Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, January 12, 2023

Episode Date: January 13, 2023

More than a dozen tornadoes reported across the South tearing through communities, the Justice Department appointing a special counsel to investigate Biden's handling of classified documents, Ukraine is bracing for Putin's next offensive, the Idaho murder suspect waives his right to a speedy trial, and the death toll climbing in Peru after anti-government protests spill into the streets.

Tonight, breaking news. As we come on the air, more than a dozen tornadoes reported across the south. Multiple funnel clouds spotted across Alabama and Georgia. One of them, tearing through Selma, carving a massive trail of destruction. Homes flattened buildings on fire. Reports of a tornado near Atlanta grounding all flights at the busiest airport in the country will time it out on this dangerous night. The bombshell announcement out of Washington, the Justice Department, appointing a special counsel to invest in investigate Biden's handling of classified documents. The president confirming several documents were found at his home in Delaware, in the garage where he keeps his corvette and in his library. Another batch found at a private D.C. office that major question tonight, why did the White

House wait more than two months to reveal what they had discovered? The man accused of murdering four college students appearing before a judge in Idaho. The new court date just set, as we're learning more about the investigation that led to his arrest. Plus, the two surviving triplets of one of the slain students returning to campus, the emotional message their mother posted to social media. Keeb on alert, Ukraine bracing for Putin's next offensive, which could begin at any moment why a buildup of troops in neighboring Belarus could put the capital city back in the bullseye.

Plus, the death toll climbing in Peru as violent anti-government protests spill out onto the streets. 17 civilians killed in a single day, the political crisis behind the scenes. of chaos. And the wild video out of Shanghai, a hotel guest smashing his car into the lobby would officials say the staff there did that sent the driver into a rage. Top story. Starts right now. And good evening. We begin tonight with that breaking news. Multiple tornadoes reported across the south. Widespread damage and injuries reported. A state of emergency declared in six Alabama counties, and this is why. Multiple reports of tornadoes touching down this one tearing across the city of Pratville, just north of Montgomery. And a confirmed tornado. Look at this one, an absolute

monster. Touching down in Selma, knocking out power to thousands. The images of the damage just coming in tonight, buildings completely leveled, fires breaking out near the downtown area. The mayor confirming several injuries, though no fatalities had been reported just yet. The city now under a curfew heading in tonight. The severe weather outbaked triggering a ground stop at Atlanta's Hartfields Jackson Airport, stranding passengers at the nation's busiest hub. We want to begin tonight with Morgan Chesky, who leads us off. Tonight, tornadoes ripping through the south, devastating cities throughout Alabama, drone footage from Selma, showing buildings destroyed and fires burning, survivors capturing images of the aftermath, down trees and scattered.

debris littering the ground as the fast-moving storm tore through the region. Somebody crying. Yeah, I heard a baby crying too. She said that was she heard that baby crayon. Oh my God. Videos capturing massive funnel clouds and ominously dark skies. Multiple reports of extensive damage and injuries being reported across the state as emergency responders scrambled to help. The city of Selma posting most city streets are closed due to down power lines and falling

trees. Thousands already without power. A probate judge saying even the jails were hit. Getting all about inmates, all of the detention center, getting all of the juveniles out and getting them shipped to other counties. The U.S. National Weather Service in Birmingham posting, they have received, quote, a lot of devastating reports of damage. In Alabama's Monroe County, a tornado destroyed a house and left a nearby hospital with visible damage. A few hours north at Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport, the nation's busiest, a full ground stop. While in Mississippi, farmer David Blancet had to see the damage firsthand. Came over here to see what we could salvage or whatever.

It's like somebody got a lot of work to do. The twisters even reached as far north as Kentucky, where 100-mile-an-hour winds ripped siding off this home and left a barn in pieces. And we're just beginning the journey. A ton of damage out there. Morgan Chesky joins us now, live from Dallas tonight. Morgan, the damage estimates are still coming in. What do we know so far?

Yeah, Tom, as of right now, we know the state of Georgia has declared a state of emergency, and the governor of Alabama has declared a state of emergency for six specific counties. Now, remarkably, as of this moment, no reported deaths or any significant injuries. But keep in mind, Tom, this is a massive storm marching. to the east, southeast overnight and could pose significant issues in the hours ahead. Okay, Morgan Chesky, leading us off tonight. For the latest on these tornadoes, I want to get right to Bill Carrens, who joins us live. Now, Bill, it could get a lot worse through the night.

And as I look at the map behind you, this is hard to believe. I mean, this is literally a tornado outbreak. 28 tornado reports there? In January, middle of January, and we knew we had a chance of some tornadoes today. There's no forecaster in the country that thought that we would have over two dozen tornado reports from Kentucky near Paducah, I mean Alabama, especially central Alabama, you know, was a majority of the damage that you just saw. But now we've even the last couple hours had some new tornado reports. Griffin, Georgia has some significant damage. And that was right before

sunset. So the first responders are in that area doing search and rescue, making sure everything's okay. And we do have a chance of some additional tornadoes. Right now, though, no active tornado warnings, Abbeville, Georgia. Severe thunderstorm is heading your way. That's kind of the worst of it for wind damage and knocking out power. Tornado watches will be going through at least. 10 p.m. this evening for areas of Columbia, South Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina, and areas just north of Tallahassee. So isolated additional tornadoes, hopefully nothing like what we saw during the day today. And then as we go through tomorrow, we focus our attention. Today was your dry day in California. One of the first dry days we've had in maybe 10, 14 days. Tomorrow that

changes. We already have flood watches up for 15 million people. The heaviest rains will be coming in Friday. And then definitely Saturday afternoon and evening and Tom, the area of greatest concern, the mountainous areas, and also north of San Francisco. This one will not be as bad for L.A. and Santa Barbara. Okay, a little bit of positive news there. Bill, we thank you for that. We do want to stay with California. Whereas Bill mentioned, they are getting battered with storm after storm. And tonight, as they scramble to clean up the damage, another series of major systems is taking aim. Mursa Para is there with the latest. Tonight, the damage in California, devastating. A wasteland of down trees and waterlogged robes.

Now in a race against time. Just take your time. To repair of the destruction and rescue residents, the three more rounds of relentless rain starting in just 48 hours. I think we've rescued so far 42 people from the rivers. The rain was, we can't imagine. It's like just living in the waterfall. It's just really pretty horrific.

After two weeks of deadly onslaught, the Golden State's severe weather killing at least 21. She drowned 10 feet in the water. In Sonoma County, flooding, sweeping away the car of Mark Fontino's wife, Daphne, first responders, finding the vehicle submerged. She had a heart of gold. She loved people. But even with a break in the weather today, conditions treacherous on California roadways, a sinkhole opening in San Mateo County, shutting down a major highway overnight, and reservoirs across the state, previously victims of a severe drought, now dangerously overflowing. The water is actually oozing out of the mountain up here. It's coming out of gopher holes.

It's coming out of everywhere. Growing fears, the death toll may rise as monster storms move in and batter, an already ravaged region. All right, Marissa Paro joins us now from Sebastopol, California, in the northern part of the state, of course. Marcia, we see that down tree. They're just behind you. It is massive. You look tiny next to it. And I know there's a concern with those types of trees as the weather worsens.

right i mean the ground is so saturated that trees like this are toppling over and thankfully no one was in the line of this one when it toppled but we know it's already claimed lives it claimed the life of a toddler just one week ago and we know just in the past couple of days it claimed the life of a couple as it fell in the highway before them and then on top of that you have all of the the other effects of saturated ground including buckling roads and of course landslides and mudslides tom yeah still very dangerous out there marissa as you talk about some of the people who have lost their lives during these various storm systems. I do want to ask you about that five-year-old we've been reporting that was swept away.

Have there been any updates? Unfortunately, the only updates that are coming out from the local sheriff's office saying they are resuming their search, and thankfully the clouds have parted for them to do so. They're able to do so safely, and they're throwing everything they have at this. 120 National Guard members have joined them on their search. They're taking to helicopters. They're taking to the skies with drones. They're also taking to the waters.

But Tom, one of the major difficulties is those floodwaters brought in so much debris on top of all of the mud. It's proving very difficult for them, but they're doing everything that they can. All right, Marissa, Para, showing us the treacherous conditions there. Marissa, we do appreciate it. We move on out to another major story tonight, the Department of Justice, appointing a special counsel to investigate President Biden's handling of classified documents. After those documents were found in two separate locations linked to Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garling today laying out just how that information came to be known. And we want to show you now with this timeline because it's already drawing a lot of questions.

So let's take a look. On November 2nd, less than a dozen classified documents are found that a private office used by President Biden. Then on November 4th, the Department of Justice was notified about the discovery. Five days later, the FBI began investigating. Five days after that, U.S. Attorney John Losh began his probe. Then more than a month later, on December 20. right? One of Biden's lawyers finding a second batch of documents in a garage at his home in Delaware. None of this information made public until January 9th when media outlets broke the story.

And then today, another classified document found in Biden's personal library and, of course, the appointment of the special counsel. But the date not mentioned by Garland, November 8th, election day, which falls right behind when the DOJ learned of the documents and when they began their investigation. that lag why top Republicans already calling this a cover-up. But the White House tonight is saying it is confident the investigation will show the documents were inadvertently mishandled. Chief White House correspondent Kristen Welker has more. Tonight, with growing questions over whether President Biden mishandled classified information, including the revelation of a third discovery of classified material,

Attorney General Merrick Garland making a bombshell announcement that he's appointing a special counsel to investigate. extraordinary circumstances here require the appointment of a special counsel for this matter. Garland naming Robert Hur, a former federal prosecutor and U.S. attorney to see if laws were broken. Garland saying classified documents from the Obama administration were found by Biden attorneys in two locations. Mr. Biden's private office he used after he left the vice presidency and President Biden's home in Delaware. Today, the president saying classified material was in his personal library at home and his garage, a location seen briefly in this campaign video. Mr. President, classified material next to your Corvette, what were you thinking?

As I said earlier this week, and by the way, my Corvette's in a locked garage, okay, so it's not like you're sitting out in the street. But anyway, it was in a locked garage? Yes, as well as my Corvette. But as I said earlier this week, people know I take classified documents and classified material seriously. The Attorney General has been under intense pressure from Republicans to appoint a special counsel after he named one to investigate former President Trump's handling of 100 classified documents seized during an FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. Back then, Mr. Biden blasted Mr. Trump for having classified material at his home. how that could possibly happen, how anyone could be that irresponsible. But just two months later and a week before the midterm election, Garland says the first batch

of classified documents, what sources tell NBC News is less than a dozen, were found by Biden attorneys at Mr. Biden's private office at his Washington think tank. That office was not authorized for storage of classified documents. Garland saying the DOJ was notified after the documents were handed over. On November 14th, Garland appointed a U.S. attorney to review the matter, but then on December 20th, Biden attorneys notified the U.S. attorney they had discovered more classified documents, this time inside the president's Delaware garage. And just today, President Biden's attorney saying they made a third discovery, another classified document at his Delaware home. But the White House did not tell the public about any of this until just this week, and only in response to media reports. Republicans calling it a cover-up. Prior to an election, you found a sitting president when he was vice president with top secret documents.

Why do they not even tell America that that transpired? Tonight, the White House says it's confident. The special counsel investigation will show the classified documents were inadvertently misplaced. All right, Kristen, Welker, joins us now live from the White House tonight. Kristen, do we know anything else about that single document announced today? We learned about that at the news conference. the third instance, if you will, of a classified document or documents being found.

It was a really stunning revelation, Tom. Look, a source familiar with the matter confirming to NBC News that the single additional document was discovered yesterday at the President's Wilmington Residence. The President's personal counsel then informed DOJ of that additional document today. And just a few moments ago, a source familiar walked back part of what we heard the President say today. It was not his personal library, but rather a room adjacent to the garage where that third discovery was made, Tom. Okay, Kristen Welker, with the clarification there. Now, take us inside the White House. Did they know this special counsel announcement was coming today?

So on the record, they're saying no. White House press secretary of Green Jean-Pierre was asked about this. She told reporters in today's briefing that the White House was not informed of the special counsel announcement ahead of Attorney General Merrick Garland's press conference today. Still, Tom, there are so many unanswered questions. Have they been in contact throughout this process? When did the president find out about the second and third discoveries of classified documents? And perhaps the biggest one of all, what you and I have been talking about all week long, why didn't the White House inform the public as soon as they became aware?

These are lingering and ongoing questions for this administration, which is facing a growing political problem here, Tom. All right, Kristen, Walker, with a lot of new reporting for us tonight. Kristen, we do appreciate that. the Attorney General promising that the DOJ can handle the special counsel investigation to both President Biden and former President Trump as the White House tries to do damage control. For more on the next steps for the special counsel, I do want to bring in our panel tonight. NBC News legal analysts, Jill Weinbank, she served as a Watergate prosecutor, and NBC News political analyst and former Republican Congressman Carlos Krubello.

I thank you both for joining Top Story tonight. Jill, I want to start with you. What kind of legal ramifications could President Biden be facing here? Are we talking about a serious fine, a slap on the wrist? Could it be something worse? It depends on what the facts eventually uncovered show. Right now, based on what we know, mistakes are not always criminal offenses. There needs to be, especially in the case of mishandling of a document of this nature,

we need to know what its classification was, why he had it to begin with, how it got there. But we also need to know, more importantly, was there any intent? And it seems from everything we know that this is nothing like the removal of documents and the retention of documents by President Trump. President Trump refused to return even when notified he had documents, even when he knew that he shouldn't possess them and that they were in a public place that could endanger everything. This was voluntarily discovered and turned over.

So there doesn't seem to be any intent. There seems to be cooperation. It's apples and rotten apples. It's not even apples. Voluntarily turned over is correct. Completely transparent. Not exactly. And I want to bring Carlos in for that part of it.

Carlos, if you can channel your inner Kevin McCarthy right now and what the other House Republicans will be doing with this, there's a lot of stuff they're going to jump on. The timeline, which we highlighted, which Christian Well, are highlighted, but also, it just seems like they're finding more and more documents. We're not talking about a third instance where they're finding classified documents. That's right, Tom, and I think we have to very carefully watch James Comer. He is the chairman of the Oversight Committee in the House, and he is the Republican that House

leadership had tasked already with looking into all of these controversies having to do with President Biden and his family. And James Comer is using the word cover-up, and what he's honing in on is this lack of transparency. Why didn't the administration the White House reveal immediately that these documents were found on November 2nd? House Republicans think that it's because there was an election just a few days ahead of that, and they did not want to cause any political damage to the president or his party. So you can expect Republicans to be extremely aggressive with regards to this. This represents a major shift in American politics, Tom. Democrats and Biden had a lot of momentum after the 22 midterms.

But Republicans feel that now they have an issue to seize on. They can paint Joe Biden out to be a hypocrite for the way he's attacked former President Trump for his mishandling of classified information. So I think we're going to hear a lot from House Republicans in the coming weeks. Jill, I completely understand your point that the Trump investigation and this Biden investigation are completely different. I think everyone understands that. I want to put the timeline back on because I want to ask you, if you were the special counsel here, here's what stands out to me. The Biden team notifies the archives on November 2nd. If you look on the calendar, that's actually a Friday night.

That's when they notified them. Missing right there is November 8th, election date. Not until November 9th does the FBI start their investigation. And then more than a month later, December 20th, they find the second batch. Does that seem suspicious at all to you, Jill? That doesn't seem suspicious. They are going through files, and I can only imagine what documents he has and how many there are. That's not what's suspicious.

But I just want to comment on this idea about obstruction and cover-up that's being alleged. As someone who prosecuted Richard Nixon's cover-up, let me say that this is not a cover-up. You have no obligation to come forward and say, by the way, I just found some documents. That's something that does not need to be and could actually interfere with an investigation. I don't know if anybody asked him not to report it. I think politically it probably was a problem not to report it, but that doesn't make it. obstruction of justice. Obstruction is when you file an affidavit saying that I have gone through everything and there is nothing. And then a search warrant comes and you come out, the FBI finds

20 cartons of documents. We're talking about pages, not cartons in this case. And so there's more that we need to know. Yeah, Carlos, I want to go back to you because you served in the House of representatives, you were a member of Congress. Your office probably had thousands of tens of thousands of documents. Maybe some of them were classified. I'm not sure, but I'm sure you had important documents in your office. I mean, how easy is it for someone to make a mistake and take some of these documents, or is this something that has to be done with intent? Look, Tom, I suppose it could happen as an accident. I mean, members of Congress cannot keep any classified documents in their offices because those offices don't have the protections.

They're not skiffs, which is a technical term for the type of facility that can house classified documents. But if someone is walking away with a classified document, they know it because classified documents are marked. So look, the two cases are different, and I think the legality is obvious, right? Legally, there's a clear distinction between the two cases politically. I do think that this is damaging for the Biden administration because the president has cast himself as someone who's different than Donald Trump, someone who holds himself to higher standards, someone who's an institutionalist.

Clearly, there was a failure here, not just in this possible mistake of taking these documents, but in the lack of transparency and the fact that the administration did not immediately go to the American people and say, hey, we've been criticizing the former administration for these violations, apparent violations of the law. Well, it turns out that we have found some documents and we have returned them immediately. That should have been made clear to the American people immediately. Maybe not from a legal perspective, maybe not as part of a legal strategy, but certainly in terms of transparency on a smart political strategy. Carlos, real quick before we go, because we're running out of time,

even though it could hurt the president politically, it could not hurt them to the degree where it prevents him from running for reelection. from what we know so far i highly doubt that i mean look it's pretty clear there was no intent here and of course uh... there's an ongoing investigation now and that will uh... be made clear to everyone at some point uh... but this doesn't look like the type of scandal the type of controversy

that could force uh... president by and not to seek re-election however there are many democrats who have already uh... express themselves in terms of wanting someone else to run uh... for president uh... on that side of the aisle, and this could give them fodder. This could give them the ammunition that they may need to convince Joe Biden not to run for reelection. Carlos Scribello, Jill Weinbanks, we thank you for your time tonight.

All right, we want to turn overseas now to the latest in the war in Ukraine and a major military shake-up for Russia. President Vladimir Putin removing his lead commander in Ukraine after only three months on the job. This comes as Ukrainian officials warn of a potential Russian offensive that may target the Capitol Kiev. NBC's Matt Bradley discovered there are fears that many cities may be in Putin's crosshairs and that a new and possibly large-scale strike is not a matter of if, but when.

The battles raging in Ukraine's east have laid waste to the city of Soledar. Ukraine's military said the city hasn't fallen to Russians, but said they've killed more than a hundred Russian troops. But even after months of ferocious fighting, Ukraine's 800-mile-long front lines have been mostly frozen, literally and figuratively. This war is waiting for a game changer, and top Ukrainian officials are warning Russia is planning one, a new offensive that could be just weeks away. The current masters of Russia will throw everything they have left in everyone they can muster to try to turn the tide of the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

warned last week, some officials even believe Russia could make another move on the capital Kiev from neighboring Belarus. Over here. Russian and Belarusian troops were seen training just across Ukraine's northern border as recently as two weeks ago. Anton has been tracking Russian moves across the border for months. We see Russians regularly making fortifications, he told me, and in my opinion, they may be expecting an offensive from us. Russian President Vladimir Putin even visited Belarus two weeks ago his only trip abroad since the start of the war and glad-handed with Belarus's president, one of Putin's only

remaining allies. On the first day of the war in February, Ukraine destroyed. destroyed this bridge over the border, forcing Russian troops to take the long way to the capital. And since Russia's first failed attack on Kiev, Ukraine has been preparing for a second. So this is an anticipation of another offensive. Russian forces were in this area of responsibility, he said, and now we're preparing for the potential scenarios that may come. So this trench is unused. It was built in April after the initial Russian invasion.

And you can see it's all fresh timber waiting for a fresh offensive. But the threat could come from anywhere. Back in Kyiv, one of Ukraine's top intelligence officials told me he expects a Russian offensive to target the eastern part of Ukraine. Where and when do you expect this new offensive? We're now focused on the reserves and groupings of troops that Russia is putting in the temporarily occupied territories, he told me, we're talking about the winter spring period in the three main directions, Donbass, Kharkiv, and Zaporizia.

Whether Russia's new offensive succeeds or fails, Ukrainians believe Putin's other foot is about to drop. Matt Bradley, NBC News, Kiev, Ukraine. And we thank Matt and his team for that report. For more on the latest on the war in Ukraine, we are joined now by Yuri Sack, an advisor to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. He's in the U.S. all week. He tells me to facilitate the supply of Western tanks to Ukraine. Uri, thank you so much for joining Top Story here. I know you are busy while you're in the United States. So you just saw Matt's report there. Is this something military officials and yourself, the president of Ukraine fear, and attack on the capital city of Kyiv this year?

Tom, since the first day of this large-scale invasion, we knew that the enemy is not planning on stopping. So this is why we are prepared for any possible development and turn of events. This is why we have fortified our border with the Belarus. And in fact, indeed, this attack is possible, but we are ready for it. But what is important to remember is that, and this is the reason why we are requesting more weaponry from our Western allies and primarily from the U.S. because we are at the stage of the war where either defensive or offensive operations, they require heavy armored vehicles,

require tanks. And we are very grateful to the United States for their decision to start providing Ukraine with Bradley's armored vehicles. They will be very important. They will make a difference. But tanks, the next generation, Western tanks could be a game changer, whether it comes to defense or counter-offensive operations. And like you said in your early report, Russia is allegedly planning to mobilize maybe another 500,000 soldiers. This is a large army of soldiers. And to be able to continue to resist and to be able to continue to be successful on the battlefield,

we need tanks. So, Yuri, I was there. I mentioned to you when right after Russia invaded Ukraine. And at the start of this war, you had many Ukrainian men army themselves with Molotov cocktails, their own handguns that they had to protect their homes now to go and kill Russians. And I guess what I'm getting at is that that's how the war started. We're now almost a year later. We're about to mark the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.

How much longer can your people go? We will go until we win. And victory for us means, and this is something that our president, Mr. Zelensky, keeps repeating almost on a daily basis. This is what our Minister of Defense, Mr. Alexei Reznikov, keeps saying, That victory for Ukraine means the complete restoration of the territorial integrity of our country within the internationally recognized borders. And of course, after that happens, we will have to set up with the help of our Western partners

an international tribunal and try everybody who is responsible on the Russian side for the war crimes that are committing in our country. Because look, this is a war of genocide. If you look at what Russians are doing to our country, this is not any military operation. This is a war which is aimed to destroy our culture, our people, our cities. So this will have to end, and those responsible for it will have to be brought to account. The U.S. has given a lot to Ukraine since the start of this war. You're here asking for tanks.

There is growing concern among Republican members of Congress that there is an accountability issue. And by that they mean we have given around $24 billion to Ukraine. They want to make sure that none of that money is wasted, that none of that money goes to any type of fraud. I want to show our viewers some video. Senator Angus King of Maine and Senator Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island. They recently met with your president, President Zelensky, to ask about this issue. Senator Angus King, when he came back, was asked about it. Here's a clip of that.

Sitting across from President Zelensky, just as you and I are, I asked him point blank, what's the status of accountability? If there's a scandal, it's going to kill our ability to support you. He understands that. And then later, we had a meeting with a men. of their defense officials and private, their finance people, they're developing, they're working with Deloitte, the accounting firm, they're working with SAP software, they're accounting for every spare part that's coming into the country.

Plus, we have an inspector general from the Pentagon who's going over, I think, next month. I was very impressed by the level of accountability, and so this argument that somehow the money's being wasted, I don't think holds water. He is right, though, the senator. If there was any type of scandal, if it turned out that some of this money was going to waste or somebody stole the money, it could hurt the effort, the U.S. effort to give aid to Ukraine. What do you say to that? Like I said before, we are tremendously grateful to the American taxpayers for the support that Ukraine has been receiving from the U.S. throughout this war. It literally is about our survival.

Now, and we, in the same time, we understand how important it is that this support is transparent. We understand that, you know, any risk of any possible fraud is an issue of concern. And trust me, that right now, we are living in a country which is transforming itself on a daily basis because of the war, because we are losing our people. And the institutions that the government is putting in place and the processes and the mechanisms of accountability are really, efficient, like just for example, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine understanding these issues and knowing that Russia very often is trying to exploit these issues to dissuade our Western partners from providing Ukraine with the military support. So we, the Minister of Defense is putting

in place the NATO standard log-class system, which is the system which allows to conduct all the logistics, operations, accountability, and monitor and tracking. So this is in place. Moreover, we are inviting every minister of every our partner. And we just heard that, right. They are all welcome to come and inspect. So we are open, we are transparent, and we want the world to understand that this is about our survival, so we will not allow any even shadow of corruption to spoil the support of the Western countries.

Trying to defend your country at the same time, trying to make sure you're completely transparent with all this. There is a ton of pressure I know on you and all the officials in Ukraine. Finally, what's your message to the American people? What's your message to President Biden and our Congress? Our message is primarily a message of gratitude, but at the same time, we would like everything that happens, all the different packages of military support.

We would like them to be a little bit faster, because many things that have happened, many bad things, beginning from Boucher, Maripal, Severe Denez, all these atrocities, all these destructions, the powerization of Ukrainian cities, they could have been prevented had we received the weapons that we are requesting sooner. Like, for example, we were asking for Haimertsons for a long time. It only took the destruction of Sever de Nesk and least a chance.

So, you know, the help is immensely important. We are grateful for that. Thank you for it, but you need a little faster. A little faster. Let's be one step ahead of our enemy, not one step behind. Yuri Sack, an advisor to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. We thank you for your time. Thank you for inviting me, Tom.

All right, still ahead tonight, an update on the Idaho murder investigation. The man suspected of killing four college students appearing before a judge. But that high-profile trial is expected to get underway when. Plus, the dramatic rescue in Pennsylvania, a man trapped in a trench for eight hours in the freezing cold, the urgent effort to get him out. And the news tonight on Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis, rushed to the hospital. What we're learning from authorities tonight. Stay with us.

Top story is just getting started. We're back tonight with the latest from Idaho where the suspect in the murders of those four college students was in court today. Now we're getting new details about the time leading up to his trial, including his next hearing scheduled for June 26th. NBC Stephanie Gosk has more. Back in court today, Brian Kohlberger asked for a probable cause hearing before going to trial. We would request the third or fourth week of June. They are in no rush, telling the judge time is needed to go through evidence. Koeberger is waiving his right to have the hearing within two weeks.

Do you understand? Yes. The 28-year-old is accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in their off-campus home in November. A source close to the investigation tells NBC News, Koberger did not become a suspect until December 23rd, more than a month after the murders. Even though the affidavit says weeks earlier, he was connected to a white Hyundai-A-Lontra, similar to the one caught-on camera near the crime scene. Two law enforcement sources say forensic genealogy was the key to breaking the case.

Moscow police would not comment citing a gag order. An undergraduate student who had Koeberger as a teaching assistant spoke with Dateline. He was very, I don't know, uncomfortable, I guess. It felt like he was perpetually uncomfortable. On campus this week, they are back in class, including Ethan Chapin's siblings. The triplets mother, writing on Facebook, her son had been inclusive, carefree, happy, just the best person you could ever meet. He touched lives.

We had no idea existed. So sad to hear from those families, from those victims. Stephanie joins us now from Moscow, Idaho. So Stephanie, what do we know about the public defender in this case? Because sometimes high-profile criminal defense attorneys take on these cases because there's so much publicity. Well, this is interesting, Tom. Anne Taylor is a public defender. And she's here from outside the county because there aren't any other.

public defenders with experience in death cases. She's interesting. She's described by her colleagues as having quite a personality. She has a range of experience, and she is also a former prosecutor, Tom. As we mentioned, there's going to be a lot of publicity here, right, Stephanie? It's going to be highly anticipated this courtroom drama. Will cameras be allowed inside the court? We don't know for sure yet, Tom, but there could be a good indication because already in the two hearings that they've had in the last week, cameras have been allowed. But what the judge has said, Megan Marshall, is that she wants, asked to go in before every hearing to decide whether or not the cameras will be allowed in there. And she wants to balance both the public right to

view this trial, which is of such high interest with the rights of the defendant, Tom. All right, we thank Stephanie Goss for those new developments out of Idaho. For more in the future of this case, I want to bring in criminal defense attorney, Sarah Azari, her true crime show, by fame premieres this month on ID. So Sarah, why did Coburger waive his right to a fair and speedy trial? Right. I mean, remember he believes that he's going to be exonerated, right? So that's a really good question. But it's about preparation. Preliminary hearing is a probable cause hearing. It's an evidentiary hearing. We want to be as prepared as we can be because it's our only opportunity. When you say we as a defense attorney? As a defense attorney. Because it's

our only opportunity to poke holes in the prosecution's case. It's also a good opportunity for the prosecution to sort of weigh their evidence, the strengths of their case, the weaknesses of their case. And of course, Coburger can put up an affirmative defense at the prelim, but he probably won't. Will we learn more as the greater public, will we learn more about the case? I think there will definitely be more presented. It's still probable cause, so it's still the lowest standard. But we'll see more evidence there that the prosecution will present. And we can also get a glimpse into the defense by way of the questions that are asked. It's very important because it's, you know, with a grand jury, we wouldn't have a chance to be in the room.

Here we get to test the case. If Koeberger called you tonight and said, I want you to defend me, would you take on the case and would this be an easy case to defend? 100% I would take on the case. I'm fascinated by this case. And it's easy to defend right now. That can change, right? Because the evidence that we have right now, while it's probable cause on probable cause on probable cause,

it's insufficient for guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. There's a lot of problems with the evidence. The cell site data is very unreliable. You know, I call it trash evidence because my last, you know, robbery homicide, my client was 30 miles away. There was triangulation between the towers. And then you have a very dubious witness identification about his description. The DNA is familial, not direct. That will change.

Well, let's talk about the DNA, okay? You're saying it's not that strong. I mean, they can trace a thumbprint or some type of fingerprint from the sheath of the knife. which likely is the murder weapon, back to someone in his family. Right. And then on top of that, according to the FBI, if everything they say is correct, he's taking out garbage from his parents' house at around 4 o'clock in the morning. Doesn't seem like somebody who would be innocent, correct?

You say? Well, look, it's the totality of the evidence. I'm absolutely not diminishing DNA evidence. DNA is the sweet spot and the crux of this case, right? It's what will put the nail in the coffin, especially with the new analysis of his own swab. That is way more accurate. But yeah, like you're right.

You know, looking at this case incrementally, there's a lot of problems with the evidence right now. But when you put it together, it's a little stronger, and it will get stronger. I've asked this before. This is an area that is, it's not a big city, small town, college town. You have the prosecutor of the county there. Not a lot of murders happen in this area. So my question to you is, how prepared do you think the team of prosecutors?

is going to be for this case. Well, I think that, you know, this is probably one of the very few cases, the biggest case, certainly, that they have to work on. The question is also resources. You know, he has a public defender. I'm looking at both sides. I'm a criminal defender. So he has a public defender.

Public defenders, I know some of them are great lawyers, okay? Do you think a high-profile attorney comes in at some point in this case? Maybe. But if it does, it's not really only about lawyering skills or the name of that attorney. it's really about resources, you know, getting the best DNA expert, the best, you know, cell site data expert. It's going to be a battle of experts to a large degree. Is it really? I think so, yeah. How do they seat the jury in this case because the entire country was following? And again, they seated a jury in the O.J. Simpson case, but how tough it would be to seat a jury?

Jury selection will be incredibly difficult. This reminds me the Casey Anthony case. You know, he is hated. The entire nation is a bad venue for him. So it's not even like we can go in and make a motion to change the venue, like, we're going to get a better ready. Go to a neighboring state. Yeah, no, no, it's horrible for him. And I think the burglary charge is very interesting. Yeah, I know you're into this. What, explain that. Yeah, I'm really into this because no one's talking about it. The burglary charge is there as an insurance plan for the prosecution, right? We've got four counts of first-degree murder, which is based on premeditation. But what if they don't have evidence of premeditation, right? The planning to go in there and kill. The burglary

charge under Idaho law is a forcible crime, which if a homicide occurs during the course of that forcible crime, you get to first-degree murders. So it's very important because they're making sure that they get to first degree. So Coburger has been in front of cameras several times in court when he was walked out into the courthouse when he left Pennsylvania. He's never screamed to the cameras. I didn't do this. It wasn't me. They have the wrong guy. If you were advising your client, would you advise him to do something like that or would you advise him just keep your mouth shut. I would tell him to zip it up. And in fact, he did. You know, remember, he's getting a PhD in criminology, so he knows a little bit more than the average. But he did

make one statement, Tom, that's important after his arrest. He said, have you arrested anybody else? That's been reported, correct. And that's going to come into play, because he might be like, I have an alibi. Someone else did it. There was pressure to arrest somebody. And they got me, and they didn't bother to investigate further. Okay. Sarah Azari, we thank you so much for your time and your analysis. We appreciate it. Okay, when we come back, paramedics, charged with murder? The new video is showing them strapping a man to a gurney face down why authorities say the two EMS workers helped end his life instead of save it. Stay with us. Okay, we're back now with Top Stories News Feed, and we begin with an update on that

tornado outbreak we told you about at the top of this broadcast. Officials in Alabama now confirming at least six people have been killed, nearly 50 homes damaged or completely destroyed. widespread damage reported in Selma and suburbs of Montgomery, tens of thousands still without power across the state. Two EMS workers in Illinois charged with first-degree murder for the death of a patient in their care. Body camp footage shows the two EMS workers near Springfield, Illinois, strapping a 35-year-old man faced down on a stretcher

while he was suffering hallucinations from alcohol withdrawal, an autopsy revealing he died from asphyxia caused by the way he was restrained. A Pennsylvania man is recovering after he was wrestling. from a trench after eight hours. Aerial footage shows firefighters lifting the 27-year-old private contractor out of that trench in Allentown. Officials say the man and his co-workers were working on sewer lines in the backyard of a home when it caved in. Both men expected to be okay. And Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, has been hospitalized. Her mother, Priscilla, confirming the news. No official word yet on the cause, but authorities

say the 54-year-old was not breathing when they arrived at her Calabasas' home. She was at the Golden Global War just two nights ago. Now to some promising news for consumers as we turn to the economy now. While inflation is still high, a new report from the government is showing some real signs of it cooling. Emily Aketa has the latest. Tonight, soaring inflation is in retreat, December marking the first monthly decline in prices in nearly three years, down by a tenth of a percent from November. Signs of relief hailed by President Biden. It was coming down in America month after month.

I mean, family, some real breathing room. Compared to a year ago, the rate of inflation is now six and a half percent. The vast improvement from last summer's peak, driven by falling gas and used car prices. Going from 9 percent to 6 to half percent really is a big deal, and that's good for the economy. But experts caution. Keep in mind that prices are still elevated. And burdensome for budgets. For the same items, the typical household shalt out $371 more per month than in 2021.

It's really expensive. Key categories like rent and groceries continue to hit families where it hurts. Eggs soaring a staggering 60 percent, pressured in part by a record outbreak of the avian flu. Are you feeling any improvement? No, it's gotten worse, if anything. This is the third grocery store, Beverly Green has visited today in search of more reasonable prices. It shouldn't be such a struggle to pull together a meal. A struggle, grocery store owner Bart Yublonski has witnessed in Maryland.

but he says prices are beginning to level off. We want customers to be able to come back in and shop regularly and not be so concerned about every single penny they're spending. Tom, today's numbers are sure to factor into the Federal Reserve's meeting next month. Many economists expect the Fed to continue raising interest rates to keep inflation in check, but less aggressively than it did last year. Tom. Okay, Emily, we appreciate that.

Coming up next, the guest who definitely won't be leaving a five-star review. Check this out. a man driving his sports car into the lobby of a Shanghai hotel. What authorities say the staff did that set him off? Stay with us. Welcome back to Top Story. It is time now for Global Watch, and we head to Europe. Police forcefully evicting climate activists from a deserted village in western Germany.

New video shows police in riot gear, breaking down doors and carrying protesters from the village. One even left dangling from a rope trying to escape capture. You see him there. demonstrators occupying the site to stop the expansion of a coal mine. Now to the wild moment caught on camera at a hotel in Shanghai. Check this out. New video shows a sports car smashing through the front door of a hotel. It then drives through the lobby sending objects flying before crashing multiple times.

Local reports say the driver was angry with the hotel staff after losing his laptop. Luckily, no one was hurt. The driver was arrested. And Prince William making his first appearance since the release of his brother Harry's explosive new memoir. The Prince of Wales ignoring questions from reporters today about that book while visiting a charity in Northern England. King Charles also staying quiet in his first appearance since its publication while visiting a community center in Scotland. Okay, when we come back to the Americas, the political unrest in one country leading to more than 40 deaths why Peru is now

exploding. Stay with us. Finally tonight, we leave you with the Americas and the clashes we've been recovering for weeks out of Peru. At least 47 people have died in, hundreds injured after weeks of protests following the ouster of President Pedro Cactillo. Tensions intensifying as protesters demand new presidential elections. Ellison Barber has won. Across Peru, violent protest are intensifying. Anti-government protesters and police taking aim at one another. The number of injured now in the hundreds, and it continues to climb. As relatives mourn the death of the dozens killed. At least 47 people have died at least 47 people have died as a result of the

clashes between Peruvian security forces and supporters of ousted President Pedro Castillo. The protest began last month after his removal. but the deadliest day was this week on Monday 17th civilians and one police officer died in a span of a few hours. launching an inquiry into the sitting president, Dina Buluarte, and members of her cabinet amid allegations of what they are calling genocide, qualified homicide and serious injuries related to the demonstrations. An Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is also looking into the police response to the protests. We'll listen to different organizations of the society civil, to persons family of

victims. All of this began last December. began last December, when then President Pedro Castillo was impeached and later arrested on charges of rebellion and conspiracy while separately facing corruption charges. His vice president, Dina Buluarte, sworn in as the first female president of Peru. Then the violence came. Experts say today's protests are bigger than one moment or one person. This is what we're seeing is the government's failure to really

grasped that there is a deep and abiding political and social crisis, that they lack the legitimacy, they've shown that they don't have the tools to deal with this crisis. Their only tool has been repression. It's fueling more protests. President Bularte promised to move the next election up by two years, but protesters want her out now. They want a new presidential election in the disillusion of a Congress they see as corrupt before the death toll climbs even higher. Ellison, Barbara, NBC News. We thank Ellison Barber for that, and we promise to stay on top of all the developments coming out of Peru. Thanks so much for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamerson, New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.