Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, February 6, 2025

Episode Date: February 7, 2025

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, the first round of dangerous back-to-back storms racing across the country. Millions caught in the crosshairs of a massive storm system, ice sending cars sliding across major highways, drivers rescued from rising floodwaters. This has three potential winter storms could be on the way. Bill Karen, standing by with what you need to know. Also tonight, the judge pressing pause on President Trump's federal worker buyout program. That move coming just hours before. before the deadline, the position still at risk, plus the executive orders President Trump just signed. And NBC News exclusive sit down

with the president of Guatemala. What President Arevalo is saying about his agreement with the U.S. to accept deported migrants even from other countries. The attack at the altar, video capturing the moment a man punches a priest during a prayer service, the congregants rushing to his aid. We speak with that church leader

about the terrifying moments. Removing end-race, from the end zone. The NFL dropping its pro-diversity slogan for the first time in years, how the league is defending the decision and the heightened security operation for this year's Super Bowl with President Trump set to attend. And the bug smuggler busted at LAX, the dozens of live beetles disguised in snack bags, the danger if they were to escape, and the motive to bring the insects to the U.S. Plus Trump's new directive affecting media organizations, We'll explain.

Top story starts right now. And good evening. Tonight, the first of a series of winter storm slamming the eastern portion of the country. Snow, sleet, ice, and rain leading to dangerous travel for millions. Take a look out there. In Michigan, cars completely encased in thick ice. You can see those icicles on the roof rack. This driver's struggling to get into her vehicle.

In Kansas City, car slipping to. across a highway, crashes are being reported across more than a dozen states. This ring doorbell cam capturing a man walking his dog, and then there you see it, slipping right on the stairs. That had it hurt. And you're looking at the aftermath of an EF1 tornado ripping through a community just south of Louisville. In New Hampshire, the tarmac covered in snow crews working to clear the runways and defrost planes. The storm leading to a travel nightmare, more than 5,000 flights delayed and more than 500 canceled. Those numbers continue to climb. Right now, Boston, Logan, is seen the worst of it.

But as I mentioned, the parade of storms are right behind this one. And that's why we're leading with the story tonight. The next round could bring even more snow and a nasty winter mix. Bill Carrance is breaking down the latest and the other storms as well. NBC News correspondent, Emily Aketa starts off our coverage. Tonight, tens of millions reeling from a blast of winter that swept across 20 states. Oh, my God. It is freezing cold.

bringing a dangerous mix of snow, sleet, and rain. Look at it. Coming right down off the mountain. Three and a half inches of rain fell within just several hours near Charleston, West Virginia, where first responders waded through floodwaters to rescue at least 20 stranded drivers. Roads barely passable and in some spots destroyed. There are 18 counties that have reported in a damage from ice and the storm. Overns. Overnight, lightning lit up the sky in Kentucky, an EF1 tornado in Hart County, leaving

behind a trail of destruction on the roads, treacherous conditions. Whoa, holy crap. Ice sending cars into tail spins, this one stopping just short of a crash, while a pile up involving tractor trailers shut down a major interstate in Pennsylvania. The icy landscape snapping tree trunks and limbs. limbs and knocking out power to tens of thousands as February gets off to a furious start. And just as the storm begins to clear out, the region is bracing for another dose of potentially even more dangerous weather this weekend. Tom. Okay, Emily Aketa, we appreciate it.

We're going to pick it up right there. I want to get right to meteorologist Bill Carrionts and Bill, this is so important for our viewers, right, because this is possibly three intense winter storms back to back. Start with what's going to happen this weekend. Yeah, at least three. We'll talk more about that in a second. First, let's get to into the one for this weekend. Albany, Boston, Hartford, Providence, New York. You're still cleaning up from what happened this morning, and you're already under a winter storm watch for the storm we're expecting Saturday night into Sunday. So we start off Saturday with the storm. Snowstorm from Minneapolis, St. Paul, through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and then another

nasty, wintry mess of ice and sleet from Indianapolis right along I-70 to Columbus heading towards Pittsburgh. Washington, D.C., you're included in that. New York, it looks like a blitz of snow, then over to a wintry mix. And then this will all be exiting by the time we get the sun. Sunday morning. So with just this weekend storm, four to six inches, much of Minnesota into Wisconsin, including Green Bay. Chicago, it kind of misses you. New York, it looks like two to three inches of snow, Philly, none for you, D.C., none for you with this one. But Tom, as we mentioned, this is just the first one. Yeah, so walk us through what happens next week, because I know there are two days sort of on the calendar we've got to be aware of. Yeah, a lot more people are going to be getting, you know, snow days and delays and school cancellations. So this is going to be our third storm. You know, one was today, weekend was two, this is three. So this is going to be, as we go through Monday, this is in the Tuesday, snow from D.C. up to New York. This one looks to be centered more over southern New England, possibly with the heavier chance of snow. And then it looks like Thursday or Friday, possibly another storm after that.

So this is just our estimated snow totals from our Tuesday to Wednesday event. Highest totals, southern portions of New York, Pennsylvania, maybe even an area of enhancement right around Washington, D.C. And this weather pattern is set up right through Valentine's Day with a storm about every two days. than normal next week for much of the country, but warmer in the south, this brings that gulf moisture northwards. And if we got cold air in place like it looks like it's going to be in the northeast, Tom, it wouldn't surprise me at all in the next 10 days if someone easily gets over two feet of snow in the northeast. Okay, I know we'll be busy next week covering all of this bill. We appreciate that. We now want to turn to our other breaking news tonight,

a judge pausing those federal worker buyouts offered by the Trump administration until at least Monday after more than 60,000 government employees have accepted the offer. It comes as top Democrats speak out against Elon Musk's efforts to shrink the federal workforce. Peter Alexander at the White House with it all. Tonight, just hours ahead of the White House deadline, a federal judge has paused the Trump administration from implementing its buyout program for all federal workers. That buyout offer, part of the president's campaign pledged to save taxpayer money by slashing the federal workforce. But labor unions went to court to blow.

Lockett, arguing it violated multiple laws. And now that judge has put the buyouts on hold until Monday. A senior administration official says more than 60,000 federal employees have accepted the offer. That represents more than 2% of the federal government's civilian workforce. Officials here previously said they expected 5 to 10% to take the buyout. What President Trump and Elon Musk in this entire administration is trying to do is make our bloated bureaucracy here in Washington run like a profitable business.

And tonight the Trump administration is ramping up pressure to take the buyout. An email to all eligible federal workers obtained by NBC News warns those who do not could lose their jobs. Reading in part, at this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position. The president today touting progress on his pledge to slash spending. We got rid of work over the last two weeks. using Elon Musk at his Department of Government Efficiency, including its effort to dismantle USAID that distributes billions of dollars in foreign aid. They can't believe they're getting caught and have great respect for the people that are doing

and Elon Musk is helping us on it and he's pretty good. Tonight the Washington Post reports Doge employees have gained access to highly restricted government records on millions of federal employees, including Treasury and State Department officials in sensitive security positions, according to four U.S. officials with knowledge of the developments. And the White House confirms a Doge staff were approved by a federal judge to access Treasury Department payment systems has resigned after the Wall Street Journal asked about his links to a deleted social media account that advocated for racism and eugenics. Meanwhile, federal workers tonight are in limbo. Alfonso McCree accepted the buyout offer.

The timing couldn't have been any better. But there was a lot of also that concern of like, well, this is kind of weird. Is this actually legal? While Holly, who asked we don't use her last name, did not. Well, I'm glad I didn't take the buyout at all. I don't trust that the administration will keep their promise. Meanwhile, Musk's ex-profile now reads White House tech support and Democrats are slamming his effort to downsize the federal government as illegal. What we are seeing unfold is an unlawful power grab by a. an unelected and unaccountable billionaire puppet master

who's pulling the strings of House Republicans and apparently the Trump administration. But Republicans are applauding Musk's cost-cutting mission. I think it's very popular with the American people. Trump derangement syndrome is a virus that the Democrats have had for four years. It appears that that virus has mutated into Musk derangement syndrome now. All right, Peter Alexander joins us tonight from the White House. So, Peter, you cited in your report how many federal workers are taking the buyout,

according to the administration, more than 60,000. So do we expect that number to grow? And I want to make sure our viewers understand the reporting here. If they don't take the buyout, could they be fired? Well, that's a good question. To be clear about that number, it's a number from a senior administration official. NBC News, of course, can independently confirm it right now. But as I've been speaking to the press secretary here at the White House,

they hope that this pause by the federal judge gives federal workers more time to consider whether they too want the buyout. Remember, the deadline was expected to be tonight at midnight. As for whether you could be fired going forward, NBC News was first to report based on three education department officials that at the education department, employees were told that even if they took the offer, it could be rescinded and they wouldn't get those promised payments. That's part of the concern that some people have right now. And beyond that, there have been fears as evidence in our peace, according to memos that have been set around to all federal workers, that it's possible. their jobs could still be eliminated.

Tom. All right, Peter, we thank you for that. And I do want to ask, do we know some executive orders have been signed tonight? What can you tell our viewers? Let's walk through a couple of those executive orders. We are just hearing about them, at least two that we know so far. The president announcing an executive order that is going to be sanctioning the international criminal court. This is a court that the president and Republicans have largely been critical of for the course

of the last year issuing arrest warrants the ICC did, not just for Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu, but also for the former defense minister at the same time that it issued arrest warrants for some Hamas leaders. The White House described that as shameful moral equivalency. Separately, we're hearing about another executive order the president just signed tonight. Remember, he is on a record pace of executive orders for these early days of a presidential administration. This is a task force that sets up eradicating anti-Christian bias in the country. Okay. Peter Alexander, a lot of new reporting there. Peter, we appreciate that. We want to turn out of some other Trump administration news and a headline from Axios that caught our eye.

The reporting that Trump ordered a key government agency to cancel all media contracts going on to say the White House has directed the General Services Administration to terminate every single media contract expense by the agency, according to an email obtained by Axios. White House Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt addressing this in a briefing yesterday. Here's what she said. I was made aware of the funding from USAID to media outlets, including Politico, who I know has a seat in this room. And I can confirm that the more than 8 million taxpayer dollars that have gone to essentially subsidizing subscriptions to Politico, the American taxpayers' dime will no longer be happening. The Doge team is working on canceling those payments now. Okay, a lot out there, so we want to clear a lot of this up. For more on this, I want to bring an Axio Senior Politics Reporter, Mark.

Caputo, who broke that story. Mark, we thank you for joining us tonight, as always, here on Top Story. So walk us through exactly what's happening and these media contracts. What did your reporting find? Well, these media contracts are fairly common in government in this modern media environment, which is a number of media companies, particularly print, have certain paid products, insider products, things for specialists. Politico, a former employer of mine, has a Politico tax, a Politico defense, various environmental newsletters that are a paid subscription. And various agents and various people in government buy these subscriptions in order to better perform their work, at least that's what they say. And it's not just Politico, it's

also Bloomberg, E&E, which is a subset of Politico as well. And in the process of Elon Musk's doge going through various contracts and government spending, this popped up, and it was initially the Politico money mistakenly blamed as a direct subsidy from USA. It wasn't. It was people in the agency who had paid for these subscriptions over time. But nevertheless, they and the Trump administration don't like the mainstream media, and they don't want government money and taxpayer money going to it, so they're canceling it. Okay, but to be clear here, right, because we're talking about people hear government contracts. They may think of something else. Are we just talking about subscriptions to the New York Times, and are we talking about subscriptions to political pro?

We're going to get into Politico in a second because that's a lot of money. But is that essentially what this is? That is the best we can tell. Now, we don't have access to all of these systems, but in Politico's case, that's what Politico says, and we have no reason to doubt them. In the grand scope of the government, that amount of money, though $8 million is a lot of money to a media company, don't get me wrong, is when you come to the federal government, really sort of a drop in the bucket. And I just want to say we did our due diligence here at Top Story. From what we understand, speaking to our people here at NBC News,

we don't have any contracts with the federal government right now that we know of that we could find. I want to put up what Political said, because I want to make sure we get this right, too. Here's what Political had to say. They said, Politico is a privately owned company. We have never received any government funding, no subsidies, no grants, no handouts. Political Pro is different. It is a professional subscription service used by companies, organizations, and, yes, some government agencies. Mark, you alluded to this, right?

I mean, $8 million is a lot of money every year, especially for a print organization, regardless of how big you are. That money now is going to disappear? That's the best of you can tell. In this case, I would take the Trump administration and Donald Trump at his word that this money is going to be canceled. How big do you think? I mean, it's hard to put every news organization sort of at this

that have these subscription models, but subscription models for people who maybe aren't as much in the know with the media business as we are. Classifieds used to fund newspapers. They were the bread and butter. Classifieds were gone after Craig's List came out. Subscriptions are the model of the future for so many if you're not a nonprofit. How big of a client is the government for places like the New York Times, Politico, and maybe other places that are charging for subscriptions? I don't want to speak too out of school, but having been at Politico, I know that Pro is one of its revenue bases. Another is native advertising online. Another is advertising that's sold on its newsletters. Politico Playbook, for instance. We'll have a sponsor and

will have ads within it. So those are sort of three revenue streams. A very successful company Politico is. In the case of the New York Times, it has more of a general revenue base. It's still a classic newspaper in that regard. And it's got a very big subscription base across its entire company. So in terms of its revenue, my best guess here, which I probably should engage in, is that this will be less of a hit to the New York Times than to Politico, but that's just a cursory guess on what I know. Look, I know you don't like crystal balls, right, because you do your own reporting,

you're a truth seeker, but look, we can see a pattern, right? We're seeing people being rotated, including NBC News, out of the Pentagon, sort of places that we've had for decades that are now being moved to. accommodate other media organizations. Fine. New media groups are coming into the briefing room as well. That's fine as well. You now have this. What else do you think is happening? I mean, what else do you see happening in the coming months? I can't necessarily say in media, but what you can see with the White House is it's continued its campaign style tactics, the Trump operation, so to speak, right into the White House. It's a seamless transition in terms of

its communication strategy. More broadly, Donald Trump, Trump ran has the brand of a disrupting agent, a disruptor. And he's disrupting. He's disrupting the media, the old media, the new media. And in addition of that, you have employees of the government who are being either offered what we call buyouts, or they're sort of being told to resign, in some cases resign or else. And you also have a number of purges, so to speak, that are ideologically related. USAID is among them.

The State Department is going to be looking for people who it deems or anti-Trump, who are not supportive of the president's agenda, which, in many respects, is their right, because there are a number of political appointees. You're also seeing that in the intelligence community. The national security advisor, Michael Walts, a former Florida congressman, has promised to get rid of, quote, the deep state in the national security apparatus. You're seeing in the intelligence community, as well as in the Department of Justice by another Florida person here, Pam Bonnie, the former Florida Attorney General, now the U.S. Attorney General. So you're seeing a broad disruption across the board in media, in personnel, in the way in which government is being conducted both at the press secretary's podium and on the internet and in mainstream media as well as in policy. It's really breathtaking to see, and we're just at the beginning of it. We have more than three years left, almost four years left.

So how this goes, I have absolutely no idea. Yeah, not even a month in. Okay, Mark Caputo, always breaking a lot of news about the Trump White House. We appreciate you having you on. Next to the latest on that deadly mid-air collision over the Potomac River last week. The FAA addressing a safety concern by slowing air traffic at Washington's Reagan National Airport indefinitely. This is President Trump and Elon Musk call for an immediate overhaul of the country's air traffic control system. Tom Costello has the details.

Eight days after that mid-air crash over the Potomac. Rescue-one requesting permission to search the shoreline for debris. Recovery teams today raise the Army helicopter from the river. critical to the investigation. Investigators believe it was flying above its designated altitude before the crash. With two runways out of service, the FAA has notified airlines that it's cutting the number of arrivals from 28 to 26 per hour at Reagan National with investigators concerned for air traffic controllers who have an increased level of stress while also having a front row view of the

accident recovery. Today, President Trump suggested the nation's antiquated ATC system played a role in the accident. We should have had better equipment. We don't. We have obsolete equipment. The new Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy. I had a conversation with Elon Musk yesterday. Says Elon Musk will help overhaul air traffic control, which the FAA has spent years trying to upgrade, but without full congressional funding. If Elon Musk or anyone else can provide great ideas, I mean, they are certainly on the cutting edge of technology, then I think that's great. But Democrats are concerned about Elon Musk's promise of rapid safety upgrades, noting the FAA overseas Musk's SpaceX rocket launches. It's a clear conflict of interest, and Secretary Duffy should make sure that Mr. Musk is not part of the FAA air transportation system.

Meanwhile, praise for new D.C. firefighter Sean Wathen, a Marine veteran who stood silent guard for hours by the remains of Army Staff Sergeant Ryan O'Hara, lost in the crime. crash. While firefighters saluted flight attendant Ian Epstein, his remains brought home to Charlotte. All right, with that, Tom Costello joins us tonight again from Washington. Tom, we were just talking about this last night, the staffing right, when it comes to air traffic controllers. The traffic is now going to slow down a little bit with the flights coming in and going from Reagan National Airport. Will this help with the staffing problem? What is going to help with, hopefully, is stress in the tower. because they're down to just one runway there at Reagan National, right?

Two runways are out of commission. They're going to slow down the traffic temporarily for incoming flights. And yes, that will mean that your flights into Reagan will probably be delayed more. However, they're concerned about the stress that is on the controllers right now. And in particular, this is really, if you think about it, really poignant. Those controllers are trying to do their jobs every day, but they're also looking right out onto the wreckage. and they're very aware that they have already been, or one of them has been singled out

as possibly contributing to this crash. So their stress levels are very high. Both the NTSB and the NFAA investigators are concerned about that. Okay, Tom Costello for us tonight here. Tom, we thank you for that. We want to turn now to an NBC News exclusive with Guatemalan president, Bernardo Arbello. Just one day after he agreed to take in 40% more migrants from the U.S.,

including migrants from other countries. The president clarifying that those forms, nationals will only stay in Guatemala temporarily. Here's NBC's Julia Ainslie with that big interview. Tonight, the president of Guatemala sitting down exclusively with NBC News to share his thoughts on his recent visit with U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. Came to very good agreements on the different issues. We agreed on the issue of migration that we're going to be accepting a 40% increase

in the number of flights of deportees. President Bernardo Arevalo met with Rubio on his first trip where he visited several Latin American countries to make deals for one of President Trump's top priorities, immigration. In addition to that 40 percent increase in deportation flights, Arevalo agreed to receive people from countries other than Guatemala. So why would you agree to take back migrants who aren't from Guatemala? Because they are not staying in Guatemala. Because they are going, this is part of their repatriation to other countries. And how will you be sure that they'll go to other countries? Will the U.S. help with that?

Yes, because we discussed that the United States is going to be helping us in this process. Rubio also said at a press conference with a Revalo that the migrants would only be in Guatemala temporarily. It's very important for us in terms of the migratory situation that we're facing. His willingness to accept not just nationals, but those from other nationalities, as they seek to ultimately return to their own homelands, is also important. The news that Guatemala agreed to take back other nationalities appeared to be a win for Trump, who has promised the largest number of deportations in U.S. history, but is hampered by countries who are reluctant to take back their nationals, like China, and until very recently, Venezuela.

But it remains unclear how Guatemala would deport migrants from countries who refuse to take their nationals back from the U.S. Over 1,400 immigrants have been deported to Guatemala since Trump took office. Our cameras were there today as 171 immigrants recently deported from Miami stepped off the plane to restart their lives in a country many left long ago, including Andres Sanchez-Gomez, who leaves behind four kids in the U.S., including one who is a U.S. citizen. If the arreida will continue being so, I'm just to arregglar to the assistance and I'm going to try to back. This woman, because if I go to look to them, it's the same. If you're arresting, me put in a year, so the sentence, and that's not just.

This woman recently deported from San Antonio, Texas, telling Telemundo she went to the U.S. to help her family. Guatemala joins Panama and agreeing to take back migrants from countries other than their own. A sharp departure from the resistance. Latin American countries were sending toward the Trump administration less than two weeks ago. What has changed? Why are you in other Latin American countries now so willing to work with the Trump administration on immigration?

I cannot speak from any other country. I can only speak from my own country. For us, it is fundamentally an attempt to help the Guatemalans that are being in in, that are in this situation to ease their reintegration into our society. One thing Rubio said the United States has offered Guatemala a carve-out from the Trump administration's vast cuts to foreign aid programs. Today, I'll be signing waivers on foreign aid that will continue that partnership and hope to build on it as well. Instead, allowing U.S. funding to continue to flow to Guatemala to help the country combat

drug trafficking. This is an example of foreign aid that's in our national interest. That's why I've issued a waiver for these programs. Rubio signed similar waivers in Costa Rica, Panama. Arevalo said his country recognizes it might not be easy for Guatemala's to be deported back to a country they left long ago. We are aware that we are going to be receiving now families, people that have been living 10, 15 years in the United States and that their return might not be as, let's say, smooth.

Julie Ensley joins us tonight live from Washington. Julia, a great interview there, very insightful. So I think our viewers probably have the same question I have. Once the migrants go there to places like Guatemala or Panama, but they're from other countries, what happens to them? Yeah, right now, Tom, it doesn't look like Rubio or anyone in the Trump administration gave Arrevalo any kind of assurances that those people would only be there for X amount of days. In fact, he said that Guatemala is going to be sending a mission, or rather what we've

call a delegation to Washington in the coming weeks to try to work out the details about when they'll start accepting other nationals, how many they'll accept, and how long they'll be staying in Guatemala. Because as you know, in 2019, Guatemala agreed to a similar deal, but it didn't work out as well. They've called that unsuccessful. So it's unclear at this point how they're going to try to differentiate and to what degree they can tell the U.S. no, we won't hold people past a certain point. All right, Julie Ensley, great interview tonight. We appreciate you bringing that to us. had the massive fire ripping through buildings in New York City. Firefighters left injured after that blaze explodes in size and update on their condition tonight. Plus, the priest

punched during a prayer service. Look at this. The attack caught on camera. And the priest speaking a top story tonight for the very first time since that assault. And the surprise release from Apple, the new feature allowing you to send out invitations for everything from baby showers to birthday parties. Stay with us. We're back now with an alarming moment at a church in Spokane, Washington, a man rushing towards the altar and punching one of the priests during a service dedicated to healing. Tonight, that priest is speaking out for the first time about the moment to top story. Here's NBC's Camilla Bernal.

A terrifying moment during a weeknight prayer service in Spokane, Washington. You know our wants, our troubles, and our sufferings. leaping out of a pew, rushing to attack Father David Gaines near the altar. What was going to my mind was trying to calm him down. It's okay, but it's all right. The shocking attack caught on camera. Someone get the security guard. Leaving some in the congregation at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes, stunned.

As others raced to help their priest, now speaking out for the first time to us about that attack. Were you hurt? Yeah, it's interesting. Watching the video, I don't remember that first hit from his right fist, where my whole body kind of jerks over pretty heavily. And yes, my left neck and side and my arm has all just been sore, but nothing terribly painful. I think more pain came from the shock and the adrenaline rush.

His attacker later identified by police as Joshua Summers, a man, known to the priest, but invited in by parishioners. They told me that they invited him on their way in. They saw him on the side of the street and brought him in. Summers was handcuffed by the security guard at the cathedral, and police arrived within minutes, arresting him on an assault charge. Defense is requesting the... Summers appeared in court Thursday, restrained in handcuffs and facing other outstanding

charges. His bail was set at $75,000. The public defender's office did not immediately... respond to NBC News' request for comment. Let's say a Hail Mary for that disturbed gentleman. The church praying for him moments after the attack, another priest addressing it again the following day, with some humor and a nod to President Trump.

I asked Father Gaines tonight to process in with a square bandage over his ear. I would have done it. You know that. Spokane police saying this kind of attack is rare, but the church saying they are prepared and tired extra security. And we spend tens of thousands of dollars a year on fencing and alarms and locks and security cameras. And despite those frantic moments, Father Gaines setting the example. Have you forgiven him? Oh, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. No, I would actually, if it's possible, I'd like to go see him. A lot there.

correspondent Camila Bernal joins us now. Camila, we heard Father Gaines there say he forgave the man who attacked him. What else did he tell you? Yeah, he said, Tom, that not only did he want to meet him, but that he was happy to do so and that he hopes his attacker finds healing from whatever it is that he was struggling with. In general, the priest said he hopes this attack is used for good. He says he wants to continue to serve God and the church. But one thing he did say, Tom, was that as a priest, he never expected something like this to happen. Yeah, pretty surprised. Amazing. Camila, welcome to NBC News, too, while we have you here. This is your first report on Top Story. We thank you for contributing and welcome to NBC News. Thank you. All right. Just ahead, the former interpreter for baseball star, Shohei Otani, sentenced to prison.

The time he'll pay for stealing $17 million from the Dodger Slugger to settle his gambling debts. That's next. We're back down with Top Stories News Feed. We begin with a massive fire in Harlem that injured four firefighters. Take a look. This drone video shows the enormous blaze that spread across three rooftops. Nearly 200 firefighters called to the scene after the vacant building went up in flames. All four of the injured firefighters are expected to be okay, and thankfully no one else was hurt. there is still no word on what caused that fire.

The former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Otani sentenced to nearly five years in prison late today. Ipe Mizuhara will also have to pay more than $18 million in restitution to Otani and the IRS. Mizuara pled guilty last year to bank and tax fraud after stealing money from the star hitter to cover and pitch, we should say, his gambling debts. And Apple's surprise unveiling of a new iPhone app called Apple Invites.

Apple's saying that the new tool, which is a new tool, already live will allow users to create custom invites for friends and family. The app will only be available for iCloud plus users, but anyone can respond to an invite. Integration with other Apple apps will provide directions. Show the forecast and allow attendees to create a playlist and shared albums you can maybe DJ that event. All right, we turn out of Top Stories Health Check and the stunning surge in flu cases among children. More than 40 states nationwide reporting high levels of influenza-like illnesses with dozens of school districts forced to shut down. NBC's Maggie Vespa is in Ohio tonight as doctors and officials there are sounding the alarm.

Across the country, classrooms sit empty, schools shut down, with administrators from Texas to Tennessee, Oklahoma to Ohio, citing a surge in the flu. One district near Louisville going remote for three days telling parents more than 1,700 students and 200 staff members were absent due to illness Monday. Photos showing masked maintenance workers deep cleaning classrooms near Cleveland. Have you seen schools closed due to the flu before? No. Outside Cincinnati, Superintendent Kelly Spivey shuttered Edgewood City Schools for the week yesterday. We're seeing the influenza strand A. We're seeing the RSV pneumonia strep throat. All of it. All of it. And at a high rate. COVID as well.

The CDC says at least a quarter of a million Americans have been hospitalized with the flu this season. 11,000 have died. This late season surge catching New Jersey mom of three, Gabrielle Heimerling, off guard. I am surprised that two of my kids went down that fast. We haven't had the flu in this house for years. These numbers don't surprise you. No. Doctors at nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus point out flu infections are still rebounding post-pandemic while vaccination rates among kids fall, plummeting nearly 14% in five years. We have to do better. And it's a hard time right now when it comes to vaccines. We know that. But we know they matter. And unfortunately, experts say we're still looking at potentially several weeks, maybe up to a month of high flu activity before these numbers really start to come down. Tom. Time now for Top Stories, Global Watch and a check of what else is happening around the world.

We start with a U.S. military contracted plane crashing into a rice field in the Philippines, killing four people. One U.S. service member and three defense contractors died in that crash. Officials say the plane went down during a routine reconnaissance mission. The cause of the crash is still under investigation by both U.S. command and local Philippine officials. And an update from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a ceasefire has collapsed between the M23 Rebels, and the Congolese army. According to multiple sources, the Rwandan-back rebels

seized a mining town in the country's eastern province just days after announcing that ceasefire. The rebels have already seized the city of Goma. The UN estimates, get this, at least 2,300 people have died so far in this conflict and that the victims are mostly civilians.

And in Argentina, President Javier Millet announcing that his country will leave the World Health Organization and ban gender-affirming care for minors. The move follows similar announcements from President Trump last week. Millay's office saying that Argentina does not receive WHO funding, so health services should not be affected. Melae is a close ally of President Trump.

Okay, when we return, the NFL's new play receiving some backlash ahead of the Super Bowl. The league removing the words end racism from the end zone. The reason behind the change and what it will be replaced with. That's next. We're back now with a change at this year's soon. Super Bowl, the words end racism which have been stenciled onto the field for the last few years will be removed and replaced with the new slogan. But it comes as corporations and the White House scale back on DEI initiatives and programs. Valerie Castro has a look at the NFL's

explanation. As the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles face off on Super Bowl Sunday, the field they play on will have a significant change. The words end racism stenciled on the end zone since 2021 will be replaced with the phrase, choose love. A chief NFL spokesman telling NBC News the new choice is meant to uplift the imagination of the country after traumatic events in the first month of the year, like the California wildfires, aviation disasters, and the New Orleans terror attack. But some critics of the move, including Dave Zirin, sports editor at the nation, says he believes the move sets back the NFL's efforts to expand diversity and inclusion on and off the third.

field. I just want to say, isn't end racism a message of uplift? I mean, especially when we consider the destruction with the California fires of the historically black neighborhoods like Altadena, as well as the racism and lies that were visited upon the FAA and the air traffic controllers after the crash at DCA. I mean, that is the racism we need to be confronting. That to me is uplift. The call for the switch also coming on the same day the White House announced, President Trump will be in attendance following his push for the end of government DEI initiatives. At a press conference Monday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell saying he does not believe the league's policies to promote diversity conflict with the new administration.

We got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the national football league, and we're going to continue to those efforts. And racism initially appearing after the series of high-profile police killings of unarmed black people like George Floyd and as part of the league's inspired. change initiative. Throughout the season, NFL teams have had a choice of diversity slogans to use on the field, including both end racism, choose love, vote, and stop hate. For Zyron, though, the choice to change the slogan for the biggest game of the year is an issue. The decision to not put end racism in the end zone does set the NFL back because it just

sends a message that, hey, guess what? There may be lift every voice and sing. There may maybe Kendrick Lamar at halftime, but we're just another corporation that loves black culture, but doesn't give a damn about the feelings of black people. A feeling shared by the son of late NFL Hall of Famer and Eagles player Reggie White. Writing on threads, the NFL choosing to take away end racism from its end zone for the Super Bowl is a cowardly move, especially in light of the fact that this is only the second time two black QBs will face each other in the SB. The first, Mahomes and Hertz. The Super Bowl will still have a performance of Lift Every Voice and Sing, often referred to as the Black National Anthem.

R&B artist Lettucey will perform it this year. She says she'll honor her roots and pay homage to those who came before her. I just remember who I'm doing it for. I remember my ancestors. I remember everyone waiting for this moment to feel hopeful and to. feel represented. So, yeah, I do get choked up. I'm choked up the whole time. But I have a job to do. That's what I think about. Valerie Castro, NBC News. And with just a few days until the Super Bowl authorities are on high alert as more than 100,000 people pour into New Orleans, just weeks

after that deadly terrorist attack rocked the city. NBC News correspondent Jesse Kirsch got an inside look at how the city is protecting the big game and the Big Easy. While tens of millions are glued to their TVs on Super Bowl Sunday, federal agents will be circling above New Orleans. And along the Mississippi River, in the French Quarter, heavily armed National Guardsmen patrolling on foot. In all, nearly 3,000 law enforcement personnel will be spread out across the city. So they know where the crowds are, where the crowds aren't, and if anything happens that changes

that scenario, then they'll be able to identify that. Beyond surveillance, these federal agents will also be ready to respond if someone violates game day flight restrictions. On the water, boat crews watching for unusual traffic. We're also going to be a response force for any sort of safety emergencies. At the Superdome, canines will sweep row by row. We're very excited about this weekend, and we are really quite prepared. But that planning came under renewed scrutiny after a terrorist barrel down Bourbon Street killing 14. people here New Year's Day.

I don't know that we've had a major change because the plan for Super Bowl has been in place working on that plan for 18 months. That's not redirected by New Year's Day. No, no. We actually take our lead mainly from NFL security. Highly visible security reassuring fans like Twyla Moore, who says she considered canceling her trip after the New Year's attack. How are you feeling now? Oh, safe. safe. I feel like this is the safest place in America right now.

Jesse Curse joins us tonight from New Orleans. Jesse, it's incredible to think where we were about a month ago, right? There in New Orleans, and now the Super Bowl is there. And as you reported, President Trump is set to be the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl. How are authorities preparing to handle that? Yeah, and so we heard from police on this specifically, Tom. They tell us here in New Orleans that they are going to have extra security measures. as a result of that. Of course, he comes with a whole contingent of secret service personnel. They wouldn't get into specifics around how many secret service personnel would be there, but they did say that before this became public, they had a sense this could happen.

And so they've had those plans in place. And of course, beyond the President of the United States being here, this was already going to be a heavily fortified situation, both within the stadium itself and in the surrounding downtown. I can tell you, Tom, from talking to people on Bourbon Street, that same area where you and I just were little more than a month ago, aftermath of that attack. People we talked with said seeing heavily armed police presence on Bourbon Street made them feel better about being here ahead of the big game. Tom. Jesse, before we go, I mean, you have a keen eye for security. We saw that during the reporting in the aftermath of the terror attack. How does New Orleans feel? How does it look to you? I know you're not an expert, but you spent some time reporting there. Well, let me tell you this,

Tom, and we talked about this extensively in the aftermath of that attack. One of the things that stuck out to me back in January was even after the apparent gaps in security were exposed on Bourbon Street and someone was able to ram a truck down what was supposed to be a pedestrian thoroughfare that night. We continued to see what appeared to be soft barriers, not heavily fortified blockages at intersections leading onto Bourbon Street. I walked those same areas over the last couple days as we got to town for the Super Bowl. Much heavier fortifications. The barricades, there appear to be many more barricades, harder barricades, some of those ramp-like devices that can go up and down. So they definitely have added a lot more from what I can tell visually.

But as you mentioned, of course, not an expert, leave it to them to say how fortified it. They think it's fortified enough, but definitely looks like there is much more there to potentially block a vehicle if someone tried to pull something like that off again. Jesse Kirsch, that's good to know. Good to hear that reporting. We appreciate it. When we come back, the beetle bust at LAX airport, dozens of beetles found in Japanese snack packages, a Customs and Border Protection Chief joins top story next to explain how these dangerous creatures are smuggled into the U.S. and used for everything from pets

to jewelry to even fighting. Stay with us. Finally tonight, a major beetle bust at one of the busiest airports in the U.S. U.S. Customs and Border Protection finding dozens of beetles valued at more than $1,000. You can see here they were being smuggled into the U.S. within Japanese snack packages. The large insects are valuable to collectors and used for fighting during mating season. They require a permit to own in your home

and bringing them in illegally can result in a lengthy prison sentence of up to 20 years. I want to bring in U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Agriculture, Section Chief, Basun Ramirez. Chief, thanks so much for joining us. So as our viewers are sort of squirming in their sofas,

what exactly did you guys find and how did you find so many Beatles? Well, our agriculture specialists intercepted this at our international mail facility. The shipment was coming from Japan, and it had the usual trend that we see with such shipments that come in. Once they looked at it, they saw some anomalies within their X-ray. They opened it up just to verify. And there were packages of Japanese snacks, cookies, crackers.

However, upon further inspection and their due diligence to see if there was anything in there, They encountered these beetles that were in several plastic and glass containers. And so the beetles are being smuggled then why exactly? It could be for various reasons. The majority is they're collectors nationwide. They like to collect it for the personal collection, such as pets. They're very large, anywhere from two to six inches. And it's several families of beetles that were encountered here.

The one that we mostly see is a scarab beetle. So they have appendages, the males that look like horns, that which they use. utilized during the mating process to battle each other. We also have other beetles that were in there that were much smaller. However, they like to keep these as pets. Sometimes some people before have even tried to use them as a brooch. But these are usually private collectors that try to have it in there. And so they're using them as jewelry, and they're also using them to fight.

How do the Beatles fight? They just put them up against each other? Well, usually when they have the Beatles, they usually like to have them as a collection. So they have them as pets that they can carry it around. Just like somebody would have a hamster or a gerbler. It's just coincidentally that sometimes when you put two males together, they end up looking, they may or may not interact in battle. But usually they like to have them as a pet. So they can have them around, take them out, walk them around.

Yeah, walk your beetle around. It sounds totally normal. So what exactly did the suspect in this case say? I mean, you sort of bust him and there's not Japanese cookies. There's these fighting beetles. What does he say? So normally what we do in these cases, we go ahead and do our process. We go ahead, safeguard the Beatles, make sure they're all there.

We grab everything because there's been instances where they come in styrofoam packages and they try to gnaw their way out. So we want to make sure that we capture, safeguard the Beatles. Once we do that, we turn them over to USDA. Our local identifiers will go and if they have the clearance to see what kind of beetle they are, they notify us what to do in the next step. If there don't have the proper documentation, such as USDA permits to allow them to come in, the USDA identifiers will take possession of the Beatles.

At that point, they either keep them for local specimens or they send them to the Smithsonian to the national identifiers, so they can keep from their collection as well. So these beetles are traveling all over the U.S. How much do they go for? I mean, how much can you sell, like, one of these six-inch suckers for? That I wouldn't be sure. I'm not very clear. You know, a lot of times this is posted out in different websites.

where people can see, especially these collectors, try to see where they can purchase them. When they try to purchase them, sometimes there's a little fine print from the seller indicating that you need to be able to follow USDA regulations. But the buyer is really not clear on that. So it's a buyer be. They want to get out there and show off their beetle. Maybe it has a brooch, as you said. Real quick, so you bust this guy.

What does he say? I mean, what kind of crimes is he facing, charges is he facing? Well, they varies. It goes by case-by-case basis. You know, if it's a first-time offender, it could be anywhere from, you know, a warning to, you know, a penalty. And then again, if it's something that goes further and further, more investigation. USDA usually does violations against these importers. So it may be up to several thousands of dollars and maybe jail times.

What's your message to anybody out there trying to smuggle Beatles into this country? Oh, that they shouldn't. The problem with the Beatles is not only an issue for our use. U.S. agriculture and the crops, it also ends up being a threat to our natural resources. Many of these beetles lay their eggs on bark, which ends up their larvae, which are the worms, end up eating the bark, eating the trees. They also affect our plants, leaves, fruits. So it's something that only affects our agriculture commodities, our natural resources,

as well as gardens and trees that we have in our own backyard. So it affects all of our natural resources, our agriculture, and it could hit us at home as well, too. All right, Chief, we appreciate your time. Chief Ramirez, thanks for explaining. all that. We're glad you're keeping us safe here. Thank you again. All right, and we thank you for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamerson, New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.