Top Story with Tom Llamas - Monday, October 30, 2023

Episode Date: October 31, 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, Israel rejecting any talk of a ceasefire under pressure from the world, but not backing down from its war with Hamas. Prime Minister Netanyahu refusing global calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Israeli military pushing further into the Gaza Strip, saying they've rescued a soldier held captive as Hamas releases new video of hostages. One of them recorded criticizing Israel while under duress. Israel blowing out buildings with new airstrikes and using special bombs dropped to implode that Hamas tunnel network. Inside Gaza, Palestinians sheltering in homes as Israeli rockets rained down, power and communications cut off. One family just barely surviving an airstrike finding their neighborhood destroyed. You'll hear from them tonight.

Also some Palestinians who worked in Israel trapped in the West Bank, the war cutting them off from reaching Gaza where they're They live. Back at home, the mass shooting close call, a man found dead at an amusement park in Colorado, dressed in black, tactical gear and body armor, heavily armed with several guns and explosives, police and bomb squads searching the park for more danger, what we know about the suspect and how he died. The battle for Iowa, NBC News polling, finding former President Trump still surging with Republican support. The race shaping up for second place, Mickey Haley and Governor Ron DeSantis tied, but behind the party leader, why DeSantis isn't in the lead, even though he's number one when it comes to favorability, we'll explain.

Death kept secret? A mother finding out her son died six months after reporting him missing, calling investigators for updates, never getting an answer, then finally told he was killed after being hit by a police car, driven by an off-duty officer. The city burying the body behind the town jail, marking it with a wooden post, the mother's outrage and quest for answers. Barry alive, incredible video of police saving a man trapped in a grain silo. The farmer falling in, sinking like quicksand, emergency responders cutting a hole into the silo itself, pulling him to safety. And goodbye to a friend, people around the world mourning the death of beloved friend star Matthew Perry.

Tonight, the emotional statement from his castmates just in. Top story starts right now. And good evening. It is great to be with you tonight. We start with the leader of Israel, the fight against global pressure. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejecting calls for a ceasefire, saying the war against Hamas is a battle between, quote,

civilization and barbarism. This comes as news of an Israeli hostage. Now, back with her family. You see her here, the one wearing that Marvel TV. shirt. She's a soldier, and Israel says they rescued her from the clutches of Hamas as the IDF pushes more troops in and out of Gaza. Israel's intelligence says 239 hostages are in Gaza right now, 33 of them, children. But again, they don't know for sure how many of these captives are still alive. It is the cruel reality so many families are living with since their loved ones

disappeared in that terrorist attack more than three weeks ago. Hamas releasing this new video of Israeli captives today. Three women, you see them here on camera, one of them speaking, most likely under duress, possibly tortured in the video. Again, she's encouraged possibly by the terrorists. She criticizes the Israeli government. This anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli sentiment is spreading throughout the world, new disturbing video from Dagestan, a Muslim region in Russia. What you're seeing here are mobs of people, swarming an airport, believing an airplane had just arrived from Tel Aviv, ready to greet those Jewish passengers, likely with violence. We'll have much more on this video later in the broadcast.

Back in Gaza, the Israeli military breaching this region, the northern region, up here, with armored bulldozers and tanks, engaging Hamas fighters throughout the weekend and pushing towards Gaza City. And tonight we have another brutal reminder of why Israel declared war with Hamas. Shani Luke, a German-Israeli tattoo artist, kidnapped during the October 7th terror attacks. Early on, you may remember, she became in many ways the face of the victims and the hostages of this horrific incident when videos spread online of her kidnapping and torture. Today, we learned she was beheaded by terrorists in Gaza. Her story, one of 1,400 of Israelis killed by Hamas, and tonight will take you to where Israelis at that music festival found shelter.

And then those Hamas terrorists threw a grenade inside, turning it into a death trap. The war pressuring Palestinians in the West Bank, day laborers from Gaza, stuck with nowhere to go in total limbo. Tonight will take you into one of those camps. And also a powerful report of what it's like to live in Gaza from an aid worker on the ground, their story of the weekend of relentless air strikes and a growing humanitarian crisis. So let's get started tonight with NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel, who's going to lead us off tonight. This evening in Tel Aviv, the family. The families of Israeli hostages were gathered to pressure the government not to forget their

loved ones amid the fury to attack Hamas. Elie's daughter, Leary, is a soldier, kidnapped from a watchtower at Kibbutz Nahaloz. All of the guards were women. Hamas killed 12 of them and kidnapped six or seven. That's Leary in the glasses. Now I have received message that the army released one girls from Nakhalo. I hope that it's my daughter. I hope.

Hello. Elie checks to see if maybe the rescued soldier is Leary, not tonight. It's not my daughter, but she was with Leary together. So how does that make you feel? Make me happy. Even it's not my daughter, but it's make me happy. The rescued hostage is Leary's friend, private Ori Megidish, captured from the watchtower and freed by Israeli troops carrying out the ground.

in Gaza last night. Israel says she's doing well mentally and has met with her family. But Hamas has plenty more hostages in Gaza. Israel tonight raising their estimate to 239, including 33 children. And Hamas is taunting Israel with them, releasing a video today of three Israeli captives speaking under duress. We met Neta, a friend of the Tripana family. She's speaking for them because everyone in the family. and the family was killed or kidnapped by Hamas. How do you watch this war and watch all those explosions and not think they might be underground under one of those bombs?

We think about it, and we saw that Atlanta is alive now, and this is the reason why we want her back now. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, under fire for not taking responsibility for being unprepared for Hamas' surprise attack, says there will be no ceasefire. that Israel must retaliate for the 1,400 Israelis killed. Just as the United States would not agree to a ceasefire after the bombing of Pearl Harbor or after the terrorist attack of 9-11,

Israel will not agree to a cessation of hostilities with Hamas after the horrific attacks of October 7th. This is a time for war. In Gaza, more than 2 million civilians are suffering because of a war they didn't start, can't escape, and which is escalating by the day. According to the health ministry run by Hamas, more than 8,000 Palestinians have been killed so far.

Hospitals have become refugee centers for the newly homeless. They destroyed our house on top of us, this man screams. Israel says there's a safe haven in the south, but it's bombing in southern Gaza, too. the roads to get there aren't safe. Today, an Israeli tank fired on a car traveling on the main highway. Witnesses tell us that we're children inside. The Israeli military wouldn't comment about the incident. This war is only three weeks old, and it's hard to see much but suffering ahead.

Richard Engle joins us now live tonight near the Israel-Ghasa border. Richard, I want to go back to that hostage that was rescued by the Israeli forces. You had an interesting line in your story. You said Israel released no details about the operation. This is sort of interesting because Israel's really been at the forefront of the PR campaign during this war. They've been very open at times about what they're doing. Obviously, they don't want to disclose military tactics. Where did the hostage negotiations stand?

And how would this play into any type of negotiations they're having with ongoing rescue missions still happening? So there's two reasons. They didn't release, it seems, any details because there are still so many hostages inside. They don't want to release how they may have captured her, where, who else may have been with her. Did they receive any leads, any intelligence based on briefs that they've done with her? This happened about 24 hours ago, so it was not that she was freed and then they immediately went public with it. So they had some time to debrief her and clearly are continuing their military operations. We've been seeing them tonight and been hearing them.

As far as the negotiations that are being carried out through Arab mediators, we are told that they're difficult, but that they are certainly ongoing. Richard, just because you mentioned it and you looked over your shoulder, we see sort of that orange cloud of dust. I don't know what it is. If you could tell our viewers what it is. And I ask you this because, you know, we had all been sort of waiting, the world had been, waiting for a ground invasion, if you will. But looking at the pictures of your story and seeing this back half and what's happening in Gaza, it sounds like this relentless sort of bombing along with troop movements in and out of Gaza.

Is this what we should expect in this war? So first of all, we are on the Israeli side of the border, and it seems that this is more of just a fire. There have been troops in this area. There's activity not necessarily war-related. So this is a war zone, a closed military zone, but this does not seem like it is an impact or a rocket that just exploded here. In terms of the pace of the battle, for now, it does seem like it is a rolling offensive, that we didn't have this blitz of tens of thousands of Israeli troops, many of the reservists, going in all at once. Instead, it was elite troops, some of the best trained troops in Israel going in armored vehicles,

punching into Gaza in different locations, many of them in the north. And then each day, there has been a steady flow of troops entering the Gaza Strip. So it has been a building campaign, the Israeli military is describing it in phases. The first one was the air campaign. Now there is the ground campaign. What comes next, phase three, could be a more intense ground campaign, could be street-to-street fighting. It's unclear. But yes, more of a rolling campaign.

Richard Engel for us leading us off here on Top Story, Richard, you and your team, please stay safe out there. As Israeli forces are launching the new phase of their war on Hamas, tonight we have a rare look from inside Gaza, an aid worker on the ground, refusing to leave his work and his home, recording the moments the shelling was at its worst. NBC's Jay Gray has this heroin view. There was a total electricity blackout. Darkness and explosions in the distance were the first signs for Muhammad Shalabi that things were changing in northern Gaza. This was all coupled with the rumors that the Israelis were about to have a very vast ground invasion.

So you can imagine the level of anxiety that the people were living in. That night. The rumors became reality. We witnessed the most vicious attacks on the north of Gaza. They were aerial bombardments, naval fire, and border fire altogether. Every once in a while, the sky would turn into an orange color. those were targeting residential areas. We weren't sure whether those were targeting the borders.

We were just hoping that this bombardment would never reach us. But hours later, it did. I was sitting with my kids on the sofa, and suddenly there was a huge explosion. A huge explosion. I've never heard this sound before. My child, my daughter, Missk, she started screaming and panically hysterically crying. I rushed outside immediately to see what was happening. I opened the door and I honestly could not see in front of me and could not breathe.

My neighborhood was destroyed. One simple rocket, just one rocket that hit a neighbor's home without warning. At least 10 of my neighbors were killed, including children. And many others were injured, let alone the panic that happened in the children and the women, the fear I saw in the eyes of the people. The life his family had known gone. I'm still safe. My family is all safe.

But I'm not sure what's going to happen next. Food, water and hope in his village now running dangerously low. There is nothing and it becomes even emptier and emptier as the days pass. Shibali joining human rights workers across the globe calling for an immediate ceasefire and stepped up deliveries of humanitarian aid. Tom? Jay, great for us. We're going to have much more on the Israel Hamas War later in the broadcast,

but we want to turn to a developing story back here at home that's happened tonight. A disturbing discovery at a Colorado amusement park. A man armed with guns. explosives, and a tactical vest found dead there over the weekend. Authorities now investigating what he could have been planning. Tom Costello with more on the mystery. It happened at the Glenwood Camberts Adventure Park in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, about 40 miles from Aspen. The Garfield County Sheriff says park employees discover the body of a 20-year-old man in the

ladies' restroom as they prepared to open on Saturday. The unidentified man died by suicide, found on the floor dressed in a helmet, black tactical, clothing and body armor with patches and emblems, armed with real and fake semi-automatic rifles and handguns, including ghost guns, loaded magazines, and IEDs were explosives, both real and fake. On the stall door, he'd apparently written, I am not a killer. Although he was very highly prepared, very highly weaponized, he chose not to take advantage of any of that, whatever his preparation was. We are, to say the least, extremely lucky that he did not fulfill whatever plan he may have intention. The FBI and the nearby bomb squad searched the park and the

suspect's home for any other explosives. Investigators say the suspect had no criminal history. There was nothing to indicate any type of warning or any type of concern on the part of family, friends, school, what have you. The discovery came just hours after a 40-year-old shooter was discovered in Maine Friday night. He's suspected of murdering 18 people at two crime scenes before dying by suicide. The sheriff in Colorado says teams have combed the park property and the rides to ensure they're safe as they search for clues about what the suspect's motivations might have been. Tom. Tom, thank you. Now to the latest in that mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. What we're learning about the threats the gunman made in the weeks leading up to that attack,

the warnings before the shooting from his own family about his mental health, In our interview with the man who may have led authorities to discover his body. Kathy Park reports tonight from Maine. Tonight, growing questions about the mental health of the gunmen in Maine's deadliest mass shooting. There's a strong mental health cloud over this what happened. Law enforcement officials telling the Associated Press they stepped up patrols and issued a statewide alert last month after he made threats against an Army reserve base. A family member also flagged police about his mental state.

And authorities say he received care at a mental health facility this summer. Jim Laptowitz lost his son-in-law, Joshua Seale, a beloved ASL instructor. The part that makes me so upset is how, if somebody goes in to buy a gun, you know, they get your license number, they get a lot of information there. How is that screen not blinking red, flashing on and off, do not sell? When the gunman's body was found Friday night, police say they recovered two firearms and a rifle from his abandoned vehicle. Weapons all purchased legally.

With that section of the trail, I'm very familiar. Among the hundreds of tips that came in, officials say one lead helped them track down the suspect inside a trailer at a recycling center. While they haven't identified the source of that information, Chris Poole says he called the tip line when he made a possible connection. I said, you know, I think I know the track that he or the path that he took. I can almost guarantee you that he'd be in a trailer in one of these overflow lots. pool is a former manager at main recycling corporation and was very familiar with the property we know people we know law enforcement and we know how hard they've worked and everything that they've done to you know come to the conclusion that they did so we all play a part and when i say community i mean it is it's it's everyone after days of horror and heartache lewiston is focused on healing in the face of great difficulty and tragedy it is is the hallmark of main people to come together, to love and support one another.

The local bar and bowling alley have become crime scenes. But every day, memorials grow for the 18 victims gunned down Wednesday night. It's a really great community. It's got so much heart and love and grit. This weekend, thousands turned out for public vigils, finding comfort and community. If you cannot come together as human beings, and what do you And as grieving families prepared to say their final goodbyes among the 13 injured in this shooting tonight, we've learned at least three are still in critical condition. Tom? Kathy Park with a lot of new reporting for us. Kathy, thank you.

Okay, next tonight to the race for president and the new numbers out of Iowa. An NBC News, Des Moines Register, MediaCom poll showing former President Trump still with a commanding lead you see here at 43%. The other big headline from this poll is Nikki Haley is now tied with Governor Ron DeSantis at 16% for second place, continuing the momentum since her last two debate performances. And while these candidates continue to compete in the state, it is Trump who is at the front of the mind for voters in the Hawkeye State, one voter telling the Des Moines Register,

quote, if Trump's not running, I would have to look to see what the other candidates stand for. Otherwise, it's Trump all the way. He's my hero, him, and Jesus are my heroes. All right. Tara Palmerie is joining us tonight. She is, of course, the Puck senior political correspondent, Matthew Dowd, NBC News political analyst and former chief strategist for the Bush Cheney 2004 presidential campaign, and Hogan Gidley, former White House Deputy Press Secretary for the Trump administration. All right, Tara, I'm going to start with you. You've seen these numbers.

You've covered these candidates. What do you make of this new poll? Well, if I was the DeSantis campaign, I'd be really concerned right now because they've been all in on Iowa. they have spent so much of their super PAC money, their campaign money, they're actually running out of money right now, and they're really on a one-state mission, thinking that that will give him momentum into South Carolina and into Super Tuesday, almost pretty much neglecting New Hampshire. And to see Nikki Haley, who's been both really persistent on the ground in both New Hampshire

and Iowa, up 10 points and tied with him right now, I would be very concerned. And from the people I've spoken to on the ground, she is just running one of the most professional campaigns. She's all everywhere, she's everywhere all the time. But I think what is crucially happening is that she's reaching the never-Trumpers, the independent voters, who just don't want to vote for Trump. And I think Ron DeSantis is getting the people who are like, well, if I can't have Trump, I guess I'll take Ron DeSantis. She's chosen a different lane. She's pivoted to strike at Trump, whereas the others took a while. to do that. And she's had really strong debate performances. I think on Wednesday you'll see

another one. And that'll just continue to help her rise. Is she anywhere close to Trump? No. But should Ron DeSantis be worried? Yes, absolutely. Matt, I want to move over to you now. I'm going to ask our great director here, Brett Holy, to actually put up the full screen we have of favorability for Ron DeSantis, right? Because I want you to take a look at this. The interesting about this poll is that Ron DeSantis came out number one in favorability. And yet he's pulling at 16%. How do you square that in this poll? How do you explain that as somebody who ran polls for a long time? Well, it's not unusual because people can like somebody but not necessarily choose them over another person that they actually want to be back as president. And that's the case here with

Donald Trump in the case is most of Ron DeSantis's vote. And if you look at who people's second choice are, is for Donald Trump. And so the interesting thing about this, And this is why it's, Nikki Haley's campaign is a little bit odd. So you're saying she's the alternative. If she were to get out of the race, it would actually help an alternative. If Rhonda Santis were to get out of the race, it would help Donald Trump. And I also look at these polls. It's sort of, this is not the Olympics where you get a silver medal from finishing second.

And right now, Donald Trump is 27 points ahead. And the last poll, he's actually further ahead than he was in the last poll that was done there. but he was two points further ahead in this. And so they keep battling. This is the second place as Donald Trump puts miles and miles and miles between him and second place. And each other candidate, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, others keep kicking themselves while Donald Trump continues to surge and even more so in the lead.

So as of right now, all Nikki Haley and Ronis Sanders is doing are fighting over who's going to finish second, and that's meaningless in a presidential race. Hogan, I want to get you in here now. I want to show a comparison of these poll numbers. We do have this graphic. These are the numbers versus August. And when we put them up on the screen here, we compare the poll now to the poll in August.

Donald Trump actually gained a point when we go to the poll. And you see Nikki Haley's come up in the polls as well. But I want to focus on Trump. What do you think President Trump is doing right? And what do you think he could be doing better or maybe lay off of? Because it's sort of incredible that he still maintained this lead. And he's had all of these court documents, all these court cases. Everything has come out over the last few weeks.

And yet his numbers are still strong. So many people, though, are concerned more about the policy than they are the personality at this point. Look, what you have in this race is going to be unique. Should Donald Trump become the actual nominee for the GOP? You're going to have two men in Donald Trump and Joe Biden running against each other using their records as president. Donald Trump isn't saying, hey, when I was a governor, I did this. I promise if I get elected, I'll do the same thing. As a senator, I did this to the state.

I promised I'll do this for the country. No, he actually was president of the United States. And so this is way different than anything we've ever seen in the past. The poll numbers are going to go up and down, obviously, with those who aren't Donald Trump in Iowa. I've done this now many times with someone like Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, both of whom weren't even registering at this point, surging around Christmas. I mean, at this point in 2016, Ben Carson was ahead of Donald Trump, and then Donald Trump went ahead. Ted Cruz's at 10 percent ended up winning the state. A lot of funny things can happen in a caucus state.

but understand the difference here, and it is a big one, and that is a former president of the United States is in this race atop the polls. And a lot of folks in the GOP say, wait a minute, he missed out on his second chance to be president in that second term. We think he deserves it. We want him back in place.

We don't care what the rest of the field looks like, and that's where it stayed for quite some time ever since Donald Trump got in this race. Tara, you mentioned Nikki Haley. You mentioned her good performances at the debate. We have a big debate next week, obviously, hosted by NBC News. We'll be down there in Miami.

I do want to play some of her clips because some people have been saying that her ads have been very effective in Iowa. Here's a Nikki Haley ad. Democrats have shown us a lot of chaos. Chaos on the border? And now we're seeing chaos across the world. But you don't defeat Democrat chaos

with Republican chaos. We've got to leave the baggage and the negativity. That's not the way you win. The Biden campaign just released a statement attacking you. Your response? Look, you should be worried. I would stomp all over, Joe Biden. Nikki Hayley, Strength, not chaos. SFA Fund, Inc. is responsible for the content of this advertising.

So, Tara, it puts the whole argument right there, right? She attacks both President Biden and former President Trump. It's succinct. You get the messages. The images are memorable. And some people are crediting these ads. Yeah, I mean, they're strong, especially with the foreign wars that we're going through right now, and she was the former U.N. ambassador. She speaks with a lot of fluency on the debate stage at these events, town halls, speeches. She knows what she's talking about. That's pretty clear whether you agree with her or not. And I think, you know, everyone was sort of pitching themselves as Trump without the baggage, right? But when she gets up on the debate stage, she really does seem to be the most composed out of all of the

other candidates who seem like schoolchildren just fighting with each other and screaming over each other. I mean, she had moments that some might not like, like when she smacked down Vivek Ramoswamy, but it also were, they were memorable moments all the same. So I think, you know, Nikki Haley is trying to show that she has this ability to be Trump without the baggage, but also can take on Joe Biden by winning over independence, women, suburban voters, college-educated, older people. I mean, these are the type of voters that don't want to vote for Donald Trump I just don't know that there's a big enough universe of them to win a primary election. Matt, what's your take on Tara there and that sort of analysis on Nikki Haley?

Is there a chance? Can she surge and actually give Trump a race in Iowa? The only way she surges is if she starts taking support from Donald Trump. That's the only possible way. Right now, her gains have all come not from Donald Trump. They've come from Tim Scott or Vivek Ramoswamy or somebody else. None of her gains have come from Donald Trump. Until she takes a bite out of Donald Trump and starts removing supporters to her, it's going to be almost impossible for her to win this race. Hogan, is the former president going to keep ducking debates?

He's going to duck the debate next week. Will we see him ever on a debate stage and does it matter? Again, at this point, it doesn't matter. I don't know that he has any plan whatsoever to join. And when you're up this big, I don't know as a political consultant, if I were advising him and I'm not, that it would be a, in my best interest to tell someone who's up this big to go get on a debate stage, as Tara pointed out, where they're just throwing mud at each other and they act like school children for the most part. So I don't know that it's wise for him to do so politically.

But look, Iowa's one of those states where a lot of people rise and fall through the ebbs and flows of the fall and then ultimately up into the winter. Nikki's the latest to take that trend upward. She is kind of the corporatist candidate. A lot of people on the ground I know, and I've worked with there for decades, tell me she's just seen as someone that the establishment wants to try and go against Trump. And Matthew's absolutely right. I don't know that she gets there if she doesn't have the votes.

And right now, her sliver of that pie is so small, I don't think it's enough. All right, Hogan, Matt, Tara. We thank you so much for joining Top Story tonight. We're going to continue this conversation, I know, into the weeks ahead. All right, still ahead here on Top Story tonight. The death kept secret. A Mississippi mother desperately searching for her missing son only to find he had been fatally struck by a police car six months earlier. So did that department cover it up? What we're hearing from the family's

lawyers tonight and police. Plus, a shocking discovery inside of Wisconsin Goodwill. What workers found alongside donated items that forced an emergency evacuation and a consumer health alert, 26 kinds of eyed where they were sold and the dangers they could pose. Stay with us. We're just getting started on this Monday night. We're back now with an NBC News exclusive interview. A mother in Mississippi was searching for her missing son, only to learn he had been struck and killed by a police car, and no one told her for nearly six months.

She spoke to our Blaine Alexander about her outrage on what she's now demanding. The last time Betterstein Wade saw her son, Dexter, the two had an argument, and he left the house. But three days later, when her 37-year-old still hadn't come home, she knew something was wrong. He's never disappeared like that. He never disappeared like that. He never, never.

Within two weeks, she filed a police report. For months, her calls to police got the same response. No update. Help me understand what that time was like for you. That time was horrible. You were lay in your bed. You would think he might have been out there suffering. Somebody might have had him.

torturing him. You just want that call to say, Mom, I'm all right. I'm all right. All you want to do is see your child. Then in August, nearly six months after Dexter went missing, an investigator finally told her, Dexter had been hit and killed by an off-duty Jackson police officer while crossing a highway. It had happened less than an hour after he left home that day in March. Then, Another bombshell. Dexter had already been buried in an unmarked grave behind the county jail. The only sign? A poll with the number 672.

Dexter, I tried to find you and I couldn't. I'm sorry, baby. I'm sorry you are here. You saw buzzets circling and you're talking about a frightening thought. Did they even put him in a wood bun? box? Or did they just put them in a body bag and drop them in the ground? Jackson Police have not responded to NBC's request for comment. According to the coroner's office, an investigator identified Dexter and shared contact information for his mother with police. But she

says she never received a call. After NBC News broke this story last week, Jackson's mayor said this. That at no point have we identified or did any investigation reveal that there was any police misconduct in this process and that there was any malicious intent. Do you believe that? No. Attorney Ben Crump says they're asking for the DOJ to open a civil rights investigation. They also plan to exhume the body and perform a private autopsy before giving Dexter a proper burial.

And lay some flowers there and just to know he's in a safe place. Blaine Alexander, NBC News, Jackson, Mississippi. Okay, when we come back, cut off from Gaza, Israel revoking work visas for nearly 20,000 Palestinians in the wake of that brutal Hamas attack. But with the goddess's border still sealed, those workers fleeing to the West Bank with no way to get in touch with their families. The stories of those refugees. Next. All right, we're back with Top Stories News Feed, and we begin with the latest on a deadly show. shooting in Tampa during Halloween festivities. The 22-year-old suspect Tyrell Phillips appearing in court today on second-degree murder

charges. He's accused of opening fire on a crowded street early Sunday morning. A 14-year-old boy and 20-year-old man were killed. At least 16 people hurt. Police say the shooting erupted during an argument between two groups and moral arrest are possible. A goodwill donation prompting an evacuation at a Wisconsin shopping center. A live explosive device and ammunition was found along with. donated items at a store outside of Madison, police evacuating the area while the county

bomb squad collected the device. The device was known as a cluster bomblet, a smaller explosive found inside of a cluster bomb that doesn't always detonate on impact. No word yet on who donated that item. Luckily, no one was hurt. And the FDA warning about the risk of infection from eyedrops sold at major retailers. The FDA says investigators found unsanitary conditions and bacteria in a manufacturing facility that produces 26 over-the-counter eyedrops. The affected products were sold under brands CVS Health, Cardinal Health, Rite Aid, targets up and up, and Velocity Pharma. The FDA says infections could result in vision loss or even blindness,

but so far, no cases have been reported. And the historic auto worker strike is set to end after a tentative agreement today with General Motors. United Auto Workers announcing a deal with Ford on Wednesday, and a Stalantis deal on Saturday. If these deals are approved by union members, they will be set to receive a 25% pay increase over the next four years. All right, we turn back down to our coverage

of the Israel-Hamas war, and tonight we have new details on the brutality of the initial Hamas terror attack. But as Israel prepares for the next phase of this war, there are questions about what that looks like. NBC's Ralph Sanchez has this report. Tonight, a chilling reminder of the brutality of Hamas' terror attack.

Israel announcing 23-year-old Cheny Luke, last seen in this video being carried into Gaza by Hamas terrorists, has been found dead. Israel's president said she was beheaded. Her mom tonight saying, this is not an act of war, this is just pure terror, cruel and brutal. Sheenie was one of more than 250 young Israelis murdered by Hamas at the Supernova Music Festival. Many of them tried to escape along Road 232, now referred to in Israel, as the Rerner. road of death. Israeli civilians fleeing from the music festival reached this bomb shelter. They thought they'd be safe here. But Israel's military says a Hamas terrorist threw a grenade inside and it turned into a death trap. As Israeli forces push deeper into Gaza, their goal is to topple

Hamas. Polls before the terror attack showed just a quarter of the Palestinian public supported Hamas. But with thousands of Gaza civilians killed and a million more displaced, even Palestinian critics of Hamas, warned Israel's military response is creating the conditions for the group's ideology to survive. Hamas equals people's frustration. If Palestinian people are more frustrated more, that means Hamas is more popular. And a new report that while Palestinian civilians desperately struggle for basic necessities, Hamas is well-supplied and refusing to give it away. Arab and Western officials tell the New York Times the group has stockpiled hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel for vehicles and rockets, and enough food, water, and medicine to

last for months. Hamas still believes that they can put up a fight. Gersh and Baskin is an Israeli negotiator who has dealt with Hamas. Even if Hamas is an organization can be defeated, can its ideology? The only way we can replace the reality of the horrible life that the people in Gaza and in Palestine have had over the last 75 years is to create a new reality. And Tom, we're hearing from the leader of Hamas in Gaza. for the first time since the start of the war.

His name is Yahyah Sinwar. I actually met him in Gaza several years ago. He has a brutal reputation, and now he's saying he wants the release of all Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the hostages. Israel says he's their number one target. Tom.

Raf Sanchez, Raf, thank you for your reporting. As so many try to flee the escalating violence in Gaza, tonight the story of one group, desperate to get back in, day laborers who had their visas to work in Israel revoked after the October 7th terror attack, taking refuge in a makeshift shelter in the West Bank with no way to get in touch with their loved ones inside Gaza

and no way to get back across that sealed border. NBC's Hale-Gurani explains. Hundreds of men, stranded, sleeping where they can in what was once a sports center. Day laborers from Gaza now stuck in Ramallah in the West Bank, dozens of miles away from home. Mostly construction workers, rights groups say their permits to be in Israel, were suddenly revoked after Hamas's bloody October 7th attacks.

With Gaza now sealed off, the men are struggling to communicate with their families. Their wives, children, and parents are now facing displacement and destruction alone. This is my wife. We meet Na'el at the center. Where is your family? Now? Yeah. I don't know.

In Gaza? In Gaza. But I don't know. In Gaza where? I don't know. Have you been able to talk to them on the phone? No connection, no information. Nail says he hasn't heard from his wife and four children.

I don't know my family living or not leaving. I don't know. You don't know if they're alive or if they're not alive? Yes, I don't know. Rights groups say around eight. 18,500 Gazans had permits to work in Israel before the war. Now considered illegal aliens, many have gone missing. Hundreds have ended up here in this Palestinian Authority facility aided by volunteers.

There's little left for them to do other than constantly check for news from home. We want to die with our families, our children, this man says. While they're dying in Gaza, we're here eating and drinking. We want to go back. But with communications patchy or non-existent, the lack of information is agonizing. Pictures on their phone are sometimes the only connection to home. Day laborer Fatih proudly shows me a photo of one of his sons graduating. This is the one who's an engineer.

And he's now in Gaza. This is number five from my sons. Number five of nine. Yes. Where was this? Islamia University. Now destroy university. So this is one of the young men you don't know how he's doing.

I don't know. I don't know about him anything. Some have been here almost three weeks, drying clothes on sports equipment, sleeping on concrete bleachers, and passing the time any way they can. For some, all that's left to do is prey. is pray. Hala Garani joins us live from Tel Aviv. Hala, I had these questions here

that I had written down for you before I actually saw your report. I had just read your script, but seeing these images, I have to ask you, how are these fathers, how are these men not going crazy being held in that camp? And I understand they can eat and they can drink, but knowing what's going on in Gaza

with their families. I mean, I had the same question, to be honest. I would be absolutely going mad because for 24 hours when we were in that IDP camp, internally displaced camp for Gazan workers, there was a complete communication blackout. Communication was restored in some parts of the strip after we left, but you know, you had these men holding up their phones with that message, your call can't go through, your call can't go through. They were WhatsApping their family and they were only getting that one tick and not the double tick, so it was never

received. I don't have the answer to that. I think that when you're faced with a situation like that, you just have to take it, get through it, survive it, and that's what they were doing. And I think some of them would be free to leave, but this is where they were all kind of, you know, able to at least find shelter, some food brought by volunteers in this disused sports center that is normally run by the Palestinian Authority. So let me ask you about that. because, so our viewers at home who may not know this, there are lots of Palestinians who lived in Gaza, the West Bank, and would work in Israel.

You were saying they're no longer able to do that. Are the men even able to work, or do they have to sit in that sports center day and day out? No, the Gazans are, according to rights groups, not able to work. They are technically, therefore, illegal aliens. Some complain that they've been mistreated by authorities, say they weren't paid, and that they have no choice but to essentially find a way to get

through every day and wait for either their permits to be given back to them or to get back to the Gaza's trip. But getting back to the Gaza's trip, as all our viewers know by now, is extremely dangerous. There's no way to do it anyway, even if it's something that they were allowed to do and allowed to travel. As far as the West Bank, there are West Bank residents who still have permits to work in Israel, but the tensions between these two communities are very high, as you can imagine, at this stage, Tom. Hala Garani, a great story, and also welcome to NBC News. Your reporting has been phenomenal

so far. Okay, we want to turn now to the rise of hate, both here at home and around the world. The Israel Hamas war sparking increase in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Gabe Gutierrez has more on that, and what the Biden administration is doing about it. Tonight, the U.S. is condemning this pro-Palestinian mob that stormed an airport in Russia looking for Jews. Hundreds of men, some carrying banners with anti-Semitic slogans, rushed onto the tarmac, searching for Israeli passengers. Around the world, demonstrations calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. In Pakistan, some protesters burned Israeli and American flag.

How concerned is the White House that these demonstrations will spiral out of control? No, we believe in the right of peaceful protest. Nobody wants to see peaceful protests turn violent or turn dangers. In the U.S., the Biden administration is announcing new steps to fight anti-Semitism and Islamophobia on college campuses, including federal agencies improving coordination between campus law enforcement and state and local counterparts at Columbia University. Jewish students who do not feel physically safe on campus. At Cornell, police are guarding the Center for Jewish Living after the university says a series of horrendous anti-Semitic messages threatening violence were posted online.

Junior Molly Goldstein is the center's president. What's the sense of fear like on campus right now? I would say all students are absolutely terrified. People don't know what to do with themselves and whether they should stay or leave campus. The Anti-Defamation League reports since the war. began anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. are up nearly 400% from the same period last year. As the manacues of stabbing a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy to death near Chicago pleaded not guilty today, Muslim leaders are reporting an uptick in Islamophobia nationwide,

with the Council on American-Islamic relations citing nearly 800 complaints this month. Incidents like this one at American University, where a Palestinian IT specialist says someone slid a note under his door, threatening, go back to wait. you came from. You might get lucky with a missile and meet your Allah sooner. This whole eerie feeling just took over my heart sank. As the White House tries to get a grip on rising displays of hate, today the Justice Department announced charges against the Nevada man, who's now accused of threatening to exterminate a U.S. senator for supporting Israel.

Tom. Okay, Gabe. Coming up, a life-saving rescue caught on camera, a farmer falling into a silo and trapped under a pile of grain. You can see him there, just his head. How rescuers finally got him to safety after multiple attempts. Stay with us. All right, we're back now with Top Stories Global Watch

and the investigation tonight into a deadly train collision in southern India. Authorities say an incoming passenger train slammed into the back of another train that was stopped. At least 14 people were killed. You see some of the aftermath here. More than 50 had been hurt. Officials believe human error caused this crash. In Australia, two police officers honored for a dramatic rescue of a man who was stuck in a grain silo. Here's the video.

It was shared by police in Queensland. It shows the moment the officers rushed to save a farmer who had actually fallen into a silo and was buried under a mountain of grain. Rescuers eventually cutting a hole into the structure and bringing him to safety. The man was treated for a minor leg injury. This weekend, the rescuers were awarded for their life-saving actions. Okay, when we come back, farewell to a friend. Matthew Perry, in his own words, on the role that skyrocketed him to stardom and his proudest work helping others with addiction.

Plus, the statement just in tonight from his friend's castmates. What they all said. Stay with us. Okay, we're back now with the latest on the shocking death of actor Matthew Perry. New details are emerging about the first moments he was found unresponsive. Now, the outpouring of emotion, including the statement just in from his fellow cast. members. NBC's Chloe Malas has the details. Tonight, the cast of friends speaking out on the death of Matthew Perry.

Quote, we are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just castmates. We were family. This says new details surrounding the actor's death. NBC News learning that it was Perry's assistant who called 911 after discovering the actor unresponsive in his hot tub at his California home Saturday afternoon. tonight the medical examiner deferring his autopsy after it came back inconclusive now they await toxicology results which could take months by all accounts he was doing great perry's former

pickleball coach and longtime friend says that just hours before his death the star was playing pickleball with mutual friends at a nearby country club it's just a total shock perry moved to los angeles as a teen it was there he got into improv comedy and just six years later at At the age of 24, Perry would land the gig of a lifetime, as Chandler Bing on the hit NBC series Friends. Someone at work ate my sandwich. Well, what did the police say? Why is your family Scottish? Why is your family Ross?

There is a little child inside this man. Yes, the doctors say if they remove it, he'll die. During the height of his fame, Perry says, off. screen, he struggled. The actor said he went to rehab 15 times and detox 65 times. Now tributes pouring in. Adele stopping mid-concert Sunday to praise Perry for being open about his struggles. I remember that character for the rest of my life. Tonight, family and fans honoring their forever friend. He was some guy. Chloe Malas, NBC News. Matthew Perry had an incredible career, but what he most wanted to be remembered for, was the way he helped other people, and in his candid conversations

about struggle with addiction and his work to help others. Here's Matthew Perry in his own words. I don't want to be single, okay? I just want to be married again. just want a million dollars. Anybody know a good tailor? You need some clothes altered? No, no. I'm just looking for a man to draw on me with chalk. No accountants. Oh, and no one from, like, legal.

I don't like guys with boring jobs. Oh, and Ross was like, what? A lion tamer? Can't call her. I left the message. I have some pride. Do you? No. That's it. Okay, I'm out of here. I'm not going to be embarrassed anymore. It's back then I used humor as a defense mechanism. Thank God I don't do that anymore.

We had become kind of overnight successes. I mean, it's really kind of the Hollywood story. You hit a crossroads like that at a moment in your life, you just kind of realize that no matter what the consequence, you have to go, it's a life and death kind of situation. You hope that people are going to be understanding. But, you know, it was a very serious thing. If I hadn't done what I did, I may not be here sitting and talking to you.

I keep coming back to this singular inescapable fact. I'm alive. Given the odds, those three words are more miraculous than you might imagine. To me, they have an odd, shiny quality, like rocks brought back from a distant planet. No one can quite believe it. It is very odd to live in a world where if you died, it would shock people, but surprise no one. The best thing about me, bar none, is a certain thing. is if somebody comes up to me and says I can't stop drinking can you help me I

can say yes and follow up and do it I said this for a long time when I die I don't want friends to be the first thing that's mentioned I want that to be the first thing that's mentioned at the reunion I was the one who cried more than anyone because I knew what I'd had and the gratitude I felt then match the gratitude I feel today this is harder than I thought it would be it's gonna be okay well do you guys have to go to the new house right away or do you have some time we got some time okay should we get some coffee sure where

Matthew Perry was just 54 years old thanks so much for watching Top Story I'm Tom Yamison New York stay right there more news on the way Thank you.