Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, January 18, 2024

Episode Date: January 19, 2024

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

Tonight, more than 100 million Americans under weather alerts as a deadly ice storm shoots across the country. The system ushering in dangerous cold, freezing rain, snow and icy conditions from coast to coast. Dozens of deaths blamed on rounds of unrelenting storms. The ice causing a plane to slide off a runway in Rochester, New York, as concerns grow over treacherous travel conditions heading into the weekend, is another system right behind this one. Also tonight, the explosion in D.C., a gas explosion, leveling a building right next to a daycare. The race to rescue more than a dozen kids

before that fiery blast sent the structure tumbling. War with America, a top commander of the Houthis rebel group telling NBC's Richard Engel that the Iranian-back group feels they are at battle with our country. It comes as the U.S. steps up strikes on the Houthis in Yemen. one day after re-designating them a terror organization. Will this cycle of violence continue? Stumbling in the spotlight?

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley facing new criticism after saying the U.S. is, quote, not a racist country. The series of missteps on the campaign trail and how she's now reversing course with just five days until the New Hampshire primary. Trump's running mate? NBC exclusively reporting former President Trump may be considering New York representative.

Representative Elise Stefanik as VP. She's currently slated to speak at a New Hampshire campaign event for the former president ahead of the primary, the reason why Trump's allies say she's high on the list to run beside him. Plus, the Kentucky man going to extreme lengths to track down the thief who stole multiple packages from his front door, how he's using Apple air tags to get back what's his. And sweet surprise, a World War II vet brought to tears after meeting his newborns. great-great-granddaughter. The touching moment caught on camera, now going viral. Top story starts right now.

Good evening. Tonight, a deadly cross-country storm is barreling towards the northeast. Freezing rain, feet of snow, and a bitter blast of arctic cold air are threatening millions. This system coating parts of the Pacific Northwest and thick sheets of ice causing widespread, power outages and forcing several counties to declare states of emergency because of scenes like this. The crippling ice storm leaving three people dead after a power line fell on a car in Portland. One county is Oregon reporting a record number of hospitalizations for cold-related illnesses. A high-risk warning for avalanche stretches from Washington all the way to the Rockies, and it comes as a barrage of storms trigger more than 800 avalanches in just one

week in Colorado. Now the system is on the move targeting parts of the Tennessee Valley with freezing rain and bringing inches of snow to the northeast just in time for the Friday evening commute. Travel advisory is already issued for much of the I-95 corridor. The full forecast in just a moment, but NBC's Emily Aked is going to lead us off here on top story tonight from a chilly western New York. As the unrelenting streak of perilous weather powers on tonight a plane getting off the taxiway in Rochester, New York. Speed your discretion, an aircraft just put off the taxiway off a two. Emergency vehicles surround the plane, racing to evacuate the 53 people on board.

Luckily, no one was injured. As the deluge of snow and ice that froze over the Pacific Northwest, trudges cross-country. Tretuous road sending cars sliding from Washington to Alabama. It's cold. It's freezing. A year since a blizzard killed. dozens of people around Buffalo. Western New York transformed again by winter's wrath. This restaurant is barely recognizable,

frozen by the bone-chilling temperatures, and buried by feet of lake-effect snow. Parts of the greater Buffalo area have seen more than 60 inches of snow since Saturday. That's almost as tall as I am. Hundreds of trucks and snow plows working to clear roads with schools closed for the fourth day in a row tomorrow. Any one of these snowmounds could be a car.

You really have to be careful when you're driving through here. Over the last week, at least 47 people died in the extreme weather nationwide. Oh, sht. Three of those victims killed when a power line fell on their car in Oregon Wednesday. In Wisconsin, DeAndre White's family believes the 40-year-old died of hypothermia, remembering him as someone that would always help others. And in Tennessee, a state of emergency, after the most recent winter storms claimed at least 14 lives. This dramatic video just released by state police in nearby Kentucky, capturing the rescue of four stranded college students who had been camping.

Winds whipping around them. As tonight, the barrage of brutal conditions is burying communities coast to coast. Some wild images from across the country. Emily Aketa joins us now live from Hamburg, New York, where we know, Emily, it is incredibly clothed. That's just outside of Buffalo. You mentioned at the top of your story that the plane skidding off the taxiway in Rochester. What more were you learning about the latest on flight cancellations and delays? Well, Tom, tonight American Airlines says that the aircraft will be towed off the taxiway and inspected. They are blaming the incident on snowy airfield conditions. In terms of what we're seeing across the country with flight disruptions, roughly 4,000 delays and 700 cancellations. That is a slight improvement from yesterday, but we could see those numbers worse than tomorrow as the Northeast braces for more snow for another storm. Hard to imagine, Tom, when you look around here in western New York, even more snow coming to this area. Yeah, it looks like all snow and a little bit of houses there.

All right, Emily, we thank you for that. As Emily just reported, the latest winter storm now system is marching east. So let's get right over to NBC news meteorologist Michelle Grossman, who joins us once again tonight. Michelle, the northeast is bracing for another round of snowfall. This time of this one out for us. All right, hi there, Tom. We're going to see a lot like what we saw on Monday. So one to four inches.

Some spots could overachieve to four to six inches, and it's going to slow down the roadways. We're looking at temperatures, really chilly, too. We're looking at snow during the morning commute, down to the evening commute. But look at this. 100 million people impacted. That is a lot of people across the country from the west into the central plains, Midwest, the Ohio Valley, the northeast, down to the southeast, impacted by winter weather, winter weather. If they're not seeing it now, they're going to see it over the next 24 hours.

30 states are impacted from the west all the way down to the southeast. And we're looking at cold weather, too. We had a little reprieve today, but we're going to see another blast tomorrow through the weekend. So 29 million Americans under windshield alerts, windshield advisories, windshield watches, windshield warnings. We're going to see negative numbers once again. This is what radar looks like right now. You can see very active tonight. We're looking at that West Coast storm, bringing heavy rain, flooding rains in some spots. We have some ice falling once again. Lots of people around the Portland area had been without powerful days, just coated in ice. We're going to see another quarter inch there. That will end by Saturday morning

once we start to see those temperatures back into the 40s, also measuring the snow in feet. And then as we look towards the middle of the country, you could see this blue right here in the central plains. That is snow as well. This is going to merge with this storm system right here. There's where we're going to see the snow into the northeast tomorrow. Again, could see one to four inches. some spots up to six inches. So this is what the setup is like. The snow spreading from the Rockies to the Midwest. We're looking at snow, ice in the Tennessee Valley as well. And there is your commute early on Friday morning. During the day on Friday into your evening commute, it's going to be slow and slippery along the I-95 quarter. And we're also looking at lake effect snow.

We've still up to 70 inches of snow in some spots. So generally one to three inches. There's that bull's eye along the lakes there. We're looking at another foot of snow by tomorrow morning. Tom. All right, Michelle Grossman for us, Michelle. Thanks for tracking that. Now to the race for the White House. Nikki Haley speaking out today after igniting controversy for saying that America was never racist. Her rise in the polls accompanied by a string of campaign missteps just days before the New Hampshire primary. Ali Vitale on the campaign trail in the Granite State tonight with the latest.

Thanks so much. Tonight, Nikki Haley doubling down on this controversial remark about the history of race in America. We're not a racist country, Brian. We've never been a racist country. On the campaign trail today, Haley addressing the criticism head on, turning to a regular part of her stump speech for cover. She said the other day that we have never been a racist country. Was that a slip of the tongue? No.

Listen, I was born a brown girl in a small rural town in South Carolina. If my parents never wanted us to think we lived in a racist country, did we face racism? Yes. It's the latest in a series of campaign stumbles on race from Haley as she rises in the polls. Last month, the former South Carolina governor faced fierce backlash for failing to mention slavery when asked about the cause of the Civil War. What do you want me to say about slavery? No, you can answer my question. Next question.

That firestorm and the flurry of clarifications that followed, the possible driver of a temporary, if critical adjustment on the trail, limited Q&As with voters and near zero questions from her traveling press corps. Choices that drew rebukes from Haley's GOP rival, Ron DeSantis. Ladies and gentlemen, this will be the last question. No, no, I'm going to do some more. Don't worry. How many is that? Like four or five? I've got to do more than that. That'll equal the number that Haley and Trump do in a month. But today, Haley reversing course, answering questions from voters for the first time since Monday's Iowa caucus

and facing her first reporter gaggle in weeks. at his campaign rallies, he's ramping up his attacks. Days from the New Hampshire primary, Haley, 14 points behind her former boss, Donald Trump. Even as some polls had them neck in neck here in notoriously hard to poll New Hampshire. Despite fluid polling and Rhonda Sant is still in the running, her campaign framing this race as a one-on-one with Trump. Haley, though, continuing to temper her direct criticisms of the frontrunner. Do you think that even if he's convicted, he's still qualified to be president? I'm going to beat him so we don't have to ever deal with, are we going to elect a convicted felon?

Now, as Haley prepares for the Granite State to pose the biggest test of her candidacy yet, questions about if she has what it takes to pass it with flying colors or at all. Allie Vitale joins us tonight again from the campaign trail this time in Manchester. So, Allie, you just talked about this is a big test for Nikki Haley in New Hampshire. But what is passing that test really look like for her? Does she have to win this or is her team trying to spin a second point? place victory. Well, Tom, they've been really difficult to pin down on this. When we were in Iowa, I understood why, because they were clear that second or third would

have been fined by them strategy-wise. But here on the ground in New Hampshire, we've really watched them continue to shift the goalposts of what it means to be successful here in the Granite State. Her top endorser, the governor here, Chris Sununu, said a month ago, he thought she was going to run away with this primary in a landslide. Now, just last week, he's shifting those expectations, saying that second. Second place is probably what's going to happen, and that second place has always been the Haley campaign's goal. Of course, we all know getting first is better than getting in second, but it's clear that the Haley team is at least trying to set low expectations,

unclear of if they'll actually get to surge into that top position over her former boss, Tom. You know, Ali, one of the interesting things that's happening in New Hampshire just this week is that we're seeing less and less of Governor Ron DeSantis, right? He never sort of put a lot into New Hampshire, but now with the debates disappearing, he's really barely going to. to be there. Doesn't him sort of disappearing from this conversation actually hurt Nikki Haley because his voters most likely will go to Donald Trump? Well, look, there's two ways that you can look at this. I've heard from Trump campaign allies that they prefer a field that is much larger because they feel like that benefits the former president. Certainly that is one school of thinking. The other school of thinking is that by putting

this into a one-on-one race, you can really see where the field would stand if it was Trump versus the other non-Trump candidate, whoever that might be. You're right to make the point that DeSantis voters are more likely to go to someone like Trump. They also could just stay home. And that's where Nikki Haley's coalition of building outside of the so-called MAGA movement comes in. She's trying to pull in independence and Democrats as well because they can play in this primary. That's going to be a different strategy and one, frankly, that she could only do in a state like New Hampshire. The other thing for Ron DeSantis, and you know this so well, half the battle of being.

a presidential candidate is just showing up. Once you take yourself out of the conversation of where everyone is talking about, in this case, and for the next week, it's going to be New Hampshire. It's really difficult for him to continue to live off the land when he's not where the conversation is, and all of those debates have dried up, so he's not consistently in front of a national audience. A lot of great points, Sir, Allie. We thank you for your reporting. And as Haley is hitting the ground in New Hampshire, former President Trump was off the campaign trail back in Florida today for his mother-in-law's funeral. But one One major issue affecting voters this election, of course, is immigration.

And with the New Hampshire primary just five days away, NBC's Garrett Haidt takes a look and how the crisis at the border is impacting this race. They didn't like me. Tonight, facing a make-or-break New Hampshire primary in just five days, Nikki Haley ramping up her attacks on the frontrunner. Now, I know that Donald Trump went on a temper tantrum about me last night. Defending her record on the hot button issue of immigration. I said, I don't just want a border wall.

We've got to do a whole lot more than that. We will defund sanctuary cities once and for all. No more safe havens for illegal immigrants. The former South Carolina governor under relentless assault by the Trump campaign on the stump. Nikki Haley will never secure the border. She doesn't believe in these secure borders. And over the airwaves. Nikki Haley, too weak, too liberal to fix the border.

For the frontrunner, former President Trump, border security remains the signature issue. On day one of my new administration, I will seal the border. We had the safest border in history. We're going to make it the safest border in history again. Under President Biden's current border policies, roughly 85% of migrants who cross the border are released into the U.S. pending court dates. Mr. Trump is vowing to force asylum seekers to remain in Mexico and wants to complete a southern border wall. President Biden has called Trump proposals extreme.

The former president overnight urging House Republicans negotiating with the White House, not to accept any compromise deal, short of perfect, as Congress debates linking aid to Israel and Ukraine to border security. President Biden pushing back. I think the vast majority of Congress support aid to Ukraine. The question is whether or not a small minority are going to hold it up with you. It's just to be a disaster. And tweaking Mr. Trump over the low turnout in Iowa in his landslide victory. Well, I don't think Iowa means anything, the lowest number of votes anybody's one got. And then there's Florida Governor Ronda Santis, who campaigns here tomorrow, then heads to South Carolina, which doesn't hold its primary for more than a month, and where polls show Mr. Trump also leads.

Tom. All right, Garrett, thanks for that. We want to stay on politics now. As President Trump continues to dominate the polls, the question of who will be his running mate is still unanswered. Trump indicating on Fox News last week he had made up his mind on a VP pick. Here's what he said. If you are the nominee, which I know you expect to be, who would be in the running for a vice president? Well, I can't tell you that, really.

I mean, I know who it's going to be. Give us a hint. We'll give you. We'll do another show sometime. Now, exclusive NBC News reporting reveals that Ali Stefonic, the Republican Congresswoman from New York, has been floated as a potential running mate. This follows her viral back and forth with three university presidents

at a congressional hearing about anti-Semitism on campus. Joining us now is one of the reporters on that byline with the big scoops. CNBC's Brian Schwartz. Brian, welcome the top story. Thanks for me. So talk to us about this, right? Because I want to understand, like, those were the tense moments that a lot of people, at least DeFonik, got on their radar with what happened, you know, in Congress talking about anti-Semitism on campus. I think we have a clip of this.

Let's roll that. Genocide of Jews violates Harvard Code of Conduct, correct? Again, it depends on the context. It does not depend on the context. The answer is yes, and this is why you should resign, specifically calling for the genocide of the genocide. Jews, does that constitute bullying harassment? If it is directed and severe or pervasive, it is harassment. If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment, yes.

Conduct meaning committing the act of genocide? So, Brian, that moment, we know that former President Trump apparently was watching as well, right? And what did you're reporting? What did you learn? Well, basically right after that, these conversations started to happen at Marilago. This is in late December, about at least defamation. possibly being his running mate. These were conversations that came up about others who also could be, of course, a choice for him to be his running mate. And that viral moment, though, was just

one event of how she really got in his radar. She's been on his radar, let's be honest, the last few years. She's been one of his most vocal loyal supporters in Congress. And, you know, we have reported that some of this conversations about, you know, her loyalty and if she could be a running mate with him stems back all the way to like 2022. This has been going on for quite some time, which is why her case actually stood out to us. Let's remind our viewers exactly who she is, right? Because again, she is going to be new to a lot of people out there. First elected to Congress in 2014. She's from New York's 21st District. District President Obama won twice. She's been a staunch supporter of President Trump and is the fourth highest ranking Republican in Congress as the conference

House chair. But I got to ask you, what does she bring to the ticket? You know, when you think about Mike Pence, Mike Pence knew Washington. He had been a congressman there. He also was very big. with the evangelical community. And he was a ying to the yang of Trump, if you will, right? We saw it especially in January 6th. But what does Stefanic bring to that? I mean, I understand she's a woman, so there's a difference there, but she's not going to deliver the state of New York.

So what else does he see her? He just really likes her. Well, table the loyalty for a second, and let's look at the other pieces, which is fundraising. And Donald Trump has a very strong fundraising operation, but there's also something that's currently missing in that fundraising apparatus right now. And that's certain portions of Wall Street. people who have stepped back and said, you know what, we're not really going to help Donald Trump as of this moment.

Of course, that, of course, could change. How could that change? Well, that's at leastophonic possibly. She is still very close with some of the very same people that have been saying, we're going to step back and not help Trump right now. Eddie, you bring her in or bring somebody in who has that kind of donor network, that could bolster him a little bit. That could help him kind of get back a little bit easier with some of these people who have been trying to stay on the silence or maybe even helping somebody on the side like, you know, Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis. those very same people are close to Elise DeFonig as well. We're obviously getting a little ahead of ourselves. He has to lock up the nomination, of course. But what kind of timeline have you heard about this?

Well, I do listen, I think this, if you go off somebody like, I think Steve Bannon was somebody who said this to us, you know, these are things that are going to take some time. These are things that are going to take to the point where he has to go get the nomination. And this is going to be kind of like Game of Thrones. This is how he does things. He does this from a situation of picking the person after he meets with them and he talks with all these different folks. But, again, he's got to lock up the nomination. He's got to go through this process.

So I wouldn't expect anything else to be decided for a number of months. And even when you think you're picked, like former Governor Chris Christie, there could be a reality check and a shocker. Everman, Mitt Romney, all those years ago, and they brought him to that restaurant and, you know, there was a whole sabotage. To join the administration. That's right. It never worked out. And here we are today. Brian Schwartz, great to have you on Top Story and great job on the break there.

We want to turn out of the latest news surrounding Georgia's Fulton County District Attorney Fonnie Willis. She's a DA who brought election interference charges against former President Trump and 18 others last year, but now she's embroiled in her own legal drama. Willis was subpoenaed this month in a divorce case involving a special prosecutor. She appointed to oversee that sprawling investigation, a lawyer for one of Trump's co-defendants accusing her of engaging in an improper relationship with that colleague. Now, a judge has set a hearing for these allegations against Willis for February 15th, while an attorney for Willis saying in court documents today, the subpoena should be squashed.

To break this down for us, I'm joined by now NBC legal analyst and friend of top story, Danny Sibbales. Danny, thanks for joining us. I want to read you a quote from Willis' attorney. It says the following. Jocelyn Wade has conspired with interested parties in the criminal election interference case to use the civil discovery process to annoy, embarrass, and oppress district attorney Willis. Talk to us about what the DA is trying to do here. DA is looking for a protective order, and it's based really on two main arguments. Number one, she's the DA, and therefore, because she's a high-ranking official, she has grounds to quash or, in other words, stop a subpoena for her deposition testimony. But the second argument is that she is somebody that has no knowledge about anything to do with this divorce case. That may be something that she's going to have to establish.

It may be a harder thing to establish if there actually is or was a prior relationship with the special prosecutor. Motions to quash subpoenas are difficult to win. If there is potentially relevant evidence, I imagine a court will not really be too bothered by the fact that she is a high-ranking official if she has knowledge that is relevant to the case and the reason for which she was subpoenaed. You know, there's also a court hearing about having the divorce documents unsealed. Several media organizations are suing to get those documents to see what the connection is, allegedly between the DA to see if there's any there there, right?

Because right now, no evidence has been proven of a romantic relationship between the special prosecutor and the DA. Do you think that's going to happen? It's hard to say, because on the one hand, these kinds of divorce cases, the records are usually sealed or kept confidential as are cases in family court or similar family court-related matters. So there's grounds for keeping things sealed and or confidential. But at the same time, the motion filed by the defense here makes allegations that are squarely related to issues that are in that divorce case.

So the defendant in this case, Roman, who has filed the motion to disqualify or actually dismiss the criminal case, which is a long shot, but also to disqualify the prosecutor, that may be enough to get them over the threshold and possibly open up these records. We've talked about this before, right, the worst case scenario for the DA here. In the worst-case scenario, she may have to drop this special prosecutor, and even she may possibly get into some trouble as well? Well, the worst-case scenario is dismissal of the criminal case. That's what the defendant Roman is asking for. But is that even possible? It is so unlikely that I will say it's possible just to keep my crack in the door open. But likelihood, I would say virtually non-existent, because that's not even the appropriate remedy for a conflict like this.

even if the special prosecutor was not properly appointed, which is one of the allegations, even if they are in a romantic relationship, and even if the money from Fulton County went to the special prosecutor, which went back to the DA to pay for vacations, the reasonable remedy would be, even if all that were true, would be to disqualify those two prosecutors. But by the way, that is a massive victory for the defendant, Roman, and I'm sure the other defendants who are certain to join in on that same motion. So even though it's a good example of how the defense may have asked for something that's a bit of a stretch, if they land in the middle, it's still a huge victory. And then I want to ask you, you know, in these cases a special prosecutor was appointed, but there's an entire office full of DAs, assistant DAs, I should say.

Why do they have to go to the special prosecutor? Is that normal in this situation? The special prosecutor may have been hired, and this does happen. It's not normal to hire a special prosecutor, especially in state cases. Sometimes a special prosecutor has particular skills in a particular area, let's say RICO, for example. But at the same time, you're right, there's always an argument to be made that, hey, don't you have an office full of people that do this every day? So I imagine that's going to be a central allegation supporting the theory that this was a preferential hire based on some alleged romantic relationship. But that is a very significant point to be made. But special prosecutors are hired from time to time, often if there's a perceived conflict or a prosecutor has a specialty.

It happened, for example, in the New York state Trump cases, some prosecutors were brought out of civil practice to come in because of their skill in a particular area. But that brings up the big point, right, because apparently this special prosecutor had never tried a felony case. And people have questioned his resume as to why he was appointed here. Exactly. And those are exactly the kinds of allegations that are going to. to be central in here. And by the way, I just want to point out, on the one hand, you know, when this motion first came out, it made me think about what it's like to be a defense attorney, which is sometimes you have to make a motion that's going to be unpopular with everyone, and it's going to be a long shot at best. But if you prevail, then all was not for naught.

This could be a massive victory if it throws the Georgia prosecution off its game, shakes things up, and could contribute to a possible victory, however improbable. I mean, if that happens, this motion will have saved this particular defendant and maybe the others. So it's a really strange thing, because on the one end, you can see how it feels a little inappropriate, the motion. On the other hand, it may be successful. It has the DA, at least right now, on the defense.

We'll have to wait and see what happens. Danny Savalos, always a pleasure to have you. Thank you. Still ahead tonight a massive explosion in D.C. just steps from a daycare. Take a look. Firefighters racing to the scene of a reported gas leak that they were unable to stop. How they were able, though, to get all of those kids out safely with just minutes to spare. We'll show you. Plus, news on Hunter Biden tonight when the president's son has just agreed to sit down for a deposition on Capitol Hill.

We have the new reporting. And to catch a porch pirate, you're going to love this story. The brilliant hack one Kentucky man used to track down the personal, the person stealing his packages. Top story. Just getting started on this Thursday night. We're back now with a gas explosion in Washington, D.C. The blast destroying a building right next to a daycare.

Firefighters evacuating 16 kids just minutes before the building was absolutely leveled. NBC's Yamish Alcindor has the late-breaking details. A daycare exploded. A building was leveled in southeast Washington, D.C. Thursday morning. The building just exploded. The blast happened shortly after firefighters were called to investigate a suspected gas leak. The gas was very noticeable. We could hear it leaking as well as smell it from the street. Once on the scene, firefighters soon realized they could not stop the leak.

They had just 15 minutes to evacuate the building and those nearby, including a daycare before it exploded. That quick thinking meant 16 children got out safely. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was shocked at the damage. When I saw the building itself, my mouth fell open because if the children had been in that building, they would have very definitely been impacted. Bricks and rubble crashed on the street as firefighters spent hours putting out the flames. Smoke from the explosion filled the D.C. skyline for miles. Tonight officials say the cause of the leak is still under investigation, but credit the fast-acting

firefighters for avoiding what could have been a mass tragedy. I think we're very lucky today. We're just grateful to the firefighters for making the necessary and quick decision to remove everyone. Miraculously, only one person suffered minor injuries from flying debris. It will take weeks to get the area cleaned up. Tom. All right, Yamish, thank you. Not one man's clever way to stop a porch pirate.

A Kentucky homeowner using an apple tag to follow a thief after multiple packages were stolen outside of his home. And it's not the first time he used the device to track something down. Ward Jolese from our Louisville affiliate, Wave 3, has this story. For online shoppers, there aren't many things more frustrating than a porch pirate. Just ask Louisville homeowner, Josh Wade. You know, it's our stuff. Could you just leave it?

You know, could I have it back, please? He's had several packages stolen from his doorstep. But it got particularly bad last week. Tuesday something was taken off the porch. Somebody stopped by and stole some slippers, again, Christmas gifts, you know, off the porch the next day. After having two packages stolen in just two days, Josh thought something's got to give. So then he got a clever idea. Why not maybe use one of these Apple Air Tags and maybe figure out where these packages are going? For those who don't know, Apple Air Tags like this one are tracking devices used to find things like lost keys, or in this case,

lost packages. I took the air tag off my keys. I went to the thrift store, picked up some random box of something, five bucks, and opened it up, dropped the air tag in it, sealed it up, put it back in the shipping box, and mailed it to myself through UPS.

When his fake package arrived, Josh only had to sit and wait, and sure enough, just a couple minutes after it arrived at his doorstep, the same thief showed up on his doorbell cam and snagged it for himself. Josh opened up the app used to track the air tag on his phone. As I got a little bit more zoomed in, I could actually see where they were in the neighborhood.

With the help of the air tag, Josh and police caught up to that guy from the video a few blocks away, a man named Blair Leifford. Leiford had gotten rid of those cheap cups, but for some reason, he kept the air tag in his bag, which led to his arrest. It's actually not the first time Josh used an air tag to track something stolen. Just a couple years ago, he used one to track his wife's stolen trailer to a home. So I called the cops again. They came and chased the guy off, I guess.

He ran, but we got the trailer back. But wait a second, whatever happened to those cheap cups the porch pirate walked off with? Well, believe it or not, Josh spotted them while driving just a day later. Some dude just had it. They were sitting at a bus stop or on a bench, and I pulled over and walked over and said, hey, nice cups. Where'd you get them? Nice, friendly, kind.

and he just said, somebody gave him to me, here. Josh admits he has no real need for these tacky Christmas cups, but while they sit on his dining room table, they serve as a reminder of the time he thought outside of the box and got his box back. All right, that was Ward Jolese from our Louisville affiliate Wave 3 reporting. We thank them for that. Coming up, the thieves robbing more than a dozen ATMs in the D.C. area,

but they're using an unusual tool to commit the crime, how they're taking the jaws of life to steal thousands of dollars. Okay, we're back now with Top Stories News Feed, and we want to start with Hunter Biden, now set to appear for a deposition on Capitol Hill next month. House Republicans confirming that the president's son will be interviewed behind closed doors on February 28th. Back in December, Hunter Biden challenged a subpoena

for a closed door testimony, making a source. surprise appearance outside of Congress saying he would only testify in public. Police are searching for the thieves targeting ATMs in the D.C. area using a major piece of construction equipment. New images showing the suspects using a power tool known as the jaws of life to break into ATM machines. Police say they believe the group has robbed at least 13 ATMs at 7-11 convenience stores across D.C., Virginia, and Maryland. No one has been hurt so far, and no arrest have been made. A member of the exhumed. The exonerated Central Park 5 has been appointed to an NYPD Oversight Committee.

New York City Councilman Yusef Salam is set to take over as chair of the council's public safety committee. Salam is known as one of the five men wrongly accused and convicted and later exonerated in the 1989 Central Park Jogger rape case. And an update tonight, 3M announcing a $253 million settlement with veterans over its combat earplugs. The manufacturing giant has agreed to pay more than 30. thousand active service members and veterans who accused the company of selling defective combat earplugs to the U.S. military, the defect leading to hearing loss and ringing in the ears. 3M. says the payments will be sent out by the end of this month. Okay, we want to turn out of the latest out of Uvaldi, Texas, where a new federal report is giving troubling insight

into how authorities failed to respond to the tragic shooting at Rob Elementary School in May of 2022. The U.S. Attorney General meeting with family members of the 21 victims and sharing what the investigation has uncovered. NBC's Morgan Chesky is there with the story. Tonight, a year and a half after a teenage gunman's rampage left 21 dead in a Uvaldi school, the U.S. Attorney General, not mincing words. The law enforcement response to the mass shooting at Rob Elementary was a failure. The Department of Justice, releasing its massive federal investigation into the Texas town's darkest day,

which found cascading failures of leadership, decision-making, politics, policy, and training. The scathing report, topping 600 pages, it determines the most significant failure was officers treating the gunmen as a barricaded threat and not an active shooter. Had the law enforcement agencies followed generally accepted practices in an active shooter situation and gone right after the shooter to stop him, lives would have been saved. During the 77 minutes from when officers arrived to when the gunman was killed, the report found no one assumed a leadership role, which led to officers remaining outside the classrooms, despite the gunman firing 45 rams and a student inside, calling 911. A lack of action by adults failed to protect children and their teachers. The report also finding some students wounded by gunfire were not immediately given first aid.

Children with bullet wounds were put on school buses without any medical attention. One of the most painful mistakes uncovered, untrained officials telling families loved ones had survived when, in fact, they were already dead. I hope that the failures end today. Mother Kimberly Rubio credits the report for shining a light in the response, but says she still has unanswered questions. Is there anything that isn't in this report that you wish was there? More emphasis on why law enforcement didn't do something sooner. It wasn't about being scared of an 18-year-old.

They were scared of a weapon the 18-year-old possessed. Her beloved daughter, Lexi, one of the many victims now honored in local murals. You relive that day, how often? Every day. For Berlinda Eriola, precious minutes wasted, leaving her wondering if her own granddaughter, Amory Jo, could have survived. This is why I am so angry with those officers that were right outside the door, right outside the door. Well, we were sitting out there wondering what was going on inside there. While they were sitting there lying to us, they had the opportunity to go in, and they didn't.

77 minutes. 77 minutes. And we do know that following the release of this port, calls for accountability have only been growing from the families of the shooting victims. They're asking for either officers who, didn't act fast enough, be terminated from their positions, or even face criminal charges. The county prosecutor here is heading up a criminal investigation, but as of last check, has not filed any charges. We'll send it back to you. All right, Morgan Chesky for us. Morgan, thank you.

Time now for Top Stories Global Watch and a check of the other headlines happening around the world. We start with a major update to a story we brought you earlier this week. Police in Columbia arresting three adults and one minor in connection to the murder of an American man who was killed after meeting a woman from a dating app in December. Suspects are charged with extortion, kidnapping, and homicide. The U.S. Embassy in Bogota urging all American travelers to avoid using dating apps in their country. Ecuadorian security forces carrying out a raid at the Guayaquil prison where notorious gang leader

Jose Adolfo Macias escaped. Video shows inmates lying face down on the ground as guards inspected them and their belongings. The raid and effort to take back control of the prison and prevent further violence. According to Ecuadorian officials, the raids are not connected to the death of prosecutor Caesar Suarez, who was killed while investigating that armed gang takeover of a local TV station. And a Russian city near the Ukraine border canceling epiphany celebrations due to recent bombing attacks. Officials in Bellagor, just 19 miles from Ukraine, canceling tomorrow's festivities for the Orthodox holiday,

which usually includes people plunging into ponds and pools through holes in the ice in commemoration of the baptism of Jesus. 21 people were killed there and 100 more injured last month and one of the deadliest rocket attacks in Russia since the war started. Okay, next tonight to the Americas and to a worsening crisis in Brazil. Brazil's Amazon rainforest, a highly specialized unit carrying out a critical operation to crackdown in illegal mining. The country's president declaring what he's calling a war as the race for gold

pushed one indigenous group to the brink of death. NBC Stephen Romo reports. Deep in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil, a modern day gold rush, turning into a raging battle. And officials fear the country may be losing its upper hand. An elite unit called Obama, part of Brazil's environmental ministry, patrolling the skies in search of illegal gold mine operations that have ravaged indigenous land and triggered a humanitarian crisis. The agents descending from helicopters, tracking down suspects hiding in the dense forest using zip ties to detain them before setting fire to illegal mining sites and supplies.

The head of Ibima saying they've been treating this operation like a war from the beginning. That message echoed by President Luis Inacio Lula, who is vowing to deploy full force against the illegal mining, saying Brazil cannot lose a war to people who are breaking the law. But his promise to protect the indigenous Yanomami people of the Amazon rainforests, seen as faltering. After the Brazilian military pulled back resources from the crackdown operation and under his predecessor, Jaire Bolsonaro, the illegal and legal mining industries experience what environmental advocacy groups call their golden years as the right wing leader pushed for the industrialization of the Amazon. The number of illegal miners surging to an estimated 20,000 during his four-year term, according to the current administration. Paying the price, the Yanomami people who were dying. at alarming rates. In 2023, at least 308 indigenous people died from illegal mining. Half of those children under the age of five. The operations bringing disease, malnutrition and brutal violence to the Yanomami people. Brazil's health ministry reporting deaths from malaria doubled in

2023. It's reached a massive proportion because the Anamami have been ill now for several years, very high rates of malaria and particularly malnutrition. This person saying illegal mining has polluted the Amazon's water with mercury. Environmental and indigenous rights group Instituto socio-ambiental says the problem boils down to the miners' impact on the environment. Destroying the habitat of animals, the Yanomami people hunt, using mercury to process ore which then poisons the rivers they use for fishing and creating pools of stagnant water where mosquitoes breed and spread illnesses.

The knock-on effect of the mercury, we're going to be seeing in the next few years as babies are going to be born with deformities or with mercury poisoning. So this is a very, very serious health issue. Scaripero went away, but then, they'll go back, but they'll go back in, they'll back again. The Anamami people enduring an ongoing humanitarian crisis with no sure end in sight. Stephen Rumble joins us now in studio. So, Stephen, let's talk some numbers here. which gold actually comes from these illegal mines in Brazil? Yeah, some pretty stark numbers here, Tom.

Environmental Group Instituto Escogas actually says that about half of all of the gold, 54% of the gold that comes out of Brazil, comes from these illegal mines. And it's all about the money. You've got to follow the money, right? About $2 billion a year is believed to come from the gold that comes from the illegal mining, which makes sense why they keep doing it, even though these mines keep getting burned down by authorities. $2 billion. All right.

Stephen Romo, we thank you for that story. Coming up, expanding war, the U.S. stepping up strikes against the Houthis in Yemen. Now, one of their commanders telling are Richard Engel, Iranian-backed militia groups consider themselves at war with America. That interview, next. We're back now with the expanding conflict in the Middle East. The U.S. against striking Houthi targets inside of Yemen for the fifth time this week. It's in retaliation for those attacks in the Red Sea. The Houthis part of the so-called axis of resistance made up of several militia groups all backed by Iran.

NBC's Richard Engel speaks with the top commander of the Houthis who claim they are at war with the U.S. The U.S. military attacked targets in Yemen again. More strikes in retaliation for attacks by militants known as the Houthis on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis say they are attacking the ships to support Gaza. by blocking supplies from reaching Israel. The Biden administration on Wednesday formally re-designated the Houthis as a terrorist organization. They'd been added to the list under President Trump,

taken off, and are now back on. The designation taking effect in a month. But it's not just the Houthis and the Red Sea. War is spreading across the Middle East, with the U.S. at the center of it. The United States is now in an increasingly open and expanding conflict with what is known as the axis of resistance, a network of militant groups in six countries and territories.

All are backed by Iran, but they operate with a degree of autonomy. The war escalated when Hamas attacked Israel in October, and Israel responded with devastating force, backed by the United States politically and with weapons. Collectively, the Iranian-led access is formidable. Hezbollah in Lebanon, is arguably the most powerful non-state military in the world, with tens of thousands of rockets and battle-tested fighters.

Hamas has effective militants, too, and the notoriety of the Palestinian cause. Iranian-backed militias in Syria and Iraq are close to oil fields and American military bases, which they've been attacking and been attacked from consistently since October. And in Yemen, the Houthis, they call themselves Ansarullah, have the advantage of location right on the Red Sea. I spoke to one of the group's top leaders. The Biden administration has designated your group, the Houthis, as a terrorist organization.

What is your reaction to that? We would say to Biden, this label should be given to Netanyahu, he says. Is there now a regional? war underway between the United States and Iranian-backed groups, including Europe? Yes, as we said, America announced the war against us, he says. Iran is projecting its power in other ways as well. Iran carried out a strike in Beluchistan, which is a region in Pakistan, a region where many militant groups operate, including anti-Iranian groups.

Pakistan responded with a strike against Iran. You know things are bad in the region when even the Taliban are calling for calm. Tom? Quite this statement. Okay, Richard, thank you. Coming up, the World War II vet that lived a memorable life and is still making memories. The big little surprise he never saw coming until he had it right in his hands. Finally tonight, a hero's welcome, a War II vet from Oklahoma, meeting his great, great-granddaughter for the first time.

That moment is now going viral. Here's why. For more than half a century, World War II veteran Dewey Muirhead stories have captivated his big Oklahoma family. It's amazing how he will sit down and tell you a story from 1942 and he can spout every single second of it off. Dewey serving in the military police across the Rhineland, Central Europe, and Normandy. Guys like him, they were just teenagers and they fought for every freedom that we have. Great granddaughter Lexi Fowler knows all his stories by heart. Fast forward in 1942, he met my great grandmother, Inez. He met her at a pie supper.

He bought her pineapple pie. And from there, it was just kind of history. That pie leading to a decades-long marriage, three children, four grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren. Over the years, through every big family milestone, Dewey, right there in the middle of it all, even at 101 years old. I actually did a first dance with him at my wedding as well. I could get emotional talking about how much he means to our family. He truly is the backbone of our family. So as Lexi welcomed her baby, she wanted to make the next chapter of the family's history stand out.

I said, Dewey has not met her yet. We kind of wanted it to be like a special moment for him to be able to meet her. So with cameras rolling and do it, blindfolded, he was handed his first great, great, grandchild. Sweetie, what in the world are you doing? You got that kiss, sweetie. Oh, my goodness alive. Oh, goodness, oh. It was really amazing to live.

look into his eyes and just see the joy that she brought him and just I know it meant a lot for him to be able to meet her. For Lexi and new baby Millie, a chance to pass on Dewey's stories to family generations to come. When my great-grandfather went to war, he probably never knew. I mean, he never knew that if he was coming back to his wife, let alone come home and 101 be meeting his great-great-grandchild. And just being able to put my daughter in his arms. Like, that was really a surreal moment. Just, like, everything that he has fought for, it all just makes sense now. And he really just, it all just kind of came to lie. Yeah, perfect. She is a pretty baby. Golly. A lot of love in that family. We thank you

for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamerson, New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.