Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, August 31, 2023

Episode Date: September 1, 2023

Tonight's Top Story has the latest breaking news, political headlines, news from overseas and the best NBC News reporting from across the country and around the world.

Tonight, top story live again from Adalia's disaster zone as the road to recovery begins here in West Florida. The storm now heading offshore, but leaving a trail of destruction in multiple states. Idalia's devastating storm surge breaking apart homes and wiping out buildings in Florida's Big Bend area. Several tornadoes reported across the southeast and Charleston, South Carolina, hit with historic flooding. In Florida, we met families and business owners who lost. everything in this storm and are now figuring out how to start over. But those looking to rebuild could be met with another crisis. Tonight, there is growing concern insurance companies will raise already crippling rates again. Also developing tonight a deadly inferno in South Africa,

a massive fire tearing through an abandoned building in Johannesburg that was housing hundreds of homeless families. People trapped inside because the exits were blocked. More than 70 people killed, including a dozen children, why residents who live nearby say this tragedy should be a wake-up call to city officials. Killer on the loose, a massive manhunt underway near Philadelphia. After a convicted murderer escaped from a Chester County prison, the man who officials are calling, quote, extremely dangerous, receiving a life sentence just last week for the brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend. The late details just coming in. Walking tour outrage, a sold-out tour in San Francisco, Disco met with backlash after promising to give guests an up-close look at the, quote,

doom and squalor of the city's downtown area. The anonymous organizer turned out to be a city official, how he helped give away his identity in the post. Plus, 50 cent caught on camera throwing a mic into a crowd at his Los Angeles concert. The mic reportedly hitting a local radio host right in the face what the rapper's team is saying tonight. And take a look at this. This record-breaking crowd of 92,000 isn't for the ERAs tour or an NFL playoff game,

but for a women's volleyball match at the University of Nebraska. What drove the worldwide first and what it meant to the players on the court. Top story starts right now. And good evening. We are live again tonight from another Florida town reeling from the impacts of hurricane. Idalia. We're now in Horseshoe Beach, a small coastal community on Florida's Big Bend that was on the front lines of Adalia's wrath as it slammed ashore as a Cat 3 storm. This new video capturing just how damaging Idalia's historic storm surge was slamming into the Horsesute Beach home

of someone we're going to talk to later in the show, water all the way up to the rooftop before ripping it to shreds. And here's a live look at tonight at the magnitude of the destruction here, homes flattened, businesses destroyed, entire livelihood's gone in an instant. This is our live drone video as it's passing over Horseshoe Beach right now, and you can see what's happened to a marina here, a section of the marina. There's actually vehicles that were pushed by those hurricane force winds along with the storm surge. You see it there in the distance all the way into the water there. It's that pickup truck you see in the distance. And as we take a turn here and we go down the neighborhoods of Horseshoe Beach, you're going to see that home after home

has been destroyed here. Really the only thing that survived was that homes that were built up into the sky, 20 feet high, 15 feet high. Those are the homes that are still standing. Everything on the first level is completely gone. So there are similar scenes playing out along Florida's Gulf Coast. This entire road broken apart in Englewood, Florida, just north of Fort Myers. Across the state, at least three people have died. Governor DeSantis announcing disaster aid for Florida as residents here begin the long road to recovery. Today, Adalia bringing flooding to North Carolina, downing trees and power lines and bringing two possible tornadoes. Hundreds of thousands of customers still without power across the Carolinas, parts of Georgia and here in Florida.

Adalia is now a post-tropical cyclone. That's what they call it. It's moving out to sea, but could still bring dangerous conditions to beaches along the East Coast over Labor Day weekend. But despite the storm moving offshore, its effects will long be felt. here in Florida since Adalia hit. We've traveled to several communities here in the Big Ben. Many residents left with nothing, but still looking ahead and ready to rebuild. Tonight, this new video obtained by NBC News showing Idalia's historic and devastating storm search. Watch and listen as the storm pushes into Steenhatchie, Florida, nearly reaching rooftops.

The water rising from one to eight feet in just over an hour. Captain Jody Griffith saw it all trying to protect his marina resort. That shed came from our neighbors. The roof here come from the neighbors over on the other side. Was it like a wall of water or was it just kind of building? When it came, it came. With many neighborhoods initially cut off, the scale of the devastation here is just beginning to come into focus. So the water line is right here?

Where the little debris and trash is on the wall. Some, like Linda Wickers family, who've owned Roy's restaurant for two decades. will have to rebuild from scratch. Is it a total loss or continues? Pretty much. I mean, the building's not, but the contents are pretty much, everything's gone. Idalia made landfall with a ferocity not seen in this area in more than a century. Daring high water rescues rolled out up and down the coast.

And more than half a million lost power, many have been restored. The bulk of the outages at this point are in that Big Bend region, a lot of the rural counties that bore the brunt of the storm. With the president today signing a major disaster declaration for Florida. Our nation has your back, and we are not going to, we're not going to walk away. Idalia carved its destructive path across the southeast. At least five reported tornadoes breaking out in the storm zone. That car is flying. One, flipping this car into the air.

Charleston recorded its fifth highest tide on record. Three people across the region have been killed. Back in Florida, this was Idalia's Fury up close in Horseshoe Beach. And this is what's left. And here in Horseshoe Beach, if your home did survive, there's probably only one reason why. It was built in the sky, like this one, 20 feet high. Across this quiet, close-knit village, homes torn apart and toppled over. When you guys first showed up here and you saw this, what did you think?

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. You can't control the weather. When you live on the water, you can expect this, almost. I mean, you always hope that it passes you by, and most of the time it does, but this time it didn't. The Jacobs family showed us the home they lost and shared the memories they're keeping. I would put my children to bed, and I had a piano in here, and I would play the piano, and they would go to sleep. What do you want the country to know about Horseshoe Beach and what happened here in this part of Florida? We're worth saving.

You know, it's a beautiful little town. Don't forget we're down here. Just don't forget us. There are more people in places like Steenhatchy and Cedar Key and things like this. We're a very small community, not commercialized, and it's easy to overlau. look, the little ones, and we just don't want to be forgotten in all this mess. We also want to highlight another problem that we're finding across these communities. The mounting worries over Florida's insurance rates and whether Hurricane Idalia could lead

to even higher costs. Many people here don't even have insurance because they can't get insured. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez is in Cedar Key with that story. Tonight, with the damage being assessed in Adalia's wake, some Floridians are warm. worried about another looming disaster, insurance. When you first came back here and you saw the damage, what went through your head? It's a little bit of disbelief, depression. Amy Firestein returned today to find the small hotel she owns ravaged. All the more frustrating because she says the insurance premiums for her own home doubled recently.

Is it better to just save up money and pay out of pocket or keep paying insurance every year? I don't know. After weathering Hurricane Ian last year, as we've reported, Florida homeowners are already paying the highest insurance premiums in the country, $6,000 a year versus the national average of 1700. Here in Cedar Key, nearly nine feet of storm surge tore through these homes. Stale, Florida's chief financial officer says Idalia could have been much worse. The silver lining to this is Idalia did go through one of the least populated areas of the state. In December, legislators here pass sweeping changes to property insurance laws. Some

experts say four new insurers soon coming to the state could help keep costs down. But others worry it'll take years for the market to stabilize. Do you think insurance rates could rise another 20 or 30 percent after this hurricane? Easily. Gregory Buck is an insurance provider in Palm Beach County. Since 2017, none of our companies who write homeowners in Florida have made any real money. Tonight for homeowners here mounting questions about future insurance bills and hurricane season is far from over. Gabe joins us live tonight from Cedar Key, Florida, where there is so much damage. And Gabe, for context here, how does the early damage estimates from Idalia compare to Hurricane Ian?

Well, Tom, it is still very early, but one investment bank estimates that Idalia caused nearly $10 billion in damage, but that is far less than Hurricane Ian, of course, which costs, more than $112 billion. Tom. And Gabe, I'm curious here. From the people you're talking to, the insurance game is so complicated in Florida, right? Just trying to find insurance can be difficult.

But then after that, you're asked to get flood insurance and wind insurance. What are people telling you? Because I'm encountering a lot of people over here in Horseshoe Beach who just said they chose not to get insured. It just didn't make sense anymore because the rates were so sky-high that they wouldn't be able to live.

in their homes. Unfortunately, now they've lost them. You know, Tom, that's, yeah, you know, Tom, that's something we're hearing a lot. And you see all this debris, you know, here in Cedar Keyes is going to take some time to clean up. This was caused by the storm search, which brought all of this debris from their first floors from some of these homes that deposited them, the debris right here. But in terms of insurance, we're talking to more and more people, more and more Floridians who say they just don't want to be insured given these high rates. but there's also this difference between flood insurance and wind insurance.

A very small percentage of Floridians, actually, Tom, as you know, actually have flood insurance. Sometimes it might be, you know, up to, you know, only 15% actually have flood insurance, and that's a growing concern. So many people here say they're choosing to go without because of these skyrocketing rates, Tom. Okay, Gabe Gutierrez and his team reporting from Cedar Key tonight, Gabe, we appreciate your reporting. And back here in Horseshoe Beach, they're not only dealing with all the destruction you see just behind me and trying to get resources to the people here who need it, they're also apparently dealing with some crime right now. Joining us here on Top Story is the mayor of Horseshoe Beach. His name is Jeff Williams. Mayor, thank you so much for joining us here. You were just talking to me. You're about to have an emergency meeting because of the looting issue. Talk to me about what witnesses have seen and what you guys are going to do.

Well, in previous storms, we had issues with looting. And over last night and the night before, there was a lot of people in town that they, you know, there's no one here. The population is not here. And they, it's free for the taking in their eyes and they're stealing other people's stuff. And there were people you're saying on four-wheelers with flashlights in the middle of the night roaming? Yep, roaming around town, going through. houses and you know we're going to put a stop to it and we're basically going to declare a curfew

tonight from 11 to 6 for the next six or seven days and give the people the citizens here time to get in and protect their property dealing with so much here we've been flying a drone all over your area here so our viewers understand what's happened here at horseshoe beach talk to me about the destruction when you first got a sense of this what did you think um it it's It's the worst storm we've ever had in the horseshoe that any of us know of. We had a storm in 93 that we talk about around town. It was called the storm of the century. That storm in 93, very unique because it came in March.

And that storm didn't compare to this storm. But the destruction here is massive. I mean, when we have multiple families that were full-time residents that lived here, and their homes just gone. I mean, from what I saw, unless your house was built 20 feet in the air, it's pretty much wiped out. Is that a fair assessment? It is.

If it was on the ground, it was heavily damaged, if not totally destroyed, and even the houses that were up in the air, if they had built utility sheds or whatever, they're gone. The president today signing some major disaster declarations, we know Governor DeSantis has been on the ground in several counties here in the Big Ben. Have you received any aid yet? We are getting aid from the county.

We're getting aid. We're not getting any aid from the federal government yet, but I am being told that FEMA is on the way. I have Congressman Kammak coming tomorrow and she wants to see and she is

very focused on FEMA. What do you need right now? Right now, originally, you need food. And I'll give you an example of that. If you owned a home here and it was damaged and you pick up the phone and called your family, your family would put 20 people here and they would help you. Well, we have no water. We have no power.

We have no ice. And we have no food. And then it's 25 miles to go find that. so we got we have to get food in and so we've done a good job of that we have plenty of food water the red crosses here you have people cooking meals we have people cooking meals we have food trucks here now the county emergency management folk are basically saying what do you need and within a day or so they get it here you know it's been maybe the hottest day so far today You know, it says 87 degrees, but with the humidity that feels like it's about 100.

What has it been like the nights here and the days without power? Well, one, most of the people, their homes are not secure enough to stay in. So they're coming here and work, and they've got hotels elsewhere. They come in here early in the morning. They work all day and they leave. But most of your houses, even up in the air, the stair set that went up, it's gone. So, you know, they can't get in without extension ladders or things like that. So, yeah, the heat is massive bad.

What are you hearing from the residents? What are they telling you? They're telling you, Mayor, we need this right now. Well, I mean, yesterday there was things, there was a lot of requests, porta-potties. You know, we have nowhere to go to the restroom here, so port-a-potties. And we got 10 or 15 in a day. We have another 20-25 coming in. We'll dot them around town.

Ice was one of the things yesterday. And now it's just cleanup crews. And these cleanup crews did you see, the county, the city, we came in yesterday and we cleaned the roads, made them safe for the residents to get to their homes. How do they clean up the canals like this? What does this take? It's the same by cranes.

And the county will get into that over the next. week or so and from what you know nobody missing no one no one no one died in this no when we when we when we knew the storm was coming we were pretty confident it was going to be close though we had two priorities one the first priority was get everybody out of this town second priority was post storm what do we need to do I mean I had our insurance company before the storm ever hit I had them here we knew our town hall was going to going to get massively flooded. It did in all other storm. So we got mobile command centers coming in as early as this weekend so that we have offices to work, run the town out of.

But the priority of getting the people out of town, we got every person out of this town with the exception of one person. So that's almost as good as you can get. And we very, very much tried to get that person to leave. And they're okay? They're okay. They're in an elevated house. I'm sure they're pretty frightened. Mayor Jeff Williams, we thank you for your time.

Sorry about what happened to your town. And we hope you guys rebuild it. Thank you guys for being here. And hopefully we can get through this. And this town is very resilient. And they'll pull together. Mayor, we thank you for that. As we mentioned, Adalia, marching through

the southeast today, thrashing North Carolina with rain and winds, but now moving out to sea as a post-tropical cyclone. I want to get right over to NBC News meteorologist Bill Cairns. And Bill, I hate to ask you about this because we're still recovering from Hurricane Adali. A lot of people still feeling the effects. But we know there's other systems ruined in the top in the tropics tonight. Yeah, there always is. This is the peak of the hurricane season. And we haven't even got to the most active month yet, which is September. So we're wrapping up Adalia. Perry, Florida had the highest wind gust. We didn't really have a wind gauge right where it made landfall. Remember it was kind of a remote area. So we're sure we had to gust hire this.

Where Tom is located at Horseshoe Beach, we did have an 81 mile per wind gusts. How about Valdosta, Georgia? Not only did you have the wind gust of 69 miles per hour, you also make the list for one of the highest rainfall totals, and that's why you were under a flash flood emergency at one point yesterday. Clearwater Beach, nine inches. And at all places that had the heaviest rain, North Carolina, almost a foot of rain from this storm. We had flooding issues in North Carolina all last night and early this morning. The wind is finally dying off on the Outer Banks. Hatteras was earlier today at 55 miles per hour winds, now at 29. And the rain, the last bit of Ideal is ending right now in Kill Devil Hills and Hatteras. Then we are done with it.

It's actually post-tropical now. The Hurricane Center says it doesn't have thunderstorms to consider it like a tropical system. But in about four days, three days from now, when it's near Bermuda, they actually think it's going to become a tropical storm once again. It makes the turn, actually tries to intensify a little bit, back up to 60 miles per hour. And then this is where it is in about five days. I know Tom likes to watch these things, these spaghetti lines. After we get through five days, a couple of our computer models do bring it back

towards either Maine or Nova Scotia or New England. It would be a much weaker system, maybe a tropical depression or tropical, maybe just an ocean storm, but we got six or seven or eight days to watch that. And as far as the other things go, Tom, you know, we need to dry it out where you are. It's hot and it's

humid. It's hard this time of year to get it any cooler, but it's going to stay that way. All right, Bill Cairns, we appreciate all of you, everything you've been doing this week. It's been a long week for you and for all of us. We appreciate that. We will have much more Nadia's destruction later, but now we head overseas in the horrifying images out of South Africa. This story is so wild. A five-story building going up in flames, killing more than 70 people, many of them children.

Matt Bradley has the latest. You could hear the screams coming from inside the inferno. A fearsome fire engulfing. a five-story building in Johannesburg, killing at least 74 people overnight, including 12 children. The building had been abandoned and was filled with an estimated 200 homeless squatters. Witnesses say exits out of the building were blocked. The massive blaze forced some to do the unthinkable. My in you have to hit the window and to throw the door outside.

Tonight, the government facing fierce criticism. It's a wake-up call for us to begin to address the situation. housing in the inner city. But reforms will come too late for these homeless victims, for whom there was no place left to go but the streets, and now nothing left to feel. But despair. Tonight South Africa's president pledged to root out those criminal gangs

that had taken control of that abandoned building and to launch an investigation into what exactly caused that deadly fire. Tom? Matt Bradley on that terrible story tonight out of South Africa. Matt, thank you. We'll be back from Horseshoe Beach later in the broadcast with the other devastation here, but also the resolve to rebuild. Now I'm going to send it over to our Top Story Studios in New York for the day's other headlines and to my friend Ellison Barber. Ellison, good evening. Good evening, Tom, and thank you. Still ahead tonight on Top Story, the urgent manhunt near Philadelphia, a convicted murderer escaping from prison less than a week after receiving a life sentence.

The urgent warning to residents who live within a six-mile radius of that facility. Plus, an update tonight on Senator Mitch McConnell after he froze for more than 30 seconds while trying to answer a question from a reporter. What a Capitol Hill doctor is now saying. And the San Francisco official resigning after he advertised a walking tour to explore what he called the squalor of San Francisco's downtown area. The fierce backlash he's receiving. Stay with us. We're back now with. with a seemingly innocent teenage prank gone terribly wrong.

A group of teenagers in Georgia knocking on one man's door before taking off. A well-known trick, often called ding-dong ditch. But police say that man then chased them down and choked one of the boys. And as NBC, Stephen Romo explains, this is not the first time one of these pranks has taken a dangerous turn. It's an age-old teenage prank. ringing doorbells or knocking on doors before running away known as a ding-dong ditch popular in the movies and in real life standing here going to teach his speed what are you doing where's he going run but tonight what might have started out as an innocent trick turning violent this week in Tybee island Georgia police say a group of teens playing the prank were chased down and one of them assaulted homeowner William Cole was arrested after following the group trying to hit them with his car and then choking one of them until a witness intervened according to police. Tybee Island investigators saying on Monday that Cole ran away

from the scene was considered armed and dangerous and was actively attempting to evade them before they later announced his arrest. It's shocking. People should never take the law to their own hands. If you legitimately feel threatened, you should call the police. And this isn't the only recent case of alleged ding-dong ditch violence. Just last week in Wilmington, Delaware, a state police trooper allegedly punched a 15-year-old boy who played that prank on his house. They kicked the door once and ran away. That trooper has been suspended pending an investigation after allegedly leaving the teenager

Jaden bloody and bruised, according to the boy's attorney. He punched him so hard that it. broke one of the strongest bones in his face around his orbital rim. It gave him a terrible concussion. Jaden's aunt calling the incident police brutality in a Facebook post. It's a terrible example of overreaching, of overreaction, of violating the constitutional rights of these kids, terrifying them. I spoke to these boys. they all thought that they were going to be killed.

Delaware State Police saying they became aware of the incident through an internal body-worn camera review. And they're investigating whether or not there was any failure to intervene on the part of the other officers who were there at the time. You've taken something that was fairly innocent, mundane, and turned it into something significantly more serious because you yourself are now potentially going to be with a serious crime against a young adult.

And Stephen Romo joins us now. Stephen, I have definitely ding-dong ditched in my day. I mean, is this illegal? Yeah, it's a question that you don't even think about as a kid, obviously. It really depends on what state you're in. The legal expert we talked to said, for some states, it is a misdemeanor, and that usually results in a fine. But if there is property damage left behind, that's a different story.

But in this case, Jade's attorney says there was absolutely no damage to that door. Let's talk about the other case you mentioned in your piece, that one in Delaware, state police saying they're investigating events surrounding it. Are they looking more directly into the incident itself and what their state trooper off duty may or may not have done here? Yeah, we actually did get a little bit more information when we pushed them on those accusations. They went a bit further saying that the teenager, he covered his face and went up and kicked the door loud enough that it bothered a dog, made a dog start barking and also scared a woman who was inside at the time. they do go on to say that these allegations are disturbing and that they are going to continue to investigate them. All right. Stephen Romo, thank you for that.

Now to a shocking story out of San Francisco, a controversial, quote, doom loop walking tour, sparking outrage among residents and community advocates. The anonymous organizer revealed to be a city official. Jake Ward has the details on this latest firestorm embroiling the city by the bay. Tonight, controversy. stirring in San Francisco, a city official forced to resign after advertising a doom-loop walking tour of the city's downtown area. Alex Ludlam, the Commissioner for the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure,

posted an anonymous event bright promising customers the opportunity to, quote, get close and personal with the doom and squalor of downtown San Francisco. Going on to say, we will view the open-air drug markets, the abandoned tech offices, the outposts of the nonprofit industrial complex, and the deserted department stores. Even claiming, you'll find no better expert your guide is an urban policy professional card-carrying city commissioner. Tickets for the $30 tour sold out, but the organizers never showed up after media scrutiny and public outcry. This is about raising awareness to change our city's policies and to change the direction of San Francisco to help it recover because we love San Francisco. And by charging for the tour, it sounds a little bit like maybe, you know, a little bit of a grift.

Ludlam apologizing in his resignation letter, saying, I regret that my attempt to bring attention to the deplorable street conditions and rampant criminality in my neighborhood has been misconstrued as a mockery of suffering individuals. Satire is a poor way to address the grave issues we face as a city. Ludlum's actions angering activists like Del Seymour, who's been offering historical tours of San Francisco for nearly two decades. We're in a very serious epidemic. We're in a very serious crisis. We don't need this political footballs. going back and forth across the field while we're dealing with Tyrone and Sheila who are laying on the damn ground. While it's unclear who the event was exactly intended for, tourists visiting the downtown voiced concern.

It seems that there's happier things that we could be doing with our time. Yeah, and we came here to see the city in its light, not its darkness. I would have sympathy for them, but I don't think I would take it too out of them. Mayor London Breed addressed the controversy, saying the decision to organize and public the tour was a mistake and a deep error in judgment. We are working every day to address the city's challenges, and our focus remains on doing the work to move this city forward. Jake Ward joins us now from San Francisco. Jake, listening to those people in your piece, you have so many people saying this quote-unquote tour was gross, it was inappropriate,

but then also saying we do have serious issues here. Talk to us about those issues. What is the long-term strategy to try and turn things around in San Francisco? Well, the unprecedented sort of flow of business out of the downtown corridor has been a huge problem for San Francisco. And city leaders and business leaders are saying to me that beginning next month, they're going to be turning over empty spaces to pop up restaurants and arts organizations in an effort, probably a 10-year effort, to turn the downtown around so that tourists want to come there. In the meantime, Allison, lots of people have been saying to me, if you want to take a tour of San Francisco, ask the locals where to go. We won't steer you wrong. Ellison. Good advice.

Jake Ward, thank you. We appreciate it. When we come back, the shocking incident at a 50-cent concert. Video shows the rapper hurling a microphone into the crowd, reportedly striking a local radio host in the face. The response from his team next. Back now with Top Stories News Feed,

and we begin with the urgent manhunt underway in Pennsylvania for a convicted murderer who escaped prison just days after being sentenced to life. Danello Cavalcante was convicted of murder for stabbing his ex-girlfriend in front of her children. He was reported missing from a prison near Philadelphia just before 9 a.m. this morning. Official sending an alert to anyone who lives in a six-mile radius of the prison, calling Cavalcante, quote, extremely dangerous. It is still unclear how he got out. Rapper 50 Cent caught on camera throwing a microphone at is Los Angeles concert.

Video circulating on social media shows the rapper launching that mic into the crowd at Crypto.com Arena, formerly the Staples Center. According to TMZ, that mic hit a local radio host in the head sending her to the hospital. 50 cents attorney telling NBC News he spoke to the police but added 50,

quote, would never intentionally strike anyone with a microphone. This incident comes one month after Cardi B threw a mic into a crowd at her concert in Las Vegas. An update tonight, Senator, Senate Minority Leader Republican Mitch McConnell, is medically clear to continue his work, according to the Capitol's attending physician. Dr. Brian Monaghan saying in a statement that he consulted with McConnell and his neurology team after the 81-year-old froze for more than 30 seconds while speaking to reporters. Monaghan writing, quote, the occasional lightheadedness McConnell experienced is not uncommon after a concussion or when dehydrated. Turning to politics now, Donald Trump's legal woes taking another turn today in a court filing the former president pleading not guilty in the Georgia criminal case accusing him of racketeering and conspiracy in connection with alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump's lawyers notifying the court he will not appear in person for the scheduled arraignment next week. For more on this latest development, NBC's Blaine Alexander joins us now from Atlanta, Georgia. Blaine, walk us through Trump's decision to plead not guilty. unexpected, but what does it mean for this case? Well, Alson, it's something that we certainly expected. He decided to enter a plea if not guilty. He has waived his appearance, his arraignment appearance next week. And remember, he's not the first one to do so.

There are at least five other co-defendants who have done the same thing. So the fact that he's waived this appearance means he's not going to come before a Fulton County judge next week. But his plea of not guilty, that's kind of something that is almost procedural at this point. So the fact that that's in is now officially on the record. The other thing that we're watching, though, more closely is his ask to sever from the other co-defendants who had requested an earlier trial. So right now, it's not an across-the-board request to sever from all 18 of his co-defendants,

but from those who had requested a speedy trial chief among them, Ken Chiesborough. He had been granted a trial date of October 23rd. Trump's attorney said they simply can't prepare for a trial that quickly, Alison. All right. NBC's Blaine Alexander in Atlanta, us. Thank you. Nearly six months after Alec Murdoch was convicted for the murders of his wife, Maggie, and his son, Paul, his surviving son, Buster, is breaking his silence. Buster Murdoch speaking to a documentary crew in defending his father, who is currently behind bars serving two life sentences. NBC, Stephanie Gosk, has the latest.

This is not what I needed. In his first on-camera interview, since his mother and brother were killed on their family estate in South Carolina, Buster Murdoch defends himself and his father. And his father Alec, who is serving a life sentence for the double murder, speaking with Fox Nation. You think it was a crappy motive? And yet, 12 jurors all agreed that your dad killed your mom and Paul. That's right. What do you think about that? I do not believe it was fair. Questions have swirled around Buster over a different death. Former classmate Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old whose body was discovered in 2015 on a road about 15 miles from the family property where years later Maggie and Paul Murdoch were shot and killed. Initially ruled a hit and run,

the case was reopened in the weeks after the double murder and state law enforcement is now investigating Smith's death as a homicide. There were unsubstantiated rumors that he and Buster Murdoch were in a relationship. Murdoch has never been identified as a suspect and does not face any criminal charges. I never had anything to do with his murder, and I never had anything to do with him on a physical level of any regard. Murdoch was at his father's trial every day, taking the stand in his defense. But this was his response in the interview when asked if he thinks his father is a psychopath. I'm not prepared to sit here and say that it encompasses him as a whole, but certainly I think there are characteristics where you look at the manipulation and the lies and the carrying

out of that such, and I think that's a fair assessment. Alec Murdoch has gotten into a little bit of trouble over this documentary, according to the corrections department. He was on the phone with his attorney who recorded the conversation. He was reading some of his journal entries. It's not a crime, but it does break the rules. And as a result, in part from this, he has lost his phone privileges. We reached out to his attorney who wouldn't comment on the issue, but did say he has the utmost respect for the director of the Department of Corrections. Ellison?

Stephanie Gossk, thank you. Turning now to money talks, what consumers and investors need to know from the business world and beyond. Tonight, Americans are struggling with the rising cost of everyday items, falling behind on expenses like car loans and credit cards. NBC's Tom Costello now on the growing economic uncertainty and how you can deal with your debt. From the gas pump to the grocery aisle, inflation continues to take a big bite out of family budgets. In July, personal expenditures jumped another 3.3. percent from a year ago. We're paying more for pharmaceuticals, recreation, groceries, and clothing. And more Americans are choosing to charge it, though with credit card interest rates at a record

20.6 percent, many can't pay the bills. And after spending heavily during the pandemic, more than three and a half percent of car loan and credit cards are now delinquent. Right now, I have almost $10,000 in credit card debt. So I am so ashamed of that. But yeah, that's a big number. and Stokes turned to credit cards after being laid off for a second time in nine months. She and her husband are now focusing on cutting costs. Not making more bills, cutting back on cable, all of our streaming services. Despite record levels of credit card debt, Americans continue to spend, up nearly 1% in July from a year ago. So now the question, will the Fed raise rates even more in September as it fights inflation?

We will keep at it until the job is done. savvy ladies financial help advisors say now is the time to prioritize debt you could have a car loan over here with a you know five percent interest and you've got you're paying 21 percent on a credit card it makes the most sense to put that money towards that credit card first always make more than the minimum payment wean yourself off cards by using cash and don't sacrifice your financial future for instant gratification buys now tomorrow we'll get the latest critical read on the economy the july and employment report expected to remain near these 50-year lows, and that's despite these rising prices. Allison? Tom Costello, thank you. Coming up, the record-breaking crowd in Nebraska, more than 90,000 fans turning out. Top story spoke to one of the players about what it was like to play amid that historic moment. We're back now with a military coup in Africa, taking hold in the country of Gabon. Soldiers placing the president there, Under house arrest only minutes after the announcement of his re-election.

Borders have been shut, curfews put in place, and some are celebrating liberation from a family that's held power for nearly 60 years. Tonight, another military takeover in a Central African country. This time, in Gabon, armed military officers taking to the streets, paraded with flags and weapons. Some residents unafraid, joyously celebrating the coup in the streets of Gabon's capital city, hoping it is the start of a new beginning for their oil-rich country. Just hours after the sitting president Ali Bongo was declared the win. in an election that extended his family's 55-year reign.

Men in military fatigues addressed the nation on national television. Election General of 26-Auth, 2023, not re-replied the conditions of a scrutin transparent. Saying the election results were void. They'd seized power, closed the country's borders, placed President Bungo under house arrest, and dissolved both houses of parliament. I'm Ari Bongo releasing a video pleading in English for his people to speak out and the international community to step in. I'm calling you to make the noise, to make noise, to make noise, to make noise, really.

Bongo's family has ruled this country for more than half a century, and analysts say the military takeover is surprising. Very few people could imagine that we could handle up with a good data. And this is due just to the strongholds of the Bongo family and the Bongo system on the administrative machine in Gabon, the electoral machine, but also the security apparatus. But the dramatic scenes in Gabon are increasingly familiar in Western and Central Africa. Eight coups have taken place in this region since 2020, a number in former French colonies, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and now it seems, Gabon. Military leader General Bryce Oligi Gima is set to be installed as president on Monday.

Now to Top Stories, Global Watch and an investigation underway after a train tragedy in northern Italy. Officials say an empty passenger train was going nearly 100 miles per hour when it struck a group of workers near a station outside of Turin. Five people were killed. Officials say they expect to question the train driver. And a crash on a highway in Canada is causing some buzz. boxes carrying five million bees fell off of a truck on a highway near Toronto. Several beekeepers were called into help. Officials say a large number of the bees were safely collected, but drivers are still encouraged to keep their windows up while driving in that area. Back here at home and the record-setting attendance last night in Lincoln,

Nebraska, with 90,000-plus fans piling into a football stadium. NBC News is Jesse Kirsch on just who the record-breaking crowd was there to see. In a sea of red, they cheered by the tens of thousands. The University of Nebraska, Lincoln's faithful fans, a capacity crowd, filling the school's football stadium last night. But this was for an entirely different kind of game. Has it set in for you guys what's happened? I don't think so, no.

I agree. It's still surreal. Welcome to volleyball day in Nebraska, an outdoor celebration, culminating with a clean sweep win for the Nebraska women's team. Reload for Riley. And a worldwide first. Puts it away for Nebraska. Memorial Stadium's official attendance last night was 92,003. The Cornhuskers say that's a new world record for attendance at a women's sporting event.

It's also bigger than any football crowd that's ever filled this century-old stadium. Junior Libera Lexi Rodriguez says she couldn't stop smiling. It was something bigger than just a volleyball game, and it's going to go down in history. And I think it's putting volleyball and women's sports on a bigger map. Four-time national champion coach John Cook says this all started with a far simpler goal, reclaim the attendance record from another school. Problem is their indoor arenas weren't big enough. So this started with you trying to just hit around 20,000 people is what you're telling me.

I would have been ecstatic with 20,000 people in the stadium. But it's the only place we could hold a volleyball match and to get the record. But the corn huskers spiked 20,000 and then some. It wouldn't happen anywhere else in the world, really. Like volleyball is the, you know, Nebraska's at the center for volleyball and for the sport. I kept reminding everyone to just enjoy the moment and to soak it all in. A one-of-a-kind spectacle making history and setting the bar high. Jesse Kirsch, NBC News.

When we come back, Tom is speaking to two homeowners, one who saw their home destroyed on live stream, why they are resolved to rebuild. finally back here in florida in horseshoe beach and we're going to talk to two women who had very different experiences with their homes their neighbors their friends and they're joining top story tonight first up is carol sap carol thank you so much for joining us i know this is sort of a a stressful time and cynthia vote true we thank you also for joining us so you guys live across from each other here in horseshoe beach and carol i know this is this is hard you lost your home yes and you actually saw it on on real

real-time video. Your neighbor had a live cam on it and it was streaming. And he lost his house too. What was that like? What a strange experience. It was surreal. It was amazing. It was like nothing you can even imagine to say that the porch comes off and floats away and then everything starts falling over. And everything in there went with it. All of our things that we've had for years and enjoyed here when we come here. You know, our viewers are watching this video as you're talking about it, and you kind of see the home sort of dislodge and then get swept away, if you will. What was that like? Because you're helpless.

There's nothing you can do that. Right. Right. Like I said, it's a complete feeling of helplessness, a little maybe frustration. Just like, what do we do next? Is this for real? Was it emotional? In a way.

in a way it was because you think of all your, when we come here and enjoy and we cook out and we do everything and now all that's gone. Yeah, it's great, but you still have the memories though. All the memories, yes. All the good memories. Cynthia, your home was on piling

from what I understand. How high up were you? Our home is probably 15 feet. So 15 feet in the air and it survived. It did, yes, it survived. We lost our stairs and that was all. So can you get to your home? With a ladder, yes. That's got to be strong. range too. Oh, definitely. It is. We had a small home, too. We had two houses. In the small home,

we lost everything. And I understand that small home, your dad builds? My dad and my uncle built it 40 years ago, 1983. Wow. Yes. That had to be tough for you, huh? It was. We've had four generations in that home enjoying down here. We brought my children, my girls, down here from the time they were babies and now my grandsons from the time they were born. So the whole family has just enjoyed it for many, many years. You guys are, you know, I didn't ask for this, but you guys are kind of hugging on each other, you know, which I think is really special because you still have each other here. But what was it like when you first walked in, Cynthia? You've been here for generations and you saw Horseshoe Beach like this. It was extremely emotional. My mother, my 86-year-old

mother has lost my father, my aunt, my uncle that helped build that house. So it was very emotional for me, especially watching her see everything they had built. What did she, how did she take it? She was very emotional. She broke down. I broke down. It was very hard seeing it gone. What do you want? You have the nation watching. What do you guys want? What does Horseshoe Beach need right now? We need help cleaning up. We have some people that's come in. We just arrived about 2 o'clock this afternoon from North Georgia, and we were amazed at what already has been done. But they need more help down here, I think. Because there's families that are so. suffering, and are in extreme hardship.

So help, because Horseshoe Beach is a wonderful place, and my granddaughters love coming here. The scalloping, the fishing, the, it's kayaking, paddleboarding, it's all great. And so people understand, also, this is a place full of families and people who have been here for generations. Yes. And it's a place you just come to sort of relax, right, for a little bit. Right. That's right. And it's a family.

When we come down here, everybody knows each other. No. It helps out. Everybody helps everybody else. You know, people are going to watch us who don't live here in Florida. They don't live on the water. They don't sort of get this because they know how dangerous it is. Having seen this storm, any second thoughts about living here? Are you going to rebuild? No, no second thoughts. No second thoughts. No. We may have lost one home, but we've not lost horseshoe and what's at the heart of horseshoe. And it might look different, but we will rebuild in some form and fashion.

and we will continue and join it for generations to come. Right. And for us, we're probably thinking moving a large camper in that can be pulled out when there's storm warnings. Yes, right. And then finally, you know, our colleague, Gabe Gutierrez, was doing a story about the insurance in Florida. I'm originally from Florida, and I know what it's like to try to get insurance here.

Do you get insured? Are you insured? How does that process work when you live here literally on the water? Well, our place was older. And we elected not to have insurance 15 years ago when we became the primary owners. Okay. And so it has served us well, and we probably saved a lot of money along the way. Right.

But you got to start from scratch now. Yes. Okay. And Cynthia, you guys? We have insurance on the house on stilts, but when my father built the other house on the ground, we were told we could not have insurance because it was on the ground. Yeah. But that was a risk we were willing to take to enjoy down here.

Yeah, and so many people are just like you. They want to live on that first level, or they have an older home that was built that way. Finally, before we go, any last words for people that are watching this about Horseshoe Beach and the Big Bend area? You want to make sure after this disaster? Hmm. You know, it's going to come back, and the people here are strong. They're wonderful, and it's going to be great again, too. Everybody is welcoming.

But we want to keep it a secret. Okay. That's right. Well, everybody knows about it now. Cynthia and Carol, we thank you so much for your time. I know this is a stressful moment for you guys, so we appreciate you sharing your stories and telling us about your homes.

Thank you very much. And we thank you for watching this special edition of Top Story reporting from Horseshoe Beach in the Big Bend area of Florida. Stay right there. More news on the way.