Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, April 30, 2026

Episode Date: May 1, 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 tonight, the violence scene at Tacoma, Washington High School, students stabbed on campus. What happened? The new details just coming in. Four kids and a security guard injured and taken to an area hospital. The school put on lockdown. The chaos inside as parents waited anxiously for word on what happened. Also tonight, the massive house explosion caught on police body cam. Those officers sent flying. The house blown apart, erupting in flames. The injured officers then rushing to pull victims out, one man still unaccounted for. Did he set it off? New video of the man accused of attempting to assassinate the president shooting a Secret Service officer. Plus, the new image is just in, a gas mask and bullets designed to inflict maximum damage inside his backpack.

The night of the attack, what else they show? Dramatic reversal, Camp Mystic says it will no longer reopen this summer after last year's deadly floods, how outraged parents of the campers and counselors killed stopped the reopening. Hollywood in trouble? The major production company scaling down in several big cities are investigation into what's behind the shift. High in the sky, the popular chain testing out pizza deliveries by drone. Is this the future of takeout?

We tested ourselves. Trapped in a claw machine, how this toddler got stuck inside and how first responders got him out. Plus, the stunning report on how much YouTube kids are. watching at school. The warning for parents tonight. Top story starts right now. And good evening. We begin tonight with that breaking news. At least four students hospitalized after a stabbing at a high school in Washington State. Details are still coming in. Here's what we know right now. At least six people hurt at Foss High School, about an hour south of Seattle. Four students and one security guard hospitalized. And police have confirmed

the suspect is in custody tonight. Students evacuated waiting to be united with their parents. A reporter from our NBC affiliate station speaking with one student on the ground there who says he saw video of the incident. They were bleeding there's blood on the floor, the security guard. I think he got stabbed right in his forearm. And, yeah, that was a lot going on. Because people were screaming, stab. He was swinging hard, too.

He was like this. He was like, like, he got him against the wall. He was as hard as he can. I'm like, oh. NBC's Liz Kreutz is following this for us and joins us live. Liz, this all happened during the school day. Yeah, Tom, it did. So Tacoma first responders say that they were called to Foss High School at around 1.30 p.m. Pacific time after reports that six people, including four students and one security guard, were injured in a stabbing at the school. Tacoma Fire tells our NBC affiliate king that five people have been transported to local hospitals. Four of those injured are in serious or critical condition. Two of them have non-life-threatening injuries. Tacoma PD tells us that one of those people is considered the suspect, a student who is now in custody as they receive medical care. Student

witnesses have been coming out and speaking to media reporters there. They say the stabbing appears to have stem from some kind of fight at the school. Police haven't confirmed that. They're still investigating. They're at the school right now conducting a search of the campus. It's locked down. We've seen video of students streaming out of the building as they've evacuated with a heavy police presence there and concerned parents rushing to the school to reunite with their kids, Tom. And then, Liz, as we just heard there, it sounds like there's video of the incident. Yeah, so there's reports circulating that there is video. Students have said that they've seen video of it. Our affiliate, the reporter at King Five, just spoke to a spokesperson for Tacoma

Police Department who said that they were not aware of police have that video and they are asking anybody who does have video to please send it into police, Tom. Okay, Liz Kroitz, leading us off here on Top Story. Liz, thank you for that. Now to those terrifying moments in New York City, a home with children inside, exploding, sending the NYPD that had shown up flying. Body cam video shows the officers look closely. They're responding to a domestic dispute. The house explodes in Queens, and they go flying. This dramatic moment, babies heard crying, and then you see several young children pulled from the burning rubble. More than 300 first responders rushing to the scene, battling this five-alarm fire. The big question tonight right now, what investigators are

looking at. Was it set off on purpose? Emily Aketa is at the scene for us. Tonight, hard-stopping video of a New York City house explosion. NYPD officers seen here trying to enter this home responding to a domestic dispute before the unthinkable, violently thrown off their feet and into the fence. You're all right? Injured officers then rushing back into the chaos to pull crying young children from the rubble. The blast sparked a five alarm inferno that spread throughout the three family residents, according to officials. Angelica Castellar lived on the top floor with her kids. I thought we got bombed. I looked in the kitchen area. I saw my microwave. The flames was literally

rising up. Ladder trucks reaching into neighboring homes as 300 first responders battled extremely dangerous conditions. Police have been responding to a 911 call shortly before 3 a.m. involving an intoxicated man armed with a knife. Investigators say 50-year-old en route Paris Rom forced his way into the basement where relatives lived. They said he threatened them with a knife and was carrying two garbage bags containing yellow canisters with contents unknown.

Sources familiar with the matter say investigators are looking into whether the suspect doused the house with gasoline and ignited the fire. A neighboring home security camera capturing another view. First, you hear the blast before officers are seen scrambling to safety. Remarkably, all of the residents in the now incinerated home made it out. I want to be clear. We got very lucky today.

This could have turned out really differently. It's incredible those officers survived. Emily joins us now from the scene. Emily, we can see there's crew still behind you seeming to work on the house. I know you have some new reporting on the suspect. Yeah, Tom, that's right. Investigators continue to comb through the scene. some of it you can see behind me. And I also want to point out the damage to some of the

neighboring homes. You'll see there the charred siding, the windows completely blown out. So you get a sense for the degree of the power of this explosion. As for the home that actually exploded, well, where the excavator is, that is where the home once stood. It's been completely reduced to rubble. We are learning that the suspect has a documented history of domestic violence. And sources familiar with the matter say that while he is unaccounted for a body was recovered on here today, still awaiting official identification, Tom. All right, Emily, we thank you for that. Also breaking tonight, new video just released,

showing a clear view of the moment a gunman charged through security at the White House correspondent's dinner shooting a Secret Service officer. We're also learning the suspect allegedly had bullets in his bag designed to inflict maximum damage. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell is following this one. New details tonight about the suspect and the exchange of gunfire outside the White House correspondent's dinner. And just released additional crime scene images.

Officials say the suspect had a respirator and ammunition labeled Hollow Point. All the evidence that I've seen, the suspect shot our officer point-blank range with a shotgun. Our officer heroically returned fire while being shot point-blank range in the chest with a shotgun. It was able to get off five shots. Also knew the director said Alan had been wearing a gun. a protective vest. Here there was some type of tactical vest that he was wearing. So his officers again,

officers again bravely removed that clothing to ensure that he did not have any other devices on him. The ballroom incident raised alarming questions about safety with so many high-level government officials in the same packed space. But Director Curran says the security plan was, in his judgment, perfect. The site was set up perfectly. I will tell you, I would not change the again. However, President Trump today expressed concern that the would-be attempted assassin

had access to the building as a hotel guest. You know, when you have a thousand rooms sitting on top of a ballroom and you have the elevators coming down right near the entrance, it's a pretty tough situation. All right, with that, Kelly joins us live from Washington. Kelly, we want to show this new video to our viewers once again. And tell us exactly what it reveals and what we should be looking out for here? Well, there are a couple of things. You can see that the Secret Service officers were removing the magnetometers because all the guests were already inside. And when the man runs through, what this shows us that still images and the grainyer video from before did not, is you see him raise the weapon, the shotgun, the 12-gauge shotgun in the direction of the lower left

part of the screen where there is a Secret Service officer who then returned fire. What officials tell us is when that gun was raised, it was discharged. They have the spent cartridge in the gun. And you can see there the officer in the lower left, who while he was taking on that shot, so hit with buckshot across his ballistic vest. Also, he had a cell phone, I'm told, on his person there. He then was able to fire five rounds toward the suspect. No other federal officers or law enforcement discharged their weapons.

So this is important for prosecutors because this more enhanced video allows them to make the argument that as Cole Allen was running through that, he fired at the officer and then carried on toward where the ballroom was. He was stopped. They also tell us that he ran into some of the equipment, injured his knee, and fell down, and then a bunch of officers jumped on him. We've yet to see video, if it exists, of that moment where he was tackled. But we also saw in some of the evidence photos that he had a respirator. He had, Those hollow point bullets that you had referenced earlier, those do extreme damage. Just a lot more evidence coming out today.

I was also in court this morning where Cole Allen, he's a 31-year-old California man, he's trained as an engineer and an educator. I was struck by how tall he is when he came into the courtroom. He was shackled and wearing the orange suit associated with being in jail. The hearing today, Tom, was called a detention hearing, where they decided he will remain in custody. his lawyers, his federally appointed, public defenders, did not contest that, so they're acknowledging he will remain in custody awaiting trial. This is video where he is walking the day before the dinner, where he was, in effect, casing the hotel to learn some of the routes, where was the

ballroom, that kind of thing. All of that information that they gleaned from hotel video helps them to fill in a picture of what was he doing. He had been a hotel guest, as you recall, had those tools with him in his guest room, had a bag. He assembled in the hallway before running through at great speed, armed with that shotgun. I got to tell you, Kelly, we saw a lot of new video and learned a lot today. I did not know, and I know we all learned this, that he scoped it out the day before, and to see that video,

it's going to raise more questions. It just is how this was possible so close to the actual event. All right, Kelly O'Donnell, we thank you for that tonight. Next to the Warren of Iran sending gas prices skyrocketing the national average hitting $4.30 tonight. That according to AAA, it's up more than 27 cents in just a week. I want to bring in the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. Patrick DeHan, a good friend to top story. Patrick, great to see you here.

Gas prices are up in every state across the country. At least five states we're going to show it to our viewers here hitting their highest levels in almost four years. And now GasBuddy is predicting that the national average could soon hit $4.50. cents. When do you expect to see prices climb that high and how much higher will it go? Well, Tom, it certainly could continue to go up as long as this trade of Hormuz continues to essentially be blocked. And that's part of the reason why we're seeing the national average go up so significantly is because earlier this week, President Trump signaled to his administration that he's prepared for a longer blockade of the trade of Hormuz than was anticipated just a short

while ago. That has fed oil prices, which have rallied to $106 a barrel surging 8% yesterday. That behind some of those for new jump in average gas prices, the Great Lakes seeing that jump in oil coupled with refinery issues, three refineries now in areas of Illinois and Indiana, sending gas prices sharply higher through Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin. That is pumping up the national average, which has jumped another 10 cents since this morning. now at 442, just 8 cents below the 450 mark. That 450 mark is something we could see in the next several days. And then while we have you here, Patrick, the president today said gas prices will drop like a rock as soon as the war is over.

Realistically, walk our viewers through how long that would take to get back down. Well, Tom, prices may go down relatively quickly if there is a clear definitive reopening of the straight, but it will take much longer, I estimate, over a year, for gas prices to get back to pre-war level because it will take many, many weeks of resumption of shipments to start building global inventories back to normal levels. In fact, just data from the Department of Energy yesterday showing that nearly 100 million barrels of oil and refined products have left U.S. shores in just the last seven days. That is putting tremendous upward pressure on gas prices here as our supplies decline. All right, Patrick DeHan, always great to see you. We thank you for that.

We are tracking several more stories out of Washington tonight. President Trump signing a bill to end the DHS shutdown. And just moments ago, a major development on the U.S. war with Iran. NBC's Ryan Nobles is covering all of it from Capitol Hill. Ryan, the news on Iran may be a little confusing. So walk our viewers through this one. Yeah, that's right, Tom. So Congress has the authority within 60 days of any military action to ask for approval from the White House for that military action to continue. And we are very much coming up on that deadline. In fact, many believe it's tomorrow, depending on when you judge the beginning of that military action. But yet the White House had still not asked for congressional approval. Well, now we're told by a senior administration official that for the purposes of a war powers resolution,

the military action that began on February 28th has been terminated. And that senior official pointed to the fact that there was a ceasefire that was in place on April 7th. It's since been extended a number of times. Now, even though that ceasefire is in place, there's still an active naval blockade of Iranian ports, and of course, the Iranian regime still controls access to that critical street of Hormuz. Tom, we've seen both Democrats and even some Republicans say that Congress needs to have more of an oversight role in this military action, but so far, Republican leaders in both the House and Senate have not been compelled to put a resolution on the floor authorizing this military action. And now, after this move by the White House, there is a sense that maybe they don't ever have.

to at least not in the near future. And then, Ryan, back to that deal with to fund the DHS. This was unexpected. It kind of sort of came out of nowhere. What changed? Well, we were moving closer and closer to this point, but leaders in the House of Representatives had not said when they were ready to actually take that final step.

You'll remember that this was a deal that was hatched in the Senate. It removed funding for ICE and border control out of the larger DHS package. And then Republicans began the process of passing a funding plan that would fund ICE and CBP through the balance of the Trump administration through a separate procedural move called reconciliation, which would only require Republican votes. Now, House leaders had said that they weren't going to pass the DHS package until they knew that reconciliation was on a glide path to being passed. They feel comfortable enough to take that step. Of course, Tom, it comes against the backdrop of the new DHS secretary, Mark Wayne Mullen, saying that they were

running out of money to continue to pay TSA officers and other front-line DHS workers. So there was a deadline and the White House was asking for this, and tonight they finally got it done. Yeah, and then, Ryan, while we have you here, I think we're going to get our monies worth out of you. I know you also have breaking news on a change to President Trump's pick for the Surgeon General. Yeah, that's right. His original pick, Casey Means, had run into trouble. There was some question about her qualifications by some Republicans on the committees of jurisdiction that would be in charge of her confirmation. They basically signaled to the White House that she had no chance of being confirmed.

And so the White House has changed course. They've removed her nomination. They put in another new candidate who is a radiologist who worked for Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital. She's someone that's been a COVID-skeptic, a Fox News contributor, but there is a sense that she's got a much quicker path to getting to confirmation here in the next couple of weeks, Tom.

Okay, Ryan Noble is covering so much news for us there from Capitol Hill. Ryan, thank you. Next night to the major reversal in Texas, Camp Mystic, where 25 young campers and their counselors died during flooding last July, announcing it will not reopen this summer. It comes as that part of the state once again faces the potential for flash floods. NBC's Priscilla Thompson has the latest. Camp Mystic abandoning plans to reopen next month, just steps from the Guadalupe River camp, where in July, 25 young campers and two counselors died, telling families that after thoughtful prayer and careful reflection,

it will not welcome campers to its Cyprus lake site. The reversal comes just days after a grueling state hearing, where lawmakers press camp leaders about reopening. If y'all are left as an operator in any form or fashion, what deterrent does that send to another operator that I can have kids dialing my watch and still be an operator? The camp's 2026 emergency plan received a letter from the state, outlining 22 deficiencies.

Still, with more than 800 campers already enrolled, camp leaders appeared determined to return. We believe if we do it right, a year from now, five years from now, 10 years from now, they will be glad that we had camp this summer. That infuriated parents who lost their children that night. Do not ever tell our families that one day we will be happy that you opened camp this summer. I am heartbroken. Destroyed our lives. Lives taken away. Mystic.

Camp Mystic now saying they have heard the concerns expressed by grieving families and that respect for those voices requires that we step back now. Voices like the father of eight-year-old victim Mary Grace Baker. It's just another, just another chapter and what has been the most horrific chain of events that I think any human could ever have to experience. It is so difficult, as you know, Priscilla, to speak to those families, to hear from them. what they've gone through. There's now some concern, I know, even though this happened this summer, that it may open down the road. Yeah, Tom, exactly. The father that I spoke to said that there's still a concern about what happens next summer and the summer after that, because it's important to remember while you have these grieving families who are saying they don't want this camp reopened. You also had

about 850 parents who enrolled their children for another summer at Camp Mystic and who are fighting for it to return. So one of the lawmakers in that hearing there, suggested that maybe the camp could remain open, but under a new operator, under new ownership, but there is still such a long way from that with the parent I spoke to saying they still have to get through the state investigation into this and the lawsuits that are coming out of this. And I will tell you, the one thing that that father I spoke to really emphasized is that Camp Mystic is saying that they have heard the families and they are doing this in response to the families. But he said that if they were really listening to the families, they would have made

this decision months ago instead of putting them through. through all of this, only to come to the decision that they had been asking them for months to not reopen. Tom? Okay. Priscilla, we thank you for that one. A tough one there. We're back in a moment with a hospital workers fight to get heart surgery, why insurance denied her first and then the sudden reversal when our reporter followed up. Plus, the new warning sign for Hollywood, a key production company now scaling back what it could mean for the entire industry across the country. And high-flying deliveries, one of the nation's largest pizza chains, testing out drones to send out takeout orders. We'll get a live, we'll get a look of it ourselves

right after this break. We're back now with the new delivery system, years in the making. Little Caesars stepping into the future with drone pizza deliveries. The company says the drones can carry almost 10 pounds of pizza and drinks. Ryan Chandler checked it out in Texas. Call it a pie in the sky idea. In this Texas suburb, pizzas from Little Caesars whizz by 200 feet high in a new way to deliver, touted as faster and cheaper. To watch the drone come and deliver your pizza order, it's kind of like a little event. We got a behind the scenes look at the launch pad. So if you order a pizza from the Little Caesars right around the corner, a flytrex runner will pick

it up for you, load it onto this drone, and then it's up in the air and off to your house in less than five minutes. Do you see this as the future that we're all going to be using for pizza delivery soon? I would, yes, I would say so, absolutely. Especially when you can get your order delivered in four and a half minutes, now you're guaranteed freshness. It's still hot. When you open up that piece, you still see steam coming out of it. The pies are loaded up here onto this hook before flying to you. Little Caesar says there's no additional cost on ordering via drone. It's on par with normal delivery fees based on distance, and you don't need to tip a robot. What would be the potential downsize? sides of this. Obviously, if it's raining, you can't get drone delivery right. As of right now. As of right now. Yes. What other limitations should customers know about? The only other limitations, again, is if you order more than 8.8 pounds, you'll get delivered

to you, but it'll take two flights. We had to check it out for ourselves. Oh, yeah. There it is. There's our pizza. It is so high in the air, higher than I thought. It traveled about half a mile to us in the air for about three minutes. That is super cool. So we ordered our pizza to the park here. No need to find the driver. It drops it right onto the grass from 200 feet in the air. And it still feels hot.

And Little Caesars isn't the only company getting into drone delivery. In select markets, you can order groceries from Walmart to be delivered by drone. And Amazon launched prime air in eight U.S. cities. As for Little Caesars, they say this experiment here in Wiley is just a slice. of things to come. Still hot in perfect condition. Ryan Chandler, great story there. We have so many questions.

First, how far can these delivery drones go? Well, as they continue to experiment, Tom, they're just sticking above the city of Wiley here outside of Dallas, about four mile radius in the air. I think the bigger question in what I've been hearing from people at this location is how far should it go? This is certainly not a perfect system yet. Some people have safety concerns.

You know, what does it mean to drop hot food from the sky? Could that present any safety concerns? I was talking to one man in here who just learned about the new drone delivery system. He said, that's fine as long as he doesn't hear whizzing over his house at all hours of the night. What kind of convenience or annoyance factor could that present? So there's a whole lot to balance here, but for now, it's an exciting new technology for a lot of people here in Wiley, Texas. I mean, if you get hit with a pizza, you get to keep the pizza. So I don't know how bad it is if it falls from the sky.

Ryan, I do want to ask you eight to 10 pounds, how many pizzas can that hold? So we got two pizzas, two sides, and a drink. It'd certainly be enough for a whole family if you're feeding like four people, two kids. It's plenty for one meal. He said if you go more than that, you're still going to get it delivered. It would just be split up into two different drones. I know the margins are very tight in the pizza business, this type of pizza business because everyone wants to get the pizzas out the fastest and keep cutting costs.

Will this help a place like Little Caesars to cut costs? I think when it comes into terms of paying delivery drivers directly, certainly. I think you're going to see cost savings mostly on the consumer side, because here you don't have to tip a delivery driver, and it costs about the same for a drone or for an actual driver. So they're touting this as not only a faster option, but a cheaper one. Of course, then you have some considerations about what happens to the delivery drivers who work here now?

Are they going to lose their jobs? And are there potential downsides to that? The economics of this, as we see how it plays out, I need you to be honest on this one. How many slices did you eat? Be honest. I had three. Al here, our producer, I believe, had one,

but we got three more. You want to get some more after this? No, he doesn't. That's all right. Ryan, great story. Thank you for that one. Just limiting ourselves today. All right, coming up, a scary situation for a little boy

dropped inside an arcade machine, how he got stuck. and how Cruz got him out. And a close call on the road, a driver nearly clipping a child walking to the school bus. What happened next? But first, top story's top moment, and the young love is in the air.

A 10-year-old Caleb wanted to surprise his fifth-grade girlfriend, Alana, at her cheerleading competition. So with a little help from his mom, he wished her good luck with a bouquet of flowers in front of her whole cheerleading team before she hit the mat.

Take a look. Alana's team came in second at the cheer competition with Caleb supporting her in the crowd. I think that young man has Riz, as the people say nowadays. The kids, they say it. I don't know. That's what I'm told.

All right, stay with us. More top story on the way. We're back with the Americas in a seismic moment tonight in the U.S.'s relationship with Venezuela. For the first time in seven years, a direct commercial flight from the U.S. landing in Venezuela. George Solis has this one. Moments after touching down in Caracas, the captain of this American Airlines flight, leaned out the cockpit to wave the Venezuelan flag, signaling the first direct arrival from the U.S. in seven years, passengers stopping for selfies on the stairs, descending to a crowd waiting on the tarmac.

The journey began just after 10 a.m. in Miami, where emotional passengers lined up at the gate. The last time I was here in Venezuela was 18 years ago, and very exciting to go and see the family. The flight crew opening the windows to wave the U.S. and Venezuela, flags, then taxing through a water cannon salute before takeoff. This flight, the most visible sign yet of a rapid diplomatic thaw, following the ouster of Venezuela's authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maluro, in January. The U.S. ban on direct air travel in place since 2019 was officially lifted just two weeks ago. In South Florida, the heart of the Venezuelan diaspora, some are still cautious.

Venezuela remains under the control of acting president Delsi Rodriguez, who served as Maduro's right hand for years, and hundreds of political prisoners remain behind bars. Things that still need to happen for me to feel safe to go Venezuela. Despite the uncertainty, for those landing in Caracas today, seven years of grounded hopes, finally coming to a historic end. I'm taking my family back, my kids back, my grandkids back. So it's a historic day.

George Solis joins us tonight from Miami and George. Are we seeing any other signs of diplomatic thaw between the U.S. and Venezuela, because as your report there pointed out, there are a lot of questions about what this new government is going to look like in Venezuela. That's right, Tom. So the U.S. did reopen the embassy there in Calacas, but it's important to note there's still no Venezuelan consulate here in the U.S.

and temporary protected status or TPS for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans is still very much in limbo. As far as more flights are concerned, well, American Airlines did announce that they planned to open a second daily flight starting in May. Tom? Okay, George Solis for us. Next tonight, Louisiana taking drastic action after a landmark ruling from the Supreme Court,

which said race can almost never be considered when redrawn congressional districts. The governor delaying the state's primary elections to allow the districts to be redrawn. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez has been following this and joins us from the White House tonight. Gabe, this was a quick move by the governor. When do we expect that primaries to ultimately happen as we get ready for the midterms? Well, Tom, the governor says that the primaries will now happen on July 15th, unless the legislature, comes up with a new date. But as you said, this is a very quick move. And a lot of things are happening very quickly at this point because absentee voting had already been underway for

this primary. Early voting was set to start on Saturday. So this is definitely setting off a chain of events where Republicans are now scrambling to make this happen following that Supreme Court decision, which came down yesterday. And then House Speaker Mike Johnson, who's from Louisiana, already calling for other southern states to redraw their districts. Is this rule going to open those floodgates? Well, look, President Trump was very busy today speaking, not only with Louisiana's governor, but also with the governor of Tennessee.

He's urging Tennessee to do the same, and that could net Republicans one seat there. There are other states that have been going back and forth on this, as you know, over the last several months, both Democrats and Republicans. Other states, for example, Georgia, even South Carolina, Kentucky, have explored the idea of potentially redrawing maps. However, it's likely that some of those southern states, this won't happen until the 2028 elections.

But again, someplace like Tennessee, already looking at potentially speeding things up and trying to get it ahead of the midterms top. All right, Gabe, good to see it tonight. Now on Top Story's News Feed, a close call caught on camera in Florida. Video shows a child crossing the street, almost getting hit by a car. The driver cruising past a school bus parked on the side of the road. The Hillsborough County Sheriff says the driver got a notice of violation and that their dangerous decision, nearly cost a child their life. Pop star Brittany Spears has now officially been charged with DUI.

She was arrested last month in California on suspicion of driving under the influence. Her representatives described the incident as completely inexcusable, adding that hopefully this can be the first step in a long overdue change that needs to occur in Brittany's life. Since then, Spears has checked herself into a treatment facility. She's expected to be a rain next week. And in Wisconsin, a tense scene at an ice cream shop when a toddler got stuck inside a claw machine. Look at this.

The young child clearly not happy being trapped with all those stuffed animals. Firefighters responded to the store, getting him out in just a few minutes. It appears the curious kid crawled inside through the prize slot at the bottom, but luckily wasn't hurt. And in Texas, a former Chick-fil-A worker got busted for stealing more than 80 grand from the fast food chain, and he allegedly did it with a mac and cheese fraud scheme. According to police, Kishan Jones rang up some 800 orders, then he refunded them to his own craft. credit cards. Joan was caught on surveillance camera trying to rake in the cheddar, but in the end, guess what? He got served up nothing but charges. All right, next tonight, look at what's

happening inside of Hollywood, not on the red carpet, but behind the scenes where some of the industry's busiest spaces are starting to go quiet. Here's Dana Griffin. Empty sound stages in Hollywood used to be unthinkable. Now it's part of a growing trend, forcing a key behind-the-scenes production company to scale back. Kehote might not be a household name. But behind the scenes, it provides everything from trailers to superstars like Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande to full sound stages. Bryant started the fire, including the former home of NBC's The Office. Kehote is one of the biggest names in the business. But this week in an email to clients, Kehote announced

it scaling back at soundstage operations in Los Angeles and winding down operations in Atlanta. Action! A one-time production boom town. Very few places are seeing increased film and TV activity right now in the United States. Kehote's parent company Hudson Pacific says the move could save the company up to $27 million. Adding in a statement, it has persisted through the prolonged and ongoing slowdown in commercial, television and film production. But ultimately, industry conditions have forced difficult decisions. For years, Hollywood is worried about productions leaving California for better financial incentives. and other states. The issue now, there are fewer productions to keep the industry booming.

Television production has declined for three straight years. In 2025, there was an 11% drop in premieres of TV shows versus 2024. But there's a twist. Not every production space is struggling. Hudson Pacific says its sunset studio stages are nearly fully booked. Signaling, demand hasn't gone away. It's just shifting. for Hollywood, this is a wake-up call when a company like Keote scales back because it's saying that the need for physical production is diminishing and that should be alarming to a lot of people. But there will be ways to pivot, hopefully, and turn that around. And for an industry built on reinvention, this is a reality check.

A reminder that in Hollywood, not every story gets a sequel. Dana Griffin joins us tonight from Los Angeles. The mayor of L.A. is hoping tax and incentives can help increase productions in Hollywood. Are those tax breaks working? Well, Tom, there's a lot of layers to this issue. The L.A. mayor has been touting the tax incentives, and she says that it is helping to bring work back to Hollywood. And also the main film department, the film L.A. studio here in L.A., they concur with that. And one spokesperson went on to say that while it is still too early to make predictions for the upcoming months,

the increase in shoot days gives hope for a broader rise in production activity. Now, that is despite data from that same organization shows that regional filming is actually down, nearly 3% year over year. But I think the people and the organizations that are trying to prop up this industry, they're trying to remain hopeful. Tom. Dana Griffin, our thanks to you. Now to our series, The Cost of Denial, which covers the struggles people face with their health insurance.

Tonight, how a hospital employee had to fight for potentially. life-saving care. Her heart surgery canceled two days before it was scheduled. Valuable time and money lost during the delay. Our Vicki Wynn has this story. This is not supposed to be flapping around like that. Forty-year-old Amy Woddle of Hamilton, Ohio, has a hole in her heart, the size of a grape. Amy's official diagnosis, an atrial septal defect. I could have a stroke at any time. I can develop right-sighted heart failure. I can develop pulmonary hypertension, which is an irreversible damage to the heart and lungs. What is it like living with that knowledge that if this isn't fixed, you could die?

It's terrifying. Amy rarely leaves her home. It's too much for her heart. You never had trouble climbing stairs before? No. Her mom, Deborah Ann, is often by her side because of fainting spells, shortness of breath and unpredictable weakness. I'm almost afraid to do anything.

I'm short of breath all the time anyway, but I'm just scared now. Lucky for Amy, she works as a medical assistant at the Christ Hospital in Cincinnati. Doctors there recommended a robotic heart surgery. Of course, I worked in cardiology. I know it's going to be fine, but my brain immediately goes to like, what if it doesn't restart? But on Christmas Eve, two days before her surgery was scheduled, Amy was told it was cancer. The reason insurance had denied coverage, saying it wasn't medically necessary. Is this a situation where you feel like your insurance failed you?

Absolutely. I don't, like, I was like, what am I even paying for? Amy's story is unusual. She's both a patient and an employee at the Christ Hospital. She gets her insurance through the hospital, the plan administered by United Health Care. The hospital surgeon was telling Amy she needed an operation on her heart, while the hospital's insurance said no, she didn't. Amy appealed the decision twice, both times she was denied.

She then asked for an independent medical review. United Health Care says the denial was upheld and the review complete. But the next day, we asked about Amy's case. That same day, United says the independent medical reviewer talked with a doctor at the Christ Hospital. The company denies the discussion was prompted by our questions, but two days later, they approved Amy's surgery. Amy's hospital wouldn't comment for this story. United Health Care told us we encourage all members to utilize the appeals process if they receive an initial decision they do not agree with. And in this case, the process resulted in an approval.

We wish Ms. Wodel a speedy recovery. I felt when I finally got the letter, I felt such relief because I was like this is actually going to happen. Amy finally underwent surgery on March 16th, 80 days after it was initially scheduled. You're going to get to enjoy the dogs in the snow. She says she feels like a different person and learned this lesson. If your physician has said that you need something that is medically necessary, if a surgeon has said that you need something that is medically necessary, and your insurance is saying, no, keep fighting.

Okay, Vicki joins us now here in studio. Vicki, Amy's surgery was ultimately delayed after the new year, so it cost her more? It totally did, Tom. So she had already paid her deductible. So if the surgery happened in December as scheduled, she would have been covered. But her deductible reset this year, so the surgery ended up costing her thousands of dollars,

a very costly delay. Vicki, while we have you here, you know, we always want to spend some time on these cost of denial stories. What's the one thing you think you learned that our viewers should know? Her persistence absolutely paid off. It was the reason she got the surgery.

I'm glad she reached out to us as well because, you know, that conversation that we had and the additional push that we gave, inquiring with United Health Care about her case, I think ultimately really helped.

And certainly she feels so much better after getting this life-saving surgery. Vicki, so great to have here. We thank you for that. All right, coming up on top story tonight, the concerns in the classroom, some parents and teachers warning about the risks of YouTube. Are students watching too much? Plus, the ancient treasure just uncovered overseas

will show you that historic discovery from the Viking era right after this. We're back now with the growing alarm bells from parents that YouTube is taking over American schools. The Wall Street Journal out with a new report about how the video platform has become so commonplace in the classroom used by teachers and students for everything, from reading books to learning how to draw to killing time during snack breaks. The data compiled is staggering. One second grader in New York watching more than 700 videos in two months during school hours, a 10th grader in Oregon scrolling more than 200 clips before lunch in one day. And a seventh grader watching more than 13,000 videos during school hours in just three months. We're joined by the reporter behind that Wall Street Journal article.

Shalani Ramachandran. Shalani, thanks so much for joining Top Story. You spoke to 45 sources, right? Educators, clinicians, and many families about what kids are watching on YouTube. What is the most concerning thing you heard from a parent? I think the most concerning is just the amount of distracted viewing that's happening inside school classrooms during school hours and how it's really hard for teachers to even get their hands around it. the tools provided by Google, YouTube's filters don't address what the teachers need to do.

And that YouTube is so baked into curriculums that it's really hard for districts to make the decision to pull it all back. Is there any difference between what kids are doing on YouTube and what maybe my generation, maybe the generation just under me did, watching TV, watching cable TV, watching MTV for hours? The main difference is you didn't have that access in school. And here, the kids have it on their devices where they're supposed to be learning, typing their essays, or, you know, watching the educational thing that their teacher provides. But now one of the teachers that was telling me that they can easily flip to a basketball highlight or pull up sexually suggestive stuff and YouTube shorts are the whole other phenomenon, just throwing clips one after another at them. And one kid who talked to me about that said, I'm just entranced when I watch those YouTube shorts. How much of this is on the children, on the schools, but also on the parents, right?

Yeah, you know, one of the gripes of parents sometimes is that my kids getting in trouble, but the school's the one providing them the device in front of them. And if they didn't have the device, they wouldn't be getting in that trouble wanting to watch that. Now, of course, there's a lot of nuance here, right? that the schools have these curricula, and it's important that the children are able to follow it, and if it's some video, that's great. But the problem is that this distracted viewing

is happening on just an order of magnitude that is getting so difficult for teachers and parents to control. Yeah, YouTube says it has built-in protections, right, to allow schools to restrict what students watch. So how are these kids still getting content about guns or even pole dancing in some cases, I think, as you reported? Yeah, I think one of the things is YouTube says, or Google says, you know, you could turn this off if you wanted to, district, feel free to. The problem is that since, really since the pandemic, and maybe a little bit before that, YouTube has become baked into curricula.

And what that means is that even when one of the, I was asking, you know, how come you can't just turn off student browsing and just assign the video that you want them to watch? And there is that functionality. But teachers say, well, look, if they want to go and if I want them to do some research and find an old historical clip, I want them to be able to do that. But unfortunately, what YouTube is not is a walled garden of educational content. It's a massive, massive, you know, corpus of all kinds of stuff. And the problem is what teachers want doesn't exactly exist. And YouTube's filters are not nearly restrictive enough for this kind of addictive shorts game content. You talked to neuroscientists and educators, right, about the impact these digital tools are having on learning and performance.

What did they tell you? That was one of the most eye-opening things to me as a mom, too, because I hadn't realized. I thought, okay, so one of the uses we heard was a teacher reads a book to a class. That was how it happened 30 years ago when I was in school. But now they're throwing on a YouTube video of somebody reading it to them. So is this the same? The answer is no. In fact, there's a sort of body of science research showing that there are important parts of the brain that fire up in a shared reading experience versus watching a screen-based media and it affects your frontal lobe, your right temporal parietal junction or white matter, basically the structure and function of a child's brain. And it can impact of attention span cognitive capabilities over time. That's what neuroscience has told us. So, you know, I'm a parent, too. I have children that watch YouTube. One in particular,

watches a lot of YouTube. How does watching 13,000 videos, many of them shorts for just a few seconds or minutes long, impact kids' brain in the long term? It's all about the attention span. And one thing that is pretty clear in some of the science is that your frontal lobe and your prefrontal cortex is still developing in those early years. And when those things come at you, one after another, it's not giving your brain time to develop the sort of cross-talk that tends to happen when there's a sort of shared reading experience on a physical book.

And that's sort of what the neuroscientist told me. And then I do want to ask you, there are some advantages. I meet people all the time, especially adults, who say, oh, I learned this by watching YouTube. There's a whole generation of Americans that basically don't look up anything. They learn it from YouTube.

And it works, right? Like you've got to give credit where credits do. YouTube videos do work in a lot of cases. What are the benefits of having YouTube in a classroom as a tool? I mean, because there has to be. Yeah, I mean, one of the math teachers I talked to said, back when I was working on the overhead projector, sometimes I couldn't draw the thing that I wanted to tell the kids.

But now there's a Khan Academy video that shows it with, like, great production value, and the kids are really interested. And in those cases, teachers say, yes, those are wonderful. But there's a cautionary note, and some teachers are saying, well, now I'm starting to see that instead of injecting their own personnel, into the classroom. The teachers are relying on the YouTube creator or the influencer and throw on that video. But of course, there is so much educational content on YouTube, and that is why it's become so hard for districts to disentangle themselves from it. And I think what the work going on right now in school districts is

trying to figure out how can we preserve what is educational and block the stuff that the kids shouldn't be watching during the school day. Shalini, a great, great story. We love having you on. I'm sure we'll have you on again. Thank you for joining Top Story tonight. Thank you. Okay, time now for Top Stories, Global Watch, and check up what else is happening around the world. King Charles and Queen Camilla wrapping up their four-day state visit to the U.S. The Royal stopped by the White House earlier to say farewell to President Trump and the First Lady.

The King and Queen also made a quick trip to Virginia before flying out this afternoon. A remarkable discovery in Norway dating back 1,000 years to the Viking. age. Two men were using metal detectors in a field when they stumbled upon a stash of ancient coins. They called in some archaeologists to help search. So far, they found nearly 3,000 of these silver coins. Experts say most are English and German. Local officials are describing it as the largest collection of its kind in Norwegian history. And the elusive street artist, Banksy, has struck again this time in central London with a new statue. You can see it here. It shows a man walking with his face blinded by a billowing front.

flag. Banksky isn't exactly known for his sculptures, but he confirmed on Instagram this is his latest work of art. It even has his signature marked across the stone base. When we come back tonight here on Top Story, a little brotherly love at the ballpark, the special moment in the outfield for a few young fans. Stay with us. Finally tonight, you may remember that sweet sibling moment we showed you last week, the older brother going viral after he caught a ball at an MLB game, then immediately giving it to his younger sister. While the heartwarming exchange caught the of the team and the pirates set up an incredible outing for the siblings. Take a look.

Has the Jake Mangum jersey on. It started as a toss to a young fan between innings. Oh, look at that. That's heartwarming. Nine-year-old Edward Heston catching it and immediately giving it to his sister L. That moment going viral and catching the attention of the Pittsburgh Pirates who arranged a special surprise for the superfan. and siblings. Look who's coming over here for a minute.

A chance to meet the player who tossed the ball. Outfielder Jake Mangum. How are you doing? Good. How are you doing? It's good to see you again. The MOB Pro signing jerseys and gloves, playing catch, even letting them try on the pirate special welder mask worn by players to celebrate home runs.

That catch the reaction time to give it to your sister. It was pretty electric, man. A lot of people saw that, man. a lot of smile on people's faces. It was awesome. I'm happy that the world got to see how much they love each other. That's, this is how they are with each other all of the time. A major league moment and a love beyond baseball.

I wanted to tell the world that we love each other. And I was happy that he gave me the ball. I just want people around the world to believe there's still, there's still a little bit of kindness left. and I want to make that kindness bit bigger. All right, that does it for us. Thanks so much for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tobiamen, New York.

Stay right there. More news on the way.