Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, August 27, 2026

Episode Date: August 28, 2026

Tonight's Top Story has the latest breaking news, political headlines, news from overseas and the best NBC News reporting from across the country and around the world Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tonight, the race against the clock to find survivors after the deadly floods in Nepal. An incredible rooftop rescue, a young boy clinging onto a helicopter, people covered in mud, saved by disaster crews, new videos of the desperate escape and that monster wave rushing in. We hear from Americans searching for their loved ones. Plus, growing fears, another flash flood could move in. Our team is there. This just did the potential dangerous communication error as President Trump took on. off on Marine One. Jury deliberations underway in the Lindsay Clancy case, the trial of the mother

accused of killing her own children. Powerful storms pounding the East Coast right now, torrential rains leaving cars stranded, intense hail pelting parts of New Jersey. Busting in wild video of a parent breaking into a school bus after the driver allegedly refused to let the kids off because of their bad behavior. The real-life nightmare for a woman who woke up with a bad in her mouth. What she says happened while she was sleeping. Plus the growing free birth trend of woman going viral on TikTok, sharing her pregnancy journey and giving birth without any medical help. We speak with a doctor about the risks. And Tropical Storm Dolly taking shape in the Atlantic. We're tracking where it's headed next. Top story. Starts right now.

And good evening. Right now, rescuers up against the clock to find survivors after deadly floods sweat through the border between Nepal and China's Tibet. At this hour, more than 1,000 people still missing, including 90 Americans. And tonight we're getting a look at the intense rescue operations playing out. New video capturing the frantic moments, that terrifying torrent of water rushed in, people running for their lives to get out of the way. And you can see the power of that violent wave, devouring entire communities, cars and homes swept away.

But this is what rescuers are up against. Thick mud-coating neighborhoods. This man on the back of a soldier covered from head to toe. Look at that. And it's not just by land. this young boy climbing onto a helicopter after he was stranded. And take a look at this, a new satellite image showing the glacier that likely triggered these deadly floods before it collapsed. You can see it circled there. This was captured on Monday, August 24th, and we're going to show you what it looks like now.

This satellite image from just yesterday shows an entire chunk gone on all the Greenland swallowed by the floods. Right now, so many families desperate for any information about their missing loved ones. Are Janus Mackey Freyer is on the ground in Nepal tonight and leads us off? Tonight an incredible rescue from a rooftop, a boy waving his t-shirt trying to flag down a helicopter that moved into the corner of the building, the boy grabbing a rescuer's hand, then climbing aboard to safety. On the ground, rescue teams wade through mud, trying to find survivors in the aftermath of devastating floods, with hundreds still missing.

All I want is for my husband to come back to me safely in one piece, this woman says. And tonight, new images of the terrifying moment when those monster waves hit near the Nepal-China border. The panic that set in. Oh my God, oh my God. Rushing to get to higher ground as the wall of water strikes. Entire communities here wiped out, swallowed by mud. On the Chinese side in Tibet, hundreds of rescue workers are fanning out using heavy equipment and bare hands. Department telling NBC News, at least three U.S. citizens have been rescued so far, but 90 more are among the missing.

Dennis Patel's brother, Venus, is one of them. He was very excited. I mean, he has been planning this trip for quite some time. He says they'd spoken on the phone that morning. I'm trying to cope and do my best to find him. I'm doing everything that I can. I just hope he's okay. while Radika Sharma is desperate for word from her parents. The last time we heard from them was when they crossed the border at 8 a.m. And we haven't heard from them since. Janice Bacchieffre joins us live from a hospital in Nepal.

And Janice, there are fears tonight of another catastrophic flood. Tom, search teams are up against a lot in this, but also the threat of more flooding with, two unstable lakes that have formed with all that water. And if they break, that could unleash another torrent of water downstream. These are extreme conditions that they're going into. Roads have been cut off. There's no electricity, no phone lines, no clean water. But it's really that crushing pressure of time that may be the hardest to deal with as the initial hours and days of a disaster like this are so crucial. Tom. Okay, Janice, Mackey Fraer. We thank you. Back here

at home, we're tracking severe storms, putting 44 million across the country on high alert. And right now, a powerful system is racing across the northeast. In New Jersey, cars submerged as heavy rains, washed out roads, leaving drivers stranded. And you can hear the intense hail and rain pelting parts of Pittman, New Jersey. Just listen. Yeah. On New York's Staten Island, an Amazon driver, not letting floods get in the way of getting the job done. Look at this. I want to get right over to meteorologist Bill Cairns. Bill, track out the rest of the evening for us. Yeah, we've had a couple tornado warnings in the last hour, too. Nothing confirmed. One of them was in a Saratoga Springs, upstate New York, kind of rare. And another one is right along the Pennsylvania border with New York.

So we do have isolated severe storms right now capable of wind damage. Some of these will try to sweep down through Washington, D.C. over the next hour or two, especially in the north side of town. Philadelphia has had a rough day of it. Not so much with severe storms. storms, but a lot of flash flooding. Here's some of the active severe weather, and we have one strong storm that's going to arrive in the capital district around Albany here shortly. Everywhere you see in Maroon is active flash flood warnings. We've had some reports of four to five inches of rain today. That's why you saw those pictures with all the water and the cars stalled in them, especially around Philadelphia up to Trenton. New York City is getting a break, and it looks like

the worst is over for you. And as far as what the airports go, we've had so many of these thunderstorm and heavy rain events. And this is just another example of just not a good time in the late afternoons in the summer to book flights in around the I-95 quarter when there's thunderstorm. Still ground stops, Tom. JFK delays of about 120 minutes. Oh, yeah, that's not great tonight. Bill, I do want to ask you about the tropical storm we're tracking now. Dolly, it's taking shape in the Atlantic. Where is this one headed? Yeah, the peak of the hurricane season is one week away from now. This is when we usually can get big, powerful hurricanes, the ones we worry about that will travel all the way across the Atlantic. So Dolly was formed just still a weak tropical storm. It's

racing towards the islands in the Caribbean. But the catches, we're still in an El Nino. El Nino produces what we call a wind shear across the Atlantic Basin. And because of that wind shear, because of our strong El Nino, maybe possibly a super Al Nino eventually, it's going to tear this storm apart. So by the time it actually gets here to areas like the U.S. Virgin Islands and also possibly to Puerto Rico, it may not even be a tropical storm anymore. It may just be what we call a tropical wave.

It could still bring some heavy rainfall. And when we show you our spaghetti lines, typically this would be scary. We'd be like, oh, look out, heading for the islands, possibly the Bahamas. But because of that wind shear, we only think this is going to be a rainmaker, not a big deal with winds at all. Of course, we're at that peak time of year, so we'll watch it very closely. But for our friends in the Virgin Islands in Puerto Rico, Tom, Sunday is the day when you'll get the heaviest rain from what's left of Dolly. Okay, we hope this stays week, though. Bill, thank you for that.

We're following some breaking news about Marine 1, the helicopter that transports President Trump. The pilots unable to communicate with air traffic control while the president was on board. And this is at least the second time this has happened this month. Tom Costello has the details. Tonight, a new potentially dangerous communication failure as the president was on board Marine One, the tower not able to hear the pilots. This comes as we learn new details on that potential close call this month, between Marine One carrying the president in a chopper convoy seen here,

and that commercial airliner departing from Reagan National Airport. Surprising controllers who never heard Marine One, radio a three-minute warning to stop air traffic. Okay, no three minutes, Roger, proceed brief. Tonight, the NTSB says the Marine One pilots did radio controllers, but their radio signal didn't go through as they departed the White House from the ellipse while a new South Lawn chopper pad is being built. The construction at the White House to create a new landing pad led to the loss of line of sight

communications. Stop, drop one, stop. Meanwhile, tonight, five months after that, horrific crash at LaGuardia when an airport fire engine was cleared to cross the runway, just as an Air Canada flight was arriving. The FAA confirms to NBC News that it's considering firing two controllers who left early that night, possibly with supervisor permission. The controllers left an hour before their shift ended, leaving just two controllers in the tower. Two Air Canada pilots died, dozens of people injured. The NTSB has said tower staffing is part

of the investigation. I can tell you that our air traffic control team has stated this is a problem, that this is a concern for them for years. Amid a controller shortage, controllers nationwide have been working mandatory overtime. But the FAA tells NBC News it's committed to holding employees accountable and we will not compromise the safety or efficiency of the national airspace system. And another incident making headlines this evening involving a cargo place. that shut down a runway at LAX's main airport. This happened because a DHS cargo plane's landing gear caught fire as a touchdown on the runway. Authorities are investigating what caused the brakes to lock up and blow the tires to crew members on board, but nobody injured.

Tom? Glad they're okay. Tom, thank you. For more on that communication blackout from Marine One with the president on board. I want to bring in NBC News aviation analyst Jeff Gazetti, who we just heard from briefly in Tom's story. So, Jeff, how could this have happened again after that first communication breakdown? Was the system not fixed? I mean, we're talking about the commander-in-chief here. Good evening, Tom.

It may not have been fixed. You know, they relocated the antenna from the first event three weeks ago to the top of the airport control tower, and everything seemed to be fine. Today, it wasn't fine. Now, we don't know if it was that same problem, an antenna line-of-sight problem, or whether it was an inattentive control, or something else. We just don't know it requires investigation. Yeah, and speaking of that, explain to our viewers just how dangerous this is, right? Because we have seen what happens when these helicopter accidents can happen in such a busy airspace like DC. Absolutely. You know, that tragic mid-air collision a year and a half ago is leading the aviation industry to make corrective actions,

to separate helicopter traffic from airline traffic. And so this is just a reminder. Another reminder of the congested airspace, the complex airspace, and that everyone needs to be very vigilant. And then could this happen again if the construction continues at the White House, or do you think they'll get a hold on this? Boy, I hope it doesn't happen again. You know, the construction at the White House is a change that needs to be managed. And so I hope that they double check the line of sight of the antenna and all the communications that are vital for the president to fly in the area. All right, Jeff, we thank you for that. We're going to turn out of the president's escalating trade war with Canada today, ordering Lake Ontario to be renamed to Lake America.

And tonight Canada is responding. Garrett Hake reports from the White House. Tonight, President Trump's new trade taunt towards Canada. Canada's been ripping us off for a long time with trade. The president signing an executive order to change the official name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. The Lake of America was something I've been thinking about for a long time. The latest escalation of a new trade war that has seen the two allies level tariffs as high as 50% on billions of dollars in goods, roiling the relationship with America's second largest trading partner.

They are the worst. And they feel entitled and just we can't have that. Today's order would only affect how the U.S. government refers to the smallest of the Great Lakes, which borders both New York and the Canadian province of Ontario and has been known as Lake Ontario for centuries. Canadians shrugging off the thread of a U.S. name change. It's meaningless. And on the lake's New York shore? It shouldn't be changed.

Bottom line, just keep it. Keep it the way it is. All after the president last year issued a similar order to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. We have a Gulf and we have a lake. Now all we need is an ocean. So maybe we'll have to change the name of the Atlantic and or the Pacific.

Maybe we'll change in the name. All right. When that one, Garrett Hake joins us tonight from the White House. Garrett, Canada's Prime Minister is now responding. What's he saying? Yeah, he put out a pretty lengthy post on X, Tom, reiterating the history here. The fact that Lake Ontario has been Lake Ontario for longer than Canada or the United States have been a country, some 400 years.

And his language, he said, naming reality means that it will stay Lake Ontario into the future. That's the position of Canada. And, by the way, the position of New York's Democratic governor, who also put out a statement late tonight. As people talk about this, I mean, what does the smart money say? How long is this trade war going to go? Is there any end in sight? There really isn't right now. Both countries are saying there is no contact. There are no discussions happening. I mean, look, this relationship is too important for this to go on for so long. On some products are so high, there's effectively a trade embargo on, you know, some of these steel-based products, for example, that go back and forth across the border. The president has threatened more tariffs going into effect in. January of next year. I doubt we go that far, but this might take the midterms to shake things out here, Tom. The president might need to see whether he has a stronger or weaker hand from Congress

before he's willing to shift. And that seems to be the Canadians bet here, too, that President Trump can't afford this based on the American election calendar to go on much longer than that. And then while we have you here, Garrett, I want to touch on another headline out of D.C. today. This one involving the ongoing battle over naming the Kennedy Center. This has taken so many twist and turns, What is the latest? Yeah, this is another one that's deeply personal to the president. You add Howard Lutnik, the Commerce Secretary, and perhaps more important here, one of the president's close personal friends attending that hearing today

and speaking about the importance of the Kennedy Center in his view, the Trump view, being renamed after the president and being closed for these renovations that they want to have take place. Our notes from the courtroom indicate that the judge was pretty skeptical of the administration's argument here and suggested that he may put a temporary restreesome. draining order in place, basically a punt here to give a little bit more time to consider this. It's a weird one, Tom, because it seemed like the president had been kind of packing up his ball and going home a couple months ago when the judge had first ruled that he couldn't rename

the Kennedy Center. But now there's some renewed fight. I have to think this is another one of those where the White House is going to push as hard as they can between now and November, knowing that a Democratic Congress, if that's the case early next year, might force them to back off a little bit. All right, Gary, it's covering all there in D.C. And the White House for us. Thank you. We're back in a moment tonight here on Top Story with the jury deliberations underway in the Lindsay Clancy trial. The mother accused of killing her three children are legal experts standing by. Plus our series Cost of Denial will hear from one woman who struggled to get surgery for a tumor covered until NBC News stepped in. And the adorable moment on the sidelines

how this soccer star is inspiring little girls just like her. Stay with us. We're back now and on Verdict Watch in the trial of Lindsay Clans. the Massachusetts mother who admitted to killing her three young children. Prosecutors are pushing for a murder conviction, but Clancy's lawyers argue she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and should not be held criminally responsible. Emily Aked is there for us. Tonight, a jury weighing whether Lindsay Clancy, who admits to killing her three children, should be found criminally responsible for their deaths and is guilty of murder.

Their mom is the one that's killing them. That's extreme. atrocity and cruelty. The former labor and delivery nurse seen emotional in closing arguments as the prosecution described in disturbing detail how Clancy strangled Cora, Dawson, and Callan in 23 before attempting to kill herself. Those kids were her protective factor. Those kids were keeping her from ending her misery. And so she had to remove the protective factor. Prosecutors alleging her actions were deliberate, intentionally sending her husband out for errands before the killings and afterwards asking for an attorney in the hospital. Still with a tube in her throat, she's asking, do I have a lawyer?

But Clancy's defense telling jurors she's not criminally responsible. She was a nurse, a daughter, a wife, and a darn good mother. The defense arguing she was in the throes of postpartum psychosis and says she heard a voice. How does this turn into this? How? Because of the damn medicine and the lousy medical care that she got. Detailing the more than a dozen medications she was prescribed. Larazepam, search her man. An alleged inadequate care, despite her pleas for help. A case driving protests on both sides and thrusting maternal health into the spotlight.

All right, Emily, Keta, joins us live from outside the courthouse. Emily, I know you have an update for our viewers here. The defense also asking the jury to consider a lesser charge and the judge agreed? Yeah, Tom, that's right. The jury is now considering manslaughter in addition to first and second degree murder. If convicted of the most serious of those charges, first degree murder, she would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Even if she was found not guilty, she wouldn't just immediately go free.

The judge told jurors that Lindsay Clancy would be checked into a mental health facility where there would be periodic evaluations, both medical experts and the court would have to approve any kind of release if they felt like she reached that point. As we await a verdict, her defense attorney telling me that Lindsay Clancy right now is feeling scared and nervous, Tom. Okay, Emily, Aketa, covering that trial for us now. Emily, thank you. I want to bring in our panel of legal experts here in Top Story, who have been. been watching this place closely. NBC news legal analyst, Misty Maris and Danny Savalos are here on set two good friends to the show. Misty, I'm going to start with you. The burden is always on the

prosecution. Did they prove without a reasonable doubt that this was murder? Well, Massachusetts actually is really interesting because in many states, when insanity defense is raised, the burden does shift to the defense, but not in Massachusetts. It always stays with the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Lindsay Clancy knew what she was doing was wrong and also could control her action. So this is a really defense-friendly statute. The prosecution laid out the case that they needed to, really focusing in on that timeline of the day and the control Lindsay Clanching exuded, but I could see this case going either way. Really? Okay, Danny, now to you in the defense. They're arguing that she is not criminally responsible. Explain to our viewers, what does that mean? Not criminally responsible is

how Massachusetts labels the insanity defense. And insanity is not a medical diagnosis. It's a legal term. And we use a test that dates hundreds of years back. And the history of the insanity defense is fascinating. After the attempted Reagan assassination in the 80s, many states and the federal government really reeled in the insanity defense. As Misty pointed out, Massachusetts went in the other direction. And this is a very favorable state. What has to be proven is this.

The defendant must have been under the disability of a mental disease or defect, such that she could not. either appreciate the wrongfulness, substantially appreciate the wrongfulness. That substantially is important, or she couldn't conform her conduct to the law. It somewhat mirrors other tests and other jurisdictions. But the key, as Misty pointed out, the burden is on the prosecution. So you're a defense attorney. How did the defense do here? Well, the defense only had to get really to 50-50, because if you have two medical experts, one who says she is, she does meet the definition of insanity, and another says no, well, you have a tie. And then you can always ask.

argue, look, a tie goes to the defense because the prosecution has the burden here. They did a very good job. By the way, I think both sides did a very good job, but defense counsel really honed in on the important things. They made this about the insanity defense, of course, but secondarily, it was about putting the medical system on trial, medical providers. The system failed Lindsay Clancy. That is how they tried this case. Misty, break down the options for the jury here because we just heard that update from Emily now. So there can be manslaughter as one of them, but the highest one is going to be murder. Yeah, murder in the first degree that's premeditation or there's a second theory,

extreme atrocity and cruelty. So either one gets a murder one conviction. Then there's a lesser included offense of murder, too, that would be any murder that's not premeditated but is intentional. And then we have manslaughter. And this is something the defense fought really hard for. This would be the reckless disregard of a known risk. And the theory seems to be that because Lindsay Clancy had all these mediation,

had all these medications, maybe wasn't following the way the directions that she was supposed to be taking them, was weaning off of them against medical advice in some instances, and also did not report that she had homicidal ideations or thoughts of harming her children to her providers, that she was reckless. This was something that was very likely to result in death. Then last, of course, the defense, lack of criminal responsibility. She didn't know the difference between right and wrong or could not control her actions. Can I mention manslaughter just for a moment here? Because Misty brought up a really important point. And for defense attorneys, this is game theory. This is risk management because you have a difficult choice to make. If you're the defense and you think we put in a really good case, then you force the jury to choose all or nothing. Hey, you either find murder or you acquit. But if you're nervous and you think, uh-oh, I don't want her to get hit with murder, maybe you do want manslaughter.

It's a really difficult choice. And I could have seen the defense going the other way and saying, you know what? We don't want manslaughter. We're going all or nothing. We think this case went in really well. And I think a lot of folks out there agree. I see people on both sides. I'm sure you do Misty as well. There are a lot of folks who think the defense did quite a good job and they're heading toward a not guilty. So Misty, for the jury, I mean, there's a lot of complicated legal theory here. And there's also all these complicated medical terms, you know, explaining postpartum health and all the medication she was prescribed. How difficult can it be for the jury to take all this and try to figure it out? It's very difficult, and that's where you get down to that battle of the experts that Danny was talking about and parsing through which experts the jury ultimately will make a determination of who's credible and who's not credible. In addition to the expert testimony, you also have all of Lindsay Clancy's providers who are taking the stand. And to Danny's point, the defense really focused on, if you want to blame somebody, blame the health care system that failed Lindsay Clancy and also leaned into lack of motive, that she would have no other reason to commit this crime other than being in a mental health crisis and a postpartum psychosis. Because by all accounts, including the prosecution's own witnesses, she was a loving and wonderful mother and she struggled with mental illness. Danny, I want to go back to the defense and I want to play you some of their closing arguments right here. Let's listen. suicide hotline, we can't help you.

Calling another suicide hotline, we can't help you. My God, what does she have to do? She was reaching out for help, and she was not getting it. Sounds like they're putting the system on trial here. Is that going to work? It could work. I mean, they really have a couple different avenues of a tech. They have insanity.

And then if the jury is looking for someone to blame, because remember, Tom, that is the prosecution's best evidence. And they hammered it home in their closing. the atrocity of it all, the horror, the crime scene photos. That jury, they're hoping, will want to blame someone. So the defense is using a kind of judo defense. They're deflecting. They're saying, yes, jury, if you're angry, there is someone to blame.

Yes, Lindsay Clancy did what she did. But look at how hard she tried. And look at how the system failed her time and time again. It may end up being effective. Let's also listen, Misty. I want you to listen closely. This was some of the prosecution's closing arguments. Mothers kill their children, and it's horrible and it's awful, but it happens.

So why did she specifically do it? She was depressed. She was exhausted. She was done. It was what she had to do to end her misery. But it was a choice. Did she explain that? I mean, we were just running a small portion there, but I don't know.

I mean, that didn't sound as convincing maybe as other arguments. This was really interesting because in opening statements, so before the jury hears any evidence, the prosecutors came out of the gate with motive. They said Lindsay Clancy no longer wanted to live the life she thought she wanted, that she made the calculated decision to kill her kids. But they had to walk that back a bit because that's not the way the evidence shook out. So the theory of the case now, prosecutors who do not have to show motive, but chose to, said that she was so depressed that she wanted to give up.

And the only thing standing in her way was that her children and she did not want to leave them alone, so she took them with her. And this speaks to what both the prosecution's expert and the defense expert spoke about, which is something called altruistic philicide, the killing of children, but with a purpose that is in their mind for a good, obviously, very difficult to grapple with. Defense says that she didn't know the difference between right and wrong morally when she did that, and the prosecution says she had a lot of control in those hours leading up to the killing. It's such a dark and sad case. Horrible. Terrible. We thank you for being here.

Stay tuned because NBC News is going to have a special on this trial tonight, starting at 8 p.m. Eastern right here on NBC News Now. Still to come, on Top Story, the fiery crash oversees an aircraft bursting into flames after clipping some cables. And the man reuniting with his loved ones after getting lost for nearly a week in the wilderness on a solo hiking trip, how he was found and ended up back in his family's arms. But first tonight, Top Story's top moment and the heartwarming sideline surprise. Carson Pickett is a pro-soccer star for Denver Summit FC, who was born without a left forearm in hand after the game she approached one of her biggest and youngest fans who has a similar

condition. Watch this. Hi! I'm Carson. Nice seeing you. We literally have the same arm. Look at that. Carson serves as such an inspiration to Selena and so many kids like are proving that the possibilities are endless. Stay with us. story after the break. We're back with another high-profile legal battle in limbo tonight. The future of the Tate brothers hanging in the balance after a heated day in court. The controversial social media influencers are asking to be released from jail while they fight their extradition to the UK where they're charged with rape, assault, and trafficking.

Our George's release has been following this one. George Court adjourned today with no decision yet. Walk us through their testimony. They're essentially arguing they're not a flight risk because of all the wealth they flaunt on social media as a lie. Yeah, that's right, Tom. They essentially use the Borat defense, and I'll explain what that means in a second. They both, in a move that no one really saw coming, they both got up on the stand today, basically in a way signaling that they didn't think their defense attorney was doing a good enough job making the case for bail, but saying that all of that wealth that they flash, the Bugatti's, the mega yachts, the gold bars, all of it really just characters that they made up online, very controversial, as you know, with some of these polarizing takes on misogyny and other basically, hatred towards women, as some view it. And they are just trying to play this persona to these

followers that they have amassed here over the years, saying this is no different than what Sasha Baron Cohen does as Borat. And so that is the argument that they tried to make. But they also made some other really just lavish claims here saying that the conditions in the jail right now are essentially not up to their standards, saying they're not getting enough food, they're not getting enough privacy. The prosecution, of course, jumping at that very quickly. actually pulling the numbers saying, well, here's the weight that they started at. They're actually gaining weight right now. So they tried to undercut that claim.

But essentially, I mean, this went on, Tom, for two hours where Andrew and Tristan were basically trying to make the claim that they are being framed, that all of the allegations are false against them. And this is something that they've sort of carried out through all of these allegations that they have been facing. It was certainly an anomaly to see, again, both of them taking the stand at that time. But again, the judge at that time not making a decision on whether or not to grant them any bond today. Yeah. And then for our top story viewers who might not be super familiar with this case, break down some of the charges they're facing and that they're in multiple countries, right? Yeah, and that's sort of what the judge kind of got caught up on today, so to speak.

Because the brothers have made the argument that for those charges in Romania specifically, they were granted bond. They were free. They were a lot to go free and that they complied with all of the courts. requirements to do so. The argument is that they will do that if they are granted bond here in Florida. Of course, the judge then asking, well, what happens if they don't make any of those hearings that are required in Romania? So that is going to take some time. Now, the judge could obviously make a ruling from the bench at any point or also do a written one, but they are facing a number of charges across the pond and in Romania, all related to the sex assault, rape, even money laundering to some degree. It is a slew

of charges. And the brothers, of course, controversial figures themselves. They were kickboxers at one point that built this online persona, again, amassing all of these followers. Very controversial takes. But again, as of tonight, they are still in jail, Tom. All right, George Solis for us, George, thank you.

Now at Top Stories News Feed, and we start with a fiery crash in northern Italy. Video shows this gyrocopter flying near a dam before hitting some wires for a cable car. This is really sad. The Aircraft bursting to a cloud of smoke and flames. First responders say two people on board were killed.

Crews rest viewing the Deputy Attorney General back here at home of Missouri, six days after he disappeared on a solo hiking trip in Wyoming. You can see him reuniting with loved ones. Sean McElprang had to be airlifted out of the remote mountain range. Apparently, he's an avid hiker. Unclear exactly what happened, but he was lost. Deputies say they tracked him down thanks to search teams on the ground and in helicopters. And it's no secret that Pope Leo is a big Chicago.

White Sox fan, but now he has the hat to prove it. Remember this? The team gave away these Pope-themed caps during a game earlier this month. Another priest was there who snagged one for the pontiff himself and delivered it right to the Vatican, a special souvenir for the head of the Holy See. Get it? All right. We're going to turn out to a chaotic ride out of California, a parent climbing through a school bus window. This is crazy after the driver allegedly pulled over and kept kids on board for close to an hour because of their bad behavior. Denzhen Cortez from our Sacramento affiliate, K-C-R-A, has the video in the story. A chaotic moment captured inside a school bus.

A parent climbing into a Calaveras Unified School Bus window after deputies say they hit the door breaking the glass, eventually confronting the bus driver after what parents tell us was a ride home and quickly escalated. Everybody was screaming and stuff because they were excited to get off the bus. Rambunctious. This 12-year-old on board says the bus had stopped along high. Highway 49 near Russell Road when he says one student climbed out through a window. And that's when the bus driver was like, sit down, roll up the windows.

He says the driver told students they would have to wait for law enforcement before getting off. Parents tell KCR students remained on the stop bus for about an hour as more parents began arriving. You're going to have me my child when he calls me and he's scared. Like I said, the second time he's ever ridden the bus. His mother, Nicole Wellington, getting a call from her son about what was unfolding and immediately drove to the scene. I went right to the door and I was like, dude, open the door, let me have my kid. And he's like, I'm not doing that. Then I gave my child permission to now hop out the window.

But I was there. Parents think that they can just take matters into their own hands like that. But a mother who had two children on the same bus said she made a different call. I told my kids, stay seated and just waited out because there was not just one child they had to think of. They had to think of every single child on that bus at that time. A separate video shows the parent who climbed inside the bus being arrested. Deputies say the parent was arrested on vandalism charges. I do feel that maybe that bus driver, especially when he's driving, should not have to deal with all those kids by himself.

I think parents are now sending their children to school to be parented instead of parenting their children at home. And that is a concern. And Tom, the district says that video shows the situation escalated within minutes. And that law enforcement was called 14 minutes after the initial stop. Sheriff's office says that parent was taken into custody for felony vandalism. Tom. Our thanks to you. Now to a crazy story, a literal waking nightmare. A doctor in Virginia startled out of her sleep when a bat tried to claw its way into her mouth. That's right, a live bat in her mouth. Taylor Bryan from our Richmond affiliate, WWBT, spoke to her about the horrifying incident. I was dreaming that there was a little mouse trying to get into my mouth, and I was in nice slumber. And then in nice slumber. And then, if I was.

In my dream, I was reaching up to my mouth and when I did, I grabbed something and ultimately I had folded the bat's wings back. Turns out the dream was reality. She was sleeping next to her husband when she felt something soft inside her mouth, turning out to be a small bat. I definitely knew I thought I was still dreaming. And then when I touched the hair on its back and kind of pulled it out and then looked at it, that's when it was like, oh my gosh.

his real life. Her screams woke up her husband who jumped into action, trapping the bat so animal control could test it for rabies. But Aedelman needed immediate medical attention, heading straight to St. Mary's hospital after her work shift. Emergency room physician Dr. Adam Lancy helped treat her. There's two parts of the treatment. One is the rabies vaccine, which is a four-shot series on days 0, 3, 7, and 14. And then the second part is a rabies immunoglobulin that has, actually treats active rabies virus in the body before the vaccine can make enough antibodies in your body to fight the rabies infection. The bat tested negative, but Aedlman shared her story to help others handle a wildlife emergency.

When this episode happened, I was humbled because I grew up in rural Hanover and I thought I knew about bats and wildlife and I'm a medical doctor, but I didn't know. when I was a little embarrassed and cheapish that I was hiding under the comforters trying to Google, like, what do I do next? So I thought if I was that unsure, other people have bad exposures, maybe this would help empower them. If a bat gets inside your home, the health department's safety checklist is on our website. Taylor Bryan, 12 on your side. Such a crazy story. Our thanks to Taylor Bryan from WWBT for that one. We're going to take a turn now to our series of The Cost of Denial, which chronicles people struggles with their health insurance.

Right now with premium soaring, many Americans are left looking for alternatives. That's feeling a surge in what's known as short-term insurance policies. But as Ann Thompson reports, it's important to understand what these plans do and don't cover. In Appleton, Wisconsin, Lisa Brundrich has long been self-reliant, tending a 10-acre property with her husband, Rich, fixing cars at their auto repair business. But last February, she encountered something she caught. couldn't fix. The bottoms of my feet went numb. And I was like, this is so strange. So I called my doctor and I said, my feet feel numb. The numbness spread up the 63-year-old's body. I'm just going to tap on your reflexes. Sending her to neurosurgeon Dr. Thomas Washer. What we found was a large tumor that was compressing the spinal cord causing the numbness.

It was benign, but they had to move quickly. Was she at risk for paralysis? Yes. And that, you know, was something that was just starting to happen when we did. the surgery. While Lisa and Rich were worried about her health, they hadn't been worried about their insurance. When their ACA market insurers stopped covering their area, they switched to something called short-term insurance. A plan the 60-somethings hoped would be their bridge to Medicare. We had no intention of using it. You just thought it was there just in case. They chose Golden Rule, owned by United Healthcare, with a high deductible and a a lower monthly price tag than traditional plans to cover emergencies and sudden illnesses. You didn't think about going with the plans offered through the Affordable Care Act.

It's not affordable. It's $1900 a month. The brundrages were fine, or so they thought, until the bills came in, along with denials from Golden Rule. It's like denied, why? And then it said preexisting condition. And it's like, how is this a preexisting condition? Unlike most health insurance, short-term plans do not have to cover pre-existing conditions. And Lisa's plan, she says, told her the tumor near her spine was a pre-existing condition, leaving her baffled. Had you ever had numbness in your feet before? No. Had you ever had numbness that went up your legs?

No. Had you ever had any trouble walking? No. Is there any way Lisa could have known that she had this problem? Not in my estimation. Facing a half million dollars in bills, Lisa decided to fight. This is the angiogram, 200,139. Hiring an attorney and emailing NBC News.

Cost of denial, I watch it all the time, and you all responded right away. 24 hours after NBC reached out to United Healthcare, which owns Golden Rule, what happened? They're going to cover my bills. It's a huge relief. Huge relief. relief. Golden Rule telling NBC News, following additional review of the records as part of the appeal process, the claims have been approved. For Lisa, the whole experience is a cautionary tale. I feel like you really got to know the ins and out of the policy that you're buying.

Anne joins us now in studio. Look, Anne, we talk about this all the time and the cost of denial, right? Traditional premiums can be very expensive. And you come across things in your life where sometimes you need something to get you from point A to point B, but there's something of viewers need to know about these short-term plans, right? Yeah, and they need to understand it. It's absolutely crucial that they understand this, Tom, is that buyers need to be aware of what these short-term health insurance plans don't cover. Things like some prescription drugs, mental health services, and maternity care. You also should know that a handful of states ban them outright. So you really need to know what's allowed where you live and most of the same. Most importantly, what is not covered in these plans. So important.

Glad we went over this, too. And we thank you for that. When we come back here on Top Story, a look at the free birth trend where people are having babies without any medical care from a doctor or a midwife during delivery. So is it safe? We speak with the doctor right after this. Why no prenatal care, Judah? I wanted a free birth.

No doctors, no hospital, no medicine. You have a midwife? A birth dula? No, I don't need one. Women have been having children on their own for thousands of years. That was a clip from hit HBO show The Pit, highlighting a growing trend among pregnant women choosing to give birth without any medical help. Nebraska mom Abby Kopeche is racking up millions of views sharing her journey,

doing this on TikTok, and here's some of what she has to say. My personal choice is to 100% throw every ounce of trust that I have. into these. I don't trust humans. Or I should say I don't trust other humans. Thought of handing over my pregnancy and birth experience to anybody, but myself honestly makes my skin curl. I'll get scans.

I don't see doctors. I choose not to sign myself over to other entities for my own matters. Koppash is part of a trend known as free births, which means giving birth without assistance from doctors, midwives, or doulas, something doctors say could put both the mom and the baby at risk.

But over the past two decades, a growing number of families have opted for out-of-hospital births. And right now, one in every 50 American births take place at a birthing center or at home, a portion of those without any medical supervision. Kopeche points out that free births aren't for everyone. I am a two-time free birther, and I don't recommend it. Do I believe every woman is capable by design? Yes, but it's not for the faint of heart. You're throwing all of your cards to the gods. If you're not willing to accept the outcome, you shouldn't do it.

I'm joined now by Dr. Lucky C-Con and OBGYN at the Reproductive Medicine Associates of New York. Doctor, thank you so much for being here. Okay, so look, I love this job because you learn about things all the time. I didn't know this was a thing or a trend now. One in 50 moms giving birth, obviously it's not massive, but it's happening. What exactly is free birth? Well, I think there's a distinction between home birth and free birth, right? You can have a birth outside the hospital in the home, and it can be attended by someone who is medically trained.

like a certified midwife. Yeah. But a free birth is the absence of that safety net, right? So you're giving birth outside the medical system and without a medically trained person there to observe and to recognize if any emergencies take place. So a woman and a mom and her husband or whoever her partner or life partner, whoever that may be, right? Just them two and then boom, the baby pops out.

What could possibly go wrong, right? So what does go wrong? I mean, where do we even begin? when so many pregnancies that can appear to be low-risk and routine, even during the initial phases of labor and delivery, things can turn very quickly. To name a few examples, postpartum hemorrhage. 40% of postpartum hemorrhages occur in low-risk pregnancies.

And something people have to understand is that during the course of the pregnancy, there's so much blood flow to the uterus. Every minute, there's almost a liter of blood that flows to the uterus. Within a matter of minutes, one could have a very devastating emergency. postpartum hemorrhage. And that can require an IV, blood transfusion, medications, even an emergency surgery to save a woman's life. But there's also an obstructed labor that can happen where the baby's not passing through the birth canal. The shoulder can get stuck. That requires really specific maneuvers to save the baby's life. So those are just a few examples,

but there's so many more things that can really go wrong. And it's not that we expect catastrophic things to happen as medical providers. It's that we want to be prepared because if an emergency occurs, you need to be able to handle it within minutes. Yeah. You know, there are so many milestones when someone is going to have a baby, including when you find out the due date. Right. And from what I understand, the people who are into free birthing,

they don't believe in a due date? And is that dangerous? Yes, it can definitely be dangerous. I mean, there's a lot of reasons why a woman might not go into labor, you know, when it would be ideal. And being post-term and going many weeks past your due date can be associated with complications like stillbirth. And there's also things you just shouldn't do at certain points in your pregnancy, right,

if you're getting close to delivering. Yes, and there tends to be a correlation between individuals who are looking to do a free birth, also who don't want to seek any prenatal care. And that's really dangerous. Yeah. Because then there's a complete lack of oversight. There isn't an ability to identify problems early. Chronic medical conditions, whether that be high blood pressure, diabetes, growth problems.

These are things that can be mitigated if you catch them early. Some free birther's argue, and again, this is, I just want to put this out there, there's just some free birthers argue that ultrasounds can harm the baby. Is there any truth to that? No, there's not. There's no radiation. I mean, ultrasound is, it's using ultrasound wave. And it's limited exposure, so, you know, that's definitely not accurate.

I want to put something up on the screen for our viewers now. This is from KFF. Giving birth in America, as you know, is very expensive, right? The health policy analysis, nonprofit, KFF estimates that it can cost more than 20,000, on average before insurance. How much of an impact do you think the financial pressure of giving birth is affecting this trend? I think that it has an impact. I think also one in three U.S. counties having inadequate obstetrical care and birthing centers. I think that's a huge driver behind this as well, these health care deserts. But I think the biggest driver of all of this is that there tends to be this deep mistrust in maternal medical care. And we have to ask why is that happening?

Why are people turning to movements like free birth? There are a lot of people with past trauma when they delivered in a hospital. They felt dismissed or not hurt or not respected. A lot of them want autonomy. They want privacy. They want the ability to kind of dictate how their labor and delivery is going to go. And I think a lot of this, if we got to the root of that, we could fix this. I think people view turning away from the medical system as a way to mitigate these issues.

but I think we can address these issues without being unsafe. Yeah. I do want to ask you if somebody is considering this and they're watching this broadcast right now, what would your advice be? I really, as an OBGYN and as someone who's gone through pregnancy and delivery myself, would never advocate for free birth. I think that you can have a reasonable conversation about a home birth, and you should talk to your doctor very early in the pregnancy, if this is something that you are interested in pursuing.

And I think it's really important to do it under the oversight of some, someone who's trained and is capable of dealing with emergencies and have a really clear plan so that you can transfer to a hospital if any problems arise. All right, Dr. Sikon, so great to have you. We really appreciate it. This was an interesting conversation. Thank you. When we come back tonight, the empty nester celebrations, we're going to take a huge turn here. It's taking over social media, how kids are paying tribute to their parents before heading off to college, those moments right after this. Finally, tonight, the touching new trend as kids head off to college. Some students, throwing empty nestor parties for their parents, not just to celebrate their newfound freedom,

but to think the people who got them this far. You did! College freshman Lauren Nelson didn't necessarily mean to make her parents cry. She's been crying all afternoon. But the 18-year-old from Atlanta was about to leave for the University of Georgia. She and her twin brother, the last of five to go, so Lauren decided it was time for an empty nestor party. We had just finished family dinner and she's like you've got to come downstairs. It just made me so happy to see them celebrate together after all the hard work that they've put in.

The celebration complete with cakes and champagne. As soon as you open the door and you see this, it was like we've crossed the threshold. We've done gun. And of course, it wouldn't be a party from a Gen Zier without a clip posted to social media. And apparently now, empty Nestor party. videos are exploding online. Surprise! Videos celebrating parents for being parents. No. Emotional tributes often filled with a lifetime of photos.

A way of saying thanks and letting mom and dad know it was all worth it. Parent, hard parent with love, and then it will get returned. Those parents definitely doing something right. All right, that does it for us tonight. We thank you for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamis in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.