Top Story with Tom Llamas - Monday, October 14, 2024

Episode Date: October 15, 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, an NBC news exclusive inside one of the biggest moments in modern political history, the assassination attempt of former president Donald Trump. Two men shot well-standing feet away from Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, now speaking out for the very first time, sitting down with Tom Yamis about the moment bullets started to fly. The new eyewitness video of the moment they were struck, they show us their physical injuries, explain how that tragic day forever changed their lives and tell us what they believe is to blame for the events on that fateful day. Also tonight, Trump gaining ground. New polling showing former President Trump neck and neck with Vice President Kamala Harris in a new NBC News poll. Harris and Trump

dueling it out in Battleground Pennsylvania as the sprint to election day enters a new phase. The campaign blitz to pick up votes with just three weeks to go. And what former president Clinton thinks this election will all come down to. Hurricane's lasting impact. Video showing homes and streets still submerged days after Hurricane Milton moved out. The new landscape, the storm carved out in how families are trying to rebuild. Meteorologist Bill Cairns monitoring the next tropical system emerging in the Atlantic, will it be a threat?

China's war games, U.S. officials sounding the alarm as China launches large-scale military drills near Taiwan. Video showing fighter jets and warships encircling the region, marking an escalation intentions. China's new warning and how Taiwan is responding. Diddy's new accusations. Sean Diddy Combs facing a wave of new lawsuits alleging sexual assault and rape spanning two decades are exclusive sit down with the attorney representing the plaintiffs and the disturbing details of what reportedly happened at one of Diddy's infamous white parties. A Georgia sheriff calling and backup after a Burger King got his order wrong. The body camera footage as officers turned on their lights and sirens as they raced to the scene. Was it a whopping overstep by the sheriff

now running for re-election? Plus the terrifying crash landing. A Navy parachutist accidentally landing on a mother and child during a fleet week performance. We'll tell you what happened next. And the teen shattering records by climbing one of the earth's highest peaks. Top story starts right now. Good evening. I'm Ellison Barber in for Tom Yamis. Right now, we are just 22 days away from the 2024 presidential election. An election cycle riddled with unprecedented events, including one of the most defining moments, the assassination attempt on former President Trump during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Tonight, for the first time since that harrowing day, we are hearing from two people who were shot and injured when a gun. gunman targeted Trump. It was roughly three months ago on July 13th when supporters packed into the field to hear former President Trump speak. You can see the stage in the center right here.

There were these big screens, one on the left, one over here on the right-hand side. This area, sort of behind the podium to the right, that is where the two men that we are going to hear from were sitting on that day. James Copenhagenhaver and David Dutch. Let's take a closer look at that angle so you can see a little more. This is the area where they were standing. The two really directly in a lot of ways behind him. And no one there that day expected what would happen next. I was more mad about it than anything. I mean, I was in a service, went through a war, didn't even get a scratch, and then you go to a rally and you get shot in a crowd. What were you mad about? The security, the fact they tried to shoot the president

shot into a defenseless crowd. David Dutch and Jim Copenhaver didn't know each other until they became linked by tragedy. They each were hit with bullets aimed at former President Trump during that assassination attempt in Butler. Jim, when did you realize something was wrong? When I saw a part of my sleeve go away, and I heard it distinctly, and I turned around to my friend and I said, I think I was shot. Copenhaver, who is 74, now walks with a cane. He was shot twice.

One bullet tore into his tricep, a scar he could show us. This one healed pretty good. But the other bullet is still lodged in his body, taking chunks of his colon and leaving him with nerve damage. Well, you can see some of the padding right here. It's right here. I can feel the results of it, my nerve damage from here to here. It's like numb.

And at some time during the night, it feels like somebody's taking a cigarette and burning right in the middle of my leg. Attorneys for both men say this video shows them getting shot. Copenhagenever in the white long sleeve, Dutch further right in the American flag t-shirt. The bullet that hit Dutch split his liver. It was like getting hit with a sledgehammer right in the chest. I could feel my rib were all busted up. I was kind of just holding, holding it. You could feel your ribs?

Oh, yeah. Pennsylvania's governor says firefighter Corey Compentori was shot and killed while trying to protect his family at the rally. Congress and the Secret Service are now investigating. The head of the Secret Service resigned. The agency has called Butler a failure, acknowledging communication breakdowns. Did the Secret Service fail, former President Trump, and fail you that day? Oh, yes. Big time. It was a rush job, you know.

It was put together too quickly, and they saw. Skip step. Former President Trump recently returned to Butler for another rally. Sitting in the audience, David Dutch. You went to the most recent Butler rally. Why? Because I don't want to be hiding from what happened. I just trying to get on with going through my daily life again. It was important for you to be there.

Yeah. Yeah, I didn't want to be hiding. in my house all the time. Our thanks to Tom Yamis for that exclusive reporting. With just 22 days to the election, all eyes are now on Pennsylvania, with both former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris holding events. Harris working to earn the support of black and rural voters as a new NBC News poll shows a dead heat.

Trump erasing Harris's very slim lead. NBC News, senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez, has that report from the campaign trail. Tonight, with just 22 days to go, both candidates on a battleground blitz. Former President Trump going after Vice President Harris on immigration. When I win on November 5th, the migrant invasion ends and the restoration of our country begins. Harris, hammering Trump for not agreeing to another debate. Are they afraid that people will see that he is too weak and unstable to lead America?

And now zeroing in on Trump's response when asked about concerns election day would not be peaceful. I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by national guard or if really necessary by the military, because they can't let that happen. Today, Tim Walls firing back. Donald Trump over the weekend was talking about using the U.S. Army against people who disagree. with him. While J.D. Vance defended his running mate late today. If you have a major reaction to an election in 2024, of course you ought to commit law enforcement resources to bring

order back to our cities. It all comes as our new NBC News poll shows Trump gaining momentum, erasing Harris's five-point lead from a month ago. The race now with dead heat within the margin of error. And asked about the Trump administration's policies, more Americans said those policies help them, while more Americans describe the policies of the Biden-Harris administration as hurting them. If we show up, we'll win. The Harris campaign now calling in reinforcements. Former President Clinton.

What do you think this election comes down to? Who wants it bad enough? Yeah. And whether we can get another, you know, honest open town. Days after former President Obama warned Harris lacked enthusiasm among some black men, the Harris campaign is rolling out new proposals, including loans for black entrepreneurs. and money for training programs. I think that Kamala Harris has re-energized our party.

I think that she has provided us with a sense of hope that we have not seen since the Obama days. But Trump supporters say that's not enough. Because everything's so much to live and barely anybody can afford it nowadays. And Gabe joins us now from Columbus, Georgia. Gabe, tonight where you are, there is also this new showdown over medical records. Yeah, Allison, Vice President Harris is slamming former President Trump for refusing to reveal his medical records after she released a letter from her White House doctor who said she's in excellent health. The Trump team says that it released a letter last year, although it wasn't as detailed. And meanwhile, Allison, here in-battleground, Georgia, in-person early voting, is sent to begin tomorrow.

Allison. Gabe Gutierrez on the campaign trail. Thank you. For more on the final sprint to Election Day, Don Callaway, Democratic strategist and founder of the National Voter Protection Action Fund, and Harrison Fields, National Surrogate for the Trump 20204 campaign, an assistant director for media relations for the Heritage Foundation. Join us to sort of pick up on this conversation. Thank you both for being with us tonight. Don, I want to start with you and with this new NBC news polling that shows Vice President Harris and former President Trump essentially in a tie. And it really really is not just this poll, right? From the New York Times, the Quinnipiac to NBC News, Harris and Trump are essentially tied across seven battleground states. When you look at those numbers, Don, has Harris lost the momentum we saw after the Democratic National Convention? Well, the momentum has plateaued, but that's what it's supposed to be. You have to remember the whole, the deficit that she was digging out of in order to ascend to the place of relative

parity that she did. I would encourage everyone two things. Number one, Don't be discouraged by polls because no Democratic presidential candidate will ever win by a landslide furthermore into the history of this country. So it's always going to be close. But also I think the more important numbers are less the national and more the battleground states after we see how many new registrants and active voters are going to participate now that registration deadlines are coming to a close. But at the end of the day, there's a hard sprint of organizing an on-the-ground execution that has to be done, regardless of what polls say. because Kamala Harris can absolutely lose this election, but she won't. If those groups who organized and became galvanized at the beginning, now see it through the finish with the execution piece in these last three weeks.

It's true that it's rarely that we see a landslide win in a presidential election. But when you look at the polls in the New York Times had an interesting article on this today, they went back to 2000. And they said this is really in those battleground states in particular, the closest we have ever seen the polling dating back to the year 2000. Don, if you were directly advising the Harris. campaign? What would you say they should change in terms of campaign strategies between now and election date to not stay at a plateau?

I actually think that, again, when you consider the deficit from where she came from, the campaign strategy has been highly effective. I think we've identified some marginalized, yet still actively voting communities that need to be told by her or very resonant surrogates, those who share lived experience. What specific Harris policy agendas mean? for them. I think that's the disconnect between some black and Latino men right now. It's important to find resident surrogates to do that. I also think it's important in these last three weeks to come up with real voter protection strategies, particularly in the battleground states, because as much as it's important to get people excited and get people

to turn out, we have to make sure that those votes are protected, particularly in the face of Republicans who are actively trying to disenfranchise people all across the country. Harrison, let's bring you in here, because when you look at the polling, the same questions could be posed to you. Obviously, the Trump campaign, also doesn't want to be in this sort of de facto tie so close to election day in so many swing states. When we also look at the polling, in our NBC News poll, there was a pretty significant divide in terms of gender with 55 percent of women saying they are in favor of Vice President Harris compared to 40 percent for former President Trump. Harris only has the support,

on the other hand, of 41 percent of men, while former President Trump has the support of 56 percent of men who are considered potential voters. So should those numbers or do those numbers concern the Trump campaign and looking ahead, what would you say the Trump team needs to change, if anything, in these battleground states in this final push to try and avoid a plateau? Well, thank you so much for having me on. And, you know, we're going to look at the numbers from here to election day, and they're always going to fluctuate. But I can tell you, internally, the polls are very well. And we have to look at this broadly. When you look at look at the polls that were up there. There's other polls that ask you, are you better off now than

you were four years ago? And how do you actually feel about the direction of this country? And for many Americans answering these polls, over 60 percent feel like the country is on the wrong path, and they see Donald Trump as a change agent. So whether you're a woman or a man voting in this election, and if you're looking for change, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are that change. Because Kamala Harris is in a massive dilemma. She is trying to convince the American. people that she hasn't had control of the country in the last three and a half years, almost four years, as vice president. The American people are smart enough to know that she is the vice president in the United States and Joe Biden's failures are Kamala Harris's failures,

and they're going to vote accordingly. And for the dynamic between men and women, Donald Trump is going to be with Harris Faulkner on Wednesday at an all-woman town hall in Georgia. He understands that he needs to make up ground in this arena. And he is talking to directly to women saying, I am going to be the president that's going to be prosperity to your home, security to your streets, and speaking to them more broadly than the Democrats are right now. But so far, Harrison, is it not fair to say that based on these polling, speaking broadly to women in those generalities isn't working? Because based on the numbers, they are significantly leaning towards Harris instead of Trump. Is that an issue in the messaging, or is it

a referendum of sorts early on the policies? Well, I think the issue of abortion, is always going to be one of these things that bring out women more so. But I think it's a disservice to women to think that just one issue is going to command the lead. The polls are going to be the polls. The real poll is going to be on November 5th, and we'll see with exit polling and, of course, the final solution of who becomes in the next president of the United States, how women actually end up voting. But I can tell you this, women are very much hurting in this economy. When interest rates are what they are right now, when inflation, since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been in office, is over 20 percent. When you look,

look at gas, rent, and groceries all up tremendously. When you look at cities like Philadelphia and Detroit and Baltimore, when you look at violent crime, carjacking, assaults, rapes, and batteries, they're all up. So when you look at, when you look at, when you look at, when you look at when you look at the facts, women are going to be able to. Go ahead, Don. Go ahead, Don. Violent crime is down and it's irresponsible for you as a young black man trying to participate in the political sphere to misrepresent that at a time in which marginalized communities, particularly black and brown communities, are especially in prize. That's a chess term, young man, meaning in danger from real Trump policies, including empowered

state-sanctioned violence from police forces. So let's be very clear about that. It also was not calling Kamala Harris who sits in the White House and the Oval Office right now. They want to re-imagine policing. They want to get rid of qualified immunity. Yes, we do want to get rid of qualified immunity and reimagined policing. But you have to tell truths if you want time on national. national platforms like this. Well, let's shift as you both are talking. Hold on, Harrison. Give me a second, please. Don, let's turn and talk a little bit about some of the issues that I think both of you are talking about. And I will have both of you touch on this issue. But, Don, let's start with you

because we do want to talk about this issue that has come up in recent dates about, in recent days in particular, about black voters as a voting block. And specifically when it comes to men. And you two are both far better to have this conversation than me. So I will just pose the question of both of you and let you two discuss it and take turns here. But we have heard specifically Harris in Pennsylvania today talking about a new plan to address concerns of black male voters. And this is coming after that talk from former President Obama to volunteers on saying how they felt black men needed to show more support, stronger support for Harris. Is there a real concern amongst the Democratic Party in this race that black male

voters will not turn out? And is the Harris campaign executing the right strategy in your view to make sure they do? Well, first of all, let's talk strategy. I think there's been an ongoing and sustained effort to reach black men. That conversation has been happening for almost 18 months, just knowing who's going to participate. And I do think in these last three weeks, we have to triple down on finding real surrogates whose resident life experiences matters with marginalized voting communities. That said, I think that black men are like all Americans who are trying to figure out what this political process in which post-Brock Obama, we realize that nobody is our individual salvation, what this political process particularly means for outcomes for their specific lives. So black men are no different than American voters in that respect, but I will say that 85% of black men at least are going to vote for Kamala Harris.

Every objective poll shows that, which means that we are the Scotty Pippen to black women who are the Michael Jordan of democracy in this country. So if Kamala Harris, God forbid, doesn't win, it won't be because of black men by any stretch of any mathematical imagination. Harrison, how do you think your party is doing when it comes to reaching out to black Americans, black men in particular? Well, Donald Trump is the only Republican candidate, at least in my lifetime, but through history, is actually making an effort to talk to black Americans. But he also has a record of success

when he goes into the black community and talks about what he's willing to do when he's president again. Black Americans remember when Donald Trump introduced the First Step Act. That was a criminal justice reform plan in which Democrats had many opportunities to do, and they never did anything when it came to criminal justice. Donald Trump did that. When you look at Opportunity Zones, Donald Trump did that, which brought in capital

into communities that were often overlooked and was able to generate generational wealth in a lot of communities like Milwaukee and Detroit. Donald Trump did that. I was just in Milwaukee

for the R&C, sir. I talked to actual business owners that have been impacted by the opportunity zones and they are looking forward. They have. They have. Because I and my firm have.

I encourage you to go to I encourage you, I encourage you to go to Milwaukee. I wrote the bills, young man. Once again, I wrote the bills and I live in the hood, so I don't need to go to Milwaukee to know that opportunity zones was tax incentives for developers who were already going to develop the river fronts and the high-end retail areas of their cities. It did not bring capital into black communities. So stop.

Again, you're talking to somebody who happens to understand this stuff. All right. Don Calloway, Harrison Fields. We are unfortunately out of time. We have to leave it there. But I appreciate both of you, Harrison. We hope you both will come back and join us again. because I would love to continue this conversation, and I have a whole lot of questions about swing voters and whether or not they're really still out there.

So I hope you both will join us again. Thank you. We appreciate it. Have a good night. We're going to turn now to Florida where the devastation and destructive power of hurricanes Milton and Helene are coming into sharper focus tonight as our teams make it to some of the hardest hit areas of the Gulf Coast. NBC Stephanie Gossk reports on the damage. Tonight, the barrier islands on Florida's west coast are digging out. Nobody ever expects this. Minnesota key was slammed by the brunt of Milton's wind and surge. Very challenging times for sure.

Fire lieutenant Chad Wynn gave us a boat tour of the worst of it. It's something we'll never get back. It's crazy. A part of history is truly gone. While the manatees swim unfazed, the key is likely changed forever. The land connected before the hurricane, but when the storm came in, it was so strong, it blew a hole through the island. Further down the coast, houses are decimated.

That sea wall is there to protect the houses. But Hurricane Milton was so strong that it actually picked up those huge builders and hurled them into homes, some cases in their living rooms. In other areas, water still submerges roads and homes. Flood waters rising days after Milton hit in towns far from the coast. After touring the damage Sunday, President Biden promised 600 million in federal funds to support the recovery. There's a hot tub that you can't see.

There's a buried hot tub up there. Jay Hager and his wife own timeshares at the Sea Oates Beach Club in Manasota Key, utterly transformed by the surge and the sand. You help your friends out, we help our neighbors out, and then we come in and start working on our stuff. It will take the will of Floridians like themselves to rebuild. You go stand up on that teaky hut and you look out and then you see that gorgeous aqua water. You're like, that's why we're here.

That's just that view. It's priceless. And Stephanie Gosk joins us now from Minnesota Key. Stephanie, looking behind you, we can see piles of what looks like sand. What is it that's actually behind you? It is all sand. In fact, Allison, it is a mountain of sand cleared from the streets of Minnesota Key. First after Hurricane Helene and now after Hurricane Milton. It is a kind of monument to the strength of those two storms. and we keep watching dump truck after dump truck come and pile the sand on. It's getting higher and higher, and the recovery and rebuilding on a place like this can't begin until they clear all that sand, Allison. Stephanie Goss, in Florida, thank you.

And we are not out of the woods just yet. The National Hurricane Center is monitoring another tropical disturbance in the Atlantic. So let's get straight to NBC News meteorologist Bill Karens. Bill, what is the latest on this possible storm? Yeah, Alison, we're still in the middle of our. which is still considered the peak of the hurricane season. It's no surprise. We have other areas of interest out there. So we have one, which is a 60% interest, and that's out in the Atlantic. We're going to head towards the island areas here in the Caribbean as we go through

the upcoming weekend, and then off the coast of Nicaragua and Honduras, about a 20% interest. This time of year, if the U.S. is the hit, typically the storms will form in the Caribbean or the Gulf. So we'll have to watch this one that's only 20%. But the one that's a 60%, it has a chance of getting close to Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands. Our computer, models do keep it just north of there, and this would be late Friday night. Notice that almost all of them are safely north. This is going to be a small storm. These small storms can flare up quickly, and they can also die pretty quickly, but they do generally head towards the Turks and Caicos, possibly Dominican Republic and Cuba. So let me show you our most reliable, typically,

long-duration model. This is our European computer. Here's Puerto Rico, and it has the storm here to the north Saturday morning. Now, all of our computer models keep it away from the U.S. East coast, but they do bring it down here towards Dominican Republic or Haiti or possibly the Turk and Kaco. So Allison, there will be a storm. It does look like it will impact some land areas, but it will not hit the U.S. East Coast. All right, Bill Carins, thank you. Moving overseas now into the escalating conflict in the Middle East, the U.S. sending anti-missile systems and troops to Israel to aid in their fight against Iran. This, as the battle against Hezbollah in Lebanon also rages on with the death toll steadily rising. NBC News, International

correspondent Matt Bradley is in Lebanon with the latest. Tonight, the U.S. set to send a powerful anti-missile defense system to Israel. The THAAD missile battery plus about 100 American troops to operate it. After that massive Iranian ballistic missile attack against Israel earlier this month, Israel tonight still weighing how and when to retaliate against Iran. Why did you decide to take the permission for the FAD to be deployed in Israel? To defend Israel. Hours ago, Iran-backed Hezbollah fired more.

pockets into northern Israel after Hezbollah drones evaded air defenses, striking an Israeli air base killing four soldiers in a dining hall. Israeli air strikes today hitting a Christian region of Lebanon for the first time since Israel began targeting Hezbollah, killing 18 people, according to the Lebanese Red Cross. Meanwhile, in Gaza, officials say three Israeli air strikes killed dozens, including at a hospital, which Israel also says, housed Hamas, sending a tent shelter for displaced people up in flame. And this funeral for a toddler and his mother killed in a strike on a school. The IDF hasn't commented.

This man who lost both his grandson and daughter, saying a year and one month old. I mean, what is his fault? Gaza is finished. Now the American Embassy here in Lebanon is once again strongly encouraging Americans to depart now. Ellison? Matt Bradley, thank you. Still ahead tonight, the terrifying train crash in New Jersey. scary moments as a train slammed into a massive tree on the tracks, what we're learning about

one person killed and others left injured. Plus, the Cobb County, Georgia Sheriff facing backlash after he called for backup when a Burger King got his order wrong. What newly released body camera footage shows about the moments in question. And signs of life in space. The new mission searching for clues on Jupiter and why it will take decades to get answers will explain. Stay with us. We're back now with a story about a Burger King order leading to a political firestorm in Georgia. Newly released body camera footage shows the moment a Georgia sheriff actually called for police backup because the fast food restaurant got his order wrong.

His opponent releasing the video and grilling him on his use of power. NBC's Emily Aketa has this story. Ask Mike, I'm on a order her wopper. No mail couldn't have. Tonight, newly released body camera video stirring up controversy in an Atlanta suburb. Cobb County deputies seen here rushing to the scene of a Burger King with sirens blaring. Move! Not for a crime or physical altercation.

We order something. But to assist Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens with his food order complaint. I don't need no down money back no more. I just need to find out of this place so I can do a physical plan to complain. The incident happened a year and a half ago, according to the timestamp, but an edited video of the complaint recently emerged in a campaign ad from Owen's opponent in the sheriff's race, Republican David Cavender. I don't think you should have your own deputies running lights and sirens down the streets of Cop County because your order was wrong. As a senior law enforcement official in the county, I believe that should be something you should be able to use some social interaction skills with and be able to know. navigate that incident without the assistance of deputies.

NBC News obtained the original body camera videos from two deputies' perspectives. You didn't tell who I would. No, I just told him it was the guy out of the truck. Owens now defending his actions, writing, at no point did I indicate my position, nor did I ask the responders to do anything that they would not, had not, or have not done for anyone else who makes a business dispute call, which he says any citizen can make. adding that I regret that this call is being politicized in an attempt to win votes. Carmen Best is a former police chief in Seattle. Any person does have the right to make the call, but he's not any person.

He is the sheriff and these people work for him who are responding. So it does make it a bit of a different circumstance. Owens, a Democrat, unseated longtime sheriff Neil Warren, a Republican in 2020, becoming the county's first black sheriff running on jail reform and his experience in the Army reserves. Now the groundbreaking sheriff facing a grilling just as early voting is set to get underway. This is still a solidly Democratic county and most people vote for the incumbents in these down-ticket races unless they have a real reason not to. But this makes the Republicans chances a little bit smoother. And Emily Aketa joins us now in studio. So Emily, is this a situation

where constituents, voters are speaking out. Could there be political ramifications here for the sheriff? Well, we are hearing some concerns raised by voters. There's a lot of questions around, was this an abuse of power? Why did it take so long for this video to surface? Was it a misuse of resources? And if we zoom out, you think about Cobb County, Georgia, this battleground state. Vice President Kamala Harris really needs to win Cobb County in order to win the state,

as Democrats have done so in the past two presidential elections. So it's really key and important here. And it seems not super likely that the sheriff's race will impact the top of the ticket, but President Trump, of all, former President Trump, of all places, he will be holding a rally in Cobb County tomorrow. So we'll see if he tries to use this as leverage, if he leans into this. But again, it is giving voters some kind of pause because of how viral the video has gone. I should also note that David Cavender, the political opponent, he says he has learned that the sheriff has since started to receive some threats in light of the video, and he wants to wholeheartedly condemn them.

so it's starting to turn ugly. Emily, Aketa, thank you. When we come back, the parachute stunt gone wrong in California, a Navy parachuter crashing into a crowd during San Francisco's Fleet Week. What we're hearing about injuries on the ground, stay with us. We're back with Top Story's News Feed, and we began with a deadly train crash in New Jersey that left 23, people injured. Early this morning, the train smashing into a large tree that had fallen

onto the tracks just outside of Trenton. The train's operator was killed and more than half of the people on board were hurt. Governor Phil Murphy says an investigation is now underway. The family of a Broadway dancer who has been missing for more than a week is pleading for answers. Twenty-eight-year-old Zellig Williams, who performed in Hamilton and MJ the musical was last seen on October 3rd at his mother's home in South Carolina. That day, a friend got an SOS alert from Williams' phone, saying he had been in a car crash, but police later said they found that car near a hiking trail with no sign of an accident. Actor Hugh Jackman, who worked with Williams joining in on the calls for the public's help, a Navy parachuteist

crashing and landing into a crowd of spectators in San Francisco. Video shows the parachutists overshooting the landing zone, coming down into a crowd of people at the Fleet Week event on Sunday. A mother and her teenage child were both injured. The pilot, the pilot, pilot walked away unharmed. The Navy saying it is not clear what caused the incident, but they planned to conduct a review. And NASA launching a mission looking for signs of life in space. The space agency launching the unmanned Europa clipper to one of Jupiter's 95 moons of the same name. Europa is believed to have an underground ocean and potentially habitable environment. But don't celebrate just yet because the probe will not reach Jupiter until 2030,

traveling more than 1.8 billion miles. The probe is. is not expected to find life, but maybe the ingredients to support life in the past or in the future. We're going to turn now to the latest on accusations against rap mogul Sean Diddy Combs. The famed producer now facing a series of new lawsuits, the detail allegations of sexual assault and rape ranging from 1995 to 2021 and involving six accusers. This as Combs sits behind bars awaiting criminal trial next year. NBC News Entertainment correspondent Chloe Malas has the details. Tonight, Sean Diddy Combs facing a new wave of civil suits accusing him of rape and sexual assault. The six suits first obtained by NBC News were filed in New York on behalf of four men and two women,

all of whom are remaining anonymous out of fear, according to the suits. The accusations date as far back as 1995 and as recently as 2021. One of the lawsuits include an allegation of assault and rape of a woman in a Manhattan hotel room when she was just 19 years old. One of the male accusers claims he was just 16 years old when he was sexually assaulted by Combs. Another alleging he was drugged and raped by Combs in a van at one of Combs's famous white parties in the Hamptons. While a third male accuser claims that in 2021 at a party hosted by Combs, he was raped by three men, including Combs, according to the lawsuits. There's an overarching theme here, as you probably can see, which is basically Sean Combs feels like he can do whatever he wants. Combs's legal team have not commented on the latest string of suits, which were the first from Texas attorney Tony Busby, who claims Diddy won't be the only celebrity named in future lawsuits.

Certainly, there will be people named in these suits that will raise some eyebrows. Last week, a federal judge set Combs's criminal trial date for May 5th to face sex trafficking and racketeering charges. And Chloe Malas joins us now in studio. Chloe, you were in the courtroom last week when Diddy was there. But now there's also this possibility, right, of another indictment? Yeah, I mean, that was something that we were not expecting. Federal prosecutors saying that they may have another superseding indictment. So could we see Combs' May 5th trial date get pushed back because of that? What will those charges be?

I mean, currently he's been charged with sex trafficking, racketeering, RICO. But, you know, as you're seeing these civil suits mounting, you have to wonder if some of those individuals are also working with federal prosecutors. All right. Chloe Malas, thank you. Coming up next, China's war games, more than 150 military planes, ships and rockets circling Taiwan in a move the U.S. State Department condemned as destabilizing, what triggered this massive show of force in China, and why there is likely even more to come. Stay with us.

We're back now with the major show of force by China that the U.S. has condemned as an effort to destabilize the region. Chinese armed forces conducting massive military drills effectively surrounding Taiwan on all sides. And China tonight warning more war games could soon follow. NBC's international correspondent Janice Mackie Freyer reports from Beijing. The show of power was launched before dawn. China sending its army, Navy, Air Force, and Rocket Force to completely surround Taiwan. In a single day, the drills involved a record one hundred. 225 Chinese military aircraft and 34 naval vessels,

including the aircraft carrier Liaoning, according to Taiwan defense officials tracking them. Taiwan scrambled its fighter jets and warships, too. And condemned China for what officials called unreasonable provocation. We also need to stay calm and competent to prevail a struggle between democracy and all our tournaments. China made no secret of what was driving the maneuvers. It was a warning, they say, to any Taiwan separatist forces, after accusing Taiwan's president, Lai Qing-Tu,

of promoting independence in his National Day address last week. In that speech, Lai said Beijing had no right to represent Taiwan, but also said he would work with China on issues like climate change. The offer of goodwill did not go over well here in Beijing, where Lai is neither liked nor trusted. A spokesperson said, what I can tell you is that Taiwan independence is incompatible with peace in the Taiwan Strait. Videos of the exercise, which were shared widely on Chinese social media, show the scope and scale of what China deployed, including a blockade on key ports. China's People's Liberation Army has also used more gray zone tactics, like patrols and air incursions, to a point where experts say military activity around the island has become normalized. Li Xiamin is a retired admiral and former head of Taiwan's armed forces.

I don't think the PLA is ready for the fourth care invention in the next few years. But however, if they want to conduct that kind of very limited military detective, they are already able to do it, like this is any one of the offline islands or even conducted the quarantine for Taiwan, they can do it. The U.S. said it was seriously concerned about the escalation. China last launched drills in May when, was sworn in, this time was framed as the sequel. With the expectation there will be more. And Janus Mackey Freyer joins us now from Beijing. So Janus, China and Taiwan, they have a long

complicated history. But this new Taiwanese president seems to be getting under Beijing's skin more than other recent Taiwanese leaders. Why is that? Well, Beijing is called Lai Chintu or William Lai, a troublemaker, a dangerous separatist, because the leadership here believes he leans more toward pursuing Taiwan independence than his predecessor, Tsying Wen. Threats from Beijing have ramped up, along with incursions and patrols, as well as the introduction of new laws that they're using against so-called Taiwan separatist forces. China's President Xi Jinping says the reunification of Taiwan with the mainland is a historical inevitability, and the use of force has not been ruled out. Beijing doesn't see the urgency necessarily with reunification, but they see independence

as something that needs to be urgently stopped. So when Lai spoke out last week against annexation and saying Taiwan would uphold its sovereignty, these are ideas that Chinese officials are not going to accept. And then in that speech when he offered to work with China and Beijing responded with military drills, it's a sign that this is going to be a testy relationship at best. Alison. Is it fair, Janice to describe the latest back and forth as an unprecedented tit-for-tat or escalation, or is this a continuation of what we've seen in the past? This is a continuation of what we've seen build over the last eight to ten years. The party that William Lye represents was elected to an unprecedented third term earlier this year. And there was always a rocky relationship. But it's because he is the leader now that seems to be, as you say, getting under the skin of China's leadership here.

And it's why we're likely to see more military drills, more incursions, and a real doubling down on these new laws for Beijing to believe that it's suppressing these separatist forces. Ellison. Janice Mackie Freyer, thank you. Now to top stories, Global Watch, Canada and India tonight expelling six of each other's diplomats in an escalation of an ongoing dispute. The expulsions, including of India's High Commissioner, come after Canadian police say they identified evidence of violent criminal activity by the Indian government. The tensions stem from the 2023 assassination of a Sikh activist in Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged the Indian government was linked to that killing. India denied the accusation.

Italy announcing it has sent its first ship of migrants to processing centers in Albania. The transfer is part of a plan to process asylum seekers outside of Italy's border to deter immigration. The Interior Minister said the ship, which is set to land on Wednesday, is carrying 16 men from Bangladesh and Egypt, all of who were rescued at sea while trying to reach Europe's shores. Human rights groups warn it could set a dangerous precedent, potentially exposing the migrants to poor treatment. And a Nepalese teenager becoming the youngest person to summit the world's 14 highest peaks. At 18 years old, Nima Rigi Shurpa is shattering the record previously held by a 30-year-old, submitting the world's tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, over a two-year span.

Rengi is a Sherpa, part of an ethnic group that lives in the highlands of Nepal, and whose members have served as guides and borders for climbers for generations. When we come back in emotional sit-down, are Aaron McLaugh, speaking to the family of Hirsch Goldberg, Poland, the 23-year-old American Israeli who was taken hostage and then executed by Hamas, the moment they learned the excruciating news and what they want the world to remember about their son. Finally, tonight, as the war in the Middle East escalates, we have the heartbreaking account of one of the innocent lives caught in the middle.

Are Aaron McLaughlin sitting down with the parents of Hirsch Goldberg, Poland? in Israeli-American hostage taken by Hamas in their October 7th attack, executed 10 months later in August in the tunnels below Gaza. Rachel and John, his parents, describing the horror of his final moments. We leave you with their agonizing journey of trying to cope with an unfathomable loss. Saturday night, August 31st, I had dropped my daughter with friends at a gathering that was four hostage families. I came home. John called me to our room when he heard me come in the house and he handed me my book of Psalms and he said there's a rumor that there are six bodies that

were discovered in a tunnel under Gaza and the rumor is that one of them is Hirsch and it's time to pray. And then John got a call from representatives from America and Israel who said we're downstairs and they were going to be coming up. It was important to me to open the door before they got there because the dread of hearing the knock on the door with such bad news was something that I didn't think I could bear. And when they walked in, did you know? We knew when they called. They don't show up at your door at 4 o'clock in the morning with good news. And while we knew he was held captive in a war zone by a terror organization with one arm missing,

somehow we had 330 days where we were optimistic and hopeful. We were just planning for his return. And of course, we knew their code. would be another outcome, but it basically had never entered our minds. And so there's the shock that we probably shouldn't be experiencing. We always should have been more conscious of this, but we didn't allow ourselves to be. We know that Hirsch was being kept in a tunnel that was 60 feet underground with no electricity and no plumbing.

It was 80 centimeters wide, which is two feet wide, just over two feet wide. It was just under five foot five. Hirsch is almost six feet tall, just shy of six feet tall. So there wasn't room for him to stand up straight. There were bottles of dark urine everywhere in that tunnel because the six were so dehydrated. And they had to, anytime they had to go to the bathroom to urnade, they would go in bottles. And the bottles were just lining the walls and there was a bucket at the end of the tunnel. They were all found two days after they were killed.

They were killed sometime the evening of Thursday, August 29th. Ironically, we had been at the border with Gaza that morning with with a whole group of hostage families screaming to our loved ones on huge amplified systems. Hirsch, it's data. Hirsch was found on his knees, frozen on his knees with his back against the wall. Remember he's only 80 centimeters. He had put up his hands, you know, he only had one hand, he put up his arms to protect himself. He weighed 115 pounds, 53 kilo, when we buried him.

I mention all of this because I think that it's really critical that the world knows that that is how these hostages are being held. are starving and our beautiful six hostages were bullet-ridden and all emaciated. And I think that it's important that people know that. I want to bring up something that you said at Hirsch's funeral that really struck me. You said the hope that perhaps a deal was near was so authentic, it was crunchy. It was crunchy. It tasted close, but it was not to be so. What gave you that sense? Well, we had been told by a lot of the different people who were in or adjacent to the rooms

where the decisions were being made, that the plan that was on the table, that was for all of the hostages, which was divided into different phases, was near. We heard it from people from several different countries, not one or two, but three or four. Including Israel? Yes. How do you make sense of that deal being so close and then weeks later, Hirsch being killed? one of the many things that we don't make sense of yet. I don't know that we ever will. How do you want the world to remember Hirsch? From a very young age,

Hirsch asked a lot of questions. He didn't accept the world for what it was. At a relatively young age, he was raising to us this notion of nation states. The way the world has run, as we know it. Is it good for the world? Is there a better way for the world to be run than the nation-state model that we know. So one thing I would say to people is in Hershey's memory, probe, ask questions. And the second side of that is listen and try to understand other people's views and answers. You don't have to agree. You don't have to accept them. But he always made that space for trying to understand. And if we can get everybody to do a little bit of that. That's a big part of this revolution for good.

And to reduce all of the suffering that this whole region is enduring right now. We are not alone in having lost. We didn't get him back the way that we wanted him back, but we did get him back. And we did give him a proper Jewish burial, which was extremely important to us. And so we want to be careful and gentle and sensitive and yet still be advocating for the remaining 101 who are there. Hirsch was our universe. I said that from day one, he's our universe, and I acknowledge that he's not everyone's universe. And I did appreciate people who held our hands and cried with us. But it was very clear that he was expendable.

To who? To everyone but us.