Top Story with Tom Llamas - Monday, November 25, 2024

Episode Date: November 26, 2024

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

Tonight, Special Counsel Jack Smith dropping all criminal charges against President-elect Trump as he prepares to retake the White House. The judge in Trump's January 6th case, just approving Smith's request, formally dismissing one of the strongest cases against him. Prosecutors also dropping the pending indictments in Trump's classified documents case, the reason behind the major decisions. And could Trump still face charges once he's out of office? Plus, what does it all mean for the Justice Department as Trump vows to clean house will explain?

Also, tonight holiday slam back-to-back storms set to disrupt travel just as millions hit the roads in the skies. Snow, rain, wind, and ice expected to upend what could be a record-breaking travel week. The airport workers on strike and the FAA warning of a shortage of air traffic controllers. What that could mean for your trip to the Thanksgiving table? And are Bill Carrance standing by to time it all out? of the Menendez brothers still in limbo, a judge postponing their highly anticipated resentencing hearing. The reason behind that decision and the two relatives sharing their testimony today. What they said as we hear from the district attorney taking over the case. The late details

coming in. Scare in church the terrifying moments as a Texas megachurch pastor suffers a medical emergency during his Sunday sermon. Video showing community members rushing in to help TD Jakes during the health scare, an update on his condition tonight. The TikTok influencer busted after posting goods. She allegedly shoplifted from Target. The woman sharing her haul of stolen items with her 300,000 followers, how police were able to track her down and the scheme she tried to get away with. Delivery disaster at D.HL plane crashing on its descent,

skidding into a house and erupting into flames, the investigation tonight into what went wrong. And raw milk warning, the bird flu virus detected in milk at a dairy farm, officials urging the public not to drink it, those alarming findings as influencers, celebrities, promote its consumption. So what are the risks? We speak with a health expert to break it all down. Plus Apple releasing their top 10 podcast of the year, which one ranked number one?

Tonight a top podcaster shares the secrets to success amid a wave of 2 million shows now being offered to listeners. The top story starts right now. And good evening. Tonight, President-elect Trump free of two major federal cases after Special Counsel Jack Smith pushed for dismissals, the stunning reversal coming after years spent building the cases and millions of dollars spent all coming to an end

as a result of Trump's re-election. The President-elect officially free of all charges in the January 6th case and his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020-11. election. Smith also filing to drop his appeal in Trump's classified documents case, months after a judge dismissed the case. This doesn't exactly come as a surprise. Special counsel Jack Smith, there signaled after Trump won that he would wind down the cases against him. Smith, writing in part, quote, the government's position on the merits of the defendant's prosecution

has not changed, but the circumstances have. Those circumstances being that you cannot prosecute a sitting president. The January 6th case against Trump was one of the strongest against the president-elect. Remember the televised hearings on Capitol Hill? Lawmakers hearing testimony and going in depth about Trump's role before, during, and after the Capitol Hill building was attacked by a mob of his supporters. Months later, Smith announced four felony counts against Trump for his role on that day in his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. But Trump's co-defendants in his classified documents case, they may not be as lucky. Special prosecutor Smith writing, quote,

The appeal concerning the other two defendants will continue because unlike defendant Trump, no principle of temporary immunity applies to them. Here's a look at where all of Trump's cases currently stand. Sentencing in his hush money case postponed indefinitely, and his election interference case in Georgia is delayed as Trump's defense challenges district attorney Fannie Willis. But just because these cases will likely not see the light of day

while Trump is in office, what does it mean for when he gets out? when he gets out. We're breaking it all down tonight at NBC's senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett starts us off. Tonight, in a striking move, the Justice Department abandoning the federal criminal charges that had loomed over now President-elect Trump in Washington and Florida for more than a year. Special counsel, Jack Smith, saying his decision does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government's proof, or the merits of the prosecution. But the DOJ has a longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president. And the department believes the Constitution requires dismissing

the cases before the defendant is inaugurated. The judge in Washington signing off on that today. The move by Smith, well expected, a notable defeat after launching a pair of historic cases, a first of their kind against a former president. We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone. The Trump team calling today's dismissals a major victory for the rule of law, as the president elect had made his criminal exposure a centerpiece of his campaign. I'm being indicted for you. Don't worry about these fake indictments. It's actually driven our poll numbers way up. Mr. Trump often railing against Smith. I would try ahead within two

seconds. Smith expected to step down on his own soon. His case is never getting close to trial stymied in appeals. In Washington, the Supreme Court finding Mr. Trump immune for some of his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. While in Florida, a federal judge found Smith was wrongly appointed, dismissing the accusations Mr. Trump unlawfully ordered associates to keep classified documents at Moralago after he left office. All right, Laura Jared joins us now in studio. So, Laura, talk to us about where this case goes from here. I mean, is there a possibility he's charged with these crimes later on, like when he leaves office or is it over? Theoretically, but realistically, no. I think this is the end of the road, given.

how much time and expense and resources prosecutors have put into this. The idea of doing this after he's no longer in office, I think, is far-fetched. So this is over for President-elect Trump, but it may not be over for some of his co-defendants? And that's what they've signaled today, specifically in the Florida classified documents case, where he has two associates there who were accused of conspiring with him to obstruct the efforts to get those documents back. The government's saying tonight, Tom, that the case will proceed against those two men.

All right, Laura, Chair for us, Laura, thank you. For more on this, let's bring an NBC News Legal Anand. Danny Savalos. Danny, the DOJ precedent that Smith used in his motion to dismiss was that you can't charge a sitting president with a crime, but Donald Trump is not a sitting president. So why does that president apply? Because of the rules of the space time continuum in a matter of months, Donald Trump will eventually be the future. Right, he will eventually be the president. So going forward, thinking about the case in the immediate future, that is the justification. Although, you know, Donald Trump's attorneys are arguing in the New York case that technically under the Presidential Transition Act, he's already making presidential decisions. But back to Jack Smith, the decision was made because they knew that no matter what, there can be virtually no criminal prosecution hanging over the president while he's in office. So might as well end this now.

But Jack Smith was very careful to pen 10 pages of reasons why he still thinks this was a righteous prosecution and why he still thinks this was a righteous prosecution and why he's. He's dismissing without prejudice, in theory, being able to bring it in the future, but that is more symbolic than actually legal. Yeah, well, how likely you think that this case is recharged once Trump leaves office? Zero percent. It is highly, highly unlikely. Without prejudice just means that, in theory, it could be brought again, and it actually is the default rule for dismissals.

But of course, Jack Smith could have said, I want to dismiss this with prejudice. And I think today's filings are full of read-between-the-line symbolism by Jack Smith, everything from without prejudice to the 10 pages of explaining why this was a good case, too. What I think was quietly one of the biggest things he said without saying it, which was, in the Florida case, he's going to continue to pursue the appeal against Trump's co-defendants when he has to know that one of the first things Trump will do when he's in office is discontinue that appeal against those co-defendants who are his close allies. people who are very loyal to him, and arguably on the level of his major domos, people who just

did his bidding. So those cases are going away. The fact that Jack Smith indicates he's going to continue it against the co-defendants is, again, a symbolic statement that he thinks these prosecutions were righteous, even if they are now dead. Look, Danny, if you're part of that giant part of the country that did not vote for President elect Trump, right, and you want to see this case move forward, whose fault is this? Is this the Attorney General's fault? Is this a special prosecutor's fault? Because they knew what President like Trump did, right, the day after January 6th, or allegedly did the day after January 6th. So why not prosecute them back then? They took all this time and then this is what happened.

They lost the election. They will, you know, Trump wins the election. They lose their case. And they've wasted millions of taxpayer dollars and so much time. That's on the current Attorney General. Of course, it's not on Jack Smith, who was only appointed when he was appointed, which by then It was arguably too late. So if you're going to place blame on the delay, that's got to be with Merrick Garland, because you're right. He could have brought these a lot sooner than he did. Or I should say, he could have appointed a special counsel a lot sooner,

or made any steps taken any action long before he did. Yeah, last question. Do you think President-elect Trump goes after Jack Smith, and what type of guardrails are there in the system to make sure that wouldn't happen if he did not commit any crimes? No, it's a trick question. No, I do not think Donald Trump will go after. Jack Smith. I think instead, there is a viable theory that he's selecting people for his team

and his cabinet who have already expressed an interest in independently going after those people for him, so there is absolutely no perceived quid pro quo. So no, I do not think Donald Trump himself will go after these people. In fact, I think quite the opposite. He will bend over backwards to say, hey, I'm not going after any of these people. I have an independent attorney general who's making these decisions. But even if that attorney general did go after Jack Smith, explain to our viewers there are guardrails. It's not just the attorney general, right? Absolutely, yes. And so generally speaking, prosecutors, especially federal prosecutors, are virtually impossible to sue or even prosecute for their prosecuting. That's something that

simply isn't going to happen. But I caution that it doesn't stop someone from trying to file suit against them. And also, if it comes to things like congressional hearings, those are things that people have to hire attorneys for. It's expensive if it's not covered, although in many cases they would be covered to pay for counsel. But, I mean, they can make, the Trump administration can make life difficult for those who sought to prosecute them. The hearings definitely. I hear you on that front. Okay, Danny, we appreciate, as always, the massive legal win for President Trump coming as his transition team is preparing for a tough confirmation fight for his more controversial appointments. His pick for defense secretary,

Secretary Pete Higgseth facing tough headwinds on Capitol Hill as he weathers an allegation of sexual assault. Gabe Gutierrez tonight at the White House covering all this. Tonight, the Trump administration is taking shape. Just three weeks after his big election win, the president-elect has picked his entire cabinet. Now his team gearing up for potential clashes over confirmations. Trump's choice for Secretary of Defense, former Fox News host and combat veteran Pete Hegseth under growing scrutiny, including over his opposition to women in combat. He didn't want women in combat when 18% of our military is made up of women.

That really concerns me. Heggseth also under scrutiny for a sexual assault allegation in 2017. Police investigated and no charges were filed. He paid a settlement to the accuser last year, his attorney says, to avoid hurting his career. Trump's pick for Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, a former Congresswoman in combat veteran, is also facing. Democratic backlash, accusing her of sympathizing with Syria in Russia. Well, I think she's compromised.

I think by going to Syria and basically backing a brutal dictator there, I mean, Russian-controlled media caught her a Russian asset. She's rejected those claims and previously said her military service has made her skeptical of military interventions. I think it's really interesting that anybody that... that has a different political view now is being cast as a Russian asset. It's a slur, quite frankly. A new poll shows 59% of Americans approve of how Trump is handling the transition. The cabinet picks all Trump backers, but also ideologically diverse. Former Democrats like

Gabbard and Health and Human Services pick Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Scott Bessent, a former Democratic donor who's been tapped as Treasury Secretary. All right, Gabe Gutierrez joins us live tonight from the White House. Gabe, we're learning that President Biden's national security advisor. Jake Sullivan has had contact with Trump's nominee to replace him, Representative Mike Walts. Yeah, that's right, Tom. Trump's incoming national security advisor, Wals, as you said, has already met with his Biden counterpart, Jake Sullivan. They met last week, and it is all aimed at showing transition collaboration.

And Tom, there's obviously a lot going on on the global stage, not just the ongoing talks for a hostage deal in Gaza, but also the uncertainty over U.S. assistance to Ukraine, moving. forward, Tom. All right, before you go, I do want to ask you about another headline that's crossed tonight from CNN. That attorney for Donald Trump conducted an internal investigation to allegations that one of his top aides, Boris Echstein, has sought to gain financially from his influence with Trump and others in the president-elect's orbit, including asking for payments to promote candidates for roles in the new administration. Gabe, walk us our viewers through what exactly happened here. Well, Tom, you've been following Trump world for a while, And Boris Epstein has been around since very early on.

He's a Republican political strategist, an attorney, and an investment banker. He was a senior advisor to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. He was also a White House aide for a short time, and part of that team of Trump lawyers who tried to prevent the certification of President Biden's victory in 2020. Now, as for what's behind these allegations, which are not criminal in nature, by the way, Trump World is known for being cutthroat, which different factions are vying for. power. So in a statement to NBC News, Epstein just said that these fake claims are false and defamatory, and Trump's communication director had this to say, quote, as is standard practice,

a broad review of the campaign's consulting agreements has been conducted and completed, including as to Boris, among others. We are now moving ahead together as a team to help President Trump make America great again. So as of now, Tom Epstein is still with the transition team. Gabe Gutierrez versus Gabe, we appreciate it. Now to our other major headline, that busy Thanksgiving holiday travel. Record-breaking 80 million Americans traveling this week, meaning packed roads and congested airports, but a shortage of air traffic controllers amid multiple storm systems threatening the snarl airport operations and turn the week into a traveled nightmare potentially.

Tom Costello has the latest. With heavy rain expected midweek from the Midwest through the East Coast, travel pros warn it could be a week of delays. Just as nearly a quarter of the population travels 50 miles or more. In Boston today, an American plane clipped wings with the frontier plane. No injuries, both planes taken out of service. Passengers rebooked. Meanwhile, the FAA warrants a shortage of air traffic controllers could also slow operations this week. The icing control, United 2238, gate Charlie 29. In Chicago, United Captain Julie Savage prepping for the flight to Newark. Yeah, just want to confirm you guys will be de-icing at the gate.

On this day, a snowstorm dropped three inches on O'Hare. We are going through some snow, and then we're going through some rain as well. So that will be our challenge operationally today. Taking a look at the snow totals, we're ready. At United's Ops Center, they use AI to watch flights and weather worldwide, moving planes, and re-booking passengers. What goes into the decision to delay or cancel a flight? Well, look at how many passengers are out of flight. Where is it going? How can we minimize disruptions to other flights if we have to cancel or delay flights due to weather conditions?

Most Americans will be driving this week with gas averaging 305 nationally a year ago, 326. EV charging now 35 cents per kilowatt hour. Some peak congestion hours, Tuesday at 3.45 p.m. on I-95 in Boston. Wednesday, 7.45 p.m. I-5 in L.A. Sunday, 3.45 on I-65. Indy to Chicago, Monday 5.45 p.m. I. I. 45 to Houston. Just a reminder, ladies, gentlemen, this is a full flight. While back on the flight deck, passengers get frustrated when there's a delay or a cancellation. And we do, too. We want to go on time. We also have families to go home to. Full flights and packed roads nationwide. Yeah, we mentioned those potential air traffic control shortages. That's already caused delay, specifically at Newark Airport. Not enough

They had hundreds of delays this past weekend. The concern that could continue, especially this week, especially into Thanksgiving. Not enough controllers on the job at Newark, not enough in Philly, which is taking over some of Newark's airspace control. Tom. Okay, clearly a developing story. Tom, we thank you for that. The two storm systems set to slam much of the country, causing chaos for those travelers, as Tom mentioned there. So let's get right over to our good friend, NBC News meteorologist Bill Karens.

Bill, walk us through everything. The floor is yours. All right, Tom. So so many people traveling, two storms, but both of them have their own separate issues. The first one, I'm going to call this minor. It's mostly going to be a rain event, the rest of tonight, and this will sweep off the East Coast tomorrow morning. And that'll be it. After that, the East Coast will be just fine.

You can already see the bright white clouds streaming into California. It's kind of like a mini atmospheric river event. This is the storm that's going to go coast to coast as we go throughout your Thanksgiving holiday, causing isolated problems as the storm progresses. So as far as Tuesday goes, we're going to be watching it in a mountain west. High elevation, snow, valley, rain. We shouldn't have too many problems at the airports, maybe Salt Lake City, possibly Tuesday night

into Wednesday morning coming out of Denver. Then as we go through Wednesday, the storm races across the country. This is Wednesday at 8 p.m. The green is light rain. You're not going to get flights canceled for that, but you could get some delays. Chicago, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Detroit,

back down to the areas of the Tennessee Valley. Then this whole thing sweeps to the East Coast. So on Wednesday, East Coast is totally fine. The storm arrives by the time we get to Thursday, And that's when we're going to have a chance for some heavier snow, especially in the higher elevations. Our European model especially does think this movie would actually be a snowstorm on Thursday. But Tom, here's your map for on Thanksgiving Day, especially New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., I 95, early first half of the day, heavy rain. Okay, Bill Carrens, I know we're going to be talking to you every day this week.

We have an update tonight that's just in on the Menendez Brothers bid to be free. A judge ruling today, the resentencing hearing for the brothers will be postponed until January to give the count. County's new DA time to review the case. This company has a technical snafoole led to the brothers being unable to make their first scheduled court appearance in years. So a lot going on with the case. NBC's Liz Croix joins us now from outside the courthouse. She was also inside during the hearing. Liz, I know you have some breaking news. You just got off the phone with the DA. Talk to me about what you've learned. Hey, Tom. Yeah, so the district attorney essentially is praising the judge here for making this decision to postpone the hearing until next year. Remember, it was scheduled for December of. 11th, which is just nine days after this new DA, Nathan Hockman, takes office. He takes office a week from today, which wasn't really going to give him a lot of time to review the case. He says, now this will allow him time to read the transcripts from both trials, to look over prison transcripts, to talk to family members, victims, people who are maybe on both sides of this

issue, because we do know that there are prosecutors who, some who support their resentencing and some who do not. So he says he's really going to look at the facts of the case, Tom, and he says he's not going to give any special treatment to the brothers, and he's very adamant that he's not going to let sort of the circus and excitement and public interest in this case influence him in any way as well. That's an interesting point because, as you know, there's been a lot of momentum on the Menendez brothers' sides because of the documentaries and all the miniseries and whatnot. I know you were there in court. An interesting moment happened when elderly family members of the Menendez brothers testified, correct? Yeah, so there were several members of the Menendez family. who were here today to support the brothers. And two of them did get up

and get pretty emotional testimony before the judge. They're two elderly aunts of the brothers, one who turns 93 tomorrow, one who is 85. And they really got special privilege to give the testimony today because out of respect for them being elderly, they wanted to make sure

that they were able to get their testimony in since they made it all the way here. And they were very emotional talking about the abuse that they say the boys had at the hands of their father, One of them said that no child should have to go through what Eric and Lyle went through. Ultimately, though, Tom, it's going to come down to whether or not a judge believes that the brothers were sexually abused. And if he does, whether or not he then believes that they should get a lighter sentence because of it.

We know that the original prosecutor on the case has said that even if they were sexually abused, that abuse does not justify murdering both their mother and father. I should also point out, Tom, as you mentioned, there was that snafu because we had expected that Eric and Laya would maybe appear virtually in court today, potentially even speak. There were technical issues that didn't happen. They were able to hear and see the hearing themselves from prison, but we could not see them. So potentially at this hearing in January, it could be the first time we see them in court in decades. Okay, Liz Kreutz with a lot of new reporting tonight. Liz, we thank you for that. All right, let's head overseas now.

And Israel and Hezbollah moving closer to a potential ceasefire deal. That according to three senior Biden administration officials. The development comes amid a continuation of heavy strikes from both sides. Over the week, in Israeli bombs killing at least 20 people in Beirut, while according to the Israeli military, Hezbollah firing more than 200 rockets. For more on these attacks and the possibility of the end to this part of the conflict, let's get right over to Matt Bradley. He joins us tonight from London.

So, Matt, what's the latest on these ceasefire talks, and do we know what issues are still left to be resolved? Yeah, well, supposedly a decision on this is imminent, and diplomats say the prospects for peace are the best they've been since this latest conflict began last year. Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is supposed to meet with his security cabinet to discuss the deal within the coming day or two, and this, according to Israel's ambassador to the United Nations. Now, there's likely to be a cabinet vote on this tomorrow, and this is

all thanks to Western diplomats who've been laying pressure on both sides to try to come to a deal in the coming days. But there's still issues in addition to this ramped up fighting that you were just mentioning. Now, yet Netanyahu's far-right-wing Israeli cabinet is very very, very against the deal. They see it as just essentially letting Hezbollah off the hook. Hezbollah isn't actually part of the negotiations, and they've actually had the Lebanese government as an intermediary. So while they might agree, while it looks as though they already have agreed, that connection is a bit tenuous. But the deal, as proposed, it would see Israeli forces withdraw from Lebanon within 60 days, and then Hezbollah would withdraw further north away from Israel's border

with Lebanon. Now, the Lebanese army would keep peace in southern Lebanon. Lebanon. This is a very weak army, so that is part of the problem. But the big sticking point here for the Israelis is what kind of guarantees they'll have from the U.S. and others that they'll be able to restart the fighting should they accuse Hezbollah of breaking the terms of the deal. And that's where these negotiations are focusing on right now, Tom. Yeah, and I do want to ask you about that, right, because if you've been following what's been happening there over the weekend, Israel and Iran backed Hezbollah, the fighting has been intense, especially for months. What was the scale of this latest run of airstrikes?

Yeah, I mean, Tom, you know, it's no exaggeration to say that this past weekend has seen some of the fiercest cross-border fighting between Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel since this started last year. So even though we've been seeing Israel expanding its attacks on Hezbollah over the past several months, as you said, you know, the events of the past few days mark a notable uptick in violence. And that's why it's really quite shocking that at the same time we're hearing all of these diplomats saying that we're closer to appeas. deal than ever because the situation on the ground couldn't look anything less like that. But a lot of Middle East observers are explaining the sudden rise and these tit for tax attacks as a last-ditch effort by both Hezbollah and the Israelis that try to get as advantageous a position on the battlefield as they possibly can before a ceasefire puts a stop to the fighting.

Okay, we'll be monitoring those developments. Matt, we thank you for that. Still ahead. The death investigation at a popular Florida golf course. A crazy story. The startling altercation of one man striking another with a golf club leaving him dead. What happened next? Plus, the scare in church as a renowned pastor, T.D. Jakes, suffers a medical episode during Sunday services, the alarming moments, and an update tonight on how he's doing. And the TikTok influencer arrested after posting videos of items, she allegedly

shoplifted from Target, how she used fake barcodes to walk away with hundreds of dollars in goods, and how they finally caught up to her. Stay with us. We were back now with some scary moments at a megachurch in Dallas. Celebrity pastor T.D. Jakes experiencing a health incident during his Sunday sermon, convulsing on stage until others rushed in to help him. His daughter now speaking out sharing the latest on his condition. NBC's Kathy Park has this one. A superstar pastor, recovering.

after suffering an apparent medical emergency on stage in Dallas. Oh, Lord, my strength, my Redeemer, let them go in peace. Bishop T.D. Jakes lowering his microphone and sitting in silence for 20 seconds before clergy rushed to his aid at the Potter's House Church. In the live stream recorded and posted to YouTube, members of the congregation heard shouting as Jakes remained motion. The camera's eventually cutting out. Everybody began to pray, come on, stretch your hands this way. In his statement, the church writing, the pastor had a slight health incident, adding that he received immediate medical attention and is under the care of medical professionals.

It is a pleasure. The energy of this weekend service, notably low for one of the most widely recognized pastors in the world. Getting into your purpose doesn't always mean getting into your comfort. Jake's leads a congregation of 30,000 members and has 6 million followers on Instagram alone. Nothing you've been through has been wasted. His message and vitality earning him millions of clicks

on his YouTube videos, including this one, racking up almost 10 million views. Everything is a rhythm. God is a rhythm. Breathing is a rhythm. In addition to guiding his followers in spirit, he's a savvy businessman, authoring more than 30 books.

Ten women of the Bible who changed the world through prayer. Selling Bibles, Oils, and Apparel Online, and hitting the red carpet for movie premieres. In 2021, Jake's launching a sermon series on Sean Dindycombe's Revolt TV, years before the rapper's highly publicized arrest. Following the incident on stage, Jake's daughter and son-in-law later providing this update. Today could have been a tragic day. But it wasn't by the mercy of God, by the grace of God. Bishop is doing well. He's recovering well.

He's under medical care. He's strong. We're trying to get him to sit down. He's the strong bishop that we know. His family and followers around the world keeping the pastor in their thoughts tonight. Kathy Park, NBC News. All right. We're glad he's recovering.

We now want to turn to that influencer arrested in Florida. Police say a TikToker who filmed lavish day-in-the-life videos used fake. barcodes to steal hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise at a target self-checkout. The video she posted of that hall, part of what led police right to her. NBC's Maya Eaglin with the video and the story. It was Day in the Life TikTok videos like this that wrapped up millions of views for stay-at-home mom influencer Marlina Veles. This video of a trip to Hermes has almost 2 million views and 300,000 likes.

But it was this now deleted video of a target run that led to her. arrest and social media notoriety. This is all crazy. Let me know what y'all think. Police in Cape Coral, Florida, say what looked like an average target hall was actually video proof of a Lesz's connection to a shoplifting case they were trying to crack. Last week, police posted this surveillance photo, asking the public for help identifying a suspect, they say scanned false barcodes at self-checkout, ringing up 16 items at cheaper prices and walking out with goods valued at $500. dollars. Police sharing their own social media video of what happened next.

We actually had one person reach out on Instagram and say, hey, I want to remain anonymous, but here's their name and date of births and their Instagram handle. So from there, we were able to look up her social media and even find on TikTok. She posted a video that day of herself going to Target, buying these items, and then taking them home with her. Veles now faces one charge of theft and is out on bond. Everything was documented, even the outfit that she wore, it shows like her getting ready with the outfit and even her glasses. The stay-at-home Florida mom is now requesting a public defender in this case. NBC News reached out to a phone number for Veles listed on court documents but did not hear

back. Other content creators now reacting to the news of this arrest with a reminder. You should really stop comparing yourself to these influencers who have the life you dream of because it's not always what it seems. And with that, Maya Eagland joins us tonight. Maya, this is somewhat ironic, but not really when think about what happens on TikTok. This has started a whole new TikTok trend this case. Yeah, that's right, Tom. Other creators on the app have started posting videos with kind of a comedic twist to Marlena's story. Basically, they're filming themselves, going to target themselves, filling up their carts, and then at the checkout, you'll see the screen scanning for items

that are clearly less than the value of what's in their cart. Now, we're hearing this holiday music. And as you mentioned, this is typical for TikTok. We know that when big creators are in the news or there's drama, other people will kind of hop on to adding their own two cents or making these parody videos to try and hop onto the algorithm, which knows thousands of people are talking about the story right now. Tom? Okay, Maya, thank you for that. When we come back to high-speed chase crossing state lines, the dramatic video of that police pursuit what the suspect was wanted for and the technology allowing officers to track him down. Stay with us. Okay, back now with Top Stories News Feed, starting with the death investigation at a Florida golf club.

Police say two men got into an argument on a course in West Palm Beach Gardens, a medical examiner telling our affiliate, WPTV, that one of the men was then hit with a golf club and later died. The suspect then attempted to flee, jumping into a pond. He was taken into custody, but no word yet on charges. A Massachusetts man has been arrested after leading police on a high-speed multi-state chase. Video shows the suspect speeding through traffic just north of Boston after New Hampshire police reported that Mercedes stolen. Police abandoning the chase for safety but tracked the car using its built-in GPS.

They then use stop sticks to blow out the car's tires and take the suspect into custody right there. No one was hurt. And Macy's delaying its 2024 earnings report after it found an employee intentionally hid $154 million in delivery expenses. The company says the employee concealed small delivery charges for nearly three years by making erroneous accounting entries. Macy's has not said how it detected the error or if the employee will face charges, only confirming that the employee is no longer with the company. All right, now to our top story health check tonight, a company out of California issuing a

voluntary recall of its raw milk after finding traces of the bird flu. The virus to in the supply of raw farm cream top, whole raw milk. The state's health department recommending consumers throw out the product with an expiration date of November 27th. Right now, no illnesses have been linked to this recall. The company taking to social media, though, to say this. Let's take a listen. Do not worry.

None of our supply has halted, changed, or been paused. We are not going to be adjusting any of our routes. Everything is good to go just as normal. Please do not have any worry or fear. We've got you. We just want to make sure that we're always an abundance of caution at all the times. All right, so what does this all mean?

To break this down for us, I'm joined now by Cyra Medad. She's an epidemiologist at the Harvard Kennedy School. So, Sarah, in that video, we just heard the company say, hey, nothing to worry about here. Is there something to be worried about? Oh, absolutely. When we talk about raw, unpasteurized milk, there's a host of different pathogens that we think of, right?

It's not just 8-5-1, which right now. is what's being the most concerned. The bird flu, exactly. But you can get, you know, Listeria, E. coli, you know, salmonella. So, in fact, the FDA considers raw unpasteurized milk, one of the, you know, riskiest food groups to consume. Yeah, I actually want to pick it up right there. Earlier this year, I know the CDC warned of this about the rise in bird flu cases,

specifically among dairy cattle. The FDA saying this in a statement, quote, raw milk can carry dangerous germs, such as salmonella, Ecoli, Listeria, Campbell Abacter, hopefully I said that right, and others that cause food-borne illnesses, often called food poisoning. But recently celebrities, right, like Gwyneth Paltrow, I know is one of them, says she drinks raw milk. Trump's pick to lead our FDA as well. He put out a tweet, I want to put this up for our viewers as well, also claiming to drink it and has spoken out about it. What do you make of all this?

I mean, because there is this trend towards raw milk. Well, I think first is neither of them are not public health experts or medical experts. So when you look at the site of evidence, when we look at unpasteurized raw milk, it carries a pretty significant risk for Americans. In fact, before we introduced pasteurization, and we've had this for over 100 years, over 25% of, you know, foodborne illnesses were as attributed to dairy consumption of raw. What's the argument? What is their argument? Why do people, why are they into this now? Why is it sort of the fad? Well, you know, some people told that there are some health benefits from it, but what's important is a risk benefit analysis. Drinking raw unpasteurized milk, it carries a significant risk of illness. We just talked about the different types of pathogens and diseases.

And when you drink pasteurized milk, it really reduces any of those types of... And how is that? Talk to me about the process. What is the difference? Yeah, so it's a great question. When we talk about pasteurization, it basically heats the milk up for in a very short period of time, and then it retains its nutritional content. So high heat, short period of time, but it retains that nutritional value.

And so when you talk about risk benefit, the benefits of drinking pasteurized milk certainly, you know, outweigh the risks of, you know. And say you're into these health fats and you love that raw milk and you're just guzzling it by the gallon. How do you know you've gotten sick with possibly bird flu or something else? Yeah, so bird flu has a wide spectrum of illness. It could be anything from no symptoms at all to having mild symptoms. You can have diarrhea vomiting from many of these types of infectious diseases. And if specifically for bird flu, it could cause severe illness over 100. when we talk about the different cases, over 1,000 cases of birth flu have been detected in humans,

and half of them have proven deadly. Now, as we talk about, you know, pasteurized milk and raw and pasteurized milk, we haven't seen any human cases from drinking, you know, unpasteurized raw milk, but that's not to say that that can happen. In fact, lab studies have shown it it can cause infection. Cyra Madab, we thank you for explaining all that to us. We appreciate it. Okay, coming up, the deadly airport crash oversees a cargo plane veering off the runway and Lithuania and crashing into a nearby home. The investigation now underway into what exactly went wrong. Stay with us.

We're back down with the latest on the war in Ukraine. Russia launching a wave of missile attacks as the conflict approaches its third year. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy promising retaliation, but running out of soldiers to join the fight. NBC's Richard Engel has this report. Russia fired more missiles at the Ukrainian cities of Harkiv and and Odessa. Ukraine's President Zelensky saying the attacks must not go unanswered.

The war in Ukraine is escalating, with both sides rushing to gain territory before President elect Trump's promise to bring a ceasefire. And in what may be the late rounds of this long fight, Russia has the upper hand. Despite recruitment drives, Ukraine is running out of men. So increasingly, women are taking up the responsibility. We joined a group of soldiers arming up near Kyiv. They call themselves the Witches of Butcha. Ninety percent of this unit are women.

Many of their sons and husbands are out fighting on the front line, so they have stepped up, volunteering to defend the Capitol. These women don't believe that even if Trump brokers a deal, Putin will honor it. So they're training for close combat. Valentina is a grandmother. Her son and son-in-law are both out on the front lines. I don't believe this war can be stopped with a negotiation, she says. Putin can't be trusted.

In three to five years, he'll come back. NATO is so concerned about the escalation here that tomorrow officials from the alliance and Ukraine hold an emergency meeting to coordinate strategy. Tom? We turned out of Top Stories Global Watch and a check of what else is happening around the world. We start with that deadly plane crash out of Lithuania's capital. Surveillance footage captures a massive fireball after a DHL cargo plane crashed into a home near the airport. Authorities confirmed that one crew member was killed and three people on board were hurt.

No one inside the home was injured. The Boeing 737 aircraft took off from Germany before making an emergency landing and investigation is now underway. UNICEF has released an alarming new report on the recruitment of children within Haiti's gangs. The UN agency reports that up to half of all gang members are minors. That's a 70% increase in just the past year. According to the report, the UN says the uptake is fueled by widespread poverty, escalating violence and growing political instability on the Caribbean island. And in Uruguay, left-wing politician Yamandu Orsi has won the presidential election after a fierce runoff. The 57-year-old former history teacher and mayor secured nearly half the vote.

He defeated Alvaro Delgado, the opposition candidate from the center-right incumbent party. Orsi's victory ends five years of conservative rule in the South American country. The president-elect promised to tackle pressing issues like homelessness, poverty, and crime during his campaign. Okay, when we come back to chart-topping podcast, we're taking a look at Apple's new podcast rankings for 2024, which show took the number one spot and which ones may surprise you. Is your favorite one there? Plus, in a field of 3 million podcasts, how are some able to stand out? That's next.

Finally, tonight, we're taking a look at the ever-growing popularity of podcasts and which ones are topping the charts. Apple naming their top 10 shows of 2024, here they are, with the New York Times The Daily in that number one spot, followed by crime junkie, the Joe Rogan Experience, Dateline NBC, smartless, among so many others like This American Life and New Heights with Jason. and Travis Kelsey. Up first from NPR and morbid for more on these shows in the world of podcast. I'm joined out by Dan Harris. He's the host of the podcast, 10% Happier and the author of the book with the same title. He's also a former ABC News anchor and a former colleague of mine and a friend. Dan, we thank you for joining Top Story for the first time. I'm surprised it's taking this long. Thanks for having me. I was so bummed that I didn't make the list. I don't even think I made the top 200. Your podcast is incredibly popular. Just so our audience knows,

if they're not familiar with your podcast, it's about meditation. You have great guests. On average, how many people are listening to you every day? Every day, I don't know. The latest numbers I've seen in terms of unique listeners per month for my show, it's about a million individuals per month. So that's an incredible audience. When you see sort of the top 10 for Apple, I know Spotify's a little different, but these are kind of all the same. What can you draw from this? I think it's built around subject matters and personalities who really cut through the noise. So some of these podcasts have to do with true crime. Others have to do with health and fitness. So those are subject matters that really

cut through. And then you see personalities, big personalities like the Kelsey brothers, like Andrew Huberman, like Joe Rogan. They cut through the noise too. And then, you know, you see something like The Daily, right? And that's in the top spot, at least on Apple's list. And you're a, you know, a recovering network news anchor. What does that tell you? I mean, you know, you don't see a lot of newscasts, I will say, sort of in these top 10 podcasts list, but there is still some sort of hard news. And, you know, you can make an argument whether Joe Rogan and some of these other talkers, Pod Save America, those are hard news podcasts. But what does it tell you as far as journalism is concerned?

I think we're really in an interesting moment in terms of, journalism. The fact that you've got NPR and New York Times well represented in the top 10, I think, is heartening. However, we're also seeing, and you see this in the survey data, that trust in mainstream journalists has declined quite precipitously. And alternative sources of news, such as Rogan, are getting increasingly popular. And I think this is part of an overall trend, two overall trends. One is a decreasing trust in all institutions. And second, a decreasing decreasing attachment to the old systems of information where networks and newspapers don't have the power they used to.

And in this era of cord cutting and social media, you see powerful personalities cutting through instead in many cases. But let me ask you, I mean, isn't it an apples to oranges comparison, right? Because, I mean, some of these podcasts, they do deal with the news, but we're not talking about the Atlantic, or I'd say NBC News or Time Magazine, if you will. And again, some of those are having a tough time, some are surviving online. But I just don't know if it's a fair comparison, right, to say, oh, everyone's getting their news from Joe Rogan as opposed to all the other mainstream outlets that are still doing a really great job and are actually out there on the front

lines. I think that's absolutely correct. I don't think it's either or. First of all, I should have mentioned that NBC News is well represented in that top 10 list. But I, but I, I I think two things are true at the same time. One, I think the mainstream news organizations, and you're part of one, and I was part of one for 21 years over at ABC News, they are doing, in my opinion, incredible work. And same with venerable outlets like The New York Times and the Washington Post and the Atlantic.

And we're also seeing diminished trust and people migrating to, places like social media and podcasts and alternative sources of news and information. Do you think that the world in some ways has gotten easier for people in the sense that the weather is right there on their phone? If they're interested in their 401K, it's right there on their phone. And if they are interested in a topic, they can just open their phone and they can read about it. Whereas the news, maybe when you and I were growing up, was a utility, right? It was almost like you needed to read the newspaper every day, so you knew what to do and where to go.

So nowadays, that seems that that's less and less evident unless you want to dig a little deeper. Absolutely. We were coming up in an age where there were a few big national newspapers and then three networks. And then eventually cable came in, but there wasn't, there was not an endless proliferation of cable news outlets. So it was a time when you had limited choices and therefore massive audiences. I came up under Peter Jennings, who at his, you know, at the apex of his powers, he had 30 million viewers a night. I mean, it's an incredible number of people. It is really hard to accumulate that number of eyeballs now.

How much, yeah. I was going to say, how much stock do you put into the idea that podcast helped the Trump campaign get President-elect Trump elected? I think his victory was multifactorial. But I do think there's some evidence to suggest that his strategy of using podcasts to reach men, especially young men, via Joe Rogan, Theo Vaughn, and other podcasters of that ilk appears to have borne some fruit. I wouldn't put all of – I wouldn't give them the podcasters all of the credit, but it seems like it was a winning strategy. And Kamala Harris, she tried as well with Call Her Daddy podcasts as well. I do want to ask you with 2 million podcasts, that to me was a striking number, but I guess anybody with a Wi-Fi signal and a microphone could start a podcast if they want.

How do you stand out and how do podcasts make money? Well, first of all, I got really lucky. I started my podcast eight years ago, and it was kind of like, you know, buying real estate in lower Manhattan in 1950, you know, it just turned out to be a really good investment. And in my case, it was sheer luck. I think with podcasting, there are a couple of things that are a couple of keys to success. One is picking a niche. So you mentioned that my show is about meditation, but it's kind of morphed over time to all aspects of what I call doing life better.

So that's a pretty clear lane. Listeners know what they can expect. And I release on a regular cadence, Monday and Wednesday, Monday and Wednesday, always. Sometimes I drop a bonus on Friday. So it's clear lane, strong personality at the helm is important and sort of a distinctive voice is important. And then regular release strategy. In terms of how you make money, generally speaking, it's advertisements. So I'm paid by the number of listeners we get and advertisers pay to reach that audience.

I'm pretty selective and won't just advertise for anyone. but that's you have to make the endorsements that's part of the deal it's almost like Howard Stern not always not always sometimes I make an endorsement if I feel comfortable doing it but other times I just you know run an ad that somebody else has voiced like one of my producers so it really it really varies there are other ways to make money too because increasingly podcasts are moving into video so you can post your podcast on YouTube and if it gets enough views you get some money for the ads that run the roll ads that run. And then there are other podcasts that make a lot of money through subscriptions

where you can pay for bonus content, et cetera, et cetera. So it's kind of wild west, but a very interesting economically. Dan, look into the future for me. In five years, are there 100 million podcasts? Are there five podcasts? That's a really good question. I don't know. I would tend toward 100 million, honestly. And I think we're going to be in a world where fewer and fewer get large reach because it's just so hard to cut through the noise. And I think that podcasts are going to meld, and you were seeing this already, podcasts are going to become, in many ways, indistinguishable from television because so many of them are video, and video really is the wave of the future for audio, interestingly enough.

Many of the big shows that you listed in the top 10 there have video components, Rogan and Huberman come to mind, call her daddy as well. at some point, what's the difference? I had a long TV career that I moved into audio, and now it's becoming television again. It's all content in the end. What's old is new. Dan Harris,

one of the great journalists that I ever worked with, an incredible anchor man. The book is great, 10% happier. Dan, do me a favor when the top story ad people call you, cut us a deal. Get us like a half of friends and family rate. We'll advertise on the 10% happier podcast. Dan, great talking to.

We thank you, my friend. Thank you, buddy. Great to talk to you. Thanks so much for watching Top Story Tonight. I'm Tom Yamerson, New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.