Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, January 11, 2024

Episode Date: January 12, 2024

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

Tonight, breaking news, the U.S. and the U.K. have launched strikes against Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen. Two U.S. officials confirming those strikes on hooty targets. The militia group is responsible for more than two dozen attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea. Could this signal an expanding conflict in the Middle East as the war between Israel and Hamas prepares to enter its 100th day? Also breaking tonight the fate of former President Trump's civil fraud trial now in the hands of a judge. Trump delivering part of his closing argument in a five-minute speech where he declared himself an innocent man and lashed out at New York Attorney General Letitia James and the judge overseen the case. The judge eventually telling Trump's lawyers to control their client on the opposite coast president Biden's son Hunter entering a not guilty plea a day after a surprise appearance on Capitol Hill. The judge in that case setting a trial date, we have live reporters outside both courthouses tonight.

More dangerous weather on the move, a home in Maine collapsing after that massive winter storm brought high waves and flooding to the east coast. Now the third system of this week, barreling east, a semi-truck sliding across the highway in Nevada. In the Midwest, forecasters warning of a bomb cyclone that could bring up to 18 inches of snow to parts of Michigan. And an Arctic blast moving in temperatures, get this, expected as low as negative 40 degrees buried alive, heart racing video, showing rescuers trying to dig out a man who was buried by that deadly avalanche at a popular Lake Tahoe resort. What he told our Maggie Vespa about the excruciating eight minutes, he was trapped under four feet of heavy snow and the moment he realized he would be saved.

Payroll riot, protesters in the Pacific Island nation of Papua New Guinea taking to the streets after public servants were given a pay cut without warning. Buildings looted and set on fire more than a dozen people killed. why this may all be due to a computer glitch. Plus, the legal battle over a piece of art stolen by the Nazis, why a D.C. judge ruled a museum in Madrid can keep a precious painting, even though a California family can prove it belonged to them

before the Holocaust. And the life-saving rescue caught on camera, a grandmother, and a baby trapped inside a car that was filling up with water. How officers managed to get them out within minutes. Top story starts right now. All right, good evening. We are coming on the air with breaking news.

The U.S. and British military launching strikes against targets in Houthi-controlled Yemen, according to two U.S. officials. This as a response to a hootie attack of 21 missiles and drones aimed at U.S. and U.K. warships in protest against Israel's war in Gaza. For more on these strikes, I want to get over to Kier Simmons, who joins me tonight live here on top story. Kier, what more do we know about this sort of joint military operation between the U.S. and the U.K.? Well, it's just developing now, Tom. We are told, as you are reporting there, that the U.S. and British military have launched these strikes against targets in Houthi-controlled Yemen. That's according to two U.S. officials, and we're told they targeted multiple locations with fighter jets and tomahawks fired from Navy ships. This is something that we expected to happen in the past few days, but also, Tom, in the past few hours, as we saw the British government gather, the Prime Minister here in the UK, brief members of his government and members of other parties, that gave us an indication that something was coming.

We were getting indications, too, from the US for the Pentagon, that there was something coming. the reason why, Tom, is because of these Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea that we have seen again and again over a period of months since the Gaza War began. That has caused serious issues for shipping. 20% of the world's shipping going through that crucial lane. And they've begun to have to go in another way, go in another direction around Africa. That, of course, extending that shipping journey. if you like, with the implication that, so the prices of all kinds of things around the world

would go up. So it was a situation that was threatening for the world economy. The US and the UK warned the Houthis again and again to stop these attacks. Otherwise, there would be consequences. Secretary Blinken, just in his tour of the Middle East, just in the past week, it's giving them that warning. The Houthis didn't listen. On Tuesday, they, launched an attack of 21 drones and explosives. And I think that was the tipping point. The question now, Tom, is going to be exactly what targets inside Yemen are being hit. We've heard that there have been three explosions, according to Reuters, in the capital, Sanna.

Is it military targets? You assume it will be. And are the UK and the US able to damage the Houthi's capability to threaten that shipping name because the hootis themselves, Tom, have said that they intend to retaliate and that they will continue with these attacks. They say they are supporting Hamas in Gaza. And, Keir, you know, I think as you point out, it's important to explain to our viewers that these hooty rebels were attacking not only military ships. They were also attacking the shipping cargo ships, as you mentioned as well, in the Red Sea. We're talking about more than 27 or

around 27 attacks by the hooty rebels. We know they're backed by Iran. What more can you tell our viewers about this hooty rebel group? Well, they are backed by Iran. They're not controlled by Iran. That's according to them and according to the Iranians. And why would they be doing this? Why would they be supporting Hamas? It's making them more popular in Yemen. So they have a kind of local political reason for wanting to do this. They think as well that is raising their profile around the world. And there are those who, experts in Yemen, who are looking at this and saying, actually, the Houthis may well be enjoying this possibility of getting into a fight with the US, getting into the fight to a fight with the UK, albeit that, you know, it's a very one-sided fight, clearly. They may be enjoying that because, again, it's going to raise their profile and potentially increase their popularity inside Yemen.

And that gets to one of the questions that you're going to hear in the days to come, Tom. And that is going to be, has this stopped the Houthis from carrying out these attacks? Is it possible to stop them from carrying out these attacks? And if it isn't, then was this the right thing to do? As you mentioned, the US, the White House, I think, and the British have felt like they had no choice because they've given the Houthis warnings again and again. And if they didn't kind of, you know, enforce that red line, then what would be the point of the red line at all? So there has been that.

But equally, though, you know, I think we wait to hear, Tom, exactly what targets have been hit, and what the U.S. and UK have been able to do, but there will be controversy surrounding this. Keir Simmons, live for us in London on that breaking news. Kier, we greatly appreciate your time and your reporting on this story. And our other major headline tonight, those pivotal moments, in two high-profile political cases. Hunter Biden pleading not guilty to federal tax charges and former President Trump's months-long fraud trial

coming to an explosive close. Trump's stoic before the judge today before giving five minutes of unexpected remarks that included a barrage of accusatory statements aimed at the judge and New York Attorney General Letitia James. At one point, the former president saying, quote, we have a situation where I'm an innocent man, I've been persecuted by somebody running for office.

James, speaking to reporters outside the court, saying the case has never been about politics, but that Trump, quote, violated the law. Meanwhile, on the West Coast, Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to these charges for allegedly failing to pay more than $1 million in taxes to or felony charges. The U.S. District Judge proposed a June 20th date for a potential trial date. That would be right as his dad is campaigning for a reelection. Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles has the latest on Hunter Biden in a moment, but let's go to senior legal correspondent.

Laura Jarrett on the Trump case right now. Fireworks in the courtroom. Donald Trump delivering his own closing argument in his Manhattan civil fraud trial today. Facing the prospect of losing control of his namesake company and a massive civil penalty, Mr. Trump briefly took matters into his own hands, declaring himself an innocent man, delivering a nearly five-minute speech, largely grievances against the New York Attorney General and the judge overseeing the case, whom he was. accused of having his own agenda. All that, forcing Judge Arthur and Goren, who previously

resisted granting the former president permission to speak in closings, to call on Mr. Trump's attorneys to, quote, control their client. They don't have any evidence against us. Millions and millions of pages, years of litigation, and all politically motivated. The surreal scene in court today playing out just hours after police responded to a bomb threat, a judge in Goren's home. The judge, having become a target months ago after deciding the heart of the state's case against Mr. Trump, his sons and the Trump organization, finding them liable for fraud. The Attorney General's office now asking for a $370 million civil penalty against Trump for ill-gotten gains, alleging his company intentionally exaggerated the value of some of its most

well-known real estate properties like Mar-Lago and 40 Wall Street to receive better loans. from banks. We have produced evidence about the scope, the scale, the depth, the breath of the illegality, the fraud that impersonally enriched Donald Trump. Mr. Trump said in court today the banks got all their money back, as his defense team implored the judge not to impose the corporate death penalty for what they call a victimless crime. Arguments Judge Engoran previously rejected in his September summary judgment decision. All right, Laura Jarrett joins us tonight from outside the courthouse. Laura, do we have any timeline on when the judge's decision will come in?

Yes, Tom, actually, at the end of the proceedings today, Judge Ungorn said that he actually expects to have a written decision on this matter by the end of this month. And if that sounds fast, Tom, remember, he's already decided the heart of the case, the heart of the fraud claim at the Attorney General's case here. That's already been decided. So there's just a few straggler claims left and, of course, the ultimate penalty still left to come, Tom. Really interesting because by the end of the month, there'll be of the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary, so we'll see what happens there. I do want to ask you about something in your report. What did they mean when they said the corporate death penalty, when Team Trump said

that? Yeah, Tom, it's a phrase that his defense attorneys have used repeatedly here, essentially meaning that the fine that the Attorney General is seeking is so great. $370 million that it was essentially running him out of business. He will have to sell assets in order to pay that type of judgment, Tom. Okay, Laura, Jared, for us outside the courthouse, Laura, thank you for that. For more on what this case means for Trump and his real estate empire. I want to bring in NBC News legal analysts and a friend of Top Story, Angela Senadella. Angela, thanks for being here.

So let's get right to it. Give me the best case scenario for Trump and the worst case scenario for Trump. already know that there has been a finding a fraud against Trump. So at this point, it's additional illegal acts that are actually crimes that are being disguised here in a civil lawsuit, things like insurance fraud, falsifying financial statements. So context there is best case. The judge rules he is not liable for any of that. He did not commit any of those. And as a result, it claims there are no damages, does not award anything to the attorney general, and also does not institute any sort of ban. I'm smiling here because it's very unlikely. We're going to get that best case scenario.

But that's the best case. What about the worst case? So the worst case is pretty bad, and that's if they do find that he was liable for all of those additional acts, also that he enriched himself so unjustly that he would have to pay $370 million plus interest. And also there's this lifetime commercial real estate ban the Attorney General is trying to institute. $370 million. The former president says he's a multi-billionaire. I mean, but that's such a big number.

Would that take his empire down? It's a huge number because he'd have to pay it immediately. Like there's not likely going to be this long-term plan. All of his real estate assets, he pays a down payment, then gets a mortgage, gets leverage. In this case, that is unlikely. But also, if you think about the possibility that he could be banned from commercial real estate in Manhattan, New York State, forever, that is huge for its entire business. But knowing that he may have to write a check for $370 million, he still spoke up in court today

and spoke out against the judge. If you were his attorney, would you have allowed him to do that? You know, I'm going to say unusually here, I don't even think it mattered. So if he felt that on that platform, he was gaining any traction politically, personally, for any other reason. But in this case, the judge was going by the law. In this case, the Attorney General has such wide discretion to institute penalties based on even just misrepresentations. He was not going to help or hurt his case either way. You think he's getting the $370 million fine?

I don't think he's going to get that much, but he's going to get some sort of... And then finally, why is it going to take a month for him to make the decision? Do you think he's looking at the political calendar, and he sees that Iowa's next week and the New Hampshire's the week after that, or do you think he doesn't care about this? I think it's impossible not to care about this, but judges will never admit they care about this. But one month is not that long, and you think about 11 weeks of trial, and there's one man writing a very impactful decision here. Okay, Angela Senadella, we always appreciate your analysis. Thank you. We turn out at Los Angeles where Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to nine federal tax charges earlier today. The president's son standing before a judge just one month after being indicted on allegations he failed to pay more than $1 million in taxes.

All of this coming after he made a surprise appearance on Capitol Hill yesterday. Ryan Nobles has the details. Today, Hunter Biden again in federal court pleading not guilty to nine tax charges, three of them felonies that could land him in prison for 17 years if convicted. Prosecutors say Biden willfully avoided paying $1.4 million in taxes from 20. 2016 to 2019. Instead, spending, quote, millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills. Inside court, Biden answering brief questions from the judge who sent a tentative June

20th trial date. Biden's legal team has argued Hunter was dealing with addiction and has since paid his taxes back. It comes after Hunter Biden's surprise appearance in Congress yesterday, showing up at a hearing where Republicans were considering recommending contempt of Congress charges against against him. Ignoring a congressional subpoena to be deposed, what are you afraid of? Hunter Biden refusing to comply with the subpoena for a closed-door testimony, saying he would only talk in public, leaving the hearing room after a few minutes. Republicans calling it a PR stunt.

He was not there to answer questions. This is the second time that Hunter Biden has displayed in real time the arrogance and entitlement that he's had his entire life. This morning, First Lady Joe Biden said she was proud of the way her son has managed his recovery and blasted Republicans for showing naked selfies of Hunter during a recent hearing. What they are doing to Hunter is cruel. And I'm really proud of how Hunter has rebuilt his life after addiction. And I think, you know, I love my son and it's had, it's hurt my grandchildren. And, That's what I'm so concerned about. With that, Ryan Nobles joins us live from Los Angeles.

Ryan, thank you for joining Top Story tonight. I do want to ask you, looking at the political calendar, we know that the Democratic National Convention is going to be in August. That's a long time away. A lot could happen until then. Will Hunter Biden's legal troubles in this case wrap up by then? Will we know how this ends, or will it still continue? Well, based on the calendar that the judge laid out today, June 20th would be the

that this trial would start. And it's difficult to predict how long it might take, but there is the real possibility it could be wrapped up before the Democratic Convention. The question is, do these motions make it go on a little bit longer? And this, of course, not his only legal issue. There's the real possibility that he could be held in contempt of Congress as soon as next week. And that's something the Justice Department could hand down an additional group of charges related to. Tom. All right. Ryan Nobles is reporting, taking him coast to coast. Ryan, we appreciate that. Next tonight, a new major winter storm on the move. across the country. The system so intense, it qualifies as a bomb cyclone packed with blizzards,

bitter, cold, heavy rains, and high winds. We're going to explain more of that in a second. That storm already causing a deadly avalanche with people caught in its path, lucky to survive. Maggie Vespa has the latest. Tonight, the next wave of severe winter weather already leaving devastation in its wake. It swept me off my feet, threw me onto my back. In California, heavy snow and high winds sparking a sudden deadly avalanche at the Palisades Taho Resort Wednesday. Crews here digging out Jason Parker. You thought for a minute there you might die.

Oh, there's, yeah, there's no doubt. The 52-year-old Nevada snowboarder was buried by up to four feet of snow for roughly eight minutes, unable to move and losing oxygen. I think I'm just starting to black out at this point. And I just said, this is the way I'm going to go. rescuers working frantically that's when I felt this probe hit the back of my back just like oh oh my god they've got me and then I could hear somebody yell I've got them authorities say one man 66 year old Kenneth kid died in the avalanche two people were injured now that system on the move and gaining strength a winter war nation now bracing for another blast all right maggie vesp

joins us live from Chicago. Maggie, that was such an incredible, compelling interview. You know, you can always be a Monday morning quarterback, but did he explain to you with the weather so bad why he went out and hit the slopes that day? He did. You know, he says he wasn't the only one, and the resort backs that up. And just to kind of, we went back to fact check. At the resort, it's worth noting, Tom, had tweeted earlier in the day that their runs were open. They had done what they call avalanche checks, like, you know, train guides had gone out and skied those runs and really check conditions and done what they normally do when storms like that hit. And they gave the green light. That was only Parker's second run of the morning. It was about 9.30

in the morning when that happened. And basically he said, you know, he's skied on runs before where things seem to be fine, but you can never quite tell. It just speaks, Tom, to the intensity of this storm that is now, as you know, headed our way. Yeah, Tom. Maggie Vespa first. Maggie, we thank you for that. For more on those dangerous weather conditions, Maggie mentioned. I want to get right over NBC meteorologist Bill Carrance. Bill, I know you've been a busy guy. the last two weeks. So talk to us now about this one and where it's headed. So the Iowa caucus only days away and most of the state is under a blizzard warning for late tonight and all day tomorrow. Winter storm morning, Chicago, Omaha to Milwaukee. So a high impact storm in the plains

to the Midwest. Someone's going to get a foot of snow near the Illinois, Wisconsin border. And then up northwards, Milwaukee, Green Bay is going to get nailed. Same with much of Michigan. Then late tonight, just like the last storm, there will be severe weather. We're hoping this one does not have the tornadoes like last time. We had 24 last time with that storm a couple days ago. This one, hopefully that tornadoes will be more isolated and hopefully they won't hit anyone. But as we go throughout the day tomorrow, these storms will sweep all the way through the south, same locations that the last line of storms went through. And then the northeast, we still have all of these rivers in flood stage,

and now we have another inch or two coming. That's why flood watchers are up for the entire I-95 quarter. And Tom, how about this? Behind the storm, this is what's different. Negative 42 right now is the wind chill in Montana, and that air is going to sweep all the way to Texas by the weekend. Negative 42. All right, Bill Karin's first. Bill, thank you for that. We turn out of the latest from the campaign trail with the Iowa caucuses, as Bill mentioned, just four days away.

The 2024 hopefuls are battling for that second-place spot behind Donald Trump. Nikki Haley pushing forward despite those disparaging comments from former rival Chris Christie that were caught on a hot mic. Garrett Haik has more. Nikki Haley tonight shrugging off this hot mic, Chris Christie critique, threatening to blunt her momentum in the final four. four days before the Iowa caucuses. And she's going to get smoked, and you and I both know it. She's not up to this. How do you convince folks he's wrong, and you're up to this moment?

I don't have to convince people he's wrong, because nobody in that crowd's asking me about that. I mean, they see, politics is not personal for me. It is for the fellows. It's not for me. So get excited, four days until caucus. Haley has ridden rising poll numbers into a battle for second place in Iowa behind Donald Trump. hoping to defy expectations here. All the media pundits love to talk about how they know what's going to happen in Iowa.

I trust that you did your homework. I trust that you know where you want the country to go. Her crowds now growing. She's as qualified as any person running for president in the last couple of decades. But Haley's recent rise has put a political target on her back. The Trump campaign launching a new ad highlighting her views on Social Security this morning. Haley's plan cut Social Security benefits. And Ron DeSantis, who has focused his campaign heavily on Iowa and needs a strong showing here,

mocking her debate performance last night. I think it was like a Hillary Clinton-type performance. Haley, expecting to outlast the Florida governor. It's going to be a two-person race. We know that. Our goal is not to worry about petty things that others say. It's more about what do we need to do to get that next vote. Gary joins us tonight from Urbondale, Iowa, from a Trump event that just runs.

Garrett, I want to go back to the former president's town hall yesterday because he seemed to walk back some of his previous comments of recent weeks. Let's take a listen. I am not going to be a dictator. I'm not going to have time for retribution. We're going to make this country so successful again. I'm not going to have time for retribution. All right, Gary, it seemed like the president sort of walked back a lot of things he had said in recent weeks. Any idea why suddenly this change of tone right before the Iowa caucus?

Well, you saw him walking back that comment yesterday. We also saw his campaign walking back a comment he made, suggesting that he'd already picked his vice presidential nominee to be on the ticket with him. I think this all has to do with shaping his campaign for the race ahead, specifically the race he sees ahead against Joe Biden. Donald Trump is so far ahead in Iowa, his campaign so confident, they're starting to try to operate like a general election campaign. They understand that what they've had to do to basically squash Ron DeSantis in Iowa, what they're about to try to do to defeat Nikki Haley in New Hampshire. is a short-term play, and they need to start sounding more like a general election candidate who can appeal to those suburban voters, those more moderate voters who Trump has pushed out of the traditional Republican Party over the last couple of years.

If he wants to reverse what happened to him in 2020, he's got to get those folks back, and a lot of that starts right now, Tom. And Garrett, we see some voters there, potential voters just behind you. We know the weather's going to be bad in Iowa. What's your sense of the excitement there around the Iowa caucuses? Are you hearing from a lot of people that they're going to participate, or is the enthusiasm not there this time around? I think the enthusiasm is dampened compared to other Republican caucuses that I've covered, certainly in 2016, where you had big names in this race.

Donald Trump, who was at that point a totally untested candidate, plus Marco Rubia, who's supposed to be a young up-and-comer, Ted Cruz, kind of a hero of the far right. That was a much closer fought caucus back in 2016, and you saw that intensity in the room. Likewise, in 2012, when I was here with Mitt Romney, when he ultimately lost by, I think it was eight votes to Rick's. Santorum. You saw the whole party here, all the surrogates, a major fight. Donald Trump has been so far in the lead here for so long. The drama to the degree there is any is about this battle for second place. And unless you're a hardcore Trump supporter, like many of these folks here who came to see Donald Trump Jr. speak this evening, there's not much drama in the results here. And I think that's taken some of the energy out of the first in the nation caucus, Tom.

Garrett Hake for us from the campaign trail. Garrett, we thank you for that. With the Iowa caucus, days away the campaigns on the ground for each Republican are working hard to make sure their candidate gets a support to secure a win on Monday. Our next guest has an idea of what that is like. Joining us now is someone who maybe knows GOP politics, better than anyone else in Iowa, prominent strategist Dave Cottrell. He's also the host of the highball politics podcast and was a strategist for the Romney campaign in Iowa. Dave, welcome to Top Story. Sorry that Garrett had to remind us there that I think Santorum. walked away with about six votes or a half a dozen votes when he beat Mitt Romney that time around.

That was kind of wild. I wanted to have you on the show because I know you know the state inside and out, and I know you've made an important point to tell people who are covering this race that when the turnout is low, sometimes people can be surprised. We know the weather is going to be a big factor on Monday. Do you foresee any surprises on Monday with Trump so far out ahead? Well, I don't, look, Trump is a dominant frontrunner right now. We'll see what the polls look like over the weekend.

I'm sure we'll see a big one coming in. I don't think he's at risk of not winning the caucuses. But as you know, caucuses are always measured by how you do against your expectations. So if turnout is low, there's much more likelihood for a surprise. And with the weather being what it is, I think this will be the coldest Iowa caucus in the history of the caucuses. We're talking 10 below, 20 below, not just cold and inconvenient, but it hurts. And there's danger. Your car might not start.

Battery might go dead. Frostbite. There's lots of risk at, you know, this kind of weather. It's extreme. So I think it will hold down turnout a little bit. It won't hold it down much because you still have a lot of people who have been looking forward to this for a year or longer. So we'll see what it does to turn out, but definitely a low turnout can cause a surprise.

So, Dave, last night we had on the show, Iowa Evangelical Leader Bob Vanderplats, who you know has endorsed Governor Ron DeSantis. He told me that he still thinks Ron DeSantis can win Iowa. Let's listen to a piece of that. Ron DeSantis has done the Iowa caucuses, the old-fashioned way. He's gotten a lot of key endorsements. So the most important one is that of Governor Kim Reynolds. He's got a bunch of legislative endorsements. He's got 120 county chairs for 99 counties, 1,600 precinct captains.

that's what it takes to win in Iowa caucus, especially on a cold winter's night. That's why my pulse does not match up with the polls, and I'm very optimistic and bullish on Ron DeSantis' chances on January 15. So, Dave, you know, he was very gracious there saying he received the biggest endorsement, but he's also, you could argue, maybe received the two biggest endorsements with the governor and Bob Vanderplats there as well. Evangelicals can break late. they can break together.

Do we have any reason to believe they're going to break for Governor Ron DeSantis? We have a lot of reason. Everything he said is true, is correct. And Bob Vanderplotz knows that coalition of voters better than anybody else in the state. He has been right the last three campaigns, 08, 12, and 16. The candidate that he went to and endorsed was the candidate that came out on top. But that is in an environment where all the evangelicals seem to move together. as you said, and broke late.

In 2000, Evangelicals were split between George W. Bush and between other lesser candidates like Gary Bauer, who came out of a Christian media background. This will be the first time since 2000, where I think we will see a split in evangelicals, although he's got the high-profile endorsements and a lot of faith leaders on board for Ron DeSantis. You also have Donald Trump, who released about 120 faith leaders himself, right around the time of the Vanderpott's endorsement. So this might be the first time we see a split in evangelicals. I think what you'll see is the demographic folks that you usually see with Trump, which is non-college, white working class voters going with Trump, and then maybe the more affluent evangelical voters like we see out of northwest Iowa where Bob is from, who will be for DeSantis.

So it'll be really interesting to see. I do think DeSantis is going to do well with evangelicals, but I think he's got real competition from Trump, particularly among certain types of evangelicals. certain parts of the state where Trump has it, an intrinsic strength. You have the GOP pulse in Iowa. Why is former President Trump still so strong? Well, he's really running as a quasi-incumbent, and although he didn't finish first in the caucuses in 2016, he was right there at the top with Cruz first, Trump second, Rubio. They were all bunched together within about four points.

And then you have him on the ballot, winning Iowa in the general election, serving as president for four years. Losing the presidency in 2020, but he's still won Iowa. He just has a lot of fans here. He represents, you know, taking it to the establishment, taking it to Washington, D.C. He's still, he, even though he was president for four years, he still has that outsider feel to his campaign and his candidacy. And I think, you know, there's just a lot of people who are sort of loyal to him. And among evangelicals in particular, where you would normally think they go with a candidate like DeSantis, you know, he's got the three judges. He can point right back to that and say, I delivered for you, and they've been using that messaging on

the road in Iowa. And so, you know, he's running really as a quasi-incumbent, and I think that's where his advantage has been built. And we'll see what happens Monday. He's got to hit over 50 right now to meet his expectations because all the polling has him up high. And if he comes in below that in the 40s, people might ask on Tuesday morning, what happened with Trump? Why did he fall short of where his polling was? So that's really the game in Iowa. How do you do against your own expectations? And how do you do against the field? Well, no, in a few days. Okay, Dave Cottel for us from Iowa. Dave, we appreciate it. Still ahead tonight. The Food Network star arrested. Did you hear about this?

The Super Chef, host and judge on hit shows like Chopped, facing a slew of charges including felony, strangulation, what we know so far about his case. Plus, Boeing under the microscope, The new investigation launched by the FAA after part of an Alaska Airlines plane blew off mid-flight and the grandmother and a baby trapped in a car that was filling up with water, the rescue by police that was all caught on camera

and just in the nick of time. Stay with us. Now to the dramatic weather rescue caught on camera, first responders in Florida rushing to save a baby and a grandmother trapped in a partially submerged vehicle. The local sheriff telling NBC's Guadvenegas, he's thankful for his deputies that arrived just in time.

Hey, can you hear us? The sheriff's office. An incredible rescue with Flagler County Sheriff's deputies arriving within minutes. After a car crashed on its side in a Florida ditch, quickly filling up with water during the rescue. Oh, the kid, the kid, Jen. Trapped inside, just barely above water, a baby and a grandma.

All right, we're going to get your baby first, all right? First responders breaking the window with a baby still strapped in her car seat. Watch your eyes. Let's get the baby out. And the water was almost up over the car seat. We got a kid in here, and we got this baby's head is barely above water. So they knew that they had to quickly get this child out of the car seat and out of the car seat and out of that car before it slipped or even completely turned over.

There's a baby. Get it out. Come on. Deputies handing the child off to firefighters, then helping the grandmother get out to. Command two incoming units. We got one child out. We're working on the female now. The harrowing rescue all caught on camera last week.

The video just released by the Flagler County Sheriff. How does it feel to know that your officer has made this rescue? But I'm very proud of our team. I'm proud of the teamwork that we're showing between the fire rescue guys and the sheriff's office. So it's a great rate to start 2024. It just shows the community how well trained our deputies are and how they're willing to, in this case, get very wet, jumping into a drainage ditch and rescue two people. I did.

You're good. You're doing great, ma'am. You're doing great. Take nice and deep breaths. A grandmother and an infant, lucky to have survived. Guad vanegas, NBC News. Yeah, lucky they got out. All right, when we come back, one family's stolen masterpiece,

the painting taken by the Nazis nearly a century ago, why a California court just ruled it can't be returned to the original owners. Why? We'll explain. All right, we are back now with Top Stories News Feed and a Food Network star arrested over an alleged domestic violence case. Police in Kentucky say Darnell Ferguson, who hosts Super Chef Grudge Match and is a frequent judge on hit shows like Chopped, is facing several charges, including felony strangulation, terroristic threatening, and assault. Local media reporting he choked a woman and threatened to kill her last week. Lawyers for Ferguson have not yet commented.

Okay, the FAA is now investigating Boeing over that Alaska Airlines blowout we've been telling you about. In a statement, the agency said it will look into whether Boeing failed to make sure their planes weren't compliance with FAA regulations. As we've reported, the door plug of a 737 max 9 jet blew off midair on Friday leading to this right here, other airlines reported loose bolts during an inspection. Now, it was a studying decision by a California court this week ruling that a Spanish museum does not have to be. to return a painting that was stolen by the Nazis from a Jewish woman in Germany. Her great-grandson leading the fight to get it back, even showing evidence. Dana Griffin spoke to him about that case and has this report. Nearly a century after it was stolen from a Jewish woman by the Nazis,

the fate of this painting worth tens of millions has been sealed. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling the Tissin-Bornamisa Museum in Madrid does not have to return the painting to its original owner's family. I was stunned. I was very hurt, and I was hurt on behalf of my parents and my family and my late sister. Lily Kassarer's family says she surrendered the painting Camille Pissarro's 1897 Roussan Onore in the afternoon effect of rain to the Nazis to get a visa so she could flee Berlin in 1939, just months before the invasion of Poland. But the $360 they forced her to sell it for never came. The painting passed through several owners before a foundation tied to the Kingdom of Spain,

purchased it in 1993, as part of a collection from Baron Hans Heinrich, Tissan Bournemisa, worth $2 billion. Spain was buying the entire collection, or most of it, of the Tissin's steel family, not just the barons. Lily's grandson, Claude Casier, sued Spain in 2005 to get it back. his son David taking up the legal battle after his father's death in 2010. The case hinges on this photo. What the Kassera team says is the smoking gun. It shows Kassar's old apartment with the painting hanging above her sofa. Most people don't have photographs of the painting hanging over the sofa because they were sent to death camps.

Experts also found this sanded off sticker on the back of the frame, the stamp of a gallery belonging to the Kassir family in Berlin. Under Spanish law, if the museum had known the art was stolen by the Nazis at the time of purchase, they would have to return it. But they say they couldn't have known. Tritsitson, the baron's uncle, financed Hitler's rise to power. The baron's father is pictured there with Herman Gearing. The very idea that they didn't know is nonsense. The two sides have disputed whether U.S. law or Spanish law applies in the case.

But on Tuesday, a three-judge panel ruled again that Spanish law supersedes California. law, allowing the Tissan-Bronomisa to keep the peace. The museum's director, Ivelio Acevedo, saying, the decision does justice. There is no anti-Semitic sentiment at all, he says, absolutely none. What the Spanish government's policy here is really done is it's turned Spain into a haven for looted art. The Nazis stole an estimated 600,000 works of art during their conquest of Europe. She was taken off the walls of our whole.

by the Nazis. The story of one of them, Gustav's Clint's portrait of Adela Bloch Bauer won and the fight to return it to its owner's family, portrayed in the 2015 movie Woman in Gold. People see a masterpiece by one of Austria's finest artists, but I see a picture of my aunt. Art suspected to have been looted by the Nazis is scattered in museums around the world. The Louvre alone says it has roughly 1700 and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York says it's returned dozens of stolen works to their rightful owners. But for the Casera family, the fight goes on

for a great grandmother's masterpiece. We're going to file a petition for rehearing and rehearing in bank, which means we're asking the panel to review some of the legal errors we believe occurred. What would this mean for you and your family to get this painting back? I'm almost 70, and I haven't got that much time left. So I have instructions from my father to set up a Kassir Family Foundation, a new foundation. I would like to have a legacy where I'm helping others. This painting needs to be sold for that purpose. Dana Griffin, NBC News.

All right, coming up, payroll riot, building set ablaze and more than a dozen people killed in Papua New Guinea. Why this chaos may all be over a computer glitch involving payroll. We'll explain next. We're back now with the chaos erupting overseas, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, declaring a state of emergency after 15 people were killed in riots there. Megan Fitzgerald has more on the computer glitch that sparked that outrage. Tonight, raging riots in Papua New Guinea, triggering a 14-day state of emergency. Angry protesters spilling into the streets of the nation's capital, Port Moseby,

looting buildings and laying waste to businesses. Over a dozen stores have been set on fire. Prime Minister James Marrape swiftly addressing the disorder, bringing in armed forces to contain the masses. We have over a thousand men from defense force ready and standby for coming and work under state emergency loss. The spark for these riots igniting after an unexpected pay cut for public servants, including police and defense officers.

But the government says, This all boils down to a simple computer glitch, which they have promised to fix. We've suspended Finance Secretary. We've suspended Treasury Secretary. The chaos first started as peaceful demonstrations, led by the affected public servants, but has evolved into protests over wider issues facing the most populous nation in the Southwest Pacific. For nearly 40 percent of citizens live below the poverty line, and the cost of living is rapidly

increasing. Despite its economic turmoil, Papua New Guinea is a strategic partner for the United States. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visiting the island nation last spring to sign a defense deal, as the U.S. and its allies look to limit China's influence in the region. But for the nation's 10 million people, the turmoil playing out in front of them right now poses a much more urgent threat. In 48 years of independence, I can't recall in my lifetime seeing this level of devastation in a single day event. And it's just senseless. With frustration reaching a boiling point, Marape promises accountability.

I encourage all our citizens to step up today and give respect to your country one more time. We look at how we would bring responsible people to face a full arm of law. Tom, the U.S. Embassy in Papua New Guinea says demonstrations have ended for now, but discontent still roots itself deep in a country plagued with economic woes. Tom. Okay, Megan, thank you for that. When we come back, the Israel Hamas war entering 100 days and our interview with one man who served on the front lines. Stay with us. Omer, can you hear us? It's Ema and Abel. We're here. We're really close to you. We're fighting for you every single day. That was an emotional moment

from the Israel Gaza border. You heard there the families of those murdered and taken hostage by Hamas calling out the names of those loved ones. This has we approached the 100-day mark

of the Israel-Hamas war this Monday. Throughout the war, many Israeli Americans have felt compelled to go to Israel and fight. Thousands of Americans have gone to the Middle East

to join the war effort. When I was overseas in Israel, I met Shy Bernstein. He's a flyer. father and a husband who is living in New York. When he heard about the terror attack in Israel at his families, Shabbat services at his synagogue, Shai, who was a dual citizen and had already served his time in the Israeli military, told me back in October that he felt the immediate need to leave New York

and fight for his home and his heritage. Shai returned back from serving in Israel, and tonight he joins Top Story here in studio. Shai, we thank you for being here. I guess my first question where I want to start is, we see. saw the world witnessed that terror attack in Israel that was so horrific. Since then, almost 100 days of war, Gaza has been devastated, so many lives lost. You fought in this war. How strange is it to be back? Well, first of all, thanks for having me, Tom. It's good to see you.

I think, you know, for me, being born in New York and moving my family to Israel and I was a baby, growing up in Israel, but still, you know, loving Dave Matthews band and watching the NFL, even though the Giants aren't doing great, it's always that dual citizenship aspect. And I think coming back here, I feel at home in many ways, and at Israel I feel at home, of course, in many ways. The dissonance is, of course, very difficult because we're at war, and it's still going on. And when I left, you know, my wife and kids, it was very clear to me. that there was no other choice and that I had to go.

And even throughout, you know, the whole time there, it was a surely unfortunate. We lost friends and soldiers. A lot of my friends wounded. We unfortunately experienced quite a few incidents. It was an RPG that hit my team. And out of six, three were injured. It's crazy to think about it, especially when all this happened in an UNR school.

So you're walking in a school, and you're searching because we have intel that there's a Hamas stronghold over there. So you're inside of Gaza and you're searching a school? Correct. Inside Gaza. And sure enough, we find the Hamas stronghold, and we find mortar shells and bombs and missiles and Kalachnikov automatic rifles and maps and laptops and a lot of intel that we were able to retrieve to, you know, learn more about where they put booby traps and information about the hostages and so on. And an hour after we, that RPG hit, and, you know, it's, you know, a miracle I'm standing here with you, to be honest, you know, very easily.

I could have been one of those pictures, and you could have said, gosh, you know, I met him in October. And I was just behind the wall where my friends got hit. And after we came to, you know, aid them and working with the doctors to get them evacuated, an hour later, we lost another soldier, was hit by a sniper. And it's horrific to see all this happening in an UNR school. And we have footage of everything, right? You see it just like a playground. Very similar to what my kids have in their school.

Yeah. And it's, you know, it's... When you say Ounga, so... URah. Yeah, viewers at home know from the United Nations? Correct. From the United Nations, yes. And we've seen this in many other UNA schools

and U.N. facilities that had the same thing. And unfortunately, we know this from Hamas, right? We had, you know, almost every hospital had tunnels. We specifically went to one hospital and found there, you know, a tunnel. We had intel that hostages were kept there. And by the time we got there, they weren't there anymore. But I got to say, that was, you know, a very difficult day. I remember looking at a hospital, you know, my wife's a doctor,

just seeing, seeing medications, seeing a mini-mouse, you know, poster on the wall. You could see it's like a kid's clinic. Yeah. And, you know, you have the munitions, and you have this shaft of the Hamas tunnel. And, you know, the hospital's supposed to help people get better, and they're using it, you know, for terrorist activities. Inside of Gaza, the fighting in Gaza, the places where you had, you know, your exchange of gunfire, did you see civilians? Were there civilians still out there? Were there Hamas fighters, terrorists, using the civilians as shields?

What did you witness with your own eyes? So in this specific case, in our area, they weren't almost, yeah, they weren't any civilians. It's northern Gaza. Northern Gaza, Betchanun, correct. And what I have seen in my active duty, I served between 2003 and 2007. And there I saw multiple times I'm using, you know, civilians as human shields. And what we did see now multiple times was not only using hospitals, but also all the rest of the homes. Every other house has, you know, an RPG, Hamas flags, you know, using mosques.

I lost a friend of mine, about 200 yards away from me from a different unit. He was in a mosque that was booby-trapped. The guy's, you know, medical school has five kids. And it's... What was Gaza like, what it looked like to you, to your eyes? Well, I think I have an interesting perspective about Gaza because I served before during and after the disengagement from Gaza. Yeah. As people may know, right in 2005, Israel pulled out all Israeli civilians in an attempt to make peace and bring peace in the region.

Unfortunately, Hamas, it's like urban planning for terrorism. They built a whole area that is just completely used for terrorism. The tunnels are longer than the New York City subway. You think about all the resources, and by the way, aid that keeps coming in and that has been coming in all these years, and Hamas just takes everything. As you may know, South Africa has filed with the UN genocide charges against Israel. We have covered both sides of this war, obviously the terrorist attack, and this is something you and I have had long conversations about, and the response from Israel in Gaza as well. Gaza is completely destroyed. We've seen the images.

It's a hellscape. Has Israel gone too far? Or do you think Israel's response can be justified? And I ask, and I understand, all of the innocent Israelis that did not start this, that were killed in this terrorist attack, but a lot of Palestinian civilians have died as well. You fought in this war. I know you have a much different perspective because you were there fighting, defending your homeland. What do you say to countries like South Africa and to others who have been critical of Israel's response? Right. So first of all, a small correction. Not all of Gaza is destroyed.

What we see in the news is the destruction. No doubt Israel has been bombing heavily, rightfully so, and for a simple reason. Pretty much every section that the north or the south has been bombed. I mean, yeah. Okay. Yeah. So the idea of, like, I feel there's one fundamental fact that many of us miss out on. And that is that Israel targets terrorists, and Hamas targets civilians. Full stop. And it's two-fold civilians, because it's not only the, you know, more than 1,200 Israeli civilians that were murdered and tortured and raped. It's the Palestinian civilians. And the fact that they keep using hospitals and using schools and using the civilians, not allowing them to evacuate,

Israel notifies them that we're going to attack and they evacuate. Who does that in a war? Israel does, knowing that Hamas now is going to hide, right? And what keeps on happening, this is where they use the civilians as human shields. And what I would also say is to South Africa and to other countries and people who feel that they need to criticize Israel. Let's just imagine for a minute, Coachella music concert in three months. And God forbid, jeeps with terrorists coming in and shooting all over the place, kids were having fun, people who are dancing, in the music festival, and raping women and burning children, amputating, and then kidnapping,

more than 240 of them, right, till this day, we're almost 100 days in, and they're over, I think it's 136 hostages. And so my question is, what would South Africa do? What would the American government do? What would any European country do? How do you think this slows down, maybe comes to an end? Do you think we're going to see that? I think that now, you know, we're shifting into a different stage in the war.

Where it will be more surgical. But at the end of the day, Israel is in a constant state of war. We have Chiswala up north that from October 7th has been firing. And, you know, I think people are quite privileged and don't understand that Israel is fighting for its life. And yes, Israel is a relatively strong country. But since when is that the metrics for good and evil? And Israel isn't perfect, okay?

Neither is America or Canada or South Africa. But something very clear that I feel like a lot of us, you know, misunderstand is that Israel always targets terrorists and Hamas target civilians, and that's a very big difference. I do want to ask you if you are called to go back. Will you go back? Do you think you're going to go back? So the answer is yes, I would go. Of course, I have to speak to my wife and my work.

My wife's the real hero, by the way. But if they need me, I'll have to go back, yeah. Okay. Shy Bernstein, we thank you so much for joining Top Story and sharing as much as you did. Thank you. Can I just add one more thing at the end? We're out of time, but shy, and I'm also, I'm happy you came back.

Thank you so much. We want to thank you for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamis in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.