Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, February 5, 2026

Episode Date: February 6, 2026

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

Tonight we have new details in the search for Savannah Guthrie's mother, including a new timeline of her disappearance and a new reward for her safe return. Investigators today say they believe Nancy Guthrie is, quote, still out there as we learn more about the purported ransom note. Now investigators say something, possibly a person, was detected on the home security cam that night. And Savannah and her siblings' emotional plea in the hopes of getting her back are Liz Kreutz presses the sheriff. Do they have any idea about who is behind this? Also tonight, markets rattled over AI fears. What President Trump told me in our exclusive Oval Office sit down, when I pressed him about concerns artificial intelligence could eliminate millions of American jobs

and our reporters with the new numbers on the state of the economy. A driver crashing into an L.A. grocery store killing at least three. Cruise racing to rescue people trapped under the car. What were learning. Parents cleared of child neglect allegations after letting their six-year-old scooter unsupervised to a park The renewed questions over how young is too young for a child to go out on their own. Shocking elevator explosion, a man holding balloons that burst into flames. What went wrong?

And the two-year-old pool plane prodigy, the toddler, who just broke a Guinness World Record. We'll show you more of this. Plus, we're just hours away from the 26th Winter Olympics opening ceremony. The athletes already kicking off the competition. Top story starts right now. And good evening. We begin tonight with those new details. in the gut-wrenching search for Savannah Guthrie's mother.

The FBI announcing today they're now offering a substantial reward as they reveal new details about a possible ransom note. The search for 84-year-old Nancy, who hasn't been seen since Saturday night, growing more dire by the day, police confirming today they have no suspects and no person of interest. But we are learning more about the timeline of events after being at a family member's home Saturday night. Nancy gets dropped off at her house at 9.48 p.m., 9.50, the garage door closes.

Then at 147 a.m. Sunday morning, the doorbell camera suddenly disconnects. Less than 30 minutes later, software detects something moving on the camera. But officials say they don't have that footage. At 228 a.m., Nancy's pacemaker app also disconnects. Later that morning, we know Nancy did not show up to church. Her family and then police were called, and the search began. The FBI, now offering a reward up to $50,000 for information, leading to Nancy's recovery or an arrest.

Savannah and her siblings releasing this emotional video late last night, so hard to watch. Their desperate plea to Nancy's potential captor as they say they're ready to talk. The purported ransom note included a deadline for today at 5 p.m. local. Now, five days into the search, the sheriff telling NBC News, he's still hopeful they will find Nancy and bring her home. We begin with Liz Kreutz once again tonight in Tucson. on. Tonight, authorities revealing several new and potentially critical details about the abduction of Nancy Guthrie. Right now, we believe Nancy is still out there. The update from the sheriff and FBI coming just hours after that emotional video, Savannah posted with her siblings, pleading for

her mother's safe return. Everyone is looking for you, mommy, everywhere. We will not rest. Your children will not rest until we are together again. For the first time, the sheriff's department outlining a rough timeline for Nancy's disappearance. They say after dinner at her daughter's house, Saturday night, Nancy was brought home by a family member at 9.48 p.m. At 9. her garage door closed. Then at 1.47 a.m. the doorbell camera disconnected. At 212, software detected movement on a camera. And at 228, Nancy's pacemaker app disconnected. The sheriff tells me they haven't been able to access any home surveillance video. and they currently have no suspect or person of interest.

Is this a professional abduction? It seems like they did not make any mistakes. I can't say that. I don't know. As we move, we'll learn if they made mistakes. I don't know of a perfect crime. The FBI also addressing the reported ransom notes sent to three different news outlets,

saying it referenced in Apple Watch Nancy owned and floodlights at her house, information that's publicly available. He also said the note has a deadline. The ransom note that was distributed to the news. media did make a demand for 5 p.m. today. And if a transfer wasn't made, then I think a second demand was for next Monday. The special agent in charge says they're still investigating the legitimacy of the ransom note and that there's been no contact so far with any potential abductor.

In a normal kidnapping case, there would be contact by now. Authorities arresting a man last night for sending a hoax ransom demand to Savannah's sister and brother-in-law. To those impostors who are trying to take advantage and profit from this situation. We will investigate and ensure you are held accountable for your actions. The FBI now offering a $50,000 reward for any information that leads to Nancy or an arrest. For now, the investigation continues after five days of searching, waiting, and praying. What does you hope that Nancy is still out there? Wow.

You have to have hope. Do you have to have hope? Come on, this is somebody's mom. We're going to find her. And hopefully she's alive when we do. And all of us watching this and thinking about Savannah still do have hope. Liz Croix joins us tonight now from Tucson. Liz, there's a bit of breaking news.

We've just gotten into our newsroom. I want to let our viewers know there's been another video, a new video released by the Guthrie family. As soon as we have that video up and running, we're going to play it for you in full, and we'll get the latest reporting from that video. I do want to get to the report. Ransom note that you have information on what are authorities doing ahead of these alleged

deadlines? Yeah, well, Tom, the FBI right now is, of course, trying to verify if the demand is legitimate to do so. They are trying to open a line of communication with whoever sent it. If they are able to do that, then they say they are prepared. In fact, the FBI says they have crisis negotiators already here in Tucson, ready to assist the family. I know you're going to get to that video and play more of it later, but I just was able to quickly watch it. And I will mention that it is exactly regarding this situation. It's her brother saying to the person who may be holding their mother, we want to hear from you. Please get in touch with us. So they are making a plea to open that line of communication. We'll continue to follow that development tonight, Tom.

Yeah, and to be clear, one of these ransom notes, there was a deadline today and now the Guthrie family trying to figure out how do we reach the person who possibly sent that ransom note. But again, there's so many unknowns here, and this is just so torturous for the Guthrie family. Liz, we thank you for your report. We may see you later in the broadcast. You saw part of that emotional plea from Savannah and her siblings. Now Dana Griffin takes a closer look at those original videos and the message they're sending. We want to thank all of you for the prayers for our beloved mom, Nancy.

We feel them, and we continue to believe that she feels them too. It's a gut-wrenching emotional plea from Savannah, her sister Annie, and brother Cameron. Our mom is our heart and our home. She is 84 years old. Her health, her heart is fragile. Speaking at times directly to their mother. Mama, if you're listening, we need you to come home. We love you, Mom. Stay strong.

The siblings then making this request to... any potential kidnapper. We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you. NBC News law enforcement analyst Jim Kavanaugh says the family is trying to humanize Nancy and opened the door for communication.

The goal is to start a communication to get Nancy released. There's been a couple of one-way ransom demands that they can't tell if they're valid or not. Anyone who has Nancy, he says, is at a crossroads right now. The abductors have two options. Communicate and try to achieve the goals of their crime or release Nancy. Take her to a church, take her to a business, drop her off. So Nancy can be right back. where she belongs.

And with that, Dana Griffin joins us tonight now from Tucson. And Dana, what else are you hearing from law enforcement and experts you've spoken to about this? Yeah, so we really talked about the goal of this video, which was to first establish that connection. We just saw that new video come in at 5 p.m. on the dot-tham Cameron. They still have not heard from these alleged abductors or abductor. So it's important for them to try to establish that communication, also humanizing Nancy. reminding them that she needs this life-saving message or life-saving medicine, a message that could hopefully soften the hearts of whoever has her and potentially return her some kind of way.

It's just devastating. And it sounds like the family is really desperate for answers and to establish that communication. Tom. At Griffin, they're part of our team covering this horrible tragedy that's happened to the Guthrie family. And again, once we get that new video, we're going to play it for you here on Top Story. I want to bring in Tracy Walder now. She's a former CIA officer and a former FBI special agent. Tracy, thank you so much for joining Top Story tonight. We've learned some critical new details from the FBI today about this potential ransom letter that it referenced an Apple Watch and floodlights, which are pieces of information that are publicly available. How challenging is it to determine if a note like this one is legitimate in such a high-profile case?

Well, thank you so much for having me, Tom. I think it's sort of a double-edged sword in a case like this. It sounds like obviously this was a digital ransom note. So it was received via email. I am assuming that this individual probably used an encrypted email to send this as well as a VPN and probably a burner account. That makes it incredibly difficult for the FBI to go through that and determine where the origin is. They can do it. It's just the problem is it's not going to be a two-second reveal if that makes any sense. It's going to be it. It does. Tracy, Tracy, we had this new video from. Savannah's brother that's just been posted on social media. They've just released it. Let's play it for our viewers, please. This is Cameron Guthrie. I'm speaking for the Guthrie family. Whoever is out there holding our mother,

we want to hear from you. We haven't heard anything directly. We need you to reach out, and we need a way to communicate with you so we can move forward. But first, we have to know that you have our mom. We want to talk to you, and we are waiting for contact.

All right, we're going to go back to Tracy in a moment. I want to get right out to Liz Kreutz, who's been leading our coverage out there in Tucson. Liz, so you've seen this video. Now our viewers have seen this video. It's upsetting because it sounds like this deadline's approaching and the Guthries have not been contacted about how to make contact with this alleged abductor. This is legitimate. Exactly, Tom. I mean, I'll tell you, it's 511 right now where we are in Tucson. So 10 minutes after this first deadline. We know from the FBI that there are two deadlines. There's this 5 o'clock deadline today, and then there's the deadline on Monday. And so clearly they are trying any kind of avenue they can to make it known and project and telegraph to whoever this may be that they want to negotiate. They want to talk, and they are willing to open that line of communication.

Clearly, we saw that first step last night when Savannah and her family put that video out 24 hours before the deadline. It would seem, and we could maybe glean from this to no avail. They haven't been able to make any kind of communication. So they're continuing with this video as well. And we're hearing now really from the brother for the first time, too. And I thought it was notable, Tom, that at the press conference, the FBI special agent in charge, when he was asked, at what point do you just decide, okay, this isn't legitimate? What's the bar where you'll say, okay, I guess this was a hoax? He didn't give an exact answer, but he did say that usually in these sorts of situations, he said, by now, typically,

we would have been able to make contact with somebody like this. So remains to be seen if they're going to be successful. And again, this is just a reported note. We don't know the validity of it. It's incredibly frustrating, right? And just so our viewers are clear, right? It is still unclear if these ransom notes, we believe there are two of them, are even legitimate to begin with.

And one of the reasons is, you know, investigators are saying, okay, there were some information that maybe the abductor would know, but there are still outstanding questions from all the information we know that's been released publicly. Did this person actually know this or did they see photos online? Did they get initial social media reports and put that in the note and make it look real? Right. So what we understand, Tom, and I'll actually just tell you, it sounds like now there might be three copies of this ransom note that two local stations here in Tucson also obtained this and also then TMZ.

So three different copies of it. NBC News has not seen these notes ourselves. We know law enforcement, again, has not verified the legitimacy. And what we understand, they were sent to some local stations via email. I think in one of the cases, it may have been sent through a tip line for the news station. Those news stations saw it, clearly saw something in it that made them think it was legitimate enough with more personal enough information that they immediately passed it on to law enforcement. And today the sheriff was praising to us that the local news stations did that. That's how it got elevated through the system.

We do not know some of the most personal details that are in there. withholding that. We do know about the Apple Watch that was mentioned and also the floodlights. And what's challenging there, Tom, is those are two things that are also publicly available. Pretty early on in this investigation, it came out that through some reporting that she had an Apple Watch. And if you're at the house, you can see the floodlights. So it's hard to know, you know, maybe that person just happened to see the reporting and put that in the note. Liz, I want to get back to our expert in a second. But I have one more question for you. Do we know if the ransom notes were sent to those local stations at the same time? I believe they were at different times, but I'm not 100% certain on that. But the way that it came out in the reporting, at least, it came out at different times. So it was first we found out

about one station, TMZ, and then eventually we found out about another station. Okay, Liz Kreutz, I'm sure you're going to be standing by for us. I do want to get back to Tracy Walder now. She's former CIA, former FBI special agent. Tracy, you've heard from Liz, everything that we know, everything that's been released publicly, really. And we don't, you know, investigators could be withholding information. What do you make of this so far? I'm 100% sure that investigators are withholding information. We did that all the time.

That is to protect the case. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I know the public wants this information. I think another thing to remember, though, about this ransom note is that it did not, well, we didn't receive note that it came out until about three days after all of this. So it's really, really hard to judge the veracity of this note. But it sounds like the FBI, and rightly so, is taking it seriously until they can disprove it, so much so that they arrested someone today in California for making a false ransom note. So it sounds to me that at this point, the FBI can't disprove this note.

I think it's probably from a very heavily encrypted email that is proving very difficult to get into. And as such, they have to treat it as real. If you take that to be real, right? And then you wonder, it's been days since Nancy has been gone. It doesn't feel like, it doesn't look like, at least from now, there's been a lot of mistakes made in this. Even though we heard the sheriff tell, Liz, which I'm sure you believe, too, there's no such thing as a perfect crime. In your sense, does this look like somebody who was a professional criminal? I mean, does this look like somebody who had planned this?

Is that what this looks like? Or we don't have enough information to know that? Well, certainly we don't have enough information to know it for certain, but in my experience, I believe that this is something that was planned. And one of the things that really struck me at the news conference earlier this afternoon was the fact that the sheriff said that the DNA that was found at the scene really didn't yield any results. Even if they had put it in for standard testing, it would be back by now. That takes about five days for standard. And so the fact that they have not been able to find any at the scene. That tells me that whomever or the group of people that did this

really took some precautions to the point that they actually removed that ring doorbell camera as well. So I feel based on that that this was planned. And then finally, I do want to ask you, you know, you haven't seen, I mean, look, maybe, maybe I'm wrong. I cover a lot of news here. We cover everything that happens across the country. I can't remember a lot of abductions happening recently that are like this. I mean, this is reminiscent of things that happened in the 70s and 80s, maybe the 90s.

I mean, is this I don't want to see a new trend, but is this unique that this has happened? It feels like it's been a long time since this happens. Kidnappings happen all the time in Latin America, in Mexico, and Colombia, it happens all the time. I actually think Latin America and South America are the kidnapping capitals

of the world, even more than the Middle East. But I do want to ask you, in this country, it hasn't happened in a long time. Is this In my opinion, this is exceedingly rare. What we see a lot of in this country are the cyber kidnappings, if you will, essentially kidnapping data, right, and holding that hostage to get ransoms. That's what we see a lot of here in the United States. Seeing this particularly of an elderly person is extremely rare. So much that the FBI doesn't have a task force for it. If you look at the individuals, what it said on their jackets that were at Savannah Guthrie's sister's home yesterday, It's an ICAC, which is the internet crimes against children. And so they are the ones that do a lot of internet hoaxes and internet crimes, but the focus really is, unfortunately, on children. And so we really don't see a lot of this.

It is exceedingly rare here in the States. Tracy, we thank you for your help. We appreciate you being here tonight. I know this is a tough one, and we don't want to speculate too much because we obviously always care about the people affected in these crimes, and it just happens that in this one, it's somebody who is our good friend and someone who works with us. So we thank you for your time.

And we're going to move on now here in Top Store. If we get more information, we will go back out to Liz. We're also tracking a triple threat of serious warning signs for the U.S. economy just a day after my exclusive Oval Office sit down with President Trump, where he promised job growth is on the horizon. New data points in another direction. The Bureau of Labor Stats says the U.S. job market hits lowest level since 2020 at the end of December. Another major report shows there were 108,000 layoffs in January.

the most since 2009. And those grim outlooks coming as a stock market flails for a third straight day, major tech companies seeing sharp drops related to AI. Joining me now is NBC Business and Data Correspondent. Brian Chung and Chief Justice and National Affairs correspondent, Kelly O'Donnell. We thank you both for being here. Brian, I want to start you in our conversation. The president dismissed the idea that AI is going to take jobs, even though I told him a few times, it is already eliminating jobs. Let's go to that clip right now. Let's play that exchange. If AI affects humanity in a negative way, is that on you?

Because some of these CEOs of AI companies say, we need guardrails. This could get out of control. Does that worry you? Everything's on me as president. Everything's on me. I can say this. It'll be the greatest jobs producer. It'll be the greatest military producer.

It'll be the greatest medical producer. There'll be tremendous good. And there'll be probably some bad, too. Well, it's killing a lot of jobs. And what do you say to Americans who are going to lose their jobs to AI? to make, it's going to create a lot of jobs. But right now it's taking jobs in a lot of ways. It's taking jobs in companies like Amazon.

What would you say to those Americans? But it hasn't really started. You know, these major plans haven't even been built. No, no, but Mr. President, AI has already started to take jobs because of the technology is there. So we have, it's just announced, more jobs right now occupied in the United States of America that at any time during its existence, 250 years. there are more people working today

than at any time in the history of our country. Pretty good stat. It kills that question. Yeah, we have to look it up. You are good at that kills that question. Mr. President, there's widespread concern that AI is going to wipe out a lot of jobs, manufacturing jobs. I said the Internet was going to do, everything was going to do.

Robots are going to kill jobs. Everything's going to kill jobs. And you end up, if you're smart, doing great. So that stat, he cited, not entirely correct because we obviously have more adults working now so that it would be the most time ever. It's not exactly entirely correct there. What's your take?

It doesn't seem like he understands, at least from our exchange, look, AI may create jobs, but it's killing a ton of jobs right now. Yeah, and again, the number that he was saying, well, there are more people employed now. That is true because the population is also growing. But to your point about AI already taking jobs,

that is true. We got a report this morning from Challenger as a third-party provider of data, and they count the amount of job announcements in the month of January. And that number was the highest that we had seen in that month since 2009. Now, not all of those announced job cuts, and again, those are just announced. They're not doing them yet, but not all those announced job cuts are due to

AI, but a lot of them are. You look at Amazon, for example, they were one of the biggest announcements in the month of January announcing 16,000 job cuts. They had been talking broadly over the last few months about the idea of being able to operate more thinly, operate more leanly, I think, is the word that they used because of artificial intelligence. So that's a big story there. You look at what's been going on in markets today. It was a broadly red day across Wall Street. A lot of that is the anxiety that people don't really know what the overstatement or understatement of artificial intelligence is on the workforce. We're all trying to figure that out. But I think it's because of this uncertainty that you see a lot of this trading on Wall Street saying, hey, we don't really

know what the impact is here. But people like Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA, have told me before there will be displacement because of AI. Yeah, just real quick on the markets because I want to get to Kelly, this is all connected to AI-Y. People are worried about the job lock. or their word that's an AI bubble? It's not necessarily about the job loss. It's really more about the bubble bit. I think that there's some thinking on Wall Street that they may have gotten a little ahead of their skis

with the valuations going into 2025, hitting all-time high after all-time high because of all these announcements from big players, like NVIDIA, like OpenAI, on what artificial intelligence partnerships were going to be the next to come down the pike. Now you have NVIDIA saying, some of that money that we committed weren't actually ever commitments.

And for that reason, you do have some people saying, maybe we got a little bit too excited. Let's take some money out of the stock market. Kelly, with the U.S. staring down a national debt of $38 trillion. I also pressed the president on lawsuits. He's filed against the IRS and the DOJ asking for upwards of $10 billion. Let's listen. I sued because they broke into Maralaga.

That was before I became president. Now it goes along, and it turned out that the suit is a very strong suit. You're going to tell them to pay you, though? Because you're the boss. Well, what I would do, tell them to pay me, but I'll give 100% of the money to charity. I don't want any of the money. system. A couple more questions here. No, no, I'm putting it back into the system.

If I give money to American Cancer Society, I will give 100% of the money away to the I don't want any of it. 30 trillion dollar debt, and we're going to take $10 billion out of the system? Well, I mean, you give it away anyway. Kelly, in the exchange here, you didn't really get a sense of what's happening here, but he's going to sue the government, right? He is the head of the executive branch. He's in charge of Scott Besson's job, the head of the Treasury, who is the acting IRS commissioner. And then Pam Bondi,

who would represent Scott and the IRS in any kind of case because of the Department of Justice. And like he said, it's unprecedented. But this is all very strange. We've never gone down this road. I'm glad you spent time in your interview talking about this because it gives the public a chance to understand what's at play here. Any American who is in a situation where they believe that they have a legitimate claim against the government can file a suit. The president did that against the Department of Justice after the lawful search warrant executed. at Maralago. He did that when he was out of office. Now he's in office. He's suing the IRS

because a contractor who worked for the IRS got into the system, got his tax returns for a period of time, made them public, along with a number of other prominent people. That person has been convicted and is in prison. The president says he was harmed by that, therefore he should be paid. We know the president in his business life had a high rate of bringing lawsuits, It's kind of a litigious spirit. He's bringing that into the public space where he is the head of the government. The Treasury Secretary was asked by members of Congress about this, and he said, yes, this money would come right out of the U.S. Treasury. So taxpayers would be paying the president a settlement, if you will, a claim against the government.

For the Department of Justice, he sued for $230 million. For the IRS, he sued for $10 billion. Now, could there be a negotiation and the amount would be something other than? Other than that, we can see. But he is the boss. He is the plaintiff. He is in charge of the people who would make this decision. It's a remarkable conflict.

And at the heart of it is your money, our viewers' money, that they pay in taxes. So the money that would come out of this to pay the claim is money then not available to go somewhere else. Now the president says we would give it to charity. He would give it to charity. The money would still go to him first. And then do taxpayers want that money that is not going to other kinds of programs or available for other kinds of things when there are budget fights on Capitol Hill all the time. Do they want that money to then be sent to even the most prestigious

and dependable charities? That's a question. So the public needs to know this is going. The president's been very clear with you. And in a few other comments where he said, I think they're going to pay me. And so that's the sense of how imminent this could be. It's not going through the courts in a way where there's a trial. These are claims against the government. They could settle it behind closed doors. Kelly, before you go, because we have you here, I do want to ask you two different times during the interview when I mentioned polls where he's underwater, whether it be the polls on the economy or on this handling of immigration, not deportations, but his handling of immigration, his numbers are down. He didn't want to accept that, that there are several polls that show that,

all the polling averages show that. He said he had some polls, but they didn't provide them to us. He says he has a PR problem. What does this mean? Are they going to change their messaging on the economy and on immigration? Well, in any White House, of either party when things aren't going well, one of the first things you hear is we have a messaging problem. And the president is chiefly his own message maker. He is the one who talks about his policies, his ideas, and his views the most. So the fact that in legitimate polls that are well conducted, he has seen a real drag on things like the economy, some of the areas related to immigration and so forth. the border he has strong numbers, but the interior enforcement.

So will we see changes? We don't expect personnel changes at this point. He talks about wanting to have a smarter, better message. And there are key people in the White House who are responsible for that, and the president himself is one of them. And doing an interview like he did with you is part of how he wants to get the message as he sees it out to the public. Kelly O'Donnell for us, Brian Chung.

Thank you guys both for being here tonight. A very busy news night. We have even more of the interview coming up on Sunday portions you haven't seen during the Super Bowl pregame show on NBC. This extended interview and transcript are available right now and all the fact checks at NBCNews.com. We're back in a moment with the deadly crash in L.A. After a driver slammed into a grocery store,

we're live on the scene tonight. Stay with us. We're back now with breaking news out of L.A. Police say multiple people were killed when a driver crashed her car into a grocery store. NBC's Camilla Bernal has the latest. A chaotic scene after a car crashed into this grocery store in Los Angeles, right in the middle of the day. Firefighters rushing in, but unable to help at least three people who died on site.

Officials say at least six others were injured, two of them tonight in serious condition. Video showing some of the wounded being wheeled away and others being treated right at the scene. People were underneath the vehicle. Firefighters, again, are problem solvers. They came in, were able to remove that vehicle to make access to those patients. We called for waves of additional firefighter paramedics who render immediate medical aid. Authorities say the driver was an elderly woman and that according to a preliminary investigation, she initially hit a bicyclist and lost control of her car crashing into the supermarket's bakery. This does not seem to be of any ill intent. That it does not seem to be an intentional act,

but rather it's being investigated so far as an accidental traffic collision. The driver whose identity has not yet been released remain at the scene and according to authorities was cooperating with the investigation. Camila Bridal joins us tonight from Los Angeles. Camila, we can still see behind you the police tape there. Still an active scene? It is, Tom. The car is actually still in the building as we speak. Investigators have been going in and out. We've seen them walking around the car, taking notes and taking photos inside of that building. They have been measuring the outside and analyzing this entire area. We also saw the medical examiner's vehicle coming about 30 minutes or so ago.

And we got an updated information in terms of the victims. We know that of the people that died, one was 30 years old, another 42 and another 55 years old. We also learned that everyone else that was transported to the hospital was in their 30s. Tom. Camila Bernal for us tonight. Camilla, we thank you. Coming up on Top Story, how young is two young kids? to let your child go out by themselves. The parents speaking out after being investigated

for letting their six-year-old scooter alone to a park alone, to a park alone, I should say. But first, top story's top moment in the two-year-old pool plane prodigy. Judge Owens broke not one, Jude, I should say, but two Guinness World Records, becoming the youngest person to make two trick shots, including what's called a double pot in Snooker.

Take a look. Oh, two, and one? Look at that. That there's Jude with his records. His dad says he's a natural and excelled at the sport. Since the very first time he picked up a cue again, he is two years old. Stay with us. More Top Story in the way.

We're back now with Top Story's News Feed, and we start with the man charged with plotting to murder a member of President Trump's cabinet. Officials say 26-year-old Colin DeMarco. You see him right here. He's charged with attempted first-degree murder after he allegedly showed up at Russell Votes Home. Vote is Office of Management and Budget Director,

one of the authors of Project 2025. And new legal trouble for one of hockey's brightest young stars, Penn State Forward Gavin McKenna, who was expected to be the first overall pick in this year's NHL draft, now facing felony assault charges, according to a criminal complaint. He got into a fight after leaving a bar over the weekend and allegedly broke someone's jaw

if convicted the 18-year-old could face up to two decades in prison. And first responders in Northern California carrying out a dramatic rescue inside a burning home. Body cam video shows the building engulfed in flames as officers raced to the scene. You can see them smashing windows before finally helping two people who were trapped inside the home.

Luckily, they say nobody was hurt and that the cause of the fire is still under investigation. And a final farewell to those iconic tubes of frozen juice concentrate. After 80 years, what was once a staple in the freezer aisle is now getting canned.

Minute Maids' parent company, Coca-Cola, announcing it is discontinuing the product so it can focus on fresh juices, which it says many Americans now prefer. If this is bringing back childhood memories, you can still grab a can in stores while supplies last. Okay, now in Atlanta, where a couple became the target of a child neglect investigation for letting their 6-year-old take his scooter unsupervised, about three blocks to a park. The incident sparking debate about how much free range to give young kids.

NBC's Ryan Chandler has this one. It started on a route this kid knew well. My husband and I both work from home, and we're like, hey, enjoy, go have fun. Parents, Mallory and Chris, letting their six-year-old scooter alone to the park on a day off from school, knowing he had friends and parents to meet there. It was a smooth three blocks there on Atlanta's belt line, a busy recreational trail. But the ride home would change everything. He said, well, I was on my way home, and a lady pulled her car in front of my scooter and started asking me all kinds of questions. She said, who are you?

you know, what's your name? Where do you live? Are you allowed to be out here? Where are your parents? Two days later. Is there a problem with letting him go to the playground? The knock on the door that would upset their lives. He would have to be like 13 for him to be like... 13? Like 12, 13 for him to be like, okay, he can go completely by himself. Is that the law or is that like a... I mean, they're going to consider that inadequate supervision at 7. The Fulton County Division of Family and Children Services investigating a report of child abuse, interviewing Mallory and Chris's two kids, asking about drug abuse, malnutrition, and whether they were loved, the family says.

Ultimately finding that allegations of neglect were substantiated. It was devastating, incredibly violating. It has been probably the most stressful experience. of my adult life. I'm constantly worried that we're being watched. Some parent advocates say their case is a warning for families and the kind of overreach that Georgia's new reasonable childhood independence law is meant to avoid. The 2025 law tailors the definitions of neglect and abandonment to create more freedom for parents to let their kids go out alone. Parents don't want to have to second guess their every decision when they're going to take

their eyes off their kids. We're going to let their kid walk to school, play outside, stay home alone for a brief moment. And with this law, they know it's up to them. After an administrative review with the request of the family and their attorney, the state called Mallory and Chris to tell them their finding of neglect was reversed. But the pain remains. And they hope the states and other families can learn from this. I hope that this opens up a conversation. Maybe we should let our child be a little bit more free. You know, other parents are doing it. You know, maybe we can do it too. All right, with that, Ryan Chandler joins us tonight. Ryan, you said the findings of neglect were reversed, but that doesn't totally get cleared from the parents' records,

right? Right, Tom, this is not a no harm, no foul scenario here. We caught up with the mother, Mallory again today, and she said that if anybody were to perform a background check on her, they would find that she previously fought an investigation alleging child abuse, an unfounded and unsubstantiated allegation, at least. But still, that's a stain on a parent's record that nobody wants, especially from a situation that at least they believe was unwarranted, Tom. Nobody would want that. Ryan Chandler, for a story that I think a lot of people are going to talk about,

if they have kids. Ryan, we thank you. We're also following news out of Cuba tonight. The leader there, Miguel Diaz-Cannel, announcing he, open to talks with the U.S., but that those talks must happen without pressure, without preconditions, and on equal footing, saying Cuba is also preparing for, quote, a state of war. You heard me correctly there. Those comments come amid a U.S. pressure campaign against Cuba. President Trump has threatened to slap tariffs on any country that exports oil to the island nation. Its oil supply from Venezuela, of course, already shut off after the U.S. captured Nicolas Maduro.

These images you're seeing here are because of the power outages that happen in Cuba right now. having an electrical crisis there. You can see how people are living day to day. Yesterday, I spoke with the president in the Oval Office about Cuba. Here's what he had to say. Do you think the Cuban government will still be there? The current leadership will still be there

by the end of your term. Now you're asking a different question. Cuba's in big trouble. Humanitarian aid is going to have to be sent there. They're in big trouble. It's a disaster. They got their money from Venezuela. They got their oil from Venezuela.

They turned the oil into money, et cetera, et cetera. And there's none of that happening anymore. They're in big trouble. Do you think that government is still there, though? Do you think that government lasts? I don't want to say that, but we are talking to Cuba. You're talking to Cuba? You know what?

Look, we have tens of thousands of people that were forced out there here. They voted for me, 94% Cuban population, previous Cuban population. Now they're Cuban Americans. Maybe they go back. Maybe they want to go back. They're going to have that choice. But for years, they've been talking about this happening. It's happening. We are talking to Cuba. We want to open it up to those people that want to visit.

Even, you know, I think most people when they're here, they want to say here. I hope that's true. I hope we're not going to lose them. But they're going to have options. And they're going to be able to go back, Tom, and see their loved ones, see their family, their friends. I want to bring in NBC's chief foreign affairs correspondent, Andrea Mitchell, who has covered Cuba for decades. Andrew, I want you to explain to our viewers what happened today, because we heard from the Cuban government today, in a very rare news conference. We can't really call it a news conference because it's state-run media. But you really don't see the leader there. Diaz-Kinell ever come out and ever addressed the nation. There is no gas, there's rolling blackouts, as we saw there.

People are living sort of day-to-day in poverty. Why did he come out, do you think, today, and announce this to the Cuban people? I think you've just made it very clear. They are in desperate condition. They have lost the Venezuelan oil, which was bailing them out. The U.S. officials say the fact is that it's the regime's own fault. because they were getting, you know, 70,000 barrels from Venezuela, of that 40,000 would be trans-ship to Asia, to principally to China.

So they were getting currency for it. They're desperate for currency because of the embargo, what they call the blockade, the embargo economic embargo that goes back 60 years, except for the liberalization briefly under President Obama. So they are in desperate condition, now more so than ever since the Maduro extraction. And there is clearly a concern. that with Marco Rubio at the right hand of the president, this is a man who has spent 15 years, according to all of his Senate colleagues in both parties, talking about regime change in Cuba. They now see the possibility both the president and Rubio have talked

about the possibility that it would collapse of its own weight, but they have not ruled out using military force. That's why you heard the defensive posture from the Cuban president, we're prepared to fight back. It would certainly be a mismatch. You know, Andrew, it's interesting, though, right? And the president's language was interesting, because we really haven't heard this before. He said he was talking to Cuba. He did not want to commit to a regime change during our interview, right? So I don't want to say he's dialed back his comments on Cuba,

but I don't think he's as far as maybe Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, who has said, if you were a leader in Cuba right now, you should be worried. When you cut through everything Cuba said today and everything the president said to me in the Oval Office, where do you think we are right now? I'm reading it. It was fascinating. Your interview with him, by the way, breaking new ground. That was the biggest overture, soft overture to Cuba.

I think what they are trying to say, coupled with an announcement they just made this afternoon, we were covering this briefing at the State Department, $6 million more in humanitarian aid on top of $3 million already sent in this current crisis. This is rare under this administration, and Trump won, the first Trump administration. They, I think, are trying to show, and they said it explicitly in a briefing today, it's the regime's fault that you are suffering. You know, whereas there's a lot of anti-U.S. anger over 60-plus years of an embargo, an economic embargo for their economic privations going back decades.

They're saying it's the regime that has caused this economic collapse, not the Maduro extraction, not the U.S., not the blockade of oil. And that if, you know, if you only changed your government and let us come in, that we would be helpful. So they are trying to show the softer side of the U.S. so that if they do take out of the U.S. so that if they do take action and if there is a regime collapse, they won't be resisted by the population. Andrew, you know, I listen to your reporting, and I'm thinking this is sort of so strange, right?

Because $6 million, as you say, this is strange for the U.S. government to sort of come out publicly, give that kind of money. You have sort of a hard power technique in Venezuela. Are we seeing sort of soft power here with Cuba? And do you think some deal? I know we don't know this, and you can't get ahead of the reporting, but could a deal be in the works here?

I wouldn't totally rule it out, but I would also rule out that the U.S. is trying to show it's not as much to be hated. You know, you always talk about if there's regime change, will the population resist, as they expect it might in Iran? Well, they want to see if there's a possibility of doing something without a complete conflagration in Cuba. But I wouldn't rule out that something is going on here. It is a different.

Now, they say, he said the Cuban president, we would talk with them if they were respectful, But they deny that there are talks. President Trump said we are having talks. I think that's semantics. There are conversations, but there's no formal dialogue. Andrew Mitchell, great reporting us. Always, always great to have you on nights like this when there's news happening like that around the world. Still ahead tonight, dramatic video of a fiery explosion as people step inside an elevator with balloons. What happened?

Plus, the final countdown is on to the Winter Olympics with just one day to go until the opening ceremony. The action already underway in Milan. Stay with us. We're back now just one day away from the opening ceremony for the 2026 Olympic Games. The Olympic flame finally arriving in Milan. You see it right there. Torchbearers making their way through crowded streets to the Ho City Center. Excitement building there and across Italy where some competitions have already begun. NBC Stephanie is in Milan for us tonight. Stephanie is so great to see you there. The U.S. women's hockey team going to be one to watch during the games and they came out strong today?

Yeah, they definitely did. They played the check. They beat them handedly. Five to one. Hillary Knight, the captain who's playing, by the way, in her fifth Olympics, scored one of the goals. Also history-making Leila Edwards. She's the first black woman on the U.S. Olympic ice hockey team. She was on the ice, and I had a chance to talk to her mother beforehand, Tom, and she was so excited to be here in Milan, so excited to watch her daughter make history and take to the ice. You know, that team, that U.S. women's team, certainly gold favorites, but they're going to have to get by.

their rivals Canada to get it. And then the games are seeing a few early pain points. There's a norovirus outbreak. What can you tell us about that? Yeah, sure. This is affecting the Finland's women's ice hockey team. They were supposed to play. They had to postpone that game.

The Finnish officials saying that 13 members of the team are either infected with norovirus or are being quarantined. The IOC actually put out a statement. We asked them to comment on this and they said that, listen, when you get a lot of people together, sometimes viruses like this can spread and that they have plans and procedures in place to deal with it. The norovirus is really tough for a few days, but then you get over it. We certainly hope Finland's team gets back on their skates pretty soon. Yeah, be careful out there, Stephanie. Heavy snowfall also getting in the way of some qualifying events. We want snow for the Winter Olympics. This is kind of a big deal. Explain to our viewers.

Yeah, sure. I mean, not snow here in Milan, but as you know, the mountain events are about a five. five-hour drive from here up high, and it has been snowing heavily, particularly in Cortina. And because of the heavy snow, the race directors for the women's downhill had to postpone some training runs. That's going to be the training run that Lindsay Vaughn is going to take when she tested out that knee of hers. The reason they had to postpone it is because that that course has to be packed down solid. And if there's a lot of fluffy snow, it becomes unsafe. But they said they've got it in good shape. They're going to have it ready for training runs tomorrow, Tom. Yeah, and curling. It's always a sleeper hit at the Winter Olympics. People sort of forget about it every four years. Team USA hitting the eyes in the mixed doubles event today. How they do?

Yeah, they did well, actually. They beat Norway, which is the defending silver medalist. You know, it is the sleeper event. I'm kind of a sleeper fan, Tom. I sort of love going to the curling events. I loved going in 2018. I loved going in Beijing. Once you understand the rules, it is a lot of fun to watch. They had a bit of a snafu. last night because they were playing and it was snowing heavily outside. They play up in Cortina and they actually lost power for a little bit, but it popped back on and the events went forward. A lot of fun there today. Yeah, we're going to look forward to all that. Can't wait to meet up with you there in Milan in a few days. Stephanie, we thank you for your report. All right, we're going to stick overseas now here on Top Story and it's time for Global Watch. We're starting with devastating flooding in northwest Morocco. Officials say more than 140,000 people have been evacuated from

their homes, entire neighborhoods covered in water as emergency crews raced to carry out rescues. That flooding triggered by heavy rain and water from overfilled dams. And a terrifying scene in India when a bag of balloons appears to explode inside of an elevator. This is strange, but watch. You can see three people walk through the doors, then a ball of flames erupts, sending them scrambling. Police telling the times of India, two of the people suffered burns. Right now, it's still unclear what caused that blast. All right. In South Korea, a dash cam video capturing the moment, wind turbine collapsed. Look at this. That turbine stood more than 260 feet tall before it suddenly snapped in half, sending debris flying. Here you can see it from another angle. A national broadcaster

reporting nobody was hurt and that investigators are looking into what happened. Okay, when we come back here on top story tonight, the Olympic figure skater looking to hit the ice dressed as a minion why he might not be able to compete as planned. That's next. Finally tonight, an Olympic routine on edge. A Spanish ice skaters' iconic set based on a few familiar faces here at NBC Universal, the Minions. But could a copyright issue keep them from donning those famous blue overalls on the world's biggest stage? NBC Sam Brock explains. Olympic figure skater Tomas Jarens Guarino Sabate tonight lifted up by legions of fans. After what the Minions-clad Spanish athlete describes as no laughing matter. His signature short

program featuring songs from the wildly popular, despicable me movies temporarily put on ice. With Sabatei posting on Instagram this week that despite following protocol all season, it was flagged for copyright clearance issues, putting his ability to perform the program at the Olympics in jeopardy. But apparently, many Minions fans also found it bananas. As 24 hours later, he posted huge thank you to everyone who reposted, shared, and supported, saying Universal Pictures, which is part of our parent company, NBC Universal, reconsidered for this one special occasion, as some fellow skaters rejoiced. I told people that they were going to see the minions at the Olympics, and I don't want to

be a liar. Universal Pictures tells NBC News all rights within their control were cleared. One of the four songs is actually owned by the artist Farrell, who has not yet responded to our request for comment. Still, it appears the minions who've crashed the Olympics party in recent years. Look at! Maybe back again, this time in the form of a figure skater performing in an unmistakable yellow t-shirt and dungarees. Sam Brock, NBC News, Lavinia.

We remain pro-minion here at Top Story. All right, that does it for us. We thank Sam for that story. We thank you for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamis in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.