Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, July 20, 2023

Episode Date: July 21, 2023

A global heat wave burns across the U.S. and causes wildfires overseas. New York City Mayor Eric Adams announces that his city has no more room for migrants in its shelters. Police search the home of a witness to the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur. A Miami-area family is awarded $800,000 after a chicken McNugget inflicted second-degree burns on their child’s leg. Women give powerful testimony in a court case that could impact the future of abortion access in Texas. And the players inspiring young South Americans to pursue their soccer dreams.

Tonight, the hellish heat wave rages on, and it's not just in the U.S. 88 million people suffering under those deadly triple-digit temperatures. A man apparently killed by the heat while hiking in Death Valley. In Europe, a summer of record-breaking temps, fueling dangerous wildfires, thousands forced to flee in Greece, while workers at the famed Acropolis are now refusing to show up. Also tonight, exclusive NBC News reporting, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, planning a campaign reset as he struggles to catch up to former President Trump in the polls. What exactly is he planning on doing? Expanding the search, police investigating the accused

Gilgo Beach Killer, now looking into unsolved cases in Nevada, South Carolina and New Jersey, why they believe he could be linked to more atrocities and what we're hearing from an attorney for that suspect's wife tonight. Sanctuary City, no more, the mayor of New York City saying there is no more room ordering migrants without families to leave within 60 days to make room. So what will happen to those who have nowhere else to go? What we're hearing from officials, plus why guests at a motel upstate were forced to leave as a bus of asylum seekers suddenly arrived. Plus $800,000 McNuggett, McDonald's ordered to pay the family of a child who was severely

burned by a chicken nugget. The video played in court that may have swayed the jury. Overseas dramatic video showing the moment a deadly explosion rocked Johannesburg, sending cars flying and splitting a road in half, while officials are warning there could be another blast. And harnessing the sun, a new electric vehicle that runs entirely on solar power, about to go into production. What happened when our reporter took one of them for a spin? Top story starts right now. All right. Good evening. We begin top story tonight. The way we have begun so many nights this summer,

the deadly heat wave that just refuses to break. Take a look at the temperatures in the southwest. It's going to be a brutal weekend. 121 degrees in Palm Springs, 114 in Las Vegas, 118 in Phoenix. In Texas, one construction company providing heart rate and body temperature sensors to their workers to ensure that they don't get sick while working outside in this heat. Across the Atlantic, scorching temperatures fueling fires in Greece, Italy and Spain, thousands forced to flee as those flames consume homes. More than 120 wildfires are raging right now in Greece. Firefighters, they are working around the clock under grueling conditions. The rest of the EU now setting in backup.

That heat is just inescapable this summer. We do want to begin, though, here at home with Sam Brock, leading us off tonight from a sweltering South Florida. Record level temperatures continue to bake the country from California to the southeast. This is a whole level of different sun. Phoenix fuming with 21 straight days with at least 110 degree temperatures in Miami, hitting a record 40 consecutive days of triple-digit heat index. So how warm is the water right now? Around here, we're around 91, 92 degrees.

University of Miami, climatologist and hurricane expert Brian McNulty says even one degree of change in the water. temperature makes a difference. What does this bath water-like temperature in the ocean mean for hurricane season? Well, I mean, all other things being equal, this is going to enable hurricanes to strengthen a little more efficiently. The heat, not just dangerous, but sometimes fatal. In Death Valley, a 71-year-old died from possible heat exposure near a trailhead after hiking amid 121-degree taps while in Houston. My heart hurts. My chest. My chest. has hurts. Jonathan Longoria recently suffered a heart attack after mowing his lawn, and his doctor says the heat likely played a role. Because he then was having an extra load of stress from the heat on his body, in addition to the manual stress, that's what finally tipped him over the edge.

In an exclusive interview, the new CDC director highlighting the emergence of heat officers. We're seeing for the first time where folks are designating someone as the, you know, in charge of responding to the heat. Europe also struggling with the heat wave, with summer travelers packing hot spots. Arjosh Letterman is on the ground in Greece. Workers here at the Acropolis are walking off the job, refusing to work in 103-degree heat, while west of Athens, a massive fire that has tore through villages and ravaged homes is still raging. What's making Spain, Italy and Greece so hot, an anti-cyclone trend from North Africa. Across the globe, a severe weather picture that only continues to worsen. All right, Sam Brock joins us now from a steamy Miami.

Sam, we were just there last week. We know what you're going through. And apparently, you're not going to get any relief. It's going to actually get worse over there in South Florida. Yeah, Tom, you grew up here. You certainly know the conditions that we're dealing with here. The heat index peak in Miami is August the 8th, which is to say it is going to get so much worse before it gets better.

Now, we are hearing that there might be a bit of a break next week. But, Tom, the reality is we've seen 70 plus hours of a heat index at 105 or higher so far in Miami this year. That is more than any other entire year. So it is absolutely anomalous, what we're witnessing. Sam, you changing anything day to day and your regular life trying to report on the news out there and living down in South Florida because of this heat? You know, I do think that a lot of folks are maybe not spending quite as much time outside

in terms of me personally, you know, or others who are having to dress in jobs where you're at a lot. I mean, it's got to be clean fabrics, Tom. Again, you've been down here, and you know, I'd like to make one other point, though, hurricane season is so, so critical and so sort of exasperating for people who are not knowing what's going to happen. I asked that expert what might take place if Ian were to take the same track it did last year. He said it would be more explosive than last fall, and we all know there were 100 plus people who died. So just understanding the sort of risks that are involved here with not just the heat by air, but also by sea. It's something we're really keeping a close eye on.

Sam, that's a great way to explain what that water temperature can do to the. those hurricanes. We know that was such a big hurricane and to think it could have been even worse. All right, Sam, Browne, leading us off, Sam, we appreciate all of that. Millions across the country are now bracing for more extreme weather. I want to bring in NBC News meteorologist Bill Cairns. Bill, every night I ask you the same questions. It feels like Groundhog Day, but is there going to be any relief? And what can the folks down in South Florida expect in the coming days? Yeah, I'm running out of creative ways to say the same thing over and over, too, by the way. So the one graphic that I saw this one just about five minutes ago, I was like, wow,

I haven't seen that before. You can now drive from Jacksonville, Florida. This is the heat index. This is how it feels on your skin in the shade. You can drive from Jacksonville, Florida, all the way along, I-10, going through Texas, going through El Paso, through Arizona, into Southern California. And all along, it'll be 100 plus. In some areas, it's near 110 at this hour. That's pretty wild.

I don't know if I've seen that in a long time. So as far as tomorrow goes, yes, we're going to be near more record highs. It's not going to be the peak of this heat wave, but it's still going to be just as hot as it was today. Everyone about 100, still have heat advisories up. And as we were mentioning, it's not going away either. We'll be about mid-90s. Look at Saturday, 97 in Miami, 100 in Jacksonville. In New Orleans, by the way, you are easily on pace for your hottest summer you've ever recorded.

And here's next week's outlook. I pretty much maxed out my font size on this one with warmer than average, not just in the southern half of the country, Tom, but now we're expanding it. And then, Bill, you're also watching potential storms tonight. I want to make sure we don't forget about those folks in the other states that are experiencing in extreme weather in different ways. Yeah, this is a late-night severe weather event. We're going to have a lot of people losing power in the middle of the night. We're especially concerned with areas from Ohio into Pennsylvania.

We have a couple areas of very strong thunderstorms already. A couple severe thunderstorm watches. Storms in Atlanta will be heading down towards Savannah and to the north. These thunderstorms that roll through Detroit are now right over the top of Cleveland. These will go through into areas of the northeast tomorrow morning. All right, so we may get some rain. Okay, Bill, we appreciate it as always. So we've been talking about the heat for everyone.

Right now we have some new. news, breaking news, in fact, the headline out of the DeSantis campaign. Now trying to change course, NBC's Dasha Burns has the exclusive new reporting that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is planning a campaign reboot to try and catch up to current GOP frontrunner President Trump. Dasha joins us now live here on Top Story with her exclusive reporting. So, Dasha, listen, this is not a new story, right? Campaigns sometimes in trouble, they hit the reset button and sometimes they're successful.

When I was a campaign embed back in the day in 2004, Senator John. Kerry hit the reboot button and he took off, he ended up getting the nomination. So it works. So why now? What is what did the dissantis people say and see that they said, listen, we have to do something different? Well, look, I think it's no secret. Anyone who's been watching this campaign has seen number one, the stalling poll numbers, right? And then they had this moment with the financial disclosures where it became clear that this campaign that was touting this large amount of money that they had. Turns out that was true on face value. They did raised $20 million in the first six weeks, but they spent that money and they spent it really

fast. So they needed to make some sort of shift to stop the bleeding on the cash front and also really change up the momentum here and try to catch up to Trump in those poll numbers. And so they are rebooting. They're trying a new strategy. The overarching shift in terms of just big picture messaging is going to go from campaigning more of as an incumbent governor, which is kind of what they've been doing into more so campaigning as an insurgent candidate. And that's going to roll out across the way that they spend money, across the way that they message and their media strategy, too. So number one, we're going to see slightly pared down events, so less big stages and big rallies. You're going to see him more at pizza ranches, diners, churches, VFW halls,

shaken hands and talking directly to voters. And on messaging, it is going to be more an us against them message, an outsider sort of message. He's going to try to use those negative heads. as fuel, wear those negative headlines as a badge of honor. And on media strategy, you're going to see him, according to the campaign, do more national sit downs, do more media gaggles, and make himself a little bit more available to press on the campaign. So I do want to talk about the messaging a little later, but let's talk about this insurgent idea, right?

Because you can say you're going to run an insurgency campaign, but you have to be an insurgent candidate, right? The candidate is the soul of the campaign. Right. From what we've seen, and you've seen them a lot more than we have, can Governor Ron DeSantis suddenly switch into a new gear and become somebody that does things that aren't completely planned? Well, the proof is in the pudding, right? Can he actually execute? And number one, he's got to slow down on the Florida talk and make his message more national, talk to those

voters in Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina. Wasn't that a criticism that he was in New Hampshire and he wasn't listening to voters? Like, wasn't that one of the... That's exactly right. And so that's what they're saying they're going to shift into these more smaller town hall style events. I saw him recently start to do this. He was at a pizza ranch instead of, you know, at a big sort of event with, you know, hundreds of attendees. He took some questions from the audience. So engaging more directly, you know, at his earlier events, he was on stage with bike rack barricades in front between him and the voters. So that's kind of going to go away and it's going to be more direct.

More accessible. More accessible, a little grittier, a little more raw. It's what they say. Can they do it and will they do it as a question? And then I think the most important thing. you know, besides voters trusting the candidate and wanting to vote for the candidate is the message, right? What is the message going to be? It has been, look at Florida, it has been the war on woke, and it has been, I'm Trump without the baggage, if you will. How does he change that messaging now?

What's the new message? I don't know that all of that is going to go away, but I think they're going to move to try to nationalize it more than, I think everybody's heard Florida, Florida, Florida, and of course, Florida is important, right? That's where he's built a lot of his creditability. his credit there. Exactly, exactly. But they've heard that. Now they need to see what's he going to do if he actually steps into the White House. How is he going to deliver? Well, the criticisms of the former president be stronger because it's hard. I think what a lot of these Republican candidates, they're having trouble breaking away because they're attacking Trump, but not really. These are very soft attacks when Trump comes at them and he's coming at DeSantis so hard.

What he started to do, and this was also in a memo that we recently reported on exclusively as well. He's not necessarily going at Trump in his speeches or his addresses directly to voters, but when he's asked by the press, he's not afraid to answer the question when it comes to criticizing the former president. And if he's engaging more with media, that might also play into that strategy. Okay, Dasha Burns has done a wonderful job with a lot of big scoops on the DeSantis campaign. Dash, we appreciate it. Okay, sticking here with the former president, all eyes are on the grand jury in Washington, D.C., hearing testimony in the special counsel's probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. NBC News learning members of former President Trump's

inner circle, including Rudy Giuliani, have spoken to federal prosecutors and on Capitol Hill. Trump apparently pushing his allies to vote on expunging his two impeachments. NBC's Garrett Hake has been covered it all for us. The grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election heard testimony today from a former Trump White House aide pictured with then-President Trump on January 6th. William Russell, spending hours behind closed doors with special counsel prosecutors who warned Mr. Trump's Sunday, he's a target of their investigation, likely to be indicted. What a job you did?

Mr. Trump's seen in videos on social media hobnobbing with guests last night at a movie screening at his New Jersey golf club, where he remained today, choosing not to testify, and releasing a fundraising video about the indictment. The left is once again trying to destroy me because by destroying me, they destroy you. It's a big and vicious witch hunt. Tonight, NBC News has learned former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, a key figure in the efforts to overturn the election, met with special counsel prosecutors earlier this year, according to an advisor. And in Washington, Speaker McCarthy denied a report he promised the former president a politically divisive vote to expunge his two impeachments, including for Mr. Trump's actions on January 6th. I support expungement. There's no deal out there.

All right, Garrett Higg joins us now. Garrett, I want to talk about some of the new reporting out there, including that the former president has apparently hired a new lawyer for his defense team in this case, the special counsel's investigation to what happened after the election. That's right, Tom. This is a former federal prosecutor named John Laro, who's joining the former president's defense team, and he's probably not going to be the last lawyer added. The reality is the same handful of attorneys have been handling all these cases,

and as they're beginning to pile up with court dates and potentially, even trial dates early next spring, that's just not going to be tenable for much longer. Expect to see more news in the coming days about additional lawyers joining Donald Trump's team. And then, Garrett, if you could sort of clarify that reporting you had at the back end of your piece about this expungement and Democrats pushing back, well, what exactly is the deal trying to be cut here by the former president and Kevin McCarthy? Yeah, look, the idea of expungement itself is purely symbolic. It would be the House essentially trying to throw out something that they had already done.

a resolution that says anything, but they can't change the simple historical fact that Donald Trump did have these two impeachments. The theory behind this is that the President Trump has been leaning on Kevin McCarthy to get this vote done as soon as possible. McCarthy has denied that there's any kind of deal in place for him to do it by a date certain, but make no mistake. This is something that Donald Trump very much does want to see the House pass. Right now, it just doesn't look like Republicans would have the votes to do it. Certainly no Democrats would vote for it. There are two Republicans still in the House who voted for the second impeachment. It's hard to see them voting to reverse their previous votes. And then there's a whole bunch of

Republicans in sort of more Biden-leaning districts who simply don't want to spend their time relitigating the history of Donald Trump. It's not good politics for them. And so that's the pressure that Kevin McCarthy is going to be on from both sides of this equation going forward. Garrett, hey, on this again for us, Garrett, we appreciate it. We also have new details tonight in the arrest of a suspect in New York's Gilgo Beach killings. Authorities now are expanding their investigation and looking at unsolved murders in other states, several states to be exact. NBC Stephanie Gosk has the latest.

Rex, did you do it? Accused serial killer Rex Hurerman sits in a Long Island jail cell held without bail. The three times that I've visited his housing unit, he was laying on his bunk, he was not watching TV, twice he was sleeping, and once he had his eyes open just looking at ceiling. His wife, Asa Ellorup, has filed for divorce, according to her attorney. They were married when investigators say he killed three young women and disposed of their bodies on Gilgo Beach over a decade ago. Heerman pleaded not guilty to the charges. Ellarup's DNA is at the center of the case. The prosecutor says the 59-year-old's hair was found at the crime scene, but she has not

been charged. Police believe Ellup was traveling when Hurman murdered his victims, according to court documents. Investigators have not stopped since the arrest and are casting a wide net looking for evidence and possible links to unsolved cases. In Las Vegas, where Sherman owns property, and at this home in South Carolina, owned by a family member, where authorities seized Herman's Chevrolet avalanche. The car described by a witness all those years ago that was key to cracking the case, according to the DA. And in New Jersey, authorities say they are specifically looking at the 2006 eastbound strangular case. The bodies of four women who worked in the sex trade were discovered in a drainage ditch.

The killer never found. All right, Stephanie, Goss joins us now in studio. So Stephanie, do we expect Hureman to be charged with any other crime so far? Well, it's possible, Tom. If you'll remember, there were 11 remains found in Gilgo Beach and in that area. So there are a lot of families out there who are looking for resolution, and clearly investigators want to bring that to them. you have somebody who's an alleged serial killer, you talk about all these other places they

possibly have killed. But as you just mentioned, you have 11 just in the Gilgo Beach area. So it's sort of unclear how many potential victims could be out there, right? Yeah, yeah, it's true. And you also have the DA in the case saying that they have substantial evidence about a fourth victim. And this was the victim who was found among the other three, at least suggesting that if there are new charges, it would be for that murder. but at a bare minimum, he's in prison and he's facing a life sentence for any one of these murder charges that he now faces. All right, Stephanie Gosprae, Stephanie with some new reporting there. And for more of the latest developments in the Gilgo Beach killings, I want to bring in an expert to help us get a better understanding of this case and get inside the mind of a serial killer.

Dr. Scott Bond is a criminologist who 12 years ago identified the profile of the serial killer in the Gilgo Beach murders, saying he was an educated professional white man with a family living on the south shore of Long Island. Scott, thanks so much for joining Top Story tonight. I have to ask you, you were right on the nose with this one. How did you put that together? Well, criminal profiling is a combination of an art and science. And what you do is you look at all of the available evidence in an unknown subcase or unsub as the FBI refers to it. And you look at these details and any other evidence that's available at the crime scene,

and you attempt to match it to solve serial killer cases. And as soon as I heard that these bodies had been carefully dismembered, wrapped in these burlap sacks, tightly bound, and placed very carefully in a highly desolate secluded area, I knew that we were dealing with a very sophisticated, psychopathic individual who was patient and cunning. and similar to a Ted Bundy, a Green River killer, Gary Ridgway, or in particular, Dennis Rader, fine torture kill. Doctor, how would you know, though, that he was educated and that he lived on Long Island because, I mean,

he could have lived in the city and been vacationing out there or vacationing out somewhere in the east end and knew the area a little bit? And how did you know he had a family? If this indeed, we should say, if this indeed is the serial killer here. Yes, yes. Assuming that it is him, and I am 99.9% sure that it is him, it is based, once again,

by looking backwards at solved cases. Individuals who fit a similar profile based upon the crime scene. This is FBI science, profiling science. It was developed back in the 1970s, 1980s. You work backwards. You say how do the characteristics here in this crime scene match solve cases, and what was the profile of those individuals? Well, now let's look at this person and we're likely to find a similar individual. And if you compare the psychological, behavioral, physical profile of a Dennis Rader, BTK, very similar to Rex Kuherman. We know that Scott Herman was 59 years, is 59 years old, I should say.

Do you think it's possible that he could have killed again? Yes, yes, I do. His burial ground there on Gilgo Beach, and again, it's a myth that serial killers travel widely. A few of them do. Most of them have a hunting ground that they feel very comfortable in, which is why I feel that he lived very close by, and of course he did right across the bay, and I think he returned to that burial ground frequently. But it was discovered in 2011.

And that was his sacred area that he thought was his alone. Once that was disclosed and the world knew about it, to the extent that he was active, and I think he still was, there may be burial grounds out there and, unfortunately, bodies that have yet to be discovered. You think those other victims that have been found out there in Gilgo Beach are connected to this same person? I think certainly the Gilgo four. I mean, the fourth one that he is the main suspect in. I certainly believe that one, and perhaps a few of the other female victims. But I doubt very much either the male or the toddler and maybe a few of the other females are connected to him.

How do you put that together, though, right? How could two random, or maybe it's three or four, who knows, but how could a collection of sick individuals all want to dump bodies in this one area randomly? Well, in the case of the toddler, it could just be a coincidence. It could be something as terrible as someone, baby, died, you know, infant death syndrome, and they just threw it in the weeds because they didn't know what to do with it. You know, that's a possibility. I think that that one is a coincidence. The male was likely killed by someone else and just dumped there.

It's isolated, if you know that area, very desolate, very desolate, very dark, very difficult to get to if you don't know where it is. But it's a big state. There's many places like that throughout New York and Long Island. I just, it's just a strange coincidence. I do want to move on, though. The other states that they're looking at, South Carolina, he's got a connection there with his brother. He's got apparently some kind of connection to New Jersey. Do you think these other states will lead to other bodies, will lead to other clues?

I think that possibly Las Vegas and South Carolina, those would be, if I was a betting man, and I do live in Las Vegas. Those would be the two states that I would be feel most likely. I think Atlantic City is off base. The bodies that they, there, that were serial killer victims, were posed in a ditch. And that is the mark of a different kind of serial killer. This guy dismembers, wrapped them up tightly, discreetly, and disposed to them. He is not a poser.

Opposer is an individual who sets, leaves the victim in such a way. is to shock the onlooker. And that's a different psychological beast altogether. You know, we've heard from some women who said they went out on dates with him, and that when he talked about, and co-workers, too, to be fair, people that were in his networking group, that when he would talk about the Gilgo Beach killers or he would ask them if they were into true crime, he would sort of light up and start to talk a lot. Talk to me about that.

What's that aspect about them? Because he's obviously living in the shadows. He's hiding this from, you know, who knows, but hiding this from his family. He's hiding this from the people he works with. But as soon as he gets an opportunity, he wants to sort of talk about it. Well, I would compare that to what they sometimes call a tell in a poker player, where they scratch their eyebrow, for example, when they get a winning hand. He can't, this is so wonderful to him, his work.

And when I say wonderful, I'm talking about from his pathological, psychopathic perspective. This is his life's work. He embraces it and glorifies and basks in it. He can hardly contain himself. So like I say, it's like a tell. It's like he wants to know, do you know about this? Are you aware of my wonderful work that only I, you know, I'm not going to divulge, but I know about? Serial killers do this.

I suspect this guy was a trophy keeper, and one of the things they're looking for in his home and in that storage unit are trophies, things that he kept from his victims, the three that he's been charged with. and, of course, others that could link him to other crimes. They love this. It's a psychological, pathological, psychopathic need to control and to keep these in their fantasies forever. They want to relive these things. So by talking about it, by following it in the news, by doing Google searches, he's keeping it all alive in his fantasy life.

Dr. Scott Baum, we thank you so much for your time and for your now. tonight. I'm sure we're going to be talking to you a lot in the future. We do want to move on out of that growing mystery overseas of a U.S. soldier who crossed into North Korea earlier this week. The Army launching an investigation into private Travis King's actions as the Hermit Kingdom remains rapid, remains silent, I should say, while keeping him detained. NBC's Matt Bradley has been following it all for us from South Korea. I'm at the heavily fortified Unification Bridge. Just three miles from where Private Travis King shocked the world when he bolted across the border. Now, two days later, the overwhelming sound from North Korea is silence.

Tonight, North Korea is once again threatening nuclear escalation, announcing through state media that American arms in South Korea, quote, may fall under the conditions of the use of nuclear weapons. But when it comes to private Travis King, not a word. We don't know his condition. We don't know where he's being held. We don't know the status of his health. I worry about him, frankly.

Christine Wormouth, the Secretary of the Army, told NBC, Courtney Kubi that the U.S. is trying to reach the North Koreans through the United Nations. I don't think that we have successfully made contact. King, who finished high school three years ago in Racine, Wisconsin, had legal trouble while serving in South Korea. Just before he fled to North Korea, King spent nearly two months in a South Korean prison after declining to pay a fine for damaging a police car, according to a court document. Past instances of Americans in North Korea don't bode well for King. In 2016, Otto Wormier, an American student was detained in North Korea for more than a year.

He was released to the U.S. in a vegetative state and died shortly after. Warmbier's father now worried for King. He willingly ran across the border. That makes him quite a bit different from your son. Absolutely. But now that he's there, the facts are exactly the same. They're going to hold him hostage, and they're going to use him as a political prisoner. Now the Biden administration must decide how to help us.

soldier who officials say willfully created a crisis. Matt Bradley, NBC News, South Korea. Okay, back here at home to the ongoing migrant crisis in the cities across the country that are still receiving buses full of migrants. In New York City, Mayor Adams says the city has no more room in shelters, and the city is now announcing new housing limits for asylum seekers. Gabe Gutierrez has this one. Tonight, about a year after buses filled with migrants started arriving in New York,

The city says it's at a breaking point, with the mayor proposing new limits on how long the migrants can stay in shelters. We have no more room in the city. Single adult asylum seekers will now be allowed to stay at a shelter for only 60 days. The mayor says the policy is aimed at making room for migrant families with children. Those who don't find alternative housing will have to return to the city's intake center to reapply for new placement. Immigrant advocates are furious. We want everyone to be safe and have a place to be at night. We want the cost to fall on the appropriate parties, not entirely on the city.

The state has obligations here, and they need to step up and meet those obligations. Since last year, more than 91,000 migrants have been bused to New York from Texas. The city has opened 188 shelters so far, renting out entire hotels and putting cots in schools. As an immigrant, I now feel a lot of pressure, this man says. While at the southern border, the number of migrant encounters with Border Patrol has dropped significantly since the end of the COVID public health restriction known as Title 42 in May, cities across the country are struggling to handle this year's influx. More buses keep arriving in California. While in upstate New York and Rotterdam, guests at this motel with luggage in tow are scrambling to find a new place to stay after they were suddenly kicked out. A city councilman says the motel signed a one-year contract to house migrants.

Everybody has to be. When I said, but I'm here for like a month. He said we don't care. You have to leave. Okay, Gabe Gutierrez joins us now in studio. I guess Gabe, a lot of people who are going to be watching this, especially critics of sanctuary cities are going to be saying, you know, these cities invited all these migrants. They're here now, and clearly there's a crisis. Mayor Eric Adams has criticized the Biden administration.

He's asked for more federal help. Is he going to get any? Well, Mayor Adams has been saying this now for quite some time. time. And the Biden administration has been saying that their hands are tied, essentially, and they blame a divided Congress for not fixing what they call a broken immigration system. And I spoke with Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last week, and he reiterated that. He said the Biden administration's been doing what it could to lower the number of crossings at the border, but he says that it's up to Congress to fix this immigration system. You know, we had somewhat of a shocking story. I want to

switch gears here if we can, Gabe, about migrants at the border. And it was a story that was first broken by the Houston Chronicle, where there was allegations that law enforcement was being told to push families back into the Rio Grande, deny them water. I understand there's some developments on that story. Very disturbing allegations. And yes, we now know that departments of justice and homeland security now say that they are assessing the situation. Again, the Texas Department of Public Safety calls the allegations outrageous. Okay, Gabe Gutierrez, Gabe, we appreciate all that reporting. Still ahead tonight, new developments in the hunt for Tupac's killer. New video showing the execution of a search warrant at a Nevada house linked to the case what they took from

that home and who they were targeting. Plus, terrifying moments in Texas and armed robber forcing fast food employees into a freezer. The hunt for that suspect tonight. And what happy meal costing McDonald's $800,000 after a chicken McNugget severely burned a young child, the testimony and images that swayed the jury. Top story. Just getting started on this Thursday. Okay, we're back now to, I'm sorry, with new details, first reported here at NBC News in the 1996 murder case of Rapp icon Tupac Shakur, Las Vegas police searching the home of a witness to the killing. The investigation into his death still open after more than 25 years. NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reports.

Decades after rapper Tupac Shakur is killing new developments in the murder case. And the top of your head. Sir, now go ahead and turn away for us. In this video obtained by TMZ, police executing a search warrant at a Henderson, Nevada residence. NBC News, the first to obtain a court document showing the home is linked to an alleged witness, Dwayne Keith Davis. Davis, also known as Keefe D., is one of four people who police say was in the suspect's vehicle, the night of Tupac's drive-by murder, in 1996. He's spoken about what he saw that night several times, including on this beach.

documentary. Who shot Tupac? I keep for the cold in the streets and just came from the back seat for him. Retired Las Vegas Metro Police Lieutenant Chris Carroll was first on the scene the night of Tupac's death. I ended up pulling Tupac out of the car. I spoke to him. He was still alive. He was still breathing.

I was asking him who did it, who shot him, what happened, and that's when he responded to me. he responded to me with the now infamous words, FU. Carol is still looking for closure in the case. I think it's pretty significant. You know, I don't think anybody saw this coming. Tupac died at a Las Vegas area hospital almost a week later. While the investigation officially remains open all these years later, Carol believes he knows who pulled the trigger.

I think we know who the shooter is. I think the shooter is Orlando Anderson. The reason that we haven't had prosecution in the case, is because the shooter himself was murdered not long after the Tupac murder. Anderson denied involvement and was never charged. He was killed in a gang shooting in 1998. I would be surprised if they even found anything in that home that is usable as evidence, but maybe they did. An inventory list from the warrant revealing investigators are looking at Davis's digital footprint, seizing multiple lab

laptops and USB drives, as well as books and tubs of archival photographs in their search. The question now, will any of this help police close the book on the Tupac case? It's been 27 years. I think anybody had given up hope on really any type of prosecution, and this, you know, kind of changes the game and open things up. Kristen Dahlgren, NBC News. Strange, but it's true, a chicken mcnugget, now forcing a South Florida area McDonald's to pay up. A family awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars after their child suffered a second-degree burn in 2019 after a McNugget fell on her leg.

NBC News correspondent Ellison Barber has the details. We do want to warn you some of the images you're about to see their graphic. A happy meal now costing McDonald's $800,000 after a Miami area jury awarded the massive sum to the family of a child who was severely burnt by a chicken nugget. I'm actually just happy that, you know, they listen to Olivia's voice. she, the jury was able to decide a fair judgment. I'm happy with that. Video from 2019 shows then four-year-old Olivia Carabayo in the backseat of her mother's car as they left the McDonald's drive-thru when a nugget fell on her leg. Olivia's mother describing the horror to NBC South Florida Station when they first filed

the lawsuit four years ago. I hear a scream and I turn around and it's my daughter and wedged in between the seatbelt because it's like a five-point harness there is a chicken nugget that I wasn't able to reach. Those screams playing out in court for the jury. At a trial in May, lawyers for a Libya's family argued the temperature of the nugget was above 200 degrees, but the defense said it was not more than 160 degrees. The jury delivering a split verdict finding McDonald's and upchurch foods failed to put warnings on the food, but were not negligent for causing the burns.

Last week, July 10th of this year, the scar is still there. As for Olivia, four years later, she still has a scar on her leg. Neither McDonald's nor Upturch Foods has responded to our request for comment. But in court, one of their attorneys argued that the child did not suffer long-term injuries. Olivia is not disabled as a result of this incident. The scar itself doesn't prevent Olivia from going about her day-to-day activities. This is not the first time McDonald's has faced legal action over burns from their products. McDonald's will appeal a big verdict in the case of the spilled coffee.

In the 1990s, one case made international headlines when 79-year-old Stella Liebeck suffered third-degree burns and spent three weeks in the hospital after a McDonald's hot coffee spilled on her lap. I screamed, not realizing I was burned that bad. I knew I was in terrible pain. She originally requested $20,000 to cover medical bills, but the case went to a trial, and a New Mexico jury awarded her $2.7 million. dollars. All right, Ellison, Barbara, joins us again in studio tonight. And Ellison, that was a pretty significant burn. Do we know why the McNugget was that hot? Yeah, so the two sides went back and forth on what the exact temperature of the McNugget was, right? You had the families, attorneys in this case, saying it was over 200 degrees. McDonald's saying, no, it was no more than 160. But either way,

McDonald's argued, they said, we have to have the temperature high in these nuggets, because if we don't, then you risk salmonella poisoning. And they say they were following the health and safety guidelines in terms of that temperature. And they argued that after the nuggets leave the drive-thru window, it's no longer their responsibility what happens with them. Obviously, a jury disagreed. Okay, Alison, we thank you for that one. When we come back, the Department of Justice taking on Amazon, the company ordered to pay $25 million for violating child privacy laws. What they're accused of doing. That's next. Okay, we are back now with Top Stories News Feed.

New York City has agreed to pay more than $13 million to demonstrators who were beaten or arrested by police during the George Floyd in 2020 protest. If approved, the settlement will be among the most expensive payouts ever awarded in a lawsuit over mass arrests. The civil rights case was brought on behalf of roughly 1,300 people. Under the agreement, neither the city nor the NYPD is. required to admit any wrongdoing. In Texas, police searching for an armed robber who forced restaurant employees into a freezer. You have the surveillance video here. It shows the suspect entering a Houston sports bar with a gun. He then orders the employees to go into the freezer

before rummaging through papers and other items inside an office. Luckily, no one was heard. Those employees were able to sneak out of the freezer and escape through a back door. At an update tonight, Amazon has agreed to pay $25 million in a fine over claims the Alexa violated child privacy laws. According to the Department of Justice, the device stored children's voices and their data locations for years without parental consent. The tech and retail giant is also ordered to impose stricter, more transparent data, privacy measures, and delete all inactive user accounts. Amazon will also pay nearly $6 million in customer refunds for alleged privacy violations involving the ring doorbell camera. Okay, now to the court battle over

abortion access in Texas. Women taking the stand, telling the court how they were forced to carry non-viable pregnancies to term. They say the state's restrictive abortion laws barred their doctors from helping them in their most darkest moments. NBC's Lindsay Reiser has the story, and we want to warn you, parts of the story are very graphic and disturbing. In an Austin courtroom searing an emotional testimony in a case with major implications for abortion access in Texas. They were detecting whether her heart was beating or not and if it stopped then they would be able to intervene four women part of a lawsuit against the state's restrictive abortion law taking the stand

describing their harrowing experiences carrying non-viable pregnancies ashley brant says she was forced to travel to colorado to abort one of her twins who had developed a crania a fatal birth to effect. I would have had to give birth to an identical version of my daughter without a skull and without a brain. The lawsuit is the first in the nation brought against a state by women who have been denied abortion access since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer. That ruling triggering a new law in the Lone Star State that outlawed abortion passed six weeks in all cases unless the life of the pregnant person is in danger. But the plaintiffs argue the law is unclear

about how that danger is defined and want to block the ban from applying to high-risk pregnancies. The laws, as they're currently written, the medical exceptions, they're confusing. When patients where there's a gray zone and there's a lack of clarity, they're going to err on the side of not treatment. Samantha Casiano told the court

her child had developed an encephaly and was missing part of her skull and brain. The trauma of the experience causing Cassiano to vomit on the stand. I vomit when there's certain hearts that happen that kind of just makes my body remember and it just reacts. Doctors who perform unlawful abortions in Texas could have their medical licenses revoked, be fined $100,000 or more, or face up to life in prison. My maternal fetal medicine doctor who made my face and said, because of the law, I literally cannot help you or I would have a year and a half about.

My hands are completely tied. I can do nothing. The state argues that the plaintiffs are on an ideological crusade and that what happened to these women, while tragic, is in the past and any future harm is hypothetical. The blame directed at defendants is misplaced. Rather, plaintiffs sustain their alleged injuries as a direct result of their own medical providers failing them. only witness saying the problem is with the doctor's lack of understanding of the law. I've seen doctors say that they can't intervene until there's an immediate risk. This is further demonstration that they have not read the law carefully. Now the court is left to decide whether one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country can stand as written. There is no statement of pro-life in the state when you send me home to wait for my baby to die inside me. It's not pro-life.

In the sense, it's almost pro-torture. Tom, the judge will decide to either grant the temporary injunction, blocking this ban from applying to high-risk pregnancies or dismiss the lawsuit altogether. Tom? Okay, Lindsay, Riser, on a very difficult story for us. Lindsay, we appreciate that, and we will be right back. Back now with a major breakthrough in the world of electric cars.

One company using the power of the sun in an effort to reduce carbon emissions as they race towards a more eco-friendly future. Steve Patterson has this story. Automakers across the world are racing to produce a future free of fossil fuels, but the electric car of tomorrow is anything but traditional. This is the future. Meet the Aptera, a three-wheeled electric vehicle that can run on the power of the sun. Is this the first solar-produced vehicle for market?

It should be the first mass-produced solar electric car, yeah. The California-based company joins other international solar car startups in the race to create a vehicle charged by the generator in the sky. The car is technically classified as an auto cycle and designed to be as efficient as possible. You get rid of the weight, you get rid of the extra rolling resistance, it becomes more aerodynamically streamlined. It's covered in solar cells that capture the sun's energy, delivering miles worth of power without needing to be plugged in. The company is hoping to start production next year at a price point. point below $40,000. We have 44,000 orders for this. We're not even in production. We took it for a test drive near San Diego. So in the most perfect conditions like on a day like

today, Abtera projects you could get 40 miles just from the sun alone. If that bears out, that means that most commuters will never have to plug this in. Our test model had some obvious flaws, and it could barely make it uphill without overheating. We're slowing down again. I think Here, the first person to ever drive this on a hill. While there are limitations, experts envisioned solar EV could change the way we think about transportation, putting less stress on the power grid and utilizing free energy. You don't have to pay the billions and billions of dollars of grid enhancements you would need to charge all those electric vehicles.

A dream of a gasless world, betting big on the power of the sun. Steve Patterson, NBC News. Coming up right after this break, a deadly explosion in South Africa. The security cam footage showing the blast, cars flying in the air, what authorities are saying caused this. And a lion on the loose, the video of it on the prowl right outside of Berlin, armed hunters and officers searching for the Big Cat, the warning for residents. We'll explain. All right, we're back now with Top Stories Global Watch and the deadly explosion in South Africa. This video is wild.

New security camera footage showing the moment. in the street in Johannesburg blew up, sending several cars into the air. At least one person killed and 48 people hurt. Officials say the blast was the result of an underground gas explosion, and they're asking the public to avoid the area because they're afraid another one could happen. And there was growing outrage tonight after protesters in Sweden threatened to burn a Koran. Dozens of people storming the Swedish embassy in Iraq and igniting a fire. Iraq's prime minister also cutting diplomatic ties with Sweden and expelling the Swedish ambassador.

The incident comes after reports of a planned protest in Stockholm outside of the Iraqi embassy where demonstrators allegedly planned to burn a Quran as part of an anti-Islam protest. In a similar demonstration, a Quran was also burned in Sweden just last month. And a lion is on the loose near Berlin. Video posted on social media shows the female lion roaming in a wooded area near the capital city at night. More than 100 police officers and armed hunters are searching for the big cat. residents in the area are being told to stay alert, avoid the outdoors, and keep all pets inside. There have been no reports of a missing animal from any wildlife facilities in the area,

so no word on where the lion came from. Okay, finally tonight, we're going to switch gears here. The FIFA Women's World Cup kicking off in Australia and New Zealand. The players inspiring many young fans around the world, including some growing up in the poorest areas of South America, who are fighting for their goals. Telemundo anger, Nicole Suarez, has their stories. From Maradona to Pele, some of South America's poorest neighborhoods have birthed some of the greatest soccer stars.

But female players from similar neighborhoods in South America say the road to the top has been a bit more difficult. Monica Santino says she grew up in a working-class neighborhood of Buenos Aires, dreaming of being a professional footballer, but banned from playing for being a girl. Now she runs a girl's soccer program for girls, she says, are often discriminated against, based on their area code. In this Brazilian favela, young girls training to make it to the world state. The girls dreaming big, despite major financial hardships.

This player is saying she hopes to one day play in the United States but sees a difference between how boys and girls are supported in their soccer careers. How we're going to get in a chance if we don't have a chance to be a jogator? Something seen even at the professional level. This captain of a team in Paraguay says she works at a hospital in the morning and trains at night. All while taking care of her son. But as the money to do what they want. And we're doing to live the day-a-day, but with the just.

But as the FIFA Women's World Cup kicks off, female soccer players are taking center stage. Including Brazilian soccer legend Marta, who grew up poor in northeast Brazil and learned to play the game without shoes. Now, the all-time leading goal scorer in the women's World Cup tournament. One of many players making sure they do. do all they can to change who makes it to the top, one goal at a time.

And we thank Nicole for that story. You can watch the FIFA Women's World Cup on Telemundo and streaming on Peacock. Thanks so much for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamis in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.