Top Story with Tom Llamas - Monday, November 27, 2023

Episode Date: November 28, 2023

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, more hostages freed as the deal to pause fighting in Gaza extends for two more days. Eleven more hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th, returning to Israel. Three adults and eight children, all of them kidnapped from the same kibbutz. In exchange, Israel releasing 33 Palestinian prisoners honoring the agreement, and both sides agreeing to extend the temporary ceasefire until Wednesday. Will it hold and get more hostages out of Gaza? Snow slam, Thanksgiving travel, smashing all-time records before a massive snowstorm. The last travelers trying to get home today facing weather headaches.

Lake affects snow in the Midwest, delaying more than 2,600 flights, canceling dozens more, what millions could expect from the first wintry blast of the season. Also tonight, the race for the Republican nomination nearly coming to blows. NBC News reporting top strategist backing Ron DeSantis, nearly getting into a fist fight. CEO of a major super PAC supporting the Florida governor resigning in the aftermath and just 49 days until the caucuses. Plus, a high-speed chase ending in a fiery crash, a stolen sedan driving away from police, burning a red light, colliding with another car, and bursting into flames. And deadline to deals Black Friday and Cyber Monday on track to be blowout days for retailers

across the country, raking in billions of dollars as Americans chase down bargains, will tell you what the best deals are as the final hours ticked down. Top story starts right now. We start tonight with breaking news in the Israel Hamas temporary ceasefire. The Israeli defense forces saying 11 more hostages have been released from Hamas custody. Three adults and eight children and teens, some as young as three years old, handed over to the international Red Cross flanked by Hamas. terrorists, all of them from the same kibbutz right on the border with Gaza. It was one of the first places Hamas attacked on October 7th.

In return, Israel has released 33 Palestinian prisoners into the West Bank, a three-to-one trade which was part of the deal with Hamas. Tonight we are seeing new images right here of one of the youngest hostages, four-year-old girl, Abigail Idan, orphaned by Hamas terrorists. She actually turned four while being held hostage. As of right now, the original ceasefire deal was supposed to be over, but today, both sides agreed to extend the truce. Negotiations led by Qatar and Egypt pushing the new deadline to Wednesday. Now, the world watches for whether there's truce and whether this paves the way for more hostage releases.

NBC News Chief International correspondent Richard Engel starts us off this evening. With the deadline for a four-day truce about to expire, Hamas released another batch of hostages from Gaza tonight. through the Red Cross. Eleven more Israeli women and children, all from the kibbutz of Niroz, close to Gaza, were freed after diplomacy led by Qatar and Egypt. And more may be coming out. Hamas and Israel agreed to extend their truce two more days at least.

Hamas says the same terms apply. Three Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails for every hostage, along with other conditions, including more aid into Gaza. They were no Americans in this group. Only one has been released in the ceasefire so far. Abigail Idan, who turned four in Gaza and is now an orphan. Both of her parents were killed by Hamas during the group's October 7th massacre of 1,200 Israelis. Abigail was sheltered by neighbors until they were all kidnapped.

Abigail, who goes by Guli, has become a symbol of both tragedy and hope in Israel. We met her aunt tonight. We're protecting her and a lot of love and a lot of care. And it's what she needs right now. She's only for, and she's been through hell. She needs quiet now to heal from everything she's been through. Hila Rotem celebrated her 13th birthday in an Israeli hospital tonight. She was surrounded by a small group of friends, including Emily Hand,

who was sleeping over at her house near Gaza and was kidnapped. alongside her. But Hila's mother wasn't at the party. She remains in Gaza, held by Hamas. Hila was freed on Saturday and greeted by her uncle, Yair. He told me today she seems to have disassociated herself from the trauma, like it happened to a stranger. Even with you, she doesn't show much emotion. Yeah, she speaks about it like it's seen from a movie. She speaks about facts that happened. Like it happened to somebody else? Yeah, it's like a story, but she doesn't get said when she talks about it. Despite the extended truce, it's still far too early to talk about a lasting ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu visiting troops in Gaza this weekend says the military operation will continue until Hamas is driven from power. But that seems far off. Hamas has been battered but remains in control of Gaza and has been using the prisoner releases to show that even its military wing is still standing. And with that, NBC's chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel, joins us now live from Tel Aviv. Richard, have we gotten a sense yet from the hostages that have been released, how they were treated by Hamas? There is no disputing.

Being kidnapped and held hostage is torturous by nature. But having spent seven weeks in Gaza, what are we learning, if anything? So with that enormous caveat that you just mentioned, so far the hostages have been freed, the women and children. children say they were treated decently in that they weren't tortured, they weren't directly abused, but they were captured violently. They were ripped from their homes in many cases. Relatives were killed in front of them. They were held in underground conditions for a long time. There were threats and intimidation. So humanely, in that they weren't directly tortured, but as you said, the entire experience is a form of abuse. And there was great savagery

during the initial assault itself on the seventh. And we only know about the women and children who've been released. We don't know if the men and young women who is really, who Hamas considers to be Israeli soldiers, we don't know how they're being treated. And then Richard, do we know that some of these hostages that have been released, do they still have family members, that are still being held by Hamas? Absolutely. Just the group that was released today, the 11 women and children from Neroz,

every single one of them, according to the Kabbutz, has either a father or a husband still held by Hamas, every single one of them. That's so hard to wrap your head around. All right, Richard Engel, with us reporting live tonight from Tel Avic.

Richard, we thank you for that. Now to the prisoners also free tonight. on the other side of that exchange. Palestinian women and even teenagers, some convicted of serious crimes, but others held an administrative detention not formally charged with anything. NBC's David Noriega tonight

spoke to the father of one of those teens, now back home. Jubilation in the West Bank, as Palestinian women and children are freed from military jails, part of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. That is a red-dunk of heart

carrying the prisoners in prison. Among them, 17-year-old Iyaz Khativ, his father Abed, was there to greet him. My son, he was just studying. He's in the high school. Tell now, I'm telling you, I don't know why my son is in jail. Israel calls these prisoners terrorists. Of those slated for release, some were convicted in Israeli military courts of violent crimes, including attempted murder.

Others stand accused of offenses like throwing incendiary devices, throwing stones, or trespassing. But most have not been convicted, and many are teenagers held under what's known as administrative detention, that includes IAS, with no formal charges or evidence presented against them. In February, IDF soldiers raided his home in the middle of the night, leaving behind a broken door and a family wondering when or if he would be back. Palestinian and international human rights groups say the system of military arrests and detentions lacks basic due process, especially when it comes to children. Without charges, without trial, without anything.

I can't defend myself, for instance, if I have no evidence, if I have no accusation, specific. And this happens regularly to children, to minors. Yeah, yeah. According to Israeli human rights group Bitsalem, Israel had more than 1,300 people in administrative detention, including 23 children, before October 7th. And Palestinian groups say the number has skyrocketed since then. Palestinians in the occupied territories say these indefinite detentions without trial or evidence are just one of many ways the Israeli military occupation robs them of their basic human rights and dignity.

Israeli authorities defend the practice, telling us in a statement that all prisoners are detained according to the provisions of the law. Before their release, they were told if they celebrated publicly or spoke to the press, they would face a fine of more than $18,000. We met Iyaz Khadib the day after he came home. Are you willing to talk to me about your arrest and detention? He refused to talk, afraid Israeli soldiers would retaliate. And with that, David Noriega joins Top Story Tonight from Tel Aviv.

David, I know you've really looked into this issue and you have some new reporting about the conditions of Palestinian prisoners inside of Israel. That's right, Tom. Even before October 7th, the number of people in administrative detention had reached a record, and it's only gone up since then. Even as prisoners are released as part of the ceasefire agreement, more people are getting arrested. sources in the West Bank told us that 60 people were arrested just in the last 24 hours. What's more, we hear that conditions in the prisons have deteriorated with

widespread reports of beatings, food deprivation, and other mistreatment. We put these allegations to the Israeli authorities, and they declined to comment. Tom. Okay, David Noriega for us tonight, David, thank you. Back here at home in the new developments in the shooting of three Palestinian-American college students, police in Vermont arresting a suspect and still investigating if the shooting is a hate crime. Stephanie Gossk has the latest. 48-year-old Jason Eden pleaded not guilty today to attempted murder, accused of shooting three U.S. college students, all Palestinians, in Burlington, Vermont, visiting family for Thanksgiving. This horrific, unprovoked attack was a tragic violation of the values and character

of this welcoming, inclusive community. The family says Tassin Ali Ahmed, Hisham, Al-Avah. Haur Tani and Kanan Abdel Hamid were out for a walk, chatting in Arabic and English. Two of them were wearing kaffaias, traditional Arab scarves. According to the affidavit, Abda Hamid, told police a man in a hoodie, walked toward them and pulled out a pistol and started firing, without saying a word. All three were shot. They're all stable, but Hisham is, the prognosis is that he, it's very likely that he won't be able to walk again. Hisham's parents spoke with NBC News as Aaron McLaughlin today.

at their home in the West Bank city of Ramallah. It was a vicious crime, and it will change my son's life. Forever. Forever. There is no reason that he should have been targeted in this way, because it was a targeted crime, without a doubt. Authorities have not charged Eaton with a hate crime, but police say they are still investigating.

I do want to be clear that there is no question. This was a hateful act. It comes during a nationwide spike in both Islamophobic and anti-Semitic incidents. All of us have also seen a sharp increase. in the volume and frequency of threats against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities across our countries. The war oversees fueling protests and hate nationwide. We need to preach that all hate against Jews, against Muslims, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia. These are ills in our country, and they undermine our democratic values.

Do you think that is a message we're hearing from leaders in this country? There's some lip service being paid to this, Stephanie, but it's not backed by, really sincere efforts. Palestinian-American Amani Jamal is the Dean of International Affairs at Princeton. She went to the same high school in the West Bank as the three young men. These students are me 30 years ago. And our dream was to come to the United States to get an education so that we could live a life of dignity and freedom.

Hisham Awartani's father wanted him to stay in the U.S. for the holidays because he thought it would be safer than Ramallah. Who would think that such a thing would happen in one of the most liberal diverse places in the world tonight he hopes his son will be able to walk again we believe in our kids strength and we are certain that he's gonna stand up on his feet again we're learning more about the shooter tonight we learned that he was let go from his job earlier this month authorities also say they found multiple weapons inside his home including three shotguns and the pistol

allegedly used in the incident. He's being held without bail. And according to the affidavit, when they arrived to search his home, he said to the police, I've been waiting for you. Tom. Okay.

Stephanie, thank you. Now to power and politics and the race for the White House. Allies of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis devolving into chaos as his campaign struggles to regain momentum. A fight nearly breaking out at a board meeting

of a DeSantis-aligned super PAC as he loses ground to another rival in the poll. Nikki Haley. Dasha Burns has the latest from the campaign trail. Thank you. Tonight, turmoil in DeSantis World. NBC News reporting inside high-level strategy talks at DeSantis Super PAC never backed down

that one board meeting earlier this month nearly ended in a brawl as the Florida governor's allies struggle to reverse a slide in the polls and a surging Nikki Haley. The race is always framed around Donald Trump, whether someone can beat him or not. People want an alternative, and they made a summary judgment. on the Sanis that he wasn't it because he his polling numbers were very very high and then they just simply tanked a source inside the room telling NBC news during a heated discussion a long time desantis confidant challenged a PAC consultant to a fight at least two other board members forced to restrain him people are frustrated and they have different ideas of how to regain the high ground

and how to win and that's going to come out in emotion the internal strife at the pack playing out as the group struggles to tap its big dollar donors. One contributor telling NBC News, quote, you don't just keep throwing money at Radio Shack. Amid the latest troubles, the PAC CEO, Chris Jankowski, announcing his resignation last week. I love you too. Nikki Haley, now the biggest threat to the DeSantis campaign, has pulled even with him in Iowa and ahead of him in other primary states. DeSantis and his allies taking the battle for early state voters to the air. We know her as crooked Hillary. But to Nikki Haley, She's her role model, the reason she ran for office.

Fight Right, Inc., a new DeSantis Allied Super PAC launched after that chaotic meeting at Never Back Down, cutting this spot tying Haley to Hillary Clinton. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds following up her endorsement of DeSantis, cutting multiple spots praising her fellow Republican governor. If you like what we're doing in Iowa, then you'll love what Ron DeSantis will do for this country. And DeSantis, securing another coveted endorsement, Bob Vanderplatt, an influential evangelical leader in the Hawkeye State. You need a president that's going to surround themselves with the best and brightest people

versus having a hard time attracting them again. And someone is actually going to do what they say they're going to do. DeSantis, barnstorming Iowa in a 99-county tour, now just seven weeks out from the Iowa caucuses, and preparing for a highly anticipated debate with California Governor Gavin Newsom, as the man who was once the shining star of the GOP is now looking for a spark. Okay, Dasha Burns, joins us now live from the campaign trail in Roebuck, South Carolina. Dasha, I want to go back to some of your reporting in the piece about the frustration of some DeSantis-packed donors.

Let me read a little bit of the article that you published with your colleagues on NBCNew York.com. We're going to put it on the screen here. So this is, according to one donor, I'm a bit agitated. These guys have spent all this money for no return. One dissentist contributor said in explaining the hesitation that deep-pocketed donors have whenever back down asked for more cash. quote, you don't just keep throwing money at Radio Shack. Dasha, that is pretty damaging right there. Is that the sense you get from other DeSantis donors? Well, look, Tom, it's kind of been the sense for a while now. There had been donor concerns

since before even the launch of the campaign. There'd been ups and downs. He got influxes, and there were concerns, and he got influxes again. But you see the rhetoric has continued to escalate. And now the tempers have continued to escalate and the turmoil has sort of hit a bit of a ceiling here. And where they go from here is a really big question mark. Now you've got another super pack that has launched that is sort of trying to take on a different tack here. The question is, do donors have enough faith to keep pouring money as they try to keep throwing things at the wall here, Tom? And then, Dasha, I do want to ask you, you've been on the campaign trail from the get-go, right? extensively and a lot with Governor DeSantis. How big of a problem is former governor

and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley right now for him? Look, 49 days to go before the Iowa caucuses, a lot can happen there and potentially another big endorsement coming DeSantis' way. So there's still a chance, but is he feeling that pressure? Yeah, 49 days can be an eternity in political years, right? But the thing is, for a long time, Tom, when I talked to voters, the only names that came up, were Trump and DeSantis. Now it's Trump, DeSantis, Haley, sometimes Ramoswamy. And it's really Haley and DeSantis that are duking it out. But they're duking it out for second. We are consistently seeing Trump now pulling ahead from both of them. And so there is little time left for the two

to figure out who is really going to take that sort of second place or Trump alternative mantle. And even then, if one of them does cement themselves as the main alternative, there's very little time in a narrowing window to really take on Trump. So the DeSantis team is in a spot they never thought they would be in at the start of this campaign, Tom. All right, but like you said, a lot could happen in the next 49 days. Dasha Burns for us, Dasha, we appreciate that. Still ahead tonight, video showing dramatic moments inside a New York City High School. Take a look at this. students filling the hallways, waving Palestinian flags,

and calling for one of their teachers to be fired. She had to barricade herself in her room, while they were so angry and the discipline now some are facing. Plus a chilling warning tonight about Instagram and its algorithm and potentially dangerous content it feeds to children. You're not going to believe some of the allegations we have coming up. We'll talk to a reporter from the Wall Street Journal. He'll tell us what he uncovered.

And dramatic video showing a fiery crash in California where police say happened moments before this explosion. Stay with us. All right, back down with some dramatic moments caught on camera inside a New York City high school. Students flooding the halls calling for one of their teachers to be fired after she attended a pro-Israel rally. The incident coming just days after four other students were arrested for allegedly assaulting a safety officer at the same school. Rahama Ellis has this one. tonight videos capturing moments of chaos in the halls of this New York City public school students marching through Hillcrest High School in Queens phones out recording as they dance in a circle and wave Palestinian flags after approximately 400 students acted disruptively roving the school and calling for the removal of a Jewish educator the reason that teacher was targeted this image which circulated on social media in the days prior

allegedly showing her at a rally supporting Israel. The teacher at Hillcrest High School was targeted based on her support for Israel, expressed in a permissible way outside of school hours and her Jewish identity. The NYPD says they received a call from a 45-year-old woman saying she received a threat from an unknown person at the school on social media and were able to disperse the crowd without incident. New York City Mayor Eric Adams calling the video of the protester, quote, vile show of anti-Semitism, motivated by ignorance-fueled hatred, plain and simple. A couple of days later, the school receiving another warning from a student that more protests

were planned unless the teacher was removed. The school was able to deploy school safety agents and put the school under lockdown. The chancellor of New York City Public Schools insisting the situation at the Queens High School is under control and the teacher was never in direct danger. I think a lot of what has happened has been overblown. This sense that the kids here are being cast as a bunch of anti-Semites throughout this school. There are 2,500 kids that go to their school. That's overblown, for sure.

Other city officials not convinced. City councilwoman Vicky Palladino is calling for the school to be shut down pending a full investigation. Where is the principal of Hillcrest High School? I want an audit done. Paladino releasing this cell phone video of a separate. unrelated incident at the very same school just days earlier. A fight between three students erupting into an all-out brawl. Students seem beating a uniform security officer as his colleague tried to pull them away.

The NYPD says four students were taken into custody and issued juvenile reports. And three school safety agents were injured. For its part, Hillcrest High School says it's conducting a full investigation and working to educate students on wide. their behavior is unacceptable. We could not simply allow this entire school body to be demonized. We have to be careful in the way we talk about our children as well. The chancellor said this incident happened while students were changing classes and many did not know what they were participating in.

Due to privacy and confidentiality rules, the school cannot comment on disciplinary actions for individual students. But the chancellor said just a short while ago, some students have been suspended. Tom? We thank Rahima for that story. We want to turn now to another story that caught our attention, this time in the Wall Street Journal, revealing that the Instagram algorithm that feeds the content for so-called Reels, which are short clips designed to show users an endless stream of videos, could be dangerous for kids on the app by displaying explicit content. Testing from the

Wall Street Journal found that the Reels algorithm shows users who follow young gymnasts and cheerleaders, videos of sexual content of both adults and children creating what experts say is a disturbing cycle of salacious content that promotes the exploitation of children. For more on this concerning report, I want to bring in Jeff Horowitz. He's a technology reporter for the Wall Street Journal and wrote the story. He's also the author of the new book, Broken Code. Jeff, thanks so much for joining Top Story. Thank you. So, Jeff, explain to our viewers what you found and what your research showed about Instagram, because this is incredibly alarming.

Yeah, I think it's pretty alarming. It is Instagram, when presented with a user who is following preteen gymnasts and models and cheerleaders, will immediately start testing to see if that user is interested in adult sex content. And once a user follows the community of users sort of follow the gymnasts, which do happen to be very heavy on adult men, At that point, the algorithm starts serving up content that is a mixture of, I suppose, child sexualization and promotional material and adult sex content combined with ads from major American brands. Yeah, it's sort of a strange mix. What did your research find as far as the algorithm is concerned?

And what I mean by this question is, do you think the algorithm? was just acting the way it was created and intended to do because, as you said, more of these users who are following cheerleader and gymnast accounts are men. So the algorithm essentially is thinking, hey, this is what I'm supposed to do, or do you think there was something more malicious in it? No, no, it's not, I mean, it's not that anyone set out to design an algorithm that would recommend pedophilic users, content involving children. That said, Instagram has built a very effective personalization.

system. The whole idea is that they scour the content from across the platform and they find whatever's going to be of interest to users and the particular user. In this case, unfortunately, there is a community of users that Instagram has determined want to see kids in their underwear. And the system is going to go ahead and do that unless it is stopped by some method and the company hasn't managed to do that. So, Jeff, explain something to me, like peel back the curtain here. if the algorithm is so smart to do this, right? And I say smart as it is advanced technology, artificial intelligence, it can do this without the help of a human.

Why can't they create an algorithm to sort of censor this content and to sort of look at these videos or these images and say, wait a minute, we have a user who is probably a teenager, 10 or 13 years old. We should not be putting this out there. There's a couple reasons. The first one is that the system for recommending things doesn't actually really even pay attention to what the cost.

content is. All it does is follow your behavior, the user's behavior, and the behavior of users like that person. So if you're into a particular video, let's say about a football team, then it's going to try to serve you the same content that other people who are into that video like as well. And what that ends up doing, unfortunately, is pulling together this very large but still niche community of users that are interested in combining content involving kids and gymnasts, young gymnasts, with adult sex content. And they're getting marketed to. So you'll see promotions for entities that a Canadian nonprofit, the Canadian Center for

Child Protection that helped us out, they're using images of kids who are known victims of sexual exploitation to promote content that, obviously we did not access that content, promote purported sex content of those kids elsewhere, right? So in other words, they take the innocent pictures, and then they use that as sort of a dog whistle. And this is something that is very consistent. I think the thing that is like, this isn't like kind of a mistake,

some bad content occasionally slips through. It's that the algorithm has determined that these users want this stuff, and it's going to give it to them. So meta, which owns Instagram, makes billions of dollars. Why can't they hire people to sort of act as watchdogs to try to do the best job they can

if the algorithm is producing this danger? Yeah, given that this is sort of a consistent issue and one that it's foreseeable, right? I think that people who are experts in algorithmic recommendation systems, this is an extremely foreseeable problem. Obviously, the degree is really concerning. The answer, in terms of that, would be best taken up with meta. I will say that the company has cut some of its safety staff, including child safety experts, a limited number of those.

as part of what CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called its year of efficiency. And that is, you know, these are kind of choices to some degree. Jeff, I have to ask you, what did Meta say when you presented them with all your findings and this report in the journal? So Meta says that the way that these findings came about, which is setting up test accounts and following young gymnasts and the people who follow young gymnasts just sort of straightforwardly, that that is manufactured, and it doesn't represent the standard experience of users on the platform.

And it certainly is true. This does not represent the standard experience of users on the platform. The problem is, though, that it seems to be a very consistent experience for a very sizable community that wants this stuff, and meta seems to be, at least its system, is happy to give it to them. You know, I'm curious how you guys came across this story or the idea for it, because I have heard anecdotally from people, from friends who use Instagram or other social media platforms that they may be on the platform for a particular hobby, like, say, classic cars or sports. And then they'll say somehow the reels and the recommendations, suddenly, even though all the people they follow are cars or athletes, it suddenly goes to some type of sexual nature. So I kind of want to go back to that question about the algorithm and the intent and whether it's malicious or just purely accidental or scientific.

Yeah, I mean, it's not malicious in the sense that algorithms don't have malice. Algorithms just do what they're told to do, and they do it as efficiently as possible. And what you're describing here, which is just basically the algorithms could have going to be probing to see what other interests you might be interested in. And if you're a male or a female, you may very well be interested in sex. That's a pretty common thing. I think the more unfortunate thing is when, you know, you start sort of serving up, shall we say, weirder stuff to users that are particularly interested in kids.

And Jeff, let me just stop you there. The algorithm, it doesn't, it can't figure out, at least from what your findings have shown, it can't figure out if a 12-year-old is using Instagram, a 13-year-old, and the stuff it's recommending whether that is appropriate or not. There's no, like, PG-R-rated PG-13 system for social media? The company does know how old users say they are. So it's, you know, I guess the problem here is less that kids themselves are being recommended pedophilic content than that adults are being, that want this stuff,

are being served up this content. So I think there are absolutely questions to be asked about whether or not the recommendations to kids are appropriate. But that said, you know, this right here, I think, is just a question of, is Instagram capable of reining in its algorithm from doing exactly what a large community of users want, which is consuming child sex content? Jeff Horowitz from the Wall Street Journal, Jeff, incredible reporting. We appreciate your time.

When we come back, a major safety alert from Honda, the automaker recalling more than 300,000 cars. the seatbelt defect you need to know about. And Merriam-Webster announcing its word of the year. Can you guess what it is? Here's a hint. It's related to artificial intelligence. Stay with us. All right, we are back now with Top Stories News Feed,

and we begin with the forecast and a record-breaking air travel day. More than 2.9 million passengers screened at airports nationwide. The Sunday after Thanksgiving, but wintery weather now slamming millions in eerie Pennsylvania, heavy snowfall causing hazardous driving conditions. Cold air moving into the Great Lakes region, expected to bring lake effect snow's early Tuesday into Wednesday. Winter alerts in effect from Western PA to upstate New York, with three to six inches of snow expected across the region, we will continue to follow the storm. Next to a deadly stabbing attack at a North Carolina high school.

Wait County officials say two students were stabbed. at South East Raleigh Magnet High School. After a fight broke out this morning, the school was placed on a code red lockdown as officers responded to the scene. Both students were taken to a local hospital. One later died of his injuries. Another student is now in custody.

Dramatic new video shows the moment of a fiery car crash in Southern California. Video out of Long Beach shows of gray sedan evading police speeding through a red light, that car striking a white pickup truck, and then a light pole before bursting into flames. According to police, the pursuit began after deputies were alerted the sedan was stolen. Both drivers were taken to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The driver of that stolen car is now facing charges. And Honda recalling more than 300,000 Honda accords and HRVs over a seatbelt defect. Japanese automaker says some front seatbelts may fail to tighten properly in a crash, putting drivers and passengers at risk for serious injury or even death. The recall affects accords built in October 2020, and HRVs built between April and October 2022. So far, no reports of injuries or death. And Merriam Webster has announced its official word of 2023, the American Dictionary

publisher saying, authentic is its top pick due to stories and conversations about AI, celebrity culture, and social media. Authentic is defined as, quote, not false or imitation, real, actual, end quote. Other top words of the year include Riz, which is slang for charisma for all you cool kids out there, implode because of the titan submersible and coronation. Okay, we want to turn out of the alarming rise in respiratory illnesses and children across the globe. Hospitals in China overwhelm with sick kids as a mystery illness spreads. Here in the U.S., flu, COVID, and RSV are all on the rise, mounting fears of a triple demic this winter possible. And Thompson has the details. These scenes of packed hospital waiting rooms raising alarm in China as it grapples with a spike in respiratory illnesses, mostly in children.

The World Health Organization is asking for more information. Here, flu is now spreading across the U.S., the CDC reporting a nearly 4% increase in flu-related doctors' visits. The Southeast hit especially hard, but not like last year's triple-demic, flu, COVID, and RSV. Doctors say RSV cases are on the rise. We've actually seen a tremendous increase in the number of children who we have diagnosed with RSV over the past seven to eight weeks, probably some of the highest that we've seen all season. Dr. Shane thinks cases have peaked at her hospital. They're increasing among children at GBMC health care in Maryland. But a new preventive antibody called Befortis is in short.

supply. How many doses did you get and how many doses do you need? I need a whole lot more than what I've gotten. I have gotten, received less than 50. Dr. Teresa Wynn says it is crucial expectant moms get the RSV vaccine made for them. Pregnant mothers between 32 to 36 weeks can get the vaccine and if there's been four weeks, they have made antibodies and have passed it on to their infants at birth. Though the CDC says 77,000 additional doses will be made available, it's advising doctors to prioritize those who need it, including infants six months and younger or with underlying conditions.

So why is there a shortage of Bay Fortis? Well, Tom, we called the manufacturer, Santa Fe Pasture, and it tells us that despite an aggressive supply plan, that demand was simply higher than anticipated. So doctors are recommending that people over the age of 60 get the RSV vaccine so they can help stop the spread and protect the youngest and most vulnerable among us, especially during the holiday season. Tom. Okay, Ann, thank you for that. We want to take a closer look now at what Ann just mentioned in her piece at the top of that report concerning the rise in respiratory cases in China wreaking havoc on the hospital system there and involving children. For more,

More of this, I want to bring in Dr. Amish Adalgia. He's a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Doctor, thank you so much for joining us tonight. What do we know about this cluster of cases in China? What we know is that they're not being caused by any unusual pathogen, not a new virus, not a new bacteria, but a conglomeration of all the usual things that make kids sick all attacking at once. And this is something similar to what we did last year in the United States and Canada, where RSV, influenza, and COVID all attacked at once. And that's what's likely happening there. We look at this video, right? You're seeing crowded hospitals in China. And with China's history of not being forthcoming with the global medical community, should we believe

them? I think we should believe them in this situation. We know that China has not been transparent in the past about infectious disease outbreaks. But this makes biological sense because all countries went through this on some time scale when they lifted social restrictions. And China was under restrictions for about three years or so. And we had the WHO being very forceful asking for information, asking for data, asking for tests. And that's not something WHO usually does publicly. They maybe go through backdoor channels. They're being very public about it.

So I do think this is something where we can trust them. But in general, yes, you have to be suspicious of anything that they say. So China's saying it's not a novel pathogen, right? Like, as you're saying, they're saying this is just people coming out of COVID over there. The restrictions were a little bit longer than over here. And it's people getting sick because the weather's getting cooler. Do you believe in that as well? And how do we actually know if it's a novel pathogen or not?

Well, I do believe them because all countries, as I said, went through this. How do we know by looking at the data, asking for lab test results, asking them what's going on, having individuals there, doctors speak freely about this. And even before China said that this was not a novel pathogen, many of us in the field had been tracking this all over Thanksgiving break. And basically, we're coming to that same conclusion that this seemed to be usual pathogens. When you say you're tracking it, peel back the curtain for our viewers, what do you mean by that doctor? It means talking amongst ourselves using email listservs, those same list serves that, blew the lid off of the COVID, blew the lid off of the first SARS. All of those were really consistently saying this is likely all ordinary pathogens infecting people.

So we are always talking to each other behind the scenes when any outbreak occurs anywhere in the world, trying to make sure that we have a handle on it. I know you mentioned this when you were explaining why you sort of believe China now, but what is China saying? Why are we seeing these images in their hospitals, like crowded? And what are they attributing it to, just regular RSV and other COVID cases maybe? And exactly. Yeah. So they're basically saying certain bacterial pneumonia is RSV, COVID, adenovirus, all the usual mix of respiratory viruses and respiratory bacteria that infect people.

That's what's happening. They are opening up extra fever clinics to take care of some of those patients, just like we did last year. We had tents in our ER parking lots for RSV patients. So that seems to be what's going on. Remember, pediatric hospitals have very little capacity. They're not able to absorb a lot. So it doesn't take a lot for pediatric hospitals to get into trouble anywhere in the world because there's just not that many pediatric beds. What does it take for something in China now, knowing what we know after COVID, for it to reach your radar to say we have another problem in China? China's always been on our radar because this is a place where we track, for example,

bird flu cases where we have humans and birds all in very close proximity. So China is something that we always look at anything that happens there, whether it's COVID, whether it's bird flu, whether it's the first SARS, whether it's plague. All of those things happen in China. a conglomeration of factors here that makes emergency disease likely. And you guys know it because what? People are in China telling you, hey, the hospitals are full. It's getting kind of crazy. And then you guys start to talk amongst yourself in the community. Yes, we start to hear about these rumors on all of these listservs, all these old-fashioned ways of email. People start

talking to each other, and that usually raises the alarm. Dr. Amish and Dollasha, always great to have you here. Thank you. Coming up next, an update on Pope Francis, the 86-year-old leader of the Catholic Church, postponing several upcoming engagements. Stay with us. Welcome back. We want to return now to the war between Israel and Hamas. We're learning more about the conditions those freed hostages we're living in. Those released now sharing new details with their loved ones about their time as prisoners of Hamas. NBC's foreign correspondent, Ralph Sanchez, has the details. Tonight, amid tearful scenes of hostages reuniting with their families,

we're learning new details about their time in captivity and the conditions that around 170 remaining hostages, are enduring still. Nine-year-old Ohad Munder Zekri was released Friday with his mother, Karen, and grandmother Ruth. They spent 49 days in Gaza as prisoners of Hamas. They were with one guy who kept them all the time, and she told me that all the time he did like that. So they were scared.

They were whispering. Were they ever tortured by Hamas? No, I don't think so. The family says they never saw other hostages and were moved constantly, sometimes held in tunnels like this, other times in houses or apartments. They didn't get a lot of food. To go to the bathroom, they had to knock on the door,

and then one and a half hours waiting or two hours. Cut off from the world, they had no idea about the scale of the October 7th attack, or the global effort to bring them home. She told me, I was on the television. Are you serious? I told her your picture is all over the world. They also didn't know Ohad's grandfather was alive, but remains a hostage, and found out they were being freed just hours before it happened. 25-year-old Roni Krivoy escaped and was on the run inside Gaza for four days before he was recaptured, his family says.

Until now, most of what we knew came from Yohevid Lifshitz, one of the first hostages freed more than a month ago. There are a huge network of tunnels underneath. It looks like a spider web. The hostages may have valuable intelligence for Israel's military, but experts say the hostages need time to adjust. They come out extremely anxious, suspicious, passive. They were passive for a long time. So there is a lot of work to be done.

to give them their sense of agency back. Israel's government issuing guidelines for dealing with released children, saying, expect age inappropriate behavior, like bedwetting, limit the number of visitors to keep them from being overwhelmed, and offer reassurance that they're safe now. Doctors say most of the children are in good health, and Ohad is now back home. But he has a long journey ahead, just to be a kid again.

And Tom, one of the older hostages is in strong. serious medical condition tonight. 84-year-old great-grandmother Elma Avraham was rushed straight to the ICU after being released from Gaza on Sunday. Hospital staff say she's on a ventilator and she's fighting for her life. Tom.

Ralph Sanchez from Israel tonight. Now to Top Story's Global Watch and a look at what else is making headlines around the world. If war wasn't enough, now raging storms in Russia and Ukraine are destroying homes and taking lives across the region. New cell phone video shows a rushing wave sweeping through Sochi's waterfront, inundating an entire area. In Odessa, as well, snowstorms leaving cars stuck in power plants

destroyed, power outages stripping 2 million people of electricity across 2,000 villages. At least three people have been killed in those storms. To the Vatican, where Pope Francis is postponing several important engagements due to health issues. The Vatican press office reporting that the Pope is suffering from lung inflammation and breathing difficulties, but a CT scan has ruled out pneumonia. The Vatican also says the Pope's respiratory situation is improving. And New Zealand, rolling back its world-leading anti-smoking legislation, the government acts in the 2022 plan which would have banned the sale of tobacco products

to anyone born after 2008. The plan also implemented restrictions that reduces the amount of nicotine and cigarettes. The country's finance minister says the revenues from revived tobacco sales, sales will allow them to implement new tax cuts. Okay, coming up, Cyber Monday, it's one of the biggest shopping days of the year, and with the hours counting down, we'll tell you where you can still find the best deals. That's next. All right, welcome back.

Today is Cyber Monday, and by now you have most likely seen or maybe even taken advantage of some of those major deals online, but there's still a few hours left. Americans expected to spend in record-breaking amounts this year. So I want to bring in NBC News Senior Business Correspondent, Christine Romans. Christine, always great to have you. So talk to us about Americans shopping, right? Are they shopping more online or are they heading into stores? Look, they're shopping more online.

They're spending $15 million a minute today. $15 million a minute today online. And you look at Black Friday sales, a record online portion of the sales on Friday. And today's Cyber Monday looks like it's going to break. records too. It looks as though people are, instead of, you know, the sharp elbows for the doorbusters, they are really learning how to use their browser extensions and all of the tricks so that they can find the best deals online. You know what I've also noticed, Christine, since we have you here and we can just chat. I've also noticed that the in-house, the retail shopping experience has changed

since the pandemic. There's not still a lot of supply. You always see more online than you're going to do in the store. You sometimes end up wasting your time. And well, that's one of the reasons why some of the retailers this year tried to have special versions, additions of items so they could try to get the foot traffic back in. And I think you're going to see tricks through the rest of the holiday shopping season as the stores try to get the foot traffic up to get people physically in stores too. You've been advising our viewers to sort of just wait, kind of look for the best deal. It's been a Black Friday month, maybe even a Black Friday year.

But some of these retailers I'm noticing are saying, hey, the Cyber Monday deal ends on the 27th. Do you believe that? I think you're going to see deals throughout the, end of the year. I think there might be some really good ones that were just Friday through today. You're going to get good travel deals tomorrow. They're trying to brand it as travel Tuesday. But look at some of the things we have out there right now. Air pods pro, right? This is a really, this is a great deal. This is $10, $10 less than it was the very best day of last year.

This fire stick less than $40. The ring video doorbell, $54. All great products, by the way. Down from $99.99. And then other deals like this cool sort of airplane phone holder amount, less than $10 on Amazon. Is it cool, though? Is it? No, I'm just. I don't know. I'm not going to judge anyone's got that. Like if you must have it, right? White strips from Crest, that's a pretty big discount. That's a big one. People always want the white strips. And that last thing is an electric can opener, which looks like it's a can opener, but it looks okay. But you're going to see more sort of kitchen gadgets, I think, for coming days. You're going to see more deals for tools and sporting goods. And I think that, as one analyst told me today,

they're not going to turn off the sprinkler of promotions. These retailers have been using deep discounts and promotions since October to try to get a more frugal, budget-conscious consumer to spend money, and they're going to keep doing that. And even with sort of all this shopping, right, there's so many narratives when we talk about the economy. We were talking earlier, you know, I mentioned that Americans have a trillion dollar in credit card debt. You were mentioning the high interest rates, and yet Americans are still buying throughout their shopping. Yeah, isn't it that riddle? Americans also say they feel terrible about the economy, but then they go out and they act like they're optimistic about it. So there's a disconnect there to that trillion

of credit card account I'm worried about because at 20 percent interest rates, that's real dumb money. That's dumb money to be sitting there paying interest on when you could put money in a bank account and get a 5 percent yield. So it's this weird position time where for the first time in a long time, savers, the boring savers, they're the winners in this economy. The spenders they're the cool kids. They're the cool kids. The spenders and the borrowers, they're the ones who are at a disadvantage. And that's a real shift from the last 15 years. Christine, Romans for us. Christine, thank you so much for that. And we thank you for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamis in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.