Top Story with Tom Llamas - Monday, September 28, 2026

Episode Date: September 29, 2026

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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tonight, the deadly nor'easter delivering a powerful final punch after pounding the East Coast for days. The monster storm battering coastal communities. This car swept into the ocean. A school bus in Massachusetts dangling over a river. People kayaking through floodwaters in New York City. Trees taking down power lines to race to get power up and running. New twist in the alleged terror plot targeting a UK base used by the U.S. Police releasing the suspects.

President Trump blasting that decision today. was Iran behind the plot. Rape allegations rocking an Ivy League campus, a woman accusing seven fraternity brothers while the DA is reopening the investigation now after deciding not to prosecute years ago. The New York Times Tech Executive gunned down in broad daylight. His in-laws arrested for murder.

What led up to the shooting? Growing backlash to these commercials featuring President Trump, they look identical to campaign ads, but they're funded by town. taxpayer dollars, how the White House is defending the move. The historic SpaceX launch and the fiery splash down in the Pacific Ocean, while the test mission was several hours shorter than scheduled, we'll explain. Plus, is there no age limit to rock and roll? From Rod Stewart to Ringo Starr, the music legends playing well into their golden years, how artists are still drawing large crowds.

And concerning connection, a growing number of middle schoolers turning to AI chatbots for friends instead of humans. Top story starts right now. Good evening as we come on the air at deadly Nor'Easter, battering parts of New England after days of relentless and punishing storms left a path of destruction across the East Coast. Right now, millions are still under flood alerts. Coastal towns up and down the eastern seaboard pummeled by huge waves like these. The storm's so powerful, it washed away this car in Massachusetts and even unearthed fragments of a century's old shipwreck. Dron footage in Delaware showing entire neighborhoods submerged after days of torrential rains.

New Jersey hit very hard. Roads turned to rivers. You can see it here throughout several towns. Violet winds unmooring the sailboat, causing it to smash into a dock. Residents, even spotting this, what appears to be a shark in the floodwaters. Some streets in Queens, New York, also fully flooded people using you saw their kayaks. Those gale force winds bringing down hundreds of trees in the city, tens of thousands losing power throughout the three-day storm. All of it causing chaos at airports. More than 5,000 flights to later cancel today. But as this storm winds down, another massive storm is taking aim. The Southwest bracing for a multi-day dangerous flooding event.

We're tracking it all tonight, but we want to begin with our Air McLaughlin on this weekend's powerful Northeaster. A monster storm slamming into the eastern seaboard, bringing intense wind, rain, flooded streets, massive waves, and killing at least one. All from a Northeaster that's been pounding. much of the East Coast for days. Tonight, six million remain under coastal flood alerts in areas from the Carolinas to Massachusetts. Where today in the rain, a school bus went off the road. Police say there were no kids on board and the driver was not hurt. The exact cause of the crash still under investigation. Meanwhile, in Queens, New York over the weekend, these kayakers paddling through floodwaters. And in New Jersey, this video shows a sailboat crushing a pier.

leaving very little behind. My dog just got destroyed. Another shows flooding so severe. Is that a little shark? A possible dogfish shark was spotted swimming around over the weekend. And now, with the worst behind us, there's an all-out effort to clean up in Huntington, Long Island. Close to 300 trees were down since Friday.

The ground is saturated and they're just falling over. It's a struggle to clear the growing number of down trees. Officials say this is the scenario that concerns them most. A massive tree falls across power lines and a streetlight. There's the crosswalk. And it's right across the way from a local school. Officials say the tree's been there since Friday. Today in New Jersey, beach is closed, transformed into debris fields.

All of it taking a toll on millions. And the season of nor'easter storms has just begun. And this shows the full impact of this storm. These are trees brought down by the nor-easter. They've been blocking roads and taking down power lines. Crews have been bringing them here. It's a process expected to last through tomorrow. Tom.

Aaron McLaughlin leading us off on Top Story. I want to write to our friend meteorologist Bill Cairns. Bill, as this Northeaster moves out, I know you're watching something very dangerous on the southwest side of this country. Yeah, another dangerous, unusual time of year for this storm. So we just got done with the North Easter, which was. very early in our nor'easter season. This is very late in our monsoonal flood season in areas of the desert southwest. And we have tropical moisture that's already streaming. We've already had flash

flood warnings in areas in Nevada and also California. This is going to combine with a hurricane making landfall, Polo, major hurricane in Mexico later on tonight. So these two things are all going to come together for a very significant flash flood threat through the four-corner region, especially New Mexico. I think that could get hit the hardest. But then in the days ahead, this system kind of stalls out, and we're going to get numerous rounds of thunderstorms in areas like Oklahoma and Texas. So here's the timing. So here's Polo making landfall later on this evening. Here's that tropical moisture, and we kind of surge these two together tomorrow afternoon, and this is the most dangerous time. Tomorrow afternoon and this time tomorrow in areas of New Mexico

with just torrential rain. So they're getting some today to, you know, gets the ground kind of wet, and then tomorrow just more comes in and just makes the situation so much worse. And then by the time we get to Wednesday, this is beautiful. We love the fact that Colorado is going to get its most significant rain in almost three years. If you've been following any of the stories out of Colorado, you know how desperate they are for water. The flooding situation will be from southern Colorado down through New Mexico. That's where the life-threatening flooding is expected, then isolated, heading up towards Omaha. And as far as rainfall totals go, tomorrow, as much as locally five inches in New Mexico, Southern Colorado. And then towards the end of the week, Tom, we're going to

watch our friends from Oklahoma City to Dallas to Austin, San Antonio included in that too. They desperately need rain, but they're just going to get so much at once. They still could get some flash flooding. Yeah, I'm sure we're going to be talking about this every night this week. Bill, thank you. We're going to turn now to those rape allegations rocking Cornell University and the growing outrage over the fact that the investigation was initially dropped. Tonight, the DA reopening after the alleged victim sued the school. Maggie Vespa is on campus and a warning. The details you're about to hear are disturbing. Tonight, New York prosecutors reopening their criminal investigation into an alleged rape on Cornell University's campus.

This less than two weeks after a female student IDed only as Jane Doe sued, among others, the university, the Kai Phi fraternity, and seven then members alleging they drugged and sexually assaulted her at a party back in 2024. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houghton, who declined to charge the seven members at the time, says Jane Doe initially described the counter as consensual. Now that this lawsuit has been filed, that raises the question that Jane Doe believes there's additional evidence. We want to talk to her. We want to flesh out with her what that additional evidence is. Jane Doe's attorney tonight responding. The reason it took two years to file the lawsuit is my client took time to heal. She wanted to give Cornell the opportunity to make this right, because this was her expectation. In the lawsuit, the female student says she went to the fraternity house after drinking,

where members asked her to participate in a threesome, pressured her into snorting ketamine, and assaulted her over the course of hours. The suit describes her at one point as incapacitated, saying the encounter was not consensual, and includes Snapchat messages allegedly sent within the fraternity, which the lawsuit describes as encouraging members to join in on the gang rape. Cornell at the time conducting its own investigation, which the university says in a statement resulted in administrators banning the chapter in addition to suspensions and expulsions. Jeremy Salon represents Scott Kretschmar, one of the accused fraternity

members. He had nothing to do with any touching of her, any drugs involved with her, any type of inappropriate contact or communication with her, period. Tonight, Maggie Vespas is live on Cornell's campus. So Maggie, what can we expect from the DA in the days ahead? Yeah, Tom, that's a huge question, obviously, for the students. here on campus. They've been walking up asking us what we're reporting on here, and they all are thinking and talking about this case. Look, the DA basically telling NBC News today that he is now on a timeline. He wants to present this case to a grand jury within 45 days, adding Jane Doe will testify in front of that grand jury. We should also note, Tom, we reached out to the other

six accused fraternity members named in that suit. So far no response. Tom. Maggie Vespa for us, Maggie, thank you. We're also following a developing story at a California a New York Times executive gunned down in broad daylight in the parking lot of a popular park. His own in-laws are now behind bars charged with his murder. Dana Griffin has this one. Video appears to show the moment an elderly married couple was taken into custody after allegedly murdering 40-year-old Jonathan McKenzie, a New York Times engineering executive, he's also their son-in-law. Dublin, California police say McKenzie was found dead Saturday afternoon in a parking lot of a

popular park shot multiple times. And that thanks to several witnesses within minutes, police had his in-laws in handcuffs. Show Yang and Shilly Chin, both 77 years old, have been booked on suspicion of murder. Police have not released a motive. According to the booking sheet, the couple may also face charges of child abuse with great bodily harm. Police have not confirmed whether a child was hurt during Saturday shooting. All of it happening amid what court record show was a months long contentious divorce and custody battle between the victim and his wife. Following his wife's allegations, prosecutors charged McKinsey with two counts of misdemeanor child abuse for allegedly slapping his six-year-old in the face and leaving a two-year-old

unattended while McKenzie went shopping. He pleaded not guilty. The New York Times confirming McKinsey had been the head of engineering games player experience in the Bay Area since 23. According to a neighbor, who spoke with the San Francisco Chronicle, McKenzie had recently moved out of the home he shared with his wife and three children. Dana Griffin joins us now live from Los Angeles. Dana, when can we expect to see those in-laws in court? So the in-laws are being held without bail, Tom. They are scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.

And we looked at some court records and saw that the victim and his wife were actually scheduled for a restraining order hearing in December. Tom? Dana, thank you. Overseas now to that terror plot. The suspects out on bail in the UK after being arrested near a military base used by the U.S. President Trump blasting their release as investigators

search to see if there's a possible link to Iran. R. F. Sanchez is there tonight. Tonight, President Trump criticizing British authorities for releasing the suspects in an alleged terror plot at a U.S. operated air base on bail. I'm surprised that they released him. I wouldn't have done that. With officials investigating if Iran was behind the potential, terror plot, NBC's Gabe Gutierrez pressing the president.

Is this connected to Iran? Might be. Can you elaborate on that? I'd rather not. I mean, I know the answer I can be very specific, but I'd rather not say it. But I would not have released them. The five men, UK citizens in their 20s, were arrested on suspicion of terrorism and explosives offenses on Sunday, near the perimeter of RAF Fairford, where U.S. B-1 bombers

have been taking off for strikes against Iran. The suspects drove these three vans, which were searched by a bomb squad robot. Now they've been released on bail. To be very clear, this does not mean that the investigation is over. They aren't directly accusing Iran, which denies any involvement. But Iran has threatened this base in the past, calling it a legitimate target. We're seeing an intense security presence here with heavily armed British police guarding the outside of the base. and American forces on the inside. A farmer, speaking on condition of anonymity, says she alerted police after seeing 8 to 10 masked men

around 1 a.m. Sunday. It's just pure luck, really, that we happen to be there and did what we did. So, Raf, who's live on the scene for us tonight, there was that danger of this vans, right? And I understand that you have some new reporting that residents are finally being left back into their homes? Yeah, Tom.

So 85 families were initially. evacuated from the area while the bomb squad looked into those vans. They are now being allowed to go back, but there are still police checkpoints like this all over the area. And British authorities still at this point, nearly two days on, haven't said whether they found actual working explosives inside of those vans or not. Tom. And then, Raf, help our viewers understand why would British police release these suspects, given the seriousness of this alleged plot? Yeah, Tom, it's a question being asked here, it's a question being asked all around the world. British police really haven't given a clear answer, but they have hinted that they think it's possible that these suspects were more

kind of unwitting patsies, if you will, rather than hardened terrorists. They say that in the past, they've come across cases where low-level British criminals have been recruited online to act on behalf of foreign states, sometimes without even realizing it. And they say that that is one possibility in this case. Tom. Ralph Sanchez for us, Raf, we thank you for that. Back here at home, President Trump says the U.S. is still in talks with Iran after he called their conditions to reopen the Strait of Hormuz unacceptable. Are Gabe Gutierrez pressing the president at the White House?

Tonight, President Trump telling us that U.S. talks with the Iranian regime are still on through mediators. Has your team spoken to Iran today? Yeah, then. Despite President Trump rejecting Iran's latest offer, where it said it would say it would stop attacking commercial oil tankers and reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. meets its demands. We're going to win that war very soon. That'll be over, and the gas prices will come tumbling down. The administration now argues it has the upper hand in negotiations, so it's in no hurry.

Massive and not the oil is coming out from all those trades, and I like making a kill, too. But I'm not, that good is not going to. But the war and stubbornly high gas prices averaging around 440. 48 a gallon pressuring Republicans with less than 40 days to go until the midterms. The president today touting a new $15 billion steel mill to be built in Iowa. The largest steel plant in American history in the great state of Iowa. A state he won by 13 points in 2024. We pressed the president why recent polls show much tighter races for the Senate and House this year.

Why are Republicans do you think having to work so hard to hold on to these seats? I don't know. I love Iowa. I've always been very strong with Iowa. But I'm surprised. First of all, the balls are fake. Gabe Gutierrez, who had a lot of time there with the president today. Gabe, there were reports President Trump offered Iran sanctions in return for nuclear concessions? Yeah, that's right, Tom. It was a report in Axia saying that the president had offered sanctions released as well as unfreezing frozen Iranian funds in exchange for those nuclear concessions. Late today, the president strongly reacted to that on social media, denied those reports, insisting that he offered Iran nothing. So there are a lot of real questions about where negotiations move forward from here. Iran, for its part, says that it is prepared for a, quote, doomsday war, but it stands ready for diplomacy, Tom.

Okay, we'll see which one they pick. Thanks for that, Gabe. Turning overseas down to harrowing new footage from the war in Ukraine, people trapped inside a building that was burning. to climb out of windows and cling to the sides, desperately waiting to be rescued after a Russian drone strike. Here's Richard Engel with those images. Terrifying scenes in Kiev, flames shooting out of this burning building.

People trapped inside. These two men leaning out of windows as the fire grows. Soon, each forced out onto the ledge. You see them both clinging to the side of the building. On the ground, firefighters racing with lap. with ladders to save them. This elderly man now off the ledge fully hanging, waiting for rescue. Finally, a ladder is moved up to him, and he manages to climb down safely.

Moments later, the entire National Academy of Sciences building totally immersed in flames. One person was killed and more than six injured, including three children. It's just the latest in a string of Russian attacks on apartment buildings, offices, and and a nearby medical center. The escalation coming a week after diplomatic efforts in New York. While the Kremlin signals no let-up, saying Ukraine will pay a price for recent strikes inside Russia. Richard Engel, NBC News. Okay, back here at home to a major update in the story we brought you last week. You may remember this viral video capturing an 81-year-old man, delivering lost luggage to help pay for his wife's cancer treatment.

Tonight, GoFundMe shutting down the fundraiser that brought in more than $700,000 in DoEWRour. donations are Steve Patterson explains why they did it. This is the moment caught on camera that captured hearts around the country. The video we first showed you last week appearing to show 81-year-old Don Johnson lugging suitcases up the stairs for his courier job, all he said to help pay for his wife's cancer treatments. Cancer treatment is very expensive. The video posted by a go-fund user named Aaron H, who said she caught the moment on her doorbell

cam. story went viral, raising more than $700,000. But there was a problem. GoFundMe says Aaron H doesn't exist. And she wasn't a stranger. Hi, everyone. My name is Amy Johnson. And I'm the daughter of Don and Josephine. GoFundMe telling NBC news, Aaron H was actually their daughter, Amy, who told them she believed their story would be more compelling coming from someone they didn't know. And that's so-called doorbell video. Amy telling GoFund me, she shot that too. Look close so you. can see the camera appearing to sway at various points. Amy taken to social media over the weekend, saying the GoFundMe account was hers all along, but insisting the rest of the story is real.

My mother is suffering from pancreatic cancer, and my dad is delivering luggage to help. GoFundMe is since shut the page down, refunding all the donations. A company spokesperson telling us, our trust and safety team identified factual misrepresentations, which directly violates her terms of service. The family hasn't responded to NBC News's specific questions about the story. Amy has set up a new crowdfunding page and has already raised tens of thousands. Steve Patterson, NBC News. All right, we are back in a moment with the delivery deception, a man posing as an Amazon worker accused of helping thieves rob a home, what the surveillance video shows. Plus, a historic mission for SpaceX, the world's biggest rocket launching into

orbit for the first time. We'll show you the fiery splash down. And more devastating landslides overseas ripping through parts of Nepal still recovering from the last deadly disaster. Stay with us. We're back now with a warning about a burglary scam caught on camera in Southern California. A thief dressed as an Amazon delivery driver appearing to case his home before returning to steal $70,000 worth of valuables and family heirlooms inside. Liz Kreutz has been digging into this when Liz, the homeowner in this case hired a private investigator who shared a private investigator who shared that surveillance footage with NBC News. Walk us through what else it shows and how this alleged scam worked. Yeah, hey Tom. So in this video, you can see this man who's dressed as an Amazon

delivery driver walk up to the home. He knocks on the door, waits for someone to answer, nobody answers. So then he appears to stop and text somebody right away. And look, on the surface, this looks like a normal driver, but look at the box there. You can see it's actually, Tom, it's already open, right? So that's one of the red flags here when you're trying to parse through what's happening. When she doesn't answer the door, he texts someone, and then he walks away, and he does not walk to Amazon car sitting outside. He walks down the street and out of view of the camera. About 20 minutes later, a car then drives up. Two men get out of it. You can see here, and that's when the homeowner says they went through the back gate. They were able to break in through the

glass sliding door in the back. They went up to her room upstairs where they got a safe. There's another video than when they leave. You can see them actually pushing the safe into the car right there. And that's where they were able to then steal $70,000 with the valuable items. Her wedding ring, her mother's wedding ring. She's desperately hoping to get those back. But she's also hoping to raise awareness. We've reached out to the Milpitas Police Department.

This happened in the San Francisco Bay Area. They're investigating this. Amazon said they're also investigating this, Tom. But they did point out that usually Amazon drivers don't, knock. As you probably know, they just show up, leave a package, take a picture and leave. Maybe they'll ring a doorbell camera, but they're not usually going to knock. So that's another thing to watch out for. You know, these guys are doing this in broad daylight in that neighborhood, which is kind of crazy. You think, you know, carrying out a giant safe and putting into a car

and broad daylight in the front of the house would have notified some of their neighbors, but maybe people weren't paying attention. Do we know anything about Wi-Fi jammers, how sophisticated these guys were, or if this was just sort of, you know, they kind of a quick hit-and-run. Yeah, so you know, you see those cameras there. Actually, the first camera when the doorbell, when the Amazon driver shows up, that's on her camera. But then the other cameras around her home, including that front door camera, are disabled at the time when the two men get out of the car and actually break into the house. So the private investigator does believe that they were using Wi-Fi jammers that then made the cameras inoperable. But the reason there's other footage of them leaving, that all comes from cameras in the neighborhood.

They also went in there and cut her modem so her alarm system didn't work. So they're using really sophisticated tactics, Tom. So even though they don't look like they were super sophisticated, they dropped something right there. It looks like they did have the tools. Any sort of advice takeaways from this, having reported this one out, Liz, anything you learn? I know you've been covering a lot of these for us. Yeah, and the thing we always say, number one, which we know we've talked about, Tom, many times, is to hardwire your cameras because then you can circumvent this issue with the Wi-Fi

jammers. If you hardwire cameras, they're not going to go down using that jammer. Some other thing I learned today from the private investigator is that these burglars often know that people keep valuable items in safes and they often keep them upstairs like in a bedroom. So we said something to think about if you have a safe like that is to bolt it down so it cannot be easily taken out of the house. Also close your upstairs windows because increasingly thieves are trying to get in through the upstairs windows that are often open. And if you're going to leave, this woman was out of town. She was out of state. Try to leave little clues that make it look like your home.

leave a light on, leave a car in the front driveway, anything to make it look like you're there because an empty house is more likely to be a target, Tom. Very good point. All right, Liz, we thank you for those tips. Coming up on Top Story, the controversial new ad featuring President Trump, the White House says it's a PSA, but critics argue it's a campaign ad

with taxpayers fron the bill. Plus the unexpected visitor, a bear caught on camera rating of farmers' market and a lot of bread scarfing down that buffet there. But first, Top Story's top moment, and The Young Angler, reeling in the catchable lifetime. Nine-year-old Will was casting the line off the coast of South Carolina when he got a bite,

catching a fish roughly twice his size. Take a look. A silver king there. That's a nearly 150-pound grand tarp, and it's just shy of the state's record and took about 10 minutes to reel in. Big fish, little fisherman, way to go, Will, and what a catch. That's one of those prize fish you love to catch. Stay with us. More top story after the break.

All right, we're back down with the historic launch for SpaceX. The Starship Mega Rocket, the biggest in the world, launched into orbit around Earth for the first time ever. It's a critical step as SpaceX looks to send astronauts back to the moon by 2028. But there were some turbulence during the test flight, an engine on a booster malfunction early, and SpaceX cut the 10-hour test flight down in just about three hours. They say out of an abundance of caution.

But Starships return to Earth, was nothing short of spectacular, a massive fireball erupting as the rocket hit the water. SpaceX cameras were there in the Pacific Ocean just north of Hawaii to capture the moment. Jesse Kirsch has been following this one for us. Jesse explained what we saw there on the splashdown. That was a massive explosion, but SpaceX is calling this mission a success. And I just want to ask you, usually they have those rockets, right? Land back on land. What happened here? Yeah, and SpaceX has become known, Tom, for having the arms catching boosters when, they come back down to Earth as well, right?

But this particular spacecraft, the starship, is still very much in the testing phase. This is not something that is regularly used. It is not something that takes humans up to the space station or anything like that at this point. So they are still very much in the testing phase. And the big mission today was to get Starship into orbit around the Earth. And so they were able to do that, which makes this overarchingly a success, regardless of any hiccups, along the way. And what we were seeing there on landing was you were supposed to have it go from three engines to two engines to just one engine still lit, and then you had splash down. And

even after that fireball erupted on screen there, you still had quite a bit of applause in the background. So it seems like the folks from SpaceX were happy with how things turned out. So explain this to me. Going from 10 hours to three, that's a big difference. Yeah, absolutely. So shortly after takeoff, what happened was you had separation from the super heavy booster, and then the starship six engines fired. But one of those six engines went out earlier than it was supposed to. And you could follow along on screen during it. It was really cool to see because you could see it would have light indicators telling you how many engines were firing. So it went from six to five. The other five had to fire a little bit longer. So this is the

moment where the SpaceX team said, hold on, let's take a look at everything and see if we want to proceed. And there was actually a point where they weren't even going to attempt to put the starship into orbit. They did decide to be go for orbit, but then instead of going, like you said, 10 hours, very different from three. They haven't given any kind of elaborate explanation as to why they decided to end the orbit sooner and end that, or head to splash down sooner. But big picture, Tom, this is going to be a very crucial element in NASA's grand plans to get back to the moon, put boots on the moon in the next couple of years. Well, yeah, look, they want to go by 2028, right? Does this timeline, I mean, does what happened today affect the timeline by all?

So I did check a short time ago on NASA's website. They haven't changed anything, Tom. It still says the plan is to put boots on the moon in 28. And Starship is supposed to be the commercial vehicle, which is used for that first crewed mission that takes astronauts out of lunar, into lunar orbit, then down from lunar orbit onto the lunar surface. So this is something that is a pivotal piece. NASA's grand scheme. And again, what we're looking at here, the main objective was to get starship into orbit, and they did do that around the Earth. So that makes it a success. So hopefully that means they can proceed as planned. And another coup from today, Tom, they put more than 20 satellites tied to Starlink in outer space. And this is something that is expected to boost the

ability of Starlink to provide Internet to all of us down here on Earth. So a lot of connectivity improvements potentially down the line as well. So a lot of different fronts, a lot of excitement today. All right, Jesse, we thank you for all of that. That at Top Stories News Feed, we're going to start with more devastating flooding and landslides in Nepal. Video shows a huge pile of mud and debris crashing down the mountainside. The raging floodwaters causing this entire building to fall into the river, even parts of this temple crumbling as it collapses. This all comes just after a month after those catastrophic floods, killed more than 1,400 people and left some 6,000 others missing. Back here at home, the Coast Guard rescuing a man after they say he got pinned under a rock while on an ocean jetty.

It happened in northern Oregon. You can see a helicopter cool rappelling down to where the man was trapped and then hoisting him up. It's unclear exactly how the guy got stuck, but first responders say he had to be taken to the hospital for treatment. And an unexpected customer causing quite the scene at a farmer's market in Aspen. Look at this guy. Taking a look at a bear, chowing down on that nice spread of baked goods, probably stocking up for winter. and tried to shout and scare it off. Clearly it didn't work.

The big guy just kept helping himself to the bread booth, filling up on a bunch of carbs without leaving any cash. Rookie mistake for that burglarizing bear, who said the sourdough was just so-so. Now to Washington tonight, the White House defending the release of a new ad featuring President Trump paid for by taxpayer dollars. The White House calls this ad which aired across TV this week in a PSA, but many are pointing out how similar it is to a 2024 Trump campaign.

video. We're going to show you both side by side. The 2024 videos on the left. The 2026 video is on the right. Take a listen. This is the final battle. With you at my side, we will demolish the deep state. We will expel the war mongers from our government. We will drive out the globalists. We will cast out the communist, Marxist and fascists. We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country. We will route the fake news media and we will liberate America from these villains once and for all. So virtually identical. The only notable difference between the two is the fine print text in the new video notes that it is paid for by the U.S. government.

While the 2024 ad ends with a message to join President Trump's fight to save America, the White House responding to the backlash saying this week the announcements are very clearly not campaign ads. President Trump is not in the ballot and there is no call to action. Yamish Alcindor is following this and joins us now. Yamish, great to see you and great to have you back. Talk to us about the reaction this new post is getting in Washington and why so many are raising ethical and legal concerns here. Well, Tom, President Trump is facing bipartisan criticism

for spending taxpayer dollars on these ads. A group of Democratic lawmakers wrote a letter to the White House chief of staff saying, quote, this is a sort of government propaganda one might expect in North Korea, not the United States of America. And it is an utterly illegal, misuse of Americans' hard-earned tax dollars. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who, of course, is a Republican, also weighed in, saying, quote, I like the message, but it shouldn't be paid for with taxpayer dollars. Overall, federal law requires federal political advertisers to submit

certain public disclosures and generally bans using public funds for political advertising. Since the administration maintains, though, that these are public service announcements, it's just not clear whether those disclosures are available. And the White House has not released a specific source of government funding used to air the ads. Now, despite all this backlash, a White House official said the ad is educational and unapologetically patriotic. Tom? And then, Yamiche, the White House used other administration's PSAs in its defense of this release.

Walk us through that argument. That's right. When questioned about these ads, a White House official shared some examples of previous public service announcements released by former administrations. One was put out in 2003 by President George W. Bush about drug use among the U.S. about drug use among young people. Another was put out by President Obama, urging the public to back an administration rule and then it to better public protect the nation's streams and service waters. But this new ad, as you pointed out, Tom, this new ad is really identical, almost identical to the political

ad put out by the president's 2024 political campaign. So it's very, very different than those examples. And the White House, of course, did not respond when we asked them directly about how much these two ads look alike. So it's still a big question how they're going to respond to this and if they'll have any sort of consequences to this, Tom. And then while we have you here, what repercussions, if any, could there be? I mean, would they have to sort of repay the ad time and who would pay for it? Well, it's a good question. There is this bipartisan criticism, but we're just not sure that there's the appetite to hold the Trump administration accountable. We're not even sure

who would want to do that in this moment with the president, of course, having a lot of political capital among Republicans. And Republicans, of course, have all the power in Washington right now. So it's just not clear who would actually go and pursue. this time. Yamiche, Alcindor for us. Yamish, thank you. Now to a concerning new study about the impacts of AI that found some kids in middle school are choosing to befriend chatbots over actual humans. In a survey of more than 2,300 kids in 6th grade, 1 in 5 reported using AI for emotionally intimate companionship. But those relationships are leading to anxiety, depression, and loneliness. That's all

according to a new paper from researchers at UNC Chapel Hill, which is still under review, we should mention. A mom whose daughter befriended a chat bot spoke to the Wall Street Journal. She says she knew something was off when her usually upbeat sixth grader became moody and quiet. Joining us tonight, Wall Street Journal's family and tech columnist Julie Jargon. Julie,

thanks so much for joining our broadcast. I read your story over the weekend and it struck me, I got three young kids, and we just come off this coverage of Mehta's new chatbot muse. So it had me thinking, do we know why these 12-year-olds are sort of going down this path of talking

a chat bot instead of making real friends? Well, in some cases, it's loneliness that's driving kids to converse with chatbots. But what's interesting is that this study found that the more often kids converse with chatbots, the lonelier they actually become. Yeah. So I want to ask you, do they usually find it just through regular means, I mean, starting with, like, say, a chat GPT or a clod? Or are there certain chatbot apps that younger people seem to be going more and more to?

It can be kind of the general purpose ones that you mentioned. But in this case, it was a website where kids can actually create characters so they can visualize what the chat bot looks like, and then they can have conversations with the chat bot persona that they create. Are there guardrails on sites like that? We talk about the guardrails so much. On those types of sites, are there any guardrails? It doesn't appear to be the case in sites like that.

There don't appear to be guardrails. In fact, some of those sites are not designed for children. They're listed as being 18 and above, so they're not really meant for kids to find, but they do find them. Yeah, it's pretty incredible. That movie Her came out so long ago, right? And now that is the reality here. A relationship with a chatbot at any age, you know, it can be different. Maybe it could be dangerous.

Who knows? But you spoke to the researchers about how damaging this could be to kids who are in sixth or seventh grade? Yeah, it's particularly potentially harmful for kids of that age because that's the time when brains are being wired for human relationships. And so if kids aren't getting the experience of forming in-person real-life relationships with other people at that age, and they're replacing some of that human interaction with chatbots instead, they're really missing out on a key part of emotional and interpersonal development. If kids are lonely, right? Is there any benefit? And I'm asking here, because I want to be completely fair, is there any benefit to these products at all if a child is lonely and it's occupying them? And maybe in that temporary space, it gives them some type of companionship, or at least, I don't know, helps the time go by?

I mean, on its face, it sounds like it could be helpful. There hasn't been enough research yet to fully answer that question. But I think the idea is that if there's no human involvement, that they're not getting a real experience. Because a lot of these chatbots are designed to validate people's feelings and to be overly agreeable in a way that real people just aren't. Can you draw a straight line from the 12-year-old mom that you spoke to and the chatbot as far as she was an upbeat sixth grader, but then she became moody and quiet? Do we know why? It's not clear exactly what happened there, but the research shows that the students who were using chatbots mostly for friendship became lonelier. So there may be something happening there where the students just become more morose after using a chatbot, and the exact mechanism for that is not clear. But it could just be that they're erasing more human involvement in their lives.

And this goal in particular, she was turning down FaceTime calls with real human friends in favor of. of talking to her virtual friend. Wow. Before we go, were there any tips or sort of best practices you came across reporting out the story? Well, I think the best practice would be if parents want to allow their kids to talk to chatbots, is to oversee some of those conversations and see where they're going, see what the nature of the conversations is, and help children, you know, help guide them through their conversations. I got it. All right. Well, thanks so much for coming on Top Story. I'm sure we're going to be talking about this in the weeks and years.

to come. Thanks a lot. Still to come tonight. If you haven't booked your Thanksgiving travel, how about Christmas yet? Listen up. Prices for flights already soaring up more than 30% since last year. We'll talk to the experts about when and how to book to save some money if you even can still right after this. We're back now with the soaring cost for holiday travel. Domestic airline tickets up already more than 30% compared to last year. And now the race is on to secure flights before prices climb even higher. Here's Morgan Chesky. Tonight, ticket sticker shock hitting nationwide with holiday travel prices worrying many. Is anyone else struggling to book a vacation for 2026, 2027?

The prices are outrageous. These flight prices are going to be the death of me. I'm going to L.A. next month, and I'm actually sick at how much these flights were going for. Domestic airfare over Thanksgiving is up 31% from last year. averaging over $400 round trip, Christmas even higher, up 23%. Many travelers looking for any savings they can find for a cross-country visit. With that sticker shock, it's making the most of every time I am out here to see my family. But yeah, you just know it's going to hurt.

The prime driver, months of elevated jet fuel costs tied to the war in Iran, plus steady demand for tickets, pushing holiday airfares to 10-year highs. This will definitely be a holiday season that challenges. as wallets for many households. Hayley Berg with Hopper says seat cost will remain high for the foreseeable future. We're used to seasonal highs. Any idea how longer this price hike will go? We're expecting prices will stay high for airfare until there's some relief in jet fuel

prices. There will still be deals available for travelers who are a little bit savvier, flexible on when they fly. And it's those higher prices to go home for the holidays that are frustrating for many. Morgan Chesky joins top story tonight. So Morgan, it's not just flights, but road trips. Obviously, you're going to cost more this year, too, with gas prices, right? Yeah, Tom, that's right.

And make no mistake, pretty much every holiday travelers are going to be feeling this to some degree. That's because AAA reports that about 90% of Americans are expected to drive when it comes to the holidays. So those rising fuel prices combined with rising costs for rental cars and hotels will absolutely be making an impact for those folks as well. Morgan Chesky, always great to have you in the broadcast. I don't think we've ever seen you in the spectacles. Got kind of a Clark Kent thing going there. We like it, and I'm sure our viewers like it too. Appreciate you.

Morgan, thank you. For more, I want to bring in Katie Nastro. She's a travel expert at Flighty, which if you don't know what Flighty is, Katie, what is Flighty? Flighty is basically your travel-obsessed friend in your back pocket. It gives you all the information that you wish, the airline told you, and a little bit sooner, so you can travel more or relax more and stress levels. So more flight information, but you don't necessarily book your flights there. You do not.

So listen, you're here to help us book holiday travel at a better price. I don't believe you can. I've seen the prices out there. They're wild. I've never seen it this high ever. This is, unfortunately, for the magical time of the year, this is really going to be the least magical time for your wallet. Unfortunately, we're seeing domestic prices for both Thanksgiving into the winter holidays

up roughly between 20 and 30% year over year. For a family of four, that could be hundreds of dollars. Yeah. Is there anything? Are there good days to book? Besides what we know, you know, besides what we know. When should you and shouldn't you book just to remind our viewers? We want travelers to, if they are thinking about traveling for both Thanksgiving or the winter holidays, book today.

Do not wait any longer. Right, I believe that. You're not only going to encounter higher prices slowly but truly as we get to the day of departure. But also with airlines looking at making razor-thin cuts, you're going to see slightly fewer options. And you just don't want to get yourself into that position. Does AI help? Can AI help you book or find the cheapest flight? I want travelers to think of AI as sort of like monitoring your kids' homework. Yes, it can do a pretty good job to start, but it does not know your preferences,

and it's not able to bring your costs the finish line. Wait, what do you mean monitoring your kids' homework? So you want your kids, or you want AI to do the first pass. Oh, to do the first pass. You don't want to do it for you. Exactly. And then you want to double check it. Yeah, what are the best cost-efficient tips for families? Is there anything, any kind of, I don't know, secrets if you are booking with three kids, four kids? Yeah, I want travelers with families. You know, if you can be a little bit flexible, try to travel on those holidays.

You can save upwards between 15 and 20 percent, and there are less people traveling on the holidays themselves. And when you've got kids and you've got a busy airport, it definitely is going to just increase. your stress and it's going to increase your cost. You're traveling on those high-volume days. What do you think is going to happen, right? Because people say they're never going to come back down. But if they price these tickets to a point where flyers just aren't flying anymore, but the jet fuel is still expensive.

I mean, what's going to happen? Yeah, Tom, we actually saw across the summer roughly 2.5% fewer travelers going through TSA and flying this year between June and August versus last year. Two and a half percent? Is that big? Is that a big deal? It's always been growing? It's been, we've seen record-breaking deep. year after year after year.

We didn't see those this summer. And I wouldn't be surprised if travelers ask themselves, not just am I going to travel this year, but can I afford to make two trips in that compressed time period of November and December? It's likely going to be a gift of the Magi scenario. Yeah, we travel because we have family all over the country, and I just have not ever seen prices like this.

They are wild. It was great to meet you. Thank you. Fleady is the site. When we come back tonight, the legendary musician still hitting the stage decades after the debuts on tour, proving you're never too old for a little rock and roll, plus a group of students lending a hand to help a stranger whose car broke down on the side of the road that moment right after this.

Back now with the announcement from music legend, Rod Stewart. The 81-year-old is one of many musicians still playing to pack crowds, decades after their biggest hits. Now he says his upcoming tour will be his last. So is there any age limit to rock and roll? Here's NBC's Andres Gutierrez. Rod Stewart tore up the charts in the 7th,000. and 80s with hits like Tonight's Tonight and Maggie May.

Oh, Maggie, I couldn't try. Now in his 80s, Stuart today announcing his farewell tour. The next year will be my last tour ever, ever, ever. Dubbed the final encore, Stewart's farewell tour kicks off next year. I'm not retiring, but this will be the last rock and roll tour. After more than six decades on the road, Stewart may be ready to stop touring, but not performing. Madonna isn't either. Last night, the 68-year-old opening the VMAs with 27-year-old Sabrina Carpenter. And reminding everyone how long she's been at it while accepting artists of the year beating out Taylor Swift.

Most of you were probably not born, but I performed at the first MTV Awards 43 years ago. She isn't alone. Lionel Richie, Barry Manilow and Paul McCartney are still performing decades after their first hits. There's the sense that people have that they're just not going to get to see them again. And the numbers back it up. Four of the 10 biggest tours in 2024 were headlined by artists over 60, according to Billboard. And last year, Metallica McCartney and Bruce Springsteen were among the top 40 tours. Streaming has really demotivoc.

democratized music in that way. If people like a song, they don't care how old it is. They don't care how old the performer is. For the artist, staying on the road can get harder. Stuart, Richie, and Manilow have all faced recent health scares that have forced them to postpone or cancel shows. Beyond the money for the artist, why do they keep doing it? I really think it is for the love of it. I think that's a lot of it. And let's be honest, they all like making money. And, you know, touring is the best way to make money. Which brings us back to Rod. He may be saying goodbye to life on the road.

Please come out and see me on the toy. Just don't call it retirement. Let's pick it up right there. Andres Guterre joins Top Story. Now, so, Andreas, you mentioned Rod Stewart's recent health scare. Is that a factor here? Well, Tom, Rod Stewart didn't say that was a factor, but the timing is notable.

Just last month, Stuart underwent a heart procedure and cancel the rest of his tour so he can recover. And he's not the only one. Lionel Richie, who's 77, just underwent a heart procedure for an irregular heartbeat. His team says he's doing well, and he has to cancel some several shows and is taking some time off. So that's the reality for some of these stars is that they still want to perform and the fans still want to see them, but touring can become harder on the body as the older they get. So Rod says he's done with just a big tour, he's not performing overall. Tom?

Hey, Andreas, good to hear us, Andreas. Thank you. Finally, tonight, when a woman's car broke down on a Massachusetts road, it wasn't a tow truck that got her to safety, but a group of high schoolers, how the small act of kindness from a group of young strangers made a big impact. Take a look. Still pushing. This isn't how Robin Gay pictured her night going. As she drove home from a volunteer job, her car broke down, leaving her stranded on. the side of a busy road, alone. Look at that. Look at these guys. But it turns out she wasn't alone. This is the basketball team of ever. A group of high school students saw her struggling and jumped into action, directing traffic,

pushing and maneuvering the car to a safer spot. Most of these students know each other well because they play together on the high school basketball team. Teamwork is the best, best way to help everybody. It's just like the simple act, kindness. That kindness turning Robin's night around. These young kids just don't realize how much they did for me in that moment. She offered them money for their efforts.

They literally just like push my hand away and they were like, absolutely not. They gave me a hug. They just wanted to know that I was saved. And recently, Robin reunited with her heroes as they were recognized by their school. Maybe this will inspire other people. to be kind in the world. I know we would do the same every time. Teamwork and action, all right.

Thanks so much for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yammis in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.