Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, January 16, 2025

Episode Date: January 17, 2025

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

Tonight, Israel in political turmoil, the cabinet, delaying a key vote on a ceasefire deal with Hamas. The setback, as Prime Minister Netanyahu says, a last-minute crisis is holding up approval. The prep's underway to bring the first round of hostages home? The divided Israel, families marching in celebration, while others protest the deal saying, it's too risky. Smoke rising in Gaza, the deadly barrage of rockets firing off at this hour. Also breaking tonight more time for TikTok, the Biden administration saying they won't effectively enforce the looming ban on the popular app, passing the buck to President-elect Trump, the stunning about face from the administration that originally pushed for the ban. How is this even legal? The First Lady versus Pelosi, First Lady Jill Biden detailing her disappointment with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after she pressured President Biden to drop out of the race. What she revealed in candid sit-down interview with the Washington Post. California mudslide threat the new danger tonight

after thousands of homes were burnt to the ground in those massive wildfires. The concern that any rain could trigger a new disaster for the region. New reporting on the off-screen legal drama between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Baldoni filing a multi-million dollar countersuit tied to the film, it ends with us, accusing Lively and her husband,

Ryan Reynolds, of defamation and extortion. The text messages between the co-stars and how Taylor Swift is being dragged into the feud. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani reaching a settlement with the Georgia election workers he defamed what it means for his luxury properties and his three World Series rings. And remembering Mr. Baseball, legendary baseball broadcaster Bob Yucer, the iconic voice of the Milwaukee Brewers, known for his humor and major league acting. Plus, the alarming new health study finding cancer cases on the rise in the rise in the Milwaukee Brewers, Women will explain why.

Top story starts right now. Good evening tonight. Unrest in Israel, protesters taking to the streets with the ceasefire and hostage release deal hanging in the balance. Israel's cabinet, which has to sign off on the agreement, delaying their critical vote. And here's what we know about what's holding it up. Prime Minister Net and Yahoo saying they will vote tomorrow, but that they pushed

it due to an unspitched. specified last-minute crisis. The country now dealing with growing political instability, the far-right minister threatening to resign, saying the deal is, quote, a surrender to Hamas. A new video just in of demonstrations in Jerusalem, as rioters against the deal blocked streets, police arresting several people, while other protests march in support of an agreement, some even holding a sign asking President-elect Trump to bring the hostages home. In Gaza, Israel still unleashing desksying desolate. deadly air strikes. You see them right here. The country's health ministry saying

dozens have been killed in the past 24 hour. And look at this. Right now, trucks are filled with aid waiting along the border for that deal to go into effect. NBC chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel starts us off tonight. This boy tries to dig himself out after Israel began bombing Gaza again. He was rescued alive. Amid fears, a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas could collapse before it even begins. The director of Gaza's field hospitals told NBC News, more than 100 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed since the agreement was announced last night.

The Israeli military says it's striking Hamas members and weapons facilities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today postponed a government meeting, expected to ratify the ceasefire, blaming Hamas for adding new conditions. Hamas denies it. The delays and continuing airstrikes are terrifying, both Ghazans and the families of Israeli hostages. It's a nightmare sometimes. In Tel Aviv tonight, I spoke with Eli David.

His 24-year-old brother Aviatar is not expected to be released in the first phase of the deal, which lasts six weeks. Eli says the deal is too complex and could fall apart. I think it is a very bad deal, but we cannot go against it because we can't go against it because Because it saves lives. Innocent people, which are being held underground inside terror tunnels, may be tortured, and they will be coming back to the families. You know that your brother isn't supposed to be part of this first group.

Yeah. So hopefully when we do see those initial hostages coming out, how are you expecting to feel happy, sad, jealous, all of these things? I will be happy for sure, but also for sure, I will be jealous and I will be more and more afraid because if it will continue, I mean, 42 days are many days that hostages can be executed, for example. In Gaza, Zainab Tanbura, who's responsible for 24 displaced children, Worries, the war will never end. You see, the conditions are horrible.

They said ceasefire. It's nonsense. All night, they were bombing here, she says. The agreement would allow in desperately needed humanitarian aid. Living in a tent with little access to food, water, and medicine, she says she can't survive like this for much longer. Richard joins us again tonight from Jerusalem. So Richard, tonight here in the U.S., we're tracking that news of Netanyahu's national

security minister, threatening to leave the party of this ceasefire deal is implemented? He did, and he is not the only one. Several far-right members of Netanyahu's coalition say that if it's implemented, they will leave. If it goes forward, it becomes a permanent ceasefire, they will leave. So he's facing pressure. But at this stage, it does not seem like, even if they did leave, that his government was collapsed. Israeli officials are confident that tomorrow, tomorrow the Israeli government, the Israeli cabinet, security cabinet, full cabinet, will meet. They will approve this deal and that it will begin to be carried out, to be implemented on Sunday, which is when we could see the first hostages coming out of Gaza.

So you have those threats from the far right in Israel. You have the bombings that we just saw at the top of your report here. How do you explain to our viewers where does this deal stand tonight? There's confidence that the deal is going to begin. That's about as much confidence as anyone has here. It is a shaky start, and I think this shaky start shows how fragile the whole process is. There's confidence that there will be some hostages released, that some Palestinian prisoners will likely be released. This is a three-phase deal.

The first phase is supposed to last six weeks in which 33 hostages are supposed to come out of Gaza. Phase two is still to be negotiated, not nearly as much certainty. about entering phase two when the rest of the hostages are supposed to come out, including military-age males, including one American, and then phase three, which is the total reconstruction of Gaza, that could take place over years. And there is still no plan in place about who is going to govern Gaza. Hamas, an international terrorist organization that kidnapped children and elderly,

was also the government of Gaza. It has been destroyed, so there is no, at this stage, real alternative. They talk about an international Arab force. It's not in place right now. Richard Engel, with continued coverage there from Jerusalem. Richard, we thank you. We want to turn it back here to Home and Capitol Hill, where the battle over TikTok takes a major turn. The White House now reversing his decision, saying it will not enforce a ban on the social media app. The move coming after the company refused to divest from its Chinese owner bite dance. NBC Savannah Sellers explains what's happening right now.

tonight a major reversal concerning one of America's most popular apps the White House saying they will not implement the ban on TikTok set to go into effect this Sunday according to two administration officials I really feel like this is happening because of us the fight isn't over it's just going to be extended the battle over the future of the app has gone all the way to the Supreme Court but now the administration says it won't enforce massive fines on the companies who provide users access to TikTok. It's a stark shift from when the law was passed with massive bipartisan support, the president signing it into law. It feels like we're losing, like, a community. Now, sources say Democratic lawmakers called the White House asking for intervention. And President-elect Trump, who once opposed the app, has signaled he'll intervene. I'm going to say it's TikTok. But national security officials still warned that TikTok's Chinese parent company BiteDance could steal American user data or manipulate content shown in the app, which TikTok did. eyes. Then FBI director Christopher Ray had this warning, speaking with Lester last year.

We have to sort of step back and say, who is TikTok? And ultimately, it all boils down to the hand, which is a matter of Chinese law of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party. It all comes just days before Mr. Trump's inauguration. According to three sources, TikTok CEO Shochu is expected to attend, along with the world's three richest men. Tech Titan Elon Musk, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, and met as Mark Zuckerberg. Just last night, President Biden took aim at big tech and what he called the dangerous concentration of power among a select few. I'm equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech industrial complex. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.

Savannah Sellers joins us now in studio. So Savannah, just to be clear here, Ticktop was banned by Congress. It was signed into law by President Biden. He's now saying he's not going to enforce that. So on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, TikTok is still going to be live? That's a great question, Tom. And if I were a betting woman, I would say, yes, there is probably not going to be much impact to TikTok. And we know that TikTok has said their absolute last resort would be something like the app going dark.

But if the law is essentially not being implemented by anyone, there's no reason for anything to change. What is the major question, though, here is the law remains that this is essentially illegal for the service providers of TikTok to continue providing their service. What does that mean? It means Apple having it in the app store. It means Oracle continue to host the data on its servers. The real question is, what's going on right now inside those companies? What are the general counsels of those companies advising they do? Is this enough protection for those companies? We're asking those questions, Tom. Savannah Sellers for us. Savannah, thank you. For more on the future of the app used by more than 150 million people in the U.S. I want to bring in Angela Senadella, NBC News legal analyst, who also is known as

the lawyer, Angela, with more than 1.5 million followers on TikTok. So someone who has maybe a vested interest in this, Angela, I just want to understand this because I don't understand the legality of this. You have a law passed by Congress signed by the president, and then the president's saying he's not going to enforce it. What does that mean? Okay, so look, it is technically legal given just how broad the executive discretion is for the chief executive here.

So the president is the one who, according to our Constitution, is the one who has the power over how to enforce the laws. laws to enforce. Now, to the extent there are limits, it's usually over things like, is this law being enforced in a discriminatory manner? Not this blanket kind of refusal to prosecute, because the Department of Justice is under the Attorney General, who obviously reports to the president. Then is the DOJ doing something against the law? If Congress passes the law, Biden signed the law, and they're not going to enforce it. It sounds like there's no checks and balances then. So, look, this actually happens all the time. It's just usually not so public, right?

think about any department of justice, even from like a city to a state level, they have priority lists. What do they prosecute that is technically a crime and what do they not? In this case, if the president and the DOJ decides not to prosecute, that's not necessarily legal. Also here, what's most interesting is it's not clear who would be harmed by this, right? If you think of lawsuits that people would bring, you think they always need standing to sue. In this case, all the arguments are potential harm in the future. No one's really being harmed right now. Congress got together. They voted on this. They wasted people's time. I mean, they're there to represent us. We could have a separate debate about that. I got to ask you, so if the president now caved on TikTok or they punted, however you want to describe it, the CEO of TikTok is going to be sitting at the inauguration in that VIP area for President-elect Trump.

If I'm TikTok, I'm like, we're good, right? I mean, I think it's still terrifying because there's nothing in writing here, right? So that's why I find- What do you say? Terrifying for who, for the company? For TikTok and for the service providers, for everyone here who is just thinking that maybe this is going to be saved, right? So let's say that Biden and Trump say, look, we are not technically going to prosecute. At any moment, they could change their mind. Trump tried to ban this in the past. And if you think about these service providers, they have to put things in motion. They can't just one day just change course.

So I think there's still going to be some terror amongst all of these service providers. How much damage has this done to TikTok, right? Because we had this segment on yesterday with Joanna Stern from the Wall Street Journal. talking about lemonade and talking about the other apps that have popped up that look just like TikTok. Some of them, Chinese companies that promote socialist values and Americans are flooding to them, American influencers, probably not even aware that these apps promote socialist values, just trying to get followers and trying to speak in Mandarin to like this group of people in China that they don't, I don't even know if it's their same market, but anyways, has this hurt TikTok in the long run?

So look, I as an avid user, am seeing both sides. like breaking up in a relationship, right? You see some people who are just over-emotional and decide they are obsessed with TikTok will never go anywhere else. And then you see the opposite. People who've already accepted there is going to be a future without TikTok and moving off the app. So it really depends on how emotional you are. So where are you on this as TikTok? Are you invested? You've built a huge following. You spent a lot of time and effort into it. I have, but I think it's a message to all creators that you have to diversify. You cannot put all your eggs in this basket or in any other. Are you going on other apps? I am. I am certainly

active on Instagram. I'm not yet moving to Red Note. I can't do that yet. And then do you think this will be good for Instagram? Oh yeah. I think meta. First of all, they'll get more ad share if this works. But yeah, it'll help. We could talk forever about this. Okay, Angela, always great to talk to you. We thank you for explaining that. Next tonight, power and politics, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, tapping his attorney general to fill Senator Marco Rubio's Senate seat. DeSantis announcing Florida AG Ashley Moody is his pick to take the position. that will be left by Rubio if he's confirmed as Secretary of State. His pick coming after multiple names were floated for the job,

you may remember, including President-elect Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump. So what happened to her? I want to bring in NBC's Julie Cirkin. Julie, Attorney General Ashley Moody was a favorite to get the job in the inner circle of Florida political, as I should say, may not be familiar to a national audience. How did she get this gig, and she's now going to represent the state of Florida? Well, she completely makes sense for somebody that DeSantis would appoint to a job like this.

She's already been elected twice statewide in Florida, so voters there know her, they trust her, they put her in these positions, and she's also somebody that has been incredibly loyal to Ron DeSantis in her time as Attorney General. Look at that on your screen here. For example, she was a vocal defender of his policies and action. She took legal action against current and former FEMA officials for conspiracy to discriminate against Florida, hurricane victims who support President-elect Donald Trump. And of course, she's been instrumental in cracking down on immigration and putting in place policies, or illegal immigration, I should say, and putting in place policies that Ron DeSantis wanted.

Not only that, but she's also someone who will certainly be a reliable voice for the America First agenda, not only for DeSantis, but also for Trump. The two men, I should note, have been working to repair their relationship recently, playing golf just a couple of days ago, Tom. Okay, we were talking about Larry Trump as well. President Trump, President-elect Trump's daughter-in-law, of course. She was being floated, possibly. There was a lot of reporting that Ron DeSantis was going to be pressured to appoint Lara Trump. It didn't happen, but I do want to play some comments that Trump had earlier. Do you expect Ron DeSantis to appoint Laura Trump to sign her marker Rubio seat?

No, I don't. I probably don't, but I don't know. Ron's doing a good job. That's his choice. nothing to do with me. I also know that Lara's got so many other things. I mean, she's got so many other things. People want her to be on television. They want to give her contracts. So I had actually heard the Lara Trump rumors from sources when Senator Rubio was being floated on the short list to be a VP pick, right? And there was a lot of talk about that Trump's really

wanted Lara to fill Rubio's seat back then. What happened? Well, she certainly wanted this seat, right? There was even rumors that she would run for the Carolina Senate seat a while back. So this is obviously a space that she wants to enter. Of course, she's been the co-chair of the RNC. Trump appointed her to that position. He even said in those remarks that you played a little bit of that he doesn't want anyone to think that nepotism is involved. But I think it goes deeper than that, right? It's no secret that Trump and DeSantis have had an extremely rocky relationship, especially given that DeSantis had challenged him for the Republican presidential nomination this past cycle.

And so I think it became clear to Trump that he really can't exert his pressure over him on this. that the governor of Florida is going to make. There's really nothing hanging over DeSantis' head that he would possibly want that Trump could give to him. Remember, Trump still lives in that very state. So I think at the end of the day here, he knew that DeSantis would make this decision. Someone like A.G. Moody is somebody

that Trump would certainly support in this position, too. All right, Julie Sirk, and we thank you for that. Appreciate it. Now to a major interview that caught our attention with Dr. Jill Biden. Speaking to the Washington Post about her nearly 50 years in the world of politics, as she and her husband prepare to leave the Washington.

White House. Dr. Biden detailing her frustration with longtime friend Nancy Pelosi, who's believed to have helped engineer the pressure campaign to end her husband's reelection bid this summer. Joining us now is the writer who interviewed her, Kara, first off, your politics reporter for the style section of the Washington Post. I want to tell you, great job getting that interview. It was incredibly revealing. I do want to start with your observations first. What did you learn from this interview about First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden? I learned that Dr. Jill Biden has really given a lot of thought to the kind of first lady she wanted to be. And certainly, there are few people who have had as much time to think about it.

Her husband first ran for presidency in 1987. She became first lady in obviously 2021, and she was second lady for eight years before that. She had a portfolio of things that were important to her, military families, education, community college as part of that. And she knew what she wanted to be. Yeah, let's get to the juicy part of the interview as well. I want to show our audience exactly what Dr. Biden said to you about Pelosi, because at first, she seemed reluctant to talk about it, but she did say this. Let's put it up on the screen. It's been on my mind a lot lately. And Jill pauses. We were friends for 50 years. She is using her teacher's voice now. It was disappointing. You described Jill Biden as the quote, keeper of the family grudges, right? This is a title she's had by others as well. Is Nancy Pelosi now at the top of that list? I don't know if she's the top of the list, but certainly there was a lot of hurt there. The Bidens are very close to the Pelosi's.

Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi knew each other way back when, when Nancy was a fundraiser and really involved in California politics before she got into Congress. They socialized together. I know that Jill couldn't wait to invite Nancy over and Paul over to the White House when COVID would allow it to happen. So it really is a heartbreaking story of these two very close families having quite the falling out over what happened this summer. Yeah, I want to read another great section of your interview as well. It's about President Biden's decision to drop out of the race. We'll put this up for our viewers as well. Sure, Jill says when asked whether her husband could have governed the country for another four years. I mean, today I think he has a full schedule. He started early with interviews and briefings, and it just keeps going. But when USA Today asked Joe the same question in the Oval Office, he said, quote, I don't know who the hell knows. So with all due respect, I want to ask you, did you find the first

lady to be a bit delusional. Does she see something that American voters see in a completely opposite way? I don't know if she sees it in a different way. And that's not something that she was willing to talk about with me. She hasn't talked about it publicly at all in terms of how she sees her husband's what we might consider to be alleged decline. What we do know about Jill Biden, though, is she believes in her husband no matter what. She is his biggest cheerleader. When he wants to do something, she gets behind him. It's not really up to her whether or not he ran again. It was just up to her to support him no matter what he wanted to do. With that comment, it sort of feeds into the criticism some, especially on the right,

have said, right, that essentially Jill Biden is the wizard, if you will. She's the one pulling the strings. She's the one who's pushing him to run along with those senior Biden advisors. Is that the sense you got? You know, I talked to some of those senior Biden advisors. And one thing that they all told me, as I reported this story, is that Jill was going to support Joe if he wanted to stay in the race, and if he didn't. You have to remember, Jill Biden kept her career the entire time that Joe has been in public life. They met when he was a senator. She was a teacher. She stayed a teacher all the way through her time as First Lady. She's the first first lady to have a career all the way through

her time at the White House. When I asked her, this didn't make it into the story, but I asked her, do you think of your legacy as differently from your husbands? She said, yes. She thinks of herself as her own person. So I don't find anything in my reporting suggest that Jill Biden was power hungry at all. If anything, maybe she supported someone longer that he should have been supported in the public sphere. So what is she upset about? What are the grudges about the way they got rid of him? Yeah. You know, she says that she's totally at peace with the outcome, that she's fine to step away from public life. She's fine that Joe left the race. She really didn't like how it happened. Reporting that I did suggest to me that it felt very public,

very embarrassing, that Joe Biden, as one of their friends said to me, didn't deserve that, a little bit more grace. And to have this play out publicly in the press was really offensive to the First Lady and her family. You can read Kara Votes, great interview in the Washington Post about Dr. Jill Biden. It is on the website right now. Carraway, thank you for being here. Thank you. Still ahead tonight, a Rhode Island family demanding answers after state troopers posted a social media video laughing at a man fatally struck by a car, we speak with that man's grandmother, the punishment she thinks those troopers should face. Plus, actor Justin Baldoni, filing. a multi-million dollar suit against his co-star Blake Lively, about $400 million worth.

What he alleges Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, did to ruin his reputation. And the SpaceX Starship rocket, look at this exploding mid-flight, the new video coming in showing fireballs of debris streaking across the sky. What went wrong here? We're going to explain. Back now with a disturbing story. of Rhode Island. Two state troopers, they're now fired after sharing video that shows a man getting fatally struck by a car and then those troopers laughing about it. His grieving family outraged by the behavior, NBC's Valerie Castro spoke to his grandmother and has his story.

Tonight, two Rhode Island state troopers fired after sharing video and laughing at a man's tragic final moments. The two can be heard on this Snapchat video that shows 21-year-old Alex Montecino being fatally struck by two cars while crossing I-95 in October. This version of the video obtained and blurred by our NBC affiliate in Rhode Island. I never wanted to see that video. The trooper's termination was news to the Montecino family. We found out that they both have been fired at this point. Oh, good.

What's your reaction? Good, good. I'm happy. I'm happy. Such a relief. Montecino's grandmother, Minerva Irizari, says the family learned on the day of his funeral that troopers had been sharing the video. I'm seeing my grandson and his last minutes of life getting killed, you know, which no wants to see that, you know.

And then when I hear the state troopers laughing, that's when it really, like, I was very angry, very, very angry. Sit there and laugh and laugh and make fun of to be diminished to, uh, a viral video. It's horrible. After an investigation, the Rhode Island State Police announcing the termination of two troopers from the 2024 Academy class who violated division rules, regulations, and policies, adding, we are deeply disappointed that these recently hired troopers displayed such poor judgment and lacked empathy for this family's tragedy. The troopers have not been publicly named. Montesino's grandparents calling the punishment

a step in the right direction, but not enough. Do you feel like they owe you an apology? Yes, of course, the whole family's apology. Adding that an already painful experience was made that much worse by the trooper's decision. The family continues to grieve the loss of Montecino, his grandmother, remembering the last time she saw him. His birthday when he turned 21, you know, we had such a good time. And I remember I was sitting in my car when I told him goodbye and I hugged him and I got out the car. And I said, wait a minute.

I want to give you a real, you know, a tight hug. And I got on the out of them so tight. And that was the last time I haven't seen him. Valerie Castro joins us now in studio. So Valerie, what more are we learning about this young man who lost his life? So we've learned that Alex had a real love for his family. And a couple of years ago, he used 23 and Me, the online service, to track down his grandfather. He had fallen out of touch with the family more than 40 years ago.

And now they say Alex is the reason that they were all reunited. They were forever grateful to him for that. As for what's next in this case, Alex's grandmother says she has no plans to sue the troopers. She says really no amount of money will ever bring Alex back. Okay. Valerie Castro for us, Valerie, thank you. Tonight, the feud between it ends with us co-stars, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, heating up. Baldoni now suing lively, her publicist and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for defamation,

saying they falsified stories of sexual harassment on set to distract from bad publicity Lively was getting. The suit also implying Lively used her friendship with Taylor Swift to pressure Baldoni to make changes to the film. NBC's Chloe Malas has it all tonight. I want to see you again. Now you see me. You know what I mean. Tonight, Justin Baldoni suing his, it ends with us, co-star Blake Lively, in the amount of $400 million for defamation and extortion. The civil suit obtained by NBC News filed in the Southern District of New York on Thursday, also names Lively's husband, Ryan Reynolds, and her longtime publicist, Leslie Sloan. Among the claims in the suit filed on behalf of Baldoni, his PR team, and his production

company Wayfarer, that Lively was, quote, determined to make Baldoni the real-life villain in her story, and that she, along with her publicist, falsely accused him of sexual harassment in order to take control of the public narrative that Lively was, quote, tone-deaf during the film's press tour. The suit also claims that Lively made outrageous demands when it came to her character's wardrobe, making production purchase a pair of $5,000 shoes. Another allegation made in Baldoni's suit is that Lively rewrote this key scene in the film with Reynolds, featuring the film's characters on a rooftop, and pressure Baldoni, along with one of her mega-celebrity friends to accept her version, saying in a suit that Lively, deliberately,

and systematically robbed plaintiffs of their movie. A text message included in that suit identifies that friend as simply Taylor, but the conversation suggests. suggests it refers to superstar Taylor Swift, especially with another message, implying that the friend's primary gig could be singing, and one of Swift's songs being used in the movie's trailer. Swift did not immediately respond to NBC News as request for comment. In a statement to NBC News, Baldoni's attorney Brian Friedman sang in part, Miss Lively and her team attempted to bulldoze reputations and livelihoods for heinously selfish reasons through their own dangerous manipulation of the media. We know the truth, and now the public does too. Lively Reynolds and Sloan have not responded to NBC News's request for comment. But in a previous statement on the dispute, Lively's attorneys telling NBC News in part, quote,

Ms. Lively's federal litigation involves serious claims of sexual harassment. A classic tactic to distract from allegations of this type of misconduct is to blame the victim and suggest that the offender is actually the victim. This all coming a little over two weeks after Lively sued Baldoni and his production company for alleged sexual. harassment and retaliation while filming it ends with us. And what she claims was a subsequent smear campaign against her for speaking up. In a recent interview with NBC News, Baldoni's lawyer saying there was no smear campaign against Lively. Was there a coordinated smear campaign to bring down Blake

lively? 100% no. Justin Baldoni from the get-go said, I don't want to do anything negative toward her. I don't want to hurt her. Baldoni's lawsuit also doubling down on claims that he had his PR team recently made against the New York Times and his $250 million libel lawsuit. The newest suit alleging lively worked for months with the outlet and what they call a behind-the-scenes conspiracy to prepare a false and damaging narrative about Baldoni. One of the text exchanges they reference published by the outlet are between Baldoni's publicist Melissa Nathan and Jennifer Abel, who are the ones accused in lively suit of orchestrating the smear campaign against lively. In it, Abel writes to Nathan, quote, you really outdid yourself with this

piece referencing an article with the headline could Blake lively be canceled they claim an upside down emoji was not published by the times which would indicate abel was being sarcastic as well as not including the text above and below the times saying in a statement to NBC news we plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit and the time shared the information that we intended to publish but that those mentioned chose not to have any conversations with the times Chloe Malas joins us now in studio. So, Chloe, I know you have a lot of new reporting tonight for us. I want to start with what you're hearing from Baldoni's publicist who claims they're now getting threats because of this new lawsuit. Yes, so they claim that they are

experiencing death threats, anti-Semitic comments towards them. And we at NBC News, we reviewed some of those. But they are not backing down. They say that they are actually publishing a website in the coming days where it's going to have a timeline of what they say really happened, between Blake Lively and Justin Beldonie, and that they are going to dump tons of information, text messages, emails. It's going to be the dream of fans who have been following every twist and turn of this story

to really see it all. And they claim that it's going to allow the American public or people all over the world to really decide who side they're on. So they really are going to be sort of in the court of public opinion. They're going to put all the dirty laundry out there on a website? And neither side is backing down. I mean, all signs point Tom to this heading, to a courtroom. If you thought that Amber Hurd and Johnny Depp was explosive, you can only imagine

that if you get Justin Baldoni, Ryan Reynolds, and Blake Lively in a courtroom, a lot of people are going to be watching. All right. Chloe Melasperous, Chloe, we thank you for that. When we come back, we head to Los Angeles. The latest on the wildfires out there. Do firefighters finally have these wildfires under control? Morgan Chesky with a report coming up right after this break. Okay, we are back now with Top Story's news feed and an update on Rudy Giuliani's legal battles. The former New York City mayor reaching an undisclosed settlement with two Georgia poll workers, he's accused of defaming. Court documents revealed Giuliani will get to keep his Florida condo and three World Series rings as part of that settlement. Those poll workers, Ruby Freeman and Chey Moss, won their $146 million lawsuit against Giuliani in 2023 after he falsely accused them of tampering.

with votes in the 2020 presidential election. The American Cancer Society finding that cancer rates are rising among both younger and older women, despite a decrease in cancer deaths. The latest annual report shows cancer cases are rising among women under 50, with those aged 50 to 64 years old, now outpacing men for the first time in the U.S. Researchers also reveal women under 65 are more likely to develop lung cancer than men. While the reasons for this trend are unclear, doctors cite alcohol consumption, poor diet, and a lack of exercise as possible factors. In a consumer alert, nearly 330,000 smoke alarms sold on the home shopping network have been recalled due to a potential safety hazard. Here's what they look like.

The recall impacts samurai branded white and silver plastic mini smoke alarms. Federal regulators say the alarms fail to detect smoke during testing, posing a fire risk, smoke inhalation, or even death. If you own one, you're urged to contact the company for a replacement. Okay, and some breaking news now that we're covering tonight, that historic SpaceX launch earlier today. The company saying tonight, it's Starship Rocket, broke up while in flight somewhere over the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean. New video just in tonight showing a cascade of debris falling from the rocket in the skies above Turks and Caicos. That would be pieces of the rocket. To be clear, this was an unmanned ship on a flight designed to test the rocket's capabilities.

More on this, I want to bring in NBC's Marissa Parra, who joins us from Miami. And Marissa, those images are always pretty startling. Yeah, Tom, and we're, of course, we have so many questions that, unfortunately, are probably going to take some time to get answers to. But here's what we do know. SpaceX confirming in a statement, quote, rapid, unscheduled disassembly during its descent burn. We are also just now getting a new statement from the FAA releasing in their statement. They really did not say much.

They just said that they were aware of a, quote, anomaly, saying they will have an updated statement shortly. And of course, the big question is if they're going to do an investigation, which, of course, I think we're all anticipating. But the bigger question is what kind of impact could that have on future test flight schedules? SpaceX has not confirmed anything, by the way, in terms of re-entry. That's another question that we all have. But we are getting a lot of images from Turks and Caicos, including from our own producer on the ground. A couple of facts here. SpaceX says they lost contact about eight and a half minutes after launch. And that's just before around Starship Engine Cutoff, by the way, around 5.45 p.m. These videos were sent to my producer at

604 p.m. And I'll also point out that Elon Musk, you know, SpaceX's head himself, has posted on his own social media images, these same images you're seeing on your screen. And with that image, he posted, quote, success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed. So read into that how you will. But we do know that SpaceX, Starship, this is the seventh test flight. It launched from Boca Chica, Texas. Turks and Caicos is about 1,600 miles east in the Atlantic Ocean. We know there was supposed to be a splashdown in the Indian Ocean about an hour after launch. But as we all know, and as we have confirmed, they lost contact.

And, of course, these are things, by the way, Tom, that will be investigated, certainly by SpaceX and almost certainly by the FAA as well. And we know certainly costy. We don't have to, we don't have the numbers exactly on how costly, but these are test flights. And certainly a lot will be learned from this, Tom. Yeah, and again, nobody was on that flight, but still pretty startling. Okay, Marissa, we thank you for that. Night of California and the dangerous landslide threat.

Officials sounding the alarm that areas wiped out by the deadly wildfires could be at high risk for mudslides now. This has tens of thousands still have not been allowed to return to their homes. Morgan Chesky there again with the latest. Tonight, a new danger emerging across a fire-stricken city. This palisades home split in half after officials say a water leak, caused a scorched hillside to give way. No one was hurt, but the still smoldering scene piling on anxiety ahead of any future rain. If you were in a fire evacuation zone, is there a likely chance you'll be evacuated come rainy season from bus slides?

There is a very likely chance. We're going to have to tell homeowners to remain alert. Teams still facing 36 square miles of Do Do Do Doors Inspections before more than 80,000 evacuated residents can safely return to their neighborhoods. They're shutting off the natural gas, they're cutting the electrical lines, so there's nothing that you can touch and get electrocuted if it was re-energized by accident. Los Angeles water and power crews testing hydrants to find the source of that ongoing water leak. The department now the target of a civil lawsuit over a reservoir that was offline for maintenance. Some Palisades fire victims alleging a 117 million gallon water storage complex. was empty, leaving fire crews little to know water to fight the Palisades fire. Dan Grigsby lost his home of 37 years.

What do you hope to accomplish with this lawsuit? Accountability, I would say, and make sure it absolutely never happens again. LA's water system already under investigation after Cruz reported shortages on both the Palisades and Eaton fires. Out of every fire hydrant you've seen, what have you found? Right now, we're finding most of them are down or low pressure. Sure. If you had a hydrant for this building. If we had a hideer for this building, we might have been able to save the backout. Last year, Martin Adams retired from leading Los Angeles water and power.

What would you tell those homeowners who saw that water go dry in a time of need? The one thing that it's important is to understand up front is that there's no water system in the world that could provide the kind of water demand that was required in this fire. And with that, Morgan Chesky joins us tonight from Malibu. So Morgan, I want to ask you, It feels like firefighters finally have these wildfires under control, but there are still firefighting efforts going on. We're not quite there just yet. Yeah, Tom, they really want to see those containment numbers go from where they are to that magical number 100 percent contained.

That means they've established that perimeter around where these blazes took place, and they've also put out those hotspots, and that is why we continue to see reinforcements from firefighters all over the country, all over the world. In fact, a contingent from Israel just landed in Los Angeles earlier today. They're going to be joining those other crews, going into those hard-to-reach areas in search of those hotspots that can still hide for days, potentially even weeks after, to ignite another blaze. Tom? Morgan Chesky for us. Morgan, thank you. Coming up, another health scare for Pope Francis, the 88-year-old appearing in a sling after falling at his home, what we're learning about the injury, his second in just about six weeks.

Okay, we are back now with Top Stories Global Watch, and we're starting with the end to that minor standoff in South Africa. Authorities say no one remains in the illegal mine. 246 were pulled out alive, but 87 bodies were also recovered. Those dead likely died from dehydration or starvation after authorities cut off access to food and water last year in an attempt to get those illegal miners out. Those who were rescued are now expected to face it. charges. A judge in Brazil is barring and battled former President Jair Bolsonaro from attending President-elect Trump's inauguration. The judge rejecting Bolsonaro's request to temporarily restore his passport so that he could travel to D.C. Bolsonaro faces charges for attempting a coup after

his 22 election loss. His passport was seized after being ruled a flight risk. And Pope Francis injuring his arm after his second fall in just over a month, the 88-year-old Pope fell in his apartment in Vatican City, he did not break his arm, though, but was put in a sling as a precaution. Last month, the Pope bruised his chin after falling and hitting his face on a nightstand. The Pope, who is missing part of a lung, also battles long bouts of bronchitis and often uses a wheelchair for his bad knees. Okay, we want to turn now to the Americas. In Cuba, the government is beginning to release prisoners, as we reported last night,

who were arrested in the historic anti-government protest of 2021. The move coming right after the U.S. removed the island nation from its... list of state sponsors of terrorism. It was one of President Biden's last official acts, but it's unclear if it will stick as the new administration prepares to take office. George Solis tonight explains. In Cuba, emotional scenes of celebration as prisoners released by the government return home. Among them, 23-year-old Daryl Cruz, who was originally sentenced to 15 years in prison for sedition for taking part in mass anti-government protest.

in 2021. At night, they came to get me and called my mom, saying that I was free. That's it, he said. And how did that make you feel? How do you think I feel coming out of hell? Being with my family and son, I feel calm, I feel happy, and I'm behaving so well I can move forward, he said. The gradual release of 553 prisoners was announced on Tuesday, just hours after the Biden

administration said it would remove Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. as part of a deal brokered with the Vatican. The Biden administration making the determination, noting that the government of Cuba has not provided any support for international terrorism during the preceding six-month period and assurances it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future.

Cuba's Minister of Foreign Affairs saying he thinks the U.S. made this move after realizing that the policy it's applied towards Cuba is obsolete and does not serve the national interests of the United States. The minister praising the national. decision while proposing a respectful dialogue with the incoming Trump administration. Neither government has linked the release to the U.S. decision.

Cuba says the prisoners were freed, quote, in the spirit of the ordinary Jubilee of the year 2025 declared by the Pope. Cuban civil rights groups say many of the released prisoners were jailed over those mass protests, which took place during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cubans taking to the streets outraged over a lack of food. water, medicine, and electricity. Public demonstrations, not seen since Fidel Castro took power. At the time, Cuba's government blaming U.S. sanctions for its economic crisis.

Where is the not-so-good thing, if you will? I'm still scratching my head as to how this worked out. Pedro Frey, chair of Ackerman's international practice, which provides legal counsels to U.S.-based companies affected by the embargo, questions the timing of the Biden administration's decision and if it will hold, but President-elect Trump takes office in just a few days. Why did this happen at this time? What the U.S. conceded here, the U.S. part of the bargain, removing Cuba from the state sponsor of terrorism list, is something that can be relatively easily revoked by the incoming administration. So I don't see a lasting benefit there for Cuba.

Cuban leadership has said the prisoner's release is not amnesty nor a pardon, and that prisoners could be jailed again if they violate their parole. Cuba traditionally has had this sort of policy bent of when political prisoners are released, they make it very easy for them to leave because that way they're not going to be active in opposing the government. So I would suspect that a substantial number of them will wind up leaving Cuba. For those who are home, their freedom seems fragile. And for those still behind bars, their feet.

future, uncertain. I'm still waiting to hear if her son will be released from his 14-year prison sentence, saying, quote, a son in jail is a dead mother. George Salis joins us tonight from Miami. And George, I think we have to highlight two points. One you brought up there in your story. These prisoners released by Cuba are on parole, right? So that communist government can easily re-arrest them, throw them into jail cells.

And then you have the incoming Secretary of State, likely to be Marco Rubio, who said yesterday on Capitol Hill, he believes Cuba is a state sponsor of terrorism. Yeah, that's right, Tom. And on that first point, what we are likely to see is a lot of those political prisoners maybe even flee Cuba to avoid being put back in any of those jail cells. And you're right. Senator Marco Rubio, a son of Cuban immigrants, obviously a hardliner when it comes to Cuba, already noting that he believes that Cuba will go back on that list of nations that sponsor terrorism. indicating during those confirmation hearings, the current Biden administration and anything that they've done here in the last 12 to 18 hours doesn't mean it's a indicator of what the incoming Trump administration will do. So we're likely to see some action fairly quickly

upon his confirmation. George Solis tonight covering everything coming out of Cuba tonight for us from Miami. George, we appreciate that when we come back. Remembering a baseball legend, Bob Yucer, the longtime voice of the Milwaukee Brewers, we'll have a look back at his lengthy career that also included a few stints in Hollywood. Stay with us. And finally, we want to remember the legacies of two icons in their industries tonight. Famed Hollywood director David Lynch has died, the creative mind behind Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, and Mahal and Drive. Movies and TV shows known for their surreal, dreamlike qualities, Lynch was a four-time Academy Award nominee and received an honorary Oscar for his lifetime achievement

in 2020. He was 78 years old. And we're also mourning the loss of one of baseball's most beloved figures, the longtime voice of the Milwaukee Brewers Bob Euker, who passed away today at the age of 90. Our Sam Brock has this look at how a backup catcher with a 200 batting average made it into the Baseball Hall of Fame and launched a second act in show business with a career that was just a bit outside. Swinging flyball in the right center. Hexton is there, and they're the champions. Bob Yucer spent most of his adult life hanging around ballparks. He was a major leaguer, a journeyman catcher for four teams over six seasons,

compiling a less than stellar career batting average of 200. It was after his last team released him that Yucer found his power swing as an entertainer. Would you welcome Mr. Baseball, Bob Yucer. He made some 100 appearances on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, starred in a 1980s sitcom, Mr. Belvedere. Somebody fell through, so they need another guest, Pronto. And there's any you to pick him up?

No, I'm it. I guess they want me to dazzle them with a few of my sports stories. And had an unforgettable role in the hit movie, Major League. Just a bit outside. I love him. Beer commercials made him a household name.

Good seats, huh? We're in the wrong shape, buddy. Come on. Oh, I must be in the front row. It's the line that made this Milwaukee native famous. He missed a tag. The Milwaukee Brewers immortalizing him with a statue behind the last row. With a deadpan delivery, Yucer turned his baseball career's highlights into punchlines like homering off of pitching great Sandy Kofax. I was always afraid it was going to keep him

out of the Hall of Fame. I really was. And joking about getting his World Series ring as the backup catcher with the champion 1964 St. Louis Cardinals. Through mine in the left field I found it in about the fifth inning. Yucre is in the Baseball Hall of Fame, not as a player, but as a broadcaster, serving as the longtime Brewer's play-by-play man. Oh, my, oh, my. How do you top this one?

He was celebrated with Bob Euker Day in Wisconsin in 2021 to mark his 50 years calling Brewer's games. I love people. Who are we without people? You know, who are we without fans? An all-time all-star at putting smiles on people's faces. We thank Sam for that look back. And we thank you for watching Top Story tonight.

I'm Tom Yamison, New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.