Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, April 23, 2026

Episode Date: April 24, 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.

Breaking news tonight, growing wildfire emergency, new areas ordered to evacuate as flames ripped through the South. People urged to get out now. Fast-moving flames raging across Georgia, dozens of homes up in flames. Drivers trying to navigate through an inferno. Cars completely burned out. The historic drought fueling the flames. Deadly mall shooting, gunfire erupting at a food court, leaving at least one dead and several others injured. Armed officers going store to store, looking for the suspect. Was it targeted? Also breaking tonight, the Special Forces Soldier arrested for betting on Nicolas Maduro's capture and pocketing $400,000.

We're learning that was part of the mission. He was part of the mission. Plus, the bizarre investigation in France, did someone tamper with weather equipment to win big on polymarket? We'll explain. Late tonight, President Trump announcing a ceasefire extension between Israel and Lebanon, our reporter on the ground in Beirut, plus the president's new warning to Iran, ordering the Navy to shoot and kill any boat mining in the straight of Hormuz. The alarming trend, why are more millennials getting diagnosed with one kind of cancer?

Let's talk to a doctor tonight here on Top Story. The terrifying close call caught on camera driver barreling into a gift shop, narrowly missing the workers inside. And wild cash, the pitcher with a no-handed snag how the ball ended up inside his jersey. Plus, the surprising housing market drop, which state has seen home costs fall, and what's behind the dip? Top story starts right now. And good evening right now. Dangerous weather emergencies unfolding from coast to coast, wildfires ripping through the south as we track severe storms and potential tornadoes. At this hour, multiple fires raging in South Georgia, the Pineland Road fire creating walls of flames like this, consuming trees and highways.

This video taken from inside a bulldozer showing a firefighter on that front line of the blaze. And the nearby Brantley fire destroying dozens of structures in its path, including this home. home, 5,000 acres burned, and the fire just 15% contained at this hour. The South Georgia sky is now blanketed with ash, video from a helicopter, so it's just how huge these plumes of smoke are. But the threat not limited to Georgia, aerial crews in North Carolina fighting flames by plane and by chopper. Firefighters on the ground in San Bernardino responding to a brush fire fueled by these

strong winds. And these fires fueling dangerous plumes of smoke and harmful air quality conditions, our Bill Cairns is standing by to track the threat, as well as well as to the fire. as well as those severe storms. We begin tonight in Georgia where our Aaron Gilchrest is on the ground where the wildfires rage on. Tonight, an around-the-clock battle

against several raging infernoes. Oh, my gracious. In Georgia, plumes of smoke turning the sky dark. Drivers surrounded by flames as they try to navigate the roads. In Brantley County, the wildfire only 15% contained.

After decimating thousands of acres, with winds shifting, more people are now at risk. We need folks to understand. They need to be prepared to evacuate. This is a dynamic fire that's changing. We couldn't do nothing. It was too late, man. This home among the dozens engulfed by the fire's wrath. In this area where the fire is already passed, you can see things like this. A mobile home completely burned out and all around it, nothing but scorched earth. Wildfires are sprouting up across the region, turning communities into wastelands.

All these woods were on fire. They're probably about 10, 12, 13 feet up. Kempth evacuated with his 14-year-old daughter. There were big ambers coming down. It looked like we were in another world. Everything was just on fire, and the wind was swirling, and it was insane. He returned to find his property damaged, but his home still standing. How lucky do you feel?

I feel pretty lucky. Like I said, it was, I mean, it was like a movie. I mean, my heart was racing. Meanwhile, drought conditions are fueling wildfires across the country. From Florida. to North Carolina and Colorado, with this year's fire season only beginning to ramp up. All right, Aaron Gilchrist joins us from the fire zone tonight.

Aaron, officials just announced new evacuation orders? Yeah, that's right, Tom. And there have actually been new evacuation orders since we saw you for NBC Nightly News just a few minutes ago. We know that there was already an area that was under a new mandatory evacuation order. That area has now expanded, and a second,

voluntary evacuation area has now been, evacuation order has been set for another area that is north and west of where we're currently standing. Most of the evacuation zones were east of where we're standing right now. And so we knew that there was a concern about the wind shifting, changing directions in this area. That happened earlier this afternoon. That meant the fire was able to expand, that it was able to push in a new direction. And those evacuations mean that we could see upwards of 50 new homes that need to be evacuating, where people need to be gathering their things and getting out immediately or gathering their things and be preparing for a mandatory evacuation order. At the same time, I can say you, we just saw another aircraft fly overhead

here, one of those big air tankers from the federal government that can carry thousands of gallons of water or flame retardant. They've been moving toward where we're seeing those new columns of smoke coming, trying to protect those homes and trying to keep this fire from spreading even more, Tom. All right. Aaron Gilchrist, Aaron, thank you. Let's get right to NBC News meteorologist Bill. Cairns, Bill. This is a very dangerous situation unfolding. What are you watching? Yeah, the sea breeze came in, and the humidity was low, and the Brantley fire just exploded this afternoon. So we're looking at radar. We're actually picking up all the ash in the air and the particulate's in the smoke. And when you see it really flare up, that's when you know the fire is expanding. And you can see as that

happened in the last two hours. Then they called in these big huge tankers with the fire retardant. And I said on the scanner, they told all the firefighters, you know, get in your trucks because we're about to dump all this fire retarded on you. And this is the area of concern. So just south of the dig here, this is Hortense, Georgia. And I'm going to kind of take off a little bit of the radar. I kind of do a little transparency. The fire had been burning in this area here. You kind of see it's all foresty areas and green.

These are all roads. These are all homes. The fire either went through this neighborhood or right along the side of it. We don't know yet. But this is where the fire flared up over the last couple hours. So we'll update you on that, but it's a sad situation that continues to get worse there with the Brantley fire. And as far as the drought goes, we have to get rain. I mean, we're now up to 94% of the southeast is in severe extreme or exceptional drought from Arkansas to Florida.

No rain in the forecast for Georgia and Florida as we go to the next four or five days, but some relief, Tom, from areas of Arkansas, Mississippi and also into Alabama. Bill, you're also tracking day one of a multi-day severe storm threat with tornado warnings going off in the center of the country. We know about that. Yeah, we had a little break early this week, but now we have tornado watches from Iowa all the way down into Oklahoma. We have four active tornado warnings at the current time. We just had a confirmed tornado warning in the southwest corner of Iowa, just as a storm crossed Interstate 29. No reports of any significant damage or injuries or anything like that.

But we also have a really strong line of storms just to the west of Topeka, Kansas. That's just south of the Manhattan, Kansas, University of Kansas State. They're safe. The storm is to the south of them on Interstate 70. tomorrow will track storms over Little Rock to Shreveport, and then into the weekend. This threat continues. A possible tornado threat, Wichita, Oklahoma. It's the same areas over and over again, Tom, as our severe weather season ramps up.

All right, Bill Karens, Bill, we're going to stay with you. I know all the rest of the week. Now to that deadly shooting at a mall in Baton Rouge, one person killed and five more injured. Multiple suspects arrested, and police say more people may have been involved. NBC's Priscilla Thompson is the latest. The active shooter in his B. Tonight, police. rushing into the mall of Louisiana. Guns drawn.

He's definitely angry at the Apple Store. Baton Rouge authorities say one person was killed and five others injured during a shootout at the food court. Officials say at least three high school seniors are among the victims. It's a constant. Yeah, he stopped loud. Five suspected gunmen are in custody. This is still an ongoing investigation and we're still looking for more people that may be involved. Video appears to show victims on the floor as others try to help and first responders taking the injured out on stretchers. Investigators say bystanders are likely among the victims and that the shooting was targeted. It appears to have been started by

two groups having a dispute. One victim now in surgery and others recovering as police asked the public for help. Any videos that you have, cell phone videos, crime stoppers tips, please keep them coming in, keep these families and your prayers, especially the deceased victim. Priscilla Thompson joins us tonight. Priscilla, you mentioned bystanders may have been injured in this. Do we have any sense of how many people were in the food court at the time? And could they have more video?

Police need to find the others involved. And I mean, this was in a mall. Do we know yet the ages of these victims? Yeah, Tom. So we have now learned that at least three of the victims were in high school, so likely teenagers. And the Louisiana Attorney General is also confirming that some of the victims were innocent bystanders. Now, police have not said how many people.

people were in the food court at this time. But based on the videos that we're seeing, it looks like it was a pretty active day at the mall. And of course, those videos are now going to be crucial to this investigation with police asking anyone who may have video of anything that went on there to contact crime stoppers to turn that video over to them as they're working to better understand how this happened, but also find those who may be responsible. Tom? Okay, Priscilla. Now to that other major headline we're following tonight, President Trump levying new threats against Iran over the Strait of Hormuz. It comes as the White House directs talks between Israel and Lebanon today announcing the ceasefire between those two countries will be extended by three weeks.

Here's Monica Alba. Tonight, President Trump issuing a new warning to Iran, posting orders to the Navy to, quote, shoot and kill any boat mining the Strait of Hormuz. It comes after the Iranian regime began attacking and seizing commercial ships in the street, posting this video, claiming to show its commandos boarding the, them, hours after President Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran. Their military is totally defeated. They're outside of the little white-skye ships.

I call them the wise-skies ships. And as the president is choking Iran's economy with his naval blockade to pressure the regime to make a deal. Overnight, U.S. troops boarding a sanction ship carrying Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean. If they don't want to make a deal, then I'll finish it up militarily. Does that mean Americans should anticipate spending more? on gasoline for the foreseeable future. For a little while.

And you know what they get for that? You know what they get for that? Iran without a nuclear weapon that's going to try and blow up one of our cities or blow up the entire Middle East. The New York Times reporting new details tonight about the health of Iran's new Ayatollah, badly injured in the same strike that killed his father and neither seen nor heard in public sins. Four senior Iranian officials claim he was gravely wounded but is mentally sharp and engaged.

after three leg surgeries. His face and lips burned severely, making it difficult to speak, and that access to him is extremely difficult. So generals are the key decision makers in Iran. They have all new leadership, and they're fighting like cats and dogs, but who's going to control? Because we've created a real mess for them.

Late today, the president meeting with ambassadors from Israel and Lebanon. Tonight, the Lebanon ceasefire extended for another three weeks. Monica, Alba joins us tonight from the White House, And Monica, there was a question the president was asked that is drawing a lot of headlines and want to make it very clear for our viewers what happened there. The president was asked if he would ever use a nuclear weapon against Iran. Exactly, Tom. And the president really dismissed the idea saying he wouldn't need it given what the U.S. military has been able to accomplish conventionally. But adding that a nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody. And the reason that the reporter asked the question is because, of course, just a couple of weeks ago during some of his threats that the president was making,

when he was talking about whether he was going to extend the deadline or not. He threatened to potentially wipe out the entire civilization of Iran and continues to make some of these threats against power plants and against other kind of infrastructure in the country. Again, the president dismissing that and also making a little bit of news, Tom, by announcing that he plans to invite the Israeli prime minister and the Lebanese president to come to the White House in the next three weeks, while this ceasefire is still extended, to take part in these imprisal.

person discussions to see if they can come to some kind of a lasting peace agreement between those two countries. Tom. All right. Monica, Alba for us tonight. Monica, great to have you. I want to bring in Yasmin Basuvian now. She's on the ground in Beirut, where she's been reporting for days now. Yasman, we're going back to what's happening in Lebanon and along with Israel. Even though the ceasefire with Israel has been extended, there have still been strikes back and forth during this period. Explain that to our viewers and the disputed buffer zone. That's a sticking point in some of these negotiations. Right. So it's a buffer zone, a security zone, as the IDF calls it. It's about 10 kilometers in from the Israeli Lebanon border. This is an area that Israel essentially occupies.

There has been a ceasefire in Lebanon now for seven or so days, as you just mentioned and reported, that this has now been extended for three weeks, but there's no ceasefire in the buffer zone. Hasbullah has repeatedly fired into the buffer zone at IDF's soldiers. while Israel has fired back at Hezbollah. This is a major sticking point. It's going to be an uphill battle when it comes to a permanent end to this war after the extension of this ceasefire

because Israel has said they will only pull out of the buffer zone if, in fact, the Lebanese government manages to disarm Hezbollah, whereas the Lebanese government says to end this war, Israel must, in fact, pull out of the buffers. And I think the major question here, Tom, is whether or not the Lebanese government

has the ability to disarm Hezbollah. Yeah, and then I want to ask you about a Lebanese journalist who was killed in that buffer zone. Her family and country now mourning her loss at a funeral there. What do you know? So her name is Amal Khalil. She is a veteran journalist. She worked for a newspaper called Aqbar Newspaper, I should say. She was with her colleague, Zainab Farage, and they were inside the buffer zone reporting. I will note that Al-Aqbar newspaper is a Hezbollah supported news paper. It's a left-leaning newspaper. They were inside this buffer zone

when a car in front of them actually took fire and took a strike. They escaped from their vehicle at that point and sought cover, sought hard cover inside of a home. As they got into that home, they contacted family and authorities, security in the area to give the location of where they were. At that point, there was another strike on the home that they were seeking cover.

In that time period, rescue workers tried to reach both of these journalists. They were only able at one point to get Zainab out, and then they came under fire from the IDF once again. It took four plus hours to actually get to Amal Khalil, and as they got to her, she had already died, Tom. There was a funeral procession for her today here in Beirut. About 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, not Eastern Standard Time, excuse me, 4 p.m. Lebanon time. And I will say that the IDF has said they do not target journalists. And they say that the vehicle that both journalists were in was coming on to the IDF. But they're going to go and launch an investigation into the killing of these two journalists.

And any death by anyone who's innocent in this war is absolutely terrible. All right. Yasmin, we thank you for being there. You and your team, please stay safe out there. Also breaking tonight, a special forces soldier has been arrested for allegedly making more than $400,000 betting on polymarket over whether or not Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro would be

removed from office. That man may have also been directly involved in the operation. NBC's Brian Chung has been covering all things polymarket for us. And Brian, what more do we know? Hey there, Tom, this is a remarkable story this evening, the Department of Justice charging Gannon Ken Van Dyke,

who is a special forces soldier for the U.S. Army that was directly involved in planning and executing the operation that took Nicholas Maduro out of power in Venezuela. The DOJ now alleging that this specific person made over $400,000 in bets on the prediction market, polymarket, by betting on whether or not Nicolas Maduro would be ousted from that position by the end of January. As we know on January 3rd, a special operation in Venezuela extracted Maduro and also his wife to the United States, thus making this person a lot

of money. He originally put $33,000 roughly in bets, including on events like, for example, Maduro being ousted from power and including other types of event contracts. This particular individual, according to Polymarket, even requested at one point to have his account canceled after the fact. The Polymarket saying in a statement that they referred the matter to the DOJ and cooperated with their investigation, adding in a statement, quote, insider trading has no place on Polymarket. But now we're getting fast-moving developments from the CFTC. This is the agency that's tasked with regulating Polymarket.

that particular agency saying that they are going to charge this individual for insider trading involving event contracts. That is the first time the CFTC has done so. A major precedent-setting event here in what was a very, very big story in both national security, but also now in financial markets as well. Tom. Brian Chung for us. And we will see Brian a little bit later in the show as well for more on Polly Market and another big story that we're following as well. We want to move on now to an alarming story that is happening out of Florida and New Orleans. A former police officer arrested accused of planning a mass shooting at Jazz Fest in New Orleans. Shorts release has this one. Tonight, a potential terror attack foiled. Authorities in Florida taking former

law enforcement officer Christopher Gillum into custody for making terrorist threats. According to the Okalusa County Sheriff's Office, Gillum was arrested after learning he planned to travel to New Orleans to carry out a mass shooting at a festival. Deputies tracking Gillum to a hotel near the Florida panhandle where they say they found a gun and around 200 rounds of ammo. According to the Associated Press, Gillum's family had told North Carolina law enforcement

he had a gun and expressed recent threats to harm black people. We're going to continue to ramp up our security to protect those people who come in and out of the city of New Orleans. Though not directly named as the target, The popular New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival that starts today and draws hundreds of thousands annually, putting out a statement that says in part, Jazz Fest is grateful to all law enforcement partners for their dedication and exceptional service. New Orleans has increased their security after the ISIS-inspired terror attack on Bourbon Street last year, where an army veteran drove into a crowd, killing 14 people.

Gillum was a law enforcement officer in North Carolina for more than a decade, even awarded officer of the month in 20. 25. Tonight, the governor praising his arrest. This was a great outcome. We could have been a tragic event. And Gillum appeared before a judge today in Florida. He is still awaiting extradition to Louisiana. Tom. George Solis for us. We're back in a moment with the major shifts surrounding medical marijuana. The federal government easing restrictions on the drug, what it means for millions of Americans. Plus, changes inside of ICE, the controversial policies, they're quietly rolling back.

our exclusive reporting tonight. And body cam footage showing a dramatic rescue firefighters rushing to a burning home with a man in a wheelchair trapped inside. How Cruz got him out. All of us ahead on top story. We're back with a major shift to the way the U.S. government

classifies medical marijuana. The Trump administration saying the drug is less dangerous than it was previously considered to be. NBC's Ann Thompson explains. A historic day for the business of medical marijuana used for chronic pain, sleep, and side effects from. cancer treatment. The federal government reclassifying it as a less dangerous drug, already legal

in 40 states and the District of Columbia. No longer in the same class as heroin and LSD, medical marijuana is now a Schedule 3 substance like ketamine and testosterone with a low to moderate risk for dependence. But this has no impact on recreational marijuana. You still can't possess it federally. That is still illegal. You still can't consume it federally. That is still illegal. Kim River CEO of True Leaves sells medical marijuana in eight states. This decision, she says, will lower her business's tax rate but won't improve access to the banking system. Congress would need to pass a law that gives banks the green light to handle funds that come from state licensed marijuana businesses. But there's opposition on Capitol Hill. 22 Republican senators signed a letter to President Trump in December objecting to the change.

Arkansas's Tom Cotton was one of them. Today posting that marijuana is more potent than 10 to 20 years ago, and this is a step in the wrong direction. It will help researchers. Ziva Cooper heads the UCLA Center for Cannabis. This will help ease restrictions so that we can do the research to be able to understand the safety and the effectiveness of these types of products. All right, Ann Thompson joins us now,

and Ann, we were talking earlier. the Trump administration may not be done here. There may be more action on this. In fact, we think in the end of June, June 29th, to be specific, Tom, the Department of Justice is going to hold a hearing where it will consider moving all marijuana, not just medical marijuana, but all marijuana, to that less dangerous category under federal law.

All right, Ann, good to see you. Thank you for that. Coming up tonight, the home price is still high across the country, but they're now starting to drop in one state. We'll tell you which one. what's behind the dip. Plus, Spotify out with its first ever list of the most streamed artists of all time who cracked the top five. But first, Top Story's top moment, and you have to see it to believe this one, Seattle Mariners pitcher, Logan Gilbert making one of the strangest plays ever against the A's catching a line drive in his jersey.

Take a look. Right back, and it is caught. Caught? No, it's in his shirt. Logan Gilbert wore that one. Let's not overlook how much this probably hurt. Absolute missile right back at Logan. He's trying to just defend himself, and you can see it going on the shirt right there.

The Ump ultimately ruling that hit, not a catch in letting the batter go to first base, but the Mariners did manage to still win the game. I wonder what it was ruled, an error or what? Okay, stay with us. More Top Story on the way. Back down with Top Story's News Feed, and we start with a dramatic rescue in northeast Pennsylvania.

Firefighters rush into this burning home with a man in a week. wheelchair trapped inside. They say one deputy went in helping to get it to a window that some neighbors had smashed. Eventually, crews were able to pull the man to safety. He was taken to the hospital, but is expected to be okay. In Georgia, a woman arrested after almost two years on the run when investigators found her hiding out in a strange place. Deputies say they got a tip that Kayla McKenzie was inside a home, but when they showed up, they found her hiding in this small hole in the floor. Look at that. Wow, that is tiny. It was essentially a vent for the air conditioning. The woman was

taken into custody and is now set to face charges related to her felony, Bench Warren. And while video of a car slamming into a gift shop in Montana, you see the vehicle smashing through the front of the store in West Yellowstone, sending merchandise flying and almost hitting employees. Luckily, nobody was hurt, but the shop was seriously damaged. Police said the driver was parking and accidentally, uh-oh, pressed the gas instead of hitting the break. Spotify out with its first ever list of the most streamed artist of all time. Here's a look at the top five, so many of our favorites. Taylor Swift, of course, taking that number one spot.

Followed closely, though, by International Sensation Bad Bunny, Drake came in third with the weekend and Ariana Grande rounding out the list. Spotify also unveiled the most streamed albums, songs, podcasts, and audiobooks to celebrate the platform's 20th anniversary. Now to NBC News exclusive reporting on the Department of Homeland Security, senior DHS officials and immigration attorneys say they have seen a quiet rollback of controversial immigration enforcement policies including ICE agents entering homes without a judicial warrant. And arrest during immigration court proceedings,

you may remember this violent confrontation at a New York City court caught on camera back in September. The shift coming after immigration officers in Minnesota killed two U.S. citizens. Renee Good shot in her car in a standoff with an ICE agent, and Alex Peretti, the intensive care nurse, shot multiple times and killed by two United States customs and border protection officers.

The policy shift also comes amid changes in department leadership. The president firing former Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noem back in May, she's been replaced by Mark Wayne Mullen. NBC News senior Homeland Security correspondent, Julia Ainsley joins us with her exclusive reporting. So Julia, you spoke with two DHS officials about these rollbacks. Can you tell us more about what these changes look?

Like? Yeah, I would be happy to, Tom. What they look like is a verbal communication, one, that went out to ICE officers telling them to curtail their arrest, in court. That is opposed to the June guidance that they got last year where immigration judges were going to start dismissing asylum cases from the bench so that ICE officers could quickly arrest people in court. In other words, an immigrant would show up in court to make that claim thinking they were moving the process forward in a legal manner only to be detained

and deported from that period. They've now vastly curbed that starting in February. And then the other one is now they are going to require, again, a Jewish. WARRANT or weren't signed by a judge in order to enter a home. That shift happened right before we saw the ramp up and the immigration crackdown in Los Angeles last summer where the head of ICE signed a memo telling people that they could enter a home if the occupant had a final order of deportation, that they did not need to get a judge to sign off on that. So we're seeing ICE back off on those two really hallmark policies of the Christie Noem tenure at DHS as they try to soften and some ways their policies that really help the boost deportations.

And we should mention, Tom, the arrest are down from December's high by 20 percent. Yeah, that's wild. I spoke with the president shortly after those initial shootings in Minneapolis. Here's what he said about ICE tactics at the time. And speaking of Minneapolis, what did you learn? I learned that maybe we can use a little bit of a softer touch, but you still have to be tough. We're dealing with really hard criminals. From your reporting, what is driving the administration shift and is it here to stay?

Tom, I think you were there at the pivotal moment. The shifts that we're seeing at ICE come from way upstream. They come from the political winds shifting, and the White House being sensitive to the fact that there were Americans who started to see their immigration tactics in a totally different light. Even people who supported the idea of deportations and voted for Trump, because they saw this as an expansion of executive power as they went into homes without warrants as those two American citizens were shot. And it really all pivoted on January 24th with the shooting of Alex Preti. We saw Border Patrol be removed from cities. And since then, Border Patrol is only assisting

ICE when needed. They are not doing those city surges, as we previously saw. They are, though, I will say ICE is still doing arrest at ICE check-ins. And lawyers say they're seeing a lot of that. But by and large, what we're seeing is a lull. that has a lot to do with what came from the White House after that shooting, and of course ended in the ousting of Christy Noem. But immigration advocates and lawyers say it's just that. They think it's a lull that could easily be turned back on because the mechanics of this machinery and all of the things that they did to ramp up mass deportations, including through

mass hiring and by targeting more people around the country. And in a lot of the court wins that they got, including from the Supreme Court, telling them that they could arrest people based on characteristics, not just crimes, because they would have a probable cause that they were in the country illegally. All of that sets DHS back up to be able to turn on the mass deportation program that we saw in 2025 very quickly again. All right, Julia Ainsley with that new reporting for us, Julia, great to have you. Thank you. Turning now to the housing market and some surprising news out of Texas, the cost of homes there falling in the state's major metro areas. Our Priscilla Thompson is back with us tonight digging into the reasons behind the drop.

Home House slash acreage hunting with us. Ariel and Jake Godfried are on the hunt for their dream home in Houston. The family of four has been looking for a bigger place. We're just kind of looking for where we could plan our routes forever. And right now, they're among the would-be buyers in the Lone Star State benefiting from cooling prices. According to data from real estate marketplace Redfin, the price of a home in Texas is down nearly 2% compared to last year. The seven largest Texas metro areas all seeing declines. The reason home prices in Texas got out of control during the pandemic.

There was just so much demand for housing. Developers responded by increasing supply, building more homes. And now those homes are on the market, and that competition is resulting in lower prices for home buyers. So is it really just moderating? Yeah, I think what's happening in Texas is more like a correction. Higher mortgage rates and cost of living also mean buyers are being more selective. something Houston-based real estate agent Pamela Rich is seeing firsthand. Buyers have more options right now and they're taking their time.

They have leverage again. She's helping her daughter Alexis Alata find her first home. I'm looking at listings, you know, one week and the next week they've gone down, you know, a few thousand dollars. It's not just Texas where buyers may have the edge. Across the Sun Belt, sellers outnumber buyers in places like Miami, Nashville and Vegas. There's just more homes in general to choose from that gives you more negotiating power.

But while prices may be creeping down, experts say homes there are still far from pre-pandemic levels. Affordability is still a problem, especially when you factor in the higher mortgage rate. So it might not feel like buyers are really getting the best deal right now. But it is a easier time to buy than it was during the pandemic when you would have had to compete against multiple competing offers. Welcome news for Texas families, like the Godfries. You guys feeling good about getting your dream home for a good price?

Yes, I am. It's definitely not as crazy as it has been before. And Tom, experts say that buyers should absolutely negotiate in this market. The thing to do is look at the comps in the neighborhood that you're buying in. See what homes are selling for versus what they were listed for and calculate that percentage decrease. And that is the amount that you should offer. Now, as for when these prices might start to go up. Experts say that as the mortgage rate comes down, we could see those prices start to increase likely sometime next year. Tom. Priscilla Thompson for us, Priscilla, we thank you for that. Now to a special moment late today, our conversation with American leaders trying to unite people to find solutions to the nation's challenges. It's part of our NBC News Common Ground

Initiative in partnership with our corporate parent comcast. Here's Kristen Walker. Tonight, leading American voices on the effort to find common ground in a divided America from the halls of Congress. John has more courage, and the strength that he showed in that moment is something that I hope everyone in America looks to and learns from. Republican Senator Katie Britt telling me how she went to visit Democratic Senator John Federman when he was hospitalized for clinical depression in early 2023. Senator Federman, what did it mean to you that Senator Britt came to visit you? Oh, I mean, of course, it made the world. Lift off. To the farthest reaches of space and those historic missions, astronaut Sonny Williams with NBC's Lester Holt.

What was it like to see something that you certainly were part of the building blocks for that moment? Yeah, it was incredible. Just think in the back of your mind, all of those people, all of this made this amazing thing happen. to the power of sports to unite us. You saw people in a Harris T-shirt right next to people in a Trump t-shirt, and it didn't matter because they were there to celebrate something that was bigger than all of us. That lasting search for common ground. Kristen Welker, NBC News, Washington. All right, we thank Kristen Welker for that one.

Coming up tonight here on Top Story, Still Come on the Mysterious Wagers on the weather. Did someone tamper with the temperature in France to win big on Polly Market? what we're learning from investigators. Also tonight, we'll introduce you to Ace, the one-arm ping-pong playing robot that's taking down some top-level talent. Stay with us. We're back now with Top Stories Health Check

and a concerning cancer trend. Rectal cancer rates are rising rapidly among millennials. And by 2035, deaths from the disease could surpass deaths from colon cancer. The number one cause of cancer death in people under age 50, that according to new research. And according to the American Cancer Society,

the one in five colorectal cases are in people under the age of 55. I want to bring in Dr. Robin Mendelsohn. She's a gastroenterologist and a co-director of the Center for Young Oncent Colorectal and Gastrointestinal Cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Doctor, thank you so much for joining Top Story. So let's talk about this rise in rectal cancer. Are you seeing this in your patients? And do we know why this is happening? Is it because of lifestyle?

Are we seen higher rates of cancers in general because people are getting checked more often? Yeah, so unfortunately the answer is yes. We are seeing this. We've been seeing this increase for a while now. Unfortunately, it's been increasing since the 1990s by about 2% per year. And why this is happening, we don't know the answer to. Both of those are reasons why we opened our center. We opened it for Young Onset Chloricorefal Cancer in 2018, and we expanded to all GI cancers in 2021. And that's partly because we saw this increase and we wanted to take better care of these patients, but also trying to figure out why it's happening. And that's what we're working on right now. So you've been at this almost a decade with the center. You said you opened it in

2018. I don't mean to kind of put you on the spot here. Do you have theories? I mean, are there things that you're concerned about? I know we don't know sort of the black and white reason, but what are some of the things you're looking at? Yeah. So I think what we know for sure is that it's not one thing. Because as you noted, we've been at this for a while, and if it was one cause, we would have figured it out by now. So I think it's a multi-hit hypothesis, meaning that there's somebody who's susceptible to it and some exposure is causing it. So when we first started, we thought, oh, you're young, you have to have a family history, you have to have a genetic mutation. But the majority of these patients are what we consider sporadic, meaning no family

history, no genetic mutation. And then we started to delve into the common risk factors for colorectal cancer. So obesity is a known risk factor, and we know that obesity has been increasing throughout this time period. And obesity does increase your risk of young onset cholorectal cancer, but the majority of these patients are not overweight and obese. And it's not the whole picture. And so we're looking at different exposures. It really looks like. like this has been going on for a while and probably changed somewhere in the 1950s, 1960s. So trying to figure out what changed in that time period. In 2026 now, are we seen any change with the GLP-1s? Is this helping those rates go down at all? So that's a we don't have enough long-term

data to look. Overall, it does seem like the GLP-1s help with inflammation and obesity. So we do hope that they will be protective against cancer. But we don't really have different. definitive data to answer that quite. Talk to me about symptoms. What should people be looking for? So as you noted, the majority of these are rectal cancer. So the rectum is the last part of your colon all the way at the bottom. And because these patients are not being screened because they're younger, the majority do

present with symptoms and the most common symptom is rectal bleeding. I want to reassure people that the majority of people with rectal bleeding will not have cancer, but it is the most common symptom. So any persistent rectal bleeding should really be checked out. And you're talking about, I mean, if people do have this, this is something that they're seeing every day, every week, every month. It can vary, but anything that's lasting. So if it happens once, it happens twice, and then it goes away,

it's unlikely to be cancer. But anything that's persistent over a few weeks, do a few months, it doesn't happen to happen to happen every day. It could be more intermittent. For some people, it does happen every day. but anything that's persistent should really be checked out. Yeah, your body is actually almost doing this to sort of tell you something, right, and notify you, hey, something is wrong.

Are there best practices, right, for our young viewers here at Top Story, maybe even for people my age, are their best practices to prevent colorectal cancer? Yeah, so the traditional risk factors, we already went over obesity, so, you know, healthy BMI, avoiding smoking, avoiding alcohol, diets that are high in red meats and process meats increase your risk, whereas diets that are high in fruits and vegetables are protective, increased physical activity is protective. And all of these things are good for, you know, your body in general, for your heart and for your lungs, so that you could do everything right and still get cancer, unfortunately. And so if you do get cancer and you

adhere to these healthy lifestyle, then you're more likely to be able to tolerate treatment better. So it's important to adhere. Those are good tips and good advice, good reminders, I should say, Dr. Mendelsohn, since we have this here, I do want to ask you about another study. It's from the environmental working group. You may be familiar with it. We'll put it up for our viewers. It found nearly one-fifth of the U.S. population drinks water contaminated with nitrates, which are chemicals linked to cancer.

Is it possible that cancer rates are increasing, and it's linked to our food and our water? So I can't say for sure that it's due to nitrates, and I don't think that study answers that either. But, you know, I do believe that it is like something environmental, whether it's an exposure, medication, foods, plastics, you know, all of these things. Because I think that it's something that's changed over the last few decades. But again, I think it's not one thing or we really would have figured it out already. Dr. Mendelsohn's so great to have you here on Top Story. We appreciate your time.

Thank you so much. That of Top Stories Global Watch. In the UK police just released dramatic new video of a car going airborne. Dash cam shows officers chasing after the driver of this BMW. They say that they clocked him going 140 miles an hour before he hit a roundabout, launching into the air and flipping several times. The driver pleaded guilty to charges, including driving under the influence. He was sentenced this week to 16 months behind bars.

And in northern Japan, nearly 2,000 people order to evacuate their homes as raging wildfires ripped through the region. Here you can see the fast-moving flames burning across a hillside. In all authorities say the fires have burned almost 400 acres and damaged multiple buildings. So far, no reports of any injuries. Also in Japan, there's a new paddle-wielding robot that's become quite a force on the ping-pong table. Look at this. Its name is Ace. The robotic arm uses AI and cameras to track the ball and measure its spin.

It's apparently a pretty tough competitor, already beaten some elite human players. The machine was built by Sony, which says it's the first time a robot. robot has achieved expert level play in a physical competitive sport. Now to the latest controversy surrounding those popular prediction betting sites, and this one has quite a twist. French authorities are investigating if someone tampered with weather forecasting equipment at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport in order to win big on polymarket. According to the Wall Street Journal, a mystery trader placed bets on how high temperatures would go in Paris, cashing in on tens of thousands of dollars. Take a look at this. On April 15th, weather underground

shows temperature readings at the airport, steadily climbing for most of the day and then leveling off. But at 9.30 at night, that's significant jump. That's when the temperature shoots up to, shoots up 22 degrees Celsius. That's equivalent to more than 71 degrees Fahrenheit. Earlier that afternoon, someone on Pauly Market made an unlikely bet for less than $120 that the temperature would go higher than 18 degrees Celsius when the reading spiked. The Wall Street Journal reports that user raked in 21,000 bucks. Here to discuss this, NBC's Brian Chung. Brian, I think we found a new beat for you. So explain what happened here. Yeah, this is a pretty

crazy story. So the question was, what is the highest temperature in Paris going to be on April 15? Now, for most of the day in Paris, again, I'm not a meteorologist, but this is a thing we have to track now with these prediction markets. It was 18 degrees Celsius. I won't translate it because it doesn't really matter for this story. Strangely, around 9.30 p.m. Tom, the temperature went up to 71 degrees, which landed one particular better on Polly Market about $21,000, because this person, just a few minutes before that spike, bet on no for it to stay at 18 degrees Celsius. So when it popped, that person won a lot of money. Now, there were some reports out there, again, we haven't confirmed this, that potentially the instrument that was being used to measure that temperature may have

experienced some sort of heating up from a hair dryer. So there's now questions over whether or not there was insider trading and perhaps manipulation of that instrument. Are there any consequences for these traders, do we know? Well, so first off, this is not in the United States. And this is a polymarket operation in a European country where the rules are definitely a little bit more different than where they are here right now. So it's a little bit difficult to tell how this person would be policed if

they were to be, given the jurisdiction laws there in France. But of course, Tom, this is the type of thing that would worry anyone that's using these apps or in charge of regulating these apps. If there's anyone I know that would try to do this, it's Bill Karen, our neurologist, and we have them here live tonight, or I should say, at least in the segment. Bill, I do want to ask you, if somebody wanted to do

this, right? Explain like, where do these temperature gauges live? And how would you do this? At first, you're like, oh, this is pretty smart scam, right? I mean, it's a way to quickly make yourself money. But this is science. And it's supposed to be regulated and it's also supposed to be secure. So this is like a weather station at JFK Airport. A lot of our stations are around the country at airports. And they have things that measure the wind, the cloud heights, how much sunshine they're getting, and also the temperature and rain gauges too. So they're all within all these sensors. Worldwide, they're supposed to be four to six feet off the ground, so they are accessible,

but they're also supposed to be in enclosed areas where people can't get into them. So it's not out of the realm. It's not that difficult to have a hairdryer to heat up the atmosphere or the air around this device to make it warmer. So that part was actually smart. But as scientists, we know when it should warm up. You know, if it's cloudy and the sun comes out, it warms up. All of a sudden, after the temperature starts dipping in the late afternoon, if it jumps. So the people betting on this mostly are, you know, weather enthusiasts or meteorologists,

they saw it immediately flagged this and said, what's going on here? This is not right. And the fact that actually had happened twice on April 5th and April 15th. It makes it even more peculiar and that they didn't get caught earlier. So what do you think? You think this is definitely somebody rigged this, they figured it out, and they were able to tweak the systems. I think it was a good try. But it should have been obvious to a lot of people that the temperature just doesn't work that way. You know, Brian and I were talking. If they were smarter, they'd have a squirt gun and spraying it into the rain gauge. This is a scheme that we were putting on. I know. You're a meteorologist. I mean, can you bet on weather? I mean, if you were somebody who, you know, maybe not you Bill Carrons, because you have ethics, but if you're somebody else and maybe you're an out-of-work meteorologist, could you bet and win on weather?

Let's put it this way. At the last weather conference I was at, there was a lot of talk about people betting on making money on these apps. But as you said, it's an ethical thing, right? I mean, we're experts in the field betting against people that aren't experts. So that's not right. Yeah, Brian, back to you yesterday, you know, we reported on Cal She cracking down on on these politicians that were betting, on their own platforms. These things are becoming so popular. We saw earlier that some producers showed us that you could even bet on my interview with President Trump and the things that I was going to ask President Trump about. We were not aware of this.

I wasn't aware of this until just right now. You can bet on so many things right now. I'm just wondering so many people, like take the interview, for instance, looked at that interview, fed in, saw it. I mean, it just seems like it's way more. So many people touch these things a lot more than, say, a sports game. But maybe it may not. I mean, when we talk about the broad issue of insider trading, we have to remember that inside

trading has been an issue for all types of markets since the beginning of time. I mean, there were bankers that were shorting their own bank during the Great Depression. You have Jeffrey Skilling and Enron. I mean, you can't stop bad actors from trying to rig the system so that they can make a lot of money. But I think the difference with these prediction markets is now there's a prediction market for literally everything, down to your interview with President Trump, for example. down to, will Drake release Iceman before Grand Theft Auto 6 comes out?

Now, some of these things are a little bit easier and harder than others to manipulate, but when it comes down to putting a hairdryer onto a pole outside of an airport, or, for example, in your interview, if you knew exactly what the question was going to be, someone could have put money on that. I'm sure you didn't do that. But I think that it becomes a little bit of a different talking point when it becomes easier to manipulate the outcome of these markets that basically anybody can better. on that's a question for the CFTC and the SEC, which are supposed to be regulating these types of things.

All right, Brian Chung, we thank you for that. When we come back tonight, some of football's brightest young stars, hoping to hear their names called that tonight's NFL draft. Our Sam Brock is in Pittsburgh with a look at the first round and why the top prospect Fernando Mendoza isn't there. We'll explain the reason it might surprise you. Finally tonight, the 2026 NFL draft is happening in Pittsburgh tonight, but the favorite for the first pick Fernando Mendoza isn't there.

Our Sam Brock explained how he's using his most. moment for both football and family. On a night that's all about high stakes drama, let's go buffalo. There's only one thing considered certain at this year's NFL draft. Who's going number one? National championship quarterback Fernando Mendoza. The Las Vegas Raiders select Fernando Mendoza. Selected first by the Las Vegas Raiders. But in a rare move, the breakout star wasn't there in person. staying in Miami with his family and mother Elsa, who lives with MS and has difficulty traveling. Mendoza captured hearts when he accepted the Heisman trophy. Mommy, this is your trophy as much as mine.

You've always been my biggest fan. You're my light, you're my Y, you're my biggest supporter. Tonight, Mendoza announcing a partnership with the National MS Society, personally committing $500,000 to research and starting the Mendoza family fund. For most people, multiple sclerosis is something they've heard about. For my family, it's something that's deeply personal. The QB's decision, at a milestone moment in his life, touching families like the Davises and many others.

Instead of going to the NFL draft in Pittsburgh to accept that acknowledgement on stage, he's with his mom. What does that tell you about Fernando Mendoza? All three of us have lost our mother. It's very important to spend as much time as you can with your mother. So we all know what that's all about. We look up to him and we respect his decision. I think that he wants to be with his mother.

since this is a big time in his life. To be home with your mother in this situation that she's in is something you don't see with young people. A spotlight that's also a stage for a larger message about what's really important in life. Sam Brock, NBC News, Pittsburgh. That does it for us. Thanks so much for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamison, New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.