead in a shark attack after fragments of his wetsuit and surfboard were discovered today. Sam Brock, NBC News. When we come back, super seniors, two World War II veterans, putting graduation on hold to serve

their country, finally getting those diplomas. The special moments next. Finally tonight, a special graduation for two very special. seniors who missed their own graduation ceremonies while they were serving their country in World War II now they get that chance to proudly walk across that stage in a procession of teenage tassels pomp and circumstance one graduating senior at Halstead High School in Kansas stands out yeah big honor for anybody but especially me senior citizen Wilbur not He was set to graduate in the class of 1946, but service to his country in World War II called him away from his home in Kansas. The war was on. He wanted to be a part of the war. Wilbur joined the Marines, missing out on his chance to finish his high school education and walk across this stage. Also missing out on his college graduation eight decades ago in Iowa.

Mr. Taylor, would you come on up to stage? Centenarian Fred Taylor. Fred Taylor, another member of the Greatest Generation. Fred left Cornell College in February of 1943 to serve our country flying fire planes during World War II. 80 years later, he is at this very moment taking the steps to finish what he never got the opportunity to do to be on this stage. Fred sharing this message to the younger Cornell College graduates. Get into the career that you really like and do your best and stick with it and be kind to other people. Eight decades after the class of 1943 commencement, he missed, we are very proud to officially present Mr. Frederick Taylor with his Cornell College degree.

Hallstead High School is now able to award a diploma to Mr. Wilbur Noctagall as a 2023 graduate of Halstead High School. As Wilbur rolls up to his graduation, the ceremony a surprise to his family. It was wonderful. It meant a lot to him. He called us all up. He told us about it and he said, hey, I'm graduating. I'm really like, wait, what?

Like all Halstead High School graduates, Wilbur got a standard-issue graduation photo holding his diploma, but also this special shot. Wilbur overjoyed to share this moment with three generations of his family. This is really something special. I didn't expect this much. And I'm very proud if they gave that much to you. And a big congratulations to both. Thank you so much for watching Top Story tonight for Tom Yamis.

in Gilchrist in New York. Stay right there. More NBC News now on the way.