Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, February 22, 2024

Episode Date: February 23, 2024

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, breaking news as we come on the air, the first private company has landed on the moon. NASA saying the Odysseus Lunar lander has just touched down on the moon surface, making it the first U.S. made spacecraft to successfully touch down on the moon in five decades. It launched just seven days ago on a SpaceX rocket from the Kennedy Space Center. We're breaking down everything you need to know about this historic moment. Also tonight, the investigation into what caused a wireless service outage that affected customers nationwide. Connection cut off to tens of thousands of cell phone users this morning. Many saying their phone had been turned to SOS mode, and they were only able to dial 911. First responders flooded with calls.

Could this have been the result of a cyber attack? President Biden slamming an Alabama Supreme Court ruling on frozen embryos calling it a direct result of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. More fertility clinics in the state now pausing IVF treatments over fear of legal repercussions. Some women left stranded after already spending thousands of dollars to start the treatment. Do they have any other options? Deadly police shooting, newly released body camera video shows the moment police in Los Angeles fatally shot a 36-year-old man who was holding a plastic fork.

What officers say they believed he was armed with when he reached for one of their beanbag guns. Controversial display, a North Carolina teacher labeling classroom doors as a quote, white entrance and a quote, colored entrance as part of a black history month lesson. The school were moving it and calling the in the district calling it inappropriate, but many coming to the teacher's defense saying it sparks an important conversation about the history of segregation. Plus, the president of Mexico publicly naming New York Times journalist during a press conference and releasing their contact information. The move coming just hours before the newspaper published an article

about alleged ties to the president's campaign and drug cartels. And reaching new heights, tonight we visit the booming aviation program at Texas Southern University, how the school, along with some major airline carriers, are helping more students land their dream pilot jobs and bringing some much-needed diversity to the cockpit. Top story starts right now. Good evening. I'm Ellison Barber. We're coming on the air with breaking news from space. Just moments ago, the United States making its first landing on the moon in more than 50 years.

Cheers erupting inside mission control as intuitive machines unmanned Odysseus lander touchdown on the moon's hard-to-reach South Pole at 6.23 p.m. Eastern time. The mission also marks the first time a private company has landed. on the moon. The 14-foot lander launched just seven days ago on a space X rocket from the Kennedy Space Center. Experts say this mission will help prepare us for future human exploration of the moon's uncharted territory. NBC News correspondent Marissa Parra joins us now from Atlanta with more. Marissa, you have covered a lot of space movements of late. Take us through this moment tonight. Talk about that moment when it finally touched down and some of the drama that unfolded.

along the way. Hey, Allison. Well, if you cover or if you watch space coverage, you will know that it very, very seldom happens exactly how it's supposed to or at least anticipated to. I would say the only thing you can predict is that it is unpredictable. And so it's very common for the exact landing times, launch times to slide. And that is exactly what we saw today. The time that it was supposed to land changed quite a few times.

But then we saw that there was a lot of drama that happened before. four was supposed to land and even after. And so leading up to it, there were some issues that it was about an hour beforehand, these issues that NASA administrator Bill Nelson called a white knuckle time. They were in critical moments and unsure if they were going to be able to make that slated time of 624 Eastern Time. That was the time that they were aiming for. And then they were able to do some patchwork, if you will. And so then even as we approached those crucial moments. And we were talking about in the minutes and even seconds before and after that aimed landing time, everybody was waiting with their breath, holding their breath. We saw collectively

the mission control. People online were waiting to find out if it was successful. So, Alison, it was over 20 minutes, roughly 20 minutes of waiting until we heard that confirmation that history was made. And although, of course, there's going to be questions on what is the state of this lunar landing? What does it look like? Those are things that will be answered once we get those images. It takes a lot longer for the actual images of the landing to come through. And of course, all of the data with that. But we do know there was a successful landing on the moon in some way, shape, or form. And this obviously a very historic moment for the United States. NASA administrator, Bill Nelson, spoke moments after touchdown. Let's listen to some of what he had to say.

Today, for the first time in more than a half century, the U.S. has returned to the moon. Today, for the first time in the history of humanity, a commercial company, an American company, launched and led the voyage up there. And today is a day that shows the power and promise of NASA's commercial partnerships. Marissa, talk to us about where exactly this landed. makes the location, the south pole of the moon, so special here? Exactly. And that is actually part of the reason why we were probably seeing a lot of the challenges that we were. So the conditions on the south pole, the south part of the moon,

that was where they were aiming for and where they were successfully able to make their landing tonight is quite different than on the equator. And so you have a lot of craters around this area and I'll get to the reasons why this is so important for them to explore this side of the moon. But it was the laser that was an issue leading up to the scheduled arrival time. And the laser helps them measure the distance from the moon. And it's so important, of course, for any type of vehicle to be able to have a precise estimation of how far they are from the moon's surface when they're trying to make a landing here, Alison. So they were able to get that solved in the the nick of time, but the reason why they're looking at this part of the moon specifically,

and this is until recently been an unexplored part of the moon. It wasn't until August of last year. India became the first country to make a soft landing in this part of the moon. So we now are seeing the first private mission from a vehicle landing on this part of the moon. This is, you know, the United States can claim that fame here. But the reason why they're looking, and everyone has been trying to get to this part, is there's icy waters in those craters. Ellison. And so the hope is that they can tap into those icy waters to provide a sort of rocket fuel station. People are calling it sort of a gas station of sorts, if you will, that would make it not only more easy, but also more affordable for missions elsewhere in our solar

system, including Mars. So a lot of elements to this, even beyond the moon, even beyond the race back to bring humans back to the moon, this means a lot. It is a significant step forward for just the race to space in general, Allison. Marissa Para, fantastic reporting. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. Also tonight, AT&T says old service has been restored after widespread outages this morning, clogged up emergency response services, and prompted federal investigations. Here's what we know. According to the tracking site, Down Detector, at about 4 a.m. Eastern time,

outages started to appear, affecting about 32,000 customers nationwide, mainly with AT&T. That number spiked to about 74,000. by 8 a.m. And 72,000 customers appear to still be affected by 10 a.m. Customers with cricket wireless, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Boost were also impacted. Many users reported their phones had been turned to SOS mode, an Apple feature that only allows calls to 911. The FBI, FCC, and Homeland Security are all investigating the cause. NBC news correspondent Liz Kreutz has the latest. tonight still no explanation for the massive nationwide cell phone outage AT&T one of the largest wireless carriers in the country going down early this morning for some customers unable to send or receive any calls or texts as soon as I woke up this morning it was gone the outage lasting for hours didn't have any service I need to make some phone calls the company saying wireless service is now fully restored but the FBI and Department of Homeland Security are investigated

The Bureau saying, should we learn of any malicious activity, we will respond accordingly. I think a lot of people right now are asking, how does something like this happen? Unfortunately, the technologies that we use are becoming increasingly complicated. This highlights the dependencies we have on very complex systems. Some emergency departments urging people not to call 911 unnecessarily. Massachusetts state police saying they were flooded with calls that clogged their system as people tried to test their phones. Lexington 911, where's your emergency? This Kentucky 911 dispatch center had normal call volume this morning, but says today's outage

is a good reminder to have alternate modes of communication. It's not a bad idea to have a landline available. The outage impacting people from coast to coast. My messages weren't sending, like I wasn't getting anything. Today's my birthday, so I want to call my mom and stuff. In Los Angeles, Uber driver, Time Johnson, feeling a difference during the morning commute. What have you noticed? It's just been really, really slow.

I'm thinking it may be the outages because people can't order their ubers. Security experts saying the situation reveals potential vulnerabilities. I think it does show, though, that we need to really be thoughtful about as we adopt these technologies, as we become dependent upon them, that there are fail safes, that there are rollovers. A stark reminder as our reliance on technology only grows. Liz Kreutz joins us now from Los Angeles. So, Liz, what has AT&T said about what happened here? Yeah, well, Alison, AT&T says they're still investigating. They have not given an official cause for this outage.

There is no indication, though, that this was a cyber attack. We know several federal agencies, including the FCC now, are working with AT&T to try to figure out what happened. But you talked about SOS earlier, and that's just another reminder to people that a lot of cell phones now do have this SOS feature, where you're able to call 911 in emergency services using Wi-Fi, even without self-signal, Allison. Liz Kreutz, thank you. Now to the latest on that controversial court ruling in Alabama, that embryos are considered children,

even more fertility clinics across the state choosing to stop IVF treatments. Patients there are now desperately searching for answers, some even flying out of state for treatment. NBC's Laura Jarrett spoke to several of them and has this report. IVF patients in Alabama tonight devastated, furious, and scrambling as more fertility clinics abruptly stop IVF procedures. Gabby Goidel has spent $20,000 on fertility treatments. Three miscarriages later, she's hoping to create embryos with her husband, Spencer, as soon as possible.

I'll take my six rounds of shots tonight. But her clinic, Alabama fertility, informed her this morning it was putting all new IVF treatments on hold. just broke down into tears. I really was inconsolable. We just started calling every clinic that we could think of. I'm not stopping this cycle. I've already been through too many shots, already invested too much time and energy. So she's packed her bags jumping on a plane to Texas tonight. Now scheduled to complete her fertility treatment at a different clinic there. While Megan Cole and her husband Walker received word late last night that the embryo transfer scheduled for her surrogate this Friday couldn't move forward.

It was just completely crushing. Now, she says the clinic won't release their seven frozen embryos for use elsewhere. We are not allowed to transport them out of Alabama right now. Basically, everything is shut down. So even though these are apparently my children, I don't have access to them. How much money do you think you spend? It's close to $250,000. dollars. IVF now accounts for roughly 2% of births in the U.S., but the Alabama Supreme Court's

ruling creating legal liability for destroying embryos in the state has left the medical community in limbo. One of the worst things is how many questions it leaves unanswered. Leaving clinics with a difficult decision. Tonight, Mobile Infirmary says it has no choice but to pause all IVF, while Fertility Institute of North Alabama says, we're still going to perform IVF as we always have. Please do not panic. And Laura Jarrett joins us now in studio. Laura, I was so struck by what Megan had to say about saying, basically, I am not able to move what is being considered my children. I'm not allowed to take them out of the state, even though they say they're my children.

Yep. What option does she have now? She's basically in complete no man's land. She has no real recourse. She's certainly weighing her legal options right now because she's spent so much money. You heard in the piece, $250,000 on this whole process of fertility. Getting a surrogate is not easy. Her surrogate's been on hormones.

So I think all told, this has been such a financial and emotional and physical burden. I think she's considering all of her legal options. As we do keep hearing kind of this trickle of clinics saying, hey, we're going to put a pause on this first with the University of Alabama at Birmingham, then hearing it with other smaller ones. And then other ones not. That's the confusion, right? Where do people go when you're getting those mixed messages? That's the part that I think so many patients have been so baffled by is that some clinics seem to say, we're not willing to take the risk. And other clinics saying we're going to just proceed as if nothing has changed, as if that decision hadn't come down. And remember, the decision is only about giving parents.

the legal right to sue for destruction of embryos. Not just anybody the legal right to sue. You can only have standing to sue if you're the parents of those embryos. And so the parents are saying, we're the parents, and we want those embryos. So give them to us, allow us to go forward with IVF. But again, the clinics are just weighing their legal options, and they don't want to get sued. Senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett, thank you. The Alabama decision causing aftershocks across the political world as well as the two remaining Republican primary candidates,

former President Donald Trump and Nikki Haley are forced to reckon with the ruling. President Biden this afternoon blasting the decision in a fiery statement, saying in part, quote, the disregard for women's ability to make these decisions for themselves and their families is outrageous and unacceptable. Make no mistake, this is a direct result of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. For more on the political fallout, I want to bring an NBC News correspondent Ali Vitale, who is covering the Nikki Haley campaign for us. She joins us now from the campaign trail in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. So, Allie, we know this decision is certainly going to loom over the 2024 campaign.

You had an interview with Nikki Haley yesterday, one of the very first ones, I believe it was the first, and you asked her about this Alabama decision. I want to listen to that exchange now. I want to ask you about some news of day, specifically something that's come up in Alabama. The Supreme Court there said that embryos created through IVF are considered. children and are offered those same protections. Do you agree? I mean, I think, I mean, embryos to me are babies. Even those created through IVF. I mean, I had artificial insemination. That's how I had my son. So when you look at, you know, one thing is to have, to save sperm or to save eggs,

but when you talk about an embryo, you are talking about, to me, that's a life. And then last night, Haley seemed to backtrack a little bit on those comments during an interview with CNN. Here's that. I didn't say that I agreed with the Alabama ruling. The question that I was asked is, do I believe an embryo is a baby? I do think that if you look in the definition, an embryo is considered an unborn baby. And so, yes, I believe from my stance that that is. Our goal is to always do what the parents want with their embryo.

It is theirs. So any physician that is in control of those embryos, they owe it to those people to make sure they protect that embryo. And that they do with that embryo, what those parents want done with that embryo. I mean, Allie, to be clear, I listened to a couple of times your interview, rereading it again. Now, you did ask that question. You asked her specifically about Alabama. You said, do you agree? I mean, I'm rereading all the words.

That was the question you asked. Why is she trying to draw this distinction at all? Yeah, Alison, you and I did the same thing, because, of course, when you hear the candidates say that they were answering a different question, my first instinct is to go check what I actually asked. And so she was responding to the Alabama ruling that I specifically asked her about. And then went into greater detail when I asked her more questions about the potential chilling effect that rulings like this one could have on families trying to. to use IVF to have their children.

But for Haley, it makes sense now why she's waffling on this issue. It seemed she took a clear stance in that interview with me. Now her campaign is saying that she was simply espousing her personal view, not her political or legislative view, and that she believes that it should be up to doctors and patients to have these sensitive and nuanced conversations between them. Yes, but that's where the reproductive rights conversation and policy debate actually comes into direct conflict with what patients and does.

doctors want to talk about in terms of their own care. We're seeing it in this IVF conversation, but it's the conversation that states across the country have been having for the last several years, and certainly in the post-Dob's era, as conversations about care that patients want to have with their doctors come into immediate intersection and collision with the policy of the day as more restrictions are put in place. It's confusing for doctors. It's confusing for patients, and it leads to people not being able to access the care that in some cases, They actually need, whether you're talking about abortion or IVF treatment, you and Laura talked about the legal confusion and the confusion of people trying to access this now. But there are actual people going through these IVF treatments right now in Alabama.

Voters out here on the campaign trail just being introduced to the idea of if IVF is now a political football that they should expect to be talking about. I think a lot of this really just developing in real time as we figure out what it looks like for America to be post-row. Allie Vitale in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Thank you. We appreciate you and your reporting. Thank you. Now to an update on the legal battle between a Texas high school student and his school district over the length of his hair. 18-year-old Daryl George has been punished for months, including an in-school suspension because school officials say his hair is longer than their grooming rules allow. Today, a judge ruling the school district's policies do not violate the state's Crown Act, which prohibits race-based hair discrimination. For more on this, let's bring in NBC's Morgan Chesky, who joins us live tonight from Dallas, Texas.

Morgan, walk us through the ruling here. Why did the judge decide this policy does not violate Texas's Crown Act? Allison, he did not go into much elaboration when he made this ruling earlier today in this county courtroom, not far from Houston. But he made it very clear that the district was not in the wrong, at least in his estimation, in suspending this 18-year-old student for a heritage. style that the district believes violates their student code of conduct. And it's specific wording here looking at this code of conduct that drew a lot of attention today, Ellison, because in that policy, they say that a male student's hair cannot drop below their eyebrows or their earlobes. The George family says that whenever he has his locks in place, it's always up. However, the district says, should he were to let that hair down, it would then violate their policy and in turn that's why they've chosen to suspend him having him essentially learn in an alternative school in school suspension for the last several months which has left the george family very frustrated admitting that his grades have dropped during that time now you mentioned the

the crown act that was this law that went into effect back in september 2023 is supposed to stop race-based discrimination however the family says in this case they don't believe it did So, Morgan, what is next in this case? And have you been able to speak to Daryl or his family since this ruling came down? Yeah, the family too emotionally distraught following this judge's ruling, but they did have a supporter nearby who had this to say regarding the judge's decision. Take a listen. I think we've got to remember that this is about Daryl. That young man crying. He didn't understand.

We couldn't explain it to him. We tried to explain it to it. He just wants to learn. And he just wants to be normal. His mom was so physically shaken. Like, I was worried about her. Are you okay? Do I need to get you some water?

Please pray for this family. And the George family, through their attorney, says that they do plan to appeal this decision. We'll be given a close eye on the next court date here. Alison. Morgan Chesky, thank you. Turning overseas now to the latest on the war in the Middle East. Three Palestinian gunmen opening fire at an Israeli checkpoint, killing one person and injuring 11 others. The attack coming as Israel pummels Gaza with some of the worst strikes since the war began, killing nearly.

100 people in just 24 hours. NBC News foreign correspondent Josh Letterman has the latest on the region. Violence erupting during rush hour traffic in Israel. After three Palestinian gunmen opened fire near a checkpoint in between Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, killing one person and injuring 11 others. Hamas praising the attack, Israeli police calling it terrorism. The attack coming as Israel continues its relationship. relentless bombardment of Gaza, reducing a mosque to rubble and decimating countless homes in some of the worst strikes since the war began, killing at least 97 people and injuring hundreds more in just 24 hours, according to the Hamasra and Gaza Health Ministry. Families

left to mourn the loss of loved ones amid the destruction. This woman who lost multiple family members says, in 2014, they took three of my siblings. And in the 2024 war, they took the people I love. They took a piece of my heart, she says. Tonight, world leaders desperately sounding the alarm. Gaza has become a dead zone. As the situation in Gaza becomes more dire by the minute, more than 29,000 Palestinians killed in this war so far.

And those who have survived forced to live under brutal conditions in makeshift tent encampments. This displaced residents saying, Whatever I say will not describe the reality. There is no food, drink, or life. Only a handful of hospitals are functioning in the region. And the spread of infectious diseases threatens to wipe out thousands of injured and displaced residents. And Josh Letterman joins us now from our London Bureau.

Josh, you have some new reporting on the U.S.'s involvement in hostage talks? That's right, Ellison. The president's Mideast coordinator, Brett McGurk, has been on the ground trying to get the hostage negotiations unstuck. He was in Egypt yesterday. Today in Israel, he met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant. He also had a chance to meet with families of the American citizens who are still in hostages in the Gaza Strip. And those families, after that meeting, released a statement where they expressed cautious optimism about those talks. Now, in recent days, these talks have really stalled over disagreements

between Israel and Hamas over whether Israel should pull out all troops from the Gaza Strip as part of a deal, as well as the number of Palestinian prisoners that Hamas wanted back. But in the last couple of days, there have been some hints that these negotiations might get back on track with the member of the war cabinet, Benny Gantz, saying that there is a possibility of moving forward. And to that end, Israeli media are now reporting that Israeli officials will be in Paris tomorrow to continue that talk, those negotiations with the various parties, including with the U.S. Allison. Josh Letterman, thank you.

Still ahead tonight, a deadly police shooting in Los Angeles. New video showing the moments police fatally shot a man who lunged at them with a plastic fork. What that body camera video shows happen the moments just before the deadly shot. Plus, a Black History Month lesson sparking controversy at a North Carolina high school, why the district made the teacher take down this door display and why others are coming to her defense. And caretakers for former TV host, Wendy Williams, revealing she has been diagnosed with a form of dementia. What more we're learning about her health battle tonight. Stay with us.

Back now with a disturbing story out of Los Angeles. Police there fatally shooting a man who they thought was armed with a screwdriver after he lunged at officers. But officers discovering after firing their weapons, he only was. had a plastic fork in his hand. New body camera footage showing the decisions officers made leading up to that use of deadly force. NBC news correspondent Elwyn Lopez has this story. Tonight, newly released video shows the moment police opened fire, fatally shooting a 36-year-old man who was holding a plastic fork.

Officers responding earlier this month to a 911 caller claiming an armed homeless man was getting aggressive with an employee near L.A. Skid Row. Very dangerous, I'm like, tweaking up. He's like getting a breakfast. He's getting very good. Does he have any weapons? Yes, yes. What does he have?

Like a big, like a pole. He can't be like that. Okay. One second. We're going to get someone over there. The suspect identified as Jason McCona, seen here, initially complying with police, raising his hands and turning around. To your left.

Hold on right there. McCone then suddenly stops, turns around, and advances toward the police. Holding tightly onto an object that. authorities say one officer believed to be a screwdriver. At least two officers fired several non-lethal rounds, but McCona continued to charge at them. At one point, he even grabbed onto one of the officer's beanbag shotgun. Another officer opened fire, striking the suspect and taking him to the ground. Police say officers immediately called for an ambulance and performed CPR on McCona before he was taken to a local hospital.

He did not survive. Makani's family telling the LA Times he was experiencing a bipolar episode at the time of the incident. Police later discovered that the object Makani was holding was a white plastic fork. I remain concerned about the officer's decision to use deadly force. Ed Obayashi, a use of force expert who investigates police shootings for law enforcement agencies in California, says he believes the officer who fatally shot Makani was not at fault. This is such a fast evolving incident, especially when you have an officer that you see in front of your very eyes being pinned against the wall. She's basically defenseless at this point. So this officer appears to me acted reasonably under this situation.

Questions also mounting over whether the 911 caller intentionally exaggerated the threat, McConey, posed. It appears at this point that the person who called us, uh, purposely. misrepresented the information in an effort to cause the department to respond there more quickly. And tonight, more than two weeks after the shooting, LAPD says the officer who opened fire is still on duty as the investigation into the shooting continues. And Alwyn Lopez joins us now from Los Angeles. You mentioned there at the end that the investigation by the LAPD into this is still ongoing. Do we know when that might wrap up or where it is in the course of this investigation. Yeah, Allison, that's right. That fatal shooting is now being reviewed by the

police chief and others to see whether that use of deadly force was in compliance with the department's policies. We also just got word a few moments ago that McCona's family will be holding a press conference tomorrow. We know that that investigation overall could take up to a year. Allison. Elwyn Lopez in L.A., thank you. Next tonight to a controversy at a North Carolina high school and one teacher's Black History Month lesson. doors depicting white and, quote, colored entrances from the segregation era, taken down after causing an uproar. But some experts arguing displays like that are vital to teaching black history.

NBC News correspondent Antonia Hilton reports. Tonight, these classroom doors labeled colored entrance and white entrance, sparking new debate over how to handle the nation's painful racial history in schools. The display depicting a segregation era Sears Department store entrance. from the 1930s, part of a Black History Month lesson at West Charlotte High. Her only thing was like making sure that the kids knew or could see a visual of how things were back in the day. The school ordering the teacher to take down the signs, but her daughter says they're missing the point. The purpose of the door was to show that Sears, which is a department store, was one of the first stores that allow.

blacks to shop with whites. Other doors representing historic black entities like Motown Records and another displaying the message from chains to change. However, the school district deems the segregation era entrance inappropriate. In a statement provided to NBC News, the district saying that the school district is required to provide social studies and history lessons to all our students in an age-appropriate manner and that the activity is not aligned with state standards or with the CMS curriculum and approved lesson plans. As a society, we have what I would call pressure and fatigue. Historian

Lagart King sees pressure coming from the political environment, but also value in the conversations the display generates. You can't teach integration without teaching segregation, right? And those doors right there just seemed like it was, you know, another aspect to start conversation. Some members of the community agree. Cherise Terry runs a local coffee shop that sells black memorabilia. What I see is somebody has done a very good job at recreating, I mean, illustrating what the times has been like for black people. Online, the reception is mixed. Some users calling it a great idea, and the lesson is loud and clear. Imagine what our grandparents and ancestors felt, while others are calling it disgraceful and not the best learning objective. But for

Gallagherit King, disagreement, and discomfort are all a part of facing our history. Joy is important. Exceptionality is important. The heroes and heroines are important, right? But if you want to teach a holistic kind of understanding of black history, unfortunately, oppression, anti-blackness, and power are kind of intertwined within that history. And Antonio Hilton joins us now on set. So, Antonio, what are academics telling you about the response to all of this?

Well, Alison, the historian that we spoke to thinks that the district may be trying to get ahead of the kind of backlash that we've seen coming from parents and politicians in recent years whenever these controversies have come to schools. And, you know, there is a serious risk. In some cases, schools have passed new policies. There are new laws in place. And so they have to take action and try to protect themselves when these kinds of difficulties come up. Antonio Hilton, thank you. When we come back, the urgent search for a missing three-year-old. An Amber Alert issued two days ago after the child vanished while staying with a caregiver. The details just in about that child's mother. Back now with Top Stories News Feed, and we began with the search for a Wisconsin three-year-old who went missing two days ago. Authorities say Elijah View disappeared from his home in the city of two rivers on Tuesday,

morning. According to police, he'd been staying with a caregiver at the time of his disappearance. According to a prisoner listing from the local sheriff, Vue's mother has been taken into custody, but right now no other details have been released. An update on former talk show host Wendy Williams' ongoing health battles, William's team announcing today that she's been diagnosed with dementia and aphasia, conditions associated with changes in communication, behavior, and personality. Actor Bruce Willis received an almost identical diagnosis back in 2022. The announcement just days before a lifetime documentary about William's physical and mental health is set to premiere. And police in Denver

searching for who is responsible for vandalizing a Martin Luther King Jr. statue. Several pieces of the monument were stolen, including a panel depicting black military veterans as well as a bronze torch and angel. The Denver Police Department's bias-motivated crime unit is investigating the theft artist Ed Dwight created the City Park Memorial in 2002. Tonight we have an NBC News and Sky News exclusive investigation in the Interpol. The world's largest international police organization manages databases with information on crimes and criminals from all over the world, including red notices. Those are used to alert other countries of criminals that have fled from one country to another.

The joint investigation uncovers the story of one woman. Jessica Barona-Martinez, who fled El Salvador in 2016 after she says she was persecuted for being openly lesbian. One year later, she was arrested by ICE officials because her name appeared in the Interpol red notice system. She would be detained for six years in an illegal battle that is still ongoing. And let me give you an idea of who usually gets flagged under these red notices. It's people like Osama bin Laden after the 9-11 terror attacks, Joseph Kony, the alleged commander, of the Lord's Resistance Army who's been charged with three dozen counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court and Mexican drug lord Joaquin El Chapo

Guzman. So how did Jessica end up with a notice associated with the world's most dangerous murderers and terrorists and why in some cases countries around the world were wrongfully targeting individuals? To answer those questions, I'm joined now by Nicole Acevedo from NBC News Digital and Sahar Zan, investigative journalist and reporter. who is also the host of Dirty Work, a podcast series on Sky News, about the misuse of Interpol red notices. Thank you both so much for being here. Nicole, let me start with you, because it was so striking to read your reporting and hear some of Jessica's story. She's a mother, her children were between the ages of 12 and 15 when she first was detained and went into ICE custody, and now they're in their 20s. They're adults now. Tell us a little bit about her.

Yeah, Jessica basically lost the time. where she was seeing her children grow up, being detained in an immigration detention center based on this red notice that, according to her lawyer, it's basically based not even on a serious crime, like you would think. It's based on something else for not showing up to court in El Salvador. So the reason why she even left El Salvador in the first place was because her life was in danger. She was facing torture, death threats. me that there was a police officer there that had a grunge against her because she's an openly lesbian woman and she had refused his sexual advances. And after, even in the middle of those

accusations, she is exposed to all this danger in her life. The case that came between those allegations, she was acquitted for it. So there was no even, there was no evidence, according to the judge in her Salvalor, that those things were true. So she flees here seeking for safety and instead what she finds is six years in detention. And Sahar, based on the reporting that you have done, this is not an isolated incident, right? I think so many of us hear the name Interpol and we think, okay, they know what they're doing. It has this grand authoritative name where you think, yeah, I've heard of people ending up inadvertently and unfairly on a no-fly list, but for a red notice, surely the standard is higher and mistakes are rare. Are mistakes like this

rare? Sadly, they're not. During the course of our investigation, I've come across so many different cases, some very, very horrendous cases. I've seen people ending up with a red notice on them for being journalists, for being political activists, for being from a certain ethnic background. The worst part for many of these people is that there is nobody that can be held accountable. How do you get accountability if you are someone, Sahar, who was inadvertently or intentionally, but unfairly put on this list when it's a global organization? Is there any sort of watchdog group that's responsible for correcting the wrongs here?

The short answer is, no, no, there isn't. Nicole, I do want to play some of a clip we have from your interview with Jessica. This is some of what she had to say when I think you asked her what her message is. to the United States government. Let's listen and then we'll talk. That's put attention. Because if it's very certain that Interpol

no more does your job, but detract of that there's a lot of people, like I, that unjustly those detiening in my person,

and justaminted me detubiered for six years, without cause because in reality I, I always, I mean, it's been a lot of years since this ordeal started for her,

but you can still hear the very current real pain in her voice. What is her life like now? Is this trauma she carries with her forever? I mean, I think so. I mean, the time that was taken away from her can never be fully replaced as hard as you try. But right now, she is still fighting her case, fighting her asylum case, which she was fighting while she was detained in the immigration detention

center. Sohar, what do you hope people take away from this reporting, the investigations both of you have done? And in terms of reforms here, what should happen, what can possibly happen to make this less of a problem? I mean, to answer your initial question, what do I wish for people to take away is that this isn't an issue that only targets, you know, it targets you if you are a journalist or if you are a very successful businessman. Literally anyone, as we can see in Jessica's case, can be impacted. And to answer your question about reforms, there are many theories that are the people of experts I've spoken to, some of them think that Interpol has become a huge bureaucratic

mistake that it should just be abolished and a whole new system need to be created. A lot of people say that Interpol is already serving a lot of good functions around the world. It is helping arrest some very dangerous criminals and terrorists. So those people basically have certain advices. A lot of people say Interpol needs to become more transparent. And the second thing is that there needs to be an incentive for countries and powerful people to stop abusing the system. All right.

Well, thank you both so much for your amazing reporting and for being here today. You can read more of your work at NBCNews.com. Nicole Acevedo, NBC News Digital, Sahar Zand, host of Dirty Work podcast series on Sky News. Thank you both so much. We appreciate it. Thank you. Coming up, journalists doxed by a head of state, Mexico's president publicly revealing the contact information and names of New York Times journalists just hours before they published a report about allegations against him.

The scathing response from the newspaper tonight. Now to the Americas, where tonight the President of Mexico is under fire for a case of doxing. Today, the country's leader publicly disclosing the phone number of a New York Times journalist during a televised press conference. The incident coming amid recent reports suggesting drug cartels funneled millions of dollars to support the president's campaign. NBC News correspondent Guadvinagus has more. Tonight, Mexican president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, going to extreme. measures in refuting recent reports by American journalists looking into alleged ties between the president and drug cartels.

Pertenesian to the mafias of the power economic or of the power political in the world. At a press conference Thursday morning, President Lopez Obrador questioning the integrity of some U.S. media outlets and then publicly revealing the contact information for the New York Times Bureau in Mexico City. 545-47. Obrador showing a request for. comment. His team received this week from Natalie Kichotroef, the New York Times Bureau Chief

for Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. The doxing came on the day Ketroev's team published an explosive report regarding alleged efforts from U.S. officials looking into recent ties between Obrador's allies and drug traffickers. That report also saying, quote, the United States never opened a formal investigation into Mr. Lopez Obrador, and the officials involved ultimately shelved the inquiry. National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby making it clear today there is no investigation into President Lopez Obrador,

Obrador responding to that report at the presser. What opinion is meres? Nothing of that you're those are those New York Times and who, um, let's mandarin to do the reportage. A spokesperson from the New York Times, responding to the Mexican president's doxing, telling NBC News in part, quote, this is a troubling and unacceptable tactic from a world leader at a time when threats against

journalists are on the rise and stand by our reporting and the journalists who pursue the facts where they lead. According to reporters without borders, Mexico has ranked 128 out of 180 nations in press freedom with nearly 150 journalists murdered and 28 missing since 2000. This all comes just weeks after bombshell reports raised questions on whether Obrador's first presidential campaign received millions in funding from drug cartels. No, there's no proof. They're some vilees calumniators. The reports published by Insight Crime and ProPublica each cited more than a dozen interviews with U.S. and Mexican officials, as well as review of government documents. At the time, Obrador claimed U.S. officials were behind the reporting, but offered no proof.

No, denuncio to the media, denuncial of the U.S. U.S. United, to permit these practices immorales. According to ProPublica, that investigation did not establish whether Lopez Obrador sanctioned or even knew of the traffickers reported donations. Guad vanegas joins us now. Guad, what do we know about the new information and what the New York Times says U.S. officials were looking into? Alison, the New York Times says that much of the information they obtained

was collected by U.S. officials when they spoke with informants as they were investigating drug cartels. The president spent a lot of time today pushing back on these claims, especially the one that said that drug cartels made payments right around the time when he went to the state of Sinaloa and met with the mother of El Chapo-Uzman, It was a very brief meeting. The president explained that the meeting was for the mother to give the president a letter through which he was asking him for help so that El Chapo's

sister could come visit him in prison in the United States where he is serving a life sentence. Ellison? Guadvenegas, thank you. Now to Top Story's Global Watch and the stabbing at a high school in Western Germany. According to local reports, a 17-year-old student attacked classmates with a knife and a pair of scissors at a school near Dusseldorf. At least five people were hurt. The suspect has been arrested. No word right now on the reason behind the attack. Brazilian soccer star Danny Alves has been convicted of sexual assault. The former Barcelona player was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman at a Barcelona nightclub in 2022.

He was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and will have to pay more than $160,000 to the victim in damages. His lawyer says they will appeal the decision. When we come back, the program helping college students sort of to New Heights. Texas Southern University, a historically black college looking to change the face of the aviation industry, we will introduce you to the students already ushering in a new era in the skies. Finally, tonight, the Texas HBCU offering up a plan to reverse the nationwide pilot shortage. In an industry that is 95% white and male, they say the solution is not just younger pilots, but those who come from diverse backgrounds. NBC News correspondent Priscilla Thompson traveled to Texas Southern University to see those students in action.

Oil pressure is the green electrical systems. For sophomore Jewel Calhoun, her life plan has always been a flight plan. Since second grade, it's always been a dream of mine. What happened in second grade? So we actually took a field trip to LaGuardia Airport. I have this vivid memory. of just sitting there and just being like, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. Okay, elevators go up and down, testing my rudders. Jewel has been determined to study aviation ever since, but the first two colleges she tried felt like the wrong approach. I just felt unseen.

A lot of people in that program grew up in aviation, their fathers are moms or pilots, so this is new food. That's when Jewel charted her course to Texas Southern University, a historically black college in Houston, Texas, where the aviation program, is taking off. Okay, centerline slowly advance the power and... We had our largest enrollment this past fall. Wow.

So we're 134 students now in our program. Beautiful. Beautiful. Terrence Fontaine runs the program at TSU. Why do you think you're seeing that increase in the number of students who want to be pilots? There's a huge need for pilots. I can tell you the life of an airline pilot is a very good life.

The thing is, it's not an easy job to achieve, though. There are numerous steps to become an airline pilot, and it takes a lot of money to do that. In this program, about 80% of students are on scholarship, breaking down financial barriers to build up a whole new class of pilots. There's a huge cry and a huge need for diversity in the cockpit. I think what we're doing here in Texas Southern is providing an opportunity in an underserved community. Just 3.6% of pilots are black. per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 8.3% are women.

In recent years, we've seen efforts across so many industries to increase diversity and equity. Why do you think that hasn't translated to the pilot field? It's been a good old boy field for a long time. When I was on the Triple Seven

going to school in Denver, Colorado, I was paired with a captain who literally told me don't do anything, don't touch anything, and don't see anything until I ask you. But Texas Southern is flipping that script with the help of major carriers like United and Southwest Airlines, offering students scholarships and a direct path to employment.

TSU's fleet includes nine airplanes, this digital flight lab, and two flight simulators. But the most important part of bringing more diversity to the cockpit, the people. Here at TSU, it is a unique place in that a lot of the instructions, A lot of your colleagues look like you. What does that community meant along this journey? I mean a lot because, you know, I've been in places, especially within the aviation industry, and nothing bad about it, just like the statistics that don't look like me. And so, you know, it's kind of cool when you can, you know, kind of be relaxed, kind of be more of yourself.

I'm excited, you know, not just for flying, but to be able to give back one day and to bring the younger generation into aviation and show them and, you know, increase our numbers. This is the new Cessna that you guys just got. Yes, 2023. Some alumni are already giving back to the program. Flight instructor Catherine Cabrera graduated last year and knows firsthand the hardships her students can face. Cabrera had to put her flying dreams on hold as a student as the costs piled up.

I was very upset. You know, flying is my passion. It's something that made me very emotional to do. Like, that was not an easy decision for me. And that was your dream. Yeah, exactly. But a scholarship from TSU and United Airlines changed your life. I can't even express how grateful I am for it.

And just hearing you talk about your journey and all that it took to get here, what does it mean to you to be training the next generation of pilots? I take it very serious just because, you know, if you're teaching the wrong thing, they are going to be learning the wrong thing. So it's not something that can be taken lightly. Just keep making your pitch and power. Our adjustments is needed. With former students returning as flight instructors, the university's aviation program

is now self-sustaining. Too proud of us that we're going to be diversifying aviation and diversifying the cockpits. What has that community meant for you? They know my struggle. That makes sense. Any time I complain, I feel like I can't do it, they're able to step back and go back in the shoes that they were in at my age and starting from the beginning, let me know how they made it through. That was a good landing. Perfect. After mastering the plane's landing,

all that's left is landing their dream jobs. In doing so, expanding the runway for the next generation. My dream job is I'm going to be a triple seven captain at United. My dream is for South Dakota Airlines. I love South Dakota Airlines so much. I'm so proud of that landing. Priscilla Thompson, NBC News, Houston. Our thanks to Priscilla for that, and we cannot wait to see those pilots in the skies. Thank you at home for watching Top Story. For Tom Yamis, I'm Ellison Barber in New York. Stay right there. More news now is on the way.