Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, July 27, 2023

Episode Date: July 28, 2023

Special counsel Jack Smith indicts former President Trump on two more charges in the classified documents case. Tom speaks with the man seen in police bodycamera video being attacked by a police K-9 in Ohio. An 11-year-old girl is facing felony charges for a prank call she placed to police. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney speaks with Tom about his office's investigation into the Gilgo Beach murders. A Colorado man is tased by police before being fatally hit by a car on a highway during a traffic stop. Protesters set fires in the streets of Niger after the country's president is detained by his own military in an apparent coup. And the man who completed a hike of Yosemite's Half Dome Summit... at 93 years old.

Tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. Former President Trump now facing new criminal charges. The special counsel investigating Trump's handling of classified documents, hitting the former president with new charges including willful retention of national defense information and obstruction of justice for allegedly attempting to delete surveillance footage from inside Mar-a-Lago. A third defendant also added to this case. This just coming hours after Trump's lawyers met with federal prosecutors. in Washington, investigating another case, his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

We have all angles covered tonight. Concerns over Feinstein, the California Democrat appearing confused and out of it during a Senate vote, mounting questions tonight about her well-being just a day after Senator Mitch McConnell suffered a scare in front of the cameras. The Gilgo Beach prosecutor speaks out the arrest of a successful architect stunning the world more than a decade after multiple women were killed on Long Island. Tonight, our conversation one-on-one with the district attorney leading this investigation, what he says dogs found at the suspect's property and inside the massive safe in the home.

A top story exclusive tonight, the man who was attacked by a police dog on the side of a highway, we showed you this video speaking out for the first time. You'll hear his side of the story and his reaction to that officer losing his job. Overseas soldiers mounting a coup in Niger, chaos erupting in the streets after the The president was detained by his own security guards, our reporter on the ground in the West African nation. Plus, shocking video out of Florida, showing the moment an 11-year-old girl, you heard that right, was arrested after reporting a kidnapping that she made up as part of a prank, how the department is defending the decision to cuff that child. And peaking at 93, the incredible moment a California grandfather became the oldest person to climb Yosemite's half dome. How he says he did it with the help of two very special hiking buddies.

Top Story starts right now. And good evening. We begin Top Story tonight with that breaking news on multiple fronts. There are late developments on two separate investigations into former President Donald Trump. In an unexpected twist late today, Trump charged with several additional counts in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents probe. We're hearing for the first time. tonight that the former president, as well as his aide Walt Nauta, and a new third defendant, Carlos de Oliva, are being charged with obstruction of justice for attempting to delete

surveillance videos from inside Mara Lago. The news coming just hours after Trump's lawyers met with federal prosecutors regarding the January 6th investigation and broader efforts to overturn the 2020 election. That meeting assigned a decision could be imminent. A lot of moving parts here tonight and two of NBC's most dogged reporters working both these cases live tonight here on top story. Jonathan Deans on that meeting that the Trump's lawyers had with the special counsel, but we want to get right to NBC's Garrett Hake to walk us through these last few hours and these new charges. So Garrett, I know we've just gotten the indictment about an hour ago. Walk us through what you've just learned tonight and some of the new developments when it comes to the former

president. Well, Tom, this new indictment includes three new charges against the former president, one for an additional count of willful retention of national defense. documents. That's related to this document where we've heard audio of Donald Trump, who waving a document around, describing it in an interview. The special counsel introducing that additional charge about that specific document in this new indictment. Also, two new charges of obstruction, which also apply to Walt Nata, his previous co-defendant, and four new charges on obstruction for this new defendant, Carlos de Levera, who was an employee of Maralago, who the special counsel outlines in this indictment.

significant evidence that the Oliva and Naota had worked together to come to Maralago at a time where Trump was not there, a time after they had received a subpoena for surveillance video of the hallway and the area outside this document storage room. And the indictment includes text messages back and forth between these men saying that basically the boss, who were meant to believe is Donald Trump, wanted this surveillance video deleted. These men fail at their mission here to delete the video. They can't figure out how to do it. it. But there's significant conversation back and forth about the desire to get this done. And then they include elements of Dale Lavera's testimony to the FBI, where he basically

denies having any knowledge of this at all. So we bring in this new co-conspirator, who I think it's pretty clear. The FBI and the special counsel's office was interested in hearing more from, perhaps trying to more directly link to this order to destroy the video evidence. and we enter this new evidence against Trump, specifically related to that one document that we've all come to know so much about. So a pretty dramatic shakeup and, again, introduction of new elements that could change the timeline and the kind of general structure of how this case is going to proceed in the months going forward. Garrett, I know you've been on television a lot, so I'm not sure how much you've been able to go through that indictment page by page. Sometimes these indictments can tell a story, right? Do we get a sense of where this now third co-defendant comes from?

these new charges come from. You kind of laid out the storyline on the surveillance video. But are other employees talking? Are other people around Trump's inner circle talking? And that's why this new indictment has come forward, the superseding indictment. It appears that the special counsel is able to put a lot of this together from text messages between Nauta and Deo Rivera and other unnamed employees of both Mar-a-Lago and of the former president's PAC, his political organization. You see as this sort of narrative is laid out, here. Walta Nauta has conversations with Trump. Dale Levera has conversations with Trump. Then rather than Nauta traveling with Trump from Florida to Bedminster, Nauta comes back to Florida.

He texts Dale Levera saying, hey, are you around? I'm going to be around. You get these little pieces of conversation about their interest in getting to this surveillance video. Then text messages conversations about them being on site and trying to figure out how to get this done. So it's mostly electronic communication. And Tom, where I think a lot of focus is going to be, certainly a lot of my focus is going to be, is how directly can they link the desire of these two men who they clearly can prove communicated with Donald Trump, the desire of these two men to delete this video with a specific order from Donald Trump to make it go away. This has been the case in every Trump-related scandal I've covered, including the Cohen case, you know, trying to get a direct order out of Donald

Trump versus something that he wanted to be done, that it was known that he wanted to have happen, has always been a tricky thing to prove legally, and that may be where a lot of this new evidence gets hung up as this case moves forward. Yeah, were the employees ordered to do that, or did they think, you know, the boss wanted that, so they acted on their own? Finally, before you go, is there any reaction tonight from the Trump camp, from the Trump campaign or the former president himself? Yeah, the Trump campaign put out a statement when we were just learning about this, which was interesting. In the moments we learned that new charges were filed against Dale Lavera, but before we at least publicly learned about this new superseding indictment that

basically lumps this into the witch hunt category with everything else. The statement unsigned from the Trump campaign basically says this is the Biden crime family coming after me, trying to make sure that it's somebody other than Donald Trump who runs against Joe Biden. So again, the effort from the Trump campaign to make all of his legal problems, political benefits, essentially arguing that he's only being targeted here because he is a strong opponent of Joe Biden is the focus of the first statement from the Trump campaign. But Tom, certainly won't be the last one. I've been refreshing the former president's social media platform pretty actively for the last hour and a half, and I suspect we'll hear more from him in the not too distant future.

Okay, Garrett Hake for us tonight. Garrett, we appreciate that. I want to get right over to Jonathan Deans, because Jonathan, there is another case that we have been watching closely. I know our investigative unit, which you're a part of, has been watching closely. What happened today? with the former president's lawyers and the special counsel on this other case which involved the allegations that the former president tried to overturn the 2020 election. Yeah, surprising day, right? We started the day watching all eyes on Washington, the grand jury down there meeting. Would there be an indictment today on the efforts to overturn the 2020 election?

Would Donald Trump be named in that? That did not happen. The grand jury met. Instead, we get late today new charges out of Florida. So what happened in Washington today? The grand jury sat. There was no vote apparently handed up that according to a court spokesman, but no vote to indict. No vote to indict. No indictment handed up according to, there were no indictments handed up today according to a court spokesman out of Washington, D.C. So we know that the grand jury met. It continues its work. We know that today defense lawyers for Donald Trump this morning went in and met with the special counsel's attorneys and met with them to discuss. this case and perhaps make their last appeal as to why, in their view, charges should not be brought. We're told it was a cordial meeting. President Trump himself went on social media saying it was a

good conversation. I, of course, did nothing wrong. But his attorneys from sources familiar with that meeting left, not convinced they've changed any minds. And the Trump team is still bracing for an expected indictment in the coming days. And that's where our reporting is at, right? Because that's important point to make there, that they are expecting an indictment in this case? They are preparing for one. They've not been told directly. One is coming. They've not been told when one is coming. But just a week ago, they got a target letter saying Donald Trump is a target of an investigation. And usually that means after you get a target, unless something extraordinary happens, you wind up getting charged and indicted. It's something the president himself has

acknowledged in his post. Reminder viewers, the process, right? And you, and you mentioned the grand jury today. They don't meet every day. Will they meet tomorrow? Our understanding is they meet Tuesdays and Thursdays down in Washington, so perhaps next week. Again, we don't know the grand jury could meet. They could have voted on some charges. That could remain sealed. Anything that gets released, as we learned tonight in the Florida case, is really at the discretion of the special counsel. So it's his decision. It's his grand jury. He's going to decide time, place, manner, and we await and watch daily as to what. will come out of his office.

And to put a button on, at least on this part of the conversation, they felt like they had a productive conversation, Trump's attorneys, with the special counsel's office, but they're still preparing for a possible indictment on this part. Ever since they got the target letter, they've been bracing and preparing for that eventuality. Nothing is ever set in stone, but the expectation is sometime in the near future,

federal criminal charges, more federal criminal charges will be coming against Donald Trump and perhaps others in connection with efforts to overturn. in the 2020 election. Jonathan Dean's part of our incredible NBC investigative team that's been all over this. Jonathan, I appreciate your reporting as well. For more on these developments on Trump's legal troubles, I want to bring in former federal prosecutor, Joe Moreno.

So, Joe, what does this latest indictment develop mean? It's being called and described as a superseding indictment. What exactly does that mean? Is it a completely new indictment or charges are just added, and now there's a third co-defendant? That's right, Tom. It's good to be with you. That's exactly right. It replaces the original indictment with additional charges, additional defendants, and frankly,

additional legal troubles for Donald Trump. I mean, this was already a serious case. People looking at this case said, you know, gosh, I don't know how Donald Trump is legally going to defend himself against these charges. Well, it got a lot worse about an hour ago, because now he has obstruction charges to face. And his arguments in trying to say that he did not live. realize he shouldn't have these documents, or he thought he could declassify these documents.

Those arguments were already shaky. Now that there's evidence that he took extensive steps to hide the fact that he had the documents, I don't really know how he gets out of this. So, Joe, what do you think happened here from the time that he was indicted on this case to these new charges, to this new co-defendant? I mean, do you think other people talked? Do you think something came up in the investigation that didn't come up before? I'm just wondering when they get the indictment in the first place,

you think they want to sort of cross all their T's, dot, all their eyes. What has happened since then? Well, Tom, just because an indictment comes out does not mean an investigation ends. So leads that possibly weren't followed the beginning are followed up on. Witnesses could come out of the woodwork. Other individuals who are implicated could cooperate. And so cases continue to develop. And superseding indictments are not that unusual.

In fact, people speculated when the first one came out that it was very likely additional charges would So I'm not really surprised, but it certainly adds more to the narrative of what Donald Trump is now going to have to defend himself against. Joe, if we can transition over to this other case, the case that we've been watching, the belief that possibly former President Trump will be indicted over his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. As far as timeline goes, we were just talking about this with Jonathan, what do you think is going to happen if the grand jury, according to our reporting, didn't vote today? And again, anything could change. Will it be a couple of days? Will it be next week before anything happens? Well, most likely based on the timing of when they sit.

So remember, the fact that Trump got a target letter last week means that in the eyes of the Justice Department, he should be charged with something. Now, of course, the Justice Department still has to convince a grand jury to vote on charges and, of course, what those charges will be. So I do think something is coming. The real question that lawyers like myself wonder about is, what will those charges look like?

Will they try to tie Donald Trump to the violence on January 6th, or will it be something a little more elaborate regarding fraud or obstruction of Congress or a more detailed effort stemming, starting from the election through January 6th to change the course of the election? I'm betting on the second. I think tying him to the violence is going to be tough. Tying him to efforts to overturn the election, I predict that's where the grand jury will ultimately go. Joe, is this very unusual? I'm just thinking about the Department of Justice and Merrick Gardland, the Attorney General, handling all these cases, and we're just a day out of what just happened with the current president's son, Hunter Biden. Is there ever any coordination, or is each investigation completely independent of the calendar? Well, you know, Tom, none of this is usual, right?

I mean, we are in truly uncharted territories here on multiple dimensions. But really, these operate pretty independently. I mean, of course, Jack Smith has the January 6th investigation, as well as the Mar-a-Lago classified documents investigation. But my guess is his teams are running in parallel. Hunter Biden is totally separate. And the reality is, one really should have nothing to do with the other, whether in terms of timing of charges, whether in terms of headlines, nothing like that. They really, really should be focused on the facts and the law. They should not be thinking about next year's presidential calendar.

They should not be worried about Donald Trump's opponent is likely going to be Joe Biden. None of that should really be relevant. It should be where are the cases, where are the facts and the law taking each individual case? Former federal prosecutor Joe Moreno, thank you. Staying in Washington now. We turn to a concerning moment on Capitol Hill earlier today. Senator Dian Feinstein, the 90-year-old senator from California, appearing confused during a committee vote.

Instead of voting aye or nay, the senator began delivering a speech in support of the bill, prompting an aide and Democratic colleague Senator Patty Murray to step in. Take a look. And it funds priorities submitted. Just say aye. Okay. Just. Aye. Thank you. Feinstein later was heard voting against another measure before being corrected and switching to a yes. For more on some serious concerns about the health of certain members of Congress, including the Senate, NBC's congressional correspondent, Julie Serkin, joins us now from the Capitol.

So, Julie, has Senator Feinstein or her office addressed this mix-up today? Yeah, Senator Feinstein hasn't, but an aid for her office has, telling NBC News, quote, the senator was preoccupied, didn't realize debate had just ended, and a vote was called. She started to give a statement, was informed it was a vote, and then cast her vote. You played that clip just before coming to me, Tom, and I'm glad to you. you referenced that second incident during this hearing. This all happened during a budget hearing where they were considering a series of defense bills and Feinstein clearly getting confused in a few moments here, but this certainly isn't the first time this has happened, right?

She was gone dealing with shingles complications that followed that for quite some time when she came back. She's often been unable to address reporters or hear certain questions. We've also observed AIDS telling her where to go and what to do and what she is casting her votes on and so forth, raising some serious questions, but ones that her aides and those closest to her have so far not been able to really answer. And then, Julie, you know, Senator Feinstein, she's already announced she'll be retiring at the end of 2024, but she's faced calls to resign since missing 91 votes earlier this year, even by Democrats. She, of course, had a battle with shingles. Have you heard any renewed calls from Democrats about the Senator's health or anything from her

constituents in California that she needs to be removed? Well, remember that moment where Congressman Rokane, also from California, by the way, got backlash when he raised the prospect of Senator Feinstein maybe having to go, having to resign early because of these health conditions, because she was unable to take part on the Senate Judiciary Committee for some time. He faced backlash from none other than Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, the former House Speaker who defended Diane Feinstein, saying that these calls for her to resign are nothing but agist concerns, and we're not hearing the same for other members. by the way, there have been members as old as 106 who served in the Senate who have not received

these same calls. I will tell you, though, when you look at her constituents in California, they might be ready for some change. According to a recent Emerson poll, a study conducted last month. They found 63% of voters in California actually said it's time for fine sent to resign, thus triggering the process for the governor of that state governor Newsom to appoint someone to fill her place, which is just a political mess and sort of contributing to all of this that we're facing right now. But so far, Feinstein's saying that she will serve the remainder

of her term. She did say, of course, she will not seek another re-election. And then, Julie, before you go, of course, we've been covering this week the health concerns among senators and senator staff concerning Senator Mitch McConnell and what we saw yesterday happened with him when he froze up. We've now learned that he also had an accident where he fell on a plane. Can you tell us more about this and what his office is saying about that? Yeah, age is certainly a top topic, especially when you have the president in the White House who's 80 years old himself and seeking another term, but it's also why people are a little bit sensitive to the situation and talking about it outright. So my colleague Garrett Hake scooped overnight, broke some news that Senator Mitch McConnell actually had a fall about two weeks ago

when he was deplaning in DCA, the airport a couple miles from here in the Capitol. He later that day did talk to reporters seeming okay. But look, I was at that press conference yesterday where McConnell seemed to freeze for about 20 seconds, went back to his office, and then about 12 minutes later reappeared being able to answer a series of questions. He said he's fine. His office continuing to say he's fine, but he did suffer that fall in March. He was out for quite some time getting some treatment for a concussion and a broken rib, and since then it has raised some questions, but all of his colleagues today, certainly defending him, at least the ones that I spoke to. Okay, Julie Serkin for us tonight from Capitol Hill.

Julie, we appreciate that. Now to an exclusive interview with the man at the center of a story. we brought you earlier this week. Video from police in Ohio showing police releasing a canine onto Darius Rose who had his hands up and he was on the ground. The police department announcing yesterday that that officer had been terminated and saying in part, quote, we know the video of the incident is upsetting and has attracted widespread attention and comments, including Governor Mike DeWine raising the issue of training. We meet or exceed all current Ohio laws and standards for police training for our K-9 team. Well, tonight right here on Top Story, we are grateful to be joined live by Jadarius Rose and his mom, Carla Jones, and civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is now representing Rose.

We thank you all for joining Top Story tonight. Jadarius, I have to start with you, and we just saw that video there. We saw it earlier in the week. You were there. You had your hands up. What did you think when you saw that dog running at you? What was going through your head? just what's how come to me i just i just didn't want to lose my life or lose my arm

can you talk about the the injuries i mean where the dog bit you uh big me a couple of times on my arm on my forearm and then carla i mean that that's your son right next to you. When you saw that video, what did you think as his mother? Well, it was, it was traumatic for me. I know it was traumatic for him. It was traumatic for me. I couldn't, I haven't watched the whole video, so it's been hard. It's very traumatic. I can't watch it. It's too hard. Chedarius, what did you think when that happened to you? I mean, because you had surrendered, and I understand there was a chase beforehand, which I'll ask you about.

But what did you think when that order was made and the dog came at you? Could you believe this was happening? I just, I just was hoping nothing bad happened, even though I seen it coming. I just knew that I tried to avoid all the way. And how scared were you because we could hear you scream, and I can't even imagine what that was like? Can you repeat that? I said we could hear you scream. I can't even imagine what that was like. I just heard it real bit. I'm just hoping that it was tough, that I want to lose my life.

Ben, you have been at the forefront of so many of these cases. I don't know if we've seen one like this. At least it's been captured on video like that. The police released a statement. They fired the police officer. Is that enough for you? I just hope we don't have... I'm sorry. Ben, if you could answer that question? Yeah, Tom, I certainly think it doesn't remove the trauma and the physical injuries suffered by Jadarius, who was on his knees putting his hands in the air, which is the universal sign of surrender. What more can a black person do to say that I'm not putting you in fear?

It was enough that he had guns pointed at him when he... and pulled over, and he had an assault weapon pointed at him. He called 911, Tom, saying, I'm afraid they're going to kill me. That is the sentiment of most black people in America when the police pulled them over. And, Ben, you've mentioned to me before that there is this issue with the dog itself that brings back horrific images from the civil rights movement. Yeah, and that's what was just ringing out across America when they saw this video going viral. Most people were saying, this is not 1960.

This is 2003, but yet the police is ordering a dog on an unarmed black man who is not posing a threat to him. And you thought about Martin Luther King, and you thought about it. John Lewis and all those civil rights activists who helped us gain our civil rights that are under attack right now in America. Ben, I want to play for you a 911 call that was made by your client, Jadarius, who we have here on the show tonight. I want to play it for our viewers, and I want to get your reaction on the back end. Let's play that 911 call. Yeah, right now I'm being about 20 police officers, and they all got their guns pointing directly to my truck. Okay. So now I'm trying to figure out why they got their guns all pointed to me, and they're all white people.

So, Gerius, police have said that this whole thing started because you didn't stop when they tried to pull you over. And now there's been some reporting that they were going to pull you over because you didn't have a mud flap. And Ben, I know you're maybe more versed in what the reasons why the police did what they did were. But did this whole thing start because of a missing mudflap? Apparently so, Tom, a mud flap and they're drawing guns on him and his only alleged traffic violation, not a criminal violation, is that he's missing a mud flap. And the fact that to Darius is heartbreaking to many of us and communities of color, he said, I got like 20 police officers chasing me and all of them seem to be white officers. with their guns. And he's from Memphis, Tennessee,

where America just witnessed Tyree Nichols brutalized by the police who didn't do anything to want such brutality. Chedareas, can I ask you, though? Yeah. His greatest fears were confirmed, Tom. Jadaris, you told police you were afraid on 911. The police that were chasing you,

obviously couldn't hear that 911 call. I got to ask you, though, is there a reason why you didn't stop? Scared. You were scared? Yeah. Ben, people are going to be seeing this video. They're going to be seen this case.

Are there still criminal charges against your client? Yes, there are, Tom. And that's why he can't say very much, but I think he said enough to let America know what fears many young black people have in America when they are being pursued by police. Judarius, I want to thank you and your mom as well, Carla, for being on this show tonight. Ben, there is some other business I would like to ask you about.

You mentioned Memphis. You mentioned Tyree Nichols. There was a developing story coming out of the Department of Justice today saying that they're now going to investigate the Memphis Police Department over that case and over what happened to Tyree Nichols. What's your reaction to that? Well, like his parents, Robine and Rodney Wells, very relieved that people have not forgotten. gotten about Tyree Nichols. The fact that this was part of a pattern and practice, Tom, and they opened a pattern and practice investigation today to not only look at what happened with Tyree Nichols, but what happened with so many other marginalized black citizens in Memphis

who were brutalized by police. All right, Benjamin Crump, we thank you for joining Top Story Tonight, a busy night for you. And I know you have a lot in the weeks ahead on this case as well. We appreciate your time. We do. We want to turn now to another developing story we're following. This one's hard to believe. An 11-year-old girl under arrest after pulling a prank on police. The girl charged with a felony after she texted 911 from her bed that her friend was kidnapped. NBC's Marissa Para on the moment police came knocking at her door and what happened next.

Stay calm. You can talk to your parents. We can open the window and let you talk to him. It's not a talk any parent wants to have, especially when it's about your 11-year-old daughter in handcuffs for a prank gone wrong. I'm telling you this right now, you're going to take this as a lesson at 11 years old that if you do something stupid in the future, you're going to enjoy those cuffs. Her ruse was elaborate. It all started Wednesday morning when the girl, who we are not naming because she's a minor, texted 911 using the name Lily Lee Combs. She reported her friend had just been kidnapped

and that she was pulled over on a local highway in Oak Hill, Florida. We scramble our air unit gets up there, so we have air support. And the text messages keep coming in about directions, locations, locations, Two minutes later, Lily texted police that the suspect was in a white van and she was following it in a blue jeep. When police asked her what her friend's name was, she replied that it was a 14-year-old named Maddie Lawson. 9.54 a.m., she texted police, he's tying her up. And 15 minutes later, she added that the fake male suspect was armed with a gun. Police say within 45 minutes of that first text, officers pinpointed where the text were coming from and arrived on the scene. And instead of a kidnapping, they find the 11.

year old texting. She tells us, oh, yes, I thought it would be funny to do that. Officer struck a pretty firm tone with the 11-year-old. Do you stand by the tone? You know, you got to have tough love here. You just can't rub her on the head and say you shouldn't do this. She insisted it was a one-time thing. Somebody could have been killed or injured. We get dozens and dozens and dozens of these calls, and we have to spend all of these money and resources because we have to take every one of them seriously. Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood says the girl was charged with a felony, making a false report concerning the use of a firearm in a violent manner and a misdemeanor of misuse of 911. Even though she was a first time offender,

the fact that she had mentioned that this person was armed, that drove her up to spend the night in detention because of that. Her father did not return NBC's request for comment, but the sheriff does have a comment for all parents and would be pranksters watching. At what point Does a seemingly funny prank become criminal? This isn't ring the doorbell and run away. You're actually interfering with police communications. You are pulling resources. There's real serious repercussions here.

Now, the sheriff's office says that one helicopter for that one half hour ran a tab of upwards of $550. They're still working out the final costs and whether or not her parents will have to pay that. And as for the girl, she spent the night a local juvenile detention center. she was released back to her parents this morning. Tom.

Okay, Marissa Para, a lot going on with that one. We appreciate that. Still ahead tonight, the Gilgo Beach prosecutor, joins Top Story. The DA overseeing the investigation into an alleged serial killer will walk us through the biggest case of his career, including what dogs found on that suspect's property right after this break. Plus, a salmonella outbreak sending multiple people to the hospital. The meat that is likely causing those illnesses will tell you about it.

Stay with us. We want to turn out of the latest in the Gilgo Beach murders case. Authorities on Long Island confirming their nearly two-week-long search at the House of Suspect Rex Hurman is now over. Heerman was arrested on July 13th after a decade's long investigation into the killings. You can see him here with investigators. He is the main suspect in four murders. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney says he will now

prosecute the case himself. And tonight, we're lucky to be joined by the DA tonight. So District Attorney, thank you for joining Top Story. I want to start with your decision to personally prosecute this case. Why? Thanks for having me, Tom. You know, it was a primarily came from the fact that, you know, I met the victims while I was campaigning. I told them that we were going to give the case the best chance we could to solve. it. And then I just was involved with the case through the grand jury. And, you know, at this point, I participated in the grand jury and, you know, myself and a handful of assistant district attorneys in the office know the case the case the best. You've seen a lot of the evidence that

has come in. I know you're still gathering some evidence. But as far as what you've seen, what's come across your desk, what's the single biggest piece of evidence that you've come across? I think it's a combination of a number, number of things. You know, but the DNA evidence, I think is, you know, very powerful. Okay. And then we've been seeing the video, the photos of investigators at the Hurman home there on Long Island, the family home. You've been in the backyard. You've been inside the house. I wanted to see if you could share with us some of the stuff that has been located there or anything that's helped in your investigation. Well, you know, Tom,

we've executed a number of search warrants in the case, including at the residence. And we've gathered a lot of evidence. We're looking for everything from tangible items of evidence to blood, biologic evidence, DNA. So we really need to just, you know, categorize that evidence and then forensically examine it, and it's going to take some time. You know, there's been a lot of reporting that the victims, unfortunately, in this case, after they were killed, they were dismembered, and then put in those burlap sacks. Is it your belief that he did some of these crimes and the chopping up, if you will, of these bodies at his home? Well, there's no evidence either way to point that the murders were actually committed either in the house or outside the house.

I think with regard to the DNA evidence on two of the bodies, there have been hairs recovered, that the DNA's profiles are consistent with both the defendant and two hairs are consistent with his wife. Does that lead you to believe something happened in the house? Well, you know, that could be the case, or there's something called transfer DNA where if you just live with someone, their hair and your hair could get on your person, and then if you contact with a third person, both of those hairs could come in contact with that third person. There's been some reporting that you guys located a soundproof room inside of that house. Is that correct? So the defendant had close to 300 guns, a little under 300 weapons in the house, and he did have a gun safe, which was a room, like a block cement room with a metal door. You know, that was reported that it was soundproof. I don't believe it's actually soundproof. But let me ask you, when you describe a gun safe, people think of gun safes as, you know, maybe something with a wheel or something you open up, but that you don't necessarily walk into.

You're talking about a safe so big a human could walk in there? Yes, and I think that you would need something of that size, given the amount of weapons he had, upwards of 283 guns. And then would multiple people fit in there? Are we talking about that kind of size where he could walk in there, essentially, theoretically, with a victim's body? Is it that big? Potentially, but I mean, by the time we got there, the room was cluttered.

So, again, there's no evidence either way to say. There have been cadaver dogs at the house that we've seen. Have the cadaver dogs found anything? The cadaver dogs have not found anything. There were also dogs that snip out electronic devices, and they indicated on a number of electronic devices which were recovered. They found, were they hidden? Were these electronic devices hidden?

I mean, I think the house was cluttered, so they were in and amongst the clutter, but they certainly assisted in the recovery of those items. This is kind of interesting. I've never heard this. The dogs were used to recover electronic devices. I'm going to assume there were cell phones? Cell phones or smart devices, computers, laptops. The use of dogs, there's currency snipping dogs,

there's electronic device sniffing dogs, and there's cadaver dogs, just to name a few. It depends upon the training of the dog. I want to put up for our viewers, the victims, who unfortunately lost their lives in this horrific serial killer case. And there is that one, that fourth victim, right, that we're looking at right here. Maureen Barnes, I want to ask you, do you have evidence? Do you see a pattern?

Is there anything you can tie Rex Heerman to this fourth victim? So these four women are known as the Gilgo Four, and the manner of their disappearance and their death are very strikingly similar. We started our investigation centering around these four. took the case down a little early because we were afraid of the investigation being public as well as we were concerned. We had safety concerns. The investigation with regard to the murder of Maureen Brainer Barnes is continuing. And once we complete that, we'll have more comments on that. Have you seen anything that is tied that case into the other three?

I mean, I think there are striking similarities. And we're going to let that investigation play out. and at the end of that, you know, we'll have further comment. Finally, there was that moment where we saw detectives, investigators, arrest Rex Heerman on the streets of Midtown Manhattan. Can you share with us those moments, what he said, and anything he said since then? So, you know, he was represented by counsel, so, you know, I'm not privy to those statements,

but I can tell you that at that Midtown Manhattan arrest, the defendant certainly did seem surprised. Mr. District Attorney, we appreciate your time tonight. Still ahead. Tased and killed disturbing video showing the moment of traffic stop turned deadly in Colorado, the emotional plea from the family of that man killed. Stay with us. school in court today as a judge hears testimony to determine if the 17-year-old shooter will get life in prison. That teen has pled guilty to 24 counts, including first-degree murder and terrorism. His parents have also been charged with involuntary manslaughter for allowing him to access that gun. A salmonella outbreak reported in at least four states. Six people have been hospitalized and 10 others sickened after eating ground beef sold at ShopRite grocery stores

across the northeast. The CDC says it is still investigating and no recall has been issued just yet. And after months of declining sales, Bud Light's parent company is laying off hundreds of employees. Anheuser-Busch announcing it will lay off about 350 corporate employees, about 2% of the workforce. Bud Light was recently dethrone as America's number one beer after an ad campaign with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney

triggered mass boycotts of that beer. We turned out to a shocking video from Colorado, police tasing a man on the highway after what started as a traffic stop. He was then hit by a car and killed. NBC's Dana Griffin has a store. We want to warn you, some of the details and video in the story are disturbing. Tonight, we're seeing the moment-by-moment tragic highway chase that turned deadly. The reason why I'm stopping yet is your registration is expired.

Newly released body cam video provided by a family attorney shows 28-year-old Brent Thompson pulled over in February for expired registration. He gives Larimer County Sheriff's deputies a fake name. Then the traffic stop takes a turn. Turned. Did you give me the right name? Yeah. What's your name? Jacob, Todd Jones.

Okay. Why aren't you give me the right name? No, it's not? Yes, it is. Brent, I know. So right now you're under arrest. Let's right there's up the foot for you. Stop here, you're you taste!

Stop! We're freezing the moment before impact, but once Thompson was tased and fell onto the highway, he was run over by an oncoming SUV. His lifeless body handcuffed and dragged out of further harm's way. CPR is performed. Thompson is later pronounced dead at a hospital. This man took a responsibility to pull a trigger,

to pacitate my kid for five seconds. Look downstream. There's a car coming. The family wants the deputy, Lorenza Lohan, to face criminal charges, but after a month's long investigation, the DA's office determined no crime was committed. If this officer truly was concerned about preventing some kind of accident, he would not have tasered this young man in the middle of a very busy interstate. the officer would have done something to prevent this accident from happening.

We reached out to the Larimer County Sheriff's Office and the District Attorney's Office. Neither are commenting further at this time, but in a video statement, the Sheriff defended the deputy's actions. District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin determined that the deputy was legally justified in his attempt to stop this suspect from endangering the lives of innocent motorists. The deputy was forced to make a choice, act, and try to stop the suspect. suspect, are standby passively, and just hope no innocent people got hurt. A sheriff's internal investigation also determined the officer's actions were within policy. A search warrant later revealed drugs and a gun were in the vehicle. The gun belonged to Thompson's father, according to the DA's report. According to the attorney, the family plans

to file a civil lawsuit against the sheriff's office. Tom? Okay, Dana Griffin for us tonight. Dana, thank you. Coming up next, a violent coup, enforcement. overseas. The president of Niger, detained by his own security guards, chaos erupting on the streets. You see it here. We'll have a full report from our team on the ground there in the West African nation. Next. We're back now with the apparent coup in the African nation of Niger, the country's democratically elected president detained by his own military. Protesters setting fires in the streets as a power struggle now consumes the nation. Courtney Cuby is on the ground there for us tonight.

Tonight chaos in Niger. The country in the midst of what appears to be a military coup still unsure of who's in charge. The ruling party headquarters set a blaze. The Nigerian army backing the coup after soldiers from the Presidential Guard detained the country's president, Mohamed Bazoum. The force of defense and security, reunied in the Council of National for the Safegarde of the Patriot, CLSP, have decided to make

end to regime that you know. The army suspending all political activities in the country, supporters of the coup rallying outside the country's National Assembly in the capital Niyami, some waving Russian flags. But tonight, President Bazum defiant, writing in a tweet, the hard-won achievements

will be safeguarded. All Nigerians who love democracy and freedom will see to it. Bazum's election in 2021 marked the first democratic, peaceful transfer of power since Niger gained its independence from France in 1960. His ousters drawing swift backlash from the international community. The Nations Unique condemn firmly this attack against the government democratically Nigerre plays a critical role in U.S. counterterrorism operations in the region, agreeing to host American military personnel and drone bases in their fight against groups tied to ISIS and al-Qaeda. This week, U.S. Special Operations Forces giving us an exclusive look as they train Nigerian troops to fight extremist groups. One of the key lessons that we've taken from the last

20 years from the U.S. perspective is how can I partner with forces who are in a fight for their existence. U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, expressing his support for the Nigerian president. We call for his immediate release. We condemn any effort to seize power by force. But tonight, the fight rages on to make sure democracy in Niger doesn't go up in flames. The military council who claims to be running the government has now closed the country's borders and closed all the airspace. No civilian or military aircraft can come or go until late next week. They've also instituted a nationwide curfew, which is actually in effect right now, and it seems for now the people here are abiding by it. Tom?

Courtney Kuby for us in that region, Courtney, we appreciate it. Back now with Top Story's Global Watch, and we begin with a deadly boat disaster in the Philippines. Video shows first responders searching for survivors after a boat capsized near Manila. At least 25 people killed, six others still missing. The Coast Guard says winds from a super typhoon likely caused passengers to panic, moving to one side of the boat and causing it to tip over. And in Western Brazil today, a prison riot leaving at least three injured. The riot breaking out during mealtime at the Amra-Branco prison in Akre. After inmates took two prison guards hostage,

inmates' family seen waiting outside for some answers. The governor says federal security forces are coming in to help that situation. And Croatia, the latest nation hit by those wildfires engulfing the Mediterranean. New video shows clouds of smoke billowing from an island near the same. city of Split. Firefighters dropping water from the sky. Authorities say fires have destroyed dozens of home along the coast. The flames coming within 10 miles of Dubrovnik this week. Okay, when we come back peaking at 93, a California grandfather becoming the oldest person ever to climb Yosemite's half dome. He'll tell us how he did it after this break.